City Council - Regular Meeting

We're called to order the regular meeting of the Uberly City Council for Tuesday, May 26th, 2026. Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilor Christensen?

Here.

Councilor Baker?

Here.

Councilor Herman?

Here.

Councilor Olsen? Here. Councilor Van Beek?

Here.

Councilor Anderson?

Here.

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 WELL, WELCOME TO EVERYONE TONIGHT, WHETHER YOU'RE HERE IN PERSON OR ONLINE, WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE WITH US. WE'LL NOW MOVE ALONG TO CEREMONIAL ITEMS, AND OUR ITEM TONIGHT IS THE DAYBREAKER'S KOANAS PROCLAMATION, SO I WILL READ THIS FIRST. PROCLAMATION DECLARING JUNE 4TH, 2026 AS DAYBREAKER'S KOANAS OF ALBERT LEE DAY. WHEREAS QUANTUS INTERNATIONAL IS ONE OF THE LARGEST SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE WORLD WITH MORE THAN 430,000 MEMBERS OF ALL AGES AND ABILITIES IN MORE THAN 80 NATIONS AND GEOGRAPHIC AREAS. AND WHEREAS THE MEMBERS OF THE QUANTUS CLUB OF DAYBREAKERS, ELBERT LEE, ARE DEVOTED TO IMPROVING THE WORLD ONE CHILD AND ONE COMMUNITY AT A TIME BY SEEKING TO GIVE PRIMACY TO THE HUMAN AND SPIRITUAL RATHER THAN THE MATERIAL VALUES OF LIFE. AND WHEREAS IN ADDITION TO IMPROVING THE LIVES OF CHILDREN IN ULBERT LEE AND IN COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD, Kiwanis Club members promote the development of community leaders, positive role models, intercultural understanding and cooperation, and opportunities for fellowship, personal growth, professional development, and community service. AND WHEREAS THE FIRST KIWANIS CLUB STARTED ITS SERVICE IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN 1915, EXCUSE ME, NOT 2015, And the Kiwanis Club of the Daybreakers Albert Lee was formed on June 4th, 1976. And whereas the service provided by the Kiwanis Club of Daybreakers Albert Lee and continue to have a positive impact on our community and citizens. Therefore, I, Rich Murray, Mayor of the City of Albert Lee do hereby proclaim June 4th, 2026 as Daybreakers Kiwanis of Albert Lee Day. And hereby call upon all citizens of Albert Lee to render support to the members of this organization and to make themselves aware of Kiwanis International, whose members are providing meaningful service to our homes, schools, and communities. In witness thereof, I have this day set my hand and cause a seal of the City of Albert Lee to be affixed to this proclamation. So if we could have some folks come forward. And was anybody going to speak at all or just take a picture? Okay, we'll do a picture. ARE YOU THE CHIEF NOW? YEAH, I AM THE CHIEF. ALL RIGHT. IS EVERYBODY IN HERE? OKAY. CONGRATULATIONS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. All right, public forum. Dave Cargill, come on down.

Welcome. Thank you. Again, I'm gonna speak on this animal ordinance change, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. I think there needs to be a number there for guidance for these people. There are people out there that just absolutely need the law to come in and take care of filthy lawns. We have one next door to us. All winter long, nothing's picked up. Come spring, it smells. I can only imagine if this turns open-ended, how much feces is going to be. You got somebody that's got two dogs walking out, doing right by picking up. I live down by Frank Hall Park, and you wouldn't believe How many times I got some, what I consider beautiful bushes out in front. It's a magnet for dogs. We have to pick up almost every time we go to mow. And I think what we're forgetting here is maybe the rights of people that don't have dogs or has asthma and can't have dogs like myself. I think we need to think long and hard about this change. And I think we need to get into enforcement. I have had situations where I've had to call law enforcement, not once, not twice, but three times on one issue. And to this day, which has been over two years now, nothing has changed with the number of dogs these people have. And I just regret at the time that this thing changes. I took the time to call 18 different cities in the state of Minnesota, ranging from Hibbing, Duluth, down to Austin, Minnesota, from Winona to Worthington. Not one of them has an open-ended law. Not one of them. If that helps you out or tells you anything, I hope it does. I'm going to regret the day that this opens up. I can see already what would happen down there. I have seen kids attacked. I have seen dogs urinate all over the park slide and the bouncy toys down there. There's people that don't care. They're not considered of other people's property or where kids play. I mean, gee me, there's people that walk down through there I've seen just let their dogs around. There's no enforcement at all. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Dave. Item five is consent and approval of agenda. A is the approval of minutes of the May 11th, 2026 regular council meeting. Item B is the approval of minutes of the May 11th, 2026 work session. Item C is license and permits. And we need to add, right?

We would, I would just go ahead and ask for the amendment to the ordinance on this one, which would be a temporary alcohol license for the Moose Lodge facility. TO BE ADDED.

OKAY. THAT'S ON ITEM C. AND THEN D IS A RESOLUTION APPROVING PURCHASE OF PARKS DEPARTMENT BUCKET TRUCK CHASSIS. SO COUNCIL AS AMENDED. MOVE TO APPROVE AS AMENDED. COUNCILOR BAKER MAKES A MOTION. IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND, CHAIRMAN. SECOND BY COUNCILOR ANDERSON. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? HEARING NONE, ALL IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. THE PROPOSED NAME, MOTION CARRIES. ITEM SIX IS PETITIONS, REQUESTS, AND COMMUNICATIONS. WE HAVE NONE TONIGHT. ITEM SEVEN IS UNFINISHED BUSINESS. WE HAVE NONE TONIGHT. WE'LL MOVE ALONG TO ITEM EIGHT, NEW BUSINESS. AS A RESOLUTION, ACCEPTING BID AND AWARDING CONTRACT FOR THE FRONT STREET BRIDGE NUMBER 24514, REHABILITATION PROJECT JOB 2605.

CITY MANAGER? Thank you, Your Honor. City Engineering and Erickson Engineering has reviewed the bids opened on Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 for the Front Street Bridge Number 24514 Rehabilitation Project. The project involves peer repair to the Front Street Bridge. The work involved is not typical work, which is reflected in the number of bids received, which was only one, and the amount of the bid. Finding a comparable project was also difficult, which is reflected in the engineer's estimate. Engineering is recommending acceptance of the low bid and award of the contract for $381,339.60 to PCI Roads LLC of Maple Grove, Minnesota. Engineer's estimate was $328,230. The bid abstract is attached. City will be using state aid funds for this project. Staff recommends approval.

Council?

Move to approve, Your Honor.

Motion by Councilor Christensen. Is there a second? I'll second, Your Honor. Second by Councilor Van Beek. Any further discussion by the council? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion carries. Item B is a resolution accepting bid and awarding contract for the wastewater treatment plant, fiberglass, aeration, tank covers, and ventilation stacks, rehabilitation, job 2620. City Manager?

Thank you, Your Honor. On Tuesday, May 19th, 2026, we opened bids for the project. The project involved sandblasting and recoating the fiberglass aeration tank covers and ventilation stacks at the wastewater treatment plant. We received four bids. Engineering is recommending acceptance of the low bid to be awarded and award the contract for $241,560 to Champion Coatings Incorporated of Jordan, Minnesota. Engineering estimate was $257,620. A bid abstract was attached. Staff recommends approval. Council?

Move. John, I'll move.

Motion by Councilor Herman. Who was the second? I'll second. Second by Councilor Anderson. All right, any further discussion? HEARING NONE, ALL IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. OPPOSED, NAY. MOTION CARRIES. ITEM C IS A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT FOR THE PLANNING, CONSTRUCTION, AND MAINTENANCE OF THE SONGBURG TRAIL, CITY OF ALBERT LEE, FREEBORNE COUNTY, AND WAUSEKA COUNTY. CITY MANAGER.

Thank you, Your Honor. This resolution authorizes city managers signing a memorandum of agreement with Breborn County and Waseca County. The MOA is an agreement on how the Songbird Trail will be planned, constructed, and maintained. The MOA is required to obtain regional trail designation. In 2014, the city and county entered into a joint powers agreement regarding the trail. This memorandum of agreement replaces the existing agreement. On May 11th, 2026, the Freeborn County engineer, Phil Walkos, presented the pre-agenda, at the pre-agenda meeting, presented the changes regarding the agreement. Staff recommends approval.

Council? Moved to approve, Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Baker. Is there a second?

I'll second, Your Honor.

Seconded by Councilor Herman. Any further discussion?

Your Honor.

Officer Christensen.

Thank you. We talked about this a fair amount during our work session and I just think it's important for us to kind of revisit here some of the funding for the trails because the sales tax initiative that we were hoping for did not pass. It wasn't just us, it was all of them, the local option sales tax. Can you please talk about what our options are? City Manager. City Manager.

Okay, thank you. Those portions that have grants currently that have been received and will be bid out will probably likely come from some of the cost share at the county. And we'll be looking at probably our reserve funds to pay for the small portion that isn't grant covered because there is some level of match from the community. Moving forward, a number of these projects are going to be largely funded by grants until such time we are able to get the sales tax legislation passed and then a referendum to the public. That was our original plan at least two to four years ago. That was our original plan was to have it be heavily grant funded and doing it section by section. The local sales tax would have just simply accelerated the timeline and created a more stable funding source as we were to move along with our grant applications.

There's a discussion by the council. Hearing none, all in favor of the motion signify it by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion carries. Item D is resolution denying plat, final plat of dress second edition. City Manager.

Thank you, Your Honor. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on May 5th, 2026 to review the plat dress second edition for compliance with chapter 38 subdivision. At this time, I would like to bring Megan Boak, our community development director, or our future community development director and city planner, forward to talk a little bit about the process, what was found after we did, after some title work was completed, and our recommendation to council and reasons for denial. All right, welcome.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. As City Manager Riggs said, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on May 5th to review the plot of Dress Second Edition for compliance with Chapter 38 or subdivisions. The purpose of the plot is to subdivide a smaller 16-acre parcel to provide for potential residential development. The preliminary plat of Dress Second Edition met all the requirements of Chapter 38. However, there were utility easements not shown along or within the abandoned Chicago-Milwaukee Railroad. As such, the Planning Commission recommended approval contingent upon the applicant providing evidence of title status, including encumbrances and easements, which was... a recommendation of our city attorney. Since this item was tabled at the previous city council meeting, it has been determined that the easement descriptions provided do not describe the property that the existing transmission lines are situated upon. and therefore the final plat does not conform to evidence of title. In order to meet the Minnesota 60 Day Rule, which requires local government agencies to approve or deny land use and zoning requests within 60 days, staff recommends denial until easement discrepancies or conflicts can be resolved. Denying the plat does not mean staff does not support the future development of Dress Second Edition, rather it's due diligence to ensure that there are accurate descriptions of land and property boundaries compliance with local zoning laws, and clear legal descriptions describing all easements. For these reasons, staff recommends denial of final plat of dress second edition based on the above findings.

Your Honor. Okay, do we want to get a motion on the floor first before we open up discussion further?

If that's the way you wish to do it first, yeah.

Let's go ahead with questions for the city planner first, and then we'll get a motion on the floor.

Okay, so can you explain what happens if we don't deny this?

you would ultimately, by not acting, are you asking if you don't deny it and you approve?

If we don't deny it, we vote against the denial, what happens?

You would be approving a plat that is not accurate and does not meet our subdivisions ordinance.

Okay, and then what ramifications can come of that?

There's easements on a property that aren't accurate that prevent all sorts of things like building and setbacks.

So I would like to have the city attorney chime in on this.

If the easement isn't properly described in the plat and the easement holder isn't joining the plat, they're not bound by any of the findings in the plat, so we lose all control over issues related to primarily safety-related ordinances such as setbacks and such like that. I discussed this briefly with one of the counselors in the interim between the sessions. This seems to be something that can be easily fixed now prior to the subdivision filing, but it's going to be very difficult to fix later. And additionally, I've never seen a plot get approved that doesn't require all landowners or people that have a property interest to join in the plot because they're simply not subject to any of the conditions or requirements thereof.

Okay, thank you.

Any additional questions for the city planner?

Is my understanding right that the current easement is up towards the front of the property and the actual power lines are toward the back of the property? So the easements are basically in the wrong place is what we're kind of saying, correct?

The information I got from the land surveyor was that the transmission lines are not situated upon the described easement, whether that's to the front or the back, I don't, I'm not sure. It would take a surveyor to put on the plot where the... What the front is. Right. Or where the actual transmission lines are versus the easement.

Megan? And you said earlier that you had been in contact with all parties involved, so they're aware of the situation, correct?

Correct. So we met last week. The consultant for the property owner and the potential builder, we met on Tuesday, and our plan on Tuesday was to move forward with a contingent approval. And on Tuesday at 5.59 p.m., I got an email from the land surveyor that said the easements are not accurate, or they're not just you know, placed accurately.

So the city upheld your part, our part, and then you got that email saying, hey, this is wrong.

At which time I contacted the property owner's consultant and let him know that there's a conflict and it has to be resolved and, you know, that means denial for now until there's a resolution and we can bring it back to planning commission at that time.

Okay, thank you. So, how long is this going to take to, if this is denied, how long is this going to take to rectify this as I'm working with the parties?

Megan, why don't you let me comment on that because that's part of it.

Go ahead.

I think that the Planning Commission has already reviewed the plot and made a conditional approval. If the easement issue is addressed, I would consider that to be consistent with the Planning Commission recommendation and I'm suggesting that a resubmission of the application would not need to go back before the Planning Commission if there's no change other than codification of the actual easement. I'm not seeing the need to republish and have a new public hearing if the only change is to accurately describe the easement that we knew needed to be accurately described at the time the Planning Commission gave preliminary approval.

My hesitancy in answering Mr. Baker's question is that it really will be an arrangement between ITC and the property owner, one that I won't be privy to because it's not my property or my easements. And so it really, you know, a large portion of that will depend on those two parties and their attorneys, likely.

And is ITC, have they been aware of this then? They're aware of what's...

My understanding is they've been contacted by the consultant working for the property owner.

Okay, and then to rectify this, you would have to, if my understanding's right, they would have to probably buy property from the property owner in order to rectify the easements to make sure everything, all the transmission lines would fit within the easement, correct? Correct.

Yeah, there'd be, I think, you know, maybe Joel should answer this, but there could be several ways to rectify it. They could vacate the current easement and, you know, agree to a corrected easement. They could do a quick claim deed. You know, they could expand the easement by, you know, acquiring more property. I think there's a number of ways to rectify it. It's just whatever is agreed upon by the property owner and ITC.

I'd like to add to that for you, Megan. It's in the ITC's benefit to have the easement correctly described. I would expect to see this as a modification of the existing filed easement, simply correcting the legal description. I don't expect that there's a need or even a justification for additional purchase because ITC wants to have the benefit of the easement rights for where the power line is actually located. They have a concern that the property owner would compel them to go to court in order to maintain the existing line. And if both parties don't cooperate, this could be very complicated between the parties. So I would expect that once it's brought to their attention that there's simply a misdescription of the location of the line, that all parties will agree that it's everybody's best interest to resolve it relatively quickly based on an accurate survey.

So say that, like you said, that the Planning Commission, they've looked at this, they've amended it, say that's all true, how long before they can come back to, would it be the next meeting, two weeks from now, if they could come back and have it approved, or is it going to take longer?

I haven't had an opportunity to discuss this with Megan, but I would be recommending that if the only change is to accurately describe The easement, I don't believe that it's necessary for the Planning Commission to review the plot again if that's the only change.

Okay, so conceivably it could come back in two weeks?

Conceivably.

Okay. Thank you.

YOUR HONOR? COUNCILOR ANDERSON. YEAH, NO ONE ON THE COUNCIL WANTS TO DISRUPT THE MOMENTUM OF A PROJECT. WE ALL WANT PROJECTS TO MOVE FORWARD, BUT I JUST THINK THAT IT'S WORTH PUTTING IN THE PUBLIC RECORD SOMETHING WE TALKED ABOUT AT THE WORK SESSION, HOW THE CITY, IN OUR EFFORT TO GET THE PROJECT TO MOVE FORWARD, WE ACTUALLY, WE ISSUED A CONDITIONAL APPROVAL EVEN WHEN THEY DIDN'T BRING ALL THE INFORMATION TO US, RIGHT? AND I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE PUBLIC TO HEAR THAT PART OF IT. COULD YOU TALK ABOUT THAT? YEAH, THAT'S CORRECT.

TO A FAULT, WE ARE AT TIMES I mean, I pushed it through as fast as I could and maybe to a fault or to accommodating in a way. We could have said, well, thank you for applying and we'll sit on this until you provide evidence of title and not schedule a public hearing until such time. And then when this evidence of title revealed conflicts, we could have just said, well, your application is incomplete and we're not going to process it at all, being that the plat was inaccurate. So to a fault, we tried to be accommodating to a builder or developer schedule, thinking that, you know, let's advertise a public hearing, hold it, and wait for this evidence of title to come back, which everyone thought would be you know, there's an easement within the abandoned Chicago-Milwaukee railroad. Well, turns out that was not accurate. So our best effort to be accommodating failed.

It sounds like we allowed the cart to get put before the horse, and then we kind of got burned in the end. And it also sounds like all the ducks are maybe not in a row, but they're in the same room. So this might not be too long down the road. Okay, thank you.

ALL RIGHT, ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR THE CITY PLANNER OR CITY MANAGER OR CITY ATTORNEY? HEARING NONE, I WOULD ENTERTAIN A MOTION.

ACTUALLY, I'D JUST LIKE TO MAKE A COMMENT, YOUR HONOR. OKAY, GO AHEAD. I'M GOING TO VOTE FOR THIS TO PROCEED. IN MY OPINION, I'M NOT A LAWYER, BUT IF THIS IS IN ITC'S BEST INTEREST AND THE HOMEOWNER'S BEST INTEREST, I DON'T SEE WHY HOLDING THIS UP FOR ANOTHER TWO WEEKS. THERE'S A LOT OF PLANNING THAT GOES INTO THE BUILDING TRADES AND SCHEDULES THAT NEED TO BE KEPT. I DON'T SEE BY US DENYING THIS, I DON'T THINK ITC IS GOING TO TRY AND PLAY SOME SHENANIGANS OR ANYTHING WITH THE HOMEOWNER, SO I DON'T WANT TO SEE THIS WAIT TWO MORE WEEKS. THAT'S JUST MY OPINION, BUT WE CAN SEE WHERE IT GOES FROM HERE. OKAY.

SENATE MANAGER?

IN DOING SO, YOU'D BE ASKING US TO VIOLATE OUR OWN ORDINANCE TO APPROVE THIS?

YEP.

Your Honor? Yes, Councillor Christians. I move we approve a resolution denying the final plat of the dress second edition.

Is there a second to that motion? I'll second it, Your Honor. Second by Councillor Baker. Any further discussion by the council?

You know, I just want to say that I, you know, I was in the contracting business for over 23 years. I understand the timeline, speaking to what Councilor Olsen has to say, and I just want the people to understand that we're not doing this because we want to do this. We're doing it because it's the right thing to do, and hopefully the city staff will be able to put this through once everything is done. squared away between ITC and.

Hold it, excuse me, I'm sorry you can't speak now. All right, any other discussion by the council? Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve denying the final plaid of the dress second edition. All in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed say nay.

No. Nay.

Motion carries. Item E is the ordinance amending chapter eight, article two, animal control, first reading. City Manager.

Thank you, Your Honor. This ordinance was first presented at the May 11th council meeting and was tabled to allow, or I should say actually no action was taken NOT TABLED, NO ACTION WAS TAKEN TO ALLOW TIME FOR THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT REGARDED TO PET-RELATED COMPLAINTS, AS WELL AS GATHER FURTHER PUBLIC INPUT. SINCE THE INITIAL INTRODUCTION, THE TERM COMMERCIALLY HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE DEFINITION OF KENNELS IN SECTION 8.043, AND THE REDUNDANT KENNEL DEFINITION PREVIOUSLY LOCATED IN SECTION 8.029 HAS BEEN REMOVED. All other proposed changes from the first introduction remain unchanged. Key considerations in this proposal that have maybe stirred public comment or opinion are the removal of the animal limits. That has been countered by the additional authority to correct excessive animal ownership if a nuisance exists or is created or a risk is created. Since January 1st, 2023, there have been over 3,000 animal complaints and only one citation for violations of animal limits, of animals for over the limit. The citation is one of several citations to that owner without which the animal limit citation would have never been issued. Animals running at large. Originally focused on dogs, the ordinance now adds cats. As before, an owner is not allowed to let their animal run at large. This does not necessarily mean a leash. When an animal is outside, it means once off the owner's property, a cat or dog has to be under their physical control. A leash is exampled in the definition of control and not running at large. So somebody letting their cats out and roaming free is not permitted under this ordinance either. Prohibition of feeding stations does not mean people cannot help with stray or feral population issues. It means that these efforts are to be done in coordination or part of some larger animal management effort That includes trap, fix, and rehome or release to eventually reduce the overpopulation. Not counter such programs with colonies that are breeding grounds that are not part of the program. The Humane Society has vaccinated and fixed 944 cats since 2024, and Camp Companion has trapped and fixed over 409 cats. I would also add that without their assistance, we would be in a much worse state, and part of these changes were made to align with what our actual enforcement is, and the main focus being nuisance driven, not ownership driven, and that also trying to work with the different agencies that, quite frankly, without their help, we would be having to add staff to the police department, adding animal control back to the police department. And they have been a major help to the community and just want to make sure that that is known. Thank you, your honor.

All right, council.

Your honor.

Councilor Herman.

I'd like to make a, I'm sorry, I jumped the gun a little bit there for you. I WAS GOING TO MAKE AN AMENDMENT TO THAT FIRST READING TO KEEP THE LIMIT TO TWO ANIMALS, TWO CATS, TWO DOGS, A TOTAL OF FOUR.

OKAY. THE MOTION BY COUNSELOR HERMAN IS TO KEEP THE MOTION AT TWO CATS AND TWO DOGS.

AND TO ACCEPT THE ORDINANCE.

AND TO ACCEPT THE BALANCE OF THE ORDINANCE?

YES, YOUR HONOR.

OKAY. IS THERE A SECOND?

I'LL SECOND THAT, YOUR HONOR.

SECOND BY COUNSELOR OLSON. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION BY THE COUNCIL? COUNSELOR CHRISTIANSON.

YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. FIRST OF ALL, CATS AND DOGS ARE DIFFERENT. ANIMALS THAT NEVER LEAVE A HOME AND CREATE NO ISSUE OUTSIDE OF THE HOME FOR ANYBODY, UNLESS WE HAVE A HOARDING SITUATION, WHICH IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT THING, I don't think we need to count them the same way. I know, Councilor Herman, you spoke about, well, you know, enforcement is arbitrary. I don't believe we should be arbitrary in enforcement. I think we have to put into our ordinances that which we mean for the most part. I know there, you know, there are challenges. But there are many people who live in our community who have more than two cats. There are many people who have some combination that doesn't align with two and two. And I don't think people really enjoy being lawbreakers. I think they'd really rather be in compliance. But if we make a rule, an arbitrary rule, that says we can't have any more than this, first of all, I think it kind of infringes on some of our rights. Secondly, I think that we go back to that, if we're not gonna enforce it, why are we asking people for it? Because I think it sets us up to be in a bad situation. I spoke a little bit in the workshop about what we really have is a problem with bad owners, bad neighbors, people who don't have the consideration of their neighbors to pick up after their animals or to keep them controlled or to keep them from excessive barking or cats. Cats, I believe, should not go outside. It's not safe for the animal. It's not safe for the wildlife that lives around. It's not considerate to your neighbors. We've had many, many, many complaints about cats on the loose, and this ordinance will now include cats at large, and I think that's good. Of course, we all know cats are pretty wily. It's gonna be hard to corral a cat. We are fortunate in this community to have some very dedicated groups working with us, Camp Companion, the Humane Society, TNR, individuals that are dedicated to helping to manage the cat populations. And I think that's wonderful. But one of the things we can do and one of the things that we'll need to do if we're able to rehabilitate animals, cats, is find a place for them. The shelter is full. The shelter does not have room for more animals. If a willing person could take four cats instead of having two, well, there's two more that don't have to be dealt with in some way that is not PLEASANT. SO I UNDERSTAND WHY THE COUNSELORS ARE SUGGESTING A LIMIT. I DO NOT THINK TWO AND TWO IS CORRECT. MAYBE IT'S TWO AND SIX. TWO DOGS, SIX CATS. IF AN ANIMAL IS ALWAYS INSIDE, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? AND I DON'T WANT TO HAVE PEOPLE BECOME LAWBREAKERS JUST BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO SAY WHAT THEY DO IN THEIR OWN HOME. That's my opinion. Thank you.

Your Honor. Councilor Herman. I would amend my original amendment to save four animals of any combination of dogs, cats, if that's more palatable.

Okay. Councilor Olsen.

I prefer to keep the dogs at two. I won't second. I'll second that. I won't second the amendment. I'd rather keep it at two.

Joel will have to answer whether we have to have a vote. Right. Can I have another person second that, or does it have to be?

You can, another person can second if the second isn't agreeable to the amendment.

We have to actually vote on the amendment first before we can have a new amendment, correct? So it's amendment in the second, so we have to vote on it. If it fails, then someone else can make another amendment.

A motion has been made.

No, I think we can just rescind the motion, right?

I'd start over. Yeah, okay. I'd say rescind your motion, John. So, the minutes both motions have been rescinded, the first and the second have been fully rescinded. All right, are you in favor of that, Mr. Councilor?

Yes, I'll rescind my second. Also, Councilor Herman?

Yes, Your Honor.

Okay, would you like to start over?

YES, YOUR HONOR, I WOULD AMEND MY AMENDMENT TO FOUR TOTAL ANIMALS, WHETHER A COMBINATION OF THREE CATS, ONE DOG, THREE DOGS, ONE CAT, WHATEVER, BUT NO MORE THAN FOUR.

ALL RIGHT. IS THERE A SECOND TO THAT MOTION? YOUR HONOR, I WILL SECOND THAT. COUNCILOR ANDERSON MAKES THE SECOND. OKAY, FURTHER DISCUSSION BY THE COUNCIL. YOUR HONOR. COUNCILOR ANDERSON.

I WAS SAYING THIS DURING THE WORK SESSION, THE NUMBER DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THERE'S A LOGICAL REASON FOR IT, BUT THERE IS AN EMOTIONAL REASON, AND EVERYBODY IN THE TOWN THAT I'VE TALKED TO SEEMS TO REALLY WORRY ABOUT EMOTION, OR THE NUMBER, THE NUMBER OF ANIMALS. I JUST THINK THAT Having that, maybe it's more of a guideline. It is tough for enforcement. It's tough for the legal side. But it feels good to a lot of people. And I think this leaves it open enough that we can keep the rest of the good stuff that's in this ordinance. Because I think there's a lot of good stuff in there. And I hate to see all that other stuff die just because of the quibbling over this number. Thank you, Your Honor.

Thank you. Additional discussion by the counsel. Oh, sir, no, okay.

Well, unless you want me to. No, you're fine. I can come up with something.

All right, so we have a motion in front of us that we will keep the main part of the ordinance, and the change that will be made was we will go to four animals. Doesn't matter whether it's dogs or cats or any combination thereof. Is everybody understanding of the motion?

Mm-hmm.

All in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye. Can I request a roll call? IF YOU SURE CAN. CLERK, PLEASE CALL THE ROLE.

COUNSELOR CHRISTIANSEN. NO. COUNSELOR BAKER.

AYE.

COUNSELOR HERMAN.

AYE.

COUNSELOR OLSEN.

NO.

COUNSELOR VAN BEEK.

NO.

COUNSELOR ANDERSON.

AYE.

AND MAYOR MURRAY.

AYE. MOTION CARRIES. ITEM F IS A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZED IN APPLICATION ACCEPTANCE AND ENTERING INTO A GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 DWI TRAFFIC SAFETY OFFICER. CITY MANAGER?

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR. WITH THIS GRANT, THE POSITION WOULD COVER 119% OF SALARY OF THE PATROL OFFICER. THIS POSITION IS FOCUSED ON TRAFFIC SAFETY. WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT, THE POSITION IS NOT FUNDED WITH GRANTS IN THE FUTURE. THE POSITION WOULD BE REMOVED THROUGH ATTRITION. Given the size of the department and the rates of retirement or resignation, this would not create a long-term fiscal constraint. Staff recommends approval.

Council? Move to approve, Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Baker. Is there a second?

I'll second, Your Honor.

Second by Councilor Herman. For the discussion by the Council. Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, nay. Motion carries. Item G is a discussion on the Establishing and Economic Development Authority.

Thank you, Your Honor. If the city clerk could please get my PowerPoint on the screen. I'm going to be pretty light on this. I did hand out a, trust me, the four pages I sent were originally like nine pages, so I trimmed it down quite a bit. THE MAYOR, UNFORTUNATELY, HAD TO READ ALL NINE PAGES AT ONE POINT A MONTH BACK. BUT WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE IS WE'D LIKE TO LOOK AT THE CREATION OF AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT I think that there's been some misunderstanding that Alita, which is the Albert Lee Economic Development Agency, is our acting EDA even for the last almost up to the last five years. I had been saying the same thing until we found out that we never actually officially gave the report, at least nothing that we can find on record. economic development authority powers by the city. The same also goes true for the HRA. We, or at least within the HRA, if they have been granted, it would still be limited to some degree under the law and also has not been fully utilized. So, let me turn it on first, there we go. In order to establish an EDA, I'd like to have a public hearing on June 22nd. More information will be coming forward. We would have a resolution established in the EDA and the board. Final setup can come later, and what I'm referencing is that in the resolution, we would have a temporary board, which would be the city council. would be established as the EDA temporarily until we could figure out what the final makeup is. Currently under the law, the EDA can be the entire city council, but in keeping with the other organizations such as the port or the HRA, legally we're required to have at least two elected officials sit on the EDA board at minimum, but it could be more if so desired. I believe on the Port Authority, we have two elected officials sitting on that board that are voting members, and the draft resolution I have would greatly mimic that organization moving forward, but again, temporarily. It would be the city council, just as we continue to align with what we're doing. Additionally, there would be a resolution establishing taxing district authority and its boundaries. No decision has to be made until September on any preliminary levy and final levy in December if we were to create one for the EDA. If the council chose not to create one, that's fine. We would just have to send that same letter again by July of 2027 if we wanted to create a 2028 budget that did have a levying authority. Now, one of the advantages to that, though, is then that you have a potential source of income for any bonding for any projects that the council may decide to implement at a future date through EDA authorities. The reason for an EDA, while we already have an HRA, is that an EDA can assume the entirety of an HRA's roles. While the HRA has similarities, it cannot assume the entire authority of an EDA. Both have similar and different bonding and taxing authorities. Both can focus on intended uses per state statute. Typically, when you look at how an HRA is set up, what they focus on, their primary powers and funding sources and what they can spend their money on, it's typically on low-income housing and housing assistance. That can also include redevelopment of blighted property so long as it stays low rent. I know it has been mentioned about the HRA levy being used maybe potentially for some demolition of housing. But within that, you have to then rebuild something back in its place or rehab something back in its place that would then qualify as low rent. under the statute. So it's not necessarily good for enforcement, but it can be good for redevelopment in lower rent situations. But an EDA on redevelopment, economic development, and can also do mid to market rate housing is where an EDA really separates itself from an HRA. And I think operationally, when you're looking at HRA, you're looking at someone that works with HUD. a great deal as opposed to someone that an EDA would not. So saying that you can have the same person doing both, I think you're creating a couple different mindsets here that don't necessarily always align or experiences that won't align or you're creating that unicorn employee that you'd be lucky to get. So HRAs cannot use TIF as part of a project, unlike an EDA. There's limits on sale of property and wait periods on any market rate rentals if they were able to do a project and couldn't fill it or make the project work financially. Under low rent situations, then they would have a waiting period before they could open it up to market rate or sell. There's a higher burden to prove on certain development matters that relate to low to moderate income housing. And it's limited in workforce housing for economic development purposes. Typically, an HRA is better for receiving and managing HUD funding and projects and managing housing grants and subsidies other than what you would see through TIF. So as an example, our small communities development grant program that would be fixing up homes IF PROPERLY SITUATED IN THE FUTURE, THE HRA COULD POTENTIALLY MANAGE THAT IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER ACTIVITIES THAT WERE GOING ON. SAME AS OUR EDA COULD, SAME AS CMCAC COULD. THEY COULD ALSO DO THAT, TOO. NOW, AN EDA TO A PORT AUTHORITY, BOTH CAN ASSUME EACH OTHER'S ROLES TO SOME DEGREE. I THINK A PORT AUTHORITY HAS A LITTLE BIT MORE as it relates to infrastructure and waterways than what an EDA would, but from an economic development standpoint and general business support, both have a lot of similarities and can assume certain roles. Both have similar and different bonding and tax authorities. Both can focus on intended purposes per state statute. So the port, if we were to create an EDA, the port can focus on the industrial warehousing and major infrastructure for larger development projects, while the EDA can focus on redevelopment, economic development, and again, mid to market rate housing. Right now, we've been seeing the Port Authority really stepping up and helping out with some downtown redevelopment and other activities that would typically be done by an EDA. But in part, that's just because there's been that lacking or that assumption that they were one and the same, to which they're not. Another thing that we should look at as we go through this that's kind of a wild card that can play in and out of an EDA or an HRA, but probably not so much the port, is the creation of a local housing trust fund. It can also be purely city set aside. But we can establish this fund to open certain bonding and spending opportunities for housing. You can use TIF pooling as a way to help fund it. You can use donations, whether that would be donations from the HRA, the EDA, the port, or even businesses. And you can also generate income from properties for a local housing trust fund. Certain activities can be first time home buyer assistance, forgivable loans to match grant programs, one of the issues we have with the small communities development program. is there's a requirement of a match for, like owner-occupied, there's still a grant match requirement, or the $25,000 isn't gonna get much. You might need siding and a roof or windows and a roof. Well, at 25,000, you're getting one. You're not getting both. So certain activities within the Local Housing Trust Fund can also be used to help push those projects through to completion or create matches as needed. You can also do education on housing matters, pay for educational programs and when you help people get into a home. And also they can develop properties to meet specific goals. While we did not bond for the two houses we were building, one of the barriers that had always kept coming up is, well, why isn't the city going to necessarily build on some of these lots and push some development forward? THE BIGGEST ISSUE I HAD IS THAT I DIDN'T FEEL THAT LEGALLY THE CITY, AS AN AGENCY, WITHOUT ESTABLISHING EVA, LOCAL HOUSING TRUST FUND OR GOING THROUGH THE HRA, WHICH THAT WOULD THEN FORCE IT MORE INTO THE LOW-INCOME SIDE, FOR BONDING, WE WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO DO IT WITHOUT THOSE ESTABLISHED AUTHORITIES OR PROGRAMS. There was not a very clear method of bonding, but we did have excess revenue that we had put aside in a fund and had been able to use that fund instead, which was perfectly legal. We just didn't have, as long as we didn't borrow for it. So an EDA startup is that we'd be looking at June 22nd. We'd have to hold a public hearing first. So we'd have to publish. So just what I would need from the council today is if you wish to continue this discussion and look at doing it. Again, we're not committing ourselves to actually spending any money or levying anything at this point, but we're at least getting the foundation set up so that way if ever needed, it would be there. We'd establish the EDA on June 22nd. We would hold our first meeting after the council session. The city council becomes the EDA board until a new board is established, keeping, again, two to three members of the council, depending upon which other board we wish to mimic. At that point, I would be the interim EDA director, but there wouldn't be a whole lot going on than what I'm already doing at this point. City clerk would be interim EDA secretary, which is a requirement and would basically take minutes for the meeting. And the city finance director is interim EDA treasurer. I don't know if those are the exact specific terms. I'd have to go back to see what they have to be officially called, but Essentially, that would be the startup for taking minutes and tracking any potential activities legally. Through to December 26th, Council along with the Port and HRA, this is the difficult part. We will need to find a way to sit, meet, and establish expectations, authorities, and communicate the structure of all of this. I think that there's been great strides between the city and the port. I wish things were better communicated and aligned between the city and the HRA and the HRA and the port as a matter of more, I don't want to say seamless, but feels a bit more seamless in the structure. And then also for the Local Housing Trust Fund, at some point we would be looking at establishing that and its structure and the management to be determined. But I think that that can go, the Local Housing Trust Fund can be either managed by the EDA, that would be established in that board and the staff assigned by that. HRA that board and the staff assigned by that or the City Council directly in itself but all of this given all the various different powers yet the nuances that go into redevelopment into housing development into economic development have been sort of divided up among these three different structures and So like many municipalities, they'll have an HRA and they'll have an EDA, but it'll be the same staff under the city that basically operate both, even if they have separate boards, and the boards are made up differently. that allows for there to be more input from other sources than just the same elected officials, and more oversight more broadly across the board, but still then relies on some of the very same resources that already do audits, that already do payroll, that already do accounts receivable, et cetera. So that's why a lot of them are structured that way. BUT I'M NOT LOOKING AT MAKING THOSE, ASKING THE COUNCIL MAKE THOSE DETERMINATIONS TODAY OR EVEN ON THE 22ND. I'M JUST SAYING THAT I WOULD LIKE US TO OFFICIALLY ESTABLISH THE EDA AND THEN START WORKING ON THAT SETUP AND THOSE FINAL ALIGNMENTS AND HOW EVERYTHING IS SET UP MOVING FORWARD. we are to meet that July 1st deadline. If the council so wishes to at least have the option to have the levy doesn't mean you have to act on it. It just means that you would, you would hold it in your, in your pocket for any other potential future development and having that established.

That's right.

I'm not sure that, uh, Robert's rules of order is the, you know, It's going to allow us to have the free-flowing discussion we maybe need to on this, but it's intriguing. It sounds like the ADA that's being proposed is going to be the connected tissue maybe between the Port Authority and the HRA to do a lot of the things that we want to do with housing. It's intriguing. I just don't know any of the expenses or anything like that. It's tough to have that conversation, but when do we have to decide? That would be my question. June 22nd.

Well, we don't have to decide on anything budget related or even project related. We just have to say we are establishing the authority to which the council would temporarily be until all of this gets worked out, would just temporarily be the EDA board. So we would meet and we would make the appointments And then at that point, if the council so wish to at least do the resolution on establishing a potential levy, even if we don't actually issue a levy for that for 27, but we at least have that option as we discuss this, that would be available. So again, all of this is just setting it up as a possibility. WE COULD HAVE IT SET UP AND IT COULD BE 18 MONTHS BEFORE WE ACTUALLY OFFICIALLY EVEN HAVE ANY ACTIVITY GOING ON, LET'S SAY WITH AN EDA. BUT I THINK ONE THING THAT'S MISSING IS WE'RE NOT FINDING VERY CLEAR ESTABLISHMENT ON CERTAIN ACTIVITIES THAT ARE ALLOWED TO A LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNIT THAT ARE ESTABLISHED IN THE EDA. and I don't think we have that officially designated. I think we've just sort of assumed, and people have been kind of blending some roles, and it would be nice to get that cleaned up.

Your Honor.

Councilor Herman.

A question for Ian. Ian, you said, you know, the overly economic development that we have now, the Port Authority doesn't have the needed authority to do what needs to be done. Would it be easier to fix that versus building a new one? City Manager?

I think that because of the way some things are divided up, even if it might be the exact same actors and the exact same board, there would still just need to be a slight separation on audits and budget. And the reason being is because they do have different levying authorities and they have two different bonding authorities as a result. And it's because of how the state has broken that up One of the other things that can be done is that the council could say, we have established the EDA. Then you can turn around and say, now that we've established the EDA, we are now going to basically ask Alita to be the managers of this in doing these roles, and to which then you would simply mirror the EDA board to reflect exactly that of the Port Authority, I believe is one potential option. outcome. But there are many different ones. You could also do the same thing with the HRA. You could do that. You could technically also bring all three into one, too, as well. But the establishment of the EDA and at least having separate minutes AND A SEPARATE AUDIT AND BUDGET REALLY COMES DOWN TO BONDING AUTHORITIES AND LEVY AUTHORITIES AND THOSE POWERS WITHIN FOR HOW THOSE ARE USED.

COUNCILOR CHRISTIANSON.

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR. SO, ALIDA AND THE EDA WOULD HAVE DIFFERENT POWERS, EVEN IF THE EDA WAS MANAGED BY ALIDA. IS THAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID?

HYPOTHETICALLY, YES.

And the same goes for if it was managed by the city, correct?

Correct.

Or the HRA?

Correct. It still stems from the council and its final decision of who they assign. And I believe with Under the scenarios where a lot of cities have the EDA and the HRAs basically run by city staff every year, you basically have to do an agreement that you are supplying the HRA and the EDA with city staff. I don't know how that would work exactly with the port, but I do know that hypothetically that is also possible. In all the different scenarios I had run, I do believe that that also is a possibility. So I think the more that we can make certain things tightened up and connected and we're not too siloed from each other, the better our communication can be and our coordination can be. But in the end, it's still gonna have to stem from the council on all three. The council has to say, we want to know what your plans are, what your budget is. The council has to then go, how is this aligning and is there overlap or whatever with the other agencies? It still does come down to the council because you ultimately are the authority that does oversee it via appointment. The port budget does not have to be approved by the council. The levy for the HRA has to be approved by the council, to which there should be presentations on, but the EDA budget does have to be approved by the council. If I'm recalling my sheet of slight differences between them all.

So that the EDA has to be, they have to take care of the account. Am I understanding this right? THE CITY CAN?

THEY WOULD BE, LET'S JUST SAY IF YOU WERE TO MAKE THEM COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT FROM THE CITIES, CITY STAFF, THEY WOULD OPERATE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN LIKE THE HRA AND THE PORT AUTHORITY. I BELIEVE THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM IS THAT ALL BONDING HAS TO COME TO THE CITY COUNCIL, SAME AS THE HRA. BUT THE PORT DOESN'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO, DEPENDENT UPON THE TYPE OF BOND THEY USE. And as for the levy, the port doesn't necessarily have to come to the council unless if it's over a certain amount. The EDA and the HRA have to come to the council with the levy amount if they wish to levy at all. And the budget of the EDA, even if it's a $10 budget for business cards, that budget still has to be approved by the council.

Councilor Baker. Say this moves forward, and then we look at, we get it all settled as to who's going to be the governing body, whether the city's overseeing it, whether it's the Port Authority or Alita. As far as the levy is concerned, since the HRA does a levy, and the EDA would have to have a levy. If we do this right, I think there would be a way where we could combine, can we combine the one levy for development and that way you're not gonna have to have two separate levies, which you can maybe save some money, you know what I'm saying, by a percentage, or whatever. Or is that not possible?

That is...

Tackle that one.

Yeah, Your Honor. No, that is not legal, not only that, but they serve slightly different purposes as a result, so... you would not want to necessarily mix that. If we were only concerned about the operations of, let's say, a local housing trust fund, you would be able to use either the port or the EDA, and there wouldn't be any need for combining, because you could just have one do it all. But if you're going to start talking about living for, like, let's say a parking ramp, I believe that you would have to use the EDA levy if you were to then start using levy money to pay for a public parking ramp or parking installation as opposed to the HRA. I could be wrong on the example, but I know there are a few examples where there are differences in what you can spend money on. So...

Your Honor, I have a question. Commissioner Christensen.

Thank you. So I agree with Councilor Anderson. We are really focused on housing here and so to me the idea sounds appealing. Do you need an expression of interest from us tonight so that you can publish an announcement in advance of the June 22nd meeting or what's the next step?

If you have an interest in having the public hearing and potentially considering the establishment, then I would like to know because before next meeting we would have to get the notice sent to the paper and then publish so we can meet the 10-day period before the meeting on the 22nd. So that's That's basically what I'm trying to gauge here is one, some introduction. Two, if there's some general interest, at least looking into this further, we should at least hold that hearing on the 22nd. If we're not ready to take immediate action... which would, you know, to establish a levy for 27, that part can get held off and we can continue having discussion before any authorization is created as well. I know I've been working on this for a while, but I wanted to get some confirmation from Ehlers, from a city attorney, as well as also from Taft, our finance attorneys, our bonding attorneys, as to some of the nuances because leave it to Minnesota to make something complicated. And basically that's kind of what we're wading through here to make sure we have all the arrows in our quiver, whether it's fixing up blighted properties, creating new housing, or even potentially new economic development opportunities in the community.

Councilor Herman. Yes, this is for Ian. Ian, I'm new to this, so maybe this is a silly question, but would the ADA be able just to put a levy, a tax on people without bringing it to them, or they just have automatic levy authority?

City Manager?

The EDA is limited, just as the HRA is. There's a slight difference in the amount. The EDA has a slightly lower levy cap. THAN THE HRA BUT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN THE TWO IS THE EDA ACTUALLY HAS TO BRING THE BUDGET BEFORE THE COUNCIL OR LET ME ACTUALLY YES WHETHER IT'S THE SAME ORGANIZATION OR NOT YOU STILL OFFICIALLY HAVE TO SEE THE EDA BUDGET AND APPROVE THEIR LEVY BASED ON THEIR BUDGET THAT HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO YOU IN IN DECEMBER AS A FINAL JUST THE SAME AS YOU DO THE CITY'S BUDGET So there is that oversight from the city council, same as there's oversight from the city council on the HRA levy. Not necessarily the budget in and of itself, but definitely the levy portion and what they're budgeting for the levy. And then as for the port, though, the port does have a great deal of independence up to, .01812 of our valuation, so it's like 270, 300,000, somewhere around there, that they could levy without, to this day, without council approval. What they can't do is they can't do a general obligation bond which could tie itself to the city without council approval. And typically, it's been a very good working relationship. They haven't done that in any TIF agreements. They've always gone through the city at this point. And the city's ultimate authority over the port is through its appointment process.

Thank you. Councilor Baker. I would like to see this thing go forward. I think there's enough interest in it in the different parties throughout the community that I think it's at least something we could go forward and approve. And then as we're working it out, for some reason, we just decide we don't want to, and then we can just abandon it. But I think we need to take the first steps and really look at this. And I know you've addressed this, but I just want to caution that when we do this, we do it in a way where it doesn't look like a takeover. You know, one entity takes over another entity, and people get... upset and stuff like that. I just think we need to work really well together. And being as long as I'm the chair on the HRA board, I will work really hard and I will push the executive director to start communicating better so she can have an idea of what we are really trying to do. Sometimes I think she doesn't really see the whole picture. I mean, she sees the other side of the HR, she's really good, she does that well. But this side of it, we need to kind of move her toward understanding a little bit better.

I KNOW COUNCILOR ANDERSON HAS BEEN WANTING TO SAY SOMETHING, BUT IN QUICK RESPONSE TO THAT, THAT REALLY ALSO ULTIMATELY COMES FROM THE CITY COUNCIL. CITY COUNCIL HAS TO BE THE ONE IN SOME WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM THAT PULLS ALL OF THIS TOGETHER WHERE THERE'S VERY CLEAR UNDERSTANDING AND PLANNING BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT AGENCIES. SO EVEN IF WE'RE NOT USING NECESSARILY THE SAME STAFF OR WE'RE NOT USING CITY STAFF UNDER ONE GENERAL UMBRELLA OR ONE OTHER ORGANIZATION HAS JUST CONSUMED IT ALL. AND LET'S SAY THEY REMAIN WHOLLY AND SEPARATE. THE CONNECTING PIECE IS GOING TO BE THE CITY COUNCIL ON THAT POINT. SO THE CITY COUNCIL WILL BE THE ONE THAT HAS TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S STAYING INFORMED ON WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE HRA, AND THEN DIRECTING THAT THE HRA AND THE CITY, THE PORT AUTHORITY, EDA, OR WHATEVER THE MIXTURE IS, NEEDS TO BE SITTING DOWN AND COMING UP WITH A REGULAR PLAN. on what we're gonna move forward on and how we're going to do it. That needs to be established and it needs to be stuck to once it is established.

Mr. Anderson.

Your Honor.

I think everybody's eyes that was listening is glazing over with all these abbreviations and stuff. But I think what the public really wants to know is that we're talking about establishing, spending a bunch of new money. And I don't think that's what you're talking about. I want to just clarify for that, for the people that have still stuck with us through the end of this conversation. You're taking some of the HRA's redevelopment authority, maybe that's diminished a little bit, some of that money, some of the money that we spend, the Port Authority, Alita, and you're kind of funneling it all into one thing that can actually do more good with it. Is that kind of what we're talking about here? It's not gonna be a bunch of new taxes, because we keep using the word levy.

City Manager?

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF WAYS IN WHICH THE COUNCIL CAN PROCEED WITH THIS. MY RECOMMENDATION IN THE BEGINNING WOULD BE TAKING THOSE THINGS THAT THE CITY IS CURRENTLY DOING AND ASSIGNING IT TO, IF WE ARE TO ESTABLISH AN EDA LEVY, ASSIGNING IT TO THE EDA. AND HERE'S WHY. ONE, THEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO BACK AND CONTINUE TO DO IT. BUT TWO, IT ACTUALLY FEELS CLEANER BY DOING THAT AUTHORITY. AS AN EXAMPLE, we do have the authority to provide to the Freeborn Promise Scholarship. BUT A PORT AUTHORITY LEVY OR A CITY'S EDA LEVY COULD ALSO BE USED TOWARDS THAT. WE HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE GRANT MONEY TO DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENTS THROUGH THE BROADWAY RIDGE GRANT PROGRAM. WE ARE CURRENTLY USING CITY LEVY FOR THAT. THAT IS SOMETHING WHERE AN EDA LEVY COULD ALSO BE USED FOR THAT. SO I WOULD NOT NECESSARILY RECOMMEND ANY KIND OF NEW SPENDING WITHOUT A VERY very public and thoroughly discussed project what I would only recommend is that what we're currently doing if we were to establish anything at least for the 27 year it would be something that would directly come off the city levy and be put on that because the boundaries are exactly the same and and that's something we just need to keep in mind it doesn't it doesn't expand beyond BUT THE NUMBER ONE GOAL, THOUGH, IS TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THOSE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES FOR WHEN THE TIME COMES TO DO A PROJECT, WE CAN DO THOSE PROJECTS, OR IT REQUIRES OUR ASSISTANCE, WE CAN PROVIDE THAT ASSISTANCE, AND THAT'S REALLY THE MAIN GOAL THAT I'M LOOKING AT IN ADDITION TO A GREATER COORDINATION OF EFFORT TO THE WHOLE YOU KNOW, BRINGING IN NEW JOBS AND DEVELOPMENT THROUGH A NEW INDUSTRIAL PARK AND WAREHOUSING, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THAT IS AT A PREMIUM AND WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH. HOUSING, AGAIN, WE KNOW WE DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH, BUT WE NEED BOTH LOW INCOME, THAT'S NEVER GOING TO GO AWAY, AND WE NEED MARKET RATE. THAT ALSO IS NEVER GOING TO GO AWAY. WE NEED BOTH THOSE AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN. AND SO THAT'S WHERE THESE AUTHORITIES COMBINED AND THESE EFFORTS COMBINED AND FOCUSED REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Any other comments or questions?

The last follow-up question to that would be that if the council votes to establish an EDA, we could obviously vote to unestablish it if the water feels like it's getting too deep for us.

Correct.

Thank you.

Other questions, comments by the council? I've got a couple points. So as the main reason we have a July 1st deadline is so that we could establish a levy if we wanted to this year. Other than that, we could wait.

That would be the only reason to push it on the 22nd. Otherwise, it could go further out into July or August with more discussion. BUT I THINK REALLY WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, THE REAL DISCUSSION OF ESTABLISHING THIS AND WHAT DO WE DO IS GOING TO COME DOWN TO MEETING WITH PORT, HRA, CITY ALL TOGETHER AND REALLY LIKE THROUGH A STRATEGIC SESSION REALLY WORK OUT THESE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE.

Now, did I hear you say this or did I just make it up in my mind that you said if we were gonna do something through the EDA, there would possibly be some reduction in the city levy if the EDA is taking over certain aspects of what the city is doing already?

Correct, where there's been some overlap of authority, if the EDA was to take on that responsibility and levy for that, then we could then take that off of the city's responsibility and out of the city's budget and it would remain in the EDA. And typically, and this is where a lot of other communities where they do some of these programs for rehabilitation of let's say buildings or they do challenges for businesses taking over a building and rehabbing it, often it's their economic development authority that's actually providing that and they levy for those funds in order to provide that assistance.

AND LASTLY, YOU DON'T ANTICIPATE, NO, NOT LASTLY, I GOT TWO MORE. YOU DON'T ANTICIPATE US HIRING ANOTHER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR THIS ORGANIZATION. THIS WOULD BE MELDED INTO WHAT WE HAVE OUT THERE ALREADY OR RUN THROUGH THE CITY, ONE OR THE OTHER, SO WE'RE NOT ADDING TWO ADDITIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS.

I THINK IT'S GOING TO DEPEND UPON THE COLLECTIVE WHAT WE FIGURE OUT WHAT WE NEED TO DO AND WHAT THE PRIORITIES ARE AND WHETHER WE HAVE THE PEOPLE IN PLACE TO DO IT OR NOT. THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON. AND THERE'S GOING TO HAVE TO BE A LOT OF DISCUSSION WITH THOSE OTHER AGENCIES, THOSE OTHER BOARDS ABOUT WHO'S GOING TO DO WHAT AND THEREFORE WHAT IS THAT GOING TO LOOK LIKE FOR WORKLOAD BEFORE WE EVEN HAVE A DISCUSSION OF WHO'S GOING TO HIRE, WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO.

And lastly, what type of cost are the city going to incur in order to set this EDA up? Because it's not all just free.

We've probably spent a couple hundred bucks on some consulting with attorneys at this point. And then we'll have the cost of publication. After that, depending upon whether we have a budget or not, that would determine whether we have to have an audit or not.

So no major expenses as it stands right now.

No.

Any other questions? I think we've got enough answered for tonight, so thank you for that. Moving along to item nine is the Mayor and Council reports, and tonight we'll start with Councilor Herman. Ward three.

Yes, Your Honor. I dealt with a couple of citizens' complaints about grass. I went to one of the residents' houses and followed up with a call to the police department. They took care of it. I'VE HAD A COUPLE ANIMAL CONTROL CALLS. I AGAIN REACHED OUT TO THE LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER. THEY TOOK CARE OF IT AGAIN. THEY DO AN AWESOME JOB OVER THERE, CHIEF. I ALSO ATTENDED AND VOLUNTEERED AND PARTICIPATED IN THE NATIONS OF PATRIOTS. WE BEGAN AT BURGESSDALE, HARLEY-DAVISON, AND WENT DOWN TO MASON CITY, HARLEY. I DID THE PARK AND REC BOARD MEETING. WE TALKED ABOUT RESTROOMS AT THE NORTH LOT. WE GOT A LITTLE TOUR OF THEM. VERY NICE. VERY NICE. RECEIVED AN UPDATE ON THE POOL, WHETHER IT'S GOING TO GET PAINTED, WHEN IT'S GOING TO GET PAINTED. THEY ANTICIPATE BEING OPEN JUNE 5TH OR 8TH. WE TALKED ABOUT POSSIBLY PUTTING A PORT-A-POTTY AT NEW DENMARK PARK. FOR ALL THE TRAFFIC DOWN THERE. AND DISCUSS THE POSSIBILITIES IN HER PRESENTATION REGARDING AN EDDIE COCHRAN STATUE FOR DOWNTOWN ELVERLY OR POSSIBLY IN A PARK, FALTON PARK, OR FRANK HALL PARK, EXCUSE ME.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. WORD TWO, COUNCILOR BAKER.

Thank you, Your Honor. I really don't have anything. I got a couple things. I don't have any award items right now. But I do have a couple things to talk about. And one is tomorrow we're having an HRA meeting. And we have a lot of things to discuss. Not only it's on our... on our agenda, but also some of the things that we're probably going to bring up the council members that are on that board. And I did talk to Brian at GFY Custom Crafts. They're the ones that are doing the module homes for the HRA and the city. And I know that they have in their price a 30-yard dumpster, and they have $800. That's what they figure for it. Well, I called Frank Thompson of Thompson Sanitation, and I talked to him today to see if there's anything he can do. And he said what he would do is he would, for a 30-yard dumpster, which is about $653, he said he'd give us a price of a 20-yard dumpster, which is... $435, that's a savings of about $218. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it's still, that's money that isn't gonna be, that's taken off the budget that we're trying to build these as least expensive as we possibly can so we can reflect that in when we turn around and sell. and I will get the rest of the information to the city manager so he can talk to her. Her name is Julie at Thompson Sanitation, and she'll help you set it up. With that, that's it, Your Honor. All right, thank you. Ward 1, Councilor Christensen.

Thank you, Your Honor. Not much to report on tonight. I was happy this weekend to see so many people out and about enjoying the trails, enjoying the lake. It's good to be in this season again. And then finally, I just want to say, be a good neighbor. Do what you can to... MAKE SURE THAT YOUR ACTIONS ARE BEING CONSIDERED OF OTHERS, AND ALSO GIVE THOUGHT TO WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP OTHERS WHO MAY NEED IT. THANK YOU.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. WORD SIX, COUNCILOR ANDERSON.

YOUR HONOR, I ATTENDED THE GRACELAND CEMETERY IN A PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY, I GUESS, THE GRACELAND CEMETERY MEMORIAL DAY EVENT. IT'S ALWAYS A VERY MOVING CEREMONY. IF YOU HAVEN'T EVER BEEN OUT THERE BEFORE, YOU SHOULD PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR FOR NEXT YEAR. I also look forward to an HRA meeting. In fact, we'd be sitting at the HRA meeting right now if we didn't have Memorial Day and the council meeting change. So that's tomorrow night. So I'll be able to report on that next time. It should be all right.

Thank you. Ward 5, Councillor Van Beek.

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR. MAY 16TH, I ATTENDED THE NATION OF PATRIOTS. I'D LIKE TO, A LITTLE OVER 200 MOTORCYCLES. IT'S THE LARGEST KICKOFF IN NATION OF PATRIOTS' HISTORY. I'D LIKE TO THANK THE MAYOR FOR SPEAKING AND OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS AND CITY STAFF THAT HELPED MAKE THIS SUCH A GREAT Success, ALPD, Everly Fire Department, and the local sheriff's department did a fantastic job. Herding 200 motorcycles out of town is no small feat. It was absolutely flawless and great feedback. WEDNESDAY, MAY 20th, I HAD A LIBRARY MEETING. WE REVIEWED THE 2025 ANNUAL REPORT. ONE OF THE BIGGEST SUCCESSES THAT I SEEN WAS GROWTH IN THE KIDS, TEENS, AND TWEENS ATTENDANCE AND PROGRAMMING. I THINK THAT'S HUGE. THAT'S NO SMALL FEED IF YOU WORK WITH TEENAGERS OR HAVE WORKED WITH TEENAGERS. THAT'S LIKE HERDING CATS. SO, AND THEN THIS PAST FRIDAY, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE A PART OF THE GRADUATION PARTY. I WAS ONE OF THE BLACKJACK DEALERS, AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, IT WAS A BLAST TO SEE SO MANY TEENAGERS HAVING FUN, AND YOU KNOW THAT THEY WERE GOING TO GET HOME SAFE. SO, UPCOMING STUFF, Housing Redevelopment Authority. Eddie Cochran weekend's coming up. That's a four-day weekend just packed. Hope to see many people out there. And then just one other item of note coming up is another local organization that I'm part of. It's called Ride for Heroes. They have their annual ride on June 20th of this year going out of Clarks Grove. And all those funds stay here to help our local veterans. So no word items to report this time. All right, thank you. Thank you. WORD FORWARD, COUNSELOR WOLSON.

YEAH, I HAD AN AIRPORT ADVISORY MEETING, WENT PRETTY WELL, JUST A LITTLE FOR THE MOST PART, JUST DID A LOT OF HOUSEKEEPING STUFF. ONE OF THE BIG EVENTS OUT THERE LAST WEEKEND WAS A GLIDER COMPETITION. THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF A WEATHER ISSUE. THEY WERE EXPECTING IN THE 40s OR 50 GLIDERS, BUT I THINK IT ENDED UP BEING 22 GLIDERS WERE IN TOWN. AND THESE PEOPLE THAT ARE COMING FROM WYOMING, NEW YORK, OKLAHOMA, ALL COMING. And if you play so high at a local event like we were having, then they go on to a national level competition. So airport brought in, you know, at a minimum of 20 some people in a town, and they really like our airport. These people come here every couple years when we have the competition. They're very thankful that our airport is close to fast food, close to gas stations, real close to the hotels so they're not, you know, when you get up in the morning, they're not driving across town or a half hour to get to a place where they can have a competition. And a lot of these people will come back just for A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE COME BACK JUST TO SAIL AROUND OUR AREA. THEY REALLY THINK IT'S BEAUTIFUL, ESPECIALLY FROM THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN THE DESERT COMMUNITIES. SO A LOT OF GLIDERS COME IN AND OUT OF HERE. AND WE GOT TO DO A LITTLE TOUR, WENT AND LOOKED AT SOME OF THOSE THINGS. It's a pretty tight fit in those gliders. They look big when they're up there, but don't have a whole lot of room to move. That's it for that. Another thing, there's a new baseball team in town called the Albert Lee Express. It's full of mostly boys in their early 20s. It's a new amateur team kind of taken over from when we had the Colonels years and years ago, which I was kind of looking at the boys that were playing and kind of remembering back when I was playing for the Colonels and always remembered what a good time we had doing that. And my boys on the team, so it was really fun to watch them. And as we did earlier today, the Mooseville PE, we did approve their liquor license, so I believe they're just gonna have some beers out there. So if you see people out at that park on Wednesday nights or Sunday afternoons, it's probably a town team baseball game and some of our best and brightest of our youth are out there playing. So if you get a chance, make a game. Nation of Patriots, I went walking down a few blocks from my area. Me and my boy were walking down with lawn chairs and walked by a few neighbors, just asked them what we were doing. It's like, oh, it's got the big bike rally, so... I BET I GOT A DOZEN PEOPLE DOWN, KIND OF SAT ON THE CORNER, AND WE KIND OF WATCHED THEM COME FLYING BY, AND EVERYONE'S WAVING, HAVING A GOOD TIME. AND WE WERE ALL TRYING TO GUESS HOW MANY PEOPLE. WE WERE SAYING 150 TO MAYBE 300 ON THE HIGH SIDE, BUT YOU COULD HAVE KNOWN IT WAS A LITTLE OVER 200. And my wife, who was very involved in the after prom party, wanted me to thank. He said he was wonderful and all the kids really, really enjoyed his shenanigans at the blackjack table. So that's it. I just wanted to get that out in case I forgot to thank you after the meeting.

Thank you.

THAT'S IT, YOUR HONOR.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. OVER THE PAST COUPLE WEEKS, I'VE MET WITH THE EDDIE COCHRAN COMMITTEE A COUPLE TIMES ABOUT GETTING A STATUTE PLACED EITHER DOWNTOWN SOMEWHERE OR IN THE PARK DOWN BY THE POOL. AND THEN ALSO ON THE 14TH, I WAS ABLE TO GO DOWN TO THE OATMILL, AND I DID A DOCUMENTARY WITH LANDON FLIGGY, THE GUY THAT IS STARTING THE OATMILL. THAT WILL BE OUT. I'M SURE IT WILL BE QUITE A MOVIE. IT WILL PROBABLY BE AWARDS AND ALL SORTS OF STUFF. SO WE'LL SEE. BUT WE HAD A GOOD TIME DOING IT. SO THAT WAS GREAT. ON THE 15TH, I WENT DOWN AND MET WITH KATE RADIO AND DID A LITTLE TALK FOR THE FIREWORKS. THE CHAMBER WAS OUT THERE RAISING MONEY ALL DAY LONG. I THINK THEY RAISED SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS. IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO THIS YEAR'S FIREWORKS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO THAT. PLEASE REACH OUT TO THE CHAMBER. AND THEN ALSO ON THE 15TH, I WENT DOWN AND WELCOMED THE NEW OWNERS OF MARTIN'S BIKE SHOP, JUSTIN AND SARAH BOLINGER. SO GLAD TO HAVE THEM TAKE THAT OVER. THE MARTIN'S BICYCLE SHOP HAS BEEN A HUGE PART OF THIS COMMUNITY FOR AS MANY YEARS AS I CAN REMEMBER, PROBABLY GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE 80s, MAYBE EVEN TO THE 70s. BUT THEY'VE DONE A GREAT JOB, SO IT WAS NICE TO SEE JUSTIN AND SARAH JUMP IN THERE AND BUY THAT AND CONTINUE THAT ON. AND I LEFT WITH TWO BIKES, SO I DID MY PART, SO. ANYWAY, AND THEN ON THE 15TH, ALSO THAT AFTERNOON, I WENT TO THE COURTHOUSE AND THEY, PUT THE NEW JUDGE IN FOR THE THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT. SO THEY GAVE HER THE OATH OF OFFICE AND PUT HER IN PLACE. AND THEN ALSO ON THE 16TH, ALONG WITH A FEW OTHERS HERE, I ATTENDED THE LEGION RIDERS EVENT OUT AT BURGDALE HARLEY-DAVISON. AND THANK YOU FOR HOSTING US OUT THERE. THAT WAS WONDERFUL. ANY TIME YOU CAN GET TOGETHER WITH HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF VETERANS AND PEOPLE THAT WANT TO HELP TAKE CARE OF VETERANS, I'M IN. AND SO THAT WAS VERY NICE TO SEE. WE HAD A GREAT TIME OUT THERE, A BEAUTIFUL DAY, AND I THINK EVERYBODY ENJOYED THEMSELVES. ON THE 18TH, MONDAY NIGHT, I WENT OUT TO THE UBERLEY HIGH SCHOOL AND ENJOYED A CONCERT CHOIR WITH, I THINK, FOUR OR FIVE DIFFERENT CHOIRS OUT THERE. SO THAT WAS FUN TO SEE OUR YOUNG PEOPLE WORKING VERY HARD. AND THAT WAS A LOT OF FUN. ATTENDED A COUPLE OF LEEDA UPDATE MEETINGS AND THEN ALSO THE EDA MEETING THAT THE CITY MANAGER AND ELLERS PUT ON, JUST THE DISCUSSION OF THIS EDA. AND THEN ALSO ATTENDED A MEETING ON THE 20th WITH THE CITY MANAGER AND A FEW OTHER PEOPLE REGARDING A GROUP CALLED HOUSING THE ASTRA COMMONS, IS THAT RIGHT? ASTRA COMMONS. ASTRA COMMONS, YEAH. THEY'RE LOOKING AT DEVELOPING HOUSING, AND SO WE ENTERTAINED THEM FOR AN AFTERNOON, AND I GAVE THEM A GOOD SHOW AROUND ALBERT LEE TO SHOW THEM WHAT WE HAD, AND SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL HEAR SOMETHING BACK FROM THEM AS FAR AS THE FUTURE OF HOUSING AND THEIR PART IN IT. AND THEN ON THE 21ST, I HAD ONE OF THE BEST DAYS. I HAD A LOT OF GOOD DAYS, BUT THIS WAS REALLY A FUN ONE. I GOT TO GO OUT TO THE ADULT EDUCATION AT THE BROOKSIDE SCHOOL AND LISTEN TO the graduation of a bunch of English second learner. They said they had 319 people come through that program this year. Also, there were several people that earned their GED over the past year. So really exciting to see that and just listen to them. And people that couldn't speak any English got up and they gave a little talk for four or five sentences and they did a nice job. And I was just very impressed with it. The most impressive part, I HAD A GAL THAT GOT UP THAT GOT HER GED, AND SHE DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL IN 2013, HAD A COUPLE KIDS, NEVER GOT BACK, AND SHE WROTE A SPEECH THAT SHE GAVE AT THIS. AND SHE FIRST ADDRESSED, MAYOR MURRAY, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY. AND I'M THINKING, HOW DOES SHE KNOW ME? I'VE NEVER MET THIS GAL. WELL, AFTERWARDS, I ASKED HER, SHE SAID, WELL, I WENT TO THE CITY WEBSITE TO MAKE SURE I KNEW WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE. AND SHE TALKED FOR ABOUT FIVE MINUTES. AND SHE DID A FANTASTIC JOB. AND SO THIS GAL IS GOING TO GO A LONG WAY. SO GLAD TO SEE THAT. WE HAD A LOT OF FUN THERE. PENNY YONKEY AND STAFF DO A GREAT JOB WITH THAT PROGRAM. AND THEN I WAS ALSO ABLE TO ATTEND A FEW BOYS AND GIRLS TRACK AND SOFTBALL SECTIONS, BIG NINE, THINGS OF THAT NATURE. SO IT WAS FUN TO BE OUT SEEING OUR HIGH SCHOOLERS WRAPPING UP THEIR SEASONS HERE. ATTENDED GRADUATION ON THE 22ND, AND I WAS NOT IN THE BLACKJACK ROOM, BUT I WAS IN THE BINGO ROOM. SO I GOT TO CALL BINGO FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS, AND THE KIDS WERE HAVING FUN. WE HAD A GOOD TIME THERE. THAT'S A GREAT PROGRAM, AND YOU'RE RIGHT. KEEP THOSE KIDS SAFE FOR THE EVENING, GIVE THEM SOME ACTIVITIES. AND WE HAD A GOOD TIME INTERACTING WITH THEM, SO THAT WAS GREAT. AND THEN MEMORIAL DAY EVENTS, I WENT DOWN TO THE COURTHOUSE FOR THE EVENT THERE, AND THEN ALSO OUT TO THE CEMETERY WHERE I SAW COUNSELOR ANDERSON, AND THAT WAS A VERY NICE PROGRAM. SO IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN OUT TO THAT, GET OUT NEXT YEAR. ALWAYS A GREAT THING TO HONOR OUR VETERANS AND HONOR THOSE VETERANS THAT SACRIFICED ALL FOR US SO THAT WE CAN HAVE THE FREEDOMS THAT WE ENJOY. AND THEN JUST LASTLY, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BOYS TRACK TEAM. THEY MADE IT TO STATE THIS YEAR, SO THAT WAS GOOD TO SEE. THEY DID A NICE JOB. A COUPLE ACTIVITIES COMING UP OVER THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS HERE. THORNCRAST CLASSIC CAR SHOW IS THIS THURSDAY, MAY 28TH, FROM 4 P.M. TO 7 P.M. AT 1201 GARFIELD AVENUE. COME ON OUT, ENJOY THE CLASSIC CARS, MUSIC, AND FOOD. ON THURSDAYS ON FALTON, THURSDAYS ON FALTON START UP THIS THURSDAY, MAY 28TH, AT FALTON LAKE PARK, STARTING AT 5.30 P.M. THE BAND, PLANE WILL BE VATOS POR VIDA. COME EARLY AND ENJOY FOOD FROM AREA FOOD TRUCKS IN THE NORTH BROADWAY PARKING LOT, AND DON'T FORGET TO BRING YOUR LONG CHAIRS. THIS WILL BE GOING ON ALL SUMMER, SO GET OUT AND ENJOY IT EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT UP IN THE PARK AREA THERE. WE HAVE SOME GREAT TIMES THERE WITH A LOT OF FUN BANDS. FREEBORN COUNTY LAY FOR LIFE IS FRIDAY, JUNE 5TH AT THE FREEBORN COUNTY FAIRGROUND STARTING AT 6 PM. FOLLOW THIS EVENT ON THEIR EVENT PAGE FOR MORE DETAILS. AND IT SHOULD BE A LOT OF FUN. COME ON OUT, SUPPORT OUR RELAY FOR LIFE TEAM, HEADED UP BY COUNSELOR ANDERSON, WHO'S DONE A FANTASTIC JOB PUTTING ALL THIS TOGETHER. SO THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT. AND THEN LASTLY, TAKE A KIT FISHING EVENT IS SATURDAY, JUNE 6TH. FROM 8 AM TO 12 NOON, LOCATED AT EDGEWATER PARK. THE FOUNTAIN LAKE SPORTSMAN CLUB IS SPONSORING THE EVENT, AND FISHING POLES AND BAIT WILL BE HANDED OUT IN THE PARKING LOT NEAREST THE FISHING PIER. KIDS CAN FISH ANYWHERE ALONG THE SHORELINE. SO A LOT OF NEAT ACTIVITIES COMING UP. I THINK A COUPLE PEOPLE MENTIONED EDDIE COCHRAN WEEKEND, FOUR DAYS. FOR BIG DAY, SO IF YOU SAY YOU DON'T HAVE NOTHING TO DO, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, EDDIE COCHRAN WEEKEND AND ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT. THERE'S A LOT GOING ON IN THE CITY. IT'S ALREADY STARTED, AND IT'S GOING TO CONTINUE ON ALL SUMMER LONG. SO GET OUT AND ENJOY IT. WITH THAT, WE'LL MOVE ALONG TO ITEM 10, CITY MANAGER'S REPORT.

THANK YOU, YOUR HONOR. AND AS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE FUNDRAISER FOR RELAY FOR LIFE, IT'S 7 P.M. THAT NIGHT THAT PEOPLE CAN THROW WET SPONGES ON YOU? I'LL BE THERE, TOO, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO DISCLOSE WHEN I'LL BE AVAILABLE FOR THAT. I WILL BE ALSO PARTICIPATING WITH THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION. THEY'RE GOING TO DO A DUNK TANK AT WIND DOWN WEDNESDAY, SO WE'LL BE DOING THAT. SO, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE COME ON BY DURING WIND DOWN WEDNESDAY AND TALK TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEMBERS. And you might see me at some point. Again, I'm not going to disclose exactly which time, but it will be after 5 o'clock. Both events, it will be after 5 o'clock. So swing on by. We'd really appreciate you coming by and seeing what the committee is about and what we're trying to do to help with the community. Uh, legislative event. Uh, I, uh, I got to see the, uh, the Patriots, uh, drive by, but unfortunately I cannot actually go out or participate because I was trying to call legislators across the state and a variety of other people to try to, um, unblock the, uh, sales tax, um, the lack of a local sales tax legislation getting through primarily by one House member. We are going through the budget process currently. As the mayor has said, on the 20th, we met with the developer. I probably spent five and a half hours with them, showing the community, letting them really get a feel for the community. I would say that they walked away very impressed. They really loved our efforts of what we're doing in the downtown. And some of the... innovative things that we've done to help businesses to try to, again, redevelop certain areas that have been struggling historically. Tomorrow, I will have a meeting with our consultant about the strategic plan. I need to get things lined up so that way we can get that moving forward for the council. On July 2nd, we will be open. This city clerk's office will be open until 5 p.m. because that is the final time for anyone filing to run for mayor or city council. So if you have any interest, please stop by the office, pick up your packet, and make sure that you are back here by 5 p.m. on June 2nd to file. And no one on here don't take it as me saying I want anyone to leave or anything, but I'm just making sure legally everyone knows that those are the requirements. Next meeting, we will, next meeting or two, so either the end of June or, I'm sorry, either the beginning or end of June, we will need to be discussing some of our shared services with the county. It turns out that there are certain things that we do need to work out and that I'll need to be presenting to the council. It will have a budgetary impact, but as a matter of equity and fairness, we do have to, have some sort of conversation and agreement on a couple of things moving forward with the county. And then just a reminder, tomorrow school's out. So that means that all times of the day there will be kids out and about enjoying the lake, enjoying the parks, on the street on their bikes. Please be careful. Please pay attention. And let's have a safe summer, everyone. Thank you.

All right. Item 11 is approval of claims. A is a resolution approving claims, and one is a presentation of claims over 25,000. City Manager?

Thank you, Your Honor. We have $25,635 to Doug's Painting and Sandblasting. We have $30,661.86 to Quality Pools, LLC. We have $31,925.66 to GFY Custom Crafts Incorporated for 409 Clark Street and $31,925.66 to GFY Custom Crafts LLC for 915 Autumn Street. We have $37,962.27, the Freebore-Meyer Electric Cooperative for wastewater treatment plant electricity. $45,166.48 to Reinders Incorporated for Catherine Island Fountains. $50,780 to Tenvoord Ford for a 26 Ford Interceptor Police Department. $56,322.08 to H&M Underground Solutions for lead service line replacement. $65,565.53 to BCM Construction for lead service line replacement. $65,830.50 to Bolton & Mink for wastewater treatment plant facility improvements, preliminary engineering. $70,713.03 to Jensen Escavating for 4th and Front Street Basin Project. $100,483 to GFY Custom Crafts Incorporated for 409 Clark Street. $100,483 to GFY Custom Crafts LLC for 915 Autumn Street. $100,562.05 to Bolton Mink for wastewater treatment phosphorus removal design, and $161,104.84 to BCM Construction for Marshall and Sibley reconstruction project.

Council? Move to approve, Your Honor. Motion by Councilor Anderson. Is there a second? Second, Your Honor. Second by Councilor Baker. Any further discussion? HEARING NONE, ALL IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. OPPOSED, NAY. MOTION CARRIES. ITEM 12 IS ADJOURNMENT. MOVE TO ADJOURN, YOUR HONOR. MOTION BY COUNCILOR CHRISTIANSEN. IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND IT, YOUR HONOR. SECOND BY COUNCILOR VAN BEEK. ALL IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE.

AYE.

OPPOSED, NAY. MEETING ADJOURNED.