City Council - Regular Meeting

I'll talk to him tomorrow. We have the morning that afternoon. So, we've got that's like, yo, this is all these things that we've done. options.

Yeah, we went through

a number of people that had just landed. We're taking way too long to do this. Check with us the bike program. I was just like so the nice part is that everything else like you Yeah, pack it. Yes.

Coming in. The nice part is now logging in.

Are you logging in? walking out. So we can This is really

We're waiting on a Zoom link. It'll be just a moment. It's just hard.

Michael's hearing somewhere. That's what she's calling. facilitated everything. seconds. We like

there. He looks like Jessica or Paul. There you go. Did you win? Looks like we're good. I mean, we got him there, Briber. Paul, can you hear us? We can't hear you. Paul,

they're asking. Yes. Paul, I need to see your camera, please.

All right. I just appreciate

there. You going to get him in stereo? Does he activate camera? to proof that it's really him. We're taking off. We got to go. I'm hearing the announcements. This is going much later than we anticipated. What do you got, Bri? Is he on? Mike, do you have your 23 point update ready for us tonight or I'm waiting for the camera? Yes. That's what we needed. Does he know that? There he is. Oh my goodness. Look at that. Look at that guy. All right.

On the road. Can you hear us? Okay. Can you hear us, Paul?

Look confused. Paul, can you hear us? Paul, can you hear us? Can you hear us? Why you're driving? Can you hear him? Can you hear him?

Nick. Technology that works. that. Can you hear us, Paul? It's okay.

We can see you. Can you hear us? No. There's something wrong with this. A lot of reverb. Can you hear them? Well, I can hear her. Somebody talk. Yeah. Yeah. There we go. We can hear you. I'm not here. I'm not here. But he can't hear us. Is that because Paul, can you hear us? Can you hear us? Because our mics are muted. No, you can hear Bri, right? I told Michael to come down here if we can fix this. Great. I'm going to try a new role.

Uh, should we stand for the call meeting goer and please stand if you're able for the pledge of allegiance? They don't want to be muted to the flag of the United States of America to the stand indivisible and justice for all. All right, Bri, roll please. Mayor King, present. Council member at large Austin present. Council member Waller. Council member Baskin. Council member Baskin pres. Council member Postman. Council member Postman. Council member Hely.

Council member Hely. Present. Council member Obama. Council member. Council member Fisher. Council member Fischer. Mayor King. We have a quorum. Seamless so far. Thanks Bri. Um, first agenda is he can mute his or you can mute him until there's a vote or he wants to speak. Right. Is there a way to unmute the city of Austin? Feel like we used to do that back in the day.

Slow down. What speed does it look like he's going at? Mike Woody's over your head. You got it, Bri. Um, I don't know, but sounds like it's all right. It's no reverb anymore. I need you to come down here and fix the mic, please. I don't know what it is. Okay. Well, I need you to come back and fix the mic. We might be done by 10:30 news. It's I can lean back and forth.

Technology. What a wonderful thing. Okay. I can't do that though because if I mute mine, he can't hear us. Let's see if it works. Paul, can you still hear me? Paul, can you hear us? Nope. He can't hear me. And if I turn my mic on my computer, then it echoes. Chief designate Hartman. This is like it all the time. It's what we can expect.

Paul, can you hear us? Can you hear us? See, it doesn't work because

if I mute my laptop, it still doesn't work. still can't hear us. Maybe if you just you mute him. That's where I think where the echo's coming. Echo's coming. He's got his mic off now. Can you still hear us, Paul?

Everybody's microphone is off. Nobody can hear anything. Which microphone do you want on? Close the caption just went on the fuzzy as well. microphones above that are you know the speakers above.

Yeah, but there's a few Come on in. All right. Sorry. No, no, you're in the right place. We're just having technical difficulties. It's not Paul's. It's Mark's. I don't know. Are you Justin? Yes, sir.

You're here for the Poppy reading? Yeah. Scott's got all the stuff, but I don't know where he's at. Okay. I got the I'll have to give that up to you unless you I got the proclamation. So, we're good. It's still on press on for audio. You still got your construction business for conference came from there. Did you think we should? Oh, sure.

Maybe change the speakers to USB. Okay, Paul, can you still hear me? His mic's off. Your mic's okay. Can you hear me, Paul?

He says, "Yeah, but we can't hear him."

The microphones are off. So, he unmuted himself and it doesn't work. Try different.

Can you hear us? Paul, can you hear us? [ __ ] Can you hear us? Can you hear us? See, it's still echoing.

Correct. I just need Let's see what we can do. So, 23 right there.

Sometimes if you yell at it, Paul. Yeah, we got you on the phone in council chambers. We'll let that We'll let that um keep his video up though. Y needs to keep his video on.

Keep your Yeah, keep your video on. Jessica, it's Jessica's phone. Okay. And then just mute mute anything on the team's call. We'll just use the speaker on the phone. Okay. Thank you.

His face.

Still need your video. Paul, can you start your video on Jessica's phone? There we go. There you go. Beautiful. I got you. All right. This is the meeting where we're talking about city government being more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Item 11 topics. It's looking to for a motion approving the agenda as amended. So moved. Second. All in favor? I I opposed. We have to do everything. Oh, because of Paul. Right on. Council member Baskin. I. Council member Posma. I. Council member Hely. I. Council member Obala. I. Council member Fiser. Hi,

Council Member Waller. Council member Atlarge Austin. I motion passes. I think item number one, actually number two, we're going to go in order. We added on that approval of the agenda approving our minutes from our May 4th, 2026 meeting. Need a motion. It's almost second. I'll brief. Council member Baskin I. Council member Posma I. Council member Hely I. Council member Obala I. Council member Fischer I. Council member at large Austin I. Motion passes. Thank you. Moving on to the consent agenda. Uh need a motion. So move.

Is there a second? Second. Bri. Council member Baskin. I. Council member Posma. I. Council member Hely. I. Council member Obala. I council member Fischer I council member at large Austin I motion passes.

Thank you. Moving on to number item number three is proclamations. We have two of them. Public works proclamation which reads whereas the employees of the city of Austin public works department provide essential services that protect public health, safety and quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors throughout the community. And whereas the city of Austin public works department consists of engineering, planning, zoning, building, rental, wastewater treatment, streets, sanitary and storm sewer collection, building maintenance, central garage, airport, and solid waste transfer station. And whereas through Minnesota winter snow removal operations, floods, storm response efforts, community events, and the daily maintenance of streets, infrastructure, wastewater treatment, storm water collection, and public facilities and equipment. Public works employees demonstrate dependable service, professionalism, dedication to the community. And whereas the hard work and commitment of these employees contribute directly to the strength, stability, and continued success of the city of Austin, often through behind-the-scenes efforts that frequently go unnoticed. And whereas the mayor and city council wish to formally recognize and thank all public works employees for their service, dedication, and lasting contributions to the community. Now, therefore, I, Stephen M. Mayor of the city of Austin, Minnesota, do hereby proclaim May 17th to May 23rd, 2026 as National Public Works Week in the city of Austin and encourage all residents to recognize and express appreciation for the employees who work every day to serve our community. National Public Works Week, Stephen M. King. Stephen, congratulations to you and the folks that you work with. And we'll get this proclamation come up for it.

Thank you. Proclamation number two. Uh whereas the annual distribution of buddy poppies by the veterans of foreign wars of the United States has been officially recognized and endorsed by the governmental leaders since 1922. And whereas VFW buddy poppies are assembled by disabled veterans. And the proceeds of this worthy fundraising campaign are used exclusively for the benefit of disabled and needy veterans and the widows and orphans of deceased veterans. And whereas the basic purpose of the annual distribution of buddy poppies by the veterans of foreign wars is eloquently reflected in the desire to honor the dead by helping the living. Now therefore, I Stephen M. King, mayor of the city of Austin, Minnesota, to hereby proclaim May 22nd and 23rd, 2026 as Buddy Poppy days. And I urge all patriotic citiz citizens to wear a buddy poppy uh as mute evidence of our gratitude to the men and women of this country who have risked their lives in defense of the freedoms which we continue to enjoy as American citizens. Justin, you want to come forward for the proclamation, please? Sir,

under public hearings, we have item number four, reviewing a tax abatement application from New Horizon. Craig, uh, thank you, mayor, members, is a tax abatement application. The estimated value of the home is $400,000. It's in Nature's Ridge 3 subdivision. Uh this is on the kind of stub road. Uh 17th street northeast. Uh little 2245 square ft, four bedroomedroom, three bath. I believe this is a spec home. Um so it's nice to see that basement finished and uh substantial value home. Uh this is in conformance with our adopted abatement policy and this is a public hearing.

Anybody from the public wishing to speak on this matter? Hearing none. Council, any questions or comments? Move to approve. Second. Motion in a second. Bri, please. Council member Baskin. Hi. Council member Posma. I. Council member Hely. I. Council member Obala. I. Council member Fischer. Hi. Council member Elar John Austin. I. Resolution passes 6. Thank you, Bri. Moving on under petitions and uh requests. Item number five is a mindot cooperative construction agreement with the resolution approving the mindot construction agreement. Stephen,

this agreement is one that we've talked about previously, but it removes the sound wall that we've talked about. So, this is just regarding the pedestrian bridge that goes over the Cedar River north of I90 from Wildwood Park to Fourth Street Northwest. Uh some details of the agreement indicate that uh there is no cost share from the city on this project. It will be 100% funded uh by the state. The city will be responsible for some routine maintenance after the project is complete. That routine maintenance will be of storm sewers. It'll mean uh keeping the sidewalk and trail and bridge clear of snow and ice during the winter season and also clear of any debris that may uh impact our pedestrians as well as uh if any graffiti or anything like that occurs. So, general routine maintenance that is common for us to do throughout our community. Um, with that, this this project is likely to be bid here in later in May and construction would occur either late fall or into the spring of 2027 and we would recommend approval of this cooperative construction agreement.

Very good. Thank you, Stephen. Uh, council, any questions, Mr. Lang? Otherwise, looking for a resolution approving it. No, thank you for all your work through the variations of the seven approved. Second. Great. Council member Baskin. Hi. Council member Posma. Hi. Council member Hely. I. Council member Obala. I. Council member Fischer. I. Council member at large Austin. I. Resolution passes 6. And Cababria. Item number six is the sale of city equipment. Stephen.

These items identified are part of our 2026 uh vehicle replacement schedule. We have um a tandem a 2006 Sterling tandem dump truck that we plan to sell at Hamilton auction along with a 2011 Ford F-150 and a 2005 Dodge Ram. All of these items, the equipment is either here or it's on order and planned to be here before um before the equipment will be sent off to auction and we'd request council approval for kind of liquidation of this equipment. Very good. Thank you, council. Any questions on this item?

I'm just curious what council members going to make a bet with Stephen for a beverage as is tradition. We'll see what we get for him. Those are losing bets. Yeah, they are. All right. Looking for resolution number seven. So moved. Second. Three. Council member Baskin. I. Council member Posma. I. Council member Hely. I. Council member Obala I. Council member Fischer. I. Council member at large Austin. I. Motion carries.

Thank you. Item number eight is MPCA grant for storm water resilience and looking for resolution approving the WHKS agreement. Stephen after this one. Mayor, can we go back to number seven or Oh, did I do that one? Okay. Sorry. Let's back it up to item number seven. DNR flood hazard mitigation grant. Stephen.

Yes. So, we've talked about this uh acquisition of a couple properties for the past 6 months or so. Uh and now here is the final step before AC final acquisition would occur, which is the um signing of the grant documents. So, before you tonight is a grant in the amount of $490,000 with the DNR. Uh those funds would be paired with local option sales tax dollars to for the purchase, acquisition, uh environmental abatement and demolition of two structures. Those being uh 210 sorry uh I believe it's 210. One second. Let's say 210 4th Street Northeast, the former Tur building and 500 Oakland Avenue East, which is the Studigard Tannon Travel Building. Both of these buildings are susceptible to flood. And this grant is a flood mitigation grant that goes toward um uh buyouts of buildings that are are continuously impacted by flood. So with that, we would recommend approval of this $490,000 grant toward flood acquisition.

Very good. Thank you, Stephen. Council, any questions on a number seven? Looking for a resolution accepting the grant? So moved. Second. Bri, council member Post Baskin. I. Council member Postma. I. Council member Hely. I. Council member Obala. I. Council member Fischer I. Council member at large Austin I. Resolution passes 6. Very good. Now moving on to item number eight. MPCA grant for storm water resilience. Stephen,

we have been successful in applying for and receiving a grant that would go toward studying flood uh options for the Ellis Ditch area. This is this area has been identified in our 5-year CIP for a a complete project that would involve uh looking at flood storage, looking at the Ellis ditch, any any improvements that could possibly occur along there as it as it relates to the movement of water from um out in the county as it comes in uh under the airport and then in through our community. We would also look at any necessary upgrades to sanitary sewer and also some roadway and pavement upgrades. So, a very um complicated multifunctional project and this grant would help uh pay for studying and evaluating recommendations that we would bring back to council for a future 2027 project. Uh so before you tonight is a grant in the amount of $96,581.82 82. That would be paired with uh dollars from our storm water utility district in the amount of $9,658 for a total grant cost of over $100,000. Total project cost, excuse me. Um so what we would do tonight is we would request council approval of this MPCA storm water resiliency grant. And then what we would likely do at the next council meeting is bring back a proposal from WHKS. WHKS will be helping us do these um technical engineering analysis and storm water calculations in this area to come up with designs and and proposals and drafts that we would bring forward in the future. But for now, we request council approval of this MPCA grant.

Very good. Thank you, Stephen. Council, any questions? Looking for resolution? So move second. Three. Council member Baskin. I. Council member Posma. I. Council member Hely. I. Council member Obala. I. Council member Fischer. I. Council member at large Austin. I. Resolution passes 6. Thank you. Item number nine is a request for a variance. Holly.

Yeah. Um, just becoming familiar with our new software. I didn't include as many attachments as I normally do. If you have any feedback on that, just shoot me an email and I'll include more items uh at the next council meeting if you desire.

Um, John and Christy Luna at 10423rd Avenue Southwest in Austin are requesting a variance from city code section 11.031, which allows a maximum of two detached structures with an aggregate square footage of,200 square feet per parcel under one acre in an R1 single family residential district. petitioner has three sheds and a detached garage for a total of 1,236 square feet. All but one of the sheds existed before annexation into the city of Austin. An unpermitted shed was later added to the west side of the house for motorcycle storage. Petitioner requested a variance uh uh for that additional uh garage to the west. The property in question is just under an acre. Uh the variance uh would allow four detached structures total um and increase the aggregate square footage again to 1,236 ft. Um there was a neighbor who came in to discuss it with me. He thought they were adding an additional uh shed to what was already there once he realized it was something that was already existing. He didn't have an issue with it. Um and apparently that was something that was discussed amongst more most of the neighbors. The planning commission considered the surrounding area, the history of the area, the size of the parcel, and the current condition of the property among other items in determining that the variance is in harmony with the general purposes and intent of the zoning ordinance. The variance is consistent with comprehensive plan. The proposal puts the property to use in a reasonable manner, that there are unique circumstances to the property not created by the landowner. That the variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality in which the property is situated. Therefore, the planning commission with five members present recommends that council approve the variance with five A's and zero Naz. We're just asking council to either approve, deny, or approve with conditions.

Very good. Thank you, Holly. Council, any questions for Miss Wallace. Otherwise, looking for approval or denial of the variance. Move to approve. Second, Bri. Council member Baskin. I council member Posma I council member Hely I council member Obala I council member Fischer I council member at large Austin I motion to approve thank you carries uh item number 10 is a fence appeal request

uh Ramondo Raondo Solidad from 210 4th Street Southwest uh in Austin request approval of a fence appeal to place a 6ft privacy fence in the front yard setback area. Uh the petitioner wishes to uh add this fence between his house and garage to the sidewalk. Home is set back approximately 13 ft and the garage approximately 16 ft uh which is much less than 20 foot front residential front yard requirement. Uh the fence could start at the setback of the house or garage uh under the ordinance. Um however, as noted, he'd like it to go all the way to the sidewalk. Um the city ordinance is listed here. Um if approved, the staff had uh suggested that the fence be set back from the garage and the uh from the alley side of the garage and the uh driveway, the east and west sides of the driveway. Um there is a map here that shows the site triangles. Um, with that, the planning commission expressed a great deal of concern regarding visual obstructions along the sidewalk and alley and uh had discussed what alternatives were available. Um, under our ordinance, the applicant could add a chain link or other type of open fence up to 4 feet in the area uh at in consideration. The applicant could also start the privacy fence at the garage and house. Um after review the planning commission with five members present recommended denying the variance with the following vote of five A's and zero Naz um asking council to make a final decision to approve deny or approve the fence appeal with conditions.

Very good. Thank you. Hi council. Any uh further questions on this item number 10? No. I I think the only other comment I would make is I think we've got a planning commission for a reason. I think they do really really good work. They see a lot of these. They spent a tremendous amount of time, you know, evaluating, you know, various pieces of information and, you know, generally if there's a way to work around it, they recommend a variance. And so I take very seriously their unanimous decision to to deny it. So So motion to deny. I would move to deny. Second. Second that. Uh Bri, council member Baskin. Motion is for denial.

Yes. I, Council Member Posma, I, Council Member Heli, I, Council Member Obala, I, Council Member Fischer, I, Council Member at Large Austin, I. Motion to deny carries. Thank you. Item number 11 is Civics Plus uh, pro uh, process automation and digital services add-on approval request. Trish,

good evening, mayor and council. Before you tonight is a request to approve a process automation and digital services or pads process as part of our civics civics plus um u program um it's part of the web web design and the um agenda management uh add-on as well. Um this was not part of the original uh project and so it is going to be considered an add-on. Um there are several uh benefits to this uh pads process or this module. Um it is uh designed to replace paperbased manual uh workflows, online forms, uh automated routing, digital approvals, notifications, scheduling tools, and integrated residential services. Um it does work uh well with the civic wreck that we also have through our parks and recreation department. Um the timing of this approval again is coming now as we are continuing to do our website design. Um the cost for this uh initial implementation is $3,8958. Uh not listed in the in the memo, but this would be requested to come from contingency. Um and then the uh pads would be part of the annual um renewal for the website design and the agenda management uh pieces. Uh we've had a couple of demonstrations. Uh staff is uh excited to move this forward. Uh there is going to be um uses uh that will benefit each of each of our departments. Uh for HR specifically, just a couple of things. Um we'll be using it for um the application process where um candidates can apply online, submit their application without having

to either download it, print it, uh manually upload it or attach it as part of an email. So that is exciting. And then we'll also be able to use it for um quite a bit of onboarding with uh forms and things like that for our new employees. So those are the pieces specifically for HR but um all departments have gone through the demonstration and there are pieces that will be able to be utilized um across across the city. So excited to bring this forward and again the timing is such that we're currently in the middle of the website design um and of course now our u agenda management that we're using tonight. So um it's just another another module another piece to the puzzle. So again, the request is to approve a P pads uh for the amount of $3,89.58.

Excellent. Thanks, Trish. Council, any questions on item number 11? Trish, this is I mean, really, really good work and I know it's a it's a team of people. I mean, as we think about like how do we make city government more efficient, more effective, I think this is a a really positive step in the right direction. And I mean, you've got good chunks of the world that are going to like a whole like agentic future. So I think us going from paper to digital feels well overdue. So yes,

feels like a good time. I should also also note it is in the memo, but um the the uh module does have the ability to do some AI translation. So some of our so our forms and things like that can be in uh multiple languages to assist our residents as well. That's great. Um I would second everything Jason said. I am curious um looking at some of the functions. I know there's been a little talk about moving to more of an online um payroll hours system. Does this allow for that or would that have to be something different? That is something that would be separate. Okay. That is not part of this. Thank you. Thanks, Trish. Anybody else have any questions? Otherwise, looking for a resolution. So move.

Second. Bri. Council member Baskin. I. Council member Posma. Hi. Council member Hely. I. Council member Obala. Hi. Council member Fischer. Hi. Council member at large Austin. I. Resolution passes 6. Thank you. Number 12 is a 2026 2027 2028 base pay structure approval. Uh we talked about this. I'm happy to open it up to any comments or questions, but looking for resolution in the end. Councel move to approve. I would second it. Okay, we got a motion to second. Brie. Council member Baskin. I. Council member Posma. I.

Council member Hely. Nay. Council member Obala. Nay. Council member Fischer. I. Council member at large Austin. I. Resolution passes 4 to two. Thank you, Bri. Moving on to item number 13 uh is a resolution accepting these two donations to the city. $200 gift from Robin Arian in memory of Darlene Hardy for the flower program of 2026 and a $500 gift from Belita Schindler for the bike club. We thank those folks for their donations and look for a resolution to approve them. So moved. Second. Council member Baskin

I. Council member Postma I. Council member Hely. I. Council member Obala. I. Council member Fischer. I. Council member at large Austin. I. Resolution passes 6. Thank you. Moving on to citizens addressing the council. Anyone in the chambers uh wishing to speak with council of items that weren't on the agenda. Sure. Come forward, please, sir, and give us your name and address. You know, I'd like to thank you for letting me stand here before you. I'm really a humble man. I'm not very very smart about things like this. I'm kind of ignorant. So, I'm glad that you guys are really making Austin grow.

You guys are doing a fantastic Sir, for the record, your address, please. Oh, uh, Glennville, Minnesota. Can I get your name, please? Michael Dale. Thank you. Address. Glennville, Minnesota. Do you have an address for the record? number for for the record 80302 180th Street. Thank you.

So, like I said, you guys are doing a fantastic job. You're going to bring AI into this and I think that's fantastic. You're getting to the do that. You are fabulous. Um maybe you can bring the flock cameras in to when you walk into the company or into the city hall, you're clocked in. You don't have to touch anything. Save a lot of time, save a lot of paperwork for you. Just a little insight. Then he gives his flock cam as a clock out. But I got one question here and I hope you can I'd really like to uh follow in your footsteps is you guys are doing such a great job. See on on the $1 power plant lease regarding the $1 lease of the Northeast Power Plant site to SMMPA through 2050. This is on January 2nd. If the city is simultaneously seeking an 85 million tax exempt for the plant's equipment, how exactly is the taxpayer going to be compensated for the loss of property tax revenue that would otherwise lower levies?

I'm assuming you're talking about the SMA plant that's coming online that we were addressed with Austin Utilities plant. You guys all voted. Yep. It's going to be in the northwest area of of uh Austin. So, you know enough of this that it's going to and if the other thing is is it $1 per year that you're leasing it out to them or $1 for a year till 2050? I think it's $1 per year. So then the public will be able to see how much it it costs to run it. How much they're charging and how much the company's going to charge for Austin Utilities will run it. Oh, that's fantastic. Oh, taking the weight off my shoulders. God bless every each and every one of you. Thank you for uh letting me stand before you. Thank you, Michael. Keep doing the good work.

Appreciate it. Thank you. I'm moving. Anybody else wishing to speak to council? Uh state of military. Yes. Oh, please. Justin, can I introduce myself? Sure. Nothing super crazy. Come on board. Uh name and address, please. Justin.

Uh Justin Hutchinson, 1502 Third Street Northeast Austin. Uh so a lot of you guys probably know Scott, my predecessor. Um, so I'm the new BFW commander going on my third year. Uh, business owner, family, 36, uh, very busy. So hopefully I can try and make more time to get to know you guys a little bit better as, uh, you know, community service members and whatnot. So uh, thank you guys for your continued support to our organization and our veterans and, um, looking forward to keep working with you guys. So, and let me know, Justin, if you want to introduce myself. Appreciate that. If you want a picture with a buddy buddy poppy's promotion, I'm happy to do that if you want.

Yeah. Perfect. So, if you don't know what a Buddy Poppy is, this little red flower. There you go. Um, lot of heritage, a lot of history that that comes with that. So, um, thank you.

We'll be at Runnings, Hi, Walmart, and Gyms. So, if you guys are out and about Friday, Saturday, stop in. Our veterans love talking to the community members and our volunteers that are helping us uh distribute these and um 100% goes out of those proceeds go to our relief fund which we're very limited on what we can actually use those funds for. So um 100% of that goes back to veterans patriotism. Uh we were able to spend some of it on youth out of our relief fund uh which is very important uh bringing our our youngs up to up to speed. So, um, we appreciate the the support and Thank you.

We're proud for us. So, thank you, Justin. Thank you. Yeah. And thanks for your service and everything you guys do for the community. You're welcome. Uh, Craig.

Uh, yes. Uh, for those people uh, interested in running for office, our open candidacy period starts tomorrow at 7 a.m. Uh, we have at large ward 1, two, and three for a four-year term. uh government depends on good people showing up. So appreciate your consideration for that. Our local option sales tax with the German or uh adjournment of the legislature. Um unfortunately, Representative Gomez was successful in essentially extending the moratorum on local option sales tax. So our uh hopeful vote for Austin Police Department and new facility for them. Uh we'll have to wait for another legislative session to be considered. Uh as a silver lining, the Hormill Institute did receive $4 million in the bonding bill for the Minnesota Bio imaging center that they're advancing. And uh KSMQ did get an aotment for some of the federal reduction of 618,000. Those are the things generally that I know of that had a local impact for Austin. Otherwise, uh that's all I have. And Greg, I did talk to Senator Dornick today. Appreciate Senator Dornick and Representative Mueller on their push to get that local sales tax approved. Unfortunately, we had a lot of momentum and I thought we were going the right direction, but but for one person was able to hold that up and Craig, I appreciate your efforts and making even that proposal and your efforts in testifying to get us to where we thought we might have had it and in the end it's uh underneath our fingertips. So yeah,

doesn't even get to the voters to vote for the option of having a local option sales tax extension of our one half cent. Uh, anybody else? Department heads have anything? No. Okay. Council Obala, nothing. Your honor Laura,

I want to remind everybody that 4th Avenue Fest is coming up on Wednesday, June 3rd. That's our unofficial kickoff to summer. I hope to see you out there. Um, tons and tons of activities taking place, including open swim, canoeing, kayaking. um will be doll is going to join us at Milliey's pad for a concert. Um I also want to say thank you to the friends of the nature center and the committee that's working on fundraising for the nature playscape. Um it's a really cool and unique um uh playground made of all natural materials. So it blends into the forest surroundings. As of last week they were 80% there on their fundraising. Um, and in my experience, it's pretty unique to Austin that that we have that kind of charitable giving towards something that others might see as a government um, job. So, another sort of public private um, uh, leverage point where we're getting some really great amenities um, with private funding. It is a great job, a great time to apply for a summer job. Um, there's jobs at the pool, parks, recreation programs. Um, we would love to hear from you and or your high school student uh with an application. Um, I think it is great that we are recognizing public works um this week with the proclamation. I want to let taxpayers know that um in just one project this week that I happen to know about. Um, our public works team is saving uh taxpayers $9,000 by doing some repairs to dump truck tailgates um instead of sending them out um to a vendor. uh they're being done sort of in-house and giving us some savings. So, I know there are lots of choices that our um city employees are making every day to help um uh keep our budget just as tight as it can possibly be. And I want to say thank you. Um and then I just want to say, you know, uh at our

last meeting we did a lot of recognition for the um police department. This meeting we're recognizing public works. It would not bother me one little bit if our next meeting uh we had some awards for library or Rex or administration. I think um we can't recognize and thank our employees enough. So um or fire. Can't leave anybody out. Um so uh I encourage you to to keep keep thinking along those lines. This is this meeting is a great place for us to do that. Thanks Laura. Jeff

uh yes uh there was a library board meeting last week. Uh just note that they will be participating in the 4th Avenue Fest on June 3rd from 4:00 to 7:00. Uh they'll be doing some community surveys to inform future strategic planning. Uh the temporary closures on Friday are helping staff with workload due to being down several members. And they're also looking to get resolution uh for the board with missing financial reporting visibility and completeness and hope to get something worked out on that soon. And that's all I have. Your honor, thanks Jeeoff. Thank you.

Um I want to reiterate thanks to the public works folks. Um you know a lot of the things that they do are very much behind the scenes and not necessarily seen although I think uh right now the streets crew in particular is very visible uh and doing great work. Um so just appreciate all the work they're doing. Um, and then, uh, wanted to note that there was a great open house with the new HRA home that was built in partnership with the Riverland Carpentry Program. Uh, it's been a fantastic program that's been going on for years. That house will be listed for sale soon. Brand new house. Um, and we're excited to create more housing in Austin. And I am very excited that next year's project because um because we've been kind of pushing a little bit for it, but also Riverland has had so many students in their program, we're going to be able to do a town home. So get two houses for Austin next year.

That's good. Thanks, Mike. Jason,

yeah, a couple things on my end. Number one, um echoing Craig's, you know, from a port standpoint, um very appreciative of the legislature in general of the funding for the Hormone Institute, Minnesota Bioim Imaging Center. Um, especially thankful for Senator Dornick, Representative Mueller. I know there were a lot of late nights and a lot of pushing, pushing, pushing to make sure that that was happened. Um, big thank you also to Gail Dennis, Dr. Clark, and a number of other folks at the Horell Institute. I know they've been working on this one for a number of years. And so, you know, this is a first step, but when you think about something that has the potential to literally be one of the only ones in the world sitting right here in Austin, Minnesota, and the impact that has locally, the impact that's going to have for the state, the impact it's going to have for the schools in the area. I mean, just a really, really good example of, you know, how we continue to build this worldass city. Second, congratulations to the Bruin on a successful season. I know they didn't go quite as far as they wanted to, but winning the Central Division and getting up to the final four um is great and thank you to the park and recck team for all the extra work as they made their playoff run. And you know, as the weather got hotter, ice still has to freeze and so I know there's a lot of extra complication that comes with that. Um third, congratulations to the Austin High School adaptive bowling team on some wonderful success, including a state championship. So that's fantastic. Um, and then finally, congratulations to Austin's own Holly Mayor, um, who was sworn in as a judge in Freeborn County last week. So, a lot of good things happening for the community of Austin.

And Holly's time as the police civil servant was, uh, was a resume builder. Got her over the hump to be judge. Key and we and unfortunately, she had to resign from the police civil service. Paul, what do you got? God, I'm glad to hear those words from you, Paul. Uh all I have is talked for a while more so Paul had to continue to hold the phone.

Don't give me any more time. Uh we welcome Mike Hartman as our chief designign uh police chief. We said goodbye to McKe and as retirement party last Friday even though he has till the 20th to officially be done and he will come back for the swearing in of Mike on the 22nd and we'll see what he looks like. I don't know a full head of hair. Not sure how he will look, but we welcome you, Mike. And unfortunately, you saw kind of a meeting that was a little bit discombobulated. Usually more seamless than this a little bit. So, welcome. Uh, with that, looking for a motion to adjourn. So, move. Second, Bri. Council member Baskin, I. Council member Posma, I. Council member Hely, I.

Council member Obala, I. Council member Fischer. Hi. Council member at large Austin. I. Motion carries. Thank you, Bri. Uh we are adjourned. We'll give it about a 5m minute uh break till the work session. Thank you all.

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