City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, it is 7.30. We do have a quorum. We'll call this regular city council meeting to order. Can we stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, we'll start with the approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? So moved.

Second.

Approved by Mayor Zilka, seconded by Mr. Liljegren. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. All right, moving on. Excuse me. Approval of last meeting's special work session meeting of August 17th, 2026 and the regular meeting of August 17th, 2026 approve. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes?

I'll make a motion to approve the minutes.

Second. Councilwoman Lundberg, seconded by Councilman Hanson. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Approval of bills, City Council, excuse me, electronic checks 4432 through 4468 and checks 114890 through 114956, totaling $1,007,838.27. Do I have a motion to approve the bills? So moved. Second. Ms. Zilka and Councilman Lilligren. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Passes. Awards, donations, presentations, and proclamations? We have none, so we'll move on to the consent agenda. Excuse me. Airport Commission Minutes, August 20, 26. Receive application for exempt permit Brainerd Blue Line Boosters raffle, January 19, 2027. Approve. Building report, July 2026 received. Display of fireworks application, res pyro and man versus beast rodeo, Morrison County Fairgrounds, September 19th, 2026 approved. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

I'll make a motion to receive and approve the consent agenda items. Second.

Motion made by Councilman Hanson, second by Councilwoman Lundberg. Any discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? It passes. Public hearings and lettings. A, lettings. Control Secure Service Plan and Control Inc. Water and Wastewater Award. Public Works Director.

Actually, I'm going to turn this over to our wastewater superintendent, Matt.

Okay. All right. Background. Recently, cybersecurity threats to water and wastewater treatment systems have increased. These systems have become increasingly reliant on a complex array of technology, including PLCs, operator interfaces, supervisory control and data acquisition systems, and cellular and radio communications. Regular preventative maintenance helps prolong the reliability and longevity of these systems. The proposal includes one annual onsite visit for inspecting, testing and maintenance, as well as two offsite inspections that include reviewing computer logs, remote access, alarm testing, and other system functions. The real VNC subscription currently paid by the city is also included in the proposal. So the action request is to approve the control secure alternative plan proposal from in control for the service period beginning September 1st, 2026 through July 1st, 2027 at a cost of three thousand seven hundred and twelve dollars for the water department and five thousand one hundred and twenty one dollars and seventy five cents for the wastewater department for a total cost of eight thousand eight hundred three hundred thirty three dollars and seventy five cents to be charged to the water and wastewater operating funds thank you with that do i have a motion

Second it motion made by a little grand seconded by Lundberg any discussion From the operating funds so with our user rates that goes into Yes separately correct, okay, thank you Any more discussion all those in favor aye opposed aye passes. Number two, fall leaf and brush collection. Bob Lemire, Roloffs Refuse and Recycling Award, Finance Director. or Alex County city administrator.

Yeah. So for the annual fall leaf and brush collection, uh, we looked for quotations for that. We got two, one from Bob Lumiere, roll off refuge and recycling for 4,260 and the other from city sanitary commercial at 4,500. Last year's fall collection was awarded to Bob Lemire at 4,100. This is a pickup on October 24th, rain or shine, and they will be leaving the empty bags. There is going to be notices put in the October utility bills, as well as the newspaper and website, social media, et cetera, so that the community is aware of this. So with the action request, we are asking that the city council award the quotation of 4,262, Bob Lemire, as this is the lower bid.

Okay. With that said, do I have a motion? So moved second seconded by councilman Lundberg. Any discussion?

When you send that out, make sure you put on there, do not tie the bags. If you go with him one time with tied bags, I told him, next time, let's just leave them.

Did you have to untie a bunch of bags last year?

I just took a knife and cut them open. But they don't have to tie them. That's just more work to untie them or whatever.

And they leave the bags right there, don't they?

Yep. Noted. Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Well, I mean, if it's too much of a burden, maybe we should look at another contractor. I don't.

Bob's the one that told me, so it don't make no difference if you wouldn't.

I mean.

He does a good job, but I mean, it's just frustrating.

Well, how hard is it to really gash open a garbage bag with a knife? Honestly.

But why do they have to tie him?

Because they don't want them blowing around their yard after they just cleaned them all up.

They don't have to fill them up where they're running over. They cut bags. Gee, many crows. Next time we go, Rafe, I'm taking you with. I don't work in that industry.

I don't work in that industry. Turns out this is the hot button topic for the evening. All right. Is there any more discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? All right, it passes. Lift Station 12 Panel Replacement Total Control Systems Incorporated Absolute Electric and W.W. Goetsch Wastewater Award. Matt. All right, Matt, take it away.

All right, me again. Lift Station 12 was put into service in 1998 to meet the demands of the ethanol plant. In 2003, a new radio communication system was installed to connect the lift station to the wastewater treatment plant's SCADA system. Over the course of 28 years, repairs have been made and parts have been swapped out due to original parts being obsolete. In 2018, a car hit the bollards protecting the panel, causing the panel to be pushed several inches off its pedestal. In 2023, fiber was installed and communication was transitioned to a private network. Due to the age and condition of the existing equipment, replacement of the control panel and electrical components is now necessary. The upgrade will allow the communication and control equipment to be consolidated, reducing future maintenance needs. The project will also bring the equipment into code compliance by relocating the electrical panel at least three feet from the wet well and vent. The proposed equipment will be very similar to the other equipment we recently installed at the other city facilities, including lift station three. The action request is to award lift station 12 panel replacement project proposals from Total Control Systems Incorporated, Absolute Electric, and WW Getz in the amounts of $33,819, $7,000, and $680. respectively for total project cost of $41,499 to be charged to the Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvement Fund.

Thank you, Matt. With that, do I have a motion to accept?

I'll make a motion.

Second. Motion made by Councilwoman Lundberg, seconded by Mayor Zilka. Any discussion?

Yeah. Matt, was this put in last year's budget or this year's budget to do this or is it next year's?

It's put in for this year's budget, but it was six. Yup.

Okay.

It was for lift station 11, but we decided to switch it to number 12 based on need.

Okay. Thank you.

What other areas does that lift station service?

So the list stations north of town are essentially piggyback. So, um, there's three on river wood. One jumps to the next, to the next, to the ultimate to lift station 12 solicitation 12 does everything north of essentially, um, okay.

So everything north, north of there. Correct. Still, still comes into that. That is correct. I just wanted to make sure we weren't spending $41,000 on a lift station that is serving something that doesn't really exist right now. Correct. Yes. Thank you. Yep.

Any further discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor. Opposed. Moving on. Um, I had number four road salt being the enterprise LLC streets and parks award. Public Works Director Kimmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. I hate to say it, it's that time of the year where we have to start thinking about road salt. We got two quotes for road salt, one from Johnson Feed out of Canton, South Dakota, in the amount of $117 per ton. The other one from B&D Enterprise out of Little Falls, and they were at $105 per ton. We are requesting that the council award the low quote of $15,750 from B&D Enterprises out of Little Falls for road salt. and that would be charged to the Snow Removal Fund. Right now, we'd be looking at ordering right around 150 tons of road salt.

Okay, with that being said, do I have a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve.

Motion made by Councilman Hanson, seconded by Councilwoman Lundberg. Any discussion?

Yeah, I got a couple questions. Number eight, last year, I think, was on... You ordered some last year. Did you use all that up or is there leftovers and we need to order more?

We still have some leftover. We believe that 150 tons will fill up our salt shed. We like to keep it full at the beginning of the year to see how much we use.

This is not extra like you ordered so much last year, but you ordered a little less this year just to fill it up?

Correct. We look to see how much will fit in the shed because when you get to you know, January, February, it's hard to locate where salt is at. Um, so we get our shed, we get it full, um, in preparation for the winter and hopefully we don't have to order it again. Sometimes we do. Um, but last year we did not, we had it full and we had some leftover. I'd say it's about a third full. Um, this would top it off and fill it up for us.

Okay. But I'm just saying you're ordering less this year than you did last year. Cause you had leftovers as well. That's correct. You're saving money is what I'm trying to get at. Yes. Okay. Thanks.

Any other discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carries. Item number five, splash pad picnic tables. Flagship Recreation Park Improvement Award, Public Works Director Kimmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, we received an anonymous $10,000 donation that would be go towards, um, picnic tables out at the new splash pad. Um, the picnic tables that, uh, would be desired are ones that essentially go around the, uh, the sun shades that are currently out there. And so we would be, we did reach out to flagship to see if they had anything like that. Um, they do, it's, it's a special order on, but they do have, um, picnic tables for that in the amount of $3,565 per table. It will match the same colors as the splash pad in the playground, so that's a plus. And we'd be looking to obtain three of those. And so $10,000 from the donation would go towards the picnic tables. The remainder $695 would come from the park improvement fund. And we're asking the council to approve that this evening.

Do I have a motion to approve?

I'll make a motion to approve it.

Pretty good. Motion made by Councilman Lundberg, seconded by Councilman Liljegren. Any discussion?

Yes, I'd like to thank Pat Pifford for donating that $10,000. That was Pat, right?

It was anonymous.

It was anonymous.

Anonymous. Okay, I thought it was Pifford again. Okay, never mind.

Greg, do you have a picture of those tables? I want to see what a $3,500 table looks like.

Handy, but I can get you that.

They're metal. Do they have a little nylon coating on them or that rubber?

It'll be composite.

It'll be a composite, uh, kind of similar to what the playgrounds are made out of that material that poly composite.

Yep.

Yep. Do we want to wait for this picture or do we, um, I don't know if I would have it.

Okay.

Well, I think it's a very generous donation and I think the individual as well with that being said, all those in favor.

Aye.

Opposed. We'll move on and maybe we can find that picture. soon. Well, it's approved. Oh, it's approved. It doesn't matter, but yeah, it's, it's, I'm sure they're, I'm sure they're well built and good quality. Um, old business, Lindbergh, uh, item letter a Lindbergh Centennial commemoration contribution request update approve city administrator Smith. Yes.

Yes. Thank you. Um, as we discussed in the work session, uh, this is coming back to council from our previous meeting after getting some more, uh, clarifying information. So just as a reminder, the request that we've received from Friends of Lindberg Heritage is the $50,000 that were allocated for the air show event to get approval to use that for the two-day airport event, public art installation, and parade. So the request is for City Council to approve that reassignment on the previously approved $5,000 contribution and authorized cash disbursements in 2016.

Thank you. With that being said, do I have a motion? I'll make a motion.

Second.

Motion made by Mayor Zilka, seconded by Councilman Hanson. Any discussion?

Yes. Mr. President, like you had indicated in the work session, I am also in favor of a celebration. I just don't feel like I have enough detail on how this money is going to be spent to approve this. It's $50,000. I live in a very modest house. It would take myself and 49 homeowners just like me just to cover this in the budget and budgeting for something and allocating the funds is different than than actually spending them. And in this case, but $2,000 for parade, I can see that I can go along with that. I don't like how this art is stuffed in with this request. And I would like to see some details on how the other 38 is going to be spent some itemized. This is what this costs. This is what this costs. This is how we get to 38. It just looks to me too much like this is, well, the funds were allocated. Our plan didn't happen, but we still want that money and we'll find a way to spend it.

Council President, at our last meeting we asked for more information and the information we got this time was pretty much identical to what was given to us last time. There was no breakdown of that $38,000.

With that being said, I realize I kind of got salty at the last meeting as well. I do feel that being as though this money has been budgeted for this event in particular, and yes, plans don't always go, things don't always go according to plan, but again, we have to do something, and I just, we put our trust into the Centennial Commemoration Committee, and I don't, I don't feel that it's my place to micromanage what they decide to spend the money on because the money was budgeted and we were never, again, I don't, I don't feel it's our place to micromanage. So I kind of flipped a little bit at my position on this because I did get the answers that I was looking for. after speaking with Ms. Prezapio and Peva further.

Well, I would ask you, Mr. President, when the money was budgeted, was it mentioned that $10,000 of this is going to go to an art display?

No.

Probably not, right?

No, but we didn't know what it was going to go to at the time either.

Yeah, we did, an air show.

Well, the air show pulled out. We've got to do something for the celebration.

I agree that we have to do something. This to me is just too broad of a request for me. I can't say anything about this as being fiscally responsible with the residents property tax money.

Well, I believe you do have more information. Yes. Okay.

Why isn't it in the packet?

We asked for it two weeks ago, and we don't have it. You have it. How come we don't have it?

I thought I was going to have a chance to speak to it.

I thought if there were questions at the work session, I could have... Let me be clear. I'm not pointing my finger at you.

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten it to...

I would have liked to have a chance to review it and now I haven't seen it and you're asking me to vote on something I have no idea about.

OK. Can we bring this back and we bring this back again and get the more information that we need? And so with this being on the table or excuse me on the agenda. Now we have a motion to accept it. We have a second emotion. We would need to vote this down. And then we need to make another motion to table it, correct?

No. Last time, you can table it. Oh, that's right.

We looked this up last time.

Yes, we did.

Where's my memory going? OK.

I make a motion to postpone this till our next council meeting.

Do I have a second?

All you got to do is table it, don't you?

Well, it's postponing table is what I think we came up, we need to say postpone.

Last time, now that we have a motion to table, we need to vote on the motion to table. Correct. Yes.

I will second Ms. Lundberg's motion.

This one, this one takes precedence is what we decided last time. So we have a motion to table it and get even more information.

from the organization. We have a motion made. I seconded that motion. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed?

Aye. We have a tie. It fails 3-3. So then the original motion...

So we have to vote on it tonight.

Okay. So moving back to the original motion, do we have a... Yeah, we have a motion. I'm sorry, I'm just going to reread it. Lindbergh Centennial Commemoration Contribution Request Update, and we all have our update. So do I have a motion for the original item on the agenda?

We already had one, didn't we?

Oh, excuse me. Excuse me. I'm sorry. All those in favor of the original item on the agenda? Aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Aye. We have another tie. Motion fails. So motion fails. Okay.

What's going on? Let me be clear, Mr. President. I'm open to another agenda item at a future council meeting with some details on what we're going to do with the celebration.

Yeah, I am too. I don't know what I'm voting on, so I can't vote yes to it.

I would like to make a motion that Ms. Persapio, Ms. Purva come back to the next meeting and explain to us what prior to that meeting give the information to Alex so we all get it.

So only somebody who voted no can reintroduce it back onto the agenda.

So it sounds like Ms. Lundberg, Mr. Liljegren, and Mr. Hanson. I already said I'm open to it.

Yes.

So that's something that will be brought up on the next agenda with more information, I assume.

Okay. May I make it clear that Can you guys get the information to Alex so we can get it in our packet? Okay.

Sorry and thank you.

Okay, moving on. Resolution 2026-48. Accept petition and order feasibility report surface improvements 13th Street Southwest, 6th Avenue Southwest, 8th Avenue Southwest. Adopt public work director, Mr. Kimmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. If you recall from the work session, this is the red area in the Southwest part of little falls. Uh, we received a petition from roughly 39% of the prop providing property owners, uh, to convert the gravel alley or the gravel roadways to blacktop. Um, we would be asking the council to, um, approve resolution 2026 dash 48, which would then direct staff to, um, prepare a feasibility report and bring that back to the council for review.

Thank you very much. With that, do I have a motion to adopt?

So moved. Second. Do I hear a second? Second.

Okay, it's a resolution. Please call the roll.

Lundberg? Yes. Liljegren?

Yes.

Meyer?

Yes.

Zilka? Yes. Glaze? Yes. Hanson? Yes.

Moving on to Resolution 2026-49, Accept Petition and Order Feasibility Report, Surface Improvements, 4th Avenue Northeast, Adopt. Public Works Director, Mr. Kimmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. So 2026-49, this is the petition that we received for 4th Avenue Northeast. Roughly 5% of the property owners signed this petition. If the council wants to direct staff to do the feasibility report for that stretch, now would be the time to do that. As I mentioned, this is probably on the lower end of our ranking in terms of staff ranking for priority lists. But if the council would like to see a feasibility report, this would be the mechanism to do that. So up to the council to decide what they would like to do with resolution 2026-49.

Do I have a resolution for 20, excuse me, a motion for resolution 2026?

For the purpose of discussion, I will make that motion.

Okay. Do I have a second? Second. Councilman Lumberg.

How much does a feasibility report cost?

It's more staff time. How many hours would that take you? 35 probably.

A whole week?

Yeah. We gotta dig up all the files, make sure that the sanitary sewer, the water main is all good. Last thing you wanna do is do the street and forget about the utilities underneath. So yeah, we pull all that information. We send the guys out, take our sewer camera, go through the pipes, make sure it's good. So yes, it would take that long to do that.

Do you have a week to devote to this right now?

You, I guess, and no, I'll be, I have others that help me. You won't have it in two weeks for your next council meeting. Um, but knowing all of the other projects that we have going on, this would be one that I would probably recommend not doing at this point.

Um, great. The only reason I would want to do that feasibility study is so the other 95% of the people that live on fourth street would know how much that's going to cost. Sure. And then we have a public hearing on it, correct?

We would. Yes.

And then they can come and say, no, we don't want to do it. Or yes, we want to. Correct. Correct. So that's the reason I would want to do a feasibility setting. One thing, general reason.

one thing that I would mention is, um, the feasibility report would give individuals an estimate of what their assessments would look like. That is most likely going to change in, let's say you do it in 2028, it would change in 2020 because construction costs change year after year after year. It'll give you a ballpark. Um, if you're looking for a ballpark, it's between 15 and 20,000. That's what an 80 foot wide locked, uh, runs for assessments.

Okay. We still wouldn't have a public hearing. Correct. And that, I would just like to give the people on fourth Avenue Northeast that thing that they could say, okay, yes, we do. Even this is going to cost us 15 to 20 or no, we're not going to.

I think the other point to look at is can the city afford it?

Okay. So piggybacking on all these questions, you do your feasibility report, right? And we push this back to 2028, 2029, maybe 2030. And with that report being done, is the work done or do you kind of have to reinvent the wheel as far as the work you're doing? So, I mean, can we just plug in different numbers for blacktop, curb and gutter, et cetera?

Correct. The bulk of the work is done. You'd still have to update it for costs, construction costs and such, as well as the assessment role. you have to verify the property owner's name. So you go through the 20 some properties that are long and make sure it's still John Doe that owns us. And it hasn't changed hands. Um, you still have to look at the property lines to verify that they didn't sell 10 feet to their neighbor or something like that. Cause we don't always get that information. So you're still going through, you know, a bulk of that and verifying that that that's in there, but it does cut down considerably on how much time of feasibility would, would take in the future.

Okay. So we have, 5% on the street. That means it's probably one homeowner petitioned.

That is correct. Yes.

Is there a, is there a quota that we have for a petition to even come to this far into the agenda?

No. So one put one signature can get it onto the agenda to get a discussion. Um, when you have less than, I believe it's 30% signatures, I need seven eighths vote. So folks that have been on here a while, you remember me saying, I need seven eighths vote on a particular item. When you order in the project staff initiated, Staff initiative is a perfect example. I need seven eights on, on those. Um, on the previous one, 13th street, that was 39%. So five out of the eight, we'll need to vote in favor when we get to, um, ordering in the project. Um, this one's going to take seven out of the eight in order to make it because of the 5%.

So don't in this, sorry, go ahead.

Normally we accept a petition as one thing and then we order in a feasibility as another thing. So why are they both one agenda item together?

So we did accept the petition, I think on the consent agenda. This was a while ago. I don't remember the date. Maybe it's up in here.

Okay. So we don't need to accept the petition because we've already accepted it.

Correct. This is one of the standard templates that chapter 429 has. But yes, you've already accepted it. This is just another resolution that says, OK, we're accepting it and ordering the feasibility report.

It's ordering the feasibility report. It's confusing. OK.

I think, Mr. President, we got clarification. That was a question I have. It's one property owner. when there's about pushing 20 homes. I think this is a great example of it. If you want something done, if you feel something needs to be done, go, go talk to your neighbors and get them to sign. I think we're looking at spending a lot of money, uh, just to get the feasibility study when our, engineer is telling us now is not a good time to do this project. So why go through that? I think if the property owner has an opportunity to talk to some of the neighbors and they all agree, the road is bad and we get somewhere pushing that 50% of the people saying, yes, we want this, then we can bump, we can and we should bump that timetable up.

And from what I'm hearing you say, this is not going to happen next year. More than likely.

It's going to be very challenging to happen next year. Um, for a couple of reasons. One, we're in the budget process. You'll see those numbers probably on Thursday. We're, we're going to be hurting for the levy, not in 26 or 27, but the next couple of years, because I mean, when we talked about the number of projects we've got this year and coming up, there's a lot of them and there's a lot of them that are big ticket items. Um, but also, um, I forgot where I was going with that. Oh, in terms of staffing, we just don't have the staff to be able to do all of those. And so the more that we add on in 27, we might have to hire in outside help, a consulting firm, which would be much more expensive in terms of engineering fees. And so, uh, right now, the numbers that we have projected are for in-house staff, At some point, we're going to have to figure out which ones we can do and which ones we can't do in-house and start getting those taken care of.

Well, if this fails, I recommend that you reach out to the homeowner who did petition and ask him to check the temperature among his neighbors and see if that's that.

Any other discussion from... Well, I think I can just take that one step further really quick, Greg. I guess I would... we have to receive the petition when you get the petition. If you have a conversation, I'm comfortable with you having a conversation, you know, even if it's more than one homeowner, Hey, uh, letting them know, duly noted this as the public works director, this really isn't on my radar screen for right now. I, you know, I, I, I would trust you to go a little bit step further than, I mean, you have to relate it to us. I get that, but I would trust you to go step further and just letting them know that we'll bring your petition forward. We'll receive it, but probably not going to happen. Yes, we can do that in a couple of years, whatever the case may be. Yeah.

Okay. Any further discussion? Resolution call roll, please.

Lildren?

Yes.

Meyer?

No.

Zilka?

Yes.

Glaze?

Yes means we're doing it. No means we're not doing it.

I'm sorry. Yes means you're doing it. Yes is you are doing a feasibility report.

We'll do the feasibility report this year if you vote yes. Okay.

Yes.

Hanson? No. Lundberg? No.

All right. Tied, so it fails. Correct? A non-vote would be a no-vote, so both Goshek and Knopfloch, so it would fail at that point.

Okay.

Yeah.

So, again, if we could please get some more names on that petition, we'd be more inclined to spend the staff time. All right, moving on to Ordinance Number 68, 7th Series, Amend City Code, Chapter 6, Section 6.01. And 6.36, lodging tax, adopt. County Administrator Smith.

Thank you, Council President. So this one, as we had introduced at our last meeting, we're just doing some language updates to our lodging tax. One of the main components with this is simply to have clearer language that short-term housing, such as Airbnbs, are included in the lodging tax. The adjustments do not change the actual content of the lodging tax, just adds further clarification.

Do I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 68?

So moved. Second.

Motion to be made by Councilman Hanson, excuse me, and Councilwoman Lundberg. Any discussion? Hearing none, ordinance call roll, please.

Meyer?

Yes.

Zilka?

Yes.

Glaze? Yes. Hanson? Yes. Lundberg? Yes. Wildergren?

Yes.

Very well. Moving on to new business.

Excuse me. I have a question. We said no on the feasibility study. Did we say no, we're not adopting this on the 4th Avenue one?

Correct. We're not ordering in the feasibility report on 4th Avenue.

Does that mean we're not adopting it? Correct. the question was the resolution to adopt no to accept petition and order feasibility okay i just want to make it clear that we're it was for the feasibility study correct okay so i just want to make it clear i'm sorry not what we got excuse me

Now moving on to new business under item letter A, 2027 Health Insurance Renewal and Better Health Collective Sorswell approve. HR Director?

You got it. Thank you, Council President. So we did receive our 2027 Health Insurance Renewal from the Better Health Collective of Sorswell. Every year Sorswell provides their health insurance group pools with their renewal offering. Uh, keeping our same plan as smart plan three, uh, renewing the count, the maximum rate we could have received was a 15%. The average group for the average renewal for the pool was 12.9. And since we have good participation, engaged wellness and more, the city received an increase of 10.5 for 2027 with a maximum increase of 17 for 2028. So the request is that council approve the health insurance renewal with Sourcewell Better Health Collective Smart Plan 3 for 2027.

Thank you very much. And with that, do I have a motion to approve?

I'll make a motion to approve the health insurance renewal.

Second. Motion made by Councilwoman Lundberg, seconded by Councilman Hanson. Any discussion?

I will be abstaining since I'm on the Better Health Collective Board of Directors.

Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? It carries.

Excuse me.

Item Letter B, Change Order 1, 2026, Pavement Improvements, Knife River Corporation, North Central, approved. Public Works Director Kimmin.

Thank you, Mr. President. If you recall, earlier this summer we awarded a project to Knife River North Central for our patching throughout town, and the price at the time was $26,564. There were two other locations that the contractors throughout town replaced sewer services, and so they needed to be patched as well. Um, ultimately these costs then get, uh, invoiced out to the individual property owner, but we've got a, uh, paid knife river in order for that additional work that they do, uh, for that. And so that's where this $4,122 and 41 cent, uh, change order comes in. So we're asking the council to approve change order number one in the amount of $4,122 41 cents. That will bring the total for the contract to $30,686 and 41 cents. for that additional patching on the 2026 pavement improvements, and that would be charged to the Street Improvement Fund.

Thank you very much. With that being said, do I have a motion?

So moved. Second.

A motion made by Mayor Zilka, seconded by Councilman Liljegren. Any discussion?

Yeah, Greg, you and I had this discussion earlier about this, on both of them coming up. There's No funding for it. Where does that money come from?

So on the $4,000, those were two sewer services that were replaced. So the size of the patch and the amount gets invoiced back to the individual property owners and the property owners pay us. So we're kind of a pass-through for it, but we still have to approve the change order to pay Knife River for that, and then we receive the money from the property owners.

Okay, it's not costing the taxpayer. Correct, correct. Thank you.

Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Carries. Change Order 1, Public Improvement 416, First Avenue Southeast, Knife River Corporation North Central. Approve. Public Works Director Kimmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. This is for one of our other projects. It's Public Improvement 416, First Avenue Southeast, again with Knife River North Central. Um, with that particular change order, uh, during construction, we noticed a sinkhole, uh, developed within the roadway. So we asked them to do some additional exploration to find out what caused a sinkhole. Cause obviously we don't want to build a road over something that, um, was giving way through that, that excavation. We really didn't see any, uh, anything abnormal underneath the ground. Um, and then there were also two property owners that requested to have their sewer service replaced. Again, we worked with Knife River and their subcontractor to get that sewer service replaced. The bulk of this will be the city's cost just because of that exploration for that. Right around that $12,000 mark is going to be the city's portion of it. The other portion of it will be assessed back to the two property owners through the Project 416. So we're asking the council to approve change order number one in the amount of $22,327.81, and that would be charged to the project.

Thank you. Hearing that, do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion. I'll second.

Motion made by Councilman Lozergren, seconded by Mayor Zilka. Any discussion?

Where did that money come from?

So roughly $12,000 of that would go towards the project, which we would intend bond for, just like we do with the rest of it. And then the other portion of it would get assessed back to the adjoining property owners.

Greg, we do have, as part of every project we do like this, there is a line for contingencies, correct? Not usually.

It's something I'm looking at probably doing, but not usually. The auditors, they like to see a total dollar amount. This is how much it is. Less than 5% is normal. but we don't have a straight up contingency amount. It's the total dollar amount is what, uh, what we see for work. And that's how much we award the contract for. Where am I seeing that then in the feasibility study report in our overall project budget is we do have a contingency in there, but when we wore the contract, it's right down to the penny is what we, what we award. So just for our budgeting and tracking, we do have contingency of 10%, but for the contract award, we don't. And so that's why you see a lot of these change orders come through because the auditors like to see what we paid is how much the council authorized. Those two have to match.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? It carries. Moving on to personnel. Letter D, personnel. Resolution 2026-50, authorized execution of labor agreement law enforcement, labor services, local 68 adopt city HR director.

Thank you, council president. Um, so for these next three, number one, number two, number three, um, same agenda memo here. So we can just do each of those resolutions individually. Um, so as previously discussed with the council, um, we have completed negotiations with three of the four unions, LA LS, I U O E and LFS. Negotiations were productive, professional, mutually agreeable, leaving both the city and unions feeling balanced about the agreements. Everything that was discussed during our prior sessions and all the way back to our strategic session, all the way in March, has what is transpired. So no other surprises there. So tonight we are asking that the city council adopt the resolution 2026 dash 50, dash 51, and dash 52. And that's it. That's what I mean.

Well, I assume we need to do those each individually.

They do need to be done individually, but same present, same, yeah. Okay.

So we'll continue with that then. Do I have a motion to adopt Resolution 2026-50?

I'll make a motion to adopt Resolution 2026-50. I'll second it.

Motion made by Councilman Hanson, seconded by Councilwoman Lundberg. Resolution, call a roll, please. Or do I need a discussion? Sorry. Any discussion? Okay, resolution, call a roll, please.

Zilka? Yes. Glaze?

Yes.

Hanson? Yes. Lundberg? Yes. Liljegren? Yes. Meyer?

Yes. All right, moving on to resolution 2026-51. Authorized Execution of Labor Agreement International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 49, Adopt. Same explanation, yes? So we'll continue and we'll move on. Do I have a motion to adopt Resolution 2026-51?

I'll make a motion to adopt Resolution 2026-51. Second.

Motion made by Councilwoman Lundberg, seconded by Mayor Zilka. Any discussion? Hearing none, resolution, call the roll, please.

Glaze? Yes. Hanson? Yes. Lundberg? Yes. Lildgren? Yes. Meyer?

Yes. Zilka? Yes. Moving on to resolution 2026-52, authorized execution of labor agreement Little Falls supervisors adopt. Again, moving on, we have this explanation for the first three on this list. Do I have a motion? So moved.

Second.

Motion made by Mayor Zilka, seconded by Councilwoman Lundberg. Any discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.

Me. Yeah, Glaze. Yes. Hanson. Yes. Lundberg. Yes. Lildren. Yes. Meyer.

Yes.

Zilka.

Yes. Moving on to item agenda number four. Resolution 2026-53, establishing a 2027 and 2028 non-union full-time employee pay step schedule. Adopt HR Director Cribbs.

Yes, thank you, Council President. So this is just approving the 2027 and 2026, 2027 and 2028. full-time employee pay scale, which is the same as presented in each of these unions here. Nothing has changed in the scoring and it is with the 4% increase as approved on the other agreements.

Thank you. With that, do I have a motion?

So moved. Second.

Motion made by Mayor Zilka, seconded by Councilman Hanson. Any discussion? Hearing none, resolution, call the roll, please.

Hanson? Yes. Lundberg? Yes. Liljegren? Yes. Meyer?

Yes.

Zilka?

Yes.

Glaze? Yes.

All right. Item, agenda letter E, policy updates. One, personnel policy 12, employee benefits update. HR Director Kribs?

Thank you very much. So we are looking at, I'll give an explanation for both of these two policies here. Updating the personnel policy 12, which is employee benefits. That one, we are taking out a lot of the unnecessary language, cleaning it up a bit. full-time health insurance follows the little false supervisors, um, for non-union, um, employees. So we're just cleaning up all of these, um, personnel policies. And it's the same with the number 13, the leaves holidays and six sick falls the same, um, as the union contracts do eliminating the need for all of the actual statutes to be written out. Instead, we will just be following the Minnesota statute. Should that change? It's covered. We don't have to keep coming back and changing our personnel policies in the future. Um, hopefully near to mid future, you will be seeing quite a few of these policies coming through as we update our entire personnel policy.

Thank you. And with that, do I have a motion?

I'll make the motion. Second. Adopt personnel policy 12.

Did you second that? Thank you. Sorry, Leif, I didn't let you finish. That's fine. Councilman Hanson and seconded by Councilman Lundberg. Without any discussion. I do have a question. Are we approving one and two at the same time here or we have to do them separately? Separately, please.

Okay.

So any further discussion? Hearing none, All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? All right. Moving on to number two, personnel policy 13, leaves, holiday, vacation, sick, Minnesota paid leave. Other? Update, HR Director Kribs.

Same explanation.

Okay. With that, do I have a motion? I'll make a motion.

Second.

Motion to be made by Councilman Liljegren, seconded by Councilman Hanson. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor?

Aye.

Moving on. Resolution 2026-54, supporting Sourcewell Public Safety Impact Funding Request. Turnout gear and ventilation fans, fire department adopt.

Fire Chief? Thank you, Council President. Sourcewell's Public Safety Impact Fund grant program is open. We would be seeking authorization to apply for the grant. for turnout gear and ventilation fans totaling 46,561.31. The grant application requires a resolution by the council to apply for the grant. So we would need that resolution. If the grant is awarded, we would ask authorization to just go ahead and execute the purchase from Jefferson Fire in that amount. I do have the one added part. If the grant is not awarded, that I'd be able to go ahead and purchase just the turnout gear for the seven probationary firefighters in the amount of $35,255.99, which would be charged to the fire equipment fund. Thank you.

With that, do I have a motion?

So moved. Should that be two separate motions, one for the grant and one for permission just to buy the turnout gear?

I don't know. It's all about the resolution.

It's a resolution, yeah.

It's a resolution.

Okay. It's all in the same resolution? Yep.

I have a motion by Councilman Glaze. Do I have a second? Second. Give it to Councilman Hanson. Any discussion?

Yeah. If it doesn't go through, is that already in your budget?

Yep, there's adequate funding in the fire equipment fund.

Okay, thank you.

Any further discussion? Hearing none, resolution call roll, please.

Lundberg. Yes. Lildgren. Yes. Meyer.

Yes.

Zilka.

I'll abstain.

Glaze. Yes. Hanson.

Yes. Passes moving on to resolution 2026 dash 55 supporting source. Well, local government impact funding request, computers, water, and wastewater adopt public works. Director Kim.

Thank you, Mr. President. Much like the fire chiefs. We were looking at a grant from source. Well, Um, this one is a different, uh, pot of money. So we're not competing against one another. There's our public safety. Ours is local government. Um, the grant request that we're looking for is to replace five, uh, computers that are actually servers for the water and the wastewater department. Um, the total amount for, um, the servers, as well as the programming of those as 81,000. $714, we were requesting the full amount from source roll amount of $50,000 for that. So we're asking the council to approve resolution 2026-55 to apply for the grant funds. Thank you.

With that being said, do I have a motion?

I'll make a motion to adopt resolution 2026-55. I'll second that motion.

Motion made by Councilman Hanson, second by Councilwoman Lundberg. Any discussion? Hearing none, resolution 2026-55, call the roll, please.

Raquel, I'm coming back to you because I have another page. So I'm sorry if this is weird, but you're double roll called. So Lundberg? Yes. Lildegren?

Yes. Meyer? Yes. Zilka? I'm saying. Glaze? Yes. Hanson? Yes.

Very well. Moving on to resolution 2026-56, declare certain property excess property And calling for the sale and disposal, excuse me, disposal thereof, adopt Public Works Director Kimmon.

Thank you, Mr. President. The very last page of your agenda packet has the list of items that we were looking at disposing of, as well as the fund where they would go to. We're asking the council to approve Resolution 2026-56, which lists the items that we were looking at disposing of.

With that being said, thank you. Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Second. Motion made by Mayor Zilka, seconded by Councilwoman Lundberg. Any discussion? Excuse me. Hearing none, resolution. Call the roll, please.

Liljegren.

Yes.

Meyer.

Yes.

Zilka. Yes. Glaze. Yes. Hanson. Yes. And Lundberg. Yes, we're good.

All right, very well.

Do we have any announcements? I have one when I was speaking to Susie and Perva earlier and there's a whole agenda of things. For the anniversary of Charles Lindbergh Atlantic transatlantic flight for the next year's 100th anniversary. So it's not just a one week. or two week event, there's things going on all the way throughout the year, and there's information about it. Maybe we can get this online, potentially. And if the community's interested in seeing all of the things they have planned, I think that would be very beneficial to see. So, any other announcements?

I'll just say that I will push and shove that source as much as I can to help the fire department. Very well with that being said I will adjourn this meeting at 825 p.m