City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, it is 6:30. We will call the Monday, January 12, 2026 city council meeting to order. If you could please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [snorts]

Thank you. And before we get to the agenda, just a little housekeeping real quick for anyone who's watching. Uh, Council Member Halt is not uh uh in in chambers today. he is uh dialing in remote to the meeting as he had surgery last week. So um there may be a little bit of a delay in there and because of that I will be doing a roll call for all votes going around individually for a yay or nay from every individual council member. Um so with that then I'll look for uh one. Do we have any additions to the agenda? [laughter] Excuse me. Yes, mayor. I have one addition for tonight. I would like to add the approval of the 2027 township fire contracts. I was able to receive the final bit of parcel information I needed uh earlier today. So, those would be good to go uh for approval. Normally, we don't add stuff to agenda, but they like to get these by their February meeting. So, getting it done tonight would help with that. All right, then we will add that as 19B um onto the agenda. I'll look for a motion to approve the agenda with the one addition of the 2027 township fire contracts.

Motion second. We have a motion and a second. And uh we'll go around for yay or nay. Council member Help. Yay. Council member Jackson, yay. Council member McNeely, Council Member Fouch, yay.

And uh Mayor Dodge is a yay. So with that, [clears throat] uh the agenda has passed. We will then open up for public comments. If there's anyone who would like to discuss anything that is not on the agenda, please come forward. And seeing none, we'll close public comments and move to the consent agenda. Is there anything on the consent agenda that needs to be pulled for further discussion?

Sorry. Hear hearing none, I'll look for a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Motion. Second. We have a motion, a second. Council member health. Yay or nay? Yay. Council member Jackson. Yay. Council member McNeely. Yay. Council member Fouch. Yay. And Mayor Dodge is a yay. With that, that passes 50. Thank you. We will move to business items. Consider introduction of ordinance 251 amending the zoning code. So with that, Nick, I don't know if you want to jump in first or if we just turn it right over to to John.

Can turn it right over to John. Introduce uh him. It's been a while since you've been at council. So, welcome back, John Anderson, our outgoing city planner, but uh as always appreciated for all the years of service. Uh so, the planning commission um has been hard at work on the updating the zoning code and we've reached the end of that process. We've h held the public hear required public hearings and now we are at the point where we are bringing it to city council uh for first introduction and at the next meeting approval. And with that, I will have John go over more of the details.

Yeah. So, uh, good evening here and, uh, we do have the zoning ordinance update. I think it's actually also talks about amending chapter 153 flood plane management. So, we didn't really amend that, but what we did is incorporate that into the zoning ordinance since it technically is an overlay district that's typically on a zoning map. So ultimately we're repeat um uh getting rid of um chapter 152 replacing it

and uh then uh getting rid of 153 flood plane management that's been incorporated into the zoning ordinance. So with that said at the last planning commission we meeting we did have the public hearing. Uh there was no um official comments from the public and there was no more amending at that point. We have been working on this for roughly the last year or so and uh we did do a quite a bit of updating. There's some, you know, things like adding a couple new zoning districts. So, we kind of went from three residential to four residential districts to kind of better prepare for future growth that could be coming to the city of mayor. We also added a true industrial district, the I1, you know, light industrial district. Right now, we currently have the commercial industrial. This is ultimately a real industrial district that will just be for industrial type uses. So, going forward, one of the items that um uh we talked about the other day is once the zoning ordinance potentially is approved and adopted that the city should look at taking a look at the zoning ordinance and seeing if we want to amend it um and change some zoning here or there. I don't know if we anything that's truly outstanding to do right off the bat. I know in the future as potential properties do annex into the city, there are some properties that are looked at to be the industrial zoning. Uh the residential side of things is to give a little bit more option. We have a true um high density district now which is I believe it was the R4. We have an R3 which is like town homes and then R1 and R2. The R1 is a true single family. The R2 is a single family, twin homes, that sort of uh type of district. So they just kind of ramp up with densities and things like that. Uh some other items that we did look at and have some discussion on throughout the review process was storage containers. I know we talked about that uh a couple years ago and it kind of got put on hold till we did this process. Um there's, you know, a lot of other things that we kind of tweaked and there was a lot of inconsistencies. We kind of tried to put the correct definitions in and all the language now matches the definitions. There was some stuff that contradicted each other in the previous stuff. So, I

think we have a good uh ordinance here and um like I said, we're here tonight uh for the city council to recommend approval of it and um go from there. I'll take any questions if you have them. So, is that something we should just kind of go through it and kind of hit the highlights and the changes on it?

Um, I don't have uh in the packet was just kind of the final draft. So, I don't have a document that shows where all the changes are. I know the planning commission had that draft and and gone through that. Um, I guess if we want to go through it and if anyone has any questions, we can do that, but there's a lot of reshuffleling of the ordinance itself. So, sections were moved around and put into different things. So, there is a lot of changes. you know, some of the language is still the same, but um I guess it's up to you how you want to handle that and I can try to do my best and to, [clears throat] you know, update some of that stuff. Yeah, I think for me, I need to get maybe a little more detail on some of the specifics. I This is obviously a big Yeah,

a big um packet here and to try to get through without red lines and and seeing some of the changes. So maybe some of the some of the bigger ones. Did you did you look at parking uh Austria parking? Yes, we did look at that as well. And where did we land on some of those bigger ones that we have discussed?

Let me just try to find that real quick in the section. Um give me a quick second. I believe that section 152.067 is off streetet parking and driveway requirements. Um in that there is a table. Um I guess it starts on page 75 uh in the ordinance itself and basically I think the last one we had a discussion on was when the the DG market came forward. We had some parking that we kind of reduced on that one. Uh so if you look under the commercial industrial um category it would be uh commercial where is it here? Um here retail sales other it's one space for each 200 square feet of floor area. We also have service business one for 250. So that was the changes and I'm sure

what page of the code is that? uh 75 and 76 is where that would be right there. [clears throat] So So that'll be page 123 of the counter packet PDF. Okay.

123

[snorts] and John, were these on some of these changes and what we went through on some of these was it kind of what other cities were doing kind of from your experience? Yes. So, it was kind of a combination of that. So obviously I I work in some other communities so I've seen other zoning ordinances. I also keep track of a lot what a lot of other communities do out there. Yeah. Um you know mayor

is similar to potentially a little rural you know center you know community like that you know it is but it's got some growth. It's not a true like growing suburb like like say a chaska or something like that. Yeah. Um so you look at different options and then kind of compare. So I did do some of that as as the ordinance was updated and and drafted. I also looked at some of the specific needs for mayor because we've had conversations over the years for different items. Uh storage containers for instance, the parking pads on a garage, that's obviously been a hot button issue over the last handful of years. So, we looked at that and had discussion. And like I said, not one ordinance doesn't match every city. Every city's got its own special needs. So, you try to take something that's common in a lot of areas and then, you know, fit it to what the community needs. And that's kind of where we came up with some of this language, I guess. So, and and just so you know how we did it, we had, I don't know, five or six different meetings where each meeting we came with a different section of the code and then w talked through that and um basically looked at each section so it didn't get too long each time. And you know, a lot of times, you know, we didn't change some language in some of the cases, you know, was good language on some of the things, but there was some things we did update and uh that's the stuff we kind of focused on. So, But there are red lines somewhere. You

Yeah, there was a red line copy that uh we did have at the planning commission. Um and uh we we're you know obviously they recommended what you have in front of you. So to show what it is, we took out the red lines. The document's actually about double the size when you add all the red lines in. So we did re rearrange a lot of stuff just to kind of get everything in the correct sections and stuff. Right. So, okay. And if it if if if it makes sense, you know, um there's no requirement to have to make a decision tonight. It is possible we could come back with the redline version for the council to review. I can send that tomorrow.

If you can get that emailed out to Nick and Nick and [clears throat] distributor, I think that's going to help everyone because again, this is an introduction right now. We're not approving or not uh or or not approve. We're not approving or disapproving, I guess, until our next meeting. So, um, yeah. Yeah. Let's take a look at the red lines. Um, and if you remember off top of your head, what h where did they land on or what's the recommendation on storage unit uh containers?

Uh, basically, so we had some draft language that we drafted up about two years ago roughly. I don't remember the exact time period, couple years ago. And we we kind of went back to that language and I brought it forward. We discussed it and we were close on it previously but everyone said let's just put it on hold and we'll give us some time to think. There was no major rush. So basically when we came up with that language we pretty much kept it as what was previously okay kind of reviewed and recommended. So it allows for a certain number of storage containers obviously if they're existing I think it was up to three per property but then there was some specific requirements on location. So you just can't have it sitting in the front yard right in right on the street. It's got to be back in the rear and it has to be back. It can be in the side, but it has to be no further forward than the front of the building. And then it has to have certain screening requirements, too. And I think there was some color requirements and things of that nature. No stacking or stuff like that. But some, you know, if or a business in town has, you know, say more than that, obviously there they would be grandfathered in. And one thing I always want to make it clear is storage containers were previously allowed in the zoning ordinance as outdoor storage, but there was a 100% screening requirement for those. So, it's not something that was previously denied. It was allowed. We just kind of clarified, cleaned the language up, added some uh, you know, definitions, added some specific requirements so everyone kind of knows what we're going dealing with going forward. So,

thank you. Any questions for John? Anyone else have any right now on anything they've reviewed or No, I think the red line thing would be helpful for sure. Yep. Yeah, let's do that. And um yeah, take a look at if everyone's comfortable at by next meeting after they get the red lines, you know, we'll continue to move forward, but it may then take one more one more after that to make sure everyone's aligned on things.

Yeah. And the red line, it'll have what's underlined is new text. Yeah. And in the the strike through would be stuff that's being removed. In some cases, sections had strikes through, but it was actually moved to a different section because there was a lot of stuff that kind of was out of place in in the current code. Not that it wasn't there, but it's just kind of in the wrong area and we try to clean all that up so it's a little more easy to follow. Perfect. Okay. If no one else go ahead, Nick, just real quick on process for adoption of the ordinance tonight would be the introduction of it.

Yeah. And [clears throat] then what happens is you need 10 days of public posting of that before you can then adopt it. That works really well for our schedule because we have about two weeks in between. [clears throat] So it'll suffice. So after this meeting, if it's approved for introduction, I will then post it to the city's website. That gives us our 10 days before the next meeting. And then at the next meeting would be adoption. Now if there any there would be any changes to the code that we bring forward at the next meeting, we would then need to reintroduce it with the updates because then I would need to post start the 10 days again. Start the 10 days with the updated language if there is any.

Does it make sense to introduce it this meeting then? Should we wait for introduction till next after everyone gets red lines? Do you think either or? I guess it doesn't matter, does it? end result would be the same. It's gonna be the same no matter what and it's not that much. It's not much. It's not any extra work for staff, right? Okay. So, any other questions for John before I I got a couple of quick things I'll bring up. So, one other thing, you know, this kind of goes into the residential zoning districts.

Um, previously we had a table that outlined setbacks, lot sizes, you know, that sort of thing for each district. We still have that table, but what we did is we also added that into each district. So as you go into the R1, it lists it in a certain section and there and then that goes everything gets put in that table at the end. So it's kind of in two spots now. So you have one area for each district to compare or you can go to each each individual district and review it. And in those districts we also um basically made everything the same. So every district has the same sections whereas before some districts didn't have an interimm use section, some did. Some districts had different sections that other districts didn't. So now every district has kind of that same format and it makes it kind of easier so you can compare districts if you're looking at you know what do I want to do.

So in each district you'll just have the district that specific district information in it and then in the table at the end we'll capture everything. Correct. Oh nice. Good. Yep. Good. Yeah. There was a lot of cleanup in there. Um absolutely. Um other than just language. So all right. Thank anything else John? No, unless you had any other questions. All right, with that then I'll look for a motion to introduce ordinance 251 amending the zoning code. Motion. Second. We have a motion and a second. Uh, council member health. Yay or nay. Yay. Council member Jackson, yay. Council member McNeely, yay. Council member Fouch.

Yay. And Mayor Dodge is a yay. Motion carries 5. Thank you, John. Thanks for everything. Thanks for all your work the last few years. Thanks for your hard work on this. Um, and hopefully we'll see you every now and again. Well, I'm not fully I'm not fully retired yet, I guess. So, I'm I'm still kind of working on some there's another item still that we're dealing with, but Holly Craft will be from our miss will be taking over and but I'll kind of be helping out if something comes up. Perfect. Yeah. And we look forward to working with Holly as well, but thank you for everything. We we really appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah. 17 years or 18 years. I think sounds about right. Yeah, [laughter]

it' be time, right? All right. With that, then we will um consider approval of firefighter officer appointments.

Thank you, mayor. If you're looking to find the page in this, if you go to PDF page 174, that's where we pick up on the rest of the packet. [clears throat] Thank you, Mayor. Uh we annually we go through our firefighter officer appointments. This term around we had chief two, training captain two, fire prevention captain three, SCBA lieutenant 2 and the secretary position open. All positions ran unopposed except for the SCPA lieutenant 2. We had two applicants for that. Uh the fire chief uh Andy uh chief two uh Bob Carlson and myself held interviews for that. And after that, we were recommending up Brent Hilk for the position. So we have before us the slate for approval.

All right. Uh so with that, I'll look for a motion to approve the fire department appointments as presented. I'll make the motion. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Council member Hell. Yay or nay? Yay. Council member Jackson. Yay. Council member McNeely. Yay. Fouch. Yay. And Dodge is a yay. Motion carries. 5-0. That how about we go to adoption of resolution for 2026 appointments and designations.

Thank you, mayor. Uh I have a updated resolution before us on the screen here with some minor changes. [clears throat] I was getting uh some confirmations back on some of the uh term appointments of some of our boards and commissions. Um so I'd like to just go through that. Tom Stifter has elected to re-up his position. Sarah Strand has elected to re-up their position. So they have been updated on the park board. I talked to Eric Vogle whose term was up and he has elected to not re-up his position. So we'll advertise that opening for the park board. other changes in there to take a look at. We added in uh we had talked about this last year adding in the wetlands committee uh just making sure that's listed. Added back in the fire department just to make sure that's listed and then at at request we have added in the fire board to showing it as an active committee and that's the one we meet with the townships and since we just had our annual township meeting and we'll be doing that going forward just adding those back in. We don't have to do any appointments to them as those are already preset. [snorts] Um so just making sure those are approved

and they were preset and existing. We're just getting them all in one place. Yep. Preset and existing. Getting them all in one place. So the boards and uh uh what we have that will need updating since the council does two-year appointments to the boards and commissions. We got through those last year. So those are all still active. Uh the one we have before us that we need to uh get sorted out would be the acting mayor position. Any uh it was council member health had done it in 2025. Uh council member health any input? Is that something you want to continue or is there anyone else who would like to uh take a stab at acting mayor? Chad, anything to add? I'll continue.

Okay. Anyone else have any? Anyone else want to throw in? Okay. Well, that makes it easy. All right. If Chad's the only one any And those were the That was the only one we have to discuss. Correct. Correct. All right. For the for the park board since Eric's not We did have previous people that can we reach out to the other people that maybe have already put their names in the hat but didn't get the open position last year. we would advertise it open like we normally would, but I can certainly let those people know that it is open once again.

Yeah, I would just that would be nice because I know that there were some other people that had contacted me uh about that open position which they did not get so and they were very qualified. Yeah. Yep. Thank you. So with that, I'll look for a motion to approve resolution 2026-1, organization of the city of mayor with the addition of council member health as vice mayor. Motion or acting mayor. Second. We have a motion, a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Council member Held. Yay or nay? Yay. Jackson, yay. McNeely, yay.

F. Yay. and Dodge is a yay. A yay. Motion carries. 5. And with that, we will move to consider adoption of resolution receiving a donation from the Mayor Baseball Club for their annual gambling proceeds. Uh thank you, mayor. Each year, as part of their lawful gambling operations, they are required to donate 10% of their proceeds to the city. And for this year, that would equal1,00 or I'm sorry, $11,280. So with that, I'll look for a motion to approve resolution 2026-2 approving donation from the Mayor Baseball Club. Motion.

Second. We have a motion, a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Council member Hell. Yay. Nay. Yay. Council member Jackson. Yay. McNeely, yay. Fin. And Dodge [clears throat] is a yay.

Motion carries. 50. And again, thank you very much to the Mayor Baseball Club for their donation of $11,280. Very much appreciated. So, with that, we will move to approve resolution approve and don't approve the resolution to approve the donation [laughter] from the mayor baseball club for the uh uh mayor fire department. Thank you, mayor. Um, in addition to their lawful gambling required donation of the 10%, they also like to make an annual donation towards the fire department's donation fund. That'd be fire uh that' be fund 212 in our accounting system. And this year, they are looking to contribute $6,000 to that fund.

Wonderful. We'll look for a motion to approve resolution 2026-3 approving donation from the mayor baseball club to the mayor fire department. Motion. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion hearing? None. Council member health. Yay or nay? Yay. Jackson. Yay. McNeely. Fouch. Yay. And Dodge is a yay. Motion carries 5-0. And again, thank you again to the baseball club

for that donation of $6,000 to the fire department, which will get uh go to good use. So, we appreciate both those donations. With that, we will move to uh consider introduction of ordinance 252 amending the fee schedule.

Thank you, mayor. Uh this ordinance comes back to us after discussions at the last goound. Uh most of the uh non-controversial, it's a strong word for that, but ones we're in agreement to those have been updated. Uh we have also updated the community center portions to clean that up. Uh after the discussions we talked about that uh public entity local civic group uh event rental uh the small the other prices have gone up by that $25 as discussed. Uh so we've divided this section out as we had discussed last time. So looking to make sure this is where we'd like things to land as we move forward. Otherwise all the other updates to the meter rates and what have you have been adjusted as discussed.

Perfect. Any questions for administrator move forward? That looks It looks good. Yeah, it does. It really cleaned it up nice. Uh so with that, I'll look for a motion to introduce ordinance 252 amending the fee schedule. Motion. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion hearing? None. Council member Hel, yay or nay? Yay. Jackson, yay. McNeely, yay. Fouch. Yay.

And Dodge is a yay. Motion carries 5. Thank you. [snorts] And that we will look for uh approval on the uh January 26th meeting. So with that, we will consider approval to accept the resignation of public works supervisor Greg Fashion.

Uh thank you, mayor. uh our public works supervisor Greg Fing uh had come to me and wished to tender his resignation of the position uh just doesn't believe it's a good fit uh after he got in. Now you always apply and you think it's going to be the right fit for you but after some time here uh he just doesn't think it's quite what he's looking for in his public works career. So he is tendering his resignation effective January 20th so coming up next week on Tuesday. uh took a job with the city of Tonka Bay and I wish him the best uh and hope that will be a nice good fit for him. Uh so with that looking to accept his resignation.

Thank you. I'll look for a motion to accept the resignation of public works supervisor Greg Fashion. Motion. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion hearing? None. Uh, council member health, yay or nay. Yay. Jackson, yay. McNeely, yay. Fouch, yay. And Mayor Dodge is a yay.

Motion carries 5. So with that, um, just want to thank Greg for his time here. Um, you know, and I I'm glad he's realized where he needs to be and it's not a good fit. And, um, certainly no hard feelings. We we certainly thank him for for what he's done. I'd like to echo those words as well. Yeah. Thank you. So with that, we will move to consider approval of conditional offer to promote Kyle Kun to public works supervisor position and authorize city administrator to open hire otherwise.

Thank you, mayor. Uh so with Greg Fashing tendering his resignation, the personnel committee met to discuss the potential avenues and options open to us for filling the position and two came up right away. One was the possibility of the former public works supervisor Kyle Coun returning to the position. Um he has indicated he is certainly willing to uh entertain that. Um uh pending he's got to give it some thought on his end of curse. He wants to make sure it's not right for uh he wants to make sure it's not only right for him but for the city as well to make sure it's a good match into the future. Um he'd like until next Monday to contemplate uh the uh offer that we're looking at tonight so that he can make the best decision for them. In lie of that we would be looking at an open hire process. And let me bring that up. And just to add, this would be a to promote Kyle as he is an an employee already. Correct.

Yes. Correct. So with that, Kyle is currently still an employee with the city when he resigned as public works supervisor prior. We transitioned him into a new interim part-time role because he holds the class A wastewater license that we need to be in compliance with the MPCA. So he's still an employee of the city just on a six seven hour per week basis and he's been fulfilling that role. So if he were to return to the public works supervisor position then this would be an internal promotion rather than a completely new hiring process as he's an existing employee. Now with that um the union contract stipulates that any open position must be posted five days internally uh for that to happen given Kyle would be contemplating until next Monday. and that satisfies that 5-day waiting period on that. Um, but in lie of that, if Kyle decides it's not the right uh fit for him, the open hiring timeline, uh, tonight we're looking at that authorization of opening condition upon Kyle's acceptance. Uh, if he doesn't, on January 19th, we would uh I would place the hiring advertisements. That'd be the League of Minnesota Cities, Minnesota Rural Water Association, and the Local 49er Union in our usual spots. We'd be looking at a uh 3-week posting period until February 10th. From February 11th to the 13th, I would be vetting the applications for interview uh candidacy, select who would we like to who we would like to offer interviews for, and then it would be my intent to have the interview panel get together and do interviews. the 16th through the 27. That would assume two rounds of interviews, an initial and a final. And then we would be looking at the week of March 2nd, depending on when everything wraps up and when schedules look at to have a special council meeting sometime during that week to approve the new hire

rather than waiting an additional week on that to get them in. Assuming a two week uh two week uh notice they have to give their employer, whoever it may be. Earliest start date would be that week of March 16th that we' be looking at. So that'd be that open hire timeline. uh in regards to the internal promotion looking at for Kyle personnel committee like I said it had met and we discussed this as well and the conditional offer of promotion we're looking at for Kyle would be having his wage adjusted to 5170 which aligns to the 2026 public works supervisor step 8 under the union contract uh his PTO acrruel rate would be at the same rate as when he resigned with uh from his public works supervisor position and then we would deposit one week 5 days of PTO into his bank upon first day of promotion. So with that like to open it up to uh our two personnel committee members if there are anything is anything additional and to the council as well of course for questions, comments, observations for anything else regarding this discussion.

Chad, is there anything you want to add? Nope. He explained it just as we had discussed. Perfect. Yeah. And I have nothing more to add other than just one quick clarification or question I guess. Um if Kyle does not accept and we go out uh I assume the posting other than changing dates is going to be similar or the same as what we had previously done back in April [clears throat] or May last year. Correct. And this is a shorter time frame. Last goround we had higher qualifications in the job description for this position. We adjusted those to be able to attract more applicants. Those adjustments are still in place and they have not changed.

So we should see a quicker turnaround. And as part of the uh this if we go to open hire, I would be contacting the applicants who didn't get it the last goound that made it to the interview round to see if they wanted to reapply. Perfect. Uh, if Kyle doesn't accept, how much time between Greg's last day and the higher date are we without a supervisor? Uh, miday. Is Greg done? 20th. So, two months. 20. Okay. Oh, two months. Okay.

So, with that to go into that, uh, Greg and I have been, uh, talking here ever since he indicated he'd be resigning. We're working on those transition plans. Um, so I'll be stepping back in as the interim public works supervisor. I'll be meeting with staff Mondays, Wednesdays, and uh, Fridays 7 a.m. Uh, for that, I'm also in every city I've worked for, I've been a backup snow plow or a snowplow driver. So, as it stands now, Josh and Scott will be handling opening up the streets. And then, uh, looks like we have a snow event scheduled for Thursday, weather pending. Should that happen, I'll be joining the public works crews, and uh I will likely be taking the tool kit, working on the downtown areas, opening those up, um trails, sidewalks, and alleys, and then other places the tool cat will handle so the guys can get in the main equipment and get the roads and streets opened up. So, I'll be helping out that way. Otherwise, [clears throat] Greg has done a really good job of uh keeping the department positioned for a good [snorts] transition out, things are stocked up, making sure we have equipment repaired and supplies on hand. So, it should be smooth in that regard.

We did touch on that on the personnel committee last weekend and we'll likely meet again if need be it once we find out what Kyle's doing. Um especially if this turns out to be longer like it did last time or we have to go back out again. So, um, we got a good finger on the pulse. Uh, Nick's got a good plan together on on how we're going to, um, you know, in in the interim there. Make sure everything gets done. Obviously, our high priorities and watching out for our existing employees to make sure they're not getting burnt out. So, we really got our finger on the pulse of it this time. Uh, I've got a draft on SK on call schedule going to the start of March. I just got to do some finalizations on that. uh we should have that pretty well in play as well.

And if at any point it gets to the point where it's overwhelmed or it's not working, we'll get someone in to help with snow. We'll we'll just have to hire something done if we need to. We'll make sure we get things uh uh done as they should. Now, the main things keeping the light, you know, snow plow, things like that. If it gets so busy and there's so much snow and things turn out and the ice rinks doesn't maybe uh get flooded, that might have to go, you know, we got to keep some of the main stuff done. So, as we work through that with good recommendation from Greg and now uh with Nick being involved and and and in in all those details along with the personnel committee, we feel pretty comfortable with things. Excellent.

This may be a silly question, but if he does accept it, does that open a position that he's currently taking that we need to fill now? Uh Kyle. Yeah. No. So, Kyle holding his class A wastewater license. That's the purpose of him in the interim role because we don't have a classic license. If he comes back, that position goes away because he has all the qualifications. Got it. Thank you.

Any other questions? Hearing none, I'll look for a motion to approve a conditional offer to promote Kyle Coons to public works supervisor position. And if that is declined and authorized city administrator to open higher otherwise. Motion. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion?

My only comment on this which is nice is as we got ahead of this and Nick got ahead of this that we do have a verbal agreement from Kyle that he has accepted these conditions. So as he just works through if it's the right decision or not is the only we shouldn't have any issues with um the offer. So, um I think that helps and it helps that Nick got ahead of that and had worked with him. So, um he's verbally, um accepted it and he just has to work through, you know, talk with his wife and family and make sure it's right for them. So, so with that, uh any other discussion hearing? None. Council member Held, yay or nay? Yay. Jackson, yay. McNeely, yay. Fish,

yay. And Mayor Dodge is a yay. Motion carries 5-0. With that, then we will move to the added item of 19B contract uh fire contract for 2027 for the townships.

Thank you, mayor. So, the last piece of information I was waiting on was from Carver County getting updated parcel counts with structures on them because that uh delineates what percentage of the contract total cost goes where. I got those earlier today. So plugged in those new figures into our formulas which has produced the new amounts here. They didn't change wildly from the 2026 figures which were the placeholders. So you have a few minor alterations here which changes these contracts in the order of a few hundred a piece. Otherwise they stayed relatively same from when we presented them at the annual meeting to the uh to the township. So we have all four of those together. We can see the cost breakdown down here. Uh so looking for approval of the contracts as updated.

And just to clarify why we're looking at 2027 is the township's budget is uh budgeting time is different than the cities as we do ours at the in the fall. They do theirs early in the year, you know, February, March, April to get ready for the the next year. So that's why we're getting ahead of it. And the townships certainly appreciate these numbers so they can dial in their their numbers. So, it's just different uh budgeting uh calendar times. Yep. So, these will be revenues collected in 27, not 26. Yep. So, with that, I'll look for a motion to approve the uh 2027 fire contracts for the townships. Motion second.

A motion second. Any further discussion hearing? None. Council member Hel. Uh, yay or nay. Jackson, yay. McNeely, yay. Fouch, yay. And Dodge is a yay. Motion carries 5. With that, [snorts] we will move to city council reports. Council member health, anything to report on? No. Unfortunately, this is the final information with the surgery and we discussed everything. Perfect. Thank you, Council Member Jackson. Nothing. Council member McNeely? Nope.

Council member Fouch. Yeah. Nothing.

And um as Chad just said, we did have personnel committee meeting last weekend that we went over with the hiring and the acceptance. And um you saw in Nick's report that uh council member Johnson and myself did attend a meeting that the uh League of Minnesota cities put on um they're trying to do some road trips getting out uh throughout the state to try to get some feedback um from some cities and different area you know what can they do to improve what are some things what are some pain points that cities are looking at um things like that just kind of some roundt discussions um which I think is great. So they decided to have their last one last week in the city of mayor. So at the fire department, they handled all the invites to who they, you know, who was going to show up and things like that. But it um we did get the city administrator from Waverly attended and the city administrator and mayor from Mini Trista along with Nick and myself. So um it was it was nice. I I really I like that they're doing that. I think it really gets them out there into the communities into these smaller communities and really find out what the pain points are. And um the main one that kind of the the uh main topic was really around infrastructure and wastewater treatment plants and all the requirements that are getting put on on now and how are cities going to really get through that. So, um, and then there's some requests for the league maybe and try to get a little more training out there for this new leave program that took, uh, place in 2026. Um, just cuz it's, as we know, as we're going through it, it's a little muddy and not real clear. So, the league's already on that working through some of that. So, uh, it was a good meeting. That's all I have. So, with that, I'll look for a motion to adjurnn.

Motion second. We have a motion, a second. Council member H. Yay or nay. Yay Jackson. Yay. McNeely. Yay. Dodge is a yay. We are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. Uh Chad. Bye Chad. Feel better. He's a little delayed, huh?