City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. I am Chuck Hendendrickson, Mayor Prom. The Morhead City Council welcomes public input on issues listed on the agenda or general community interest, time and council permitting. Speakers are limited to three minutes each. If you'd like to address the council during the meeting, please fill out a form provided by the city clerk and we will call you up during the citizens addressing the council. Please state your name and if you are a Morehead resident. If comments are submitted to the clerk prior to the meeting via email or phone, those comments will be entered into the record. For more information on the participation, please visit the city or excuse me, the council meetings page on the city of Morhead website at morheadmaninnesota.gov. We the Morhead City Council collectively and with gratitude acknowledge the sacred land the city of Morhead is built upon. We acknowledge the people who have resided here for generations and recognize that the spirit of the Dakota Ojiway Mes and all indigenous communities permeates this land. With that, I'd like to call War City Council meeting for February 23rd, 2026 to order. And can we get a roll call, please? Ryan Nelson

here. Nicole Matson here. Heather Nissmeer here. Emily Moore here. Deb White here. Lisa Borggan here. Sebastian McDougall here. Chuck Hendrickson here. Mayor Shelley Carlson. Thank you. Um with that, if you're able, please rise and we'll recite the pledge of allegiance. public.

City manager Molly, are there any amendments? There are no amendments to the agenda tonight. Mayor Mo Prom Okay, that'll bring us to uh item number four on the agenda, the consent agenda. There any change any questions about that? If not, I'm looking for a motion to approve it. Move to approve consent agenda. Nissa Meyer second. Borggan. Okay. So, we have a first and a second. All those in favor? Excuse me, Mr. Mayor Prom. Yep.

Uh I just have a question back on the on the um issue of additions to the agenda. We haven't do we have to adopt the agenda or do we not because there's no changes? Okay. So, we did do we have a new business item. So, I did not receive a new business item. Okay. Unless if there's a new business item. There is. Okay. So, uh should we finish on consent and then go back to uh agenda? That sounds good. Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Sure. So, all those in favor say I. I. I.

All those opposed, same sign. And the consent agenda passes. Now, we'll go back to the agenda. Uh, I would like to add a new business item as an federal um officer and ICE update. And you need a second. I'll second that. So, we have a motion and a second for the updated agenda, and we'll do that during new business. Um, item 22. So, all those in favor say I. I. I.

All those opposed, same sign. And the up and the amended agenda does pass. Which brings us to item number five, recognitions and presentations. And it's the city of Morhead communications division. And I believe we have Lisa Bod to do introductions here.

Thank you, Mayor Prom, members of the council. I'm not going to take up a lot of your time. I want um the work that uh our team does to really be the focus tonight, but I just want to take a moment to recognize Kelly Coun and Caleb Fugleberg. Uh Kelly is our communications coordinator. Caleb is our marketing coordinator. Um they've been with us for two and three years kind of reversed respectively. And I just their skill sets complement one another so much. They cover for one another. They are both approachable to members of our team and members of the public. And they put out awesome work. Um the materials for the library, the groundbreings and ribbon cutting events that have been um so well received by the public and just give us cause for celebration. the work that they do when we're do dealing with harder things um is also critically important and I just want to let you know how much I appreciate them and how good they make all of us look. So with that I'm going to turn it over to Kelly who is going to give you a briefing somewhat similar to what they shared with the EDA a few weeks ago and some of the funds that we use for um marketing in particular come from the EDA. So that has been um you know a nice partnership with us too. We did this work for a long time with the use of consultants and having these um two talented people on our staff and able to really um live the work that is happening here makes it so much better from a communication standpoint and I think you can feel that authenticity in the work that they do. So thank you Thank you, Lisa. Uh, good evening, Mayor Prom and council members. I'm excited to give an update on some of the things

that are going on in our world right now. So, um, the biggest change that we just announced um, is our website that went live last Thursday. With the help of our departments and our website launch team, which included myself, Caleb, Chance, Christina, and Corey, we are now live at moreheadmn.gov. Uh, prior to going live, we did public input surveys. We did listening sessions and worked with our departments to determine the best layout and what we should focus on with this new site. Uh, specific needs that were prominent with this were mobile friendliness, uh, which I'm happy to report that we now are. um 57% of our users on our site are are using a desktop and 43% are using a mobile device to access our site. The other was the layout and the structure. So, we cleaned up our pages. We went from over 6,000 web pages to just under 350. And with that, our search will perform better. And the best part is that great content is still there. So, we were hearing that we had great content on our site. It was just hard to find. And so we improved that for our users. And then instead of using departments as categories to organize content, which we were used to, we are organizing by areas of service, which um you can see on the header here. Um we are it's kind of hard to see. Um we're we've moved to property services, parks and recreation, emergency services, uh streets and transit, business and development, and then government. And then um that's more how a resident is going to use our site versus how we are internally referring to things. And then contact information is now built into every new page created. So when a resident is on a certain page and they have questions or want follow-up, they can click to contact us now on every single one of

their our pages if it's relevant, which most of them are, and get a direct contact to that department. Um and then a powerful service fe uh search feature um called your address your service which is featured here on this page has been added to the homepage and you can enter your address or a address to find your garbage recycling day um voting location council member property information and more. And a huge shout out to Chance for building this because he is awesome. He like his coding is out of this world and he has been so essential to just setting up this new site and taking it to the next level to make morehead um mn.gov just like incredible. So thank you Chance and we look forward to doing some promotions of this and um some of our other great tools in our departments through this website. So stay tuned to our social media and e notifications for this. And just so you're aware, we are addressing a few kinks on the site with our vendor and Google as we have moved to the new site. So the redirect issues have been reported on certain browsers and Google has not yet made necessary redirects to the new site path. So when people Google us, they will get the old site paths um when they click it. So we are still working on um through that. But if you do hear of any concerns, you can just tell them that they can go to moreheadmn.gov and use the search feature there. Outside of e notifications, you can receive information about the city through our social media platforms. And here are the ones that we use. And as you can see, um some of our departments outside of the city um such as parks, police, fire, and senior um center are on social media and we use Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Um, this is our these are our top viewed stories on the city of Morehead page on Facebook. Um, these are all organic

posts, which is very exciting. With the new website, we'll actually be looking into a few new uh micro sites that include transitioning our Make Morehead home and our economic development site into the new website. Um, and with this we hope to do create uh we hope to create boosted posts to drive engagement to these sites and explore more fun um ways to engage not only our residents but those outside of the the metro and potential residents. And we hope to expand on what we learned from the Morehead homeowner survey that our team conducts and do some targeted uh marketing at um to some of those groups that we are seeing people move from. So we had um most recently had added a what zip code did you move from and in that survey so a few years worth of that data should now give some more um good information to market too which is very exciting because Morehead has a lot to be proud of and excited for. Um over the past two years the team was building busy with groundb breakings as well as a few ribbon cutings as you can see in this slide. Here's a nice little recap of the last two years. And this year we're calling 2026 the year of the ribbon cutings. In fact, we bought um a giant pair of scissors um to mark the occasion. Um planning for the li planning with the library team for the loop along with planning for Manson Field are underway. Then this summer we'll be celebrating Romkey Park and this fall we'll play host to 11th Street underpass which we're all excited for I'm sure. and winter will celebrate our teams moving back to city hall. So, as you can see, the city has a lot going on which you can learn about in Citizens Government Academy. This year will be the fourth year of the program. Um 70 residents have uh gone through the program so far and graduated. And um so far with this

year's applications, we've had 168 applications, which is great. The theory is to help uh residents learn about the inner workings of municipal government including operations and policym. This program is open primarily to Morehead residents but al we also encourage city staff and newly elected council members to participate as uh part of their orientation since it kicks off in early March. Uh participants get a mix of classroom presentation, hands-on experience and behind the-scenes tours of city operations from walking tours of the parks and the water treatment plant um to hands-on experience with our firefighters and law enforcement. Each department offers something unique. As a wrap-up to the sessions, one of the highlights is uh working with um our Mach Council, our Mach City Council meeting where participants step into the role of a council member and debate real life agenda items, including this past year um an item that appeared on the actual agenda the following week. And then assistant city manager Mike Re and I presented at um the League of Minnesota Cities um uh conference this last year. So we had emailed all of our previous attendees and these are just some of the survey results that we had got uh received for that. So some of the motivation for joining um which I h I have to say I'm really proud of this because this was not fill in the blank or this was fill-in- thelank. This was not a um a bubble. This was not me telling them anything. So why did they join? A better understanding of how we function and work together. build relationships, become more engaged and active, find meaningful ways to contribute to the community, explore avenues for advocacy and civic involvement, which is awesome. The takeaways were they felt um

interconnectedness. They saw how our city operates together. They appreciated the transparency that we provide to them and the dedication that we show. And they value the behindthe-scenes knowledge. And then um my favorite part is um seeing the impact. So they were more likely to attend city events. Yay. Uh they felt more informed and less uh quick to judge decisions. They have a greater appreciation for staff and feel comfortable with city officials and are actively encouraging others to get involved. All huge wins. Participants are also sharing um what they learn apparently with everyone which is awesome and many now feel informed and empowered to explain city processes to others and encourage involvement and that's really the whole point of this program which means it's working. Uh overwhelmingly our AC our academy participants recommend this program. We sent out surveys after each session and every session people were in it from wastewater touring about engineering and community development. Um they got a park tour. They loved it. I mean some people who've lived in the city for over 20 years haven't even been to some of our parks and they got to experience them through this. So, um, and they got to put on fire gear and and you know, it was it's it's just an awesome program and, um, while it takes a little bit of convincing to get all eight council members, um, we still get them and it's still really fun for them to see the process and go through all of that. From a staff perspective, um, they appreciate being able to offer insight into their department and demystify and help connect the dots on some of the issues that come up throughout the year. and it's really seen as a valuable tool in the Morehead toolbox. So, our first goal of the program is to

help create a channel to allow residents to step into civic leadership roles into Morehead. And then our second goal is to create a well-informed community. And what that means is we're really helping to have ambassadors in the community. And we know that's happening. We're seeing our graduates at events, at meetings, on social posts in a good way. and they are promoting us uh promoting the city for us. Overall, we're proud of our participants. They bring diverse backgrounds and represent businesses from across Morehead and the entire metro area. What they all share is a strong passion for Morehead and a genuine eagerness to get involved and learn. So, with that, if you have any questions for anything I just uh presented or anything that we do, happy to answer. and I'll open this up to the council. Any questions?

Go ahead, Council Member Moore. [clears throat] Hi, Kelly. Hi. As you might guess, don't have a question. I just have to say I I participated in the program last year and it's phenomenal. It's so much fun. It's a chance to connect with other members from our community to dive into each city department. um the care and the work and the effort and energy that's poured into this program really comes through. And one other um thing I was going to mention is we have seen folks apply for boards and commissions after attending this as well. So it really is driving community engagement. So thank you for supporting and promoting this program. It's phenomenal.

Yes. Thank you.

Any other comments? Council member Niss. Uh, I would just like to um really praise the staff who worked on the committee to uh revamp our website. [clears throat] Uh I I feel this is my what sixth year. is long overdue and I regularly receive comments like did you know it could be better if and I feel like staff also um thought it represented uh the work but again as you stated it's from uh somebody who works on the inside and knows how we're organized and so being able to see the website from a resident's perspective or somebody who's coming in and doesn't know where to find the fact that park maintenance is done by um

the yeah public works and that it's everything is divided very uniquely um within our organization. And now we don't need to have that inner workings knowledge or to click eight times to get to the form we want to fill out to ask for a stop sign or to um report an issue with a community rental concern. There are a great deal of resources online and although you mentioned that Google still has a moment to get us up to date. I think it is outstandingly better and I also appreciate your willingness to have people reach out if they find something that just maybe isn't quite right or they can't load it or something like that. And so I think that is um my uh appreciation is for myself and the residents who have reached out. I'm going to follow up and see what they think about our new stuff. And I I believe anything is possible and thank you for making it a better uh experience visiting the city of Morhead's website. Thank you. And I think um what's important to know is that um it's it's always a moving website, so we're never going to be stagnant in it. So if there are things that anyone sees that um it makes sense and we all agree, we can always move things, right? So um we're always happy and open for feedback. So, please let us know which you can on our contact forms.

Any other council members? Thank you so much for the presentation. New website looks great. Us a lot of ribbon cutting coming up, which is a good thing. So, so exciting. Thank you. So, we're we're going to be busy. Thank you. With that, that brings us to agenda item number 6A. Uh approval of the minutes for the February 9th council meeting. There any changes or additions or anything? If not, I'm looking for a motion. So moved, Manson. White seconds. So we have a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I.

All those opposed, same sign. And the minutes are approved. Which brings us to agenda item number seven, citizens addressing the council. And we do have quite a few here. So, as I call your name, you can come up to the podium and uh speak. Remember, you have three minutes. The green light says you're good. Once it hits red, I'm going to I'll give you about 10 seconds, 20 seconds, and then I'm going to stop you. So, we got to keep things in time here. So, for our first speaker, it's uh Caitlyn Hedber. Uh, thank you, Mayor Prom and Council members. My name is Caitlyn Hedber. I've been a resident of Morehead for just over three years and an employee of several locallyowned businesses for almost as long. Uh, I currently work for one of the businesses that participated just a few weeks ago in the nationwide ICE out strikes to show our solidarity with residents and employees uh suffering from the invasion of ICE agents in our neighboring city of Minneapolis. I even came here today straight from a protest just over on Main Avenue where community members, including some local business owners, are gathered to speak out against immigration and customs enforcement bullies uh because we are scared for our neighbors, employees, friends, and families. Many of us in the Morehead community have seen the atrocities that these federal thugs have brought down on cities so near our own. And we're seeing the subsequent actions that their own city council members are taking in order to make uh their citizens feel heard and safe. We are living in unprecedented times um with many questions and few answers. I can understand that it is hard to find uh what we are allowed to do against the federal government, but I implore you all to try harder to take action in preparing a plan for Morehead

to defend and help its citizens if or when ICE comes here and starts to cause the havoc that we have seen they are capable of. This should be about being prepared. Instead of fighting amongst yourselves of what we cannot do, I beg you to work towards what we can do. It might not be happening right here, right now, but we are witnessing how entirely possible it is that it could happen in Morehead. So, what is the city doing to prepare our community? What is the city doing to keep our citizens safe and hopeful? We cannot condemn these actions while simultaneously claiming there's nothing we can do for our people. Thank you.

Thank you. And I just I want to mention that it's not a back and forth between speakers and the council. It's just speakers [clears throat] wishing to say what they need to say. So, uh, the next speaker is Katherine Ferguson. Just tell me if you're a resident of Morehead.

Yep. Katherine Ferguson. I'm a Morehead resident. Um, good evening, council members. I was deeply disheartened to hear of the council's continued resistance towards a resolution to limit ice activity in our city. While I understand that you've heard from some who say they are not feeling the impact of ICE in Morehead, it's difficult for me to understand why that is the perspective that is being prioritized. As a therapist, I hear from many expressing concerns regarding their safety and the safety of their loved ones in light of unchecked ICE operations. It's difficult for me to reconcile statements made that ICE isn't a problem here. When you've already heard accounts from local community members who have been impacted when we know that people most affected by ICE are not likely to reach out out of fear and distrust. And in light of what our friends and family in all corners of Minnesota have already experienced, I can assure you we do have individuals here in Morehead who are afraid to leave their homes, afraid to go to work, and children who are afraid to go to school. I heard several council members frame attempts to address these concerns as a pointless endeavor and is outside your purview. I heard some council members advocate for city staff who may have to l navigate legal complexities, but I did not hear those same council members advocate for the most targeted, exploited, and vulnerable members of our city. As elected officials, safeguarding those individuals should be the highest priority. and categorizing efforts to address their fears as a waste of time and resources is highly alarming and it is not representative of Morehead values. I have a limited perspective from which I can speak about this issue due to my own status as a white person who was born here. But I can say that I think it's clear that the community has experienced a trauma. For many in our community, the trauma has been severe and endured for a very long time. Leaders should listen to those who have been navigating grief, fear, instability, and isolation.

While I'm a big proponent of therapy, there's obviously very little I, as a therapist, can do to prevent kids from being pepper-sprayed near their schools or to support someone who's been abused or lost a loved one to immigration enforcement. What Morehead residents actually need now is people in power who are willing to stand up and do everything they can. We understand the city council does not hold the same power as the federal government. However, you as council members have more power than any of us, and we're asking you to use it. I understand there are legal boundaries the council must navigate. The recent motion was intended to clarify where those boundaries lie. I urge you to not only identify that line, but to demonstrate leadership by pushing on it, even if it means facing discomfort. Your response as city leaders matters. Thank you.

Thank you, Madison. Our next speaker is Chris Moral. Chris here. Where's Chris? Chris Moral. I'm a resident of Morehead. Good evening, council members. I want to make it very clear that ICE is and has been active in Morehead. The main difference between Minneapolis and Morehead seems to me to be that ICE isn't making their presence well known. which allows them to operate out of the public eye. The unfortunate side effect of this is that it gives many people the feeling that nothing is happening here and that nothing needs to be done. This couldn't be more wrong. residents of Morehead who contribute to the community, who work, who pay their taxes, who are own businesses, who haven't committed any crimes other than being in this state city or other than the civil offense of being undocumented are being stolen away from their families and their homes. And if you think that we can just sit by idally unaffected by these actions as fascism slowly takes over our city, our state, and our country, you're wrong. You may be unaffected today, but it's only a matter of time before you, someone you know, or someone you care for becomes the next target. So, with that in mind, what are the residents of Morehead supposed to do if the city council won't stand up to protect our rights? What are the residents supposed to do if the police, whose purpose is to serve and protect, won't use the power they've been given to stand up for the rights of the residents who pay for that power? When the agents of the federal government are shown to be the criminals they claim to be protecting us from, who can turn who can we turn to if not you?

Minneapolis has been a perfect example of the answers to these questions. When state and local governments fail to protect their residents, the residents need to be willing to take action. Minneapolis has shown that people have the power and are willing to step in to do what the local government refuses to do. But this hasn't been done without sacrifice. The unfortunate part is that I believe if the local and state government had done more in Minneapolis, innocent lives could have been saved. to everyone on the city council making proposals and grasping at any chance to make things better and to proactively protect us. Thank you. The me I and the members of the organizations that I'm a part of support and appreciate you to everyone else. Do something. Do anything. Don't just roll over and claim that nothing you there's nothing you can do. Waiting for worse to happen only guarantees that the city will be unprepared when it does. Have the courage to stand up for the rights of all the citizens of Morehead and do it before it's too late. Thank you. Thank you. Believe we have one more speaker. Lynn Doctor Pinnick. Good evening. I [clears throat] appreciate the opportunity to speak and I am grateful for it. I am Lynn Dr. Pinnick and I'm a resident of Morehead. At the last city council meeting as well as the most recent city council workshop, there was debate about the merits of establishing a city policy regarding ICE. This is not an unheard of concept. Many other Minnesota cities who are facing far more challenging times than we are doing just that. The St.

Paul City Council as of February 2026 has passed an ordinance banning law enforcement agents to include federal agents in Border Patrol from wearing face masks or coverings that conceal their identity while conducting operations. When our council was debating the merits of policies that would declare some public areas unavailable for ICE staging areas, there was concern about risks to police officers. It was said that such policies won't do any good. Although ISIS behavior was described even by opposing city council members as unconstitutional, horrible or wrong, I appreciate the concern for police officers. Many of us, however, are concerned about legal immigrant residents of our community who are at a much greater risk. Based on accounts of our own Morehead residents who have been detained, the treatment they recently received at the hands of federal agents was cruel and inhumane. Certainly, the treatment received by Renee Good and Alex Prey can never be forgotten. Just recently, Indivisible was approached by community members to show support for Morhead High School students who feel afraid and uncertain about the support they and their immigrant families have in our community. Teachers have students, excuse [clears throat] me, who went to online learning immediately following the metro surge who have yet to return to inschool learning. People are afraid here in our community. City policies reflecting expectations about ICE are about future accountability as well as present accountability. As a result of recent advocacy and discussion by four or five of our members of the city council on this topic, there will now be an ad hoc committee created to study this issue and to continue to discuss it. I'm

grateful for that. But I urge the council to seriously act now. write policies such as what the city of policy St. Paul has done to help the entire community be safe. There is much we can do and we urge you to do it. Thank you.

Thank you. [clears throat] And uh thank you to all the speakers for sharing your thoughts and concerns. Um appreciate you coming out tonight. That'll lead us to item number nine, public hearing. It's public hearing for the abatement of property taxes in the make more at home property tax rebate program. And I believe that's Tanya. Oh, there we are. So, if we could, do I have a motion to go into public hearing, please? So, move Nissa Meyer. Second, McDougall. So, we have a motion and a second. Um, all those in favor say I. I. All those opposed, same sign. Okay, we are now in public hearing.

Thank you, Mayor and Prom and members of the city council. This public hearing is related to the Make Morehead home property tax rebate program. The city council, Morehead Schools, and Klay County renewed this 2-year property tax abatement program for new residential construction in 2024. The program was initiated in 2012 and authorized by Minnesota state statutes. This taxing the taxing jurisdictions increase annual levies to cover the cost of make morehead home property tax rebate program. The jurisdictions will receive full property taxes on all the new homes following the two-year abatement growing Morehead's tax base. While the program has been approved by the taxing jurisdictions, Minnesota statute also stipulate that the governing body of the political subdivision must hold a public hearing on the abatement. The February 23rd hearing includes properties for which construction commenced in 2023 and 2024, for which value was accounted for on the 2025 assessment, affecting taxes payable in 2026, a total of 136 properties. The total tax amount to be rebated by the city is an estimate of $287,88.70 for 2026. Klay County manages distribution of rebate payments to the homeowners. Anybody have any questions or comments?

We can wait until you're done. We'll have the public ask questions and then we'll get to that. Okay. Thanks. Or is that it? That is it. Okay. [laughter] My apologies. Um, is there anywhere anyone here in the audience that would like to speak on this public hearing? Is there anyone here in the audience that would like to speak on this issue in the public hearing? If not, I'd like to um entertain a motion to close the public hearing. So, move De second. Morgan. So, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I.

All those opposed, same sign. And we are out of public hearings. Any questions from the council? Kad, can we take these both together? There's two items there. I think it's just 9B prom. Yeah, I believe you just have 9B. Yep. Move to approve 9B. Second. More. Hey, so we have a motion, a second. Any questions? If not, all those in favor say I. I.

All those opposed, same sign. and 9 B passes. Which brings us down to agenda item number 12A, resolution receive report, orders, plans, and spec specifications, and call for public hearing for 40th Avenue, South Mill, and overlay from A Street to 20th Street. We have Dr. Zimmerman.

Thank you, Mayor Prom, Council members. Uh, we had a little bit of a schedule conflict tonight. We wanted to make this presentation to both you and to the uh Morehead School Board. You're both meeting at the same time. So Tom and I are giving synchronous presentations. He's at the schoolboard meeting. I'm here. I do want to acknowledge Mike Bitner from Bolton and Mink who is also here, the our consultant that's helped us with this project. And if we get to some questions later, um I may call on him for some assistance. So, as uh Mayor Prom noted, the requested action tonight is to accept the preliminary engineering report order plans and spec specifications and call for a public hearing. Those are among the steps that are statutoily required for a project to use special assessments such as this. You've all seen these kinds of resolutions in the past. For our typical street project, those are typic are generally pretty prefuncter actions that we place on a council consent agenda. However, this project is not our typical project. And so for that reason, we wanted to provide you with additional information, specific recommendations, and seek council direction on the changes uh that are proposed. There will still be future actions that the council will need to consider for this project. uh but this is a key point in time where the direction you provide will allow us to complete final design and move forward to ultimately bid the project. So this is an important step in this project.

Our goals for the project uh relatively straightforward uh enhance safety especially for pedestrians and bicyclists, reduce speeding and improve traffic flow. And then asset management take care of the uh infrastructure that exists. Uh, as I'd mentioned, Bolton Mink has assisted us in conducting an independent datadriven evaluation of the corridor. And in doing so, uh, we've identified multiple overlapping safety challenges, uh, including pedestrian safety and pedestrian vehicle conflicts at crossings, particularly near the school and other activity centers. facility barriers, including gaps in sidewalks and bike paths, vehicle speeds, turning movements, and access points that create conflicts for uh all users along the corridor. And then some traffic circulation issues around the elementary school. Maybe a little bit of I won't go through all of the bubbles in that graph, uh but a little bit of historical context. About 20 or so years ago, when this street was initially paved, design standards for streets, in particular, municipal state aid streets such as this uh were more uh favorable to vehic vehicular traffic, less favorable for uh pedestrian traffic. State statutes regarding speed limits were more restrictive than they are today. When the street was initially paved, it was essentially undeveloped along the entire corridor. So the character of the corridor has changed significantly. So the result of that is that it performs, the street corridor performs relatively well for vehicles,

not so much for bikes and peds because of the change in character. We've seen compliance issues with speeding, stop signs, and those sorts of things. number of issues we're attempting to address here. So we uh began uh in late January to undertake uh marketing and public outreach effort uh using multiple approaches to reach the public. Social media posts that were shared more than 40 times. uh a lot of information posted on the project website uh on the city's website uh which received 443 434 views. The project video uh that was shared at the open house and with the council at the workshop was viewed 166 times. We have had excellent engagement from uh Morehead School District staff working alongside us to evaluate uh the corridor and what recommendations we might make. And we did receive 40 responses through the public feedback tool on the city's website. on uh January 22nd um one of the coldest days of the year I believe we held a public meeting. Uh unfortunately the weather probably did have some impact on attendance. We had 25 attendees but did receive some good feedback. Uh pedestrian safety was clearly the the strongest most consistent concern. School operations feedback uh was constructive and has been a topic of discussion throughout this whole study effort. Uh we did receive some mixed reaction to a roundabout alternative, but generally uh some positive and thoughtful feedback on that alternative.

In addition to the open house, uh again, a lot of information was posted on the city's website uh through virtual uh engagement. The video that was shown at the open house was viewed again 166 times, but only 35% of the people that viewed it viewed the entire video. It was a bit lengthy. So, it's just a caveat to take into consideration when we think about the comments that we received. Some of the meteor information in terms of alternatives and recommendations was sort of at the end of that video. A lesson to the engineers on future videos, make them a little bit shorter and put the punchline up front. Uh some of the responses to that, a very strong emphasis on pedestrian safety, particularly at 14th Street. That was by far the most comments received. Interest in enhanced crossings and speed reduction. Uh some comments requesting a traffic signal, but uh relatively few and again some mixed reaction to the roundabout. So if we pull all of that together, the openhouse and the virtual feedback, um this is sort of a summary of that information. Again, total comments received through the online feedback tool were 40. 26 of the 40 comments identified pedestrian safety as a priority. 16 of the 40 comments uh expressed concerns with pedestrian visibility and driver focus at roundabouts. 12 of the 40 comments were focused on speed reduction. The online feedback showed 18% in support of a roundabout at the 14th Street intersection.

50% would prefer allway stop or a signal. 32% showed no preference. Probably not a big surprise in any of those numbers. This is right out of the uh public openhouse presentation. This is the approach that we used as a part of this analysis in this study. the US DOT safe system approach which recognizes that all users play a role in safety. Engineering is just one component of any solution that we can implement along this corridor. Engineers can design streets to help accommodate human mistakes and encourage safe actions. We can design features to result in lower crash frequency and severity. But those changes alone are not going to resolve every single issue. In a simple statement that I've used before, putting a sign up does not guarantee compliance. Everyone has responsibility in making the corridor safer. So, let's move on to some specific recommendations [sighs] for the corridor. Again, these are based on that safe system approach as well as input from our public works staff and engagement with the uh Morhead Morehead area public school staff as well as the uh public feedback. We're attempting to address the corridor holistically, not just individual things, but all of the issues brought forward in a holistic manner and to implement proven safety countermeasures to reduce pedestrian crash risk. So the top

graphic represents 14th Street, the proposed improvements from 8th to about 14th Street. The bottom graphic is about 14th Street to 20th Street and then we'll address the uh 20th or the 14th Street intersection separately. So these are the proven uh measures that we are proposing to implement along the corridor. And I'm going to attempt to jump back and forth between between a few slides to help point out where these are being considered. The first of those is a rectangular rapid flashing beacon or RRFB. Um, re research shows that most drivers do stop for these up to 98% which is similar to a traffic signal. And these have been shown to reduce pedestrian crashes by up to 47%. So, we're proposing to use our RFBs between 11th and 14th Street and at 16th Street. And if you look at the maps, the locations that have the yellow signs are those proposed for RRFBs. Should we take questions now or should we go wait till the end? Wait till the end. Okay. The second counter measure, pedestrian refuge islands. So, a location between travel lanes uh in a median where um pedestrians can pause. These have been shown to reduce pedestrian crashes by an average of 56%. Allows for a two-stage crossing. In other words, you cross one lane of traffic, pause, and then cross the other. So you're only having to pay attention to traffic coming from one direction. They've also been shown to slow traffic. So the proposed locations for these are

at 10th Street, between 11th and 14th Street, and at 20th Street. And on the map, the dark gray represents pavement. And you'll notice at those locations, there is some light gray as well. Those represent the median proposed median locations. The third counter measure is to implement what's called a road diet. In this particular case, that road diet means right right lane, right turn lane removal. Uh removing lanes that have been deemed unnecessary based on traffic analysis. that makes crossing distances shorter which enhances pedestrian safety, reduces pedestrian exposure and can tend to reduce traffic speeds. Whenever we narrow lanes that has a natural effect of reducing speeds. So the locations for uh the road diet include eastbound at 11th Street at the east lot entrance to the elementary school and then east and westbound at 16th Street. And on the map, the areas adjacent to the side of the pavement where you see the green, the larger green areas, those are the areas where we would remove the right turn lanes. Along with the road diet, we are proposing to reduce the speed limit uh east of 14th Street to 30 miles per hour. But I would note that again, simply installing a sign will not guarantee compliance. All of these measures will hopefully work together to help reduce speed along that segment. And one of the elements of the safe system approach is also enforcement. The last of the uh safety counter measures includes shared use path improvements. Uh we're

going to widen and improve existing paths along 40th Avenue. Some of those are sidewalks. We'll expand those to paths. And probably one of the more important one is more more important one of those is to construct a new path along the east east side of for 14th street south of 40th Avenue. There's no path that exists there today. So those are all of the proposed measures uh excluding 14th Street. And with that, we'll move into the intersection itself and attempt to talk you through a logical progression to a recommendation. So, we'll start out with a traffic signal. As we've shared before, data from across the state shows that signals have the highest pedestrian and vehicle crash rates compared to other types of intersections. Signals that do not satisfy certain technical criteria that engineers call warrants also tend to increase crash rates. uh this intersection does not meet those warrants uh and signals can worsen speeding between intersections. So for those reasons, our recommendation would be to not consider a traffic signal. So an all-way stop, which is what exists today, uh an all-way stop would be acceptable. The issues with an all-way stop are based on the video uh that was has been collected as part of this study. Compliance is very poor. Uh with that

short amount of video data that was collected last year, uh less than 50% of vehicles passing through the intersection actually comply with a full stop. And a fairly significant number of vehicles, as you saw in the video,

don't stop at all. which makes retaining an allway stop a pretty challenging alternative. In addition, if we retain an all-way stop in the future as traffic grows, that will affect traffic operations along the corridor and result in queuing which will result in impatient drivers and likely drive other issues. So for those reasons, we we are not recommending retaining an all hallway stop, which brings us to the last alternative, which is the roundabout. And not surprisingly, and I'm glad we did receive feedback uh on a roundabout. And so these next few slides will talk about some of the issues that were raised and some of the responses to those issues. First one being elementary age students crossing the roundabout before and after school. Uh we would still recommend and I believe the school district is on board with this that crossing guards be present at this intersection regardless of what uh the intersection looks like. So that would not change uh with a roundabout. And generally speaking, the roundabout is by design going to slow traffic uh along this segment of the corridor, which generally will help uh with traffic speeds u in that area. Pedestrians crossing outside of school periods. As we discussed, we're going to be deploying or proposing to deploy RRFBs at other locations. Uh those other locations provide safe crossing alternatives that are away from the roundabout should people be uncomfortable with crossing at the roundabout.

In addition, as we mentioned, roundabouts have been found to to provide significant crossing safety benefits to pedestrians by crossing in stages at slower speeds. The other concern raised, uh, traffic would not be forced to stop at a roundabout, which is true. Traffic is not stopping at the allway stop today. Uh however, the roundabout by design will force traffic to at least slow down. So there if there is an incident, the risks of the incident being severe would be reduced. and roundabouts do offer a unique balance in that they function well operationally taking safety off to the side for existing conditions but will also accommodate future traffic growth. So just to summarize, when you think about the alternatives that are available for that intersection, we would not recommend traffic signal based on safety data from around the state as being not the best alternative here. Generally speaking, an always stop control would be acceptable, but you've all seen the existing condition and it's difficult to get past that evidence of what's happening today. So therefore, we're recommending that we construct a roundabout at that intersection. By design, that's going to build in some level of compliance and reduce risk that's not dependent on driver behavior alone. As I'd mentioned, it would address current and future traffic growth. It may not be the perfect solution, but

it is basically the best solution in our opinion. I would say one note about this to construct that roundabout will likely require a small amount of property acquisition at the quadrants of that intersection. Uh so this recommendation for a roundabout will be contingent on voluntarily on being able to voluntarily acquire that right ofway. If we can't voluntarily acquire the right ofway, then we would revert back to the allway stop control. But the roundabout is our recommendation. Uh as we talked about before, this is not the first roundabout installation near a school. These exist at numerous schools uh throughout the region. So this is not some experimental approach. It's an approach that has been used and is in use in other locations. So, steps forward, uh, we're on a pretty aggressive timeline to get this project, uh, designed, uh, the bid awarded and construction started this spring, late this spring or early summer. Just a reminder, tonight's action to receive the preliminary engineering report, approve the plans, inspects, and call for a public hearing. Essentially, by receiving the report, what you all are doing and giving us is direction and acceptance of the quarterwide improvements that we're recommending. That sets the course for final design. Beyond tonight, major changes to the plan would be very difficult to accommodate with the schedule we have, and any major changes would likely result in the project being pushed back a year. Tonight's action is relatively simple

from a vote perspective. We just need a simple majority. Future council action sometime in March, we'll bring you another agenda item to approve the plans and specs and advertise for bids. That will be one of those more preunctery items. We'll put that on a consent agenda for your approval and consideration later in April or possibly. So, we'll schedule that for either April 27th or May 11th. Following the public hearing, another one of those steps in the process is a resolution to order the improvement and then to award the bid. That resolution to order the improvement requires seven [snorts] affirmative votes. Just want to be fully upfront so that we get down the road everybody understands the votes that are necessary to advance the project. And with that, I'd be happy to attempt to answer any questions. And if I need to, I may call on Mike to to help the old guy out.

Uh, thank you, Dr. Zimmerman. Great detail. Um, great presentation and some some as somebody who uses that intersection every day, I think a roundabout would work pretty well. So, Council Member Nisser,

thank you, Mayor Prom. [clears throat] Um, my apologies, Dr. Zimmerman. I came with a list. you know me well. [snorts] Um the flashing beacon, the RRFBS or rectangular rapid flashing beacon. Um there was some visual um examples for people who get around our community frequently. What are is there another example of an RRFB in our community that is um actively working well that they could perhaps drive by if they're unfamiliar with what an RRFB looks like and feels like?

Yes, there are examples in existence. Uh 34th Street Ridgewood Boulevard, there's one. I think there are a couple of others near schools. 30th Avenue, Village Green Boulevard. There are a few around town. Yeah, I think there's one on 11th Street uh at MSUM. That sounds correct.

Um for the uh pedestrian refuge, same thing. So, examples that people I think you had pictured Village Green in your presentation. Um is are there other examples that uh drivers if they are concerned that this will stop their flow of traffic to and from work during the day um are there any examples that are currently in existence that have been beneficial to communities um around Morehead? Examples of pedestrian refuge island. It's the refuge area because I believe it was RFBS, pedestrian refuge that that those were two of the four.

There are examples of that and actually some of those locations where we have RFBs also have those pedestrian refuge islands. So, you can kill two birds with one stone, go view those and and see how they operate. Just drive to Village Green and see them both in action.

You got it. Um, if there are residents who are concerned that they have traffic issues in their communities and they want to participate, um, is there a way that they can reach out to engineering, participate in traffic calming measures that you've mentioned here tonight because they too feel like there is concern. Um, I do not want to uh diminish the tragedy that we have experienced on 40th or exper multiple times. We have had lots of really just not great things happen in the community and I don't want to diminish that at all but some may feel like uh their streets or roads are in um need as well as uh some overhaul. So can you tell residents how they could engage with the engineering department on perhaps exploring that project?

I think there's probably three aspects to the answer to that question. The first is if people are concerned about uh traffic control, not necessarily speed, but traffic control, we do have an online, the city has a policy, the council has adopted a policy that's available on the new website. Uh and there's also a request form. So, you can glance through that policy to see what the process is to request a new sign. And then there's a form where you can actually make that request which will go directly to our traffic engineer for review and followup. Speeding is not always associated with sign. There is also a traffic calming policy that looks at other kinds of improvements to encourage vehicles to travel slower. So there's that policy available on the new website and also a form to request a traffic calming study. So residents can do that. The other thing that I wanted to note here is that not only for this particular project we're talking about tonight, but other schools uh Metrocog as you know recently completed the safe routes to school plan and we did reference that plan in evaluating this project. But we've also had ongoing communication with the school district about other recommendations in that plan for other school locations. We can't do all of them all at once, and sometimes it's more effective to do things when a larger project like this is going on, but there are some things that we can pursue through grant funding or just jointly with operational funding, either city funding or school district funding. So, we've had conversations and we'll continue to have conversations about those other recommendations near the

other schools.

That's an excellent um comment, Dr. Zimmerman. I think people realizing that it is a team effort. And so if they have concerns about the streets or the crosswalks in um their neighborhood, particularly if they surround a school that they should reach out not only to city council and the engineering department, but perhaps the operations department and their schoolboard members. My last and final inquiry um you had mentioned the roundabout being proposed that I I I'm fond and sad by the video that was shared um of people just not using the four-way stop and uh having that sort of compliance less than 50% just uh shows the need. Um often when I hear people frustrated about roundabouts, it's that they don't need to stop. It's that snow removal will be a problem and that there is additional land. Um you have a timeline up here. Um that includes I assume acquisition of land and you said it would be um uh direct discussion with those property owners and their willingness to do that. Um could you also talk about the three sort of other items that I mentioned snow removal. You already covered speed. though.

So, great question about snow removal and we have engaged the public works department and our team along with Balden Bank have been looking specifically at that issue and how to best accommodate the equipment the city uses for snow removal to allow them to be effective in managing this intersection. So, it is something we're considering. Excellent. Thank you, Council Member Matson.

Thank you, Mayor Prom. Dr. Dr. Zman, would you mind going back to the existing issues slides slide towards the beginning if you if we can go back to the I don't know we can't he can't see it. There we go. If you wouldn't mind going back to existing issues. Okay, thank you. It's a little bit hard to see, but um in the audience you can't see it very well, but it says here that uh right in front of Reiner, the speed limit is 30 mph. And then somewhere um to the east, I can't tell if that's like 16th is kind of where it transitions into 40 miles an hour, but the speed there is 30 plus. And then there's a little uh icon there that says westbound drivers often exceed the 40 mph speed limit, reaching speeds as high as 47 mph. The reason I bring this up is because I have seen um Dan Farnsworth from Metrocog has given the safe routes to school presentation now a few times that I've been at and I took a picture of one of of one of his slides and it says that um a pedestrian hit by a vehicle traveling at 23 mph has a 10% risk of death. A pedestrian uh hit by a vehicle traveling at 32 mph has a 25% risk of death. and a pedestrian hit by a tra a vehicle traveling at 42 miles per hour has a 50% risk of death. So if we can slow the traffic down at 14th and try to keep at least the um eastbound traffic from getting up to that 47 mile per hour speed that is going to do a lot for the safety of our residents and particularly the kids that are trying to get to Reinardson.

Thanks for sharing that statistic. It's a it's it's compelling. Council member White.

Thank [clears throat] you, Mayor Prom. Uh Bob, thanks for the presentation. I appreciate especially given the horrible thing that happened last year. Um we lost a child. Um and there's been so many other either near misses or people that were hurt, although not um killed. Um, and so I'm glad we're finally we're doing some things on it and I'm glad we're working with the school district on it and clearly even beyond some of these, you know, structural and mechanical changes of working on education and doing things to work on better compliance. Um, but one of the things I wanted to ask about because I brought this up a couple of times is that um I know that I've had folks who live in the adjacent neighborhoods to the just to the south and to the west of Reinardson that have mentioned that as we've worked on some traffic calming things on 40th and 14th that it's actually led people to try to skip the intersection and go through the neighborhood because then they can go more quickly. So um so I want to just one have you talk about again how you know these things we can't look at them in isolation. we may be focusing on this this one road and particularly one really dangerous intersection but there are unintended consequences that come about and I also would like a followup on um I've asked a couple of times about uh we still have in that neighborhood there is um a north south running um bike pedestrian lane that crosses some of the streets in the neighborhood and it doesn't have any markings. So, I know I've asked a couple of times and I'd like an update on if we are going to get out. To me, that's just really lowhanging fruit and the fact that we don't have any striping or anything um to mark this path that is coming out um not at streets but at in between houses.

So, it's even harder for cars to realize it. And you have kids that are riding on that path and there's nothing um to indicate to cars that there's a bike path there. to to that last point. Um we are expending every dollar of our striping budget and actually a little bit more. Uh just a couple of years ago, the council authorized a pretty significant increase in our striping budget. That proposed budget was enough to get us to to be able to routinely stripe all of the locations throughout the city within a few years, not all at once. So, we're working towards that goal of getting onto a regular rotation of having things striped. There's, to be honest, there are many other locations where we're still working to get there. We don't have adequate striping. The issue of cutting through neighborhoods. Yeah, that's definitely an issue that we will have to keep an eye on. And probably some of those some of those issues boil down to the previous topic of traffic calming. If we see a lot of cut through traffic or speeding traffic through neighborhoods, local streets like that are uh candidates for traffic calming measures. Typically, when we get a traffic calming request, the first thing we do is go out and collect vehicle count and vehicle speed data. Again, using a datadriven approach to identify, do we actually have an issue or is it just, you know, 10 more cars are coming through the neighborhood. Maybe there's 10 more cars going 50 miles an hour. Yeah, we have an issue. We try to collect that data and then follow up with whether or not there are some appropriate recommendations. The traffic calming policy is a bit unique because we try to engage the neighborhood and ask them to form a group to work with us on identifying solutions. We haven't done a lot of that

type of work, but we're certainly open to doing that if these issues arise. Anyone? Council member Borggan.

Thank you. I just want to commend all the work that you and your team has done. I think you've done a great job of, you know, getting out to the public. You've got the video. There was the meeting. I was at the meeting. It was really cold, but there was quite a few people there from the neighborhood. Um, I think all of these solutions are going to help. You know, it is driver behavior is something that we we can't control. driver behavior, but I think all of these engineering solutions will help. So, I'm very much in favor of the roundabout and the calming measures and the lights and the things in the middle of the of the uh of the roadway just to keep everyone safe. So, thank you for everything you've done.

Thank you. Any other questions? Um, Council Member Moore.

Oh, thank you, Mayor Proam. Um, I wanted to say thank you for not having a knee-jerk reaction and just putting in a signal because that is kind of like the gut. Like, this is what we need. We got to do it. That's an emotional reaction. Instead, we're going for a systems approach. We're using data, evidence-based decision-m completely the way to go. Um, and I know we can't control driver behavior, but I feel as though I'd be missing the opportunity if I didn't implore, beg our community to stop at stop signs and to slow down. We have a father, a friend of ours up here who lost his son. Mom lost her child. A brother lost her brother. This is really hard for our community. So, I have a new driver in my household, 15. She's learning to drive. We work hard at stopping at stop signs. They're not yields, they're stops. You got to stop. So, please, I beg you, don't let this happen again. Do your part as drivers and follow the rules of the road. Thank you.

Same boat, by the way. [clears throat] Um, any other questions? Move to approve 12A. So, we have a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. So, we have a motion and a second. Any other questions? If not, all those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed, same sign. And that does pass. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Zimmerman. Appreciate it. And that is I've seen my wife and I go walking through the intersection and cars don't stop. And I'm particularly excited about the 16th Street where they cross over to the park. I see a lot of kids and I've seen a lot of close calls there. So, good work on that. That brings us to

Mayor and Council Reports. Agenda item number 19. Council member Nisser.

Thank you, Mayor Prom. Um, I would like to let everybody know that the public housing meeting uh was cancelled for tomorrow, February 24th. Um, if you would like to find us, we will be at Riverview Heights on Tuesday, March 24th um for uh an open uh public hearing uh at 11:30 a.m. And so, please feel free to join us. Um, I am always excited to engage with citizens who are interested in public housing within Morehead. Um, I want to reiterate the Citizens Government Academy is now seeking applications. You heard from Kelly this evening that we have just oodles and oodles of uh applications which is outstanding. Um I am pleased to hear that. But if you don't get accepted into the citizens um government academy, remember there is the citizens police academy that happens in the fall. And so you could be busy year round this year or um you could apply for one if the timing works out better for you. So, um, the Citizens Police Academy, the applications will open up sometime this summer. And so, should you not be able to get gather that opportunity with Citizens Government Academy, um, please consider the Citizens Police Academy. Um, I would also like to note that we have a solid waste advisory committee meeting this Thursday at 8 a.m. at the uh, resource recovery center. And so if anybody is interested in getting any updates on our landfill, our recycling, or any of our sanitation services within uh Klay County, I encourage you to show up at 8 a.m. on uh Thursday morning.

Uh thank you, Council Member Nisser. Any other reports? Council member Moore.

Thank you, Mayor Prom. All right. So on February 10th, we had a park board workshop and there we got exciting updates on all kinds of things that are happening in our community. So Reimagine Romy Park is on track to open the first week of June. We cannot wait for that. Um and dive into that new pool. It is going to be fantastic. There are waiting pool rehabs that are underway right now and will be opening this summer as well. The Matson Grand Matson Grand Sand. And then we reviewed 2027 planning at Gooseberry Park. So, you're going to see new things there coming up. Um, and you should see new parks, new park signs coming this summer. I also wanted to mention that our parks are hiring. As I mentioned, I have a teenage I have a teenager now and also have a 20-year-old. One of his first jobs was with our city parks department. Fabulous first job. Highly recommend. So, if you're looking for a teenager to have a summer job, I recommend them. You can apply if you've seen this in the mail, but uh the website is cityofhead.commployment. Also, um I had a library more board meeting that same day. I wanted to let you guys know that the move is underway. It's happening. Everyone's so excited, right? Okay. I'm very excited. The schedule is very complicated. So, it means the hours at our current library are being reduced as the move is happening. They will close for one week. The week that it is closed is going to be the week of March 30th to April 4th. And then the new library is going to open on April 5th. So the very complicated hours can be found at ll.orghead. So that's laurel.orghead. So I highly recommend you check that out if you're planning to go visit our library. Um,

I also had a Lake Agazy Regional Library board meeting on February 19th where we're going to review our formulas. Uh, this is how we pay for the system that we're in. Right now, property values are considered in that formula and we're considering moving away from that structure and looking at more of a direct cost of service. This is something that came up because of Becker County and their concerns that they are overpaying. Last but not least, I want to thank everybody that participated in Giving Hearts Day. It was a huge success. The Friends of the Morehead Library, as always, did a incredible stellar job and raised almost $22,000 for the loop. So, thank you so much.

Any other reports? If not, I just I have one mention here. Um, [clears throat] for February Luther Family Ford salute to law enforcement, uh, they honored school resource officer Andy Work. And Andy's back there, I think there's Andy. Yeah, wing. [applause] He's a dedicated officer since 2016 and a 2023 life-saving award recipient. Officer works serves as at Moret High School and leads community initiatives like the Giving Tree Project. So, good job. Way to be honored with that um city management report. Thank you, Mayor Po. Um yeah, I'm going to second that. Um certainly officer work and Jordan who is a detective in the Morhead Police Department are certainly treasured in our community and as well as is their family. He's also a parent of four.

They've got a lot going on. the um but and then I also just want to reiterate council members Moore Moore's um pitch on these part-time um parks and wreck jobs. They are really pretty great. Uh there's there are a lot of choices. Um over the last uh few years we really try to um like move into this idea of offering um experiences not things when it comes to the type of work that um that young people are doing. So we encourage um people uh to give it a shot. It's great. It's a great way to get out in the community and have some fun, spend time outside. I know I did it myself, you know, just one of the I can't wait to get back to it. So, um, that's it. Thank you. Thank you, senior manager Molly.

That'll bring us to agenda item number 22, new business. And I don't know if hand it off to Council Member Nisser.

Sure. Thank you, Mayor Prom. Um, I wanted to have um ICE and federal agents uh interaction in our community back on our new business. Uh because of our last city council meeting and it being a topic of great interest and concern based on the citizens that we heard this evening, it um is not a concern that has lessened at any uh point in time. We did have uh the um discussion at our Tuesday, February 17th uh workshop which was just last Tuesday uh which was 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. um just over here in the Willow Room uh at the Yum Comp. And so if anybody is ever interested in participating or knowing what we're doing at workshops, please feel free to visit our new fabulous website. We have a calendar where we post all of our um public meetings um and link it to additional information. And so my hope was um that at the uh workshop we it filled uh almost all 90 minutes with a discussion um uh among council members and staff. And so I wanted to appreciate our flexibility in giving that uh conversation time and space. Um I also wanted to uh note that the mayor at the workshop um had indicated that she would put together an ad hoc committee and so I was hoping that perhaps we could have an update. Um I'm going to look to you perhaps mayor um not mayor city manager starts with an M um city manager Molly perhaps you have an update from the mayor um since I am going to not go to Mayor Prom Hendrickson for that information and perhaps you can provide a um an update uh perhaps a timeline some information that would help us sort of address concerns that might still be out there since we have a room full of folks.

Yes, happy to. So, I reached out to the mayor today. Uh, she's traveling home tomorrow and she indicated that um, she plans to reach out and announce um, membership of the working group this week. Excellent. Um, will that be publicly available for folks who are um, in the room and looking to find out information on that ad hoc committee? I ask only because I don't know how we do ad hoc committees versus like boards and commissions where we publish who serves in what role and for their term and have contact information on our website. So I had asked like do do you intend to let the entire council know or how would this work and she said yes intends to send it to the the information to the entire council and it is public.

Excellent. I um appreciate uh her doing that work and putting together that group, but also um in the interest of having it um open and transparent, sending that in information out uh in a public e notification. I know Kelly mentioned e notifications today. I don't know what e notification would get that information, but um I think having folks who indicate they are interested in getting more information from the city and they can self- select those emails. I think that that is great. Thank you, um, city manager Molly for being able to provide that, um, information tonight. Member White.

Thank you, Mayor Prom. Um, I also wanted to just talk about this a little bit. I'm I'm a little disappointed that another week has gone by and we still haven't had any action. when we uh just to put it in context, when we had our workshop last week, um that was after we had already a month and a half had passed since we had first asked to have discussions and come up with some actions. And so um the fact that now we finally got the very low bar of just uh you know agreeing people to continue a conversation and and then another week has passed is it's just frustrating. Um uh so I just thought since the time has passed again um just to take some time to share some information from that workshop and um just to reiterate that uh I think those of us that were interested in continuing these discussions. We're not dictating what exactly we will do. Um I know there's been um discussion in the media of some of the things that we've talked about, but really, you know, the four of us who initially brought this idea forward have spent the time to look at what of many different cities have done. Um look at uh contacting our our city attorney. I've spoken with him at length about what legally we can do. have listened to our citizens about their concerns and really um are just looking at what um within the broad scope scope of resources and abilities that we have as city government, what we can do to help people who are directly affected by the things that are happening in our community. And so again, I really strongly encourage my colleagues to take the time to work together to try to leave no stone unturned and try to come up with some things that we could do to help people during this time. Um, and in that vein too, I think it's important that we get accurate information out

there. And so, um, I wanted to share some of the information that we talked about in the workshop and that also relates to some of the questions that I've gotten over the last week. Um, as an example, I know, um, there's people who think that what we're doing is just to protect criminals. Um, and I can say that while we as a council don't always agree on things, the one thing we do all agree on is people who are breaking the law, whether they are citizens or non-citizens, whether they are federal agents, they should all be held accountable. Okay? We're not here to support people that are breaking the law. Um, I've also heard it said that the only people that have to worry are people who are undocumented um and or are breaking the law. And um that's just simply not true. And so I just want to share some of the information that we know about what's happening right here in the Fargo Morehead area. Um, we know that there have been multiple incidents of people in the Fargo Morehead area who have entered the US legally and have been detained. In some cases, individuals um in some cases uh involve people with no criminal record or even traffic tickets or any pending criminal concerns. Um, and we know that even US citizens living in the Fargo Morehead area have been detained. Uh the length of the uh these have ranged from hours to days in some cases to months. Um one person that uh I personally worked with um from Morehead who entered the US legally um had no criminal record, no speeding tickets um and was detained for a month. This weekend uh I responded to a message from a constituent who has friends who are new Americans. And um one of the things that I suggested was that right now we really don't know um who may or may not be at risk. And so it is a good

idea for folks to have a plan in place in case they are detained um to know about resources that may be available to them. And again in some cities it's that type of information that the cities are working at um making sure that that gets out there. Uh, for example, uh, if individuals are detained, they may not be able to contact anyone right away. Um, and they may be quickly transported out of town. For example, someone in Morehead who was detained two weeks ago while we were having our city council meeting and discussing this um, was sent to Texas within just a couple of days. Until recently, people who were released um in places like Texas or the Twin Cities um they weren't transported back to their communities. So that would mean if you're released in Texas um then you have to get your own way home back to Morehead at your own cost. Fortunately, there was a recent judges decision against this. Um we're waiting to see if the federal government will actually abide by that. There are organizations in town that can assist with legal costs. Um, if people have questions about that, I know one group that is currently uh has currently helped 14 people from Morehead who have been detained get legal counseling and then are looking to find resources for others from Morehead who have been detained. Um, we don't have things such as resources to help people with lost wages. So that's an area too that if you have friends um if you are looking for ways that you can help people keeping that in mind that for folks who are who are um unjustly detained it could be for long periods of time that has a a tremendous detrimental impact on families and their economic well-being. Um we also know that there are people who are afraid to leave their homes. I know it was even came up a couple of times tonight. There are some groups in

our community that are doing food deliveries. Um I know one that is doing dozens of people here, doz dozens of families here in Morehead every week. Um because there are a large number of of families that are currently afraid to leave their home. Um in some cities again they are doing things to either um help get resources to the uh food banks that are helping these families or at minimum helping to share that information. Um that's another thing that again that we've brought up as a possibility of of ways that we can help serve people um help people who um who are experiencing that crisis in our community. Uh there uh have been economic impacts uh particularly for small businesses run by immigrants and refugees. Um talking to some folks in our community there they've mentioned that you know a lot of our uh global markets um restaurants uh that have been started by immigrants and refugees have seen a um a big hit. uh not as many people again if if a lot of their clientele is afraid to go out um that it's really hurting those industry or those businesses as well. Um so we I know um there is some resources available. Um I'm hoping that maybe the city would be able to help share that information. and I've shared it with our economic development authority um and asked that the information be shared so that um businesses that have had that impact might be able to tap into some of those resources. But that's another place where the community can help out where you know all of us uh if you are looking for a place to go out for lunch or looking for some groceries um I strongly encourage people to visit our international markets or eat at one of our great restaurants run by immigrants and refugees. Um, lastly, I just want to say again that I'm still hoping that we can come together as a council and take

some real action to help people in our community who are hurting. I wanted to end by reading a brief quote by Senator John Hoffman, uh, who returned to the Capitol last week for the first session since he and his wife Avette were shot and the Hortman's were murdered. In a statement to his Senate colleagues, he said, "Leadership is defined not by how we respond when everything is going right, but how we respond in our hardest hours. Let's rise above the noise and let us govern with humility. Let us prove that our actions, not just our words or let us prove through our actions, not just our words, that democracy is stronger than fear." Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments? Council member Matson. Thank you, Mayor Port. I just have a question if we could go back to the ad hoc committee because I also am not familiar with um how the membership is decided. Are is are there is it possible to have community members on added to the ad hoc committee? Is it at the mayor's discretion, anybody, or is it council members or how does how does that work? Well, it's hard for me to speak for the mayor. Um, but part of the role of the mayor is you can you you have that ability to convene and so that's what she had indicated at the workshop.

Sure. I'm just asking if if the whatever the process is is is it literally at the mayor's discretion, it can be anyone or is there a limit to who the mayor can appoint to that kind of a committee? Yes, that's my understanding that it is under it is the mayor's discretion. Do you know anything otherwise, Cat? Yeah, I agree. City Manager Molly. I believe it is at the mayor's discretion to make the decision. Okay, thank you. I don't obviously the mayor's not here, so I will be um reaching out to her to to ask if if it's if she would please consider including some community members in that ad hoc committee so that we have um a broader broader perspective and and maybe she already is. I don't want to assume that she's not, but um I do think that's important to include.

Any other comments or questions? Sure. One more.

Sure. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everybody that has participated in this conversation that came out tonight to to speak on behalf of this issue and to show your compassion and your love for your neighbor because I think it's really important to love your neighbor. Like probably the most important thing we were taught, right, is to love your neighbor. So, um, and also thank everyone that attended constitutional observer training. I believe a lot of people in this room were there. Um, so, [clears throat] um, thank you for doing the good work. Thank you for delivering food to, I believe it's 60 families in our community that are scared right now to to leave their homes. So, thank you for everyone that is participating in that effort. Um, and thank you to my fellow council members who are willing to have this conversation.

Thank you. Any other questions or comments? If not, we're adjourned. Thank you.