City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the regular city council meeting for the city of St. Peter, Minnesota. It is Monday, February 23rd, 2026. At 7 p.m., we are called to order. Would all please rise for the pledge. I pledge algiance 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.

All of you should have received a copy of the agenda tonight. Are there any revisions or corrections to the agenda? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve? So move. Second. All those in favor of approval say I. I. Any opposed? The agenda is approved. Next up, approval of the minutes. The minutes appear on pages 5 through nine of the packet. Are there any revisions or corrections to the minutes? Hearing none. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? Second.

All those in favor of approval say I. I. Any opposed? Our minutes are approved. We have a public hearing this evening. A po uh the hearing on a pro proposed assessments for North Fourth Street Improvement Project Cadam Descarroll as provided by Minnesota State Statute. A public hearing has been scheduled to consider public comments related to the proposed improvements to North Fourth Street and the related assessments. Notice of the hearing has been duly published in the St. Peter Herald and the affected property owners have been notified. An action to consider the assessments is scheduled later in the meeting under new business and Jeff is here to talk to us about this. Good evening, mayor and council members. Thank you. Um at your January 26th meeting, uh the city council um was presented the feasibility report on improvements in North Fourth Street between Chadam and Scarrow. Um feasibility report noted the poor condition of the the of the utilities, primarily the sanitary sewer, water, storm sewer, and especially the roadway, curbon gutter, um all original materials, uh poor condition. Sidewalks and and that were also in very poor condition. So, um, the total improvement cost noted in the report was about $1,87,450. Of that, about, uh, 400 some thousand was being assessed per the city's assessment policy, which is a flat rate, $400 or $2,250 for sanitary sewer, $2,250 for water, and then $8,300 for roadway improvements. Um, city share of the assessment is about 300 some odd thousand dollars. Um, that's for the the pool. Um, and then the city's responsible for the remaining I don't know what it is. It's quite a bit more, but overall that being assessed to private properties is on the order of a little over $100,000.

uh assessments vary anywhere from um 22 $2,250 all the way up to $16,950 for some of those larger lots. Um, as mayor and Todd noted, the improvement hearing, um, the council ordered the improvement hearing, uh, at the last meeting. And so, this provides the public an opportunity, those that are proposed to be assessed for the improvements, an opportunity to ask questions, um, and about the project and assessments or anything else. Um, and if the city council does decide to move ahead with the improvement, that'll be something later on. Um, that would be considered later on on the agenda. So with that,

anything to add? No, madame mayor, members, it's appropriate that um we yield. And if there's someone from the public that wants to speak about this issue, they should be welcome.

Now would be the time. Uh are there any members of the audience who'd like to uh address the council or ask any questions about this project? Hearing none, um as I noted before, we'll take this matter up in new business. Thank you, Jeff. All right, we do have time next on our on our schedule for visitor comments on the agenda items. Is there a member of the audience who'd like to address the council on any agenda item? Hearing none, we will move on on to general visitor Oh. Oh, you Yeah, please come ahead. I think you you know the the drill, your name and your address. And if you would um you have five minutes to address the council on any matter.

Okay. Um am I mandated to give my personal address? We prefer to have your personal address, but you can certainly give it to me later if you would like. That's so that we can have additional correspondence with you if the issue needs additional correspondence.

Yep. Absolutely. Um, just for the sake of my privacy, um, I would appreciate it not being in the, uh, in the public view. Um, so, good evening, city council members. Um, you all know me on a firstname basis by now. Um, for those of you that don't, my name is Andy. I've officially lived in the city now for 10 years. Um, which I'm proud to say. Um, but never in those 10 years have I seen my community members so scared that they have been forced to hide in their homes for now over two months. Um, Tom H. woman may have publicly announced that 1500 agents have left the state, but I will believe it when I see it. And even then, even then, in the past two weeks, my immigrant neighbors and neighbors of color have continued to be terrified for their lives and their livelihoods. Within the past two weeks, our local trailer park has seen multiple drones at night, had masked men, I you not, in Groucho Marks glasses show up before the break of dawn to terrorize their families. And the day before Valentine's Day, local observers were threatened by multiple masked agents in the parking lot of our local co-op. Agent activity seems to have for the most part dropped out of a larger public view after facing so much backlash, but they are still here and my neighbors are still scared and their bills are still due. Rent is still due at the end of the month and they still do not feel safe leaving their homes. The effects of these violent and lawless federal agent activities will continue to reverberate in these communities in our communities for years to come. I do have, if it's all right, um some comments from some of my local neighbors who um who have been feeling the direct effects of these agent activities. Um there's one from a resident um and a parent of three school-aged children who is new to living in America and she says,"I am unsure what my children will

feel about playing outside after all of this. They look every way for scary people. They have had to keep them inside or we have had to keep them the kids inside the house too much. Um but we are strong and our family is strong. We will find a way to live together again." Um, I know that the news cycle, um, as it runs on trends, seems to be trending downward, um, on public view of these agents. Um, but I promise you, as somebody who has direct connections with these communities, and I'm a member of an immigrant community, as a first generation person, that these agents are still here and they are starting to operate in the shadows. Um, but your residents are still scared and I as a resident of the city am still calling upon you to make sure that they are at the forefront of your focus and that their needs are met with urgency. Um, because like I said, their bills are still due, rent is still due. Um, and when you can't leave because you can't work, that puts you in a pretty a pretty hard place. Um I appreciate the time that you guys have taken um to prepare for this as best as you can with your policies. You made that pretty clear in the first uh in the first workshop um that address this all publicly. But I am urging you to not allow the drop down in public attention on this matter to also dwindle down your attention to what is still happening to the people that live in your city. Thank you very much. Thank you, Andy. Are there any other residents who'd like to address the council on agenda items? Hearing none, we will move on to general visitor comments. And our we do have one item under general visitor comments was

which is the oath of office for our new patrol officer, Joshua Glattis. So, uh, we will take that up right now. Can we just do it up front? Sure thing. Tony, where do you want us to stand? Here. We're fine. Find where we are. Yeah. You want to face the camera on the right? Right here. Right here. All right. We're great. Let me get on the other side. Yes. Wonderful. There we go. Um, I'll read the oath of office and if you agree at the end, you'll respond with, "I will." Sounds good. Thank you.

I, Joshua Glattis, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and that of the of the state of Minnesota, and that I will faithfully, impartially discharge the duties of police officer in and for the city of St. Peter, Minnesota, to which office I have been appointed to the best of my judgment and ability. I will. Very good. Well, thank you. We're so pleased to have you. Thank you. And we'll take a quick recess so we can do pictures and all that stuff. And so we're [clears throat and cough] going to go into recess at 7:10. [applause]

Before the recess, we are returning to open session. It is 7:13 p.m. on Monday, February 23rd, 2026. We are still in the part of our uh agenda that calls for vis general visitor comments. So is there any visitor who'd like to address the council on a matter not on the agenda? Hearing none, we will move on to the approval of the consent agenda. And we do have a um hard copy that was distributed tonight. We had one addition to the consent agenda. The consent agenda includes the following purchases. a vendor uh Waggan Water Technologies out of Chesa, Minnesota at the price, the funding source, and the items listed within the packet. I'm not going to read the full list, which is somewhat lengthy. The following employee appointments are approved at the position and wage listed in the packet. That is Jeffrey Weber, Matthew Ling, Kenny Oonnell, Elise Schneider, Nancy Sanchez, Mike Schaefer, Timothy Hart, Andrew Men, and Sherman Hagen. The following board and commission members are appointed. Two members of the Heritage Preservation Committee, Claire Webbkkey and Sonni Moore, uh for partial terms ending the 12th of um sorry, the 31st of December, 2026, as well as the schedule of dispersements for February 6th through February 18th, 2026. Is there any discussion of any item on the consent agenda? Hearing no nothing further. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

So move. Second. We have a motion and a second. Call the role, please. Council member Ram. I. Council member Weisenfeld. I. Mayor Noel. I. Council member Johnson. I. Council member Pettis. I. Consent agenda is approved. We have no items of unfinished business before us tonight. So, we will move on to our first item of new business, which is the North Fourth Street improvement. um for which we had the public hearing earlier in the meeting. Uh is there anything to add? Jeff, do you have anything that you want to add? I have nothing else.

Okay. Uh in that case, the memo appears on pages 2 through 22 through 23. Are there any questions regarding this item? Hearing nothing further, a resolution ordering improvements and preparation of plans and specifications for North Fourth Street from Cadam to Scarero is on page 24. Is there a motion to approve? Second. We have a motion and a second. Call the role, please. Council member Wisenfeld, I. Mayor Noel, I. Council member Johnson, I. Council member Pettis, I. Council member Ramp. I.

The resolution is approved. Next up, a donation acceptance from the Lions Club. M members, I have this one and then John is here later to talk about another donation. So, this is from the St. Peter Lions Club and they're looking to donate financial resources which are tied to the purchase of a lion water fountain. And if you're watching on TV or you see in your packet, there's a picture of the Lion water fountain um because they're the Lions, of course. And then they're providing some additional funds to be used in Gorman Park phase 2 for a total of $12,000. As you know, madame mayor and members, we're working more diligently to follow more precisely the policy that you have for donations and to make sure that we're giving these kind folks who donate money to this project and other projects some recognition. And so this is that opportunity. Under your rules, there is a resolution um providing approval of this and that resolution is on page 27.

Any questions or discussion? The only other thing that I'd mention related to this is that the parks view has reviewed this and is recommending acceptance. Okay. The only thing I'll say is as a member of the Lions Club, I will probably abstain from voting on this just to avoid potential view of double dealing. Any other Lions in the room? We know we have a lot of them in St. [laughter] Peter. Okay. Uh hearing no further discussion, the resolution accepting a donation from the St. Peter's Lion Club for Gorman Park phase 2 improvements is on page 27 of the packet. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. Call the role, please. Mayor Noel. I. Council member Johnson. I. Council member Pettis. I.

Council member Ram. I. Council member Wisenfeld. Abstain. The resolution is approved. Moving on to for another donation acceptance. Carl and Verna Schmidt Foundation. Mayor members. John is here who is our leader of the recreational leisure services department which includes the library. And so John, this one's yours.

Thank you very much. Good evening, Madame Mayor and members of council. I am thrilled to be here once again to recognize the incredibly generous donations um of the Carl and Vera Schmidt Foundation to our public library. Uh they have continued to show support year in and year out for our library to help us with our collection and our materials to keep them up to date. Um and this year once again they have given a very generous grant of $69,500 which really covers the bulk of our collection and materials. Um, so in addition to accepting this generous grant and donation, I would just like to give an incredible thank you to the Schmidt Foundation for everything they do for our library and for our community. Um, they are truly an tremendous supporter. We greatly appreciate it and they certainly allow us to maintain one of the best libraries in the region as well. So, thank you to them and with that if there I would be seeking approval of the res resolution on page 29.

Any further discussion or questions for John? I will just second everything you said about the Carl and Burnishmitt Foundation. They're really pivotal to uh the excellence of our library. All right. Hearing nothing further. The resolution accepting Carl and Burnishmitt Foundation donation is on page 29 of the packet. Madame Mayor, if I may, one more thing. Be after vote. I would like to recognize one other contribution to the library that does not need approval tonight, but I'd like to recognize it after the vote if I may. Sure. We will do that before we move on from the vote. Thank you. Um, is there a motion to approve that resolution? So, move. Second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Call the role, please. Council member Johnson, I. Council member Pettis, I. Council member Ram, I. Council member Weisenfeld, I.

Mayor Noel. I. The resolution is approved. And there's another donation to mention.

Well, this one's a little bit different. Um, this one was more grant funding from the Carnegie Corporation. Um, as our library does fall under some of the original charter of the Carnegie donations to fund public libraries back in the day, um, in honor of the United States 25th anniversary, the Carnegie Corporation gave out several million dollars um, to public libraries again. And I am very thrilled to announce that our library was su uh selected as well to receive $10,000 um with uh no specific direction, but staff is working on how we can continue to use those funds to um improve our library more from a probably a capital perspective um than our collection um and our materials. But certainly want to recognize the Carnegie Corporation and uh this opportunity that they have given us as well as all the other libraries across the country. but this was one that came to our attention um and was uh a fairly simple application and the grant did come through. We have received the funds and are certainly excited to apply them to our library. So, just wanted to recognize them and thank them as well.

Well, thank you very much. It's great news. Thank you so much. Yeah. All right. Our next item of new business is a new registration. May members, including in your packet on page 30 is a new registration for low potency hemp edible retailer. And so this would be for Paddlefish Brewing Company. Um they meet all the requirements and all aspects of the ordinance are approved or they meet all the criteria established in your ordinance. Um so the resolution is on page 31 to provide for approval. All right. Any questions or discussion on this item hearing? None. The resolution approving new licenses is on page 31. Is there a motion to approve?

So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. Call the role, please. Council member Pettis, I. Council member Ramp. I. Council member Wisenfeld. I. Mayor Noel. I. Council member Johnson. I.

The resolution is approved. Our last item of new business today, new city hall bids acceptance. Mayor, members, as you may recall, at the time that you originally accepted bids for subcontractors on this project, you had about a half a dozen divisions or categories that we did not accept. It could have been they didn't have their bid bond or some other issue related to the bidding. And so those were rejected at that time. The plan was to rebid, which we have done, and bids were opened on February 5th. These are the last bunches of those or bunch of those and covers a few different areas. Um, on page 33, you'll see information on this bid package, which is called bid package 2 from your construction manager's RW Carlstrom, along with the recommendation to approve specific biders in each of these categories. And so for fluid applied flooring, high performance coating, signage, indigo signs, first responder lockers, Bernie's [clears throat] equipment, metal evidence lockers, Bernie's equipment, and Rickway carpet for window shades. Um all of these fall within the anticipated costs um as a part of your budget and um we're looking for approval so that these portions of the project can move forward. Thanks very much. Uh any questions or discussion? Hearing none. The resolution approving bids for the new city hall project is on page 34 of the packet. Is there a motion to approve?

So move second. We have a motion and a second. Call the role, please. Council member Ramp. I. Council member Wisenfeld. I, Mayor Noel. I, Council [clears throat] Member Johnson. I, Council Member Pettis. I,

the resolution is approved. Uh, we will move on to reports at this [clears throat] time. Uh, first up, report of the mayor. And I just want to because we were talking about our library. I wanted to to highlight a few a couple of resources in our library that residents might not be aware of. The first is that there's a food cupboard at the library. So, it doesn't fill the fill or or replace our St. Peter area food shelf, but it does kind of bridge the gap. People can go uh during regular library hours and there is food available. And there's also a winter clothing um donation spot right by the front door. So, if somebody needs appropriate winter clothing, it's a great place to check and uh again fills a need in our community. And I'm really grateful we have an we do have an excellent library doing innovative work and really helping our residents. So, if you haven't been to the library in a while, check it out. It's a great place to be.

The food pantry is a wonderful collaborative effort with the food shelf. So, how great is that, right? Yeah, that's super.

Um, we will move on to council member reports. Are there any council members who'd like to make reports this evening? All right. How about our city administrator? Mayor members, the only one that I have on your agenda for tonight is the ongoing request that the council made to provide for updates in a few specific areas relative to federal agency presence within the community. And so, let me go down that list. And again, I think it's important to note that in some of these areas, we do not have specific data. There isn't a required reporting function. And so, we're doing the best that we can to gather some of that internally. And so, the first one is local law enforcement contact with federal agents. um since the start of this, we now believe we're right around two dozen of those. That doesn't mean federal agents haven't been in town more than that. Um but that it does mean that's where we've been called or we've observed or um we've provided um attendance um in those areas. In addition to that, utility requests is something that the council wanted to talk about. Um we have no new ones from last time as and I mentioned last council meeting we have about eight. That doesn't mean there not might not be others. We just not might not be able to identify them. We would have anticipated that there might not be an increase. We are likely to see an increase as we get closer to the 14th, 15th, 16th of the month of March. And so that council meeting after that point may have some changes to this, but I really don't anticipate changes in advance of that. Again, part of that is there's no requirement to say, you know, I need some help in paying or I needed to delay in my payment because of um sometimes people share that information. It's not required information that they provide to us. And so, again, we're doing our best to use the data that we have at our disposal to come to a number that we think is appropriate. And again, I believe that's around eight. Um economic development assistant program. This is something that the council talked about quite a little bit and the EDA will be talking about at its next meeting on

Thursday. As you know, the thought was that this might be patterned in a way that was not dissimilar to the COVID financial supports that were provided. And so, we've gone forward and we have a goal of talking with um certainly all of your businesses that are more retail serviceoriented in the downtown and other areas of your community. So far, we've been to about 10 or 11 of those. And um of those at the original visit, so these are all knock on your door, we visit with you visits. And so at that time we had one that expressed interest in this type of program. Since that time we've had a couple other that have fed us back information that they too might be interested. So that information will be shared with the EDA and the process if you choose to go forward would be the EDA would recommend a program to the city council and the city council would provide approval. And if you have other questions about that, give me a call or stop by. I'm happy to visit. Um but again substantially similar to what we saw during the time of COVID which means that it's indexed against some certain types of expenses like mortgage or rent or insurance or utilities those types of things and it's for a specific period of time. How those COVID um loan program was established was that it was a loan but it was zero interest and the payments were $100 a month until you paid it off. And so that's kind of the thought. The EDA will certainly have some opportunity to talk about that as well. Um, but that did work really well for you and might be a really appropriate fit in this type of instance should you want to go forward. We've had zero facility requests and you're more aware of this um fifth bullet point or at least as aware as I am for sure related to all the work that goes on with local units of government. Um, and so there's a lot of things that continue to go on and if you want an extensive list, we could kind of sit around the table and I'll name off a few. Um but certainly there's a lot of collaboration that goes on that's driven most with the school district and the cultural liaison that we have. Second to that is with the

county. Um but certainly there's information exchange with other cities and other local units of government about things that they may be doing or things that we're doing. We've had zero data requests that I can attribute to this specific activity of federal agents within the community. We haven't had any federal letters or notifications asking for data, nor have we had anyone that identifies themselves as a federal employee or federal agent asking for data that we might consider unusual. The reason that I'm providing that caveat is that, you know, we still might get a letter from census about census tracks and that regular course of business. I'm really trying to watch for things that are outside of what we would normally expect from that regular course of business. And then update on additional community communications. All of you participated in a number of things that our work whether it's with the city and your police department and other groups um diversity council oh you can name them thread all types of different things that many of you have been involved with that we continue to have those discussions and provide information and be available to do that um so I don't have a specific number but it's a pretty good um list um from your community and the amount of impact that they have on you and you have on groups and organizations within your community. I'm happy to do anything else.

Carrie, two follow-up questions. Um, just going to the last bullet point. Yeah. Um, so initially there was a lot of communication with those groups. Um, you know, just in the past two weeks from like the last time you reported at this meeting to this meeting, what's the communication been like with those groups?

So, let me give you a couple specifics. One of which is community thread which many of you are aware of and so there are members of those um demographic communities that are on that committee and help plan going forward. So the next one will be cancelled. [clears throat] Not sure about the one after that but that is a platform for exchanging information and information hasn't been exchanged with those committees. Um we have had discussions with groups that have identified themselves as being affiliated with the mosque. Um we've had discussion and communications um with other groups that are providing food assistance, transportation assistance, and um let me think, give me just a second. Sorry about that. and answering questions related to um rallies or protests um within the community. And so um there are a couple groups that have looked to do that at Minnesota Square Park and so we provided them information about how that works, safety, those types of things.

My second question relates to collaboration with other local units of government. Yeah. So, there is a new sheriff in town. Um, literally. [laughter] Literally. Yeah. Um, and so, you know, I think I think the thought, you know, with law enforcement there, you know, it's been in the news, it's been challenging because sometimes, you know, law enforcement feels outnumbered by the amount of ICE agents in any given community at any given time. Um, you know, in our city, we've got, you know, Nicollet County Sheriff and our own police department. what is the level of collaboration just in general on this specific topic and how how are those two units on the same page?

So, there have been regular meetings discussing this issue and regular meetings with the county attorney related to issues on this and so um I feel good about that. Um if if you have more specific questions, do do we believe that since we now have moved um dispatching full dispatching to the county? We feel that that has worked out positively and whether it's this issue or any other issue, it's been treated appropriately. Um the police chief and the sheriff have met on a number of occasions where this has been a topic and who's helping where, who's doing what, how does that fit together, how are we able to provide assistance or direct people in other areas. So I hope that helps answer. So from my perspective, I feel positive about that.

Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.

Additional questions for Todd. I'll just also mention speaking for myself um I have opportunities I think as probably other council members do to interact with a lot of elected officials um at the city level at county or township levels through different organizations that we're involved in and so I've had a lot of opportunity to have informal um discussions with people and so I feel like it's uh remains a high priority at the front of people's minds um at least in our region and so uh there's a lot of lot of formal but also a lot of informal discussion and uh exchange of information happening. Just one more. I think

um to our guests, our visitor comment um

point uh you know rent is coming due um March 5th for a lot of people. Um and last month it was incredibly challenging but that was like a fraction of what you know the rent was going to be and now it's it's um a lot tougher. So, as we get those utility um assistance requests, like having those folks answering the phone, having even being even more mindful of like that type of stressor and then um I think the challenge is, you know, we've seen these nonprofit groups kind of come together and try to raise money to cover those costs. Um but again that application process is can be a barrier and um I think the more we can keep in connection with those um nonprofits and those groups so that we can you know as we get especially those utility calls um to be able to point people to those resources because I know those nonprofits are trying to be really thoughtful about um what kind kind of information they have to collect um so that all their you know private information isn't isn't easily accessed. us by, you know, federal enforcement and that that's our challenge because we have, you know, public

public data. So, um but yeah, I appreciate the comment about that because that is going to be top of mind and a huge stressor for a lot of our community uh in in addition to um the trauma uh short term and then the long term that we have yet to see in our community. We're running a marathon. Yeah. Thank you. Any further discussion or report items? Hearing nothing further, is there a motion to adjurnn? Second. All those in favor of adjournment say I. I. Any opposed? We are ajourned. Thanks everybody.