City Council - Regular Meeting

8:30 will call the meeting the order of city council for budget session February 7th, 2026. The mayor is gone. Our prom is also gone. So the mayor asked me to step in to chair the meeting tonight. So I call the meeting to order and first thing is approval of the agenda. Can we get a motion on that? I move to approve the agenda as presented. Second. Okay. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. I. That passes. Do we have Julie on the phone or is or you're just text you're just okay?

She's listening in. She's ill today. Okay. We do have a consent item on the calendar for a class C re retail alcohol license for the Bremer County Fair Association. Uh we have a motion on that.

Um I'll move uh the consent calendar as presented. Second. Moved and seconded. This is not a normal thing for us on this, but it's just a timing issue for them to be able to do an event. So, all in favor say I. I. I. Opposed. That one passes and we move to our study session and I will pass it over to James to start.

So, this is our second hopefully just two meetings. We get kind of wild today. Um, we've been through about everything budget wise. The remaining items at hand are the uh nonprofit presentations for the funding they would like to receive today, which we have individuals here that will do that. Um, and then we'll work into any other questions you might have on anything the past meeting from two weeks ago. And then we'll cycle into our project list, which is probably the last piece to identify if you want to produce any debt for projects or not. Um, staff is prepared any scenario you can probably come up with. We've been through this so many times this last week or two just anticipating what might be. Um there's some limitations we'll talk about when we get there that we want to stay within for a number of reasons. But um but otherwise uh council willing we would probably have the first nonprofit come up sir and do their presentation. So if anybody wants to eager jump up I can sit and call you out. I don't want to do that either. Let's start with the chamber. Well, thank you, sir.

Until your work council does have your original presentation. Your original request is in their package. They've been through it. So, okay. Uh it does not need to be a lengthy recoup that you can hold on to the extras as well if you'd like. They aren't here this morning. council. It's the red section towards the back of the budget book. Yes, it's under health and human services for those you want to look in your book if you're read health and social services. Social services.

Wonderful. Good morning and thank you for having us. I'm Carly Schmelzer and I'm the chief operations officer for Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation. I've been with the agency for 11 years and have formerly attended uh the city's budget hearing meetings as the agency's operations and development director for the past several years. Um, joining me this morning is Nicole Grezy, our family and community impact director, and we look forward to continuing to deepen your understanding of the need for your ongoing support of our programs and services here in Waverly while highlighting the significant impact that this support continues to have on the residents of your community. All of the staff and volunteers here are very helpful, non-judgmental, and extremely nice and knowledgeable. My family could not have made it without their help. The staff is always very helpful at the Bremer County Food Bank, Northeast Iowa Community Action. We are very thankful for this service. Thank you for all that you do to make each person feel important and that they are worth something. I never thought I would be on this side of the table again in my lifetime, but I am proof no one ever knows what life is going to hand them. Thank you for your helping services. I hope I can get back on my feet and give back to the food pantry. Money, time, volunteering. Nicac staff was so helpful and kind to us. These are just a few quotes that we've collected through satisfaction surveys from customers who have received a service through our office here in Waverly. This feedback solidifies how we carry out our values of respect,

responsiveness, and compassion. And our ability to do so is in part a result of your financial contributions to our agency. Our mission is to advance community development and improve social and economic conditions for individuals and families with limited resources. And we do this through quality family services, advocacy, education, and many, many partnerships. Federal funding is our largest share of revenue with additional funding from state, local, and private sectors thanks to supportive cities, counties, churches, individuals, and businesses. It's important to highlight the economic impact our agency has on the communities we serve. The work done through community action agencies not only helps those living in your community but also provides business to your local businesses such as utilities, landlords, auto mechanics, hotels, grocerers, and more. You each have a packet um comprised of the following information. There's a lot in the packet. We're not going to review it all in depth. Um the first page is just kind of a story overview, some of the history of our community action agency. Um next you have an agency program wrap card. So that includes all of our programs and services we provide. And on the back is our um office locations. There's also a lie heap specific program rack card in there. So that is the lowincome home energy assistance program. Um, next you'll find a 2025 snapshot of all county services provided. So, we serve seven counties in Northeast Iowa. That will include some data covering all counties. Um, and then

there's one for Breamer County specific. And lastly, there is a snapshot of all of the city of Waverly services provided. I know this is a lot of information. Um, and I think I've said this in the past, especially with the rat cards, if you don't have a use for it personally, if there's, you know, a church or a community location, um, that you can distribute the information to, that might be helpful to someone who is looking to access our services, we would ask and encourage you to do so. Um, in our program year 2025, we served more than 9,200 individuals with $3.3 million of assistance. And the dollar amounts provided do not reflect the costs of providing service focused programs such as our FADS home visiting program, Head Start, um, the food pantry. That is just the direct financial assistance that was processed to support individuals across our organization. I'm going to hand it over to Nicole now. Thank you. So, I will primarily be reviewing the final piece in your packet, which is specific to the city of Waverly. In program year 2025, we served 759 individuals from more than 330 households with over $120,000, most of which were federal funds which are going directly to the city or vendors connected to city residents. We also employ one staff member from the city of Waverly and two staff members from Breamer County. So, let's look at a few more of the specifics for Waverly. And this information can be found on the city of Waverly's handout um in your packet. NICAC operates the only food pantry in Breamer County, which is here in

Waverly. And you can see the data on Waverly households and individuals served in our program over year 2025. Compared to 2024, we provided more than 33,846 additional pounds of food and essential non-food items. Lie HEAP is financial assistance for a portion of home heating costs during the winter season and can also include repair or replacement of non-working furnaces. Head Start offers free fullday preschool services. Crisis assistance is help for emergency needs that arise for individuals and families. This can include financial assistance for utility disconnections, past due rent, eviction notices, car repairs, and prescriptions. Program direct assistance dollars are supported through the United Way and Community Foundation grants with funding for staff time to process the assistance being a challenge. NICAC has built and owns several homes and multi-unit apartments that provide safe, affordable housing for those in need. In Bremer County, we have built seven lease purchase homes. Family Development and Self-Sufficiency, often known as the FADS program, is a home visiting program intended to address famil family's basic needs, support them in goal setting and achievement, improve children's well-being, and help them develop a career path. We also have the weatherization assistance program. This addresses health and safety in addition to energy efficiency improvements in residential homes. Work completed often includes

insulation, LED lighting, and the repair or replacement of furnaces and appliances. Applications for the lie heap and crisis assistance programs in addition to the food pantry are operated through our family services outreach office and food pantry here in Waverly. Additionally, our family services specialists assist with applications and family engagement for Head Start classrooms in town and make referrals to other internal programs and other available resources for those in need. Years ago, we recognized a need to relocate our office and food pantry to a location that would offer better parking, confidential space for appointments, and a better layout for food pantry operations. In midocctober, we relocated to our 1805 Horton Road space. We know that council members have previously voiced concerns about the space where we were formally providing services and we are happy to share this change with you all today. We also want to take a moment to recognize a a couple of local partners whose contributions were imperative to making the space operational um for its new purpose. Wells Hollow Landscaping participated in the Waverly Shell Rockrock Area United Ways Day of Caring on September 11th. They generously volunteered to assist with grounds maintenance at our property. Their team completed tasks including tree trimming, removal of outdated landscaping, and the removal of several dead trees. Additionally, we sincerely appreciate the support of the Waverly Rotary Club, which contribute contributed funds and was awarded a matching grant to help transform the space to better serve the needs of those

who access our services. These funds assisted with fresh paint, replacement of office flooring, updates to our outdoor ramp, and electrical work that was necessary to maintain the safe and efficient use of refrigerators and freezers in our pantry space. It took no time at all for uh the new space to be put to good use. Shortly after relocating, we experienced record-breaking demand at our food pantry. On October 29th, we served 27 households and distributed over 1,600 lb of food and essential non-food items in just one day. The increased capacity and improved layout of this new location have allowed us to safely store more food, operate more efficiently, and serve families with greater dignity. Since the move, pantry usage has remained steady and in many cases higher than in previous years. For comparison, in November of 2024, we served 161 households totaling 374 individuals. And in December 2024, 143 households and 356 individuals. In November 2025, we served 191 households totaling 500 individuals. And in December, 145 households and 405 individuals. So these increases clearly demonstrate both the growing need in the community and the importance of having a functional, accessible space that allows us to respond quickly and effectively. We truly appreciate your financial contributions. and again are requesting $10,394 for the city of Waverly's upcoming fiscal year. We understand that budgets

continue to be a challenge for you as they are for us and we continue to operate with one full-time specialist at this location. We are utilizing several volunteers regularly as well. Um and we now rely more than ever on community support to continue providing the level of services that we do. Administrative dollars are short for state and federal programs, and there are no available grant funds to sustain food pantry operations. In 2025, we spent just over $20,000 on food and essential personal care products to maintain the supply necessary to meet the needs at this pantry location. In closing, we want to thank you for the continued partnership the city of Waverly has shown our agency. Your investment is not just a line item in a budget. It's tangible support that helps individuals and families remain housed, keep utilities on, access food, and work towards long-term stability. We hope you will continue to see us as a trusted partner in meeting the needs of your residents, and we respectfully ask for your consideration of our request for the upcoming fiscal year. We're happy to answer any questions and appreciate your time and thoughtful consideration today.

Any questions from council? No, I think it's a good investment. Thank you for your work. I just saw pictures of the new um facility and how and talked to Claire and it's it's amazing how much better that space is working. Yes, that's definitely all of that. Yes. All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Go to chamber.

Hello. Chelsea Peterson representing Waverly Chamber Main Street. Um thank you again for continued partnership. uh you have our request 35,000 for the main street and then the chamber um investment as well. So um as the chamber and main street program our role is to promote Waverly, encourage visitation and support visibility for our local businesses. The city and business owners each play important roles in our district as well and we are here to complement those efforts. Right now, a lot of what we do is based on events, deadlines, and available time. Um, so with additional funding, that would allow us to be more consistent in our efforts um for a steady vis visibility for Waverly throughout the year. Um, consistency builds awareness and awareness brings people back to Waverly. Um, events, we do events well, events bring people to Waverly. Our role is to ensure that those people that come and visit want to come back. Um, and so continued promotion after the events keeps Waverly top of mind. Um, storytelling helps keep reinforce of why Waverly is the place to come, a place to stay, and a place to work. Um, our new website will give us digital tools that can give us better insight into who's coming to Waverly, what they're looking for, how they're accessing information. It can also help expand our QR code project that we um unrolled last year on at the soccer complex, at Cedar River Park, at Wartburg College to connect people to downtown and to our businesses. Um, business retention is closely tied to visibility and confidence. And so by having um promoting our existing

businesses more consistently um and staying better connected uh will allow that positive reinvestment downtown. In 2025, we had 22 building projects and $2.2 million of private investment. Um, so 2025 was a challenging year, but yet we showed um our business owners, our property owners showed great resilience and and investment in Waverly, and that's super important. Um, that's why we're here to do our work. So, we've also been successful in securing grant funding. Um, and those grant dollars just multiply the impact of the city. Um, this request is really about maintaining momentum, strengthening consistency, and continuing to support Waverly as a place people want to visit and invest in and live. We're grateful for your partnership and look forward to continuing that questions. I would just note for Lann and Bard new members that chamber comes out of the hotel motel. Uh that's why

so it was in the budget line item if you're looking I saw I saw bar kind of flipping it was like figure out where a little bit back further but okay. Yeah, I think chamber has been doing a nice job and especially with the bridge closure and now with it open again, let's get some things really kicking. Absolutely. It's a It's a pivotal year to continue the momentum and and to expand on that. And I just had a question. I was flipping through too looking for this. How does this compare to last year's request? Yes, it is a $10,000 increase. And is that Chelsea, is that for the Cuz I can't find Main Street for Main Street program.

Okay. And is that for a specific project you have in mind? Not necessarily. just to continue to enhance all of our work through all of those things spelled out. Um, our work would continue regardless. Um, but it would just be lesser scale, less less impact. Um, and because of our twoman show and volunteers and and everything, it's we have start stop start stop and so we lose momentum sometimes. Um, okay. So mainly technology continue the things you're doing now. Is that your So it wasn't it wasn't for a specific new project that you have in mind

enhance our project. So we have you know we're we're not going to stop existing you know um but but we do have um our new website that is going to really enhance our businesses. Um but we'll have to scale that back and and that impact may not be as great in year 26 27 as as it could be with additional funding to um add time add that strategic marketing. Um it's not all about social media. Um but you know with Google and SEO and everything there are opportunities um investments that um to keep Waverly top of mind for for people throughout the state and region.

Thanks. Thank you. Thank you.

Senior center. Okay. Good morning. Um, I'm Cindy Campbell and I'm here for the Senior Citizens Group, Inc. Waverly, also known as the Waverly Senior Center. And I think you have everything, so I'm not going to keep kind of grinding through that, but we do have some things happening here. Um, we had requested $10,000 and that is goes towards our payroll uh in which to keep things going up there. I will mention that we do have a new chef uh that just started in January. Josh uh Ferman is his name and he actually did some studying at Cordon Blue in Minneapolis. So, we're kind of excited about what he will bring to the table with that. Uh November was our last 506 cafe. uh that was our fundraiser that ceased being a fundraiser. And so we have a steering committee that has also been developed. And one of the things that we will be starting in April is a new fundraiser called dinner to go, which will be a curbside pickup uh in the afternoons 4:30, I think it is, to 6. And it will be a take and bake meal along with a dessert. And so this would be for anybody. this is not just like uh centered on seniors. And so we're hoping that that will be good when we've actually talked to several uh young mothers that were like, "Oh, actually I could do that every week, but it'll just be a once a month thing and should go smoothly for us. It'll fall into the same time frame as it was for us uh conducting the 506." So, we'll see how that goes. Uh we will be doing again the uh Waverly Shaw Rock Prom dinner. Uh Joan's already been in contact with Whitney at the high school. Our attendance wasn't huge last year, but we think it'll be better this this next year. And it's a way for the senior center to also connect in with younger

generations. Uh we also have connected with uh Dr. Pier's uh winter Warberg's winter marketing communications program and we're looking for possible uh new rebranding uh and a fresh look for the senior center. I will tell you we still have people who come for the first time to the senior center who are whispering because they don't want to wake anybody up. They think we're a nursing home. So we are looking to maybe the senior center could get a fresh look and so that will be a fun thing. Uh construction has started on the Mitchell room which is in the lower level. It was our wood shop for many years and also had really lost any kind of uh service. And that will open up us opportunities for additional programming which with as much growth as we've had it's starting to get a little tight on the first floor uh activities and then more for private rental uh space. It also will have a floor that is uh suitable for dancing which we are looking to maybe have some dance lessons and things coming there. Um there is a new survey and I do have a copy of it. Don't know if you want me to pass that around to take a look but we try to do surveys on a regular basis to get a feel from our clients on how we are doing. So that is just going out now. I think it's this week was the last week for that. They've introduced tea time uh which is a new function. Apparently, the uh tea house uh tea room in Cedar Falls closed. And uh they did their first one in January, which excuse me, many more people than they expected. Excuse me, bad time to get froggy. Um and we actually had some people come up from Cedar Falls for that. And so now we're going to take reservations to make sure that we're well suited for that. We have a jewelry sale coming back up again

for our uh fundraising. And our latest data that came in, I don't think that was available at the time I submitted because it didn't include December, shows our growth that uh in we were up by 250 people in 2025 from 2024. And this was particularly unique because in January of 25 there was a couple of bad storms and so we were closed down for a while and also how the holidays fell this year. Both Christmas and New Year's were at a part of the week where we were closed for an extended amount of time. So we really considered that to be a real milestone. So the city's support for our payroll is extremely critical in keeping us going and we really appreciate that. Uh um last year I messed up, but this year I think I put in 12,000, the correct amount. So uh if if we would qualify for that, it would make a huge difference. We also are working on a campaign to increase our volunteers. We have a pretty good core group, but they we don't want to wear them out. So we actually have one person that has just started on that, and we're going to expand that a little bit more. So are there any questions? Anything you want to know about the senior center? as our less onc hardworking bunch. So,

yep. And making a difference. It's a great place. Come up anytime. Coffee is always on. Thank you. Thanks. And Heritage Days is not here, but I can put in a plug for them. Say, do you want to say something for Heritage Day?

So, I'm the council less on to the Heritage Days committee, and they work all year round. Um, they are requesting the same amount as last year, $8,000. It doesn't go toward a specific um what part of Heritage Days. Everything the costs of everything have gone up and last year, you might recall they ran into some difficulties with their main fundraising venture which is the can collection and that has been straightened out. So that is going much more smoothly. Um, so I anticipate their fundraising will will uh have no surprises this year, but everything is more expensive and they really make an effort to keep I think nearly all of the activities there are free. So I think it's a good investment in the community. A lot of volunteers pull together to make it happen, but the committee is very involved all year round and I think it's a good investment. They're not asking for an increase this year. Good. Hopefully the grounds out at Memorial Park will be somewhat clear of construction equipment and everything for them for Heritage Days. Knocking on wood. We

sure we we had a good meeting last year in the spring to just sort of talk about what was going to be available and how to adapt. And they're pretty flexible. The city staff is extremely helpful when it comes to setting up and and assisting with logistics down there. So, I'm sure we'll have a meeting to figure out what's going on. There's still construction there from the pool at the end of July. We have bigger problems here. That's not going to be the top. My problem is we get to that point. Yeah, that's not hope we're able to celebrate with the new and everything. Heritage Days and a lot of hope. Yeah,

we'll see what happens out there. Mother Nature probably will play a big part. Um I think the only other big one on there is the regional transit which is a regular donation based on population. So it's generally not had them come down and talk about that. It's pretty specific to what they do. So yeah, and that's a census based contribution. We don't have the human equity commission anymore. And historical preservation is a typical a small amount that we put in for usually it's for signage uh awards things of that nature.

They they do yeah they do some plaques around putting markers up around town occasionally as far as noting historical sites um on buildings and signage in various historic areas that we've got designated. Yeah. Very active group. something. Uh I believe that's it for our contributions or our designations. Um any questions from council members on that? Okay. So we move into

we'll project through uh private budget first to see if there's any questions, any issues, anything that's come up in the last two weeks. uh staff's here to answer those questions. So, I don't know if you want to go back through department by department or if you just want to look at it as a summary, see if there's anything specific that you want to talk about. Uh it's certainly up to you. I can't think of any major uh questions I had going in. Just wondering if staff if anything's changed for staff since we met. They're all still here. Yeah. I mean, anything different in your budgets or or other concerns or thing looks about the same. Okay. for the viewing audience, they're all saying no changes. So, it's fine.

The only thing we've looked at adding um and this will take us into our project list a little bit is Dr. Val, we've been looking at, you know, funding is going to be key going forward for all these projects and some of them are significant in size. And so, um there are grants out there, there are federal programs out there, but there's a lot of preparation to get into those programs, too. And sometimes it takes a couple years to get into some of these. So there's always discussion on the railroad bridge right next to city hall here. What's going to happen to that? When that's going to happen, etc. Um there are programs that can help with that bridge, especially the size of it. We put that at close to probably a $3 million project depending on what happens there. And with inflation, who knows what that'll look like. But um there are some federal dollars or some larger uh amounts we can go after. But one of the biggest things we need to get done first, the feasibility study. And so we do have funding we are putting in for a feasibility study. It's about $48,000 that will basically determine if you don't build it, what does it do to the community? If you do build it, there's two or three different ways to do it and so forth. And without having gone through that process, we will not be eligible for grant work going forward. That is the first step. Next step would be partial plans, etc. if you decide to go forward and place that bridge. So, we will have that slated in the uh we're just determining best way to put it, best place to slide it in there. But, um that is the only major change from two weeks ago was the uh feasibility study being added as a project. Um WHKS has done our bridge work for quite a long time. we most likely have to do that visibility study and I don't know if it'll take divers coming in again or lowering the dam or what it'll be to see but you're going to want to determine what the future of that bridge is going to be and that'll be the first step in doing that.

Um you know it's been how long ago we were talking about oh about 26 27 we'll start looking at that. This is 27 right now. So, we probably need to start figuring out something going forward cuz when you look at that, you look at the dam we talked about that Justin, you know, discussed last time that's coming up in the next 5, seven years. All these things are going to start to accumulate on the river that we're going to need to address with little uh ability to push them off and not address them. So, one way or another, we're going to have to get these figured out. That's first step on that one. At least get that going. Um, other than that, um, so James, you you added that into the budget. Yes. Which where did you put that?

That's what we're determining. It's probably going to be fun 301 or something along that line. I don't valid you determining where that's going to go yet. Um, still deciding between Oh, okay.

If there's funding in the railroad bridge category, we will take it from there. We're still determining what that funding looks like. So, we have engineering for the next two bridges that will go in there already. So, it's a matter of what's that going to look like, too. But that's it's one of the other capital fund somewhere. It's just one of those two. So, other than that, things are the same as they were. Um, payroll, we have police contract signed, but we'll have a session on that next meeting to lock that down. Um, we were able to do that in about a day. the uh insurance is still where it is. We're hoping that comes in less. If it does, we'll make that adjustment. Depending on how much less, I think we have an 18% increase in there. If it's 17 and a half, probably not going to adjust that. Just so you know, the work it'll take will eat up the half% we might save. So, if it's a little more, we will adjust that down. Trying to lessen the impact all across everywhere. But, um, we hope to have that in another week. Uh, so worst case, you can always go in higher and go down. You can never go up. So by leaving it as it sits that's worst case scenario. Um we will again drop that when that information becomes available. Hopefully it's a better view than what we were seeing initially. So usually we have beaten it just by how much. I think there's only one year went against us and that was not a good year. So um any other questions? Anything budget related up till this point? Uh I know we talked a little bit about debt. We've been through water funds. head through police, fire, parks, wreck, above ground, below ground, everything you think of. If not, then we're probably going to go back through our project list and see kind of where you're willing to go. If there's any debt you want to take on, you can. You don't have to. It's whatever you'd like to do. the

And James, could you give us before we do that, could you give us the lay of the land again about where we are with just the the department budgets that have been presented and how that looks for um increases or staying the same, right? As far as like levy tax, etc. Yeah, we dig that out. Just to refresh us, right? earlier in front sort of where we are if we don't do any maybe I don't think we're not going to do any capital projects but if we didn't where would we be

sorry to spring no you're fine you're fine you're fine I've got to go to in here. So, even with what we talked about earlier, you know, with the roll back going down further, your rate has to increase just to even basically in a sense cuz you're pulling less funds off each property than was there. Um, I think in light of all that with no debt and our insurance as it sits, our levy, which I know everybody gets so hopped up on the levy, it's just one piece of it. I wish we would just get away from that. Uh, it's going to be within 7 cents of last year's levy. Okay?

And so that's really the impact with everything involved except the debt. It'd be about 7 cents. Now, 7 cents going up does not mean a whole lot because the roll back drags down so much that you'll be definitely lowering taxes. Definitely. Um, assuming we're going to do some debt. We didn't really run a scenario of what if we don't do debt, what's it look like to the taxes? But, uh, I did run some on if you do say replace the debt that we are about to have paid off. So, we're fairly even. That's about a $3 million bond roughly, which is what we'll get into with some of the other projects. Um, the hard part is not knowing what property went up and what property didn't go up in their assessments. Mhm.

So 4.8% is what we grew. It doesn't mean that's what everybody went up their assessments. Some could have went up a lot, additions, etc. Some went down, some are flat. So we can run 15 variations of this and give you a whole range of what might or could have been. We focused on if your house stays the same. Mhm.

Last year, this year, your valuation stays the same. Then your taxes will decrease. Now, the minute I say that, the media jumps all over and he's lowering taxes. You put on a half a house and then they go up and they wonder why. And then we lied and we're screamed at. It's just a great time. But if your property valuation stayed the same, taxes would go down about $20 per 100,000. That's with the debt we haven't even discussed or put in yet. So, it's significantly more than that with no debt. Of course, you have some projects that we probably are going to have to get done, but that is about the best I can give you is about 1920 $20 decrease even with the debt in there due to the roll back

per 100,000 of your house's value.

Yes. Now, if you get to about not quite a 3% increase in your valuation, it gets to about zero. couple dollars per hundred thousand right in there and that's about where that should be. You start thinking through the math your bow curve that's about where it should be. Um if you go up to about a five or almost 6% increase in valuation which is where some of the averages were then the flip side again the other side of that bell curve you would have about a 19 or $20 increase. So again it all depends on what happened to your individual property. We can't predict what happened to everybody's, but depending on your individual property, your taxes will go down. If it's a lower amount, they will go up if it's a higher amount, which makes common sense. And then the middle will be about a 3%. And so if you have your little chart, like you get Brian here and do his mathematical. Woo, look at that. It's a bell curve. Middle is about 3%. So that's about where we sit and that includes debt. We have not even purchased yet. Okay.

Okay. Thanks. You bet.

So, that being said, um, projects and as I mentioned, email before, we've talked about these last fall. We talked about in the first meeting and we're going to talk about them again. You'll hopefully decide if there's any you want to go forward with. Talk about the ramifications of what that does or doesn't do and kind of what that looks like. So, um, SRF are the big ones. We'll jump right into those. We've already talked about those quite a bit. The lift station, the sewer lining, uh I think all very good projects, they're ready to go right now. Engineering is done for the most part. It's just a matter of moving forward. And the other is the water sewer hiding edition. The challenge with SRF is, you know, obviously we're only going to take out what we need, not any more, not any less. But when we get estimates in, they cover every single thing about it, even things we've paid for. So it's difficult to move the needle on where does this sit. So they're running probably two and a half to three million. Is that a fair estimate, Justin? Each of those projects depending on uh what they're including from contingency to engineering to what if. There's a lot of what if in these cuz you don't know when you start getting in the ground doing water manes, things like that. But that's where they're going to run. It's about 2 and a half to three million a piece.

A piece. Yes. So about two and a half on the Hind edition. Yeah. Maybe give or take. And then the uh lift station improvement and the pipelining, the contingencies they put in there are substantial. Uh I don't know if we think it's going to be that much because it's pretty straightforward project. You have the pipe to line it. So I'm not sure again I'm sure things happen, but um but that's going to be probably 2 and 1/2 that area as well. We thought it'd be about 2.3. We're going to hedge it to about two and a half or so, maybe a little more depending on how this all shaves up. For the hinds edition, you mean? No. For the Eastgate lift station, we still think is going to be about two and a half. Okay. Cuz I wrote down give or take

a lot less there. But for hinds edition, no, for the Eastgate, I mean, from the last meeting about 800,000 and then the rest is the sewer lining depending on. Okay.

Pricing how that goes. Um, so again, that's all non- tax, non property tax. So, I know people panicking $5 million, you know, it's nonp property tax. These are lining fees for water, sewer, so it's going to pay for this. We've had debt come off those areas. The impact will not be what people may think it will be. Adjustments will be made to accomplish that debt, but the long-term effect of eliminating all the water, the inundation, the leaking, especially with Eastgate and everything else will be substantial. And then you'll see a huge drop. I think cuz I'm trying to think Justin, how many miles are we lighting a sewer? Do you know off hand? How many feet how many lines we're doing? 25,000 ft. So almost 5 miles.

24,000 ft. So that's a lot of landing and sewer systems. It keeps the leaks from getting in there. It's rid of the tree roots. It just helps to solidify those areas that have been a problem with inundating those lift stations. So something we should have been doing a long time ago, year after year maybe possibly. It's a good project, I think, to get done in an area that needs it severely. So, I think we'll be in good shape. And Justin, is that all over town or mainly in the older areas of town or all over? All over. Okay. So, what percentage of the sewer lines would that take care of? Roughly a half of a third of my

380,000 ft of sewer lines and we would be doing 20. Okay. So we start a little less than 10%. Yeah. Okay. We've done some in previous years too. Not that because a lot of them we don't have any issue with, right? The newer ones especially you see some of the old areas they sure leak leak leak. Uh we probably still have clay tile in the ground. I assume that's reasonable. Who knows what other materials that are in there 50 80 100 years old. Some of these would be doing along the river too, right? that are inaccessible by con traditional construction standards uh for digging or excavating and you don't want to replace these.

So if we can on that not have to replace them, it'll be a good thing overall. So uh the last one that we would have which will be an SRF would be the new well we've been working through sighting moving throughout. We're using our POS money for that. Um, I won't probably include that in this debt if you move forward with those other projects cuz that'll come in a different time of the year and it's not as large an issue to do uh SRF funding middle of the year versus the other ones go the cost is not quite as substantial um to do the SRF like that. So, we will probably not do the new well at the same time. And costwise, we don't really know yet where that's going to sit. That's kind of why it's hard to measure. uh we put a million dollars in there before. That may touch it. That may be too much. Maybe not even close. It all depends on what's going to be needed once we figure out where that one site's going to go. So

So that can be discussed later.

Yes. Okay. Yes. So those are the water projects that we would have you consider mainly like I said edition lift station and the sewer lining. um the general obligation debt, which is the traditional debt that we do. That's the normal things that you'll see us do year after year. Those are some of the smaller projects. Um we'll touch base on a few of them. Uh 10,000 Southwest, that's probably the one we've talked about the most in number number of years. We talked about it before bridge closure. We've talked about it during after uh DT will provide some funding for some of the damage that was done. It will not be enough. It's never enough. Um, we've actually noticed uh some damage on the Parkway, which we think is also potentially part of this. So, we will be doing some repairs on that as well.

Um, this is not tearing out the entire roadway. It is doing deep sections of each area that's bad and replacing that instead. To tear out that entire stretch of roadway would be a lot. We'll just I don't even want to estimate what that's going to look like. Um, but the concrete patching that will do the deep patch, uh, we're going to put that at about half million dollars. Should get that done with hopefully some of the patching on the Parkway using some of the DOT funds on top of that. So, um, I know we need to do our diligence on the bridge, get that finished, get the railings in. All that stuff is coming. But the detour has been officially lifted.

It's just a matter of us getting that funding now from the DOT. Uh, and there's some forms that we're filling out to try and accept that that'll be the amount we'll get and then we'll see how long it takes to get it. But I think it'll happen in this fiscal year if you want to move forward with that project. And so yeah, so we don't know how much we're getting from them and that should cover damages on the whole stretch of just over 50,000 base. Just over 50,000 50 51,000 something like that. That's it. We have to cover the rest. That's it. Okay. So again, some of this was needing to be done before you turn to it's not all this. It's just worse, right? And then the parkway that was a little surprising some of that, but

we'll see what that looks like. Those places there. So questions on tenth kind of get the gist of what we're looking at doing there. So you're anticipating an entire budget for that of about 500,000 roughly maybe 550 but that would come from the dot the 50 for that but we would only have to get 500 for and will our crews be doing that or is that something we would farm out bust that out like that that would take a while. Okay. The amount of traffic and the need to work through that I think we'll have that shut out for sure. Okay. Um, cemetery roads we brought up a handful of times then as we move on. I've talked to Garrett and we're going to pull back on the actual cemetery roads. Okay?

Because if you go out to the road we talked about that runs in front of the main building out there. That is by far the worst section out there instead. And that we do want to continue to try and improve and fix. Uh that'll probably we have it about 100,000 to get that stretch done uh as it runs by. I would advise you go out there drive on it. See what we're talking about crumbling on the sides, the breaking etc. Um, but we think we can go another year without the expansion into the cemetery itself for those additional roads. Um, so we will try and look at that again next year. If you still want to do it, that's up to you. But that is not something we're proposing at this time. Just to try and get that other piece of road done through there. And we would hire that out, too, cuz that is a full-on reconstruction most likely coming for about 100,000. Um, 13th Avenue Southwest, that was the one that kind of snuck up a little bit. I mean, at least I was not aware of it. I'm sure Justin was, but uh

that's one that's by the Super by Super 8.

Yeah, Super Eight. Okay, got through there. It's only a couple blocks or so long, but it's not real good. Uh we're looking at what these utilities are underneath. They're not too bad. I don't think they're storm sewer. Uh, in fact, I I'm just ad libing here. I'm let Justin do a quick explanation on this project because I'm assuming and I want to tell you something's wrong. And if you would, Justin, please. I think I'm start losing my voice. Me, too. Yeah, this uh this project has we've been watching it for the last few years. We patched a lot of it. Um, it's it's not a lot of subbase underneath it. So, usually when that happens, the concrete just breaks up. And that's what you're seeing there. If you look in the parking lot of uh Quickar or uh Hi and those area there, they've been replacing a lot of theirs because it's the same conditions. Um this so far the water is behind the curb. So I don't think we need to replace that. So that saves uh about 100,000 off the project. And same with the sewer. I don't think the sewer is going to weamed it yesterday and the guys didn't sound like it was too bad. So that we might be able to save a little bit of money there. Some um intakes might might need to be updated. few things like that, but it's just basically surface restoration and put some subbase in there because a lot of that ground out there is really uh what do you want to say? It moves around a lot. It's I don't think it's the best sub subbase under there. So So just what's underneath there? Just some utilities or is there is there a sewer going under?

Yeah, there's there's sewer under there. Well, like I said, the water is behind the curb uh on the high B side. So I don't think we need to replace that. If there's ever an issue, you can always address that. and the storm sewer. There's not a whole lot in there. Um, a lot of it goes into that pond by Ivy. Um, they have a detention pond there. Yeah. The question was on what the scope of this is about half surface replacement and subbase creation. And you think that that will hold it for Yeah. a good amount of time.

And a lot of those HY has done some of their uh driveways into there, right? Connecting to the stuff that was already done by them previously. Um, you know, we've kind of shifted off alleys. You know, uh, we've been doing commercial alleys. This is kind of the next step a little bit further, but like James mentioned that numbers little little higher. That was including some utility work. So, we could probably reduce that down quite a bit. Taking out some storm sewer and some no sanitary. And so, what are you thinking for a final estimate? I don't know. We I think the estimate was 450 or something like that. 500 known of what was going to be underneath. We had it. Yeah. So, I don't know how far we'd want to reduce that down. I got to I got to check on the sanitary, make sure it's 100% good enough to keep. So, that would be worst case scenario.

Yeah, cuz again, depending on the sewer, if it's not quite, we think all the way through and plus the base is not going to be cheap to dig that out. I don't know how far we're going have to go down to get it and then rebuild it. Like I said, if it's moving around, I don't know if it's sand. I don't know what it is. Um, that's the fun part of building digging in Wavel. You don't know what you're going to find. from bedrock to sand to god knows what and this is one of those areas that we don't know where we're going to find. Yeah, we all know there, you know, issues out in McDonald's, right? So, I mean, a lot of moisture in that ground. So, I think it's a matter of, you know, trying to dry that up and get some good base in there.

So, I don't want to go in with too little and then we can't get it finished. So, I'm probably going to ask you to leave it that half million for additional again options you have now. There'll be another project. You can pay down debt with it. You can do whatever you need to, but I think not knowing exactly what's in that ground, unless we do borings, even that doesn't always. We've had many of boring miss, you know, rock right next to it and it wasn't there. Um, yeah, that was just a rough OPC that we got from from Boltman. So, I'll ask you to leave at half million if you go forward with that project just because we don't know what that's going to take, how deep that's going to have to go to get it correct.

Thank you, Justin. Any other questions on that? Um trying to think the last project then go would be the uh remodel of the clubhouse and I'll take it as in the loss as well. Um as you know we had a referendum a year ago or so to completely remove that clubhouse and take 3 ft off the hill, flatten out a big area. That entire thing it was going to be about 5.5 million. That's what the valve language said. Um, putting it on same time the pool maybe wasn't the smartest thing that we did, but everybody wanted them on, had to have them on. Well, it failed and it failed by a lot. So, based on the feedback we got that it was just too much or why don't we use what we have, things like that. We went back and started really looking at that building. Can we rehab it? How do we make it ADA compliant? What does it look like? It's still 80 years old. It's still chopped in in places. Some of the work that was done. Holy cow. I mean, it Yeah, not an electrician. I feel like I still could have done that some of it. And it was it's just is tough. And again, it was not our building. It was not anybody's fault necessarily. It's the way it was done for the last decade after decade after decade. So, we got into it. We think that uh we can do a full overhaul. fed architects in, some engineering in for the mechanicals. Uh we fed some estimates in from local contractors as well for replacing other pieces of it. Um we think we can remodel out the whole thing for less than half of what that bond was going to be. So we're about 2.56 million somewhere in there is what we think we can do. And that would be only two simulators. We're not going to put in four. We initially thought I don't think the room is there for that. the uh all the cosmetics, you know, better windows which leak severely. You were out there. You've all been out. You've

seen it. It's not ADA compliant. You can't get second deck. This would do that. Um you can't even get in the building. This will accomplish that. We'll try and get the parking lot resurfaced as well cuz that is getting really bad. Some of the slope. Um some of the hills out there around the uh backside of clubhouse and so on. Uh, we break up some of the building windows, especially the basement. If you ever go down there, you'll never go down there but once. You don't want to go down there again. We're just going to sever all that. Leave it. That's just going to go. The new basement will be where the pro shop currently is. It's cleaner. It's more efficient. It's a lot less money to try and start fresh there versus trying to save what's down there. Um, so just a lot of that kind of discussion went into it. What do we really need? What do we not need? What are the basics to get this done? It is a lot of cosmetic. There is a little bit of construction again windows, doors, things of that nature that just haven't been replaced since we even know those that I said be about two and a half million or so 2.6 roughly um of that. So this is not an essential corporate purpose by definition. This is where the weird bond stuff gets in. It's a general corporate purpose. Essential has no limits. general has a limit of 960,000 and some weird little number that you can borrow without having to go back to another referendum. So 960,000 our pitch would be I've talked to B about it the bond attorneys and everybody we need to would be to borrow that on the true go property tax side but the rest of it would come out of local after sales tax. So even years before the referendum, we had a vote for local opera sales tax and it was approved by 80% which was astonishing to allow pool and golf to also come out of there if need be. That's why we would look at using about 1.6 that coming out of low classroom sales tax over 10 years, which we looked at the fund. It gets tight in a couple years, but

otherwise it'll take it. The pool's in there as well. It'll take that and then things that we normally use it for. So, uh, it's possible that would not be property tax. That would be local option. Again, that's what the voters wanted. So, it's either we have two votes. One said this, one said that, but this is how I would propose you do it if you decide to go forward with it. So, again, your decision, but it'll be 960 from the property tax side of it, 1.6 local sales tax over 10 years. And that would then finish the remodel of the clubhouse. um get that off our table a little bit. Like I said, it's an 80-year-old building. It's the ADA part that bothers me the most. We witnessed it at the program out there, staff and everything. I'm grateful for the guys that can build a ramp that quick, but that's not going to work. Uh it still limits a lot of things that need to happen out there. Um

well, it's not consistent with the law. Well, that too. Uh you are correct. We need to be able to have our buildings, especially if we're going to try and enforce others to be ADA as well. And that one is not. So, does that affect insurance too? It hasn't. We were kind of grandfathered in cuz we didn't do this initially. It wasn't our building. We've taken it over and we're trying to make strides to make it better. But yes, if there was ever an issue out there, we have nothing to say, oh, no, it's it's okay. It's not okay. It just isn't there,

period. And so, that's why we're going to try and get this done one way or another. The most efficient way to do it is the way we've got it laid out now. Otherwise, you go back for another referendum, put the entire thing on property tax based on the vote we had years ago. I don't think that's what the public wanted either. It was partial relief here. Um, in fact, if we had a few more years out, which I don't, if a building has that many more years out, local option will take most of that, if not all that payment period. So, really the first four or five years is all it's going to be hitting us. the rest could be almost absorbed entirely from local to sales tax and that could happen. So that's the um beauty of how it sits. Um you know we will pay for it out of there local sales tax but even the additional funding can reduce the pool. There's a number of things it can do but the difference is this will have to come out of local oper sales tax. It cannot come out of the geo cannot come out of property taxes that piece of it. But what I'm getting is the 960,000 you borrow if the local option could take it. it could also pay for that as well. So, it may pull the property taxes back in depending on the fund balance.

There's a lot of options and variations once we get past that fourth year, I believe. And that is when the Parkway actually falls off,

which is the big piece and the ball diamonds fall off. And so, that fund has been used for a lot of great things that have happened in the community. Like I said, parkway was a big one. The ball diamonds getting finished another one. Now it's assisting with the pool, possibly the clubhouse depending on your decision. There's a lot of big things that fund has really been able to do. That's why I'm glad that we have it that way and it states what you can and can't do. So, um, that is it for project work. Um, that hits our debt capacity regardless. So, right, the 1050 the 960 would in the local auction. There's always discussion on whether it would or not. Either way, we're covered. We've got a good capacity right now. SRF does not. Uh right. Yeah. SRF is not but what it does do is we have only $10 million each year to levy for debt and that includes hospital and utilities as well. All of us combined can only issue $10 million and still keep it as a tax debt bond.

So hospital and utilities are not issuing any debt next year.

SRF is included in that calculation which is close. It does give us close but only a portion of that is actual property tax. the other just counts towards it even though it's not property tax. So, but we have to be mindful as well and we are under that limit. So, it still will be a tax exempt bond that will occur. They'll all be done at one time depending on if you go forward with all of them. But that should about do it. Um the only other item we've talked about and it's kind of a first for me. I'm not happy about it, but I don't see any other way is equipment. you know, we we've trimmed back some of what we'd like to do. Other funds are chipping in. There's four different funds looking to fund the list of equipment that we have from road use tax to um the water fund to solid waste and then possibly uh geodet. So, the amount we were looking at was over a million dollars. We dropped that down to 750,000 and that would include the our half of the fire truck. we talked about for fire. Uh, one of the two trucks for Parks and Wreck, we've been trying for a few years to get. Uh, they'll get the dump trucks that we need for the blades, uh, which we are in bad shape needing those. The bucket truck with the dash and the duct tape. It'll get that one. Um, and then I'm trying to think. I want I'm forgetting. I think there's a larger one ton that was going to go anyway with the uh, wheel truck, but that is what that would do. then is we do 750 those funds kick in as well. So that's what took it off with a million plus drops it down to that. Um you know we didn't count on co backing everything up for years and years and years. So the process we had going was working very well as we needed to when everything got backed up for 3 years roughly and then you still couldn't get a chassis for 2 years. We still have that the ambulances now even the fire

truck I'm not sure how far that's going to be out. um trying to capture everything at one time simply doesn't work. This is a piece of what's vital. There's other pieces we're not including in here that we think can be pushed, but the handful in here uh I mean a firet truck is 30 years old.

It's probably done what it can do. Uh we're currently without some of our dump trucks and blades in the winter which is not good as well. So those are the pieces we tried to focus on completely. The ones we talked about photos were in the budget. We don't usually do this for equipment, but again, we didn't usually have a co either that kind of backed us up so far that, you know, these have been pushed off for years if you want to say because I'm taking those dump trucks at least a couple years. Should have replaced them. They've been down probably about as much they've been running here and there. So, I think it's necessary now to just find a way to get them replaced. So, so half a fire truck, one truck for parks department,

two dump trucks, and a bucket truck. Is that correct? Two dump trucks, bucket truck, or is it that third dump truck? One's going to water. So, water's kicking in on that one. That's the newest one cuz water does not have one, which then takes them from street or you don't have it. It's It's just a limited amount of those type of trucks and those are used for everything right now. Um, so I'm trying to think if that's I think that's it. So the total for that and then the different funds. There's like you said four different funds will pitch in. Yep. For those. Okay. The net that you would look at for debt would be 750 and that's probably 1 point I don't know how many million in actual equipment.

Okay. So 750 for the general application. Yes. Okay.

Excuse me. So, we've talked in the past about the water building. People wonder about that next to us. I sent you kind of an update on that. Personally, I think it's a project I'd love to see someday, but someday is not today. I think we need to hold off a year on that regroup. We got a large document on funding potential streams as well. I think that needs to be investigated fully. Um, engineering group Bolt that we deal with, they're aware. our female Dave Hall. So, very good renderings. I like what they're thinking. At some point, regardless, you'll have to do something with those walls just because the dam is hooked onto it. It's got to be preserved the rest of it. But I think at least another year we go before that happens. I think we talked about 39th as well out by the fairgrounds. That is a bad road. I'm going to tell you right now, it's not easy to patch. I don't know how you're going to fix, but if the county's not going to do their portion till fiscal 30, jumping out that far in front, I just don't know if that's what we need to do either because that's a pretty good lift. That's a million five probably or close to it. So,

and it is on their plan for fiscal 30 or not. That's the last I know of. It looks like that's where they had it. Uh we thought it was going to be last year when we went in to talk about it, but it was shifted to fiscal year 30 and so we were probably going to be closer to that in case there's economies of scale materials. if we end up using the same bidder, same who knows what it might be. But um I think that was the other one that was looked at. Back to the water building, James. So we're still waiting sort of for the latest report from engineering, aren't we? About what they've found or did we did we get that?

I'm not sure where that sits exactly. We'll have to follow up on that. I know they have the renderings what they'd like to see happen cost estimates to help you kind of see what the phasing was going to do. But if we have that, I need to relocate it and see what that looks like. Um, I can't recall seeing the report yet. Okay. But I know they've done the work with the borings and they they've done what they need to do to understand what they have to do. Um, that's why they're looking at some peers versus just filling in an area of it, carving off north and south of it. I had no idea that if you take the north and block it, the south actually feeds it back so water comes in upstream. I didn't know it did that. Well, it does. So that's why you have to do both sides to keep from flooding the base so you can actually fill it.

Didn't know that. Now we do. So if you block off the north, it goes backwards upstream. It fills it in anyway. There you go. It's way longer. Um so yeah, I don't know if the full-blown report has been issued. I'll talk to them about that, see what they're thinking, but okay. I just think it's good to hold off on that for a year. So, a couple of the other big things we're talking about, we got the 48 for the bridge here, the feasibility study, feasibility study. We're going to wait on like kids kingdom right now because got to get the pool finished and then figure out exactly what we're doing with Memorial Park as well.

Um, plus any potential fundraising that may go with that. So, those are still a couple years a year plus, not this year away from for us on those. And the final two uh bridges on the rail trail, we're want to go after some funding for that as well, some tap funding. So, we're going to hold off on that. Plus, then we'll have another uh study done or not studied, but another um investigation done on the bridge to see if there's any issues with weight limits, that kind of thing. Right now, there isn't. And that'll tell us how they're progressing. So that'll be another year out too as we try to get funding for that to lessen the impact of Ivanho is the very large bridge. Right. Those are the last two remaining there. That would be hopefully in another year.

Okay. Then the other one that might I guess I don't know where it falls into line would be like street lights and trying to update some of those cuz we've had those that are dating out. Um where does that fall? How does that fit in? I probably have to defer Justin. I know we're gradually doing it. Yeah, we're doing an intersection activity here for the traffic signal you're talking. Yeah, we're doing a couple here. Yeah, just kind of finished and we're kind of rotating through again another cycle. So, I think that might be the norm going forward routine cost that's put in. Okay. We'd also talked about um looking at flooding down by the old southeast school that you said the engineer

that we do not have a full report and that's the only reason we didn't put that into this mix as well is we want to make sure we have that figured out what the cost will be. We have estimates but I don't know if we have a true map of what it's going to do where it's going to go that's not done enough to where I'd want to introduce it and hope okay cuz the other side of it is we do have limitations on how long this money can stay. you'd have to spend it a certain amount of time. So much for purchasing, so much for projects. And that's federal to where if you don't, then we get a little bit of a jam with them. So that's why we just don't want to put in stuff just to put in stuff. We got to make sure we can accomplish it hopefully in the year two years tops. That's the only way we get it offered. Okay.

So about three now. So the go is if it's where we read it off and that and I'll skew the total and you pick it apart whatever you want to do with it but uh the half million for 10th the 100 for cemeteries 960 for the golf portion of go the 13th again I'll ask you to leave it at half if you would if you do the project and then equipment 750 puts it about 2.8 2.81 81 is the number I have for Gio. Hopefully about didn't fall over. So I think that's a good number. Okay. So say that again. So 10th was about 500. Yes, ma'am. I'm for the cemetery road in front of the building that we're

That's about 100K, I think. Okay. And then house is uh 960. That's the most you can do without a referendum. Then 13 worst case scenario was about 500. Five. Yeah, we're hoping for less, but five is where it sits. And if it drops a bunch, we can issue less. Yeah, we until we actually issue get our documentation we want not to exceeds done this still could back down. This is just again worst case spending what we want to do and then equipment 50 after trade in the other fund. So about 2.8 2.8 and we've got three coming off is what you said to start with and that's coming off when uh now now.

So it'll be off when we start our payments. It's already effective. We're taking it off early to make room for this cuz we had fund balance there that we didn't need to keep and shouldn't keep. And so that's actually going to be off before this starts. So that will make room which is why okay it's actually a lower debt levy amount than it is for last year by like a dime or something like that. I mean it's but it still is more because of pricing but I mean it's still it's almost a dime less than last year. So levy is actually less. Okay. What's that fun? We lowered the levy, but the taxes may still may go up because your values went up and values go up and so we're sort of holding even with

on debt. We are actually dropped a little uh on the overall rate, the insurance and that that is what's kicking us a little bit. Again, we'll try and better that some but we're uh trying to keep the levy as low as possible. I know people focus on that, but it's simply a byproduct of valuation and spending. So it's I from my perspective it's you know as I was coming in I was thinking we don't have a lot of money to do much. We're not doing many projects but at least we're still doing some projects. Yes sir.

And it's it goes back to the if you're not building you're dying. So you still have to grow some. Um but we're not incurring any additional from what we're currently at. So, we're kind of the progress is treading water more or less. But again, as people talk about our tax rates and whatnot, and you know, we lower our levy, school or county raises theirs, vice versa,

county community college raises theirs, tax rates go up. We get blamed for all of it. Um, they like to come after the city and there's multiple taxing agencies, but, you know, it's part part of it there. We're We're being very responsible. You guys are always tight as you can be with this. This is There's There's no fluff in this budget. We don't There's not extra in there that, you know, when we're saving money for things, it's put aside money for future purchases of equipment. So, we don't have to do it all at once and have big spikes and up and down. So, it's extremely responsible budgeting. Um, a lot of thanks to the directors and to James and the Val for looking at all of this. I think you guys every year do a tremendous job.

Well, as we stated, even with this, if you did it all, you would still lower taxes unless your valuation went up high enough you wouldn't.

So, this is not just automatically compounding. Some years that happens, it's just going to go up no matter what. We're making it worse. This is not one of those years. I mean, I can't say it's going to go down again cuz I don't know what your individual house did. But if it didn't do anything, it will go down. That's the best we can tell you. And I don't want people think, well, it's an automatic it all goes. This is your decision. We don't have to do any of these projects. We can do all of them. It's whatever you want to do. And there's more if you want to do them. We thought these are the ones that are the most vital on the list. Things that we've talked about for years, things that we know we need to get going because it's water and sewer instead of wells and septics are probably a better idea when the city limits. And so it's those kind of projects that we want to make sure we bring to you. Uh we can certainly do any other ones you'd like to, but these are the ones that we've tried to weed out and say these are probably more vital based on our discussions in the past and the needs you're seeing from having broken up streets to problems underneath the ground to at least be considered. So as you stated, there's a bunch of other ones that we could do, but we're trying to find better ways to fund them than just putting on the tax. And that's what we're hoping to accomplish before we bring them back. So discussion among all of you that's this is where this sits local option would be 1.6 six SRF would be 5 something 24 somewhere in there depending on when our better numbers come in. Well, if the new guy just this seems like taking care of business first, you know, you need the basics, you need water, you need the sewer, you need the streets, things that everybody uses and what's left over can be used for whatever. And if we've got buildings that are not compliant, we've got, you know, sewers that don't work, we need well, let's do that first. and then look at other things.

Yeah, I would agree. I mean, having been through a few of these, I mean, the department heads always come in um you know, expecting not to get more money unless it's insurance, personnel issues, that sort of thing. And I appreciate that. And and

yeah, I mean, it sort of goes in waves. You know, we've done quote unquote non-essential projects. I mean, I'm not sure any projects these days are non-essential because if you want a city that's going to grow um and be vibrant, you have to have things like parks and trails and uh facilities for people to use. Those are essential to a vibrant community. So, I mean, I think there's potential to get push back on the golf clubhouse. Um but I think it's a worthy project. We have to be ADA compliant. Not just have to, you want to be. That's the right thing to do. Um, and we've we've talked at past meetings about our investment in the golf course and the staff there and it's paid off. I mean, they're actually making money. It's growing. It's popular. It's highly rated. Um, it's an investment and I think it we should have a nice clubhouse up there. Um, and we have, you have ratcheted it back. Um, so that it's more realistic. Most of it is.

Yep. And I think that's a good idea. Um, you know, we do need a new well, but I appreciate, you know, we need to wait. We don't have the costs. Um, need to look at that and discuss it later, but to get those other the sewer lining, the lift station, bringing Hines edition into the city system, it's necessary. So, I I think that list sounds good. Yeah.

Yeah. I just appreciate the fact that even in the limited amount of time that I've been here, the third year, how the departments have gotten more efficient um at at getting down to what is really needed. Um and I really appreciate the work that's gone into that. Um I agree with the golf course. Um I don't utilize it that often. Um but when I do I like it would be great that if it was ADA and it should we should as it as we own it it should be access accessible. Um and not only that is I could see people who don't utilize that facility going why are we spending our tax money? Um it brings a lot of people into town that then spend money in town um and then potentially would want to live here. Um, so it is it's an investment and it's it's worth um I I get appreciate the fact that it's gotten really drilled down

and you shouldn't feel, you know, I think if you want to go up there for an event, right, or go up there to buy something at the pro shop, if you're using a walker, if you are in a wheelchair, you can't get in there and you feel marginalized enough, it seems like without having that barrier. And so we just need to be an accessible community and we're trying to do that little by little, right, with housing projects, etc. But that's what that's the right thing to do. Well, we weren't accessible in this very building, right? I know. And we are now, but we're not. And again, we're government building. We need to be following those regulations.

Now, we can peacemail something into that building. It's not going to look good at all. We can piece it in, tear it up, put in some ramps, things like that. it again. That's not the point of the whole structure is just chop it up, put it in there. It's been chopped up enough. It's time to actually make it look like it's all one building again. Mhm. And get it servicing the modern version of what this is. Um I mean 31,000 rounds. I don't disagree. I'm not going to ever pit project against project, but there's other projects that don't generate that many people spend a whole lot more money than this. I think at some point in time it has to go. And uh I don't know it's going to get any easier. Yeah. So,

well, I also appreciate the I don't want to call it creative accounting because that sounds what it is shady, but but I appreciate that you're always looking for how can we fund this in a legitimate way that isn't property tax driven, you know, and you laid it out really nicely and and I appreciate all your work and Val's work in sorting all this out cuz it is so complicated. So, it's appreciated. Works on paper. It's all you can touch. We'll prove it out here in a little while, but it works on paper. So, any questions or still overwhelmed by everything that's coming at you? Normal. Excuse me.

Okay. Um, we have to know that we're good on here and I think by consensus, I guess you'd say we are good. I think so. Julie have anything? I haven't heard anything from Julie in opposition and I know she's in because she's asked me a couple of questions. Okay. Um so I guess at this point I would take a motion to adjurnn. Uh I'll move that we adjourn. I'll second. All in favor? I I we are ajourned.