City Council - Regular Meeting

Oh, there we go. All right. Well, good evening everyone. It is January 26, 2026 at 5:31 p.m. I'm Mayor Shelley Carlson. The Morhead City Council welcomes public input on issues listed on the agenda or of general community interest, time and council permitting. Speakers are limited to three minutes each. If you would like to address the council during the meeting, please fill out a form provided by the city clerk and we call you up during the citizen citizens to address the council item on the agenda. You'll need to state your name and if you are a Morhead resident if comments were submitted to the clerk prior to the meeting via email or phone. Those comments will be entered into record. For more in information on participation, please visit the council meetings page on the city of Morhead website at moreheadmn.gov. We the Morhead City Council collectively and with gratitude acknowledge the sacred land the city of Mort is built upon. We acknowledge the people who have resided here for generations and recognize that the spirit of the Dakota Ojiway Mati and all the indigenous communities permeates this land. That could I get a roll call please?

Ryan Nelson here. Nicole Matson here. Heather Nissmeer here. Emily Moore here. Deb White here. Lisa Borggan here. Sebastian McDougall here. Chuck Hendrickson here. Mayor Shelley Carlson here. And for those who are able, please stand for the pledge of allegiance. Right. [cough] And do we have any uh agenda amendments?

Yes, we do. Mayor, we have a request to add an item to the agenda by council members uh Madson and Moore regarding federal enforcement activity in Minnesota. Okay, that will go under new business. Um and with that agenda amendment um do I have approval to the approve the consent or to approve the amendment? So moved. Second. Nissa Meyer. Any discussion? Seeing none. All those in Oh, we ought to do roll call uh vote now. Okay. Roll call vote, please. Nelson. Hi. Matson, yes. Meer, yes. Moore, yes. White, yes. Forgan, yes. Yes. McDougall. Hi. Hendrickson.

Hi. [clears throat] All right. That carries. Um and is there a motion to approve the approve the consent agenda? So move Nissa Meyer. Second. Motion and second. Any discussion? Seeing none. Roll call vote, please. Faster than my computer. Nissa Meyer. Yes. Matson. Yes. Moore. Yes. Nelson. I White. Yes. McDougall. I Borggan. Yes. Hendrickson. Hi.

Right. That motion carries. All right. So, first of all, thank you everyone for being here. Um, each year the city of Morhead recognizes employees for designated milestones in service beginning at I think it's well five years of age or five not five years of age. We don't start hiring people at five, I'm sorry. Um, these rec at five years of service. These recognitions happen at the end of the year for all employees who reach milestones in the year. While individual department directors have been recognizing all staff with 2025 service milestones, today we are recognizing individuals with 24 25 or more years of service with the city. So we are going to begin with our 35 years of service. And our first employee recognition is for Lisa Bodie. Lisa is currently the government affairs director and has been with the city for more than 35 years. There you go. obviously did not practice as well. She was initially hired by the city in July of 1990. So, thank you, [applause] Lisa, for your service. Our next employee recognition is for Todd Bratlin. Todd is currently the transfer station manager in the public works department and has been with the city for 35 years. He was initially hired by the city in December of 1990. [applause] Our next employee recognition is for Jay

Jensen. Jay is currently the wastewater storm water maintenance supervisor in the engineering department and has been with the city for more than 35 years. He was initially hired by the city in August of 1990. Jay, if you [applause] could come up and see yourself.

I'll just say Jay is one of the strongest flood fighters in our region for since the 80s. Indeed. [applause]

And I appreciate that both Todd and Jay wore jeans because um and I apologize that I did not dress up. I work from home with my day job and I was working from home and I was getting out to get here and I forgot to change pants. [laughter] Basically, that's what it was. Um, so thank you guys. 35 years. That is a very very long time and I can't imagine all the different changes that you have seen um in the city through all your years of service. But thank you to each of you for that. So now to 30 years of service. Our first employee recognition is for Mike Detloff. Mike is currently the investigative police lieutenant first class and has been with the city for more than 30 years. He was initially hired by the city in October of 1995. [applause] And that's crazy that you've been serving in that capacity since you and I went to college together. And I I don't think I've been working that long, but maybe. Our next employee recognition for is for Sandy Kimian. Sandy is currently the office manager in the police department and has been with the city for 30 years. She was initially hired by the city in March of 1995. [applause] And I remember when Sandy was hired, um, my office was in the police department at that time. And Sandy has also been through a lot of different jobs throughout her career at the police department. So, thank you guys both for coming here so that we could recognize you in person. So, now for 25 years of service. Our first employee recognition is for Ryan Hagen. Ryan is currently the solid waste equipment operator in the public works department and has been with the city for more than 25 years. He was initially hired by the city in April

of 2000. [applause]

Our next employee recognition is for Andy Bradshaw. Andy is currently the wastewater storm water operations manager in the engineering department and has been with the city for more than 25 years. He was initially hired by the city in May of 2000. [applause] Additional individuals being recognized that could not attend this evening are the following. Rick Donner, the golf courses superintendent, 35 years of service. Harvey Moose, community service officer, 35 years of service. Toby Crony, investigative police sergeant first class, 30 years of service. and Chad Stangland, the deputy fire chief, community risk reduction, 30 years of service. So, congratulations to all of these incredible employees for their continued dedication and for these incredible milestones with the city of Morehead. You guys are what really makes Morhead proud. Thank you. [applause] All right. Moving on to the approval of the January 12th, 2026 meeting minutes. I have a motion to approve the meeting minutes.

So move, Nicole. Second. More. Motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none. Uh, roll call vote, please. Moore, yes. White, yes. Borggan, yes. McDougall, I. Hendrickson, I. Nelson, I. Matson, yes. Nice meer, yes. All right, that motion carries. Are there any citizens in the audience that wish to address the council at this time? Again, any citizens in the audience who wish to address the council? All right, seeing none, we are moving on to 18A. Um, and this is uh I'm going to just turn this over to uh Chris Hogan with Baker Tilly.

Good evening and thank you mayor and members of the council. Um, I'm here tonight just to give an overview of the upcoming financing, the bond issue. Um, and John Shockley is also here to give if there's any other questions about this. Um, so the Morehead Economic Development Authority is going to be issuing 25,465,000 lease revenue bond series 2026A. Um, this is a little bit of a different type of financing than what the city's done in the past. It's a lease obligation. So the E so tonight the city is going to um request that the authority on their behalf issue the bonds. Then the process will be next week. I believe it the authority board will meet and um consider the resolution that provides the terms of the bonds and then the bonds will be selling on when are they selling? March 10th. So the financing is for renovations to the city's um existing city hall building. the authority to issue the bonds. There'll be, like I said, the resolution being considered tonight, the EDA resolution being considered next week, and then there will be a lease and um a trust trust indenture. So, additional documentations this time just due to the financing. Um ultimately the the city's going to enter into a lease agreement with the EDA whereas the city will pay lease payments to the EDA the lease and then um the city will actually levy taxes for and annually appropriate those lease payments each year. The bonds have been structured over a repayment term of 20 years um essential level level debt service. In that agreement, there will be a sub lease whereby in um Morehead public services will play it 250,000 a year annually for 20 years and then the difference will be a city levy. Uh the way that a par is this is considered a parameters

resolution. So ahead of time you're going to set the terms of the bonds the and those are parameters. So you'll set a not to exceed borrowing of 27 million uh a true interest cost not to exceed 5.5% and then the final maturity of February 1, 2046. So what happens a little bit different this way is that day that it prices there's a pricing committee that has the authority to award the bonds right after bids are taken. So it doesn't come back to the council or the EDA to um approve the sale on the day of sale. So it's a really easy process. Um, the bonds are non-being qualified because they're more than 10 million. They have a 10-year optional redemption. Um, yeah, I think that is um that's kind of the gist of the financing, but I'm happy to take any questions.

All right. Thank you. Uh, any questions from council? If there are no questions, I'd be looking for a motion to um uh approve 18A. No move. Nissa Meyer. Second. Right. There's a motion in a second. Again, any discussion or questions? Seeing none. Uh could I get a roll call vote, please? Borggan, yes. McDougall, I. Hendrickson, yes. Nelson, I. Matson, yes. Nisser, yes. Moore, yes. White, yes. All

right, that motion carries. Thank you, Chris. And uh also thank you to our finance director, Jennica Flanigan, because I know that you two worked really closely together get all this paperwork done for tonight. Appreciate it. Uh moving on to 18B and I will turn this over to our government affairs director, Lisa Bodie, who served the city for 35 years [laughter] and six months.

And six months and two days in [laughter] Thank you, Mayor Carlson. Um, members, uh, the city is, as it always does, sets a legislative agenda that, um, just makes publicly um, aware, makes the public aware of what the city is focusing on in its partnership with the state of Minnesota. This year is no different. And the legislative session opens on February 17th. Um so the council has asked to approve a list of um specific and general legislative goals to support a high quality of life for Morhead residents and businesses to respond to competitive disparities due to differences in state policies between border um cities and advanced capital projects that benefit the city. So the really brief summary, if you remember two things, our top um capital project priority is flood mitigation, finishing that work that supports the diversion and protects Morhead's um in town um community and the other is a policy priority and that is improvements modernization [clears throat] of the border city enterprise zone and I'll go through the rest of the projects. in a little bit more detail, but it gets kind of like a list. So, I want to be um you know, like remember those two things, flood mitigation and border cities enterprise zone. Um the city of Morhead in June 2025 put in an application to Minnesota management and budget for $18.5 million in flood mitigation improvements. And that is what remains uh necessary to complete our in town flood mitigation plan that started in 2009. And um that is part of a total of projects that remain necessary for the diversion in um

in the rest of Minnesota primarily in Klay County and a little bit outside Klay County. All combined that work is just over $64 million. So, it's a big lift and we haven't made a lot of progress this past year and so um you know we're really hoping to make progress but it's it you know yet to be seen what will happen in the form of a a bonding proposal. We do have a second bonding priority in the wings and that is um funding to not completely uh pay for but to participate in the funding of major improvements necessary at our wastewater treatment um plant and that will help to offset rates for both the cities of Morehead and Dworth. So, anything we can do to um whittle that cost down a little bit um will really be helpful. And that request is $10 million. You did rank in June the the priorities and flood mitigation remains the number one priority. I will I mentioned briefly last week to council members that we had also applied for congressionally directed spending last March um to uh work toward this goal. And I'm happy to report that on Friday um we did receive word that a $2 million grant was signed into law. And so that has been awarded to the city of Morehead. And thanks to Bob and thanks to Andy for their good work on this. Thanks to our lobbyist in DC and huge thanks to Senators Smith and Clolobashar who advocated for Morehead in that regard. And also to Mayor Chad and Payton and Dworth for giving us a letter of support. So there were that you know

that was an example of partnership and um a lot of cooperation and we're very fortunate. That's a pretty good award and anything we can do reduces rates. So those are our capital projects. As I mentioned, um the uh main p policy priority is border cities enterprise zone. We aren't requesting additional money for the program at this time, but we are requesting some improvements that have proven to be obstacles for some of the businesses that want to um expand in Morehead and we want to give more flexibility to our businesses. So, we're really hoping that we can make progress on that. Um we have cooperation of the other four border cities and we will work diligently on that project um as well as we move forward. Uh we do have a request for a sales tax exemption on construction materials for city hall renovation which is expected to save money for that project. And um that was a request made last year. So it'll be a carryover request this year because it was not funded last year. Um, also on our list are the um public safety just not not a specific ask or um threat that we're working to address, but because some of this stuff changes rapidly during the session, having being on the lookout for opportunities is important to our work because if we had to come back to the council, we you know, we it would be hard to be timely. So, we're just going on notice that that is important. also any um actions that would help us with the sustainable aviation facility. Locating that pro uh that facility in Morehead are is also something that we're interested in doing. Um the the aviation fuel industry

in Morehead and the plan facility in Morehead. And then there's a category that we call partnerships and these are projects that have been identified that the city of Morhead is not leading but we are supportive of. We will give letters of support. We will when we're in St. Paul, we will work with our partners to advocate for them. And I'll just um give a short list of those. Um they include the Morehead Cultural Mall, the H Heartland Trail, Jasmine Child Care, the Residential Psychiatric Treatment Center. Um again the diversion passenger rail service which is a request for a resolution of support was on your agenda tonight and then anything that can help our educational institutions that um comes up during the session. So, those are the partnership requests. And then I'll just mention recreational amenities and things that we work with through and in partnership with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and the League of Minnesota Cities. Um there'll be a I think a a big push on housing um by the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities this session. And so that's something that you know our staff has a a great interest in and and the council obviously has a great interest in. So, we will um continue to work on those issues as well. So, that's my laundry list of things that we um are on the lookout for and really hoping to achieve for the city and I'll stand for questions if there are any.

Thank you. Are there questions? Uh council member NM. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um thank you, Miss Borggan. One for your years of both

who both Lisa's both Lisa bees. It just My apologies. My apologies. I was going to say and for your years of service, but apparently I can't even remember your name this evening. So, my apologies. Um, I wanted to follow up on partnerships. Um, I believe you have already um sort of mentioned how we were able to get that wastewater $2 million grant because of a partnership with the city of Dworth and them writing a letter of support. Is that similar what we could expect? I know you mentioned doing work when we're at the capital to help secure those funds. Um there have been some questions about some um items listed here, but to clarify, the city is not leading them and whatever I'm going to pick out the uh uh Klay County residential psychiatric treatment center. So whatever they had put forward, we would perhaps mirror or mimic a letter to support that additional funding for their nonsecure and secure um psychiatric treatment facilities that they are building right here in Morehead. Um, Council Member Nissmire, we would follow their lead and if that is what is requested, there might be other things they might request and we will, you know, we will we will work with the legislative work group and if if needed um get council approval on anything that would be more than support in the form of letters or um you know advocacy when we are down at the capital or testifying or something like that.

Okay. Excellent. And some of these are not new. They're carryovers from years previous because they um have not been um realized or have been taken advantage of at the legislative level. Is that correct? That's correct. Flood mitigation. We've been working since 2009.

I um I was sad to see this is an aside, not a question. Um, I really appreciated at our workshop last week the picture of the tractor running the lift versus what a modernized uh lift would look like. I think uh tractors are really great to see in town, but to be able to modernize um and follow compliance requirements for the lifts in our city. I think that visual really drove home for me um the necessity because I always think that like we're doing really good but again seeing that and having that visual example. So I want to thank you for your um very uh visually appealing um proposal on this topic last at last week's workshop.

I should also mention that we have are not uh limiting our funding request to the state level on that project. We do have a federal grant um in the hopper on um that project which would cover 80% yeah 80% of that project which is appealing to the state of Minnesota as well. So we don't know yet on that funding request. Well I appreciate all of the work that you and your team do but also to sort of capitalize and embrace as much funding we as we can to um support our expanding city. So thank you Lisa.

Thank you. Any other questions? Uh, okay. Uh, thank you, uh, Council Member White.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I just wanted to request a minor wording change under in that section for partnerships, and this is after a conversation with U. Commissioner Mojo just to reflect where that project is at right now with the county. So the PRTF, so what we have under as the residential psychiatric treatment, that actually has been funded and that project is moving forward because they will be able to use some of the current juvenile facility. And so um so that was phase one. What they're seeking funding for is now that they have taken some of their current juvenile facility and will be able to use that for the PRTF, they need to eventually replace that facility with the nonsecured juvenile expansion. And so if we could just change that wording from residential psychiatric treatment to nonsecured juvenile expansion, that would better reflect what the county is working on now and um and not sort of um make it look um reflective of of what they've already been able to secure. Thank you. So I I don't know if that would need to be a motion or um or not.

Thank you, Council Member Wade. I think that we could um amend the list of priorities with the updated wording um as part of the resolution to approve uh the legislative priorities if somebody is able to make that motion. I move to I'll make that I'll make the motion to I move to approve as amended changing residential psychiatric treatment to nonsecure juvenile expansion. Second, Nissa Meyer. Okay, there's a motion in a second with that updated language. Any further discussion? Seeing none, could I get a roll call vote, please? Niss Meer,

yes. Moore, yes. Matson, yes. Nelson, hi. White, yes. Oregon, yes. Hendrickson, hi. McDougall, I. All right, that motion carries. Thank you, Miss Bod. Um, and we are now to mayor and council reports. Do council members have reports from boards or um assigned boards or committees? Council member Nameer.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, although I mentioned it two weeks ago, I want to remind folks that the solid waste advisory committee meets at the resource recovery center. Typically the fourth Thursday, the month of January has given us five Thursdays. So, we are meeting this Thursday, January 29th, at 8 a.m. at the resource recovery center. It is an open public meeting that is supported by um Klay County and which uh council member Hendrickson and I serve on and we would love to have uh residents join us and talk about trash and recycling and great things that we do in the county. Thank you. Other council members, Council Member Moore. [clears throat]

Thank you, Madame Mayor. I attended the Lake Agaze Regional Library Board meeting on January 15th and from that meeting I just wanted to report back that there will be an event at the Morehead Public Library building. We are going to be turning the page and saying farewell. So we ask you come bid farewell to the Morhead Public Libraryies current location at 118 5th Street South and celebrate the memories and milestones that made the library the heart of the community over the years. Before we turn the page and move into our new home in the loop, we invite you to gather one last time in this beloved space to honor its history and the people who made it matter. So that's Thursday, February 5th from 2 to 7. And there will be featured speakers at 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. A history harvest from 2:00 to 5:00 and a history display, refreshments, and mingling for the entire duration of the event from 2 to 7. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Borgan.

Yes. Um I as well as several other uh council members, maybe we didn't overlap, but I know Sebastian was there and I think Matson was there for the traffic. There was a traffic study um at SGR Reiner to talk about what can happen there. Our engineering department did an absolutely fabulous job making a video. So anyone who came got to see a presentation that was exactly like the one before. It was all on video. It was really wellreceived. I talked with many people there and I think they liked um the recommendations that were coming out of our engineering department. So kudos to that department and it was really a good meeting. Thank you. Um anyone else? No. Okay. Um and I will concur. Um, I was able to make the tail end of that presentation and it was an excellent um, excellent gathering of of not just the video but also um, boards that you could see the pictures and the depictions and the staff were there and really helpful with questions. Um, for uh, my mayor report um, I attended about 10 different meetings. Uh some of the highlights are the Morhead Business Association had me come and talk at their noon let's let's talk business and provide an update on a lot of the projects that are going to be completed and finished and open houses that are going to be held in 2026. Um January 15th I attended the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities Board meeting also the League of Minnesota cities board meetings. um some of the legislative priorities for both those entities overlap. Um as Miss Bod talked about, housing and uh local control over those

housing uh options are are one of the things on the agenda uh or priorities. Local government aid is also one um a high priority for both organizations. Uh January 20th, I was part of a a press conference that the Metro Floodled Diversion Authority held um discussing the uh additional allocation of funding of aboutund 100 million to approximately 110 million. Um that would not have been allocated to the project until probably 2030 or 2032. um with the work of our US senators, that funding was able to get allocated directly to the project and we'll be able to help offset some of the operations and maintenance that will be coming into play in 2027 and onward. Um and so that was a huge win um with our partners down in the in Washington DC um and for our community um in the Fargo Morehead area. Uh January 21st was the flood diversion finance meeting um where the previous pro uh previous announcement was discussed and then on January 22nd we had the flood diversion board meeting and again we are still on track to um have the project operational in 2027. Um those are all the mayor reports that I have and I will turn it over to city manager Molly for his reports.

Thank you mayor. Two items. Um, one just, yeah, recognizing everyone that came out to the community open house on the 40th Avenue South Corridor project. Uh, it was really cold and it was really good of folks to come out. But that wasn't the only opportunity to check out the information. It's on the um city's website, city of morhead.com. There's a link there. So, that video that council member Borgan mentioned and all of that data is there. and we are seeking input um ahead of a recommendation that will be coming to the to the council possibly as early as late February into March ahead of design and bidding uh for work that will be happening on that corridor this year. So um um I'll just leave it at that and uh more to come on the 40th Avenue South corridor project. Uh, in addition, um, the Frostful Events, um, the Frozen Fortress, um, there's all kinds of fun stuff that's being planned outdoors. Uh, it kicks off on Saturday, January 31st, 11:30 to 3 at Viking Ship Park. So, there's a bunch to come there. Everybody's welcome and um, we can enjoy the winter together a little bit outside. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Um, we do not have an executive session tonight. And with new business, I guess I will turn it over to Council Member Matson or Moore. I'm not sure which one of you to go.

Um, thank you, Madam Mayor. I would like to begin by asking Council Member Moore to read a statement from Jessica Hower. I was Alex Pes, sorry, final nursing student. He was my friend and my nursing mentor. For the past four months, I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him during my capstone preceptorship at the Minneapolis VA hospital. There, he trained me to care for the sickest of the sick as an ICU nurse. He taught me how to care for arterial and central lines, the intricacies of managing multiple IVs filled with life-saving solutions, and how to watch over every heartbeat, every breath, and every flicker of life, ready to act the moment they wavered. techniques intended to heal. Alex carried patience, compassion, and calm as a steady light within him. Even at the very end, that light was there. I recognized his familiar stillness and signature calm composure shining through during those unbearable final moments captured on camera. It does not surprise me that his last final words were, "Are you okay?" Caring for people was at the core of who he was. He was incapable of causing harm. He lived a life of healing and he lived it well. Alex believed strongly in the Second Amendment and in the rights rooted in our Constitution and its amendments. He spoke out for justice and peace whenever he could, not only out of obligation, but out of a belief that we are more connected than divided and that communication would bring us together. I want his family to know his legacy lives on. I am a better nurse because of the wisdom and skills he instilled in me. I carry his life with me into every room, letting it guide and steady my hands as I heal and care for those in

need. Please honor my friend by standing up for peace, preferably with a cup of black coffee in hand and a couple of pieces of candy in your pocket, just as he would. He would remind you that caring for others is hard work, and we must do whatever it takes to get through the long shifts. Step outside with your dog. Breathe in the world. Hike or bike as he loved to do. And let yourself find peace in the quiet moments within nature. Stand up for justice and speak with those whose views differ from your own. Hold your beliefs with strength, but always extend love outward, even in the face of adversity. Take one step, no matter how small, to help heal our world. Through these acts, carry his light forward in his name. Let his legacy continue to heal. Thank you. This has been a difficult time in Minnesota. We see video after video of our fellow motans being dragged from their cars, apprehended in their little blue bunny hats, getting shot in the street. I am going to ask some things of you tonight. The first is please do not look away. Please inform yourself of what is happening. Please listen to the people of Minneapolis and around the state when they tell you this is an armed occupation by an undertrained force who is there not to arrest the worst of the worst, but to fulfill their daily quota of apprehensions, even when the even when those being brutally arrested are here lawfully or are US citizens. Two weeks ago, the day after Renee Good was killed, I watched a video recorded by Shantia Sosa Clara, a city of a citizen of Red Lake Nation

as her nephew, Jose Ramirez, was violently dragged from a car, beaten, and detained by nearly two dozen ICE agents. The crime he had committed was having a Mexican father who gave him a Latino sounding last name. Despite attempting to present proof of his US citizenship, he was handcuffed and held at the Whipple Federal Building for hours before he was released with no charges filed against him. You don't have to look very far to find dozens of stories like Jose's. In fact, at this point, you almost have to work to avoid them. If you haven't heard about Jose Ramirez, if you don't know about little Liam Ramos, about combat veteran, Purple Heart recipient and US citizen William Burmy, who was detained for exercising his right to observe and held for hours without access to an attorney. Now is the time to inform yourself. The next thing I'm going to ask you to do is to decide where you stand. I can tell you where I stand. I stand firmly on the side of the US Constitution. I stand firmly on the side of the orderly and judicious enforcement of the law. I stand firmly on the side of the nonviolent exercise of our constitutional rights. I stand firmly on the side of loving my neighbor no matter where they drew their first breath. We've been asked by many residents what the city government can do when ICE comes to Morehead. Can we ban them from covering their faces? Can we send our police officers to intervene if federal law enforcement is unlawfully harming and detaining people? The reality is that our system of government was not set up for smaller

jurisdictions to have to defend themselves against the bigger ones. I am open to pursuing every legal avenue we have available to us as a city. But those avenues appear to be few and far between. So right now it is up to us, we the people, to stand up for our rights and to rise to our responsibilities. Generations of Americans before us have sacrificed over and over again so that we today would have the right to say what we think, speak truth to power, and steer the course of our own collective destiny. It is our responsibility to protect and defend that right for future generations of Americans. Toward that end, I will be attending constitutional observer training tomorrow along with 300 other Morehead residents who love our country and love our neighbors. I will continue to attend protests. I will deliver groceries to frighten community members. I will say again and again and again that what is happening is wrong. I am asking you to do the same. Stand up. Speak out. Love your neighbor. As Alex Prey said, caring for others is hard work. I believe that now more than ever that hard work is worth doing. I ask you to join me in doing it. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Matson and Council Member Moore. Um, I just want everyone to be clear that I don't believe anybody on this council differs with our shared one voice and one commitment to the safety and dignity and well-being of Morhead. Um, I also want to first recognize the extraordinary effort that city staff have put in um these last few weeks to ensure that Morehead residents receive accurate and timely information. Our city manager, our police chief, our city attorney, our government relations director, communications team, and other staff have worked overtime and on the weekends to research legal parameters, respond to inquiries, and help us understand where the city can and cannot lawfully act. Their dedication has been tireless and invaluable. So, thank you to our staff. I also want to thank all of the members of the Morhead City Council. Each member is doing meaningful work to respond to what is happening in the Twin Cities and other communities across Minnesota in preparing for what could potentially happen in Morehead. Personally, I've been in direct contact with members of our federal delegation, members of North Dakota's federal delegation, members of our immigrant community to better understand and ask questions and explore appropriate paths forward. What I hope we can do as a community is also to avoid comparing efforts or measuring who is doing more or less. Every council member, staff member, and community member brings different experiences, roles, and circumstances to this moment. Some work is being done that is very visible and out in the community, and some is happening quietly behind the scenes, but all of it matters. It's important that we respect and honor that and focus on the shared commitment that this council, our staff, and our community have shown during a very difficult and challenging time where oftentimes we don't have answers to a lot of questions.

As city leaders, one of our most important responsibilities is to provide clear and accurate information about legal parameters within which the city must operate. Many of the questions that we can continue to receive, like council member Matson mentioned, such as whether the city can ban ICE agents from coming to Morehead, prohibit them from covering their faces, or dispatch local officers to intervene in federal operations, often have difficult but clear answers under current law. The city does not have the legal authority when it comes to these federal operations. I recognize that these answers may not align with what feels intuitive or even just. However, that is where state and federal law intersect and where courts, not cities, are responsible for resolving disputes and determining what actions are legally permissible. These issues are being actively litigated elsewhere in Minnesota, and we are awaiting further clarity from the courts. I believe that we can hold space for both realities at once. Acknowledging the very real pain, fear, and concern residents are experiencing while also being honest about the limits of municipal authority. Providing that clarity is part of our responsibility as a council and as a city, even when the answers are difficult and not what we'd like to hear. I'm proud of the care that this council, our city staff, and our community members are showing in this moment. And I believe that by staying grounded in our shared values and responsibilities, we can continue to serve our community with integrity and compassion. So with that, um, it is six.

Wait, wait. Deb has her hand. Oh, I apologize. I didn't see that. Uh, Council Member White,

thank you. I just wanted to speak on the um the topic that was brought up to first of all, I just want to thank Council Member Matson and Moore for bringing this forward. Um, just over two weeks ago, I spoke at a vigil for for Renee Good. And um, I know it's been a very difficult time since then. Um I when I spoke two weeks ago, I talked about the fact that public safety is a core function of our city and as council members um that means that it should be a priority no matter where that threat is coming from. And I know um council member Matson rightly pointed out that we are very limited. And I also wanted to, as the mayor mentioned, just um express my gratitude to our city staff, our city attorney, um our chief of police for the research they've been doing to look into um what we can and cannot do. But that being said, I I do look forward to conversations with um my fellow council members just to look for every opportunity that we can to help to protect people, to stand up for their safety and well-being. um and for the fundamental rights and liberties that we hold dear as a nation. Thank you.

All right. And with that, it is 66. Oh, I'm sorry, Council Member Borggan.

Yeah. Well, I also think that what all the council members and the mayor had to say was worth saying. You know, we as a council do not have much power at all against the federal government. That's just the reality of it. It's a It's a bad answer when we feel so helpless that we can't do anything. We can't stop this. But, you know, as a former county attorney, which was the chief prosecutor in the county and a former judge, I'm pretty familiar with the law and the constitution. And you know, we have the right as individuals, not as council members together to do something, but as individuals, as everyone is saying, we have the right to do what we think we need to do either in front of the scene or behind the scene. And you know, some of us are comfortable speaking out and others aren't. So, I don't think that should take away from anybody's feeling about whether you're doing something or not, whether you feel like you want to protest or not. We all have the right to do that. That's our right. But what I will say is what bothers me more than anything is the false narrative that we hear on the news about law enforcement not working with ICE or with the feds. That is simply was never my experience when I was the county attorney and when I was a judge. ICE and Border Patrol have been part of our community forever. And the people who work here and live here in those capacities have a really good relationship with our law enforcement and our law enforcement respects them and they respect each other. So to think that we are our law enforcement isn't doing what they need to do because we are supposedly a sanctuary state or city, that's just bologoney. I mean, I

remember Ryan Nelson, another council member, was a cop when I was the county attorney. And if we had someone that had a ICE detainer, the first thing we did was call ICE up to come and get them when they were done doing their time for us. And that's what happened. If they came, they came. If they didn't come, they didn't come. But we we talked with them. So this is a false narrative that they don't work together. The problem is in my estimation as a person, not as a council person, but my opinion is you cannot have three times the number of federal agents coming into a community when we only have 600 law enforcement officers and they have 3,000. And you know when you are a cop in more in Minnesota you have to go to two years two to four years of school. Then you got to go to skills training. You got to pass the post test. You got to get your license. These are professional law enforcement folks that we support. So I also don't like the false narrative of people who like myself like Council Member Matson and others who say I don't like what's happening. I don't what my eyes tell me is this isn't right. And for someone to say that I don't support law enforcement, that's baloney. I support law enforcement that is trained and understands the use of force and understands that there are deescalation techniques that they are trained in. But when you get people who come into our community have 42 hours of training, 42 hours, think about that. 42 hours and our law enforcement have two to four to five years of training. You can't compare the two. So this mob mentality that we're seeing, we're seeing it. The administration, the talking heads on TV who tell me to see something that's not there, I'm not

buying it. And neither are the other people in Minnesota. If I see someone who's being attacked by six thugs who does not have his gun out and they shoot him nine times, that is an abomination to us as citizens and we should be able to talk about it. So, I thank you for bringing it up. I feel the same way that you do. We all will do our own thing. But the fact of the matter is Minnesota is a great place to live and work and play and we have great law enforcement and we need the people who came in here who are not professionals like our ours. They need to go home. There have been three homicides in Minneapolis this year and two of them have been by ICE. If that doesn't tell you that something's wrong, I don't know what does. So, thank you. Okay, I'm going to look around first before I try to end the meeting. And yes, I see you, Council Member Nissme. So, Council Member Nissmeire.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, I want to appreciate um this item being put on our agenda. Um, also the community engagement that we've had on this topic. I know um text messages, uh messenger messages, emails and stuff is sometimes uh all that some of our residents um feel comfortable doing and even approaching um somebody who is a political official can be very um uncomfortable. And so I just want to say thank you for those of you who have reached out. Please continue to do so. Um, I want to acknowledge and appreciate the limitations that have been talked about about uh, municipal power or as council member Borggan said, the lack thereof in these partic particular federal um, instances. Uh, I would like to highlight there are a lot of resources available in our community. Um, tonight I have with me know your rights cards. Um, the I have versions that are in English. There are also um Somali, Arabic and Spanish versions, perhaps even more that I am not citing available. If you are interested in some of these cards um I am willing uh if you are interested in communicating with me, I will get them from you. I did not create these. I actually got them from uh the Global Refuge uh which their office is um in the metro area. It's over in Fargo on Fickner Drive. They're open from 8:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday. and I serve on a uh board and commission locally with um a member who works for Global Refuge and the work that they are doing. I want to acknowledge all of the work whether it is as an individual, a nonprofit, um a cultural leader, all of those things are very very important to um keep each other safe. Uh stay aware and keep the community that Morehead has worked very

hard to build um together. and uh feeling connected and supported. So, I just want to thank everybody who spoke tonight, but also uh particularly uh council members Matson and Moore for putting this on the agenda so we could have it at a public meeting shared uh with residents to know that there is a great deal of work um that is going on and um that is very much appreciated and we're not done. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Any other council members? All right, seeing none, it is 6:24 and we are journed. Good night, Morehead.