City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, folks, the time is upon us. I'd like to call the regular city council meeting to order, please. Hello, ladies. Yo, ladies, second row. I'd like to call the regular city council meeting to order. Madam Clerk, would you call the roll, please?

Mayor Cooper?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Alcantara?

Here.

Council Member Allen? Here. Council Member Carrington? Here. Council Member Collins? Here. Council Member Graham? Here. Council Member Moser? Here. We have a quorum.

Thank you. And before we get further started, I'd like to remind people, if you have cell phones, please silence your phones before we get started. The rule up here is if it rings, it's mine. So you're probably a good idea if you silence them. Joel, would you like to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please? Thank you. Before we get started on the agenda, there's a couple items I'd like to change. Item D1A, action memorandum 26079, move it to action memorandum item I1, please. And the other change is where we're having the proclamations, the number two moves up to number one. And then other than that, I don't have any other changes. What are the wishes of the council? Move to approve.

Second.

Madam Clerk.

Deputy Mayor Alcantara.

Yes.

Council Member Carrington. Yes. Council Member Moser. Yes. Council Member Collins.

Yes.

Council Member Allen.

Yes.

Council Member Graham. Yes. Mayor Cooper.

Yes.

It is approved.

Thank you. So now we are moving on to the communication appearance requests. Ma'am, would you read your proclamation on pain awareness month, please?

Proclamation recognizing September 2026 as pain awareness month, whereas chronic pain is a major public health challenge affecting approximately 60 million of the U.S. adult population, with approximately 20 million experiencing high-impact chronic pain, and that significantly limits daily life or work activities on most days. And whereas muscular skeletal pain is the leading reason Americans seek medical attention and the number one cause of long-term disability in the nation. And whereas the economic burden of chronic pain is substantial due to the medical expenses, lost wages, and decreased productivity. WHEREAS CHRONIC PAIN AFFECTS NEARLY EVERY ASPECT OF A PERSON'S LIFE, INCLUDING PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING, ABILITY TO WORK, RELATIONSHIPS, MENTAL HEALTH AND THE ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE FULLY IN SOCIETY. AND WHEREAS INDIVIDUALS LIVING IN THE CHRONIC PAIN OFTEN FACE STIGMA, DELAYED DIAGNOSIS, UNDERTREATMENT AND INADEQUATE ACCESS TO EFFECTIVE MULTIDISCIPLINARY CARE. Whereas the U.S. Pain Foundation is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise awareness about the challenges faced by people with pain, promote sympathy, equity, innovation and care, and public policies that improve quality of life. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED THAT JIM COOPER, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PALMER, ALASKA, ON BEHALF OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM SEPTEMBER 2026 AS PAIN AWARENESS MONTH AND ENCOURAGE ALL OUR CITIZENS TO SUPPORT INCREASED AWARENESS, RESEARCH AND COMPASSIONATE CARE AND EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY PAIN. IN THE WITNESS THEREOF, IT IS SIGNED BY THE MAYOR. SO THANK YOU.

Thank you. And now for our second one. This is a proclamation honoring the Palmer High School's softball team as 2026 ASAA Division II state champions. And I would like to have all the ladies and coaches please come up forward.

Mr. Mayor, can you use the mic, please? Sure.

Is that better? Can you hear me? Okay. The Palmer High School girls softball team demonstrated exceptional athletic skill, determination, teamwork, and sportsmanship through the 2026 season. And after fighting their way out of the consolation bracket, this is the cool part, by winning four games in a row, the Palmer High School softball team secured a 17-16 victory over against Delta High School of Fairbanks. And earned the title of 2026 Alaska School Activities Association Division II State Championship, bringing pride and distinction to the city of Palmer and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. And so, and coaches Rob Meyer, Celeste Colberg, and Dwayne McQuillan, sports staff, families, and volunteers committed countless hours to achieve excellence on and off the field. And so at this point, instead of reading your names, I want you to say your name and the position that you're in. You can do it.

Okay.

My name's Jane, and I played third base and center field and left field. My name's Bree, and I played first base, third base, and catcher. My name's Riley. I played second base, shortstop. My name's Olivia, and I played first base. My name's Caitlin, and I played outfield.

My name's Lizzie, and I played a catcher and shortstop.

My name's Abby, and I played pitcher and shortstop. My name's Kinley, and I was middle infield and pitcher.

My name's Aubrey, and I played second and center field.

Hi, my name's Lincoln, and I played center field, and I pitched.

My name's Evelyn. I played like two games, and then I was injured.

I'm Coach Celeste.

I'm Coach Rob, and on behalf of all of us, it was truly an honor to coach these fine young ladies and to watch them battle back and take the title. Pretty amazing day.

Yeah, I retired this year after this. So, you know, Palmer softball over the years basically was a nobody. And we started coaching this team about seven years ago, Rob and I. And now to take the conference and then go up to state and win was quite a deal. And these girls, I mean, we had broken ankles, broken arms. We were playing with broken bodies. And we did it. It was pretty awesome.

Well, one thing I didn't hear is who played right field? So I don't have anything as accomplished as that, but I can tell you that 100 years ago when I was playing softball, we actually won state, I was from Kodiak, and we won state championship up here. It was men's C division and D division. And we didn't do four games, but we did three games in a row. And I understand the injuries because I pulled both groin muscles and my calf muscles. So I can appreciate what you're going through. THESE OUTSTANDING YOUNG WOMEN HAVE REPRESENTED PALMER HIGH SCHOOL AND CITY OF PALMER WITH INTEGRITY, RESPECT, LEADERSHIP, AND A COMMITMENT TO ACADEMIC AND ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENT, EXAMPLIFYING THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS IN DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS AND STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY PRIDE. NOW, THEREFORE, BEING CLAIMED THAT I, JIM COOPER, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF PALMER, ON BEHALF OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY, DO HEREBY CONGRATULATE THE 2026 PALMER HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL TEAM ON THEIR HISTORIC STATE CHAMPIONSHIP WIN and commend them for their sportsmanship, determination, and pride in representing Palmer. Be therefore proclaimed that August 26th, 2026, you'll be recognized as Palmer High School softball state team, team state champions day, and the city of Palmer and all residents are encouraged to join in celebrating this remarkable team and their unforgettable season. Congratulations.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and City Council. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, we have one for each of you. So we'll take about a 10 minute break so everybody can congratulate these young ladies.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah.

Hey, I'm transferring back to the startup team. Are you? Oh, good.

I'm glad to hear that.

I heard a rumor that you're moving to town or something like that. Okay. Good. Can I come and get my matcha?

Yes.

Cool. You have a good summer? Thank you. Thank you.

All right, come on in. Take care, everybody.

Thank you.

Bring the council meeting back to order please.

And now we're working on Do you guys get detention at school? We don't have a timeout corner here, but we definitely can make one. So we're moving on to report, city manager report please.

Thank you. I am pleased to officially welcome Trey Lindstrom as a new Palmer Fire and Rescue Chief. Chief Lindstrom's official start date was August 20th, and we're excited to have him on board full time and look forward to his leadership and continued service to the community. He has spent many years here with us at Palmer Fire and Rescue, and he's an excellent fit for us all. This past week, I also had the opportunity to participate in the traditional Christian ceremony for our new fire and rescue brush truck 3-4. It was great to be a part of this longstanding fire service tradition and to celebrate the addition of another important piece of equipment that will serve our firefighters and community for many years. Go take a look at it. It's pretty neat. Also, the second quarter financials have been released in your packet for review today, and I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank Gina, our finance director, for her excellent work, professionalism, and integrity in overseeing the city's finances. Her dedication to the city's financial stability, transparency, and compliance is evident in the work she performs each day and is further demonstrated through her independent audit process that we do with BDO each year. Maintaining accurate, transparent, and legally compliant financial records is an enormous responsibility, and Gina consistently approaches that responsibility with professionalism and integrity. I appreciate your commitment to the city's finances and interests. And with that, I'd like to now bring up the library director, Joy Bailey, for an update on everything Palmer Public Library.

Good evening. Can you hear me? Is this on?

Good evening. No?

The button on the bottom? Oh, no. Of the mic, okay. Hello. Hello. OK. Good evening. My name is Joy Bailey. I'm the library director. And I'm just here to give you a quick update on things going on at the library. So we just wrapped up our summer reading program and I passed out a few handouts. So one of those is an infographic. So it was a really busy and fun two months. This year we had 617 people register for the summer reading program. And over the course of the summer we had 2,154 people attend our summer events and programs. Our most popular program was Touch a Truck with 94 participants. Public Works, Police, and Fire brought out some of their coolest vehicles in big rigs and parked them at the ice arena for the community to explore. Kids could climb inside the vehicles, get an up close look, and talk with the vehicle operators about their vehicles, the features on the vehicles, and how they're used. Our final party was a great way to end the summer with 249 people attending. SO EACH YEAR OUR LIBRARY SERVICES COORDINATOR DOES A FANTASTIC JOB COORDINATING THE SUMMER READING PROGRAM. AND WE'RE VERY GRATEFUL TO THE FRIENDS OF THE PALMER PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR ONCE AGAIN PROVIDING THE FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM AND FOR THEIR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE LIBRARY. WE'RE ALSO REALLY GRATEFUL TO ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS AND CITY STAFF WHO GAVE THEIR TIME AND ENERGY TO HELP MAKE THE PROGRAM A SUCCESS. I'VE ALSO PROVIDED A HANDOUT WITH SOME LIBRARY USAGE STATISTICS THROUGH THE END OF JULY, SO IT COVERS JANUARY THROUGH JULY OF THIS YEAR. SO FAR THIS YEAR WE'VE CIRCULATED MORE THAN 42,000 PHYSICAL ITEMS AND MORE THAN 28,000 E-BOOKS AND DOWNLOADABLE AUDIO BOOKS HAVE BEEN BORROWED. OVER 5,000 NEWSPAPER ARTICLES HAVE BEEN ACCESSED THROUGH OUR NEWSBANK SUBSCRIPTION. WE'VE PROVIDED LIBRARY OUTREACH TO 766 PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY AND 7,542 PEOPLE HAVE ATTENDED PROGRAMS AND EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE YEAR. AND THEN THE THIRD HANDOUT I HAVE LISTS FALL EVENTS PRESENTED BY THE LIBRARY AND OUR FRIENDS So these events are held in various locations around town, and location and details about each are available in our online calendar, which is at the bottom of the flyer. TWO OF THEM DO REQUIRE REGISTRATION. THE ADULT BATTLE OF THE BOOKS IS ACTUALLY FULL, SO YOU CAN'T REGISTER FOR THAT, BUT IT FILLED UP I THINK ON THE SECOND DAY, SO WE'RE ALREADY PLANNING ON HAVING A SECOND ROUND OF THAT. AND THEN THE STILL LIFE PAINTING CLASSES AVAILABLE THROUGH OUR FRIENDS GROUP IS OPEN FOR REGISTRATION RIGHT NOW. Finally, I just want to say library staff will be having a training day coming up on October the 14th. So we'll be closing the library and welcoming a presenter from the Special Education Service Agency That person will provide training on autism 101. The goal is to help staff communicate more effectively, respond appropriately to situations that come up, and just better understand the needs of people we serve so we can provide the best possible service and support to everyone. Because ultimately, we want the library to be a welcoming space for everyone in the community. And that's all I've prepared. Does anyone have any questions?

Any questions of Joy?

Yes, sir. Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Ms. Bailey, for being here and for the handouts. That tells a pretty amazing story of the work you guys are doing in that fairly small facility compared to what we'll have here in another year.

We'll try.

On your one handout that talks about the summer reading program, 2026, I don't know if you have it in front of you, but those are the demographics for just the participants in that program. Just for that program. 64% of them were 11 years old or under. And then in this particular particular program. Doesn't mean for the 1138% yes, yeah, or but I'm combining the just a participation, yeah, but I think it just shows how. How well use the library is and you know there's some chatter around there about you know libraries are. outliving their usefulness, and everybody's got a library in their pocket on a phone, and I would suggest that probably the 64%, 38%, six to 11, and 26%, zero to five, probably aren't carrying around a phone, and researching things.

Right, no, definitely not. I hope they're not. That early literacy.

Never know, and I pass my old parenting skills on to other people, but hopefully, I think you guys are doing amazing work in the facility that you've had now for three years plus. And I look forward to what kind of expansion and what beautiful things will happen here next summer-ish.

Thank you. We're really excited for that, too.

Yeah. Thank you so much for being here. Yes, ma'am.

Yeah. I just want to mention I was able to attend and I served hot dogs at the end of the summer reading program party. And it was an awesome event. I think the library just keeps outdoing itself as far as putting on a great program for children and their families. I KNOW WHEN MY KIDS WERE A LITTLE YOUNGER THAT WAS A HIGHLIGHT OF THE SUMMER FOR THEM AS FAR AS EACH WEEK MEETING THEIR READING GOALS AND PUTTING THEIR NAME IN THE RAFFLE AND PRIZES GETTING HANDED OUT AT THAT PARTY AND SO AND SEEING ALL THE KIDS THERE THIS YEAR AND LIKE I SAID AND THEIR FAMILIES IT WAS JUST A REALLY GREAT TIME AND I THINK really highlighted the importance of the reading. And because the kids have to go back every week to get their name in the drawing, this frequent attendance to the library and reading. Anyway, I just think it's real valuable for the community. And I also thought I was just looking at some of the statistics you provided here. One of the critiques I hear often is, yeah, that everyone's got access to the internet. Why do we need a library? But I thought it was interesting on computers Over 1,000 computer hours logged to the library, 12,000 Wi-Fi sessions, 140,000 website visits. So while many of us do have regular access, a lot of folks in our community don't. And I think that's great the library is able to provide that. Also, in looking at the events coming up, I think one of the NEED THINGS ABOUT A LIBRARY IS THAT IT FOSTERS LIFETIME LEARNING, AND I THINK THE LIBRARY EVENTS THAT ARE SCHEDULED HERE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS REALLY SHOW THAT THAT'S THE CASE, WHEN AN ADULT BOTTLES THE BOOKS OR THE CHILD LAPS IT AND STORYTIMES, THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT IT'S SERVING THE WHOLE, A VERY WIDE DEMOGRAPHIC OF THE COMMUNITY. SO I'M REALLY HAPPY WITH THE WORK YOU GUYS ARE DOING AND EXCITED ABOUT THE NEW BUILDING AS WELL. SO THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN TO ANY OF OUR EVENTS, Just drop in, especially to story times. It's so much fun to watch the kids running around the depot and singing along to the songs. And I know it's right during the day, probably when a lot of people are working. But if you can make it to one, it's worth dropping in. Anything else?

Any other questions? Thank you, ma'am. Okay. My report.

Sorry, on the manager's report?

She said she had, no, she's done.

Oh, could I ask a question?

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not sure. Depends what the question is.

I should further ask, because I was absent at the last meeting, and I appreciate being excused from that. Last meeting was, mentioned the Civic Center, and I had a couple questions about that. Can I ask some questions there? I'll wait for a yes or no if it's not appropriate.

Yeah, go ahead.

Okay. So I just want to clear, because it was brought up in relationship to the annexation, is the general feeling is that Palmer would not be able to annex without this improved infrastructure in place or begun, or just saying it's something we need to be considering, but we could certainly annex without it?

We can certainly annex without it. Okay. It is not contingent upon that it would be... something that is a nice to have to pay for an annexation, do annexation first, then the civic building, because it's a large infrastructure project for such a small community at this point.

Okay, great, thank you.

Anyone else questions the city manager, yes, I do one of the questions I was asked this last week is on the website that we have the 2320 23 audit on there, but we don't have the 2425 audit is is that something that can be placed on the website.

Yeah, we can put it on the website. Thank you for bringing that to our attention. I thought that was on there, but thank you will get that up and then All good. Our 2025 audit should be here, done and soon shortly in the next few weeks.

Anything else? OK, moving on. So last week, they had a special municipal planning organization meeting. And I think I had mentioned that before, that the reason for that was to try to attempt to change the priorities of the borough projects that had been approved previously. And I will say, unfortunately, that did get approved. The downside of that is because of the value of the dollars that those projects are, there's a potential that the city of Wasilla and the city of Palmer will not be able to put any projects on for the next 10 or 12 years. So obviously, we're working on trying to work through that. I have a meeting again tomorrow with the planning organization, and we'll be talking about that as well. Yeah, which is it is a little unfortunate. It's unfortunate. And I am surprised that the vote turned out the way it did. But unfortunately, it did. They also last week had a coffee and connections from the chamber. And we had a couple of state... representatives that were there and it was just it just a typically just a general discussion to get to know people and we had one new business owner there and other than that it's kind of a you know just you know see what the Chamber's trying to do and and what and you know in what and what we're doing and so I did bring up you know obviously our construction projects that we're doing of which hopefully I think Cedar Street is getting close to being done which is good As the manager mentioned fire station had to push in the new truck. The truck was it is an amazing truck. It's far superior to the brush truck that we had in the past and it holds I think 400 gallons of water and I mean you look at the gauges and equipment on there. It's just kind of just blows your mind away. Had a mayor's managers meeting and we discussed the new fire station. It's going up on Marsh Road. and also the new public safety building, which will be on Bogard and I can't remember exactly what the other intersection is. But those two buildings are buildings that the borough is paying for. And I'm sure you probably are aware of this, that when they get the fire station built, it's not for their employees, it's for ours. So our fire station will be moving up to Marsh Road, which at that point obviously opens up the fire station here so that we can renovate that and use that as more office space, etc. Public safety building is what they want to house the state troopers, obviously the city of Wasilla people. And the big one is dispatch. And so that's a discussion that we're having, whether our dispatch goes over to there. We don't lose. We don't lose our people. We continue. They're just in a new facility with brand new equipment and having the ability to chat with, you know, other organizations. I think I mentioned last time. that currently when, uh, um, matcom goes down, uh, that routes to Fairbanks. So Fairbanks actually routes the police when that happens. And so, you know, this will give it a better opportunity that that that will be able to manage our own people and have connectivity with the state troopers and the Wasilla police. attended a Palmer Community Foundation board meeting last night, and just talking about the process and the monies that potentially they're going to be receiving from Matsu Health Foundation, and Jason Ortiz from the borough was put in as a new Palmer Community Foundation board member as well. Importantly, um, this Friday, the Saroma delegation are going to be here in the city. It's 10 10 members that are that are flying. It's not the kids. It's just 10 adults. Um And one of them is the previous mayor, Mayor Horry. He's 88 years old, and he wants to come back to Palmer one last time. And so they'll be here in the City Hall around 1 o'clock. They're going to start meeting. They're going to be... They're going on a colony house tour, visitor center tour, they're going to the fire station, and they'll be here for introduction to the city hall. And then subsequent to that, September, I think it's 16th, the kids from Saroma will be here. So please be prepared for that. On the 31st of this month, there's a joint chamber meeting with Wasilla and Palmer, and I'll be there. And I think everybody else is... INVITED AS WELL. I'LL PICK UP THE TICKETS AT THE CHAMBER OFFICE TOMORROW. I'LL BE THERE TO GIVE AN UPDATE ON THE CITY. SO ANY QUESTIONS? YES, MA'AM.

A QUICK QUESTION ABOUT THE MEETING INVOLVING THE BOROUGH PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING AND THE COMBINED DISPATCH. DO THEY HAVE A TIMELINE FOR THAT? DO THEY HAVE ANY SORT OF THING? BECAUSE I KNOW THAT IT'S GOING TO INVOLVE OBVIOUSLY ROPING IN THE STATE, WHICH IS THE STATE. But I also know their contract, ASD's contract with our building ends fairly soon. Are they planning on having that ready to go operational by the time that the ASD contract is running out?

They're hoping to. That's 28. in 2028, and they're hoping to have that done. They're getting, I think, getting ready to start that fairly soon. But, you know, part of that is discussion on whether we want 9G to move over to that facility as well. And so the advantage of that is we now have the building, and then we'll be able to, you know, update that building as well, as opposed to necessarily a civic center.

Do you have a timeline for when we're going to have that discussion? Just because I know the square footage needed for 9G base in a building like that. It's gonna make a difference to their plans and they're probably gonna want some kind of a... Their original plan is 17,000 square foot building at this point.

You know, obviously I'm not involved in the design of that, but I think they're still, they know where the land is. I'm not sure, I think H5 is gonna, I think is the contractor. I'm not sure when they're gonna start, but I will keep you informed when I get that information. Yes, ma'am.

The whole dispatch move discussion, nothing is settled from Palmer Police perspective at this point. So everything just really laid out there that is nothing is settled. We're still in discussions and looking at MOUs that could potentially be signed. So this is still very much in the baby stages of that.

Right. It's just a, you know, it's a not necessarily a recommendation, just a thought that the borough has to try to combine all of them in one spot. Go ahead.

Yes, ma'am one more question um You'd mentioned that the Station that's going in a marsh road is going to replace 3-1. I don't believe that's the case It's going to be an additional station. I think that Chief Lynch might be able to speak on that, but I just want to make sure that That is not the case that we're getting rid of 3-1 my my

Interpretation was that they're building that building is kind of specifically for our fire people and chief you can Speak to that if you'd like So

3-9 is going to be, of course, built by the borough joint station with EMS, Fire, and Matsu Borough Comms. So that station actually won't have any city apparatus staged in it. Station 31 will still be full and operated out of. Now our full-time crew will be mainly operating out of that station for a chunk of the time, mainly for just continued interaction with EMS staff that are there, items like that. Fortunately, we're not going to be gaining much much room with a 3, 9, going in so we're actually pulling some rural apparatus a little more.

Central so yeah, thanks for clarifying that yet because my like say my interpretation of the borough saying, oh, yeah, yeah, this is what's going to happen.

So we're still in downtown.

Yeah. All right. All right. Perfect. Yes, ma'am.

So you mentioned about the borough's projects being moved up. Does that mean the roads that we have to be paved?

The eight projects that we have, the top four are fully funded at this point.

Okay.

And so those will go on, and the four after that are already scheduled. So our projects will not be affected. It's future projects.

Okay. Okay. Thank you for clarifying that.

Sorry. Yeah, so... Yeah, so those four projects, the four roads that we had as one, two, three, and four, I think it's Denali and- Rample. Rample, Caribou, and I think it's Bailey. Those are all funded, and that'll be this next year, so. Anything else? All right, thank you. Madam Attorney, I'm sorry. Well, we'll go to the attorney first.

Sorry, keep us on our toes. Sure report tonight. The one matter that's pending one litigation matter that's pending related to Mr. Borgford's complaint. There's been no change in the status of that. We do not have a pretrial order. We have a trial pretrial conference set for October, where I expect we will then receive. some sort of pretrial schedule. I'll update you if anything changes between now and then. We continue to do quite a bit of work with the city on records requests, working with the different departments as requests come in, making sure that responses are going out in a timely manner, and then also working with the clerk's office and the manager's office to prepare for meetings, ordinances, then on the agenda for tonight, but meeting materials, minutes, reviews, and then preparing for the meetings sort of as part of our global review of what's on the agenda. If you all have any questions, I would be happy to answer them, but that's my report. OK.

Done? Madam Clerk.

I just wanted to give everybody an update on the Golf Course Advisory Committee. We received 11 applications. I'm working with the mayor regarding the appointments and should have an AM ready for the September 8th regular meeting for approval so we can get that committee up and running. I'm also hoping to have all the revisions done for Ordinance 26002. That's the one regarding Title VI for the animals that we had sent to P&Z. They sent back. So we should have that on for introduction. If not on the 8th, on the second meeting in September, I'll have that done. And then I also wanted to give an update on the election. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is September 25th. Everything, of course, is online and I'll give more reminders as we go. Early voting begins September 21st here at City Hall, Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. And the last day to declare as a write-in candidate is October 1st. Those happen rarely, but I thought I'd throw it out there just in case. And then I will also have an AM coming up to appoint election officials. So, and then I know, I don't know if it's appropriate for me to bring it up, but I know it's been a question, but yes, on the September 8th agenda, as of this moment, we plan on talking about the golf course. So I know I've had a couple of council members say, please, please, please let us know. And it is on the radar and it should be on the agenda for September 8th.

Any questions of the clerk?

I'm leaving my mic open because I'm expecting questions.

None, seeing none. Moving on. Audience participation. Sign in, state your name, three minutes per person. Council meeting rules protect your right to testify and be heard even if others in the room disagree with you. Council meeting rules also ensure that those attending can express their views if they do not interfere with the rights of others to see and hear the proceedings. At all times, order decorum will be maintained in keeping with the civility and dignity of the legislative process. Please be respectful during audience participation. No disruptions to city business, derogatory comments about staff, or threats of any kind will be allowed. Individuals who cannot follow these guidelines will be removed. Any threats against others could result in criminal prosecution. Again, please sign and state your name three minutes per person.

Okay, Tom, it's time.

Is it on? I'll just talk loud. My name is Tom Robertson. I live off Marsh Road, right down the road from where the new fire station's going in. And I'm still trying to get a letter of support from the city to the governor. requesting that the new fire station gets a driveway, an alternate driveway off the highway into the new station. To most people, that doesn't sound like a big deal because the current plans are for all the traffic to come in off Marsh Road to the new station. The emergency manager for the borough was trying to get a second driveway in and DOT cut that out of the plans. DOT is not interested in safety. They say they are, but they're more interested in the budget. And when I talked to the borough mayor today, Edna, and she said, well, she had talked to him and the DOT says, well, we're looking into these plans and we're gonna do the road, we're gonna widen the road here and we're gonna do it. They've had 30 years to fix that blind intersection. And they're not in any big hurry to do it. They are not interested in safety. I don't care what they say. They're not. That's not big on their priority. I need a letter of support from the city to the governor. This road, this access driveway does not cost the city one red cent. It just needs an alternate driveway. And the fire departments always rely on having alternate backups in case something goes wrong. You just talked about the comm center. If it goes on, you got a backup. Everything you do in the fire department has to have a backup. I don't care what you're doing. And they need an alternate driveway there. We just had another accident the other day at a corner of Marsh Road. It's a blind intersection. When you're driving a car, it's not that big of a deal. You're not going very far and you can go around. And if somebody comes popping up the hill, usually you can stop. But when you're in a truck, you ease out and you can't see anybody because it's a blind hill. And you ease out some more and you hope nobody's coming. And then you finally go for the gusto and you take your chances and you jump out in traffic. And then hopefully nobody's coming. But if they are, you're committed. You got to go. And this is a real problem. I drive dump trucks as well. And we have a big problem trying to get to that intersection. So I need the letter of support. I'm going to get one again from the borough asking the governor to go over DOT and put a second driveway, an alternate driveway in there. We don't want another accident. We don't want people hurt. We don't want people killed. I told you some time ago, about 20 years ago, we had a school bus got hit there. Thank God nobody, there weren't anybody on the bus. It's the only reason why we didn't have a problem. Okay, excuse me, I have to talk to my legs. Okay, legs, time to go. You can do it.

Are we?

I thought I did something wrong. It's usually.

Good morning. My name is Leo Walsh. I wanted to take a moment to congratulate the fire chief, Lynn Lindstrom, on his promotion. I am excited for our community and the fire department for his vision and charismatic leadership. Thank you.

Anybody else wishing to come forward on audience participation? Yes, sir.

Yeah, my name's Joel Stefanski. It was really good to see some joy in the room here and something that Palmer is great as with the high school state champs there. I mean, that's what's one of the small and many things that make Palmer great. It was exciting to see those young girls accomplish something that very few people will accomplish in life, being champs. On another subject, I see you guys are going into executive session for the manager's performance review or performance appraisal. Having been to the most of the council meetings since November, I've seen a lot of you guys are new. Some of you guys have been here for a long time. But what I've realized that it's a tough job being a council person. You listen to the mayor, you listen to the manager, and you try to make the best decisions possible. There's been a lot of things that have gone on since the city manager's been here. We've lost a lawyer, we've lost a clerk, we lost a very good council member in that time. And all these things have to take into consideration when you do a performance appraisal. I've done hundreds of them in 28 years. And you try to do the assessment on what the goals are. And when a person signs for a job, you know, what are their qualifications? You know, are they steering the council in the right direction? But really, the council is the boss. The manager is basically at the servant of the council. There was a lot of mistakes that have been made. Robert rules of order, you know, where they even know what they are. open meeting acts, violations, which is really surprising since you have a couple attorneys on the council that they should know the directions that you should be going when you have open meeting violations. Doing performance appraisals, you have to do your assessment on have they met their goals, have they kept the unity for the company or the city in this instance, whether there's Their actions have been unsatisfactory, marginal, competent, commendable, or outstanding. And you as a council have to ask those questions in the last year. Have we been given the right information by the manager? Has there been false information? Has it caused a lot of commotion in this community? Unnecessary commotion. has the manager used their staff for her own personal gains? Because I know most of the staff, and they're good people. I remember Councilwoman Carrington at the very beginning when they mentioned that the golf course was not in compliance, $850,000 fine, and it was mostly the golf course's problem. That's just one for example. I'll probably continue on the next three minutes, but I'll see you later on in the meeting. Thank you. Anyone else?

Yes, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. My name is Mike Malefsky and I live still in beautiful downtown Palmer. It's hard to believe. But there were two things I wanted to talk to you about, both of which have been mentioned in part. The Palmer-Saroma relationship is a very, very special one. And you have 10 people coming, including a former mayor of Saroma, We're fortunate, Lee and I will be hosting one of those people, picking that person up. And just to remind you that when we go there, we are hosted with families. When they come here, the same thing happens. They aren't put into a block of hotel rooms and picked up and so on, but they spend time with us. And that's a very special thing. We've done it a number of times before. But when you see any of these members, and they might be recognizable about, say hello. They have decided to come. Not because it was the five-year return of a delegation, but because they wanted to come to Palmer because of that special relationship, and I think that's important. Second thing has to do with the Alaska State Fair. How many of you have been there? That's rhetorical. You don't have to tell me. I see a little hand go up there, here, there. We are there every day, so I can tell you I've been there four days and there are only 10 more days left. But we are there broadcasting live from Raven Hall from noon to five. That's as important as the people that have come by and we've interviewed, representatives from FFA, a variety of other organizations, individuals who come from Tennessee or one place or another. So we're able to pick up that, again, people come to Palmer and the Alaska State Fair And it's a special thing they come from all over all over the state and beyond So I would invite you when you are at the fair next time. I'm sure you'll be there again Stop by and say hello.

Thank you Anyone else wishing to come speak for the council Seeing no one will close audience participation and that is obviously the newest member of the council. All right, there are no public hearings and move on to action memorandum 26079, authorizing city manager to purchase a Munters dehumidifier desiccant rotor and associated components for the Palmer Sports Complex from Cool Air Mechanical in the amount of $33,600 with insulation costs not to exceed $16,100 for a total authorized expenditure not to exceed $49,700. Wishes of the council.

Mr. Mayor, before the council takes action, Leslie Neade, city attorney, I just wanted to give a brief disclosure of potential conflict on my behalf. Our firm represents Cool Air Mechanical. We have not worked on this contract. I've not seen it. The city's not asked us to work on it, and it's not something we would typically review before it shows up on your agenda. To the extent you have a legal question, I am unable to answer that this evening. Thanks.

We should, the council.

Move to approve a second thank you.

It may have any questions of please.

Do you have any questions or anybody need yes, sir, could you give us a little breakdown about exactly what this does and how that's maybe different than. The normal ice making equipment just kind of explain. HOW THIS WORKS, THANKS. SURE.

I GOT A SEVERE EDUCATION ON IT VERY QUICKLY. SO AS YOU HAVE READ AND FOR THE PUBLIC, SUNDAY, GET THE DATE RIGHT HERE. FORGIVE ME, I DON'T HAVE MY GLASSES ON. ANYWAYS, TWO SUNDAYS AGO, THERE WAS A BASICALLY A CALL OUT. STAFF HAD NOTICED THAT THERE WAS HEAVY HUMIDITY FOGGING ON THE GLASS. ESSENTIALLY THE DEHUMIDIFIER HAD stopped working, so we called mechanical, they came out, and essentially it is a giant humidifier It's about five feet by five feet by three feet wide. Well, about four feet tall. My apologies. It's big. It's about as big as this table. There's essentially a huge drum, and it's like made of honeycomb material. The material is a desiccant material. And what it is is essentially... There's, it's like a furnace, right? Like your home furnace. It fires up. It brings in all that humidity here, pulls it in, runs it through this rotary. That's basically this giant honeycomb on a wheel with a motor and a rotor. And then it's basically pulls it in, dries the air because it collects in this honeycomb material. And then as it rotates, that heavy, wet material goes in front of the, essentially the furnace, dries it out, and then pushes warm, unhumidited humidity air. And so that, either the rotor or the flame sensor malfunctioned. And what ended up happening is when that thing's rotating, if it gets off Balance or if it doesn't move quick enough in relation to the flame that honeycomb material that desiccant Gets hot and therefore it actually burned and then actually disintegrated in the machine essentially as it's rotating and then of course there was a complete failure this is a derivative of Lots of things, as we're seeing on the consent agenda and last council, the VFD went out. That was a 17-year-old unit. It had previously caused issues where staff had to be pretty versed on it, which they were prior to the city taking over, hence why we had some issues with it in the beginning of the year because it has nuanced materials. This is a repetitive event of what I would say DEFERRED MAINTENANCE RATHER THAN FIXED REGULAR MAINTENANCE AND SO NOBODY'S REALLY TO BLAME IT'S JUST THE AGE OF THE UNIT AND THIS IS AN ASSUMPTION ON MY PART NOT FACT I THINK JUST THE ROUTINE MAINTENANCE MAY HAVE BEEN LACKING IS ALL I'M SAYING THAT'S NOT FACT THAT'S JUST KIND OF MY ASSUMPTION. And what I think doesn't mean it's a matter of fact. Anyways, so Cool Air does a lot of work with us. They help rebuild our condensers and our compressors this last season, which I think was a significant cost to the rink. Essentially, what we're trying to do is, and this is my goal, is to right-size the rink and actually expand it, which we're that track we're just kind of getting our knees taken out by you know machinery because it's it's it gets aged it needs updates and so it's just kind of what happens in the industry so I hope that answered it for the public and for yourself essentially what it is is it was an unsustainable level probably about 75 to 80 percent humidity what creates the happens is the ice becomes soft, becomes dangerous, it gets carved out. Fog, obviously it completely fogs up the glass. It's just, I want to say uninhabitable, but it's not. Peak performance for not only Paha, but any public that wants to visit there. So it's been, I have to kind of shout out to Cool Air. They loaned us about four or five commercial AC units to bring that down and mitigate it, because there is a five week back order on this. This part it's it's essentially an entire unit we're replacing the entire guts of the unit so.

Do you have a follow-up? Sorry just a quick follow-up and I apologize. But while I've got you here I know that you folks have planned an outdoor rink there at some point that's is that a like a next year thing or is that something you think you guys are going to work on this winter?

The goal was to work on it this summer, as we all have been a part of it. Two of my employees, we had to shift to the golf course. So a lot of focus of my entire department went towards front-loading the golf course to get it off the ground. We were behind the eight ball by a couple months, so we had to really shift all manpower. So the goal was to have that outdoor rink probably about 80% done, ready for this season. It will, unfortunately, have to be a 2027 goal.

I was noticing on their scope of work, it was 92 hours is estimated to replace this. I mean, it sounds like you're just replacing a part. That just seems like a lot of hours. Is it in a strange place? I was just kind of some clarification on that.

Yeah, it's essentially in a mezzanine on top of the Zamboni room and on top of the mechanical room. So it's about 15, 16 feet in the air and it's in a mezzanine and it's in its entire isolated unit. And like I said, it's five feet by four feet by three feet. And the man, the The labor hours is essentially tearing down this entire unit and then pulling the entire unit out. So that's the rotor, the motor, doing all the upkeep and making sure everything, all the parts and pieces to it. And when I say that this decadent or desiccant rotary wheel is about that big. I don't know the exact dimensions. That's why I'm doing fish stories here. But it's about 42 inches to 45 inches in diameter and about a foot in height. So it's a pretty labor-intensive project. So we're talking forklifts, multiple people, and I would say easily if not two days of dismantling and then disposing of the unit. And then it's not just one part. It's an entire assembly. And that's actually how it's sold as well. Because you can't just replace one thing. It's a cascading thing where you want to replace it all essentially brand new. Otherwise, you end up having a brand new, I don't know, think of it like buying three tires for your car, but leaving one bolt, essentially, is what we have to prevent.

Thanks for the story.

My question, I have a couple questions. Have you gone through the GSA agency to look at a parts replacement for a new vendor perhaps? Because this seems kind of spendy without a good maintenance plan. It's my first question. Sure. My second question is, do you have a list of the life cycle equipment that you currently have on hand within the department? And if so, can you add that to your budget for your capital improvement program that's upcoming?

Answer is yes. For the second, I'll go backwards. So yes, I will add it to my budget. This year, I've got a nice 14 months under my belt as the director, so it's gonna be a lot more resolute in the budget and kind of have my bearings more than I did last year. And then the GSA review. No. Answer is no, we did not. This was kind of an emergency thing. In the sense of going and getting the part, what happened. I will say Cool Air is like the rink mechanical people of the state, or at least the region. So they service O'Malley, Menard, all of the rinks, essentially. So they're kind of like... the go-to. That doesn't give an excuse for not reviewing and exhausting all opportunities and vendors, or I mean vendors, contractors, but I will definitely move forward with that, but we've got a relatively long-standing relationship with Cool Air over the last couple of years, and they do a lot of stuff for us. without being too forthright. They donate a lot of equipment, like in this case, like there's a really good relationship, but yeah, it should be fair practice to go out to contractors and get the best bid.

Okay, thank you.

I'll turn it over to Collins. Yes, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thanks Nate. you pretty much hit on it, but I wanted to put a fine point so this kind of emergency situation that happened on August 9th, but and you mentioned that cooler mechanical sort of the go to for statewide type of thing so there's not companies and Palmer Matt sue that do this kind of work. This is this more like a we've used these guys in the past so let's use them now to understand our rank or is this they're the only they're the only game in town so we have to use some kind of scenario.

That's one variable is familiarity experience in the sense of it's like the difference between an ITB and invitation to bed versus an RFP, a request for proposal. It's kind of where they know the system, they're familiar with it, they have not only the job history with our rank, but the rapport and the job history with other ranks. And then, of course, the relationship over the course of the last couple of years helped rebuilding our compressors and everything.

Anybody else? Thank you. Appreciate it. Back to the council. Which is the council? We've moved proof already. Let's vote, please. Madam Clerk.

Deputy Mayor Alcantara?

Yes.

Council Member Carrington? Yes. Council Member Graham?

Yes.

Council Member Allen?

Yes.

Council Member Collins? Yes. Council Member Moser? Yes. Mayor Cooper?

Yes.

It is approved.

Thank you. Just the handouts from the library. that those attending can express their views if they do not interfere with the rights of others to see and hear the proceedings. At all times, order and decorum will be maintained in keeping with the civility and dignity of the legislative process. Please be respectful during audience participation. No disruption to city business, derogatory comments about staff, or threats of any kind will be allowed. Individuals who cannot follow these guidelines will be removed. Any threats against others could result in criminal prosecution. Again, please sign and state your name three minutes per person. Anyone wishing to come forward to audience participation? Yeah, my name's Joel Stefanski.

First of all, council, thank you for divulging any potential conflict of interest. Your council can learn something from what you just did, which has been lacking since the year I've been coming to these things, divulging conflict of interest. Thank you for doing that. Getting back to Council Carrington, I remember the look on your face when the manager said that the $850 fine from the FAA was solely the golf course and how you reacted to that back in November because you were new on the council. And there's been a lot of false information from your manager that has really made fools out of the council. Everything from the Department of Labor violations, the liquor violations, the Eagle violations, the golf course being out of compliance. You voted twice to give George's contract. I mean, she's really made fools out of you guys. Be careful. I'm just stating the fact, Mayor. And the truth hurts. What that manager has done to this community is appalling. This is a great place. I live here. You live here. I want to keep it a great place. I don't, I don't, I take, I'm insulted, but you tell me to watch out. This is my home. Some people don't even live in the community. They don't thrive. They don't coach. They don't mentor. And they're trying to destroy this beautiful place. I'm offended by it. And I hope that when you do this performance appraisal that you remember what's going on in the last year in this community. I'm trying to save the place. Continue on with the greatness of this community and not let one person or any group destroy this place. And you're going to keep seeing me here and holding you accountable. On a good note, the rain saved the golf course. MANAGER HIRED A BAD PERSON EARLY IN APRIL THAT TOOK THE TOPS OFF EARLY. THE RAIN SAVED THE GOLF COURSE IN JULY. THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT SAVED IT. MIKE AND MR. TROUTMAN DID A WONDERFUL JOB. THE GREENS ARE ROLLING REALLY NICE. GET OUT THERE AND PLAY. THOSE OLD TIMERS, DELESSI AND TROUTMAN, HAVE REALLY SAVED YOUR GUYS' BUTTS. YOU OUGHT TO BE THANKING THEM FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE BECAUSE OF BAD DECISIONS BY THIS COUNCIL. In the manager. Anyways, appreciate time. I don't like coming up here. I used to be the shyest guy. And but I'm not gonna sit there and watch this place get destroyed from lies. And you guys accepting them. Thank you. Please.

I can fit Luke can't so

Shane Bozeman, Palmer Chief of Police. I just want to touch base a little bit on the dispatch thing with the borough. As Manager Zirkle said, really in its infancy. We did receive an MOU, and I consider it a draft MOU, just based on some of the language. There's confusing language in it, like it talks about having a redundancy within the center.

We can't have redundancy if we're all in the same center.

Things like that. So it is truly in its infancy as related to the dispatch center. One of the other things is talking about housing us, and it would just be the shell of the structure. We would have to supply all the equipment, all the dispatch equipment, which As y'all will hear in a couple of weeks, there's a lot of money involved. If you have any questions, I know this is not the format with the public comments, but I'm always available. Just give me a holler, stop by. I'd love for you to all stop by and see what we got going over there. So feel free to give me a call or stop by anytime.

Okay? Thanks, Chief. Thank you. Anybody else wishing to come forward and talk to the council on audience participation? Seeing no one, we'll close audience participation, move on to note committee of the whole. And before we go on to executive session, I have something I'd like to read. Before we go on in, the city manager duties are described in our code 2.10.030. The city manager's contract was approved April 22nd, 2025. SETS OUT THE TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT, THE RATE OF PAY, AND IT REQUIRES AN ANNUAL REVIEW FOR BOTH PERFORMANCE AND SALARY. WE CAN ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONTRACT, THE TERMS, OUTSIDE OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION, BUT THE REVIEW WILL BE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION WILL BE CONDUCTED PER 2.04.090 BRAVO 1 BRAVO. So you tend to prejudice the reputation and character of a person, provided the person who is the subject of the discussion may require a public discussion. What is the wishes of the council? I'd like to move into executive session, please.

Move to enter executive session. Give me one second. I'm scrolling back. For the annual review of the city manager, subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of any person provided the person may request a public discussion.

Second.

I would like you to read the action. Do you have the motion written down? Please.

Motion is to move to enter into executive session to discuss the annual review of the city manager, Colby Zirkle. The purpose of the executive session is to discuss subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of any person, provided the person may request a public discussion under PMC 2.04.090, Bravo 1, Bravo. Matters including consideration of government records that by law are not subject to public disclosure under PMC 2.04.090, Bravo 1, Delta.

Ma'am, do you still second that? Mr. Mayor, can I ask a question real quick? Yes, please.

Who does the council want to attend this particular executive session?

Well, I would like to have the attorney, the clerk, obviously the city manager. I don't see anybody else that needs to be in there. Madam Clerk.

Deputy Mayor Alcantara?

Yes.

Council Member Allen?

Yes.

Councilmember Carrington, yes. Councilmember Collins, yes. Councilmember Graham, yes. Councilmember Moser, yes. Mayor Cooper, yes. It is unanimous and approved.

Mr. Mayor, may I request five minutes before we actually go into the second? We actually will, yeah. Thank you.

We need everybody to leave the room as we enter executive session. Thank you.