City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the regular City Council meeting for the City of St. Peter, Minnesota. It's Monday, July 27th, 2026. We are called to order at 7.02 p.m. Would all please rise for the pledge. Everybody should have received a copy of the agenda. Are there any revisions or corrections to the agenda as distributed? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve? those in favor of approval say aye aye any opposed our agenda is approved the minutes appear on pages five through six of the packet there is one minor revision to the second paragraph a quorum present changed from mayor noel to mayor pro tem johnson are there any other revisions or corrections to the minutes hearing none is there a motion to approve the minutes as corrected All those in favor of approval say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Our minutes are approved. We have time on our agenda for a public hearing this evening. The process for a public hearing appears on page 7 of the packet. Tonight we'll be discussing a public hearing on 2026, a general obligation bonds property tax abatement and the issuance of bonds. As a part of the public hearing, there's time for a staff presentation, applicants presentation, and time for public comment. Tonight, we will have a presentation from Shannon Sweeney. We can jump right into it. You're quite welcome.

Good evening. About a month ago, we had a conversation about having this public hearing. We published a notice. It contains a bunch of parcel identification numbers, and we Talked about the ramifications associated with that. Being that ultimately what we're doing is we're authorizing a tax levy pledge for the bonds that we're gonna be considering issuing this evening. That levy pledge is applied to mostly the Gorman Park improvements that are being proposed. And ultimately, state statute requires a process where we identify properties that pay local property tax of a sufficient amount to cover the principal payments on the bonds for the life of the issue. To be clear, as we've said before, this does not impact those taxpayers in any other way than it impacts all taxpayers of the community, and that their property tax levy will be spread over the entire tax base of the city when this levy is made for these park improvements. And so with that, in your packet was a resolution that establishes a duration of 15 years for this abatement levy. That's the term on the debt. It had an amount not to exceed $2,030,000, and the amount of abatement bonds we're issuing is $1,960,000. So we fall within the parameters we established in our notice and resolution. And it's our recommendation that if you wish to pledge this levy for the repayment of the bonds that you approve the abatement resolution that'll be considered on your agenda this evening. So happy to answer your questions.

All right. Are there any questions at this time? We will take action on this later in the meeting. As mentioned, there'll be two resolutions that are printed in the packet. All right. Hearing nothing, we will see this under our new business. Oh, sure, are there any members of the public who'd like to make a comment at this time? Hearing none, we will close the public hearing at 7.06 p.m. Now we have time on our agenda for visitors. Is there any visitor who'd like to address the council on an agenda item? Hearing none, we also have time for general visitor comments. Is there a visitor who'd like to address the council on another matter? Hearing none we will move on to the approval of the consent agenda the consent agenda begins with the memo on page 9 of the packet and concludes with the resolution that appears on pages let's see 11 that's a one-page consent agenda today are there is there any discussion of any item on the consent agenda The resolution approving the consent agenda includes the following licenses and permits, a temporary gambling license and a temporary short-term on-sale beer license, both for the St. Peter Lions Clubs. The location and dates are listed within the resolution, as well as the schedule of disbursements for July 10th through July 24th, 2026. Again, any questions or discussion? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the resolution?

So moved. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Call the roll, please. Mayor Noel? Aye. Council Member Johnson? Aye. Council Member Pettis? Aye. Council Member Ram?

Aye.

Council Member Weisenfeld?

Aye.

Council Member Sharstrom? Aye.

Council Member DeVos? Aye. The resolution is approved. We are going to take a moment at this time in our agenda to welcome some visitors. We have some guests here tonight. And so who's going first, Todd? LMC. LMC, come on up.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the council. I'm Luke Fisher, executive director at the League of Minnesota Cities, and I'm joined by our president, Courtney Johnson, who is also the mayor of Carver. So she gets an extra council meeting this week. Yay her, right? We're all excited for her. We're here tonight to do some important recognition of you as a community for all the work that you've done. We want to talk about your project specifically that you received an award from the League for, but I think it's important to provide some context about who this recognition is coming from. Certainly you all know us well, but the thousands of people watching at home maybe don't know who we are or why our perspective about the good work you're doing is important. So as an organization, the League represents about 842 of the state's 856 cities. You can all probably guess who our largest member is. Minneapolis, right? Very good. All right, we're doing good. St. Peter. You know who our smallest member is. Any guesses? Our smallest member is the city of Berry. Yep, thank you. Daryl, that was perfect. You are firing on all cylinders right now, my friend. Okay, so Berry's population. Any guesses on Berry's population? 49, 402. nine okay any other guesses 51 mayor yeah it's prices right rolls for sure one i like that 32 32 carry did you eight and you were at nine they have 19 people so daryl i think you got it so very well done nice job oh that's right yes so usually usually when we ask people where is Barry and people don't know we say it's by Morris and they say where's Morris and we say by the bump on the western side of the state right there we go I absolutely love it but as an organization we are tasked with this really important role of helping support cities like Minneapolis st. Peter and points in between That's something that we take really seriously It's an obligation that we have to make sure we get it right and in our work We get to see cities when they're at their very best and we get to see people in some of the most challenging times possible And we think that I think we've found is when there's a big challenge or a problem that people are trying to solve city officials across the state are really good at stepping up and filling in and finding a solution that works for the community that they serve and And I think that that's something that is particularly pronounced in St. Peter because you've been producing leaders for a long period of time. Certainly, you know, Todd was the president of the league and on the insurance trust board and the chair of the trust board. That's pretty great. Carrie is joining our board this week. She'll have her first board meeting. So make sure she reports back at her next council meeting, right? But you're also the president of the coalition this year, which is fantastic. And St. Peter keeps on coming up every time we talk about a city that, like, we need an example of someone who's figured this out. Everybody's talked about your daycare project. We've talked about recovery after a big disaster, all these other points in between. And that's all to say that you should be really proud of who you are and what you represent and the good work that you do, that your staff does. And the trust that the community's placed in you, that's a pretty special thing, and I know that's not something that you take lightly. So Courtney is going to talk a little bit about the recognition that you received at our annual conference this year. But before I turn it over to her, I want to say thank you for the way that you've stepped up because it's been consistent. It's been forever and we know it will continue. Courtney.

Mayor and Council, we're here today to recognize St. Peter for winning a 2026 League of Minnesota City's City of Excellence Award. The city is being awarded for, or is being honored for its Central Business District Accessibility Enhancement Grant Program. which was first recognized at the League's annual conference in Rochester last month. The City of Excellence Awards annually recognizes projects and programs that enhance city services, introduce innovative solutions, and adapt existing programs to local needs, save money while improving or maintaining results, or engage residents and staff in the decision-making process. The program truly checks all the boxes when it comes to benefiting residents, local businesses and visitors to your historic downtown area. By fostering an environment that encourages the presence and participation of all individuals, regardless of physical limitations, St. Peter has demonstrated a commitment to inclusion that is inspirational to cities in our state. Change and enhancement typically comes with a financial cost, and city leaders have to come up with creative ways to finance those programs. The cost is not passed on to local taxpayers, but is borne instead through interest by a revolving loan fund. This project speaks to the value of collaboration as well with elected officials and staff involved with project planning and implementation. That work is supplemented by other individuals residing in the community who continue to assist with the program promotion and grant distribution year to year. Historically, the city of St. Peter stands in the forefront of our state when it comes to successful local government that consistently contributes to outstanding quality of life for our residents. This latest City of Excellence Award recognizes the continuity of your leadership. Let's hear what some of your colleagues have to say about the enhancement program grant. The video that we're about to show you is available on the league's website, and then you guys can pull it from there and use it however you see fit.

the accessibility improvement grant program was developed.

Tony, are you able to hear me? Are you able to hear the video, Tony?

Yeah, a little bit. I'm using yours and the mayor's microphones.

Okay.

It was running over the speakers previously, but it is not now. Isn't that how it works?

Say that again, Corey. We're just going to recess briefly so we can figure out the technology. 7.14 p.m.

turning from our brief recess it is now 7 16 p.m on monday july 27. thanks for bearing with us as we figured out the technology the accessibility improvement grant program

was developed back in 2019, 2020. That was to help people with mobility impairments get better access into downtown businesses, the central business district. Really, that's just creating economic development in getting those people into retail stores and restaurants and all the businesses in the downtown area. And we've been doing it annually for the last six years.

One of those things that we call an issue of vital importance is being able to treat everybody like a neighbor. And how do you treat people like neighbors? You give them an opportunity to participate in everything that you and I get to participate in. You give businesses the opportunity to improve where and when they can, especially in areas that are more challenging, like the historic nature of our downtown.

What the city council, I don't think we realized initially, was that this program helps more people than just those with permanent disabilities. It's the people who are recovering from injuries, it's the parents with strollers, it's veterans, it's seniors able to access these businesses in ways that they weren't able to before.

We have definitely heard from our business owners and our property owners that they are very thankful for the program and they believe that it is making an impact on their facilities, on their businesses, and generating more economic development.

From the grantees, it's been a huge boon for them as far as making their buildings more accessible. Most of them wouldn't have done it themselves because of the cash outlay that's required.

The project is financed through interest earned from our revolving loan fund with our economic development authority. And so we budget based on that interest earned. And we use that to fund these projects.

There's a committee that reviews that that's not elected officials. It's just folks from our community that review the applications and make recommendations to the economic development authority and to the city council.

And every year, all the applications we're receiving and being able to improve the city slowly. year after year is something that I think I am really proud of that we've been able to do.

And the thing that I love about this program is like long after the grant dollars have been distributed, these improvements are going to last for such a long time and help so many people.

Again, congratulations to the city of St. Peter. You are so deserving of this award. Thank you. Thank you.

I just would welcome any brief remarks from council members who have served on the EDA perhaps or are familiar with the program because it really is an outstanding program I know you made comments in the video but if there's anything else you'd like to add

Well, Kerry and I actually were on VDA in 2019, pre-City Council days when we first started discussing it. I thought it was cool actually standing up there with Kerry. Quite honestly, it's cool to get one of these awards in front of all your peers. But I think it is something we can be really proud of. It was great standing up there with Kerry and Todd and Ben and Corey. receiving this award and I just think it does show what well the creativity that went into it as far as it was I remember John Kwame speaking to the EDA back he was still on City Council he was the City Council representative at that time just how impassioned he was speaking on behalf of Stephen Graham's it I think it's something special we have and I it's great that we can keep it going

I always like to give a plug for a city member, Eileen Holtz, who created this big study with pictures and went around to all of these businesses to show not just that the entrances weren't accessible, but here's easy ways that you could make it accessible. So it was kind of community-driven, but then we had this beautiful bridge between councils Um, retiring council members to new council members carry the work forward from the past work. And, um, it's this program has been transformational to our downtown. Um, it's amazing to just go in any, just about any building now and be able to push the button and go in if you're. carrying a bunch of groceries or, you know, whatever, bringing in a stroller. It's made a huge difference, and it's a product of a really strong EDA, too. So we're very lucky that this all came together, and we really appreciate this award. And thank you to the LMC staff who made the video. In all the videos, they did such a great job. Thank you.

Well thanks for coming to St. Peter's great to have you appreciate it thank you and we're gonna move on to the next award which is a Green Steps award

Thanks so much for being here tonight. Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. I don't have a fancy video to share, but this one set us up really well, I think, to talk a little bit more about the Green Step Cities Program. I'm here tonight to award the Step 3 recognition for the City of St. Peter. As a little bit of background in the Green Step Cities Program, we are a... Challenge assistance and recognition program for city sustainability efforts and My position is with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency But we are a partnership program and the League of Minnesota cities is one of the program partners along with other nonprofits and state agencies and little bit of background on how you on the steps there are five total so reaching step three is quite a milestone in the program in order to reach step three cities implement and report a number of actions with some key actions that we've identified as a program that are essential steps for cities working on sustainability and so you have checked those boxes and more and a little bit of a heads up as to what steps four and five might look like for you there are a lot of different options and flexibilities and how you move forward in the step program but In general, we're looking at analyzing outcomes and looking at the improvements through data and targets and really celebrating the implementation work that you've done and help you further prioritize actions to continue with. We can go to the next slide, Todd. So St. Peter joined the Green Step Cities program back in August of 2019 and has since made it to step three of this year. In total, you have completed 20 of the 29 best practices in the program. and a total of 67 actions out of that. You can see all the detail and all of that reporting on the Green Step Cities page, as well as assessment files, and Corey, I'm sure, can tell you plenty more about them too. In general our program focuses on building and lighting best practice actions land use transportation Environmental management and then resilient economic and community development and on the next slide I wanted to just highlight a couple of the notable actions that we really identified Luke said it very well you are leaders in in this space and what you're doing at the city and That example of the ADA project should be on this list too. A great example of a best practice action that the city has taken a lead on and should be really proud of. The active transportation plan that was adopted in 2024, very much probably in alignment with the ADA project, for example. One of the first Emerald Ash Borer preparedness plans back in 2018. that we saw cities really looking to adopt. Farmer's market, you know, et cetera, et cetera. The list goes on, so I'm not gonna go through all of the 67 actions that you've reported, and we know that there's more, and so we're excited to recognize St. Peter with the Step Three Award this year, and look forward to continuing to see your progress down the road.

Well, thanks so much.

to be recognized I think as insiders we seal all the great stuff happening in our city not limited to the list of 64 I think that you mentioned but also to have that external validation is great and just want to also recognize Corey who some of this work predates you but I just see us moving a lot no pressure but I see us moving along to further steps with your assistance. Is there anything else anybody would like to add?

You should give yourselves a hand. It takes a lot of work, energy, and effort, and you've made the commitment to put people in place to provide the energy that's necessary to keep these things moving forward. And so it impacts the community in many, many ways, many of which you all know, but it is cool. So you should give yourselves a hand for sure. Yeah. Yeah.

All right we're gonna get moving on the agenda that was fun stuff to go through but we also have some business we have no unfinished business we're gonna move right along to new business tonight and the first item of new business is those general obligation bonds and Shannon's gonna come forward once again

Good evening, Mayor, members of the council. Shannon Sweeney with David Brown Associates. The first action item that we have is the abatement resolution that puts the levy in place for the Gorman Park improvements. As mentioned during the public hearing, it's a 15-year pledge of tax levy not to exceed $2,030,000 in principal amount that it supports. The bonds were actually resized, so that's $1,960,000. and ultimately we're pledging a levy for repayment of a portion of the bond issue because statute requires us to do that in order to borrow money for these for this particular project so happy to answer questions on the abatement resolution any questions for shannon or anything you want to add todd

All right. Hearing no questions, the resolution approving property tax abatement for certain property located in the city of St. Peter appears on pages 13 and 14 of the packet. Is there a motion to approve? Second. We have a motion and a second and a third by the sounds of it. Call the roll, please.

Council Member Johnson. Aye. Council Member Pettis. Aye. Council Member Ram.

Aye.

Council Member Weisenfeld.

Aye.

Council Member Sharstrom.

Aye.

Councilmember DeVos?

Aye.

Mayor Noel? Aye. The resolution is approved. Anything you'd like to add about the second resolution?

Yes, Madam Mayor. So I left this on your table. Today you had said about the process for a competitive sale of bonds, meaning we prepare an offering document, we secure a credit rating from Standard & Poor's, which affirmed the city's AA minus credit rating with a stable outlook, which we thought was a great outcome. Your staff participated in a management call. That was a little bit... more brief this year, which was welcomed. Ultimately, we were able to address questions mostly related to the hospital. But at the end of the day, today was the date we were receiving bids, and this is a bid tabulation that shows that we received six bids for the purchase of the city's bonds, with a low bid submitted by Piper, Sandler, and Company, with a net interest rate of 3.787%. That was... within $15,000 of total debt service of what I projected to Todd and Perry a couple weeks ago. So I was a little concerned with discussions about inflation last week, but it did not seem to impact the stability in the market. So we thought they were good bids. We did resize the issue since we last spoke. Ultimately, we had a change order at Public Works that increased the amount we're intending to borrow by $500,000. Ultimately, we had a par amount of $6,505,000 on the issue. but we received premium of $167,000, which we used to reduce the size of the issue. So I'll do this one more time because it's always fun. The interesting part about the bond world is when we have premium bids, which is what basically all competitive sales are receiving these days, The underwriter is offering us a 4% interest rate along with some cash, and that cash is what changes that net effective rate to 3.787%. And so the par amount of the bonds has been reduced, and it's been reduced to $6,320,000 from the $6,505,000 that we went to market with because we're taking that cash, we're resizing the issue to make it smaller, We have that premium in hand that we can put into our construction accounts to pay for these things that we wish to pay for. And ultimately, that's the magic of receiving bond premium is we use it in this instance to reduce the bond issue and still hit our net effective rate of about 3.787%. And so the resolution awarding sale is for an issue of $6,320,000. It would award the sale to Piper Sandler and Company. The term is still roughly 15 years with, you know, we have multiple things that we're accomplishing here. We have an improvement bond for North 4th Street that's covering street costs. We have a utility revenue bond that's covering public works and various infrastructure projects that we have going, including part of the North 4th Street project. We have an abatement bond that you've just authorized a levy for for Gorman Park. And we have an equipment certificate that covers 2025 and 2026 equipment needs of about $1,395,000. So I thought it was a good result. We drew lots of bidding activity. Six is above average for the number of bids received. Piper Sandler seems to only jump in when these issues get large enough. And they did. And they were a good bidder that's purchased your bonds in the past. And so we do recommend awarding sale. Happy to answer any questions.

No just that the resolution will be modified to include the new numbers Yeah you'll see blanks throughout the resolution which I think we had we talked about previously but any questions from any council members We have discussed this previously, and so we have had a chance for discussion. Hearing no further discussion, the resolution authorizing the issuance and awarding the sale of 6,505,000 general obligation bonds series 2026A, pledging for the security thereof, special assessments, net revenues, and tax abatements, and levying a tax for the payment thereof. begins on page 16 and concludes on page 63 of the packet. Is there a motion to approve?

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Call the roll, please.

Council Member Pettis? Aye. Council Member Ram?

Aye.

Council Member Weisenfeld?

Aye.

Council Member Sharstrom?

Aye.

Council Member DeVos?

Aye.

Mayor Noel? Aye. Council Member Johnson? Aye.

Resolution is approved.

All right.

Thanks very much. Thanks for all your hard work on this. Yes. Moving on, our next item of new business, Safe Routes to School Closeout.

So Madam Mayor, I can take that. If you have any technical questions, I would defer to Jeff Domruss, your city engineer. This is a closeout for the Safe Routes to School project that was primarily completed in 2024 and into 2025. There have been a few punch list things, Jeff, that have come up, but nothing significant. Now we are at a point where we believe that it is completed or very, very, very near substantial completion to be able to final it out. The information is included in your packet and the resolution starts on page 46 within your packet.

For folks at home who maybe haven't heard of Safe Routes to School, Todd?

You know, Safe Routes to School is a program that's funded through the state of Minnesota and through federal dollars primarily. We've been recipients of Safe Routes to School funding, Jeff, two times, three times? I think so, too, three times. And so you've done a great job with planning and collaborative planning with the school district and others. This is the latest version of that and includes areas along Washington. So on North Washington, the sidewalk that is on the east side of the roadway was included in this. Areas along Jefferson, which are significant. Area around... Church Street and in that neighborhood have been significant. Some improvements on Broadway Avenue related to crossings for the middle school and many, many more locations. But this is a major project for you. And again, the local funding that you had committed to this was just slightly over $85,000. So a wonderful buy for the community, certainly enhanced safety. And that's why it's called the Safe Routes to School Program because we're really trying to key in on or focus in on the ability of

on the walkability of students to school buildings Thanks for that background I think it's a great program I've certainly received a lot of questions and really positive feedback from residents who appreciate having more walk more walking options in town

I want to add is I've had some folks reach out to me and they're like well this is like almost a million dollar project and I was all paid for by tax dollars the local piece was just over $85,000 and the rest of it was federal grants and state grants which come from tax dollars but if we don't get these grants and we don't get approved for these those dollars are spent elsewhere so it's a it's a huge plus when we're able to bring those federal dollars no state dollars back into the community so that's it

i guess i would just add to just that sentiment is it's a if you build it they'll come kind of situation and just the traffic of kids going to school on these new sidewalks but then also just the heavy use over the summer as well um like i'm thinking on washington when people kids are going to the pool veterans park i use the church street every day. And I see many, many people using it of all ages. And so safety sometimes comes at a cost and let's, let's be proactive in that cost and not reactive because something happened. You know, I think it's, I want to thank the foresight with city staff and the previous councils for determining these spots for the safe routes to school. It was intentional and it was a good decision and I'm glad that we were able to get it done and receive the grant dollars.

All right. Hearing no further discussion, the resolution accepting the 2024 Safe Routes to School Improvements as complete and authorized final payment is on page 46 of the packet. Is there a motion to approve?

So moved.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Call the rolls, please.

Council Member Ram? Aye. Council Member Weisenfeld? Aye. Council Member Shostrom? Aye. Councilmember DeVos? Aye. Mayor Noel?

Aye.

Councilmember Johnson? Aye. Councilmember Pettis? Aye.

Resolution is approved. Next up, Broadway-Washington Intersection Engineering.

Mayor and members, this information starts in your packet on page 47, is really for approximately $186,400 for Bolton and Mink to do additional work. This is a project that you have contemplated previously, and that's demonstrated through your approval of an ICE study that occurred a few years back. So an ICE study stands for, Jeff, would you mind coming up? ICE study stands for intersection something and something. Thank you very much. And so you've done these before, of course, and this is really reviewing intersections that as a part of your transportation study, you've reviewed as having concerns related to safety. One of the reasons we're bringing this to you tonight, rather than a year or two from now, which was the original plan, is that as you are aware, there's work, likely to occur in 2028 on Minnesota Avenue, essentially from Chatham or where we used to talk about Taco John's to Dairy Queen on Union Street. That detour is likely to continue to use Washington and the intersection at Broadway and Washington will be significant in this. As you know, we've tried to work with our partners with DOT in relation to how that detour works and one of the potential improvements to that would be a roundabout at this location. DOT has told us very clearly that they are willing to provide us additional funding, funding that is substantially equal to the amount of a temporary signal that they would put in that place. to help for a permanent infrastructure enhancement. So I guess what I'm trying to say in a different way is that DOT would have spent a couple hundred thousand dollars on putting a temporary signal in there. Instead, they're willing to give those dollars to you, grant those dollars to you, if we can make a project move forward for a roundabout at this location, which is a part of your long-term plan anyway. So rather than spending those tax dollars for a temporary solution, these can be put to better use in a more permanent solution, one that you've studied and one that you've contemplated previously, just moving it earlier in the schedule. So our goal is to make sure that we can get the engineering done so that can occur so there can potentially be a bid either late in this year or early next year so that potential construction, if the bids come in well, can occur in 2027 before the detour in 2028. The reason we do the study is there's lots of work that needs to be done. This has the potential to impact properties and maybe some parking for residential units near the intersection and in other areas, but that's why we do the work upfront to try and make sure that we can address that as best as we can moving forward. Jeff, I don't know if you have anything to add in this, but there is a resolution included in the packet. So Jeff, if you have anything to add, I'd turn it over to you.

Thank you. Yes, I very good job of explaining that One thing I wanted to didn't want to note and I don't know if it's in I think it's in the packet there and the memo Pete put together but as we are proposing the To apply for LRIP or local road improvement program financing of one and a half million dollars this coming fall and we won't know until about to march i think the end of march before if we're successful or not we feel pretty good but you just never know i mean um i'd like to think we're going to get it but i hate to say that we're going to get it we don't i mean so There's a good chance we do, but it's possible we don't. But nonetheless, that $1.5 million would mean that we wouldn't be able to begin construction until after they designate the recipients, and that's going to be in March. So we wouldn't be able to begin construction until sometime in April anyway, likely, but bidding it in the whole rigmarole that goes with bidding. So we might not be able to get a bid as early as we'd normally like simply because of the LRP application and not knowing whether or not we receive that million and a half. The risk is if we go ahead and bid it early and then we do receive that LRP funding, Well, we can't accept it because we've already bid the project or started construction, I guess. This is one of the requirements. You can't start construction. But I like to stay out of the bidding aspect of it, too, because I just don't know where that line is drawn. But anyway, we've done that in the past. Sure.

ip dollars then the project does not have to go forward it'll be ready to go in the normal timeline that you had which was in 29 30 31 something like that and so this these dollars won't be lost the intersection is going to look the same the topography is going to look the same but we need to move forward if we want to be able to help be eligible for these dollars

Well, right, and then the MnDOT dollars, too, I guess. If it doesn't go forward, MnDOT will have to install the temporary signal there, and those $200,000, unfortunately, would go away.

Questions from any council members? Brad.

So part of the engineering is going to be, I'm assuming, safety, pedestrian safety. Is that going to be part of the engineering plan for this?

It's a good question because it's part of the ICE study that was completed. They did analyze traffic and patterns of pedestrians, bicyclists, walkers, and the whole work. So based on that, the ICE study did cover that.

I'm not opposed to the roundabout itself, but I am concerned about we're taking an intersection that has a four-way stop, so all the cars do have to stop for the pedestrians right now, and turning it into a situation where they might not necessarily be as attentive going through. And I would like, as we move with this project, to look at alternative options such as pedestrian parking. like flashing lights for pedestrians that can be initiated at this intersection as well. I've seen other, there are roundabouts that do that. Because like I say, this is basically the only stop along that way to cross. Every other section along Broadway does not have any control outside of Sunrise, which is also a roundabout. So that is something I want to, I don't want just the standard Let them run to the island in the middle and then run across the rest of the way. I want to look at other ways to enhance pedestrian safety in this. As I say, I'm not opposed to the roundabout. I just want to make sure pedestrian safety is taken into account, particularly at this intersection when people are trying to get across Broadway.

Sure. Yeah, that's a good point because that would be something that we'd have to take a look at and look into in more detail there. So, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Questions or comments? Dustin.

I as well have expressed concerns about pedestrian crossing there and parking as it is impacted. I look forward to seeing how that space is reimagined with the silly shaped park that we currently have there or grassy area where that roundabout would be situated and how we can make it be safe for all.

Yes, I remember that discussion. I remember you were mentioning that you were concerned about parking along the Park Row apartments there. I think it is. I can't remember. But I remember Usain talking about that early on or a while back. And that's one thing. We're still looking at a conceptual layout, fine-tuning it to see what kind of improvements can be made. If there is parking constraints, likely if you think about it, all the roundabouts you've been in now, they're so common in Minnesota. But most of them that you've been in or been through, Parking is typically not allowed within the roundabout, of course, but outside the pedestrian crossing areas, you start to get into a little bit of parking, but it's mostly further down and mostly further outside of the roundabout and the crossing. That would be something we'd have to take a look at. Try to allow, maximize parking, especially with Washington Avenue as being as wide as it is there. There's an opportunity for parking as it's currently being used. So until we actually get in and determine the best alignment to move traffic, move pedestrians, and then also in the end try to maintain as much parking as possible, we won't know until we start to look at it.

but I've got that in the back of my mind right So we clearly already had some discussions about this this is plans for a roundabout has been have been discussed before and so that's some of what this if we initiate engineering we will have these further discussions This is how we figure it out Yep yep absolutely any other questions or discussion Hearing nothing further, the resolution approving a 2026 Broadway and Washington Avenue Intersection Improvements Engineering Services appears on pages 49 through 50 of the packet. Is there a motion to approve?

So moved.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Call the roll, please.

Council Member Weissenfeld? Aye. Council Member Sharstrom? Aye. Council Member DeVos? Aye. Mayor Noel?

Aye. councilmember Johnson aye councilmember Pettis aye councilmember Rampton aye the resolution is approved our last item of new business tonight thanks Jeff is a city assistance request fight for the Boundary Waters benefit

Mayor members, there's information included in your packet related to this. This is a request substantially similar to many of the requests you see for use of Minnesota Square Park for a community event or festival. It is slightly different in that the resources are not going to stay in St. Peter. They are going someplace else. As you know, we've understood that this is a possibility, not necessarily with this group, but in general. What's recommended from staff here is to provide the assistance. As you also know, we've been in the process of working through a policy related to these type of events and how we should handle that. What do we charge them? How does this all fit together? This doesn't contemplate them being charged other than the reservation fee. that's necessary for Minnesota Square Park. They're still required to have the insurance, meet the criteria, have review, the typical review that we see, whether it's with ambassadors for Blues Fest, whether it's for Rock Bend Folk Festival for that event in September, and any other larger community festival events that go on. I'm happy to discuss this more if you would like the standard criteria applies to this as applies to all of those other events the resolution providing approval for this is included in your packet and that starts on page 55 Questions for Todd

Brad?

Well, yeah, I think some more study needs to go into what we do for essentially non-locally focused events. The one positive is, I mean, it is bringing people into St. Peter, and these are people who might hit our co-op, might hit soda scoops, stop at our gas stations in and out of town, and hopefully hit some of our other retail or dining establishments while they're here. Yeah.

if i may respond to that that's one of the reasons that the recommendation is put together in the way that it is uh... and and really frankly the council hasn't had an opportunity to have a substantial policy discussion about how we treat these things whether it's a benefit directly related to the community whereas they make money help pay for the splash pad. What else do they do? This group is not going to do that. These dollars are going to go someplace else. So we wanted to call that out, make sure you are aware, knowing that there will be ongoing discussion at that policy level relative to these type of activities.

I just wanted to, just knowing a little bit of background about the event, the organizer is local to St. Peter's. Um, and it will have a pretty large local following, um, in this community of St. Peter, there are boundary avid boundary waters, trippers. Um, and, uh, and so it really is, it sounds like it's a one-time event, um, meant to support, you know, an area of the state that. many of us love and cherish and that is really struggling right now. And so I think there are a lot of local dollars also going into this event via business sponsorships. And so I think we're going to have a good impact locally while also having a great impact within the state as well. So I think it probably does require further review, but I wanted to provide a little bit of background. It truly is a local event.

Any other questions or discussion? Hearing nothing further, the resolution appears on pages 55 and 56 of the packet. Is there a motion to approve? So moved.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Call the roll, please. Councilmember Johnson or I'm sorry Councilmember Sarstrom Aye Councilmember DeVos Aye Mayor Nowell Aye Councilmember Johnson Aye Councilmember Pettis Aye Councilmember Ram Aye Councilmember Weissenfeld Aye The resolution is approved that is our last item of business tonight we will move on to reports first up I just wanted to provide a brief report on uh the cmgc summer conference which was last week in new ulm i attended council members johnson and pettis also attended and i just wanted to also highlight that they were both uh recognized with awards at that um event um daryl for his for his advocacy on transportation council member Johnson I just wanted to thank you for your service as past president of CMGC you passed the torch to the new president and just want to thank you for representing small cities through your work or cities in greater Minnesota through your work but also for representing St. Peter's Anything that either of you would like to add?

I'll add just about the basic membership meeting. There are no increase to Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities dues this upcoming year. Being very mindful of the challenges cities are facing with their budgets. Able to work within the resources that they have. But we are a member of CGMC. We spend a substantial amount for that membership and Um, we're active within that membership, uh, to get the most out of our bang out of our buck, uh, for that. But anyway, um, really this, this, uh, this conference at, at the heart of it is really about, um, setting a budget, talking about what our values are as cities in greater Minnesota, uh, greater Minnesota and what we want our, um, coalition staff to, uh, advocate for us. And so that's going to be. Um, local government aid, primarily, um, housing economic development programs. Um, uh, EMS, uh, emergency medical services will also be, um, you know, talked about this year as well for additional support there. So, um, yeah, aside from that, I just want to share some of the comments that, uh, Darrell received when he was receiving his award by the executive director. Um, he spoke to. Um, how council member Pettis, the complexity of which he understands transportation policy is so valuable to the coalition. Um, especially when we're talking about good or bad policy and how it might impact, um, cities and costs overall. And so, um, they were just very grateful to have Darrell this legislative session to talk about, um, impacts that proposed transportation policy would have on cities but across the state really too and Daryl has been along has been on policy committees before with the cgmc regarding transportation and contributed a lot in that way and so it just was it was such a highlight for me to see you receive the excellence and service award and it made me feel very proud to have a council member fellow council member receive an award like that so We're just really lucky in St. Peter to have you, Daryl. Thank you.

I got to meet Carrie's dad, who was another fellow graduate of Gibbon High School. interesting conference generally this conference deals deals a lot with what did the legislature do for us do to us last year and they really didn't have a whole lot to report on that because the legislature didn't do a whole lot there was divided legislature so there's a lot of talk about what they did do kind of upcoming election we did have the opportunity for Two of the governor candidates, actual candidates were there, and then one of the lieutenant governor candidates was there to kind of give their dog and pony show on why you should vote for them and things like that. And the one candidate was asked, first question was, what's his thoughts on LGA, which is our issue, and what's LGA was the first words out of his mouth, so that wasn't a real good way to start, so... Back to basics. I had some state people there. The Department of Ag was there. PFA was there kind of going, this is their state program. This is what we do. These are grants that you receive. This is kind of the state of where our state's at right now. A lot of talk on nuclear power. A lot of talk on right-sizing government tax changes and things like that. So a real... kind of across the board information another good conference I encourage everybody to attend it thank you for the nice comments on the award that was pretty much unexpected so I'm glad I could go and hope to participate in the future Next summer it'll be in Owatonna so once again not too far away from us The fall conference is in Waite Park as well and Legislative Action Day will be in February of next year

All right well thanks so much moving on to reports from council members are there any council members who'd like to make reports at this time hearing none we'll move on to our city administrator

Madam Mayor, members, I have one report that I'd like to make, but I'd like to get out of the way. I'd like to ask Corey to come up. Corey, as you know, was recognized related to our Green Steps, but we also received an award from the MAGC. We received a Northern Lights Award, which is super cool. First time we've received an award from this group. You know, I think they like to call themselves the MAGIC group. It's one of my new favorite acronym groups. It used to be SMRPA, so the Minnesota Recreational Professionals Association, but MAGIC is my new one. And so, To brag a little bit, you guys have been very smart in hiring Corey to do much of the work, not just for sustainability, but your communications and your website. And so this award was really about the enhancements for your website. So Corey, brag a little bit and say a couple cool things. I'd appreciate it.

Yeah, so to answer your question, it's the Minnesota Association for Government Communicators, and so there's about 300 members representing, and if you're in the public sector, you can be part of this association and part of this group. And so this, just a couple weeks ago, I headed up to Brooklyn Park, and they had their annual conference where they do their Northern Lights Award. they have a whole bunch of categories that you can submit projects and different things too and so I submitted our redesign for our website specifically looking at how we've really made sure that it's more accessible that it's really resident focused of thinking okay how to residents find information and so we were given a silver award so second place if you're competitive just we'll get there but yes But it was a really great honor. It was fantastic to hear from colleagues from across the state who are really excited and happy about the work that we've done here on our website. I know it's one of those things that's been going on for the past year that you don't really see until you click the switch to make it live. But a lot of work has gone into this across the board. And so it's been really a fun project to work on, very impactful. We're still improving constantly, so that's exciting. But everybody should give themselves a pat on the shoulder for helping move this forward for sure.

So in addition to that, Madam Mayor, if I may, we should give Cori a hand in just a few seconds. But I think the really important part of this is that she is done. And she's not alone. We have other people. But Cori's really 93.7% of this. She really is in making this go. And this is so much easier for our community to use than our previous website was. And so that's really where the benefit rests in making the information that people want about their community more accessible. and the broad range of information that we're able to provide, and the growth within that is significant. So thanks to Corey and for the MAGIC group for recognizing the great work that's been done here. So that's my pitch.

How about a hand for Corey?

This year we're getting quite a few awards now that Corey's been hired, so we're going to be, we have expectations for next year.

No pressure.

What's the chances of us getting step four and step five in the next year? That's going to be a question best reported.

That I would not, because we have to prove year-over-year growth, and so you might have to wait a couple years, maybe like two to get that one. So just setting expectations right away.

This is the shot for Tony. Yes.

Madam Mayor, that's the last report that I have for you for this evening. That's all I have for you.

All right. Well, one more chance just to thank our, it's really, we like to get a little credit as council, but really we have amazing staff, residents watching at home. You should feel wonderful about the dedicated, talented staff that we have at the City of St. Peter that really make all this important work happen, so. thanks to our staff we have an executive session on our agenda for tonight that's been changed we don't some of the information did not get finalized for that and so my anticipation is that at your next meeting we will so I apologize for that kind of a late change for us all right then we can we can cross that off the agenda and instead adjourn how about that is there a motion to adjourn all those in favor of adjournment say aye aye any opposed we are adjourned thank you