City Council - Regular Meeting

Steve, when was your birthday? Two weeks ago. The last time we met. Meeting. You should know this month, Steve, that there are naughty and nice lists. [laughter] Yeah, you're not on the right list. recording. All right, we'll call the meeting to order. Roll call. Mayor Reese here. Council member Osk here. Nelson here. Gilbertson here. Gardner here. Baggerly here. Davis here, Butterfield here, and Shel here. Nine present, zero absent. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I'll call for a motion to approve the agenda. So moved. Second. We got a motion and a second. Discussion. Roll call. Council member O. I. Nelson. I. Gilbertson. Hi. Gardner. I. Faggerly. Hi. Davis. Hi. Butterfield. Hi. And I. Eight eyes. Zero nos. Motion passes. I want to read a proclamation on human rights day. Whereas recognizing the inherent dignity and equal rights of all people is essential for freedom, justice, and peace. And whereas the

universal declaration of human rights as was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10th, 1948, establishing a common standard for all nations. And whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights outlines fundamental principles such as the right to life, liberty, security, freedom from discrimination, and equal protection under the law, which are crucial for a thriving community. And whereas the city of Wilmer values diversity and inclusion, recognizing the worth of every individual and celebrating differences. And whereas promoting these rights and freedoms is a shared responsibility of individuals and communities to ensure everyone has the chance to thrive. And whereas the Wilmer City Council commits to recognizing Human Rights Day annually. And whereas the city of Wilmer is dedicated to upholding fundamental human rights and working towards social progress and better life for all residents. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and the city council of the city of Wilmer, Minnesota, that we do hereby number one, proclaim December 10th, 2025 is human rights day and the week beginning December 10th, 2025 is human rights week in the city of Wilmer. Number two, affirm that all people in Wilmer are entitled to the rights and freedoms outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights without distinction of any kind. Number three, call upon residents, organizations, and institutions

to learn about and promote the ideals in thei universal declaration of human rights and the US Constitution's Bill of Rights. Number four, encourage citizens to participate in activities that create a welcoming and inclusive environment, eliminate discrimination, and ensure freedom, justice, and equality for everyone in our community. In witness whereof, I hereto set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Wilmer to be affixed on the first day of December, 2025. Mayor Doug Greece. Next, I'm going to introduce Michelle Tomlin, who is the executive director of the Crossings of Wilmer. Welcome, Michelle. Good evening. Thank you, council members and ladies and gentlemen. As he mentioned, I am Michelle. I am the executive director of the crossings of Wilmer. Wanted to come here tonight and tell you a little bit about our who we are, our progress that we've made. So, so far and also just um as a thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve the residents of Candy County and and Wilmer. Um we are a licensed assisted living community. We will be providing independent assisted and memory care services to the residents of Wilmer and the surrounding counties as well. Um we will have 76 apartments and um 15 of those will be [clears throat] for memory care. The remainder will be for independent and assisted living communities. We will

have uh studio apartments, onebedrooms, onebedrooms within and two bedrooms apartments. Um, one of the things that's really nice about our community that kind of sets us apart is that our entire building is licensed as assisted living. So, if someone moves in independently and they need assisted living services at some point in the future, we can provide those services in the existing apartment that they're living in. They won't have to move to another uh apartment or another building or even another community. we will be able to assist them um where they move in without having to uh redistribute them somewhere else in the community. Um we are going to have month-to-month leases, so people will have an out if they decide that they don't like our services for whatever reason or they uh are moving somewhere else. 30-day notice, they're free and clear of that lease. Um I can't imagine that they would find a reason that they would not enjoy what we have to offer. Um, the crossings is actually part of a larger company called Lifespark. And if you will allow, I did I know it's outside of the norm for council, but we did bring a fun little tutorial if you will. If you don't have a little bucket, feel free to grab one from an MTC. Um, but just as a as a highlight, um, you have a Ferrero share in there. We're the gold standard of senior living services. Our company, LifeScar, uh, Lifespark, has won countless rewards, this year included, for our volunteerism through the Minnesota um, through the Care Providers of Minnesota. And if I say things incorrectly, the titles, y'all just forgive me. Give me a little bit of grace. As you can tell from listening to me, I'm not from here originally. I'm from Nashville, Tennessee, but I've been doing this for about 30 years. I'm a licensed uh, assisted living administrator there. I'm also a geriatric and end of life doula. I don't know that they have that program yet in Minnesota, [clears throat] but they do in Tennessee and it is a national

certification. Um, but uh they the volunteerism we're already plugged in a lot in this community and we're looking to get even more involved in the community. I've already joined the Kuwanas Club, uh, the Chamber of Commerce. We're looking at joining the chamber um, in surrounding areas as well, the Lions Club, Eagles Club just as soon as we can get around to those. But we do want to be um a serviceoriented um organization within the larger community of Wilmer. Um if there's some way that we can be of help, you know, please reach out to us. A strawberry wafer, we don't waver on the quality of care or the quality of life. So many organizations focus on um sick care or uh being uh where we want to be more proactive than reactive. So some of the things that we the core principles that we have are maintaining health and wellness and quality of life. Uh giving people an opportunity to be who they want to be and who they are. Um and giving them the space and the opportunities and the resources to do that. Candy cane, we're we're excited to serve the seniors of Candyohigh County and beyond. Um if you haven't picked up the administrators, very punny. Um like to pull that in there. uh cow tails, holy cow, we uh tell you what, we're also pet friendly. That is something that's also unique about our services is that a lot of communities uh either don't provide uh pet friendly services or they have weight restrictions, things like that. Um this is up to executive director [snorts] discretion, but we are we believe in pet therapy. We believe in again if people have had their pets at home, we want them to be able to continue that in our community as well. Um, lip balm, our activities program is the bomb. Uh, we have activities seven days a week, anywhere from five to seven activities. Those activities are going to focus on some of the areas. You have

this handout that kind of speaks to um our wellness focus and that is physical, spiritual, social, emotional, intellectual, vocational, and environmental. Our activities program is very intentional in providing um services that are very well-rounded to speak to all the needs of our residents that are within our community. We're also very open if there's an activity that we don't already provide that they like incorporating that in just like you have the city council here. We will have a um a resident council and we uh they have a very active voice in what does and does not happen in our community. it is after all they're home. Um that is something that we would do monthly basis and they will have the opportunity to say hey I don't like that on the menu. Um that's speaking to the menu. All of our food is chef prepared and we can accommodate special diets as well in a restaurant style setting. Um last but not least, there is a berry juice in there because we thank you very much for the opportunity to serve this beautiful community. Um I have been here about two and a half months now and I can tell you that every person that I have encountered has been um amazing, very inviting, very welcoming um and very helpful um have had the privilege again of speaking in city council because those individuals that have made it known to me that it's happening and we just wanted the opportunity to say thank you, let you know that we are ahead of schedule on our construction and we are slated right now to open in March, assuming that we don't run into any issues with getting our uh certificate of occupancy or any of our checks and balances from the state. But we should be serving and taking on new residents in March. We are doing reservations now. So, if anyone is interested, feel free to call uh text me. You have my card in

there as well. And we are taking appointments. We can show you floor plans. we can discuss pricing and uh we can take deposits to get you on the wait list to move in. Thank you for your time and I'll be available if anybody has questions. Thank you, Michelle. Next, we have the consent agenda. Um, Renee. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Council members, tonight for your approval, I have the city council minutes of November 17, 2025. The parks and recreation September 20 September 17th, 2025 meeting minutes. Resolution establishing the 2026 city council meeting dates and times. Accept the final bid for project number 255-B, trunk highway 40, drainage t drain tile repair. Accept the final project number 2401-B, 13th Street Southwest, Grace Avenue Southwest, and Rice Avenue Southwest reconstruction and the accounts payable report from November 132 to November 26 25. Move to approve. Second. Got a motion and a second. Discussion. Roll call. Council member Nelson. I. Gilbertson. Hi. Gardner. I. Faggerly. Hi. Davis. Hi. Butterfield. I. Shoulders. I. And Osc. I. Eight eyes's zero nos. That motion passes. Next is the open forum and we have one individual that has signed up for the open form. Um ask that you

uh give your name, your address before speaking. So Gina Permar, did I say that right? You did. Hi. So Gina Permar, 417 Lfield Avenue Southeast in Wilmer. Justin, you may be slightly familiar with me because I was the one that emailed you about the situation and I thank you for your response. Rick Fragley, I wish I could say the same for you because I emailed you about this approximately two weeks ago and heard nothing from you. So anyway, I just have a problem with um basically my property taxes going up when I am living next to a landfill. And just for reference, I will just leave these with you to look at. And that's pretty much all I got to say about it. Thank you. We can take those. We'll make sure they get them. Okay. Next is next is the public hearing, the truth and taxation hearing. And I'll call on finance director Tom Odens. Do I open the meeting now? The public meeting [clears throat] after Tom. All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the city council. Tom Odin's finance director for the city. Uh tonight, uh we have two items for your consideration. uh first would be the 2026 budget and then the second item for your consideration would be to set the tax levy for 2026. So we'll start with just a brief overview of our budget calendar which started in March which the adopted which with the adoption of the budget

calendar. Following that, the city council uh held a bus tour where we toured capital improvements uh throughout the city uh to go over all the department requests of the uh different departments. We did have a work session after that going over the CIP requests and from that meeting we had a good direction to come into the preliminary budget. Following that, the departments began entering their 2026 budget requests and throughout July and August, um all those were compiled and refined. And then we had a 2026 budget work session in August. Come to September, there was the preliminary budget, the mayor's proposed budget, and then that was adopted and certified to the county. Then through October and November, we um compiled final recommendations. We had another work session as well where we got good direction uh staff received direction from council from the work session to come to the truth and taxation which is tonight. Uh and then we must certify by December 31st to the county for the 2026 levy. So the tax levy is broken into three main pieces for the city of Wilmer. Uh the the main portion being the general levy which would be all of our departments u minus wastewater and then also this was would be where our capital improvements are made out of. We have a street debt levy which is to pay for the the bonds and then we also have a city hall levy which would be for a future city hall. So breaking that down this is the general fund levy. This is the spending by type. You'll see that uh approximately twothirds of our spending would be towards our employees and their wages, pension and insurance. Another a couple of the other larger portions would be our maintenance. This would be our crack and seal coat. This would be our building maintenance. Uh and then

also our transfers to debt and CIP. This number has increased over the last couple years as the city has increased our uh capital improvement plan funding out of our general fund. This next is just a little snapshot. Uh spending by department type. Uh public safety would be our 38 cents of every dollar roughly goes towards public safety. This would be our police, fire, and um uh civil civil um like our fire sirens, things like that. The next would be public works transportation is 23 cents. That's going to be our uh public works department, engineering, and storm water for the most part. Then general government would be 22 cents and that's going to be think of more the city hall would be our um administration, clerk, HR, finance, planning and development. And then culture and recreation would be the last which would be our parks and wreck predominantly at the city. The next uh portion of the levy is the city hall and that number is set for $500,000 for 2026. Uh and we can talk a little bit more about that um on this slide. Originally when it was implemented in 2022, it was 3% of the tax rate. And so this number would grow as the city would grow. So it started off at $485,000. You'll see it incrementally grew through 2025. And then after our last work session, it was decided to reduce that for uh tax levy 2026 down to $500,000. One other thing to note out of this levy is there was some uh capital improvement needs at the current city hall which would be our mandatory elevator upgrades as well as some fire panel upgrades would be paid out of that after the conclusion of 2026 levy be um just over $2.6 million levy towards the future city hall.

And then the last portion of our our um levy would be our street debt at $1.3 million. Uh this is a picture of starting in 2022 uh the increase of the street debt and this starting with our 2022 bonds all the way through our 2025 bonds that were issued this year. Uh you'll just see the increase year-over-year. And then this shows are it breaks down what bond each each bond would be the levy [snorts] uh allocated towards that. So our tax rate and tax capacity think of the tax capacity like our tax base. You'll see in 2019 through 2026 estimated tax capacity we have seen some growth within the city from 13.7 million up to just under 21 million. And then the orange line on top would be the tax rate that the city has levied. And the the one key piece that I would like to point out between 2025 and 2026, that rate is set to be um the same. So a 0% tax rate increase over from 2025 to 2026. So this puts together the table uh compiled into one thing. the um the general fund, you'll see an increase of $870,000. Keep in mind, a large portion of that is our capital improvement increase from $485,000 to $810,000. Then the street debt difference is primarily the addition of the 2025A bond, which would be our street bonds for 2025. And then, as I just mentioned, the city hall debt went from 587 down to 500,000, a decrease of $87,000. This overall levy would be a $954,000 increase over last year. However, it is a zero rate increase.

And just just for numbers sake, the decrease over the preliminary budget is $717,482. So, a decrease over what was sent out for the preliminary tax statements from the county a couple weeks ago. This provides a residential city example. Uh $193,000 home is a median home value for next year in the city of Wilmer. So just an illustration at the 2025 rate, the city taxes owed to be $1,114. the the middle column, 2026 taxes payable on the same home at the same value. With the preliminary rate, it would been $1,184 with the increase rate. However, we have since decreased that back down to the same rate, so it' be 1,114. So, all things stayed the same. The city taxes would not go up. One caveat that a lot all the houses um in Wilmer didn't necessarily stay the same. Some went down, some went up. Uh this is just a general example. Every situation is going to be a little bit different and unique. So that concludes the presentation. Um I do know this is a public hearing. U uh I can stand for any questions, but there are two items for consideration. One to be the levy for 2026 and one to be the overall city budget for 2026. Just um Director Odin, can you just state very clearly so everyone especially from the public understands tonight the difference between the preliminary budget which information went out and they received that at their homes um versus what we're discussing tonight in in regards specifically to the tax levy that has been changed since the preliminary number. Sure. Yes. So the the preliminary budget set in in September is the number that

was sent to the county for what was sent out in the truth and taxation notices a couple weeks ago. Uh that number is a number that is set in September and it can from that point can only go down. It cannot go up. The staff and council have have discussions and that number was reduced overall by $717,482. Um, so the the number that was printed and sent out to residents in Wilmer and businesses, that number will be reduced back to the same rate as last year's every situation if the value stayed the same. Uh, but there are a lot of variables in there. So, um, thank you. Yep. I'll open the public hearing then. Anybody who wish to speak, please give your name and address. Mark Dollside, 3013 2nd Avenue Northwest. So, my taxes on my house have gone up substantially every year. a lot more than my neighbors, a lot more than my co-workers. Just the So, you're valuing it at 16% higher than last year. Are you saying that's and actually the estimated value was $30,000 higher than my neighbor next door who has a bigger house just sold their house for three months ago? I can't even sell my house with your taxing in it. I already talked to a realtor. I won't get You have it at $333,000 and she said she'd listed about $290.

It's gone up um well from 2020 which was taxed at $2,400. You're saying this year it's going to be 4,900. I don't understand why I haven't done anything to it. All I've done was repair the storm damage with the same stuff that was already on it. My next door neighbor, people think it's an abandoned house. I've had both sides of me basically grow their lawn up 2 feet high. Why am I getting taxed like this? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm not sure who's going to answer that. If somebody wants to come over and look [clears throat] Mr. Mayor, members of the council, the the value assigned to homes in the city of Wilmer is all done by the Kandu County Assessor's Office and that is based off of comparable homes in the in the city and comparable neighborhoods um based on sales. So that I would recommend maybe reaching out to the Candy County Assessor's Office to have them they might want to take a tour of the inside uh to to see all the rooms that are in there, any updates um that have been done or make sure that their information is correct on your property. Uh but that is something that they do a mass appraisal um of all the properties in Wilmer. That's done through the county. Mr. Dside, have you talked to the

county? I just uh I got this appraisal last year. I was going to try or uh not appraisal but the notice last year I was going to come in and wonder why too but I had a family emergency that I couldn't make the meeting. So I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do. It's been to the point where I can't even afford to live here anymore. [snorts] It's it's property taxes. Here's all the property tax doubled in four years in four years. From 2020 it was 42 2472 and now they're saying 48.96 and we haven't added on anything. We haven't done a thing. Tell me how it's gone up that much. Well, please have a talk with the uh county assessor. The other thing that I will you want to be mindful of is um when in the spring of the year when the county sends out the notices of your valuation that it's called the board of equalization and that'll happen in April and that's when you can come to talk to the council about your values of your home and so that's when because that's what's going to be set for the following year of your taxes for your taxes, you need to talk to Val Seavore, who is the county assessor, and ask her just how is she valuing your home. Is there any way that the city then can notify people of what to do when they see this? I think just getting one letter of your proposed property tax. This is Yeah, this is about the property

taxes and the budget, correct? Yeah, the value is in the earlier part of the year my neighbor just and it's about 7 or 800 square ft higher [clears throat] and sold it for less than you have to talk to the assessor. There anybody else wish to speak? Tony Tony Wman live at 1400 Southwest 13th Street. I'm just trying to figure out what the city wants. I'm on social security. I'm fixed. My tax is going up. My cola is not even going to cover it. And I go with this guy. I can't pretty soon I can't lower afford to live in this town. Is that what you guys want? want everybody in apartments, want everybody move out of the county. Come on, guys. Wake up. Us senior citizens like myself, we can't afford this. It's every year. Nothing changes. How hard do you guys try to cut expenses? I've had to cut my expenses. Does a city cut their expenses, Doug? Do they? Well, we we're holding at 0% increase. You know, they don't. Your budget says you haven't cut expenses. I can show you my household budget where I've had to cut expenses. I'll tell you that. That's all I have to say. Anybody else?

Ron Christensen, 1912, Richland Avenue Southwest. Just want to point a few things out to you all and to the public. Um, first of all, thanks for serving. I've been there and I know what it takes. Um, the tax dollar that's collected for property and the city, county, and the school district is um shared by those three entities. The city, as I understand it, gets about 20 cents of the dollar and the county and the school district share the balance of it with the county getting the most of our tax dollars. So, asking the city to uh cut the budget is is appropriate, but um the public has to understand that they don't receive that much of our tax dollars. Um, next I'd like to point out how unfair any tax is when it's done by value or income. Um, I'm on a corner lot in Wilmer and there's my neighbors on a corner lot across the street. He's on a corner lot. My taxes are $5,500. One across the street is $4,200. Now, we both receive the same amount of police protection, fire protection, and street maintenance. So, how unfair is it to to base it on value? It's not fair, folks. It's it's our money. Um, and if I could, I'd like to share something on a lighter note to to point this out about our money. There was a wealthy oil man in Texas who got called in by his banker to discuss his uh financial situation.

He says, "John, two years ago, you borrowed a million dollars to drill some new oil wells. They were all dry. What do you have to say?" He thought a minute and says, "Uh, could be worse." He says, 'Well, last year you came in and borrowed a million dollars to buy new equipment because yours was failing. Well, you went and bought used equipment and it all failed. What do you have to say? He looked down. He says, "Could have been worse." He said, "Now you're asking for a million dollars to buy more equipment. All your answers for these failures is it could have been worse, John. How could it have been worse?" He looked up at the banker and said, "Could have been my money. It is our money people are spending." And I I I understand your zero base for this coming year, but how hard is it for each department to cut 5%. Isn't that tough? I understand that the the majority of the spending is people, employees, benefits, and pensions. But I would ask you to please consider cutting at least 5% more. Uh our values have all gone up, therefore our taxes have gone up. And um I don't know what else I can explain but it's uh I would wish that you could cut the budget by 5% a measly 5%. We in the private sector have cut ours 5 10 15% each year over the last five years since co basically um please do what you can um to see where the public is coming from.

I've mentioned to most of the council people here that I have a wealth of knowledge of this city from being on the council for many years and I've asked if you need any input to call me. I'm I'm the public now and I've spoken to three council members but the rest of you guys just leave it alone. I I'm wondering how often do you actually speak to the public? As you sit there, your backs are to the city of Wilmer. Please speak to the public. We had an open forum last week. Three council members were there. I applaud you for that. I think we need to do that with the county and the school district also. There was 42 people that attended that I counted. And uh I don't think you expected that many, but please do what you can to keep the budget low, even though ours is the least amount of the tax dollar. Thank you for your time. Anybody else wish to speak? So public hearing. I'll close the hearing. Call on Tom again. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. There are two two um items for your consideration. As I mentioned, the overall 2026 budget as well as the levy for 2026. I'd be happy to answer any questions as well, council. If there's no discussion, we need uh a

motion. Um I'd just like to make a little amendment to the 2026 budget. um effective uh January 31st, I would like to terminate the Blue Cross Blue Shield director community of growth position that we've put out there since our funding isn't here. So, I'd like to make the motion to discontinue that position as of January 31st, 2026. [clears throat] Second. We got a motion and a second. Discussion, please. Um yeah, to going out to the public that's here tonight, I hear you loud and clear. To the people on Facebook for the past month since uh our tax and statements come up, I hear you loud and clear. We sat down as a whole council and we trimmed as much as we could off of this. I appreciate the police chief, current and past, for taking away some of the police cars that they do need. And that's one thing that is needed here. We need to protect our community. That's where we're we're failing at. Uh to senior citizens, you're [clears throat] not the only one I hear from. I have pe other seniors call me up saying, "I can't afford this. I can't afford this." Crying. When I was first elected, I said, "I'm going to be the voice for the little people. Stand up for the little people." It's a very tough decision making any cuts to our staff. But this position is a luxury position. It's not helping out the majority of the citizens of Wilmer. So, with that, I would like to uh move on

discontinuing it for now until we get better financial situation. Anybody else? I've worked with uh Pablo over the last two years [snorts] and the things that he's done I've felt really good about. We have the Heritage Festival. We have the welcome week, two of the biggest things. And we have great turnout and I think it's healthy for our community. As diverse it is, it's very healthy for us to have those events and Pablo is the center point of that. I would speak against this even though I don't have a I think we need to have follow up staff. I think our taxpayers need to see more work at reducing our budget and it's a tough call, but past two budgets I've voted no for. They've been increased increased. This one we got it flat. This is our time to bring in a lower budget. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I worry with the budget that we're discussing tonight that um we've gotten it flat by taking money out of our um capital improvement plan. And that doesn't strike me as

sustainable over time. Um, so I'll I join uh members of the public that I've heard from tonight, that I've heard from before, and I think quite a few people at the table in just being anxious about um where it is that we can go from here without difficult cuts. Um, and I think council member Butterfield's right. I think it's a it's a difficult conversation to have uh tonight. Um, I value diversity a lot. I value inclusion a lot. I think it makes our community better. I'd argue that everyone is made better um by the focus of a position like this. Um we were grateful to get the grant. Pablo's done some really great work since we've gotten that grant. The grant has run its course. I don't know if the city can sustain it long term. And I think the time might come to to come to this cliff of opportunity that the grant has brought us this far. The next steps in this process to continue the work of diversity and inclusion are going to have to come in my opinion um from leaders in our community, from organizations that we've been working with that have been brought together to partner to to bring about the events that the mayor has spoken about. Um, I don't know that the the budget can support a director level position doing that. Maybe a mid-level staff position in the future. Audrey, thank you. Mayor Reese, I will speak that I will not vote for that. Um, Pablo um is a great communicator for us. um he probably is um what we need more of more communication with a variety of people. Um I think we

made a commitment when we started down the road um that probably that needs to be reviewed with Blue Cross Blue Shield. This is not the right time in my mind to be making this cut um to look at it long term to see where we can get funding from. but with the community that we have, um, he has a way of being able to speak for everyone and probably speaks for the city of Wilmer more than anyone else, which is what we need and want. And, um, I worry about what we've done with the budget and what we're pushing down the road. Um, we've looked at a variety of things and I think if you study what other communities are doing, um, they are all having to increase taxes. They're all having to look at, um, at different things. Um, we have decided to stay with keeping the budget flat. We've pushed CIP. Um, we're things that'll need to be fixed. We have a variety of this. This is not a position that should be um looked at ending right now. Restructuring, maybe we look at that next year. Maybe we look at going out to different community um you know investors to see who can help us with this. But I will be voting no against that motion. I want to go back to Heritage Festival which Pablo directed and [snorts] we had the program up on stage and it

was so gratifying the many cultures that we had. the the brow performance center was packed. There was no place people were standing in the aisles and it was a very diverse representation of our population in Wilmer. And one of the most meaningful parts of it was when they all I directed them. We had people up on stage with cards and they all said, "We are Wilmer." It's a representation of the diversity of our community. So again, I speak against this motion. Steve, thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um, [snorts] here here's what I don't like about all of this. Uh, for those of you on watching online, Mr. Obergon is sitting in the room and I'm sure it's this a very uncomfortable conversation for him and I apologize for that. The time to have this discussion was a months ago when we were talking about what the budget looked like. and to sit here the night that we're supposed to approve the budget and talk about eliminating a person's job while he's sitting in the room, I think is quite disrespectful. Um, I told staff in the meeting last week when we had our uh administrative meetings that I'll stomach the budget this year, but next year I want a serious attempt at lowering the budget. I don't believe the attempt was serious this year. We did things like uh to reduce it by 700 or 800. What did we reduce it by, Mr. Odens? 717.

717. Here's here's what we did. We took out a position that we know we can't fill. So, Chief Home, you lost a police officer that we likely weren't going to fill anyway, so we took it out of the budget. Uh we projected a 20% increase for um [clears throat] insurance and benefits, and it came back less than that. So, that's an accounting trick. There was no real serious effort, I don't think, by staff or the administration to try to present us with a budget that was feasible. Talking about eliminating a man's position in front of him, I think, is extremely disrespectful. No offense to you, Tom. I just This isn't the forum. We should have had this discussion. I know we tried to have similar discussions during some of our things, but it it clearly didn't work. Um, I I'm I'm with uh Miss Nelson. I'm a no on this proposal. Like I said, I'll stomach the budget this year. I won't stomach it next year. And uh for the record, my property taxes are going up just as much as everybody else's. Anybody else? Right. So, I've got a motion and a second. Roll call. Council member, can you clarify the motion? Can we read the motion real quick? The motion was to eliminate the director of community growth position effective 13126. Roll call. Council member Gilbertson. No. Gardner, no. Faggerly, hi. Davis, no. Butterfield. I shoulders. No. Osc. No.

And Nelson. No. Six nos. Two yeses. Motion failed. All right. We need a motion to adopt the resolution approving the 2026 tax levy at the total of 12 million $87,33. I will make that motion. Second. We got a motion and a second. Discussion. Roll call. Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. Um, so a couple weeks ago we were asked about meeting for a um an admin briefing as council members or for a work session. I had requested that we have a work session. Apparently there weren't enough of us council members who preferred the work session over that. Um that would have been I think an opportunity for us to continue some of the work that council member Gardner is talking about. Um and and I and I hear you stomaching a budget. We still have two weeks before, you know, we can come back in two weeks and and take a look at some of those serious cuts that you're discussing that I'd like to see happen. Um we don't have to have a vote on this tonight. Staff, I'm correct that we can come back on the December 14th or even later at a special meeting if we so desired. I would I would like to see us do that. [snorts] So we would have to be shot the motion would have to be

we have to go through the we have to go through the voting of the motion. Anybody else? I'll move to table the motion until the December 14th meeting. 15th. 15th. Thank you. That's appropriate. Okay. Got a motion. Do we have a second? I'll [clears throat] second it. We got a motion and a second. Discussion. Roll call. Council member Gardner. Hi. Bagger Lee. Hi. Davis. Hi. Butterfield. Hi. Schultz. Hi. Osc. Hi. Nelson. I and Gilbertson. No. Seven eyes, one no. Motion passes. [snorts] So the next item was the 2026 budget in the amount of 61. I I I don't do that. Okay, we'll move on to uh Thanks, Tom. Thank you. We'll move on to the Wilmer municipality municipal utilities presentation on newly established bylaws. Jiren Smith. Thanks, Mr. Mayor, members of the C council. Good evening. I'd like to start by thanking Commissioner Sean Musky for all the hard work he's done throughout the entire year. And one of the fruits

of the work that where he's gone over and above expectations are the bylaws that we have in front of you tonight. I as the general manager report to the commission and these commission bylaws govern the roles, responsibilities and conduct of the commissioners. So, I will introduce our commission president, Sean Musky, to discuss them for you. Good evening, Sean. Good evening. Sean Musky, 2026 Fth Street Southwest. It's nice to be back in this room. It's been a while. Um, currently president of the Wilmer Municipal Utilities Commission. Um, I've been on that commission for a bit and I was the liaison when I was on the council and during those times we would watch videos on onboarding and we would watch um videos that came from the American Public Power Association. They kind of write the guide book of how to run a municipal utility. They have a thing called the policy makers handbook. It's a 40-page um guide book of how to do good governance. And they also come out with about a dozen videos that we watch in training about every other year. And I've seen those videos uh three times. And during the watching those videos, they talk about what is good governance and what is not. And they often reference um bylaws. They always say, "Well, just check your bylaws. Check your bylaws." Which we have no bylaws. So there was nothing to check. And so, um, we think we do a good job at the Utilities Commission, but we think we can do a better job and we're always trying to improve and having bylaws seems like a pretty good idea. And particularly when we get change in turnover um whether that's turnover [snorts] in the commission itself or turnover in the general manager um there's a learning curve and without those bylaws we find that there's a moment of chaos when we do those

transitions and bylaws would prevent perhaps that chaos. Uh we are currently uh will be asking for a couple new commissioners here over the next couple months and it would be really nice to be able to hand a new [clears throat] commissioner a set of bylaws. Um we're also generating uh within the commission itself um a bunch of what we're going to call effective governance documents. It's a bunch of things again referenced throughout the trainings from that APA training series. um things like mission statements and other there's a whole variety of these things and we have them here or there and they're scattered and if we're going to be putting those under one umbrella as well so when new commissioners come on board or potential candidates for the commission we can hand them hopefully a set of bylaws and a set of governance documents so that transition will be easier and if they need any answers to questions on how we operate it'll be in one spot instead of a it turns out to be sort of a hide and seek deal and and it's very frustrating. Um the the bylaws you have before you so you know we had a retreat in March um where we talked in great length about these documents and the commission decided at that point we did need them and we then consulted with the uh city attorney as well. It's good to see you this evening. I always hear you over the over the phone but in person to this evening. Um when we talked with them he did check that over to make sure everything was in compliance. We had some things that weren't in there. Um, if you have those in front of you, the the basic stuff, articles one, two, three, four, actually all the way through 10, I believe, are all standard articles you would find and and probably any bylaws if you were on other commissions and committees. Article 11 on communications as well as article 12 on financial transactions came to us uh from legal that we needed those

documents and um we have tweaked those a bit as we had some questions that were asked from the commission as well as the council here and I think we've addressed those needs. Um I would also direct you to commissioner conduct in article 4 has a few things the terminology may be strange um but there that's the terminology that APA uses. They talk about things like duty of care, duty of loyalty, duty of obedience. Those words may take up much serious levels in your minds, but within the um trainings we receive, uh I try to outline in here exactly what those things talked about. They actually have videos on each of those. So, it's a language that they use within our APA guidance. And so, I wanted that to correspond. someone our new commissioners or anyone else is watching those things that we have a common language but the information that's within those are all pretty standard. So with that um I'd stand for any questions that you have. Um I did go through this again this this afternoon and if it does go and meet with your approval um article 1B the last date in there has is going to have to be changed I think is when we passed it. Um, but if you pass it, it'll be the date of whenever you pass it. Council, either a motion or discussion. Move to probably have a motion before we have discussion. Move to accept the proposed motion. Second. A motion and a second. Tom, [clears throat] has our attorney Robert Scott kind of reviewed this? I'd like to get his opinion if he has. Uh, yes, Mayor, members of the council. I [clears throat] our office did have the opportunity to review and comment on the bylaws and the final product reflects our advice. Thank you.

Any other discussion? Um, I asked and I think I got an answer, but I'm just want to clarify that this this does not need to be reviewed by our charter um commission. Robert, no. This is within the board's authority to pass bylaws that apply to themselves. Anybody else? Justin, um Sean, since I I have you here and kind of a captive, not not an audience, but respondent, uh do you know um have we made any progress on a joint meeting between the commission and the council? Are you aware of I have not heard anything. I would say I'm in a similar position. Okay. Um I know that I believe leaders of our two organizations uh have met and they've I think they're finalizing um consultants at this point. Okay. I think I think they've come to an agreement on the topics of that meeting. I think we're waiting to hear of a consultant. I understand that is where I believe it is. Yes. Yes. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much for your great work on this. I appreciate your leadership. Thank you. Do we have a motion? Okay. Roll call. Council member Faggerly. Hi. Davis. Hi. Butterfield. I should. Hi. Osc. Hi. Nelson. Hi. Gilbertson. Hi. And Gardner. I. Eight eyes's zero nos. That motion passes. Next is the fourth street reconstruction considerations and call on city engineer Jared Balden. Good evening, mayor council. Uh pull up this presentation shortly.

So if council recalls, uh four street improvements are uh one of the improvements that have been approved to proceed in 2026. There has been some discussion uh both at the uh improvement hearing as well as subsequent to that improvement hearing related to what do [clears throat] the pedestrian facilities look like along that route. Um there are a variety of options that are in your packet this evening that I'll run through uh with the council. Ultimately, um we're seeking council direction on which option uh should be included in the design of the improvement project. So the existing conditions are identified on the screen there for you. It's a approximately 52 foot wide street sidewalk on both sides. Um 18T through lanes and then 8ft parking lanes on on each side of the corridor. Alternate number one is the alternate that was identified in the preliminary engineering report that was presented um previously. That includes what's [snorts] referred to as a street diet with um 11t lanes, 8ft parking lanes. So a street width 38t and that included sidewalk on both sides. Alternate number two um is an alternate that was developed to accommodate a trail or a path. It would be a shared use path at that point uh where both pedestrians and cyclists could utilize that space. That street width is approximately 38 feet, same as the uh street diet. However, uh there is a proposed 10-ft shared use path. Now, this path is

identified on the left hand side. It could certainly be on the right, but um nonetheless, I think it's more um pertinent to the discussion as to what type of cycling or pedestrian facilities we want along that corridor. Third alternate would be on street directional bike lanes. Um this increases the street width to approximately 54 feet to accommodate the standard bike lane widths um which include buffers uh for those bike lanes. So again 54 ft wide surface sidewalk remains on both the left and right side or east and west in the case of four street. Alternate number four is a on street center bike lane. Um this is just another option to accommodate cyclists and um bike traffic within the corridor. The street would be 52 ft wide because of the center bike lane. And again the sidewalk would remain on both the east and west side. Alternate number five, uh, off- streetet bike lanes. So, it would include, uh, bike lane on both the east and west side along with a sidewalk on the east and west side. The point of that is to separate cyclists from pedestrians. That street width uh, 36 feet wide, similar to the U proposed option one. And then the final option or alternative identified uh includes [snorts] a two-way bikeway on one side of the road in addition to the sidewalks on both the

east or west side of the road. This street also would be 36 feet in width. Cost summary. I just put these together based on the anticipated um street and restoration costs associated with each option. Uh the street diet is the um least expensive in terms of street and restoration followed by the option with the off streetet path. [snorts] Then the two-way bikeway and sidewalks off street and then the off streetet bike lanes and sidewalks. the existing conditions. You can see there is approximately 3 point three million to uh rebuild that to the existing street width with two sidewalks and then the on street center bike lane and the on street directional bike lane um costs are there before you. Ultimately the increase in the pavement width um increases the cost associated with the options. Certainly there are um pros and cons of each option, but I'm going to pause there with the various options um and stand for any questions that council might have or comments questions. Audrey, thank [snorts] you. Um I do like the option of some sort of off streetet path. My question for you is is it possible that there might be any grant money out there if we were to do one version or another of the proposals that are out there or at this point in time is this a cost that we would need to just cover? [snorts] Um at this point in time we could certainly investigate some u potential alternative funding sources. A lot of the bike and ped grant processes have closed. Um

the Lakeland path improvement project we applied for a a couple years in advance. Um so we can continue to pursue alternate funding u for these improvements. But in terms of a large grant to cover the entire cost, I um that would be a long-term um we'd have to look at that as a long-term project. Okay. Um just second question, I know we delayed this project one year. Are we for sure going ahead with it next year? Uh per the resolution approved by council, we are. But again um that's up to council. But um we have some more steps to go in getting funding and doing those things. Correct. Didn't we stop and didn't we stop this after we had approved it last year? Um yeah. So this would be this project has been delayed a year already. Yep. So, the next step in this process and why it's before council this evening is um there have been a lot of questions about the pedestrian and cycling facilities along this corridor and before we design one thing um and not have everybody on board, we didn't want to do that. So, we wanted to have this discussion [snorts] this evening. Certainly there's options within these options that we can look at, but I think the biggest thing is what are the what is the configuration that we're most comfortable moving forward with and whether that's on street or off streetet and do we want both facilities on both sides or just one I think is the big big question here. So, this would kind of match what we're doing on Wilmer Avenue with one side.

Yeah, it would depending on the option selected. Yeah. Yep. Steve, then Tom, then Justin, Mr. Vogy, can you tell me what a stand what the city standard is for a through lane and a parking lane? through lane and parking lane are 11 feet and 8 feet. So street diet alternate one meets the city standard. Mhm. Okay. Um and then I ass when we vote, if you can refresh my memory, I can go back and look, but if you just if you know it off top of my head, when we voted to approve this, did we voted at the 2.7 budget amount or the three million budget amount? It was the forgive me for not knowing that off top. No problem. [snorts] It was the street and restoration cost of the 2.7. Keep in mind there's utilities and other things associated with that. But that was the we voted we assumed street diet when we approved the resolution to forward this project. Right. And then my final question is maybe you don't know this and I don't see Mr. Corbett here. Um, but does the bike path proposed in some of these alternatives, does that fall in line with the bike path as part of our strate or bike plan as part of our strategic plan or is this additional to that? the safe streets for all uh report identified um a potential corridor or the bike and ped plan which is part of this SS identified a bike corridor along forth. Thank you Tom. If we were to look at

two through two or six where we're diet right sizing the road um and then came through later to add the bike off off streetet path would the cost escalate or would it be the same in three years from now or seven years from now? [clears throat] uh to construct a path off streetet separate from the roadway uh would be more expensive to do that later than if it's all done at one time. [clears throat] Question. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I'm not sure if you're aware I'm not an engineer. Um, so I have no knowledge about what like like what bike safety looks like in any of these, right? But when I see bikes in the middle of traffic like this, it strikes me as uh it looks great in this picture and then I think what happens when they get to an intersection? Um, what what's the what do engineers like yourself know about this that the rest of us don't? Uh, that would not be my recommended option. What would what would your recommended option be? [laughter] Well, um alternate one. Mhm. Alternate two and then um alternate six. Okay. And see now I I liked 62 as I was thinking about intersections, but what happens when this gets into an intersection next? You're going to have traffic crossing those bike lanes. Are we asking bicycles to stop every block? They'll have to they'll have to obey the

same um same configuration as the the cars. So if the side streets are [snorts] stop control then the bicycles could continue. Um if the side streets are not they have to stop. So So if the Okay. So we're expecting cars to yield to the bicycles in that lane then if they have a stop sign intersecting street. Okay. I can understand why you're proposing alternate one. Jared, I'm going to take an opportunity to voice my opinion. I like six because I like the separation of the bicycles, the walkers, and the cars. It looks good. Um, [clears throat and snorts] getting back to the stop signs, we have uh street runs north and south, I think, east and west. Trying to count right now. I think there's two in between Wilmer Avenue and Trot and then there's one on Candyo High that stops north and south. So there' only be three intersections there with stop signs from Boomer Avenue to Trot. That sound about right? That sounds about right. And so the rest of them would all be uncontrolled intersections that can be changed. Correct. That would all definitely be evaluated as part of the um design process. One of the things that was identified in the safe streets for all plan was uh investigating intersection controls as well. So, um, similar to every project, we'd review the traffic, um, patterns in that area and recommend, uh, if any traffic control like stop signs be modified or or included. Yeah,

it's nice that we got such a huge rightway to accommodate these alternatives. This is definitely one of the larger rightaways within the community. Yes. Yeah. Rick, Mr. Mayor, have you checked with any of the residents on For Street? No. Typically, um, as part of the project development process, I mean, what the residents know is what they were presented at the improvement hearing, which is option number one, which includes the street diet and sidewalks on both sides. Um, if a path is proposed, uh, that'll be the discussion, right? why is it on my side and not somebody else's? Um the same the same discussions that we have on every project. But nonetheless, uh when we can get that corridor put together on some plans, uh we can certainly have an open house, uh because that would be a a change from what they saw previously. Um but we we would definitely have an open house with the neighborhood um to discuss that. One of the things that'll be taken into consideration on the on the path location will be utilities, trees, uh if if there's one side or the other that makes more sense for avoiding the removal of trees. Those are just some of the things that we think about during the design process. So, yep. So, if you put a a path plus the sidewalks, will the city be plowing the path then in the winter? Uh, currently that is the standard practice. And since we're talking about Fourth Street and stop signs, I requested there's a stop sign on Fourth and Race. Got graffiti on it. I talked to Kyle about it in September, October. I see it's still full of graffiti.

Question. Sure. before I turn it over to another council member. [snorts] Um, between the on on alternative six, you've got a curb before the bike path and a curb after the bike path. Is that just like a drive over curb or what is it? It's a standard curb. A standard curb. We could certainly modify that if we needed to, but keeping the cars I mean ultimately the the thought behind the standard curb is to keep the vehicles off of the trail. I agree with that. Okay. I agree with that, Justin. So, um, as you explained to Council Member Gardner, there's the standard is 8 feet for parking, correct? Which very few of these have. Why, for instance, on alternative six, are we seeing an 8 foot boulevard and a 7 foot parking space? Why not 8 ft for parking and 7 ft for a boulevard? That's certainly a modification that could be done. Okay. Again, I just assume that you guys have really good answers [snorts] for that. Yeah, Audrey, I um I'm struggling between I want to either do alternate two or alternate six and trying to think about bicycle safety being going two different directions and less issues at intersections and those types of things. Sure. So, um, alternate number six, as we were looking at, I mean, ultimately there's two way bike traffic and then you're separating

pedestrians would still have the option on both sides. Uh, alternate number two is shared use. So, on whatever side the path is selected for, there would be that interaction between bicyclists and um, pedestrians. in terms of access at intersections and things of that nature. Um, you know, the alternate 2 is a little bit further away from the curb. Um, you you definitely have a crosswalk for not only the trail but a sidewalk and option in alternate six. So, I mean [clears throat] really the difference between these two is a dedicated bike facility versus a shared use path and a sidewalk on one side. I too like the eight park. Yeah. Six. Yeah. Six. I think we could do two sex. What do you want to do? Council, Mr. Mayor, would uh taking a foot off the boulevard and adding a foot to the parking though, that would increase the cost. It will, but not much. Audrey. Um I'll make a motion to direct um city engineer Vogi to continue with four street reconstruction design documents with alternate six and the second one being alternate two but to do the 8 foot parking. [snorts] Right. We have a motion second. Second. Okay. We got a motion and a second. Discussion. So, we're not even Go ahead. Are we not going to consider one that doesn't include a bike path for $200,000?

I would like to consider one that includes a bike path for a $200,000 discount and the budget that we made the initial resolution for. Wait, we asked we passed this. We talked about this when we hadn't proceeded what the budget was and the budget was based on the street diet and now we're talking about increasing the cost of the project by $200,000, but we did ask him and after the I think the studies that are out there with the bike path and you asked that question, this would fit into what we were trying to accomplish with safe routes to school and all these other things. I also think that we can look for money to try to see if there's anything out there or you know with that to look at that opportunity. But I think it's important that we do this. Steve, if we go look for money from the state, is the as the current the project as it's currently designed, is it subject to prevailing wage laws? [snorts] No. If we go look for money from the state, will it be subject to prevailing wage laws? Yes. which will drive up the cost of the project. Uh that's been widely speculated. Yes. more times than would I be correct to assume that the extra 200 245k depending on which alternate we're going with is then just going to be assessed to the residents of Fourth Street who have not requested a bike path. uh we gave uh the residents at the improvement hearing the anticipated ranges of their assessments. Um certainly it's the city's assessment policy under the purview of the council.

So that would be a discussion that would need to be need to be had um as to whether or not the bike path would be assessed. Um, previous bike path projects standalone, whether it's 19th or Lakeland, historically have not been Okay. [snorts] All right. So, we got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? I think since we have not heard from the bike community or the residents, I think it makes sense for us to also include uh alternative one uh in addition to six or two. Um but I um so I guess if if we have to look at two options, I guess I would be more in favor of looking at option six or option one from that standpoint. [snorts] We've got a motion. Would you want to add a third by [clears throat] way of an addendum or is that what you're talking about? Just I'm at the discussion phase. I'm curious what my fellow counselors are. I'm about to close the discussion. Okay. Mr. Mayor, I guess I would agree with uh Tom and and Mr. Gardner that uh I think we need to include option one. That's what we approved earlier. We don't know for sure what the people of Fourth Street want. And if if we are going to approve one of them, I think it needs to include the one that we approved earlier.

Are you making a motion? I don't There's already a motion on the table, so I don't Well, there would be an addendum then and I would make that addendum. Second. Okay, we got the addendum of option one, the diet, right? Yes. One. Okay, Robert. Yes, mayor, members of the council, this would be a motion to amend the main motion. So the main motion was to proceed with alternative number six with second choice alternate number two. This would be the motion to amend that motion to include also alternate number one. Right? That' be three. Be three. Y Oh. [snorts] Any further discussion? First roll call on the agenda. [snorts] Roll call. Good. Council member Faggerly. Hi. Davis. Hi. Butterfield. Hi. Schultz. Hi. Oz. Hi. Nelson. Hi. Gilbertson. Hi. And Gardner. I. Eight eyes's zero nos. Motion carries. Now for the original motion on six and two. Two. Two and one. One is the addendum. So six and two. Mayor, members of the council, at this point, the motion has been amended to include alternative one. So there are now the main motion is now amended to include all three. The main motion and you take a vote on the main motion now as amended. Right. [clears throat and snorts] Roll call. Roll call. Council member Davis. I. Butterfield. I should. Hi,

Os. Hi, Nelson. Hi, Gilbertson. Hi, Gardner. Hi, and Faggerly. I Eight eyes, zero nose. Motion carries. All right. Thank you, Jared. Um, next is wetland credit for Highway 40 turn lane. Back to you, Mr. Jared. Evening, mayor, councel. The item before you in your packet this evening is related to the trunk highway 40 turn lane improvements project. If you recall, the city was awarded approximately $900,000 in TED funding uh for that improvement as part of the turn lane uh construction project into the uh future rail park. [snorts] uh there are some wetlands that will be impacted as part of the the improvement approximately 1.5 um one acres. So in order to um account for the impacts the um per the [snorts] wet wetland conservation act uh those impacted acres need to be mitigated. And what's in your packet this evening are two things. Um, one is the Bowser Board of Water and Soil Resources um fee associated with wetland credits. And then the second is from the wetland bank um itself associated with those wetland credits. So ultimately there's a wetland bank that has these credits that we need um to offset the impacts that we'll have as part of the turn lane construction improvement and then the Bowser administrative uh type fees associated with that. So, it's our recommendation that council authorize

the purchase agreement for the wetland banking credits and the um Bowser payment. So, moved a motion and a second discussion Steve Rick was first. So, is that the only place you can buy the wetland credits is from where we're buying it from? Uh, the priority for wetland credits is within the same um immediate region. There are other wetland credits available uh throughout the state, but not within the same region, which is a requirement of the purchase agreement. I will note that other areas of the state are more expensive than this one as well. So, so what's the region? How many counties? Uh, I could get that information for you, but they talk about watershed and keeping the um purchase of those credits in the same same area of the state geographic. It's kind of high. What's that price for? How? So, how many acres did you need? 1.5. And we're going to pay 110,000 105700 for the credits. So we can't look at some other wetlands in the county here and purchase them and put it into the program. There are no other banks immediately in the county available for um the type of wetland that we're impacting in certain bank. You can't buy private wet land. It is a private bank. Okay. We can't buy it from a private

person that lives right adjacent to the city limits. No, it has to be a bank registered with Bowser. Correct. Sounds like a scam kind of. Steve, Mr. Vodie, I'm not familiar with uh wetland credits, carbon credits or other such environmental machinations. Could you explain to me what a wetland credit is and what value we're getting for $15,000 that the state is making us do? Sure. Assume it's the state or some other governmental entity above us. Yeah. So the the reason for these wetland credits is the administration of the wetland conservation act. Um and I believe that it starts at the federal level comes to state. So the board of water and soil resources along [snorts] with the army corps of engineers and uh TP members are charged with the responsibility of upholding the wetland conservation act. Ultimately, what this means is our construction will impact an existing wetland and per the conservation act to preserve wetlands um [clears throat] and other natural areas. You are required to mitigate that impact. One would be to construct a wetland on your project site meeting the current um flora and fauna wetland class wetland classification type. There's five could be a little bit more um five or six wetland types of the type that you impact that wetland that you construct must be the same. Your alternative is to rather than purchasing

additional property to construct a wetland. There are banks that are set up with these credits, private property owners, private companies that have created large wetland banks of however many acres. They register with the board of soil and water and every credit that is purchased is tracked. So that in our case our 1.51 units or acres is accounted for and if that bank is whatever acreage it is it's reduced by 1.5. There's multiple entities that purchase from the same bank. So these banks that we're buying these credit from, do they create, so let's say we take an acre and a half of marsh out, which is what's out there, right? Are they creating an acre and a half of marsh or do they own an acre and a half of correct? That's exactly what it is. They're creating one a new well both often times far. It's a previously previously existing area that was not a wetland that they would create a wetland of the same type whether it's 50 acres, 150 acres, however big it is. So they have that property or ownership but they created it and then it's an accounting process after that as they sell them. Is that public land that people can access in this wetland bank in this? That question I can't answer. I'm not sure. It's privately held so I doubt it. Of oftenimes it's a great expense to the land owner to enroll it in and to no longer drain it through tile and create now a new wetland. Um, and so it's a great expense to the the owner, but some of that cost share comes from this organization, Bowser, that helps

them pay to bring it back to its original restoration, which helps with our drainage here in Wilmer when we have a lot of flooding. Oh, I have no doubt about that. But I'm I'm kind of with Mr. Fagly. It kind of seems scammy. It seems to me if you've got existing wetlands, why are you buying existing wetlands? You're offsetting runoff from your project. Just seems like it should be new wetland, but I mean sets those limits. Yeah, those are taking wetland conservation act rules. Yep. This isn't the this [clears throat] isn't unique to construction projects. I mean, it happens throughout the entire state, right? So, we don't have a motion. It's motion to approve the purchase of the wetland credits for construction of Minnesota Highway 40 turn lane for $110,524.30. Second got a motion. Second discussion. Roll call. Oh, Tom. Yeah. My my only comment is I'd prefer to leave the wetlands there, but I don't think we can put in turning lanes anywhere else. Is that correct? The roads there. That's correct. All right. [snorts] Roll call. Council member Butterfield. I should. OSK. Hi. Nelson I Gilbertson I Gardner I Baggerly I and Davis Hi. eight eyes zero nos. Motion passes. Thanks councel. Thank you J.

Any announcements Audrey and then Justin. [clears throat] Um yes. I thought we could call on Mr. to talk about the growing with gratitude lunch that is going to go on on Thursday. Mr. mayor, members of the council, we have our uh one-time event where I bring many of our uh investors and uh people in the community that have offered uh many hours and their gifts and talents in the community uh to say thanks. This happened, this will be our second time that we'll uh gather together and just say thank you uh to those partners. Um you have all received your invitations and thank you for those who um will accompany us and um we are looking forward to having this great time. It will be Thursday starting at 11:30 at our city auditorium. Thank you Audrey. Thank you. Thank you. You have your hands up. Yeah. I just wanted to to say thank you um to Spurs Barn Grill and Willie Gonzalez who put together a Thanksgiving meal for everyone in the community. It's great to see something like that taking place in Wilmer. Any other announcements? Otherwise, we're going to I'm going to ask for a motion to enter into close session. Second. Motion and a second. Any discussion? [clears throat] Roll call. Mayor, uh before we close the meeting, we do need to follow the procedure and [clears throat] reference the statutory basis and the property to be discussed. All right. Do you have that handy?

Yes, I do. Legal basis for closing the meeting. This portion of the regular meeting of the city council will be closed pursuant to Minnesota statute section 13D.05. 05 subdivision 3C. The following real property will be discussed separately in a closed session. Parcel of land located under 1st Street Bridge between Benson Avenue and Highway 12. I would accept a motion for to close. [cough] Second. Is there two roll call? Council member Shelz. Hi Osk. Hi Nelson. I Gilbertson. Hi Gardner. Hi Faggerly. Hi Davis. Hi. And Butterfield. Hi. Eight I's zero nos. City council is now in close session pursuant to Minnesota statutes 13D.05 subdivision 3C. The time is 8:07 p.m. In addition to the city council, also present at the close session are Leslie Valiant, city administrator, Renee Larson, city clerk, Kyle Box, city operations director, Robert Scott, city attorney. Is there any other