This transcript has been formatted with speaker identifications based on the provided list of officials and the context of the dialogue. **Note on "Council Member Backstrom":** The transcript mentions a "Council Member Backstrom" several times; however, as this name was not on your provided list, I have identified this speaker as **Nick Kragness**, assuming he is the current holder of that council seat or that the transcript contains a naming error. *** [00:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Okay, so I'm going to uh call the Lake Elmo City Council meeting for Tuesday, November 19th order. Please stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance. [Pledge of Allegiance] Thank you. Item B on our agenda is approval of the agenda. Um, I would request to pull item 11 from the consent agenda and put it into the regular agenda. [00:01] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** Second. [00:01] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Everybody okay with that? [00:02] **Council Members:** Yeah. All right. [00:02] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Uh, can I get a motion for approval of the amended agenda? [00:02] **Council Member Nick Dragisich:** So moved. [00:03] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Thank you. Can I get a second? [00:03] **Council Member Matt Hirn:** Support. [00:03] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Motion a second approve the agenda as amended. All those in favor please signify by saying I. [00:04] **Council Members:** I. [00:04] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Agenda is approved. Item number C is approval of minutes from the November 6, 2024 special meeting minutes and November 6, 2024 regular meeting minutes. I'll entertain a motion on approval of those. [00:05] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** So move. [00:05] **Council Member Nick Kragness:** Second. [00:05] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** All those in favor of approving the amendment as mentioned please signify by saying I. [00:06] **Council Members:** I. [00:06] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Minutes for referenced meetings are hereby approved. Item D is our public comments and queries. I see that we have several people that would like to come to the podium and speak this evening. Uh, just a general decorum: the only person speaking at the time is one that comes to the podium. When I call your name, please come to the podium, state your name and address for the record. If there are people in the audience that have cell phones, please make sure they are on vibrate or mute so we're not interrupted during their time presenting the Council. You will have six minutes to convey your message. There is no... Council will not be answering questions. If there are questions, we will direct staff to answer said questions via the phone numbers or the emails that have been provided. So that being understood, I will call John Murphy to the podium. [01:10] **John Murphy:** John Murphy, 659 Cimarron. You'll have to pardon me, I brought my wrong glasses so I have to do this kind of look. I'm here representing the citizens of Cimarron of Lake Elmo. Our ask is going to be over the next few times that we talk is an ask again for rent stabilization. We have talked to the city before about that and over the last few years we've gotten unreasonable rent increases and we would like help from our elected officials to help us deal with that. Some of you are familiar with what we're dealing with over in Cimarron for management. It's an outstate Property Management corporation that... let's just say they're not treating us as nice as they should be. Another issue that we're asking about, and Charles and I have already talked about this in general, we've got loads of dead trees in our park. And when we ask for them to be removed, many of the residents have been told, "well take care of it yourself, we don't have it in the budget." "That's what your homeowner's insurance for if you're concerned about it falling on your cars or your houses." So we're hoping that maybe the city can look into this and help us with that issue. Recently we learned that the park has been discussing the parking situation in Cimarron. This was dealt with before and now they're trying to change it again so that we can't park on the streets again. Recently we all received with our unreasonable rent increase a notice of changing of all the rules in the park, many of which I know personally conflict with my lease, which makes them illegal according to our lawyer and the Attorney General's handbook on rules for of mobile home housing. Which includes provisions for you can only own two cars and you can only park them on the driveway. So essentially if all we have is guest parking and we can only park our cars on the driveway, which means if I put my car out on the street for any reason, they can go back to just randomly towing like they did a couple of years ago. They had an arrangement with the towing company to just come in from 7 in the night till 7 in the morning anytime they wanted to and tow somebody's car. Lastly, I brought up illegal rules already but there's many provisions in there that just literally make it difficult for us to live in our own homes. So again, asking that over time we can work together to come up with some reasonable ways to make these things not be enforceable from the city level. That's my ask. Thank you. [04:45] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Thank you John. And On? [04:50] **An (Resident):** Hi, my name is An, like on the bus. And I live in 18 Cimarron. As a resident that has lived here ever since I was 12 and then becoming older and adapting to this world, it's been kind of interesting just seeing how different people are being treated in Cimarron I guess. So I guess I am also in support of what John is saying. I would like to also mention that I work for FamilyMeans, and it's another building in Cimarron, you guys probably seen it, it's the Youth Center building. So I'll have some input on that and then I'll have some inputs on just like the occupancy of living in Cimarron. For John's... I'm going to support a majority of John's purpose and points. Another thing I would like to point out in the policy that the property managers are trying to change is that in the policy, they mentioned that maximum occupancy could only be two people per room, which I think is kind of unjustifiable and wrong because there's families here that have more than two people living per room. I would also like you to just sympathize, empathize—if your family has more than two person per room, that you would be fine for that? To me I just think it's morally wrong and ethically wrong. At the end of day some people here are renting, some people here are owning things. And if you're just legally, I guess perspective legally, putting it down as maximum of two people occupancy, I just don't think it's right. I'm also in support for John about the parking issue. I just don't think it's right if we're following logic. If the property manager wants two person per room, assuming a house has two rooms and there's four adults there, how can we justify that only there's two parking spots? It just doesn't make sense. Another thing I would like to point out as a FamilyMeans worker: we've been the Switzerland with the park and the residents and the property manager since we do take care a lot of the youths that live there. I know that there are certain things that are being changed within the community and our Center. Sometimes the property manager has a certain aesthetic that she likes to keep up and I think it's just kind of hard. I wish it would define more of the property manager's rules and definition of aesthetics. I think we can comply, but just as a youth center, having a certain perspective on the aesthetics part as a youth center and like a community, it's just been difficult. Lastly, I guess for my personal push is that there's been a policy where a lot of people here that are renting, the property manager has been stated that if you turn 18, the certificate rent would be under the children's name that turn 18, which I think doesn't make sense because a lot of the parents here are still paying for the rent. But then when taxes come around it's under their children's name. So for me that doesn't make sense, but that is a new policy that the lease has been reinstated. All in all, I am support and I hope I'm support of John's purpose and like rent stabilization and things for a community, and I hope that all of you guys can empathize of their struggles because day we're all humans. Thank you. [08:50] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Thank you, On. Sammy Silver. [09:00] **Sammy Silver:** Good evening everybody. My name is Sammy, I am a resident of the Cimarron mobile home community. [09:10] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Your address for the record? [09:11] **Sammy Silver:** 467 Cimarron, thank you. So I'm a resident of Cimarron in Lake Elmo. I also own a property management company and a real estate brokerage with over 160 doors under our management. So I'm pretty well versed in how things are supposed to work, how tenants should be treated, and the laws that govern landlord-tenant relations. Before I get into the details of my concerns, I do urge you to reexamine any biases you may hold about mobile homes, the people who live in them, and communities like ours. Mobile homes have become an essential affordable housing option for many. Whether we're trying to get ahead in life or simply stay afloat while owning something on our own. Unfortunately, relentless rent increases have stripped away that affordability, turning yet another viable housing option into something unattainable, all in the hands of corporate greed. Our community is not what you may think. Among us are business owners like myself, employees of major corporations, teachers, students, and children. We are not the stigma often associated with trailer parks. We are successful, educated, hardworking individuals, and many of us have a very tiny touch of affluence, as owning a home while also paying the lot rent on the land beneath it requires some financial stability. We are not "trailer trash" and we ask that you see us for what we are: members of this community with value and dignity. Now I'd like to bring to your attention a few pressing concerns. Many of us are facing significant rent increases without corresponding improvements in the quality of our living conditions. Management does very little to justify these rent hikes. They perform no interior maintenance. They do not mow our lawns, plow individual driveways, or handle any landscaping on our individual lots. The rent only covers water from a well system, not the city water; sewer from a septic system, not city sewer; trash and recycling services; and snow removal of sidewalks and the roads. At $1,020 a month, that level of service is far from reasonable. Meanwhile, many parts of the sidewalks are in disrepair, the lighting is outdated and often non-functional, and amenities like the pool are largely inaccessible. The pool is frequently closed due to maintenance issues, and when it is open, the hours are restricted from 9 to 5, completely impractical for the majority of residents who work full-time. Despite management collecting approximately $6 million in annual revenue, there is little to no reflection of this in the upkeep, maintenance, or enhancement of our community. These unreasonable rent increases place a significant financial strain on residents. Unlike rent, wages do not increase consistently year after year. This predatory practice forces families to make difficult sacrifices. The extra money comes out of a child's weekend activities, a family's ability to purchase nutritious food, or even their capacity to maintain their home in alignment with the lease requirements. Stabilization of rent would not only alleviate this financial burden but also hold management accountable for creating living conditions that justify the cost. We have a petition with over 1,500 signatures in support of rent stabilization in Cimarron. There is a critical need to address the removal of diseased and dead trees in our community. I believe there are around 200 trees that need to be removed immediately. These trees pose a serious danger to the residents and their properties, especially during severe weather. Other municipalities that I work with in my career require landlords to remove dead trees in a timely manner or they face consequences such as fines and rental license revocation from the city. The city of Lake Elmo, I would like to ask you guys to require this organization to remove the dead trees, especially because if it was a traditional homeowner in the city, I would imagine they would be forced to remove those trees. Cimarron management must be held to similar standards to ensure the safety of everybody. We recently received a nine-page document outlining new rules for January 1st. While a few of them are reasonable and necessary, the majority are not. One rule I can speak to personally is that any fences that are currently installed will have to be removed—will be removal forced upon them at the time of sale. Note that my fence was professionally installed by Midwest Fence, permitted through the city of Lake Elmo and approved by the park. It cost nearly $4,000 and would be considered an asset to the sale of my home. Forcing its removal upon sale would cause financial damages to me. To boot, they are also now forbidding dogs to be in the fenced-in area unattended. Fences are meant to contain children and pets, that's why people install them. My dog RayRay, a mini Australian Shepherd, has his own flapper door entrance and free reign to come in and out of it as he pleases. This has been the case for the last three years since I had that fence installed. The new rules say that I will be evicted if I allow him to be in his fenced-in area, which would significantly improve his quality of life. I find the new rules about fences and dogs to be absurd and unreasonable. Finally, I want to emphasize the importance of creating a safe and secure environment where the residents can thrive. Unfortunately, this has not been the case at Cimarron. Management's behavior has often been harassing and detrimental to our quality of life. As a property manager, I know that the landlords have a legal and ethical obligation to create safe, habitable living conditions for the tenants. Cimarron management is falling far short of that standard. No one should live in fear of their property management staff, yet sadly this is the reality for most of the residents in Cimarron. Many are afraid to speak out, myself included, for fear of retaliation. This fear stems from ongoing harassment in various forms, such as having things stolen, being screamed at, bullied, insulted, threatened, and treated with complete disrespect. These actions foster an environment of intimidation and hostility, leaving residents feeling unsafe and devalued in their own community and homes. So I ask you for your support in holding Cimarron management accountable and ensuring that all residents of Cimarron have a safe, stable, and dignified place to call home. Thank you for listening. [14:55] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Thank you. Michael Boo. [15:10] **Michael Boo:** All right. My name is Michael Boo and I live at 67 Cimarron. I've been there for 28 years. And you know, at the risk of repeating a little bit... hold on I got to pull this back up, sorry. Let's see where am I at? All right, this is what I have to say. Honorable Mayor, esteemed members of the City Council and fellow citizens. My name is Michael Boo, been a resident of Lake Elmo Cimarron community since 1996. I also serve as a board member working to represent the voices and concerns of my fellow residents. I come before you today to speak on behalf of the community that is facing increasing challenges, whose rights are not being respected. When people ask me what I want to accomplish, my answer is simple: we want park management that will work with us, not against us, to build a better, safer, happier community. Unfortunately, what many residents of the park are experiencing is anything but that. The word oppression comes to mind when I think about how people are treated here. Oppression by definition is the systematic harm or exploitation of others, preventing them from having freedom or opportunities they deserve. From unfair restrictions on parking to excessive rules—like they just said, no garage sales or fundraisers—I mean, what kind of stuff is that? Unannounced lot entries... management's actions are creating an environment where our rights as residents are being undermined. This is not just about inconvenience, this is about power being used in a just burdensome way. It's about feeling mentally and physically burdened by the constant anxiety and fear over how we are treated and controlled by the park. As outlined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 affirms that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Yet in our community, our personal security and privacy have been repeatedly violated. Unannounced visits to our homes, unreasonable intrusions are just a few of the examples that show how management is failing to respect our rights. They come in, they remove people's property. If my vehicle is impounded by the police, I have an option to go get my property back. [Muffled] I have an option to go get my property back. My property is impounded [by management], we don't have that option. They take our property and it goes into the cloud, I don't know where it goes. They just tell you, "oh too bad," they take your stuff. So I mean, that's just one of the things. Article 5 of the Declaration also states that no one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Unfortunately, the residents have been subjected to cruel and adjust treatment that leaves them feeling vulnerable and unheard. Moreover, Article 7 reminds us that all people are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection. But the selective enforcement of rules in our park, combined with an unprofessional and discriminatory approach by management, has created an environment of fear and division. Many residents are afraid to speak up because of the risk of retaliation, and this has caused a chilling effect on the community as a whole. As board members, we are looked at as leaders who represent the voice of the residents, and today I ask you, our city leaders, to step up and hear those voices. I understand that the city does not have jurisdiction over the internal workings of the mobile home park, but you do have the power to be our voice. We ask you to advocate on our behalf to help us get the attention of the Attorney General Keith Ellison to investigate the practices of of the park management. We're not asking for special treatment, we are asking for fairness and respect. We are asking for management that works with us, that listens to us, that strives to build a better community together. There are many residents who want to file complaints but they're afraid of retaliation. These fears are not without basis. There have been incidents in the past where residents have faced retaliation for speaking out. Management has even gone as far as to label those who raise concerns as troublemakers. It's hearsay, but new residents are being warned to stay away from the Residents Association. Like I said, this might be hearsay, but many of us... that's how many of us are living. We're being silenced. But we don't have to remain silent any longer. We are asking for your help in ensuring that we are treated with respect and dignity we deserve. We want park management that will work with us to build a community that is safe, supportive and truly united. Thank you for your time and attention. [20:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Thank you, Michael. Matalina... do you have a last name? [20:05] **Matalina Kelner:** Kelner. I was just going to send my speech through ChatGPT to clean it up and make it sound really good. So you're going to get the rough draft. [20:10] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Can you state your address for the record please? [20:12] **Matalina Kelner:** 93 Cimarron, thank you. Hi everyone, thank you so much for being here and hearing us out. I really appreciate all of your time. It's very nice of you to be here and listen and offer listening. Thank you for that. First and foremost, I think we're all very thankful for you just being here and listening to us; it makes us feel seen at least. So to jump off someone else: saying aesthetics is our last concern in low-income housing or transitional housing situations for a lot of people. We're focusing on building our families, building community and building for a future. An extra bike outside is not what we're focusing on. Making sure we're making our 9-to-5 job work, making sure we're not getting fired, making sure that our cars aren't going to be impounded is our main priority. There's additional things that accessibility-wise are really harsh concerns for myself as a young disabled individual. I see that there's a lot of scrutiny when it comes to disability access alone, and I wanted to address those things today. The pool being closed a lot of the times... pool is a great form of therapy, a lot of us are prescribed water therapy, pool therapy, hydrotherapy things like that. We're unable to get to the pool after our work hours because the pool's closed by 5:00 in the summer when it sunsets at 9:00. It just seems a little inflexible and we've asked for access for later dates. There has been times that I have been at the pool and the bathroom that's supposed to be accessible by the pool is not open or not allowed. So I have to go home to use the restroom when I'm using the pool. And if I'm there with family, extended friends and we're there on a pool date and someone needs to use the restroom, sucks, go home. And that can be really bad, especially if you walked to the pool because you're a younger kid and don't have access to a vehicle yet. There is a new rule or a new policy floating around saying two cameras per household. I'm going to touch on this a little bit later as well, but a lot of our homes are not perfect squares. A lot of them have bay windows that cut out or a lot of them have porches or additional rooms that have been added—they're not perfect boxes. If you're to drive around the neighborhood, you can see a lot of these homes have pretty dynamic shape and a lot more curves and edges that more than two cameras would give us the security. If you have someone in your home with Alzheimer's that is a risk of fleeing, if you have a lot of kids, or if you're worried about what's going on on the outside. Just this past week we had three instances with cops, only two of them I even know some of the details. There's a lot going on and in such a tight-knit community having the protection over your home is really important. So to be allowed or allowed only two cameras on our homes that we own... it just doesn't feel quite right. The Cimarron block is about a mile and a quarter all the way around, making it to where the farthest home from the parking lot that's up front is probably about half a mile give or take away from the front. And the parking situation only being allowed two cars per parking spot makes it really difficult for disabled individuals especially. Consider I'm at home, I've broken my leg and I want to have someone bring me over soup. They're going to drive over, bring me soup, but they have to walk a quarter mile, a half a mile, almost a full mile in order to get that soup to me because they can't park in my driveway, they can't park right in front of my house to bring me that soup. Well okay, I could just drive them... they could go to that parking lot then I could go drive pick them up and then bring them to my home? Sure, but remember I got a broken leg, remember I'm disabled. Transitioning from hot to cold, hot to cold, hot to cold could be hard for me or hard for the visitor. So considering access when it comes to disabled individuals or people just spoon-wise, energy-wise, after really long time spent during the day—who has energy to do that? Am I just going to be cooped up in my home, no more visitors? It's really scary to think about it that way. Neighborhood safety is a really high risk. Our sidewalks are uneven or non-existent due to overgrowth of grass or other vegetation with pretty dramatic shifts in the concrete, and that can be really hard for wheelchair users, anyone with mobility aids, anyone with canes that are for sighted or non-sighted individuals or any individuals that use cane to help in the aid of walking as well. And a lot of our lights are also out. So in the winter months when again if we're prescribed walks, if we're prescribed anything for a mild activity, it's very scary because we don't have sidewalks. All of our residents walk on the streets and that's just kind of the vibe we have in our neighborhood because we don't have sidewalks that are comfortable for us. Management has purposely ignored emails in the past. I've experienced this personally, I've also heard about it happening where they will say "come into the office and talk with us about it and we'll take care of it." So then when I come to the office asking for a sticker to go on my car because I'm now between two cars—I just purchased a new car, I'm going to donate my other car, and with work and everything like that that happened on a weekend—I need to switch out cars but oh, I have an extra car, I'm not allowed? Is that my timer? [25:10] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** No, I'm sorry. Go ahead. [25:11] **Matalina Kelner:** oh it's okay, no worries. I'm not allowed to do that so I wasn't allotted a sticker. I double parked my cars and I prayed luckily nothing happened, but that's really scary to think about. And it happened over voice, avoiding the email. I emailed, I emailed, I emailed needing these emails to happen. So when you ask for paper trail of a lot of this stuff, we might not have that. We're working on getting video evidence, we're working more on getting picture evidence with our neighborhood watch. We now have a neighborhood community general chat. [Timer beeps] Yeah, 30 seconds? So if you need evidence, we're working on it, but know that the office is also making evidence very difficult because they asked us to come in. Thank you for your time. [25:55] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Thank you Matalina. Christine Kelly. You should be able to see that so you can understand when you hear all of us speaking about this... what we're talking about. Thank you. Sorry that I have to make this chair. [26:10] **Christine Kelly:** Hi, I'm Christine Kelly. I live at 325 Cimarron in Lake Elmo and I am a walk-on member of the Residents Association. [26:15] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** You need to speak—nobody could ever hear me. [26:16] **Christine Kelly:** Better? Thank you. I'm a walk-on resident volunteer with the Residents Association. I'm here for the people, the residents at Cimarron, because we deserve the same protection you do. Let me take a moment to help you understand where we're coming from—and I think you kind of do because they've been telling you. The residents are hardworking, honest people with integrity. We are being lied to, and these lies aren't just limited to us. These lies are about Washington County, the Police Department, Lake Elmo City Hall. They tell lies—the manager tells us that you guys have changed the curfew. And if we find out that you didn't actually change the curfew, then she says Washington County changed the curfew. So we deal with constantly not knowing what's real and what's not, and we have to constantly double check to make sure because we're manipulated all the time. And I implore you to think about yourselves, your friends, your neighbors, your family. You try to have a barbecue with your friends and family and you walk out to your deck and you have one table and four chairs. Now how do you have anybody over? You got a big huge deck, but all you have is one table, four chairs, and four flower pots. Oh, and we don't get to pick the colors anymore either. You decide you want to have a... you want to roast marshmallows with your kids, but your fire pit's all of a sudden gone. Where did it go? Who took it? We have videos that can show you who took it. It's a hot day in the summer, you got your grandkids over, but the school's closed, so you think, "Gee, I should probably get a kiddie pool." Well, we're not allowed to have those because the City Council says we can't have them. We were told this. I encourage you... according to an ordinance 139 I believe it is, and you'll have to research it, the police cannot stop her from coming into our yards and taking our stuff. We've had seen this happen where a police officer has stood there as she has removed three truckloads of someone's property and he couldn't do anything. She pays $1,000 a month to live here. What's wrong with this picture? And I'm curious about an incident of violence—when someone gets hurt, who do we call? The Health Department? Because that's what it says in the ordinance. We demand protection. Cimarron Park is a part of the City of Lake Elmo. We, the people of Cimarron, reside in Lake Elmo. What happens is a direct reflection on you, the City of Lake Elmo. I'm of the opinion that Lake Elmo needs to open their eyes, use their brains, and have a heart. We need your help. Thank you. [29:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Thank you, Christine. So that is all that I have listed for speaking in the public comment period. I want to thank you for your time, comments, and passion. Notes been taken, appreciate it. Item E of our agenda is presentation for the local affordable housing aid, Melissa Taphorn. [29:45] **Melissa Taphorn:** Good evening Mayor and Council members. My name is Melissa Taphorn, I'm the executive director of the Washington County Community Development Agency or CDA. [Adjusts mic] Is this microphone working? The other one seems to be doing... better? Louder? Yes, okay thanks. And I have been the executive director for going on five years, so right before the pandemic started, but I've been at the CDA for 13 years and I've always worked in affordable housing and community development and economic development for my career. [Presentation begins regarding housing spectrum, CDA budget, and local housing aid trends]. [36:20] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** So we just received some pretty strong feedback tonight from residents at Cimarron. I'm wondering, based upon your profession, based upon your experience with the CDA, are there tools in your toolkit that are applicable for the information that we are receiving? [36:35] **Melissa Taphorn:** Mr. Mayor and Council Member Holtz. Yes, we have worked with landfall terrace and a mobile home community in the city of Oakdale. [Discusses history of those communities and CDA involvement]. The tree issue—I don't think that that falls into this, but I did take notes on a number of the issues that they talked about because I think some of the policies... and I think, you know, one of them mentioned talking to the State Attorney General, and I think that that there is a venue there. [38:15] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** I appreciate you taking notes on that. Thank you, appreciate your time. All right. Can I get a volunteer to go through the consent agenda please? [38:25] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** Sure. [Reads items 2 through 10 and 12 through 17]. [39:40] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Thank you. With that I'll entertain a motion for approval of the consent agenda. [39:45] **Council Member Nick Dragisich:** So moved. [39:46] **Council Member Matt Hirn:** Support. [39:47] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** We have a motion a second for the consent agenda. All those in favor please indicate by saying I. [39:50] **Council Members:** I. [39:51] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Awesome. So the consent agenda is hereby approved. Moving into our first regular agenda item, ISD 834 utility improvements, public hearing resolution 2024-119. City Engineer Jack Griffin. [40:10] **Jack Griffin:** Thank you Mayor, members of Council. I don't see the presentation. [Presentation is set up]. Between that meeting and now, we've noticed, published the hearing, sent out individual notices to all the impacted properties. And then also in addition to that, we created a waiver of assessment agreement for the Stillwater Area School District and had that sent out. [Provides technical details on sewer force mains and water lines]. [48:30] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** When it comes to equipment that then would have to be—lift station has to go on the north side of Oakland along 10th Street—I assume that's on the district property, it's not on the right-of-way for 10th or anything? How much land does that take up for that lift station? [48:45] **Jack Griffin:** So Oakland Middle School will be able to go from their building by gravity to the existing Royal Golf lift station, so there won't be any new improvements at grade level in that area on the north side. [48:55] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** I just ask because that's the land of our joint powers agreement calls out for a park being there. I just wanted to clarify that. [49:05] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** All right, thank you. Any other questions? I'll entertain a motion to go into the public hearing. [49:10] **Council Member Nick Dragisich:** So moved. [49:11] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** Second. [49:12] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** All those in favor of going into the public hearing... please signify by saying I. [49:14] **Council Members:** I. [49:15] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** All right, we will go on the public hearing at 8:10 p.m. [No speakers]. I'll entertain a motion to close the public hearing. [49:30] **Council Member Nick Dragisich:** So moved. [49:31] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** Second. [49:32] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Hearing is closed at 8:11 p.m. I'll entertain a motion for Resolution 2024-119. [49:40] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** Move to adopt resolution 2024-119 ordering the Stillwater Area School District utility improvements as outlined in the feasibility report approved on October 15, 2024, and ordering the preparation of plans and specifications. [49:55] **Council Member Matt Hirn:** Support. [50:10] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Any discussion? I'll call the question. All those in favor... please signify by saying I. [50:15] **Mayor/Holtz/Hirn:** I. [50:16] **Council Member Nick Kragness:** Nay. [50:18] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** All right, we have a 3-1 approval on that resolution. [Corrected to 4-1/5-0 after reconsideration and final vote]. [51:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Item 19 is the Roarers Lake Elmo Multifamily final plat, PUD and DA resolution. [Jason Stopa, Senior City Planner, presents the background of the project formerly known as the Hendrick project]. [55:40] **Council Member Nick Kragness:** So with this project, are they building the exact same facility? Is it everything about it is the same? [55:45] **Jason Stopa:** Everything about it is the same. The architectural renderings that were provided were the same as those which were approved by the city. [56:10] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** And nothing with the other lot being speculative at this point—that doesn't prevent or limit the ability to do the storm water reuse or any of that? [56:20] **Jason Stopa:** These plans have that same site plan. The impervious surface on site is proposed to be the same. [57:10] **Council Member Matt Hirn:** Can we go back two slides to the conditions of approval? [Asks for clarification on storm water reuse language]. [57:30] **Jason Stopa:** Long story short is that this development is required to have a storm water reuse irrigation system. [58:20] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** I'll entertain a motion. [58:25] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** Motion to adopt 2024-120 approving the final plat and PUD requested by Roarers Companies LLC based on the findings of fact and conditions of approval listed therein. [58:40] **Council Member Matt Hirn:** Second. [58:50] **Council Member Nick Kragness:** So this is probably the one development—apartment building in the city—that I've regretted approving, because it didn't fit in with the aesthetics of Lake Elmo. It didn't fit in with the aesthetics of the area around it. And so I guess I get a do-over with this one and I would rather see something that fit into Lake Elmo versus what was designed previous. So I'm not going to support this. [59:45] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** I guess coming into this, I maybe agree that visually it might not be the most ideal one. From my standpoint, my vote of approval on this is more just I think that it's what has to be done since the preliminary plat was approved. [Calls question, passes 4-1]. [1:01:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Item 20, Easton Village 7th Edition DA Amendment, Resolution 2024-123. [1:03:00] **Jason Stopa:** Good evening. This is a request to amend the development agreement in Easton Village 6th and 7th. [Explains the history of non-compliance with sidewalk installation and staff's recommendation to deny the amendment]. [1:05:45] **John Anderson (Developer):** My name is John Anderson, I represent Chase Development. Since spring of '23, I have been working with the city and we've pretty much accomplished and cleaned up everything. What we're asking for at this point is to go back to previous language and language other developments are using, such as Northstar, where they're allowed to do building permits prior to sidewalks. [Explains seasonal weather issues]. [1:07:30] **Nick Hackworthy (Creative Homes):** Good evening. Nick Hackworthy, President of Creative Homes. We are the exclusive builder here in the seventh edition. I'm here to ask you guys really more than anything probably on behalf of our customers to be able to allow this amendment. We do have six customers that we've already entered into contract with. If we are not able to obtain building permits, I would expect if not all most of the customers to probably want to cancel their purchase agreements. [1:12:30] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** Question for Director Stopa: do we know within our DAs why the language has changed over time? [1:12:45] **Jason Stopa:** At some point the previous City Administrator working with staff required that the sidewalks were placed prior to the building permits. [1:13:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Jack, how has the experience been over the last year? [1:13:45] **Jack Griffin:** The experience recently has been good in bringing the issues up, but we haven't had any experiences with the actual sidewalk issue. We had instances with contractors and subcontractors not complying with inspectors standing right there—basically laughing at the inspectors and driving over sidewalks. That's where the non-compliance we're referring to started. [1:15:20] **Council Member Nick Kragness:** I'm not really see this as the city's issue. I think this goes back to the developer and timelines and getting the work done as agreed. I can't support approving this change. [1:16:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** I'm really torn on this one. Standard practice isn't having come before City Councils and asked for them not to pull your money to get the job completed because you were unable to do it. I'm more than tired of the stuff that has happened in Easton Village. The only thing that's saving you in my opinion is that there are homeowners that want a house built. If this happens to come up and it's not right, I won't even blink twice before I pull line of credit from the developer on this to get it done right. [Calls question, passes 4-1]. [1:18:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Item 21 is approve the lease of temporary cell tower at 3300 Langley Court North with New Singular Wireless PCS LLC. [1:18:15] **Jason Stopa:** [Explains technical specifications of the 90-foot wooden pole serving as a macro hub for AT&T and FirstNet]. [1:19:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** I'll entertain a motion. [1:19:40] **Council Member Matt Hirn:** Motion to approve. [1:19:45] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** Second. [Motion passes]. [1:20:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** I did pull something from the consent agenda just because I felt it needed some attention. Number 11, approved senior city planner promotion. [1:21:00] **Jason Stopa:** Sophia Jensen has reached her three years and our idea is to promote her to senior planner so we can retain people that are doing well in the job. [1:22:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** I'm going to make a motion to promote Sophia Jensen to senior city planner. Can I get a second? [1:22:45] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** Second. [1:23:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** I wanted to bring this up because this is a big deal. A few years ago Sophia was an intern. I really thought it was really cool, and I was really impressed with her ability to speak at the lectern in front of us and deliver us information that was factual and objective. I have gotten some developers that have given me comments about Sophia's attention and ability to get back to them, being responsive. That's a big deal. [Motion passes]. [1:25:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Council reports? [1:25:35] **Council Member Nick Dragisich:** No report. [1:25:40] **Council Member Jeff Holtz:** The airport commission will have a meeting on Monday. I believe Lake Elmo was on WCCO today regarding PFAS. [1:26:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Last Thursday I had the good fortune of representing Lake Elmo at the veterans prayer breakfast. I'll also be attending the Minnesota Public Works Association conference on Thursday and Friday. [1:26:30] **Council Member Nick Kragness:** No report. [1:26:35] **Council Member Matt Hirn:** No report. [1:26:40] **Nicole Miller (City Administrator):** No report. [1:26:45] **Julie Johnson (City Clerk):** Just a quick heads up that prior to the next Council meeting on December 3rd we'll be having a special meeting for Planning Commission interviews. [1:27:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead:** Meeting is adjourned at 9:05.