Good evening and welcome to this Prior Lake City Council meeting of Tuesday, March 10th. If you would please stand, join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag indivisibley and justice for all. Good evening and welcome. It uh so wonderful to see so many in our council chambers this evening for this very very important meeting. Um first item on the agenda is the public forum. The public forum is that opportunity for those in the council chambers to come before council and share with us any and all that might be on your mind. The only exceptions are that at this time we would not accept any testimony related to a hearing, either a hearing that has already taken place or for a hearing that has been scheduled. But with that loan exception, is there anyone else that would like to be heard this evening? Seeing none, let's go ahead and move along to item three on our agenda, council, which is the approval of the agenda itself. Uh, if all appears to be in order, I would accept a um motion to approve as submitted. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by council member Churchill, second by council member Ray to approve the agenda as submitted. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. That motion carries. Bringing us to item four on our agenda, and that is the approval of the February 10th, 2026 city council meeting minutes. Again, council. Um, are there any additions, modifications to those meeting minutes? If none, I would entertain a motion to approve as submitted. >> So, moved. >> Second. >> We have a motion by council member Helier and a second by council member Churchill to approve those meeting minutes. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. We have uh three eyes and one abstension, and that is council member Brad. Um, that brings us to the consent agenda this evening. Uh I'll go ahead and turn this item over to uh city manager Woodell who does have his water with him as the l the list is rather lengthy this evening and you feel free to take a break in the if if need arises. So with that uh please manager Wedell introduce the items before us and um we look forward to uh talking to you at the end. >> All right, sounds good. Thank you mayor and council members and members of the audience. So, our consent agendas for those items that are considered routine or non-controversial, they're placed all together on the consent agenda. So, unless the mayor or council member asks for an item to be removed for separate consideration, they're all approved together under a single motion, second, and a vote. If an item were to be removed for separate consideration tonight, it would be placed on item number 10 on the agenda. So, tonight we have the following items on consent, so bear with me. We have a lot of them. Approval of the claims listing. An ordinance amendment to extend the cable television franchise with New Vera. An ordinance amendment to extend the cable television franchise with Mediacom. An ordinance approving a franchise agreement renewal with Centerpoint Energy. An ordinance approving a franchise agreement renewal with Shockby Public Utilities. A resolution ratifying the 2026 to 2028 collective bargaining agreement between the city of Prior Lake and Law Enforcement Labor Services, LLS, Local 461, for the police sergeants. A resolution ratifying the 2026 to 2028 collective bargaining agreement between the city of Prior Lake and Law Enforcement Labor Services LS local 100 for the police officers. A resolution approving a work order to conduct a feasibility study for the next phases of the Lakeside sewer lining project, city project 2027-04. A resolution receiving quotes and awarding a contract for SCADA hardware and software upgrades at the water treatment plant. A resolution receiving quotes and awarding a contract for building maintenance at city hall. A resolution approving a work order for boardwalk inspection and evaluation. A resolution approving a work order for the General Engineering Services. A resolution ordering the preparation of the feasibility report and approving a work order with WSB LLC for the Green Heights Reconstruction Project, City Project 2028-03. An ordinance amending section 10-789 of Prior Lake City Code related to election signs. An ordinance amending chapter 5, article 6 of Prior Lake City Code related to portable toilets. A resolution accepting permanent easements for drainage and utility purposes from Spring Lake Township. A resolution extending the deadline to record the final plat and development agreement for the residences at Crestwoods. Approval of the animal control services report. Approval of the building permit summary report. A resolution to approve a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources outdoor recreation program grant application for Thomas Ryan Park playground. a resolution approving the purchase of property at 13995 Hidden Lake Trail Northeast and authorizing the city manager to execute the purchase agreement for the Marsh Drive Extension Project City Project 2022-27. And finally, a resolution approving a purchase of replacement ballistic helmets for the Prior Lake Police Department. >> Thank you so much, Manager Wedell. Council, are there any items before us this evening uh on the consent agenda that you would ask be removed and taken up under item 10? If not, I would um entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as submitted. >> So moved. >> Second >> motion by council member Braid, a second by council member Helier to approve the consent agenda as submitted. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. That motion carries. Council, are there uh for the consent agenda items that we just approved, are there any for which you would like to make comment? Um seeing none, let us u move forward to an important presentation um this evening, and that is a a presentation honoring new hires of the Prior Lake Police Department. And I believe we have Chief Dugen to lead us through the presentation this evening. Chief Dugen. Mr. Mayor, members of the council, and to our audience, our uh sisters and brothers also in uniform. Uh it's an honor to have everyone here taking your valuable time and appreciate the support here. Tonight, we'll be putting a shield on Officer Brady Gable, shield number 70. Officer Gable was hired in October of 2025 and comes to us by way of the St. Cloud PD, where he served for two years as an officer. being only 23 years old now, that puts him starting at about 21. And I feel obliged to say at that point, I had been on the job about six years before he was born. And that's just an exact example of where we're at in our in our field these days and proud of it. Officer Gable uh since a kid spoke of his dream to be a police officer and after high school joined the army where he still serves today saying he takes pride in his work and knowing that he represents a community both on and off duty is important to officer Gable and talks about his interests including fishing, hunting, football, and spending quality time with his family. Those of you that know our agency, our mantra of people first in mission always is exactly how we approach everything, including our hiring. When I sit down with our first interview panels, we set the tone that we are looking for excellent humans first. We can build skill sets, but we can't change the fundamental person that someone is when they come to us. We simply just don't have that time. When Brady left the command interview, I turned to the panel and I distinctly I distinctly remember saying, "I like that kid." Meant very respectfully. We want team members who look at the world and say, "I'm going to find work and do the very best that I can." Brady has shown commitment and has already brought ideas and thoughts to help improve our operations and systems along the way in his short time. And we're a better team because of it. We use the word shield instead of badge because it's where our roots lie. In the very beginnings of community, the very best were chosen as warriors and protectors to guard the members of villages and towns. The role of protecting is never a single person. It's always a team. Next to Officer Gable, tonight you see one of our field training officers, Officer Kelm, representing that nothing we do is alone and that our actions always speak for all. Standing behind uh I'm sorry, the protectors stood at the edges of the towns with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. The message was clear. Stand behind me and I'll protect you with my shield. Today, these symbols are only a few ounces of tin and metal, but represent the tremendous privilege of protecting our community. And today will be our honor to present Officer Gable with shield number 70. Officer Gable, if you'll raise your right hand. I state your name. >> I >> do solemnly swear >> domly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States. the Constitution of the State of Minnesota. >> the Constitution of the State of Minnesota >> and the ordinances of the city of Prior Lake >> and the ordinances of the city of Prior Lake >> and that I will faithfully perform and discharge the duties of police officer. >> That I will faithfully perform and discharge the duties of a police officer. >> I will never betray my shield, my integrity, my character, or the public trust. >> I will never betray my shield, my integrity, my character, or the public trust. >> I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. So help me God. >> I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for actions. So help me God. >> Ladies and gentlemen, shield number 70 from Prior Lake PD, Officer Brady Gable, fitting his shield on his fiance Rachel. Where? There we go. Congratulations again, council. I would ask if you would like to take a break initially here uh before our next presentation. >> Yes. At at this uh moment, I call the uh council into recess at 711. >> Please feel free family or friends to uh come on up and take some photos up here. Prior Lake officers will let council take a photo and then all Prior Lake up. I'd like to call the uh meeting back into order at 7:14 and uh again uh presentation uh this evening um life- saving presentation and again uh I hand it over to uh Chief Dugen. Chief Dugen, please. Yen, mayor, members of the council, and our audience, our community and family and friends, appreciate your continued opportunity here to recognize not only new work and people coming to join our team, uh, but also the work of, uh, people in both of our fire, uh, in the case of tonight, our fire and police agencies. That's long overdue. For our next presentation, I'm going to ask you to think of the word foundation and what comes to mind when you hear that word, when you envision what it means in your life and perhaps a time when it was challenged, a time when it was shaken or maybe it was shattered. For every one of us here, likely you've included family in that thought of foundation. For our first responders, our medical, fire, and police, their days and nights are filled with entering other people's lives. Generally, when our community members foundations are shaken, maybe it's something as simple but impactful as a stolen item, maybe it's a family dispute or something more personal, each and every time it's an ask for them to help or something is wrong or broken. And these proud women and men in different uniforms step up and say, "I will answer that call." To the honor and difficulty of a night like tonight, our responders don't want the recognition and often are incredibly uncomfortable with even the thought of it. stretching that even more is that oftentimes our police, fire, and medical responders arrive on scenes and step into lives where they are faced with a very harsh reality that there are things they cannot change and things they can no longer fix. And yet, these brave souls still make the choice to continue on doing everything they can to turn lives shattered into lives stabilized or even saved. Tonight, we are doing our best to both recognize the unfathomable loss of a father and son, and also honor the selfless acts of a firefighter, a police officer, a doctor, and others, and miraculous the miraculous recovery of another son. At this time, I'd like to ask Fire Chief Rick Steinhouse and Police Detective Sto Cody Steinhouse to come up uh center, if you would, please. On April 1st, 2020, police, fire, and medics from multiple jurisdictions responded to an injury crash on County Road 21, just outside of Prior Lake. As personnel were arriving, the gravity of this crash set in one vehicle, a father and a son, were already tragically lost. Two of the responders, also a father and his son, one the Prior Lake Fire Chief and the other a Prior Lake officer, approached the car and immediately recognized that another child, the second son, was gravely injured in the back seat. Fire Chief Rick Steinhouse immediately jumped into the vehicle and pulled the young boy out, handing him over to Officer Cody Steinhouse, his son, who placed him at the side of the vehicle. Also arriving arriving were medical personnel, including paramedics and a doctor from Alina, Dr. Andrew Stevens. These responders worked to try and stabilize the young boy, who he's eventually transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. It was believed that he would not survive those injuries. In the wake of this tragedy was also the need to make notification to the mother of those lost and injured. Another heartbreaking task our responders take on with sincerity and the deepest of care. Then, as they do every day, our police and fire return to do the same on yet another call. As we learned, however, this event does have something to hold on to and celebrate. Something to be respectfully grateful for. In the days, weeks, months, and now years following, we learned that through his own resilience of 107 days in the hospital, family, incredible medical support, and the work of our police, fire, and medical staff, the young life pulled from that vehicle was also saved, and he's here today as a result. With the assistance of now 12-year-old Miles and his mother Lulu, it is our great honor to present the life-saving award to Prior Lake Fire Chief Rick Steinhouse and Detective Cody Steinhouse. Ladies and gentlemen, an honor and a privilege to introduce our life-saving awardees, Chief Rick Steinhouse and Detective Cody Steinhouse. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Council for your support. >> And at this time, >> uh, yes, we could break for just a minute, sir. Yes. >> Um, we will call the meeting into recess at 7:19. I'll just let everyone know uh for those that uh with the PD family or friends, you're certainly uh welcome over to uh to the PD once that council comes back into session. >> Um and with that, if I could at 7:21, we will call the council uh back in session. That now brings us to item 7A this evening, which is a public hearing for a new on sale intoxicating liquor license application of Chula's Mexican Latin restaurant. Um, manager Woodell. >> Thank you, Mayor U, councilors, and members of the audience. So, the city's process for implementing a new liquor license for a new establishment involves u a public hearing. So, we are pleased to uh present before the council this evening Chula's Mexican Latin Restaurant as a new establishment that will be opening later in uh next month in April at 4636 Colorado Street Southeast, which is the former location of the T-shirts and More building. Uh this establishment is a brand new facility and as such um uh requires a license for their their liquor service. Uh, as part of our process, we confirm that all property taxes and monies owed to the city are current and there um and we confirm under Minnesota statute 348 that there aren't any other items that would preclude us from issuing a liquor license to Chulas. And so that has all gone through the review process and has been cleared. So tonight, as part of this process, uh we would ask that you open a public hearing, take any public testimony, and then once that has been heard, consider um approval of a an on sale intoxicating liquor license for Chula's um Mexican Latin restaurant. >> Thank you so much, uh Manager Wedell. With that, um I would entertain a motion to open that public hearing. >> So moved. >> Second. We have a motion and then a second by u motion by council member Brad second by council member Helier to open the public hearing. U all those in favor say I. I. >> I. That motion carries. The hearing is now open at 7:23. Is there anyone that would like to come before us and speak to us on that item? Seeing none, I would entertain a motion to close that public hearing. >> So moved. >> Second. >> We have a motion by council member Brad, second by council member Churchill to close that public hearing. And all those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. That motion carries. The hearing is closed at 7:24. Council, is there any discussion on this item? Uh, Council Member Brad, >> I would just like to to thank the uh the owners and uh investors in that um new Mexican restaurant. It's going to be a really nice addition to our downtown. And thank you for your investment into Prior Lake. It is appreciated. And uh we look forward to uh the grand opening soon. And with uh >> with that, I'll make a a motion to uh approve the liquor license application for Chula's Mexican Latin restaurant. >> Second. >> We have a motion by Council Member Brad and a second by Council Member Churchill to approve that application. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. That motion carries. That brings us tonight to item 7B, which is a resolution adopting the assessment role for the Northwood Road area project phase 1, 2026-01. Uh resolution receiving bids and awarding the contract uh for the Northwood Road area project phase 1 again 20261. And I can see we have um assistant city engineer Schwarz and public works director Nick Monsrude. Uh, and gentlemen, we look forward to your presentation. >> Thank you, mayor and councel. Um, we're here today for the Northwood Road area street and utility improvements phase one public assessment hearing. Um, just before we get started, just want to stress this is for phase one only. Phases two and three will have their own assessment hearings in their respective construction years. Um, quickly I'm going to focus on the assessments here, but just quickly want to go over the project again. Um, there's a varying degree of degradation in the streets and utilities out there. So, as you can see on the map, we have three different pavement treatments with this project. Um, as you can see, the red is street reconstruction, the yellow is reclamation, and the blue areas are milling overlay. uh to touch on the public engagement. To date, we have had two open houses during the feasibility stage. Um and those were to gather input and feedback from the residents. Um we heard from them what they're seeing out there, what improvements could be made on the project. Um and then we had the improvement hearing in September 2025. And just before this meeting, we had our third open house kind of to set the primer for construction, hear any other concerns um from the residents. And here we are at the assessment hearing. Uh pending council approval. Um Ryan Contracting is looking to get going in um March with tree clearing and April for more of the heavy construction. Uh so here we're going to look at the project cost. um we broke it down by the three different utilities and streets. So you can see the streets are estimated to cost um just under $6 million and that's more heavily weighted on this one because a lot of the project is reclamation and milling overlay. Um and then the storm sewer is 600,000 and the sanitary and water man are each between 1 and 2 million for a project total of just over $9 million. Um and how are we going to fund that? So we have a variety of funding sources as you can see here um off the top the utilities as mentioned in the previous slide are funded directly from the utility funds. Um those are set aside by the city to pay for those specific items. Um and then assessments at the top which is what this presentation is about. Uh the one that you see the second line there is for the recon and reclaim assessments. Um just under 1.4 4 million and then the PI assessment at the bottom is the mill and overlay specific areas which are um assessed by fee schedule. So to go through our assessment policy um Prior Lake does assessments on a residentially equivalent unit basis. So each property on the project of that type will be assigned a value. Um single family properties carry a value of one and town home properties carry a factor of 0 75. Um so for reconstruction areas for example we'll take all of the reconstruction areas all of the homes on that area we will take 40% of the street cost and divide that by the number of reus um so it's the same process for both reclamation and reconstruction and then mill and overlay pro projects are just assessed at the rate adopted in the current fee schedule. Um, since reclamation reconstruction assessments are generally a little higher, they can be assessed over a 10-year period and the millan overlay projects can be assessed over a 5-year period. Uh, the interest rate is then set at 2% higher than the most recent sale of city bonds if uh the resident does not choose to prepay without interest. So, getting to the proposed final assessments here. Um, they were all actually calculated in a little bit of a different way. So, I'm going to go through them one by one. Uh, the reconstruction assessment as calculated for the street cost was actually closer to 19,000 per single family home. Um, as staff and the assessment review committee, we weren't uh fully comfortable with that number. So, we had a special benefit appraisal done um which showed 14,000 per single family home being a more appropriate number and the assessment review committee uh decided that actually lines up better with previous reconstruction projects we've had. Um so that's the reconstruction proposed assessment for reclamation. Um the number that came through the calculation actually is very very close to the last reclamation we did. So the assessment review committee was comfortable with that. And then the and that's 5,680 as you can see here. And then the millon overlay is set by the fee schedule as mentioned before which is 1,62 per single family home and 1,2150 per town home. Just to highlight who's getting assessed what here. Um the pink areas as you can see on the map are the reconstruction areas. The yellow areas are the reclamation areas and the blue areas are melon overlay. Um, finally, I have one of these on here for each type of payment. Um, I'm not going to walk through them all in detail, but you can see here $14,000 over 10 years at a 5.75 interest. Um, year one, 2027 would be the first payment, and that would be just under $3,000. and then it kind of gradually goes down till a year 10 where it's paid off in 2036. So similarly here for the reclamation is 5,680 paid over 10 years. Um in a similar way it starts just under $1,200 and ends up around 600 in year 10 where it's paid off. Um the millon overlay is 1,6002 over five years. So, similar thing here. Um, starts a little higher and tapers off and then the town home is just 75% of that. Um, getting into the important important assessment dates. Uh, so today, March 10th, 2026, the notice of intent to appeal must be submitted in writing. Um, following that, residents will have until November 2nd, 2026 to pay full or partial without interest. Um, they can make that payment to finance the finance department. And then after that on the third, uh if it hasn't been paid or there's some is outstanding, um that will be certified to the Scott County tax role and will include interest for 296 days in 2026 and for the entire following year in 2027. And then 2027 to 2036 would be the payment time frame. And with that, I would take any questions. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Schwarz, council, are there any questions? Council member Brad. >> Um, so the city of Prairie Lake is AAA bond rated, right? We work really hard to get that to keep the interest rates as low as possible. So, um, when we go to sell these bonds, if we get a lower rate than what you had on that board, right, um, you would add the 2%. So, if we got 2%. >> Right. Then it would be 4% would be the finance amount. Is that correct? Yep, that's correct. >> Mr. Schwarz, if I could have you pull up the map of the project with your pink, your blue, your yellow. Um, and what I'd like you to do again is speak to Here we go. Perfect. So, this represents phase one of the project. >> Yes. >> Which is what this hearing that we're about ready to open up is just for for this phase of the project. if you would again now quickly going blue, pink, um, uh, yellow, the blue being the the millon overlay and there is this, uh, project and again the costs I know were broken out for the different areas. Um, in the blue area that's our our unit assessment that is it not? >> Yeah. So the the blue area is set by the fee schedule. So, >> which is fixed based on either a single family home or a town home multiplier. So, for the blue, it's fairly straightforward if I may relative to what we're talking about. >> Um, on the yellow um on the yellow, if you would share with me um how the assessments on the yellow parcels um were calculated, how different that includes both reclamation accessible. So, that's full depth, >> is it not? >> Yeah. So the yellow areas are reclamation and that means we're taking the pavement and the first layer of aggre aggregate base and grinding that up into one material. Um so that's kind of like a 12 in section we're replacing. Um then we take 40% of that cost and apply that over all the homes in the reclamation area >> and therein that's the the assessment for that again for the yellow how that was calculated. Y >> and finally let's go to the pink. So the pink was the area where initially um it went into the assessment subcommittee for the pink area. Um the calculated was on the order of 19,000 is what the um came in and you took that into the assessment subcommittee and what if you could share with us the discussion that assessment subcommittee had that resulted in I'm going to call it a $5,000 I think my math still holds true $5,000 reduction in that assessment to 14,000. Is that correct? >> Yes, that's that's correct. um if you could just share with us how that assessment subcommittee came to that conclusion. >> Yeah, so we initially got the as calculated estimate back from the consulting engineer. We thought it was you know higher than we've generally had in Prior Lake. Um so following that we did a benefit appraisal with an outside consultant takes a look at the home and or the area of homes and um determines what an appropriate assessment amount is. Um we then took that to the committee. Uh we presented both values. We said here's what it came in calculated. Here's what what it came in with the appraised amount. and we uh ended up ultimately deciding on the appraised amount which was significantly lower. >> Excellent. And and if I can just have you pull up for the final exhibit I'd like to to share um total cost in this project 9 >> Yep. 9.1 million roughly. I'll get it here >> if you can. Beautiful. And as we look at this, the contributing um sources of funds, again, a good number of these funds fortunately now flow either through the adorum tax andor other funds andor our pavement funds um that that fortunately now relative to total assessments um the council's done a good deal of work to see to it. And again, manager Wedell, I don't know if you want to make comment. You and I had a conversation around how a couple of these numbers just flat out didn't exist or >> Yeah. as recently as >> Yeah. >> eight years ago. Yeah. So, yeah. Thank you, mayor and counselors and members of the audience. So, when you're looking at some of these funding sources, franchise fees, for example, eight years ago, we did not have a dedicated franchise fees for streets. The city council had reviewed our franchises agreement. So that's with um gas companies and electric companies. Um and so there is now an extra fee on those bills that increased from a $150 to to $5 on a single family home. All of that money gets funneled into this franchise fee fund which can only be used for streets. It can't be used for anything else. So that is a dedicated funding source that was established not that long ago. The other source of funding is the PI which is our pavement involvement improvement revolving fund. So when the city bonds for projects uh we we issue debt um but then we have some people prepay their assessments. In the past those prepayments would just come back into the city general fund and be used through for general expenditures. We have now established a pavement improvement revolving fund. So those prepayments come right back into that fund to be used specifically back for future road projects. So we're trying to minimize how much we're bonding for projects and limiting how much debt issuance the city is doing annually for road projects. So that that PIR assessment, that PIR dollar amount and those franchise fees, that's for this project, you know, over $3 million. Those funding sources didn't exist eight years ago. >> Thank you, manager Wedell. Um, with that, council, if there's no further questions, uh, I would entertain a motion to open the public hearing. >> So moved. >> Second. >> A motion by council member Brad, second by council member Helier to open the public hearing. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. That motion carries. The public hearing is now open at 7:39 p.m. Um, is there anyone that would like to come before us and be heard uh on the resolution adopting the assessment role for the Northwood Road area project phase 1 2026-01 um and if you would right at the base of the microphone you're going to see a button most likely the light is red. if you would push the button, turn green, and for the record, uh, share with us your name and address, and we look forward to hearing from you. Is it green at the base? >> There it goes. Okay. My name is William Warick. I'm 15774 Island View Road. Uh, just trying to see how you assessed uh, we're in the pink one, the $14,000. uh two houses away from 5,000, I guess. How did you assess from the end of um Island View? It goes all the way to the Can you bring those back a little bit? So, you start all the way to the circle up there to the far right on the Island View Circle Northwest. Sir, if I could have you closer to the microphone just for those. Yeah, thank you. >> So, you're looking at uh Island View Circle Northwest. Is that correct? And then, of course, my house is two houses on Island View Road just on the pink up there. How did you assess all that road to make us the $14,000? >> So, sir, what I could do is I'll I'll we'll take the question unless you have a second question. Well, well, the question is, I guess, is you've got um a large road before it even gets to um that it's kind of hard to point at before it even gets to there's a large road where people are getting two sides of the road and still getting assessed at $14,000. >> Is that correct, >> sir? If I could, what I'd like to do is go ahead and grab your questions and have you go ahead have you I'd like to complete the hearing. anyone else that wants to be heard and we'll come back. >> Okay. So, I guess what I'm saying is how they assess that to 14,000. There's a lot of people that can't pay that and I don't understand and I do realize the 5% which is 19,000 and I'm just a little curious of how they came up with those pink uh selections for the 14. >> Perfect. Thank you. And go ahead and um thank you so much for your testimony. If you would go ahead and extinguish the mic. Um, are there any other uh individuals that would like to come before us before we go ahead and um have staff address the questions? >> Sir, if I could have you come forward to the microphone and again same if you would introduce yourself with your name and your address and please make sure the microphone's green. Thank you so much. >> My name is Robert Schultz. I live at 15982 Island View Road. Um my question is the first year in 2027, the annual payment is $2,857.82. Rough math, that brings it down to $250 per month more on my mortgage. I can't afford $250 more per month. I have two little girls at home. I got to put food on the table. If I have to pay this, I'm going to have to take food off of my table. And that's not fair. I'm wondering if we can change the schedule to be more like a mortgage or a personal loan where the $14,000 is divided evenly per month to make it almost affordable. I understand these roads need to be replaced, but I don't know too many people that can afford that. And there's a lot of people on this road that I believe are income constrained. >> Thank you for your testimony. Is there anyone else that would like to come before council this evening and be heard on this item? Seeing none, I would entertain a motion to close the public hearing. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Have a motion by Council Member Brad, second by Council Member Churchill to close the public hearing. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. That motion carries. The hearing is closed at 7:44 p.m. If I can look to city manager Wedell, we have two two questions. Um, one in regards to the methodology around the calculation on the 14,000. Uh but manager Wedell, if I could have you go ahead and lead the uh the answers from from staff. >> Yeah, I'll I can start it and then um if assistant city engineer Schwarz wants to add anything to it. So the these differing assessments are based on the level of improvement that are happening to your street. So if you're being assessed $14,000, that means your entire street is being completely reconstructed. And I believe even that portion of Island View today does not have concrete curb and gutter. So this is you're getting a whole brand new street, new curb and gutter, new pavement, new utility pipes beneath the street, new storm sewer. It's everything from all the way underground all the way back up. So that's the $14,000 assessment or anyone that lives on a street that's going through that level of improvement. the the the lesser amount the is for a reclaim for so full depth reclamation the curb and gutter stays um the utility pipes underground stay they're just grinding up the top whatever 12 inches of pavement and repaving a new surface so you get a new pavement surface new batuminous but everything else stays as is so that's why those assessment amounts are lesser and then the The third assessment amount, the smallest one is what's called a mill and overlay. And that's where they just come in and grind off the top two inches of the pavement. They don't even take all the pavement out. So the curb and gutter stays, the pipes stay, they grind off the top two inches, and then they pave a new batuminous surface. So that's even less expensive. So that's why the assessments are the least for that type of project. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Y >> yeah. >> So if we go you got it. >> So I think the question being asked for people at home that maybe didn't hear the question coming from the audience was how was the the dollar amount calculated per house where some houses have more footage or they're they're only on one side of the street. So the way the assessments are done is through a benefit appraisal. So, that appraisal that uh the assistant city engineer Schwarz mentioned is they look at your property and they'll do an analysis that confirms that if you're being assessed $14,000, the increase in value to your property is $14,000 as a result of your project. So, for example, if your house was worth $500,000 before the project, after the project, your house would be worth $514,000. >> So, again, if I can if I if I can, um, hearing is closed. Um, if I can, um, engineer Schwarz, if you would pull up the illustration, I think one of the other areas just broadly stated the methodologies for our assessments. We have unit assessments but we and if you would for this project right uh unit assessments but lineal footage is not something that's used in the calculation and which to me is the key aspect I believe that that what we're we're getting to is is our assessment methodologies and again I don't know if Luke you want to walk through that or Nick the three method or the the methods we utilize for calculating assessments for all properties in Prior Lake. >> Yeah. So, you pretty much hit on it there. Um, some other cities do footage assessments um for, you know, frontage on the street. Um, here in Prior Lake, we do a residential equivalency unit assessment where it's each home located where their driveway accesses on the project. Um, they count as one if it's a single family home or 75 if it's a town home. Um and the overall project cost 40% of that is divided equally among all the houses. Thank you so much Luke. Um second question we had um again manager if I could have you relative and Luke if you would go ahead and bring up the the the schedule. U thank you. Um question was can we can this be altered? Uh was the question. Manager Wedell again I'd have you address the question. >> Yeah. Thank you, mayor, council members, members of the audience. So, the payment schedule, the way we're able to do it as a city, it's it's really simple interest, right? So, it's you have your total assessment amount and you pay off your principal and your interest each year. And as you're paying off your principal, the total amount gets knocked down each year. So, your interest amount gets reduced each year. Uh, and that's the way we're able to finance it for you. However, if you can prepay on the front end, like if you wanted to go to your mortgage company and get a home equity line of credit or work something out or refinance your house to increase your mortgage amount by $14,000, you could prepay the city the 14,000 upfront and finance it through a different lender or whoever you might want to work with um to help ease the payments if if this schedule would be too aggressive for you to um to take care of with your household. income. >> Thank you, manager Whedell. Um, Council Member Brad, >> when I um look at this, I mean, there no doubt that this area needs a reconstruction and needs road improvement. I mean, in my nine years here, we have uh pushed this project out multiple times because of the expense. Um, we've broke it down into three projects because of the expense. And when I'm looking at the math here, the greater taxpayer is picking up 85% of the cost of this project. Um, and the assessments are 15%. Um, it's not nothing. And I I don't disagree with that um at all. Um, I've paid for a road assessment myself. Um, it's the methodology that Prior Lake has been using for years. Um, nobody likes to do it, but it is necessary to maintain our infrastructure, maintain house values in these neighborhoods, which ultimately priorit um appreciation of value in your home, which for many people is oftentimes their biggest asset. So, I can certainly understand um the financial stress is not something that we take lightly at all. Um, and we've worked really hard to try to get this number down to a number um that is approachable. Um, you know, manager Wedell and I had a conversation um and you know, we talked about what assessments have been years ago, 20 years ago, they were 14,000 for reconstructions. And that's not all the inflation, that's not all of the components that go into this. So, um, we're trying. We understand. Um but these projects they they have to get done. Um and you know it's one of the things that as a council member I agon and I was probably um over the most is this tax levy and these projects because I know as families it matters. You know 100 bucks matters. 200 bucks matters especially now. So but we can't continue to push it off because these project costs will only get more and more expensive as we go too. So there's a balance there. Um, so for for me, you know, if if you disagree with it, I'm sure city staff will show you how to appeal it. Um, you're more than welcome to to do that. You know, we would guide you through that process because that is your your right to be able to appeal it um and to come up with different options. So, um, I guess that concludes my my my comments here tonight. And and again, I guess what I would add, all I would add is again our assessment methodologies um as we as we share um how we go about these, how it gets spread is something that I think we continue to work at to improve upon. And to the points that manager Wedell made um and also council member Brad, essentially this this schedule is what we the city can offer if there is an outside be it a mortgage, be it a a loan of some sort. Um that that would be the avenue with payment in in full to the city. Um, and I I won't repeat or echo comments, but this is something we as a council um have done a I believe is a great deal of work in order to lower the assessments, hence the franchise fees, the PI to to see to it that that 85% number continues to grow such that it doesn't come as as that impact burden. So with that, council, I would entertain a motion on this item. And we have two items before us this evening. >> So I'll make a motion uh to approve a resolution adopting the assessment role for Northwood Road Area Project Phase One. >> Second. >> Motion by Council Member Braid, second by Council Member Helier. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. That motion carries. Second item. Again, would entertain a motion here. Or do you want to uh is this it? >> Make another motion. Okay. >> Yeah, >> I'll make a motion uh to approve a resolution receiving bids and awarding the contract for Northwood Road area project phase 1 2026-01. >> Second. >> And again, we have a motion by Council Member Braid, second by Council Member Churchill. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. That motion carries. That brings us council this evening to item 11 on our agenda which is council member layison updates. And to kick us off, I look down or look to not down over wrong preposition to uh council member Helier. Council member Helier, please kick us off. >> Thank you, Mayor uh council. On February 26, I got to attend high tea at Sonnet Monasuri. as a monastery graduate myself, it was quite the honor to be there. Um, also that same day uh um met in the council chambers here with some of our neighboring uh communities and the League of Minnesota cities to talk about priorities that are happening um in St. Paul. And then I had my agenda review yesterday. >> Thank you so much, Council Member Helier. Council Member Churchill. >> Thank you, Mayor. On uh February 13th, I attended the scale meeting. On the 17th, I had the Prior Lake Spring Lake watershed district meeting. And on the 19th was the MBTA, Minnesota Valley Transit Authority meeting. I also attended the um the uh League of Minnesota Cities meeting, but I can't remember what day it was on. And my agenda review was on March 6th. >> Thank you, Council Member Churchill. Council member Brad, >> mayor, members of the council, uh the March 9th uh EDA meeting has been moved now to March 16th and uh today I attended my agenda review. >> Thank you so much, Council Member Brad. Uh on March 3rd, uh Manager Wedell and I attended our first listening session on the housing bill moving through the House and soon to be the Senate. Uh on the 4th of March, we had our MLC board meeting in Bloomington. Uh on March 5th, uh Minister Wedell and I had um a meeting with the SMSC. And um finally, on the 6th of March, um had our first uh update meeting with um the lobbyists that we've engaged. Uh Lockage and Gindle was our first meeting with them. And that concludes my leazison update uh contribution. Manager Wedella, anything you would like to add? >> Thank you, mayor and council members. I have nothing further to add this evening. Thank you. >> And with that, >> I'll make a motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Motion by council member braid to adjurnn. Second by council member Helier. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. I. >> And that concludes our meeting at 7:56.