This transcript features **Mayor Charles Cadenhead** presiding over a Lake Elmo City Council meeting. Based on the provided context and the dialogue within the transcript, I have identified the speakers (including those not on the initial list but mentioned by name during the meeting, such as Council Member Backstrom and Director Stopa). Since specific timestamps were not provided in your raw text, I have used **[Timestamp]** as a placeholder per your requested format. *** [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: A uh motion to approve set agenda. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: So moved. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Do I get a second? [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Mr. Mayor, can we move item number 12 under consent agenda to the regular agenda? Requesting moving item number 12, Amendment to the motion to approve zoning text Amendment OPUD, to the regular agenda. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: I'll second that. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Okay, so we have a motion and with an amendment—approve the agenda with item number 12 being removed from the consent agenda into the regular agenda. All those in favor please signify by saying I. [Timestamp] **Multiple Council Members**: I. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Motion is approved. Uh, can I get a motion for approval of minutes from October 1st and October 8th meetings? [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Move to approve the minutes from October 1st and October 8th, 2024. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: We have a motion and second to approve the minutes from the uh two referenced meetings. All those in favor of approval for the minutes as reference please signify by saying I. [Timestamp] **Multiple Council Members**: I. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Minutes are hereby approved. As I think the one item that Ms. Charers wanted to talk about is now on the regular agenda, we'll wait for that item to come up. Um, we have a consent agenda. I'll read through that real quick, which is to approve number two, approve payment of disbursements; number three, approve 2025 medical insurance renewals resolution 2024-109; number four, approve pay requests number one Hudson Boulevard segment A improvements; number five, approve pay request number five for the 2024 Street and utility improvements; number six, approve pay request number four for Stillwater Boulevard trunk water main improvements; number seven, approve pay request number nine final for the Old Village phase seven Street and utility improvements; number eight, approve pay request number two final for the 2024 seal coat project; number nine, approve release of warranty security for Boulder Pond second and third edition; 10 is approve City comments on the Washington draft 2025-2029 Capital Improvement plan; number 11, approve Well 2 generator equipment plans and specification authorized ad for bids. I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: So moved. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: We have a motion and a second for the consent agenda. All those in favor please signify by saying I. [Timestamp] **Multiple Council Members**: I. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Consent agenda is hereby approved. Moving into the regular agenda, we have the final assessment hearing: adopt final assessment hearing role for the 2024 Street and utility improvements. [Timestamp] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council. At the September 17th council meeting, the Council declared the cost to be assessed and scheduled the final assessment hearing for tonight, to be held on October 15. Subsequent to that, notices were sent out with the final assessment amounts... I'll provide a brief update on the final cost and then after that, we'd ask the Council to open the hearing before taking any action. So the 2024 Street projects included two neighborhoods: the Carriage Station neighborhood and then the Friedrichs neighborhood on Jamika Court... The project is substantially constructed... we are showing here the cost at what were presented at the time of the feasibility... so you can see we're about a million dollars under... in Carriage Station we're recommending a reduction in the assessment from 6,000 per home to 4,200 per home... and Friedrichs Heights... recommending reducing it from 8,500 down to 8,100... that's all I had to present here tonight, and I'd be happy to stand for questions. [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Can you go back to the map for Carriage Station, please? So that park has been discussed, and that's a city park, not an HOA Park, so it shouldn't be on the assessment role from what I understand. Papers turning that over to the city were done in 2018... I don't know that that should be on this list until that's taken care of. [Timestamp] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: Yeah, we presented it at the preliminary assessment hearing and we were showing in the county records that the county record still shows it as HOA owned... my understanding is activities are in place to get that cleared up... but the direction I received was to leave it on the assessment role. Now where is that in the process? I'm not working on it. [Timestamp] **City Attorney (Legal Counsel)**: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, I spoke with a representative of the association last week and this should have been transferred back in, I think, 2005. There's a whole agreement between the City and the HOA... the HOA is saying we're not going to deed the property over to you until we get all this fixed... so we're working through all that. It’ll happen; it’s probably not going to happen by the time we need to certify this, but as the city engineer said, it runs with the land. [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: All right, thank you. That's my question. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Sorry, could you just clarify? So you say it might not be fully certified before this November 15th date? [Timestamp] **City Attorney (Legal Counsel)**: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, the land may not be transferred from the HOA to the City by the time that the assessment is certified, but at that point, the City would take the property subject to the assessment and it would be the City's responsibility to deal with the assessment. That's what I told the HOA because they were concerned about it. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: All right. Okay, thank you. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Any further questions for Mr. Griffith? (Nate Stanley). All right, with that I will entertain a motion to go into the public hearing for the final assessment role for the 2024 Street and utility improvements. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: So moved. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All those in favor please signify by saying I. [Timestamp] **Multiple Council Members**: I. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All right, so we will go into the public hearing at 7:01 p.m. Do have believe a couple people that wanted to speak. Mr. Ian Staving? Okay, maybe they're not here... they were objecting to the assessment due to a joint in their driveway... Jack, have you been able to look? [Timestamp] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: I saw the email at the end of the day here. I had no previous knowledge of that and have not had a chance to follow up with my team on that. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: And then I have Mr. Clifford Bojo. [Timestamp] **Clifford Bojo (Resident)**: Yes, thank you, Charles. I live in the Carriage Station neighborhood, by the way. My first comment relates to the city park and the assessment of $12,000. I don't know how things could get so lost... I object to that $12,000 assessment... The other things I'd like to talk about are the interest on unpaid assessment balances... I understand that this is Minnesota statute and your hands are tied, but it doesn't preclude this Council from working with Minnesota's legislative representatives to get this changed... The notice of hearing on proposed assessment was darn confusing. I'm an educated person with an accounting degree and worked in banking for 30 plus years... it was very confusing... I urge the city's Finance Director and legal counsel to adopt my draft for future notices. Thank you. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Thank you. I don't think we have anybody else that's looking to speak on this, so I'll entertain a motion to close the public hearing. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: So moved. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All those in favor please signify by saying I. [Timestamp] **Multiple Council Members**: I. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: We are now out of public hearing. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Absolutely. So I guess on the first page, we don’t know for certain if that transfer is going to be done by November 15th, is that correct? [Timestamp] **City Attorney (Legal Counsel)**: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council... I don't think there's a legal issue... we want the HOA to cooperate... it's a liability of the property. [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: So to clarify then, if it doesn't get done prior to then, this is not a situation where officers of the HOA would be essentially risking their own financial status? [Timestamp] **City Attorney (Legal Counsel)**: No, it’s a liability of the property. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: How long can they carry that liability before there's any penalties? [Timestamp] **Clarissa Hadler (Finance Director)**: A penalty would be applied next year if the assessment isn't paid. If it gets taken care of sometime next year, it shouldn't be a problem because that penalty just gets transferred over to us. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Okay, so it really doesn't matter to us on the assessment side whose name is on it. Sorry for getting there slowly. Thank you. [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Move to approve resolution 2024-106. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Discussion? [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: It is disappointing to know that it appears a city long before any of us dropped the ball... I am curious in a long term from a process improvement standpoint if there are ways to make that language clear on the notice. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: I did have the chance to talk with Mr. Bojo regarding that... hopefully the next time we send out a statement we can put it in terms that are easier to understand. [Timestamp] **Clarissa Hadler (Finance Director)**: I actually did take Cliff's suggestions and we've already implemented some of that on my letter. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Call the question. All those in favor please signify by saying I. [Timestamp] **Multiple Council Members**: I. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Motion passes. Next item is number 14, accept feasibility report for Stillwater Area School District improvements. [Timestamp] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council. I’m bringing before you tonight the feasibility report for the Stillwater Area School District utility improvements... the school is expanding Oakland Middle School and requested a feasibility study to connect to sanitary sewer and water main... we looked at eight different alternatives... the sanitary sewer improvements are just under 1.6 million and the water main extensions just about 170,000. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Just a quick question... we get that Old Village capacity back basically by doing this? [Timestamp] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: Yes, whatever capacity we lost when we added that in there, we're getting back. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Have the private residence owners had any discussion about this yet? [Timestamp] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: I've not reached out to him yet. It was between now and the public improvement hearing that we usually do our outreach. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Thank you. [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Move to approve resolution 2024-110. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All those in favor please signify by saying I. [Timestamp] **Multiple Council Members**: I. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: So approved. Item 15, award contract for Well 2 PFAS removal. [Timestamp] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: We took bids on October 10th. Aqueous Vets was the low bid... we’re procuring early because it has long lead time. We’re recommending the award of the contract to Aqueous Vets. [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: When it comes to that media process, are we applying for the grants a year before we know the replacement is coming up? [Timestamp] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: I can honestly say I haven't got that far; I just got the grant to build the project two weeks ago. But we'll give it some thought. [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Move to approve resolution number 2024-108. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Motion approved. Item number 16, League of Minnesota Cities statutory tort limits. [Timestamp] **Nicole Miller (City Administrator)**: Mayor and Council, my apologies, this is normally on the consent agenda. This is an annual decision to not waive the statutory tort liability limits, which are at 1.5 million. [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Move to approve. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All those in favor say I. (I). Item number 17, Tender 2 replacement purchase. [Timestamp] **Dustin Kalis (Fire Chief)**: Mayor and Council, back at the August budget work session I proposed bringing forward the 2027 CIP purchase of the Tender 2 replacement... by securing a 2024 allocation for this diesel engine before federal emission standards change in 2025, we save approximately $50,000. We’re looking at a 2027 delivery. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: I appreciate the looking forward on this and being proactive. Move to approve. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All those in favor say I. (I). Motion passes. Item 18, Zoning Text Amendment for OPUD. [Timestamp] **Jason Stopa (Planning Director)**: This item was approved at October 1st meeting with one amendment... that you could only go up to 0.8 density if you exited onto a collector road. [Timestamp] **Council Member Anne Backstrom**: I wasn't at the last meeting. Can you provide an explanation for the addition of the collector road? [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: There was significant concern relating to putting more traffic on lesser-traveled roadways. Council Member Holtz put that amendment on there to create that buffer. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Jason, I just received some public comments today... can you speak to the total land area versus buildable land area? [Timestamp] **Jason Stopa (Planning Director)**: Total land area includes wetlands and steep slopes... because this type of development protects those wetlands, we thought they should have the same units and figure out where to place them on the buildable area. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: We have Jane Charers here to speak. [Timestamp] **Jane Charers (Resident)**: I live in the rural district. I am concerned about the density change from buildable land to total land. It is a significant change and will affect traffic. I am specifically concerned about the Clear Lake property... I beg you to slow down, get your head around the numbers, and reconsider approving this this evening. Thank you. [Timestamp] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: I would like to propose an amendment to the motion: change from 0.8 density to 0.6 density. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: I'll second it for discussion. [Timestamp] **Council Member Anne Backstrom**: I'm stuck on the density. I think this is about developers... I cannot support increasing density in the rural area. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All those in favor of the amendment (0.6 density) please signify by saying I. [Timestamp] **Multiple Council Members**: I. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Motion passes. Now for the overall motion as amended. All those in favor? [Timestamp] **Council Members Holtz, Hirn, Cadenhead**: I. [Timestamp] **Council Member Anne Backstrom**: Nay. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Motion passes. Motion for publication? [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Move to adopt summary of publication. [Timestamp] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: Second. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Discussion? (Backstrom objects). All those in favor? (Motion passes). Council reports? [Timestamp] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: We had a meeting today with the US Army Corps of Engineers and Bay West... they are looking to utilize a technology to incinerate and destroy concentrated PFAS. It's finding solutions to a long-term problem. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Staff reports? [Timestamp] **Nicole Miller (City Administrator)**: Thank you. I wanted to thank the fire department for the "Work Out Like a Firefighter" event this weekend. [Timestamp] **Julie Johnson (City Clerk)**: Early voting is underway... Oakdale City Hall will also be hosting early voting beginning Thursday. [Timestamp] **Clarissa Hadler (Finance Director)**: Quarterly financial report is in the packet... please sign up for PAA. [Timestamp] **Dustin Kalis (Fire Chief)**: Thank you to the staff... we wrapped up Fire Prevention Week... please replace your smoke detectors every 10 years. [Timestamp] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: With that, we will adjourn at 9:01. Thank you.