[Music] [Music] [Music] this is regular meeting I will call this meeting to order and ask you stand and join me in theed stes America for God indivisible with Li and justice for all Miss Larson would please call call Shaq here Wilburn here Calbert here ra here Foster Bolton here weome there couple of are mayor excuse me we're having a hard time hearing you you're you're breaking up some okay that's not good let's let me it is it better much better all right then I will will uh I will for now you're freezing up say that again you're freezing up you just have bad reception there all right I'm not hearing so let me see here um so s like they're going to try to how are we doing do you have any suggestions I think they're trying to fix the technical difficulty please mayor go ahead and try to rejoin Ben can you hear me or is it not working I can hear you but it's still choppy so go ahead and try to rejoin I'm not hearing you either so I'm wondering if I should move my location and uh and hope for a better better internet reception he said to try to rejoin mayor so maybe you can just try to get out and then come back in because we're hearing you right now yeah okay can anyone hear me now yes much better okay we're gonna we're going to try that and see if it works I'm I'm sorry and if if not um if I have to hand this off to um um acting mayor uh Wilburn we will do that but anyway so um let's see we did we did roll call correct so is approval of the agenda um I see no addendum Mr Funk good evening mayor and Council there is no agenda for this evening so the agenda stands for your presentation and approval thank you Mr Funk um so council is there a motion council member Calbert thank you mayor I move approval of the agenda I'll second council member Wilburn is there a second all right thank you council member Wilburn so we've got a motion by counc second by Council marber Wilburn uh Miss Larson please call rooll Shaq yes yes Wilburn yes Calbert yes ra yes Foster Bolton yes weome yes motion carries next item is approval of minutes and we have one set of minutes they are the February 10th 2025 regular meeting minutes is there a motion or comments Council membery uh thank you mayor I'll make the motion excuse me say I'll make the motion to approve the minutes very good and Council M wil I think I stepped on you so um if you'll do the second I'd appreciate it I second all right we've got a motion by council member ra a second by council member Wilburn Miss Larson please call roll Shaq yes Wilburn yes Calbert yes ra yes Foster Bolton yes cleome yes motion carries the next item um is the retirement recognition of Sergeant Allan rate and I will read that so that is under special matters and um Sergeant Allan ring gate started his law enforcement career in the city of Mound before joining the minona police department on January 10th 1999 over the past 26 years he's made a lasting impact through his hard work dedication and the many different roles he's taken on early in his career Sergeant ring gate demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedication becoming a field training officer just one year into his tenure in this role he helped to guide and shape numerous new officers his commitment to Excellence also led him to serve as both a use of force and Firearms instructor positions he's held for many years additionally sergeant ring Gate's expertise and skills extended to the Department's special weapons and tactics SWAT team where he served for five and a half years he specialized as both an entry team member and a sniper showcasing his professionalism and an ability to hands to handle high pressure situations in addition to these roles Sergeant ring gate served as the longtime coordinator of his of the Department's intern program his mentorship helped shape the next generation of law enforcement professionals providing invaluable guidance and insight to Young individuals starting their careers in 2005 Sergeant ring gate became a Case Investigator applying his meticulous attention to detail to complex cases two years later he was promoted to Sergeant a role in which he successfully supervised both Patrol and investigative teams earning the respect of his peers and subordinates alike Beyond his regular duties Sergeant renate served as the Union steward for both officers and sergeants advocating for his colleagues and ensuring their voices were heard Sergeant ring Gate's hard work and dedication didn't go unnoticed in 2017 he was honored as the Glen Lake officer of the year a recognition of his exceptional service and contributions to the community among the many other highlight of his career one of Sergeant ring Gate's most memorable experiences was his participation in the 2020 presidential inauguration security detail in Washington DC a testament to his dedication and to his skill at the national level Sergeant ring Gate's career has been marked by his Boundless Energy and enthusiasm his unwavering commitment to doing the job right and his adherence to policy and standards his active presence and mtic kis work ethic has set an example for all who served alongside him after more than 26 years of dedicated service to the city of motanka Sergeant ring gate will officially retire on February 27 2025 his legacy of professionalism leadership and dedication will be remembered for years to come thank you Sergeant rangate for your extraordinary service and commitment best wishes to you for a well-earned and fulfilled retirement so Sergeant ring thank you I think we should all give you a round of applause and um and I and I want to I want to thank you and um and uh I just learned that my audio audio is now good so I'm much relieved about that but um Council are would anyone like to offer any comments and and thank um Sergeant rangate for his excellent service to our city council member ra yes thank you mayor um I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all of your work including especially as somebody who is a teacher your mentorship of interns and others entering the profession that's so important and has done our so much for our community um to me I don't know you very well um except to say hello personally but since I'm a new member but the list of your accomplishments and contributions really describes someone who has gone above and beyond in serving our community both as an officer the peace and also just a true public servant um it also describes someone who has steadfastly served our country uh at the 2020 presidential inauguration where you helped ensure the legitimate and peaceful transfer of power at a perilous moment in our country's history you have Faithfully kept your oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States the rule of law and the well-being of our community so I just wanted to take a moment uh as a council member to thank you for that service and for being a shining example to um other police officers minetonka and also Beyond thank you thank you counc m ra and um there Deb council member Calbert you would like to speak too please thank you mayor and I just want to I just want to say that council member R just captured my sentiments uh to the T so thank you for articulating um everything everything that I was thinking and thank you so much Sergeant renate for your service it's very humbling and we are so lucky to have people like you on our police force so thank you for all your years of service thank you mayor thank you council member Calbert and then yes council member sha thank you mayor I'll keep it brief but I will just echo my colleagues and also indicate that you know whenever we have these retirements it's a testament to the Department at how um long people stick around and how skilled they are and it's PE it's mentors like you that Inspire the younger officers to also stick around and to take on extra uh work and and um training and so we really appreciate it we're going to miss you but I think we're in capable hands thank you thank youor sha and um Council anyone else otherwise um Sergeant ring gate I think you may want say a few words and I'll I'll I'll I'll I'll wrap it up when we get done but if you would like to uh say a few words I your please step to the podium and uh we'd like to hear from you and if you would prefer not to you don't don't feel obligated uh thank you mayor um I have a couple things here um try and get through this all right U so to get started I'd like to thank the members of the city council for providing me this formal opportunity to recognize my prayer with menaka I would also like to express my gratitude to everyone that took the time out of their busy day to be here with us today um I would also like to take uh the time to especially thank my family for their love and support over the course of my career unfortunately there were many missed birthdays I knew this was going to happen happens to everybody up here um holidays and special occasions over the 29 years as a police officer um as some of you know I started my career with M as the mayor mentioned after several years of being there I had the opportunity to come here to minona where I soon discovered uh it was everything I was looking for I knew I would likely never leave um to everyone I work with a Mina you will greatly be missed um you're work you work for an extraordinary [Music] organization here's what I'm really going to miss to my brothers and sisters at the police department I passed my torch to you and I want you to take care and stay safe and that's uh that's that's what I have so thank you very much for everybody for coming and uh God speed Sergeant ring thank you and and I'll just add up thank you all and thank you all for recognizing ring gate and and I just want to add I'm you know um I I really am sorry that I can't be there physically and I regret that because um saying thank you to our officers and thank saying thank you to um uh you Sergeant rang for your outstanding service and all the things that you've meant to this city I I feel badly that I'm not there personally um but I um I I'm not and um I'm glad that um your fellow officers are with you tonight and uh the whole city St uh salutes you for your outstanding service um it's been a privilege to know you over the years and um I um I I wish you um a very happy and successful retirement and and maybe you can get over to exceler to help your brother um as mayor of the city of exceler so congratulations to your family on his uh his serving in that role as well but Sergeant ring gate thank you so much um it's just been a pleasure to know you and to work with you and I and don't be a stranger hope to see you in the future thank you mayor thank you so much y being short and um on behalf of the council and uh and the City of motanka I just wanted to also uh repeat our thanks for your years of service and dedication for the city of manona and present to you uh this this Frame and it says on the back this wood was reclaimed from a majestic American elm tree at minetonka Mills Park so thank you thank you thank you Sergeant rate and thank you so much um council member Wilburn for uh for filling me in for me so I appreciate it thank you so the next item on the agenda is recognition of the 2024 Police Academy graduates and um and I'm going to um turn this over to uh Chief Bor booom um for these uh for this presentation but I think it's uh I want to thank all of the Police Academy graduates for your participation and involvement and I know that our police academy and our Citizens Academy are very valuable um to our residents but um they also um are great starting places for people who are interested in um getting more involved in the city and perhaps even taking on leadership roles in the city these academies are outstanding so with that I'm going to turn it over to chief borbon chief good evening mayor members of the city council and any guest tonight we have the privilege of recognizing the graduates of our 8th Millennial Police Academy who successfully completed the program in November of 2024 over the course of nine weeks 35 dedicated individuals committed three hours three hours each night to gaining a deeper understanding of law enforcement and how our Police Department serves this community their dedication reflects a true investment in public safety and a commitment to strengthening the relationship between the police and the people we serve community engagement is the foundation of trust and legit legitimacy in policing without it we cannot effectively Serve and Protect that is why our department conducts over 200 Community engagement events every year but this Academy is without a doubt the most important it is our opportunity to provide an inside look at policing how and why we do what we do while also listening to your concerns answering your questions and building a stronger relationship with the people we serve throughout this program graduates had the chance to learn about the different aspects of police work Guided by officers supervisors and civilian Personnel who are passionate about their roles more importantly they gained insight into the complex decisions officers must make each day allowing them to form inform perspectives on police activity and Public Safety this exchange of knowledge is invaluable not only for them but for us as well their input helps us better understand the community's conc concerns and that dialogue strengthens our partnership this true success of this program lies not just in what these graduates have learned but how they will will carry it Forward each of them is now an ambassador for their Community with a greater understanding of law enforcement and the challenges we Face we encourage them to share this knowledge keep the conversation going and continue working with us to make the city safer and stronger for everyone on behalf of this entire department I want to thank our Academy graduates for their time their commitment and their willingness to engage in this process this has been a two-way learning experience and we appreciate every question every discussion and every moment spent together together congratulations again on this achievement and thank you for your dedication to our community [Applause] Upon Our graduation night we did have a a program where we recognized the graduates and provided them with some some swag so with that mayor I will turn it back to you and the council Chief thanks very much and and thank you to all the participants I I know that not everyone could be here tonight but um thank you so much for your participation I hope you found it as valuable as the city does and having you participate and uh and uh who knows where we our paths will cross in the future but thank you so much for your participation and the commitment of the time that you put in to uh complete this um this uh uh curriculum so thank you again so the next item on the agenda is reports from the city manager and council members and maybe I'm jumping ahead here a little bit thank you all so again next item on the agenda is reports from the city manager and council members and thank you Chief um for your presentation um so I'll turn it over to Mr funk for his report and then council members anything that you have to report all right thank you mayor good evening sorry about that mayor good evening mayor and councel I hope everyone had a good weekend uh it was nice to get a a refe from our temperatures uh the last few weeks it was a nice weekend I only lead up to that by saying our ice rinks are now closed because if you look at the forecast we we're expecting 40s and maybe some 50s coming up in the next few weeks but the ice ranks are closed for the season uh next thing I have for you is our summer brochure is coming out and so that's always exciting uh this year we do have a new offering called Camp hop Tanga is a series of weekly themed camps for youth ages 7 to 12 and I know Council you've talked about looking at at more youth opportunities so we have some new programming this year that hit ages 7 to 12 it involves multip multiple field trips outdoor activities Sports creative arts team building games and more so I really appreciate Mr oday and his team for looking at additional programming this year also be sure to check out our always popular Park Adventures program another way for uh kids and youth to get involved with activities in their own neighborhood parks so look out for those uh in your parks near you and then General programming for those registration open on Tuesday March 4th so I may mention this at our March 3rd meeting again uh the brochure can be found online uh speaking of services when I mentioned senior services and they have a winterday hike to jidana it's a two-mile roundtrip hike that takes you from the minnitaki community center to jadan and back there will be a lunch and a campfire and that's this Wednesday February 26 from 11 to 1:00 p.m. then also want to mention that this week City staff are meeting with our legislators and so we we are meeting with our legislators to talk about our bonding Bill proposals so we'll have our legislative contingency on campus here later in the week and so we're excited as staff just to really talk through those projects with them then Council as you know we do have City day on the hill coming up that is a week from um this Thursday and we'll have an opportunity to visit with our legislators at that time as well a couple updates on our work groups so we do have our dog work group that you're aware of uh they have now met twice of three meetings uh their next meeting is scheduled in March it's moving along um as expected and so after their third meeting in March they will have a conversation with the park board and then Council you you'll expect to hear a report and recommendations coming to you in early May and then the zoning work group has their first meeting this Wednesday so that group is um getting um it's formed as you know and they are meeting again this week for the first time and then while we just recognized our Police Academy members the last thing I have for you this evening is that starting tomorrow night and for several Tuesdays in the next weeks we have our minetonka annual Academy starting so our version of the Citizens Academy is starting tomorrow night again that'll be 6 o' to 8:00 the next five Tuesdays um they start with admin tomorrow so we'll make sure we wow them out the gates and then we'll turn them over to the rest of our department so with that mayor and Council uh turn it back to you thank you thank you Mr Funk uh council members anything that you would like to report CER Calbert thank you mayor I'll try to keep it brief um I just wanted to mention that I did go to uh an event at the sabis Jewish Community Center in St Louis Park um in support of the Israeli hostages it was very moving um and it was the day that the uh that the Israeli government found out that the body of uh Sheri B boss actually wasn't her so um you know just very emotional and uh I was very happy to support the community uh that was assembled there and it was very well attended and I also just wanted to um acknowledge a very very uh somber anniversary this is the anniversary of um Russia's brutal um Invasion and occupation of Ukraine and um I just wanted to make sure that we uh acknowledge that and um I just want to say for myself personally I stand with the people of Ukraine thank you council member Calbert um other council members mayor council member Shaq yep thank you mayor um I along with the folks that are in here tonight attended the um Minnesota League of cities uh annual conference and it was very well done this year we talked about some HR practices which I think was really useful about engaging with employees and and our roles and I thought that was informative and good information and also we got a much more in-depth presentation regarding um communicating and interacting between Generations which we had um the the fortune of having um that speaker with us for the boards and commissions dinner but this was an extended version of that presentation and I really got a lot out of it so I always um do a good job with that and I think it was really relevant to our work this year excellent and um other council member ra yes thank you mayor um I didn't know if Mike was going to mention this in his report um so I'm going to remind folks if they haven't done it already to sign up for Organics recycling um if you're already getting it through another huler they probably came by like they did for mine and picked up your Organics bin but literally just Google Organics recycling minona it takes you 30 seconds to sign up um uh let's really try to up our participation from the current somewhat low 10% of residents and try to see if we can't uh uh do that and and help try to meet clim some of our climate action adaptation plan goals um secondly I also wanted to obviously State my support for Ukraine and um especially my support sympathy and solidarity with the minona residents in our community who are uh Ukrainian Americans or those we have welcomed as refugees um on this anniversary of an the unprovoked illegal uh invasion of Ukraine um and this invasion was was of a democratic country by Russia a country that I lived in and I do know to be a an authoritarian dictatorship I am proud of the Minnesota organizations that are supporting Ukraine including minnetonka's AA which is serving uh Ukrainian refugees who have come here with literally nothing um another organization is the protz foundation which has proved uh provided prosthetics for for 100 Ukrainian soldiers and provided rehab for them here in Minnesota and I also building clinics in Ukraine to do the same Saturday I was at an event at the Ukrainian uh Community Center in in Minneapolis uh where one of the speakers was Senator Amy kashar who I am proud to say has been a strong supporter of uh Ukraine as well as mayor uh Minneapolis mayor Jacob PR um fry so um I thank the minona and min organizations uh who are helping in this effort to support small D democracy uh in Ukraine and across the world and I also want to thank uh the soldiers who I got to meet and talk to uh at the event on Saturday they and the Ukrainian people are struggling pres to preserve their country and again and small D democracy so thank you and uh to those residents in minona who are uh you know are suffering offering our refugees or who have family there uh you know our sympathy my sympathy and support to you thank you mayor thank you council member mey um is there any other reports from Council Members I'm not seeing any hands but um um I will just add you know um three years of war in Ukraine um you know it it just boggles the mind and I want to State firmly and I have numerous times um over the years that I stand with Ukraine um I stand with um a democratic country who has been an ally of the United States and I stand with all of the Ukrainian people who are suffering and I'm troubled by the lack of uh Clarity on American policy in Ukraine and I don't want to um I I I I just want to I'll just say simply not try to avoid getting political that I stand with Ukraine and I stand with the Ukrainian people and um the tragedy of what is happened there and The Bravery of the people of Ukraine um deserves our um respect and support and um my my support for Ukraine is unwavering so I wanted to say that and um we can we can move on um but um yeah it's um it's a challenging time now and I really respect respect and feel for the people of Ukraine so next item on the agenda item eight is Citizens wishing to dis discuss matters not on the agenda and so if there's anyone in the audience um who would like to present something to the council that is not on the agenda tonight uh please indicate that and you will be recognized come to the podium state your name and um address and um and share your concern um no action will be taken tonight but we will listen to what you have to say and then we will follow up um ask staff to follow up so welcome and please state your name and address my name is Tom Madden I live at 19260 Lake Avenue in deep Haven uh I wanted to give this the council a quick update on uh I'm a I'm a small business owner minat tanka I own electronic cigarette company um I want to give a quick update as to where we stand with our licensing regarding cannabis but before we do I know lot of the city council members know me some don't so I just want to give you a quick background we've been in minaka for 12 years through that time I've come to the city council doing issues like when we were raising the a the the nicotine age from 18 to 21 even though it hurt my business I was for that raise of the age we've always been very aggressive with our cing we've been aggressive working um with the police on on on various issues and with the city for another example quickly over the years when CBD was new and no one knew what was I gave a uh the council presentation to the members to to inform them of the safeties of the products and as we move forward you know I will be you know as I've always been very involved with my business and with the city and with the police making sure this product is safe so with that in mind um I'm hearing from my lawyers that they're going to start issuing licenses and they're going to start approving licenses we have applied what's called a micro bus license the micro bus license will allow us to have One retail store the micro business also allows the um holder to have an inore smoking Lounge I want the city to know that we have no interest in having a smoking Lounge I don't think that's um good for the community good for my neighbors uh it would be a my uh lawyer described it as um as a business that you can have three to four times more Revenue than than other parts of this business but our mission statement with our business has always been to help the community live healthy your lives we have helped hundreds of people sto cigarettes over the years and as we move forward into this new industry we're going to keep that mission statement alive and well so we have no interest in having um anyone use our products use these new products in our store area in fact um the city council may want to think about having an ordinance not allowing that type of pro not allowing those type of lounges in the city but um according to my lawyer this is the most um this is the most most popular license that's being applied because the ocm has given business owners the impression that this is the one they going allow most people to have so it's the that's the micro business and um we we are in the process of applying the process uh started on the 18th of February last week it ends on March 14th we're we're now being told from a a call we're on last Thursday that they'll be issuing them sometime this spring um once we get the license then will'll be you know we get approval from the city once we get the approval from the city then the ocm will come in and they will do an inspection making sure that we're all up to to code then once all those pieces are in place then we'll be able to to sell the product um I've I've told the city about all the all the um safeguards that we're going to have in this product I'll just mention a few real quickly uh one is called the the duy um inventory system it's it's uh used in other states it's it's considered the standard if follows a product from the time the seed is created to the time the product is sold and Beyond so for example if we had a customer come in trying to buy the state limit and then go to another store that person will be tracked and we can follow them we can work with the police to make sure those those kind of things don't happen um we we already have the security systems in place we've had them in for years so we've we've also got he of filter systems in to to get rid of the the orders and we have had kissy came to our store um when I was here last time I think it was a year ago June cuz I it's been such a um an up and down ride with this process I didn't want to waste the city council's time until we were close to the process and we talked about all the issues and I had answers for every one of her questions um but as we move forward you know I just want to let the city know that you know I'm going to be as serious going forward as I have been for the last 12 years in in all and all our safety checks with um especially with the IDS and especially with with the product and as far as um consumption in my store that's that's not going to happen whether I'm able to do it or not so thank you for your time thank you Mr Madden y all right is there anyone else who would like to um comment on anything to the council that anything that is not on the agenda is there anyone all right seeing no one we will move on um next item on the agenda is uh bids and purchases we have none of those tonight um next item is the consent agenda um items requiring a ma majority vote and we don't have any of those tonight which is somewhat unusual um item 11 is the consent agenda items requiring five votes and we have have one item and 11a is the US PCA AKC reunite 2025 K9 Grant and again on consent agenda items what we do is um we don't act on them um um individually we read them into the record and and vote on them all even though there is only one tonight we vote on them in one motion and one action um is there anyone who would like to pull this item or or if no one would like to pull it is there someone who'd like to make a motion on this item the uspca AKC reunite 2025 K9 Grant council member Wilburn thank you mayor and I just wanted to comment uh just real quickly how much the council appreciates how the police department has been getting grants um to to cover expenses and excited to see a new K9 coming to the department um and I will make the motion to pass consent agenda item 11a thank you and is there a second I'll second May I'll second mayor thank you thank you and um and I think this is an exciting item if if any Council me Members want to make a brief comment they're welcome to um I we we just retired Duke and uh and I know I'm personally excited about moving forward with another Kan I think they are vital to the work that our department does so um we've got a motion in a second M Larsson would you please call roll Shaq yes Wilburn yes Calbert yes ra yes Foster Bolton yes whereon yes motion carries item 12 is Introduction of ordinances and 12a is an ordinance making technical corrections to the city code and miss we're not going to get too many more chances to do this but um that is your report uh mayor and members of the council uh this is an ordinance that uh removes obsolete cross references from the city code we have numerous cross references to other state statutes Federal Regulations um and so we went through identified the ones that had been amended and where the citations were no longer correct um and also identified one section of the code where it Incorporated 54 state criminal laws by reference and determined that that entire section wasn't necessary because the state statutes are independently enforceable so um the ordinance um before you tonight makes a number of corrections as I said they are mostly um well they are all technical in nature but given that you have a light agenda if you would like me to go through them one by one just let me know um Miss hiny I I I very much appreciate your kind offer um and I don't want to assume anything on behalf of my fellow council members but I think we're going to um um say that we could probably um do that offline and um we have some question we can reach out to you in the in the coming week or two so um but Council any any questions or comments for Miss heiney on this item Council M Calbert I just want to say because we won't get too many bites of this apple um for too much longer but I just want to it's just so it's it's just quintessentially um something that our wonderful City attorney would do which is to just tie everything up in a nice neat little boat and um you know fix these technicalities so I just want to thank Miss heiney for her um great work on this and you know for not leaving any sort of loose ends um flapping around and I'm sure her successor will be very grateful to you for that and so are we so thank you and um any other any other questions or comments Council anyone otherwise um a motion is in order and this is an introduction so we're not we're not deciding this today it's an it's an introduction and it does come back to us so um councilor Calbert thank you mayor I'd like to move um uh the ordinance uh uh introduce the ordinance um making technical corrections to the city code thank you and is there a second I'll second all right we've got a u a motion by cber Calbert and a second by council member Wilburn um Miss Larson please call Ro Shaq yes Wilburn yes Calbert yes R yes Foster Bolton yes weome yes motion carries so item 13 is public hearings and we have none of those tonight um item 14 is other business and we don't have any other business tonight either um item 15 is appointments and reappointments and we have no appointments or reappointments tonight so item 16 is adjournment is there a motion to adjourn council member Wilbert I move adjournment excellent and is there a second council member Calbert thank you mayor I'll second all right we've got a motion by council member Wilburn and a second by council member Calbert all in favor say say I I I may we are may we have to do a roll call yes we need a roll call vote because that's right we we have we are we have remote members how soon we forget okay so we're not adjourned yet we have a motion by council member Wilburn and a second by council member calber Ms Larson please call Ro Shaq yes Wilburn yes Calbert she I think she said she's there Deb we didn't hear you yes ra yes Foster Bolton yes we some yes motion carries we are adjourned I will tell you all that I am very much looking forward to being with you physically next Monday um have a great week enjoy the warmer weather and I I'm really missing menaka I look forward to being back soon take care have a good good night [Music] [Music]