This transcript features Mayor Wayne Boucher, City Administrator John Mulder, and various council members. Please note that the automated transcription of names like "Hjelle" (transcribed as Jolly/Jelly) and "LeBlanc" (transcribed as Bluff/LeBlade) has been corrected to match the official list provided. "Councilor Jones" is likely a transcription error for Councilor **John Geissler** or **Joe Peterson**; based on phonetics and common seating, it has been attributed to John Geissler. [0:02] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: …of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God and indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Roll call, please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Here. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Here. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Here. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Here. Uh, we do have a time for announcements and public hearing, but the only announcement I have is that our city limits sign with the correct population has finally back up after being down for four months on Miller Trunk and Haynes Road. It went up around two o'clock this afternoon. Thanks to our city engineer for giving that a little boost. Um, any other announcements from Council? [0:50] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Let's go right ahead to our presentations and we'll move back to correspondence after that. Uh, we have two distinguished visitors today: Senator Grant Hauschild and Representative Natalie Zeleznikar. Welcome and thank you for coming. Do you guys have anything you'd like to give to us? [1:24] **Senator Grant Hauschild**: Well, it is a pleasure to be back here and I have never stood at this table, so this is an interesting dynamic. I sat right over there. But no, it's incredible to be back in Hermantown. Um, it was really—I was really proud at the Capitol to represent not just District 3, obviously the biggest district in the state, but in particular, um, Hermantown. And the reason I say that is because every time we were talking about bills on the floor of the Senate, um, people would bring up Hermantown when talking about me. They—they knew that I was from Hermantown, they knew that I represented Hermantown, I think more than any other community just given that I live here. And it was funny, I just have a small anecdote: when we were having bills introduced that had some sort of fiscal [2:10] impact, oftentimes the other side of the aisle to play games—which I would do the same thing—um, introduced amendments that would impact Hermantown. Um, they wouldn't say my name, they wouldn't say what the context was, they would just say, you know, "we're going to introduce this amendment that would take this amount from Hermantown or give this amount to Hermantown." And obviously the underlying motive was uh, to nag at me, which I thought was pretty funny. But just know that Hermantown was in the air around the Capitol, um, given—given um, sort of what has happened up here with the change in leadership across our legislative district. And I think that's what's also really unique about our legislative delegation. Um, Roger Skraba, Representative Roger Skraba in the northern part of the district, Representative Zeleznikar, and [2:55] myself are all brand new. We're all freshmen. And then in the neighboring district on the Range also has a lot of freshman members. So there was this huge transfer of—of leadership in our region, and I think everybody was looking at us to see what we would do and to see what impact we would have. Um, and I can say without a doubt that this session, um, delivered historic amounts of support, funding, and—and capital back to our region. Um, specifically what I'm most proud of—and I'm happy to walk through a lot of bills, I don't want to take too much time—but the—the main bill that I authored that I was most proud of was our Local Government Aid and County Program Aid package in the State Senate. Um, and as most of you probably know [3:43]—although not all of you—Hermantown has been fighting for over a decade to get included in local government aid. For the longest time, Hermantown either got very, very little or uh, zero across the board in local government aid. So when I became the author of that bill, I made sure that in the formula change that we made, that Hermantown was included in the allocation at a strong amount. And so ongoing, forever into perpetuity, at minimum, Hermantown will get $315,000 a year. Um, 315,000 that, as the councilors knowing the staff, uh, represents uh, things like staffing up a fire department, for example, uh, perhaps hiring more police officers, perhaps funding trails or parks in our communities [4:29], um, you know, utility extensions that you might be looking at in—in other parts of our communities, and broadband matching grants to private and—and public partnerships. So this funding, I think, is really, really critical and something that I fought really hard for. Um, and there were folks on the other side of the aisle that didn't support it, there were people on my side of the aisle that didn't support it, but I got to be on the Tax Conference Committee um, and the Tax Committee in the Senate to fight for that and—and make sure that we got a really strong aid package. The highest LGA increase we've had in our history. We also uh, fought really hard for Public Safety Aid. Um, I—I was adamant that if I was going to support a tax bill and be on the conference committee, that we would get at least $300 million in allocations for our police and first responders, and we did. We got $300 million [5:15] dollars for our police, and—and that's a total of uh, $440,000 approximately to Hermantown itself, which again, uh, is one-time money, but that will inject some much-needed funding that I know is needed from Chief Crace and others to help invest in equipment um, and—and other technologies that you might need, or perhaps get a head start on some personnel hiring that you all need to do. Something that flew a little bit under the radar in the energy bill that I was really proud of and—and that impact Hermantown is a—um, I want to get this word right—it was a high voltage direct current transmission line. Um, so as we know, uh, climate change is impacting our communities, we need to find ways to transition to renewable energy economy, and one way we're doing [6:02] that is by creating public-private partnerships with Minnesota Power, which is really, I would argue, leading the way in this transition. Why this matters to Hermantown is that we got the only direct appropriations to a utility in the entire state, uh, and it's going directly to $15 million to Hermantown where Minnesota Power has a transmission substation um, that's going to help us transfer 1,500 megawatts of wind energy from central North Dakota all the way to the Northland and help power renewable energy all across our region. But the investment, the jobs, and the transmission uh, line is headquartered in Hermantown. Um, so that was another really exciting economic development and renewable energy package that we were able to pass. [6:47] Um, one thing that I was really—I was frustrated about two things before I became a senator and when I was a city councilor here. One was the—the allocation that the State Senate had made to education last session. Um, in the entire education package last session, there was $30 million allocated for reading—for uh, reading uh, for—for students, which is needed, but $30 million in the grand scheme of true of billions of dollars in our surplus was not enough money of support for our education system. So we fought really hard to increase back to historic levels funding in education. Um, you know, my wife and I, I say often, chose to—to settle in Minnesota and specifically in Hermantown because of the education system, because Minnesota and Hermantown are known for our good [7:34] schools. Uh, but we have to put our money where our mouths are and invest in education. So we got $2.2 billion dollar increase in the per-pupil funding, in the cross-subsidy for special education. We hear a lot about special education and the pressures on our teachers to fill that gap, for mental health for our students. We also got sparsity aid for some of our more rural schools so that they can cover the transportation costs associated with education. So the education package was a huge win and something that I was really proud of. The other thing that I was frustrated with last session was us fighting tooth and nail with our senator who was a great senator, Senator Bakk, for bonding. We had about four and a half million dollars, four million dollars in the bonding bill for the Hermantown Arena last session [8:21] um, and between the tax bill, the bonding bill, and literally every bill fell apart at the last minute because of gridlock and political gamesmanship. Um, and so what I often said throughout the campaign and—and—um, and—and throughout when I was traveling the district was that we needed to focus on delivering for our region and we needed to focus on getting things done. And so as part of that, at the last few days of the session, we made a grand bargain deal on bonding that got $7.5 million, as you guys are probably well aware, for the Hermantown Arena. But that wasn't the only project. We got seven and a half million—Hermantown probably got the most in our district—but we got money for infrastructure in Rice Lake and Babbitt, we got um, an arena in Hoyt Lakes and International Falls, we got a wellness center in Bigfork, we got [9:07] a trail and—um, ATV trails in the Iron Range. We saved a nursing home uh, in Ely. Um, we got a Historic Society funding for Grand Marais, um, a trail up the North Shore, and we got Highway 61 funding—$11 million for Highway 61 for those of you familiar obviously with the North Shore. That's a really critical thoroughfare for tourism in our region, and by getting that $11 million for that highway, we can ensure that that project is done in one or two construction seasons rather than being spread out over four or five, which would impact businesses our region um, and really be a detriment to all of us. So: bonding bill success, massive investments in our region for infrastructure. And as part of that deal—and I give a lot of credit to Representative Zeleznikar fighting for our nursing homes [9:53]—um, we got $300 million in nursing home funding that is going to help keep our nursing homes in Greater Minnesota and around our region open serving our seniors in their home communities. Um, and so a huge win across the board on bonding and nursing homes that I was really proud to fight for and advocate for. And again, our district took home uh, probably some of the most amount of money in all of those bills um, in District 3 alone. And I'll leave it at this and then I'll open it up for questions if you would like: we brought home uh, $132 million back to our district in aid to communities and—and cities like Hermantown, and tax relief and in projects and infrastructure. Uh, just a huge investment that uh, if you remember last session when everything fell apart, that meant zero dollars being invested back in our [10:38] communities. So it was a huge success and I'm really proud of what we did and happy to answer questions. So thanks so much for having me and um, I love representing Hermantown. It's an honor of—of my lifetime really. And I hope—I hope I can stay in touch with each and every one of you. If you don't or haven't visited the Capitol or you'd like my contact information, um, please, you know, I can give that to you all. But I would love to have you guys at the Capitol testify, meet with me in my office, um, advocate for Hermantown in any way. We will have a bonding bill next session that—sorry, last piece—we will have a bonding bill next year. It'll be a cash bill most likely, which means we won't be borrowing money; we'll just use um, surplus cash that we left over from last session. Um, so please consider that, think of thoughtful ideas that you have for our communities where we need investments [11:24] um, because I will be at that table when that cash bill comes before us to make investments back in our district. Thank you. [11:32] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any questions from Council? We appreciate everything you've done, Grant. Thank you. [11:38] **Senator Grant Hauschild**: Yeah, thank you guys. Appreciate it. [11:43] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. And next, Representative Zeleznikar. [12:01] **Representative Natalie Zeleznikar**: Well, thank you for having me here. I didn't plan on being an elected official and I won by 33 votes, so I consider myself a public servant. A politician is not what I aspire to be; I feel like I work for the people. I moved to Hermantown in 2005 and it's 2023 now. [12:10] So while I live in Fredenberg now, I have long-standing roots in Hermantown. Our kids graduated from Hermantown High School. And while hockey is a huge part of the community, this community has grown so much in the time I've been here. There's probably not one thing that's not stellar in Hermantown, from soccer to baseball to football, basketball, the arts, the music programs, the plays—it goes on and on. And so Hermantown has a lot to be thankful for. And as a parent and a citizen, I've—I've worked on the school referendum to get the school built, volunteered, and it's been a joy to volunteer in the capacities I've done in the—in the years I've lived here. And it's a phenomenal community because of [12:55] the people in the community. So I'm honored to serve, and I think being a first-time elected official was an interesting process, but I applied it similar to how I ran operations: is that I never knew who were an independent, Democrat, or Republican was, and I didn't care. What is the goal? What is the goal for the kids? What is the goal for the community? What is the goal for families? And that's my priority to this day, and is to find where we need to compromise and to look at it. And I—there's a lot of great things that happened this year and to the Senator's point, a lot—a lot got done. There's two sides to that coin, and the other side of the coin that I am concerned about and have stated is unintended consequences. So there were times when I said no to things that would have been very easy to say yes to [13:41], but the repercussions and the consequences are here at the table for all of you as taxpayers and for your children and for my future grandchildren, because there's only so much money. And so we need to be prudent and—and understand priorities. And so my dad was a public school principal and superintendent, so schools are hugely important to me even though I don't have kids in school anymore, but—and my mom was a bus driver. But with that said, I also know reading—I looked at the reading scores for Minnesota and the "Minnesota Miracle" needs to be better than 30 to 50 percent reading. That's not a miracle if 30 to 50 percent can read. That is the greatest discrimination for a child, and when you [14:26] Hermantown has a lot of opportunity, but I've been to schools across the state outside of my district and in the district, and not all the children are having that experience. So when we look at it: what's different? And I've looked at the data and we—we had phonics before. So the "Science of Reading" was the—the approach to reading before, and now that's coming back. And so the READ Act and—and those things that the Democrats have put forward is really the science of reading that we did. We could all read when we graduated and read at grade level, and if that's not happening now, we have handicapped the teachers. And it's not their fault because the curriculum—I think we got sold a bill of goods. And so we have to retool to make sure kids are going to have successes so that when they leave school, they're not going to lose their job, even if it's at Kwik [15:13] Trip or they're at Dairy Queen or they're at the restaurant, because they can't follow a checklist because they don't know what they're signing. That's not setting up the kids for success. So the Republicans put forth an amendment which was taken down, which would have been 2.2 billion—the same amount of money in education—but it would have had a "five and five" on the formula instead of four and two (four percent, two percent). It would have been five and five. It would have brought about a million dollars more to Hermantown with that formula funding over two years, which would have been significant for teachers—for what we pay teachers—and also for the number of teachers and mental health. There's huge mental health issues when we look at the implications of moving on from COVID in a pandemic where we had remote learning. It's anxieties that we [15:58] know people have from young to old. When I was at the Children and Family Committee meeting that I'm on—Workforce Committee, Children Family, and Health and Human Service—one of the pediatricians said the significance of not seeing a smile. It's the most basic thing, and what it does—children can't speak, young children are in speech therapy right now because they have—they didn't see speech. So when we look at those basics, it's like trying to put the building blocks. One of the things that um, we all campaigned on was the Social Security tax. That didn't happen. So a lot of people wonder why we increase taxes by 9.5 billion dollars when we started with almost a 20 billion dollar surplus. That's the unintended consequences that are yet to come. And we have many things to implement, and the LGA, the local [16:46] government aid was great, capital bonding, and the things that I was worked in a bipartisan way was Legacy funds for the trails, the bonding bill, uh, the Agriculture bill, the Veterans bill—those were easy things to be bipartisan on and I would be. And—and the bonding bill: we didn't do a bonding bill, to Grant's point before, but when we had 20 billion dollars in a surplus, I would have liked to see more done in cash, less done on borrowing. And so this year they needed the Republican vote to get any of this through that was non-cash. And so I voted yes right away because, not just for the Hermantown rink, but because there wasn't one before. And when you delay projects this much on—on highway construction and all these things happening, the costs just go up [17:32] and that's what's happened in four years—costs and supplies go up and contractors are just waiting around for the job. So when cities and counties have to get the job done, we need to have it done timely. And so the—it's a great thing that Highway 61 will happen. The Hermantown rink—I would joke with people and say, "Look, if you want them to go Class AA, maybe with two rinks it might be someday would happen." It was a joke, but I said, you know, I had a—I had a thing on my back right away because I was from Hermantown. But the fact is, many kids play hockey in northern Minnesota, in the state, and that's a great thing. And many kids play all kinds of sports in Hermantown. We lead the way in a lot of things and that's something to be—I take with—with pride. And I say that as not being an athlete; I've been a cheerleader [18:18] my whole life—cheering for business, cheering for sports, cheering for kids, and now I get to be a cheerleader at the State of Minnesota in a different kind of way of trying to make uh, Hermantown and this region, Proctor and Two Harbors, the best it can be for not today, but for the next decades to come. And that's going to take discipline and it's going to take doing the hard decisions, because the decisions we're going to be faced with aren't always going to be easy. And that's running businesses is the same way: it's easy to say yes and it's harder to take away. So when I'm—I'm looking at when we go back to the next session, we've got the Paid Family Medical Leave Act that will affect cities and counties and businesses. We're likely going to have to come back to the table because the actuary report is not out until [19:04] October. So this whole bill has been built without seeing the numbers, and that's a lot of what the session was. And so we have some great things for cities and great things for counties, and now we got to get back to the basics of mental health, making sure we're dealing with public safety. I watched Minnesota Crime Watch every day and we've got a—we've got a crime issue, and we've got a prosecuting violent offenders issue. And so we need to make sure we deal with that so that we can have success in Minnesota, because it's not just in staying in Minneapolis-St. Paul; the rings are coming out and we can see it across our communities. And we want to make sure that we give the support to the public safety for our communities. We want Hermantown, Proctor in northern Minnesota to be the playground for everybody that [19:49] comes up here. But we want to go to the cities and go to a Twins game, a Vikings game, a concert, and not worried about our car being stolen and carjacked or have an assault happen. And everybody wants the same thing no matter where we are in Minnesota, and that's what my priority is. So I'm happy to be there. Thank you. And I've—if you have any questions otherwise uh, thank you. Everybody knows how to get a hold of me. [20:26] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Any questions? I just want to say thank you to both of you for holding town meetings through the session. I know, like, it's very valuable, so thank you for that. [20:34] **Representative Natalie Zeleznikar**: And that was—that was fun. One of the things I said was I wanted to have Town Halls. Senator's district is much larger, he goes all—I mean, my territory is big and his is ginormous. But I wanted to make sure that I could get to the people whether [20:35] there was one person there or 30, and so it's been great to—to hear from people and sometimes that's the best way. And other times people will just call you or text you or email you. So however it works for you, reach out to Senator Hauschild and myself and we're here to serve the people. Thank you. [20:54] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: And—and thank you for everything you do, and thank you for both of you. And uh, it's good to see that you get along so well with each other. I know there's some minor philosophical differences here and there, but you're working for the people and—and you're both keeping your eye on the goal, which is important to us. I think this is the first time since I've been Mayor of Council that we've had both people in your position show up when invited. Yes, we've had sporadic [21:22] attendance from one or the other, but from the opposing parties, right? And—and they were in the same party, but uh, we—you're both here and that he knew where we were. We just—we had other things going on and—but it—it really goes to show your dedication and your commitment to not just your district but to our community, which of course is the most important community in Minnesota. [Laughter] Thank you. Thank you very much. If you guys want to stick around and watch the rest of the fun. [22:08] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: And I didn't—I went right past Communications. They're all on file if anybody wants them. Mr. Mulder will make them available to us. Next we have a series of motions under uh, number nine: a motion to approve and deny the following renewal of on-sale intoxicating liquor licenses. I'm not going to state them all; I'm just going to say that they're as listed in the agenda [22:56], one condition being fulfilled which is normally fulfilled in a rapid manner. Do we have a motion on the renewal of intoxicating liquor licenses? [22:56] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Motion to approve. [22:57] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Do we have a second? [22:58] **Councilor John Geissler**: Second. [22:59] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Geissler. If you have any comments on this, Mr. Mulder? [23:07] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: No, these are all renewed. We didn't have anyone drop off and we didn't have any new ones either. [23:14] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: And as is practice, I'll ask: is there any comments from the public? We'll give that three times through. That's number one. Is there any public comment on this motion? And last opportunity for public comment. Roll call, please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [23:42] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Next is a motion to approve or deny the following renewal of on-sale wine/strong beer liquor licenses as listed in the agenda. Do we have a motion? [23:43] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Motion to approve. [23:44] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor LeBlanc. Do we have a second? [23:46] **Councilor John Geissler**: Second. [23:47] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Geissler. Any comment on these, Mr. Mulder? [23:48] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: No, again same thing. Um, these are all renewals. We didn't have any um, one drop off either. [23:55] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Any comment from Council? Any public comment on this? Is there any public comment on this motion? Last opportunity for public comment before a roll call. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [24:34] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Next is C: motion to approve or deny the following renewal of off-sale intoxicating liquor licenses, and that is Adolf Store and Sam's Club. Do we have a motion? [24:41] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Motion to approve. [24:42] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Do we have a second? [24:43] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Second. [24:44] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor LeBlanc. Same as the last one, Mr. Mulder? And is there any comment from Council on these? Any public comment on this motion? Any public comment on the motion to renew the off-sale intoxicating liquor licenses? For any public comment, roll call, please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [25:21] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: And the next is the motion to approve or deny the following renewal of off-sale 3.2 Malt Liquor licenses for five businesses. Do we have a motion? [25:31] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Motion to approve. [25:32] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Is there a second? [25:33] **Councilor John Geissler**: Second. [25:34] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Geissler. Any comments from Council? Any public comment on these renewals? Is there any public comment on the renewal of the five 3.2 Malt liquor licenses? Last opportunity for comment on this motion. Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [26:06] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Next is a motion to approve or deny the temporary service area expansion application for the Beacon Sports Bar for Summerfest on July 21st and 22nd, 2023, with proposed hours of sale from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Do we have a motion? [26:42] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Motion to approve. [26:43] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor LeBlanc. Do we have a second? [26:44] **Councilor John Geissler**: Second. [26:45] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Geissler. Mr. Mulder? [26:46] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Um, this is um, an annual event at the Beacon during Summerfest um, so um, that's why we have a motion to approve. [26:53] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Is there any public comment on this motion? Any public comment on the motion in front of the Council at this time? Any public comment on the motion for temporary service area expansion application to the Beacon Sports Bar? **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [27:37] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: I'm sure I'm on the right page. Next we have the Consent Agenda, which includes the minutes from the June 5th city council meeting and accounts payable for June 1st through June 15th. Is there a motion? [27:56] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Motion to approve. [27:57] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor LeBlanc. [27:58] **Councilor John Geissler**: Second. [27:59] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Geissler. Roll call, please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [28:25] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Next we have two ordinances. Ordinance 2023-04: an ordinance amending and restating Chapter 14, sign and ground signs, Hermantown City Code. This is the second reading. Is there a motion? [28:28] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Motion to approve. [28:29] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Is there a second? [28:30] **Councilor John Geissler**: I'll second. [28:31] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Geissler. Mr. Mulder? [28:32] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Should we have Mr. Johnson go over this one? Yes, please. Eric? [28:35] **Eric Johnson (Community Development Director)**: Great, thank you very much. Uh, this is the second reading of the proposed amendments of the sign ordinance. Our existing ordinance dates back to 1976. We had an update in 2008. As part of this, our um, previous building official had been uh, keeping notes and looking at different things through the years that he saw needed to be updated within this sign ordinance. That information had been given to Gunner Johnson, the City Attorney, and those are incorporated into this amendment. In addition to that, it updates and modernizes languages and really removes any specific fee-related information—rather, goes back to our fee schedule. A big point of discussion at the Planning and Zoning Commission had to do with language regarding the Class C signs, monument and wall signs. And after some lengthy discussions, uh, we came up with some good language associated with that. And lastly, there's some additional language in here regarding non-conforming signs and defining violations for it. [29:48] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Do we have any questions or comments from Council? Is there any public input on this ordinance? If so, please state your name and address. Any public input on Ordinance 2023-04? Is there anyone from the public that wishes to comment on the new ordinance amending and restating Chapter 14: signs and ground signs? Roll call, please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [30:00] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Ordinance 2023-05: an ordinance amending Chapter 9, Utilities and Services of the Hermantown City Code, by modifying the rules governing the collection of delinquent utility accounts. Do we have a motion? [30:26] **Councilor John Geissler**: Motion approved. [30:27] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Geissler. Is there a second? [30:28] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Second. [30:29] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor LeBlanc. Mr. Mulder? [30:45] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: This ordinance simply changes um, the word from "shall" to "may" in terms of certifying to this county which delinquent bills go on the tax roll. So this would simply allow us to continue to follow a process of potentially um, following up on past dues and not necessarily just automatically certifying them to the county. [31:02] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Do we have any questions or comments from Council? Is there any comments from our City Attorney? Anyone in the public that wishes to comment on Ordinance 2023-05 is invited; please state your name and address. Is there any public comment on this ordinance? Is there any comment on the amendment of rules governing the collection on delinquent utility accounts? Roll call, please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [31:43] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Next is resolutions. Resolution 2023-75: resolution authorizing a summary of an ordinance amending and restating Chapter 14: signs and ground signs of the Hermantown City Code. Do we have a motion? [32:15] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Motion to approve. [32:16] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor LeBlanc. Is there a second? [32:17] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Second. [32:18] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Hjelle. Mr. Mulder? [32:22] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Um, this is just um, the ordinance is about seven—between seven and ten pages, I don't remember last time I had um, but this would just provide a summary for its publication and then the ordinance would be available at City Hall and on its website. [32:41] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from councilors? Are there any members of the public that wish to comment on this resolution? Is there any public comment on Resolution 2023-75? Is there any public comment on the resolution authorizing a summary of the ordinance to be published? Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [33:03] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Resolution 2023-76: resolution authorizing and directing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute and deliver an agreement between the Minnesota Department of Revenue and the City of Hermantown for the collection of local sales tax. Do we have a motion? [33:32] **Councilor John Geissler**: Motion to approve. [33:33] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Geissler. Is there a second? [33:34] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Second. [33:35] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor LeBlanc. Mr. Mulder? [33:39] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: So we've had an agreement with the Department of Revenue ever since we've had sales tax. They collect the sales tax and then remit it to us. Um, this change would have them remit it once a month as opposed to um, having two different payments during the month. And then it also raises the fee, which is a percentage of the collection, um, slightly as well. [33:54] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? [34:10] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: So when we passed that bill, is that the amount that we pass as a city? Is that what we get after the fee, or is that the total amount and the state takes some of that? [34:25] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: They collect their fee out of the amount that they collect. So it's um, a small percentage of that, and then the—the total would still go to pay off a base amount which is specified in the ordinance. [34:33] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Yeah, so we actually have that amount to work with to build the arena? [34:35] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Yes. Or the baseball fields, trails, whatever—whichever projects we have under sales tax. There's a bunch. [34:37] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Any other questions from Council? Is there any public question or comments on Resolution 2023-76? Any public comment on this resolution? Is there any public comment on the resolution for the agreement with the State of Minnesota for the collection of sales tax? Roll call, please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [35:15] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Resolution 2023-77: resolution approving Change Orders number one through seven for Road Improvement Project 534, Uggstad and Arrowhead Road. Is there a motion? [35:46] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Motion to approve. [35:47] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Is there a second? [35:48] **Councilor John Geissler**: Second. [35:49] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Geissler. Mr. Mulder? [35:53] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: So we have a number of different change orders um, on this road project, in part because this is um, the Federal Road Project and we're um, just getting started in this process. So um, there's a couple places where we've changed some things because of um, what the expectation were from the federal government. Um, and a couple other ones where we're adding some additional cost. Um, the one for the school district office entrance would um, provide the necessary curb cuts and sidewalk and things like that, and the school has said that they would be willing to pay for that. [36:29] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any questions or comments? Is there any public input on this resolution? Any public input on the resolution approving Change Orders number one through seven? Any public input on Resolution 2023-77? Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [36:55] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: And for the same project: Resolution 2023-78: resolution approving Pay Request number one for Road Improvement District number 534 to Uhlin Brothers Incorporated in the amount of $324,420.49. Do we have a motion? [37:25] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Motion to approve. [37:26] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor LeBlanc. Second? [37:27] **Councilor John Geissler**: Second. [37:28] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Geissler. Mr. Mulder? [37:38] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Um, this is the first pay application for the work that's been done on Uggstad to date. Um, imagine there'll be several more coming in the coming months, but this has been paid uh, through um, the date on the application—this is June 5th (for some reason I'm thinking June 9th). [37:55] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: And just for public clarification, these projects and do end up being paid as you go as a certain percentage is completed, right? [37:58] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: As the work is done, that's when we make the payment. [38:00] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Is there any public comment on this resolution? There's an opportunity for public comment on Resolution 2023-78. Any public comment on the resolution approving the pay request number one for Road Improvement District number 534? Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [38:33] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Resolution 2023-79: resolution authorizing and directing Mayor and City Clerk to execute an acceptance agreement to the City of Hermantown from Jenna M. and Reed T. Lund for the Old Christrom sewer and road improvement. Is there a motion? [39:07] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Motion approved. [39:08] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor LeBlanc. Is there a second? [39:09] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Second. [39:10] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Hjelle. Mr. Mulder? [39:14] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: So this is um, an easement from the Lunds so that we can run the sewer across their property to connect Christrom to the Oak Ridge Drive sewer. [39:27] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Hearing none, is there any public input on this resolution? Any public input on Resolution 2023-79? It's the last opportunity for public input on this resolution. If you have any, please state your name and address. Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [40:09] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Resolution 2023-80: resolution authorizing and directing Mayor and City Clerk to execute an acceptance of easement agreement to the City of Hermantown from David D. and Mary Jo Miller for the Old Christrom sewer and road improvement. Is there a motion? [40:39] **Councilor John Geissler**: Motion to approve. [40:40] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Geissler. Is there a second? [40:41] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Second. [40:42] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Hjelle. Mr. Mulder? [40:46] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Uh, again this is another easement for the Christrom Road project from the Millers. One is to kind of clarify exactly where the right-of-way is, but then to provide um, um, that right-of-way for that road and sewer project. [40:54] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Do we have any questions or comments from Council? [41:04] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: The Millers are on Christrom Road, right? [41:06] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Yes. [41:08] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Any other questions or comments from Council? Hearing none, we'll move to public input. Is there any public input on this resolution? Is there any public input for Resolution 2023-80? Is there any public input on the resolution authorizing acceptance of an easement agreement? Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [41:32] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Resolution 2023-81: resolution authorizing and directing Mayor and City Clerk to execute an acceptance of easement agreement to the City of Hermantown from Gregory, AKA Greg, Privette and Sarah Seahos Privette for the Christrom sewer and road improvement. Do we have a motion? [42:05] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Motion to approve. [42:06] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Is there a second? [42:07] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Second. [42:08] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor LeBlanc. Mr. Mulder? [42:12] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Again, this is um, an agreement where we would cross the Privette property to put that sewer pipe from Christrom to Oakridge. [42:18] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Is there any public input on this resolution? For any public input on Resolution 2023-81? Any public input on the resolution in front of the Council? Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [42:54] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: And now that we have all the easement agreements in place, we can go to the Resolution 2023-82: resolution receiving bids and awarding contract to Vieths and Company Incorporated for Sewer Improvement Project number 451, Old Christrom Road and Sewer, in the amount of $934,142. Is there a motion? [43:24] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Motion to approve. [43:25] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Is there a second? [43:26] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Second. [43:27] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Hjelle. Mr. Mulder? [43:31] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Um, so we had four bids for this work. Um, it's still planned on being done this summer. Vieths was the low bid and was under the engineer's estimate for the project. [43:44] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? [43:48] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Will that road be paved this summer? Do they let it sit for a year before they pavement? [43:55] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Mayor and Council, um, the plan is to have this fully completed this—this year. And I would just like to add: the engineer's estimate was 1.02 million, saving the city money. [44:26] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. No change orders, though. [Laughter] [44:28] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: Not yet. [44:30] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Any other comments or questions from Council? Hearing none, is there any public comment on Resolution 2023-82? Any public comment on the resolution receiving bids and awarding the contract for the Christrom Road and Sewer to Vieths Incorporated? Is there any public comment on the resolution? Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [45:02] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Resolution 2023-83: resolution approving Change Order number one and pay application number one for the Lindahl Road bridge removal. Do we have a motion? [45:26] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Motion to approve. [45:27] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Do we have a second? [45:28] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Second. [45:29] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor LeBlanc. Mr. Mulder? [45:33] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: So this—um, the bridge, most of this work has been done, and in fact probably most of it's been done since the pay application. Um, and we just had one change order for some silt uh, curtain in the—in the stream bed as we took the bridge out. [45:51] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Is there any public comment on this resolution? Any public comment on Resolution 2023-83? Anyone from the public wishes to comment on this resolution, please state your name and address. Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [46:21] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Resolution 2023-84: resolution adopting performance measures. Do we have a motion? [46:48] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Motion to approve. [46:49] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor LeBlanc. Is there a second? [46:50] **Councilor John Geissler**: Second. [46:51] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor Geissler. Mr. Mulder? [46:55] **John Mulder (City Administrator)**: This is an annual resolution that we do um, and we need to send it to the State Auditor's office by uh, June 30th, in which we conduct a survey of the city residents regarding how the city is doing. We also have various other performance measures we have in our budget booklet. This is an annual um, resolution that we provide to the State, and then doing this, um, we get a small amount of local government aid for it. [47:11] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Thank you. Any comments or questions from Council? Is there any public input on Resolution 2023-84? For any public input on this resolution for performance measures? Is there any public input on this resolution? Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure**: Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Aye. [48:10] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: That ends most of our session. We will move into closed session after a motion. After—when we complete that, we will return to open session to close the meeting. Is there a motion to close the meeting of the Hermantown City Council pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 13D.05 subdivision 3(c)(1) and 13D.05 subdivision 3(c)(3) to evaluate the asking price of naming rights and consider the acquisition of property rights associated with a proposed hockey arena located on property adjacent to the existing hockey arena in the City of Hermantown and develop offers and counteroffers? Following this closed session, the Council will reconvene in Open Session. Do we have a motion to go into closed session? [48:43] **Councilor Andy Hjelle**: Motion to move the closed session. [48:44] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Is there a second? [48:45] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc**: Second. [48:46] **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Second by Councilor LeBlanc. All in favor say aye. **Council**: Aye. **Mayor Wayne Boucher**: Opposed, same sign. [Meeting moves to closed session]