[0:01] Mayor Mary Fasbender: time being 7 o' I call the Hastings City council meeting to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all welcome and let the role reflect we have a full uh Quorum tonight and all council members are present um tonight we we will be doing a proclamation for the Veterans of Foreign Wars um buddy poppy month and this um we will start with [0:47] Councilmember Angie Haus: thank you your honor whereas at the end of World War I the Veterans of Foreign Wars adopted the poppy as a symbol of freedom in the blood sacrificed by troops in wartimes and whereas poppies are worn and displayed as a symbolic tribute to our fallen and the future of living veterans and service members and whereas the annual distribution of Buddy poppies by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States has been officially recognized and endorsed by governmental leaders since 1922 and whereas the Buddy poppy was registered with the United States patent office in February 1924 a certificate was issued on May 20th 1924 granting the VFW organization all [1:34] Councilmember Angie Haus: trademark rights in the name of Buddy under the classification of artificial flowers and whereas the Buddy poppy was adopted as the official Memorial flower of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States as it remains today and whereas the Buddy poppy program provides financial assistance in maintaining State and National veterans Rehabilitation and service programs and particularly supports the VFW national home and whereas the basic purpose of the annual distribution of Buddy poppies by the Veterans of Foreign Wars is eloquently reflected in the desire to honor the dead by helping the living now therefore be it resolved that [2:19] Councilmember Angie Haus: I the mayor of the city of Hastings do hereby urge the citizens of this community to recognize the merits of this cause by contributing gen generously to its support through your donation for Buddy poppy on the day set for distribution of these symbol of appreciation of the sacrifice of our honored Dead Further I urge all Patriots a all patriotic citizens to wear a buddy poppy as mute evidence of our gratitude to the men and women of this country who have risked their lives in defense of the free Freedom which we continue to enjoy as American citizens [3:04] Mayor Mary Fasbender: in witness where I hereby send my hand and sign this Proclamation on this sixth day of May 2024 we do thank all of our veterans for their services Council are there any corrections to the minutes of the April 17 meeting okay now we will hear comments from the audience if there is anyone who wishes to speak to the council at this time you may step forward to the podium please state your name and address and we allow up to about 3 minutes of comments you [3:55] Stephanie Tucker: may can you hear me okay hi everyone my name is Stephanie Tucker I'm a pediatrician I live in Hastings I just want to start by thanking all of you for your service and all that you're doing for all of us and all of our children um this is new for me uh but I'm here tonight um in regard to the water situation that I know um all of us care about um my understanding is that the allowable levels of um is that okay um the all allowable level for um pasas is over allowable levels um in this in the city Um this can cause potentially risk [4:40] Stephanie Tucker: for cancer developmental developmental delays immune issues and endocrine disruption just want to share with you an article that really caught my attention I had pursued an additional Ms in public health at the University of Minnesota um in the past part way and and um for the first time we didn't get taught about this in medical school but I learned um about a study called body bird in the pollution in newborns they tested 10 newborns across the country for industrial chemicals that are not natural to the human body and they found well over 200 chemicals in each of 10 babies in different locations across our country these are chemicals that are not natural to the human body most of which [5:25] Stephanie Tucker: were carcinogens endocrine disruptors or neuroendocrine disruptors and we all know that we live in a bit of a Bermuda Triangle uh regarding some in Industries and uh we know that there's been some chemical um issues in connection with 3m recently um I would really love to encourage um and the strongest of loving ways um that we find ways to provide water to every citizen in Hastings um there's no safe level of pfoa or pfas and we're playing resturan roulette [6:11] Stephanie Tucker: if we don't if we don't provide water safe water for every child and every one of us our children are especially vulnerable our children just think about a mother that's pregnant right now do we really want to take a risk for the child that she's carrying right now do we really want to take a risk for the children that are born that are in their parents arms right now being fed formula from our Taps I sure don't and you know I I really want to just in in the highest of of most lovingly and most strong ways would love to be an advocate in joining [6:56] Stephanie Tucker: arm in- arm with all of you in protecting our children together so you know in Pediatrics lots of times we don't know how we're going to get something done we just know we're going to do it because it's the right thing to do for our children to protect them i' I'd love to invite and Empower us to just find a way let's find the money let's find a way let's figure it out and and and let's make sure everybody's protected I don't want to see our babies being bathed in this water I don't want to see them drinking it I don't want to see our children and our parents eating food that's being prepared with it we're brushing our teeth with it we're cleaning our dishes with it you [7:43] Stephanie Tucker: know so this is something we can make a very big difference with while we're figuring out the rest while we're figuring out the rest the other issue is um I'd love to encourage and I'm sorry that I don't have the information with me now but I will share some followup links one of which includes um something called ewg the environmental work group and they're a strong citizen Advocate and they have a tap water database that shows that there are additional contaminants in our water system Beyond pfoas and pfas and um I I would love to encourage that we together um take a look at those additional contaminants and whatever Solutions are found I'd [8:30] Stephanie Tucker: really love to encourage that every single one of them is included in the plan um you know sometimes sometimes even the levels that are being recommended and and the interventions sometimes they're not enough and right now I believe that the current recommendations allowing people to not you know of of suggesting it's okay to drink the water it's up to you I don't believe that those are safe enough recommendations um and would love to join together with all of you in helping to assure the thriving of our our children and all of us every single one of us um now and for for generations to come so thank you for all you are already doing um and I'm I'm happy to be a [9:18] Stephanie Tucker: resource and um welcome um connecting on this or any other topic um thank you for the opportunity to share [9:18] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you for your comment thank you anyone on Zoom wishing to speak okay oh council member leifeld [10:04] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: thank you thank you honor first um Dr Tucker I want to thank you for taking the time I know this is out of your comfort zone but I also know it's something you're really passionate about um I've had um time to talk to many of my um colleagues here about our conversation and we'll be having more conversations I want to remind people in the mayor is going to remind us at the end of the meeting but since people are listening and just heard you speak I want to remind people about a information meeting this Thursday night the city is hosting a PS information meeting with presentations and a question and answer session by the Minnesota Department of Health the Minnesota Pollution Control agency in the city of Hastings it'll be held this Thursday May 9th at 6m in the Hastings High School auditorium again the mayor will talk about it later but perfect opportunity to bring it up since it's something that you just talked about so I want to thank you for taking the time to come and share your passion with us and it's definitely something we're all it's on all of our radar so thank you doctor thank you [10:49] Mayor Mary Fasbender: council member LEL Council the my council members are there any items to be considered okay I would accept a motion for the consent agenda council member pemble and council member leifeld any discussion councel all those in favor of the Motion state by saying I I oppos to that Motion state by saying nay thank you and that passes for this item tonight uh the H tobacco special use permit for cannabis we will a have a public hearing and then we will have a resolution and with us tonight we have a community de development director John Hinzman and he will give us an update welcome John [11:36] John Hinzman: thank you mayor City Council Members as the mayor pointed out two steps to tonight's action the public hearing as well as the consideration of the special use permit itself I will provide a little bit of background information as to how we got to where we are today as you know the city council adopted new regulations pertaining to the sale of cannabis last year this is one of the first applications to come out of the gate with it and uh there's a few missteps that we had with this one coming out of the gate uh one is that when we have a license requirement for cannabis but we also have a zoning action for cannabis sales as well so the council did consider the at the license requirement at their first meeting in April it did approve that and but they failed to take action on the special use permits so that was really at at at staff's a on that one and we've made rect we've uh made provision so that we don't have that happen in the future so that's the reason why we have this before you tonight as a public hearing [12:22] John Hinzman: as opposed to having after you've taken action in the license requirement so the action we've got before us tonight is a cannabis license for H tobacco I'm going to show my screen here H tobacco is located at 1310 Vermillion Street uh in this shopping center located right here at the endcap uh just north of 14th Street here they've been in operation there for about a year or two and the Cannabis sale that we have for the special use perit is very similar to the requirements that we have under the licensing requirement there's a background investigation there's a check of safety and security by the police chief all of which have taken place on this Planning Commission did consider this application at their last meeting [13:08] John Hinzman: did recommend approval of this on a four to or a 5 to zero vote we did not have anyone speak for or against it during the public hearing we did have a mailing go out to all residents within 350 ft of this property and we have not had any comments nor questions that have come up pertaining to this uh there was one item of discussion at the plan Sig commission meeting and that was pertaining to the signage within the building itself uh the applicant failed to get a sign permit to put the signage up so we did put a condition on the special use permit that prior to the sale and the execution of the special use permit he would need to secure that signed permit other than that uh I think everything else is pretty straightforward so I can [13:54] John Hinzman: stand for any questions right now or you may open the public hearing thank you [13:54] Mayor Mary Fasbender: okay thank you John Council I'll open the public hearing first and then we will have discussion this time I will excuse me open the public hearing anyone wish to speak to councel on this issue anyone on zoom and no one on Zoom one more time anyone wish to speak to the council at this time okay we'll close the public hearing open discussion for Council Council council member leifeld [14:39] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: thank you honor I'd like to make a motion um granting a special use permit for the retail sale of cannabis products at 1310 Vermillion Street for hamson San H tobacco thank you [14:39] Mayor Mary Fasbender: council member leifeld and a second by council member Fox discussion councel okay all those in favor of the Motion state by saying I I opposed to that Motion state by saying nay all right thank you John thank you okay and then we will do an authorization signature for the services agreement for Koda metrics zoning code revision John you may continue [15:27] John Hinzman: thank you mayor City Council Members so we often use the zoning code and the zoning code that we have right now has been around for 28 years and you can imagine the changes that have happened in best practices and development uh that have occurred during that time period it is a need of a of a rewrite and a revision [15:27] John Hinzman: and so we're asking for you tonight is to consider an a contract with kodom metrics to prepare a revision to the zoning code itself the revision itself is likely to be frankly a rewrite of the of the code we're going to have them delve deep into every aspect that we have within there Koda metrics has a wide background of doing doing codes throughout the country uh codes that are similar to what we have in Hastings as far as the development of of historic development and also the new development that we have so we've been very impressed with what we've seen in the background how we got to this point is we put out a request for proposal got six responses back from that ended up interviewing four firms and Koda metric was the unanimous choice of that of [16:14] John Hinzman: those firms so what happens from here is upon the execution of the contract uh we will enter into an agreement with kod metrics it's about a one-year project Al together it's going to involve review of Z zoning ordinances by City staff by the Planning Commission and ultimately by the public as well their proposal contemplates a few touch points for the public within this so that the public can see the plan online be able to comment and review on it and have open houses pertaining to the plan itself so they've laid out a very good strategy for tackling the plan but it's about a one-year project Al together so this will be a good chunk of time for us and the Planning Commission as we move forward the cost of this is $65,000 it's [17:02] John Hinzman: not to exceed bid that's the amount of money that we had budgeted within the budget itself so looking for action on the contract if you have any questions I can stand for it at this time thank you [17:02] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you John Council council member Fox [17:02] Councilmember Fox: thank you your honor um thank you John for that background um one thing um I would like to highlight um is that we haven't updated this since 1996 um so I think it is well worth our time and cost to update our uh zoning code um one of my questions earlier today was how would this affect the current zones and how do we how do we actually like roll something like this out and I just wanted to highlight another thing you said that we will have stakeholder engagement and public hearings and make sure that people are within code and we're going to protect our our residents our businesses and our city by having a really strong code in the next next iteration of it so I appreciate your background Dan thank you for answering my questions about it this morning um I'm happy to um make a motion to approve [18:36] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you council member Fox council member Leifeld I will hold off on a second I do have a question okay do we have a second council member house will second open discussion for Council council member Leifeld [18:36] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: thank you and because some really smart individual told me a little while ago there's no such thing as a dumb question I'm going to use that to my advantage so we just had a really long meeting uh a workshop for the council um talking about our budget and our number one priority um in the city right now is the um p and um PF and how we're going to treat that and the extreme price tag that's going to come with doing that and where we're going to come up with this money that being said is this something that needs to happen right now it's $65,000 seems like a drop in a bucket on a $68 million project it has been budgeted however is [19:23] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: that something it's still an expense right even though it's been budgeted and I don't know the answer um so I gu guess it's a question I understand 28 years is a long time it needs to be updated and I know we've come a long way in updating wording and codes an excellent job on on the part of our city staff that needs to be done I guess my question would be could this stand to be put on a back burner and how would that affect the money that's already been budgeted thank you sir [20:10] Dan Wietecha: thank you council member LEL Dan my answer is more anecdotal than specific but in my 4 and a half years here I think we've been involved in three land use lawsuits so I would really like to make sure although I think we've got a good code I think it would be good to make sure that it's meeting contemporary expectations [20:56] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: thank you Dan excellent sort of an answer um how would that affect if it were voted down and we were to say no to this does that $65,000 that's currently earmarked in the budget become available within the budget for us to utilize towards the infrastructure required for PS no such thing as a stupid question [20:56] Dan Wietecha: Dan it it would not audit automatically transferred to that uh I also um not prepared to answer at the moment but would certainly want to talk with our uh finance manager about um sort of Crossing between the general operation side of the budget versus The Water Utility side they they really are budgeted separately uh so um this certainly would not automatically transfer and I really want to talk through some of the implications of making it transfer [21:41] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: thank you Dan that being said if since we've got a motion in a second on the floor if we were to vote on this right now and were're to vote it nay if we were to vote it down what is the process for bringing this back up after that information is brought to us did that question make sense [21:41] Dan Wietecha: which information brought to you [22:28] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: so you're going to find out my question is if this turns into $65,000 that you get to use not you specifically but that your department uses for some other item well then let's do this if that $65,000 could be budgeted and used elsewhere in regards to pasas is that's my question if if we voted no right now can we find out whether or not this money money could be allocated towards that if so or if not could we turn around and revote on this at an upcoming meeting and not have to start anything over [22:28] Dan Wietecha: uh one um I'm not familiar with the specific terms of this proposal or agreement so I would defer to community development director John Hinzman but a question of how good is that quote for you know can we hold it for another two weeks or it expire uh the other would be if it could be held um and if Council was so inclined I would recommend that you uh either table or just not act rather than voting against it um but if there's some question about the budgeting technicalities between the uh general fund and the Utility Fund we we could certainly have that for our meeting on the 20th it would would not be a long delay so I think a question's been posed to you sir [23:15] John Hinzman: okay um this particular uh budget item that we've received a um a bid or such have you how long is that good for right do we have two weeks to look at this and then just so people know this was an hour and a half long discussion where we talked about things we can do within the city to make fiscally smart decisions and making sure that we're making our budget go as far as as it can I don't know that that's the answer here John M saying no to this do I think this has to happen yes I do my question is is right now the best timing for it under the circumstances sure to answer your question council member about how long the bid would be valid for I I don't have that answer in front of me I would imagine that two weeks is is not going to be fatal on this one thank you [24:01] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Council thank you John council member Fox [24:01] Councilmember Fox: thank you your honor um okay so just to be really clear our hour and a half meeting was about reviewing our strategic plan and where we actually want to place our staff's energy in the next few years um and what the council's direction was um so um we ended up talking a lot about budget because we have a big budget and ahead of us with puest and um one thing that very much concerns me is that if we take like I I think you said council member life ala drop in the bucket right 65,000 which is a lot of money but it's it's relative to a Big Bill that's that could put a dent in a Big Bill um I'm worried about putting the function of the city on the back burd I don't want something that we have very little control over to take over our city um we have to have a functioning City that provides resources provides infrastructure provides clean water um and that is the function of our city right we we we need to pay for things um so I'm afraid that if we set the precedent that a a bill like $65,000 for an RFP for something that we haven't touched since 96 where best practices get lost that will be consequential to the function of what we do here um so I uh stand by my motion and will be voting yes in favor of this um uh RFP um my one question for you John um hypothetically um this is not passed by a simple majority which is what we need for this action um is this something we could talk about tomorrow at hedra to pay for [26:20] John Hinzman: council member I leave that up to your discretion if the hedger believes that this would be an item to fund I will remind the council that during the budget discussions we had for 24 23 and 24 we did allocate funding for the zoning ordinance it was not done in 23 carried that money over to 24 added an additional 15,000 in that budget to do this so the council has established this as a priority over the last two budget Cycles thank you thank you [27:07] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you council member Fox council member Vihrachoff [27:07] Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff: thank you your honor um I agree with actually both of my colleagues up on the day here I think that uh council member leifeld and council member Fox are both making um great points um my question for Dan or for John um would be is there it's kind of along uh council member leifeld's um same way of thinking is that if we look at this as a possibility of perhaps saving $65,000 to your point could the reverse actually be true so in other words if we don't do this is there to council member Fox's position are we costing ourselves money at some point are we leaving money on the table in terms of I don't know Zone violations or or or other pots of Revenue or income that we could be generating in that way in other words are we are we robbing Peter a little bit to pay Paul [28:41] John Hinzman: C I might be able to suppose a few things related to that I one of the things we're going to be looking at here is the zoning districts that we have and a topic of conversation regionally over the spring has been uh looking at housing and providing affordable housing and more housing opportunities the zoning code is a tool in which one can do that so I think part of the discussion we're going to have is whether there's more opportunities uh to create more housing that's not there right now more housing within the city brings in more residents increases the tax space so I'm hoping that has a positive effect on that uh I know right now with the zoning districts that we have for residential especially with the single family districts frankly the the lot size minimums that we have right now are not consistent with the market so we're requiring something of our zoning code that the market is not serving right now and that could be a lost opportunity for us thank you [29:26] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you council member ver thank you John um I'll just make a statement you know I we are watching our our dollars we have to um that's our duties and due diligence however we want our community to grow and we want to have updated zoning and ordinances and I think staff has worked very hard in bringing us into this this time of era which many things have not been looked at for years as John has stated as other things have not been updated for a long time personally I would like to continue to see this process go through for the betterment of our developments and futuristically for our businesses and many other things that one to come in um because it has been passed on for two budgets now I think that's important we can't keep kicking the can down the road as we say and I know I I understand where you're coming from council member leifeld and we are being very cautious as are spending but we also can't go backwards in something like like I think this is important my thought council member Le thought [30:14] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: one final question for you John since I think the word you you you could provide some sort of sort ofes or something was when answering council member Vihrachoff's question so can you tell us in 2023 and so far in 2024 how many new rooftops were added into the city of Hastings [30:14] John Hinzman: yeah council member there was over 200 in each year in 20 22 and 23 so there was over 200 each year [30:14] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: correct so in the last year we added over 200 rooftops without having spent this 6500 000 to have this study just wanted to point that out I am going to vote no I done speaking thank you [31:49] Mayor Mary Fasbender: okay thank you council member leifeld uh council member pemble [31:49] Councilmember Dave Pemble: I understand you know very well we had an hour and a half plus discussion been basically revolved around income and costs but when you say it's been 28 years 28 years there's some people that are on the DS here that aren't 28 years of age and you look at that and say this has to be done yes I I wholeheartedly understand the need to say okay is this something that we could put off yes but in the other hand are there missteps or advantages that we didn't take care of of because it's like you said the the size of our lot size isn't part of what the current market is looking for and you know if we're not in place we maybe are losing that opportunity we could be looking at better than 200 rooftops if we were in the right set and it's it's a maintenance thing in in my place it's like okay 28 years it shouldn't go buy 28 years there's every few years things need to be updated it's just like getting your car fixed or buying a new one or buying a house or whatever but I will vote Yes for this thank you [33:22] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you council member pmell and council member house [33:22] Councilmember Angie Haus: thank you your honor Dan I do have one question for well kind of question something that you had mentioned that's a concern of mine now is that you had said that there were three lawsuits um would revamping this code help prevent that or would not approving this further the possibility of more issues [33:22] Dan Wietecha: although it's speculative I I think that having an up to-date code would uh reduce the likelihood of lawsuits um partly just a matter of uh avoiding uh some ambiguous are undefined language um but I I think that it would reduce that likelihood thank you [33:22] Councilmember Angie Haus: um lawsuits cost money as well so that's kind of my thought as well on that thank you council member house [33:22] Mayor Mary Fasbender: any other discussion there is a first and a second okay all those in favor of the Motion state by saying I I oppos to that Motion state by saying nay and that motion prevails thank you John thank you tonight we have a trail easement vacation on the SME property and we will have a public hearing and a resolution and we will have an introduction by our parks and Rex director Chris Jenkins [34:09] Chris Jenkins: thank you mayor and Council I like Parks development we can do that too that was on my mind from earlier I like it I like it uh yes what we have tonight is we're vacating a trail easement we've had uh for nearly 20 years that runs through the smees parking lot or the north side of sme's parking lot uh they were gracious enough years ago to allow that easement for that trail um that portion of the trail is being taken over by Dakota County as part of their Regional Trail so Dakota County has uh worked through the process to to clean up and get their own easement through that property and in fact the work on the trail has been done there already so they've had permission working directly with SME so this is cleaning up getting rid of the city's easement and allowing Dakota County to have their own great thank you Chris any questions council member Fox [34:56] Councilmember Fox: um I sorry should we open the public here I'll ask my question this is kind of a tangent but um do you know how that's going I'm so excited about this Trail the whole project just until a approximately Dakota County [35:41] Chris Jenkins: so this project is going to end at uh Highway 46 at the highway uh 46 Vermilion linear Park and to get through all my parks there uh is where this Trail will uh terminate for now they have plans in the future Dakota County has plans in the future to take this Trail all the way to Farmington um and then perhaps another Trail uh down Highway 54 as well but that would be a separate Trail okay okay and um completion around for this project will be done later this summer they're waiting on a bridge that will be in Vermillion linear park that's supposed to be delivered I'm going to say mid June but that can always turn into mid July with those sorts of items excellent thank you [36:28] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you council member Fox all right at this time I will open the public hearing anyone wish to speak on the public hearing for the easement nothing on Zoom no one in the audience wishing to speak I will close the public hearing council member leifeld you had a question [36:28] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: just to confirm so this is It's the trail we already own and they're just like we did down in um on the Mississippi River there the County's just taking up we're not adding a new Trail we're not doing anything they're just going to take over the maintenance and such and then ultimately [37:15] Chris Jenkins: yes and they are going to maintain now to the 61 and then the trail that we have that goes west from there is still owned by the still maintained by the city 61 that trail continues underneath the bridge goes behind Applebees through bulen down the Miss down the park and Highway 46 is the the termination of this Trail segment okay but yes they will the Dakota County will uh jurisdictionally own uh the pavement and two feet on either side of the pavement from um virtually for about six or seven miles of our 10-mile Loop yep so the Mississippi River Regional Greenway and the Vermilion River Regional Greenway [38:00] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: well then I would like to make a motion to approve the vacating the trail easement as indicated in our handout [38:00] Mayor Mary Fasbender: okay thank you council member LEL council member Vihrachoff any discussion Council okay all those in favor of the Motion state by saying I I oppose to that Motion state by saying nay and that motion prevails thanks Chris absolutely now under Parks and Recreation we will have a second reading to adopt the ordinance for the chapter 94 Parks and Recreation [38:48] Chris Jenkins: well thank you again yes this is a second reading and adoption a repeal and replace of ordinance 94 which is a lot of things Parks and Recreation I won't say all things but a lot of things Parks and Recreation uh is cleaning up some old Cobble together edited um revised over the years ordinance um it also ties this ordinance in uh sync with a few of our other ordinances highlights of this are park hours um we have a standard curfew 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. uh we have other parks that Council has taken action on that extend those hours to 11: p.m. we have a couple of permits with the Mississippi river boat dock and the Mississippi River Public Water Access that require different things so getting all those parts and pieces in there uh it makes our leash law in the Parks consistent with the leash law in our other ordinances um and it excludes pets from being on the athletic fields themselves at vets Park which is a big one as well uh it also deals with alcohol in the Parks and tobacco in the Parks and vaping in the Parks as well so lots of good stuff really clear and concise um had a lot of help from Miss Cory land as well too so thank you stand for any questions [39:35] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you Chris any questions Council okay this is the second reading all right I'll accept a motion council member pemble and a second by council member Lawrence discussion Council all those oh council member leifeld [40:20] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: quick clarification question for you Chris yes ma'am you mentioned alcohol in the Parks so I went to double check it and it just is referring to so the law isn't changing within the parks it just is referring to after hours [40:20] Chris Jenkins: so had a little bit of inconsistency in parks and or special events there's been uh new beverages now that have been created think your Seltzer that's actually made out of vodka and sparkling water under our old ordinance that would not have been allowed because it's intoxicating liquor and not intoxicating Malt Liquor which is beer do we really want to police and Patrol If you have a makes Hard Lemonade or CES light in your hand um it just cleans that sort of stuff up and if people choose to go and get intoxicated and inebriated in a park they're violating other ordinances anyways and the police can take care of that but still no glass thank you [41:07] Mayor Mary Fasbender: council member leifeld any other discussion all right all those in favor of the Motion state by saying I I oppose to that Motion state by saying nay and that motion prevails thank you thank you Chris tonight under Administration as we've stated in the past um we will have a pfas update the first council meeting of the month and we will have a update from uh Dan Wietecha [41:52] Dan Wietecha: thank you um first on my list of updates is that there is a public information meeting coming up on Thursday the 9th uh 6: p.m. at Hastings High School auditorium certainly very much encourage people to attend in person uh I think that you get a better uh just understanding and feel and and uh easier opportunity to ask questions directly uh or even speak with your your neighbor next to you on on the in the the auditorium but do recognize that it also is going to be live streamed on hctv if that meets other people's um convenience uh other updates um uh at this point we remain optimistic about potential funding or partial funding through the state's capital budget uh as we know the capital budget uh the state bonding bill is typically the last or one of the last things that the legislature does so uh figure a couple more weeks before uh that actually gets voted uh I do suppose that in between now and then we might get better indications if we're in or out but um at this point it still wait patiently and I will be The Optimist um another update uh a couple of weeks ago last week maybe um two weeks ago uh we submitted requests for potential uh Federal funding uh submitted those requests to senators kobitar and Smith as well as representative Craig uh in that case we requested $10.3 million which is half of the first phase of the project uh and we indicated that uh expect us to come back for future phases but um 10 million is uh more than is typically funded through um Community Project funding or congressionally directed spending uh this decision could be any time between now and October so uh wait patiently on that but we're certainly seeking funding uh other funding we we uh have submitted for and are sub sub mitting for uh the state's drinking water revolving fund project priority list the PPL uh we resubmitted that project uh last week um resubmitted because we were on there uh last year uh but found out uh months later that there were errors in the scoring uh we do believe that correcting those errors will rank us at or at least near the top of the list uh which does help position us for funding I think it also helps us just in communicating the importance of the project when we talk to other funding sources about we're we're near the top of a Statewide list um uh that although we might get indications of a score uh in the next month or so uh the the ranking among other other projects Statewide would not be till fall but uh still an important step uh paired with that is the uh intended use plan so it's sort of a two-step process the the project priority list and then the the iup that iup application is due in early June uh and uh public works department has been preparing to submit that application uh essentially it's a matter of just not just saying here's a project but here's a project that is ready to go um I will say that the drinking water revolving fund is not our preferred funding source uh but uh it is a possibility uh it also is part of our due diligence and and indicating that we're seeking out uh funding when we talk to legislators and others that we're doing our part at looking for how to do this uh it also uh does have a um emerging contaminant Grant associated with it which is $3 million uh a little bit more than a drop in the bucket I heard the term earlier uh but certainly does not get the project done uh it is possible although it'd be applied individually that uh each of our three phases might might get such Grant so uh potentially up to $9 million which certainly is uh helpful um anyways uh those applications as well as others have been uh ongoing um the other piece I think needs to be noted in part of our discussion earlier this evening is uh coincidentally uh Monday next week the finance committee is meeting to begin talking about the 2025 budget and uh just the reality is going to have to be some at least initial discussion about uh potential uh significant potential uh water rate increases um certainly no decisions there yet and uh a lot of pieces that hopefully might be falling into place but we do need to prep prepare for that that uh certain possibility um couple other updates um the pollution control agency continues to do uh additional or they're drilling I think six additional new sampling Wells uh as part of the phase 2 environmental site assessment uh which is trying to narrow down or essentially rule out potential sources of the contamination so that if sort narrow the list it's some point you've got uh a uh Source identified so it's important to continue that that environmental work but it's uh going to take time um uh but certainly pursuing that uh the other piece um you might remember back last month I indicated that the PCA had requested 3M Company to uh do some investigation of its discharge specific in the Hastings area those uh results or at least the preliminary results uh we got back uh in uh mid April early mid April um there's really been a conversation between 3M and the PCA but but some of that was shared with us uh I think the important piece there uh uh is it's a step uh it confirmed the presence of uh pfoa and pfos similar to the sampling that we had done previously uh and the presence of hq15 uh in one of our wells uh we sampled it saw it once it's nice to at least get it confirmed that it was not a false positive uh and helps to keep those conversations ongoing um I do believe uh that uh the 3M I do 3M has proposed and the PCA has agreed uh that some additional chemical evaluation of the pfoa um is warranted at this point and they're expecting to submit a a work plan for that additional investigation in miday so yes we s saw a step that confirmed some earlier findings uh and that basically just sets us up for the next step for some additional study so a lot of it's ongoing um it might feel slow except it's extremely important uh I think the immediate piece right now for us or anybody out there in the public is that meeting on Thursday the 9th to uh uh hear directly from the Department of Health the pollution control agency the city staff also about uh the the contaminants in our water uh what it means and and also there will be significant question and answer uh format to that that presentation that I can take any questions now uh we're we'll see you Thursday [49:37] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you Dan don't any questions all right Dan you may continue now with the accounting software changeover you'll have an overview and then a resolution for a temporary waiver or utility late fees [50:24] Dan Wietecha: yeah for the last certainly the last year and a half in Earnest but this was actually being discussed before I started here uh a few years ago uh but we are switching over uh to a new uh accounting software vendor uh bsna uh and looking forward to the abilities and user friendliness of that system as well as some uh security improvements to it uh but uh we're coming up on sort of uh D-Day so to speak it's it's almost time I think it's next week uh to uh migrate and validate uh the the data from the old system to the new one but although it seems to be in the background it's going to have some pieces that are bit uh uh recognized uh here in public and and maybe even frustrating we will be unable to accept electronic payments between the 8th and the 12th uh even if somebody comes in and pays with a check their utility bill we're going to have to put you know give them a receipt and put it in a drawer but we won't even be able to process it until after this transition period uh so after the 12th um uh if somebody is on an auto payment system because it's a new system and has new security features they will need to re-register their account and banking information in order to make auto payments in the new system we can't do that for them um and behind that is the reason for the the recommendation on the resolution in a moment here that uh although people will get a notice I think invariably somebody's going to miss a notice notice and rather than somebody who's trying to make timely payments on the autopay system uh rather than that uh getting stuck with a 10% penalty uh recommend that the city put in a temporary waiver for the next 3 months that uh in those situations uh the the the late fee would be waved certainly encourage them get registered uh don't don't test the uh the waiver but uh certainly want to work with an understand uh the the impact on people uh other piece I think uh informational is with this new system uh the uh automat well not just automatic payments but any electronic payments uh will be strictly through the uh software vendor and not uh handled by the city so if you remember back the first of the year uh the city council approved for utility bills but also for other transactions throughout the city uh putting uh or charging a convenience fee to cover the the credit card expenses under the new system that'll be handled directly by bsna and not the city uh doesn't take any change for us but should be aware that that fee uh about in the same ballpark 2.95% plus 50 cents per transaction will be directly between the the uh customer in bsna but the part that'll be new is if somebody's making uh an AC payment that will now have a fee which is handled by bsna not through us so recognized back just a couple months ago we said here's a new credit card fee and we had a number of people said I don't want to pay the fee so they switched over their auto pay from their credit card to their checking account going forward still encourage people to be on autopay but there will be that that transaction convenience fee with with the ACH transactions through bsna so all the accounting software is in the background but I think we will see places that uh people notice it uh I think in the the long run it it's certainly a better system to work with I think that the fees are reasonable uh I think the recommendation to do a temporary waiver of late fees during this transition certainly is warranted but with that I can take any any additional questions thank you thank you [54:17] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Dan council member leifeld [54:17] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: thanks Dan um looking back at December 18th where we did the second reading of chapter 34 fees we specifically you addressed it so thank you um that we had had discussion regarding the 2.95% for credit card use we did not discuss a I would be curious to know that $3 is that a BSA Fe because I know generally both both of these fees the credit card at 2.95 plus 50 and the a fee of $3 per transaction up to a th000 and higher months at higher increments are strictly with bsna and do not involve the city and do not need a change in our fee schedule it's strictly between the the bsna and the customer so the a the credit card fee we discussed it was costing the city money to process those we know that right and we're seeing that with a lot of businesses around if you use a card you pay extra we all had a big conversation I would question and maybe it's not a issue for people but the AC fee so we made the decision to add that 2.95% because it was costing the city money to process that now if BSA is doing this it's costing them they're getting their 2.95% plus this 50 and they're getting a $3 fee for a I'd be curious because I I know banks are different but generally speaking Banks do not charge a business for an incoming a so if that's a fee that they're making money on I I'm just curious they're a business they probably have fees right but that wasn't in our original discussion so I just want to [56:39] Dan Wietecha: our our original just to note our original discussion was fees collected by the city in this case it's separate and is not is not neither one is a fee collected by the city I recognize it it's right next to us because it's with the utility payment but the credit card fees that we enacted at the first of the year which was 3% not 2.95 was was strictly for fees that the the city was collecting the credit card payment in this case we're no longer the middle person we're taken out of the equation so this is just between the customer and the the vendor [57:26] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: got it so it's a convenience fee that they're paying to BSA to have an a payment okay I I just wanted noted that that is we did not discuss the convenience fees or the 50 cents fee and we did discuss a 3.7 because the credit card transaction fees paid by the city were 3.7% so thank you Dan I appreciate you're explaining that thank you [57:26] Mayor Mary Fasbender: council member leifeld council member Vihrachoff thank you mayor [57:26] Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff: um and thank you council member leifeld for those comments so I have a couple of thoughts on on this um number one I commend the city and City staff and and Dan of course for thinking through um making sure there's a temporary waiver so that if folks do have questions about this um that they have a little bit of wiggle room I think that's a really really good and smart idea and I'm really proud of staff that is implementing that um I myself uh of course pay my water bill um through um online means and when I went online to set this up I wasn't quite sure what to do and so that begs my next question that if um somebody that's sitting up here isn't quite sure what to do there might be lots of people watching that necessarily aren't sure what to do and while I think this was a great explanation and I appreciate all the information here if you go to log in next week and you're not sure exactly how you should handle that Dan what should somebody do should they call utilities should they call you should they call council member leifeld [58:57] Dan Wietecha: I I will be taking next week off uh no no they they should call the uh either the finance or the utility billing department I believe that number I'd have to look at the the f print at the bottom but that number should be on their their billing statements it's also on the city website [58:57] Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff: thank you I appreciate that answer and I would just like it to be noted that Council M lifelt I appreciate all of these different instances that you bring up in terms of um keeping this governing body thinking about different ways that we can save money and resources for the people we serve so thank you [59:43] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you council member Vihrachoff council member Fox [59:43] Councilmember Fox: thank you your honor um all right so I'm gonna just break it down real quick um we have a 20 day billing cycle from when bills go out to when they're due and I have a neighbor who um does not appreciate that so I I am saying that out loud because um I I want to represent their needs um and we as a council are pushing forward a quarterly billing uh three different quarters quarterly bill cycle um it's all on the website we have the ability to autopay um there are a lot of resources so you you don't have to worry about them your payment being late um even if you don't want to pay an a fee or a convenience fee or anything like that um we have a a mailbox outside in our little driveway that you can slip your little little mail in there you don't even have to use the USPS um so I did want to just represent my my neighbor and friends um concerns about uh the 20day billing cycle not a 30-day billing cycle that's something that we continue to talk about um I do want to ask though and again to the public listening if you are on autopay we're hopefully going to support you not getting a late payment for this next bill however my question is that then it would be due August 20th 2024 which is also like would anybody ever have to pay double is my question like would anybody ever like Miss a bill and then need to double up on their next bill I'm just making sure that we don't have that happening [1:00:29] Dan Wietecha: the proposal to wave the late fee assumes that they're paying the bill just late if they chose to ignore the bill it will come back the next cycle then you get a 10% late fee after the 20th of the month [1:01:17] Councilmember Fox: okay I just wanted to ask the question for our listening um audience um if you are on autopay please come back and register for autopay in the future the last thing I want to say [1:02:03] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: thank you council member Fox council member can I piggy back to that council member Fox so just so people listening Auto a payments are set up through the merchant so what's the name of the company we're switching BSA so your a payment is set up at BSA by giving them your account and routing number not by going to your bank and setting up an a payment a payment is giving a merchant the authority to take money from you not the Authority for you to give them money okay so for all the people out there who have a payment set up don't go to your bank call BSA and did that letter go out in this month's I apologize I have not opened my my bill yet for this month but did a letter of explanation go out in this month's bill I will go home and read it thank you but it is an entire process with people have this happen with Association payments and that sort of thing so when it changes and you have to reapply you have to reapply through BSA thank you I'm done now [1:02:50] Mayor Mary Fasbender: council member house [1:02:50] Councilmember Angie Haus: thank you I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution for a temporary waiver of utility late fees thank you [1:03:38] Mayor Mary Fasbender: council member house and a second by council member leifeld new discussion all those in favor of the Motion state by saying I I oppose to that Motion state by saying nay and that motion prevails thank you Dan any announcements councel okay I have a few May is National Building Safety month and National Historic preservation month this week is municipal clerk appreciation week and next week is National Police Week please join me in a great and heartful thank you to all the employees in these departments for their service in our community the arts and culture commission hosts an annual creative convergence on Thursday May 9th all arts and culture organizations and individuals are invited to attend to Network please join us Thursday 6: PM May 9th Hastings High School auditorium for a presentation on pasas representations from the Minnesota Department of Health Minnesota pollution agency will be there for questions and answers Saturday May 11th we have a mattress and box spring drop off and document shredding event discounted price for mattress and box spring Recycling and shredding is free info is at the city website Tuesday May 14th is Police Week openhouse are and it is uh all invited for this free event the roadside Court roadside courts Grand reopening on Saturday May 18th is a ribbon cutting in refreshments and drawing open Play challenging courts and Clinics for the Hastings pickle ball Association will facilitate lessons as well so we all love our pickle ball carts and they're being used a ton filling in municipal office open filing for municipal office openings May 21st through June 4th city council will hold an optional candidate information session on Tuesday May 21st meetings coming ahead Tuesday May 7th 6: PM we have a HR meeting Wednesday May 8th 6: PM there's an arts and culture commission Thursday May 9th 6:00 p.m. is a city council special meeting and that is the pasas meeting meeting um Monday May 13th 700 p.m. finance committee 700 p.m. Planning Commission Wednesday May 15 6: p.m. Parks and Recreation Commission Thursday May 16th 6:30 Public Safety advisory commission Monday May 20th 5:30 city council we will have a workshop with the school board a joint um Schoolboard meeting with uh school and City 7 PM we have a council meeting at this time I'll accept a motion to adjourn I have something excuse me Council Leifeld [1:06:42] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: thank your honor I would like to also mention that may is also mental health awareness month I think this is really important that we mention this um it so it talks about addressing the challenges faced by millions of Americans living with mental health conditions throughout the month um the dedication is to eradicating the stigma extending support fostering public education and advocating for policies that prioritize the well-being of individuals and families affected by mental illness it is real there is help and never be ashamed to ask for that so that thank you [1:06:42] Mayor Mary Fasbender: thank you a motion to adjourn by council member pemble and council member Lawrence no discussion all those in favor of the Motion state by saying I I oppose to that Motion state by saying nay we are adjourn