e e e e e e e e e e okay microphone it just because let's call the meeting order and please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance i al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation indivisible thank you very much roll call please council member Cole here council member Sher here council member Wong is absent council member nordby here mayor mongi here can any motion to adopt the agenda please so moved moved council member schwe second second second council member Cole all those in favor say I hi hi all right presentation Proclamation all right A cool one this is uh Brian's the dog lover of the group for sure we asked we did ask if they wanted to come and bring their pups but we didn't see anybody that came with them so I know that would have been fun that would have been so we'll declaring National therapy animal day in North St Paul whereas there are thousands of pet partners therapy animal teams serving the communities across the United States whereas pet partners has designated April 30th as National therapy animal day and where as scientific research shows that interacting with therapy animals can reduce stress relieve depression slow heart rate lower blood pressure and strengthen the immune system and whereas therapy animal teams in the city of North St Paul play an essential role in improving human health and well-being through the human animal Bond whereas these exceptional therapy animals who partner with their human companions bring comfort and healing to those in need and whereas we encourage more pet owners to considered becoming pet partners volunteers to help the community by creating greater access to meaningful therapy animal visits now therefore on the behalf of the city council and the city of North St Paul Mayor mongi mayor of the city of North St Paul Minnesota do here Proclaim Tuesday April 30th 2024 uh National therapy animal day in North St Paul and encourage our citizens to celebrate our therapy animals and their human handlers further our mayor publicly salute the service of therapy animal teams in our community and in the communities Across the Nation Proclamation approved this 16th day of April 2024 thank you very much appreciate it consent agenda move on to the consent agenda uh item a April 2nd 2024 Workshop minutes Item B April 2nd 2024 regular meeting minutes item C General claims of 1,110 77 item D HRA claims of $3,153 69 special event permit for The Sanctuary Church item F resolution approving artist agreements for project snowy item G resolution accepting donations for March of 2024 item h building permit report March of 2024 item my berwald property conveyance corrective deed and resolution thank you very much anybody want to pull any okay I do like to comment though that the Sanctuary Church their building's looking really nice over there in Oakdale so glad to it's really coming along nice so yeah glad to see they're they're joining us over here in North St Paul for things so that's awesome yeah all right can I get a motion to approve so move so move council member Norby second second council member Cole all those in favor say I I I hey okay thank you open to the public at is that what you're doing first next okay I saw him come up I thought maybe I was a little off all right three minutes John schal 6:39 hey John evening councel John hi John hi you all received in the mail just recently your gas bill and in that gas bill was a layout of what happens with a real utility and what they have to go through in order to get a rate increase and it's meetings and it goes on for over a year here in North St Paul in December we go the new rate will be uh those in favor say I I I I I I and there it is you never get any input you any layout of what the costs are going to be what everything is uh causing the rate increase you just boom you get a rate increase but a real utility has to go through and justify that just want to make you aware of that fact that it's a real process that a real utility has to go through uh on the other side uh tonight you had a presentation on the budget and uh I want to thank M uh council member nordby again for saying what's this and that had to do with the $1.1 million in overcharging electric utility users in North St Paul some in Oakdale some some in Maplewood and that was well it we just made a new fund what the heck just make a new fund then we can overcharge from uh the electric users pull that extra money out of the electric utility and say this is the source but it's not a general fund item because we made a new fund item and it's called fix the street uh item but any other city in this world has to keep the uh keep uh the keep up of streets and other things like that as part of the general fund but we have this other source of money it's called the electric fund overcharge the utility users too much and then we can just draw it out why don't we just set up a new fund let's say for Public Works new fund not general fund Public Works fund and we'll just overcharge again on the electric fund and take the money from there and we'll run the public works department It's a Wonderful uh uh smok and mirrors is all I can call it that you guys run thanks thanks John all right Bob Peterson how are you welcome than I've never been in one of these before it's pretty interesting yeah welcome we're gentle yeah just uh your address if you don't mind 2296 Indian W okay um the reason I showed up is because uh it's been shared with me how much it cost to run our community center and it sounds like it's underused for the kind of money that we're paying for it and I think when you're going through the budget and trying to cut some cost maybe it's time to cut out that Community Center and I'm I'm a simple man and that's as simple as I can say okay well thank you appreciate you thank you Bob appreciate it Bob don't hesitate to come back go you'll hesitate or you won't there you go all right Co anybody online or anything like that nobody online okay thank you then we'll close the public meeting here at 6:43 all right thank you City business action items and recommendations we have one item up uh 2024 pavement management project uh city project number 24- 01 receive bids award contract and authorized professional consultant services and Morgan's making his present thank you Brian thank you Mr Mayor members of the council uh this item before you tonight uh by resolution in large part is to consider the bids and award a Construction contract for the 2024 pavement management project uh this is in large part the Improvement of streets and Roads although there is some minor utility work included in the projects um mostly just resetting castings and manhole covers that might be serving utilities within the streets um but uh just to review the scope of the project so um within the base bid it was included Sixth Street North from South Avenue to Castle Avenue Eldridge Avenue East from Elder Court to 7th Avenue East First Street North from Holloway to Second AV and Margaret Street uh from Holloway to South Avenue uh as well as uh recommended for award here is alternate one which is Charles Street North from 13th to 17th you may recall from the last time I presented to council when we were going out for bids that we had built in a base bid and then a couple alternates knowing that we might need some flexibility to be able to award a contract that uh lands within all of the different funding sources as budgeted within the budget uh um so F funding sources are not only just for the streets but as I mentioned there's some minor utility work so uh the sanitary sewer or Wastewater Utility Fund is a funding source in addition to Street funds uh also the water fund and the uh surface water or storm water fund as well too so all those funding sources together have budget caps and limitations within the budget and we had to compare all the bid results to make sure we understood what was the most project that we could recommend award to the city council and that is the base bid plus alternate one so those streets that I outlined just previously um there were um sorry we had some technological difficulties earlier there were five bids received when they were opened uh the bids came in or the low bidder came in about 12% below the engineers estimate the engineers estimate was about the same as the high bidder uh and the low bidder was asphalt Surface Technologies Corporation with a base bid of just under $1.3 million um as I mentioned staff is recommending Award of the base bid plus alternate one alternate two which included cow Place uh from 7th Street North to Sixth Street North it's very likely that um if current budgeting uh and capital Improvement planning kind of holds where it's at right now without any reductions that that alternate to that cow Place East would be uh improved next year within the Public Works program for um for Street improvements that year uh and so we're just kind of delaying that by one year but Public Works in reviewing uh kind of the bids and and what we've got here are satisfied that this is the best possible uh recommendation for award a contract to counil to consider at this time so there is a resolution in your packet for consideration to award the construction ction contract for the base bid plus alternate one in the amount of uh 1, 54,675 five uh and uh WSB has provided a Construction Services proposal for inspection quality control materials testing as per normal Improvement projects uh I guess in the past and we have secured the city's main construction inspector that they've used the last several projects in Mark Lynch um with WSB so uh together there's two separate actions for the council to consider one would be that resolution to accept an award a Construction contract and two would be to approve that Construction Services proposal uh for the 2024 pavment management project in the amount of $190,000 $190,900 with that I will stand for any questions the council might have thank you very much any questions I have none okay um one question about alternate to um sorry my internet's not working um will the delay of the my understanding is Cowern is very close to the work area well the delay of that to a different project increase that cost significantly because of the area sure uh council member Norby mayor and Council it's a fair question to ask um right now the construction cost index is tracking at about 2.7 call it maybe 3% or slightly less inflation per year um but it's difficult to say exactly what the bids might be you know next year with on the um odd years what Public Works program is within the capital Improvement plan is are smaller projects and um so I mean we could get just as competitive pricing and it could offset that inflation or it could track with that inflation we really don't know but I think that you know just a normal amount of inflation would be all that would be expected at this point um maybe there's some economies of scale with a larger project but the one good thing is that based on the review of Public Works and certainly myself as we were looking at all the different alternates uh and the different ways to break the project up alternate one is in more dire need if I can use that word for improvement um and so Public Works was really not comfortable delaying that by a year but they are comfortable with cow maybe getting one more year of life out of it so even though there might be a slight increase in cost I think the risk there is lower that we might have some significant problems from a maintenance standpoint by waiting that year versus waiting a year for alternate one for example and not including that in this project so that was an important consideration for public works thank you I appreciate that go the first motion You' like I guess that would be a motion and second to uh approve the resolution to accept an award uh Construction contract for the base bid and Alternate one for the 2024 pavement management project can I a motion for that so moved so moved council member Cole second second council member Norby all those in favor say I I I okay part two part two would be a motion and second to approve a Construction Services proposal for the 2024 pavement management project by WSB yep okay can I get a motion so moved council member Norby second second council member schweer all those in favor say I I I thank you very much appreciate your hard work thank you Mr Mayor and so with that award uh just for the public and for the council um we do have we are tracking with the gas company Excel gas and they are doing some work in and around some of these streets so we want them to get out of the way uh but as soon as we can confirm the contractor's schedule get contracts signed uh I think it's fair to say and we'll do some public engagement as well too we're going to have an open house for the residents or at least invite the residents to learn more about the project than what to expect uh but think I I would like to anticipate uh starting to do some Preparatory work out there in mid to late may I think so I think that's realistic that's what we'll hope for great thank you thank you very much all right all right reports from city manager and departments uh fire departments I'm working on some boat training of their new boat out there on Silver Lake um um it's unfortunate that that's where we're at but they now have their ballistic vests in um that they train with and have on hand for certain situations um Public Works has got the full staff for their seasonal help which is great um student buil house on second uh or student buil houses um they're what painting now uh nice it's coming along um second round of sweeping after our late snow 've been working on the ms4s um they had dot training uh somebody from the state patrol came down and showed them how to you know what they would look for if they were to pull one of our vehicles over to inspect it to make sure they're compliant and um they're finishing up finished up with the well five rehab um Finance been working with Dan working on budget discussions uh Community developments getting the fence ordinance update um they're working on the RFP that came in for the parks of the Third Street mcnight field and first and sth Avenue for that some Park ideas electric finished up the or finishing up the Chipawa project was started a couple years ago that was due to um supply line chains issues um and they're also doing the planning for the Jennifer Court area or Jennifer Lane area um as well as there's still work to do over at on the Lily project for removing that overhead system um so tomorrow night uh our city engineer Morgan doly will be here from 6:30 to 8: working on the water service line having the open house with the public to show them what to look for for their service lines what's it's made out of um the public can come in and find out about that they can also set up an appointment to have Public Works go out to their house and do that for them uh that information is online um that's all I got thank you all right reports council member commissions and committees council member Norby the Planning Commission met at the beginning of this month and had another wonderful conversation with fences um the behind the scenes work that some of our staff really put in to uh make this go forward it is truly amazing um they're I believe they have the fence ordinance condensed and usable for most of our citizens um I believe the next step will be the open house um for that ordinance change and then it should be coming to us in about a month I would say nice appreciate it thank you council members where I do not I have an update we have our meeting next Wednesday here in council chambers at 6:30 thank you very much awesome M Cole Eda update uh the Eda meeting originally scheduled on April 9th was moved to this coming Tuesday the 23rd at 4:00 here in Chambers uh Eda is still looking for anyone interested in becoming a member of the Eda um I don't know us I think there used to be something online um otherwise just call in and you'll get directed to the right person so so anyone anyone P who's got a passion for the city um please don't be quiet great thank you very much General business anything no okay that's M yeah I attended sweee opening of their coffee shop I encourage everyone to go down there they're open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. the coffee shop itself is uh I think it's so far it's a big hit uh we have a bakery coming in over by the knickknack um I believe it's an auction knickknack auction it's right next Tracy Luther's Auction House the bakery is to the left of that I don't know what the opening date for that is but keep an eye out um it's pretty exciting things going on in our city and I encourage our citizens uh and staff to engage in some of these downtown excitement Bakery doesn't usually get by me so I should be good ccil member Cole um I to it uh on Saturday went to fly away the coffee shop behind sweedies um go back there it's awesome there was it was it was it's good to see a nice coffee shop open downtown so um you know make sure that you're spending your money local um since I've got the PowerHouse in the back row I've got a couple questions um the sidewalk that is going in on 11th Avenue is that a 2024 project project Mr Mayor members of the council council member Cole I'm happy to be present to answer that question um that is a construction year 2024 project so the grant was awarded um late last year uh and the update is we finished the design um one of the requirements of the grant is to certify the right of way I'm waiting for confirmation from ramay County um but it appears as if in 1970 when the properties on the north side of 11th Avenue were platted those commercial properties um I'm talking about on the mcnight side uh that the right of way Andor easement that should be there was never recorded so there's a little bit of a uh pause Andor cleanup opportunity or requirement really to be able to spend those Grant dollars uh so I'm kind of right at the edge of uh getting confirmation that in fact um the RightWay needs to be updated and so we will be contacting those property owners and uh you know for the benefit of having a sidewalk added which will increase um hopefully property value and foot traffic to their commercial businesses hopefully we can get those uh easements drawn up and dedicated and uh and then once that step is done done then we can move forward with bidding on the project thank you next question in the same area uh snow removal on said sidewalk is the commercial property that's why I said I got the PowerHouse in the back row snow removal on the back on um snow removal on the commercial property I assume falls on the owner of the commercial property the lake portion to aiel will fall upon the city or is it all city or somebody's going to shovel it it's yes so so the new 11th Avenue sidewalk you're talking about yes it will fall on the city okay but we have designed a Boulevard in there so it's not right on the road so we hopefully yeah we have some snow storage there because that's a main road that we plow multiple times right so it would add a whole bunch of extra work this will give us a buffer in there to take care of that perfect this leads me up to now that I got you both up here sound so I don't know how I how I suggest this but I think the the the sidewalk going on 11th Avenue is awesome it I mean the amount of people that I watch walk across the street um from the bus stop Etc but the number of people that I see cross in that dirt path from 13th to 11th ends up down by the pump station down by the bus stop there's also one or two park benches in that area what do we talk to about find an extra asphalt to last sidewalk back there if you're already going to be back there cleaning snow and we increased the width of 13th to accommodate additional foot traffic that's the only place to cross between Ariel and mcnight I didn't bring a map sorry I I know what you're talking about um I mean I don't know who we talk to how we what what we do to bring it up for consideration by that pond I don't think you got the right on the on the west side on the west side of the pond who owns the pond we we do okay we own the land The Watershed district is responsible for the pond maintenance okay but we have park benches along that dirt track yes and I I don't know when they got put in i' I've seen those there um I can tell you we can look into it and see what what that would what that would take and based off of sitting through budgetary convers ation I mean it it it's it's an ask not it's a want not a need sure um but if we're going to do all of that in my opinion that's the only piece that's missing is I see families pulling their you know pushing their sterl or pulling their wagons through there because it's the only cut off in between yep so we yeah something we can look at yeah thank you both all right you're welcome with that I'm done thank you we else want to pull up we're doing good all right um like to for General business like to thank uh public works for putting the sign up for North St Paul down by uh Silver Lake and the area coming in it's good to see that again so well that's fine yeah well it's good to see our see our sign back up again so appreciate that and uh there's nothing else call for adjournment so moved so moved council member Norby second second council member Cole all those in fav ever say hi hi hi thank you 36 minutes 70