[4:49] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Might have to get in there. >> For like the first time just like last year. So, >> how come we don't have—oh, there's our leader. >> That's the one. [5:09] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Where does it start? Oh, it goes from >> 23.8 miles east >> and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [5:26] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right. Can I get an approval of the agenda please? [5:29] Council Member Chris Nobach: So move. [5:30] Council Member Chad Johnson: Second. [5:31] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Approval by Nobach, second by Johnson. All in favor? I. I. carries. Okay. [5:41] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Public input. Brad signed up, so I got to read this whole thing. Public input is intended to afford the public an opportunity to address concerns to the city council. The public input will be no longer than 30 minutes in total length and each speaker will have no more than three minutes to speak. Speakers may address topics relevant to the governance of the city. [6:01] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Speakers must sign up in advance and must provide their name, address, and to the topic they intend to address. Comments must be on topic, respectful, pertinent [clears throat] to city business, and adhere to the applicable data privacy rules. Any speaker that violates these rules will be asked to sit down, and if the speaker refuses to comply, they may be removed from the meeting. Speakers shall not address topics that are subject to a public hearing. All such comments shall be made at the public hearing. City council will not generally act on issues raised by public input, but may choose to schedule consideration of an item on a future agenda. Mr. Anderson. [6:35] Brad Anderson (County Commissioner): Thank you. Uh Brad Anderson, 10679 375th Street, Cannon Falls. I don't live in Cannon Falls, but I am the county commissioner that represents Cannon Falls. So, um is first off, is there any questions from you guys you got for the county? [7:00] Council Member Chad Johnson: Uh oh. I guess I have one that just came up right before this. Um, so, uh, current road 17, um, coming off of right by where Sennex used to be there. Um, that path there has not drained well for years. So, I'm wondering it. I think we just kind of decided that that might be county right away. That's a county road. [7:19] Council Member Chad Johnson: It might—that path might be county rightaway, not city owned or anything like that. So, we were wondering or I was wondering I guess if we can get some sort of, you know, maybe on behalf of Cannon Falls if you could reach out to the um county engineer or we could as a community or a board to kind of see if that's something they can take care of on that drainage or what have you. Um I was there last weekend with my family trying to walk that path. We had to walk on the highway. It's just not safe. It's not great. [7:49] Brad Anderson: No. And I think that's something that's been talked about a little bit between county staff and city staff about bike paths, paths like that. There's no connection from that path [clears throat] to the one that's up by the newer development farther east of town. So, I think, you know, part of the reason why I bring these things forward once in a while is because you guys do have a project there and it's out a few years and the discussions need to start now. Yep. [8:23] Brad Anderson: When we do road projects, this is a 5-year program, but I can tell you that the work on on the 27 28 stuff is well on the way. It takes three to four years sometimes to get a—for us to get a plan together ready to bid so we can go out. So they're they're going to start working on that one soon. So public works, parks, however, you need to keep that at the forefront and and start talking about it now. What your expectations are and how we can work with that. That is not a regrade, that is a recondition. So, typically we're not going to do something, but when you have equipment there is the time to really talk about what the most efficient way to get that done and we'll work with you. [9:18] Council Member Chad Johnson: Sounds good. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Continuing on that, [laughter] of course, uh here it says 2029 uh 17 reconditioning resurfacing. That's that stretch of the road we're talking about, correct? [9:36] Brad Anderson: Yes. It's 17 going that way, I think. Does 17 go connect to the road to the golf course, too? [9:45] Council Member Chad Johnson: Yes. [9:46] Brad Anderson: That part got done. [9:47] Council Member Chad Johnson: Yeah. So, this is the stuff heading east out off of 20. [9:51] Brad Anderson: Yep. [9:52] Council Member Chad Johnson: Okay. So, would that be the time for them to—the county—as we look at that to say, "Okay, let's fix the existing trail which is, you know, three feet too low, extend it because it ends before it even gets out of that subdivision and get it to go all the way up and connect with the newer subdivisions on the top of the hill." [10:14] Brad Anderson: Right. [10:15] Council Member Chad Johnson: And who do we get to make that plan? [10:18] Brad Anderson: Well, it needs to be incorporated. It would have to be incorporated into that reconditioning plan for 17. [10:21] Council Member Chad Johnson: So, how do we go about nudging the people that need to be nudged to get that included? [10:27] Brad Anderson: Just start talking. I believe they already know it. [10:41] Jon Radermacher (City Administrator): I believe last year in the active transportation plan we discussed that was one of the 25 options of things we wanted to work on. So if that's something we got to jump to the top of the items—I mean if you look at, and probably poor example, but 24, we graded the path in when the need comes and the discussions have started. [10:55] Brad Anderson: Yeah. Laura Qualey's [clears throat] been in on them. Jon's been in on them. There will come a time when that's the right time to get that upgraded and paved or at least graveled or whatever for people to use it. So that we're always thinking ahead. We're working with your staff to do that. [11:13] Council Member Chad Johnson: I just know that those roads are so narrow that that's probably one of the reasons it hasn't been focused on. So whatever if that's the regrading and process. [11:21] Brad Anderson: Yeah. And I truly don't know, you know, typically when we do a new project out, we are buying right away. And I don't know how much you guys know about right-of-way. There's what's called owned right-of-way and there's prescriptive easements. And when you have prescriptive easements, that gives you the right to use that and control it. Typically, uh, four rods wide. County roads out in the country are typically four rods wide. In the city, it's completely different. [12:00] Brad Anderson: The county owns that road. We may just have prescriptive easement on that road. So once you get—and the narrower—so once you get outside that it gets tougher to make major improvements without um either buying property or whatever. So, it it gets a little bit hairy to do some of that. We typically now like uh we regraded County Road 2 this year. Next year we're going to regrade County Road 11 from kind of from outside of Pine Island to the east county line. We bought all that right away so that we have control of it going forward. It's expensive but it gets projects done and then future you don't have to deal with not owning it. [12:51] Brad Anderson: So, so that is all stuff that has to come out when staff are working on it and your street staff and city staff will work on that. You guys just got to set a direction. That's all you have to do. And there may be some cost share to do those things, but that all has to be fleshed out in the in the whole plan. [13:14] Council Member Chad Johnson: Okay. Thank you. [13:16] Brad Anderson: Any other—This is really um not a city plan, but I wanted you to know what we're doing outside city limits around the county. When I got on this and I wish I had the numbers on here, the dollar amounts. These projects in 2026 total about $23 million. Projects the next group of projects I think was $17 million. So, we're investing heavily in roads. We decided to do that a few years back. Um, what you need to know is this five-year road plan is $74 million. [13:59] Brad Anderson: Of that, about 25 million comes from Goodhue County. The rest is state money, federal money, grants, all different ways to get funding to do it. So, you have to have some money to put in to get started. And and a few years back, um, shortly after I got on the county board, we were at—you got the timer. I'm over already. I know. And you're going to boot me out of here. [14:29] Mayor Matt Montgomery: I'm ready for it. [14:31] Brad Anderson: I'm already going to get in trouble because there's not supposed to be back and forth. [laughter] Um, it was 1.3 million in levy dollars that we put into road construction a year. We decided to up that and we upped it to get to 2.1 million. Then we passed the local option sales tax which generates about $4.5 million for road construction a year. So you can see if you go from 1.3 to somewhere around 6 million, you're going to get more done. and you also get more state money in. So, enough about roads. [15:10] Brad Anderson: These people will work on that with the county staff. They know they need a start on it soon um to get that done. Um probably a couple other things I want to talk about. Um, just briefly, not partisan, not taking any sides, but when anybody says a county isn't doing things right, the hair on the back of my head goes up and I start asking questions. So, when I hear that our sheriff isn't working with immigration, the hair goes up on the back of my head. Um, when I hear anything about human services and the work they're doing and that there's money going out the door that shouldn't go out the door, I'm asking questions of our staff. [16:03] Brad Anderson: I can assure you when it comes to the cooperation of the sheriff's department for the seven years that Marty Kelly's been there, for the numerous years that McMurland was there ahead of that and even before that with Dean Alers. The county has always followed the statutes in treating uh people with a detainer from immigration. They always tell them when they're going to get out. They always are ready to help them get them out and get them moved over to immigration. But immigration more times than not, like lots of more times than not, do not show up to pick up the detainee that they have listed that they want. [16:48] Brad Anderson: Our staff's doing their part when it comes to human services. Our staff is checking and double-checking people who qualify for programs and making sure that we deliver those programs with respect, dignity, empathy, and compassion to those people. That's the only way they're going to get a leg up and change their life. And we need to do that. And that's what we do. So, I'm very protective of our county staff because we have a really professional group of people there working and that comes out loud and clear when I travel around the state and and meet with other commissioners and staff from other counties. They are always complimentary of who they get to work with from Goodhue [clears throat] County. So, that's good to hear. [17:36] Brad Anderson: I don't have a whole lot of other things I wanted to talk about other than I can tell you right now next year's county budget's going to be difficult, probably extremely difficult. Um first because we don't know all the things that are going to get shifted to us and we don't know all the things that are going to come down from either the feds or the state and how we're going to have to function within that. Um, first brush was pretty high. Um, I know we can lower that. Um, I know there's some capital costs in there that we got to deal with um that are going to be long-term that are going to be over the next 10 or 15 years. So, um, it will be a challenge to do that, but I know we'll get through it and be able to deal with it. [18:28] Brad Anderson: Other than that, I guess the other thing I wanted to let you know is this is my last year of being a county commissioner. I'm not going to file again. I've been a county commissioner—this is my 12th year. I've talked to a few people. Um, I haven't been trying to coerce somebody to go and run, but I think there's a lot of good people in this district, which covers seven townships and the city of Cannon Falls. Um, I've done it for 12 years. I spent 12 years on the township board. I spent six years on the school board. That's 30 years. I think that's quite a bit. Um, I love it. I'll miss it, but it's time to kind of dial that back a little bit and do something else. [19:22] Brad Anderson: But I thoroughly enjoyed—I've enjoyed working with everybody here, with the administrators I've gotten to work with here, from staff I've gotten to work with here, um, past mayors and past council members. Uh, I applaud your efforts that you do. I don't think the general public realizes what a tightrope an elected official has to walk and how careful they have to say what they say no matter what their personal feelings are. Um but uh you're great leaders. I've gotten to work with fantastic leaders from all over the state of Minnesota and in Goodhue County and in the surrounding counties. Um, I just can't say enough about the good people that run this country. [20:17] Brad Anderson: I will say this is probably as political as I'm going to get. I am so absolutely frustrated that we send 535 people to Washington DC and they can't get anything done or that we send 201 people to St. Paul every year and they're better at pointing fingers than they are at getting their fingernails dirty and finding solutions to big problems. And I'm so disappointed in politics in general. That's not why I'm not going to run. I'm just—it's something I believe in so deeply that if you really show up and bring your best, you can do good work. But if you show up and just bring your finger, you're not going to get anything done. And you guys know it. I know it. Local people always get it. You just got to get along and work. And that's not what happens. And I'm just disappointed in that. [sighs] Thank you for letting me go on and on. [21:29] Brad Anderson: I appreciate the opportunity. I'll be back. But um I just wanted you guys to know firsthand I'm not going to run. They're good people. They could run [clears throat] and they'll do a good job. Thanks. [21:44] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Well, thank you for everything you've done. All right. Um that moves us to public hearings. Resolution 2859 certifying unpaid utility charges to be collected with taxes. So, I'll open the public hearing. Do I have to do the full calls since no one's here? Okay. With no one in attendance, I will close the public hearing. [clears throat] We don't vote on that though, right? Or we do. Okay. All right. Can I get a motion to approve resolution 2859 certifying unpaid utility charges? [22:36] Council Member Chad Johnson: Motion. [22:38] Council Member Chris Nobach: Second. [22:39] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Motion by Johnson, a second by Nobach. All in favor? I. Opposed. Motion carries. That brings us to presentation, Miss Laura. [22:50] Laura Qualey (Community and Business Development Specialist): Okay. Um Oh, tada. There it is. I'm so glad there's no one behind me. That makes me really happy. Okay. Um, good evening, um, Mayor and council and staff. Um, so Izzy and I have put together a review of 2025, what's happened in the EDA world, and then also she'll um she'll tag in about halfway through, and then she'll go through some of the licensing, permits, um, planning and zoning things also to kind of give you an idea of what all happened in our city last year. [23:30] Laura Qualey: So with that, um, our EDA commissioners did not change this last year. Andy Elto is our board chair. Amy Donbeck vice, Luke Corman treasurer. Mayor Matt Montgomery is one of our council representatives. Diane Johnson is also one of our council representatives. And um and then I coordinate and facilitate um the EDA [clears throat] work plan. So, our goals that we had for 2025, um, one was to break ground on Hardwood Estates's third subdivision, which we did in, um, late September, early October. Uh, the other was to strengthen and support our area businesses, whether that's through doing business um, visits, uh, doing consultation, um, just really me being in touch with what's going on with our business people. Uh expanding our city limits by annexation, improving accessibility within city limits, and investigating industrial park expansion ideas. [24:41] Laura Qualey: So with that, we did break ground on Hardwood Estates. Um I made many connections of uh of our existing businesses, also some potential businesses that are still maybe in the hopper. Uh we did expand our city limits by annexation by 238 acres. Um and then improving our accessibility within city limits. Commissioner Anderson was just talking about some of those potential upgrades. Um um Councilman Johnson, you would also um refer to that 2017. Um so we'll continue to do that. We will be having um thanks to Jed and his crew, we will be having a demonstration project installed down by John Burch Park um to get from those park and ride lots across to like the band shell to have to kind of test that for the seniors that are walking to and from the grocery store post office. Um so that will be happening this spring. Um and then investigating industrial park ideas for expansion. So, we did pretty good, I think, on the goals that we identified. [25:49] Laura Qualey: Um, we did do a community collaboration strategic planning where we had the members of council, our school board members, uh, the EDA, economic initiatives of Cannon Falls, and the Chamber of Commerce. Uh we had them gather in this room about a year ago and each had them work on what is each of their groups, what are their goals, what are they looking to achieve or accomplish, and then we all presented to each other and we saw how much overlapped and then we voted on you know everyone's ideas that they had and then these were the top five that came out of that. So, one was uh having a successful school referendum, getting our population [clears throat] closer to 5,000, attracting a workforce, fostering collaboration among groups, meaning the ones that we had in that room plus others. I mean, we have many civil organizations in Cannon Falls and then also increasing our child care capacity. [26:41] Laura Qualey: So, with that, um the referendum did pass. We are on our way. Um, I think Hardwood Estates, I think we had 36 new residents. Um, not just total residents in that development, but I mean new residents to Cannon Falls that moved into that development. So, we're getting there. Um, uh, attracting a workforce is always going to be something that's ongoing. Um, fostering collaboration among groups. I think that last year was a good start. Um, we'll be working on our comp plan um, starting next month um, with more conversations. So I think that will again help build a stronger foundation. Um and then increasing our child care capacity. Currently at the school they do have a child care committee that has been formed and they're working on trying to figure out how to expand to um younger children that are pre-K and looking at how that can possibly expand. So that is something that's in the works as well. [27:47] Laura Qualey: So for long-term goals: A safer route to school crosswalk or a roundabout, preserving the vibrant downtown, keeping pace with educational changes and annexation and expanding city limits. So, um again, I can I can say that, you know, two and four um you know, is work in progress, but again, these are, you know, four to 10 year goals. So, these will be things that we'll continue to work on. [28:13] Laura Qualey: Uh grants, I won't go line by line. Um it's kind of a slow grant year for me. I apologize. But um I requested 24,500 in requests and it was awarded 18,750. So down a little bit from previous year. I think we were maybe in the 100,000s the year before, but we were busy last year doing a lot of planning and things. So um that's okay. You kind of have to have a back and forth once in a while. Um, but we were able to spread it across through the city trails within Cannon, not the Cannon Valley Trail, but the intercity trails with some wayfinding signage. Um, some support for our local foods producers. Uh, the chamber and John Burch Park to get some new amenities and then the um the fire department did also um get a contribution toward their thermal imaging camera. [28:59] Laura Qualey: Revolving loan fund. I'm not going to go through all of this, don't worry. Um, what I wanted to show is at the beginning of the year, we had $143,464 out in loans. And by the end of the year, um, we had reduced that down to 110,151, meaning that people are paying their loans back. So, that's a good thing. Um, this year, we will have Tillion Brewing um, coming up for their loan will be maturing this year uh, in September. So, it's fun to see those numbers kind of go down and see businesses still in business, right? I mean, that's um that's our goal is to support that and to encourage that. [29:45] Laura Qualey: Uh different projects that I worked on um along with city staff and our team. Hardwood estate second subdivision lot sales focused heavily on that. Uh doing a lot of data center research, education, outreach to make sure that we were doing the best thing we could do to protect our city, educate our council, educate our planning commission, um any staff or any residents. Uh so spent a heck of a lot of time doing that and um learned a lot and continue to learn more. Um sorry, uh local food maker events, cluster collaboration presentations. Um those are some of the things that maybe don't get seen so much here in Cannon, but um we really are a focus. Um people do really pay attention to that in our small town, all the different food makers that we have here and how can that be replicated in other communities. So I have spoken outside of Cannon Falls a few times about this particular thing. Um and it's really um it really is something that um is really unique about Cannon Falls. [30:54] Laura Qualey: Uh Hardwood Estates third subdivision getting the final plat completed and breaking ground on that. Uh I do lead a women's peer group, women in business peer group once a month. Um, it's been going for three years now and the group changes, but it's helping figure out, you know, work life balance, struggling for ideas. How do I get past, you know, how do I get to the next step with my business? Um, there's people that are freshly starting out. There are people that are retired, people that are probably on their fifth or sixth career path. So, um, some are young moms, some are grandmas. Um so it's just a really great safe environment for people to learn from each other and I really enjoy leading that group and I've actually started bringing people are coming from Red Wing even for this now. [31:54] Laura Qualey: Um it's it's pretty interesting support and planning um and then also attracting new businesses. Working the local foods thing I will tell you is a huge thing where people reach out to me um wanting to somehow become part of that network. So they're looking for space, they're looking for places to lease, they're looking for land to build or partners to collaborate with. So that is one of our things that I do tend to nurture quite a bit. Um and then business visits, uh meeting with prospective businesses, that kind of goes hand in hand. [32:20] Laura Qualey: Um Hardwood Estates, lot sales, um pretty pretty good. Um between 24 and 25, we sold 20 lots. Um, so the listed price was $1,346,881 and the amount that we collected after closing was $1,330,357. So we have very low costs as far as closing costs or anything like that. So I mean, we've been able to really maintain a lot of the the funds um without having to have a whole lot of overhead for selling the lots. So um Hardwood Estates third is Broken Ground. Those lots should be ready this summer. Parade of Homes does start in March. So, it will also be, uh, in tandem with Rochester Area Builders is also doing a Parade of Homes, which they haven't done in conjunction with the Twin Cities before. [33:22] Laura Qualey: So, hopefully we'll be able to see some, um, some more traffic coming through um, than we have in the last year, which has been successful. Um so other prop—so these are going into the properties that city—the EDA own. So this is just a quick snapshot of what Hardwood Estates looks like right now. Um the city does own two parcels in the industrial park. This would be right north of what used to be the Robinson Outdoors building. Um there are two parcels there and so I I do market those. Um they are on a deed website so that people know that those are available. Um but if anyone were to come then that would obviously be a council decision to sell those properties. [34:04] Laura Qualey: Um the EDA owns the former Lee Chevrolet parking lot. Uh we own two different lots that—one would be right across from the Cannon Bells and then the other one would be um adjacent to that and um next to the Cannon Equipment Wasa building out in the industrial park. This lot 4.3 acres is between Sweet Harvest and Lawrence Meats. These are just a few different things. I believe that you should have had this in your packet. So, um, I won't click on all these links to get through all this. I'll try to be as quick as I can, but there are things that are happening, you know, that aren't just in the Cannon Falls Beacon or that aren't just on the chamber website. [34:50] Laura Qualey: Um so, there are features that have been out there in different magazines or online articles or things like that. So, Cannon Falls does have quite a presence out there for tourism for really any kind of year. Uh, so there was one about best destinations in America when they were featuring the state of Minnesota. Um, Minnesota Bound: the Cannon Valley Trail was featured. A lot of it's really about Red Wing, but Scott Rippkey is on there and he's talking about the trail and I figure we benefit from the trail, so I included it. Um, and let's see, 11 of the most welcoming towns in Minnesota was another online article. And then 13 best breweries and bike trails for bicyclists. Well, you don't get any better than Tillion and the Cannon Valley Trail. Uh, and then just a couple shout outs to our winery. They won two gold medals um at a competition this year out of 354 uh different vineyards that were wines that were tasted. And then the Cannon Bells placed at the state fair again. They had a blue ribbon for their cheese curds and then took a third place for their Gouda. [35:59] Laura Qualey: Um, anyway, I just think it's fun to kind of see what else is out there that maybe, um, not everyone is in the know about, but to know that there are, um, other articles and things like that about us out there. Um, again, kind of going back to the local food makers in our community. Uh, this year, the large ad that I usually do in the Feast magazine, um, this year I've really focused on the farm to school aspect of it. Cannon Bells, Ferndale Turkey, Bam Meats, I believe. They all provide food to the school. And so anyway, so I just kind of featured that. [36:43] Laura Qualey: I left the dog food and the wine on the other side um just so that it was—there's kind of a division between the two. Um but we do have the trade show coming up out at Grand O2 in March. Again, it'll be the fifth year that we'll be hosted here in Cannon Falls. And it's again, it's a sold out event for um the vendors and buyers, and we've got a lot of new vendors this year, too. Um that's all I have. I would entertain any questions at the very end if you want, but I'll let Izzy come up and do her piece to keep this going. [37:08] Izzy Carlson (License and Permit Technician): Alrighty. So I will just do a quick overview and highlights for planning and zoning for the year. So of course our planning commission um had a lot of work to do this year. Um so we have Diane and Chris of course as our council reps and then Brian Douglas, Isaac Naatz and then Jesse Fox. His last meeting was of December this year. Um so we do have an open seat at the moment for planning commission. [37:34] Izzy Carlson: So I will just kind of dive in really quick and do all the land use applications um that we got for the year. So starting off uh just one variance for the year that of course came from Tracked with their slew of applications. Um so the variance was to delay like engineering plans, architectural drawings um to later in the development. We have a one-year timeline. Um so the variance—just because it is such a a huge project and phase development—allows um a later time for those submittals. [38:20] Izzy Carlson: So Tracked was the one variance and then we had five CUPs for the year. Um so starting off um the few before I started was a CUP for outdoor sales lot that's over by the Cannon Falls Mall and then Magnolia—used to be in the artisan plaza—um they moved to a new building actually closer to the mall as well. So they needed to reissue their CUP. Um and then Mini Grown over in the industrial park. Um they were putting up an 8ft fence um through the front yard of their business which requires a CUP. So uh we did that one for them. [38:46] Izzy Carlson: And then of course last two were for Tracked. So a conditional use permit um to allow data centers within I2. Um so we [clears throat] did other things to write that into the code. And then of course the CUP for the planned unit development. Um which as you all know you made these decisions. It was things for like landscaping standards, height restrictions, those kinds of things. [39:14] Izzy Carlson: Um we actually had one interim use permit this year. Um, Adam Banks, uh, he had a special home occupation. Uh, he runs a motorcycle repair business. Um, so IUP is different from a CUP. It's more temporary in nature. Um, allows us to review um, those permits every single year um, rather than a CUP. Um, so we issued that this fall um, for Adam. [39:40] Izzy Carlson: And then we actually had two administrative subdivisions for the year. So these are subdivisions that we can do in-house. Um something simpler than platting. So just simple divisions of parcels. So Craig Holden of Sustain, he's out in the industrial park had a lot combination. He had three contiguous parcels. Um so we did a lot combination for him before he started work out there. And then of course Tracked applied for a lot split as well. Um so to kind of parse the land up um for that preliminary plat um for the technology park it was just one simple division of a parcel there and then of course as you all know one annexation for the year between Randolph Township and Cannon Falls. Uh that land of course um applied for the technology park as well. [40:48] Izzy Carlson: So, preliminary and final plat, we had three preliminary. So, of course, as Laura talked about, we had the third subdivision of Hardwood Estates. Um, for a preliminary plat, we had Robert O'Gorman for the Gorman edition um just beyond the tracks here, and then Tracked for their preliminary plat as well. Um, out of those three, um, just the third subdivision for Hardwood um got through final in 2025. Um, the other two will be going to final plats um this coming year. So, those are works in progress at the moment. [41:13] Izzy Carlson: And then one rezoning for the year, again, that's Tracked. Um, that was um, when land is annexed in, it starts as urban reserve right away. So we rezoned it to I2 which is how we defined data centers as conditional uses under I2. So from urban reserve to I2 for that property up there. [41:38] Izzy Carlson: And then zoning ordinance amendments. So started off the year ordinance 408 was for the cannabis zoning. So defining the types of cannabis businesses, what zones certain businesses can be in, different buffer requirements and things like that. Um 409 was related to the parking style driveway standards. Um so that one applied to lots that were 2 acres in size and at least had 100 foot driveways. So they could have gravel except for 25 ft being at the street and then 25 feet um from the garage door. Otherwise it could be gravel in between that. [42:27] Izzy Carlson: And then 410 of course was defining data centers um in our code um so that we could do all the other rezoning and platting and things that I spoke about earlier. And then just a quick overview of permits and licensing um city licenses for the year. So I looked back at previous years. It looked pretty on par um from previous years. I would just say an increase in the excavation residential connection permits and then more solicitors this past year and then licensing um pretty much stayed the same except probably more of the food trucks. I don't know if you noticed them in town a little bit more. Um and they're definitely wanting to come in 2026 as well. [43:13] Izzy Carlson: But otherwise it from what I looked at previously it looked pretty on par. And then building permits for the year. So again, we work with Goodhue County on these. So 131 for the year. Um 16 single family homes, 19 in the commercial, industrial realm. And then "other" is things like, you know, bathroom renovations, decks, additions, that kind of thing—97 of those. [43:40] Izzy Carlson: And then the next slide just gives you an overview of the past years um for comparison. Um so the past year we had an increase in single family homes with the success of Hardwood Estates. Uh so 2024 had 11. This year we're up to 16 new homes. Um and we did have um more permits in the commercial industrial sector. This year we had um some improvements and changes over in in the industrial park. Of course the rebuild of McDonald's and then a few renovations and things in downtown this year. Definitely an increase there. Um otherwise, you know, normal additions and things like that um is pretty on par um for the previous years. So uh some positives there with some more homes and things like that with our new housing developments. Uh so that is all the data I have for you. A quick snapshot of 2025. We definitely felt like we hit the ground running right when I started with some big projects. So, um, thanks to planning commission and city council for doing a lot more meetings and big decisions this year. So, thank you so much. If you have any questions, I can answer those as well. [44:51] Council Member Chad Johnson: Uh, I got a [clears throat] just a general question. I don't even know if either of you would know it, but uh, Cannon Equipment—that building, it's for lease. Has anyone shown any interest or heard anything? [45:06] Izzy Carlson: I [clears throat] haven't heard anything quite yet. Um during our EDA meeting though, um I think it was the mayor had said, you know, there's—we've got quite a bit of manufacturing, you know, surrounding Cannon Falls too that you know, if there's anyone looking for a place to expand like you think of, you know, in Red Wing, you know, just the multiple different businesses that they have. So, um, starting to reach out to some of them to see if they're interested. Um, but I haven't heard of anything. [45:33] Laura Qualey: I haven't had anything for the Cannon Equipment downtown. Um, it's only been two months, I think, so it's pretty early. The word might spread. [clears throat] Sorry. Oh, okay. Thank you. No, it'll definitely be something to focus on um this year. Okay. [45:50] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Any other questions about the EDA or planning zoning? Thank you. [45:55] Laura Qualey: Thank you. [45:56] Izzy Carlson: Thank you. [45:57] Mayor Matt Montgomery: That's good. Thank you. Okay. Moving on to the consent agenda. Consent agenda items may be adopted under one motion as presented or may be removed for discussion and resolution as council business. A: Adjust and correct claims accounting period ending December 31st, 2025. B: Adjust and correct claims accounting period ending February 10, 2026. C: Meeting minutes for January 20th, 2026 city council minutes. D: Resolution 2860 designating polling places for the city of Cannon Falls. E: Approve hiring of part-time EMTs for the ambulance department. And F: Approve appointment of Angela Grant to the library board. Any items anybody wants to pull down? [46:58] Council Member Chad Johnson: E. Approve hiring of EMTs. Right. [47:12] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Okay. So E will become council business C. With the removal of E, can I get an approval to—uh—for the consent agenda? [47:20] Council Member Diane Johnson: Motion. [47:22] Council Member Lisa Zimmerman: Second. [47:23] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Motion by Diane, a second by Lisa. All in favor? I. Opposed. Carries. Council business. A: Payroll technician and accounts payable human resources assistant position. [47:38] Jon Radermacher: Thank you, Mayor. Uh so before you tonight we have our memo and background information regarding uh the position that was approved in the budget to hire in administration. Um so just a quick explanation of how we came to conclude these roles and responsibilities for this position. So, I met with Sarah Peer and Michelle Sandeen to go over a lot of the functionality of things that have happened. [48:15] Jon Radermacher: And I would say this stems a lot from prior—how our arrangement of our administrative roles and responsibilities existed going actually all the way back to when there was an assistant city administrator / finance director. So that—Lynell Andress retired from that position I believe in early 2020. Um and the roles and responsibilities of that at that time, you know, probably as we all recall a lot of things were changing and happening, were absorbed into those two positions. [49:01] Jon Radermacher: So they—Sarah and Michelle ended up taking on a lot of those responsibilities that were vested on the financial side for that role as a finance director. So um in evaluating our team and where would be best suited to kind of combine some of those job duties, it was really just intended that if the payroll functions themselves could be taken up and focused on more intently by this position as well as a lot of the HR administrative functions. So that's just putting in, you know, enrolling employees into the paperwork or their benefit packages and various things that happen there. [49:49] Jon Radermacher: So if we have somebody that can have a kind of primary focus on that, that would help and support their positions to be able to really do much more closely what their current job descriptions really would have. Um it is—I definitely worth sharing our respect and honoring the the work that they did and in making sure that a lot of this stuff got done. But for me and kind of assessing where things were at—and this is not new or unique to this city. [50:04] Jon Radermacher: You know, it's something I've been involved with in every city I've worked for so far in Minnesota that, you know, smaller towns, rural communities have people that just have—are very competent and are able to handle a lot of things. And I think just for functionality and being able to make and take things to kind of the next level, having this role will be really critical in taking those steps. [50:35] Jon Radermacher: So, uh I would also state that when we did this, uh one of the things that happens and I think it's just important to make people aware is that in Minnesota they have what's called the pay equity system. So that is a requirement for local governments to create a structure of pay so that there is fairness between job functions that have either gender dominated classes. So it is very common that in the public works sectors—you know, streets, parks world—you see more male employees, and the administrative side they see more female employees. [51:11] Jon Radermacher: Um so what happens is you create a system—there are numerous ones out there. Um but this was provided to us in that last salary study I believe by David Drown or market analysis that was approved by David Drown at the last contract renewal, called the JET system. So we really took that and looked and explored how those points are assigned to positions. And as we did that, I do believe that it was definitely necessary for this one position, but it's definitely worth looking at that especially as we're into this year where all of our contracts are up for renewal that we're going to probably be engaging in reviewing all the positions that we have within the city. [51:59] Council Member Chad Johnson: Is that JET thing new? Because when I looked it up, it went to like a Japan education. [52:03] Jon Radermacher: No. So, JET is another—Yeah, that's interesting. JET is another program acronym, but I don't know exactly what this JET system stands for, but it is um it's not new. Um there's different ones. The the previous one that I worked under was SAFES, but SAFES is also like a state reporting system that we have in Minnesota. So, a lot of crossover in those. Okay. [52:30] Jon Radermacher: Um but it's a good—all the systems themselves kind of break it down into what is looked at in terms of the functionalities of positions and trying to make equity in those roles. So, you know, you may have some more physically dominated work in the public works world, but you definitely have more financial responsibility and higher critical thinking duties when you're dealing with finances and payroll and employee and personnel matters. [53:06] Jon Radermacher: So it it's just to blend that fairness and then what you do is you balance those points and you put them onto what we have as a pay schedule. So there's a range of those points that fall within different grades and each grade has um you know a various pay schedule that that is implemented. So that is—at the bottom, what is determined is we scored this position to be 262 points which lands within the grade six grade for our pay schedule and the starting wage, which would likely be what is offered unless there's some really great experience that comes with it, is at $30.32 an hour. [53:33] Council Member Chad Johnson: What does the JET plan go up to like 10? [53:40] Jon Radermacher: Uh we have 14 grades currently on our pay schedule. [53:42] Council Member Chad Johnson: Okay. [53:43] Jon Radermacher: So, um that is something too that may need to be looked into to ensure that you can develop a system that has you know kind of that equity built in across from the from the lowest positions all the way to my position which ends up generally across the board ends up scoring the highest when you have cities that have my position in them. So, um, you know that it what it will likely occur with that is—and you'll probably hear these terms come up as we get closer and get more announcements about the contract renewals—is market analysis and being competitive within our marketplace and in Minnesota. [54:33] Jon Radermacher: Because we have these pay equity systems it makes cities—it makes that comparisons a lot in some ways a lot simpler because what you can do is you can kind of use each city's kind of pay schedule and point systems to kind of balance out and say determine how equivalent each comparative position is. You know law enforcement is a lot simpler. You know generally a patrol officer in Cannon Falls has similar job functions as a patrol officer in another city. [55:04] Jon Radermacher: Uh but when you get into administrative offices where we have very few staff that do a wide variety of things, you know, a city clerk position in Cannon Falls might be very different from a city clerk position in another city. So, you know, it's it's one of those things that when you can actually look at—dive a little deeper into it—you can develop a better system. So I'm just trying to make sure that you're aware for these conversations because I do foresee this coming up with existing positions that we already have and re-evaluating and analyzing them and likely rescoring them as we do that and as these contract renewals come up. [55:46] Jon Radermacher: It was one of the ways in my last contract negotiations that we were able to kind of um work through and find an agreement without having to go to do one of those market analysis and hiring a third party in order to do that. I think it has the potential to, you know, have a very similar effect, but a better outcome that's more timely and and more fair to to the employees um as we as we engage in that that work. So, it's just one of those things that as this happened, I think it opens the door to kind of those further conversations um that are coming, not imminently, but definitely things will be coming up in 2026 where we'll have similar conversations like this. [56:27] Jon Radermacher: So with that um really the function of this is primary in payroll and the HR functions but then also secondary to support the staff in administration around a lot of different sectors. Um also incorporating elections because I do believe in finding a way for all the administrative staff to have some level of support and training in the election systems because we do feel they're very important and if we can, since we often host them here, it does help a lot in that process. [57:02] Council Member Chris Nobach: We did a market analysis in 2024. Yeah, we talked about like prepaying to have it refreshed, but I don't remember what we decided. [57:08] Jon Radermacher: Yeah, I do believe there is elements of that that we can get updated information from David Jones, which would be valuable to have. For me, any information is useful, additionally if especially if we don't have to pay anymore for it. Um, but one of the other tools that we will re-engage in is a salary survey that the League of Minnesota City supports. And right now they've changed the system to allow you—it's free to all cities, but you only get access to the results if you've actually participated. [57:45] Jon Radermacher: And I do believe in the last couple years that we haven't participated. And Michelle and I have already engaged to let them know that we are going to participate and we will complete that because in all the years that we had contract negotiations, I would use use that. It's it's one of the most comprehensive statewide tools for cities and comparative wages. Um you can—everybody asks, I get emails of this every year from various cities about "oh what's your salary survey what are you paying you know these XYZ positions"—but that's generally one of the easiest to get to and I found that when I'm negotiating with unions they get—they have a lot of the same information that I have. So, it's it's good when we're all kind of reading from the same playbook. [58:32] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Okay. Any other questions? [58:43] Council Member Chad Johnson: I think it's time. So, good job. [58:45] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right. Is that a motion, Diane? [58:48] Council Member Diane Johnson: Yes, that is a motion. [58:50] Council Member Chris Nobach: Second. [58:51] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Motion by Diane, second by Nobach. All in favor? I. Opposed. Motion carries. Um item B, check up from the NECUP program. Mr. Miller, this all started ago. [59:22] Brice Miller (Fire Chief): One of those weekends was mental health. Unfortunately, about a week before that class, uh the fire chief of Goodhue took his own life. Um one of the fire chiefs—one of his best friends—was in this class and all of a sudden that class became very real. Talk about sitting in a class for a day and a half with a lump in your throat. It was challenging. Um, fast forward to December, we held reviews for our individual firefighters. We had multiple bring up in their individual reviews that they are still struggling with some calls that they've been on. So, again, kind of reinforcing the need that we should be having a some sort of a mental health program in our department. [1:00:19] Brice Miller: Little less than a month ago, my wife and I attended MINFIRE health forum up at Grand Casino. Two days we went up there again. They reinforced the need of having a mental health program in your department. But not only that, but they reinforced the need for a spouse or significant other program of some sort. Um, we are a little unique uh to Jeff and Tim's departments. We have MINFIRE. Um, we do have some mental health benefits. Um, we have peer supports which are just guys like me that are been firefighters. Uh, they take a 30-hour course, three weekends long. Um, they will answer the call and hopefully talk you through the situation. We do have five individual in-person visits that are available to us for a mental health counselor. [1:01:10] Brice Miller: So you probably ask, well, why do we need something more than that? Um, it's because we're all very good at saying we're fine. And we're all fine until we're not. And none of us know how big our bucket is. We all—every call—we throw a little bit into our bucket. We throw a little more into our bucket. None of us really ever know when it's going to overflow. Sometimes it never does. Sometimes, obviously, it does. Um, so we just need to give them the opportunity to take a little bit out of that bucket. Jeff McCormick, I know in our department head meetings, we talked and I think it made sense to have a citywide program instead of each department. [1:01:57] Jeff McCormick (Police Chief): Yeah. So, the conversation has been sort of going on between the chiefs over the last year. Um you know taking a look at one, what we felt would be helpful for our staff and then two, did we want to approach it just individually or did it make sense to bundle it? Ultimately we came to the conclusion that it made sense to just tackle this citywide within the public safety departments. Um simply because as Brice alluded to, some people are really good at saying "fine" and if we make it a voluntary program—which is what we utilize right now with our crisis incident events—some people go, some people don't. [1:02:35] Jeff McCormick: And if we're going to mandate that they're going to go, it made sense to tackle it with not just fire but police, fire, ambulance, all of them. This is our city's expectations if the council so chooses to go that direction. Um so that they're not going in for therapy, but they're going in just to have a conversation. As Bryce said, kind of see where they're at, what do they want to talk about. If you want to talk about fishing the entire time, then you can talk about fishing. But during that conversation, the trained mental health professional is going to also let you know what resources are available, the services that they can provide, the resources that if something happens and you hit the top of your bucket, here's some things you can go to. Whether it's on your own or utilizing that service. [1:03:30] Jeff McCormick: Um, in doing some of the research on this, what we found is that agencies that were already doing this also provided additional resources as far as you could meet with that mental health professional or somebody within that group an X number of times a year. And that seems to be aimed more at then sort of getting into that therapy side of it as opposed to just having somebody to talk to. Although they are there to talk, they obviously at that point are trying to do something a little bit more focused on the current needs of that individual. That sum up well, Brice? [1:04:11] Brice Miller: Yeah, perfect. [1:04:13] Jeff McCormick: So, I guess we're just kind of looking for direction from the council on what—because if we mandate a one-on-one and you sit down and all of a sudden they start peeling the onion back, which is what we hope happens, right? Um, then now what do we do? We don't want to just leave them there. [1:04:36] Council Member Chad Johnson: [clears throat] I guess I'll be the first to speak. Um, I think it sounds like a great program. I just really don't like the "mandatory." I know plenty of people that—yeah, they just don't want to talk to other people. They'd rather talk to the other firefighters, other police officers, people that understand what they're going through, not some guy who went to college for two years. Um, that's just me. So, whatever anyone else has to say, I think it's a great program. I could totally see where you guys would need it, especially in the last five years. And yeah, like I get it. [1:05:12] Council Member Laura Kronenberger: Optional that they can go and not be mandated and still have the program there? [1:05:17] Mayor Matt Montgomery: It could be whatever you guys decide. [1:05:22] Council Member Diane Johnson: I would not recommend it. [1:05:25] Council Member Chad Johnson: I agree. [1:05:26] Jeff McCormick: It's very easy for them to say no when they need something. [1:05:29] Brice Miller: And we're not going to always know that they're hurting. [1:05:32] Jon Radermacher: And I'll speak in my previous city. In recent years, we actually did make this mandatory for law enforcement officers. And like the chief said, some took it and just filled their time. Didn't talk about anything because they didn't feel they needed it. It was very low pressure. It was also focused on people with experience in that profession and field. It wasn't necessarily just a general psychiatrist or therapist. It was very much focused towards law enforcement. Um but we were very surprised of how many people actually engaged in it and then took the efforts to follow up and schedule further appointments for themselves. [1:06:15] Council Member Lisa Zimmerman: I just want to quick say something. I was in healthcare and I've seen a lot, but nothing in healthcare has ever mandated something like that even though how much drama they have seen and been through. I don't feel like it should be mandated, but an option. [1:06:33] Jeff McCormick: I understand your position. I know cops, and if you don't mandate it, they're not going to go necessarily. You mandate it, they're going to go a lot. But I can at least force them to go and as I said, they can sit there and talk about whatever they want for their 45 minutes. But eventually, as Brice said, they start to peel that onion away. [1:06:58] Jeff McCormick: The other thing is that when we've been doing this research, we're looking at vendors that provide this to public safety. Um, a lot of them have people that are active or retired out of public safety areas. Um, so it's people that are going to have an understanding of what officers, fire officers, or paramedics see and deal with. [1:07:18] Council Member Diane Johnson: And when I first read it, you know, the word "mandated" always—you know—but then I thought, hearing you say you have to go, but you don't have to say—you know, you can talk about anything you want. And quite frankly, if you get in with all of us saying, "Hey, you know, we can tough this out," but if I'm mandated to go, so now I know everybody else has to go, so I'm not embarrassed that I'm going, uh, then it does have that opportunity that when things come up, um, they have somebody that can help them get through it. So, um, I have no problem with it being mandated, and I definitely would recommend that we go with option two to do it twice a year and then with the at least 10 to 12 follow-up visits. I mean, if this can help keep our public safety people sane and good and healthy, uh, I say we do everything we can. [1:08:15] Council Member Chad Johnson: Uh, totally agree with that, Diane. Um, yeah, it's one of those things. I mean, just bringing it home with Goodhue having to suffer through that. I mean, I can only imagine. I mean, my brother's on a fire department. I mean, I can't even imagine something like that. So, um, I talked this over with him, too, and he was in favor of the mandated stuff. Um, you know, I asked him about the other stuff. Um, one of my questions is, are you paying cost—I mean, talking about cost here—are we paying for a set amount upfront or is it usually pay as you go? Because my concern would be, you know, even you guys have stated here, it's like if you're not forcing people to go, they might not use it. So, I would hate to see us pay a bunch up front for something we may not use other than the mandatory stuff. [1:09:07] Jeff McCormick: What I learned from other agencies that are doing the additionals, it's—they get a monthly bill based on usage. [1:09:14] Council Member Chad Johnson: Perfect. That was going to be my next thing. [1:09:27] Council Member Chris Nobach: Obviously I am all for mental health um and what we can offer, but does us approving or giving guidance then say you're going to go find a program—because like who's funding this? I mean, is this a million dollars? Is it $50,000? It's hard to make a decision when I don't have a dollar number. [1:09:44] Jeff McCormick: Nothing would be finalized until—yeah, you're not approving to implement, you're just giving us direction so that we can go out and start writing some perspectives for service. Um, these are the things that we're looking for, we want to make it standardized, right? Um, so this allows the chiefs to now move this concept into more of a proposal that we can send out to vendors, learn what their costs are, compare them, and then also do research because some may be better than others and we don't want to go with necessarily the cheapest. We want to go with what's going to be the best value for our city, I believe. [1:10:25] Council Member Chris Nobach: So, could you price out option one and two and bring that back? [1:10:29] Jon Radermacher: We could if you wish. Yes. [1:10:30] Council Member Chris Nobach: And I guess—are your visions—are you going to contract with someone for one year, two years, three years? Are we going to see how it goes sort of thing? Because you know if cost plays a huge part in it and it's like, well option one people are using it, it's awesome, we really enjoy having this benefit—maybe we want to start with option one, go to option two, learn as we go sort of thing. Is that possibility? [1:11:06] Jeff McCormick: I would defer to Bryce, but I would think that we'd probably be looking at a minimum of a two-year to get a true feel for feedback. You know, what I can tell you from talking with with other departments is they don't find out specifics, right? They don't know Brice went and talked to them 10 times and this is what it was about. What they end up knowing is it was utilized by these many of your members for these many times. So it could be one member used it 10 times or it could be 10 members used it one time and that helps the decision makers, right, those sitting at the dais, consider what direction do we want to go down the road. [1:11:47] Council Member Chad Johnson: So you don't even know who did it other than the mandated. [1:11:51] Jeff McCormick: Yeah. And that would be everybody, but we wouldn't know necessarily after that. [1:11:55] Jon Radermacher: Same with the program that we implemented. We only got a consolidated report. We didn't have any information regarding individuals that used the additional services or any sort of summary of what they talked about. [1:12:08] Council Member Chad Johnson: I mean, at least you know what's being used or not being used. Which is good data. Um just because fraud's been on the talk lately and you don't know who's going when they're going except for the mandatory, right? And if we have to pay for those extra sessions, I mean, that should be— [1:12:15] Jon Radermacher: That would be something that would probably be handled at an HR level. Um because that would be really very limited need to know and that would be the the part of the city that would need to know. [1:12:28] Council Member Chad Johnson: Right. From an audit/county purposes, it could be scheduled on there. [1:12:31] Jon Radermacher: Yeah. And I would look to see what how this aligns with the existing benefit plans that we have, like our health insurance. Um because I do know there is coverage for within our health insurance plan for services like this that would offset a lot of the cost. You might even do it—a lot of places will do it where they have the hotlines where you can call in. It's not the same probably, but— [1:13:02] Jon Radermacher: Yeah, it's—so a lot of—the term EAP or Employee Assistance Programs is generally what was utilized a lot. Having those services were available so employees could engage in the EAP process, you know, get to this. What we found in the research that we were doing prior to making it mandatory for law enforcement officers was that yes, they were aware via EAP, but because they didn't really want the stigma of trying to engage in it, they didn't call out and utilize those services even though it was no cost to them. It was all confidential like nobody knew anything, but until it was mandatory—the ones that did enroll, eventually they probably wouldn't have done it beforehand on their own. [1:13:48] Brice Miller: And historically speaking, the ones that you're going to be mandating it and forcing them to go may very well be the ones that probably need it the most because they're not seeking that out on their own. [1:14:11] Council Member Chris Nobach: Can we give you the direction to price out each option? I guess. [1:14:14] Jon Radermacher: Yeah. We're not looking for necessarily formal action. We're looking for consensus on direction. [1:14:16] Mayor Matt Montgomery: That's something I'm—I guess I'm looking—excuse me—pricing out the options and bringing them back. We can do that. [1:14:23] Council Member Chad Johnson: I think that that would be very helpful. [1:14:26] Council Member Chris Nobach: I agree. [1:14:27] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Right. Thank you. [1:14:28] Jeff McCormick: Thank you. [1:14:29] Brice Miller: Thank you. [1:14:31] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right. And council business C: Approve hiring of part-time EMTs for the ambulance department. [1:14:40] Council Member Chad Johnson: So, yeah, I just brought that down for basically a general question. Uh because it's talking about hiring five people part-time plus we're already talking the administrative that we approved. Um is that in the budget? [1:14:56] Jon Radermacher: Yes, that's part of this. So the part-timers are utilized to fill out the schedule so that we have all of our coverage, because I do believe they need three people on each—when the each rig is out. They need three people there. One needs to be of the paramedic level and then the others can be EMTs. [1:15:20] Jon Radermacher: So it's really just ensuring that it's filling it out. They're not getting all of them a guaranteed set of hours. They're working based on their availability. I do know that a lot of the times when we get hirees like this, they're coming from the the programs at St. Olaf because of our relationship that we have with the professor that leads that program. So really it's ensuring that hey, if they're interested, available, and they can put some time in with us—we do put them through a pretty vigorous screening process before we bring them forward for hiring. [1:16:03] Jon Radermacher: So it is—yeah, there's no guaranteed amount of hours. It's just if whatever shifts are available or time's available, they get offered that and they pick that up, make sure we got enough people on the rigs. [1:16:15] Council Member Chad Johnson: It sounds like a good program is the one that you're talking about with St. Olaf because I I read the article that Tim Mulch talked about and it seems like a really good thing. I just didn't want to make sure we're all on the— [1:16:30] Jon Radermacher: Yep. So yeah, especially in this—we do have the need for a full-time paramedic role. I think that has been actually open for a very long time and we haven't found the right candidate to fill that yet. Um but maybe it's likely coming from one of these EMTs that are getting that experience and they show the interest and they want to move on to that next level, then it might be a great fit. [1:16:43] Council Member Chad Johnson: Okay. Well, then I guess I would make a motion to pass. [1:17:00] Council Member Chris Nobach: Second. [1:17:01] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Okay. So Chad is making a motion to approve the hiring of part-time EMTs for the ambulance department. Second by Nobach. All in favor? I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh reports. Maggie is not here, but sometimes she has people speak. [1:17:15] Jon Radermacher: I can speak quickly to that. An email did just go out and we do have had word from the chamber—is Andy the chamber president? [1:17:34] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Yes, chamber president. [1:17:36] Jon Radermacher: That they have hired or offered and the person accepted a position of a chamber director. Her name wasn't in the email, but I don't—Carry? Yeah. So, we have been told that they do have a new chamber director starting on February 23rd. So, that'll be great to have that position filled and re-engage on that because I do feel like there's a lot of value in the work that the chamber does in this community. [1:18:07] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right. Um Joint Powers Board, Trail Board, they don't meet in January, do they? [1:18:14] Jon Radermacher: No. There was—I'll do a little side note on that because there was a small committee session with myself, the city administrator in Red Wing, and the county administrator and then some trail board folks about bringing an update of the joint powers bylaws and agreement. So they did go over some of the updates that they wanted to make to that. [1:18:43] Jon Radermacher: So by and large it's very much similarly structured. They are not really talking about changing any of the structure in terms of share in the agreement or even in the workload where we function kind of more on the HR side of it handling the the payroll and the personnel matters where then the county and Red Wing handle the ownership and then the financial fiscal agency of the JPA. But overall, very pleased with the effort that we're coming and more information will be coming about that in the next coming months. [1:19:27] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Um, library board, Mr. Nobach. [1:19:30] Council Member Chris Nobach: Yes. Um, well, I hate to tattle, but we did not elect our officers like we were supposed to. So, we're going to do that in February. We just didn't have a big enough group and there was enough turnover. So, we're going to do that at our next meeting. Um, that was probably the most notable thing. So, all right. [1:19:49] Laura Qualey: Only thing is that—um—I know that I briefly touched on it, but we'll be—we've been putting together a steering committee for a comprehensive plan, which will start next month. Um, so with that, it'll just kind of be people representing kind of each different group. You know, we've got our senior citizens covered, we've got our school covered, we've got our downtown business covered, churches covered. Did I say churches already? I don't know, it's really late. Anyway, so making sure that we have like 12 people that kind of represent our pillars of our community and then there'll be different breakout sessions throughout the eight-month process where we'll gather more people. But anyway, we're refining that and I think we've almost got our team put together. So, it'll be exciting. [1:20:41] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right. Around the horn. [1:20:45] Jed Petersen (Public Works Director): I'll just keep going. March 2nd, we're having our 2025 year in review and tour for the township leaders and yourselves. So, 6:30 that night. If you're able to attend, that'd be great. Um, I hope everybody enjoyed fake spring. Um, it looks like we have a winter storm coming this Thursday, Friday. Um, if there's snow, our guys will be out plowing it. So, please, if there is snow, we don't park on the streets. Uh, it works out for better for the police and public works. Thank you. [1:21:28] Jeff McCormick: Nothing other than what Jed just alluded to. Uh we're watching to see where that snow track's going to be. Um looks like it's going to be wet and heavy. So even an inch of it may warrant uh you know some action by public works or gauge it as it occurs. And we post it on our Facebook page and hopefully people by now know not to park on the street when it's snowing. [1:21:56] Sarah Peer (City Clerk): Nothing. [1:21:57] Jon Radermacher: Okay. Uh just yeah quickly the—I just want to touch on the steering committee piece. Um great that we have people that are going to help with that. So that is more to engage to make sure that we have the proper groups that we're going to go more in depth with. So these are folks that are going to be good connectors for us to engage with that. [1:22:20] Jon Radermacher: So if you hear about that and you were interested and you didn't get contacted by us about participating, don't worry—lots of other places in which you can participate and provide lots of valuable input for that compliment. So very excited that's starting. And then just wanted to remind you the League and the Coalition both have legislative action days now that the legislative session is starting soon. Um the League's is on March 11th and Coalition's is on March 25th. Um I've historically gone to the Coalition's meeting. Um find it a great opportunity to engage with lawmakers and usually the Governor is there to speak to our group and get a lot of valuable information for how the session is going to play out. Um I haven't heard a whole lot of positive things or expectations that they're going to get a lot done this year since it's an election year for everybody in that body, but we'll see. [1:23:19] Council Member Chris Nobach: Uh yeah, I guess just from County Commissioner Anderson being here and talking about 17, um can we get some sort of action item going on that? And I don't really— [1:23:31] Jon Radermacher: I already sent an email to the county engineer. [1:23:33] Council Member Chris Nobach: If you need anything from up here to have somebody sign from council, I would love to do it. If you need me to reach out to Jeff, I'd love to do that. As far as I know with the transportation process, even though the title of the project says reconditioning, we can add a path to it. Um, you guys can do whatever you see fit, I guess, but I do want to see some sort of action on that hopefully. So, thank you. [1:24:02] Council Member Ryan Jeppesen: No. [1:24:04] Council Member Lisa Zimmerman: Um kind of goes with the mental health, but uh I think it's called Valley View and it's—for me it's where the old Saratoga is—it's a men's rehab facility in town and I think they're looking for clothes. So if you know anyone or got anything you can bring it out there and drop it off and they'll be happy to get them. That's it. [1:24:26] Council Member Chad Johnson: I'm good. [1:24:28] Council Member Diane Johnson: One one quick question. Um will we know who the steering committee—who's on that for the comp plan? [1:24:34] Laura Qualey: Yes. [1:24:36] Council Member Diane Johnson: Okay. And then just—happy lunar new year to everyone. [1:24:49] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right. I have nothing but—um—so with that I will take a motion to adjourn. [1:24:54] Council Member Lisa Zimmerman: Motion. [1:24:55] Council Member Chad Johnson: Second. [1:24:56] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Motion by Lisa, second by Chad. All in favor? Opposed. Passes.