Based on the context provided and the phonetic clues in the transcript, here is the formatted version with speaker names. **Note on Names:** * **"Mary Jill"** refers to Council Member **Diane Johnson**. * **"Neil"** refers to the City Administrator (contextually **Jon Radermacher**). * **"Danny"** refers to the Public Works Director (contextually **Jed Petersen**). * **"Bring gold"**, **"Duncan"**, and **"Yes me"** are phonetic transcriptions of Council Members **Chris Nobach**, **Chad Johnson**, and **Lisa Zimmerman**. *** [8:28] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Good evening everyone. We'll call the October 6th City Council meeting for the City of Cannon Falls to order. Sara, roll call please? [8:35] **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Nobach? (Bringold) **Council Member Chris Nobach:** Here. **Sara Peer:** Johnson? (Duncan) **Council Member Chad Johnson:** Here. **Sara Peer:** Zimmerman? (Yes me) **Council Member Lisa Zimmerman:** Here. **Sara Peer:** Kronenberger? **Council Member Laura Kronenberger:** Here. **Sara Peer:** Jeppesen? (Lindell) **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Here. **Sara Peer:** Montgomery? **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Here. [8:45] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Although here, we rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [Music] Okay, the agenda. I do have an addition to the agenda. [9:15] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** It'll come under council business as item C. It's "Approve an arbitration request for the Josh Otto termination." Um, does anybody else have any corrections or additions? If not, can I have a motion to approve the agenda with that addition? [9:30] **Council Member Chris Nobach:** So moved. [9:32] **Council Member Chad Johnson:** Second. [9:34] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Nobach, second by Johnson to approve the agenda with the addition of the item C there. Any other discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, we're doing this a little different tonight. [10:00] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** We had moved the public input portion of the meeting until after adjournment, but we're changing that; it's back in the beginning of the meeting again. So let me re-read here what we've changed. It's kind of a long passage here, so bear with me. 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 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. Speakers must sign up in advance and must provide their name, address, and topic they intend to address. Comments must be on topic, respectful, pertinent 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 the subject of a public hearing; all such comments shall be made at the public hearing. The city council will not generally act on issues raised by the public input but may choose to schedule consideration of the item on a future agenda. [11:34] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Seeing that we're changing this tonight, we won't probably go along with this tonight [strict adherence to sign-up], but starting with the next meeting that'll be how we do the public input. So if there's anybody here for public input, come on up. [11:56] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Second call, public input. [12:00] **Eric Porton:** Is the mask discussion or the vaccine discussion to be discussed now, or is that to be discussed when you state "discussion"? [12:10] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** That will be discussed now. [12:27] **Eric Porton:** My name is Eric Porton. I'm from the ambulance here, and my concern tonight is with the mask mandate or, my apologies, the vaccine mandate, in so much as the constitutional oath that you as city council members have taken not to infringe on the citizens' civil liberties to their own freedom and their own liberties. I'm supportive of those that want the vaccine, I'm supportive of those that want to do what they feel necessary for themselves, but I am vehemently against any member of the public—which as a city council you are—forcing anybody else to do something that they don't want to. I'm concerned with if you mandate and force people on the ambulance or fire or police or any of your city personnel to do something against their own interests and therefore whether fire them or make them leave, you are severely going to diminish the response time for your own community. Speaking directly on the ambulance aspect, those of us that are willing and ready to leave, you are going to diminish how fast your care is going to happen in town. Perhaps in time, because all ambulance services are severely low in personnel right now, you may not be able to have your own ambulance service here in town, which would mean looking at an outside agency like Mayo, which then you'll have one ambulance to maybe come up, maybe be on call in town, or maybe be responding from Zumbrota area or Red Wing or wherever they end up being, but quite possibly not here in town at the response time that we currently have. And that's going to hurt this community and I'm really concerned about that. Same for any other aspect of the community, whether it's public service and snow routes, people not being able to get through the streets if maintenance workers leave, fire personnel not being there to respond to calls too. I just... I'm about freedom. Freedom of choice and freedom to live your life how you want to. But when it comes to the safety of your people in town that you represent, forcing your already short-staffed and hard-to-find personnel to replace us is just going to hurt this community. And I'm really concerned how you as a council will vote tonight in that regard because a vote to push us away is only going to hurt everyone else. So thank you for your time. [15:55] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Thank you. Anybody else? Public input. [16:00] **Diane Johnson:** Diane Johnson. I appreciate the concern for, and I'll speak to the same issue that was just spoken to, I appreciate people's concern for the freedom of choosing whether or not to be vaccinated. As one who you might one day use the ambulance service or anything else, I also appreciate the freedom for the rest of us to say "I want the people that are taking care of me not to give me COVID," and therefore the easiest way to do that is to be vaccinated. Um, I know we frame this as a freedom discussion about whether or not to ask people to get a vaccine. We don't give people the freedom to drive drunk because that endangers others. We don't give people... you know, I remember when I was growing up, I remember cars with no seatbelts. Now I can't imagine getting into a car without buckling up. Why? My safety, other people's safety, because frankly if I get thrown out and get killed or get in the hospital, everybody else gets to help pay for me. But I would strongly support your efforts to require the vaccine and I am sorry that some people are not comfortable with that, but sometimes freedom also involves our responsibility to others and to their safety, and I think this might be such an issue. Thank you. [17:33] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Anybody else? Public input. [17:40] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Public input, third and final call. Public input. Seeing none, we'll close the public input portion of the meeting. Okay, Consent Agenda. Consent agenda items may be adopted under one motion as presented or may be removed for discussion and resolution as council business. For you at home in the audience, I'll go through the consent agenda. Item A: Just and correct claims for the accounting period ending September 29th, 2021. Item B: Minutes for the September 21st, 2021 City Council meeting. Item C: Approve a final pay request for 2021 Park Street area improvements. Item D: Approval of final pay request for the Third Street North Cannon River water main crossing. And Item E: Second reading and adoption of Ordinance 378 and a summary of publication, an ordinance of the City of Cannon Falls, Minnesota, amending the city code Chapter 152 relating to sexually oriented uses. Is there anything the council would like to pull down? [19:08] **Council Member Diane Johnson:** Yes, I'd like to bring down Item E, please. [19:11] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, we'll put that under council business as Item D. Anything else? I'll take a motion to approve the council agenda minus Item E. [19:25] **Council Member Chris Nobach:** So moved. [19:27] **Council Member Chad Johnson:** Second. [19:29] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Nobach, second by Johnson to approve the consent agenda minus Item E. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, we'll get right into Council Business. Item A is a planning and zoning ordinance amendment. Jon, you want to take that? [19:59] **City Administrator Jon Radermacher:** Sure. At the council work session, it was discussed to review the structure of the Planning Commission. As we speak, it's got seven members on it. As we went along, it seems like seven members are getting harder and harder to find when it comes to residents willing to serve in today's environment. Many many years ago, it was easy to find enough people to serve. Now with today's busy lives, it seems like it's getting harder and harder. So what the determination was is to drop the Planning Commission from seven to five members and having three residents and two council members on the commission, and then to have an alternate in case somebody cannot make it. In your package, you'll find the old ordinance and the proposed language change that Sara has graciously provided us tonight. So what we're requesting is approval of the language change that's in your packet. [21:18] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Any discussion? [21:20] **Council Member Lisa Zimmerman:** I've got a question. Section 4 says the ordinance will be effective upon the passage and publication. I thought in the work session we talked about when it was going to take effect would be the beginning of the calendar year, or am I wrong? [21:34] **Jon Radermacher:** January. Right. It would organically go down to five versus forcing someone. [21:40] **Council Member Lisa Zimmerman:** I just want to make sure that this wording doesn't contradict what we're going to actually do. [21:45] **Jon Radermacher:** Yeah, that would be good. If the council wants that change, then when you make a motion to adopt it, simply adopt it with that change, and then we'll go ahead and make that the document. [22:05] **Council Member Lisa Zimmerman:** Change it for the second reading? [22:08] **Jon Radermacher:** Whatever your amendments are on the second, okay. [22:12] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, you want to make that resolution? That will be when the motion is made, right? [22:15] **Council Member Lisa Zimmerman:** Yeah, I'd make a motion to approve this ordinance with the Section 4 saying January 2022 rather than effective immediately. [22:27] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Second. [22:30] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Second by Jeppesen. Any other discussion? All in favor? Opposed? Carried. Okay, Item B is the COVID vaccine mandate discussion. Who wants to take that one? [22:50] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** I'll say something. I... we talked about this at the work session a couple of weeks ago and there's a few on the council here that want to mandate that every city employee be vaccinated. I'm not for that. I don't think there should be a mandate myself, but I do think that we should make a recommendation to the city employees that are not vaccinated and give them like three months, till January 1st, to get vaccinated; otherwise, January 1st maybe we're going to have to do some kind of testing. That's my opinion. [23:45] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** I was actually going to bring almost the exact same thing up, almost like a compromise thing. As of January 1st, if you're not fully vaccinated, if you're on the clock you would have to wear a mask and then testing every two weeks or whatever we decide is appropriate. [24:10] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** So I guess I would agree with you on that, Ryan. I guess that's not out of line. I don't think, if you're not going to vaccinate, it's not out of line for us to ask you to be tested like you say, every two weeks or something, and wear a mask. [24:35] **Council Member Diane Johnson:** Yeah, I think... you know, everyone gets so excited about words like "mandate" and "must." I think what Ryan says makes a lot of sense. I'd like to see everyone fully vaccinated with their booster shots if they're able to take them—I've had mine—but the word mandate I don't think necessarily has to be there. I don't want to mandate anyone, but there should be consequences if you're serving the city and you're not vaccinated. I agree with what Diane said earlier [as a citizen]. Personal rights are very expensive, very important, freedoms are really important, but in the words of my daughter: my rights end when there's a public health crisis. You have responsibilities too. And so I agree. Don't have to mandate it, but you better be wearing a mask and test every couple weeks and show evidence that you've tested and it's a negative test. So I agree with that. [25:31] **Council Member Chad Johnson:** I guess I would respond to the gentleman earlier about the freedom question and yes, we all have our freedoms, but one person's freedom cannot interfere with the freedom of others—in this case, their health. Yeah, if anybody heard me at the work session and earlier, yeah, I'm very much very passionate on this. I would personally like to see this mandate, but I can live with after January 1st with testing, and those that do not get vaccinated, whether it's for personal reasons, medical, or religious reasons, you do have to mask up when you're on the clock. We are going to have to put something in there to deal with discipline regarding this, right? And I'm not sure yet and I think we talked about having a further work session to work out details if we want to generally go forward. [26:35] **Jon Radermacher:** Yeah, we need to get a lot of other things that probably don't matter right now, it's just whether we go forward with a COVID-19 policy. [26:45] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** I don't disagree as a person on a personal level that being vaccinated is the right thing to do. I'm vaccinated. I don't mind telling people that I think it's the right thing to do unless you have a medical or if you want to say religious reason. However, I look at this not only as a mandate, but I'm looking at it from the viewpoint of approaching it as the city as a place of employment. We're not talking about necessarily the safety or the well-being; we're looking at all the employees for the city. And when we look at that, I think that in a rough estimate we're probably 80-plus percent already vaccinated. [27:25] **Jon Radermacher:** 84%, if we want to be exact. [27:28] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** 84%. We're above the general public. I think that if we were an employer without a mandate, we're doing pretty good. I think that that might be herd immunity by the standards of the governmental health CDC—I'm not sure—but 84%, that's better than Goodhue County by 20%. I'm not saying it's not a problem; obviously on a global level it's a problem. On a Cannon Falls city employee level, is it a problem? Have the department heads come to us and said, "This is a problem, my place of work is troublesome, I'm nervous"? Have our emergency medical services transmitted COVID to anybody? Have they got sick with COVID from treating people? They're following more strict [rules]... we're sitting up here without masks, they're wearing PPE when they're dealing with people. In the past year and a half, as far as I know, none of them have gotten sick or gotten somebody else sick. Personally, I'm for being vaccinated, being having a booster, wearing a mask in front of friends who feel that they could be at risk—all of those things. I'm saying as a place of employment, I don't know if there's much of a problem here that we are trying to address. I think that as a city council, city hall, fire department, library, I think the response has been on their personal level 84%. [28:55] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Well, I don't think we're really mandating anything though. [29:05] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** No, but there are consequences for not doing it. [29:08] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Sure, but we'll have a work session and we'll hammer this out. Right. But I think we gotta realize that when you start looking down the road, if we're going to start putting mandatory testing, time away from work, what does that cover? And as Bill said, what's the penalty? Oh yeah, there's lots to work out. [29:30] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Yeah, and I'm not saying that... I mean, we'll work that out when the time is right. But is the problem worth having those meetings to hammer this out when we're at 84%? I don't know. [29:55] **Council Member Chris Nobach:** That was where I kind of mentioned how I stand on it last week too. I don't... especially with the confirmation that it's, or that we believe it's 84%, I don't think it's a problem. I think it puts an undue burden on the administration to have to monitor this when it's not a problem. [30:05] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** I don't think there's that much monitoring. I don't know. I don't think that's a big deal. [30:10] **Council Member Diane Johnson:** Well, surprisingly it feels a lot worse... it hasn't been that well. I realize they took away Governor Walz's emergency powers, but if he had them, I'm sure he would have had a mandate by now and it would have been out of our hands. But we're also in a leadership position and we should lead the public by strongly encouraging vaccination and putting our money where our mouth is. Yes, there will be some cost to this and it's 84%. How many people do we have to do it for? We don't know because people have to submit if they are or elect not to submit if they're vaccinated. So I, because I'm so passionate about this, I strongly believe that we should do something, and Ryan's compromise, I'm willing to go with that. It's a very good start. [30:58] **Council Member Laura Kronenberger:** Neil [Jon], just backing up a little bit, our city offices did have trouble with COVID. Do you remember? I know you have everything in your head—how many cases have we dealt with the city staff? [31:15] **Jon Radermacher:** Well, I think most of it was in here, wasn't it? We had two that I remember. I'm not going to name names, but... [31:30] **Council Member Laura Kronenberger:** Right. I thought it was more than that. [31:35] **Jon Radermacher:** Yeah, within this building we had some that were in contact, and back then you got removed if you were in contact. We had two cases. [31:45] **Council Member Laura Kronenberger:** And I think the last one was in March or April? [31:50] **Jon Radermacher:** Okay. Okay, thanks. [31:52] **Council Member Laura Kronenberger:** And we have how many people approximately in this building? [32:00] **Jon Radermacher:** A dozen employees in the building, because it was all in the building. Well, the police, I don't know if you can count them, but over here we got like... with the DMV now gone, there's only one, two, three, four, five, six of us. [32:15] **Council Member Laura Kronenberger:** So a third of your staff? [32:20] **Jon Radermacher:** Before vaccines. Yeah, they were just coming out earlier. Since April it's been, I guess, very quiet. [32:30] **Council Member Chris Nobach:** What I would like to say is, kind of along lines with Matt, that I'm not sure how big a deal it is until somebody in the street department comes down with it and we're short-staffed there. And that "mandate" word, I dislike the mandate word. [32:55] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Well, correct. Same with the ambulance department. [33:04] **Council Member Chris Nobach:** And I think it's... depending on how you feel about it, you know, me myself like Matt said, I'm fully vaccinated and I'm just hoping everybody would without having somebody having to tell them that they have to. And that's just my personal feeling. And Bill said that we were supposed to be leaders up here; I just don't want to make it a mandate. If we're comfortable setting something up where we can have testing, I'm all for that. I just don't want... if somebody is sick, I don't want half the ambulance staff out because they're sick either. But on the same note, as the ambulance director said too, that boy they're masked up and they haven't got COVID from anybody that they've picked up and transported that they know of. Am I correct on that? So I think they're doing a pretty good job anyway. They're the ones that are in direct contact with it all the time. I just don't... [34:15] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** But Chris, I believe we heard here tonight we're not asking for a mandate. We're just asking to... [34:25] **Council Member Chris Nobach:** Oh, I'm just... I just want to... I know. It's another thing I heard today was that Neil [Jon] and I were talking about that OSHA is going to get involved with us, I think maybe come up with some kind of a mandate on it. And that's why I don't want to rush into it, because that could be within the next three months. [34:45] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Yeah, nothing we say won't do any good anyway. It won't matter. True. [35:00] **Council Member Diane Johnson:** Well, an interesting thing I was watching the news this evening, and this is on a nationwide basis, they talked about how the deaths from COVID of police officers exceeds the ones being killed in the line of duty. It's the leading cause of death right now. And that's not good. And granted, Cannon is just a small town and whatever, but we should at least try and move forward and see if we can hammer something out that's fair but helps us deal with the issue. And if the state or OSHA or whoever, federal government, decides to change something, then we adapt to that. [35:45] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Yeah, they'll supersede anyway. Ryan, you want to make that motion? Once you repeat that... repeat everything you've said. [36:00] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Okay, I will make a motion that starting January 1st, city employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should wear... or need to wear a mask and get tested every two weeks from a place that, you know, we'll set up the testing, a place for them to go. And then we'll work out a policy... yeah, and we'll work out discipline and policy and all that good stuff. [36:35] **Council Member Lisa Zimmerman:** I'll second that. I'm not good at making up motions. [36:45] **Eric Porton:** Go ahead. Thank you council, I appreciate being able to add just two questions of input with regard to the vaccine. I would like to ask what vaccine you intend to impose? Because currently, the Pfizer BioNTech is the one that most people have gotten, but that is still listed as experimental. The Pfizer Comirnaty, which is what has been approved as the approved vaccine right now, is not on the market. So to which non-experimental vaccine are you requiring? [37:25] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** We are not requiring anything. It's the individual's choice. [37:30] **Eric Porton:** Okay, but to be vaccinated I have to take something, and the federal market is not providing the approved one. So there's only an experimental one out there for me. [37:45] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Secondly, my question is... the FDA has approved Comirnaty, right? But a correction: we're not mandating that you be vaccinated. We're saying if you're not, that you get tested. We're not saying you have to get anything. [37:58] **Eric Porton:** Yes, I understand that. I'm just asking if... because it's either an experimental vaccine or a vaccine that I cannot get on the market. It's either vaccinated, I guess... and then with that, those that are vaccinated, 70% of the cases in hospital are from people that are vaccinated. So what's your vaccine doing? [38:15] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Where did you get that from? That's not correct. That's not correct. That's not correct at all. And even if it is, I don't care. [38:28] **Eric Porton:** Thank you. That very clearly sums up... [38:35] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** It's not, though. Yeah, with all the respect, that's not at all correct. [38:40] **Eric Porton:** Very well. I will see to submit paperwork then to the council saying that it is. [38:45] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, thank you. Thank you very much. Okay, Ryan's made the motion. Is there a second of that motion? [38:55] **Council Member Lisa Zimmerman:** I second that. [39:00] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Seconded. Is there any other discussion? When will we have the work session? [39:05] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Hmm, good question. To hammer out all the details. [39:10] **Jon Radermacher:** Well, we'll probably have to have a couple of them. Probably. Yeah, what do you want to do? I don't know when Minnesota OSHA is going to set their requirements. [39:15] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Wait and see if they say something? So let's wait a month to six weeks and see if they come out. And if they come out with something, this may be a moot point. [39:25] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Okay. Well, the first half of November we can... what's the status of that 100-plus employee thing? We don't have that many anyway though, do we? [39:40] **Jon Radermacher:** That's one of the questions. I did talk with the League of Cities today. There's been a lot of conversation that's not been verified. And that's what Minnesota OSHA will do. They'll say, "What is an employee?" Is it somebody that gets a W-2 from the city? Is it a full-time employee? Is it a part-time employee? Is it a volunteer? Is it a firefighter? Is it a pool employee? What is that number? If it is all of the above, we are over the hundred. [40:10] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Oh yeah, okay. Well if you're throwing in the seasonal lifeguards, that's probably 20-some. Right? And then you have the firefighters and... yep. [40:20] **Jon Radermacher:** So it's... but we gotta decide. We should wait until Minnesota OSHA comes out with their interpretation of the federal law or federal executive order. [40:30] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay. I don't know when that'll be. Okay. If it gets to be too late, maybe we should just get started then. Right. Any other discussion on that motion and a second? [40:40] **Council Member Laura Kronenberger:** I feel like we need to be crystal clear at this point: it is not a mandate of vaccinations. If you are not vaccinated, you will be tested and masked when you're on work. We'll work out the details from there. [40:55] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** That's correct. It's not a mandate. Okay. All in favor of that motion? [Vote passes 5-1]. It passes. Okay, Item C is approval of the arbitration request for the Josh Otto termination. Sara, that one's yours. [41:10] **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Good evening Mayor, members of the council. So this is a follow-up to a meeting the council had, I'm going to say two or three weeks ago now, relating to Josh Otto's employment with the city. First, I'm going to start with this: this is not a closed session because, one, Josh is no longer an employee of the city—his employment was terminated—so he's not under authority. And second, even if he was, the council at that meeting determined that discipline in the form of termination was appropriate, and once that's decided, all future meetings are open to the public even if he was still an employee. So just for clarification if anyone was wondering. Just as a very quick reminder, Josh was injured on the job on January 8th. He continued to work full-time until April 2nd, when he dropped down to limited duty, and that limited duty varied from week to week but he did not work full-time again. He worked one full week at the end of July; other than that, he did not work a full week since the beginning of April. And his work comp hours he took were generally around 20 hours a week, so he was working about half-time for that. So April, May, June, July, August—almost six months he was working about half-time. There was a little bit of confusion at the last meeting and I just wanted to clarify that, which is that there was an implication that at the day of that meeting that Josh had seen a new doctor. That is not accurate; he's been seeing the same doctor since May when he first went in. He's at a traumatic brain injury center and that's where he's been going regularly since this occurred. So we do have numerous doctors' notes, we have all his time cards, we have all of that. The council determined that the only solution was to terminate his employment because he simply couldn't work 40 hours a week. The union contract requires a 40-hour workweek, obviously subject to sick days and vacation, but the council determined that after six months of inability to work 40 hours a week, the only solution was termination. Josh has filed a grievance. Technically under the union contract that's a four-step process. The first one is essentially a verbal grievance; he filed that and we've responded to that and basically said no, we still think that was the only appropriate solution. Second is written; he has filed that now. Third step would be basically a meeting, and then fourth step is arbitration. The union has come back and said they plan to push this all of the way; they plan to go to arbitration. So we are requesting the council confirm that we have the authority to go to arbitration. It just seems silly to keep going back and forth if both sides know that's where we're going to end up. So that's the question for the council tonight, to just confirm that we have the go-ahead to go to arbitration on this issue. [44:00] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Any discussion on that? Okay, I'm going to take a motion to approve the arbitration request. [44:10] **Council Member Lisa Zimmerman:** So moved. [44:12] **Council Member Diane Johnson:** Second. [44:15] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Zimmerman, second by Johnson to approve an arbitration request for the Josh Otto termination. Any other discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, Item D. Diane [Mary Jill] brought down the second reading adoption of Ordinance 378. [44:40] **Council Member Diane Johnson:** Well, I didn't think things could get crazier on the Cannon Falls Open Forum than they were about the proposed apartments, but they did. There is not going to be an adult-themed business at Artisan Plaza. There is not going to be. There have been questions: "Why does Cannon Falls allow this?" We cannot disallow it. We cannot. And what kind of law is that? Well, talk to the state legislature. We cannot disallow that kind of a business. We can, however, say where any type of business can be within the city. This request was not made by one of us. It wasn't. It was made by the owner of Artisan Plaza, who did not even come to the public hearing about said request. So it's not a real request anyway. As you can tell, I think it's hilarious that this happened, because what it did is it wasted our time. It forced our city attorney, our city administrator, people to do footwork about something that was never going to happen. I'm really not sure why it happened, but it happened. What most cities do—and correct me if I'm wrong—is say that businesses such as this can be in industrial zones to keep them out of residential, strictly commercial, that kind of zone. So that's what they do, and that is what we are doing here. We are not saying "no, you can't have a business like that," but if you're going to, you're going to be out in the industrial park by Inventorgy or something like that. That is what we are doing. So it is not Cannon Falls allowing a business like this; we can't disallow it guys, we cannot. But as I said earlier, I just think it's so cute that someone came and requested this of us because it just wasted our time. So that's the only reason I brought it down is to clarify that. If anyone else has something to add? [46:40] **Council Member Chad Johnson:** No, I'll just make a motion to approve the second reading. [46:45] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Second. [46:50] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Johnson, second by Jeppesen to approve the second reading adoption of Ordinance 378 in summary of publication, an ordinance of the City of Cannon Falls amending city code Chapter 152 relating to sexually oriented uses. Any other discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, let's get into reports. Kyle, anything from the Chamber? Oh, do you need my cane soon? [47:30] **Kyle Paulson (Chamber of Commerce):** Not yet though. All right. Good evening council, good evening committee. I think they're able to see us, I'm not sure. Okay, we do have a couple of things. October, this last weekend, there were 10 events going on around the Cannon Falls area. I do know for a fact one south of town down by Dennison had over 300 people at it on Saturday alone. And with having the football game on Saturday afternoon, the streets were packed, the parking lots were packed, and it was fun to see that happen. Moving forward, on October 15th and 16th, the Fair Board is working with Throw Down Demolition Derbies, and there will be a demolition derby on Friday evening at 6:00 PM and all day... well, Saturday starting at 2:00 PM. Right now... last year they had 227 cars, which made them the largest derby in the state of Minnesota, and they're working on surpassing that this year. So the other nice thing to go along with the derby for those of us who don't do derbies: they have seven food truck vendors that will be available on the fairgrounds, the VFW booth will be open selling their beverages, and there will be entertainment the evening of Saturday the 16th provided by Brian Anderson in the infield. And so another weekend of lots of fun things to do. On Saturday, October 16th from 3:00 to 5:00 PM, Glenn Anderson and his family are inviting everyone to their celebration of life for Patty Anderson. October 16th was her birthday, or is her birth date, excuse me. This celebration of life is because she had died during COVID; they were not able to have a service. And so they are having this from 3:00 to 5:00 PM on Saturday afternoon at Mill Street Tavern, and so please come and give your condolences to the family then. Halloween is known for trick-or-treating. On October 29th, the Chamber's Trick-or-Treat Trot will be happening on Main Street, Mill Street, and 4th Street with Chamber members along the sidewalks. That will be from 3:00 to 5:00 PM and we will have everyone going in the same direction. We are looking for volunteers to help us keep the families safe, keep the children safe on crossing the intersections, as well as keeping everyone going in the same direction. So if you're interested, please contact the Chamber. St. Paul's Church and School is having their Trick-or-Trunk on Friday, October 29th from 3:30 to 5:30 up at their parking lot. And then First English Lutheran Church is having their Trick-or-Trunk on October 31st at 10:15 AM to 11:15 AM. So plenty of time to get lots of candy. Um, that is everything that I have. I hope everyone comes to Patty's celebration for the Anderson family; they've been a big part of our Chamber for 32 years. [51:50] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Give me that date and time again, when is that? [51:55] **Kyle Paulson:** October 16th. That is Saturday, October 16th, 3:00 to 5:00 PM at Mill Street Tavern. [52:05] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay. Okay. Um, any other questions? [52:10] **Council Member Chris Nobach:** Yeah, yes. Um, you know with this COVID thing going on and stuff, Mr. Mayor said that he's been wearing a mask and eating candy since last Halloween, so what's the special...? [52:30] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** He ouch! Well, hopefully the children will have masks on. [52:45] **Kyle Paulson:** Situation's hopeless, not serious. That's exactly right. Last year we had over 700 children. It's bigger every year, isn't it? Yeah, yep it is. By having them go in one direction, it does space the families out along the sidewalks. And we also have... or last year we did... the members came up with creative ways of giving out the candy, the chutes and the tongs, all sorts of things. And so it'll be up to them if they would like to do that again. It will not be a suggestion. It also gets every family to every vendor, so to speak, if they decide to do that. Last year we had over 30 Chamber members participate. And so I'm hoping that those names will start coming in as well. But remember, we do need volunteers, so I need at least 16 and we'll have you either in orange vests or large orange pumpkin trash bags. We've got to have some fun. Anything else? I do want to thank the Public Works Department for all of their time and expenses of taking care of the flowers. It is the first week of October and they are still looking very good. [54:05] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Looks like the temps are going to last one more week. [Music] Two more weeks? Okay, that sounds wonderful. So thank you very much. Next up? Joint Powers Board, Trail Board? I wasn't there, were you there Laura? [54:30] **Council Member Laura Kronenberger:** Yep. Okay, so they um have received a big grant—well, I think it's a pretty big grant—but um they are fixing some bridges. They've added some new signs; they're really pretty fancy, really nice. And then they're also in the final stages of getting two vault toilets. Well, toilets... yeah, they look cement but they're... no, they're concrete but they look good. They were supposed to go in earlier but there was a delay with... yeah, they had trouble securing someone to do it. But they have now met with them and seen the plan. They actually came in under budget so they're going to get three instead of two. Wonderful. And then we didn't have a quorum, so they did try to decide on the wheel pass fees for next year and keep keeping them the same, but they'll vote on it next time. [55:10] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, thank you. Oh, did I see Nicole up there in the library? Nicole? I think she was up there early. Well maybe she'll come back. Danny [Jed], you got anything tonight? [55:35] **Public Works Director Jed Petersen:** Starting Monday the 11th, we'll be flushing hydrants. That'll be posted, probably going about three weeks. We're winterizing the pool, all of our irrigation lines. And yesterday they completed that Colville water line dig and we removed a couple of feet of water line. And surprisingly, for being in the ground for decades, it's clean. There was a small, small buildup of manganese in it, which is probably normal. We all expected this big slimy rusty chunk of pipe to come out, but it wasn't like that. So it's all looking... it's all put back together and we'll go on from here. [56:15] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay. Third Street Bridge, when is that gonna...? [56:20] **Jed Petersen:** At the Monday meeting, they've completed painting the south half. They moved to the north half. We're hoping October 27th, weather permitting. [56:35] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, weather permitting. Right. Okay, okay thank you. Sara? Jon [Neil]? Nothing. Laura? Anything, Matt [Ryan]? [56:55] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Park Board... coming up this week. Danny [Jed] and I actually had a really interesting conversation. I had two suggestions from citizens: they want outdoor pickleball courts. And this isn't just a want; this is getting to be a thing where towns half our size are starting to build these things outdoors. Pickleball is a big deal, and it's not just old people; there are middle-aged to young people that are playing pickleball. I mean, you mean even Bill could play? It's... anybody can play. And then the other one is lights at Don Mensing. We're looking into that. I just want the citizens who asked me to know that we are looking into that, we're going to talk about it. Because their suggestion is they'd like to have volleyball last a little longer when the sun goes down, and even when the weather gets cold, if people still want to play outside, might as well let them. So that's all I got. [57:45] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay. Chris, we did price pickleball courts a while back. It was when I first came on the council, like '16 or '17 when Ferguson was at Public Works, and we gave it up because it was expensive. I mean, you know, it came in like $35,000 or so. [58:05] **Council Member Ryan Jeppesen:** Well, if you get to eat pickles, or no, you have to hold a pickle? You hold a pickle and a fork while you're playing? I don't know. You hit the ball, I don't... [58:15] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Diane [Mary Jill]? I don't have anything. Lisa? Let me just go through a few meetings coming up before we adjourn. Finance committee is Monday, October 11th at 5:30, and at 6:30 on October 11th is the Sandstone committee. This Thursday the 7th, we've got EDA at 3:30. We've got Public Works at 5:00 and we've got Park Board at 6:00. And you got the Library Board Monday, October 11th at 6:00 PM. Anything else? I'll take a motion to adjourn. [59:05] **Council Member Chad Johnson:** So moved. [59:07] **Council Member Chris Nobach:** Second. [59:10] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Johnson, second by Nobach. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carried.