[0:28] (Ambient Noise) [0:58] (Ambient Noise) [1:28] (Ambient Noise) [1:58] (Ambient Noise) [2:28] (Ambient Noise) [2:58] (Ambient Noise) [3:57] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right, call to order for City of Cannon Falls City Council meeting for Tuesday, October 15th. If I could get a roll call please. [3:57] Sara Peer: Zimmerman? [3:57] Lisa Zimmerman: Here. [3:57] Sara Peer: Nobach? [3:57] Chris Nobach: Here. [3:57] Sara Peer: Jeppesen? [3:57] Ryan Jeppesen: Here. [3:57] Sara Peer: Johnson? [3:57] Chad Johnson: Here. [3:57] Sara Peer: Kronenberger? [3:57] Sara Peer: Cronenberg is absent. Uh, Londell? [3:57] Derek Londell: Here. [3:57] Sara Peer: And Montgomery? [3:57] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Here. Please 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. If I could get a motion to approve tonight's agenda. [4:43] Ryan Jeppesen: So moved. [4:43] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Motion from Jeppesen. Second? [4:43] Chad Johnson: Second. [4:43] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Second from Johnson. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carries. That gets us to our public input. 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 3 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 the 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 on 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. Uh, first off tonight we got Brian Douglas for the racetrack. [5:44] Brian Douglas: All right, getting old. Hey Brian, how you doing? All right, can you hear me? [5:44] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Yes, sir. [5:44] Brian Douglas: All right. Basically what I'm going to hear is talk about the fair board with its disregard for proper applications for permits, municipal or citizen concerns regarding noise, the environment, and property values to set a precedent that should be dealt with appropriately and without compromise. I'd like to play a video of just what's happened in our backyard just one of the evenings that it was here and I hope that it comes through clear. There we go. [Applause] This is what we hear off our deck in our backyard every time there is a race. So this means this is just one... this race stops, you don't have to listen to it... it's four minutes long and then they stop and then we see it another four minutes and then there's other nights that they have it. So this is the thing that we hear every time and it's unnecessary. Have you heard enough? Okay. We are not just talking about noise pollution. You can see there's glare of lights that come into our backyard that comes under the term of light trespass which is another legal nuisance that affects the enjoyment of my home and property. We are not just talking about noise pollution where the situation is beyond that. Light pollution, government enforcement measurements that include notification and fines—that hasn't happened either. I have with me a couple pages from the real estate disclosure form that I brought up at the city planning meeting dealing with the racetrack. On page four, I'm legally required to disclose all material facts of which I am aware they could adversely and significantly affect a buyer's use and enjoyment of the property. And on page eight, I have to disclose the specifics about what noise issues are affecting my property and disclose the number of times I've called the police due to that excessive noise. Again, this pertains to all new homes being sold and all current homes that go up for sale that are within the city limits because we have a racetrack in the city limits. The fair board took away our right to an environment assessment by building the track illegally and hoping to beg forgiveness so they can keep it running, but they have yet to take away the right for civil action by way of Statute 116b, better known as the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act. Has the City Council done anything with the MERA? Just checking. I repeat my earlier statement: a compromise is not on the table. The track was constructed illegally and should be dealt with in that manner. We urge the City Council of Cannon Falls to not back down, to enforce the law and stand up for the citizens who feel this racetrack is an unnecessary blight on our community. And if we need to go to district court, so be it. Thank you very much. [8:53] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Thank you. Next up, Jerry Shanik. [8:53] Jerry Shanik: Thank you. Uh, I'm just here to see if anybody can give me an answer on the legality of the racetrack. According to the paper that I read the article in there, it's illegal. Now is that racetrack legal or is it illegal right now as we go? Can anybody tell me that? [8:53] Mayor Matt Montgomery: That's a great question, Jerry, but I'm just going to remind you usually public input is just one-sided. It's not a conversation, it's not Q&A. This is just a statement time to talk about an issue and we will look into it. So I'm not going to answer the question, but to let get you back to your 3 minutes. [9:40] Jerry Shanik: Very good, thank you. Uh, and that, that's all I, I was here to find out if, if that was going to be brought up tonight or not. But uh, there is a, there is a problem with the last I heard, the last races were going to be on the 21st of September and I heard them going again on the 28th, the following Saturday. So I don't really believe too much that they tell me about what's going to happen. But that's all I wanted to find out is the legality of it and I guess I'll read that in the paper. Thank you. [9:40] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Thank you, Jerry. Jerry, all right. That gets us to consent agenda. Consent agenda items may be adopted under one motion as presented or may be removed for discussion and resolution as Council business. We'll go through them. Item A: Just and correct claims accounting period that ended October 10th. Item B: Meeting minutes for October 1st, 2024 council meeting. Item C: Approve disposal of unclaimed abandoned bicycles. Item D: Approve Habitat for Humanity lot combination fee waiver. Item E: Resolution 2783 accepting a monetary donation of $4,000 from Compeer Financial. Item F: Approve John Birch Park project change order number two. Item G: Resolution 2784 accepting grant funds of $50,000 from the Department of Public Safety. Item H: Approve meeting date changes. Item I: Second reading and adoption of Ordinance 406 and summary of publication, an ordinance amending city code title 3 relating to fees, charges and rates. And Item J: Approve redevelopment grant application for Kwik Trip. Are there any items that the council would like to pull down for discussion? Hearing none, I would look for a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda. [11:14] Diane Johnson: So moved. [11:14] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Motion from Johnson. Second? [11:14] Derek Londell: Second. [11:14] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Second from Londelle. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carries. Gets us to council business. Item A: Professional Service Agreement for Phase Two, Hardwood Estates Third Edition. Miss Qualey. [12:01] Laura Qualey: Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um, I wanted to just give you an update that um, the EDA at our October meeting, we did discuss entering into a professional service agreement with WHKS to begin the next phase of um, Hardwood Estates. Uh, we had kind of made a decision going um, when we'd first started that once we sold certain percentage of the lots that we would look at at least getting the plans ready for um, the next phase. And as of Friday we'll have closed on um, seven lots and we have three others under contract, two of which will be closing in um, either end of the month or early November. So with that, um, we did uh, the board did agree to um, enter into that agreement with WHKS. So this is just an informational update really um, but I'd take any um, questions that you may have. Um, but what we would anticipate doing is getting the next phase um, you know the the pre-plat um, kind of finalized as to what we're going to do. We are not going to be adding townhomes into the next phase. Um, that seems... we thought that was going to kick off the development but it's really been kind of slow, so we are going to um, take out the four twin home lots and create single family housing, single family lots instead. Um, but we wouldn't move forward with putting out for bid next year quite yet. Um, it's just a matter of having everything ready and in place so that when it's time to roll, we've got all that taken care of. So I'd entertain questions if anyone has any. [13:39] Ryan Jeppesen: Is that something that they're going to be able to jump on right away? Like would they be able to start next year or no? [13:39] Laura Qualey: Um, Neil, I'll defer to you as far as what the timeline was when you spoke with WHKS. [13:39] Neil (Staff): Correct. Um, could they bid it out? Yes, next year. Uh, it takes about four months, five months to get the plans and specs and plats ready to go. Uh, they'll do uh, they'll do the surveying this fall and then work on it this winter. Um, I can't remember, we bid it out in September I believe um, of last year. So yes, uh, we'll be ready to go. And yeah, it was it's kind of like Laura said, uh, we get certain number of lots sold and and closed on, um, it's time to uh, keep that as as the uh, uh, Fieldstone says, "keep that, keep that train going." Don't, don't get a gap because once you get a gap, it, it's hard to get it going again. And uh, so if you have uh, you know six to eight lots left, it's time to build another one 'cause it's a solid year before you can get into that next addition. So that way you got six, seven, eight lots to go and then you got the next year's after that ready. [14:25] Laura Qualey: And there's 25, right? And that's 29 in this one, there'll be 25 in the in the next one. [14:25] Neil (Staff): Yeah, so this is just getting things ready to go and uh, over the winter if we sell you know five, six, seven more lots, come springtime, go. Yep. [15:11] Mayor Matt Montgomery: So, so this needs approval from the Council? [15:11] Laura Qualey: Um, it was just more informational um, because the EDA would be the ones entering into the agreement. So. [15:11] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right. Anything else from the Council? Any questions for Laura? All right, uh, that gets us through to reports. Um, the EDA had a joint meeting with uh, the Council here a week ago. Uh, we've got some news that is public but uh, there's a, a company out of uh, Colorado, Tracked, that is interested in creating a data center uh, just on the north side of town. And we've talked about annexation and what that includes and what that timeline could be. Um, and then we also had Kwik Trip which was in tonight's uh, agenda, the Redevelopment Grant Application. Um, anything else from the EDA that would like to be brought up? And then Hardwood, obviously. All right. Uh, Library Board? [15:56] Derek Londell: Yeah, uh, we met last night. It was not terribly eventful, just talked the budget and that's about it. [15:56] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right. Uh, we'll go around the horn. Jed? [15:56] Jed Petersen: Uh, just a couple updates. Um, we've got uh, the 2023-2024 street project is... we're working on punch list trying to get that wrapped up. Same with Hardwood Estates out there um, and probably even uh, Timber Ridge. Timber Ridge hasn't had a whole lot of movement in the last couple weeks so um, and then downtown we have the ADA upgrades of the sidewalks. They just started on the east side. It's a cluster. We ask people to have patience as we work through this. [16:42] Mayor Matt Montgomery: I got a question. Uh, a citizen had asked, weren't they already ADA compliant with the, the low zero angle? And what is going to be technically different about these new sidewalks compared to the old ones? [16:42] Jed Petersen: So I'm not... I don't mean I'm not super educated when it comes to the ADA, but they were not compliant. They um, and yeah so all the upgrades were to bring it into compliance the best they could. So one of the items is the the rumbles um, for seeing blind. Uh, them have to be put in and it's also the grades. What the state changed it and so anything that's been done in the past are no longer... uh, they no longer qualify for state. And anytime they have to do a, a reconstruction or a major like a mill and overlay, they have to fix them. That's the the new, uh, the new rule by MnDOT so. [17:28] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right. They come through, you'll see that wherever. If they're going to do a mill and overlay, they're going to do this, the, the ramps. So are you done? No, go ahead. Absolutely. Is that, uh, is that scheduled, the mill and overlay for this fall yet? [17:28] Jed Petersen: It is. They are still planning on uh, this week they're hoping to, to get through the, the east side and get everything taken care of. And then in the next couple weeks before it gets too cold and snow flies. I mean, we'll see, but they're, they're still planning on full steam ahead. So. [18:15] Laura Qualey: Thank you. I will add that one of the um, one of the changes that also occurred... so there were 14 of the um, the corners that were out of compliance and then they added a new one at the VFW. So that's always been kind of a precarious uh, parking situation and whatever. Um, so they are changing the way that the parking will be so it will reflect what's across the street like in front of Reflections. So um, and then they also added an ADA um, ramp there too so that was... so that will, you'll see that is the most significant change is along the VFW and Art Org stretch. [19:02] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Awesome. Anything else? Chief? [19:02] Jeff McCormick: Well, excuse me, Jed was talking as Laura... on the uh, MnDOT project. Uh, talking with Magie, Trick-or-Trot will be on October 31st. Uh, looks like the project will not interfere uh, with that if they wrap up the the sidewalk uh, corners and stuff. Um, so just want to remind uh, residents that want to come down, uh, bring their kids down for Trick-or-Trot. Uh, for residents that are driving through, please have a little patience. We have to get a lot of people back and forth across those intersections, so that'll just be in a couple weeks. [19:47] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right, thanks Chief. Sarah? [19:47] Sara Peer: Uh, Nicole from the library did ask me to let you know that there is not going to be a Library Board meeting in November, but they will have one in December on December 9th. Maybe two of them in December actually. [19:47] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Two of them in December, okay. [19:47] Sara Peer: She didn't tell me that. [19:47] Mayor Matt Montgomery: All right, thank you. Neil? [19:47] Neil (Staff): Uh, I know the racetrack has been forefront. Um, remember that uh, we have put that on the first meeting in November, so everybody knows that the first meeting in November we'll be talking about the uh, racetrack and and some of the legalities. I know Shelley's been working on it um, so we should have some information. And you changed that tonight, so for everybody that's listening or everybody out in the audience, it's November 12th, not the uh, the night of the election so. [20:33] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Yep. So just one November meeting the 12th? [20:33] Neil (Staff): One November meeting in, in November, yes, on the 12th. [20:33] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Thanks Neil. Laura? [20:33] Laura Qualey: I'm good. [20:33] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Lisa? [20:33] Lisa Zimmerman: That's it for me. [20:33] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Ryan? [20:33] Ryan Jeppesen: No. [20:33] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Derek? Diane? Oh, Steve... I want to say thank you to all the council members. We've been here... it's been a, a long day. The interview process today, it was very interesting. Um, got a lot of positive feedback with uh, SCSC and talking about the meet and greet that happened last night. I mean, this is a process that we hopefully don't go through more than once every, you know, five to seven years, but I think the Council did a, a great job. So thank you so much for your time today. Uh, with that said we can adjourn. [20:33] Derek Londell: So moved. [20:33] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Motion from Londell. Second? [20:33] Ryan Jeppesen: Second. [20:33] Mayor Matt Montgomery: Second from Jeppesen. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Thank you everybody.