Based on the context provided, here is the transcribed town hall meeting with speaker names assigned. **Note on Speaker Identifications:** * **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** Addressed as "Adam" in the transcript, but identifies as the City Administrator based on the provided list and his detailed reports on city operations and staffing. * **Melinda Lansfeld:** Identified as the Superintendent of Stillwater Area Public Schools. * **Addison Price:** Identified as the Girl Scout presenting the Silver Award project. * **Tom:** Identified as the City Attorney (legal counsel often present at such meetings). * **Councilmembers "John" and "Connie":** These names appear in the transcript but do not match the prompt's list (Hill, Bliss, Kipp). They have been labeled as **Councilmember [Name]** to maintain consistency with the provided official list. *** [7:32] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** 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. Adam, please call the roll. [7:32] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** Thank you, Madam Mayor. St. Ours, here. Councilmember Carlson, here. Councilmember Dahl, here. Councilmember Hanson, here. Councilmember Gilmore, here. All present. [7:32] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Takes us to the approval of tonight's agenda. Does anyone have any questions or changes? If not, would someone like to make a motion to approve? [7:32] **John (Councilmember):** I'll move to approve the September 13, 2021 agenda as presented. Thank you. [8:20] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Is there a second? [8:20] **Connie (Councilmember):** I'll second it. [8:20] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Thank you, Connie. Adam. [8:20] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** Thank you, Madam Mayor. Councilmember Dahl, aye. Councilmember Carlson, aye. Councilmember Gilmore, aye. Councilwoman Hanson, aye. Motion carries. [8:20] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Takes us to our proclamations, commendations, petitions, and announcements. The August recycling award recipient is Janelle Duffy at 978 Inspiration Parkway North, who will be awarded for her recycling efforts with funding from a grant made possible from Washington County. So, thank you very much, Ms. Duffy, for your recycling efforts. At this time, we'll move on to our open forum portion of the meeting where we set aside 15 minutes to address topics that are not on tonight's current agenda. We have two guests this evening. The first is Superintendent Melinda Lansfeld from the Stillwater Area Public School Board, and will be followed by the Girl Scouts with the Silver Award project. So, welcome. [10:30] **Melinda Lansfeld (Superintendent):** I am here seeking to share just a little bit of information and an overview of our upcoming program. Before I start, I was a principal at Anderson Elementary across the street for a year, and it is just a wonderful community—really cute kids and wonderful parents. Excuse me, Mayor, should I do it for the mic right here? Is that better? Okay. So what I'd like to do—and I can start just in case you can't get that up—but we have a referendum on November 2nd and it is a renewal with a slight increase as well as a capital projects tech levy. There will be two questions on the ballot. The first question again is a renewal with an increase of 2.7 million dollars. It's currently just under 12 million dollars. It's been in place since 2013 and we have had three cuts of seven million dollars since it's been put into place. We've also had a lot of inflation, a loss of enrollment with our pandemic, and more needs for our students. The tech levy (Question 2), we would be asking for 4.7 million dollars. We're one of the very few metro area school districts that does not already have a tech levy in place. With the pandemic, we do know how important technology is for our students and for staff. The tech levy would be used for student devices and teacher supporting classrooms as well as software and support. We have not been able to keep up with our funding... [referring to graph] you can see this bright red little graph: we are at the bottom of funding per household throughout the metro area. If we are unable to pass this levy, it would mean an equivalent of cutting 100 staff. We would lose programs such as athletics, music programs, and specialized programs. This is really to keep in place what we have and to continue what our community expects. I don't know if you were able to pull that up... [13:36] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** They are in the room trying. Does Council have questions? [13:36] **Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor):** No, I do not. I've been following the process pretty closely. [13:36] **Melinda Lansfeld (Superintendent):** Just for the questions... on an average $350,000 home in our community, Question 1 would increase taxes about 17 cents per month, and with the tech levy, it would increase $11.50. So a total of $11.67, or just under $12 a month. I will let you go ahead and play that video and then I am done unless anybody has any other questions. [14:21] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** I do have questions. I'm very fiscally conservative—I think probably more so, this poor Council has to listen to me—but I think that we've been very responsible on our side. We just had a very in-depth discussion with our budget just prior to this meeting. I've heard rumors that there will be an additional ask next year for buildings. Is that true? [15:53] **Melinda Lansfeld (Superintendent):** We would like to go out for a bond after this in August of next year. We have a community design team that made recommendations a year ago... their top priority was to rebuild Lake Elmo, either on-site or on a new site. We know we are bursting at the seams on the southern end. The second top priority would be to expand Oakland Middle School. [16:42] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** And what do you think that amount will be? That request? [16:42] **Melinda Lansfeld (Superintendent):** It depends on what we do. If we rebuild on-site, that's one price; if we put it on a different site, there's an expense for land. We would like to send out a survey with our community engagement firm to find out where our community is with this. [16:42] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** You mentioned that the state provides a large portion of the allocation of funds, but we've been seeing a lot of kids move to remote or other school districts or private systems. What's that financial impact, and why are they moving? [17:27] **Melinda Lansfeld (Superintendent):** This levy is about 12% of our budget. If we lose this, we lose about 12% of our overall budget of about $125 million. Our finance director, John Tyne, will tell you that when a student comes to school, there's money in their backpack—about $10,000. For every child we lose, we lose $10,000 out of our budget. We did lose about 300 students last year. [18:59] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Finally, how do you see these investments having a direct impact on a student's scores and their performance? I'm a big fan of the arts and music, but scores and performance are the ultimate goal. How are these funds attributed to supporting that directly? [18:59] **Melinda Lansfeld (Superintendent):** We know we have a lot of work to continue to support academic achievement. If this did not pass, it would be an equivalent of 10 more students in a classroom, and that's going to have a huge impact. It also affects academic supports, specifically intervention and social-emotional learning. [19:46] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Thank you for indulging my questions. I think it's important for everyone to have those answers. [20:32] **Melinda Lansfeld (Superintendent):** I'll leave these flyers here. [Video plays regarding Question 1 and Question 2 regarding the technology levy]. Thank you so much for your time. [22:06] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Thank you. Appreciate your coming in. All right, next, our next presenter from the Girl Scouts. [22:06] **Addison Price (Girl Scout):** Thank you for having me. I just wanted to give a little disclaimer—Violet became ill right before this, so I will try my best to read both of our slides today. My name is Addison. [22:52] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Pardon me, I can display the slides if you want to tell me when to switch them. [23:23] **Addison Price (Girl Scout):** I'm Addison Price and today I will be presenting our Girl Scout Silver Award. [Presentation on Washington County food scraps organics drop-off program]. We held an information booth at the 2021 farmers market... The public's feedback was that drop-off locations are too far away. We would like to request the City works with Washington County to determine if a food scraps drop-off site in Bayport is possible. [31:44] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** You did an excellent job. [31:53] **Katie Hill (Councilmember "Connie"):** I know you guys spent some time on this, so thank you for stepping up for Violet. When you guys spent a bunch of Mondays at the farmers market handing out the little green buckets, do you know approximately how many you gave away? [32:40] **Addison Price (Girl Scout):** We gave away about 45 of the bins. It was a really fun experience. [32:40] **John (Councilmember):** I just have a question—it’s called a food scrap, but I noticed they take like pizza boxes. Does that go all together? [33:27] **Addison Price (Girl Scout):** Yes, it goes all together. You can set aside pizza boxes and napkins. You just can't put in things with ink that isn't approved, or gum which has plastic. [34:13] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** I was one of the 45 people who took one of those bins. I totally understand the slide that said it's too far away; I was running out of room in my refrigerator. If we could find a site here, it would be really nice. I had seen something recently that the county is hoping to do curbside food scrap collection. Do you know if that is true? [35:45] **Addison Price (Girl Scout):** I honestly don't know that question, but that would be a good question to email Sara Taylor about. [35:45] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** [To Matt Kline] That's something we need to consider if we're going to consider this proposal. Did you talk with the administration about some possible sites? [37:01] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** There isn't a ready set site really anywhere in the city that has the lighting required. The county requires a concrete pad plus the structure and lighting. One of the locations we talked about was the sliver triangle portion on Stagecoach past the tracks. There are concerns from people as to the impact, but that location has no immediate neighbors. We also talked to Max Belton at the county; they are doing a pilot program in Mahtomedi and suggested we see how that one goes first. [40:04] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Was there any conversation about utilizing the space at the Washington County Government Center? It’s well-lit and central. [40:50] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** This is part of the scouts' project, they had to present it. It's in our hands now. [41:45] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Did you get your Silver Award even if we don't do this? [41:45] **Addison Price (Girl Scout):** Yes. [41:45] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Okay, great. Congratulations. [41:45] **John (Councilmember):** I run a restaurant in Stillwater and we're actually starting this program at the restaurant. I think it would be a good thing to try out. [42:47] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Well, that concludes our open forum. We'll move on now to our consent agenda, which includes items 1 through 14. [Lists items: minutes, payables, permits, fireworks donation, fire dept agreement, historical society donation, ash tree removal, culvert replacement, pay equity report]. Any questions or comments on the consent agenda? [44:20] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** Madam Mayor, I just want to note for the Council that when the packet was originally put out, the minutes were missed. They have been updated online now. [45:06] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Is there a motion to approve? [45:06] **Katie Hill (Councilmember "Connie"):** I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. [45:06] **Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor):** I'll second. [45:28] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** [Takes roll call vote—motion carries]. [45:28] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** We do not have a public hearing this evening, so we're moving on to unfinished business. The first item is to consider the institution of abatement/condemnation action on 143 3rd Street North, formerly known as the Greystone Bar. [45:28] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** The Greystone Bar has been an issue for the city for several years. In May 2021, we had a workshop. Since 2015, the property has been gutted and is continuing to deteriorate. The owner wanted to connect it to the Woody’s property, but that requires sprinklers under the fire code, which has a significant cost. We have not heard back from the owner since June. We are at a point where we have few options. I'll turn it over to City Attorney Tom. [52:20] **Tom (City Attorney):** The reality is there's not a remedy in state statute to force an individual to run their business there, except that is the purpose for which it is zoned. If we look at the zoning code, the city could seek injunctive relief through the courts. There isn't a current health or safety concern that makes it a standard nuisance. The city has the right to collect the vacant building fee. If the city wants an aggressive approach, we pursue it under a zoning code violation. [55:26] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** One other note: work is being done recently on the adjacent property (Woody's), but not the Greystone building. [57:46] **John (Councilmember):** Have other businesses complained? [59:20] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** No formal complaints from other business owners, but we hear comments from residents. The dilemma is the bare minimum is being done to not have it classified as a formal nuisance. [1:02:23] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** The building official, Mr. Qualy, says the property is gutted and his opinion is that it might be more economical to tear it down. We may want to gain access via an administrative warrant for a full assessment. [1:03:58] **Katie Hill (Councilmember "Connie"):** Can you explain how he's been contacted? I've had issues with emails not going through with some local business owners. I want to make sure we’re using multiple methods. [1:06:16] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** Mostly email and some phone calls. We mailed the assessment notice last year. [1:07:02] **Tom (City Attorney):** The options are: leave it vacant and collect the $1,000 fine, or pursue the zoning use issue through the courts. [1:10:06] **Katie Hill (Councilmember "Connie"):** I don't like that option. I feel like other buildings are empty too, like Mallards. Why are we not going after them? [1:10:52] **Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor):** How long has it been vacant? [1:10:52] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** Since 2015 or 2016. That’s a significant difference from Mallards. [1:12:58] **Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor):** My suggestion would be to get a building official in there. That's a basic first step to assess how far gone it is. It might be a wake-up call for the owner. [1:18:45] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** I agree. We've pushed this along for years. It's time we take some kind of action. I propose we start with the evaluation of the property and the impact on others around it. [1:21:47] **John (Councilmember):** He owns Woody's and he wants to do something, but he's met with these codes. Changing our minimums to go after one guy is overstepping government's role. I'm a big private property rights guy. Eminent domain is a nuclear thing; I think it's one of the worst things you could do to somebody. [1:23:20] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Let's at least get the information from an inspection and bring it back. Does the Council agree? [1:30:11] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** We will get it inspected. We'll obtain the warrant and move forward. [1:30:45] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Second item under unfinished business: awarding a bid for the box culvert replacement. [1:30:45] **Joe Hansen (Public Works Director):** Council, we received two bids, both over the engineer's estimate. This is because I added a fair amount of paving to reduce erosion into Perro Creek. Prices for this stuff are likely not to go down. Staff recommends awarding the bid to Miller Excavating in the amount of $95,392. [1:33:56] **Katie Hill (Councilmember "Connie"):** I'll make a motion to award the bid to Miller Excavating. [1:33:56] **John (Councilmember):** Second. [1:33:56] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** [Takes roll call vote—motion carries]. [1:34:41] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Third item: Barkers Alps park field improvements proposed by St. Croix Prep Academy. [1:34:41] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** Since our last meeting, we looked at a hybrid fence option. I also found an all-temporary option called "SportaFence." It’s designed for this use and is easy to move. The school has $12,000 budgeted. The total cost for SportaFence would be about $25,000. If the city wants the all-temporary version, we would need to fund the $13,000 difference. [1:44:01] **Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor):** Is there another use for it? I haven't worked for the city very long... would we need fencing for other things? [1:45:33] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** We could use it for crowd control at Derby Days, or even an outdoor dog run in the off-season. [1:49:24] **John (Councilmember):** I am adamantly opposed to the permanent plan. It's an eyesore. I would be more supportive of an entirely temporary option that can be taken down. [1:55:34] **Katie Hill (Councilmember "Connie"):** I’ve talked to residents. Most are okay with it if it doesn't affect the sledding hill. I like the look of the SportaFence, but I'm not 100% on spending the money. [1:57:50] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** St. Croix Prep has invested a lot in this field already. The flexibility of the all-temporary fence is worth it. I'm in favor of the city investing the $12,000-$13,000 to have the SportaFence. [2:00:29] **John (Councilmember):** Given the two options, it's a slam dunk. I prefer the all-temporary option. [2:03:28] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** I'm happy we have consensus. We'll use the recreation capital fund. [2:09:02] **Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor):** I'll make a motion to approve the SportaFence, not to exceed $13,000. [2:09:02] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Second. [Motion carries]. [2:11:02] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** New Business: Extension of city policy revisions in response to COVID-19. [2:11:02] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** We are still in the pandemic. Businesses are asking for extensions on temporary sign policies—specifically "Now Hiring" signs and outdoor seating. This would sunset at the end of the year. [2:15:43] **Katie Hill (Councilmember "Connie"):** What kinds of sign requests have you received? [2:16:29] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** Mostly "Now Hiring" and some sandwich boards. We're trying to help the business community while we revise the permanent sign ordinance. [2:18:48] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** I move to approve the extension. [2:18:48] **Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor):** Second. [Motion carries]. [2:19:33] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** City Council liaison reports. Katie? [2:19:33] **Katie Hill (Councilmember):** Planning Commission has not met, but they are looking for a new member since Tom Triplett moved. I'm going to the "Town Topics" session tomorrow. [2:20:19] **John (Councilmember):** [Reports on Croydell/Library results and marketing projects]. [2:21:04] **Katie Hill (Councilmember "Connie"):** The Library Board met. Their building project is going full steam. They are doing outdoor story time at Barkers Alps. Also, Derby Days used book sale is coming up. [2:23:22] **John (Councilmember):** The Middle St. Croix Watershed met. People have been busy working on their properties during the pandemic; please remember to follow guidelines for excavating. [2:24:09] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** I attended the WMO meeting. We approved a liaison for the PFA reimbursement. Also, the Lake Elmo Airport Commission met—the new runway should open in September 2022. I’ve requested more noise studies post-opening. Finally, I attended the "Dream Flight" honoring World War II veterans—it was very special. [2:29:32] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** [On behalf of Public Works] Busy mowing and prepping for Derby Days. The Hills of Spring Creek development is moving along. Sixth Street North cemetery work has started. [2:33:21] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** [Administrative Report] We are interviewing for the Office Support Specialist position. Planning Commission seat is open—deadline Nov 15. Land Water Legacy project access should be ready by mid-October. Fire Department participated in the 343 run for 9/11. Police have been doing directed patrols for speeding. [2:38:44] **Matt Kline (City Administrator):** [Budget Report] We are having a special meeting on September 27th to consider the levy and budget. Also, Fourth Street by Anderson Elementary has been turned into a one-way to help with school drop-offs. So far, it’s an improvement. [2:43:48] **John (Councilmember):** I saw a political flag in another town with some vulgar wording. How does that work here? [2:44:36] **Tom (City Attorney):** It is a freedom of speech issue. Generally, you try to reason with the homeowner. Content is hard to regulate, though we can regulate size and location. [2:50:15] **Michele Hanson (Mayor):** Anything else? If not, meeting adjourned. Thank you.