This transcript covers a Hastings City Council meeting from August 17, 2020. Based on the context provided, here is the formatted transcript with speaker identifications. Note: Some names in the raw transcript were phonetically transcribed (e.g., "Fulch" for Fox, "Lightfelt" for Leifeld, "Balsanic" for Balsanek, "Brock's" for Braucks). These have been corrected in the speaker tags. *** **[0:00] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Members is not feasible doing due to COVID-19 pandemic and closure of City Hall to members and public. As a result of the foregoing, the special City Council meeting will be conducted solely by telephone and other electronic means as provided in Minnesota Statutes 13D.021 and no in-person meeting will be conducted in the City Council chambers. I think it is important to recognize that using a video conference is not as good as an in-person meeting but it is necessary under the circumstances. We are doing the best we can to maintain transparency and due process. I would appreciate everyone's patience and cooperation as we work through the meeting. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. **[0:47] Everyone:** I pledge allegiance... liberty and justice for all. **[1:10] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** All right, thank you. Roll call. Seeing that this meeting is being held remotely, when I call your name please indicate your presence. Councilmember Balsanek? **[1:23] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** I am here. **[1:25] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Braucks? **[1:26] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** Here. **[1:27] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Fox? **[1:28] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Here. **[1:29] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Leifeld? **[1:30] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Present. **[1:31] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Lund? **[1:32] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Here. **[1:33] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Vaughan? **[1:34] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Here. **[1:36] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Okay, let the roll reflect that all the members are present and a quorum has been established. Tonight we have a proclamation for the Women Equality Day and we'll start reading it and we'll start—if you can go with where your seat is in the chambers—we will start with Councilmember Vaughan. Will we be bringing that up? **[2:08] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Yes. Do you have it? Not in front of me now. **[2:12] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Oh, you should have it in your packet. **[2:14] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Yeah, I'll have to go to the packet so give me a minute. **[2:17] Dan Wietecha (City Administrator):** I'll pull it up on the screen. Give me a minute. **[2:20] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Thank you, appreciate that. Thanks, Dan. Sorry, I was going to talk about that in the workshop and I forgot to bring it up. **[3:00] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** All right. Whereas on January 10, 1918, a constitutional amendment allowing women's suffrage was passed by the United States House; and whereas on June 4th, 1919, a United States Senate passed the 19th amendment and sent it out to the states for ratification; and whereas on September 8, 1919, nine years after my mother was born, Minnesota ratified the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution; and whereas on August 26, 1919, the 19th amendment was certified as part of our constitution assuring that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex; and whereas the 19th amendment did not guarantee suffrage for all women including Native Americans who did not gain the right to vote in every state until 1962; in Pacific Islander Americans it was 1952 and many African-American and Latin Americans did not gain their voting rights until passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and 1975; and women of every race and class and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation unity in countless recorded and unrecorded ways; and whereas women have been leaders not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement and today and other important movements; and whereas communities across the state are celebrating the passage and ratification of the 19th amendment providing for women's suffrage to the constitution of the United States; and now therefore it be resolved that the City Council of Hastings hereby proclaims August 26th as Women Equality Day to hereby call upon the people of our community and interested groups and organizations to safely observe August 26th as Women's Equality Day with appropriate ceremonies and activities to honor those who fought for promoting the values of our republic and women's suffrage. I/we the City Council further urge all people to use this occasion to reflect on the importance of achieving equal rights and opportunities for women to dedicate themselves anew to that great goal for the cause of equal rights and opportunities for women is inseparable from the cause of human dignity and equal justice for all. Adopted by the City Council of the city of Hastings the 17th day of August 2020. **[6:26] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Council members, are there any corrections to the minutes from the workshop and the regular meeting of August 3rd? Seeing none, they are approved. Comments from the audience. For public comments, we have options—oops, am I still there? Sorry. We have options to be mailed in prior to the meeting as well as interactive feature during the meeting. For the email comments, they have been forwarded to City Council and their receipt is acknowledged. Please recognize that items not on the agenda will not be discussed this evening. We ask for the attendees to use the raise hand feature and they will be invited to speak one at a time. I also want to remind everyone that the public comment period is not intended for an extended dialogue. Is there anyone here that would like to speak to the Council? I don't think I'm seeing any. Okay, Council items to be considered. Councilors, are there any items to be considered? Seeing none, Council, I would accept a motion to approve the consent agenda. **[8:01] Councilmember Jen Fox:** [So moved], Councilmember Fox. **[8:03] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Second, your honor. Councilmember Leifeld. **[8:05] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Discussion? Council Clerk Flatten, please call the role. **[8:12] Kelly Murtaugh (Asst. Administrator/Clerk):** Councilmember Vaughan? **[8:13] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Yes. **[8:14] Kelly Murtaugh:** Member Fox? **[8:15] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Yes. **[8:16] Kelly Murtaugh:** Councilmember Balsanek? **[8:17] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Yes. **[8:18] Kelly Murtaugh:** Councilmember Leifeld? **[8:19] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Yes. **[8:20] Kelly Murtaugh:** Councilmember Lund? **[8:21] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Yes. **[8:22] Kelly Murtaugh:** Councilmember Braucks? **[8:23] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** Yes. **[8:24] Kelly Murtaugh:** Mayor Fasbender? **[8:25] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Yes. Motion prevails. Tonight under Administration we're going to see a utility rate study update and with us tonight we have Jeannie Voigt of Ehlers—with Genie, welcome. **[8:44] Stacy Kvilvang (Ehlers & Associates):** Thank you, Mayor. Actually, it's Stacy Kvilvang. We got the wrong name on there so nice to see you. Nice to see all of you council members. I'm just gonna pull up the screen to share here. Is everybody seeing that screen? **[9:04] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Yes. **[9:05] Stacy Kvilvang:** Okay. Well, nice to see everyone and albeit not in person, good to see you after so many years. It's been nearly four years since the last time we had a discussion about your utility rates. I'll say a couple things just off the top that I want to state is that you know when we looked at what you did in 2016 and everything that was planned and where you're at today, you guys did a lot of the hard work. Shall we say, you made a lot of the tough decisions back in 2016. And so tonight before you really all you're doing with your utility rates is that the increases are really inflationary if that, which is to be expected of any system that you have out there. [Presentation continues through detailed financial breakdown of enterprise funds, water, sewer, and stormwater reserves, and SAC/WAC options]. **[28:22] Stacy Kvilvang:** ...So with that Mayor, I will turn it over if there's any questions and then really bring it back to the fact that we would like to get some direction on the SAC and WAC rate options of how the Council would like to proceed with that. **[28:38] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, Stacy. Council, any discussion or questions for Stacy? Not seeing any unmuted or hands. Councilmember Lund? **[28:50] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Thank you, your honor. So I understand that the yield from reducing the rates wasn't what we had expected when we dropped that down 25% discount off of what we had originally been going with prior to 2016. It doesn't look like it spurred a whole bunch of growth because of that. That's in my opinion just to the rest of the council, that's obviously one benefit of it but also—I think more importantly maybe—is relying on that funding source got us into the bind we were in, right? None of us, I don't think—maybe one of us might have been on the Council back in that time when decisions were made to lean heavy on the WAC and SAC. But if development doesn't come in, you know, I know that we're looking at some that should be coming through in the coming months and years, but if development doesn't come in then we don't get that money either, right? So we have to take that into consideration. It's not just about attracting development with lower rates, it really is about having a stable reliable revenue source versus projecting what we might see coming in... so that's where I kind of pause a little bit. **[31:13] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Vaughan? **[31:15] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Thank you, honor. Stacy, going back to your numbers here with the WAC and SAC kind of flip-flop where the revenue came to, can we just transfer the dollars to even that out today since one did better than the other and get the fund balances where we want them to be and then potentially just keep our model going forward with the 25% reduction? **[31:40] Stacy Kvilvang:** No, because you have to collect those and they go into the appropriate funds because you're charging that fee based upon what your need was for that system. **[31:55] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Okay. Councilmember Balsanek? **[31:58] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Thank you, your honor. We've got some development in the works—the two projects I'm referring to, the one is south of the Catholic church, the other one is at Northridge and Pleasant, and i think that's going to account for close to 200 units. I see John Hinzman is on board. John, is that how many units with those two developments? **[32:26] John Hinzman (Community Development Director):** Councilmember, it would be about 150 units altogether. **[32:30] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Okay, I'm an artist not a mathematician. Do we charge one unit per residence? Is that how that works? **[32:41] John Hinzman:** That is correct Councilmember, that that's what we charge. One unit for SAC and WAC per residential unit. That would be irregardless of an apartment unit or a single-family home. **[33:14] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Which was my next question. So if we get the 90-some units there at Schoolhouse Square, those are apartments, it's still a unit per apartment then? [Balsanek continues discussing upcoming units and commercial development impacts]. **[35:05] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** ...Does the addition of 350 units do anything to the projected fund for WAC and SAC, Stacy? **[35:16] Stacy Kvilvang:** Yeah, so we took into consideration your 2020 projected units which is about 235 units and some of the projects that you discussed and we kept that at the existing rate... and then going forward in 2021 we projected increasing that back up to $3,000 to help capture that. **[36:01] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** I'm glad you factored that in. How many brand new commercial entities have come along on average over the years, John? Building from scratch? **[36:13] John Hinzman:** Councilmember, that that's a difficult one to project. Usually, you know, a couple a year and they can vary in their size. [Hinzman explains recent reconstructions like Dairy Queen and McDonald's]. **[37:25] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** It just—I'm bringing all of this up because there's been contentious discussions from certain members of the business community that SAC and WAC rates are affecting development here in the city. And again as was pointed out here in one of the slides, we lowered them 25%, did it make any difference? No. I mean, it goes back to the old real estate adage: location, location, location. If a business wants to move here, they're gonna move here. They're not gonna worry about SAC and WAC fees when they've got a half-million dollar building... for us to tinker around with SAC and WAC... I was part of the Council when we made the reduction... it really hasn't had remarkable effect. So my feeling is that we should go ahead and adjust the rates according to the recommendations. **[40:40] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Okay, thank you. Councilmember Leifeld? **[40:42] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Thank you. Um, to the "if you build it they will come" philosophy, I think my personal opinion on this is that it takes a little bit more time. I don't feel like for most of these businesses it's an overnight decision. These big corporations, that's different than these mom-and-pop shops... my concern is that inflates the cost then that goes on to the renter or the owner. I feel that this is going to take more time... so my opinion would be that we continue at this particular SAC and WAC agreement or fee scale that we have now and see where we end up. We review this at our next budget cycle. That's my two cents. **[42:50] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Hey, thank you Councilmember Leifeld. Councilmember Braucks? **[42:52] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** Thank you Mayor. My question is for Stacy and sorry if this is a complicated question, but you gave sort of some averages of where we fall in line for single family homes and then multi-family. Why is it that we're on the high end for the multi-family? Because that's a lot of what we're developing right now... do you see other communities giving a discount to multi-family spaces? **[43:47] Stacy Kvilvang:** I would say that you may end up on the high end of that scale because some of the cities may give a discount for density bonuses. **[44:13] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** Thank you, appreciate it. **[44:17] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Fox? **[44:19] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Thank your honor. At the beginning of the presentation we were provided two options. The first one was to keep the current rates... however, I don't feel comfortable going into COVID and knowing that we have such high rates of unemployment right now... I don't feel that it's the right time to be passing additional costs on to our users of the utility. And so I would have to agree with option two of the consultant to shift the rates as recommended... I don't know if this conversation is going because it seems to me we're being told that we need to make a decision... or do we have a third option? And is that to table it for a while? **[46:04] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you Councilmember Fox. Braucks? **[46:08] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** I have another question on this is regarding the statement that the 2013A bond was being paid for out of the water fund I believe, but is now not. So my question is what happens if we need a new water treatment facility and where are those funds coming from? **[46:31] Stacy Kvilvang:** Mayor, Councilmember, that's correct. Hopefully you don't need a new water treatment plant. Typically that would come out of your WAC fund but now it's just being paid out of the water fund and by user rates... it'll be the end users of the system that will have to have increased rates in order for you to pay for those future capital improvements. **[47:11] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** So I think—Dan Wietecha—I think this is virtually just discussion tonight? We're not making a motion? **[47:20] Dan Wietecha:** That's correct. **[47:25] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** So we do have time to look at a little more in depth if each Councilmember wants to. Any other question? Yes, Councilmember Fox. **[47:38] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Just in follow-up to what you just said then for Dan, when is your cut off? When do you need to know? If we're going to do a fee increase, you need to know that by our last December meeting, right? **[48:02] Dan Wietecha:** Yeah, I'd be comfortable with that December. At its most simple level it falls into there... I don't think that it would have any impact on what you might be doing on the levy. So I think you could wait till December. **[49:10] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Your honor, if I remember we didn't even actually touch this until the new year last time. It was 2016 discussion but the Council actually pushed it into 2017 if I recall. **[49:33] Stacy Kvilvang:** If I may, I think you know yes you can have further discussion on this, but I think from a staff perspective we'd like to know what information do you think you need in order to make a decision on which way to go? [Stacy outlines various options for discounts or targeted businesses]. **[50:18] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Yeah, I guess that that's where I would be leaning towards, Stacy, is understanding maybe some of those additional programs or opportunities for some of those situations that we've all come across... and then still holding pat on the recommendation that you have in front of us. **[51:06] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** I liked Councilmember Leifeld's point about the difference between a corporate business with a large corporate developer who expects such fees compared to a local mom-and-pop... is there an opportunity to maybe make a different two-option or more tiered structure for these SAC and WAC rates? Because they often are very surprising to small business owners and are painful. **[52:05] Stacy Kvilvang:** Councilmember, that's something that we can certainly look at. We can look at the type of businesses that have had to come in and what they've actually had to pay. **[52:45] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Vaughan? **[52:46] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Thank you, honor. And I'm leaning more towards the recommended. If you look at what we're doing now, our residents are paying the difference. We lowered that 25%, our residents had to pay it... I think we really need to go on Councilmember Braucks' talk about this, we might be more on the educational side. Because we learned the hard way these fees stick with the building... something that says our residents shouldn't have to subsidize these fees in my opinion. Thank you. **[54:11] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you Councilmember Vaughan. Councilmember Fox? **[54:13] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Thank your honor. I agree with Councilmember Vaughan completely on this matter. Something for me that I'd like to know is for those developments that we have that are currently in the works... will those projects be grandfathered in or would they be subject to this change? **[55:04] Stacy Kvilvang:** Mayor, Councilor, I could probably answer that right now. Developers will pay based upon what your fee schedule is in place at time of their building permit. **[55:30] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Okay. Councilmember Balsanek? **[55:34] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Yes, in a meeting with about 15 business owners approximately six months ago, I explained that if the SAC and WAC fees were reduced for businesses then private residences—the taxpayers—would have to in essence subsidize the businesses that were coming into town. And I just don't think that's fair... we need to go with the recommended rate adjustment. **[56:32] Stacy Kvilvang:** Mayor, any thoughts from you? Not to put you on the spot, but I just want to make sure we get everyone. **[56:41] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Well, I never want to increase, so... but I guess I would be willing to discuss it more. I agree with Councilmember Vaughan in what he said that we have to educate people... John, I'm going to ask you a question. If someone wants to open a business and they come to you or Tom, do you automatically say hey yes this has credits or if it doesn't? Is that part of a "sale" for your department? **[57:58] John Hinzman:** Yeah Mayor, when we're talking about redevelopment most of the time you have an existing building use. New use comes in, there may be a change in the SAC and WAC... in situations with restaurants if it was a non-restaurant building they want to open up a restaurant in there, that could be significant. And that's where we've seen some of the projects not happen because of that. We do have that loan program out there; we haven't had a lot of takers on it. **[58:50] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Okay. So again I think it's up to the city to educate these people as they're coming in. I don't have anything else other than Council, do you want to discuss this more? We're kind of split. **[59:17] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Yeah, you're right. Again, like Stacy said, I don't want to put you on the spot but you asked some questions, you didn't say are you in favor of the recommendation to raise or not. I guess you're the Mayor, you should say something. **[59:36] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you. And like I said, I don't really like to see any increases especially in these hard times. I'd be willing to discuss it a little bit further... stacy you said that the other cities around us—we're right in place with where we should be. So with that I don't want to set us back either. I guess I'd be willing to go with the recommendation of Ehlers. **[1:01:23] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Your honor? I feel like we're kind of sitting in a position that we were sitting in a couple years ago... I personally would like to see if at all possible a socially distanced in-person workshop on this. This is a really big decision that I think we can't take lightly. **[1:03:00] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Um, I mean, I think it warrants further discussion. I think time allows for that... we've provided what we needed to provide today but it is definitely something we need to talk about further. **[1:03:45] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Something that I'd also like to hear about is how is it that whatever decision that it is that we make, how it is that staff are going to communicate these changes? Because something I noticed the last go run when we did this was we made this change, we did the rate cut, but the business community pretty much didn't hear about it... and I think that we need to have a communications plan to go along with us because it's just... I thought we did the right thing a couple of years ago and yet it's like that message didn't get communicated. **[1:06:04] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** You know, the feedback I got from those business people—they wanted the entire SAC and WAC fee structure eliminated. They wanted us to do away with it. I am flabbergasted that they would choose to be so naive as to suggest that the citizens—the private residents—would pay for the water and sewer fees for businesses... I don't understand their business acumen if they are stating that kind of a thing. God, do I sound like a bureaucrat? It's only 160 dollars more per unit. **[1:09:05] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Thank you honor. I can't speak to what conversations Councilmember Balsanek had with business owners... my conversations have been quite a bit different. I spoke with everyone over the last four years and everyone I've come in contact with is looking for us to be more in line with local communities... I again would like to see us sit down not on Zoom where we can in a community room where we can all separate nicely and have this conversation. **[1:12:12] Stacy Kvilvang:** Mayor, if I may just interject—this is Stacy with Ehlers. I i think we did get some good direction from you as Councilmembers and the takeaway isn't "no let's just go with what we recommended." Everyone brought up some valid concerns and considerations. We can work with the City Manager to figure out a time to come back. **[1:12:47] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Great, thank you Stacy. I think that'd be great. Next we have CARES Act. For this item we will have City Administrator Dan Wietecha give us your information. **[1:13:21] Dan Wietecha:** Hopefully there's some action on this one. There are five specific recommendations that help you consider passing tonight. [Dan details PD cubicles, Fire/EMS shelving and lockers, community survey, and touchless fixtures]. The recommendation is to approve up to $25,000 for the survey... and to proceed with the touchless fixtures for the restrooms throughout all the city buildings for about $134,000. I would greatly appreciate if we had approval on those specific purchase requests. **[1:19:04] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you Dan. Council? Councilmember Fox. **[1:19:07] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Thank your honor. Thank you Dan. I'm supportive of all the things that you've asked for on for approval for this evening. I'm willing to make a motion to approve the items one through five as the staff have recommended. **[1:19:28] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Second. **[1:19:30] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Seconded by Councilmember Lund. Any other discussion Council? Councilmember Vaughan. **[1:19:35] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** I can support it but I'm a little hung up on that survey one with the unknown number keep changing on us and the value of that today. **[1:19:53] Dan Wietecha:** Just a matter of clarification, that survey was not discussed by the Admin Committee, that's coming from staff and more specifically from me. [Dan explains the updated pricing and COVID focus of the survey]. **[1:21:50] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** Yeah, and just to speak to what the Admin Committee discussed, just in case there's any confusion as we talked about the non-profits portion. That's what we've been talking about in our committee meetings... just so you know. **[1:22:25] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Thank your honor. I just had some follow-up questions since this is the only discussion time that we're having about the CARES Act and funding. I would like to hear from Dan as to what his plans are for moving forward... I wasn't clear if we had formally made a motion or not yet to authorize the city being paid back for the business heart expenses. **[1:24:45] Dan Wietecha:** I can try to answer that. Without a specific vote, there have been multiple comments about wanting to make sure that the city covers expenses incurred and I would believe that that includes the heart grant and other expenses downtown. [Dan discusses the remaining ~$300k balance and potential eligibility audits]. **[1:27:18] Councilmember Jen Fox:** That still kind of didn't definitively say yes at the next meeting we were going to make final decisions. [Fox discusses meeting with Chamber President Christie Vors and support for anchor non-profits]. I would like to have more specific discussion about that at our next Council meeting. Dan, I'm asking you what is it that you'd like for us to do? **[1:31:40] Dan Wietecha:** What I've requested of the City Council this evening are five specific expenditures. Separately, the Administration Committee has had some discussion and I apologize but I did not feel that what they discussed for an hour and a half came with a specific recommendation to the City Council. We were still waiting on some confirmation with United Way. **[1:34:58] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you Councilmember Fox. Councilmember Vaughan. **[1:35:01] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Thank you. I think to kind of wrap this subject up, staff gave us some requests in here... we have a motion and a second. I think we need to vote on the ones that are in front of us. I have all the faith in the world in the Administrative Committee... but let's vote on that. **[1:36:34] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Clerk Flatten, please call the roll. **[1:37:37] Kelly Murtaugh:** Councilmember Vaughan? **[1:37:38] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Yes. **[1:37:39] Kelly Murtaugh:** Member Fox? **[1:37:40] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Yes. **[1:37:41] Kelly Murtaugh:** Member Leifeld? **[1:37:42] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Yes. **[1:37:43] Kelly Murtaugh:** Member Lund? **[1:37:44] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Yes. **[1:37:45] Kelly Murtaugh:** Member Braucks? **[1:37:46] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** Yes. **[1:37:47] Kelly Murtaugh:** Mayor Fasbender? **[1:37:48] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Yes. Motion prevails. Thanks Dan for all your work and efforts and Administration/Finance, thank you as well. Tonight we have for another item we have the utility bill adjustment and Dan will be giving us that as well. **[1:39:23] Dan Wietecha:** Yeah, we received this correspondence from Mr. Carl Haney. He has a mixed-use commercial property downtown. One of the upstairs tenants had a running toilet... we got a suddenly three thousand dollar quarterly bill and he has to basically plead his case with the City Council. I will say that in general I believe staff does not recommend or support—sympathize with the difficulty, but it was actual water usage and if there's some issue between the landlord and tenant, that is a private matter. **[1:40:57] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** Is the requester on the phone with us tonight? **[1:41:07] Dan Wietecha:** I'm not certain. It looks like he might be somebody listed as "Service Meeting Conductor." **[1:41:27] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Welcome. **[1:41:29] Carl Haney (Property Owner):** Hi, can you hear me? **[1:41:31] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Yes. **[1:41:32] Carl Haney:** Hi Mary, this is Carl Haney. Feels a little bit like old home week once—I guess we used to be well we were friends for a long time and now you run the joint. **[1:41:40] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Okay, thanks Carl. Welcome. Let's hear what you have to say please. **[1:41:43] Carl Haney:** Okay so you know we received this water bill on August 12th and we had just heard from one of the tenants who had told the person at the restaurant downstairs that he thought he had a leaking toilet. [Haney explains that the tenant spoke little English and didn't understand the costs, resulting in 398,000 gallons of water usage]. We are like struggling like every other business owner trying to where people can't pay rent... we just are asking for some kind of dispensation if that's possible. **[1:45:09] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you Carl. Councilmember Balsanek? **[1:45:12] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Thank you your honor. I kind of wish Nick Egger was here. It's my understanding that when there is some kind of anomaly with water usage that there is notification of some sort that goes out to the property owner. I'm having difficulty with the procedure for contacting the property owner. **[1:47:50] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** I have a couple questions. Any Enterprises on Second Street—is that not where Carl, you don't live there, correct? **[1:48:07] Carl Haney:** Correct. I live in Burnsville now. **[1:48:20] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** So this is just showing the property address but the bill is going to your Burnsville address? **[1:48:26] Carl Haney:** That is correct. **[1:48:28] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** And I assume then that your tenant doesn't pay for water? That's part of their rent? **[1:48:33] Carl Haney:** Exactly. **[1:50:41] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Dan, do we have anything on file that would tell us whether or not a notice was sent? **[1:50:57] Dan Wietecha:** I do not believe that there was a separate notice. I believe it was—they believe it was an in-person, left a door hanger on the door. **[1:51:50] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** Do we have any documentation of having any similar requests and what was decided in those instances? **[1:52:14] Dan Wietecha:** I am not aware of any precedent here that the city has given some sort of relief. **[1:53:35] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** It was clean water probably 90% of the time. Does that clean water tax the treatment facility? Can any accommodation be made that way? **[1:54:14] Dan Wietecha:** Arguably you could say that the burden was incrementally less, but the system is not operated by the city, it's operated by the Met Council and the bill that we receive and pass on is based on the total quantity that went through. **[1:55:04] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Thank your honor. This is going to be tough Carl because I see where you're coming from. But I think we got to be careful on setting the precedence here... we got to pay our bills. I can't support a subsidy of this funding of this invoice. [Vaughan makes a motion to deny adjustment]. **[1:58:37] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Second. **[1:59:00] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Clerk Flatten, please call the roll. **[1:59:10] Kelly Murtaugh:** Councilmember Vaughan? **[1:59:11] Councilmember Tim Vaughan:** Yes. **[1:59:12] Kelly Murtaugh:** Member Fox? **[1:59:13] Councilmember Jen Fox:** Yes. **[1:59:14] Kelly Murtaugh:** Member Leifeld? **[1:59:15] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** No. **[1:59:16] Kelly Murtaugh:** Member Lund? **[1:59:17] Councilmember Ian Lund:** Yes. **[1:59:18] Kelly Murtaugh:** Member Braucks? **[1:59:19] Councilmember Mary Braucks:** Yes. **[1:59:20] Kelly Murtaugh:** Mayor Fasbender? **[1:59:21] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Yes. Motion prevails. Carl, we're sorry for this incident but you kind of have to see it from our perspective as well. **[2:00:15] Carl Haney:** Let me ask this question. I know the city has offered grants to businesses that are suffering hardships. Would this be considered that? So I could apply for a grant to help pay for this? **[2:00:33] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** I don't know where it's going to come from. **[2:01:08] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Mr. Haney asks a question about grant possibilities. You could certainly contact the city. I know that we've waived licensure fees... it all starts with John Hinzman's office then. **[2:02:44] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** All right. Our next is a closed door session to discuss pending litigation. First we'll do any reports and announcements. **[2:03:19] Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Yeah, thank you your honor. I'll be attending the board of directors meeting of the Dakota Communication 9-1-1 center Thursday morning at 8 a.m. **[2:03:45] Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Anyone else? Well I will start with mine i guess. Happy birthday goes out to Councilmember Balsanek and Councilmember Lund this week. [Mayor reads announcements for Music in the Park, Bike with Ranger, Raptors in the Park, and Secret Life of Pets 2 movie]. City offices will be closed Monday September 7th. Meetings coming up... Tuesday September 8th we will have our regular meeting. At this time then we will move into a closed session. Okay so—