All right. Good evening. This is the September 3rd, 2025 Cottage Grove City Council meeting, which I'm calling to order. Uh, one thing I'll just mention real quick is this meeting is being recorded by True Lens Community Media. Uh you can uh view city meetings live and on replay and replay them, excuse me, on cable channel 799. And the meetings are also streamed live and archived on the city of Cottage Grove's YouTube channel. So if you're interested in seeing past um past council meetings and such, you can do it uh do it there. Uh so the next thing on our agenda this evening is the pledge of allegiance. So if you please rise. 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. >> Will the clerk please do the role? >> Council member Clawson >> here. >> Council member Olsen >> here. >> Council member Theiti >> here. >> Council member Garza >> here. Mayor Bailey >> here. Uh, next on our agenda here is open forum. This is the opportunity for anybody who wants to speak on anything that's not on tonight's agenda is welcome to do so. Uh we did have a signup sheet out in the entryway and we did have uh Megan >> Voy uh who has signed up and so if you want to come up and you can uh share some information with us and just state your name and address for the record please and welcome. >> Great. Hello. My name is Megan Voys. I live at 7278 97th Street South in Cottage Grove. And I would like to invite all of the council members and the mayor and anyone else in Cottage Grove uh to the working families picnic that is going to be hosted at Vermillion Falls Park on September 20th in Hastings. It's put in getting put on by the Senate District 41 DFL. We're going to have uh food and games and uh resources for families there. We're going to be having a food drive for the Hastings Family Services. So, if you'd like to bring a donation, feel free. Um and yeah, we just hope to have a fun time with everyone and get the word out for the picnic. So, >> fantastic. Again, if I see right, it's from 11 to 3 at the Million Falls Park, and that's uh 214 21st Street East in Hastings. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Awesome. Thank you. Thanks for sharing that with us. >> Perfect. All right. Was there anybody else that wants to speak on anything that's not on tonight's agenda? >> All right. Seeing none, I will go ahead and close uh the open form part of the meeting and we'll move to adoption of the agenda. >> Move the agenda. >> All right. So, we have a motion by council member Theiti, second by council member Olsen. All those in favor signify by saying I I opposed. Motion carries. Uh six is presentations. We do have one this evening and it is the uh reading of the Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation. Uh so I did ask uh Council Member Clawson to uh start the or read I should say the proclamation and then once he's done I'll look Kim to make the motion and then get a second. So we'll kick it over to you. >> Thank you, Mayor Councel. Uh this is a proclamation honoring Hispanic Heritage Month. Uh whereas the United States of America is a nation built by the contributions of people from diverse backgrounds and the Hispanic community has played a vital role in shaping our country's history, culture, and achievements. And whereas the Hispanic community has had a profound influence on our country through their strong commitment to family, faith, hard work, and service. and they have enhanced and shaped our national heritage with centuries old traditions that reflect the multi-ethnic and multicultural customs of their community. And whereas the period from September 15th to October 15th is designated as National Hispanic Heritage Month to celebrate the histories, cultures, contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central, and South America. And whereas this month-long celebration begins on September 15th, a significant date that marks the independence anniversaries of five Latin American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and includes Mexico's independence day on September 16th, Chile's Independence Day on September 18th, and BISE's Independence Day on September 21st. And whereas we recognize and honor the many ways that the Hispanic culture has enriched the fabric of our society while also redirecting ourselves to address the lack of equal access to opportunity that still that many still face. And whereas the city of Cottage Grove is proud to honor the history and c and contributions of the Hispanic community here and throughout our state and nation. Now therefore, the mayor and city council of the city of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, state of Minnesota, hereby proclaim September 15th through October 15, 2025 as Hispanic Heritage Month. And mayor, I would so move that we accept that. >> All right. So, first of all, thank you for reading it and I'll take your motion uh for uh from Council Member Clawson. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Council Member Garza. All those in favor uh please signify by saying I. I opposed. Motion carries. Again, thank you for reading that. All right. Next on our agenda is the consent agenda. Is there anything council wants to pull on tonight's consent for separate discussion? >> All right. So, then I guess I'll look for a motion to approve consent. >> I'll make Go ahead. >> I'll make a motion to approve consent. >> All right. So, I have a motion by Council Member Garza. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Council Member Olsen. Any further discussion? >> Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Motion carries. So if you're here or watching for anything on tonight's consent agenda, all of those items have been approved. Eight is approved dispersement. 8A is to pay the bills. >> Move the bills. >> Second. >> All right. So we have a motion by council member Olsen, second by council member Theiti. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. Opposed. >> Motion carries. We'll move on to number nine which is a public hearing which we do have this evening and this is the Fratalone South Point Ridge easement vacation and new easements and that's roars and uh Samantha Puret uh our senior planner is going to walk us through this one and we've seen a lot of this over the years. >> All right. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. Tonight, um I am bringing to you various easement vacations for the Roars property um as they intend to proceed to a closing date with the city and with uh South Point Ridge on September 30th of this year. Um, so in order to replplat the property as the Camels Hump edition, which was approved uh by this body back in early 2024, uh we have various easements that do need to be vacated, including drainage and utility easements, a trail easement, and a pond access easement. Um that is the reason why we need to have this public hearing to vacate these easements tonight. In conjunction with the RORS project, um they do need to construct a very large retaining wall around the east and north sides of the property. Um so they will need uh temporary construction easements from the city uh to get their um materials and their people onto the property to construct this retaining wall. Um there will also be some structural components such as soil nails that need to permanently remain um crossing onto the city's property. So, a permanent retaining wall easement is also necessary. With that, there are four items for you on the screen tonight. Um, and I would stand for any questions if you had any. >> Uh, council, first, any questions for Samantha at all? All right. Again, I know we've seen this, this is more of a formality piece, but I will go ahead and open the public hearing. Uh, is there anybody that would like to speak on this item this evening? All right. Seeing none, I will go ahead and close the public hearing. And um we'll have to do the uh 2, three, and four. Uh so if somebody from council would like to do number two, >> I'll go ahead and move that we adopt resolution 2025119 vacating rescending terminating and releasing certain easements over lots three and four, block one, and out lots A, C, and D, Falone's South Point Ridge. >> All right. So we have a motion by council member Theidi. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by council member Garza. Any questions, council? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. Who would like to do number three? >> I'll take number three. To approve the establishment of a temporary construction easement for a retaining wall. >> All right. So, we have a motion by council member Garza. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by council member Clawson. Any discussion? >> Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. >> Motion carries. And finally, number four. There. I'll take number four. Uh move to approve the establishment of a permanent retaining wall easement. >> All right. So I have a motion by uh Council Member Clawson. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Council Member Olsen. Any further discussion? The only thing and don't freak out. This is just more of a question or comment for our staff. Now that it appears that we're getting to the point where they're actually going to build this thing, um I would recommend that I don't know if we're going to do a not a neighborhood meeting, but an update for the seniors at the legends that this was a big question that they had as what's going on with it. So, just want to mention that so we can maybe set something. I'd be happy to go over and speak to them so they know what's going on. Okay. >> All right. Any other comments? All right. Uh seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I opposed. Motion carries. Thank you, Samantha. All right. 10 is bid awards. We have none this evening. 11 is the regular agenda and we do have two items. Uh the first one is A is to adopt the preliminary property tax levy and Brenda Brenda Melanowski, our finance director, is going to take us through this. Thank you Brenda. Thank you, mayor, and members of the council. Uh tonight, uh before you uh set the preliminary property tax levy, uh for 2026, um I do have a short presentation. Uh this first slide uh is just to remind uh city council um that while this is the first time that you have seen me here in this room uh working on the budget um as you know you've been working on it uh throughout uh the year. You started in January uh hit a budget workshop in a April. Uh did council workshops in August or I'm sorry in July. Uh did a follow-up uh budget workshop uh in August and here we are uh this evening. Uh my thank you to city council on the hours that you put in uh this year um as you determined uh the budget and the property tax levy. Uh my thanks to our department directors, their teams as they uh comb through all the data uh gave you uh accurate information so that you can make the decisions um for that property tax levy that's in front of you. Um as you can see uh tonight you're not uh we're not done in the process. We'll certify that to Washington County. uh that preliminary property tax levy. Uh they will use it to prepare property tax statements for each individual taxpayer in the city of Cottage Grove. They'll mail those out in uh November. Um on that property tax statement, it'll show them the impact um of their property taxes for next year. if they have any questions or comments, uh they will come uh on December 3rd uh to uh the city council meeting where you will receive those uh budget comments before you set that final property tax levy. Uh with the property tax levy that is in front of you, uh there are several budget accomplishments that I wanted to outline outline. Uh first is that we are able to provide the same exceptional level of services to our communities to our community as we have in the past. Uh second uh we're demonstrating our stewardship of capital assets uh by including the replacement of them whether it's equipment uh or city infrastructure such as pavement management. Uh those items were either in identified in our financial management plan or uh capital improvement plan. uh we are positioned uh to respond to changes in the economy um amid uh economic uncertainty. Uh we are maintaining to be that distinction of employer employer of choice. Um and then uh we are meeting our debt service requirements when we've issued debt uh in the past for pavement management or new buildings, street improvements. Uh with that comes a principal and interest payment that's due each year just like a mortgage. um in 2026, those debt service requirements to pay those debt uh is included in the property tax levy in front of you. A little uh detail on the property tax levy, you're going to want to concentrate on the middle column or the 2026 proposed uh property tax levy. Uh it's at 29,885,000 for the city of Cottage Grove portion. Uh specifically uh the first line is our general fund levy. Uh it is increasing uh 9.76% since 71% of that general fund our operating budget funds um personnel and salaries. Uh that is based on uh settled union contracts for 2026 for our unions. Uh we do uh are including an EMS levy for the first time to fund operating costs at 70,000. um our equipment levy. Uh when we did the t uh 10-year financial management plan, we have about $2 million in equipment that needs to be funded each year. So, we're starting to increase that levy gradually um in order to fund those equipment needs so that we're not keep uh delaying those equipment replacement needs. Um and then our municipal building levy is uh increasing 150,000. Uh there was a facility maintenance study uh for the next 10 years that was done uh for the public safety city hall and central uh fire station. Uh this is just starting to fund uh those known costs that will be coming up. So instead of increasing the levy by a million dollars in a couple years to fund some equipment that needs to be replaced attached to a building, whether it's heating, cooling, uh we're starting to increase that gradually. Uh the EDA levy has a $50,000 increase. That is to start to um fund all the current year operating costs in the EDA and that was identified um in the financial management plan uh in the park capital levy that is funding those current operating costs uh to replace uh in our existing parks or our future parks as we identified in the FMP. And then our debt levy. I had already alluded to it that when we issue debt uh we need to pay those principal and interest payments. And so that is uh in order to maintain our AAA bond rating we need to pay the debt that we've issued. Uh with that um we want to know the impact then to our property taxpayers. And so there's two components of it. Um the first we just talked about our property tax levy. And so that is on our green uh line uh showing that history uh since 2015. Um and then uh importantly to our tax capacity. So as we've uh grown or as um our existing properties have increased in value that tax capacity increases. And so in that blue bar that's showing that trend line. Um if we take those two components um and we divide them we get to our city tax rate. And here's our history. So, based on the preliminary property tax levy that's in front of you, we're at about 40 uh.294%. If we take that and apply it to our median home, uh the impact in taxes for 2026 is $1,434. That median home increased in value by about 3.39% between 25 and 26. And so based on that city tax rate, they would pay uh $1,434. Uh that city property tax change is about $152. When we did the 10-year financial management plan, uh, with putting in all the current future operating costs in the city, all the current debt, all the future debt for street projects, capital improvements, street projects, we needed about a $100 increase per year on our median home. However, we needed a $110 increase the first year. So, the first year that we operated on it was 2024. And so there we have an increase of $71. 2025 $85 increase. This year the 152. So in total we're at $38. The financial management plan would say we needed to be 310. So we're just below that or the average of $10267. Um the monthly cost um for that median home will be about $119.50 50 for 2026 or a daily cost of $3.92 or an increase of 41 per day. Uh this slide here, we do not have it updated for 2026 because while we're uh adopting our preliminary levy tonight, the other cities are still uh working through their numbers. Uh but what we do know is that last year our median home was that $1,282. So, based on the preliminary levy in front of you, that we would go to $1,434. We may jump up um as it would appear on this slide ahead of two other communities in Washington County. We do not I do not believe that will be true. As I'm looking at other uh levies out there, other cities are looking at double digits also. They're no different than the things that we are seeing as we balanced our budget this year. they're use they're having to do the same thing. And one of these communities um I did look at their median home and it is increasing uh for next year uh what they're predicting is $143. So not very far behind us. And so the other thing to remember is for those other two communities, if they had a 0% property tax levy increase and their tax capacity stayed at zero and their median home stayed at the same, that's how they would experience that $1,350. So that's we we believe that's not going to be true. And so we believe that will be uh favorable uh with that. Um, and then my last slide here is just uh letting um you know that on that median home if uh they did pay us the $119.50 where that would go to. So we would send $53.83 to public safety to fund police, fire, emergency management. Um and now EMS $19.38 would go to public works for our streets, our snow plowing. $12.85 85 to parks and recreation for parks, trails, facilities, recreation activities. $17.93 to pay that debt service for that debt we've issued in the past. $12.7 for general government to to operate uh the city, $1.31 for economic development and HR, $2.7 for contingency so that we can uh react uh if anything unexpected happens uh in 2026 and then a small portion would go to community development. a large part of their budget is funded with building permit revenue and so they have a a smaller portion um that would go to them. Uh with that, I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> All right. Before I kick it over to council, I just want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you to staff, uh all of our department heads and all of our uh members. Obviously, every year we go uh through the budget cycle and we literally figuratively dickle and dime things to try to get us as close as we can to things. Um I did have an opportunity to speak with uh a a a neighbor next door to or a mayor next door to us earlier this evening and um they're on that slide there and yes, they're saying that they're going to have their highest increase uh they've ever seen in their community. So, it's uh it's sad uh but it's a reality with uh inflation and and some of the things that are happening out there that's causing um some of these uh uh unfortunate increases, but we still need to do the business of the people and and make sure that we have the right equipment and and the people to do uh to operate that equipment. So, I just want to say thank you again uh for a job well done uh this year before we go to vote. Uh, council, is there any questions that you have for staff at this point? Yeah, council member Theiti. >> So, I I I just want to make a couple comments. Uh, you know, we did have the the financial management plan and you take the averages, it uh it does does come down and almost to that 100 uh you know, per per year for the average home. Um, and I I must say you guys do a good job because the last two years it the preliminary and and what we had expected were was was higher than than what it actually came out to. And so I'm I'm I'm kind of maybe hoping that I we're able to to bring that 152 down a little bit from from the actual and everything, but you know, it's still still on the taxes. And uh so you know, and again, if one if we have a financial management plan, we want to we want to try to uh you know, definitely follow it and and so forth. And so I've I have made a request that we kind of look at the the you know the our financial management plan and just uh assess its uh performance and and and what it uh you know its its makeup and so forth for our at our strategic planning in in January. And I think we've agreed to to do that. uh and uh uh yeah the everybody that that's not involved in the the budget meetings it it is quite a ordeal. It's a it's a constant thing of of trying to look at well, you know, there's there's not an unlimited supply of of funds and and and we have to have, you know, definitely trying to maximize the value to the the residents, you know, and and and trying to keep the costs as low as possible because we're not the only thing in the in the taxes and everything that goes up just a little bit adds up. you know, you get five 10 little things, they come all of a sudden big thing, right? But uh so so reluctantly I I kind of Yeah, you know, it we still probably got one of the best deals in the county, but that doesn't mean that we we shouldn't keep trying to to keep it as low as possible. And uh so it is a little bit of an exhausting process uh every year, but uh everybody does a good job at it. And and uh so hoping that uh that maybe heck maybe even even in December when we actually do the final one, it it could change a little bit or something like that. Uh because we can we can come down a little bit. We can't go up anymore. But uh so uh so at anyway, I guess I that's my piece, I guess. Sounds good. And did you council membles, did you say you had something you want to say? >> I do. Uh, first of all, Brenda, thank you for the presentation. I particularly like the slide that shows um per month where our uh taxes go. And when I say are, I do truly mean ours because every one of us sitting here is a taxpayer in the city of Cottage Grove. And so, uh, as we work through this budget process, um, you know, it has a direct impact on us and our families as much as it does anybody else. But, um, this year was particularly challenging because, as you mentioned during your presentation, there's quite a bit of economic uncertainty right now, especially as it relates to costs of goods based on tariffs and things. And I'm really proud of the work that uh all the department heads and the staff and uh all of the the members of you know the finance team and administration did um as Dave mentioned when we go through this process it's extremely rigorous and unfortunately you guys all have to uh listen to us ask a million different questions about different things and try to come up with answers and um you know we revisit the same topic time and time again and and this year I think was double tough because of the economic conditions that we're working through but uh as was stated um you know this budget is very much uh in keeping with the responses that we received on our PCO community survey earlier this year and I was grateful to have that information from the survey when we went to talk about the budget because it told us what our residents really truly want us to invest in. Public safety right at the very top and we did that. Um equipment, something that uh unfortunately we've had to set aside on occasion. We took care of that this year to a large degree and we planned for taking care of more of it next year to a large degree and I think that was long overdue. Um, I'm also uh grateful that we were able to invest in uh significant infrastructure and that doesn't uh just mean um stuff that we're paying for right now, but it also means the building that we're sitting in, uh the fire station, the water treatment plants, all things that go to serve our residents. And uh I guess the biggest takeaway for me is um not only did we maintain the high level of city services that our residents deserve, but I think we also enhanced those in many respects. And again, all the credit goes to the staff and the finance team and administration for indulging us with all of our questions and um taking all the information that we provide and trying to put a budget together that serves many masters. and you guys did a fantastic job. Uh we kept it within the scope of our financial management plan on average which uh I agree Dave we need to to revisit because as times change sometimes our plans needs to change and we experienced that this year. So I'm glad that we're going to do that in January. But truly hats off to uh everybody who worked on this process and um I'm grateful that uh that we landed where we did. Hopefully we've set the the city up for success. not just in the short term but in the long term. So thank you. >> Okay. Any other comments council at this plan? >> All right. So you can see uh uh before you is a recommendation for adoption. >> I'll move resolution 2025-121 adopting the preliminary 2025 property tax levy collectible in 2026. >> All right. So I have a motion by council member Olsen. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by council member Clawson. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I I opposed. >> Motion carries. Thank you, council, for all the hard work. And again, thank you to staff uh for uh the many hours of getting us to where we're at today. All right. Uh next on our regular agenda is B, which is the hazardous building demolition, 8274 Hemingway Avenue South. And this is a new one for us. Um, and so I'm going to first kick it over to our uh, city attorney, Corey Lann, and I think she's got a guest that's going to present to us here. So, go ahead, >> your honor. Um, as you know, I I'd love to take credit for absolutely everything you see on your agenda that I've reviewed and presented to you, but I have a team of people that help uh, review everything and and uh, and make me look good as I sit before you. Uh, you've met some of those people. I think Aaron Price has sat in this chair uh, on a couple of occasions. Uh he does a fantastic job reviewing most of the contracts that come the the routine contracts that come uh on your council agendas. Uh you met Cynthia Kirkoff I think a month ago. She had to sub for me. She's a new attorney that we hired. Has about 15 years of experience being a city attorney. So she's ripe and uh and is ready to to uh pinch hit for me whenever I need her, which is great. And this is another member of the team uh back at the office that practices in our municipal practice group, Matt Zebarth. uh he joined us about a year and a half ago and he's been a wonderful addition. He comes from a family of public service. Uh his dad is a council member in Cambridge and so he grew up as you know this doesn't stay just in this room. It goes home with you and so he grew up hearing about all of the things that cities deal with. So he took special interest in uh in municipal law which I am absolutely honing in on and uh trying to take advantage of as much as I can. So, he presented this uh or prepared this material before you tonight. Uh as as you said, this is a a new one for you. You typically don't deal with hazardous building and structures and having to address them in such a drastic way. So, I'll let Matt present for you. >> Good evening, members of council. As uh Corey discussed, we're uh going to talk about the hazardous building and the steps to demolish it at 8274 Hemingway Avenue South. So, briefly, the city has statutory authority to require a property owner to demolish, raise, or remove a hazardous building under Minnesota statutes chapter 463. As Corey said, this is a very extraordinary remedy. Most of the time, uh, buildings and conditions like this, uh, the owner works with the city to develop a plan, um, and to bring the property back into, uh, state of compliance. Uh, the property before you tonight is an extraordinary situation as we'll discuss. Um so briefly the process for obtaining relief under chapter 463 starts with the building official report. So members of city staff will prepare findings of fact and a report about the status of the building um their recommendation and the facts that support it. So the packet that you all have in front of you constitutes this official report. After the official report is presented to members of council, uh you'll vote to adopt a resolution and an order which orders the property owner to demolish, raise, and remove the hazardous building. Uh we've given the property owner 30 days in the uh resolution and order. So by October 3rd is the date the deadline the city will set for the property owner themselves to remove RAZ or um otherwise demolish the property. Uh under statute the owner has 20 days to respond. Uh, so that gives the owner um 20 days to respond and then 10 days if they choose to respond to work with city staff or our office to come up with a solution were they to be in contact. Um, and if the owner does respond, the case takes on a general litigation at a district court. So you've got discovery, hearings, a trial. Um, so if the owner were to respond, uh, we would come back in front of council to fill them in to fill you guys in on the update, the timeline, and then obviously litigation can be sometimes a little bit cost prohibitive. So, we'd be able to present that as well for council approval before beginning a case. However, based off of past experience with this owner and generally when a 463 action is brought, uh if the owner does not respond, we will then move to the district court seeking a default judgment which allows the city then to begin the process of destroying and removing the hazardous building uh without owner compliance. So then the city does the work. So works with a demolition contractor, gets a bid, and then completes the demolition at the property, and then the city can assess the costs of that demolition against the property as a special assessment under Minnesota statutes chapter 429. I think it's important to say that the costs until today are not accessible, but from today going forward, those costs will be accessible against the property. And so the property is located at 8274 Hemingway Avenue. Uh this is a picture that city staff took uh on the inspection of the property in April of 2024. And because of the state of the property from the exterior, they were able to get a look into the interior of the property to assess any issues that were inside. Uh this is a vacant house. It's owned by Jeffrey S. Brown. And as I mentioned, beginning in 2019 and through 2024, uh staff was inspecting the property and working with the property owner attempting to remedy the situations and the hazardous conditions that were located on the property. Uh around 2022, the owner became nonresponsive, and to date, the city has not been in contact with the owner. Uh on April 17th of 2024, city staff inspected the property and the building official posted a hazardous building notice on the property that it was not suitable for human occupancy. um the property has deteriorated to a point of complete disrepair and so city staff in our opinion would be that the cost to bring the property back into compliance with building code would far exceed the value of the property itself. So from city staff's inspection here is a look into the interior of the home. As you can see, there is the interior being exposed to the elements. So, you have, you know, various debris, leaves, refues, uh, that have blown into the property. And again, this kind of shows the state and the condition of the building after being exposed to the environment. This is a view of the interior from the front door. So, because the the entrance to the property had got to a state of disrepair to this level, you were able to see the interior of the property without having to step foot in and risk the the public health and safety and the safety of city staff to complete the inspection. This is a look into the interior of the house. And as you can see, the ceiling has uh completely collapsed and there is a spread of black mold in the home, which is a large threat to public health safety welfare. This is another look into that room. As you can see, the whole ceiling foundation has collapsed and the wall has come out. So, you can see right there that it's exposed to the the exterior elements. There's another picture showing the spread of the black mold throughout the property and uh again posing a risk to public health. Now this is the look inside the garage. As you can see the garage roof has collapsed and there are various exposed wires and other aspects that create a severe risk for public safety. I think this is a good point to talk about the current condition as well. So, city staff turned off water at the curb to the property. Um, around 2023, there was a water usage spike, which usually indicates that a pipe had burst. So, they cut water off at at the curb. And so, in the current state, uh there's no water to the house, which is unsuitable for human occupancy. Um, as you can kind of see in this, there are uh exposed electrical wiring at the property. And in combination with that, and if there's a rodent infestation, some gnawing on the electrical wires, uh, the risk to the public safety is great for an electrical fire. Again, making the property unsuitable for human condition. Uh, there's a a better look there at the roof uh, collapsing. So in front of you tonight again is that resolution and order. And so it is our recommendation that the council approve resolution 2025134 and order to the property owner to correct or remove the hazardous building at 8274 Hemingway Avenue. >> All right. Thank you. Um and good job on the presentation. >> Thank you. And if you have any questions >> Yeah. Council, do you have any questions for Matt? I'll start down here then. Uh, council member Clawson. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, thank you. >> So, we so we this property be the city became aware of it back did I understand as early as 2019 with some problems and we started to >> Yes. >> work with the owner and uh then all of us then the owner is just uh ghosting us now. Does that sound right? We don't know where the owner is. We've tried to contact them. >> That's correct, council member. Um the last time we attempted to contact them was when the uh condemnation notice that the building was uninhabitable. Uh notice was sent to the last known address. That notice was returned to sender and at this point the city has not been able to locate the owner. Uh so that started around 2023 and then yes continuing to today have not been able to contact or locate the the owner. Thank you. It sounds like we've done our due diligence. >> Oh, yes. More so. Yeah. Thank you, >> Council Member. Go ahead, Dave. >> Council member, >> I was just curious in terms of the the process. So, if this guy is ghosting us, uh, and we demolish it and we pay all this money to do it and put it into, you know, uh, uh, assess it to the property, but he's not around. Then, then what? the property goes into default and somebody pays I curious and how do we get our >> money back? >> Money back. >> Yes, council member. So, the way that that would work is it would be a special assessment to property tax and then if the owner does not pay property taxes after a few years, it goes into tax default. Um, we pulled title and there's no mortgage holder or lean holder on the property. So, we would be second in line to the county for back property taxes. And then if you know the sheriff or the county offers it up for sale, the buyer would then have to pay us and the county property taxes before assuming controlled property. >> Was that it for you? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um, >> uh, Council Member Garza, >> thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Just a quick question. How far behind are they are they on their property taxes? >> Uh I believe at this point 2024 was unpaid, but 2023 was paid. Uh and then 2025 to date obviously I do not believe was paid either. >> Thank you. I I only asked because if we haven't heard from them in a couple years, but they're current on their property taxes. It just makes me wonder where we're getting the payment for the property tax from. So >> yeah, I believe the last payment was uh at the last known address that the city attempted to serve that was returned. So a little bit yeah, difficult to to locate. >> Okay, >> thank you, >> Council Member Brolen. >> Thank you very much. Nice presentation. Well done. Um you know, it's unfortunate that that these situations do come up periodically. Pretty rare. Um, I'm real familiar with this one because we have been um working with the property owner, attempting to work with the property owner for going on six years now. And uh, you know, unfortunately, we are where we are. Um, I I wanted to simply ask this. Um, should we um mitigate the issues at the property in some way, shape, or form? Um, and again, we can't get a hold of the property owner. You mentioned it goes onto the tax roles, those kinds of things. Um, would there be an opportunity for somebody to potentially step in and acquire the land? Um, obviously there's no bank involved here, so it's not going to be a bank-owned property, but um, sometimes there are investors who will step in and, uh, they'll scrape the site clean and they'll want to build something else or, um, even our EDA on occasion will get involved in things like this. I'm just curious at at what point um do uh folks have the ability to maybe acquire this as opposed to um having it just sit there empty >> you're looking at Cy which is good >> your honor members of the council so without actually knowing where the owner is there's no way to obviously negotiate with them for purchasing the property so it would have to go tax forfeit by the county what the county does whenever whenever they take property tax forfeit is they offer it up to the city first. >> I see. >> So, we would be first in line to have the option whether we wanted to purchase it and then you know resell it. Uh I would recommend that the EDA be involved uh at that point. But obviously this is all farther down the line, >> right? And the reason I asked the question is uh council member Theiti mentioned, you know, how do we recapture um if we have to mitigate issues? And I think that's one of the ways that may exist in the future. But um obviously I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but but this is one of those things where um the law does stipulate certain avenues uh for municipalities and or counties to um recapture some of that uh you know expense. And uh I'm grateful for the answer because I know that um in past experiences with properties like this that often is what comes to pass. So thank you very much. >> Of course. >> So thank you. Um the one only one comment and I know uh Corey and I were speaking before the meeting started on this on this topic is this obviously took a long time did >> to get to this this pardon. I literally do remember the first phone call I got from a neighbor about this house and then went over there and met with the owner and I know our staff tried to work with them to figure out even getting different financing options and things like that to help them get get the things done but obviously none of that that happened. Um, my only question, this is maybe looking forward from this point. Is there is there an opportunity in the future to not have it go this long? Um, because we're talking 19 and we're in 2025 and maybe by Christmas that the house will be, you know, bulldozed, if you will. And I'm almost wondering to a certain extent, just to be honest with you, is that if we had been able to really push harder at the beginning, maybe we wouldn't be tearing the house down, >> if you know what I mean. Certainly, your honor, members of the council, as you know, our staff is amazing. Always has been. The code enforcement staff tries to work with every property owner on their own schedule. Every property owner has a different reason, excuse sometimes, uh, but explanation as to why things are taking longer. And so, city staff did every effort to try to get the property owner to voluntarily comply. At some point, they fell off the radar. And once there was no communication, then city staff sort of felt handcuffed on how do I get them to comply if I can't even find them. And so then when the property began to deteriorate to such an extent is when they got our office involved. And so we recommended the 463 action which again is not something that that the city is familiar with fortunately >> uh but is a tool in your toolbox. So >> we will I think now maybe recognize the symptoms earlier. This was sort of a a very long test case, >> but they've definitely I think will now be able to recognize when things are kind of spiraling out of control that we need to get more drastic measures involved. >> Perfect. And I I guess in the end though, I think uh all the neighbors around here in that that particular area are going to be I think happy in the outcome and but they're going to question it just like I asked is why it took so long. So, >> okay. Thank you. Uh council, any other questions for Matthew? Thank you for uh presenting. >> I'll move to approve resolution number 2025-134, which is a resolution in order to correct or remove the hazardous building at 8274 Hemingway Avenue South in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. >> All right. So, a motion by council member Olsson, second by council member Theiti. Any other discussion, council? >> Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. >> Motion carries. >> And the neighbors will be grateful. >> Oh, yes, they will. Mhm. All right. Uh uh number 12 is council comments request. I will start with uh council member Clawson if you'd like to. >> Thanks. Just uh one little thing to make note of is the public works and parks department open house coming up September 25th. It's three weeks down the way. Um and then the only other thing I wanted to mention, Council Member Theiti, I think we've got about 280 days until Strawberry Fest starts again. Looking forward to your updates. Not that anybody's >> counting, but All right. Thank you. >> That's all. >> Did you two kind of put that together? I don't know. >> Oh, no. That's That's great. >> I think you found a partner down here, baby. I don't know. >> Oh, now you're in trouble. >> They're always looking for volunteers. >> Yep. There you go. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> So, all right. Thank you, Council Member Bolson. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh I just wanted to mention that uh we've turned the corner from August into September which um you can probably tell if you walk outside and you can feel the little bit of cooler weather etc. September is an important month because um it is suicide uh prevention month and suicide prevention month as declared by the National Alliance of Mental Illness is a month when we try to better understand the role mental illness plays uh in our society and we all have you know friends, family members, neighbors etc. um who sometimes are are challenged with uh mental illness related issues and what some of the warning signs are that those issues may be getting out of control. Uh I think it's important for people to understand that um whenever there's a sign that somebody's not okay, um it's important to intervene in some way, shape, or form. And uh one of the things I'm very proud of as a city council member and just as a resident of this community is something that Brenda mentioned in her presentation, which is our desire to be an employer of choice here in the city of Cottage Grove. And one of the things that makes us that employer of choice is the fact that we truly care about the health and well-being of every member of the team here in the city. and uh we've actually taken action to demonstrate that we care about their health, particularly their mental health. So, I'm going to turn the um turn the conversation over to our city administrator briefly here. Um, I I had asked Jennifer prior to the meeting if she could articulate some of the things that we do here in the city as an employer for um our our employees as it relates to ensuring that their mental health is um doing okay and that they're able to, you know, feel good about um the things that are going on in their life and coming to work and doing a great job. So, Jennifer, would you mind articulating some of the tools and and uh programs we have in place? >> Sure. Well, thank you, mayor and council. You know, at the city of Cottage Grove, we know um our employees, we think of them as a whole being, right? And so, we when we think about their mental health, we know that there are a lot of challenges um that they face. You know, I'm sure as you sit up there, you can think through them from child care, elderly parent care. There can be challenges financially, legally. All of those services we provide uh through our employee assistance program 247, but I think as council member Olsen pointed out, we train our managers to look for those signs of mental health, right? So, our managers know our employees. They know what they're going through, where the challenges are, and where they can step in. And so we aren't just providing, you know, three appointments for counseling services. We're providing more extensive, we're providing more emergency relief for those employees that are facing those mental health challenges. When we look at our uh police and fire, we get the neckup checks annually. And you know, one of the things that we always talk about is we want to send those employees back to their family whole. And so even when we look at the debriefs from critical incidents that they respond to, we are trying to service and provide the best mental health care for them. Um and so that's really important to us. And so when we say we're an employer of choice, it's not just something we put on our strategic plan. It's something we actually live out. Um and all of our managers are trained to look at those uh symptoms and signs. And I will say we go above and beyond to provide uh those counseling services for our employees. >> Thank you very much, Jennifer. And you know, I'm particularly uh happy that you mentioned the the neckup checkups for public safety. Some of those folks deal with some pretty ugly things. Um they they see things that uh you know, they they signed up for, but uh it still isn't easy. Um and they have to process those sorts of things. And it's not um it's not always as simple as you might think it is. So um you know training our our leaders to recognize signs where somebody might not be okay and actually having co-workers uh do buddy checks and things um and providing a resource should they need it and and I believe uh that resource is provided with anonymity so they can plug into that resource without any sort of stigma attached to it. Uh that's a really big deal and that's not something that everybody does. So um proud of the the team for doing that and uh as I said, you know, it was mentioned in the budget, that's one of those things that our taxpayer dollars go to fund and uh as far as I'm concerned, it's money well spent. So, for those out there who um may know of somebody who's channeling right now with um some sort of mental illness or they're they're just going through a tough spot, help is always available. It's always available. You can call or you can text uh 988. Um there are resources through the Youth Service Bureau. Um I know our Beyond the Yellow Ribbon team works with a lot of different resources for military families and veterans. Um the the key here is start the conversation. Start the conversation. Don't be afraid to ask the question and more importantly uh really listen to the answer because uh your intervention could save a life. That's that's a fact. So thanks for the time uh talking about that, mayor. It strikes a little close to home with um some of the challenges that we've seen even in our own community over the last several months. And uh I thought it was important for people to understand that we as a city take this very seriously with our staff and we want people to know that there is help. >> Thank you, Council Member Brson. Uh Council Member Baiti. >> Yeah, I'm good tonight. I don't have anything. Okay. Uh Council Member Garca, >> leave me with all the event announcements. Okay, >> here you go. >> Well, just because the the summer is coming to an end does not mean that Cottage Grove is coming to an end with events. So, we have a lot of events still happening in the city. Um, most importantly, food, right? It's always about food. So, we still have food truck Thursdays here at the city hall and that's between 11:30 and 1:30 on Thursdays. I think there's a few weeks of that left and doubling up on that on Thursdays as well. We still have the Cottage Grove Farmers Market. So that's going for a few more weeks as well and that starts 2:30 to 6 on Thursday. So still some fun things happening. Of course the food truck festival that's right around the corner. Um that's an all day thing at Kingston Park from 11 to 6, but prior to that is our um y beyond the yellow ribbon walk run and ruck that we've talked about quite a bit over the last few weeks. And then we also have a public works open house that is coming up the end of September. So, the month of September is very, very busy here in Cottage Grove. So, the summer may be going away, but fall is just beginning and we have a lot of fun to happen. So, thank you, mayor. >> Awesome. Thank you. All right. Um, last thing. I just have one quick uh question. I'm going to just throw this at staff. I don't need a an answer tonight, but I've had just recently, it's well, I'm going to back up for a second. A couple weeks ago, the council um with the help of staff and our city attorney had um a request from some of our local businesses to look at um certain smoking drug paraphernalia, right? And I know you're going to eventually bring that back to us. Well, the next thing I'm hearing, not and don't freak out about this, is uh THC infused products and is it allowed in the city? Is it not allowed in the city? and if it's not allowed in the city, what do we have to do to make it legal? Um, and it's and I've actually literally earlier today had two additional just citizens that had reached out to me because I guess they're going to again some neighboring communities um to get the certain types of drinks now that have that in it that aren't necessarily alcoholic or uh have alcohol in it. And I said, well, I'll I'll ask the question. So, that'll be something that we can take a look at and it might be something maybe it's a a future workshop item or something like that. But I just wanted to throw that out there. Um, as I've gotten now numerous more than just a few people asking about that. So, um, but that was it. That was it for me this evening. Um, any other comments, council? So with that uh the I will mention that we do have a workshop which is open to the public and it's the AmI uh Nelson mine final environmental impact statement. Uh we are going to be moving to the training room uh to review it with staff um and it's kind of we're the ones that get to just review it and and if we want make comments uh staff will kind of present the rest of it to us at that particular time. So with that we'll adjourn in there. Everybody have a great week and next Monday, go Vikings.