This transcript has been formatted with speaker names based on the provided context, roll call, and internal introductions. Note: While the provided list mentioned Councilmembers Garza and Clausen, the transcript roll call and dialogue explicitly identify **Councilmember Combata** and **Councilmember Dennis** as the officials present and speaking during this specific meeting. *** [00:00] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, all right. Good evening. Uh, we've got a good pull, uh, full agenda here with a lot of proximal proclamations, so I will go ahead and call the May 3rd, 2023, Cottage Grove City Council meeting to order. Um, our first order of business is the Pledge of Allegiance, so if we 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. All right, will the, uh, clerk please do the roll? [00:46] **Tammy Anderson (City Clerk):** Councilmember Combata? [00:47] **Councilmember Combata:** Here. [00:48] **Tammy Anderson (City Clerk):** Councilmember Dennis? [00:49] **Councilmember Dennis:** Here. [00:50] **Tammy Anderson (City Clerk):** Councilmember Thiede? [00:51] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Here. [00:52] **Tammy Anderson (City Clerk):** Councilmember Olsen? [00:53] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Here. [00:54] **Tammy Anderson (City Clerk):** Mayor Bailey? [00:55] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Here. Uh, next on our agenda this evening is Open Forum. Uh, this is the opportunity for anybody who wants to speak on something that's not on tonight's agenda is welcome to do so. Uh, we did have a sign-up sheet on the entryway and we did have two individuals that did sign up, uh, to speak this evening. Uh, so I'll call them in a minute. If you didn't get a chance to sign up, I will give you a chance after the first two get up here. And then I, I will just mention that please limit your comments to three minutes. Uh, so we'll start, uh, with on the, uh, the list out there, Robert. Robert, you going to take us? So if you just want to head up there and just officially state your name and address for the record. [01:28] **Robert Ebenka:** My name is Robert Ebenka. I live at 699 East Point Douglas Road, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, in apartment 313. Uh, I have sent you guys packages of letters I gave to Tammy for you to look at. I hope you all got a chance to look at them letters. We are in a fight of our life here, gentlemen. Dominion took the advantage of us last year with the AMI of 12 and a half percent. Now they're already looking at another 10 and a half percent because of one of the members of another Dominion just got his lease papers and it says ten and a half percent rate increase on his rent. Where are they coming from? We cannot, as seniors, afford this anymore. We are looking for anybody and anyone to give us some help, and that's when we come to City Council hoping you as legislators that are sitting at a city can get us some help. And we're not asking for any monies, no nothing. All we're asking for is a cap on our rent. Now we know Legends is double-dipping into our rent in our apartment for car parking. There's only 80 parking spots outside the building. There's 129 parking spots in the building, yet there's 184 units in the building. Where is everybody supposed to park? So they're forcing you to move into the garage underneath the building and pay their ridiculous rent of eighty dollars a month. And they got tax incentives to do that when they built that building. So I think there's some place we could start and go after our monies that we've spent all these years for our parking. Other than that, gentlemen, I hope you can get me some help and all these people sitting here that are seniors today. We, we deserve to go out in dignity just like you people do. We don't want to be kicked out of our place and if we are, I guess we'll have to come to City Hall and live here because this is our building, not yours. It's our people. It's "We the People" on this building. So we'll come here and live then, we got a place to stay where it's warm. Thank you very much for listening me out. [02:54] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Thank you. Thank you. All right. Um, I will mention just, just for the, the public here too, when we do these open forums, what, uh, the information that we receive in, uh, we will have our staff which takes the information and, uh, will give us data information, maybe meetings and such like that, and then that message will be sent to you. Thank you. Okay. Yep. And then if you have any other further questions at that point, you can let us know. All right, next on the list here was Randy. Uh, and, uh, Randy wants to talk about honeybees. I think we talked at the, uh, the event on Saturday? [03:07] **Randy Kastner:** We did. I do have some packets too for you guys. I don't know when they, when you want those, at the end or...? [03:13] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Uh, yeah, that'll be fine. And if you just officially state your full name and address for the record. [03:17] **Randy Kastner:** Uh, Randy Kastner, 7457 Jordan Avenue South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota here. Um, I had another party that was supposed to be here with me today. She, uh, is not here, so I'm gonna be a little fumbly. Um, what I want to talk about is the, uh, Res Alliance that you guys did started last year, I think it was, and that was where the chicken ordinance got updated. And in there it says, um, let's see, Goal Two was, um, beekeeping. So in that beekeeping, it's, it's—I want to address backyard beekeeping. So currently the, um, ordinance says five acres and I want to get that down to, uh, probably like just a city lot is our goal. And to, and to speak about that, I have tons of information in these packets for that. I have the U of M behind me on this. Uh, I took their class. I have a certificate in here also. Um, I have one of the main instructors, he will help us figure out what we need to do as far as information as far as teaching you guys, educating the public, our local public about beekeeping. And in the process of it, I'm gonna probably burn through a lot of those quickly because I'm fumbly. I do have sample ordinances in here for you guys to look at, too, to see, um, our, our neighboring cities that have done this already. Stillwater is one that I really read through and really like. Um, they're pretty big city, vast city like us, right? They have rural too, you know, small tight lots and they make it work. We did call, uh, it was 10 cities and out of two of the cities that I called, I only had two nuisance calls of bees. And the other lady that helped me, she only had one nuisance call out of 10 cities. And my cities that I called were—well, I think it's hers, let's see—let's go with hers. She had, um, I think it was, it was Lake Elmo, Stillwater, a few others. Um, mine were like Eden Prairie, Lake Elmo—we kind of did it right around us. St. Paul also has it too. St. Paul's got the same similar ordinance. I guess I don't know what else to say. You know, I got packets. [04:30] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yeah, if you want it for you guys. Yeah, no, I appreciate it. And we had a chance to chat. [04:34] **Randy Kastner:** I do have a book you can look at of my course I took. So you guys can kind of understand a little bit what goes through it. It's a pretty extensive, uh, course online. And then they do have in-person training. Okay. [04:41] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right. If you want to, do you want to go over here? Yeah, and then they'll get it out to all of us. Okay. Um, and then we'll, like I shared earlier, we'll get back in touch with you about kind of the next step. [04:43] **Randy Kastner:** Yeah, so we can set up... I'd like to set up a next meeting. [04:45] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh, that was the two that had signed up on the, uh, the sign-up sheet out in the entryway. Is there anybody else that wants to speak on something that's not on tonight's agenda? Uh, Gary? [04:47] **Gary Spooner:** I hope that the stopwatch isn't going, uh, three minutes to get up here. Yeah, I'm not as young as I used to be, you know. [04:55] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Well, we all know that, Santa. [04:57] **Gary Spooner:** I'm Gary Spooner. I live at 699 East Point Douglas Road. And this... I just got to go... and thank him. Mr. Mayor and Council people, uh, looks like a lot of testosterone on that dice up there. Uh, you could use, uh, somebody that... well, never mind, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not running for office. Um, uh, of course, uh, as Bob is expounded on, uh, with the rent that is increasing and we don't know whether or not it will increase this year for us. We haven't heard that. It did increase for us 12 and a half percent last year. That's a lot of money. Uh, that put a lot of people that live in that, uh, complex, uh, with just nothing but Social Security to live on to, to actually, uh, pay their rent and very little to use for groceries or medicines. And they have no discriminatory, uh, uh, income whatsoever. So what, um, you know, there's not much that the city can do, but you do have some power. Uh, you... that building was, was built under tax increment financing and which is your power. And you can use that to sort of put some pressure on, on the owners to be a little bit more discretionary when they... we don't want to see an egregious, uh, uh, uh, raise in, uh, our, um, our rent again. And it is something that we all worry about. There's a number of us that out here that that, uh, you know, they're just... where are we gonna live if it goes up ten and a half percent? Um, we'll all have to get, uh, an empty refrigerator case and put it under a, overpass and, uh, and hope we don't freeze to death. And I thank you for the time. [06:05] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Thank you, Gary. All right, anybody else like to speak at all? Well then I will go ahead then and close the Open Forum portion of our meeting and I appreciate the feedback and the information that we shared with us. And again, our staff will take that information, we'll get back to you guys. Okay. Uh, next on our agenda is number five, which is, uh, approval or adoption of the agenda. [06:17] **Councilmember Dennis:** Motion to adapt the agenda. [06:18] **Councilmember Combata:** Second. [06:20] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** We have motion by, uh, Councilmember Dennis, second by Councilmember Combata. All those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Uh, six is presentations, and boy do we have a lot tonight. So, uh, we'll just start going down, um, the list. Um, all great opportunities here to share some information with the public. Uh, the first one, uh, is the AED Save Station donation from Teddy's Heart Incorporated. And our, uh, Parks and Rec Director, Zac Dockter, is going to take us through this. And I'm assuming this is the unit right next to you. [06:33] **Zac Dockter (Parks and Recreation Director):** This is the unit. Honorable Mayor, members of the council, thanks for having me tonight. Good evening. I'm pleased to present to you a donation to our community. Like every donation, there's a, there's a story behind the "why" of why someone is stepping up to help out a cause. But this is not just any story; it's a story that has a picture-perfect example of the quote, "out of tragedy comes strength." The donation is this Automatic External Defibrillator, that is AED next to me, that will be placed at Woodridge Park and will be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The donator is Teddy's Heart Foundation, uh, and the, their mission is to push for widespread accessibility and availability of AED units in response to Teddy Dowdle's sudden cardiac arrest death at Woodridge Park on May 4th, 2022, one year ago. I'd like to invite the foundation founders and family of Teddy to say a few words. [Applause] [07:34] **Craig Dowdle:** Hello. I am the proud father of Teddy Dowdle. Um, as Zac said, just one year ago tomorrow, we did lose Teddy to sudden cardiac arrest on the basketball courts at Woodridge Park. Um, what happened was, uh, he was playing basketball with his brother, got a rebound, made an outlet pass, and collapsed on the court. I was called, I got down there, I beat the paramedics. Um, and that was probably five minutes. Paramedics and EMTs were there in eight minutes. Well, after three minutes, if you don't have the shock of the AED, um, life expectancy is less than 10 percent. So unfortunately, Teddy didn't make it that night. But what we do... we're doing as a family, my son Carter, my daughter Olivia, and my wife Emily—we started Teddy's Heart Foundation. And what we did is the first thing we did is we got with Save Station and we did a crowdfunding fundraiser through them and we had 200 donations. With that, we're able to purchase this eight thousand dollar Save Station tower. And at this time, we would like to donate it to the City of Cottage Grove so it can be placed at Woodridge Park tomorrow night as we do a dedication at six o'clock p.m. We're not done, though. We plan on working with City of Cottage Grove, Cottage Grove Athletic Association, Cottage Grove Lions, and we're going to place AEDs in the 14 parks in this city. And then we're going to Woodbury, and then we're going to South, the rest of South Washington. We're not done. This is just the first stone in the legacy of my son, Teddy Dowdle. Thank you. [08:50] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Well, first of all, I want to thank you and your family. This is obviously an amazing donation. It is, uh, unfortunate that we didn't have that opportunity a year ago tomorrow. I do remember getting the call from Pete about what was happening and Zac and such, and that... you know, to me it's shocking when you see someone that young obviously, let alone anybody, but that young to, you know, fall, fall victim to a cardiac arrest. And unfortunately, our, we, our team at our Public Safety Department does an amazing job of, of saving people, and unfortunately that day we were not able to save him. But as Zac, I think, was alluding to a few minutes ago, you know, sometimes out of horrible tragedies can come something amazing like this. And there's going to be a time, and you can feel proud about this, where that will get used, whether it's at Woodridge or one of those other parks or as you guys keep doing this. Um, it will get used and it's going to save somebody's life. And, and that's all because of you guys. So I just wanted to thank you. And of course I'll be there tomorrow night for the presentation. Zac, did you add some more? [09:42] **Zac Dockter (Parks and Recreation Director):** With that, just... we have a recommendation to adopt resolution accepting AED Save Station donation from Teddy's Heart Foundation to be placed at Woodridge Park. [09:46] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, who would like to make the motion? [09:47] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Moved. [09:48] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** A motion by Councilmember Thiede. [09:49] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** I'll second. [09:50] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by Councilmember Olsen. Any discussion? Councilmember Olsen. [09:51] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Yeah, Craig, would you mind stepping back up to the front for a moment, please? Um, you know, there's probably people watching at home and, uh, people in the crowd who don't know a lot about you and your family. Um, you know, you've, you've been here a long time, I grew up here, local guy, um, basketball player yourself, etc. Um, and, uh, you've always been just a pillar of the community, you and your family. And this loss obviously was, um, it was a, a hard thing for not just you but all the people who know you and your family and, and care about you and your family. And, and, uh, I wanted to speak to you tonight, um, not just as a city council member but as the Vice President for the Cottage Grove Lions Club. We're going to talk a little bit later about what's called the Heart Safe City initiative, but, um, I want you to know that we are 100 behind you guys and we are going to do everything we can to support the Teddy's Heart Foundation and the legacy of, of Teddy and, you know, a lot of our alliance people. So, um, you've heard that already, but I also want you to know that my dad is a member of the Woodbury Lions and so I've already had conversations with, um, the Woodbury Lions board and President Bob Bixby about this foundation as well, and they are on board as well. So I think you're going to find an incredible outpouring of support and, um, an outpouring of love, frankly, for, for you and your family. And I just want to personally thank you for turning this very difficult situation into something positive for all of the communities. And that's, that's really not an easy thing to do, but, um, as Zac said earlier, you know, oftentimes out of tragedy we, we come up with unique ways to make our community a better place, and you and your family are doing that. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night, but, um, you can fully expect our Lions Club will be holding hands with you the whole way. Okay? Thank you. [11:15] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thank you. All right, so we do have a motion in a second. All those in favor of accepting of this donation, uh, signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. We'll see you tomorrow night. All right, uh, the next, uh, presentation this evening is Historic Preservationist of the Year. And, uh, Mike Marosa is going to walk us through this. And Mike, do you want to stay on our front right away, or do you want us to wait till you're done with your presentation? [11:32] **Mike Marosa (Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation):** Uh, we could wait till... I'll come down and music yourself a couple of kind words. Well first off, good evening Mayor, Council. Um, every year the Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation nominates a Preservationist of the Year. This year we changed up a little bit; we did online submittals and, um, one of them got what... selected at the April meeting. Um, the ACHP voted unanimously to, not to nominate, um, Francis "Frankie" Ratsloff as the 2023 Preservationist of the Year. Frankie, as she likes to be known, as has been on the, um... joined the ACHP in 20... excuse me, in 2003 until 2013. She worked on many projects, and including the community playing cards, the community cookbook, and the time capsule that's here at City Hall, among many other things. Spoken many events due to your contribution to the community, the community, the community to recognize her and nominate her as this year's 2023 Historic Preservationist of the Year. Now we can come down. [12:35] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, Council, let's go down up front. All right, that's... yes, thank you. We'll get you right in here. There you go. You know what's interesting is some of the first times I've remember meeting you was on when I was the liaison for the Historic Preservation Commission. And I remember you really working on those playing cards, and I think those are amazing because that was one of the neat things with all the history of Cottage Grove, let alone the, the cookbook. And then of course the time capsule that's in here that everybody's still trying to figure out exactly where it's at. [12:53] **Frankie Ratsloff:** Forgot about that. [12:54] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yes, yeah, but... [12:56] **Frankie Ratsloff:** I've always liked history and it really fit me well actually. [12:58] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Absolutely. And this is what's neat about having you here in Cottage Grove and sharing that Cottage Grove history. You were just telling me if a little bit earlier that you do remember when, uh, County Road 19 was gravel. And I said no, the only thing I remember gravel was 100th Street, but I'm not quite as old yet as you there right now. [13:16] **Frankie Ratsloff:** To like that City Hall voting for when I first got married for Eisenhower. [13:21] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Oh wow, that is pretty crazy. No I don't, but that's pretty amazing that you did. So it was a lot of fun, it was fantastic. Well let me read this. We're going to present you with this plaque which says, uh: "The 2023 Preservationist of the Year is presented—I know it says Francis, but Frankie Ratsloff—for your contribution to the preservation of Cottage Grove historical resources. Given this May 3rd, 2023, by the Cottage Grove City Council and the Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation." So again, for myself, the Council, the staff, and everybody in Cottage Grove, we want to say thank you and congratulations and thank you for adding to the great history of our community. [14:02] **Mike Marosa:** That's why we like you on there is you told us lots of stories and his daughter told me I was doing a presentation as she told me, "my dad sells everything from sewing needles to thrashing machines." That's all right though. [14:15] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** So let's give her a round of applause please here too. Yeah, do you guys want it... well seriously, yeah, right now. Yeah, you contributed Ben too, and he took care of our golf course. Yeah, go ahead, you guys. This is her husband Bob and son Jimmy. Good to see everybody. All right, awesome. Thank you. Thanks for getting us on, Mike. Thanks for brazier. You got it. Congratulations. Thank you. [Laughter] Duty was unforgettable. All right, uh, the next one here is the Historic Preservation Month Proclamation. And this, before we make the motion to approve that, I'll have Councilmember Thiede, uh, read that proclamation for us. [14:48] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** So: Whereas, people have been gathering in this area currently known as Cottage Grove, Minnesota for many years before and after recorded history; and whereas each individual family or group of people that visited or lived in this community has contributed in one form or another to the interesting fabric that binds our past and present together; and whereas the City of Cottage Grove City Council wishes to recognize the importance of learning and keeping the knowledge of our unique history accessible and relevant to current and new residents as well as all the general public; and whereas the Cottage Grove City Council holds deep gratitude for individuals and organizations that gather, interpret, and share information and stories on our distant and current past. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Cottage Grove that May 2023 shall be declared Historic Preservation Month for the City of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, and all are invited to explore our history, your history, and the history of generations to come. Passed this third day of May, 2023. [15:43] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so, uh, thank you for reading that. So I'll look for a motion to approve in a second. [15:46] **Councilmember Combata:** We'll move it. [15:47] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** We have a motion, a second by Councilmember Thiede. Any conversation? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Fantastic. All right, the next one is D, which is the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Proclamation, and I've asked, uh, Councilmember Olsen, uh, to read that one. [16:03] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you, Mayor, and I appreciate that. It's an honor to read this proclamation declaring May 2023 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The proclamation reads as follows: Whereas, Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage was first celebrated in the United States in 1978 and was made into a month-long event in 1992; during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, our community recognizes the innumerable contributions, vibrant cultures, and rich heritage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and whereas Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month seeks to honor and recognize the contributions of residents from Asia, India, and the Pacific Islands; and whereas as some of the fastest growing racial and ethnic groups in the nation, these populations represent a multitude of ethnicities, languages, and experiences that enrich the country and play important roles in the rich history of our city, such as the Cantonese style Tomboy Cafe, which has celebrated over 50 years of business in Cottage Grove and is thought to be the city's longest running restaurant; and whereas we acknowledge Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have thrived and worked in Cottage Grove for generations, and that Asian Americans represent the largest minority group in the city, and that Pacific Islanders represent a small but strong portion that illustrates the city's welcoming diversity. Now, therefore, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, State of Minnesota, hereby proclaim the month of May 2023 to be designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Passed this Wednesday, the third day of May, 2023, and soon to be signed by Myron Bailey, Mayor. [17:28] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thank you, Councilmember Olsen. So I will look for a motion and a second on this one. [17:31] **Councilmember Dennis:** Move it. [17:32] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Second. [17:34] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Uh, all those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. All right, uh, the next one, uh, is Mental Health Awareness Month, uh, proclamation. But I believe, uh, we do have, uh, Sergeant Mike McCormick and Detective Pat Young. Are they going to be up here for this one? I believe there we go. Welcome. [17:42] **Sergeant Mike McCormick:** Good evening Mayor, Council. First of all, I just been battling a nasty cold here. Um, thank you for the opportunity to talk about mental health. I know this is something that's, uh, very near and dear to all of us with the Police Department and the medical staff here and quite frankly, I think it touches all of us in one way or another. So thank you very much for the opportunity to talk a little bit about this. And also thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk about our Case Management Unit, something that is... I think is really a special deal for the Police Department and it's something that Pat and myself have worked really hard to make it what it is. Um, that being said, I might just kind of flick through the... okay. So, um, so what is, what is CMU? The whole idea here is to help people that need, um, ongoing mental health help, whether it's, uh, short-term or long-term basis; whether they need, uh, help with an advocate or social services or a counselor or whatever. And it's... you'll kind of find as we talk about this, this is all about building relationships, both with the community and, um, and those groups that are available to help these people that are in crisis or dysregulated. So the team's goal is to help people to make sure they don't fall through the cracks when being referred to other agencies or professionals. Why is it important? Um, it's our, our goal here again is, is just helping and assisting, um, to, uh, to help people avoid these increasing number of public safety encounters. Try to keep those down. So you know, our groups, members in our group—someone like, like Pat or myself or someone out in the field—is able to build these relationships, uh, with people with mental health issues. And quite frankly, it's... the goal here is to help people, um, to, to avoid them from falling from the cracks. You know, people that need these mental health evaluations or assistance, it's, um, it's... we've kind of taken upon ourselves to make sure that these people are getting the help that they need so they can live long, healthy and happy lives. And one, one thing you'll notice on our slides here is violence protection and prevention. This is something that really sets our group apart from probably any of the other groups that are out there. Quite frankly, if you have someone going through a stalking or a domestic violence issue, it can be quite overwhelming for someone to go through this. So our, our job and hope here is to, uh, help them get in touch with their advocates or people that, that can help them perhaps better than we can, but just to let them know that those resources out there and, and that they're, they don't have to do this alone, that they, that they, uh, they do have help. Uh, how does CMU work? Again, this is just building relationships, whether it's, um, with, with those people that are in crisis or that need to help, or the community resources that are out there. And Detective Young has done a fantastic job at, at getting to know these resources that are available out there. And we're trying to make it so they're, they're maybe not calling 911 or maybe they'll call someone like Pat, someone that they've established a relationship with rather than having this need for going through law enforcement or the constant calling of an ambulance because they just they don't know what to do. So our, our hope is to make sure that people have these resources and maybe call myself or Pat or have some other resources out there. And really that, again, comes back to just, uh, the building relationships. Um, what kind of an example is, if, if EMS is called or police are called and they have someone that's been determined to be in mental health crisis, um, someone like Pat or another member of our group can perhaps go and take over for, for law enforcement. Um, because sometimes these, you know, depending on the situation, everybody has their own idea of what an emergency is, and patrol doesn't always have the, the ability to spend sometimes hours, you know, with someone, where someone like us, the hope is, is that we're able to spend the time with them again, build that relationship and getting in touch with resources, um, rather than taking the risk of maybe law enforcement clears or EMS clears and then 10 minutes later we have to go back and that was 10 times worse. So we're trying to help people, again, this be live these long healthy and happy lives and have some other options rather than, um, just perhaps always being in crisis, right? So, um, and what, what does CMU do? Again, this is something that I could talk about for an hour, but I know we're on a very tight schedule, so I'm not going to do that to you guys here. But again, we're, we're managing cases, uh, involving persons with mental, mental illness that typically by the time we're involved, they've been called a lot and they're just we're not... you know, people aren't really sure and the victim isn't really sure on how to deal, how to deal with this. Again, it comes back to that relationship building and hope to make it so they're not always just going to jail or they're not always ending up in an ambulance where maybe they're not getting the care that, you know, that they, that they need. Again, with those relationships, we're able to put them in touch with different portions of the community that, that can help them. So really we're not, we're not counselors or therapists. We're just people that have kind of dedicated ourselves to bringing a lot of experience, um, and a lot of, uh, a lot of relationships and quite frankly, it's, it's the heart of the officers that are there. None of these officers, um, and soon to be, um, EMS are getting paid anything more to do this, um, and we don't recruit. They come to us because they have the heart and, and want to help. So, um, you know, and even though this isn't a very large group, but we all kind of bring a lot to the table. Uh, Pat is one of our detectives. Um, we've got Officer Shaver and Officer Bagan that just have a lot of experience in the community and on the street. And both being, living in this area and in this county, we've got a non-sworn personnel with investigative analyst Jamie Donahue. She's, she's huge and just helping everything on the back end. She makes us look really good because when the officers go out to the scene, we've already got a whole bunch of knowledge of what's been going on if we're not familiar with it. So it's great. We have a school resource officer Luke Landgraf, who handles a lot at the school. A lot more than just, uh, helping break up fights at the school. He's working a lot with the staff and quite... you know, really knows a lot about what's going on and the needs of the students out there. Uh, and then we've got Ed Weber, who's a military veteran. And again, he's sometimes the only people that can relate to people that have, that are vets that are going through crisis or PTSD, and just to have someone walk in the door or make that phone call that can kind of say, "you know what, I know what you're going through, I've been there," um, and mean it and be able to back it up. So to have these type of people here is really something special and I think it's, um, it's, it's really doing some nice things in the community. So with that being said, Pat's going to talk a little bit more about the numbers and statistics. So again, thank you for your time with us. Thank you. [21:04] **Detective Pat Young:** Thanks, Sarge. Really quick, I want to talk about some of the stats that we accumulated through 2022. Um, so both of these are all 2022. We are keeping stats for 2023, but, um, those are still ongoing. So in 2022, uh, we engaged with 221 individual people. And with those people, uh, we made 554 phone calls with the clients, 936 in-person visits, and 1447 phone calls with family, social workers, and other people. And I think that's important because historically those are all things that weren't being done. Um, so if you put that in perspective, that's almost a thousand like after-the-fact visits that were never happening. And I think that's important when dealing with people that are struggling with mental health is just following up and not feeling like we're forgetting about them after the initial call for service. So, um, again, and the only reason I bring that up is just to put in perspective that these things were never getting done historically. Um, and these were our total incidences. So these don't include some traffic stops, they don't include some minor calls for service, but these were our total incidences and you can go through the stats yourself. But the key point that I want to, um, kind of hit home on is that, uh, almost 75 percent weren't chemical or mental health related. Um, some 14 percent were unknown, but somewhere between 10 to 25 percent of our total incidences involve either mental health or chemical health related. Um, so it's a big portion. It's almost a quarter of our calls are, are related to this. So that's how important, um, some of these topics are to our, our Police Department. And I just want to touch base really quick on what my full-time duties include. I do want to say first off that this is what I wear every day. Um, not the same clothes, but in general. But, uh, I have an unmarked squad car and I bring that up because it means a lot to people when, you know, they don't have three squad cars showing up to their house. If they call me directly and I know them and I'm comfortable with them, I'll show up by myself. It's unmarked, so the neighbors don't know what the cops are over there, and I think that means a lot to people. Um, so usually I come in and I got voicemails and emails from clients, existing clients, and it's usually just, "hey, my family member's doing well, can you stop over here? Can you give me a call? Can you follow up with me?" So usually I come in and that's one of the first things that I do is follow up with some of those people. I, I don't work 24/7, so I come in and I review some of the stuff that happened overnight or on the weekend and kind of create a game plan with some of those things. I send the reports to the appropriate services. And historically this is something that was never getting done or not... or getting done at a lesser rate. But, um, these people who are struggling, they're on probation or they have case managers or social, social workers with the county, and they were having police interactions and nobody was really making sure that the reports were getting sent to them. So they... the their workers never really knew what was happening or really never really knew the extent of how much they were struggling. So, um, part of my job is figuring out what services some of these folks get and making sure that their reports are sent to their workers and their, their care team to make sure that they're getting the appropriate care that they need. Um, case management, following up with existing clients. Um, I, I respond to the mental health related calls directly. Uh, a big thing that I do is... I don't know how many people have ran into that will say that they want to go to the hospital, but they don't want to take the ambulance ride because it's really expensive. So in my opinion, that really shouldn't be a barrier to getting some mental health help. So we have other options. We can call our Crisis Response Team, but if someone absolutely wants to go to the hospital and the only barrier is the ride to the hospital, they don't have any other medical stuff going on, it's something that I am willing to help out with. In the long run, I think a quick drive up to Regions is well worth it. To, if they're in a better spot, you know, it's a half hour of the day, but it's also an opportunity to build a relationship and meet with them and talk with them. I think that goes a long way. So that's something that I do provide if, if it's needed. We do homeless outreach in our parking lots. That's something that we never really did. We always historically it's called moving people along, and that's just kind of pushing them to the next jurisdiction. And we're trying to do that less or not at all and trying to utilize some of our homeless outreach teams with the county. And then also some general meetings or Threat Assessment Group are Metro mental health collaboration groups. And then every now and then I go with Officer Schoen on some community engagement stuff. Um, but really what I, what I really want to end this with is I think that our program is... it's helping the community because we're giving them resources and we're leaving them in a better place, but it's also saving the PD time, resources, money by investing up front. And then it's also saving on the back end with these multiple officer mental health, uh, related calls. So I think, I think in the end everyone wins with the program. So thank you for supporting it. [23:51] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Absolutely. Thank you. Um, and so with this one also, um, and thanks to the two of you for explaining all the, the what's kind of happening behind the scenes because, you know, even more so like coming out of, in my opinion, coming out of COVID, it seems like it really peaked. Um, and hopefully more and more people are getting, uh, the, the mental health, uh, process taken care of, uh, with the support of obviously our Public Safety Department. So, um, I did ask in this particular case, uh, Councilmember Dennis to, uh, read this proclamation. So, Councilmember. [24:14] **Councilmember Dennis:** Thank you, Mayor. Uh, and here it is: Whereas, mental health awareness is more important than ever and essential to our overall health; and whereas mental health awareness allows us to maintain relationships, take care of ourselves, learn, take care of our physical bodies, and respond and adapt to daily changes of life; and whereas mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being; it affects how we think, feel, and act; it also affects how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices; and whereas the pandemic caused many people to struggle with their mental health and well-being, especially with their children and youth; and whereas the World Health Organization found that the number of people with depression and anxiety went up 25 percent worldwide; whereas there are steps we can all take to improve our mental health and with early ineffective treatment, people with mental illnesses can recover; and whereas mental health awareness is critical to the well-being of our families, community schools, and businesses; and whereas all Minnesotans have a role to play in promoting good mental health and there are a range of essential community resources to promote mental health and well-being for all Minnesotans; and whereas citizens, government agencies, public and private institutions, businesses, and schools should commit to promoting good mental health and increasing awareness and understanding of mental illnesses. Now, therefore, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, State of Minnesota, hereby proclaim May 2023 as Mental Health Awareness Month in the City of Cottage Grove. [25:32] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Thank you, Councilmember Dennis. So with that, I'll look for a motion to approve this proclamation. [25:35] **Councilmember Combata:** To approve. [25:36] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by Councilmember Combata. Do I have a second? [25:38] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Second. [25:39] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by Councilmember Olsen. All those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Uh, and now we'll move to F, which is the... and I think it's up on the screen already, is the National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day Proclamation. And I also believe is, um, Sergeant McCormick, are you taking this one or is this just the proclamation? [25:51] **Sergeant Mike McCormick:** Just the proclamation. [25:52] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay. So in this particular case, I'm going to kick it over to Councilmember Olsen, who is going to walk us through this one. [25:57] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you, Mayor. And I, I would ask your indulgence that, um, when we finish reading this proclamation and before we make motion to accept, that we do ask Sergeant McCormick, uh, to the podium to answer a question or two. Would that be okay with you? [26:09] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** That's fine. [26:10] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Okay. So the proclamation proclaiming National Police Week, May 14th through May 20th, 2023, and Peace Officers Memorial Day, May 15th, 2023, reads as follows: Whereas, they, there are over approximately nine hundred thousand law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States, including the dedicated members of the Cottage Grove Police Department; and whereas some sixty thousand assaults against law enforcement officers are reported each year, resulting in over sixteen thousand injuries; and whereas since the first recorded death in 1791, over twenty-five thousand law enforcement officers in the United States have made the ultimate sacrifice and been killed in the line of duty; and whereas the names of those dedicated public servants are engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.; and whereas this year's, one police officer's name from Minnesota will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial from 2022, in addition to the national number of 245 officers who died in 2022; and whereas the service and sacrifice of all officers killed on the line of duty will be honored during the National Police Law Enforcement Memorials Fund 35th Annual Candlelight Vigil in Washington, D.C. on the evening of Saturday, May 13th; and whereas May 15th is designated as Peace Officers Memorial Day in honor of all fallen and their families; and whereas the first recognition of Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day was signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, it was resolved in Congress that May 15th be designated Police Officers Memorial Day and the week in which it falls designated as Police Week. The purpose of Peace Officers Memorial Day is to honor the police officer at all levels of government who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty. Staff from Cottage Grove's Police Department will attend the Peace Officers Memorial Service held at the Minnesota Peace Officers Memorial in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Monday, May 15th, 2023, as well as attending the law enforcement memorial day service at the historic courthouse in Stillwater, Minnesota. Now, therefore, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, State of Minnesota, hereby proclaim the week of May 14th through the 20th, 2023, as National Police Week and Monday, May 15th, 2023, as Peace Officers Memorial Day in the City of Cottage Grove and urge Cottage Grove residents and civic organizations to salute our dedicated law enforcement officers in our community and in communities across this nation. Passed this, the third day of May, 2023. Myron Bailey, Mayor. And Mayor, the reason I, um, I asked for Sergeant McCormick to spend a moment at the podium here is Sergeant McCormick was involved for many, many years in what's known as LEMA, or the Law Enforcement Memorial Association here in the State of Minnesota. And, um, you know, he stood guard, you know, very somber guard at the, um, Peace Officer Memorial and has been intimately involved in Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day for many, many years. I, I was hoping he might take a moment to tell us a little bit about, you know, why is that important, and in the profession of law enforcement, um, you know, what does that mean and, um, you know, what is the training and that sort of thing that goes into it? I think it's a far more complicated issue and obviously we have tremendous respect for all of our law enforcement officers here in the City of Cottage Grove and South Washington County. Um, you know, I want to acknowledge my colleague Councilmember Dennis, who wore that badge. That is, that is not, um, an easy thing to do, and anybody who puts that badge on, I'm sure, feels the weight of what we're talking about here today. So, Sergeant, could you just fill us in for a minute or two a little bit about your experiences and how those came to be and why that's such an important thing for people to know? [27:53] **Sergeant Mike McCormick:** Well, yeah, thank you for, for bringing this to attention. This is something that I hold, um, personally real near and dear to, to my heart and I know a lot of people do. And this really came back to just thinking of the, the honor of wearing a badge back when I first started in 2000. And I know that Councilmember Dennis and I spoke about this multiple times. And I just remember going to my, my first funeral and it's... nobody wants to go to a funeral, right? Um, and I just remember going to the first one and this was Trooper Ted Foss, who was, um, killed on a traffic stop, um, back in 2000 or right, right in that area. And standing outside and Governor Ventura walking out with, um, the, the, the widow, um, and just seeing a look on her face at the, the field of, of blue and brown and green and, and how much it meant to her and even to the governor at the time. And without saying a word, you knew that just meant more than anything could imagine. So I just wanted to be, be more involved with that. And again, it's, it's sad and it's, it's really hard and it's not something that anything that want to go through. But it... to me, it felt like a calling of something it needed to be either with my, my brothers and sisters and, um, and, and I know firsthand working from another agency before, um, this one, that when an agency goes through a fallen officer, how much that affects so many things. There's so many moving parts there when you... obviously the family is going through hell, um, but now you've got agencies that have never dealt with this and you've got communities that ever never dealt with this, and now what? You know, there's, there's no answers, how do you, how do you help people get through this? And this is something that, uh, law enforcement memorial guard, um, does. This is what they specialize in. They, they can come in and unfortunately those guys and me at the time have all been through this. So we can kind of step in and just take the burden off these agencies and hopefully the family, you know, and, and the community. And so this was just something that I found, um, in my heart that I needed to do as a law enforcement officer. These pictures that are up here, um, aren't really indicative of, of the kind of work we did, but Cottage Grove supported me to go out to Washington, D.C. and I was a foot and a half away from President Obama at the time. I mean, that's something that I'll never forget and I know my kid can't wait to tell everybody about this that hasn't already heard the story, right? Um, and this is us in front of the, uh, the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. But you know, the, the hard part was just the reason why we did it, and it was being at the funerals and, um, everybody had a different duty and I was on casket duty. So I would stand in front of the casket while the family would come up and say their, say their goodbyes. Um, I usually get emotional even talking about at this point, so I apologize, but, um, yeah, that's why we, that's why we did that, was to, to be there for the families and the agencies and the communities that, that went through these, these terrible experiences. Hopefully bring some, some honor and you know, to the, to the profession when, when this is, when this happens. So it's kind of a memory. It's been a couple of years, you know, you start expanding your family and more work duties and I didn't want to not be able to put 110 to it and it became one of those points where I, I kind of had to step away, but I, I certainly do, um, am very much still involved in the, in the community and have close connections and I still attempt to bring that back to, back to Cottage Grove, even though I'm not on, on the, on the team anymore per se, but no... [30:17] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Well, thank you, Sergeant. I know that, um, that duty meant the world to you and I was lucky enough to be part of the Council when you were serving in this capacity and you went to Washington, D.C. and, um, you're right. Life changes, we have families, different things occur. But I certainly hope there's another officer in our, uh, in our team who might consider stepping into your shoes at some point, because it certainly is a source of pride for our community to have somebody involved to that degree in, in such a, a difficult but important role. So thanks for taking the time to share with us, and Mayor I'll turn it back to you. [30:46] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thank you. And thanks again for sharing. Thank you. Um, so what I am looking for on this one also is a motion and a second. [30:54] **Councilmember Dennis:** Motion to approve. [31:01] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Second. [31:02] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** So we have a motion by Councilmember Dennis, second by Councilmember Thiede. All those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Uh, the next one, and actually the final one and then Ryan gets to get up and talk about cleanup, but we do have Building Safety Month Proclamation. And in this particular one, I've asked, uh, Councilmember Combata to read the proclamation for us. [31:07] **Councilmember Combata:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Whereas, Cottage Grove is committed to recognizing that the growth and strength of our community depends on the safety and essential role of our homes, buildings, and infrastructure; and whereas we are confident in the vigilant experts in building safety, fire prevention, and others in the construction industry who work year-round to ensure the safe construction of buildings; and whereas Building Safety Month is also a time to remind the public about the crucial role that our local code officials, who assure us of safe, sustainable, and affordable buildings that are essential to our prosperity; and whereas each year in observance of Building Safety Month, people all over the world are asked to consider the commitment to improve building safety, resilience, and economic investment at home and into the community and to acknowledge the essential service provided to all of us by local and state building departments, fire prevention bureaus, and federal agencies in protecting lives and property. Now, therefore, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, State of Minnesota, hereby proclaim the month of May 2023 to be designated as Building Safety Month. [32:15] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thank you, Councilmember Combata. And with that, I will also look for a motion, a second from the Council. [32:19] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** I'll move it. [32:20] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Second. [32:22] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a mush by Councilmember Olsen, second by Councilmember Thiede. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. And our last presentation, uh, this evening—and I've actually had a lot of people calling me on this, so that's great that you're here doing this—and that is the Public Works Spring Cleanup Event presentation. And our Public... I almost said Public Safety... Public Works Director Ryan Burfeind will walk us through this one. [32:32] **Ryan Burfeind (Public Works Director):** All right, thank you Mayor, Council. Seeing as I'm seventh on the order tonight, I'll keep my information brief. It's pretty similar to last year, but we always like to come talk a little bit about the spring cleanup event, which is a big deal for us down at Public Works and Parks Maintenance—they're a huge part of this as well. This year it'll be Saturday, May 6th, this coming Saturday, from 7 to 3 p.m. down at Public Works, right off of the Jamaica Avenue roundabouts. Real similar to last year, accepting the same items. You got a list here. One change is we got a lot better deal for mattresses this year with the way that will work, so it'll only be five dollars for mattresses and box springs. So I expect we'll get a lot of those because that's a heck of a deal compared to going to different sites around the East Metro to dispose of those. One thing for payment, it is cash or check only, so always like to mention that so people are prepared. And also similar to last year in 2021... and 2021, the county stopped accepting hazardous waste at our spring cleanup day. It's kind of a hard thing to manage, so you can only do a handful all around the county. And seeing how close we are to the Environmental Center, they really want folks to just bring it to the Environmental Center right up the road in Woodbury, which is open on those days and times that I've got listed here. It's very convenient and easy to get to. So just like to mention that so folks are prepared and don't bring those items down to us. But otherwise, looks like the weather should be pretty good. Might get a little bit of rain, but I'll take that over some super heat like we had a couple years ago. Also, it's super busy right away—it's a pretty long line by 7 a.m. But I always like to encourage folks by around after lunch, it actually is pretty quiet. So if you want to come later on the day, it's, it's a lot quicker to get in. But we appreciate all the folks and all the, all the stuff that we can bring in and help clean up the city. So with that, I'll answer any questions, otherwise if you need more information, I've been all public works or go on our website as well. [33:51] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, sounds good. Council, any questions for Ryan? I know we do this every year and we appreciate Public Works for doing that. Oh yes, uh, Councilmember Combata. [33:55] **Councilmember Combata:** What's the, what's the, uh, typical amount of waste that you collect at these things is, as far in terms of like how much collectively, how much stuff are we getting out of people's garages and backyards? [34:04] **Ryan Burfeind (Public Works Director):** So there's a lot. I don't have the number off my head, but I know with those nine-roll... you know, we have not... we start there with nine roll-off dumpsters, and I would say we go through at least three or four rounds of those huge roll-off dumpsters. So it's a significant amount of material. And then there's the whole trailer filled with appliances, whole trailer with tires, whole trailer electronics. So it's a lot of material. So it's a good way to get rid of it. [34:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Absolutely. And it, like you said, the main one I heard you mention is it gets it out of the side of the houses, yards, front yards and such, and... or in my case, my old t-shirts that my wife takes and throws away without telling me. Yeah, well, okay, I'm gonna leave that one alone. So, all right, so thank you. Thank you, Ryan. All right, uh, next on our agenda, uh, is Consent. Uh, is there anything Council would like to pull on the Consent Agenda this evening? Uh, Councilmember Olsen. [34:50] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you, Mayor. I would like to pull Item I, if I could please. [34:55] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay, Item I. Any other comments, Council? All right, not seeing any. Then we'll go ahead with Councilmember Olsen, which is an acceptance from the Cottage Grove Lions Club. [35:05] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Yes, it is, Mayor. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to speak on this, uh, donation of a, uh, Bunn coffee maker, the the double, uh, carafe kind, um, a bunch of coffee—I think it was 20 pounds—and some filters to our Cottage Grove Fire Department, uh, in the amount of about five hundred dollars. I wanted to just mention the reason for this donation was, um, we were lucky enough in the month of April to have our normal club meeting—which typically takes place at Carbone's—at the Cottage Grove Fire Department. And the reason that occurred was CGFD was kind enough to provide our Lions Club with some incredibly well-done training on AED usage, also CPR. We got to learn quite a bit about the use of Naloxone for opioid overdose... opioid overdoses, and then some basic first aid. And this was really an offshoot of a visit that our Community Engagement Officer Dan Schoen made to our Lions meeting in March to talk about Teddy's Heart and how Teddy's Heart was looking for partnerships to place AEDs in public spaces both in the City of Cottage Grove, City of Woodbury, and hopefully additional communities in Washington County. So I was hoping Community Engagement Officer Schoen might step to the podium for just a second to talk about our Heart Safe City initiative, which is really what this is all about. Um, you know, we're in the midst of trying to become a Heart Safe designated city and there are some steps that you have to go through to do that. But one of the things that helps you to gain that designation is having a certain percentage of your population trained on life-saving measures, particularly CPR in case of cardiac events. So you want to just give us a minute on kind of how that whole thing came to pass since you were the guy? [36:13] **Officer Dan Schoen:** Certainly try to keep it to 60 seconds because he caught me a little off guard as I came to be supportive of the Dowdle foundation or Teddy's Heart Foundation. And the, the Heart Safe initiative is, is spearheaded by Deputy Chief, uh, Pritchard at the Fire Department, and, uh, he was... if he was with us tonight... he couldn't be here tonight. So I'm happy to step in and give you a very high-level view and not very specific. But what I can tell you is that, uh, part of the Heart Safe initiative is doing those trainings throughout the community. Our Fire Department will do those; we'll host them, and we can come to you as well to provide the training that your Lions Club received at night. And it is our goal, uh, and, and more so Councilmember Olsen and Mr. Mayor, uh, and members of the council, you know, it's really indicative of the efforts that our entire city team takes to protect our citizens and ensure our safety. Because when we take on these initiatives, this isn't the fancy fire truck or fancy squad car driving around; this is a lot of behind-the-scenes effort that takes place to make sure that we, a, have the funds to do it and, b, uh, have the staff time to do it as well too. So, um, you'll see more of that. You know, that the Heart Safe initiative was something that you all approved and said this is the right thing to do in January of 2022, and we're starting to make those steps, uh, step-by-step, brick-by-brick, if you will, uh, to make that happen as a reality in the community. So I'm sorry I can't be more specific. I probably could talk for 20 minutes, but I don't know that I would say much tonight. [37:26] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you very much, and again thanks for coming to our Lions meeting and, and sharing the knowledge about Teddy's Heart and the AED, etc. And this donation is really just to thank our public safety teams, specifically, um, the Fire Department. Uh, Captain Peter Fischer and, and Chelsea Flores did our training. We want to thank them for doing such a great job. Our, our club really appreciated it and got a lot out of it. And for anybody that might be listening, uh, Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, uh, please reach out to us. We want to train your organization, your groups, your employees to, to be a part of this. And they can reach out to me or any member of the city and we'll get them connected with the right people to do that training. Thank you. [37:27] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Thank you. All right. No other items were pulled on this evening's Consent for discussion, so I'll look for a motion approved. [37:28] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Move Consent. [37:29] **Councilmember Combata:** Second. [37:32] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second about Councilmember Combata. Any other discussion? Seeing not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. So if you are here for anything that's on tonight's Consent Calendar, all of those items have been approved. Uh, eight is next, which is approved disbursement. 8A is to pay the bills. [37:48] **Councilmember Dennis:** Motion to pay the bills. [37:50] **Councilmember Combata:** Second. [37:51] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. This evening there is no Public Hearings, which was number nine. Ten is Bid Awards. We do have one bid award this evening; it is the 2023 Mill and Overlay Project. And, uh, Amanda Meyer, our City Engineer, is going to walk us through this. So, welcome, Amanda. [37:55] **Amanda Meyer (City Engineer):** Good evening, Mayor, members of the Council. I'm also battling a cold, so I'm going to make this very quick for you. So next item on the agenda, as you mentioned, bid award for the 2023 Mill and Overlay Project. As you may recall, it is in portions of our Thompson Grove neighborhood. The bids were opened on April 27th. You'll see on the screen before you, we did get some very favorable bids. Um, we had six bidders. The engineer's estimate at 500,000. Low bidder was Bituminous Roadways at 383,356.60. One of the things that we actually really noticed—our engineer's estimate, we were hearing that bituminous prices were going to be in kind of that mid-eighty dollars per ton, and when the bids came in they were actually low 70s. So that was one of the really great cost savings, if you will, that we saw during those bids. So they did come in a lot lower than what we were expecting. Um, so with that, we have worked with Bituminous Roadways previously in the city and we've had good results with them. And with that, there is a recommendation before you to award the project. [38:52] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, nice to see the price coming down. That's good to see. Yeah. Um, Council, any comments? All right, seeing none, we... I'll need a motion in a second for the recommendation before us. [38:58] **Councilmember Combata:** I motion to adopt resolution 2023-061 awarding the 2023 Mill and Overlay Project to Bituminous Roadways Inc. in the total amount of 383,356.60. [39:09] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Second. [39:10] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by Councilmember Combata, do I have a second? Second by Councilmember Olsen. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. (Aye, aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. All right, 11 is regular agenda, which we do not have the anything this evening. 12 is Council comments, requests. And I will start with Councilmember Combata. [39:18] **Councilmember Combata:** Thank you, Mayor. Uh, I don't have any, uh, general comments; however, I would like to just briefly, um, touch on the topic of rent control as it was brought up in our open forum. We have all... you're here, I believe, been in contact with the city councilman from Columbia Heights. We're aware of what Dominion is doing, and although I don't condone it personally, that number that they're using was part of a contract that they signed. As far as what the city would like to do moving forward, we would want to consult with our attorney obviously before we were to seek any, any legislative or ordinance-related remedies. However, Minnesota Statute 471 specifically prohibits the city from making any rent control actions without that law being, um, up for a vote in a general election. So as far as swift resolutions, um, the city is kind of tied by state law. However, I would encourage you guys to reach out to your state senators. I know that there's currently two bills regarding rent control for, um, low-income housing and housing that has received public funding to limit it to five percent per year. And I know that there is currently a, a bill in the House and in the Senate, and from what I understand, both of them are getting, you know, pretty broad support. However, I think you guys would be well served to reach out to your representatives and make sure that they know what you guys are going through. And we can take an aside here after the meeting and I can give you those specific bills if you want to have that information available to you for drafting any sort of response to your representatives. You do good. Um, and that's all I have. [40:17] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, I think it comes from Combata. Councilmember Dennis. [40:18] **Councilmember Dennis:** All right, thanks Mayor. Just had one item tonight. Um, as a Cottage Grove Mason, I want to announce that the Acacia Lodge is having their annual pancake breakfast. It'll be Sunday, May 7th, so that'll be this Sunday coming up, from 8 until noon, located at 11094 70th Street South here in Cottage Grove. This is an annual event where they serve pancakes, sausage, eggs made to order; coffee, milk and juice will be available to drink. And the costs are as follows: ten dollars for adults, uh, we're looking at six dollars for kids 4 to 12, and any child under the age of three can eat for free. And the food is very good and, uh, the folks that do this work do a great job. So just a little promotion here for our local Masons. [40:51] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Perfect. Thank you. All right, uh, Councilmember Thiede. [40:53] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** All right. How many weeks away? Strawberry Fest is six short weeks! So I hope you're all getting excited. I gotta turn my... probably didn't hear me well. He probably did hear me—he probably heard me in the next city sometime. But, uh, anyway, so there's a lot of activities coming up that are leading into Strawberry Fest. Uh, uh, one of them is, uh, if, if anybody knows about the Ambassadors program that's tied in with Strawberry Fest—uh, these, uh, these kids actually participate in, in, uh, in other festivals and things like that throughout the year, you know, to promote Cottage Grove, and, and so they are Cottage Grove Ambassadors. And, uh, and while you see most of them as being young ladies, that... men are young boys and so forth are, are also allowed to be ambassadors for the city. And I say "young" at ages 8 to 21. And actually next Tuesday, May 9th, at 6:00 p.m. at Cottage Grove Carbone's, there is an information meeting about the Ambassador program. So anybody that has their, their kids and young adults that, that want to be involved as ambassadors to the the great city of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, then, uh, and it'd be great for you to, to get to that meeting and, and hear what it's all about. So some of the other events that are coming up on June... um, well Strawberry Fest is June 15th through 18th. There's the Strawberry Fest 5K run, which is on June 17th—that's Saturday. And, uh, there's a sign-up for that registration is online. Registration online for the Strawberry Fest walk, kind of in conjunction with the, uh, the 5K, that's also on Saturday the 17th. And, uh, the Strawberry Fest softball tournament registration is actually available online also. So if you can go to the Strawberry Fest, uh, Cottage Grove Strawberry Fest website and, and get all this information and, uh, just get ready to have a great time. And also everybody put their, you know, their, their Mother Nature caps on. We had a great weather last year, so we're really hoping for great weather again this year because it really turned out, uh, it's a, it's a lot nicer to do all that stuff not in the rain or intense heat and things like that. So you just got to put your caps on and say, you know, hope for that good weather, right? That's all it takes. [42:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thanks. Thank you. Councilmember Olsen? Okay, so I have just a couple things real quick, uh, for the public. So one is—and it's a, it's now we're into May, so I just want to bring this up—on Monday, May 29th, um, is the Memorial Day ceremony here at City Hall. There is a change of time; we moved it from the one o'clock, which tends to be a little warm or has been in the past. Moved it to 10 a.m. here at the Veterans Memorial or right out here next to the Council Chambers. And again, so that is Monday, May 29th at 10 o'clock. Uh, everybody is welcome. Uh, there'll be our, a local guest speaker who will be there, who I'll just leave it alone for at the moment, but he is an amazing gentleman that, uh, is, is part of our, our Fire Department. So I'll leave it at that, how's that? The other thing I wanted to mention is the lovely—and I do mean this sincerely—the road project that's going on down at East Point Douglas and Jamaica. So just again asking the public to just be careful, be patient. Um, you've asked for this and we've wanted this for a long time as a council and staff, but of course to get it fixed to the, the way it needs to be for easy flow of traffickings and less, uh, accidents and so on, pedestrian safety and that, it's going to take some time to get all of that work done. So you can see it's down there, just follow the signs as best you can and, um, just, just go slow, I guess is what I would share through that particular area. I do know we had a little glitch with one of our the new stoplights that we're going in. I don't think they're fixed quite yet, I think it's tomorrow, tomorrow. So they are flashing red, so everybody has a four-way stop, uh, on Jamaica and East Point Douglas. But I just want to ask everybody to be patient and don't forget to support those businesses down there. And then lastly, um, for me, um, I just want to mention... I'll get the opportunity tomorrow morning to speak at the Park High Applaud breakfast. Uh, every quarter they have, uh, like the, the highlight students of the, the quarter and such, uh, and I get the opportunity to go speak to those, uh, those individuals tomorrow. But I, I just wanted to mention I was absolutely amazed... I had the opportunity, my wife and I, to, to go see the musical, uh, this last week, um, *Mamma Mia*. And it was absolutely amazing. Um, our students... I mean, I couldn't believe it. It was just all, you know, uh, I was in awe. And of course just like everybody else that goes to see *Mamma Mia*, for the next week and a half or two weeks, you're singing the songs in your head and you can't get it out of your head. So even till today, I still have a few of those songs in my head. But the talent of the individuals there and the number of people that were in the, in the musical along with the band that played behind the scenes was tremendous. So I just wanted... and I think maybe one of them is going to be at this event tomorrow, so I want to, I want to make sure that I, I mentioned that. But when you get these opportunities to go visit or go attend, whether it's plays, concerts... I do know, matter of fact, um, on May 20th, uh, the ice show at the ice arena is coming, so there's an opportunity to get in there. I encourage you to get out and enjoy some of the, the arts, the culture that's happening within our community and specifically within our school district because I think it really lends, uh, to the, the neatness of the future of the our youth that are coming up, uh, within the, the borders of Cottage Grove specifically. Um, so with that, I will just mention that we do have a workshop after here after we're done here, which is open to public. We did have a study that was completed for us, we're going to be going over on the Old Cottage Grove, Old Cottage Grove small area study, which is Alpha Lamar, uh, and then 14 is workshop closed to the public—we do not have one this evening. And I'm getting knocked next to me, Councilmember Thiede? [45:10] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Yeah, it's just mentioned that we, uh, there's a Cinco de Mayo at, uh, that's on May 5th, by the way—I was waiting for you to say that—at, uh, at the Las Margaritas. So, uh, it's always good time for four to eleven. [45:26] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** For four to eleven, yep. And music and, and it'll be a good time. [45:29] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Probably singing *Mamma Mia*. [45:30] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** No, I... that'll be even worse then. So, all right, so, uh, we will be moving, uh, to the conference room after this. So everybody have a great evening and we'll stand adjourned here in the Council Chambers.