[0:00] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Let’s stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. [0:10] Mayor Wayne Boucher: [Stands] ...under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Roll call, please. [0:15] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Here. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Here. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Here. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Here. [0:20] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Announcements. Are there any councilors that have any announcements they'd like to make? [0:25] Councilor Grant Hauschild: Too many. Um, holiday season coming, I'd just like to wish everyone happy holidays and stay warm for the winter. [0:35] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Public hearing. We do have a Truth and Taxation hearing tonight. Mr. Mulder, would you like to start? [0:40] City Administrator John Mulder: Sure. Um, I have said often that the adoption of the city's budget is one of the most important decisions you make all year. And it is a process that we start back um in April and May on a staff level, but we present that information to the city council throughout the year at various points. Um, so that and then ultimately it accumulates in this budget booklet and um the adopting the tax levy and adopting the budget. [1:05] City Administrator John Mulder: Just some very brief um high-level overviews of the budget. Um, is that for 2023 expenditures are increasing um 7.9 percent. And the thing to remember in the general fund, um 92 percent of the general fund is funded by the levy. Um, so we have very few other sources of revenue that pay for our general fund operations. [1:42] City Administrator John Mulder: The levy increase for 2023 is um going up by 6.9 percent, which is below the Statewide average of 9.1 percent. Um, our tax capacity—our growth in valuation—the city has increased by over 11 percent. Um, so what that means is the effective tax rate is actually going down 2.6 percent. So if the value of your home were to stay the same and was not increased through the valuation process and the appraisal process, the assessors process, um you would actually pay less in taxes to the city. [2:29] City Administrator John Mulder: Just a couple other interesting um facts about uh um Hermantown valuation and its budget is that on page seven you'll see that the median home uh value is 288,000. What that means is when we say median, that means half of the homes in Hermantown are valued less than 288,000, half of them are valued more than 288,000. To be honest, I was a little surprised by that number, I thought it would have been higher. [3:00] City Administrator John Mulder: So we often use um the valuation of 250,000, which is pretty close to the median. That's comparison to what other um cities pay and what we look at in terms of what's the impact going to be on um the residents. Um, but on a 250,000 home in Hermantown, you will actually pay less taxes for City, school, and County um in Hermantown than Proctor, Duluth, Virginia, or Hibbing. So I mean, there's always this notion that Hermantown is a high-tax City, but if you look at the raw numbers and the data, generally that is not true. Um, our homes are—tend to be valued higher than other areas. Um, but you know, if you have the same value home in Hermantown versus one of those other cities, you would actually pay less in taxes. [3:50] City Administrator John Mulder: Um, this budget tries to address the city's priorities, um continues to go along the lines of the programs of maintaining Staffing and funding Capital Improvements. So we are recommending this budget for you tonight. [4:10] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. And after we get done asking counselors for questions and input, we will have a time for public input for members both in the chamber and online. Anyone who wishes to speak to the council, are there any comments from Council on our Truth and Taxation hearing and our two proposed resolutions? [4:37] Councilor Nelson: I know there's a lot of work that goes into it and Kevin keeps us abreast on uh... because he tries to make it fun along the way. So thank you for all of those scores. [4:50] Mayor Wayne Boucher: They'll say I appreciate all the hard work. The sad fact is the demand for city services keeps growing every year which increases our budget by a little, and staff has done a great job at trying to keep that as small as possible. Is there anyone present either online or in Chambers that wishes to speak to the council about this? If so, please state your name and address for the record. [5:19] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Is there any public input on the Truth and Taxation and resolutions 2022-132 and 2022-133? [5:43] Mayor Wayne Boucher: This is the third and final opportunity for public input on the Truth and Taxation hearing. If anyone wishes to speak to the council, please state your name and address for the record. [6:00] Mayor Wayne Boucher: With no public input, we will move to resolution 2022-132, resolution adopting the final 2022 property tax levy collectible in 2023 in the amount of seven million six hundred six thousand three hundred thirty-three dollars. Do we have a motion? [6:15] Councilor Nelson: Motion. [6:16] Councilor John Geisler: Second. [6:17] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Nelson, second by Councilor Geisler. Um, roll call please. [6:20] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [6:28] Mayor Wayne Boucher: And next is resolution 2022-133, resolution adopting the final 2023 City General budget, general fund budget in the amount of seven million two hundred sixty-six thousand two hundred nineteen dollars and the overall budget of 20 million seven hundred eighty-two thousand twenty-seven dollars. Do we have a motion? [6:50] Councilor Nelson: Motion to approve. [6:51] Councilor Grant Hauschild: Second. [6:52] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Nelson, second by Councilor Hauschild. Roll call please. [7:00] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [7:05] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Um, and uh Mr. Mulder, we have one correspondence listed here. Was it of anything we need to know about? [7:13] City Administrator John Mulder: Ah no. If it's listed, if there's—if you want copies of it we can get it to you. We are actually changing the way we do correspondence um and trying to capture more. The amount of mail we get has gone way down and because so much is being transferred now via emails, so we are looking at changing the way we handle correspondence to capture those emails in a better way. [7:40] Mayor Wayne Boucher: So thank you. Um, do we have any department head presentations this evening? [7:59] Mayor Wayne Boucher: With no one stepping forward, this is a time for general public discussion where individuals can address the Council about any item not on the agenda. We ask that you limit your time to three minutes per person. Is there anyone either online or in Chambers that wishes to address the Council about an item not on the agenda or anything in general? [8:28] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Another opportunity for public to discuss items with the Council. Is there anyone that wishes to speak to the Council at this time? [8:42] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Okay, last opportunity for general public discussion about items not on the agenda. Is there anyone that wishes to speak to the Council? We will close the public discussion and move to item nine, the consent agenda, which is the minutes approval or correction of the November 21st, 2022 city council continuation minutes and accounts payable in the amount of $440,755.91. Do we have a motion? [9:10] Councilor John Geisler: Motion. [9:11] Councilor Nelson: Second. [9:12] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Geisler, second by Councilor Nelson. Roll call please. [9:15] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [9:28] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Ordinances. We have a first reading of ordinance 2022-14. City Council of the city of Hermantown does ordain an ordinance adopting amended and restated Title IV of the city of Hermantown city code: Municipal Sales Tax. Our second reading will be in two weeks, is that correct? [9:55] City Administrator John Mulder: That's correct, on the 19th. [10:00] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Next is resolutions. Resolution 2022-134, resolution creating a bridge replacement priority list and requesting State Bridge bonding funding for BR 7724 on Hermantown Road. Do we have a motion? [10:14] Councilor Grant Hauschild: Motion. [10:15] Councilor John Geisler: Second. [10:16] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Hauschild, second by Councilor Geisler. Mr. Mulder. [10:20] City Administrator John Mulder: And just to clarify that when we talk about... we changed the resolution from um today um from what we had put in the packet, is that we'll be requesting 841,278 dollars for um Bridge funds, and then the city would pay um estimated 173,440. Um, this is to replace the bridge on Hermantown Road over the Rocky Run river near the Five Corners intersection. Um, and so this is a request to MnDOT for that State Bridge funding and that's for planned replacement in 2024. [11:00] Mayor Wayne Boucher: That's correct. Any questions or comments from Council? Is there any public input on resolution 2022-134? [11:19] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Is there any public input on this resolution? [11:29] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Is there any public input on 2022-134? Roll call please. [11:35] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [11:45] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Resolution 2022-135, resolution approving the final pay request for reconditioning of Highway 53 water tower water Improvement District number 318 to Osseo Construction Company LLC in the amount of 28,850. Do we have a motion? [12:00] Councilor Nelson: Motion to approve. [12:01] Councilor John Geisler: Second. [12:02] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Nelson, second by Councilor Geisler. Mr. Mulder. [12:05] City Administrator John Mulder: So this is the final payment for the work that we had done on the Highway 53 water tower. This closes out the project. Um, because we have all the IC-134s, this is the final payment. [12:20] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Is there any questions or comments from Council? Is there any public input on resolution 2022-135? [12:44] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Is there any public input on the resolution for the final pay request for water Improvement District number 318? Last opportunity for public input on this resolution. If anyone wishes to speak to the Council, please state your name and address. Roll call please. [13:00] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [13:10] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Resolution 2022-136, resolution authorizing the disposal of Surplus City Property. Do we have a motion? [13:20] Councilor John Geisler: Motion. [13:21] Councilor Grant Hauschild: Second. [13:22] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Geisler, second by Councilor Hauschild. Mr. Mulder. [13:29] City Administrator John Mulder: Um, so this is for two squad cars that we will be uh trading in as the—as part of the purchase of uh two new ones. [13:40] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Is there any public input on this resolution? [13:59] Mayor Wayne Boucher: If any member of the public wishes to speak to the council about this resolution, please state your name and address. Roll call please. [14:10] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [14:20] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Resolution 2022-137, resolution authorizing the disposal of Surplus City property. Do we have a motion? [14:30] Councilor Grant Hauschild: Motion. [14:31] Councilor John Geisler: Second. [14:32] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Hauschild, second by Councilor Geisler. Mr. Mulder. [14:35] City Administrator John Mulder: Again, we're just disposing of a mower that we have had for some time that um is not operational anymore, so we want to take that off of our asset list. [14:45] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Hearing and seeing none, is there any member of the public that wishes to address this item to the council? [15:09] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Last public input on the resolution to dispose of surplus property. Roll call please. [15:15] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [15:25] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Resolution 2022-138, resolution approving application for new license for charitable gambling by Hermantown Youth Soccer Association for McKenzie's Bar and Grill. Do we have a motion? [15:40] Councilor Nelson: Motion to approve. [15:41] Councilor Grant Hauschild: Second. [15:42] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Nelson, second by Councilor Hauschild. Mr. Mulder. [15:57] City Administrator John Mulder: So we were approached by McKenzie's. We currently have uh pull tabs um with um the Hockey Association and they would like to switch over to the Youth Soccer Association, and both—all the parties have been informed about that by McKenzie's. [16:10] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Is there any member of the public that wishes to comment on this resolution? [16:25] Mayor Wayne Boucher: If there is any public input on this resolution, please state your name and address for the record. Roll call please. [16:35] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [16:45] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Resolution 2022-139, resolution approving right of entry agreement for the Hermantown School District. Do we have a motion? [16:55] Councilor John Geisler: Motion. [16:56] Councilor Nelson: Second. [16:57] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Geisler, second by Councilor Nelson. Mr. Mulder. [17:10] City Administrator John Mulder: Um, the school district had requested that the city convey a portion of a part of a parcel um adjoining the Wellness Center for considerations for their uh District Administration office. Um, I had conversations with uh Superintendent Wayne Whitlam about this is that we can't just convey what they asked for because we have a stormwater pond on the back of that property that needs to stay with the Wellness Center, and there are some um restrictive covenants that we'll have to deal with um in terms of selling that property or conveying that property to the school district. [17:45] City Administrator John Mulder: But this agreement would allow the school district to fully investigate the possibility of constructing their district offices on that location. And if um they do and do decide to move forward, that the city is saying that we're willing to convey that property to them for that purpose. And again, we'd have to work out some of the detail of that because there's some of that land that we would need to keep, but there certainly is some land there that we can convey to them for that purpose. [18:00] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from Council? Is there any public input on this resolution? [18:27] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Last opportunity for public input on this resolution. If anyone wishes to speak to the council, please state your name and address. Roll call please. [18:40] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [18:55] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Resolution 2022-140, resolution authorizing and directing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute and deliver a local government receipt of fund acknowledgment to Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership in the amount of seventy thousand dollars. Do we have a motion? [19:10] Councilor Grant Hauschild: Motion. [19:11] Councilor Nelson: Second. [19:12] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Hauschild, second by Councilor Nelson. Mr. Mulder. [19:13] City Administrator John Mulder: So um Enbridge is uh willing to give um a grant to the city of seventy thousand dollars for um—the city could use as its match um on a project by the South St. Louis um Soil and Water Conservation District that they're looking at redoing um and replacing um the culvert on King Creek right as you enter the park there. Um, the Trout Unlimited and the Conservation District want to upgrade that um for trout habitat and stuff like that. Um, the city needs to provide a match. Um, Enbridge has said that they're willing to donate seventy thousand dollars toward that project and this would just be accepting that money. [19:58] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Mr. Mulder, does this mean a zero cost to the city for this project? [20:10] City Administrator John Mulder: Yes, that would be the case. [20:12] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Is there any public input on resolution 2022-140? [20:28] Mayor Wayne Boucher: If anyone wishes to address resolution 2022-140, please state your name and address. Roll call please. [20:40] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [20:55] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Resolution 2022-141, resolution approving an extension of the preliminary planned unit development plan for the Arbors at Maple Grove development. Do we have a motion? [21:10] Councilor John Geisler: Motion. [21:11] Councilor Grant Hauschild: Second. [21:12] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Geisler, second by Councilor Hauschild. Mr. Mulder. [21:14] City Administrator John Mulder: Um, this is to extend a public planned development for the Arbors which was the—which is the proposed and primarily approved uh apartment building just to the east of the operating development that is currently uh taking place. This was approved by the city council as a preliminary planned unit development. Um, the developer has asked to extend that for uh one year as they're concerned about uh current cost of uh building materials and aren't ready to proceed at this point. [21:50] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Any questions from Council or comments? And Mr. Mulder, it's been almost practice to renew all of these for a year when they come due if they haven't been started, and we generally ask the applicant to restart if they don't make it by the end of the year? [22:01] City Administrator John Mulder: Yeah, typically um we've granted um these extensions for up to one year. Typically after that we've said, "Okay, you need to reapply if—if you haven't proceeded at that point." [22:15] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Thank you. Any other questions or comments from council? Is there any public comment on this resolution? If anyone wishes to comment on this resolution, please state your name and address. Last opportunity for public comment on resolution 2022-141. Roll call please. [22:44] City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Hauschild? Councilor Grant Hauschild: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Geisler? Councilor John Geisler: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Councilor Nelson? Councilor Nelson: Aye. City Clerk Alissa McClure: Mayor Boucher? Mayor Wayne Boucher: Aye. [22:50] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion passes. Next is a motion to recess. [22:52] Councilor Nelson: Motion. [22:53] Councilor John Geisler: Second. [22:54] Mayor Wayne Boucher: Motion by Councilor Nelson, second by Councilor Geisler. All in favor say aye. Council members: Aye. Mayor Wayne Boucher: Opposed, same sign. No one wants to stay. [Meeting Adjourned]