This transcript has been formatted with the correct speaker names based on the municipal context provided. [0:02] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Will call the meeting to order and stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. **All:** 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. [0:25] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Here. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Here. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Here. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Here. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Here. Announcements. Do any councilors have announcements they'd like to make this evening? Hearing none, we'll move on to our first item of business: public hearing. We have a public hearing this evening on assessments for the construction of Road Improvement District number 541 and 542, Hermantown Road and Bridge 724. We'll start with Mr. Mulder explaining the project, and when he's done, we will get to any public testimony that needs to be taken. Mr. Mulder. [1:05] **John Mulder (City Administrator):** So first of all, welcome to the public hearing tonight on Hermantown Road and Old Midway Road. This is kind of the end of a long process, part of our road improvement plan for 2024. But before we get started into the project—the road improvement plan, large fund—we want to first of all acknowledge the disappointing reality that this project is [not] complete at this point in time. Share your frustrations; we understand them. The work that has been done to date is not acceptable from the city perspective. There are some actions that simply need to be done and the contractor has not met those obligations for the time frame or in the quality that we expected. We continue to talk to the contractor and have put them on notice that we expect this work to be done as soon as possible and we'll hold them accountable to it. So please understand, we know that there's some situations like that. If you have not talked with the city engineer or somebody on the project during the construction meetings, we're certainly willing to talk to you about those, but that's not really the purpose of this meeting. But we want to acknowledge the fact that it's not done to your satisfaction, and we are continuing to work on that. So we apologize that this project hasn't met the same time schedule as some of our other previous road projects. [2:35] **John Mulder:** This is, like I said, kind of the end of the process for the public improvement plan. As you recall, back in April of '23, we had our first public information meetings and we kind of followed this little chart here about the steps in the process. So in February, we received the bids for the project and in March we awarded that contract and that work has been ongoing since, and we tried to hold weekly on-site meetings with the contractor and with some of the neighbors as they felt the need to be there. So this is just kind of that process, and then there's just one final step. [3:25] **John Mulder:** The road improvement plan starts back in 2019 when we did a financial management plan. That financial management plan was a longer look and a broader look at kind of how do we look at future and existing debt, how do we look at capital improvement, how do we think about maintaining assets and things like that. And one of the things that prior to 2019 we simply did not have a process to address reconstruction of existing city streets. And so we started this financial management plan as part of that process. I think this is a slide that we shared with the public at our public information meeting; we looked at the various funding options for local streets and we looked at all the possibilities. Road assessments was one possibility that is a common practice in Minnesota and has been for years to do street improvement programs. General tax is one; we do receive Municipal State Aid for certain roads, but that's only for certain roads and did not include Hermantown Road and Old Midway at these locations. We have some Local Government Aid; 2024 was the first time we had received it in a long time. We put that toward our new fire department. Sales tax is only for certain functions, so we couldn't use it for local streets. And then we do have a water utility, a storm water utility, sanitary sewer, and street utility, and those funds can be used for improvements related to those particular things. So we didn't have water or sanitary sewer on this project, so we didn't apply any of those money, but we did use some storm water utility funds for some of the culverts and for some of the part of the bridge project as well. [5:26] **John Mulder:** Kind of background regarding road assessments in Hermantown is, again, we started this financial management plan back in 2019 and how we could improve and make improvements to local streets. The fun thing about that is that was also at the same time individuals were marking streets and saying, you know, "pothole," "yikes," things like that. If you recall, it was a little bit hilarious at the time. We were just concerned about people being safe when they're riding on the roads and we didn't want to encourage vandalism, but it was just kind of funny how it happened on Hermantown Road at that time. We all kind of chuckled, and I always joke it was like one of Joe’s [Wicklund] first media presentations that he had to do where he had to be on camera. [6:14] **John Mulder:** But we reviewed various financing options and we talked about that in the previous slide, and we also talked about the fact that we believe that there's a special benefit to the owners but also a general benefit to the general public. We understand that road improvements don't just benefit the homeowners. When we do a water and sewer project—and we haven't done one for a number of years—typically the homeowners pay almost 100% of those costs. So when we add water or sewer, there's a special benefit to that home and typically we assess about 100% of that cost. But we understood that on streets, there is a special benefit to the homeowners but also to the general public as well. So as we started this process in 2019, we had an appraisal study done to help determine what that special benefit was. [7:18] **John Mulder:** And we looked at two criteria for assessments. One, it must be uniform for the properties being assessed, and the city's policy says that each person whose property abuts the road would pay an equal amount. The thinking is there, every parcel needs a road in order for it to be a buildable lot, so each one of them benefits by having a road in front of them, and so that's why we looked at that in terms of uniformity, having a single amount for each parcel. When we've done water and sewer projects in the past, sometimes we've looked at it based upon the front footage of a lot or a parcel, or we've looked at different other ways of doing that, but for uniformity, we said that each parcel should have the same assessment. [8:00] **John Mulder:** We also believe that there was a special benefit, but that assessment cannot exceed the value of that special benefit. We think the special benefit happens in the improved driveways, the improved road, improved drainage, improved 911 signage, improved mailboxes, etc. Now, there's an argument—again, we understand that everybody benefits from that, but we also believe that there's a special benefit to each individual parcel that's being assessed. In order to look at what that special assessment was, we did a study back in 2020 and we hired a firm to look at the road improvement program that we were starting. They looked at that and their two conclusions were that there was a special benefit and that ranged somewhere between $8,000 and $12,000 in special benefits, and our proposed assessment at that point in time was $9,750, and it was within that range. In 2024, we had a specific report done for this project and how it related to the values of the property and the benefits to those properties. Again, the study concluded that there is a special benefit and it ranged between $9,402 and $10,481, and so we are proposing the assessment be $9,400, which is below that range, which then says that all of the benefit exceeds the assessment. [9:22] **John Mulder:** So this is what that assessment looks like. The total assessment is $9,400. It would be assessed over 15 years at 5.5% with annual payments of $936.48. People pay their taxes in various ways; sometimes if they don't have a mortgage, they write the checks—two different payments or things like that—or if they have a mortgage, those assessments could just be rolled into the escrow and paid on a monthly basis. So we've gone through this road improvement project now since 2020. Back in 2020, we did Johnson, Portland, Carlson, Alexander, Hermantown Road over between Orchest and Stear. In '21, we did Sunby and Swan Lake. In '22, we had planned to do Ugstad Road from Highway 53 to Maple Grove Road and we were starting that process, but it took a while—we had some delays in getting state approval and federal approval for that project, so that was delayed until 2023 and we completed that then. Also during that time, it was not a residential assessment process, but we also assessed properties in the Hermantown Marketplace for some of the road improvements that we made there as well. [10:54] **John Mulder:** So in 2024, our current project was Hermantown Road between Highway 2 and Ugstad and Old Midway Road. Just kind of a map—this starts from Highway 2 to just almost Five Corners Road and it also includes Old Midway, and then the next one just shows from Five Corners over to Ugstad. But you're all familiar with the road project. The scope of that: the total cost of the project was $3.9 million; $780,000 of that was for the bridge, which is not part of the assessment project. And then there were soft costs for engineering, right-of-way acquisitions, administrative work, geotechnical evaluations—all of that to a total cost of $4.6 million. Of that, $614,000 was funded by the local bridge replacement program from the State of Minnesota. We are looking at assessing 95 parcels at $9,400 each, and the total General Fund would pay $3.1 million. The City issued debt for that amount earlier this year and it will be paid off over 20 years. So that works out to be just under 20% of the total cost that we are assessing the landowners. [12:27] **John Mulder:** So kind of the next process is this public hearing where you can provide your comments to the Council. We are looking at individual hearings; if you do object, we will have an individual hearing with you and the Council. We are looking at two different dates: November 26 starting at 3:00 PM—depending on the total number of people objecting, we will schedule individual 15-minute time slots for you to meet with the City Council. We'll also have a second date, December 2nd, between 2:00 and 8:00 PM. Part of that will be in front of the City Council meeting on December 2nd. Letters will be hand-delivered to you if you have an objection giving you your individual hearing time. If you want to proceed with the payment of the assessments, you can pay that in full at City Hall by December 2nd. But after December 2nd, if the City Council approves that assessment and it's not paid in full before that date, then you can still pay by December 31st and avoid any interest payments. But after December 2nd, it will likely show up on your property taxes, so you could pay it after December 2nd but it would still show up on your property taxes as a bill even though it's been paid; it’s just the timing of the work with the County in terms of they need to have a certain date to get it into their system. It'll be paid in full, but it might still show on your property taxes. And then if you haven't paid by that point, it will show up on your property taxes in 2026. So maybe that's all I have for a presentation. [14:15] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Okay, we're going to move into public input on this public hearing. I want to get a couple of things out first. We're asking everyone to limit the public input to three minutes per person. We're going to start with the people that are in council chambers, and once we've exhausted the current people in the building, we'll move to the online meeting and anyone who's online will be able to testify then. If you want to object, you don't have to testify to object, but a written objection has to make it to the City Clerk at the end of the public hearing. We're going to have a little bit of a five-minute break at the end of our public input to cap off the public hearing, so until the end of that five-minute break, you can turn those written objections into the City Clerk. There are forms available outside; you can fill those out and give them to the clerk. They don't need to be specific as far as your objections—all you have to say is "I object" and put your name and address and contact information on there. So we will start with anyone in the chambers who wishes to speak publicly to the Council. Please approach the podium and start with your name and address. Does anybody want to get started? Okay. [15:47] **Paul Pearson:** Hello, Paul Pearson, 5382 Hermantown Road. Just real quick, I'm just going to go through the basics on this objection that I have here. So as he has gone through it, he says there's an additional added value to somebody's house because they replaced the road out front, which is covered by taxes across the entire country. I mean, that is the point of... I mean, it's one of the aspects of property tax that's just nonsensical. There's no added value from the road that was replaced—should have been replaced 20 years ago, by the way. So, and then of course, anybody who lived here and moved, that doesn't make any bit of difference, so it's all assessed to the people now. Doesn't make any sense. Assessments cost between $200 and $800 for property assessments, not $9,400. And of course that number is... "Oh, it's not based on what it cost to do it, it's what we think the added value is." It's just a nonsensical thing. It's just crazy. And then the idea that the 100 houses or whatever that live on that road, they have to pay for the road and anything that you guys include assessments of properties off of that for the entirety of anybody who drives on there, and saying "well no, because this is a special added value"—it's like, okay, then put a toll road on it and we'll collect the toll for the next X amount of time. It's just ridiculous. If that would have been assessed to everybody in Hermantown, it would have cost everybody about 400 bucks. Instead, you're going to charge 100 people $9,500 because you got around to replacing a road that's covered under property taxes. That's crazy. That's my opinion. Thank you. [17:49] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Next. Does anyone else wish to speak to the Council tonight? [18:05] **Resident (5451 Hermantown Rd):** I live on Hermantown Road. Basically what he was saying is what I got written down. The road hasn't been redone since 1989, and when it was redone, it was just ground up and relayed. We've been paying taxes on it since '89, beating the heck out of our vehicles. Potholes—you wouldn't fix any of the potholes, saying "we'll get to it, we'll get to it," until somebody wrote on the road and then boy, you guys did it right away. You ain't fixing our cars—cars are getting out of alignment, knocking stuff off. So since 1989, you didn't even do a good job then. The job that's done is rotten. You didn't make the driveways as wide as they were. Semis used to be able to go on my place—I have hay delivered, I had my pole barn delivered, semis backed in there no problem. It is easily five feet narrower than what it used to be. My culvert's longer, but the dirt you took out of my place, you ain't even got half of that back in there. The bumps on the road is a rotten job. It's understandable that you don't do the construction part of it, but you go from Lindahl Road to the bridge in front of Bob Wold's house, there's a drop in the road already plus there's multiple bumps in there. If you guys take a blade in the winter, you're going to hit that road, it's going to crack, it's going to be junk. And we're paying $9,400 for a rotten job? I don't think so. It's unacceptable. I don't know where the state inspector comes in on this stuff, but the roads... a lot of the driveways ain't the original width; some are better than others, but mine ain't even close to as wide. I do realize the culvert's longer, but I had a smaller culvert that you told me when they built the place. Use my driveway for a dam—half of my gravel ended up in the ditch down the road for years. I had to get a truckload every year, so I let the sod grow up on both sides so it didn't wash it out as bad. So I guess that's my objection. You did put in a better culvert after I talked to Jim Wick about it, but the width of my driveway ain't near as wide, plus the road is just... drive down from Lindahl Road all the way to Midway Road, but the worst part's from Lindahl to Five Corners. You can see the dip in the road, you can feel it. I mean, you can see the blacktop's higher in one spot and then it drops right off. I just don't see paying $9,400 for such a crappy job on the thing. That's my complaint. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** I didn't get your address. **Resident (5451 Hermantown Rd):** Oh, 5451. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Okay, thank you. **Resident (5451 Hermantown Rd):** This would be down from my place. Okay, all right, thank you. [21:18] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Who would like to go next? [21:54] **Jim Fenson:** My name is Jim Fenson, 5784 Hermantown Road, and I've been out there for 40-plus years and I've seen little or no maintenance done on this road since I've been there. To me, I feel this is just a big catch-up that should have been taken care of over years, not just bang—here, now you're stuck with this big bill. And that's my big complaint. I feel that this is a "mill and fill." They just came by my place, milled it, filled it, and that was it. Yeah, they put culverts in; that's covered under storm water, that's not part of the road job. And also, it isn't done, so why are we getting billed? I was told at least three times you're not going to see a bill until it's all done—mailbox is in, fire numbers are in, everything's done. Well, it isn't done, and now we're seeing a bill? That isn't right either. That isn't part of the gig. That's all I got to say. Thank you. [23:15] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. To address the Council? [23:23] **Sarah Loebel:** My name is Sarah Loebel, I live at 5502 Hermantown Road. I was not planning to speak, but they bring up a lot of good points. Usually, you do not pay for a job until it is completed, or if you do, you pay half and then you do half once the job is completed. It is not done yet, so it is a very great question that has been brought up as to why are we needing to pay this in December right before Christmas at the end of the year. That is a crazy amount of money; that is exactly half of my yearly income. $9,400 is huge for me and my husband. That is a financial hardship that I can't just drop in a month—not even a month, two weeks. I don't have the ability to do that. In general, it's going into my emergency fund. If I were to get sick, in an accident, or if we wanted to start a family, we can't do that. That takes away so much of our emergency fund and everything that we have saved. We have school loans still that we are paying, we have a mortgage that we are still paying, we have interest from other loans that we are dealing with from car payments. This $9,400 is a big deal, and it may not be a big deal for everybody in here, but I know a lot of people here are retired, they don't have an income anymore, they're on Social Security. What are they supposed to do when $9,400 out of their savings is gone, especially when these other residents are going to have increased medical needs in the future as well? So I just really want you to know that dropping that $9,400 is not easy for us, and that is something that is going to be pretty detrimental to my husband and I for probably years as we figure out where that money is coming from and to build back up our emergency fund that has already taken us 10 years to build. Thank you. [25:42] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Please start with your address. [25:56] **Mike Loebel:** Mike Loebel, 5524 Hermantown Road. I hadn't signed up to speak, but after hearing what everybody else has been saying, there's one point that I wanted to bring up. I've also lived on that road for over 40 years. From my family's property, my brothers and I also received land and we decided to settle in Hermantown. We knew we lived on a bumpy road, and in 1989 they came and they did some quick fix to it, and it was smooth for about one year and then it started really deteriorating. The point I wanted to make is that we've been waiting 40-some years for our turn for our road to get repaved, and when it finally does, we have to pay for it? $9,400 for my wife and I—we're both retired—is a bit of a hardship. You know, can we make it work? You know, we really shouldn't have to is what I'm saying. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. [27:12] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Is there anyone else in Chambers that wishes to address the Council? Anyone else? Well, no one else—is there anyone online that wishes to address...? [27:32] **Joe Wicklund (Assistant City Administrator):** Mr. Mayor, we do have folks online. If they want to just raise their hand or unmute themselves to start with their name and address, they can proceed. [27:46] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. We have a raised hand? No raised hands. Is there anyone else online that would like to speak? Is there anyone online that wishes to speak at this public hearing about the road improvement district for the Hermantown Road? Okay, we'll have one last opportunity for anybody that wants to speak up, whether they're in Chambers or online. If there is no one, we will then close the public hearing and take a short break. [28:40] **Resident (5654 Hermantown Rd):** Just start with your name and address? 5654 Hermantown Road. So we purchased our property December of 2018, coming in when all the graffiti was all on the road. What I can say then is I didn't get a deduction on the price of my house because we were on a bad road. And in reading the appraisal report that came out and the formula that was used saying that it increases the value—having a nice road increases the value of my home—I just wanted to say that I really disagree with it. The formula that was used is looking at revenue-generating properties, not single-family homes. And $9,400 is a hardship for probably 90% of the people on that road, for the general public to use, not just us. Thank you. [29:34] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Seeing no one else would like to speak to the Council, we will close the public input portion of the public hearing. There will be no decisions made tonight on this subject, but anyone who has objected or turns in a written objection before we start our regular meeting will receive some type of notice when the hearing is. We're looking at November 26 and December 2nd for the dates; we anticipated that they would take two days for us to get done with the number that we are looking at. Thank you all for attending. We're going to take a short five-minute break to allow anyone who wants to leave to leave. Anyone who wants to sit through the rest of our business, you're more than welcome to do that; we've got a whole bunch of interesting stuff. Thank you. *** [30:40] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Back to our city council agenda. Communications are placed on file. Mr. Mulder, could you give us a short synopsis of the Budget-in-Brief and Wellness Center update that we had at pre-agenda? [30:53] **John Mulder:** Included in the packet was a short four-page Budget-in-Brief; it kind of highlights the issues relative to the proposed 2025 budget. I sent out a link to the online budget to the City Council earlier today. And then the Wellness Center update was simply a report from the Y about the operations of the Wellness Center. They seem to be doing well, and it seems to be a success for the community. [31:37] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Next, we will move on to public discussion. This is for general public discussion about items not on the agenda. We ask that you limit your time to three minutes per person. If you wish to discuss an item on the agenda, there will be a period of time during that item's consideration for that also. Is there anyone that wishes to speak to the Council about general public discussion at this time? Is there anyone that wishes to speak to the City Council under public discussion? Anyone online? [32:15] **Joe Wicklund:** If anyone online wishes to speak, please just unmute and start with your name and address. [32:21] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Last opportunity for general public discussion. Hearing none, we will move on to the consent agenda. Consent agenda is minutes approval or correction of the November 4th, 2024 city council continuation minutes, and accounts payable—approve General City warrants from November 1st, 2024 through November 15, 2024 in the amount of $3,571,121.68. Do we have a motion to approve? [33:14] **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Motion to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor Hjelle to approve. Do we have a second? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor Peterson. Roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Next is resolutions. Resolution 2024-219, resolution authorizing a contract for Professional Services with CliftonLarsonAllen LLP for audit services in the amount of $46,500 for the audit and financial statements. Do we have a motion relating to this? [33:43] **Councilor John Geissler:** Move to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor Geissler to approve. Is there a second? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor Hjelle. Mr. Mulder. [33:53] **John Mulder:** So this is an annual contract that we have with... and we've worked with CliftonLarsonAllen for a number of years; they've been a good partner for us. And so this would be for the 2024 audit. [34:10] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from Council? [34:15] **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** The resolution summary says that this has been the city's audit firm for several years. Do we put this out for competitive bid every few years? **John Mulder:** We haven't. We've done it probably, I think in 15 years, I think we've done it twice. **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Do we feel like we're getting a good price? **John Mulder:** Yeah, I do. I think that's a fair price, and it does now fully include the Fire Department now that they are a City department—we used to have separate audits for them. [34:55] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Anything else from Council? Is there any public input on this resolution? Please identify yourself with your name and address. Is there any public input on resolution 2024-219? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Resolution 2024-220, resolution approving change order number 20 for Road Improvement project number 534, Ugstad/Arrowhead roads, to Uhlman Brothers Incorporated in the amount of $4,125.68. Is there a motion? [35:48] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Move to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor LeBlanc to approve. Is there a second? **Councilor John Geissler:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor Geissler. Mr. Mulder. [35:56] **John Mulder:** So this is a change order that reflects all of the various changes in quantities from the original contract to what was actually used on the project. [36:09] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Any questions or comments from Council? Hearing none, is there any public input on this resolution? Any public input on the approval of change order number 20 for Road Improvement project number 534? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Resolution 2024-221, resolution approving final pay request for Road Improvement District number 534 to Uhlman Brothers Incorporated in the amount of $1,527.70. Do you have a motion? [37:16] **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Motion to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion to approve by Councilor Hjelle. Is there a second? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor LeBlanc. Mr. Mulder. [37:25] **John Mulder:** So this is the final pay app for the 2023 road project, and this releases all the remaining retainage for the project. **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Their punch list is done? **John Mulder:** Yes. [37:41] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Anything else from Council? Is there any public input on this resolution? Any public input on resolution 2024-221 regarding the final pay request for District 534? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Resolution 2024-222, resolution approving pay request number six for Fickner Park improvements to Kaski Incorporated in the amount of $528,126. Is there a motion? [38:46] **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Move to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion to approve by Councilor Peterson. Is there a second? **Councilor John Geissler:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor Geissler. Mr. Mulder. [38:58] **John Mulder:** So this is work that's been done over the last month at Fickner Park. **Councilor John Geissler:** Given recent events and recent projects, is all of the work covered by this $528,000 done to our satisfaction? [39:23] **John Mulder:** The question is, is the payment in front of us for work that's satisfied, complete, and accepted? The short answer is no. We have a punch list that the contractor has been diligently going through. So there are a number of items on that punch list that are part of this payment. And just a reminder, we have still several hundred thousand dollars of work that remains on this project that we have not paid, that we're still withholding. **Councilor John Geissler:** For example? **John Mulder:** For example, the landscape features; there's still part of the building that we're withholding; there's stuff on the site furnishings that we're withholding. So we still have, like I said, several hundred thousand dollars worth of work that remains to be paid. [40:34] **Councilor John Geissler:** Is it standard to pay for work even though there's a punch list still associated with that specific work? **John Mulder:** Yes, we do that. When the work is completed, they get paid for it, and then we typically don't pay for unacceptable work. So an example of some of the things on the building is there's, you know, caulk joints that need to be tightened up, there's touch-up painting that needs to be done, there's some concrete that needs to be patched—those are all things that are punch list items. And part of it, the thought is, this work falls... we still are holding a 5% retainage on a $4 million contract. So not only have we the retainage, but there're still monies on contract work that's still not complete. But that's typically how we manage the contracts; the work is done and then we pay them for it. **Councilor John Geissler:** That answer is true on every pay app? **John Mulder:** Every pay app that we do, there are potentially punch list and things that, okay, this needs to be addressed and you need to do a little bit of improvement here. [42:15] **Councilor John Geissler:** I'll clarify my question. I wasn't so much concerned about a punch list because I understand that's practice. I was more concerned with paying for work that was done not to our standard. And you're saying that the work that's been done has been approved? **John Mulder:** Yes, with one exception—and we pointed this out a few months ago—was the basketball court. And that's something that we've recognized and we're holding off on that payment until next year when it's done to our satisfaction. **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** If I'm reading the payment application right, we're paying $528,167 but there's still a balance to finish of $694,000? **John Mulder:** Correct. So that'd be enough to get them back. **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** No, I'm just... I'm comfortable with it. I just was curious. Punch list, then we'll get it done. [43:08] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Is there any public input on this resolution? Any public input on resolution 2024-222? Any public input on the resolution approving pay request number six for Fickner Park improvements? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Next is resolution 2024-223, resolution authorizing and directing Mayor and City Clerk to execute an acceptance of easement agreement to the City of Hermantown from Richard and Jill Nichols for the Hermantown Trail project. Do we have a motion? [44:13] **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Motion to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Is there a second? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor Peterson. Mr. Mulder. [44:21] **John Mulder:** So this is an easement that is part of that Trail project south out of Keene Creek Park. So this is the first of one of those easements that we're looking to acquire. [44:32] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Do we have any questions or comments from Council? Hearing none, is there any public input on this resolution? Do we have any public input on resolution 2024-223? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Next is resolution 2024-224, resolution ordering improvement and directing preparation of final plans and specifications for Road Improvement District number 552, Billman Irve’s Properties Incorporated. Do we have a motion? [45:18] **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Move to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor LeBlanc. Is there a second? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor Peterson. Mr. Mulder. [45:25] **John Mulder:** About a month or so ago, you had a public hearing on the potential improvement project for the Billman Irve’s property. This is the property along Highway 53 and Loberg bypass. This would be some retail properties that are not included as part of the grant. And so now that we've received the grant, we want to move forward with both projects. We're asking that you order the improvement at this point. [46:00] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? Any public input on this resolution? Any public input on resolution 2024-224? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Next is resolution 2024-225, resolution authorizing and directing Mayor and City Clerk to execute and deliver an agreement for Engineering Services with a total not to exceed the contract amount of $46,490 for Road Improvement District number 552, Billman Irve’s Properties Incorporated, with Northland Consulting Engineers. Do we have a motion? [47:11] **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Move to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor Peterson. Do we have a second? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor LeBlanc. Mr. Mulder. [47:20] **John Mulder:** Now that you've ordered the project, we need an engineer to do the plans and specs and put it out for bid and then do the construction engineering. We're proposing to hire Northland Consulting Engineers for that project. **Councilor John Geissler:** Mr. Mayor, I will state that my son works for Northland Consulting Engineers and the result of this contract has no financial benefit to he or I. [47:56] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Are there any other comments from Council? Is there any public input on this resolution? Any public input on resolution 2024-225? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Next is resolution 2024-226, resolution ordering improvement and directing preparation of final plans and specifications for Road Improvement District number 553, Hawkline Business Park. Do we have a motion? [48:33] **Councilor John Geissler:** Motion to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor Geissler. Is there a second? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor Peterson. Mr. Mulder. [48:46] **John Mulder:** So this is related to the Billman property. This is a separate project that we received a state grant for. And so this is a separate project but would do the same kind of thing. We had that public hearing about a month or so ago; this would then order that improvement. [49:10] **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** I did have one just for clarity. Is this the first project the city is putting General Levy dollars towards utility improvements on? **John Mulder:** I don't believe there's any General Levy dollars. Sales tax? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Well, the answer is no, but now you're going to ask me the next question—what other ones? Depending upon, again, as you think about these... so the City spent sales tax dollars on extending a pipe along Maple Grove Road from Loberg to about the church several years ago, I want to say 2018. We put some sales tax dollars to that. We put some sales tax dollars to the water and sewer pipe going from Maple Grove back to the back fields on the soccer... if you give me some more time I could think of a couple other ones too, but off the top of my head I'm hard-pressed to come up with them. [50:41] **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** The only reason I ask is Mr. Steber was at the HEDA meeting last month and one of the concerns he brought up was the expense—how expensive it is to do utility work. Now, I don't know if he's approached the City about us contributing to that project or not; I'm just wondering, you know, is this the door we're willing to open on a bigger scale? Because as soon as we do it once—which it doesn't sound like this is our first time—but as soon as you start doing it, there's going to be more people asking us to do it. And arguably it gets harder to say no, too. **John Mulder:** But you have the ability to decide which projects you want to contribute to, and that is really just a legislative act on your part. So you have complete ability to decide which projects you want to support and which ones you don't. **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** I think the water line you mentioned on Maple Grove, doesn't some of that cover Mr. Steber's property? **John Mulder:** Well yeah, I mean, that project along Maple Grove would have benefited him but there was... I mean, some of that was assessment, some was City contribution. I can't do the details off the top of my head, but yes. I mean, there are various circumstances where we've put utilities in—Fleet Farm, we probably did some of that. They did some of the work, we abated it and paid them back. So there have been various situations where we've done that. [52:05] **Paul Senst (Public Works Director):** Mayor and Council, I'd like to add to what John said. Recently we put the water line on Lake Junction; we made that tie-in with the Water Utility Fund. Specific to the Steber parcel, the entire frontage along Maple Grove Road has water and sewer there for him to access. So the utility costs he's referring to are the costs to develop the site. The public utilities are there. [52:50] **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Any other questions or comments? No, the history lesson was helpful. I just can't remember all the history because I'm like, oh, I know that the answer is no, but I knew the second part of the question. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** I didn't know there was going to be a test! **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** The reason I ask is I think the City can do more to spur growth, especially in there. You know, the residential thing is a whole different topic obviously than commercial, but I do think it's only for the good and the public benefit that we put this in there. **John Mulder:** And that was the case of Lake Junction—that was to better the water system. Correct? **Paul Senst:** Correct. Mayor and Council, again, just some other recent ones: we used the water utility for the improvement on Highway 53 this fall. We've done it for the water tower. There's the water mains on Loberg and Market and Miller Drive back in the day—those were all part of the Water Utility Fund too. [53:42] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Anything else from Council? Any public input on this? Any public input on resolution 2024-226? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Next is resolution 2024-227, resolution authorizing and directing Mayor and City Clerk to execute and deliver an agreement for Engineering Services with a total not to exceed contract amount of $396,500 for Hawkline Business Park with Northland Consulting Engineers. Do we have a motion? [54:45] **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Motion to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor Hjelle. Is there a second? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor LeBlanc. Mr. Mulder. [54:55] **John Mulder:** Again, same kind of story there. You've ordered the projects, so we're proposing recommending to hire NCE to prepare the plans and specs and then do the construction engineering when it goes to construction in 2025. And I want to clarify that the amount that I voiced is slightly different than the amount in the written resolution because we didn't have the full added electrical work quote of $112,000 prior to tonight. [55:40] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Any questions or comments from Council? **Councilor John Geissler:** Similar to what I said before, my son works for Northland Consulting Engineers and the result of this contract award has no financial benefit to he or I. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Is there any public input on this resolution? [56:02] **Paul Senst:** Mayor and Council, I'd just like to add—wasn't brought up at pre-agenda, but resolutions 225 and 227 are separate resolutions, but we will be preparing one set of plans, one specification, one contract, and hiring one contractor to do the work. The reason these are split up is for the sole purpose of the grant, because we have to track all costs associated with the Billman Irve site that's associated with the grant. So that's why there's two separate resolutions for this. I just wanted to clarify that. [56:50] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Any other questions from Council? Any public input on this resolution? Any public input on resolution 2024-227? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Next is resolution 2024-228, resolution directing immediate abatement of hazardous structures within the mobile home park located at 4921 Eddie Avenue. Do we have a motion? [57:33] **Councilor John Geissler:** Motion to approve. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor Geissler. Is there a second? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor LeBlanc. Mr. Mulder, should we have Mr. Holmes address this one? **John Mulder:** Sure. [57:48] **Brandon Holmes (Building Official):** Yes, thank you Mayor and Council. So what I'm specifically requesting here is that you guys issue an order of the Council requiring the property owner to abate by removal two hazardous trailers that are present. Both are vacant at the moment, though they have occasionally been used to squat in. They have no current sewer or water that's compliant; they have structural failures—their floors have failed; they have egress issues, electrical issues. The list is pretty numerous. So at this point, there is no real path forward where they could be repaired. I've already issued a directive to the property owner; he had until November 12th to comply, and he has not done so. So what we're requesting here is you order him to comply. If he does not comply within 20 days, we would then be authorized to seek a directive from the District Court authorizing us to remove these and dispose of them, and then assess the cost either back on taxes or as part of further civil action, or using revenue from fines that are currently being assessed. [58:48] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** I have one. Is one of these the one that you had to get a search warrant to go into? **Brandon Holmes:** Yes, and that is still pending. We'll still be working that out. Again, we would still have 20 days before we took action. [59:08] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Any public input on this resolution? Any public input on resolution 2024-228? Any public input on the resolution directing the immediate abatement of hazardous structures within the mobile home park located at 4921 Eddie Avenue? Hearing none, roll call please. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Geissler? **Councilor John Geissler:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Hjelle? **Councilor Andy Hjelle:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor LeBlanc? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Councilor Peterson? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Aye. **City Clerk Alissa McClure:** Mayor Boucher? **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Aye. Mr. Mulder, is there any need for a closed session this evening? **John Mulder:** No. [59:58] **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Next item of business then is a motion to recess. Do we have that motion? **Councilor Brian LeBlanc:** Move to recess. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Motion by Councilor LeBlanc. Is there a second? **Councilor Joe Peterson:** Second. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Second by Councilor Peterson. All in favor say Aye. **Council:** Aye. **Mayor Wayne Boucher:** Opposed, same. [Gavel]