I want to hit this. >> All right. Call the meeting to order. Stand for the pledge of allegiance, please. >> Lady to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation, indivisibley andice for all. >> Thank you. Roll call, please. >> Council member Nordby, >> here. >> Council member Woods, >> here. >> Council member McKenzie, >> here. >> Council member Schwear >> here. Mayor Monkey >> here. >> Yeah, if you don't mind. Um uh we'd like to before we jump into the adopt the agenda uh bring up our police chief uh Ray Rosales to uh discuss some of the impact and the feelings we're getting back from the public about um ICE and where our where we stand on some of this. So I'd like to turn over to Chief Rosales please. >> Thank you, mayor. Thank you, council members. Thank you, city manager. Thank you, everyone that's in attendance this evening. Uh, this is a message from the city of North St. Paul. The city of North St. Paul is aware that residents and businesses may have questions or concerns regarding increased federal immigration enforcement activity occurring in surrounding communities. The city's primary responsibility is to ensure the safety and security of all residents. This message is to clarify the role of the North St. Paul Police Department regarding the ongoing immigration enforcement in Minnesota. The city of North St. Paul does not enforce immigration laws and is not involved in fe federal immigration enforcement operations. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, is a separate federal agency and no individual or local authority, including local law enforcement, may interfere with its operations. Nor St. All police officers do not inquire about the immigration status of suspects, victims, or witnesses and are prohibited from sharing information for the purpose of identifying or enforcing immigration violations. The city respects the constitutional right of individuals to law lawfully demonstrated or protest. Police officers may respond to such activities to determine whether they are lawful, to ensure public safety, and to protect individuals constitutional rights when exercised in a lawful manner on public property. It is unlawful to obstruct or in interfere with the actions of ICE or any law enforcement agency. Residents are encouraged to remain calm, prioritize safety, and refrain from interfering with any ICE enforcement activity they may observe. Interfering with federal agents can create serious safety risk for all involved. With that being said, residents with concerns regarding ICE activity within the city of North St. Paul may contact the City of North St. Paul Police Department at 651-747-2406 where they will be directed to the appropriate staff. If you believe a Department of Homeland Security employee has acted improperly, complaints may be d submitted directly to the DHS Office of Inspector General. Reports can be filed online through the DHS hotline complaint form online. Correct me if I'm wrong. Uh, city manager, this uh, release that I just read is also going to be posted on our website. Correct. >> Yes, that's correct. >> Okay. >> What is it? >> Thank you very much. Thank you for that. Thank you, Chief. >> At this time, we will get a motion to adopt the agenda, please. >> So moved. >> So moved. Council member Swear. Second. >> Second. Council member Woods. All those in favor say I. I. >> I. Thank you very much. All right, moving on. We'd like to have a presentation today for um our commissioners that would spend their time, personal time on our commissions, whether or not it's the arts or economic development, parks and wreck, uh planning. Um so, we'd like to recognize them tonight. We'll have the mayor and come down to the podium and we can present uh plaques out for people who have served. So, I really appreciate the time to do that to honor these people. So I don't know. >> All right, >> I'm gonna go down there for the planning. >> Seven of North St. Paul has several boards and commissions on which uh members volunteer their time uh for the betterment of our city. These include the art and culture, parks and rec planning commission, economic development authority and the police civil service commission. At the end of 2025, there were seven members um whose respective terms ended and they chose to resign. The city would like to acknowledge and express sincere appreciation to the outgoing members for the various commissions. Each of these commissioners has generously volunteered their time, knowledge, and experience to serve the community. So, uh, first up, I will allow you to read that. >> Right there, too. >> Who's all here? >> I would. >> You're going to go down there for your own commission, right? Troy, get in there. >> Peter, >> I don't think his name say it for the EDA. Yep. >> We'll get that out to >> him. Andrew Pleasure, sir. Absolutely. Oh, yes. You're wonderful. Get my fingers all over. >> How many years, sir? >> 15. And we like to Oh yes, >> everything also civil service. >> Should get that marked. >> Oh wow. >> Yep. >> Same indeed. on your surgery. >> Absolutely. back up. Well, you look good. Not what they're supposed to. >> Here you go, Dave. >> We'll mail them out. Thank you. >> There you are, sir. >> Thanks everybody for all the help. We appreciate all the hard work. Thank you so much. >> I'll let Jim go first. >> All the hardware. I feel like Academy Awards going on here. I >> think so. >> Oh, I'm not going to bend over. >> Just leave it on the counter. >> Well, thanks again everybody. All right. Now, we'll go work our way to the consent agenda. All right, consent. Item A, January 6, 2026 regular meeting minutes. Item B, general claims of $4,172,446.884. H claims of $128,1946. Park and recreation commission appointments. Item E, reappoint student commissioner to the arts and culture commission. Item F, solar rates above 40KW. Uh, item G, pay equity report. And item H, approve the 2026 revised history cruise car show agreement. >> Looking for a motion. >> All right. Thank you. I'd like to see if anybody like to pull anything at this time. If not, can I please have a motion? >> So moved. >> So moved. Council member Woods. >> Second. >> Second. Council member Mackenzie. All those in favor say I. I. >> I. >> All right. Thank you all for that. Now, next we have uh three minutes open to the public for public comment. All right. Is it Ben? >> Hey, come on up. >> All right. Thanks for having me. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you for coming. >> Hello. Uh the timing of this short little speech is um interestingly timed. Um, when the chief was up here speaking about ICE and North St. Paul's role, um, I thought he did a pretty good job and that's really what I came here to say. What is uh, St. North St. Paul's role as far as ICE goes. So, I'm going to give my speech anyway. Um, knowing now that you guys did put out a statement, but I'm going to read it anyway. So, I'm here to express concern about how ICE responds or sorry, I'm got to get my glasses on. I'm here to express concern about how ICE impacts our local community. Residents are afraid to leave their homes and interact as a community. This is a real fear in the neighborhood that affects everyone. There have been cars pulled over, houses entered without warrants, and citizens arrested. Um, I'm sure you guys, everyone knows about the shooting in Minneapolis as well. Um, everyone from Stillwater to St. Cloud is affected by this or touched by it in some way. Um, but right now we're talking about North St. Paul. Um, our city should be focused on safety, trust, and serving the community. We should be clear about this and know we are not an extension of ICE. Um, so please um do not let ICE take over our city. Thank you so much. And thank you so much for the statement you uh your chief made earlier. Thanks. >> Thank you. Sabina, >> thank you. I'm terrible with names. Sabina. >> Um, Ben already said most of what I was going to say and I appreciate the statement by the chief tonight. Um, my concern especially is many of the immigrant businesses that we have in North St. Paul, many um, restaurants are already closed. um stores are locked and as a citizen that just really makes me sad. >> Um so whatever we can do as a city to support them and make them feel safe in the city I just really would like that to happen. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> All right. Well, thanks everybody for your comments. So now we will be moving to electric guy. Yeah. Next is city business action items uh which is talking about the substation system upgrading and replacements. So we'll turn it over to our electric director John Wick. >> All right. Can everybody hear me? >> Yes, sir. Yes. >> Okay. Uh I'll try to give you the quick overview and uh as much information as I can uh in the short period of time. Uh so in November we started to see some issues at the substation. Uh it was not long after I had actually turned in the budget for the year. Uh kind of an unforeseen um issue. Uh but it's something that I think u our budget has given us enough room to absorb in the coming year. Um we started seeing some errors in in readings coming from the substation through our SCADA. um and had our um our SCADA company come out automated systems to take a look and see if it was anything wrong with the readings we were getting from the substation. Um they confirmed that uh the the system was working properly uh and that it was just getting the wrong information um from the physical devices control devices within the sub. Um unfortunately we noticed a number of meters uh that read the the load on each circuit were responding with inaccurate numbers. Um we were able to get the accurate numbers from the relays that are on the circuits themselves. Uh but in the control house itself where those readings come from uh everything was was showing the wrong numbers. Uh we did uh we were able to diagnose uh we had uh PMG engineering come out um fellow by the name of Jason Van Heck. I'll touch on him a little bit uh later. Uh he came out and was able to tell us which uh pieces of equipment were failing and a rough ballpark of what it would cost to replace those parts. Uh but what he had ultimately suggested was that we um replace our current relay system with a new upgraded system. Um our current system is maxed out. We cannot receive any more information from the substation. Uh and there's a lot of good information that we can receive uh if we do upgrade. Uh to keep it short, we to replace the parts that were there. um it's actually near approaching the cost to actually do the entire upgrade itself. Um and those parts are going to become more and more difficult to obtain as we go forward. Um we can go to the next slide. Uh so yes, it's all critical equipment. Uh we monitor this information daily and um and then we have the guys go down and check the substation every week to make sure that um we don't have any potential failures or catastrophic events. Um the physical imple or equipment in the sub that is failing is showing the wrong readings as well. But without getting too technical, we have relays in place on each circuit that have house a plethora of information and we're pulling just a very little amount out of them. Uh by doing this upgrade, we'll be able to pull any and all information off of those. They're called Schwitzer relays. um they're on each circuit breaker that meet feed the main circuits that go throughout town. We'll be able to pull any and all information off of them and integrate them with our current SCADA system. Um yeah, we can go to the next one. Um just for uh some background, the substation is the essentially the heart and the brain of the entire electrical system. All the information that we monitor throughout our system comes from the substation and the source of all the energy for the town comes from that substation. Uh so I think it is critical to uh spare no expense when it comes to making the right decisions down there. Um the current system we have that would be getting replaced is called the PLC system. uh it uses um information from each individual device in the control house to send information back to us and for us to read physically on the location. Um and by going to the new system, we would no longer have to pull from each individual instrument. We'd be able to pull it all from the main relays on those breakers. This would modernize the way we re receive information, but it would also make it so we're set for any upgrades in the future. Uh, this new system would it's a seal product. Um, is a widely recognized brand. Uh, they have a 10-year warranty on all items and they also uh typically outside of that warranty will even replace at no cost just because they want to know if there's an issue. They want to know what's wrong and they don't want to they don't want to be by surprised by anything in the future. So, uh I learned through the PMG engineering that came out this Jason that uh he has a good relationship with them and that uh he's typically never seen anyone have to pay for any sort of replacements on parts that fail uh from seal. So, um yeah, we can go to the next one. again that product I would mesh with uh anything that we would upgrade in the future. Uh we'd be able to just basically plug and play the project products as we did any upgrades. Now I don't know what we would focus on first but at least getting to uh where we're getting all the information we need is uh is top priority. Another big benefit would be um we would be getting all new prints and oneline diagrams of the substation. Our current ones are sufficient uh but they are very difficult to read. Um they're hard to interpret. And by getting a new system, new prints, we get all the all of our crew trained in on how to interpret those prints and how to operate all the equipment within the substation. Um, I think everyone on our crew is sufficient at recognizing things in the substation that may be um, wrong or things that they can operate, but it's also not their expertise. Um, so they we usually rely on um, uh, contracted outside help for steps like that. Um, so in this way we I think we'd be better prepared for um, you know, anything that could go wrong in the future. Again, like I said, the cost comparison is very similar to actually replacing the failed equipment that's currently in the substation. Uh we have charts that we've been looking to replace for some time. Uh that would be anywhere from 15 to $20,000 to just replace what's currently there. Um the four failed meters are about 5,000 a piece. And then to upgrade our PLC system with the SCADA, uh would be in the ballpark of 20 to $30,000 to add additional ways to add information. Um you know, you're you're looking in the ballpark of $60 to $70,000 to do a complete replacement of the current equipment or the 92,000 to do the full upgrade. again PMG Engineering uh Jason Van Heck came out he was widely recommended by uh other public utilities and XL Energy uh he's uh expert in substations and uh anything relay and uh monitoring equipment uh they uh from the moment he stepped into that substation um I've seen a lot of smart people come in there and I respect a lot of them that was the smartest person I've ever seen in that substation and the the moment he was in there, he he could read that entire substation without seeing a single print or or cuz he's been in so many that same style. Um and and it was pretty apparent to him immediately that we should be looking at making this switch. Um and then uh to make things better um he was the lowest bid that came in as well. I know it's a lot of information and a lot of technical. Um I'd be happy to uh speak more on anything uh that is not fully comprehended or that you may have questions on. Um but I I would like to see us move forward with the upgrade. I think it would be uh something that we can as a department absorb within our budget. Uh we can make the proper changes to to stay within those those limits. But just again it wasn't it was an unforeseen thing towards the end of last year that that came up. So uh yeah any any questions or concerns? >> What's the timing? How long is it going to take to do the upgrade? How long is it I see 20 to 30 23 to 30 days prior to start of installation? >> Um but how long is it going to take to actually do? And >> is it >> are we in any d is the city in any danger of losing power or anything between now and then? >> Uh that's that's a great question. Uh there's no immediate concern of the of power failure. Um we're just not being able to monitor information that could >> lead to to failure. Um but as it sits now, we're you know there I have no concern of the power actually going out or or something you know bad happening to our transformer or the substation in general. Um like I said that 23 to 30 days to acquire. Um and then they anticipated from the time they've acquired the equipment um about 2 weeks to install. >> Okay. How long have we had the current system for? >> Uh longer than my time here. >> 35 years. Your >> time? >> 35 years. >> 35 years. Okay. >> And it's been it's it's been a reliable system. Um it's it's served its purpose, but it's also um you know on the aging end of of its capabilities. So >> Well, I like that. um like what you do and also what Ron you know you bring the solutions plus the other ones too. So we look at the upgrade and what it cost to compare to you know replacing just like we did with the the door locks and all the other things. So it's I appreciate you doing both sides to say this will get us to this point but this also will be able to get us farther into the future. >> Yeah. Uhhuh. Yeah. >> So thanks for doing that that research on it. >> Oh of course. And and you said you believe that you're able to absorb this cost with your current budget. You think? >> Yes. Yeah. I think um uh you know it's more than we were planning on spending on our substation structure budget, but uh and we we do also have the um our three-year maintenance this year as well. So, it's an additional cost within the substation. Some of it can probably be absorbed with this uh with them doing the relay checks and everything like that. So, it might shave some cost off of our three-year inspection as well, like where they test the transformer and all the breakers and typically go in and check all our targets and our relays and and the batteries and so it it might be able to kind of offset a little bit of that. >> Oh, >> I don't have confirmation of that at this time, but >> So, I'm hearing you say it's going to save us money in the long run, right? >> I'm just kidding. >> Yeah, it could. Yes. Yeah. Well, I feel that we should just upgrade it because it's been 35 years. >> Replace it. Yeah. >> Or replace it. Yeah. I I think that'd be the smartest thing to do. More of a cost-saving effect that way. >> Yeah, I I agree. It's um uh it would be um I would be a lot more comfortable with the upgrade uh than actually replacing what's currently there. We could I know we can read that and we can interpret that. Uh, but I think there's a lot more capabilities moving forward with the new the new path. >> Any more questions from anybody? Everybody, >> I'm good. >> Comfortable with that? >> Yep. >> So, we'll have to do a vote on it. So, give me a second here to get back up. There we go. Substation PLC system replacement. I'll make a motion to replace council >> member Schwer. >> Second by anybody. Second. >> Second by council member McKenzie. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate you keep an eye on it. >> Thank you. >> Of course. >> Thanks, John. >> All right. Reports from city manager and departments. We had a staff meeting today. Um guess I'd like to first talk a little bit about our chlorination. So as you know um we ended up having a bacteria in the water supply. It wasn't it's uh not the style that is detrimental to health. Uh but what it means is um we had a sizable road reconstruction project uh this last year which also meant replacing um water lines you know and you have the potential they do clean it out. They do try to chlorinate it, but once in a while, you know, it could be a matter of a leaf. It could be a little bit of dirt that got in there which caused this. So, by having that in there, uh requirements from the state. We did start chlorination. Uh we had it in there for about what four or five weeks that we had it going. Um so, we did take that off last week, did testing again, and unfortunately the came back with several fails for the testing that is still detecting bacteria. So, we put it back on there. Um, you know, we are hearing a lot from the public. People aren't used to having the chlorination in their water system. So, it really stands out when you're not used to it. Uh, but clearly there are, uh, areas that you have to keep it within a certain amount uh, in there. You can't go above or beyond uh, the percentages. I would leave that up to Ron to talk about those percentages, but uh, we are well within those parameters. Um, this time it's not going to be exactly the same like it was before. we're actually moved to the a different area where we're adding the chlorination which is closer to the problem issue that we have. So, we're hoping that that would give us a a step up in uh getting this bacteria completely out of the system. Um I would imagine that it probably be another four or five weeks try to run with this chlorination and then if we'll try it again, take it off for about a week and then redo testing again to see where we come out. Um in talking with the state, we have found that uh some we've had a city that had the same issue. Uh they replaced a bunch of their water mane um ended up having that same bacteria in their system. They went on and off probably three, four times, ended up they couldn't get it out of there and they ended up having to go full-time on their chlorination. So that would be um worst case scenario for us if we had to go on there and keep it on there. I know people like that without it, but uh just wanted to give that little heads up kind of where we're at and kind of where we're going. >> Um >> I appreciate that too because you know everybody's trying and as a council we've been you know we say the good, the bad, and the ugly. So we're trying the best we can and you know we'll do the best going forward but there's that chance. So we just wanted to make be out there and be upfront with everybody. And one unfortunate downside of it is it actually with the chlorination in there, it actually cleans the pipes. So people are seeing some uh brown matter in from coming inside the pipes, which is the buildup of the minerals that are inside there. Um so it's recommended that if you see that, you know, run your water until it runs clean. Um, especially when it comes to washing clothes, if uh you happen to be running a load and it comes out and then it happen to flush and you see some of that in there, just re-wash it again when you get to your clean water. Don't dry it because they'll probably lock into the clothes if you do that. But uh but we're receiving the phone calls and giving the people the answers that uh we have for them. Um so the electric department's been they had their uh American Test Center. They come out every year, do uh testing on the trucks, whether or not it's dialectric or mechanical. Um they also is in charge of doing the Ramsey County hazardous waste material for that we bring in as the city. Got that filled out for the year. Um working on a couple of generator issues that they've had uh got one of them fixed. We're still having issues with another. So uh they're looking into that. Those are rather expensive endeavors for So, we have backup generation for like our city hall, our public works building, and then we have them for uh our wells, some of our wells. So, um we have several in town that we maintain. Uh communication. Ava's been uh busy working on the new residential guide for uh customers coming into our city or residents coming to our city, I should say, and uh busy with booking events for 2026. Um finance of course is busy with the auditors. They are back this week. Um along with electric will be doing their audit with them tomorrow, I believe. So, >> and I'll be going in on Wednesday for my part of the audit. >> Yep. So, they'll be here this week and then uh they'll come back uh February and then finish up in March. >> Um PD is starting to get their uh Motorola equipment starting to show up and getting that underway. So, we'll be starting to set up with new body cams and uh equipment for their vehicles. Uh sooner the better. Um public works has been ice rinks are looking decent now since it's so cold. Uh which fluctuates so much this year with the warmer weather and then dropping down to the cold again. Um we did uh for the tree grants, we still have some money left in the tree grant, a little over $70,000. So, they'll be working on the 150 trees that we have left in the city to take care of. Um, be focusing more on the one dead ones that you'll see, especially along the road. They tend to have branches coming down off of them. Um, so they'll be busy with that this year. Um, we also found out that we got uh the it's called the INI or it's a infill and infiltration infiltration grant which allows people to apply for that grant if they want to replace a sewer line because the water that goes into the sewer line leaks into it for the old systems ends up going through and then we pay for that that goes down to St. Paul. So, uh, student build house, they, uh, got the students back out. They were off for the holidays. Uh so we'll start to see progress on that. Probably getting some uh trusses out there this week and get them up on top of there. Um and they got their year end water report completed. Um no big changes. We still on average probably our city which is not just the city proper. We serve into Maplewood north of here as well. Uh we consume approximately million gallons a day for the water system. >> Has that fluctuated much over the years? I heard it didn't. >> Not a lot. It's stayed pretty close to that. Um we've seen a little bit of increase with the population growth that we've seen, but uh last few years, but otherwise it's pretty pretty close. >> Actually, we're pretty low if you compare us to city. Very low. >> Yeah, we do real well for saving >> indeed. Uh fire had the blood drive today, um which worked out well until the elevator died and then had to get them out here quick and fix that. So, got it fixing for tonight to get people up here. That was good. Uh and uh we're starting to get equipment in for the uh door access system. Um got some frames in, doors in. Um be seeing those changes. And then I think the 26th we'll be they'll be having to cruise here and starting to hit it hard and get the locks in place and run the wires out to them. Uh they're also working on the code compliance around town, especially with the uh all the snow and the melting and the ice issues that we've been having. Um, and we got the Polar Plunge coming up. So, anybody wants to jump in the ice up at White Bear Lake January 31st. And if you're looking for any sponsors, you can call the PD there. >> Oh, one up. >> As long as somebody pulls me out, I'll go in. >> Our chief said that he he went in last year and he had a monitor on his wrist. So, it went from what was it like 60 Yeah, as soon as he hit that water, >> I would think so. >> A strong ticker. >> My battery would freeze. >> Yeah. Um and community development, they're working with uh so this Friday, all the comments are due back for the RFP that we put out for the trash hauler. Um the questions will come in that they have for us. We'll um get the answers back to them and within two weeks we should have uh the bids come in. So that's all coming together. That's all I have for you. >> That's quite a bit. Thank you so much for the update. >> All right. Any reports from commissions? >> Council member Schwar, you anything for your guys? >> Unfortunately, we didn't have anything in December. So, uh, January 28th is our next meeting here at Council Chambers at 6:30. >> All right. Thank you. >> Our next meeting at with EDA will be March 10th. >> Okay. Well, tomorrow we're having >> Oh, yes. Tomorrow we are having a uh presentation over at Swedies and at Main Drag for them doing the facade program and they're going to be issued a check back from our city. >> So our >> for the facade program that they kicked in 50% and they put nice new windows on the front of Swedies. It's really made a big difference. So we're able to help with that. So that's awesome. >> That's a start. >> Yeah. And we got plenty more. We've been talking about that program and uh so um we're still hitting it. >> Woods >> um arts and culture. Uh one of the big projects that we've got going on in 2026 is uh the purchase and development of a penny or a sorry a coin press since pennies are kind of out of fashion now. But um so we'll be doing a a coin press uh that will be hosted here in the city. And um so for all those people that like to collect, you know, collectible coins from different places they visit, we'll have one here that I think the plan is to have uh four different uh faces. One with uh the snowman, one with Henry Castle, one with a car for the car show, and one for Automars Festival, I believe. >> So, >> very nice. Thank you. Planning Commission. >> Uh the planning commission will be um interviewing, it sounds like we'll be interviewing starting this coming Monday for replacement. um for one of the ones we just celebrated leaving. And then our next meeting will be on February 5th. >> That's awesome. Thank you very much. Any general business from anybody? >> No. >> Anybody? All right. >> Um I guess I I'll say something. I would like to uh thank police chief uh Rosales for his statement about ICE earlier. I'd like to thank our residents here. Um, I know I've got friends and family who are impacted as well and it's just good to uh have our residents come out and have know that the city is doing what we can. So, thank you. >> All right. Thank you. I would agree with that statement. And also um I was very happy that we were um uh re renewing the student for the commission. And um the I if we have your blessings, I would like to direct city manner that next time he's talking to the school board that if any other students were interested in any of the other commissions, I I think we would be opening to have a student commissioner on every commission. I I I think just that's a wonderful thing and wonderful training experience. >> Yep. >> Yep. Just like with the with um art one, they don't vote, but they're in the meetings. They're able to be part of the discussions and do everything else. So, it gives them a taste of under chance to be able to participate. >> I think that's a great idea. >> I will say uh that you had our student commissioner for the arts and culture commission. Um the I you know I think people are aware of the bring a snowy home program that we had going on where you could buy the little uh wooden snowy and paint it yourself. Um that was his idea. >> So um great ideas, very uh passionate kid. So if we can get people like that involved in any of the commissions or in in government in general, I think we've got a a strong uh path forward for the city. So >> great. All right. I agree with that. We're not going to be adjourning. Uh we're going to be going into a closed door session for uh review for the the city manager. So this meeting will be closed pursuant of the Minnesota statute 13D5 sub 3A to conduct a performance review for of the city manager Brian Frandle. So once we're done with that, we will come back into this room and adjourn. So, appreciate everybody coming tonight and thanks uh for for showing up.