Heat. Heat. All right. Well, good evening everyone and welcome. Tonight is Monday, October 20th, 2025. This is a regular meeting of the Minnitankka City Council. Um, I ask I will uh call this meeting to order and ask you to stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance. 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. >> Miss Larson, would you please call roll? >> Rome >> here. Kley. >> Foster Bolton >> here. >> Shack here. >> Wilburn >> here. >> Calbert here. Wearsome >> here. Next item is approval of the agenda. Uh Mr. Funk. >> Uh good evening, mayor, city council members. We have no agenda for your consideration this evening. So the agenda that's been presented to you in your packet is recommended for approval. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um is there a motion? Council member Rome. >> I move to approve the minutes or the agenda. Sorry. >> Thank you. No problem. Is there a second? Council member Calbertt. >> I'll second. >> All right. We've got a motion by council member Romey and a second by council member Calbert. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Romeley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shack, >> yes. >> Wilburn, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. >> Wearsome, >> yes. Motion carries. Next item is approval of minutes. We have one set and that is the September 29th, 2025 regular meeting minutes. Any corrections or a motion? >> Council member Rome. This time I'll move to approve the minutes of September 29th, 2025. >> Thank you. And a second. Council member Calbertt. >> I'll second. >> All right. A motion by Council Member Romey and a second by Council Member Calbert. Again, Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Rome, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shack, >> yes. >> Wilburn, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. Wearsome, >> yes. Motion carries. Next item is special matters. and we don't have any special matters tonight. So, that brings us to reports from city manager and council members. And uh first, Mr. Funk. Again, thank you, mayor. Good evening. A couple things for you this evening. First, in terms of some community programming, we have the upcoming book and pie sale. So, that's an annual event hosted by our Minnitankka Senior Services. Uh that is Tuesday, October 28th from 11:00 to 4:00 in the community center. All books are a dollar. Uh there's uh caverns or sloppy joe's, whatever your vernacular is. I grew up in Iowa, they call them even something way different than that, but uh so we have loose meat sandwiches uh and also pies for sale. Uh so encourage anyone to come to that event. It's always well attended and we appreciate um the community support. Also coming up is the Burwell Spectacular. That is Friday, October 24th from 5 to 7:30 p.m. That is located at the Burwell House. So always a fun event. uh Cali OD and our recck team always put on a great event for families and kids. So looking forward to that and hopefully we'll cross our fingers for the continued good fall weather and we'll have a great event as well. Also then I want to mention um about our staff and I think this was uh given to you perhaps in a Friday update recently. Um our staff really does care about our community in so many different ways and we have an annual charitable giving event. Uh it's hosted by our employees and action committee EIA for short. Uh and it's an event where uh staff and diff put together bundles kind of gift bundles and it's like a silent auction for staff only. So uh we have teams that put together different assortment of items to bid on everything from a snowplow truck ride to tickets to a sporting event uh things like that. And so staff uh puts a lot of time and effort and donations into creating the items for sale. And as a result staff raised $4,500 out of that event. And as staff, we contributed that this year or donated that to Sorjerer. Uh our Mitaka Police Department works with Souljenner. They're a women's uh shelter and women resources. So very proud of our efforts and for our staff really giving back to the community in that way. Uh two more items. One is also one is related to solicitors. Again, I think I maybe mentioned at our last meeting just with the sto uh storm here recently came through the community. a lot of activity around solicitors seeking licenses to go out and door knock uh for roofing contractors. Um my neighborhood was one of those that was hit and I can tell you there's been lots of folks knocking on my door uh for roofing businesses. According to Miss Wishnack, we had um 54 companies receive uh solicitor applications or receive the licenses. that equals 193 approved um people to be out door knocking. So I if you do hear um from residents about the number and volume of door knockers soliciting roofing or siding type contractors, they are out and about. We do keep a current list on our website. Uh so those 54 companies and all of the vehicles associated with those 193 um individuals are on our website. So we do track um vehicles uh names and then the companies. So it's all on our website. You can find that information. So point people to our website and and uh have them go there. If anyone I would say as a public service announcement, if anyone sees um or questions a solicitor, feel free to call city hall. We can certainly guide them into um helping them in that situation. And I would also add that not everyone that applies for license gets a license. And so we do go through very thorough background checks and uh we flag any um concerns and we do turn people away. And then last just want to mention that in terms of our green line extension uh that they are doing some test runs and so you residents might see uh trains out on the tracks uh going up and down the line. So they are doing some testing right now. Uh there are some videos out on the Met Council website. So anyone can go and kind of see those videos because they are recording them. I'm assuming they're using some drone technology to record some of those uh test runs. So, they are out there and available. Still planning for what I understand an early 2027 open date for writers. So, with that, uh mayor and council turn it back to you or mayor. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Funk and council members, anything that you would like to report? It's been a long time since we've been together. So, council council member Shaq. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um just a couple things. I think most of us at least stopped by um the fire department open house which was I mean the weather could not have been better. The community came out in force. It was a really nice night. Appreciate all the departments for being there and everything they do to make that go off without a hitch. I will plug again the Burwwell House Spooktacular because it is I think the best event of the year because it is literally like out of a Hallmark movie when you walk into Burwell. Um it's really neat. Uh lastly, I had the um privilege to go to the LRON open uh opening in Opus. They are in a building um and it was really they moved from Eden Prairie and it was a really cool event and they were looking to bring somebody from the city and they um they got Samson to come by for a little bit and they he was a hit. totally the talk of the party. So, that was really cool as well. I appreciate staff for accommodating that. >> Thank you, Council Member Sha. Anyone else? Uh, Council Member Foster Bolton. >> Um, last, it wasn't last Wednesday. It was the Wednesday before I went to the um Hopkins West, I think it was Hopkins School had the ride or walk to school day and I went over to Hopkins West and um they had a little table set up for the kids that walked and biked and it was a it was really good um because we were parked or we were like right at the end of the parking lot and so the kids came by And you could see how dangerous it was, too. Um, and I know that the city in Henipin County and the parents and the school are all working toward making that safer, but it was good for me to see like, geez, you think these kids are safe when they're walking into a parking lot and they're not. Um, parents come tearing out of there. Um but the thing that really struck me the most though was that so we would stop the kids and um you know ask their names and blah blah blah and the kids were surprised. They're like well why you know this is what I do kind of um we had treats and stuff and it they they were you know grateful for the treats and stuff but they it was like well this is this is just what I do. this is, you know, and it was just such a um they're quietly influential people that don't need the recognition. I mean, what they need is a safe place to bike and walk to school. Um it just was, you know, they didn't need um to sort of to their h own horns. They didn't even know they, you know, should have or whatever. It was it was it was a sweet um morning. Thank you. And others. Council member Calbertt. >> Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, the um fall festival um was just just amazing. Great activities. I mean, you could build your own development from permitting to building and uh learn about all kinds of projects going on in the city and kids could learn how to do CPR. So, if you haven't been there, go there next year. Um, and uh, I was going to go to the the walk to school day. Unfortunately, my golden retriever was quite ill and passed away that day. And um so I just wanted to put a plug in because he was a rescue dog and he was in a puppy mill cage for eight years of his life and we were lucky to have him for 2 and 1/2 years and he is sort of like the golden retriever equivalent of Samson the therapy dog. So um I just want to put a plug in for rescue dogs. People in Minnetonka love the breeds that they love. He just happened to be a golden retriever that needed a home. But I have a pitbull sharp mix at home and a Chihuahua mix and um they are just they can be wonderful, wonderful dogs. So I just wanted to put a plug in for um for rescue dogs. Um, I also just wanted to say that I got my notice as a person lives on Baker Road right by Hopkins West Middle School, um, about, you know, there's they're starting to, uh, get ready to build a safe trail. So, there will be a north south trail running along Baker Road on my side of the road. And if you get a notice, please open it up. They have a little thing that you have to fill out and send back in. and um they have a lot of information about how it's going to work. And I'm really excited to have a safe place for everyone to walk and bike. And you know, I see what goes on in that parking lot cuz I'm so close. And I totally agree that the neighbors are sort of unsung heroes. And um they did just put do not enter signs on the Baker Road side of the um parking lot um just to make it a a safer um parking lot. So I appreciate all the efforts that everybody's putting into that. And I just want to thank um ahead of time all of the um election judges, many of whom are already busy, and our city clerk staff because it's a busy busy um time. And I want to thank them for everything that they do um making sure that we have some of the best um bestrun uh elections in the country. And also um I've always been so proud that we've had high voter turnout. So, um, not so much in the off-year elections, but, um, I just want to thank them for what they do. >> Thank you, Council Member Calbert. Is there anyone else with anything? >> Council member Romey. >> Thank you, mayor. Just want a quick shout out to uh Minnotonka Police Department and also State Patrol for uh providing kind of uh excellent overseeing or you know just being around on Saturday during the No Kings Day event here in Minnetonka. Um lots of people there totally peaceful um as were most of the events around the country and that was also the case here. So appreciate Minnetonka Police Department being there for that. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member. Anyone else? Council member Kley, welcome. How are you? >> I just want to say I'm sorry I I'm late. I just had a brain fart. I thought it was 6:30. I'm sorry. >> Thanks. Thanks. Things happen. Trust me. Um, >> all right. Yeah, don't beat yourself up on that. Um, so, um, a couple of things I wanted to mention. Um, and you know, it's been a long time since we've been together in a regular meeting, so it's nice to see everyone. Um, a couple things I wanted to mention. One was, um, there have been quite a few activities regarding Highway 7 and um, I was invited to a meeting and I'm going to get the name wrong, but it was a Highway 7 safety coalition and it was representatives from of the cities that um, um, are on Highway 7 and it was law enforcement and some elected officials and some staff people. And there was a grant given um uh to um you know just kind of monitor things and um and pay for some things that will make um Highway 7 safer. Among the things that were um um funded by the grant were um increased um um patrols on Highway 7 to make sure that Highway 7 um that people are driving safely on Highway 7. and also um use of the lack of a better term the Cyclops for um um and you've probably seen it, but it's the device that looks to check for distracted driving. I mean, there's numerous cameras and it basically can see into cars and if people are on their phone, it identifies that. And so, and I'm not sure what the um I'm not sure what the um actions taken from that, whether it's just a letter saying you were observed or if there's um more um uh more involved enforcement, but um we had a meet the first meeting of the group on that and that will be going on for about a a year and then um the funding for that will was a grant and that will be over. there's a smaller grant that will be less um that will cover um fewer things. But anyway, I attended that meeting and uh that was that was worthwhile. Um then, you know, I just want to mention again the fire department open house. Um always a hugely popular event. Um you you keep track by how many hundreds of hot dogs the um the fire department gives away and that's um you know, always a popular event. And um I was I was there um my typically I'm there for a lengthy period of time due to other obligations I was there for a short period of time but but it's always a great event and and a lot of our supporting organizations are there exhibiting um not only the fire department but all you know our public works department was there um um a lot of affiliated organizations that do work in our city and improve the quality of life in Minnetonka uh were there. So that was that's a great event and lots of kids um lots of kids, lots of families. Um then the other thing I wanted to mention was um the um well there were a couple of events that I participated in. One was the um the press conference that was held in um at the cap um in St. Paul regarding um efforts to reduce gun violence and specifically focused on um some initiatives to eliminate um um assault weapons and um highcapacity magazines and um other particularly virulent forms of um guns. And you know that's clearly has become a very political issue but um it's one that I believe in. And so um I I attended and participated in that and I was happy to do that. And then recently our state senator um uh and Johnson Stewart and Patty Achim held a um uh town hall meeting basically on gun violence and they asked me to be the moderator. And um I think that a lot of the as I mentioned at the meeting um a lot of the um proponents of these changes, it's gotten very partisan. It's an issue in my view that shouldn't be partisan, but it is partisan. And so there are a lot more Democrats at this thing than there were Republicans. And I made the comment that, well, I I'd like to think that they asked me to moderate this because they thought I'd do a great job, but in reality, I recognize they asked me to be there because I'm not because I'm not a Democrat. I'm I'm an independent and I think having that voice was important and that was well attended and I think that the the topics covered were um um were important and I think it's um you know it's unfortunate that something that should be so common sense is so divisive and so politically um polarized but but I was there and I wanted to support that effort and so I wanted to um explain that or mention that. And then the other thing was I was um host I was a speaker along with two other mayors, Mayor Labidy, excuse me, of Shorewood and Mayor Ringgate of Excelsier. Um and we were a mayor's panel at the Excelsier Rotary um um this past week. So th those a few thing there's a few things that I've been up to lately. So anyway, with that, um, seeing no more no further reports from council members, the next item on the agenda is wishing citizens wishing to discuss matters not on the agenda. And so this is an open mic mic opportunity. And if you have something that you would like the council to know, please come forward, state your name and address, tell us what you want us to know, and we will listen. and uh we will take no action on that tonight, but we will turn it over to staff for subsequent followup uh with you and then a report back to the council at a later date. So, if there's someone who would like to come forward and and um share something um that's not in the agenda, please state your name and address and let us know what you have to say. >> Good evening. >> Good evening. Um council member and mayor, uh Kevin Ringhoffer, 2200 Indian Road West, um is where I live. Anything else I need to say? Um, was that >> That's good. That's good. >> Good. Um, I'm actually here to report of a pending deportation of a Minnotonka resident and member of the U Mills community. Um, after being here almost 10 years, most of the time spent in Minnesota and most of the time uh spent in Minnetonka and being a part of the Mills community. um they are having their work visa revoked. Um they were in the process of filing for a green card and were not only denied the green card but told that their work visa would be uh would be revoked. Um so and I won't get into the details of why the work visa was being revoked but it was really probably an immigration uh department issue of not kind of following through. um filed several appeals uh primarily because of the the uh immigration's fault of not getting not kind of renewing his work permit in a timely manner. Uh was given and was basically told that you know that was going to be denied and he had they had a choice of either uh leaving voluntarily or forcibly uh being removed. uh they have chosen to uh leave voluntarily and part of the reason were that they were told if they didn't leave voluntarily and were forcibly removed that that would they would be banned from coming back to the United States for the next 10 years and not only the United States but several other countries which kind of follow the United States guidelines of being banned. Um so that's the situation. I don't know of other deportations that have been reported. I don't know if there are other deportations reported uh in Minnotonka, but this is this is the first one that I'm aware. Uh we are also aware in our community of several others who are in precarious positions uh as well. Um and again, difficulties kind of in following through. When people follow through with appeals, they seem like they're just basically kind of ignored. Um, so with that, I just wanted to make you and uh the staff and the residents of Minnotonka aware that this is happening and I would be willing to talk offline with anyone who would uh have some ideas of what we could do for advocacy or maybe if there's advocacy that the city can do on behalf of it of its residents. So, >> thank you, Mr. Ringhoffer. Um, thank you for sharing. >> Is there anyone else? Good evening. >> Good evening. Uh, thank you, city council, and all members, city attorney. Uh, my name's, uh, Riley, 4550 Saddlewood Drive here in Minnotonka. New resident to Minnotonka. I moved here a little over a year ago. Um, in August, there was no Kings Rally here in town, and I was standing on the corner of Highway 7, and I was assaulted by a young girl with a stick. She hit me in the back of the neck. Uh, it hurt. I felt uh, fearful. I called Minnotonka Police Department. They quickly responded. The young girl admitted to striking me in the back of the head with a stick. Um, while at the rally, she didn't like the sign I was holding. Um, she fled the scene. I walked behind her. As she left, she saw I was there, removed her shoes, and started running away. Obviously, an admission of guilt. I was actually in my workout clothes, so I was very easily to pursue her. Maintained a couple hundred yards behind her while I was on the call with 911. Like I said, the cops arrived and the young girl kind of was mocking the whole situation. Didn't think it was a very big deal. Finally, the cops told her, you know, you're going to be in trouble. Uh tears came from her eyes and it was obvious that she regretted her actions. The cop pushed me to uh have a conversation with him and the father of the daughter. Uh asked me not to pursue charges. After carefully thinking about it, I decided that I thought this was a great learning opportunity for this young girl to realize that political violence has no place in our state or our city. After the cop and the f the father the father agreed, he said, "This is unacceptable and I agree something needs to be done here." The cop however tried to pursue me not to press these charges. I was very clear I would like to see something happen with this and that's why I was so disturbed to later receive the police report that said the cop was unable to uh determine that a crime was committed. I went to the chiropractor had x-rays done had visual he told me I had obvious signs of whiplash. I could hardly move my head to the left or the right up or down. And I guess my question is, is political violence legal in Minnetonka? And then are are the police, law enforcement, judge, and jury? Because I really I'm not trying to throw the book at this young girl, but like if we're going to allow that kind of behavior, then we can't be upset when some of the other terrible things that have happened due to political violence lately in our state. And Miss Paula here, she had thanked everybody for not having any issues at the no kings rally. And if these crimes go unreported, we can celebrate no crimes. But I'll tell you, in August, that night when I got struck in the back of the neck, I didn't feel like I was safe. I certainly didn't feel like my tax dollars were serving me. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else who has something to report to the council tonight? Anyone? All right. Seeing no one, we will move on. So, next item is bids and purchases and item 9A is um approval of a cyber security insurance coverage and I believe Miss Diamond that is your report. >> Thank you, mayor. We'll see if this works. It's not working. Right. Um tonight we'll be talking about approval of cyber security insurance coverage. Um the staff recommendation this evening is to motion to accept the cyber security insurance quote from AIG totaling $49,8986 and then four votes are needed to pass this item. Again, financial considerations. There is an annual cost of $49,986 and the cyber security policy will be funded through the in city's insurance trust fund. A little background. So October is cyber security awareness month. So, we are doing lots of things around city hall to train employees, fishing simulations, lots of education happening this month. Um, cyber attacks are the largest digital threat local governments can experience and beyond local government as well. Um, due to the bad actors trying to infiltrate the city's network in order to realize financial gain, disrupt operations, and or to alter, destroy data. Cyber attacks are typically launched using methods like malware, fishing, and ransomware. Again, city staff receive regular training for cyber security best practices, including fishing simulations. And those fishing simulations, I often question if they're fishing simulations or a real email because they are so tricky. And so, we do lots of things around city hall. We train our employees. And yet, this this is a really um big topic. I was with a lot of assistant city managers recently, and I think 90% of us said, "What's what what do you lose sleep over at night?" in its cyber security because it is such a um forefront of everyone's minds particularly lately. So some background so the city currently has cyber security insurance through the League of Minnesota insurance trust fund with a maximum coverage of 500,000 per incident. Um however it is 500,000 per incident but when it's a fishing attack the max is only $50,000. That was a change in 2023 that was made in the insurance trust due to the increasing number of attacks on cities. Um market data and recent cyber attacks example the city of St. Paul's was one of the most recent show average losses exceeding this coveraged amount. So to supplement the existing policy to maximize risks and minimize risk um city staff partnered with NFP who's our insurance broker for health insurance. Um, so they're insurance broker to solicit additional coverage options. So we received three quotes that we received a few more, but this these were the three that came recommended by the insurance broker. So AIG at 49,986, TMHCC, which 60,000, and Coalition at $90,000 annually. AIG proposal includes 5 million in incidental coverage plus complimentary services. So, not only was it the cheapest, it provided a lot of supplementary compliments that were very beneficial that we found on our end. So, some of those include employee cyber security training. Again, we're doing that, but this is additional cyber security training in a little bit of different ways. So, we're able to accommodate how different individuals learn in the city. Um, security assessments, vulnerability scanning, incident response um support, which is critical when an incident does happen. And then of course public relations and legal consulting and legal consulting those dollars can add up really quickly. So um these additional five areas of complimentary services were um welcomed by us. So adding AIG coverage enhances protection against financial losses and provides access to critical tools and experts in the event of a cyber attack. And hopefully we don't experience this and if we do we do have extra coverage in place to assist us. So soft recommendation tonight is a motion to accept the cyber security insurance quote from AIG totaling again 49,986 annually. Um and again four votes are needed and I'm happy to stand for any questions. Thank you mayor. >> Thank you Miss Diamond. Um and I would uh turn my c my fellow council members and are there any questions for Miss Dmen on this item? >> Council member. >> Um I don't have any questions. I just wanted to Mike and I uh Mr. Funk and I spoke about this this morning and I had you know several comments and questions at that point. I think you answered them uh well um just one comment would be that you know this is happening as you said with increasing regularity um and it's it's a big issue that can run into the millions of dollars. Um I council member Calvert has just experienced this in her role at St. Paul. So I really appreciated uh staff taking the time to kind of go through this tonight. Anyone else with questions? >> I guess I just >> Yeah, go ahead. Um, Council Member Fos. >> So, um, can you talk a little bit about Mr. Funk about, um, the funds that are already in insurance? We talked about this. Can you explain that a little more? >> Yeah. Uh, thank you, U, Mayor, Council Member Foster Bolton. uh as noted by Miss Domin in her report and also contained in the staff report, how we would pay for the premium. I assume that's what you're alluding to. So the quote is just shy of $50,000. We have what's called an insurance fund here at the city and it's it's really an accounting function. Um m yeah, Mr. Nelson is here so he can fill in um where I if I state something incorrectly but how how we fund insurance in this city is each department so through our budgeting process each department has basically an insurance line item so whether that's the police department public works um the attorney's office and so we have uh each department has insurance costs and so there's a formula that our finance team uses to determine with our premium premiums, how much each department should pay towards insurance. And later on your consent agenda, you do have an an item that um approves insurance next year for general liability and other coverages. So those costs are then allocated to each department. Each then there's an accounting function that that occurs. So then um each department contributes or that money is drawn out of those general fund departmental budgets and put into a special insurance fund that's been uh phrased here this evening. And so this premium being proposed this evening would be paid for out of that insurance fund. Uh that fund carries a separate balance. It's like a separate, if you will, checking account for the city. Uh, and so what we pay out of that is um not only uh the insurance premiums, but any sorts of deductibles. So the city with our with our insurance, and I'll put this in terms of like homeowners insurance or car insurance. So anyone that house has a house or car, you have insurance and you pay deductibles. And so we too as a city have deductibles on any of our claims. Um, our deductibles are higher than what you normally pay at your house for homeowners insurance or car insurance. are deductible. I believe it's $25,000 per occurrence or $150,000 aggregate. So, just to give you an example, if there's a vehicle damaged, um, one of the city's fleet vehicles, and I not to pick on police, but I'll pick on police, for example, if there's a if there's a squad car damage, for example, and it doesn't meet that $25,000 deductible, the city then pays out of pocket cost for those repairs. So, if there's a $10,000 cost to that squad car, that comes out of that same insurance fund. So, we do budget for and then carry balances in that insurance fund for premiums and for any out- of- pocket costs like an example I just mentioned. We do have in our fund balance, adequate fund balance for this $50,000 expenditure. Uh, that again would need to be revisited for the 2027 budget as we evaluate our insurance packages every year. But we were fund balances good for 25 and 26 or excuse me for 26. Are there any other questions council? Um sorry I have one. Um so um you know a premium of $50,000 is not insignificant. At the same time um five you know the $5 million um per $5 million feels like quite a bit of coverage. Um, but do we have a sense for what cities, other cities our size, uh, take? And did our broker have a sense for, okay, I recommend $5 million for this reason. Do we feel that it's sufficient? Because I do think the risk is not small. So, any sense for that? >> Thank you, mayor. Good question. You know, the when we look around, I think the city of mayor had a a claim a couple years ago for 430,000. We've obviously had a situation a few years ago again for 1.5. I think it varies. I think the broker felt comfortable at 5 million. However, we do know it's going to exceed 5 million and so um ensuring that we do have the 5 million. Also, in the most recent CIP, um conversation, we are starting to put away a few dollars every year in the CIP for um some cyber security um cushion as well. And so I think between the two, I'm hoping we're setting ourselves up for a really good position if or when this may happen. >> Very good. Thanks for that answer. So council, um we're done asking questions, uh comments or a motion. Um Council Member Calbertt. >> Thank you, mayor. As one of my colleagues mentioned, um my day job is at the city of St. pollen. We did experience a cyber security incident in July and I will say that we are well into October and we're still digging out and it's really when you have something like that happen especially when it's the capital city it's it's quite difficult to sort of calculate the actual cost. Um so uh to me um I would say it's it's not an insignificant number but the coverage is substantial and um I am 1,000% for making sure that we are investing in our cyber security here in Minnetonka. um because every penny will be well spent and I know that there are um you know uh simulated fishing expeditions and all of that. So um and and you we can use it too. So, um, make sure staff sending it a test because I I have a feeling that, um, people like city council members and commissioners might be the worst offenders, uh, for and, you know, uh, Mayor Wearsome's always messaging me with spoofed with spoofed emails that I know are not from him because he just wouldn't write like that. So, um, anyway, um, but I just I just think this is so important. So, uh, I really appreciate the explanation of sort of how the funding's working and what we get for, um, for what we're investing. >> Any other comments, council, or or a motion? We can we can do a motion. Council member Foster Bolton, >> I'll make the motion to accept the cyber security insurance quote from AIG totaling $49,986. >> And Council Wilurn, >> I will second. All right, we've got a motion by council member Foster Bolton and a second by council member Wilburn. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Rome, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. >> Wilburn, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. >> Wearsome, >> yes. Motion carries. Um, next item is the consent agenda. And the consent agenda items are items that are typically routine. And the way it is done is they will each be read into the record and if anyone um either on the council or in the audience would like to pull an item, please indicate that. Then we will vote on the items that have not been pulled and then we will re uh circle back and cover any issues issues that have been pulled and vote on those indiv individually. So I will read these items um into the um into the record. Uh, item 10A is a resolution to adjust 2026 non-UN employee benefits. Item 10B is the 2026 union employees wages and insurance adjustments. Item 10 C is 2026 general liability insurance and workers compensation renewals. Item 10D is a resolution approving the change of the electronic citation software solution and support services. And item 10E is a resolution providing for the insurance for the issuance, excuse me, for the issuance been talking a lot of insurance tonight. So, the issuance and sale of $10 million of general obligation utility revenue bonds series 2025B. So, before proceeding, would anyone like to pull any of these items? Um, Council Member Calbert, >> I just uh want I'll I'd like to pull uh 10 C just for a comment. >> Okay, very good. Anyone else or any other items? Uh, council member. >> Uh, yes. I think uh I think it's 10B that I would like to um pull. I think that's the one. Um I've got my notes here and I'm digging for them. >> Um is that correct? The ones I sent No. A. I'm sorry. >> Okay. >> All right. 10 A. So looking for my email. >> Any anyone else? All right. So, we've got we're um council member is going to pull item 10 A and Council Calbert is going to pull item 10D. So, that leaves us with items 10B, C, and E. Would somebody like to make a motion on those items? Council Calbertt. >> Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to make a motion um uh approving consent agenda items 10B, 10 D, and 10E >> or 10 C and 10E. >> I'm making comment on 10 C. >> Okay, very good. Okay, my my mistake on that one. Excuse me. I made an error there. So, um yes. So, you you your motion is 10 A, excuse me, 10 B, >> 10 D, and 10 E. Yes. Excuse me. I I think I stated that incorrectly the first time around, so my mistake. And Council Member Kley, >> I'll second. >> All right, we've got a motion in a second. U Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Rome, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. >> Wilbert, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. We >> yes. Motion carries. And then um going back, we will take these in order. So, um, item 10A, a resolution to adjust 2026 non-UN employee benefits. Uh, Council Member Romey. >> Yes. Thank you, mayor. Um, Mr. Funk and I discussed some questions that then I then forwarded um or or put down an email form uh today and I think the uh first one that were forwarded was forwarded to staff um was in terms of salary ranges and increases the cola in the market. just understanding a little bit more how Minnetonka is benchmarking compared to our pure cities for salary and benefits um for comparable employee categories. Um I think we went over this a little bit during study session but if you could just refresh a little bit on that that would be helpful. >> Yeah, thank you mayor and council me. Tonight on the agenda we only had the non-union um benefits. Um we did have the union salaries oh gone as well which is much different than the non-union. The non-union salaries will come forward on the December meeting when we do the budget. The sal the union employees how we get to their salaries is very prescribed and they sit at the 50 percentile of peer cities. >> Okay, great. Thank you for yep for clarifying that. Um then uh in terms of the insurance and cost share um just so I'm understanding I think we went over this Mike I just wanted to confirm um that the employer employee split on premiums is 7030 is that approximately correct >> thank you mayor councelor me I did put together a few slides tonight Mike had shared um council member me's email so if you don't mind I might walk you through those I think that will help answer some of your questions. questions. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you. >> It's complex. Yeah. So, we the way we do benefits is complex. So, I did put together a few slides this evening to help address hopefully um some of these. We have a cafeteria plan that offers four tiers of options and an opt out option. And so, when we have a premium increase, we do split that premium cost 5050 um to begin with. And then we look at our comparable cities and then we determine are we above or below the average and how close to our peer cities premium contributions are we. So tonight this evening the resolution is to adjust the 2026 non-UN employee benefits. There are four votes needed for this. And I'm going to walk you through a little bit. Hopefully this helps answer um many of your questions. Um right here you will see our grid. Um, this spreadsheet is um about 70 cells wide. Um, I had our benefits specialist in HR try to condense it for me so I could be able to explain it this evening. You'll see there the 2026 contributions. Those are what are being approved this evening through the council. You will see in the next to it the average percent of premium paid by the city. What you'll notice there is the city is paying 125.8 eight of the employee premiums and then it decreases um increases decreases from there. And so you have you had asked about that 50/50 split. That is true when it comes to the premium increases. We do split that between our union employees and our non-UN employees 5050. However, when this was originally built, um this was a structure it was built within. So we first stick that um this year it's 4.4% 4% into the um calculations and then we go to the next um column which is the average percent of medical premiums paid by comparable cities. What we learned is that we were above market above our market of our peers with our employee only plan. We were significantly below on our employee plus spouse. This is updated. I think it was like 70% when we ran the numbers. So what we do then is we keep the same dollar amount and we so for employee only they only received $33 of a difference from 2025 to 2026 because they're significantly above our peers. We took those extras and we gave them to the employee plus spouse which they received an increase of $157. So we keep it within the same dollar amount and that 4.4 before we do move within the categories to help offset where are we getting um where are we compared to our markets. We try really close to keep within our comparable cities on our premiums. You'll see how many employees are enrolled in each of our plans. Um you'll notice our our family is quite low. Our employee plus children is quite low. Py plus spouse is the lowest. And so again looking at those numbers of employee plus spouse that hopefully increasing that a little bit um will help make that more tractable to our employees as a plan option. Then you will see I think council member Millie one of your questions was what is the total cost to the city and it is that um 5,88,52 is the total cost. So when we come to councel during the budget meeting, so I pulled this right out of the budget book. Um it is that you will see the health insurance there's a cost difference from 2024 to 2025 at 480,000 or 2526 I'm sorry 480,000 which is.9% of that 7.892% budget increase. So I hope that answers some of your questions and provides some clarity when it comes to the insurance. It's a very complex, lots of spreadsheets, lots of data. We have a full-time employee who's who immerses herself in this and spends a lot of time in it. So, I hope I hope that provides some answers. Thank you. >> Thanks so much. >> Thank you, Miss Domin. It is complex. No question. So, thank you for that explanation. Are there any other questions or um otherwise um Council Member Mey, if you'd like to make the motion? >> Thank you, mayor. I will make the motion to adjust 2026 non-UN employee benefits. >> And a second. Council member Calvert, >> a second. >> All right, we've got a motion from Council Member Romey and a second by Council Member Calvert. Miss Larson, please call a roll. >> Rome, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shack, >> yes. >> Wilburn, >> yes. >> Calvert, >> yes. >> We motion carries. And then item 10 C, if I have this correct, um is the 2026 general liability insurance and workers compensation renewals. Um Council Calbert, >> thank you, mayor. Um I just want to make sure I opened the wrong one. >> I know how I know how that goes. >> I t I talked to Mr. funk this morning um about workers compensation um and uh it is also a very complex formula. Um I was trying to understand um some of the lingo um and uh things like mod factor and um the amounts even though our mod factor went up the um the premium went down and um I also talked to Mr. funk about uh you know some about a year ago I think we um hired a wellness and safety coordinator and so this is you know they just just started this year and um I just wanted to mention that um I think um you know it's too early to see how it how it affected um basically our quote unquote score here. But, um, I think it's something worthwhile to look at closely next year to see if the cost benefit works out, which which I hope it does. And I know that we had, you know, we had some really significant, you know, one really significant um, accident that really contributed to our mod factor. Um, but that it's going to apparently roll off in one more year, two more years, one more. So, um anyway, eventually that'll drop off and hopefully it'll help our score and bring our premiums uh down. So, it was a worthwhile conversation. I just wanted to um mention that this too is a really complex um formula and I just appreciated the explanation for Mr. Funk. >> Thank you, Council Calbert. Is there anyone else who wants to comment on this item? Um all right. Oh, Mr. Funk, did you have something? >> Well, yeah. Thank you, mayor. Not to uh thank you for the time. Just to um add to council member Calvert, excuse me, Calvert's comment. Uh first, I just want to take a step back and for Miss Council member Rome, Miss Rome's comment, sorry. Um regarding just compensation as it relates to union and non-UN employees. So, I just want to reiterate what Miss Diamond mentioned in terms of um we have just different classifications of employees. So, we have our non-UN, and I'm saying this for the public record, so everyone's aware that we have non-UN employees here at the city that represent less than 50% of our entire workforce. We have the other remaining u members um of our staff in a union. We have four unions, as you know. So, tonight's action again was more focused on uh compensation increases for the union employees. We do have, as Miss mentioned, very prescriptive language in our union contracts, and it's all formula based. And so it's it's good in many ways for this city where um unlike other cities where it's not as prescriptive, we can get into a lot of negotiations back and forth on on union or compensation for union employees. That's not the case here. So we're very prescriptive. It's formula based in the sense that we rely on data from our 10 comparable cities. And through this formula, um it really determines then the pay that's noted in the resolution that you're you're adopting. Uh and then when it comes to the non-union staff that as Miss Na mentioned that's coming forward uh to the council yet um that too has uh I think to further answer your question council member me you'll when that time when that comes forward to the council we'll talk to you or explain to you more detail about our compensation study that we did and then how we positioning our non-union employees within the marketplace. So I think there's going to be more detail coming on how that's uh calculated at our upcoming meeting. Uh and then just uh just to again reiterate what council member Calbertt uh and I talked about earlier today uh really regarding the position that we that we hired here um was actually authorized two two years ago. Uh they've been with us now for about a year. Uh and so we just at this point don't have a lot of history in terms of really taking a look at what is the impact of that position and it relates to our insurance premiums. Because if you rewind the clock a couple years ago, part of the rationale or the rationale for adding staff a staff member or investing in a staff member was to really try to curtail our exposure and our expenditures regarding workers comp premiums and health insurance premiums. Going from 2024 to 2025, our workers comp insurance premiums went up 400,000. That was a significant budget driver going into this year's budget. So rewinding the clock, a year ago, that was a significant cost increase. And so we're happy to report today that even though our mod factor went up a little bit, our overall insurance premium went down. And so what we want to be able to point to, as Council Member Calvert is noting, is how attributable is that to the work we're doing with our with our employee. Um, Miss Domen can speak more to it um because she supervises HR and and supervises the work of this employee. But one of the things that they're doing in our safety aspect is um really increasing our uh employee engagement in terms of our safety program here at the city. It's really what I would call in um not uh in beefed up if you will. It's kind of a beefed up beefed up effort where we do have a safety committee. They meet more regularly. They're they're reviewing all of our safety claims, looking at accident reports, and really making sure that not only our really making sure our employees are safe and they're going home safely, but most importantly also um from a fiscal perspective um really trying to influence and bring down that mod factor, bring down our insurance premiums. That's happened. Um from a from a safety or excuse me, from a wellness perspective, that too, I think we're seeing positive movement in. I know tonight we we've been talking about an 8.8% 8% increase in health insurance. While we try not to take a victory lap on that because it's still 8.8% um many organizations are seeing double digit increases. Um like to think that's a reflection of the work that we're doing with our wellness coordinator and this position is very instrumental in working with our our wellness committee. We have an internal committee that works at our wellness programming. So what they do is they work with our insurance broker that Miss Diamond spoke about NFP. uh they provide to us reports on what our insurance drivers are, what's causing employees to go to the doctor. And so we have a better handle on what those drivers are and then really try to tailor and tailor our wellness program. So we're really driving home what those what those events are so we can address those through our programming which ultimately will hopefully lead to healthier employees and then also driving down our insurance premium. So long story short, more to come on that. I just want to just re really reiterate the effort that our this position is bringing to the city. Uh and I think we're starting to see some of that and hopefully we'll have more of a full report after we get another year of that work being done uh in 2025 and into 26. So, thank you for that time, Mayor and Council. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Funk. Um any other any other comments from council? Um I have a quick one, but I want to make sure if anyone has comment they'd like to make it. Um, seeing none, I will um I just want to add to a little bit more context on this item because we're we're talking about something that we're talking about mod factor and I'm sure anybody in the public what's a mod factor and um and I'm not I don't have a good explanation but it's a rating um that um kind of indicates where you are relative to other organizations like ours. and our mod factor did go up. And so when it goes up, that means our insurance is going to cost more. However, our mod factor is below 1.0. And a 1.0 mod factor is the norm. So while our insurance is going uh the mod factor that will impact future um rates is um has increased, it's still below the norm. And I think that perspective is necessary because otherwise saying, well, it's going up. what are we doing wrong? Well, in reality, insurance and you're I mean, you know, you like to be able to say, well, it's a controllable and if we can you work hard through the employee we've hired to keep everybody healthy and keep everyone safe, but as we all know, we can't control our health. Um, we there are things that we can do to improve our health, but um if uh if we could control it, no one would get sick. There there'd be no disease. We'd be in a great spot. That's not the way the real world works. And so I'm pleased that our efforts we're still below the norm by not an insignificant amount by about 10%. Um we want to we don't want to keep going we don't want to go up more but um relative to comparable cities and other organizations um we are um we are below the norm and I think it's important to uh to share that information. So, Council Calbert, >> thank you, mayor, and hear here. So, >> all right, >> those are those are uh excellent comments. Um, so with that, I'd like to move approval of consent agenda item 10 C. >> Thank you. Is there a second? Council member Shack. >> I'll second. >> All right, we've got a motion by Council Member Calbert and a second by Council Member Shack. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Rome, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shack, >> yes. Yes. Wilbur, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. >> Wearsome, >> yes. Motion carries. Um, item 11 is consent agenda items that require five votes. We have one of those tonight. Um, and that is the Miss Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant Agreement. So, um, I'll take a motion on that unless somebody wants to pull it. But if saying, um, council member Wilburn. and I always feel like I have to say it, but I do appreciate when staff is able to uh secure grants to help uh with the budget. So, um thanks to uh Mr. Alexander and and his staff on their on their work with with uh securing this grant. And I will make the motion to uh approve consent agenda item 11A. >> And a second, Council Calbertt. >> Thank you. And I uh I also appreciate council member Wilburn's comments and I second. >> All right, we've got a motion by council member Wilburn and a second by council member Calbert. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Romeley, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. >> Wilurn, >> yes. >> Calbertt, >> yes. >> Wearsome, >> yes. Motion carries. Item 12 is introduction of ordinances and we have none of those tonight. Item 13 is public hearings and 13A is a temporary on sale liquor license for the Rotary Club of Minnitonka Foundation for a fundraising event at 15,000 Minnitankka Boulevard, which I believe is the Marsh. Um, Miss Wishnack. >> Thank you, Mayor and Council members. This is an event at the Marsh. Uh, the event is scheduled for Saturday, November 8th. It is a fundraising event and the Rotary is hosting uh the liquor license for that event. Uh we've had various partnerships with the Rotary over the years in terms of um Summerfest. They also do a private event called links and libation. So, uh we typically don't have any challenges with uh issuing these temporary licenses to the Rotary Club. We'd we'd hope that they all come in at once and then you just have one public hearing, but we haven't mastered that yet. We'll work on that for next year. Um, we do recommend approval of the temporary license. Just so you know, they do uh receive our card reader, our ID reader uh from the city. We give that out to nonprofit organizations to help with uh managing over 21 um compliance. So, with that, mayor, I'll turn it back to you and the council. Thank you. >> Um, thank you. Um, council, any questions for staff? Um, I'm not seeing any. Uh, this is this is a public hearing item. So, I don't know if there's anyone from the Rotary Club would like to come forward. Um, if so, please I will open this public hearing and come forward. State your name and address. Tell us about this uh very nice event. I've attended it in the past and I'd recommend it to other people and uh please tell us what you want us to know. Yeah, we would certainly recommend everybody. I admit that I'm not a member of or excuse me, a citizen of the city of Minnitonka, but I am a member about the past six years of the Minnitonka Rotary Club, which is the sponsoring entity for the Minnitankka Rotary Foundation, which is the applicant for this uh for this license. We were invited by the marsh this year uh to host the uh the serving of the liquor um at an event that they are sponsoring uh on November 8th which is sort of a fall festival for uh them. Um as staff has recommended or as staff has noted earlier this year we do have some experience in that in conducting approximately 10 years of our links and libations uh event which I believe the mayor and some members of the of the council have been to before. Um we have also hosted the uh Minnotonka Summerfest and serving the beer there. Uh again over the past uh probably six or seven years that I have been involved with the organization. It's a tremendous fundraising event for uh for us. Um but I think the biggest part that we enjoy for the most part is that although we take in money from the uh from the community, the best part obviously is the spending of the money and the foundation does that. and anywhere from about $30,000 to $50,000 per year. Um we cycle through to various organizations both 80% locally and about 20% internationally uh for clean water for events that are sort of fit within the pillars of the of the Rotary Foundation, clean water education, women's issues uh um and those are probably the ones that come out the most. Um and we use that we use this particular event as just being another small part to be able to cycle into our uh foundation. Um all all of the people that we'll be serving have been trained with the various entities that provide liquor training organization. I did that before I came in uh today and reupt my training and found that to be very valuable and I'd certainly be willing to listen to any questions any of the council or anybody from the public has about our group about this particular event. >> Great. Well, thank you very much and thank you for the work that the the Minnitanka Rotary does in our community. So, council, any questions that you'd like to raise? >> All right. Oops. Pardon me. >> Is there a time? >> Uh, yes. I believe it is 4 to 8:00 p.m. on the 8th. >> Thank you. >> Actually, on the on the event flyer, it says I hate to correct you. It says 5 to 7 p.m. is is is so >> Oh, it does it. Okay. I I have one that says 4 to 8 mayor and the music is 5 to 7. >> Okay. All right. Well, yep. >> I believe the piano and the music is 5 to 7. >> Okay, there we go. Okay. Well, thank you and pardon my pardon me for my incorrect correction. Um, so thank you. So 4 4 to 8 p.m. Great event. Um, and I'd encourage everyone to attend and uh and t and do you have any information on tickets? You can buy tickets at the marsh. >> I believe the marsh is the sponsoring event, your honor. And I excuse me, mayor and the um at >> listen I've been called a lot of things. Don't worry not not to worry. >> And I believe they are available online but also at the desk I believe. >> Okay. Very good. Okay. Well, we want to make sure people show up and thank you for um for your service to the community. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, um we um we have Oh, I have to close. Is there anyone else like to speak on this item? Um, I will close the public hearing and bring it back to the council for comments or a motion. Council member Shack. >> Thank you, mayor. I will, um, make the motion to approve the temporary liquor license for the Rotary Foundation. Also, um, thank the city for giving the Rotary the opportunity, the folks at the Marsh, because it is such a great opportunity for the Rotary to fund raise. And I will also plug the Rotary which meets on Wednesday mornings at the marsh at 7:30. Um community is welcome. It's always a very informative, lively group of people for 7:30. So come check us out. It's it's really such a nice way to start your Wednesday. >> Thank you, Council Rashack. Um anyone else like to make a comment or um a second? >> As I've heard, it's more fun than you want it to be. >> That's right. That's right. >> Okay. >> Well said. Is that a second or >> That's a second. >> All right. We've got a motion by Council Shack and a second by Council Calbert. Are there any other comments uh that anyone would like to make on this item? >> Otherwise, Miss Larson, uh would you please call roll? >> Rome, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shack, >> yes. >> Will Barn, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. >> We Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. So, next item is um item 14, other business. And we have one item. Um it is uh the ordinance establishing mayor and council salaries. Everyone's favorite um item. So, um Miss Diamond, I believe that's your report. >> Thank you, Mayor and Council. This is my report. So, this report is ordinance establishing mayor and council salaries. Staff recommendation is motion to adopt the ordinance. There are four options available. Um, four votes needed. Again, for ordinance are including the packet to reflect the four options. Financial consideration. The salary adjustment will take effect in on January 1st, 2026 um and has already been incorporated into the 2026 preliminary budget. The amount um the exact amount will depend on the city council decision this evening. So, some background um just to reflect on the last meeting as well. State law and the city charter require mayor and council salaries to be set by ordinance. Salary changes cannot take effect until after a municipal election following the ordinance's adoption. So the ordinance adoption has to occur before the election but cannot take effect until thereafter. An ordinance was introduced on September 29th 2025. I'm sorry it's a typo. this past September proposing salaries effective January 1st, 2026. Those proposed were the mayor at 25,850 annually, council members at 19,800 annually. The proposal was based off the November 4th, 2024 um council study session consensus to match non-UN employee increases. However, due to the limited adjustment methods, the proposal combines 2 years of non-union increases. So, it lays out a 3% COLA, which backdates for both 2024 and 2025, and then up to a 2% market adjustment. During the introduction on September 29th, council discussed alternate options and methods for the salary increase, and we'll go through those options. Um currently in 2025 the mayor and council salaries cost 141,000 which includes some benefits some ancillary benefits which are parah or social security Medicare and then workers comp contributions. Going through the options option one was what I mentioned as proposed during the introduction of ordinance a 3% cola and then the two up to 2% market that again that would hit the mayor at 25,850 annually. council members at 819,800 annually and then a breakdown of the cost impact that is a salary increase of 13,50 across all council. And then with ancillary benefits it is 7.29% of the salary. So that is an increase of $959. Again that includes Medicare, PAR, social security or work and workers compensation. The total increase is 14, 109 annually. Percentage of proposed 2026 general budget increase is 0.024%. And then percentage of the levy increase would be 0.323%. That is option one. Option two, this was brought forward during the council meeting on se in September, which would be aligning increases with the proposed 2026 limit levy. not to exceed the levy percentage. The preliminary levy is set at 7.892, which therefore I gave two options. Um, with this one, a 7% increase um would result in an annual salary of the mayor at 25,145, council members at 19,260. The cost impact is 9,25 salaries annually. it does drop down to 671 of the other benefits that were mentioned for a total increase of 9,876 and listed there are the 26 budget um impact in the levy impact. Another option would be to stay under that levy would be a 7.5% increase. I'm calling that option 2B um was was an ordinance option at 7.5% which brings the mayor to $25,262.50 50 cents annually. Council members at 19,350. Again, a total cost increase would be $10,581.50 as well as the budget impacts on the levy as well as the 2026 budget. Option three, this was mentioned during the September meeting as well, would be implementing the cost of living increase totaling 6% and removing the market increase. Um this results in annual um in salary for 2026 and 2027 at Mayor 24,910 council members 19,080 cost impact um the total lo impact there would be $8,465. Um and then there is the 2026 budget at 0.014% and then percentage of levy increase would be 0.194%. Again, option four would be maintaining the current annual salaries of which is currently today. The mayor is 23,500. Council members are currently at 18,000. I did lay out the options in hopefully a more digestible way as the council discusses this. Option one, option 2 A, options 2B, option three. Again, option four would be to maintain them as they are. During that September meeting at the council's request, um it was asked to update this graph which was brought forward last November. We did reach out to our peer cities and we did update the graph with the data that was available and um here are the comparisons from the 10 metro area cities. Um St. Louis Park also has an election this year and is is in a very similar process. Therefore, staff recommends um motion to adopt an ordinance. Again, there are four listed and then it does require four votes. And with mayor, I'll turn it back to you. >> Thank you, Miss Diamond. So, um, council, we've got we've got four options. We need to make a decision. Um, as I indicated previously, um, um, I don't really have a dog in this hunt, but at the same time, I um um I invariably have an opinion. But I'm going to save that and let you all um kind of share your thoughts and hopefully we can develop a pretty much of a consensus and get it done. So, council members, councilor Shack, >> thank you, Mayor. I don't have a super strong opinion. My my inclination would be somewhere in between 6 and 7%. I will say, you know, we've received exactly one comment about this from somebody who's pretty engaged and arent about the budget and his input was to go with the 10% because he believes it's such a difficult job and um and that the pay increase is deserved. That was meaningful to me because I don't think this particular resident pulls any punches when it comes to conversations about the budget, which I I totally respect. Um, so I I just want to reiterate that it's just really important to me that we honor the commitment we made to future councils to keep up with the pay because it's really hard when it has to be a big leap because councils have kicked the can down the road for a whole host of reasons justifiable often times. But um I do think that we only have an opportunity to do it every two years is generally going to come in an election year. So um it you know it's always going to be a tougher decision for some some people over others. But I would be inclined I I can support anything between you know option two A B or three. >> Uh Council Member Wilburn or >> Go ahead. Um, sort of echo echoing what council member Shaq was saying, I I think that we need to like I wouldn't go with option four with no increase. I think we've made the commitment now to to to continue to to do the increases um so that it doesn't put a burden on future councils and so that also we have a salary again no one is getting rich but salaries that um makes uh running for council an option for more people. I will say like when looking at the there's not a lot of difference between any of these choices. is the amount and and the the uh the effect on the of on the budget is very small. Um so I I don't feel real strongly about it. I know it sounds it sounds better to say, you know, we're doing a a 7% increase or under the levy increase as opposed to a 10% increase. But when you look at the actual numbers, it's not not that great of a difference. Um, so I guess I could be persuaded to go with any of them except for no change. >> Council Calbert, >> thank you, mayor. Um as mentioned in the um study session, there was a suggestion um to try to stay somewhere under the levy increase amount and um that seems sensible to me and um I agree that we made a commitment to try to make it easier for uh future candidates and future councils by um not um not kicking the can down the road and making sure that future councils don't have to take up a a a difficult issue because this is difficult and it is you know it the difference may be ne negl negligible however it's real money and I do think that I I would be more comfortable staying under the lobby um increase amount So, a percentage. So, that's that's where I am. And I don't want to I don't support option four. Um I'm sort of uh knowing where the levy is. 7.5 seems like like sort of a reasonable uh sort of in the middle of the options that we have there. >> Thank you, Council Calbert. Council Kley. >> Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to say what I always say. Um I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Um the reason why I've always supported the increase is because I think about um people who people of color who may want to um run for office and um it takes a significant amount of time to run for office in our city and to serve in our city. And um I talked to Mike about this earlier today and I said, you know, for me um to serve for the last um 6 years um and serve two terms, it was very difficult. Um very difficult. I gave up my life. I gave up a 8 to 5 job to serve. Um when I ran, I made history. I'm the first person of color to serve in this city. Um, I did that because it needed to be done. It was necessary. Um, you know, it's a privilege to be able to serve. Um, and um, you know, I felt like it was needed and so I did it. Um, was it easy? No. Um, it has not been easy the last four years. Um, everybody know my situation, what I went through and I still served. I could have said, "You know what? I'm going to leave. I'm done. I'm going back to work." But I I stuck it out. I went and got a a job, a 8 to 5. And I continued to serve and I continue to leave my daughter at home, you know, who's 17 years old. And now she's 17, so that's okay. But I think about people who may want to serve who are in my same situation. And this is not a lot of money. Um, and to say that, you know, I really don't support it. I I get it because maybe people don't have maybe people are in a situation where they have the privilege to be able to say that, but some people just don't have that opportunity. We know that people of color um make less income and for them to um run and serve as a council member or even a mayor, it'll be very difficult. And so um I support option one. But if we can't get option one, I'll go with option two. But um that is the reason why I'm saying it and um I'm going to continue to say it. I'm always going to say it and um you know but whatever you know we come up what we vote on is what we will have. But that's the reason why and um I want to make sure that when I do leave the council that we are in a position where people of color can run and can serve and know that they'll be compensated. not full payment because it's not full payment. But I can tell you like I told Mike earlier today, we are putting in more than 20 hours a week and you can put in 30 or 40 if you attend everything that you're invited to and you show up for everything because trust me, I was going when I didn't work at 8 to5, I was showing up at a lot of places. I was showing at homes, coffee shops, lunches, and all kinds of stuff. And then don't talk about the training and all of the other things. So there's a lot of things that you can do to fool your to make your schedule full from 8 to 5 almost with this being on the council. So that's why I support what I'm voting for. >> Thank you, Council Member Kley. Are there any other comments? >> You know, um I mentioned I don't really have a dog in this hunt. Um, but I do have a sense of history on this and and I will say that the question that council member Kley raised um got has gotten quite a bit of discussion among mayors because um you know none of us is in this for the money um and uh it it certainly um the highest salary on here is is not enough to raise a family on or to uh to support yourself. So it's um I mean I don't think any of us send the checks back. Um but um it's not it it's not compensated like a a regular job and so um there is a real service aspect to it and as council member Kley indicated you can be as busy in these jobs as you want to be. You can turn it into a 40-hour job pretty easily. So um you know so the so the ask is greater than the compensation but there are you know our our salaries are competitive with um pure cities. We need to bear that in mind. So, we need to make a decision and um I think that um you know, so I really want to leave that up to you, but if someone wants to make a motion, let's see if it lives or dies um based upon the vote. And um and again I think that um what council member Calvert said about uh you know zero is not a good option because then you force other councils later to to play catchup and that's a very difficult um thing to do politically and um you know our you know relative to other cities were we're we're positioned uh quite well but I'll tell you what being a being doing these jobs Minnetonka is as or more demanding than most other cities because Minnetonka is a regional leader and we get involved in an awful lot of things. So, you know, whatever the choice is tonight, I will support. Um I will. So, but if someone would like to make a motion, we'll we'll take it from there and see what happens. >> Council member Foster Bolton, >> I'll make a motion for option 2B. >> 2B 7 and a half%. Is there is there a second for that? Council Calbertt. >> I'll second. >> All right. We've got a motion for um item option 2B and uh by council member Foster Bolton, the second by council member Calvert. Um Miss Larson, would you call roll, please? >> Rome, >> yes. >> Kley, >> no. Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. >> Wilburn, >> yes. >> Calbertt, >> yes. We >> yes. Motion carries. Well, thank you all. um appreciate the um the honest conversation and um and I think this is um a good move and um I would like I said I support whatever got voted but I think uh this makes sense and it is below the levy amount and I think that um um that is positive and I appreciate everyone sharing their opinion. So let's see um got to go to the right page. So um that's other business. So finally it takes us to appointments and reappointments and uh we have um a couple of appointments on the economic ad development advisory commission EDAC chair and vicechair appointments and the recommendation is I got to pull pull this up. um is to um is uh I have to make sure excuse me I want to get this I want to get this right because I appreciate people stepping up and um so bear with me one second. Um the the nomination that I have made is an um to appoint Anne Dugginki uh Chbulka as the chair of the EDAC and David Hag as the vice chair of the EDAC. I spoke to both of them over the weekend. They are both interested and excited to um perform those roles and so that I am making that motion. If someone would like to second that would be great. Council member Calbertt. >> Thank you, Mayor. I'll second. >> All right. Um, so we've got a motion and a second. And do you have a comment? >> I do have a comment. So, um, I am the liaison to the EDAC from the council. And I just want to say that um Jay Romatka is moving, >> has moved, has has moved, >> has moved um and uh he just is has been such a thoughtful leader for many years and the EDAC has a lot of wisdom. He asked great questions and um has taught me a lot and I just wanted to thank him for his service and I'm very excited about an Judinski Sabula uh stepping up because she is also incredibly knowledgeable, makes great comments. I learned so much from her. I think she'll be just a wonderful chair. So um thank you for the good nominations and um David Heg will be wonderful too. Great. Any other comments, anyone? Um, yeah, I will say that I did receive um an email from um uh former chair Hatka and I still have to respond to it yet, but um he really did a great job and uh um he he was in that role for a long time and and I know he's um he's moved to a new location, but he really loved being part of the EDAC and really um contributed a great deal. So, um, we've got, um, a motion and a second. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Romeley, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. >> Wilurn, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. >> Wearsome, >> yes. Motion carries. So, that uh brings us to item 16. But just before we do that, um, you know, I just want to comment on um the people who participate in our boards and commissions give a lot to the city. Um and while we just passed the, you know, very large salaries that the council gets, um all of these volunteers, um they work for nothing, um other than an occasional meal and um you know, we owe them a significant debt of gratitude. They really honor the the city and their roles and um and we've never had a problem filling um um positions on our boards and commissions. we have uh residents who want to volunteer and contribute to our city and we we benefit from that. So, I just wanted to throw in a word of thank you to um all of the people who volunteer in the city to make Minnotonka um and are subscribe to our commitment to excellence. We're very fortunate to have a very connected and um involved um um electorate and residences. So, with that um I'm seeking a motion for adjournment. Council member Wilburn, >> I move adjournment. Is there a second? >> Council member Calbert. >> Second. >> Okay, we have a motion by Council Member Wilburn and a second by Council Member Calbert. All in favor say I. >> I. >> We are adjourned.