This transcript has been formatted with speaker names based on the official list and the context of the dialogue. **Note on Mayor's Name:** While the provided context identifies the Mayor as **Jim Michalski**, the dialogue frequently refers to the Mayor as "Mayor Shaw" or "Ted." For the purpose of this transcription, I have used **Jim Michalski** to remain consistent with your provided official list. *** **[0:05] Jim Michalski:** I'd like to welcome everyone to our regular meeting of the Moose Lake City Council for Wednesday, December 11th, 2024 at 4 p.m. and I'd like to start with a Pledge of Allegiance. **[0:22] Jim Michalski:** Please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. **[0:44] Jim Michalski:** I'd like to welcome our guests tonight. Um, we'll start with approval of the agendas. I have a couple of additions to the agenda; this will be in New Business. The first one will be I, and that will be Poor Gary's parking. J will be Street dedication. [Music] And K will be Public Works budget discussion. **[1:54] Jim Michalski:** Also, I'm going to move one item up as we have students here tonight. I'm going to move them up to right at the end of the departmental reports before we start—this is 6A. I'm going to move that up before we do the previously discussed business. With that, do we have any other changes or discussion on the agenda? Hearing none, do we have a motion to accept the agenda? **[2:25] Lou Ohly:** So moved. **[2:27] Douglas Juntunen:** I have a second. **[2:28] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[2:29] Council Members:** Aye. **[2:30] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. Moving on to number two, Consent Agenda. This is 2A1, regular city council meeting for November 13, 2024. Number two, special city council meeting November 26, 2024. Do we have any discussion or questions on the minutes? **[3:00] Walter Lower III:** Motion to approve. **[3:02] Douglas Juntunen:** I have a second. Second. **[3:04] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[3:05] Council Members:** Aye. **[3:06] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. Under 2B, Financial reports. Number one, City accounts payable for November 2024. Number two, City financial statements for November 2024. And number three, liquor store profit/loss statement for November 2024. Questions or discussion by the council? **[3:45] Douglas Juntunen:** Motion to approve. **[3:47] Lou Ohly:** I have a second. Second. **[3:49] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[3:50] Council Members:** Aye. **[3:51] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. I should state also we do have one council member missing tonight, Kris Huso, just for the minutes. Thank you. Number three is public comment. This time is reserved for comments from the public on matters not listed on the agenda. Please keep your comments to three minutes. Yes? Seeing none, we'll move on to number four, departmental reports. 4A, the Carlton County Sheriff's Office activity report for November 2024. Thank you. **[4:39] Kelly Lake:** Good afternoon. So our activity for November 2024, from the contract Deputy: self-initiated activity at 17, extra patrol details 8, traffic stops along with 18 business checks and one public assist on view. Followed up with 10 other calls for service and one assist other agency for a total of 55 calls handled by the contract Deputy. The other County deputies had two extra patrol details within town along with nine traffic stops, seven paper services, 17 Stone Guard patrols, and then 33 other calls for service were handled by County deputies throughout the month of November for a total of 68 handled by the County deputies. **[5:36] Kelly Lake:** Along with that, Sarah Radzak started in the halftime records position, so she is now in the office in town here. Her hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; she's working 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., filling that in town here. We are still progressing with our field training with our two deputies that are in the field training process. Everything is still showing on track for them to wrap up about the end of January. We're looking at one more contract deputy in town here at that time. We will have to do another external posting to start another hiring process shortly after the first of the year as well to continue to add more deputies to our list. **[6:22] Kelly Lake:** The other note that I have is we are set to install the fingerprint machine in the office down here; that's set to get installed next week. And then after we get some training on that and it's installed and working, we'll be able to do the public fingerprints back in the office down here again. **[6:45] Jim Michalski:** After that time, so it looks like maybe February we'll get one more here? **[6:52] Kelly Lake:** Okay, um, and then the way our schedule lays out, we've got Deputy Mages who's already working half of our schedule. We'll be able to put somebody on the other half of the schedule. So then we will have at least one Deputy in town per day. It might be a day shift or night shift depending on the schedule, but we'll have somebody scheduled in town anyway each day of the week then. **[7:14] Jim Michalski:** Great, thank you. And then as we hire more, we'll fill those other two spots, right? Appreciate that. Thanks for the update. **[7:23] Kelly Lake:** Absolutely. Thank you. **[7:24] Jim Michalski:** Good job, thank you. Welcome. Moving on to 4B, City Superintendent Phil Entner's departmental report for November 2024. **[7:37] Phil Entner:** Mayor, members of the Council, Administrator Owens. I guess I'd like to start by, Mayor, thank you for your service. I know tonight's your last meeting. Worked under you for 14 years, so good job. Thank you for your dedication to this community. **[7:57] Phil Entner:** Water department will start there: 5.3 million gallons of water distributed in the month of November. The three curb stops that were needed to be replaced in November were indeed replaced; they are in working order now. Water system is all winterized and ready for the winter operation. Sewer Department: collection system collected 10.2 million gallons of wastewater in the month of November. Treatment facility: we are currently in the middle of our fourth discharge out there right now; we'll be wrapping that up at the end of this week. **[8:32] Phil Entner:** The street department: plows ready, trucks are breaking down but we're getting them fixed. We're just doing our thing, so it's good. We're pushing a little snow, throwing a little salt; nobody wants it, it is what it is. 3-hour parking signage is up on Fourth Street. The elm trees will be addressed soon. Cemeteries are shut down for the year, but there are still a couple of burials happening from time to time. The campground is shut down for the winter. Parks as well. The arena and the new compressors are up and running; that's almost 10 hours a day, seven days a week. There's a lot of activity on there, and that's all working well. Storm sewer, nothing going on there. Gardeners are shut down. Recycling center is back to its normal operating hours, so the extended hours are now gone. We're back to 2 to 6 Monday through Friday and 9 to 1 on Saturday. So that's all I have for right now. I think there'll be a couple more things later. Any questions? **[9:32] Douglas Juntunen:** Got one. Are you scheduling a burn as soon as we get enough snow? **[9:36] Phil Entner:** Okay, so probably February would be my guess. **[9:38] Douglas Juntunen:** Very good, couldn't remember when it was. **[9:40] Ellissa Owens:** As soon as we get enough snow. Typically, Mayor, there will also be extended hours at the recycling services center for Christmas tree/holiday tree drop-off. I think we extended the hours... **[9:58] Phil Entner:** Yeah, it's okay. **[10:00] Ellissa Owens:** I'm not sure of the City Hall hours after the holiday season. We'll post it on the city website and the city Facebook if there's any modification to hours for the Christmas tree recycling. **[10:13] Phil Entner:** Correct, but I didn't know anyone's hours, so that's okay. No problem. **[10:18] Jim Michalski:** Okay, thank you. Thank you very much. Number 4C, the Municipal Liquor Store departmental report for November 2024 and the 2024 Liquor Fund Capital Update. **[10:35] Ryan McKeon:** Yes, members of the Council, Mayor, Administrator Owens. Liquor store's doing great. In particular, the month of November was really strong for us. We had revenue of $179,451.60. Previous year we did $165,738.09 for an increase of $13,713.51. And we spent quite a bit less. In 2024 November, we spent $126,855.54, and last year $158,237.88, for a difference of $31,382.34. So we made more, we spent quite a bit less. Everything's going great there. **[11:15] Ryan McKeon:** Also in your packets, we have some invoices for some things we need to update down there. There's one from Total Register Systems that is for the Point of Sale systems that we have down there; they're really outdated. And then an invoice or quote from VC3, and that is for the workstations—the towers, the computers—that are down there. Those too are really outdated. These items do fit in the capital item that we had for the liquor store, so there's $20,000 in there. We do have a thermostat that's going in, but that's roughly $2,700, so all of this fits very nicely in that capital line item. So, looking for a motion to go ahead and move on these replacements. **[12:02] Douglas Juntunen:** Question from the Council. Point of Sales—if I remember correctly, didn't we have an issue with transferring on the other Point of Sales systems? Is this the same type of Point of Sales, or is it different? **[12:14] Ryan McKeon:** It's a newer version, but it's the same system. I guess I'm not familiar with problems in the past with that. As far as I know, this should be pretty seamless and easy. **[12:23] Douglas Juntunen:** As long as we don't have a problem now, we did in the past. Is there much training involved with this? **[12:28] Ryan McKeon:** No, the things for the upfront personnel will look the same. **[12:35] Jim Michalski:** Great. Any motion by the Council? **[12:38] Walter Lower III:** So moved. **[12:40] Lou Ohly:** Got a second. Second. **[12:42] Jim Michalski:** Any further questions? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. **[12:44] Council Members:** Aye. **[12:45] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. **[12:47] Ryan McKeon:** All right, great news, we'll get cracking on that. It kind of folds into the IT portion, too. The next part, we need two separate motions. That one was for the POS. **[13:00] Jim Michalski:** Council, this is a VC3 workstation replacement. A motion to approve VC3 quote? **[13:12] Walter Lower III:** So moved. **[13:14] Douglas Juntunen:** Have a second. Second. **[13:16] Jim Michalski:** Any further questions, comments? All in favor say aye. **[13:18] Council Members:** Aye. **[13:19] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. Then moving on to 4D, Technology Library Department IT monthly update. **[13:27] Ryan McKeon:** Yeah, so we're working on this kind of stuff—just normal printer stuff and internet problems. It's always busy with that. I don't have a real update for you guys other than just little things coming in and out. The library's got their 3D printer up and running and it's going to cost 10 cents a gram for projects. **[13:58] Jim Michalski:** 10 cents a gram. Okay. How are they controlling that? Is it in the building? **[14:04] Ryan McKeon:** It's going to be behind Laura's desk. I mean, it won't be like out in the open; you'll have to have permission from her to go in and use it. **[14:14] Jim Michalski:** Okay. Thank you, Ryan. **[14:17] Ryan McKeon:** You're welcome. Appreciate it. **[14:20] Jim Michalski:** Moving on to 4E, the City Engineer monthly update, December 6th, 2024. These are the meeting minutes highlights. **[14:32] Ellissa Owens:** Absolutely. The meeting minutes from the monthly engineering meeting are rather lengthy—they were six pages in totality, so we have a lot going on. I think a couple of things we'll handle later on in the agenda. What I did want to mention is that the MPCA Implementation Grant for Wastewater Resilience: the City requested $658,000 for that particular grant that was submitted. SEH and myself have been checking the portal; we checked it yesterday. We should know at any point in time here whether or not we were successful with that particular grant application, so we'll make sure that Council continues to receive an update on that. **[15:15] Ellissa Owens:** In addition, this past month we applied for the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Municipal Grant through the MPCA. That award would happen shortly here, and so again, January is the timeline as far as notification for that grant award. We'll continue to monitor that. And then at our most recent engineering meeting, we discussed a Small Community Planning Grant. We've not determined the City's approach yet of how we want to apply, but it's been identified as one that we are working with the engineers in order to apply for. Our application is due on January 17th. There's $500,000 available, and so we are going to be strategic with our request from a City perspective. Any other questions as far as any other engineering line items? **[16:42] Jim Michalski:** Any word at all on the $3 million application? **[16:46] Ellissa Owens:** So I've received a draft from the engineers on our State Senate Capital Finance Committee request. We are using a similar form; those forms were just released and sent to the City by multiple entities. We're working through that particular application and we'll have a submission to go back to the Senate Finance Committee and with our local representatives. I know Representative Dotseth's office has been asking for our application in addition to Senator Rarick's office. We're working with all parties and the City's engineers to make sure that our project application is submitted and reviewed again. **[17:34] Jim Michalski:** Thank you. Council have any questions? I'll move on. Thank you. Under 4F, Chamber of Commerce update, monthly update. **[17:45] Ellissa Owens:** Yes, the Chamber of Commerce is going through their annual budgeting process. They're also looking for interest in the Chamber board, committees, and volunteers for 2025. If there is any interest, please feel free to reach out to the Chamber. They've got a lot of planning going on currently for 2025 events. They have a calendar available on their website as well. **[18:25] Jim Michalski:** I believe they have three empty seats; that was discussed today. So if anyone on the Council wishes to volunteer, it's possible—just contact the Chamber. The annual membership drive is also underway, and the next Chamber meeting will be January 8th at noon at Route 61. Thank you. **[18:50] Jim Michalski:** I did move up an item for us, and this is 6A: Student Council and National Honor Society—the Minnesota MAHS Fall Leadership Forum update. And we have some students here. **[19:07] Eric Ellingson:** Good afternoon. My name is Eric Ellingson. I am the NHS President of Moose Lake High School and a member of Student Council as well. **[19:16] Re Marson:** My name is Re Marson. I'm a junior. I'm in NHS and Student Council. **[19:21] Ryler:** My name is Ryler, and I'm a senior at Moose Lake, and I'm the President of Student Council as well as in NHS. To begin today, we would like to talk about where it started. We went to Cragun's Resort for a whole bunch of different activities on our first day of our leadership forum. We started out with some energizers, which basically were fun little talking points to discuss different ways to pump yourself up and get excited to do something that may not be the most exciting thing to do, like sitting through a talk. Which brings us to our next point: our keynote speaker. **[20:18] Eric Ellingson:** Our first keynote speaker we had—Mark, I don't remember his last name, but his first name was Mark. He discussed with us how being a leader is being a "hope dealer," and we are dispensing hope and trying to lift people up and lift ourselves up in the process. And then we went through a school fair where we got to go around and discuss with other schools what was available and what they've been doing and what we could possibly implement. **[21:05] Re Marson:** So for our second day, it was just the morning time, but we started off with another energizer to get moving. Our keynote speaker was Kate Gladdin, and she talked about self-image and how you present yourself and what you can do to help yourself even if you have the whole world telling you you can't do it. She talked about her life stories and how she's still been able to persevere. And the next thing is there's another spring leadership conference at Hibbing High School for a weekend. Don't know for sure if we'll be attending, but that's just when the next conference is. **[22:04] Ryler:** This goes to ideas for our school and how we're going to implement some of the things we learned. One of the things we talked about was this hot chocolate station where you basically just get a cup and it's hot chocolate to go—just something we thought about for our Moose Lake snow days we do every winter. **[22:25] Re Marson:** One of my personal favorites would be our Autograph Day. As some of you guys who have grandkids and children at our school might know, they love to look up to some of our varsity athletes here. So what we thought we'd do is at lunchtimes, our elementary kids could come and meet some of our varsity athletes and get some signatures, maybe some pictures of the kids that they really look up to. **[23:05] Eric Ellingson:** Oh yeah, so then to go with United Way, currently we just completed a hat and mitten drive. We collected actually a lot more than we were expecting, and we donated everything to United Way. Currently, we are in the process of commencing next week—it will actually be starting a toy drive. This will not be donated to United Way; there's a Wish Foundation down in the Cities that will also disperse toys and books throughout the state for Christmas. **[24:08] Ryler:** Just going back into some more of our community ideas, obviously the hat and mitten drive and toy drives are definitely through our community as well. Another thing we have is our Student Council highway that we own. I believe NHS is also adopting a highway as well this spring, so we'll have two highway cleanups. We would love to branch out and work with our community more as Student Council and NHS are very community-oriented organizations. Anytime we can help out in our community, we'd love to hear about it. **[24:54] Jim Michalski:** Thank you. One suggestion: we used to have an Earth Day where the students in school would walk through the city and help clean up in the spring—cleaning up all the stuff that got thrown out during the winter. Is that something you could bring to your group to consider again? **[25:15] Ryler:** Yeah, we can definitely bring that to the group and see if we can figure out a better way to initiate that plan. **[25:24] Phil Entner:** It was organized years ago really well by one of the science teachers, but I think they may have moved on, so that kind of fell by the wayside. But that became more complicated because of our move out to Highway 10. We used to do it with service learning too—I used to take the seniors and we would do the whole community, and it was really easy with the school being more in town. But now we'd have to bus all the kids in; that just creates a little bit more of an issue for the school. **[26:00] Jim Michalski:** Understand, yeah, that may have been what stopped it. I'll leave that in your capable hands to see what you come up with. But thank you very much, appreciate your time. **[26:30] Students:** Thank you. **[26:35] Jim Michalski:** You are welcome to stay or you can leave. Moving back to number 5A, Resolution 24-11-01, rescinding capacity allocation of the Sand Lake Resort. **[26:55] Ellissa Owens:** All right. Council, we've had ongoing discussions regarding our negotiations with the Moose Lake Windemere Sanitary Sewer District. We had a closed session last evening. I won't go into detail regarding those items from last night, but I will publicly provide an update. The City has received a response to our proposal to the District; we received that on Friday, December 6th. The City staff and negotiation team met with the city attorneys on Friday the 6th and again on Monday the 9th. **[27:56] Ellissa Owens:** Another thing that occurred is that the Council is aware that the Sand Lake Resort has requested that the City approve 1,300 gallons per day of unconditional capacity. At this point in time, I can share that the City will be including 1,300 gallons per day for the Sand Lake Resort request in the City's counter-proposal. The 1,300 gallons per day will be above and beyond the capacity that has been negotiated at this time; it'll be specific to that request. That counter-proposal will be delivered to the District by week's end. **[28:46] Ellissa Owens:** The current resolution that has been tabled by Council is for 5,000 gallons of capacity. This was conditionally approved. Since that motion was made, a lot of negotiations have happened. Over time, the 5,000 gallons is actually not in alignment with the current mediation and negotiations for capacity. What has been discussed heavily between both parties at this time is customer transfers and flow allotment. This 5,000 gallons of capacity is again not pertinent now to where we're at in mediation. So what we've discussed is rescinding the capacity. The city attorneys did draft the resolution for Council to entertain. **[29:56] Jim Michalski:** Council, any discussion or motion? **[30:17] Mark Lambert:** Yes, sir, please. Come up to the podium. Mark Lambert, Sand Lake Resort. I've had a few conversations with some counselors over the week. Couple of things, guys: I think I've told a few folks along the way that I'm your best friend whether you want me to be or not. I'm looking for a way to move forward with Sand Lake Resort. I continue to explore multiple pathways to accomplish this. The sewer board has been very difficult and, frankly, I'll call out the attorney—she has been very difficult from the Sewer District. Even though you've granted me at the time this 5,000 resolution, the attorney has made her own interpretation that she doesn't feel that that included a capacity number. **[31:52] Mark Lambert:** What I came back with a couple of months ago was a negotiated reservation agreement with the District that said the first 1,300 gallons that come goes right to our Resort. We're anxiously waiting for 1,300 gallons. I've been at this two years; I won't tell you how many hundreds of thousands of dollars I put in. The resolution tonight for you was the 5,000 gallons that my engineers mistakenly thought we needed. So what you're about to do is repeal my capacity resolution, and I guess I would ask you one or two things before you do it: either number one, please give me my 1,300 unconditional gallons—it will immediately springboard into the District to give me the capacity to move on. If the Administrator and if the attorneys tonight are convinced that this has to happen, then I guess I would first say please discuss and see if you have a consensus to just grant me the 1,300 outright and be done. If that doesn't work, then I guess I would ask you to table this for yet another month. I did speak with Mrs. Huso; she's very supportive of us, and now we're down one vote. This revocation of this capacity number just doesn't seem right. **[35:36] Jim Michalski:** Thank you. I wish we could tell you the rest of our plans because it's negotiation, we can't. This is part of a further plan that we can't discuss publicly because it is part of negotiations and mediation that we're in. Administrator, you want to add any more? **[36:12] Ellissa Owens:** I will. The Council originally demonstrated support unilaterally for the project with the approval of the 15 connections. The City is not the utility provider for the Sand Lake Resort, but our direct relationship occurs with the District. The City attorneys have been directed to incorporate the 1,300 gallons per day above and beyond our other negotiated flow allotment specifically for your request, and the District will receive that proposal this week. That is a directive given to the City attorney. In order to meet the rest of our timelines and complete this process by year-end, we have pretty tight timelines. The District is receiving their proposal next week and we're going to shorten up a timeline for response. Although it's not ideal, your patience is appreciated. **[38:43] Douglas Juntunen:** Do we have to say yes or no today, or can we... can we call a special meeting in two weeks to decide? **[38:58] Ellissa Owens:** We have plans in place for that. **[39:03] Douglas Juntunen:** So we could say wait? **[39:06] Jim Michalski:** It's up to the Council. **[39:08] Lou Ohly:** If we rescind this, it helps the process of them getting to 1,300. Otherwise, we're going to be sitting with this proposal out there. If we take the proposal away, it's easier for us to make sure that they get the 1,300. I think it's important that it's communicated that rescinding this helps facilitate the second half of the process, which is the specific additional gallon per day allotment in our counter. It is not to make things more difficult. **[39:55] Mark Lambert:** I started my comment with "you're my best friend whether I want you to be or not," so I'm going to trust you on this. Do what you got to do. Thank you, Mark. **[40:11] Jim Michalski:** All right, Council, this is on resolution 24-11-01. Motion to approve? **[40:34] Walter Lower III:** I'll make a motion that we approve resolution 24-11-01. **[40:38] Douglas Juntunen:** Second. **[40:40] Jim Michalski:** Any further questions? All in favor say aye. **[40:42] Council Members:** Aye. **[40:43] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. There is a plan to this madness. Moving on to 6B, the First National Bank of Moose Lake Riverside Arena partnership agreement. **[41:15] Ryan McKeon:** Thanks for having me back up. We are thrilled to present to you a potential sponsorship agreement between First National Bank of Moose Lake and the City of Moose Lake. Essentially, this is a naming rights agreement. We've been meeting with Dan and Samantha back there from First National Bank for several months. Essentially, it's for $150,000 for 10 years, of which the City would elect to take $60,000 upfront to make some improvements to the arena and then $10,000 per year thereafter. Dan or Samantha, if you either one of you would like to come up... **[42:15] Dan:** I just have a couple comments. Being a community bank here in Moose Lake, that is part of what we do: we give back to the community and invest in our community. We really appreciate your support and allowing us to work with you through this process. We're really excited for this opportunity. **[43:08] Ellissa Owens:** The agreement was reviewed by the Park Board. Another notable piece is that the agreement highlights a Park Board appointment for First National Bank. In addition, there is talk about signage. The City has been coordinating with First National Bank regarding the exterior sign and a new digital sign. **[43:48] Jim Michalski:** Council, any questions? Motion? **[43:52] Walter Lower III:** Motion to approve the sponsorship agreement with First National Bank of Moose Lake. **[43:58] Douglas Juntunen:** Second. **[44:00] Jim Michalski:** Any questions, comments? All in favor say aye. **[44:02] Council Members:** Aye. **[44:03] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. Thank you very much. Moving on, this is 6C: General records resolution schedule for Minnesota cities. **[44:26] Ellissa Owens:** Yes. Throughout the course of 2024, we've worked with the city attorneys regarding the Minnesota Data Practices Act and public data requests. Through some of that work, we've had to review our retention schedule. Our retention schedule had not been updated in some time, so there was a recommendation made to adopt a newer version. Looking for a motion from Council to adopt the revised General Records Retention Schedule for Minnesota Cities. **[45:48] Lou Ohly:** Council makes the motion to adopt the new records retention schedule. **[45:52] Walter Lower III:** I have a second. Second. **[45:54] Jim Michalski:** Any questions, comments? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. **[45:57] Council Members:** Aye. **[45:58] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. We're down to 6D, 2025 annual appointments discussion. I think we had a correction that Chris wanted to change? **[46:33] Ellissa Owens:** I was contacted by Councilor Huso regarding the appointment for the Minnesota Department of Corrections advisory committee. The request was to either swap out with another city counselor or just be removed from that particular committee appointment. **[46:58] Jim Michalski:** Now we have Doug who is on that... Walter, are you interested in that? **[47:04] Walter Lower III:** Yeah, I can do that. **[47:11] Jim Michalski:** Okay, so you have that time. Formal approval will happen in January, so if there's any additional dialogue that needs to occur between now and then, this gives you guys a chance to look these over. Please coordinate with the Administrator so that we have an equal number of committees per counselor. **[49:15] Jim Michalski:** I should check on the Library Board, because we have Kris and Walter on that; we should check if that's okay with the contract. Otherwise, I think the rest will be fine. I had thought about giving out the Economic Development... right now I have Doug and Jim assigned to that. **[50:40] Walter Lower III:** Mr. Mayor, one thing I'd like to ask is that when we're looking at citizen representation, I would like to see when it comes open that we actually post it and give people the opportunity. Having new ideas and representation certainly doesn't hurt. **[51:10] Douglas Juntunen:** Does it have to wait until its term is up to be posted? Can it be just felt that is advertisement every year that is anybody interested? Is there any type of ad that we advertise anything that there is any interest in the city or any volunteer help? **[52:05] Jim Michalski:** That'll be up to you guys—you're going to be here, I'm gone. But that is normally when you do your long-term and short-term planning and you have community input. I have suggested that the city do a new strategic planning because the last one was done in 2014. It's probably something that the new Council and Administrator should talk about. Arrowhead Regional (ARDC) in Duluth can help in that process, normally at no expense to the cities in our area. **[54:49] Ellissa Owens:** Mayor, do we need approval to post the board vacancies? There are some vacancies on the Cemetery Board and the Planning Commission specifically. Looking for Council approval to post those vacancies. **[55:18] Walter Lower III:** So moved. **[55:20] Lou Ohly:** Second. **[55:21] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[55:22] Council Members:** Aye. **[55:23] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. Any other questions on the 2025 annual appointment discussion? Moving on to 6E, local option sales and use tax agreement. **[55:46] Ellissa Owens:** Yes, this is an annual process. There was a modification as far as the administrative fee is concerned, but that is not something that the City has control over; the Minnesota Department of Revenue will collect the flat rate of 1% for administrative fees. **[56:17] Jim Michalski:** Moving on to 6F, Resolution 24-12-01, regarding State Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for the Trunk Highway 73 Trail Phase 2 project. **[56:39] Ellissa Owens:** Essentially, because of the environmental pre-work that has already been completed, this resolution negates having to complete an EAW for the project. This process also occurred with Phase 1 of the trail project as well. Looking for Council approval. **[57:43] Douglas Juntunen:** I'll make that motion. **[57:45] Walter Lower III:** I have a second. Second. **[57:47] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[57:48] Council Members:** Aye. **[57:49] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. **[57:55] Walter Lower III:** I'll make a motion for the sales tax agreement, which was 6E. **[58:15] Douglas Juntunen:** Second. **[58:17] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[58:18] Council Members:** Aye. **[58:19] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. Moving on to 6G: Short Elliott Hendrickson Incorporated supplemental letter agreement for the 73 Trail project. **[58:43] Ellissa Owens:** This is for design fees for Phase 2. As design has continued to progress, there's been additional work needed to finalize design regarding easements and right-of-way. This fee is an amendment for $57,525. Some of this work they are considering "out of scope"—survey research, easement documents, etc. This is above and beyond what we can get reimbursed for from the grant. The intent is always to have the $750,000 covered by grant money, but there's always a little bit of City match, usually in the form of engineering fees. This is in our budget. **[1:00:52] Lou Ohly:** Motion to approve the pay amendment, $57,525. **[1:01:00] Douglas Juntunen:** Second. **[1:01:02] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[1:01:03] Council Members:** Aye. **[1:01:04] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. That brings us to item 6H: Moose Brewing Company temporary on-sale liquor license for Ice Bocce, January 25th, 2025. **[1:02:15] Ellissa Owens:** The Moose Lake Brewing Company will be taking over Ice Bocce; this was formerly a Chamber event. They are looking to facilitate the event for the first time this year. **[1:02:45] Walter Lower III:** Council motion to approve. **[1:02:48] Douglas Juntunen:** Second. **[1:02:50] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[1:02:51] Council Members:** Aye. **[1:02:52] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. Moving on to I: Moose Brewing Company temporary on-sale liquor license, Ice Stilt contest, February 15th, 2025. **[1:03:22] Lou Ohly:** Motion to approve. **[1:03:24] Walter Lower III:** Second. **[1:03:25] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[1:03:26] Council Members:** Aye. **[1:03:27] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. Moving on to J: 2024 Police Department budget discussion. **[1:03:45] Ellissa Owens:** Yes, we'll need formal approval on the law enforcement services agreement invoice for $73,228.60. This covers services through the end of 2024. This invoice essentially covers the remainder of 2024 at a prorated amount based on the start date for the deputies and administrative staff. **[1:05:00] Walter Lower III:** So we're at least a couple hundred thousand—$250,000—less than we spent? **[1:05:05] Ellissa Owens:** Yes. **[1:05:08] Walter Lower III:** I'll make a motion to approve the invoice of $73,228.60. **[1:05:15] Douglas Juntunen:** Second. **[1:05:16] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[1:05:17] Council Members:** Aye. **[1:05:18] Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Motion carried. **[1:05:22] Ellissa Owens:** In the packet was our expenditure budget worksheet. The original 2024 budget for law enforcement was $687,500. The final savings may be closer to the $200,000 mark. I would just be wanting direction from a Council perspective as far as prioritization of what the Council wants to see happen with those funds. **[1:07:05] Jim Michalski:** I would hope we would put it back into the budget for the Police Department so that you're kind of ahead of the game going into 2025. **[1:07:30] Walter Lower III:** I would say that we already have a budget amount that has been consistent. The purpose of going to contracted services was to save money for other departments that were neglected. I'd like to see this money go towards the Gravel Pit and infrastructure projects. **[1:09:05] Ellissa Owens:** The Gravel Pit has the ability to generate savings for the City—looking at a 30% cost savings on every single road project. It is rare that you come across opportunities to redirect money within the city budget because everything runs pretty tight. So, if that's the direction Council wants to go, the monies would then be earmarked for the Gravel Pit. **[1:11:00] Ellissa Owens:** There were money set aside in capital and Public Works for a new dump truck and a new pickup truck. Neither one of those occurred. Superintendent Entner looked for a new dump truck throughout the course of the year and did not find a good deal. So there's an opportunity to direct money from the Public Works capital and from the law enforcement department to fund the need for the Gravel Pit. In totality, there's around $300,000—$200,000 from the Police budget and $100,000 from Public Works. **[1:12:05] Jim Michalski:** Phil, could you come up to the podium? What would be the idea of that money, $300,000, moved into the Sewer Fund? **[1:13:00] Phil Entner:** We can fix the Sewer Fund immediately if we're willing to pay the rates to make the utility break even. I've been preaching that for five or six years. Our utility funds should be operating independently and should be self-sufficient versus General Fund monies. **[1:15:30] Jim Michalski:** I know that, but as far as sewer and water, it was tax dollars that got it started to pay for it to begin with. I'm just trying to see if doing it one time addition can get us through until probably 2032. **[1:16:15] Phil Entner:** My worry with that would be exactly what happened with the settlement from the State: it got us to a point where we had a surplus, and then it became acceptable to operate a utility at a loss and not increase rates. **[1:17:35] Jim Michalski:** All right, so we have some options. Council decision? **[1:18:10] Walter Lower III:** I'll make a motion to take the $200k from the unused Police Department budget and $100k from unused Public Works budget and put it towards the Gravel Pit completion. **[1:18:25] Douglas Juntunen:** Second. **[1:18:27] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[1:18:28] Council Members:** Aye. **[1:18:29] Jim Michalski:** Motion carried. Moving on to item 6K: Poor Gary's parking. **[1:19:04] Douglas Juntunen:** It was discussed that possibly to take care of the Poor Gary's parking issue, the City could give a sign or a sticker that would go onto their delivery vehicles that could be moved from vehicle to vehicle as needed to take care of the problem with the 3-hour parking limit. **[1:20:15] Lou Ohly:** I think we'd have to ask our law enforcement representation because they literally cannot go against the law if we do not have it somewhere that states it's okay for them to do that. **[1:21:10] Kelly Lake:** This is a city ordinance. You could write your ordinance with that caveat in it however you wanted to designate that, because ultimately you're the ones enforcing your ordinance. **[1:22:20] Lou Ohly:** Just keep in mind that now you're going to open up Pandora's Box and you're going to have other businesses doing the same thing. **[1:23:45] Ellissa Owens:** From an administration standpoint, I have concerns that things are facilitated in an equitable way. It concerns me that if there is an exception made for one business, the Council would need to review exceptions for other businesses. **[1:24:35] Douglas Juntunen:** I'm going to make a motion that we allow that for Poor Gary's. **[1:24:45] Jim Michalski:** Do I have a second? **[1:24:47] Walter Lower III:** I'll second. **[1:24:48] Jim Michalski:** All in favor say aye. **[1:24:49] Douglas Juntunen & Walter Lower III:** Aye. **[1:24:50] Jim Michalski:** Opposed say no. **[1:24:51] Lou Ohly & Jim Michalski:** No. **[1:25:05] Jim Michalski:** We have a tie vote, so it fails. We'll move on to the next item, 6J: Street Dedication. I want to designate the drive between the hockey arena and the Essentia building as the Jeff Dietz Drive. He was very instrumental in starting up the hockey program again in the early 70s, which has been very successful for 50 some years. **[1:28:10] Jim Michalski:** That brings us to Public Works budget discussion. **[1:28:15] Ellissa Owens:** That already occurred with the previous motion. We will move $100,000 of that capital money to the Gravel Pit in addition to the $200,000 from the Police budget. **[1:29:10] Jim Michalski:** Moving on to number 8, reports and correspondence. 8A, Flaherty and Hood 2025 legal service rate negotiations. **[1:29:25] Ellissa Owens:** I just wanted Council to have visibility to 2025's rate. **[1:29:50] Jim Michalski:** Moving on to 8B, DOC/DHS Citizens Advisory Committee meeting event, January 23rd, 2025. Doug, you're also on the committee—should I RSVP for you as well? **[1:30:15] Douglas Juntunen:** Yes, please. **[1:30:17] Jim Michalski:** Moving on to 8C, Moose Lake Star Gazette 2025 official newspaper bid letter. 8D, Arrowhead Transit 2025 fair changes. 8E, Moose Lake Area Chamber of Commerce 2025 annual meeting dinner invitation. Down to 9, committee and board meeting minutes. 9A, the Moose Lake Area Fire Protection District meeting minutes for November 2024. **[1:32:00] Jim Michalski:** I would like to do a special council meeting to swear in the new mayor and the new council members. Would January 2nd, a Thursday, be acceptable? I will reach out to the others for verification. Doug, you would run the meeting as Mayor Pro-tem, and Ellissa, you do the swearing-in. **[1:34:00] Jim Michalski:** Announcements: Moose Lake City Council regular meeting Wednesday, January 8th, 2025, at 4 p.m. here. Economic Development Authority Wednesday, December 18th. Water and Light Commission Tuesday, December 17th. Housing Redevelopment Authority Monday, January 13th. Fire District Tuesday, January 14th. And Park and Rec board Monday, January 6th. That brings us to Truth and Taxation public hearing. I'd like a motion to go into recess until 6 p.m. **[1:35:45] Walter Lower III:** Moved. **[1:35:46] Douglas Juntunen:** Second. **[1:35:50] Jim Michalski:** I want to thank the citizens of Moose Lake for the honor of serving them for these past 20 years. To the Chamber members and the different boards, and to the current Council—you guys have done a great job. It truly has been an honor for me to serve this whole community. I love Moose Lake. Thank you all very much. So we're in recess. **[1:37:05] Lou Ohly:** Thank you, Ted. It's been an honor to serve with you.