Based on the context provided and the dialogue within the transcript, here is the formatted version with speaker names assigned. **Note:** The transcript identifies two council members, **Connie Carlson** and **John Doll**, who were not included in your initial list but are clearly present and voting during the roll call. [2:26] Michele Hanson (Mayor): Uh, call to order the September 11, 2023, Bayport City Council meeting. Let us all rise for the Pledge of 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. Right, thanks. You want to do the roll, Matt? [2:26] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Councilmember Carlson? [Connie Carlson]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Doll? [John Doll]: Present. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Gilmore? [Ethan Gilmore]: Present. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Hill? [Katie Hill]: Here. [Matt Kline]: Mayor Hanson? [Michele Hanson]: Here. Some of you got fancy on us today. [3:13] Michele Hanson (Mayor): All right, do we have a motion to approve the agenda? [John Doll (Councilmember)]: I will make a motion approving tonight's agenda. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: All right, second? Thanks, Connie and John. Um, all those in favor, aye. Opposed? Right, so we got a nice short agenda. Um, first thing is proclamations, accommodations, petitions, and announcements. And the August recycling award recipient is Brendan England at 1212 Inspiration Parkway, and he will be getting a, um, gift card basically—is that what he gets from the county for doing his recycling? So thank you, Brendan. [3:59] Michele Hanson (Mayor): And then we will move on to the open forum. This is a portion of the meeting to address City Council on subjects that are not part of the agenda, and we, the City Council, may take action or reply at the time of the statement or may give direction to staff regarding investigation of comments expressed. A total of 15 minutes is allotted for public comment during the open forum. I think this is the first time since I've been Mayor there's nobody in here, so you're doing good. We—yeah, we are doing well. So, um, let's see. Consent agenda: consider resolution adopting items 1 through 10: August 7th, 2023 City Council Workshop minutes; August 7th, 2023 City Council regular meeting minutes; August payables... [4:45] Michele Hanson (Mayor): ...and receipts; August building, plumbing, mechanical, and zoning permits report; extension of a Joint Powers Agreement with Saint Paul Park for law enforcement services; award a quote for street spray patching maintenance; a donation request from Bayport Community Action Link to support Derby Days; award the quote for Centennial Pavilion project at the Village Green Park; the grant application to Conservation Partners Legacy for landscape restoration work at Parker's Alps Park; and replacement of sewer utility truck for the Public Works department. We have a roll call vote. [5:31] Michele Hanson (Mayor): Right, oh— [John Doll (Councilmember)]: Make a motion. [Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor)]: I'll second it. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Thanks. [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Councilmember Carlson? [Connie Carlson]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Doll? [John Doll]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Gilmore? [Ethan Gilmore]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Hill? [Katie Hill]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Mayor Hanson? [Michele Hanson]: Aye. [5:31] Michele Hanson (Mayor): All right, there are no public hearings, no unfinished business. So our new business is to consider a request to replace electrical service to a street light located at 137th Street North. [6:17] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Thank you, Madam Mayor, members of the Council. Normally this isn't something that would be brought to Council attention, um, but there are somewhat special circumstances for this. So during the April 1st snowstorm, there was actually a significant number of street lights, um, that had their electric service essentially ripped out of the mast for the light poles, including this one. The interesting thing about this one is that the service comes from a back alley that is unimproved, and the service comes between two houses. So Xcel currently does not have a right-of-way between the two houses to allow for trimming trees, nor do they make it a practice to trim trees for only single street lights, of which this is one. Ultimately they came back with three options for the city. [7:04] Matt Kline (City Administrator): One would be to relocate the street light south of their current location where they can pull overhead power from a different pole. This would move the street light one or two houses to the south and not necessarily shine on the same area. Two would be to leave the street light in the current location but install underground electric service to the property, um, at a cost to the city of $4,399. So it would be bored from First Avenue South down to 7th Street and then up the hill of 7th Street to this location. And then option three would be to remove the street light entirely. We have received feedback from a couple of the neighbors who would prefer to—hence the reason that this is at the Council meeting—that would prefer to see the street light in the same location as it is. I will say that in that location it does light the curve of the property up there, although the speed on that road is likely not extremely fast, which your headlights should be doing the due diligence of lighting the road. A couple of residents indicated, uh, potential burglary given no lighting; lighting of the road was a big one. [8:38] Matt Kline (City Administrator): I did include a letter from one of the residents, not necessarily in the packet but for you to look at tonight. Um, city does not have policy regarding street light placement. That one's technically in the mid-block, but if you lined it up, it would be on Central Avenue, so it really is in a block section; it's just that that section's two blocks long essentially. Um, so typically we have a street light at every block intersection, so it would kind of fall under our typical, um, scenario of where we would put a street light. Um, that's all I have unless we have questions. Um, City staff is not necessarily making a recommendation. Um, you know, we're open to any scenario that the City Council would prefer. [9:24] Michele Hanson (Mayor): All the neighbors are—that we've heard from—are in favor of keeping it? [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: In some ways, yes. The three neighbors that we have exclusively heard from. We didn't necessarily go down and, you know, take a random sample of neighbors, but the ones who we have heard from want it kept in the same location. Yep. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: And did anyone talk about if it were moved how they would feel about it being in a new location? Because that, like you said, it's not going to shine... [10:11] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Yeah, they indicated that in the location that it would move is—there's already a house down there that has lights lit up the whole road and that it would be kind of pointless in that location. It would be—well, yeah. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: I just—yeah, I think we need to probably figure out a way to keep it for those folks, as much as I'm anti-street light. [10:39] John Doll (Councilmember): You should maybe pay for all of it. Maybe there'd be a way to split some of those costs? I mean, underground is—that's not fail-safe because underground can go bad as well. [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Yeah, so animals can get at it. But a little update there: underground is actually more expensive to maintain than overhead. There is a cost increase of about ten dollars per month for an underground light versus an overhead light. That cost will provide for a new light with a fiberglass pole and not a wooden pole with a light on it. [John Doll (Councilmember)]: The $4,399 would be a new pole? [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Yes, everything, yep. [11:27] John Doll (Councilmember): And that is a city pole and a City fixture? [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Correct. [John Doll (Councilmember)]: We don't have any insurance or anything that covers things like that? [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: I can check. I did not necessarily check on that, but my guess is probably not. It didn't necessarily destroy the pole. Um, yeah, it was more the line going in. Right. And based on the fact that we don't necessarily have a right-of-way going through there, um, definitely inhibits that. I don't know what our claim would necessarily be. [12:14] Michele Hanson (Mayor): Well, I guess I feel like we should do something for them because if I were up there and it would—I mean, because really you got the woods behind, right? It's dark. So I guess I feel like, um, if they're asking for it and if it is city, I think we need to do something about it. Um, the one she mentioned—the solar? Another option would be pursue the placement of a solar-powered light. Is that anything that would be—I don't know much about it, so I just didn't know if that'd be something? [13:00] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Yeah, from a reliability standpoint and a location standpoint there, I don't think it would be the best choice. Okay. Um, especially given the fact that if it only makes it halfway through the night or something like that in winter. Yeah. Um, I do know that we have our—our solar-powered speed limit sign on the south end of town, and sometimes in the winter we do lose, um, connection on that because the battery can't get charged enough. Okay. So, um, and given that that one's close to the hill there, um, with the settings on, makes it kind of difficult. Okay. And I didn't necessarily find any viable street light options that were solar and cost-effective. [13:45] Michele Hanson (Mayor): It's kind of a unique system, a scenario. I mean, like I said, we don't have anything in our ordinances or anything, but it was kind of a force of nature. So I think if they're—if they're for having it replaced, we should see what we can do about it. [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Yeah, Madam Mayor, members of Council, if that's the prerogative, I don't—I don't think I need a motion, just some direction, especially at the cost that's associated with it. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: How do other Council members feel? [John Doll (Councilmember)]: I guess I'm okay with it. [Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor)]: Yeah, yeah, they want it and it was there before, so you should have to replace it. [14:31] Connie Carlson (Councilmember): I just don't know how—like how do you go about figuring out what we would pay? Like, because how many places do you look? Do you just look three different places, or you guys—the city is doing all the work? [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Nope, so it's Xcel Energy. They—they run all the street lights in the city except for the ones through downtown and then there's some out in Inspiration. So that's our vendor, so they—we don't go out to anybody else besides that. [John Doll (Councilmember)]: Yeah. I mean, the people—we have a letter in front of us from our long-standing Bayport residents that have [contributed] very actively, significantly to this community. That's true. Yeah. For their time and—yeah, that shouldn't matter, but it does matter to me. [15:18] Michele Hanson (Mayor): Well, and again, I—I'm like you, John, I'm not a huge fan of having street lights if you don't really need a street light, especially. But, um, if they feel it's—it's necessary, I—I guess we don't have a good reason to deny that when there always has been a light there for them. So I think you have your direction, right? [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Yep. Okay. [15:18] Michele Hanson (Mayor): All right, and I guess we get to have Matt talk about the budget. What do you want—are you limping? [15:53] Matt Kline (City Administrator): All right, so this will be a discussion about the 2024 preliminary budget. Um, so just to start out, uh, with the budget calendar. Um, in June obviously of this year, uh, budget information was distributed to department heads. Um, they're able to look through their budgets, um, look at increases or decreases that they may see from past years and then provide a recommendation to the City Administrator. In July 2023, the department heads submit their budget request to the City. We converse about it to have conversation about what can and can't get cut potentially. This year there wasn't a lot because of the demands on certain items in the budget, which we'll go over later. [16:41] Matt Kline (City Administrator): August 7th, the City Council conducted their first Workshop to discuss the preliminary tax levy budget and Capital Improvement projects. At that meeting, we thought there was a chance we could do a higher increase to the levy, which turned out to be false, um, based on, you know, feedback from the Council and even recommendation from City staff. August 30th, staff provided the City Council with alternative options to that original levy to do—to reduce the preliminary tax levy that was presented on August 7th. That's with information provided by Washington County on the tax impacts of our levy to the individual residents. [17:28] Matt Kline (City Administrator): September 11th, which is today, City conducted a second Workshop to discuss those alternative, uh, tax levy options and determine, um, that a 5.4 percent increase was appropriate based on City needs and ability to, um, plan for the future. So tonight we'll be considering the adoption of that preliminary tax levy, the budget, and the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan). September 30th is the deadline for the city to submit or to certify the preliminary tax levy to Washington County. Just a quick note: if you don't certify by that date, they actually take your levy from the previous year and put that towards what your tax levy will be. [18:15] Matt Kline (City Administrator): December 4th, the city conducts a Truth in Taxation public meeting. Essentially, it's a political meeting allowing residents to come in and provide comments on not only the city tax levy but their taxes as a whole. Um, and then December 29th is the deadline for the city to certify the actual tax levy—or the final tax levy—and budget to Washington County. Um, I will note that tonight's, um, levy is the preliminary levy, which allows us to set it, and then we cannot raise it after the September 29th submission, but we can lower it. [19:01] Matt Kline (City Administrator): So, um, 2024 city services: these are really unchanged over the past multiple years. We provide a very wide range of services, especially for a small city: police, fire, public safety... I'm not going to go through all of these, but a library—for a city this size to have its own library? We were just discussing with the Library Director tonight about her budget; it's very unusual for a city this size to have a city-owned library. And then, of course, Municipal Water, Sanitary Sewer, and Storm Sewer, and then of course at the end, Capital Improvements that always need to get completed. [19:48] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Some of the significant factors that contributed to the 2024 budget: these include a normal three percent increase in wages for the labor agreement for Union staff. This carries through to the non-union staff also. Um, also an 11.5 percent increase in residential housing market value. We happened to look at Connie Carlson's house tonight and saw that her market value went up just like it indicates on the Washington County website. We also saw two big increases: one for property and liability insurance throughout the city, and one for Workers Compensation Insurance throughout the city. [20:33] Matt Kline (City Administrator): These numbers are—um, seem small, but together they add up, along with the fiscal disparities distribution. Essentially, what that is: the Metro cities as—as a whole pool their money together for items such as commercial taxation. And so what happens then is, based on your commercial tax capacity that whole pool, you get paid out a certain amount. Well, from this year to last year, we are getting $40,539 less, likely because our commercial district is doing well. So it's a Catch-22. [21:19] Matt Kline (City Administrator): We also did receive from the Local Government Aid an increase of $133,672, which is wonderful from the state. It is their intent, based on past conversations, that they will be keeping that level higher for years to come. So, but it's not unheard of to see that amount decrease. Um, and then the Library Levy is increasing $9,500 for their—their portion. We're also seeing an increase in police wages, to primarily how we calculate—we're including the night shift holiday pay and support staff this year, which we have not included in past years. And we're also seeing an increase in interfund transfers to fund budgeted Capital expenditures. This includes the potential Fourth Avenue street project and some Public Works equipment purchases and Fire Department equipment purchases. [22:07] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Um, our capital outlay, uh, for the year: I'm not going to go through all of it. The Fire Department has a substantial amount, primarily because a lot of their equipment is very expensive and we're replacing probably about one piece of equipment on a yearly basis, and we are behind on building up a fund for their replacement. Public Works equipment is higher than in years past. I believe we'll be purchasing about four different pieces of equipment this year. And by "we," I mean City, because Simon's now the Public Works Director, not myself. [22:54] Matt Kline (City Administrator): So 2024 budget Revenue summary: um, for general government, we're going up 6.86 percent. Uh, we'll just take the significant ones here. Parks is seeing a fairly big increase in expenses, although relatively low when you look at the money—the transfer in. As I indicated, we're making a fair amount of purchases and doing a street project next year, so we'll need more money from our—our revenue funds and our investment funds to help pay for some of that money. Um, so our total revenues for the year will be $4,707,284, um, which is a fairly significant increase over last year, uh, 6.5 percent. [23:42] Matt Kline (City Administrator): So the 2024 budget expense summary matches obviously what we are bringing in for revenue. Some of the significant factors—or the significant increases, I guess—we had talked about before. Police is seeing a fairly big increase, mostly because of that reallocation, um, and changing how we show, um, what's getting paid for essentially. And then capital outlay as I identified prior, um, some of the purchases that we're making in the street projects that we're doing. Um, now we'll do a budget comparison for years past. Um, so this does not include the library. Um, so if you can tell, we're kind of somewhat flat but going up year to year. And then that tax levy summary... [24:28] Matt Kline (City Administrator): So for 2024, the general fund tax levy is estimated at $1,370,247. Then we have General Obligation Debt Service, which is essentially our fire hall payment of $166,925, and the proportion for the Library Levy is $204,500, for a total levy of $1,741,672, which, as we had indicated before, is a 5.2 percent increase over the 2023 adopted levy. Um, this is just indicating the general fund levy over the past several years. Um, this excludes the library again. Um, of an increase of 5.45 percent. This is a city levy comparison, 2019 to 2023. Um, we don't know what the other cities are currently proposing. Um, so we did a five-year stretch of starting in 2023. As you can see right here, we are almost in the middle if you kind of throw out the outliers for low and high. Our average over the past—or combined average over the past, um, five years is 24.7 percent. So that's not every year—that has to get divided by five essentially to get our average. So roughly about five percent a year. [26:47] Matt Kline (City Administrator): So the property tax rate: this is calculated by the percentage of the property owner's overall tax payment that is allocated to the city. So if you look at your tax bill, and there'll be multiple items on there—so it'll be city taxes, it'll be school district taxes, and Washington County are the three primary ones. If you divide all those out, the city portion this year will be 27.59 percent, which is actually a decrease from 2023 even though the city taxes are increasing. So if you can explain that to me... [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: We were listening. [27:36] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Yes. So here's the property tax estimate. This is what the impact will be for residential properties. So the first line with the $358,800, that is the current median market value in the city of Bayport. That's what your average house would sell for in the city of Bayport. Um, so the current proposed increase from 2023, your property taxes would go up $57.71. Obviously, the higher you go, the more payout there will be. It ranges anywhere from I believe seven to nine percent based on which category you're in. It's technically the median, not the average. Sorry, median. So yes, at the 50th percentile. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: And yep, everything—there also will be homes that will pay less than the $57.71? [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Fifty percent of them actually would pay less than that, correct. Okay, to be clear. [28:18] Matt Kline (City Administrator): So the 2024 preliminary budget summary: just like to thank the City Council and staff. We're in a pretty unique position to continue providing a high level of service with a relatively low tax impact. We also have a very good investment fund that we can use for capital purchases and reconstruction projects, and so we're—we're sitting in a very good spot from—from a financial standpoint. This budget ensures we maintain a high quality of life for residents and property owners while also demonstrating responsibility with public resources and making important investments for the future. That stands for questions. [29:22] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Oh, I will note—sorry, Madam Mayor—there will be three resolutions to pass for the tax levy, and then the total budget, and then also the Capital Improvement Plan. [John Doll (Councilmember)]: I think like when you look at the city level comparison and based on, you know, what Bayport has—the size of our town and the amenities we have—you know, we're kind of right in the middle there with our neighbors. And we have, you know, significantly more things that we provide from a city standpoint. The library being one, our own Police Department, things like that, so our fire departments. I think year in, year out, we should be proud of how we do from a budget standpoint. At least in my, you know, what is it—six issues on Council? It's been pretty great. I think. Anyone else? [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Cool. Good comment, John. I agree. Oh, go ahead, Connie. [30:55] Connie Carlson (Councilmember): No, I was—I think another thing that's what I know we talked a lot about to consider is, you know, Matt just gave us the presentation. For people that may be watching, this isn't the first time we've seen this stuff. Um, so we have been talking about it, we've looked at it multiple times, and so we've done our due diligence in terms of looking at the budget. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Yeah, Matt did a great job, so thank you. [John Doll (Councilmember)]: Excellent job of you and your staff. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Yeah, everything is—I was, uh, very clear and concise, and I appreciate all the info and the way it's been provided. And I can go on and on about how I love the new booklet, but this may be enough to make Adam blush. [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Oh yeah, Adam did set you up pretty well. I think he was a pretty detailed guy, so that—that helps. [31:43] Michele Hanson (Mayor): Oh, it is always very confusing: levy versus actual tax. You know, I think people will get that, and then the tax rate on top of it all just complicates things. But you have to explain it all, so I think the bottom line is that slide 14 where you can see what's actually going to happen to, like, a median valued home's taxes. You actually see how much your taxes would increase. Yep, it is kind of interesting to see that. So the median home value increases about sixty dollars, but then you go to a slightly less valued home and it goes up sixty-eight. So it's always—it's a little strange. [32:31] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Yeah, they're—they're not always, like I said, the percentage actually—there's a range, right, between seven and nine percent of what they actually increase. So yeah, you could actually have a house that's worth less having higher taxes. Um, it has to do with the—it's the—uh, it used to be called home market value, how they calculated that. So you're taxed different on certain amounts of what your house is worth. The first $75,000 is taxed at one rate, and then the next 50 and 50, and once you get over like $400,000 then your house is just taxed at a certain level. So that has something to do with it. Yeah, they can't make it any more complicated. No. [33:18] Michele Hanson (Mayor): All right, so any other comments or any questions, or does anyone want to attempt making some motions? And start with the first one on the levy? [John Doll (Councilmember)]: Motion on the preliminary levy for 2024. [Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor)]: Second. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: All right, thanks Ethan and John. Um, we have to do a roll call vote for each one, is that how it works, Matt? Give me a second. No, right. Do we have to say the actual dollar value of the levy or is it okay to be that generic? [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Um, I think we're okay. They're not changing from what's been in the packet. [33:44] Michele Hanson (Mayor): All right, great. So we have a motion and a second for the levy. Oh, sorry. That's all right, I mess it up all the time. Let you mess around. [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Councilmember Carlson? [Connie Carlson]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Doll? [John Doll]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Gilmore? [Ethan Gilmore]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Hill? [Katie Hill]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Mayor Hanson? [Michele Hanson]: Aye. [34:31] Michele Hanson (Mayor): All right. How about a motion for that? [Connie Carlson (Councilmember)]: All right, I'll make a motion to adopt a resolution of the preliminary budget for 2024. [Katie Hill (Councilmember)]: I'll second. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Connie and Katie, we'll give it to you. Thanks. [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Councilmember Carlson? [Connie Carlson]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Doll? [John Doll]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Gilmore? [Ethan Gilmore]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Hill? [Katie Hill]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Mayor Hanson? [Michele Hanson]: Aye. [34:52] John Doll (Councilmember): I'll move to adopt a resolution of the proposed Capital Improvement Plan for 2024. [Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor)]: I'll second. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: All right, John and Ethan, thank you. [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: Councilmember Carlson? [Connie Carlson]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Doll? [John Doll]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Gilmore? [Ethan Gilmore]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Councilmember Hill? [Katie Hill]: Aye. [Matt Kline]: Mayor Hanson? [Michele Hanson]: Aye. [35:28] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Oh, yes ma'am. Uh, Madam Mayor, members of the Council. Um, this is just to inform the public that, uh, the Truth in Taxation hearing will be heard on December 4th, 2023. Um, you are welcome to come in and provide feedback on the proposed budget and levy and your tax statement. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Right, thank you. We move on to, uh, City Council liaison reports on line-up. John, you want to go first? [John Doll (Councilmember)]: Um, Middle St. Croix Watershed did not meet last month. Great. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Katie, go ahead. [36:15] Katie Hill (Councilmember): Yeah, Derby Days is this weekend. So Friday is the Party in the Park, neon theme—so come in 80s neon theme. Starts at five, but music starts at six, goes till 10. And then Saturday is all day: uh, 9:00 AM the medallion hunt starts; 12:00 the Duck Derby happens at Perro Park; two o'clock is the pet parade; and then, uh, down at Lakefront it will be the music from four to six in baseball; and then 5:00 to 8:30 is food and drinks; there'll be a DJ from 6:00 to 8:30; and fireworks at 8:30. On Saturday. Nice. Pretty much the—the typical Derby Days. Yeah, go on. But last year's Party in the Park was really, really fun and we're expecting another really, really fun night. We're also gonna—I think there's a raffle that Mary—oh, yeah, Colette's been putting together, which is new this year. We will be selling ducks for the Duck Derby at Party in the Park. You can also get them online. And costume contest—so come dressed in your best of the 80s here so you can win. And there's, I think, too, like a kid and an adult. Yeah. Great, thanks. Um, anything else that you want to share? That's it, no. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Okay, so we're good. Ethan? [37:02] Ethan Gilmore (Deputy Mayor): Uh, Cable Commission did not meet, so I have nothing to report. Okay. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Connie? [37:48] Connie Carlson (Councilmember): The Library Board did meet in August. Um, we kind of discussed the budget and then Joe went over, um, the activities that took place over the summer and that it was very successful. And then the library will be hosting—I don't want to call it hosting, but a couple things at Derby Days. They have an event planned at 11:00 at Perro Park. It's an event that she said you don't have to sit and watch the whole thing because it kind of just moves along, so you aren't going to miss something if you don't stay the whole time. And then the story time stroll—not sure if they're gonna walk through this... [38:08] Katie Hill (Councilmember): Yeah, it's a stories-rule, I think. If it's like last year, there's like a storyboard every so often and then they walk along. I thought, well, if she reads it to the kids, but they—last year they walked from Mabel's because they had that yoga thing right over. But this sounds like they're gonna stroll through—it's through the Perro Park. So this is all like while we'll be starting to sell ducks at 11:00, and so it's before the Derby so people have—and I think there will be other, um, I think like the Scouts and the church were both gonna set up, maybe both churches that are right there set up a little tables to have other activities. So if there's more to do if you come early for the ducks. [38:55] Connie Carlson (Councilmember): Yeah. And then there's the book sale and then, um, other than that just—I mean, she came tonight to the budget because that was a little bit discussed and then just said she really enjoyed the summer and they're looking forward to having the kids back from the school attending the library. So and we'll meet, um, next—actually next Tuesday, the 19th. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Thanks. I, on the 14th, went to the Fire Department Relief Association meeting. It was pretty—there's nothing really going on. They're doing fine with their funding, and they're coming up with ways to do more fundraisers, including being at the Party in the Park. I think they're going to be selling hamburgers and hot dogs. Um, on the 17th I had a chance to meet with the new owners of Oleo and see how they are moving things along there and how it's been working with working with the city. And they've been very pleased, and they're excited to open sometime in early October, I believe it is now. [40:28] Michele Hanson (Mayor): Uh, the 22nd, I had a Chamber Ambassadors meeting. I'm just trying to do my best to have—it's called the Greater Stillwater Chamber, so I'm trying to remind everyone that Bayport's also part of that Greater Stillwater area. Um, the 28th, went to the Lake Elmo airport advisory meeting. Started off and walked in the room, and there was probably 30 residents there, which never has not happened in the other couple meetings that I've been to. So and of course it was the meeting where we had the spotlight on Bayport, so I got to do a presentation about our town and had many more ears and eyes to—to participate in that. So that was kind of fun. We did a quick—it was about a five-minute presentation that, uh, just to kind of give a background on what we do because they want everyone in that advisory committee to understand everybody else. So we do little spotlights on airport users and the communities, and so it's kind of a nice idea. [41:15] Michele Hanson (Mayor): So all those people were there because there are—I think I've mentioned at other meetings—we've had thousands of complaints from a specific area in Lake Elmo that has noise issues and also just low-flying planes. So lots of discussion about that. They all had a chance to, you know, it was like a open forum, so they would have a chance to speak about how they feel. There was one resident who had a lot of data, wasn't just complaining about noise, but literally looked into a lot of data—did a great job. And so we are working on with the Metropolitan Airport Commission staff on a noise abatement plan. So we're going to put a draft together and keep things moving to hopefully help those neighbors with that. There has definitely increased traffic with the new runway at the airport. So they moved the runway over slightly and extended it for safety, and it is used more, I think, so might be part of the issue. [42:01] Michele Hanson (Mayor): And then afterwards, we—some of us went on a tour of the airport, which was interesting. So I hadn't seen all of it there. They have a—um, a flight school there, which I was totally oblivious, did not know. So if you want your kids to learn how to fly, you can send them over there. It's—it's pretty interesting. I think that's also part of the increased traffic during the summer. They do a lot more of the—and they all do the same route when they're teaching, so they're going over the same homes a lot. So we're going to be working with them too, I'm sure. [42:47] Michele Hanson (Mayor): Uh, the 29th, met with a developer interested in the Anderson Farm property. He had just had some questions about how we as a city would feel about some things and just giving him some background information. Had a chance to meet with Simon this month too, just kind of check in, and um, I'm really excited about how excited he is about Bayport. So that was fun. Um, met with Interim Chief Jackson, too—there's a little check-in. Um, had some chats with the school board member, school district staff about everything that's going on. Um, also went to Chamber's—the Chamber's Women's Business Bridge on the 8th and got to hand out some Derby Days flyers and talk again about our great city. So that's enough, plus all the other little meet-with-Matt and talk-to-Matt all the time—he's tired of me—and residents here and there. But that was a busy month. Um, let's see. We'll move on to the staff and City Administrative reports. [43:32] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Thank you, Madam Mayor. Fire Chief Kinney actually has drill tonight and a Fire Relief Association meeting, so we let him off. A couple of notes on his, um, report: call volume total volume for the year is 810 compared to 747 last year, so that's seeing an increase. And a couple anniversaries to point out: Mike Bell, 33 years; Mike Gallowitz, 24 years; and Andy Swenson, 15 years. Um, with that, um, Interim Police Chief Jackson. [44:16] Jay Jackson (Interim Police Chief): Mayor, Council, um, just to go through a couple things. We had to reschedule our tactical shoot, um, this last month due to the heat, um, so we just pushed it back a week and that went off without any issues. I have quite a few upcoming events here. September 9th, Officer Cornell and Mays attended the Stillwater ECFE annual big truck event. We also were able to make some contacts for some potential, uh, things for National Night Out next year—so our Night to Unite next year. So hopefully that will come through for us, but the event was well received by all. We have our second tactical shoot coming up here this Thursday for all of our staff. [45:03] Jay Jackson (Interim Police Chief): Um, we also have the Bayport Bash at the First State Bank coming up, um, which Officer Cornell and Mays and myself will be attending. And then also, uh, the Derby Days events—um, we'll have some staff at that as well as myself on Saturday. Looking forward to the fireworks. And then also the Halloween event coming up is going to be at the old fire hall where we used to have it. And I'm working with the Mayor, and we're trying to bring back our former glory that was our Halloween event. So hopefully we'll get a much larger turnout and we have a couple of things we're working on that to hopefully, uh, draw a little bit better crowd. And also still going to be handing out our glow necklaces just to increase the visibility for the kids since we do have quite the crowd on our side streets here. And total incidences and calls self-initiated as of, uh, August is 4,917. Also attached to your reports was the, uh, canine handler report from Officer Cornell, just outlining some of our timelines, um, since Mays joined us as well as some of the upcoming events that he is attending that I also covered, um, with our upcoming events. And I will stand for questions. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: Okay, thank you. Interim Chief. Um, Officer Cornell, thanks for the update. I appreciated that extra little info in there. [Jay Jackson (Interim Police Chief)]: Oh, sure. Yep. And we do plan on continuing that as we move forward just to keep you guys updated and let you know what, uh, Mays is up to and the different events that we're attending, as well as, uh, what he's getting himself into. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: So awesome. Thank you. All right, Simon. [46:35] Simon (Public Works Director): Madam Mayor, members of the Council. Um, this month, uh, if my report indicates that it was another month dominated by tree work. We had DJ Haynes come through, and they were able to remove 25 ash trees that we picked out that were in desperate need of being removed. We do plan on having Willow River Company out to replace those trees. They will be in at the end of September, early October. We're at the point now where we will be identifying the locations and species of trees. I have had a couple of residents reach out to ask if they could be involved in the choice of those trees. I would be happy to accommodate that, barring it's some nonsensical request, but we do have a list of trees that we have that we can choose from and as long as they're appropriate as far as power lines and things like that. [47:23] Simon (Public Works Director): Um, we did also apply for a Relief Community Forestry Grant, which I attended a meeting with the Minnesota DNR that they held in St. Paul just as an informational session. We did put an application together for that and submitted it. The city has been successful with that grant in the past. This time around, we are requesting approximately $88,000 over the course of three years to help in the relief of, uh, removal of ash trees and the replacement of those trees. The grant applications are looked more favorably if we replace more trees than we remove, so we did indicate that we would be doing that. We should hopefully hear something by, uh, October or November. Their timeline is pretty aggressive, so we should hopefully—I feel we had a strong application; it was looked at by other members of the staff who have experience in this type of activity. [48:10] Simon (Public Works Director): So, um, I—I hope that we—we can secure some—some monies for that moving forward; that would certainly help the budget. Um, also enhanced street sweeping. We are involved in a program that the Watershed—Washington Conservation District—is going to be reimbursing the city for hours spent behind the wheel of the street sweeper cleaning up some leaves around the city, something that we do pretty much anyway. So they will be offering up about $2,500—a little less than $2,500 a year to help to reimburse us for those processes to keep phosphorus levels out of the river in high canopy areas around the city. [49:44] Simon (Public Works Director): Um, lead service line will continue—lead service line inventory will continue. That is, uh, anticipated to be completed—well, it needs to be completed by October of '24. We are on pace to do that. I did want to make note of, if any residents are listening or watching this video and they have not had their lead service line inventory—their home inspected—it takes about five minutes for an individual of our staff to go into the home and just to determine what classification of material is used from the street service line into their home. Um, that would be very beneficial to us. So that we can—if they can actually be proactive reaching out to us, that would be appreciated. Um, the replacement swing set for Lakeside Park is on order and it will be hopefully delivered by late October. City staff Public Works will be installing that swing set. Um, it was destroyed in the windstorm from July. Um, along the lines of City staff, we did lose an employee who has been here for approximately five years, Ross Lindgren. Uh, he has moved on to better opportunities, so we're sorry to see him leave. Um, we will be looking for new applications here and going through that process. Hopefully we'll be fully staffed by mid-November, um, specifically before the snow flies, hopefully, because we could certainly use the help. Um, with that, I stand for questions. [51:19] Michele Hanson (Mayor): A lot of details, that was great. And thank you for all of the grants you've been going after. We kind of breezed over the one in the consent agenda that we're going to be looking at, the Conservation Partners Legacy one for Parker's Alps, and that's very exciting if we can get that. I don't know if you want to tell a little bit of the background right now or not, but hopefully the next meeting we'll get a little more information. But I think it's intriguing that it was started by an actual resident. [Simon (Public Works Director)]: Yes. And, uh, that resident approached, um, me earlier this summer and I mentioned that he would like to see, um, potential restoration to native habitats in Parker's Alps along the hillside, since it is overwhelmingly buckthorn at this point and it's beginning to choke out some of the natural—some of the oaks that we have in that park. It's a beautiful park, beautiful hillside, a nice trail going right through it, and you can see about five feet into the woods if you were walking along those trails. [52:05] Simon (Public Works Director): Um, there are some stunning examples around the area, specifically up on Arcola Trail north of Stillwater, if you guys are ever up in that area. There is a great example of a project that they undertook that is showing very good results at this point. Um, Belwin is obviously a great example for some oak savanna restoration that they've completed and had a lot of success with. And they—CPL—is an organization that will grant monies towards municipalities or non-profit organizations to assist in those types of projects. They ask for in-kind match or cash matches in the sum of 10 percent of the overall monies that they grant. In-kind would probably be our best bet. I think it wouldn't be an issue coming up with volunteer hours or in this community. I can't imagine, especially if they were to be able to see the benefit that there would be to the community. [53:36] Simon (Public Works Director): So again, we're working with the Washington Conservation District on completing that application. They are due next Tuesday. We have a pretty strong chance, I'm hoping, of getting some of those monies awarded, and it would be fun to see the transformation that that hillside in Parker's Alps could undertake with the help of that money. So more to come on that, and it's certainly helped to be bringing good news in the next couple of months on that as well. Thanks. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: And just to be clear, the hillside—when you say that, you're talking about the—that pathway sort of between lower and upper markers, not just the hill that's in the middle of lower? Not—not the sliding hill? [Simon (Public Works Director)]: Yes. Okay. Let's be clear. Yeah, there's buckthorn there, though. There is probably somewhere—it's approximate everywhere. Twenty-five acres, so it's a large chunk. Yeah, certainly it'd be great to help that area out. So thank you. Um, uh, Assistant City Administrator Taylor. [54:22] Sara Taylor (Assistant City Administrator): Madam Mayor, members of the Council. Uh, the latest edition of the city's print newsletter, Bayport News, was distributed mid-August. Uh, the next edition is scheduled for distribution in December. Um, absentee and early voting for the Stillwater Area Public School District special election begins on September 22nd, either by mail or in person at the Washington County Government Center in Stillwater. For new voter registration applications or absentee voting information, residents should visit the Washington County website. Polls will be open for in-person voting from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM on November 7th, and all residents vote at the new Bayport Fire Station. [55:08] Sara Taylor (Assistant City Administrator): Uh, just a few upcoming community events to highlight: Washington County will be hosting a free hazardous material drop-off at Lilly Lake Ice Arena in Stillwater on September 23rd at 8:00 AM, and that's free and open to all county residents. And they're also hosting a second event for free confidential document shredding at the Environmental Center in Woodbury on September 27th at 8:00 AM. More information is on their website. The rest of the information or things that we've been working on were already covered earlier in the agenda, and that's the reason Matt and I have kind of been tag-teaming on our staff reports lately in memos because we're working on the same stuff together. So I stand for questions. [Connie Carlson (Councilmember)]: With the hazardous waste, do they have a list of acceptable things? [Sara Taylor (Assistant City Administrator)]: I believe they do on the Washington County website. Um, if you search "special collection events," they list what is and isn't accepted. Okay, thank you. [56:40] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Uh, just a couple of things to add to that, Madam Mayor. Um, the—um, City staff is working with Interim Chief Jackson on the cannabinoid registration license. We've reached out to all of the property owners and received some requests for the license, and we'll be setting up a meeting here hopefully in the next week or two to move that process along. It should be a fairly straightforward process and fairly quick once we can get everybody in the same room. Uh, preliminary budget was given tonight, passed that—a 5.4 percent levy increase, which obviously we can decrease but we can't increase here at the end of the year. And then finally, the 2022 city audit, which seems to have gone on forever. Hopefully they will be at the October 2nd City Council meeting to provide a—um, essentially an audit overview. They did finish up field work, and part of the reason is for—well, there have been multiple reasons for the delay: one is staffing issues that they're having, and two, they've been under the weather a fair amount this summer. [57:30] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Oh, and one other item: the Centennial Pavilion. The hope is—well, the plan is—that we will have it up and ready for a December lighting of the—the Green activity. Yeah, work has already started with—we had to take a tree down that was dying, so that's where the pavilion's gonna go. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: And how's it going with—are we doing any kind of excavation there yet? [58:15] Matt Kline (City Administrator): Excavation site prep will start tomorrow. Okay, great. And we should get the pavilion actually delivered soon, which has been part of the— [Sara Taylor (Assistant City Administrator)]: Yes. The—uh, the St. Croix Recreation just texted me like an hour ago indicating where we want it delivered. So it's coming, coming finally. [Matt Kline (City Administrator)]: And I've been in discussions with the Legion about where we're at in next steps with them and putting together our historical marker information to put those in, hopefully same time as everything else. [59:05] Michele Hanson (Mayor): And then also I just want—maybe we just move right into City Council items and announcements. And I want to say a big thank you to Siegfried Construction for the donation of the concrete and just the slab—the concrete slab for the pavilion. So they donated that at a value of about ten thousand dollars. So huge thank you to them—nice local company that's trying to help us out there. So, um, yeah, and we accepted the—the bid earlier today. So this meeting... anyone else have any Council items or announcements? No? We would like to announce that Connie is hungry, so we would like to go. [Laughter] On she—she challenged me to do the shortest reading ever. All right, do we have a motion to adjourn? [59:50] John Doll (Councilmember): I'll make a motion. [Connie Carlson (Councilmember)]: I'll second. [Michele Hanson (Mayor)]: All right, Connie. All those in favor? Great.