This is the city council meeting for the city of Minitrista on March 16th, 2026. And our first order of business is to call the meeting to order and ask everyone to join me in 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. >> I am Kathleen Ruffkin, acting mayor. To my left are council members Peter Vickery, Claudia Lacy, Brian Govern. We have our WSB engineer, Allison Powski. We have our director of public works, Gary Peters, and our assistant city administrator, Pal Paula Bowman. To my right, we have city administrator Jasper Krue, our director of finance Brian Grim, and our chief of police Craig Squires. Joining us remotely is our attorney Sarah Sansala, our uh community development director, David Ael, and our city clerk, Ann Meerhoff. Are there any changes or additions to the agenda? >> Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? Second. >> All those in favor signify with I. I. >> All those opposed. Motion passes. 40. Tonight we have special presentations. Um, Henipin County Commissioner Kevin Anderson. Um, if he joins us later, we will hear from him at the end of the meeting. So, we will move on to our fourth quarter financial update from Brian. >> Thank you. Um, acting mayor and council. As far as Yeah. So, this is uh always pretty timely. We have our our auditors here this week for our annual audit. They actually were remote today with I guess they couldn't the weather or no, but they'll be out here. Uh >> the kids were home from school. >> So uh um but as far as this should be good preliminary data and nothing really should change too much from at least my perspective. Um so as you can see in what was included in the packet, um basically the revenues and expenditures were budgeted to be just shy of 7 million in the general fund. basically 6.9 um for the year and we pretty much hit those targets for both the revenue and expenditures. Revenues we were about 25,000 um less than what we budgeted for in the actual but still within basically you know less than a percent or you know half a percent um basically what we projected and expenditures were pretty much um almost right at it within like a tenth of a percent or few hundredths of you know basically of of our budget. So, we basically spent about what we um had said we were going to in the general fund um which basically then um brings our general fund the fund balance to a little under 3 million about 2,944. So, we're still about in that 3940% um that we look for when we compare it to our budgeted general fund expenditure. So, still doing pretty well. Obviously, we just want to keep an eye on that we're um keeping a good fund balance reserve, but I think we have and we will continue to do that. Um then otherwise as far as just the the reports are in there, our current cash and investments for all funds is about 13.7 million um across all funds and um maybe I'll just stand for any questions from council if there is any on the you know information that was in the packet. >> Any questions? Uh it seemed like uh in 2025 we had higher costs in um the the main areas, the administration, the police and and attorneys. Um and it looked like it was mainly wages. Is that true? Or >> some of it had to do with I mean there was a few different things. I mean for in the police department that was more our our chief of police, you know, Paul Falls retired last year. We had a obviously a crude leaf payout there during um you know the first quarter of of 2025. So that was um a driving factor there. As far as the attorney, there's a lot of the costs there for the um I guess our ongoing process we have out on the sunny field with that IUP or how you know I guess >> CUP um yeah items. So that's there. And then um I think um yeah as far as the wages there was um a little bit of a an interesting factor as far as there's a additional or payroll there's a 27th payroll this year with it basically happens every 11 years or something the way a bi-weekly payroll falls. So there was some um just timing differences there or whatever as far as that. So that was I guess answer your question some of the main >> I think like all kind of one oneoff kind of things that >> Yeah. Yeah. basically as far as you know things that you know a one time item's usually correct. >> Well I want I just say I'm impressed that you're you're just within less than 1%. >> Yeah from looking at from a high level from yeah when I when I basically you balance up you know basically once everything all the receivables payables and all that activity uh comes in and out and to be within basically you know less than a percent on on both was was pretty good. There's obviously always some things that are going to, you know, shift a little bit or whatever. And but to me, looking at the more globally, the high level, if you can come in that close, we're we're doing a good job as far as making sure and that's why we do these, you know, quarterly reports even just to keep council informed on how we're we're sitting and stuff. So, >> and chief had the most accumulated vacation of everyone on staff >> or whatever. Or yeah, yeah, just basically time general. So, so yeah, basically when you factor that one time item in, you could see how the police that pretty much was the driving force of why police was over on their budget. So, from original, we could have amended the budget during the year, but to me, if we're going to come in right around it, it's like it's just at some point you can match it every item for item, but if we're coming in as we basically, you know, overall for the general fund, you know, I don't need, you know, via lending the budget too often or whatever. So, there any concerns with us being at 39% or >> um no because I think um you know our policy says to be at 40 you know and and we're right about there and the state auditor's office says to stay within 35 to 50% so I think um you know it's just a matter of as you know everyone's budgets seem to go up that that higher number goes up so we would actually need to be putting a little more money to the bottom line but I think a fund balance around 3 million for the general fund is is a pretty decent reserve or whatever. So, as far as it gets us through till we get our tax payments, you know, basically in the summertime or, you know, twice a year, summer and then December. So, um and that's yeah, the the purpose of having that 40%. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> What is the land used agency? It's basically a fund that like when someone comes in to do like we've had the you know the the bowl property and the karate ones basically um it's a fund that's used to account for that land use activity basically you know they they'll make deposits and then you know as was engineering and fees that the city incurs that we bill back out to them and so it's sort of just a fund that's a more of it's supposed to be just an in and out sort of but >> that's something. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Basically that's gross. Yeah. for for them to so that the cities, you know, basically we've always had the philosophy that in your developments, you know, pay for themselves. So, it's a separate fund that that activity goes in when these different um uh applicants, you know, pay there, whether it's a variance or subdivision or whatever, that's where the activity is located. >> Oh, okay. Y Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you for the update, Brian, and keeping everything on track. Uh >> if Kevin's ready, we'll hear from him now. Thank you for uh for having me. Sorry for being a few minutes late. I uh coming from one event to the next. So, >> how'd you fair at your last event? >> You know, it was a it was a um a ribbon cutting in Maple Grove. So, it was like a pretty like it was a pretty easy lift. I'm going to not lie. So, uh, but I I appreciate the the opportunity to, uh, give my yearly update to the council. Thanks for having me. Um, this year I, you know, I I'm trying to remember last year if I brought all the sunshine and roses that I that I could. Uh, it's pretty bleak at the in at the county level right now. Uh not going to lie, we're facing a lot of uh of headwinds uh in front of us with some federal changes and cost shifts moving towards us. Um you've probably seen in the news we're uh last year we took over the uh the hospital system, HCMC um is in some pretty serious financial u challenges and at risk of closure if we don't get state support. Uh, so that's a um that's like the the cheer that I'm bringing to most of my city council updates. So I apologize in advance. Um right now um the biggest challenges that we're dealing with right now are uh as I mentioned there are a number of federal cost shifts that are impacting how the county is uh operating and planning to operate uh moving in not just this year but into next year. Uh we have about uh this year in our budget, we had about $20 million of co federal cost shifts that um impacted our budget. We had to um eliminate about $250 positions in the in the county budget. Um we're looking at doing more of that through uh either uh some reduction in force but mostly through management position or position management um i.e. if a position is vacated we're not filling it um like we maybe would in the past. Uh most of these cost shifts are coming at us from the human services side of things. There's some SNAP benefit cuts. There's some uh housing and urban development cuts. um to the tune this year, $8 million in in SNAP benefit cuts and $12 million in in housing and urban development cuts. Uh those uh SNAP benefits is the supplemental nutrition uh I'm going to get the acronym wrong, but program. Um, and the, uh, HUD is mostly our funding that we use to make sure that people who find themselves homeless are able to connect to services and, uh, get housed again. Um, next year those uh, get bigger. Um, in addition, next year we also see a number of Medicaid cuts that were uh that we use to fund administrative positions uh to connect folks to services like mental health supports um and and the like. Um those dollars are going to be much bigger than the $20 million. And for the hospital, uh the hospital side of things, uh we're looking at an additional hundred million dollars that we're looking at trying to um find answers for within the hospital system. Um so that's some of the the headwinds uh that I mentioned. Um, to put some of those numbers into context, the entirety of our of our library system is about $40 million. So, uh, that's probably our biggest single line item of non-mandated services that we provide. Um, and we're looking at probably $150 million to $200 million of cost shifts from the from the federal government that we are trying to answer for. Um, we are not going to be closing down our libraries. I just want to be very clear. Um, but the we are likely to see some service disruptions. uh we're going to be managing things very differently than uh than we have been able to in the past. Um now I think the the next phase of all of this we are at the legislature we're seeking approval um to implement a 1% sales tax. Um and that is a repurposing and increasing of um the ballpark sales tax uh so that we can save our our health care system. Um the financial challenges for Medicaid I mentioned was $und00 million uh in SNAP cuts next year. That's on top of an existing structural hund00 million deficit that the hospital um encounters through uncompensated care. Um we also have a number of capital needs that we need to uh implement. Um the buildings are uh 75 to 80 years old in some cases and uh we need to invest in them to make sure that they uh stay safe for for patients who are seek uh seeking care there. Um, all of those things put together, um, we're looking at trying to cover us of in excess of $350 million every year that we have to try to make sure that we're uh, putting into maintaining. Um, and then have additional costs on top of that that we're also trying to uh, figure out. So, we're really looking at the state at this point because there is no way that our property taxpayers uh can cover that bill. There just isn't. Um and so we're asking the state to help us out um uh by passing this uh 1% sales tax, which is we know is a heavy lift. Uh but the consequences of that for the the state and the region would be HCMC would close uh and that critical safety net would not be available to uh residents of the of the state of Minnesota and the region. Um so we're really doing everything we can and I think the the the conversations are going fairly well to being able to find a revenue source that's not property tax for that. Um, now all of that is to say like we have some pretty pretty big challenges in front of us, but that doesn't mean that we've stopped trying to do some good work. We're still uh finishing up the project um for the West Tonka Library. Uh we expect that to be done this year. Um and that's going to be a beautiful new facility for our residents in this area. Um we're doing a lot of work still um on our road maintenance. These are non-propy taxf funded primarily. Um and so we are making sure that we are taking every dollar that is available to us and investing it in our communities through our uh investment in our roads and bridges. Um, we also are advocating um not just for the uh the sales tax, but we're trying to advocate for other things uh both locally at at the federal level to make sure that policies Thank you. um are uh this is my uh my new aid Kristen. He's wonderful. Um uh are put in place so that we have uh the partnership of uh our uh government partners at both the state and federal level uh to provide services to our our citizens. Um I have um in my capacity uh as commissioner I'm also heavily involved in the association of Minnesota counties. Um I sit on the transportation uh committee there at the national association of counties. I'm a vice chair of the uh the health uh policy steering committee. Um and we get to advocate for um policies that helped the counties across the country uh meet the the needs that are ever increasing uh on all of the county systems often without uh the means to pay for it locally. So uh these are the unfunded mandates that we talk about hear about so often. Um so I also wanted to highlight um we're doing a lot of uh tomorrow um I'm bringing forward a uh a resolution recognizing a uh GRI awareness month. Uh GRI is a a family reached out to me recently um and their child was diagnosed with a very rare condition and as a parent with a child who had a very rare condition, this really spoke to me. um the feeling of isolation and uh not knowing where to turn or who to turn to in healthcare can be really devastating to families. And so tomorrow I'll be uh bringing forward a resolution to recognize GRI awareness month uh for the month of March um to bring awareness to not just this particular uh child and the disease that he's living with but for all families who are going through uh very rare conditions. knowing that sometimes just raising a little bit of awareness can help those families feel seen and their health care providers seek out additional support where they may not be familiar with an individual diagnosis. Um it is so important for parents to be able to advocate for their kids. Uh I had a conversation this morning with the mother and she said, "I know my son. I am my son's expert." the healthcare professionals are the experts in the in health care but I'm my kids expert and I think that kind of uh partnership between provider and parent uh is essential in in this kind of uh in the world that we live in. So I want to I'm bringing that forward tomorrow and uh I hope to be able to raise some awareness and thank you for allowing me to share that uh with you today. Um so the other things that we are working on is uh last week you may have heard or may hear that uh we passed a resolution um seeking to uh do some cost containment on the sheriff's budget. Uh I want to be really clear in case the sheriff ends up watching this. Um you never know. Uh the our goal here is to not control what the sheriff does. Um, we're facing these pretty severe budget challenges in front of us. Um, and our partnership with the sheriff and law enforcement is equally important and we need to make sure that uh we're containing overtime costs and that we're living within the means that we're we're given. Uh we know that their overtime was estimated to grow not just because of uh the operation metro surge that we saw uh at the beginning of this year, but structurally there was a lot of challenges that the sheriff was dealing with. Uh and we're committed to working alongside the sheriff to make sure that all of the mandated services and the public safety uh is being met for every community in our in Henipin County. uh but we have to do it in a fiscally responsible way. So um that's my my message to you that we will continue to partner with our law enforcement partners in every community to make sure that uh that the needs of our residents are being met. But it's going to be a tough year. Thank you for uh the time. Happy to answer any questions. Um and yeah >> um I have a question. So you mentioned fiscally responsible way. what is being done at Henipin County to address the fraud and to stop it and make sure everyone is doing their jobs and evaluating the facilities that don't have people in them or the providers that aren't providing services. >> Absolutely. So, so first off, um a lot of this we have our system, we have teams that regularly audit all of our providers. Um so that is a part of how we do business in Henipin County. Uh we have a team of people who are auditing um every contract. Uh all of our providers go through a a check and we make sure that we're um checking each provider uh especially the high dollar providers uh on regular regular basis. So, uh, we have a team that is dedicated to rooting out, identifying abnormalities in billing so that we know, uh, if something is coming through that looks a little fishy, we have other people looking over that and making sure that it's, uh, addressed and reported to the appropriate, uh, authorities. Um, a lot of what you've been hearing has been at the state level. Um, and while we may have some contracts with them, oftentimes we are the first to notice and identify and let other people know and then other investigations happen. Until those investigations happen, often these providers um, we're required by courts to continue having them if we have a contract in place. So our goal be then becomes how do we make sure that we prove that as fast as possible so that it can't continue. So um we have teams in place to to make sure that it's being addressed uh rooted out and stopped as fast as possible. >> Are contracts being changed so if there are suspected fraud services immediately stop? Are they being rewarded to cover that? I mean >> where we are able to. Yes. So many of this is uh dictated by state. So we're not uh it's not within our legal capacity to alter uh service uh delivery or uh a provider. So if if they have gone through state uh approval then they have the protection of the state and we individually can't uh can't change that. We can notify the state and hope that they do something, but that's not necessarily our >> we we do what we can and where we can. Absolutely. >> So then I'm assuming you'll be advocating for some changes where you your commissioners and employees would have more authority to stop things in this legislative session then. >> Yeah. I mean, we've been now within the context of us being able to have control of it. Absolutely. We have always been saying we're we know our providers. We know uh the ones who are doing good work, those who are maybe not. Um and we are always advocating for the ability to control our our own purse strings. Um we are also trying to find a balance of saying if this is the state's responsibility, the state really needs to own that. like we can't always be doing the state's job, which we do a lot of it. Um, uh, so we do try to find that balance of, uh, yes, absolutely. Uh, but if we're going to be doing that, we want some extra resources to to do it. So, >> and then with the cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and then this the House of Representatives, you know, in a deadlock of basically complying with federal law or not, is Henipin County advocating for them to comply so we'll get more federal dollars? >> The federal dollars are gone. We don't have federal dollars coming to us. not like um so complying or not complying like we the the cuts that are being proposed um state law changes or not uh is devastating to every county in Minnesota um and is going to have double-digit impacts to county budgets because even if they were um if there was a conformity bill or something to make everything. Uh not just the cuts, but the increase to the mandated services that goes along with that through work requirements um and um uh what's the term the um reverification uh that's needed for for some of the people who are on benefits. uh moving that from every year an annual review to every six month um is an administrative task that is beyond the capabilities of the current systems that we are forced to use. Um and the staffing requirements to essentially double the workload uh is not a realistic thing for us to uh to turn on in the amount of time that we were given. So, we are not really in favor of uh what the federal government has pushed down on us because it is going to uh set every county, especially in Minnesota where we are a county administered human services primarily. Um it's going to create a system that's designed to fail. Um we are currently advocating every county in Minnesota has identified one priority and that's system modernization and that system modernization means the systems that we currently use to um do the checks, the income verification, the um the address verifications, all of the things those systems were rolled out in the 80s um and they are uh they don't get to use mice to click and select different places. It doesn't copy fields from if you enter in an income. It doesn't populate that to the other fields that say income. So every screen that pops up that says what was the income again, you have to retype that in. um you can't go back and you can't copy and paste it. Um this is the the modernization that counties are asking for because without that uh the errors that people are experiencing, the error rates that you'll hear about um as this gets implemented is largely due to staff trying to um put in a system that was designed in the 80s uh and not designed for any of the changes. that are being rolled out to them. Many of the changes are um technically not possible with the system that we have. So that's a whole another thing like our staff are finding workarounds in uh in a system. So we are trying to actually encourage the state to say can you delay implementation so that we can actually have a system that works. Why why haven't we budgeted for the upgrades in the last decade? Like I don't I don't understand. >> Three decades, four decades. Like um like that's a a question for the state. >> You can't just update the systems in Henipin County. >> No, we are forced to use the state system. >> I I'm Are you done? >> Yeah. Um >> Yeah. maybe if we didn't lose so much money to so much fraud, we'd have enough money to pay for things like this. And you gave me comfort when you said we're going to do all we can now to raise property taxes because I've been here, my family's been here 60some years and people are leaving that I never would have thought would leave. >> Yeah. >> And uh what happens when the tax base shrinks shrink shrinks? So something's got to get figured out. This is a really important part of Henipin County out here. >> But a lot of people out here are really fed up with paying their share and then seeing it go up in smoke. All you have to do is go to Henipin County Hospital. Half the more than half the people in that hospital are not paying anything to be there. I mean and it's it's a big problem. >> It's not accurate. >> Okay. So, um, we I would say, uh, >> the waiting room doesn't look like, you know, >> but the waiting room looks like downtown Minneapolis, right? Uh, there's diversity there. Uh, there's diversity in the ability to pay certainly, but every person that uh that walks through there that is eligible for uh service, we're the safety net, right? We are mandated to provide service for people who are not able to care for themselves. Now I would say there are 75% of the people who are in government programs. Uh that's Medicaid, Medicare, that's elderly folks, that's people who are below poverty, they still pay. >> Of course. Of course, >> there's about 11 to 15% of the people who don't have any insurance. And that number because of some some law changes is going to go up. Um because when somebody loses their health insurance, uh they stop going to their routine care. Now they show up to the emergency room and we're the emergency room where they show up. And so yeah, we are going to see an increase in our costs that we are not able to recuperate any of that dollar amount um which is far below the 50% but u but a bigger number than any other healthcare system in the metro. >> Do you feel hopeful like do you like going to work? >> Not hopeful. >> No, certainly not hopeful. No, but uh here's what I do feel. I feel like the work that we're doing in Henipin County is necessary. Um, and my faith has definitely taught me that I'm we are all here to care for our neighbors. Uh, and these are my neighbors. And I'm going to do everything I can uh and work with every partner I can to try to make sure that we're being a welcoming place that uh that people can call home. uh in a responsible way of course right like we don't want uh people feeling compelled to leave so >> well I think that's the issue is that several motans are tired of paying more than their fair share for people who aren't supposed to be here or are abusing the system it's really hard to justify staying in Minnesota when you see billions of dollars going to fraud to people who aren't supposed to be here who aren't legally supposed to be here who are abusing our systems and I think the residents of Minnesota deserve to know that Henipin County is doing everything in their power to provide services to the legal residents of Minnesota and that our tax dollars aren't going to people who are abusing our systems. That's that's what most residents, I assume, would feel. We all want to help our neighbors, but you have to do things the legal rightful way. And that's and it's the county's job to >> provide the benefits and the resources to those who are following the law, >> which is what we do. >> Uh on a on a lighter note, >> thank you. Thank you, Peter. You're so nice, Kevin. Because you're so nice, you're restraining us, you know. um what's happening with commercial real estate and you know are the values coming up so that you're getting more property tax revenue from them or because I know in CO you know those prices nose dived and so did the tax revenue. >> They did and um my understanding is we might get an update this week. Um I got a sneak preview the mayor got a sneak preview last week. Not you, Lisa. Lisa, >> uh, from our auditor, um, unofficial is things are kind of stabling out, uh, and balancing out. growth was fairly uh consistent across all of Henipin County uh this last year uh from both uh residential and industrial and commercial um across all which could indicate that there's there was kind of a bottoming out uh and a restabilization. Now, there's not a lot of growth in that there. You know, I'm not going to say there was like a 5% uh gain, uh but we we saw kind of an evening out across the across the system. So, um hopefully that means that we're like the the dip in commercial real estate, particularly in downtown. Um we're seeing the end of that dip. Um, and then hopefully a stabilization and and coming back up. There's not a lot of transactions to compare to down there, so uh some of that is anecdotal um at this point. >> Thank you. >> We'll have I think numbers like official numbers that I can share officially I think at the end of this week. So, >> Oh, okay. We'll make sure to get that sent. Okay. Thank you. >> You have any questions? >> I did have several of my uh neighbors ask about there's now the line item about the disparity elimination on our property taxes. And I see that's over $41 million fee. Um could just kind of talk to guess how that benefits people out here in Minatrista and you know are we going to be taking a hard look at that given the budget difficulties? >> Yeah. So really the the disparity elimination uh incorporates so one of the programs uh was broadband expansion. So the city of Minitrista benefited from our investment in the disparity elimination of not having broadband out in areas like Minatrista. Um and that partnership was where that group was where that uh that program came from. Um we are moving some of like it also included educational disparities and uh some other things uh related to that because we know that um where there are disparities we end up spending more money on things that we are that we need to pay for like we're mandated to pay for. We've been doing that through a property taxf funded uh model first to prove that it worked. Uh it was actually originally through CO dollars. So it wasn't property tax funded. Then about a year and a half ago we shifted it into a property tax model because we needed to verify that we were seeing the results that we wanted to. Now we are moving it back into or moving it into human services or at least that's the proposal to move it into human services so that it can be uh reimbursed through uh official channels like all of our other human services. So, um, these are programs that we are seeing results that we're paying dividends on that we have been investing in preventative care, preventative, uh, services to make sure that we're, uh, taking care of all of our residents and identifying where those needs are greater than you would see in a a random sampling. So, that's really what disparity elimination means to Henipin County. Thanks, Kevin. >> Yeah, >> sorry. I just have one more question. Sure. The 1% sales tax increase, what is specifically what is that on specifically all purchases? Like what what are the parameters? >> Sales tax. >> Yeah, it would be anything that is subject to sales tax. So, it's it's not uh it's certainly not our first choice, let me tell you. Um, but >> again going back to you're just making it more expensive to live here. >> But here's the we know that the the hospital uh in conversations that we've had and this is across the state um there is a recognition that that hospital is a vital part in healthcare delivery in Minnesota not just in Henipin County. uh it serves about 30% of uh 30% of its people who go through those doors are not from Henipin County, meaning other counties in Minnesota. Uh 40% of the uncompensated trauma care that we see are from nonhenipin county other Minnesota residents. uh specifically in our burn units and our trauma units. Um you talk to any farming community in Minnesota and if there is a farming accident uh they hope they go to HCMC. >> Um and so there's wide recognition that that facility needs to survive. if it doesn't survive, um the consequences to health care in Minnesota would be such that um out of fear of uh well, out of a lack of fear of speaking out of turn, I'm going to say um if HCMC fails, North Memorial is unlikely to succeed. Uh if North Memorial is unlikely to succeed, Alina and Children's are unlikely to be able to pick up the tabs. The ripple effects of the safety net crumbling would be catastrophic. Um there is not a hospital that can pick up what we provide. So the question is, is 1% uh worth saving healthcare delivery in Minnesota? I I think we need to do something to make sure that that's that we preserve that. Do I like a 1% sales tax? No, I don't. it hits people at the bottom rung the hardest. Uh, and it's generally not a fair way of taxing. Uh, it's I think just barely better than property taxes. Uh, because property taxes people are who've lived in their homes for 20, 30 years, they haven't realized those gains. they're uh stuck with a higher bill without seeing uh necessarily an increase in their ability to pay it. So I see it as just a step better than a property tax and we can't do the property tax at that level. This spreads it out across people uh a broader base of people and people who are coming into Henipin County and buying things. We're certainly the economic engine of Minnesota. Um, and so, uh, that cost gets borne by others as well. Um, I would love to see the state find some kind of better stable funding that didn't involve a property tax or a a sales tax. Uh, but in our current legislative environment, I don't think that's possible. So, um, we're going for what we think we can achieve and we're going to work really hard to try to make sure that, uh, we can build that support and we're seeing bipartisan support at this point for it. >> Any other questions? >> I just have one more thing. Um, Highway 7, the potholes are atrocious and I'm going to lose a tire. So, if you could, you know, fix that, that would be um, you know, a push from you would be great because I drive it >> every day, twice a day. >> We have, uh, there's actually a planning session on phase one of the Mandot. Uh, >> they can't wait till 2029 for the Mill and Overlay, especially not with five getting rerouted with their >> bigger project. They're safety improvements on access uh on a number of the uh the access points along seven, especially this part of it. So, >> no. I mean, we know all that. We had to work. I'm just talking about the potholes in general that are atrocious and getting bigger and bigger. >> I'm sure they like Well, I'll talk to that filling in. So, >> thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you very much for coming out. >> Appreciate you coming out. >> Thank you. >> All right. Our next agenda item is persons to be heard. And we have a resident, uh, Kurt Schneider. If you come up to the podium, state your name and your address, and then you have three minutes. >> Sure. Thank you. Uh, my name is Kurt Schneider. I live at 6654 Wildf Farway, and that is in the Woodland Cove development. Uh, and I want to first off, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to talk to you today about an opportunity for pedestrian safety in our neighborhood. I also want to thank Mr. Peters for recommending that I come in tonight and talk to you about this. Uh I have two items that I want to bring up for you today. Both of them are on the Woodland Cove Parkway in the Woodland Cove development. The first one is at the intersection of uh Bellflower and Blower Way/Lotus Drive today. That is a two-way stop. Uh both both stop signs are on Bellflower. Uh there is no control traffic control on the Woodland Cove Lotus Drive place and there are also no pedestrian crosswalk signage there. Uh no striping on the road. Um given that there is more construction going on south of of that intersection north of seven. Uh more single family homes are coming up are coming up for sale pretty much daily now. Um there is more pedestrian traffic there. There's also a bus stop where there's pedestrian traffic there, and there is no control over the traffic other than that two-way stop. Um, what I'd like to recommend as a possible solution is adding a four-way stop to that intersection as well as striping it for pedestrians. Um, with the summer coming up, uh, and the pool traffic starting to, uh, increase, we're going to get a lot more kids there. Uh, they also have food trucks during the summer there, which generates a lot more traffic. So, it would be very nice to have something where uh drivers are a little bit more cautious in that intersection and paying more attention to the pedestrians. You're >> talking about Woodland Cove Boulevard, not Parkway. >> Park uh Boulevard. Yes. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh the second one is also on Woodland Cove. Um this one is uh west of um Blue Stem. It is on the nature trail that crosses Woodland Cove. Today there are there is it's striped, but there is no signage to uh warn drivers that there's pedestrians in that in that area. Uh similar to what is over at uh the crossway at Kings um Kings Point um and Woodland Cove, there is a uh a light button there that warns people of pedestrians when they're about ready to cross. Um it would be nice to have something like that at that intersection. a couple of instances where um in the dusk and during the day, it's hard to see when you're driving west in that area. Uh you you tend to get blinded by the sun as you come over the crest and it's almost impossible to see any pedestrians in that area. There's also some deer that come across there every now and then. Uh I've almost had the uh uh unfortunate opportunity to hit one because I didn't see it coming. And in the summer, the boulevard area is um overgrown with some larger trees that once they bloom, you cannot see uh incoming pedestrian traffic either way. >> So, I'd like to suggest something that we can do there that might be a little bit more effective to warn drivers that there are pedestrians crossing in that area. >> Are you talking about the pedestrian crossing in the middle of the road on the trail there, or you talking about the intersection of Woodland Cove Boulevard and Blueest? >> Uh, no. It's it's west of Blue St. >> So, it's the actual like the trail crossing. Mhm. >> With like the traffic island. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. We've already talked to the uh uh master board uh at Woodland Cove about doing some trimming or even some removal of trees. Mr. Peters also suggested that as well. And I'm on the I'm on I'm the president of the uh um Woodland Cove East Town Home Board. So, I do sit on that board as well. We want to add it to a work session. >> Yeah, I think it's a good idea. >> They say we'd want a engineer to uh weigh in. >> Yeah. Good. >> Yeah. Yeah. That third >> added to a work session. Okay. Um, so, uh, Madame Mayor Ruffkin, interim mayor. Um, good. >> I I I think that, um, as as council's aware, we've we keep every year we keep getting requests for uh, four-way stops and crosswalks through Woodland Cove Parkway. Um, and so there's if that's something the council wants to take a look at, um, we're more than happy to bring that back for a discussion um, at a work session with some recommendations. >> Let me add it to an April one. >> Yeah. >> All right. We'll add it to a work session hopefully in April and >> have more discussion on it. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Was it Fox Glove or uh that we added the one last year? >> Yeah, it was Fox Glove and Cove. Yep. All right. It was Sunset Lane, too. We added >> Oh, we had the one at at Lotus on the on the east side of the neighborhood. You're talking about the one up front off of Woodland Cove Boulevard, right, Brian? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> All right. There is no one else signed up under persons to be heard. So, our next um item is the consent agenda. Are there any that anybody wants to pull? So consent agenda items are A, approve strategic planning meeting minutes from February 26, 2026. Approve joint council meeting minutes from February 26, 2026. C approve work session meeting minutes from March 2nd, 2026. D approve city council regular meeting minutes from March 2nd, 2026. E. Resolution number 2826. Approve claims. F. Resolution number 2926. approve Woodland Cove water treatment plant change order number one for architectural pre-cast exterior modifications and G resolution number 3026 approve repairs to public works aerial lift truck boom system. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor signify with I. >> I. >> All those opposed? Motion passes 40. Next is our public hearing for the 2026 street improvement project. Yes. Um I will let Mowski pass it >> over to me. Thank you. Uh thank you acting mayor, council members. So this evening um we are here to uh hold an assessment hearing of a this might look very familiar because it's pretty much the same presentation from a month ago updated the um for this to be an assessment hearing. So this map indicates the streets that are included in this year's project. And then on the next slide, uh was just a quick background of um what we're looking to do. Mill and overlay on the majority of streets. The cores did indicate that there are some pavement sections that uh require full depth removal and replacement. Um Game Farm Road, there's a small segment of that. That that's the portion um that the council is going to hold the assessment hearing for this evening. And then there's also small portions of Basswood Drive, North Saunders Lake Drive, West Edge Boulevard um for removal and replacement. Um but consistent with past practice because it was such a small portion of those roads, those um sections are not proposed to be assessed. We'll have some spot curb and gutter repair. Um and then we're also uh recommending that we have a good alternate uh for the under seal of Game Farm Road. Um and then um we have some utility ease uh pardon me, some trail improvements, um that we discussed too that we included as a bid alternate. Um and spoiler alert, we are recommending that we not award that because there was um an entry error on the the base bidder uh that was low. Um and in discussion with public works, we think we can get a better price if we move forward with quoting that project. So we'll we'll more more to come on that in the future. >> Um and then the next slide goes over just some very minor utility improvements. Um installation of inflow and infiltration barriers on sanitary sewer manholes, replacements of two culverts under Game Farm Road, and then also a bid alternate to relocate the hydrant um that you can see here in the the bottom photo. Peter's happy. Um, and then next we're just the project costs here. Um, this is a summary that council saw um, a month ago at the meeting. Um, explaining what we saw from the base bid and the bid alternates. Uh, six bids were received in total. And then on the next slide, um I talk about base alternate one and the the discussion that we had at the last meeting on why we're looking to um we're recommending that council award the contract without alternate one because the what we saw for price variance for that trail um still gives the city um the best economic um standpoint if we uh remove that from this project and have that separate. So we are recommending that to council. Um and then the the genesis for this uh presentation this evening is the assessment hearing. Um so assessment notices were mailed out to the properties that are proposed to be assessed. Uh the assessment is proposed at $10,000 per unit. Um and that is the basis from uh 2022 special benefit analysis that was done for a couple different projects here in the city. and um staff and council have have looked back to that as um a guideline for uh a cap on proposed assessments. If that cap were not in place, I believe we were somewhere between I think it was $15,600 or $16,000 per unit um assessment for this project. So, um if if council heeds um the recommendation of $10,000 per unit, um the these residents um see a lower assessment cost than than what we see in the assessment policy. Uh per the assessment notices included all the information required by state statutes which included the um assessment p the um interest rates as well as the um opportunities to get a hardship deferral. Um, and that the assessment period is proposed over a 20-year period. And then we also provided them information to contact city staff should they have any questions. Um, and we also included um, and I think this is is really nice that the finance department does this. Um, they're provided um, with a breakdown of what the assessment costs would be per year so that people can see what the financial impact is from year to year. So, I think that's a a nice um, op option that the city provides. Um this map shows the proposed assessments. As we discussed um a month ago here, parcels three and five were combined after the feasibility report and the the first public hearing were held. And actually last week when I checked um Henipin County was in the process of being updated. Um therefore with those two parcels being um combined um the property owner did provide the um all the paperwork associated with that. So there is verification for that. Um so we just included um we we kept parcel 5 on the assessment role but have that noted as zero just for bookkeeping purposes. Um and then this is the breakdown of the proposed project funding. So we're just over um including uh contingency and indirect costs. So we had 5% contingency and 20% indirect costs. We're looking at a total project cost of just over 2.57 million. um with a combination of city funds, state aid funding which is for game farm road um special assessment funds, uh city of mound for their portion of West Edge Road. Uh and uh all of that's broken down here for council to see. And you'll note that bid alternate one we have no amount uh proposed for funding since that's not included in the the recommended um award of bid. So with that, here we are this evening to hold the assessment hearing. um and award the contract. And with that, um I'd be happy to answer any questions, um prior to opening the assessment hearing this evening. >> Did we confirm with Mound they're going to pay their amount? >> Um I'll defer to Mr. Peters on that. >> Been in communication with uh their both their street superintendent and their public works director and they have not gotten it to their council yet. So hopefully they will. So no matter what, I mean it's, you know, I think we should probably just go ahead and do our portion. I'm sure they'll go for it. So I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it's kind of a small amount, but it doesn't pay to skip it for, >> but I'm sure that'll be something that will pass. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> All right. I will open the public hearing for the assessment on the 2026 street improvement project. I will close the public hearing at 7:28 for the assessment and hearing of the 2026 street improvement projects. Any other questions or discussion by council? >> Good. >> All right. Is there a motion to approve um adopt the final resolution and award the contract of the 2026 street improvement project? >> Moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor signify with I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Motion passes 40 O. Next we have the resolution number 3226. Award a contract for the 2026 street improvement project uh city project number one-26. >> I think um >> I skipped something. >> I think you might have done that one already if I if I heard correctly. I think you might have awarded the contract. Now I think it would be awarding or um adopting the assessment role for the 2026. Does that sound >> right? I think >> maybe >> I was hearing right. Well, because the possibly because the note in the thing says adopt final assessment role and award contract. So that's one item in there. So have to do them both. >> You do you need to adopt the assess sorry assessment and then they'll board the contract as two separate >> Yeah. >> agenda item is the same title. >> All right. So, um, do I have a motion to resolution number 3126, adopt the assessment of the 2026 street improvement project and the city project number 01-26? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor signify with I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Motion passes 40. And we already awarded the contract. All right. Got it. Um, next to our business item, uh, the bond sales >> and I think we can probably turn that over to Todd Hagen with others to to speak to that and then we can >> Thank you. >> supplement with any or how to pay for that, right? >> Thank you, Madame Mayor, council members, Todd Hagen from Ellers and Associates. Thanks again for having me. Um, so we are kind of kicking off the bond sale um, tonight. Um, not selling bonds till April 20th. Got in here. So, the council has what we call a pre-sale report in your packets. Um, it has kind of the terms and conditions um, of what we're financing on an estimated um, basis. Um, also attached is uh an estimate of the bond schedules and um and then there is um a bond buyer index graph that kind of shows where we are in the world of uh interest rates just kind of the trend. So you can take a look at that. Um we probably won't be seeing rates that were uh experienced in 2020 through 2022 if you look at that graph, but we're not we're not doing too bad. We're not doing too bad. I think we sold a bond today for a school district at 11 bids or so. So, there's lots of interest out there. Um, and not a lot of bond sales uh for cities yet. They're still kind of gearing up right in the spring here. So, um this should this should be this should be a good one. Um so, uh we also have a schedule of events right attached to the back of the um pre-sale report. So, we've got um that project that we just talked about uh being financed here. Um three sort of bonding authorities. Um the other project is a water revenue project for just half of the new water treatment plant at Woodland Cove. The other um part of that would be financed probably in 2027. Uh because it's a long, you know, sort of drawn out process, right? And um this is kind of reimburse reimbursing the city for costs you've already uh incurred there. So we're going to get you some of your money back on that. And then a equipment um financing as well, which is um kind of what we do every year or so. Right, Brian? Right. and three year every year, right? So, so the two um the street and the water are 20-year um bonds or portions and then the equipment uh is just a five-year, which is pretty much how you guys roll with the equipment portions as well. I don't know if you wanted to look at um estimated interest rates, we do have them sort of cushioned up a little bit, like half a percent, but um we're just kind of looking at maybe 3.6 on the 20-year, uh 2.2 two or so on the five-year, then we just kind of sell all this together. And the bond buyers don't really care what we've all got kind of mixed in here. They're just looking at one big uh $14.84 million uh 20-year bond. Um so, we've already gone through that street reconstruction um plan process, right? And and the LA at the end of last year, I got plenty of authority to kind of move forward with the bonds now. So, we should be in good shape. Uh we will put um a call date on there. We talked about prepayment at any time on any day after a certain date without penalty. Uh that looks like 9 years is kind of the sweet spot on a 20-year bond issue. Um we'll run it through our quality control at Ellers and um just make sure we're kind of spot on with the market because if we go too short, we're going to pay for it with higher interest rates. We go too long. You know, why would we want to do that, right? Um just in case. So, the bond is not non-bankqualified, too. So, it's over the $10 million limit the feds give every uh city and county um and township. Uh that that that sort of uh extra little uh sort of incentive, right, for banks to kind of get in on this as well. Um so, it's over that limit, which is fine. um uh you know if it was under that limit uh it it might um result in lower interest rates but um you guys are at double A plus so you're almost a AAA and uh it's a good quality bond issue out there and uh uh and this is going to be sold out in the public market too so we're talking about broker dealers underwriters and all that kind of stuff and banks will still come in and and probably come in and help a little bit on the shorter end of the bond issue the 10-year stuff so uh we should be in good good shape that way. Um, yeah, it's pretty straightforward bond issue. Um, selling out into the market. Um, we've uh we've we can invest the money right before we spend it, right, for all of this, whether it's reimbursement that'll go quick right in and out. Otherwise, um, you can certainly invest it uh at uh at a little higher interest rate uh within certain spending exceptions here. sort of thresholds that we need to watch out for uh on that too. So there's opportunities to invest and make a little bit money on that side as well. So um yeah, we're going to use Cout Rock um uh for the bond attorney and Bontra Services is the paying agent and Standard and Pores uh as your rating agency. And uh we've already got the rating sort of conference call scheduled already on uh April 8th, right? So, we're here tonight to kind of kick off this bond sale and then we're going to um have the rating call with staff um on April 8th. Got that scheduled. Uh we're going to come back I'm going to come back on April 20th and show you all the wonderful bids we're going to get, right? And we're going to have them in order as we usually do and you'll look at the top one and that will be the the the the cheapest most responsible bid that will be there. So, uh we'll see what that looks like and then we'll close this up on May 7th. Um, and so, uh, you'll get all the money at once, and Brian knows what to do with it. Right. Right. So, yeah, it's it's it's like three things going on here. Bundled it. You know, like I say, just like the Progressive Insurance Company does. Uh, we're doing our best to do that. Going to save you some money that way. It's a bigger, longer bond like that will just be more attractive out into the market with your high high credit rating. So, yeah. So, that is all I've got. I 5 minutes of fame after all that wondering come out of me. Um so if you have any questions let me know. But you've done you've done the drill before and just wish us luck. Right. >> Yeah. Looks good. >> Any questions? >> Just curious is all the uh turmoil currently going on in the world. Is that good for this kind of bond or is it bad? >> It seems I talked to some of our um you know our bond sale coordinators and like I say you know 11 bids on a bond today. um the more the bids the lower the price, right? So, you know, we're good. We don't really rely on oil prices and all that kind of stuff. But, uh it's it's really uh you know, municipal bond, especially with a high rating like that is a is a quality, you know, instrument to invest in. So, it's uh it's all good that way, right, too. So, I think it's the best we can do. It's tax exempt both on the federal and state level as well for those who like not to pay um income taxes on stuff like this. So, um, yeah, looks looks good. And like I say, the supply, um, is a little thin right now, so that'll increase the demand. So, I think it's just kind of economics 101 for us. It's it's more like that, I think, because it's a brand new bond issue going into the market. So, how it gets traded after that, you know, whatever, right? You know, we got our money, our interest, and we're all good. So, I wish I could come up with something a little bit more colorful, but uh, we we we should be good. And then you just really you really just put this out on the market when you can. You know, you can't really time the market on with any of this and sometimes you get kind of bit if you did a little bit. So, um you know, with the good bids that we have for the project and everything and reimburse ourselves, get our fund bounces up a little bit. Um I think it's the perfect storm. We should be we should be fine. I'll let you know though if the sky falls a week in advance, we can sort of, you know, pull it back. I want your blessing on that. So >> Brian will be monitoring this. How we doing? How we doing? >> How we doing? >> We still sell this thing. >> Yeah, we just we just don't close our eyes. So >> analysts are really smart people that say, "Todd, I think it's we're good to go." >> Yeah, right. >> Okay. >> But rates are still his, you know, in the cycle still at a good low point or whatever. So we it is a good time to >> It is. Hey, I go back to 1980s when my house mortgage was 11%. So, I I don't even have feelings for those folks that are complaining about that. So, I think we're I think we're all good. Maybe the prices are a little higher, right? But the interest rates seem to be just fine still. So, yeah. All good. Good question. >> Any other questions? >> No. >> All right. Thank you. >> Yeah, we'll take care of you. So, there's a resolution for you guys to consider. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Can I get a motion to approve resolution number 33-26 for the pre-sale of bond pre-sale report resolution? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. All those in favor signify with I. >> I. >> All those opposed? Motion passes 40. All right. >> Goes well. See you in a month. >> Good news. Very low. Good news. All right. Next we have a task order. Um number 16. Gary, I think this is you or Allison. >> Both of you. >> You get to both do it if you want. Go ahead and start and >> hire me. Um okay. So, acting mayor uh Refkin and council, included in your packet is information with regards to task order uh 16, which is construction administration services for the 2026 street improvement project. We've included um with that uh a detailed breakdown of the fee so that council can see where the hours are allocated. Um and one thing to note is that um our fee does not include um a significant amount of uh con construction observation. That's uh work that we anticipate that the city's engineering technician will take over, but we do have some hours allocated to help with that transition. There is some training that the engineering technician still requires and so our fee um has included some hours in order to do that. And this is also a state aid project which has a lot of nuances and paperwork. Um so we wanted to make sure that we had those resources allocated in the fee um so that the city can can get everything in there. Dot all the eyes cross all the te's associated with that. Um so we've got um included in there also the construction materials testing which is required uh for for a project of this kind and also some public engagement um because that continues to be a great way to um for work that was typically done by the construction inspector and construction administration team. We now have a dedicated person who is specialized in and in in those communication skills with residents and is a great resource for um doing a great job documenting um and answering probably 90% of the the emails and phone calls that come in. So, we've included that with the proposal. Um the fee is um for we have for construction surveying and construction materials testing. and it's an it's a a flat fee or an hourly not to exceed fee and then um the remaining construction administ administration would be an hourly estimated um because there are things that do come up in construction um that while we do our best to anticipate some of those things um if something goes um and takes a little bit longer to do um that's why we have it as an hourly estimated contract and I would be happy to answer any questions that the council may have with the fee proposed or the services proposed. And I'll add on that with Brandon being out there and kind of new to this kind of inspection stuff, he's kind of excited to learn it. We are signing him up for um it be the mindot certification for asphalt work. Um and then we'll also be signing him up to do the inspection of uh seal coat and that and um fog seal that and crack filling too. um which will help us again um kind of move away from doing more the in-house or moving towards in-house and using contracted services. This will be a great learning opportunity for them. Um Miss Hosk have talked about this in depth and this is a great opportunity for a lot of different purposes of this um job. There's a lot of things going on. So, he did great with working with AE2s on the installation of the piping uh for the school project u which saved a lot of money. Um this just and he's excited to learn this. This is something new to him and he really likes that and really excited to to step up and do this. >> Any questions? >> All right, there are no questions. Um, is there a motion to approve resolution number 3426 approving task order 16? >> So moved. Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor signify with I. >> I. >> All those opposed? Motion passes. 40. Next we have administrative items. Uh, public works surplus property sale update. Gary. >> Yes. Acting Mayor Refiner. Thank you. Um, just want to give you guys an update. If you recall last year, um you guys approved an or um policy for us to um sell, dispose, salvage um old equipment that we have in public works that have been used for quite a while. Um kind of started because we had a bunch of old weed whips laying around, stuff like that to get rid of. Kind of went through stuff this winter. Um found up in the storage barn, some old side tool boxes to get rid of. um metal tracks for a wheeled skid loader with having new track machines. Um they're very cumbersome to put on. Nobody really uses them anymore. Um surprised we got what we got for them. Um so I'm, you know, just it's nice to get rid of them. We had some old tires and rims for the Bobcat that don't fit the ones that we have now that were in there. Um we have the unled gas tank from the old fuel system that the city owned. The diesel ones are rented for $1 a year. So, those went back to Mid County. Um, we also had the an old tailgate sander. Um, nice stainless steel one. Uh, for truck number five, truck number five that was two trucks ago. Um, it's never it it sat up in the shed. So, I mean I mean it was in their infinite wiz. It was here when I got here. So, it never was you. It was from what I understood from the beginning it wasn't it was never used because it didn't work. So, it just sat there and there's just no use for it for us. Um, we also the flail mower that was uh being replaced this year, we had gotten a $500 um offer trade in. So, with putting this stuff on the uh govdees.com website, we can set a um um a reserve for it. Um, so Randy said reserve for it and instead of the $500, we actually got $1,625 for it. So the city of Little Canada bought it for parks for theirs. So which is great. Um, got more than that. Same with the the two rollers that we have, the big roller. Um, if you recall earlier this year, we're replacing two our oversized huge roller that we have and our small one with one kind of in between. Um we had gotten um estimates I think it was uh 4,000 for the little one for a trade in and 6,400 for the big one. We put reserves on them. Unfortunately, the big one only made $5,000, but we did get uh 6,600 for the small one. So, we made an extra $2,600 putting it out for bidow, which is is great for us. Um and then we had the other thing, we had an old tack trailer out back with a spray bar on it. you know, it's more used for paving projects than anything else. Um, storing tech. We don't use it anymore. I mean, I shouldn't say anymore. We hardly ever used it. It sat here pretty much. I mean, I'm sorry, my 14th year. So, it's been here unused probably for 10 years. It had actually a a 3-in tree growing between the frames. So, um, we had to cut it to get rid of it. Um, it's pretty much obsolete for us. We did get $3,300 for it. So in grand total we got $12,469 for everything. So hopefully that will go on into the equipment fund. Um I'm assuming since that's where most of it probably came out of. So um so yeah, it's great. I also want to give you one other >> he's already spent >> add on if I could just another update. Um the Met Council has asked for um to be able to shut the road down for the Highland Road um um list station there. Again, they're going to be doing the final CIP lining of the pipes with the the older pipes are getting basically a lining system put through to stop leaks and stuff. That'll be happening March 31st through April 3rd. Um, we see no issue with it. They have their detours will be posted and everything. So, their detour will be as you come up here, it'll continue on 110 there'll be a sign up here to direct them 92 and around um down to 7 and back around. So, um be nice to get that project done. Um and as you're aware, they repaved the road for us there from seven to um the bridge. They added a lot of curbing in for us. They fixed uh the the um catch basins there at the bridge for us. So, we kind of got a lot of I won't call it free stuff, but I'll say free, but we we pay for it. We pay for it through our fees, but it's nice to get something from that. So, um so that's going to be there. And then one just a quick question to see if you like to pursue it. Jasper and I uh received a text message earlier tonight here. Um the school district is requesting a weight restriction uh waiver uh for their project at the school. They have some contractors that would like to start working and they would like to talk they would like it to have their weight increased. It's currently five tons per axle. Um, I've already denied this once, but there are now that was through the contractor. Kevin Borg is asking for this directly. So, I'm just going to ask you guys if you want uh, Miss Fos and I to kind of meet with the contractor, see what they're thinking for a weight restriction, what they would like it lifted to, and see if we feel we're comfortable with that. The road was improved in 2021, so it can handle a little bit more load increase, but we don't want to increase it too much and have the road beat up. So, um I will say then my time here and the time and all the time I've before that from what I told there's only three in incidents that warrant a waiver and that would be uh well issues, septic issues or if you're moving. So, I'll just ask you if you want us to kind of look into that and meet with them or um just tell us no and I will relay it on to them and then he can come and plead his case and to you and again and try. But it's totally up to you if you want us to kind of look into that, see what it entail and bring something back to you, you know, at the next meeting or even, you know, >> what how soon would the restrictions come off? Anyway, >> the restrictions are on. They've been on. So I mean they will be going on until you know the the frost is out of the ground and everything firms up. So it could be another now with the snow again and you know the little freezing weather we had it could be another 3 4 weeks yet you know could be less depending on warmup. So, um, personally, I'm not in favor of it, but, um, you know, I don't know what Miss Fowski's opinion of it is, like anything, like everybody I've always told, you know, we pay a lot of money for the roads to get them to where they're at. Um, I understand that their what their need is. Um, you know, maybe one way of doing it is we, you know, put some stipulations in place, you know, with, um, you know, take, you know, photos of it, have it, you know, document what it looks like. If something would happen, then they are liable for it. But that's, you know, I'm going to leave it ultimately to your decision what you like us to do, and if you want us to pursue and talk to them and look at it and bring something back and get your final opinion, it's up to you guys. >> I'm a no. I don't want the new road destroyed and I don't want to hope they don't ruin it and then wait for them to fix it again. So, I mean it's a nice road. I don't want it ruined. They can wait like everyone else. >> New council. >> What do you think about the next council means ventilation? >> I I think that there's um as as Gary mentioned, there's uh the road was improved in 2021. So, I'd need to check and see um with that pavement section if there's any wiggle room, if you will, from what the current restriction is. Um but to Gary's point, we have road restrictions in place because this is when the roads are very vulnerable to um deterioration during during this the frost coming out. Um, so if if council would like us to see, I think there there could be a technical um way for us to figure out if there's a technical increase that we could afford them. Um, but to just go and do it blindly, I I I think that we would stick to what the the current regulation is. >> We should wait. >> Wait, wait. 40. That's a no toard. >> That's a no for superintendent board. >> Okay, I will I'll we'll relay the message. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Um any other staff updates? >> If I may, I have a brief one. Uh we've been busy and I say we um cuz Peter and and Brian have been helping uh talked to legislators about our bonding project. So, so far we've spoke to seven different legislators in um either the House or Senate that are on the um capital investment committee. So, I think they've went pretty well. Everybody seems to be pretty um supportive of our project. It's just if there's going to be a bonding bill or not. Um we went to city day on the Hill and I think the consensus was like a 60% chance for a bonding bill, which I don't know. I mean, maybe we'll see. Uh, but I think we have the right project and you know I think everybody's been pretty supportive. So if there is a bonding bill or possibility there will be a full court press to make sure that they know about our project and hopefully we can get that worked in. So um and then the only other thing I have is that the uh there is a new fire chief in the city of mound. So um the city of mound selected Andy Drilling >> whoa resident >> is who is a minitrista resident. Fire chiefs are miniatures to residents. >> Yeah. >> Um so he will be starting April 1st officially. So there will be some uh overlap between uh him and Chief Peterson. Uh there will be a a celebration of of Chief Peterson's career. 51 years with Mound on the Fire Department. So quite quite a long time. It might actually hit 52 um in the meantime, but 51 years so far. Uh so we'll have to uh um if once we get information about that retirement party celebration um we'll share that with the group. But but there's a new fire chief hired. >> That's all I have. >> Is there a planning commission meeting? >> There will be. Yes. >> Do we need someone for it? >> Uh yeah, that would be great. >> Um that's next Monday, right? >> The 23rd. >> Um I believe so. >> Yeah. >> I cannot go. Can anyone go? >> I think I can go. audio. >> Yeah. >> All right. >> I'll let David know. >> 23rd. Yes. Um any council updates, council reports? >> Um well, we Yeah, we went to the Capitol Day Hill Day and that was really interesting and yeah, I came away not really sure what was going to happen, but but they're all very nice to us. Um and then um this week I have the Pioneer Sarah Creek wershed district meeting. It's about it for me. >> Not really. Just that the Gillespie Center is looking to hire a new administrator and they're in the midst of it right now. >> Right. >> Uh nothing. Actually, one thing I was going to add for Cities on the Hill, didn't um Senator Papus's uh chief of staff, he said, what was it? He has $4.9 billion in requests for 1.2 2 billion in uh total state aid, which that's before the state priority get gets cut off the top. >> Well, that's depressing. >> Well, and the thing we have going for us is they seem to be focused on infrastructure, water, infrastructure, bridges, stuff like that. So, we're in the right grouping of projects, but um there's a lot of ones that are in there that are quite expensive that aren't in that group, too. So, >> will we be doing like a groundbreaking photo op on ours? >> We will um likely probably end of May, beginning of June, we'll do something. Yeah. >> Okay. >> I don't have any updates other than once again the fire partnership meeting that was supposed to be tomorrow is cancelled. So, that's not really new. Um all right. Any other updates, reports? Chief, do you have anything? >> How many accidents were there um yesterday? Believe it or not, very few >> people stayed home. >> People stayed home. Yeah, it was >> I was worried when I came in this morning, but no, it looked good. So, >> excellent, Gary. Thank you. Your staff for Thanks, Gary. >> Early yesterday morning. >> They did a good job. Yes, >> they did. >> All right, with that, um, our next meeting will be April 6th at 6:30. And is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? Second. >> All those in favor signify with I. All those opposed. Motion passes 40. Thank you. Thank you. I was stuck here all night. 9.875. All right.