[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good evening and welcome tonight is Monday February 26 2024 this is a regular meeting of the minona city council I will call this meeting to order and I will ask you to stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Miss England would you please call R Calbert here R here kley here Foster Bolton here sha here Wilburn here weome here well there or whatever greetings I'm I'm here I'm coming to you remotely so thank you for indulging me I will be back next week um next item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda and I believe we have an addendum Mr Funk thank you mayor good evening Council one agenda item for your consideration this evening that is noted in uh paper form in front of you then also the agenda does get forwarded to your I legislate uh component uh one item for your consideration is for item nine bids for Park monument signs when the packet went out last Thursday the bid package attachment or one of them was inadvertently missed of the council packet so it has been included in your agenda and during the presentation Mr Manchester will also show you really kind of those drawings of what those signs look like so with that mayor turn back over to you for your consideration thank you thank you Mr Funk um so we have a um the agenda and an agenda um is there a motion to approve so move mayor and a second second all right we've got a motion by Council M Calbert and a second by council member ra uh Miss England Please call R Calbert yes ra yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes sha yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries and um I I thank the council for indulging me and um I'll do my best to call on you but um be a little overt in um and uh when you want to speak and I'll be sure that you get recognized next item on the agenda is special matters and we have a special special matter tonight it is the uh retirement recognition for sergeant Karen th so uh the way we're going to do this is I have a recognition that I'm going to read and then I'm going to ask council member Calbert if she there is an award for um Sergeant th if she would go forward to the podium and meet um Sergeant th there and then she can read the caption um on the award that we have for sergeant th so I will read um the the uh retirement recognition Sergeant Karen thol was hired as a police officer with the city of mitaka on October 10 1995 Karen started her career working as a patrol officer ensuring the Safety and Security of our neighborhoods by taking calls for service enforcing traffic violations investigating accidents and managing criminal incidents after a few years she became a field training officer import imparting her Knowledge and Skills to help shape and develop future officers Karen also served as a retail detective assigned to the Ridgedale mall and then as a school resource officer assigned to Hopkins High School in addition she taught counteract to Elementary age kids fostering positive relationships with our youngest community members in recognition of her leadership qualities dedication and commitment Karen was promoted to rank of Sergeant in 2014 in this role she not only supervised and mentored her Petr her patrol shift she also managed the Department's chaplain program and played a pivotal role in rewriting and updating the mpost board's Statewide licensing exam a task crucial for maintaining the high standards of Law Enforcement Officers across the state Ken's contributions reached beyond our community when she and several other officers were selected to work and represent the Minnesota police motanka police department at the 58th Presidential Inauguration in Washington in DC in 2017 Karen's positive attitude energy humility teamwork and work ethic did not go unnoticed in 2018 she was nominated as Glenn Lake Optimus officer of the year an Accolade that reflects her dedication and impact on the department and on the community while Karen has no specific plans for post-retirement she intends to spend more time traveling with her father gardening and enjoying time with her husband and three boys thank you Sergeant th for dedicating more than 28 years to the city of mitaka your impact on our on the department and on our community is immeasurable and your presence will be sincerely missed so thank you Sergeant th and then Council M Calbert if you would share the award that we have for sergeant sha that would be sergeant th that would be great and then Sergeant th if you'd like to say a few words you're welcome to do that as well okay per and I believe I believe that this is MIL uh from uh wood the frame is miled from wood reclaimed from the um area from an elm tree uh on on City Hall ground so perfect thank you very much thank you and sergeant if you'd like to say a few words you're uh you're welcome you so but no right I do have a few words to say um first of all it's been uh truly a let's see an honor and a privilege to work for the city of man metat tanka and serve the community here I've had the opportunity to work with some amazing officers here that are extremely dedicated talented compassionate and they always have have their heart in the right place to do the right thing for our citizens here but the support doesn't stop at the officers here it also goes into the fire department and all employes employes across the board that we've had the opportun opportunity to collaborate with over the years our employees here are top-notch our Administration here is topnotch councel the mayor everything um but I do want to say a career in law enforcement can be extremely challenging in the last couple of weeks have been very difficult for officers here with the loss of Sergeant Ryan Piper who was truly an amazing Spirit spirited selfless person that I'm glad I had the opportunity to work with and know um and then on Wednesday is the upom funeral of the officers and paramedic firefighter who passed away serving the community that they loved and worked for um but I do want to say a special uh thank you other than all the people that we have for uh all the people that have supported us like in-house throughout our organization it's runs very strong but I wanted to say a very special thank you to our community members for their long um unwavering support that they've shown us over the years it's truly meant a lot to me and I know it's meant a lot to my peers as well so thank them uh for everything they're the reason we get up every morning they're the reason that we keep pushing through and doing our job so thank you all very much thank you Sergeant Paul um I really appreciate your words and uh thank you for the great work that you do and then um the the challenges of um doing this remotely um became obvious because in my enthusiasm with my handwritten agenda I overlooked um approval of the minutes so item um item five um on the agenda is approval of minutes and we have the February 12th 2024 regular meeting minutes and I did uh send in one small uh correction today but is there a motion for approval of the uh of the minutes mayor I'll make the motion of approval of the minutes with the change that you just mentioned thank you Council M Calbert is there a second I'll second oh sorry thank you is that is that council member sha yes all right we've got a motion by council member Calbert and a second by council member sha and again pardon me for um um skipping over the minutes um M Miss England Please call R Calbert yes ra yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes sha yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries so next on the agenda and um and I I just want to go back to our recognition for sergeant th um it clearly has been a a very challenging time for um for law enforcement and Public Safety in our community and I really appreciate her words and and I just um I've got to know Sergeant th over the years and I just want to again again indicate my appreciation for the excellent service that she provided to our community and as you could hear in her words um she really cares passionately about our city that showed up in her work and I'm just very thankful for um I hate to see her leave to be honest but uh she served our city so well for 28 years and I just want to give her a personal thank you so pardon me for that and then the next item on the agenda is uh reports from city manager and council members uh Mr f thank you mayor again good evening mayor and councel five things for you this evening the first is just let you know that our menak Academy is going has gone very well again this year uh tomorrow is going to be week five of five so that'll be wrapping up tomorrow evening and then at the next regular meeting we will invite the participants to come forward we want to recognize them uh Miss diam will be here in my absence but uh really want to thank our participants we did this last year and historically the city does our minaka Citizens Academy every every other year uh but we challenged ourselves to do it two years in a row if we can get participants and interest and there was again this year and we had close to 30 uh registrants and so our goal is if we have uh 25 or more sign up every year we want to do it and and it's a great way for us as staff to connect with our community and uh our staff enjoys it as well we can step out of our so-called day jobs and interact real positively with with residents so again it's been very successful proud of our staff and appreciate the work that goes into it and will see those participants coming forward at the next regular meeting I would be remiss if not mentioning that on Tuesday March 5th is the presidential nomination primary or PNP for short that is on again one day we encourage residents to come out and vote the polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. next I want to mention that Darren Nelson our finance director informed me that the city received our certificate of achievement for excellence and financial reporting for the year end 2022 I know it's 2024 it's just how the timing lags on these reporting it seems a little mundane in the sense that we announce to you every year that we receive this achievement uh but it's not lost on us and it shouldn't be lost on us how significant that is this is the 40th consecutive year of the city receiving our excellence in financial reporting so I do want to say thank you to Darren Nelson our finance director Joel Mary our assistant Finance director entire Finance team for the work that goes into our financial reporting we take great pride in our reporting and the work that we do to manage City resources and be and be accountable for the taxpayer funds that are provided to us then the last two items I want to mention uh are employee related and as city manager we always I like to highlight staff professional developments and really to acknowledge the good work that our staff does so two items on February 2nd Amy mcnamer received her accredited Minnesota assess assessor license through the Minnesota state board of assessors steps to achieving this level of licensure included a six- week long course one 15-hour property type specific course there's appraisal um information that goes into it and then a comprehensive eight hour exam at the end of it uh so along with this lenser Miss mcnamer has been promoted from residential appraiser to principal appraiser and we are excited that she is part of our assessing team and look forward to the great work that a me and miss m or Miss mnur will provide to the city and then last I want to recognize behind me Julie wishnack our community development director uh Julie uh was bestowed the induction to the American Institute of certified planners College of fellows aicp this is the highest honor of American Institute of certified PL planners bestows upon a member uh fellows of aicp are nominated and selected by their peers to recognize and honor their outstanding contributions as a professional planner the outcomes of their individual efforts left demon demonstr significant and transformational improvements to the field of planning and the communities they serve uh just to give you uh just by way a little background on what it means to be aicp there are 637 planners that have been inducted into the aicp College of fellows that I'm referencing 30% of those members are female and Julie is just joining a distinct group as there she will be number eight of Minnesota faicp members introduced and so very rare for M people from Minnesota to be recognized so really proud of Julie and her accomplishments in her career and just to give you a little um statement from the person that nominated her uh that she's been described as a regional and Statewide leader in the developing lobbying for implementing better Housing Finance policy and the production of affordable housing unit units as an expert in major regional significant projects she has led the planning for a new light rail and related affordable housing development as well as the Redevelopment of the areas surrounding the Ridgedale Mall as a mentor and educator she has taught Planning Development Finance to hundreds of high school and college students shaped a planning curriculum at major university and served as a mentor to Young planners in colleges at all stages of their careers so with that um really appreciate and acknowledge Miss wishnack for her induction into the College of fellows and [Applause] so thank you Mr Funk right thank you mayor council that's what I have for you this evening so uh council members um any reports that you would like to make tonight um council member Wilburn thank you for uh I wasn't wasn't sure baging me down um so I just as sergeant th mentioned and as the mayor mentioned it's it's been a difficult uh few weeks for law enforcement and public safety personnel um some of us had the opportunity to attend Sergeant Piper funeral and it was really nice to see the outpouring of uh support uh for the family um and so I just wanted to extend condolences again to Sergeant Piper's family and then to the families of the uh Personnel that were recently killed and or injured um and to all of their colleagues that are are are still working thank you Council M Wilburn mayor others yes thank you coun she thank you um I Echo council member Wilburn sentiment and I think that it goes I mean just hearing um from car Sergeant th and and also about the rest of our staff what a community Public Safety and local government is in general and the way that we are able they are able to prop one another up and that was exhibited in um in news stories and information we got from Mr Funk regarding what happened in in Burnsville and to see the community across the state really step up and our departments here both police and fire to support Burnsville and to honor those officers is really a testament to the good work that's done here um and that carries through we give a lot of um duly deserved credit to Public Safety but also the team that um we have here and that support Mr Funk really enabled that to happen and so I'm really proud to be from minaka and I hope our staff and our Public Safety officials re realize um how much we respect them um on a much much lighter note you know I I thought it was worth pointing out I went around I was I've been kind of on a spring cleaning phase and I had all this extra stuff at my house I had vases and Hangers from the the dry cleaner and I had stuff to go to the to donate and we have all these great businesses in minaka that really help us be a little bit more sustainable and it probably helps them cut their costs a little bit so you can bring your hangers to Pilgrim and your vases to um t or Westdale and we've got some great thrift stores that you can bring your items to so just a little plug of sustainability when everybody's doing their spring cleaning thank you council member sha um other comments from Council Members yeah mayor I'll I'll I'll say a few words first of all I just want to um acknowledge uh Julie wishnack she really is extraordinary and it just we are so lucky with our staff and every department but um I don't know you really have been really extraordinary and um I have colleagues in my day job that went to your presentation at Ellers so um we're just very lucky to have you and congratulations and um you know thinking about appreciation for for our staff um I did go to there was a v um at Burnsville City Hall and I I went there uh the day after the tragic shooting um and attended the vigil for Paul elstran Matthew rugie and Adam fth and um and then I also attended the memorial service for uh Sergeant Piper who um really maintained an incredible positive attitude through a lot of adversity and um I just wanted to mention how um touched I was by the sensitivity and stoicism of the officers including um deputy chief Tate Chief Bor booom uh Rachel Mian and the other uh police officers that were there um when um speaking and presenting things like the folded flag and the badges to the family um and uh I was very very moved when uh they played a recording of his um badge number going out of service that's very hard to hear and um I was so glad to see that level of support and so you know when we when we get to to the uh end of this year and we're talking budget um and I think about how much people give of themselves in public safety I'm always very glad to support them in their needs um I also just wanted to mention very briefly that um I attended uh a couple of gatherings for Ukraine it h it is the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine um and uh there was a gathering at the state capital and there was a gathering at the Ukrainian American Community Center um and Amy clob Bashar our US senator spoke at both events and um you know there's there's a lot of suffering all over the world there's a lot of conflict and um the people that are suffering do like to know that uh we are thinking about them so I'm just setting my hearts out to people that are suffering at this time and uh just want to say once again how lucky we are to live in minaka thank you council member Calbert anyone else council member R yes thank you mayor uh I have a a couple of things again just wanting to Echo out the sentiments of my colleagues uh regarding Sergeant Piper and the Burnsville officers I can't add anything to that except my condolences uh regarding Ukraine I want to also extend condolences and support to the minona members of the Russian and Ukrainian uh communities uh I work with them every week as a translator at I and so I know the last week uh or so between the anniversary and the death of Alexa naal has been uh particularly difficult so just wanted to send out and extend uh my support and condolences to all of those people in the community our community here who have come here especially those coming recently here to seek Refuge um so if we can kind of think about that as we see our neighbors uh out and about in the community uh please do keep that in mind uh lastly I was at the uh West Metro remodeling Fair uh this weekend so a big shout out to minona and for supporting that and being a partner a A co-sponsor in that initiative it was very impressive and I was uh particularly glad to see uh several green remodelers and solar panel uh installers and things like that so next time around I hope we see even more of of those folks and encourage people to check them out I believe one of the presenters on green remodeling is going to be posting a video of that session of that seminar that they gave during the weekend so I'd encourage everybody I'll try to post it um in my social media and uh hope people will take a look at that when they're thinking about remodeling uh this this spring and summer this year thanks thank you council member mey anyone else yes council member Foster Bolton um I just well you know my condolences to all the fallen officers and echoing my colleagues but one of the things I um my I have a sister who lives in Savage and she was really um she had met paramedic Adam fth just the night before and was was um I mean in I don't want to go into details but he was so kind to her and it just dawned on me how many lives he affected much less all the other Public Safety officers and First Responders and how important those jobs are and how touched she was and her um family was so it's was a good reminder for me thank you counil m Foster Bolton and anyone else last but least council member not not least council member Cay I said but least okay okay so I just want to um also send my condolences to the city of Burnsville um the family um that was impacted by this horrific um tragic um incident um but also I I really wanted to bring attention to mental health um I know that it's really hard to um talk about Mental Health when you know our community was harmed in this way um but mental health is a real deal and we did also have children that was in that household and we had I don't know if there was a woman there I believe there was but um there was um um multiple um impacts that was that happened from the children to the offender um that apparently had mental health um to his family as well and so um I Come From perspective of um everybody was harmed in this case so I also have empathy for everybody that was harmed um even the person who commit the crime um some people don't feel that empathy but I do and so I just want to say that um you know I it's a for me it's a condolences for everyone and it it's a tragic um when we have someone who's apparently dealing with mental health and maybe Haven had to help or just um maybe family didn't notify law enforcement it's unfortunate um but today when I saw the law enforcement here um our city um law enforcement I couldn't help but think about um their everyday um risk that they put themselves in they put their families in and I just thought about it just made me really reflect like you know people are really um serving in a way where um they are putting their families and themselves um in a way for us no to serve the people to serve the community and so I just want to really um thank our city um our city um staff and our city police officers our City Firefighters and then all of the across the state of Minnesota like all of the First Responders who um risk their lives every day to protect and serve um for this country um and so it really you know I haven't really said much about it on social media or anything because I just been couldn't really have the words I didn't have the words to um to say so um yeah so I'm going leave it right there um but in addition I want to just talk about um excuse me for a second um I'm done thank you thank you council member kley and and thank you all council members um you know this is a very this turned out to be a very challenging month for me to be away um for as much as I have been and um I have really had a heavy heart when I think about our loss of Sergeant Piper and of the horrific loss in Burnsville um I did reach out to make Couts and um I did hear from her and I also um you you feel pretty uh helpless when you're a long ways away and um and uh can't personally extend um condolences but I did reach out to all the council members in Burnsville as well to extend my condolences and that of the city of minona to them and you know I thought um Sergeant th said it really well um you know we our our Public Safety community and our city um does uh well one we really have an excellent staff across the board our city staff is is topnotch our police force is topnotch our fire department is topnotch and I am very very appreciative and very thankful for the people who put themselves out there every day and I'm also thankful for our Council who is serving our community and uh we're doing it um to the best of our ability and I think we do it well I think we do it respectfully and we are very fortunate in minaka but um you know our service doesn't end at the city of minaka border and you know um the public safety firefighters and police officers it's really a Sisterhood and Brotherhood I mean um there are so many connections between the city of mitaka and our neighboring departments and they work together they train together we we cover for each other as needed we we see each other um in so many circumstances and so what happened in Burnsville and and and what happened in minetonka with the passing of Sergeant Piper um that affects the entire Public Safety Community throughout the state and we have much to be proud of and I'm very very very thankful for our team and for the Excellence of our team and for the risks that they take on our behalf so um it's just really important I think for us to recognize what they do for us and to say thankful thank you and and I want to say thank you and they're probably going to get sick of me saying that but I this these events of these last several weeks have made me really realize that I have to say thank you more often to um to our public safety personnel to our City staff and to my fellow council members so thank you all I appreciate what you do in the service of our community so we will end there on item seven and we will go on to item eight citizens wishing to discuss matters not on the agenda this is an open mic opportunity for anyone in the audience who would like to address something not on the agenda and if you choose to do so come forward to the podium state your name and address and um and then tell us what's on your mind no action will be taken tonight but your concern will be noted by staff and they will follow up with you and then they will report back to us um based upon what has occurred on the item that you raise so is there anyone who would like to come forward tonight is there anyone all right seeing no one I will move on to the next item and that is bids and purchase es and uh item 9A is bids for Park monument signs and Mr Manchester I believe you have that report I do thank you mayor good evening mayor and Council before you tonight are the uh bids for the Park monument signs just scroll through a couple here um the the project proposes new monument signs at Park entrances throughout minona Parks it would add and replace um the existing wooden post sign in 34 of the parks areas um we do have more Parks than 34 it does not include areas such as rale Commons the civic center right outside here and then a number of the smaller signed preserve areas uh we did open bids electronically on January 30th 2024 four bids were received the low bit bidder excuse me alrick sign company has completed projects throughout the metro in these areas Project funding is included in the 2022 to 2026 cap cap improvements program and just to kind of touch on the schedule we did actually um you know this was in our 2022 CIP but staff did work with the park board on delaying it a year just because of the unstable construction Market at that time so we did delay for one year um as well as our Park planning uh and then we did have an update to Park Board this year as we were working on the project so if Council does uh decide to move forward tonight the project would start construction in the summer of 202 24 and then look to be completed by the spring of 2025 so with that I would turn it back to the mayor and Council um with two recommendations one to award the contract for the Citywide Park monument signage project to Al Sign Company in the amount of $397,500 th000 so I'll turn it back to the mayor and Council thank you thank you thank you Mr Manchester Council any questions for Mr Manchester Council M Wilburn um I was just wondering what's what is the anticipated lifespan of the new signs sure uh council member Wilburn mayor and Council uh it's dependent on the whether we would expect 20 plus years generally on something like this you know certainly they're much more or less prone to fading and other things but that would be our anticipated hopefully more but certainly something we'd monitor I have one question mayor yes coun M Calbert and that is there is a five over a $500,000 difference between the lowest and highest bid that is a big difference is there what was the reason for the outline sure council member Cal mayor and Council we did certainly do our homework and make some phone calls because we had that same concern um we have found others that have worked with the alrick sign company and they were comfortable with their work so it just can depend on a number of things how much work they have with their fabrication time so there's a lot of things that factor in any other questions or uh comments or um or a motion I'll make make a motion mayor thank you customer Calbert thank you mayor I make the motion to award the contract for the Citywide Park monument signage project to alre sign company in the amount of $397,500 the project budget of 450,000 thank you is there a second I'll second all right thank you and is that Council wurn yes it is okay thanks so we have a motion by council member Calbert and a second by council member Wilburn uh Miss England Please call Ro Calbert yes ra yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes Jack yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries item 10 is the consent agenda it agenda and we have nothing on the consent agenda item tonight um item 11 is consent agenda items requiring five votes and we have none of those either um item 13 is Introduction of ordinances and we have none of those so um item 13 is public hearings and 13A is an onsale intoxicating and Sunday onsale intoxicating liquor license for Crossroads Delicatessen at 3 3795 Hedberg drive and Miss wishnack I believe you have that report thank you mayor uh just a correction the address is 2795 Hedberg 2795 okay thank you um this is a continued public hearing s from the January 29th meeting you had um really the uh owner who would be William Gomez is under contract to purchase the building I'm sorry the business and then another entity to purchase the property they don't have any current plans to uh change the business the crossroad Deli business um we have completed all of the background information the police department has done their background check um all the license information fees uh and applications have been submitted and have been approved by City staff um we did receive one voicemail from a neighboring property owner who was in support of the application um but we did not find anything in the background or any of the other information that would prohibit the license from being issued so with that mayor and Council will recommend approval of the license thank you thank you Miss wishnack um well this uh public hearing is open but before I ask if anyone wants to speak I'll turn it to council to see if they have any questions um for staff on this um this item anyone all right I'm not seeing um any um questions from the council so I will invite um anyone forward who would like to comment on this this public hearing was opened um at a previous council meeting and we are continuing it and we will take public comment now so if you have any comment including the applicant if you'd like to come forward please um approach the podium state your name and address and make your comment is there anyone no mayor they they're in the audience but they don't want to speak so okay well very good well then with that I will close the public hearing and um I will take comments from the council or a motion thank you mayor thank you mayor I would like to make the motion approving the um liquor license for Crossroads delicate tessin I'll is there all right we've got a motion by council member sha and a second by council member Foster Bolton um Miss England Please call R Calbert yes R yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes sha yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries and um I will add that um um I think I anyone who's been to Crossroads Deli is very pleased that they will continue um it's kind of an institution in minona they have great food and I'm very pleased that they will continue in business so I think that's that this is a good day for motanka from that perspective I agree and we need a place that has a good corn beef sandwich on the eye I'm just saying like it's got to be there well and and I and we're we're hearing from somebody who probably knows so that's good um so that brings us to item 14 let's see so yes so we've that has passed so now we're on other business item 14 and this is pardon me I have to I have to read my handwriting here um this is a um resolution establishing polling locations for the April 30 2024 special primary election and the May 14 2024 special election for the office of henip County Commissioner district 6 and I believe Miss Dam you have that report I do thank you mayor and Council I'm happy to be here tonight to present on behalf of this agenda item so this agenda item is for the polling place change changes maybe is a better word for henpen County Commissioner district 6 elections so the special election for district district six seat is the primary election is April 30th and this uh general election is May 14th so right around the corner here for both these elections we also have three other elections this year so generally a little background in our polling places is we have 21 precincts in minetonka we previously had 23 until the redistricting happened um we have uh 13 private facilities that we use of churches majority of our polling places are churches without the community we also have some public ones we have four city-owned facilities we use our public Works facility and then we have three downstairs here at the community center we use a minona school district service center we actually have two polling places in the ridgel library and then the Royals athletic center we don't own the Royals athletic center but we do actually own we don't have a full ownership of the entire building we have about 25% a little bit above that for that facility so the process for getting our polling places is every year so right on the heels of this November election our clerk Becky kozman will send out agreements to all of our uh private and public polling places this lays out what the next year looks like and the times and locations that she will need for those elections so this happens in November of every year um a polling place has to be within one mile radius of our polling place line so of those District Lines from each um each Ward really we have lines of every polling location you have to find a location within there and it's really really challenging when we lose a poll ping place because the options are so limited in our community uh we did motanka we the option is to use the schools and motanka did previously use schools gyms cafeteras hallways we really worked hard in 2015 2016 and 2017 to get out of our schools uh we would have residents who would have to check into the office get a visitor pass to go vote um obviously the safety of our students was number one concern and so we worked really hard to get out of our schools so we no longer do use school so sometimes in in an area that is an option we work really hard to avoid entering into our schools um private facilities can and do charge the city for their use um public facilities um they do have to accommodate to lot of sin they have to make parking available they have to make the space available with these with this these two elections of course we um could accommodate and say we need to get in the building but we do want to be respectful partners with these locations as well and respect the already planned activities and events that were scheduled before the dates were set and the agreements were signed for the three elections so with that um our city clerk um has deemed and determined that an emergency situation is imminent which prevents the safe secure full operations of election activities in separate precincts and which makes it necessary to designate a combined polling location for all precincts in the city with with respect to these two elections that primary election on April 30th and the special election on May 14th so that was the emergency resolution so the circumstances so scheduling conflicts and disruption at current polling locations with two additional elections when uh we sent out the inquire for these elections I think the rails Athletics Center already had basketball scheduled and some Churches already had facility things going on so being respectful a partner not making them give us the space but finding another option to make it work um inadequate time to locate alternate locations we have a March 5th primary nomination um presidential nomination primary which Mr Funk mentioned so from March 5th we got to really quickly turn into our April 30th election in that time frame to find another location was difficult um it's hard to find train and retrain election judges with five elections in 2024 a lot of our election judges are snowbirds so having a March election is already a challenge for us cuz so many are snowbirds add two more on top of that within that spring winter time frame when we we are struggling um they're okay they're doing a good job um but March is this is a hard time frame for our judges to have elections and then to ask of five elections of them is a lot of us so we want to be respectful too of ensuring that we can adequately staff a polling location and making sure we don't burn out our election judges in the same time um the demands associated with moving voting equipment to and from 21 locations s uh twice within a twoe period This is a whole operation that happens behind the scenes our Public Works teams rent out multiple U-Hauls they spend all day Monday delivering equipment and all day Wednesday picking it up so it's it's a big undertaking and they're great partners with us in that but the demands associated with already three elections and asking for four more days out of our public work staff is just a lot um the benefits so the emergency res solution is to host all of our polling locations here in the community center um our election staff has really been creative in finding an alternate solution to fit them all here um so some benefits by having all of our election judges and election officials at a single location the city will have sufficient numbers of judges and officials available to address questions promptly a combined polling location will reduce the demands on public works for voting equipment to set up and transportation costs of renting U-Hauls for two elections within a twoe time frame and then uh instead of trying to get new locations and notify certain voters of new locations we felt it was simpler and less confusing for voters and every vote for every voter uh is notified that April 30th and May 14 special elections will be conducted at the minona community center as opposed to notifying selected precincts of new polling locations so everyone be voting here we think that's easier than trying to tell certain people they vote in different places we're anticipating with the numbers we see in the absentee in the voter turnout we're anticipating that this space can handle the Monona voters that on that day um there will be a postcard sent to every uh household here in minetonka we use our uh newsletter mail list for this so of a polling place change for April 30th and May 14th special election for henen County Commissioner district 6 well everyone will vote here at Community Senate we are also using our other channels of social media um the minaka memo as well as emails that will be pushed to very close to these elections we're trying to get through March 5th and then we'll twitch the gears and then we'll start really advertising this I think this postcard goes on on March 6 so right away at the end of the presidential primary election clerk staff will turn their gears and gear up for this but we're trying not to make it confusing with that overlap so the recommend this evening in front of you is to approve the the resolution establishing the change of polling locations for the April 30th and May 14 special elections and with that mayor I turn it back to you thank you Miss damond um council do you have questions for misss Damen Council M kley uh I don't have a question but I do have a comment I was just thinking I had a question earlier but I think you answered my question but now I have a comment about as you were explaining where the special election is going to be held at the city then I instantly thought about how folks in some apartment buildings they're used to voting in a particular spot they won't have access to voting because they can't get to the City Hall so that's a statement because I know people don't have transportation because we have a transportation issue in our city and so now people don't have access to voting that's big it just hit me like people really don't have access to voting so that's my statement Miss Zon I or do you have is there as we were talking about this I um I just was wondering if if there are any accommodations for transportation for people who would need it um through through different social service agencies and things like that are we is there anything that could be done along those lines and I don't think we we're probably not prepared to answer that question now and I don't want to add a lot of complexity but I think I think that I think there I think there are some people who can't who won't be able to vote because of the location but um but I I'd like to think that you know maybe churches synagogues mosques some people who are concerned um might be able to provide some volunteer um support um I don't know I just throw it out as a comment and it's probably an unfair question but but I think we clearly want everyone who could vote to vote and um so I'm just wondering if there might be some some things through our um through our Partnerships with different groups if there might be some things that we could consider for those two elections May here me um and C kle really good point we will definitely look into that I encourage every everybody to we do have um mail voting they can vote by mail and we're happy here at the city to help help with that if they want to give us a call we can walk them through how to get an absentee ballot and I definitely will work with uh Miss wishnack and our Dei senior coordinator and see if we can come up with some Creative Solutions to maybe get some voters for the polling location thank you for their comment we will into that thank you Miss dond um Council are there other other questions or comments or is there a motion councilor ra just a quick question uh is early mail voting available for both elections both the primary and the actual special election do we know that I should know that but I don't we there is so I'm looking at I have my sheet ready um for these questions as I'm not always immersed in the elections anymore but absentee voting will will be open we will also be open on Saturday prior so April 27th as well for the special primary excellent so it'll be the day of um early mail and any other early inperson voting or just the day of I'm gonna hand it over to Kelsey Inland she's our senior election uh specialist council member and mayor um yes I have the dates in front of me as well here so for the April 30th special primary uh absentee voting begins on April 12th and will run through April 29th and we will additionally have the extended hours on the Saturday April 27th and then for the May 14th special general election absentee voting will begin on May 6th and again additionally we will have that Saturday early voting on May 11th so it is a really tight turnaround there will be mail ballots but we we do realize that that time frame is very very tight so if people want to vote by mail it's something that is going to have to happen very quickly um we can't really wait until the last moment uh because that time frame is very fast with mail turnaround and you said thank you Miss uin I'm sorry and you said folk sorry M Mr uh mayor uh I just was wanted to confirm that there was going to be early iners voting on Saturday before prior to both elections okay thank you yes I and Council M kley I have another comment um I'm well question I'm wondering I know that we do the um push out for um like news on our social media outlet and newsletter is there a way that we can get information out about the polling places not being in the same place um so that we can make sure that we're pushing the information out to folks who um probably need to know early as soon as possible so they can start trying to prepare to uh make sure either they vote by mail or if they um can set up some type of Transportation cuz I think it's going to be important that we do that because I mean sometimes like I said I had a call today from a city resident who has Transportation but I I'll take it back to the Sounds of Blackness event this is a person who's active in our community who knows about different events might affect I think he served on one of our boards and today he told me he didn't get access to he didn't have information about the sounds of Blackman event and I say oh well um we sent the information out through um the newsletter if you sign up for our Min tanka newsletter um also on social media it was on social media and um he's older gentleman and he said I had I didn't receive him so he asked me if I could send out information to him and I said well we don't really send out personal information all the time but if I see something I can send out as much as I can but I can't promise you that I'll be successful with everything so then I said well you have to contact the city um and talk to the city but he saidwell K I didn't receive the information and so this is a person who's involved in our community so I always think about if he's saying that he didn't get that information how many other folks who's not involved who don't understand the process who's not receiving the the um the mail the newsletter how will they be able to know what's going on I know when I I door knocking and I'll use minaka Heights Apartments when I door knock in minaka Heights Apartment um the reason why those folks show up and vote because it's next door and that's where they vote at typically but if I know that if they those folks has to come to the city to vote a lot of them are not going to vote because they don't have access to the building next door so I'm just thinking about that and I'm sure that's going to happen in other places throughout our city and so um just making sure that we can get information out as quick as we can as much information as we can is going to be really important because I I really don't want want to limit people access to voting um because that's what it feels like even though it's not intentional it's unintentional but it's going to happen so that's just my comment thank you Council M cley um council members anything anything other comments that anyone like to make coun ra just one suggestion or I'm sure staff has already thought about this but maybe reaching out to a lot of the multi-unit or multi family um developments and asking them to post that information in their lobbies would be helpful um and then also reaching out to um you know a where I um volunteer and some of the other organizations that um see a lot of folks from the community who have mobility issues um and and posting that information there and and maybe those of us who are volunteers in those places can see what we can do to terms of um getting transportation options thank you coun R is is there anyone else um you know I just want to make a quick comment too um voting is exceedingly important we all know that and um I also want to thank our staff again for the heavy lifting they do because um this is a special election um and it comes on the heels of um a presidential primary which is also a new election that we didn't have in the past and um and what um as Miss damond indicated the work that goes into preparing for election is behind the scenes I don't think there is um much awareness in our community of all the work that um that putting on Election takes so I want to thank staff for that and I also want to put a plug in um for election judges because we um um it's a challenge getting sufficient numbers of election judges every year and you know it's a great way to volunteer in your community you get paid a little bit but I don't think anybody's in it for the cash um it's a great way to meet your neighbors and and really participate in democracy and so um um it's a little off topic but I just want to put a plugin for anybody who wants to find a way to uh volunteer in the city um there's going to be plenty of opportunities because it seems that we're having more and more elections all the time so um I just want to put that plug in um I want to give uh go back to council and say are there any other comments that anyone would like to make otherwise I think we're at the point where we could uh take um a motion Council M Wilburn I move that we approve the resolution establishing the change of polling locations for the April 30th and May 14th special elections thank you is there a second council member Calbert I'll second thank you mayor all right we've got a motion by council member Wilburn and a second by council member Calbert M angland please call Ro Calbert yes ra yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes sha yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries so that brings us to item 15 which is appointments and reappointments we have none and finally it brings us to item 16 adjournment is there a motion to adjourn so move Mr Mayor and a second Council so we have a motion by Council M Calbert and a second by Council m r all in favor say I I I we are adjourned and I will I will add I want to thank you all for indulging me um I will be back next week I'm looking forward to seeing you all and um in the meantime have have a great week safe travels mayor thank you so [Music] much [Music]