e e e design and Rie or something yes sir we can call the meeting to order uh please stand for 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 liy and justice for all thank you very much roll call please council member Cole here council member schweer here council member Wong here council member nordby here mayor mongi here can I get a motion to adopt the agenda please so move so move council member schwe second second council member Wong all those in favor say I I thank you consent Jenna thank you mayor thank you uh item a August 29th 2024 special Workshop meeting minutes Item B August 29th 2024 HRA meeting minutes item C September 3rd 2024 Workshop meeting minutes item D September 3rd 2024 city council meeting minutes item e September 3rd 2024 h meeting minutes item F September member 3rd 2024 closed meeting minutes item G General claims of 1,658 n9650 item H hre claims of $1 15,69 item I resolution accepting donations for August of 2024 item J building permits of August of 2024 item K approval of charitable gambling permit Church of St Peters item L special event permit the VFW P Mia remembrance walk on September 26 2024 item M Fire Relief booya use of payment system agreement item n approve Amendment contract for development with amcon construction item o set set public hearing date for special assessments for unpaid City bills on October 15 2024 thank you very much anybody like to pull any at this time if not looking for a motion if not a motion to passes so moved so move council member Norby second second council member schweer all those in favor say I I thank you appreciate it we'll go on to the meeting open to the public at 6:32 Dave Nelson come on down meeting might we get paid [Laughter] overtime Dave Nelson at 2574 Avenue East uh I'm as a master naturalist I'm connected with the DNR and the V and uh u ofm i get letters from the DNR there's grants out there for removing invasive plants and then I turned it into the city down there I gave it to um Lord gradic to the paperwork and that I cannot apply for it because I'm not the owner of the property uh I've been to several Maplewood meetings and they use goats I brought the information here I give them the information on the goats I don't know if the grant would apply towards the goats for removing Buckthorn and the owners they fence it off electric fence so the goats are pretty much contained uh was it almost two years ago I had the same Grant deal from the DNR because they contact me I turned it in and I don't know what happened to it and nobody responded if they didn't even look at it or not I don't know but it's money that's there for the city I don't know if it's a matching deal or they go they give you so much or what but it's uh it's money out there okay I can't use it because I don't own the property so but we've been walking down there we had a Buckthorn pull this weekend uh it was pretty hot I didn't get down here at the beginning the first group only lasted an hour because it was so hot so there were six people left and uh the last group was 8 or nine they left after an hour and 45 minutes and I went and collected uh Wildflower seed and that because I'm helping another Prairie to get started in another area and uh we opened up all the bluebird houses they have to be open and clean because you don't want uh lace or anything in there that's how when it gets cold it cleans it out so they're all open I appreciate that but anyway I appreciate it if they could either feed me back of what they found on it or some way that I could find out if it was worth my uh in vain of just looking all this stuff up yeah so thanks Brian can you have somebody thanks Dave we're in the process of doing that and I was going to update you my updates so okay awesome so yeah is working good nice wonderful and I come in pay my electric bill and they says you don't owe nothing you're $9 to the credit I said Oh I thought I owed something nice I went home good for you $9 in my pocket pocket there you go I said thank you very much Carrie B welcome my name is Carrie B I live at 2887 Lake Boulevard in North St Paul I got two things tonight um I am the event coordinator for the North St Paul Veterans Park I've been on that committee for a number of years and I just want to give you some statistics about P Mia prisoners of War missing in action there are still over 81,000 Americans that remain missing from World War II the Korean War the gulf Wars and other conflicts 75% of those losses are located in the Indo Pacific and over 50% of the missing are presumed lost at sea so in 1979 uh the pmia day remembrance was set and that is typically on the third Friday of September as we in North St Paul know that's our last car show night so the Veterans Park has um traditionally done the P Mia event on the Thursday after our fall Roundup parade so my second thing is City staff have been so helpful with getting um the permit application going because it's it's a new year it's a new thing we don't do things the same way we did them 10 years ago we're trying to as a committee be more responsible to getting the work done ourselves but I've also needed a lot of help from from City staff and I really really appreciate that so come on out join the the solemn walk which is going to be on the sidewalk not on the street this year and um remember our missing in action thank you thank you thank you appreciate it car [Music] thanks all right thank you very much we'll be closed to the public now so City action items you yeah thank you we have one item on the city business AC items this evening and it's the preliminary 2025 City general fund H and Eda budgets and property tax levies and we have Finance director Dan winck here to discuss hey Dan come on down come on down well thank you mayor council members um didn't get overburden you with a lot of uh information or uh presentation for tonight uh we had a very good discussion um on December 3rd uh where we got consensus on where we wanted to be for the maximum like ly um so I give uh a big thank you to all of you for that I think for your uh future looking in for this year I think you you realize that we had a number of unknowns um and that you're you're starting to become aware of some of those um as we've gone through it earlier today you saw the park plan um and you see that uh not all of that is incorporated into our Capital Improvement plan and uh facilities were still waiting on the um uh facility assessment um that we have got out for a contract um and then also uh our Union negotiations so I think you made a very good decision of putting a maximum Levy where we had you know some breathing room and we have a lot of work to do um as we're moving forward um and so we'll still be uh looking at all of our Enterprise funds our internal service funds our Capital Improvement PL U program and then we're going to uh wrap it up and come back and look at the fund um HRA and Eda um to see if there's ways that we can um cut that uh that Levy down um before we make it finalized in December but tonight it's uh setting of the preliminary 2025 uh City general fund HRA the human uh and the Eda budgets um that we need to certify um to the to Ramsey County by the end of this month um we've had a series of of meetings we had a pre-budget meeting kickoff in April 16th we've had uh meetings where we've had uh department heads uh represented and talked about each one of their the Departments and the general fund uh we had uh three of those meetings and then we had a very nice discussion on September 3rd where we um set the maximum Levy of 9.88 uh there's three attachments that are um before you tonight um the first one is a resolution adopting the preliminary 2025 General fund budget and setting the preliminary 2025 general fund tax levy and Debt Service Levy um I won't read the whole en entire um component to it um what's being asked as far as actions are is to um at this point in time um to approve the general fund budget from a preliminary standpoint at um approximately $10.2 million um the tax levy of approximately 7.8 which is comprised of and a number of components to it there's the general purpose tax levy there's a park Levy there's a Street Maintenance fund and there's The Debt Service fund um and then it also has a resolve where we have traditionally um reduced the debt payment um that gets certified um to Ramsey County by an amount uh related to uh the Casey Lake um Bond component to it um and so we're reducing that um the 21,7 $192 in addition we will be setting the truth and Taxation meeting um to be held on December 3rd 2024 for comments um and again the the final Levy that we certify will be the following week on December or two weeks December 17th will approve the final budgets levies uh for 2025 um so we'll need a motion um to uh well first of all if there's any questions with that this is exactly what we talked about um uh last city council meeting in December 3rd um or uh September 3rd if there's any questions I'll take those if not U we'll need a motion and have the resolution passed I have a question so on the um memo it uh refers to the 9.88 and I'm looking at the resolution and it says 9.62 y%c and then just to clarify where then we're adding the other components and then that leaves us at yeah um the 9.88 is a combination of the city right um HRA in Ed Eda stays the same but the HRA if you remember it's an item that we increased from $1,000 and 20 in this year 2024 to 50,000 again that's an item that was up for discussion and potentially that we'll move that back down to that $1,000 as we move through the remainder of the the budget process so if you look at it collectively L it's 9.88 total that's y thanks just wanted to clarify thanks any other questions on this one if there's no other questions just we have a motion to accept the preliminary 2025 budget and tax levy tax levy so so move Council memb second second council member Norby all those in favor say I I I opposed none thank you uh the second resolution is a resolution adopting the preliminary 2025 tax levy for Nur St Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority um that's the one that we're seeing um the amount of the maximum Levy is is at 50,000 um that's an increase from 11,000 in the past but again that's an item that we'll have further discussion and we may end up reducing that back to the 11th 000 um it also has a budget of $496,000 uh primarily it's it's you know it's utilized there's some staff costs that are included in there that you've seen and is really the costs that are related to the student build housing any questions with that not no question not can I get a motion for the h level so moved so move council member Wong I almost did it second council member Norby all those in favor say I I opposed none thank you and the third resolution is adopting the preliminary 2025 tax levy for the North St Paul Economic Development Authority um that one the levy is staying the same as it has uh for the past few years um where the amount is uh 2,97 um and has a budget of 20297 now that budget may change as we're moving forward uh one of the items that we had is a potential shift from the general fund to the Eda was u a study in the amount of $60,000 for the downtown um we have met with uh The Economic Development Authority um and they are in agreement um that it it fits better in The Economic Development Authority um than it does in the general fund um so that'll be an item that will you know that city council will end having to agree to um but we haven't had time to do that so this is in line with what we've agreed to in December 3rd and again we still have a lot of work to do on the on the budget itself but this will set our preliminary maximum levies um for 2025 with any questions with this one question not motion for the UDA Levy so move so move council member schwe second second council member Norby all those in favor say I I I oppose n thank you uh just one more item first of all thank you very much for um passing those three uh resolutions one more item on our schedule and detail for the budget the next upcoming um in uh October we were going to be looking at the CIP um we're going to make a little shift and we're going to move the Enterprise funds up to that and then push out the CIP to the following meeting the second meeting in October reason being um I talked to W yesterday um they're still not completely done um with the facility assessment um but hopefully by the end of this week or early part of next week they should be able to complete that in addition I believe the parks will be meeting on the 25th the 25th of September um they still have some work to do to make sure that they're compiling the correct capital and Improvement program that they want um before we really started to get into that discussion um I was watching and listening to the workshop and uh we had council member Cole bring a very good point that we have something in here for Levy for the parks where's that backup to support that and that's where that has to come through um to make sure that we're in total alignment um it was done last year um council member schw has done a fantastic job with uh the park commission and trying to get them aligned and and now that we have Riley are trying to get it all Al line so we we get a very good hopefully a holistic look at what the true needs for the parking for the parks are um and there's been a lot of work that's been done in the past um by the former council member who sat on that so um a lot of good information has been put out there we just really need to make sure we get it Incorporated in our Capital Improvement program and that's the reason we're just going to make that shift um just so we have a little bit more time to make it as comprehensive for you as possible the format for that one is that we will have all of the department heads here um we'll be focusing on what we have in that 205 2025 um for your approval um and uh the documentation will be out ahead of time so um you know you're going to be encouraged to be prepared to ask department heads make sure that we're we're covering things um and making sure we're comprehensive and and that things are absolutely needed um so with that um I conclude my piece and one more time thank you very much for the three resolutions and for the honor of of serving in this great city of nurse St Paul thank you thanks Dan you appreciate it Dan can I bother you with a question first you sure sure can there no bother that building assessment when were we originally expecting that back that I'm not 100% sure I don't know I'm going to throw this over to our city manager Brian do you remember what that contract or agreement had for uh deadline thought it was going to be a little faster but they ended up getting deeper into some of the things that uh it was harder to find information on like the low voltage or the communications fiber um things like that that they're having to go find specialty contractors to get some of that information from uh some other city that or other information that they were requesting from the city to kind of narrow that down where our responsibilities were for like door locks or security cameras and so it's just been a little time consuming um okay so dat in your mind there's a valid reason why there's a sight delay in US receiving this there is perfect thank you thank you thank you thanks Dan now it's report time all right reports from city manager and departments so uh we have looked into goats um so we have like three or four different vendors that kind of work in this area um and it's a good way to bring attention to actually your parks and also take care of your invasive species uh issues they seem to eat everything in front of them and uh do a good job with that I like the mayor so it sounds like they come out and they you know fence off a certain area and they'll get them moved to different areas um so yeah we're going to come back with uh quotes from the different vendors that are available out there and then we'll bring that back to probably parks and to you guys of course let you know would to move forward with that if that's what we choose I know in Maplewood it was nice the kids would come watch and see the goats and it's those things that is just really kind of great for the parks yep y awesome is that something we're looking at to do this fall potentially is okay y were the grants that he was talking about part of that or I'm going to find out more information from Dave here after he this yes stick around Dave you don't have to pay your electric bill but you got to stay around how was that a okay all right so electric Department's been busy um we got three guys in Marshall for this week doing some overhead school training uh they're working on getting more Eco kits for the city we'll be doing the Christmas lights giveaway like we've been in the past so those will be available uh and they still have some of the air purifiers available they were a good giveout at the uh Festival last weekend uh at Casey Lake Park they' been kind of on and off working on Jennifer Lane that been a really big project of replacing all that underground and then with just different storms coming through in the summertime and keeping up with the other stuff um they'll finish it up this fall probably a few weeks left yet um they will be energizing Taco Bell's uh Transformer this week which will be great um on I think we'd spoke before that we were looking into uh the property to the south of that they hadn't been maintaining that property so we did get get a hold of them finally they said they were going to be out by the end of last week that has not happened so we're probably going to be having another conversation of us going in there and taking care of it and then sending them a baill at this point so so to the north of Taco Bell right South South what's the what the other one next to in the other side North isn't looking great well so it's the one next to the bank and that is owned by Target Corporation and we're looking into that the one that's kind of overgrown there as well okay that'd be good yeah because that has some good Siz trees is coming up in it too it does thank you uh AA has been busy with uh looking well we had our Autumn Arts Festival last week which was a really good success a little bit dampered by the rain but not too bad we had a couple of vendors actually sold out of food so it was a great success um she's also we got the parade this Thursday um that'll be a fun event we have last car show this Friday too encourage the public to take that in and coming up we also have our watch hopefully the weather and clouds cooperate that's on October 2nd and then the booya is already October 6th I can't believe we're talking about that already right around the corner it is so by the end of this month uh we'll be talking to Gallagher we'll get an idea of what our health rates will be for next year so we'll see how that goes Finance has been busy as always with all the budgets uh especially coming into the Enterprise funds now Community Development is working with Rum River they are looking to cut over to their software uh which is called Baseline um for the permits and uh looking to get that out and going come the first of next month we got our community development staff has been trained on it um going to have the rest of the Departments make sure that they don't have any questions or issues but get that rolled out which will also take off some of the workload on the admin staff in Community Development by doing so and it was no extra cost to the city to do that nice yeah um Public Works finally is getting their plow truck that they ordered in 2021 from so yeah it'll be nice to have that uh is it still under warranty or is that all expired it's actually a 2025 model oh good is a parade ready uh it should be nice that's awesome um student build they're working on that they were going to pour the foundation uh this week and then hopefully get the basement walls poured and then get that filled in for next week and they'll be set for their students coming out there to start the bill so that'll be great uh they've gone through the whole city now and uh done the pothole patching Mill and overlays are going well they are done with First Street they done with Margaret they have moved on to Eldridge in front of the student builds um from there they'll move on to Sixth Street which will be from sth Avenue to the frontage road and then they'll move over to Charles and that'll wrap up the year the emerald ashb uh the contractor they are done with all the private ones um we have 33 of the 50 Boulevard trees done so just 17 left to go for that contractor and that grant money that we received for that and slowly still picking away at those uh people inquiring about the lead pipes and if they need you know a staff member to go out there and get tested for them and get that going uh right now to there to the point where the information that we received will be sent into the state and then state will give Direction on next steps from there uh PD we had a new officer start yesterday officer Ben Locker who was a lateral from Shaka so we're excited to have him on board and we've got uh three more that we're looking at going through the background checks right now so hopefully we can get up to full staff it' be wonderful um fire they have uh Brent and Ethan are at the fire marshall training um with Brent moving out of the city um you stepped down from the assistant chief position on the payon call um that was out for uh posting and Jordan Wardell has accepted that position and has started that now so good fantastic yeah that's great uh they have live burden training tomorrow out at the training center and then October 6th through the 12th will be fire prevention week and then the 19th you guys get to judge the posters again so that's always fun and that's all I have nice thank you and very busy thanks for all your work good deal all right reports Council commissions and committees that's where be um on September fth we had the Planning Commission um the topic of discussion for that day was the RFP that we approved today um and the next Planning Commission will be on October 3rd nice thank you um as for the arts and culture commission um uh city manager frandle had alluded to the Arts and uh the Autumn Arts Festival it was a really great success it was good to see um Community out there and also some of our city staff that weren't even working with their families so that was really nice um but yes big thank you to the arts and culture commission and um also the Parks Commission um and especially Amanda black and um Tom Sonic who are on the arts and culture Commission um and of course thanks to Public Works they always drop off our big old orange trailer um the art cart and then also my Sarah and of course Ava as well um the arts and culture commission is looking at a utility box a collaboration with the Veterans Park and the park commission um they're looking at maybe a box for 2025 and then uh yeah they're just kind of planning the rest of their 2025 year and um next meeting will be octo the first Wednesday in October on the 2nd at 6:30 here in the chambers that's all I got thank you awesome for sure Al ditto the Autumn Arts Festival uh that council member Wang had just uh alluded to that it was an nice event uh despite a little bit of that rain that came in um thank you to the city staff that assists with that uh setting up and clean up and our next meeting is on September 25th Wednesday here in the council chambers awesome thank you SM co uh Eda had their long anticipated uh Eda meeting on the 10th here in Chambers uh we had everyone present which was really exciting just to just to get everybody back together again and and and share ideas after the summer uh the Eda did approve uh for councils approval uh the shifting of the $60,000 out of the CIP into the Eda from a funding standpoint and that we move forward with the downtown the move forward with the downtown design manual uh we also discussed has have great dialogue around the facade Improvement program as far as what exactly does that mean does that include signs does that not include signs U depending on what the sign means to the to the actual property um and more to more to come on that but um we we had some great conversation on that we're moving along as well very nice thank you very much um General business in tradition of General business I started three weeks ago the fall Roundup parade is 1 day 22 hours 59 minutes and 51 seconds away I hope to see yall there very nice thank you very much anything I mean I hope to see you at the parade and one that's right hours and 59 minutes and 38 seconds that's awesome and you kid I'll see you at the parade there you go um shout out to Ava for all of the work that she's continuing to do with our um Communications and community outreach she is fantastic I have seen her at just about every event yet alone seeing her all over our social media she has done an excellent job um I had the pleasure of attending the Autumn Arts festivals past weekend as well as um the memorial for Richard Ken it was um both events were uh lovely Bittersweet um the officer uh crittin event was emotional um well well done so it was it was great to be there that's it thank you I stayed and sheltered and play place for the Autumn Festival I was fearful of melting in the rain so I wasn't unable to attend so my sincere apologies to all the vendors that were there I heard it was a phenomenal event and as shared earlier you know some of the vendors ran out of food that's always great to hear uh I too attended the uh officer grinder Memorial what a moving moving thing it was very much so yep I was at the memorial too and it was very special and uh and our chief Ray did a great job great job with it um I've been invited to the Mi P um on the 26 so I'm looking forward to that and I hope I will see people there and I did not make the we had an out of town out ofate wedding so I did not make it for the Arts but I heard a lot of great things for the festival so appreciate everybody's work on that as well anything else if not you move on to our Clos session which will be the meeting will be closed as permitted by section 13d 03 to discuss the city's labor negotiations strategy related to the city's negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 160 uh Teamsters public and law enforcement employees union local 320 um law enforcement labor Services local 211 for patrol uh and for the sergeants and the asme council 5 for essential and non-essential unions thank you I appreciate that I made a mess out of that the last last time I read that a motion and a second on that I have a motion on that okay council member W second second council member schwe all those in favor say I I I thank you off we go