Based on the context provided and the dialogue within the transcript, here is the formatted version with speaker names identified. **Note:** As the Mayor was absent, Council Member **Laura Kronenberger** presided over the meeting as the acting chair. Additionally, several names mentioned in the roll call (Gasmi, Lindell) were not on the initial list but have been included based on the audio context. *** [0:28] **(Music/Silence)** [0:58] **(Music/Silence)** [1:28] **(Music/Silence)** [1:58] **(Music/Silence)** [2:28] **(Music/Silence)** [2:58] **(Music/Silence)** [3:36] **Laura Kronenberger**: Should make you do it. Seconds meeting added. Okay, I'd like to call to order the City of Cannon Falls City Council meeting for Tuesday, August 6th. August, August, August 6th. What did I say? October? Oh, okay. I read August 6th. Um, can I get a motion to approve the agenda? [4:05] **Sara Peer**: Oh, you do roll call first. [4:07] **Laura Kronenberger**: Roll call. Can I get a roll call, please? [4:10] **Sara Peer**: Gasmi? **Council Member Gasmi**: Here. **Sara Peer**: Grot? **Council Member Grot**: Here. **Sara Peer**: Jeppesen? **Ryan Jeppesen**: Here. **Sara Peer**: Johnson? **Diane Johnson**: Here. **Sara Peer**: Kronenberger? **Laura Kronenberger**: Here. **Sara Peer**: Lindell? **Council Member Lindell**: Here. **Sara Peer**: Montgomery is absent. [4:18] **Laura Kronenberger**: I stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. [4:29] **All**: 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. [4:40] **Laura Kronenberger**: Okay, now can I get a motion to approve the agenda? [4:45] **Ryan Jeppesen**: So moved. [4:46] **Diane Johnson**: Second. [4:47] **Laura Kronenberger**: All right, motion by Jeppesen and second by Diane. All those in favor? [4:51] **Council Members**: Aye. [4:52] **Laura Kronenberger**: Motion carries. All right, public input. Public input is intended to afford the public an opportunity to address concerns to the city council. The public input will be no longer than 30 minutes in total length and each speaker will have no more than three minutes to speak. Speakers may address topics relevant to governance of the city. Speakers must sign up in advance and must provide their name, address, and topic they intend to address. Comments must be on topic, respectful, pertinent to City business, and adhere to the applicable data privacy rules. Any speaker that violates these rules will be asked to sit down and if the speaker refuses to comply they may be removed from the meeting. Speakers shall not address topics that are the subject of a public hearing. All such comments shall be made at the public hearing. The city council will not generally act on issues raised by the public input but may choose to schedule consideration of the item on a future agenda. Mr. Baba Gorman. [6:03] **Mr. Baba Gorman**: Thank you. I imagine you were hoping it was October so I wouldn't be around long, right? Um, Dollar General was quite the fiasco. To my knowledge, that's the only business in about 40 years that I know of that came to Cannon Falls and was willing to do something in this town—build something—without asking for public donations, public assistance, tax increment financing, tax abatement, whack and sack—whack the cost of it. Um, and there were two Planning Commission meetings and two public hearings because it didn't get notified, even the second one, I don't think he notified the right amount of people. I think you gotta notify like a quarter mile. And there was very little—in fact, I think my buddy Jim I think was the only person that spoke against it. The railroad had a little problem, it got straightened out. Matt made it clear he wasn't anti-business. Well, I don't think Dollar General thinks that. And I know that actions speak louder than words, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that something's wrong with this picture. On June 18th, there was a council meeting; the vote passed 3 to 2. Ms. Shelley Ryan said it was only a motion. Well, then why do I have two resolution numbers and they were on your agenda, 2763 and 2764? Mr. Jensen even turned to Ms. Ryan and said, "What does that mean?" and she said, "That means it passed." And it did. There's no question that it passed. Two resolutions. On July 2nd, all of a sudden it shows up with three now—three resolution numbers that are completely different on your consent agenda. And I could tell 'cause I'm sitting back there, most of you didn't even know it was there or what was going on. But to me it was real simple: we're trying to reestablish a timeline so now we can do the reconsider proposal. But it didn't matter, Dollar General was gone immediately. Matt claimed that commercial was different than residential. I don't see two ordinances, I only see one, and they both apply to either the same unilaterally. Then Ms. Ryan directed Matt to authorize her to develop findings of fact. Matt does not have that authority; only you as a council does. I heard nobody make a motion, nobody second it, nobody voted. So how did that happen? There's simple rules around here that you have to follow, you're supposed to follow. Apparently you don't have to here, but it'd be nice if you did. And then you wonder why we don't get along. I wouldn't know why. Thanks, babe. [9:09] **Laura Kronenberger**: Um, moving on to public hearings. So we have a public hearing tonight for Resolution 2774 certifying unpaid utility charges to be collected with taxes. So I will open the public hearing. Does anybody want to speak to the public hearing? Second call. Third. So that closes the public hearing. So then do we—we have to approve it, right? So can I get a motion to approve Resolution 2774 certifying unpaid utility charges to be collected with taxes? [9:55] **Diane Johnson**: I, Johnson, move to approve Resolution 2774. [10:04] **Laura Kronenberger**: Motion by Diane. Can I get a second? [10:07] **Ryan Jeppesen**: I'll second it. [10:09] **Laura Kronenberger**: Second by Jeppesen. All those in favor? [10:12] **Council Members**: Aye. [10:13] **Laura Kronenberger**: Motion carries. All right, consent agenda. The consent agenda items may be adopted under one motion as presented or may be removed for discussion and resolution as Council business. A: Just and correct claims accounting period ending in August 1st, 2024. B: Meeting minutes for July 23rd, 2024, City work session. C: Meeting minutes for July 23rd, 2024, City Council meeting. D: Approve 3.2% liquor license for Quick Stop. E: Approve 2024-2025 John Burch Park user agreement. F: Approve submission of the Taylor rural improvement grant application. And G: Approve pay request number one and final for 2024 street overlay project. Is there anything the Council wants to bring down? Okay, with that I would take a motion to approve the consent agenda. [11:34] **Lisa Zimmerman**: So moved. [11:36] **Laura Kronenberger**: Motion by Lisa. Do I get a second? [11:42] **Council Member Lindell**: Second. [11:43] **Laura Kronenberger**: Second by Lindell. All those in favor? [11:46] **Council Members**: Aye. [11:47] **Laura Kronenberger**: Those opposed? Motion carries. All right, moving on to Council business. Item A: City Administrator position announcement. I think that'd be me—that's you, Mike. [12:12] **Mike Humle**: So, um, good evening Council, Mayor (if you are here), and members of the staff. Um, my name is Mike Humle. I work for the South Central Service Cooperative. Um, I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. I have a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration, a Master's degree in Public Administration. I'm going to date myself—I started my time in local government in 1987 um when I worked for an agency a lot like the Met Council in Omaha, Nebraska. Um, I was the first um community and economic development director for the City of Fairmont, Minnesota. I started in '95 as their community development director, community development director/assistant City Administrator. In 2012, I was appointed the City Administrator / Community and Economic Development Director where I was the Chief Operating Officer in charge of all city operations. In 2020, I went to work for the South Central Service Co-op as Manager of Local Government Services. We offer a variety of different value-added services to local governments and cities and counties. So, um, with that I just want to say um thank you for having me tonight and thank you for um allowing our agency to help you with your City Administrator search. Um, recent searches in your area or in the general area are Blooming Prairie, Claremont, Oronoko, St. Charles, and Byron. We helped all of those communities. Um, my philosophy is pretty simple in that when you hire a consultant, that means the consultant is supposed to do the work. I understand that all of you are part-time here as Council people; you have most of you have jobs and families that are a priority, and your city staff is busy operating the city. So what I would ask is that you trust me to bring you five applicants that all have the skill sets and the knowledge to do the job. Your job and the city staff's job will be then to figure out through the interview process who best fits our community and fits our organization's culture. Um, so with that, we start looking at, okay, how, you know, how are we going to attract people to the community and to the position? So I would—everybody should have a Cannon Falls position profile and announcement. The position announcement basically provides anybody that's—we advertise this nationally throughout the state, Iowa, but ICMA is the International City Manager Association, so it's put out across the country. But we really focus on Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota just because they're their neighboring states and um after a while, people just aren't going to move that far away. The announcement talks about the general responsibilities, the wages, and the minimum qualifications. Um, again, this goes out, we do several different types of um social media what we call "blasts" every 7 to 10 days where we'll use a part of the position profile to talk about your community and um the opportunity it has here as a City Administrator. Um, we use this position profile to attract not only um applicants to your community but to kind of sell your community to the applicant. So you know, we have the third page is titled "The Position," but what's important is the desired attributes and goals. This is a collection of what all of you said as a Council what you want to see for um the personal characteristics of the next person that takes this job, the technical skills, and then some priorities that gives applicants some expectations of what the Council wants to see, what they're looking for in an individual, and so on. The rest of the position profile goes on to tell about the city, everything from how many employees you have, the size of your budget, the organizational chart, and then it goes into you know some community attributes and some things you have in your community that are desirable to um other folks that are looking at extending their career in the City Administrator field. What I think is probably best to do so you can understand our process is you should also have a kind of a timeline, and what this does is it kind of walks you through our process to take you from tonight to the interview. So let me just—because I'm getting old, I need some glasses. So where we're at right now is August 6th. Um, it says on August 5th here but um it's August 6th. So in the next few days, we'll advertise the position for 30 days. And again, we're going to advertise that in the state with the League of Minnesota Cities, Coalition, or the Association of Minnesota Counties—a number of different professional organizations that City Administrator-type folks go to to look for available positions. We'll leave that out there for 30 days. Within those 30 days, I'll every 7 to 10 days I will provide an update to the Council on how many applicants we've received. It'll talk in very general terms about how much experience they have, where—what their education level is, what they're doing now, but it won't mention names, cities, or counties, or where they're at. It might say this person might be from Iowa or Wisconsin or Minnesota, but we'll leave it at that, not too specific because what we want to do is keep it as confidential as possible. So once I present names to you, it becomes public knowledge, and people that often have a job don't want others that they're working for to know they're looking for a job. So we want to keep it confidential. So every 7 to 10 days, you'll receive an update from me through the City Administrator explaining that. On or about the—depending on when we advertise it—between the 9th and the 11th, the position will close. And throughout the time as the applications come in, I have a ranking system that I use to just rank them on there. Um, we take the job description that's in the um position profile and we select 10 of the most important things and we rank those and then um start creating a short list. Then we start doing—once we do that throughout the 30 days—and then September 9th through the 13th, we'll kind of do our final application review and then we'll short list that down to six or seven people where I'll actually call those individuals and do a Zoom interview myself. And I have another colleague that's an HR specialist; we have a document instrument that we use, it's called a PXT assessment. That assessment provides us what the compatibility of that person is with the position, what their leadership style is, and we compile that data. She actually does a Zoom meeting with them as well, but she's looking for more leadership skills, not some of the general things that I'm looking for. And we kind of mesh all of that, and we come up with five candidates that we would present. We ask that you interview for the—the fifth one is an alternate in case someone drops out. And it happens often throughout the process because it is a longer process, but I think the process length and the time we take provides a good set of candidates and a time um to allow those that want to apply to apply and to do a good job with presenting their credentials. So once we have the four or five people picked, around October 3rd or 4th, I'll call and set up interviews. And I believe that the city's picked—I have on your sheet the week of October 14th or 24th, I think we've picked the week of October 14th, actually October 14th and 15th. So I think it's important to be as inclusive as we can. So on day one, we ask all the candidates to come in at 2:00, and we ask that the city provide as many city staff as practical because we still have to run the city. But I think it's important to get the staff at least introduced to the folks and have some time to talk to the candidates. So what we'll do is we'll set up four tables, maybe in the same room, maybe different rooms, and we'll set a number of city employees—same number of city employees at each table—and we'll kind of speed date the applicants or candidates through those tables, giving them 20 to 30 minutes each candidate at each table. They'll leave for a tour of the community. I'll allow the staff to talk amongst themselves and to kind of summarize what they learned and what they thought. I'll come in and ask them for that, and usually there's a leader that emerges or a scribe, and they tell me what everyone thought. We'll talk about it and discuss it, and I'll hold that information with me until after the Council um does its interviews on the next day. After we're done with that, between 5:30 and 6:30 that night, we'll have a community meet and greet in this room or whatever room the city chooses. It'll be open to the general public. We would want to ask Planning Commission members, EDA members, members of your Housing Authority, maybe the school superintendent—anybody that the City Administrator has daily contact with—to come in. And what it does is it gives everybody in the community and the public's invited, everybody in the community an opportunity to meet the candidates. And I think it does a couple things for both the candidates and the City Council in that you get to meet one another, and so the next day it's not as—everybody's a little nervous and it just kind of gets everybody calmed down and meet one another. The other thing it does for all of you is a good look at the candidates when they interact with the general public and other people, staff, and people they'll be working with. Did they stand toward the back and let people approach them? Did they walk up? So we all can make some of our own assumptions and learn a little bit about the candidates. It's not an open forum where they're going to give presentations or anything, but just a time to meet and greet. The next day, um, starting at 9:30, um we'll get together; there'll be two interviews in the morning, break for lunch, and two interviews in the afternoon. And then we'll um go into closed session to discuss labor negotiations and and to deliberate over um who you want as your next City Administrator. And at that time, I hope that we'll come up with a consensus as a Council and you direct myself to um present a bullet point offer of a job for the people. I'll work with the City Attorney then to put those bullet points into an employment agreement, and hopefully we'll have someone to take over in November or early—late November, early December is the timeline. Any questions for me on the position profile, the position announcement, or the timeline? [24:55] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Looks good. It looks really good. [25:01] **Mike Humle**: You know, we try to do as much work as we can. And I should back up, but 7 to 10 days before the interviews, you'll all get three-ring binders with all the information on these folks that you want. Um, there'll be a summary that I write on what the um references said. It'll be general—won't give who said it, but you know, it was professional references, co-workers, or past supervisors, that sort of thing. So you get that 7 to 10 days out so you can um look at that. We also provide um a set of questions; you can add any questions you want. But um one thing we do ask is that if we ask a question of one person, that we ask it of all of them unless it's something specific about maybe their tenure at another position, but general questions we should ask. Um, the other thing I'd want you to think about is do you want one or two people to ask the questions, or do you just want to go from one Council member to the other and you all get an opportunity to ask questions? Um, we usually give about 45 minutes um for each individual candidate to interview. Some are chatty and it goes an hour and 15 minutes; some get right to the point and it's a half hour. It doesn't always—I mean, time doesn't make that much difference, but it's the content and the questions and how they answer them. And again, I think what you're really what you need to be looking for is who do you think is going to be the best fit? Who can you see working with your staff at City Hall? Who do you think is going to be best working for you as a Council and your organization? So yeah, we're going to get started. Um, there are a few other searches in the state going on right now, but I think with with the way your pay plan is, I think that um you're well within—well, it's a good pay level for the position. I would anticipate that most of your applicants will have Master's degrees and four or more years of experience um from different walks of life. Um, you know, the last two searches I've done, we've had people from outside the state of Minnesota—South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas. So I think that um, you know, and there's not as many people wanting to go into local government as there used to be. So we used to have 16, 17 applicants; now we might only have 10 or 11. But I mean, Cannon Falls is a—is a great community. You got the small-town feel, but in just a few minutes you can be in the metro area. I think that'll be um a real positive in terms of attracting people to your—and you could venture to guess the people applying will have—this will be their second or third position. Maybe a couple that are really overachievers might—this might be their first—their second position coming from a position where it might be 1,200, 1,300, 1,500 population community. But yeah, I think that um we'll get this going by the end of the week. And um we'll try to send you a couple of our Facebook or LinkedIn announcements, and what we try to do is get as many people to "like" those announcements and then pass them on so they go to all of your contacts. And I'll write um different things to get more interest, you know, "Hey, check out this opportunity." The other thing I do is on Fridays we're allowed as members of the Minnesota City/County Managers Association to say, "Hey, shout out to all our colleagues through our listserv," to say this job's coming available, show it to your colleagues, or if you're interested give me a call. And in fact, I've had a couple people call me and are waiting for the announcement to come out. So I know we have a few people already. Okay, again, questions for me? Neil has my—oh, go ahead, I'm sorry. [29:32] **Diane Johnson**: Um, so looking at the timeline, you're doing all the work between now and early October, correct? [29:41] **Mike Humle**: Correct. [29:43] **Diane Johnson**: So we just don't have to worry too much. [29:44] **Mike Humle**: You don't have to worry too much. Just think about all the great qualities Neil has and try to see if the picture—what what you want for your next City Administrator. But really, I as I said, I, you know, trust us, this is what you hire us to do. Um, you know, and we'll get the job done for you and hope that we didn't end up hiring somebody. [30:18] **Ryan Jeppesen**: So that was it. Um, you mentioned that there's been a a couple going on right now maybe as far as City Administrators, some the towns are comparable to our size? [30:31] **Mike Humle**: Um, you know, I'm thinking of North Branch is looking, Little Falls is looking, um Kenyon will be announcing, Breckenridge, Bagley. So there—there's some bigger, some smaller. So you're kind of right in the middle of the population size. And your population size is pretty popular to that person that's got a Master's degree and you know maybe looking at their second or third job. [31:13] **Ryan Jeppesen**: So your response when you reached out to those for hiring in those market or cities—has it been a good response? Multiple? [31:22] **Mike Humle**: Well, I'm just saying we're not doing all of those searches; other organizations are. But you know, from what I'm hearing, you know, there's I think we'll have a good response, really do. Yeah, I don't think—I think you know a couple of them are larger communities in the North Metro, Little Falls. Where you're at this close to the Metro, I think, and this size and your pay scale—it allows for some younger folks that are really high quality and some folks like I say that have been around and seasoned. So your pay plan covers the gamut; I think it'll be very marketable. [32:00] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Thank you. So just to reiterate, um because many of us—I think all of us—have a primary job: October 15th is a day that... can you go over the timeline again that we're expected to participate on the 15th? So people are very clear about that. [32:16] **Mike Humle**: October 15th. I, you know, that—what I came up with, and we can work on this a little bit. Um, the first interview would start at 9:30, or we could get together at 9:30 and do them at 10:00 and 11:00 just to to kind of walk you through how the interview goes. So I would say from 9:30 to 3:30 on the 15th. [32:41] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Okay. [32:42] **Mike Humle**: And you know that—I want to make sure people were clear. Depending on how quickly we deliberate or you deliberate, it could be. But yeah, so it's—it is the entire day. But again, this is probably one of the most important decisions you'll make other than deciding to run for Council. Um, so we need to take the time to to vet the candidates and to get input. And previously I think it's been a committee that interviewed, but we're going to have the whole Council, is that correct? Is that what you...? [33:43] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Yes. [33:44] **Mike Humle**: Yeah, I really believe that the full Council as a whole works the best. You all get to see and hear the interviews and form your own opinions. And I mean, everybody trusts one another in a committee setting, but I think this is one of those times where you need to be the committee as a whole. [34:00] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Okay, thank you. [34:02] **Mike Humle**: Thank you, and and again I appreciate the opportunity to work with all of you. We'll look forward to working with you over the next couple months. It'll go by real quick. Thank you. It's going to be 70 and sunny. And when we interview, it'll be 70 and sunny. [34:20] **Laura Kronenberger**: Well, let's hope. Maybe 69, right? Thank you, have a... thank you. Okay, so that brings us to Council business B. Um, Resolution 2775 and 2776. Um, Shelley, do you want to explain these? [34:42] **Shelley Ryan**: Yes, thank you Council Member Kronenberger. What you have before you are two resolutions. They are related to and pertain to Dollar General's applications as we've been discussing and procedurally uh working with over the past several meetings. Uh, what we have tonight is essentially the culmination of the process and is based on last meeting's votes. As you recall, the vote at the end of the reconsideration did not tally the necessary number of votes in order to override the Mayor's objections. Therefore, the resolutions approving uh did not pass and essentially are denied. So that's part one. So there's two ways to finalize this process for the Dollar General applications. And what we want to do here—what I highly recommend here—is that the Council act uh both faithful to the City Charter and the process for the Mayor's objections within the Charter, as well as state statutes that pertain to the timeliness um and the requirements for making findings supporting final decisions made by City Council. So we're working under a different um set of circumstances, and I—I acknowledge that, I understand that this has been a long and somewhat confusing process. But where we take it from today, again, is finalizing out the process that did occur and memorializing the decision in findings in the event that there is a challenge uh made under state statute to the ultimate decision denying. So, um, from my perspective, the Charter process is complete. It went through the objection process and we had the final vote at the last meeting. As I said, that resulted in the rejection essentially of the resolutions to approve, therefore the equivalent of a denial. Then we switch our focus to what's required under Minnesota Statute Section 15.99. That is the section that requires all governmental agencies, governmental bodies from the state on down, to issue timely decisions, and that's that 60-day rule that has a 60-day extension piece to it as well. But that's the timeliness of a decision. Uh, and that section is—is the requirement that the decision by the Council be supported by findings. There's two ways that can happen, and there's risks—one is riskier than the other candidly. Um, under 15.99 subdivision 2B, uh when you have the denial, um the—if the comments/discussion during the meeting (that would be this previous meeting) sufficiently state the rationale for the decision, then that is a final decision and we don't need to have that written resolution with findings. The more conservative route is under subdivision 2C, which says that at the very next meeting, the Council shall adopt the written findings consistent with what was said during the previous meeting. So taking that path to avoid unnecessary risks to the city and challenges to your decision-making process, I've drafted two resolutions. And it's two in this case, not the three, because you have two variances that are very much... um, I should back up. What I did is I watched the video to make sure that the rationale that's in the written findings is what was discussed in the Council and reflects the Mayor's objections and why he objected to the previous uh resolutions with the approval. And so um there are two resolutions because the variance was essentially talked—they're so intertwined and a variance has the separate, different standard review, and then there was the CUP which is a—a different application. We talked about that—or you talked about that as a—a different piece of the puzzle if you allow the CUP and not allowing the variances. So it—it boiled down to two resolutions, and they are—they reflect the discussion that occurred. So what I would um—and I know it—it's counter—it's going to be counter-intuitive to those Council members that were not in favor of this... um, that were in favor of the use and were not in favor of the objections, to now vote for a resolution that's a denial. What I can say to that is that the perspective is not that you agree with the denial itself, but the denial did happen and that happened according to the Charter process. And so the written findings simply reflect the Mayor's objections and the discussion that occurred through that process. Um, simply the resolutions simply incorporate the Mayor's objections because that's where we—we were in this process. Um, and like I said, I think that is in my view um perhaps different than you're not voting for a resolution because you you know agree with the ultimate result here, but again under State Statute Section 15.99, there must be a conclusion. And this is the most... adopting the resolutions reflecting the outcome uh from last meeting's vote is the most conservative and kind of best-practice way to avoid um controversy or challenges to your process that would also... Dollar General is free to challenge, or residents having standing under state statute are still free to challenge the decision. There would just be written findings that would be part of that challenge. The alternative here is that the decision is still not approved, the—the Dollar General applications are not approved um under Minnesota Statute Section 15.99. The alternative way to do this is that the Mayor's objections and discussion on the record that already exists can be deemed sufficient if you choose not to adopt the resolutions tonight, and then notice will be provided. In either case, notice will be provided to the applicant that the applications have been denied. That's a lot. Does anybody have questions? [42:25] **Chad Johnson**: Of course. Did you want...? No. Oh. On page two of the CUP thing, point five, it says "Property is currently zoned RB. The land surrounding the property is zoned RB." That's not entirely correct. On the east side, it's uh industrial I2. [42:47] **Shelley Ryan**: Okay. Um, Zach, are you...? [42:52] **Zach (Staff)**: Hey, there is one uh property that um across the street is zoned I2. Um, but I guess everything else is RB. So but yeah, there is one property across the street that's I2. [43:08] **Chad Johnson**: So the question is, the use of the word "surrounding"—is that it's incorrect? I mean, you're the lawyer. [43:16] **Shelley Ryan**: I don't feel it's incorrect. I think surrounding is—is what's in the area, and in the area is a zone that's I2 and it's the one that's right across the street from it. [43:26] **Chad Johnson**: It's as close as the rest of the... um, what business is it? [43:31] **Ryan Jeppesen**: Pardon me? [43:32] **Chad Johnson**: What business is it? [43:33] **Ryan Jeppesen**: Uh, it is General... it's um Empire Building, Gillen Feed and Grain. [43:40] **Chad Johnson**: Oh, like behind it. [43:42] **Ryan Jeppesen**: It's right right to the east of that property. [43:44] **Chad Johnson**: Okay, right behind. [43:46] **Ryan Jeppesen**: Right behind the building that sits outside their property line. So um, and I understand the whole thing about, you know, this is kind of the... Under Minnesota Statute, I—first question I have is, is there a Minnesota Statute that says when we grant a variance to somebody we have to do this finding of fact? When it's an approval, not a denial? As most of the time we don't... [44:11] **Shelley Ryan**: There should always be findings of fact. [44:13] **Chad Johnson**: So you always you have to vote twice on everything? [44:16] **Shelley Ryan**: Not necessarily, Council Member Johnson. It depends on the facts and circumstances of each application. And if it's a—some guidance is that if it's a complicated application and there's no way for staff to know what the Council is going to discuss or decide, there's no way to prepare a set of findings in advance of the Council meeting. So that needs to be brought back after the fact. So the findings, which are required under state law Section 15.99 to be consistent with the conversation at the Council meeting—so that's why we do it in a two-step process to ensure the record accurately reflects the discussion that was had at the meeting. [44:59] **Chad Johnson**: Was that done for all the variances for the Cannonball Department? [45:03] **Shelley Ryan**: I'm not—I'm not familiar with that. [45:05] **Chad Johnson**: I don't know. I did not find that in the Council minutes. [45:10] **Ryan Jeppesen**: So if this resolution—these two resolutions are brought forth, um to vote in favor is to solidify the denial. Um, that just takes a simple majority vote? [46:04] **Shelley Ryan**: Yes. [46:05] **Ryan Jeppesen**: But we are not legally as individual Council members obligated to vote for this? [46:12] **Shelley Ryan**: No. [46:15] **Laura Kronenberger**: Anybody else have any questions? Diane, do you want to know why I...? [46:18] **Diane Johnson**: I voted no against them. [46:21] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Doesn't matter now, it's done. [46:23] **Diane Johnson**: Okay, but thank you for offering. It's okay. I mean, you're free to share whatever you'd like. Okay, well, so Dollar General, it seems to be a common practice with them to move into low-income neighborhoods and they plunk down like—generally usually there are small businesses like little little grocery bodegas in the area. So General Dollar moves in—or Dollar General, sorry, moves in—and the cost of dry goods is how they make their money like in grocery stores a lot of times. So Dollar General offers a better price at the grocery store for these dry goods. The people go there, the small grocery stores go out of business; there goes your fresh food for these low-income neighborhoods. They've also—so they're putting small businesses out of business, which I have a problem with on a personal level. Um, they've gotten literally millions of dollars in OSHA fines for unsafe work practices. They are—it's unsafe for customers and for employees. Um, weirdly enough, there's a lot of armed robberies that happen at Dollar General. Take that for what it is. A lot of people working alone; they're easy targets. Um, unfair treatment of employees in regard to their wages. Also, predatory pricing. The price at the shelf is going to be different than the price at the cash register. The price at the cash register, it's a common practice that it's higher. And that was my whole problem with Dollar General. So I did a lot of looking, y'all can do your own research too. That's my problem with Dollar General. [48:14] **Ryan Jeppesen**: But that sounds like you're saying that you used the variances as excuses to not let a business that you don't like come in. [48:21] **Diane Johnson**: But they don't fit in the lot either. [48:23] **Ryan Jeppesen**: But you just—that's not what you just said though. [48:25] **Diane Johnson**: That's my problem with them. They still don't fit in the lot. [48:28] **Ryan Jeppesen**: Right, but you're—you're verbalizing that you used variances as an excuse. [48:32] **Diane Johnson**: It wasn't my excuse; it was my reason. That's the reason I don't like Dollar General. I would never spend my money there, and I don't think I wouldn't like my community to support that. But they don't fit in the lot and I don't think it's a good spot for them. [49:09] **Laura Kronenberger**: Does anybody else have any questions? Okay, so I need a motion. Do them separately? [49:15] **Shelley Ryan**: Yes, please. [49:16] **Laura Kronenberger**: And then we can—I'm guessing do roll call. Um, okay, so can I get a motion to adopt Resolution 2775 denying conditional use permit for Dollar General? [49:33] **Lisa Zimmerman**: So moved. [49:34] **Council Member Lindell**: Second. [49:35] **Laura Kronenberger**: A motion by Lisa and a second by Lindell. And then do you want to do roll call? [49:40] **Sara Peer**: Sure. Gasmi? **Council Member Gasmi**: Abstain. **Sara Peer**: Grot? **Council Member Grot**: Aye. **Sara Peer**: Jeppesen? **Ryan Jeppesen**: Nay. **Sara Peer**: Johnson? **Diane Johnson**: Nay. **Sara Peer**: Kronenberger? **Laura Kronenberger**: Nay. **Sara Peer**: Lindell? **Council Member Lindell**: Aye. [50:06] **Laura Kronenberger**: So Resolution 2775 is not approved. That brings us to B2, Resolution 2776 denying variances for Dollar General. Can I get a motion to approve resolution 2776? [50:23] **Council Member Lindell**: So moved. [50:25] **Lisa Zimmerman**: I'll second. [50:26] **Laura Kronenberger**: A motion by Lindell, a second by Lisa. And can we get a roll call on this one as well please? [50:31] **Sara Peer**: Gasmi? **Council Member Gasmi**: Abstain. **Sara Peer**: Grot? **Council Member Grot**: Aye. **Sara Peer**: Jeppesen? **Ryan Jeppesen**: Nay. **Sara Peer**: Johnson? **Diane Johnson**: Nay. **Sara Peer**: Kronenberger? **Laura Kronenberger**: Nay. **Sara Peer**: Lindell? **Council Member Lindell**: Aye. [50:49] **Laura Kronenberger**: Fail. So does anything else on that have to happen tonight? [50:56] **Shelley Ryan**: Actually, yes, Council Member Kronenberger. Um, again, to complete the process under Section 15.99, um you should—and it is very highly recommended by me as legal counsel for the city—direct that a written uh copy of the denial with the findings articulated by the Mayor and his objections be mailed to the applicant for both the variances and the CUP. [51:24] **Laura Kronenberger**: Okay, so I have to ask you to do that or to direct us? [51:27] **Shelley Ryan**: You need to direct staff and I to do that, yes. The Council does. [51:31] **Lisa Zimmerman**: So just to reiterate, because there were two ways to do the formal—because the denial already happened, right? [51:38] **Shelley Ryan**: Correct. [51:39] **Lisa Zimmerman**: So this was whether the the resolutions are the notification, or if it's the original denial that's going to go to the...? So basically the Mayor's objection versus the approval of the denials, right? [51:51] **Shelley Ryan**: The Mayor's objections. And as stated, it's essentially going to be what was in the resolution because it's taken directly from the meeting. So the notice that will go to the applicant is denial of all three permit applications based on the Mayor's objections and discussions at the prior meeting. It won't be in written finding format, but it is still the same end result. [52:16] **Laura Kronenberger**: Okay, how do I say this again? [52:18] **Shelley Ryan**: Um, you can either call for a motion uh directing staff to send written notice to Dollar General that all three of their applications for the two variances and the CUP have been denied based on the rationale discussed at the July 23rd—sorry, July 2nd city council meeting. That was still very long, yeah. Sorry, that's all right. Um... [52:43] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Was it the second? I thought it was the... [52:45] **Laura Kronenberger**: It was after July 2nd was when the um when it was challenged. [52:50] **Sara Peer**: It was. But then the 23rd—the 23rd was when it was challenged. [52:54] **Shelley Ryan**: Oh, I'm sorry, you're right. July 2nd was when it was approved through the consent agenda, got it. The 23rd is when it was challenged. I think you can just request a motion approving um or directing staff to send written notice to Dollar General of the application denial. [53:14] **Laura Kronenberger**: And then does that have to get voted on? [53:16] **Shelley Ryan**: It should be, yes. It's a motion. So—and if that doesn't pass, as the city's legal counsel, I am strongly recommending that the city make that motion. The consequences of not not making that motion will be that the Dollar General applications, unless acted upon prior to the expiration of the 15.99 timeframe—which is... Zach, I believe I have it written down but I think it's August 16th. The consequence would follow that those applications would be automatically approved with no oversight, no conditions, and no authority for the city to monitor those uses in the future. [54:02] **Chad Johnson**: One question. Yeah. Um, so we're going now with Statute 15.99, subsection 2B? And it says, I think that's right... "provided that those voting against the motion state on the record the reasons why they oppose the request." Yes. So that's what our motion will ask for is for you to draft a legal document or a letter with the Council vote and the three votes against it or whatever—those voting against what their objections were? [54:33] **Shelley Ryan**: Likely not, Council Member Johnson. The notice that will go out will be just a very basic uh notification that the applications have been denied based on the objections and discussion at the Council meeting. [54:55] **Diane Johnson**: Okay, well I will move that the City Attorney write said letter to summarize the Council meeting where the Mayor's objection was upheld. [55:09] **Ryan Jeppesen**: I'll second it. [55:10] **Laura Kronenberger**: Second. A motion by Diane, the second by Jeppesen. All in favor? [55:14] **Council Members**: Aye. [55:15] **Laura Kronenberger**: Opposed? [55:16] **Council Member Gasmi**: Abstain. [55:20] **Laura Kronenberger**: Okay, so that brings us to reports. Oh, um okay. Maggie is not here. Did anybody have a—anything from her by chance? Sometimes she does. All right. Um, in Joint Powers Trail Board we actually didn't attend so I don't have—we don't have anything with for that one. Um, EDA, um I have a couple things. One of them is I had a meeting with um Patrick Mitchener from SEMCAC today, and just a reminder that um we still have funds in our Small Cities Development Program for any owner-occupied housing. So that again is for um people that fall within a household income of $68,400 or less—that's for a two-person household income—and you can um if you qualify, um it's $25,000 for improvements for your home. Um, it can be for health improvements, it could be for energy improvements um and it's a—it can be a forgivable loan if you're still in that home after 10 years. If you still own and are living in the home after 10 years um so it's a great way to get some upgrades to your home. Um, so if you're interested in that, uh there—like I said, they're still looking for a nine—we have funds available yet for nine more homes. We have the funds until September of 2025. So if we can at least get those applications, get them vetted, um get them in the queue, even if the project isn't completed we can hopefully ask for an extension so that we can—because of construction, you know, people um laborers, whatever—at least we can at least get those projects lined up. And if we have that as an excuse that we just don't have the workers um but we have the people, uh we can hopefully get that extension. But we—otherwise those funds will go back to the state or HUD. So we would rather get that money um put back into some homes um and get those owners to get some equity back on their homes instead. So they can call City Hall and just ask for me and I can get you connected with Patrick to get that initial application set. Um, but that's a great opportunity, like I said, we've already had um six projects um for homeowners in the community so far. So and that was um $181,000 has already been put back into projects that have been completed so far. So that's really great. Um, and then the other thing is that at our EDA meeting last week we've scheduled a public hearing for our next um meeting in September for our four more lots to be closed in Hardwood Estates. And then we did—did take a tour up on um formerly Sandston, so up on Timber Ridge. They got the curb, gutter, they've got their pavement down—or their um blacktop down for the roads up there, and they've got a house up already. So um it's exciting to see some new housing coming in town. So that's all. [58:33] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Laura, can you clarify again if so—if uh someone—so a medium or income of 63,000 if...? [58:45] **Laura Qualey**: No, if their—their gross income for a two-person household y... um, is $68,300. [58:53] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Okay, and what about a single person? [58:54] **Laura Qualey**: Um, uh I would have to check to see what that—let's see. Um, I'd have to check to see what that—Patrick just gave me what the two-person um household was, but I can get that information for you. [59:09] **Lisa Zimmerman**: And so just to reiterate, if somebody is interested in that they should call you and you'll help them with the application? [59:15] **Laura Qualey**: Okay, or if they can just want to call City Hall um they can get transferred to me instead of me giving all that information out here. Um, but yep, we'll get them in that um the initial first kind of qualifying application and then they'll get the full um give us all your information kind of... [59:35] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Okay. [59:36] **Laura Qualey**: But yeah, that'd be great. [59:38] **Laura Kronenberger**: Okay. Um, okay moved off of my... okay. Public Works August 1st meeting. You were there, I know. [59:52] **Ryan Jeppesen**: I'm like, I don't even remember. All we had was the uh John Birch Park agreement and then that Taylor uh rural improvement grant. That was it. [1:00:05] **Laura Kronenberger**: Yeah. Thanks. All right. Um, Chief McCormick, do you got anything for us today? [1:00:13] **Jeff McCormick**: Uh, this evening Lieutenant Joel and our officers are out along with Cannon Falls Ambulance and Cannon Falls Fire Department uh visiting eight parties for National Night Out. So when we wrap up here, I'll check and see if they are still going and join them. If not, I missed all the fun and had to do this fun instead. So thank you. [1:00:36] **Laura Kronenberger**: Shelly, anything further? [1:00:39] **Shelley Ryan**: No, no thank you. [1:00:40] **Laura Kronenberger**: Sarah? [1:00:41] **Sara Peer**: Yes, ma'am. Uh, just a reminder that the filing period for City Council vacancies is still open until August 13th at 5:00 p.m. Not 5:01. Not 5:01. 5 p.m. sharp. Okay, and then there—just reminder there is the primary on August 13th as well. We are open from 7:00 a.m. till 8:00 p.m. so come and vote. [1:01:05] **Laura Kronenberger**: Okay, thank you. Mr. Jensen? You're good? Laura, anything else? [1:01:14] **Laura Qualey**: I did find the number for a one-person household. Um, it's $59,750. [1:01:21] **Laura Kronenberger**: Cool. Thank you. Jed? [1:01:23] **Jed Petersen**: Um, Blake Burrow is uh finally here and uh... they in two days have already tore the wall down at the first base dugout and removed trees and cement and everything. It's—they're making remarkable progress. Um, it's exciting. We're—um, Laura already touched on Hardwood Estates. They got asphalt—the first lift of asphalt down and uh... curb and gutter. Or sorry, yeah sorry, Timber Ridge. Don't get—yeah. Um, the—I don't have a date for when they're doing asphalt at Hardwood Estates just yet. Um, the last thing is tomorrow night at midnight, HBC is going to be moving their fiber line on the Third Street, and internet every—all the internet south of the river is going to go dark from midnight to... they're saying about 5:00 a.m. So just a a PSA to everyone out there that if you have HBC internet, because they're moving that fiber line, they have to cut it and reconnect it. Um, everything south of the river, you know, the third—third street river bridge there, is going to go dark. And that's the hospital, everything. So and that's it. [1:02:47] **Laura Kronenberger**: Thank you. So it's not affecting those of us who are north of the river? [1:02:52] **Jed Petersen**: Correct. [1:02:53] **Laura Kronenberger**: Okay, that's the one river crossing for HBC internet. Selfish. [1:02:58] **Ryan Jeppesen**: You're all welcome to come by my house. Yeah, I have Frontier, I'll be fine. [1:03:03] **Laura Kronenberger**: And I'll be sleeping. All right. Um, Derek, do you have anything? [1:03:08] **Derek (Staff)**: I'm good. [1:03:10] **Chad Johnson**: Um, Maggie wasn't here, but uh thanks her in the Chamber for the FunFest Friday evening. It was hot, it was humid, but it was still fun. And the the fiddlers were great. And um and Rotary had a uh bicycle thing—I can't uh tricycle-type thing—where you can take uh seniors or people who can't walk uh on a bicycle ride, and we're sponsoring one for here. And um that was neat to see that there. Cool. [1:03:45] **Laura Kronenberger**: Mr. Gasmi? [1:03:47] **Council Member Gasmi**: Jon, uh we have moved the Planning Commission to August 19th. Did you... were still going to keep the Finance Committee on the 12th? [1:03:59] **Jon Radermacher**: Okay. So that's... [1:04:02] **Council Member Gasmi**: Okay, that's all I had. Um... oh, okay. Because on the—on the agenda it says the Finance Committee is on the 12th. Okay, so—so the Finance Committee and the Planning Commission will be on the 19th? 19th. Sorry, of October. [1:04:32] **Laura Kronenberger**: Ryan, anything? [1:04:33] **Ryan Jeppesen**: No. [1:04:34] **Laura Kronenberger**: Oh, Lisa? [1:04:36] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Um, Chief, in my neighborhood we have kind of a ridiculous amount of dogs at large. Okay, um coming into everybody's yards and going to the bathroom and going after other people's dogs. So any advice? My neighbor actually approached me on it and asked me to bring it up. [1:04:52] **Jeff McCormick**: Yeah, if they would call uh especially when the dogs are actually at large, um it makes it a lot easier for the officers to to locate them. Okay. Um, believe it or not, sometimes people don't believe us when we find their dog back at their house that their dog was actually away. Yeah. Um, so when we can return their dog to them, um it it works a lot smoother for—for our officers and letting them know that their dog was loose and the problems that it was causing. [1:05:24] **Lisa Zimmerman**: Okay, thank you. And also, if I said I denied it because I... if I denied Dollar... I misspoke if I said that to Diane that I denied Dollar General for that. That's why I dislike them. I denied them because they don't fit in the lot. I just wanted to clarify that. So my apologies for misspeaking if I did. I honestly don't remember which way I said it, but I was thinking I just dislike them. [1:05:54] **Laura Kronenberger**: Okay, I don't have anything further. Um, so with that I'll take a motion to adjourn. [1:06:01] **Diane Johnson**: So moved. [1:06:02] **Ryan Jeppesen**: Second. [1:06:03] **Laura Kronenberger**: A motion by Diane, second by Jeppesen. All in favor? Motion passes.