This transcript from the April 21, 2020, Cannon Falls City Council meeting features the Mayor, City Administrator, and the Council members serving at that time. Note: While your provided list contains the current council, the 2020 council members identified in the roll call and dialogue are **Bill Ringgold, Mary Jill Duncan, Horace Gesme, Derek Lyndell, Steve Matson, and Derek Althoff.** [0:48] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Welcome everybody into the April 21st City Council meeting for the city of Cannon Falls. Hope everybody's safe out there. A little different down here tonight; we had a couple council people here and we have the meeting here. [1:32] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: [Led by Mayor] The Pledge of Allegiance, okay. [2:00] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? **Council Member Bill Ringgold**: So moved. **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: Second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Motion by Bill and a second by Derek to approve the agenda. Any discussion? All in favor, aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, that brings us to the consent agenda. Consent agenda items may be adopted under one motion as presented or may be removed for discussion as read and resolution as council business. For you at home and in the audience, I'll go through the consent agenda. Item A: Just and correct claims for the accounting period ending April 16th, 2020. [2:49] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Item B: Minutes for the March 17th, 2020 City Council work session. Item C: Minutes for the April 7th, 2020 City Council meeting. And Item D: Resolution 2477 accepting a grant for $30,000 from the Minnesota Department of Health for the purchase of supplies and reimbursement of wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the ambulance department. Is there anything you'd like to pull down? Being a grant enforcer, that was you... [3:36] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Again, there's an echo that pulls that back. Oh yeah, there's a delay. Anybody? While hearing none, I'll take a motion to approve the consent agenda. **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: So moved. **Council Member Horace Gesme**: Second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Motion by Mary Jill and a second by Horace to approve the consent agenda. Any discussion? All in favor, aye. Opposed? Carried. I'd like to thank Tim... [4:24] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: ...for applying for that. That's a $30,000 grant. Yeah, he got right on that. That's a nice, nice grant that he got there. A nice thank you, Tim. Thanks, Tim. Okay, we'll get into council business. Item A is a 2020 on-sale liquor license pro-rated refund. Jon, you want to give us an update on that one? **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Yeah, City Council Member Derek Lyndell emailed me last week and wanted to put this item on the agenda. [5:10] **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Red Wing had done a similar refund for their on-sale liquor licenses and he suggested that we take a look at it. We came to a consensus of about three months or a 25% reduction in the on-sale liquor licenses, and with that said, he would like to have that discussion. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Okay. Derek, you want to talk on that a little bit? [5:57] **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: Yeah, sure. So we have a handful of restaurants and bars in town who, through no fault of their own, are being forced to close—as we all know—or not necessarily closed but doing takeout only. And they're really hurting. As a city, I don't know if there's a lot we can do, and this was kind of one thing I thought of. You know, since they're not able to really use their liquor license at the moment, maybe give them kind of a refund. A little over $700 for most places, which isn't even close to making up for their loss of revenue, but you know, every little bit helps. And I think it shows, you know, for those that live in the city, that we're willing to do whatever little bit we can to help them out if possible. So yeah, that's about it. [6:39] **Council Member Steve Matson**: Anybody else? I think it's a good thing. I would like to ask a question as far as to what type of can of worms we're opening and how do you decide on the three months? I mean, we're just barely into this. We don't know what's going to happen down the road. What I would like is just to see us wait, and maybe we can adjust that when the renewals come. [7:25] **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: Yeah, I kind of agree with you, Steve. I really... it's a great sentiment and I agree that this is something that is within our control that we can do for these businesses, but we don't know. They may be closed all summer, you know, and closed to liquor sales all summer. So in retrospect, the three months may look really puny. I also know that other businesses are not paying licenses to the city like this, but you know, we've got beauty salons and insurance agencies, and none of them can be open at all. At least these businesses are able to sell some food. I just think Steve's on the right track here. I'd like to wait and see and then maybe either reduce what they pay for 2021 or do the refunds at the end of the year once everything's kind of settled. But it's a good sentiment, Derek, I agree with that. [8:11] **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: Yeah, and that's fine. You know, the three months was just kind of put on there just so we're kind of knowing about what months we are at. But yeah, it might make sense... I mean, we don't know. The Governor might say they can't open until the 4th of July, and then you know, that would be closer to four months. So yeah, we certainly don't have to completely finalize it tonight if we’d rather wait and kind of see when they're officially able to open again and then do something. I'd be fine with that. But it is something I think, one of the things to kind of get back to normal, I feel it's something that we should do. It's good to get it in the record. [8:56] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Derek, I like that. I agree with that and Steve's idea. We also know that the Governor just passed an order where these type of places can sell a bottle of wine or six-pack of beer if you're ordering food. Is that gonna mitigate their stuff much? Maybe not. But I think waiting... I think waiting actually for the renewal period, which we usually do either December or January, might be the route to go. But I think it could be a positive step back. I agree in helping tonight. Why can't we vote this tonight and then also adjust it after those three months? Waiting until December or January would be far too long. I know the money might help the next year in the middle, and right now it's not just a good gesture; it's showing the businesses in town that we're in this together. We give them our business, encouraging the citizens to do that, but giving them a break on the licenses for the city... I think that's just the tip of the iceberg and I'm in favor of passing it tonight and adjusting after three months. [10:30] **Council Member Derek Althoff**: I agree with Derek. I don't think we should wait too long. [10:45] **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: Well, but this isn't really gonna have... I mean, in the context of what they sell and how much their liquor license costs them, I mean, this is certainly gonna help them now but not much. It's kind of a drop in the bucket with what Mill Street even makes in a night probably on a weekend. I think I would rather... I'm fine with passing some sort of resolution in favor of doing something in the future, but I don't want to commit to 25% if it really should be 50%. Let's not do it twice is what I'm saying, you know? Give it a few more months. [11:24] **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: We should do it as soon as possible and if we can help immediately, as best we can, instead of waiting. [11:45] **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: Well, the other thing that I guess... I don't want to make this sound mean, but what do we do about other businesses who can't even open? Are we gonna help pay their rent? This is a token step we would be taking, and it would be okay, but bakeries are only open one day a week. You know, what are we gonna do for them? What are we gonna do for the Looking Good Salon and the Family Salon? They can't even open their doors. So I'd rather be a little bit more conservative and wait until it's over and see what the impact really is. I don't know, it's tough to get into the business of, excuse me, picking winners and losers this early in the game. [12:57] **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: I'm sorry, I do agree. The reason I brought it up specifically for these places is because they do pay us directly. You have two salons; I don't believe they have to pay a fee to us. I think they do to the state. But no, if they had to pay licensing to us, I would certainly say that we do the same thing for them. Unfortunately, I don't believe they do. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: No, they don't. **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: My concern was, you know, I really do understand that these businesses have their revenue go down, but at least they can open the doors and sell takeout food right now. [13:43] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: I don't mind passing something in favor of doing something later, but I don't want to pin myself down to 25%. I'd rather find out more of what it's gonna be. Well, I think we should do something, but it's up to you. If somebody wants to make a motion... [13:52] **Council Member Steve Matson**: I hate to give them 25% off their licenses when they haven't been affected by a quarter of a year yet. Maybe after, you know, in June we can look at it. I don't know. I realize it may sound puny and petty, but I want to know what the impact really is going to be before we do something. [14:20] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Well, Matt made a motion to give them 25% of their fee back. Is there a second to that motion? **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: Second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Second by Derek. Yes, okay. Any more discussion? [14:42] **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: Yeah, well, I would say that while I will not vote for this motion, I'm not against doing this at some point, just not now. Nobody will understand why I have a "no" vote on this. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Well, that's fine. And if this doesn't pass, I'd like us to bring it back up, you know, in a month or so. Every little bit helps. It's not a lot of money to do right now; we can look at it later if we have to. [15:27] **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: I just like to say that for voting purposes, maybe we should put it in a roll call manner because last meeting we couldn't tell who was who. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: I'll take a roll call vote on that. Would you like to do the roll call, Jon? **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Yeah, I think so. Okay. Roll call: Ringgold? **Council Member Bill Ringgold**: No. **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Duncan? **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: No. **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Gesme? **Council Member Horace Gesme**: No. **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Lyndell? **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: Yes. **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Matson? **Council Member Steve Matson**: Yes. [16:16] **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Montgomery? **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Yeah. **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Althoff? **Council Member Derek Althoff**: I'm gonna say yes. I'll go for a 25% now and we'll look at it later. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Motion passes. [16:38] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Okay, under reports. Kyle, you're in the audience. Kyle Paulson from the Chamber. **Kyle Paulson**: Good evening everybody, it's good to see you. It's been a couple months since I've been here. The Chamber board will be meeting this Thursday, April 23rd, and we will be making decisions then in regards to Fun Fest. The first Fun Fest is supposed to be June 11th, and so we'll decide that on Thursday. Our golf tournament is also scheduled for June 25th at Summit Golf Course; however, we'll make that decision also at this board meeting. [17:25] **Kyle Paulson**: I do want to let everybody know that our 2020 Discover Guides are in. If you are interested in getting one or picking some up, that would be perfect; you'll have to call me to make sure I'm around. And then also on the Chamber webpage, on the very front page, we have a Cannon Falls Community Resource link that anyone can go to and find out what you'd want to know. There's quite a list of local, state, and federal agencies there. [18:13] **Kyle Paulson**: We also have one called "Quick Clicks." If you click on that, there is a listing of the Chamber members who have adjusted their services, such as pickups, carryouts, deliveries, those kinds of things. So it's a great place to catch up. If you click on their name on that list, you'll go right to their Facebook page or their webpage and catch up on the latest news. That's what I have for tonight. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Thank you very much. **Kyle Paulson**: Thank you. [19:01] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Okay. EDA met on April 8th. Jon, you want to do that one? **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: All right. The EDA met on April 8th. Some topics of discussion on the agenda was a land sale for Cannon Falls Cheese, public hearing for that. They also talked about the EDA loans and doing a 90-day deferral on a couple of them that have been affected, which did pass: Chileans and Robbie Stroh. Also, there was a discussion on the Cannon Ball property where the building was declared substandard, which actually lets us pursue a TIF district in the near future, so that was passed. And also, we welcome Laura Qualey; she's up there someplace via internet and she is now on board, so we have that done. [20:36] **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Let's go back to the Cannon Ball a little bit there. They did an asbestos abatement review and there is asbestos, of course, in the building. We're working on that. The tanks were taken out a while back, a few days ago, and now they're working on the lines going into the buildings. There was a small detection of diesel fuel coming out of the one line, so they had to call the duty officer in and report that, but otherwise things are going well. We'll be searching for some bids to demo the building here in the near future. With that said, that meeting also talked about the PPP program, which is a federal program that the banks are taking care of. A lot of help out there was discussed on all the types of assistance that businesses can do. Things are moving along; hopefully we'll get through this fairly soon. [21:24] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Thank you. Any library board? **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: Okay, met on April 10th and we've got an update on what's being done down there. They are going to... I believe they've already restarted curbside delivery, so people can again pick up their library materials there. And then we're gonna meet for another update on Friday, May 1st. So isn't a whole lot new there. [22:11] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Okay. Let's go around the horn here. Oh, Tim, are you out there? You got anything for us? Tim Melic? **Tim Melic (Ambulance Director)**: I am. I went ahead and applied for another grant. They have another $150 million that's competitive for many people in the state of Minnesota. I applied for a little over $200,000. I don't know what we'll get—preparedness stuff, supply staff, wages—and we'll just see what we can do. I also requested us to get some new ventilators and they paid for the maintenance for the ones we have. We will see how we fare with that. Other than that, we were just keeping abreast of the situation. We are in conference calls daily discussing PPE shortages and solutions to overcome those challenges. We are lucky Bit Graphics out of Red Wing reached out to us saying they're starting to make some surgical masks, and we went ahead and placed our order with them and hoping that we get delivery by the end of the month. That's all I have. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Well, thank you, Tim. Thank you for your efforts there. [23:43] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Horace, you got anything? **Council Member Horace Gesme**: Yes, I just... what's happening with Highway 19 reconstruction for next year? I mean, have you heard any more than that one meeting we went to? **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Horace, I can get you an update on that. **Council Member Horace Gesme**: Okay, because I know some people have said they found out more about how the sidewalks are going to be and they feel it's a little bit more dangerous than what it really should be. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Okay, well, I'll get an update. That's great. **Council Member Horace Gesme**: That's all I got. [24:34] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Yeah. Derek? **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: Yes, I just had a question. I don't even know if you guys know... are we still planning on starting to build that park across from where the hospital used to be? Does anyone know? The one up on Mill Street? **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Yeah, Mill and Dowell Street, the old hospital site. **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Yeah, we've got all the equipment right for it. It would be a question for Public Works and we're aggressive on their agenda. I think everything is approved; it's just a matter of the construction and when it is on their agenda. [25:21] **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: Okay, yeah, maybe I'll ask and see if he knows a little more. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Well, we can put it on the Public Works agenda. Jon says there's gonna be a Public Works meeting next week, so let's get it on the agenda. [26:09] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Matt, you got anything? **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Just... I assume we have some pool discussion in our Public Works meeting also. And then after we get a chance to talk more about that, we will dive more into the Pool Commission and also the reportable needs the week after that. Spring is almost here; get out when you can. Stay healthy, stay safe. And also thank you to everybody doing the virtual meeting tonight. Those of you that are there in the chambers, I encourage you strongly to get a mask if you're out in public. That mask is not just for ourselves, but for everybody else; everybody's health is at stake here. So be cautious, be safe, stay healthy. Thanks. [26:55] **Council Member Steve Matson**: Yeah, a couple things. The social distancing thing, Matt, I think you're taking it way out of bounds. It look like you were talking from off in the forest somewhere. Welcome to Laura Qualey; I think she's a good asset and she's gonna do good for the city. Mike, I think you're doing a terrific job this week getting everybody online and set up. I think it's a lot of hard work. And yes, we are going to have a Public Works meeting hopefully the beginning of next week. I threw an email out... I talked to you and I talked to Jim. Also, everyone check for some time early next week. That's all I got. Thank you. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Yeah, thanks again to Mike for putting in a lot of work getting this together. [28:26] **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: First of all, I want it noted that Matt just said "let's dive into this into the pool thing." I love it, Matt. Good pun! But secondly, I've seen a lot of messages and I actually got a couple phone messages this week from people wondering where they can get mulch. We do have it right down by Public Works. Do we have a mulch pile yet? We used to. People are saying you can get it down there, so I don't know... I haven't said anything to anybody but check with Wes. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Yeah, I'll check with Wes and see. **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: That's all I have. [29:11] **Council Member Bill Ringgold**: Just as has been talked about, I was concerned on the pool if we're not going to open it, which I think is probably the correct route. It behooves us that we don't spend a lot of time and money on it and also let the people who have already been hired to work at the pool let them know. So if we don't open it, they can get out there and see if there's other employment for them during the summer. That's it. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Yeah, Public Works next week... you know, talking about the pool, I have a question: if we want to do that $130,000 overlay project or maybe we want to put that on hold? But those are items for the Public Works meeting the first of the week. So we'll see what we come up with. [29:59] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: I got a couple things I'll say at the end. Jon, anything you got here? **City Administrator Jon Radermacher**: Not tonight. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Not tonight. Okay, then we'll go to public input. Citizens may speak to issues not on the agenda. Before speaking, please give your name and address for the record and kindly limit your comment to three minutes. Public comments must be respectful, pertinent to city business, and adhere to the applicable data privacy rules. The City Council will not take action on any issue raised by the public; I may choose to schedule consideration of the item at a future agenda. Public input is now open. And seeing really there's nobody here, I think I want to close the public input portion. [30:46] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Okay, before we adjourn, I just want to talk a little bit about the "Stay at Home" lockdown. I think we're kind of waiting on Governor Walz here. He's got the stay-at-home order in place until May 14th. We're kind of waiting to see what he decides about things opening up. I know across the country some of the states are starting to open restaurants again. I just, in my heart, I just don't think it's right until we get the proper testing. I get kind of scared about this thing. I just don't feel comfortable opening up like they're doing in some parts of the country. We'll kind of wait on what the Governor suggests and go from there. But for me, unless we have testing, and then vaccines are at least a year out... I'm just not comfortable with things like the pool or the Cannon Valley Fair. I think we're shooting ourselves in the foot if we open it up too soon. I really do. Unfortunately, we have to go slow. [31:33] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Another thing that concerns me is, you know, where the city's losing revenue here. I've asked Jon now to kind of get a report together for the next meeting. With the bars and restaurants closed, people aren't using a lot of water. How that's gonna affect our revenue down the road? We're gonna get a comparison from last year compared to this year, or even the last month to see where that's at. **Council Member Mary Jill Duncan**: And I think too, Mayor, we talked about how there might be actually higher water usages in homes and less on the other, but the rates are different. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Yeah, and then how many of those home water bills are not gonna get paid right away. **Council Member Steve Matson**: Right, our commercial rates are a lot higher. If the businesses are not operating, that's actually a greater loss than what the increased use of residential would be. [33:06] **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Right. What I see is, I think with the loss from say water and the sewer rates, and the DMV closed, and maybe the pool thinking of closing—that's gonna cause a budget shortfall here we're gonna have to address down the road. But I just want to bring that out right now so it's not gonna be an easy year. We’re gonna have good budget talks this summer. Okay, anybody got anything else? I'll take a motion to adjourn. **Council Member Bill Ringgold**: So moved. **Council Member Derek Lyndell**: Second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery**: Motion by Bill, a second by Derek to adjourn. All in favor, aye. Opposed? Carried. Before anyone can say yes.