Based on the context provided and the internal evidence within the transcript (such as the date August 4, 2020), there appears to be a discrepancy between your provided list of current officials and the officials present during this 2020 meeting. In 2020, **John Altop** was the Mayor and **Neil Jensen** was the City Administrator. I have used the names from the transcript’s roll call and the context of the dialogue to ensure the transcription is accurate to the speakers present. [3:17] **Mayor John Altop**: Greetings everyone. Welcome to the Tuesday, August 4th meeting of the City Council for the City of Cannon Falls. Can we roll call, please? [3:17] **City Clerk Sara Peer**: Bringgold? **Council Member Bringgold**: Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer**: Duncan? **Council Member Duncan**: Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer**: Gesme? **Council Member Gesme**: Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer**: Lindell? **Council Member Lindell**: Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer**: Matson? **Council Member Matson**: Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer**: Montgomery? **Council Member Montgomery**: Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer**: Altop? **Mayor John Altop**: Here. Would you stand, please, 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, with liberty and justice for all. [3:59] **Mayor John Altop**: Okay, approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? **Council Member Duncan**: So moved. **Council Member Gesme**: Second. **Mayor John Altop**: Motion by Duncan, a second by Gesme to approve the agenda. Any discussion? All in favor, aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, it leads us to the consent agenda. Consent agenda items may be adopted under one motion as presented or may be removed for discussion resolution as council business. For you and the audience at home, I'll go through the consent agenda. Item A: Just and correct claims for the accounting period ending June 30th, 2020. Item B: Just and correct claims for the accounting... [4:45] **Mayor John Altop**: ...period ending July 31st, 2020. Item C: Minutes for the July 21st, 2020 City Council work session. Item D: Minutes for the July 21st, 2020 City Council meeting. Item E: Minutes for the July 28th, 2020 City Council work session. Item F: Resolution 2497, accepting a donation from the Coffee Club to the Parks Department for a bench in memory of Dick Dalton. Item G: Hiring an unscheduled part-time employee. Item H: Resolution 2498... [5:35] **Mayor John Altop**: ...accepting a donation from Michael Diekmann to the Police Department of a small utility trailer. And Item I: Resolution 2499, accepting a donation from Valley View Recovery Center to the Police Department of a television. Is there anything the Council would like to bring down? **Council Member Matson**: Bring down Item I. **Mayor John Altop**: Okay, we'll put that under Council business as Item 6E: Resolution 2499, accepting a donation of a TV from the Valley View Recovery Center. Anything else? [6:23] **Mayor John Altop**: Hearing none, is there a motion to accept the consent agenda with the exception of Item I? **Council Member Matson**: So move. **Council Member Duncan**: Second. **Mayor John Altop**: Motion by Matson, second by Duncan to approve the consent agenda minus Item I. Any discussion? All in favor, aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, we'll get into Council business. Item A is the Park Advisory Board ordinance discussion. Neil? [7:08] **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: In your package, you'll find an ordinance addressing the Park Advisory Board. When the 2012 codification was done, the Park Board was inadvertently missed and not placed into that. When they approved the 2020 codification in its entirety, it wiped out all previous ordinances. So what we're doing today is discussing the Park Advisory Board ordinance, its language, and then we'll bring it back at the next City Council meeting for the first reading and move it forward. One of the questions that I had was, in the ordinance, it calls for a Public Works employee to be a part of the board. It seems like city staff should be on the other side of the table and answer questions, give input on projects and agenda items. It doesn't seem like having a city employee sit on a board is the correct way to go about that. So I'd like your... [8:40] **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: ...input on that. [8:46] **Council Member Duncan**: I'll go first here. I agree with Neil. I would limit the membership, instead of six as it says here, to five, and I would remove the Public Works employee as a voting member of that. It also says "four community members." Well, what does community mean? Maybe that should be changed to say "four Cannon Falls city residents." Those would be the two changes I would make. **Mayor John Altop**: All right. Now, you've got Josh and Chuck. Is Chuck considered retired or...? **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: I know he still works part-time. He's still an employee. [9:35] **Council Member Montgomery**: So the current board—the chair is Matt, and you’re on as a citizen. **Council Member Duncan**: Actually, I was on as a citizen before... yeah, you were gone before you became on the Council. And Mary Jill’s on as the Council. **Council Member Montgomery**: Yep. **Mayor John Altop**: Then you have Ken Carpenter, correct? Who was a former Council member and former chair. **Council Member Montgomery**: Yeah. And Becky Youngmark now, and then Steve Nordin. **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: So you've got five, and you're with six with Josh, or seven actually with Chuck. **Mayor John Altop**: Having six is never good. You always want to have an odd number because unlike the Council where you may or would break a tie, you can't... [10:21] **Mayor John Altop**: ...break a tie in a committee like that. It's just advisory, but still. I don't know, would you—you're saying you'd rather have it at five? **Council Member Duncan**: Leave it at five. I'd be fine with five. **Council Member Montgomery**: I'd be fine, especially since if we wouldn't have a Public Works employee on there. **Council Member Duncan**: Yeah, the Public Works employee... I mean, I think this is similar to our Public Works Commission where we need their presence and they participate in the discussion, they just don't vote. So they're a necessary member. **Council Member Montgomery**: Right, because the Park Board is going to need some knowledge that is brought in, but that would not be a voting member. **Mayor John Altop**: It doesn't have to be. And this is, if I get this right, Neil, we're just trying to clean things... [11:07] **Mayor John Altop**: ...up because when I joined the Park Board, it was very much a relaxed atmosphere. No agenda, just kind of sitting around having coffee and chatting. We're trying to just clean that up and get it down in writing so that we've got it the right way: number of members, who they are, clean all that stuff up. **Council Member Montgomery**: That makes sense. So yeah, an odd number. Or if it's an even number and the chair does not vote. I mean, whatever we'd want to do, that's fine. **Council Member Duncan**: As long as it’s an odd number of voting members, that's fine. **Mayor John Altop**: Well, when we put an ordinance into place, we assume it's going to be there for years. So let's get it right. That's why I said include four Cannon Falls residents... **Council Member Duncan**: No, I like that. **Mayor John Altop**: ...as members and one member of the City Council, and eliminate... [11:52] **Mayor John Altop**: ...the Public Works employee, although they should still be there. **Council Member Montgomery**: Those are all great points. Yeah, I'm in favor of that. **Council Member Matson**: The question would be then, with the current board, how do we decide who holds their place, or do we keep it the same through this year and then change it in January? **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: Yeah, that's normally when the committees are gone through—in January after an election year—and redone. **Council Member Matson**: Okay, I agree. That’s cool. **Mayor John Altop**: Okay, so you want to make that...? **Council Member Duncan**: Well, yeah, I'll make a motion that we change the wording just to say "includes four Cannon Falls residents as members" and eliminate the one Public Works employee. **Council Member Montgomery**: I'll second that. [12:39] **Mayor John Altop**: Motion by Duncan, a second by Montgomery. Is there any discussion on that? All in favor, aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, Item B: Approve the engineering contract. Neil? **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: Well, a couple months ago we sent out requests for proposals. We got back nine great applications. The committee narrowed that down to four firms. On July 28, the interviews were completed and the committee held a discussion, which was the Council. [13:25] **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: It was a consensus of the City Council to select WHKS as the next city engineering consultant. In your package, you will find a contract. It's an overall contract that WHKS puts together, and then when we have an individual project, they'll put another subcontract together for approval on that. So this one is just establishing terms, and then they'll do a subcontract when we have a reconstruction or a water tower project, since that's coming up in the future. So that's how they do it—you'll know what you're spending when you sign the contract. [14:12] **Mayor John Altop**: Any questions? Neil, was there anything in the contract that you find not comfortable with or is everything...? **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: No, it all looked real good when I reviewed it. I'm familiar with it. It’s the same one that we had in Zumbrota, so I'm very familiar with it. **Mayor John Altop**: Okay. Anything else? Well then, I'll take a motion. **Council Member Duncan**: So move. **Council Member Bringgold**: Second. **Mayor John Altop**: Motion by Duncan, second by Bringgold to approve the contract with WHKS for engineering services for the City of... [14:58] **Mayor John Altop**: ...Cannon Falls. Any other discussion? All in favor, aye. Opposed? Carried. Congratulations. **WHKS Representative**: Thank you. **Mayor John Altop**: Thank you. Okay, Item C: Artisan Farmer's Market. Neil? **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: Dave Olson requested to be on the agenda to discuss the Artisan Farmer's Market, and I believe he's here tonight. [15:43] **Dave Olson**: Good evening, David Olson here. I'm here to share some facts. There's been some controversy between the Council members and my Artisan Plaza. One of the members suggested that maybe we shut down the Artisan Farmer's Market. Ethically, that's not the right thing to say; financially, it's not the right thing to say. So I'm here to kind of set the record straight. The Farmer's Market at Artisan Plaza was put together by multiple people. We had people from the City of Cannon Falls, we had vendors, and we had other people in the community, and I'm proud of the efforts that those people have done. We've more than doubled the vendors for the Farmer's Market, and the capacity downtown would not have been available with the parking lot that's down there. We've more than tripled the foot traffic. We're actually bringing people from other cities into our markets. They're also going to other businesses like John Deere or the gas stations or whatever and spending their money. I also took the liability off the city by doing it in my own parking lot, and I've given the customers ample parking and an ease to get into the market which is not available in the downtown parking lot. We've also done some food projects with the city and we've been able to supply nursing homes, schools, and hospitals with food from our vendors, which is a positive for all sides. We're completely compliant with the state and local regulations, and we've also created a Fall Festival that brings in hundreds of people in the fall. So we have a lot of positive... [17:17] **Dave Olson**: ...things that have happened with this project, and when somebody suggests that this be shut down, I'm very upset with that. So that's why I'm here to set the record straight. The other thing is, whoever the Council members were that voted in allowing the market to be downtown, you violated your own city ordinance. I've got copies of your city ordinance along with definitions on exactly how it's worded so that everybody can understand what is proper and what is not. So I've got copies for everybody; if anybody in the public wants them, I've got some also. Thanks, Dave. [18:06] **Mayor John Altop**: They're printed on both sides to save paper, so the ordinance is on the back side. [Pause] [18:40] **Dave Olson**: I think it's important that I let everybody know the positive things that really came out of our market and the things we've done. To destroy that or tear that down, I think, would be a mistake. So I'm here to set the record straight. Hopefully, you guys take this information and make the right decisions with it. Thank you. **Mayor John Altop**: Thank you. Thanks, Dave. **Council Member Duncan**: Yeah, I'd like to comment on this. I know a couple months ago when we discussed this, we were kind of divided on "should they still be out at Artisan" or "should they be downtown." I feel on the side that it should be out at Artisan. They've brought up a very... [19:25] **Council Member Duncan**: ...good point. One: it's not allowed by our zoning, and two: it takes away liability from the city. Those are two big items. Not to mention the fact that out at Artisan Plaza, they've got about four times what we see downtown. We know we're going to lose a few parking spots downtown because of the charging stations, and the people coming to use the Cannon Valley Trail fill up that parking lot virtually every weekend. I know we elected to discuss this again in October, so I suppose we have to let it go at... [20:11] **Council Member Duncan**: ...this time, unfortunately. But it is something to bear in mind. I would like to also mention that there's an individual at the downtown Farmer's Market who thinks he runs it, and on his LLC, he listed his address as downtown Cannon Falls, which is illegal on an LLC because you have to put a proper mailing address. So I think we ought to just change it to out by David Olson's area there. But I know we already voted. I don't know if we can change in midstream or not... [20:58] **Council Member Duncan**: ...but anyway, that's my opinion on it. Anybody else? [21:14] **Council Member Montgomery**: Do we want to review it before October? **Mayor John Altop**: Well, I'm probably the one that's guilty of kicking the can down the road because neither of the other motions got seconds, you know? So I said let's keep it the same and then talk about it. My observation this year has been that it doesn't look like a Farmer's Market downtown, guys. It's like three people, and they're just not—I know from when I was down there that the bikers want that parking lot on Saturday mornings, and it's really hard because you don't have a definite area and people want to drive through or walk through, and it's hard. [22:02] **Mayor John Altop**: I mean, I don't think we can look at it until October, but I would be in favor of, for 2021, letting it go to Artisan for sure because I just don't think downtown is viable for it anymore—especially not with losing four parking spaces to the chargers. That parking lot is full on Saturday mornings. That's my opinion. We can always bring it back if we want to. **Kyle Paulson**: Kyle Paulson from the Chamber of Commerce in Cannon Falls. I am a strong supporter of the downtown Farmer's Market. This last week, there were... [22:47] **Kyle Paulson**: ...I want to say seven vendors, and there were multiple people at each of those vendors. Like, I had to stand in line to get to Ruthie's Kitchen and there were four people ahead of me. There were lines for Lola's Lemonade, and I'm seeing the bikers come over before they go out for a bike ride, pick up their produce, put it back in the car and take off. So they're pleased to have it downtown. I also know that the citizens who live in Cannon River Senior Center, Park Street Apartments, Freeborn Manor... [23:36] **Kyle Paulson**: ...they do not have vehicles. So how can they get to Artisan Plaza? And so I think we need to think about all of our citizens. It doesn't hurt to have two Farmer's Markets. There's different products at each one, and you know, some people have favorites, but I would strongly be in favor of both. I am now advertising for both, so I hope we can continue that. That's the support from the Chamber. [24:28] **Mayor John Altop**: Anybody else? Go ahead. **Marcy French**: I'm Marcy French, just a resident of Cannon Falls. Just had a thought while Kyle was talking about the importance of having a Farmer's Market downtown: what if the Farmer's Market downtown was held on Thursday evening on Mill Street? **Council Member Montgomery**: I just thought the same thing. **Marcy French**: Something like that. I mean, a lot of communities do an evening and it's a welcome thing for residents. They don't have to hassle with Saturday morning. So, just a thought. **Council Member Montgomery**: I thought the same thing because Dennison used to do theirs on Thursday evenings. **Council Member Duncan**: I would still have an issue with city liability. **Mayor John Altop**: Yeah, I don't know. [25:18] **Mayor John Altop**: So the consensus is to leave it till October and address it again? **Council Member Duncan**: I'd like to throw in my two cents here just because Bill and Mayor Altop and I are old. We remember the old Farmer's Market where nobody gave a hoot what the law was—the people with extra vegetables came downtown and sold the damn things. Yeah, and I don't know why it has to get into a full-blown ordinance and law and liability and licensing, but that's the way of the world. I guess if it's against the city ordinance, it's against... [26:04] **Council Member Duncan**: ...the city ordinance, and I guess we have to follow the letter of the law. Let’s just make sure that all the laws are followed and that we don't cherry-pick the ones we think might help certain individuals and not others. I’ll feel better. **Mayor John Altop**: Anybody else? [26:34] **Council Member Matson**: Well, it's got to be addressed. If we're in violation of the ordinance having it down there, we're going to have to address it. **Council Member Duncan**: Well, should we direct our esteemed city staff to look into that for us? **Mayor John Altop**: That's what I would do instead of sitting up here guessing. **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: Okay, check. And we'll talk about it at the next meeting. I know in the spring it was finally decided to have both markets. **Mayor John Altop**: I know that, yes. Okay, that's what we'll do. We'll bring it up at the next meeting. Item D: LiveWell Goodhue County presentation. David and Marcy. [27:23] **Marcy French**: I'm Marcy French once again, resident of Cannon Falls, and this is David Anderson, LiveWell Goodhue County Coordinator. We've got an exciting proposal for you—I hope you think that it's exciting. So we're part of a group that's been gathering for almost three years called Bike Cannon Falls. Some of you are aware of our existence because you attended a program that we had last year with the Bike Alliance of Minnesota. John, you were there, I think. Officer McCormick, you were there and have come to several of our meetings. Anyway, we're here tonight because after working together for three years, we've come to a crossroads and we feel... [28:11] **Marcy French**: ...like we're ready to take the next step. So we're asking the city for their partnership in becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community through the League of American Bicyclists. We do have a packet—I think that we gave to all the Council members—that we want you to take a look at. But I'm just here to, in a nutshell, kind of tell you a little bit about the program. Our group, like I said, has been meeting for three years, and during that time we have gathered a lot of information about... [28:58] **Marcy French**: ...that event that some of you attended. We worked with the Bike Alliance of Minnesota to determine some sketchy crossings for bikers, some places in the city that need improvement, places that work great. Overall, we found out that Cannon Falls is an extremely bikeable community, but there are a few things that need some attention and need some inspiration. We've also worked at some of the Fun Fests in Cannon Falls where we've surveyed families and students to figure out why they do or don't bike... [29:44] **Marcy French**: ...to school. One of our goals as a group is to get more kids biking to school, more people in Cannon Falls biking to businesses rather than hopping in the car taking up those prized parking spots. We're trying to inspire people to think about getting on their bikes, and that's why we've come to you tonight. Because with a designation like a Bicycle Friendly Community—and as you can see in that packet, there's several different levels a city could choose to go for—and that would be something that we could discuss if we decide to partner together to bring this to Cannon Falls. But let's see... some of the benefits... [30:32] **Marcy French**: ...of becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community. The ones that I think of the most are that it makes us a more healthy community. Good health, biking, being outdoors—all of these things are a part of Cannon Falls' culture, and it's something that I don't think that we've fully tapped into yet. But I think knowing that gives us a lot of opportunities. You've all seen, and you've mentioned tonight, the parking lot. Since May, every weekend is completely jam-packed with people biking the trail, and we'd like to see that kind of eke into the... [31:18] **Marcy French**: ...community and see more locals choosing to bike to the grocery store or out to the Farmer's Market. Which, down the road, if we decide to become this Bicycle Friendly Community, we would put biking on our radar. So that when we make choices for infrastructure or it comes time to repave or do some work on 4th Street out to Artisan Plaza, then we think: "Bikers can't really ride bikes out there too easily, maybe we should widen the shoulder." Just put biking on our radar so that families and students can get to... [32:05] **Marcy French**: ...school safely. Safe routes to school. So these are some of the things that becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community would allow us to do. We'd have it more on our radar. **David Anderson**: Really, I'm going to take this off because it's a little thick. By applying for a Bicycle Friendly Community, it really gives us that map to follow for the future. In it, you have to take into consideration Engineering—and I wish the Engineer was still here so I could have a... [32:50] **David Anderson**: ...conversation with him when we're done—Education, Encouragement activities, Enforcement activities, and Evaluation and Planning activities. We have been working on the Encouragement and Education activities, but that Engineering need—we need help with that. We can tell you what we think, but to have it in that plan and be ready to take advantage... So when MnDOT is looking at doing some work, they know Cannon Falls wants to include biking in that. Or if the county does some work on their streets, they know that Cannon Falls wants to include biking on those activities. Developing that plan gives us direction, so it's not: "Oh, we... [33:38] **David Anderson**: ...got to take advantage of this, let's figure out where the money is going to come from." We're working on looking for grants to cover that cost and doing those kind of things. Part of the application process is developing a Bike Master Plan. If we need to contract with another firm that does that, my LiveWell Goodhue County funds could be used for that kind of thing. It's reimbursement-based, so the city would initiate the cost of that, send the receipt to us, and then I reimburse you. So the cost of doing this is minimal. The cost of applying for the designation—there's no cost to that. Where we need help is answering some of those questions as far as what policies are... [34:24] **David Anderson**: ...currently in place in the city that I don't have access to. So getting help with that would be nice. Having somebody appointed from either the Council or city staff to help us through that process would be good. And then the first step in the whole process—and I believe it's in your packet—is that action plan for Bicycle Friendly Communities where the Mayor signs off saying we're committed to doing these projects. Anything else you want to add? If not, we'll entertain questions. [35:11] **Marcy French**: Yeah, I guess what we're asking tonight is for you all—and you've maybe had some time with the packet—is for you as a group to decide if this is something that would benefit Cannon Falls. And if so, we're asking for your partnership in applying. One of the thoughts that we had was it would be an excellent thing for possibly the Parks Board or Public Works. The whole city becomes a park, so to speak, and we start looking at it like bikeability. It's just putting some effort from the city into the project and educating yourselves. Are you ready to embrace the opportunity... [36:00] **Marcy French**: ...to grow biking in Cannon Falls and take advantage of all the benefits that go with that? **David Anderson**: Yeah, that's it. **Marcy French**: One other thing I should mention, though, that we've also done... maybe you've seen these around town? It's a "Bike Benefit" program that we did with some of the businesses in town. We've reached out to them and we give them a little sticker that they give to biking patrons. The bikers put that on their helmet and when they come into, say, the bakery or the winery or Artisan Plaza, they get a special deal: free soda with a... [36:45] **Marcy French**: ...purchase of a meal, that kind of thing. Money off of whatever. This is one of the things that the group Bike Cannon Falls has done. We've got two members here live via satellite, and two of our other members are here too. Anyway, just doing some great things and we've kind of dug deep. It's a solid group and we just need a little extra help with this to get us to the next point. I think that's it. Do you guys have questions for us? [37:30] **Mayor John Altop**: Uh yeah, I have one. One of the two action items requested here... one of them is to sign and agree to that action plan. The other one you talk about is having a city employee appointed to serve on the committee and give them permission to spend working hours on bicycle-focused projects. Currently, budgetary-wise, we're actually cutting down on staff. **Council Member Duncan**: There's an opening, Bill? **Mayor John Altop**: Well no, and I understand that, and I'll get to that. But first, I just wanted you to understand that the city cannot afford to have an employee working on this. Now I see the second point about having someone maybe from the Park Board or Public Works... [38:18] **Mayor John Altop**: ...I would assume that would be not a member of city staff because we would have to pay them for that time. So I assume you're looking for volunteers? **Marcy French**: Yeah, we're just asking for the city... we're just asking whether or not you would like to prioritize this. I realize that there is possibly money involved and somebody that already is doing a job in the city would have to do maybe some other stuff. And if that is impossible, then that's impossible. But that was another thought of ours: bringing it to the Parks Board and having this be... [39:03] **Marcy French**: ...on their agenda as well. So, do one of our members attend the Parks Board meeting and/or Public Works? Because some of it will be Public Works type things. So I guess what we're asking of you is: is this a value to you as a Council member? Do you see it as a value to the community? And if so, would you be... because our group is made up of community members. David is from Red Wing, Goodhue County Public Health, LiveWell Goodhue County is working with us because there's... [39:51] **Marcy French**: ...a group of citizens—community members—who are interested in this. So we're fortunate to have those funds coming our way into Cannon Falls with this group. We're kind of stirring the pot, getting things like this going. So now we're asking: is it a priority for you? It is for us, but is it for you? Do you see it as a priority for Cannon Falls? And then what are you willing to bring to the table? **David Anderson**: We also understand that these are very challenging times right now. It might not be possible to designate a staff person to put some additional time into this project. So having a committee member is very acceptable. But then maybe two... [40:38] **David Anderson**: ...years from now, when it is more beneficial and we're back on our feet, we could move to having a city staff person start designating some time working on some of these projects. This is a long-term project. This is a five-to-ten-year process. It's not one year we're going to make all these changes and things are going to be hunky-dory. It's a work in progress. **Council Member Montgomery**: How many hours per month would be the commitment for whoever that person would be? **David Anderson**: Right now, it's one or two hours a month. The deadline to apply for the application is the end of August, so I need to have some help going through answering the questions that I can't answer. [41:23] **David Anderson**: After that, we meet once a month. We're not asking the staff person to lead a bike rodeo or organize the Bike to School Day. It's just to be that connector and be that city rep for us to work with, making sure that the Engineering piece, the Enforcement piece—those pieces are in place. **Mayor John Altop**: I'm also a little concerned with the actual action plan. There are a couple items on here that make it look like we're going to work for you when you read this stuff, and I'm very uncomfortable about that, especially talking about city policies, plans, etc... [42:09] **Mayor John Altop**: ...and "enforce traffic laws." We can't even get enforcement making a right-hand turn at the stoplight that people are doing illegally, let alone trying to enforce some of these other things. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for having people biking in the community, but there are some things on here that... I don't know. **Council Member Duncan**: I don't really have trouble with any of it. I really don't. I don't see them as problems; I see where the city fits in pretty well. But let's look at it this way: you're talking about the one about enforcing traffic laws—aren't we doing that anyway? **Mayor John Altop**: So yeah, I mean really, that's not anything additional. **Council Member Duncan**: We still should be getting after... [42:55] **Council Member Duncan**: ...bikers that don't use the right hand signals and or vehicles that don't, or motorcyclists. So I don't think that's adding anything. I don't know, that's just me. I think you were just reiterating what we should already be doing in a lot of those cases. **David Anderson**: And that action plan was developed by the League of American Bicyclists as a starting point. We would be approaching the city and City Council for any of those things. It's not "you're working for us," we're working to benefit the community and following the procedures that the City Council adopts and works through. But at the same time, it is a partnership. [43:43] **Marcy French**: We're asking for a partnership. We're not asking for our group to apply for this and then it's completely off of your radar. We're asking you to put this on your radar. Like, if the Public Works or the Park Board took it on with us, then if I understand it right, you would be getting updates at your meetings about what's going on, because you'd get a report from the Park Board. Is that how it works? So then we're more on your radar and you can be just inspired to see what we're doing and how it's... [44:29] **Marcy French**: ...growing and how it's benefiting the community. **Council Member Montgomery**: Yeah. Neil, are we supposed to take action on this tonight or is this just a presentation? **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: Well, that'll be up to you. We can postpone this for a meeting and think about it. It's the first time you're hearing it. **Council Member Montgomery**: That’s—in the agenda, I just didn't see if there's any suggested vote. **David Anderson**: To apply for the designation, they offer that two times a year. The current one is the end of the month. Next time it'll be in probably February or March. So we can push that off. If the action doesn't happen... [45:14] **David Anderson**: ...tonight, we strongly believe that this community would benefit greatly by focusing a little bit, developing a master plan, and encouraging the kids, the students. A little activity before and after school—especially before school. There's data that proves that kids do better in school when they're physically active. Businesses—bikers, cyclists will spend money. To make sure that they're able to get where they want to go, they have the infrastructure, they have the parking available. You have hundreds of people coming to town; they drive in, they park in the lot, they may shop at the Farmer's Market... [46:02] **David Anderson**: ...they may get coffee or a glass of wine or something, but then they leave. Why not make it so they're going all over the place and shopping and spending money and staying here and doing multiple days? And then the health benefit of all the other residents—getting people biking to work instead of driving their car. Benefits for the air, the environment—less cars on the road, the better the air quality. So there's a lot of benefits to working towards this. **Council Member Montgomery**: I'll make a motion to accept the LiveWell Goodhue County and our application for the League of American Bikers. **Council Member Duncan**: I'll second it. [46:48] **Mayor John Altop**: Motion is to approve an action plan for a Bicycle Friendly Community for Cannon Falls. Is there any other discussion? All in favor, aye. Opposed? Motion carried. **Marcy French**: Thank you for your time. **David Anderson**: Thank you. **Marcy French**: Oh, one other thing... Dave has grant funds available for bike racks. City Hall could use one. So to connect with Dave... **Mayor John Altop**: Are you—excuse me—remember we talked about the cowling down there? You guys aren't part of that? **Marcy French**: Yeah, we are. [47:34] **Mayor John Altop**: Okay, yep. So that would be a bike rack, correct? **Marcy French**: Yes. Yes, sir. And that project is a work in progress. It didn't happen as fast as we wanted to, but the art organization is working on that. So hopefully it'll be out in late October or September. **Council Member Duncan**: How does that work? The business buys the rack and then they—you pay them from the grant or how? **David Anderson**: Yes, yep. So they buy the rack. And the one that Cannon Falls has out in front with their logo on it—that's exactly how that worked. We worked with the Historical Society and helped them get a rack for up at their business. We've talked to a couple other... [48:20] **David Anderson**: ...businesses about that. So I have a very simple application form. Business buys the rack and then we reimburse that. **Mayor John Altop**: Very good, thank you. Okay, Item 6E was Resolution 2499, accepting a donation from Valley View Recovery Center for a—to the PD for a TV. That was Morris? **Council Member Matson**: All I'm asking is if it could have been handled a little bit different. You know, as soon as it was done, you put it on Facebook and that... I'm just... [49:06] **Council Member Matson**: ...saying that could have been a little different. And procedure-wise, I think it's a good thing, but that's about all I got. **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: Neil and I visited regarding this. We are in agreement; it could have been done a little differently. You know, the premise of social media is to try to recognize people when they do things that are kindness towards the officers, or the officers do something. Sometimes it's promoting... you know, like right now we're doing a thing with the library, they're promoting mask use with the implementation of that. In this case... [49:53] **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: ...it certainly wasn't intended to mislead people. But the premise is, anytime we receive a donation, they come before Council. Simply just the addition of "we accept the donation pending Council approval" would have clarified that. As I explained to Neil, Lieutenant Berg—who handles our social media stuff—he doesn't deal with the donation side of the business yet. I've been teaching him how to do many of the things so that we've got a succession plan in place. This is just one that we haven't gotten to yet this year. We're focusing... he got to be part of the budget stuff last... [50:38] **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: ...year. This year he's more in the budget stuff as we work our way through it. That was just one of those things that was coming along, we just hadn't gotten there yet. This accelerated it. But you know, the timing of it was just incredibly amazing because we had been down at the Public Safety Building to do a mass photo with the library, and he commented—and I agreed—the board display that they have in the equipment bay is really nice because it has the information on there of calls, the cameras for the three exits at 52, and it would be a great resource. But as I commented to them that day... [51:25] **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: ...we don't have a TV in our plans right now. And then they put out a Facebook post to the community that they were getting rid of stuff, and he went down to check it out. It turned out it was things they weren't going to be using and, rather than paying to have it disposed of, they just gave it away. But when we looked at it, we just couldn't ascertain a value, and so the appropriate channel seemed to be: you route it through here so that the donation can be accepted; if not, we'd return it. **Council Member Matson**: So I have a problem with the social media. I think I've asked Neil now if we can come up with a policy on that, because I think something like that should go... [52:12] **Council Member Matson**: ...through Neil before it's put out on the city website like that. **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: And we've had that conversation. We've got guidance that we're utilizing; we certainly could look at a citywide policy that would address social media. **Council Member Duncan**: I don't know who handles the city's one. I know Nicole does the library's, and I'm not sure who does the Fire Department one. **Mayor John Altop**: Not sure. Okay, is there a motion to approve Resolution 2499? **Council Member Gesme**: So move. **Council Member Montgomery**: Second. **Mayor John Altop**: Motion by Gesme, second by Montgomery. Any other discussion? All in favor, aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, Kyle—Chamber. [53:37] **Kyle Paulson**: Thank you. Kyle Paulson from the Cannon Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. I'll start off first: we did receive 6,500 masks from the Minnesota DEED 4 million mask distribution program. Last week, we had four sessions where people could come and get masks, and that's for Chamber and non-Chamber people. It's for everyone—individuals, businesses, organizations. We now are down to about 375. We also shared them with Maysville, Randolph, Kenyon, Dennison, Wanamingo, and Nerstrand. And so this western side of Goodhue County, I think, has been covered quite well. From that, we are now up to 260 visits from the lead generation program on Explore Minnesota. They are coming from 32 different states, and we've had two from Canada. It's amazing; we can get anywhere from three to ten leads a day. We send out a link to our Discover Guide and then they... [54:40] **Kyle Paulson**: ...let us know if they would like to receive one. We're also going to be working with Explore Minnesota and Laura Qualey in regards to advertising dollars in promoting Cannon Falls as a tourist destination, and so we're just in the process of getting that application filled out and approved. Hopefully that will come through. Summer Sizzling Days—if any of you have seen (let me see if I can get this upright) the August Entertainment Guide, we have put in a half-page ad with the CannonBells coffee and ice cream. This is an event that's going to be... [55:26] **Kyle Paulson**: ...happening August 24th through the 27th. It's on the sidewalk; it's not like a Fun Fest. We are not blocking any streets; we are actually doing the booths on the sidewalks. On August 24th, CannonBells will be having a baking competition, much like at the county fair or the Cannon Valley Fair. So it's open to the public; you can bring any of your baked goods and they will be judged. On August 25th—that's a Tuesday—sewing, needlework, and quilting competition. Wednesday the 26th: woodworking, crafts, and LEGO project... [56:11] **Kyle Paulson**: ...competition. And on the 27th, CannonBells will be having a garden competition—like produce and flowers, fairy gardens, those kinds of things to be judged—as well as butter and cheese carving and recycled/repurposed project competitions. They will be ending their event that evening with a rabbit agility course. If you think of the dog agility courses, just put a bunny in there, and these 4-H kids have them trained to do this. During the day on Thursday, August 27th, the Chamber will be having vendors... [56:56] **Kyle Paulson**: ...and they can be Chamber members or past Fun Fest vendors on Main Street, 4th Street, and Mill Street. Everything and anything from clothing and jewelry to baked goods to essential oils, cards, soaps, honey—you name it, it will be there. We'll be getting that entry form out, and so if you are interested in participating in that as a vendor, please contact the Chamber office. If you're interested in the contests, please contact CannonBells and talk with Kathy. This came from a decision from the... [57:44] **Kyle Paulson**: ...Chamber board that we've been canceling all of our events this year, which we have. We wanted to do some type of business appreciation to show our members and our community that we do care about them, and we're doing it as an open-air fair. So it's all outside, it'll all be distanced, we'll be in masks, and so hopefully everyone will have a safe and fun time. Any questions? **Council Member Duncan**: Just one. Do you know if they're looking for judges for the baking contest? **Kyle Paulson**: Yes, I do. However, I don't think there's going to... [58:29] **Kyle Paulson**: ...be any tasting! But you can call Kathy Huff at CannonBells and she'll let you know. I also want to let you know there's free advertising in the Entertainment Guide, and so I will be putting both Farmer's Markets listings in the calendar section of the Entertainment Guide in September. We'll see what happens in October. I'm also hoping to put in what kind of products will be at each location or the vendors' names, so we'll do one or the other. But they will be listed in the Entertainment Guide in September. Thank you very much. **Mayor John Altop**: Thank you. Thanks, Kyle. [59:16] **Mayor John Altop**: Well, the only committee that's met since our last meeting is the Trail Board. Anything there, Matson? If Scott wants to stand up, he was on the Zoom meeting. The reason why Mary Jill and I can't report on that was that was the same night that we had the interviews with the engineering firms. I had emailed him that we would not be able to attend that meeting. **Council Member Matson**: Scott was up there too. Scott was in the Zoom meeting... if we can resume him? He was here for the blank part and then he left. Yeah. Okay, it was the annual meeting. I know that the information was shared, but it was just the looking forward—or looking back—on the year and how things have gone. I know the construction of those bridges went very well. [1:00:02] **Mayor John Altop**: The trail? **Council Member Matson**: Yes. I'm not sure he had the numbers of how many more people are using the trail this year because of COVID and the situation we're in, but I know the numbers are up. I just remember the trail passes—early season like March—were already up. **Mayor John Altop**: It was already 15% higher. **Council Member Matson**: Yeah, they were. And like I said, the online trail pass—they can track and they were finding people all the way up by Plymouth and Minnetonka that were buying not just one-time, but annual passes. So they'd come here more than once. I had several emails from bikers that biked for the first time in the last year. Very busy. Scott told me last year total usage on the trail was 90,000. They surpassed that before the Fourth of July this year, and he said if they have a good October, that... [1:00:47] **Council Member Matson**: ...should double to 180,000. **Council Member Duncan**: Are those numbers specifically to Cannon Falls or the trail total? Because I feel like it was 144,000 if you took us and Red Wing's side. **Council Member Matson**: The counter just here in Cannon was almost 90,000. **Council Member Duncan**: Yeah. So that's just our side. **Council Member Matson**: Yes. **Mayor John Altop**: Okay. Department heads—Chief? [1:01:33] **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: At the last meeting, there were some questions about the right-hand turns. I talked with Ken at the Beacon. He was working on an article for the Highway 19 project that's going to be done as far as sidewalks and stuff. And so I mentioned the right turn part, asked him if he could do something on that. Sounded like he would be doing something. I also mentioned it to our temporary Towards Zero Death officer—that that would be something to put on the county-wide TZD program as an enforcement area. And of course, MnDOT is still working on the design for Highway 19, redoing sidewalks, which from their open house meeting—Morris, you were there—they talked already about redoing what they did. And so that may cut down on some of it... [1:02:19] **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: ...if they move further out. They're just trying to figure out the truck angles for turns and stuff to make sure that whatever they do, they're not running over things as far as the activation buttons and that type of stuff. **Mayor John Altop**: Didn't somebody come up with: if you're going east, bring that back? **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: Yep, that was one of the discussions that their engineers had talked about previously. So I don't know where they're going to go, but as they move forward, I'm sure we'll hear more. I don't know if this is just a standard design-type project or if it is a design-build one. I'm not sure which way it's going to go, but I know that their design people are working on it. I've seen... [1:03:04] **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: ...some of their trucks just in those areas and I'm assuming that's what they're doing—getting updated photos. **Mayor John Altop**: Yeah, I've seen them out there. **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: Yeah, so working and taking pictures. It is something we're aware of and something we're continuing to monitor. We haven't gotten too enforcement-orientated as far as actually writing the citations, but we certainly could if the Council feels—most of our offenders are people that have been doing that for many, many years. What we're trying to do is reduce the number of close calls and accidents where somebody's insurance is saying it's their fault but it really wasn't. **Council Member Matson**: Some high school student is going to kill someone. Because they've always lived with it not being a right turn lane. **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: Yep, and we've got a lot of residents that are much older than our high school kids... [1:03:51] **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: ...who have been driving that way. Exactly. So we didn't want to take a real heavy-handed enforcement approach; we want to try to slowly educate. The numbers are getting better; they're not where we'd like to see them yet overall, but they are improving. **Council Member Matson**: Well, can they—this is probably a dumb question—can they stripe it so that it's clear there's no right turn lane? **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: They've already striped the traffic lane. What I asked for was just additional signs to explain "don't leave the traffic lane." MnDOT doesn't like to put signage up because if you get too much signage, people start to ignore it. That's a congested intersection anyway... [1:04:37] **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: ...with parking and everything else. So they felt that putting the striping lanes—the actual driving lanes—would help correct a majority, and it has. It's really reduced the number. **Council Member Matson**: Okay. But we still get those out there. **Police Chief Jeff McCormick**: Right. Okay, so anyway, that's all I had on that. **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: I got a couple of things. Finance Committee will be meeting August 12th. On the agenda, we're going to be discussing the CARES funding that we received—that's $310,000—and then the reorganization of the Finance Department. Those two items will be discussed. Be brought to City Council August 11th. We're going to do the... [1:05:23] **City Administrator Neil Jensen**: ...second round of Public Works Director interviews. We narrowed the search down to two. I'm going to be doing a tour of the town and then the second interview. The election is next Tuesday. Filing period is in progress and the last day to file will be August 11th. There's two two-year terms up and two four-year terms up. And also, if you haven't noticed, the Cannonball is no longer the Cannonball—it looks really good. Take a look. Now we're in search of putting something on that, so we've got our job ahead of us. That's it. [1:06:12] **Mayor John Altop**: Okay, let's go around the horn here. Morris, anything? **Council Member Matson**: Nope. **Mayor John Altop**: Mary Jill? **Council Member Duncan**: Nope. **Mayor John Altop**: Matt? **Council Member Montgomery**: You know something—just real quick. After our last Council meeting, I stayed about 45 minutes afterwards and had a conversation with Tim. Tim, I don't want to put any words in your mouth, but it was a really good conversation. I'm glad that I was able to stick around and chat with you. I think when Tim gets up here to speak, it's not that we don't listen, it's that we don't know what action he's asking us to take. That conversation that we had that night was wonderful. I think all he needs or wants is to be treated fairly and with respect. [1:06:58] **Council Member Montgomery**: And again, Tim, I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, and you're free to say whatever you want during public input, but the conversation that I had with him was great. I think that a little respect and a little being treated with equality goes a long way. So I'm happy we stuck around and talked about that. Tim, that's all I got. **Mayor John Altop**: Bill? **Council Member Bringgold**: Nothing. **Council Member Gesme**: Nothing. **Council Member Lindell**: Nothing. **Mayor John Altop**: I don't have anything either. So we'll get right into 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 comments to three minutes. Public comments must be respectful... [1:07:44] **Mayor John Altop**: ...pertinent to city business, and adhere to applicable data privacy rules. The City Council will not take action on any issue raised by the public but may choose to schedule consideration of the item on a future agenda. Open the public input session. **Tim Deemer**: Well, as you all know, I contacted directly or indirectly each and every one of you about this TV out at the treatment facility. When the Lieutenant went out to get the TV, I think he violated a law—state law, I think—by taking that gratuity. To me, it's not a real big deal... [1:08:31] **Tim Deemer**: ...didn't think much of it. I was informed immediately when it came up on Facebook and it was immediately taken down. He also violated a couple city policies. And Mr. Mayor, just so that you know, you do have a policy about Facebook. It is public media and it does have to be approved by the Administrator. It's in a personnel policy handbook that Mr. McCormick brought forth in 2016. So anyway, I was informed of it, didn't think a thing of it—who cares, it's just a stupid TV—until Mr. McCormick came up with this story. And this story goes on and on and on. The part that I thought was the most hilarious is they couldn't afford a TV; it wasn't in the budget. You got a budget of over a million dollars. We were just at a budget meeting—it got cut by $115,000 this year. A year ago we were all sitting here, it couldn't be done, we couldn't cut anything. What the hell happened? Something had to... [1:09:43] **Tim Deemer**: ...happen. It got cut by like $115,000, I'm told. I don't know, I don't have any of the data in front of me, I haven't received any of it. But I am listening, and I do hear, and I do understand a little about math and I can read. And this story... I mean, why the story? Why couldn't it just come up and say: "Hey look, Joe did this, we want to approve, what do you think?" Approve it, no big deal. And as Steve pointed out, you should be sure that all laws are followed when you're an officer—you should understand all the laws. So if you can't afford this $200 TV... it costs like $220... [1:10:30] **Tim Deemer**: ...brand new. This thing's from 2008; can't be worth a lot of money. So in a 1.2 million dollar budget, I would think you could come up with it—especially if you spend a couple thousand dollars to send two people to a police chiefs' convention when you're only supposed to be sending one. Or the $3,000 you spent to go to Montreal or wherever in Canada for an FBI training, which isn't affiliated with the FBI nor the police in Minnesota at all—some kind of boys' club or something. What about the thing in Chicago for the body cams? John, you had to shut that down last year. All... [1:11:16] **Tim Deemer**: ...I'm saying is you're trying to tell me that you can't afford a $200 TV but we can travel the country? It's kind of a long, elaborate story, isn't it? That's the problem I'm having with it. Why don't we just stick to the facts and always do the right thing? Thank you. [1:11:47] **Mayor John Altop**: Anybody else? Public Input. [Pause] [1:12:00] **Tim Deemer**: Thanks. Tim Deemer, resident of Cannon Falls. Was glad to hear the words from Matt Montgomery, but what goes along with respect, or is equal or maybe even more important, is just this bracelet I've started wearing again. I got it years ago, but besides "Respect" on here, it's "Justice, Hospitality, Stewardship." I don't know... I was just going to keep it to a few words. Just looking for the constructive... [1:12:47] **Tim Deemer**: ...criticism. What I would think comes from both ways, like a two-way road. But I don't feel—it always seems like it's criticism coming from me, and it's not that. It's just asking about how things can be done maybe better or different, or just to be done. And if they can be done better, you know, sometimes maybe it's hindsight that you don't know until after the fact or something. Is it just a flat-out "no" that they can't be? [1:13:35] **Tim Deemer**: And... [Pause] [1:13:45] **Tim Deemer**: ...it just doesn't seem like it's just this community. It's other communities. Like in Red Wing, they got a "community engagement specialist"—they call that position. There's just... you know, making it not a priority affects very, very few people. I'm probably one percentile of people in my situation, and it's getting worse by the day. If nobody knows the meaning of this—or it's upside down—I have a "not up to code" something that... [1:14:31] **Tim Deemer**: ...it's wishing I could just kind of get more action. It seems to lag or drag on. This incident I brought up last time about this guy in the grocery store—I went up to him, he didn't even... he like played stupid, he didn't know nothing about it ever happening. And weeks go by and I find out the video was the wrong day that I just watched today with the Police Chief. I just don't have nobody. There's... [1:15:17] **Tim Deemer**: ...I could probably say it's much better, but I don't know how else to proceed. Could sing... it's like singing a solo. Singing solo, but to me, it's "so low" they don't want to hear me. That was something I picked up on or heard on the radio—somebody joked about making that pun. So yeah, I guess I'll wait to see. **Mayor John Altop**: Anybody else? Public Input. [1:16:05] **Adam Peters**: Adam Peters. I'm here again to see if we can get on the agenda the parking problem that's still at the winery. Maybe if someone would enforce some parking tickets, people would get the point. Oversized trucks don't mean they can park there. So I don't know who's told the police to not write any tickets, but maybe they need to. That way people could follow the law. **Mayor John Altop**: Are you talking about along Mill Street there? **Adam Peters**: Yeah. **Council Member Duncan**: Yeah, I've seen that too. [1:16:54] **Mayor John Altop**: Okay, let's close the public input. There's nobody left. Motion to adjourn? **Council Member Duncan**: So move. **Council Member Gesme**: Second. **Mayor John Altop**: Motion made and seconded to adjourn. All in favor, aye. Opposed? Carried.