This transcript has been formatted with speaker names based on the context of the Moose Lake City Council meeting and the official names provided. [0:04] **Jim Michalski:** We'll call to order the regular city council meeting for November 12th, 2025. We'll start off with 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. [0:36] **Jim Michalski:** Next, we'll have the approval of the agenda. Is there any additions or corrections or additions? [0:43] **Douglas Juntunen:** Motion to approve. [0:45] **Jim Michalski:** Is there a second? [0:47] **Kris Huso:** I'll second. [0:49] **Jim Michalski:** All in favor? >> Aye. [0:51] **Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Carried. Consent agenda. We have the regular city council meeting from October 8th, 2025. The special city council meeting from October 24th, 2025. Financial reports, city council bills October 2025, city financial statement October 2025, and the liquor store profit loss statement October 2025. I'd just like to pull up and discuss item 5643 which was the bill for the 2006 Dodge. I believe that we had a new transmission put in there. [1:31] **Ellissa Owens:** Okay. The car. [1:34] **Jim Michalski:** Okay. Maybe a motion to approve on that. [1:37] **Douglas Juntunen:** There's two. [1:39] **Jim Michalski:** Is there a second? [1:40] **Kris Huso:** Second. [1:41] **Jim Michalski:** Any further discussion? >> We'll be able to scope the whole thing. [1:46] **Jim Michalski:** All in favor? >> Aye. [1:48] **Jim Michalski:** Opposed? Carried. Public comment. This time is reserved for comment from the public on matters not listed on the agenda. Please keep comments to two minutes. [2:03] **Walter Lower III:** Mr. Mayor, if we could go back to visit that 5673. Just real quickly. No problem. It was just the transmission on that vehicle. I just wanted us to discuss or see if there's interest in creating a line item for that vehicle moving forward into the next few budgets if we don't have enough I guess for this next year. But spending almost that amount of money on a vehicle that we were forced to have to fix—a 2006—maybe we should be looking at creating that line item for that vehicle. [2:36] **Jim Michalski:** What kind of line item you thinking? [2:38] **Walter Lower III:** I'm just thinking that money going into the budget if we're not using that for a capital improvement for next year if it doesn't fit. Then maybe we should be putting about $10,000 a year or more away for that. So we are not coming up with a dead engine or something. [3:00] **Jim Michalski:** Yeah, that's kind of like an equipment repair fund or something like that. [3:03] **Walter Lower III:** Well, I’m not sure how it looks, but I just know that I don't want to be have us put in that situation again where we're putting a transmission into something that's a little bit [older]. I wasn't fun to do that either. So that's all. [3:18] **Kris Huso:** Like we need a capital improvement fund for each department basically. [3:24] **Walter Lower III:** Yeah. And I believe that we have that we're there on that but this item for sure should be at least up for discussion where you're at. [3:30] **Jim Michalski:** Yeah. I mean, I've thought for years we need to have some type of equipment repair savings account, per se, that we dedicate x amount of dollars to every single year, no matter what. I mean, we probably have $300,000 of equipment in that shop between vehicles and loaders and skid steers and dump trucks. And I mean, any bad day we could lose an engine and a dump truck for 30 grand. So, probably something we should look into. [3:54] **Walter Lower III:** So, maybe it's just something that we can discuss further. I like that. That's all. [4:05] **Jim Michalski:** Okay. Any further discussion? Okay. Now, moving on to public comment. Seeing none, department reports, County Sheriff's Office. [4:11] **Kelly Lake:** Thank you, council. I believe everybody got the print out from Lieutenant Goin. Just to report self-initiated field activity: 58 extra patrol detail, 36 traffic stops, 30 business checks, 4 community engagements, 11 on view public assists and 5 paper services. Calls for response: we had zero assistance from other agencies, two medicals, and 52 other calls for response for a total of 198 calls for service. We recently filled the final spot in Moose Lake with Deputy Megan Connley. She was unable to attend tonight, but I hope to introduce her to everybody here shortly. [5:02] **Jim Michalski:** Any questions, comments? Thank you for your report. [5:11] **Kelly Lake:** Thank you so much. Appreciate it. [5:15] **Jim Michalski:** City Superintendent. [5:20] **Phil Entner:** Mayor, members of council, busy month this last month. You've seen we've had multiple sections of road tore apart. So, we'll start in the water fund because that was why it was all happening. Water department distributed 6.1 million gallons of water in the month of October. Water breaks last month was terrible. 10/15 to 10/18 we fixed the water break that was right here at 309. We then went to 124 Street right in front of City Hall. Two weeks later on the 31st of October we had one right in front of the post office. It was fantastic—being sarcastic. We still have a lot of things to fix. Next spring we're going to be replacing some valves that didn't shut off and don't operate like they should. They're over 80 years old. It's time to give them some [attention]. Sorry, Chris. You're giving me a look. [6:10] **Kris Huso:** No, I'm just thinking. [6:12] **Phil Entner:** Okay. [6:13] **Kris Huso:** I was going to ask a question. [6:15] **Phil Entner:** Sure. No problem. You're just like you were trying to stop me there for a second. No, we have many many different valves in this town that are not working due to their age. If you noticed after we were done, we had a wet spot on the road right by the credit union. That's a leaking valve. That's the sign of a failing valve. So, the next time we go turn that, it's possible it will not shut off. It may explode and then we'll be digging that. We have a lot of those in the ground and that's due to not moving forward and replacing those valves when we need to. I understand they're $7,000-$8,000 a piece to replace. So I totally get it. Other than that though, the project's been really good. Couple of road closures, so businesses shut down short periods of time. A lot of people were very very friendly, very helpful. Went really really well. And the projects closed out extremely fast. Three days they were done. Nobody even knew of the black top patch in the road, which is the best part of those roads now because they're the smoothest. Other than that, it was really good. And then the one good thing that came out of this is our daily water usage has decreased immensely. I'm not going to throw numbers out there yet, but it is a lot from what we were pumping. So, that is a win for you guys. The sewer department collection system: 10.6 million gallons of waste water in month of October were collected. The annual sanitary sewer maintenance cleaning program is completed. That turned out to be 37,000 feet of pipe that your crew cleaned themselves in house which saved you almost $42,000. So that's a big one because we couldn't afford to sub something like that out. Streets and right-of-ways: snow and ice removal equipment is ready. It's all been tested. Road patching, concrete repairs, those are all pretty much done now for the season. Our annual load of cold mix was delivered last week. It's a specialty product made to be utilized in the winter. We are mandated by DOT if we open up a state highway in the middle of the winter to put a hard surface back on it. If we don't, we are then on the hook for maintaining that patch every day. And at 10,000 cars per day in the spring thaw cycle, it is a huge nightmare. So, that is done. We talked a little bit about equipment earlier. The 450 back loader and 255 Cat are all serviced. Cemeteries are completely shut down for the year and campground is as well. There is about 8 or 10 trees that public works is going to remove out of the park and the campground this winter. We are waiting for frozen ground to be able to do that. On the arena: ice is in, hockey is happening. Storm sewer—have been working on that storm water grant that we got. I can't remember the name of it. [10:05] **Taylor Hansberry:** It's the storm sewer inventory and analysis project listed in the engineering meeting minutes. [10:10] **Phil Entner:** Right. So, we've been working on data collection on that here in the last month as well. Recycling center hours are back to normal. That's all I have unless you have any questions for me. [10:35] **Walter Lower III:** Question. You brought up tree removal. I noticed that there's a dead red pine in the old cemetery, the riverside there along the river. So that might be something you guys want to take a look at. And then what's the latest on the gravel pit? Where are we exactly at with that? [10:55] **Phil Entner:** Scrubbing and clearing is hopefully happening in December. So then it'll be all prepped for gravel crushing come May or June. [11:05] **Walter Lower III:** Okay. Thank you. [11:07] **Phil Entner:** Yep. Can we meet after this meeting about where that tree exactly is. [11:15] **Jim Michalski:** Next we have the Municipal Liquor Store Department report. [11:20] **Ryan McKeon:** Greetings members of the council. Mayor Michalski, Administrator Owens. Uh first with the liquor store, I did pass out just a sneak peek at the February calendar. Still pretty rough with that, but all the holidays are on there. We got some ideas for some stuff we'll bring to the liquor committee. We have a full-time employee that's going to be going off on leave here shortly, but we're hopefully going to hire a full-time employee. That'll be coming up later in the agenda. We're digging into a lot of ways to be more efficient down there. Rowdy Gents are planned November 26th from 7 to 10 and Greedy Crews will be back November 22nd. The other thing I wanted to bring up is the discussion at the congressional level to make changes to the Farm Bill which would impede all of our ability to sell THC products. MMBA is encouraging everybody to contact your US senator to explain your dissatisfaction. The legislation would limit the hemp products to 4 mg of THC, effectively rendering the entire hemp THC industry illegal. So just something to keep an eye on. [13:10] **Jim Michalski:** Any comments? Technology department. [13:18] **Ryan McKeon:** All right. Technology. We got the library computer installed. Laura is very happy with that; it is probably 30 years newer than the one they had. Everything's working great in there. And then in the next few weeks here, we'll have some updates to our digital signs. There's some bulbs that are out, but we're going to get that fixed. [13:42] **Jim Michalski:** Finance department. [13:45] **Ryan McKeon:** Finance. Let's start with duty disability reimbursement. I had some additional work with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. It looks like we'll stand at $12,654 as far as a reimbursement. Any questions about that? They were all approved and processed. And then there's Minnesota Paid Leave. We'll bring forward in December a new policy that incorporates the new Minnesota Paid Leave program. We are required to send a letter out to all team members who qualify. That'll go out in the next payroll batch. Then essentially after that we'll set it up in our payroll system and then start paying in quarterly. [15:30] **Jim Michalski:** Thank you. City engineer report. [15:38] **SEH Representative:** Council received the monthly meeting minutes from the engineering meeting with SEH. As Superintendent Entner mentioned, the MPCA storm water sewer inventory analysis project is underway. That was the $76,500 of grant funding. We are in the data collection phase. We are working with the Kettle River Upper St. Croix watershed with a funding opportunity to assist the city with our $8,500 match. Part of the city's contribution can be offset by city staff time and wages. Other than that, the city attorneys are almost done prepping documents regarding the residential development behind the Kwik Trip/Rebel Heights. We're getting really close. Other items will be discussed later. [17:22] **Jim Michalski:** Chamber of Commerce update. [17:26] **Michelle Anderson:** Hello, Mayor, City Administrator and City Council members. Michelle Anderson with Moose Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. We have two new board members: Logan Bokei and Connie Peterson. Today we approved our budget for 2026. We had a great time at the Halloween event at Moose Lake City Park. We had around 750 kids come through. We're supporting Small Business Saturday. Santa is coming to the depot this year. Our annual meeting and dinner is January 17th. We have a spring golf event May 29th. Kitty parade July 3rd. Fourth of July theme is to be announced. Our goal is to raise $10,000 for fireworks. Agate Days is July 18th and 19th. We are not having Brewfest this year. Nine and Dine golf will be July 31st. National Night Out is August 4th. The Moose Lake Triathlon will not happen this year as we do not have a race director. Bingo will be March 14th and August 21st. Thank you. [21:35] **Walter Lower III:** What was the date of Small Business Saturday? [21:38] **Michelle Anderson:** It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but we kind of promote it the whole month. [21:46] **Jim Michalski:** Thank you. Previously discussed business, the American Legion flagpole design update. [22:02] **Mike Peterson:** Good evening, Mayor, council members, and administration. I’m Mike Peterson, adjutant of the American Legion. We're here for approval of putting up the lighting arch down there at the veterans memorial. We want to get the lights up high at 10 feet so they are safe from vandalism. They are LED lighting, no solar, just to keep maintenance down for the city. It's going to be all paid for by the Legion. We'll have a contractor for steel and an electrician for wiring. It will be based on 3/4 inch galvanized threaded rods, so if it gets run into, it can be taken down and replaced. [25:10] **Jim Michalski:** Any questions? [25:18] **Ellissa Owens:** I just have a question from the administrative process. I know we had to jump through hoops with the whole flagpole. Where does this come into play since it would be something that the city would obviously own? Does this need to be engineered? [25:34] **Taylor Hansberry:** The reasoning for the engineering on the flagpole was due to the height and the magnitude of the flagpole itself. We would definitely want city involvement moving forward regarding the footings. [25:53] **Mike Peterson:** We were going to be working with the power plant in putting in this arch. They're going to auger the holes. We are hiring Pete Tuszka for the concrete work. The power plant will bring power to the facility. The lights would come on when the city lights come on. Tomorrow they're coming to put in the memorial itself; it's black granite. The benches are in and match the park scheme. [28:16] **Walter Lower III:** I'm wondering about maintenance in the future. If there was vandalism, is that going to be up to the city then? [28:28] **Mike Peterson:** Yeah, because you're going to be the owner. Of course it would be your responsibility, but we could help out as much as we can. [28:43] **Kris Huso:** I have a question on that same lines as far as the bricks. Didn't I read that some were vandalized already? [28:54] **Mike Peterson:** This process has been drawn out and there were just bare bricks down there. Now with the memorial and benches, everyone's going to recognize it as a memorial right away. I don't think there's going to be many issues. [29:34] **Jim Michalski:** So, we are looking for consensus to let the Legion go forward with their archway? [29:50] **Walter Lower III:** Yes. And again I was thinking the city engineer is going to look at this and approve it. [30:06] **Mike Peterson:** This is it. We're looking at doing the dedication on Memorial Day. [30:26] **Kris Huso:** When would you be installing bricks before Memorial Day? [30:35] **Mike Peterson:** We're hoping. We've got about 80 more that are being made. The sale of the bricks is ongoing at the bank and other locations. [32:33] **Mike Peterson:** Our costs into this are about $33,000 to date. We want to do it right and not be a burden on the city. Thank you. [32:56] **Jim Michalski:** Thank you, Mike. City ordinances. [33:06] **Taylor Hansberry:** Thank you, Council. We have been working on these ordinances for several months. City staff and city attorneys have spent several hours reviewing state statutes to make sure the language is enforceable. The first is Ordinance Number 1 which establishes enforcement of administrative citations. This means the City Administrator can send citations for things like not mowing your lawn. Public nuisances involve the Sheriff’s Office. The three ordinances we are looking at are: 131 (Public Nuisance), 169 (Dogs and Cats), and 154 (City Property). Ordinance 154 is important because it allows us to cite people for using the campground without paying. For the animal ordinance, licenses will now be good for the life of the animal with a flat $50 fee. We added a grandfather clause for people who currently have more than three pets. Regarding the nuisance ordinance, we defined "unnecessary noise" as being heard 50 feet away unassisted. This avoids needing expensive decibel meters. We also discussed seasonal vehicle storage in backyards for up to 30 days, though we might need to adjust that 30-day limit for winter storage. [41:13] **Ellissa Owens:** Taylor, a fantastic job. We have had some council feedback. One thing we've discussed internally is having a special meeting in order to accommodate making these adjustments before the December meeting. [42:15] **Jim Michalski:** Thoughts on that? [42:17] **Kris Huso:** I think it's a good idea. I don't want to adopt them tonight. I don't think they're ready. [42:21] **Ellissa Owens:** If council is willing, please provide feedback in writing in the next day or so. [42:35] **Jim Michalski:** I'd like to see the meeting in two weeks if possible because people have been waiting a long time. Once we adopt these, we will need to adopt a new fee schedule as well. [42:59] **Taylor Hansberry:** Thank you. [43:15] **Jim Michalski:** City parks and playground discussion. [43:18] **Ellissa Owens:** Council received two quotes regarding the removal of the old school playground. I've asked Superintendent Entner to provide an update. [43:56] **Phil Entner:** Originally it was a small list of things, but it turned into about 16 labor hours. We took care of minor things like slide gap spacers and missing decking material. All of those have been taken care of other than the removals in the two estimates. Public Works will do the leveling and refilling of surface holes to cut costs. One of the quotes from Nordstrom's eliminates cost by having Public Works help with footing removal. [46:40] **Kris Huso:** So this first quote from Safety First for $15,000 is just for the old elementary playground? [47:02] **Phil Entner:** You got it. [47:25] **Kris Huso:** And the quote for the beach playground includes the tire swing and the old metal swing set? [48:08] **Phil Entner:** It is the same set. Nordstrom's includes all with help from Public Works. [48:33] **Kris Huso:** There's no quotes in here for Peterson Park? [48:35] **Ellissa Owens:** Correct. Public Works has repaired what the inspection called out there. We will continue to work with Essentia Health to upgrade that park. The basketball court is finished and being used. [49:27] **Lou Ohly:** I had brought up at the park board meeting about the possibility of relocating that swing set. [49:55] **Ellissa Owens:** We won't know if it's salvageable until we pull the footings. That conversation can happen with whichever contractor is awarded. [50:42] **Jim Michalski:** Is there a motion? [50:49] **Kris Huso:** I'll make the motion that we go with Nordstrom to do the removal. [50:52] **Douglas Juntunen:** Second. [51:00] **Jim Michalski:** Any further discussion? All in favor? >> Aye. Carried. [51:09] **Jim Michalski:** New business: 2026 watercross event discussion. [51:13] **Ellissa Owens:** The city was contacted by Weeping Willa proposing to bring back a watercross event. The Park Board recommended Labor Day weekend, but there were concerns because the campground already sells out then. Other dates like June or August were discussed. [52:57] **Taylor Hansberry:** Most racers are self-sufficient and could use the football field. We do sell some dry sites over Labor Day, but there is extra space. Trevor from Weeping Willa said they would be willing to pay to camp. [54:30] **Kris Huso:** My thought is any of these dates are going to be a disfavor to people camping that want to enjoy the lake and can't take their boats out because of the course. [55:18] **Ellissa Owens:** We discussed having a disclaimer at the time of reservation for the 2026 season. [55:58] **Douglas Juntunen:** I would prefer Labor Day weekend because people are already coming up to take their stuff out of the lake for the season. [57:04] **Trevor (Applicant):** Revenue wise, you're going to get a bunch extra. The boat ramp will still be open, boaters just wouldn't be able to be in the course area. Labor Day works better for the IWA schedule too. [58:27] **Walter Lower III:** I like it later myself. I did not like June because people are in the heat of summer. [59:53] **Kris Huso:** Is there any way we can put something on the water and light bills so residents are aware of the event and the noise? [1:00:24] **Trevor (Applicant):** The more information the better. We wouldn't be going past 6:30 p.m. at the latest. [1:01:43] **Jim Michalski:** Looking for a motion to approve. [1:01:48] **Douglas Juntunen:** I'll make a motion that we approve the request for the Labor Day weekend and work with administration on the details. [1:02:07] **Walter Lower III:** Second. [1:02:11] **Jim Michalski:** All in favor? >> Aye. Carried. [1:03:20] **Jim Michalski:** City fee schedule updates. [1:03:23] **Ellissa Owens:** Updates include short-term rental application fees and inspection fees. We've also added animal running-at-large fines and citation appeal fees. The Park Board recommended increasing nightly RV camping fees. Also, we are aligning building permit fees with the state's recommendations. [1:06:24] **Walter Lower III:** With the animals running at large, is there an opportunity for a warning first? [1:06:30] **Taylor Hansberry:** Yes, we have to issue a warning first unless it's a public nuisance. [1:07:02] **Kris Huso:** In the short-term rentals, are they inspected by the Department of Health? [1:07:15] **Ellissa Owens:** Yes. [1:08:36] **Walter Lower III:** On the building permits, how much have they gone up? I always like to see Moose Lake maintain the lowest permits we can for housing affordability. Surrounding towns are sometimes cheaper. [1:12:01] **Ellissa Owens:** Our building official contract has increased this year. Previously, our fees were so minimal that the city ended up "eating the difference" on large projects like state re-roofing. Using the state calculator makes it simpler and covers our costs. [1:13:28] **Jim Michalski:** Is there a motion to approve? [1:13:33] **Kris Huso:** I'll make that motion. [1:13:36] **Lou Ohly:** Second. [1:13:42] **Jim Michalski:** All in favor? >> Aye. Carried. Well protection plan. [1:13:49] **Ellissa Owens:** This is informational. When we built new wells 3 and 4, it triggered a new wellhead protection plan, good for 10 years. The $25,000 cost is state-mandated. By having this plan, we become eligible for MDH grants which have brought in over $40,000 in the past for lift stations and manholes. [1:17:37] **Jim Michalski:** Short Elliott Hendrickson LSL inventory. [1:17:40] **Phil Entner:** Lead service line inventory. We finished the survey and got some grant funding to refine it. Now it's a "hurry up and wait" game for funding to see if we have to dig up services. [1:18:52] **Jim Michalski:** Snow removal bids. [1:18:54] **Ellissa Owens:** There's a need to add an inspection component for short-term rentals. Our building official can do this for $98 per hour, passed on to the applicant. Looking for approval for the amended contract for building services with Township and Range. [1:21:04] **Jim Michalski:** Motion to approve? [1:21:10] **Walter Lower III:** So move. [1:21:13] **Douglas Juntunen:** Second. [1:21:17] **Jim Michalski:** All in favor? >> Aye. Carried. Snow removal bids. [1:22:08] **Walter Lower III:** I have a question. How long do these visits take? One bid is hourly and one is per job. [1:23:45] **Jim Michalski:** We'll table that until the special meeting to get clarified bids. 2026 regular budget discussion. [1:24:07] **Ellissa Owens:** For the Sewer Fund, we are now breaking down revenue per major customer (MSOP, DOC). This provides much more visibility. We are not currently receiving the base availability fee from the sewer district, so I did not budget for it. The Sewer Fund is projected to operate in the black for the first time in years. For the Water Fund, debt service is climbing. We're looking at a $4 to $10 monthly increase for residential users to cover the $25,000 wellhead plan and debt. [1:38:42] **Walter Lower III:** I recall last year we did not abide by the direction we were given on these funds. We were told one fund would be bankrupt by 2027. We need to keep these funds going. [1:39:53] **Phil Entner:** Can I add? We finally got the sewer fund turned around. Let's not do the same thing in the water fund. [1:40:28] **Ellissa Owens:** If we get the water and sewer funds self-sufficient, we can use that money to replace infrastructure during road projects. Our goal is to have road projects every two years instead of four. [1:42:12] **Ellissa Owens:** For the Liquor Fund, we are projecting a net income of $86,350. This includes hiring an additional full-time employee. [1:43:34] **Walter Lower III:** The liquor store was created to help defer taxes for citizens. We should be using those funds for these types of infrastructure projects. [1:44:09] **Ellissa Owens:** In the Motor Vehicle Fund, staff has done an exceptional job. We are still requiring a $50,000 transfer from the general fund, but we are making progress. [1:45:45] **Walter Lower III:** The DMV technically loses money, but it is a service to the citizens. It’s better than losing $100,000 like we were before. [1:47:00] **Jim Michalski:** 2026 cigarette and tobacco licenses. [1:47:26] **Ellissa Owens:** We have DG Retail, Federated Co-op, Kwik Trip, and Edwards Oil. [1:47:50] **Walter Lower III:** Motion to approve. [1:47:53] **Douglas Juntunen:** Second. [1:47:56] **Jim Michalski:** All in favor? >> Aye. Carried. 2026 liquor and brewing licenses. [1:48:47] **Kris Huso:** Motion to approve. [1:48:54] **Walter Lower III:** Second. [1:48:58] **Jim Michalski:** All in favor? >> Aye. Carried. Full-time bartender hiring recommendation. [1:49:15] **Ellissa Owens:** The recommendation is to hire Ryan West. [1:49:27] **Douglas Juntunen:** Motion approved. [1:49:31] **Kris Huso:** Second. [1:49:42] **Jim Michalski:** Reports of correspondence. [List of reports]. [1:50:20] **Kris Huso:** Could you read the thank you for Laura the library director? [Mayor reads thank you letter]. [1:51:48] **Walter Lower III:** That storm water roundtable—is that something the council should attend? [1:52:10] **Ellissa Owens:** Superintendent Entner and I are attending. [1:52:53] **Jim Michalski:** Announcements: Regular meeting December 10th at 4 p.m. Truth and Taxation at 6 p.m. EDA on November 19th. Water and Light on November 18th. HRA on December 8th. Fire District on December 9th. Is there a motion to adjourn? [1:53:44] **Kris Huso:** So move. [1:53:47] **Lou Ohly:** Second. [1:53:50] **Jim Michalski:** All in favor? >> Aye. We are adjourned.