This transcript is from a White Bear Lake City Council meeting (specifically late 2021). Based on the context provided, I have identified the speakers: **Mayor Jo Emerson**, **Police Chief Julie Swanson**, **City Manager Ellen Hiniker**, **City Clerk Kara Coustry**, **Finance Director Aimee Kinnsetter**, **Community Development Director Anne Kane**, **Consultant Rita Trapp**, and Councilmembers **Bill Bean**, **Kevin Edberg**, **Bill Walsh**, and **Dan Jones**. *** **[00:00:00] Mayor Emerson:** The clerk will please take roll. All will be noted, thank you. At this time our police department's new honor guard will present the colors. **[00:00:10] Honor Guard:** Nice. Ready? Okay. **[00:00:15] Mayor Emerson:** City of White Bear Lake, the flag of your nation and pledge of the United States. **[00:00:20] All:** I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. **[00:00:35] Mayor Emerson:** So nice addition. Thank you very, very much. Next on the agenda is approval of the minutes of the October 12, 2021 meeting. Are there any corrections to the minutes? I have a motion and a second. All of us in favor say aye. **[00:00:45] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:00:46] Mayor Emerson:** Opposed? Motion carries. Moving on to 2B: minutes of the special city council meeting on October 20th, 2021. Any corrections? **[00:00:52] Councilmember Edberg:** Move approval. **[00:00:53] Councilmember Bean:** Second. **[00:00:54] Mayor Emerson:** I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. **[00:00:56] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:00:57] Mayor Emerson:** Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Approval of the agenda. Any additions or deletions to the agenda? **[00:01:00] Councilmember Walsh:** Move to approve, Madam Mayor. **[00:01:02] Councilmember Jones:** Second. **[00:01:03] Mayor Emerson:** I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. **[00:01:05] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:01:06] Mayor Emerson:** Opposed? Motion carries. We have an agenda. Now it's my distinct pleasure—we have visitors tonight. I'm going to call on Chief—sorry, I demoted you, I was looking at the Captains—Chief Swanson to do the swearing-in of police officers. This is always a very special evening and we on the Council are very grateful that you have stepped forward to become officers in our department. So Chief, please. **[00:01:30] Chief Swanson:** Thank you Mayor and members of the Council and Miss Hiniker, and also thank you to our Honor Guard. So I know for some of you that was a surprise, but we started an Honor Guard in the police department about a year and a half ago. COVID kind of took its toll on that, as well as the rest of the world, but we wanted to make that a new tradition that with our new swearing-ins we will now have our Honor Guard present the colors at future meetings. We have four members on our Honor Guard and are hoping to continue to expand that. So many agencies have it, we just started it and it's a great tradition to have. So on to the business that we're here for tonight. We've had a very busy summer and fall, as you know, with our hiring. We welcomed a new officer a few months ago; he's completed training, he's on his own and now he's a veteran officer. So with the retirement [of an officer] who happens to be in the audience and some movement with two going to Ramsey County Sheriff's Department, we've hired three new officers this fall. So tonight we welcome these three new officers and their families to celebrate the start of their White Bear Lake career. I want to introduce you to our newest officers as we normally do, and we have a room full of people here tonight for them. Each of them have had or have ties to the City of White Bear Lake and we are excited to welcome them to the next chapter and hopefully the last chapter of their career, or at least that they'll be staying here. First up we have Officer Eddie Yabby. Eddie and his family are here. Eddie has grown up running the halls of City Hall for most of his life as his mom has worked here for many years. He started school at Mankato State until he decided to enter the military and he served in the U.S. Army for four years and held several different titles and ranks and had deployments to both South Korea and Poland. One of Eddie's most proud military moments of his career is that he earned the coveted Expert Infantryman Badge in 2016—so, very impressive. Following his departure from the military he started college at Century College, which is where I ultimately met him. I knew that his mom had all these great kids but i never had the pleasure of meeting Eddie, but he quickly stood out in class because he was always five chapters ahead. Sometimes he was ahead of the teacher in the class and was always working very ahead. So he was an exceptional student, which is what got noticed, or why I noticed him. While he was in college, Eddie worked as a security guard for M Health Fairview and he started as a Community Service Officer and a police reserve with the City of White Bear Lake in January of 2020, and then continued to work in that role until graduating and becoming a police officer. So again, he's a familiar face around our City Hall and police department and it's been a well-deserved transition into police officer. The things that stand out about Eddie is his willingness to help out, his brutal honesty, and the importance of being a role model for his younger siblings. I mentioned to his aunt and uncle, he's a really honest person—like he shares a lot of information that sometimes I warn him his mom works next door and you got to watch what you're saying because she might hear about it from one of us! We knew all about the plans for his proposal before he proposed, so more to that later. Next we have Officer Luke Dolman. The first time that I met Luke was when he walked into the lobby of the police department. His family is here. I'm sure he was 18 at the time, he didn't really look 18 at the time, but he walked in to drop off his reserve application. Although he was very, very young he made quite an impression because rather than just dropping the application off and running, he stuck around to introduce himself, talk about his desire to become a police reserve and how badly he wanted it. It was very obvious to myself and Captain Henry when we met with him at the time—I don't know if he remembers that, but it has stood out to me all these years because I don't know that anybody else has ever done that. So Luke volunteered for the next three years as a police reserve and worked more than 1880 hours as a reserve; in one of the years he worked 1040 volunteer hours alone, which he was a Community Service Officer at that same time. So we were paying him about half the cost of the time that he was spending here. While volunteering as a reserve Luke was also hired on as the part-time Community Service Officer, like I said, and he continued to work here and attend college at Century College and then later Metro State University. Despite being young or very busy with school work and volunteering at a young age at White Bear Lake, Luke continued to remain active with the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department Explorers unit and has served as an advisor for the past year—something that he's hoping to continue to maintain, which we support greatly because they're a partner agency and we don't have an explorer unit. As you can tell, law enforcement and serving the community has been front and center for Luke for most of his adult life and he attributes this drive to the many mentors he's had along the way, specifically his aunt, uncle, and cousin who are also in law enforcement. Ironically, his aunt is also one of my mentors in law enforcement because she was a police chief and went on to much bigger things. Because he couldn't wait to become a police officer and White Bear Lake wasn't hiring at the time, he decided to put his talents to use and became a Chisago County Deputy Sheriff in December of 2019. Although he enjoyed his time at Chisago County and gathered even more experience, his heart remained at White Bear Lake and when we started another process he decided to apply, which is how we got here today. If you talk with Luke he will share very positive feedback about his time serving in Chisago County. His role in their community was something much different than what he was used to growing up in the suburbs of Ramsey County because he served in Rush City, but it provided him with a rural perspective of policing. So we're happy that Luke has come home to White Bear Lake. And then last but not least in our second row we have Officer Jerome Carey, who also has ties to White Bear. Like the previous two, he started his law enforcement career in our police reserve unit in White Bear Lake. I do remember serving alongside of him at Manitou Days parades and Marketfest. One thing that has influenced Jerome and his decision to pursue the path he has were the events of 9/11. He's a little bit older than Luke in front of him because he's old enough to remember the day and the impact of the role that police and fire served during the events that day. No doubt all of this has stuck with him, which is what brought him into law enforcement. Although he has encountered some challenges along the way, he's worked very hard to get where he is today. Upon graduating from high school in Cottage Grove, Jerome decided to pursue an education in law enforcement at Inver Hills Community College. At the time Jerome graduated from college, it was much more difficult to get into the career of law enforcement and become a police officer, so in an effort to boost his resume he applied here at White Bear Lake as a police reserve in 2014 and then he served in our police reserve unit for the next two years. While volunteering for the police reserves he also worked as a corrections officer for Oak Park Heights Prison, which as you can imagine was very valuable experience for him. His efforts paid off and he was ultimately hired by the Minneapolis Police Department in 2016. Jerome speaks highly of his opportunity to serve the residents of Minneapolis and is very appreciative for being able to start his career there. However, like the others here tonight, Jerome felt it was time to return to where he started, and while the majority of his experiences in Minneapolis for the past five years have been positive, he's ready to make White Bear Lake Police Department his home. So we welcome him as well. As I said earlier, we are excited to welcome all three new officers and the thing that stands out about these three is their desire to serve our community and their dedication to the profession. They each came to us with a different story but all bring vast experience and determination to represent the city well and they each selected White Bear Lake for the right reasons. I want to note the smiles on each of their faces because this is something that I see from each of them every day as they walk through those doors to start their day. With that we're going to move on to the oath of office. I'll just note that Eddie is going to have his wife Niccole pin his badge on. Eddie wanted me to embarrass her somehow—which we're not going to do—but that just tells you a little bit about his personality. Luke is going to have his grandfather, Lou, come up and pin his badge on and Jerome is going to have his fiancee, Morgan, pin his badge on. So whether the three of you come up with those that are pinning your badge on and then Kara will issue the oath of office. Family should feel free to take pictures. **[00:12:15] City Clerk Kara Coustry:** Yeah just do it in front of me please. No seriously stand in front of me. No go ahead and say your name separately. Okay. All right, so if you'll raise your right hand, repeat after me: I, state your name... **[00:12:35] Officers:** Jerome Carey. Luke Dolman. Edward Yabby. **[00:12:38] City Clerk Kara Coustry:** Do solemnly swear... **[00:12:40] Officers:** Do solemnly swear... **[00:12:42] City Clerk Kara Coustry:** That I will support the Constitution of the United States and the State of Minnesota... **[00:12:48] Officers:** That I will support the Constitution of the United States and the State of Minnesota... **[00:12:52] City Clerk Kara Coustry:** And will discharge and faithfully execute... **[00:12:55] Officers:** And will discharge and faithfully execute... **[00:12:57] City Clerk Kara Coustry:** The duties devolving upon me... **[00:13:00] Officers:** The duties devolving upon me... **[00:13:02] City Clerk Kara Coustry:** As Police Officer for the City of White Bear Lake... **[00:13:05] Officers:** As Police Officer for the City of White Bear Lake... **[00:13:08] City Clerk Kara Coustry:** Without fear or favor... **[00:13:10] Officers:** Without fear or favor... **[00:13:12] City Clerk Kara Coustry:** To the best of my judgment and ability. **[00:13:14] Officers:** To the best of my judgment and ability. **[00:13:16] City Clerk Kara Coustry:** Congratulations. **[00:13:18] Chief Swanson:** So you could all three come up at once and pin their badge on, which is not an easy task. If you poke them it's fine, they probably told you it wasn't fine, but it's fine. They need to be tough. *[Applause]* **[00:13:45] Mayor Emerson:** So what year did you graduate? Congratulations again. Thank you for having us, Mayor and members of the Council. With that we're gonna go. So this will be the last one I'll witness as Mayor. I think it will be—I don't know, I don't expect that we're going to have any more this year. **[00:14:05] Chief Swanson:** I don't think you will either. **[00:14:06] Mayor Emerson:** And it's been a delight and a pleasure and I thank all of you that are currently serving and our newest officers and I wish you all godspeed. Thank you. Go and have fun! *[Laughter]* **[00:14:20] Officer Jerome Carey:** My experience with Oak Park Heights I think is nice. I got a lot of experience working in the jail before working the streets. I mean you learn that they're people who made mistakes. **[00:14:35] Mayor Emerson:** Grandfather, wasn't that? Yeah. Oh yeah it was wonderful. It was really sweet. It is. **[00:14:45] Councilmember:** That was sweet that he had his grandfather, that's very nice. **[00:15:00] Councilmember Walsh:** Yeah this is a makeup trip from April 2020. I had to take it at some point. Weather nice? Just rained a little bit but it was 86 again so it's hard to complain about that. **[00:15:20] Mayor Emerson:** All right, so are you going to... Anne's going to? All right. Anne, you're up next here with the ACE study. **[00:15:28] Anne Kane:** Yes, thank you Madam Mayor, members of the Council. The next visitor on our agenda this evening is Rita Trapp with the firm of HKGI who helped navigate a partner plan for a small area known as the Arts, Culture and Education plan, or area plan. The City kind of led the way, but with partnership with the White Bear Center for the Arts, Lakeshore Players Theater, Children's Performing Arts, School District 624, and Ramsey County as part of both the Bruce Vento Trail extension as well as the Rush Line. So Rita is here this evening. She was able to corral us all to come up with some common values and potential strategies to help really distinguish this gem that complements our community and really adds an interesting facet that most communities don't have, even if they do have a historic downtown. Without further ado, I'm going to turn it over to Rita Trapp with HKGI to walk you through the Arts, Culture and Education Area Plan. **[00:16:30] Rita Trapp:** All right. Well, it's a pleasure to be here this evening. I think many of you we met earlier on in the process and I'm happy to present the findings and what we worked with all of the partners. So, it was mentioned with the study partners and the number of agencies that were involved—the different arts organizations, yourselves, the school district and Ramsey County. The common values... on the next slide, there are a number of common values that were pulled together through the conversations. It's a lot of text and we're hoping that you go back and have a chance to really look at all of the slides in detail, but I'm kind of providing that overview of what happened and some of the strategies that we identified. There are a lot of common values that were important to all of the organizations, partly being welcoming and diverse, looking at communication and how this fits in with the whole community and downtown to celebrate the arts in all its different facets both physically as well as through performance. If we look at the site analysis and opportunities, making sure we all came together with a common understanding of what's been discussed, we started by trying to understand what was already planned: obviously the future expansion of the high school, the city-owned wetland area, future site expansions for White Bear Center for the Art and Hanifl, the future station for Rush Line and the Bruce Vento trail. Priority considerations included the connection to downtown. Although the arts district is physically separated by a few blocks, it really is integral and needs to be connected to the downtown area. We also really focused and talked about the fact that connecting the partner agencies or the campuses is important. Right now the way that it was being planned, there was a little bit more isolation as everybody kind of worked on their own plans. The conversation really helped the idea that while they did want to have joint audiences and students moving back and forth, that really wasn't something that had been fully thought through as everybody worked on their individual plans. And then looking at the connections to the adjacent residential neighborhoods—that it's not in isolation. When we looked at vehicle circulation, there was a little bit more on the issue side: concern about the parking congestion or just the general traffic congestion that happens with a high school campus. Also, when you have theater performances, where does everybody leave? All throughout the same exit trying to get onto Highway 61? Also looking at the potential roadway modifications on 7th and 8th related to the Rush Line and just the idea of shared parking. We grouped strategies into four areas: network and circulation, place-making, land use and redevelopment, and overall organizational framework. Starting with network and circulation, one of the elements is improving the east-west connections for pedestrians. That's focused both on the high school campus area as well as through the individual arts organizations. If we look at traffic calming, there are strategies we can use on the north-south streets, Division and Bald Eagle, to really make it feel that traffic isn't moving quite as fast. Because we're doing something that is in the arts district, we could use artistic elements instead of just traditional traffic calming—colorful artistic pavement markings and visual installations. We also looked at improving the roadway circulation to provide more space for pedestrians on Long Avenue. That's something that obviously will take a little bit more conversation between Ramsey County and the City, but that's an opportunity. And then really recognizing that rather than just having traditional pedestrian crossings, there are opportunities to make it more visible across Division as we try and connect the campuses. That also could provide an opportunity if you were ever going to have an event that crossed all of the campuses. And then the last one is addressing pedestrian connectivity on both sides of Highway 61. One of the comments the arts organizations had is that Highway 61 is one of the things they're probably the most concerned about. Our study didn't focus on solving that problem—that was probably beyond the scope of what I can do with all of the other agencies involved—but we do have in this study the idea of really trying to improve those pedestrian connections on both sides so that people understand if they're in downtown, how you move up to the arts district. Develop a wayfinding plan—that is the idea of both on the pedestrian scale and the vehicular scale. Also using potentially landmarks like the Rush Line station or the depot to kind of help make that connection. Place-making: one element is to really look at activating as much as we can the parking lot, the streets, and other in-between spaces for events. Another element is enhancing the streetscape—pedestrian lighting, seating, gathering, and landscaping. We do have an example of how a streetscape could be transformed; we used Long Avenue as an example where you could have events that could happen on the street and you're not doing the curb in the same way. The next action is the idea of creating public access to the wetland area located just north of the White Bear Center for the Arts. It would be an opportunity to have artists design the space or students involved. One element we found is the idea of district branding—some way that you know that it's a cohesive district. Similarly, another strategy is the idea of an artist-in-residence program. How can they build relationships with downtown or the school district? Now, for land use and redevelopment. As a planner, this is a section after my own heart. For land use, there's been a lot of transformation in this neighborhood already. One opportunity is to create an overlay district that allows more flexibility, such as lowering setback limitations or exploring artisan residency housing. There are also opportunities for adaptive reuse. There is also something called an "accessory commercial unit" that is trending—the idea that you have a small commercial space that's right next to or part of a home. We also looked at the idea of "arts easements" where you're able to use that front yard setback to activate the public realm. The last strategy is organizational framework. This is really more geared to how do we move beyond the study. Most of the precedents we found really looked at some type of organization that was beyond the individual organizations where they really worked cohesively together. That's helpful for branding and ongoing events. Also, partnering with the school. And then connecting downtown business resources to this area. Artists could be instrumental in transforming what retail spaces or storefront displays look like. Next steps: The study was undertaken to facilitate the conversation. The discussions found a lot of common values. There haven't been specific steps identified, but we do have some possible steps listed: more collaboration on special events, potentially a smaller master plan, and exploring zoning changes. We have a neighborhood meeting scheduled for Monday. It will be an open house format. On Monday, November 8th, I'm scheduled to present to the White Bear Lake school board. The intention is that every partner has the opportunity to hear the same information. **[00:27:10] Councilmember Bean:** Thank you. This is my ward. It looks very exciting. I look forward to seeing how things continue to play out. As I was walking my ward these last two months because I'm up for re-election, one of my constituents who lives in that area brought up the idea of a pedestrian bridge. And when you were speaking of contact with downtown, I was envisioning in my mind a bridge that would be artistic in nature. I was just—that's something I would like to explore to see if there's any possibility. Is it workable? Is there space for it? Is it affordable? And would it be the right way to connect from the district to the downtown? I hope that's something—not to add to the workload of the downtown mobility study, but it kind of feels like that would be something related to this. Sorry, Paul, is that okay to say? **[00:28:10] Paul Kauppi:** Oh, good. **[00:28:11] Rita Trapp:** I think it's something that we heard from the arts organization, that that was something that was important. That's a whole big discussion, so we didn't encompass that in this study, but I certainly think it's valuable because people don't always understand all of those things you brought up: the cost, do we have the space, where do you touch down. That's why we have engineers! **[00:28:35] Mayor Emerson:** Well, I have to say one thing. For those of us that were on the Council when the Highway 61 project was done, we came up with the arts district flags. Little did we know it was going to turn into this, but it's quite exciting to see this moving forward. We kind of hoped there was going to be this kind of a push somewhere along the way, but that was back in the infancy. **[00:28:55] Councilmember Edberg:** Thank you, Madam Mayor. So, as you outline some opportunities and possibilities... do we have enough core arts activity among the two or three organizations that are there? Is that enough to call it a district by itself? Is it an extension of the downtown area? From your experience with other communities, does that require more, or how do we think about that center of gravity? **[00:29:25] Rita Trapp:** One element of arts districts is they generally happen organically for a while. I think the City could probably do some things to provide more flexibility. I think we struggled with the idea of: does it make sense to call it its own thing? Part of that is a comfort level with the downtown and how they think of themselves. Our hope was that slide of "it'd be nice if we could think about it as a cohesive [area]" because there is that synergy. **[00:30:10] Councilmember Edberg:** So where does the accountability for shepherding those conversations lie? **[00:30:15] Rita Trapp:** That is a challenging question. You can certainly be a leader, but there's always that balancing act cities have of being too forceful. I think that's something you're going to have to figure out as we move forward. One thing we did talk about as next steps is a more regular check-in. **[00:30:45] Councilmember Edberg:** I could continue with one more question, please. You have presented to the arts organizations, you will be presenting to the school district. Did you interact with the downtown association or the chamber? **[00:30:58] Rita Trapp:** That was not included as part of the study. I certainly think staff—they are empowered, they know all this information as well as I do, so they can move that forward. Those are conversations that probably need to happen. **[00:31:15] Councilmember Jones:** The aspect of "who's herding the cats"—that's my biggest fear. I see this moving faster than the residents would see the benefit of. I'm for this. I like the idea of the zoning to give the residents that are there a huge say. I was glad to see you address that. The easy connection is to the school campus. The tougher one is Highway 61. I'd say we could go under—I mean, I know it always sounds creepy, but it's half the cost and half the real estate because you don't have to go as high to get the ADA compliant things. It's not creepy—we can paint flowers on it! And lastly, with an artist-in-residence program, would that person be able to go throughout the city? For example, could they paint green bears white since our city can't get that done? *[Laughter]* **[00:32:30] Councilmember Jones:** But I'm serious about outside of the district too. **[00:32:35] Rita Trapp:** The artist-in-residence can be whatever the organization who sponsors it makes it to be. My hope would be that they're there to help with that connection to the downtown businesses. When we were thinking about the connection between the arts district—it's not great to go south on this side of 61. But that goes back to place-making. There are things we could probably do to help make that an actual path that feels like a connection if that 61 bridge isn't possible. There are little things that could be done before then. **[00:33:45] Mayor Emerson:** Thank you. **[00:33:46] Councilmember Walsh:** Thank you, Madam Mayor. A question for Mr. Kauppi. Long Avenue—is that our street? **[00:33:52] Paul Kauppi:** That is County. **[00:33:53] Councilmember Walsh:** That's what I figured, because I drove it the other day and it's in rough shape. When they do that, we got to work with them because I like some of these ideas. We gotta not let that opportunity go. **[00:34:10] Paul Kauppi:** Members of the Council, Long Avenue is one roadway that Ramsey County would like to do a turn-back on. Some of the issues surround the right-of-way—a lot of the road is outside of the right-of-way within the railroad right-of-way. We would want Ramsey County to work out some of those issues before we just took it over. **[00:34:35] Councilmember Walsh:** Right, that's why they've been doing minimal maintenance. Deal? **[00:34:40] City Manager Hiniker:** Madam Mayor, members of Council, as far as what it looks like, that's really up to us and the County. In a turn-back agreement, oftentimes they will give the cash equivalent for us to do that work. **[00:34:55] Mayor Emerson:** Okay well you've given us lots to think about, but it's an exciting thing to think about. **[00:35:05] Rita Trapp:** It's a pleasure to see you all this evening. **[00:35:10] Mayor Emerson:** Moving on to 5A: Resolution certifying delinquent charges related to the municipal utility system assessment. Ms. Kinnsetter? **[00:35:18] Aimee Kinnsetter:** Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the Council. This is our annual assessment of utility bills. Each year in September we look back at bills that were due through June 30th. If there are delinquent accounts, we send notices letting them know that the amount will be assessed to their property taxes. I am excited to say that this is the lowest number of notices that we sent out in the last five or six years. Staff did refer residents to Ramsey County to seek help through federal funding. The city will accept payments through November 19th. So I'm asking for approval of the resolution. **[00:36:15] Mayor Emerson:** Any questions? Councilmember Walsh. **[00:36:17] Councilmember Walsh:** Thank you, Madam Mayor. You explained that during the summer we referred people off to the county. We also had CARES Act money available for residents. Is there any money left? Could that be suggested again? **[00:36:38] Aimee Kinnsetter:** Through the CARES funding, there were restrictions on using it towards utility bills. **[00:36:45] City Manager Hiniker:** And Carrie is probably the best to describe because she attended many of those webinars, but I believe it had something to do with the mechanics of the money coming back to the city. That was the stipulation in that particular pot of money. **[00:37:10] Mayor Emerson:** Well, it is a public hearing, so technically I will open it up to the public... I do not see anybody that wishes to speak on the issue, so I'll close it and bring it back to the Council for action. **[00:37:25] Councilmember Jones:** Madam Mayor, I'll move for approval of the resolution. **[00:37:28] Councilmember Bean:** Second. **[00:37:29] Councilmember Edberg:** Madam Mayor, thank you. I'm just looking at the interest rate. 7.5% seems awfully high for the interest rate environment that we're in. We're borrowing money at 1.5% or 2% when we bond. Comparing that to 7.5% just struck me as—do we need to rethink our policy? **[00:38:10] Aimee Kinnsetter:** Madam Mayor, Councilmember Edberg, that is the interest rate that has been used in all the past years. I can look back in our assessment handbook and see if we can change that. **[00:38:25] Mayor Emerson:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:38:27] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:38:28] Mayor Emerson:** Opposed? Motion carries. I'm assuming you will look into that. Moving on to 5B: Resolution certifying delinquent 2021 miscellaneous private property assessment. **[00:38:35] Aimee Kinnsetter:** This is another annual step. There are properties where services need to be done, such as lawn care or a boulevard tree. We bill the property owners. There are two invoices that remain unpaid. If not paid by November 19th, I'm forwarding a resolution to certify these to property taxes. **[00:39:15] Councilmember Walsh:** Move approval. **[00:39:16] Councilmember Bean:** Second. **[00:39:18] Mayor Emerson:** I have to have a public hearing. Opening it up to the public. Seeing no one, I'm closing it to the public. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. **[00:39:35] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:39:36] Mayor Emerson:** Opposed? Motion carries. Moving on to 9A: Resolution authorizing execution of an employment contract with the new City Manager. Any questions? **[00:39:50] Councilmember Jones:** On salary, it says the initial performance review—who does that review? **[00:39:55] City Manager Hiniker:** The Mayor and Council. **[00:40:00] Councilmember Walsh:** Move approval. **[00:40:01] Councilmember Bean:** Second. **[00:40:02] Mayor Emerson:** Motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. **[00:40:05] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:40:06] Mayor Emerson:** Motion carries. Moving on to 9B: Resolution accepting a donation from the Lions Club for the caboose renovation project. Miss Hiniker? **[00:40:15] City Manager Hiniker:** Yes, the Lions Club are busy and very generous. They are donating an additional $20,000 to go toward the caboose renovation project. Rick Juba has been working diligently with that committee. **[00:40:40] Mayor Emerson:** Councilmember Bean is on that committee. **[00:40:42] Councilmember Bean:** Rick Juba is doing a great job ushering this. Move to accept. **[00:40:48] Councilmember Walsh:** Second. **[00:40:49] Councilmember Jones:** Is there funds dedicated to all these things around that are kind of left off? I just don't want to get [stuck]. **[00:41:00] City Manager Hiniker:** There will be a contribution also by the city for this project. **[00:41:10] Mayor Emerson:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:41:12] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:41:13] Mayor Emerson:** Motion carries. Moving on to 9C: Resolution scheduling a public hearing on the issuance of bonds. Ms. Kinnsetter. **[00:41:20] Aimee Kinnsetter:** We are making progress on the public safety facility project. One side note: we have been in contact with Senator Wiger and will be seeking support in the bonding bill. We're looking to pass a resolution to hold a public hearing on November 23rd. The project estimated cost is 12.5 million. We added 7% for material costs and 500,000 for potential energy performance add-ons. The total bond issue would be just over 14.3 million. The recommendation is to consider either a 20 or 25-year bond. **[00:43:20] Councilmember Edberg:** My action tonight would set a hearing for November 23rd. At the end of that hearing, the Council would take action requiring a three-fifths majority to approve a bond of 14.3 million. That would begin a 30-day clock for a reverse referendum. Have I got that laid out okay? **[00:43:55] Councilmember Bean:** The 5% petition—does that then require a vote? **[00:44:00] Aimee Kinnsetter:** If there is a petition signed by 5% of voters, then the City Council would need to choose if they were going to hold an election or seek other financing. **[00:44:20] Councilmember Bean:** What is the anticipated interest rate? **[00:44:25] Aimee Kinnsetter:** Right now we're looking at about 2.5%. **[00:44:45] Councilmember Edberg:** Madam Mayor, I'll move the resolution with the 14.3 million dollar amount. **[00:44:50] Councilmember Jones:** Second. **[00:44:52] Mayor Emerson:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:44:54] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:44:55] Mayor Emerson:** Motion carries. Moving on to 9D: Resolution approving 2022 union contract with the firefighters. Miss Hiniker? **[00:45:05] City Manager Hiniker:** This is for our firefighters and paramedics. It includes a 3% adjustment at the beginning of the year with a 1% adjustment mid-year. Insurance would be a 75-25 split. **[00:45:50] Councilmember Walsh:** Move approval. **[00:45:51] Councilmember Bean:** Second. **[00:45:52] Mayor Emerson:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:45:55] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:45:56] Mayor Emerson:** Motion carries. 9E: Union contract with patrol officers. **[00:46:00] City Manager Hiniker:** Very similar. 3% adjustment with a 1% mid-year and the same insurance split. **[00:46:25] Councilmember Jones:** Move approval. **[00:46:26] Councilmember Walsh:** Second. **[00:46:28] Mayor Emerson:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:46:30] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:46:31] Mayor Emerson:** Motion carries. 9F: Resolution providing benefits for employees not covered by agreements. **[00:46:40] Staff Member (Kerry):** This resolution establishes the benefit package for non-bargaining city employees. It follows the same 75-25 insurance split. **[00:47:15] Councilmember Bean:** Move to approve, Madam Mayor. **[00:47:17] Councilmember Edberg:** Second. **[00:47:18] Mayor Emerson:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:47:20] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:47:21] Mayor Emerson:** Motion carries. 9G: Compensation study with McGrath Human Resources Group. **[00:47:30] City Manager Hiniker:** The current plan was created in 1988. It's becoming more challenging as we hire new positions. We looked at two firms and McGrath was less expensive and provide a plan that we felt was more comprehensive. **[00:48:40] Councilmember Edberg:** How long would a study of this nature remain relevant? **[00:48:55] City Manager Hiniker:** I think this is going to be critical for a base for the city as it moves forward in the next decade. **[00:50:30] Councilmember Bean:** My experience is that once you've established that, it's fine to go a decade before you do it again. **[00:51:15] Councilmember Walsh:** The external market survey part—do they get real data? **[00:51:25] City Manager Hiniker:** Yes, they will get real data. **[00:51:50] Councilmember Walsh:** Move approval. **[00:51:51] Councilmember Jones:** Second. **[00:51:52] Mayor Emerson:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:51:54] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:51:55] Mayor Emerson:** Motion carries. Communications from the City Manager. **[00:52:00] City Manager Hiniker:** We have two task forces wrapping up: Housing and Welcoming/Inclusive Community. We have a work session scheduled for November 16th. I also want to mention City Clerk Kara Coustry completed her certification—it was a big commitment. And Chief Peterson received the Fire Officer of the Year award. **[00:54:10] Paul Kauppi:** Just one last late season project: the retaining wall at Memorial Beach will be starting shortly. **[00:54:35] Anne Kane:** Northeast MICAH is holding its virtual bus tour this Thursday. **[00:54:45] Councilmember Jones:** Can I ask a weird question? Does the city have a goose problem? I need a city Labrador! **[00:55:05] Mayor Emerson:** I would entertain a motion to adjourn. **[00:55:10] Councilmember Walsh:** Move to adjourn. **[00:55:12] Mayor Emerson:** All in favor say aye. We are adjourned.