**[00:00] Jennie Kloos:** Councilmember Cole? Here. Councilmember Schweer? Here. Councilmember Wong? Here. Councilmember Nordby is running late. And Councilmember Monge? Here. Thank you. **[00:05] Mayor John Monge:** Motion to adopt the agenda? **[00:06] Councilmember Tim Cole:** So moved. **[00:07] Mayor John Monge:** Hear a second? **[00:08] Councilmember Troy Woods:** Second. **[00:09] Mayor John Monge:** All those in favor say aye. **[00:10] Councilmembers:** Aye. **[00:11] Mayor John Monge:** All right. Topics: McKnight Field. **[00:12] Brian Frandle:** Thank you, Mayor. So tonight, um, we're all going to be talking about the McKnight Field Complex. Um, there's many aspects of this. Brandy’s put together a really good report, but we'll be covering McKnight Fields themselves, the Kunkel field, the Triple Crown batting cages, the Polar Charity—who does the work at the concession stands at the McKnight softball fields—and ball field reservations. So with that, I will turn it over to Brandy to discuss. It's going to be a lot of information dumped for you guys tonight, so it's going to be just back and forth. Give us some guidance if you're looking for some more information, then we'll follow up with what needs to be taken care of for any requests that you guys have. **[00:14] Brandy Howe:** Okay, thank you. It's going to be another history lesson, I think. Um, so I spent a good portion of last week doing another deep dive into the files to learn about the McKnight field area, and this is a presentation of what I found. It's not in any linear sort of order, but I'll try to make it make sense as much as I can. So what I learned is that the total area of the McKnight Field Complex is what I'm going to call it is 21.5 acres and that includes the baseball field, which is now called Kunkel field, the four softball fields, two tennis courts, a t-ball field, the parking lots, and the batting cages in the concession stands which is in the middle of the softball fields. Part of the land was acquired in 1969 through an eminent domain process and through a HUD grant, and so there are some limitations on that particular area in terms of what can be done with that land. It must be preserved in perpetuity for recreational purposes. The exact boundary of that 11.7 acres is unknown without having a surveyor kind of draw it out for us, but I believe that it's approximately—if my pointer works—I think it's Kunkel field, about from I think the 11th Avenue area South is kind of roughly it. But that's just going on what I believe to be the boundary based on the old plat map and kind of the legal description that I could piece together. The existing conditions of the McKnight complex kind of vary depending on what you're looking at. So in the whole, it needs a little bit of refurbishment. A "refresh" is how Ron put it. He said that we need a new fencing around the entire site and the interior trail and parking lots require paving. You can see that from the image here—the trail to the concession stand is in some rough shape. The tennis courts are also in disrepair, and the t-ball field is in poor condition and there's some elements that are missing. The softball fields are in need of some refurbishment and maintenance as well. Kunkel field is in pretty good condition. It was updated with the efforts of the school district; they covered the cost to rebuild the pitching mound which was about fourteen thousand dollars. The project included re-grading, resetting, and spreading AG lime. The school also built the Press Box in 2003—I did not have the value of that in the records that I saw most recently. The school district has proposed to install a new scoreboard; there's an image of it on the screen. According to their proposal, the school district would pay for the scoreboard, they would use the four ad spots to pay for that cost, and they would not accept any further ad revenue after that. If the city agrees to accept the scoreboard, then staff recommends that we engage with the City Attorney to put a prepared agreement that would identify ownership and maintenance responsibilities. Then we've got a couple of lease agreements that have been in place and one kind of in a resolution—not really an agreement, but it's a resolution that was adopted in 1979. The first one I'll talk about is the agreement with the school district. The city has had an agreement in place since about 1974. The most current one with the school district is dated 2011. That agreement has been in place for over a decade and there's been a lot of changes that have occurred since then. The school district has a lot of new staff as does the city. The school operations and the city operations are no longer the same as they were 10 years ago. The main difference to the city is that we no longer offer a youth program and so we don't have a need to use school district facilities any longer. From what I understand over the past few months of working here and the limited amount of documentation I could find is that there's kind of a muddled history on the implementation of that agreement. There's not always been strict adherence to it by either the school district or the city in terms of the field maintenance, capital improvements, or fees. So over the past few months, City staff—we've been looking at the agreement and we've had a couple of conversations with the school district initially to start the renegotiation process. What we've learned from that so far is that both parties are in a general agreement that the informal practices of the past are not going to continue and that what we come up with for a future agreement will be the go-to guide and the policy document on all things related to the use of McKnight field for the maintenance and the improvements. And then we've got two other agreements: Triple Crown batting cages and Polar Charities. In 1992, the city entered into an agreement with Triple Crown wherein the lessee agreed to construct the batting cage facility in exchange for no rent for 15 years, and that terminated in 2008. Then in that year, a 10-year extension was authorized that terminated in 2018; there was an automatic renewal built into that one and so that will expire in June of this year. In terms of concessions, Polar Charities was the other lease agreement that we had in place that was operated um—Polar Charities, they operated the concession stand for many years and that lease expired in November of 2022 and that group has decided not to continue. So that is an opportunity to consider in the future. Finally, the American Legion: in 1979, the Legion requested permission to install lighting at McKnight field in exchange for use of the field free of charge indefinitely, and the Council agreed to that request and they passed resolution 79-078 that accepted the lights and indicated that the Legion can have free use of the field except for cleanup charges from then on. So, 1979 to indefinitely. **[00:15] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** Can I pause you for a point of clarity? **[00:16] Brandy Howe:** Sure. **[00:17] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** The Legion uses McKnight field or the Legion uses Kunkel field? **[00:18] Brandy Howe:** Sorry, it was called McKnight, but when I say McKnight I'm referring to Kunkel. **[00:19] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** Thank you. **[00:20] Brandy Howe:** Good, good point. Okay, operational cost: this is something that we were asked to take a look at to give Council a better understanding of what it takes to operate the facility and what it costs. Ron and his team put together an annual cost for all of the materials like chalk, fertilizer, grass seed, Roundup, irrigation, mowing, etc., and came up with a year value of all those things. Then we divided that by field and then divided that by day of how many days there are in the summer typically. So just the maintenance and supplies costs about 102 dollars per field per day, and that does not even touch the electric costs. This I'm going to struggle with, but I'm going to do my best to try to explain it. The use of the fields is a little bit more complicated because to use the fields, the customer must pay a demand charge, which is an additional fee for large utility users to maintain the constant supply of electricity. When you factor in the demand charge for Kunkel field specifically, that would be 733 dollars a month and that does not include the fees or the just the rate charges. If they're turning on the lights at all, that's what it's going to cost for that month, and then in addition to that then you have the use fees as well. **[00:21] Councilmember Troy Woods:** Yep, or two minutes or whatever just to flip on the switch? **[00:22] Brandy Howe:** Correct. Oh, 15? Okay. So moving forward, just to let you know that ball field rental rates that we have on the fee schedule now, they do not include these costs necessarily. This is what our fee schedule currently collects for rentals: 75 dollars per four-hour time increment or 150 dollars per tournament, which is renting the field for the entire day. Or if you want to have a midday drag or any kind of maintenance, then it would add another 300 dollars, and I think that would typically occur if there's going to be a tournament for the day. We also looked at planning documents because you know that's very important to city planners. When we looked at our comprehensive plan to see what it had to say about the McKnight Field Complex, it did have two specific things. The first is that we should promote shared use of the park in open spaces wherever schools and parks are adjacent, such as McKnight and North High School. The second thing is that we should continue to provide a high level of maintenance and make improvements as appropriate. Looking at the park improvement plan, that document recommends that we prepare a master plan for McKnight that includes a thorough assessment of the age and condition of existing buildings and facilities to give us a better understanding of the future replacement needs. It should also consider the existing facility mix, the amenities out there, programming needs, and then what do the residents want to see. Cost estimates should also be included so that we can adequately budget for any improvements. So far, the master plan has not been prepared. There was ten thousand dollars that was set aside for a master plan, but I think when that was considered by the Park Board, it was more of a layout. I think that the "master plan" name is a little bit confusing; what it really is is what I described and not just a layout, but it's a hard look at what the facility is and what we want to see out there in the future. So for the discussion, I've got a couple of points just to get us started. Recommendations and some questions: the first recommendation is to continue to comply with the HUD agreement like we've done. We will continue to partner with the school district on coming up with a shared use agreement for the facilities, and we should prepare that community-wide Park and Rec master plan that looks at not just McKnight but all of the facilities throughout the community. Then things to consider in our discussion tonight is the future of the batting cages, the future of the Polar Charity concession stand, are the current fee schedule rates appropriate, and what do we think about the donation of the scoreboard? With that, I will ask for questions. **[00:23] Mayor John Monge:** One question, probably more towards you Brian, is we met with the superintendent of the schools last Friday and she was going to get a list of what they thought the needs were going to be. Have you received anything yet? **[00:24] Brian Frandle:** Um, I don't remember—we put a list together and we will have that to you. I apologize, I don't have that in front of me, but we do have their reservation schedule for the summer and it was extensive. So, I mean, we'll be looking at those rates and coming back with you guys for some more suggestions and what's acceptable to you guys. **[00:25] Mayor John Monge:** And she also mentioned the superintendent, Christine, that they are going to be doing their tennis over at one of the newer schools. What's the name of the school? **[00:26] Brian Frandle:** It's over in Maplewood. Yeah, they already put a lot of money into that and refurbished those fields. The tennis courts aren't needed for that position for our schools. That would be one of the other ones with their brand new ones. They said they couldn't—the way their policy is—they cannot invest money into land that they don't own. So that's why they didn't upgrade them. Tennis courts were a couple of the questions we had when we met on Friday. **[00:27] Councilmember Wong:** Can I ask a question? The school district cannot invest in land that they don't own—they can't invest in improvements on land they don't own? That was what she told us? **[00:28] Brian Frandle:** Just makes me question this scoreboard. **[00:29] Brandy Howe:** Yeah, correct. Maybe donated or something. **[00:30] Councilmember Tim Cole:** When you referenced ball fields and the schools, what fields does that encompass? What is the high school use of city land and do they have their own fields as well? That's where I—and Brandy, awesome job putting the packet together, there's a lot of history in there to unpack—I got confused when it started talking about school fields and city fields and I don't know who uses what. **[00:31] Ron Ritchie:** Um, so the school district uses their—the boys' baseball, the varsity baseball team and JV team use the Kunkel field. The girls' fast-pitch softball use two of the fields on the McKnight complex. So that is their home fields; they don't have a ball field on their school property for any of that. And then they used to use our tennis courts for their tennis team, but like Brandy said, they invested the money in John Glenn and that's where they play their varsity games. So girls' fast-pitch softball, I believe varsity, JV, and I believe maybe a ninth-grade team. And then the boys' baseball varsity. They also use the t-ball court for practice on occasion too. Mostly the high school practices at that complex. **[00:32] Councilmember Tim Cole:** Okay, like Richardson has a ball field—is that considered a school ball field or a city ball field? **[00:33] Ron Ritchie:** That is a school ball field. Richardson has two ball fields, Cowern has three ball fields, Harmony has a baseball field. **[00:34] Councilmember Tim Cole:** Is that under 622? **[00:35] Ron Ritchie:** It is. **[00:36] Councilmember Wong:** So piggybacking off of Tim's question, Tartan High School—do they have ball fields and own their own ball fields? **[00:37] Ron Ritchie:** They do. They have their own full-size baseball field and a girls' fast-pitch field on their property. **[00:38] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** Last year there was a concern, of course this year with all the snow we have, that it took them almost to the season before they could even use our field because it was so wet out there. Correct? We have a problem with that on quite a few years because of the drainage out there? **[00:39] Ron Ritchie:** Well, we do. I mean they have a short time to get their games in the spring before school ends and I mean that complex is built on a swamp. I mean it—they filled in a swamp basically to make that complex, so it doesn't take much to make those fields unplayable. We do go to extreme lengths sometimes to make sure that we put those fields away in the fall ready to go because we don't have any time in the spring to do any kind of major project or even a minor project. We pretty much have to—once it's dry enough to get out there where we can get the bases set and get the fields drug—they're out there wanting to use them. If they have some dry spots in the grass to use, they'll use that just because they have a short period of time to get their games in. **[00:40] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** Another thing we talked about too is that t-ball field. You said the last time it was signed out officially for any kind of games was like 2018, is that correct? **[00:41] Ron Ritchie:** It was used last, but the high school really doesn't—they might use that to go take batting practice, but that's not their primary field. There's a fast-pitch group over the summer that used it. There's a tournament that they use the whole complex down there and they use that field five or t-ball field if they played some games on that for some overflow. That was for like a three or four-day weekend tournament. Other than that, it was used for practices in 2022, and then I think 2018 through 2021 we didn't prep it at all. **[00:42] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** And so does that mean that they're warming up or practicing out in that field without any maintenance? **[00:43] Ron Ritchie:** Yes, pretty much. Normal mowing, of course. We irrigate that field too, but we just drag it randomly just to keep the grass from growing in it. It's not something that's done every single day. On our field maintenance calendar, that group gave us their schedule and basically it said "practice, no maintenance needed." So we just kind of drag it once a week just to keep the weeds out of it. **[00:44] Councilmember Wong:** In regards to the operational costs, I don't believe I saw labor in there. **[00:45] Ron Ritchie:** I think there was labor in there. We assumed one hour of time at 58 dollars an hour. When I was trying to come up with how I was going to break these costs down, it's really hard. Basically what I did is: this is what we had to do whether the fields are used or not—fertilize it, irrigate it, mow it. And then I just had that hourly charge—say it takes an hour to prep a field. Then I took what we paid for chalk and fertilizer for a year and just broke it down to a daily cost. **[00:46] Councilmember Troy Woods:** And you all are talking the lines? **[00:47] Ron Ritchie:** We chalk the lines, we paint. We paint the outfield lines because they're on grass; we chalk the infield lines. When there's adult softball down there versus girls' fast-pitch, there's three different base lengths. If the girls use it Monday and we have adult softball Tuesday, the bases are longer—they're at 70 feet, the girls' are at 60. There's three different pitching mounds out there. The girls have a circle that needs to be chalked. Adult softball, we just chalk straight lines. Anything different than girls' softball on there has to be adjusted. We've had nights where there's girls' softball and then adult softball after, so we have to have a guy standing by. We normally have about a half hour to get in there, switch the fields over, drag them, re-chalk them. So that requires some overtime sometimes. **[00:48] Councilmember Tim Cole:** So nobody from the district does any of that but the city? **[00:49] Ron Ritchie:** No, the city does it now. Just so you guys have some background: when I started here 15-16 years ago just as a maintenance guy, I was doing the fields. When the high school was using our fields, their crews came and prepped all our fields for their games. Halfway through that first season, their maintenance guy came up to me and said, "I guess we're not doing it anymore, you guys are doing it." I believe the back story was that how they were taking care of the fields wasn't up to the standards that they should have been. I believe in our field maintenance agreement that we're working on with the school district, it said the city would take care of all their field stuff. When I started here too, we had the NSPAA; they were big. We used Cowern, we used Harmony, we used Richardson, and we used Webster. We would do like 15 fields a day. But like Brandy said, we don't have any of that anymore, so we don't need to use the school district fields. **[00:50] Councilmember Wong:** Well, then a question for the city and Brian—did we rent those fields from the schools? Did we pay for those school spaces? **[00:51] Brandy Howe:** Historically, I wasn't able to find any records of payments except for last year or the year before. We were the conduit for people that were from outside of the city to rent school facilities. We've stopped that practice now. In those instances, they didn't get charged for the use of the field, but we were charged a transaction fee of 25 dollars. **[00:52] Ron Ritchie:** Back in the day, I believe it was just kind of a "hey, you use our fields, we use your fields." Last year we did use Cowern fields because a group of guys got together to start a youth baseball program. They wanted to use Cowern because there's three fields there and they could manage it better. So that's where we actually went over and prepped their fields. I believe that's where that 25 dollar fee came in—registration fee. **[00:53] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** The pictures clearly show that there needs to be maintenance on that. Circling back to the school using it and the city caring for these fields—who are we obtaining a Certificate of Insurance from to utilize these fields and the tennis courts? If somebody gets hurt, who is liable? As a city, are we liable because it hasn't been upkept? Is the District liable for the individuals that are utilizing it? That's where my concerns would be. Because we have not maintained it, we would probably be liable for that situation. **[00:54] Brian Frandle:** Are you talking about the tennis courts specifically? **[00:55] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** The pictures that you had shown... I mean, even if there were... the school district is not reserving the tennis courts and I don't even know if anybody is using them. Are they locked? **[00:56] Ron Ritchie:** No, they're not. We don't put the nets up. We pulled the fences down around them yet? **[00:57] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** They're still up. **[00:58] Ron Ritchie:** Okay. **[00:59] Mayor John Monge:** It sounds like there is a big need for the school district to utilize the fields, whether it's Kunkel fields or the softball fields and the t-ball field as well. So with that said, what kind of either programming can we pull in to make it worth it? Or is there something we can think about in terms of looking at what the amenities are now? Does that make sense? A school district uses what—a month and a half probably—is what they get out of it? **[01:00] Brandy Howe:** Included as an amendment to the packet that went out, there's another attachment in there that shows for the past three years the reservations of all the different organizations for all the fields for the entire summer. **[01:01] Ron Ritchie:** Normally, as soon as they can get on the fields in the spring until school is out is when they use them. I believe this year they had that scheduled for March 13th. **[01:02] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** Wishful thinking this year. **[01:03] Ron Ritchie:** We all do. Yeah, it looks like the 17th of May is the last time they have the Kunkel. The softball fields go on a little bit till June 2nd. **[01:04] Councilmember Troy Woods:** And we do not have any mounds right over at that—? **[01:05] Ron Ritchie:** It’s on the in the complex that the four fields or the pinwheel—there's no pitching mounds on there. That's basically softball, slow pitch, fast pitch. Casey Lake lower or KC1 has a mound on it, and upper Casey has a smaller pitching mound on it too. **[01:06] Councilmember Troy Woods:** I know we're talking about McKnight complex, but how much did you do at Casey last year as far as field prep? **[01:07] Ron Ritchie:** Well, that same group that we were talking about—I believe there was maybe three times a week we prep that field down there. Field one—Jerry Bell from the Twins, he got some money from a Twins fund down there and that was redone maybe five years ago. **[01:08] Mayor John Monge:** You gave me a tour of the facility on Thursday. Thank you. So I was able to walk around; we went into the concession area. We still don't know who owns all the equipment in there. Nobody has an idea of all the machines in there and different things as far as for that building too going forward. **[01:09] Councilmember Wong:** Um, I'm just looking at the ball field reservations and I see outside of the school district there are three different organizations reserving the field: 3M, Minnesota Magic, and the Legion. Just to clarify, the Legion is not paying for their use? **[01:10] Ron Ritchie:** No. And the Legion field—that ball field is a premier ball field. The Legion over the years has taken really great care of it. Ron Adams used to be very particular about that field. We have a cart down there. After their games, they'd drag the fields out. We tarp the mounds; the mound is made out of clay. It's a totally different field than one of the softball fields. The only people that use that field are the high school in the spring, and in the summertime the Legion baseball team and the VFW team. **[01:11] Mayor John Monge:** We found that the Legion had some agreement when it came to the field itself. So that's one section of what we need to look at—they have to take care of cleanup, but they don't pay for the field rental itself. Is that correct, Brian? **[01:12] Brian Frandle:** Okay, so that's one piece of the puzzle. **[01:13] Mayor John Monge:** Is the Legion able to take care of their own chalking so we don't have to have City resources do that? I would think they'd be able to take care of that part themselves and then we would charge rent for anybody that uses the softball fields. **[01:14] Ron Ritchie:** I mean, that could work. They're going to need the right person—nobody else plays on that. So if they screw up, they're screwing themselves up. **[01:15] Brandy Howe:** I would add that we wouldn't restrict the use of that field to just the Legion, though. If somebody wants to rent it, it will be reserved. **[01:16] Mayor John Monge:** Well, I don't know if they provided the lighting, the booth, and stuff like that. Do we own the land? **[01:17] Brandy Howe:** No, the land was from a grant from HUD. So with that grant, there are specific restrictions on the perpetual use; it has to remain open to the public as open space or recreation. **[01:18] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** Do you have any idea how the last Council came up with that number? **[01:19] Brandy Howe:** I don't know that it was the Council necessarily that came up with it. Maybe there's some guidance here, but isn't it generally staff? **[01:20] Brian Frandle:** It was a group effort. We would get input from Public Works and Electric to pull together the cost that they have for those fields. They came up—well, the final was for the 75 charge. That's actually probably about half of what the cost is to actually do it, but we thought, you know, it's a public good for the kids in our community. **[01:21] Councilmember Wong:** If I may, we are talking a lot about the cost of things and I see that 3M is well represented on the schedule. I would like for us to kind of entertain a public-private partnership there. I think that is something worth investigating if we want to continue to invest in these fields. **[01:22] Mayor John Monge:** And the tennis courts, of course. Is there any anything else that came up with that? **[01:23] Ron Ritchie:** No. There's two sets of tennis courts. The main ones are just in disrepair. Someone stole all the hardware off of them—replaced it two times and someone keeps stealing the hardware. The courts are shot. Grass grows through them. My opinion: we should take the fencing down. We have some money this year to redo that parking lot, but it wouldn't be enough to even pave over that whole tennis court area. **[01:24] Mayor John Monge:** I know there was some outdoor storage maybe we talked about there. We could be able to fence in some things that the city has trouble storing right now? **[01:25] Brandy Howe:** It's not zoned for that and we don't know that it was even an allowable use with the HUD situation. **[01:26] Mayor John Monge:** All right, that's new information. **[01:27] Ron Ritchie:** My opinion: tennis courts everything just needs to be pulled out and leveled. There's nothing really left to be used. **[01:28] Mayor John Monge:** The other part—we're gonna go to the batting cages? **[01:29] Brandy Howe:** 15-year lease originally. At the end of that, they renegotiated for a 10-year extension. That was just a one-time fee of one dollar for them to be there for those 10 years. They took care of all the expenses. At the end of that, that'll be up this June and so we need to decide: do you want to extend it? Do you want to keep it at a one dollar? We own the building. **[01:30] Councilmember Troy Woods:** Do you know what kind of usage it gets? How many people they're serving? **[01:31] Brandy Howe:** We spoke with Dennis Bartholomew who will speak later, but he was saying that this time of year like on weekends they could get 500 to 1,000 people in and out of there. **[01:32] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** Taking one minor step back... I would be curious if we found a wonderful donor what the cost would be to convert those old dilapidated tennis courts to the pickleball courts, just to have a number in the back of our head. **[01:33] Ron Ritchie:** We can look into that. You'd be starting over. **[01:34] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** I think soccer is very popular around too. We don't have much when it comes to soccer either. **[01:35] Councilmember Wong:** As for the batting cages, do residents get a different rate there or is that across the board? **[01:36] Mayor John Monge:** These are going to be great questions to ask Dennis. As far as the concession stands themselves—I mean, we could put it on RFP. We could speak to some agencies around town that might have the ability to do something like that. **[01:37] Brian Frandle:** And that gentleman did reach out. We're waiting to find out what equipment we own. That will be happening soon. **[01:38] Councilmember Wong:** Does the high school have like a booster club or something like that? **[01:39] Brian Frandle:** The VFW was an idea, we have a foundation that we were looking at. **[01:40] Mayor John Monge:** I've heard numbers anywhere from 40 to 60 thousand dollars a year generated in revenues from that. If we put it out for RFP, I would like to see us make a slightly larger return. I’d like to see that part of it put into consideration. Could that be a percentage? I don't like these dollar agreements on anything because we have a lot of expenses. **[01:41] Brian Frandle:** The 40 to 60 number is kind of in the heyday of it. Nowadays people are really having issues with trying to get volunteers. **[01:42] Mayor John Monge:** Staff, where do you want us to go? **[01:43] Brian Frandle:** I think we have some good direction. The RFP for that... you guys will still be able to hear some more input for the batting cages this evening. **[01:44] Mayor John Monge:** Is there a written—there's a written agreement from 1979 that they donated? I looked it up because it was 50,000 for the lights. I looked up and a house cost 63,000 in 1979, so just to kind of get an idea what the value was. What’s considered a "lifetime"? That’s why I don’t like these contracts where we have such open-endedness. I was going to ask you, Soren. **[01:45] Soren Mattick:** Oh yeah, no, Brandy and I talked about this a little bit. You can't enter into some "forever" contracts. It depends on the wording. That candidly is just plain as day as an intention for it to be forever. I think there's the issue of sort of a pragmatic aspect to it. It says what it says and you did get the lights—we're still using the lights. If we were to want to walk away from it, I think we'd have to have some more involved discussions on that, but in general the resolution is pretty clear. **[01:46] Mayor John Monge:** And it was good faith on both sides. So for me, I would think we would be able to continue with that but just have them take over the chalking. If they will pitch in and get some of the costs for some of the maintenance—we'll mow like we always mow. **[01:47] Brian Frandle:** We have good direction from you guys. **[01:48] Mayor John Monge:** All right, thank you so much. Motion to adjourn the workshop meeting? **[01:49] Councilmember Tim Cole:** Motion to adjourn. **[01:50] Councilmember Troy Woods:** Second. **[01:51] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor say aye. (Aye). Thank you. --- **[01:52] Mayor John Monge:** Let’s do the Pledge of Allegiance please. Take a roll please. **[01:53] Jennie Kloos:** Councilmember Cole? Here. Councilmember Schweer? Here. Councilmember Wong? Here. Councilmember Nordby? Here. And Mayor Monge? Here. Thank you so much. **[01:54] Mayor John Monge:** Can I get a motion to adopt the agenda for tonight? **[01:55] Councilmember Tim Cole:** So moved. **[01:56] Councilmember Wong:** Second. **[01:57] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor say aye. (Aye). Presentations: Ramsey County food scrap pilot program. Welcome. **[01:58] Victoria Reinhardt:** Good evening. I'm Victoria Reinhardt, Ramsey County Commissioner. I represent District 7. Counties are the only level of government that are actually mandated to deal with garbage across the state. Ramsey and Washington counties in the early 1980s formed a partnership. I’m really pleased to be here tonight. I will turn it over to Michael Reed and you'll get the full experience of it. **[01:59] Michael Reed:** Thank you, commissioner. Michael Reed with Ramsey County. I'm going to turn it over to one of our professionals here, Sam Hansen. **[02:00] Sam Hansen:** Mr. Mayor, Council members, thanks for having us today. We're calling it the Food Scraps Pickup Program. How it'll work: residents who sign up, they'll get bags delivered to their house. They use those bags, collect their food scraps, and put them into their existing trash receptacle. It’s a free program and it’s voluntary. Specifically for North Saint Paul, the area in green on this map represents the area where it'll be available. **[02:01] Mayor John Monge:** The only one that's going to be in that is going to be you, Nordby. **[02:02] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** I'm excited! I'm in the pilot area, so I look forward to this. **[02:03] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** One question I do have is: what is the scope of Organics? Does that include bones? **[02:04] Sam Hansen:** Anything that's accepted at drop-off sites—plant or animal-based, bones, meat, dairy—will be acceptable. **[02:05] Councilmember Troy Woods:** You said the food scraps are going to be sent to commercial composters. Are you going to be able to supply those areas so residents can go get compost? **[02:06] Sam Hansen:** We've been working on market development strategies to bring it back and show how it can be useful in community gardens. **[02:07] Councilmember Tim Cole:** Is there a minimum number of households you're trying to recruit? **[02:08] Sam Hansen:** The goal overall for the pilot is up to 2,200 total across the four pilot areas. **[02:09] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** The defined area—is that defined because that's a specific route of a truck? **[02:10] Sam Hansen:** Correct. It’s based on the hauler that services that area and then where they take the waste. **[02:11] Mayor John Monge:** This is fantastic. Thank you very much for sharing. Consent agendas—anybody want to talk about anything specific? **[02:12] Brian Frandle:** Thank you, Mayor. So on the consent items: March 7 Workshop minutes, regular meeting minutes, General claims of $1,186,692, HRA claims, library fiber agreement, police department JPA, Friday Night Cruise special event, charitable gambling permit, donations resolution, building permit report, outdoor recreation grant, and MCES grant program. **[02:13] Councilmember Tim Cole:** Motion to approve the consent agenda. **[02:14] Councilmember Wong:** Second. **[02:15] Mayor John Monge:** All in favor? (Aye). Public comment. **[02:16] John Schmall:** John Schmall, 2750 Chisholm Avenue. Subject is inspections. Thursday, knock on the door, person says "I'm here to inspect your furnace." It would be nice if there was a source so residents know who is inspecting. **[02:17] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you. Dennis? **[02:18] Dennis Bartholomew:** Thank you, Mayor, City Council. I’m Dennis Bartholomew, Triple Crown batting cages. I gifted this building in 1993. I’m promising one thing: the city of North St. Paul will never pay one penny on this building and to this day they never have. I’m asking for us to continue on. I’d like to go for another five years. **[02:19] Mayor John Monge:** How’s it been with the North St. Paul kids not having the program anymore? **[02:20] Dennis Bartholomew:** It’s sad, because right now it’s "pay for play." But the destination is still there. People know North St. Paul because of Triple Crown. **[02:21] Mayor John Monge:** Thank you. Historical Society MOU. **[02:22] Brian Frandle:** This is a memorandum of understanding to provide $3,000 per year and pay utility bills for the museum. **[02:23] Soren Mattick:** As the lawyer, I appreciate cleaning up these things and memorializing what we’re doing so it’s clear. **[02:24] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** I fully support everything here. Brian, thank you for rereading it. I’m glad it can be terminated by either party. **[02:25] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** Does the Historical Society own that triangle park with the military weapons? **[02:26] Sue Springborn:** I’m Sue Springborn. I believe that property belongs to the Historical Society, but I don’t know if the cannon belongs to us. **[02:27] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** Would you want us to put a trash container at that park? **[02:28] Sue Springborn:** That would be nice. **[02:29] Councilmember Wong:** How many people are you getting through the door? **[02:30] Sue Springborn:** It varies. One weekend we get 15, then nobody. But on the 28th we’re having cookies and coffee for a special program on old newspapers. **[02:31] Mayor John Monge:** Move for a motion? **[02:32] Councilmember Wong:** I move. **[02:33] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** Second. (Aye). **[02:34] Mayor John Monge:** Reports from city manager. **[02:35] Brian Frandle:** Fire department is doing code compliance, Finance finished the audit, Public Works has four water main breaks, PD is hiring an officer. **[02:36] Councilmember Jason Nordby:** Planning Commission is in a week and a half. Heartfelt thanks to the city workers. **[02:37] Councilmember Wong:** Arts and Culture committee is working hard. Painting night is this Thursday. **[02:38] Councilmember Tim Cole:** Meeting tomorrow, no updates yet. **[02:39] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** Kudos to Public Works for the snow. **[02:40] Mayor John Monge:** I met with the Superintendent last Friday. We’re looking at school safety and the McKnight complex. Motion for adjournment? **[02:41] Councilmember Tim Cole:** So moved. **[02:42] Councilmember Cassidy Schweer:** Second. (Aye).