Based on the context provided and the content of the transcript, here is the formatted version with speaker identifications. **Note on Council Roster:** The transcript mentions several Councilmembers (Vaughn, Lund, Brox, Folch, Fox) who were not on the initial list provided but are clearly identified by the Mayor during the meeting. I have used the names as they were addressed in the session. *** [0:00] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** 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. Welcome everyone and let the roll reflect that all council members are present and a quorum has been established. Councillor, are there any corrections to the March 21st meeting or workshop? Seeing none, they are moved. Comments from the public audience—we will accept any comments from the audience. Some have been emailed and the council [0:45] has received them. If you'd wish to speak to the council tonight, please step up to the podium, state your name and address, and we also have a Zoom option if anyone is willing to speak through Zoom. So at this point, we will hear comments from the audience. Okay, no comments from the audience. Council members, are there any council items to be considered? Okay council, I would accept a motion to approve the consent agenda. Councilmember Brox and Councilmember Folch. Discussion? All those in favor of the motion, state by saying aye. (Aye) Opposed to that motion, state by saying nay. And that motion prevails. [1:32] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Tonight we are awarding of contracts and public hearings. We have the 2022 Neighborhood Infrastructure Improvements. We will have a public hearing and then a discussion by council and possible vote. Welcome Ryan Stempski, and Ryan is with our Public Works Department. Welcome Ryan. [1:55] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** Thank you Mayor, members of the council. On this one—this keyboard... yeah, all right, got two keyboards up here, you threw me off a little bit today. Uh yeah, so tonight we're at the assessment hearing portion of our 2022 Neighborhood Infrastructure Improvements. So we'll go through a brief presentation and open up the questions, followed by the hearing tonight. So just a quick recap: we do have five [2:20] areas that we are improving this summer, so a pretty large project. Area 1 is 5th and Ash; Area 2 is Park Lane and Park Court; Area 3 is the half block between Ramsey and Tyler; Area 4 is 13th, Lilac, and Hillside; and our fifth area is just south of 46 in the Riverwood neighborhood. We did discuss the public improvements back in our March meeting, but you may recall the total project cost is 4.3 million dollars for the improvements in the five areas that I just went over. Those are funded as you see here: we've got about 1,975,000 in bonded [3:05] debt for the project, 1,360,000 in assessments, 390,000 in sanitary sewer funds, and 575,000 in water funds for the project. Jumping a little bit into our assessment policy: the important thing to note here is that the city did and continues to hire a third-party independent appraiser. They go into each specific neighborhood and they take the proposed improvements that we have scoped out and they determine and compile an appraisal report for each specific neighborhood. They value the land, the entire property of the folks along the neighborhood [3:51] improvements. They look at those valuations of each property before the project and what they would be valued at after the project. That net difference is the special benefit based on the improvements. So kind of jumping into that a little bit further, we take those appraisal reports—they are usually a range. We at the staff level then take the lower end of that range and we multiply that by 90 percent. We do have marks we need to hit for bonding reasons that we have to assess so much on a 429 project, but this is our ordinance-backed policy for how we establish those rates. [4:36] It is important to note that a standard lot assessment is the rate times the property frontage. Now, we do have irregular-shaped lots on this year's project, like we do typically every year. We look at those in a way where we're trying to standardize those irregular lots compared to their neighboring assessed lot. Just because a lot may have an interesting shape, they still have a driveway fronting a street improvement and they, from an appraisal standpoint, get valued out the same as their neighboring lot. So [5:22] that's something to be mindful of as we go through the presentation. I'll have a little more specifics on a cul-de-sac lot in a couple slides here. Now corner lots: our ordinance prescribes that those get a little bit of a break because they have two sides that are being improved. We take the rate times the assessment rate for the short side of the lot times the entire length of that short side; for the long side of the lot, we take 25 percent of that length, giving them a little bit of a break. Looking at the assessments for the five areas that we're improving this [6:07] year, I'm gonna kind of jump down to what the standard assessments are for a kind of a standard lot in these neighborhoods. In Area 1, that's 5th and Ash, for the single-family homes the standard lot assessment is $5,600. For a townhome, that's $1,740. For Park Lane and Park Court, we only have single-family homes; the assessments for them are $5,395 for an average typical sized lot. 11th Street is a little different because those are those long sides—there's only two lots, those are corner lots. Area 4 is a reclaim neighborhood (13th, Hillside, and Lilac); the average single-family size lot is $4,600. And finally, Riverwood (also a reclaim area); for single-family homes that's a $4,500 per lot assessment and for townhomes $1,800 per lot. Looking at [7:38] kind of a way we do normalization of cul-de-sac lots: cul-de-sacs are interesting just by the nature and how they're platted. Typically they're larger in area, but as their particular frontage along the street gets narrowed up and skinny—pie-shaped lots—we look at the stem of the cul-de-sac and the bulb. The stem uses that street the same way as those cul-de-sac folks do. So in this particular cul-de-sac, Villa [8:24] Villa Court, we have 60 feet of frontage and 62 feet of frontage. We took the 62-foot of frontage and multiplied that for each lot in the cul-de-sac bulb to get a comparable rate to their neighbors. The assessment totals are about 1,360,000. Of that, the city assessments are about [9:10] $222,000 (park frontage or city-owned properties). The private lot assessments equate to about 1.1 million dollars. We check to make sure that the percentage of bonded debt is adequate, and this year we're at approximately 34 percent. Regarding the payment of assessments: we will send out statements toward the end of the summer/beginning of fall. Payments are not accepted in our finance department until October of this year. [9:55] We do accept partial payments with no penalty. Any amounts remaining after November 30th get certified to the county tax roll—there's an approximately $50 fee to do that. No interest or fees are paid if you pay in full by November 30th. This is a 10-year payoff program starting on property tax statements in spring of 2023. Interest rates typically have been between 3 and 5 percent; last [10:42] year we were actually under 3 percent for the first time since I've been here. For example, if we take a 78-foot wide standard lot with an assessment of $72.90... you get almost $5,700 in the assessment amount. If you let it roll to the county tax roll at 3.5% interest, the annual amortized payment is [11:28] about $675 a year. That breaks down to a monthly payment of $56. Keep in mind the project again offers assessment abatement for those that qualify through the CDBG program. It's entirely based on income qualifications. We will [12:14] mail out an entire packet of information towards the end of the summer. Those applications are to be returned directly to Dakota County, specifically the Community Development Agency (CDA). There's full abatement dollars available if you qualify. We typically have handed out [13:00] up to $100,000 in a given year through assessment abatement. New this year, we also have the assessment deferral program for senior citizens, disabled, or military persons. There is a financial qualification where the assessments need to total more than 1% of the adjusted gross income. For example, if you had a [13:48] $5,700 assessment and your installment was $675, the adjusted gross income would need to be $67,500 or less to qualify. Deferment does not forgive the assessment; it just delays that payment with interest until certain events occur, such as a sale of the lot. [14:33] Currently the forms are available on our website and with that, I will stand for any questions. [15:01] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Thank you Ryan. At this time I will actually open the public hearing. If you'd like to speak to the council, please state your name, come up to the podium, state your name and address. [15:28] **Mike Zappa (Resident):** My name is Mike Zappa, I live on 1000 5th Street West. We're in the number one area they're talking about. The first thing I want to ask is that $50 they were talking about—is that each time? It kind of feels like a fine to somebody who doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of money. Who gets the 50 bucks? [16:04] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Ryan, go ahead. [16:11] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** If that is a one-time fee we're paying Dakota County to certify the assessment, it's one time. [16:14] **Mike Zappa (Resident):** Okay. The majority of our area is parkland. I have a very low income and I'm retired, but I also have a wife who is disabled. We don't know exactly what it is that we have to provide or who we need to provide it to. [16:59] What information do I need as a relatively poor person to know the next step? This house is on a corner but the corner was already done years ago. They damaged my house then and we couldn't prove it. I'm real cautious about how this is going to come together. My daughter is a civil engineer and she told me a few things. [17:46] We are not very wealthy and that’s a lot of money. Dave, do you have anything you want to toss out? [18:14] **Dave Pemble (Councilmember At Large):** No, I was just kind of wondering as far as the street—are they redoing the approachments and everything? [18:23] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** They're redoing the whole street—pavement, curb, and gutter. [18:29] **Dave Pemble (Councilmember At Large):** And what length of time will this last? How long will the inconvenience be? [18:33] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** The project is programmed over the summer. We don’t have the contractor locked up with a schedule yet, but we will get that information. [18:43] **Mike Zappa (Resident):** They used to store equipment behind our house because it's a park. When they were digging up things back then, some of it had lead in it. [19:18] We told the powers that be we do not want lead along the back side of our house. Please don't use that area for equipment again. Thanks for your help. [19:35] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Thank you Mr. Zappa. Would anyone else like to speak? Excuse me, Councilmember Lund. [19:48] **Councilmember Lund:** Thank your honor. Yeah, I'm not sure if you were aware or not, but part of the presentation spoke to some assistance if you qualify. [20:03] I would recommend that you come into City Hall and we will be sure that you get the information that you need. Hopefully, that'll be a resource for you. [20:30] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Perfect. Thank you Councilmember Lund. Would anyone else like to speak? [20:52] **Scott Mullaney (Resident):** I'm Scott Mullaney, I live at 1165 Teal Way. There's a lot of numbers here. Ryan, is that $72 or whatever the cost per foot? And is that throughout the city, 75 dollars a foot? [21:28] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** It's different in every neighborhood. It's based on the appraised special benefit. [21:38] **Scott Mullaney (Resident):** So you value the house and assign a number? The tar doesn't know what's on the lot. If your value goes up because of that road—is that what you're saying? [22:24] That benefit would be temporary because the road is going to wear out again. So now you're bumping up our taxes because of a new road that's going to wear out. It's not the same cost per foot throughout the city? It's all based on assessed value by neighborhood? To me, it seems like this road's gonna wear out so you got a bubble there in value. That’s all I had to say. [23:09] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Okay, thank you for your comments. [23:40] **Lori Michael (Resident):** Hi there, I'm Lori Michael. I live on Sherman Way in the Riverwood section. You said the interest is at 3.5%—are we going to be locked into that? [24:10] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We don’t have the final rate today. The formula is our bond rate plus 1.5 percent. We will mail that out at the end of the summer. [24:26] **Lori Michael (Resident):** Also, for Riverwood and Village Trail, how long will those be dug up? You wouldn't do both at the same time? [24:41] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** Correct. It’s probably a month’s worth of work. [24:55] **Lori Michael (Resident):** On Riverwood, we don't even have through traffic and our road is pretty nice. And yet you're going to dig it up and we pay $4,700? [25:12] Who looks at the road and decides if it needs to be dug up? [25:19] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We have a condition rating on all streets across the city. We rate them annually and put them in a capital improvement project. [25:40] **Lori Michael (Resident):** And if we're just getting resurfaced, how long does that take? [25:54] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** About a month total to reclaim, fix curb, prep, and pave. [26:15] **Lori Michael (Resident):** I just thought it was interesting that assessments are so different. My neighbor is assessed so much more than ours—I'm wondering if she is assessed for the post office box and the trail to the park? Who pays for that? [26:45] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** Only if you have private frontage. If it’s a park, the city pays the city-owned portion. [27:06] **Lori Michael (Resident):** Okay, thank you very much. [27:24] **Cheri Litz (Resident):** Hi, my name is Cheri Litz, I live at 3533 Village Trail. I'm part of Area 5. I've only lived there for nine years and I thought that area was a newer area. I'm surprised I'm getting hit with this major assessment. [28:12] When was that road put in? And how long do you anticipate the new road to be there—10, 20, 30 years? And are you doing any improvements to make it last longer? [29:14] Also, down on 46, there's major construction. This is really going to snarling coming and going in that area. [29:43] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** You're right, the greater Riverwood neighborhood was not all done at the same time. Some areas are approaching 20 years. We try to geographically complete an area at once for economies of scale. We did find distresses indicative of base failure. We hope to get 20 years or more; we are using new bituminous materials. [31:17] We also do chip seals and crack seals to extend the life. 20 to 25 years is average for a residential street. [32:21] **Cheri Litz (Resident):** And what about the sewer and water? That's like a hundred years, right? [33:07] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We hope so. We televise sewers and do leak detection before road improvements. We will be doing spot repairs of valves and hydrants while the road is dug up. [33:30] **Cheri Litz (Resident):** Follow-up: Village Way is not getting done and that was put in at the same time. Why the difference? [33:53] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We found distresses on the collector road that were different from the other streets. [34:10] **Cheri Litz (Resident):** Traffic is a concern. Since you put that median on 316, people use our road as a back way to avoid stoplights. They zoom through. [35:25] Is that going to be a consideration since we’re paying for these upgrades? We want the road to last. [35:43] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** It is a collector road connecting 36 and 46. We don't have deterrents planned right now. [36:20] **Lori Michael (Resident):** (From the floor) Is there any way we could get a 30 mile per hour sign on Riverwood and Village Trail? [36:50] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Lori, I'm going to ask you to step to the podium and state your name. [36:57] **Lori Michael (Resident):** Lori Michael again. It would be nice to have 30 mile per hour signs because they do really move. [37:33] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We have a process for collecting traffic and speed data. We can deploy traffic counters to see what kind of speeds we actually have. Our police department also has speed feedback signs. We will look at that. [38:53] **Royce Anderson (Resident):** My name is Royce Anderson, I live on 1237 13th Street. They're doing a reclaim on our street. I got assessed for a 77-foot lot, but I only have 50 feet of improved road in front of my house. The other 27 feet is barricaded off. [39:41] There is no curb and gutter on that 27 feet. It's nothing but a broken-up driveway—it's my property. I don't think that assessment is correct. [40:27] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** I have seen that. The appraiser looks at total lot benefit. We use the width of the entire property to calculate the rate. [41:13] **Royce Anderson (Resident):** But it's not accessible and it's not usable. Can I option that you take down the barricade so I get two parking spots? [42:46] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We’d have to look at the grade. I believe the grade drops off pretty fast there. [43:31] **Royce Anderson (Resident):** It's a road where garbage trucks drive. My property is in that road. According to the abstract, I own to the center of the street. I'm being assessed just like everyone else but I'm missing 27 feet of the road. I wasn't getting much satisfaction down at Public Works. [44:41] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We hand these situations over to our certified appraiser who determines value and benefit. I'm just explaining where staff would have conveyed the appraiser's information. [45:27] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Thank you Mr. Anderson. Anyone else? We have a couple on Zoom. Dan, please bring them in. [46:12] **Clifton (Zoom Speaker):** Hello. My name is Clifton. There is a park across the street from my house. How are you guys going to handle all the equipment with all the kids around during the summer? [47:47] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We have specifications that govern where equipment is parked—convenient right-of-way spaces or "bone yards" protected with fencing. We work hard to keep safe conditions. [49:45] **Clifton (Zoom Speaker):** Does the city pay any part of the fees? [49:50] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** Yes, the city pays assessments for frontages along city-owned parcels like parks. [50:48] **Ryan Carl (Zoom Speaker):** Ryan Carl, 3121 Teal Court. I see we need these improvements. For the Riverwood reclaim, are they going to be affecting our five-foot easement with the curbs? [51:34] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** In a reclaim, the curb is generally in good shape. We do spot repairs only where needed. We may need about three feet behind the curb for forms, which we would then restore with turf grass. [53:05] **Ryan Carl (Zoom Speaker):** The pitch of our driveways is so steep that low-riding cars bottom out. If you're reclaiming, would this be the time to approach that? [53:51] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We’ll take a look at your specific address. [54:10] **Ryan Carl (Zoom Speaker):** And what year was the market value taken from? I have 36 feet of property but I'm paying $4,800. I can't find the equation to equal what you guys are targeting. [55:43] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** You are a cul-de-sac lot. We use standardized lots in cul-de-sacs to equate the unit back to the neighbors so it is comparable. [56:55] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** At this time I will close the public hearing and open it up for council discussion. Councilmember Vaughn. [57:16] **Councilmember Vaughn:** Thanks your honor. I ask staff to look at the irregular lot on 13th Street. I understand where he’s coming from. Regarding the assessments—a portion of these streets is paid by taxpayers. You're not paying for it completely. The city is paying a portion. I applaud you Ryan. We should follow up with each of these residents to get those questions answered. [59:33] **Councilmember Lund:** Thank your honor. I want to repeat what was said about the odd barricade. It's a good opportunity to be creative there. Ryan, could you remind us what percentage is bonded versus assessed? [1:00:19] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** About 30 percent is covered by assessments; 70 percent is bonded and other resources. [1:01:52] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Thank you honor. We did receive an objection to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson's assessment and that has been filed. Roads are confusing. I live on Pine Street—when that assessment comes, I'm the one paying it. I need a road and I need infrastructure. I want the water to get to the hydrant if my house catches fire. Please have patience. [1:05:42] **Councilmember Brox:** Thank you Mayor. I’ll feel the pain next year when my street is fixed. "Benefit" is a hard word when your street is torn up, but in the long term, the grading will get fixed and water will move where it’s supposed to. Please take advantage of the assistance programs if you need them. [1:08:58] **Councilmember Fox:** I wanted to ask Ryan the difference between reclaiming and reconstructing and what reclaiming does to a road. [1:10:18] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** Reclaiming has lower costs to sewer and water funds. we grind existing pavement, keep curb in place, and put down a full four inches. Then we can do mill and overlays later at no cost to residents. [1:12:00] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Council, I would accept a motion to approve the resolution to adopt the assessments for Project 2022-1. Councilmember Leifeld and Councilmember Fox. All those in favor? (Aye). Opposed? (None). That motion prevails. [1:12:55] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Council, I'd like to bring Tammy Omdahl in for the resolution providing the competitive negotiated sale of the bonds. [1:13:22] **Tammy Omdahl (Northland Securities):** Mayor, City Council. You have before you a resolution calling for the sale of general obligation bonds, Series 2022A, for $6.8 million. The estimated true interest cost is approximately 2.72%. The market is very volatile. S&P currently rates the city's bonds at AA, which is an excellent rating. We will accept bids on May 2nd. [1:19:33] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Motion to approve? Councilmember Folch, Councilmember Fox. All those in favor? (Aye). Motion prevails. Ryan, let's move forward with the mill and overlay. [1:21:20] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** We received five bids and recommend awarding to Minnesota Paving and Materials for $452,751. Bituminous material was 32% higher than last year, but we are within budget. [1:23:35] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Motion to approve? Councilmember Lund and Councilmember Brox. (Aye). Motion prevails. Kelly Murtaugh, city charter ordinances. [1:24:28] **Kelly Murtaugh (Assistant City Administrator):** This is the second reading to approve the amendment to ward boundaries following the 2020 census to make populations as equal as practicable. The difference between wards is now less than 2%. [1:26:05] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Opening the public hearing. (No speakers). Closing the public hearing. Motion to approve? Councilmember Lund, Councilmember Leifeld. (Aye). Motion prevails. Ryan, adoption of water conservation code. [1:27:37] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** This is the second reading regarding time-of-day watering bans. We are proposing restricting watering between 11 AM and 5 PM in perpetuity. We are also extending the exemption for new sod from one week to two weeks. [1:30:41] **Councilmember Vaughn:** I think it’s too soon. I’d like to go another year of educating because last year was a drought and it was impactful then. I don't want this buried in an ordinance book yet. [1:32:13] **Councilmember Folch:** I think it's important to be consistent. Droughts are becoming more frequent. I am in favor. [1:37:21] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** All those in favor? (Aye). Opposed? (Vaughn). Motion prevails. Community Development, John Hinzman. [1:48:06] **John Hinzman (Community Development Director):** This is a first reading for administrative citations to enforce nuisance ordinances in a more efficient manner. I will turn it over to Corey. [1:49:10] **Corey (City Attorney):** Thank you members of the Council. Chapter 10 will be the general penalty section. Chapter 95 identifies nuisances like "unsheltered storage." We are also adding a provision in Section 158 prohibiting parking on grass. This allows us to abate violations or issue citations instead of criminal court. We are also adding a "potentially dangerous dog" category with a lower threshold than "dangerous dog." [2:00:21] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Motion to approve first reading? Councilmember Brox, Councilmember Folch. (Aye). Prevails. John, Public Works storage building. [2:01:06] **John Hinzman (Community Development Director):** Site plan for an 11,000 square foot storage building at the Public Works campus. Planning commission recommended approval 6 to 1. [2:03:25] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Motion? Councilmember Folch, Councilmember Fox. (Aye). Prevails. Dan Wietecha, budget amendment for building inspections. [2:04:11] **Dan Wietecha (City Administrator):** We have 850 new housing starts in the works. Permits have increased 50% each year. We are overwhelmed. I am asking for authority to hire an additional inspector with a wage increase and a retention bonus for existing staff. I also recommend buying out some comp time. This is funded by the permit fees, not taxes. [2:12:44] **Councilmember Vaughn:** I don't support the 3% increase for current employees until the wage study is done. Let's do what we have to for the new hire to get through the season, but wait on the others. [2:21:16] **Councilmember Folch:** I am supportive. Building inspectors are in high demand. We need to compensate them to keep them. [2:24:22] **Councilmember Leifeld:** I can't support the 3% for existing staff right now. Consistency is important and we told other departments no. [2:36:42] **Dan Wietecha (City Administrator):** The rest of the world isn't waiting on our study. We risk losing good employees. [2:39:00] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Motion to approve as written? Councilmember Fox, second by Councilmember Lund. All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? (Vaughn, Leifeld). Motion prevails. Councilmember Folch, an announcement. [2:40:32] **Councilmember Folch:** The Arts Task Force is recommending a permanent commission. Also, I am disappointed to report that Dakota County is withdrawing from the Broadband Board. [2:43:30] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Document shredding is April 9th. Arbor Day tree planting April 15th. Motion to adjourn? Councilmember Brox and Councilmember Lund. (Aye). Meeting adjourned.