[0:00] **Mayor Huber:** Go ahead. All right. 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. Well, I don't know about everybody else, but Mr. Rog's a little time kind of threw me off. Oh, we lost him. Lost him. There he is. Welcome to the meeting, John. Welcome staff. Do I have a motion to approve the regular agenda, please? [0:20] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Move. [0:21] **Council Member John Rog:** I'll move. [0:22] **Mayor Huber:** Thank you. We have a first and a second. I believe John would have the second on that. Kim? [0:27] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Carr? [0:29] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Hi. [0:30] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Rog? [0:32] **Council Member John Rog:** Hi. [0:33] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Giefer? [0:35] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Hi. [0:46] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor Schaer or Mayor Huber? Mayor Schaer, you just got a raise. Big raise. I'm sorry, that was—I'm sorry, name was written right there. There you go. [0:55] **Mayor Huber:** Um, I... by the way, I think Jeff eyed it too. Doesn't count. Consent agenda: I think you've all had an opportunity to look at that for the last week, there have been no questions thus far. Do I have a motion to approve? [1:10] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Motion. [1:11] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** I'll second. [1:12] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Carr? [1:13] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Hi. [1:14] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Rog? [1:15] **Council Member John Rog:** Hi. [1:16] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Giefer? [1:17] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Hi. [1:18] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor Huber? [1:19] **Mayor Huber:** Hi. Thanks, Kim. 2023 Year in Review: I didn't think we were going to have power tonight, so I'm just going to say I want to thank everybody associated with the city, from this Council, people who have served, the people who have served on our Planning Commission, our staff. What a fantastic job you all have done. I've been so pleased to work with these people. [1:46] **Mayor Huber:** I've never had such a cohesive team in the city to work on the city's issues and to deliver services the way that services are delivered right now. It's seamless. People's questions get answered. We're just really, really proud of it. We're also proud of our fiscal responsibility. There's no reason to spend more money than we spend in a rural, semi-rural community like this. We provide the services that people expect in this type of a community. And again, proud of our staff and this Council for delivering those and putting together the policies that keep Grant at a 3% tax increase. [2:17] **Mayor Huber:** I just can't say enough about how this team's pulled together, how the council's pull together, and how the citizens are go-getters. I know that when I go to the city cleanup day and there are cars for half a mile up the road, people pitch in, people care about their city, and all those individual efforts make a difference too. So, just wanted to say thank you and looking forward to 2024. Hopefully it's as good. Thank you. And staff agenda items: City Engineer Brad Reifsteck, you are up first. Brad? [2:50] **Brad Reifsteck (City Engineer):** Good evening mayor, members of the council, and Happy New Year. Um, tonight I'm taking a motion to adopt resolution number 2024-02, which is accepting the plans and specs and authorizing the ad for bid for the NW Drive Street Improvement project. [3:03] **Brad Reifsteck (City Engineer):** If you remember, back in June, we accepted the revised feasibility report for this project, and at that time Council accepted the report and ordered the schedule of the public hearing. And which time in August, in the August meeting, the council conducted the public hearing and ordered the improvement project. So we're in the next phase of the project where we are seeking authorization to go out for bids. And we are scheduled to open bids at the end of February, and we would bring bids back to council at the April 4th meeting, including having or conducting an assessment hearing at that time to ensure that the residents are still on board with moving forward with the improvement project. [3:49] **Brad Reifsteck (City Engineer):** The estimated cost for this project is about $249,000. That cost includes a 10% contingency factor. The plans and specs, like I said, have been prepared and are ready to go out for bid if we were able to get council's authorization. So with that said, I would entertain any questions from the mayor or the council. [4:36] **Mayor Huber:** Gentlemen, questions for Brad on this project? We've been looking at this one for a while. Looks like it's plowing forward. Tom, Jeff, John? [4:47] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Yeah, not really. I think we talked a little about the city share and all that stuff, so I think we flushed that out a little bit. So yeah, as long as we understand that—what's going on—yeah, to go forward and see what happens. [5:02] **Mayor Huber:** Yeah, I drove that street after we first started talking about it. Boy, it needs it. I'm sure you've been out there. Brad? Jeff, any questions for Brad on this? No? Wood Avenue project? Nothing? John? [5:15] **Council Member John Rog:** No, I drove it and I think it needs it. [5:17] **Mayor Huber:** Yeah, I would agree, John. Looking for a motion on this, gentlemen. [5:22] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Motion to approve resolution 2024-02. [5:25] **Mayor Huber:** Thank you. Do I have a second? [5:27] **Council Member John Rog:** Second. [5:28] **Mayor Huber:** Thank you, John. Kim? [5:30] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Carr? [5:31] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Hi. [5:32] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Rog? [5:33] **Council Member John Rog:** Hi. [5:34] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Giefer? [5:35] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Hi. [5:36] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor Huber? [5:37] **Mayor Huber:** Hi. Thank you, Kim. Brad, I appreciate that. Looks like you're all done. We are going to bounce right over to Jennifer Swanson, our planner, regarding the changes at the Site One land use. Sorry, Jen, I'm a little under the weather. [6:00] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** Members of the council, Happy New Year. I can't believe it's already 2024. We have a little bit of an interesting and somewhat unique application before us this evening. We don't see a lot of these—in fact, I think in the 13 or 12 years I've been here, I'm not sure that we've ever taken a look at a land use application quite like this. So, obviously, if you have any questions as we go through it, please feel free to jump in as needed. [6:30] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** The application we have before us this evening is for the property located at 8460 60th Street North. That is the Hedberg Supply and Landscape site. I know we have looked at that in the past. I think several years ago we did a conditional use permit review for compliance at the site, but other than that, it's been relatively benign. There hasn't been much going on. They've got basically a commercial nursery as well as a garden center and hardscape landscape supplies that they've sold from the site. [6:55] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** So, in late October, early November, we were contacted by Mr. Steen, who's actually an attorney from Larkin Hoffman. He represents Site One Landscape Supply, who is seeking or interested in purchasing the property from Hedberg. And as part of that process, they'd like to make sure that the uses that they intend to use the site for are accurately reflected within the conditional use permit. So, obviously, sometimes we go through an amended conditional use permit process; this is a little bit of a different approach. There's a couple of reasons for that, which we'll talk about in just a moment. [7:42] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** So, the new operator actually is proposing to utilize the site in much the same way that is already out there. They are proposing to continue to have the commercial nursery operation as well as the garden supply function, which includes essentially the hardscape materials as well. The intent in this case is that they're actually going to use the site in much the same way. They're not proposing any modifications; they're not proposing any changes to the site plan; they're not proposing any changes to the operations. It's really about making sure that what's deemed principal and what's accessory are accurately defined. And again, we'll talk about just in a moment why this change is being sought. [8:28] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** So, from the perspective of anybody in the public, anybody looking at the site, there will be essentially no change. There's just going to be a new operator, which would be Site One Landscape. But in terms of what they will see, what they will hear, hours of operation, etc., there will be no changes. [8:45] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** So, we've got a section in our code which is somewhat interesting, and in this case, we're proposing to utilize it. It's actually Section 32-83, which basically says you can change from one non-conforming use to another, provided the city council—or the board of adjustments, so you in this case—approve that request for a change. Because we're looking at a conditional use permit that's existed for many, many years, and because the operator is proposing to utilize the site in much the same way, we believe that this section of the city's code makes a lot of sense to employ and to utilize for purposes of documenting the uses that would be out there with respect to what's principal and what is accessory. [9:35] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** Under Section 32-83, the changes from one conforming use—non-conforming use, excuse me—to another, there is not a required public hearing. So as a result, there's no public hearing this evening for it, as we are not proposing to change the conditional use permit per se. It's really just allowing for what was accessory, being the garden supply portion of the conditional use permit, to also be a principal use. [9:59] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** For those of you that were on the council many years ago, there was some discussion about what was principal, what was accessory on this site. I believe they changed it actually in 1990 to make sure that it was well documented. And in fact, at one point in time, I remember going out to the site, walking it, and doing exactly the areas of what was associated with the commercial nursery versus what was associated with the garden supply. So from that perspective, there has been some discussion in the past about what is accessory, what is principle. It was very close even at that time in terms of an even split of what was being used as the principal use versus the accessory use. And so from that perspective, this would seek to essentially clean that up so that there wouldn't be any objection to sort of—if it's 55% Garden Supply... [10:50] **Mayor Huber:** Jen, I'm going to interrupt you for just a moment. We have to take a little about three or four-minute break here. So, can if you could just give us a break real quick? Just real quick. Go ahead. [11:00] **[Break in proceedings]** [11:15] **Mayor Huber:** All right. Go ahead. Jennifer, are you still with us? [11:18] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** I'm still here. [11:20] **Mayor Huber:** Ah, thanks Jennifer. Sorry, we have quite a bit of sickness going around at this table. You can see how we're spread out tonight. [11:28] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** I know, I hear. I'm so sorry. I will pick up the pace so you don't sit there so long. [11:35] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** If I could just interrupt real quick. Did we have—Mr. Mayor, did you call the meeting back to order before your volume was turned back on? [11:42] **Mayor Huber:** No, I did not. In fact, because when we take breaks, I was not used to normally calling it back in. Do I need to do that? [11:51] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Yes. [11:52] **Mayor Huber:** Mr. Mayor? Yes, you did, actually. So I did. I couldn't remember if I did. We're all sick here. You are helpful, but we can't remember anything because we're sick. All right, Jennifer, go ahead. Jump in here. [12:11] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** Put it in the minutes that everybody's sick. Yeah, go ahead. All right, thank you Mr. Mayor. So the review criteria that we're looking at for the purposes of this application is actually that we're changing the accessory Garden Center use, which is currently a legally non-conforming use, to being the principal use. So it's essentially just a swap. In terms of the CUP, we're not touching it. It will remain in place. [12:35] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** Essentially, how we're proposing to document this is through a resolution, which is in your packets this evening. In terms of our review, obviously what we were most concerned with was: How is the public going to perceive this? Is this going to feel the same? Will neighbors notice a change in operation? Those types of questions. If any of the answers to those questions was "yes," then we might be back in front of you in terms of looking at the conditional use permit. But since the answer is "no"—and a lot of this is actually driven by the water appropriation permit, which I'll touch on just briefly—the vast majority of operations are going to look the same. It's just going to be a new operator. [13:15] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** This is why we're taking a look at going about it this way and documenting the change through the resolution as opposed to opening the conditional use permit up. In terms of the commercial nursery, obviously it's a higher volume water user. As a result of that, they need a water appropriation permit from the Minnesota DNR. As you all know, because of what happened with White Bear Lake, the new operator was told that they would not be able to get water in the same volume based on that water appropriation permit. That is one of the reasons why the amount of operation dedicated to the commercial nursery will actually decrease in all likelihood, because they won't be able to properly water the nursery function of the site. [14:00] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** So even though we're not necessarily thinking there's going to be a significant volume increase on the garden supply center side of the use activity, the percentages are going to wiggle around quite a bit because of that appropriation permit that the DNR will not give as a result of the White Bear Lake situation. So again, that is part of the reason why we're going about this, looking at it as simply just a change of non-conforming use to another non-conforming use so that their existing operations can remain in place. [14:34] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** In terms of engineering, there's really not much to review because we're not looking at a new site plan. The operations are exactly as they are under Hedberg over the last several years. There's no other agency review. Obviously, they've got the water appropriation permit piece; they are obviously in discussion with the DNR already with regard to that. They will need to get that permit updated for the operations side of the commercial nursery. But other than that, there are no other agencies that are subject to this review because there's no site plan changes. Staff is asking you to discuss whether or not you're comfortable with the proposed change and then also considering the resolution that is in your packet this evening, which would approve essentially this switch to allow the garden supply center function to be a principal use. With that, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I am happy to answer any questions that you might have. [15:30] **Mayor Huber:** Thank you, Jennifer. That was an interesting presentation. It's amazing what the DNR and their findings are doing to different businesses, whether it be our golf courses or our large agricultural producers. It's interesting when you have a change forced upon a new owner like this that is trying to honor the CUP that they've had in the past. And they have—they've been a very good neighbor. This is not something that they sounded like they wanted; it sounded like this was something forced on them by state action. And as you say, there are no changes. They're just dialing back the nursery portion of it. So yeah, I don't see too many issues here for me. Good neighbor doesn't have to go through the review; they're just changing that use slightly. It seems a little clunky, but I'm not going to recommend that they go through a whole new CUP to make this change. No, that's punitive. It's punitive and it was forced upon them. So I hated to start there, guys, but I needed to get that out. Questions? Tom, Jeff? Tom, go ahead. [16:40] **Council Member Tom Carr:** I got a couple things, Jennifer. So we keep saying legal non-conformity because garden centers are not allowed in that zone, is that correct? I was going to look at my use table, but I didn't see it in here, and I forgot to look. So okay, so the garden centers are not allowed in that zone? [16:55] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** Right. In this case, it's a legally non-conforming use because it was permitted and documented through the conditional use permit process. Conveniently, that's actually what allows us to use this part of the code. If it were permitted, we might actually have to go through the amended conditional use permit process. I talked with Nick a little bit about it of what's the best strategy here, and ironically, since it is legally non-conforming, it allows us to kind of utilize this provision that's within the code. [17:30] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Right. It's a neat little nugget in the code. I didn't know we had, as you didn't. No, I think that's good. I'm overall I'm fine with everything. The only question I had would be like—it's non-conforming. I don't like having non-conforming uses with CUP owners. If they want to come back—what did we do? Was it called the zoning thing we did where they put in a request for zoning change or whatever? My thought would be, maybe it's okay for garden centers; maybe we should allow them in the zone. I mean, and so that person is non-conforming, so if they want to do some changes, they're not restricted. In this particular case, this is fine; this closes the door. I don't want to ramble on about it, but it's just something I thought about. What do you think after your review? [18:18] **Mayor Huber:** And we don't have to answer it now because these people are sick. We could just let it go. But I'm just—it is an interesting piece of the code. Keeping in mind, Tom and I both voted for this when they came back through with their CUP when I was—gosh, I might have been first on the council. Both Tom and I voted for this at the time because, again, there were punitive actions for a business that had been in operation since 1974. And then we dealt with some noise complaints, and they were just totally responsive to that. This is a great business. I'm glad it's in Grant. I want to keep it in Grant no matter what the DNR says. They've done a good job, and I'm sure Site One will also be a good neighbor. Heard good things about them. [19:00] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Right. But she should answer my question. I had a question. Do you think of making Garden Center something to look at, maybe to make it a legal conforming use? [19:10] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** So, I think we'd have to take a deeper look into it just to understand whether we'd associate performance standards with it, those types of things. I haven't done that analysis, but I mean, I think it's possible that it would be an appropriate use provided there were certain standards. But obviously, I've not given that a great deal of thought. [19:30] **Mayor Huber:** No, and I haven't either. And maybe the staff—I'm just offering it up as something you might want to talk about before we even would go back to them and say, "Hey, I know you're non-conforming, but if you were conforming, this might be better for you." But until you guys look at it, I wouldn't even want to do that. So I like what's here; this is good. But for the future, that may be something they want to do. [19:50] **Mayor Huber:** Yeah, with the water restrictions that are coming in, we're not going to be seeing any new garden centers because they can't water the stuff. So you're not going to be seeing any... you're wasting your time going there. With all due respect, they're not going to be any more of them because the DNR is taking some actions here that are going to forestall any other developments along those lines. Unfortunately, that is going to happen. So, you know, unless something like that changes, I wouldn't even be interested in seeing it because the DNR kind of has that stranglehold on that water supply. You know, it comes off your roof—yeah, yeah, exactly. So yeah, build your own greenhouse, I guess. Anyway, gentlemen... sorry, people hurting... yours probably... Mr. Rog? You've had a chance to take a look at this. You've heard Jennifer's description of this process and how she came to these conclusions. What are your thoughts, sir? [20:45] **Council Member John Rog:** You're muted... There we go. Um, I was just going to say it seems as though it's a pretty clear-cut usage. It seems as though Hedberg's has been doing a good job of doing both, but with the water restrictions... I think they are trying to buy it and trying to do the due diligence of what they need to do. Is that correct? Or have they already bought it? It's tough for me to ascertain that from what I read. [21:15] **Mayor Huber:** No, that's correct. There's a purchase agreement to purchase it, and so they want to clean this up as part of their due diligence to make sure that they don't walk in and someone says, "You're in violation." [21:28] **Council Member John Rog:** Right. And I have to commend them on doing this before as opposed to after. So I don't see a problem with it. I like the fact that they are doing this ahead of time to make sure that everything works well. So I don't see a problem with it. [21:40] **Mayor Huber:** Thank you, John. I would agree. It seems as though the due diligence is there, the care for the community is there. The use has blended into this neighborhood quite well, and they've been very responsible there. So if there are no other questions or concerns, I would ask someone to make a motion on Resolution 2024-03, please. [22:05] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** I move. [22:07] **Mayor Huber:** If Mr. Giefer has moved, do I have a second? [22:09] **Council Member John Rog:** I second. [22:10] **Mayor Huber:** Thank you, John. Kim? [22:15] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Carr? [22:16] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Hi. [22:17] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Rog? [22:18] **Council Member John Rog:** Hi. [22:19] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Giefer? [22:20] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Hi. [22:21] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor Huber? [22:22] **Mayor Huber:** Hi. Thank you, Kim. Thank you, Jennifer. Comprehensive as always. [22:26] **Jennifer Swanson (City Planner):** Thank you. I hope you all feel better. [22:28] **Mayor Huber:** Thanks, I do appreciate that. I hope I do too. Okay, um, next up, gentlemen, is the Fee Schedule Ordinance. I know that we've all had a chance to take a look at that. Doesn't look like we have too many changes. Kim, do you want to point out any changes? [22:45] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** I'll be honest, council member, there are no proposed changes from last year. The ordinance number at the top has already been corrected to 2024, and again, no proposed changes to your Fee Schedule. [22:58] **Mayor Huber:** Well, that's always welcome around here. No changes to worry about. Resolution 2024-25... 01? Which one is that, Kim? I'm looking... [23:26] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor and council members, Resolution number 2024-01 is just authorization for public summary of the ordinance you just passed. [23:35] **Mayor Huber:** Oh, thank you. I'm sorry, my head is just not all here. We all know why we do this: we save money by shortening up our ordinance publications as allowed by state law. Do I have a motion to approve 2024-01? [23:51] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Motion. [23:52] **Mayor Huber:** Thank you, Jeff. Do I have a second? [23:54] **Council Member John Rog:** I'll second. [23:55] **Mayor Huber:** Thanks, John. Kim? [24:00] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Carr? [24:01] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Hi. [24:02] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Rog? [24:03] **Council Member John Rog:** Hi. [24:04] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Giefer? [24:05] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Hi. [24:06] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor Huber? [24:07] **Mayor Huber:** Hi. Thank you, Kim. Uh, let's all take a look at the 2024 city council meeting schedule as proposed. If anybody sees any obvious things here, let's let... [24:14] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mr. Mayor and council members, the header has been corrected as well as the time. And the proposed meeting dates—technically you do not need to approve these—but the proposed meeting dates do take into account elections, some holidays, and I just will note for anyone watching that all City Council meetings are subject to be rescheduled or and perhaps cancelled. [24:45] **Mayor Huber:** Yeah, it can happen. We won't waste your money even heating this place up if there's nothing on the agenda. I see nothing obvious here. Tom, what do you...? [24:55] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Looks good. [24:56] **Mayor Huber:** Looks good. John? [24:58] **Council Member John Rog:** Yes, hi. Um, the usual June meetings that replace the July 4th meetings... we usually have it on the Tuesday, and it's scheduled on a Thursday again. Are we supposed to be doing that on the Tuesday before like we did last year? Or are we actually changing it to the Thursday again, which is kind of a... you know, I don't know, we usually do it on the Tuesday instead of a Thursday. [25:25] **Mayor Huber:** You're talking about the 27th, right John? [25:28] **Council Member John Rog:** Yes, instead of the 25th. [25:30] **Mayor Huber:** Right. And Kim, what was the purpose of that again? Just to skip the July 4th weekend there? [25:36] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Well, the holiday week, yeah, completely. Mayor and council members, we have done it the Thursday before; we have done it the Tuesday before. It is absolutely your choice what works good for you. [25:46] **Mayor Huber:** John, do you care? [25:48] **Council Member John Rog:** I like the Tuesdays. Keep it easy, keep it so I can remember them. [25:52] **Mayor Huber:** So you're talking the 25th then, right? [25:54] **Council Member John Rog:** Yeah. [25:55] **Mayor Huber:** Well, if it's okay with you guys... it does... I mean, I like Tuesdays because I always remember a Tuesday. Tom, how do you feel? [26:01] **Council Member Tom Carr:** That's fine. [26:02] **Mayor Huber:** Fine. Jeff, you good? [26:03] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Tuesday it is. [26:05] **Mayor Huber:** John, the 25th. [26:07] **Council Member John Rog:** 25th. 25th of July... of June. [26:12] **Mayor Huber:** June, June. Sorry. [26:14] **Council Member John Rog:** 25th of June. Okay, got it. I'm kind of glad I'm not there getting sick with you guys. [26:25] **Mayor Huber:** Yeah, I'm... everybody here... I was already with sick people here, now you came to more sick people. Good move. [26:35] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor and council members, if you would just make a motion to approve that calendar based on the one revision, that would be great for the minutes. [26:45] **Council Member Tom Carr:** So moved. [26:46] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Second. [26:47] **Council Member John Rog:** Second. Yeah, second. [26:50] **Mayor Huber:** It was your change, John! Council Member Carr? [26:54] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Hi. [26:55] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Rog? [26:56] **Council Member John Rog:** Hi. [26:57] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Giefer? [26:58] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Hi. [26:59] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor Huber? [27:00] **Mayor Huber:** Hi. Thank you. [27:02] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor and council members, next on your agenda is the consideration of the 2024 appointment list. This is exactly the same as last year's. I did take out some cumbersome verbiage such as "under contract, under contract, under contract." We all know that they are under contract. The one recommended change I am perhaps asking you to consider is adding another fire warden: the roads supervisor, Ken Johnson. [27:42] **Mayor Huber:** Yeah, and I agree with it. He's on the road, he can do the visits. And unfortunately, the two folks we have right now—just so the public understands why we're doing this—the two folks we have right now are either working or they're not quite as mobile, maybe, as they once used to be. So we're trying to make sure that those site visits happen, and it's part of the city's responsibility to make sure that they do happen. So having our road contractor out on the roads anyway just makes sense to add them on there. And I can't see any downside to it. Questions? Concerns? Okay, let's add him. Anything else, Kim? [28:28] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Nope. [28:29] **Mayor Huber:** Okay. I'll make a motion to approve as amended. [28:32] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Thank you, Tom. Second? [28:34] **Council Member John Rog:** Second. [28:35] **Mayor Huber:** John, what do you think? Kim? [28:38] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Carr? [28:39] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Hi. [28:40] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Rog? [28:41] **Council Member John Rog:** Hi. [28:42] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Giefer? [28:43] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Hi. [28:44] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor Huber? [28:45] **Mayor Huber:** Hi. Thank you. Okay, Kim, I believe this is going to be you here. [28:49] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor and council members, before you is the Earned Sick and Safe Time employment policy that was passed in the legislature last session. The city is absolutely required to pass this as a policy, and that's what is before you. [29:10] **Mayor Huber:** Pass it as a policy. There is no motion associated with this? It's just one of our Personnel policies, right? [29:17] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** No, we need a motion to approve it. [29:21] **Mayor Huber:** Okay, well I know, but there's no number to the motion. I see no numbers. [29:26] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** No, it's not a resolution. It's not an ordinance. It's... [29:30] **Mayor Huber:** Thank you. That was my question. You have no choice. Yeah, it's state... [29:34] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Make a motion to... I'll move to... [29:36] **Mayor Huber:** There you go. Thank you. I was just going to do it. We have a second? [29:39] **Council Member John Rog:** I'll second the required change. [29:40] **Mayor Huber:** Thanks, John. Kim? [29:43] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Carr? [29:44] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Hi. [29:45] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Rog? [29:46] **Council Member John Rog:** Hi. [29:47] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Giefer? [29:48] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Hi. [29:49] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor Huber? [29:50] **Mayor Huber:** Hi. Thank you. Um, okay. I don't see any unfinished business. Any staff updates? No? Got nothing. City Council reports? Future agenda items? John? Future agenda? [30:05] **Council Member John Rog:** Nope, I got nothing. [30:08] **Mayor Huber:** Um, John, you're probably the wellest one here. Why don't you go ahead and... [30:13] **Council Member John Rog:** I'm on my phone, I'd have to find it really fast. [30:15] **Mayor Huber:** Okay, well, here we go. Mahtomedi Public Schools board meeting: Thursday, January 11th and January 25th, Mahtomedi District Education Center, 7:00 p.m. Stillwater Public Schools board meeting: Thursday, January 11th, Stillwater City Hall, 7:00 p.m. Washington County Commissioners meeting: Tuesdays, Government Center, 9:00 a.m. Motion to adjourn? [30:43] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Second. [30:44] **Mayor Huber:** Thanks, Jeff. Appreciate it. Kim? [30:47] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Carr? [30:48] **Council Member Tom Carr:** Hi. [30:49] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Rog? [30:50] **Council Member John Rog:** Hi. [30:51] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Council member Giefer? [30:52] **Council Member Jeff Giefer:** Hi. [30:53] **Kristina Handt (City Administrator):** Mayor Huber? [30:54] **Mayor Huber:** Hi. Thanks, everyone. Happy New Year. [30:56] **Group:** Happy New Year.