[00:00] Mayor Myron Bailey: So you can hit the gavel, then you can call the meeting to order. [00:05] Mia Namik (Mayor for a Day): Call the meeting to order for November 1st, 2023. [00:10] Mayor Myron Bailey: First item on our agenda... [00:12] Mia Namik (Mayor for a Day): First item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. So please rise for the pledge. [00:18] Group: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [00:30] Mayor Myron Bailey: Now you can say, "Would the clerk please do the role?" [00:32] Mia Namik (Mayor for a Day): Would the clerk please do the role? [00:35] Tammy Anderson (City Clerk): Councilmember Kabata? [00:36] Councilmember Tony Kabata: Present. [00:37] Tammy Anderson (City Clerk): Councilmember Thiede? [00:38] Councilmember Dave Thiede: Here. [00:39] Tammy Anderson (City Clerk): Councilmember Olsen? [00:40] Councilmember Justin Olsen: Here. [00:41] Tammy Anderson (City Clerk): Mayor for a day Mia Namik? [00:42] Mia Namik (Mayor for a Day): Here. [00:43] Tammy Anderson (City Clerk): Mayor Bailey? [00:44] Mayor Myron Bailey: Here. All right, the next item on our agenda this evening is Open Forum. Uh, this is the opportunity for anybody who wants to speak on something that's not on tonight's agenda is welcome to do so. We did have a signup sheet out in the entryway and we didn't see anybody sign up, but just in the event that somebody made it in here and didn't sign up, is there anybody that wants to speak uh, during Open Forum this evening? Except your brother—he’s going to complain about the Mayor, right? Yeah, yeah. All right, so you can gavel it down and say Open Forum is closed. [01:15] Mia Namik (Mayor for a Day): Open Forum is closed. Now we're going to move to adopt the agenda. Move to adopt the agenda. [01:22] Councilmember Justin Olsen: So moved. [01:23] Councilmember Dave Thiede: Second. [01:24] Mayor Myron Bailey: So we have a motion by Councilmember Olsen, second by Councilmember Thiede. All those in favor signify by saying aye. [01:30] Group: Aye. [01:31] Mayor Myron Bailey: Opposed? Motion carries. So our agenda is finished. So now we have presentations, and we have two presentations tonight. And the first one is an exciting one, which is why Mia is here with me up at the Council dais. Mia was one of, I believe, over 70 students that had put forth to us an essay about why they would like to be Mayor for a Day here in Cottage Grove. It was pretty amazing to see that many, and so staff and myself had to narrow this all the way down to one. And I got the opportunity then to choose Mia for the great information that she's sharing about what she would like to see in a future of Cottage Grove. And so what I would like to do, first of all, for the public out there, the Council and staff got the opportunity a little bit ago to listen while in a press conference Mia was able to present to us her goals and objectives for being Mayor of Cottage Grove. So I thought what I would do is have her read that for the public before we move to the next part here. So Mia, I'll turn it over to you. [02:40] Mia Namik (Mayor for a Day): Hello everyone. My name is Mia Namik and I'm a fourth grader at Grey Cloud Elementary. I'm here to share my dream with you—a dream of being Mayor of Cottage Grove, Minnesota for a day. Now you may be wondering why a fourth grader like me aspires to be Mayor, and I'll tell you why. Cottage Grove is not just a place; it's our home, a community we cherish. I care deeply about our town and everyone in it, which is why I want the opportunity to be Mayor for a day. As a Mayor, I would be your voice, ensuring that every idea and concern, no matter how big or small, is heard and acted upon. But there's more to this dream. I was recently elected to our school student council and that ignited a spark within me to learn about politics and how we can make a positive impact on our community. Being Mayor for a day would be a unique opportunity to explore the world of local government, to meet with experienced leaders, and to understand how they make decisions that shape our town's future. I'm passionate about preserving our environment and as Mayor, I’d lead initiatives like planting more trees or organizing cleanup events and making Cottage Grove greener and cleaner. Imagine our town becoming a shining example of environmental stewardship. And so with that, I promise to be a responsible and compassionate leader. With your support, we can make Cottage Grove a place where dreams can come true. Thank you for believing in me and this dream to make a difference in our town. [04:20] Mayor Myron Bailey: Fantastic. So all I have to say is, with our youth—which is sitting right next to me here—I would say our future is very bright out there with some of those goals and objectives and the passion that you have. For those out there interested to know, when we do this essay for Mayor for a Day, it isn't just that she gets to come up here and be with me and the Council at the Council dais, but she's spent pretty much a full afternoon doing everything from riding in snowplow trucks to going to the Ice Arena to having some concession stand food. And what was your favorite there? [04:55] Mia Namik (Mayor for a Day): The cheese curds. [04:56] Mayor Myron Bailey: The cheese curds, the cheese curds. So, and I believe you also—did you get to ride on the Zamboni? [05:03] Mia Namik (Mayor for a Day): Yeah. [05:04] Mayor Myron Bailey: And got to ride on the Zamboni. I believe you also visited the fire station? Is that correct? And she does love the parks, she has shared that with me too. And she is, as her dad said—at least specifically, I didn't hear it from Mom—but she is a Starbucks fan, so she's right up my alley. So yeah, she likes Starbucks too. So what I'd ask the Council to do with me is let's go down in front of the Council dais and Mia, you want to come with? All right, so first of all, I want to thank her parents for—and her brother Patrick who's in the front here—for supporting her in this endeavor. Obviously, it takes a family to actually encourage and make things happen like this. So I'm very excited to have you here. I got to first meet her, actually, as we were just talking about this, at the Halloween parade. I was throwing out candy and she noticed me in my complete gold outfit, but she said, "I'm the Mayor for the Day, I'm the one you picked!" So I thought that was pretty cool. So that was my first chance to actually meet her before today. So what we wanted to do is, again, present her with a certificate of appreciation for Mia Namik. And it just says: "In sincere appreciation for your service to the City of Cottage Grove, being our Mayor for a Day here on November the 1st." So congratulations. Mom and Dad and the rest of them, let's give her a round of applause. The good news for you is your official duties of the day are now finished, but we also get to give you this—this is your own nameplate, so you get to take that home with you. Is there anything you would like to say? [07:02] Mia Namik (Mayor for a Day): Thank you everyone for believing in me! [07:05] Mayor Myron Bailey: Absolutely. Thank you. Great, great job. [07:15] [Crowd noises / Unidentified speaker]: Come do everybody... come bring it... bring it... you got her... there you go, perfect. I have a feeling we'll see her brother back here... especially if it's Pizza... can't... I was moving the mic a little bit... All right you guys, thank you! See you later. [07:45] Councilmember Justin Olsen: Can't wait till my kids are old enough to come do this. [07:48] Mayor Myron Bailey: I know, it's pretty amazing. That's pretty amazing. All right, our next presentation this evening is—as hard as it is to believe—we're into the season already, isn't it? But we are now into the holiday season as November 1st starts, and Molly Petruski, our Recreation Manager—there might be a middle part there, but I'll call you the Recreation Manager—is going to kind of walk through some of the things that we do during the holiday season here in Cottage Grove for the general public. So welcome, and thanks for coming tonight. [08:24] Molly Petruski (Recreation Manager): Awesome. Good evening everyone. Again, Molly Petruski with the Recreation Department. So I am here tonight to present our upcoming holiday events. I agree it's crazy we're here already, but we are. We have lots of things going on the next couple months here in Cottage Grove. One thing I just wanted to mention that was brought up before: the Pumpkin Chuck or Chuck-a-Pumpkin, however you want to call it, is tomorrow at Peter Thompson Park, 3:30 to 5:30. So bring your pumpkins and you can roll them, chuck them, whatever you'd like down the hill at Peter Thompson, and then we will compost them with Washington County over at the services that we have at Public Works also. So if you don't make it to the Pumpkin Chuck, you can still bring them to Public Works and have them composted as well. So 3:30 to 5:30 tomorrow at Peter Thompson. Thank you. Our big first official event already is coming November 23rd—it is the 9:00 a.m. Hail to the Bird 5K race at Hamlet Park. This year marks the race's 13th anniversary raising money for the Friends in Need Food Shelf. So this is our first big contributor kind of for the holiday train, is how it rolls through, and then onto the Friends in Need Food Shelf service for everybody here in Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park, and Newport. So this is a big one. The best way to register, if you're not on social media, is ActiveNet and then keyword "Hail to the Bird." So, "Hail" being the name of the street that turns you into Hamlet. So, Hail to the Bird 5K. As you can see in the picture, hundreds of people come out the morning of Thanksgiving and get a good 5K run, walk, stroll, whatever you'd like to do. Holiday Lights home tour is back again this year. So if you're planning a big display, register your home as a stop on our tour. Addresses can be added on the City's website; there'll be a link that will be live on there as of November 6th. And then as of Wednesday, November 22nd, a map will be created. So the same link you use or the same website you use to insert your link, that is where you'll also go to find the map. The map will be updated weekly. So if your house is added midweek, it may take a few days to get on there, but houses will be added weekly until about mid-December, and then we'll kind of leave the map alone. In past years, we've had to create two routes because we've had so many houses. Both routes start here at Cottage Grove [City Hall], so you can come and see the big chair, the tree with lights, and then kind of be on your way. It's a great night for families; it's cheap, it's easy, it's fun for your family. Go when you want to be, done when you want to pick it back up. The map follows right along on your phone, kind of giving you directions where to go. So we really look forward to seeing how many houses we can get on the map this year. November 29th is a Wednesday after Thanksgiving week. We will once again be hosting our Hometown Holiday event here at City Hall from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. We did it last year with great success, so we're looking to build upon that this year. Santa and Mrs. Claus... parking will be at the Washington County building or the Hero Center. We'll be offering wagon rides in from those parking lots. We'll have live reindeer, games, activities, food trucks on site. We're going to have additional seating this year for those who want to stay outside. Food trucks—if I didn't mention that. The Park High Choir... we have a few other fun things that we're working on for a few surprises, perhaps a lit trail outside and a few other things. So it'll be a great evening again. Come for as long as you want; come for 20 minutes or come for the whole two hours. It's a great event here at City Hall and kind of a fun, unique atmosphere to see Santa and Mrs. Claus and kick off your holiday activities—and bring your lists, of course. December 2nd is our second big event that supports the Holiday Train and the Friends in Need Food Shelf; it's our Fill the Fire Truck event. So it's kind of a two-part event. The Holiday Train committee hosts an online silent auction beginning November 17th and closes November 30th. And then silent auction items can be picked up at the Fill the Fire Truck event. This year, we have moved the event to Woodridge Park. It has been at Hamlet in the past, and the staff has chosen to move it to Woodridge Park this year, 10:00 to noon. So this is another great chance to come see Santa and Mrs. Claus. And the goal is to kind of fill the top back end of a fire truck with paper towels, toilet paper—any kind of paper products: napkins, paper plates, things like that. And then we'll be also accepting cash donations. This is not an event that we are accepting food donations—hopefully that word gets out as well. And then feel free to pick up your silent auction items at that event. So it's kind of a nice thing on a Saturday morning, get out and pick up things you won. Lots of items this year, lots of gift cards, lots of different opportunities this year. So be sure to keep an eye out on social media for those silent auction items. Sunday, December 10th is probably going to be the busiest day in Cottage Grove. So we'll start out in the morning with the River Oaks Santa Breakfast. So it's a great opportunity to come have breakfast with your family, create new traditions. They have sleigh rides around the course, a great North Pole breakfast menu. Reservations are required, so we do strongly encourage you to call River Oaks as soon as possible, make those reservations for your family because they do sell out every year. Reservations are accepted 9:15 to 12:15 p.m. That will get you home in time to regroup before you come to the CPKC Holiday Train. They did rebrand, but it's the same thing: Canadian Pacific Kansas City Holiday Train. The train arrives on a Sunday this year, so the committee is working through all of that. We are expecting larger crowds than we have the last few years. It is also the 20th anniversary of the train stopping in Cottage Grove, which is a huge milestone. It's a huge accomplishment, it's a huge—what do you call it?—a feather in the hat for Cottage Grove. There are towns, there are bigger cities than ours, who have it once and they never come back. It is not guaranteed that they stop here, but Cottage Grove is so supportive and we do such a great job of promoting it and raising funds for our Food Shelf that they have come back 20 years in a row. It's pretty amazing. So the train arrives at 5:00 p.m., takes about 15 minutes to set up, and then the boxcar opens for about a half-hour show. We are opening—I say it backwards—the road closes so that festivities can open this year about 3:00. So we are opening a little bit earlier than we have if it were to be like a school day or a work day. So come, park at the Park and Ride until you can, and then good luck finding parking after that. There's not a lot of—there's a lot of great options, but get to somewhere that you can walk safely down to the tracks or the Park and Ride. And we will be offering wagon rides from the Park and Ride down to—it's kind of like the Youth Service Bureau would be a good marking point for where the Holiday Train stops. December 10th, get ready, it's going to be a busy one. The last thing I want to mention here is Park and Rec. We're not just your summer baseball field, soccer complex, splash pad; we have a lot of things that go on to get your family outside all winter. So just remember our parks or trails are open all winter. Our Parks Department takes great care in keeping them plowed and accessible. Warming houses—if this cold weather keeps up, we will be on track to open the day after Christmas. I think it's a Tuesday this year. So the warming houses will all be scheduled to open along with the skating rinks, sledding hills—I saw Facebook kids sledding the other day already! Cross-country skiing, the trails will be groomed at River Oaks once they get going. And then we are working on getting the snowshoes back out again this year. So the City does rent snowshoes in our kayak trailer. So we kind of retrofit the back of it, put the kayaks in storage and put the snowshoes in there. And I think we're still agreeing where we're putting them, or did we decide? [Looks at staff] Not decided yet? Good thing I didn't say it out loud. So we're still working—they were at Oakwood last year—so we're still working on some decisions on where that trailer is going to be this year. So that gets you to 2024. That's a lot going on in the next few weeks in town here. [17:05] Mayor Myron Bailey: There is. And I know that, like you mentioned about the Pumpkin Chuck or Roll, I mean, I know you just came off of an event where you had the fun up at the Ice Arena that was just finished... Spooktacular? [17:18] Molly Petruski (Recreation Manager): Spooktacular, yep. [17:19] Mayor Myron Bailey: Which you had a huge turnout, looks like that's awesome. [17:21] Molly Petruski (Recreation Manager): So yeah, we did. Both sessions sold out with 100 participants, so it was a busy night there too. Yes. [17:26] Mayor Myron Bailey: Perfect. Well Molly, thank you so much, and thank you to the Parks and staff for putting all this together for our community. Really looking forward to it. Obviously, it'll be fun kicking it off here in the next—for us, I guess for me or some of us up here—the next week with... I'll mention a bit later, but Friendsgiving down at River Oaks, which is kind of a separate thing. I know we're getting to that time where people can't register anymore, but it's just really neat that we're doing all this stuff for our community. So thank you. [17:58] Molly Petruski (Recreation Manager): Thank you. Awesome. [18:02] Mayor Myron Bailey: All right. Council, the next item on our agenda is Consent. Is there anything that Council would like to pull on Consent? Councilmember Olsen? [18:10] Councilmember Justin Olsen: Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to pull item G. [18:13] Mayor Myron Bailey: You're going to pull G? Okay. [18:15] Councilmember Dave Thiede: And Councilmember Thiede, you're going to pull K? [18:16] Councilmember Dave Thiede: Yep. [18:17] Mayor Myron Bailey: All right, anything else? All right, we'll go ahead and start with Councilmember Olsen. G is we're accepting some donations. [18:24] Councilmember Justin Olsen: That's correct, Mayor. I pulled this item simply because I wanted to take a moment to thank the various donors for their contributions to the City. We do this each quarter, as you well know, and it is always very, very humbling and impressive how the community gets behind so many things with both their time and their energy, but also with their hard-earned dollars. So for this particular item, I'd like to thank Paul and Ally Schumacher who made a donation to our EMS department. I'd also like to thank the Cottage Grove Hockey Association for making a significant contribution to Glacial Valley Park for the rink boards there. Of course, Teddy's Heart Foundation has been very active in not just our community, but in South Washington County with donating for AEDs at all of the public parks, and they made a donation towards an AED for our new Glacial Valley Park. And then last but certainly not least, our Pheasants Forever Cottage Grove chapter made a donation to our archery range, which they do every year. So I wanted to just take a minute to say thank you to all of the various donors and let the public know that if there's anything of importance to you that goes on in the community and you're interested in making a donation, you can reach either any Councilmember that's sitting up here tonight or you can reach out to our city staff at 651-458-2800. Ask for Tammy; she's our City Clerk and she knows how to do all of this stuff far better than we do. So thanks again, everybody, for taking the opportunity to make our community even better through your donations. [20:11] Mayor Myron Bailey: Fantastic. Thank you, Councilmember Olsen. Then K is Marathon Community Investment Grant. Councilmember Thiede? [20:19] Councilmember Dave Thiede: Great. We're sharing a computer, so I threw Dave off. I'm sorry about that, Dave. Thanks for helping me out though. So, yeah, thanks Mayor. I’d like to just recognize the Marathon Community Investment Grant that we're here to accept tonight. And I'll just kind of read what this says here a little bit, but Marathon is a very big community—gets involved in the community a lot and so forth. So, "The Marathon Community Investment Grant supports their charitable mission of being committed to making our community stronger, safer and thriving places to live, work and play. MPC provides funding for programs that promote the resiliency of our shared communities including helping to address basic needs, supporting youth development programs, and creating opportunities for economic vitality. This also includes safety projects and efforts that help communities better prepare for, mitigate the risks of, and respond to disasters, hazards and emergencies. Council has approved Public Safety to apply for grants through the St. Paul Park Refinery. Cottage Grove is a rapidly growing community with areas of residential and commercial construction. Park High School is the designated site for reception center in the event of a radiological emergency at Prairie Island nuclear plant. We often have full parking lots at shopping centers, at parks for sporting tournaments and at special joint event venues such as Strawberry Fest and our Hometown Holiday celebration. Large crowds often bring increased risks. In the 2019 State of Minnesota threat and hazard identification and risk assessment process, equipment for unseen security and protection were identified to have gaps. Our application for monies for portable surveillance and monitoring equipment was intended to decrease this gap and align with the physical protective measures core capability of soft targets and crowded places by enhancing the security and protection of locations such as parks, restaurants, shopping centers, special event venues and similar facilities. Staff worked with Marathon Petroleum and determined the need for these tools would fit the guidelines of their community investment grants. Staff were notified our application for funding was approved in the amount of $5,000." So, I think most likely we'll probably accept this tonight and thank you very much to Marathon for their participation. [22:58] Mayor Myron Bailey: Fantastic. Thank you, Councilmember Thiede, and thanks to Marathon for that too, and all the people that have donated. So no other items were being asked or pulled from Consent, so I'll look for a motion to approve Consent. [23:12] Councilmember Tony Kabata: I'll motion to approve Consent. [23:14] Mayor Myron Bailey: All right, so we have a motion by Councilmember Kabata. [23:16] Councilmember Dave Thiede: Second. [23:17] Mayor Myron Bailey: Second by Councilmember Thiede. Any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye. [23:22] Group: Aye. [23:23] Mayor Myron Bailey: Opposed? Motion carries. So if you were here for anything on tonight's Consent calendar or Consent agenda, excuse me, all of them have been approved. Next is eight, Approved Disbursement. 8a is to pay the bills. [23:38] Councilmember Justin Olsen: I'll move the bills. [23:39] Mayor Myron Bailey: All right, so we have a motion by Councilmember Olsen. [23:41] Councilmember Tony Kabata: I'll second. [23:42] Mayor Myron Bailey: Second by Councilmember Kabata. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [23:48] Group: Aye. [23:49] Mayor Myron Bailey: Opposed? Motion carries. Next is nine, Public Hearings—there are none this evening. 10 is Bid Awards—there are none this evening. We do not have anything on our regular agenda this evening, so we're all the way down now to Council comments or requests. And I'll start to my right here with Councilmember Kabata. [24:10] Councilmember Tony Kabata: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You know, as my kids get older, the Mayor for a Day thing became more relatable. I think that was really cool for Mia and her family to be able to do that. So that's all I've got to say is that's pretty cool. [24:28] Mayor Myron Bailey: Yeah, it's fun. It is a fun thing to do, that is for sure. Councilmember Thiede? [24:33] Councilmember Dave Thiede: I just mention that we did have the Monster Bash parade last weekend and had, actually for the cold day, a great turnout. And I wish to thank everybody involved that makes things like that happen in this city. So that's all. [24:50] Mayor Myron Bailey: Awesome. Thank you. Did you have enough candy? [24:52] Councilmember Dave Thiede: Yeah. [24:53] Mayor Myron Bailey: Okay, good. Just making sure. All right, Councilmember Olsen? [24:56] Councilmember Justin Olsen: Thank you, Mayor. I think it's pretty clear Santa Claus has a soft spot for Cottage Grove because he visits an awful lot, especially during the latter part of November and into December. You heard Molly talk earlier about Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus will be at Woodridge Park on December 2nd to take donations for our Friends in Need Food Shelf of paper products and so on and so forth. He'll also be at River Oaks, as was mentioned earlier, on the 10th of December. He will be at our Hometown Holiday celebration here at City Hall. But I can't forget to mention our Cottage Grove Lions Santa Breakfast, which is going to take place at the VFW this year on December the 3rd. Starts at 8:00 in the morning, it runs until noon. Santa and Sparkles the Elf will absolutely be there on hand for any young people—and by that I mean young people of any age, because young is a state of mind—to sit on his lap and talk about what they want for Christmas. We'll also have some fantastic food for you: biscuits, gravy, mini donuts, eggs, bacon, sausage and so on and so forth. And $12 gets you in the door if you're an adult, it's $5 for kids. It is a really, really fun day and it's a really busy day, but it's something that our local Cottage Grove Lions Club just loves to do. So if you can't make it to River Oaks on the 10th because you have something going on that weekend, don't be shy—come and see Santa on December 3rd at the VFW and he'll listen to you there just like he would at River Oaks the next weekend. And Mayor, I also just wanted to ask a brief question of staff if I may. As Molly talked through the Holiday Train conversation, it took me back to last year—we had just an amazing turnout last year. In fact, we have an amazing turnout pretty much every year, it doesn't matter how cold it is. I remember Dave and I rode together one year to the Holiday Train and it had to be 40 below zero, but the place was packed; they had tents up with the warmers inside, so people make it a priority to get out there because it is such a fun event. Last year's parking got a little weird though. So I wanted to just ask staff if there's been any conversation with some of those businesses where people chose to park last year to give them a heads up that this is coming, this is the date, this is the time. It's very likely that people will seek out parking. The Mayor and I both belong to All Saints Church, and I know we've offered that parking lot up for years as a church community, but there's a number of businesses close by as well and I think some of them got a little frustrated with the situation last year. So have we had any dialogue? Does anybody know with those folks? [27:42] Peter Fischer (Deputy Fire Chief): [From the back of the room] There hasn't been communication with the businesses there, but it is on our plan to meet with them beforehand. We talked last year about having some possible signage to remind them that it's business parking only, but we are working again with the Armory, All Saints, and some of those too. So yeah, it is on our agenda. It's part of our—we're having every two weeks now meetings for the Holiday Train. [28:10] Councilmember Justin Olsen: I just—I think it's something we should anticipate because people will find a spot to park and they're not going to be super choosy if they can't find the perfect spot. So thank you for responding to that. I'm glad to hear that we already have a plan to reach out and make those businesses partners as opposed to having them be frustrated by a surprise on that evening. With that Mayor, I'll hand it back to you. [28:34] Mayor Myron Bailey: All right. Thank you, Councilmember Olsen. So just a couple informational items for the public. I did mention earlier when I was talking to Molly about the events—River Oaks actually has quite a few events coming up. One of them, which I'm so glad is back—it took a hiatus for a couple years obviously during COVID—but the Friendsgiving, which is a family-style meal and they come in tables of eight, is on November 10th. I believe it's 5:00 to 6:00 is kind of happy hour, if you will, and dinner starts at 6:00. And it is literally served family style. And the chef down there, he is absolutely amazing for the food. So I just encourage you, if you are still interested and are able to—I’m believing at the moment that you still can sign up—contact River Oaks directly and you can take care of the payments at that point. And then you don't have to have eight people at a table; individuals can come. I just know that we've increased the number of people that are coming with our group, over two tables now, since they're tables of eight. So I just wanted to throw that out there. And then I have not been to this, but ironically our Director of Public Safety Pete Koerner was just talking... they are also doing Dueling Pianos, which is actually November 4th, December 8th, and the 30th, and then it goes into January. I won't go that far out. I have not been there but I hear they sell out. I'm not sure if the 4th is sold out yet, I'm looking at Zac and Adia. But I know Pete and his wife have been there and they said it's an absolutely amazing time. And so, well, except for Pete when he got picked on—but that was okay, three times, three times! So I just encourage you if you're interested, again, check out the River Oaks website and or social media and you can sign up if you're interested and enjoy some fun down there. And then this coming next week on Wednesday, so a week from tonight, is the Fentanyl Awareness Community Conversation, which is going to be at the Hero Center. This is a group that's going to be coming in talking about the effects of fentanyl regarding our community, both youth and adults. So if you're interested and want to be part of that conversation and learn more about this particular issue and its effect on our communities—again, next Wednesday, November 8th from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. And then my last comment is just a note or a thank you to the Park [High School] boys soccer team. They were at state semifinals I believe as it was today, this morning at 10:00. I wasn't able to go but I had parents keeping me updated, so I was getting play-by-plays. Unfortunately, I will have to say they got beat in overtime in a shootout. So they did end up losing to I believe it was Grove, 2-1. So I just want to thank them for representing our community. I know our Public Safety team did a send-off for them when they were heading out, both down to Farmington for the previous game and very proud of the team and the accomplishments that they made this year. And now as those kind of sports end, now we're into hockey and basketball and I believe wrestling and diving. So there's a whole new opportunity to get involved and check out some of the great high school sporting events that happen in our town. All right, so with that, I am going to go to the next item on our agenda, which is 13, a Workshop open to the public. Just for the public to be aware, we are doing Fire Chief candidate interviews and it will be in the St. Croix room. And I would just mention that the goal would be that we will conduct the interviews and make a recommendation on the hiring. We have two individuals that the Council will be interviewing as I believe I mentioned earlier, but not here—we started with eight candidates. Some of the interviewing panels narrowed it down to two, and those two are now going to be before the City Council and myself to make a decision on which direction we want to go. 14 is a Workshop closed to the public, which we do not have this evening. So we will not be adjourning in here; we will adjourn in the St. Croix room. So everybody have a great evening and we'll talk to you in a couple weeks.