This transcript has been processed to identify speakers based on the provided city official list and the internal context of the meeting (phonetic matches like "Kada" for Clausen and "the" for Thiede have been corrected). [00:00] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** And hers. All right, good evening everyone. Uh, this is the December 6th, uh, 2023, uh, Cottage Grove City Council meeting, which I'm calling to order. Our first order of business is the Pledge of Allegiance, so if you please rise. 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. All right, will the, uh, Clerk please do the role? [00:30] **City Clerk Tammy Anderson:** Councilmember Clausen? [00:31] **Councilmember David Clausen:** Here. [00:32] **City Clerk Tammy Anderson:** Councilmember Olsen? [00:33] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Here. [00:34] **City Clerk Tammy Anderson:** Councilmember Thiede? [00:35] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Here. [00:36] **City Clerk Tammy Anderson:** Councilmember Garza? [00:37] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** Here. [00:38] **City Clerk Tammy Anderson:** Mayor Bailey? [00:39] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Here. All right, the next item on our agenda this evening is Open Forum. This is the opportunity for anybody who wants to speak on something that is not on tonight's agenda is welcome to do so. Uh, we did have a signup sheet out in the entryway and we did have one person sign up and I think what we'll do since the item that she wants to bring up is actually on her consent—so instead of having her come up during consent, if everybody's fine, I'll just have her come up and speak on the topic now. Uh, and then if there's anybody else that didn't sign up, um, we'll, uh, catch you at the end. So, uh, Bonnie Matter, if you want to come up. Thank you. Nice to—lot, lot a big crowd tonight. I wonder why. Director of Public Safety, okay. All right. [01:15] **Bonnie Matter:** Bonnie Matter, 6649 Inskip Avenue South, Cottage Grove. Um, and yes, I'm here to just ask a question, maybe a few questions about the local area sales tax. Um, the contract that is—you send materials out, it's on the consent agenda. So, uh, you've determined who you're going to work with on this and that's great. It's about educating the public, not influencing—educating, wonderful. Um, but it's $38,000 and really if you're getting everything that's in that—what it says you're getting—that's awesome. So that includes the development, the design, the production, etc. Is that correct? That's all I want to know. And if it's not, what an estimate is for whatever it's going to take to implement that plan. [01:50] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay. Do you want to bring—you want to mention it now? [01:55] **City Administrator Jennifer Levitt:** Mayor, members of the Council, I think it would probably be best if we have, uh, Bonnie Matter to speak with our Parks Director. He could go over the contract in more detail, uh, to answer those specific questions. [02:05] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay, so that would be speaking obviously with Zac. [02:08] **Bonnie Matter:** Yes, I understand. Um, but it was all spelled out. [02:10] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay. [02:11] **Bonnie Matter:** But it wasn't all spelled out, that's all. [02:12] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Well, there's, there's the, the contract and and just for the public to be aware—so on our consent agenda this evening, um, we are looking, uh, at hiring a, a company, if you will, that is going to do, um, uh, information to the public regarding a local option sales tax which, uh, we are going to put before the voters next year, uh, during the election year. And the purpose of that is, um, to look towards, uh, funding certain projects at parks that have been ongoing: the Mississippi Dunes Park, Hamlet Park, River Oaks Golf Course—is that's it? That's it, yeah. I had to make sure that I got the three. And um, so we're—we interviewed a couple firms, uh, and, uh, based on the feedback and what we got from those firms is, as, uh, Ms. Matter saying, uh, the Council is recommending approval of this particular firm, uh, to be, uh, to be hired. Now it isn't—I will say it won't be covering the—the, I'll say the amount of money that's going to be spent obviously on the parks, obviously that comes from the sales tax— [03:05] **Bonnie Matter:** Of course not. But I just wanted to make sure that the 38,000 covers this campaign. I would believe that's the answer, but I'll make sure that they know that for sure. [03:10] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Basically, what was in that printout—that if you read through the packet— [03:13] **Bonnie Matter:** Yep, it's pretty impressive. I mean, that's why we— [03:15] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Very impressive. [03:16] **Bonnie Matter:** Every should go read this, very detailed. [03:18] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** It's—that's why we chose them. [03:20] **Bonnie Matter:** Thank you. Thank you very much. And then the other thing is the University of Minnesota study, can I just access it through the— [03:24] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yeah, we can make sure you get that. Absolutely. You, you got it. Thank you very much. [03:28] **Bonnie Matter:** Excited! [03:29] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yeah, me too actually. All right, so, um, that was the only person that did sign up on, uh, the cons, uh, the, uh, Open Forum piece. Is there anybody in the audience that happens to be here that wants to speak on something that's not on tonight's agenda? All right, seeing none, I will go ahead and close the Open Forum and I'll move to number five, which is adoption of the agenda. [03:50] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Moved. [03:51] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** We have a motion by Councilmember Olsen. Do I have second? [03:52] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Second. [03:53] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All those in favor signify by saying aye. [03:55] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [03:56] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. So this evening, uh, we have presentations. We actually have two this evening. The first one, um, is going to be our official appointment of our newest Councilmember, uh, that, uh, the, the Council has chosen, which is Monique Garza. And so what I'm going to do is ask, uh, Monique to join me down in front and her family to come on up front, and uh, we're going to administer the oath of office. Come, you can come now. We'll go right in the middle here. Give that to you. Hold. All right, so if you'd please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Monique Garza... [04:25] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** I, Monique Garza... [04:26] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Do solemnly swear... [04:27] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** Do solemnly swear... [04:28] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** That I will support the Constitution of the United States... [04:30] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** That I will support the Constitution of the United States... [04:32] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** And the Constitution of the State of Minnesota... [04:34] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** And the Constitution of the State of Minnesota... [04:36] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** And that I will faithfully execute and discharge... [04:39] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** And that I will faithfully execute and discharge... [04:41] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** The duties of the office of Councilmember... [04:43] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** The duties of the office of Councilmember... [04:45] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** For the City of Cottage Grove... [04:47] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** For the City of Cottage Grove... [04:48] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** County of Washington... [04:49] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** County of Washington... [04:50] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** State of Minnesota... [04:51] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** State of Minnesota... [04:52] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** According to law and to the best of my judgment and ability... [04:55] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** According to law and to the best of my judgment and ability... [04:58] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** So help me God. [04:59] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** So help me God. [05:00] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Congratulations and welcome! [Applause] There you go. You want a picture? Come on up. And then we have to make it official. Tammy, this is locked up, right? All right, well that's awesome and welcome, welcome aboard. We're excited to have you join the team, so thank you so much. [05:35] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** Thank you. [05:36] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so our next one this evening, um, it's kind of—I'll say it's, it's a sad day, but it's also an exciting day. Look at, he's laughing in the front row here, and his, his wife and family are going, "Oh thank goodness," right? Um, but this is the recognition of our Deputy Director of Public Safety, our Fire Chief—you have kind of that dual world title there—his retirement. So we, uh, have him, uh, been with the, with the city for quite a long time and we'll talk a little bit more about that. But our actual Director of Public Safety—looks like they're doing some, uh, technical moves there—is going to kind of kick us off. And then, uh, I would ask Council once again to join me down in front with, uh, with Rick, uh, and to celebrate this milestone in your life and the City of Cottage Grove. So, uh, Pete, take it away. [06:20] **Director of Public Safety Pete Koerner:** Sure. Yeah, in a moment we'll have—because Rick loves the limelight, he loves standing up in front—and um, so I, I do appreciate the, the time tonight. And I, I need to let you know that Rick is not done until the end of the month, um, but as a guy that has a wife that has a December birthday, I know we have to kind of keep it away from the holidays. So I didn't want to do this right before Christmas and everything and take away from Rick's night. So, um, this is just kind of the start of some different things—his retirement party coming up and everything. But I do want to recognize, uh, Chief Rinas tonight on his upcoming retirement. Um, Rick has served Public Safety since October 27th of 1987. So, and he served 34 years—I know the math doesn't add up, he took a 2-year hiatus when he moved over to Eagan, um, when him and his wife were over there, and then quickly he knew need to come back to this side of the river. So, 34 years. Um, but at the end of the year he is retiring and it is really a challenge for me to try to summarize 34 years in someone's Public Safety career, especially when you find out that Rick had two paths: he also had the police side and the fire side. So I'll try to do it, um, justice. But, um, as I said, Rick is a modest man. Um, the longer I talk, the more uncomfortable he's going to get. But, um, Rick has really been instrumental in providing the highest quality based fire EMS services. Um, he's always held himself to the highest standards and that's always come back to the troops. We've always known his expectations are high, whether it's whatever service or making sure a vehicle is clean—the—I mean, that, that's Rick. So he, he's always been a doer, and if he didn't—he wouldn't tell someone to do something that he wouldn't do. So, but since 1987, uh, Rick's done a lot of changes. I, I joined the department '92 and I've seen those changes. And whether it was Rick as a, a part-time firefighter, a part—when he was a Captain—he, he's kind of been a part a lot of these changes, but he'll never take credit for it. So I just wanted to highlight a few of the, um—just kind of going through—Rick was the Chief as we transitioned from a Police Officer Paramedic program to a Fire Paramedic program. That was a huge undertaking, going from just one or two full-time to now a group of 15. So that was, that was a huge change. Um, I don't even know how to explain our duty crew model and all the changes, you know, and what shifts they work and, you know, going from 12s to 24s for some too—that was a huge accomplishment. Um, Rick loves when we talk about, um, the, the COVID response and everything and I think we all got tired of talking, but, uh, Rick was a part of that with the Emergency Management team. Um, the, the changes we've had in the Fire Halls with our delivery, um, you know, that, that beautiful Central fire station—Rick was a big part of that. And anytime I bring up like, "We should have done this," he's like, "I asked for that." So, um, he's very, he's very passionate about that, so keep that in mind. But, um, and then just a lot of the leadership things he did with—I mean, you see our aerial platform truck—Rick trusted a, a truck committee to come in and beg for the money and do all the planning, but, you know, Rick knows trucks. Rick knows, um, you know, all the apparatus and everything. So those—I mean, how, how do you summarize that in 34 years? You really can't. So, um, but as you know, Rick has Public Safety in his blood. Um, for those that—if you don't know this, but Rick started his law enforcement career in 1993 with, uh, Silver Lake. Then he went to, um, Eagan from '94 to '99. And again, Rick was—he's a Towny, he grew up in Cottage Grove, he wanted to come back here. So he worked in, um, St. Paul Park as a police officer until 2012 and then obviously when, um, he got hired here full-time as the Fire Chief, he left. But he didn't leave law enforcement—he for how many years? Five, six years? He was with Washington County Sheriff's Department with the Water Patrol, and he still can't get it out, and he still goes out and works as a police officer at, at the State Fair. So, um, really, you know, Rick is what we need in this community. He's committed. Um, Rick's family has been committed. Chris was a longtime member of our fire auxiliary, um, now she's a member of the Public Safety Board. And I honestly thought Rick would be up here saying words about me when I retired and Rick would still be here, but then that little guy right there showed up—the guy that's clapping there. So, um, Rick's perspective really changed in life. Well, Chris retired from her job and I think he was a little jealous seeing her fun things and then the grandchild. But, um, Rick's always been a part of family and I have to mention like, Ashley grew up in the firehouse. She had a lot of other uncles and aunts, and I'm sorry—I, I hope we raised you right, but, um, as a little kid, I mean, you've always been around too, Ashley. So I know both you and Chris, you're very proud of, of Rick. So, um, I don't really have much more other than Rick really did—when, when he started his whole goal is never accolades, he just said, "I want to leave this place a better place when I'm gone." And Rick is doing that. So, and when we say gone, it's not going to be gone. We already have him committed to the holiday training committee next year. Um, Chris is going to get him at the Food Shelf. But, um, without—I mean, Rick, you're leaving this place much better. And, and we'll really roast the heck out of you at your retirement party. But for now, um, I'd like you to come up front. Uh, the Mayor and the Council have a recognition plaque too. [11:20] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Well, what, what can we say? So, you know, it's amazing when you think 30-plus years, uh, in a position, and you know, people don't stay in jobs that they don't like, right? Uh, people stay in jobs that touch your, touch your heart and affect families and that. And all the years that you've been, uh—in many of these years I've known you too, uh, and the family—the fact of the matter is, um, you really truly care about this community and you would be absolutely missed. I can see we've got a lot of current and former, uh, firefighters and such in the room here this evening and that's, I think, a testament to you. Uh, they're here to support you and I know you don't like all this limelight, but the, but the, but the fact is, um, you have created an impression, a real positive one, within the community—both for the firefighters and, and, and the people in this room, but also for the numerous people, to be honest with you, you saved. Uh, you and the firefighters and the fire department or the police department and such. If you think about all the incidents and things over the many years that we've had in Cottage Grove, you have been a part of saving lives. And so this is really a good thing for you from a retirement standpoint, right? You get to go spend some time away. But also at the same time, we want to make sure that we send you at least with the small, small little gift. Um, and I'll read it here in a second, but, um, I just want to say on behalf of myself, I know the Council, all of our staff and all the citizens of Cottage Grove—and I can actually say even outside Cottage Grove because obviously Mutual Aid—there's many of times where you went to other communities, put aside all the different jobs that you've had in other communities, uh, to help, um, those communities with events and crises that happened there. So now I'm going to read the plaque. It says: "Rick Rinas, Deputy Director of Public Safety, Fire Chief, City of Cottage Grove Department of Public Safety, Fire and Emergency Medical Services Division. Served 1987 to 2023. In recognition of your dedicated service to the Cottage Grove Public Safety Department and the citizens in which we serve. Fire Chief Rinas has been instrumental in providing the highest quality based fire and EMS services and has led the Fire EMS department in a positive direction. From your start as a firefighter to retirement as Fire Chief, Rick Rinas has had a direct impact on the excellent reputation and high standards of this department. Rick Rinas' service to the department and the citizens is greatly appreciated. The professionalism and integrity of the department is a direct result of Rick's commitment to the community and the organization." So once again, on behalf of all of us—and I'm going to turn the mic over to you. Let's give him a round of applause. [Applause] [14:15] **Deputy Director Rick Rinas:** Well, thank you Mayor. Um, very not needed. Um, this is something that for me I wanted to do since I was six years old—police and fire—and I got the chance to do it. I, uh—it's going to be tough. Uh, I got a very caring family that put up with this for that long, so I'm very happy for that. My family in Fire and then City—very, very helpful. Very appreciative for all they, they've done, not only for me but for the department. Um, we all work well together. And, um, I, uh—I thank you for this. This is again definitely not needed. Like Director Koerner said, I am a Towny like he is, and, um, this is something that we just strive to do and we don't do it for accolades, we just do it because it needs to get done. So I appreciate it very much. [Applause] [15:20] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Mr. Mayor, may we get all the firefighters that are here in...? Yeah, do it! Yeah, we're good in here. Stand up, you knew that was coming. follow McCoy up. Natural born leisure. Is that working? I'm so—okay. Got enough? Everybody can see me all right? Stay down, yeah. They're doing the Heart Save. I'll come—come on up. All right, you want to do the next one? I'll just do a real quick... yeah, we, we did it with that Heart Safe Community, we did it way quicker than we ever imagined. So, uh, Deputy Fire Chief Jon Pritchard is going to, um, give a quick overview of the Heart Safe, um, Community initiative and what we did. And it's not over—we still have some goals and we'll keep working. So I'll turn it over to DC Pritchard. [17:05] **Deputy Fire Chief Jon Pritchard:** Thank you, Director Koerner. Uh, and again, this is another just a list of Rick's accomplishments under his tenure in our department, and I think it's fitting for all his commitment to our community, um, to highlight somebody else that really loves attention. I'd like Emily and Craig Dahl to come join us up here as we talk about this. So, um, the Dahl family is, um—created Teddy’s Heart. And really, um, Teddy’s Heart really gave a soul to this Heart Safe City initiative. Um, we started the Heart Safe City initiative in February 2022 and unfortunately, um, lost Teddy in May of 2022. But it really again gave the soul and the motivation to move this forward, and at record pace. It really is because of the Dahl family, so they're well, very well-deserved to join in this recognition. So, um—go through here real quick. We did do our, um—we joined dozens of other communities throughout the state of Minnesota to receive a designation for a Heart Safe City Community, excuse me. Um, it really recognize efforts to prepare our community to better respond to those that might have a sudden cardiac arrest where their heart stops and they require immediate care. Um, the Minnesota Department of Health with the American Heart Association is who offers this designation. And in order to get this designation, you get Heartbeats points to get that, uh, designation through an application. And points, or Heartbeats, are a—awarded by increasing community and public awareness, placing AEDs wherever people live, work, and play, and things. So the Dahl family—we have these in our public parks and then more recently with the help of the Dahl family getting them place through the Cottage Grove Athletic Association to—now we're up to what, 9, 10 parks where we'll have AEDs in there? Yeah, pretty quick. So and then just, um, really a big part of the, um, thing here is to administer or teach people how to, um, do CPR in case they were able to encounter someone with, uh, cardiac arrest. Um, and thanks to the team here that's joining us: Chelsea Flores, Nick Arrigoni, and James Olsen who are over here, that also love attention—but they did a ton of work with this. And just all the other people on the fire department that's helped teach people CPR. And that included over 2,000 people in our community learned CPR in just a year and a half. Uh, and it really is just amazing what our department did, um, along with our city and community to get to this point. And really, um, I can genuinely say it is a safer place to experience this life-altering, um, event if someone were to have this in Cottage Grove. Um, we're not done yet, though. Our goal is to train over 4,000 people. So we're still going to continue to offer CPR, still get AEDs everywhere, um, the public is, and continue to do classes and everything like that. Um, like you can see some highlights: Van Meter had us out to do training for them, one of our largest businesses in Cottage Grove. The Cottage Grove Lions hosted a class for us, and just dozens of community groups that deserve so much thanks and businesses that have had us out. We even did one—Garden World today—we did over 25 people in CPR. So just the amazing outpouring of support. So that’s all I have, but again just really want to highlight the Dahl family. And if you had anything to... but Teddy’s Heart really again is the soul of this, and I cannot thank them enough. Because it—I, I wish we would have never met, and I mean that in all way possible, but this truly is, um—again, it gave the name and the face to—this is Teddy Dahl who died at the age of 22 months from a sudden cardiac arrest. And we do all this so we never have to meet another family like the Dahls again. So all set. [21:10] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay, so, um, maybe I'll just—I just want to add into that. I, I remember, um, when we met, I guess at the Woodridge Park, uh, for kind of the installation, if you will, of the first AED. And you know, I'm one of these individuals that always believes there's a purpose to everything, um, even though some of those things that happen are tragic. But there's something really amazing that came out of that tragedy, and frankly that's the two of you, um, with your, your son, right? And all the, all the work to get these AEDs into our community, getting us to the designation, having all of our firefighters here, um, participate to help make sure that, uh—what did unfortunately happen to your son won't happen in the future. And as weird as this may sound, at some point in time, I cannot wait to get that call from our Public Safety Director or one of the individuals out here that says it's something that you help do or they help do that saves somebody's life, uh, whether it's in a park or in one of our businesses or the ice rink or you name it. And I just wanted to say thank you, um, from the bottom of my heart, and I know the rest of the Council and everybody here. Um, it's, it's tremendous, uh, the work and the efforts that you put in, uh, to make life better for others in this community. So, and I know other communities too now that I know you've, you've expanded beyond Cottage Grove, which is, which is pretty amazing. So, uh, Council, any other comments that you want to make? [22:45] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thanks for the presentation, Jon. And, uh, thank you to the Dahl family for being a catalyst to help us achieve this designation. This is something we've talked about for a long time in the City of Cottage Grove. And, um, as Deputy Chief Pritchard mentioned, um, the effort that you have put forward and your ability to connect various groups—whether it be your Lions Clubs or your athletic associations or the various Public Safety teams and different communities—in order to ensure that the tragedy that you experienced isn't, uh, ever experienced again in our community is really powerful stuff. I also wanted to just take a moment to thank the Cottage Grove Fire Department, because this isn't just a, um, Teddy’s Heart or Deputy Chief Pritchard or Chief Rinas, uh, initiative. This is the entire fire department. And I've seen our, uh, folks out at so many different events—whether it be the 4th of July event or the installation event at Woodridge Park, Strawberry Fest this year and so many others. I was lucky enough, uh, when our Lions Club came into the fire station, to be part of that. Um, the entire team is really behind this and I, I think that's why we achieve the goal so quickly because it isn't just one, two, three people trying to, to lift this. This is, this is a—it's a community lift, and our fire department is the tip of that spear because they're the ones who have that knowledge and experience to teach quick CPR and, uh, some basic life-saving skills, etc. So I think they deserve, uh, a great deal of credit for really getting behind this, being committed, and helping us achieve this in partnership, of course, with all of the other folks we've mentioned already. So thanks again, you guys. Uh, this is a, this is a really, uh, prestigious honor and, um, it's pretty neat that it happened this quickly. [24:35] **Deputy Fire Chief Jon Pritchard:** All right, thank you Mr. Mayor, Council. And also thank you to our Council who supported this and it was part of a, um, Council meeting in February 2022 to get us on this journey. Um, we did get something cool done, and I'd like to invite the Council for a picture just because you've supported us so well. But we'll end up putting these on signs in Cottage Grove, but this is our ceremonial Heart Safe City signs. [25:05] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Good thing you guys stuck around. Yeah. Got enough room. [Applause] That's right. There you go, right. Look at all those steps we had to go there. You're going have to start tracking those. Oh my goodness. What a good start to the evening. All right, uh, next then, uh, we're done with presentations this evening. Now we're moving on to the consent agenda. Is there anything Council would like to pull on tonight's consent? [26:00] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** I would like to pull item I, please. [26:02] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Item I. And not to freak out staff, but I'm going to pull J just for a comment, um, from myself. Uh, anything else? All right, so I'll start with, uh, with Councilmember Olsen. This is the lease agreement with the Southeast Metro Amateur Radio Club. [26:18] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor and Councilmembers. Uh, for the folks watching at home, item I on our consent calendar tonight is, uh, an item requesting that we approve the lease agreements with SEMARC, which is the Southeast Metro Amateur Radio Club, that will govern their use of pre-existing equipment on or at the West water tower, the Highlands water tower, and Cottage Grove Fire Station Number Three. We're lucky enough to have a representative from SEMARC in the audience—uh, my friend David Bloom is here. And, uh, I asked Dave a couple of questions before the Council, um, meeting started just to make sure that I have all my facts straight. But really what we're doing here is we are, um, renewing lease agreements for what's called a, a repeater that goes on the various water towers. And what that repeater does is it actually helps disseminate the signal from the, uh, Amateur Radio Club. Uh, you know, I'm going to call it ham radio, although it's not that, but that's what most people recognize is, as the name. Um, so that when they, uh, are, you know, in a position where they need to communicate with other folks, they have the wherewithal to do so, even if the storms, uh, in the area or there's a tragic event or something like that knocks out regular communications. The Southeast Metro Amateur Radio Club is, is actually a partner with our Public Safety team, both in the city and in Washington County, and they're sort of the last line of defense as it relates to communication. So what they do is they have two events each year, one in the summer, one in the wintertime, where they actually do training to make sure that, um, you know, everything's operating correctly from an equipment perspective and that their signal is reaching all of the various areas that it may need to reach, should, um, we have an issue with communication where our regular radios and those kinds of things are no longer functioning properly. And when they have this training, uh, they actually try to reach various points in North America—whether it be in, you know, Canada, uh, you know, the Southern United States, all over the place—and in fact, I've been there, uh, during some of the training where they've been able to communicate overseas, whether it be with Europe or Australia or things of that nature, because they have such a powerful ability to disseminate that signal. And they use all kinds of tricks with clouds and weather and things that I don't even know anything about, but I just know that when I'm there, it's pretty fascinating. They have their winter training date coming up here on January the 27th and 28th, and that will be at Fire Station Number Three, which is where they are housed out in Old Cottage Grove. And I know that they like to have curious people who are interested in what they do stop by and get an opportunity to ask some questions, see how the equipment works, etc. So I just wanted to, um, make Council aware and make the public at home aware that that training day will take place January 27 and 28. And these folks are, uh, very, um, unsung heroes, I guess, but, uh, you know, they are vital, whether it be, uh, a nuclear event at Prairie Island or whatever the case might be in terms of our ability to continue to communicate effectively, should the worst happen. And that's what they train for. So I want to thank, uh, David Bloom for being here from SEMARC, and I would request that my Council colleagues approve item I as part of our consent calendar. Back to you, Mr. Mayor. [29:35] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thank you. Um, and thank you for your guys' service in the community. Um, item J, just for the public is aware—uh, which is pretty cool—it is a, um, uh, a Minnesota historic and cultural heritage grant, uh, which we're requesting, uh, and I believe we've been approved for, I believe, uh, for 10,000—or is it, we're just asking for it? [30:00] **City Administrator Jennifer Levitt:** Mayor, members of the Council, this is our authorization to submit for the grant. [30:04] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay, and either way, so what the purpose of this I just wanted to mention is to create some, uh, interpretive signs for different, um, locations of historical significance around the City of Cottage Grove. The one thing I thought was kind of interesting I just wanted to throw out there for the, for staff—is and I don't know if this eventually would be kind of fitting into that opportunity for the future—but I know we have a desire at some point in time with the historical preservation—historic preservation—to do something with, uh, interpretive signs, maybe artwork, if you will, um, for, uh, the Military Trail or Military Road. And I know we've seen some, uh, designs of maybe of some of that stuff. So I'm just posing it out there as a thought process that there might be that opportunity for us, whether it's through a grant like this, uh, once we kind of get going on the, uh—that, uh, historic trail, uh, that used to be the connection for Military Road, uh, to Fort Snelling through Cottage Grove. So I just thought I'd throw that out there as a comment, but very excited and obviously I would assume the Council is going to be happy with, uh, moving forward on this grant proposal. All right, so that was it for items that were on consent that were pulled for discussion. Uh, if there's no other comments, I will look for a motion to approve consent. [31:25] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Move to approve consent. [31:26] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by, uh, Councilmember Thiede. Do I have a second? [31:28] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I'll second. [31:29] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by Councilmember Clausen. Any other discussions? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [31:34] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [31:35] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. So if you are here for anything on tonight's consent calendar, all of those items have been approved. Uh, next on our agenda is eight, which is approve disbursements, which means 8A is pay the bills. [31:50] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I move to approve disbursements. [31:52] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, sounds good. We have a motion by Councilmember Clausen. Do I have a second? [31:54] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** I'll second. [31:55] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by Councilmember Olsen. Any other discussion? Saying none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [32:00] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [32:01] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Uh, the next item is a public hearing, which we do have one this evening. Uh, this public hearing is, uh, Lake Flora Second Edition final plat, Regional Pond purchase agreement, temporary drainage easement, and compost site agreement. And, uh, Emily Schmitz is going to take us through this from Community Development. So, welcome. [32:25] **Community Development Director Emily Schmitz:** Good evening, Mayor and Council. That was a mouthful! There's a lot of items, uh, that are kind of encompassed in this item this evening, so I'm going to walk through them, uh, to hopefully kind of make all those pieces come together. So this particular area is located just north of 100th Street and east of Jamaica Avenue. It's about 69 acres, as you can see before you. A lot of you are familiar with the area, um, as we look at this. Uh, so there's several actions again this evening as I mentioned, and this is, uh, a unique project in our business park that we'll talk about the, the details of. Oh, I'm going to go back just a second because I want to touch on the history. I made note to talk through this. So historically, the city's EDA has worked with the property owner and coordinated a lot of, um, the sales of properties within the business park. Uh, so the WAG Farms, as you've heard, um, a lot over the past, but, uh, the majority of the area of the business park to the west has been a part of those, uh, uh, processes and and coordination with the property owner and the city's EDA as we work with those folks to broker the deals for the end users of these properties. Um, Renewal by Andersen—Holenstein—was the most recent that we worked through at the corner of Jamaica and 95th. This particular area will be, uh, just the same as we work with the property owner to, uh, plat the property, um, and and create some developable parcels. So before we can plat the property, there are quite a few, uh, what we call "paper easements," um, throughout the, the the plat area as well as adjacent to this. So a lot of times, uh, those paper easements kind of come over time when we need them to cover areas that we need access to, whether it's for drainage—sometimes it's right of way. So a lot of hatched lines on this image before you, but this was the best way to encompass all of those paper easements that we've dug up as we try to clean up the platted area. So now that we're platting this particular area, those paper easements are no longer needed, specifically for the right of ways, uh, adjacent to Jamaica, 95th, and 100th Street. So tech—ultimately, that's the public hearing this evening, is to vacate those easements. So I'll talk through the final plat, um, because a couple of different, uh, things happening here. So, uh, one thing—the city is, uh, purchasing three of the outlots that we're platting—or excuse me, four of the outlots that we're platting, uh, on this entire final plat. You can see I outlined in yellow to kind of give a visual representation. On my next slide, I'm going to talk more in detail about why we're purchasing those outlots. Um, but then it's also important to note we're creating, uh, several developable parcels as a part of this plat as well. Um, most via Council are aware we do have a purchase agreement with Kwik Trip, um, that is on Lot 1, Block 2. So creating that shovel-ready site ultimately for Kwik Trip as we, uh, work through that. And then, uh, Block 2, Lot 1—also creating a, a, a development-ready site. Ryan Companies does still have that purchase agreement out there, so of course we're hopeful that they find an end user to move forward. And then you see, um, technically it's the north of the site, but this image, um, is sitting the wrong way, but another potentially developable site at such time a user is interested. And then finally, I mentioned briefly we were vacating, um, some of those paper easements because as a part of this plat, we are establishing, uh, and platting the appropriate right of way adjacent to Jamaica Avenue and 100th Street. I mentioned I'd talk a little bit more in detail about the pond—Langen Pond 3—my engineer friends have have burned that into my mind. Um, but the, the purpose of, of purchasing those, those additional outlots is to be able to expand that. So, so we have a SWMP—I have to say it, I have to read it, but it's Surface Water Management Plan. Um, this particular area is important because it catches a very large amount of water throughout the community, um, and and and stores it. It's an area for flood storage at such time, you know, we have large rain events. And of course I shouldn't be talking more about that than I don't know, but it also, uh, helps as, as the water flows down to the Mississippi River. So with that being said, as a part of that plan and as a part of being involved in these wonderful, unique opportunities within our City's business park and coordinating with our EDA and the property owners, we're able to acquire the additional acres that we need to expand that pond to meet the goals, um, of that Surface Water Management Plan. So we'll purchase those, um, and then it's also important to note as a part of this land purchase, there is, uh, a need for some material to be moved out of those outlots as well. Um, I—to make it a pond, uh, to hold, to hold that water when or if necessary. So there is that additional material, so we'll continue to work, um—you heard me mention Kwik Trip, uh, purchase agreement, Ryan Companies—um, some of those sites do need some additional material, uh, to help them be buildable and developable. So we'll certainly work with those folks as those projects continue to move along. Uh, we don't need the material and they do, uh, so it's a wonderful, wonderful, uh, uh, partnership there. And the final, uh, component, uh, of this entire, uh, project is the compost site. Um, most folks—how can you not be aware of the compost site, uh, down there in Jamaica just across from the old fire station, um, which lies right on, uh, the site that Kwik Trip has a purchase agreement on. Um, and so we needed to find them a new home. And in the process, uh, shifting those folks just, uh, to the east ultimately onto the, the outlot that the city will own, um, was our best solution at this time. So, uh, ensuring that their activities could continue. And so that agreement then will be with the city and Rumpke Companies to allow them to continue to operate, uh, and take all of our yard waste—leaves, branches, everything imaginable. So we'll continue moving forward there. So with that said, quite a few recommendations before you this evening. If there are any questions, uh, on any of these items, I'm more than happy to provide some details. [38:40] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Fantastic, thanks. Uh, thank you Emily. So just, um, as a comment for the public—so, um, this is almost the the last of the parcels, per se, that are going to be, uh, that we're working with with the Glen Denning company—and am I correct? I'm looking at...? [39:00] **City Administrator Jennifer Levitt:** Yes, Mayor and members of the Council. This plat encompasses the final parcels, um, that we have that agreement with the WAG, uh, Trust. And then it also does clean up and provide, uh, for the WAG dog park, uh, which we have a lease until December 31st of 2026. So, uh, all of this puts a lot of things into motion and really creates a lot of win-win situations for everyone as part of this. [39:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Well, and, and you actually took kind of the words out of my mouth with regards to win-win. Uh, because one of the things that we've heard—I think Council is very aware up here—is that this community wants a Kwik Trip. Um, and so the opportunity is for Kwik Trip to come here. And then when it was announced that Kwik Trip was coming and where they were going, then there was a concern about the compost site, uh, being removed. And so for the public, um, we listened, uh, and, uh, worked with, uh, Glen Denning companies as well as Rumpke and everybody involved. And the intent is we're basically moving or shifting, if you will, the compost site a little further, I'd say south and maybe east a little bit. Um, so that's one good thing. So the, the compost site will continue to operate, uh, in close proximity to where is today. Uh, and then the second thing is—and Council, I'm sure we'll be talking about this in the in the not too distant future—uh, we have a lease agreement with the, uh, property that's owned, uh, or that's being, uh, used as our dog park. And so, you know, at some point in time, uh, there's probably going to be a necessity for us to look at, um, purchasing that property. Or as I was suggesting with our staff is there might be some grant opportunities to help fund, similar to what we've done with some of our park properties, uh, where we, uh, go after some, uh, grant funding and such to possibly purchase that versus, uh, quote unquote levying it onto the taxpayer. So, um, I think like you said, cleaning all this up, uh, creating, uh, technically I guess three shovel-ready spots—if you think about it, a dedicated spot where the dog park is, and we get to keep the compost site. This truly, in my opinion, is a win-win for everybody. So, um, Council, do you have any questions at this point or do you want to just move into the public hearing? Okay. All right, so I'm going to go ahead and open the public hearing. Uh, again this is the time if anybody wants to speak on anything that's, um, uh, regarding this particular topic is welcome to do so. [41:30] **Bonnie Matter:** Couple of questions, yeah. Okay. Bonnie Matter, 6649 Inskip Avenue South, Cottage Grove. Thanks. Um, I don't have any problem really with any of this, but I just have, um, some questions. Um, one question would be how much additional water is coming in or going to be stored or or handled in this new pond? Okay. And then my second question is, um, where exactly does it exit into the Mississippi River? It goes underneath 100th—where does it exit into the Mississippi River? Those are my questions, thank you. [42:05] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay. I don't know, Ryan, do you want to take that one probably? [42:10] **Public Works Director Ryan Burfeind:** Thank you. Ryan Burfeind. Mr. Mayor, members of the Council—so from the pond perspective, there is no additional water today going there, but we know we continue to develop. So our Surface Water Management Plan looks out many, many years. And we have an agreement with 3M as well that we need to control that flow under 100th Street that goes onto their property, and this all accomplishes that. It's been in our planning documents for many, many years—decades even—to do this, and this is just the next step of that. So we want to be proactive, and if we have that win-win like Emily mentioned to move that dirt, let's do it now so we can do it in a cost-effective manner. So, no new water today with this development, but, um, in this planning, right? But it would just be planning for the future. And then the water does go underneath 100th Street right now, and then there's kind of a long wetland natural area that just flows all the way down to the river across 3M property—kind of comes out right by the Met Council sewer treatment plant, um, under the railroad tracks. [43:10] **Bonnie Matter:** Okay. All right, thank you Ryan. [43:12] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, was there any other—anybody else want to speak on this item? All right, seeing none, I'm then going to go ahead and close the public hearing and as the Council sees here, we have, um, two through seven that need to be done separately. So I'll maybe if we're okay with this, I'll start at this end with, uh, um, Councilmember Clausen and kind of work our way down, if you will. [43:35] **Councilmember David Clausen:** Thank you Mr. Mayor. I would move to adopt resolution 2023-148 for Lake Flora Second Edition. [43:42] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by Councilmember Clausen. Do I have second? [43:44] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Second. [43:45] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by Councilmember Olsen. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [43:50] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [43:51] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. All right, number three. [43:55] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Mayor, I'll move that we adopt resolution 2023-157 approving the purchase agreement with Joan Glen Denning Kennedy family limited partnership. [44:03] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I would second. [44:04] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, we have a motion by Councilmember Olsen, second by Councilmember Clausen again. Any discussion? Saying none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [44:10] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [44:11] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Uh, number four. [44:15] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** I'll move that we adopt resolution 2023-158 approving the purchase agreement with Glen Denning Farms LP, Joan Glen Denning Kennedy family limited partnership, and WAG Farms Incorporated. [44:26] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** I'll second. [44:27] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by Councilmember Thiede. Do I have a second? Second by Councilmember Garza. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [44:35] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [44:36] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Uh, we'll move to number five. [44:40] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** Mr. Mayor, I will move to adopt number five: approve the temporary drainage and utility easement over Lot 1, Block 2, Lake Flora Second Edition plant. [44:48] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** I'll second that. [44:50] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by Councilmember Garza, second by Councilmember Thiede. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [44:56] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [44:57] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. There is a lot in this one, sure. Uh, six, we'll go back to Mr. Clausen. [45:05] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I will move to approve the agreement with Rumpke Companies LLC. [45:08] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by Councilmember Clausen. Do I have a second? [45:10] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Second. [45:11] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by Councilmember Olsen. All those in favor signify by saying aye. [45:15] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [45:16] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? And last but not least, number seven. [45:20] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Mayor, I'll move to approve memorandum of understanding between the city and Glen Denning Farms LP, Joan Glen Denning Kennedy family limited partnership, and WAG Farms Inc for Lot 2, Block 1 and right of entry over outlots A and C. [45:34] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I'll second that. [45:36] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by Councilmember Olsen. Do I have a second? Second by Councilmember Clausen. Last chance—any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye. [45:40] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [45:41] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Emily. [45:45] **City Administrator Jennifer Levitt:** Mayor, uh, need to bring to your attention that in number one we did need to have an adoption of resolution, uh, regarding the vacation of the easements. [45:53] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Oh, is that a separate...? Okay, so I will— [45:55] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** I will move to adopt resolution 2023-149 for vacation of easements as outlined on the partial and full vacation exhibit dated November 1st, 2023. [46:04] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Thank you for catching that. We have a motion by Councilmember Thiede. Do I have a second? [46:06] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** I'll second. [46:07] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Seconded by Councilmember Garza. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [46:12] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [46:13] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Now we're finished. Thank you. All right, uh, next on our agenda this evening is number 10, is the bid award. Uh, and we do have one: the Utility and Engineering building bid award. And our Public Works Director, Ryan Burfeind, is going to walk us, I believe, through this one. Welcome, Ryan. [46:35] **Public Works Director Ryan Burfeind:** All right, thank you Mayor, members of the Council. So on Tuesday, November 21st, we did take bids on our Utility and Engineering building. Um, and similar to other building projects in town, kind of like the Glacial Valley Park building, this is a "construction manager at risk" model. So we have Kraus-Anderson under contract, uh, to do that effort, and they take all the bids, uh, for this this project. So there's 22 different divisions—you know, things like roofing, site utilities, uh, mechanical and such. So there was 107 bids in total across those 22 divisions that, uh, we did take. The total value of all the low bids was $9,427,817, and that was under our construction manager's bid estimate of 10.2 million. So we're happy to see that is about 7% under, um, which was definitely a good spot to be with the market and such. Um, this did include one bid alternate for the heated sidewalk. You know, quite often we have put those as an alternate. Um, it is something that we definitely like to have because it greatly reduces that wintertime maintenance and liability with the main entry—the public sidewalk entry coming from the parking lot into the building. Um, that was just over 44,000. So as we got favorable bids, we did include that, uh, in the recommendation tonight for the award. Uh, there were 15 contracts from union contractors—those are assigned to Kraus-Anderson. Um, but similar to other buildings, if there are non-union low bidders, the city does have to hold those contracts. And there were seven in this case that the city would hold. From a construction perspective, it all happens really the same. You know, Kraus-Anderson does manage the whole project; we don't directly manage those seven contractors. We just have to hold, uh, the contracts because they are non-union, um, and Kraus-Anderson is a union contractor. Um, so that's very similar to past projects. I think Glacial Valley probably had four or so non-union contracts. So with that, these are the two, uh, recommendations for you tonight and I'll stand for questions. [48:40] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, Council, any questions on this topic? All right, uh, Councilmember Clausen. [48:45] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I'm noticing a trend where our bids are coming in lower than our construction manager estimates. This is in stark contrast to where we were about 18 months ago where everything was higher than, uh, those bids. So that's, uh, encouraging as, as we move into the, um, upcoming year and additional projects, um, come to bid. Is there any way to utilize or take advantage of that trend and you know, kind of bid early for, for future jobs? Or are you seeing, you know, is this just kind of like a, a one-off type of instance? [49:15] **Public Works Director Ryan Burfeind:** Yeah, Councilmember Clausen. So you are right that we have, you know, gotten—I would say in several cases—good bids this year. Bids in good line with our engineers' and, and construction managers' estimates. Part of that is just starting to understand this market that we live in. Um, but part of it too is as things start to stabilize, right? You know, a year ago, two years ago things were coming up so fast, you know, we couldn't anticipate that in terms of when we bid. There's definitely different times when you do that. For buildings, you quite often bid this time of year just as we go into the construction season for that type of project. And as they order things like our tip-up panels, it takes so long to get, um, for street and utility projects—those we do generally like to bid, you know, no earlier than February just because actually the way those contractors operate, a lot are kind of laid off in the winter, um, and they aren't really doing a lot of that work; they're closing out past year projects. So, um, we do want to hit earlier in that timeframe—the February, March—not April, May. Um, but there is kind of best times of year to do different types of work. [50:15] **Councilmember David Clausen:** Thank you. [50:16] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, any other comments, Council? I, I do know Councilmember mentioned—I saw you in the, the audience—John. John MacNamara, um, with Kraus-Anderson. We've worked with John on many projects over the years, so very confident in, uh, their ability and his leadership on making sure this project, uh, comes in under budget and on time. So should be good. All right, uh, Council, uh, we have two motions before us. Who would like to take it? Councilmember Clausen. [50:45] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I'd like to move to adopt resolution 2023-154 awarding the contracts for the Utilities and Engineering building, approving the guaranteed maximum price contract with Kraus-Anderson, and assigning certain contracts to Kraus-Anderson. [50:55] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by Councilmember Clausen. Do I have a second? [50:57] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Second, Mayor. [50:58] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by Councilmember Olsen. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [51:02] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [51:03] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. And then number two. [51:07] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** I move to adopt the resolution Cottage Grove to reimburse certain expenditures from the proceeds of bonds to be issued by the city with respect to the Cottage Grove utilities building. [51:15] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by Councilmember Garza. Do I have a second? [51:17] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Second. [51:18] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by Councilmember Thiede again. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [51:22] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [51:23] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you. You're on your way now. Thank you John for coming in, thanks John. Thank you. All right, uh, next on our agenda is our regular agenda and we have three items. We'll start with, uh, A, uh, which is a tobacco compliance, uh, check violation—in this case, uh, with Hy-Vee. And our Director of Public Safety, Pete Koerner, is going to walk us through this one. Welcome, Pete. [51:52] **Director of Public Safety Pete Koerner:** Thank you. All right, I got to come up and present some fun things—I don't like being up here for these compliance check violations. We do strive for 100%, um, and we've been doing pretty good. So, um, we'll get through this pretty quick. You've—you're well aware the procedures and the, the memo was pretty detailed, so I won't read these word for word. Um, but on November 7th, 2023, um, we did conduct compliance checks with, um, all of our, um, businesses holding tobacco licenses. And this time we did have a failure at, um, Hy-Vee at the gas station—at Fast & Fresh. And this is the business's, uh, first violation a 36-month period, and that's our look-back that we have in the fee table for. So, um, again, I think you understand the procedures. Um, we do have in your memo like copies of what the ID would look like for the under, under 21, and I think this picture again just shows how, how easy it is to, to do that. So, um, and we also did include in your packet the, um, police reports. November 7th we, uh, did compliance checks. We had two decoys—one was an 18-year-old female and the other was a 20-year-old female. Again, generally these are people that want to get involved in law enforcement or something. We're not sending in a 18-year-old that looks like they're 38. I mean, they—when you see them you're like, "Oh, they're probably 16, 17, 18." Um, they, they definitely look what their age is. So, um, the decoys did went to the counter and a transaction was, um, completed. Um, what happened in this one—the decoys asked for Juul, which is the, um, e-cigarette containing nicotine. Um, the employee did not ask their age but did ask for an identification. Was actually a manager in the store that at—asked the employee to check both identifications, um, but the employee still only checked one. Uh, the employee looked at the identification, scanned, and told the decoy "good to go." Um, the employee did tell officers that he thought the decoy was born in 2022. Obviously, from—if you read the report the stories kind of changed a little bit as they went. Uh, the, the employee then said that scan the identification showed she was of age. The employee admitted that something popped up, uh, on the screen and he pressed "OK"—basically he overwrote it. So, um, he just clicked and and made the transaction. So, um, the employee was instructed then they'd be getting the, a citation along with a court date would be sent. And, um, the manager was there, so officer spoke with the manager and explained that the employee failed the tobacco compliance check. And we did send them the letter with everything. So, um, tonight we're asking that you allow the business an opportunity to speak if they're here. And, um, and then after that we have the imposed the schedule penalty for the first violation in a 36-month period of a $300 fine. So. [54:40] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay. Uh, Council, any questions for, uh, Pete at this point? Is the applicant here from—representative from Hy-Vee? Yes. Did you want to speak? Um, I can. Okay. Do you want to just come on up and just state your name and address for the record? And you—your address can be the store. [55:00] **Matthew Egan:** Hello, my name is, uh, Matthew Egan. The address is 7280 East Point Douglas Road South. Um, the employee in question—uh, he made a mistake by scanning the ID before he scanned the product, which it didn't prompt him to, or it didn't tell him that there was a problem. Um, and since it didn't do that, after he scanned the product he mistakenly just entered in a random birth date. Um, in response to this, uh, we did reprimand him, um, and we did institute a retraining of all the employees out there, um, so they understand that they have to scan that ID after they scan the product so that they're told whether or not that they are underage or not. Okay. [55:40] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so you—you've already went through or implemented a, a training—retraining of the employees in the...? [55:45] **Matthew Egan:** That's correct. Okay. [55:46] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right. Uh, Council, any questions for gentlemen? [55:48] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** I would assume that the—well, obviously the product that scans the ID—that there was, did he—there was some things already scanned? I, I wouldn't think that it would, you know, if there wasn't anything scanned as a, as a, you know, product that it would bring up some sort of notification that there was no, no products in the basket or something when they you scan the ID? [56:10] **Matthew Egan:** Something similar happened. I actually have that here if anyone be interested. We went to our ID Department—IT Department—to get, um, the keystrokes of what actually had happened, um, and it did give him an error, but not that anyone was underage. Um, and he simply just didn't understand what the error meant. Um, so that—that's what wound up happening. Okay. [56:30] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right. All right. I think that was it, unless you have anything else you wanted to share? [56:34] **Matthew Egan:** I don't. Okay. [56:35] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Well, thank you for coming in tonight. All right, thank you. Um, so Council, as you can see before you, uh, this is, uh, their, uh, first violation. Um, so the in this particular case, uh, number two would be the, um—the penalty is a $300 fine. I would just need a motion in a second by Council to proceed with that recommendation here. [57:00] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** I'll move that we proceed with the recommendation to impose the scheduled penalty for the first violation in a 36-month period of time, which is a $300 fine. [57:08] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by Councilmember Olsen. Second by Councilmember Thiede. Any other discussions? I guess the only other comment I would mention just in a general sense is, um—which I know we're going to have another—now we're going to have alcohol next we're going to talk about—but you know, I'll say kudos to all the rest of the businesses in town that, uh, passed their tobacco, uh, check. Our goal, obviously, as you know we've talked about this a lot, is, you know, to continue to educate and and support our businesses and just making sure that we're following the processes with both tobacco and alcohol. So, um, so with that, uh, all those in, uh, favor signify by saying aye. [57:45] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [57:46] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. [57:48] **Director of Public Safety Pete Koerner:** Thank you. All right, and then the next one is a liquor compliance check violation, uh, for Walmart. And, uh, Director of Public Safety Pete Koerner is going to take us through this one, too. [58:00] **Director of Public Safety Pete Koerner:** All right. Um, procedures, everything very similar to what we do with the tobacco. So, um, I won't read all of them, but this violation occurred, um, November 6th at the Cottage Grove Walmart, 9300 East Point Douglas. And this is the business's first violation and the look-back of a 24-month period. Uh, so the, the one in question, um—the police report was obviously including your packet for the record. This compliance check was conducted on November 6th at 5:08 p.m. Officers Mulvahill and Officer Foster conducted the compliance checks. Um, in this case we had, um, two decoys: an 18-year-old male, um, and a 20-year-old female. Uh, they went into the, into the liquor store and the male went right back, grabbed a, um, six-pack of Cayman Jack, brought it to the counter. Uh, the employee did not ask for age or identification and completed the sale. Uh, the clerk did admit that he did not ask for—when the officers went in, he did not ask for age or, um, ask for identification. Um, clerk was then told obviously they receive a citation with a pending court date. Uh, the store manager was also advised of the compliance failure. And as if you read the, uh, report, there was even more detail where the employees said they sure seemed like they knew what they were doing or looked like drinkers, they walked back, grabbed it, came up. So there was really nothing, um, question on that. So, uh, and obviously I just like to always point out: this could be a gross misdemeanor charge under state statute. Our department has always, for the last 20 years, we've looked at it as more educational and we do the, um, citation for the misdemeanor violation under our city code. And as you—most of the business ends up having sanctions on their employees, and so there's other things that go with that. So, um, um, so we would, um, allow an employee from Walmart to speak tonight. And I just want to point out: when this recommendation towards them with the penalties, it's—they always seem to be a little more confusing. But remember with alcohol we do have that, um, extra part where they can do the, um, educational part in lieu of part or they can, you know—you can recommend both. So, um, I know a couple years ago we, we talked about this at a—so I, I used the same motion that you guys came up with a couple years ago so we stay consistent with that. So. [60:15] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, sounds good. Uh, Council have questions for Pete? All right, is somebody here from Walmart? Did you want to go speak? And again just your name and the store address is fine for the record. [60:30] **Sylvain Martin:** Good evening. Sylvain Martin, I'm the store manager of the Walmart in Cottage Grove, 9300 East Point Douglas. Um, I think everything that was said is, uh, correct. We're not contesting anything of that—that's correct. The associate had the technology in front of him, uh, to make the proper decision. He was fully trained and just like it was explained, he made the decision of not following the protocol. So that associate no longer—no longer works for, uh, for me and my store. We take this absolutely seriously, and, uh, we retrained all the associates immediately, even though everybody was certified and trained, uh, to be able to handle that. I think that a refresher was, uh, very important to go through. So, uh, every single one of them we, we have them go through and sign that they understood all the expectations, which are very simple, right? You just, uh, follow the prompts and back for the ID. And, uh, everything else is is accurate. [61:30] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** I just have—I have a general questions. Um, is there a process out there—and I don't know if it's with Walmart or anywhere—where before you could sell something you have to scan an ID? [61:40] **Sylvain Martin:** No. Uh, it's my understanding in in a few businesses or certain areas of the country... um, never before is—as you purchase—it requires you to scan, but I've never heard of you having... [61:55] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** I just was curious. I didn't know if there was— [62:00] **Sylvain Martin:** Not in my business at least, no. [62:02] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** And then, uh, you—I did notice, uh, that you had held up a sheet that you obviously are going back through and redoing— [62:08] **Sylvain Martin:** Every associate was trained. [62:09] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** And do you do it on a periodic basis then? Is it...? [62:10] **Sylvain Martin:** We, yeah, we have mandatory trainings for all the associates for on a quarterly basis. And we just started a new quarter just, you know, a few weeks ago, but on top of that we just went over again since that associate was trained and still, uh, committed that, uh, violation. Okay. [62:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right. Uh, Council, any questions for, for the—for Walmart here? Anything else you want to add? [62:30] **Sylvain Martin:** No, that's it. Okay. [62:32] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, so for, uh, Council—as you may recall, I know, uh, Councilmember Garza is new to this, I don't know if Councilmember Clausen was here before. So, um, what our Director Public Safety is mentioning is, um, there is the, the ability to waive this the one-day suspension in lieu of, um, the employee's participation education program provided by Public Safety. Um, the fine would still be the fine of $500, and obviously the associate—or former associate, I guess now—still has the misdemeanor, yep, that they have to deal with. So, um, whatever Council would like to do with this is is welcome to make a motion. [63:15] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** So I got a question. So the one day suspension is just for the liquor store part of it? It's not all... [63:20] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Correct. No, it'd be, yep. [63:22] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Okay. Okay. [63:24] **Councilmember David Clausen:** Um, yeah, Councilmember Clausen. Yeah, so given that there has not been another violation within the last 24-month period, um, I would be in favor of waiving the one-day suspension, um, however tying it to the condition that the employee—who is no longer employed with the company—get, uh, training. And it—it sounds like they have a robust process in place, and I know that the human factor is always going to be the human factor. Um, you know, is—is there a lot of value from the city's standpoint of, of adding or requiring that that, um—that additional educational component? And I guess that's a question for Pete—like obviously he's the one who's dealing it at directly—at directly with the the businesses. So, you know, if we go that route, is it going to have the desired effect which is, you know, hopefully setting them up for success so that they don't have a failure next time? So, you know, I'm in favor of that as long as it's going to achieve the outcome which is, you know, that, that they're going to not continue to—whether intentionally or not—sell, sell the minor. [64:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yeah, Council about it all—and obviously, uh, Pete Koerner can, uh, speak to this too. Nothing against obviously the manager doing this training that he's doing, but I think on top of it, I think it would be best to, um, have another layer, if you will. Because then we know that the training has been done, um, you know, through our processes. That was the only reason I think that we when we talked about this in the past, uh, because a lot of times as, as he just mentioned and we just heard here from the the representatives from Hy-Vee—everybody goes through this training. But the fact of the matter is, some unfortunately some employees skip steps or don't do what they're supposed to do. And I just think the more that you can put that message out there and then we know, you know, heaven forbid that there would be another issue in the future, that we actually also went in and did the training at that time. So that's, um—that's personally for me and I think that was part of what the Council had discussed a couple years back as, you know, why we wanted to do that in lieu of, if necessary or could of, uh, any day of suspension. [65:25] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Director Koerner, I'm going to ask you this question, but I don't know if you're going to be able to answer it, um, because you have people who do some of this stuff. Um, Walmart was before us, uh, you know, within the last few years—November 22nd, 2019. Okay, so, um, we're looking at—it's 2023. So in a 4-year period of time, they've had two violations in essence, right? Um, in your view, uh, as as the Director of Public Safety, do you feel as though, um, their educational program, their training, etc., is adequate? Because I know that we have several other establishments in the city that I don't ever recall seeing them in front of us—they pass every single time. [66:10] **Director of Public Safety Pete Koerner:** Yeah, I, I can speak for—I, I think there's great value in any kind of educational program. Obviously, Washington County Public Health, they put on a, a class that gets sent out when we do the license renewals and everything. Um, I've never worked in retail—I can only imagine the larger companies trying to train people. Um, and I, I think we have more success with some of the, the smaller businesses that when we provide, because it's for employees and they'll come in and open up an hour early. But a place such as Walmart, I know that's not, not feasible. Um, so I, I am a fan of the the different programs—we've looked at a whole bunch of them and you know, whether it's the one that Walmart's used and some of our other large... you know, we—it's the same that we provide to them. The nice thing with those, it—it provides us tracking. You know, we've had a couple of our restaurants with 20 employees and it's the signup sheet... I, you know, going through it, at least when some of these larger companies pay these others. But, you know, I think the important thing is to make sure that they have a policy in place, that it's when they onboard them and then, you know, reoccurring. And, you know, and it's—it's just really frustrating for Public Safety when they have point of sale systems set up, they, they have, and they, they still fail. So, you know, I think that's why we still write the citation, because that employee still faces their consequences. So, hopefully I answer to that—that these, these different programs are good and it's just, you know, it's the culture of the, the work too, that they keep stressing even though they do it at when they start. Make sure that's a, that's a culture of the business, too. [67:40] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Well, the second part of that conversation is what's going to have the most, um, effective impact relative to future behavior. Because really that's the purpose behind the citation, that's the purpose behind the ordinance—is we want to change behavior. And I know that, um, you know, retraining is a, is a really powerful tool, but I also think suspending somebody's license for a day is a really powerful tool. It certainly sends a message. I'm curious if our attorney has any thoughts on, you know, in terms of whatever decision we make tonight, how that applies to potentially future issues of the this nature and us being consistent in the way that we, um, you know, deliver a, a verdict so to speak when something like this occurs. [68:25] **City Attorney:** Your Honor, members of the Council, obviously every fact pattern is different, so we can always, um, find reasons why you think it's important to impose certain conditions or not others when there has been a prior violation but there has been a few years. This is a—obviously a very large part of their business. They have a lot of volume. Um, not to say other liquor stores don't, but it is a, a pretty large store. Um, I think you have to take that into account when you look at the overall picture of how many violations they've had in—there are compliance checks twice a year, I believe. Yep. So in this case, I think they're—you know, you can take that into account that they have passed all of the other compliance checks, that they do have a very large volume and a very large, um, customer base. That this is the second violation in four years may or may not be significant, but it is certainly a factor that you can take into account. That probably is not a great—it's kind of a wishy-washy answer, but you need to weigh all of it. [69:25] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** It does help in terms of recognizing that different businesses have different business patterns. They have, uh, different levels of volume. As a retail person as is the Mayor, uh, we certainly recognize that there are times when you train, train, train, train and train again, and, um, you know, all it takes is five minutes in somebody's bad day to have a problem. No, that was very helpful. If there—oh sorry, go ahead. [69:50] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Well, uh, Council—or Councilmember Thiede—I guess I would just say that the—I do believe the technology is available, especially in the, in the liquor store, you know, that—and and with we all know that it's been hard to get employees and some of the employees that you get maybe aren't as reliable as you'd like—to actually put some of that technology in where we're, possibly in the liquor store, that it, it wouldn't even ring up the sale unless, you know, an ID was, was scanned or something like that. Uh, you know, to really take a look at how do you really foolproof that process. And, um, so I, I would just kind of make that comment that as a possibly a manager in a large store like that, that, uh—you know, maybe the justification is, is there to, to maybe look further into that. Okay. [70:35] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right. Council, you have a choice, and, uh, we'll need a motion in a second. [70:40] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Mayor, I'll move that we, um, take the path forward here of of, uh, using the training opportunity as, um, the approach to help our friends at Walmart improve their performance with this, in lieu of the $500 fine and one day suspension. And of course, uh, that training would be a training that is approved by Public Safety Director Koerner. I want to just ask you for a correction—I believe that the $500 fine still would hold, but the one day suspension would not, in lieu of training. The way that the, uh, recommendation reads is: "In lieu of the suspension and fine, the participation of employees in an educational program approved by the Public Safety Director within 90 days." So if the, uh, document here that I'm looking at is inaccurate, I would absolutely amend my motion to say that, uh, we would impose the $500 fine and then, uh, in lieu of suspension, the employees would participate in a training program. [71:40] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so you're amending your...? Okay, thank you. It looks like on the packet... yeah, I saw that. Correct one on the screen, so the right one's on there. [71:50] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I would second that. [71:51] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so we have a motion by Councilmember Olsen. Second by Councilmember Clausen. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [71:58] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [71:59] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. [72:01] **Sylvain Martin:** Thank you. [72:02] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, and then, uh, last under, uh, our regular agenda item, uh, is Brenda Malinowski is here to do what we've been doing for many, many, many, many months, and that is the property tax levy payable in 2024 and adoption of the 2024 budget. So, uh, Brenda, welcome. [72:20] **Finance Director Brenda Malinowski:** Thank you. All right. Mayor, members of the Council, um, as the Mayor alluded to, uh, we've been working on this budget for many months. Uh, in fact, we've been working on it since January, uh, of this year. So we've got 12 months, uh, in, uh, this process, um, as of tonight. Um, and so, um, as you can see, uh, the, the City Council, uh, takes it very seriously. Um, our department, uh, leaders, um, our City Administrator, our city staff, um, all work in collaboration on our budget document, our property tax levy each year. Uh, we do, uh, many meetings, uh, many workshops, uh, to look at the process. And so on September 6th, uh, the levy that is in front of you this evening—uh, you, uh, approved it as a preliminary levy. Uh, we certified it to Washington County. Uh, they used that levy, uh, to prepare, uh, property tax, proposed property tax, notices for all our taxpayers. Uh, they mailed those in November. Um, on that, um, notice, uh, they did receive notice that we would be talking about the budget and the levy this evening. Um, and so that's where we are tonight, uh, where we can take some budget comments, uh, and then you're asked to, uh, make a consideration on adopting the final levy, uh, and budget. Uh, once that is certified, uh, that property tax levy, we'll send it to Washington County. Uh, they'll use it to prepare the 2024 tax notices. Um, our budget for 2024—um, it accomplishes, um, many things. Um, I won't go through, uh, each one, uh, but we are providing the same exceptional level of services that we have in the past to our community. Uh, whether that is our police services, fire services, streets, uh, snow plowing services, our parks and recreation services—those same exceptional services, uh, we're able to deliver, uh, in 2024 with this, uh, budget and levy. Uh, we do have stewardship of our capital assets—we're demonstrating that in the budget. Uh, we're replacing the capital equipment that needs to be replaced—uh, we evaluate those every year. Uh, we are using our, um, Capital Improvement Plan and our Financial Management Plan that we prepared earlier this year, um, through that process. Um, our city tax rate is what is used, um, on an individual homeowner basis or commercial property basis to determine what they'll pay in city, uh, property taxes next year. Um, and there's two components of it, and the first component of, uh, determining that city, uh, tax rate is our property tax levy. Uh, for 2024, uh, it is, um, proposed to be about $23.1 million, an increase of about 11.99%. Um, however, uh, the second part of the equation in determining our city, uh, property tax rate, um, is our tax capacity. And because we're a growing community and we're bringing on some new construction for next year, uh, that tax capacity is increasing by about 19.3%. And because of that tax capacity is increasing by a higher percentage, uh, than our levy, uh, our city tax rate for 2024 will fall. It'll be at 32.728%. Uh, we use that then again on each individual, uh, homeowner or business to determine what they'll pay in city property taxes. A little bit about that, uh, property tax levy—uh, we're at $23,122,561. Um, and some of the, uh, details on that, um, are our Public Safety City Hall loan—uh, there is an increase, uh, on that line item about $50,000. That's actually, uh, not only for the loan but to start, uh, doing some maintenance on our buildings, uh, that we haven't been levying, uh, for in the past, but we, uh, need to start that, um, as part of our Financial Management Plan. And then, uh, our EDA levy—we have last increased it, uh, back in 2017, um, and so we need to increase that, so that's there. Our equipment levy—that's been included in our general fund in the past. Uh, we're moving it, uh, down to another line item for more transparency, uh, throughout the budget process. Um, and then we have our debt levy, um, and the biggest portion of our debt levy is our Pavement Management Program. So, uh, redoing our, uh, streets and our residential neighborhoods. Uh, we both have the 2023 pavement management project that we're adding onto the levy. Um, and then we did do a refinance of some debt, uh, back in 2021, um, and as part of that refinancing, uh, the levy for 2023 was lower, but then there was a schedule increase, um, in 2024. And so that was anticipated and in expected. Uh, we're starting to levy for the Glacial Valley Park building, uh, that we built this year. Um, and then finally, we're starting, uh, to, uh, do debt for East Point Douglas Road project. So it's a two-year project. Uh, last year Jamaica was funded with our MSA funds, um, and East Point Douglas, uh, portion will be funded, um, in portion, uh, with debt levy. One of the components, uh, uh, back on that last slide, uh, was our general fund. Um, and so that does, uh—is included in our property tax levy. Um, and so I'm going to go, uh, in a little bit more detail on this slide. Our general fund, um, is $21,152,640 for 2024. Um, and so our general fund—we call it our chief operating budget here for the City of Cottage Grove. And so it funds things such as, uh, police services, fire services, snow plowing, parks, recreation, uh, some of those services. And we—when we provide those services, we typically don't send a bill. So when we, uh, go on a fire call, we're not giving a bill to the resident as we respond, but we have to generate revenue somehow. And so we generate that through property taxes. So on our, our revenue portion, uh, 74% of our budget, um, are property taxes that fund those services. Um, and then, um, on the expenditure side, when we provide those services, uh, we're sending the police officer out or the firefighter out, um, and so it makes sense that 69% of our budget, uh, does pay for personal services. We're in the people business—we provide those services through our people. Um, and this is, um, all typical of other communities, um, throughout the country and in Minnesota. A little bit more detail on our, our general fund revenue—uh, we do have a revenue increase of about 8.96% for 2024. However, the property tax increase is only 5.82%. Uh, we've been able to do that, uh, because we have identified some other revenue streams, um, in the budget process. Uh, namely, uh, we are receiving Public Safety Aid—uh, one-time Public Safety Aid from the state. Um, it's on a per capita basis for all communities in Minnesota—uh, we'll receive about $1.73 million. Um, and we are utilizing it, um, in our next three budget cycles. Uh, for 2024, we'll be hiring two police officers, um, three firefighter paramedics, uh, using it for part-time firefighter wages, and then some IT capital, um, expenses, uh, related to Public Safety. Uh, local government aid—we hadn't received that, uh, for the last couple years. Uh, up at the state legislature, uh, they kind of retweaked the formula a little bit, um, and so we're, we're getting a slight amount, 54,000, um, in that. Uh, and just to note, our, our license and permits—they are down, uh, budget conservatively here. Uh, so we're down about 4.48%, um, in the budget, um, just, uh, expecting that building activity may stay, uh, light for next year. Uh, but to offset that, we are keeping one building inspector vacant, um, in the budget for 2024 with a thought that will bring that back in 2025. Um, on the expenditure side we have a balanced budget, um, and so what that means is we've got revenues that equal our expenditures. We're not taking out of our cash, we're not using our fund balance, we're not using our other reserves. Um, and so it's an expenditure increase of the same amount, 8.96%. Uh, it's important to note that our union contracts and bargaining contracts, uh, were settled for 2024 at 3% and so that's what's included in the budget. Uh, we've got several new positions—uh, we talked about the public safety position. Uh, the other positions that are noted on the screen are, are not funded by the property taxes, uh, but by other funds in the city, other revenue streams. Um, and then, uh, we do have a new weather warning siren, uh, that's included in the budget, uh, at the 9500 block of Military. Um, as we, uh, worked through the Financial Management Plan, uh, earlier in the year, uh, there was a discussion on, uh, contingency—a budget contingency—for things that could happen, um, throughout the year that we're not anticipating, whether that be a storm event or some other event. Um, and it also helps us, uh, maintain our fund balance policy at the end of the year. Uh, so we're starting to budget for that, uh, with this budget document. Um, our median home in Cottage Grove, um—this is, uh, on this slide—showing, uh, the impact of the levy in the budget that's in front of you, uh, what our, our median home will realize in property taxes for 2024. Uh, the median home in Cottage Grove is $363,000. That's set by the County—Washington County Assessor's office. Uh, it increased in value by 9.2%, uh, for 2024. Um, at that property tax rate of 32.728%, uh, they would pay, uh, $1,173 in property taxes in 2024. Uh, it's an annual increase of $71 or $0.19 per day. We also—we don't only look at the median home—uh, we want to look at other properties in the community. So there's other four other properties that we track, uh, and those are shown on the screen. Uh, those four properties, they increased in value, uh, for the Assessor's office between 6.49% or 12.68%. So, uh, in that range, uh, those four properties fell. Uh, with those four properties and the median home, uh, based on the levy, uh, in front of you, the average tax impact, um, on those five properties is $97. Our Financial Management Plan that we did early in the year identified that we needed about $100, uh, a year increase, um, to fund, um, our Pavement Management Program, our streets program, uh, fund our capital needs, um, our operating needs, those sorts of needs. And so we're, uh, within that Financial Management Plan. Uh, we also like to compare, uh, how we're doing to other communities. And so on this slide, uh, for other cities, uh, in Washington County—uh, based on their median home and based on their preliminary, uh, levy, as you can see, uh, just like last year, Cottage Grove is the second lowest in Washington County. So we are able to provide, um, exceptional services to our residents, um, at a very low property tax amount. Um, so the only city, uh, that is lower than Cottage Grove is St. Paul Park—uh, they do get a significant amount of local government aid as we know. Um, and so we, we, uh, compare very favorably when we look at other cities. Um, and then finally, uh, we also, uh, last year started to look at other growing communities in the Metro over 40,000. Uh, just like last year, uh, we are the third lowest when we look at those, uh, surrounding communities. Uh, we have, uh, just Blaine and Shakopee below us. And so we again compare very favorably, uh, for what we are able to offer to our community. Um, Shakopee does have, um, some significant, uh, tax space, uh, for commercial and industrial, uh, which pulls them down. And Blaine is very close to where we are at. What do your city taxes pay for? So that median home, if instead of sending, uh, their property tax payment to Washington County, um, if they sent us a check, uh, to the City of Cottage Grove on a monthly basis, no different than they send their check or make their payment, uh, for their Excel Energy bill, uh, or their Comcast bill, uh, their other monthly bills, uh, they would send us $97.76 per month. And we would in turn, uh, use $41.22 to fund Public Safety—so our police and fire services. Uh, we would use $13.35 for our streets—our snow plowing services. Uh, general government, uh, Community Development—that really, um, functions, um, supports all the other divisions in the city—would be $12.83. Parks and Recreation, $10.40. Uh, debt service—so those, uh, past Pavement Management Programs, uh, the debt that we, um, have on our buildings, uh—so our Central Fire Station, um, our HERO—our HERO facility, uh, those types—is $1.65. And then our capital outlay—so replacing our squad, um, our plow trucks as they're needed, our Fire equipment—$1.35. Our EDA levy, uh, $1.16. And then we have Council contingency at $0.82. Uh, a great value, uh, here—so about $3.21 per day. One last thing, uh, there are some property tax, uh, programs at the state. Uh, there is a website, uh, link there. There's a phone number, um, on those programs. I've worked with a couple residents, uh, this year on those programs, so they can, uh, absolutely call City Hall, I can, uh, walk them through them. They are income-based, um, and so I can help them determine if they're qualified—I'm happy to do that. And always, uh, watch for your valuation notices—those arrive, uh, from the County, uh, in April—March or April. Um, that is the time if you have a question about what your property is being valued at, uh, to make that, um, go to those, um, Board of Appeal, um, hearings on those. With that, I have the recommendations on the screen and I'm, uh, happy to answer any questions. [86:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Okay, thank you, uh, Brenda. And thank you by the way for, um, sharing once again that those two reports that kind of show how we sit within the county, uh, but also with cities over 40,000, uh, which we categorize kind of as growing cities out there. Um, it is, it is quite impressive and I know that's what our Council has always been doing. Matter of fact, I, I know, uh, certain Councilmember to my left here always wants to make sure that we're down in the bottom of that list. And and I know we all do too, but, uh, he likes to prod us to make sure that that is indeed the case. So, um, Council, is there any questions that you have for Brenda at this point? Councilmember Olsen. [87:10] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Brenda, as always, I want to congratulate you and the team for your ability to manage the budget as tightly as you do. Uh, as the Mayor mentioned, when you look at these two documents about where we stand versus our peers in Washington County and versus our peers in the Metro, uh, it's pretty clear that the folks here at City Hall definitely do a very nice job of maintaining the public trust and and being very careful with public funds. Something you mentioned that I just wanted to, uh, comment on real quickly is, you know, there is a thing in the State of Minnesota called local government aid. And for people who may not know what that means, LGA is a formula that is utilized by the folks up in St. Paul in the state legislature to help support communities that may have, um, a variety of different, um, components as part of their community culture. One may be aging infrastructure, one may be, um, you know, their tax capacity versus their size, so on, so so forth. And, uh, within that formula, the legislature looks at, um, you know, who really should be eligible for local government aid and then who has the ability to sort of manage their budget on their own without any state help. And as you mentioned, for the first time in a long time, Cottage Grove got a little bit of LGA. So we're grateful for our friends up at the Capitol for, you know, putting us on the list. It was $54,000, which isn't a lot, but you know what? It's $54,000 more than we got in the past, so we'll certainly take it. But when you compare with some of these other communities, I think it's important to note that, um, many of these communities, uh, in some cases over half their budget is local government aid—in other words, it comes from the state. And so when they are able to, um, you know, produce a levy amount that might be a little bit less than what we have, that's generally the reason why. Or as you mentioned with Shakopee, um, you know, they get a big fiscal disparities budget, those kinds of things. And so for anybody who's interested in actually reading more about or looking into that, you can go to the, uh, League of Minnesota Cities' website and they have all sorts of charts and graphs and different things. Um, you know, I, I like to do that stuff at night sometimes and just look at where we compare to other communities and what some of the moving parts are. And it just says again that we have a really strong, robust, um, careful planning program when it comes to our budget. And let's not forget that that process led us to a AAA bond rating this year, and that AAA bond rating is going to help us with, um, managing our debt more effectively, etc. So, um, kudos is all around. Really good job. Love the numbers. Thank you for sharing this with us. And, uh, I continue to be just amazed at what great service we provide at such a low cost in this City of Cottage Grove. Back to you, Mayor. [90:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Thank you. Uh, Councilmember Thiede, you had a question or comment? [90:30] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Well, and I guess I'd like to start off with saying that the—it is fantastic staff. Uh, you know, we have a fantastic city to live in, we've got a lot of very good, uh, amenities and value. Uh, I think one of the very good things in in having a financial background and in education, uh, the Financial Management Plan and and trying to plan that and and keep it, uh, consistent is, is good. Uh, but I do have a challenge for the city. Because as you look at the, the financial plan, okay, unfortunately even though we have it at $100, the first two, uh, years are above that. Uh, okay. And I see it adjusted down a little bit from what we were looking at before. And to get that $100 average over 10 years, the last few years are lower than 100, okay? Which I challenged us to, to really take a look at that and and historically keep it at that average of 100, because it's more than likely—I, I'm hoping I don't see that the $100 that we start having in 2025 doesn't all of a sudden creep up with lower numbers now than back in, you know, 10 years later in '33 and '34, okay? Because I can see that as being very easily happening. All right. And then if we look then at the 10 years of our financial plan, which we said we were going to be at $100, you know, all of a sudden we see that it's consistently, you know, over that $100, yet we can still say the average going out 10 years was under $100, if you, if you can know what I mean. So I've got that challenge out there. I think I—you know, you guys, you do—there's a lot of, lot of different balls to, to balance and a lot of different things that go on. Uh, but let's really dig into this Financial Management Plan and and really, really live it and and show that that we really are working at managing it at $100 a year and looking at some of that historical... um, okay. [92:40] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right. Uh, any other questions for Brenda at this point? All right, I think we might have somebody that has a comment or a question? Is—am I correct in the audience or no? Nope, all good, okay. [93:00] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** I'll move that we adopt resolution 2023-155 for the final 2023 property tax levy collectible in 2024. [93:08] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by Councilmember Olsen. Do I have a second? [93:10] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I'll second that. [93:11] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Second by Councilmember Clausen. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [93:15] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [93:16] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. Uh, and then we have a second one there. [93:20] **Councilmember David Clausen:** I move to adopt resolution 2023-156 for the 2024 budget. [93:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, so I have a motion by Councilmember Clausen. Do I have a second? [93:28] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** I'll second. [93:30] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** We got a second by Councilmember Garza. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. [93:35] **Councilmembers:** Aye. [93:36] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Opposed? Motion carries. And as I think you heard from, uh, pretty much everyone on the Council—you know, kudos to our staff and and, uh, continuing to manage the dollars in the city. Uh, we, we take that very seriously. And as I always like to say, we're all up here to taxpayers ourselves, so whatever, uh, we do from a city's perspective obviously affects all of us. And frankly, a lot of the our staff members that actually, uh, live here in the community. All right. Uh, next on our agenda is Council comments request. I will start at this end with, uh, Councilmember Clausen. [94:15] **Councilmember David Clausen:** Thank you Mr. Mayor. Um, I'd like to start by, uh, thanking all of our, uh, city staff for their hard work and dedication. Um, the city runs as smoothly as it does because of them—every single person has a part of that. Next, I'd like to preemptively thank all of the volunteers who are going to be helping out with—I mean, we've got just a handful of events in December: so holiday train, um, food drives, other—I mean, there was too much. There's a list, but this isn't the whole list, I'm sure. Um, so yeah, just I think as a community we, we step up and and volunteer and and really do kind of help make this community special. So thank you to everyone. [94:55] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Fantastic, thank you. Uh, Councilmember Olsen. [95:00] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you Mayor. First of all, I'd like to congratulate our newest Councilmember, uh, Councilmember Monique Garza. It's really great to have you here with us this evening at the Council dais. I was excited for your swearing-in, clearly your family was very excited as well, and I have all the confidence in the world that, uh, you will be a great addition to, uh, the Cottage Grove City Council. The work that you've already done in the community with so many different things—including the movies in the park or "Movies with Mo," as you like to call it, um, um, you know, with the women in business group through the Chamber, etc.—you've definitely demonstrated a lot of care and concern and commitment to the City of Cottage Grove, and that's what this job requires. Uh, there's, there's a lot to it, but I know you're up to the challenge, so welcome. [95:45] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** Thank you. [95:46] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** The second thing, Mayor, is I just wanted to take a moment and, uh, thank the staff for a response to something that I made comment on at a previous Council meeting. We had spoken about the Holiday Train, which I know you're going to talk about in your comments, and one of the things that I had asked is if staff would take the time to go and visit with some of the local businesses where we had some parking challenges last year. And it sounds like, um, that that's been, uh, washed, rinsed, dried, repeat several different times, and all of our, uh, business partners in the community are just as excited as we are. They're well-informed, they know that we are going to potentially have some parking in their lots, and I believe there's also been some signage that's been made up down at Public Works. So, um, definitely a phenomenal response, and I think all that's going to do is make the Holiday Train on Sunday that much more special because people will be able to find places to park and they'll have the opportunity to, to, uh, get down by the YSB a little early, etc. So I'll leave the rest of that up to the Mayor, uh, because I know that's a very important event for him. And then third, just, uh, pat on the back to everybody who had a hand in our hometown holiday, uh, celebration. I thought this year's event was just marvelous, and driving into City Hall and seeing all the trees lit up like we did that evening and then again tonight, it really does put you in the spirit of the holiday season. And the food trucks were a wonderful addition, we had a, uh, area for people to sit in a heated tent, um, so many different other things that were here—expanded from last year. It was year two, definitely bigger than year one, no questions asked. And then, uh, I'm certain that there were some learnings that will apply to year three. But again, pat on the back for all involved—I know it was a heavy lift, there was a lot of folks that did a lot of work to make that event work out well and it was sure fun and I think the community really appreciated it. That’s it for me, Mayor. [97:45] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, thank you. Councilmember Thiede? [97:47] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Well, I think we have to maybe thank Mother Nature too because this year was a lot warmer than, uh, than last year which was downright chilly. So let's just say cold. Otherwise, I'm good. [98:00] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** All right, sounds good. Um, this will be your first time, but, uh, Councilmember Garza, anything you want to add? [98:05] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** I just want to say thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to serve the community—I'm so looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to working with everyone, so thank you so much. [98:12] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** You got it. All right, and, uh, you know, Councilmember Olsen mentioned about the hometown holiday celebration. I do want to, uh, thank our staff, um, all the different departments obviously, uh, work together to create that neat environment out there. We had record crowds from what we've had in the past, uh, and again it was a nice evening, uh, temperature-wise, but we'll take those, uh, when we get those. Um, and then as it was kind of alluded to a little bit earlier, we do have the, uh, CPKC—uh, Kansas City Canadian Pacific Pacific City—yeah, they added that now. But anyway, the Holiday Train—I'll just call it that—is, uh, pulling into town here on Sunday. Uh, this coming Sunday, uh, the festivities actually start down there by, uh, the Youth Service Bureau at 3:00. The train gets in around 5:00-ish. Um, obviously the purpose of this, other than the great, um, celebration and fun that we have in the community and and the beautiful train, uh, is to, uh, fund, uh—create, uh, a fundraising opportunity for our local Friends in Need Food Shelf. And I will just share with you, I did get an update this morning: so the, the target, uh, that they've been shooting for this year is 100,000, uh, and as of this morning they're already over—and I say already over—over before we get to the event on Sunday, over 90,000. Uh, so they've already raised over—actually it's more than 90,000, I just went a little bit lower. But, um, fantastic, um, support within our community, whether it's individuals, businesses. Um, absolutely encourage everybody to come down—the weather again is supposed to be nice on Sunday. Uh, we are expecting record crowds, uh, once again. Uh, we have been once—and I'll say this once again—CP Rail, uh, Kansas—CPKC has mentioned to me that the, um, they absolutely their most favorite stop is the Cottage Grove stop because we do more with it than just having them show up and people come down and look at the train, hear the music and leave. Uh, and they're—they literally bring, uh, staff members and executives here to Cottage Grove to check it out. Um, and so I just wanted to, you know, say kudos to our community and communities, uh, for supporting, um, those in need at this time of year with the Friends in Need Food Shelf. Uh, and I know that they're also, um, collecting toys, too—we've been doing some of that, uh, and to make that happen. The only other item I'll mention, I know, uh, Councilmember Clausen was, uh, commenting about all these things going on—there is the Holiday Home Lights Tour, uh, map, which is available on our City's website or you can link to it through Facebook. Uh, so you can check out what's going on. I would say that we have Breakfast with Santa on Sunday, but it's completely sold out. Uh, we just had a great event, uh, down at the VFW with the Lions for their, uh, uh, Santa breakfast, and that was amazing too. So yes, I do both Santa breakfasts, uh, with the grandkids. So you just have to—we had the biggest crowd we've ever had. [101:30] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Yeah, it was busy. [101:31] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** It was—it was really fun, pretty impressive. And then I guess just for, for for fun I will just mention—um, because those that know me know I'm a, a huge hockey fan—um, tomorrow evening, on Thursday evening at the Cottage Grove Ice Arena, is the boys Park versus East Ridge, uh, hockey, uh, game. Uh, so it's going to be crazy busy because obviously the two schools—uh, we have a little, uh, friendly wager between a particular Councilmember in, uh, Woodbury, uh, for some donuts on which team wins. So whether it's East Ridge or Cottage Grove... he did have to pay us last year, yep, because Park did beat him. And I will just share—I've had the opportunity to visit two of the games so far, or, um, attend two of the games, and Park—I don't want to jinx this, but we look like we have a really good team this year. Uh, new coach and such, so very impressed with it. Uh, looking forward to, uh, seeing that, uh, tomorrow evening and hopefully at a future Council me—or Council meeting near you, a particular Councilmember from Woodbury will be bringing us some donuts again. [102:40] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Hopefully again! [102:42] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Yes, I said again—key word again. Yeah. All right, uh, any other Council comments? So just for the public, um, on our agenda this evening, uh, there is no Workshop open to the public. Uh, we do have a Workshop that is closed to the public, and, uh, the purpose of this Workshop, uh, is to do our yearly performance evaluation of our, our City Administrator, Jennifer Levitt. And so I will just mention it out here in public that, uh, we will be closing the meeting pursuant to Minnesota statute 13—uh, 13D.05 subsection 3C to conduct a performance evaluation of City Administrator Jennifer Levitt. And so we'll be doing that in the conference room. So with that, I hope to see everybody at the Holiday Train on Sunday. Take care.