This transcript appears to be from a **White Bear Lake City Council** meeting. Based on the context provided, I have identified the speakers and formatted the dialogue accordingly. Note: Since the original text did not include hard timestamps, I have provided estimated time-markers to separate the sections of the meeting. *** **[00:00] Mayor (Dan Steeves):** All right, we're going to call the meeting to order. Would the clerk please note those in attendance? It will be noted. Thank you. Will you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? **[00:15] Group:** I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. **[00:30] Mayor:** All right, moving on to approval of the minutes. I trust everyone's had a chance to review the minutes; if so, I'd entertain a motion to approve those. **[00:40] Councilmember:** I have a motion. **[00:41] Councilmember:** Second. **[00:42] Mayor:** All those in favor of approving the minutes say "Aye." **[00:45] Council:** Aye. **[00:46] Mayor:** Any opposed? Motion carries. One abstention. Motion carries, the minutes are approved. Moving on to adoption of the agenda. I understand we have a couple of things to move around. We're adding item 4K: Special Event Application for Main Street Incorporated. And we're going to move item 4H: Resolution authorizing support for an application of Ramsey County Critical Corridor grant funding from White Bear Lake Lochner LLC to HC New Business. Are there any other corrections to the agenda? Seeing none, I’d entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. Do I have a second? **[01:15] Councilmember:** Second. **[01:16] Mayor:** I have a motion and a second. All those in favor of approving the agenda say "Aye." **[01:20] Council:** Aye. **[01:21] Mayor:** Any opposed? We have an agenda. Moving on to item four, Consent Agenda. I’d entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. **[01:30] Councilmember:** Second. **[01:31] Mayor:** After a second, all those in favor say "Aye." **[01:34] Council:** Aye. **[01:35] Mayor:** Any opposed? The consent agenda is adopted. Item five, Visitors and Presentations. I understand we have a swearing-in for our new police officers. Chief, take it away. **[01:45] Police Chief (Dale Weiss):** Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council. Thanks for allowing us an opportunity to introduce our two newest officers to you and host their swearing-in ceremony at your meeting. I know that you're probably anxious to be done because it's a holiday week, so thank you for having us. It's been a really busy year of recruiting, hiring, and training for the Police Department, as you keep hearing through the updates, but the end result for us has been awesome because we have two great new police officers sitting here in the audience. Before we have them take their oath of office, I just want to give you a little bit of background on each of them. First, we have Officer Pambalai Sorensen. Pambalai started her police officer career with the department on September 26th, but she's not a new face to the department. She first met our police officers while she was working for Chick-fil-A in college. She joined the White Bear Lake Police Reserves in June of 2021. In February, we hired her on as a Community Service Officer (CSO). She’s a graduate of Tartan High School and Century College. Next, we have Officer Will Fink. He began his police officer career with us on October 31st. Will comes with past experience as a police officer in the City of Hibbing. He decided to return back to the metro area to be near family and friends. In addition to working as a police officer, Will has served with the Minnesota National Guard since 2014 and he holds the rank of E5. So, with that, we'll have Cali come up and administer the oath of office. **[06:45] Cali (City Clerk/Staff):** Please raise your right hands and repeat after me. I, state your names individually... **[06:50] Officers Sorensen & Fink:** I, [Names], do solemnly swear... **[06:55] Cali:** ...that I will support the Constitution of the United States... **[07:00] Officers:** ...the Constitution of the United States... **[07:05] Cali:** ...and the state of Minnesota, and will faithfully execute the duties as a police officer for the City of White Bear Lake... **[07:10] Officers:** ...and will faithfully execute the duties as a police officer for the City of White Bear Lake... **[07:15] Cali:** ...without fear or favor to the best of my judgment and ability. **[07:20] Officers:** ...without fear or favor to the best of my judgment and ability. **[07:25] Mayor:** Congratulations! [Applause] **[07:45] Police Chief:** We’ll have their respective people come up and pin their badges on. Will has Connor doing his, and Pambalai has her dad. This is the tricky part—you don't want to stick them! Congratulations to both of you. We're going to head out for cake and coffee. Thanks again for having us and have a good Thanksgiving. **[08:00] Mayor:** Welcome aboard. We'll give you guys one more round of applause. [Applause] Is it my imagination, or are they getting younger? All right, we’ll move on to item 5B: The Quarterly Sports Center Report. Who's taking this? **[08:15] Lindy Crawford (City Manager):** Mayor, members of the Council, I definitely can't follow that, but I'll try. In your packet, we have the third quarter report for the Sports Center. In July, the Sports Center was awarded the 2022 merit award by AIA Minneapolis for architectural design. The solar panel installation was completed this past September. Ice time utilization remains strong. Overall, we have an increase of revenue by about $39,000 year-to-date. The Armory usage continued to go down, and the Boatworks Commons usage continued to increase. With that, I'll stand for any questions. **[10:15] Mayor:** Thank you, Ms. Crawford. Council, any questions? Seeing none, thank you for the report. All right, moving on to item 8A: Resolution awarding the sale of the 2022 B General Obligation Bonds. Ms. Kindsvater. **[10:30] Kerri Kindsvater (Finance Director):** Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of the Council. S&P Global Ratings affirmed our Double A Plus (AA+) bond rating. For the bid opening this morning, we had a great turnout with eight investment firms. The lowest bid came from Piper Sandler and Company. The true interest cost was 3.7567%, which is excellent because we had planned for 4.565%. This is 81 basis points less than projected. I recommend the City Council adopt the resolution awarding the sale of the general obligation bonds in the amount of $6,990,000. We also have Dan Tienter here from Ehlers to answer questions. **[12:30] Mayor:** So, it sounds like the bonds are coming in much better than expected and under budget. I have that about right? **[12:40] Kerri Kindsvater:** Yep, that's great news. **[12:45] Councilmember Bill Edberg:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ms. Kindsvater, getting a Double A Plus is big news. How much does that actually save us? What is the real-world contribution of our good financial management to those rates? **[13:30] Dan Tienter (Ehlers Financial Advisor):** Mr. Mayor, members of the Council. Generally, the spread between ratings varies, but you can look at it as being between about 10 to 12 basis points. Ultimately, it helps the city secure lower interest rates which reduces the cost of borrowing and results in a lower property tax levy. **[14:45] Councilmember Edberg:** I'd be curious to see what we would have paid if we only had a Double A compared to the Double A Plus. Second question: Ms. Kindsvater, you mentioned we chose to retain the original $6.99 million rather than reducing the issue. What’s the implication for the levy? **[15:15] Kerri Kindsvater:** Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, it will be taken into consideration when we do our bond sale next year. We'll still be bonding for the same amount, but the $10 million needed for next year will be less. **[15:35] Mayor:** I'd entertain a motion to adopt the resolution. **[15:40] Councilmember:** Move to approve. **[15:41] Councilmember:** Second. **[15:42] Mayor:** All those in favor say "Aye." Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 8B: First reading of an ordinance establishing the 2023 fee schedule. Ms. Crawford. **[15:55] Lindy Crawford:** Thank you, Mayor. Highlights include a 5% increase in ambulance rates and Pioneer Manor rents. We are recommending breaking out Marina slip rentals based on resident ($2,500) and non-resident ($2,800). We are also adjusting the Surface Water Management fee to better reflect the impact of commercial properties' impervious surfaces. Additionally, we recommend implementing escrow fees for large Community Development projects so the burden isn't on taxpayers. **[19:00] Mayor:** Thank you, Ms. Crawford. We have accomplished our first reading. Is there anything anyone's just dying to talk about right now? Seeing none, thank you. Moving on to item 8C: Resolution authorizing support for an application for Ramsey County Critical Corridor grant funding. Mr. Lindahl. **[19:15] Jason Lindahl (Community Development Director):** Members of the Council, this asks the Council to support a grant application from Schaefer Richardson related to phase two of their development along County Road E. Ramsey County’s new "Critical Corridor" program supports walkable environments and affordable housing. Fully market-rate applications aren't eligible, so the applicant has included affordable housing. This resolution does not tie the city to any funding. Peter Orth with Schaefer Richardson is here to answer questions. **[21:15] Mayor:** First question: what is the upshot for Schaefer Richardson? I'd like to hear from Mr. Orth. Give me your motivation behind doing this. **[21:30] Peter Orth (Schaefer Richardson):** Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This program is a low-interest loan of $1 million. In exchange, we included 10 affordable units out of 244. These units will be at 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for a 30-year term. To your point, this million dollars covers the gap of what we would lose in rental income. It is actually a slight reduction in our returns for the whole project, but it allows us to provide the affordable units identified in the Comprehensive Plan. **[24:00] Councilmember Edberg:** Mr. Orth, what’s the interest rate on the County money? **[24:10] Peter Orth:** Between 1% to 2%. **[24:15] Councilmember Edberg:** My quick numbers suggest a net benefit of roughly $1.2 million in rent savings for residents over 30 years in exchange for that million-dollar low-interest loan. It seems like a fair trade. **[25:00] Councilmember Kevin Jones:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Peter, to sum this up: you guys get cheap money to build, and in exchange, you provide affordable units, and it's basically a wash or a slight loss for you? **[25:15] Peter Orth:** Yes, that's true. **[25:20] Councilmember Jones:** Mr. Lindahl, have you heard of other counties doing this? **[25:25] Jason Lindahl:** This specific array of grant options from Ramsey County seems unique right now. Other counties focus more on site cleanup or transit-oriented development. **[26:30] Councilmember Jones:** I move to approve the support of this resolution. **[26:35] Councilmember:** Second. **[26:40] Mayor:** Technical question for Mr. Orth: what would you consider a typical market interest rate right now? **[26:45] Peter Orth:** About 6% right now. **[26:50] Mayor:** All those in favor of passing the resolution say "Aye." **[26:55] Council:** Aye. **[27:00] Mayor:** Motion carries. Item 10: Communication with the city manager. **[27:10] Lindy Crawford:** Thank you, Mayor. The Police Department is having a food drive Dec 2nd–4th. Santa will visit on Saturday. Also, "Fire Safety with Santa" is Dec 11th. We need an HRA meeting on December 13th—is 6:30 PM okay? **[27:45] Councilmember:** I have a conflict at 6:30. Can we do it immediately following the council meeting? **[27:50] Mayor:** Let’s do it following the meeting. **[27:55] Lindy Crawford:** Okay. Lastly, the Mayor attended the Citizens Police Academy, and we have a video of him volunteering to be tasered. **[28:10] Mayor:** I really would like to see the video... [Video plays]. It really, really hurt. I’ve broken many bones, but that was by far the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. You are debilitated for five seconds. It’s an incredibly useful non-deadly tool for law enforcement. I want to compliment the officers. I was happy to be the guinea pig. With that, I’m done talking about being tasered! I'd entertain a motion to adjourn. **[29:00] Councilmember:** Motion. **[29:01] Councilmember:** Second. **[29:02] Mayor:** All those in favor say "Aye." We're adjourned. Happy Thanksgiving.