Based on the context provided in the transcript (which identifies this as a meeting from July 15, 2014) and the names mentioned in the dialogue, I have identified the speakers. *Note: While you provided a modern list of officials, the transcript dates back to 2014. Therefore, the names used in the transcript (e.g., Mayor Robinson, Tom, Lanell, Brenda) have been prioritized to ensure accuracy to the recording.* *** **[9:41] Mayor Robinson:** Good evening. I’ll call the City of Cannon Falls City Council meeting for Tuesday, July the 15th to order. Roll call: Council Member Duncan? (Here). Holes? (Here). Johnson? (Here). Madsen? (Here). McCusker? (Here). Bloom? (Here). And Mayor Robinson? (Yep). All please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. **[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. **[9:41] Mayor Robinson:** Good evening everyone and welcome to the City Council meeting this evening. At this time, the chair will take a motion to approve the agenda as submitted. **Council Member Merle Holes:** So moved. **Council Member Bill [Last Name Unknown]:** Second. **[10:27] Mayor Robinson:** Have a motion by Merle, second by Bill. All those in favor, aye? (Aye). Oppose? (None). Motion carries. That moves us onto item five this evening: Public Input. Citizens may speak to issues not on the agenda. Before speaking, please give your name and address for the minutes. Please limit your comments to three minutes. Is there anyone wishing to speak? Ma’am, please sign in. Oh, I got to do that before I can speak—that way we don't forget. Is the mic on out there, Jeff? It looks like it, yeah. **[11:15] Joy Stepman:** Hi, I'm Joy Stepman, 319 North 3rd Street. We have a parking problem in front of our place. I live right beside Freeborn Manor and they keep parking in our driveway. Our driveway starts and they park right on top of it so we cannot make a swing into our driveway. I have campers coming in and my son brings trailers in and he just about hits the cars that are out there. I want some space. They don't even park up next to their driveway into Freeborn Manor as close as what they park in ours. There has been a few times that they've actually parked in our driveway and we had to have the police down there to have them removed. I was wondering if there possibly could be some kind of a sign put up down there for them so that they can read? I do have reflectors out there right now, but they're not going with them either—they're parking in them too. **[12:02] Mayor Robinson:** Jeff, I've noticed that a lot around that place. There's a lot of cars on the street there on Third Street, you know, right across the street from Rod’s there. In the wintertime when they're out there, it really makes it hard. I mean, is that parking lot full or...? **[12:02] Police Chief Jeff McCormick:** Yes and no. The biggest problem is that complex was designed with one off-street parking for each building or each space. However, two years ago, they received a variance and could rent to other than 55 plus or disabled, and so all of a sudden they were getting more people in that had more vehicles. As it relates to your specific problem, I talked with our Public Works Director a couple of weeks ago and they put it on the schedule—we're actually going to yellow the curbs so it's a more visual "no parking." We have been doing the enforcement; we have city ordinances prohibiting parking within 10 feet of driveways or mailboxes. So we have been issuing citations, but we still continue to see the problems. What we haven't been doing is towing on those; we just have been issuing the citation unless they leave them there for more than 24 hours. But we are trying to get that corrected. I don't know if Tom might be able to address this? I know he and I talked about the concerns, especially in the wintertime, about that section of street narrowing. I'm not sure if it's going to be something he takes to Public Works Commission to look at restricted parking or not. **[14:02] Public Works Director Tom [Last Name Unknown]:** Yeah, I agree, Jeff. We will have to get some yellow paint down there. I agree there's also a congestion problem on both corners, so I think we're going to put some yellow on both sides and try and push those cars down further. **[14:21] Joy Stepman:** They are even parking right in that one spot right behind Rod's so we can't make the hook out. If that could be posted too—there's no parking there? **[14:21] Public Works Director Tom:** Okay, I'll address that with our painter. He started the last couple days around town, so we will talk and get that done. **[14:21] Joy Stepman:** Yeah, I would sure appreciate it because it's getting harder and harder. We do want to do work on our back garage this year, so we are going to be having bigger trucks. We're going to finally be siding it, maybe. But with the bigger truck and equipment coming in, they need to be able to get in there. Even with the Fire Department, I would love to see some of their trucks coming down that road—just coming down—because they are parked on both sides. So I'd really appreciate it if something could be done ASAP. Thank you so much. **[15:52] Police Chief Jeff McCormick:** One of the things we could do is, if you're having some work done before then, let us know. We could put up some temporary "no parking" if you're expecting larger equipment coming in and out—on one side—to try to get more room. **[15:52] Joy Stepman:** Yeah, we got to get it planned out, but hopefully with the yellow paint... if they know what yellow paint means. I'm not giving guarantees on that! I just know working with Tom, it is something that we have had some discussions on. But if you anticipate dump trucks or anything really large, if you know a couple of days ahead of time, we have to have 24 hours notice to be able to put the signage up. We certainly could try to help you in getting that accomplished. **[15:52] Joy Stepman:** My son comes in with longer trailers and I have no clue when he's doing that—the other night he just showed up with one. But the problem seems to be getting worse, not better, and I don't know why they insist on parking on top of our driveway. **[16:37] Police Chief Jeff McCormick:** Well, part of it is that there's a fair number of people who have been trespassed out of that complex who then hang out on the street and that type of thing. **[16:37] Joy Stepman:** I understand that, but they're younger than me and they can walk, you know! Sorry, I won't disagree, but that's what we've been seeing a lot of lately. But if anything could be done to help—put a sign up for "no parking" or something—I would sure appreciate it. So thank you. **[17:15] Mayor Robinson:** Thank you for our attention. Tom, is there any yellow paint there now or is it worn off? **[17:15] Public Works Director Tom:** No, that’s as a rule. Most cities 15-20 years ago, with budget cuts, quit doing all the radiuses just because it's so costly. So we only do the radiuses when needed. So there's nothing there now. **[17:15] Mayor Robinson:** Okay, well hopefully this helps. You let us know, okay? We like when you come in and keep us informed. All right, anybody else want to address this Council under public input? If not, we'll move on to the Consent Agenda items. Item A is the just and correct claims for the period ending July 9th. Item B are the minutes for July 1st. Item D, Resolution 2086, approving plans for 2nd Street Southwest. Item E, Resolution 2088, accepting a grant for ambulance equipment. And Item F, ambulance department resignations. Is there any items anybody wishes to bring down? I will be bringing down Item F, which will be Item 7C. Is there anything else? If not, the chair will take a motion to approve the consent agenda as submitted. **Council Member Merle Holes:** So moved. **Council Member Bill:** Second. **[18:55] Mayor Robinson:** All those in favor, aye? (Aye). Oppose? (None). Motion carries. That moves us on to Council Business. Item A is financing options and discussion regarding general fund reserves. Ron's not here this evening, so Lanell? **[18:55] Finance Director Lanell [Last Name Unknown]:** Thank you. Tonight we have before you some options regarding the financing for some of those projects the Council has discussed, such as the Second Street Southwest area and the 308th street project. One of the things we are bumping up against is we are looking for Council consensus that you do indeed want to bring the general fund reserve down to 50 percent. When we had our auditors here a couple weeks ago, he did say that we were currently at about 76 percent. I think that 76 percent included some assigned fund balances. Once the assigned fund balance for the city's share of the library project is removed, we're actually down at about 66 percent. In the materials from Ron, there was also a memo from about a year ago addressing this. There were a lot of items on that list the Council discussed using reserves for to bring it down to 50 percent. Some of those things have been done, but not all of them. To move forward, we just want direction from you that you still want to go to the 50 percent. We recommend we do not go below 50 percent for reasons including our bond rating. Our financial advisor suggested we stay around 70-75 percent, but we have had discussions since then and he said he was comfortable with going down to 50 percent. **[21:16] Mayor Robinson:** One of the reasons I had him bring it up again is if we have the reserves and we can pay for some of these projects out of the reserves, then we don't have to bond for it. We save money in the long run because we don't have to pay interest. Lanell, looking at this list from a year ago, if we do all those things, how much will we need to bond for, including new things like Second Street? **[22:02] Finance Director Lanell:** That's a good question. Basically, at the end of 2013, if we took the unassigned fund balance—which is the 66 percent—and brought that down to 50 percent, we're only looking at a difference of about $486,000. With the items listed on here, we've got more than that spent. So I think even if we do everything on this list, we're going to end up borrowing some money to do that in addition to Second Street Southwest and 318th Street. **[22:47] Mayor Robinson:** Of these projects on this list, how many have been paid for and how many have not? You know, I have $50,000 where we talked about paving the pool parking lot—did we use that to help fix the pool? **[22:47] Public Works Director Tom:** We're probably up to 42,000, but we're done. So there should be a little excess there. **[23:12] Mayor Robinson:** Right, and then the Highway 19 crosswalk project. I know we talked about $37,000 for that. **[23:12] Public Works Director Tom:** We discussed today that possibly we could try putting the intersection in without the lighting, or take cut that figure in half. Jeff and I discussed this morning moving the crossing down to the 7th Street crossing. Money-wise, I think it's going to be right around the same, but the big thing is going to be the flashing lighting. **[23:58] Finance Director Lanell:** As far as the other items, the HVAC update at City Hall has not been done. We have two compressors out now; that's about a $10,000 bill. They should be replaced next week, so that part is earmarked. The pool, as we just discussed. The siren for the hospital area—we discussed that at our staff meeting this morning—that has not yet been purchased because of future growth. The City's portion of the Three Rivers Bus has been done. The new PD squad computers were just recently purchased. **[24:45] Police Chief Jeff McCormick:** Okay. **[24:45] Finance Director Lanell:** So we've just received the invoicing on that. And then the rifles have not been purchased yet; they're doing specs on it, but that project could be delayed if necessary. **[25:15] Mayor Robinson:** What about the city portion of the library project costs at 248? We were talking about paying a lump sum off, right? **[25:15] Finance Director Lanell:** Yeah, that’s that assigned fund balance that I referenced earlier. What we have not set aside yet is the project overruns. The number listed a year ago was $258,000. When I look at the construction fund, we're actually down about $388,000. I'm not exactly sure why—I haven't done an analysis—so I’m not sure where the actual cash deficit is in that fund right now. So we're anywhere between $258,000 and $388,000 on that. That's a huge number that could really impact what our reserves are going to be. **[26:02] Mayor Robinson:** Well, it sounds like we're still going to have to do some sort of bonding. **[26:02] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** I’ve got a bunch of questions. I was going to meet with Ron today, but he is not in good shape, so you'll have to bear the brunt of it tonight, I guess. **[26:47] Finance Director Lanell:** I may not have the answers, but I'll write them down and try to get it for you later. **[26:47] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** The one question is—and I think you answered it—I remember we took $760,000 and we allotted it for the library even though we didn't have to pay that for five years. Is that $760,000 still sitting there, or is that part of this package? **[27:34] Finance Director Lanell:** The 760 would be the total debt for the library project; that's not included in here because that's in a separate fund. What we're talking about tonight is just the general fund. The city said we were going to pay a portion, and that's where that $260,000 assigned fund balance comes in. But we've also got this overage in the construction portion that is still up in the air. **[27:34] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** I don't remember seeing this high of extra cost. Me neither. Where did this come from? Is this part of our water problem? **[28:20] Finance Director Lanell:** No, these are issues that were done during construction. That's why I said I haven't had an opportunity to really look at where those overages came into play. It may just be because a transfer hasn't been done yet. **[28:20] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** Then the other thing is, since we're on the library, you have the library project cost overruns of 258 and then the City's portion at 248. The way I understood it, we put $760,000 away to pay that library off, but then it looks like we had $260,000 in cost overrun, so we actually spent probably a million dollars on the library. **[29:05] Finance Director Lanell:** Well, part of that was what we bonded for because we have to wait for those pledges to come in. Is that not correct? **[29:05] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** That is correct. I remember going over this many times with Aaron. The $760,000 that I wanted to put into the sewer and water fund to keep the prices down—it was determined that we were going to leave that there to protect the library when the time comes due. So I guess I'm a little bit confused now because I thought we had that covered. The other thing: doing any blacktopping over at that pool, I wish we would just hold our jets on that till we decide what we're going to do with that pool. **[31:25] Finance Director Lanell:** Right, we are not doing the blacktop. We used that money to get the pool operating this year instead. **[31:25] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** Right. The other thing is—Aaron and I went around about this quite a few times—studying this heating and cooling system. I know it has been a mess from day one. To me, there’s $60,000 set in there. Sixty thousand will not improve the efficiency; it needs a total different look to it. I have problems with spending the money on that. Also, the Second Street project—I assume that’s over and above this? **[34:42] Finance Director Lanell:** Yes. **[34:42] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** I would still like to see that Second Street project come out of our reserves for the sewer/water fund. I still believe we have that half million in there for emergencies. And I was going to ask Ron how much we put into that fund each year into that reserve—if it's $25,000 or $30,000? **[35:28] Finance Director Lanell:** You're talking in the water and sewer funds? We don't designate money to be set aside as reserves; that's an operating fund. It's an enterprise fund. We don't have any way to actually build a reserve other than through our bills. **[36:13] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** Well, I guess I'll get that clarified. Anyway, I'm all for whatever we can do to keep from bonding. I guess after talking to the auditors, I still don't have a problem with going down to 45 or 50 percent. If we can operate at 45 percent, we're probably overcharging our citizens five percent. The more money we got sitting around here, the more we could have lowered our percentages on our tax base. That's just my general view. **[40:09] Mayor Robinson:** Is the council's consensus still to reduce the reserves to 50 percent? **Council Member Merle Holes:** Yes. No less than that. **[40:55] Mayor Robinson:** Have a motion by Merle and I'll second that. Second by Bill to confirm that we will look at lowering the reserve to 50 percent and for staff to get us the numbers of what we will have to bond for to pay for these other projects. All those in favor, aye? (Aye). Oppose? (None). Carries. That moves us onto item 7B: Resolution 2087, accepting FEMA assistance to Firefighters Grant. The Fire Chief is here. **[41:43] Fire Chief Brice Miller:** Good evening. We recently applied again for FEMA assistance for turnout gear, which consists of helmets, masks, boots, jackets. We did receive a total grant of $57,200. The share that would come from the Fire Department equipment fund would be $2,860, or five percent. Jeremy Miles has been our grant writer and has done a great job. Over the last three years, we've gotten upwards of $300,000 in grants. Most of our current gear is over 10-12 years old, so it's outdated. We also, through our charitable gambling, put $11,000 into the equipment fund this year. We purchased a rescue Randy dummy, equipment for the new grass rig, and put $6,000 towards rope rescue. **[43:17] Mayor Robinson:** That’s amazing. It really is. I’d like to say thanks to you guys for doing that and taking the time to apply for those grants. Is there any further discussion? If not, the chair will take a motion to adopt the resolution accepting the FEMA assistance and authorize the expenditure of the city share of $2,860. **Council Member Merle Holes:** So moved. **Council Member Bill:** Second. **[44:50] Mayor Robinson:** All those in favor, aye? (Aye). Opposed? (None). Thanks, John. That moves us on to item 7C: Ambulance Department resignations. We have two employees, Mike Althoff and Ivan Markowitz, who are both departing. Mike is taking a job with the city of Rochester as a firefighter and Ivan is also taking another position. With the hospital coming on board, we want to make sure our service is where it should be. The Personnel Committee would like to accept the resignations, thank them, but also authorize the hiring of one EMT (internal) and up to two paramedics. We need to start the 24-hour rotation. **[46:24] Mayor Robinson:** This was planned for because of the additional runs required by the new hospital. Personnel and Brenda decided we should just get everyone trained and up to speed so we're ready to go. **[47:56] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** This town owes a big thank you to Brenda, Mike, and Ivan. They've basically been running this for a couple years now when we probably should have had another two people. I'm really grateful. I probably gotta tell you a little story to give you an idea of how this works. Mike Althoff worked with me all through high school. He decided to try out the EMTs and really found himself a home with it. One day, he came into work and just stood there looking out the window. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me he got called out that morning—a little girl was running with a Phillips screwdriver and fell down and stuck it right in her eye, all the way in. He said, "I can't get it out of my mind. Every time I start working, all I can see is that screwdriver." This is the kind of emotional things these people work with. My thinking is we almost should decide if we want to train these people for other towns or if we want to try to give more wages and keep them. Right now, I think we're a training staff for other towns because of what we pay. I think we actually have to get more people trained in and we probably are going to have to spend a little bit more money. **[53:19] Finance Director Lanell:** I just would like to clarify that those positions we are talking about tonight are all full-time positions. **[53:19] Mayor Robinson:** At this time, the chair will take a motion first to accept the resignations of Mike Althoff and Ivan Markowitz. **Council Member Merle Holes:** So moved. **Council Member Bill:** Second. **[54:04] Mayor Robinson:** All in favor, aye? (Aye). The second part: I’ll need a motion to approve the hiring of one EMT and up to two paramedics. **Council Member Merle Holes:** So moved. **Council Member Bill:** Second. **[54:04] Mayor Robinson:** All those in favor, aye? (Aye). Opposed? (None). Carries. That moves us on to reports. Brenda? **[54:19] Ambulance Director Brenda [Last Name Unknown]:** Thank you for your assistance with my personnel problems. I would be remiss if I did not take an opportunity tonight to specifically thank Ivan and Mike. I have learned a lot from Ivan. And I can't say enough about what Mike and I have shared over the 10 years he's been employed here. The ambulance service wouldn't have gotten where it is today without the haggling we have done between us to get it there. They both have my deep appreciation. **[55:51] Public Works Director Tom:** Well, I don't have anything that good to follow! But the one-ton pickup we sold at state auction, we got $6,500. I would have traded it for a handful of magic beans at one time, so I'm very impressed. We're running a little behind schedule—the grass keeps growing and we're one man short. Afton and I are stepping out of the office to fill the spot that's empty. We'll take applications through this week and have somebody hopefully on board by mid-August. **[56:36] Mayor Robinson:** Thanks for the job you're doing. Chief? **[57:22] Police Chief Jeff McCormick:** You’ll see a memo for a street closure for August 9th for the Veterans Memorial dedication. They are requesting to close part of Mill Street, essentially from west of the alley between Germsteads and the winery to the entrance of the city lot. I would request a motion and approval. **Council Member Merle Holes:** So moved. **Council Member Bill:** Second. **[58:07] Mayor Robinson:** Motion by Merle, second by Bill. All those in favor, aye? (Aye). **[58:07] Police Chief Jeff McCormick:** Thank you. Other things: the Wine and Art Festival will be this weekend. There will be a shuttle between the fairgrounds and Hannah's Bend. The Fireman’s Dance will be on the 25th; that will close off part of Hoffman Street between 4th and 3rd. And then the Cannon Cruisers will be the following Friday. There will be some traffic disruption—a rolling roadblock—but it should be 15 minutes at the most. That's all I have. **[59:39] Council Member Leroy McCusker:** Tom, just a question for you on Second Street. When do they anticipate redoing the street itself? **[59:39] Public Works Director Tom:** I would guess within the next two weeks, shortly after they get 318th done. **[1:00:24] Mayor Robinson:** Okay. Another thing is we need to do a budget workshop after the August 5th city council meeting so we can work on our preliminary budget. The state passed a bill that allows us to have it set by the 15th of September. And I'd just like to say the Fourth of July came around and a lot of things happened—hats off to Public Works, Police, Fire, and First Responders. They've been above and beyond the call of duty. I’ll take a motion to adjourn. **Council Member Bill:** Second.