This transcript has been formatted with the appropriate speaker names based on the context of the meeting, the provided official list, and the internal dialogue (such as roll calls and verbal acknowledgments). **Note on Names:** While your list includes Carl Bliss and Orin Kipp, the transcript roll call and dialogue explicitly identify "Councilmember Carlson" (Connie) and "Councilmember Doll" (John). Additionally, the transcript identifies the Police Chief as "Chief Eastman" and the Fire Chief as "Chief Eisinger," rather than the names on the provided list; I have used the names spoken in the record to ensure accuracy to the audio. *** [0:22] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Look at that. All right, I’d like to call to order the April 3rd, 2023, Bayport City Council meeting. Let’s all do the Pledge of Allegiance. (All: 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.) [0:45] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right, call the roll please, Matt. [0:48] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Councilmember Carlson? [0:49] **Councilmember Connie Carlson:** Here. [0:50] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Councilmember Doll? [0:51] **Councilmember John Doll:** Here. [0:52] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Councilmember Gilmore? [0:53] **Deputy Mayor Ethan Gilmore:** Here. [0:54] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Councilmember Hill? [0:55] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Here. [0:56] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Mayor Hanson? [0:57] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Here. All here. All right, do we have a motion to approve the agenda or does anyone have any changes? [1:10] **Councilmember Connie Carlson:** I’ll make a motion to approve the agenda as prepared. [1:13] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right, thanks Connie. Second? [1:15] **Deputy Mayor Ethan Gilmore:** Second. [1:16] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you, Ethan. All right, all those in favor? (All: Aye). Anyone opposed? All right. So then we're onto proclamations, accommodations, petitions, and announcements. The March recycling award recipient is Dave Lindell who's on Second Street North. And then now we are going to have our Chief Eastman do some presentations. [1:57] **Police Chief Eastman:** Thank you, Madam Mayor and Council. It is exciting whenever I can give these out and it's very well deserved. We have three tonight that are receiving awards and I want to let them know that Sergeant Jackson nominated them, so he was a big part of this. We had a couple that we were already looking at and then we thought, well, we'll just put them all together so they can all be here together and see each other and support each other. So the first one I want to ask up here is Officer Larry Cornell. Could you please stand here? So, just a little back history here and what he'll be receiving is this letter, and he's receiving a letter of recognition. Can you guys hear me? (Council: Yeah). On September 23rd, 2022, Officer Cornell was working a Safe and Sober saturation patrol shift where he was part of a group of officers that were assigned to enforce traffic laws in different areas of the county. This funding is part of a grant provided to the agencies of Washington County. Officer Cornell was southbound on Manning Avenue North in Lake Elmo approaching 10th Street North when he observed two vehicles that crashed at an intersection. Officer Cornell ran over to the vehicle where the driver was yelling for help. The passenger in the vehicle was bleeding severely from the neck where he had been cut by part of the vehicle during the crash. Officer Cornell applied direct pressure to the injury until other units arrived as well as a registered nurse who took over patient care. The male was transferred to the hospital where he was admitted and recovered. [3:27] **Police Chief Eastman:** Officer Cornell is receiving this letter of recognition for his quick response for identifying a situation that required immediate attention because time was of essence. I commend Officer Cornell for his swift actions and dedication to the safety of not only our community but also for his continued dedication to the peace officer profession and oath. Thank you. [Applause] So, great job, Larry. Thank you so much. You're going to see Larry shortly after this too, so that'll be exciting. [4:13] **Police Chief Eastman:** So the next award is to Officer Slinger. If I could have him stand up. And this is a life-saving award, actually. On November 1st, 2023, Officer Slinger was dispatched to an apartment in Bayport for a male with difficulty breathing. While en route, updated information was provided that the male was no longer breathing and that they were beginning CPR. Officer Slinger arrived to find the male on the floor not breathing and his friends distraught. Officer Slinger was unable to detect a pulse and he began life-saving measures on the male. Officer Slinger questioned the male's friend about possible drug use and it was determined that the male party was known to use heroin. Officer Slinger administered a dose of Narcan to the patient. It should be noted that all Bayport officers are issued Narcan and that Narcan is a medication that counteracts the effects of opiates by blocking the receptors in a patient. Officer Slinger continued CPR until Officer Lepowski arrived and she provided Officer Slinger with an additional dose of Narcan which was administered. Officer Lepowski prepared the AED. Officer Slinger continued CPR, AED was not advised, and he continued CPR. The male party then began agonal breathing and after a few minutes, the male party regained consciousness. Lakeview paramedics transferred the male to the hospital where he recovered. Officer Slinger is receiving this life-saving award for his quick actions that day resulting in the saving of the male's life. I commend Officer Slinger for a swift response and calm demeanor under pressure. The City of Bayport and the Bayport Police Department appreciate your dedication to the community as well as your profession. Thank you, sir. [Applause] [6:00] **Police Chief Eastman:** Oh, and last but not least, Officer Lepowski. So as long as I have her up here, I want to say she worked this past weekend and she drove all over the neighborhoods checking on the seniors, checking on everybody. She provided donuts or something to the Excel—I mean, she's quite a blessing to have these great staff, but she went above and beyond this weekend. So I wanted to thank her for that so publicly. So Officer Lepowski is also receiving a life-saving award. And I actually saw her in action; I came to the end of this and saw what a great job she did. So I just want to share—this is quite impressive. On January 30th of 2023, Officer Lepowski responded to one of the most dreaded calls in law enforcement: a life-threatening call to a child. Dispatch reported that the child had a high temperature and possibly a seizure. While en route to the home, dispatch provided updated information that the child was not breathing and was in full cardiac arrest. Officer Lepowski arrived to find the child slightly blue in color and the father attempting CPR. Officer Lepowski did not detect any signs of breathing and she immediately started chest compressions. Lepowski directed the father to sweep the child's mouth and she continued CPR for approximately two minutes until she heard the child gasp for air and felt a strong heartbeat and labored breathing. Bayport Rescue and Lakeview paramedics arrived and the child was transported to the hospital. Later that day, the child had a ventilation tube removed and he was answering questions. The child has since made a full recovery. Officer Lepowski is receiving this life-saving award for her quick response under one of the most stressful calls which resulted in the saving of a child. This was the second life-saving award in her tenure with the City of Bayport. Officer Lepowski clearly exudes dedication and commitment to the safety of our community. I want to add this: Officer Lepowski and Officer Slinger found out that the sibling of the child that she saved was having a hard time, and they did a special ceremony for her and commended her for how she dealt with the situation over at her school. And so she again went above and beyond. So, thank you. [Applause] [8:49] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Wow. [8:51] **Police Chief Eastman:** So again, I just want to thank my team. I have an awesome team and they just do a wonderful job. I can't tell you how proud I am of them and what they do for our community. And now we get to do some exciting news: we're going to introduce our new canine. Yay! I think he went to get her. And I will let him explain to you just the name and everything. I do want to say she has an amazing, loving disposition and she's going to be very well received with the children as well as the community. [9:28] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Yes, almost as much as they love Brittany. [Laughter] Oh hey, Maze! [9:35] **Police Chief Eastman:** Also, I do want to say, so Larry got her about a week and a half ago. What's happening is she's only a year old and so she has no training yet. In about two weeks he will be gone until June and he's going to tell you the rest of her training and just a little bit more about her. [10:01] **Officer Larry Cornell:** Well, this is Maze. She is a one-year-old black lab. She has a great disposition, she loves people as you can see, and she loves treats as well. She has been very good with family; she's made it definitely clear that she's welcomed in the PD and she's made it her home. And so in a couple weeks, Maze and I will be attending the McDonough canine training up in Blaine where for the next 10 weeks we'll be doing narcotics detection and human tracking detection. [10:41] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** And tell us about how you funded this. Like, you did all the fundraising yourself? [10:47] **Officer Larry Cornell:** Yeah, so the funding for Maze and the canine program was done through all through donations and grants as well. We've got wonderful residents in the city and wonderful businesses that were able to provide enough donations for equipment, donations for food and vet care, as well as to pay for training and equipment for the squad car. I'd like to thank the First State Bank and Trust, the Fred C. and Katherine B. Anderson Foundation, as well as DiaSorin for their generous donations for the program. Couldn't have done it without their help. So thank you. [11:33] **Police Chief Eastman:** So I just wanted to add a few things about that. Just like when Sergeant Jackson was the canine handler with Kilo, all of the funds that are paying for the purchase of the dog as well as the training are complete donations. We've also been honored to receive complete donations for the vet care for the entire life of Maze and that's from Animal Care Center over in Hudson, Dr. Bray is her name. And we also have the funder that provided Sergeant Jackson food for the lifetime of the dog, he's also going to do that—he used to be a resident here. And so what I'm telling you is it's not costing the taxpayers any dollars. And what we've done routinely is—I would say we do between 10 and 15 tours from Anderson Elementary, Girl Scout, Boy Scout troops—and so it's really a good way for us to interact as well as Safety Camp, Halloween night, Night to Unite, all those things with the community, especially with a sweet dog like this. Now keep in mind this dog's a year old, she's teething, she doesn't have any manners yet, but she's very sweet and very cute. I'm looking forward to having Officer Cornell back with her at our Safety Camp and Night to Unite. [12:55] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Any other questions? She lives then with Officer Cornell, just so people understand how that works? So it's a great thing. I'm so glad that you pursued this and congratulations on making it all come together. I'm excited for you to do your training and come back and have a great canine for us in our town. And it helps our neighbors too; it sounds like you can do some backup when, like, say Stillwater needs help and that kind of thing. [13:30] **Officer Larry Cornell:** Yeah, yeah. [13:31] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** So thank you so much. And thank you all the officers for your amazing work. The awards—like, I got all teary-eyed. I think, wow, you guys, I couldn't do what you do. So thank you so much for everything. [13:46] **Police Chief Eastman:** I’m going to step out and take some photos and shut the doors then. [13:51] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Okay, sounds good. We'll give you a minute. Congratulations. Shuffle out. Thank you all. We love our PD, don't we? All right. All right, so now we are on to our open forum. This is a portion of the meeting to address the City Council on subjects that are not a part of the meeting agenda. The Council may take action or reply at the time of the statement or we may give direction to staff regarding investigation of comments expressed. Total of 15 minutes is allotted for public comment during the open forum. Anyone would like to come forward, you can state your name and address for the record and then tell us what you're here to chat about. Come on up. [14:40] **Bob Dickey:** Hello again. My name is Bob Dickey. I live in Afton. The church right across the street at People's is where I go to church. And the only thing that would have made my... I parked right next to the church on this street, there would be a cantilever bridge from Perro Park over to here. You might have talked about that though already. I just wanted to say that People's is going through the whole process of working on what's going to happen with People's Park. We have had several conversations with the developer and we've made an offer as far as how we can work with them to do the sewer and water, and we want to be a cooperative group to try to make that happen for everybody. And we also have had some conversation about the annexation process with Bayport and we probably are... we have to vote on all these things, we're just like you, we have to put notice out and all that kind of thing. But if I was to read the tea leaves, I'd say that the congregation will want to go forward with a friendly annexation and we're looking forward to becoming officially not only paperwork there, but Bayport over there too. So thank you all and if you have any questions, you guys are always welcome to give us a call and we'll fill you in on how things are moving along. [16:07] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you, Bob. Do you want to give us any background on what's happening with the other church and the potential merger? [16:13] **Bob Dickey:** Yeah, some of you may know that the United Church of Christ and People's Church... the UCC church, St. Peter's, is at the edge of Stillwater and Oak Park Heights. We've been in these merger kind of conversations for, oh my goodness, probably six months now. It's more complicated than you can imagine and it seems to still be moving forward. And the offer that's kind of out on the table is that that congregation would be coming here to this church building or right across the street. And so if that happens, we're going to need to have some more serious conversations with Bayport how to expand our parking footprint on that street in a way that also will benefit this building and whomever might come next to occupy Bayport Elementary. It's a really important corner in the community and we want it to be able to work for everybody. So that's kind of where we are and we'll know more probably sometime late this spring. [17:08] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Okay, thank you. All right, thank you. And that was a great dog. I know, wasn't she sweet? What a great Police Department. Oh my gosh, things that they did—and I don't know if any of you have ever seen a person that had died and was administered Narcan, it is the most amazing thing you'll have ever seen. And that you had people trained to do it not just once but twice and brought this person back because now they have a chance. So yeah, I thank the Police Department, they're awesome aren't they? You're so lucky. Thank you, Bob. Is there anyone else that would like to address the Council? Okay. [18:10] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right, so we'll move on to the Consent Agenda. Consider resolution adopting items one through ten: the February 27th City Council and Planning Commission joint meeting minutes and the February 27th City Council workshop minutes; March 6 City Council workshop minutes; March 6 City Council regular meeting minutes—wait, we've been busy—March 27th City Council emergency meeting minutes; March payables and receipts; March building, plumbing, mechanical; the boat trailer parking agreement with Andersen Corporation; special event application from Bayport American Legion for Memorial Day Parade on May 29th; and Barker's Alps Park ball field use agreement with Saint Croix Preparatory Academy with the conditions that we discussed in the workshop. So just one little slight change from what was posted in the packet. Do we have a motion to approve the Consent Agenda? [19:10] **Councilmember John Doll:** I’ll move to adopt the resolution approving the Consent Agenda as it's been presented to us. [19:15] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thanks, John. Second? [19:17] **Councilmember Connie Carlson:** I’ll second it. [19:18] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right, Connie. Matt, would you call the roll please? [19:22] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Councilmember Carlson? (Aye). Councilmember Doll? (Aye). Councilmember Gilmore? (Aye). Councilmember Hill? (Aye). Mayor Hanson? (Aye). All eyes. [19:35] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right. No public hearings. So Unfinished Business is to consider a lease extension with the Department of Corrections for the old fire station building. [19:46] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Madam Mayor, members of the Council. In 2016 the city began leasing the old fire station to the Minnesota Department of Corrections for their busing services of prisoners. The initial lease, I believe, lasted five years and then there was a renewal for a couple years, and they asked for a five-year renewal lease again as their lease expires on June 30th, 2023. The City Council was somewhat reluctant to do that length of lease, and so they asked City staff to go back and ask for a three-year lease potentially with one-year additions onto that. The DOC didn't want to get that complicated in the lease agreement, so ultimately we agreed on just a three-year lease and renew it after that time. The reason for the three-year lease is the potential for the city to potentially utilize that space for something else that may come up, whatever that decision becomes of the City Council here in the next couple years. The renewed lease does have an increase in the rent fee. The current space is being leased for about $45,500 per year. The new lease will reflect an increase to approximately $48,000 per year in the first year and then incremental increases, I believe of 2%, which is the limit for what the DOC is able to pay. Staff recommends that City Council adopt a motion approving the Amendment Number 3 of the lease agreement—so essentially every time we renew the lease it's just an amendment to the original lease—for the old Fire Hall with the term to commence on July 1st, 2023, and continuing through June 30th, 2026, with conditions included in the amendment. I’m open for questions. [22:04] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Do we still heat that space? [22:07] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** I believe that the DOC actually... we do pay for heating, we also pay for electrical because it's a very minimal cost essentially compared to what they're paying for their lease. Heating, they only keep the front rooms or where they store the buses, I believe probably at 55 degrees, and the back space is heated and somewhat shared with the Police Department. [22:31] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Just one clarification, I think you said that it starts at about $48,000 but it looks like the first year is closer to $47,000 and then it goes up to close to $49,000 by the end of the three years. [22:42] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** I meant approximately, yeah. [22:44] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** I just want to be clear. Does anyone else? I think it's pretty straightforward. I think the way the wheels of government turn, we're not going to have anything really figured out in that timeframe anyway, so I think it's good for us to just keep making that rent money from the prison. Do we have any big needs there in terms... I think we did a roof, right? [23:08] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** So, there's been some partial repair on one of the sections of roof and there's also been... we just replaced one of the unit heaters and air conditioners on the rear part of it. The front part is not air conditioned, it's where they store the buses, it's only heated by garage heaters. So there shouldn't be any major repairs here, knock on wood, in the next three years. [23:35] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** You just wrecked it for us. Sorry, don't be superstitious! [23:42] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Well, I knocked on wood, I'm just saying! [23:44] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** It’s too late. Oh, it makes sense to push this forward for now until we have a better idea of what we might want to do with that space for sure. Get it to pay for itself and then some. Is it good deal? Okay. So do we have a motion to approve Amendment Number 3, the lease agreement with the Minnesota Department of Corrections for the old fire station building as presented? [24:14] **Councilmember John Doll:** So moved. [24:16] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thanks, John. Second? [24:18] **Councilmember Connie Carlson:** I’ll second it. [24:19] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right, Connie. Um, I guess we need a roll call vote. [24:25] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Councilmember Carlson? (Aye). Councilmember Doll? (Aye). Councilmember Gilmore? (Aye). Councilmember Hill? (Aye). Mayor Hanson? (Aye). All eyes, motion passes. [24:38] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right, thank you. A bunch of New Business. Consider an appointment of Matt Kline as a City Administrator. I will present this item since, you know, Matt doesn't want to talk about himself too much. All right, so Matt has been our interim City Administrator and our Public Works Director since the middle of January—is that when it started? And personally, I think it's been going great. He's been doing an awesome job and we did chat at our workshop before this meeting and we were all in agreement that we think he would make a great City Administrator and he is willing to punish himself and keep doing this job. So we will be... well, the staff is recommending that we adopt a motion to appoint him and unless there's any discussion, I guess that's what we'll do and welcome him aboard. [25:35] **Deputy Mayor Ethan Gilmore:** I think he's doing a great job. [25:37] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Good job. [25:38] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** I think it's pretty positively unanimous here for you to join us full-time in that. You fit right into the job there; it was seamless. And he has all that Public Works background which, so much of what we do in the city is related to Public Works, so it's been really good. And he's very efficient and we've gotten a lot done in the first just couple months here. Amazing job for Matt. Super happy to have him on board. So, I will make a motion to approve the appointment and execute the employment agreement with Matt Kline as City Administrator. [26:14] **Councilmember Connie Carlson:** I’ll second. [26:15] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right, we have Connie with the motion and Katie with a second. Um, I checked and I don't need a roll call vote, but apparently you think we're kind of spending money—are you sure? Should we do roll call just to be safe? [26:34] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** We can, absolutely. Councilmember Carlson? (Aye). Councilmember Doll? (Aye). Councilmember Gilmore? (Aye). Councilmember Hill? (Aye). Mayor Hanson? (Aye). Motion passes. [26:54] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Yay! Awesome. So next new business item is to consider authorization to initiate the hiring process for a Public Works Director. Surprise! [27:01] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Mayor, members of the Council. As soon as I find my... so with the hiring of myself as the Administrator, that leaves open the position of Public Works Director. Sara and I have been reviewing the job description the past couple of weeks and we're looking at potentially tweaking that and making some changes, so that will impact us moving to post that position. It is our intent to post that position here within the next week or two in order to backfill that position. City staff feels that the Public Works Director plays a critical role in the city from an infrastructure, water, and sewer utility standpoint, and that we will be completing quite a few projects here in the next 20 years. And so they will definitely play a very big role in that. With that said, staff recommends that City Council adopt a motion authorizing staff to initiate the hiring process for a replacement Public Works Director as presented. [28:13] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Any discussion? Any questions, comments? No? Pretty straightforward since we need one. And I think that level of a position makes sense. Like I said, a lot of what we do is related to Public Works, so having someone that can do that planning and administrative part of it instead of just a supervisor makes perfect sense. Do we have a motion or any more discussion? [28:35] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** I moved to go forward with hiring someone for the replacement of Public Works Director as presented. [28:41] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Oh, thanks Katie. Second? [28:44] **Deputy Mayor Ethan Gilmore:** Seconded. [28:45] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Ethan seconded. I think this... we don't need a roll call vote. All those in favor? (All: Aye). Anyone opposed? Okay, the motion passes. Great. On to City Council Liaison reports. Connie, you want to start? [29:21] **Councilmember Connie Carlson:** Yeah, the Library Board met last week and a lot of things going on in April. Jill was very excited to have the library up and running again and she said that she's had lots of positive comments and feedback about the new building. Some of the events we've got going: this Thursday the 6th, there's Bunny Story Hour at the library at 10:30 AM. On Saturday, April 8th at 2:00 PM at the library, there'll be the ribbon cutting with the Board and anybody from the city that would like to attend. And on April 21st, the Foundation is holding an event and it's called "Evening at the Library." There'll be some refreshments and appetizers served; it's going to be like an open house style and everyone is welcome to attend. On the 25th, Tuesday the 25th at 3:00 PM, there'll be also a second ribbon cutting with the Chamber of Commerce—I guess they do this with new businesses or reopening businesses. And then on April 26th, Wednesday, there's a kids and family event—I'm not exactly sure what it will be, but it'll be from 3:30 to 5:30 PM. And then on April 30th, there is an adult event through the "Big Read" event. The doors will open at 3:30 PM and the play will be at 4:00 PM. And I guess I'm telling people, if you haven't checked out the library yet, April's a good month. There's a lot of things going on. Go check it out. And then we'll meet again here in May. [31:07] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Great fun. Yeah. Ethan, how's the Cable Commission? [31:13] **Deputy Mayor Ethan Gilmore:** We did not meet. [31:15] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Quick! John, what's yours again? Watershed? [31:19] **Councilmember John Doll:** Middle Saint Croix Watershed. We met. I had planned on attending, but an emergent situation at my job prevented me from going. I have the minutes here which I've been looking at. There's nothing really Bayport-specific other than it was a very busy year and we went way over with expenditures on looking at projects versus what we had budgeted for. So we have a plan for that. We had created a policy back in 2021 to go back to the entities where these proposed projects are. That's the problem—a lot of these projects are talked about and then nothing happens, so there's no real way to recover the money. Anyway, the municipalities within this will get billed for their share for being like $10,000 short, so every municipality will have a portion of that. That's about it. It's just a bunch of planned reviews and submittals and projects. Nothing Bayport-related, though. [32:38] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Okay, thank you. Katie? [32:41] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** And the Bayport Committee actually... so a big thing, Saturday the 8th, Easter Egg Hunt at Barkers. They are ready for anything, so if you can't go run around the field, there'll be a different way to get your eggs. So that's April 8th. For May, they're thinking about May 13th, starting doing the same type of thing where you're starting at Woody's, walking down to ending at the barbecue. Ice cream social they're going to do again this year; they're looking for volunteer scoopers and they'll be getting more ice cream than they did last year because it ran out within like 10 minutes last year. The Farmers Market, they're getting going again; vendors are handing their stuff in, so that starts in June. So if anyone wants to do it, contact BCAL for the Farmers Market. And they're doing the garage sales as well, that'll be June 2nd and 3rd, and there'll be a deadline for the map if you want to put your house on the map, otherwise you can decide to have a garage sale the day before. Really, Derby Day is getting all set for too. They got the music already, the pep parades going on. They're thinking about getting new banners too, maybe to go over barricades—they like slip on nice and easy and they're clear. And they're making the magnets too, so look for those. Maybe at the Easter Egg Hunt we'll have them. [34:19] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you, yes. And the Farmers Market is going to be back in the Village Green like it was? [34:25] **Councilmember Katie Hill:** Yes, to clarify. [34:27] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right. And I attended the Fire Relief Association meeting on March 13th and I had to cut out early, but I think you guys ended pretty much when I was leaving anyways. Matt was there for his first time and so they introduced Matt and really kind of just went over the financials and kind of a typical meeting. So that was it. I think that was it for my liaisons; Airport Advisory didn't meet and I can't remember what else I have, but I don't think I had anything else. All right, Staff and City Administrator reports. Do you want to call on people, Matt? [35:10] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Thank you, Madam Mayor. Fire Chief Eisinger? [35:15] **Fire Chief Eisinger:** Good evening, Madam Mayor and Councilmembers. The call volume for March was 94 compared to 62 in 2022. Year-to-date is 272 compared to 221 in 2022. Our monthly drills were CPR and electrical vehicle fires. Fire inspections are ongoing as well as new plan reviews. For the month of April, we are already at 25. So needless to say, the storm hit the Fire Department pretty hard too. As Mayor mentioned, Relief Association... we had a few members attend Duluth Fire School. We had a Washington County Fire Chiefs meeting. I attended the Baytown and West Lakeland Township meetings; we were well received, they appreciate the partnership that Bayport has with the townships and even the citizens thanked us, so it was a really positive meeting out there for both of them. Our anniversaries—I forgot February: we have Aaron Pritchard and Ray Valley have 13 years. March: we have James Doyle, Matt Hogberg, and Carl Denon-Donna have 10 years. Meetings: three of us will be attending the Fire Department Instructor Conference and our fire improvement team. So with that, I stand for any questions. [36:50] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Anyone have any questions? No? Great job. [36:55] **Fire Chief Eisinger:** Great, thank you. [36:57] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Thank you. Thank you. [37:00] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Thank you, Chief Eisinger. Chief Eastman? [37:03] **Police Chief Eastman:** Good evening again, Madam Mayor and Council. Our past events: March 1st we had weapons qualification—we used the DOC Oak Park Heights prison indoor range and that was for all officers. On the 20th, we provided training to Saint Paul Park Police Department and officers that couldn't make the initial taser training. March 22nd is when Maze arrived and that's when she started living with Officer Cornell and the family. March 29th was a cold weather night qualification training shoot; again, we used the Department of Corrections Oak Park Heights Prison range and that is free—they let us do that for free, by the way. Upcoming events: we're still waiting to hear about the OSHA grant that I submitted and that's for additional cameras on the outside of the building here, so we're looking forward to hearing about that. I have a call-in to one of the ladies that kind of supervises that, so I'm hoping to hear back soon. And then April 26th, we have our annual pepper ball / chemical Freeze +P and Narcan training, so that'll take place at that time. Our call to date when I submitted this was 1,652 ICRs, and that's self-initiated as well as calls and/or assists to other agencies. And I stand for questions. [38:35] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** I just want to make a comment that I just want you to reiterate to your officers, you know, how much... when you were talking about that young child, it just made me think of how many times the fire department and the police have come to People's—it sounds terrible that they're coming there all the time—but I mean, however many years you've been doing it... [39:03] **Police Chief Eastman:** Yeah, I've been doing a lot of years, but how quickly they are to there and how much it takes from them, the people that are there trying to deal with the situation. I even got a clump talking about it because I rolled in and saw the scene too. It's hard to separate; I mean, we're human. We have to push that down sometimes to react, and Officer Lepowski does a good job with that, but it was hard for me to stand up here because I saw the incident myself and tried to keep it together while I talked about it. Because I saw it. So it was pretty amazing that the child was talking later that afternoon. [39:46] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Yeah. Great, so thank you for doing that. And I just want to say, so everyone understands how we support the officers... you might want to tell us a little bit about the therapy that we help them with too. Because these are tough things for them to go through. And I know Officer Lepowski was also at the incident in Stillwater where there was the shooting—she wasn't there during the actual shooting, but after, she had to deal with the mother of the victim. It just tells... sure, so everyone understands how we support the officers. [40:18] **Police Chief Eastman:** Sure. About four years ago we started a program—mental health for our officers. So they do an annual check-in that the city pays for and then they can do up to six additional as needed. We've had, prior to that incident, she was also involved in another incident with an "assist other agency." Officer Lepowski, a month out of training, was at the scene where the death occurred on 95 at Fifth Avenue. We all see either that or suicide. So like you said, Mayor, to that point, we do make sure that they do check-ins. The unique part about this is Marie Ridgeway is the provider and her husband is also an officer. So when I brought her in to talk to my staff, she had a dog that kind of hangs out in the room if they want to, and they can literally go in and talk about either personal or professional, or they can talk about the Twins or the Vikings or the Packers or whatever they want to talk about. They're not forced to talk about it. Routinely they end up talking about it and they just really liked her, so it was an easy transition to have them do that. And some have taken advantage of going more than just the annual check-in. So we provide that; it's actually now being mandated soon by the POST board and so we were ahead of the curve by about four years on that. That's a valid point. Thank you. [41:39] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** And I just want to say that we have such a great staff because we have such a great leader, so thank you for sure. You're setting a great example and she's going to be around five more years! Your department is a reflection of you, so that says a lot. And you'll be missed terribly when you're gone, and so I'm enjoying the time we have with you while we have you with us. I mean, you could be a lame duck, bare minimum kind of person right now and you are absolutely the exact opposite of that. It just says a lot about you as a person and as a leader for them. [Applause] [42:36] **Police Chief Eastman:** Thank you very much. I do want to add: whoever takes over, or if Sergeant Jackson remains in his Sergeant position, I've known him for 20 years. We actually applied for the Sergeant position before I was, and we've become even closer since that and he has me on speed dial, so I'll always be available for him to pick my brain. I've already told him that. [43:00] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** So we're not getting rid of you too easy, right? You're going to just keep hanging around. Awesome, thank you. Law enforcement consultant, I think! [43:10] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** All right. Madam Mayor, thank you Chief Eastman. Next report from Assistant Administrator Taylor. [43:18] **Assistant City Administrator Sara Taylor:** Thank you, Madam Mayor. The city newsletter is complete and was mailed last week. Highlights include an update on flood predictions, the normal May program, installation of new stop signs at key intersections, the adoption of a drain program, an update on the library remodel project, and then planning for a curbside cleanup event which we're planning for the week of June 12th. Staff's also been working on some ordinance updates. The Department of Natural Resources recently released an updated model floodplain ordinance which incorporates minimum state and federal standards for floodplain compliance in communities affected by flooding. The last ordinance update the city implemented was in 2010 and the new model ordinance addresses many of the challenges that staff encounters when applying current standards in the two floodplain properties in the current ordinance while also balancing the city and the homeowners' exposure to risk for those regulations. Staff will be meeting with the DNR to discuss the model ordinance update in the coming weeks, which is anticipated to be considered by the Planning Commission and Council in May or June. Staff is also making progress on a complete rewrite of the city's sign ordinance, which I know has been in process for some time. Draft of the ordinance is anticipated to be complete for review by the City Attorney in the coming month or so. Other than that, just an update that the city liaison assignment for the Xcel Energy community outreach stakeholder group will be meeting again on May 8th. Other than that, I think the library events were covered by Councilmember Carlson and Councilmember Hill. I stand for questions. [45:10] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Any? No? Thank you, Sara. [45:13] **Assistant City Administrator Sara Taylor:** You're welcome. [45:15] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Madam Mayor, I guess that's my report. I need to give ample credit again to all the Public Works and administrative staff for helping out during this interim period; doing two roles obviously couldn't get done without having some very supportive staff. Public Works: on Saturday we did some immense plowing. I even helped out by hopping in one of the big trucks, which is always fun for at least one time during a year. We've also been busy prepping for a potential flood. If residents want to know more about the flood or keep updated, we did provide another update today on the city website on how to acquire sandbags and river levels, and we've linked quite a few sites on the city website for not only prepping for the flood but also trying to help out when we think the flood might come in full force, essentially. A couple of the other projects the city has been working on: a review of the current fire contract. Bayport is cooperatively working with Oak Park Heights, West Lakeland, and Baytown Township on the development of an RFP for consultant services. I will personally be meeting with Administrator Johnson tomorrow, actually, to get that started. A little note on the Andersen property annexation: the land developer at this point is currently moving forward with the requirements that were set forth by the City Council at the concept meeting last month. There are significant items that need to be completed including a sewer study and also meeting with Washington County about the intersection. They definitely have their work cut out for them and we hope to see this process moving forward. We discussed a potential Pickett Avenue street vacation tonight at the City Council workshop; it was indicated that we would desire to have the prison staff present some of their findings at the next workshop or at least one upcoming workshop just to kind of better understand what they're thinking and how the logistics would work of vacating that street. And then finally, the last piece: the Fire Department Rescue 2 vehicle. Unfortunately, the Fire Department had the same thing happen to them that the Public Works department did—the 2023 model years never came for sale, essentially, for government entities. But as it turns out, a 2024 actually got delivered today for a more expensive amount, unfortunately. That's the world we live in at this point. I'm not even going to try and explain it. That amount—the extra amount—was approved administratively because it was under the caveat for Council consideration, mostly because there aren't any other options out there. So that's all my report for today. Stand for questions. [48:47] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Can you mention the cleanup of the trees? [48:50] **City Administrator Matt Kline:** Absolutely, Madam Mayor. So this discussion... I provided a plan of action essentially tonight at the workshop. Again, our current plan includes opening up the city site which is located at 98 2nd Avenue South, just south of the Public Works building. Residents are encouraged to haul their debris down there. If you can haul your own debris, haul your neighbor's debris—this will lessen the impact that the city has to pay for moving that or picking up that material. If you are unable to haul that debris, the city will be contracting with a contractor and utilizing Public Works staff and potentially Sentenced to Serve staff to either chip that material or haul it away at the curb. With that said, if you are unable to haul it, please stack it at the curb so that either the city has access to it or the contractor has access to it. You will be allowed to haul your own debris or bring your own debris out from your yard and also put it at the curb—so not only if you have boulevard trees but also private branches and stuff like that. There will be a delay in contractor pickup of about probably two weeks just so that we allow people to bring that material out to the curb and give them some time. We definitely have some older generations in the city and we want to be cognizant of their ability to get that out to the curbside. With that said, you might even see Public Works going around already potentially and starting work on that. We also have a significant amount of boulevard trees that have broken limbs off; we'll be doing assessment of those probably starting tomorrow or potentially Wednesday just to determine from a safety factor which ones need to come down first. And that'll probably be... once we get moving with that, that'll be a combination of contractor and city workers who slowly get to removing those trees because of the vast amount of them. As far as trimming for tree removal, I can see that at least taking a couple months, maybe even into the fall season. So, that'll stand for questions. [51:33] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** Council items or announcements? I just wanted to point out that the Bayport Community Action League—I shouldn't say "we," but I am part of that too—planned for the cleanup day to be the weekend after the garage sales purposefully so that you could have your garage sale and then do cleanup day. And I also too wanted to just thank the staff for all their support of Matt. I'm sure you were very, very helpful as usual, Sara and everybody else. So thank you all. Do we have a motion to adjourn? [52:13] **Councilmember John Doll:** Move to adjourn. [52:15] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right. [52:16] **Deputy Mayor Ethan Gilmore:** I’ll second. [52:17] **Mayor Michele Hanson:** All right, John and Ethan. Thank you. All those in favor? (All: Aye). All right. There we go—oh, my new gavel! I almost forgot. [Meeting Adjourned]