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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-12-07 City Council Regular Meeting (minutes) MINUTES COTTAGE GROVE CITY COUNCIL December 7, 2022 COUNCIL CHAMBER 12800 RAVINE PARKWAY SOUTH REGULAR MEETING - 7:00 P.M COUNCIL CHAMBER 1. CALL TO ORDER The City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, Washington County, Minnesota, held a regular meeting on December 7, 2022, at Cottage Grove City Hall, 12800 Ravine Parkway. Mayor Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The audience, staff, and City Council Members stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL City Clerk Tammy Anderson called the roll: Mayor Bailey - Here; Council Member Dennis - Here; Council Member Khambata - Here; Council Member Olsen - Here; Council Member Thiede - Here. Also present: Jennifer Levitt, City Administrator; Korine Land, City Attorney-LeVander, Gillen & Miller, PA; Tammy Anderson, City Clerk; Ryan Burfeind, City Engineer/Public Works Director; Christine Costello, Director of Community Development; Zac Dockter, Parks and Rec Director; Pete Koerner, Public Safety Director; Brenda Malinowski, Finance Director; Mike Mrosla, Senior Planner; Emily Schmitz, Senior Planner; Conner Jakes, Associate Planner. 4. OPEN FORUM Mayor Bailey opened the Open Forum. Mark Gallagher stated he was concerned with his tax bill, as they had a 28% increase. He’s just concerned as the average tax increase was 4%; he’s wondering why he was taxed at a higher rate. Council Member Olsen stated what he explained to Mr. Gallagher was the County statement showed the average value of a property in Washington County increased 20%; that referred to the County Assessors reviewing property values. On the property tax statement, there are several lines: County, School District, and the City. So, the CITY OF COTTAGE GROVE  12800 Ravine Parkway  Cottage Grove, Minnesota 55016 www.cottagegrovemn.gov  651-458-2800  Fax 651-458-2897  Equal Opportunity Employer City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 2 4.6% that’s indicated in the County document is only applicable to the County and is not applicable to the other taxing districts. We have to look at the detail of which of the taxing districts had either an increase or a decrease, and those numbers total at the bottom. You’ll hear more about that when our Finance Director, Brenda Malinowski, gives her presentation tonight. Bonnie Matter, 6649 Inskip Avenue South, thanked the City staff very much, as well as the City Administrator and the City Attorney, as they’ve been great. They held a budget open house that answered a lot of her questions. There were two-or-three meetings regarding the new zoning, and she also received answers to other questions that she had. She just wanted to thank everybody, as she appreciated it. As no one else wished to address the Council, Mayor Bailey closed the Open Forum. 5. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Council Member Dennis made a motion to adopt the agenda; second by Council Member Thiede. Motion carried: 5-0. 6. PRESENTATIONS - None. 7. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve the November 2, 2022 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. B. Approve the November 9, 2022 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. C. Accept and place on file the minutes from the October 24, 2022 Planning Commission Meeting. D. Receive letter in response to Open Forum question from November 16, 2022 City Council Meeting regarding the 2023-2027 Capital Improvement Plan. E. Approve the issuance of rental licenses to the properties listed in the attached table. F. Approve the Cottage Grove Lions Club Temporary Liquor License application for an event on January 7, 2023. G. Approve Resolution 2022-164 authorizing the renewal of business licenses for 2023. H. Authorize staff to issue Youniversefoodie Waffles a food unit license in the amount of $50 to be used for the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train event. I. Adopt Resolution 2022-149 naming future municipal park Jack and Marlys Denzer Park. J. Accept and place on file the Oakwood Park and Woodridge Park Natural Resources Management Plans. K. Authorize service agreement with Power Play LT Farmington, Inc. for the purchase and installation of playground equipment at Pine Tree Pond and Ideal Park. City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 3 L. Authorize service agreement with Flagship Recreation for the installation of playground equipment at Peter Thompson Park. M. Approve the Permanent Trail Easement agreement with the South Washington Watershed District for the bituminous trail west of Glacial Valley Park. N. Approve River Oaks staffing structure proposal. O. Adopt Resolution 2022-151, awarding the quote for boulevard tree trimming services to Birch Tree Company in the amount of $36,884 for the 2023-2024 trimming season, and authorize the service agreement for the two-year tree trimming project. P. Adopt Resolution 2022-158 approving the Final Plat for The Preserve at Prairie Dunes. Q. 1) Adopt Resolution 2022-153 to restrict parking along both sides of East Point Douglas Road from Inwood Avenue to the east leg of East Point Douglas Lane. 2) Adopt Resolution 2022-152 to restrict parking along both sides of Jamaica Avenue, from Highway 61 to 90th Street. R. Adopt Resolution 2022-159 authorizing staff to furnish and install wayfinding signage for the Old Cottage Grove Business District. S. Adopt Resolution 2022-156 approving a minor subdivision to subdivide a 4.26-acre parcel of land located at 6525 Hadley Avenue into one 2.51- acre parcel and one 1.75-acre parcel. T. Adopt Resolution 2022-155 approving the final payment in the amount of $91,563.53 is paid to Northwest Asphalt for the 2021 Pavement Management Project. U. Adopt Resolution 2022-154 approving the final payment in the amount of $62,839.12 is paid to McNamara Contracting, Inc. for the 2022 Mill and Overlay Project. V. Adopt Resolution 2022-165 authorizing City Staff to submit the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Text Amendment to the Metropolitan Council subject to text modifications as requested by the Metropolitan Council. W. Adopt Resolution 2022-161 certifying delinquent utility accounts to 2023 property taxes. X. Approve Michael Hoppe as Assistant Finance Director, effective December 8, 2022. Y. Approve Minnesota National Guard Lease #22-338-001 for use of the Cottage Grove Armory parking lot during the Holiday Train. Z. Approve the GrayKey Equipment Use Agreement with Woodbury Public Safety. Council Member Dennis wished to pull Item R, Old Cottage Grove Wayfinding Signage, Council Member Thiede wished to pull Item P, Preserve at Prairie Dunes-Final Plat, Council Member Olsen wished to pull Item F, Cottage Grove Lions Club Temporary Liquor License, and Mayor Bailey wished to mention Item I, Park Naming Request, for further comment and/or discussion. City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 4 Council Member Dennis stated there’s a proposal tonight that we approve a couple different signs to provide recognition and direction for some of the businesses in Old Cottage Grove. There’s also a wooden sign on Lamar Avenue at 70th Street that somebody had previously constructed. The signs that are being proposed are very basic, like Business District Ahead with an arrow; he felt there was an opportunity for us to do a little bit more with those. As you drive down highways, there are signs that identify various businesses, sometimes even with a mileage count. Old Cottage Grove is a little bit out of the way, off the beaten path, so he’d like to see if we could consider adding more information to the proposed signs to make them a bit more complete. Some businesses out there have put signs around the community, maybe where they’re not supposed to be; he thought we could alleviate that factor and at the same time provide some good direction for people to find the businesses. On the wooden sign near the Lamar ball fields, maybe some placards could be attached to that. At Almar Village, there’s a monument sign with business logos and names on there. Our Public Works staff could probably construct that, so he’d like some discussion on that. If businesses bought the right to have their sign there or rented space to have a little logo of their business along with an arrow, he thought it would be helpful. Mayor Bailey stated staff put a plan in our packet for the signs. He thought the DOT actually charges businesses to put their logos on highway signs. He asked staff if we should do a separate vote on that or if staff should take Council Member Dennis’ comments, look at the options, and then bring it back to us. City Administrator Jennifer Levitt replied regarding the wayfinding signs, we don’t need a motion if that’s the direction you’d like us to go. We can look at some options. The blue signs are a very specific logo program with the DOT, and they have strict guidelines for those. Many times when we have construction, we list associated businesses’ names, indicating they’re open, so we could do something like that on those signs. We could also explore some other opportunities for the wooden sign on Lamar, and bring that back to Council at a later date. Council Member Thiede stated he felt the proposed signs were extremely basic and not very attractive; he thought there was going to be something more to those than just the blue sign with white print. We’ve got some talented people that can make signs. Administrator Levitt stated we follow the MUTCD Manual for uniform sign conformance; unfortunately, the DOT doesn’t give us a lot of design discretion, so we were trying to stay within the law. The sign Council Member Dennis referred to is a little bit more of a creative design, off a premise, so we could consider that differently. Council Member Dennis stated it’s a nice opportunity for us to demonstrate that we’re committed to businesses, especially small businesses, as they could use a little help. Council Member Thiede stated he pulled Item P, Preserve at Prairie Dunes-Final Plat, for a little bit more clarification. As he read through it, he felt it was confusing related to the involved streets. Emily Schmitz, Senior Planner, stated this is maybe a little bit of a unique situation in that you saw a preliminary plat in May, and the Applicant at that time was Summergate Development. They proposed two different parts to a development: The Zywiec 40, in City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 5 green on the map, which had four potentially developable parcels, and then south of 105th there were residential lots shown on the preliminary plat. Summergate did not continue on with a final project for this particular preliminary plat; however, another developer, Norhart, has come forward. They’re looking to work through a project on the Zywiec 40 parcel, and aren’t looking to continue to move forward with the single-family residential portion of the preliminary plat. So, that’s been platted on the Final Plat as an outlot; that outlot will require future final platting if or when any developer is interested in some type of development on that outlot. Council Member Thiede stated that’s clearer, as the reference to 105th Street was throwing him. He thanked Planner Schmitz for the clarification. Council Member Olsen explained he pulled Item F, the Cottage Grove Lions Club Temporary Liquor License, and asked Public Safety Director Pete Koerner to talk about this Temporary Liquor License and why this application is on our Consent Agenda tonight. It really has to do with the Lions partnering with other nonprofits in the area; in this case, we’re partnering with the Cottage Grove Scramblers Snowmobile Club for their annual event. Director Koerner stated he’s also a Lions Club member. This year we partnered on the Third Annual Dust ‘Em Off Vintage Snowmobile Show on January 7, on the fields across from Almar Village, at County Road 19 and 70th Street. There will be beer sales and, weather permitting, they’re going to have hot dogs, brats, etc. The Snowmobile Club is also having a raffle of a refurbished 1972 Polaris snowmobile. There’s a short ride with all of the vintage snowmobiles, and the Lions felt it important to partner with them as we talk about Cottage Grove being a recreation destination. The money that’s raised will be given to the Snowmobile Club; they groom the trails right outside of our HERO Center and they also have a warming facility. There will also be some bonfires, so it sounds like a great event. Council Member Olsen stated several members of the Lions Club also happen to be in the Snowmobile Club, and they’ve wanted to partner with us for quite some time; this is the first opportunity we’ve had to actually make that happen. We’re looking forward to a really fun event, with hopefully good weather. He invited everyone to come out, have a good time, look at the vintage snowmobiles, and enjoy a hot dog. There will be snowmobilers coming into Cottage Grove from throughout the County to attend this event, so it will definitely be a recreation destination. Mayor Bailey commented on Item I, Park Naming Request. The public has an opportunity to use a process for naming parks, trails, or buildings in our City. Tonight, we’re being asked to approve the name of a future Cottage Grove municipal park as Jack and Marlys Denzer Park. Jack and Marlys Denzer were longtime business owners here; Jack was also a Council Member and then the Mayor. They were very active and instrumental in our community. Some of their family members had reached out to us about doing some type of a naming within our community. Council Member Thiede mentioned the Prairie Dunes Plat, and the area mentioned has a proposed future park; the intent would be that that park would be named Jack and Marlys Denzer Park. Hopefully, the Council will approve that tonight. City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 6 Motion by Council Member Olsen to approve the Consent Agenda; second by Council Member Khambata. Motion carried: 5-0. 8. APPROVE DISBURSEMENTS A. Approve payments for the period of 11-11-2022 through 12-08-2022 in the amount of $3,036,621.82. Motion by Council Member Dennis to approve disbursements; second by Council Member Olsen. Motion carried: 5-0. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS - None. 10. BID AWARDS - None. 11. REGULAR AGENDA A. Liquor Compliance Check Violation - MOPECA of Cottage Grove, Inc., Las Margaritas Mexican Restaurant Staff Recommendation: 1) Allow the business representative for Las Margaritas Mexican Restaurant an opportunity to respond to the City Council regarding the liquor compliance check violation occurring November 7, 2022. 2) Adopt Resolution 2022-160 imposing the scheduled penalty for the second violation in a 24-month period of a $1,000 fine, suspension of liquor license for three (3) consecutive days and additional conditions. Detective Sergeant Mike McCormick noted for decades the Public Safety Department has conducted two liquor compliance checks per calendar year, noting that’s also a Best Practice recommendation set forth by Washington County. We believe hiring, training, and supervising responsible staff is essential to keeping businesses in compliance with State laws and City ordinances regarding the sale of alcohol. We appreciate the effort businesses have put into the important part of their operations, responsible alcohol sales; they are a respected part of our business community, and their efforts to help us keep alcohol out of the hands of youth are commendable. Our goal is 100% compliance, which has been achieved by many of the businesses during the time that he has run and overseen this program. Obviously, with the great job that the City has done with attracting more businesses, we owe it to the community to ensure that we’re doing this right. We’ve also have a new position, currently filled by Dan Schoen, that of Community Engagement Officer. We have upcoming meetings to review our practices and policies and to make sure that we’re doing things right; if we can do things better, we’re obviously open to that, too. This liquor compliance check violation took place on Monday evening, November 7, 2022. Our Police Department conducted liquor compliance checks of Cottage Grove businesses holding a liquor license by using an underage buyer. Las Margaritas, 7165 City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 7 East Point Douglas Road, failed that compliance check. This is their second violation in two years. He reviewed Public Safety procedures used when compliance checks are conducted. He displayed photos of a regular horizontal driver's license and an “Under 21” vertical driver's license; there’s a red bar with white text under the photo that indicates the party is “Under 21 until” with the date of their 21st birthday. Detective Sergeant McCormick stated Council had been supplied with the Police Department reports on this incident, which he summarized: The decoy was a 20-year- old female, a server asked her if she wanted a drink, and the decoy ordered a Bud Light. The server asked for her identification, which she presented; the server looked at the ID and served the decoy a beer. After serving the beer, the server came back and asked to see the ID again for verification; the server then examined the ID, returned it to the decoy, and left the beer with the decoy. Officers then contacted the server to advise her that she had served an underage decoy and would receive a citation. He noted when someone is charged with Serving an Underage Minor, that’s a gross misdemeanor in the State of Minnesota, a jailable offense. However, we use the City Ordinance, a misdemeanor, as we want this to be a learning tool; this personally affects the server quite a bit more when you charge him or her with a gross misdemeanor. Officers spoke with the manager and explained that the employee failed the compliance check, and they would receive a letter outlining the next steps. The letter was dropped off at the business for the license holder to attend this Council Meeting. This is their second violation in the last two years, with the last being November 22, 2021. On March 13, 2022, after the 2021 violation, the Council imposed the following sanctions: Having the owners and staff of Las Margaritas undergo an improved training program within 90 days, a $500 fine, and the one-day suspension would be discontinued when training was completed. Las Margaritas complied. Unfortunately, despite having other successes with our compliance program, this business is an outlier. They opened business in Cottage Grove in 2005, and they’ve had nine violations since that time. Staff is recommending the three consecutive-day suspension and a $1,000 civil penalty from the City Fee Table with the additional conditions:  While holding a City-issued license, the licensee or representative from the establishment will attend any future City-sponsored alcohol compliance training when notified.  A license holder will establish an age verification policy for the establishment’s employees, and provide the Police Department with a copy of this policy within 30 days of this resolution.  While holding a City-issued alcohol license, the license holder must document and maintain the signatures and dates of any alcohol training their employees receive, including being advised of the policy cited above. This list must be kept up to date and made available to the Police Department upon request.  License holders shall not have any alcohol-related violations for a period of one year of this resolution.  If the licensee fails to abide by the conditions and sanctions set forth in this resolution, the licensee may be required to attend a Council Meeting for additional sanctions. City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 8 Mayor Bailey thanked Detective Sergeant McCormick and asked if Council had any comments or questions, and there were many: Council Member Olsen: 1) Regarding the penalty phase, the three consecutive days of liquor license suspension, how are the three days determined? Detective Sergeant McCormick stated it’s at the discretion of the Police Department. Director Koerner corrected him and stated according to City Code, the three days have to consecutive, and it’s at the discretion of the Mayor and City Council. In the resolution, we just chose three recommended days in January. 2) With all their violations over the last several years, what are we going to need to do to really help them understand that this simply cannot happen. We like having a variety of restaurants in the City, including Las Margaritas; they have many loyal customers, who appreciate having them here. This behavior, though, seems to be pervasive. If we implemented a three-day license suspension over a weekend if that would really drive home the point that this really needs to be the last time they have a violation. The last thing we want, including the business owner, is for somebody to be served who shouldn’t be served and then end up in a situation where they’ve caused an accident where somebody gets hurt. He’s very hopeful that they’ll recognize that this violation definitely needs to be their last one. If their license suspension occurred on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday if that might be more effective than Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, when they’re probably not as busy. We need to get this fixed. Council Member Khambata: As somebody who’s worked in restaurants and has had to manage people, he knows how difficult it is; it’s especially hard being the owner or manager and having these things keep happening. He empathized with the owners in that this is going to sting a little, but he really thinks it needs to drive home a point; they need to do their own compliance checks in the lead up to our compliance checks and incentivize their staff through some sort of bonus if they get it right. He’s feeling torn because he’s been in the ownership position, and this isn’t fair to the owner, they aren’t the one who overserved, but they are responsible for everyone who works there. He'd truly like to see them continue to thrive here, and for that reason, we have to drive home that this needs to be the last time. Council Member Thiede: 1) How does Las Margaritas compare, 9 times over 17 years, to the other restaurants that serve alcohol? Detective Sergeant McCormick replied it really doesn’t compare to our other businesses; we might have one other business that’s failed three times since he’s been here. 2) We can penalize them with a business suspension, but he actually didn’t realize there was a vertical driver's license; there are probably a lot more of them, percentage wise, that are vertical now. It would appear that it should be clear, but there are some other foolproof ways with electronics that require a reader to actually be able to perform the transaction. There might be some limitations with point of sale systems, but wondered if it would at some point maybe be a requirement to get that additional technology to make it more foolproof. That’s maybe better than having them lose money on not being open. Director Koerner stated he didn’t want to speak for the owner, but one of the owners is here tonight; they’ve admitted the violation, it was a new employee who hadn’t had the training yet, so we took some guidance from our City Attorney, too, on what other communities do. So, we have these additional conditions on here; years ago, Las Margaritas got some age-verification systems, and as they wore out, they just didn’t replace them. Just some of these that we’ve talked about are City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 9 having the age verification, better onboarding when they hire their employees vs. waiting to do the training; we want to work with the business to provide additional training before they even start working, as they started the employee and now this happened. Since that time, the employee has gone through the training, but it was too late. The City Fee Table just lists the suspension and the penalty, and that’s why we’re adding these additional conditions because we don’t want to be back here again with these violations. Council Member Dennis: Stated he holds a City liquor license and reminded people that a license is a privilege, not a right or a guarantee. If you meet the conditions of the issuing body and stay in a good position with them, you continue to have the benefit of that license. These things are always difficult, and felt we were all feeling pretty much the same way: There’s a degree of sadness when we see these things; we like to embrace success, not failure. The goal is for everybody to pass and come across the goal line in a good way. This is a tough one: When he saw the list of nine violations over many years, no other business has had this many, it’s unparalleled and uncharted. He’s really hoping that the owners can get their hands around this because this is not what we like to deal with; we don’t want to have to deal with this with any business. This is a sad moment. We’ve got a fantastic Police Department here; when we hire them, they’re put through a rigorous 12-week training program. So, please, make sure your people are trained before you put them on the floor; as a responsible owner, that’s on you. In this particular circumstance, he agrees with Council Member Olsen: We need to have the three-day suspension have a little more meaning to them; he would be okay with Friday, Saturday, Sunday or probably more effective, a Thursday, Friday, Saturday. He’d pick that at a point where it’s going to have a little bit of an impact, not to be punitive, but we really need to make people understand, please, this has to stop. He asked the owners to never stop the training, always communicate, and make sure your people are as bulletproof as you can make them. We take care of the public, it’s the right thing to do, and these penalties are minor. As you carry dram shop insurance, if you were to sell to an underage person or overserve someone, and that underage person subsequently hurts themself or someone else, you can lose your whole business. You can lose everything. You know dollar amounts that come from court settlements can be big. So, we’re really pulling for you here; we want you to succeed and do well. Please make a commitment that when we see you it’s when we come into your restaurant to have a nice meal; we don’t want to see you here. Mayor Bailey: We just went through the changes to this ordinance; if they would come back with another violation in the next 12 months, he asked if we’re that close to that being a total license revocation? He was advised that occurs with the fourth violation. Our goal is not to lose a restaurant, but the list of their violations is pretty extensive. The Council has been very supportive, celebrating the fact that almost all of our businesses have passed compliance checks; there are multiple businesses that have never had an issue. It sounds like they had an age verification system set up, and then it just wasn’t replaced. They also put a new employee on the floor. We don’t like to be here with you, dealing with violations, so we’re asking for you to really work to get this under control. From a Council perspective, it sounds like there might be a consensus that instead of doing a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday revocation to do a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. He asked staff if Director Koerner could choose the Friday, City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 10 Saturday, Sunday in January? Administrator Levitt replied in the resolution before you, it actually lists the specific three days. So, if you’re looking at a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we would just need to confirm those dates for the resolution as January 13, 14, and 15. Mayor Bailey asked the Council Members if they were comfortable with that. Council Member Olsen made a motion that we approve the staff recommendation but for a change in the three consecutive dates to reflect January 13, 14, and 15; second by Council Member Khambata. City Attorney Korine Land interjected that the licensee should be given an opportunity to be heard. Mayor Bailey asked if the licensee wished to speak; she replied yes. Mayor Bailey apologized for not inviting her up. Nora Perez, a co-owner and Vice President of Las Margaritas, stated she’s not here to make any excuses. We’ve been here in the past, and we have followed some of the recommendations. We do work on our training, but sometimes it’s been hard to keep staff steady; so, we’re constantly training new staff. She thinks that’s what happened this time. The server got trained on what to do. When we talked to her and asked her what was going on, she just said she didn’t know what happened. She was usually really good at looking at the dates, and that day she was not sure, but she thought she was looking at the right date, even though with the ID it’s not hard to know that it was an Under 21. She respects the recommendations Council is making, but stated if we were given the three days, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, that would be severe enough for us to know. There’s no need to do a weekend; we’ve never had a suspension before and this would be our first one. She would like the Council to consider just giving them the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday instead of the harsher one. Council Member Dennis clarified whatever happens with this, the suspension would only affect the alcohol sales for the business; the business would still be open to serve food and soft drinks to people. So, yes, it’s a percentage, but it’s not like the business is closed for three consecutive days. He just wanted everybody to know that that’s not what we’re talking about; it’s just for the alcohol sales. Mayor Bailey asked Council if they desired to change the motion and reverse the dates: Council Member Khambata replied he thought we stayed the suspension the last time, so in light of that, he’s still comfortable with the motion. Council Member Olsen replied the relevant facts don’t change. The number of violations over the course of time, the fact that the employee actually looked at the ID twice and wasn’t able to figure out that this was an underage buyer is very disturbing and speaks to a lack of training. With the last violation in November 2021, we provided a stay of execution and asked that the business go through some additional training with all of their employees; one year later, here we are again. As far as he’s concerned, the motion on the table is relevant, and he’s not interested in making any changes. Council Member Dennis stated we really went out of our way to try to provide leniency on the last violation, which we dealt with in March 2022, just a number of months ago. We really tried to make that easier, knowing we had come out of COVID and places had City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 11 reopened; we wanted to give everybody as much leeway as we possibly could. He thought we’ve already shown some good faith. Council Member Thiede stated he knows they can get busy and some people are better at math than others, so that’s why having some electronic devices to check the age might be a great idea; that cost might be better than other problems that they’re having. He recommended they look into getting those devices back in play. Motion carried: 5-0. Mayor Bailey thanked Ms. Perez and said let’s hope you’re not back here again. B. Property Tax Levy Payable in 2023 and Adopting the 2023 Budget Staff Recommendation: 1) Adopt Resolution 2022-162 certifying the Property Tax Levy collectible in 2023. 2) Adopt Resolution 2022-163 Adopting the 2023 Budget. Mayor Bailey stated Director Malinowski would speak on this. Director Malinowski spoke about the 2023 Property Tax Levy and 2023 Budget for consideration by the Council. She reviewed the 2023 Budget Timeline, noting Council adopted the preliminary levy in September; that’s the same levy in front of Council tonight. Upon adoption of the preliminary levy, it was sent to Washington County; they took our levy and all levies from other taxing jurisdictions and created Proposed Property Tax statements, sent to our residents and our businesses in November. It indicated what their property taxes would be in 2023 and also indicated that tonight Council would be discussing the budget and the levy. She reviewed dates and events when the budget, proposed property tax notices, and levy were mentioned/discussed: The Mayor’s Moment in October; a Truth in Taxation video in November included a new flyer in the Proposed Property Tax notice that we wanted to make sure our residents understood; an Open House on November 29, three residents attended and asked staff questions about the budget and the levy that we were able to answer. Tonight, we’re asking Council to consider adoption of the final property tax levy and budget. Levy Details: The levy is $20.6 million, which is compromised of these different line items: Debt Levy isn’t changing much from 2022; General Fund is the biggest increase in the levy, related to keeping the operating levy low in 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic. Tax Capacity: Increased in Cottage Grove to $58.3 million in 2023, about a 25% increase, so very substantial; 4% of that was due to new growth and the remainder was appreciation of existing homes and businesses in Cottage Grove. City Tax Rate: We take the property tax levy and divide it by our Tax Capacity to obtain the City Tax Rate. For 2023, we’re at the lowest tax rate, 33.74%, due to the fact that our Tax Capacity is increasing by a large amount along with appreciation. Sample Properties & City Tax Rate: We look at four sample properties in Cottage Grove to get a feel of City taxes and what homeowners are experiencing. Property 1 has a nine-year history: In 2015, the market value was $233,200; in 2023, its at $329,600. The nine-year average increase in market value was 5.3%. City taxes in 2015 were $902; City taxes would be $1,086 in 2023. The nine-year average is $27, or 3% per year. That also holds true City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 12 with the other three properties. There’s a market value exclusion program in the State, and when property taxes increase in value over $413,800, that exclusion goes away. So, instead of the State picking up a portion of those property taxes, the homeowner does. That’s why we’re seeing a little bit higher increase on Property 3 and Property 4. Levy Per Capita: We look at how Cottage Grove compares to other cities in Washington County. Our levy per capita is $521.39, the second lowest in Washington County. 2023 Tax Rate on Median Value Home: In Cottage Grove, our median value home is $326,900 for 2023; what that means is 50% of the homes are higher than that and 50% of the homes are lower than that. A median value home will pay $1,077 in property taxes in 2023 based on the levy and budget in front of Council tonight. She noted Lake Elmo has a lower tax rate, 24.04%, but their median home value is $548,900, so that resident will pay more on that median home and property taxes. What City Taxes Pay For: A median value home will pay $89.75 per month: $37.68 for Police services; $14.90 for Public Works to snowplow and maintain streets; $13.20 for Debt Service, previous Pavement Management Programs, HERO Center, & Central Fire Station; $10.10 for Parks & Recreation to maintain our parks, provide recreation services; $6.21 for Fire services; $5.37 for General Government; $1.74 for Capital Equipment; $0.55 pays for the EDA. 2023 General Fund This fund gets the largest portion of our property taxes. Next year’s proposed budget is $23,083,960; it’s considered a balanced budget, so our revenues equal our expenses: Revenue: Services noted above aren’t charged to our residents, so we have to generate the revenue to do that, so 76% of the General Fund is property taxes. Licenses & Permits is 11%: We’re a growing community so that’s a larger portion of our budget than some communities. If we weren’t growing, we’d have to increase property taxes and find other revenue streams if licenses and permits were a smaller portion of our pie or decrease our expenses. So, it’s a good mix for Cottage Grove. Expenses: Personnel services are 68% of the budget. Contractual Services and Supplies are 28%. If we looked back at 2022, personnel services last year were 70% of our budget, but this year supplies and contractual services increased. What the City is experiencing is no different than our homeowners; we saw some inflationary increases for 2023 as we prepared our budget, including IT services, fleet services, and fuel costs. Expenditures by Department: Public Safety is our largest component at 48%, but it decreased by 1% when compared to 2022 because Public Works increased by 1%; there’s a Public Service Worker in the Public Works budget, plus inflationary factors affected their budget more than others. Property Tax Relief Programs 1) Regular Credit Refund is tied to income. 2) Special Property Tax Refund is tied to the increase in an individual’s property tax, year over year. 3) Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program. More information on these can be found at: Department of Revenue, Property Tax Division phone number: 651-296-3781; Website: http://www.revenue.state.mn.us/property-tax-refund, or residents can contact Director Malinowski at the City, and she will provide them with the information. The time to apply for these programs is when residents receive the final Property Tax Statement from Washington County in March 2023. There will also be a Valuation Notice from the City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 13 Washington County Assessor’s Office issued in March 2023, and that’s when Open Book meetings are held; if there are any questions about your property valuation, that’s the time to talk to the Assessor’s Office about that. Mayor Bailey asked Director Malinowski to share with the public who does the property valuations. Director Malinowski stated the Washington County Assessor’s Office does the valuations for the City of Cottage Grove; they are the ones who set the values on January 1, and the notices are sent to taxpayers in March or April. Council Member Olsen thanked Director Malinowski for all of the hard work that she and her team put into the budget for 2023. This year was one of the most challenging years we’ve ever had from a budget perspective because we’re trying to balance our astronomical growth with what that growth means in terms of service delivery. He’s always impressed with the slide that shows the per capita cost of living in the City of Cottage Grove, as we’re always near the bottom; this time only St. Paul Park had a lower per capita cost. He constantly hears comments about how awesome City staff are in all of our departments; they deliver all of that for the second lowest per capita cost in Washington County. The State of Minnesota has Local Government Aid (LGA), which helps supplement budgets for cities that receive it. LGA has to be approved by the legislature every year. In 2023, these cities will get these amounts of LGA: Hastings, $903,000; South St. Paul, $2.8 million; Newport, $455,000; St. Paul Park, $688,000; Stillwater, $796,000. The City of Cottage Grove gets $0, and it’s been that way for quite a while. We’re very tight with a penny. He asked Director Malinowski to explain what LGA is and why we don’t get it. Director Malinowski stated the legislature bases LGA on cities’ housing stock for a certain period of time, cities’ tax capacity, cities’ population; it’s a formula that goes column by column, and LGA is determined based on that formula. Many times more established, older cities get the LGA, whereas a growing city does not. Council Member Olsen stated typically that’s because those large, older cities, like Minneapolis and St. Paul, have a lot of aging infrastructure and they’re basically built out. So, LGA is intended to help them with their budgetary needs. Our fantastic City staff members, without any contribution from the State in LGA, attacked the 2023 budget; they continue to attack our fiscal element as a body here by maintaining that per capita number at such a low rate. That’s really great news for our residents, and it also speaks to the hard work and effort that our staff put in to doing more with less as often as they can. He’s very pleased with that and proud of our staff. Council Member Thiede stated one of our greatest accomplishments in the last ten years or so is the remarkable staff that we’ve put in place, how good they are, and their ability to actually make decisions and provide services. Everybody knows he’s really squeaky when it comes to money and everything else. Sometimes he has to be careful, but his flags have gone up just a little bit as we’ve had some unprecedented growth. It’s very likely that that growth could decrease, just as it is now with housing; we’ll see if it bounces back up next year. We have to be very careful, especially with expenses that are easy to increase but hard to decrease in light of the money coming in. We can’t just always say this is what our costs are so we have to get it from the City residents; there has to be some limits. He believes that we’re providing great value to the residents, sometimes a little fancier than what he’s okay with, which he sometimes has to be City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 14 careful about. He thinks we need to make sure that we watch out and look at some of these things; unfortunately, it probably won’t change much because we also know that the residents have gotten increases from a number of other places. While he doesn’t like it too much, through all of the meetings he’s attended and comparing us to other cities, it’s favorable, so he’ll approve it but not necessarily totally like it. Council Member Dennis stated this is a compromise. The best compromise ever achieved is one where really nobody’s completely happy. This was a very long and intrinsic budget process. We did a lot of work on it this year, accounting for the growth and the needs of a vibrant and expanding community. He thought we’ve done about as good of a job as we can; the overall goal is to arrive at a process where we can make sure that we’re giving people the level of quality service that they’ve come to expect from us. He thought these numbers deliver that as much as we can really possibly do. He feels good about it; he was happy to hear two Council Members acknowledge their appreciation for the process and they’re approval of it, too. It’s a good thing and it’s never easy, but once again, we did the work and he felt we came to a good conclusion. Council Member Khambata stated this is a grueling process, tough decisions had to be made. He thought in light of everything we get to maintain our high level of service, we get to meet our obligations as a City, to what he considers the least amount of impact to our individual property owners. As additional tax capacity comes online with our growth, he hopes that we can continue a trend of being at or near the bottom of our per capita spending; that’s going in our favor. However, he was impressed with City staff, specifically Director Malinowski, at the amount of forethought that was put into what our future needs are also going to be. So, we’re not foregoing our budgeting for things that will come up in two-or-three years; we’re not going to get caught on our heels when those things come up with the way the budget’s been prepared. That’s what he’s most happy about: We didn’t have to cut our long-term goals to meet our current day obligations. Mayor Bailey stated the staff did a great job with the budget, even with the transition in our Finance Department this year; Director Malinowski hit the ground running after Director Roland retired. He was happy that she rejoined our team, now as the director. The thing that makes him most proud as the mayor isn’t the growth and the restaurants that we’re trying to get here; what makes him feel great is when he walks into the ice arena and he hears from residents and those from other communities who rave about the arena. He hears people rave about our parks, our golf course, our City Hall, the HERO Center, and Public Works. Sometimes social media can be interesting, but people were having fun commenting on the fabulous job our Public Works team does. What happens from a public awareness standpoint is we love hearing that, too; none of us want to get a phone call about a street not being plowed or the Fire Department not being at the scene of an emergency. We have the quickest response times for ambulance, paramedics, and public safety in the metro; it’s absolutely amazing. So, we have to make sure we maintain that, and many of our staff members live here in Cottage Grove. Whatever they propose or we propose, it affects all of us, so Council is very cognizant of the tax rate. A personal challenge for him, which he’s trying to work on, is some of our infrastructure, like road repairs, that we’re trying to get ahead of; we’re looking down the road, looking at different options for sources of money from City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 15 which we could draw to get those done. We’re not just counting on the Cottage Grove taxpayer to pick up the tab, and some City projects next year are big road projects that our citizens have been asking be done. Mayor Bailey thanked the Council Members, our staff, and our citizens for being appreciative of the services that are being provided; we’ll continue to provide those in 2023 and beyond. Motion by Council Member Khambata to Adopt Resolution 2022-162 certifying the Property Tax Levy collectible in 2023; second by Council Member Olsen. Motion carried: 5-0. Motion by Council Member Olsen to Adopt Resolution 2022-163 Adopting the 2023 Budget; second by Council Member Dennis. Motion carried: 5-0. C. 2023-2027 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Staff Recommendation: Approve the 2023-2027 Capital Improvement Plan and Adopt Resolution 2022-157 amending the 2040 Comprehensive Plan to incorporate the CIP. Ryan Burfeind, Public Works Director/City Engineer, continued speaking on the budget and funding discussion looking at the 2023-2027 CIP approval. Council discussed this at an August workshop, and the Planning Commission discussed it in October and recommended approval at that public hearing. Director Burfeind stated the CIP is a planning tool, which contains many projects and big dollar amounts, but by passing and approving this document approves those projects; those will each come back to the Council to authorize feasibility reports, preparing plans and specs, or setting bid dates. So, all of these will be discussed again. He spoke about the projects in the first two years; those are the “work plan” for City capital projects that we’ve already discussed with the Council. He drew attention to the larger ones: New Parks & Park Improvements-2023:  Mississippi Dunes Park Land Acquisition, $1 million.  Glacial Valley Park Building, total cost $4.2 million.  River Oaks Golf Course Irrigation Replacement, $2.5 million; that is already moving ahead and the bid was awarded. New Parks & Park Improvements-2024:  Roberts Lake Neighborhood Park/NorthPoint Neighborhood Park/Military Trailhead, west of Jamaica Avenue, $1.2 million; these will be development- driven parks if those neighborhoods move ahead.  Oltman Middle School Ball Fields & Parking Lot, $1 million. Utility CIP Projects-2023:  New Water Tower Construction-Business Park, $4.5 million: For the low zone just behind the Park & Ride; this is a growth-related item. We have an area fund where area fees are collected from developments for growth, like new water towers. City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 16  Low Zone Water Treatment Plant & Well 13, $15,860,000: This is our first major project, fully funded through the 3M Settlement through the State; no tax dollars or City Funds will be used.  Sewer Spot Replacement/Slip Lining, $1 million: Lining of a trunk sewer underneath Highway 61; it’s a very old sewer that takes 70% of the sewage to the Metropolitan Council’s treatment plant. It needs rehab and a lining project so we’re looking at Inflow & Infiltration grant funding for that; that would be started next winter.  Proposed traffic signal at Hardwood Avenue and Hardwood Court, $700,000; we’re finishing up our warrant analysis to see if we meet the warrants that will trigger that signal. Utility CIP Projects-2024:  Intermediate zone treatment plant, its much larger, behind the Fire Station, $27.9 million; once again, it will be fully funded by the State through the 3M Settlement. Public Facility Projects-2023:  Utilities Division Building, $1.5 million, potentially for design, with some site grading. Public Facility Projects-2024:  Utilities Division Building, $12.5 million.  North Rink Dehumidifier Replacement, $250,000. Street Projects-2023:  East Point Douglas & Jamaica Intersection Improvements, $7.3 million; this will cover Jamaica Avenue and East Point Douglas Road from Inwood up to the roundabout. It’s a multi-year project, will keep the project area open with accessibility during construction. Pavement Management Projects-2023:  Area north of Hillside Trail, south of 80th Street, along Hyde Avenue and to the west of Hyde Avenue, $2.8 million. Full pavement replacement, spot curb replacement, and very efficient cost for the number of miles of road.  Ravine Parkway, $2 million: Development driven (Wolterstorff Property); it’s anticipated development will pay half the funding and City will pay half of that project, so $1 million each.  South District Street & Utility Improvements, second phase, $6.76 million; this was awarded this year as a two-year project. The first phase was utility construction, and street construction was not done as a single-family home development didn’t move ahead.  100th Street Extension Design, $1.25 million. This is a joint project with the County, so it’s a cost share between County and City. We want to keep working on the design portion, but the huge expense is its construction in 2025. We’re looking at Federal Grant funding for that; we should be hearing soon on a Rural Surface Transportation Grant for $25 million to fund 80% of that construction. If we don’t get the funding, we’ll continue to reapply, which might push this project back in the CIP. Pavement Management Projects-2024: City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 17  East Point Douglas & Jamaica Intersection Improvements, second phase, $5.35 million, which is the roundabout on East Point Douglas, going behind Target.  South of the project proposed for 2023 on Hillside Trail/Hyde Avenue, $6.156 million, with full pavement replacement and spot curb replacement. One remaining neighborhood, the last segment, north and south of 80th Street, with full pavement and full curb replacement.  80th Street Reconstruction, from Ideal Avenue to Highway 61, $9.8 million. This is an earmark with the Federal government of $7.8 million we’ve been working on; so, the remaining $2 million would largely be covered by Utility Funds and some of our trail replacement funds. It would be full pavement replacement on 80th Street, enhancements to the signals, replacing all the trails and pedestrian facilities, and also bringing the medians into better shape. Federal funding is critical for this project.  Ravine Parkway & Cottage View Drive, $5.325 million, East Point Douglas Road to roundabout. This is the first phase; we have $3 million funding from the Federal government for this project. Accessing those funds is a bit of a process so we’re looking at 2024 to deliver that first phase at this point.  Intersection Improvement, River Oaks & Highway 61 RCUT, $1.21 million, $500K City Cost. It was exciting for us to get the $710K funding for this project.  100th Street Extension Design, $1.25 million, construction in 2025 very much dependent on the Federal grant. Funding Sources: The only three impacting our actual levy are the Bonds for Park Projects, Bonds for Street Projects, and Bonds for Pavement Management. Tonight, this is just a planning tool, so Council is not approving those projects. With all these big numbers, those are the only three that would have any impact on the levy in this five- year term. Mayor Bailey asked if Council had any questions or comments: Council Member Thiede stated regarding the funding sources, to him the big numbers are kind of scary. With the funding sources, the critical things are the ones that actually affect the levy and directly pull money out of our residents’ pockets. He commended the staff for doing very well with the grants they’ve obtained. Council Member Olsen thanked Director Burfeind for his presentation. He asked questions about the commodities piece and how it plays into some of the CIP projects that we have on deck. The City works in conjunction with other agencies on fuel price so that we can purchase a big amount of fuel every year and we try to lock in a price. He asked if we’ve done that yet this year. Director Burfeind replied yes, the price hasn’t come out yet, but with our State contract, we gave our quantities for next year; he thought the price comes out in February. Council Member Olsen asked if that’s also true of our asphalt; Director Burfeind stated asphalt is purchased in bulk, but that’s not through a State contract. It’s through a closer-by plant, one that uses the mix that we use, and it’s at a very good, low cost since we do it inhouse. Council Member Olsen asked with some of the pavement management projects displayed, we’ve obviously got an important area to get done this year; he asked when they’d start taking bids for that. City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 18 Director Burfeind replied in the coming months we’ll work through it with neighborhood meetings, a public hearing in January, and we’ll likely be bidding in March. It’s always kind of tricky with asphalt; we don’t want to bid too early because there are a lot of unknowns and we also don’t want to be too late to the game. For paving projects we’re usually in that March timeframe. Council Member Olsen stated the commodities piece really plays a big role when it comes to our ability to get some of these projects done in the most economical way. Today oil closed at its lowest mark in the entire year; that then has a downstream effect on our asphalt prices, on our fuel consortium, etc. He informed the public that one thing City staff tries to do is buy low; opportunities to lock in some values using State bids, etc. to hopefully save a few dollars on some of these projects is a wonderful thing. The market is definitely very different today than it was when we started the budget/CIP process; so, if we can time the market a little bit, maybe we can experience some values and get some of these things done at a lesser cost. With pavement management, it will give us an advantage at the time we receive bids as to what the residents may end up being asked to pay as their portion of that project. Mayor Bailey stated he noticed earlier this evening on our Consent Agenda there were two areas where we actually had a reduction from the original estimated cost: One was on Pavement Management from 2021, the other was for a Mill and Overlay Project that we did this year. Staff does a really good job of watching the money; with those two projects, he thought it was almost a $1 million savings, which is a great thing. Motion by Council Member Dennis to approve the 2023-2027 Capital Improvement Plan and Adopt Resolution 2022-157 amending the 2040 Comprehensive Plan to incorporate the CIP; second by Council Member Khambata. Motion carried: 5-0. 12. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Council Member Khambata stated he ran the Hale to the Bird 5K in a costume, so he got his money from Council Member Olsen, which he’ll be donating to the Friends in Need Food Shelf. He commended City staff on that event and the Hometown Holiday Celebration last Wednesday evening. We have a full calendar of events for the rest of the month; he’s looking forward to seeing everyone at those events. Council Member Dennis stated he, Mayor Bailey, and a couple of our staff members attended the annual holiday business breakfast this morning with the Chamber of Commerce, at Tinucci’s restaurant. The speaker’s subject matter dealt with leading with character, which is a good thing; it’s something we all should be doing and need to do. He commended our Chamber leadership, the Board, and also Chamber President/CEO Laurie Levine for doing a really great job on that as it was a good time. Council Member Dennis stated the holiday shopping season is in full swing so if you can’t find your products locally, which we encourage, he reminded everyone of a post by our Public Safety Department: Make sure that we’re doing our part to get any packages shipped to the house into the house quickly. Unfortunately, “porch pirates” City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 19 take things that are not theirs from residences. Please don’t make yourselves victims to that by remembering to bring any delivered packages inside. Council Member Dennis stated 81 years ago today, the United States and Pearl Harbor were attacked on the Day of Infamy; he asked that everyone take a moment today to think about that and to remember what that meant. We remember 911 and how devastating that attack was to our country; in the holiday spirit, leading and interacting with people with character, this would be a good time to think about those things. Council Member Thiede noted he and Mayor Bailey are wearing their Holiday Train garb. The Holiday Train will be arriving here on Monday and it’s a fantastic time and helps our local Friends in Need Food Shelf; the event begins at 3:30 p.m. until 6:00, with the train actually arriving at 5:00 p.m. There will be music and some of us will be out there singing. He hopes to see everybody out there, as the temperature is supposed to be somewhat warm on Monday. Council Member Olsen thanked the entire City staff for an absolutely wonderful night last Wednesday for the Hometown Holiday Celebration. He complimented the level of teamwork, creativity, engagement, and just the focus on fun. Something that stood out to him that night was we had Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Sparkles the Elf here in the big chair with a couple of reindeer; there was a line from the chair out to Ravine Parkway of families and young people who wanted to have a moment to chat with Santa. We also had amazing food trucks here, the Park High School choir sang both inside and outside, there were firepits, fire trucks, police vehicles, all kinds of things going on. He thought the really cool thing was we had a ton of people attend. It was a wonderful event and he can see it becoming an annual celebration for this community. He thanked City staff for all of the heavy lifting that they did to put that together. Council Member Olsen stated the Cottage Grove Lions Club had their annual Santa Breakfast this past Sunday at the Cottage Grove VFW. We had an amazing turnout, but the good news is Santa’s not done with Cottage Grove yet; he was here for the Hometown Holiday Celebration and for the Santa Breakfast, and by popular demand he’ll be back again this coming Sunday for another Santa Breakfast, this time at River Oaks Golf Course & Event Center. Admission tickets are required for that event, so please go to the City’s website or reach out directly to River Oaks about the Santa Breakfast so you can get your tickets. He guaranteed it would be a really heartwarming, fun event and the food will be excellent. Council Member Olsen mentioned Council Member Dennis and his brothers from the Masonic Lodge were out ringing the bell for the Salvation Army over a week ago. Our Lions Club will be out working on behalf of the Salvation Army at Hy-Vee this coming Saturday, ringing the bell. Please be generous this holiday season; there are a lot of people in need. People are feeling inflationary pressures with energy costs, at the grocery store, pretty much everywhere. Please also be generous to all the nonprofits who are really trying to make the season as bright as possible for families who might be City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 20 having a tough time right now. One way to do that is to drop some change into the jar when we’re ringing the bells at Hy-Vee; you’ll even receive a free candy cane to thank you for your donation. Mayor Bailey echoed everything that his Council colleagues said about the holidays and all of the events. He’ll be at the River Oaks Santa Breakfast with his family; they love it because of the horse-drawn sleigh rides there. Mayor Bailey stated regarding the Holiday Train, it’s an amazing event. If you haven’t seen the train, its a sight to behold. Due to COVID, it’s been a few years since it’s been here so it will be along West Point Douglas Road, by the Youth Service Bureau, along Highway 61. The purpose of the Holiday Train, done by CP Rail, is it’s a fundraiser for the Friends in Need Food Shelf; CP Rail will present them with a check. The Friends in Need Food Shelf is looking for cash and paper products; they can buy a lot more food with donated money than if you just brought canned goods there. Money and any type of paper products or toiletries will be gratefully accepted. There will be warming tents, food vendors, and music there. Please arrive sometime after 3:30 p.m.; the train will arrive at about 5:00 p.m. The donation goal this year is $90,000. Mayor Bailey asked the Council Members to join him in front of the dais as staff member Christine Costello will be leaving us. She’s worked with us since February 2016, and her final day will be this Friday. Christine has worn a couple hats while with us, Economic Development Director and Community Development Director. Mayor Bailey told Christine on behalf of all the Council and the staff, we really appreciate all of the time that you spent with us and all of your hard work. You’re part of the reason why this City is where it is today; it’s growing, people love moving here, and they love living here. Mayor Bailey told her she obviously will be missed, but they wish her much success in her future endeavors. He asked her to accept a small token of our appreciation, a plaque, which he read aloud. Mayor Bailey thanked Christine; on behalf of himself, the Council, all of the staff, and the citizens of Cottage Grove he thanked Christine for her service to our community. Everyone applauded and photographs were taken. Christine thanked Mayor Bailey and the Council for all of their support. She’s enjoyed working with them in such a collaborative effort. She began working here doing economic development, which she really enjoyed, and that’s actually what she’s going to be doing again. She loved helping position Cottage Grove for growth; it was really exciting to see the community grow. She thanked them again for their support and for all of the opportunities that they provided her during her time here. Everyone applauded. Mayor Bailey stated this was kind of a good news, bad news situation: We have such amazing staff in the City of Cottage Grove that everybody wants them. He asked all of the other staff to please stay here. Council Member Olsen stated regarding Christine’s role in economic development, he didn’t think we could give her enough credit or praise for the way she handled the COVID pandemic with our local businesses. We tried very hard to support local businesses, especially service industries, through the COVID pandemic when there were lockdowns in place. She came up with a really great grant program, which she City Council Meeting Minutes December 7, 2022 Page 21 managed, to help businesses apply for EDA grants through the City of Cottage Grove so that they could continue to make payroll, etc. She spent a lot of time on that, literally filling out forms with a lot of businesses to ensure it was completed correctly; Christine was tireless in working hand in hand with those businesses to help them stay afloat. She did everything she could possibly do and took lots of phone calls and emails. It was a 24/7 gig for a while because everybody needed help, and nobody knew how to do it because it was a new thing for us. He told Christine that one of the things that he’s always admired about her is she leads with her heart, she definitely cares about the people in this community, cares about her co-workers, and cares about her subordinates. She’s done a tremendous amount of good for our community. He asked her to be sure to remember that, especially when it was really, really challenging for all of us. Her effort to support those businesses probably kept some people from closing their doors. Again, well done, and you’ll be missed. Council Member Dennis told Christine that he was very glad that she was here this evening. Council Member Olsen was 100% correct; you’re somebody that we’re all going to miss very much. It’s not just what you accomplished, it’s the quality of the human being, and that’s something that we can’t replace. He thanked her and told her economic development is his greatest passion for the City, and she played a huge role in helping us be successful. These last six plus years represents the period of greatest economic development growth in the history of our City; you can’t get better than that. He thanked her again and told her that we’ll miss her. 13. WORKSHOPS - OPEN TO PUBLIC - None. 14. WORKSHOPS – CLOSED TO PUBLIC A. City Administrator Performance Evaluation Staff Recommendation: Close the meeting pursuant to Minnesota Statute 13D.05, Subd. (3)a to conduct a performance evaluation of City Administrator Jennifer Levitt. Mayor Bailey stated tonight this workshop is closed to the public, as it is to conduct the performance evaluation of City Administrator Jennifer Levitt. We will be going into a closed workshop, pursuant to Minnesota Statute 13D.05, Subd. 3(a). After the performance evaluation is completed, this meeting will be adjourned. 15. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Council Member Olson, second by Council Member Khambata, to adjourn the meeting at 10:30 p.m. Motion carried: 5-0. Minutes prepared by Judy Graf and reviewed by Tamara Anderson, City Clerk.