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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-03 City Council Meeting Minutes CITY OF COTTAGE GROVE Equal Opportunity Employer 2897 -458-Fax 651 2800 -458-651  gov.mnwww.cottagegrove Cottage Grove, Minnesota 55016 12800 Ravine Parkway  MINUTES COTTAGE GROVE CITY COUNCIL January 3, 2024 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 January 3, 2024, 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 Garza- Here; Council Member Khambata-Here; Council Member Olsen-Here; Council Member Thiede-Here. Also present: Jennifer Levitt, City Administrator; Kori Land, City Attorney-LeVander, Gillen & Miller, PA; Tammy Anderson, City Clerk; Ryan Burfeind, Public Works Director; Gretchen Larson, Economic Development Director; Zac Dockter, Parks and Rec Director; Pete Koerner, Public Safety Director; Emily Schmitz, Community Development Director. 4. OPEN FORUM Mayor Bailey opened the Open Forum. John McLoone, publisher of the Cottage Grove Journal, 1304 Vermillion Street, Hastings, addressed Item F on tonight’s agenda, to designate the St. Paul Pioneer Press as the City of Cottage Grove’s newspaper for official publication in 2024. He’s hopeful that they’ll reconsider a rubber stamp of staff recommendation. We started our newspaper during the pandemic in 2020; it’s a lot of work, but we’re dedicated to helping the community any way we can. We work hard to be a good corporate citizen, we donate to and promote local causes. We’re an active member of the Cottage Grove City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 2 Area Chamber of Commerce. We had so much fun at the Cottage Grove Community Showcase the last few years, as countless people stopped by our booth and thanked us for bringing a newspaper back to Cottage Grove. His wife was actually shocked; she said, people like you. We can’t do it alone, though, we’re nothing without the community. We publish weekly. For generations, the City of Cottage Grove recognized the importance of its weekly newspaper, bestowing it as its official newspaper. This city was built on items that had to be posted in a weekly newspaper, and looking around the community, he’d say that didn’t pose too many problems or obstacles. All the permitting got done, everything got built, and this town is thriving. The intent of the statutes governing public notices isn’t convenience; they’re meant to notify the public in the place they’d be most likely to see them, that undoubtedly is the Cottage Grove Journal. Unlike many newspapers, we’re on a steady growth trajectory, and he will admit this would certainly be as much of a shot in the arm for us to be designated as the official newspaper as it is a kick in the backside every year to see these notices go to St. Paul. We work hard to serve our communities. We take public notices very seriously, we bend over backwards to help our municipal partners. Deadline for public notices, honestly, is when his paper goes on the press. We remade plates in our Hastings paper last week because something came in two hours after we were supposed to actually be on press, but because of the holiday we were able to make the change and get their notice in. The City of Cottage Grove is honestly the only municipality he can think of that doesn’t designate the local newspaper as its newspaper of record. Can we change that tonight? Please give us a try. As your City Attorney will tell you, if it doesn’t work out, you can make a change back at any time during the year; this isn’t a one-time thing. He admitted they don’t have an average circulation of 30,000 readers in Ramsey, Dakota, Washington, Anoka Counties and western Wisconsin every day. To him, that doesn’t matter. We target Cottage Grove and we’re proud of that. Thank you for your time. Mayor Bailey thanked Mr. McLoone and asked City Attorney Kori Land if she wished to comment on this. Attorney Land stated the memo that’s in the Council packet explaining the legal qualifications for your official newspaper are outlined pretty well. Given that you don’t have a local newspaper that is in the City of Cottage Grove that has an address here, you’re able to choose your official newspaper as one that is within an adjacent county. So, you could choose the Dakota County Cottage Grove Journal because their address is in Hastings, but you could also choose the St. Paul Pioneer Press. From a legal standpoint, they’re equal. It then becomes a practical standpoint, the advantages that one or the other has; so, that’s what the Council has to weigh. As no one else wished to address the Council, Mayor Bailey closed the Open Forum. 5. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Mayor Bailey stated he wanted to make a quick correction on one of the items on the agenda. One of the items we were looking at doing tonight was Item 13A, Workshop, City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 3 Open to the Public, which is a workshop to discuss the Viewpoint Project. That has been removed from our agenda this evening for a future meeting date. Council Member Thiede made a motion to approve the agenda with the removal of Item 13A Workshop; second by Council Member Garza. Motion carried: 5-0. 6. PRESENTATIONS - None. 7. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve the December 6, 2023 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. B. Approve the December 20, 2023 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes. C. Accept and place on file the minutes from the October 23, 2023 Planning Commission Meeting. D. Approve the issuance of rental licenses to the properties listed in the attached table. E. Adopt Resolution 2024-001 authorizing the renewal of the attached business licenses for 2024. F. Designate the St. Paul Pioneer Press as the City of Cottage Grove’s newspaper for official publications in 2024. G. Approve Resolution 2024-002, Designating Depositories for City Funds and authorizing the investment of surplus funds. H. Approve Resolution 2024-003, delegating authority to pay certain claims and allowing electronic fund transfer transactions. I. Accept the amendment to the 2022-2024 MCES Water Efficiency Grant to receive an additional award of $10,000. None of the Council Members wished to pull any items on the Consent Agenda for further comment and/or discussion. Motion by Council Member Khambata to approve the Consent Agenda; second by Council Member Olsen. Motion carried: 5-0. 8. APPROVE DISBURSEMENTS A. Approve payments for the period of 12-14-2023 through 12-27-2023 in the amount of $2,222,395.25. Motion by Council Member Olsen to approve disbursements; second by Council Member Garza. Motion carried: 5-0. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS - None. 10. BID AWARDS - None. City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 4 11. REGULAR AGENDA - None. 12. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Council Member Khambata wished everyone a Happy New Year. He hoped everyone had a safe holiday. We had a Swearing In Ceremony earlier this evening, so, he congratulated all of our Public Safety members who were either promoted or retired, in Gunnar’s case. Council Member Olsen stated he hoped everyone had a wonderful holiday. He was, unfortunately, not able to be present for the meeting right before Christmas. He knows that it wasn’t a very long meeting, but he apologized as he was traveling for work. His understanding is that things went well. First of all, he wanted to say thank you to all of the staff for the hard work that they put forth in 2023. As we transition into 2024, he knows that hard work is going to continue. Part of that is all of the various activities that took place over the holiday break; he believed we had several hockey tournaments in town, so Ice Arena and Park and Rec staff were definitely busy. We haven’t had a lot of snow, but we had some slick spots, so he believes our Public Works team was out salting roads, etc. It never fails, that always happens during the holiday season. We’re very grateful that all of those folks were so committed to come out and do the work that needed to be done, even during the busy holiday season. Council Member Olsen mentioned that the month of January is Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month. Incidents of cancer and very specific types of cancer are much more prevalent in firefighters than in the general public; hence, the reason that we have a Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month. One of the things that stands out about that to him is we actually have a retired firefighter who’s battling cancer; it’s difficult to tell what in particular may have caused that. There’s a lot of research out there about some of the different chemicals that get used in fighting fires and the firefighting foam, etc. So, if you know any firefighters in your life, make sure that you give them an extra special thanks this month for putting themselves on the line in several different ways to help protect our communities. We had the opportunity this evening to see the badge-pinning ceremony for our new Fire Chief, Jon Pritchard, which was fantastic, along with our new Captain in the Public Safety Department, Brad Petersen. We also have three new sergeants (one of whom is pretty familiar to at least somebody on this Council): Sergeant Nick Bailey, Sergeant Dan Schoen, and Sergeant Pat Young. All three of them got their badges tonight, and it was a really special time. That’s something as a City Council that we take a lot of pride in, because those folks all were kind of homegrown, they grew up in our department, so, that was very fun. Council Member Olsen mentioned of course in the month of January, a lot of laws change. So, if you haven’t paid any attention, there’s a lot of different legal information that’s out there about some of the laws that our legislature passed in 2023 that have now taken effect in 2024. Some of those are paid leave for employees at different City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 5 businesses, there was also a minimum wage increase, etc., so avail yourself of that information. A lot of that comes out through the State of Minnesota, through their various websites, social media, Twitter, etc. There are probably some things that apply to you, so if you’re not familiar with all the different legal elements that took place in 2023 that have now become official in 2024, take a few minutes and inform yourself. He thinks that would be to your benefit, a lot of good stuff happened last year at the Capitol, and we’re really excited to see more good stuff this year. Council Member Thiede said Happy New Year, he’s looking forward to a great 2024. He also congratulated the Public Safety recipients tonight, they did a good job. He also said that things are definitely starting to pick up with Strawberry Fest for 2024; it’s actually going to be on the third weekend in June this year, the weekend after Father’s Day. Make sure to take note of that, and we definitely can use the help. Our first meeting this year will be on Monday night at 6:00 p.m., here in the St. Croix Room, and we’d love to get people to come in and help. We also have meetings on the third Monday of the month, so go to the website to find the location; sometimes they’re here, sometimes at Carbone’s. We’d love to have people come out and help, we definitely need the help. Council Member Garza also wished everyone a Happy New Year. She congratulated all of the recipients of the awards tonight; our Public Safety Department is rocking and rolling. It’s so awesome to see that we have added some new people to the team and we were able to shift some things around and move people up. So, we’re really happy to see all of that. She stated she’s looking forward to 2024, is excited for all of the things that we have going on in the City of Cottage Grove, so, thank you. Mayor Bailey stated even though we haven’t really had any snow of consequence, this coming Saturday, January 6, is what they’re calling the Dust ‘Em Off Vintage Snowmobile Show and Swap, which is from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It takes place on the corner of Keats Avenue and 70th Street; it’s kind of in the farm field that’s across from Almar Village where Carbone’s, etc. are located. The Lions are going to be there, serving food and beverages. Council didn’t get a chance to be there last year and again this year because we’re doing our Strategic Planning meeting, but from the pictures he’s seen it looks like it’s a pretty large crowd that shows up for that event. If you get the opportunity to stop in and check it out, he’d encourage you to do so. Mayor Bailey stated tomorrow, Thursday, January 4, there are actually two hockey games taking place at the Ice Arena: Park boys vs. Roseville, and East Ridge vs. Cretin. So, it’s going to be a crazy event up there, and he thinks it’s the kickoff to the 50th Anniversary of the Ice Arena. So, if you’re a popcorn connoisseur, like he is, the popcorn is going to be back to prices 50 years ago, which is 50 cents. There will be other items happening this year, including a drawing for some free ice time and disco. If you’re interested, stop in at the Ice Arena to watch the boys’ or the girls’ hockey teams; watch the screen outside of the Ice Arena to see who’s playing and when. City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 6 Mayor Bailey stated many people and staff have reached out to him today regarding the fenced-in area between Culver’s and US Bank, which is going to be Chase Bank. They’ve put the fencing around that particular area, and he will be sure to put that information on our social media, too. Council Member Garza asked with the area that they put the fence around, are we not having the car shows or anything there anymore. Mayor Bailey told Council Member Garza that the car show was moved quite a while ago down to St. Paul Park, at the Lions Levee Park. There were some parking challenges in Cottage Grove with Kohl’s and others, and Kohl’s was planning to sell that lot, so they decided to move it to St. Paul Park. Mayor Bailey stated our Workshop tonight in the St. Croix Room is open to the public. There are now three items in the workshop: The Dowdle Puzzle, the Kingston Park Building Design, and the 2024 Project Bonding. Mayor Bailey stated we will not be adjourning in here, but will adjourn from the Workshop. He stated Council will also be meeting together on this Saturday. 13. WORKSHOPS - OPEN TO PUBLIC - ST. CROIX ROOM A. Viewpoint Project Discussion - Removed from the Agenda B. Dowdle Puzzle Staff Recommendation: Provide feedback on the must-have and nice-to- have people, places, and things chosen to represent Cottage Grove in the Dowdle Puzzle in the attachment included in the report. Council and staff held an informational open workshop regarding the Dowdle Art Project and the next steps. Dowdle Studios has extended an invitation to the City of Cottage Grove to participate in the "Land That I Love" tour, which will commemorate America's 250th birthday starting in 2026. This tour, led by renowned folk artist Eric Dowdle, aims to showcase the unique stories and rich histories of various communities by partnering with a select few in each state. Recognizing the potential economic and promotional benefits of this endeavor for tourism and marketing, city staff organized a virtual meeting with the Dowdle team, which included Mayor Bailey and CVB Chairman Olsen. Following the meeting, it was decided that work on an agreement should proceed. On December 12, the EDA Commission approved the agreement, with some modifications related to items to be included in the painting (people, places, and things). City directors were tasked with brainstorming the individuals, locations, and objects that best represent Cottage Grove. The compiled list of ideas was shared with Council in the workshop. Council narrowed the list down to a proposed 18 people and 52 places: City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 7 People 1. Mayor Myron Bailey – on a float or fire truck in one of the parades 2. Councilmember Dave Thiede – same as 1 above 3. Councilmember Justin Olsen - same as 1 above 4. Councilmember Tony Khambata - same as 1 above 5. Councilmember Monique Garza - same as 1 above, plus she is Movies in the Park with Mo 6. Former Mayor Sandy Shiely 7. Washington County Commissioner Karla Bigham 8. Former Washington County Commissioner Myra Peterson 9. Public Safety Director/Police Chief Pete Koerner – holding a Night to Unite sign 10. Former Fire Chief Rick Redenius – in a fire truck, in the parade strawberry fest or monster parade 11. Santa Gary Spooner - with Bulletin Newspaper in hand 12. Sean William Scott 13. Sam Jacobson 14. James Norris 15. Strawberry Fest Ambassadors General Faces (3 total – 2 girls, 1 boy) 16. Allie Morse 17. Kerry Lightenberg 18. Jeff Nelson Places 1. Concrete Arrow/Jansen Farm 2. Atkinson Cemetery 3. Cottage View Drive-In Sign 4. American Motorsports Bar 5. The Gold Rush 6. Langdon School Building 7. Holiday Train 8. Mississippi River/Pelicans & Eagles in the Backwaters/Kayaking/Settlers Island 9. Park High School letter patch logo 10. Woodridge Inclusive Playground 11. City Hall 12. Central Fire Station 13. HERO Center 14. Camel’s Hump look-out 15. Welcome to CG Sign 16. Cedarhurst Mansion 17. Shepard Farm 18. Furber Farm 19. VFW Red Barn City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 8 20. Cottage Grove Ice Arena 21. River Oaks Golf Course 22. Tank’s Corn Stand 23. Hope Glen Tree House 24. Boondocks (red exterior) 25. Zywiec’s Haunting Experience 26. Strawberry Fest 27. Hometown Holiday Celebration - (Santa chair with lights on trees) 28. Food Truck Festival - (food trucks represented at any festival or at City Hall) 29. Monster Bash Parade - (mesh with Strawberry Fest parade) 30. Chamber logo 31. Cross-country skiing at the Ravine 32. Junction 70 - Jason with two burgers in his hand and his business logo 33. Coyote’s - maybe near the Mississippi River 34. Lion’s Club Logo 35. Snowmobile trails 36. Parks and open spaces 37. Snowplow 38. De Mori’s 39. Jerry’s Restaurant 40. Tom Moy 41. New Moon 42. Jack’s 76 43. Sal’s Pizza 44. Woody’s Restaurant 45. Movie’s in the Park 46. Ravine Parkway Banner 47. Parks: Disc Golf, Bike Park, Dog Park 48. McHattie Farm 49. Pumpkin Chuck 50. Farmers Market 51. Military Road 52. One Family Festival Council provided direction to staff to help move forward with the next steps. The meeting was concluded, and Council and staff moved to the Training Room for the Kingston Park Building and 2024 Bonding Workshops. C. Kingston Park Building Design Workshop Staff Recommendation: Receive information and give direction on Kingston Park building concept designs. City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 9 Parks and Rec Director Zac Dockter stated he’ll talk about the Kingston Park Building redesign. We’ve been talking about this for a very long time, but it got elevated to a priority this summer when we had the CIP discussion. Council asked us to start working on a concept design. Director Dockter introduced Andrew Cooper with Oertel Architects, who will be doing most of the presentation and will show you the concept designs. Director Dockter stated what we heard from Council at the CIP workshop was: 1) To increase restroom capacity and functionality. 2) Add a multiuse recreational room, similar to what we have in our other buildings. 3) Add space for general storage needs for events and programs; 4) Add a serving kitchen. 5) Accommodate additional picnic space. 6) Provide something unique, different than most of our park buildings. We did the concept design and held a couple of stakeholder meetings with our Parks Commission and also with some key stakeholders of the park. The additional information we heard from them has partly been incorporated into this design and will be incorporated into the final design: 1) Increase kitchen and serving window size, especially to the outside, so we can easily get food back and forth to the serving areas. 2) Consider the traffic flow for events that may utilize a kitchen and portable grill, so we can grill outside. 3) Maximizing picnic space was reiterated. 4) Address site electrical needs for larger events; that’s not as much a building design function, but certainly there’s an electrical load that needs to come from the building itself. We can hopefully work on those things simultaneously. 5) We got mixed reviews on the monument sign. Just remember, this is a concept design, so it’s wide open. If there’s anything you’d like to see differently, we’d like to hear your feedback. Andrew described the process that he and the rest of their design team took to the concept design and how we came up with the images that you’ll see. We brought our design team out to take a look at the park, which is huge; it’s really at an interesting juxtaposition, as a lot of neighborhoods surround it, and you have to weave your way through neighborhoods to get to the park. The educational element is to the east, and then it’s a road and farms on the other side. So, there’s a really unique location about this, a striking element of something that really registered with our design team and how we would create that within the building plan and the building program. Currently, the existing building has a unique shape but it’s not necessarily striking, it’s low scale with the roof shape, and its on a very large, open parcel of land. The park is entirely soccer fields and an upper plateau baseball field. Anything you have there is going to be very physical, there’s not a lot of topography that you’re dealing with, so something has to stand up and be visible. At the onset, we went through a series of critical spaces: The meeting room, the kitchenette, restrooms, to really understand those size parameters with the City staff. So, once we started putting those 20 x 30 boxes on the Site Plan for a certain space, we’d know how to orient it with our other support spaces, like restrooms and whatnot, and where it would point. Building: What you see here is kind of the manifestation of that building program. When we talked about the multipurpose room, it seemed that with an upfront, primary use of the facility, that needs to go out towards the parking lot. That’s what’s going to create City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 10 the building geometry and that kind of striking view. Then we’d serve that with the ancillary spaces, such as the kitchenette, the storage and mechanical rooms, and then design an abundance of restrooms. Currently in this plan, in the women’s restroom, for instance, there are seven water closets and associated sinks to serve those water closets, and there are similarly seven fixtures in the men’s, three toilets and four urinals. For building code, you need seven of those for the space, so we are a little over and above the restrooms necessary for the actual building. But now you’re talking about a larger park, so it makes a lot of sense. Covered Picnic Shelter: We looked at a couple different options with the building plan of how we would orient and integrate a covered picnic shelter into the building architecture. Knowing that the playground is to the south and the bigger fields for the bigger kids are also to the south, it just made better sense to get more visual acuity from maybe a more populous game. Also, from when there’s more people using the playground, that split has that visual connection to the building, too, where the concession sales would be built. The concession sales is oriented to the south, as is the picnic shelter. We also want to consider in the summertime we have some harsh sun, so we want to create that shade opportunity. So, it’s not just a light picnic shelter, but it’s a fairly substantial picnic shelter that you’ll see in the images. Mayor Bailey asked how close will that picnic shelter get to the park, the play area; he asked because we have one particular point when he takes his grandkids over there, there’s only a couple seats around the perimeter of the park, and none of them are covered with trees. So, everybody finds the trees on the back side, and they sit under the trees, but not on benches. So, if it’s going to be closer, that’s awesome. Andrew pointed out the playground pad, which is closer than where it is today. More comments/discussion ensued:  Council Member Thiede asked if the trail is in the same place, that’s confirmed.  Andrew explained the red dot is where the existing building is, so you can see how we’re closing that in.  Mayor Bailey noted the existing building has indoor picnic tables, so it is taking it much closer; he said it would be so nice to sit at a picnic table or something up there. Andrew stated we’re expanding the existing picnic shelter and showed the existing trail that goes by the basketball court.  Council Member Garza noted the picnic shelter is covered, that’s confirmed.  Andrew stated as we’re coming up with the building program, first we need to make it logical for the size of the potential project, but it also has to fit within the existing infrastructure. There are utilities that come through the existing building, and we want to reuse those; so keeping the plumbing within the same general areas with this building makes a lot of fiscal sense. Also, if we don’t have to tear up the parking lot and the existing pathways to put a building footprint, we’re not disrupting the park’s use in general. Going back to the existing conditions, that covered shelter there is a good 40 feet away from the picnic shelter. Andrew stated he’d go through a series of images, as he talks about the design in general. We can always come back to anything that you might want to ask a question about. City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 11 We looked at three design options: 1) A gabled roof, which is a more traditional park building. 2) A hip-edged roof that had a little bit more articulation at the front of the parking lot, so it would be a little flatter and then popped up, was a little more avantgarde in terms of its structure. It was a great design, but he personally thought it was way over budget even at that early concept stage, but then Zac and staff didn’t like it anyway. 3) This is kind of a simple mono-pitched roof that starts out low and crawls up to the parking lot, so that’s how tall it’s going to be at the parking lot. Director Dockter stated we’re looking at a series of stone and kind of residential Hardie Board type siding materials, so it’s something that’s off the shelf, it’s durable, but it’s not something that’s going to require a ton of maintenance. With park buildings, wood is great as long as we can get it up high; when wood is down low, it becomes an abuse and maintenance factor. There is a vertical monument sign, two things on this image: 1) That’s front facing, faces the sunset, so we’re proposing to take advantage of that, since we get great sunsets at Kingston. 2) It’s 50-50 on whether or not people like the monument sign. We also told them to be creative with the monument sign; it’s not his fault, but it’s not our standard rock sign. We can always mix that up. Mayor Bailey stated we already have a rock sign. Andrew stated one of the things we liked about this corner or just in general is the building isn’t out on the corner of the paths and the parking lot intersections, but it is a strong corner that you want to put something on there. So, even if it’s not a Kingston Park vertical monument sign, something that has way finding would be helpful; like softball fields this way, soccer fields this way, playground that way. So, there’s something there he thinks would be good; we just want to make sure that if something was there, that it’s as big as this, but it’s something that we think would look right with the architecture. Anything smaller and lower we’d still be okay with, but men in our office came up with putting the logo on the top of that design. With expanses of glass in the public area, there’s a considerable amount that faces north that doesn’t have a large sunscreen or overhang on it because you don’t need it there; you’re not trying to shade the sun from the north. And then we’re taking advantage of the western sunsets. Public Restrooms: Are accessed through the back of the building, outdoors, and then internally through a hallway to the community space. So, they can be secured if they’re not going to be open fulltime to the public. So, if someone is not using the rental space and you don’t want those restrooms open on a given night at 9:30, they can be closed and locked up. There is still a family restroom in the plan, that is located under the canopy; we’re looking at a wood structure, creating something that’s solid but not so heavy and weighted down. Director Dockter stated regarding the restrooms, operationally, we are keeping the family restroom open daily, and we would just open the other restrooms for large tournaments or the rental season. Andrew noted with these being the opposite side of public view, it prompted a lot of discussion, at the onset of the concept design development stage; Public Safety asks how are those going to be monitored and how are they going to be patrolled if a police officer cannot drive by and see people going in and out of them, how do they know that City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 12 they’re occupied if they were open that day. There are a lot of different ways we could do that with lighting and security protocols; it’s not complicated, it’s just something that we have to think about going on into the project. Discussion followed:  Mayor Bailey stated these two bathrooms are on the very back side of it, and the family ones are on the corner of the pavilion. Andrew stated the family restroom is facing the playground, and it gets signed as such.  Council Member Olsen asked if those two face the trailway, but Andrew stated those two face the tennis courts; Mayor Bailey stated to Council Member Olsen’s point, they’re facing the trail.  Andrew stated if the community space was open in the evening for any reason, those restrooms would be 100% accessible from the interior space; those restroom doors would not be locked on the inside, they would only be locked on the outside, and you wouldn’t need them for egress, for exiting for any reason. Andrew stated we’re at about 2,400 square feet of covered canopy area in this plan, which is the same size as the whole previous shelter. So, it’s actually a little bit more than double the previous shelter. There are two-to-three picnic tables in the shelter now, while we’re at a dozen, comfortably, and we could cram even more in there if you’d like. He thinks it’s fairly comfortable seating. There’s also some permanent bench seating out beyond the canopy, so there’s still opportunity to kind of go in and out. Interior Space: Everything that we designed at this point in the concept design is we were provided with a cost estimate, and it’s very simple and durable on the inside: Polished concrete floors, standard drywall, impact resistant maybe, but still standard drywall on the inside. Everything is a stick frame, everything is wood framed; so, we’re not talking about a heavy masonry structure to try to keep this build economical. Using heavy timber and cross-laminated timber to be the structure, so the structure’s visible, it’s finished appearance is not something we have to treat once its up. So, less touches means that once a contractor puts it up, it’s done, and there’s not a painter that has to come by and refinish things. In this image, we wanted to show how we’d integrate lighting; there are fancy circular lights and a lot of different options. You can see the visual access to the playground from the indoor space. There is kind of a pass-through option for concessions or in the kitchenette; there is also a concession window that faces the interior, so there can be sales both indoors and outdoors. There is access to the restrooms, so that’s what would be permanently open as long as the community space is open. When we look at a facility like this that’s going to be used into the early evening, how does it also get lit because that is part of the striking appearance. Something that’s very inexpensive to do is to use colored LED lights. It’s something that can be very easily integrated in the architecture, it’s not an expensive feature, and is something that then creates a nice showpiece for the whole park. You can theme it for the Fourth of July, St. Patrick’s Day, Strawberry Fest, etc. You can choose colors for the day and it’s very easy to do. The materials are very simple, nothing super fancy, its just something that’s going to make sure to stand the abuse of children running around with their parents and running into the building. Discussion followed: City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 13  Council Member Olsen asked if the overhang itself was wood; that was confirmed. He was asked if there are any concerns about the sun fading that or causing damage. Andrew replied there are always concerns with fading a natural product, whether its wood or natural metal, which will also fade with UV. He personally doesn’t find it as a bad thing, as things age and patina naturally. He thought the wood canopy structure is not going to get hit with the sun, so that’s always going to stay that rich wood-tone color. The columns, on the other hand, would probably fade at different levels, depending on their sun exposure. Right now, we’re showing heavy temper in terms of the columns, he’s not sure its going to stay like that once we get through a design exercise with an actual structural engineer and get a more detailed cost estimate. There might be a scenario where there is steel up to a certain point and wood up above it, so that would lessen the amount of wood that would patina over time.  Council Member Olsen asked if they could also wrap the wood. Andrew replied yes, and they do a lot of treatment of wood products as a whole. They’ve also done some plastic, synthetic composites that look like wood. Some architects say if we’re going to use wood, let’s use wood; we had that debate in the office recently. When it comes to park buildings, it might be a simple project, but we know maintenance is a significant cost. It’s not the same as a pool house at a private residential development that’s going to get a lot of attention. It’s still going to get a lot of attention from Parks and Public Works maintenance staff, but it’s not a constant yearly upkeep, it’s more just kind of cleanliness. So, making it easy to maintain makes it a more durable project as well.  Council Member Garza asked with the wood columns, is there any worry that with our winter snow if that would eat up the wood at the bottom and if we need to be concerned about that. Andrew replied we’d be more concerned about any kind of steel connections that are down at the concrete level. If this becomes something that you’re going to plow and use in the wintertime, which is a possibility, if you’re salting that, then that becomes an issue. So, the details would be at a later design stage, but maybe a concrete post that comes up a foot and gives you a good base there.  Council Member Khambata asked what about the salt and degradation on the stone façade, is that all factored in as far as durability. Andrew replied synthetic stone and natural stone are naturally salt resistant.  Council Member Khambata asked as far as with the mortar joints and all that, will those hold up. Andrew replied he wouldn’t be terribly concerned with the products that we’d specify as synthetic products, it’s basically an epoxy-grade order, so its more plastic than it is cement. Once it gets put out there, brick and block will have some of that degradation downfall, but its usually just in that first eight inches. Again, specifying the right order of products will prevent that.  Mayor Bailey asked if that is solar. Andrew replied this is solar, he fully admitted its shown the wrong way in the image. Yes, there would be the opportunity to get solar on this roof. One of the benefits of using the heavy timber structure is that it can take the load, and solar panels are not as heavy as they used to be. There’s City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 14 still a little load that has to be carried on them, so heavy timber would very easily be able to carry that. Mayor Bailey stated it would be nice to be able to do that.  Mayor Bailey stated he knows this is preliminary, but he has two other questions for Andrew or Zac. 1) He’s seeing those little white things and asked if those are rocks. Andrew replied yes. So, when we were looking at the Site Plan, one of the things that we had brought up to staff was he’s done a lot of work with the National Guard and they call it anti-force protection. We don’t have to worry about someone wanting to do harm on purpose to the building, through the parking lot, but he thinks we have to worry about someone accidentally trying to swerve and miss a child and drive off the curb. There is no curb there, it’s just a flat pavement, so we need some of those barriers, even with seating. It’s going to be necessary to do something there; otherwise, you have less than 40 feet of the traffic aisles. Mayor Bailey stated yes, we want something to prevent people from being able to hit the building with a car. 2) The roof is a flat roof. Right now, we’ve got a lightning detection system that’s on the current roof. He asked are we thinking about maybe adding that to here or are we going to put it separate. Director Dockter replied he hadn’t really thought about it, but we could do either or; those things are pretty easy to move and there are a lot of options for how we want it. Mayor Bailey stated if we’re going to do the solar or whatever the plan is, he thinks it’s worth having it and keeping it at Kingston. Director Dockter stated he thinks there’s multiple options for that, we’ll see how it works with the design. One thing is right now it looks like a spaceship with that on it, so, people might be wondering what is that thing; Mayor Bailey stated it would be the only thing you’d see on the top of it. Director Dockter stated you’d have to get a long ways away, in fact, you might be able to see some of the lightning spires as you’re driving into the park from the far west side. Other than that, he doesn’t think we’d see much of the lightning protection unit. The existing building is much shorter and we’re dwarfing it with the new plan. Once we get to the final design, and we’re actually putting structural steps to stuff, we might need to get it built a little taller than this.  Council Member Garza stated she thinks it’s a beautiful design. Andrew stated he appreciated that very much. He can’t take most of the credit, but Jensen and Maddie in our office did a lot of the initial renderings. They look like they take a lot of time, and they do, but they whipped these out so fast for three different design options. The staff got three design options of all similar design quality to really choose from, and whittled them down based on recommendations that you guys had given them. They were also pragmatic choices.  Mayor Bailey stated he likes it, now we get to the price point. Andrew asked if there were any questions, but none were asked.  Mayor Bailey stated it’s a beautiful building, and is obviously one of our important parks in our community.  Council Member Olsen stated it looks fantastic. And its very functionally logical. City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 15  Council Member Khambata stated he likes the amount of thought that went into orienting the overhang so that parents and people can sit and watch the kids play in the park and it’s oriented for catching sunsets to the west. In his opinion, it has a similar appearance to the Glacial Valley building, just with the flat roof and so on. He still thinks this is a very unique building and he really likes the overall design.  Council Member Olsen stated our Lions Club is going to think they died and went to heaven if they get to work out of this building on the Fourth of July, etc., so that will be good, too.  Director Dockter stated it turned out we had some good numbers as stakeholders.  Council Member Thiede stated of all the people, it should be the Lions Club that will like it. Mayor Bailey agreed, and noted the One Family people will like it, too. Mayor Bailey stated for the size of our park there, he asked Council about the corner sign, as Director Dockter stated they were 50-50. Personally, he thinks its fine, he doesn’t see an issue with it. Council Member Olsen stated he thinks its fine. Council Member Khambata stated he doesn’t love it, but he’s not gonna fight it either. Mayor Bailey stated that’s what he’s saying, it’s not like it’s the end of the world. It’s funny, to your point, the thing that he usually hears about when he’s over at Kingston, other than the outhouses, is where’s the bathrooms in the building. So, the way signage that shows where the restrooms are or the family restroom is here would be nice, not that it has to be on that corner thing. He thinks we need to have something different there, it doesn’t have to be the rock that we have at the beginning, coming into Kingston. Director Dockter stated so, no help on the sign. We’re still at 50-50. Council Member Garza stated she likes it, she thinks it makes it look modern. But Cottage Grove is so hometown, so, to her, that seems like St. Paul. It seems so modern, but then she still likes it. Director Dockter stated we liked the vertical, we could try this a million different ways with their staff. Mayor Bailey stated he agreed with Director Dockter’s comment on the vertical. He thinks if we’re going to do something there, we need to have it in proportion to the building. If we have just a sign lower to the ground, he doesn’t think the feel will be there. So, if we’re looking at something, whether it says Kingston Park with the logo on the top, you guys can kind of figure out what makes sense. Is it backlit, is it lit at all? Council Member Khambata stated he knows this is only a concept, but whatever type of stone you’re using for the force barrier there, what if you did like a mill piece of that, taller and kind of narrow, kind of with a light material, and then we use it as like a wayfinding point of interest and have something like that on top. It would like more like a traditional monument, it would be incorporated into some similar stone, but it would still be an imposing feature to mimic the architecture. City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 16 Council Member Olsen stated but you’re saying you want something different than the existing stone. Council Member Khambata stated yes, because that, in his mind he sees like a piece of like black onyx or black marble with white lettering on it, and he feels like that kind of enhances it. Mayor Bailey stated like the Ravine Parkway stone with a message on it might be an okay thing, too. Administrator Levitt stated what if we thought more about art, a vertical art-type feature. We did something unique at the HERO Center; Mayor Bailey stated that’s true. Council Member Khambata stated that’d be cool. Director Dockter stated that’d be a great corner for public art; Council Member Olsen stated it really would, wouldn’t it, so why don’t you guys think on that and see if you can come back to us with something. Mayor Bailey asked if there is a wall big enough in this building where we could put the new puzzle artwork. Administrator Levitt stated that would be unique. Mayor Bailey stated it would be kind of cool to have it there on the wall for Strawberry Fest. Council Member Garza agreed. Mayor Bailey stated it looks like people can see in there, so it might be a good spot for our design. Council Member Olsen stated we’re clearly on the right track here now and asked Director Dockter if he felt good about it; Director Dockter replied he loved it. Mayor Bailey asked if the thought process here at some point is that programming is going to happen out of there; Director Dockter replied yes. Mayor Bailey stated he kind of figured that. Council Member Olsen stated with the size of this building, of course you would. Mayor Bailey stated we just haven’t had the chance before. Council Member Olsen stated he thinks Molly would tell you right now that it's going to be necessary. Director Dockter stated yes, with the neighborhood demographics there, it’s going to be. Administrator Levitt stated the only caveat is from a funding debt management, you’re probably not able to fund this bid until like 2026 because this is a lot more than $600,000. Council Member Thiede stated we’re using the Financial Management Plan (FMP), and remember that FMP is not just looking at the next 10 years in keeping the average under $100, but looking at any 10-year span and keeping it under, averaging $100. Brenda Malinowski, Finance Director, stated that’s correct. It doesn’t fit into our bond potential for 2024 and probably not 2025, but we can look at 2026 or 2027; maybe build in 2026 and then bond for it in 2027 when we have capacity. Mayor Bailey stated remember we’re in 2024 now, so, the likelihood of building it this year is it’s not going to happen. So, we’re either looking at 2025 or 2026, and we have to fit it within other significant projects that we have coming in from a bonding capacity standpoint. As much as he would love to build this tomorrow, the reality is there are some other projects and things that we’re going to have to make sure that we manage our Debt Levy. Administrator Levitt stated and by budget time, we can respond to the design, define the cost estimate, and then we have real numbers to look at. Mayor Bailey stated he’s heard from the Council that we all love the design. It looks good, love the little touches, like the fact that we’re going to have solar on the roof, maybe working on the art on the corner idea, whatever that may be. He wants to see City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 17 what the art is in our new Glacial Valley Park building, not for this, but it kind of gives him a flavor. Director Dockter stated the next step will be we’ll negotiate the terms for the design and bring that back to Council for review; we’ll get that on the schedule. Once we get the design, we can confirm the budget, and go from there. Mayor Bailey thanked Andrew and Director Dockter for the presentation. Director Dockter stated the Ice Arena is 50 years old, which is very neat. We just celebrated the 30th Anniversary of River Oaks last year. So, a lot was going on in 1974, when we were building the Ice Arena, there were the Wakota Ice Arena in South St. Paul, Aldrich in Maplewood, and West St. Paul built something, so there were only three other rinks in the metro. This Ice Arena was built for both Cottage Grove and Woodbury, because 50 years ago Woodbury didn’t have an Ice Arena, and they didn’t have their own football stadium. When he played hockey, Woodbury played at our rink. So, a lot has changed over the years, but he thinks the Cottage Grove Ice Arena holds a place in many peoples’ hearts for all the events and uses, because when they talk to people and say Cottage Grove, if they’re skaters, they will say you guys have that nice Ice Arena. So, we are selling apparel, sweatshirts, YETIs, etc. There’s 50-cent popcorn tomorrow as Mayor Bailey mentioned. We kind of scheduled one event per month, then after the six months, we’ll see how those events go, and then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do the following six months: January is 50-cent popcorn; February is buy one, get one hockey tape; March is 50-cent coffee, fountain soda on special event day; April-You can enter to win one free hour of ice time; May-1974 Disco night, skating disco on the rink; June-50% off public skating all month. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun, and we’ll schedule more events in July. D. 2024 Project Bonding Workshop Staff Recommendation: Receive information on the 2024 Pavement Management Project and 2024 Bonding Capacity, and provide direction on the final scope of work for the 2024 Pavement Management Project. Amanda Meyer, City Engineer, stated the purpose of this discussion is to talk through those projects that are related to pavement rehab, as well as those projects that are being bonded for in 2024. In 2024, we have the Mill and Overlay, so we have five miles of a two-inch Mill and Overlay in our Thompson Grove neighborhood. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been working throughout that neighborhood and will be finishing that up in 2024. Project Cost is estimated at $1.2 million; that includes a cost share with St. Paul Park, as there’s a portion of 85th Street that extends over into St. Paul Park, so, we have already started coordinating with them for that work. The next project to highlight is the South District Street Utilities, Phase 2, in the southwest corner. We’ve been working on that project over the last couple of years. The phase for 2024 is to finish out some of the utilities, but it’s really the street construction, landscaping, lighting, and pedestrian facilities. It will provide that secondary kind of City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 18 emergency access down to the River Acres neighborhood, as well as the Graymont Village neighborhood that’s being constructed right now. It includes mostly new construction, but there is some reconstruction of just under ½-mile of the 15 roadways with that realignment of Hadley, 100th, and 103rd. Total Project Cost remaining is estimated $5.25 million. We wanted to highlight East Point Douglas & Jamaica, Year 2: We have about ½- mile left of reconstruction of East Point from the temporary signal that’s between the Holiday East, Top Ten, and Taco Bell area to just east of Wells Fargo. And then about a ½-mile Mill and Overlay that would then extend down to about the VFW. She noted we have the Utility and Engineering Building down at 110th and Ideal, which is not pavement rehab, but is part of our bonding in 2024. Engineer Meyer stated the bulk of our presentation for this evening is our 2024 Pavement Management Projects. The red streets highlighted on the screen before you are those areas that were identified when the feasibility report was authorized in May. That feasibility report helps us to analyze the streets and understand project scope and financial feasibility. During the CIP workshop, we also understood that with all of the streets that were being proposed as part of pavement management, with the inclusion of Jamaica, from 80th Street to 90th Street, we knew that there would not be enough funding to do all of these roads. We talked about pulling out East Point Douglas, both from a financial perspective and also just from the perspective that we’re already impacting the commercial area of East Point Douglas and Jamaica. So, we’d maybe not want to impact a second commercial area at the same time. She stated Ryan Burfeind, Public Works Director, would talk more about the feasibility study. Director Burfeind stated he’d build on what Amanda said; we had a few workshops in August, and we talked about everything that we’d authorized from a pavement management perspective. Jamaica Avenue had kind of been added in because that road has just been deteriorating so quickly in the last few years that the rutting is extensive, it has frankly become a safety issue. The ruts are actually up to two inches deep as you approach some of those intersections. Now, last winter and this winter, we just can’t get the road clear because the nice, even blades scrape over it with two inches of snow, and then in the summer, cars are hydroplaning. So, we really want to figure out a way to get Jamaica Avenue into the project. We looked at a couple different ways, which he’ll talk about, to do that. What’s unique is with that amount of rutting, there’s not a huge benefit to just replace the pavement. If you remember at Norris Square on 80th Street, we just replaced the pavement, it didn’t have the rutting issues as there’s not as much traffic and a different structure. If we just replace the pavement, that rutting is likely to come back. We might as well do just a Mill and Overlay, as essentially, we’d get almost the same benefit for a lot lower cost. To do more, we’re really looking at like a structural fix, actually doing a stabilized base, like we did on West Point Douglas Road; that’s very expensive, and that would quickly eat up all of our capacity for pavement management for next year. He really has a different vision for that road in the future. It’s a super wide road, it’s much bigger than it needs to be. Its got shoulders, two little four-foot sidewalks, and no boulevard. There’s no place to store City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 19 snow, and we’re going along a road that’s 50 MPH and 45 MPH, and he wants to change that. It doesn’t really feel like the right time to do a major reconstruction of that roadway, because that’s going to push it out so far. What he would like to do is really do something more minor, like the Mill and Overlay, which we’ll talk about, but that’s going to fix the issues that need fixing. It will give us a smooth roadway and will fix the rutting. Down the road, his vision for Jamaica is to make it a more pedestrian-friendly roadway. Director Burfeind stated to really redo the road, there’s not an in-between option to just replace the pavement; the Mill and Overlay is going to get you a similar life cycle because it’s really the rutting that’s going to come back first. Council Member Olsen asked what’s the subbase on that road. Director Burfeind replied it’s gravel, but it’s a lot thinner section than we’d ever do nowadays. So, we’re really talking about doing like we did on 80th Street. Council Member Olsen stated so, you’d have to do a full reconstruction. Director Burfeind confirmed that and stated it’s a massive cost. So, we might as well do the Mill and Overlay at half the cost and get almost the same benefit. Council Member Olsen asked how far down on the Mill and Overlay. Director Burfeind replied so, what we looked at was a two-inch Mill and Overlay, with a little more detailed Mill and Overlay. So, we’re talking about actually fixing all of the joints, too, because obviously the joints are pretty separated. So, this is a little more extensive than a residential neighborhood Mill and Overlay project, but it’s still something that’s going to get us 10-to-15 years more of a good ride quality life. And then we can really program that major project someday where we’re probably doing overhaul of the medians. He’d like to see getting more boulevard space in the future, actually eight-foot trails, something you could actually ride your bikes on, etc. So, that’s kind of what went into this Jamaica Avenue portion of the project. Like Engineer Meyer said, when we talked at the CIP, we knew we couldn’t do everything. We wanted this feasibility report to really figure out where is the best place to spend the money. East Point Douglas was removed just because, like we said, we can’t impact both of our commercial areas in one year; that’s just not a good way to do business for our residents. So, with the first option, obviously, you can see it still leaves some very high costs and it’s just with a Mill and Overlay of Jamaica. What we’ve found is in that neighborhood, the ten years that he’s been here, every time we do a Pavement Management, we do a feasibility study, we do cores, and road stripping. We’ve talked about asphalt stripping for probably more than ten years, we pull the cores out, and they fall apart, which means the road is in terrible shape. We did all of our cores in the neighborhood on the left, the Hillside Trail, Thompson Grove Estates, and those cores all held together; there are some of the early signs of stripping, but there is no extensive stripping going on. He was shocked, as it’s the same era of pavement of all the other pavement managements that we’ve done, just this past year, the roads were in terrible shape. That was pretty eye opening, we really do have a good three-to- five years of life left in that road. We really didn’t feel like it’s the best use of money at this time; you want to maximize your life out of a roadway, so that was very surprising. It's the same mix, same era, same MnDOT specs, and he doesn’t have an answer on City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 20 why that road is not stripping. It’s a good thing, we want roads to have good conditions, it’s a good problem to have, but frankly, it was surprising. So, this was basically the first look, if this is everything. We took East Point Douglas out and it wasn’t on there. Option 2: We took the neighborhood out, the neighborhood proper, but we looked at what if we keep Hillside Trail. Hillside Trail also does not have stripping, but it has a lot of traffic with 3,000 cars a day over the last 20-to-25 years. So, that road sustains more wear and tear. When you drive Hillside, you know this could use a rehab. We looked at what could that be if we do just Hillside with Jamaica and with Prestige Estates. We know Prestige Estates has to be done, that’s a full reconstruction, and it’s got to happen. Hillside Trail has all the storm sewers for the whole neighborhood. Nowadays, we have catch basins and storm sewers out in neighborhoods. Back then, they put it all in the main road, and all those neighborhood streets drain to Hillside Trail. And that storm sewer needs work, it doesn’t need a full replacement, but the whole thing needs a lot of work. So, what that does is it puts all the burden on those residents on Hillside Trail; it should be spread out over the neighborhood, as they all use that storm sewer. So, if we do Hillside Trail alone, it results in an estimated assessment of $7,700 just for a spot curb replacement. If you remember this year’s project, the estimate was $5,000, and it came in at like $4,400 or $4,200; so, that is a huge burden to put on those residents, and that one really should be equal across the whole neighborhood. He actually drove this road with Gary Orloff, as he’s the guy who maintains these roads. Because its not stripping, its not falling apart, it’s just there’s a lot more cracking, they have to do the blow patching and things like that. Really, these neighborhood streets are manageable; they’re low speeds, so it’s an easy, safe place for his crew to be doing work. We don’t want to push something off if it’s not manageable from a maintenance perspective, but he felt very comfortable when I talked about this three-to- five years and keep it with the neighborhood proper. The Special Benefit Appraisals, frankly, wouldn’t force a $7,700 assessment for spot curb. We know that last year’s Special Benefit Appraisal he thought was $5,800, so you’d actually see the City have to pick up all that additional cost, above and beyond. So, it’s kind of a unique situation, but Gary is very comfortable with the idea of potentially maintaining Hillside for that three-to- five year period, kind of re-shifting how we do those roads over the next year. Option 3: We looked at Jamaica and the neighborhood, so it’s still a very good project. Jamaica and East Point worked. The fact that we’re looking at Jamaica is a huge excitement for me, Gary, and his crew. That was the best thing they could hear because Jamaica is a dangerous place to do maintenance and an expensive place to do maintenance because we have to use blocker trucks for anybody turning, and we’re closing lanes, and it’s a challenging thing. We know Prestige Estates needs the work done, too; that’s one that’s kind of been pushed off because it is a full curb replacement. So, there was a for that, it’s a full curb replacement, let’s get the whole length out of that. But we’re at the point where that project needs to be done, so that lands us with this amount of bonding, just under $3 million and a $3.3 Total Project Cost. It’s still a decent-sized project and especially if you look at all the investment happening next year City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 21 in our roadways, with all the other projects Amanda spoke about, it’s still a major investment in our system. This really is the best use of our funds for next year. Council Member Olsen asked Director Malinowski what’s our debt capacity this year for this project. Director Malinowski replied last year, at this time, we were working on our FMP. When we went out for bonding for our 2023 projects, we did our ratings call with S & P, this is what we showed them on top is that this is what we were going to bond in the next five years. So, they not only got our FMP, they got our bond issuance costs, and so, they are expecting us to come in at $18 million, so, that is what our bonding capacity is for 2024. So, that is the number that we’ve looked at a couple different times; we know we got the bond rating upgrade last year to AAA, so, we’re very new at our AAA rating. So, if we want to think about what we told S & P, in that bonding, we’re about at $18 million. Council Member Olsen stated okay, so with the three project options that were shown, Option 3 appears to be what Ryan is trying to sell us. So, what does that do, relative to our debt capacity or our bonding capacity, and how does it fit within that. Director Malinowski replied it does fit within that. At the bottom of this slide here, what we have on the second line there is the Pavement Management for $3 million, the pavement management at Jamaica and East Point Douglas $3 million, and then Equipment Certificates we need to issue for some of our equipment, and then that leaves us $12 million for a Utility Building. So, we’re increasing our Utility Building bonding is what we’re suggesting; it’s still staying right within that $18 million. The reason that we’re suggesting that maybe we want to think about bonding more for the Utility Building is as we’ve gone through the last 12 months, there’s been some things that have come up. Council Member Olsen stated and it will take less pressure off the utility fees, too. Director Burfeind stated some of the other things, like Brenda mentioned, is the State assistance. That $1 million State assistance overhaul, which we found to be frankly necessary, that really wasn’t in the works when we were talking about the Utility Building, and maybe we could use more cash. So, that was an extra $1 million the Council authorized, which the Utility Division is very excited for that project that’s in the works. The other one is our water tower. We do know we need that new water tower in the Low Zone; we kind of had to take a pause because water tower pricing went through the roof last year, with the steel. We’ve kind of reorganized that, we’ve re-reviewed all of the modeling, and we did our Comp Plan, and we think we can maybe do a little different tower to save some money. But, we might potentially have to use some of that cash to help cover that water tower because we do need it. Council Member Olsen stated so you want to bond to offset that; Director Burfeind replied, yes, that could help us. Council Member Olsen stated and we’re still going to come in at or below what we projected; Director Malinowski stated for what we disclosed to S & P, yes. Council Member Thiede stated we’re coming in at $430,000 above it; Director Malinowski stated for right now, with these numbers, yes. City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 22 Council Member Olsen stated these are estimates. Director Burfeind stated this is really probably the most conservative scenario because we took this off the Utility bidding, we took bids, and those bids were a little bit under. We still have all the project contingencies in the Construction Manager’s contract; not that every project is the same, but he thinks for Glacial Valley, he doesn’t know if those were hardly touched at all from a contingency perspective. Also, we are pursuing funding from the State for our building. So, he has a $1.2 million request into them. Based on, Woodbury kind of went through this, he thinks the bare minimum they’ll authorize is $600,000. If they try to authorize less than $600,000, then we’ll have to fight them, basically, because he thinks we deserve that. There is money that should buy that down. Council Member Olsen stated they’re going to do another bonding bill this year, too, so, you guys are working through that; Director Burfeind agreed. Mayor Bailey stated but you have to decide what you’re going to ask for. Council Member Olsen stated that’s his point, you have to decide what you’re going to ask for. Director Burfeind stated that this $1.2 million is actually from the 3M Settlement. So, this is actually because we have to do the Water Treatment Plants and house them. Council Member Olsen stated he’s very glad Director Burfeind is confident. Director Burfeind stated it does show slightly above, but this is really the most conservative, worst case scenario. We should know about that 3M Settlement request in the next few weeks. Council Member Olsen stated okay, so if you drive around town, there’s lots of opportunity out there relative to road maintenance, there just is. We’re seeing a lot of opportunity on Hardwood because of the additional traffic, the truck traffic, for the development. East Point Douglas we all know is in need of some help. To be frank, there’s probably still some neighborhood projects out there that need to take place. So, let’s take a five-year view or a ten-year view, understanding that you want us to do this, with the bonding this year, how does that play into our strategy next year, the year after, the year after. He knows we’re waiting on some MSA funding, for example, to get some of these other bigger projects done because we borrow against that. But are we still going to be able to keep up with the other stuff that needs to get done, because it’s not going to go away. Director Burfeind stated that’s correct. Anytime we talk about not doing something, it doesn’t just disappear. There are two things we have to do: 1) When he talked about his new Mill and Overlay plan, and he talked about doing a combination of Mill and Overlays and rehab, we’re looking for about eight miles of work per year. We actually are hitting that, even with this new plan. So, we’re actually right on, that’s our goal, the eight miles per year keeps us on that four-year cycle, between the Mill and Overlays and the reconstruction. So, we actually are hitting that, even with this, just because of all the other projects. It’s not just the pavement management next year, there are so many projects fixing roads. 2) Also, just as an engineering group, he thinks we need to basically look at our next ten years of pavement management. We had this good news of roads that doesn’t have stripping, so maybe we’ll take more cores in the City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 23 neighborhoods just to feel comfortable with the future years. He thinks coming up with basically a revitalized ten-year Pavement Management Plan would be very beneficial. Council Member Olsen stated it’s a blessing that we don’t have to deal with Hillside now, that’s probably an unexpected thing based on previous core samples. There are still going to be issues with those neighborhoods; he thinks we’re going to have to be very prescriptive with regard to what we’re going to do next year, the year after, and the year after if we’re going to stick with our budget planning. Those roadways are going to continue to be heavily traveled. So far, we haven’t had a lot of freeze, thaw, this year, but that always happens, too. It just makes him nervous, he doesn’t want us to fall behind. Director Burfeind agreed. Mayor Bailey asked Director Burfeind about the water tower, when are we planning on doing the water tower. Director Burfeind replied 2025, next year. Mayor Bailey stated he was told that Woodbury is asking the State for money for a water tower. Director Burfeind stated in Woodbury’s vision, in their mind, with a new Water Treatment Plan, putting all their treatment and then just treating their city in one spot. Right now, they have 20 wells that individually go into their system. They’re modeling everything; he’s actually had some conversations with their director about it, they feel like they have to have new water towers at that treatment plant because of the treatment plant. The State will not pay for that; he thinks they’ve tried to have the 3M Settlement to pay for it, and it won’t, they said no. Director Burfeind thinks that is fair. He said we’re a little different, where most of our wells already went to one spot, where we’re building that Intermediate Zone plant; it already went to one spot, it went to the City. So, we aren’t really changing our operations, how we distribute water, but Woodbury feels like they are, and that’s what they’re kind of modeling everything, so. Mayor Bailey asked if we knew where theirs is going, are they going to try to get bonding money for that. Administrator Levitt replied she didn’t think they were seeking bonding dollars. Mayor Bailey stated okay, he heard they were, that’s why he was asking. Council Member Olsen stated they’re just going to have to figure it out. Administrator Levitt stated it’s difficult because Woodbury is dead set on one Water Treatment Plant for their entire city. We don’t believe in that mindset; we believe, and she thinks the State is recognizing, that there’s a lot of additional costs in what they’re choosing to do. So, Woodbury will have to absorb more cost for piping and other things. Council Member Olsen stated or they could change their plan; Administrator Levitt stated they’re refusing to. Director Burfeind stated the State actually approved the Settlement Plan for two plants in Woodbury, but Woodbury only wants one. So, they have to pay the difference, the upcharge to do one. Mayor Bailey stated he was just curious. He knows we’ll be talking on Saturday about grant opportunities, etc. out there to see if there are some options that will help pay for things that we know we’re going to need at some point. City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 24 Council Member Olsen stated in terms of maintaining the debt integrity of the FMP, Option 3 is the best way for us to do that. Director Burfeind stated yes. Council Member Olsen asked Director Malinowski if that was accurate. Director Malinowski stated it is accurate, but that’s not the reason, but it does work into the plan the best. Council Member Olsen said the reason he’s asking is again, we’re lucky, we have some areas we were planning on that we don’t have to deal with, but we will have to deal with those. So, we’re going to have to keep our nose to the grindstone in terms of seeking third-party funding, like Ryan said, reevaluating and doing some additional testing. It’s just something we’re going to have to be really cautious about. If we can maintain the integrity of the FMP, that’s an added benefit and a win. Council Member Garza asked a question on Option 2; she knows it sounds like it’s not an immediate concern that we need to work on it, but once we get there, is there any opportunity for sidewalks. Because between the school and the park, she lives near that area, and the kids are on bikes up and down, and Hillside is a fast-traveled road. People fly down that road, so it’s just concerning. Director Burfeind replied that’s something we can always review with a feasibility report. So, we put some sidewalks in the median here, along the side here on 90th Street. It’s always interesting how contentious they can be, even though the people are walking there today in the road, you put them on a sidewalk, but he thinks it’s always something that we can look at. Council Member Olsen said sidewalks and lighting. Council Member Garza stated in between the schools and the parks, like she said, she’s lived over there now for years, and it’s a fast-moving road, and it would be a good opportunity to have some sidewalks. Mayor Bailey stated it’s a good point. Since we’re putting it off for a while, it might be something we can take a look at. He just remembers when we did this over on Hadley, we wanted to put sidewalks along Hadley, by Pine Hill, the homeowners over there just beat us to heck. Council Member Garza stated she’ll go talk to the neighbors. Council Member Thiede stated talk to the neighbors and get them all excited about it. Council Member Garza stated she’ll tell them that your kids won’t get hit by a car. Administrator Levitt stated we looked at that sidewalk, she thinks about 17 years ago, and at that time, the neighborhood didn’t want it. Director Burfeind stated with something like that, to engage them, we have to have really focused neighborhood meetings on that, on sidewalks, to get the neighborhood involved. Administrator Levitt stated that does provide the opportunity for that, we’ll get the design of it, and if you do it with the neighborhood as a whole, you start to find out if it’s going to go. Council Member Garza stated and you did so much work on that park over there and there’s so many things that people can use, that park and the ballfield in the back, and there’s an ice skating rink there. So, it’s a pretty busy park, between Hillside and that, there’s also an elementary school. City Council Meeting Minutes January 3, 2024 Page 25 Council Member Khambata asked so with the eventual reconstruction of Hillside, would you take that opportunity to branch out off of Hillside with the storm sewer system. Really, right now, is the water literally just running the length of the street through the gutter and then congregating at Hillside. Would you move that back and have some catch basins further down on the side streets? Director Burfeind replied so it all runs the whole length right now. Actually, in three- to-five years, it’s still just a spot curb replacement job. The curb is actually in amazing shape out there, so much so that three-to-five years won’t change it. So, it’s really just replacing that pavement. Usually, when you add storm sewer, that really happens when you replace the entire curb because you end up having to dig up all of that curb line for boundaries. One thing he will say that’s amazing here is if you look at Indian, any big rainstorms up by Ideal Park, that road turns into a pond for a short period of time. We actually don’t get that on Hillside; surprisingly, the amount of catch basins they have on Hillside really can capture that water. We haven’t had any ponding issues, but certainly some day, with the full reconstruction, that’s something we always look at. Council Member Khambata stated he thinks it’s hard to argue with Jamaica; that’s the one that’s bad. Council Member Olsen stated and you say the Mill and Overlay is going to give us at least ten years. Director Burfeind replied yes, we actually went and looked because we actually did a Mill and Overlay on a part of 95th Street, that was heavier rutting in 2013, coming out of the marshalling yards. Actually, down there, there’s about 1/3 of an inch of rutting; it’s just starting to kind of come back after ten years. And that gets significantly more heavy truck traffic than Jamaica does, so, that was a good kind of example of what to expect. Council Member Olsen stated if you mill down a little more, you can give yourself a little more stability. Director Burfeind agreed. Council Member Khambata stated he’s in favor of Option 3. Council Member Olsen stated yes, me, too. Council Member Thiede stated yes. 14. WORKSHOPS - CLOSED TO PUBLIC - None. 15. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Council Member Olsen, second by Council Member Thiede, to adjourn the meeting at 9:44 p.m. Motion carried: 5-0. Minutes prepared by Judy Graf and reviewed by Tamara Anderson, City Clerk.