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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-01-08 City Council Meeting Minutes COTTAGE GROVE CITY COUNCIL January 8, 2025 12800 RAVINE PARKWAY SOUTH COTTAGE GROVE, MN 55016 COUNCIL CHAMBERS - 7:00 P.M 1. CALL TO ORDER The City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, Washington County, Minnesota, held a regular meeting on January 8, 2025, 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 Clausen-Here; Council Member Garza-Here; Council Member Olsen-Here; Council Member Thiede-Here. Also present: Jennifer Levitt, City Administrator; Tammy Anderson, City Clerk; Karla Bigham, Washington County Commissioner; Ryan Burfeind, Public Works Director; Zac Dockter, Parks and Recreation Director; Pete Koerner, Public Safety Director; Korine Land, City Attorney-LeVander, Gillen & Miller, PA; Gretchen Larson, Economic Development Director; Brenda Malinowski, Finance Director; Emily Schmitz, Community Development Director; Dan Schoen, Public Safety Sergeant. 4. OPEN FORUM Mayor Bailey opened the Open Forum. As no one wished to address the Council, Mayor Bailey closed the Open Forum. 5. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion by Council Member Thiede to approve the agenda; second by Council Member Garza. Motion carried: 5-0. 6. PRESENTATIONS 1st Order of Business: Oath of Office - Mayor Myron Bailey, City Council Member Justin Olsen, City Council Member Monique Garza, City Council Member David Clausen Staff Recommendation: Receive Oath of Office. Mayor Bailey stated our 1st Order of Business is the Oath of Office. Our County Commissioner, Karla Bigham, is going to start that process with us, and then I’ll ask my grandson, Easton, to come up and hold the mic. Commissioner Bigham read aloud the Oath of Office and Mayor Myron Bailey raised his right hand and repeated it after her. Commissioner Bigham congratulated Mayor Bailey and everyone applauded. Commissioner Bigham asked Council Member Monique Garza to raise her right hand, she read aloud the Oath of Office to Council Member Garza, which Council Member Garza repeated. Commissioner Bigham congratulated Council Member Garza and everyone applauded. Commissioner Bigham read aloud the Oath of Office and Council Member Justin Olsen repeated it after her. Commissioner Bigham congratulated Council Member Olsen and everyone applauded. City Administrator Jennifer Levitt asked Council Member David Clausen to raise his right hand and repeat the Oath of Office after her, which he did. Administrator Levitt congratulated Council Member Clausen and everyone applauded. Mayor Bailey, Council Member Garza, Council Member Olsen, Council Member Clausen each signed their Oath of Office certificate after they took their Oath of Office. Photographs were taken of Mayor Bailey with his family and friends, after which photographs were taken of Council Member Garza and her family, and Council Member Clausen and his wife. A group photo of Mayor Bailey and the City Council Members, including Commissioner Bigham and Administrator Levitt, was also taken. Mayor Bailey thanked all of the family members who were present for being here tonight for this awesome celebration, and officially welcomed Council Member Clausen to the Council. Council Member Clausen replied thank you, mayor. 7. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve the November 20, 2024, City Council Special Meeting Minutes. B. Accept and place on file the minutes of the November 25, 2024, Planning Commission meeting. C. Appoint Khambata and Latack to fill two vacant positions on the Economic Development Authority Board. D. Adopt Resolution 2025-008 authorizing renewal of business licenses for 2025. E. Approve the issuance of rental licenses to the properties listed in the attached table. F. Adopt the 2025 Legislative Agenda. G. Approve the Accelerated Firefighter/Paramedic Recruitment Program agreement for Jordan Barry. H. Approve Resolution 2025-002, Designating Depositories of City Funds and Authorizing the Investment of Surplus Funds. I. Approve Resolution 2025-003, Delegating authority to pay certain claims and allowing electronic fund transfer transactions. J. Approve Resolution 2025-004, Declaring the official intent of the City of Cottage Grove to reimburse certain expenditures from the proceeds of bonds to be issued by the City. K. Adopt Resolution 2025-005, Approving the public purpose expenditure policy for 2025 as presented. L. Approve the FROST Solutions agreement and lease in the amount of $6,000. M. Approve the annual software subscription with Deckard Technologies, Inc. in the amount of $3,500. N. Adopt Resolution 2025-001, Authorizing execution of sub-grant agreement with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety for hazard mitigation assistance. O. Authorize executing agreement for professional services with LEAST Services. P. Authorize service agreement with Flagship Recreation, Inc. for the purchase and installation of playground equipment at Hardwood Park for $71,343.27. Q. Authorize service agreement with Webber Recreational Design, Inc. for the purchase and installation of playground equipment at Belden Park for $65,000. R. Authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to sign the Land Surveyor’s Certificate of Plat Correction for Glacial Valley Estates 2nd Addition. S. Approve Change Order #3 in the amount of $666,887.87 for the Low Zone Water Treatment Plant project, increasing the current contract amount from $39,595,808.33 to $40,262,696.20. T. Approve Change Order #4 for the Utility and Engineering Building in the amount of $63,573.23. U. Adopt Resolution 2025-007, Authorizing payment in the amount of $27,773.27 to Rice Lake Construction Group for the final payment for Wells 2 & 7 Interim Water Treatment Plant Project. V. Adopt Resolution 2025-006, Approving the Interim Conditional Use Permit at 10870 Ideal Avenue South to allow for the continuance of existing site operations until such time any adjacent property use is proposed which aligns with the guided Land Use in the Comprehensive Plan, or the term limit expires on January 8, 2035, whichever comes first. None of the Council Members wished to pull any items on the Consent Agenda for further comment and/or discussion. Motion by Council Member Olsen to approve the Consent Agenda; second by Council Member Garza. Motion carried: 5-0. 8. APPROVE DISBURSEMENTS Approve disbursements for the period of 12-13-2024 through 1-02-2025 in the amount of $5,701,598.66. Motion by Council Member Olsen to approve disbursements; second by Council Member Clausen. Motion carried: 5-0. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS - None. 10. BID AWARDS - None. 11. REGULAR AGENDA A. Commission and Committee Appointments Staff Recommendation: Approve the 2025 Commission and Committee Appointments as presented. Mayor Bailey explained this is the annual appointment of the Council to various City Commissions or Committees. Per City Code, this must be done at or before the first Council Meeting of the year; so, he’d asked the Council Members if there were specific committees or commissions for which they wished to be a liaison. He read aloud the following appointments: Commission/Committee/Position 2025 Mayor Pro Tem Council Member Garza Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Council Member Olsen Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce Mayor Bailey Cottage Grove Convention and Visitors Bureau Council Member Olsen East Metro Strong Council Member Clausen Economic Development Authority Mayor Bailey/Council Member Olsen Great River Rail Commission Council Member Garza Historic Preservation Advisory Committee Council Member Thiede Holiday Train Committee Mayor Bailey Investment Committee Council Member Thiede/Council Member Clausen Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Commission Council Member Clausen Planning Commission Council Member Olsen Public Services Commission Council Member Thiede Commission/Committee/Position 2025 Red Rock Corridor Commission Council Member Garza South Washington County Telecommunications Commission Council Member Thiede/Alternate C.M. Clausen South Washington Watershed District Council Member Clausen Strawberry Festival Committee Council Member Thiede/Alternate C.M. Clausen Motion by Council Member Olsen to approve the 2025 Commission and Committee Appointments as presented; second by Council Member Garza. Motion carried: 5-0. 12. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Council Member Garza said first, I just want to say Happy New Year to everyone; it’s starting off to be a really wonderful New Year! We don’t have any snow, so that’s good. I don’t mind the cold weather as long as we’re sliding around. It looks like we have some really fun things happening at River Oaks coming up in January and February, so I just want to mention a couple of things that are happening: We have the Francis Ford Coppola Director’s Cut Wine Dinner on January 16, it sounds like it will be a lot of fun. I know the Dueling Pianos are always a pretty big one here, and that’s on February 21 at 5:30. So, it looks like some fun things are happening at River Oaks, so if you have some time, go check that out. Also, with Parks and Rec, Park Boys’ hockey team vs. East Ridge will be on January 16, so that will be a lot of fun at the Cottage Grove Ice Arena. Mayor Bailey stated I’ll just add that you probably want to get your tickets early for that game because it does sell out. Council Member Thiede stated I’d just like to mention about Strawberry Fest, we’re obviously still actively planning for that, and the intensity starts to build at this point for the festival in June. We can still use a lot of input and help. Typically, our meetings are on the first and third Monday of the month at Carbone’s, in their back room. We’d definitely like to have anybody who would like to have fun, come by and help us out and give us some input. I’ll also mention, since I’m on the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee again, that we’re always looking for people who have interesting information and stories, etc. about the City of Cottage Grove and development and different things like that to contribute. So, if you ever have any input and if you like that sort of thing, by all means we’d love to have your input, and we’re looking at a variety of different ways to document some of that sort of stuff in some fun and meaningful ways. We’re always looking for input on those kind of things also. Council Member Olsen stated first and foremost, I want to congratulate my colleague, David Clausen, on his election to the City Council and his swearing in this evening. It’ll be fun to work with Dave, he brings a lot of knowledge and experience from his time as an employee with the City that will be invaluable to the work that the City Council does. So, congratulations, Dave. Council Member Clausen replied thank you. Secondly, I just wanted to take a moment to remind people that with the turn of the new year, we will have some commission openings that will be available in February; for those who currently serve on some of our volunteer advisory commissions, those terms tend to expire after the end of January of the new year. So, we may have some commissioners who choose to move on as they’ve done their duty, and it’s something they want to give somebody else the chance to do. Sometimes people actually time out, where they’ve served several different terms and they need to take a one-year break before they’re able to reapply. So, if you’re interested in serving on any of our City’s volunteer commissions, and you heard the mayor talk through the various liaison appointments, so you can definitely see that there are several opportunities. Now would be a great time to get in your application, and if you’re interested in applying, you can go to the City’s website where the application is available. If you have any trouble, please reach out to your Council Member or any of our City staff members, and we’d be happy to walk you through how you make that application come to life. You do have the opportunity when you do that to select in order of preference which commissions on which you may want to serve. It’s a great time to do that, if you’ve ever thought about it, I highly encourage it. It’s a good way to learn about your community. Council Member Olsen said the last thing I want to mention is I know that the Park and Rec Department has been working very, very hard to get the outdoor ice rinks up and running. We’ve had a little bit of a weather challenge here for the last month or so, but I know people have been out skating, especially over the weekend with the cold snap that we had late last week and through the weekend has really helped. I personally have had a lot of very positive feedback from people I know, who are very excited to get out and use our new ice surfaces in the parks, especially Glacial Valley. It seems like everybody wants to get over to Glacial Valley. So, kudos to the Park and Rec Department, I know it took you guys a while, but you made a lot of residents really happy, thanks for that. Mayor Bailey asked Council Member Clausen if there was anything he wanted to add. Council Member Clausen said first of all, I want to thank the City staff and Jennifer; the staff has been very welcoming, and any ‘Why?’ questions I ask, they’re answering, so thank you so much. Thank you to the Council and Mayor, you’ve been most gracious and inviting and welcoming me into the group. Thank you to the voters, you’ve entrusted us with a lot of responsibility, and we’re going to serve you well. Most importantly, I want to thank my wife, Jane, and my daughter, Ellee, for putting up with me; it was earlier this summer I said, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to run for City Council,’ and she said, ‘You’re going to do what?’ Anyway, thank you so much, I love you, thanks for all of your support. Thank you. Mayor Bailey said fantastic, and thank you for giving him up and sharing him with us. Mayor Bailey said I want to thank my friends and family that were here because sometimes we get, there are good things like you said and the positive comments, but there are also the beat ups every once in a while; and so, sometimes our spouses and family have to kind of bite their tongues a bit. So, we do know it’s as much of a job, so to speak, for us up here, as well as it is for the families back at home. Mayor Bailey said the only other thing I’m just going to mention, we’ve already talked about everybody kind of giving each other a welcome at the Council table here. Earlier this evening, just for the public to be aware, we had a workshop session with our State Senators and Representatives and our County Commissioner, Karla Bigham. The purpose of that is kind of talking through what we call our legislative priorities for the City of Cottage Grove. In doing so, our purpose of that is to really highlight what are some of the big things that we are looking for support from our State level. I’ll just give the first one, as an example, funding so that we can finally get 100th Street under construction, which will be the extension of 100th Street over to Highway 61. We’ve been slowly gaining the money in order to make that project become reality, amongst other things, but I just want to thank our local legislative team and our County Commissioner for their immense support and their comments to us today that sounded very positive about whatever they can do. We all know there’s a lot of angst and a little anxiety and animosity happening, both at the State level but also at the Federal level. So, hopefully, all of our different parties and people will be able to get together, work together, and do what’s right for the citizens of both the City of Cottage Grove, the State of Minnesota, and obviously, from a national basis, the United States of America. So, with that, if there’s nothing else from a Council perspective, I’ll mention that #13 is Workshop, Open to the Public, and we do not have one this evening; #14 is Workshop, Closed to the Public, and we do not have one this evening. So, we’re down to adjournment; Mayor Bailey asked Council Member Clausen if he would like to make the motion. 13. WORKSHOPS - OPEN TO PUBLIC - None. 14. WORKSHOPS - CLOSED TO PUBLIC - None. 15. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Council Member Clausen to adjourn, second by Council Member Olsen, to adjourn the meeting at 7:23 p.m. Motion carried: 5-0. Mayor Bailey said we are adjourned and thanked everyone for coming here tonight. Minutes prepared by Judy Graf and reviewed by Tamara Anderson, City Clerk.