City Council informational meeting – 4 PM
The city council will get presentations from the County about justice and civil rights, an update about the Emerald Ash Borer, a presentation from Zach DeBoer about the proposed city flag and an update on the state law change about public input.
City Council Regular Meeting – 7 PM
Item #1, Approval of Contracts. Looks like they are moving forward with fixing up Canaries Stadium.
Item #2, Change Orders. Looks like they need another $56K for the Denty’s beer coolers. Good thing we got that $1 Million dollar siding settlement . . . wait.
Item #3, Surplus Property. The Pavilion is throwing away thousands of dollars worth of exhibits in the garbage. Good thing Sanford is bailing them out.
Item #9, First Reading. Moving public input to the end of the meeting. This one is still up in the air. I guess Erickson will be absent from the meeting, so the Mayor will not have to break a tie. It will probably come down to a 4-3 vote either way. I encourage people to come and speak at regular Public Input about this item since at a 1st reading we CANNOT address the council. We need to kill this on 1st reading and move on.
Item #10, Resolution. The council will be approving $1.5 million in road funding for the USD Discovery Center. While I support this, and I think it will pass the council, some people are questioning why the bank required this money from the city before approving further loans for the facility. I reminds me of when Lloyd Companies told the city they needed a TIF for the Phillips to the Falls projects or the bank wouldn’t secure a loan. I think it was a bluff. With Lloyd Companies Property having $186 million in valuation, I don’t think a couple million in TIF funding would make a difference to a loan officer. Just Saying.
Item #11, Appointment of Board Members. Councilor Stehly will get appointed to the Multi-Cultural Center Intergovernmental Board, Councilor Brekke and Steve Westra are getting appointed to the CVB BID Tax Board. Westra was a pretty big dissenter of Huether. I expect more changes like this by Mayor TenHaken.
I want to side with those who fight to keep Public Input in the middle of the meeting. However, the council doesn’t listen anyway. They are there to get paid by the public and collect favors for voting with special interests (i.e. developers). They’ll serve one or two terms then disappear a little wealthier. Listening to the public is something irritating for them. City government is not about people. It’s how one can deceive the public and steal income from overtaxed citizens.