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.