City Council Agendas & Packets

APPROVED MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION CITY OF EAST GRAND FORKS TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2025 – 5:00 PM CALL TO ORDER: The Work Session of the East Grand Forks City Council for Tuesday, March 25, 2025 was called to order by Council President Larson at 5:00 P.M. CALL OF ROLL: On a Call of Roll the following members of the East Grand Forks City Council were present: Mayor Mark Olstad, Council President Brian Larson, Council Vice-President Tim Riopelle, Council members Tami Schumacher, Ben Pokrzywinski, Dale Helms, Donald Casmey, and Karen Peterson. Staff Present: Karla Anderson, Finance Director; Jeff Boushee, Fire Chief; Maggie Brockling, Economic Development Director; Nancy Ellis, City Planner; Ron Galstad, City Attorney; Michael Hedlund, Police Chief, Charlotte Helgeson, Library Director; Jeremy King, Parks and Recreation Superintendent; Megan Nelson, City Clerk; and Jason Stordahl, Public Works Director. DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM: The Council President Determined a Quorum was present. 1. Consider Grand Rides Bike Share Sponsor Request – Jeremy King Mr. King told the Council the Downtown Development Association (DDA) was requesting the City to renew the sponsorship for the bike share program. He reminded everyone how bike racks were in the downtown area and at the Northland Community and Technical College campus. He explained there were over 1,000 rides that either started or ended in East Grand Forks, many of the rides originated from the University of North Dakota campus, and the bikes were used for both recreation and for transportation. He stated the funding could come from the Altru Partnership funds as in previous years and there was approximately $151,000 in the fund. He added that Ms. Jill Proctor from the DDA would help answer any questions. Council member Helms stated he supported the program and asked what the increase in ridership was to East Grand Forks from the previous year. Ms. Proctor said they had only been tracking rides since 2023 but there was an increase of 163 rides to East Grand Forks. Council member Helms asked if it was the same bikes as before. Ms. Proctor explained they were, how they worked with the Ski and Bike Shop in Grand Forks to make sure the bikes were in good working condition, and all the bikes were checked over in the off season, so they had invested in a lot in replacement parts. Discussion followed about how the bikes were no longer left all over because of the GPS lock system that helped track the bikes and allowed the staff to rebalance their locations. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 2. Request to Purchase Griggs Park Trailhead Playset – Jeremy King Mr. King stated this item was being brought back for approval. He reminded the Council how this project Work Session March 25, 2025 was identified to use the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency violation funding on, the costs included the removal of the current border, and $9,000 for a concrete border. He explained the total project cost was $82,624.64, there was an additional $1,000 in pledged donations, the fundraising effort was going to continue, there was still a shortfall in the funding, but it was important to move forward with the project. He added it would be another amenity for LaFave Park because many people came to this area for the bathrooms. Council member Pokrzywinski asked if there were any plans to rename the park. Mr. King said no but there would be a sign that would go on the playground stating it was in memory of Mr. Dave Aker. Council President Larson said he recommended this project continue to move forward and they could utilize the Altru Partnership funds to cover the shortfall of funding. Mr. King commented on how those funds were also used to complete the addition to Danmor Park. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 3. Request to Declare Firearms as Surplus Property & Authorize the Purchase of New Police Carbines – Michael Hedlund Chief Hedlund said the Police Department had started using carbines back in 2007, more were purchased when they had to outfit additional police vehicles, but some were 18 years old so it was time to replace them. He stated they would trade in the rifles and other miscellaneous guns that had been forfeited or turned in, and they would trade them in with the company or with a local business who they were checking with. Discussion followed about how there was nothing wrong with the firearms, trading in the items could reduce the overall costs for the new items bringing the cost down to $10,000 which was included in the budget. There were no further questions. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 4. Consider the Purchase of a Loader for Public Works – Jason Stordahl Mr. Stordahl said he was requesting to purchase a loader, two quotes were received from Sourcewell, the quote from John Deere was $264,176.00 which included an 84-month warranty with a trade and the quote from Ziegler did not have the same warranty included so with an additional warranty the cost was $267,959.17 after the trade. He recommended purchasing the John Deer 624P and declaring Unit 128 as surplus to trade in. Council member Pokrzywinski asked if John Deere was a higher quality. Mr. Stordahl said the equipment from both businesses was comparable. Council President Larson asked about maintenance and operations. Mr. Josh Krostue stated a lot of operations was about muscle memory, both were great machines, but currently the City had more John Deere equipment which did make things easier for training. He added a motorgrader was rented over the winter months, so they were used to running different equipment. Mr. Stordahl commented how having most of the same equipment also helped with inventory and parts they had on hand. He introduced Mr. Josh Krostue who was the Foreman and who had worked for Public Works for the last 15 years. There were no further questions. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 5. Request to Set Cannabis Business Registration Fees – Megan Nelson Ms. Nelson informed the Council the State had set the fees for cannabis businesses, the State did restrict 2|Page Work Session March 25, 2025 the amounts cities could charge for business registration, for initial fees the City could charge $500 or half of the State initial amount, whichever was less, and $1,000 for renewals or half of the State renewal amount, whichever was less and showed the list in a spreadsheet. She asked how the Council would like to proceed. Council member Helms said he would like to see the maximum amount. Council President Larson said the maximum amount seemed reasonable. Council Vice-President Riopelle stated he thought the same. Mayor Olstad suggested moving forward with the maximum amount. There were no further questions. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 6. Review of 2024 Special Archery Hunt & Proposed Plan for 2025 – Megan Nelson Ms. Nelson said the City held its first archery hunt in 2024, Mr. King had put together a summary about the hunt, 10 permits were issued, and six tags were filled. She asked if the Council would support another hunt coming up in 2025 because they would have to apply for the hunt in April and she wanted to make the Council aware of it before bringing it forward. Council Vice-President Riopelle said he would like to see the number of tags increased to about 15 and allow three buck tags. Ms. Nelson said that it had been discussed at a staff level to increase the number of tags along with having a split season. She added they were waiting for some answers from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) so they should be able to come back with answers on what could be done. She continued saying how they were not sure what the turnout would be, 40 people had applied, 20 from the city, and 20 from outside the city. She said residents had been given priority, but going forward two permits could be set aside for out-of-town residents, updates would be made in the management plan, and brought forward for the Council to consider. She added the management plan included an educational piece and that information would be brought forward towards the end of summer or beginning of fall to make people aware or remind them of the upcoming hunt. She asked for questions. Council member Pokrzywinski stated he agreed the number of tags should be increased, allowing those from out of town the opportunity to get a tag, allow them the opportunity for a buck tag, and increase that fee which would be non-refundable. Mayor Olstad asked if the people that received tags last year would be eligible for tags again this year. Mr. King said that had been discussed by staff and because of the limited number of buck tags, there would be a three year wait until they were eligible for another buck tag, but they would still be eligible for the doe tags or however the Council would like to see it. Council President Riopelle said he liked the idea of including Options and Wounded Warriors. Mr. King said the discussion had started with Options who also worked with the Wounded Warrior program, four tags would be allowed, they would have two weeks before the other hunt, and it would be a good way to give back to the community. Council member Peterson asked if the DNR monitored the herd in the area and if they gave a recommendation on how many tags to offer. Mr. King said no, the monitoring had been completed by the Police Department, and the City was told they could decide how many tags they would like to issue. He added there were 80 to 100 deer in the greenway, the day after the archery season closed there were three deer-related accidents, so there was still several deer in the community. He said they could re-evaluate each year but with a mild winter the herd was in good shape. Chief Hedlund complimented Mr. King for coming up with the idea of including Options and the Wounded Warriors in the hunt, he would answer any questions, and at this time they had not completed any additional informal surveys of the current deer population, but they could. He added how the population was very fluid with the deer moving into and 3|Page Work Session March 25, 2025 out of the city, so it varied throughout the year. Council member Helms said he liked the idea of the additional hunt with Options and asked if they would be changing who got tags. Mr. King said they had used a lottery system, reviewed the process that was done through the qualifying event, and how the zones were picked. He added the people selected were great sportsmen, they all were doing the right things, and he did not want to limit if they were not successful in filling their tag. Discussion followed about the lottery process, if the person gets a tag two years in a row and getting deer, maybe have them sit out a third year, but there were only a limited number of people that would participate so everyone should get a chance. Mr. King said things went well for everyone involved. Chief Hedlund asked if the Council had received any complaints because the only comments the Police Department received were positive. Council President Larson said all comments had been positive. Council member Casmey said he thought it would be the same people applying all the time because there were only so many people that participated in archery hunting. There were no other questions. This item will be brough back to a future meeting. ADJOURN: A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER HELMS, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RIOPELLE, TO ADJOURN THE MARCH 25, 2025 WORK SESSION OF THE EAST GRAND FORKS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL AT 5:37 P.M. Voting Aye: Helms, Casmey, Larson, Peterson, Schumacher, Pokrzywinski, and Riopelle. Voting Nay: None. _______________________________________________ Megan Nelson, City Clerk 4|Page