City Council Agendas & Packets

APPROVED MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION CITY OF EAST GRAND FORKS TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2025 – 5:00 PM CALL TO ORDER: The Work Session of the East Grand Forks City Council for Tuesday, July 22, 2025 was called to order by Council Vice-President Riopelle 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 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; Steve Emery, City Engineer; Ron Galstad, City Attorney; Michael Hedlund, Police Chief, Charlotte Helgeson, Library Director; Reid Huttunen, City Administrator; Megan Nelson, City Clerk; and Jason Stordahl, Public Works Director. DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM: The Council Vice-President Determined a Quorum was present. 1. Residential Refuse Contract Transfer – Jason Stordahl Mr. Stordahl introduced Rachel Gornowicz from Countrywide Sanitation and Randy Ott from Waste Management. He explained that Countrywide Sanitation was sold to Waste Management who would be taking over garbage collection services on September 1st. He said the City needed to approve the consent form to transfer service, residents would be seeing the same trucks and employees, and they would call the same number for service or questions. He asked if there were any questions. Ms. Gornowicz thanked the Council for their continued support, and she was grateful for a good working relationship. She added she would still be running the landfill and storage container service and again how they were happy to serve the city. Mayor Olstad thanked Ms. Gornowicz, hoped the city continued to receive the same service, and the current contract ran through 2029. Mr. Ott said he would answer any questions, residents would get the same service, and they would continue with the current contract. There were no other comments or questions. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 2. Review of Microtransit Feasibility, Design, and Implementation Plan – Teri Kouba Ms. Kouba introduced herself, that this process was completed using a consultant, and Mr. Aaron Bartling would be presenting the information. Mr. Bartling introduced himself, how he worked for Bolton and Menk, and this was the microtransit final plan. He reviewed the plan overview, project timeline, and the three phases to include evaluation and feasibility, design, and implementation. He explained the process Work Session July 22, 2025 had taken a year to complete and microtransit was a new service concept for the area with a fleet of vehicles that would roam areas picking up one or more riders at a time and bring them to connection stops. He said this would help fill gaps in the current network, help connect people to the fixed route system, help convert underperforming areas, and increase mobility options. He stated that dial-a-ride and microtransit were similar services but there was more flexibility with microtransit services. Mr. Bartling told the Council they reviewed four zones as potential areas to implement the service, three were in Grand Forks, and one was in East Grand Forks. He stated after reviewing the information, the preferred zone to try and start this service was in East Grand Forks with a phased approach starting with one vehicle and possibly expanding to up to three vehicles. He added there was a step-by-step guide that could be used to launch the service which could be implemented at any time and how this service could help serve the entire city. He reviewed how staff would need to be trained, there would need to be engagement to educate the public about the new service, and ongoing communication about the service. He stated the budget for this service was estimated to cost $360,000 up to $500,000 a year, again how the fleet would start out with one vehicle and could expand up to three. He added that the plan included a funding strategy and there were funding opportunities through the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT). Mr. Bartling stated the service would need to operate for a year before any changes should be made so they could understand the ridership, what was working, what was not working, and how they could look at how this service was currently operating in Brainerd/Baxter area. He said again they could start this process using a phased approach, the next steps included approving the plan, and work through implementation to launch the service. He asked for questions. Ms. Ellis informed the Council the transit funding applications had already been submitted for 2026 so they could consider starting this service in 2027 and would need to work with Cities Area Transit on that process. She added MNDOT had funding, but it was not easy to change services, they would need to review logistics, how there was currently an hour between pickups at bus stops in the city, and this service could help connect people to the fixed routes faster than the current service so it was worth approving the plan to see if they could implement the new service. Mayor Olstad asked what the Council would be approving. Ms. Ellis said they would just be approving the microtransit plan. Council member Helms asked how this would be cost effective because it sounded like Uber service. Ms. Ellis explained this was not door-to-door service because people would have to get to a stop location to be picked up. Discussion followed about if this service was implemented in the city the bus route would stop and riders would ride to a different stop to make other connections, it would be like a bus service, but there were would be more stops. More discussion followed about how this service could increase ridership because currently the bus stops once an hour at each of the stops in the city, how this could be costly, it would be a more flexible service, and could be expanded into additional areas of the city. Ms. Ellis told the Council they were losing riders who were trying to get to work, how currently there was no service out to the City’s Industrial Park, and this type of service would be more convenient for riders. Mr. Bartling commented on how this type of service was more custom but was not a door-to-door service. Ms. Ellis thanked everyone that had worked on this plan. Ms. Kouba added the service would help connect the community. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 2|Page Work Session July 22, 2025 3. Update on the Safe Streets for All Plan – Blue Weber Mr. Blue Weber told the Council they had updated and incorporated the comments that were received, since the meeting from two weeks ago there were no changes to chapters 1-6, they had received good feedback on Chapter 7, and included the cost estimates on the facility types, the anticipated project impacts, and perceived difficulty of implementation. He reviewed projects that could increase safety and how funding for some of these projects could be grants. He stated the last step was adoption of the plan by both cities and by the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to help continue the conversation. He stated key points included progress, measuring success, policy alignment, and actual implementation with statistics. He added how transparency and community engagement would be an important part of the process. He said this was the final report and asked for questions. There were none. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 4. Consider 2025 Winter Activity Fees – Reid Huttunen Mr. Huttunen told the Council there was a proposed increase for winter activities which was a 3% increase and with that increase there would be approximately $4,200 in additional revenues. Council member Helms commented that this could be costly for a family with three kids and if they were overpricing the fees. Council Vice-President Riopelle stated the fees were similar to other communities and the cost was double in Grand Forks. Mr. Huttunen said there used to be a family cap and would check to see if it was still in place. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. ADJOURN: A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER POKRZYWINSKI, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER PETERSON, TO ADJOURN THE JULY 22, 2025 WORK SESSION OF THE EAST GRAND FORKS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL AT 6:00 P.M. Voting Aye: Peterson, Schumacher, Pokrzywinski, Riopelle, Helms, and Casmey. Voting Nay: None. Absent: Larson. _______________________________________________ Megan Nelson, City Clerk 3|Page