City Council Agendas & Packets

APPROVED MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION CITY OF EAST GRAND FORKS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 – 5:00 PM CALL TO ORDER: The Work Session of the East Grand Forks City Council for Tuesday, September 9, 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; Steve Emery, City Engineer; Ron Galstad, City Attorney; Michael Hedlund, Police Chief, Charlotte Helgeson, Library Director; Reid Huttunen, City Administrator; Jeremy King, Parks and Recreation Superintendent; Keith Mykleseth, Water and Light General Manager; Megan Nelson, City Clerk; and Jason Stordahl, Public Works Director. DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM: The Council President Determined a Quorum was present. 1. Request to Start the Hiring Process for Truck Driver – Jason Stordahl Mr. Stordahl requested to start the hiring process to fill the vacancy for a truck driver. He stated the position was on Grade 10 on the pay scale and there were sufficient funds to cover the hiring of this position. Council President Larson asked how long the position had been vacant. Mr. Stordahl said approximately 15 days and was due to a resignation. Discussion followed about how this position would be posted internally then externally and there were no expected internal candidates. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 2. Discussion on City Cell Phones & Possible Engine Brake Ordinance – Dale Helms Council member Helms told the Council he didn’t have any issues with the policy and asked if supervisors carried their phones all the time. He explained there was an issue over Heritage weekend, and several phone calls were made trying to contact staff. He asked how they were supposed to get a hold of staff over a weekend if there was an issue. Mr. Huttunen informed the Council that not all staff were on call, they were not expected or required to carry a phone, and there were channels to contact staff either by contacting him or calling the Police Department. He added the Police Department would be able to contact the necessary staff. Discussion followed about when there was an issue to call the Police Department and they could contact the specific department to address it. Work Session September 9, 2025 Council President Larson asked about the engine brake ordinance. Council member Helms said former Mayor Gander had asked about an engine ordinance, how his doors at his business have been rattling due to engine brakes, and part of the reason could be because trucks were driving too fast when they started using the engine brake. He asked if there was interest in moving forward with an ordinance. Mr. Huttunen told the Council Mayor Gander had asked about an ordinance because of the noise that could be heard at the clinic. Mr. Galstad stated this was something that could be hard to prosecute because they would not have decibel readings and something could be worked on. Discussion followed about how in previous years the highway patrol and the police department have parked on the north side of town to enforce the speed limits, there were different settings for engine brakes, and there was interest to hear from the public. Council President Larson asked to find out how other communities in the region have an engine brake ordinance. 3. Consider Midco Franchise Renewal – Reid Huttunen Mr. Huttunen reminded the Council how this information had been brought forward in early June to address the FCC issue, but the renewal was also needed for the agreement because it would be expiring in December. He explained the fee was set at 5%, which was the highest it could be, there was no change proposed to the fee, it would be renewed for another 10-year period, it would be addressing the free services for public buildings, and they could require all Midco facilities to be buried unless approved by the City. Council member Casmey said he was not sure if it was appropriate to bring up, but it had been several months that residents at Town Square did not have cable services. Mr. Huttunen told the Council that he was not sure what was all happening, it was a privately owned building, infrastructure needed to be updated, Midco was not given access, this was all secondhand information, and there was no good direction to move forward. Mayor Olstad said he had spoken with a family member of a current tenant, he had the same understanding, and the family member had called the company that managed the building but did not get anywhere. There were no further questions. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 4. 2026 Preliminary Budget Discussion – Reid Huttunen & Karla Anderson Mr. Huttunen stated the budget summary was updated, it included a 3% levy increase, and if nothing was changed a 14% increase would be needed to balance the budget. He said the enterprise fund information was supplied and he would be requesting what the next steps would be because the preliminary levy would need to be set at the next council meeting. He reminded the Council that the levy amount could be reduced but could not be increased. He recommended setting a 12% or 14% preliminary levy. Ms. Anderson said she had supplied the information for three of the enterprise funds, the Water and Light funds were not included, and the information provided included a profit and loss along with the year end balances. She reviewed the State guideline for having five months of expenses as a fund balance, expenditures included depreciation, and fixed assets were not included. She started with the refuse fund, there was a deficit of $140,489 in 2024, there was a deficit of $248,383 budgeted for 2025, but there was a raise in rates so it would change some. She added the expenditures were broken down by each type and the funding sources included residential, commercial, and the greensite fee was now included in the residential fees so that amount was no longer going to be collected. Discussion followed about the fund balance, how a plan was needed to raise rates for both residential and commercial services, and Mr. 2|Page Work Session September 9, 2025 Stordahl needed to bring forward reasonable adjustments for commercial rates. Council President Larson said the fund was being depleted, the fund balance needed to be increased and asked for an analysis of how to get here over five years. Ms. Anderson said they would need to raise rates. Council President Larson said the Council needed the information, so they were able to discuss an implementation plan. Mayor Olstad asked that they determine what was needed for commercial refuse which would help with the residential refuse and could change how things looked. Mr. Huttunen reminded the Council residential refuse rates were increased in July, there was increase scheduled for January, and another increase next July which would get rates caught up to the contract. He added how they needed to get things aligned for commercial side. Council member Pokrzywinski asked if this was the only fund with a fund balance issue because the request from Council Vice-President Riopelle was for the balances of all the funds for the last 10 years. Council Vice-President Riopelle said the request was made so they could try to alleviate issues. Council member Pokrzywinski asked again about city wide funds, if there were any other funds that had issues. Ms. Anderson said the other fund with a fund balance issue was the State Aid fund because more had been spent on projects than funds received. Council member Pokrzywinski requested to see all funds each year, so nothing was missed. Discussion followed about having a five-year outlook, being able to look back on all of the funds, and how they had to add funds to sick leave so it was not an isolated issue. Mayor Olstad added they would need to look at fund balances and if they needed to be increased. Ms. Anderson reminded the Council that the Building Maintenance fund was not the same as the rest of the funds and how the special revenue accounts were tied into the General Fund. Ms. Anderson continued with the sewer fund reviewing the expenses and revenues. She stated residential rates included a fixed fee, there was no fixed rate for commercial rates, rates were increased when the interconnect project was started, and they were last raised in 2022. She explained there were a few years there were losses due to COSA costs, those costs started in 2018, and ranged from $300,000 up to $700,000 in a year so it was difficult to budget for, so it was based on previous years. She added they needed to look at raising rates. Mayor Olstad said there were a few users that were causing issues and asked when that would be addressed. Mr. Stordahl told the Council it should be address in mid-October. Mayor Olstad said those costs could be passed onto the users. Council President Larson said they were trending in a bad way. Discussion followed about how that was due to COSA costs, how the industrial users needed to be addressed instead of spreading costs across all users, and how Grand Forks did monitor some users and some users paid more. Council member Pokrzywinski commented how costs were consistent until they started with the interconnect. Mr. Stordahl stated there had been some issues with the equalization basin, repairs have been made, and that has helped. Ms. Anderson moved on to the storm water fund. She explained this was where flood costs were expensed, grants received due to flooding were accounted for in this fund, and the fund balance had been growing. She reminded the Council this fund was used for levy maintenance and covered all storm water costs. Mr. Stordahl said the City had an extensive levy system, there was required maintenance, and the Army Corps of Engineers recommended a certain fund balance which he would have to look up. Ms. Anderson continued saying all the yearly storm water expenses were paid for by this fund. Discussion followed about what costs were charged to this fund and how the current SCADA system upgrades were split between the storm water and sewer enterprise funds. There were no further questions on the storm water fund. 3|Page Work Session September 9, 2025 Council President Larson asked what was needed for the preliminary levy. Mr. Huttunen said the funds that were just discussed were not included in the general fund and asked the Council how they would like to approach the preliminary levy. Mayor Olstad recommended moving forward with a 12% preliminary levy knowing that it would be coming down. He said they should get the levy down to 7%, they were down to 3% the previous year, and that would leave 53% in reserves. Discussion followed about how the budget sheet did not show the usage from the fund balance, not using any reserves would leave the fund balance at 58%, how the State’s guidelines included two ways to determine using expenses or revenues, and they would not be taking the whole amount needed from the fund balance. Council member Pokrzywinski asked about having the fund balance information for the last five years, how the fund balance has been consistently over 50%, and why they stayed above 50 when the recommendation was to have 35% to 50%. Mayor Olstad stated it was something to consider, they had received additional revenue that had been delinquent property taxes, but they needed to be careful and not let the reserves get too low. Council member Peterson said they discussed keeping the reserves at 50% and not go below. Mr. Huttunen added there was a discussion about keeping the reserves at 50%, the chart shows the ups and downs of the levy, the changes were hard on planning for both residents and staff, there were some unknowns this year because labor contracts were going to be negotiated, and usually 5% of the levy was for staff compensation. He added that when it came to the use of the fund balance, staff could bring forward recommendations for projects or one-time expenditures. Ms. Anderson told the Council they would also need to plan for street maintenance, and they did not bond last time because there was enough funding in the State Aid fund. Discussion followed about moving forward with a 12% preliminary levy and having the goal to get the final levy down to 7%. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. ADJOURN: A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER RIOPELLE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER POKRZYWINSKI, TO ADJOURN THE SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 WORK SESSION OF THE EAST GRAND FORKS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL AT 6:00 P.M. Voting Aye: Casmey, Larson, Peterson, Schumacher, Pokrzywinski, Riopelle, and Helms. Voting Nay: None. _______________________________________________ Megan Nelson, City Clerk 4|Page