City Council Agendas & Packets

APPROVED MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION CITY OF EAST GRAND FORKS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2025 – 5:00 PM CALL TO ORDER: The Work Session of the East Grand Forks City Council for Tuesday, October 14, 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 Ben Pokrzywinski, Dale Helms, Donald Casmey, and Karen Peterson. Staff Present: Karla Anderson, Finance Director; Jeff Boushee, Fire Chief; Maggie Brockling, Economic Development Director; 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. Update of Legislative Session from the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities – Marty Seifert a. Mr. Seifert will be bringing handouts to the meeting. Mr. Seifert asked the Council to focus on the inside of the handouts which showed the work that the Coalition had done, he reminded the Council that the Coalition worked for cities, and the work was directed by priorities from the cities. He said they worked on Local Government Aid (LGA); they were not able to get an inflationary increase included, but there were no cuts to LGA. He added a bill had been introduced to allow cities to implement their own local sales tax but that did not pass and the moratorium on local sales taxes had ended. He moved on to housing which got additional funding for grants and they worked on the income restrictions. He commented on how some groups wanted to take away local control on housing and zoning, there were 60 groups that were in favor of taking away local control, and the Coalition along with the League of Minnesota Cities were the only two groups that opposed taking away local control. He informed the Council that the funding for the Business Development Public Infrastructure (BDPI) that was only for rural cities was cut down to $1.5 million because the bonding bill was cut back. He stated childcare grants did not get funded at the levels that were requested, there was an increase to the water and wastewater infrastructure grant caps which allowed cities to be eligible for additional funds, $18 million was funded for the Emerging Contaminants Program to help deal with PFAS, and there was $3 million for lead line replacement. Mr. Seifert moved on to corridors for commerce, more funding had been proposed, there was a $5 million dollar cut, and the reason was the Governor wanted to build a new Highway Patrol Headquarters, it was Work Session October 14, 2025 estimated to cost $100 million, and they were taking funding from a few different areas including the corridors for commerce fund. He stated there was going to be $20 million available for bridge replacement, there was more funding proposed for the Local Road Improvement Program, minor language was changed to reduce the greenhouse gas impact on road projects, and the State was going to start treating electric vehicles like other vehicles. He added the program for emergency medical services received one- time funding of $16.4 million and it all went to rural Minnesota. Mr. Seifert said those were the items they worked on along with other things, he reminded everyone of the upcoming fall conference that was going to be held in Grand Rapids, and they would be talking about Paid Leave at the conference which would start in January. He asked if the Council had any suggestions about topics that the Coalition should be working on, if there were any issues, and how they could reach out to the Coalition staff as well with suggestions. Council President Larson asked if there were any questions. Mr. Seifert asked how LGA was working for the City. Mayor Olstad asked if the LGA formula was going to be reviewed again. Mr. Seifert told the Council rural Minnesota now only makes up 46% of the State’s population and they received around 70% of LGA, so other cities did not want to reopen this because they did not want to go backwards. He added how LGA made up about half of the budget for many smaller cities. He reminded them they would be setting the platform for the next year at the fall conference and asked if there was still a shortage for childcare. Ms. Anderson said there were 551 spots needed and how the school had preschool for three and four year olds. Discussion followed about how First Children’s Finance had helped out, grants were available, and they had a yearly appreciation dinner for childcare providers. Mayor Olstad asked if the City would be able to get some of the sales tax from cannabis sales back from the State. Discussion followed about how some cities were trying to stop any cannabis businesses from opening, some cities wanted exemptions, and others were considering having a municipal cannabis store like a municipal liquor store. There were no further questions. 2. Request to Approve Corporal Roue as General Crimes Investigator – Michael Hedlund Chief Hedlund explained to the Council that in previous years this process was just done in-house because it was a transfer and not a promotion, but it was left on the agenda. He stated they completed a process, Corporal Roue came out on the top of that process and recommended moving him into the General Crimes Investigator. Council Vice-President Riopelle said there were three in investigations and asked if they were on different years to be rotated out. Chief Hedlund stated one was on a permanent assignment and the other investigator’s was scheduled to be rotated out next year. There were no other questions. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 3. Request to Start Promotional Process for Police Corporal – Michael Hedlund Chief Hedlund said with the tentative movement of Corporal Roue to the investigator position it created an opening in the patrol shift and requested to start the process of filling the corporal position. Council member Pokrzywinski asked about the previous item, Corporal Roue would be moved to the step that was at least 4% higher, and asked what happened when he moved back. Chief Hedlund said he would revert to Corporal pay on the corresponding step at that time. There were no further questions. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 2|Page Work Session October 14, 2025 4. Request to Replace Police Department Sign & Memorial – Michael Hedlund Chief Hedlund stated in his opinion the sign for the Police Department had become an embarrassment, the landscape had become overgrown, and was finally removed by the Public Works Department, but more work was needed. He said the sign was placed in the 1990s, it was supposed to be lit up but many of the lights had never worked, and this was the same area where they had the memorial for Officer Kenneth Olson that was also no longer lit up. He explained they had reviewed a variety of options, the option brought forward was from Grand Cities Monument, an example was included in the packet showing what it would look like, and the overall project was going to be reduced by $2,000 by the company. He added this did not include removal of the old sign which would be completed by Public Works once the electric was moved. He explained the plan for the placement of the new sign and memorial along with the lights, how funding could be utilized from the 2025 budget to cover the costs, and the electrical work would be paid for next year because it could take four to six months to get the signs in. There were no questions. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 5. Additional Information on Engine Brake Ordinances & Enforcement – Michael Hedlund Chief Hedlund told the Council he had reached out to a number of different agencies, some had ordinances regarding engine brakes, but none had issued any citations using this ordinance. He added that having it in place could help and would be needed to place signs. Mr. Galstad asked if the Council wanted an ordinance drafted. Council President said yes. This item will be brought back to a future meeting. 6. Request to Consider Sauna Establishment Ordinance – Megan Nelson Ms. Nelson explained that based on direction from the last work session an ordinance was drafted, it mirrored the ordinance from Minneapolis, but there were a few changes that included setting the annual license from January through December like other business licenses in the city, hours of operation were set to 8am to 10pm, and fire inspections were included. She suggested setting the fee for a brick-and- mortar location at $200 for the year, which was the same for massage establishments and $100 for the year for a mobile unit which was the same for food trucks. She added the fees would be set by resolution which would be brought forward following the second reading of the ordinance. She asked if there were questions, comments, or any other suggestions for changes. There were none. She stated this item would be brought forward to the next meeting for the first reading. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 7. Request for Proposals to Consider Sale or Lease of Decommissioned Wastewater Pond and Surrounding Property – Reid Huttunen Mr. Huttunen stated a draft of the Request for Proposals (RFP) was included in the packet and how they had five parcels that could be included. He said the largest parcel was where the decommissioned ponds had been. He explained if there was a desire they could advertise and include all the parcels, if the property would be leased or sold they would not be selling or leasing the area of the RC Flyers Club used. He stated how this area had road construction materials from after the flood, that information would be 3|Page Work Session October 14, 2025 included so people were aware, and how some of the property had variable depths of topsoil. He reminded the Council there were no longer USDA restrictions on the property from the decommissioning of the pond system. Mr. Huttunen said they would be viewing all this as agricultural land, any change in use would need to go through Polk County zoning, and he suggested a timeline of three weeks for the submission of proposals. Council member Helms said he was not sure about Parcel B but he knew that Parcels C and D were not great farmland, and he would be more interested in leasing than selling. Mayor Olstad said he would be interested in leasing the property and suggested including all the parcels in the RFP. Council President Larson suggested accepting proposals for either the selling or leasing of the property. Discussion followed about how they could limit the proposals to leasing, there was no harm in collecting proposals for both selling or leasing the property, but the right to refuse all proposals would be included. Mr. Huttunen told the Council once the proposals were received staff would be reviewing them along with the land use plan, summarize the information, and bring it back for the Council to consider. More discussion followed about how there could be a few different concepts submitted so the Council could decide what was the best and final offer and different parties could be contacted that could be interested in the property. There were no further questions. This item will be referred to a City Council Meeting for action. 8. Request to Enter into a Purchase Agreement with the Graveline Family and Land Exchange Agreement with Simplot – Reid Huttunen Mr. Huttunen stated this negotiated transaction had been a long process and would allow the City to acquire the Simplot property in East Grand Forks that could be sold and developed. He explained that Simplot would never sell property but would do a land swap, the purchase agreement and land swap agreement would complete the process. He said once the agreements were signed a 60-day due diligence period would start. He reminded everyone that a Phase 1 environmental study was completed, there were no findings from the study, the title work was almost done, and he showed the map of the stormwater easement that went through the property. He said it was hard finding the documentation on the easement and there were areas that had parking lots or streets over the easement, and it was not a reason not to move forward. Discussion followed about the possibility of moving the pipe and how the timeline regarding the pipeline was from the 1920s to the 1950s. Mr. Huttunen explained that the appraised value of the Grand Forks property was $1.55 million, it was going to be purchased for $1.54 million, and the appraised value of the East Grand Forks property was $1.547 which they would be swapping for. He asked for questions and how there was going to be a special meeting following the work session to act on these items and the 60-day due diligence period would start once the agreements were signed. Council member Helms asked if the stormwater pipeline was being used. Mr. Huttunen said it was believed it was but wasn’t sure how often it was used. Mr. Huttunen stated that Ms. Anderson was working with Brady Martz on this transaction that was going to paid for from the fund balance reserve, it would be about 20% of the reserves, and the full intent was to market and sell the property for future development. He added that it would be listed as an asset until it was sold and after it was sold the funds would go back into the reserves. Ms. Anderson told the Council it was an asset but would not be included in the fund balance because it was no longer cash. There were no further questions. 4|Page Work Session October 14, 2025 9. Consider Moving November 11th Work Session to Monday, November 10th – Reid Huttunen Mr. Huttunen said this was more of a communication and how the November 11th was a scheduled work session, since it was a holiday, it would need to be moved, and asked if the Council was in agreement to move the meeting to Monday, November 10th. The consensus of the Council was to move the work session to Monday, November 10th which would be posted on the city calendar. OTHER: Ms. Anderson told the Council the number of childcare spots needed for the City was 252 so the 551 number had to have been for the whole county. She added she would be reaching out to Mr. Seifert so he had the correct number. ADJOURN: A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER POKRZYWINSKI, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RIOPELLE, TO ADJOURN THE OCTOBER 14, 2025 WORK SESSION OF THE EAST GRAND FORKS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL AT 5:55 P.M. Voting Aye: Pokrzywinski, Riopelle, Helms, Casmey, Larson, and Peterson. Voting Nay: None. Absent: Schumacher. _______________________________________________ Megan Nelson, City Clerk 5|Page  APPROVED MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING CITY OF EAST GRAND FORKS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2025 – FOLLOWING THE WORK SESSION CALL TO ORDER: The Special Meeting of the East Grand Forks City Council for Tuesday, October 14, 2025 was called to order by Council President Larson at 5:55 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 Ben Pokrzywinski, Dale Helms, Donald Casmey, and Karen Peterson. Staff Present: Karla Anderson, Finance Director; Jeff Boushee, Fire Chief; Maggie Brockling, Economic Development Director; 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. Consider approving the Purchase Agreement between the City of East Grand Forks and the Graveline Family LLLP for the purchase of Parcel 44-2213-001-00 for a total of $1,540,000.00. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER POKRZYWINSKI, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RIOPELLE, TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF EAST GRAND FORKS AND THE GRAVELINE FAMILY LLLP FOR THE PURCHASE OF PARCEL 44-2213-001-00 FOR A TOTAL OF $1,540,000.00. Voting Aye: Pokrzywinski, Riopelle, Helms, Casmey, Larson, and Peterson. Voting Nay: None. Absent: Schumacher. 2. Consider approving the Land Exchange Agreement between the City of East Grand Forks and Simplot Global Food LLC exchanging Parcel 44-2213-001-00 with Parcel 83.02308.00 with the City paying additional $7,089.00 to Simplot. A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER RIOPELLE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER PETERSON, TO APPROVE THE LAND EXCHANGE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF EAST GRAND FORKS AND SIMPLOT GLOBAL FOOD LLC EXCHANGING PARCEL 44-2213-001-00 WITH PARCEL 83.02308.00 WITH THE CITY PAYING ADDITIONAL $7,089.00 TO SIMPLOT. Special Meeting October 14, 2025 Voting Aye: Pokrzywinski, Riopelle, Helms, Casmey, Larson, and Peterson. Voting Nay: None. Absent: Schumacher. ADJOURN: A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER PETERSON, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RIOPELLE, TO ADJOURN THE OCTOBER 14, 2025 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EAST GRAND FORKS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL AT 5:57 P.M. Voting Aye: Pokrzywinski, Riopelle, Helms, Casmey, Larson, and Peterson. Voting Nay: None. Absent: Schumacher. _______________________________________________ Megan Nelson, City Clerk Page | 2