Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/12/2026LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 1 of 4 May 12, 2026 Call to Order Mayor Gaasch called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Roll Call Councilors present: Jeff Dains, Sharon Kelly, Evan Sayre, Duane Pulford, and Mayor Mary Gaasch. Councilors absent: None. Staff present: Heather Butkowski, City Administrator; and Miles Cline, Deputy City Clerk. Approvals Mayor Gaasch asked if there were any additions to the meeting agenda. There being none, Councilor Kelly moved and seconded by Councilor Dains to approve the agenda. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Gaasch asked if there were corrections to the minutes of the April 28, 2026, City Council meeting. Mayor Gaasch noted two changes that needed to be made. On page 4 the "west side" of the property should state the "east side," and on page 5 "Fulton" should read as "Fulham" Street. There being nothing else, Councilor Kelly moved and seconded by Councilor Pulford to approve the April 28, 2026, City Council meeting minutes as amended. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Gaasch asked if there were any questions on the claims. There being none, Councilor Pulford moved and seconded by Councilor Sayre to approve the claims totaling $128,809.83. Motion carried unanimously. Consent Councilor Dains moved and seconded by Councilor Kelly to approve the Consent Agenda thereby approving Resolution No. 051226A — Approving a Five -Foot Variance to the Front Yard Setback Requirement at 1765 Carl Street. Informational Presentations/Reports A. Annual Police Department Presentation by Chief Jeff Spiess Chief Jeff Spiess attended the meeting to present the annual police report. He covered an array of topics from 2025 and answered questions from the Council. Mayor Gaasch opened the floor at 7:49 p.m. to those interested in addressing the Council on this topic. Steve Sventek, 1765 Carl Street, asked if the department keeps track of response calls by location. He asked about rumors of criminals drilling gasoline out of cars as a new form of syphoning. The Chief responded that the department does keep track of calls by location as well as a variety of means. LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 2 of 4 May 12, 2026 Anne Feider, 1698 Eustis Street, shared that she has heard an increase in sirens. She was wondering if it was coming from The Fern residences. Additionally, she pointed out that bike safety laws have changed over the past couple of years. Finally, she was wondering if the police department had considered installing Flock cameras. The Chief responded that The Fern was not driving an excessive calls for service. He also noted that Flock cameras are useful to public safety officers but not currently being installed by St. Athony Police Department. Robert Jacobson, 1747 Carl Street, shared that the traffic control signs installed around the City last year have helped. He said that a camper parked on Carl Street is an eyesore. There being nobody else interested in speaking on this topic, Mayor Gaasch closed the floor at 8:01 p.m. B. Annual Audit Presentation by Bonnie Schwieger of Abdo Each year, a representative of Abdo presents the findings of the audit to the City Council. This year Bonnie Schwieger presented. Upon conclusion of the presentation, she fielded questions from the Council. Mayor Gaasch opened the floor to those interested in addressing the Council. Steve Sventek, 1765 Carl Street, asked about the ash trees in the MnDOT right of way across from Peace Lutheran Church. Butkowski said she reported them to MnDOT but they are not eligible to be removed with the DNR tree grant. There being nobody else interested in speaking on this topic, Mayor Gaasch closed the floor. Discussion/Action Item A. Tennis Court Repair Quote Court Surfaces and Repair installed the tennis and basketball courts twenty years ago and have performed all the maintenance since. While performing crack filling this summer, they noticed the high number of rocks poking through. The surface needs to be recoated this year before the rocks crack the surface to the point where the whole surface needs to be milled and redone. The cost to resurface the top layer is $14,500. They said the cost to replace the entire top and subsurface is in the $80,000 range. Community members requested that the courts be striped for four instead of two pickleball courts. Staff will work this out with the contractor when they come to do the repairs. Councilor Pulford made a motion to accept Court Surfaces and Repair's quote to resurface the Community Park tennis courts. This was seconded by Councilor Sayre and carried unanimously. LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 3 of 4 May 12, 2026 B. Building Safety Month Proclamation Rum River Consultants asked the City Council to adopt a proclamation for Building Safety Month. Education is a key component of their mission that they want to continue to promote building safety in all the communities they work in. Councilor Sayre made a motion to adopt the Proclamation recognizing May as Building Safety Month. This was seconded by Councilor Pulford and carried unanimously. C. Bolger Publishing Sanitary Sewer Agreement Bolger Publishing (3301 Como Avenue) is a long-time Lauderdale business. Groundwater seeps through their parking lot. The water trail creates an ice problem in winter and is damaging to their building. They would like to fix the issue. City staff and engineers spent time working with their engineers on options for routing the water to a catch basin in Minneapolis. Stormwater rules are difficult to navigate so that ultimately did not work. The current proposed design drains the water to a sanitary sewer manhole in the Lauderdale system. It is the last manhole leaving the city before the water enters Minneapolis. In addition to City Council approval, they must also get a permit from the Metropolitan Council. The agreement would allow them to construct the system and be billed for the volume of water that enters the City's system. This would be done via an estimated volume during the year through our quarterly sewer billing with a true up at the end of each year. Councilor Kelly made a motion to approve the Sanitary Sewer Agreement with Bolger Printing. This was seconded by Councilor Pulford and carried unanimously. Set Agenda for Next Meeting Butkowski stated that the next meeting may include the April financial reports, a contract for architectural services with Studio EA, revisions to the sewer utility ordinance, and the annual report from Eureka! Recycling. Work Session A. Staff Project Updates Butkowski shared that staff received a few bids for the warming house repairs. She also said the application for Lifestyle Communities is still being reviewed with the planning consultant. Staff are looking at pricing for installing cameras at Lauderdale Community Park after some recent incidents. Finally, the City is fielding quotes for a replacement public works truck. B. Opportunity for the Public to Address the City Council Mayor Gaasch opened the floor to those interested in addressing the Council. LAUDERDALE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Lauderdale City Hall 1891 Walnut Street Lauderdale, MN 55113 Page 4 of 4 May 12, 2026 There being nobody interested in speaking, Mayor Gaasch closed the floor. Adjournment Councilor Dains moved and seconded by Councilor Sayre to adjourn the meeting at 8:43 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Miles Cline Deputy City Clerk