Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you all for attending this evening.

Will the city clerk please take attendance?

All council members, all council members are present, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you.

Entertain a motion to approve the agenda.

So moved.

Second.

Are there any comments of on the agenda from the public?

Council have any comments, questions?

Please call the roll.

Specker.

Aye.

Tilton Byrne.

Aye.

Wendell.

Aye.

Avery?

Aye.

Doran.

Aye.

Hager?

Aye.

Nee Meyer.

Aye.

Item four open forum.

In order to provide equal access to all during the open forum and public comment portions of the meeting, each individual offering comments shall not exceed the allotted three minute period.

The podium light turns green, then to yellow where there is one minute remaining.

Your time for comment is expired when the podium light turns red.

Is there a member of the public who wishes to address the council on an item that's not listed on tonight's agenda?

Okay, we'll move on.

Action on the consent agenda.

Are there any items to be removed from the consent agenda?

Seeing none, entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda.

So moved.

Is there any is there any public comment on the consent agenda?

Council have any questions, comments?

Councilmember Duran.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just had a quick uh clarifying question for five H.

As we move forward with the discussion of the future of the Dakota Bank Center, does this agreement um is it potentially affected uh with discussing the future of our partnership with OVG at all?

What do you think?

I'm sorry, I couldn't I can hear I can reword that.

Um, so five H uh looking at the wine operating agreement for the Dakota Bank Center.

Is that going to be affected as we move forward with conversations of the future of our partnership with OVG operating in the Dakota Bank Center?

Is this contract separate or will it be affected by any options of continuing or not continuing with OVG since that's in discussions right now?

Well, uh do you have something to say?

Yes, Councilmember Duran, I'll explain that for you.

So the alcohol licenses are separate from the agreement.

So whether it's the Dakota Bank Center with OVG or another provider, that the alcohol license would come back to the council at any point in time to either be discontinued or transferred.

So that is not the same.

It's not tied together.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you for that clarifying.

All right.

Any other questions, comments on this consent agenda?

Please call the roll.

Tilton Byrne.

Aye.

Wendell.

Avery?

Aye.

Doran.

Aye.

Hager?

Aye.

Neemeyer.

Aye.

Specker?

Aye.

Is Josh here?

Next thing on the item is uh Proclamation for Park and Rec.

And Josh, please.

Oh, there you are, you're hiding behind John.

All right.

And whereas the city of Brookings is fortunate to benefit from a strong system of parks, trails, recreational amenities, and dedicated professionals who enrich the lives of residents every day.

And whereas parks and recreation agencies provide valuable services, including wellness programming, environmental stewardship, recreational opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, and whereas parks and national natural areas enhance the beauty and environmental health of our community while helping ensure resilience for future generations.

And whereas parks and recreation increases a community's economic prosperity through increased property values, expansion of the local tax base, increased tourism, the attraction and retention businesses, and crime reduction.

And whereas July is recognized nationwide as parks and recreation month in celebration of the essential role parks and recreation play in building healthy, vibrant, and connected communities.

Now there we are now, therefore it be resolved that I, OPK Garrett Neemeyer, mayor of the city of Brookings do hereby proclaim July as parks and recreation month.

Yeah, so just to explain a little bit about Park and Recreation Month.

This July, Parks and Recreation Month is highlighting the power of.

So whether that's the power of community, connection, play, nature, or belonging, that I that power of encouragement or the power of for parks and recreation is just an experience for everybody to be had in our community.

Those are just a few examples of how the power of can affect a community as a whole.

And I just want to encourage everyone to get out there and experience what the power of parks and recreation right here at the city of Brookings can provide for our community.

Thank you.

Okay, next on our item is official reports.

And Brianna, do you have a report for the hospital?

I do, yes.

Um, in our previous meeting, we started it with a pretty significant update from SEDAho, which is the association of healthcare organizations in the state.

We discussed funding as well as priorities in the legislature that was discussed this previous session.

And uh, as we talk about the legislature, just a reminder to go and vote in the primaries as well as being aware of how funding sources and health care priorities are being discussed.

In previous meetings, we discussed the application to the farm program, which is a USD program for a medical student where they have a rural role rural location for a nine-month rotation.

And this program would allow for an exceptional educational experience in rural medicine as well as recruiting talent to Brookings.

The health system has been selected as a final site, and there will be an in-person evaluation later this month.

We also discussed an update with the Northern Plains Health Network.

This is an LLC with four founding member hospitals around our area that creates a network strategic roadmap of collaboration, advocacy, and resources.

It was created in 2015, but recently in 2025, it had kind of a uh re-engagement with surveys to create a strategic plan and discuss challenges that we bring up every month of workforce development, recruitment efforts, challenges around IT system integration as well as just managing referral agreements.

It's making sure that there is a more cohesive strategy around serving rural health.

We also discussed a strategic plan uh update of EPIC.

So this is a system that Lisa and I brought up every month on kind of how it's been progressing.

It officially went live at 4 a.m.

on Saturday, May 30th.

And we just discussed a couple of short-term challenges that the health system has been experiencing.

Um, really talking about flexibility around adding appropriate access and optimizing those workflows, just different housekeeping items of the equipment going live and working as it should.

So overall, it sounds like it was a successful transition, just kind of working through those various challenges.

Um we did want to put in a plug that if you've recently visited the healthcare system, you've probably heard comments around adjustments for that.

So check your portal if you have it, make sure that all of your information is correct and put in a ticket if anything is not to make sure that you're adequately being served.

And I really wanted to send an appreciation to BHS for undertaking this change.

Epic is it has about 80% of the market share, so it's pretty frequent throughout the healthcare system.

Um, and so I'm glad that we got updated into the software with the major um effort that it took from staff, and I I've really appreciated the transparency of the organization with the community around this adjustment and the continued effort it has taken.

Over the past two years, the laboratory has experienced significant staffing challenges through departures, retirements, just staff transition.

And they had a targeted uh recruitment campaign and incentives that it is now fully staffed by Brookings Healthcare System uh employees and not traveling technologists.

So big win for the healthcare system.

Um the hospice caseload stats reflect a record number of nurse visits in a month from 191 when the previous total was 171 in December of 2025.

And then they also submitted two major applications for EMS and IT uh around or they're completing them, I'm sorry, for the South Dakota Rural Health Transformation Plan.

So we'll have an update on that.

And then finally, just a measles update since you've probably seen some uh news updates around that.

So as of June 2026, South Dakota reported 10 confirmed cases, with three being in Brookings County.

Six of those cases uh did involve unvaccinated children for various beliefs and reasons.

And overall, we just wanted to send a reminder that measles is a highly contagious airborne virus with no specific treatment and has the potential for serious complications.

So BHS is actively monitoring the situation.

They have posted signage if you've seen any of their locations, directing patients and visitors to call ahead if they're experiencing any symptoms.

Um I really appreciate the staff of BHS of constantly uh cleaning and sanitizing spaces to make sure that our community stays healthy.

And that is it, end of report.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bree.

Council have any questions for Bree.

Bonnie, do we have a BMU report?

Yesterday's BMU meeting is delayed till this Friday schedule.

All right.

Thanks, Bonnie.

All right, move on to item 7A, contracts and change orders.

Action on resolution 26 045.

A resolution awarding the construction contract for the main fire station and amendment of architects and owners representative professional service agreements.

John Thompson, our public works director, will present this item.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council members, John Thompson with Public Works.

Before you denied the resolution authorizing the construction contract for the city's new main fire station and authorizing the city manager to amend the professional services agreements for the architect and the owner's representative to reflect the project's current delivery method.

The city advertised prep for this project for bids on June 12th, in accordance with State Dakota law.

Bids were opened on June 30th, and we received nine responsive and responsible bids, demonstrating a strong competitive competition and interest in this project.

The bid package included the base bid along with four additive alternatives.

After reviewing the bids with the design team, staff recommends awarding the base bid along with alternative number one, which includes the fire pole.

We determined that alternatives number two and number four did not provide sufficient value for their additional cost.

And alternative number three did not generate a meaningful savings.

Based on this evaluation, staff recommends awarding the contract to Lloyd Construction LLC of Sioux Falls, the lowest responsive and responsible bidder in the amount of three million nine hundred and ninety thousand three hundred dollars.

The resolution also authorizes the city manager to manager to amend the architects and owners representative owners representative agreements as needed to support the construction phase services.

Those original agreements were developed with the expectation that the project would be using the construction manager at risk delivery method since the city ultimate proceed ultimately proceeded with the traditional design bid build process.

Minor amendments are going to be needed to align those those agreements with the selected delivery method.

From a financial standpoint, the project remains in a very favorable position.

The adopted fiscal year 2026 budget includes approximately 6.3 million dollars, which is more than sufficient to fund this contract.

Additionally, the total projected cost of the project, including construction, professional services, owner furnished equipment, furnishings and contingencies is approximately 5.56 million.

That's roughly a 667,000 below the design team's estimated estimate that we prepared right at the time the project was sent to bid.

This recommended recommendation is consistent with state procurement requirements, the city's procurement policies, and supports several strategic plan goals, including fiscal responsibility, service excellence, sustainability, and maintaining safe, reliable public facilities for our community.

Staff removed uh staff recommends approval of the resolution awarding the construction contract to low Lloyd Construction LLC in the amount of three million nine hundred and ninety thousand three hundred dollars in authorizing the city manager to execute the contract and amend the professional services agreements as necessary.

A representative from Lloyd's Construction LLC and JLG, the city's architectural firm are in the audience tonight, and we're available for any questions.

That's ends of my presentation.

Thank you, John.

Entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Move and second.

Is there any public comment on this item?

Okay.

Council have any questions, comments.

Councilmember Wendell.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

I have a question that we may not know the answer to this evening, but I'm wondering if we've contemplated the almost $700,000 savings associated with this project.

Will this project be completed in time for us to know whether or not that will impact the amount we'll need to bond for the police department facility?

Would the timing allow us to confidently put this sub $700,000 toward the police facility?

It will be com it will not be completed in time for that for sure.

However, um we're going through the construction manager at risk uh process delivery method in the police department, so we should have a guaranteed maximum price.

Hopefully, if design goes well here in the next few months by December, and then Ashley will have a strong number on the bonding with this uh and the award tonight.

This already gives her a good idea, and we've already had some schematic budgets for the for the police department, but they go honestly go all over the place until we get down to the to the nitty-gritty.

This went all over the place until about the last week.

So but yeah, no, by by the time uh Ashley needs it, we'll have some good numbers for bonding.

Great.

Hey, thanks, John.

Any other questions, comments from council?

I guess I have one for uh the contractor that won the award.

Um how many local uh trades are you planning on using or or are going to be able to use in our area?

I'll let Dan respond to that, but he does have a couple.

Thank you.

Yeah, so Dan Kurtz with Lloyd Construction.

Um, appreciate the opportunity here to be tonight.

So I'm not I don't want to get the cart before the horse.

We haven't made commitments to people, but the way it stands um of our estimate, we've got probably half or better that would come from um local contractors or from from the Brookings community.

All right.

So thank you.

Oh Troy?

Troy, do you want to speak at all to this?

Well, first off, Mr.

Mayor, members of the council, just thank you for this opportunity.

Um, I was uh involved in a conference a couple years back in Phoenix, and the average age of these facilities when they're replaced is about 79 years old.

So when we build this this next year, we need to be thinking that this is gonna have to last us 60, 70, maybe even 80 years.

So I think we've done some good work.

Um really happy with John.

John and I were kind of on the same page about being efficient with the dollars, uh trying to get things done, but not have a lot of fancy arches and things like that in the building to cost money, but still having the things that we need to protect our firefighters, like decon facilities so they can they go to a fire.

That fire doesn't know the carcinogens doesn't know if it's a volunteer firefighter or a paid firefighter, so we still owe them that possibility to come back to the station and get cleaned up so they don't have to take that home to their families.

And this station will provide that.

The other thing this provides is that second floor will be unfinished, so we have space in the future to expand as needs expand over the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years.

So it's really gonna be a great project.

Um we're we're working with PD too, because PD, I don't know if you know, uses our East Fire Station as kind of a substation, so when they have officers on that side of town, they can come to the station and do reports and still kind of stay in their response area.

When PD moves out clear to the east side of town, this station will become their substation where they can be downtown and still do reports and get their work done.

So it's been a great partnership with Chief Drake and and the police department to get this put together too.

So thank you.

All right.

Council, you have any questions for Troy?

Councilmember Dern.

Excuse me, I'll just have a quick follow-up comment to that.

I really have appreciated how much you have considered the well-being of our firefighters and our staff in this design.

Um it's been a really big priority during your time here of not just serving our community but servicing our volunteers, and I I really really do appreciate that.

Uh there's not a job that's more important for me.

So all right, thank you very much.

Uh please call the roll.

Wendell.

Ivory.

I Doran.

Aye.

Hager, aye.

Neemaier.

Aye.

Specker.

Aye.

Tilton Byrne.

Aye.

Okay.

First readings uh 8A.

Introduction and first reading on ordinance 26 022.

An ordinance ordinance authorizing budget amendment number five to the 2026 budget.

Ashley Rench, our finance director will present this item.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the council.

This is the first reading of ordinance 26-022.

Amendment number five to the 2026 budget.

On June 23rd, Council approved the contract with CJR Design Studio for the Dakota Nature Park Art Installation Project in an amount not to exceed 250,000.

This budget amendment is the next administrative step in that process, and specifically the amendment establishes a total of 250,000 of budget authority within the public art long-term projects account to uh so that expenditures can be incurred as the project moves through design, fabrication, and installation.

Of that $250,000, $96,230 is existing budget authority that is being transferred from the public art fund contracted services account into the long-term projects account to ensure that project expend expenses expenditures are all recorded within the appropriate budget line item.

The remaining budget authority of 150,770 represents the additional appropriation needed to fully fund the project with public art fund reserves.

The second reading of this ordinance will be July 30th, and I'd be glad to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ashley.

Is there any public comment on this item at this time?

Council have any questions, comments.

All right.

Councilmember Wendell.

Thank you, Mayor.

I I just wanted to make a couple of quick comments.

I think there's been some public chatter around the public art fund and the public arts commission, and I think the emergence of this project has maybe risen the awareness of folks in the community of the existence of the public arts commission, and some folks may not have been aware that we have a public arts commission.

That about one percent of capital expenditures on an annual basis are directed to the public art fund, and the public arts commission administers that fund very thoughtfully and strategically.

About 25% of their annual budget uh goes toward the ongoing maintenance and repair and preservation of existing art throughout the community.

About 25% of their annual budget contributes to art programming and short-term installations and some other projects in the community.

Think of the utility box wraps we enjoy throughout uh the neighborhoods and a number of other projects that have I think enriched uh surprising uh spots in the community.

And then about 50% of their annual budget uh is to be dedicated to uh large-scale permanent installations of this nature.

Uh and when that 50% of their budget hits a certain threshold, they start to explore an opportunity to do an installation.

I think the last one we did was at Bob Sheldon Field about four or five years ago.

The threshold was hit again, and so they explored another opportunity to install art in a high traffic area, went out for a competitive bid process or a request for submissions for for this particular installation.

They received 167 submissions from throughout the country.

Two of them were South Dakota artists, but through a very thoughtful juried uh process, they selected this particular installation, uh, which I think is beautiful, will really complement the area it's going into and sort of celebrates the Dakota Nature Park.

Uh and I just want to commend the commission for really thoughtfully bringing this recommendation forward.

Uh, this is an installation that will endure long past any of our time on the council uh and will be here for generations uh into the future to enjoy like so many public art installations throughout the community are and so uh Meredith from the public arts commission is here this evening.

Uh Lisa, the current chair of the public arts commission has done tremendous work and and really the whole commission invests so much time and energy into thoughtfully placing public art in our community, and this is just one really outstanding example that I'm excited we can celebrate uh and and just commend the commission on their work.

Thank you.

All right, any other comments, questions from council.

All right.

Thank you.

All right, move on to the second readings of public hearings.

Item 9A, second reading in action on ordinance 26-020.

An ordinance authorizing budget amendment number four to the 2026 budget.

Paul Rusino, our city manager would present this one.

Thanks, Mayor, City Council members.

Uh, this budget amendment appropriates 450,000 from economic development reserves to acquire strategically located um location downtown uh to cover closing costs.

The property is contiguous to existing city-owned land, creating opportunities for coordinated future development in the downtown.

This request does not increase property taxes, does not increase uh sales tax, does not require debt financing, and does not impact current service levels.

The funding comes entirely from economic development reserves, which were established for strategic community investments.

This investment supports the goals and visions outlined in our in your decode in your downtown master plan and staff recommends approval of the budget as amended as as proposed.

Thanks, Paul.

Entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

And moving second, is there any public comment on this item?

Howdy.

Uh you know, works.

Um I visited with uh Councilman Haker, and she said this is going to be used for public art.

And the question would be: shouldn't it be the arts council that approves this kind of thing?

Second of all, um Matt Fensky actually bid 400,000 for it.

And as I calculate based on property taxes, it'll take 65 years of his property taxes at 400,000 to pay that 450,000 dollars.

And so I would encourage you to rethink the idea of this because we could put in uh when we talk about economic development, economic development would be increasing business, not putting public art in.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Any other comments, questions?

All right, move on to the council.

Questions, comments?

Lisa So just to clarify, when I was having my conversation with Mr.

Wicks, I mentioned that in the long term, one of the things that could be done with the co-op rather than it having to be taken down, would to be possibly having a public art piece on that.

We've seen that in a variety of other communities.

There is nothing in the works as of right now with respect to that property and public art.

I was just simply mentioning that that is one potential option as we would move forward with that property and private development that would align with our downtown master plan, just the master plan in general and our economic development master plan.

Sure.

If it's not going to be used for public art, it will probably cost between one and two million dollars to tear down.

All right.

That would be in general if you know anything about those old elevators.

They are literally full of nails and metal, and to spend between one and a half and two and a half million dollars on something that really doesn't, it's not gonna have any purpose as opposed to having an individual who will pay 400,000 for it and use it.

I would encourage you again to consider your purchase.

Thank you.

Any other council comments?

Councilmember Avery.

Well, I think we do have some other options rather than just hoping that we generated enough property tax over the next 90 years to pay for it.

Because I think the this facility still is functional, still has a value.

As we saw, there was other people that were willing to purchase it.

There's uh demand for that possibly is to lease those facilities out, generate revenue from it on an ongoing basis until we would have some other plans in the future.

I think I think it's a long-standing thing in real estate.

You need to buy something when it's for sale.

If it fits into our plans for the downtown Brookings, this was the time to acquire it because this was the time it was for sale.

So we have it.

There's other uses for it, it will generate revenue.

It doesn't need to be torn down.

Um it's just part of our downtown master plan that fits into our goals.

So I think we we had good uh sound reasoning when we went after this piece of property.

All right.

Any other comments, questions?

Councilmember Durin.

Thank you, Mayor.

I would just add to Councilmember Avery's comments that we really look at using those workable plans and how we can activate spaces.

So in a lot of our meetings over the last few years, we have talked about how can we create a really intentional connective downtown, connecting it to our neighborhoods, connecting it to other park spaces, um, creating that economic um revitalization in the area as well.

And so when we look at moving forward with land or intentional development with land, we are are using our guiding documents um at the forefront, but we're really looking at those long-term plans.

So it might seem like a short-term kind of large investment, and I I look forward to bringing more updates in the future as we work through those options.

But we really are looking at how we can connect the community with our downtown beyond those borders of those streets.

Okay, any other comments, questions from council.

Please call the roll.

Avery.

Aye.

Doran, aye, Hager, aye.

Neymar, aye.

Specker, aye.

Tilton Byrne, aye, Wendell.

Aye.

All right.

Item 9b, public hearing and action on resolution 26-038.

A resolution authorizing the city manager and to into a ten-year on-sale liquor operating agreement with Mama Citas LLC, Brookings, owner Louise.

I'm gonna I'm gonna say abundance.

I entertain a motion.

Are you Bonnie?

Would you present the rest of this?

Certainly, Mayor and members of the council.

This item is the result of a request to transfer an existing on-sale full service restaurant liquor operating agreement from the end zone to Mama Cita's LLC Brookings.

Mama Citas will be located at 1300 Main Avenue South.

The city enters into operating agreements for a period of 10 years with a required five-year midterm renewal.

If council approves all required paperwork would be submitted to the State Department of Revenue for final review and issuance.

Owner Luiz Abundes is present this evening.

If the council has any questions for him, staff recommends approval.

Thank you, Bonnie.

Entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Second.

Open public hearing on this item.

There's is there any public comment?

This is your opportunity to have free advertising, sir.

Thank you all.

Uh my name is Luisa Bundes.

So as Ms.

Bonnie mentioned, uh looking to open a new Mexican restaurant in time.

Please get closer to the mic.

All right.

Uh looking at the get these Mexican restaurants south of Maine.

For so long, we're me and my company have been looking to be in Brookings and looking for a good spot.

And uh we found these in South Maine, so very proud of that.

And um hope you guys consider to approve the liquor license.

The takes a lot of effort and to get it.

And the state of South Dakota is quite hard to get a liquor license among the other states that I have restaurants on.

Um, so I am very happy to be here working and try to put out these nice small restaurants in South Maine.

They much needed it.

I mean and my chefs and team, we do an exam and we think everything on Brookings again on Sixth Street when it comes to businesses and food and everything, and we think the town is growing up south, and there's not many food choices in South.

So we're very proud to be where we are, and I hope you guys can start to approve it.

And um it was a good opportunity, and I'm grateful to be here today.

Well, thank you for making the investment into Brookings.

Thank you.

Any other public comments, questions?

Council questions, comments.

When are you opening?

Uh well, uh probably a month from now.

Okay.

If this is going well, it's everybody asked me the same question as like a big puzzle with a lot of loose pieces.

The legal license is one of those pieces.

Uh if it's approval, it's one more done, and we're counting now, but probably want to say a month or so.

Uh sign us up.

Remember the uh remodeling insights gonna be beautiful.

You guys probably been there when the other restaurant was in there.

You guys would not believe what a change is gonna be.

It's just gonna be great.

I do have another restaurant a little bit bigger in Bermillion, uh literally a block away from USD.

So uh I hardly believe that college towns are really strong.

And I mean, if Bermelian is really strong, I mean Brookings is just it's way, way bigger.

And it just I'm very excited to be here.

So as soon as we put everything together, we get you in for some burritos.

All right, looking forward to it.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um council questions, comments?

Please call the roll.

Doran.

Aye.

Hager.

Aye.

Neyer?

Aye.

Specker, aye.

Tilton Byrne?

Aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery.

Aye.

Congratulations.

Look forward to us.

Thank you.

Public hearing in action on special event temporary alcohol beverage application from the Brookings Regional Growth Alliance for Downtown at Sundown.

Bonnie Foster will also present this.

Mayor and Council members.

The Brookings Regional Growth Alliance is seeking the issuance of a special event, temporary alcohol beverage license for the downtown at Sundown five-week event.

This will be the 11th year for this event in downtown Brookings.

Kristen Jezel is present this evening.

If council has any questions for her, staff recommends approval.

All right.

Entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Open public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment?

Well, here we go.

Hello, everyone.

Kirsten Jezdahl, community development director with the Brookings Regional Growth Alliance.

I'm looking forward to the 11th year of downtown at Sundown.

The dates are up on the screen behind you, but it's every Thursday from the last Thursday of July through the end of August.

Gates open at 5 30 p.m.

with the band starting at 6.

We have a really wonderful lineup this year.

So we start on the 30th with our kickoff night in the Lizzie Hofer band.

The August 6th is Bobcat night, so come cheer on the Bobcats with undercover band.

The 13th is the new resident welcome night with Shallow Lee band.

So we look forward to seeing you all there to welcome our new residents.

The 20th is multicultural night with the Terra Faber band, and then we end on the 27th of August with SDSU night.

So I hear there will be some free SDSU ice cream and the Devon Warley Band.

So just a reminder to the general public bring a chair, come hungry.

Don't forget the kids, either at home or at the concert.

And just a thank you for the city for their support of that coming into our 11th year.

It's a very exciting thing to kind of reach that point.

And also, of course, a big shout out to our headliner sponsor for Spank and Trust for their support of that concert.

Okay, my memory is somewhat short, but did I ask for a motion for that?

Yes.

I did.

All right.

Oof.

Right over the top of my head.

Is there any other public comment on this item?

Council any questions, comments.

Look forward to it.

I'm sure there's a lot of planning that's gone involved in this.

So any new additional things from the years past.

I just ordered some new picnic tables today.

So I personally am very excited about that.

I don't know if the general public will be, but okay.

Hager, aye.

Neymar?

Aye.

Specker.

Aye.

Tilton Byrne.

Aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery.

Aye.

Doran.

Aye.

Okay.

Item 9D, public hearing in action on ordinance 26-017.

An ordinance amending the subdivision regulations of the City of Brookings pertaining to Article 6, subdivision improvements, design standards for the purposes of administration of the subdivision regulations.

Ryan's going to present this.

Ryan Miller, our city planner, will present this item.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor and members of the council.

This is the second reading and public hearing on ordinance 2617.

I'm in order to amend our subdivision regulations earlier this year.

Staff started exploring some changes to our subdivision section of ordinance, uh looking at making some changes to our um improve our connectivity.

This is originally introduced to the planning commission, I think back in uh May.

Uh there was quite a bit of discussion then regards to the warranty periods that were being modified and then the street exception portion of the ordinance revision.

Um so staff took took some time to revise our changes and came up with some um language that uh planning commission was more comfortable with at the June meeting.

Um we're bringing it to the council.

Um some of the big changes that were being uh made were to the COL de sac limitations and allowances, um, reducing the overall length allowed for a cul-de-sac, as well as kind of redefining where a cul de sac would be allowed based off of what criteria COLISEC would be allowed.

Uh trying to kind of improve um our restrictions on Cold Sachs to improve connectivity.

Um additionally, we added some language to require more connectivity in um subdivisions in regards to um locating streets uh between legal blocks and a legal description.

Um then lastly, we did include, as I mentioned, uh some changes in our street acceptance warranty process.

And then lastly, we did include, as I mentioned, uh some changes in our street acceptance warranty process.

Uh before paving streets and gutters, and then after that, there'd be a two uh year warranty beyond that.

Um this uh was a unanimous approval from the planning commission.

Um and staff would stand for any questions.

Thank you, Ryan.

Entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Open the public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment?

Council have any questions, comments?

Councilmember Hager.

I have a comment.

So anybody who's been watching our meetings as of late when we've been dealing with this issue has heard that street connectivity is an issue that's very important to me.

So I just really want to again take this opportunity to thank our staff for addressing all of the issues that are in this particular ordinance, but that one in particular.

I also really appreciate their engagement with developers and ensuring that a proper balance has been struck between addressing city needs, but also not unduly delaying projects or increasing the cost of development projects.

Okay, any other comments, questions council member Specker.

Yeah, Ryan, I was just wondering if you could explain, like currently the warranty is one year, I think.

And like these examples that you have up here of settlement, if that happens, say two to three years after the roads are accepted, who pays for that?

I'm gonna let a better expert address that.

I don't know if Charlie, you want to come up here and address that.

Yeah, currently um we have a one-year warranty on all streets that are accepted as public ways after the one year warranty is expired.

It is the it's in the hands of the city for any repairs that need to be done.

Okay, the pictures that you see here are from a street or streets that are about three years old.

Okay, so this should help with costs for street replacements within the city.

Correct.

And what we're trying to do is in trying to um have standards that um would be enacted.

Uh so in conjunction with this warranty, we're going to be improving our standards for and requirements for an inspection.

And we've gone through um materials, uh, we've gone through how we design roads.

Uh, we've gone through uh with um and revised uh the inspection requirements on these streets.

So it's not just the one thing that we're trying to uh use here to address these settlement issues, it's a multiple avenues and trying to rectify issues like this that we're facing after the street has been turned over to the city.

Okay, I personally appreciate the work that you've done on this.

Thank you.

All right, council member Wendell.

Thank you, Mayor.

Charlie, I don't want to get us too far out under the weeds, but I noticed in the planning commission minutes there was some discussion about BMU also uh kind of looking at their standards for some trenching right now that perhaps would also impact some of this work.

Are those standards being updated by BMU kind of concurrently to us looking at our standards?

Is that happening in concert with BMU or those two totally separate yes?

Uh uh over the past several years we've been working together with BMU to look at our standards, try to under better understand what's causing the these settlement issues.

Um so it's been a been a serious effort between BMU, um ourselves, um banner, um, and geotech, who's a geotechnical engineer, to better formulate a way to prevent these issues from happening.

This warranty extension is just a small part of what we're trying to uh on how we try to address these this these issues.

Sure.

So it sounds like some of those standards that could positively impact this would be updated by the city, but there would be others that would need to be updated by BMU and hopefully both entities will take that action.

Correct.

Okay.

And over the uh the last couple of years, BMU has been working on updating theirs.

So um we've had some very positive discussions with BMU uh and whether it's geotechnical engineer.

Um so we believe this is the right path on how to address these these issues.

Uh what we're facing is spending thousands of dollars each year repairing these issues, and um these roads should last 20 years, and we shouldn't have to come back within those those 20 years to do to repair issues like this.

Thanks, Charlie.

All right.

Any other comments, questions?

Please call the roll.

Neymar.

Aye.

Specker, aye.

Tilton Byrne, aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery.

Aye.

Doran, aye.

Hager, aye.

Okay, on to 9E.

Public hearing in action on ordinance 26-021.

An ordinance to change the zoning within the city of Brookings, block two of Northern Plains Edition from a business B2A office district to a planned development district with business B2A underlying district.

Ryan Miller, our city planner will present this item also.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor, members of the council.

This is uh the public hearing and action on uh ordinance 2621.

Uh petition to rezone block two of Northern Plains Edition from a business B2A to a planned development district with the business B2A underlying district.

Uh Northern Plains addition, it's located on South Main, just south of 15th Street.

Um this is a property that was previously rezoned from residential to the business 2A, uh B2A a few years ago.

Um it's been developed on the south side into uh a dental office and then some town homes to the east.

Um there's a area undeveloped uh in this uh yellow box to the north of the dental office.

There's a possible use that wants to go on there that would be retail focused, and the business B2A does not allow for retail.

Uh so the uh property owner and the prospective tenant, uh they've proposed to do a planned development district where they would simply take the B2A zoning and they would add retail as an allowable use with some restrictions on that retail.

Uh restrictions being that uh the businesses would be open between 7 a.m.

and 7 p.m.

They would be prohibited from uh um serving alcohol, selling cannabis, tobacco, vapor nicotine sales, convenience stores and drive-throughs would be um prohibited as well.

Um this uh does come with a unanimous recommendation of approval from the planning commission, and there's also an initial development plan that will be reviewed subsequently after the rezone.

With that, staff will stand for any questions you have on the rezone.

Thank you, Ryan.

Entertain a motion to approve.

So moved, second.

Move and second.

Is there any public comment on this item?

Please come forward, state your name.

Uh yeah, Jeff Borah with uh Dakota Land Design, and I guess I'm representing the uh the developer, Northern Plains Professional Properties on this, um, and also an interested party in one of these lots.

Um I guess the goal with this PDD is that yeah, they just the developer would just like to allow for some uh very specific retail businesses that would be kind of low, low impact and complementary to the uh to the medical plaza and the uh the apartments to the east.

Um and Ryan kind of stated those those stipulations with the regular business hours and you know prohibiting um some of those items there.

Um the developer will retain architectural approval um on everything there, and they still um control sales of the block, so they will still have say and involvement in what what businesses um they would consider there, and uh a benefit of the PDD would just be that anyone who wants to build there um would still have to go through a final approval process.

So it's uh I guess we kind of view it as a maybe a win-win for the developer and and the city, and then I guess yeah, hopefully attracting some some new businesses there.

So I guess that's all I have, and I'd stand by for any questions.

All right.

Is there any other public comment on this item?

I'll switch right over to council.

Council have any questions for Jeff.

All right, thank you.

Please call the roll.

Specker, aye, Tilton Byrne, aye, Wendell, aye, Avery, aye.

Dorin, aye, Hager, aye, Neemeyer.

Aye.

Other business item 10A, action on initial development plan for block two of Northern Plains edition.

Ryan will also present this item.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and members of the council.

Uh for planned development districts.

Uh the process involves the rezone followed by the initial development plan and in some cases a final development plan.

Uh so we'll be looking at the initial development plan now for uh that block two of Northern Plains edition, uh, which includes uh proposed three uh retail office buildings uh located along Main Avenue South.

Um I think the primary um first phase for the development would be the South building where the prospective uh tenant is looking into.

Uh the initial development plan shows that there would be two access points, one off of Mayfield Drive and one of Cloverfield Place, um, no access to Main Avenue South individually to the buildings.

Uh the initial development plan does include a request for uh reduced parking um with the shared parking layout here.

It's hard to see on this.

That's kind of the the blue um horizontal lines is roughly where uh the potential for three lots would be located within uh block two.

Um so they would be sharing it'd be a cross-sharing uh parking on that uh north-south parking lot showing 49 parking spaces, and if you use the retail calculation, uh be 54 spaces total needed, so a slight reduction in parking as requested.

Um the um initial development plan again it outlines the uh allowable and prohibited uses in the B2A PDD that was just established in their petition rezone.

It does show um proposed max height of 60 feet.

Um these are likely going to be quite a bit less than that, as uh likely um you know, single story or um slightly higher retailer office buildings.

Um note on this initial development plan.

This is within the commercial corridor design review overlay district.

So these buildings would need to be built according to all of those standards in the commercial corridor design review overlay district.

And if they do uh meet all those requirements, they would actually not uh go through the final development plan process, they would go through the commercial corridor design review overlay district process, which would be uh an admin review so long as they meet all of the requirements of the commercial corridor.

If they were to seek any uh variances to the standards of the commercial corridor overlay district, they would come back to planning commission and city council.

And uh planning commission again did approve this unanimously through the review of the rezone and staff would stand for any questions.

Thank you, Ryan.

Entertain a motion to approve.

So moved, second.

Is there any public comment on this item?

Council, questions, comments?

Councilmember Wendell.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'll maybe just make a comment that sort of echoes the sentiments I shared last time we discussed this development.

Uh I'm really encouraged by this, and I want to thank the developers and those that are uh potentially considering locating here for being thoughtful about how they develop this particular block and putting some stipulations in or agreeing to some stipulations in terms of hours of operation or business type.

Um but I hope that this sort of gets our gears turning around the way we can start to integrate some retail activity close to existing neighborhoods.

Uh we talk a lot about connected neighborhoods and a walkable city and the ways folks want to live in their neighborhoods and know their neighbors and go to a neighborhood store and be able to pick up essentials close to where they live instead of having to drive uh to a super center across town.

I think this represents maybe what we think of as a the start of some of that neighborhood and retail integration.

And so I appreciate the thoughtfulness uh around this development, and I hope that it it helps uh us to think about the way we can look at some retail that could be adjacent to existing neighborhoods really thoughtfully and responsibly that I think actually will enhance the quality of life in some of our neighborhoods.

So thanks for that.

All right.

Any other comments, questions?

Please call the roll.

Tilton Byrne.

Aye, Wendell.

I Avery.

I Doran.

Aye, Hager, aye.

Neyer.

Aye.

Specker.

Aye.

Item 10B action on resolution 26-044, a resolution authorizing the acquisition of real property, authorizing the expenditures of funds for the purchase of the real property, and authorizing the execution of the documents to effectuate the terms and intent of this resolution.

Paul Percino will represent this item.

Thank you, Mayor.

City Council members.

This resolution authorizes the purchase of property located at 210 Front Street.

This includes associated closing and legal costs for the amount not to exceed 450,000 dollars.

The purchase agreement has been reviewed by the city attorney.

Uh funding for this acquisition will come from the city council's economic development fund through a previously approved budget amendment tonight.

Uh if purchased, the property will be incorporated into the city's long-range planning efforts, including future downtown redevelopment and infrastructure planning processes.

As future opportunities for the site are evaluated, staff will return to city council in a very public process to include any recommendations as well as public engagement for any significant redevelopment uh decisions that may be made into the future.

Staff does recommend approval for resolution 2644 authorizing the purchase of the property at 210 Front Street.

As you can see, uh noted here, the current land uh outlined in white uh is city-owned land, which is roughly three acres.

Uh, by adding this additional site, it'll add an additional one acre for four total acres.

Once again, as the city continues to plan uh this for opportunities for redevelopment in the future.

Once again, as the city continues to plan uh this for opportunities for redevelopment in the future, it'll not only include public engagement but also many, many public engagements with the city council.

All right, thank you, Paul.

Entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Is there any public comment on this item?

Council have questions, comments.

I truly believe this is a smart investment.

Uh obviously, because it's contiguous to property that we already own, and we have uh ample opportunities to do something really good in this area here.

Um I see a lot of really interesting things that could happen here.

Um I'm just taking making a comment.

Umt, I think is the name of the town south of Des Moines.

They have got an area where they are doing a downtown development, and they are including the silos as part of it.

And it's kind of interesting some of the renditions that they've already come up with.

There's really huge opportunities of what we could do with this downtown area.

So with that being said, please call the roll.

Wendell.

All right, Avery.

I Doran, aye, Hager, aye.

Neymar.

I specker, aye.

Tilton Byrne.

Hi.

All right.

On to item 11, progress report.

Johnny Mays, our deputy city manager will present this item.

Good evening, Mayor and uh members of council.

Tonight I'm gonna present the July progress report.

The engineering division has been working tirelessly to continue to keep our roads clean and safe for people to travel, and to ensure our roads across the community are smooth.

Several street overlay projects are set to start.

Currently in progress, 11th Avenue, 3rd Street to 6th Street, Madari Avenue, 7th Street to 11th Street is scheduled to start July, yeah, July 15th, 13th Avenue, 3rd Street to 6th Street is scheduled to start July 29th, and the 20th Street South Hill removal at Rapid Valley is scheduled to start July 20th.

As always, you can learn more about these projects on the community construction website.

Moving on to parks and recreation.

July is officially parks and recreation month.

Celebrate celebrated nationwide to recognize the impact of local parks and outdoor facilities.

I would like to give a big shout out to the parks and recreation department for all the great things they do every single day for this community.

On July 4th, the city hosted the Uncle Sam Jam.

Peak attendance was estimated at 350 patrons with a total of 700 throughout the event.

We received positive feedback from members of the community and vendors.

Uncle Sam would like to thank everyone who came out to this event to celebrate America's 250th birthday.

Also, we had several other events.

There we go, several other events that happened throughout this past weekend that drew large crowds.

These events included the Brook and Summer Arts Festival, Buffalo Wild Wings Tournament, and the Brookins Tennis and Horseshoe Tournament.

These community events are a testament to what a good idea and a lot of hard work can do.

If you've been driving around town, you might have noticed that the skate park project is moving along.

The contractor informed us that the project is three to four weeks ahead of schedule, and we hope to hold a ribbon cutting ceremony sometime in August.

Another project scheduled to begin here soon is the Edgebrook Golf Course Project.

The city attorney just recently finalized the easement agreement with Solventum within 30 minutes ago.

So we're gonna hopefully get that signed tomorrow.

We'll get the contract to the city manager to sign and give the notice to proceed to the contractor.

So construction should start anytime soon.

More to come.

Just a reminder: the city of Brookens has accepted nominations for the 2026 Mayor's Generational Leadership Award.

The award recognizes the importance of young leaders who help make the community vibrant and dynamic.

The nomination deadline is 5 p.m.

Friday, July 31st.

End of report.

I'll yield back for any questions.

All right.

Thanks, Joni.

Any questions, comments from council?

Councilmember Avery.

I was just gonna add a little bit to uh the report.

We talked about briefly the the uh Rooking Summer Arts Festival, and that was just a tremendous project that year after year.

Josh and his crew with the park and rec are just uh instrumental in making that thing work.

But it was all the entities that the city has that were came together to help on that.

We have the police, the fire department, the EMTs of the hospitals involved with have the ambulance.

Uh BMU uh provided the uh Wi-Fi towers this year, so all the merchants were able to charge their um customers using their um credit cards.

So I thought high testimony to how happy was everybody was that when I walked around, nobody was complaining.

So and if humans have that tendency to complain if they have some problems, they just didn't seem to have any.

So I think the weather, mayor, you were supposed to uh work on that a little bit with the temp dial that temperature down, but other than that, I think it was a very successful amount.

And everybody involved it can take uh you know uh part in that and just works with a whole bunch of volunteers.

And uh I get to spend a lot of time this weekend with Josh and uh because I was on call, it didn't do much, but I was all prepared to all the time.

So again, thank you, the park and rec and all the uh other entities in the city that that made that thing happen.

So it makes the city great.

Any other comments, questions?

All right, thanks, Johnny.

All right, we'll move on to uh introduction to topics for future.

Uh let's talk about the advanced agenda for the July 30th meeting, which would have been on the 28th, but we have an election or a primary thing going on, so we've moved the meeting to July 30th.

It will still start at 6 o'clock, and we have one proclamation for disabilities act.

Uh no change orders or first readings at the moment, and we have a couple second readings from what we had tonight for our first.

Uh other than that, is there any other topics of discussion that somebody would like to have in the future?

All right.

Entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Stay cool, everyone.

They have the quality.