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City Council Minutes <br />November 3, 2025 <br />Page 5 of 6 <br /> <br />11.3 Community Service Officer Tuition Reimbursement <br />The staff report was presented. Chief Kuhnly presented to the Council a proposal to offer tuition <br />reimbursement for part-time Community Service Officers. It would be for those enrolled in a law <br />enforcement program, and they would only be eligible if they commit to working for Elk River. <br />Council agreed to put it on a future agenda. <br /> <br /> <br />11.4 Cannabound Branding <br />The staff report was presented. Ms. Starr Sorheim presented data showing who the target users are for <br />the cannabis store. She emphasized the importance of incorporating a marijuana leaf into the branding, <br />as people are visual. <br /> <br />The Council expressed the following comments: <br /> <br />As far as marketing and design go, Councilmembers were asking about why "Cannabound" was on two <br />separate lines compared to "Northbound." Noting they were looking for consistency. <br />The Council is in agreement that there should be a visual leaf, but it should not be an in-your-face <br />marijuana leaf. Councilmember Wagner created some images to share with staff, showing several <br />modernized images of the leaf to use as examples when recreating the leaf for Cannabound. <br /> <br />Council directed staff to bring new ideas to the next meeting for consideration. <br /> <br /> <br />11.5 Compensation Plan Update <br />Ms. Wipper presented the staff report. <br /> <br />Ms Wipper stated that the information she shared in her presentation is from cities comparable to Elk <br />River and the League of MN Cities. Many of our peer cities have implemented compensation plan <br />adjustments to become competitive in the same market, which has left Elk River 2-7% behind the <br />average of our peer group. The City Council's goal has been to be at the average of our comparison <br />cities. <br /> <br />Mr. Portner stated Elk River is recruiting in competition with other cities for their talent and needs to <br />be competitive in pay. And the current budget includes about 1.25% of payroll for market <br />adjustments. A midyear implementation would allow for most of the cost to fit within the proposed <br />budget. <br /> <br />The Mayor asked staff to create a plan for Council to approve a mid-year 2026 market adjustment with <br />a 2.75% January 1 COLA increase. <br /> <br /> <br />11.6 2026 Budget <br />Mayor Dietz opened the budget discussion. <br /> <br />Councilmembers concurred that there are no service level changes desired, and the budget, as <br />Page 8 of 312