City Council Packet December 15, 2025

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City Council Minutes December 1, 2025 Page 5 of 6 stated he feels Elk River residents do not want a municipal cannabis store and believes this process will take years to sort out at the state level, and does not want to be a part of it. The Council directed staff to schedule a tour of the current Northbound Liquor Store. 11.2 Elk River Landfill Expansion EAW/EIS Comment Period Mr. Hale shared with the Council that this is the first of three comment periods about the landfill expansion. This size of expansion triggers an Environmental Impact Statement outlining any additional studies that may need to be conducted. He shared the comments for consideration by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Mr. Hale's comments cover concerns related to groundwater contamination, leachate, and traffic. The Council agreed with the requirements suggested by the MPCA. 11.3 Vehicle Acquisition and Replacement Policy Manual Mr. Litfin did not have a staff report to present to the Council. The Council directed Mr. Litfin to add the replacement policy to the December 15 Council Meeting. 11.4 On -Call Fire Department Staff Compensation Plan Changes Chief Mark Dickinson, Chief Libor, and Deputy Chief Neumann requested increased pay for Fire Captains and academy instructors. They explained the increases would not affect the budget; there have been recent leaves and a few fire academy drop -outs. The wages that were going to those positions would go to cover the cost of giving the Captains a raise. Chief Libor stated that all wages for Fire Instructor pay are reimbursed by the State. The city can ask for a raise to reflect the cost of living, and that will be reimbursed as well. Chief Neumann shared with the Council that they want to be comparable to other fire academies and offer similar pay when recruiting instructors. The Council is in favor of the proposed compensation increases. 11.5 Personnel Policy Manual Update The staff report was presented. Ms. Wipper noted some of the biggest changes to the policy manual are to the Paid Family Medical Leave. She continued and explained the following: "Top -off' is allowed, and employees can opt to use accrued time to get 100% pay, leave requests run concurrently, employment type definitions were modified, deadline for time sheet submissions, a section was added called staffing inventory, exempt employees are to request time off and get it approved before leave is taken, earned sick safety time and sick time have been combined, and added language on accrual for ESST for part-time and full-time employees. The Council will review the changes, and the policy will be added to a consent agenda for approval. Page 7 of 447