Summary of Shorewood City Council Meeting October 14, 2025

SCA provides a brief summary of Shorewood City Council meetings for transparency, accountability and resident education

Due to technical changes at the LMCC website, please use the Chapters directory below the video to navigate to the referred content. Where applicable, links are included to the documentation in the council packet.

1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Roll Call
Present: DiGruttolo, Gorham, Labadie, Maddy, Sanschagrin
Parks-Czech, Public Works-Morreim,
Absent: Engineering-Budde, Finance-Schmuck, City Clerk-Thone, Planning-Griffiths, Attorney

2. CONSENT AGENDA

The Consent Agenda is a series of actions which are being considered for adoption
this evening under a single motion and will have no discussion by the Council…

A. City Council Work Session Minutes

B. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes

C. Claims List

D. Retail Tobacco License Renewals

E. Liability Coverage Waiver

~~F. City Council Bylaws Removed~~ to Item 4B

MOTION to approve consent agenda as revised, 2nd by Sanschagrin. All in favor.

3. MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR
Read recent history of Matters From the Floor

This is an opportunity for members of the public to bring an item, that is not on tonight’s agenda to the attention of the City Council. Anyone wishing to address the Council should raise their and, or if attending remotely, please use the “raise hand” function. Please identify yourself by your first and last name and your address for the record. Please limit your comments to three minutes.

George Greenfield, Yellowstone Trail:

The last council meeting exhibited symptoms of some of the disease facing our country.
Suppression of speech: Labadie suggested citizens would have to leave the room for applauding in appreciation of the argument given by the speaker.
The mayor and her allies wish to gentrify Shorewood, it could be called economic cleansing.
One way to accomplish this “cleansing” is to make Shorewood unaffordable for some people.
I can say she views fellow citizens as feckless weaklings if they are so easily intimidated.
A few minutes later she sat silently while two speakers praised her, which could be viewed as intimidating to people who did not support her.
A repeated rationale given by the mayor for citizens not having city water to have the advantage of a fire hydrant, which [he believes] is not true.
View Greenfield presentation here (start 03:15)

4. GENERAL BUSINESS

A. Report by Commissioner Garske on 09-23-25 Park Commission Meeting
Video start min. 7:17

Barry Brown suggested a volunteer recognition program and offered to build more park benches from reclaimed park wood at no cost. The Commission will discuss it at a future meeting.
The Master Plan was open for comments at Octoberfest. There will also be a public open house on October 28 from 6-7 at city hall.
Review changes to city code aligning park hours from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm., also allowing food trucks in the parks with permission.
Voted to allow alcohol at Freeman and Badger parks for permitted events.
Movie in the Park was successful. Attendance was light because Excelsior had an event the same night.
Oktoberfest went well and has not been reviewed by the park commission.
The Oktoberfest was scheduled in September due to when the Legion has its Oktoberfest.

4. B. Council bylaws (start at min. 14:30)

Sanschagrin said the by-laws should be clarified to the public that the ex parte clause refers strictly to matters before the city where a person talks to a council member outside of the public realm, specifically on a matter that may be coming up for a vote. Council members can talk to anyone they want, but don’t imply or make a decision until the public meeting. Sanschagrin also emphasized the by-laws document is not set in stone and can be changed annually. Nevinski said council members are able to talk with anyone they want just do not express your position until the evidence has been presented at the council meeting.
Sanchagrin also pointed out that changing the Matters from the Floor limits from 3 to 5 minutes was a big improvement. He also appreciated the adoption of the Rules of Order (p. 10) as guard rails for how the council conducts business.
Gorham added that the change from ⅘ to ⅗ vote for amendments was also a great improvement.

MOTION to adopt Council Bylaws, Second by Sanshagrin. All in favor.

5. STAFF AND COUNCIL REPORTS

A. Staff

i. Communications Update-Nevinski Video at min. 23:15

Sanschagrin asked about possible improvements in communication, such as Birch Bluff right of way work that occurred the week of October 3.
Nevinsky said communications are being tailored to particular activities. Mill and overlay will involve public notifications, while crack sealing would not since it does not affect many people. Council offered some suggestions for improved click rates on communications.

ii.Tentative Upcoming Agenda Items Video at min. 32:20

More software training is coming.
Next meeting will be the contract with Waste Management for recycling.
Future work sessions will be engineering services, park master plain (next park commission work session), zoning audit, and FLOCK cameras
Park Master Plan ideas, suggestions, visions are going to the consultant for a draft to be presented in early November.

Shorewood Community and Event Center: (View start min. 1:24:24)

Nevinski and Czech are struggling with how to create a task force.
A facility analysis will be done by Kraus Anderson that includes the structure and mechanicals to determine the state of the facility and to create a 10-year outlook. The facility analysis will be done toward the development of a more formal task force Feedback from current and past user groups will be gathered.
The findings will be a work session topic for the Park Commission in late November.
Two responses to a marketing RFP were received: one for $40k and another for $110k. Both were declined.
The goal is to make the building an activity center that generates revenue.

Public Works-Morreim:

Street sweeping starts later this week and will continue for about 3 weeks.
Buckthorn removal in Freeman started last week and will continue for a few more weeks; tree removal with contractor and city crews.
Another round of tree removal is scheduled by the end of the month; along with right of way tree removal continuing through the winter.
Clearing in front of signs and at corners is being done.
Fiber installation is slowing down.
Security access control and camera project is ongoing with four locations remaining and is about 75% complete.

Administrator Nevinski made several reports:

Deer management hunt has one week complete with 11 taken, there are three more hunts.
The zoning audit will be on the Oct. 27 work session agenda.
Dock licensing renewals are occurring now.
Hwy 7 closure starting Wednesday night from Vine Hill Road-Hwy 01.
Hwy 7 Safe Roads grant was awarded to SLMPD for awareness and education in partnership with the Vantage program at the High School.
The Hwy 7 transit management organization met October 1. It is in the data gathering stage that will eventually lead to a meeting of an organization by late spring 2026. Safety is an important action in the near-term.
There is a need for unified communication around Hwy 7 and much discussion about the corridor study. The entire group of communities will meet in November.
Hwy 7 Corridor Study will be released by MnDot by the end of October.
Expected recommendations include roundabouts and a ¾ access point by Eureka.
The next steps include working with legislators and regional and federal agencies to complete the funding gaps.
Read more about the Hwy 7 Corridor Study here.

B. Mayor and City Council

Labadie gave a detailed report of meetings with city staff and MnDOT and what she learned about Federal funding available. The SLMPD quarterly meeting will be a few weeks early due to the Chief going to the FBI Academy in Quantico
DiGruttolo: None
Gorham: None
Sanschagrin: None
Maddy: the Fire Dept. has sold a heavy rescue truck at auction.
Nevinski: Asked the Council if they would explore having Indigenous People day not be a formal holiday. City Hall is open without formal business meetings. The council