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The Wyoming City Council was missing a member last week and a vote to authorize the police to enter into a lease for license plate readers to be positioned in four locations — died on a tie vote.  Mayor Lisa Iverson and Council member Brett Ohnstad voted yes and Council members Linda Nanko-Yeager and Claire Luger opposed the lease and Council member Dennis Schilling was absent.  

The plate reader device company was offering a discount promotion that was expiring. Chief Neil Bauer explained the potential savings and said he needed authorization to move forward on the lease in a timely fashion.  Those voting in support of the request noted the taxpayer money to be considered, explaining the city will likely eventually have these reader devices at a greater cost.  Iverson said she is backing the readers as an enhancement to community safety. If a vehicle is stolen, the cameras can be reviewed to locate it.  Or, she added, maybe a senior citizen is thought to be lost and travelling in a vehicle, the person could potentially be found expeditiously with license plate readers.

The system records plate numbers and vehicle photos which are retained in a programmed data  file.  “Flock Safety” company  devices, up until recently, were not  allowed in MNDOT right of way, but recent changes have allowed for this, the chief explained.  He proposed placing devices at both east and west ends of Viking Boulevard, on Forest Boulevard on old Highway 61 at 240th and Wyoming Trail near Pioneer. 

The cost of $12,000 would cover Wyoming for a trial to fall of 2026. The chief added that the Chisago County sheriff’s office is on the brink of activating numerous Flock cameras.  Rush City is in the process of placing license plate readers, and last week the County Board agreed to include camera management tasks in the city/sheriff contract patrol agreement.

Council member Yeager was concerned about “cameras all over the place” and Council member Luger noted the final draft of a usage policy and her concerns about data privacy were not fully addressed. 

She also said she researched Flock and found no information on “independent” oversight of the company adherence to legal standards.

Chief Bauer explained that the utilization of the devices and policy on protecting stored data are subject to the same periodic audits that the body worn cameras are subjected to.  He must hold a public presentation when a policy is prepared for input—and he planned to upload a citizen survey on license plate reader use if the council had given him the go-ahead.

In other business:  Council approved, with Yeager the lone no vote, supporting applications for two housing assistance programs through the state. One is a 72 unit workforce housing building proposed by Rueter Walton and the other is a Duffy Development 60 unit senior project.  Rents are capped at a certain percentage of tenant income and special financing helps keep the rental rates low.

The Minnesota Housing and Finance Agency is awarding funding based on successful applications and the projects need council to express support for the application.  The developers did not win funding last year.  The council heard the applications have been revised to improve scoring of the projects done by the agency.

Tax Increment Financing concepts got the green light for both, again with Council member Yeager opposed.  One project needs to recoup $317,000 and the other will have a gap in financing of $356,000 to fill in,  to make it feasible.  The builders/developers are reimbursed using the growth in tax revenues (increment) that is paid— but is redirected back to cover the project costs.  

The TIF Districts are proposed to be a maximum of 26 years, but whenever the agreed to amount is reached the district is deactivated and full tax payments go into city coffers.  

The method of assisting calls for capturing the increment of increased tax revenue based on the difference between pre-project valuation and valuation after construction. One project is an estimated $13 million to build and one is $19 million.

Some cities sell bonds to facilitate TIF district requests and use the increment to pay off the debt.  Wyoming was shown a “pay as you go” package where the two projects are built and paid for by the developer, who then is paid as taxes are remitted.

The city should hear if the state Housing and Finance Agency approves the sites for next year by December 2025.

The Chisago County Housing Trust Fund has already approved allocation of $200,000.

A setback reduction for a new homesite at 269XX Forest Boulevard was approved unanimously.  The setback is reduced from the center of the road.

There is a vacancy in the police department and council authorized the advertising and filling of the spot.

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