Glencoe City Attorney Mark Ostlund provided an update on the noise mitigation work being done at Revolve Labs during Monday’s Glencoe City Council meeting. A sound study conducted by Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc. (SEH) on April 24 found that the bitcoin mining farm and computer server exceed Minnesota state noise limits for residential areas. He said the company has been “working diligently” to improve its fence, particularly in the areas adjacent to residential properties north of the facility. He said a “fairly large” fence has been installed and remaining work is being done on installing a new gate and adding sound-deadening material to the fence. Ostlund said Revolve Labs has had some “issues” with adding the sound-deadening material to the fence and will need to source new material. He said the company told him it would not be available to test noise levels until next week at the earliest.

Glencoe City Councilwoman Sue Olson expressed concern about the timeline of the remediation work and asked if Revolve Labs would be “penalized” for exceeding noise limits. “The citizens who lived near there expected something by August 1st, so if we set these dates, sit here and then just do nothing about it, it’s not really fair to them,” Olson said.

Ostlund said Revolve Labs has “pursued the improvements with the due diligence that one would expect.” “It sounds like the delays they are experiencing are not their fault and are just normal supply chain issues,” Ostlund said. He said if the council decides to go in a different direction, they could take “civil action” against the company. Glencoe Mayor Ryan Voss said Revolve Labs has been “very communicative” during the noise remediation process. Glencoe City Manager Mark Larson said Revolve Labs stated in June that the total cost of the fence, acoustic material and variable frequency drives (VFDs) was about $166,000.

Glencoe City Councilwoman Yodee Rivera said she has received calls from constituents expressing concerns and frustrations about the delayed schedule and noise levels, which she said are still above the state limit. Ostlund said Revolve Labs has “not committed to reducing its operations at all” as part of the noise mitigation process, but it has been considered.

School Resource Officer Program

Glencoe Police Chief Tony Padilla said the School Resource Officer (SRO) program will return to Glencoe-Silver Lake Public Schools after Labor Day. He said the SRO program is in the third year of a three-year contract and that there have been changes to SRO qualifications. He said SRO/Patrol Officer Brianna Korson has been “up to speed” on state regulations and training and attended Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) school earlier this year.

Padilla noted the difference that having a “DARE officer” in the school has made. He said that in the 2022-23 school year, when they had an officer in the school, they received 181 911 calls “where the school resource officer was on site to handle things,” and that last year, when the officer wasn’t there, they received 63 911 calls. “I looked at the trends real quick and what wasn’t being reported, and probably the biggest thing that jumped out at me on the sheet was CSEs, which is criminal sexual conduct, and there were over 10 of those reported in one year when the school resource officer was sitting in his office, and last year absolutely none were reported, so it’s pretty interesting,” Padilla said. “I hear a lot of comments from the principal and staff and the school board saying they love having the SRO there, the school is really excited to have them back, and it’s worked out really well for the police department as well to have them at the school.”

Paul Lemke, a Glencoe City Councilor and social studies teacher at Glencoe-Silver Lake Public Schools, shared his thoughts on the program. “I just want to say I’m glad we’ve replenished our staff here so we can bring this position back to the high school. I know it’s well used and well received and unfortunately necessary,” Lemke said.

Highway 212 update

According to Ben Sandoz, construction project engineer for District 8 of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), the Highway 212 roundabout project is scheduled for completion on Sept. 13. “It’s getting closer,” Larson said. Concrete work will be completed this week, before shoulders are graded, topsoil applied and signs installed over the roads the following week. In early September, bituminous shoulders will be paved, topsoil work completed, signs installed and seeding and striping performed. Work on the $5.1 million project began in early May and was originally scheduled to be completed on Aug. 30, but was delayed two weeks due to flooding in June.

Hotel study

Larson said the Glencoe hotel study will be presented at the Economic Development Authority (EDA) meeting next Monday at 5:30 p.m. in downtown Glencoe. He said the EDA will meet with Community and Economic Development Associates (CEDA), with whom the city recently contracted for economic development services, before the meeting. Larson said they have received the preliminary study for the Glencoe hotel study and HVS, the creator of the study, will incorporate figures from last year’s hotel group into the overall feasibility study.

Security Bank Street Festival

The City Council has unanimously approved a street festival on Tuesday, August 27th, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The host is the Security Bank at 735 11th St. E. 11th St. between Hennepin Ave. and Greeley Ave. The street festival will be closed from 3:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Over 1,000 participants are expected.

Odds and ends

Glencoe Mayor Ryan Voss issued a proclamation declaring September 13-22 as “Together We Are Glencoe Welcome Week.”

Due to the elections taking place on November 5th, the City Council has decided to postpone its meeting from November 4th to November 6th at 7pm.

Larson briefly mentioned the fundraiser for the Oscar Olson Sunrise Park dog park currently underway at Coborn’s, saying, “So far, it’s been extremely successful.”

Mark Lemen, director of public works and assistant city manager for Glencoe, said the city has not received a response from the state of Minnesota regarding the pothole on the Hennepin Ave. bridge.

EAA Chapter 1658 will host its 2024 Fly-In/Drive-In on August 31 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Vernon F. Perschau Field at Glencoe Municipal Airport.

Voss encouraged people to visit “The Wall That Heals,” a replica of a Vietnam veterans memorial and mobile education center that will be in Hutchinson Aug. 22-25.

Jamie Voigt, director of Glencoe’s public works department, gave a tentative start date of September 10 for the 2024 sealing project, adding, “All roads have been crack sealed.”

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 2nd at 7 p.m. at the Glencoe City Center.