Members of the International Falls City Council and other people are invited to participate in the first local U.S. Customs and Border Protection Citizens Academy.

The council received invitations to take part in the academy Monday from Derek Mason, patrol agent in charge of the U.S. Border Patrol in International Falls.

Mason told the council the academy is an effort to reach out to the community and show and tell what the agents do, how they do it and who they are. He said the academy will offer participants “the total experience.”

The first academy will include elected officials and members of the media and business community, he added. It will be expanded in the future to include other members of the community.

The academy is intended to educate participants on history, legal authority, mission operations and partnerships. Participants will hear presentations, receive tours and take part in simulated scenarios at the Border Patrol Station, the port of entry and other locations.

The academy will run for six weeks, with one four-hour class held each week. It is scheduled to begin April 18 and will meet every Wednesday from 5 to 9 p.m. at the U.S. Border Patrol Station, Highway 11 East in International Falls.

Mayor Shawn Mason and Councilor Cynthia Jaksa were absent from Monday’s meeting.

In other business Monday, the council agreed to begin the process to annex property on Highway 332, known as the Wagner Ready Mix property, along County State Aid Highway 332.

Dennis Wagner, owner of the company, asked the council to annex the property in order to be hooked up to expanded water lines in the area.

The council also agreed to send letters to property owners in the Papermakers and Meadowview areas. Residents in those areas earlier asked the council to extend sewer service to their properties.

The letter invites the property owners to the April 16 council meeting to give input about the process, which involves annexation into the city.

Councilor Gail Rognerud, chair of the council’s Infrastructure and Public Works Committee, told the council that a majority of the property owners need to indicate they would choose to move forward with annexation and extension of the lines before the city could take action.

City Administrator Rod Otterness told the council that the typical property in those areas measures 165-frontage feet. Assessments and hook-up fees, which the city could finance, would cost the property owners about $74 each month.