[Music] And local decision 2025 continues. We're going to talk now about the Lino Lake City Council seat that is open. And joining us is candidate Julia Nelson. And Julia, thanks for stopping by. And >> thank you for >> We always like to begin by letting uh people tell the viewers about themselves. So why don't you get into your background? Well, thank you for giving me this plat platform. My name is Julia Nelson and I am a town home association manager in Lino Lakes and I have been for over 20 years. I have lived in Lino Lakes for 25 years. I'm very involved in local environmental projects. I've been on the environmental board for several years. I do heron nest counting. I volunteer at Wargo Nature Center and I attend most city council uh planning meetings. >> All right. Very good. So, being on that environmental board, I'm guessing you feel like that will help you if you get the uh spot on the council. >> Well, actually, it's one of my motivations. There are two council seats up and there are five of us running. And one of my motivations has been um a growing feeling of frustration sitting on the environmental board and feeling the pressure to have to allow projects through even though they didn't necessarily make environmental sense and they didn't work well for our animals and for our habitat. And habitat loss is a huge issue. It's a huge issue for everyone, particularly in Lino Lakes where we all very much value our green space and our animals. And we have been dealing with rapid development. And many many of us are very unhappy with it. And we feel as though we have to slow down, take a breath, not bow to the outside pressures of developers or the Met Council or whomever and reassess what the residents really want. It is about us. It is not about an outside group coming in like the Met Council for example saying you must do this, you must do that. >> And and some people would say yeah the suburbs are becoming overdeveloped. The exurbs are even exploding around the Twin Cities but but the Met Council does project in the uh you know by 2015 the population to increase 30% that would have an impact on Lino Lake. So, how do you find a sweet spot where you're going to have some growth, but you're going to protect the waters and the land and as you said, the animals and the birds and everything else? >> Here's what I'm thinking, and the Met Council is probably right in that although I would appreciate anybody listening to this. If we can, this is a larger issue. This is not simply a Lino issue, but if we can push back against the Met Council's control, I think that's going to benefit all of us. But you're right, I'm lucky enough to live in Lino Lakes. Many other people would like to live in Lino Lakes. However, we can only hold so much. If we are going to protect our habitat, animals, wildlife, they they we are lucky enough to have our 5,500 acre chain of lakes, animals to them that's simply a large kennel. They need fingers of green space, greenway to migrate through, to mate, to get their uh food, whatever it is they need. It isn't one big circle. So, we have to plan that and those open spaces into these new developments that um that the city council and other others want to have. We also have a water problem. This is something this is going to be the issue for the future. Probably not in my lifetime, certainly in my children's lifetime. We are currently being sued, we and several other cities by White Bear Lake because we we're the Prairie Duchaine Aquifer and we are drawing water down from White Bear Lake. This year we got very lucky. We had a plethora of rainfall. >> That has not been true in the last four weeks. So this is on appeal right now, but that does not mean we are going to win. But the judge ruled that if White Bear Lake falls below um a certain water table level that we have got to limit our per capita consumption. People of Lino Lakes are not going to like that. So we must think about these things. If we are going to add 5, 7, 10,000 more residents, where are we going to get the water? And we can't, again, back to the wildlife, we can't be buying wetland offsets and filling in wetlands. That isn't how nature works, and it's harmful to all of us. I wish we could all have everything we want all the time, but we can't. >> Do you feel like the city of Lo is at odds with Met Council? >> Absolutely. >> Why is that? I we're at odds with Met Council because Met Council has a big hammer they hold over us and that hammer is they will not fund water and sewer unless we develop to the degree they want us to develop to. Right now it's three and a half homes per acre. They're pushing it to four per acre. And that's quite dense because as our city planner has explained, fine. If you want to keep your habitat here, that development is simply going to squeeze out the other end. It's like a big balloon. So, it has to go someplace. And those are density requirements like Blaine, like Minneapolis, like they they want us to have apartment buildings and um town homes, which actually are pretty good use of the land. But but nonetheless, that's their big hammer. And I'm sorry, what was your original question? >> Well, basically Lino Lakes being >> at without a doubt. Okay. >> Yes. without a doubt. And it's quite frustrating because we should be able to plan our own city. This is our city. And actually the the tax dollars the Met Council uses, those are ours, too. It's not their money. Everybody pitches in and that includes me. >> Now, I was at a Met Council um event recently. Mhm. >> Diego Morales who represents Anoka County says his goal >> is to work in harmony with the cities in the county and you know find out what your needs and desires are and then to try to move forward and you know in peace so to speak or have the same vision. Do you feel that way? >> No, I feel like I feel as though Met Council is somewhat on the defensive. I think that they have wielded so much power for so long and have made some poor financial decisions that people have become frustrated with them and people are pushing back and saying you can't do this to us. >> All right. Along the lines of growth, the city recently approved a master plan for the northwest main area. >> Uh tell us about the process and are you satisfied with where that's at now? Am I satisfied with um how >> the decisions they've come to? Yeah. >> Uh I for me and I think for a lot of us who live around there because I live within a mile of the northwest quadrant. Uh I think it's still too dense. I think it was a smart choice by the city to take a breath and that's what I would like to see um going forward. Just everything stop for a while. Let's take a breath. Let's inform everybody. That was an excellent idea. Did we get everything we wanted? No. Did the developers get everything they wanted? No. Is there still room for improvement? Absolutely. But it was a smart use of money. >> Is there another city in the Twin Cities metro that you would you would use as an example and say, "We don't want to become that town that's growing too fast." >> Blaine. >> Oh, okay. >> Blaine. and a lovely city, but holy moly has I hear it from all of our residents. We don't want to be Blaine. Blaine has built very rapidly right up to our border and we've overbuilt our infrastructure and the traffic and the noise and the pollution that comes from people cutting through Lino or people cutting down Lake Drive because we've overbuilt our infrastructure. that impacts what I call legacy neighborhoods. Those are the older neighborhoods that used to have several acres of trees surrounding them and now there's nothing and all of a sudden they're 2 miles in and they can hear the freeway >> tree. That's what happens when you disturb trees and landscaping. You're releasing all of this CO2, number one, but secondly, you're heavily impacting these neighborhoods that have been there for 25, 30, 35 years. >> Now, is there a city, a suburb, or a town that you like the blueprint they've used and and you want Lino Lakes to, you know, be similar to that area? Give me a good example of one you like. >> Ham Lake. Okay. Do you know Ham Lake has decided to fund themselves and to divorce themselves from the Met Council? Financially, it's a big lift, but remember, we all pay money. It's our money to support the Met Council. Is that a little too ambitious for Lino at this point? Realistically, probably. But I want us to have more control. And I want our city council people when I come in. I want city council people to say, "Yes, thank you town member for your input. We are going to take that into consideration. We'll talk about it. We'll see what we can do." Right now sometimes feel as though we're met with polite but stony faces and then they pretty much do what they want. Uh, nobody likes a tax increase, but uh, the council has now approved a preliminary tax levy of uh, basically 16%. That that's quite a jump. Uh, what was your reaction when you found out about that? >> It is quite a jump. I know that you have to remember. And yes, everything's gone up. It's enormously frustrating and it's hard. I feel for I'm fortunate my children are out of college. It's very very it has been very very difficult for um retired people and for you know people raising families. However, everything has gone up and we have to keep that in mind. There are certain priorities. They're very boring priorities but they are necessary to run a safe vibrant city. Number one, you have to pay your police. You have to pay your fire. You have to have we have two fire stations. You have to have that emergency response. Secondly, we have to have the new water treatment plant. As I said, water is going to become an issue. Super boring. Do you know what turned everything around disease-wise for the human race? Clean water and clean sewer. >> It made the most difference than anything we've ever tried. Boring. But that's why you have governments because we will say, "Nope, you have to clean that water. Yes, you have to have adequate sewer. We need the new the new Main Street garages and to uh take care of our equipment and this stuff costs money and >> and and part of that tax bump will go to the fire department. But I'm guessing you're totally on board with that." >> You know, I I am sorry. I am, you know, you you kind of get what you pay for and if we want a safe, vibrant, vibrant, lovely city. Yes. >> What do you think Lino Lakes um is doing good at right now? What are the positives in the city? >> Here are the positives. We have excellent city staff. We have excellent fire. We have excellent safety. The council has made very good decisions as I said about the new water treatment plant. My frustration and what I would personally like to work on. I want us to become first of all stop overdeveloping before we can develop the infrastructure. I want us to become a more bikable and walkable city especially for our kids. the kids going across the freeway, say, to the middle school, riding their bikes down Lake Drive to get to Target. What I want to see, and we have these in some neighborhoods, but certainly not all, particularly the legacy neighborhoods, I want us to have nice wide bike and walking paths. You bet it's expensive, >> but it's safe and it makes us bikable, walkable, cleaner air, a much healthier city. So, we're going to have to invest some money in that. >> And then finally, uh, tell the viewers why they should vote for you. >> I'll tell you why you should vote for me. I I am a passionate environmentalist. I also understand why we have to have business, why we need a tax base. We have lovely business areas. Those businesses can be put into our lovely business areas and that will help all of us. But mostly people love the green environmental aspects of Lino Lakes and that is something that I think is so important to preserve and protect. It's a gem of a city and we like the uniqueness and we want to keep it that way. I really would appreciate your vote. >> All right. Thank you so much for joining us. >> Thank you very much for giving us this platform. I do appreciate your time. >> She's Julia Nelson running for city council in the city of Lino Lakes. This is local decision 2025. [Music]