Commissioner Gomesh >> here. >> Commissioner Schulty >> here. >> Commissioner Jeepson >> here. >> Commissioner Meisner >> here. >> This morning item number four is to consider accepting the regular claims paid over $500 in the purchase card claims paid the period ending September 5th, 2025. Do I have a motion? >> So moved, second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Moved by Commissioner uh Jeepson, second by Commissioner Brasted. Um this is a roll call vote. >> Commissioner Brassstead. I >> Commissioner Reiner. >> Hi, >> Commissioner Gomesh. >> Hi, >> Commissioner Schulty. >> Hi, >> Commissioner Jepson. >> Hi, >> Commissioner Meisner. >> I, >> Commissioner Heinrich. >> I. >> And that passes unanimously. Item number five is the approval of minutes from the September 9th, 2025 county board meeting. Do I have a motion? >> Moved by Commissioner Schulty. Do I have a second? >> Second. Second by Commissioner Heinrich. >> Um, any changes, questions, >> Mr. Chair? >> Yes. Uh just a quick comment actually that uh you know I read these minutes every every meeting and I'm really impressed with the quality and competency of our staff. I it's easy to gloss over them and not really pay attention but I do pay attention and check with them and they're just really on point every time and it's it's unbelievable. It really is to go through them that succinctly and confidently every time and make sure they're right is is really impressive. We have a really competent staff and to uh to recognize them occasionally once a year on administrative day isn't enough. We need to do it more often. So, thank you Teresa and everybody that has anything to do with this. Uh thank you so much. We really do appreciate it. >> Thank you. So, you don't want to make any changes? >> No. I You're >> good. >> The minutes were perfect except there should be in this next upcoming minutes there should be recognition of the staff and how good the minutes are. I'll look for it. There you go. Um, >> if Teresa doesn't want to write that, I can write it. >> Thank you. County Attorney. >> All right, we have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed? >> Hearing? None. It passes unanimously. >> Moving down to chair's remarks. We have um three items under chair's remarks today. The first is to recognize October as domestic violence awareness month in Anoka County. I'm going to ask Commissioner Meiser who serves as the lead commissioner on our human services committee of the whole to start our conversation today. Commissioner Meiser. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, unfortunately, domestic violence impacts many in our community, our family, friends, and neighbors. Abusers oftentimes will repeatedly have violence against women and their partners for months, sometimes years on end. Sometimes victims are able to walk away, but oftentimes they also walk away with post-traumatic stress and injuries. And sometimes abuse can also linger on and escalating that violence into violent crime. Um, I do want to make note as a reminder that domestic violence is not limited to physical abuse. It includes emotional, financial, sexual, spiritual, and psychological abuse. It is about power and control over other people. And I just want to share some statistics. In the United States, on average, there are nearly 20 victims of intimate violence per minute. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million people. One in four women and one in nine men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking. Victims of intimate partner violence lose 8 million days of paid work each year, and the cost of intimate partner violence exceeds 8 billion with a B per year. and one in 15 children are exposed to intimate part partner violence each year. Some ways the public can support victims of domestic violence during October include wearing PE purple to show support for victims and awareness of domestic violence during purple Thursday. Place a domestic violence awareness yard sign in your yard. Change or mask the color of your porch lights to purple. And next, I would like to invite Connie Moore from Alexandra House as well as Jenna Perez from the dwelling place to talk more about Alexander House and your organization. Connie, >> good morning. I'm Connie Moore, executive director at Alexandra House. Is this Are these working? Okay, good. Um, thank you, um, Chair Gamash and commissioners for having me here this morning. Um, Alexander House has been around almost 48 years now. 48 years we have been around. Alexander House was started in 1977 by four pioneering women who saw incidences of domestic violence in their community and wanted to do something about it. And they were involved in a social justice group at St. Timothy's. And so they made it their mission to take on this issue. and and do work in the community. So within a year they had established a 24-hour crisis line and then by 1980 opened the first shelter in an noa county. And 48 years later, Alexander House has involved has evolved and grown to have nine programs and impact impacts the lives of over 17,000 people each year. But what has stayed the same and I have to do this is our mission to empower victims, survivors of domestic and sexual violence and inspire social change through education, support and advocacy. And we do this by directly serving victim survivors and their children and educating community members so they can also be catalysts for change in the community. We have um nine distinct program services, but I'm not going to take a deep dive into all those. We could be here for a long time. So, but at Alexander House, we are dedicated to supporting everyone affected by domestic, sexual, and relationship violence, including elder abuse. We serve as vital resource for victims and survivors of sexual violence in all its form while also offering assistance to their parents, family me family members and other concerned individuals. With nine distinct programs and service areas, we provide a comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach to support ensuring that we address the varied needs of those we serve. And Mandy, you quoted some stats, but we did some research because we wanted to see if there was any updated stats. So, I'm going to get those. Um, almost one, this just really talks about the need for services and the need for action. Almost one in two women, that's 47.3%, and more than two in five men, 44.2% 2% reported experiencing context sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stocking stalking victimization by an intimate partner at some point in their life. So, um, those numbers have gone up. There are multiple barriers individuals face when seeking safety and healing after experiencing domestic or sexual violence. At Alexander House, our wraparound services address and break down these barriers so families can move forward in in a violence-free life that they've created for themselves. On a local level, in 2024, law enforcement in Noa County responded to 12,494 domestic related and 826 criminal sexual conduct calls in Minnesota. In 2024, there were 26 known domestic related homicides in Minnesota. this year. Um, as of September, there's been a total of 17 lives already lost to domestic violence in Minnesota. And in the last decade, more than 290 motans have lost known that we know have lost their lives to this violence. One thing that we know at Alexandra House is that preventing the cycle of vi violence is fundamental to the work that we do. Our youth services program provides one-on-one advocacy, support groups, and prevention programming to young people throughout Anoka County schools to prevent and end domestic and sexual violence. We provide prevention and intervention programs in six school districts to a total of 25 schools in Anoka County. In 2024, we experienced a 17% increase in services to youth from 2023. 175 plus children, youth, and parents were touched through school-based one-on-one advocacy and support groups, and over 5,900 students from elementary schools to college participated in 465 plus programs, activities, and presentations. learning about healthy relationships and violence prevention. Our youth services advocates um have identified identified a couple of trends that they're seeing. Um one is the increased normalization of sharing um location via your phone apps and growing issue of students becoming victims of private photos, videos being shared without consent. So this is a these are issues that teens are dealing with on a regular daily basis and that just adds to the ways um that youth are being victimized. So, a lot of education around that. We're also a refuge and a lifeline providing 24-hour emergency services and a 24-hour helpline. And our services are we had an increase of 11% from 2023 um for our shelter services with 435 victim survivors and their children receiving 7,718 nights of safety. And we answered over 4,880 calls on our 24-hour emergency helpline and online chat. Our advocates um provide multiple services and again I'm not going to go through all of our program services because that would take a while but I want to give you a little idea of the work that's being done. This includes advocacy and support in relation to employment, financial literacy, education, housing, basic needs, including our food shelf, financial aid for legal expenses, moving expenses, application fees, utilities and housing and rental assistance, transportation, car repairs, gas cards, and more. We meet each individual or family where they are at. basically based on where their specific situation, needs and goals. One of the things that we are excited about um that happened in 2025 in January 25 was creating access better more access in our shelter for families with pets. So, uh we created Linus' Pet Haven. And just to give you an idea of the need for that, and we knew this was a need. Um, we're just trying to figure out how how how are we going to do this. 71% of women in domestic violence shelters reported that their abuser um threatened or injured or killed their pet. Nearly half of the victims chose to stay in abusive situations rather than leave their pets behind. and as many as 25% of vict of survivors will return because the abuser is using their pet as a means to get them back. So it was really important for us to be able to provide the service so that families could bring their their pet with them. We opened that service in January of 2025. Alexander House is the first um shelter in the Twin Cities metro area to become a pet p a pet safe shelter and we're we are the only shelter in the Twin Cities to offer co-sheltering for up to six pets including cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, and other companion animals. So far this year, we have served 30 pets and their families. So 14 dogs and 16 cats. Yeah. Um, in all of our services that we've provided, in total, Alexander House has impacted over 17,000 plus people, and this includes our work um, in our other programs and a lot of community education and outreach. Um, in 2024, over 1,474 unduplicated individuals received ongoing services. And some of you may know this, but domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness. The number of homeless youth is directly connected to violence within the home. And many of the victims um survivors of domestic or sexual violence are forced into poverty. So, there's a real interconnection um in all of these other issues that we work with um when we're working with victims of domestic or sexual violence. And again, as Mandy pointed out, Commissioner Misner pointed out, physical and mental health issues are also a paramount for victim survivors. Not just the actual victim, but also their children. So, this gives you an idea of who we serve. Um obviously we serve the majority of um folks that we serve are from Anoka County and then primarily Henipin and Ramsey County and then 7% from around the state. And we do occasionally have folks who come in from a different state who are fleeing that state to because that's their only way to to get away. And I think, you know, for us doing the work each and every day, um, we know that the work we do is making a difference in the lives of each person we help and in our communities. Here are just a few examples of what we hear from program participants. So, domestic violence awareness month, we have a call to action. We want you to join us, people in the community, all of you, to join us in raising awareness through our yard sign campaign, purple lights initiative, wear purple on Thursday, which is um Thursday, October 23rd, and then ask me why I wear purple initiative. And I did bring some ask me why I wear purple buttons that I put over here. So people can take those um and and use those. So you can wear that when you are taking your picture and sharing it on your social media on on purple Thursday. Um I won't go into the detail because um Commissioner Meiser already talked about some of those initiatives. So um and Hopefest >> Saturday. I'm hoping that all of you can be there. I know some are not able to, but um it's a great event. Um want you to join us on Saturday um September 27th at Anoka City Hall Plaza um as this is our kickoff to domestic violence awareness month. So thank you very much. >> Thank you Connie and John. Well, thank you. It is wonderful to be invited back again and thank you to Connie and Alexander House. We're so grateful for our partnership. The dwelling place, our slogan is where abuse survivors dare to hope again. Our mission, we are a faith-based nonprofit right here in Anoka County providing healing and hope to victims of domestic abuse through supportive services and a safe transitional place to call home. So we partner with shelters and we offer transitional housing. Our average graduate is with us for two years. So for those who need the longer stability after shelter, we come into play. So some brief stats about us. We were founded in 1998 by a woman named Diane Stores, a single mom who is escaping domestic violence with her two children. We began actually over in St. Paul and then in 2013 we purchased two homes in Inoka County and by 2018 we had moved all of our operations here. So we now own we own the equivalent of 10 single family homes on one city block. So we have 40 bedrooms in total. We are staffed by 18 women. Uh last year we provided 780 hours of classes in child care for our families in our programming as well as case management. In 2024 we serve 22 women and 37 children. So our numbers are smaller but our programming is steep and long-term. So we don't see the turnover that you would see in a shelter. The dwelling place has served hundreds of women and hundreds more children since our founding in 1998. And as I mentioned, we have the equivalent of 10 single family homes with 40 bedrooms. We had 217 volunteers last year providing 6,32 hours of service. So, we couldn't do what we do without our phenomenal volunteers. I'm blown away by them. And uh last year, 93% of our residents were people of color. Brief story. Hannah, she graduated two years ago from the dwelling place. She, like many of our women, uh was a single mom. She had a little daughter. She met a man. She thought he was wonderful. They got married. She got pregnant. And she began to see another side of him. And the abuse began. She was from another country. She had no family. She had no resources. She had no vehicle. She had no way to get out. And the abuse escalated. She had two little kids and nowhere to go. And in a fit of rage, he attacked her and he stabbed her multiple times in the abdomen. She's in the hospital receiving three surgeries to reconstruct her organs. And she found out that there are resources like the dwelling place, like Alexandra House to help her. She had no idea. And she said, "I'm not going back. I'm not going back." And so from that hospital room, she was able to get into the dwelling place. And so she moved in all bandaged up with her two little kids and literally the clothes on her back. And she moved into her apartment. It was safe. It was beautiful. There was a lock on the door. It was quiet. And for the first time, she could have peace and she could sleep well at night. And she was with us for a little over two years. She went through our classes, our programming. She had intensive therapy from the trauma that she had endured. But I want to tell you something about Hannah. She is resilient. She is beautiful. And she has a smile that will light up any room. She shared at our gala two years ago, and everybody, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. She's just a beautiful, resilient person. She's graduating this semester with her RN. She'll be a nurse and she has just proven that there is resiliency after abuse and there is beautiful end stories. And she's one of many women that I could come up and share their stories of resiliency and the children, the incredible, incredible change in the children as well. And the reality is is Hannah is not alone. As we've heard multiple times, one in three or maybe one in two, that's crazy new statistics, uh, women will be a victim of domestic abuse in her lifetime. And so we receive every day calls for help. 365 were last year and we always always have a waiting list. We really have a waiting list of 10 families and then beyond that we just give them resources to other places because we need to help them and the need is far greater than what our services are able to help. So we offer safe transitional housing. We offer women's programming, children's programming, so we have child care for the kiddos while mom's in classes. And we have an alumni program. So once the women graduate, they continue back for support group for therapy. The kiddos get back together and we offer lots of fun events throughout the year, Christmas parties and back to school picnics and lots of things for our alumni to come back with our current residents. So the women's program, the way it looks, they come in and they're in what's 30-day, it's kind of a trial period, and then they apply for transitional and they're in phase one. So six to eight months they're in 15 hours of classes. They're receiving therapy and case management and they're getting connected. And then they move into phase two. So for 12 to 18 months, this is their time to get their feet back on the ground to reintegrate into society to begin working to get their kids in full-time child care, to get their kids transitioned back into life. And then that last three months is when we help them find housing. And often that starts in the beginning of phase two because as we know housing isn't always easy. We have many graduates who purchase a home. They out of graduation they're able to buy a house, a dream they've always had and never thought was feasible. Many others find housing through the county or a local apartment. Here's a couple of pictures. Um our homes are beautiful. I love them. They are cozy. Uh recently every single one of our homes have been renovated and um as I mentioned there are two bedrooms, their own kitchen, a door that locks, a safe place to be. And we did just purchase, this isn't even public yet, uh program center, a commercial building 12,000 square feet a few miles from our homes that will be our new child care center and women's programming and office space. So we go public with it at our gala on Thursday, so you're the first to know. Uh, but we're very excited about how this is going to be able to expand our programming because as we mentioned, there is just more need than what we can do. Even when we linkedink arms with Alexandra House and all the other amazing domestic violence programs, there's more more work than we can do. And so, this will allow us to have eight additional bedrooms for women and children and a much deeper programming. Oh, there's our bathrooms. And here's one of our classrooms. And I don't think we have time for questions, but thank you all so much. What an honor and privilege to be here. >> Thank you, Connie and Jenna, uh, for speaking about your work and supporting victims in our community. Um, anyone can be a victim of domestic violence, as those statistics showed. So, that's why it's so important to have the community resources in place to help people if they've ever faced with this issue. Anoka County will once again show its support for domestic violence awareness month this October by lighting several facilities in purple, including the Government Center, Medical Examiner's Office, Sheriff's Office, and the Blaine Human Services Center. At this time, I'd like to offer the resolution 202598 proclaiming October as domestic violence awareness month in Inoka County and ask my fellow commissioners to join me in support. And I was wondering if any commissioners had any comments to make. Commissioner Meisner and then Jeepson. No. Uh, Jeepson. >> Mr. Jeepson, >> thank you. Um, so I think on both of your presentations, thank you by the way, very um very impactful statistics and very moving stories. Thank you for the work that you do in our community. It's essential and I'm sorry you have to do that. Um, both of you mentioned transportation. I just wanted to let you know and Jenna, I apologize. I don't know exactly where all your houses are, but I know Connie where you're located. Um, Metro Transit just launched microtransit in Blaine and Spring Lake Park last week. It includes Alexander House geography. Um, and so many opportunities for jobs, community space, um, Blaine Human Services building, Northtown uh, transit station. I mean, it includes a lot of geography within your immediate area. And I just wanted to offer that if you hadn't heard about that yet. That's a great resource for your staff and your clients. >> Wonderful, >> Commissioner Meisner. >> Oh, no. I'm sorry. I I I don't have anything else to add except uh deep appreciation. Um Oh, I'm sorry. Since you brought that up because the rates too with the micro, they're they're like $2.35. So, in terms of just like very affordable and accessible to everyone. >> Anyone else? All right. At this time, we have the proclamation for domestic violence awareness month for the month of October. And remember everybody to um the lighting of purple using the purple colors during the the month um of October. Um all in favor signify by saying I >> I >> I unanimous. So thank you again for the presentations and all the hard work and and important work that you do every day. Moving down to item number two. It's a resolution 202599 proclaiming October 2025 as pregnancy and infant loss awareness month and I'm going to ask Commissioner Gypson to lead our conversation today. >> Yeah, thank you Mr. Chair. Uh each year one in four pregnancies ends in tragedy. Uh in the United States nearly 21,000 babies are still born each year. Worldwide there are more than 2.6 million still births every year. There is estimated that 25% of all still births in the US are preventable today and 47% of all still still births at 37 plus uh weeks of pregnancy are preventable today. Uh in 1988, US President Ronald Reagan declared October as a month to recognize the unique grief and suffering uh that these berieved parents u go through to demonstrate support to those many families uh who have suffered such a tragic loss. The month of October provides an excellent opportunity for Anoka County to demonstrates its support in raising awareness of pregnancy and infant loss to support parents and families who are going through the unthinkable. Um I I don't know historically how Anoka County has has raised this issue up. Um but I know I did it for the first time last year. And you know I think a lot of women and their partners suffer in silence because it's such a personal situation that they're dealing with. But I can't tell you how many people reached out to me after we did this last year to say thank you. I think it's very important. I mentioned it last year. I've been pregnant twice. I have two children. I can't imagine the grief that these women and their partners go through and and to have them suffer alone um is very unfortunate. So, I'm very honored and appreciative to this county to allow us to take a couple minutes to acknowledge these these families. So with that, I offer resolution 2025-99 uh proclaiming October as pregnancy and infant loss awareness month in an NOA County and ask my fellow commissioners to also support. >> Thank you, Commissioner Gypson. Any other comments? Hearing none, all in favor of uh the resolution 202599 signify by saying I. >> I. >> And it passes unanimously. Thank you, Commissioner Jeepson. Item number three is to consider forformational purposes a presentation about the ina county spotlight on opioids and overdose event on October 4th. Um the uh ana county's opioid solutions initiative or acosi was established to improve health and save lives and reduce the impact caused by opioids and other substances by managing opioid settlement funding and supporting strategic partnerships. Our senior uh program manager of the inoka county's opioid solutions initiative is Patty Constant. She's with us today join us joining us to tell us more about the important free event coming up to help raise awareness about the overdose prevention and provide support for those who are or may be affected by substance abuse abuse. Thank you Patty for being here. >> Thank you. Good morning Mr. Chair and members of the board. I'm excited to be here today. I won't take a ton of your time, but I wanted to share the important event that's coming up. Um, I'm Patty Constant. My role as the opioid prevention specialist. In that role, I am tasked to prevent the initiation of opioid use to prevent opioid misuse, overdose, and death. That isn't a simple task or a simple challenge. And to do that, we need a very multi-pronged approach. And one of those events, one of those things is having events to make sure that our community is aware of this situation about opioids in the county and to be able to learn all that they can so that they're acting with some great information and knowledge. Uh we had a similar event last year and it was very successful. We had about 200 people through our doors and we're hoping for more this year. This year our event is Saturday, October 4th and we it is entitled the spotlight on opioids and overdose. It is at Spring Lake Park High School and it is from 10 am to 2 pm. I wanted to share a little bit about this event in the hopes that you all could perhaps join us and that you can share the information about this so that as many people in our community can attend as possible to share the news and information. So what that day will look like is we have a resource exhibitor fair in the gym and at this point we have over 50 different uh supportive exhibitors. So those are people uh like transformation house and um different medical care uh um treatment facilities broad variety of community resources all related to substance use prevention and then we also will have M Health Fairview is uh hosting a nlloxxone education station. So at that table or area, people will be able to come and access phenoloxone as well as learn how to utilize this life-saving medication. So that will be very important. Um in the fine arts studio just down the hall, we will have a variety of presentations throughout the day. So I will give a short presentation on kind of the status of opioids in Anoka County. What does it look like? What are our stats? and what are some of the initiatives that AOSI or an NOA County opioid solutions initiative is tackling and then beyond that we will have a lived experience panel and we tried to go for a diverse group of people. So we have a parent who has lost a child to opioids. We have somebody who has been just who was active in addiction for a long time and is now a peer recovery specialist and very active in uh also a treatment facility in the area. And then somebody who has a variety of of substance use in her history, but then now is who is actively you utilizing a medicationass assisted treatment to support her opioid uh or her addiction to opioids. So, it should be a really good uh experience with people who are going to share some very vulnerable parts of their story, hoping to try and reduce some of the stigma and understand that this can happen to absolutely anyone in our community. Uh we are having some pizza for lunch, so there'll be a little time for people to have some food nourishment and then also visit all of those vendors in the gymnasium. And then we are having a presentation by Kirk Hughes who is a nurse. And I just noticed a typo on this. Great. He's not an RM. He's an RN. Uh but he works for the poison control center. And his presentation will focus on some of the substances that are opioid derivatives that you may not think of that could either be in your medicine cabinet or that can be found at your local gas station that are becoming trends. Um, one of those is called robo tripping where people are utilizing a lot of robbitasin based cough syrups and uh that and then there's also some opioid derivatives that people can find at gas stations called 70oh that are as addictive if not more addictive than fentinyl. So that could cause and be a lead into people to uh exacerbating their addictions. So that should be a really informative and hopefully helpful presentation. Lastly, we have a medical provider, Dr. Kurt Divine, who will be talking about fentinel. In 2024, 100% of the opioid fatalities in an NOA County uh involved fentinel. And so he will be able to discuss with us everything of there is appropriate medical use of fentinyl in a surgical setting and then how did we go from that to having fentinel in our drug supply and and why is it such an issue and how can people seek supportive and effective treatment for that. So and the event wraps up at 2 o'clock. Uh we are hoping that it will be very interactive and very fun. There will be some amazing community resources there and we would really love to see as many people in the community attending as possible. Um on the first one uh that has the what to expect on the bottom there is a QR code so people can seek more information there about all of the vendors that will be at the resource fair and um I'm really looking forward to it. This event also does uh we have a survey an evaluation and a survey. It also provides us with some information from the community about what they see as some of the most important priorities or concerning uh topics and issues related to opioids. So that will hopefully uh help inform our some of our future efforts around opioids. So I will leave a few of the flyers uh so that if anyone needs them uh we have them but they should be available to you electronically as well if needed. Thank you, Patty, for sharing uh the insight and expertise today. This event will truly make um a difference for those who are touched by the opioid epidemic. For sure. Remember, it's again the spotlight on opioids and overdose event is Saturday, October 4th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Spring Lake Park High School. And I encourage everyone to stop by for a lot of great information and a lot of great resources. I think the fact that uh was it the Dr. Divine is sounds like he's got a lot of good information from that. Commissioner Meiser, do you have a question or a comment? >> Oh, yes. If if you're done, Mr. Chair. Okay. No, thank you, Mr. Chair. No, just just comment. So, I I think this this is the first time that I've seen the agenda, but I am so pleased about what is on it with the panel. I mean, you guys have heard me talk about this often in committee. I mean obviously stats are important but the educational part and the um I guess the humanness of why this is an epidemic and the challenge of you know trying to mitigate that is so complex. So I just want to commend you on that because um the first one was you just kind of more of a resource to kind of kick us off. Um so this is just fantastic and uh anyway so thank you very much >> commissioner Jeffson. >> Uh thank you Mr. Chair. Yes. So, I attended last year, did not know what to expect at all, and I was absolutely blown away. Um, the event the you pack a lot into four hours, and there's a lot of conversations, a lot of expertise, a lot of resources. And what I left with and what I see here, which is very impressive, is it's it's community. and community is what is going to be the supporting um foundation for these individuals dealing with um addiction and recovery and remaining sober. So I what I was so impressed with was the the number of vendors, the quality of the vendors and the overarching community and it wasn't just all about drugs. It wasn't all just about X Y and Z. I mean, libraries, our medical examiner's office, our economic, I mean, it's community. Um, and that again, that was the most impressive thing. So, I think, um, looking forward to attending this. Again, I look forward to hearing more of the speakers and what they're going to contribute to your work um, and who all is going to be in support of this incredibly important initiative. And I do want to say that I had my uh library advisory committee meeting last night and we have um Nlloxxone distribution um bins at every single one of our libraries and almost every meeting, every monthly meeting, we hear new um a new number of lives that have been saved because of that work. And again, apologizing to the domestic violence workers. I'm so sorry that we have to do this work, but we have to save lives and this is the how we can do that. So, thank you and I'll look forward to seeing you on the fourth. >> Thank you, >> Tony Attorney Johnson. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Um, as the county attorney, I'd be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity um to express my appreciation both for our staff on uh spotlighting opioids and overdose and also Alexandra House and the dwelling place for coming and talking about domestic violence. The reason that I bring it up at this point in the board meeting is uh to give you all a little bit of update. There are the the solutions and um the prevention component of the opioid thing. There's also the accountability component of it. And just yesterday, a jury in Anoka County returned a guilty verdict in a fentanyl overdose case that resulted in the murder of a citizen in our county. Um, our office has been hard at work on both the issues of opioid overdose and how that impacts people and takes people's lives in Anoka County, but also domestic violence. It's fitting because uh next week we go to trial on another murder case involving a domestic violence incident with a intimate partners. Um and that's a tragic case. Um I expect there will be a fair trial in that case, but um it's something that we're all mindful of going into domestic violence awareness month. Last week, um, our office authorized, um, and proceeded on an appeal on a domestic strangulation case. Um, just two weeks ago, I met with a victim from a 1992 um, intimate partner murder case out of Grand Rapids who came to talk to us about her experience and what her life has been like since 1992. Um it is something uh both overdose cases, fentanyl, opioids and domestic violence that our office deals with on a daily basis. And u you know I would s suggest to the community that probably no less than 20 or 25 members of our office are actively working on those issues as we speak right now. So thank you for the opportunity. >> Thank you uh county attorney. Anyone else? All right. Well, thank you again, Patty. And I see on this information it says it's at Spring Lake Park High School and the address is here and it also mentions enter door number six. Um, so that's probably important, but this is also on our website. So all that information will be available if anybody wants to look at that >> and you can get more information on the speaker bios and things like that on the website. >> Thanks again for being here. >> Thank you for having me. >> Uh, we will move down to our meetings of the whole. We are going to start um by adding in the management committee which uh was just before this meeting. So I will turn uh that over to Commissioner Meisner. >> Um thank you Mr. Chair. The management of the committee of whole met this morning. Uh the reason that is coming directly to us today is mostly because of timing. So, what is on your slate today is in regards to the Minnesota paid leave that we all in the state of Minnesota have to prepare for which rolls out January of 2026. Um, so on our slate is A through D. Oh, I'm sorry. First, there were no public comments in person and I did not receive any via email either, but anyone may do public comments at mandy.mmeisner anoka countymn.gov. Back to the consent agenda for A, this is for contract C0011864 with MetLife for Minnesota paid leave coverage for county employees as required by Minnesota statute 268B beginning January 6. This is a total premium rate of.80% of employee wages and this is with a 2year guarantee. There was um a very robust presentation and discussion about our options as a county and we are opting to do this rather than go to the uh state offering number B or letter B amending contract C00008747 for long-term vis disability insurance with national insurance services at a proposed decrease rate for 30 hours or more per week. This is benefit eligible positions, non-union and union employees. Um, if applicable per labor relations contract term. This is also beginning January 1st, 2026. This is with a threeyear rate guarantee. This amendment was because of the changes that are happening. Our staff did take the proactive move to look at contracts that are currently under place and this was their recommendation. For letter C, this is contract C0011863 with Metife for the following voluntary shortterm disability insurance for 30 hours or more per week benefit eligible positions non-union and union employees with a rate guarantee through December 31st, 2028. Uh the last item is amending contract C 00008749 with UNUNIM for voluntary vision materials only insurance with no charge in coverage or rate for 30 hours or more per week benefit eligible positions. This is again non-union and union union employees for an additional year and this would be ending December 31st 2026. I will just uh end with some comments again about a really great discussion and questions from the full board which I really appreciate. This is mandatory. It is a law but there's a lot of moving parts that employers have to um adjust to. Um and with that I will offer the full slate A through D. It's been offered by Commissioner Meiser. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Commissioner Schulty. Any discussion? Um, hearing none. This roll call vote. >> Commissioner Reiner. >> I. >> Commissioner Gamash. >> I. >> Commissioner Schulty. >> I. >> Commissioner Jeepson. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Meisner. >> I. >> Commissioner Heinrich. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Brastead. >> I. >> And that passes unanimously. Um, anything else, Commissioner? >> That uh that concludes my report. Thank you. We'll go now back to uh the regular agenda and we'll go down to the government ops meeting um that was held um I believe on the >> 20 on the 9th. Yes. Um under the consent items we're we have a number of items here but we're going to go um one and two um and then we'll move down to the next one after that um which is going to be number three which I believe we are removing from the from the vote anyway. So, uh, we'll start with the intergovernmental and community relations, uh, with numbers one and two and Commissioner Reiner. Commissioner, >> thank you, Mr. Chair. I've got a couple of items for you to consider today. Um, first one is a resolution and it's accepting donations from patrons for our libraries. A AARP uh tax aid program District 16 and patrons of the Inoka County Library have donated the following totaling $2,91680 for the months of April through August 2025 in cash to the Anoke County Library. And those donations are as follows. April through July book cart uh $1,996.80. Lois K in memory of Eleanor Demer, $20. Susan Brett Schneider in memory of Ellen Demer, $75. Uh Mimi Walkey, uh $250. Deborah Smith for book club in a bag, $100. AARP Tax Aid Program District 16, $300. And Gail Lindstöm in memory of Norland Lee, uh $25. uh Gary Carlson, Laura Kushner, and Dave Vonmach in memory of Diane Ladden at $150. And uh that's uh for a total, like I said, of $2,916.80. And Mr. Chair, I'd like to move the board to adopt resolution number 2025-G9. >> Um all right, we have a motion or we have a resolution um that has been presented. We will go ahead and do a roll call on item number one. >> Commissioner Gamash. >> I. >> Commissioner Schulty. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Jeepson. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Meisner. >> I. >> Commissioner Heinrich. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Brastead. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Reiner. >> I. >> That passes unanimously. Item number two. >> Item number two is another resolution and this is accepting dedicated donation for our Midwest Medical Examiner's Office. Uh Summon uh Chattergy. of uh Shakape, Minnesota has donated a used Phantom 3 uh professional UAV with hard drive camera. Nice unit uh to the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office. Midwest Medical Examiner Director uh Shane Sheets is a licensed by is licensed by the FAA as a commercial UAV pilot under part 107. The estimated fair market value of this donation is $500. Uh though no goods or services were provided in exchange for this donation, uh the acceptance of this donation will likely enhance the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office operational capabilities. Minnesota statute 465.03 requires the county to accept donations by resolution expressed in terms prescribed by the donor in full. Acceptance of the Phantom 3 professional UAV with HD camera is in the best interest of Anoka County. And so with that, I'd like to uh move the board to adopt resolution number 2025-G10. >> Uh resolution has been offered. Um it's a roll call vote. >> Commissioner Schulty. >> I. >> Commissioner Jeepson. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Meisner. >> I. >> Commissioner Heinrich. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Breaststead. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Reiner. >> Hi. Mr. Gamash. >> Hi. And that passes unanimously. >> And as mentioned, number three on our agenda is one that we've pulled. And um that concludes my items. And I'll pass now the rest of the GEO agenda off to um Julie Jeepson. >> Commissioner Jeepson with facilities management. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um excuse me. Um I have two lease extension agreement contracts with a Hamlet Cross Town strip mall. First contract is C00008186 for continued operations of the In Noa County License Center extending the term of the lease for an additional 5 years starting January 1st of 2026. The second lease extension is contract C00008187. Um and this is for the continued operations of the Enoka County North Central Library also extending the term of the lease for an additional five years and also starting January 1st of 2026. Uh the next item is a little different than many items we have in facilities management. Um we allocated for this year $120,000 to renovate the LO Lakes non-secure programs laundry room. Uh facilities management is requesting that these dollars go instead to installing a fence at the LO Lakes Correctional Facility in its non-secure program. Uh program staff are prohibited from physically preventing a youth uh from leaving the building. The program has approximately six youth running away from the facility each year. These youth generally just because of the way the buildings are set up. These youth generally unfortunately run into a neighboring neighborhood. Um and and as you can imagine that doesn't always sit well with neighbors. So um so we are concerned that without this fencing we may have serious clashes coming forward with those neighbors and these vulnerable youth and and they may want to proactively um we want to proactively limit any potential criminal activity. So what corrections is recommending is a construction of a thousand foot uh security fence. Um the fence will connect two secure buildings um discouraging the youth from running in the direction of that neighborhood. We can't close off the facility 100%, but we firmly feel that this new fence will detract them from going into the neighborhood. Uh so no need to worry about the laundry room though. That project is just being uh diverted to next year uh which will get done in 2026. >> All right. Do you um and you're offering it all three of these? >> Yes. >> And then uh do I have a second? >> Second. >> Motion has been made by Commissioner Jeepson, second by Commissioner Reiner. Um, any comments, discussion? There's a roll call vote. >> Commissioner Jibson, >> hi. >> Commissioner Meisner, >> I. >> Commissioner Heinrich, >> I. >> Commissioner Braad, >> I. >> Commissioner Reiner, >> hi. >> Commissioner Gamash, >> I. >> Commissioner Schulty, >> hi. >> And that passes unanimously. Moving down to the finance portion of the meeting. Commissioner Jeepson. >> Thank you. Uh, there are two items for finance. The first is to consider contract with CANAmteller, a five-year term not to exceed $420,000, including a contingency of $13,000 subject to final review. Uh CAM Amteller is a fully integrated point of sales system that will be used at the sheriff's office and for uh the finance back office with future departments identified for phase um for phased rollout. Uh the second and final finance item is to adopt resolution 2025 GO11 declaring the official intent of Anoka County to reimburse certain expenditures from the proceeds of bonds issued by the county. Uh we plan to issue bonds in 2027 related to government center space modifications, court remodeling, radio shop improvements, and various Rum River campus improvements. Uh the resolution does not require the board to issue these bonds but allows for reimbursement only if we decide to bond. So with that, Mr. Chair, I offer these two consent agenda items. >> Second move by Commissioner Jeepson, seconded by Commissioner um Schulty. Discussion. >> Commissioner Reiner. Yeah. So, at our last workshop, we were talking about uh some of the projects that are in the CIP and um you know, a lot of these were talked about over the years and um there was going to be another discussion on whether or not we were going to do all these projects. I believe uh um the action that we took in December total about 23 in excess I think of $23 million uh worth of um projects. And so I guess my question is um I realize that this action and I'm talking about number eight here >> um is um just to allow us to reimburse the county uh from bonds that we would issue um if we decide to go through with those projects if I understand that correctly. And uh my question is are we going to have that conversation about uh some of the because some of these projects u at this point I I don't agree with um and so just wondering if we're going to have that conversation and um kind of reiterate what the list should be. Um >> and I'm I'm asking our >> county administrator, >> we will be starting that dialog and discussion this afternoon as part of our work session uh with a deeper dive into all the uh detailed projects in your October uh starting at your gov ops area with the with the uh uh finance portion of that. So yes, all that dialogue will be happening. One thing to kind of keep in mind relative to all these projects, while they are listed, they still have to go through the formal approval process through this board uh before they go forward. And again, uh, it's to allow the opportunity to reimburse costs, uh, as some, uh, I would call the soft cost aspect of it is starting to take place as we start prepping for it, which would be, uh, consultants, uh, you know, prepping for, uh, design and things such as that. Uh, that's what we want to be able to reimburse. Um, doesn't mean we have to, um, but it gives us the opportunity to. So, with that, yeah, that'll be coming up. >> All right. Thank you, >> Mr. Meer. >> Yeah. No, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, yeah, and we did talk about this in the uh committee, Commissioner Reiner, and I I just wanted for the public's edification to kind of what our administrator was mapping. So, our CIP, which is the capital improvement plan, that's like a larger overview, that is changing and fluid all the time. But our CIB, which is budget, that is where we we decide as a board, this is what we're going to invest in. That happens every year. Um, so just just to reiterate that because I just want to make sure that the public understands our actual process. Thank you. >> And and you said that our administrator was mapping, not napping, right? >> I thought about it, but yeah, you know, >> uh any uh other items of the information from the information from those meetings from any of the um commissioners? >> Nope. Okay, we will move down to um >> We didn't vote on that last one, I don't think. Oh, >> like the last two actually. >> Okay, that's right. >> Um, so we've got Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Seven and eight. Um, this a roll call vote. >> Fisner. >> I, >> Commissioner Heinrich. >> I, >> Commissioner Braad. >> I, >> Commissioner Reiner. >> Hi, >> Commissioner Gamash. >> I, >> Commissioner Schulty. >> Hi, >> Commissioner Jeepson. >> Hi. >> That passes unanimously. Thank you, Commissioner Schulty. We'll go down to human services and Commissioner Meiser. >> Um, thank you, Mr. Chair. the committee of the whole uh human services. We did meet on September 16th at 8:30 a.m. in this building. There were no public comments in person and I did not receive any via email either, but anyone may at mandy. Meisnermn.gov. So on our slate today, first up is the approval of family homelessness prevention and assistance program subgrantee contracts. This is for C 00011824 for the YMC uh YMCA, C0011825 for the Salvation Army and C0011826 for hope for youth. So the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency has awarded in Oka County this grant of 1,395,000. This is for the 2026 2027 bienium. This would be starting October 1st, 2025. This funding is um for prevention and rapid rehousing supportive services and will provide direct rental and deposit assistance for youth and youthled families, single adults and families. And these are the the uh subcontracts that is recommended the YMCA Salvation Army and um hope for youth. The next is resolution 2025-HS-12. This is recognizing September 2025 as National Recovery Mo month Month in Inoka County. So, um, in human services, there are always a variety of initiatives that we want to highlight as a as a board. This is the first time that we are particularly doing it for recovery month in Anoka County. So, I'm pleased to see this. Um, I will just make my comment that recovery is uh not linear. It is very much up and down. And I, um, wanted to comment that. Next up under community corrections, this is for the conscious healing counseling contract C0011808 and this is including $200,000 for Anoka juvenile center services, 30,000 for an NOA work workhouse services and $10,800 for Anoka County Juvenile Field Services. This contract um has been going really well and we've had this for several years but it is now expanding. The next item is under the job training program. This is to authorize and to apply if accepted funds for from excuse me the m the department of employment and economic development also known as deed. This is for adult career services and not to exceed $400,000. I will make note that the job training center has unfortunately gone through a lot of uh financial challenges and the resources have um decreased over this last cycle. Uh overall this particular one if if this grant is awarded will will uh have a goal of 60 participants and will be trained over two years with the goal of earning national industry recognized manufacturing skills standards. The next item is resolution 2025-HS-14. This is proclaiming September 2020 25 as workforce development month in an NOA county. Um I did mention that they have been going through some challenges. Um by 2035 more than half million people will reach the age of 65 and many of them will be retiring. This is reducing the working age population from 62% to 57% during that time. And in Minnesota, there are 16 workforce development boards. Nearly 50 of them are career force min Minnesota's workforce system location. Ours is located in Blaine. Um, and the last item is under public health and environmental services and this is to authorize to approve amendment number two to child and teen checkups. This is for contract C 0001275 from the Minnesota Department of Human Services funds for the budget period of January 1st, 2026 through December 31st, 2026. And this has been added to the contract in the amount of $661,387. And with that, I will offer the entire slate. I have a motion by Commissioner Meiser. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> By Commissioner Jeepson. Um, anybody want to pull any of these items for a separate vote? Seeing none. This is a roll call vote. >> Commissioner Heinrich. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Braad. >> I. >> Commissioner Reiner. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Kamash. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Schulty. >> Hi. >> Mr. Jeepson. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Meisner. >> I. >> And that passes unanimously. Uh, Commissioner Meiser, do you have anyformational items from the meeting? >> Uh, yeah. We did have a discussion about our 2026 legislative proposals in human services. Uh specifically, there are a lot of challenging times with both the federal and state uh cost shifts. Um so we are working hard to make sure that our residents are going to be served. Um and with that, that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Commissioner Meiser. We'll move down to public safety um committee and Commissioner Breasted. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. So, the committee of the whole for public safety met on September 9th. We have three items for you today. Um, all three of them are donations to our In Noa County Sheriff's Office. That is very cool to see. The first one is resolution 2025-PS15 accepting a dedicated donation from the Ina County Agricultural Society. They are donating $4,700 to the NOA County Sheriff's Office um to be used towards security at our county fair. The second item is resolution 2025-PS16 and this one comes from the In Noa County Crime Prevention Coalition and this is $1,800 to support the Realtime Crime Center Program. And last but not least, we have resolution 2025 PS17, which is accepting a dedicated donation from Infinite Campus Foundation, which is located in Blaine. And their generous donation is $10,000 to support our In Noa County SWAT team. And I'll offer those, Mr. Chair. >> These have all three been offered by Commissioner Bradstead. Anyone wishing to pull any of them? Seeing none, this is a roll call vote. >> Commissioner Brastead. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Reiner. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Gamash. >> I. >> Commissioner Schulty. >> Hi. >> Mr. Jepson. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Meisner. >> I. >> Mr. Heinrich. >> Hi. >> That passes unanimously. Anyformational items? Commissioner Breast. >> Um, just a quick reminder that tonight is the Anoka County Sheriff's Office open house. A very, very popular event and it's fun to attend. There's so much information there. highly recommend it for families with children. Um, and also tonight for the first time, you'll be able to walk over and tour the new 911 center and radio shop. So, encourage people to check that out. And with that, that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Commissioner Bradid. Moving down to transportation um items or the transportation meeting. Um, Commissioner Jeepson. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh the transportation committee met on September 16 at the transportation division facility. There was no public comment. Uh there is one action item that we will take separate and not have it in the consent and then followed by three consent items. Uh the first item for transportation is resolution 2025 TR39 which is a resolution regarding the legislative effort to divert county funding uh directly to the city of Anoka. I would like to highlight some uh key points in the resolution so the community understands why this resolution is important and why we are supporting the county attorney's office to take any and all appropriate legal action uh to challenge the special legislation. In 2023, the Minnesota legislature passed a bill establishing a regional transportation sales and usage tax to support transportation projects in the 7count metro. They intended for these funds uh to be spent on projects for the benefit of the entire region. Uh this past legislative session, they created uh special legis legislation that would divert $6.2 million of Anoka County's transportation dollars to the city of Anoka for construction of a pedestrian bridge spanning the Rum River Dam. Uh this would be the third bridge within a quarter mile in downtown Anoka. Additionally, according to the Minnesota Constitution, special legislation like this that takes money away from the county and directs it to Mandot to give that money directly to a city and ignoring Minnesota laws and the department's own rules, policies, and procedures must be approved by the county board before it can take effect. We feel compelled to move forward with this resolution for two specific reasons. We are adamantly and opposed and challenged the process in how this legislation was created and passed and we strongly question its constitution constitution oh constitutionality. And with that, Mr. Chair, I would like to offer resolution 2025 TR39. >> It's been offered by um the resolution been offered by Commissioner Jeepson. Any discussion? Uh I'm totally in agreement with taking this action today. Um, and glad that we are moving forward with it. Commissioner Re, excuse me, Commissioner Schulty. >> Mr. Chair, I know this could be a vote by acclamation, but I think because of its important, we should do a roll call vote. >> I would agree. I would agree. Um, any other comments, questions? Seeing none, this a roll call vote. >> Commissioner Reiner, >> I. >> Commissioner Gamash, >> I. >> Commissioner Schulty, >> hi. >> Commissioner Jepson. >> Hi. Commissioner Meisner, >> excuse me. I >> Commissioner Heinrich, >> I. >> Commissioner Brastead, >> I. >> And that passes unanimously. Move then to the consent items. Commissioner Gypson. >> Yes. So, there are three um consent agenda requesting approval. The first is approving resolution 2025 TR37. Um, it's a resolution authorizing the preparation of highway right ofway for a bridge replacement at Old Central Avenue over Rice Creek and the rehabilitation of Old Central Avenue from Mississippi Street to 69th Avenue in the city of Fidley. The second resolution is 2025 TR38, which is a resolution authorizing the acquisition of that rideway for that same project just mentioned. Uh, construction of that project will um is scheduled for 2027. The final item on the consent agenda is approving a quit claim deed expanding the 20 feet wide opening to 24.5 feet, an additional 4.5 feet. In June, we approved a 40t wide control access opening at Bunker Lake Crossing. Uh during the verification of final design, it was discovered that the access drive was constructed approximately 4.5 ft further north than originally planned. uh all parties involved including including the city of Ramsey, county staff, city staff, and land owner recommend approval. So with that, Mr. Chair, I will um make a motion to approve the three consent agenda items. >> Second, it has been moved by Commissioner Jeepson, seconded by Commissioner Schulty. Any discussion? >> Uh this a roll call vote. >> Commissioner Gomesh, >> I. >> Commissioner Schulty, >> I. >> Commissioner Jepson, >> I. >> Commissioner Meisner, >> I. >> Commissioner Heinrich, >> I. Commissioner Brassstead. >> I Commissioner Reiner. >> Hi. And that passes unanimously. Um, Commissioner Jeepson, anyformational items from the transportation meeting? >> Just two things like um with human services as Commissioner M. Meisner mentioned, we are discussing our legislative platform. Um there's a lot of transportation needs out there as well. Uh so those are continued conversations uh large conversations that we will be committed to moving forward for the 2026 legislative session. Uh the other thing which was interesting, we discussed a contract with international union of operating engineers to provide um training to our maintenance, fleet services, science and park staff. It's something that we started about two years ago. Um it's been very successful. Uh the quality of the training is above par and um the cost to do that quality training is very very reasonable. So that was that was a easy easy question to answer for that. And with that, I am done with the transportation report. >> Thank you, Commissioner Gypson. That uh concludes our meetings as a whole. We'll move down to agenda item number eight, um which is the resolution 2025100, uh continuation of the In Noa County Board of Oversight of Courtappointed attorneys. Do we have a presentation from >> uh no presentation on this one, but it's really kind of an extension of something that dates back to uh uh 1988. Uh this continues the extension until a known action uh is taken which will be outlined in your appendix. >> Okay. >> Offer the resolution. >> It's been offered by Commissioner Schulty. Um any discussion? >> Um seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Hearing none, it passes unanimously. Item number nine, resolution 2025101, resolution adopting a proposed property tax levy for program year 2026. And I'll turn this over to the county attorney or excuse me to >> CFO Cory Cam. >> Not the county attorney. Sorry there, Brad. >> I may have something to say, but I'll let Corey start. >> Corey. >> All right. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair, county board members. My name is Corey Cam. I'm the chief financial officer for noa county. Um as you know um we have to adopt a preliminary um levy for our tax year 2026. Again the preliminary levy sets the stage for the maximum levy we can issue for the year. We can lower that in December when we do a final but we cannot raise it. And so as you know um and I don't know do I have to hit this to go forward? Is it? >> Um, no. >> Also, they have Jeff Perry's name up there on the thing. So, I was making sure they change that. >> I don't know. I had a couple slides. I didn't know if they're going to pop up here or not, Eric. >> Yeah. >> So, >> check on the slides. >> Check on them. >> Yeah. >> What's that? Dance. >> Dance. >> All right. >> You got them quick fix, >> right? >> Yep. That would be it. >> Okay. We're just going to bring up a couple slides. um based on our um workshop we had um back a few weeks ago, this was the proposed budget that was brought before you um for our 2026 showing that uh gap of 30.5 million. And so I wanted to show that um just to remind you of where we were. And this is our five-year budget projection. Um right now in order to close this gap we are asking for a proposed levy um a preliminary levy at 9.9%. Um and as you look at out at the projection the projections drop um to seven and then back up to nine um out in 28 but we stay in single digits for the next five years even with the projected debt levies for the jail and parking ramps. Okay. And so that's kind of one of the the features. And if you recall last year when we showed you the proposed, we were at 15% for this year. And so we have um closed the gap in a smaller place and we've worked hard to try to do that with the budget. So with that, are there any questions on this preliminary budget? Again, this is the kind of beginning of, you know, our finalizing. We cannot hire it, but we can lower it from here. We still, if you recall, we still have a slight gap of about 1.3 million, which we will um close between now and December. So, >> uh Jim Dickinson, our county administrator, please. >> Um county board, um really what you're seeing is a status quo budget. Yes, there are some uh new employees in here. Those do relate to uh what we would identify as federal and state impacts relative to our budget. Uh whether it be the min choice assessments, reassessments, those types of things. SNAP program. Um today we talked about the paid family medical leave act. Um those dollar amounts uh those are items that are all contained in there that are outside of uh what we had anticipated last year. And as Corey identified uh the forecast at this point in time was uh 15.4%. Um we're coming across here with a a recommendation of 9.9. Uh then also looking ahead through uh uh the five-year projections and looking at sustainability and how we can put this together. Um we try to uh come forth with our best shot across uh to the board uh out of the gates and uh with that does as Corey indicated uh identify some additional work. Um, one thing I'd like the board to understand here as well, looking ahead, uh, what's going on at the state, uh, potential, uh, special session, um, whether or not that will have some impacts to us, positive or negative. Um, positive, uh, we can we can adjust between now and the end of the year. Negative, uh, we believe, uh, uh, we can accomplish, uh, majority of those types of things within this proposed levy. uh the federal um absent them doing some things, we we could be actually talking about a government shutdown. Um uh they're talking about budget reconciliation at this point in time and that remains to be seen. But uh most of the programs that do start come up uh do impact the county. And what we're finding not only at the state and the federal level is uh the organization they tend to want to push things to is the counties and uh where we have to uh go forth with our legislative plans to start challenging these things more aggressively. Uh so keep all those in mind. But going back to the budget, talking about status quo, what's most important? Um, you know, we really look at the strategic priorities uh that the the board put in place early in the year, which include public safety, transportation, community services, workforce, communications, digital experience, livability. And as I look at this budget, uh, we try to keep them all pretty much equal. If I had to say there's a focus of, uh, some of those priorities more than others, I would look towards workforce, community service, and public safety. Uh, those are the areas that uh, might spike a little bit. others more than the others. But with that, um, we present a budget from a recommendation from your staff, county administration, and, uh, would stand for questions. Uh, otherwise, we look for approval of the resolution in your packet. Right. Do um, we have any questions or should I ask for offer of the resolution first? I go we'll go questions. Commissioner Meiser. >> Oh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Ju just comments. I mean, you've you've heard me say this, but I honestly I can't I can't believe that we got to 9.9%. Um, as you stated, it was 15% last year. That was just our own challenges. And then as the federal and state developed, I I was like, we're we're not going to be able to get it down, you know, a minim or below a a twodigit. Uh, so I do want to just like commend you and then also just thank the staff because this is real work and creativity of every single department. Um, and I know that 9.9 I know that I sound kind of glib by saying I can't believe it's this low. I I know that this is a lot of money, particularly for my district, which is the most economically challenged in the entire county. So I don't take this lightly. I was just so nervous that we were going to be looking at 15 or 12 or 16. Um, so thank you again. And th this looking at the forecast too, this is um I know fluid. It'll change from year to year, but this is such a such a better process than what we were having before, I think. Um, so again, I want to thank you for having a long-term kind of approach to it rather than year to year to year and just like what the bottom line is because that is not sustainable. Um, and at the end of the day, we have to keep providing these services for our residents. And so, thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner Meisner. Um, any other comments? >> U, Commissioner Hinrich. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I kind of reserved some of my comments during the resolution we did. Um uh I'll say uh condemning the legislation that uh diverted $6.2 million of county funds that would have gone uh towards our transportation and safety upgrades um instead to a third walk bridge over the uh Rum River um which in my mind is unnecessary. Um that's one thing. Um the reality is here at the county government uh I've been learning I came from uh the state legislature and um you know sometimes we I think played a little bit of a game at the state legislature that I'm learning more about now in county government is that uh the reality of the impacts of cost shifts and unfunded mandates um and further unknowns about the future. And so we're really stuck in a position here um with our county budget where we have to uh follow law and mandates and administer programs that are prescribed by the federal government and the state of Minnesota. And instead of uh somebody else picking up the impact on that, it's pushed on to the county board and uh and the tax levy for our taxpayers. Um insurance premiums, paid family leave. I appreciate uh administrator Dickinson bringing bringing that up. That's a reality as well. Uh county employees, before I was here uh on the county board, I I think there was a a study that was done and um it's kind of coming into fruition now this year and maybe a little bit last year uh where we are more at market and able to compete and um uh bring in um and recruit good talent and retain them. And we hadn't been able to do that in the past. And so I see some sort of impact on the budget uh since I've been here uh trying to get to a spot where we can uh retain uh great employees for the for the county. We went through uh before my time on the board as well three years of a zero increase which during the time seemed like the right thing to do and it might have been the right thing to do but that also should be recognized as an impact as we look forward on this budget here for 26 and uh and the years to come. I'm it's frustrating and I lay a lot of this at the feet of the of state legislation and actions by the federal government. Um I really think uh I could be corrected maybe by Corey, but we could be more looking at in the fours or fives versus the nines had it not been for some of these things that the county um really has no control over. Uh so I just wanted to point that out. Uh this is a frustrating um spot that we're in. I am going to support this uh preliminary budget today. Uh but it's not without some frustration. Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Uh Commissioner Reiner. >> Yeah, just a couple of thoughts on this. Um I guess I'm going to agree with um previous comments about the process that we have in place. It was uh very comprehensive and turned out a good result. Um I had announced early on that I'm not going to support anything that has two digits in it. And uh lo and behold, uh administrator Jim Dixon comes up with 9.9. Um the cost shifts uh from the state um mandates. Um there's a lot of things that we're dealing with here at at the uh county in addition to and what John just said, you know, we did have in 20 21 and was it 2122 some really bad advice and some really bad management that uh threw this county into a hole. Um, we had an 11% increase, a 17% increase, and now this is going to be a 10. Um, I came in here kind uh really not knowing which way I was going to go on this because I I don't want to support this because I think that there is some more work that uh can be done. Um, but I am going to support it. Um, and I trust that more work work will be done and um I'm hoping for maybe around an eight. I don't know if that's possible, but you know, um I think more work uh should be uh done on this topic and see if we can get it a little bit lower. >> Commissioner Jeffson. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um yeah, thank you to the comments already made by my colleagues. I too have significant frustrations with decisions that were made totally out of our control. Um, I won't add to the frustrations that have already been voiced, but I would like to offer uh a a little bit of help if at all possible. Um, over this past legislation, I've been able to put into words what this has meant to me, this fight, this fight for the transportation um bill that was ultimately passed. And um the the one word that I've come up with is exhausted. And I cannot imagine you all as staff and you all as my colleagues felt equally exhausted with this past legislation. Um so what I've been sharing with folks is that this you know it is what it is. There's a lot that we cannot control and what we can control we're working through and being creative and being um very fiscally responsible. Um, but I would like as a suggestion, if I could be so bold, is I think we need to tell our story a little bit more broadly. We need to step out of that invisible layer of government. And I know we cannot change the property tax statement because that's determined statewide. But I would really love to see an insert in the property tax statement that goes out explaining how our state and our federal government is directly impacting our property taxpayers because that story I don't think I mean we always say you know unfunded mandates but really what does that mean to the average taxpayer? They don't understand that. Um, and I just think a slip of paper to explain what is our responsibility and what is out of our control. Um, and if I I don't know if that would take a motion. I don't know if that's just direction to staff. I don't know if my colleagues I haven't talked to anybody about this, but um, I think that's something that we should be on the proactive side of considering. >> Uh, your staff has been anticipating something like that. So, yeah, be in the it'll be in the making here. So, >> thank you. >> Anyone else? Commissioner Riner. >> Yeah, I'd like to add to that. I think that's a really good idea. More information is better and so people need to um understand, but I and a lot of these things we can't do anything about, but part of this is is uh this board too uh getting some very bad information in 21 and 22 to uh pass a zero increase levy. And so, I think that we should, if we're going to do that, also include that because, you know, we have to look in the mirror too. Um uh it was based on information that was given us that was not good. Um but we did vote for that and that did um uh put us on a trajectory to be where we are today. >> Um the one I think the one thing I to tell people is obviously that um this is a less than last year um but it's not still a good um outcome. And uh if you have started to hear on um the news at 10:00 at night, the cities are dealing with the same thing and some of the other counties in the metro area and all across the state. Um so it's it's a very difficult time for a lot of us um counties and cities, which um last night I was watching some of that those being covered. Um and they the the numbers that are starting to they're talking about in some of the suburban communities um are pretty high. Um so it's it's across the board. Um just the number of things going on with the economy um but also things if you're building a fire station or you're doing things like that. We're trying to do the best we can to bring um it down from the last couple years and then um and then get us under a budget that's laid out as you can see by the five-year projection that we have in front of us so that we know where we're going and we know a little bit better of where we're where we're going to end up. So, um I'm happy with that part of it that we have this projection that we're looking at that um does continue to bring it down um over the next five years um with one brief increase because of I believe that's related to um some of the bonds that we'll be uh needing to do. But yeah, um I think we're on the right track um going forward. Commissioner Meiser, you had a question or comment? >> Yes. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. I I I just wanted to just wanted to make a comment of uh Commissioner Reiner's suggestion about elaborating on our statements to all of our residents. First of all, I want to say thank you for um owning that we did vote for it. Now, I did not always vote for a 0% levy because I did not think it was sustainable, but I do want to just kind of challenge you about the narrative that you're suggesting because even when I didn't vote for it, I am still responsible. I still own that this is this is what we did. And I also want to make note that our our CFO every year, he would present the information with the 0% with any percent of a variety of scenarios. And he would always be very clear if you do this that will happen. If you do this that will happen. So the idea that it is somehow not our responsibility because we got quote unquote poor advice I I don't think is the complete truth. Um, so I do just want to point that out and I am not in favor of elaborating much on that statement except of what Commissioner Jeepson uh or even Commissioner Heinrich was talking about. I think sticking to facts is a good thing. Absolutely. But once you start elaborating, I think it gets into a really slippery slope because all seven of us, I'm sure, interpreted our budget very differently and I don't think that's a very good idea. Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> So, do I have a resol? We have a resolution before us. Oh, >> did were you asking for a response? >> I'm not. No. >> Oh, okay. All right. >> Um, do I have an offer of the resolution for the 2025 101 um property tax levy? >> I'll resolution. >> It's been offered by Commissioner Jeepson. Any further discussion? Does the roll I'm sorry. Sorry, Julie. U Commissioner Braon. >> Thanks. Tried to catch you earlier. Um, yeah, just everyone has brought up some good facts and it it's 100% accurate that this is a real challenging levy because of federal and state cost shifts. Um, I am not going to support today's action and I hope that we can bring our final levy down to something that I can support in December. Um what I have seen over the last couple years is 2024 we were over 10% increase in our levy. 2025 16.86 uh 74 new positions. Uh the proposal for 2026 is 9.9 with 27 new positions. Some of those positions are warranted and we need it. But what I am seeing is not necessarily a balancing of um needs versus wants. And I think we just have to really tighten things up when we know we have less control at the state and the federal level. We need to do everything we possibly can um at the county to um re in re in as much as we can. Okay. Um, Commissioner Reiner and then Commissioner Meisner. >> Yeah, you know, I'm glad you brought up the uh the hires uh because we were shocked in the last couple of years at um you know, the amount of new hires that were being proposed to us. I think it was uh what did you say it was 70 80 90 and uh but it was also revealed that in 21 and 22 uh there was a suppression of hiring uh by management and that put us into a hole as far as the need for new hires. And so with that kind of uh shuffling of the deck and playing I call it game playing where you're trying to suppress hire new hires to get down to a zero levy uh suggestion that you know it you're you're creating a hole and it did create a hole and so when we had to come back from that yeah we had some high increases and uh unfortunate um but that is uh some of the background of what did happen. >> Mr. Meer. >> Oh, thank you, Mr. Chair. And yeah, Commissioner Brass, you have always, you know, brought up this conver or in conversation with the committees. Um, and then I I guess I'll just say the same things that I have also said in committees. So, with these with these new hires and I I can't remember is it 22 or 25 of the 27, they're they're actually grant funded. Um, and at the end of the day, we still have to provide services. So for I disagree with your you know opinion that it's a want versus a need. Uh I am very confident that this is pretty bare bones and so the idea of not supporting staff who are doing the work the boots on the ground um what that would mean the consequence is we wouldn't be providing services to the to the level that we are. Uh, so I I do want to just make make note of that uh for for my opinion about that. Thank you. >> Any other comments before we take the roll call vote? >> See none. This a roll call vote. >> Commissioner Schulty. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Jeepson. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Meisner. >> I. >> Commissioner Heinrich. >> I. >> Commissioner Braad. >> I. >> Commissioner Reiner. >> I. >> Commissioner Gamash. >> I. That passes six to one. Item number 10 is consider resolution 2025102, resolution adopting a proposed public safety tax levy for the program year 2026. Corey, are you going to give us an update on that one, too? >> Yeah, just a second. I'm going to try to doing this right. Hang on a sec here. So, here we go. >> In the meantime, I'll uh offer the resolution to get it on the table. >> Thank you, Commissioner Schulty. >> Okay. Um, Mr. Chair, members of the board, my name is Corey Camp, chief financial officer for NOA County. If you recall the public safety levy, which was extended to 2033 in the legislative session, um we did we did not have one for program 24, year 24, or program year 25 as we're working with the joint law enforcement co-op. And this allows the joint law enforcement co-op to um invest in capital um projects for public safety related to all the departments, police, fire um and working with our 911 center across the um county. And so at this point in time, we do have a new public safety data system that was um that the JLAC entered into a contract for. And as part of that going forward, we had some leftover dollars about a little over one million that we could put towards it. But over the next couple years, we need to pay for the second part of that new public safety data system through the public safety levy. And so there's 500,000 slated for this year and I believe we're another 500,000 for the following year to help pay for the public safety data system. >> Thank you, Corey. So, >> um, questions or comments? Commissioner Reiner. Then Commissioner Heinrich. >> So the entire cost is uh 2.7 million. Correct. >> Um correct. >> And um so this would be 500,000. You're talking about maybe doing 500 next year. Oh, that's still And I I I understand JLAC has a a balance of about 1.2 million. >> 1.2 million. >> And they're spending that on this system. >> Yes. >> Uh but that still leaves a delta of about 1.1 million. Well, actually, it's 2.7 minus the 1.2. So, it might be three years of the 500,000 will get you there. >> So, you're saying we're going to be doing this three years in a row? >> Probably three years in a row at this point. >> No more unless there's other projects that JLE would like to recommend and that's another discussion. >> Commissioner Henrik. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I know the answer to this, but just for the sake of those those watching as well, uh Corey is the um this is a separate line item on the property tax statement or >> Yes. >> Okay. And and um how many different entities are are are people going to see between the county and the city and the state and um stuff like this >> on the property tax statement? >> Yes, I think there's there's quite a bit. You have the county, you have the schools, and the school may have referendums, which would be depending on your school district and what part of school district you're in. You're going to have also you've got the HA, you've got the Met Council, um, >> wershed districts, >> wershed, wershed district, depending on if you're in that watershed district or not, Creek's one of the biggest ones. So, it's going to vary. There's a there's a number of jurisdictions to your point. >> Yes. Thank you. That's helpful. Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, this roll call vote. >> Commissioner Jeepson, >> I. >> Commissioner Meisner, >> I. >> Mr. Heinrich, >> I. >> Mr. Braad, >> I. >> Commissioner Reiner, >> I >> Sulty. >> Hi. >> And that passes unanimously. Move down to item number 11, our committee appointments. Consider follow the following related to the Noa County Children and Family Council as recommended by the human services committee of the whole. appointing uh Dennis, excuse me, Denise Buyers of the Lee Carlson Center, replacing Marissa Smok as the community agency representative for a term ending January 31st, 2026, and reappointing uh Buola Orola of the Anishian story as the community agency representative for a term ending May 31st, 2028. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Moved by Commissioner Meisner. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Commissioner Jeepson. Any comments, questions? Hearing none. All in favor say by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. Hearing none. It passes unanimously. And with that, thank you to staff for all the hard work on the budgets on both the uh different levies that we worked on today. And uh as a reminder to everybody, this is these the one uh levy that we set was the high level. That means in the next four months, what? October, November, December. Oh, I guess it's three. Um, our staff will be working to see if we can bring that down, but we can't go any higher. With that, this we'll adjourn the meeting and we'll see if there