Carver County — Transcript
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Election Integrity and Voter Intimidation
Property Tax Assessment and Valuation Issues
State Legislative Update and County Fiscal Impacts
Local Affordable Housing (LAH) Project Development and Funding
Cost of Growth and Home Ownership
Future of County Infrastructure and Services (e.g., Dispatch, First Street Center)
Votes (4)
Public Hearing, Consider Amendment to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan
Moved by Commissioner Lynch [00:41:35] · Seconded by Commissioner Fahey [00:41:52]
Paul Molin presented an amendment to the 2040 Carver County Comprehensive Plan regarding Watertown Township's solar ordinance. The ordinance mandates large-scale solar developments be on owner-occupied land, creating a dual approval process with the county. The Township initiated this request after a solar company dropped litigation. While the Planning Commission recommended it, and adjacent communities submitted 'no comment' forms, the key challenge remains the added layer of regulation for landowners. The board's action is to forward it to the Metropolitan Council for review before final adoption, with the Township tasked to update its ordinance within 9 months.
Legislative Update
Tony Albright and Courtney Jasper provided a comprehensive legislative update for the 2026 session. They detailed the passage of the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act, which allocates $15 million statewide (with $213K for Carver County) and funds for Human Services IT modernization ($50M). They underscored the state's practice of cost shifts, where legislative mandates lead to increased burdens on county property taxes without full state funding. Topics like the bonding bill's unmet requests and the complexities of housing affordability and fraud were also central to the discussion, with commissioners expressing frustration over unfunded mandates and the need for county advocacy.
CDA Trails Edge Senior Housing
Moved by Commissioner Lynch [01:21:40] · Seconded by Commissioner Udermann [01:21:52]
Allison Strike presented the Trails Edge Senior project in Waconia, a 43-unit senior housing development, requesting $1 million in county funding. This funding is crucial for leveraging Minnesota Housing tax credits and avoiding costly federal earmarks. She detailed the extensive application process and high demand for CDA properties, which serve low to moderate-income residents. Updates on other LAH-funded programs included first-time homebuyer assistance, emergency rental assistance, and a new senior rehab program. Commissioner Lynch suggested a strategic partnership with the CDA to use LAH funds for future county building projects, like the First Street Center, to jointly address county infrastructure needs and housing delivery.
Designation of Retired Sheriff Badges to Employee Recognition
The Sheriff proposed a one-time policy exception to allow the distribution of old, retired sheriff badges to employees who last wore them as a token of appreciation. Due to a state flag/seal change, existing badges are being phased out. Current policy mandates disposal or sale of old assets, but selling badges is problematic due to impersonation risks. The Sheriff emphasized the badges' institutional and sentimental value to deputies. He sought the board's approval for this exception, stating that any remaining badges after distribution would be disposed of through normal channels. He also clarified that Carver County's dispatch center operates independently, like other metro counties, and that regional collaboration for future infrastructure depends on aligned timelines with potential partners.
Notable Quotes (9)
Watertown Township zoning ordinance has been adopted to regulate solar development within the Township and requires large-scale solar developments to be placed on owner-occupied land. This ordinance is in addition to the requirements contained in Carver County land use policy and ordinance, and the Township assumes the responsibility to enforce requirements of this ordinance.
allocated 15 million dollars a minimum for counties to be able to implement this it's a minimum of a hundred thousand dollars per county and they've got a formula based on how many individuals you have that may be in the program and what you may need to administer the program and so it's still yet to be seen exactly what those dollars would look like for Carver but there is some money
The bonding bill was pretty important to a lot of people this year, and I will say that, no one was quite satisfied with exactly the amounts that were received, but the ask was over almost $4 billion, and they arrived at a funding mechanism in the general obligation bonding portion of the capital investment committee of 1.2 billion dollars.
The fiscal note from uh MMB, the budget office down there, said no cost. Right? There's no cost for this new program. No cost to the state. And they shoved it down to us. And the legislature has a bad habit of doing that.
All four of those applications were submitted to Minnesota Housing in 2020. One got funded. Then I kept submitting all of them until they each additionally got funded with the final one being funded in 2025, so um every year to submit those applications, you start in about January. Applications are due in July, so it's like a 6-month sprint to like get all the required information uploaded to Minnesota Housing.
Our bond-funded properties serve households at 80% of area median income and then you go down to our tax credits at 60 50%. It's generally the people we do go up to 80% with land trust... Um so, generally speaking um I would say the missing middle is not the demographic that we serve.
I think the use of LAHA money, the use of property that we control, a double parcel in in Waconia, um lends itself to to be a fruitful conversation to see if that could be a future um project with you guys.
They carry a significant and institutional meaning to the individual deputies who wore them in service. And um then I you know, like all things, I realized I can't just hand them out. Uh which incidentally other agencies do. It's a common practice in Anoka County, for example, when you quit or retire, you just take your old badges with you.
I'm asking the board to make an exception to this policy and instead allocate these badges to its employee recognition program which they would we would then issue them back to the deputy who last wore that badge as a as an indicator of of that we value them and and the good work that we've done.
Ordinances & Resolutions (15)
10-year academic review by University of St. Thomas law professor Virgil Weibel on non-citizen voting.
State laws related to election intimidation and interference.
Federal laws preventing intimidation at the polls.
Online county record for property information, noted for discrepancies with actual deeded acres.
Official document showing accurate deeded acres and property tax owed.
Statute relating to zoning guidelines based on contiguous acres, central to a property assessment dispute.
County's long-term development plan, subject to an amendment regarding solar development.
Township ordinance regulating solar development, requiring owner-occupied land for large-scale projects.
State legislation aimed at addressing disproportionality in child welfare, with significant funding implications for counties.
State IT system for human services, slated for modernization funding.
State IT system for human services, mentioned in the context of modernization.
Cited for statistics on increasing costs of home ownership.
County document outlining priorities and concerns regarding state legislative actions and their financial impact.
Delayed report related to 'does not meet criteria' (DNMC) individuals needing medical care outside of jails.
ICE enforcement operation in manufactured housing areas.