good evening I am darcia deking and on behalf of the league I would like to welcome you to the city of Carver candidate Forum we thank both the candidates and the audience for attending tonight and our online VI audience for viewing the League of Women Voters does not support or oppose a political party or a candidate for office the League of Women Voters Eastern Carver County has a longstanding history history in our community of providing unbiased candidate and issue information that is widely used by Minnesota voters regardless of their political beliefs sponsorship of this forum is a public service providing you with an opportunity to hear the candidates discuss important issues face to face the views expressed here tonight are those of the candidates and not those of the League of Women Voters sponsorship of this forum is not an endorsement by the league of any part particular candidate there is never enough time to cover all the issues if you feel your question was not answered or address please contact the candidate directly after the Forum and now I'll read a statement on candidate Forum recordings the League of Women Voters sponsors candidate forums to provide the public with an opportunity to hear candidates discuss the issues that are important to members of the public the league is nonpartisan organization that does not support or oppose any any political party or candidate the views expressed in each Forum are those of the candidates not those of the League of Women Voters League of Women Voters posts complete unedited recordings of forums editing is authorized only for official media reporting excerpts or edited clips of candidate forums may not be used for partisan or political purposes all candidates for Carver mayor and Carver city council were invited to participate candidates who chose to attend tonight are mayor candidates Matt Herman and Courtney Johnson and city council candidates Glenn Henry Eric pman and Lorie s and now I would like to introduce our moderator Jean bringold Pro is a certified moderator from League of Women Voters of Eastern Carver County good evening everyone we will start the candidate Forum with the opening statements each candidate will be given one and a half minutes for their opening statement and one and a half minutes for a closing statement opening statements will be given in alphabetical order by office starting with candidates for mayor and ending with candidates for city council the order of answering questions and the closing statements will be rotated based on a randomly generated grid candidates will have up to one and a half minutes to respond to the questions depending on the complexity of the questions I may announce less time for question please note our timekeepers who have a 30 second and a 15 second sign they also have a stop sign or we'll call time to be sure each candidate has full time allotted the first question has been prepared by the leg of Women Voters Eastern Carver County additional questions will be those submitted by the voters here and those submitted by the League's email address let's begin with the opening statements we will begin with candidate for mayor Matt Herman the new guy right off the bat I mean really welcome to the show thank you so yeah I'm Matt Herman I've lived in the town roughly 22 years with my lovely wife and my two daughters the reason why I'm running is obviously we have a large residential population coming in and I would really like to see some offset with commercial industrial if we look at chasa chasa has done a great job obviously population larger but they've done a great job doing the balanced offs Setter tax base the my other focus is we want to make sure that we have an election Integrity as well as transparency um so those are some of my focuses I also will be very responsible with other other people's money I'm a general contractor so I'm in charge of not only managing my own budget but those budgets of other folks and uh so that's why I'm running for mayor thank you and Courtney Johnson good evening my name is Courtney Johnson and for the past four years I have had the extreme pleasure as serving as the mayor of the city of Carver I'm proud of what the city has accomplished under my leadership the Jonathan Carver Parkway construction and the water system expansion which will ensure the city's infrastructure will keep up with the needs of our growing City the payment management plan which provides a funding source to ensure the city streets in the more established parts of town are maintained and we've welcomed 15 commercial industrial businesses which broadened our tax base and brought hundreds of jobs to Carver I've also worked hard during the past four years to improve transparency with the city I've insisted we broadcast our work sessions and have engaged and informed residents about what's going on in their community Through consistent Communications I've lobbied on behalf of the city of Carver to secure more than $2.7 million in Grants for the levy Improvement project which will keep our Historic downtown safe and remove the restrictions to our residents and property owners in the flood plane I've lived in Carver for the past 12 and a half years and I've been involved in our community since shortly after moving here professionally I'm an independent communications consultant and small business owner I have a strong business euman and lengthy Communications experience which benefits me in this role as mayor I'm running running for mayor because I have the experience the dedication and I know I'm the best person to serve the city of Carver for the next four years I'm committed to our community community and dedicated to its progress thank you and now we will hear from Glenn Henry good evening I'd like to thank the league for having this forum um it's always a pleasure coming in here and answering any and all questions from everybody that's in here um been a longtime resident of Carver our family moved to Carver in 1972 and uh I took out sabatical and moved out to the east coast but I've been in living in Carver um since 2000 um reason I'm running again for Carver there's a few more things of in infrastructure that um I would like to see in place um so that way we can support our businesses that will be coming here and more citizens that are moving into Carver um I have experience um I'm running for my fourth term um and experience goes a long way in making decisions because I like to deal with the facts and I don't like dealing with emotional responses thank you and now we'll hear from Council candidate Eric pman all right well good evening my name is Eric pman and I am the new guy as well and the Challenger to these two folks for a seed on city council I'm a 23-year resident at Carver uh having grown up in chasa uh I come from a civil service family uh with a view that public service is the mechanism uh that betters our community for my children and my neighbors I acted on that joining the Park and Recreation board with the help of Christy mock now sits on this Council we engaged citizens to ask what they wanted and the skate park was one of the successful results after that I was on Planning Commission and I facilitated some deliberation over the Carver Crossing Apartments um I was a tiebreaking vote for that and you'll you'll find that life cycle housing is a a core tenant of mine for the city of Carver uh my professional life has also been in public sector with 25 years of building Communications infrastructure uh that's the stuff that allows the sheriff to run your license plate all the stuff you don't see I've served on advisory boards I've been the liaison for state agencies ensuring Public Safety uh during planned and unplanned events I'm running for city council with experience uh dedication and commitment to do the work of the city and ensure it's progress thank you and now we'll hear from Lori SE Council candidate thank you good evening my name is Lorie s I've been on the council for almost four years uh previous to that I was a commissioner in the Planning Commission for about two years I've been a resident of Carver for 22 years I've been married for 26 years my husband Chad and I have two daughters um our oldest Jordan is a recent graduate of chasa high school she's now a freshman at University of Minnesota the Twin Cities and then our other daughter Harley is a sophomore at chesa high school and uh works at the Carver rdge senior housing um in Food Service I enjoy connecting with others within the community uh being involved as previously a commissioner and on the council I also find it really rewarding seeing the long-term plans that with the council and City staff were working on such as like Trail connections um every time I'm on what I still call Snake Road and just see more connections to it with uh the old road to the Llama Farm um just being able to see more people utilize that trail those type of things I find rewarding as well as just Public Service um and I also come from a family with um Public Service background so um thank you thank you we will now have our first question and our questioning will begin with Lori what is the biggest challenge facing Carver um the biggest challenge facing Carver at first I'm like thinking of two different answers I'm thinking just of like as the city and what residency is really just balancing that residential growth with the industrial business growth to have additional funding sources so I see I see that um also so at a council level my biggest challenge is balancing what's right for the city and what's right for the residents um that is the good thing is we're never making a split-second decision um that's why that's one of the things that I like and I feel like I'm good at is with the city council is the decisions that are brought in front of us are usually things that we've been working on whether it be work sessions or it was something we talked about um five years ago and The Five-Year Plan so um that's kind of the easy part knowing what's coming up on the agenda but the real challenge is when you make the decision balancing what's right for the city and what's right for the residents thank you and now we'll hear from Glenn biggest phas uh the biggest challenge facing Carver is balancing the growth of the industrial and residential growth um we've done a lot as a council um to put in the proper infrastructure to lure businesses and uh residential developments to town um the budgeting uh for uh the utilities and our new city hall and our water treatment facility um that infrastructure was critical um to open up Avenues of of development to come to Carver um since I've been on the council we've had uh six major developments and uh Carver has grown from a population of about 2,800 when I first got on the counil to a little over 6,000 now and um the growth of the residentials is coming right along um we'll have to see what the inflation Factor does now for residential moving but um as far as the industrial uh areas I do know that there are there are some developments that are looking at Carver um to move in and uh expand our industrial base thank you and I we'll hear from Matt so I'll just Echo what the last two heads spoke about but I I think it's important we're going to have to really solicit these commercial businesses these industrial businesses to sell Carver to them we're not we don't want to wait for them to come here it's urgent the other thing is the safety aspect so we have um we have a growing residential base and we have a sheriff's office one of the things I think we could immediately do is try to help them bring on another K9 unit and so the reason why I say this is because there's enough upfront fee with the canine maybe $5 to $20,000 right green dogs five grand with the genetics the nerves the training could run about 15,000 but the aspect is is they don't miss work they show up want to go to work and that that officer has a partner to fight crime with and so yeah we live in a safe neighborhood we live we the town's safe but we really don't know unless you talk with the sheriff the areas of opportunity that we really need to look at so that's one of the things I propose all right and now we'll hear from Courtney all right um I think uh one of the biggest challenges is growth in the city of Carver and it's a challenge and it's an opportunity because um Carver is growing our growth is inevitable and just in the past four years the amount of commercial businesses that we've seen we have Carver Ridge we've got Lake View Industries we've got quick trip we've got smaller businesses downtown that are owned by community members Harbor residents who have put their Heart and souls into these businesses Charlie Max Salon the getaway motor Cafe which will be opening this fall um we I think um we have our comprehensive plan which will guide our development as far as residential commercial industrial we know where that will all go when that comes into the city um infrastructure as part of growth is also a challenge but again that's guided not only um in our comprehensive plan but fisc with our long-term financial plan so that we know that when we get another industrial user which we are starting to have talks with and we're making progress on we know that we might have to rejigger things in that order um welcome welcoming new residents making sure that they're welcome that they understand what's going on and where they can get their information so there aren't any surprises keeping folks informed it's all a delicate dance but I think that through the city's planning we done a good job of managing that growth and making sure that we know what the future growth for the city of caror will look like thank you and now Eric well goodness I'm going to follow a a common theme Here we have three times the population we did in 2000 so we're growing fast uh the I think infrastructure uh leads that so uh the pain people feel from that is why are my utility bills so high why is my water bill is so high the city is challenged with uh keeping infrastructure on Pace with the growth of the city uh oversizing infrastructure so we're not ripping and replacing 10 years from now really looking forward in the next 10 years and through the 2040 comprehensive plan to make sure that the water infrastructure is there so we don't get an alert that we have to not water the lawn and uh not flush the toilets uh and add another million and a half gallons capacity uh to the city's City's water uh so infrastructure uh part of that though is uh the um well I think we'll we'll get to to life cycle housing um rooftop spring development um and we'll talk about that further as we as how that impacts our our infrastructure development all right and our second question is please give us your thoughts on the design Carver 2040 comprehensive plan and the long-term financial plan and we will begin with Eric well um I'm one of the less qualified people I think to answer that is I haven't been part of the development of the 240 plan I actually worked on the 2030 plan through Planning Commission however that said uh I am confident that we have uh talented City staff uh and uh an elected body that has that has put together responsible um um projection for 2040 development uh I I think the city in in its current iteration with the current mayor um is taking all of the right steps U to really like I said with infrastructure to to be oversizing uh and move the city towards um uh towards proper devel when it comes to the fiscal side of it I think the worry is well how much is that going to cost me how much is that going to add to my taxes um and we've done a remarkable job of lowering taxes we might not feel that because our house prices keep increasing in value but as we move towards 2040 in fact in 2023 we'll see a reduction in the tax rate for our home so the short answer is I think the city is on the right path and is doing a good job I'm not here to change that all right and now we'll go to Lori so my thoughts on the design Carver 2040 comprehensive plan is that I do have good knowledge of it just because I was on the Planning Commission um as as part of that was being developed and that it's something within the council that we often go and look to but I just know a lot more on who was involved in it and that was interesting for me as having previous experience as a resident I I was pretty vocal about some things near my house um whether it be a drainage ditch or a uh a um my pillow and at that time I didn't understand how far in advance things need to be planned out and you can just go so many directions without a guide so I just see that at least gives you a starting point a guide but in addition to that I've really learned in the last four years how much the city staff and what we use for Consultants the engineering the law firm are really involved so we definitely had confident team members that are experts in that area because I'm not um and that it was just truly a collaboration so for that part I feel just very comfortable and proud of what we have for the 2040 comprehensive plan in regards to the long-term Financial we've seen some real changes not in numbers and like how the columns look but just how it's communicated with our new Financial director so I'm excited to be learning from her um and continue to work on the long-term financial plan thank you Jean thank you and now we'll go to Courtney so the question was how well do we know the long-term financial plan and design Carver and I'd say I know it pretty well um I was involved in the creation of the 2040 comprehensive plan um but what was great about that is it was a collaborative process so we let the community get involved with that process as well so they were able to provide feedback they were part of the group that decided future industrial is going to go up here and we're going to have high density housing here so it was collaborative and reactive um it outlines everything that we need to get to where we think we're going to be in 2040 how far will the growth go where will the streets go what are we going to need in terms of uh infrastructure improvements um so that is really really are guiding principles allinone plan that we can look to development and anybody who's moving to the city of Carver you know I'll never buy a house the same way again and I've said that before you should take a look at the comprehensive plan so that you know that that field behind your house isn't going to be a field into perpetuity as far as the the long-term financial plan goes that is our long-term plan for the city so we know when the city is going to need certain Investments be it in infrastr structure be it in staff be it a new truck for the fire department or when we're going to need new scbas for those folks um and that really gives us an idea again nothing's written in stone and we can move around the deck chairs as um development continues or as we have different priorities thanks and now we'll go to Matt yeah just real quick if we don't lower our water bills and if we don't start to approve businesses that want to come and I'll use the example my neighbor owns mit's pizzas pizza and Bell plan and he's coming here in Carver which is awesome took him a year to get his license approved that's unacceptable so if we don't start changing things we won't have a 2040 plan is that all that's it okay Glenn 2040 com plan the 2040 com plan um was a collaborative effort um put forth by many people in the community uh Planning Commission uh the Heritage commission um The Parks Commission everybody um put forth their ideas and where they would like to see Carver um grow whether it be North on Jonathan Carver Parkway um west of Jonathan Carver Parkway um many people many people uh put forth their ideas and City acted on them and we put together a pretty good plan uh for what we'd like to see Carver in the year 2040 um one of the long-term plan um Investments that we had to move up a little bit was a the city hall um B the water treatment facility um two major infrastructure projects that um uh took time to put together but in doing so um the plan came together and so for the year 2040 um just outlining where the industrial parks are going to be where the development residential developments are going to be um it's some things do take time all right and our third question is how important is the flood Levy recertification project for Carver and what actions if any would you take to make this $12 million project happen and we will begin with Glenn the levy project has been we've been researching this project for the better part of 20 years um long before I was on the counselors talk about what are we going to do about the levy um I will say that Mayor Johnson has done a great job in um running down senators and at the state house and at the federal level um to land some grant money so we can lessen the bird of the levy um to the citizens as far as what it's going to do it will lower the in insurance rates for every citizen in downtown Carver um I know that their flood insurance is high and we need to lower that burden to help bring businesses back into downtown um but what will it do for Carver um it'll open up Avenues to the parks um for the long range part of the long the 2040 plan is um the parks on right on the other side of the levy um there's a lot to the plan and it's the way that the our Representatives have come forward to help us uh land uh revenue streams um will help Carver uh with the with the levy all right and now we'll hear from Matt well it's obviously very important everything that he just mentioned but it's also important we're going to have to be physically responsible and it's going to be a balancing act um but we have to we absolutely have to address it to ensure that for the future at Carver okay and now we'll hear from Eric well I think it's pretty important I think we have a gem in downtown Carver a lot of cities don't have a historic district like we do uh I was was really surprised to learn how that Levy was constructed in the first place it's not as secure as you might think and it was never approved by the Army Corps of Engineers I thought we were trying to get it recertified we're not it never was uh so uh and as as Glenn said the the folks in downtown have high insurance and uncertainty and I think we can also be sure that extreme weather events hit us more often I think every year we're at more risk of of something catastrophic happening downtown so if we want to preserve what we have if we want to attract more businesses if we want to make this keep this the center point of Carver the levy has to be a priority I agree I think Courtney's done a great job looking for some grant money to do that study it's it's kind of been going on for 20 years but uh I think there's uh momentum to really move this forward so I'm I'm excited excited about that in the next four years I I think it's an important project for the city okay and next we will hear from Lori yeah so as far as how important is the levy project I think very important um I think it's phenomenal what mayor Johnson's been able to do that she's secured $2.7 million of grant money for um the levy I learned more about it just being engaged with community members and business owners so I know a lot more of why I put so much um emphasis and importance on it and what action I will take is really just to continue to collect those stories and do what I can do to support the mayor as she or he continues to promote or kind of tell her story with legislation so some of those stories are I didn't know that well I think it's kind of common this thing about like it's really hard to get insurance or it would cost a lot for the flood insurance but for someone to have their business there there and maybe it's a retail they need to ensure that inventory well that would be quite a bit to do that in a flood District so there's that part and then just recently I was a really nice historic home with beautiful garden and um the uh one of the homeowners um Sandy any was we she invited us into her house and I always thought the flood would be like okay I'll see it like it's going to go over you know the bank or you know over the actual Levy it would come through their basement so there is just a a lot of those stories I want to hear more about them because I think those stories it tells the story of Carver and will help us um keep that historic charm thank you Jean and now we'll hear from Courtney thank you you know we've got a lot of priorities in Carver but the Minnesota River Levy and getting that certified and funded not in that order is right up there um I am proud of the progress that we have made as a city I think we've made more progress perhaps in the last four years than we have in a little while and part of that was a previous Council shift from working with the Army Corp of Engineers to going the private engineering route um but I have worked with state and federal and Watershed resources to get more than $2.7 million in Grants that the city will put towards that Levy um the thing that I've always said is I don't want to have to Levy for the levy meaning that that won't necessarily come out of your tax bill so it's a $12 million project that was a January of 2022 number so we all know what inflation is done and I anticipate that it's gone up higher than that the city's match for this project right now is right around $3 million so with that $2.7 million we are well on our way you know what I think we've already reached the match num so I think the match is more like $2.5 million so with the $2.5 million that we've received from the feds we've effectively crossed that threshold of the match that we'll need so if we can continue to encourage which I think we're all working to do our legislators in St Paul to come up with bonding bills when they're supposed to um we will continue to get funds from the Minnesota dnr's flood mitigation program and we will continue to have that funded we've already reached our match and um we just need to keep the pedal on the gas for this project all right now we'll go to question number four what measures if any would you propose to reduce carbon emissions in the city of Carver and we will start with Courtney sure um you know we have a council member who is not up for election so she's not joining us this night uh tonight but she was uh the reason why we're part of the green step cities program so the green step cities program um gives us thresholds and there are um items to check off of our list to continue to reach that goal of reducing carbon emissions and to be as the name implies A Greener City um so I would say to continue to follow along with that program um I've also heard from folks as we're seeing our friends and neighbors and fellow council members um get more electric vehicles the city of Carver say for the the public or the the private infrastructure and the folks who have Chargers in their homes we don't have any public charging stations in the city of Carver so I think that that's an opportunity too and that's on my my Horizon to look into further all right and now we'll hear from Eric so the easy things are encouraging folks to get electric cars that sounds great um however you know there's a balance there what's what's the offset to produce the car um and Emissions globally so I I don't know that that's the only answer I think we look at Carbon capture uh as well with the city and might be working with the Watershed District to encourage more uh dense natural plantings also helps with water runoff and control um intense use of uh so um City Vehicle City uh uh vehicles that are in constant uh use may be something for Public Works um uh where you've got a a high output emission vehicle um that might be a bit of a solution but electric cars itself is is is a great easy target I think we need to do more with carbon capture as best we can uh through initiatives and maybe some grants for people to do things on their properties or with commercial development to do carbon capture thank you and now we'll hear from Lori yeah so as far as what measur I I will take and actually have already taken to reduce the carbon capture is um within the city we and I voted yes and I would continue to we were um and as far as like what my position is support I supported a electric vehicle within our Fleet of City Vehicles that's used for building inspector um on a personal level I don't have an electric car and I don't see my myself getting one soon but it's I feel like a good example of the first question that was posed um as far as challenges and then I had said balancing what's right for the city and what's right for the residents so for something like that for what measures to take I have to think of more what do the residents want what's right for the city it's not something that I personally decide to do for my purchase but enough residents have said and there's a lot of people that a big deal to them um and so I want to you know have that be part of what Carver is um and be able to give that balance so that's how I have supported it and most likely would um when that type of question or decision comes in front of the council thank you and now we'll hear from [Music] Glenn well I'm not a proponent for the green step program that we voted for um it was a 41 vote that I did not vote for because when I looked at about step number 27 of the 34 steps that's when it started to really impact um uh the regulations that we're going to start to vote for to for businesses and for residential to um it's going to it's going to raise the cost of of their housing it's going to raise the cost of running a business and um as far as the green vehicle I didn't vote for that either because it was about $122,000 more for the same vehicle uh just having an electric vehicle so we can check it off on our green step program I didn't think was the juice was worth the squeeze on that one um but I can honestly say that of anybody on this Council or probably anybody in this room I'm the only one who has solar panels on my roof um I do that for my personal reasons and um I think that reducing emissions um the carbon emissions is more of a personal choice between residential people and I don't believe that the government should be mandating what people do or don't do with their missions thank you and now we'll hear from M so in Minnesota we have about 2.3% of the population that has electric vehicles and that's due to obviously our cold weather in the winter so we still have to prepare for the future so we are going to need charging stations but I would like to kill two birds of one stone what if we brought in a startup company that was working on improving the battery life and cold weather say below zero and then we we could hit the industrial or the commercial as well as improve the infrastructure for the charging stations all right now we'll go to question five sometimes residents are assessed to pay for City improvements please share your thoughts on how those assessments should be determined and whether there should be any assistance provided to help make those payments and we will start with Matt so this one's near and dear because up on KY Hill Road we still have people paying a $38,000 assessment from years ago uh Cindy I know you spoke with Gerald in town I I thought you were fantastic you two had a great exchange uh we should definitely help them out because you look at the economic conditions that's going on right now and you're talking about a $3,000 assessment on a $225,000 house here's the other issue I have is is when we base property tax we're basing it off the current market value so right now we're coming off a high real estate market value so my question to the voters is when our housing prices fall down let's say $50,000 by this time next year which could very well happen if I had a crystal ball though I'd be on a yacht over in the perivan anyway are they going to lower is the city going to lower our property tax based off of our current of off of those current future values probably not so we have to offer some assistance for those Folks up on KY Hill okay and now we'll hear from Lori rep Jean can you repeat the question sure sometimes residents are assessed to pay for City improvements please share your thoughts on how those assessments should be determined and whether there should be any assist is provided to help make those payments um I swear my husband could have wrote that question in um I was part of the 2019 Street Improvement so now on my um property tax I see that line item so I'm um see it from many perspectives and as far as how it's determined I know it's a grueling task for the city staff and for the council to then approve but there's a lot of input from from just beyond just Market values and the engineers and things so I feel like that we're doing the best we can on that um and and um I mean it can continuously be examined for improvement but I feel like it's determined a fair way what we do is very common to others that what we do is very similar is probably most cities do um and I just know that from the information that we were given um in presentations that were brought in front of the council as far as any assistance um I for me you know being able to stretch it out over a period of years um into our property tax was the assistance assistant helped us rather than paying it up front um the other thing is the street ones aren't really significant the ones that have been on wellwater and they have known for years that a big expense was coming up that's where you're getting the ones that are well over 10,000 if not double triple so that's different because it was determined years before so it shouldn't be a surprise and now we will hear from Eric so it is a complicated process and I think the city of caror uh does a competent job in sorting that out and assessing those values as Lori said one of the steps is breaking it up over a number of years so it doesn't impact you all at once what's a step we can take to maybe minimize that uh that might be a franchise fee so someone who has access to rights away a cable company Metronet uh somebody like that and using those franchise fees to help offset some City uh some of the maintenance costs or improvements costs but you know beyond that I again I trust that City staff and city council has done a good job in dealing with a necessary evil of City Improvement in that cost all right now we'll hear from Glenn um the way the assessments are um is an 8020 split uh the city pays for 80% and the citizens pay for 20% of the uh value that is on their street front property so if you have a 100 foot uh um property line you're going to pay probably more than somebody with a 75 foot property line um is broken down by um it's broken down by your actual uh square footage of your or square foot lineal footage of your uh access to the Improvement areas um it doesn't it doesn't uh alleviate the pain um but you are offered and up front you can pay it off immediately or you can um uh put it on your mortgage and and pay it down that way um I know that when it was done in the 80s um my parents decided to pay it all up front so they wouldn't be assessed it over the the term of 15 20 years um I know it's difficult but the improvements that that we're making and Carver most of these are taken most of the uh construction and and and work is done in downtown now it's just going to be with the road maintenance program to um to keep the the streets up to speed and now we'll hear from Courtney I think for a lot of what we do the hardest thing is making sure that we're being consistent in our policies so that we're treating Cindy and Phil and Andrea all the same way years before the 2019 project we hooked up well in sewer to the homes on Sky View Lane and those folks were assessed for that so that when we were kind of going through the numbers we knew that we would have a bunch of residents yelling and screaming if we waved these fees the other thing was the funding mechanism that we use the bonding that we use and you probably might not be aware of this but again what Glenn said was the 8020 split so we needed to assess 20% of that to the residents what we did is we went through and there was a uh appraisal and we couldn't assess more than what the home's value was going to increase with these additions of city sewer and water so that's where we got the number the other portion of that assessment was the water access charge and the sewer access charge the whack and Sack fees that every new home in the city of caror receives um those homes in on kchy Hill were built in the early 1980s so those Wells and septics were near the end of their useful life expectancy um and it was also part of a larger project in town there was construction on Sky View Lane there was construction on Elm there was construction down here and all of those folks had different levels of an assessment all right and now we'll go to question number six Carver is a growing Community what steps should be taken to ensure the city's infrastructure RADS Water Maintenance Etc can support this growth and we will begin with Courtney um I think um I feel like I I answered this a little bit in my question of the biggest challenge so um as we grow we're going to have more needs but it goes back to that comprehensive plan that lays out where the future development areas are what needs to be done as far as infrastructure the sewer the water pipes that go underneath the streets um we invested 12 million in our water treatment plant up on Mount Hope Road within the last two years to double our capacity of the water that's treated from the ground that comes into our homes um so that's a really big investment that we've made in our community as far as infrastructure there's the levy project how are we going to pay for all of this you ask well that's part of our long-term plan and we have things written down like we're going to need another well um and while I know where I can uh find a long-term financial plan I don't have that committed to memory but maybe we need another well in six years that's written into there um we also have oversizing charges so that when we have new developments go in west of Jonathan Carver Parkway we don't say oh we got to rip up the whole entire Street all the way back to JCP because we didn't have the infrastructure large enough that the pipes were too small so we're making smart Investments with a long-term view in the city of Harbor and now we'll go to Glenn stole my thunder again um the growing Community um it goes back to what I ran on 12 years ago was we need to have the proper infrastructure for growth um in doing that that it wasn't we found out four years or yeah four years ago that our water supply was at a crtical critical stage and so the water treatment facility got moved up on the long range plan and um that was a major step uh for the growth of Carver just making sure that we have the water and the sewer and everything up to speed for growth into the 20 240 um and Beyond um oversizing of the of the uh sewer lines and the water supply lines um we pay for that as a city the oversizing charge most of the developers pay for what would normally it would what it would normally cost but we pick up the U oversizing so that way planning for the future we can have the proper growth and the proper amount of of lines um and sizes um for the growth that will be coming all right and now we will go to Matt so when I think infrastructure I mean these are all great comments but I'm also thinking about the schools so we just had a we just had an addition go up on the other school I'm sorry on the new school uh on the JCP and given all the residential that's going in it's it's kind of apparent they're going to have to do another addition so we're going to have to really sit down and and figure this out for the future of what we're going to need for these kids because it's an investment in our future so and now Eric I'm only adding to what has been said by uh Glenn and Courtney I think uh you know the city's job is to spend the money wisely and provide some value for that and the things that we can control um District 112 controls our schools but we can control oversizing we can be bold and spend the money now that uh ensures that we're right size for development 10 years and 20 years from now uh it's it's a bill that we have to pay and uh I think explaining the value of where that money is going today U is is something that we do a much better job to the website through the newsletter that you get explaining uh infrastructure build but it's uh it's being bold and making those decisions it's and it's going to be painful for a while we're not Plymouth or E Prairie we have years of development uh ahead of us um we need to just ensure that we're providing value for those development dollars but I can't I can't add more more than what's been said I agree with that and now Lori I like going last um so in regards to um Carver's growth and um ensuring infrastructure definitely and we're planning for it I see the need and the importance and just all good things for oversizing the infrastructure so that we're not in a position where we have to rip and replace that's my short response thank you Jean all right our next question housing is an important element in Comm commercial and Industrial Development what are your thoughts on what the city should do to encourage affordable housing for people to be able to both live and work in Carver and we will start with Lori sorry I know you like to go last I shouldn't just said that um uh can you repeat the question sure housing is an important element in commercial and Industrial Development what are your thoughts on what the city should do to encourage affordable housing for people to be able to both live and work and car um 10 five years ago I would not have agreed that it was important I just really see such a difference um just learning more about Community Development um that how important it is to have the housing um and whether it be life cycle Workforce housing but definitely to have people to live and get transportation to their work um is just really changed um within our environment as far as not just the economics but just you know making it you know sustainable for a business um so kind of balance it's again back to that balance part of balancing bringing in the businesses as well as providing the stable housing so I do think it's very important um the city we're doing more and it's not on our own any of this is going to continue to be collaboration with other entities whether it be CDA there's different groups so we're learning about that and continuing to support things such as which will which will likely be um an additional housing and I can't think of the name right now because so many of our names are similar um I feel like it has the word Ridge in it but um that's definitely something I support just because it's what we need to balance what's right for the residents the city and future businesses thank you and now we will hear from Glenn um encouraging Workforce housing um we've collaborated with the CDA in the past um there's the potential we while we're looking at um another building um cda's got to put some numbers together but um it's an important facet to the growth of Carver um as far as as um the life cycle we'd like to have people that are born in Carver raised in Carver work in Carver and retire in Carver it's always been uh it's always been a focus of the council um how can we have people stay here um finding and helping with different Avenues of financing um for these projects um is always a challenge um Federal money is scarce right now but hopefully that will come around um but as far as affordable housing um is if it's a single family residential house um the going rate now is about $440,000 to get a foot in the door um that's simply because of cost of materials cost of land um it's not the most it's not the most opportunistic but um we are working through some some uh right you're good now we'll now hear from Courtney um so the question was the importance of Workforce housing as it relates to Industrial Development and you're right like those go hand in hand together um last week I was fortunate to be part of the Carver County Commerce Corridor tour which is a lot of season really hard to say um what um that was is it was something that one of our County Commissioners Matt udman set up with greater MSP so we had two representatives from greater MSP which if you're not familiar they're the group that kind of really um are the connectors between a lot of industrial who is potentially looking for a new site so um they serve to facilitate those arrangements those agreements those relationships so we took a bus tour throughout the community and I was able to when the bus came to Carver stand up in the front and say this is our community this is the area in our comprehensive plan that's the future Industrial Development this is um where our Workforce housing is the biggest takeaway of that day was that the woman said how important Workforce housing is in Industrial Development you need to have a place for folks to live and it's not necessarily in a $500,000 home that's being built up in the hill in the city of Carver um I'm also proud of this Council for the work that we've done in the area of affordable housing this year we came up with our housing action plan and then we also are working on or have worked on a a fee waiver program where whack and Sac fees that I referenced earlier will be reduced based on a percentage of affordability as it relates to the area median income and there are very stringent requirements on that but that's a really good carrot for affordable now I'll hear from Matt so affordable housing yes but we also have to make sure we have the infrastructure to support that we want to make sure these folks and that goes along with the commercial industrial that we all been talking about because these folks also need a place to go grocery shop happen they need a place to go get their haircut etc etc okay and now we hear from Eric so unfortunately the city doesn't get to decide who comes in and who the developers are but when they do when we have the opportunity like the CDA coming in we need to jump on that I championed the Carver Crossing development uh when that was in deliberation and I uh it was rewarding that it was built um so the things that we can do what can we do we can uh use uh Tiff financing uh we can do connection feed waivers there are things we can do to help those developers uh and make it attractive for them uh to come in and do that its importance is we need to have multi-dwelling housing uh we need to accept that in the city single family family homes are not going to exist for $250,000 anymore uh it just isn't possible it's $21 a square foot to build a new house now so we need to embrace multi-dwelling units uh we need to use every tool in the toolbox uh courtne you mentioned whack and Sack fees uh anything we can do so that uh a CDA or similar organization wants to to put those up not just uh Workforce housing but senior housing I'm sure my kids don't want me to stick around forever but I'd like to have more senior housing in Carper as well all right our final question how will you work productively with those who do not share your opinions and we'll start with Eric well that is the nature of our political discourse today isn't it uh so that's um I think all politics is local um that's a common saying isn't it uh but I think we can rise above that I think we can rise above um the the single platform issues I think we can rise above um uh the um um kind kind of the flagging of uh trust in government faith in government uh everybody on the council is building on years of of work from past mayors and past City councils uh I think we can all find commonality uh we're not sending Supreme Court Justices uh up for votes we're not uh making decisions uh that affect people's uh personal lives um like with with Supreme Court decisions we're making the lives of people better in Carver we all are each other's neighbors uh I think that is inherent at all of us to do that so I I I think that's uh everybody has done a good job of that and I think that will continue right now we'll hear from Courtney so um working productively with those who don't share our opinions I would argue that there's the potential to have that at every single one of our City Council meetings right because we have five individuals with five sets of opinions for me how to work productively is based off of the relationship building I think at heart I'm a relationship Builder so getting to know these folks knowing where they're coming from and what makes them think that way and then trying to look through the lens of where they're coming from when we're making these decisions um I think it's also about compromise because you know we're seeing things um get stalled out in St Paul and in Washington because folks have an r or a d or even an I behind their name and that's where the compromise stops at the city of Carver when you're elected it is a nonpartisan role so um you know while I know the people that I serve with well enough that I can probably have a pretty good idea of what side of the aisle they fall on it's not partisan politics and in my opinion that's why we get more stuff done it's also part of the mutual respect um and just the history of having work together so I think it's really building those relationships and understanding not only where the folks who sit on this side of the deis are coming from but where the folks on that side of the deis are coming from talking to folks understanding their issues and working through them and hopefully coming to resolution and now we'll hear from Lori um so as far as how how I work with productively with people that have different opinions is just more from life experience and um working in a full-time job is understanding what their opinion is and where they're coming from you know what's their perspective and also once you get to know them and that was s of a challenge for me first on the council is sometimes like okay is that a joke or are they serious or just to really know you know is it kind of really dig into you know what their opinion is and just be able to listen without reacting just to kind of more gather the information and and listen to it so that's probably the biggest thing is really um kind of their perspective knowing where they're coming from and as far as working with the council um I had a neighbor and it wasn't the neighbors that are here I had a neighbor asked about a candidate what their you know what side of the and I said I don't know um it's really not an issue when it comes to that part it's more just being professional knowing that we have different values and backgrounds and if there is a difference of opinion just sharing it more in an education like okay this is why I think that or help me understand why you think that and not trying to convince them to change their mind but what I really like about the council too is when we do have different opinions we don't let that stall us we still make decisions and get items done that are on the agenda thank you Jean and I we hear from Glenn working productively with others um that's what government does uh 12 years ago I was asked by a um a pillar of the community who do you want off the council and I told this particular person I said I don't want anybody off the council but I want to be on the council because I want to be part of the process um I believe I look for win-win situations with people um and I have always done what's in the best interests of Carver not what's in Glenn Henry's best interests um I think when everybody sits at this side of the of the Des um you put all your partisanship aside and you sit down and you you evaluate all the issues before you and you hear pros and cons of every issue and then you vote your conscience um there's also the commonality where we can agree to disagree on certain items but we always move forward because we're always looking at what's in the best interest to move Carver forward um winning friends and influencing people is a power that once you can change or sway somebody's opinions because when you deal with rationality and not with emotions you can get a lot farther you always get me and now we'll hear from Matt I think I have short answers because she's just like I know kidding so so what I know is everyone's sitting up here obviously we're all for the city of Carver right no one up here is on their own agenda at least that's how I feel so when you're working with others it isn't it's important to understand if somebody has another idea another point of view is you absolutely have to listen and you have to get educated on where they're coming from so I think I would bring that to the [Music] table all right now I have closing remarks and we'll begin with Eric all right well um so we're a small town growing up U we're larger than we were when my family moved to chasa uh we have I said earlier three times the population we did in 2000 and most of the commercial development that we've had has occurred in the last three years better than 90% of it um as we continue to grow our elected officials need to be fully engaged and rise to the challenges of that growth uh my focus will include life cycle housing we just talked about that infrastructure and Commercial development and uh the preservation of historic downtown and evangelizing historic downtown uh a word on the city I uh we're fortunate to have really talented competent city employees so I just want to go on the record thanking them they contribute a lot to the success of the city um I know through all of my Civic and professional experiences that um progress is hard work um deliberation um it's compromise and consideration of of values and opinions of others uh that may not agree with me um the next step is for me to uh apply my experience and dedication uh to the better of the community and progress for the city of Carver and now we'll hear from Courtney all right the mayor that we choose on November 8th will have just one vote on city council but as our community continues to grow it's going to be really important to have a mayor who knows what a mayor does and what they don't do as part of this role so with respectfully Matt in election Integrity isn't something that the city handles that's a county issue and I know that um you perhaps didn't listen and get educated when commissioner Matt udman told you that so that's something we run the elections but it's not a Citywide issue um you know I think my focus on the next four years is going to be continued transparency fiscal responsibility and really working on Smart development I'm running for mayor because I have the experience the dedication and I know that I'm the best person to lead the city of Carver through the next four years I'm ready and willing to do the hard work that I know being mayor requires in my monthly newsletter column I always end by saying if you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to reach out and I truly mean that if anybody has any questions or wants to share any thoughts or ideas with my campaign my website is Courtney the number four mayor.com my email is Courtney the number4 mayor.com and my cell phone number is 61272 773 I'd be honored to have your next vote as mayor of the city of caror and thank you to the League of Women Voters for doing this forum tonight now we'll hear from Matt so my experience with running a successful business and managing budgets and working with people every day I think that's what I bring to the table I would also work very closely with our Sheriff because we are expanding rapidly to ensure the safety of our community um and I I would ensure you managing budgets that I would be fiscally responsible with the taxpayers money I would treat it as my own um and so that's what I would bring to the table as mayor now we'll hear from lry U so what as a council member what I would continue to work on is and to focus on is the fiscal responsibility and oversiz for infrastructure I just am really passionate um and dedicated to the city of Carver I love to talk I love I love Carver I love to talk about Carver I I actually get energized when I get my pack and get to prepare for a meeting and and think of what questions to ask um so I want to continue to represent uh Carver and make decisions with the balance of what's right for the residents as well as the city thank you and now we'll hear from Glenn I'm gonna go [Laughter] quick uh first of all uh I want to thank the League of Women voters for this forum again um it's nice hearing everybody's opinions um and on the issues and um it's a great form for people that are watching or watching the tape uh to actually hear from uh some of your elected officials or potential elected officials um I'm running for Council again this I'm running for my fourth term um I bring experience steadfast studying of all the issues um I work through each of our uh each of our issues um logically uh methodically put a lot of thought into them um I take nothing lightly um future of Carver is bright we have a lot of growth potential and right now it's it's exciting time to be in Carver um um I live at 326 Street West Carver um can't drive past me now because it's all under construction which is kind of nice because it's a Speedway otherwise but for the most part I'm running again because I always want to do what's best for car thank you I would like to remind you that the views expressed in this forum are those of the candidates not those of the legal Women Voters sponsorship of this forum is not an endorsement of any candidate by legal Women Voters Eastern gor County and now for our closing here is legal women voter Eastern haror County voter service Forum coordinator darcia jking the league Women Voters Eastern Carver County would like to thank you all for coming tonight and for our online audience for viewing we would especially like to thank all of the candidates for being part of the democratic process and for running for office and being willing to serve our community finally we thank our facility hosts and our League members here volunteering tonight the league studies issues important to our members and the health of our communities if you're interested in finding out more about what we do or how you can also make a difference please pick up a membership brochure at the registration table or visit us at lwv mn.org membership is open to all people individual household and student memberships are available you can find out more information about candidates and about voting at MN votes.gov and vote411.org this forum has been recorded and the link will be available on the League of Women Voters Eastern Carver County Facebook page good night thank you for coming and remember to vote on November [Music] 8th okay [Music]