Yeah. >> So, what am I do? What is this? >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. >> It is now 5:30 >> and I will call this uh regular work session of the Burnsville City Council to order and we welcome all of you to our meeting this evening. And this is a work session, so it's very informal. And um we'll go right to agenda items, but we want you to know that um everyone is welcome. And those who want to participate in uh our um meeting virtually, please go to burnsvillemn.gov/meings or you can view our meetings on Comcast channel 16 or 859. Uh this evening, Council Member uh Schultz is not feeling well, but she's present with us uh remotely. So, uh if when she doesn't when she needs to take time because she's not feeling well, she can do that. It's good to see you. We can see you, Cara. Um so, people can join us on Zoom by joining us at zoom. us/join and more information is available uh on our meetings web page and in the council agenda packet. So this is a work session and we go directly to the items on our agenda and the first item is the resolution of support for the suburban transit provider and Mr. Winder of MBTA. He is the U CEO of the MBTA and he's presenting this evening. Good evening. >> Good evening, >> Luther. Thank you for uh being with us and uh the floor is yours. >> All right. I want to thank you for your time this evening. I won't hopefully take too much of your time. >> That depends on questions, though. Now, you're going to have to um use your outside voice so everybody can hear you because >> um the the microphones are for uh broadcast. >> Gotcha. All right. Well, let me pull this back then and then speak a little bit louder. All right. Good evening everyone. I'm Luer, >> CEO for Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, and I'm here to talk um about the resolution for support um for the suburban transit providers. Did my introduction already. My eyesight is not that good. So, I'm going to use my hand out here. I want to do an overview of talking about ridership first because I want to lay the land of what MVTA provides currently for the city of Burnsville as well as just at the end I'll give a brief update about what we do overall. Um, our overall system ridership is up about 7% this year. Um, in September of 2025, which is, um, I feel like we're mo is really ping fast. The year's really going by pretty fast. Just last month we had our highest ridership uh month since um February of 2020. So that's since the pandemic. Um our MVTA connect ridership year to today's up 36%. State Fair ridership was up 17% from 2024 and Renaissance Festival ridership was up 8% from 2024. It's important to note that when you look at state fair as well as Renfest, um both of those special event services that we have um have a significant park and ride presence at Burnsville Transit Station. Um we talk about the 2025 just give an idea of some of the services um and some of the events that we've helped um provide service to and I think that's one thing always to note when it comes to subre providers and local service as a whole. when you have the ability to have a provider in your backyard and theoretically we really are in your backyard really right down the street. Um you do have access and ability to get services provided that some cities may not have that option of um to have. Um first one just want to highlight we did the mobility matters NLC event um that was this past March that was well attended that um invite played a integral role with planning executing um league of league national league of cities mobility matters event. It brought together leaders from across the south metro and beyond to discuss how collaboration federal, state, and local levels can bridge mobility gaps and improve access to transportation for all. And as you see in that picture up top, you may recognize a certain council member here um CE who also spearheaded that event. And we were happy to provide um happy provide service as well as provide um support. when it comes to the Burnsville Festival. Um this past um we had a 7% increase in ridership from here to date as well as we're looking to continue to have different additional participation in festivals moving forward. Um we also just did um not too long ago a Burnsville parks tour which I didn't get invited to. I might I would ask for an invite next time and let my staff know about that one. Um where they did a bus tour to parks natural resources commission's the annual tour for Burnsville. some additional outreach and partnership highlights. And I just want to say I don't do this alone. I have I have a great team and I think many of you have met if you have not had a chance to meet Julia who spearheads our outreach. She does an amazing job of continuing to have outreach with this city as long as six others in which we serve as well as continuing to put different avenues and different um events on my calendar and account as a whole for us and continue to expand our partnerships. Um we did partner with Buckill to launch new service um and cross marketing opportunities. Um we have started our conversations for how we're going to serve them for this season. I'm looking to start the service a little earlier as well as extend it a few weeks later um than this past year. Um we will maybe reach out and have some conversations. We are starting to conver the mall is under um is under new ownership. So there will be some conversations about how we can continue to use um um the mall for parking in order to serve um to serve um to serve Buck, but that's at a later date. um community involvement participated in events such as the party on the plaza um the Burnsville parade, Burnsville public works event, Burnsville Junth, as well as Burnsville SWAT training and also let's not also round it out when you talk about our youth and education outreach. That's really been something we've really this past couple years have really put a big focus on. We do understand that when we look at our high school as well as the UNM students that we serve today, they are writers of the future. Um, so we partner with Burnsville High School and the Virtual Chamber of Commerce to train students on using MVA Connect for off-site internships as well as well as to provide go-to cars for travel. It's important to note that when individuals see our Connect buses out prior to that training and the outreach we've done, they assume those buses were for elderly and for disabled individuals. The general public didn't understand, especially students, if they could utilize an app, which you know, kids love apps. um and obviously add and book a trip just like they were in Uber and Lift to go to school as well as to go to internships. That's been very successful for us as increasing ridership as well as awareness as well as supporting hands-on um learning by welcoming student interns to maintenance team at our Burnsville bus garage. Now, when we think about microtransit and we look at some of our um served um nonvite served cities um around us like um maybe the city of Bloomington, they're just now getting some microtransit, but they don't have full city coverage like we've had in Bersville since William started service back here in 2019. doing a lot of service and outreach and just want to have some um just want to highlight um what some of our customers are saying. So, high rider satisfaction services praise is clean, comfortable, affordable, safe, stress-free compared to driving and parking. I wish more people would start taking the bus again because we're starting to see that traffic on 35W is it's getting up there. >> Also to staff and drivers is always one of our it's always one of our hallmarks of service. Riders constantly describe staff as friendly, professional, attentive, and accessible. Accessibility to needs. Attentive accessibility needs. Driver experience. Drivers recognize as safe and personable. Many describe the service as an integral part of their event experience. It's important to note that when I have conversations with our contractors across the hall, um we're told that we have some of the highest standards of any contract um that they have in any region. and we pride ourselves on that and based on point we do see that feedback when it comes to our customers as well. Um just want to talk about what our we just did a commuter survey as well too and some of the themes we got from our commuter survey was it reduces um driving stress, saves money, provides time to relax and work and it's faster and more convenient. When we look at that and think about MVTA or sorry or look at Southwest or some of our our appointment we do have express service we have invested back in that mode type. Um we do see there's a lag in that in the region as a whole. Um, we do fuel you. Our goal for 2026 is to have service in all of our parking rides. Current right now, we don't have service in two of our parking rides, Eagle Creek as well as 157. Not in this service area, but not in this city, but um, in our surroundings. And our goal is to make sure we have full service in those moving into 2026. I don't know if you'll have that same experience if you were to talk to some of our other um, cities with their parking rides. If you'll see utilization for them in 2026 or beyond, that's also a benefit of MVTA. Again, I'll talk about high satisfaction. We won't go back in again. Timing and flexibilities. Riders want more all day options, early mornings and midday evenings. That is something that we're continuing to look at as well as strive to invest in, but it's something that when we have these conversations, and I'll obviously open this up in a few minutes to any questions you guys have. Um, we try to be responsive to that. That's also one of the hallmarks of having local service. um that as you talk my job is to listen and then to go back and try to implement. Um now one of the things we continue to look at a hallmark cover of service directness of our service we got some high marks for that as well as when it came to NVTA connect expressed like to see expanded NVTA connect coverage and that is something we are going to continue to do. We do have we we put together a fiveyear we have a five-year plan and in that plan one of the things we looked at for the city of Burnsville was to continue to expand our connect service and look at hopefully by 2027 at the latest to make Burnsville our central connection point between our right now currently our Egan residents can't leave the city of Egan and we have obviously our individuals in Scott County and Prior Lake and Shakipi they'd kind of stay within that zone in a little cross in the Savage um bas Bas on how we've been evaluating the service, we believe our Burnsville transit station is a primary a primary um should be a primary crossing point for all our connect service and moving forward look to split into two zones. Um with that converges being in Burnsville being in Burnsville, but that will also cause for an increase in resources. We talk about the resolution just as a whole. Why now? There's been recent policy discussions have raised concerns about suburban transit's authority and flexibility. It's important to note that the same this I wasn't here in n in the mid 90s. Some in this room were and I will deviate to those individuals to speak to that. Um I've only heard stories. Um but I what I can tell you is now what I from understand and research that suburban providers were suburban communities were paying in the service and weren't receiving their fair share of service. They had very limited options when it came to express service um as well as local services non-existent. want to put a coat. >> When you look at what MVTA has provided and continues to provide and then you look at some of the same critiques that certain cities around us make, >> those things are still true. They're true to then and are still true today. The only difference is you have suburban providers serving 12 cities and providing good service to them. So what we're we're looking to do is obviously we have a track record for innovation whether it becomes the MVA connect to microtransit. It's important to note that microtransit was first started by Southwest. It was implemented in Minnesota Valley. It's a little different iteration in 2019 and the region is now just starting to put that in other cities as as of a couple years ago. When you look at the EJS fleet, this um the electric cutaways that we have operating now, we're the only only system in the region, some one of the only systems obviously in the Midwest that operates that particular that particular bus type has an electric cutaway. Something we're proud of continuing to do. Not just when we talk about also commuters, our commuter buses and our w and the Wi-Fi. Um Minnesota Valley and the Spur were the first brought Wi-Fi on buses. That didn't come to that didn't come to Metr in the region. that came in my tenure. Um I remember a few years ago then obviously adding Wi-Fi. Um so we've continued to be an innovation lab. We have our our sister property. Um Southwest is now um piloting autonomous vehicles, autonomous vehicle pilot with main mobility. So when we think about the things that we're responsive, not only do we provide those event services, but we also look at our communities, have that dialogue, have the conversation to make sure we put different service types that meet the needs. As that innovation lab happens, as we have success that is adopted among the whole region. So when it comes to governance, we want to continue to ensure strong local representation, investment by giving suburbs direct voice in transit planning. It's important to note that we have many conversations with all of our member cities, especially the city of Burnsville, about what's needed and what we can do as far as adding additional services or even modifying services. You don't have that same dynamic in other in with other cities impact when it comes to sometimes larger organizations. Um, simply not you can't be responsive to everyone. The larger you get, the less responsive you are to to individual needs. That's just the nature of some that's just the nature of sometimes when you grow. Um we don't have that and we spur providers continue to kind of stay that touch point that touchstone for communication also local collaboration when it comes to festivals and co-sponsorships. Um we believe that's also a harm of what you get when you do have local when you do have local service. This particular time I will turn it over. You guys have this I've seen this. Um it's important to note that this is a template that's went out to all the cities. Um some cities did mod did um did adopt this as as written. Um others did make some some modifications. Our goal is really to show to have this for have all cities within our within our service area and with all with all STA really look to revolution for support because we want to make sure our elected understand that what was true then is still true today. That local service matters. it's needed and obviously want to continue not only to um not only to invest in it but also support it moving forward. So at this time I'll turn over any questions any of you guys may have. >> Thank you so much. And first I want to congratulate you and your team on winning the um um management innovation award. So thank you for all of those the good work that you do. >> Um members of uh the council you have u questions. Yes. probably have three questions. >> Number one is uh what policy discussions are happening that are causing concern? >> Um in a nutshell, there are certain um legislators that have had some um communication related to whether a bill would come out to eliminate the spare providers. >> Yeah. >> Um two things that we've heard. um one being limitation of supervisors as well as um the county sales tax also to taking away the county um transit sales tax and taking that moving also moving that under the council as well too. So those are the two things. Those are the two um big items. But we're folk I don't County sales tax is not me. I'm suburban. That's why we're having this conversation. >> The other question was you said something about Egan residents couldn't leave Egan. Is that with your >> not on connect service? So >> on the connect but we can go to Egan. >> Yes you can. Yes. >> So we can go from Burnsville but they can't come here. >> No. I have a commissioner that says why would you want to leave Egan? Gary is really fresh. >> Interesting city separated by the river. So when we invested services, we kind of kept that as the main zone as their own zone. Um and they do have the ability to connect in from Cedar Grove and and get on a on get on um obviously then take another connect bus in Burnsville and and surrounding, but we want to make sure we kind of formalize that in the future. >> Okay. >> Just trying to have a third question. >> Doesn't flow. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. You had a third question. >> No, that that was actually the first question. And I made it one question by adding and what are the concerns? And >> okay, anybody have a question? Council member Keely. >> Well, as the board chair of the MBTA for the last two years, I'll be ending my term as chair at the end of this year. Um, it's a pleasure to work with Luther. Um, this we make assumptions sometimes that our cities support us. Uh but uh we haven't uh necessarily had to deal with uh potential legislation that might take us back to the 1980s when suburbs got horrible service but yet paid into the taxing district. And so uh we believe we've heard actually uh there are suburbs served by uh the greater uh Met Transit region that are very unhappy with the service that they have getting. So it has shades of the 80s coming back. Um, so I find it interesting that there would even be a consideration of of a bill to eliminate the suburban transit providers. So we want to make sure that we have full support from all our cities and communities and our legislative representatives. In the past, they've been vehement uh supporters. We've had uh many legislators and senators, House and Senate, who have been uh tireless advocates of supporting suburban transit providers, especially MBTA, because MBTA is the second largest transit provider in the state along with Duth uh behind Metransit, but it is sort of a you know, Metransit is giant. We are much smaller than that. Um but we uh you know, our our surveys and our customer feedback uh speaks for itself. We provide outstanding service and so we want to continue to do that. We also want to continue to be able to find the funding necessary to do that because our populations are growing year-over-year and continue to grow. Uh the inner core isn't exactly growing. It's shrinking in many ways and their service actually the last report at I35 solutions uh a couple months back said that Metransit service was 7% down. You heard our service is 7% up. So we're we're going in a very positive direction. and they're dealing with some contraction and how to deal with that contraction. Uh in fairness to Met Transit, they've got soft service in several areas, but the key one that is driving most of that 7% was uh the elimination of the Northstar and some service reductions uh on their light rail. Uh light rail has, as everyone knows, has suffered some public relations challenges with some of the crime and things in the inner city. They're working very hard to clean that up, but there's an understandable drop in in writership to some degree for that. But we and they hope because we want a healthy system. We want to be a part of a healthy system metrowide. So, we hope that they're able to turn that around and start to grow that again and provide the kind of service that uh we provide in the suburbs. But for us, we're a growing seven cities. Our population isn't shrinking. Even in Burnsville, a very mature city with no area to build out. we're going up and adding population and so we want to make sure that we can continue to expand uh MBTA connect micro microransit is exploded in growth and um I think we uh around the country uh I NLC events I speak quite a bit about uh microtransit I've presented microtransit at a national organization uh earlier late last year actually a year ago this month and so it it is something that needs funding it doesn't just happen. It has to be incremental funding because it can't take from our fixed routes, our express into downtowns or our suburb to suburb service. It is all new ad and it's adding a tremendous amount of new guests that have never used public transit before are coming in through the MVTA connect channel. So important for us to support all these things. Anyway, I want to thank Luther. He's been great the last eight years he's been with MVTA. The organization has grown dramatically. our services, the dynamics of our services has is nothing like it was eight years ago when he took over. Uh uh certainly postcoid and microransit has uh expanded that. But we've had a lot of expansion in suburb to suburb from where we were when I started on that board in 2010. It was basically 80% express service in downtown and a couple east west buses. It is quite the opposite now. So a very different organization today than it was 15 years ago. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um members of the council, one of the things that um I'm proud of is that Burnsville was a founding member of MBTA in 1990. Uh and this legislation came into uh was promulgated in 1984. And so what I want us to understand is that we have a value that talks to local control. And that's what this is about. so that we can serve uh our residents. And with everything that we have heard tonight and everything that we read and uh Council Member Keely uh reports uh about the meetings is that MBTA continues to grow and to provide the kind of service that our people um expect when you're looking at micro uh transit where you can call and uh get um a vehicle that will get you to your destination. So I think the promulgation of uh the law to get to opt out of the uh uh metropolitan system transit commission and to have uh your own services and for us to have local control. And so uh these are important uh to our uh residents. And uh also one of the things uh that is um really beneficial to everyone is the efficiency and responsiveness of the transit service that we enjoy here in Burnsville with uh MBTA. So the resolution that's before us is because of uh Luther and Dan I believe grumblings about changing the system and I don't think that's going to be good for any of our residents or our business because right now with microtransit uh there's reverse commute whereas it has been difficult. So when we have uh people from Minneapolis or other suburbs who come in and their destination is here in Burnsville, but they are at um the um Burnsville the Burnsville um >> transit station. >> Transit station. >> The Burnsville transit station. they can take a micro to either to Collins or to any of the destinations where they work. So I think that is a great improvement. So thank you for that because that has always been a problem is the reverse commute. Now you solve that issue. So before us, one of the things that um I had asked our staff to do and thank you so much Greg to you and staff uh we looked at um all of the other cities who are in the U joint powers agreement and everyone has adopted the resolution. Egan has amended it. I think Egan is the only city that uh amended the resolution. So my question to you um members of the council, your pleasure on the resolution that's before us. Any thoughts, concerns? I'm more than happy to support the resolution. Um MVTA has been a amazing partner and they provide a wonderful service for our community and I hope they stick around as long as possible. >> Okay. I've uh I've had this app for a long time, Luther. And so uh and I ride I ride the bus. I like I like riding the bus. So um yeah, I'm aware of the Egan one, too. It was it was simpler than the one that you put out. I think the Suburban Transit had something to do with that as well. So it was kind of taking the best of all of it and putting it together. >> So they made it a simpler product, but >> I'm okay. I'm okay with the product that we're going to put out if we're going to put it out today. >> Okay. Uh Council Member Schult, >> I'm good with this as written. Okay. And you know, >> okay. Uh so >> um members of the council and staff, um we have unanimous. So this will come before us at the next council meeting for adoption. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Luther. And congratulations again. >> Thank you very much. >> Yeah. Thank you, >> Madam Mayor. >> Yes. I just want to add a a communication point. When I took over as chair, I took over a a position on a monthly meeting at 8:00 the first Monday uh of each month with the transportation chair two years ago, which was uh Miss Deb Barber, uh and a couple other council members, uh met council members and the STA chair and MBTA. And over the last two years, I've I've really gotten to be good friends and developed a great working relationship, professional relationship, personal relationship with both uh Deb Barber and Judy. Um, as we all know, Deb Barber was just named the interim chair of the Met Council for the retiring uh Charlie. Uh, and uh in I think it bodess well for us to have this very open line of communication with the new incoming interim chair. I believe uh Miss Barber will serve as the chair through the end of next year and then we'll see how the election turns out uh for governor because this is an appointed body at the pleasure of the governor. So we'll see where it goes from there. But uh we do have a great working relationship probably better than ever before in history today with the Met Council. And so we're we're going to continue those those communication channels to work toward um the best possible funding and and support that we can for the suburban transit. Recognizing that Met Council uh manages all funds and Met Transit is this 800 lb gorilla, right? They are they are huge in size and scope. And so uh you know it's uh it's always a challenge. Nothing's changed in the 30 years that we've existed. Uh but I think today we enjoy a great relationship. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Okay, the next item on the agenda is the pickle ball facility study. And so I want to welcome all of you, but members of our community tonight. You have had over a year uh to share your thoughts and your desires and we have heard and our staff has compiled all of that. So to tonight I'm not going to take any um comments tonight. It's all been said. There's nothing else. And you have all been patient. And so we thank you for that as we went through the pro the this process. What we're going to do tonight is we're going to now get to where we do our work and give staff direction with regard to where the pickle ball uh courts will be located. So to all of our pickle ball community folks, we have always that there's going to be pickle ball courts in Burnsville, additional courts in Burnsville. Where is what's going to happen tonight and tonight is when we make that decision uh and direct staff to move forward. So thank you for your engagement. Thank you for sharing all of your thoughts with us through throughout the um more than 12 months. I think it's been I don't know I more than I know it's over a year. So, thank you for your patience and thank you for your engagement and continuing uh support of the work that we're doing. So, tonight um staff is going to be reporting and um I just ask that we all practice mutual respect. Everybody's been working very hard and so tonight um I believe Jeff and Garrett are going to be reporting and we also our consultants who did some um feasibility work for us. So Jeff uh Garrett the floor is yours. Garrett Beck is our parks and recreational and facilities director and Jeff is the deputy city manager and community development director. And so Garrett, floor is yours. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Good evening, uh, council members. Uh, yes, myself and Jeff will kind of walk through our feasibility study PowerPoint, and our consultants with Kimley Horn are here this evening, uh, if there's any technical questions uh, after we're through it that you might want some answers to. So, um you may all recall that in April of 2025, uh we had brought some information about uh possible pickle ball locations in uh Burnsville to a work session and at the conclusion of that meeting, uh council asked staff to um do some additional work on a feasibility study that included schematic design uh of three other locations in addition to Alamagnet, which we als that we had been pretty far down the road on. So the other three were Cliffn, Hollows, and Rose Park. So as part of that feasibility study with Kimley Horn, um we did a site analysis and fit for the three new locations. Uh we did traffic and parking for all four of the locations. Um storm water management for the three new locations. And then we did a robust community engagement um effort for all four of the locations as well from a site analysis and fit. Uh the Alamagnet location uh that was considered was where the former Alamagnet house was uh as you enter into the park just to the left uh on the on the parkway there at Cliff Park. We actually looked at two different options. Uh, one is on the east side of the park where uh we currently have uh youth soccer with our association uh soccer fields laid out and then on the west side of the park uh we have sand volleyball courts on that side. At Hollows Park, uh there are two batten ball fields there. Uh the spot that we looked at was on the north side of the park with the smaller bat and ball field location. And then at Rose Park, um there are a number of soccer fields there. Uh this was the one closest to the Collins Aerospace parking lot. And we'll have schematic designs that show that more in detail. From a traffic and parking standpoint, um our consultant, as I mentioned, studied all four of the locations. Uh we picked some weekday uh evening dates and times uh which is when the parks are are most commonly used for a number of different reasons in those parks and then also some weekend dates and then in addition our consultant looked at similar complexes in Eden Prairie, Bloomington, Savage and then again looked at our Red Oak Park location which would be a similar complex as well. storm water management. Again, um all four sites were have been looked at and our consultant is confident that uh at any of those locations would be able to design um a a storm water management system that would meet or exceed the requirements for storm water control. Mentioned public engagement. Uh our process was we got all of the schematic designs and and storm water plans figured out onto uh uh maps that we could share with the community and then we went out into the park system. So we had open houses at uh all four locations uh in the months of June and July and then we also put the information online to allow people who uh were not able to participate in any of those open houses to be able to provide feedback. And then uh in towards the end of it, we did an open house uh to uh hear in the council chambers to kind of share with the community what we had heard to date. Um and and then that all went into the study. So we'll walk through each of the four parks here. Uh this is uh and they're just in alphabetical order. So this one is Alamagnet. Uh you can see as you come into Alam Magagnet uh on the parkway there, it's just off to the left where the old house was. Um and so that is the sight fit location. Uh from a traffic and parking standpoint, our consultant observed that um there are 121 parking stalls in that large lot in that area. Um and during multiple events uh including when they are out there there are people that fill those 121 stalls and then uh because of the baseball fields in the events uh there are times when folks are parking on the grass and and whatnot. So, uh, their original recommendation when we did, uh, the previous work recommended 18 stalls and they maintain that recommendation to help alleviate, um, some of those, uh, parking challenges if it were at this location. As mentioned, storm water management can meet or exceed those requirements. Um, from an engagement standpoint, this was uh the had the lowest community support as far as uh feedback that we got online at the pop-up events uh and at the open house. And then from a cost standpoint, um I'll mention now each of the four locations have just over a $900,000 u base amount to build the courts and the amenities associated with the court. So, anything else uh above that $916,000 I believe is related to additional site work that would need to be done. So, in this case, it would be for the 18 additional stalls uh that would be part of this location. The next site we're looking at is at Cliff End Park, uh where the soccer field area is. Just as you come in, it's right off to the to the right of the parking lot. So, as we look at this location, um, as the way the soccer club is currently using that site, uh, the storm water and courts themselves would go over top of where they currently have two mediumsiz soccer fields and three small soccer fields. from a traffic and parking study. Um they this location has in the two lots that are there has 190 stalls and their observation there that that parking can meet uh the needs of adding a pickleball court location to this uh park. Um there are currently uh a couple days during the summer where the soccer club has um one of their larger events and all of those spots and uh spots in adjacent areas are filled. Uh so they did note that as well. Again, storm water management can exceed uh the standards or meet the standards required. Uh and this one was also identified as uh low community support and that our soccer club did provide a letter to the city saying that they are against this location because of the impact that it would have on their soccer program. The opinion of probable cost here is that base that I was talking about. It's $919,848. uh there would be no additional needs uh expected other than constructing the court at that location and and again this is all in $205 as well. The other site of Clifton Park that we looked at uh was where the volleyball courts are uh currently you can kind of see just to the north of the two middle courts kind of the the uh outline of a portion of the courts. Um you can also see to the left there is storm water uh managing this site already including the parking lot that's just to the south uh there. Uh and so constructing a court in this area would impact those ex existing storm water uh and wetland areas and there would have to be a need for mitigation and to address that uh if this was the preferred location. So as we look at the grid for this one again uh the site fit is in the two volleyball court locations uh similar to uh the traffic and parking as mentioned in option one. Um and as far as the storm water uh mentioned again that uh we would have some additional work that would have to be done in the storm water areas uh to to build the the similar size complex in that area. From an engagement standpoint, um it was um a fairly positive. We did not have a lot of negative uh comments on that. This received a moderate community support um title here. And then opinion of probable cost is that uh that base amount plus the uh expected work that would need to be done to manage uh the additional storm water uh and wetland uh needs in that area by putting it in existing ones right now. And then the city would also have to consider uh would it be appropriate to relocate those ports to another park uh to help meet some of the the need and the demand in the city. So that could be an additional cost if we decide to do that as well. The next location that we looked at is Hollows Park. Uh again, you can kind of see in the schematic design um the courts are laid out over top of an existing ball field and you can also see above that um there's a recommendation for some additional parking that we'll talk more about on this next slide. So, uh, traffic and parking, there are 19 existing spaces. Uh, two of them are handicap accessible spaces. Uh, the recommendation is 22 new spaces, uh, would need to be added from a parking lot perspective. And they anticipate during peak times, um, that it would exceed those 41 spaces, uh, and there would be a need to identify options to park on West Park Drive. Again, storm water management can meet or exceed the standards and requirements. And from an engagement standpoint, again, moderate community support. Um we did have um some negative comments from people who are regular park users in that area. Um but overall there was also positive feedback from that one. Opinion of probable cost. Um, this one includes the base amount plus the cost associated with building the additional um, 22 stalls and what we may need to do on West Park Drive. And then the last location that we considered was Rose Park. Um, to the um, souththeast of the schematic design here, you see a parking lot. Uh that is currently a parking lot that is owned and operated by Collins Aerospace. Um the the additional gray spots uh in our engagement and conversations with them, their request was if this was ended up being a preferred location that worked out that we would leave some space for them to be able to potentially add additional parking to their parking location already. Um so that is why you see the courts um moved uh to the north there a little bit to be able to accommodate that request if that ends up being the case. So from a site fit um there are currently the the ability to have five soccer fields at this location. Um they are not all set up at all times to allow for rotation. Um this would be in place of one of those soccer fields. Um, from a traffic and parking study, there are 214 existing parking spots and there is not a uh the consultant noted that there would not be a need for additional parking spots. Storm water management um we would have the ability to meet or exceed those standards. And then from an engagement standpoint, um there was really this was the one spot that pretty much had um positive support from the community. Uh we again we did engage Collins Aerospace. Um they their engagement also indicated an interest in having a facility like this in the park if this ends up being the location. Um from a cost standpoint, it is the base amount for the courts. Um and then any cost associated with a land use agreement. So I'm going to be turning it over here to Jeff here in a minute. Um but we'll be talking about um what our current situation is with Rose Park that we are not the land owners of that space and um some of the different um situations associated with that. So uh so mayor and council just wanted to give some context to the existing uh agreement that the city has with um Collins Aerospace for the use of Rose Park and talk a little bit about the conversations we've had with them about the future use um for an expansion on the on the on the property. Um uh as you know it's a just short of a 15acre piece of property. It's the land is owned by Collins Aerospace and um the city actually entered into a lease agreement when we developed the park in 1992. So, we lease the land um from Collins Aerospace under that uh lease arrangement, which is uh unique uh across our system, but I would say uh it's a unique arrangement to have a city park located on on privately owned land that is zoned and guided and and uh planned for industrial use in our in our in our land use documents. Brief uh summary of the existing lease agreement. So, it's it's a dollar. So, the the term of the lease was uh the compensation is is just a dollar. Um it does restrict the city's use of the property to athletic fields and parking. Um and then it does say that if we if the if the city wants to make any um material changes to the improvements on the site, it requires the the uh approval of of Collins. The original lease was actually a 20-year term lease. Um it did allow either party um including Collins uh now Collins Aerospace to um cancel that lease within that 20-year term. Um, the notice period is a is a 60-day notice. So, it's a very short notice period um of a 60-day termination clause uh within that 20-year time period. And they would there was a a depreciation schedule. They would have to compensate the city for the development cost, the original development cost of that park, and it's depreciated over the 20-year term of that lease agreement. So, that the the payout to the city goes down over the 20-year terms um of the lease. A couple of important uh notes is the lease was amended in 2010, September of 2010, very close to the kind of the original termination of the 20 years. It was um amended, the amendment effectively extended the term of the lease through 2032. So that's the current term of the lease. Um the two other material changes, it actually um extended the termination clause to 6 months or 180 days. So, they have to give us 180 days notice of termination, but it did because it was at the end of the 20-year term, remove any compensation to the city, um, should they terminate the the lease between now and the end of it in 2032. The last amendment occurred, um, as Garrett referenced a little bit in April of 2019 when Collins constructed the parking lot uh, for their use of their employees and their visitors and their contractors. When that happened in 2019, that was reflected in an amendment to the lease. Notably, it did remove that parking lot from the leased area. So, it's outside of our leased area of the park now. Um, but that we do have some license to use that parking outside of uh normal daytime hours for for public parking. >> Um, so talk a little bit about what we've uh as as Garrett said, Colins has been a a good partner on this project since we came to them originally in April. Um, after the work session, we very uh quickly started conversations with them. and they've been a great partner to to have these conversations with to allow us to explore the courts. As Garrett's noted, they've been uh they've helped with engagement with their own employees um on on the project and um have have supported um if the council moves forward that with the pickle ball project on the site. want to talk a little bit about how far we've gotten with the land agreements uh conversation with them and then talk a little bit about um some of the information we've we've um that will inform next steps uh if we proceed forward with uh further uh conversations with them. So they've really provided three options uh to the city for us to consider. Um the three options is to extend uh the existing ground lease um for another 20 years reflecting the general um lifespan of of the pickle ball courts. Um they've also talked given us an option of extending the lease for three years with a purchase with an option to purchase after that uh three-year term. And then the third option they have talked to us about which is new to our conversation is they are not planning for any um use by Collins. They have no planned use for this property in the near term. So, uh they have um uh given us an option to potentially purchase the property uh from them. Uh couple a little bit more of information that we that we've uh we've reviewed as we've gone through this process is important is um because of that unique arrangement where it's guided uh industrial, it's zoned industrial um and it's uh it's so the county assessor has reviewed this and and classified the property as industrial use. Um, and then yes, it's it has a commensurate um estimated market value that's reflective of that industrial use. And the 2025 uh estimated market value for uh property tax assessment purposes is just under $3.5 million. from that, right? The industrial when you apply the industrial uh property tax rates to that, that puts it just just under $97,000 a year that Collins is responsible for paying in property taxes um for the for the use of a public park. Obviously, in our typical park system arrangement where we own the park, we and we own the land, it's exempt under the property taxes and so there is no property tax paid. So I think um as we we don't have specific terms from if we go back to the three options in this time we've been able to get to the the proposal that's before the council. We do not currently have financial terms um negotiated with Collins. So the next step um as Garrett will talk about in the next slide is to continue those conversations with Collins over the next four to six months and bring back to the council specific financial and lease or sale terms for your consideration uh so we can understand the full impact. I think the first part we would start with is um with the property tax assessment there. We know that Collins had some conversations in 2018 with the county assessor to to see if the property would qualify for tax exemption. I think we would at a first step want to engage the the conversation about what lease terms would be required uh for us to for the property to be potentially considered taxexempt and then understand the financial implications of the city to that so that we can come back to you with more specific terms of both financial lease and other terms for your consideration. >> Okay. >> Any any questions? Because my comment is thank you for all of that work with Collins and they've been a great partner. Um, I know because I was here in '92 when we had the first agreement with them and then updating it uh in 2019. >> That was for the parking lot. Yes. >> And uh and uh so it goes until 2032. So and it's good to know that they're open to continuing and giving us another 20-year lease on top of that. The life expectancy of a pickle ball uh court is >> 20 years. >> 20 years. So at that time a decision can be made uh about all of that. So deep appreciation and gratitude please to the team over at U Collins uh because uh they have been great partners and we've worked with them. Now on the issue of um of the taxes uh forgiving the the taxes so it's we're not setting a precedent because we've done this with Sue Fischer Park correct? Yeah. So, Sue Fisher Park, uh, the whole land was owned by Matt Fischer and um, we needed more parkland for softball fields and uh, so we negotiated and he gave us the land and and the taxes were forgiven. So, we're not setting a precedent on this in this way. So, um, members of the council, um, yes, council member, >> I'm I was just struck by, uh, the lease. I I know we don't have numbers yet. They've been great partners. A dollar a year has been really good. >> $1,1 for all the years. >> Oh, for all the Oh, that's even better. Um but but I'm just wondering as you know I've negotiated many leases and when you talk about a 20-year extension um is it possible to talk about with the first right of refusal should they decide they want to sell that land so that we don't have to lease for three and then buy it. We can do it for 20 and anytime during that time a future council could make that decision they want to own that land >> and go from there. just just a an idea for you guys as you're negotiating. >> Thank you. Um, Council Member Gus and Madame Mayor and Council members, if you don't mind, I'll just I'll zip through the last two schedule slides here if um you're okay with that and then we'll Yeah. Um, so because we have a unique situation where one of the locations is not owned by us and the other three are, we have two different schedules set out um for information for yourself and the the community. Uh, if the preference tonight is for us to pursue Rose Park further, uh, staff would get back together with RTXcolins Aerospace and begin having those discussions. Uh we anticipate that would take approximately four to six months to get the information um figured out to have lawyers review it to communicate it back to council and to ultimately get it on a council meeting for your consideration. um at the conclusion of that um so that would take us somewhere to that April May time slot um that of 2026 um you we'd be looking at a 9 to 12 month process um knowing Minnesota the way that it is uh we would work with our consultant to then go ahead and and do final design on a site and then we would go ahead and and get bids and specs authorized and submitted out for uh the bidding process. And in this scenario, you would be looking at a January 2027 build based on getting on to contractor schedules and whatnot. If we were to look at an existing park situation, um we could have direction as early as tonight. Um at which point um we do have our consultant um under contract where we could uh go ahead and do the design process and work on the bids and specs where we'd be looking to get those out in somewhere uh early next year of 2026 um and go through the bidding process. And if that was a positive situation, we'd be looking to construct in the summer fall of 2026. Again, most likely you would not be looking at a facility that could be used by the community based on Minnesota weather until spring 2027. So, with that, I think that concludes our presentation. >> Um, comments, thoughts? Yes. Council member Bikini, >> just comparing that option to uh Cliff Fen, are they similar timelines because both require some preparatory work and you know with Cliff it's a DNR and wetland mitigation etc. With Rose, it's contractual lease etc. I mean we're still looking at 2027 spring for either one of those options. Yeah, Council Member Keley. Um there would be some additional work that would need to be done at Cliffn over at the volleyball courts for the reason that you mentioned. Um again, in one scenario, you know, the difference is really the the time that it would take us to to negotiate a land use agreement with Rose Park. Everything else is ready to go. Um it's just going through that process and then dealing with Minnesota weather. >> Yeah. Yeah, Jeff, >> mayor and council, just to to add on to that. So, um I would say the cliff location would follow the existing city park schedule because the permitting that's required under the wetland alteration could be done um in tandem at the same time as the construction drawings are being developed. Whereas, we would wait on construction drawings until we have lease terms that are acceptable to the city for the Rose Park location. Cliff could run a little bit faster per city, but given the weather, given the Are we still thinking it's it's not going to really will it buy us any additional time as far as being open for 2026 versus being open for 2027? >> Question. >> I I do not for uh I know when we did Red Oak Park, we opened for like two weeks um uh and then then closed it down, right? It >> and then we did a grand opening the next spring, right? We we could do something like that, but I don't think we're buying ourselves a whole lot. Um, so Okay, >> great. Thank you, >> Council Member Gustoson. >> With with that being on the wetlands at Cliff Fen, and I do like Cliff Finn as well. Um, would that is it possibility it could trigger an EIS? >> Uh, mayor and council, um, it wouldn't be a mandatory trigger for an EIS. We would need to review the mandatory triggers for an environmental assessment worksheet. I don't think it would. >> No, our initial assessment and >> you want to introduce yourself. So I know this these are consultants from uh Kimley Horn. So Garrett, would you like to introduce our guests? Yes. >> Uh thank you, Madame Mayor. Joining us tonight is Katie Liies and Todd Halen and uh they have been great partners on this project and here to answer these technical questions for us. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Mayor Council members. >> Katie, >> yeah. Our initial understanding of the environmental impact at this point does not trigger any sort of EIS. There are additional permits we would need to work through. Um but at least with what we understand with the impacts with the preliminary design is we can meet the existing city park schedule. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions, thoughts, comments? Yeah. Council member Schultz. So these are just my thoughts just I mean just in general I I don't like the idea of us building like actual structure type things hard structure on property we don't own. It may be that we can do the lease and they are continue to be magnificent and that's great. Um, but what I mean they don't have a crystal ball and we don't have a ball. What if they go out of business and they get acquired and it's peacemeal and I like there's a lot of things that can happen. That's what makes me nervous. Um, for Cliff Fent, it makes sense that we add a volleyball court at Crystal Lake Park because the volleyball court at Crystal Lake Park gets a lot of use and that seems to work better there. So, if we're not going to have volleyball already maybe at Cliff Ben, why not put an amenity in there that could be used? So, that's that's my thought on it. That's why I lean towards cliff. Um, but those are my thoughts on >> Okay, Vince. Um, I'm happy to explore Rose a little bit more um as an alternative to Al Magnet, but Al Magnet still remains my top choice. >> Okay. Um, members of the council, it seems to me that uh, Rose Park seems to be the direction that the majority of the council, if I'm reading the room correctly. Um, council member Keley. Yeah, >> Rose is your first choice. >> Rose and Cliff, I think both kind of like one and two, I think, for me. So, >> Rose and Cliff >> and um >> you have Rose and Cliff. >> Rose and Cliff. >> Okay. Uh and Cara, Cliff is number one for you. Or is that what I'm hearing or what? >> It is. Cliff is number one for me. Ella Magnet is number two and Rose is number three. I just don't like that we don't know that. >> Yeah, Vince. So you already said Rose and Alam Magagnet >> if we can get agreeable terms at Rose. >> Okay. Okay. From my perspective, I have great trust in the relationship that we have with Collins goes all the way back. It we have great history um going all the way back to 1992 and everything that we have done with them. And uh Rose Park has strong support from the community. The other is that there is um uh there are no homes around there and it's an industrial area. So staff, it appears to from u the consensus around here. Rose is at the top of the list. So please proceed, if I'm not reading the room correctly, uh proceed to negotiate with Rose and see where we go from there. And um anything else, members of the council, >> good negotiators, you can do it. >> Yeah. And I Yeah. And and the thing is they have done their expansion with the MIMS and the clean room and the wind tunnel and we worked very well with them. And I was proud to uh go to the legislature and um and and testify and and for those for what they needed um to make those expansions and they've made some other choices with regard to instead of building more on their property, they're renting from Happy on 143rd. and on 42. So they've got a lot of space and all of that and they have been great partners and um so you know and however you negotiate as we go forward with them um they have been good partners. So Rose proceed with that. That's number one consensus wise that I hear and um then come back. >> Madame Mayor, council members, thank you. We will we will proceed with proceed with that uh negotiation and we'll keep you informed along the way. >> Yeah. >> Thank you and thank you for all of that work. >> The the specific terms of course of the lease agreement. We'll come back to the city council at a future meeting for your direction and input >> uh before uh we proceed forward with any uh lease agreements. Okay. Very good. Okay. So, we're proceeding with Rose. Okay. Thank you so much for your patience and for being present. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. We're moving forward. >> Your Tuesdays are free now. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. Uh the next item on our agenda is um this is the local affordable housing aid and presenting this evening is uh our deputy community development director Travis Mista. >> Travis, floor is yours. >> Thank you for all your work. I really do appreciate it. >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh, council members, the discussion before you tonight is really a continuence of the conversation around how we might want to spend our uh, local affordable housing aid dollars or commonly referred to as LAHA. And just as a reminder, um those LAA funds originate from a quarter% sales tax that is collected at the state level across the 7count metro area and then distributed to local jurisdictions to address our specific um affordable housing needs within our community. And just as a reminder um uh where we're at in terms of what we've uh accumulated uh with LAAHA funding um in 2024 we um uh collected 400 or the state collected $45,000 which were allocated to us. Um and then at the time of the uh last work session back in May, we were projecting 800,000 would be collected for 2025. And it turns out uh that forecast was a little short and in reality uh we will be receiving $1.14 million of LAA funds in 2025. So additional dollars to be spent uh there. Uh again, as a reminder, in the work session uh last uh May, council directed staff to um allocate $300,000 of our LAA funds to support our home improvement loans, kind of our existing home improvement loan program and then $100,000 for our senior deferred uh loan program. And I'm happy to report out working with our our contractor, our vendor, Center for Energy Environment, we have uh relaunched those programs with that new funding source uh about a month ago. And then in that same uh council work session, we were directed or staff were directed to uh kind of explore and build out a down payment assistance program which we're calling uh Burnsville Homestart, an emergency housing voucher program, and a vacant residential property rehab program that we're calling productive properties. And all three of these program offerings, uh, just to be clear, we're planning to we're suggesting, uh, we t we use those dollars to support, uh, low-income families at the 0 to 80% AMI, uh, levels. So, getting into the details around those programs, the first the first offering is the down payment assistance loans. Um, we're suggesting these be funded at uh, $200,000 annually using LAAHA funds. So that would cover 2026 and 2027. We are recommending that we offer these up to any home buyer that is interested in purchasing a home in Burnsville. They need not be a first-time home buyer. They need not be an existing Burnsville resident. Um, and we are suggesting uh and offering up uh a loan in the amount of uh $41,000 to support down payment assistance. The rationale there is that would be roughly half of a traditional 20% down uh down payment for a $400,000 $45,000 house. And then we are also recommending that we cap the um sale price of any home where we uh provide this sort of assistance at $410,000. Uh additional details, the buyer must contribute 1% of the purchase price and meet all of our city underwriting requirements. And then we have confirmed with the center for energy and environment that they would be happy to administer that program for us. Uh they already provide similar down payment um assistance for other municipalities including uh Blaine, Rapids, and Minnitankka. The terms of the loan, these would be fully forgiven after 30 years. We are recommending no interest charged to the borrower, no payments um required. All of it is deferred. However, if the property is sold within that 30-year period, um the entire loan needs to be repaid plus the origination fee, which is uh $1,100 per loan. And then I should also just flag that um we can't use LAHA dollars to support program administration. So we are recommending that we use EDA levy dollars to um uh cover the cost for uh administration for this program which we're estimating would be somewhere in the $10,000 uh uh amount. So that's the first program. Uh the next program is um uh was an idea that kind of came out of conversation with uh our emergency responders and neighborhood services. Um these are emergency housing vouchers. Uh we are recommending uh that this be funded at $40,000 annually in 2026 and 2027. Um, these would be used in kind of an emergency situation where a where a family is displaced due to a fire or uh police response or neighborhood services uh activity and they need a temporary place to stay and get back on their feet. Um, how it would work is at the time of the emergency could even be in the middle of the night. the family would just verbally confirm to the officers or the the fire staff or neighborhood services staff that um they are receiving some sort of of government assistance and then when they arrive at the hotel, they would need to sign a document certifying their income level. We are recommending up to three rooms per family with a maximum 14-day stay. Again, this is just temporary bridge housing. We've kind of built the budget around uh $150 per night per room. That is subject to change. Uh but we're just building the budget around kind of worst case scenario and and using that $150 per night. And the other flag that I want to just um raise on this one is if there's a situation where we determine a family was not eligible and they were not at that income level and we provided uh temporary housing to them, we would be on the hook to to repay the state for those those dollars, but I think it's um uh unlikely to to occur, but it's a risk that we are we would be taking on. And then the third program we are calling productive properties. This is the our vacant uh single family home rehab program. We are recommending funding this at $500,000 in a year in 2026 and 2027. Uh in this case, in this program, we would partner and coordinate with Habitat for Humanity, and they would reach out to the variety of uh single family um properties that we've identified that um are vacant and have a a history of uh property maintenance concerns and inquire if they would like to sell their home voluntarily to uh Habitat. and Habitat would then take ownership of the property uh rehabilitate it and then um sell it to an affordable family. And we are setting this up to address one property uh per year. And the idea would be we would take on one in 2026 and take on another in 2027 and evaluate the program uh going forward. Um like I mentioned, these would be available to single family homes and town homes uh as well. Uh once we uh rehabilitated these properties and then sold them to uh a family at affordable levels, the um these would be deed restricted for 30 years. If the homeowner chose to sell, um we would be uh repaid fully all of our expenses upon sale. However, Habitat for Humanity would like first right of refusal and would ideally find an additional family that uh meets those income qualifications and uh would kind of re-up the 30-year term uh to that family. Um we are projecting and suggesting that we cap um our loss around this program to 100,000 per year. So, we would finance these acquisitions, rehabilitate them with our original $500,000. Um, once the property is sold to an affordable family, the proceeds of that mortgage and sale would come back to the city along with some additional uh Habitat for Humanity funding, making us whole less the $100,000. And we wouldn't go beyond that $100,000 without additional council approval. And the the last thing that I just want to mention on this around this program is that um we can use LAA funds to support administrative costs incurred by our partner at Habitat for uh humanity because they're a nonprofit uh housing provider in the metro. >> Question just to clarify, could you go back one slide? >> Sure. >> For some reason, I can't remember this. um deed restricted for 30 years, full repayment of all expenses upon a sale. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> Is it possible that that sale may not come for 20, 25, 30, I mean up to 30 years? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yep. And like I mentioned before, if the property owner wanted to sell, they need to go to Habitat for Humanity and Habit Habitat has the opportunity to purchase the property and then resell it to another affordable family. So that term could be >> extended out another, right? Long as Habitat maintains control. Yeah. >> Per se as first right of refusal, >> the those funds that we invested would just continue on >> roll and roll >> indefinitely. Whatever. Right. Yep. That's correct. >> Yeah, council member. >> So, basically, I agree with you. It could take 10, 15, 20 years, 30 years, but as time goes on, if this program continues with Laha, eventually this fund will start to replenish itself along with the funds that are coming in. >> Well, Madame Mayor, council members, if the if the property owners were to stay in there for 30 years, that $100,000 that the city invested of LAA dollars would be forgiven. >> Okay? So we would not be reimbursed that $100,000. However, we will continue to receive LAHA dollars probably at the you know depending on the economy at the $1.1 million per year on an ongoing basis and we could utilize those and we're planning to utilize those for future acquisition and rehabs. >> Right. So so under this program if they decide to sell in five years it's a $500,000 we'll get $400,000 back and it'll go back into the LAA fund. We will receive the $400,000 back immediately. Well, within 30 days of the sale to the affordable family. >> So, it's 100,000 that gets were forgiven. >> That is correct. Only the $100,000. >> That makes a lot of sense. >> Yep. >> Follow up. Sorry. >> Yes. Council member Keith. >> I think we had talked previously there was there's a limited number of identified properties that sort of fit this mold. uh if we were to assume we were to successfully just optimistically successfully acquire them all turn them over to habitat uh properties improved etc. Now we're in the next year right after all of those have been succeeded. Um, do we have any concept of what we might reattribute or redeploy these funds for or is there other circumstances like the next level down like these are the most critical? Is there other properties that could be considered for this type of program that are maybe they are inhabited but they're still in the same kind of poor shape? >> Yeah. Madame Mor, council member, uh, council members, this program was modeled after an existing program that already exists in Edina and Roseville. In their cases, what they're doing is using their funds to try to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing. And rather than a property being sold to a developer, torn down, flipped, and a big McMansion being constructed, they're using those dollars to preserve some of those houses. So, I could imagine in the not too distant future once we work through that list of vacant uh blighted properties that we would come back to the council and say, "Do we want to tweak this program so that Habitat can just proactively reach out to property owners to determine if they would like to participate in this and uh preserve their home for an affordable family going forward in the future, right? But the goal at this time is to work through the list of those vacant blighted properties to see if we can get any of those um rehabilitated and reoccupied uh with the dollars that we have for the for >> we're not we're not purchasing the properties. The >> habitat's doing it. So they're doing the work and I I know that they not only redevelop but they they get the people to buy the houses and they actually even originate the mortgages on those houses. So I mean from the time it starts it's like in their hands. Madam Mayor, council member, that is correct. >> Conduit to just give them the money and then get >> part of that money back. Again, >> we are acting as kind of the financial backer here for this program and that's pretty much our only responsibility. We will be providing them a list of properties that are blighted and vacant and >> um they can work through those. >> Yeah. Council member Key, >> just one last. Is there a limit to the value of the house that might qualify in this program? >> Yeah. Typically, you don't find blighted $900,000 homes that are vacant, but is there sort of a natural limitation? Is it is it the half million that if the if there is a situation, but it's 650 unless you come back to us and we were to support it, that wouldn't fall into the program limitations. Madame Mayor, council member, the reason we landed on $500,000 is we sat down with Habitat and kind of explored some performers that they have developed for houses that they've worked on in Edina, which where land values are high and Roseville. And on average, they're around $500,000. Their programs don't target um don't uh seek out uh blighted properties. So I think ours our program would actually come in quite a bit lower than what we're So we've kind of built in a little bit of that buffer with that $500,000 number. >> Thank you. >> Can I just Mayor and Council I just add one on in addition the family has to meet the income qualifications of the 80% AMI and so they need to qualify obviously for the underwriting requirements of Habitat's mortgage for the home price based on their affordable their income at or below 80% of area median income. Yes, for the buyer. Yes, for the buyer. Right. I was thinking of the acquisition side, right? On the front end is it if there's a $675,000 house that's been sitting vacant, we don't really have the funds to acquire that, per se. So, it's that 500 is sort of our cap. >> Yep, that's correct. >> Okay. >> Anything else? >> Thank you for that work. >> You're welcome. >> Great. And thank you for the programs. So, uh, in terms of next steps, council members, um, with following up from your direction that we receive here tonight, we present the, uh, proposals to the EDC in November for their, uh, review and then our plan is to finalize contracting with both CE and Habitat for Humanity in 2026. Um, we will also work with our communications team to develop a a significant uh, marketing strategy for these programs. And then our goal would be to launch them in 2026 and hopefully rehabilitate that first home probably late in in 2026. And then lastly, um I'd also like to suggest that we conduct a performance evaluation around our LAA funds in quarter 2 of 2026. We'll have uh over a million dollars programmed at that point and it would be great to come back and uh discuss with you all and get further direction on what is working, what's not, what are our current needs and uh go from there. Um one of the things that is just worth pointing out a lot of what we're focusing these dollars on is supporting existing or supporting homeowners, but there is also a need for uh preserving some of our of our naturally occurring affordable housing. And I know there is need uh to support uh financing new units and new construction as well. So I'm hopeful that we'll have additional ideas that we can explore with you all uh at that time. And with that I can take any further uh questions. >> Okay. Any questions? Council member Ke >> just a comment. I mean, we've thankfully have had the opportunity to talk about this, but the closer we get to this >> um this this this decision and really what you've presented today, it's it's very exciting. This is these all these programs uh meet a certain need that we've yet to be able to offer something from us. Uh, and as you noted in prior presentations, they target what the state or county isn't doing. So, we're really going in and filling in the gap where people are caught and uh just so many great things that are going to improve Burnsville neighborhoods with a blighted home that's vacant, opportunities for first-time home buyers, just >> uh these are these are fantastic programs. Yeah, >> I'm I'm glad that this is what we decided to do with the LA money. >> Yeah. Interesting. I I want to thank our staff for all of the great work, but thank to the legislature that promulgated this act that allows local government to have these funds um to rehabilitate properties to help our uh residents and uh and to make sure that we have the funds available to to build the vibrancy that we want here in Burnsville is our values uh are met, that we have a vibrant community, that we boldly lead. So, thank you for all the work that you've done because to all of the comments that have been made, it's really great work. So, members of the council, you support the proposals that staff have presented to us this evening? >> 100%. >> 100%. Vince, >> thank you, Vince, for bringing this some of these ideas forward. >> Cara, is she still with us? this the nonprofit partner that he brought to the table. They're like, "Okay, now now it makes it work." >> So, I'm sure that uh she supports it also. She's off. So, anyway, >> she sent a note. She's unable to sit up anymore because her back's killing her. >> Yeah. >> So, um council members, we have done work with the Center for Energy and the Environment. Uh do you support our partnership with uh with these organizations, the Center for Energy and the Environment and Habitat for Humanity? Yep. >> Absolutely. We we need to outsource that service. We don't need to try and take that on as a city. >> We're not we're not the experts in it. >> No. Okay. Very good. So, Greg, staff, move forward. And I think uh you'll be coming before us uh to um um approval of this at a future work at a future council meeting to approve this program. These programs. >> Sounds great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Very good. Thank you so much to all of you. >> Thank you. Uh Beth, she's here. >> Max. >> Yeah. So, thank you to the team. Great work. Uh the next item is the community vision. And uh Jeff, you're presenting this. >> Uh thank you. Excuse me. Thank you, mayor and council. Um as you recall, it was uh December work session um when we brought a conversation to the council back. um that about um medical destination, regional medical destination marketing and and it was after an October work session last year where we had talked about the heart of the city vision. Um and at that time the council gave us direction um to uh start to develop a community visioning initiative to develop um uh and talk more about at the council offsite which we did. Then in February of this year, we talked and got the council's input on outcomes and um your preferences for uh for the the community and visioning process. So tonight, we just wanted to come back and kind of introduce uh the community visioning and provide a little bit more details on the process and timelines uh for launching this project um in 2026. Just as a quick reminder, um, as we've talked about, as we've, uh, is that really what the community vision is is engaging and empower our community to have a voice in in how they want the city to look and really ask the question, how do you want the city to look and feel in in that next 10-year period? And we were intentional about picking that 10-year period as uh being um kind of a near-term realistic future, but also one that coincides with the U. Met Council's and our uh comprehensive plan update, which as you know, occurs um every 10 years as well. So since the February work session, uh we've had conversations with our community partners um the chamber experience Burnsville and and uh the school district and introduced them to it and um asked for their willingness to participate and just a high level summary of those conversations is you know some enthusiasm and support for the community visioning project seeing the alignment and and really the strongest message I remember hearing is a a willingness and desire to be involved and engaged in a part of the process as we move it forward. Uh so over the last number of months, we've spent uh some time reviewing um our peer communities here in the the metro that have done this um as well as some of the national models for doing community visioning and some of the national um uh other cities that have have done this to really bring the council a little bit of framework around um how this could be implemented for your feedback and ultimate um some direction on a couple items um for your uh direction. So the first is just to talk about the structure of kind of the the management or facilitating of the process. So we really see kind of three um three uh roles in this. And so I'll walk through each of those um groups and what their role and responsibility is. Uh the first is the as a community steering committee. Um that would be kind of a a standup committee that we would set up just for this community visioning process. Um it would be appointed by the council, right? Just similar to your your standing uh uh boards and commissions, this would be uh appointed in uh by the council. They're really responsible for providing input input and feedback on the process um that we use to do the community visioning, ensuring it's reflective of of the community's uh input and then also ensuring broad participation by the community amongst the the the steering committee itself, but also with the groups that they represent and the connections that they have in the community. The second is a project team. Um, and that would be kind of an internal staff team comprised of our departments uh that's responsible ultimately for kind of organizing, communicating, and then executing on the project. And then the third uh partner is our partner consultant. Um, this would be a neutral party that's responsible for gathering the data and analysis for the grounding assessment. Right? We've talked about two primary deliverables for this. a strong grounding and assessment document to inform the vision but then also kind of the vision uh the community vision itself. So they would be responsible for kind of gathering that data and analysis, facilitating the visioning process, providing some insight and at the end the important piece of kind of synthesizing all that community input and reporting it back to the community um and also to the council in the final deliverable. Here is our kind of recommendation for the council's consideration on uh how the steering committee could be comprised. um include two city council liaison um representatives from each of the the the council's boards and commissions um represented from each of our community partners um to represent that to uh be reflective of their interest strong interest in being uh involved and participating and then a mix of other residents and business representatives that you would interview and appoint um as part of your your process. >> I would like uh to add the faith community to that group. They were very much um a part of partnership for tomorrow and really brought >> Yeah. >> a good a a good perspective, a different perspective, a good perspective. >> So, we shouldn't u not recognize our faith community. >> Good suggestion. I didn't see that. >> Huh? >> Yeah, it's a good suggestion. I remember them from the prior cycle. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Any other thoughts with uh the committee structure? >> I think that's a good good start there. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. And then um are you going to your timeline? >> So, Mayor, there's a lot here. So I I just want to walk through um kind of the the timeline we have uh put together for the project. So we'll spend the rest of uh 2026 establishing the internal project team and then kind of uh drafting the request for proposals that we can that we will release for the partner uh consultant. the first quarter then of uh next year we would be focused on the council establishing and appointing the steering committee and then uh in that time period releasing the RFP for the partner consultant. second quarter of next year, uh we would uh facilitate the partner consultant selection process. Um and then ultimately the contract uh with the partner consultant on getting them on board and then uh spend July to September of next year, so uh the third quarter beginning kind of the grounding and assessment and then also starting to design the visioning process. So that kind of the end of 2026 into the beginning of 2027 the 6 months that uh during that period we are facilitating the community engagement the the kind of the core engagement process for the for the visioning. The goal is then to complete at least the grounding and assessment by December of next year. Um and then in the second half of 2027, we are uh synthesizing the community uh input and then doing a a community report back uh to the community on what we heard. >> I just remembered another group that I think we need to have in our steering committee youth. What they were so important in the partnership. That's how we got the skateboard park. We got the garage there. We should make sure that we have a a youth group in that. >> Excellent. We'll make we'll make those we'll make can certainly make those >> I like your uh timeline >> goision. It gets to getting everything that you you need in adopting division and the writing of the comp plan. >> And when is the comp plan due? It is due in essentially the second um I always hesitate because there's like a six-month period where our adjacent communities get to review it. So I always say it's mid 2028 is when kind of the draft of the comprehensive plan needs >> 2028. >> Yeah. Because I know it has to be before because it gets adopted in >> 30. Yes. End of 29 is when it needs to be adopted and then 30 is when it's effective. >> So we adopt it in 29 but it goes to the mid council. We uh kind of approve the draft in mid 2028. >> Yeah. >> And then we submit it to all of our adjacent communities and they get legally six months to review it and provide comments before we can submit it to the Met Council for their like 9month review period. >> Yeah. We I I just remember it's a very protracted process. >> Okay. Um >> question on the size of the how big can the steering committee be? Is there a a limit that we should I have as far as the total number? >> Yeah, the it was a big one for partnerships. >> We had them filled downstairs. >> Huh? >> There was we're filled pack downstairs. >> Yeah, this was always packed. >> Well, are we talk are we talking steering committee or just participation overall? >> So the steering committee was about 27 I think. But the engagement portion >> that's huge. >> Uh the engagement portion was like over 2,000 people. >> Yeah. Which is great. Just the steering committee is >> it was about I think it was about 27 people if I remember correctly. >> Jeeoff, what would be your ideal goal for >> managing a cohesive and functioning steering committee? >> Yeah. Um mayor and council. So there's I mean the way we have it structured, there's kind of nine established positions already, right? Before we even get into the number I I I share the I don't have the great answer like it needs to be this number but you know having the opportunity for the committee to be providing meaning because it's not the only group we are engaging in the input and visioning piece it's really just to provide input and feedback to the consultant and the project team right >> and ultimately to the council on what the process should look like and and whatnot. I would say, you know, probably in the 15 to 20 would be ideal for just like a working group matter. But >> so, you know who else? I keep thinking of all of the people who were part of the arts community, too. So, youth, faith, arts because that's how a lot of this other stuff came about. So yeah, but if you look at if you want 20 or 21, we always went for a odd number in case votes had to be taken on certain things, but that's up to you and what you can manage. >> Yeah. So I would I mean I would recommend I mean in the ballpark of 15 to 20 people just to keep it >> Yeah. >> manageable. Certainly if the council wants more, you can do that. And I think that as we work through we'll target the positions you've talked about established here as well as the input we've got about the faith community and the youth and arts community and then um >> and then we'll bring the you know the applications and the council can do the interviews and make the selection. >> You're the one that will be managing this >> I think in conjunction with the project team right the project team and the consultant partner will be important leaders but yes I will >> don't want to overwhelm you. >> We've been you have a great one of the things that I'm real comfortable with is that you have a great team. Yes. >> Okay. >> And madame mayor, members of the council, to be clear, Jeff's uh certainly taking the lead on >> uh bringing this update to you and the project to this point in time. Uh this is not a community development project. This is an organization project. Uh so um from a staff leadership perspective, there will be many of us involved >> um to to manage and lead the project. um where the ultimate project leadership lands, we'll we'll figure that out uh as it continues to evolve. We're going to be learning here. Uh and but I I do think it's important to note that every department of this organization will be actively involved uh as we engage as many residents as we possibly can. >> Yeah. Um so I like what I like what you have put in place and and I and I like that >> this is an organizational project that everyone's involved. >> It's all of us together. >> It's all of us together. Any other thoughts? >> Who are going to be the council members of this group? >> Well, I think we >> I think you just volunteered yourself. No. >> So, it it also says, who's going to have the availability to attend the meeting? I have availability to attend the meeting. >> I have availability. >> I don't >> And I have availability. >> I got asked to coach basketball. So >> you have no >> So is that why when >> that's a long season because they don't want you to be bored in the winter. >> Yes. >> Yeah. So here's why because I because I see all of the things you have three young men who are highly scheduled. >> Very scheduled. >> Highly scheduled. And you're busy. We can figure out who the members are of this at at a later date, but I just wanted to see if any of you put your hands up right away just to kind of brush that out of the way now. >> Yeah. Well, I I'm available, too. >> I'd be good with doing it, too. >> Hey, >> so there you go. >> Yeah. So, but >> you're in. >> Yeah. So, >> I vote. Yes, I know. >> Yeah. >> I would love to be a part of it, but >> Okay. >> Dan, you got so much going on right now. It's like >> I mean, aren't you aren't you going to be traveling for work also to Chicago? >> Like >> next week? This week? >> Next week? Yes. >> Yeah. >> Not for work. I'll be traveling while riding on the train or riding in the back of the RV, but going for family. >> Oh, you taking the train down? >> Oh. >> Trying to. >> That's a fun trip. >> Depends. If my brother and I are the only two going, we're going to jump on the Burilus. Um, and if if Carrie's going to go, then we're going to drive the RV. >> Every once in a while, I used to get tired of flying down there, so I just take the train. It was it was just so relaxing to do. >> Got a lot of work done. Chicago, it goes to Milwaukee and then south to Chicago. >> You're taking the train. >> $95 coach each way. >> Someone else does the driving. It's 7 and 1 half hours. We're going to drop off before downtown Chicago because we're we're our end is Antioch. But um it's uh it's two hours more than driving yourself and you don't have to drive. That's part pretty nice. >> But also it's a beautiful route. >> Yeah, it is. It's Hey, I I love the trip. >> Yeah, the leaves are going to be great on that trip. >> Yeah, that's true. I didn't think about that. >> Okay. Is there anything else Greg and Jeff on this item? >> Okie do. >> I think mayor and our next steps as I said this we'll spend the rest of the year appointing the project team that Greg talked about you know facilitating the leadership defining the leaders internally for that across departments >> um and then we'll bring back um a framework for the the council's appointment of the steering committee and then uh the request for proposals for the partner consultant. >> So Vince I was just thinking That little girl of yours, she's going to be highly scheduled, too, because she likes to be involved in so many things. >> She already is. Yes, she's going to be very busy as well. >> And I'll be telling you about I'm coaching volleyball soon. >> Yeah, >> you are. >> And you only get to do it once. >> Yeah. And she also has your number. >> Oh, yeah. especially this morning when we had to switch from shorts to pants. >> Okay. Well, let's go to any reports. Um, Vince, you have any reports? >> I have no reports. >> Uh, Metro Cities, we had our board meeting last week and as luck would have it, uh, one of our policies for our legislators is to allow LAA money to be used for admin. So, and that was done by the all the cities in the metro area. So, we'll be lobbying for that at Metro Cities. The experience Burnsville, we're meeting on Thursday. Uh that our talk is going to be about loss of possible loss of revenue from the Hampton, how that's going to affect us. Uh Amy's already redid a budget for 2026 reflecting that loss should that happen. So, we'll be talking about that budget and then we'll be talking about uh ways exploring additional funding opportunities for so they can keep up the level of service that we become used to over there. So, a full hour and a half. >> Okay. Uh I think Cara is off, right? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Dan, >> uh I35 Solutions just had a couple things that are relevant. Uh the Savage is going for state bonding for 20 million for the Highway 13 corridor. Um there's a funding gap entirely, including our 25 million at Nicollet and Highway 13 of 80 million. Uh that was sort of a moment for everybody at I35 when uh Lisa um shared that. Um and then Lakeville talks about this a lot. um um county commissioner um Mary Liz Hullberg does, but the general lack of east west highway corridors in Dakota County has always caused major congestion, especially when there's just an accident on one of them. Um it backs up because there just isn't that many. And of course we added to the pro no mindot added to the problem when they took out the three well two and a half because 13's open on just two you know one lane each way but um so it is a problem. I think Mary Liz mentioned this a year or two ago or more that Dakota County's growth and population traffic. Um it's it's a very unique county in the state of Minnesota with a significant lack of east west corridors um to handle the volume of traffic and the growth. So something that she's been calling a lot of attention to and it's be I guess it resonated a little more with many of us because of uh our uh Mandot bridge replacement project going on now. But uh uh the the legislative update was was sort of just a reminder in 2026 the governor and all house and all senate seats are up. So 2026 is a very very big political year for the state of Minnesota. Um um so the other thing MBTA um part of my uh um uh work lately has been related to uh managing some um uh organizational things within MBTA. And I just want to uh let everyone know that um one of the things we decided to create was a compensation committee and also a finance and uh budget committee. But the compensation committee was a byproduct was a creation of a new ad hoc city and county HR directors uh group to help MVTA uh handle annual compensation for Luther who was here earlier tonight. uh and just the whole process when we do our our next compensation study when we we evaluate things. I thought this was a a really good idea because we're a MVTA is a joint powers agreement of seven cities and the counties don't provide any funding but they're on our board of directors because we operate within the counties and they're partners so we want to make sure their voice is at the table. Um, so I thought this idea really was well and I want to compliment our city manager uh Lindberg for uh stepping in to the idea and saying we would be happy to lead the effort Burnsville and Mike our HR director uh to take the lead on it. And so u I'm working with the MBTA staff to sort of get that launched. And I think that's actually as I thought about I thought why wasn't it done this way 30 years ago? like this should have been like the model because we're all member cities and we have a stake uh in what MBTA does and as you saw with the presentation um our public transit is pro provider is MBTA. They do a great job um and and we as a city are benefiting from it. We're we're a pass through of all seven cities as a pass through about $25 million in funding to the organization. So, some of that organizational structure and administration when it comes to annual review and compensation, I think it's fair to have some voices at the table made up of cities and the the county's HR directors. Um, so >> lots of good things happen. >> Question why it wasn't done. Do you know that back then MVTA only had three employees and then when I was on on the board it was like five and then >> so there was no need to even have >> wasn't big enough to really warrant it maybe back then right yeah >> and everything was outsourced >> everything was outsourced >> yes it was a model for outsourcing literally everything >> yeah everything was outsourced Yeah. >> Um, >> so it's very different now because how many employees does does MBTA have now? >> Um, 52 I believe. >> How many? >> 52. >> 52. Oh my god. When I left that board there were only seven. >> When I joined there was 15. Um and uh as you know as we grew more routes, more people, more more staff, microransit definitely was more. But the other big boost probably accounting for almost 15 people just in the last year is we took over some of what we were outsourcing >> uh dispatch and some maintenance. Okay. >> The it was better to be internally controlled and we can all relate to that with >> um when we used to outsource some snow plowing. >> Yeah. >> And some lawn median mowing and we decided the quality and the controls and the efficiency could be gained by taking it inside. That's exactly the philosophy with certain areas of what we outsourced we were doing. Um and there's actually more. There's a few more positions that we're looking at, but we're in an RFP right now with uh Schmidi for all the drivers and all the other support that they do. So we're looking holistically at how the organization operates. So some of those employees are just it's a switch from an outsourced expense line to an internal. Anyway, that's it. Thank you. >> Okay. Um our Savage Burnsville um committee is going to meet this Thursday, so I can report on that. Um uh MLC, that's this when is it? Next Wednesday. What is it? Is it next Wednesday? Great. >> Yeah. And um and yeah, so that's all I have. Mine are all quarterly. Yeah. Anything else? I just want to thank staff again. all of those um written reports that we have. Great work. It was really nice to read about all of the chief all of the work of uh the behavioral health unit and gee Duke got reertified >> and the number of calls and I mean 665 in mental health. This is something I the community needs to understand. 665 mental health crisis calls. That's actual to today and and 207 SRU referrals or CRU referrals. Um, this is a success, but >> boy, I just see this unit growing. >> Absolutely. Yeah. Well, and we'll be adding in fire EMS is going to join us. >> I love the integration of um uh paramedic Mike. >> Yes. >> Andrews into it. and what has uh yeah it's all the work he has he has already done in the unit is really amazing. So, thank you. And what people need to know and because I've looked at all of the calls uh and um crime is down in Burnsville on all categories and that has been in the last three years if I went back and looked at all of the reports on all categories. So, congratulations, Chief. Yeah, great work. >> Congratulations on a successful fundraiser. The October Fest that was >> great event. >> Well, I know food >> was fantastic. >> It was very good. >> Yeah, they did a great job. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, thank you so much. >> Yeah. I And Jenny CFO, your people are just doing great work, too. And I look at how they are good stewards of people's money. Thank you. Yeah, you know your call volume is up. BJ's call volume is up in the reports that in are you fully staffed now? >> We are as of this week. We just started our academy on Monday. We just started two more police officers and a cso. So technically, you know, they've got some field training and things like that to get to, but we are technically have our full sworn staff allocation. So >> Wow. >> It's a great thing. >> Yeah, it's good to get there. >> And Greg, I as I is now we have a safer grant. Is that going to help BJ get to full staff by next year? >> Well, Mayor Council, um, yes. We were notified uh just this last week that uh we were awarded nine um safer grant >> positions of the fire department. Yeah. >> Uh that will help us towards the 21 that we've discussed uh with the council through the fire standards of cover. We still need to come back to the council um likely uh following the presentation of the organizational analysis to talk about what the future of the fire department's staffing needs to look like. Um uh in terms of their current uh staffing um they're near full staff. Um if not full staff, I would have to I would have to look. >> So that's >> Yeah, that was great. >> That was a big win. I is that >> great. Yeah. in >> get that many in one grant. >> Persistent. I think it was the fourth time in and isn't one but that was being persistent and continuously doing that. >> I also want to you know um um highlight public works you know they do a lot and they deliver a lot. 2.4 4 billion gallons of water was pumped into the city system. I mean, a lot the these are really great reports. If people ever want to take a look at them, it's on the website and they can read it. So, thank you. I just wanted to highlight all of that because that was a lot of great work our public works people are doing too and looking at the stats. So good. >> I don't have anything else. Do you? >> Nothing. >> Yeah. You >> Thank you so much. >> With these shirts on, are we considered like cub cadets sort of? Absolutely. >> You know, just to add to your numbers. >> Yes. >> We're good. We're good neighborhood watchers. >> That's right. >> I forgot to wear my shirt. It's nice to be a club again. >> It's perfect. >> Yeah. So, thank you everybody. Um, great work. And if there's nothing else to come before us, we stand adjourned by acclamation. Thank you everybody. Thanks.