[music] >> Good evening and welcome to the August 3rd City Council meeting. If you join me for a moment of silence in the pledge of allegiance. >> Pledge allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay, Mr. Snyder, roll call, please. >> Vote. >> Here. >> Helliar. >> Here. >> Burmel. >> Here. >> Wolter. >> Here. >> Lee. >> Here. >> Okay, we're going to have a slight deviation in the agenda order. We're going to skip past citizens comments and do four and five and then go back to citizens comments just so everyone knows. So, we're going to have in additional agenda information, Mr. Miller? >> Thank you, Mayor. One change to the agenda tonight, item 7C is an ordinance related to our zoning code updates. Included in the draft that was in your packet was language related to data center regulations. We are going to be taking that entire section out of the discussion tonight, so there will not be any discussion on the data center sections of that. And then if the council wishes to proceed, they'll be making a motion to approve that without any of that language. So, there will be no discussion on the data center language tonight. >> Okay. Um and then we'll move on to the presentation Taste of Lakeville and then I said we'll go back into citizens comments. So, Mr. Poppy, if you want to come and talk about Taste of Lakeville, welcome. Good to see you as always. >> Good evening, Mayor, uh council members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Uh my name is Mike Poppy and I'm the president of Lakeview Bank, uh Lakeville Rotarian and the 2026 chair of the Rotary's Taste of Lakeville event. Uh this year Lakeville Rotary Club will host its 24th annual Taste of Lakeville on Thursday, August 20th, at the Lakeville Art Center. The event will run from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The cost of a ticket is $50 in advance and $60 at the gate and it can be purchased electronically at tasteoflakeville.org. Or you can purchase them at Ace Hardware stores of Lakeville, Lakeville Area Art Center itself, uh local banks, New Market, Citizens, Lakeview, and merchants, or directly from a fellow Rotarian or a friendly Rotarian. On August 20th with one ticket, attendees can enjoy unlimited samples of food from approximately 30 of the area's best restaurants, caterers, and food trucks. With that one ticket, attendees will also be able to enjoy wine, beer, and spirits tasting galore, which will also include a souvenir wine glass. Face painting, raffles, and other fun events are also part of the festivities along with an online auction that will run from August 19th through August 24th. This year's live entertainment will be provided by the band Coyote Wild, referred to as the go-to country rock band in the Midwest. Coyote Wild will bring a fearless team of musicians and singers who will perform country and rock music the way it was meant to be played. The Taste of Lakeville is the primary fundraising event for our Lakeville Rotary Club. Proceeds from this event and many of the club's activities go to support a variety of important local and regional initiatives such as scholarships, community action, local food shelves, parks, and many more. In fact, over the last 3 years, Lake The Lakeville Rotary has provided nearly $450,000 in donations and grants to groups such as, but not limited to, 360 Communities, Lakeville Public Safety Foundation, and local high school students. And for this 2026 Taste of Lakeville, the special fundraising push for the Lewis House campaign is being made. Thanks to these funds raised at Taste of Lakeville, the Lakeville Rotary Club partners with and donates to more than 50 organizations and projects throughout the local area. Many of these nonprofits, a dozen or so, will be on site inside the Lakeville Area Arts Center during the event, which is a good opportunity to learn more about the great nonprofit work being done in our area and the effort put forth by Rotary to help these groups. Again, this is a fun event that will ultimately raise funds for many worthy local organizations. So, get your tickets for Thursday, August 20th, and enjoy the food, drink, music, and fun at the Taste of Lakeville. Uh learn more at tasteoflakeville.org. Uh we invite all of you to attend, and we appreciate your continued support. Any questions? >> Council questions, comments? Councilor Wiger? >> I just have a comment. Um I want to give you a shout-out for the having the organizations that Rotary actively supports there on on site. It's very educational to see what your dollars are going to support. So, thank you for that work, and thank you for highlighting them at Taste of Lakeville. >> You are welcome. >> Yeah, look forward to seeing you then. Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. Have a good evening. >> You too. All right, we'll bounce back to item number three, citizens' comments. Uh just a little housekeeping, there are some faces here I don't recognize that are not frequent fliers, as I say in public comments, a little background. Um we keep your comments to 3 minutes. You come up and state your name and address to the record. Um there are items that are on the consent agenda that do not have any comments. If there's an item on the consent agenda that you'd like to comment about, that's fine. If there's items that are under 7 A, B, or C, or D, um typically we'll open that up to comment even though there's not public hearings. And finally, uh just some ground rules. Uh if you are uh drifting into an area of disparaging someone, their religion, uh other activities, uh I will not have any interest in entertaining that conversation this evening. Keep your comments respectful and civil on the matters at hand. And I'll have to rem- I hope not to have to remind anybody of that. So, with that, if you have uh public comment, come on up and uh you have 3 minutes to address the council. I have my handy-dandy stopwatch here. >> Welcome. >> Hey, good afternoon, uh respected mayor and uh city councilors and administration and all of the uh dear Lakeville resident. My name is uh Shahin Uddin. I live at 20542 Hartford Way, Lakeville. And uh I work as an IT manager at US Bank. So, my wife and I are raising uh three beautiful children. And uh we are proud to call this city our home. Two have been graduated from the Lakeville South School. One is pursuing the um the the pre-medicine degree and uh the other one is in cybersecurity. And our youngest son, Taha, is a senior at Lakeville South and proudly plays defense line for the Cougar football team. But, what makes us most proud isn't just his performance on the field. Uh it's his commitment to serving others. Um he volunteers throughout the years helping coach younger players, participate in fundraising events, and every season he reaches to Al Hadi community to raise the funds for his the the Lakeville Cougar team. Um so, Taha is just one example. Many members of the Al Hadi community actively give back to Lakeville. Some of the community members adopted a park. And I have also had the privilege of serving on the Park and Rec um Advisory Council as well. So, our community leader includes teachers, substitute teachers, engineers, doctors, small business owners, and many other professionals. Our substitute teachers step in wet when whenever schools need them. Helping ensure that students continue learning without interruption. So, respected mayor and counselor, today these same families are generously donating their time, resources, and savings to build Al Hadi Mosque. We are also reaching out to friends and family to support this effort. Al Hadi is an independent, locally registered organization. We are not affiliated with any national or international organization. This mosque is being built by the local community for the local community. So, we are strictly following city, state, and ordinance and law. We follow our faith by staying within the country's law boundary. Islam has basic principles that everyone following. For example, praying, fasting, give 2 and 1/2% of excess wealth as a charity. Al Hadi does not come in in in the on the way as these individual acts. So, we are simply asking for a peaceful and quiet place where families can gather to pray, teach our children and good values, strengthen our faith, and continue serving the community we love. I respectfully ask you approve Al Hadi's cup application. Thank you for your time, your service, and your thoughtful consideration. >> Thank you. Any other public comment? >> Hey, Council. My name's Nathan Like. I live at 19792 Itea Avenue, and I work down the street at 20165 Heath Avenue. I'm the associate pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church. Uh I'm here to speak in support, uh, of the building of this mosque specifically for the reason St. John's is the second longest continuously worshipping community in Lakeville. The Catholics had a few hundred years head start on us. We'll catch up eventually. But, since 1914, we've been worshipping in Lakeville. Some of the history of the Lutheran tradition in the United States is a history of immigrants. English-speaking, German, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian. In fact, uh, just the other day one of our church members talked about remembered growing up, uh, and her dog embarrassingly wandering into the German-speaking service and had to get her dog out of there. Uh, I am here to voice, uh, our support for a diverse worshipping community. The same luxury that's been afforded to us for over a hundred years, I hope can still, uh, uh, remain for all types of worshipping folks in Lakeville. So, with that, thank you. >> Thanks. >> Good evening, respected mayor and council members. >> Hold on. I want to just clear it. Yeah. >> Good evening. Now, it's okay. >> Yep. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Thank you. >> Sorry for that. >> No. >> Good evening, respected mayor and council members. My name is Hiram Naaz and I reside at 8167 180th Street West. My family and I have proudly called Lakeville home since 2022. I live here, work here as a substitute teacher for Lakeville Area Schools and my children attend school here in Lakeville. Lakeville is a wonderful, welcoming city and we are extremely happy to be part of this community and contribute to its progress. Beyond our family and friends, what truly completes our community for us is a dedicated place of worship and learning. Working in local middle and high schools, I interact with hundreds of multilingual students from diverse backgrounds. Uh everyday, I firmly believe that it is a character and behavior that matter most, not their language, culture, or background. That's why as a mom and a teacher, I am really inspired by Al-Hadi's unique educational programs for youth. These programs provide our children unique educational programs for youth. These programs uh give us vital sense of belonging, teaching them how to foster a safe, responsible, and thoughtful environment for everyone having diverse backgrounds. Through my teaching, I have met many local students who were who were attend Al-Hadi mosque because of its deep commitment to education alongside worship. I would be deeply grateful if you would help us to continue these positive community efforts by approving this project. Thank you for your time and your service to our city. Thank you. >> Uh good evening, respected mayor and council members. Uh my name is Rehan Mohamed Sheikh and I live at 18256 Hamel Drive. I was born here in the United States and Lakeville has been my home for as long as I can remember. When people ask me where I'm from, I don't say India, I say Lakeville. This is where I go to school, this is where I play sports, this is where my friends live, and this is my home. My parents came to America from India because they believed this country would give their children opportunities that they never had. They worked hard, they built a life here, they taught me to be grateful for the community around me. And one of those things that they always teach me is being a good citizen means helping others, respecting people, and giving back to your community. Those are the same values I learn at a mosque. When some people hear the word mosque, they think it's only a place where Muslims pray. But for kids like me, it's much more than that. It's where we learn to respect our parents, teachers, and neighbors. It's where we organize food drives and volunteer activities. It's where we learn that no matter what someone comes from, they deserve respect and compassion. Right now, many families have to drive long distances to attend programs and activities. A mosque in Lakeville would give kids like me a place closer to home where we can learn, serve, and grow. I love living in Lakeville because I see people from many different backgrounds becoming friends. Nobody asked what religion we are before they become our teammate. We're just kids growing up together. And I think our city should reflect in the same spirit. It would become another place where people gather, volunteer, and learn, and contribute in the community that we all share. When I grow up, I want to remember that Lakeville was a city where everyone had a place. A city where people were judged by their character and their contributions. A city where family were welcomed and encouraged to put down their roots. I'm a proud student of Lakeville. I'm proud to call the city my home, and I hope that you will support the Al Hadi project so families like mine can continue building our future right here in the community that we love. Thank you for listening. >> Thank you. Good evening. I am Jacob Borealis, 20618 Captain Court, and I'm not from Lakeville. I'm from Duluth. Uh my grandparents and great-grandparents were immigrants from most of Scandinavia, and that heritage is important to me. I have it literally on my arm. And when we came here in 2020, we were so welcomed. It was amazing. And that's part of what like makes Lakeville so special. And I think everyone should have that same experience. Um we can't close the door behind us. It needs to stay welcoming in order to stay this special. And I want that for everyone. Thank you. >> Thanks. Another comment? No? Right in line. No, no, yeah, you're good. Yeah. Sorry. >> Hi folks. >> Hi. >> My name is Robert Droulard, and I live in Plymouth, 12410 44th Place North, Plymouth, Minnesota 55442. My wife Mary and I served for 15 years as Christian medical missionaries in northern Pakistan. In the 1980s and '90s and just into the 2000s, we lived in a city that was very conservative. It was 100,000 people at least, and all of them were Muslims except us. When we returned to the US and I resumed practicing medicine here in the Twin Cities, I noted that many of my physician colleagues were Muslims. Many also happened to be of Pakistani origin. My wife and I quickly found ourselves invited to gatherings, dinners in homes, where just like in Pakistan, we were the only non-Muslims. And soon our Muslim friends, many of whom were my physician colleagues, were inviting us to the mosque in Plymouth, which is only a few miles from our house. We have many, many dear Muslim friends at the Plymouth mosque. One day, they called me from that mosque in January this year and said, "Could you and your wife help us? We've been doing a food drive for immigrants that are hiding in their homes. And we would like you to connect us with churches who can distribute the food. Because when we wear hijabs and when we have brown skin and we have accents, we are being pulled over." And I said, "Sure." So, we found ourselves taking load after load of food from the Plymouth mosque donated by the Muslim community there and delivering it to a network of Hispanic church folks who delivered the food, and my wife and I made some of those deliveries ourselves, to Hispanic women hiding in fear. Okay. So, we have experienced this connection and we, with the Muslim community at our mosque, and we asked them, "Don't you want it to go to the Somali community? Muslim to Muslim?" They said, "No. The Hispanic community needs it more than the Somali community. We Muslims want our food to go to the Christian community." In the Twin Cities, my Muslim colleagues are often >> 30 seconds. >> chairs of their department, cardiology, gastroenterology, the head of the stroke clinic at North Memorial. They're all Muslims. They have the same moral values that we teach in churches, and they want to teach them in their mosque. And we are honored to speak on their behalf today. These are our friends. We love and respect them. Thank you for listening. God bless you all. >> Good evening, Mayor and council members. My name is Lori Bardal, and I drove here today from Brooklyn Center in support of my Muslim brothers and sisters. A mosque is far more than a place of worship. It's a community center, a place where children learn, families gather, neighbors volunteer, and people find belonging. It's where meals are shared, friendships are built, and people come together in times of celebration and in times of hardship. >> [sighs] >> For years, Al Hadi Masjid Masjid has worked through the proper process, engaging with city staff, neighbors, and the planning commission. This proposal has been carefully reviewed, and it has earned a recommendation for approval. The Muslim fam- families of Lakeville deserve the same opportunity every other faith community has. A permanent place to gather, worship, raise their children, and serve their neighbors. Religious freedom means protecting that right for everyone, not only when it's easy, but especially when prejudice and or fear attempts to stand in the way. >> [clears throat] >> Excuse me. >> [snorts] >> Minnesota is a is strongest when every family knows they belong here. Approving Al Hadi Mosque sends a clear message that Lakeville is a community that values inclusion, equal treatment, and the freedom for people of all faiths to practice their religion with dignity. Tonight, I respect- respectfully ask you to vote yes. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Um my name is Eric Lund. I live at 16563 Judicial Road, um here in Lakeville. Um I am a 35-year resident of Lakeville, and when and I am Jewish. And when my family moved to Lakeville, as far as I am aware, there were no other Jews in Lakeville. We were welcomed with open arms. In the spirit of that, I would like to welcome the Al-Hadi community to Lakeville with open arms. >> [snorts] >> And so, I hope that you will support their application to build a mosque. Thank you. >> Thanks, Eric. >> [clears throat] >> In the name of the almighty, the most gracious and the most merciful. The best of the neighbors in God's sight is the one who treats their neighbor with the best. And their neighbors must be safe from their >> Sir, could you share your name for the record, please? >> My name [snorts] is Rizwan Jaffer, and I have been a Minnesota resident for 23 years in Lakeville for 7 years. I live at 18375 Glaser Way. >> Thank you. >> Today, I'm not only speaking as as part of the community member, but also as someone with professional expertise in parking and the traffic enforcement. Working in the Minnesota State University, Mankato, trained by an ex-marine and a military police, and currently working with the with majority of the law enforcement agencies domestically and internationally. During my tenure as a parking enforcement officer, I have experienced uh directing traffic and vehicles and pedestrian traffic for special events like Vikings training camp, homecoming parades, footballs football and basketball games. With my experience, parking enforcement and compliance, traffic management, circulation, event planning, and public safety, and pedestrian movement are always a uh concern. I acknowledge that whenever we talk about opening a new place of worship, school, or community center, we always face these challenges. I have been studying the traffic and the pedestrian press pattern at the proposed location since the neighborhood meeting few months ago, and I'm confident that with my experience and proactive planning involving coordinated volunteer parking attendants, promoting safe pedestrian crossing, and with the donation, myself donation, of reflective vests, traffic cones, and traffic directing flashlights allows me and the community members to see the potential solution before it becomes a problem, and more importantly to help create a practical solution. Because, as I mentioned in the start, respecting our neighbors is our religious duty. So, I'm committed to help ensure that the traffic and the parking is addressed proactively and responsibly. I respectfully I respectfully ask you in supporting approving this project. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Dr. Alan Kennedy, and I'm the director of a human rights organization. In 2006, a student from Lakeville contacted me. He was the vice president of the DECA student organization in Lakeville, and he asked me to come to speak on behalf of DECA. DECA is a global organization that prepares students for careers in business, and it develops their leadership skills in their schools and in their communities. That Lakeville DECA chapter was raising awareness and raising funds to provide humanitarian aid for people suffering in the genocide that was occurring at that time in Darfur in Sudan. As the director of a human rights organization, I was honored to be invited to participate in that effort. Zack Rivers, the student, arranged for me to speak at four separate assemblies at North Lakeville High School, and for our organization to have a presence at an event that they called Rock for Darfur in 2007. The genocide was being enacted on Muslim people and Zach's effort, supported by other students, faculty, and the entire Lakeville community, demonstrated the best of Minnesotans. People reaching out to help their neighbors, their brothers and sisters in the human family, wherever they might be and whatever identity they might have. That student effort 20 years ago is a guiding light for the Lakeville City Council this evening to stand proudly with and for all residents, regardless of faith, national origin, or other characteristics. I was proud to be in Lakeville then and I'm very proud and honored to be able to speak with you this evening. I urge support for this important project. Thank you all so much. >> Thanks. >> Hello, Mayor and Council members. Thank you so much for letting me speak. My name is Pam Lauer and I live in Apple Valley and um I didn't even know this was happening and then I heard that there was some misinformation going around to try to stop the mosque and I thought to myself, "Oh, no, I don't want people listen to information based on fear, but I want to say uh a um a truth, which is if you want to know about Islam and Muslim practice, ask a Muslim. They're going to tell you They're going to tell you the truth, you know, the stuff that you hear from that's the bad stuff is not it's not coming from the people who actually know. But I also came to celebrate because I looked at the agenda and I saw that the first thing one of the first things is the Pledge of Allegiance. And as people have talked uh a little bit about our uh for so many of us we or our parents or grandparents or great-grandparents immigrated here because of that promise of liberty and justice for all. And being able to build your place of worship, that's part of religious liberty. And I'm so grateful as I see you guys sitting here and listening to a lot of talk, you know, it's it it gets long and I'm thinking about how much work it is to to be in in government and how much I appreciate what we do in this country and I want us to keep doing it. And I believe that approving this wonderful new worship place of worship and community organization is part of respecting the immigrant ancestors and all of us and our country. Thank you. >> Uh good evening. My name is I live at 20519 Harper Avenue and this fall I'll be a freshman at Lakeville South High School. I've been attending Al Hadi since I was very young. Throughout my life it's been much more than just a place of of worship. It's where I've attended Friday prayers, youth programs, Ramadan iftars, Eid prayers, and community lectures. Through these experiences, I've learned the importance of expe- respect, responsibility, faith, and serving my community. One of the things I appreciate most of about Al Hadi is how it brings people together. People from many different cultures and backgrounds come together as one community. I've made friendships there, learned about learned from elders and seeing family support one another during important moments in their lives. As our community grow continues to grow, I hope Al-Hadi can continue to grow with it. I want future generations to have the same opportunities I've had to build friendships, strengthen their faith, and be a part of a welcoming community that encourages people to give back and support one another. I respectfully ask you to consider the positive impact Al-Hadi has had on me and so many others. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you. I'll just say for efficiency purposes, while I appreciate opinions from residents outside of Lakeville, I'm going to prioritize those people who do live in Lakeville for public comment. So, thank you. Go ahead. >> Hello. Yeah, can you hear me? Yep. Good evening, everyone. Respected Mayor, council members, and all our Lakeville neighbors here. My name is Shahid Afzal. I am your neighbor at 17398 Holland Avenue for the last 8 years. I work as a technology analyst in technology at US Bank, and I'm here to support the proposed Al-Hadi mosque that's coming up here in Lakeville. The construction of this mosque in Lakeville will provide a place of worship for Muslim residents and families who seek a dedicated space for prayer, spiritual growth, and community gatherings. Just to add to that, this mosque is much more than a place of worship. It will serve as a community center where people will come together for educational programs, charitable activities, youth development, and family support. By creating opportunities for learning and service, this mosque will strengthen the social fabric of Lakeville and encourage active civic participation among residents. Lakeville as a city, has grown into a diverse and vibrant community, and the addition of this mosque will reflect the city's commitment to inclusivity, providing space for different faith traditions demonstrates respect for religious freedom, and helps ensure that all residents feel valued, represented, and connected to the broader community. Ultimately, the construction of this mosque in Lakeville represents an investment in community, diversity, and unity. It will provide a spiritual home for Muslim residents, while creating opportunities for cultural exchange amongst all members of the community. Cultural exchange, service, and engagement. By supporting this project, Lakeville can continue to grow as a welcoming city where people of all faiths and backgrounds can live, worship, and prosper together. Together. That's the important word here, together. We have the opportunity to build more than a mosque. We have the opportunity to build stronger connections, greater understanding, and an even more welcoming Lakeville for future generations. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I request you to approve this mosque. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> My name is Jared Morton. I live at 1636 8 Finch Way in Lakeville. Uh this past winter, uh at the organization and through efforts not my own, uh my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over on Kachina Court, hosted an iftar dinner during Ramadan with the with the members of this mosque. And I was teaching a group of young men the week before, and when I had found out about this opportunity, and I told them, "There's nothing more Christ-like than breaking bread with a stranger, someone you don't know." And I encouraged them all to attend. And at the time I said that, I didn't know how right I was. Um, when I was at that iftar, I felt like I was on holy ground. Um, our religion the Muslim religion are both religions that are commonly misunderstood. And uh, for the adherents of these two religions to meet together in an atmosphere of understanding was, uh, it was it was something I'll never forget. We prepared food for each other and we sat across the table and we we ate as brothers and sisters. We began the night as strangers, but we ended it as friends. Any any sort of awkwardness that was there, maybe at the beginning, by the time, uh, the evening ended was completely gone and dissolved in an atmosphere of goodwill, mutual understanding. And in addition to it being a a godly evening, it was also a deeply American evening. I'm a descendant of Englishmen and Germans who came to this country specifically to protect practice, um, an a misunderstood religion. And we at that iftar worshipped with, uh, brothers and sisters who are in a similar situation. A newer wave of immigrants who seek success and religious freedom in America. The first freedom guaranteed in the Bill of Rights is the freedom to exercise one's religion without without government interference and, uh, I think that the matter before the city council is is quite simple. The our brothers and sisters need a mosque. The city should get out of the way and let them build it. I hope that we continue to host iftar dinners with this, uh, community uh, in our church as long as necessary and then afterwards I hope we are able to continue sharing iftar dinners with them at their new mosque. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Hi, my name's Elaine Addison and I thank you for the the mayor and the council members for having this meeting. I'm a little nervous cuz I haven't done this before, so be patient with me. >> either. >> So, anyway. >> [laughter] >> So, anyway, I live at 22161 Wagon Wheel Trail, Lakeville, Minnesota, 55044. I have been a resident of Lakeville for 35 years. Love Lakeville. It's It's been great. I came over from Germany. I was 7. I was German-Romanian. I made my citizenship at 19. I love the United States. I love our Constitution. I love our people. And I don't mind bringing others in as long as we can all come together under our Constitution and appreciate what we have here in the United States of America. We've had veterans that have fought for this nation. They stood proud and strong. They've died for this nation. And I just feel like that our nation has to honor that and recognize that. So, I would like to ask if if you, Mayor, and the City Council would consider a moratorium right now to hold off on this mosque till we have a little further investigation. And um so, anyway, I'm just presenting that to you and um that's that's my question. All right. Thank you so much. >> Thanks. >> Good evening. My name is Joan Baldwin. I live on 21090 Ridgewood Trail in Lakeville. I have no issues with any of the conversation that has been here tonight. I welcome anybody. However, on my way to Prior Lake today, I went through a neighborhood that has a mosque in it. It's um as far as architecture, it did not belong there. And I thought to myself, "What about all those houses that are have to look out their window down at a mosque of totally different colors and and whatever. And and what about the neighborhood? And I was think I would not want to be in there. If I owned a home and I had to sell it because I don't think it would be of any value. So, my question is where is the mosque going to be and what is the architecture going to be like? Is it going to fit in with the surroundings or is it going to be so different that it's going to be compromised maybe the people that do live around there? That's that's my food for thought. So, I don't know if that that's been all determined if the people who do live around that if there are people that live around there have been informed as to what it's going to look like. I don't know. But, that's my food for thought on this whole subject. >> Thanks. >> Just something to think about. Thank you. Thank you. >> Good evening. Uh my name is Lori Olson. I live at 17444 Glen Court in Lakeville here. And I'm I would agree with the the previous speaker. Um the location that that this mosque is being proposed at it's on a street that's one way in, one way out. There's neighbors that live and we personally know people that live in the quiet little neighborhood behind it. Um from our understanding it's supposed to be a residential area and it's being changed to accommodate that. Um and just curious as to all the studies with the traffic that that are going that's going to be going in and out. One way in, one way out. There's a little cul-de-sac to turn around in. That's going to impede a lot of people that live in that area. Um also if there's traffic coming in and out um constantly from that it's going to impede people that shop in those in those um the strip mall there that go to Cub that you know um go into the fast food restaurants and and all the commercial uh buildings that are that are around there. So, I ask that also that it be tabled to take a better look and make sure that it's the right location um, for the mosque to to to be considered. Thank you. >> Any other comments? Okay. So, oh. I got you right under the gun. >> [laughter] >> Uh, hello council members. My name is Fawaz Siddiqi. I live at 17967 Hydro Court, Lakeville, Minnesota. And uh, I have lived in Lakeville my whole life and I love this city and I love this state more than anywhere else on Earth. It's so full of incredible people of different faiths, backgrounds, ethnicities, everything. And I believe that building this mosque will only strengthen our Lakeville community, the Muslim community in America, and will help worshipers even past Lakeville. Because I remember when I was younger, about half a decade ago I'd say, when we wanted to pray, we had to drive quite a while to the nearest mosque. But this could really help make it easier for our local Muslim community to worship. And this could also help us um, in the future we can help you, we can What I'm trying to say is uh, Let me start again. This will really change the lives of the Muslim youth and the elderly as a community. This can help us in the future help the Lakeville community. And finally, I heard a couple people saying and I'd like to rebuttal this in a way that building a mosque will change the look of the neighborhood and change how things look. Somebody was quoting something from like Burnsville. But I'd like to say that I mean we have big box stores, we have all kinds of other businesses. I honestly don't see why this is different. Thank you for your time. >> Thanks. Okay, I will call that into citizen comments. It's atypical for the council to really respond in kind of the citizen comments, but I'll just say there are some questions about land use and um there's I'll just say our planning commission reviewed a lot of the questions that you had and met our standards when it comes to how different things are cited, whether it's a residential or commercial or or religious um siting. Uh and so I'll just share that the planning commission reviewed them and uh the projects that was talked about tonight met those the standards at that meeting, so. With that, we'll move on to item number six, our consent agenda. Mr. Miller, any items you wanted to highlight? >> Just one tonight, Mayor. Item 6C is a donation from All Saints Catholic Church and School. It's $200 and it's going to the fire department for their fire prevention efforts and we appreciate that donation. >> Okay, very good. Thanks, All Saints. Council, any items you wanted to discuss further or pull from the consent agenda? If not, I'll take a motion to approve. >> Councilmember Burman. >> I move to approve the consent agenda. >> Okay, is there a second? >> Second. >> Second. Any further discussion? Okay, all those in favor say aye. Aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed? Consent agenda passes. We'll now move on to item 7A, public hearing improvement for 215 215th Street improvements. And Mr. Johnson, our city engineer, will give the presentation. >> I think maybe we can just take a minute to let people leave, so >> Yeah, oh sorry. Councilmember Volk said if you you're welcome to stay through these exhilarating presentations, but um if you want to leave, you're more than welcome to leave. >> Thank you. >> We'll take a 90-second uh break for folks to exit. Sorry. No, no, no, no. I wanted to I know I uh >> Exhilarating, I love that. >> Well, you are. >> Mhm. >> I know. >> [clears throat] >> All right. If you're going to stay, if we could just close the back door so we could keep rolling, that'd be great. We're so close. We're like 3 ft away. Okay, Mr. Johnson. Go ahead. >> All right. Thank you, Mayor and Council members. Uh tonight is the first public hearing for the 215th Street and utility improvement project. Uh just a reminder the purpose of the meeting tonight uh this item is to consider ordering the improvement following the public comment. Uh tonight I'll walk through the project need, the scope, the cost, the assessments, and the project schedule. Here you'll see uh, the project location. Uh, it's 205th Street. Uh, there's two components I want to highlight. Uh, the street and the water is basically bordered on the west by Keats Avenue, uh, County Road 5, and Juniper Way, uh, County Road 70 in the east. Uh, there is a sewer extension that would continue west of Kendrick Avenue over underneath the under, sorry, the freeway to Keats Avenue. And the uh, the intent of the project is to support long-term mobility and utility service needs across this industrial corridor. So, we have three primary goals I'd like to share with you. One is to the improve the in safety, mobility, and accessibility of this industrial area. Uh, public engagement with stakeholders to best understand expectations and implement value. Wanted to highlight that we did engage with residents and businesses early uh, in attempt to established community expectations. And then lastly, we want to construct public infrastructure consistent with the city's comprehensive plans and anticipated development. Uh, two primary components. One is to build 215th Street as an industrial roadway to support freight and business access. And the second is for utilities to extend sanitary sewer and water to serve plan development west of County Road 70. The street construction would include uh, constructing and paving 215th Street as an industrial roadway with drainage swales. So, it not be curb and gutter, it'd be kind of that rural roadway section. Uh, storm water upgrades would ensure water quality compliance and reduce localized flooding risk. That would be uh, increasing capacity on some existing culverts that are either beyond their uh, useful life or undersized to meet the needs. And then we'll also have the sanitary sewer and water construction. Uh, extending sewer as I said all the way across the freeway and then water to the west side there. Directional drilling would be used to minimize disruption at I-35, Kenrick Avenue and existing gas mains just east of Kenrick Avenue. Project financing based upon the feasibility report, just over $4 million is proposed to be paid through special assessments to benefiting properties. The remaining funds you'll see the storm water sanitary sewer and water trunk funds would be used to serve for the capacity needs of the citywide structure. Total project cost at this point is estimated at 8.268 million. Based upon messed up my slide there, sorry. Based upon the assessment policy, properties benefiting the improvements would be assessed on a per foot basis. The street construction would be assessed 100%. The utility construction would be assessed 100%. It gets cut off on my slide there as any of those improvements beyond the local needs would be paid through the trunk funds. So any oversizing, any over depth crossing of the freeway, that's covered by the city trunk funds. My apologies for getting cut off on the slide there. Estimated assessment amounts are about $300 for streets, $20 for storm sewer, $100 for sanitary sewer and about 115 for water. I do want to be clear that the final assessment amount is based upon the as bid construction costs so the costs before you today are based only on the feasibility report. And then we have had conversations as I shared with you, we did engage the stakeholders and business owners in trying to find collaboration, better understand the development timing and so we have talked about deferments for the utility portion only. At this point it would be a 10-year term for the whole cycle of the assessment but we've been talking about three and five-year assessments as something a deferment is something that we may want to consider if the project moves forward. Project schedule, on July 6th, we received we shared the feasibility report and set the first public hearing. Today is that first public hearing in the improvement project. The request for you today is to consider ordering the project. In about a month or so, we would open bids and computer assessments based upon bid opening and then we would declare costs and set a second public hearing and then on hopefully early October we would have that second public hearing with the assessment and award a contract and we'd also like to have assessment agreements in place with each of those stakeholders. So, a lot of work to do if the project moves forward, but like I said, we've had really good coordination and collaboration with our property owners to date. Construction would be phased over two sides. We try to get to it start with the east at the downstream end, work our way west as much as we can yet this year with primarily the items going west of the freeway being done in the spring. Oh, sorry. That's not me. Um, and with that I'll stand for questions. Otherwise, just remind you this is a public hearing and after that request a direction. >> Okay. This is a public hearing. I'll open it up to any comment about the 215 Street project and seeing that I'll entertain a motion to close the public hearing. >> Is there a mover? >> I move that we close the public hearing. >> I'll second. >> Okay. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Public hearing is now closed. Questions, comments, Council Councilman Relief. >> Thank you, Mayor. Question related to there's a 10% contingency on the cost of cleaning up any hazardous waste as a because of apparently there's some known potentials for maybe higher than normal contaminations in this this area based on previous uses is 10% a typical contingency number or is that raised at all because of the potential risk with this project? >> Uh I would say 5 to 10% is typical. We haven't seen any evidence, any contaminants in the geotechnical work that we've done to date. That said, as we move further in the design, uh we'll probably be around that 5 to 10%. If there was something that exceed that, we'd have to evaluate that as part of the project, but that that's generally pretty consistent uh for any unforeseen issues that may occur on a project. >> But just to reiterate your the geotechnical surveys that have already been done didn't see or or report anything back or >> Yeah, that's correct, Councilmember. At the feasibility study, yeah. >> Thank you. Any other comments? If not, motion. You're welcome. Councilmember Burma. >> Uh I move to approve a resolution ordering the improvements and authorizing the preparation of plans and specifications for 215th Street improvements, City Project 26-09. >> There is a second. >> Second. >> Okay. Any further discussion? Cassina, roll call, please. >> Lee >> Aye. >> Wolter >> Aye. >> Burma >> Aye. >> Hellier >> Aye. >> Wolfe >> Aye. >> Okay, very good. Thank you, sir. Now, move on to item 7B and I'll turn over Mr. Nick Paling from PFC Builders on the Palmer Crossing Preliminary Plat. Welcome. >> Hey. Um Mayor, city council members, first off, I want to thank you for your time and consideration tonight. Uh my name is Nick Paling. I'm one of the owners of Paling Family Homes. And we are here to present the 24-lot single-family home development. Um as someone that's lived in this community for a long time and gotten to build in about five, a little over five years ago, this is something that uh me and my brother have wanted to do for a long time and uh spent a lot of time on this. Um I grew up in Lakeville, I currently live in Lakeville and um this is something that we're really proud of. Um like I mentioned, this is 24 uh single-family homes and our goal is to create a high-quality uh neighborhood that uh we believe we have um been building. And uh I got Rick Osberg, our engineer, as well as my brother here and we can answer any questions that you guys have. So, thank you. >> Very good. Council, any questions before I turn over to staff? No? Okay. Good evening, Ms. Goodroad. Welcome. Good to see you. >> Good evening. Thank you. Mayor and members of the council, um representatives of the Palen family have applied for the preliminary plat um to be known as Palmer Crossing. It is located just south of County Road 50 and north of Gresham Way, east of Hamburg Avenue and west of Cedar Avenue. The property is 10 acres. The property is zoned RST-2, single-family and two-family residential, and it's guided low-medium um density residential with a density range of three to five units an acre. Here is a picture of the plat. Uh it's 24-lot subdivision and one outlot that will accommodate the stormwater and access is from the south at Gresham Way. Um when this project to the south was built, it was always assumed that it would extend, there would be no access to County Road 50, that's controlled by the county, and so the access will be from the south to accommodate the lots with an additional lot or additional Street A. That could serve the property to the east. There's about area for about four more lots that could fit there, and then the remaining piece of that property would have to access from the west or further from the east. Um there will be one large stormwater pond, again, the extension of the roadway. Um this is the landscaping. The only screening that is required is along County Road 50. Other than that, the typical screening for residential development will be required. Um there will be some tree removal around the existing home. Um there is no screening that's required abutting um the same type of land use, the same type of housing abutting the other. Um so that's why there's not screening on the south side, but they have added some additional screening along the stormwater pond. This is about as straight up as you get for a preliminary plat. The Planning Commission um held their public hearing on July 23rd and unanimously recommended approval, and I stand for any questions. >> Okay. Council, any questions? I just My only question was related to the uh tree ordinance and everything. >> Yes. >> the standards for that. >> Yes, it does. >> Okay. Very good. >> I have one more question. Um Did you You didn't mention the moratorium and why this is excluded from the >> You know what? And I had my note and I didn't. So, thank you for bringing that up, Council member Wilder. This project was submitted prior to the adoption of the moratorium. That was in April. Um if you recall, there was uh line item in that resolution that allowed or that ordinance that allowed us to exempt projects that had been submitted and this fit that test. But thank you for asking that. >> Any other comments, Council? No, I'll take a motion. Council member Wilder. >> Move to approve a resolution approving the Palmer Crossing preliminary plat. >> Second. >> Second. >> Okay. Is there any further discussion? I see none. Uh roll call, please. >> Walter. >> Aye. >> Lee. >> Aye. >> Vogt. >> Oh, aye. I'm sorry. I thought I thought that we were going to Burmel. >> O'Leary. >> Aye. >> Burmel. >> Aye. >> Thanks for mixing it up. >> Uh congratulations. Look forward to you guys breaking ground. Good luck. Uh we'll now move on to item C, ordinance amending title 10 and 11 of the city code and summary ordinance of publication. And Mr. Lick from the planning committee, who I have not seen you in a long time. Welcome back. >> Mayor, it's always good to be in Lakeville. Daniel Lick with the planning company. Pleased to have worked with city staff again to bring forward these updates to the zoning ordinance and subdivision ordinance. This is an annual process that the community development department undertakes. Zoning and subdivision ordinances are living documents. Things change over time, and it's necessary to review and update. City staff does an excellent job maintaining a list of topics that they have the planning commission weigh in on and provide initial input so that we make sure these regulations are current, easy to utilize for both property owners, residents, and developers, and still meet all the statutory requirements. So, the planning commission this year started in June with a work session. They held their public hearing on July 23rd. Just a couple of the highlights from the proposed amendments. With the change in lot standards that has occurred over time with lots getting narrower and smaller, it was necessary to amend the provisions for decks that are elevated. There was a previous 20-ft setback required. Well, that's basically what most of these homes on the smaller lots within the RS4 RS T2 zoning district are being built at. So, there needed to be some additional flexibility by reducing that setback down to 10 ft. We also identified in working with city staff that there's a number of homes along the lakes within the city that are older, that predate shoreland regulations. There are provisions in the shoreland management rules that allow some flexibility at least to put an open deck on without approaching the city for a variance. So, that provides those property owners some greater flexibility. >> An open deck, you mean it doesn't have >> No roof, no pergola, no Correct. Some changes to off-street parking related to motor fuel facilities and auto repair. The city last year put in place some standards putting in restrictions on the maximum number of parking spaces. That was intended to reduce impervious surface and storm water management needs and also reduce costs for development, but it proved impractical from an implementation standpoint, so now we're backing that away. Also eliminating a garage requirement for generational housing incorporated as part of an existing single family dwelling. They still have to provide an off-street parking space, but no longer a garage requirement to provide some flexibility and reduce costs to accommodate more families within homes. It's not a zoning ordinance update if you don't touch the sign ordinance, so changes to maximum signs allowed for multiple tenant buildings to clarify those provisions. Further refinement of temporary signs for new developments and then expanding the allowance of dynamic signs for religious facilities, eliminating a minimum acreage requirement when the setback requirements that are in place and the orientation requirements ensure compatibility of the regulations. >> And no changes to trash signs left in the right-of-way? >> No. >> Okay. >> This was an item that came forward at the direction of the council when the city first put in place allowances for both chicken and bees it was a conservative approach. Let's put regulations in place, see how it goes and they can be amended over time if it's successful. City staff says the main complaint that they get is questions with regards to chickens, whether somebody has a permit and that's likely generated because the chicken is outside its run or coop. So, the proposed changes include increasing the number allowed to six as shown in the photograph, requiring the chickens to be kept within the coop or the run, providing more flexibility in the building materials allowed for the coop and run construction and then allowing minimal sales of uh, eggs from uh, the individual property. We're also changing the allowance for keeping bees from a conditional use permit to an administrative permit, again, to facilitate and make it more uh, easy for people to uh, undertake that activity. >> Can I ask a quick question? I know it's really dumb. What So, the chickens aren't allowed in a certain area in the yard to have a little freedom? And the run is just what? It's a thing It's a bridge between the coop and the ground, right? >> Mayor, uh, the run is essentially an enclosed fenced area uh, that's attached to the coop, so they're allowed outside the coop into that area. >> In that area. So, they do get some outdoor space in the sun. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. This is humane chicken keeping not factory chicken keeping. >> I just didn't understand. >> Yeah. So, some changes to allowed uses making possible a generational housing within the central business district, uh, making accommodation for those existing single-family homes in the central business district that are planned for the potential to redevelop as high density, uh, but in order to allow them to continue this process, removes that non-conforming condition from them so that uh, they can be expanded or enlarged uh, and carried forward as single-family homes. Uh, making provisions for drive-throughs within the uh, mixed-use district along the Cedar Avenue corridor, uh, changing retail sales within the OR district to an administrative process, and then adding motor fuel facilities within the limited industrial district as complementary to the employment activities in that area. Of course, there's always housekeeping items that uh, occur with any uh, zoning ordinance update, and this is a summary of the uh, more simple changes included in the amendment process. But again, the planning commission held a public hearing on July 23rd. Uh, there were public comments regarding the data center components, uh which has has been stated will be removed from the ordinance and discussed further before being brought back for action. Um but the planning commission did recommend 5 to 0 approval of the proposed amendments as presented. Uh and I'm available as well as city staff for any questions. >> Council, any comments or questions? >> How do you I have a question that's So, how does how do you make the motion? Do you do you say all of that >> Sure. We'll give you a little background. >> Um Mayor and Council, uh staff did prepare an alternative motion and I could read it for you and then if you are agreeable to that, you could move that. >> Okay. Other comments? Council member Lee? >> My biggest question was around the 125% rule with the parking lots because as stated in the packet, it the the ordinance as stated says that um it was impractical to administer. Can you talk more about that and maybe because the I think the purpose behind it is genuine. So, what part of it was impractical to administer? >> Mayor, so in some of the developments along Cedar Avenue, um where it's a mixed development and there was accumulation of parking, that standard where there's natural interchange between the businesses and so you have an anchor tenant that's concerned about the number of parking spaces they have uh being occupied by other uses um made it difficult to then require that they can't exceed a certain number of spaces while others are potentially under parked for their use within the context of the overall development. I think this is an issue that perhaps if the planning commission and city council direct, city staff could look at further and refine and bring back in the future um because the point of it was valid um to reduce those infrastructure costs and impervious surface, Improve green space within commercial development. It just needs some more refinement. The time frame for this update didn't allow for that. >> Got you. So, if I'm hearing you correctly, it's it's essentially an issue with multi-tenant areas of >> Correct. >> commercial uses. Got it. >> Yeah, Mayor, when the the concept originally came forward, it was aimed more at the big box store when you look at the Target when that came in at Timbercrest or Walmart. And the basis on which they estimate their parking demand is different than the city's and greatly exceeds even the most generous need of parking based on the certain number of days per year. So, those were the targeted ones, but it became kind of that mid-box size was difficult to apply to. >> Thank you. Okay, this isn't a public hearing, but these are issues that have had attracted public comment in the past, so happy to if someone want to talk about anything in here, happy to welcome them up. If not, no problem. Okay. Uh Councilmember Walter. >> Um our long city chicken nightmare is nearly over. >> [laughter] >> I want to I want to thank everybody for their I This is something I've been talking about for a while. >> Till you bring it up again. >> Yeah, so I I appreciate the and I know it was not without controversy on the Planning Commission. There's some people that have some um I I think legitimate concerns about some of the health impacts of of, you know, keeping chickens and stuff. So, I just would want to make sure people are when they're jumping into that, they're knowing um they're knowing what they're doing from a health perspective and safety and all of that, but I appreciate the council's um entertaining my persistent um chickener advocacy. So. >> One additional comment, if since data centers was on the agenda and we've decided to move it, um I do want to acknowledge the work that went into uh creating that draft that we will take to a a session. But for those who were looking to discuss that tonight, can is there a timeline in terms of when that is going to be on the next agenda? >> Uh Mayor and Council, we haven't decided that. We need to kind of look at what some future meetings look like. But I would say before the end of the year. >> Okay. So, I think we already received some uh comments that we can potentially integrate into what what we discuss at our next meeting. So, thank you. Councilmember Burrell? >> If you're ready. >> I am ready. Yep, thank you. >> Uh I move to approve an ordinance amending title 10 and title 11 of the city code as presented with the exception of sections 52, 53, and 54 item D, and a summary ordinance for publication. >> Okay, is there a second? >> Second. >> Did I do that right? Okay. Uh any further discussion? Okay, roll call, please. >> Vote. >> Aye. >> Hellyer. >> Aye. >> Burrell. >> Aye. >> Walton. >> Aye. >> Lee. >> Aye. >> Okay, very good. Thank you to everybody for staff for putting that all together. I know it's not easy. Uh we're moving on to item D, which is 20975 Howland Avenue interim use permit. I don't know if Mr. Pitcher, welcome. Come on up. You want to briefly introduce yourself, talk about the project, and then we'll have a staff report. >> Hello, I'm uh Ken Pitcher. I live at 20975 Howland Ave. Um I'd like a interim use permit so I can have a room addition put on the house. It's a 1920 house, and it's very small. >> Okay. All right. Uh and Ms. Goodroad can give the background. Thank you for coming. >> Good evening, um Council, Mayor Mayor and Council. Um yes, Ken Pitcher um has applied for an interim use permit. So, the property is located at 20975 Howland Avenue. And this property is zoned RH CBD, high-density residential in the central business district. Likely when his home was built, it was under a different zoning. And that zoning has changed. A lot of the zoning in this area changed following the pattern of the downtown development guide as well as the land use plan. And so the applicant does want to add on to the home about 300 square feet. When he submitted for a building permit, it was like, "You can't do that because technically it's not even a it's a non-conforming use and we cannot allow expansion of a non-conforming use." While we were doing the 2026 updates, we consulted with Mr. Licht and staff and Mr. Licht decided the best way to approach this was to create an interim use permit for single family homes. So it can exist legally. And so that is what was put into the ordinance that you just approved. And so now with this interim use permit, he will be able to extend his home. We have a clause in the interim use permit that when redevelopment occurs, it would be based on the longer term vision for that area. But there's about 15 single family homes that fall into this and we really look at this as naturally occurring affordable housing. Housing that's priced in a way that can attract young buyers and families who want to add on to them. So it's a good thing to have these homes remain in good condition while longer term redevelopment may occur but not for the immediate future. So that's what this item is all about. We needed to have it right after the zoning ordinance so the zoning was in place for that amendment. >> Okay, very good. Council, any comments or questions? Councilman Burman. >> Just a quick comment. I I appreciate the flexibility and the creativity to address the needs of people that have homes in unique areas and that we aren't so rigid that, you know, we just put things in a box. So I really appreciate that creativity. >> Thank you. >> Okay, very good. Uh with that, Counselor Lee? >> Move to approve an interim use permit for a single-family home within the RH-CBD, high-density residential district, central business district, and adopt the findings of fact. >> Okay, is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay, any further discussion? Okay, roll call, please. >> Lee. >> Aye. >> Walter. >> Aye. >> Burman. >> Aye. >> Elliot. >> Aye. >> Aye. >> Okay, very good. Good luck on your remodel or addition. Uh we will uh now take a 2-minute break before we jump into our new business section, uh also known as our work session. >> Run, Dan, run. Run. >> I think there's a couple of books to put the microphone >> [laughter] >> You're going to have to stretch that microphone. >> to have to stretch we lost our microphone. >> Oh goodness. There we go. How about that? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Well, [clears throat] uh mayor thank thank you and council members. This is a just a quick update on our payment management system. Uh you I think we gave this update maybe 3 or 4 years ago, but thought we'd check in again and uh see if there's any comments on our progress. So, for tonight, I just really touch on a overview on the benefits of our pavement management program and how it uh helps uh keep our system up-to-date or uh in good shape and try to reduce the amount of cost associated with the program. And then uh review the current program, how we get to uh choose the the projects and uh how that's all sorted out and and put into the CIP. And then we'll visit the uh proposed CIP for 2027 through 2031. So, what is pavement management? Uh it's a strategic process uh to maintain, upgrade, and uh operating a network of pavements uh to optimize the pavement life and through economic considerations. And uh why it matters uh is we need to try to apply the right treatment at the right time to extend the pavement life to avoid uh far far high higher costs uh um if the pavement deteriorates and in when it comes time comes time to if we need to reconstruct it. So, uh how the program works, uh we do monitor our streets uh every year. We track the pavement conditions over time and see how the pavement uh is performing, how it's degrading, and what treatments potentially will be needed over time. Then we optimize, take all that data, put that into our CartaGraph program, and uh we run several scenarios in terms of uh what's the best um most cost-effective approach to to treat some of these streets and um program that in for years to uh make those improvements. And then we uh look at uh sustaining the the the program through our CIP um for overall life cycle cost. So, here's just a quick uh synopsis of where we're at. So, this uh street uh the city's pavements and network, we do have right around 333 miles. That includes our residential streets and our collector roads. It doesn't include MnDOT roads or county roads or anything like that. These are just the streets that we maintain uh with uh for in Lakeville. So, if you look at those streets, um if we needed to replace all those those streets uh today, basically, uh they all needed to be reconstructed, how much what would the cost for that be? And it's uh the net value is uh $393 million, which is the number one capital asset that the city um has to maintain. And so, because the pavement uh is in is the city's most valuable asset, a cost a cost-effective management program is essential to protect the investment of the system over the long term. So, our pavement management program was established in 2009. And like I said, we do um uh inspect our streets on a yearly basis. We roughly inspect about 25% of our streets. And then we [clears throat] collecting data through our Cartograph program. Entering all that information in the Cartograph, and then which uh creates a OCI or a overall condition index for each of the street segments within the community. Uh we can map that out and looks where where streets are starting to fail or where they need help and need improvements over time. >> Can I ask a question? >> Yep, go absolutely. >> So, do you go and do every street every year to look at physically look at it? Or not you personally, but your >> Our staff, yeah. So, about 25% of our streets uh we visually inspect, drive through, and then we we uh determine how many cracks per per linear mile and yeah alligatoring and those type of things. So, all that all that data is generated and put into our our cover graph program. >> Well, that but how do you know when >> [clears throat] >> something goes beyond the the you go by complaints then too? The 25% are inspected, but do you go by complaints too? >> Yeah, that that's part of the the equation, too. Yeah, I I can get to that, too. >> Well, I'm sorry. >> Yep, no, that's fine. So, but looking ahead, you know, we are looking at uh new technology that's out there, uh lidar specifically with AI uh enhancements associated with that. So, uh we uh have a lidar system uh uh which videos all the city streets. This AI program can can pick up all the distresses in our in in the in the pavement itself and then automatically generate a OCI number for that particular street. So, here's uh an example [clears throat] of what that looks like. So, we're have already talked to two companies and one company has come out and did a demo for us over on Fieldcrest Avenue and basically just drive down the street with the vehicle and it picks up all the distresses within the within the pavement itself and automatically would generate uh overall condition index based upon what the the AI software is seeing out there. So, we're there's still some calibration, some things we're looking at, but this is one of the technologies that we're currently looking at. >> Is there use [snorts] of satellite imagery for any of our OCI >> Yeah, satellite is it's the resolution isn't there. You really need to get up close to look at the all the cracks, how many cracks per you know, per per foot are are we're looking at alligatoring and the stresses out there. So, you really need high resolution video and uh to to really identify what the the stresses are. >> [clears throat] >> So, after we put all that information together, we can generate maps and scenarios. This is a overall OCI estimated for the community in in 2025. We still haven't rated the streets in 2026 yet, but uh this map didn't come through exactly clear, but there are it does show, you know, some contrast in in terms of what streets are in fairly good condition, which ones are going to be need some help in the future. So, after we generate again all the data in of the cartograph system and put all the scenarios together, we can generate an overall condition index for our whole network system. So, currently our network for our local streets, the residential streets, is about 81. Um and our collector roads is is right around 77 right now. And our goal is to have our whole network right around 75-ish. So, it's going to go up and down every year based upon our inspections and those type of things, but generally that's that's the numbers that we're we're trying to hold to. Um so, we're doing pretty good job right there I I think. In 2027, I think the numbers might go down a little bit. Our next area that we're going to be inspecting those streets are a little bit older, so they might tweak a little bit. But looking out into the future, 2030-ish, our scenario is our payment >> [clears throat] >> estimated OCI is is at 72. So, and again that number is going to vary. It depends upon traffic and weather conditions and then deterioration of the other streets over time. >> Can you explain a little bit more about 2030, that's if we do nothing now or >> No, that's that's I should That's a good point. So, that does include all of the improvements that are currently in the CIP. >> All right. >> So, if we we implement all the projects proposed in the CIP, this is the estimate that we're going to get we're going to get. >> So, the CIP [snorts] proposes improvements and gets us to 72, which is just under 75. >> Yep. >> But >> We're right there. >> Okay, got it. So, there's a range of numbers that's satisfactory. >> Yep, exactly. We're We have a plus or minus There's a There's a lot a lot of variables that go into it. Got it. >> [clears throat] >> And so, another benefit of holding a higher OCI level is that the issue that you had talked about um >> [clears throat] >> on on account of the work is the calls that we do receive. So, as we try to strive to maintain a 75 OCI level through our community, we're seeing less calls come in from from the neighbors concerned about the pavement conditions. And feedback from the community. So, with that, here's the treatments that we're currently utilizing to maintain our pavement condition. So, crack sealing, we're doing that on a yearly basis. Also, the rejuve rejuvenating our surface sealing. That contractor is in town right now and we're doing about 18 miles throughout the community. We do some edge mills once in a while. They're It's not high utilized right now, but our 2-in mill and overlays, those are our rehab projects that we we do or currently doing completing up in the Dakota Heights neighborhood and then our full-depth reconstruction. Um uh project FDR, um those are our street reconstruction projects and those are the ones that we we assess per based upon the assessment policy. So, and I just wanted to highlight again the rejuvenator that uh we're currently utilizing. Um it the rejuvenator it does uh go over like an an oil, does soak into the uh the pavement. You can hardly tell it's there with after a month or so. But, uh it does uh help to extend the life of the of the pavement. Um and rejuvenates the the uh the pavement so it doesn't crack as much. Um it uh helps with the oxidation of the reducing the oxidation of the pavement so it doesn't crack and extends up the pavement life. You can see there in that photo. So, [clears throat] and again, you're um I think we've shown you this uh exhibit before, but uh this is our OBI our ideal uh pavement length. We're trying to get to a 50 to 60-year pavement if we could. Um utilizing uh rejuvenators to extend the the pavement life as much as we can, but once we get down to the overlay areas, that's 60 to 45 uh area um for our OCIs, then we're starting to talk about doing some overlays again. That would bump us up to 100% uh 100 for our OCIs and hopefully we can get another uh overlay out of the out of the street before we potentially have to reconstruct. So, after 50, 60 years, you're you're talking about uh needing new infrastructure, uh storm sewer, water main, sanitary improvement. So, at that time, it does make sense to start considering a reconstruction. But, and then I did show you the uh the pavement or the the cost for each of the each of the uh um application. So, preventive maintenance with a um with a reclamation um or the rejuvenator plus um some crack sealing it's it's between $1 and $2 and rehabs would be as high as $37, but the reconstructions, that's where you're you're really talking big bucks, which is $60 to $80 $88 per square foot. So, every dollar you're you're you're putting into the preservation and the rehabilitation, you know, you're you're extending the life of that pavement so you don't get into the reconstruction my eyes quickly. >> So, what have you saved us since you put this program in place? >> Um well, it's it's hard to tell. It's it's hard to quantify, I guess. Uh we're just trying to extend the pavement life as much as we can before we, you know, before we started through this uh pavement management program, we were doing a ton of reconstructions. >> Right. >> Um and, you know, we were doing I can't remember how many miles per year, but it was upwards of 15 to uh 12 to 15 million dollars of of street improvement projects every year plus assessments and stuff like that. So, it was it was very costly to to let the streets go to the reconstruction and and before you're you know, and not do the overlays and do some of the preventative treatments ahead of time. >> Yeah, I think I remember I mean, when I first got on council, we were trying to catch up from you know, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, '11 where we had missed a lot of that because of >> financial crisis and stuff. So, >> it's good to see that that tough period we caught up and now it seems like the technology is going to get us a lot further out long term. >> We're we're trying to best bang for your buck. >> Are you caught up? >> Well, we're caught up with our I mean, we're always going to have street reconstructions, um you know, the over over time, but right now we're more in the maintenance phase. We're doing more a lot more milling overlays, a lot more preservation, the reclamites, or the the surface seals right now and not allowing or letting the pavements get down to that reconstruction level. >> Certainly been more stable. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Which is nice. We haven't seen huge flux fluctuations in how much, you know, pavement management we've needed to do each year. >> So in again here is the proposed 2027 to 2031 transportation improvements noting next year I think we're looking at 205th Street just west of 35W. That's one of our streets that that we get one of the most complaints on and then a bunch of street overlays within our neighborhood again. So >> Isn't there some developer investment on that 205th? >> There might be some too. I mean the scope of that project is still out there. We're going for grants on that project and to try to get some shoulder work done out there. It's it's a costly project. >> Cuz I thought at one point at least not Arden Hills but not Arden Hills >> Ritter >> Ritter Meadows the one immediately to the west of that. I thought that they at one point there was some sort of turning lane stuff like that. >> I I know they put in the turn lanes already and some some curb and gutter and work already. So they they have completed some of those improvements. So with that I just again key takeaways you know our our street pavement network or right around almost four 400 million dollars. We have 333 miles of streets that we're maintaining. We're investing about 1.2% of the the cost of the network in the in the system. So which is which is adequate I think. The OCI ratings are we're doing a good job I think there. The takeaway or right at 75 a little bit above right now but we might be dropping a little bit down under under the 75 by as we get closer to 2030, but uh you know, again, timing drives the cost. We just want to make sure that we're investing in the in the pavements and the the treatments when they should be at to maximize the investment that we're putting into the into the into the network and then also we're always refining this program. We're looking at utilizing lidar and AI technology to further enhance our data data gathering. So, with that, I would stand for any questions. >> Council, any questions or comments? >> I would just say in general I like echo what I just said. I think this is really smart for us that we you know, we were we're growing for a long time and that growth is going to slow down the next 10 years and so it's good to be smart about maintaining versus all of a sudden having to reconstruct when you got no growth that makes no sense. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we'll move on to item B and Mr. Snyder will um give us an update on the youth advisory commission. >> You had to lower that? Shockingly. >> [laughter] [gasps] >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um believe it or not, school's right around the corner and we figured this would be a good time to touch base on where our youth advisory commission is right now and what we want this to look forward look like moving forward. So, um where we are today, um the youth commission gives Lakeville youth a voice in local government. Unfortunately, current numbers have kind of put a strain on the success of the program. Last year we had eight members on our commission. Um this year we had four graduate. So, going into next year we would have four current members and we would need to recruit recruit five more. Um last year we only had two applicants um which kind of has put a strain on the program. Um so, our biggest challenge right now is numbers and attendance. Um we have a shrinking roster. So, eight members that we had last year was already one less than we had the year before. Um and when it can significantly decrease the group dynamic, especially when one or two members are missing um at each meeting. Um two would be recruitment challenges. Last year, we asked the school districts to share um our application with their students, and we also encouraged current commissioners who are on the board to um invite their friends thinking that the more they would be more inclined to participate if they were with their friends um and gain more momentum that way. Um we ended up with two applications last year, and one was a returning member. So, we only had one new um applicant, so to say. And then attendance. Attendance was much better than my first year when I took over. Um and so, that was a very big improvement that I was happy to see. Uh unfortunately, though, when one or two kids are missing from the program, it really hinders how much they can interact and kind of garner that um commitment with each other and also um be productive at each meeting. Um sometimes we had as little as three to four members, and it's hard to be productive when you're down half the group. So. Um our second challenge has been kind of with the purpose and direction. Um we know the original intent for this commission was for the youth to offer insights to the council. Um we did kind of change it a bit. Um we tried different approaches. We tried to When I came, they were doing big projects, year-long projects. Um and then we kind of shifted to more volunteer opportunities. So, we did one of the biggest ones we did every year was the super bagging at Cub Foods. Um that seemed to be a hit. And then, we also would do city department and facility tours. Um we we're kind of tried to figure out what was getting that traction and getting that buy-in from the students and trying to piece that together and continue growing and gaining that momentum. So, um, staff recommendation for the um, youth commission would be to move to a 6- 8 week youth academy, um, very similar to our police citizens academy. Um, this would be a more compact, structured, um, local government functions based academy that, um, can provide more meaningful interaction with the local government. Um, I think this would be a better way for them to gain an understanding of what all of our staff and city functions do provide and what we're doing on a day-to-day and get them um, to understand and potentially peak an interest in a career in local government. Um, and this also doesn't depend on group size as much as that commission kind of style does and it also doesn't require a year-long commitment. Um, schedules change as seasons change, especially with sports and activities, so um, we think that 6- 8 week window, um, would be a good option to kind of negate that fluctuating schedules that high schoolers have, which can be chaotic. So, >> When are you thinking the 6- 8 weeks would occur? >> So, that is something, um, in the next slide we're going to kind of see what you guys would be thinking. Um, we'd kind of use the staff calendar to look at uh, more opportune times, um, when it would be best for staff, um, as well. But, so what we're asking next steps and what we're asking of council, um, one, the direction to proceed, um, confirm the support for this more youth academy style, um, concept and favor, um, and kind of sunsetting the current model of the youth commission. Um, and then two, we are looking for timeline input. We don't have a launch date so we're kind of looking for guidance on timing and how it could work with the broader calendar. And then three we would have staff follow up so with your direction tonight. We can return with an updated program and curriculum outline. Moving forward and with that I'll stand for any questions. >> So thinking eighth to 12th grade or what are you going to >> Yeah, I think so. Um >> The target number in terms of how many people each money? >> I would like at least eight if not more. I think 20 could be a good number up to 20. I think small classroom size and I could we would work with looking at what the police do with their citizens academy and see kind of what works best for them numbers wise what's too much or too little. >> Are you thinking once a year? >> Yeah, we would think once a year. >> Yeah, so I I mean for me I I really advocate I I I'm a full supporter of the youth council and youth involvement I like this idea. I think it's going to be a good way to attract people and to get people engaged and you're absolutely right. I don't have to make a year-long commitment and I didn't factor in what my spring sports were going to look like when signed up for this fall. One thing that I think I would like to personally see more of is input on on some of the issues that we're looking at. So even in this model you could have the group work on a project and maybe that maybe that project is some kind of issue that were were addressing and and because I I think this is some value in in getting that feedback. And kind of breaking the mold you know having people that that are young and energetic and reading things we don't read and looking at things we don't look at to give input. So I would just that would be my word of encouragement is to put some kind of component in there that when you do this uh that group could work on a project that would give us some meaningful feedback on something that we're looking at. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> But I thought that was the whole point of changing this um advisory council to the whatever you called it, um was so that they didn't have a project a big project because they weren't getting them done and I was going to ask you what did besides the bagging have they accomplished anything else in the three four years that we've had this going? >> In my two years that I oversaw it, um not necessarily. Um >> do anything really in the two years before you. >> Right, and I think the biggest struggle that we had was maintaining momentum. They'd only meet once a month and most of them um don't go to school together either, so they're not even interacting with each other more than once a month. Um at least facilitated and so that was I think a big struggle and we did try and increase over my first summer that we did it, we tried to increase every other week meetings um over Zoom it wasn't the most effective and summer, but >> wanted to piggyback off of what you're saying a little bit is maybe as a capstone after the eight weeks they come up with a one-page memo for us. >> Yeah. >> And say, "Hey, this is what we learned. This is what we think based on what we saw." The council could think about it instead of just coming up with something, but to say, "Yeah, we went saw public works whatever. This is what surprised me." You know, whatever it is. >> Mhm. >> Um as kind of a recap that might be helpful. >> Cuz yeah and I want to make sure that, you know, what I'm saying is is understood fully. It's it's like I'm not saying create a project. I'm saying take an issue and I agree with the mayor. Here's here's a page or two our input on this issue. >> Sure. And >> I misunderstood. >> Yeah, to me that that would be very meaningful for me to see and I think it would provide value for them to know that the city council's actually going to look at something. >> Mhm. Definitely. >> Were you trying to model this after the academy that the police department puts together? >> The current model of the what we're >> No, that this this model. >> Yeah, that was my original thought. Um and they I worked with Alex and she sent me there they have an itinerary of like kind of like curriculum for >> They don't have a project. >> No, so that would be a change. >> Right. And the the people that you're asking to get involved in this are now going to be students that might be interested in city government. >> High school students that would be interested. >> Right. They're not John, I love your idea, but they're not looking to do a project. They're looking to learn about their community and what city government does. I mean, that's what you how you're going to advertise it, correct? >> We could market it either way. We could market it as just that academy or we could market it as an opportunity to be more involved in the community along with learning about city functions. >> They're They're going to learn about the city. We used to do this with the police department and it gives a glimpse into that world. But you have to make it relevant to that world. So, that's what [clears throat] the value of an academy is that we're actually doing things. We're seeing how finance works. We're seeing how this works. And to me, if you had some meaningful input at the end that >> The I mean, throughout the process, I mean, when this was created, the council was very adamant about some sort of youth engagement opportunity. And so, um I'm glad we're continuing with something. Um it's it's more educational this time around. It's trying to as opposed to activating them to be involved because honestly with the interactions that I had um at their meetings, it's it's just tough. You know I mean, they there's so much to understand. You can't just, you know, say, "I want to do this." You know, and and think you uh have the tools and are equipped uh enough to to make that project happen. So, the things that I think were most valuable though were the moments that they had with uh various council members and the mayor to interact that way. That I I still have relationships with uh certain members of um the youth council in the past. Um the exposure to different departments, which you've mentioned. Um and I think just the oppor- exposure to career fields within the government cuz there's obviously a lot of different options. So, in terms of timing, some of the things that were challenging as well was school schedules for different high schools and middle schools. And so, I think developmentally, high school is really the target area. Probably freshman year to junior year is probably the ideal target. Not senior sure, but I don't think they're the ideal target. Um and I don't this feels too far out. Um but a tag along to what the the chamber does. About a air lake. I mean, there's like a busher event out there. This could be some sort of connected series uh or at least advertising this there as a future opportunity to get involved here. So, um I mean, honestly, it's our charge. What what do we want the youth to to do? >> I guess what I'm thinking that I would like to have them experience our committees. You know, if you if they're going to learn about the city, they should learn about what are these committees doing? Well, the only you can tell them. But, why not have them go to a meeting and sit and see what these committees do? You know, I mean it's all part of Um besides trying to get them interested in the city and maybe as a career, but also as a person living in the community, maybe they would find that they would want to volunteer. >> So, I I like the academy idea. Would you be comfortable maybe coming back in September with like, okay, if we ran eight weeks, this is what they're going to cover in week one, two, you know, whatever, and just kind of give us a framework cuz then I think, for me anyway, I'll be understand kind of the vision that way. >> Yeah. >> Cuz I think the overall idea makes a total sense, but okay, they're going to tour public works, they're going to tour PD, they're going to go to arts I don't know, yeah. >> Right. >> Obviously, you guys will kind of figure that out, but I I think that will help, at least me, I don't know about you, kind of understand the direction. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I think it gives a unique opportunity I mean, we've all had our complaints about how people don't understand the land use projects that process and stuff and why they think we we put Taco Bells on corners and stuff like that. So, I think there's a variety of message type things or areas that we would like to um provide a higher level of education and knowledge to that would be important on the agenda. >> Well, I mean, you have an opportunity this year towards the later part of the year um to have them give their input on the plan, the next plan. 2050 >> Comp plan, yeah. >> Mhm. >> You know, I mean how often do you get a youth perspective on something like that? So, um I I um Yeah, we will come back in September. For the members who have uh been around for a couple years, I just I do want to recognize the time that they put into being there consistently. I mean, cuz those are the folks that got the most out of it. So, I remember several who went to the dedication of peace poles at Casper Sun and the volunteering that you mentioned and, you know, being super engaged with the departments and council members that would come in. So, I I just want to recognize the folks that that that did put the energy into it. And so, this is not a knock on on their involvement within the the commission. So, >> Absolutely. Some even got summer jobs with Parks and Rec. >> [laughter] >> Okay, good. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Um council, any updates? Committee updates? >> From me? >> Okay, the only announcement is our next meeting is Monday, August 17th. With that, I'll take a motion to adjourn. >> Moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor say "Aye." >> Aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed? We're adjourned. >> I agree. Were you Did you send out an email that I missed it or I mean, what Sorry, what time are we meeting?