[0:00] [Music] um I want to welcome everyone to the

[0:06] 2025 State of the City program for uh Lakeville Minnesota My name is Matt Scott I'm an

[0:13] attorney with Docker D Melinda Uh and I'm this year's chair of the Chamber board of directors and honored to serve

[0:20] in that capacity Uh I want to start off by thanking Griano's Chart House for

[0:26] hosting us today Um our firm has spent some money I think in this room uh

[0:31] having holiday parties So I I wanted to uh uh just give them uh an opportunity

[0:38] Specifically George Maverick if you wanted to come up and um say a few

[0:44] words George thank you Well thank you everyone for coming

[0:51] here My name is George Maverick I'm the fifth or sixth owner of the Chart House

[0:56] Um it started in ' 63 So some of you may have learned how to swim in a swimming

[1:02] pool that's no longer here There you go Back when it was a private club and whatnot Uh but anyway first of all I

[1:08] wanted to say uh Mr Mayor every time I've been to city hall your staff has been amazing and very responsive and

[1:13] competent So whatever you're doing amazing Thank you Um also the chamber has been very

[1:20] supportive I want to plug this idea I was talking to the chamber I know this is kind of a sad story but uh you know

[1:26] when the first responders in Burnsville died everybody came out and said thank

[1:31] you and supported them But then it hit me that we only say thank you when disaster strikes It's like why don't you

[1:37] do it when they're still here among us serving us So maybe there's a way for us to take turns and say thank you like all

[1:44] the restaurants or all the food people So if you have any ideas maybe a technology idea maybe it's a website or a spreadsheet Maybe we can all take

[1:51] turns and send 12 meals to the fire the police every week So maybe reach out to the chamber They're very supportive and

[1:57] helpful So I'm one of them So maybe if there's more people who are interested let us know Um and then just a shameless

[2:05] plugin for the chart house Um we've been here since ' 63 So thank you for being here today Uh we do a lot of live music

[2:11] six days a week um except for Tuesdays when it's bingo which is very important

[2:17] Um but it does support Lakeville hockey so that matters And then uh for Sunday

[2:22] brunch I want to tell you that in spite of the news out there we have X benedict devil eggs scrambled eggs and omelette

[2:31] So hope to see you there Thank you Thank you

[2:40] So the annual state of the city uh program is is an important part of the chamber's work in advocacy and access

[2:47] This is your opportunity to meet hear from uh and ask questions directly to the people who are leading and guiding

[2:54] our city Uh if you'd like information uh if you like the information you hear today I'd like you to give a little plug

[3:02] for uh attending the chamber's monthly access and issues Uh this is held on the

[3:09] second Friday at of each month at 8 a.m by Zoom and includes a topic pertinent

[3:15] to our business community as well as around the horn updates from our local uh elected officials Our April meeting

[3:23] is Friday So this Friday so if you have nothing going on at 8:00 a.m this Friday

[3:30] uh uh Christa can get you a login Uh we're going to be hearing from one of

[3:36] our partners Zardico Uh some of you know who Zardico is It's a company that

[3:42] provides data and analysis about uh who comes to Lakeville and where they came

[3:48] from So they track the person's zip code associated with the credit card and then when that credit card is swiped in the

[3:54] city of Lakeville uh we get data and information about where to advertise to those people and how to get those people

[4:01] back into the community So it's a really interesting presentation that they do I've heard it before and they have some

[4:07] maps that they show and some data that they analyze Um so if you're interested in that uh Friday at 8 am So we're

[4:15] excited to welcome and hear from both uh Mayor Luke Helier and community

[4:20] development director Tina Goodro today Um and I also want to uh just recognize

[4:26] a few dignitaries in the room before we get started Uh you may stand or you can just wave uh as I call your name So we

[4:34] have city council members John Burmal Joshua Lee Michelle

[4:42] Vulk and Dan Walter All right we have also have city administrator Justin Miller right up

[4:48] here in front Uh police chief Brad Pollson fire chief Mike Meyer

[4:57] uh economic development manager Carrie Bachm

[5:02] Was it what's it Katie Katie Oh sorry Katie Katie Bacher Uh Lakeville Arena's

[5:09] manager Joe Burrquist And then from the Lakeville

[5:14] Area Schools Lakeville Area School Board education members uh Matt Swanson Saw

[5:20] Matt over there Hey Matt Uh Brian Thompson also over there Uh Lakeville

[5:26] Area School Superintendent Michael Bowman Mike uh Lake uh North principal Kim

[5:35] Moody Kim Kim Hi Kim Uh director of community

[5:41] education Steve Porter Communications director Grace Olsen Uh director of secondary teaching

[5:49] and learning Uh Elida Keen

[5:54] there And so I also wanted to welcome our elected officials We have three Mary

[6:00] Liz Holberg County Commissioner All right And

[6:07] uh Met Council representative Wendy Wolf And also Bill Drossy snuck in He's

[6:13] right there Know Bill We also have members of our chamber leadership here today Uh if you sit on a

[6:21] chamber board of directors uh visit Lakeville Advisory Board chamber foundation board of directors or serve

[6:27] as a chamber ambassador uh could you please stand to be

[6:40] recognized Thank you all for your service Some time and effort and we appreciate it

[6:47] Um as you know our sponsors too uh are essential to our ability to put these events on throughout the year Um so I'd

[6:55] ask that uh our state of the city presenting sponsors join me up here And

[7:00] I think Christa's going to going to take one of their spots but Protek Automotive and Stone Brook Wealth Management and

[7:06] Exit Planning uh Bob Bayer can you join me on the stage You want to go first or

[7:11] go first I'll go first Okay Absolutely Always I know Rick is Rick is being modest He doesn't want to come up here

[7:17] and I said I would not let it go by without recognizing uh Protek So um for

[7:23] those that don't know Protek and I'm guessing there's very few of you in here who don't know uh Protek They are they have been so involved in our Lakeville

[7:30] community for so many years They've been involved in the chamber for well over 20 years Um you'll hear us talk about our

[7:36] youth skills training program They've been a partner in that program hiring um high school students as mentors They're

[7:42] mentors to high school students for years Uh they they support our foundation through our SS for scholars

[7:48] event They support the Lakeland Public Safety Foundation Uh they're visionary donor of the chamber The list goes on

[7:54] and on of what these guys um support They are so involved in in not only our city but but the other cities in which

[8:00] um their other shops are located in They've been honored They were honored as an education business partner of the

[8:06] year the last couple years They were honored as the Dakota Scott Workforce Award excellent in Youth Employment

[8:11] Winner Um and again they they just continue to give back of their time and their talent to our community to really

[8:18] help us in so many different ways Support whether it's supporting our youth supporting our public safety Um and so we are so thankful and and not to

[8:25] mention you're pretty good at what you do too fixing cars and some of that too right So um so we're just so thankful to

[8:30] have you in our community and thank you for sponsoring this event So Protect Automotive thanks

[8:39] Mr Mayor I'm gonna let you take it from here Okay Thank you Christa Bob Mayor

[8:45] Stone Brook Wealth Management and Exit Planning That's a little bit of a twist

[8:50] compared to years past because over the last year and a half we've been working very diligently at not only having

[8:58] conversations with many of the business owners in Lakeville but uh around the

[9:03] metro area And there's a large need uh for business owners to have some form of

[9:12] if you want to couch it you could say succession planning but the reality is exit planning And at some point in time

[9:20] every business owner here will exit their business What we want to do is make sure it's done on your terms and

[9:27] it's not a fire sale So the additional component that we've added to our

[9:32] business is working with business owners one- on-one to raise

[9:38] valuations to improve structures and processes culture employee tenure

[9:45] benefits to make that business attractive very attractive for a

[9:50] potential buyer unlocking 80% of a typical owner's net worth out of the

[9:56] ground and in their business and into their hands so they can start the third chapter the next chapter and hopefully

[10:03] the best chapter of their life So it's uh with great pleasure that we're excited to announce that part of the

[10:09] component and uh we're here to serve So I wouldn't uh before I leave I would be

[10:15] remiss if I didn't really introduce the glue to the business Heather Brown who's

[10:21] been with us for 15 years So this is not a oneman show We've

[10:28] got an excellent team uh to do tax planning high net worth planning uh the

[10:33] financial planning and the wealth management of course too So we're just excited to be here to sponsor again and

[10:38] we're just um so fortunate to be a member of a chamber that is absolutely

[10:43] this dynamic Thank you very much I also want to recognize our

[10:51] supporting sponsors and if they could also come up and join me on stage when their names are called and we're doing

[10:57] this all at once No they can just stand Oh they can just stand Um Lake View

[11:02] Bank Oh Mike you could just stand Uh McDonald Eye Care

[11:09] Associates Cornerstone Copy Lakeville uh Francon Bank and

[11:16] Trust and New Market

[11:22] Bank All right Uh we'd like to begin the state of the city program today with uh community

[11:29] development director Tina Goodro Uh Tina has been with the city of Lakeville

[11:34] since the summer of 2022 and brought with her years of experience with city development and planning Tina oversees

[11:42] our economic development building inspections and planning departments and continues to help position Lakeville as

[11:49] a desired destination for development and growth Uh she is also a sensible

[11:55] land use coalition board member and was a featured speaker during several Minnesota real estate journal summits in

[12:03] 2024 Uh please help me to welcome Tina

[12:15] Goodro Thank you everyone Get situated here Um well good

[12:21] afternoon Um what a great looking crowd a wonderful beautiful venue Um super

[12:27] excited to be here today Um this is really one of my favorite events of the year Um to really be able to share all

[12:33] the wonderful things going on in the city and I'm really pleased to share some spotlights um that happened over

[12:40] the past year regarding economic development Before I begin I want to give a huge shout out and thank you to

[12:46] Katie Bachmeer She's back there She is our economic development manager and her and

[12:55] I her and I work very closely together on so many of these efforts and she um

[13:01] was pivotal in getting this presentation and this day organized I do want to note that there are screens on both sides

[13:07] right and left of the stage Um you might have to tweak your head a little bit to see them but um the presentation will be

[13:15] um located there So just to get things started um City of Lakeville had another

[13:20] great year in 2024 Um we experienced a lot of development activity with um

[13:26] valuation of permits of over $257 million So we just edged out

[13:31] 2023 As you can see from the list of the comparisons of 2022 down to 2020 Um this

[13:38] year so far we've issued building permits in the value of over 53 and a half million So we're going strong

[13:44] already in our first quarter And one of the things that we love is welcoming new businesses Um we love to

[13:51] see the investment in non-residential So that would be everything that would be commercial industrial And we had over

[13:57] 75.1 million um invested into those two areas last year And some of the major

[14:04] projects um to highlight the largest building permit value was 32 million That was RL Cold Storage So this is a

[14:11] unique building It's right behind Sweet Harvest Foods You've probably noticed it if you drive along Cedar So it's east of

[14:17] Cedar south of County Road 70 It's a big white building and it's use is just

[14:22] warehousing but for cold storage So a lot of our grocery stores our Walmart retailers Target retailers need um this

[14:30] essential storage So that building um had a groundbreaking ceremony last May It's under construction anticipated to

[14:37] open this year and it's 276,480 square ft

[14:42] Some of the other permits um to highlight from last year would include Post Foods pilot plant They purchased a

[14:50] building in our um older part of the industrial park and remodeled it Post has been expanding their operations and

[14:56] had added different dog food businesses and so they created a new test pilot kitchen specifically for dog food Um

[15:03] they've also u remodeled and updated their corporate headquarters um this past year Some of the other permits uh

[15:11] Midwest ENT specialists broke ground last fall on their building This is located up on Buckill Road and County

[15:18] Road 46 and that had a building permit valuation of over 5.2 million This year

[15:24] we're kicking off the year well Metropolitan Airports Commission um had a building permit valued at 590,000 and

[15:32] this is for upgrades to their existing maintenance facilities at Air Lake Airport

[15:39] and residential continues to be strong Lakeville is a very hot market Whether it's commercial or whether it's single

[15:46] family um or town homes um or apartments we continue to be strong We ranked

[15:51] number two last year just behind Woodbury in total building permit numbers Um we finished the year with 285

[16:00] single family 100 detached 49 attached and 89 multifamily units And this is a

[16:06] cooperative project students the Histori Lakeville that's on the Hosana campus This year um total residential

[16:15] valuation was 155.8 million So that's 60% of that overall building permit

[16:21] valuation Average building permit on a single family home is a little over 310,000 And our median home value is up

[16:29] to 451,150 So we keep edging up Lakeville

[16:34] is back to number one as of our first quarter this year Um we have 58 single

[16:40] family and 59 town home permits issued so far And this is one of my favorite

[16:48] slides that we update every year Really shows uh provides a nice reflection of

[16:53] all the new businesses that have chosen to make Lakeville their home Whether it's a personal service business one of

[16:59] our industrial park businesses one of our office businesses retail or

[17:05] restaurants they're all reflected here And we are so excited um to welcome all of these new businesses every year We

[17:12] continued last year to see a lot of advancement and addition in medical office Children's Medical U Minnesota

[17:19] Specialty Center expanded into a new tenant space Alina Health and MNGI

[17:25] Digestive Health opened their new three-story building last summer Exuberance Chiropractic opened a new

[17:31] location and expanded their operations And then that Midwest ear Nose and Throat um specialist um held their

[17:38] groundbreaking last fall and that building is currently under construction And Children's Dental Care is also

[17:43] expanding So it's not only new medical that's being provided here to serve our community and beyond but also expansion

[17:50] of our existing medical So we're really pleased to see that We're also adding new dining options This is something

[17:56] Katie and I in the chamber here all the time And we have an incredible amount of dining um and beverage types of business

[18:04] all across the city And if you need to know more information check out the chambers website Um but we did welcome

[18:10] LBC at the lake um at Antlers Park uh new Doughnut Star a new Taco Bell um KF

[18:17] Cakes which is a specialty bakery and then Farmer's Grand Sun Eatery recently opened and their speak easy soft opening

[18:25] um was held recently and I think that is going to have a full opening the end of this month which will be exciting

[18:31] addition to Lakeville And then all of those businesses can be reflected here on this map to see where

[18:39] that activity is taking place across the city Um again the red or purple or pink

[18:45] however it shows up on that screen is all of the active residential permits that have been issued Whereas the green

[18:52] are also reflected in different types of residential but those are final plats So

[18:57] as we continue to review plans and approve plans the council over the past

[19:02] year approved 731 new final plots and that's very important We need to

[19:08] continue having that churn of approved projects that we have available lots for

[19:13] development The yellow reflects all of the commercial development This will be not only our new businesses um that are

[19:20] building from um ground up or could be reflection of remodels and additions And

[19:26] then city permits We've had a lot of activity at our fire stations as well as in our

[19:31] parks And this year we are going to see some more new large projects Lakeville

[19:37] 35 Logistics Center North Edition received final plan approval in fall um in February Um and this is a new spec

[19:44] building We haven't had a new spec building for a couple of years just due to the economy But spec buildings are

[19:49] really important when you have different industries that are needing you know 30,000 50,000 square feet of space or

[19:56] even less We need to have this new spec development occur to be able to provide

[20:01] space for these businesses This project is going to break ground probably this week I think they're closing as we speak

[20:07] on the land It's a 189,678 square foot space Um it's just

[20:14] north of 215th Street and south of 210th Street And then um since July the city

[20:22] has been engaged um in discussions with Dakota Electric Association They've been evaluating their space needs and have

[20:30] decided to um really look towards um expanding their facility and identifying

[20:36] property in Lakeville for this expansion And so since last summer we've been working working closely with Dakota

[20:42] Electric staff and their engineers on the various approvals that are needed for this expansion And then um which not

[20:50] only deals with platting but um in the future um building permits So just this

[20:55] past March the city council approved a preliminary plat um for DEA um addition

[21:01] and this is going to include a new facility for one that's totaling

[21:07] 176,685 ft would occupy warehouse storage as well as office for their 200

[21:14] employees We will continue to work with them as they come to their final decision making on this project but we

[21:20] are very very excited to welcome them to Lakeville And then another new retail

[21:27] project is Marketplace at Cedar This is at the southeast corner of 179th in Cedar Opponent Investment received

[21:34] approvals this March for nine commercial lots Some of those um do have um letter

[21:40] of interest um site signed to them Um so you can see some of the new business that will be coming and then there's

[21:46] still some open space But again this is another great opportunity to expand retail opportunities across the

[21:53] city And with all of that employment continues to remain very strong in Lakeville We employ

[22:01] 21,460 people as of third quarter 2024 And this is a 37% increase over the past

[22:08] decade So all of you should be proud in terms of bringing your businesses and

[22:13] expanding your businesses here in Lakeville And some of our top employers are listed on the slide and this is

[22:20] employees with employers with over 250 people That includes Lakeville Public School District Postconumer Brands HY

[22:28] Makers Pride which was formerly Herzside Food Solutions and City of Lakeville

[22:34] just to name a few Our unemployment remains low at 2.6% compared to the

[22:40] county at three and the state of Minnesota at 3.6% So Katie and I get involved in a

[22:47] lot of special projects and one of them was to update the strategic plan for economic development We did this project

[22:54] last summer with our EDC our economic development commission and this is a really important plan It identifies

[23:01] several um goals strategies actions and success measures to guide our work for

[23:08] the next four years The plan was adopted late last year by the city council and out of that one of the first

[23:14] implementation projects that we've taken on is a brand new business retention expansion program We kicked this off in

[23:21] February It is a partnership with Katie and I along with chamber staff and economic development commissioners and

[23:28] we visit businesses So if you've not been contacted yet you will be Our goal is to visit all of our amazing

[23:34] businesses We've selected the first Thursday of the month for this We try we work in teams We try to hit four

[23:41] businesses every month if we can Again we've just gotten started but the goal is to strengthen relationships that we

[23:48] already have with you And for new businesses that we haven't had that opportunity we want to meet you find out

[23:55] what your needs might be what the city could maybe do to help you or if there's outer forces um and assistance that you

[24:02] need bring those to you So it's a great new program and we're really excited to have kicked that off this

[24:08] year We also completed our first full year of having um implemented the

[24:14] residential rental registration program The council adopted an ordinance in 2023

[24:20] to require registration of all rental properties that are residential So

[24:25] anywhere from single family all the way up to apartments This is not the same thing as some cities do with licensing

[24:31] It's just a database to understand where our rental properties are located and to

[24:37] have some basic information on ownership and management so that we if there's an issue in the community we have the

[24:44] ability to reach out to that person This map shows um the location of those Um we

[24:49] update this You can find this on our website Currently there are over 650

[24:55] rental properties registered and 61% of those are single family homes The

[25:01] registration process is free It's very easy to do on the website The only thing

[25:06] that we ask is that if the owner doesn't live in Minnesota who is renting out that property that we have a designated

[25:13] person who is in Minnesota tied to that property And then cannabis licensing Um

[25:20] we all know in 2023 the state legalized adult use cannabis in Minnesota So a few

[25:26] things have happened over the past year regarding this Um the state opened an office of cannabis management That

[25:33] office is responsible for licenses these business licensing the businesses but

[25:38] also creating the rules for how these businesses will operate across the state It's been a fairly slow process but it

[25:46] has sped up a little bit and with that each city needed to adopt our own

[25:52] requirements and so the city did this last fall not only within the zoning ordinance but also in the city code as

[25:58] to how we want these businesses to operate There are several different license types that are in the state

[26:05] statute We've identified those license types and the various zoning districts that they'll be regulated within And

[26:12] with that um we are required as the city to register the businesses that are

[26:18] retail So there are several there's three different license types um that regulate the retail component And a

[26:24] retail store is going to be limited to a distance of 500 feet from schools So

[26:30] that is what that is what the map demonstrates on this um slide We also in

[26:37] the ordinance regulate a limit of six retail businesses within the city limits

[26:44] OCM did get approval for their rules just this week and so I do anticipate um

[26:51] getting some more requests and more information from businesses that are trying to locate in Lakeville and some

[26:57] of those early licenses will be issued probably throughout this

[27:02] summer One of the things we don't talk enough about is our amazing Air Lake Airport Um the airport is conveniently

[27:09] located right in the industrial park and it is an important asset to Lefam and this graphic really illustrates that

[27:16] point Not only does the airport provide for recreational flights and flight

[27:21] training right on site but aircraft storage there's 106 hangers located there and it's ideally located and

[27:28] suited for business aviation The airport supports 104 jobs and saw

[27:36] 38,678 annual flight operations in 2024 Well that caps off my part of the

[27:45] presentation So I want to introduce Christa Jack our amazing chamber

[27:55] president And I'm bringing that up there too I know a little just in

[28:01] case Okay Uh yeah off you I can bring up my partner in crime here Marily Jagger

[28:07] is going to come up because she is our chair of the foundation board of directors So she's going to talk to you about something um here in a second So a

[28:14] couple things that I want to go over in terms of workforce development So you guys have heard me talk about um

[28:20] Lakeville works a lot and you you'll see on the screens there are those those people that you see on the sorry I don't

[28:27] I know right yes you can do that too um those people are the people that allow us to make that work happen They are the

[28:34] ones that that buy us the time to work on all of these things that you hear me talked about all year we are so thankful

[28:39] for them and we are so grateful and we would love to add more and more names to that as much as we can will help us um

[28:45] continue on this work and continue to elevate the work that we're talking about Um so I'm going to talk to you

[28:51] about a few things that we're working on and that we've done So when we were here at the state not here but when we were at the state of the city last year we

[28:57] were talking about our grant from uh the United Way So we had received a grant for $40,000 that allowed us to do some

[29:04] workforce development with students So last summer we had about 30 students go through a workforce development camp

[29:10] They did some leadership development They went on uh business tours from some of you here in the room and uh we

[29:16] celebrated at the end We had um members from the city and from the schools come out and and celebrate that with them And

[29:21] then those that wanted to were able to go on and do some internships as well And we were really excited about to give

[29:26] those students an opportunity to really kind of meet and see some of you who uh they haven't haven't met before and to

[29:33] explore some careers that they didn't even know were out there So this year we have a new grant uh from the United Way

[29:38] and this year that grant is uh really designed to have us bring together a group of people and it's a collaboration

[29:44] grant to really talk about what are some other priorities that we have in terms of workforce development and our

[29:49] education partnership So we started to have those conversations with with Michael and some folks at the schools

[29:55] And so as we start to build out what that looks like this year we'll we'll be tapping some of you on the shoulder to

[30:00] say "Hey we want you as one of the stakeholders we want you to be a part of these conversations." and and help us

[30:06] discuss this And it's really it's really interesting because we'll be able to include uh teachers in this We'll be able to include students So they'll be

[30:12] all the voices at the table So we're very excited about um this particular grant Um so stepping into the future

[30:19] some of you again were involved in this uh when we did it So we started this started small at Kenwood Trail Middle

[30:25] School for two years We had eighth graders in the library and we did kind of some fun little activities And then

[30:30] last year we got all the entire eighth grade uh class all three middle schools came out to the airport the beautiful

[30:37] airport that Tina was just talking about And so you see the logos on the screen Several of you are in this room And so

[30:43] we had a thousand eighth graders over the course of the day go through these immersive exploration experiences where

[30:48] they got to do some hands-on learning uh and and got to explore different things that were related to classes in high

[30:55] school clubs in high school and then the careers they want So that was really what we were saying is here's if you like this particular activity you're

[31:01] doing consider these classes consider these clubs and then those could lead to these uh potential careers So we were so

[31:07] excited to be able to do that and and kind of going backwards when I talk about that grant that's what we're

[31:12] looking to do then is to use that grant that we got to say okay then how can we take this into nth grade and 10th grade and beyond Uh so thank you so much to

[31:19] everyone in the room who made this possible It was a huge lift uh to get the kids out there to do it all Uh and

[31:25] so we're excited uh and and the plan is to do it again next year We've already kind of talked about how we want to reconfigure it and and make it go even

[31:32] smoother So again several of you will get tapped on the shoulder again But it's such an amazing opportunity for our

[31:38] business community to to give of your time and talent to really help get these students ready for you get them to know

[31:43] you and and understand what you do and and help get them ready for your businesses Um so this is an immediate

[31:48] one coming up So this is just two weeks away So we partner with the schools and Kim Buy I know you're here Where are you

[31:54] Kim Kim this is Kim's kind of brainchild that started this It said "Hey I'm going to have a job fair during the school day." So we have them at North and South

[32:02] on the same day North is in the morning South is in the afternoon So a business can do both schools And so and it's free

[32:08] to attend Uh so if you are hiring high school students so now or in the summer or you know someone who is get a hold of

[32:14] me get a hold of Kim let us know uh and and you have a table in the gym and then uh they release these students

[32:19] throughout that that time to then come and meet with you and and learn about what we do Um pro tip swag food swag

[32:27] anything like that is what you want them to come to your table right Uh but this is really exciting and it's it just

[32:33] again shows our partnership of really our our school district being innovative and coming to us and saying "Hey we you

[32:38] know we want to give kids an opportunity here Uh will you work with us?" And our answer is always yes Um so this is kind

[32:45] of fun for Pan Frog So uh we had talked about this for several years at Pana Prague and it's going to come to

[32:50] fruition finally this year So um Paner Prague the Friday the big Friday cruise

[32:55] night we all know cruise night Before cruise night down Main Street we are going to do a Touch a Truck event So um

[33:03] kind of your traditional Touch a truck event where we're going to have big trucks and tractors and all kinds of cool vehicles out there for kids to um

[33:10] play on which side note if any of you have access to big trucks and trailers and cool stuff please talk to me because

[33:16] we we need to fill it Um but the cool what's I know of the city you guys are

[33:22] going to find out about it Chief knows about it I've already cleared it Um no

[33:28] But the cool part about this with us is is how Lakeville Works is going to tie into this is then Lakeville Works is

[33:33] going to come alongside and say "Well the person did you know that the person driving this truck makes a six-figure income or the person fixing this truck

[33:40] might make a six-figure income or the person driving this bus got to bring their kids to to work with them so they

[33:45] didn't have to worry about daycare We're going to tie in some career exploration and some career um things into that."

[33:50] And so they they're getting a little bit of education while they're having fun climbing all over the trucks and their parents are going to see that So we're

[33:56] really excited about that Um so more to come on that when you come out for that So this I'm going to I'm going to have

[34:01] my friend Merly come here and talk a little bit about a very exciting new program foundation has

[34:07] Thank you Trista Um always surprises at these things Trucks They're going to

[34:12] have trucks downtown clear It's good Um okay So I have the pleasure and the

[34:18] honor to be your your foundation chair this year And a lot of the people that I work with are in this room Whether

[34:24] you're on the the foundation with me or you are a donor towards scholarships that that we uh work on to give back to

[34:31] our our students here in 2024 the chamber foundation awarded a total of

[34:37] $11,000 in scholarships and already this year we have $2,000 in brand new named scholarships

[34:44] through this program and and it's work you know we go out and ask and it's work on your your

[34:50] half because you have the profits that you've earned and and you donated to us that gets back to to our schools uh

[34:57] right to the students Um many of the scholar name scholar donors are in this

[35:02] room today So if you know who you are pat yourself in the back know that the foundation pats you in the back and we thank you kindly We will do well with

[35:09] the with the money

[35:15] We have 61 high school senior applications um that we need to make decisions on by the end of May So 61

[35:22] Yeah Early May Okay And uh I've had a chance to take a sneak peek at some of

[35:28] these applications and I want to tell you guys we have some really talented high school students that walk among us

[35:34] in our community Uh they are accomplished They have ambition and you

[35:40] know we need to support them in the ways that we can so that they can hopefully come back someday and work for our businesses Trust me some of these are

[35:47] really gifted kids and um as a foundation we'd like to help them and and show them what we here at Lakeville

[35:53] can do and what we have to offer Um you can participate in this program by

[35:59] seeing myself see Christa If you know one of the foundation members you can talk with them and and get involved Uh

[36:06] donate some money you can um get involved in an activity that's coming up pretty soon that Chris's going to talk to you about Um and then uh what we'll

[36:15] do is we're going to sort through these applications and we're going to do like I said we'll do right by you know the very high level items that you give us

[36:21] that you want your your funds to go towards Um we'll make sure they go get into the right hands and that you're

[36:28] recognized for what you've done and that's what we're going to do uh we've done it and but now we've got more of it

[36:33] to do because as you can see we've over doubled the money from last year raising for scholarships and as Christa has

[36:39] mentioned wouldn't it be great if we could give every single one of those applicants a scholarship get them started so they can get that education

[36:45] that they need to come back and work in our businesses um if you can't participate this year please keep us in mind for

[36:51] 2026 thanks again

[36:57] everybody thank you yeah and this this is great you because it's we make it so easy on you You give us the money and

[37:04] 100% of that money gets passed through to the student and we will take care of um obviously we take care of getting the

[37:09] applicants We take care of sorting through the applicants We will pay the school on your behalf You will get the promotion and you will get the um

[37:16] recognition for being that that um scholarship So um so thank you so much to people that have already done it Uh

[37:23] there is another way that you can help us raise money So so as Merily said $11,000 So where did that $11,000 last

[37:30] year came from The majority of it came from this beautiful event that you see on my screen Um and for those that are

[37:36] not familiar with Such Scholars many of you are it is um a a very fun event that

[37:41] we have coming up in a couple weeks and it is at the Holiday Inn and it's a beer tasting event $35 gets you a ticket and

[37:48] you'll go you'll be able to sample um different uh beers and wines from craft brewers and wineries in the state Uh

[37:55] it's unlimited tasting once you have once you're in there and you have your ticket Plus we have some uh great appetizers and things in there 100% of

[38:03] the single ticket price goes back to our um scholarships So we're very fortunate

[38:08] to have some generous sponsors that make that possible So we need to sell a lot of tickets yet We have got quite a few

[38:16] and it is an intimate event It's about 250 people but we still have a lot of tickets left You guys have flyers on

[38:21] your table Actually you have both flyers on your table You have flyers on that name scholarship program you already talked to you about Feel free to take it

[38:26] You also have flyers on your table If you will take one of these with you post it in your break rooms Post it on your

[38:32] social media Um we want to sell because every single dollar that we sell goes back into scholarships And as Merily

[38:38] said our foundation will meet uh the first Friday in May and we will the money that we make from this will

[38:44] directly go to those students this day So we need to get those uh ticket sales up there and do that So if I can just

[38:50] make a a huge plug for SS for scholars and it it is it's a great event I mean it's it's a great way to spend a couple hours Several of you have have done it

[38:56] and know it's a great time Um so a couple more things before we uh bring the mayor up So this obviously is

[39:04] something that we get asked a lot when it comes to not only the chamber but like the works of how do I how as a business do I get engaged There's so

[39:10] many different ways to get engaged Um one a very simple way is speak in classrooms We have a lot of requests to

[39:16] speak in our classrooms And so if you are someone who's like I love what I do I want to talk about what I do or my

[39:22] company or I have someone at my company who I I think would be great to speak Uh get a hold of us at the chamber Contact

[39:28] me contact Kim and uh we'd love to get you in our rotation of the speakers at at our various schools that work on that

[39:34] Uh obviously sponsoring an event We have as I mentioned here we've got donors who who sponsor our integrity full work

[39:41] scope of work but there are other ways that you can have your your name and your brand on other events that we do

[39:46] throughout the year that are targeted to parents or students or teachers Uh and so again you're helping us with those

[39:52] events but you're also getting in front of those audiences that might be important to you as well So again talk

[39:57] to talk to me about that and I can tell you about those opportunities Um hosting a class tour Again we do a lot of

[40:04] different things I told you about the um what we did last summer uh with the students We've got uh treats trades and

[40:10] tours is our middle school after school camp that we do Uh for Strive we're starting to look at can we do some more

[40:16] tours through our Rotary So if you are someone that would be interested in hosting a tour talk to us Uh and when I

[40:23] mean when I say host a tour I mean an interactive something that would be fun for students to come out and really talk

[40:28] about your company and the and the careers in your company and underneath that roof right saying "Here's what we

[40:34] do here Here is what here are the different jobs Here's why we love them Here's what we get excited about We

[40:40] really want to get our students excited." Um and and really we want them as Merly said we want them to come back

[40:46] into Lakeville And we and I joked about this in a meeting this morning uh for the Dakota Scott Workforce Board and I said Maggie and I and I said "No offense

[40:53] guys but we want all the talent to stay in Lakeville right Because it is we don't have the talent pool that we once

[40:59] had The people just aren't here They're not bored right So we want to keep as many of them here in Lakeville and have

[41:04] top talent in this community as we can So the more we can get them integrated in what we do Um and then job shadows So

[41:11] uh Lakeville seniors are required to do a job shadow before they graduate And more and more we are getting students

[41:17] reaching out to the chamber and wanting to make those connections to do a meaningful job shadow and not just job

[41:22] shadow where their parents work or um their neighbor works or what have you So again if you're willing to host a job

[41:28] shadow um for a day for a student contact us It is super easy these days

[41:33] now to figure out how to do a job shadow Matt will attest to this You just throw it in the chat GPT and you ask that give

[41:39] me an eight hour job shadow for a student in this and it will spit it out You don't even have to do any work right

[41:45] And you can uh host a student So again talk to us if those are things that you have an interest in Internships is

[41:51] another one We have a lot of college students starting to contact us because they're meeting their college internship Um and so a lot of you have seen emails

[41:57] from me hey who's hiring in marketing Hey who's hiring in this We've got somebody So we want to keep that going

[42:03] keep our Lakeville students getting experiences here in Lakeville Um and

[42:08] then um last thing before I bring the mayor up is um plug for Leadership Lakeville We have several of our

[42:13] Leadership Lakeville um class in the room here today and uh we are just finishing up I can't believe it's

[42:19] already here We're finishing up our first uh cohort back after a many year hiatus and um we will be opening up

[42:26] applications here coming up in um in late May or early June and then the deadline will be June 30th Huge shout

[42:33] out first of all not only to the city of Lakeville to Lakeville area schools to the county for letting us come in be in

[42:40] your buildings talk to your staff um we could obviously could not do this without you but but to Tina and Katie

[42:47] these two sit on the planning committee with the chamber staff and help us literally um build out the entire

[42:54] program and help us schedule everything And it's so important and and this is that workforce piece for for you all and

[43:00] for your employees right where we do so much of workforce development with our high school students and our and our middle school students but this is our

[43:06] opportunity to really invest in your workforce and make sure that they are proud of the community that they work in

[43:12] and want to learn more and want to be a part of this and want to stay here for a long time and certainly then want to stay with the company who invested in

[43:18] them um to get that development Each of our each of our sessions uh includes professional development that

[43:25] information about the city or the county and then obviously networking connections So be watching for that

[43:30] We're we're really proud of this program and we can't wait to uh get the second cohort going So lots of good things

[43:36] happening in the workforce development area If that is something that you are passionate about you want to learn more

[43:42] please contact us We've got lots of ways that you can engage and be a part of this work and it's really exciting stuff

[43:47] So all right is now it's now my turn to to introduce the mayor So uh Mayor

[43:53] Helier has been on city council since 2016 and mayor since 2022

[43:59] um in his day jobs he Are you talking about your day job I don't know Oh so his day job he has a new day job uh the

[44:04] director of government affairs at Starky Hearing uh and he and his wife Josie both grew up here and are now raising

[44:10] their kids here Thank you very much uh for that He is on our foundation board of directors as well And um I you know

[44:17] something I learned about you know do you know do you remember what you said your goal is for 5 to 10 years back in

[44:24] 2023 House You don't Well it's in it's in the internet so it

[44:29] must be true Okay Yeah You said you want to be the Panog Marshall Yeah I do So we'll see I mean I might be able to help

[44:35] that make that happen We'll see what happens But so without further ado

[44:41] I'm going to get this up for you Okay Yeah I think what I said was it's easier to become mayor than grand marshall park

[44:48] It is Yeah It is a disruptive It's a It's a selective group Well thank

[44:54] you Christa And thanks to everybody for being here today A lot of friendly faces Um I want to start with this with some a

[44:59] little bit of breaking news Uh this morning I called council member Ethan Helier in Prior Lake to let him know I

[45:06] signed an executive order for running tariffs on the city of Prior Lake Frankly they've been extremely unfair to

[45:13] the city of Lakeville and it's time for them to come through and and Mayor Costik in Credit River said he will set

[45:18] up a checkpoint at the Credit River Legal Border So they'll be paying tolls to get on 35W for those who live in this

[45:26] broader way So we are working for you every day to make sure that we're treated fairly

[45:31] Um thank you Uh as George kind of talked about you know the Chart House has a ton

[45:37] of history Um you know I think the population of Lakeville 1963 was less than a thousand Mary Liz might would

[45:44] know that She's probably not historian but I don't know But see her growth sits on Kingsley Lake as you know And so half

[45:50] of this is there's you know people who live here There's this and then there's Camp Street from the YMCA on the other

[45:56] side Um and at one point Christina Hson was going to give that land to the city

[46:02] of Lakeville I don't know if we didn't pick up the phone or what happened but that's how uh she ended up giving the

[46:08] land for what's now Cam Street Streland was her vein name and they own all that land and that's that's how they came So

[46:14] I love Lakeville history So if you have Lakeville history stories for me you know feel free to to share those with me as well I just want to spend also a

[46:20] moment recognizing uh my parents came today So it took three state of the cities for them to finally come So thank

[46:27] you for being here Um we actually we celebrated their 50th

[46:33] anniversary in this room in December So that was exciting for us This was a great place And then I also want to

[46:39] recognize my wife Josie who came today as well Thank you I appreciate being here

[46:46] Um when she was growing up as George said this used to be a private club You could swim kind of where their patio is

[46:51] now And my wife had talked about having that experience And when we got engaged she said "Oh it's been my dream my

[46:57] entire life to have our wedding reception at the chart house." It wasn't in the budget Um but hopefully today's

[47:04] lunch will replace it Anyhow with you know

[47:10] 250 of our closest friends who did it So um thank you honey Hopefully that that

[47:16] works out Um lastly just want to really thank um Tina and Katie for putting this

[47:22] together uh police chief uh Brad Pollson and Fire Chief Meyer and our engineer Zach Johnson who basically put all the

[47:29] text in here I'm just reading their words but I want to thank them for for doing that as well So they they work

[47:35] above and beyond As you know uh Antlers Park opened last summer um which was

[47:41] closed for an entire year and it uh has been really a huge success for us And I

[47:47] talked about this last year before it opened how excited we were um between the new shelters the indoor pavilion um

[47:54] sand volleyball courts uh and then one other unique feature when being one of

[47:59] the first beach areas in the region that's ADA accessible So we have rubber

[48:04] mats so that are there at all times So if you have someone in a wheelchair they can actually get all the way to the water on our beach And so it's kind of a

[48:11] new feature that we're pretty proud of that other communities don't have And as as um Tina mentioned LBC on the lake was

[48:19] a big hit I think I talked to to Don I think they're opening up in a couple of weeks So that'll be looking forward to

[48:25] that And then finally the thing that just blows my mind is that we had 320 outdoor events last summer that had

[48:33] reservations through the parks department and another 87 in the indoor facility We had two weddings last year

[48:38] Um so if you're thinking about a great place for an event think about antlers If you weren't um had not attended

[48:44] before um the state city that's where we had last year Grand Prairie Park construction is well underway So this is

[48:51] at Cedar 185th Street Gran Prairie Park will be the city's largest community park when it's finished Um much of

[48:58] what's happening there will not happen until next year We got to plan some things but you'll see the lights of the

[49:04] new baseball park have gone up Um a lot of the other infrastructure that has gone there And this has really been a

[49:10] great effort from a lot of different community events uh community groups The we've had several sponsors to support

[49:16] Lake Baseball Association some added amenities to their baseball park Um the Lions have been very generous in funding

[49:23] the splash pad that's there So a lot of that will open up We have to let the grass grow but um and as I mentioned

[49:29] before we have a pickleball courts There's a cricket pitch among other things So that is well on its way We're

[49:35] very excited for Grand Prairie Park Um I will say one other thing just baseball related very quickly So next Wednesday

[49:42] North and South play each other at Target Field after the Twins game if you didn't know that So if you talk to

[49:47] Trisha from High Point raise your hand Um the tickets are $20 and you get to go to the Twins game They play the Mets at

[49:53] noon and then right after that game then North and South get to play And if you are thinking about sponsorships they have different sponsor levels for

[49:59] businesses as well So I'm sure that if you want to talk to her about if your business is interested in supporting it So it's a very cool thing that supports

[50:06] um the North and South uh boosters Uh last year we also finished

[50:11] all the upgrades to the Foxboro Park um which brought in some new biking and

[50:16] walking trails and then upgraded the playground equipment there as well In addition uh there's some replacements of

[50:22] the Kenmore Park included swings climbing on the slide and other elements And then the Chadwick Farms

[50:29] Greenway Greenway which uh added another 3,000 ft of trail And if you remember

[50:35] back from 2021 this is part of that parks bond referendum All these are kind of projects that were in that um Grand

[50:42] Prair Park and then East Lake uh park or East Community Park and East Lake We're

[50:47] just finishing up kind of the master plan for that The parks and wreck natural resources committee is looking

[50:53] as along with our staff Uh and the idea I think is to break ground this year

[50:58] next year um on on those additions So we we look forward to that Oh I see it's right there on the side for 2026

[51:07] Um you know as I I mentioned earlier uh you know and have public safety has been

[51:13] a top priority for me being on since being on city council mayor and has been for our our the rest of our city council

[51:20] And um you know one of the things that we actually just got to break ground for for was the first respon the first

[51:26] center which is the first responder skills training center where we are demolishing demoing the former public

[51:32] works building and building a state-of-the-art uh training facility for police fire and other public safety

[51:39] officials This is a project led by the city of Lakeville Uh we got some uh

[51:45] decent funding from the legislature a few years ago Representative Whitty Kasich and Senator Dougworth helped

[51:51] secure some $7 million for us on that Congressman Craig secured another

[51:56] $800,000 for the engineering and design of that project Uh but the total project is is well

[52:02] over 18 or 19 million And um but at the end of the day you know we see ourselves

[52:08] as a regional hub Lakeville is And so we'll have a lot of partners We have over a dozen other agencies that have

[52:14] expressed interest in using this facility We've had I talked about this before for had some really good conversations with the ACTC about

[52:20] potentially doing some of their field training there or hills I should say they're combining in one call ACTC but

[52:26] um really because we you know as those in law enforcement will say crime knows

[52:32] no borders and the more that we can work together among jurisdictions and training and all these things um that's

[52:38] really important so we look forward to that opening up um this next year um one

[52:44] other things uh just as an uptick we are now up to 73 3 sword officers in the city Um and whether we're supported by

[52:51] another 20 uh staff members in uh in support roles And this obviously has

[52:57] grown over the last several years as our as our population continues to grow Another cool project that the police

[53:04] department has kind of um spearheaded is last year we had one and this year we have two We secured grant money to

[53:10] basically help um people do career changes to leave what they're doing to get into policing Uh as you can imagine

[53:18] um hiring for law enforcement can be difficult Uh more often than not if when we swear new officers in the city of

[53:24] Lakeville they came from somewhere else Uh they came from another department Um

[53:29] and part of that is again if we're thinking regionally uh to be supportive we have to you know kind of groom some

[53:34] of our own So we've got um some state money they get paid a salary to go through uh the certification and

[53:40] schooling Uh so again I think we had one last year two this year and I think the plan is to continue to do that as long

[53:45] as we can uh make sure that that that grant keeps going So very excited about

[53:50] that Um another big change for the police department Uh our K9 Kilo retired

[53:57] uh and his handler Sergeant Danielson was promoted So we've got uh a new pup that's going to be on the road soon and

[54:03] that is uh Nora and she has Officer Jolene Warden And so they're going to be

[54:09] on the road soon I would guess Yeah he's just started training So a couple Okay So he's just training and he'll be out

[54:15] in a couple months So we were thanks to Kilo for all of his years of service and I think he's probably very happy on

[54:22] Tom's farm down outside of Austin And so he's doing very well in his retirement already And then one of the other things

[54:28] that we uh the department has really invested in is is thinking more broadly broadly about what policing means um

[54:35] beside just responding to emergencies Um and that is you know investing in some of these kind of um social uh support

[54:43] services We have a liazison now that uh is a continued uh relationship with support with the county and 360

[54:50] communities Sorry my dad's not leaving He's mad He drives school bus for Schmid except he's got his afternoon route

[54:56] Don't worry Mike We'll be there on time It's a great retirement job by the way If you looking for something to do

[55:03] uh being a bus driver with my dad he drives my kids route so he has he gets to pick them up every school Um white

[55:10] doors often And then if you think about uh in addition to police department obviously the fire department it uh has

[55:16] gone through some pretty significant changes For years we were strictly a paid on call volunteer department And uh

[55:23] the council decided a few years ago to to rethink that and to add some full-time staff and what we call hybrid

[55:28] model We hired a few firefighters a couple years ago I think six We actually given um money through FEMA to hire um

[55:37] some more So we will end up having up to 21 full-time firefighters but as you can

[55:42] imagine with that kind of growth and change it's going to require us to make some pretty big capital investments So

[55:47] we're that's why we talked about franchise fees last year about building a new fire station and that is when you

[55:53] go from a situation where you have all volunteers to people that are going to be sleeping and needing living quarters

[55:59] Uh you know you get to that point So we're hopefully that next few months we'll have kind of a location cited

[56:05] where we're thinking about so that new fire station and we'll kind of go through that process But the the goal I

[56:10] think is to get the ball rolling uh in this year so that we can open it up again next year Um and as I mentioned that that way

[56:18] we'll have two engines staffed uh 24/7 uh with uh full-time firefighters

[56:24] supported by probably another 50 or so volunteers So the volunteer component is not going away So if you're ever

[56:29] thinking about serving in the city um think about be a volunteer firefighter So they they will work together uh

[56:35] alongside each other which is is really going to be a great model um for us Obviously transportation improvements

[56:42] and changes are a big deal to all of you in the room for businesses and just for us be able to get to work and get uh get home Um the 35 and 50 uh changes we've

[56:51] kind of come up with a pretty decent schematic of what we think it'll look like Now we just got to find the money

[56:57] Um so we have been continue to work with our state and county and federal partners to think through that There has

[57:03] been substantial investment from all those levels but we don't have the kind of the final uh pieces to to make all

[57:09] that happen And we actually um there's a hearing tomorrow in the in the House bonding committee about further uh

[57:16] investment from the state But as you can imagine um you know you think about the area in front of Fleet Farm what kind of

[57:22] disaster that is uh every day Um and then you think about County Road 50 that runs underneath 35 and all the backups

[57:29] and problems there So ultimately we think this is a pretty good um change Uh

[57:35] I will tell you the two-year project of closing one lag at a time on 35 is going to be awful So think about those

[57:42] telework uh things for your companies because it's going to be really terrible uh going through that quarter once it it

[57:48] starts But there are plenty of updates online um through the city's website So you can kind of keep in touch with that

[57:54] Um ideally we'd really like to focus on starting something at 28 29 um we'll see

[58:00] uh kind of how that works But again this is a a project that is sorely needed to

[58:05] the entire region Another big project that you'll start to see is the 185th Street uh expansion Again this is a

[58:11] partnership with the county Um you know if you think about 185th once you get to 50 at that roundabout you got a pretty

[58:18] narrow road until you get to Sentry and it kind of opens up again that corridor there will be widened to uh four lanes

[58:24] um to be able to to really handle a lot of the capacity that we're we're seeing

[58:29] and all the growth that we've had Um it's just funny to think about that was a when I was in high school that was a

[58:35] four-way stop and then it was a stop light and it was a roundabout So there's been a ton of change uh and growth in

[58:40] that area Um so that project will start very soon I think some of the infrastructure utilities are starting

[58:46] but you'll see some of the road uh stuff happening there very uh very soon as

[58:52] well And I think that there's also some safe route to school funds which is good So make it easier for kids to get over to Sentry um and those who are walking

[58:59] as well And oh yeah so April to October Um last couple of things So

[59:04] obviously the city every year we have legislative priorities that are keen focus for us at the at the capital Um

[59:11] one of those that we talked to our legislators about this year is downtown social districts So if you haven't followed theirs Anoka and Shakabe are

[59:19] allowed to have basically open containers is the easiest way to describe it Uh in their downtown areas

[59:24] they were done as kind of a pilot And so we had kicked around the idea from our council to have that same ability um on

[59:32] certain kind of days of the year to have uh that similar thing But unfortunately it's ran into some local politics The

[59:38] rent from shock if he likes his monopoly of being the only city in the region to allow it So we're we're getting caught

[59:44] up in that unfortunately but we'll try again next year So we'll see kind of how that goes Obviously I've talked about

[59:50] this at each one of my state of the city addresses but mandates on local authority and our our local control are

[59:57] always um something that we think about And I'll just you know highlight one that has been on my radar and that has

[1:00:03] to do with zoning and housing and how we're able to grow Um if you if you don't know you know last month or Yeah

[1:00:12] last month we had a a pretty um exciting work session when we had some conversations about the property along

[1:00:18] Antler Park Warwick which is uh there was conversation about a fourtory

[1:00:23] apartment I think the neighbors weren't super happy about it I don't think that's going to really happen right now but it was very exciting the legislature

[1:00:30] uh the bill that they've drafted would without public input without the city input would allow a sevenstory apartment

[1:00:36] building on that property So when I say that this local stuff matters um and you

[1:00:41] find us pushing back on four stories you can imagine what would happen if they said yeah you could put sevenstory apartment building right there uh in

[1:00:46] between Lakeville North and Park

[1:00:52] Um and then lastly uh we continue to beat the drum on the post office Uh I

[1:00:59] don't have anything to say about that I mean I think everybody in this room is pretty frustrated I'm frustrated Um you

[1:01:05] know at some point Congresswoman Craig and I were talking about like staging a walk out from the the people who work

[1:01:10] there just because it's such an awful condition They don't even have a loading dock I mean think about when that post office opened to the how packages come

[1:01:16] through Amazon today Like they can't even do their jobs effectively uh let alone uh do that And um for those of you

[1:01:23] who have PO boxes downtown um they also basically just thumbed this off when we cuz they're you're now going to charge

[1:01:29] you for your PO box if you didn't know that So if you had a PO box downtown if you're downtown business the post office has decided to take that away So you

[1:01:36] either have to pay for it now or apparently they didn't do any calculations that they'd have to do delivery So um if you if you don't pay

[1:01:43] for your PO box and they have to bring it to your house but then they don't have to drive it to your house So I'm not exactly sure how that's going to work but um I continue to be frustrated

[1:01:51] by the post office I'm sure you are as well I just I wish I had some answers for you in that We just we really don't

[1:01:56] The the postmaster general at the federal level resigned last week Um so hopefully uh that is an opportunity to

[1:02:04] potentially do that But at the end of the day it's really the regional managers that are man I mean guy doesn't

[1:02:09] know So um I said uh we continue to work on that and uh appreciate any feedback

[1:02:15] that you guys have about those situations But I wanted to be brief so we can get out of here on time but happy to open up for any questions If I don't

[1:02:22] have the answer we got plenty of city staff here on that that could do that as well But do you have an email or a phone

[1:02:30] number and we could just throw on Yes you can So thank you Beth You're welcome So my uh email and cell phone number on

[1:02:36] the city's website and then I also have a little I'm at the Oh the post Oh I'll

[1:02:42] get that You want There you go Yes Yes Okay Yes I will get that for you Especially downtown Yes Thank you Uh but

[1:02:50] that Yeah So the other thing on the your table is I have a little flyer I have a a newsletter that comes out every Friday

[1:02:55] just kind of updating things that are happening in the city Feel free to sign up for it Um and then I also just if you

[1:03:00] have a community event for instance I like to feature those I can't find everyone I try to find a lot but I miss

[1:03:06] a lot So I apologize if if I haven't put your event in there In fact I just got an email There's an Easter egg hunt at

[1:03:12] Lakeville South on Saturday So that'll probably be the top most exciting thing in the newsletter this week So I'm

[1:03:18] telling you before this the newsletter comes out This does anybody have a question that

[1:03:25] says Oh right case about any any updates on sorry any updates on the United

[1:03:32] Academy um any the question was any updates on the UCA United Christian Academy project

[1:03:38] uh not that I know um there's been some conversation about them partnering with a local church to think it to rethink

[1:03:44] about it I I do know that the last conversation was thinking more about just high school and not K12 they've had

[1:03:50] a lot of success at their their um school building in Bloomington with the younger grades they then their big

[1:03:56] missing piece is having like the right high school So I think it's a refocus on the high school and not necessarily K12

[1:04:01] So that's that's the best news I got for it Bob thank you Uh because you got to

[1:04:08] account there but good enough to show

[1:04:14] guidance use the microphone I just wanted to thank the mayor city

[1:04:21] council city administrator staff for their extraordinary contributions I so

[1:04:26] use and we'll know some of those green symbols Uh I also uh would ask again as

[1:04:33] the city council would be more consideration of the building a new post office leasing it back with a US

[1:04:42] Yeah Um so he we have had conversations about what that would look like In fact

[1:04:47] at one point the mayor of Farmington and I had a conversation about what a joint post office would look like Um we wrote

[1:04:53] a letter with Congressman Court Craig to the um postmaster journal They said "Thanks but no thanks."

[1:04:58] Um you know they're they are other than the railroads they are one of the most difficult

[1:05:05] uh entities to deal with because they're quasi federal So they have some congressional oversight but not really

[1:05:11] Uh so no I'm sorry I don't have a great answer for you We tried We just said one hit there

[1:05:18] All right Thank you so much for being here I appreciate [Applause]

[1:05:36] it All right Um thanks a lot to Mayor Helier and Tina Goodro for the entire

[1:05:43] city staff for putting together that that presentation I want to thank you for your leadership and dedication uh to

[1:05:50] making Lakeville one of the top destinations for uh businesses to uh to

[1:05:55] do business and people to live and to thrive Um in addition we want to thank you for your continued partnership with

[1:06:02] the Chamber of Commerce Um we value this relationship and your support for our

[1:06:07] work and for uh local businesses that are represented all around this room I

[1:06:13] want to thanks thank again uh George and Rihanna's Chart House Um the food was

[1:06:19] amazing I cleaned my plate My grandfather who grew up in the depression would be proud Um we also

[1:06:25] want to thank our our sponsors uh Protek Automotive uh and Stoneberg Wealth Management and now Exit Planning And of

[1:06:33] course all of you for spending this time with us today I just have a a few things to to point out The back of this card on

[1:06:40] your table is something that you can take with you uh and kind of check the box and and see what's coming up Uh we

[1:06:46] have a lot of events Lakeville Chamber and we don't want you to miss out on any any of those So uh take that with you

[1:06:53] and and put those things on your calendar Um I also wanted to just give a

[1:06:58] plug to next week next Thursday uh Lake View Bank one of the sponsors listed

[1:07:05] right on that uh that poster uh is hosting its annual Lake View Bank Legacy

[1:07:11] Award after hours So this is the big one Um it's the chambers of Apple Valley Burnsville and Lakeville all supporting

[1:07:18] this event And it honors uh four individuals for their contributions to our community Uh and south of the river

[1:07:25] here Uh and it's at the bank from 4:30 to 6:30 It includes food and beverages

[1:07:32] Uh and it is free to attend Um the community volunteer of the year is Paul Joacabus of the Lake Lions and Hannah

[1:07:40] Prague And these are both organizations that are members of the chamber and we're excited to honor him Um so we hope

[1:07:47] you can join us So without further ado thank you for coming uh and enjoy the

[1:07:53] afternoon [Applause]