all. Yeah. Here. all. Yeah. Here. Mayor graves is excused, so my apologies. Mayor Pro tem Craig. Nice. Here. Go ahead and go on to council. Miscellaneous discussion items. Does anyone have any? Council member. Moore. Um, yes. And my 1 to 1 was, um, Mr. Nyquist. After receiving the council packet. Item six G um, Council salaries. Uh, Mr. Nyquist noted there was an error. Um, and I believe we were going to have a corrected copy at this meeting. Um, where the 2027 and 2028 salaries would increase? Both, um, 3%. Um, we also discussed that in 2022. Uh, the previous administrator did not bring a resolution before the council. And so therefore, council members to my right, uh, did not receive an increase. Uh, for calendar year 23 and 24. So I brought that all the way to Mr. Nyquist. And I think he has an update on that resolution. Madam mayor, Pro tem, city council members, uh, city clerk and I reviewed that. And I think the numbers are correct, so that there’s 3%. Um, so you’re seeing that 27 numbers and 28 numbers are based off of 26, so it’s 3% from 26. Okay. And then from 27 to 23%. So not a lot of money. But yeah those know yeah it’s like 350 bucks for each position I feel like. So okay good follow up. So where it says 0% for 2027, that’s been corrected to say 3%. Correct. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So okay. So that’s all been cleaned up. Yeah. The resolution. Yeah. The resolution have the correct wages on there now okay. Stipends. Okay. Great. Um, thank you very much for that. Uh, Miss Pettit and Mister Nyquist. Are we out for anything? Okay. Okay, let’s go ahead and go into. Go ahead. Council member Moore. Um, no. I’ll wait. Thank you. Okay. Okay. City manager. Miscellaneous discussion items. Madam mayor, pro tem, city council. Um, bring up, uh, Chief Burke and Chief Breslin to lead a conversation on, um, safety related communications. Um, so this has been ongoing conversations. We’ve had, um, together about how council would like to be communicated to, uh, in, I would say, heightened emergencies. And so this is stemming around, I would say, um, the events from last summer with the assassination, assassination of Melissa Hartman and all the unprecedented thing highlighted some, I think, needs that we may have in terms of clarity, we’re seeking as staff about how council would like to be communicated to in a situation like that, or if there are any other, you know, incidents in the community that, um, council would need to meet be made aware of. So Chief Berg and Chief will kind of share what’s currently happening and try to get some clarity, have some conversation on preferences and maybe what rises to that level of communication. Uh, good evening, Mayor Pro Tem, city Council tonight. Uh, to kind of set the table primarily most of the communications you get, uh, public safety related, uh, generally from emails from department heads or police commanders. Typically events with known or expected media interest. Any kind of event with a large police presence that might, uh, generate some calls or questions to you. Uh, murders other significant personal injuries, uh, any kind of injuries or property damage from gunfire. Uh, fatalities from fires. Uh, structure fires. Those are the bulk of what the communication towards you is. What we would like to do tonight is listen to your thoughts, ideas, concerns. Uh, recognizing the current scope and rhythm of communications you receive. How should that scope be adjusted in the future? What would you like more of? What would you perhaps want less of? Not looking for any definitive action tonight, but looking to try and collect thoughts. Ultimately consensus on how we can move forward to provide you the information that you would deem necessary. That’s a question. Okay. Um, I will just go ahead and make a note before I forget my comment. Um, I do appreciate the emails. I believe they’re very informative. Um, and I do rely on those a lot, especially when you’re out speaking to people in the community. Um, like you said, in case there’s a media request or something that comes up, we do have that information real time. Um, and then my suggestion would be for urgent matters to be text messages or phone, because I believe that’s more urgent than an email. That’s just my opinion. Um, I concur. Um, the emails. I, I really appreciate, but if there’s something imminent, urgent, a text. Uh, can I ask how you would define what’s urgent? What is urgent to you? Because what’s urgent to you may be different than what’s urgent to the fire chief for me. Well, for instance, when they did have the the security issue, where when they did have the assassination, um, that came through as a text to say, oh, you could be potentially in danger. That’s urgent. Um, that communication or, um. Yeah, I’m trying to think of some more examples that shootings. Yeah. If there’s an active shooter, if there’s, um, yeah. What else? Councilmember Moore. Yes. I think of this when I work with individuals about a natural disaster. So one, if there is some sort of violent episode of, uh, where you’re shutting down streets, et. Um, we get that after the fact, don’t we? As a notification. Um, uh, I’m thinking of hazardous chemicals, spills or whatnot. What? I just wanted to reiterate is that a year ago, we received one text messaging, no phone call from the administrator. No follow up phone call. No follow up tests. Text. Chief, I believe that it was you that at some point sent an email saying that you were doing, um. Uh, I can’t think what they’re called. I don’t want to call them drive bys, either. Um. Extra patrol. Yeah. You were doing patrols by council members homes, and that came from you. So I expect that this would be my expectation as well as for the community. Right. But certainly us as elected officials that we would receive not only a text, but maybe a phone call check in and certainly a follow up text after the initial one. I had no idea. I talked with a fellow council member, and frankly, we didn’t know. I mean, and when we later on, you see the list. Um, anyway, it was it was quite disconcerting, the lack of communication a year ago. So that would be my thoughts about that. And I and I don’t know, I think the other as council member, mayor Pro Tem Craig said, I, I believe the other things that we get notifications when there’s a shooting event, chemical spill, fire, etc., it’s fine. Um, because I know that you’re securing that for our residents, wherever that is happening. So and, and absolutely, my intent is that if there was a known, credible current threat against an elected official or any city staff, we’re absolutely going to take action on that. And we we as city staff are able to learn from the last year and absolutely, things would flow different in the future. And that’s part of the reason for this conversation. Council member Jacek. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem. Um, for me, the guideline would be because I trust your professionalism. Do they need to know if there’s a threat for simple question is, uh, and we didn’t know the threat. You didn’t know the threat. Except that they were posing as police officers. That, to me, was a needed to know in the event somebody showed up. I’m not criticizing what happened. I mean, but the point is, is I wanted to know that, um, I’m probably in a little different position. I know everybody over there, but even so, that was discomforting. Um, that would be my first thing is, from you perspective, because it’s so fluid. You folks are responding to the immediacy. I had the privilege to the Minnesota League of Cities to go, and I relayed this. Uh, Chief Berg was up there to Bemidji last year to the the a year ago when the when one of the things they talked about that initially failed when they did root cause analysis was the communications and how important that is. Um, I, um. Anxiety frequently is amped up because of lack of information, but it also has to be timely from that perspective. Um, I was glad that all of us at one point reached out to each other, and that’s all that we could do. And I think that I appreciate the word because I do have a general question, if I may ask Tim. Um. On occasion, we will get emails from you as an example, as the officer involved in the squad accident. I’ve always been trained. You don’t respond, but I would like to convey. I hope the officer is okay. Would you like it? Or would the city manager like us to go back through him, to put it back on to you? Um, to pass on to the officer or a firefighter who might have been injured or whatever. It seems so cold that the council gets these things and we don’t respond. I don’t respond, and there’s times I really would like to, but I would like to know the protocol so we don’t endanger a quorum or those types of things. And I would like the system manager and you as a group to think about that, because I mean, legitimately, there is times when we would like to convey that we’re human beings to. , if I may, um, I think definitely we can come up with a protocol for that. Um, but as you’re you’re speaking earlier about text message and threat, the thing I would ask is that you give us a little bit of grace because a lot of times, information isn’t credible. That first 30 minutes or whatever. And as soon as we can, we get that stuff out. But in an urgent text message, like you guys were talking about, that protocol would love to get a response to know that you got the message. And we don’t have to follow up by sending somebody over a phone call or another email or something like that, because time is sort of the essence. And, and we’re being pulled many different directions. Um, the other thing I’d like to follow up on is the severe weather. Um, aftermath. Um, that’s going to take a little time to, to put together a map and this and that. And I went through the tornado here in 2015, and it takes a little while. We we work almost 18 hours that night. And when the light comes on in the morning, we had a much better picture of what was going on and didn’t really feel like letting everybody know it. 2:00 in the morning, what we were doing was, was that important. So I guess that’s what I’d add to it. Is that follow up. The oftentimes, um, the first casualty in any of these things is the truth. So and I recognize that. And just as a possibility for your discussion, it may be at some point shortly after is to designate the person. We can direct our questions to. So we aren’t going to multiple people. So my point is then we have a point person. It’s not uncommon, especially heavy police presence or whatever, to get calls from residents or for them to contact us. And rather than fumbling around when the appropriate time comes, if you could just say such and such will handle whoever you designate. I just think that might be helpful. Um. And I think one in the council shared the thought earlier. I think it was we were complaining that the residents seemed to know about information before the council. So that was the issue. So it was just making sure that we knew what was going on. So we can answer those questions that people have. But there was there was at one time where we would get our information from residents. Mhm. Yeah. I don’t like being the last to know. Um, my thoughts are I’m going to defer to your expertise. Both of you. What, what you deem to be urgent or even a text thing just sent you an email about this incident. Um, check your email. I’m. He’s thinking. Yep. Uh, let’s go to the next slide. Like, uh, like Chief Berg was talking about. No. But I like the definition. Like you said, what’s urgent and what’s dangerous to you may not be the same as to us, because this is your norm. This is the environment that you operate in. This is not our norm of being around that. We’re also sometimes operating with 3 or 4 people handling a significant incident. And I don’t want to give false information. I don’t want to give inaccurate information. And sometimes that first half hour, sometimes that first two hours, we don’t. Yeah, totally know exactly what’s going on. Definitively. Um, I think we would all agree if there was a known, credible, active threat. Yes. We would not just send an email two hours later, we we would be significantly more proactive. And I think we could probably all agree that it’ll probably be some kind of text message. Uh, I’ll double down on Chief Berg. I would I would ask for some kind of response so that we know, okay, that loop has has closed so we don’t have to worry about that. I do struggle with committing, and I’m not going to commit to anything here tonight. We’ll we’ll talk as a city staff. But I struggle committing to I’ll send you an email and then I’ll send you a text message that I sent you an email. I think we can come up with some kind of hierarchy, some kind of, uh, bar where if it’s below this bar, it’s going to be an email and it’s going to be as timely as we can while still ensuring accuracy and ensuring that the the emergency is taken care of. But if we’ve gone over that bar, then yes, we’ll reach out via text message and that’s where we will follow up to make sure that we’ve got your preferred phone number, whether it’s going to be the city phone or a personal. We can sort all that out later on, but we would just want to have one definitive list that we’re working from with known expectations. If it’s below this threat or this this bar, it’s going to be an email and as timely as we can, but it’s going to be accurate. And absolutely, we can probably figure out some way to channel any kind of follow up questions to the particular subject matter expert for that particular thing. And if it’s above that bar, then we’re going to reach out via text message. And if we don’t get a response within a reasonable period of time, we’re going to send a city staff over to your house to make sure that that loop is closed. And that’s the whole reason for this conversation, is that moving forward, we have a consistent set of expectations among city staff, and you. Councilmember Moore. Yes, I’ll go back to my initial statement regarding a year ago is that the city manager sent out one text. It would seem that a sole point of urgent communication to council members should come from the city manager. Unless we’re going to change protocol. And if and I don’t think we should, frankly. But that you, as chiefs, would let the city manager know important information that should come to us. Now, I don’t I’m just trying to get get through all the minutia down to what works for the city manager and the Chiefs to get communication to us.. Every communication that we deliver to you guys is gone through this. Yep. That’s what I thought. Prior to that. Um, I can’t speak for what happened a year ago. As far as the communication went down. Um, but but there were, um, communication between us two and the city manager at that time. That city manager chose to do it through him. Um, this one is is mutually agreed upon that we include the city manager with our council. Um, on these emergency updates. Okay. Thank you. Madam Mayor Pro. Tem. City council members, um, the from my perspective, being in the short time, I feel like some of these things are going to happen in the, in the evening or at night when people are sleeping. You know, I sleep with my phone next to my bed on on ring. Um, and I don’t I wouldn’t want the person in the city manager chair to be the roadblock to getting information, especially of a critical nature. So I think as we go forward, it’s going to have to be sort of like if it gets past that bar, it’s going to be an all and all hands text right from the person that has the right information. So that’s I think we have to flesh out, and they’re probably maybe some false false flags on those things. But um, that’s the trust I have. I think with staff here to say, okay, now we’ve got some clarity on this is the threshold. If it’s at this time you’re not getting a response from someone that you need a response from, just go ahead and send it. And so that’s what we’re gonna have to figure that out. But I just I’m looking for some clarity on a document that we can share with Council at some point to say, like, okay, do we agree with this? Okay. Let’s go forward with with it. So. Council manager. Zach thank you. Mayor Pro. Tem, has anybody sampled what some of our surrounding communities do. I have. Not I have not. I would assume a lot of them a lot of them are in the same boat as we are here. You know, within the past year, something that that tragic a year ago, it’s not in the books. It’s hasn’t had a precedent before that to hey, what should we do if this happens or this happens. You know, we’ve had tornadoes. We know what to do with that or we’ve had whatever types of incident, most incidents we’ve had. But that was a new one last year. And I think a lot of people are in the same boat as we are. But I can certainly ask around. Yeah. Make it back. If we do it, everybody will copy it. No. I think we just need to know that there’s something in place and that there’s a protocol. So we know that there’s a way to get information that needs to get to us. And the interim city manager has been extremely open minded to some flexibility in how do we get the right information to the right person as fast as possible, recognizing that nights and weekends, sometimes people don’t answer their phone as as readily. Um, and that’s where we have to build in a little bit of flexibility. And some of these lines of communication are going to deviate from the norms at times within some set parameters. And that’s what we’re going to, uh, put our heads together and come up with what I believe is going to be a realistic plan with some flexibility, uh, baked into it, that will allow us to to hit those goals in the future. But like Chief Berg said last year was, no one had a playbook that won at all. But we’ve learned a lot since then. Councilmember Sanders. Thank you. Um, for me, if it’s raised to that level, I would say use my personal phone, which I have on me 100% of the time. My city phone. If I go to the grocery store, I don’t carry it with me. So if it’s that urgent, I would say personal phone for me. Um. And my goal is that we would work through those kind of details, 1 or 2 steps down the road. Once we have kind of the the overarching approach, and once we all agree on that, that we can we can fine tune that. Yeah. There. Last slide we have prepared is one city staff sits down and puts together a draft playbook for this communication. How would you like the next step to be? Would you like it in a weekly update? Would you like to talk about it with the City manager at future one on ones? Would you like us back at a future study session to talk through it? I’ll add I’ll add to that that we could attend the one on one and to discuss it as well. That’s what I would have recommended for myself, the one on one, because I think that’s also the time where you can get the information on this is the number to call. This is the preferred method of contact. At the same time, any feedback must be more. Um, I’m fine with a weekly update in terms and the approved um, communication. Uh, during such events attached in a weekly update. Uh, certainly. If I want, I can discuss with Mr. Nyquist during a one on one if I have any questions or concerns after that’s produced. Councilman Jose. I agree with the 1 to 1 city manager. I’m a little hesitant to put it in the weekly update only from the standpoint that’s public information. I don’t necessarily want everybody to have that public information about the processes and procedures. So, uh, I like the idea of 1 to 1. And if we have, then ultimately the city or the acting city manager can invite any staff members for clarity purposes. So that would be my preference. Councilmember. I agree, okay. Yeah. I don’t think it should go in the weekly update unless it’s follow up. Comment. Yep. Councilmember Moore, um. Councilmember Zach, allude to the fact that that’s not a private communication with council members. Is that public information? No. Can I have someone confirm that? What? That the. Are you referring to the weekly update? Yes, that’s what I asked. Okay. This public information. Okay, then I would agree with my council members that 1 to 1 to discuss and finalize after feedback. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for clarifying. Okay. Is that. enough direction? That’s all we have. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate your information and input. Thank you. Okay. The next item. And now we can go to old business. We go to the interim city manager. Madam mayor Pro tem, city Council members are going to pull up the small presentation here. I think it’s all in your packet, but, um, trying to put a bow on the, um, old business topic we’ve talked about a few times, so I’ve put together a recommended process from where I sit about how this thing could operate. And I think, you know, as an example, I think the conversation we just had would be something that would fit in this tracker. So, um, I like this this is basically a list, um, list trying to figure out like a simple way that we can track conversations, next steps, follow ups from either in my mind. Um, council presentations, um, study sessions like this. Um, council actions about. I can think about several conversations where it was, I think a consensus or wouldn’t it be nice if we could do this or have follow up on that? So, um, when I go to the next one, I’m trying to figure out a process. So kind of put together some steps from where I sit open for conversation if this works or not. Um, but first, first draft, first stab at this. So, um, staff will maintain a living item tracker. I have got an example in the next slide. Um, items that could end up on this thing include next steps. Like I said from a study session from a regular city council meeting or council consideration items, any any one of those things. So I, myself and others will be making notes, um, to feel like if there’s anything coming out from conversations, um, this tracker will live in the weekly update and will be updated. Um, every Friday after this city Council meeting. Um, so you can see where what what items are being added. Um, my thinking is that individual council members can bring forth items for discussion during study session, try to seek consensus. Consensus, and then give staff that like heads up that we want a presentation or something. At some point, or bring up the issue, um, to have a conversations about really, um, I would also from where I sit in my, my job, I think this is useful for myself to track living items in as well. So not only for council to have conversations, but for me to sort of, um, remind staff of who got these things in the hopper that I need action to. So, um, that’s how I think about this thing being operating. Um, I’ve got an example on the next slide about what that thing looks like. It really is just like a, you know, a spreadsheet that you’ll see a table in the in the weekly update, um, kind of name. These are all just random things that, you know, I put in there, not real things. Um, where where they were introduced, who’s the lead, how old they are, if you want to bring up old things. So kind of just a living document that will get updated every two weeks after council meetings, and it will live in the weekly. So open the thoughts on that, that recommendation. But that’s kind of what I came up with based off of our conversations here. Council Member. Moore, uh. Mister Nyquist, I think that’s an excellent start. I think it’s certainly a way for us to track important items that are on all of our minds. Some of us have, a different priorities and things that kind of float to the surface. So this is a way to kind of capture them all. Um, we had a priority update grid before the last. Well, this council has had something like that for four years, but, um, we’ve had that before and there was an update. It was at times, but this is a way to systematically look at any of these items. So, um, it seems like it’s also fluid. So the council members could provide input if there’s things to add or want to discuss during study session. We could certainly discuss that with at our one on ones. So thank you. This is a an incredible start. I think considering the ask by council members. I have a question where would this be housed. At? Madam Mayor Pro Tem would be in this in the weekly update. So I would basically it would have access to probably directors I would think to like go in there and update it based on what happens in these meetings. But you would see it, um, updated every two weeks. So my thinking it was it would live in the weekly is a standard new section and then be updated every Friday after a council meeting. Okay. Perfect. Council manager. Zach. Thank you. Mayor Pro tem. Um, the one comment or question that I would have is, uh, I brought this up, but at the same time, I want to be sure that it’s useful, which it sounds like there is, because I also said, what is it we can do to relieve your if there’s anything. And I think we have a responsibility and I don’t want to create another bureaucracy if it isn’t effective. But I’m hoping that this will because the fluidity of the council, there’s so many things that go on that I think, uh, it’s important to write that down. Madam mayor, Pro Tem, Council member, the good point. I’ve had the same thoughts, uh, when I was putting this together. Am I making more work for myself or others? Probably, yes. Um, riffing on an answer, I would think in our one on ones, if you raise something, you can tell me that that should be on the tracker. I think the point then would be to bring it up and seek consensus to do work on it. You know, I kind of wanted to be sensitive and not chasing too many rabbits about individual wants and needs, but to have conversations here. So I think if you feel like it’s not on the tracker, I’d feel free to put that on there. But then I’d want to raise that in the study session or something. If you wanted more work to be on it, done, done on it. Agreed. I agree. Sounds like a good plan. Yes. And I like the transparency of it and the fact that we’ll have visibility of it at all times. I just want to also just reiterate that the weekly update is meant to be like a quick check in. So we just want to make sure that. we stick with that as much as possible. Noted. Thank you. Do you have something? So when you say the weekly updates, a quick check and you’re saying the weekly email that we receive for you as a quick check in. That’s what the purpose. It’s kind of like a glance and making sure that there’s visibility of things. But I think if you have to dig too much into it, then that would lead into like a study session or that would be a one on one conversation. I think if it’s something that’s it’s a placeholder. You can kind of get a quick update. Yeah, that’s how. I agree. And I think this will this will only add to what you’ve been communicating to us quite timely and transparently. Yeah. And weekly updates. Yeah. Thank you for the clarity. Um. Thank you for that. We still have 15 minutes. So I guess we’re going to go ahead. And is there a motion to adjourn? Um. I make a motion to adjourn. Is there a second? Second. You take the roll, please. Council member Joseph. Hi. Council member Lawrence Anderson. Hi. Council member Moore.. I mayor pro tem. Craig I. Motion carries. Thank you. You want to just take a 15 minute break before the we can start the council session? Yes, please. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Let me take roll call, please. Council member. Joseph here. Council member Lawrence Anderson here. Council member. Moore here. Mayor pro tem Craig. Here. Mayor graves is excused. Miss rice, for 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. Hey, that brings us up to informal, open forum. This is an opportunity for the public to address the City Council on items that are not on the agenda. It is limited to 15 minutes. It may not be used to make personal attacks or personal grievances, make political endorsements, or for political campaign purposes. Council members will not enter into a dialogue with the presenter. Questions from the council will be for clarification purposes only. It will not be used as a time for problem solving or reacting to the comments made, but for hearing the presenter for informational purposes only. The first call will be for those who have notified the clerk that they would like to speak during the open forum, and then ask if anyone connected to this meeting would like to speak. When called upon, please indicate your name and then proceed. Please be sure to state your name before speaking. And I read the decorum for the public to ensure meetings are conducted in a professional and courteous manner, which enables the orderly conduct of business. All persons in attendance or who participate in such meetings, shall conduct themselves in a manner that does not interfere with the ability of others to observe when allowed, and to participate without disruption or fear of intimidation, decorum. Persons who attend meetings must avoid conduct that disrupts, interferes with, or disturbs the orderly conduct of the meeting or the or the ability of other attendees to observe and participate as appropriate to the end. Persons who attend meetings are subject to the following. Members of the public may only speak during meetings when allowed under city. Under Council rules, and only after being recognized by the presiding Officer. The City Council has established time limits for the acceptance of public comments or testimony as two minutes. Public comments or testimony must be addressed to the presiding Officer and not to other council members, staff, or others in attendance. All elected officials shall be referred to by their proper title and surname. Public comments should avoid personal accusations, profanity and other improper contact for public meeting. Intimidating behaviors. Threats of threats of hostility or actual violence are disallowed. The Presiding Officer shall request any person who disrupts, interferes with, or disturbs the orderly conduct of a meeting to cease the conduct, and, if necessary, shall issue an oral warning to the individuals found to be in violation. If the individual persists in disrupting, interfering with, or disturbing the meeting, the presiding officer may have the individual removed or under appropriate circumstances, temporarily clear the gallery. If for any reason the presiding officer fails to take such action, a majority vote may be substituted for action by the presiding officer to maintain order and decorum of the proceedings. The Council chambers capacity is 76 persons per file code. City clerk has anyone submitted a card to speak? Is there anyone in the chambers that would like to address the city Council and informal open forum? Okay. Is there anyone online who would like to address the council in informal open forum? I’ll ask again if anyone is interested in addressing the council and informal open forum. Everyone sounds just excited to be in the room. Council member Moore. I’ll move approval to close informal open forum. Second. Take the roll, please. Council member. I., Council member Lawrence Anderson I Council member Moore I mayor pro tem craziness. I. Thank you. And next we go to invocation. We have Councilmember Lawrence Anderson with the invocation tonight. Yes. Um, I want to share a quote from Shakespeare. Um, I found this in a magazine when I was a kid from 1978, and it has resonated with me. And. That time was so turbulent with with riots and Vietnam. And it was just very inspiring to me. Um, as you can tell, I kept it all these years very simple. But in my opinion, very profound. It goes like this. We know what we are, but not what we may be. William Shakespeare and it has inspired me my whole life. What you are today. Um, you can evolve and change and hopefully become a better person. So that’s really all I wanted to say tonight. Thank you. I think I remember hearing you read that before. I have. See, it must have been good. I remember. Mhm. Okay. Okay. Is there a motion to approve the agenda and consent agenda? Council member Moore. Um, yes. I’ll make a motion to approve the agenda and consent agenda. Is there a second? Second. I’ll take the roll, please. Council member. Aye. Council member. Lawrence Anderson. Aye. Council member. I. I thank you. And that brings up to item seven. Presentations, proclamations, recognitions and donations. We don’t have any tonight. Next we go to public hearings. We don’t have any of those tonight. Planning Commission items. We don’t have any. We’re on a roll here. Council consideration items. We have none. And then we go to council report. Anyone like to share? Council member Moore. Um, thank you. Mayor Pro tem. On June 16th, I attended the Riverwood Neighbor neighborhood meeting. Um, there were well over a hundred, uh, residents in attendance. Um, throughout everyone brought dishes to share. Um, it was a beautiful neighborhood gathering. Um, they have been well established for many years. I believe it was 1974 that it started. So, Tom, who was on our 252 advisory commission, along with some others, started it back in the 70s. So. And it stayed alive all this time. So, um, thank you for the invite. And I really appreciated attending and talking with residents. Um, I have a reminder. Next Tuesday, June 30th is a all city neighborhood meeting. Uh, 6 p.m. at the Brooklyn Center Admin building. Um, as you know, we proposed some changes to the neighborhood meetings. This is considered a neighborhood engagement. All city. Um, starts at 6 p.m. at the, uh, Brooklyn Center Administration Building on Shingle Creek Parkway. Um, I learned from my one on one meeting with Mister Nyquist that Commissioner Lundy is going to be at the July 13th meeting. So I would encourage us, um, if we have any questions or concerns regarding anything Hennepin County, we could certainly bring, um, our share. Ask him at that time. I certainly want to know. An update to the Expanded response pilot. Um, again, this is the model of the social worker and paramedic and what’s happening with that? Um, and then lastly, we have our July 4th, 250 years celebrating. Um, and I want to take this time and remind those to reflect upon the meaning of liberty and equality and our journey to create a more perfect union. On July 4th. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Council member. Zach. Um. Thank you. Pro tem, um, I attended the. Riverwood Association meeting. Uh, met with. Various constituents. Uh. Worked on the 252. Uh, it had two, 1 to 1 and was involved in another meeting that I was invited with. Um. I would also like. To, Uh, point out. I often don’t we get these national government updates sent to us. Today’s was particularly interesting in that they had a 13 section video on government accounting, which was really valuable to take a look at to answer. And we’re not all CPAs like Doctor Creighton is here. But even so, just for a reminder that there’s very big differences in government accounting. And so I’ve started going through that, and I thought it was very helpful. Very good. Council member Los Angeles. Yeah. Um, no, nothing at this time. Okay. Um, I attended the fire academy graduation. Um, Council member George Zack was there as well. That’s right. Um, and that was actually the fourth year. And actually, um, myself in Jersey. Um, Councilman Zach had been to every one of those, so we were, um, proud to represent there as well. And then also, um, noting that Brooklyn Center had the most graduates. So we had four. So we were excited about that as well. The presence continues to grow. Um, I also was a speaker at the Black Women in Government um, forum. That was it was a panel. It was actually a very good, um, discussion and a very good, good group there. Um, also, I attended the Juneteenth event, um, at Hennepin College with the Brooklyn’s Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center. Um, was collaboration with that. There were over 50 vendors there and 12 sponsors. It was a very well attended event. It was very, very nice. Um, and I just think of at some point we would get to the point where we don’t have to define what Juneteenth means. Just like we don’t have to define what July 4th means. Um, that actually, um, a mayor said that so that I don’t quote me on that one. Another mayor said that, but, um, I do look forward to the moment when we get to that point. Um, I also met with the interim city manager as well. Um, and I also want to note another, um, upcoming event, music on the farm at the Heritage Center is going to be Wednesday, this Wednesday, June 24th from 6 to 9. Thank you. Make sure you come out. Yep. Council manager Zach. Mayor pro tem. I would like to make a comment about the attendance of the fire thing. Um, I’m going to get this wrong, but it’s the firemen’s association. Had the bagpipe presentation was incredibly emotional. Mhm. Um, you know, it struck memories not only 911, but also Burnsville, the funeral and those things. And, um, kudos because um, boy, that takes a lot of dedication and stuff. That was quite moving. Mhm. They sounded wonderful by the way. Council member Moore. Yes. Thank you. Uh Mayor pro tem for bringing up music at the farm at the Heritage Center from 6 to 9 on Wednesday. They’re also doing tours. And as I indicated, our last council meeting, they have a Facebook page. They’ve been sharing lots of different a variety of events. Um, that will be food and beverages available. So I encourage residents who haven’t done a tour lately. Um, to go and check it out. Mayor Pro tem. Yes, Councilmember. Um, on that note, um, perhaps it can be posted that there will be a quorum. Most likely at that event. Thank you for noting that. Um. Okay. I’ll make a motion to adjourn. So a second. I’ll second. Can you take the roll, please? Council member. Joseph. Aye. Council member Lawrence. Anderson. Aye. Council member. Moore. Hi. Mayor pro tem. Craig. I thank you. Now we can go into the economic development meeting. Authority meeting. Can we go ahead and call that to order? Can you take the roll, please? Commissioner. Present. Commissioner Lawrence Anderson here. Commissioner Moore here. Is it? President Pro tem. , president. Pro ten. Craig. here. President graves is good. Thank. My name doesn’t begin with P. Okay. Is there approval of the agenda? Consent agenda. Council member Moore. I’ll move. Approval of the agenda and consent agenda.. There a second. I’ll second you. Take the roll, please. Commissioner Jersey. High Commissioner Lawrence Anderson, high Commissioner Moore, I president pro tem. I motion passed. Thank you. That brings us to the public hearing. For a. It’s item four a it should be. Yeah. I’m sorry. No, sorry. We got to go down here. So it goes to commission. I’m sorry. I confuse. Us. I started wondering. Okay, here. We. Go. Good evening. Tonight we have a purchase and development agreement for scooters. Coffee at 6245 Brooklyn Boulevard. That is an EDA owned property. This is a public hearing. Just a quick recap. This is a very small property. It’s an oversized residential lot. I guess for comparison, just over 14,000ft. It’s in our neighborhood, mixed use district. It sits on three frontages along Ewing. Um, Brooklyn Boulevard and oh my gosh, 61st. Um, 2040 comprehensive plan. It’s guided as neighborhood mixed use. It is currently vacant. It was formerly an automotive use and the neighboring uses today include a strip mall to the south, some multifamily residential to the west, and our West Fire station to the east. At the April 26th EDA meeting, city staff presented a concept for the proposed Scooter’s Coffee location on two EDA owned sites. These are 6245 Brooklyn Boulevard. The proposal was generally well received, and the EDA commissioners expressed support for entering into a purchase and development agreement. A public hearing notice was submitted to The Sun Post and published on May 28th, and the hearing was noticed for June 8th. However, additional time was required. We just ran into issues with getting all of the parties together due to some travel that was going on during that time frame, so we did continue that meeting to tonight. Just for some perspective here, the site today, you’ll see it’s vacant with the new Brooklyn Boulevard improvements, including a bus stop on the north end, new trail on the east. You can see here back in 1994, when the automotive use was still there. Today. Just some more photos. Um, more recently. As mentioned, the property sits on three frontages. It’s at a signalized intersection. Drive through uses like a scooter’s coffee are a conditional use in the M-2 district. The EDA purchased these properties back in 2013 for $280,000 as a vacant property, and it was actually purchased for the same price that the former owner had acquired the properties for back in 1993. Um, regarding the automotive use, we were able to pull an MPCa letter from 1991 that noted that the underground tanks had been removed and a cleanup completed, and that at that time it had met the adequate cleanup for the petroleum release. The acquisition, as you’ll probably see with the Brooklyn Boulevard project, did facilitate a new right turn lane on 63rd, new sidewalk, a new trail, and a new bus stop. Just for the purchase and development offer. We did look at median land values for the property and surrounding it. They were coming in at about 8 to $10 a square foot. So about 108 to 235,000. CoStar was referenced for comparables on recent sales, and we were able to pull some data on the current valuation from Hennepin County, which called out 133,000 for the property. The offer amount that you’ll see in the attached document is for $150,000 for the property that comes in at about $10 $20 a square foot. As part of the agreement, there would be a $10,000 earnest money that would be due upon execution of the contract. There is a provision for 90 days new diligence to study the site, with some optional extensions. And as is typical with all of our EDA properties, we do have a clause that would allow the seller which is us, to reenter and take possession of the property. If, for instance, the minimum improvements were not completed. The property is being sold as is for a 664 square foot commercial coffee shop. The buyer will need to obtain all necessary government approvals, specifically the Planning Commission approvals, prior to closing on the property. They do want the ability to negotiate an easement with the adjacent property for cost access if needed. And the buyer is also requesting that the seller, which is the city EDA, pay for a replant of the property. City staff did look into it with our city attorney. We believe it can be handled through a minor subdivision administrative process, which basically means we wouldn’t need to bring it through planning commission. We would handle it inside with staff. We’ve been working through different concepts. So this is just the last one you had seen back in April. There’s been some additional discussions since just with deliveries and trash pickup. Um, as you’ll see here, it would be a drive through with a small coffee shop. There would be a private curb access off of Ewing, and there’d be a walk up window with an outdoor patio. Just some example exteriors. So for this evening, I did mention that it is a public hearing. So that’s probably the first step that we do want to handle. I do have recommended action language. We do have representation from the franchisee here in person I believe, and we also have representation on virtually with scooters corporate in case there are any questions. Councilmember Moore. If there’s no questions from the council, I’ll do a motion to open the public. Hearing question. Okay. Good question counselor. I just had two questions. Um, it doesn’t indicate in here. I understand they have a period of 90 days, but is there an anticipated beginning of instruction and potential opening? Because I get those questions. That is one of the items that’s called out. I don’t know which page it’s on. Um, there is reference to it and the PDA essentially a request to provide a general timeline for execution. The PDA, just any of our EDA PDAs, anyway, um, have a timeline on them. At the time we started discussing this, there had been an ask to get moving on this because there was a potential to start construction. Yet this year. The PDA is important because scooters will not enter into any of the architectural or civil design formally until that’s executed. Um, my understanding is that it’s probably a quick turnaround to prepare those plans, because it is kind of a standard format for at least the building. Um, the other thing that needs to happen, which needs to happen anyway, is the combination of the two properties, but that should be a fairly efficient process if we can handle that administratively. We would need to submit a separate Planning Commission application. So I would say I would ask the the buyer, but there is the potential that perhaps we could still go under construction this year. Okay. Councilmember Lawrence Anderson. Um, just a question. Um, the EDA purchased these two properties for 280,000 and were selling it for 150. Huh? Yes. So, um, I would say that’s actually pretty typical for EDA properties. We often on we often lose money, but that’s also in the hopes to get the highest and best use to get it back on the tax rolls. So I don’t know the last time we really went out and made tons of money off of an EDA property. So that’s kind of looking at that. What is our ultimate goal is the EDA, and I would say generally is to get properties back on the tax roll to get them productive and useful. Right. Well, I’ve lived in the city so long. I remember when the gas station was there, so I’m happy to I’m happy to see something going in that I think will be very beneficial. I’m sure Fire Department is going to love it. Mhm. All right. Thank you very much. Thanks. Council member Razak.. A follow up, if I may. Um, I had asked during the presentation. I don’t know that I ever got an answer because of the inability to access off of Brooklyn Boulevard. Um, I asked about the no parking in the back between there and the residential, and I don’t want to hold anything up. I just want to be sure that that is addressed, because we will be getting complaints if it’s not addressed. I would say it’s more likely that people will park on the strip mall parking lot if that were to ever occur. Um, the last few times I have been on Ewing, I haven’t really seen any cars parked along, at least during the daytime hours. Okay. Um, I’m just trying to be proactive. The other thing is, is is anybody check to see? I believe it’s phantom fireworks. Is encroaching in on that property. I did notice that the other. Day. What’s encroaching? Phantom fireworks has a tent up there. And, uh, one final question. If I may. Male pro tem, um, once it’s commenced, is it will it be described as the who will be responsible for the maintenance of that property? Because there is significant mowing that needs to occur and litter that does congregate there. Commissioner, I would say typically until there’s an actual closing, it’s still our responsibility as the city. Well, I wanted to know. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Um, that was one of the things that I had flagged out was the reduction in purchase price. Um, almost doubled or split in half from. But then again, that was 13 years ago. And then also, um, even though we say something is better than nothing, because right now it’s just sitting. So I do want to acknowledge that. But I do hear a lot of residents who are very excited to have scooter scooters here. So I believe it’d be a good addition, especially Council Member Moore. She’s excited, even though.. Mayor graves, yes, is excited. Yes, he. T t president Pro Tem Craig Ness. Um, I will say that at least in looking at current valuation, I guess back to that valuation, if we’re looking at the surrounding properties and their valuation at 8 to $10 a square foot, we’re looking at Hennepin County Assessor’s Office for the valuation. And then that CoStar data is still technically coming in over. Now we would have some of the closing costs. We would have the plat. So that does come off. But the offer is $150,000 at face. So. Okay. Is there a motion I. I will now do my motion to open the public hearing. Um. Second. Second. We take the roll, please. Commissioner Rogers. High Commissioner Lawrence Anderson, high Commissioner Moore, I president pro tem. Craig a. Motion. Thank you. Anyone want to come and speak? We’re just excited to be here. I’ll ask again if anyone would like to come and speak at the public hearing. Okay. We’re taking public input. There’s no one. Is. Okay. We take a motion to close the public hearing. So moved. Okay, we take the roll, please. Second. Oh, sorry. I’ll second that motion. Okay, now we can take the roll. Thank you, Commissioner Jersey. I. Commissioner Lawrence Anderson. I Commissioner Moore. I president pro tem. I motion passes. And now we need to have a motion here. Okay. Is there a motion to adopt a resolution? Council member Moore. Yeah, I’ll make a motion to adopt a resolution approving a purchase and development agreement between the City of Brooklyn Center Economic Development Authority and Promise Property Holdings, LLC for the conveyance of certain property. Property commonly addressed as 6245 Brooklyn Boulevard. Second. Second. Can we take the roll, please? Mister Rogers? Aye. Commissioner Lawrence Anderson, I Commissioner Moore. I. President pro tem. Craig I thank you. Thank you. Thank you. One step closer. Yes. One step. Closer. Now we’re going to commission consideration items. Thank you. President. Did I say that? Yes. Okay. I’ll just. I’m not going to call you the pro tem. I’ll call you present. Thank you. Uh, this is a, um, amended and restricted purchase and sale agreement for 6500 Camden Avenue North. Okay. Um, just to give you a little bit of the project history, this concept review was brought forward on September 9th, 2024 for a restaurant lounge bar. The size is approximately 5700 square foot building with approximately 1200ft of outdoor patio proposed for 6500 Camden Avenue North. On November 5th or November 25th, 2024. The EDA board approved a development and purchase agreement. The the size of the location is 1.6 acres. It’s in the pud C-2 commercial. Um, its land use guidance is for business, mixed use, and the neighboring land uses are the Topgolf and then the mall convenience stores adjacent. So, um, the total amount invested in the property was about 685,000. Through the transactions that occurred, the purchase price for the land in the purchase agreement was $500,000. Uh, that was come to through a number of different, um, and it was um, the the purchase price was derived by the valuation of the land and the impairments to the land. There were a number of, um, um, I’m going to say this correctly. There was a, an easement through the land for I think it’s a sewer pipe or water pipe. So the land was a bit impaired and the property was part of the strategic opposition acquisition of the vacant lot. Um, involved in the top golf site. So the concept that Jumbo Africa put forward is a restaurant bar. The building size is before hasn’t changed too dramatically. It’s a bit smaller. 5120ft with a 1042 square foot mezzanine occupancy of 330 people, parking spaces of 152. The Amended and Restated Purchase Agreement, Purchase and Development Agreement consists of a few things, one of which we want to go over with the council here or with the commissioners here today. Uh, so the amendment amended and Restated Purchase and Development Agreement contains the following amended terms. During this time when we were working on this, there were a number of increases in value increases, price increases for construction. There was obviously some trade war situations going on as well. People might recall, at least I recall, whenever I pay for gas. So there’s a number of things going on. So one of the the agreement included a new section 4.5 which reimbursed, which was reimbursement of facade improvements. The section provides a rebate of the purchase price not to exceed $250,000 for facade upgrades of greater than 50% of class one materials on any or all of the eligible facade sites. It allowed for an additional months for conditions of conveyance, and it allowed for a number of other matters. The one matter I wanted to just bring up to the Council, of course, is the matter involving the reimbursement of facade improvements. That is an option for the commissioners to consider is not something that they have to consider. The reason it was included was it’s I think it’s a policy decision that the count that the commissioners need to make. If the cost of construction kept increasing and the facade improvements were not of the highest quality. The issue that came up whenever I brought this particular site to individuals was, this is the premier site in Brooklyn Center. This is our top golf site. This is our premier site. The amount of times I’ve heard Premier Site was probably a lot of premier sites, so that we put in for the council for the commissioners to consider. It does not necessarily have to be something that they necessarily agree to, and I asked Jenny Bolton, our attorney, to email Siobhan, our city attorney, the information so she could review it as well. So the question is, um, so the EDA recommended action is to move forward with an agreement. The question is which type of agreement and what type of facade, if any, improvements does the commissioners care to consider? Councilman Rogers. Um, thank you, mayor Pro Tem. Um, I have a series of four questions. Would you prefer me to stop after each one or. Yeah, let’s just say one at a time. Um, perhaps for clarity purposes, uh, Mr. Alexander, in essence, do you consider this a renegotiation of the original purchase agreement? I considered this a choice that the commissioners needed to make on whether this was something that they wanted to pursue. This was an additional language, and we were calling out the language by putting it in the presentation. Um, the, the facade improvement would come at the detriment of the cost of the land. However, there wouldn’t be a net savings of the developer. The developer would be coming to the table with the same amount of money. It’s just the question is, does the council wish for the facade to be of a higher quality? That was the that was the question.. I kind of understand what, um, Commissioner George Atkinson, because my understanding was that the original agreement had expired and now they’re ready to do work. So it was coming up with a new agreement. But it sounds like the new agreement is renegotiating some some additional items that weren’t in the original. Well, the council or the sorry, the commissioners can choose to not abide by that amendment. That’s why it was specifically put in as an amendment for them, for you to decide on what you wanted to do or not. Thank you for pointing that out, that it wasn’t a part of the original, so that helps. Commissioner follow up. Okay. Um, which brings up a do you consider, in your professional opinion, there’s critical to the project happening? I think it’s a policy decision. The real question, in my opinion, Commissioner, is if pricing increased, we still have a, um, a bottom number as to what I just talked to Jenny and a few moments about ago about this. We still have a choice of what we can build on the site. What they’re bringing to the table is quality a quality development. The question is, does the Commission desire a higher quality, if that were possible to build? The reason we we structured it this way was if you did decide to move forward with that particular concept, these would be line items, amounts. They wouldn’t be put into the general budget. They would have to be called out for specific improvements to the facade that that’s it not it’s not a grab bag of or a subsidy for the developer because the developers come to the table with the same the same items. Follow it. Yes. Um, would it be fair then, to say that if we elected to do this as a policy decision, it sets a precedent and we would probably get a lot more requests for this to happen? Okay. Well, again, um, Commissioner, that is a choice that the commission needs to make. Um, that is, I would I would say developers are always going to bring you choices of which they would that predominantly are going to going to meet at their bottom line. This does not necessarily improve their bottom line because it it’s the same amount of money that they’d be spending. The issue is that it would decrease the amount of money that the city would get for the sale of the land. That’s, again, a policy question that the commissioners need to make. Yes. Um, well, um, it’s time of the essence. And part of the reason I ask that is that, um, it’s a significant ask, I think, and I appreciate you bringing it, but our mayor is not here tonight to weigh in on it. And I think it’s it’s a pretty significant ask. Uh, part of it is, is we just had I don’t know if we call it pushback, but questioning from Mayor Pro tem and another council member, and even I. We historically write down land. But when you look at the write down on this, ultimately it could come out to be about $750,000 in some forms of subsidy. So my question is, is how is that proportionate to the overall cost of the project? What percentage is it, you know, is it in line with the city’s able to do and has done in the past? Um, Commissioner Zach, I’m, I’m trying to say this in a way that doesn’t. At the end of the day, I always have to remind myself that as many lofty ideas as I may or may not have, um, I’ll just let my colleagues not comment on that. At the end of the day, this is this is your decision. You have to make the decisions as to what quality of development you’d like to see. My goal is to try to provide you with options. And so right now I, I believe that the renderings I saw for the original project looked pretty good. Um, they requested this. I suggested that we can incorporate it in however it was going to be incorporated in. I said it had to be an option for the council. We’re not renegotiating terms. They get to choose what they would like or not like. Sorry. The commission. Mm mm. Yeah. Just the last comment for me. Um, uh, it’s a little harder for me to swallow. Um, in the end, I think it’s a good development and everything else. But there comes a point when we have capacity is limitations. I’m trying to be reasonable and fair. Um. Wow, that’s a tough one for me. And and I would have really, uh, this particular one, if time isn’t of the essence preferred, at least for the mayor to wear in, because that’s pretty significant. So my suggestion I’m not going to make a motion now, but maybe consider tabling this. Uh, but that’s up to my other colleagues to if time isn’t of the essence, the agreement already expired. As pro tem called out, then it can’t be an emergency in my mind. So that would be my only thing about that, you know. So and then another thing to point out is they’re going to, um, do their project regardless because they’re coming in with the same amount of money. It’s just a matter of, like you said, stating that we could potentially be on the hook for $250,000. Yeah. Um. That is a I, I just want to make it very clear that I specifically spelled this out when I spoke with them, that this is not a net savings for them. This is a it would be a reduction in the amount of money the city would receive. The question would be, would it be a better quality asset in the city? That’s the question that the that sorry commission. And then is there a way to qualify it to quantify the quality of the difference in the quality of improvement? The material? Yeah. Uh. President Pro tem, uh, commissioners, I think there’s some questions that my question here would be, would it be beneficial to have, like the categorization of what these materials look like? You can base the decision based off of like giving staff time to be like, here’s what this looks like or here’s what, you know, another higher category of materials looks like.. I think that would be beneficial because I’m thinking of, you know, it’s not like you’re building a house with straw versus brick. You know, there’s, you know, it could be a lot, um, of variables in there. So I’d be curious. Council Member Moore. Thank you for the time. Um, first, I’d like to say that, um, I don’t consider this a carve out. If the commissioners decide that this is a policy decision to upgrade facades around the city, some of them are in poor shape. And for something new coming in, yes, there could be a category categorization. Again, that’s not my expertise or my colleagues, but certainly I would think that the staff know the difference. Um, secondly, when we talk about the funding of where this would come from, are we talking about TIF funds or are we talking about Grant? Are we talking about where would this money come if we were going to approve something like this? For any business who might come to us for a facade improvement? Well, I think this is a is different than a commissioner, um, or a a bit different than a regular facade improvement grant. This is this is part of a development development agreement. So we’d have to figure out the best way to structure that, that were discussing that a little bit earlier today. Uh, candidly, if I were to take my if I were to keep the hat on that I wear and we’re to say what I truly think, I think the quality of the development is already in our code. Right? That requires x, Y, and z. And this was more of a if things get way too expensive and we have to come back, I still think they’re going to have to meet code. The question is, does it become too expensive for them to build to the quality that we already have? Right. If I were to give you, I’m sorry, you’re about to ask a question. Well, I think, you know, if you’ve still had a thought. Director. I’m sorry. I mean, manager, Mr.. Okay. If you could answer. Mr.. Is the nicest thing anyone’s said to me in a while. Um, so I think honestly, uh, if I were to take a step back and look at this from 100ft down, I think it would probably be best to move forward. They’re not gonna like it when I say this. To move forward with the project as it is, without the amendment. And then in future, future options. I think the council could could come up with a policy as to what it would like to see. I think perhaps bringing this forward to the council now is a bit too much to digest. At one time, unless I’m mistaken, the Commission’s perspective. And I would agree with that. I think if there’s a policy in place already that we have a standard set, we would. I think the bigger question would be changing that policy to upgrade to a different level, if that’s what the city or the commission decides to do, versus it being a one off project, I think you change it overall because if not, you’re opening yourself like, um, Commissioner George, like I said, where the ask will come continuously from there and say, oh, that this is the the new policy that’s not written yet. Councilmember Moore. Um, yes. And I would just say that I actually appreciate you bringing that and having this robust discussion with my fellow commissioners, because we should be bringing up these ideas around how we should set policy around new businesses and or the existing businesses and grants that are available. There. Also, I agree with Commissioner Zach, in terms of how timely this is. Again, we have an agreement that’s expired or expiring. Expired. Um, and this says 12 additional months to complete construction, but you could still we could still potentially leave out that agreement. Are you saying that you would like to come back without that language regarding the reimbursement of facade improvements to a future meeting? Candidly, I would like the project to move forward. We can take that section out. Just move it forward. Thought it was requested. But candidly, you’re the decision makers and I think that would expedite getting this project finished. I agree. Councilmember Razak. Thank you. Um. Would you. Be willing to go back to slide number six, please? One back. Um, that’s five. Sorry. Okay. There we go. Um, for clarification purposes, for those who are trying to follow online, um, when it talks about allowing an additional 3.5 months to satisfy conditions of conveyance, 4.5 additional months, are those cumulative or are they simultaneously? And in my second part of my comment would be, um, I already think there has been tremendous pressure with upward costs and inflation, and that’s possibly one of the reasons that the development agreement expired already. So I would be very open to trying to move it forward without the additional 200. And but I’m only one vote. I the other consideration. And then and this is not meant to be critical, but these kind of surprises don’t sit well with me when all of a sudden, after something’s been negotiated, I thought we had a negotiation that I would have preferred. And don’t take this personal, please, Mr. Alexandria, that this would have got to as soon as we could have considered it. Because surprises. Uh, well, I’ve said enough. Uh, I’ll leave it at that. That’s the reason why I’m glad that he pointed that out, because, um, had we not have had the other contract, the other agreement in front of us, we would have assumed that it may have already been in there. And so having this conversation is very helpful to point that out. Council Member Moore. Um, yeah. And I differ with Commissioner George. I actually don’t mind that it came here. I mean, we did get it in the packet. I did talk with Mr. Nyquist about it. My 1 to 1, I mean, and it comes here. So all commissioners can talk about it. So, um, but I can do a motion that excises that. That part of the agreement, is that correct? Uh, talk to your city attorney. Yes. President pro tem. Commissioners. Yes. You can, um, and I can help you with the motion language. So whenever you’re ready to make that motion, let me know. Just so I’m clear, though, um, what we’re doing right now is approving the purchase and development agreement without the the amended section, adding the 250,000. Right. Correct. Okay, great. So what you’ll do is you say you’ll make a motion to approve, uh, can you go to the motion language? Uh, Ian. Next. Next slide. Because I’m not sure what resolution number it is. Yeah. Oh, okay. Um, sorry. It’s okay. So what you’ll do is, uh, Commissioner Moore, you’ll read the motion language, and then, um, I’ll quote you through what to say at the end. So go ahead, read. I’ll make a motion to approve a resolution for an amended and restated purchase and development agreement between the Economic Development Authority of Brooklyn Center and AUC Holdings, Jambo Africa. But with the additional direction to staff. But with the additional direction to staff. To delete section 4.5 and exhibit E. To delete section 4.5 and exhibit E. From the draft contract prior to execution. From the draft contract prior to execution. Is there a second? Second? Anybody? I will second. We take the roll, please. Commissioner Joseph. I’d like to record the show. Um, yes. I’m going to vote. Yes, but I want the record to show that with the expiration. Um, and the increased costs, um, I’m hoping that they aren’t continually coming back asking for more and that they’re not going to or that they’re going to be able to perform, because I’d really like to see this happen. Um, thank you. Commissioner Lawrence Anderson. I. Commissioner Moore, I president pro tem. Craig I. Motion passes. Thank you. Now we’ll go ahead and go to the commission discussion items. Thank you. No.. You’re fine. Doing a thousand times better than I would do on. This. Thank you. Commissioners, we’re just going to discuss briefly. The EDA scattered site. Um, plan. So just a little bit of background. The EDA owns numerous scattered sites zoned for a variety of uses. Past efforts have had mixed results. Staff proposes a revised proactive plan for the redevelopment of those sites. So these sites. I will not read through all of the sites. There are quite a few of them. I will let you take a peek or you can look at your documentation you have in front of you. We have a few, obviously, that are pending. So the strategy is enhanced marketing and legislative efforts. We have our EDA hub on the website highlighting available parcels and other information relevant for developers. Staff are personally marketing sites directly to developers, apparently I’m personal and I’m marketing things. Um, we’re preparing for the 2027 legislative session, which we’ve had some initial conversations internally. Um, and we’re discussing all of our scattered site housings with the individuals that we’re discussing with. So, um, strategy two is, uh, retain brokerage services. So we’re preparing an RFP for commercial real estate brokerage services. Um, we’ve looked at, uh, particularly 1601 James Circle and 5400 Brooklyn Boulevard, um, why that name sounds so familiar. The 5400 is the. Okay, that’s the, um. And, um, we received some interest in those sites, but we’re moving ahead. Um, we’re, um, we’re discussing these directly with builders. We’ve had many discussions with infill housing, and EDA staff will conduct our outreach to local builders and directly to determine interest in building on these sites. Um, each individual land sale and housing proposal will be brought to the EDA for consideration. And of course, strategy for is continued continuing existing partnerships. So obviously we’re working with scooters, Jambo Africa and McNeil management on 57th and Logan. Um, and so staff would this is our plan. I went through it rather quickly and I hope I didn’t go too through it too quickly for you, but, um, we’d welcome questions and, uh, feedback from the board. Councilmember. Zach. I believe council member Moorhead. Her hand up first. Put it down so she confused. Well, I did, I thought you might just defer to Commissioner Jersey. Okay, sorry, Commissioner. Um, more. But thank you, Commissioner. I will. Um. 1950, 57th Avenue, north of 4.72 acre neighborhood. Mixed use is pending. So do we have some of this interested in development there? McNeil 19. Is that. No, this is townhouse, condominium multifamily. This is not event center. Oh. Is it the same? Is that the event center? That is the. Or is it. That’s 57th. Yeah, that’s 57th. And Logan I believe isn’t it. Yes. So that’s the. That’s actually I’m 57. So it is down the corner okay. Thank you. I have another question. But go ahead Commissioner. Oh go ahead if you want to finish. Yeah. No go ahead. You’re not going to have you going back and forth like. Okay.. I’m sorry. Where are you done, Commissioner Moore? Yes. Okay. Commissioner Zach. Um. If you’re able, can you go to page 102 of 116, please? Oh. It’s, uh, with regards to the EDA scattered site marketing plan. Oh, um, and I really appreciate the comments. Uh, about this, uh, when you’ve made a statement in there, bullet point number two, past efforts have had mixed results. Um, I’d be curious why. And more importantly, I would appreciate your root cause analysis as to what we will do so that we don’t repeat those same mistakes. Why? We’ve had so much difficulty with marketing scattered sites. We basically have only accumulated property, and we’ve never really done much more than that. And I think our residents would be very interested in what we’ve learned. Well, first and foremost, Commissioner Zach, one of the challenges we’ve had on our scattered sites is some of them are just really challenging sites to begin with. For example, um, right near our fire department, we have two wonderful sites with a building in the middle of it, with another unit in the middle and the gentleman in the middle was a very nice gentleman. Um, has a, a price point that is non conducive to putting a larger development together. Um, and then we have a property, another property in Brooklyn Boulevard. I reached out to the individuals on that property and it is adjacent to another residential property. And that residential property owner doesn’t want to purchase it. So it’s a it’s a it’s a trapped property. So but those are kind of the exception to the rule. One of the biggest issues I’ve had since I’ve been here is that a lot of people that want to purchase these properties who contact me, want to. First of all, they originally contacted me because they said we’d love to build a group home on this property. I said, no, no, we’re not doing that. And then the second thing we got was, I’d like to build affordable housing on this property. And I said, well, we’re not doing that. We finally got into we’d like to build single family, affordable for sale properties. I said, that’s great. And then they came to me and said, could you give us like $100,000? And I was like, well, I’ll call Commissioner Zach and ask him. But, you know, that’s not generally the response I thought I was going to get. So, um, generally the challenge is, is construction pricing. So one of the things that actually happened very positively in the last few months is we finally actually have reputable, decent, I shouldn’t say now if anyone’s listening. I didn’t say that. Um, we have more decent modular builders that are coming to the table. And when I say modular, I don’t mean, you know, like when I was a kid, I thought of modular builders as the people that would bring the huge houses on a truck that I apparently am old, so that I remember that clearly. Um, but these are more building particular units of of of modules and then constructing them on site where they can get their pricing down. So, Council Member Zach, one of the challenges we have is without subsidy, what we often get are people that come here and they say, well, I would like to sell this, build a market rate home. Do you think I can get someone to buy it for like 450? And I’d say, well, probably not based on the homes around. And then they or they come to me and say, I would like to use this city state program or county money, mostly state. And then they say, could you give me a subsidy for my state subsidy? And I’m like, what does that mean? And they’d say, well, we want to get this money, but it calls for prevailing wage and this and that. So we had one developer who we were very excited about. And as a matter of fact, I came in front of this very commission and told you about this one developer, and then she came back to me. And she’s a great person, but with the money she’s taking, it would take it would cost $740,000 per unit to build. And so that’s the challenge we have for a scattered site. So we’ve looked at all of that. We now have two modular users that are looking at some of our scattered sites, which is very exciting. Um, however, this is something that maybe we could have a discussion with the EDA later about. They are able to price their buildings and get their buildings constructed. They can get their roof constructed. However, we’re going to have to have a discussion about what type of facades they have on their buildings, because they came back to me and said, that’s our last real consideration. And so if we’re happy having Hardy board in every building that goes up, then we can have that discussion later. But I think there’s still a chance to get the numbers right. So I think we’ll we’re talking now to more of these, um, brokers that will be bringing these to their clients. And I think that some of them will be the right fits. So. Commissioner Zach. Follow up, um, and again, this is just for consideration, but some of these, um, well, I was here 17 years and in almost my fourth year in council, one of them is 26 years. We’ve been mowing and one thought is, is, um. There’s some of these parcels that we have so much money stuck in them, a donation to humanity, the affordable housing. Donate the property to. Oh, what’s the name of it? It’s habitat for humanity or something. Let’s take a consideration and quit mowing some of this stuff. And and consider some of that type of thing of Covina 55th and 53rd. And Bryant. I know that you know, I mean that the one across from Culver’s, you’ve got a neighborhood that’s up in and up. And because you can’t access off of there, uh, there’s a meandered one that’s now across from the scooter’s coffee that underneath goes the sewage. Those those types of things. And I just think we need to be more creative. And because one of your comments on page 105 is, uh, EDA staff will conduct outreach to local builders directly to determine interest in buildings. I’m curious why this hadn’t been done before. It just seems so obvious to me. We have done that before. I think there’s I think we’re I think it would be much more helpful with brokers involved in the process. I think we are still continuing the services and the work we’ve done before. It’s just perhaps that will open up another category for us. Um, one of the things I think is really challenging here, and this is it’s an opportunity, but it’s a challenge is the other day I was, um, butting in on one of my colleagues conversations she had with someone who came to. I’m looking at you, Jenny. Um, who came to our our our counter, and they. Very lovely lady. And she has a property that is an acre and a half long on Brooklyn Boulevard that’s non buildable. Unless we split it in two. And so I said, oh, we can build on that, you know, what do you want for it. And I can’t say what she wants for it, but it is too much money. It’s a it’s a nice house. It’s a, it’s a decent house. But even if you, the house value is not going to get her what she wants for the property. And so what I’ve discovered is that a lot of people, because I’ve been talking to council members, some of the adjacent property owners, trying to get enough scale to build something that eventually people will complain to Jenny about. And the challenge that we have is that when we’re doing those things, the property owners that are adjacent, a lot of them are renters that are right on Brooklyn Boulevard challenging. They don’t want to sell. If they do, the pricing is too high, and the other is when we finally get them to a the ability to sell. Right now we’re at this world where construction prices are here, so we have to think out of the box trying to bring in groups like modular and other things to to get us to get us there. So and the last thing I will say, which is not something necessarily you would like to hear, but it’s something that I think is necessary to state sometimes it takes a very long time to get, um, site control down where a development makes enough sense for a larger developer. We can still do small developments like you suggest, and also reach out to habitat and others. But, um, a lot of them that are on busy streets like Brooklyn Boulevard, they need higher density just because the people that you’re going to attract are not going to be the people that are going to buy those single family homes. So. Commissioner Moore. Yes, first off, I want to commend you for bringing this to the EDA. I have, um, experience in another city with scattered site. Um. Where times were good, costs were low. Let’s. Yeah, we, uh, you can buy that for 50,000 and we’ll build a 300,000. We are not there. But the fact that you brought this forward and are looking at it through a different lens, looking at opportunities, um, I think it’s great. It’s very commendable. I think anything that we can do to try and I think Commissioner Jersey, you know, we talk about rain gardens a lot, but no one wants to necessarily pull the weeds. Can some of that be there? Can someone adopt a corner, donate whatever it might be? Um, the modular home is exciting. I know that you’re still working on that. And there have been talks with some builders. Um, I just wondered for a reminder. Um, regarding TIF funds. And is there any you about to use in any of these area TIF districts where we have, um, city owned property? And if so, you’ve probably already discussed that and talked about that and whether that there’s any sort of incentive there. Um, but I just wanted to bring that also to the forefront. And this discussion. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you. Thank you. You maybe don’t know this, but, um, at one time there was a clear policy for us to acquire residential homes on Brooklyn Boulevard because of the danger of backing onto the the Brooklyn Boulevard. And all of the challenges with that. Has that policy changed or because you talked about tonight acquiring or, you know, different residential things? Um, I just want to be sure, because when I worked in that department, that was something they really wanted to do, was scoop up a lot of those homes when and eliminate them backing onto that busy freeway. Ask someone who has more institutional knowledge than me. Are we talking about eminent domain, Commissioner? No, no, no. Just whenever we had an opportunity, we were acquiring. And he’s talking about building more infill and modular homes and stuff than that’s a change in policy. Mm. Commissioner. Zach, you’re making me feel old, but I think this predates me. So, um. It does. Yeah. So the Brooklyn Boulevard project in the planning for that back in 2013, we had plan sets for it. It did call for the removal of curb cuts. They wanted to consolidate curb cuts. They wanted people to share access because it’s high traffic road at the north end of Brooklyn Boulevard. I think you’ve got like 30,000 cars per day up towards, you know, the 70th or so. Um, so people slamming on their brakes, and especially if people are trying to turn into their homes, is is not a good situation. So the city EDA did acquire quite a few properties along Brooklyn Boulevard. We haven’t in a while. Um, it’s been some time or at least a few years. Um, when Mr. Alexander talks about modular homes, I think I want to clarify and correct me if I’m wrong. We’re talking more so, like modular, multifamily, if anything, maybe commercial. Not on Brooklyn Boulevard, not necessarily single family. So it might be considered for other sites. Yeah, we have some authors. We do have some modular single family that we’re done. Um, that the economic development coordinator, Amy, toured a few of them that were, um, they were they were apparently very nice, um, that were done here. So, uh, in Brooklyn Center. So we reached out to that modular developer as well. But sorry. I was going to say, at least along Brooklyn Boulevard with the properties that we still have, um, majority of those are going to be UPS own properties. They’re not single family residential anymore. They’re going to be mixed use. So that’s where we’d be probably looking at, like a modular commercial or multifamily product because that’s out there now. It’s becoming more common practice. They’ve got facilities here in the state that they build it in in-house inside, and a climate controlled facility, and they bring it into the city, piece it together. So and that’s where, you know, Mr. Alexander is talking about cutting costs and some efficiencies instead of having to find people to try and construct in the middle of winter on site, you lose some efficiency. People are cold. They’re working against the weather. You have increased costs. If you have heat, blankets, um, all of that. So that’s where when we’re talking about creativity, modular is kind of been one of the discussions. But it’s not the only discussion. Thank you. And I like that there was a house that burned down in my neighborhood, and it was just like it was gone in the next, you know, it took some while next to it was a house there just all of a sudden. So Washburn. Yes. Yeah. Um. Mhm. Okay. Well, I’m glad to hear that there’s movement on this. So let’s keep going. Yes. Next up is everyone’s favorite. Opportunity site. Commissioners I obviously would love to chat about the opportunity sites. Thank you Commissioner. Uh, present on that. Um, I would like to discuss briefly the, uh, developer recruitment. So just discuss that a little bit. So first let’s start with our master plan. Um, I think that the word has gotten a negative name over the years, but let’s discuss what it is and what it can, what we can use it for. So the existing opportunity site master plan remains valid, having been developed through an extensive public process, which many people here certainly remember. I was not here at the time, but I watched it from afar and remains a strong foundation. The master plan offers flexibility while providing a foundation describing vision and priorities for the site. Core principles include coordinated infrastructure, high quality urban design and walkable, transit oriented environment. Um, it remains relevant and it can be adapted. Staff are seeking to strategically repurpose the Allardice era grants for the site, and we’ll have more information regarding outcomes in the near future. Um, so just to go down the merry road of where we are and how we got here. So following the departure of the master developer for phase one of the opportunity site staff recognized that relying on a single master developer is not the best strategy for the site. So a master developer model creates the unintended consequences of stalling the entire site when delays with the master developer occur. I don’t think anyone here knows what that’s like. Staff have engaged in outreach designed to gather real world feedback from developers to understand how to make the opportunity site attractive and financial to developers, and to identify barriers, test concepts, and shape a practical development framework. Um, so let’s discuss the. I’ll make sure I didn’t skip something. Um, let’s discuss the challenges to the opportunity site. Um, so right now there is a persistent financing gap. So I’d say that that gap right now is anywhere between 15 to 20% just on development in general in the city center. Um, the scale of the site calls for a regional stormwater infrastructure planning, which is challenging considering we’re starting kind of again, not again, but we’re restarting the process. Um, we have a regular parcels in the site that require coordination to avoid fragmentation, and the city can and must play an active role to achieve the outcomes envisioned in the master plan. So here comes the developer recruitment strategy. So staff are engaged in proactive, relationship based outreach to developers with demonstrated experience and interest in urban infill construction. Um, through this outreach, staff have identified up to four developers who have expressed an interest in the site and at least one is interested in serving. Um as a lead developer to coordinate others. Um staff have expressed to all developers the limited subsidy available and have worked to coordinate other alternatives in reducing construction costs, such as district energy or innovative stormwater management, or for that matter. We discussed a minute ago. The fun and exciting world of modular. So staff are following a regular, transparent process that does not require a formal RFP involving targeted outreach to developers with demonstrated experience in urban infill and mixed use development. Staff will regularly update the board on progress with recruitment and the development framework. Um, significant decisions, including any recommendation related to pursuing a collaborative or public private partnership structure, will be brought before the board for discussion and direction. We are going to bring things to you so you can tell us what to do. Um, developer outreach continues and formal subsidy requests are expected in the coming weeks. Candidly, we expected one today, but the developer who one of the developers who we are reaching out to and is going to be doing some work here, just purchased the Wells Fargo campus today. So down off of 35 East. So a certain, um, head of um, uh, our planning commission was there as well. Um, and so we were we want to see this massively large facility, and we met there. At least I met their funders. They’re very, very rich funders. Um, and so I invited them to come to the city of Brooklyn Center. And they are at least one of them’s coming on Wednesday or Thursday. I’m giving them a tour of the area, and we’re discussing some of the things that I believe, um, uh, some other people have already met with two of those, um, developers on the council. So next step, staff will continue direct developer outreach and accept formal subsidy requests. I kind of maybe bent someone’s arm at this event this morning and said, if you do not give me a subsidy request this week, I will show up at your house because I now know where you live. Um, believe it or not, that threat does get people to respond. Um, staff will will present a recommended development framework and recruitment update in the near future. Um, and, uh, there’s no official, um, EDA requirement action, but we are certainly open to your questions. Commissioner. Um, page 107 of 116, please. I I’m afraid, Commissioner, I don’t have the same. Okay. Uh, the future master plan update. Um, it’s one sentence. The city’s existing master plan for the opportunity site remains valid and does not need to be redone. Mm. Um. What is it? Nobody can explain it to me. We have a. We don’t have a developer any longer. We got a road that’s going to be. Is this going to be one like in Alaska? Road to nowhere. Because that included very different projects, including, uh, there was everything from a community center to a banquet center. Subsidies. Nobody’s been able to describe to me what the master plan is. And I think that this council and EDA deserves an update as to what it is and isn’t is as valuable as anything, because I certainly don’t want to build a road when we’re already. People are asking 20% when it doesn’t fit what it is that’s going on. So. Um, and I’m going to take a minor disagreement. Um, I don’t disagree. There was a whole lot of engagement, but I worked there. And I will tell you this. Nobody I’m going to look right at elders. Nobody from finance was at that table. So you can plan Disneyland. But if you don’t have anybody write a check, it isn’t going to. Work. And that’s been part of the problem, is the that financial aspect was never really because, you know, the history. And the final comment is, why did it take so long to terminate an agreement that was dead? Well, you asked all the easy questions, Commissioner Zach. Um, I, I cannot I will tell you that my conversations, which were very helpful with, um, uh, Mr. Jason Herzfeld here from elders, led to the termination of the contract with a lattice. When I had come here in February of 2024. Um, February 13th. Um, I met the one of the first questions I had was I asked to meet with, uh, a lattice, and it took a while to get a meeting set up with them. And then I kind of pushed and said, well, what’s our plan? And, uh, we finally met with them, and it was very clear to me that there were all sorts of plans, but none that had a delivery date. And so I am not the community development director. I cannot tell people what to do. The previous, um, city manager. Did not push for a new agreement. And so we kind of moved forward with a lattice sitting there. And the problem is trying to get something to happen when nothing’s happening is impossible, because you can’t bring people to the opportunity site when there is an active agreement on the opportunity site. So, um, it just it just took a while and I think it took. I’m not going to paint a beautiful picture here. I’m just going to say I think there were differences of opinion within our entity. And so where we are now is we have a path move forward with coming up with a. An organization or organizations to actually implement a plan. It is not going to be the original plan. Let’s be very candid. The original plan, in my humble opinion, um, was not going to work after the developer window expired. Um, of developments with the economy and everything else. So what we’re doing is we’re working with a number of different individuals. We’re working with hand in hand with elders and with other financial groups to help us look at the overall financial picture and how to put something together that could lead to success. Um, the groups that have approached us, we had when we were trying to reach out and find groups that actually wanted to do development here. The challenge is that most people that reached out to us when a lot is first left wanted this to be one of three things. They wanted affordability, more affordability and data centers. That is what they wanted in the city. That’s what all I got for the first, I’d say two weeks. Um, and then I got another group that said, what you really need is a data center. And I said, you know, we already did this, so we don’t you don’t have to come back again. So we had a lot of people bringing, in my opinion, poor proposals. And the one thing about the group that hopefully we’ll be putting in there, while they will be putting in their, um, application, their subsidy request to start the process is that and this is just my opinion, and I’m not vetting this with everyone else here, but maybe I should, um, to make the City of Brooklyn Center a financially viable area. You need to provide more than what Brooklyn Center currently has and what people look at the city developers anyway, and builders. They look at the city and they see an area where the area median income is about 10 to 15% lower than any of their neighbors. The exception, perhaps the north Minneapolis, uh, where I live. So that’s a challenge. And so you’re not going to get the same quality. So you have to create something that is going to raise the revenue in the heart of your city. And so the groups that we’ve been chatting with actually want to do that. They want to build something that is not exclusive to the people in Brooklyn Center, but gives opportunity to build more income, diversity in the city. That is what the city needs to do. Well, they don’t just need taxpayers, they need taxpayers that have the ability to pay taxes. They need to have businesses that actually are growing. And you create a dynamic environment where you can do that, and it’s going to rely on lots of different types of financing. It’s going to rely on TIF. So whether Jason likes me now or not, he’s going to have to work with me a lot because we have a lot of work to do in structuring things together, but it’s also going to require a lot of, um, it’s going to require a lot of long hours by the commissioners here, by all of you to look at how you’re going to want to structure this, what you feel comfortable with and how you want to, um, navigate all these things. So to answer your question in a very long winded way, and I’m sorry, Commissioner Zach, um, what we have is a template to move forward. What we need is to perfect and fine tune the template to move forward with people that actually would like to spend the money to do that. And so that is what we are going after. Commissioner Maury. Thank you. So thank you. Even if long winded. That’s fine. I have fellow colleagues that can be long winded as well. Um, so for me, I look at the opportunity site and I say every site in our city is an opportunity potentially. Or it could be a rain garden, or it could be a donation to habitat for humanity. But I see those as large scale, scattered sites. Okay, I don’t look at it from the old like Commissioner Jersey, I said Disneyland and where’s the money? So that that’s how I approach it. Now, whether or not we have to have that in some 50, some page, I can’t remember how long it was. It was very long or whether it just needs to be identified as this is this parcel between here and here, right? We’ve got Shingle Creek and 57th or however that needs to be. But that’s how I, as one commissioner, look at it. Is it it’s a scattered site available here. We have funding. We have grants. We got stuff for infrastructure to where? Yeah. Uh, Commissioner Sachs, right on. We’re not going to put it into nothing. So there does have to be some discussion around what what do we want there. What what seems most viable, who’s interested or not. So thank you. Um, Commissioner Zach. And, um. Uh, Alex, for that clarity around that, on what we may or may not do. I certainly do not want to come up with some 50 page scattered site plan that mirrors or has some minor changes from the opportunity site one and two plans, because there are two different areas. When you refer to opportunity site. Can I make one? Comment? Um, just to answer kind of what one of the things you made a statement about is this what we really need is an implementation strategy. That is the one thing that I think the that the the master plan was a great visioning document. Right. That’s great. We can all have vision. And actually Bolton Inc. did a very good job of putting that together. But that’s a visioning document. You need to have an entity or entities to implement that visioning document. And that is, I think, what has been missing in the last well, candidly, since I got here, you need to you need to we need to put that together, get it structured, get it funded and move it forward. And I believe that was a topic four years ago when we first, uh, got in this position, was someone just needs to start digging and put the shovel in the ground. And I think it’s, you know, just nice to say that, you know, there is an existing plan, but it’s not set in stone. But I think one thing we actually praised the staff on last time was actually pulling that bandaid off. And in that agreement, um, because there was no pressure there for that developer. So, um, I think it is time to just continue to keep moving forward with that. Council member Laura Sanderson, our Commissioner, Laura Sanderson. Um, thank you very much for that report. Um, I’ve been around long enough. I was on the council when we selected Atlantis, and I’m I’m very disappointed. I don’t remember, I. I do remember I can’t remember what year it was, but the economy just tanked and they ran out of money. Um, I guess what I’m most concerned about is that we have a cohesive area. Um, I don’t want it choppy, and doesn’t make sense. So I think I think I don’t want to go through the master plan again, but I think I would like an opportunity for us to dream big about what we individually would like to see there, and maybe start. I mean, we need some sort of a plan. I really do not want choppy, junky stuff. So, um, perhaps we could, uh, maybe at our next meeting. Um, or email it to Mr. Nyquist. Some of what we’re envisioning. But I personally, I’d like it to be, uh, a conversation, a wish list. What would we like to see? And then your job would be to go and try and find it. Mhm, mhm. But thank you for all your work on this. Commissioner. Uh, a couple of comments. We’re not alone in this. You followed the armory site and what just occurred with Ramsey County and a particular developer there. Yes. Which is familiar. Um, and I like that you identified that, uh, lessons learned about having one single entity and tied up. And that’s why I’ve always thought there should be contingencies in a lot of these contracts. If you if somebody else wants to step in, then you get X amount of time to perform or to be able to do that because a lot of the opportunity site was based on what was current at the time, which was retail. Okay. When you I think you’re referring to when Covid hit, that became problematic for developing all kinds of things. Interest rates have gone up. Inflation is compounded at 3 to 4% a year. We’re already at 20%. That part’s not going to get any better. So, um, as much as I agree with your concept, I’m not sure it’s possible to get one thing. I think we’re going to have to have something with a coherent future. Um. But you don’t want it. Ragtag. I get that a plan, right? What? I’m more interested in is you. The Tod grants and everything. We can use this. This will expire at this state. We have that. I don’t need that 40 page gloss thing that I strain myself carrying around. And I don’t. It’s holding one of my coffee tables down in case we ever have an earthquake. But, uh, my point being, um, this land is available for this. It best use best practices zoned. The Tod grant would work for this, but that’s my starting point. I don’t disagree with the wish list. I wish that, you know it’d be something besides, um, vacant land. But on the other hand, I’ll say this. I don’t want to build a failure either. I think that’s as valuable. Not to build a failure either. So with that, I’ll yield. Thank you. May I have a follow up? Yes. For sure. Um. A restaurant definitely. We need something in there. You know, the mid-price Applebee’s while we have Apple? Well, we had Applebee’s. Um, but that mid-price range, um, just something other than a drive through. So that would be one on my wish list. Thank you. He’s going to write it down. He got you. Restaurants. Okay. All right. Let’s continue to keep moving along here. Let’s go ahead and go to the EDA update. Mhm mhm. So I will make this brief since um I think I’ve kind of addressed some of this already. But I want to just bring a few things to your attention. Um, so let’s um, let me just discuss the some of the major proposals and developments that are, are occurring, um, or will be occurring. So this morning, um, we a few people from, um, Amy Green, economic development coordinator, myself, and a few other individuals attended a event where the group that is going to be coming up to our city, uh, purchased the Wells Fargo site, and we had that discussion with them about, um, um, so I got to meet all of their folks, and we discussed next steps with them. So that was good. So we will keep you updated. I’m very excited that things will be happening soon. I’m not holding my breath because they’re coming. The question is I would like this to be happening. Like, you know, five months ago. So I think, you know, where my, my mindset is. Um, at 7:52 a.m. this morning, I received a call from health partners, which is always a good sign. Um, they have met with all of their leadership, and they are discussing how to structure things in Brooklyn Center. So that’s a positive. So it’s, um, when your organizations are that large, you have lots of people to convene about how you’re going to structure, restructure things. So that was positive. I wanted to just say briefly that Brooklyn Center’s community celebration of food, cars and vendors that are Chamber of Commerce is assisting with will happen this Saturday, June 27th. Um, from 12 noon til four. So I will be there. That is enough reason for you all to want to come, but you’re always welcome to come and support smaller businesses that are going to be there. It’s the first chamber events that we’re having. It’s a little, um, soft opening, shall we say. So that’s that’s a positive. Um, I think I’ve discussed some of developer engagement and, uh, coordination recruitment. Um, I did, I’m sorry. Did you have a question? Locations are. Oh, sorry. It is at the, uh, right adjacent to the former target. That’s what. I thought. Thank you. Sir. Um, I would like to, um, there’s a number of. Uh, grant all the grants and funding strategy today, but I will say that we are looking if in our multiple ways of structuring things to not move ahead needlessly, we have time for to figure out the right roads and how to structure all that. So we’re trying to structure it in a way that we use our, um, potentially our LCD Tod, um, to repurpose those funds to put an add to our current development strategy for a master plan framework for how we’re going to take on the opportunity site. Um, and so I just wanted to say, you know, momentum is building on multiple fronts and positions. Brooklyn Center, well, to compete for major anchors and investments. I wrote this down, so I’m going to read it. So, um, uh, to fully capitalize on this opportunity, we’ll need close coordination across departments on proposals and grants. Um, along with timely leadership direction on the development framework and collaborative structures as they develop. I will say that I think, um, and I’m not saying this because I don’t have any reason to say this, but I think we have a great team here at the city. Um, that is willing and ready to take on these challenges. Um, I, I will say that, uh, my sense of humor can be a bit off putting and wry at times, but I will say that I, I say this with all sincerity. We have a great group. I enjoy working with everyone here and everyone here, and I think that we will see some really outstanding things in the next two months. So I’m hoping that, uh, you will not do what the rest of the development world does and take off the month of July and August. I’m literally grabbing them and keeping them here to get everything done. So I’m looking forward to bringing some exciting news to you in the next few weeks. Thank you for that. Commissioner Moore. Have a question first. No, no. Um. Sorry. Yeah, my Sicilian voice really doesn’t need a microphone, but sorry about that. Um, I wondered if. Um. Community development is keeping the data on businesses that are either exiting or entering. Um, it may be something that could go on. Um, our new ticker or something. Um, I know that the tire place, I don’t know what else they were doing next to New King Buffet is gone. So Council member, Commissioner Jersey and I often said it looked like they were selling cars. There were lined up. I always thought the place was full. I never I didn’t go in there. Come to find out, they were actually parking vehicles there in front of it. But now it’s gone. It’s all boarded up. There’s an office chair if anyone look nice looking. Office chair outside one of the the garage, um, openings. Um, anyway, that was new to me. I tend to drive around some of us. Some know that I drive around the city often. Um, but I just wondered that might be something. And maybe we’re keeping the stat around the in and out of businesses. Um, certainly it is a priority of this council and us as commissioners, um, to keep our pulse on that. And as we talk about a plan to continue to attract residents, businesses, etc.. Um, I was just going to add that and then, um, I wondered if you had a Social Security office update. It looks like it might be close to open. It looks like they’ve got all their cubbies, their cubicles put together, and the the reams of paper off the floor from the window, but wondered if you had an update on that. Just to say, which one do you want me to start with? Um, so for the tire shop, they are no longer in the building. Um, there was a fire sprinkler break that kind of initiated their exit. What? Oh, yes. Yeah. There was substantial damage from a sprinkler break. Um, so they were no longer in that space. That space is vacant, and I don’t believe there’s any plans to have another tenant reoccupy the space at this point. So, yes, they are gone. Um, social Security, they are moving ahead. They’re ready to go. Um, I believe, and I need to get the exact date. I believe it’s on or after the 20th of July. Um, that the Social Security office is hoping to open. So, as a note, though, they will be vacating their current location off of Northway. So that’s going to be 9000 some square feet. That’s vacant. Um, I will say, um, our planner, Chris and Eldridge and myself met with the owners of that complex, which include the 3300 big office building, as well as the little one story buildings off of County Road ten. And they are looking to, um, plat off those properties. So they’re all under one property right now with some shared access. They’re looking at options to potentially put one building on each on its own property, just to allow opportunities for sale to like a single user. Um, so so that space will be vacant and that space is next to the credit union which has been for sale. And that’s sitting on six and some acres. , like two or something. I was sure I thought it was bigger. Um, so there’s two properties over there that’ll be vacant. Um, just as a quick update, only because I overheard from our building official New Horizon. They’re striping their parking lot. They’ve got their landscaping in, they’ve got some windows on backorder, but they are hoping to have kids in the new location and open, um, by the end of July. Oh that’s nice. So I’m going to follow up with them and see where they’re sitting. Ask about a grand opening. Um, Cappie is wanting to do an early closeout. I don’t know how early that means. Um, they were expected to open by September, so perhaps end of summer here, they’ll be wrapped up. Um, so that one’s progressing. Uh, Brooklyn Boulevard Dental. You probably saw they were framing out their new addition. Um, that was supposed to be wrapped up by September. It should be pretty quick. Kind of needs to be quick because that’s the main access into the building. So, um, the Hmong shopping center, which is that 5930 Earl Brown, where the former Slumberland, that one, they’re ready to go for their permit. They’re just waiting on their health department approval before they can start doing the tenant finish for the grocery store. Luther Honda’s underway with their addition for their new service bays. Um, they just did a concrete slab and moisture barrier inspection. So that’s that’s underway. Um, Carol’s kitchen, which we’ve been working on for a while, they finally opened. They’re over by Dougherty Staffing off of 69th and then caribou, um, that permit for their renovation at their headquarters was just issued out. So. Um, so there’s things moving. Wonderful. Yeah. Yay! Good job. Sunshine. Sunshine. Thank you. Is there a motion to adjourn? I’ll move. We adjourn. I second take the roll, please. Commissioner Joseph. A. Commissioner Lawrence Anderson. high Commissioner Moore. I. Thank you. That was sunshine and rain. What a joy.