How we’re staying a couple of minutes late because we just came from a study session. I’m going to call this meeting to order. Please stand and join me in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. I 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. All right, Jody, roll call. Weiner. Here. Sponheim. Here. Greger. Here. Peterson, here. Aldridge. Here. Nelson, here. Rashi. Here. That brings us to the Plymouth Forum. Individuals may address the council about any item not contained on the regular agenda. A maximum of three minutes is allotted per individual at a total of 15 minutes for the forum. The full 15 minutes are not needed for the forum. The City Council will continue with the agenda. City Council take no official action on items discussed at the forum, with the exception of referral to staff or Commissioner. Committee for future report. I have two cards. If you wish to speak at the forum, please fill out one of these blue cards which are in the back and pass it up to staff. Uh, first I have Scott Johnson. You need Mr. Mayor, city Council. I just wanted to do a highlight of. The listening sessions we’ve had since February. It was a great idea. I’m sorry it took you three years to be able to coordinate that. But as I’ve learned, doing this for the last year and a half, things don’t go easy or quickly in government. Um, like my, um, contest for the best grower in Plymouth ended up with just flyers about donating food to the food shelves. Basically got a flyer out of it. Um, but at our first session, about a dozen people or so showed up in February at Parkers Lake. Um, Council Member Peterson was there with council member Gregor, and I thought it went pretty well. We mainly talked more about the immigration crisis at the time. Um, as the sessions went on in March. Still a little bit of that, a little bit of cars driving too fast in neighborhoods. Um. People not signing documents and things like that. Um, but at the last session, we talked more about housing. I saw a thing on finance on the news the other night, and they talked about housing. Nationwide and about fell out of my chair because it was the exact same that view I was getting from the housing meetings here in Plymouth. They want to do away with single family homes and put in multi duplexes and apartment buildings. And let’s stack everybody in on top of each other. Single family homes is the American dream and the politicians want to take it away. Why don’t we get a home anymore? How about affordable housing for seniors that have lived in Plymouth all their lives? And now you’re pricing them out? They’ve donated to the city their entire life. There’s nowhere for them to go. Oh, and of course, there’s a condo. Half a million and a half dollar buy in. Who’s got that kind of money? I agree with affordable housing, but let’s make it affordable and let’s build and build things right the proper way. Let’s don’t try retail out because we want more apartment buildings. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Next I have Clay Smith. Moore two. Good evening. Mayor. Council. Welcome. Uh, tomorrow, June 24th, is the one year anniversary of the Plymouth City Council approving the proclamation to encourage celebration of the LGBTQ plus community during June Pride month. We’re very pleased that the City Council has approved enhanced Pride Month proclamation at the June 9th Council meeting. Shortly after the approval of the 25 proclamation. A group of Plymouth citizens began discussing and exploring the possibility of having a Pride Month celebration event. Because there are several pride events in the metro area in the month of June, we decided to hold it a little later in the year. We’ve been exploring having a small event in 2026 that will be family oriented with food, games, music, exhibitors and who support the LGBTQ two plus community. We’ve received great amounts of encouragement and support from other organizers of pride events in the metro area, and decided that we will have a small event on October 10th. We chose this date to honor National coming out date, which is celebrated on October 11th this year. As plans develop, we will keep the community apprised of the latest details. We want to thank the City Council members that have been supportive of us, and we look forward to seeing you out at Plymouth Pride this year. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you. We’ll look forward to that event. Uh, and finally, I have Sarah Anderson. Good evening. Mayor, Council members. Um, thank you for this opportunity to speak. Thank you for your service. Um, I just actually have been doing a little study in the Constitution as we’ve been having these meetings about our climate action plan. I just wanted to bring us back to some founding comments, just to reorient us a little bit. Um, as I’ve found that I think that there are a lot of really great things that we’re doing, a lot of great things that we can do as it relates to the environment. Um, and I think the other thing that we need to always hold in equal weight is making sure we’re honoring and supporting our constitutional obligations and privileges and the rights of you guys and, and your citizens that you serve. Um, so one is by James Madison. No free government nor the blessings of liberty can be preserved to any people, but by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles, that would be the Constitution. Another one by John Jay, one of the first Supreme Court justices for our country. Every member of the state ought diligently to read and to study the Constitution of his country, and to teach the rising generation to be free. By knowing their rights, they will sooner perceive when they are violated, and be better prepared to defend and assert them. We as American citizens have a Constitution that is not reflected in any other country around the world. And so it’s really important that as we move forward on these initiatives, that we hold both of these things and make sure we’re integrating and understanding the impact of some of the environmental initiatives that are being brought forward. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. And then finally, I had another car that was passed up for Mohammed Winder. What did it. Uh, my name is Mahmoud, executive director of the. Sir, we’ve been existing, uh, near the parliament’s last five years, and we always, uh, do Somali cultural festival at the Health Performance Center. And this year, we will be doing July 18th. And we will invite you, all of you, to participate this year. Uh, we have been hosting Somali Cultural Festival last five years. In the year, the Plymouth Healthy Performance Center, the most significant cultural celebration region throughout the. And this year, we will be expecting to attend these five years from the Plymouth area. Uh, Maple Grove and many Sanka. Uh, throughout the years, he has been actively engaged the youth workshop, including the cultural teaching, the poetry, dancing, the well, career development and collaboration with the local school, with our district schools, and also the Osho Masters, immigrants or Somalis. It’s, uh, go to the Wayzata and the Osseo, and we all last year we and this year we were collaborating the multicultural, uh events both schools. Would greatly appreciate the city of Plymouth support both uh Somali cultural Festival or our youth programs. Over the years we have, uh, strongly meaningful relationship with the city of Plymouth, including the support of the mayor. Every year he gives us the proclamation, and we work with the very closely with the police department. We like to be our city, to be safe. You know, uh, always we work with the Somali parents. You know, last we did, uh, three this year, we did three sessions at the the community room at the Elements Apartments. And also we just to check the city, uh, Barclays Lake. Uh, uh, the parks, you know, we talk to the youth and we need to be safe. Uh, as long as the community. But we believe the Plymouth uniquely positioned to help us to continue important work together can build a stronger, more connected with the Plymouth where the resident. And regardless of the background, feels the value to hear. It’s great to continue to support, ensure the Somali American constituents remain engaged. And celebrated within the city of Plymouth and also this event we do in our channel. The Tear of July. And also we do in Saint Cloud Street closing, which is the very participating Owatonna and Saint Cloud. Saint cloud is going to be August 1st. July 18th is going to be Plymouth Health Performance Center on alternate July 3rd, which is they approved the permit today and also the they bring the police and they bring also the firefighters also. Same thing in the Plymouth when they close the street with the Saint Germain by the library. Uh, they bring the barricades, which is the city will collaborate with the head, sir. So we need City of Plymouth to participate in our event. Also to support the youth programs we are doing in Plymouth area. And we need our community safe. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you. Mohammed. Uh, that’s it for our Plymouth forum. We’ll move on now to presentations and public information announcements. Our first item is the receive comments from our state legislators for the 2026 session. So why don’t we start out with our state Senator, Bonnie Westlund, I know you’re trying to, like, have Jerry go. We try to coordinate. Um. Good evening. Thank you so much for inviting us again to participate tonight and provide our legislative update. I am just completing my first term, and, um, this year was certainly different. Every year has been a little bit different in one way or another, but this year has certainly been different. And I think when we entered the session, uh, I would say we came in a bit under a cloud, um, from a number of things that had happened in 2025, including, um, the loss of, uh, Speaker Marita Hauptman and her husband and my colleague John Hoffman and his wife, also, um, and Hope also suffered an attack. And many of us were on what can only be described as a hit list. And it kind of brought a dark cloud, I would say, into the beginning of session. Um, everybody’s mood was a bit tempered. Um, but the one thing that Melissa Hartman always said was, okay, now get to work. And I would characterize our 2026 session as certainly challenging, given the divided legislature. But what we did was a lot of bipartisan work as a result of that. Um, I’m going to let Jenny cover some of the things that she carried, but I would want to lead off, I think, specifically with what we were able to accomplish for the city of Plymouth. Um, we tried and we tried and we tried to get the local sales tax referendum. And of course, that did not quite make it over the finish line again this year. And give it a shot next time. Um, but what we were able to get this year is a bonding bill that included $5 million for the city of Plymouth, for a city center redevelopment. The bonding bill did include funding for a lot of very important projects around the state, and we benefited from that as well. Um, I am an assistant majority leader. I am the acting chair. This year of the elections committee, and I would say a fair amount of my time this year was spent on elections and secondarily on safety and security issues. Um, and how those dovetailed with one another. Um, the elections bill was a truly bipartisan effort. And, um, Representative Freiberg is here. We worked together and collaboratively across the aisle and across the bodies in order to pass a number of things. The elections provisions that passed included new protections regarding address, privacy and security for candidates and local officials. Uh, up to this point, there was a $3,000 cap on campaign spending that could be used for security without it counting against the spending limit that has been raised to $10,000 in a two year time period. It includes the ability for candidates to obtain um, security devices at their home, and also to, um, to have security services in the event that they receive a, a threat that they feel they should have security present at public events. I will just say it’s really unfortunate that that’s the world that we live in. But I will tell you that that’s the world we live in. Um, at the Capitol. I am also on the advisory committee for Capitol Area Security. Last year, there were more threats against elected officials at the Capitol than any prior year. And this year we are on pace to beat that record. So this is a serious issue. And I think serving in public office should not mean you’re taking your life and the life of your family. Um, placing those at risk. So we did focus on some things like address, privacy, street addresses, um, typically have been on the campaign finance Board reports that included candidate home addresses. Oftentimes the donor lists include addresses for donors and so on. Um, there were reports that people were perusing those lists in order to find, uh, addresses of individuals, activists and others in order to harass and in some cases, threaten. So those home addresses will now the street addresses of candidates, donors, vendors, lobbyists, party units, etc. um, will be private. The city and state will still be listed. I think that was an important, um, development in the election space. Um, one of the other primary bills, um, that I helped shepherd with the help of Representative Mueller, um, had to do with the domestic violence space up until this point, I practice family law, so I’m familiar with this. Up until this point, someone might be subject to an order for protection. They are not permitted to own firearms, but there was no clarity about how those firearms would be surrendered. We did provide a an update this year that provided clarity so that if someone is subject to an order for protection or in some chips cases, there may be similar abuse findings. Someone who is not permitted by law to own a firearm. Now, there will be a process with court oversight to ensure that those firearms are removed from that person’s possession. Um, we had a very robust judiciary and public safety, um, omnibus that included a number of bipartisan, uh, provisions. Uh, one of the the provisions that I think was incredibly important was crime victim services. We know that, um, places such as Mission Incorporated who provide services for victims, um, all of these various institutions around the state have really been struggling with funding. So we were able to find funding to backfill some of the cuts that have been made from the federal government. Um, on the Capital Area Security Commission, uh, Committee, we we had a number of robust discussions over the past year. Anyone who is at the Capitol this year, uh, found that there are now screening devices, people with permits to carry are still permitted to bring their firearms on the Capitol complex for now. And, um, but they have to go through security. They’re identified, and they are there is at least notice of those who may be carrying on the premises. Um, one of the other bills that went into effect this year that I’m actually quite proud of is a vulnerable, vulnerable Adult Exploitation bill. Um, there are many situations where vulnerable adults are being targeted by individuals, and by the time the family finds out, the money is gone and it’s a long process to get the court to intervene. We have passed something now, um, to provide fairly immediate intervention. Uh, there was some work in the area of education. Um, our schools will benefit from the fact, fact that we did pass, um, some more compensatory aid for our schools. Um, I do serve on the blue Ribbon Commission for Special Education, and we are looking at major cuts there. However, we are hoping to mitigate, uh, those cuts such that kids who need services get the services. We should not be cutting services to kids who really require the support and the assistance in our school settings. That’s a pretty high level. Um, I had over 107 bills I think this year. Obviously not all of those passed, but it was a very busy year, and I do want to thank my colleagues in the House who really were good partners this year. We worked collaboratively with one another to try and move things forward. I look forward to working with them again in the future, but I’m really proud actually coming back to the city of Plymouth. Over the four years that I’ve been in office, I think we’ve been able to accomplish some really good things for for Plymouth, for our infrastructure and for development. And I want to thank you for the hard work that we’ve done together. And lastly, I also want to thank Chief Fadden and Chief Edsel. Um, these have been great partners to Fadden. Um, was really instrumental a year ago in ensuring that all of us were safe and, uh, still offer my deepest gratitude for that. Thank you. Well, thank you, Senator Westland. Before you leave the podium, we’ll see if anyone has any questions or comments. Uh, but I just want to say thank you. You’ve been a great partner with the city. Thank you. You know, we’ve had we always have a legislative agenda. We want to try and get accomplished. And and on the Senate side, you’re carrying you along with, uh, Senator Russ. Just carry that. And we are so pleased with the work you’ve done. So thank you very much for all that. I would just say. Also, Senator rest unfortunately cannot be here tonight. She was not feeling well. I told her she maybe she would want to tune in tonight. Um, but she has been an incredible partner and mentor, and I am going to miss her deeply. As we all will. Yeah. All right, all right. Thank you. Anything? Thank you. Uh, next. Then. Since there seems to be a handoff here, we’ll bring on Representative Clyburn. Well, she was saying like that. I like to bat clean up. Just saying. Okay. It’s so. Much easier. I’ll keep that. I’ll remember that. All right. Thank you. Um, good evening, mayor and council members. It’s always an honor to be with you. I am state Representative Jenny Clyburn. I represent House district 42 B, which is more mostly the eastern side of Plymouth. And so it’s always great to be with you and to give an update. I do serve as co-chair of the state Government Finance and Policy Committee. I serve on Ways and Means, higher Education and the Ethics Committee. Our top priority this year was the local sales tax. And unfortunately, there is still much work to do. I think it is bridging the gap of understanding. And when I say that it’s um, I have been told by members of my body, the house, that Plymouth has, uh, still room in our tax levy. And so if we want these amenities that we should, um, look to our tax levy to raise it, I try to help my colleagues understand that while Plymouth is a community that does much good within its own boundaries, it is also a regional hub. And so that the expenses that are incurred sometimes help the entire region and grow the economic viability for the entire region. And for that reason, we are asking for those members who come into our community to also help share the cost of those amenities. And I, like you, want to keep our tax levy low so that our community residents can continue to stay in their home. We heard earlier this evening from Mr. Johnson the pressure that is on members of our community, and they are being forced out of their homes due to the ongoing costs of many items, groceries, car repairs, insurance, insurance is a big one, so I appreciate the fact that this council is focused on making sure that all of our residents can continue to live, grow and thrive in Plymouth, so thank you for that. So there is some bridging to do in that conversation. Um, I will hold off on the bonding, um, as that was, uh, Representative Carol’s bill. So I will let him discuss that. Um, much of the work that I did this year was not really even in legislation that I carried. It had to do with protecting of local control and making sure that you, as council members, still have control of land use and planning, so that, as Mr. Johnson said earlier, people can still afford to stay in the homes that they have and enjoy a quality of life in the homes that they have. Um, a big piece of legislation, uh, that took a great deal of work with many community partners. Was the police impersonation. Bill and I would like to thank the Police Chiefs Association and Yuichi Fadden for your work on that bill, and also for the rank and file, who were very supportive of that work that we did together to enhance the penalties for anyone who would impersonate a police officer and destroy the public trust. Uh, in those who wear the uniform and protect and serve us every day. Um, I also worked with our police chiefs and local firefighters, actually, on the prohibition for no lift, no touch policies for assisted living facilities. Um, we had a resident who came to us. Her father fell, uh, in the assisted living facility that is in the community near us. And unfortunately, he suffocated as staff stood by because the assisted living facility had a no lift touch policy. And before first responders could arrive, he suffocated. And there was absolutely no reason why they could not have moved him. He was not in a life threatening situation. So, uh, there is a prohibition that will go into place. The assisted living facilities will have until August of 2027 to have their staff trained and to make sure that plans are in place. So I would like to thank the police chief and his team for helping me with, uh, I said, please, chief, Fire Chief, uh, and his team for the information that they provided about the calls that they make there as well. Um, a big piece of the work that I did this year, again, was in fraud prevention, fraud prevention at the state level. Uh, I am the number two author on the Office of Inspector General bill for the, um, state. There is work that still will need to be done on that bill and that I’m working with the BCA and with the office of the Legislative Auditor to make sure that we get that bill in a form that’s workable without, uh, overlapping authorities and duties. Um, I appreciate the visits that we had, uh, from you, uh, mayor and deputy mayor, when you came to testify, the Capitol and city manager, Calistoga, you were always an excellent partner. And I also this year had the opportunity to meet with our fire chief and our police chief, which was really great. I appreciated that, um, I’m trying to think there were numerous pieces of legislation that I passed that were very important to the people of Plymouth that nobody thinks about. So, uh, Penny rounding Bill, for example, if you go and make a cash transaction, since we do not have pennies anymore, um, if you pay in cash, we had no agency authority to round up or down. So it’s a small bill, but it was a very important bill. So when you go to buy your fishing license, if you’re paying cash or if you are going to the deputy registrar to get your license, you can still pay in cash and get a full amount of money back. Um, I will, I think I’ll stop there and then. Oh, there one other bill for, uh, the fraud work we did. Um, a permanent withholding of any, any entity that had a reasonable allegation of fraud brought against them. And so, uh, it’s just a way to make sure that we have the time, uh, to stop, pay attention. And then if there is a reasonable allegation of fraud, those entities would no longer be available to receive state aid. And also, we, um, put together a fraud working group to make sure that we have all of the policies around grants management in place as well. So that’s all in protection of state money. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. And if you have any questions I’ll answer those. All right. Well I’ll say the same thing with uh, Senator Westland is that you’ve been the longest serving legislature, uh, that we have. You’ve been serving eight years, and you you what I’d like to compliment you is how well you do on developing relationships. And. Thank you. It goes so far in serving our Plymouth residents and what the city wants to try and accomplish as well. So I just want to thank you for all the great work you’ve done. You are like Plymouth’s greatest cheerleader. Sorry. Representative Carol Freiberg, but no desk, no discontented. Uh, but you’ve been doing this for a while. You know how to get stuff done, and it’s just so appreciative of all the work you’ve done. May I take a moment of personal privilege? Yes. Um, I would like the council to know. And this may be wildly inappropriate, so forgive me. I’ll apologize later if it is. Um, with the bonding bill, there was an error in the bonding bill that had nothing to do with me or representative Carol, but it was recognized after 11 p.m. on the last day of session before we went. Signee die. And, um, neither representative Carol nor I saw the bill. We had seen we had a saw spreadsheet, so we knew exactly where the money was going and things like that, but we didn’t have an opportunity to see the final language of the bill until that last hour. And, uh, City Manager Callister, uh, I texted him, I took a photo of the language and texted him and said, is this right? Because it didn’t seem like the language that we had discussed previously. And he said, no, it’s not right. But what I want you to know is that he is watching the legislation that you are asking him to shepherd through the process. He is available to us all the time. Um, no matter what our I text or call, I always get a response back. And there in that literal 11th hour, he is working with me to get an amendment drafted so that we have the right language so that the bonding is correct and usable. Otherwise we would not have had that success. So I just want you to know the quality of our city manager and the work that he does at all hours. And that’s true of our public safety team as well. I appreciate that. We all appreciate that story. Thank you. Thank you. Next. Well, representative Carol. Thank you mayor. Thank you. Council, let me just follow up on that story. So it was Jenny’s eagle eyes that saw it. She had the language and she saw the mistake on it. So she pointed out to me. And then we got Ahold of Dave. So, um, hats off to Jenny for doing that. Excuse me, Representative Claiborne. Let me just look. Jenny’s told me back. Know you deserve the title. So along with that, let me just say that, um, with Senator Russ not here, I wanted to give her a special thank you. Um, before we got into office. Plymouth. Greatest champion was Senate arrest along with representative. Um. Oh, I’m blanking his name. Carlson. Lyndon. Carlson. Yes. They did so much for Plymouth. And then our own reps didn’t. And so we relied on Representative Carlson and Senator Rest. And I want to thank them very much for that. And then we came along. And so like I said, my number one committee request was capital investment because I wanted to help Plymouth where others had, um, we sent so much tax revenue to the state, I wanted a little bit back for us. And the thing is, it helps the state too, because if you keep Plymouth up and running in an economic engine, it’ll pay dividends. And that’s what’s happening. So I wanted to acknowledge that. And then also, um, chief, you’re the best. Thanks so much for all you do. And you too, chief Edsel, um, you guys are great. And we, you know, we rely on you so much, especially last year. So thank you very much. So, um, my biggest accomplishment, this this session was getting the money for, uh, City center. And it was $5 million. And that’s on top of the 5 million I got for Chiang Kai to trail on top of money for the city center. So, um, I’m trying to do my part to serve Plymouth again. Um, or continue to serve it because it’s it’s so important to keep Plymouth vibrant because we’ll deliver tax revenue to the state to help everybody. And then, uh, and the Energy Committee, um, I was disappointed we didn’t get a bill because there was an agreement. The other side walked away. The co-chair of the other side walked away from negotiations and just we didn’t get a bill done. I had some provisions in there for solar energy. It’s continuing my my work on solar App Plus, which is a residential application for solar energy. People who want solar energy on their homes can go through this expedited, uh, permit process in conjunction with the city. So it’s front loaded with the city. And so I have to do is apply and then it’s pretty much automatically approved. So anyway, we didn’t get that done. I’d gotten the first bill done the last session. And I want to continue to do that. And then finally on the health committee, um, I was a chief author of the HCMC bill, along with others. I wasn’t the author, but but I was a major co-author. And that’s critically important not only to Plymouth, but to the Metro and the state. You wouldn’t realize how much the state relies on HCMC, because if it’s not there, hospitals out in greater Minnesota donate everywhere to send their patients, and they’re sending them here all the time. And if that’s not there, then they’re not going to get the care that they need. So it’s critically important. I was glad that we got it done. I think it was I thought it was a no brainer. I didn’t think it was really at risk not to get it done just because it’s so important. And the people from greater Minnesota fundamentally understand that. How important CMC is to to the state, to the region. I mean, it’s really a statewide asset. So I was glad to be able to do that, and I’m glad to be able to serve. And it’s a privilege and an honor. And I’m not going to say anything about being on this side as opposed to that side. And clerk sitting in my chair. But Council member Greg, excuse me, but anyway, thank you very much. Yeah. Councilmember. Now you’ve got me going. Representative Carol, again, thank you for all the work you do. Being on the Capital Investments Committee. Uh, that is just so critically important because you you bring them here, you show off Plymouth, you tell us our need, and you, we really appreciate you getting some of that money back. So thanks for the great work you’ve done down at the legislature. And if I could just follow up. So being on the committee, we get on a bus and we tour the entire state. We look at all these different projects. So there’s so many there’s so much demand for so few dollars. So to be able to get in here, I was I was pleased about it. But also you see the great needs throughout the state for capital investment in, you know, expenditures. And there’s just not enough money about it. So to be able to get anything, it was, I think, an accomplishment and I’m proud of that. So thank you very much. Yeah. Thank you very much. Uh, next we have Representative Freiberg. So as I understand, you had your your seventh term. Yes. Um. So when did. But not all Plymouth. Uh, no, I’ve only represented, uh, Plymouth, uh, for the past four years since they redrew the lines. I will say I, of the four legislators that are here, um, I represent the smallest part of Plymouth, but it is the best part of Plymouth. Um, you can’t argue with Willow Creek Theatre, the tea house restaurant, East Medicine Lake Park was, you know, Council member Aldrich has a beautiful ward. And I’m proud to represent part of it. Yeah. So thank you. I just wanted to point out that you’re probably the senior member here, but just I thought it was when the census came out and they redrew the district. Yeah. No. That’s correct. When it comes to matters of Plymouth, I’m happy to defer to my more knowledgeable colleagues here, but I am honored to represent a very beautiful part of Plymouth. Yeah. Um, so, you know, in the risk of going last, is that, um, everything you wanted to say got covered? Um, so, uh, and that is somewhat the case, but I will just breeze over a few things. Um, so I, you know, I was proud to author 11 bills that became law this year. I mean, some of the big things we did have already been covered. Uh, you know, Chair Clyburn worked really hard on the OIG bill to help get at the fraud issue. Uh, Representative Carroll worked very hard on HCMC, making sure it can stay solvent for the foreseeable future. Those are some of the really big, important issues that we tackled this year. The bonding bill, of course, appreciate Representative Carol’s work on the bonding committee and has worked for the Plymouth City Center. Um, you know, just I carried some bonding provisions for the other cities I represent that were successful. Also, we received funding for Fire Station and Golden Valley for sewer infrastructure and crystal for public works facility in Robbinsdale. So there was a lot in the bonding bill that served the communities of the Northwest Metro at all. And it’s been great working with Senator Westlund as well. We worked very closely together on election issues this year. She spoke, you know, about some of the things we did. One thing that might be of interest to Plymouth is we did pass the Secretary of State’s administrative bill, which included a provision allowing more flexibility for absentee voting, that a lot of cities have asked for. Um, so that was that was in there as well. And it was it was great working with her on that. Um, you know, it feels sort of like the session ended years ago, and I was, you know, just trying to bring myself, you know, we’re sort of in campaign mode. I was trying to bring myself back into session mode to think about what was happening. Um, you know, there are some things that we didn’t get accomplished, unfortunately, that the tide House in particular made it difficult to work on. Gun violence prevention is something I think the four of us really wanted to see happen. Specifically, um, action after the, uh, the, the murder of our colleague, the Annunciation School shooting, we were hoping to see action on high capacity magazines, on assault weapons that did not pass, even with a 48 hour sit in happening in the house. That was unfortunate, but that’s something we’ll certainly keep on working on. If we are sent back to the legislature. And another one is just accountability for the federal government, for the actions as part of Operation Metro Surge. Um, I do want to commend the Senate actually on both those issues. They did pass a bill on gun violence and on accountability for Ice. So but we were not able to get that through the tied house, unfortunately. But that those are both things we will definitely be continuing to work on. Um, and finally, I do want to just acknowledge the work of my long time senator Senate arrest. It’s been great working with her. She’s been a tremendous mentor to me throughout the years. There. She will leave a huge absence that will be felt in the state Senate. Um, so just and she’s done a lot of work for Plymouth and for the other cities that have been lucky enough to have her as their senator. So she will be missed as well. So thank you for your time and happy to take questions, if you have any or not. If you don’t. So. Well again, thank you for the work you do. And you know carrying this the city, our legislative priorities and furthering those you know I knew we all knew going into this legislative session it was going to be a challenge with the tide House and trying to get stuff done. So I agree, we all appreciate the efforts trying to come to bipartisan solutions. Uh, some of that happened, some of it didn’t, but it was a heavy lift just to get anything done I think. So we just really thank you for the work you’ve done. Thank you. Yeah. Our next item, um, is proclamation declaring an rest day. So as these legislators have said, uh, and rest is retiring after more than four decades of service to the state of Minnesota, I will tell you, nobody knows tax law better than Senator Rust. And it’s like all our legislatures are shaking their heads. Yeah, and I still remember being in front of the Senate Tax Committee and like getting a special tack testifying for a special tax TIF district. I tell you, like most of them don’t even know what a TIF district is and is like and knows everything about taxes. And it’s just not that it’s that really supports because a lot of the things we do are trying to further tax legislation, but a lot of it is just being supported by her overall, uh, for all these many years that she has helped represent Plymouth. So I wish she was here. But I have a proclamation here. So I don’t know the I can see that the camera is shining off it. See, it’s really hard to see, but I’m going to read this off my computer. Whereas Senator an H rest is dedicated. More than four decades of exemplary public service to the people of Minnesota, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to responsive government, city engagement in the public good. And whereas first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1884, Senator served eight terms in the House before being elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2000, where she has continued to serve with distinction through eight terms. And whereas in 2002, Senator S was elected by her Senate colleagues to serve as the Assistant Majority Leader, and throughout her tenure has held numerous leadership positions within the Minnesota Senate, and Whereas in 2013, Senator Russ was selected to serve as President Pro Tem of the Minnesota Senate, a position she continues to hold, reflecting the trust and confidence placed in her by fellow legislators. And Whereas Senator Russ has faithfully represented communities including Crystal, Golden Valley, new Hope, Plymouth and Robbinsdale, ensuring that the voices of residents are heard and reflected in the legislative process. And whereas Senator Russ has long been recognized for her accessibility, integrity and commitment to constituent service, including her frequent listening sessions that provided meaningful opportunities for residents to share their concerns, ideas, and aspirations. And whereas the City of Plymouth is grateful for Senator Russ partnership, leadership and dedicated service on behalf of Plymouth residents and communities throughout Minnesota, now there therefore, be it hereby resolved that I proclaim June 23rd, 2026 is an rest day in the city of Plymouth and recognize and honor her for more than 40 years of distinguished service in the Minnesota State Legislature, and extend the gratitude and appreciation of the Plymouth City Council and the residents of Plymouth for her enduring contributions to our community and our state. Mayor Jeff Walsh. So I wish she was here. As. Is there someone to take a. Picture? I can take you up here. Big shoes. Yeah, sure. All right. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah. After 40. Years, it’s the least we could do. Councilman. I want to say a special thank you to Senator Rast years ago. And I’m not going to say how long. Um. My ward. I lived in Plymouth, but I was not, um, part of Plymouth. I was in a different Senate district. Um, and I was considering running for office. I talked to a lot of people, but the one person that said, several people told me the one person to go listen to and talk it through first was Senate arrest. She took. I can’t even say how many hours at breakfast one day to sit down and talk with me about this job, about her job, about the legislature, about all the things that had to do with politics starting at the local level, all the way up to the state level. And again, it wasn’t just her, but she was a big influence on Plymouth. And it was the happiest day when I got to be back into this Senate district and be part of the whole Plymouth. Um, so I just think it was it wasn’t just what she did in the legislature. It’s what she did for all of us in the city. Um, and supported all of us. Um, just as residents. Thank you for those comments. Um, next, we’ll move on to approve the agenda. Council members may add items to the agenda, including items. Oh, there was one other announcement I wanted to make. Um, I know, council member, uh, Gregor had announced he was going to run for mayor, and I’m announcing that I’m going to be running for another term as mayor as well. So I look forward to the contest. I think it’s going to be fun. Much better than running unopposed. I got to do in 2022. Uh, so I’ll pick up where I left off. On approving the agenda. Uh, Council Information memorandum for discussion purposes or staff direction only. The council not normally take official action on items added to the agenda. Anything to be added to the agenda. Look for a motion. Mayor. Move. We approve the agenda. Second. Uh, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed in that passes the and then consent agenda. These items are considered to be routine and be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member or individual. So requests in which event the item be removed from the consent agenda and placed elsewhere on the agenda. Go to the Council first. Is there anything we move? Go to the audience? Is there any request to remove anything from consent? Seeing none, I’ll bring it back to the council for action. I move to. Approve the consent agenda. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye aye aye. Opposed? And that passes. Uh, we have one public hearing and that’s to accept the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. Mayor and Council, I’d like to introduce Aaron Nielsen with L.B. Carlson, our audit firm. He is going to take us through some audit results. All that produces this book. This is our 2025 Akbar, which is also online. Welcome. Mr. Nielsen. Thank you very much. Mayor. Council. Um, I appreciate the opportunity to be here this evening. Uh, it’s always the best part of the audit. Wrapping it up and completing the presentation. And I’m sure your staff appreciated it even more than I do with the process. Um, as mentioned, my name is Aaron Nielsen. I’m a partner with, uh, L.B. Carlson. Uh, we’ve completed the audit for the year ended December 31st, 2025. Um, you’ve received, I believe, three reports with the financial statements that ask for annual comprehensive financial report. The special purpose reports, and then our management report that summarizes the results of our audit. Uh, the PowerPoint is really designed so I don’t have to have the camera facing me, and we can keep us all on the same page with regard to the presentation. So with that, I’ll make my way through the presentation. Uh, obviously sharing our role as auditors to the city. We’re independent of the city to provide that opinion on the financial statements. Are they fairly stated with the information presented to us? Uh, we’ve completed the testing of the schedule of federal awards. You receive well, in excess of the $1 million threshold that requires additional testing of your federal awards. And then the required reports for internal control and compliance with the financial statement audit. Under government auditing standards, the federal Single Audit, and then the office of the State Auditors Legal Compliance Manual. There’s seven broad categories, uh, with several tests and compliance items that we complete with regard to the annual audit as well. And to get right to it as our role as the independent auditors, we’ve issued what is known as an unmodified or a clean opinion on the basic financial statements. So meaning that they’re fairly presented as of December 31st and the results for the year then ended are fairly stated with the information provided. Uh, with regard to the internal control and compliance for the financial statement audit, we’re pleased to report we had no material weaknesses or instances of noncompliance to report. And I’ll keep the roll going with a single audit. We had no internal control or federal compliance findings. With the various testing completed for that federal single audit. Um, we have to rotate the grants depending on the size of the grants. And this year you had a new federal grant that we tested, um, with the transit and the resources spent on that construction, uh, we had the Minnesota Legal Compliance Audit completed. And as you can see, we had no findings in any of the areas there with the legal compliance manual from the State auditor’s office, one thing new this year, um, and actually completed before the annual audit. But we wanted to add a slide that every ten years with the Federal Transit Administration, we have to ensure that the accounts, the information that’s submitted annually by the city for the transit is in accordance with their requirements. And as you can see, we noted we’ve completed it for this past year. And you’ve, uh, we’ve completed the testing and reporting for that as well. So, um, we’ll have to do that in ten years again. But for now, we’re set again for another ten. And a couple of slides. Uh, the general fund, your primary operating fund for the city. Uh, you can see it’s really kind of a bland slide of just a steady, uh, as the size of the city has grown, you’ve been able to match the, uh, fund balance needs and requirements of a larger operation, as well as in the related cash balance. And you can see we use the expenditures as kind of a guide of that steady growth and size of the organization with inflation and and the growing population changes over that time. Um, a lot of that is guided by the internal control and policies within the finance area. And that led by council and administration and finance, as well as then that fund balance policy guiding, uh, to keep you at an appropriate level of fund balance as of year end, to move from year to year. And then just a final slide on closing comments for that general fund. As you can see there, we showed kind of that absent of up and downs or surprises there. But the general fund does continue to meet the city’s policy for a fund balance policy. As of December 31st, 2025. And then we have completed this year’s audit report in order to allow you to submit for that on annual comprehensive award report with GFL. Um, the city has received that for the past 43 years. So the report we just completed will be submitted for number 44. So with that, if there’s any questions, I appreciate the. Report that we showed. You or shared with you in the introduction here, but there is a ton of information within that annual financial report. And both, some financial or a lot of financial, but also some non-financial information for you in the statistical section. So all right. Well, thank you for that presentation. Does anyone have any questions on the financial reports? Councillor Sponheim. I just want to say thank you for the work that went into it. I took the time to review some of like the attachments, the boring, like stuff. And I want to just say a thank you to our staff for making it boring, because the lack of findings the, the, there’s the clear demonstration of the management of the city is it’s an honor to serve with staff that are so rigorous on keeping it simple. Um, and having had the privilege to read less boring reports, itis not not in my time in Plymouth, but in other roles in my life. I hope the citizens recognize how fortunate we are to have just such a well-respected, well-managed city, um, with their financial resources. And the audit just verifies it. So thank you for the third party outside view looking in, um, validating what we see every month in our work here with with our staff. But, um, it’s just really appreciated. Yeah. And I would kind of add on to those comments from council member Sponheim that, you know, we’ve had an award for the past 43 years. I’m sure we’re going to get another award for number 44. And you tend to take all that for granted. And it’s I really appreciate the comments from the council member because it reminds you again that that isn’t necessarily the norm. You know, there’s only a handful of cities in the whole state that have AA bond ratings, and Plymouth has been one of those for a long, long, long time. We’ve been financially, financially. So well managed for so long. We have the lowest tax per capita of any of our peer cities. I guess we’re tied with Maple Grove now. Um, in Hennepin County. And that’s something that we can be proud of, you know, in terms of how for such a long time, on the on the shoulders of other councils and other staff that have come before us, we’ve been able to maintain that. And as I like to tell people, we save up and buy a car, we don’t go get a loan and buy a car. And that’s just kind of the general philosophy that Plymouth has in term. Um, in terms of how we approach our finances. So, Andrea, thank you for you and your whole team and all the work you do as well. So any other comments, Councilmember Peterson? Thank you. Mayor. Uh, yeah, I just want to ring the same bell just one more time because it’s really easy to overlook this as just another box to check and administrative task. But, um, not only is it really, um, pleasant to be a part of a organization that is delivering a boring report, but also the amount of time that goes into, um, coordinating with the auditor to, for the work of doing the audit and undergoing the audit is a big lift itself. And so I just want to say thank you to the staff for everything that leads to a result like this, and for going through the process and for the positive result. Thank you. Okay. Any other comments? Otherwise, look for a motion. Do we have to? You’re right. Hearing it is a public hearing. I open the public hearing. Anyone wish to speak on this? I’m going to close the public hearing. Now I can ask for a motion. I make a motion to accept the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. Second. Uh, is that worded correctly? Close enough. Uh, all those in favor say aye. Aye aye aye. Opposed. And that item passes. We have two general business items. One is to receive the park and rec department. Fiscal year 2025 annual report. JT. Thank you. Mr. Mayor and Council. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and council, I’m excited to brag on my department a little bit this evening. So we have a wonderful FY 25, uh, annual report where we take a quick look back at what we were able to accomplish, how we were able to interact with our community, and some of the really great things that we have moving forward. So just by the numbers, as a reminder to everybody, we have 68 developed parks now, over 1800 acres, um, 188 miles of trails, six special use facilities, eight play fields, three public beaches, a history center, the list goes on. Uh, now we have a destination marketing organization. And, um, as you guys may have seen in your Friday update, we are now in Parks and Recreation going to be working, uh, a little bit more closely on our environmental stewardship practices throughout the city. So we’re excited to welcome MK on to our team. And really start looking forward and weaving that into a lot of the work that we’re doing. Some of our highlights for the year, as we were talking about in the study, study session, is just the quantity of people that we serve in our facilities. The Plymouth Ice Center saw just over 750,000 people visiting it. The Plymouth Community Center saw just over 551,000 people through the building. So we have counters on each of our entrances and exits to the building. And then this year, for the first time, we were able to track our attendance and our admissions into the History Center. As we just reopened it. And we’ve had some really great interactions with our public. We’ve had a lot of really good programming opportunities at that location, and then just a lot of interest in the history of Plymouth, both for homeowners and for residents of the city. Fun fact At the Plymouth Community Center, we have an internal, um, walking track. And I think I say this almost every year, but it eight laps around, it equals a mile. This year, our residents walked 1.477 million times around that track, which equates to 184,695 miles. The commitment to walking in circles of this community cannot be understated. Thank you to everybody who has taken part in those numbers. They probably don’t even know it. But we are. We are walking in circles, um, over in our recreation team, we have had a really significant impact and reach with our community. One of the things I’m most proud of that we were able to accomplish this year, is with our scholarship program. We doubled the amount of money of funding that we put towards our scholarships for our residents who are at need, or who our programs are just a touch out of reach. One of the ways that we’ve done this this year is we started offering scholarships to our residents who are over 19. So that’s getting at our active adult population. Um, so that things like entrance into some of our senior programs or any kind of programming that we offer is really accessible to all of our residents at all different income levels. We have increased our reach of adaptive and inclusion participants pretty significantly this year. And as our special events evolve, we are still in that kind of 60 to 70,000 range of people that we are seeing at those events. We’ve had an increase in the number of farmer’s market vendors, and we have even more this year as we’re debuting our three different markets on Plymouth Boulevard, where we were able to close the street down and have a lot more interaction with a lot of our both customers. And for a lot of our vendors. And then also for the first time this year, we have our numbers back on our partnership with the Wayzata Independent School District, where we are programming the East Junior High pool. Uh, we have offered over 1400 programs, and we have over 4000 aquatic participants in that program. And our aquatics supervisor is very passionate about aquatics, and she has taken this program from almost nonexistent to an incredible and incredible success for us. And we’re really happy to be singularly located in that building and to be able to provide programming to our residents even during the school day, which is a very unique partnership. And one of the ways that Wayzata has been a really good partner in debuting some of that. Volunteers are also housed within Parks and Recreation, and this year we had over 2000 volunteers. We had an increase in the number of hours that we saw from our volunteers. The financial value of what we are able to achieve from our volunteers is massive. Um, and while about 70% of our volunteers are part of our parks and recreation programs, and a lot of our events, um, we are using our volunteers to the equivalent of almost, almost 12 full time employees. So the impact for our team is really, really significant in our ability to provide service to the community. And then just a quick look ahead on what we’re working on this year. So right now we are under construction out at Lake Camelot, where in the upper right picture, that’s our new permanent restroom that we’ve built in partnership with Three Rivers Park District as part of the regional trail system. Uh, we are also replacing the playground out there, and we’re hoping to have that wrapped up by the end of the summer. We’re working on our transition program for some of our landscape spaces. So the bottom right corner is a picture of one of our landscapes that we converted from turf into a, um, a shade perennial garden. It’s been really successful. It has plant ID tags out there. We have a lot of interaction from the public. If people walk through it, they can also go inside the old town hall, and then they can get seed packets of some of the, um, plants that were growing in there so that they can take those home and really implement that in their own yards. And then finally, our urban wood utilization project that will be receiving award from the League of Minnesota Cities, uh, on Thursday. Um, we are finding all kinds of creative ways to use our wood, our wood waste, and how do we really create a new, um, stream of lumber and supplies that we both use internally in the Parks Department and that we can we use throughout the city? One of our more recent examples is our team is working with the fire department to build tables for them out of some of the wood waste that we see at the yard waste site. Uh, so we’re really focusing on those efforts and how we can streamline what we’re able to accomplish through that program. And then we have a lot of other construction going on and a lot of programming and all kinds of summer events. And this is our busy season. So, uh, we are out in our parks and everybody else is too, and we’re really happy to meet people out where they are. So with that, I’m happy to stand for any questions. All right. Any questions for JT Council mayor Gregor. Thanks for this report. JT. Um, I don’t know if it’s exactly a question, but I just want to commend the Parks and Recreation Department for their leadership, especially on things like adaptive programming. Uh, I mean, in the last few years, I’ve noticed a lot more of that, you know, from the silent disco or, you know, um, meeting sensory to time in the cube, all of that kind of thing. I appreciate you also highlighting the scholarships and just this, as I see on the slide here, the creative ways that the Parks and Recreation Department is, um, taking the lead on innovative projects and so on. I’d also, I’ve heard from others that they would love to see more connection with the school district or for after school options or programs. So I would love to at least highlight that as an opportunity for continued leadership or growth in the department in the future. Um, you know, making fun things for kids to do after school or ways for them to get from school to the community center. If there’s programming, there would be really, uh, really cool if we can find grants or other ways to fund fund those opportunities, I would encourage us to look into it. Thanks again. Thank you. Other comments questions I would say, JT, that, you know, I really appreciate this report because it tells everybody the impact you have on the all the residents in Plymouth. Um, the tagline Plymouth has adding quality of life and that’s what to me, Parks and Rec primarily does. I mean everything else. No, nothing against Grant or Michael over there, but, uh, you guys got like, if you don’t notice the water coming on, you hear about it. That’s kind of a gotta have, you know, in community development. But you have the parks, the trails, the community center, the ice center, all those things that add that special sauce to Plymouth. And so I appreciate you laying this out, especially the volunteer impact, because it’s quite impressive that, uh, your volunteers provide almost 12.5 or 12, uh, fte at the city, um, through just through their volunteer efforts. So thank you. Thank you, mayor. And make sure you tell your staff what a great job. I will absolutely do that. Okay. All right. If there’s no other questions or comments, we’ll move on to item 8.2. Receive Community Economic Development Department Fiscal year end 2025 Annual report grant. Yes. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I don’t know why I offered to follow JT. I knew she was going to have a special presentation and special sauce. Now, according to the mayor. So anyway, um, so we published our annual report. I think this is the third year that we’ve done an annual report, um, which highlights the major projects, initiatives, things that are going on and community development in the last year, and then a look ahead to what’s going on in 2026 and beyond. I do want to take a moment to thank both my staff and community and economic development, as well as communications, for their help in putting together this report. It’s it’s very well done and it wouldn’t wouldn’t happen without their assistance. Um, so I thought I would just provide a quick snapshot. Uh, I know people like data and, and a little background on Plymouth, and it’s always good, I think, to kind of toot our own horn in terms of what’s going on in our community. Um, so there’s a little bit of information here. Uh, the chart on the left provides a summary of our employment sector. This is 2020, 20, 2025 data. Um, and I just wanted to highlight kind of the, the top employers. So the largest sectors include trade, transportation and utilities. That’s about 20% of our employers in Plymouth. Uh, professional, business, professional and business services is about 19%. And then manufacturing is 18%. So that’s a substantial part of our job base is, is um, basically is comprised of those particular industries. The chart on the left, or I should say the text box on the right. Excuse me. It’s just a summary of our community. I think we’re familiar with this data. We’re over 80,000 in population, 32,000 households. We are in affluent community. Um, our median income is a little over $133,000. And we’ve talked about this a lot, that we have the fourth largest economy in the state. Uh, so we are definitely a driver of of the state and the region. Uh, and we have amongst the lowest, um, tax rates among our peer communities. Um, the other thing that I think is important to point out is that we are a fairly well-educated community. So about 65% of our residents have, uh, a college degree or, higher, um, a higher degree. Community development is structured into four different divisions. Uh, we have planning, economic development, inspections and code compliance. And then our housing and HRA division, um, and all the work that we do is to support what the council has identified as, as your strategic priorities in terms of completed projects. Uh, I won’t cover all of these, but the the, um, the ones that are noted here in italics include the the pictures off to the right. So Summit Orthopedics, uh, of course, is a new clinic. Surgery center that’s up at the Boulevard, the former Prudential site. Uh, that opened up last year. Uh, the Brooks Apartments, which is the photo to to the right of that, um, is one of our newest apartment buildings. That’s over 220 units that opened in the spring of 2025. Uh, and then the Gardner School, um, is a preschool and daycare facility off of highway 55. It was replaced, uh, former sporting goods shop that was somewhat of an eyesore. So I think we were glad to see that that redeveloped, uh, and then the jet six tent, um, tech center is an industrial flex space that was leased to one tenant called Whitecap. So we’re seeing a lot of activity in commercial, industrial and residential, which I think, um, represents the fact that, you know, we’re doing we’re doing a lot of things well here in Plymouth. We’re seeing a lot of investment in terms of projects that are under construction. The Rowan Apartments is the project that Doran is developing. Um, at Harbor Lane, just west of Fern Brook. That’s a 170 unit market rate project. There’s a lot of activity going on up at the Boulevard. I talked a little bit about, um, some orthopedics, but, uh, Coburn’s market and table opened up back in March. That was a project that was started, um, last fall. Uh, it’s a very impressive, very impressive grocery store that also includes dining options, dry cleaning, wine, beer and spirits, as well as fuel sales as well. And that open, as I said, opened in March. Belle Terre Apartments is a 200 unit development that’s under construction. We have a tour scheduled in a couple of weeks, so we’re we’re excited to, uh, to see that building that, um, hopefully we’ll open up this fall and we’ll provide, uh, mixed income apartments. So 20% of those units will be affordable to housing, uh, to households at 60%. Ami Chase Bank is also going to open up a new, uh, branch office at the Boulevard. And then the Melrose Apartments, uh, is scheduled to close next week. That’s 100% affordable building. Um, so that will will be in the development and, uh, affordable to households at 60%. Ami I also have highlighted dike and applied uh, that’s a large commercial, uh, HVAC manufacturer. Uh, they did an expansion project which is under construction right now. That will be both research and development as well as training space. Uh, we had a groundbreaking, uh, back in 2025. And so we’re excited to see, uh, Daikin continue to expand its presence here in Plymouth. Housing is another important thing that we work on in community development. Among the, uh, I think major accomplishments last year was the 4D incentive program. So that’s the special tax program that lowers the basically lowers the taxes to allow owners to invest in their, in their properties. And we have two, uh, two multifamily, uh, older apartment complexes in Plymouth that are planning to take advantage of that. One was Lakeview Commons, which did that earlier last year, and then Plymouth Colony Apartments is, uh, going to be acquired by ODC sometime this summer. And they will also apply for that program as well. So that’s an important, um, important part of our toolkit in terms of affordable housing. We also adopted a housing improvement area policy, which is basically a mechanism that allows older townhome and condominium association associations to finance common area improvements, which can be difficult for older, older developments. And we’re aware of at least a couple of, uh, communities that want to take advantage of that. So we’re working with them as well. And then lastly, the bring it home rental assistance program. Um, you know, funding for rental assistance, like the Housing Choice voucher program, which is, um, financed by HUD, that funding has been stagnant for decades. Um, federal government has not expanded that. So the state has really stepped in and has provided assistance. And and because we administer that program, we were able to apply for assistance. And now we’ll provide rental assistance to an additional 36 households in Plymouth. So that program is underway. This year. Uh, on the horizon, a number of exciting projects. Plymouth Plaza, which is located at the corner of County Road six and 101, uh, the original pancake House site, which is not going away. Uh, I just want to be clear on that. So they’re starting construction on the first phase of that development, which is a commercial building out at the corner. Once that’s completed, um, the portion of the building where some of the existing medical tenants are located will relocate into that building. And then the western, roughly, I don’t know, half of the building. Two thirds of the building will be demolished and they’ll start phase three, which will be a multifamily development. Uh, we’re also continuing to work on City center, uh, redevelopment as as council is aware, is a priority for the city. Uh, so we’re having discussions with developers about opportunities in City Center 484 and 55. We went through a small area plan. Uh, we’re also continuing to solicit development interest in and around the station. 73 area as well. So those are those are ongoing conversations. And as we mentioned at the study session, we plan to debrief with council on that coming up in mid-July to provide you with some feedback on what we’re hearing from from the development community. The other big thing that we’re focusing on this year, of course, is the comprehensive plan. Uh, 2050, which is reimagined Plymouth. So that’s our ten year process that we go through to update land use, transportation, housing, uh, water resources, parks and trails, uh, both those kinds of things. So that process we started earlier this year, we have some community visioning sessions coming up in the end of July, the 29th and 30th. So we’re hoping that the community can come out and participate in that. So we’re very excited for that as well. Uh, and then we’re talking about local affordable housing aid. Uh, there is a, an older townhome development that is going to be purchased by a non-profit housing developer, and they want to syndicate tax credits and preserve it as affordable housing. So we’ll be working on that with the HRA. Presenting that to council here in the in the coming months. And then lastly, um, we’ve had conversations about our inclusionary housing policy. Uh, we’re awaiting the results of a study that the Met Council is doing. That tool will be useful for us as we consider potential changes to our to our housing, our inclusionary housing policies. So with that, those are the major highlights. I do want to before I wrap up, I do want to thank council and the Planning Commission and HRA for all their work. Uh, this couldn’t be done without without your support and certainly the staff that I work with as well. I want to thank them for their efforts to I’d be happy to stand for any questions. Uh, does anyone have questions for Grant? It’s great that you again, just like JT, you bring everything in and our annual report because we see these projects one at a time, but we don’t see them in totality except when we see this annual report and see how much is actually going on in the city. And it’s really, really impressive because kind of like we were built out with single family homes and everyone thought things would slow down and redevelopment took off right before we even got done with the single family construction or homes. So your your team, just like I was telling JT, your team does a great job and being the liaison on the, uh, the housing Redevelopment Commission, I guess we’re calling it now. Um, it’s great to see all the work they’re doing and all the work your staff is doing. So pass that along to them. They’re doing a great job. I will, mayor. Thank you. Any other comments? Council member? Nelson yeah, I guess I’d like to take this moment just to thank all the city staff. Um, grants. JT, Andrea, um, you and just all the staff, um, Plymouth. It’s almost in our DNA right now in our culture that we’re able to provide all these excellent amenities. We’re able to look in the future and do all this redevelopment, but yet we’re able to do that with really good financials. And not every city can do that. So I just want to thank the entire city staff. We truly do. Um, from Dave Callister to everyone, all the directors, we truly do have a staff. That’s I would I would argue the best. So just thank you for the work that you all do appreciate it. Mayor. Our point. I’d like to add to, um, grant in in some of this stuff, um, we think out of the box, that’s what staff does. Um, if a developer comes or if somebody comes and we’re not going to turn them away, if something we we have if we remember this year or 25, there’s several lots that were kind of funky and we did something with them. We we found a way to work with them and, and make something happen. Uh, as we are redeveloping, we’re going to find things like this, areas that might not be a perfect square. And we do something with it. So JT, same with you. Um, we, we, we look at all the fun things and new things. You don’t just go with the usual, you experiment and let’s see what else we can find. And I love that swing out there. I mean, just lots of things like that. There’s fun things everywhere. So that that’s because of staff. So I think you and Andrea. Yes. You too. Thanks. All right. Councilmember Gregor. Uh, yeah. Thanks for this report, Grant. I think the big thing that stood out to me was one of those early slides that had the community snapshot of the different sectors of jobs that we have in our city. And, I mean, 52,000 different people are employed in our city. That’s a huge number. I’m sure a lot of them are coming into our city and bringing, uh, they’re they’re getting lunch at Arby’s or, um, they are, you know, bringing their, their spending to our city, which is great. And they are, um, making the diversity of the economy stronger here because it’s not just trade and transportation and utilities. We have, you know, that, as you pointed out, I mean, about 60% of the jobs are in three different industries. And then there’s 7 or 8 more industries on that list there. So, um, it makes our city very resilient. And I think that’s a real strength for us. So, uh, it’s great to see these numbers and to share them with the community. And, and I think us as a council want to make sure that we’re doing things to support those businesses and those employers. Um, because it all relates together. Right? People work in our city. People live in our city. People shop in our city. And, um, they all serve, you know, one another, uh, in a, in a relationship. So thank you for sharing that and, and putting this report together. Thank you. All right. Uh, seeing no other comments, uh, Dave, any reports and staff recommendations? No reports. All right, then we stand