Before I call the meeting to order, uhjust a reminder as director Benerrod indicated to all of you that we aredoing these meetings on a hybrid basis. People are able to watch online, call inuh particular points in the meeting for community comment if they have somethingthey wish to share that's a concern of theirs with the council uh or if we haveany public hearing matters as we do tonight. We have one public hearingmatter. uh folks may call in and then we'll have live testifiers herepotentially uh in the audience that wish to testify as well. So uh havingprovided that information, I'm going to call the meeting to order and ask ourclerk Sharon Allison to call the role of the council.>> Council member Agne >> here,>> council member Jackson >> here. Council member Pierce>> here. >> Council member Risser>> here. Mayor Hoplin >> here. Next is the pledge of allegiance. I allegiance to the flag of the UnitedStates of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation underGod, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.>> Thank you everybody for that. And we have a form of meeting agenda that'sbeen published uh with regard to tonight's meeting. Is there anyoneanyone on the council or a staff member which wish who wishes to modify theagenda in any way? >> All right. Is there a motion to approvethe meeting agenda as published? >> So moved.>> Second. >> Jackson moves. Member Pierce seconds theadoption of the meeting agenda as published. Any further discussion? Thosein favor of adoption of the meeting agenda as published say I.>> I. >> I. Opposed. Carried. The meeting agendais adopted. Next thing on that meeting agenda that was just adopted is uhcommunity comment and we talked a little bit about that and we're going to havefolks in the audience come up first. Uh give us your name and your address.Remember you've got three minutes and uh we've got a familiar face with us thisevening, one of our one of our colleagues. Uh and um eager to hear whatshe has to say. So and anyone else in the audience who wishes to speak. So goahead. You can lead us off. >> I will. Nancy Greer, 5225 Graan ViewSquare, unit 216. I am here to follow up on an email regarding the need foradditional safety signage at Graan View Square crosswalk over Eden Avenue that Isent to the city council along with se several other people on July 24th. Sincethe only person to reply to me was state rep, I will recap what I said in theemail. I included several more petition signatures from Avdor to add to the 133signatures that I had previously given you. Along with those several um withthose were several 2023 email exchanges between Nick Baller and Kathy Owens. Asyou know, Mr. Baller is the city's traffic safety coordinator and KathyOwens is a resident at 525 5225 Grand Square. September 22nd, 2023,CA Kathy had her first email exchange with Miss Mr. Baller about a warningflasher that the Adina City Safety Committee ultimately recommendedinstalling on Even AD Avenue later that fall. There were several follow-upemails. It is now one month shy of two years that the request has been was madeand no advanced warning system has been instal installed. Representative Ukimasked me if I would like to meet and discuss the issue. I said that I wouldand we are meeting on September 9th at 11:30 a.m. at the senior center. I aminviting all the council to join us if they would like. I hope to give her atour of the crosswalk and the curve. I am also requesting that the councilmembers take a trip on Valley View Road. There is a pedestrian crosswalk atConcord. A block prior to Concord is Virginia. It has an advanced warningflasher as does Ashov going in the other direction. What you will see is astraight road that doesn't need an advanced warning system as there isn'tany obstructed view of the c conquered crosswalk. I am hoping that one of thoseadvanced warning systems can be ro relocated to the curve on Eden Avenuewhere it is needed. I really don't think it should take two years to procreatepro procure a safety feature and wonder if it was ever ordered. I would like topoint out to the council that all the units of the Grand View Square complexpay property taxes. In our building, there are 70 units and I will say thatour unit is starting to resemble the taxes we paid in Lynen Hills for a housethat was twice the size of our current home. I think some of our tax dollarscould be spent to keep us safe. Don't you? I know it has been suggested thatwe walk up to the light at Vernon and Eden cross there. Sounds reasonableuntil you really look at what you were asking. The people using the crosswalkrange in age for the most part between 75 and 85. They have to walk up to thelight. Hope the people turning right onto Eden are paying attention to themand not looking to see if anyone is turning left. I can attest to the factthat they do not pay attention in the crosswalk. If they survive, then theyhave to cross at the exit from the gas station, the entrance and exit to AdinaFamily Physicians. They have to walk through Jerry's parking lot where youwould think drivers are paying attention to the people going in and out ofJerry's, which include not only senior citizens, but young children and theirparents. They do not. Then you want them to reverse the process on the way home.Don't you think that's a lot to ask of senior citizens? This may be hard forall of you to believe, but in what seems like a blink of the eye, you will be inyour 70s and 80s. I think the mayor will agree with me. It goes by in no time. Ithink you will want your elected officials to keep your safety front andcenter as we do. >> Please.>> Thank you, Mr. >> What?>> Thank you. >> Yes. Please give us>> Thank you. Do you want to make that part of the record? Absolutely.>> Would you hand it to hand it to the clerk, please, and she'll make it partof the record. >> All right. Thank you for coming thisevening. Anyone else in the audience that wishes to address to council inpublic comment on a matter of concern to them?>> Anybody online? >> I have no one online for uh communitycomment. >> Let's turn then to manager Neil. Um Idon't know if you want to address this continuing issue in Grand View Square oror not. before they have any knowledge of>> what I I would suggest is is I will talk with Mr. Scipion and some of hiscolleagues at engineering and we'll put try to put together the current uhstatus of what's happening out there for you and we our commitment is to havethat ready in reply by Friday of this week. That's our standard commitment.>> What about the issue of the advanced warning system that she says it's beentwo years since they were told they were going to get this advanced warningsystem. >> We'll we'll take a look at that.>> Okay. All right. Uh, and then you've got some supplemental information from ourlast meeting, I think, to report out on. >> I do not we I do not have any responsesto community comment from last night. >> Um, because there were no things thatyou needed to >> question, right?>> Okay. All right. Um, we next thing in the agenda is the consent agenda. Isthere anyone on the council that wishes to remove an item from the consentagenda? >> Hearing nothing. Is there a motion toapprove the items on the consent agenda in a single motion?>> So moved. I second. >> Member Jackson moves member Agnu secondsthe adoption of the items on the consent agenda in a single motion. Any furtherdiscussion? All those in favor of adoption of those items on the consentagenda in a single motion say I. >> I.>> I. Opposed carried. Those items are adopted. Uh consent agenda items areapproved and adopted. All right. We're going to go next to um a public hearingmatter that we have and um it is the only public hearing matter andwe mentioned that earlier and it's a potential umbond sale that we may be involved in as a conduit organization. So,>> good evening. >> Good evening.>> I want to introduce Nelly Chick Brewer. Nelly is number two work in our financedepartment and she's here tonight to kind of shepherd this particular itemfor you. All right. >> Okay.>> Thank you, Miss Chick Brewer. Welcome. >> Thank you. Um, so today we're here toask um for public hearing as well as approval of the issuance of revenuebonds by the um National Finance Authority on on behalf of the CenturionFoundation. Um the Centurion Foundation is taking out a bond to makeimprovements for the Auroral Transitional Care facilities. Since theproject is in the city of Adina, we have to give them host um approval to goahead with the issuance. It should also be noted that um the issuant does notresult to any liabilities to the city of Edinina since we're just acting as hostapprovals. Um the city council did approve um a public notice for this onthe June 17 council meeting. So with that, I do have representatives for theborrower in case you have any questions for them.All right. Thank you. Yeah, >> I'm happy to give you 30 seconds.>> That would be good. Thank you. >> I'm Jeremy Alum with Barnes & Thornberg.Uh we represent the Centurion Foundation, which is an Atlanta based uhnonprofit organization that works with healthcare facilities around thecountry. Um, as mentioned that, you know, these bonds will be issued by adifferent issuer, but because the project is located in Edina, we have tohold a public hearing locally under the federal tax law and we have to haveapproval from the local government uh prior to proceeding. So, so that's whywe're here this evening. It's the existing Aurora on France facility. Iwas there today visiting the facility. Very nice facility. Will continue to bewill continue to be operated uh by uh the folks that operate it which are partof Fairview Health. So, um, again, this is kind of I hate to say it's aformality, but it is a formality under the federal tax code that we we hold apublic hearing and and put this in front of the local government.>> Understood. Thanks for being here. >> You bet.>> Um, any questions from council members atthis point in time? Okay. This is a public hearing matter. I'm going to openthis up for public testimony. Is anyone in the audience who wishes to uh testifyregarding this matter? This request? All right. The request again is to uhpotentially authorize the issuance of revenue bonds by the national financeauthority for the benefit of Centurion Foundation in France Avenue 6,500 FranceAurora on France as we all know it. Uh transitional care and assisted livingfacility. Okay. Uh, Mr. Director Benerrod, anybodyonline? >> I don't have anyone on the line just yetfor this public hearing because there is a brief delay in the broadcast. I wouldrecommend we wait about a minute before moving on just to make sure no one'strying to to dial in right now. My clock shows that it's 712. I'll come back toyou at 7:13 or when I have a caller, whichever is first.>> Thank you, >> Mr. Mayor.>> Yes. I just wanted to add uh one section here and that is um uh usually we wehave a pause but we have the public hearing we close it later and we act ata subsequent meeting. Uh the request tonight is to open and close the publichearing this evening and to take action on the proposed resolution this evening.Yes. >> Understood.>> Okay. Yeah. And I don't know if in the in the interim period here where we'rewaiting to see if anybody comes online if you want to comment further on ourhistoric uh role in some of these situations where the property happens tobe located in Edina. >> You know those of us in the non-legalnon-financial world call this a conduit financing. Uh we've done many of themover over my career here. They all almost always associated with a ahealthcare um and a healthcare institution. In other communities, theythey might also be connected to a a university or a college financing forfor housing is another where area where you see these. But this for us was we wehaven't done one in a while. So that's where this one comes from.>> And there's no risk for the city. >> There's no risk for the city. Um as asthe proponent mentioned, it's it's a formality in in US tax code.Anybody >> come online?>> I don't have anyone online, sir. We'll take it in two phases here. Firstof all, is there a motion to close the public hearing on this matter?>> So moved. I second. >> Jackson moves. Men Agnu seconds theclosure of the public hearing with regard to resolution 2025-72.Any further disc further discussion on that motion? All those in favor uh ofclosing the public hearing with regard to resolution 2025-72say I. >> I.>> Opposed carried. The public hearing is closed. Uh and the next action step uhif council cares to take it would be to have someone move to approve resolution2025-72 which would authorize the issuance ofrevenue bonds by the national finance authority for the benefit of CenturionFoundation France Avenue. Is there a motion to that effect?>> So moved member moves member Pierce the adoption of resolution 2025-72as stated. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of theresolution 2025-72 as stated say I.>> I. >> I. Opposed. Carried. Resolution.Resolution 2025-72 is approved. Adopted and approved. Goodluck with everything. >> Thank you.>> Thanks for being here this evening. And Mr. Chick Brewer, thank you forbeing here, too. >> You're one You're one and0. You got abig win right out of the box. >> Yeah. Okay, we're going to move on to the nextportion of the agenda, which is reports and recommendations. We got severalitems to deal with here. The first item is one that we see every uh meeting, itseems like, as a resolution involving the potential acceptance of donations onbehalf of the city of Edina. Uh this uh this uh meeting we have resolution2025-71 which has a couple of recommended uh umgifts in it for and we need to approve those gifts. Is there anyone that caresto move the adoption of resolution 2025-71?>> So moved. I second. >> All right. Member Jackson moves memberAgnu seconds the adoption of resolution 2025-71which would accept donations on behalf of the city of Vina. Any furtherdiscussion? All those in favor of adoption of resolution 2025-71say I I opposed. Uh that resolution is adopted. The gifts that are reported inthis particular reporting period are to park and rec Stacy Grimes. Uh a tree atArdan Park value of $350. Same as those chairs we've approved overat the at the senior center. Uh communications Ambrosia coffee uh forthe communications department. $60 of gift card prizes for city hall selfieday. So, that was interesting. I'm sure Director Benrock can tell us a littlebit more about that if you're so inclined. Um, all right. Next item onthe agenda in this portion of the agenda is potential issuance of a conditionaluse permit for the electric uh vehicle maker Rivian. And this is at 3510uh Galleria. And we had a good discussion on this a couple weeks agoand I think there are some changes that have been made uh by Rivian which uh Ithink are are helpful and so we'll turn now to you uh Addison to have us, youknow, walk through walk through the matter for us.>> All right. Good evening, mayor, members of council. Uh this is a request for aconditional use permit for Rivian uh to allow for an automobile agency sellingnew unused vehicles in the PCD3 zoning district. Uh this item was firstintroduced at the August 6th meeting where uh you also held the publichearing. So Rivian is proposing a small 3200 foot vehicle showroom inside themall. They would also have six vehicles on site available for test drives. Thestaff recommendation tonight is to approve resolution 2025-64approving the conditional use permit. Um and in response to comments at the lastmeeting, Rivian and Galleria have provided some additional information andmade some changes. So, one of those items is a letter I think you shouldhave on the dis. It's a letter from Galleria's U fire protection engineer.Uh, and that confirms that the sprinkler system in that tenant space does meetthe O2 standard that was recommended by the fire marshal. Um, another change isa revised floor plan with the addition of an exterior door uh directly to thetenant space to address the fire marshall's concern about, you know, inthe event of a fire being able to pull a vehicle out of there directly ratherthan having to pull it through the mall. Um, they've also provided someadditional information on battery safety as well as a letter from Galleriamanagement expressing their support for Rivian uh with the addition of thatexterior door to the plans. Um, and so with that, in addition to myself beingavailable for questions tonight, uh, we have our fire marshal, Dave Miller. Wehave Paul Wagner, property manager of Galleria, and we also have, uh, severalmembers of the Rivian team, uh, joining us virtually tonight. And I think, uh,if you'd be all right with it, uh, they'd like to, uh, present the revisedplan to you quickly and then respond to any questions from the previous meeting.>> Very good. Thank you, M. Lewis. All right, go ahead. We can have themmake their presentation. >> Okay. So, we'll turn it over to HannahWoo from the Rivian team. >> Let me let me ask first if any councilmembers had questions of you. >> I>> Yeah, I think member Jackson, did you have one?>> I have one, too. Yeah. >> Um, thank you. So, you just stated thatthere were some changes, but I'm looking at the resolution and I don't see thoseas conditions on the resolution. What is it that we would be voting on tonight?Um, so there should be a condition that it's based on the material presentedtonight. Um, I guess if we want to just be super clear, you could add, you know,a condition saying that, um, you know, with the addition of the exterior door,um, and I guess subject to any of the other conditions from the firemarshall's letter that you'd want to impose. Um, they've been agreeable to itand presented information that they're willing to, you know, comply with withsome of those. Um >> I yeah I'm just looking at this andI think that's something we should have in writing.>> Okay. >> And I don't see it specific enough.>> So um so I'd like to see something before we close out on this if that'spossible. >> We we could craft those or have theattorney craft those additional conditionswriting so that we can all look at them before we voted.>> Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you. Mr. Kendall, can you take care of that?>> I can do that following the meeting. I don't think I can have it ready tonightunless you want me to. >> I think we want we want to have we Ithink the notion would be to have you hand write those additional conditionslike exterior door. >> Um well, I don't know, Mr. Lewis, whydon't you tell us what are we missing here so we can>> So, there's I think four recommend recommendations from the fire marshallthat uh we're recommended conditions and it it appears that Rivian and theGalleria team are going to meet three of these. Um so, you could just addcompliance with with those three conditions. So, we could specificallystate, you know, a condition be added that they include the exterior door. Um,that they have a 30% max charge on all the vehicles kept inside the showroom.Um, and that they provide the ordinary hazard group to sprinkler coverage,which they've already documented that they have done.>> Mayor, I can get that done with Mr. Teaguevery shortly here. I I thought some of these were already in there, but we canget them added momentarily. Yeah, if you can craft them up quickly, that would behelpful. >> And then let's go to member Risser nextand then member Pierce. >> Right. And I'm confused. The letter fromPaul Wagner notes under item number two, controls shall be implemented to alwayslimit the state of charge of the batteries to less than 50%.And Fire Martian Marshall Emiler um has that at 30%. So there's a gap there.There's That's>> right. We want 30%. We don't want 50%. But the Galleria is saying that theywill only do it to 50% instead of 30. So what's going on there?>> I think the 50% was a was a separate recommendation from Galleria's fireprotection engineer. That was maybe a standard that they were referencing, butI think our fire marshal and the Rivian team have agreed on 30% and Rivian isagreeable to that. >> Member Pierce.>> Um I So I'm just confused. Um, are the the um stipulations included inany of the documents in the packet? That's all I'm looking for. And I keeplooking through >> the resolution is down the line a littlebit. >> There's a condition in the resolutionthat, you know, the operations be consistent with the plans and everythingthat they've submitted in the packet. >> So, so yes, they you what you would beapproving would require them to have the exterior door. They've alreadydocumented that they've got um the right sprinkler coverage.>> Yeah. >> Um>> the 30% >> and the 30% is what they havedocumented, given us in writing that they're going to do.>> Okay. >> So, we we feel comfortable with withthat. >> Yeah. That's all I'm looking for. It'sreally the same point that member Jackson is making. Whatever those are,we should have them documented in the resolution.>> Okay. All right. Very good. Uh, stand by, Mr.Lewis. And then, um, Miss Woo, thank you for being with us. And I see Mr. Moon ishere as well. Um, thanks for coming out a couple weeks ago. I think it washelpful to the discussion and and I'm pleased that I think our whole council'spleased that you were attentive to the concerns that we had uh, and uh, andaddress them. So, I'll turn it now to you, Miss Woo.Great. Um, I'm not sure if uh the floor plan is on your screens. Nothing'sshowing up on our end. >> I think Mr. Lewis is going to kind of>> I can pull it up for you. >> He's going to pull it up. >> Oh,>> she needs to share her screen. >> Oh, okay.>> Miss Woo, can you share your screen? >> Uh, yes, I can.>> That's the way we can do it. Otherwise, you're going to be gone. But we justhave audio split screen out here yet. >> No problem. Let me share my screen. >> Okay. Do you all see the floor planhere? >> Yeah, we can see that.>> Great. Um so what we um have done is we've taken uh the council and the firemarshall's comments um and we rotated our back of house uh to to be stuck tothe left side and added uh an exterior door to the back. Um we also added avestibial here for comfortable temperature inside uh inside theshowroom as well. Um so what we've done is we've kept thestorefront the same from the interior of the mall and uh we just shuffled ourfront of house um program to to meet the exterior path. >> Right. And did any of the other folks onyour team wish to comment on the revised proposal? >> Mr.I do not think so at the moment. I just wanted to share this uh to toshow that we are working on the exterior door. Um and it is in our plan.>> Yeah. I have to tell you, I was so pleased when I saw this uh because Idrove I was worried about Rivian and I I you know I went over to the mall afterour conversation and and uh where I thought the back of your space was wasright where all those utility boxes are and I thought well the door is a goodidea but it just can't happen because all the utilities are right there butyou're really to the east of the utility boxes and so you've got room for thatexit door right there which is >> right. Um, and we wanted to preserve thetree as well, so we stuck it to the left side. Um, and we'll just be relocatingthe lamp post. >> So, will that serve as will that serveas an exterior entrance for people, too, or will it just be used if you have to?>> It will be used for an exterior entrance.>> Okay. Does anyone else on your team wish to comment about the revised proposal?All right.>> No, no comments from from me. >> All right, Mr. Moon. Thank you. Allright. Um, anyone else, Mr. Lewis?Okay. All right. Uh, stand by, folks. We're going to have a littleconversation here. I think, uh, do we have the revisedlanguage ready? >> Uh, yes. So, staff would suggest thatyou add these three conditions. The first, which would be number seven,construction of exterior doors as proposed and included in the packet, anda max charge of batteries for vehicles parked inside shall not exceed 30%. Thatwould be condition 8. And the fire sprinkler system to be installed per therecommendation of the fire marshall. That's the part that's already beeninstalled. But >> yeah, good. Yeah. Thank you, gentlemen,for putting that together quickly. Very helpful. And uh, Miss Wua, Mr. Moon, youagree to those additional conditions? >> Yep, we do.>> Okay. >> Yes, sir.>> Very good. Well, I I'll tell you, I tried to call this uh friend of mine whois the mayor of uh White Plains, New York, Thomas Roach. I couldn't get ahold of him today. I wait, shame on me. I waited too long to get a hold of him.But I did talk to the mayor down in Normal, Illinois, who is right where thefactory is. and uh he said uh Jim I don't think there's much risk of a fireif you've got those kinds of conditions going and then they put a door in there.So they just wanted you to know that my colleagues as well. Um,okay. We've got uh a staff recommendation uh to adopt the uh orissu authorize the issuance of the conditional use permit for 3510 Galleriato Rivian. And the motion would be to approve resolution 2025-64uh approving a conditional use permit for Rivian to operate an automobileagency selling new unused vehicles at 3510 Galleriauh subject to the nine conditions that were just set forth uh the six that areembodied in the printed document plus the three that were uh provided byDirector Teague. those nine uh conditions then would be part of thepart of the resolution. Uh is there member of the council wishes to move thematter? >> So moved.>> Second. >> Member Jackson moves. Member Pierceseconds the adoption of resolution 2025-64with its nine uh uh conditions attached to it which would approve a conditionaluse permit for Rivian to operate an automobile agency selling new used newand unused vehicles at 3510 Galleria. Uh, any further discussion?>> Yes. Uh, >> member Jackson,>> I just want to know if our fire marshall has any comments that he wants to make.>> I don't have >> Okay. Thank you. Thanks for that.>> Thanks. Thanks to everybody who's been working to resolve this. I I appreciatethat. >> All right. Yeah, we may stand by Rivian.We may have a few comments from council members after we vote here. So, and Iknow you want to stick around for the vote. So, any further discussion? Allthose in favor of adoption of the resolution 2025 2025-64uh as stated say I. >> I opposed carried. You've got unonymityhere of opinion for Rivian and we welcome you to Edina. We're excited tohave you here uh with a retail presence at uh a great shopping mall in ourregion. So, I think you'll be well served and be a good tenant and you'llhave a good landlord there as well. I think there's a lot of traffic throughthere, foot traffic, so I think it'll be good for you. All right. Anybody elsehave a council comment? All right, that's it. Uh, Miss Woo, MissMr. Moon, thank you. Okay. Next matter in front of us is resolution2025-68. The potential adoption of thatresolution. Uh it would it involves the acquisition of property at 5146 EdenAvenue. And this is um paring a bit the uh work that we did at the HA a week orso ago. And uh Mr. Nundorf has this matter. Yes, thank you. Good evening. I have a couple items tonight, but we'llstart with resolution 2025-68. And as you referenced, this is a acompanion piece uh regarding the city's old public works lot uh at 5146 Eden, asite that's been talked about, vision discussed for quite some time. uh we areat a point where we uh intend to move forward to find a new developer to buildon that site and one of the directions that you'd given staff earlier in theyear was to look into the possibility of creating more revenue for the city uhfrom this site from the sale of of this site. So currently the property is ownedby the HR and it was transferred to the HR a few years back to separate thosefunctions of real estate deals and contracts and zoning provisions. So asan HR body, we've done some additional work over the past uh few years, butover this last uh eight months in particular to identify a prospectivedevelopment team to pick it up and run with it. What we'd like to do at thispoint is transfer the property from the HA ownership to the city ownership. Uhthe benefit of that is when the property is sold, we when we actually close onit, those real estate proceeds will be deposited to the city budget rather thanthe HR. So at that point in time, as a city council, you can determine wherethose dollars can best be used in our community. Um the city spendingauthority is much broader than the housing and redevelopment authority. Thecity can use it for operations, for debt reduction, for a quite a variety of oftasks. And so this transfer gives you that extra flexibility.Um uh at our at our HA meeting last week uh as the HA board uh the direction wasgranted to transfer it to the city subject to the city accepting thattransfer. Um so that's where we are today uh is this resolution would acceptthe the transfer of the property. In the future we will bring forward a realestate contract with the new development team. uh we anticipate that coming toyou in in September or October. And then once that once that contract is inplace, the new developer will begin the process of reszoning, entitlements, siteplan approval, all of our typical development controls. But today, wesimply are recommending that the city council accept this property um so thatit is transferred there. Part of the background of this is uh is a procedurethat our city attorney had recommended that we acknowledge and that istypically when a city buys or sells a property, we seek the opinion of theplanning commission as to whether or not that purchase or the sale uh impacts ourcomprehensive plan. In this particular case, since it's only an internaltransfer and we're not building anything, we're not uh you know, there'sthere's no net um uh outcome of this immediate transfer. Staff and our cityattorney is of the opinion that it that this particular transfer uh can be madeby the city council without planning commission uh input. Um but in thefuture when we have a contract with the developer to actually build something ofcourse that's where the planning commission will provide the input. Soour recommendation tonight is to approve uh this resolution. For this particularresolution a twothirds majority vote is required which is a four-fifths v voteto accept this property. Uh with the vote, the city attorney will will moveforward with all the necessary paperwork to transfer the name uh of ownership ofthis part of this parcel. And with with that, mayor, I turn it back to you.>> All right. Thank you. For those that may be watching in, the uh the presenter isBill Nuendorf, our economic development manager. And I'll turn to my colleaguesnow and see if anybody has a question for Mr. Newondorf.>> All right. Yes, member. Um, so what happens if we finish this transfer tothe city, but then for whatever re reason the project falls through? Um,what do we then do? Do we transfer it back to the HR or or how would we moveforward? >> That's a possibility. I'd rather notexplore it this time seeing that seeing that we've done this six or seven timesalready in the past. Um, there's no right or wrong way to do it. The citycan certainly buy property, sell property. Um, for quite some time, ourgoal was um to really reposition this as a funding source for our HR budget. Um,that was a long a goal a few years back with the recent conversations about ourbudget impact. We shifted that goal to put it back in the in the uh hands ofthe city. Um, so in the future, if this arrangement with a new development teamdoes not happen, we still have all the options available to us.All right. Any other questions for Mr. Newondorf? So, the uh recommendationfrom staff and Mr. Nuundorf is that uh we approve resolution 2025-64,no, excuse me, 2025-68 umand authorize the uh acquisition of the property at 5146 Eden Avenue and in thatprocess find that the acquisition has no relationship to the comprehensive planfor the reasons stated by Mr. Newondorf and our city attorney. Is there a motionto that effect? >> So moved.>> Second. >> Jackson moves. Member Pierce theadoption of resolution 2025-68 finding that the acquisition uh of thepotential property at 5146 Eden Avenue has no relationship to the comprehensiveplan and also authorizes the acquisition of that property at 5146 Eden Avenue bythe city of Edidina. Uh any further discussion? All those in favor ofadoption of the resolution as stated say I. I>> I opposed >> um abstension. All right. Motioncarries. The resolution is adopted. 2025-68is approved. Uh and next we are on to item 8.4which is a potential amendment of the redevelopment agreements with EnclaveLLC and Lifestyle Communities. Again, something we talked about and dealt withat the H as well. >> Correct. Uh, Bill Nounorf, the city'seconomic development manager with this one. Again, apologize for notintroducing myself the first time. Uh, this is the same proposal that we heardas an HA board last week. Uh, and in summary, uh, in 2023, we started theconversation with the developer to potentially acquire and reszone thatMacy's furniture gallery. Uh in 2024, the HA and the city council authorizedthe use of tax increment financing to reimburse the developer for some ofthose qualified costs um of that site. Um and we entered into redevelopmentagreements. The initial agreement assumed that the acquisition wouldhappen earlier in this year. Um and for a variety of reasons, uh the acquisitionby the devel developer has not happened yet. Um, so everyone is familiar withthe site at this point. It's 7235 France Avenue. Uh, the Macy's FurnitureGallery. Uh, the current conditions are the same as they were uh for the lastcouple years. Uh, a large building uh uh with a large even larger surface parkinglot. The key distinction is that today the Macy's furniture store has moved.So, the site is currently vacant. That was the first step to happen on thisproperty was to relocate that that viable store into Southdale Center Mall.That happened in May or June of this year. Um so with that store nowrelocated, uh the developer can move forward um and acquire the prop theproperty and keep keep uh on pace. The project that we're talking about isthe same as it has been uh subdividing that large property into four buildingfootprints uh to have four buildings subdivided by roadways, walkways, bikepaths, etc. Umuh so with this amendment, the key thing that we're looking to do is grant thedeveloper a 9-month time extension to deliver on the promise on the proposalthat they um that they uh presented in the past. So initially I mentioned theywere going to close in January. They now have scheduled the closing in September.So, this amendment simply adds nine months to all the completion dates inthose TIFF agreements. No other changes at this time. It's still the sameproject, the same level of support, the same level of investment. Um, so withthat, um, uh, I will turn it back to you. Um, we do of course recommend, uh,as we did at the HA meeting that this first amendment be approved. Uh, PatrickBrahma, the developer with Enclave Company is here with us tonight. if youhave any questions for him. And with that, Mr. Mayor, I'd be happy toentertain any question as well. >> Yes. Let me see if my colleagues haveany questions. Anyone have any questions? Yes, member Risser.>> This came up at the H meeting and um in the packet, I believe it's slide number11 with economic benefits and um the one with the chart. Yes. and it's umshowing 12.1 million, but Henipin County has the site valued at 15 million forthe upcoming tax year. And I just want to confirm that that value that is beingshown there, the base rate, that estimated market value will change andgo up by 3 million. >> Yes, that that's correct. the um theeconomic benefits uh this slide is the same one that we presented lastNovember. So of course those numbers will change every year. Um I have notgone and done another economic analysis of the project at this point uh becausenone of the of those uh the more finite numbers have changed but certainly umthat estimated value will increase every year and that will be reflected. It willincrease every year, but it's important to understand when we create the tiffdistrict and we cement that base rate, that is what the property tax is basedon. So, I just want to articulate that. I think, you know, following tiff can beconfusing and it doesn't really have to be. So, thank you.>> Yeah, Mr. Ner, if we're on that topic, then why don't you explain how the basegets set when the tiff district is >> Sure. Sure. So, um, uh, when you havetax increment financing, when you certify the district, you free, you lockin the base value. So, at this point, we have not yet certified the district. Iwasn't willing to do that until they actually closed on the property. There'sthere's no point in certifying it if the deal is going to die. Um, a pause isfine, but a dead deal is not worth certifying. So at this point um weexpect to certify the district uh most likely the day after they close inSeptember and that will lock in the base value. So in 20 had we closed in 2024the base value would have been about 12 million. Since we're going to close in2025 the base value will be about 15 million. And then as they can as theybegin to build out that project that uh market value of the land will increasefrom 15 million to 25 to 45 to 85 to 120. Um but the the tax increment is thedifference between that future value and the base. So the base will be locked infor 25 years on the site and that base most likely will be the 15 million. andand that's how you calculate the increment the the future value minus thebase. >> Anybody have any questions based on thatexplanation? >> All right.>> Yeah. >> I I think it's also worth noting thatthat the value is is is set uh when the district is certified, but so are thoseproperty taxes that are being paid as well. So they continue to pay propertytaxes to the various taxing bodies. So what whatever our usual cut is of of uhcommercial and industrial property, we will still continue to receive that. Sowill schools, so will watershed districts, so will county, so will thestate. Okay. Um the motion is to approve thefirst amendments to each of the three redevelopment agreements for 7235 FranceAvenue, including the southwest element, the northwest element, and the eastelement, and authorize staff to carry out the terms of the amended agreements.Is that correct, Mr. >> That is correct. Accurate.>> Is there a motion to that effect? >> So moved.>> Second. >> Member Jackson moves. Member Pierceseconds the adoption of the motion as stated.>> Uh any further further discussion? >> Yes. Member Risser.>> Um I just want to note that um I am concerned about the degree ofdevelopment, the intensity of it. It is very dense. And going back to thegreater Southdale area final land use and transportation study that wasprepared for both Henipin County and the city of Edina from 2005. Uh it is notedthat this whole area really should be approached with managed growth andincremental change not transformational change. And for those reasons and otherreasons um I am not going to be supporting this.>> All right. Thank you for that. Um any other comments?All right. Uh all those in favor of adoption of the motion as stated say I.>> I. >> I. Opposed.>> Nay. >> Carried. Uh 4 to one vote. Um thethe motion is approved to adopt those uh first amendments to each of the threeredevelopment agreements for 7235 France Avenue, which includes the southwestelement, the northwest element, and the east element. All right. Very good. Andkeep going, Mr. Nundorf. You're on a little roll here.>> The next one is is resolution 2025-69. This is a unique one. Uh it's aresolution to recognize and approve a special law that was passed by the maMinnesota legislature for the 70th in France TIFF district.This is a request that the city made back in 2024uh and then again in 2025. Uh we were finally able to secure thatstate law this year in this session. And Adina was one of 13 m municipalities inthe state that was pursuing special legislation regarding tax incrementfinancing. uh for the for the most part the therequests were intended to extend the time frame of these tiff districts. Alot of projects that were on the docket during COVID at the end of CO um thoughtthey could move forward more quickly uh and the economy had something else inmind. So at at our 70th in France site that's a sixacre site that was a thatwas created back in 2022. The developer knew that they had a shortwindow of time to lock in the financing and move forward. Unfortunately, thatwindow of time closed much faster than they expected.So, this special law that was uh passed by the legislature contains twoprovisions. Uh the first, it allows the developer more time to complete thework. Um uh it extends what is typically a fiveyear deadline to a 10-yeardeadline. That's the amount of time that the legislature usually gives citieswhen they ask for that type of thing. So that's that's fairly standard. Thesecond thing that it potentially does is extend the number of years that the tiffdistrict would be in effect. At 70th in France, like all of our tiff districts,when we first establish them, we try to create them for the minimal amount oftime that we think is necessary. So for this one, we thought 15 years would doit. Now that we're multiple years into it and haven't even really begun, uh 15years is not going to uh reach our goals. So, this law allows the city atsome point in the future to extend that district at our choosing uh up to atotal of 25 years. There's a high bar to get to that point.So, what you're what you're doing tonight is not extending the district.you're just recognizing that a special law has been passed that would allow youin the future to extend the district. Um, in order to extend it, the HA has toapprove it, the city council has to approve it, the school board has toapprove it, and Henipin County has to approve it. It's a very high bar. Um uhbut that all starts tonight when you approve this resolution that recognizesthat there is a special law and that this e even is an option for us. Uh sowith that, Mr. Mayor, I turn it back to you and certainly staff recommends thatwe approve this resolution and begin these conversations for the site.>> And the reason that you're proposing recognizing the special law is that's arequirement of the statute. >> Correct. Correct. Yes. There's a statelaw that says that any special law uh after it's approved by the SenateSenate, the House, and the governor has to bounce back to the council to beapproved here. And so that's it's a little bit of back and forth, but that's>> part of the legislative process here. >> That's right.>> All right. >> We've done this a few times actually inthe past. >> Questions for Manager Neworf on thisparticular matter. Remember, >> when this came before the legislature,I'm just curious if they were aware of the proposal that the city build theparking ramp and take on the risk associated with that. Was that presentedto lawmakers? >> Uh, it was not. That is not within theirpurview. Their purview is really limited to the law that enables TIFF, not howtiff is actually used. So there was no discussion at the at the state levelabout that concept. >> Okay. Other questions? Yeah. MemberPierce. >> Um so I think you answered this. I'mjust kind of restating it I guess. So um an approval tonightis just the recognition that this is an option but we're not actually extendingthe district. And you've said that just >> that's correct.>> Okay. It's a multi-step process. This allowsus to begin the process. >> Any further questions? All right. Um,the resolution is resolution 2025-69, which approves a special law for the70th and France tax increment financing district. Any further conversation? Uhall those in favor of adoption of resolution 2025-69which approves the special the special law for the 70th and France taxincrement financing district say I >> I>> I opposed >> n>> uh motion carries 4 to1 motion resolution 2025-69 is adopted and nowyou've got basically the same situation with respect to the project across thestreet >> that that's correct yeah this this oneis resolution 2025 5-70. It approves the same type of special lawfor that 72nd in France, number two tiff district. That's the district that wascreated in 2023. Uh that includes about a 6acre parcel onthe west side of France Avenue. Now, uh while that project got off to the sameslow start um and has some of the same challenges and needs, uh thankfully thatproject is finally under construction. So that's the one. Uh the officebuilding broke ground in the spring. The apartment building just broke ground afew weeks ago. So they are moving forward, but I we still think therecould be a predict predicament where we need some extra flexibility. Um and sothis resolution would allow the city to recognize the state law that wasapproved and then decide how to implement that in the future at ourchoosing. Um, the extension of this district is also, just like the previousone, subject to H approval, city council approval, school board approval, andHenipin County approval. But it all starts tonight by recognizing that thislaw exists. And with that, we certainly recommend this be approved.>> Member Pierce. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, twoquestions. One, so this project is in motion. Um and so if weextend or if we approve um this law,how does that impact a project that's in motion now?>> Yeah, good question. So the way that the tax increment financing laws work, uhthis the project, whether it's done by the city or the developer or whomever,you have five years to lock in your permanent financing obligations.So had they begun right away as they had hoped, we think we would have met that.Um but before the city pledges and issues them a tiff note, we want to makesure that they finish the building. So just as a matter of our policy, we tendI can't think of a case where we have issued a TIFF note with a project notfinished. We want the project finished, shiny, people working there, peopleliving there, and then we'll issue those TIFF obligations. So, this gives us alittle bit more flexibility at the end to make sure that it's finished. Um,also, there's been a lot of conversation about public improvements at thatintersection, crosswalks, sidewalks, underpasses, overpasses. Um, I don'tthink that is the type of thing that's going to be decided upon instantinstantly. And so, if we really want to fund some kind of public improvementnear that site, we're going to need that extra 5 years to make that decision. Sothat uh this resolution also gives us that flexibility.>> So in that case, we're further minimizing the risk to thecity. Um because you probably would I'm not trying to put words in your mouth,but if we did not have this option and uh the project uh wasn't as far alonglong, would we actually write a tiffe beforethe project is completed? You just said you would not want to do that, but inthat case, if we don't have another option, what what would we do?>> Yeah, we I mean, we try to avoid it. State law gives the city council a lotof authority, a lot of leeway on how to actually use TIFF.>> But here's one example. Um, so the Pentagon Park TIF district created in2014. Um, the city issued TIFF notes in 20182019 two nights before our five-yeardeadline. While the road was installed, therewasn't anything. There was a right after COVID. So, there was a vacant shell forthe retail. There was no housing. There was no bank. We we went ahead and issuedthe TIFF notes reminding the developer that it was a worthless piece of paperuntil they actually built something. That's not the way we'd prefer to do it.We'd much rather see a shiny building that is paying taxes and occupied. Wehave the we have some flexibility, but I' I'd want to give yourselves moreflexibility to get the job to get the project finished first.>> So, last question. I that makes sense to me. umwhen you have tools like this at your disposal um in this particular case areyou intending to use this for maybe the previous property I get in this scenarioit's a little different um because this project is underway so is it yourintention to request approval from those four bodies>> you know I that depends on the direction that you give later tonight about thisunderpath asks whether or not you want us to keep looking into it, butcertainly um uh it took over two years to get thisflexibility from the state now that we have it. I really recommend we recognizeit. If we choose to use it or not, that's your choice. But it takes yearsto get these kinds of bills through the state and now that we finally have it,um I think we want it as a >> Got it. Last question. You said there'sfour bodies that have to approve it. How does the approval work in terms of usingit? Is it each body has to be unanimous? Is itsimple majority of the bodies or what? >> That's a good question. Um, we haven'tdone this before. Uh, to my recollection, I' I've never seen it inthe minutes of any past meeting. So, um, we would we would present to the H tothe, um, you know, HR and the city council. We know how that works. Simplemajority. >> Um, the school board, I presume, issimple majority. We'd want to talk with their administration and confirm that.And Henipin County, I also presume, is simple majority, but again, we'd want totalk to their administrators and see if they have anything special in theirpolicies. And I guess my question is if one of the four vote no, is it a simplemajority of the each of the bodies or >> Oh. Oh, sure. If one of the four votesno, it's dead. >> Okay.>> If one of the vote if one of the parties declined to to authorize this thisextension, it will not be extended. >> Got it. Okay. Thank you.>> Member Richard, do you have anything? >> No, it was answered.Okay. Um, we've got a motion, recommended motion from staff to approveresolution 2025-70, which essentially parrots what we did on2025-69. And that would be to approve a speciallaw for the 72nd in France number two, tax increment financing district. Isthere a motion to adopt that uh approve that resolution 2025-70?>> So move. >> Second.>> Pierce moves. Member Jackson seconds the adoption of resolution 2025-70approving a special law for the 72nd in France number two tax incrementfinancing district. Any further discussion? All those in favor ofadoption >> had a question.>> Oh >> for the same reasons that I gave for theprevious items. I will not be voting for this.>> All right. Uh all those in favor of adoption of resolution 2025-70 is statedsay I. >> I opposed. Nay>> carried a 4-1 vote. It is approved. Resolution 2025-70 is adopted. And nowwe are going to have a little conversation about uh uh the FranceAvenue pedestrian crossing and get an update from you and uh and hear a littlelittle bit about your recommendation as to how we what do we do from here.>> Yes. Yes. Thank you. Uh the France Avenue pedestrian crossing. So, this isa project that myself, Chad Milner, and Andrew Cypion have been working on uh inconcept for a couple years trying to explore whether or not this is even apossibility. Um, we wanted to provide an update to you tonight. Uh, Mr. Milner isout this week. Uh, but Andrew Cypion, our our bike and ped expert, is herewith us. And of course, when we're finished, we'll be happy to answer anyquestions. Um, but I'll provide a brief update about this concept and where weare and where staff recommends we go next. So, the project uh is located near theintersection of 72nd in France in between 72nd and Gallagher. And thedilemma that we're trying to improve or address is crossing France Avenue. Tothe local residents and and uh workers and people in in that area, we call itFrance Avenue and it's a street. Um however, it's a Henipin County road andHenipin County calls it Highway 17. And if you look at it, it's six to eightlanes wide and it feels like a highway, acts like a highway. Um so the city umuh and the county are not always seeing eye to eye on speeds, volumes uh uh andcrossings of that roadway. Um but that being said, there's ways to meet in themiddle and make some improvements. So dating back to 2007 when the city uhdid a study in that area, there were several recommendations to improve thepedestrian connectivity. Um, this is one page out of the 2007 study. And each ofthose red circles, um, uh, is the location of a recommended pedestrianimprovement. Sometimes they're crosswalks, sometimes they'reunderpasses. In one case, they recommended an overpass.Um, only well, several of of the improvements were constructed. Uh, wedid install several crosswalks that had they weren't there before. And we didrebuild uh the tunnel at York Avenue. So the image on the right shows the the newversion that that uh was expanded and improved around 2008 or 2010 in thattime frame. But uh when at the time of the study, the city just didn't have thefunding to do every recommendation. And so one item that was left unresolvedwas the was the pedestrian crossing at France Avenue. In this study, initiallythey recommended a bridge that flew over France Avenue uh at 72nd Street and fora number of reasons it was decided not to move forward with that uh with thatparticular design. A lot has changed. >> We had a we had a grant to do that.>> Correct. We had I think a $4 million grant for pedestrian pedestrianimprovements >> and eventually that grant wasreprogrammed to fund the I think it was four uh crosswalks uh rather than onebridge that was deemed to be a more equitable way to to get to make moreprogress faster in that area. Um but now with these two adjacent sitesturning over and being completely reconsidered,we wanted to revisit the concept of making a better, safer, more convenientpedestrian crossing uh at France Avenue. And so for the last couple years, we'vebeen meeting with the develop with the developers to help them uh envision whattheir sites could be and how they could be part of a solution to make the wholethe whole connectivity better. And essentially that's uh that concept wasincorporated by the three different developers that are working on the site.Um uh so right now their properties have been designed in a manner that couldjust accommodate a regular c a regular sidewalk, but if the city wanted to moveforward and pursue funding and you know full design and full cost estimates foran underpass that that could also be easily accommodated into their siteplans. So earlier this year, we hired a alandscape architect to put together some three-dimensional renderings of whatthis could be. And I would just share a couple of those images here. So all ofthese renderings envision the future where all these buildings are finished.Right? Today they're big piles of sand and a big parking lot, but in the futurethere will actually be people and and buildings there. So the underpass wouldbe in the middle. the the dotted white line is where it would go underneathFrance Avenue. On the west side of the street, this isthe site that's currently under construction. Uh through the developmentprocess, we secured a 60-foot public easement in between those two buildingsthat certainly could be used to make the first entry point uh to get under theroad. Uh here's a rendering of what it couldlook like uh as you move towards the east. So the buildings in the backgroundare the future buildings on the Macy's furniture site. Um and we did someinitial rendering and visioning of having a very wide uh sidewalk andtrail. Uh, one of the concerns we heard from the very beginning was was safetyand security. And the things that really uh dissuaded people from using somethinglike this was if it was too narrow, too dark, and too scary. Um, and very earlyon we said if we're going to build a scary tunnel,we're aiming in the wrong direction. And so as we uh went through the through thedesign, rather than an 8 foot wide tunnel, we're recommending movingforward with an underpass that's about uh this this is shown as 33 feet inwidth. So it's much more broad and there'd be uh one or two interveningsources of natural light. Um we just did a couple trials on some local uh tunnelsin the area and um even on the brightest sunniest day if the person at the otherend is just a dark shadow it just gives you the wrong feeling. So natural lightwas very important and we we believe we found a way to address that.So, this is an image uh pretty much uh midway uh through the underpass.The stairway at the end of this of this image is the east side, the Macy'sfurniture site location. And this is another image on the eastside of France where we can uh due to the length of that parcel, we can do aslow uh a slowly uh graded uh downs slope to meander from uh an upper leveldriveway at Gallagher down to get to the underpass without it being a steephandicap slope with handrails and barriers and all those things. We canjust meander it through there. Um, so in the last few months sincewe've had these renderings in a video, uh, we've reached out to neighborhoodgroups, uh, and they held a joint meeting of the Lake Cornelia and SouthCornelia neighbors. We had about 80 people at that meeting. Uh, had a reallygood conversation. We hosted an online uh, discussion on our Better Togetherwebsite. Um, we had over 2,000 people view that website and over 250 providedcomments and there was a pretty robust discussion um, online. We also reachedout and added a question on our annual quality of life survey about thisconcept and then we also had discussions as an HR board uh, a discussion with theplanning commission and with the transportation commission to get theirinput. And um you know I joke about thissometimes but often at city hall we always hear what people don't like.Things that went wrong, things that could have been done better. This is oneproject where I would classify the typical response as strongly supportivefor a whole variety of reasons. Now not everyone was in agreement. There's stillsome questions, some concerns, and some people that are vigorously opposed. Umbut overall we I we've heard a lot of strong support. Um and these are voicesthat live in the area, work in the area. Um and they see this type of improvementuh as improving the access to the park, to the trail, to the homes, to thebusiness, and to their school. They envision this type of improvement as away to boost the quality of living in that neighborhood and the overallwalkability. whether you're eight years old or whether you're 80 years old andin a wheelchair, this type of thing can be a huge improvement. Um, and not justconvenience, but safety. There's a lot of um, well, there's several commentsonline about near misses uh, at the crosswalk. One person had a comment thattwo of their friends got hit in the crosswalk on different occasions. Uh,comments from wheelchair users that say, "It looks great if you can walk quickly.I can't walk quickly. I'm in a wheelchair. it takes me a long time. Um,and then a few comments that just kind of wish that we'd already done this.They saw what we did back in 2010 at York Avenue and they had hope for afuture or hope for a past where we had already made this decision. It's achallenging decision. I don't want to overlook that. So, a lot of strongsupport and and that came out in person, online, and in our quality of lifesurvey. The opposition is really about cost. It's potentially a very expensiveproject. Um uh and other comments say stating thatthe existing crosswalks are adequate and this is just a wish. And um a lot ofcomments about I drive on that road all the time. I never see a problem withanybody walking. Um people that are driving aren't alwayslooking for the walkers. That's part of the problem. But that high cost iscertainly something to pay attention to. And then several concerns and they forthe most part they they they get categorized into two types of ofcomments. Personal safety and security. Is this dark and scary? Is this the kindof place that's going to get vandalized and and just have unhoused people livingthere? Um those types of concerns. And then also about u mixing people on footwith people on bicycles. So, several comments from people onbicycles saying, "Hey, this doesn't look safe for me. I have to make a hard leftand then a hard right. You should ease it out so I can go faster." And thensome concerns from walkers saying, "Wow, do we really want to be right next to afastmoving bicyclist? I'm on foot. We need to be safe here." So, that wholerelationship between bicyclists and pedestrians is certainly something thatwe we have to give further study. Um, at this point in time, we have no desirefor this to replace that existing bike trail. We've got the Nine Mile Creekbike trail there. It works well. We're envisioning this more as a local uhbranch and a way to access that bike trail, not to replace it. So, so far inour design, we've not designed it for fastmoving bicycles. Some of those hardcorners are there for a reason because we want bicyclists to slow down. They'rebeing mixed with with with pedestrians. Uh and then the last comment or concernwas just the disruption. This is a big project. And you know, we think aboutthe new bridge that we're building just behind city hall here. This has been avery disruptive summer with that bridge construction. uh to build something likethis will be another disruptive disruptive summer and there's someconcern about whether or not that can be mitigated and handled. UmI also included some of the random samplings um um from better together. II think I went through most of these a lot of support um other comments. Thisis a want not a need. Uh it's comments that started off uh this is reallyinteresting. Of course we wish you we could have it but it's not worth themoney. So, we heard some of those concerns, but for the most part, thecomments are vigorously in support. And then our quality of life survey, um,we had over 70% of the people that responded to that survey, uh, showsupport or strong support for some type of improvement at this project or atthis location. Not just repainting the the crosswalks, but some type of realimprovement. Um so next steps you know right now I'veI've been categor I've been describing this concept to date purely as aconcept. We've invested a little bit little bit of money to see if this iseven worth bringing it to this point. Um and so far we found that this is viablefrom an engineering from a social from a design perspective it's possible. Um, wealso think that from a financial perspective, we've got some good somegood um sources to fund it without relying on the city's general levy. Thatthat's that came out loud and clear, but there's a thousand details that need tobe refined. First and foremost, going back to where I started, this is acounty road. So, right now, our focus has been on the pedestrian.Um soon if we want to keep going with this conversation, we'll need to getapproval from the county and their focus is really the roadway, not thepedestrian way. Um uh and then we need to work onaesthetics, lighting, landscaping, speeds of bicycles, how we safely seseparate bicyclists and pedestrians. There's a whole myriad of details thatneed to be looked into further and that's what the preliminary engineeringphase is about. So, so far we're only in concept mode. Um, if we really want tocontinue to explore this, we're recommending that we advance this intowhat our engineering department calls preliminary engineering. That entailshiring a full-fledged engineering firm to work out some of these details, toget the plans in front of the county to get their approvals and to startfiguring out some of these details. some in fact all the concerns that wereraised by the commenters um we really need to advance that andand address those concerns. So typically um staff would just move forward andbring a contract to you. This is a big project. We didn't want to shock you. Wedidn't want to outrun you. And so we wanted to bring this update to you thisevening to get your input and your direction. Uh our recommendations um ifyou so direct is to continue to work with the developers. They are asking uswhat they should build. They are going to be pouring concrete sidewalks in thenext year and they're wondering should the sidewalk be up here at the streetlevel or should I keep excavating and pour it down there because they'rethey're willing to do it at their expense. So um we should give them somedirection whether or not this is something we're truly considering. Umalso recommending that we uh move forward and solicit bids um forpreliminary engineering work. Uh once we have those preliminary plans, we can getthe local county approvals and that that level of plan is also what will qualifyus to apply for funding. There are state, federal, and regional fundingsources out there. They don't work off of concepts. They work off of hardengineering drawings. So, we're recommending that we uh uh advance thisto that to that point. Um and uh uh Mr. Cypion and I are available for any otherquestions and looking forward to your discussion and direction.>> Yeah, thank you. Uh manager Nuendorf, I'm going to turn to uh Council MemberAgnu. >> Thank you. Um so, if we could actuallygo back to the slide that looks at all of the different levels of engagementthat we have had. Um I think it was earlier in the presentation. Um I firstjust want to thank you. Um I was at one at least of the neighborhood meetingsthat we had and I think that there was a subsequent one. Um and obviously we haveall of the the feedback that we got from the better together website.Love that we were able to get it into the survey. Um I know that there havebeen other things where it's like we only do that every two years. Um whatcan we get in? And so the timing I think was really amazing for that. And theneven just seeing like all of the collaboration cross planning commission,transportation commission. So first, thank you for that. Um, and I know thatsometimes, right, someone is tuning in tonight for the first time in yearspotentially. Uh, and if they want to voice their opinion now, do we have kindof a forecast of what do those additional touch points look like?because I don't want it to look uh appear like, you know, okay, we're donewith the phase of community input because I know we're not. Um so, if youcould at just a high level walk me through what will some of thoseadditional touch points look like and where will we continue getting umcommunity feedback? >> Sure. Great, great question. So, I thinkwe're a few months away from additional feedback. Um, but after we hire anengineer, I mean that'll take a few months to solicit bids and go throughthem and award a contract. Once that future uh uh engineering firm is onboard, we also would like them, I guess I envision them to team up with alandscape designer to get part of the human feel because this is not just a Imean this isn't just an engineering project. You it has it's used by people.It has you have to be able to touch it. So with when the team is on board, weenvision having additional input sessions to really better understand theseparation of walkers and bicyclists. To me, that's the biggest concern. Is itone really wide path? That's what we do in some areas. In other areas, we doseparated paths that have a little grassy median in between. Sometimes weput a little row of of like a little curb in between. There's lots ofdifferent solutions, but we would definitely want to get input as far aswhat are those design details that make people feel safe. Um, both from asecurity, personal security and safety perspective and then using it on aregular basis. Um, uh, so I would envision envision that in the spring.Um, and then when the preliminary engineering work is done, we'll havebetter plans and we'll do another cost estimate. And I think that's alsoanother point where we'd want to get of course your input and your direction butinformed by community input because at some point you ask the question is itworth it? It's a great idea. Is it worth it? And uh as a body you always like tohear what your constituents think. So I think that's the second point that we'dreally touch on again probably next spring, late spring for that one.>> Wonderful. Thank you. Um, and so right now I'm looking at the staffrecommendation which includes the eight different steps. Um, at this point,how many, if any, of those um have a financial commitment?Oh, there's seven here, but there's Oh, the the last one in our packet just saysother related tasks as necessary. So, I understand not including that one. Um,how many of these on the the screen right now cost us money to pursue? Andif if there is one that cost us money, again, walk us through the process ofare we approving that expenditure tonight or will it be a part of a futureum agenda packet? >> Yeah, great great question. So, we'resloww walking this. Um, so the one that will cost us all uh some investment ishiring the engineering firm to prepare the drawings. Uh, Mr. Milner estimatesthat will be a couple hundred,000 to do real engineering on this. Um,we'll come forward once we solicit proposals, we'll come forward with acontract with with the best or the lowest bidder on that one. So that's afuture decision. So you're not pre-approving, you're notpre-committing. That is a future decision to be ma to be made. Um butonce that firm is on board, most of these other things will fall withintheir scope of work. So working with the county is already in the same price. Umgetting input from stakeholders, again, part of that part of their job in theircontract, refining the cost to build it, that'll be part part of their scope aswell. Um, one suggestion we did get this year was pursuing state bonding forthis. And so that is something um, typically the city hires a lobbyist firmto pursue some of our goals at the legislature. That would be another minorexpense. Um, I I think they're on I don't know if they're on retainer.>> They're on retainer. So it wouldn't be additional. It would just be part of herworkload. >> Great. Yes. So no additional money isthere, but that there is some time and personnel there. But that's the onlythat's the only real financial stake. Um, and we uh have a fund balance in ourCentennial Lakes TIFF account, especially for these types of projects.Um, those are those are old TIFF monies that we use for special projects so thatwe don't put a burden on the on the regular tax levy and uh hiring anengineer could certainly be accommodated in that fund. So, that's where I wouldexpect to go if you uh so direct. And I know we're talking about this nowbecause there just happens to be projects happening on both sides ofFrance um that really make this a once in a generational opportunity toinfluence the construction that's happening on both sides to accommodatethis kind of potential project. if we slow roll it too much, are we atrisk knowing both of those um projects are are beginning or underway? Um arewhat timelines do we have to keep front of mind so that we don't miss the boatstill either? >> Yeah. Yeah, great question. So umthe project on the west side of France Avenue is currently driving theschedule. So, I mean, they are actively asking us what should their contractorbe bidding, what should they be planning for.If we wait too long, they're going to just proceed and just match whatever isout there, which will increase our project cost. We'll have to undo whatthey just built and then build it again. So, that's a situation we're trying veryhard to avoid. Um uh so that's why giving them some direction before theyactually build it is a huge um timesaver and money saver. Uh and we're talking 6to9 months before they actually build all the landscaping. So um if we waittoo long, we run the risk of having some of the costs go up. Um, but this is thisis going to be challenging to design because the Macy's site is at a slowerpace and they've asked us to um build the if we choose to build it, they'veasked us to build it after they're finished. The developer on the west sideof the street has asked us to build it before they finish. So, you know, can'thave it both ways. Um, but I think it is fair to the community and fair to thedevelopers to give them an idea of what we're aiming for. Um, but time issensitive and um, you know, it's not going to be perfect. We'll have to we'regonna we'll balance it as best we can. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Um, I continue tobe really supportive of this. I do think it's an amazing opportunity. So, Iappreciate the work that's gone into it and again all of the community inputthat we've been getting. Um, and look forward to hopefully continuing to seemore input. Thank you. >> Member Pierce.>> Uh, thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um so just a couple of comments to add on. Um I I dolike the concept the idea of doing this. Um I have two concerns.One is cost. So how much is it going to cost and can we afford it um based onthe priorities that we'll have? Um so that's one. And then two is safety. Um,and so I like when I have looked at the renderings in the past,I don't know that I would want to use it because it's so long and I know we'rekind of designing it so from one side you can see the your destination soyou're not going around corners and that helps it feel safer. the natural lightuh makes it feel safer as well. Um but that those two can we afford it andwhat can we do to really make that the use of it uh safe? Uh because I don't Idon't know that I would well I'd say it this way. I would notfeel comfortable using it alone. So if I was with someone else, I certainly wouldfeel safer if there were two people, right? Um and so I don't know what to doabout that, but that will be one of the for sure of the engineering firm asthey're kind of thinking about this concept and we're looking at other umpotential uh concepts to mirror. Um I think safety uh for me is is huge. Umand then the third thing, um remember Agnu kind of hit this point. Um when youlook at the feedback, it actually is a a want. It's not a need.But that's in the current paradigm. And so do we need this today? No. Right. Inthe current state, even if Macy's was there and the the original officebuilding was there, would we need it? Not really. Right. it would be a nice tohave. But as that area continues to develop and the um constructioncompletes and we have an even more vibrant community on either side ofFrance, um it at that point it would be um um a need and it and so it makessense for us to be thinking more future focused and making this how can we makethis an amenity um that is there and available for thefuture of how we envision that space uh being activated. Um, and that's reallythat last point really just underscores why I think from a safety standpoint, wegot to figure that that piece out because if we can make it um a safe umunderpass, I do think it would get a lot of use ufrom the current communities, right? And then even like I mentioned the newdevelopments as well. So, I appreciate the work that um has gone into this andI would support um going to that next uh stage and I appreciate you saying atthis point this is not something that we would expect to um impact the generallevy. So, looking at other sources of fundingum I think is great. So, thanks. >> Thank you. Uh member Jackson.>> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, thanks for all the work. Um, and I have to sayI was pretty floored by the quality of life survey where strongly support was alarger number than both strongly opposed and somewhat opposed put together. Thatreally um was pretty stunning. So, um I think you member Pierce talked aboutwhat the future's going to be like. So, that was I was going to talk about that,but the question I have for you is looking at the maintenance costs. We'redoing a lot of building right now. Um I'm particularly thinking about FredRichards Park. Um it's going to be a brand new park. It's going to be umfinished soon, you know, within my lifetime. Um but but it's funded. It'sit's in design. It's going forward. We're looking at losing funding forCentennial Lakes. We've got funding of the um Prominade. I would be interestedin seeing what our anticipated jump in maintenance costs are going to berelative at the same time as this. So, um once we figure out, you know, who'sgoing to be responsible for maintenance, I assume it would be us because it'sgoing to be a public space. But, um but what other uh new maintenance costs arewe going to be having coming online? Um, and I don't know if we'd include any ofthe other buildings we're looking at, but those four things in particular, theunderpass, Fred Richards Park, Centennial Lakes Park, and theProminade, I' I'd be interested in seeing how we're going to be funding themaintenance of all these spots. So, yeah, and and I do support this. I Ikind of blown away by this uh report back. So,>> thank you for that. member Richard. >> Um I first want to say thank you for allthe work that you have done and also um reallythis is frustrating because um I I had a slightly different responseto the feedback from the quality of life survey because what we have beenpresented thus far has been such a beautiful vision of what this could be.And so we see initially, you know, and this was up until December of last year,which wasn't that long ago, the idea that this would just be like the York umunderpass. And then with the video, it's a beautiful summer day. It's daylight.It's not 4:30 in the fall when it's dark. Um it's not raining. I look at theflood map. This is an area where water is an issue. And I really wish I couldtransport myself back. This is the meeting I regret the most, the HRFebruary 15th, 2024 where we awarded the feasibility study and there was only oneentity considered, LHB. And I had concerns, but I was told it was going tobe a back to the drawing board approach and it really wasn't a back to thedrawing board approach. and we we hired the company that was promoting thetunnel. And I still can't believe I signed on for that. And it's really Iwish all of this time that we had been using had been done in a more objectivekind of way. Uh but you can't really go back. And so I am concerned about issuesthat um member Pierce brought up about safety um security. I am concerned aboutmaintenance especially since water has been such a problem in this area andwe're going to be tunneling under um I am concerned and I don't know whothe engineering firm is going to be. Um, and I am impressed by just the thepassion of uh Mike Fischer, the passion of LHB and the vision they'representing. But at the same time, I'm looking for that balance. And I feellike at this juncture, I don't have a balanced view of it. And um alsothinking about you know the plan ended up in one of thetiff term sheets and you know so and that was LHB and then they evaluated theMacy's site and determined that it was TIFF eligible and there's the 20 milliondollars that could go to supporting it and I am really uncomfortable with allof this. I do think we need to work on safe pathways. I understand totally, youknow, and and there was that statement people will not go half a block away togo across a bridge, but a tunnel is essentially a bridge turned upside down.Um, are they going to go half a block to go to a tunnel? I I sort of doubt that.Um the study that I cited earlier for density and building uh in this area Ibelieve was the study that led to the grant that was given and there was goingto be a bridge and they ended up deciding to use it for atgrade crossingsand I can see the logic of that and part of me I look at this map and I think 20million on a tunnel and we still have the France Hazelton intersection thatnortheast corner where you have to go off the sidewalk into the street becausethe light pole is in the middle of the sidewalk, you know. So, we do still needto work on our um crossings and our intersections and all of that. So, youknow, for this reason, I feel like it's premature to launch this now. I I wishwe had had more objective analysis all along the way because we could have beentroubleshooting and I feel like what has been happening has been promoting and Isee you know I understand the rationale behind that but at the same time I feellike it's pushing potential issues and costs that we should be addressing nowdown the road. So, I'm I I don't think I can sign on for bumping this up to thenext level. >> Thank you, member Russer. Uh let's firstof all uh attempt to resolve a issue that you've raised uh that the cityhired the firm that supported the tunnel. I think manager Neil and Mr.Nundorf, you should explain the process you went through and why you determinedto hire LHB to do uh the engineering work to determine whether this was evenfeasible is what I recall. >> Uh sure. So far we've worked with threedifferent companies. We started off working with a engineering firm um thatdoes pure engineering and uh gave them a very simple task um to address some ofthe basics like the water table. If if we how where's the water table? Can weeven dig down or not? And if we go over the road, how high um and then that wasabout the time that the bridge on the cross town got hit twiceum in a row. a bridge that should never be hit, but it was hit twice in a row.So then we asked the engineering, okay, that's what the standard is. How high dowe have to go with the bridge to avoid getting hit even though you said it'llnever get hit? Um, and that engineering firm gave us um, uh, some nice straightlines and some very long unappealing walkways. Um, because to go higher andhigher to avoid getting hit and damage, the ramps coming off are enormous. Andso that that initial engineering approach um took the philosophy of theshortest distance between two points is a straight line. Would you walk on astraight line in a place that is completely unappealing? Um uh so basedon that initial cut, that initial work, I learned two things. An overpass or anunderpass is possible. And if we go further, I want a firmthat's more balanced, that doesn't just look at straight lines, that gives methat takes that human account. Um, we talked to a handful of firms. A fewdeclined us. They didn't think it was possible. They didn't want to getinvolved. Um, uh, we then, uh, worked with LHB and they think it was, theythought it was possible. One of the things I like about that company isnumber one, they're enormous. So, they have expertise in a whole variety offields. But they really um bring together that human element like thelandscaping kind of soft human approach with the rigid and uh rigors ofengineering. So you get a nice balance and uh uh they came in with our budgetand it worked out good and we moved forward with them. So um so that that'sthe reason that I went with that type of firm. Uh and and I I mentioned earlierin my remarks, if we do proceed to preliminary engineering, I want to hirean engineering firm, but they need to have like a landscape partner becausethat human feel is absolutely essential. And um will LHB bid on the futurecontract? I don't know. I presume so. This is the work that they do um as afirm. Um but uh we want to make sure that it's not just a rigid engineeringapproach. It needs to be a human approach.>> Manager, do you have any supplemental? >> No, that was Thank you for that.>> Um, >> there was some conversation with uhcouncil member Agnu about um, you know, how do we pay for this in the interim?And I just wanted to kind of tag along on that line of thinking that she had,which was a good line of thinking. So, uh, you said that we have some fundsavailable in that old Centennial Lakes TIF district. we could use to pay forthe next phase, engineering phase. Are those recoverable expenses uh for thetiff district that was set up to accommodate this particular project?Potentially, if we decided to go forward,>> if we if we do the right paperwork, um let's say that we get some kind of grantfunding to to build all this. I believe if we document it properly, we canreimburse ourselves for that initial preliminary engineering. The conceptualwork is our investment. So the expenses in the past, that's our investment toget to this point. But once we actually go into the engineering phase, thoseshould be I would rely more on Mr. Milner's expertise as far as what kindof paperwork needs to be recorded. Um uh but there should be a way to do that.And uh at least we've had some tentative discussions about if it were if thecouncil determined that it was feasible from a cost standpoint and when and itwas it was something that we should be doingfor the public. Um maybe you should articulate again whatthe tiff district holds in terms of possibilities for assisting and payingfor this project. >> Sure. Sure. So,uh, at this location, we have two tiff districts. One on the west side of thestreet, one on the east side of the street. A lot of presumptions, right?The west side, we know that they're moving forward. I have much morecertainty about uh about completion dates on the westside at this moment in time. the west side. Um, uh, if you recall, we ended upusing agreeing to use spark financing rather than tiff for the second phase ofthat project, which means that eventually they will still create taxincrement. We can use it for a public improvement or not. So, I feel good thatthere's um that there should be a a pool of funding available on the west side.on the east side with the Macy's furniture. I don't have the confidencetoday about completion dates. Once I get started, I'll feel much better aboutpredicting a completion date, but just the scale of that projectum uh right now at the valuation of of $15 million for the land when it'sfinished, I I recall the um the future value is like over 200 million. So it'snot just doubling, it's by a factor of 10 to 20. Um, so there should be a greatdeal of incremental taxes there as well. Um, but with with the east side, itreally depends on the pace of development. If they can get it allbuilt in the first five years or so, I feel that that's a fantastic revenuesource for a public improvement. If it takes them 20 years to build fourbuildings, it's not going to be a good source. So we before we make a firmcommitment on the on whether or not to build this um my recommendation is towait and see what the schedule looks like on the east side um because if ifwe are going to rely rely on tiff um and not outside monies I'd want tomake sure that there's a revenue stream of tiff coming in because you'veexpressed many times over the last year and beyond that that this type of publicimprovement could be an amazing asset but not amazing enough that you'rewilling to hike up the general purpose tax levy. So that's the constraint thatthat Chad and I have been working with is find funding without impacting thetax levy. >> Yeah, I think that's an inquiry and aline of inquiry that member Pierce had which was just reaffirming of what we'vebeen talking about all the way along. Um all right, you know, and I join severalof my colleagues, I think, in in supporting going to the next step. I'vehad uh so much I'd say positive reinforcement from the businesscommunity, which I didn't expect to see. U businesses that have told me thatthey're on the east side of the France Avenue, but they would have they wouldhave thought strongly about being on the west side had there been a connectivitymethod that they where they could have walked across without getting in theircar and driving across. So, because everything they wanted to get to was onthe east side. So there there's input coming from all kinds of directions hereon this including those folks that are concerned about cost and those arealways legitimate concerns. So uh but in terms of whether I'd support some of mycolleagues that want to go forward with this and go to the next phase and seewhere we are from a from a cost standpoint and an engineering standpointand all the other elements that you've set forth here. I I would support thatnotion as well. Um, you've got a um recommended motion here to accept thestaff report and authorize staff to take the recommended actions, includingnotify the adjacent real estate developers of the city's intention toconduct further study, solicit proposals to prepare preliminary engineeringdocuments that refine the design, allow for regulatory approvals and updatedcost estimates, and pursue funding from all available sources. Uh does thatcover the landscape in terms of what you'd be requesting of this council thisevening? >> Yes, sir.>> Okay. Uh is there a motion to uh adopt? Is there a motion to that effect?>> So moved. >> Second. Member Ragna moves memberJackson seconds the motion to accept the staff report and authorize staff to takethe recommended actions including notify the adjacent real estate developers ofthe city's intention to conduct further study, solicit proposals to preparepreliminary engineering documents that refine the design, allow for regulatoryapprovals and updated cost estimates and pursue funding from all availablesources. Uh having provided that uh encapsulization of the of the motion isthere further discussion. Uh all those in favor of adoption of themotion say I >> I>> I opposed. Nay >> carried um4 to one. Uh member Risser and uh we'll proceed to the next phase.Thank you Mr. Nounorf. The motion is carried. Motion's accepted and approved.And now, manager Neil, we're going to turn to you to talk about the um uhamounts that we have in the unassigned general fund. Uh those balances, we madea a couple of decisions already with respect to Lewis Ridge uh park shelterbuilding, Lewis Park Shelter Building, not Lewis Ridge, that's the condominiumproject. Um and then also um uh some other expense that we're going to do,the the study, the quiet zone study, and but you've got a couple of other ideasas well. >> I do. Thank you, your honor. Um yeah, II wanted to make that clear. We're not seeking uh any additional changes orapprovals necessary on Lewis Park Shelter and the quiet zone study. You'vepreviously approved those and that's good. Those are moving ahead slowly. Uhwhat I'm going to propose to you tonight is that there were two components of theproject budget for the filter room uh project at the aquatic center that Ithink are good candidates for to use additional unassigned fund balance forand that is uh to cover the the estimated cost of possible tariffs on onthe raw materials that will be used at the pool and the other is to provide aproject uh contingency. If we do that with these funds, uh we do not then haveto add those to the project budget. That has a positive impact on the projectbudget. It in it decreases it by 1.3 million. Uh so it goes from 8.4 to 7.1.That reduces the amount that we have to borrow, which reduces the amount that wehave to levy, which reduces the impact on taxpayers. So, uh, and if we don'tspend it, uh, we never borrowed it in the first place and we can put it rightback into, uh, the construction fund. So, uh, that's what my proposal is toyou tonight, that you authorize 855,000 for possible tariff costs, 532,000, so atotal of 1,387,000 to be part of the project budget uh, tocome from unassigned fund balance. and we would reduce the amount that we'reproposing to borrow for that project. >> That was a good piece of thinking onyour part on how to accomplish all those outcomes and u basically put a millionfour that we have in reserve uh ready at hand if we need it.Otherwise, we don't use it. It goes back into the construction fund. Councilmember Jackson, >> I think that's a very elegant uh use ofthese funds. I I like the fact that we don't have to ever pay interest on it.>> So, and we can continue to get interest on it unless it's needed. So, I thankyou for that work. >> That leaves us almost 600,000 that wehave that we'll just park in the construction fund for now.>> And we would come back to you just like we do with every CIP process and youcould allocate that to projects that you believe are important.member, >> could some of that money go for umlaunching a search for more firefighters and just try to get some firefightersand paramedics hired? We do have we're short staffed and I know, you know,we're more than six months into the year. Could we hire three? Um, as we uh, Council Member Risser,members of council, we've we've talked about this a little bit uh, between thetwo of us. I would not recommend that as a as a strategy with one-time dollars.U, I think partic particularly for u for ongoing expenses that are significant asa as fire staff, we want to make sure that we have adequate dollars that arebuilt into our operating budgets. This is not what that is. Um, so I Iunderstand the the council's interest in in pursuing those uh additional hiring.Um, but we need to find a a reliable long-term source of revenue for that.>> But that source of revenue could be the money that we're saving by paying downum what we would have to take out for the aquatic center. And so when we hadour meeting on the budget, the figure was 300 and something,000for next year and before that it was 450,000and then it dropped down. And so arguably we've got savings projectedinto the next however long that time is for the aquatic center. I believe it's15 years. So by doing this, by taking this action, we are making it possiblefor us to have money that we wouldn't otherwise have. >> Member Pierce. Um,so I just kind of a followup I think to member Risser's question. I am assumingthat this kind of operates similar to a a nonprofit that may havea sizable amount in reserves, but that particular board might say youcould use reserves for one-time expenses for projects, but we don't want to usereserves for um things that require ongoing operating expenses such ashiring. you have to have a sustainable sourcefor that because it's an expense you're going to have into perpetuity. So, Idon't know if the construct is exactly the same, but that's the way I havealways interpreted the use of the funds in this this fund.>> Council member Pierce, members of council, I I want to be clear that umwhat council member Risser is proposing is legally possible. It's it's somethingyou could do. I'm just recommending we don't do that because it's not a goodbudgeting practice for the future. >> The idea of is there some way we couldleverage um debt service savings for this as a possibility? We could we couldtalk we could talk about that. I think the the the theconcern that we would have uh in finance and management of the city is when we dothings like use the one-time dollars for ongoing expenses that eventuallyattracts the attention of standard and pores and Moody's and they ask a lot ofquestions about it. So, um they get to see those kinds of things. They ask usquestions about it. They wonder why we're doing it that way. So that thereis there is some recognition that there's a some risk to it, but it's it'sa legal expenditure. >> Yeah. Okay. Um, and so the only othercomment I had, and this is more of um, probably more communications or maybeum, as we move forward um, throughout this next fiscal year, just thinkingabout how we can frame prioritiesthat we have as a a council. and then when opportunities like this come up beable to to make the point that and so one of these we've talked about quietzones right so that's that is a priority and we understand why umthe Lewis Park shelter right um earlier in the year we pulled that off u but wesaid hey if we can figure out a way to do it we'd like to have that done um andso I would just like for us to really think about um how we can always takethe public back to these things we said are priorities. Um and you could evenuse that construct when we talk about firefighters in this context. Maybe thisisn't quite the right source of funding for that, but it still is a priority forus. Um, so I would just encourage us to think about um, as we move forward, howwe can always kind of remind people and come back to these are the fundingpriorities that we said we're going to try to be creative and meet,>> but I support doing this. Thank you. >> Thanks for that. Uh, council memberJackson. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, I'mreminded by member Pierce of our um pillars, our budgetary pillars, and oneof them is stewardship and and and strong financial stewardship. And Ithink onetime money should be spent for one-time um expenses. Uh the quiet zonesis a study. The construction fund, Lewis Park, is for projects that that arecapital in nature. Um, and so I think that I just want to remind people we dohave values that we make decisions by and one of them is strong financialstewardship. >> Greg, do anything on the issue.>> Overall, I I appreciate having the inclusion for the aquatic center umcomponents. I think that that is something that caught us off guard,right? the the higher costs. And I think that's exactly the kind of thing that weshould be applying this um kind of I don't know excess or unallocated umfunding for. Um, so kind of echo recent statements. >> I just add that I think over the yearswhen we've our our finance department has received these fiscal excellenceawards that it's because they follow sound accounting principles. And I thinkmember Pierce did a good job of articulating,you know, how you use one-time monies, what's the what's the proper thing to bethinking about there versus uh long-term obligations that require sustainablesources of funding. So, uh, and to the point you made, manager Neil, I think,you know, the reason that we're in the position we are where we year-over-yeargetting double AAA bond ratings for over 20 years in a row now is because of thepractices that we have in our internally in our FIA finance department andbecause we are responsible in how we spend taxpayer money and we've builtvalue here over time that constantly is increasing the the I I'll say it themarket value of our town which since the great recession has gone fromabout eight or nine billion to probably over now 18 billion dollars in marketvalue. So all these things that we do to be fiscally careful uh while beingsensitive to the notion that member Rissa raised thatwe're under staff from a fire uh standpoint, fire personnel standpoint.We all recognize that and want to solve that issue too. But I think we arethinking about it through the budgetary process where we've got some sustainablesource of income through the levy as opposed to using these onetime money. Sothose are just um so ummanager Neil, you're looking for a motion to approve the allocation of 2024general fund unassigned fund balances as recommended by uh by staff.>> Is that correct? >> Yes. Yep.>> All right. Is there a motion to that effect?>> So moved. >> Second.>> Member Jackson moves. Member Pierce seconds the uh approval of theallocation of the 2024 general fund unassigned fund balance as recommendedby staff. Uh any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion as statedsay I. >> I. I.>> Opposed carried. Umokay. Manager's comments. Thank you, your honor. I've got threequick ones. Um, one, at the August 6th meeting, our previous meeting to thisone, uh, we had an extensive conversation around, uh, the gift oftrees to Pamela Park. Uh, the council ended in a spot where you directed staffto have those trees removed. Uh, we did communicate that to the property ownerwho planted them there. That property owner has removed those trees and theyhave adequately uh, restored the landscape. So, that is done. Uh thesecond item is that we are right now working on the development of a newspecial events ordinance. Um that is in the very capable hands of our city clerkSharon Allison. Um we will be working on that as a staff team and then bringingthat back to council for uh some review later this fall. Sharon September. Verygood. And finally, uh, just to let you know that, uh, we did we cancelled theSeptember 11th, um, HRA meeting because we didn't we just didn't have, uh,topics queued up for that day. We do, however, need, uh, HRA action on theirproposed budget. So, we're going to ask you to approve a proposed budget for theHR uh, at the August 28th meeting. And it's, as I think I mentioned at the lastuh H meeting, the the proposed budget is the incremental 3% plus 3% from theprevious year. And we can talk a little bit more at that time about what we dowith that money. And uh that's all I've got. Thank you.>> Very good. Thank you for that. Uh member Risser,>> I just want to give a shout out to Edinus Police and Fire for doing Battleof the Badges today and the blood drive. and I know there's a blood shortage. Um,so I really do appreciate that. Thank you.>> Thank you, Member Jackson. >> Nothing for me.>> Member Pierce. >> Nothing for me either.>> A couple quick things, too. Uh, speaking of the police, don't forget we got apolice open house >> coming up September 17th, I think itwas. And uh we'll be taking over the street again, I think, uh up here on the50th. And it'll it was a great activity last year. And that little shuttleservice that we had worked out fine as people parked uh a little bit furtheraway, but it was really a it was a home run. I expect that same again this year.Uh I did a mayor's minute today on this convenience fee that we we approvedwhich was kind of the average 3% which was the average of the fees that we weregetting charged that we're we're charging back. We're not making anymoney here but we want to make sure that our budget stays intact and just in theutility department alone it was $77,000 I think that we absorbed as a city in2024. Um so that's starting I think inSeptember. just remind people of that. And you don't have to use a credit card.You can you can set up an a account or you can send a check or you can come andpay cash and you don't have to pay that convenience fee. It's just to make surethat the city and the taxpayers of the city don't get hurt by that use of thecredit card or a debit card. Um, we've gotten some emails uh around um theequity strategic action plan and I think that could use some morepublic sort of explanation of what what's all that about, what are we doinghere in in terms of of that plan and um what was the role of the council and allof that because people have asked about that too. So, I think that would besomething to put on a list. Um and then we had at least one email from somebodythe ebike activity. I think we're are we in the U enforcement phase now beyondthe education phase because they're worried about kids zooming around on the50th in France on their ebikes. Uh mayor I would say it's a hybrid. So if we havecontinuous behavior patterns problems then we absolutely will move intoenforcement phase. Um, and then I'm seeing I told manager Neiltoday, I feel like I'm seeing more dead trees around town.>> And I don't, you know, some are on private property, some are on publicproperty. Um, and um I I think on the private property, we notify the thehomeowner and they've got a chance to take it down themselves, but it seemslike I'm seeing quite a few of them. I just want to make sure that our arboristand their their crew are on top of all this. So we and if if there are deadtrees on on public rightaways that are next to roadsprobably clean that up as opposed to just letting them fall like we have insome of the parks. >> We do rem we remove them if they're athreat, right? So there's a a threat assessment that's done and then actiontaken >> and um that tab tomorrow over at the MetCouncil and takes a big chunk out of the day. So that's it for me. Any thatprompt anybody else to think of anything they wanted to address? Okay. Um isthere a motion to adjurnn? >> So move.>> Second. Uh motion by member Jackson, second by member Pierce that we adjournthe meeting of the Adina City Council uh Tuesday, August 19, 2025 at 9:00 p.m.>> Any further discussion? All those in favor of adjournment say I.>> I. >> I. Opposed. Carried.