">> GOOD AFTERNOON. WELCOME TO The Regular Meeting Of The Climate And Infrastructure Committee For May 22, 2025. I'M Katie Cashman, The Chair Of Thi Committee. And Before We Take Up Our Meeting Schedule Today, We Are Going To Give An Honorary Resolution In Honor Of 2025 Public Works Week. So I Join Any Other Councilmembers To Join Me Up Here To Join In Reading This Resolution. Come On Up! Don'T Be Shy. . Any Spot. Alan, Joe, Feel Free To Crowd In! All Right. Let'S Begin Here. So This Resolution Is Declaring The Week May 18, National Public Works Week. Whereas: , The American Public Works Association Will Celebrate THE 58th ANNUAL NATIONAL Public Works Week, Which Will Be Held Are The Third Week In May With The Theme \"People, Purpose, Presence.\" And, Wraz,: National Publishing Works Week Is A Celebration Of Public Works Employees Who Make Our Community Better By Convicting, Collaborating, And Responding To The Provide The Services We As A City Depend On. And, Whereas: Public Works Professionals Focus On Infrastructure And Services That Are Vital Importance To A Sustainable And Resilient City. And, Whereas: , The Health, Safety, And Comfort Of This Community Greatly Depends On The Services They Provide Such As Safe, Clean Drinking Water, And Solid Waste And Recycling Collection To Help Minnesota Remain A Clean And Livable City, And, Whereas: They Manage Stormwater Sanitary Sewer Network To Protect And Improve The Water Quality Of Our River, Lakes, And Creeks, And Whereas: Public Works Employees Design, Build, And Maintain The Thousands Of Miles Streets, Alleys, Bridges, Bikeways, Sidewalks, And The Street Lights, Signals, Pavement Marking, And Sign Age To Safely Keep The City Moving, And, Whereas: Public Works Employee Keep The City'S Plows, Trucks, Street Sweepers, Fire Trucks, And So Many More Running Even On The Coldest Days And Nights Of The Winter And, Whereas: Every Day Public Works Employees Take Pride In Making The Minneapolis Better And More Equitable For All. Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, That The Council Acknowledges Significant Daily Contribution To The Employees Within The Public Works Department. >> Five Years Ago, Following The Murder Of George Floyd, We Created The Group Of Individuals That Really Sort Of Provide A Lot Of Guidance To The Whole Department. All 1200 People. And They Represent All Nine Divisions To Say What Are The Policies, Programs, Projects We Should Be Looking At To Make Sure That We'Re Focused On Professional Development. That We'Re Addressing Internal And External Equity Concerns. And They Have Made A Lot Of Really Meaningful Impacts On The Department, And I Think, Also, Influenced The City As A Whole. Soft We Have At Lo Of Active Equity Team Members And Alumns. I Want To Give A Special Recognition And Thank You All For Your Contributions. They Are Meaningful And We Value All The Energy, Time, Expertise You Have Given Us. A Big Thank You. In Addition To Thanking Everyone Else For The Tremendous Work They Do To Keep The City Moving And Thriving. So Thank You All! [ Applause ] >> Brian Dodz, Dodds, Would You Like To Say Anything? >> I'Ll Just Say Public Works Is Amazing. The City Would Not Be Able To Function Without Y'All. Great Job! Thank You. [ Applause ] >> W > >> Well Said. >> It'S A Joy Working With Many Of You. Thank You For Being Responsive And Make Sure We Resolve Constituent Concerns As Fast As Possible. Whether It'S Side Request Forms Or The Traffic Calming Process And Doing So Much Community Engagement On Street Reconstructions And All The Projects That You Do. It'S Appreciated. So It'S A Joy Working With All Of You! I Appreciate Coming To The Channel -- Chambers Today. [ Applause ] . >> Great! So Before We Call This Meeting Officially To Order. I Want To Offer A Friendly Reminder To All The Members, Staff, And Public These Meetings Are Broadcast Live To Enable Greater Public Participation. These Broadcasts Include Real Time Captioning To Increase The Accessibility Of Our Procee Proceedings. All Speakers Need To Be Mindful Of The Rate Of Their Speech So The Captioners Can Fully Transcribe All Comments. At This Time, I'Ll Ask The Clerk To Call The Roll To Verify We Have A Quorum. >> Councilmember Have A. >> Present. >> Chavez. >> Present >> Chowdhury >> Koski. >> Present. >> Cashman. >> Present. >> There Are Six Members Present. >> We Have A Q Quorum. We'Ll Start With The Consent Agenda. Items 3 Through 22. Item Three Is Amendings Minneapolis Street Lighting Plan Map To Reclassify Nine Segments As Pedestrian Street Lighting Corridors. Four Is Authorizing The Submittal Of Grant Applications For The 2025 Minnesota Department Of Transportation Metro Local Partnership Program. Five Is Authorizing A Pipeline License Agreement With Bnsf For Permission To Install A Sewer Pipeline Beneath Their Railroad Tracks. Six Through Nine Are Approving Large Block Events For The Edina Art Fair For June 6 Through 8. Noons On Nicollet Mall On June 18, July 16, And August 13. Taste Of Minnesota On July 5 Through 6. And Welcome Downtown Core Week May 19 Through 23, July 28-August 1, September 8-12 And November 17 Through 21. 10 Receiving And Filing The Quarter One Traffic Zones Restrictions Control Report. 11 Is The Parking Mobility Fee. 12 Is Approving Appointments To The Uptown Special Service District Advisory Board. 12 Is Approving Appointments To The Bicycle Advisory Committee. 14 Receiving And Filing A Letter Of Appointment For Maxwell Singer To The Bicycle Advisory Committee. 15 Appointments To The Pedestrian Advisory Committee. 16 Letter Of Appointment For Mary Mckelvey To The Pedestrian Advisory Committee. 17 Authorizing The Buy An Yell Routine Maintenance Green Between Mndot And The City. 18 Is Designating The 10th AVENUE BRIDGE AS THE Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Carrie Dziedzic Memorial Bridge. 20 Is Approving A Large Block Event Permit For Warehouse District Live. 21 Is Approving An Amplified Sound Permit For Warehouse District Live. 22 Is Directing Staff To Produce An Analysis Of State, County, And Municipal Authority Of Minnesota Over Vehicle Noise Regulations. And The Last Item Is Passage Of The Honorary Resolution We Presented At The Beginning Of The Meeting In Honor Of Public Works Week. I Will Move Approval Of The Consent Agenda, And Ask If There Are Any Discussion From Committee Members Or Guests. First Councilmember Vetaw. >> Thank You, Chair Cashman. I'D Like To Pull Item 1 For Discussion, Please. >> Okay. Next I'Ll Recognize Councilmember Chowdhury. >> Thank You, Chair Cashman. I'M Not Pulling Any Items. I Wanted To Quick Briefly Speak To Item Number 18, Which Is The Kari Memorial Bridge Resolution. I Want To Put It Out There On June 5 At The Council Meeting, We'Ll Be Finalizing That RESOLUTION TO NAME THE 10th Avenue Bridge After Kari, Our Former Majority Leader. She, Like Many Others, Would Say She Had A Deep Impact On Me Personally. Which I'Ll Speak To There. But I Want To Invite Anyone In The Public Or Here That Had A Connection With Our Late Senator To Join Us On JUNE 5th. AND I THANK COUNCIL President Payne, Councilmember Rainville, Councilmember Koski For Co-Authoring This. And I Thank Our Senators At The State Capitol For Also Passing A Resolution In The City And The State. Just Kind Of Coming Together To Honor Her In A Meaningful Way. After All, She Was A Tremendous Bridge Builder. >> Very Well Said. Councilmember Osman. >> Thank You, Chair. I Want To Talk About Item 13 And 15. And Really Give A Shout Out To Bicycle And Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Our Citizen From The Community Give Our -- Their Time To Advise Us The Best Way Of Having Safe Pedestrian Bicycles. So All Those Appointments, Thank You For Serving. And, Yeah. >> Thank You, Councilmember Osman. I'Ll Echo That. And Thank Cliff Mountjoy And Julia And E Eric Smith. Thank Them For Their Service. And Their Collaboration On These Efforts. And Then, Also, I Wanted Quickly Celebrate All The Large Block Event Permits We Are Approving Today. And I Know There Were Several In The Last Council Cycle, As Well. But There'S Going To Be A Lot Of Great Activity On Nicollet Mall, As Well As The Edina Art Fair And Warehouse District Live On First Of A. Avenue. It'S A Great Way To Activate Our Public Spaces And Bring Community To Our Fabulous City! So I Thel Move Approval Of Agen Number 3, Item Whic First Item On The Ccon Agenda That Coun Vetaw Pulled. With Motion To Approve The Consent Agenda, Except That Item Pleasehose In Favor Say Say \"Nay.\"Sed Any That Motion Carries. We W Take Upgo Ahead And Item Amending The Stre Plan Man To Recl Street Segments As\n Pedestrian Street Lighting Corridors. I'Ll Recognize Dire Wouldexton, If You Like Background On This Councilmember Vetaw Is Recognized To Ask Questions. >> T Ink You, Chair Cashman. Had Icouple Of Questions. Reme Up Inhe Item Coming Budg Of Havingust Kind Some About Where Fund Will Come From. And Maybe I Was Confused Abou Some Of This. Having This List Today. S Before Us Dire Just -- In, I'M Gues Is, Given What We K The Copper Wire Thef Some Other Projects Goin In The City, How Does This Leave, You Know, The Rest Of\n Projects?With These What To Me Being Put At T Of The List. Kind Of Bypa That I List Of Items May Ward Andin My Othe Spoke Toven'T Anyo Don'T Know If Othe Projects In Their Ward Has Been On A List For Quit Some Time. And Now We Have These Projects Before Us. And Ofhad Incidents In Some Our Wire Wasre Copper Bein Large Amounts Of, Large Numbers Of Light Pole Or, You Know, Not In Oper Copperecause Of The Wire Wonderingo Just How Those Projects And, What Is The Source Of This Money? >> Director Sexton. >> Y And Thank You, Chair Councilmember Vetaw. So T Thereding Right Now, Was Toudget Amendment Prov Funding $500,000 Of To S Pedestrian Scale Ligh For The Dinkytown Neig Directed That Was To C Traffic And Park Division. S Wher Came From, We Made Operational Decision To Tie\n That Closely To Where -- To The Sort Oftem That Was The Associated To. In W Case, It Was Street Ligh And Street Light Main Maintenance. So We Did That Decision To Take The\n $500,000 From That Line Item. So It Will Have Some Impa Repairs. Et Light It'S Exactly How Much. That Addresses Things If There'S Regular Outages, In Addition To Copper Wire Theft That Causes Street Light Outages. But That Budget Is Approximately $2 Million A Year. And This $500,000 Amendment Does Come From That Budgeted Amount. >> Okay. So Can We Get, Like, -- I Think This Is What I Asked For During Budget. Can We Just Kind Of Get An Overview Of What That Would Look Like? Like, How This $500,000 Is Going To Directly Impact This Budget Item. I Mean, What You Just Said Sounds Scary. To Me, Like, If Something Comes Up. We'Re Missing -- This Is A Lot Of Money For This Project That, Again, I Feel Like Has Been -- Has Kind Of Jumped The Line For Other Projects That Are Happening. Or Maybe Even Taken Away From Things That Are Unknown For Us. Whatever Information You Can Provide Me With. I'M Not Prepared To Support This, And So Whatever Information You Can Provide Me With, I Would Be Grateful For That, For Sure. I Want To Be Able To Go Back To Ward 4 And Let Them Know That We'Re Not Having Things Taken Away From Us. Or We'Re Not Going To Have These Unforeseen Things Come Up That We Can'T Handle In Ward 4 Because I Voted For These Projects. So I Would Love Whatever Additional Information You Can Provide. I Can Have Somebody Reach Out From My Office To Set Up A Meeting. But This Just Doesn'T Feel Like Enough Information For Me To Move Forward On. On This With These Specific Projects. And Then The Last Thing Is, When I Last Talked To The University Of Minnesota'S Staff, I Thought They Had Fundraised For This Project. I Thought They Had Some Collaboration With Students And Staff And Some Fundraising Where They Had The Money For The Lighting Projects They Needed At The U. >> Director? >> Yeah. Thank You, Chair. Councilmember, We Did Hear -- Have Some Initial Conversations Or Heard About Some Conversations Earlier Around Self-Assessments Or Some Fundraising. I Haven'T Gotten The Recent Update On The Status Of That. I Think One Piece, Though, I Would Like To Clarify For Today'S Action. Today'S Action Is To Add These Two Neighborhoods To The Map. And The Policy Related To Pedestrian Street Lighting Corridors, It Has A Map That Identifies The Projects That Are Eligible For Funding. It Doesn'T Actually Fund Those Projects. So Today'S Action, It Is Confusing But Today'S Action Just Allows Them To Be On That Map To Be Eligible For Funding. The Budget Amendment Has Already Happened That Funds This Project. So Just Want To Make Sure That Distinction Is Clear. >> I Definitely Appreciate The Distinction. But I Feel Like The Nature Of The Amendment Was Specific To This Project. The Person Who Brought The Amendment Forward Specifically Talked About Projects In Their Ward, And That Is What I See Here. So I Completely Understand What You'Re Saying, Director, But I Just Feel Like The Nature Of The Amendment Last Year Was Specifically About These Projects. >> Yeah. >> Thank You. Chair? >> Director? >> Thanks. Chair, Councilmember, I Want To Confirm We'Re Happy To Meet With You And Discuss Those Impacts More Specifically. Thank You. >> Thank You. >> All Right. Thanks. Next Councilmember Palmisano. As A Guest To The Committee. >> Thank You, Chair Cashman, For Allowing Me To Join You Today. This Action -- This Item Number One Action, It Simply Makes These Streets Eligible. That'S It. For This Action Today. And I'M Not Here For A Lengthy Discussion. But To Say That A Budget Committee, I Am Looking To Make Sure That We Have Enough Money To Fix Poles And Rewire Copper Throughout The City. I Understand, Director Sexton, From Your Memo. Public Works Crews Are Out There Working As Fast As You Can In The Highest Transportation Equity Areas. The Problem, For Me, It'S Not Our Whole City. Copper Wire Theft Is Seriously Impacting Several Areas Of Our City, Including Our Parkways And Our Park System That Is Used By Everyone. Not Just Those In The Immediate Neighborhood Around It. I Also Really Appreciate The Bit Of Work That Was Done Over The Winter. It Was A Little Bit, But We Still Have Large Swaths Of Areas Around Our Lakes And Our Creek That Are In Total Darkness. Your Memo, Director, Stated It'S Unlikely We Can Fully Address All Areas This Year. And It'S Apparent To Me That If You Had The $500,000 That Was Diverted In December'S Budget Process, You Would Be Able To Get Further Down Your List. Is That Accurate? >> Director? >> [ Laughter ] Thank You, Chair. Yeah. Councilmember Palmisano, We Have A Very Large Funding Gap. Gap In Terms Of -- There'S A Lot Of Street Lights Out. Over 20 Miles Of Street Lights That Are Out. And The $500,000 Would Help Make -- Get Us Further Along. It'S Hard To Say Exactly How Much Farther. But, Yes, It Would -- We Would Be Able To Do More Repairs With More Funding. >> Yeah. Umm, Chair Cashman, I'M Not On The Committee. And I Don'T Have A Vote Here Today. I Will Have A Vote At Full Council. I Have No Problem Updating The Map, If It Meets The Criteria To Be Added. Which It Sounds Like It Maybe Does. I'M Not Convinced Yet. But I Do Have A Problem With A Trickle-Down Impacts It Has On The Rest Of The City. Delaying Higher Priority Pedestrian-Scale Lighting Repairs And Improvements. Or Slowing Street Light Repair Work For One Particular Neighborhood Of Our City Is Not Okay. Thank You. >> Thank You For Joining And For Making Those Comments. I Think, You Know, Vice Chair Koski And I Have Been Talking, We'Re In Agreement It'S A Good W Idea To Make The Budget Whole. I Think There'S Some Consensus, At Least Among Several Here, That We Want To Make Sure That The Street Light Budget Is Whole. And Make Sure That Even Park Areas Can Get Repaired As Soon As Possible. So We Can Follow Up On That Together, As Well. And Next I'Ll Recognize Councilmember Osman. >> Thank You. As Someone Who Dealt With Street Lights Issue In A Dark Neighborhood, Let Me Just Say That Not Every Street In Our City Is The Same. There Are Some Neighbors That Are Totally Dark. And, Yes, They Had The Right To Jump The Line. If The Dark -- If That Neighborhood Is Totally Dark, I Have Used A Similar Process A Couple Of Years Ago. Where I Was Able To Allocate Stephen Square On Luhring Park. That Was Identified As One Of The Darkest Neighborhoods In Our City. So On That Process, Just, President, I'M Happy And Thankful That Work Has Been Done. And I Agree With Councilmember Cashman That, Yes, We Definitely Prioritize Overall Lighting Issues In Our City. But As I Can See Here, This Is Focusing On More On Students Area. And There Are A Lot Of Young People Having Lights Over There. Having, You Know, Opportunity For Younger People To Go To School. And Walk To Their Dorms. I Think It'S No-Brainer To Jump The Line. I'M Okay, Actually, Jumping The Line. The Streets That Are Darker Than Normal. So Just Want To Use That A Luhring Park Example A Few Years Ago. Thank You. >> Next I'Ll Recognize Councilmember Chowdhury. >> Thank You, Chair Cashman. Since We'Re Discussing This Item At Greater Length, I Think It Would Be Helpful If There'S A Staff Member Kind Of Just To Speak Generally To What This Item Is And The Areas In Which It Will Impact And Be Included. Just So The Public And Ourselves Can Get A Better Idea. >> I'Ll Ask Director Sexton. >> Yeah, Chair, Councilmember. I Would Like To Introduce Alan, Our Traffic And Parking Services Division Director. >> Great. And I'Ll Have Some Follow Up Questions, Chair. >> All Right. Welcome, Director Klugman. >> Chair Cashman, Councilmember, I'M Alan Klugman. A Little Clarification, If I May, On Your Question. I'M Sorry For Re-Asking. To You Want To Hear More About The Specific Areas Being Added To The Map Or More About The Maintenance Work. I Wasn'T Sure. >> The Areas That Are Being Added To The Map. And Then What This Would Mean For Maintenance Work For Those Areas. >> Okay. Sure. In Terms Of The Areas Added To The Map, This Is In The Dinkytown Neighborhood. A Quick Explanation Why They'Re Being Added To The Map Or Able To Add Them To The Map Now. The Map Was Developed Many Years Ago. We Periodically Go Through Updates To The Map When There'S Changed Conditions. Might Be Due To New Roadway Projects, Might Be New Development, Bike Facilities, So Forth. I Want To The Point Out, This One Because Of The Addition Of High-Density Housing. We Reanalyzed The Neighborhoods And That'S Why It Qualifies To Be On The Map. That'S The Technical Aspect Of Why The Map -- Recommending The Map Update. In Terms Of Maintenance Work, Our Lek I Gi G Election Trigses Do Work Throughout The Year. One Category Is 200 Cars A Year Run Off The Road The Second Major Area Is Outages. Typically End Of The Life For The Fix Yours Or The Bulbs. Or Things Going To Fault. We Have To Repair. Hundreds A Year. And, Unfortunately, The Third Category Is Wire Theft. It Comes Out Of The Same Budget. All Three Of Those Grouped Together To What We Call Street Light Maintenance Over The Course Of The Year. >> Great. Thank You So Much. You Make It Easy To Understand These Complicated Public Works Things. I Appreciate It. >> You'Re Welcome. >> And Kind Of Help My Understanding And, Like, The History Of This Conversation For Dinkytown Lighting. I Was A Student There. I Worked In City Hall. I Served As A Policy Aid For The Third Ward. I'Ve Seen Time And Time Again Students Come And Community Come To Advocate For Additional Lighting. And That Petition Process, That Requires Property Owners Oftentimes Hear Landlords Who Might Not Be Living There To Sign Off. And That'S Been A Barrier. Is This Adding This Set Of Lights And Then Funding It In The Future To Kind Of Get Around That And Address The Lighting Concerns That Have Been There For Awhile? >> Councilmember, Chair Cashman, There'S A Bit Of History Here. Some May Be Predating My Direct Involvement. I'Ll Talk Generals. We Have Our Street Light Policy For The City. The Pedestrian Street Light Corridors Are Within The Policy. There Are Mechanisms Where Neighborhoods Can Reach To The City To Petition Through Council Offices And So Forth. And Request That An Area Be Considered. Typically Over The Years, When Twef Had Those, They'Ve Been Tied To A Project Or Specific Endeavor. We Had One, I Guess, Several Years Ago Now. The Ballpark Authority By Target Field Provided Funding Put Forward A Petition Or Request For A Project. Provided The Funding And Because Of The High Numbers Of Pedestrian In The North Loop Going To And From The Ballpark, We Were Able To Recommend That Being Added To The Map. There'S A Number Of Ways. Things Come To Us. Specifically This One Is As You Look, Too, There'S Been Conversations With The University. The University Community. I Think For Several Years. And There'S Kind Of Been A Handful Of, I Would Say, Requests Reaches To Us In The Last Few Years. So There'S A Question The Director Referred To. We Did Get An Outreach From The University Community. Suggesting They Would Have Some Funding Available Or Could Make Funding Available. We Didn'T Hear Much More About That. And Then There'S A Number Of Conversations In Terms Of How Would We Go About Addressing The Project Like This. And Then It Kind Of Got, I Would Say, Incorporated Within The Budget Process. And That'S How It Came To Specifically, You Know, Specifically The Amendment In The Budget Process Was, You Know, Had Two Parts. One To Assess If This Would Qualify. The Second Was The Funding Element. >> Herba Essentially It Could Be A Part Of Lighting The Area Without The Petition Process? >> Chair Cashman, Councilmember Chowdhury. There'S Not Been A Petition Process, Correct. >> Okay. Great. That'S All My Question For You. Really Helped My Understanding. I'Ll Kind Of Leave With These Comments. I Think It'S Really Important That We Don'T Pit, Like, Wire Theft That Is Going Around In Our City, Director Sexton, And Alan Know Very Well How Much Advocacy My Office Has Done To Address The Wire Theft. Specifically In Areas Where There'S A Lot Of Pedestrians And A Lot Of Cars. I Think It'S Really Important That We Don'T Pit, Like, The Issue Of Wire Theft With The Issue Here With Dinkytown Lighting. Right. And I Don'T Think We Should Talk About It In Terms Of Jumping The Line. Because I'Ve Been A Student At The University Of Minnesota. I Remember My Freshman Year Of College, Like, This Was Something That Student Local Government Was Taking On. And By The Time I Graduated, And Became A Policy Aid To The Third Ward, A New Set Of Student Government Members Were Advocating To Us For This Same Thing. Over And Over Again. And Another Council Came. The Advocacy Continued. And Another Council Came. And There'S, Actually, A Joke Among The Local Government Arm At The University Of Minnesota. This Is The Issue That Everyone Gets To Pass On To The Next Crop Of Students. To Advocate To City Hall On. And At Its Core, The Reason Why Community Members Are Advocating For Area. The Marcy Homes Area, Which Is Off-Campus Housing. Because Of Safety. This Is An Area Where A Lot Of Young Women, In Particular, Have Experienced Sexual Assault. And That'S Been Issue On University Campuses. And That'S Been Something That I'Ve Been Experienced. I Used To Live Over In The Marcy Holmes Neighborhood. I Have Been Followed In This Area. And I Have Other Countless Friends And Students Currently That Are Facing This Issue And The One Thing That Would Make Them Feel Safer Is Lighting. So It'S Deeper Than Just Jumping The Line. We Shouldn'T Be Pitting Against Copper Wire Theft. This Is About Safety For Students And I Can Tell You, There Are Alumni, Members Of The Aro Aurora Center, The Women'S Center Would Tell You Why The Lighting Is Important. It'S Deeper. We Should Consider That As We'Re Prioritizing A Lot Of Different Things In Our Budget Conversations. Especially Safety. And Safety For Students In This Community. >> Thank You So Much. Next I'Ll Recognize Councilmember Chavez. >> Thank You, Chair Cashman. I'M Going To Be Voting In Favor Of This Item. And Just As Background, I Used To Work The State Capitol Who Represents A Big Student Population. One Of The Things When I Used To Work At The Capitol, I Heard From Students How Of Unsafe They Felt Around The University Of Minnesota. And How They Wanted More Lighting. This Has Been Projects That Have Been Happening For Many, Many Years. And This Project, And Being Put On This List For Potential Projects In The Future, Is Meant To Address The Safety Challenges That Many Of Our Students In The City Of Minneapolis Are Dealing With. So, Again, I'Ll Reiterate, It'S Not About Jumping The Line. It'S About Providing An Opportunity For Our Students To Feel Safe In The City Of Minneapolis, Which Needs To Be A Big Priority Of Ours. I Have A Few Questions, Director Sexton. I Read Your Memo You Sent. Is There A Reason There Wasn'T, You Know, There Wasn'T Any Statements About Funding Issues In That? It Was You Talked About In The E-Mail You Sent To Us. I Want To Understand Where The Funding Issue Is Coming From. I Read The E-Mail And Didn'T See Any Opportunities To Talk About Funding Issues There. >> Director? >> Yeah. Chair Cashman, Councilmember Chavez. I Welcome Alan Klugman To Talk More Specifics. In General, It'S Our Understanding The Budgets Have Been Established For This Year And Next. I'M Not Sure That We Really Saw The Value Of Addressing -- Bringing Up Funding Issues At This Point. >> Okay. I Respect That. But That Issue Was Brought Up In The Memo We Got. I Think It Would Have Been Helpful. And I Also Had Another Question. There Was A Memo That The City Administration Sent That I'M Reading About This Budget Amendment. That Is Pertaining To This. And Said That Public Works Can Perform The $500,000 Of Additional Lighting Work With The Existing Staff And Resources This Year. So Can You Explain The Why That Was Mentioned In A Memo And N Now Getting Different Information. >> Yeah. Mr. Klugman. >> Chair Cashman, Councilmember Chavez. I Might Be Responsible -- Let Me Explain. We Talked About The Maintenance Budget. Which Is About $1.93 Million. We Have A $3 Million Capital Budget For New Street Light Installations. Separate Budgets. About $5 Million Total Is The Amount Of Electrical Work We Do In A Year. We Had A Large Crew Of Electricians To Do Our Work. We Move Our People As The Year Progresses. What We Meant By The Text, With The Current Personnel Levels, Trucks, Equipment, Wire, Material, So Forth, We Could Accommodate $500,000 Worth Of Work. It'S About A 150% 10% Change In The Yearly Electrical Workload. I Think I'M Responsible For That. I Didn'T Say It Clearly Enough. That Is The Sort Of Way We Can Flex Our Staff By Working A Few More Hours. Bring In Seasonal Electricians. How Many Do We Bring In? Et. Cetera. We Wanted To Express We Could, From A Capacity And Project Delivery Point Of View, We Could Execute That Level Of Work. I Think We'Re Not Clear On The Funding Part. >> Okay. Thank You. When I First Read That, When I Voted On The Budget Amendment. I Understood That Language To Mean Something Different. I Appreciate The Clarification. That Acknowledgment. The Last Thing I Will Say, Maybe For You, Director Existon, F -- Sexton For An Answer. Let'S Say This Goes To An Area That Keeps Students Safe In Our City. Are You Guaranteeing That If We Were To Fill That Hole Of $500,000 That Every Lighting Issue Is Going To Be Solved In The Entire Sicity Of Minneapolis? >> Director? >> Chair And Councilmember, I Can Guarantee That Every Lighting Issue Would Not Be Solved By That $500,000. . >> >>: Thank You. Noted. >> Next Councilmember -- Are You Finished, Councilmember Chavez? Councilmember Vetaw. >> Thank You, Chair Cashman. Just A Couple Of Things. One, I'M Glad To See My Colleagues Care About University Students. Because Some Of Them Don'T Care About Charter School Students Or Private School Students. There Was A Decision Made Here Last Week To Take From Charter School Students. Because They Went To Charter Schools. So Thank You For Caring About University Students, Colleagues. The Reason Why I Use The Language \"Pitting Against One Another\" Is Because I Represent A Highly Underserved Community That'S Waited In Line For Decades For Lighting. I, Myself, Came To This Council With The Idea Of Putting More Money Into Lighting Because It Was A Big Issue In North Minneapolis. And A Lot Of Our Lighting Situations Haven'T Been Solved Yet. Because We Are Still Waiting On Our Turn. So That'S Why I'M Saying Jumping The Line. When I Came Here, I Asked For Way More Than What I Received For Lighting. Because There Were Other Parts Of The City Who Had Zero Lighting. It Was Literally, Like, Dark In Certain Communities. And I Understood That They Needed Lighting. The Second Question I Asked Was About A Partnership With The U For Them To Pay For Lighting. Because Those Conversations Were Had. I Don'T Know If I Made That Clear Or Not. What I'M Asking Here Is For Some Solutions That Maybe Include Financial Help From Other Entities To Get The Lighting For The U. Not Necessarily We Don'T Want -- I Mean, It'S Always This \"I Want Or I Don'T Want Thing.\",\" You Know, This Observation Of \"If You'Re Saying I Don'T Support This, You Don'T Care About Students.\" No. I Care About Students But I Also Care About The Residents Of Ward 4 And People Around The City Who Have Lost Lighting To Copper Wire Theft. Unforeseen Theft. Something We Have Zero Control Over. Something We Had No Idea Was Going To Happen On The Parkways And Bikeways. That'S Not Safe For Anyone. This Is Not Just About Not Liking Certain Parts Of The City Or \"It'S Not My Ward.\" It'S About Really Making Decisions In The Reality Of What'S Happened In This City. No One Saw Copper Wire Theft Being A Thing. And It Is. It'S Much Bigger Than I Ever Imagined. Like, There Are People Who Can'T Use Parkways After A Certain Time Of Day Because The Lighting Doesn'T Work. And We Need Money To Fix That. So I'M Asking Us To Just Make Decisions In The Reality. There Is Lighting In This Area. This Is Not A Black-Out Area Where There Is No Lighting. Yes, Will This Enhance And Help The Area? Absolutely! And I Think It Should! But I Do Not Think, And I'M Going To Keep On Using The Language Of \"Jumping The Line.\" No. No One Gets To Jump The Line. I'Ve Been Waiting In Ward 4. We'Ve Been Waiting On The North Side For Decades For Specific Lighting. And So Has Other People On This Dais. In Their Neighborhoods. In Their Communities. Waited Until Their Turn To Get It. And This Is On Here. This Is Fine. That, You Know, Folks Are Going To Put This On The Map. But, Like, I'Ve Seen This Play Out On This C Council! As Soon As Something Gets Added To The List, Then It Becomes A Priority Over Everybody Else'S. If You'Ve Go The Votes To Make It A Priority, You Make It A Priority. I'M Not Okay With That It'S Pitting Against Each Other If We'Re Not Going Through The Existing Lists We Have Now And Making Sure That Gets Done. And That Somebody Jumps The Line And Get Their Lighting Done. >> All Right. Thank You For Your Comments. Next Councilmember Chowdhury. >> Yeah, Th Thank You. I Hope We Can Figure Out How To Work This Out. Because I Mean If It'S A Priority For Lighting For All Of Us In Different Parts Of Our Community. I Think That'S Something We Can Prioritize In The City Budget And Have Conversations. And I Welcome, I Hope The University Of Minnesota Is Listening. If There'S Any Way To Offset Some Of The Cost For Lighting For Dinkytown, Please, By All Means, Support The City Of Minneapolis To Make It Happen! I Did, For Me, Felt Important To Talk About, Like, The Human Aspect Of It. I Think It Was Just Missing From This Initial Conversation. And I Just Want To Highlight The Reason Why It'S Been Barrier For Lighting In This Area Is Because Of The Petition Process That Required Student Community Memberses To Try To Get Property Owners On Board. I Think It Was, Like, About A Two-Thirds Majority. And If These Property Owners Aren'T There Or Live In Another State And Can'T Sign Off And You'Re Asking Students And People To Volunteer Their Time Working. You'Re Not Going To Get It. Right. So This Has Been A Long-Standing Issue. As It Has Been In Other Parts Of The City. And I Want To Take A Moment To Highlight The Good Work Of Public Works In The City Of Minneapolis And Advocating At The State Legislature To Require Anyone Who Sells Copper To Scrap Metal Seller To Have A License. As A Deterrent For Copper Wire Theft. It Won'T Fix Everything But It Was Something, A Huge Win That This Department Was Able To Get. That Went Into Effect In January 1. And Has Been A Strong Deterrent And I Encourage Community Members To Share That Information Out. I Think It'S Good For People To Know. And If There Are Scrap Metal Sellers That Are Accepting Copper Wire, Without A License, That Could Potentially Impact Their Business License. So Appreciate This Conversation. Thank You For The Broad Discussion On This. I Want To Reiterate My Commitment To Working With Any Councilmembers, Including Councilmember Palmisano And Vice Chair Koski Here On Budgeting To Fill The Gap. Because It'S Important To All Of Us And All Areas Of The City To Make Sure Street Light Repairs Are Being Done To The Extent Possible. There Was Residents Here From Kenwood And This Is One Of Those Neighborhoods That Is Not In The Equity Priority Area. And So It Has Been, You Know, Neglected. But It Is On The Parkway. This Is An Area That The Entire City Comes To. It'S A Regional Draw. So We Do Need To Figure This Out. And We'Re All In The Same Team Here. So ... Team Minneapolis. We'Ll Figure This Out. I Want To Clarify Here That This Item Is To Ameed The Street Lighting Plan Map. And So It'S Not Necessarily A Budget Item That Is Before Us Today. And I Will Move Approval Of This Street Light Planning Map Reclassification. And I'Ll Just Take A Voice Vote Here. All Those In Favor Say Aye. Opposed Say Nay. Any Abstentions? One Abstention. And That Motion Carries. So We Have Made It Through The Consent Agenda. Next The Public Hearing. It'S Adopting Assessments For The Kenwood Neighborhood Concrete Pavement Rehabilitation Project. I Would Like To Remind Folks By Speaking Here Today, You Deserve Your Right To Appeal. After The Public Hearing, Community Members Will Have A General Discussion About This Item. If You Have Questions Specific Questions About Your Assessment, You'Re Also More Than Welcome To Meet With The Staff Who Will Be Presenting Here Today. Here To Kick Off The Public Hearing Is Chris Dedene From Public Works. >> Good Afternoon, Chair Cashman, Members Of The Committee. My Name Is Chris Dedene. A Professional Engineer With The Transportation, Engineering, And Design Division Of Public Works. Today I Am Here Presenting On Public Hearing For The Kenwood Neighborhood Concrete Rehabilitation Project. City Project Number 1077R. The Proposed Project Consists Of Rehabilitation Of 1.2 Miles Of Residential Streets In The Kenwood Neighborhood. Elements To Be Included As Part Of This Project Include Upgrading Pedestrian Ramps To Meet Ada Compliance, Upgrading Bus Stops, Replacement Of Select Pavement Panels, Select Curb And Gutter, And Diamond Grinding And Sealing Of The Pievment. On April 17, City Council Designated The Improvements Proposed To The Neighborhood Rehabilitation Project. The Streets To Be Rehabilitate Dated Were Constructed In 1970, And Have A Pavement Condition Score Pci Ranging Between 46 And 72. Total Anticipated Project Costs Is $2.4 Million. A Total Street Reconstruction Assessment Is $216,316. This Assessment Is Based On The 2025 Uniform Seam Raiments And Area Influence Method. The Rates Are 5 75-Cents Per Square Foot For Nonresidential. And 25-Cents Per Square Foot For Residential Properties. These Are Payable Over A 10-Year Period. Public Works Has Conducted Numerous Outreach Activities Throughout The Planning And Design Of This Project. A Preassessment Meeting To Answer Any Questions Related To The Assessment Was Held On May 15. 145 Invitations Were Mailed To Residents. And Zero Attendees Came To The Meeting. Assessment Information Has Been Provided To The Effective Property Owners And The Notices Was Mailed To Them Was How Persons May Prepay The Special Assessments In Full, Without Interest, If They Choose. City Council Has Passed Resolutions Where By A Deferment Of Special Assessments May Be Obtained By Showing Hardships For Any Homestead Property Owned By A Person 65 Years Of Age Or Older. Retired By Virtue Of Permanent And Total Disability, Or Military Personnel Ordered To Serve In Active Military Service. Today Public Works Is Asking City Council To Pass Resolutions Ordering The Work To Proceed, Adopting Special Assessments, And Authorizing The Sale Of Assessment Bonds For This Project. This Concludes My Presentation. And I Will Stand For Questions. >> All Right. Thank You So Much For The Presentation, Mr. Dedene. I'Ll Proceed To Open The Public Hearing. We Don'T Have Anyone Signed Up. Is There Anyone Here Who Would Like To Speak On The Item? Okay. Seeing None. I'Ll Close The Public Hearing. And Just One Question -- Couple Of Questions For You. Is The Ability To Submit A Letter To Dispute The Assessment. What Is The Deadline On The Submission Of The Letter? >> Thank You, Chair Cashman. Jeff Hanlon. Principle Professional Engineer In Public Works. In Order To Reserve The Right To Appeal To District Court, Property Owners Need To Submit A Writing In Objection Or Speak Here Today By The Time Of This Public Hearing Now. >> Okay. Would Have Had Toby Today. >> That'S Correct. And I'D Like To Just Mention Just Make Sure That The Record Is Straight. Mr. Dedene Said, One Small Misspeak. He Said The Payment Period Was 10 Years. This Is Resurfacing Rate Special Assessment With The Concrete Payment Period Of Five Years. >> Okay. Thank You For Correcting That. I Just Want To, You Know, Thank You, Mr. Dedne With Your Engagement Over The Last Few Months And Doing A Lot To Provide The Maximum Amount Of Information To Residents In The Neighborhood. And I Think It'S Important To Mention That All The Public Assessments Like This Are Burdensome For The Residents, On Top Of The Property Taxes They Already Pay. That, You Know, The Assessment Is Only Covering 9% Of The Project. And Public Works Has Done A Good Job To Pro Actively Apply For Grants And Other Sources To Fund These Repairs. Total Of $216,000 Is Being Funded Through Assessment. Of The $2.4 Million Project. So Thank You For That. And Doing Your Best To Really Offset The Assessment That Is Being Levied On Residents. And We, On This Committee, Are Frequently Discussing Ways In Which We Do Our Assessments And How To Make That More Equitable. But I Think, You Know, We -- That You And Public Works And My Office Have Done Our Due Diligence To Explain It To The T Residents And Give Them The Opportunity To Appeal It, As Well. Is There Any Other Discussions From Committee Members Today? All Right. Seeing None. I Will Move This Item For Approval. All Those In Favor Say Aye. Opposed Say Nay. Any Abstentions? Great. That Item Carries. We Will Hear Presentations From The Pedestrian And Bicycle Advisory Committees. Here To Kick It Off Is Pedestrian And Bicycle Coordinator With Public Works. >> Thank You. Alex Schieferdecker. It'S A Pleasure To Appear Before You Today To Introduce The 2024 Annual Report From The Pedestrian And Bicycle Advisory Committees. You Have In Your File Today A Report Document Which Summarizes The Activities Of Both Committees In 2024. And Additionally, It Is A Tradition For The Chairs Of These Committees To Present Directly To The Council. But The Themes That Arose Out Of The Committee'S Past Year Of Work. So With Us Here Today Are Alyssa, Chair Of The Bac, And Andrew, Chair Of The Pac. And, Also Here In The Room Are Many Members Of The Committees. Maybe They Can Raise Their Hands If They'D Like To. Just Identify Themselves. Great. Before I Pass The Microphone To The Chairs, I Want To Note Two Things To The Committee. First, Both Of These Committees Will Be Restructured And New Terms For The Members Will Start On JULY 1st. HOWEVER, IN Practice, Their Scope Of Work Is Not Changing. And I Want To Recognize Andrew In Our Department For His Work Shepherding The Committees Through The Process. And Staffing Both Of These Committees For A Long Period This Year. So, Second, I Want To Briefly Honor All The Members Of These Committees. Who Are Serving At The End Of The Term. And Thank Them For Their Service. And I Want To Specifically Highlight The Service Of Janice Who Will Conclude Her 14 1/2 Years Of Service At The End Of This Term. And From Here, I Want To Call Up Alyssa To Give Her Presentation. >> All Right. Welcome. >> Thank You, Councilmembers. I Use She/They Pronouns. Ward 9 Representative And Bicycle Advisory Committee Chair. And I'M Excited To Join You Today. To Talk About Our Work. I Joined The Bicycle Advisory Committee Almost A Decade Ago. For A Lot Reasons. Climate Action, Racial Justice, Public Health, Disability Justice, Many Values, But More Than Anything. I Joined The Committee Because I Love Riding My Bike. It'S A Joyful Activity. That Joy Has Been Hard Won. I Was Hit By A Driver Of An Suv While Bicycling. I Didn'T Know, It Was Predictable, Inevitable Because Of The Way Our Streets Are Built. Crashes Are The Most Visible Of The Cost Of Putting The Cars And Driving Above Everything Else. It'S In The Air We Breathe, The Water We Drink, The Disconnection We Feel, The Hours We Waste. My Experience Is One Of Many Experiences Like It. And Many Unlike. Stories Of Displacement, Loneliness, Asthma And Chronic Pain, Of Financial Struggle Forced Upon People And Families Who Have No Choice But To Drive. I'M Here Because We Need To Change Our Transportation System. I'Ve Learned A Lot During My Service On This Committee Over The Last Almost Decade. I'M Like To Share A Little Bit Of What I'Ve Experienced Over That Decade With You Today. Talk About What It Is Expected Of Us As Community Members. How We'Ve Evolved Over The Last 10 Years. And What Is Next. I, Like Many, Who Would Like Better Walking, Biking, And Transit Systems Want Them To Be Better. I Didn'T Come To The Work As A Planner With A Technical Background. I Didn'T Think Of Myself As An Advocate . I Wanted My Neighborhood To Be Easier And More Enjoyable To Get Around. That'S An Experience Many Committee Members Share. What Is It Like To Join The Bac? We Certainly Have Members From A Variety Of Backgrounds. Everyone'S Experience Is Different. Here Is A Couple Of Things I'Ve Seen. One Of The Most Important Things That We On The Bac Offer Is Functional Experience About How Infrastructure Translates To People'S Daily Needs. And When I Joined The Committee, It Became Very Clear, Very Quickly, And I'Ve Heard It From Other Committee Members, As Well. To Get Project Staffing Consultants To Listen To The Experience, They Have To Be Technically Translated. We Can'T Say Things Like \"Please Narrow The Car Lane To Make More Room For Bikes.\" We Have To \"This Project Design Is 12 Feet Road, 2-Foot Gutter Pan.\" As Per Section 3.62B. Reallocate In Order To Put A Protected Bikeline. That'S The Technical Expertise Put A Lot Of Pressure On Committee Members To Be Policy Experts. To Bring That High Level Of Technical Acumen. When Many Us Come To The Committee Wanting Our Neighborhoods To Be Better Places To Get Around. In Recent Years, The Technical And Policy Expertise Asks Of The Public Have Increased. We Have Seen The Cities Conflict Policy Cause Waning Interest From People Who Bring Some Of The Technical Backgrounds. And Government Restructuring We Have Lost Our Council Seat On The Committee. Having Not A Direct Liaison To The Council Anymore. And We Are Also Seeing That Shifting The Role Of Department Seats In A Few Short Weeks In July. Right. Those Things Put Bigger Asks On Members Of The Public Who Are Engining This Commi -- Joining Committee. We Are Expected To Be Policy Experts, To Bring The Technical Acumen. To Be Organizers. To Engage With Community Members And Councilmembers Outside Of Meetings. What You Would Think Of A Four-Hour Per Month Volunteer Commitment Can Become 6, 8, 10 For Folks Who Want To Move Forward A Particular Project Or Policy. Over Time, The Bac Has Also Grown And Evolved. Beyond Some Of Those Technical Pieces That We Have Invested In As A Committee, The Advocacy Community Has A Clear Vision That Is More Grounded In Our Values. Racial Justice, Accessibility, Climate Action, When I Started On The Bac, I Think The Advocacy Community As A Whole Was Evolving Their Norms Around Who Are We Building Bike Infrastructure For And. We'Re Fighting A Public Narrative That Biking Is For People Who Are Liking To Race Around On The Weekends. That'S Not Reflective Of The Reality. Today'S Bac Is Intergenerational. We Have Casual Riders, People Who Race. We Have People Who Bike Solo. And People Who Bike With Their Kids Or Their Grand Kids. We Have Trail Riders. And Street Commuters. People With Chronic Injuries. Or Health Conditions That Limit Their Ability To Bicycle Year Around. We Represent A Wide Swath Of User Experience. You'Ve Seen Over The Last Decade, Improvements In Recordkeeping. That Have Made Things More Assessable. A Decade Ago, The City Didn'T Have Lims For The Bicycle Advisory Committee. And Anything You Wanted To Find About A Pass Project Was Just Dig In Your E-Mail And Hope For The Best. Or Ask Janice, Our 14-Year Member Serving Member Who Has Been Our Secretary For A Long Time. She'S Got A Paper File About This Thick With All The Past Information. So Lims Is A Huge Access And Transparency Improvement That Takes Information Out Of The Realm Of Individual Memory And Into Institutional Knowledge For Our Committee. And I Pair Those Together Because I Want To Say As A Bac, We Know We Are Asking More Of You Than We Did When E Joined 10 Years Ago. Part Of The Successes We'Ve Had And Our Vision Is Clearer And The Need Is Clearer And The Information What We'Re Building On What We Have Accomplished Is More Readily Available. Speaking Of Successes, Over The Last Decade, We Have Spent A Lot Of Time On Policy And Planning. We Have Created And Improved Some Incredible Policy In The Suite Of Policies We Have As A City Is A Powerful Tool. The Un Un -- Public Knowledge Has Helped Us Translate Our Values Into Policy And Continue To Serve Well In Our Role Bridging The Priorities And Experiences With The City'S Policy Making Apparatus. We Have Engagedded With Most Of The Policies And Plans Listed On The Slide. One That I Want To Call Out Is Something That I Was Part Of In The Committee Part Of. Influencing Vision Zero Action Plan. We Had A Lot Of Conversations Over Many Years. 2017 Through 2020 About Racial Equity And Traffic Enforcement. And Many Of The Things That We Raised As Concerns And Potential Issues Helped Shape And Improve The Minneapolis Traffic Camera Safety Pilot. Now In The Final Planning Stages. As You Know. Many Of The Policies On This Slide Did Not Exist Before Or Building Off Of Priority Efforts That Hadn'T Been As Codified As Deeply. And The Amount Of Efforts We Put In ... Then When I Applied 10 Years Ago. And, Yet, We Still Got A Long Way To Go. Many Of These Policies Were A First Or Second Pass At Something. Our Complete Streets Policy Is Hardly Nation Leading. A Score Of 63 Out Of 100. Ranked By The National Partnership. In A Time When Multiple Other Cities And Jurisdictions Updating Their Policies Scored Between 85 And 100. It Is Possible To Score 100. So We Have Also Huge Implementation Challenges In Front Of Us. Today We Haven'T Reckoned With. Two Years Ago I Stood In Front Of The Committee And Said We Need A Public Fiscal Analysis Telling Us What The Transportation Action Plan Would Cost To Implement. A Public Funding Plan That Identifies Sourcingses Of Funding. And Staffing Plan To Give Us The Human Resources. We Haven'T Done Those Things, To My Knowledge. So We Still Have At Lot Of Work Ahead Of Us. The Next Decade Will Be Critical In Transforming Our Transportation Systems So They Work For All The People Of Minneapolis. What Is The Role Of The Bac? T These Policy Asks From 2021 Would Be A Substantial Start. But The Bigger Picture That I Want To Leave You With Is That The Vision Of Minneapolis As A City, Where It Is Better. It'S Faster, Safer, More Enjoyable, More Convenient To Walk, Bike, And Take Transit Than To Drive. Because The Cost Of Making It Easy To Drive Is Our Health, Our Collective Well Being, Our Connections, Our Environment. Over The Last Decade, I'Ve Heard Over And Over Again In Project After Project, \"We Can'T Do That.\" What I Learned Occasionally There Is A Substantiative Reason For The Objection, Mostly We Lack Imagination. And A Willingness To Do Hard Things. We Can'T Do That Is Too Often Code For \"Some Neighbors Have Complained About Parking Impacts, Despite The Parking Studies Showing We Have Plenty.\" Or You'Re Asking Us To Slow Down Cars And We Won'T. Or The Councilmember In This Ward Doesn'T Like Bikes Or Buses. We'Ll Ignore Our City Policy In Favor Of Our Preference. Our Role In The Next Decade To Continue To Keep An Eye On The North Star Values And Be Pointing Out When We Could And Should Be Making Different Choices. When We Actually Can Do That. The Moment That We'Re In Demands More. Than The Cognitive Dissidence So Of Many Our Past Decisions Demonstrated. It'S No Coincidence That Walking, Biking, And Transit Are Up For Attack. Mobility That Connects Us And Protects Our Collective Well Being Is Inseparable From Racial Justice, Democracy, Accessibility, Public Health, Many Of The Values I Know You On The Committee Share. Now Is A Moment We Need To Continue To Stand Up For A Vision Of Mobility That Doesn'T Force People To Own Cars To Live Fulfilling Lives. The Leaders In The Room Have Substantial Power To Build A Minneapolis Where It'S Better To Bike Than To Drive. Through Our Budgeting, Capital Priorities, And Through Developing Operational Policies That Are Tied Directly To Our Goals. It'S Not Just A Vision, But It'S A Moral Imperative. Transportation Is A Tangible Tool We Have To Meet The Moment We'Re In. And Stand Up For More Just, Joyful, And Connected Minneapolis. Thank You. I Believe Next Up Is -- >> All Right. Thank You So Much Your Introduction And Presentation. And Welcome, Andrea, To Continue The Conversation About The Pedestrian Advisory Committee. >> Good Afternoon. I Am Andrea. She/Her Pronouns. I'M A Resident Of Ward 8. I Arrived Using A Combination Of A Metro Transit Bus, My Bike, And My Feet. And I Say That Because I Want To Start Off The Conversation On The Pedestrian Advisory Committee Report To You Today With A Reminder That People Experience The City Of Minneapolis Not As A Distinct Network Of Streets And Buildings And Parks. But As Systems That Work Together To Get Them To The Places They Want To Go And To Live The Lives They Want To Live. All Of This Together When We Really Think About That As A System, Allow Us Us Create The Vibrant City We All Want And Deserve. So I Personally Advocate For Pedestrians Because Of Climate Reasons, Because Of Equity Reasons, But Also Because Everyone Is A Pedestrian. When You Look At The Definition Of A Pedestrian, It Is Anyone Who Walks Or Rolls Using Wheelchair, Stroller, Or Other Assistive Mobility Device. For Some Part Of Everyone Today, You'Re A Pedestrian. Walking From A Parking Garage Into Your Office. Or Going To The Bus Stop As I Did This Morning. For Us, That Means That As We Think About The Pedestrian Experience Across The City, That Impacts Every Single Resident Here. What The Pedestrians Give Us, The Vibrant Cities I Think We All Want. They Do That Through Creating Opportunities For Social Cohesion, For Accidental Encounters On The Street, Reduced Reliance On Cars And Climate Impacts, There Are Benefiting Public Health, And Really Contributing To Economic Vitality Of The City Through Being Able To Stop And See A Cute Little Shop You Happened To Pass By. These Are All Really Important Elements Of Being A Pedestrian. But Pedestrians Need Some Support In Making Sure They Can Provide All Of This Vibrancy To The City. And It On Ours Out, A Lot Of Things They Need Are The Same Things The Drivers Need. They Need Spaces That Are Designed For Their Experiences. So On This Slide, The Top Imman Is One Of A Street Reconstruction Project I Think The Pac Would Say Is Pretty Good. Narrow Travel Lanes, Traffic Calming, Close By Schools. Flashing Lights. Overall Pretty Good. The Sidewalk Here Are Standard Sidewalks In The City Of Minneapolis Are 6 Feet. This Is An Example Of That. If You Are Walking With Someone In A Wheelchair, You May Be Walking In Grass. Or Behind Them. And Instead Of Being Able To Walk Next To Them. Other This Is A Picture On The Bottom Is From Brazil. A Place Designed For Pedestrians To Experience Their City. We Have Some Of Those Here In Minneapolis. But Too Often We Think About How Do We Fit Pedestrians Into A Car Experience. Pedestrians Also Need Some Way Finding To Tell Them Where To Go. These Two PICTURES ARE A 35th AND Blazedale. Coming From Opposite Directions For Those Who Aren'T Familiar. It'S A One-Way Street. If You'Re A Pedestrian Walking Against Traffic, You Don'T Get To See What Color The Light Is. You Don'T Get To See What Street You'Re Crossing. All The Sign Age Is Designed For Those Traveling In Cars. If You WANT TO KNOW, AM I 34th OR 35th? YOU HAVE TO WALK INTO The Intersection And Look Behind You To Find Out. We Don'T Think About Those Types Of Impacts For People Outside Of Cars. But It Gives You A Lot Of Information About Where You Are When We Think About Pedestrians First. Pedestrians Also Need Access To The Destinations They Want To Go To. They Need To Be Able To Access Their Doctor'S Appointments, Their Restaurants, The Different Types Of Places They Want To Go. So These Two Images Here Are The Same Block. IT'S 7th STREET. ONE ON Nicollet Mall. We Have A Lot Of Great Restaurants And Shopping Sa Available. The Other Is At Third. We'Re Hoping To Move Buses To. And You'Ll See, There'S A Parking Garage And A Couple Of Corporate Buildings. Not Exactly Open To The Public In The Way That The Mall Is. And, Last, Pedestrians Need Parking Spots, Benches, Bathrooms. The Ability To Exist As Humans In The World. We Often Think About How Do We Designate Enough Parking Or Enough Places For People To Put Their Cars. We Don'T Often Spend Enough Time Thinking About Where People Put Their Bodies When They Are Transiting. So Benches. Right Now We Rely On Property Owners To Put Benches On Adjacent Areas. But, Really, That'S A Definite Human Need People Need To Be Able To Access The City And Contribute To All Of That Vibrancy I Mentioned. So What Are Gaps And How Can The Leader Leaders In The Room Help? I Have Listened For Themes Over The Last Year. And For Me, It Comes Down To Three Key Areass: Prioritizing Pedestrians. In Our Transportation Action Plan, Pedestrians Are Supposed To Be The First People That We Prioritize. But For Many Reasons, People Who Can'T, Like These Young People, Drive A Car. Or Don'T Want To For Whatever Reason. Are Often Sort Of Given Whatever Space Is Left In Our Public Areas. And I Would Love To See Us Think How Do We Build A Dynamic Pedestrian-First Environment. The Second Is Because Of Cooperation. This Picture Is A Picture Of A Sidewalk That Mndot Closed Due To An Encampment. The Detour Here Takes Someone Probably 15 Minutes Out Of Their Way, If They Want To Walk On Sidewalk The Whole Way. And What People Do, Is What The Gentleman In Picture Has Done Is Walk In The Street. Which Is Not Safe. It'S Not A Safe Experience With That Encampment There Either. But We Need To Make Sure That As We Are Thinking About Our Transportation Systems, Interacting With The City Systems, The Built Environment Is Not Forcing People To Make A Series Of Unsafe Choices. And The Last Piece Is Around Cost. And I Know It'S Not Always The Question. Right. This Picture IS OF THE 10th AVENUE BRING Whic -- Bridge Closed To Cars For A Long Time Because It'S Falling Apart. The City Found Funds To Replace That. But Those Funds Require Us To Reopen This Street To Cars. Over The Greenway, It'S By The Midtown Global Market. It'S A Great Place To Build A Pedestrian Plaza. But The Funding Source, Will Require It To Be Back Open To Cars. Instead Of Taking This Opportunity To Build A Vibrant Pedestrian Space. So You, As The Power Of The Purse Holders, These Are The Types Of Decisions That I Believe You Can Influence At The Policy Level. That'S All I Have For You Today. Thank You. >> Thank You For The Presentation. I'Ll See If There Are In I Other Co Councilmembers Who Wanted To Ask Questions. I Had A Question About Pedestrian Infrastructure. I Feel Like It'S Something That We Don'T Talk About Enough. It'S Often, I Think, Because Improvements That We Make Might Be Under The Threshold Of Even The Dollar Sign Threshold Of Coming Through Council For Approval. For Example, Something Like A Pedestrian Flasher Is Very, Very Common. And Beloved In Community And Often Requested. And Just Wondering If You Have Disutsed Discussed This As A Committee How We Can Increase The Amount Of Pedestrian Flashers In Our Community Or Other Mechanisms To Help People Cross The Street Where There Are No Crosswalks Or Opportunities. >> Great Question, Councilmember Cashman. We Talk About All The Time, Actually, And We Think A Lot About What Are The Signals Or Ways People Need To Get Across Busy Streets. I Think THE LYNDALE AVENUE SOUTH, 25th AND 27th WHERE THE FLASHERS Were Put In Mid Block Is A Great Model Of Good For The City. For People To Be Able To Get Across Where They Want To Cross. Right. There'S Destinations On Both Sides Of The Street. And So Providing Those In Many Places, I Think, Is A Great Thing! We Often Ask For Them In The Resolutions That We Provide About Different Projects. But They Are Not Cheap. And They Do -- There'S Sometimes Impacts To Traffic Flow We Hear About As A Barrier, As Well. So We Definitely Think Those And Marking All The Crosswalks Are Important Pedestrian Safety Infrastructure. We Would Love To See More Of It. >> I Think It Would Be Great For Us To, You Know, As We'Re Doing Street Projects, Like I'Ll Give -- I Don'T Know, First Avenue North As An Example. It'S Coming. A Project That Is Going To Be Huge And Greatly Expand The Sidewalk Width, Which Is A Goal Of Ours In Our Street Reconstruction Projects For Us To Think About The Amenities Like Benches That Should Be, Like, Built Into The Project, As Well. And, You Know, I Think Another Vehicle, For Lack Of A Better Term Here, For Us To Talk About These Improvements Are Through Special Service Districts. Say That Have Large Budgets To Do, You Know, Trash Collection, Extra Street Sweeps Snow Are Removal. I'M Not Aware Of Special Service Districts That Are Making Investments In Benches. So I'M Just Saying This As Some Ideas To Consider In Collaboration Of How To Make Sure That We Are Investing In Seating In All Areas Of The Public Realm. And Where We Can Find Funding For That. Any Other Questions Or Discussion From Committee Members? >> Councilmember Chavez. Thank You. Thank You So Much For The Presentation And The Update. And I Can Rewatch The Youtube Video. You Mentioned Three Things You Had. Can You Repeat That For The Public? >> Yes, I Can. Thank You, Committee Chair Cashman, Councilmember Chavez. The Three Things That Were Kind Of Priorities Is Thinking About Public Fiscal Analysis That Tells Us What The Transportation Action Plan Would Cost To Implement A. Public Funding Plan That Identifies Sources Of Funding To Do That. And A Staffing Plan That Maps Our Human Resources To The Budget And The Fiscal. Is That The Thing You Were Referring To? >> Yes. Thank You So Much. And I'Ll Just On A Side Reach Out To You, Chair Cashman, About The Particular Topic. And Director Sexton About Public Works. Thank You So Much. >> Great. >> Councilmember Chowdhury. >> Yeah. I Want To Say Thank You To The Pedestrian Advisory Committee And The Bicycle Advisory Committee. I Appreciated Your Presentation Last Year. And Now This Year. And Have Appreciated The Moments That I'Ve Gotten Engaged Wi With You All In Different Capacities. Whether It'S Running Into You In Community, Or Chatting Over E-Mail. And I Personally, As A Member Of This Committee, Would Love To Get An Opportunity To Just Connect Deeper. Especially As We Move Into The Budget Process. But, Also, City Councils In Session 12 Months Out Of Year. So Would Love To Discuss Opportunities That We Have Together. The Rest Of This Year And Then Looking Forward Into The Future. >> Thanks. Seeing No One Else In Queue. I'Ll Direct The Clerk To File The Reports. And With That, We Have Concluded All Business Today. So Without Objection, We Stand Adjourned."