So I am here to present the strategic plan quarter 4 end of year report. Um, staff recommends a motion to accept the report and four votes are needed.

This is a great document and I really encourage people um that are curious about, you know, where our focus lies to go to the website and click around and read all of these wonderful um action steps because we do, you know, we care about the environment. We care about public safety. We care about the quality of life and the action steps and our progress toward it is really well documented and um it helps us all keep on track and keep focused on the things that people have told us are important to them in the community.

I'll just make a brief comment. I agree with council member Calvert. I will say, you know, our values are really reflected in our strategic plan and then in correspondingly um implemented by staff. I think this is a very deliberate exercise that ensures that we're all held accountable to doing and um and following up on the things that we say are important to us.

I just want to say, you know, I appreciate anything that we can do to keep children safe. Um, you know, I know that the internet kids have access to the internet and I know um, you know, just having a young person and um, daughter or whatever and young nieces and nephews um, they tend to be on the internet and you know, you can't really control what's happening on the internet. So, anything that we can do as a city, as our police officers, take trainings and get educated and um you know, set up things or what, however they do it, um you know, I really appreciate it.

So the proposal requires uh this plat approval to subdivide the lot as well as an amendment to the existing master development plan essentially um creating two lots and uh removing that northerly building from the plan. Master development plans can only be done by ordinance, which is why we're here this evening for the ordinance introduction.

Um mayor and council members, this is a change of use. Uh if you knew the former restaurant in that space, Tommo, which was uh pretty popular um with the city here in terms of uh the food items, they unfortunately had to close and were replaced uh by the new restaurant Kyoto Sushi. And uh they're applying for a beer and wine license.

I will just make a very brief comment which is you know it's remarkable how quickly um we're able to fill some of the vacancies in the Ridgel area and that doesn't go for every mall area in the metro. So I I feel eternally grateful for that every time we unfortunately see a business leave. So this is another positive.

So if you add all of the tip pooling funds up, that's a a total of $5.1 million. And so, all of that can be then transferred over to um the affordable housing trust fund.

So first of all I wanted to thank them for that. Um secondly, my question is um you noted something that there's been loose restrictions on that. Could you just elaborate on that just a little bit more?

Typically when you have tip increment tax increment pooling funds, there are stipulations. So maybe there's a certain percentage of affordable housing that you have to use. Maybe it's 60% area median income or maybe it's 50%. These funds basically say for any type of affordable housing.

We've used it for rental assistance. Um, we've used it for the Pathways to Home ownership program, which is a significant large down payment assistance, se up to $75,000 per home, uh, for ownership products. We've used it for the rehab project that I talked about in the Cedar Hills area.

Uh basically the council had a discussion about a another uh repair program for the homes within reach homes or the the affordable housing land trust. So um in 2020 or 2001 we started this partnership. Uh so it's been 25 years of of doing this work. We were the first city to to make that happen in suburban Henipin County and it just kind of parlayed into having I think we're at 63 homes now in the program.

The eligibility that would be required um there had been no permit activity in the property and no city repair programs access in the past. And as you know from the last time we talked about this at your study session, we went through all of the 67 properties and we looked at their permit history and participation. and you got kind of a sense of that.

I just want to make a comment in regards to the program. Um, you know, I know that, you know, you see $10,000 uh forgivable, but when you think about the expenses that some of these homes come with, you know, I can speak to it because I live in one of these homes, and I usually say this, but over the time, I've been there for 17 years, but over the time I've had to put in well over $20,000 into this home, you know.

state law addresses the eviction process in detail in Minnesota statutes chapter 504b. That's the large chapter that is the is essentially the landlord tenant chapter of state law. And while cities don't have the authority at the local level to pause or prohibit evictions, there is very limited authority uh uh showing that the state does.

In looking at the grounds myself, I think it is likely that the only one that could arguably apply here would be a civil disturbance.

I don't want to leave anybody with the impression that there's no money right now. there is absolute money uh available in Minnetonka. So, thank you.

But this is an ask that's coming certainly from, you know, the 24 communities that are a part of the coalition. I don't think we've been promised anything. Well, I know we haven't been promised anything, so I can that's what I can weigh in. Um, but people we are talking and people are listening as far as that can get us.

And I have to say that opening up these extremely vulnerable communities to more federal action by putting forward a resolution declaring uh basically an emergency to effectuate an eviction moratorum might do at least as much harm as good. And I am extremely concerned about that.

I mean, am I am I correct in in in that assessment? And do we see foresee something like that happening again if there was an eviction moratorum?

And I think something we can really do is make sure their rents get paid. so that they don't face eviction in the first place.