Not just the county but the city and the jurisdictional entities like park districts and schools and watersheds. These add up especially with inflation and added cost pressures. We are all feeling this right now. We also are operating under many unknowns in local government due to financial pressures we face giving potential cuts from the federal government. For these reasons, this is why I will consistently advocate for a fair tax levy from Henipin County. And I will also fight for maintaining full access and continuity of services that we all rely on daily. I hope our residents will join as we dive into the county budget process between now and mid December by turning into uh tuning into your local budget hearings. They're exciting, I'm telling you, they are. And engaging and we welcome public comment. I look forward to engaging with you, our neighbors, staff, and my board colleagues, as we carry out the process and ultimately adopt a budget that reflects our shared values and our needs as a county. Welcome, Miss Wetland. >> Thank you, Chair Gotautell. Commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to present the administrator's proposed 2026 operating and capital budgets. The proposed budget addresses the uncertainties we faced as an organization and reflects the careful, deliberate, and compassionate work of our staff across all lines of business. Our 2026 budget process began in earnest in January of 2025. Departments across all lines of business have collaborated. They've innovated and they have made tough choices to reduce expenses without jeopardizing our commitment to serving our residents. We are in the midst of a multi-year strategy to manage financial pressures. And while the path has not been easy, our approach has been disciplined and our commitment unwavering. At its core, this budget balances foundational missiondriven services that continue to make investments in our communities, our infrastructure, and our employees. Next slide. Today, I'm proposing a 2026 county budget of 3.09 09 billion with a net property tax levy of $1.13 billion, an increase of 7.79%. The operating portion of this budget totals $2.73 billion, an increase of 7.2% or 182.3 million from the 2025 adjusted budget. This budget invests over $1.38 billion dollar in our employees, a 3.1% increase over the 2025 adjusted budget. Throughout 2025, we have been proactively and carefully managing our vacant FTEEs and has slowed planned growth this year to enhance the sustainability of our staffing models. The proposed 2026 budget includes a total of 9,762 fulltime equivalent employees. That is a decrease of 249.7 vacant FTE positions from the 2025 adjusted budget. Therefore, since January of 2025 through attrition, we have been managing our staffing levels. The county will also need to hold open a significant number of vacant positions in order to meet our financial management targets. Open positions will continue to be reviewed to ensure we are hiring in our most critical areas. Combined, this represents more than a 3% reduction in the number of staff from the 2025 budget. As we consider the financial realities before us, there are several key budget drivers continuing to shape our work. state and federal funding reductions and cost shifts, including including changes to Medicaid and SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Starting in 2026, we are estimating an initial $8 million shift to Henipin County annually with greater impacts forecasted in the future both for SNAP and Medicaid. We know that other areas previously funded by state and federal revenues may also be at risk. Staffing costs, including health insurance expenses, are increasing. Overall, the organization is reducing, as I indicated, 249.7 vacant FTEEs within the budget and directing remaining staff resources to areas where they are most needed, including the stabilization of staffing levels within the sheriff's office. The increased debt service for our capital budget reflects substantial increases in adopted capital budgets since 2020 as well as higher construction costs. Next slide. We continue to invest in infrastructure and the proposed 2026 capital budget totals 365.9 million. This is a $22.5 million less than the 2025 board adjusted capital budget of $568.4 million. You may recall that the 2025 capital budget included the county's final contribution to the Green Line extension light rail project. The 2026 capital budget investments include 227 million invested toward our roads, bridges, trails, bus rapid transit, light rail transit, solid waste, and energy infrastructure. The vast majority of this is supported by sales tax and federal, state, and local funds. $13 million in investments in our critical 247 corrections, public safety, and courts facility. $30 million towards facilities supporting the health and human services lines of business, including the medical center campus. $47 million in our libraries, and $49 million toward our operations line of business, including information technology and our facility services. These capital investments support critical infrastructure while recognizing the increased costs of debt and construction. These projects are planned strategically within the framework of the proposed 2026 to 2030 SIP capital improvement plan which totals 3.8 billion. Next slide please. This budget also continues our commitment to eliminating disparities. The shift from disparity reduction to disparity elimination reflects both the urgency and the clarity of our mission. We are deliberately and strategically investing in upstream services to prevent the need for more complex interventions later. Because the health and success of our residents depend on our ability to intervene early and create opportunities for all. This work stretches across all seven of our disparity elimination domains as we provide a spectrum of services to address persistent racial disparities in income, housing, employment, health, education, justice, and connectivity. Our climate action plan is also fully integrated into this approach. The impacts of climate change fall heaviest on those already experiencing equities. By reducing emissions, improving community resilience, expanding green infrastructure, and lowering vulnerabilities, we strengthen both our environment and our residents ability to thrive. Next slide. Examples of this strategic work are outlined more completely in the memo you received. And you will have the opportunity to hear from our lines of business in the upcoming budget hearings this fall. Commissioners, this budget was not easy to build. It represents tough decisions, slowed growth, and careful management in the face of uncertain funding conditions, but also represents stability, sustainability, and a forward-looking strategy to keep Henipin County strong and positioned for the future. It is a budget that protects foundational public services, invests in our employees, stabilizes public safety infrastructure, and maintains our role as a safety net provider. Above all, it is a budget that reflects our values of equity, stewardship, and integrity, and our enduring commitment to the residents we serve. I want to express my gratitude to our employees who serve with compassion and professionalism and to you, the board of commissioners, for your leadership. Together, we will continue to navigate the challenges ahead while building a community where all people are healthy, all people are valued, and all people are thriving. Thank you. >> Thank you. At this time, I'd wanted to know if any of my colleagues would like to comment on on this and then we will move it. We a progress motion correct to >> No, Madam Chair, I think this is the presentation. So, we'll we can consider this at 5A, I believe. >> All right. >> Okay. I'll wait for comments then. I already gave my comments. I want to thank you, Miss Wland, for that. Um, item two is the minutes from the previous meeting of August 19th, 2025. May I have a motion? >> I'll move it. >> Second. It's been moved and second. Any corrections, changes? All those in favor signify by I. I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. Um item three is actually public comment on the Henipin County Consortium draft 2025 consolidated annual performance and evaluation port caper. Um and I'll move that uh this is a public hearing. So we'll start with a public hearing, but I'll ask the staff to give us a quick summary and then I'll start with the public hearing. Madame Chair, uh, Julie Wellie is here to present the caper. >> Welcome, Miss Wellie. >> Chair Gotautell, commissioners. Uh, Julia Wellie from Housing and Economic Development. Um, as Chair Gotautell noted, today's hearing is to gather public comment on the draft caper for the 2024 program year. The 2024 program year reports uh caper reports on the use of three federal programs, the community development block grant, the home investment partnerships program, and the emergency solutions grant. This program year was the final year of our five-year consolidated plan, and we've met or exceeded our five-year goals on many of our priority areas. This includes uh tenant-based rental assistance for human services clients, home repairs for low-income homeowners, and safety net services such as emergency assistance and tenant advocacy. We will continue to meet goals and benchmarks in the coming years as we spend out final funding for uh projects with longer timelines such as creating and preserving uh affordable housing and supporting public infrastructure. Uh we will accept written comments on the draft 2024 caper through September 25th of 2025. Um beyond today's public comment, residents can also find the draft caper on the Henipin County website at henipin. uscaper and comments will be included in the final version submitted at the end of the month. Thank you >> and thank you for that. Um, so Miss Wellier is already presented and everything like this, so we're just going to keep moving on and we're going to ask for our callers to call in. Um, if there are no callers right at the moment, then we'll move on. But the phone number that people can call in to comment on the caper report is 855348151. And I believe that's up online. Um, if you are watching at home, again, 855-340-8151. I just want to thank Miss Wier and her team for all the great work that they do on this. We get regular briefings on this and then we hear at the budget all the incredible work that you do on on this housing and the long-term and the short-term and the emergency types of programs that you work on with this. So, just want to say my appreciation. Um, and so we're waiting for callers. Is there anyone calling in at all? >> At this moment, we don't have any callers. >> We would welcome anyone who would like to call in. You have three minutes to speak. Um, is there anyone here in public who would like to speak to this? You can come up to the podium. Again, the light system is a green light. It starts your time. A yellow light illuminates at 30 seconds and a red light indicates your time. Is there anyone in the audience? I'm not seeing anyone in the audience. I'll check again with staff. Is there anyone trying to call in >> at this moment? We still don't have any callers. >> Okay, we'll wait a couple more minutes and I'll close the public hearing. And this is the final call for anyone in person or on the phone who would like to call in. Is there anyone on the line? >> No, at this moment there is no callers. >> Okay. So, a motion to close the public hearing and any other there's no discussion. All those in favor signify by I. I >> I oppose. Motion carries. And that concludes the public hearing of this. I want to thank everybody for this. Um we have several items of some new business but they are routine. The first one is routine item. Item 4A is to amend the principal agreement and contract to allow the receipt of state fiscal year 2026 2027 youth at work funds and state fiscal year 2027 Minnesota youth program funds. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Um Mr. Rogan. >> Madame chair. Uh Nola Slaughter Johnson is here from workforce development to present on this item. >> Nola, welcome. >> Good afternoon, chair, commissioners. The department of workforce development bars that are in front of you today are seeking to amend three of the principal agreements to increase the not to exceed amounts to allow for receipt of funds in order to serve youth across the county. The amendments before you are related to two programs, the youth at work and the Minnesota youth program. Both are governed by the Department of Workforce Development and deployed via our Henipin GO program. Firstly, Henipin County sought and received funding from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development for the Youth at Work program. Henipin County was awarded $300,000 in this youth at work competitive grant to provide workforce development and training opportunities to 60 economically disadvantaged or at risk youth ages 14 to 24. The department of workforce development will partner with Brooklyn Park Economic Development Authority. So Brooklink as well as Lutheran Social Services to provide careermies covering work readiness skills, career exploration and softskll development. In addition to thesemies, 10 individuals will be able to continue in their journey for internships. So we are looking at paid internships, five individuals each year for two years. These changes are reflected in the amendments to the contracts with the Brooklyn Park Economic Authority and the Lutheran Social Services. As it relates to our Minnesota youth program, Henipin County provides workforce development services to youth. This is done by ensuring opportunities for career exposure, skill development, internship, externship availability, coaching, and wraparound supports. We seek to increase the NTEEs with Brooklyn Park Economic Development Authority and Tree Trust contracts to cover the receipt of these Minnesota Youth Funds to continue providing services within suburban and Carver County. Under both programs, we anticipate serving a total of 512 individuals in 2026. Thank you commissioners for your support and I'm available if there are any questions. >> Colleagues, do you have any questions or comments? Commissioner Connley. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a comment. I'm always thankful to see these grant funds come through. Um interested in learning um uh the youth and and the the employment development readiness, etc. I mean, can you talk a little bit about that? Like uh is there job placement opportunities, what the pay might be, are there mentors, etc. Yes, Commissioner. Thank you. Um, as far as the internship and externship opportunities go, we're really leveraging Henipin Go. And so, last week, I think there was an opportunity for folks to learn a little bit more about what we're doing with our growth opportunities and the career expos that we've been hosting. And so our partnership with the Minnesota Youth Program allows us to braid funding as well as work with our career teched um schools. So our post-secary and secondary institutions to provide more exposure to careers. Um so part of what the they get is just that overall exposure, but then we also have the one-on-one individualized services that includes the coaching. It involves the career assessments, the training, the retention services as well as employment placement and retention. other comments. I just want to say that um I just think this is great that it's from ages 14 to 24. You know, we we don't realize, you know, a lot of people age out of our foster system and everything like this and struggle a lot with this. So, this is this is a group that we need to tackle more. So, just kudos to the great work that you're doing. All those in favor signify by I. >> I oppose. It that passes. Thank you. Then we have some items for discussion and action. Item 4B, schematic approval for the Pen Lake Library renovation project. Um, the contract with Roar Schmidt Architect LLC for architectural engineering services. The contract period is September 29th of 2025 through September 15th of 2028 with a not to exceed of $460,425. Um, can I get a motion on this? >> Is that moved? >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Mr. Rogan. >> Madame Chair, Liz Verdero from facility services is here to present on this matter. >> Welcome, Miss Pedero. >> Hello. Hello. Good afternoon. Chair Fernando, Vice Chair Quitell, and the rest of commissioners. It's a pleasure to be here today. My name is Elizabeth. As mentioned, I'm um library section team lead in design construction facility services. I'm here to present the U. Pen Lake refurbishment project. As we know, Penn Lake is one of our most southern libraries centered in Bloomington. It was built in 1969, just under 15,000 gross square feet, and it sits on a 2.17 acre site. The facility has classic features of this era with a full perimeter brick facade uh with some step detailing. Um some would describe this as fortress-like. While the interior um boosts a warm wood exposure to glue lamps, decking column and columns. Uh some would describe that as cozy. The site is particularly unique and lovely. uh hilly topos uh some very mature many oak trees and similar to its counterparts in the 1970s which we have a handful of uh it is showing its age and some infrastructure that is in need of replacement and repair. Thus this project consists of significant amount of asset preservation work including but not limited to roof replacement. This does require a little bit of redesign since the current uh design doesn't accommodate the correct drainage uh nor the R value that's required by code. Some other conditions that need to be addressed in the building envelope consist of uh the original steel windows and doors being replaced by modern insulated aluminum as well as minor brick and mortar repairs, replacement of building sealants and flashing. Overall, these improvements on the building shell will not only extend the longevity of this facility, but of course improve its energy efficiency. As for the building systems, the prior condition reports and continued assessments through the last phase has identified quite a bit of assemblies and components that are in good condition and will remain while also identifying mechanical assemblies, technology devices, and lighting system that will need replacement. The interior work includes a core section uh the project um team identified like a spine that's also identified in your executive summary um where the majority of the interior work will consist of this includes a reconfiguration to include larger accessible restrooms also the study rooms as well there in that same area there will be a shift in the central service center desk uh this is in tandem with another feature that's popular in this era which was that attached larger conference room and then two entry points for the the access. So overall that um reconfiguration will open open it up welcome overall continuity also has relationships to the lowering of the shelves which then also improves the sight lines but more importantly allows daylight to get further into that core that I referenced. worn finishes will be replaced and furniture will be a mix of refinishing those that are feasible but then also complemented with some new that are more ergonomic and um flexible. The site work is also planned which is a major part of the scope. Uh there's a deteriorating and steep rear parking lot that needs to be addressed as well as improvements to the main parking lot and its adjacent features including sidewalks or sidewalks, planters and that play area. Storm water management strategies are a big one here too. Currently not addressed on site. So overall redesign to capture the majority of the rainfall that's experienced along with some regrading so that we can address the current infiltrate water infiltration that the building's experiencing. And I must note care and protection will be uh done with those trees. As you know, we are currently concluding schematic design and looking to head into design development phase. Then head into our construction documents and then leading us into procurement where we'll set important targeted goals and then head into construction which is anticipated the late summer of 2026 leading to substantial completion expected fall 2027 with a 15month closure expected. In summary, this capital project addresses critical asset protection, sustainable design, a user experience improvement through components such as exterior envelope repair, storm water management strategies, co- compliant upgrades, interior improvements emphasizing sight lines, daylighting and flexibility, and preservation of an architecture character, which I stated in the beginning, while introducing modern, welcoming, and functional enhancements. Thank you. Thank you. Do my colleagues have any questions, please. Commissioner Fernando. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, two questions. This is great. Very robust um, attachment. I didn't see anything on energy in there, so I was just curious if I missed it or if there's comments on how uh, really appreciate the sustainability for trees and and water. So, curious about energy. And then I did note the 15 plus month closure. So when we can expect to learn about the kind of replacement plan or where residents would go. So those uh comments on those two topics would be great. Thanks madam chair. >> Yeah absolutely. I will take the first one. Uh so essentially the uh reports that were done in that assessment that I mentioned uh deemed some of the mechanical components as still in condition and were re recently replaced within the last 10 years. While the one unit that does require which is serves the multi-purpose room solely will be uh an air pump uh air heat pump um insulation. So that will improve than the um the original. So the is a based on what can remain versus remain. We're going to address what we can with that replacement for that. Um as far as a I'm think you're referring to maybe a temporary location or a holds pickup. I know that hasn't been identified quite yet, but I know that there is conversations on what that might look like. Thank you. >> Okay, other questions or comments? I just want to say that I really appreciate just the generalness of we're looking at buildings for that need new roofs that have water infiltration. This really impacts the how people experience a library. I mean, air quality, those kinds of things. And also, you know, just the whole thing is not waiting until the roof fails before we fix it. We we've been known to be keep keeping up on our facilities. That's what we're known good. So, we don't wait until something is in dire needs. It also costs less to do it then. And we also have time to play with to get the bids that we need and we're not um trying to look at emergency situations where we have to spend lots of dollars to do that. So, I just want to say how much I appreciate the fact that we're looking at this. We're prioritizing those types of buildings ahead of things. Other comments or questions? All those in favor signify by I. I. >> Oppos. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Um the next item is creation of Henipin County um semiquincentennial American 250 planning committee and this is offered by Commissioner Lundy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm glad you said that because I'm just going to say the 250th. Um uh I just want to bring this forward. Uh, you know, next year is a momentous occasion in American history, the 250th. Um, I was around in 17, you know, for the 1976 one, which is amazing cuz I'm only 39. Um, and so it was a time I think of people coming together and I feel like, you know, the events of the summer recently, uh, we seem to be really good at tearing ourselves apart and finding ways to not be unified or even agree to disagree with the most honorable thing I think one can do. And so, um, I think, you know, as this moves into next year, there will be federal committees, there'll be state committees, there'll be city stuff, there'll be celebrations, there'll be observances that may not be celebrations of the found in this country. And that's fine because I think that's the heart of what is America is that we allow people to observe and believe and say things that as they see them. And I think that's a wonderful part. Um, you know, the last part I just want to say is, you know, it's wearing. I think everybody feels it uh you know that the events and the the anger and the yelling back and forth and you know this country is not perfect. We are humans and by definition we are imperfect. But I think that one thing that we can do is just celebrate where we can allow people to observe however they want to. And this committee is really just to help harness that, support people, identify uh those opportunities and just identify if communities are having observances or celebrations that uh we are just here to support their work and uh because it is a big deal and not if you're a student of world history, not every country makes it this far. Um and hopefully we have many more years to go. Um and so I bring this forward for consideration. >> Would you like to move it, please? >> I will move it. I will second it. Other discussion. Mr. Rogan, did you have anything to add to the comments? >> U Madam Chair, I would only add that at this uh would establish the committee and then authorize or direct the county administrator to appoint members um to the committee and to coordinate as Commissioner Lundy said with uh other organizations. >> Well, we'll look for updates then. This sounds wonderful. All those in favor signify by I. >> I. >> Motion carries. Um, we have several items in the agenda. Item 5A is to set the maximum 2026 property level levy and proposed 2026 budget. I'll move this. >> I'll second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Is there other Okay, we're going to go down the line then, Commissioner Edlesen, and then to Commissioner Fernando and then Commissioner Lendy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, and to the county administrator. Um, thank you for prop proposing this budget. Um, with some of the projections that we had, we had a 6% projection with some of our cities. Um, I have just requested I sent an email to Mr. Rogan um, requesting that we have the updated numbers for our cities so that we can follow up with them and so I just would hopefully we can get that to them this week. Thank you. >> Okay, Commissioner Fernando. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to Administrator Wetland and to the thousands of people who contributed to the proposed 2026 budget. I extend heartfelt gratitude to all Henip and staff for your leadership and service among countless competing priorities, each of which carry great value for our residents and mission. Henipin staff continue to produce highquality work in a careful, deliberate, and compassionate manner. Today kicks off the 2026 budget season for local governments across Minnesota. By state statute, counties, cities, and school boards must set the maximum property tax levy this month. For many of you following at home, you might know that I take this annual opportunity to talk a little bit about some of the words that we use. Tax is the government word for revenue. Taxes are how we deliver services to residents, respond to crises that affect our communities, and advance Henipin's essential mission. Levy is the total amount Henipin can collect via our taxes. Governments usually speak about the levy as the percent increase from the previous levy, which is not the same as individual tax rates for homeowners. I like to acknowledge this because there is usually some constituent or resident feedback and a lot of this connects to the state and so we thank you for your patience and really appreciate your contribution. The proposed 2026 budget works to maintain our workforce, support our communities, and invest in future generations. I'm grateful that the administrator's remarks highlighted what property taxes make possible and not solely the financial impact. I am sensitive to the seemingly growing burden on residential property taxpayers and I'm eager to consider legislative platform priorities that may relieve property tax burden from residents in future years. But until new revenue tools are established, counties do rely heavily on property taxes to provide our services. I joined the county board in 2019, so this is my seventh cycle. It seems every year we find ourselves in unprecedented times. This year proves to be both unprecedented and unusual. We are in a time of immense financial uncertainty with federal and state cuts and cost shifts. Unexpected and kind of not heard of before. The most daunting challenge from my perspective relates to shifts in Medicaid and Medicare. Governments, hospitals, and communities rely on these longstanding federal programs to treat children, elderly, and people with disabilities to offer mental and behavioral health supports across a variety of settings, and to provide lifesaving treatments for victims of gun violence, such as recent mass shootings. Another example, as highlighted by administrator Wetland, is replacing SNAP funding that has been that will be cut over the next decade. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which for decades, several decades, have been bipartisan federal funds passed through states and usually administered by counties. Replacing cut SNAP funds equates to nearly an entire levy point in the proposed 2026 budget. We know how essential food programs are for student success and family health outcomes. So, I'm proud of Henipin's holistic commitment to health access as well as our datainformed approach to social determinance of health and county programming. Additionally, we are engaging even further with our own hospital because HHS is a vital service for Henipin residents and the entire health ecosystem across Minnesota. From 2024 to 2025, we increased our uncompensated care contribution from 28 million to 38 million. And the 2026 request was for an additional 7.3 million on top of that. Having served on the hospital board since 2020, I believe strongly in HHS's mission and workforce. And I believe that the county board's increased oversight during this moment will stabilize HCMC in the near term while also building the path for future investment and stronger health outcomes overall. We have the opportunity to strengthen results by tightening operations between the county and hospital as well as consider workforce efficiencies like synchronous bargaining timelines for both organizations. I believe in sharing services or consolidating functions where practical as well as considering new models to meet community needs such as expanding our FQC strategies. The other key budget driver in the 2026 proposed budget relates to law safety and justice. From the sheriff's office and pressures on the jail to the attorney's office and a commitment to justice to growing public safety requests from a variety of other jurisdictions, there is significant spend that we as a county must be prepared for. Last but not least, I'll note that the proposed 26 budget does not lay off any staff, but does manage expenses through attrition and eliminating vacant positions. While other jurisdictions have had to let people go, we are striving to maintain our workforce because Henipin staff collectively makes the county function and I believe strongly in prioritizing our workers. For these reasons, I support passing a maximum levy of 8%. Meaning 8% higher than the previous levy. I appreciate the administrator's proposal of 7.79% levy increase, but colleagues, I prefer voting for a maximum of eight to provide a bit of contingency in the event there are unforeseen circumstances throughout our budget process or perhaps unforeseen circumstances next year. But I'm very eager to learn where others are at on that. During the budget briefing last month, we were provided with estimated financial impact on households. An 8% levy increase averaged an additional $137 annually for homeowners across the county or approximately $11.50 more per month. I know money is tight, but for me, this cost is worth the community investments made possible that would be made possible with these funds. Again, we're at the beginning of a three-month process. We've received the budget presentation today. Next week, we will finalize the max levy, whether or not we vote for it today or progress it or whatever the board's will is. Then, se beginning September 29th and throughout October, the board will dive further into the budget for each line of business. There are administrator amendments and commissioner amendments that will be considered in November. And truth and taxation this year is a little bit later on December 2nd. Finally, on December 11th, the board will approve a final operating and capital budget for 2026. So, I look forward to the upcoming budget sessions to learn from staff and my colleagues. I'm eager to ensure that we are providing the services and leadership that our residents deserve. And again, thank you to staff for your incredible work and thank you, Madam Chair, for the time. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh just I'm want to acknowledge uh Chair Fernando's uh speech and it gave me time to validate something. Uh and I appreciate that. Um but I I just want to, you know, thank first of all thank staff. Our budget process started January 1 and come January 2026, it'll start again. But we knew this was going to be a difficult year. And so, you know, when it comes to I don't want to say soft freeze, hard freeze on staff, we have been building to this. And as you heard, uh, you know, I don't want to, you know, celebrate that, but we're being very aware that, uh, the effects and burdens on taxpayers. And, uh, it's not just as we all feel it. Um, insurance costs are going up. No one can cover those. You what? You have to insure your house. Those costs are are hitting everybody. um myself, tuition increases. There's just everyone feels it. We see um things that are happening and so we're not unaware that every bit matters. And so I think this process allows us to set the mark. And what I was checking on was the fact that you can go to the Henry Countyy's website, look up property taxes, you can look up your property, you can see history. I think sometimes history is important because property taxes are your slice of the pie. And so depending on how much I always say a good rule of thumb is if your house uh value increased higher than the median value, even if you had 0% tax levy increase, you'd probably pay more in taxes. And if it's less, you'll pay less. And so that's just a good rule of thumb that I've always used um and encourage that whether it's county, school district, or that. What you can find on the Henipin website is you can actually see break down the taxes and see school district levies, voter approved levies, special taxing districts. And I think all that is good information for people to look at. That doesn't excuse the total impact, but I think it's knowing is better than not. And I just wanted to highlight that information is there. And I want to thank staff for kind of putting back back years. So you can go back four years and see your burdens uh on that regards. Um, as you know, Chair Fernando and Chair uh, Gotell mentioned, we take very seriously the money that we are taking from people and we want to make sure that you feel there is value and that you are seeing what you we can do to make sure that uh, money you provide to us are being used in the way that we say it is that it's being used efficiently and effectively. Um we are going we've been working with and I want to give credit to the sheriff's department with them as they overcome some challenges on staffing that it's in everybody's best interest. Um and we are making good progress and I want to just thank the sheriff's office uh for the work that they've done. Um we are continuing to do that work and as uh chair Fernando said we are continuing to dive into the hospital. Um and I just want to end with so many you read about in the paper every week about clinics closing. You read about this all over the state. Uh I would actually say that here in Henipin we have the opportunity to stand up for our health care system. So many places around the state don't have that opportunity and they don't have the ability. So we are diving into that. uh we know the impacts but we also know the impact if you don't have a hospital to go to or if they're not available and not open to take you when you need it and they have to be there to care for you. So uh with that I'll just say I want to thank staff. I know there's more work to be done. There's lots of hearings. I would invite that u all the people who are uh want to know more that you will see briefings. You will see information posted. uh you will see any of us up here that will have staff available if you want requests and certainly welcome input on what you think is important for us. Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner Anderson. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, you know, I think the I want to start by saying thank you to staff uh and everybody in the organization who has worked over this last year to get us to this this point. Um, Henipin has been a leader in so many different ways. uh whether it is uh through our preventative uh work to try to make sure that we are working upstream to prevent our the worst outcomes. Uh our disparity elimination um which saves money on the back end, our adult representation services. There are so many different pieces that we are investing in that save money on needed and vital services that our residents rely on. I know that this is an incredibly challenging budget to um to look at, to process, made harder by actions at different levels of government at our state and federal level that we didn't see the level of investment in our communities that we uh know is needed in order to maintain the level of service that our residents expect. Um, I have been having meetings with my city leaders over this entire year letting them know about the challenges that we are seeing being passed down onto local government. And we know that it is going to uh that all of the services that our residents expect from either the county or our city partners uh are going to be made more challenging by the changes that have been made particularly at the federal level. Um, and I really appreciate the fact that we are doing everything we can to maintain our level of service. And yet I also know that there is likely to be hardship as a result of staffing freezes and looking at uh managing our budget through attrition. Um I I think we all know that we're at a place where uh these decisions are going to be difficult and I think throughout the next few months we are going to be asked to find ways of trimming back even further uh while investing even more in other areas whether it is in our sheriff's department budget or through uh some other um components of our human services or transportation. I think we've done an incredible amount of work to get us to the point where we are right now. And I think our job over the next few months is to uh fine-tune that as as best we can and find if there's any opportunities. But until then, I think we have an obligation to try to make sure that we are uh preparing ourselves for success um for next year and into the future while advocating for uh return of investment uh that we haven't seen at the state and federal government. Um, so with that, I'll give other people a chance to to say something, but um, I know that this is going to be incredibly difficult and I appreciate the work that's gone into it. Um, and we also know that uh, we are facing just incredible challenges made harder by uh, other people that we have no control over. So, thank you, >> Commissioner Connley. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just going to share my thanks. I know that budget season begins for our departments in January. It comes to us uh in September today. Um and you know, one thing that Henipin is going to do is we are going to feed our people. We are going to keep our people housed and we are going to keep our people healthy, all of the residents who live in this county. And we are going to do whatever necessary to make sure that those things stay true. When we first learned of changes to SNAP and Medicaid from our federal government, we were at DC. We were at the capital. We were talking to our feda federal delegation about this is a property tax conversation and you need to shift it because what these changes do is it puts the burdens on the residents of our county. So, you leave us no other choice when we have three funding streams. And those are property taxes, federal grants, and state grants with a little chump change sprinkled in the mix somewhere. But the majority of this $3.1 billion budget, and I'm rounding up, it's 3.09, right? Is property tax, federal funds, and state funds, right? And when two of those pieces of that pie become unreliable or shaky or unprecedented part of these unprecedented times that were mentioned, then what are we left with? Property taxes, right? I am extremely supportive of looking at new revenue streams. As as uh Chair Fernando mentioned, I am extremely supportive of looking at new ways to bring in revenue. But I also know that the numbers here represent our department's values of keeping people healthy, housed, and fed. And that we won't give up those values regardless of what the federal government hands down to us. Like that's something that I have always appreciated about being in this seat is that Henipin doesn't stray from our values. We support our employees. We don't lay them off. We know that we have to hold tight on positions. We hold tight on positions. We support the residents of this county. We support the employees who support the residents of this county. And I'm proud of that. Now, this is a levy percentage that is high. And I expected it to be high because I expected us to stick to our values, right? I expected us to stick to what it is that we do best. We are innovative. We are um we are incredible. I'm not saying these things because I'm biased. I'm saying these things because our budgets prove it year after year after year. Right? So yes, this is a tough levy. Yes, this is a tough budget. It's a very tough budget year, but it's because that those conversations at the federal level refuse to turn in to property tax conversations when they needed to because the Henipin County is a one of a handful of states, right, that we are we are the administrator of SNAP. We do it all when it comes to SNAP benefits to keep our people fed, but we do it through property tax, right? And so when that conversation wasn't happening and we made it happen, now we're seeing the results of that. I hope that our our and our delegation understood, right? Um they were shifting that narrative to what is this doing to the residents that we serve, right? What is it doing to their property tax bill? Especially like people on fixed incomes where all they pay is property taxes. And as those continue to go up, what does that look like? Right? I'm open to what it might look like to round up. I just rounded up from 3.09 to 3.1. I'm interested in looking at what it rounds up from 7.8628. What does that look like for us? Because we still don't know what the federal government might hand down to us, right? So, no, we haven't gotten out of these unprecedented times. And unfortunately, the unprecedented moves to Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP, right? Unfortunately, what has been done to those programs hit not only the counties hard, but had it been especially hard because of we're one of the handful of states that do the administration of food. And it hits our residents even harder, right? and our residents should not be an afterthought to any elected official, right? Especially not us. And so this is a budget I can live with. This is a levy I can deal with and live with. I know where it's coming from. I know what it represents. And again, it's our values and I will do I know our that you will do, our staff will do, this county will do whatever it takes to stick to our values. And I really really want us to get out of um just that property tax bucket. I can think of a number of ways that we can seek out new revenue. And I know that our staff is thinking about it. I know that our leadership is thinking about it because what does that mean for us as a county if we can bring in new revenue? Uh it means that the burden on our residents isn't so great uh of a burden to bear. So thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner Green. >> Um, thank you, Madam Chair. Um, and thank you to our county administrator and to your leadership team and to everybody uh who's part of this organization for your contributions to this proposed budget. Um, some words that I captured um, Administrator Wentland from your presentation were tough decisions, discipline, slowed growth, protects equity, stewardship, and integrity. Uh, and I really appreciated that that combination. Um, I think that the administration has done an amazing job um, absorbing SNAP costs, holding departments to difficult targets, um, pushing in areas where spending was high in 2025 and where we think there's um, things we can sort of bring in and do better at. um really diving in on HHS and um what what's going on there and and how we can of course guarantee its future um and managing costs these last couple years sort of leading into this particular moment. Um so thank you for all of that. Uh those are that's sort of the sum of my remarks. Um and I just want to say thank you. I'm looking forward to this season of work with you and uh with colleagues up here as well and of course residents look forward to engaging with residents on all this. >> Commissioner Eden, you wanted to add to the conversation again. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to follow up um to Commissioner Fernando. You had it set at an 8%. Um are you proposing that or is that going to be coming? I just want to know what to expect because I believe that we should as much as we can go as low as we can to get all of the needs met. I think with all of the other costs that that residents are facing right now, that's what we should go for. And I just want to make sure that I'm clear. >> Yeah, Madam Chair, Commissioner, I wanted to see if there was any feedback to that. It sounds like what is proposed here by administration is what's before us and what I'll be supporting today. So, I'm not proposing anything um distinct from this. Thanks, Madam Chair. >> Thanks, Madam Chair, that I'm set. >> And and I just want to say I haven't had a chance to comment yet on this. I want to say how much I appreciate your thoughts um into this. Commissioner Fernando, I I too am really concerned about what kind of challenges may face us. You know, Commissioner Lundy already talked about the increase in health insurance, the the public safety needs that we face and the sa and the safety net hospital which we all know and and the challenges are not going to go away for some of those. Although I would say that the public safety is making huge strides. very positive kudos to the sheriff and her team for all the hard work that she's doing on that. And I know we really work with our our budget people and the fact that we are so large that we can really set some of these health care costs down because we're such a large entity. So, thank you to the staff who are working on that. Um, I know that we have contingency and and since I follow this and we've had these conversations behind closed doors because of running the budget, I know we have a large contingency uh there to absorb some of the challenges, but there are other leveries that we um pull also to cover some of this some other dollar resources that we can do. We we do have other buffers and I'd like to ask um Administrator Wetland if she would just talk about because we've had to use these before. What are they? Where are they? And and how much can we garner from them? What kind of what does our buffer really look like? >> Chair cotell commissioners in regards to as we look at our budget and this budget presented to you first um in building as you referenced contingency. This budget does include a contingency budget. The contingency is approximately 10 $10 million that helps to account for um variables that occur as you're well aware um throughout the year as changes happen. In addition to that there are other budget strategies. um our our OBF team, our finance teams, our finance teams in all of our lines of business work very closely with leadership to assess what their budget needs are and what are the variable expenses um that occur. So, as I indicated, this work will continue um throughout um the budget. And so, whatever that budget, our areas will be working to manage those expenses and costs. As you're familiar with, for an example, the human services fund 20. There's a lot of work occurring in that area as they look at the the expenses and revenue strategies. There are extensive revenue strategies, commissioner, that is occurring and will continue occur to help offset what we see are the upcoming fiscal shifts and cost shifts that are occurring. So, there are multiple strategies that are occurring and it varies based upon the line of business and the department, their capacity. But in all of that, we are thinking through not only the broad contingency fund, but the contingency capacity within our different departments and lines of business. >> Okay. I want to thank you for that conversation. Um, with that, we have before us um a motion to set the 2026 property tax levy and proposed 2026 budget. I'm moving that. And excuse me, Commissioner Connley. >> I'll second with a with a comment. >> Okay. Please. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I was just going to add on um Commissioner Eden, we can set the max levy today and we h we can bring it down by December. Um so whatever is set today can come back down depending upon the work that we all um embark upon over the next three months maybe. Is there any further conversation? >> All those in favor signify by I. >> I. >> We will see this next at the board meeting. Um, addendum 3B is to establish a fee schedule for the 2026 and establish date and time for required public hearings and meetings for the adoption of the final 2026 budget and levy. And I believe this is Miss Wetland. Chair Gotel commissioners, this resolution in front of you is um requests the establishes of required public hearings for the adoption of the final 2026 budget and levy. Um it establishes dates for these hearings. That includes our Tuesday, December 2nd um hearing for public input on the 2026 budget property tax and levy, a December 11th hearing at 1:30 p.m. Um as well as um legally publishing the required notices for these established hearing for the budget. Um it also includes I apologize the October 20th noon meeting for our capital improvements program. Just a note that in resol in December of 12th of 2024, the county board did establish the 2026 budget hearing schedules that will begin starting next week. >> Do I have a motion? >> Second. >> Is there comments, questions? Commissioner Green, >> um missed what you said you apologized for. What was what was unexpected there? >> I missed the first date, the October 20th. Okay, thanks. >> Okay, any other comments? All those in favor signify by I. >> I. Motion carries. >> Item 5C is the 2026 proposed operating and capital budgets. I'll move this. Do I have a second? >> Miss Wetland. Chair Gotel. I believe this item needs to be progressed. >> Okay. Well, okay. We won't have any discussion at all yet today. I' I know I've reviewed some of this and and I I support the work that's already been done on this. I'll do a progress motion. >> Madam Chair, I think it'll be a layover actually to our ARC to the AOB committee on the >> 29th, right? >> So a layover or progress? >> I think it's a layover because we meet as committee for the budget hearings. No, >> should I go tell I asked council to provide guidance? >> Council's discussing. I always get these complex ones. What is with it? Yeah, >> it usually is because we lay over from from from capital budget hearing to the c next budget hearing. >> Council, >> madam chair, uh commissioners, uh in general, this would be an item that we would progress and so we might suggest you do that again. >> Okay. >> Okay. Okay, we'll progress this motion. All those is it's progress motion. I had a second. >> Second. >> Second. But when are we progressing it to madam chair? >> Well, usually it's down to the end when we get the capital budget and then we pass the whole thing. Correct. >> Madam chair, commissioners, uh to September 29th. >> To September 29th. Okay. So, it's progress till September 29th. >> And and then do we do the layover motion at that time or Oh, there's some more discussion going on. >> Okay. It's all this Robert's rules >> council. >> Madam chair, commissioners, uh, so the meeting on the 29th is a meeting of this committee. So it should be laid over to that meeting. >> Okay. Should be laid over. Okay. My apologies. >> Okay. So I'll change it to a layover. Do I have a second for the layover? >> I will second that. Madam, >> you were right, Commissioner Fernando. Any further discussion? Do we need a new we need to get a premer on Robert's rules? Um, all those in favor signify by I. I. >> Thank you. Um, that concludes our agenda. Believe it or not, I don't have any other craziness going on, so I will >> pass it on. I'll call to order the Human Services Committee. It's Tuesday, September 16th. It's 2:42. I'm Chair Heather Eden. Our first order of business is to approve the minutes from August 19th. If I could have a motion. >> Move approval. >> And second. Thank you. Um and all those in favor, please say I. >> I. I. The motion carries. We have one routine item before us today. Um, I'll move to a before us. If I could have a second. >> Second. >> Great. It's been moved and seconded. I will now read uh this into the record. Item 2A is a human service and public health resolution including contracts and amendments to contracts with providers. More information is outlined in the human service and public health contract report attached at 2513. Um, committee members, do you have any questions? >> All right. This is all routine, so that makes sense. Um, with there being no further questions or comments, uh, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> All opposed. The motion carries. That concludes the human services committee. We are adjourned. [Laughter] >> You need a shorter agenda. >> You put the time in there. like to call to order the law, safety, and justice committee meeting for today, September 16th. We have a few items uh on the agenda. First up is the approval of the minutes from August 5th. If I get a motion, a second. >> Moved. >> Second. >> We have a motion, a second. Any changes, additions, corrections? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. We have three routine items. If I could get a motion, move all three. I'll move the block. >> Second. >> We have a motion to uh move 2 A, 2 B, and 2 C. 2A is an agreement with BI incorporated to provide electric home monitoring services for community corrections 10125 to 93030 not to exceed amount of 9,200,000. 2B is an agreement with the state of Minnesota forth judicial for DW court program probation services 10125 to 93026 2003 uh receivable and 2C is an agreement with the state of Minnesota fourth judicial district for treatment court testing and monitoring services 10125 to 93026 $28,000 receivable. Does anybody wish any background? >> Yes. >> Uh Commissioner Connley >> thank you Mr. Chair. I'm particularly interested in item 2A, which is the 9.2 million to BI incorporated. >> Good afternoon, chair, commissioners. I'd like to invite Marielleen Hang, director of community corrections and rehabilitation to provide background on this agreement and to answer any questions. >> I thank you, chair, commissioners. I'm Mary Ellen Hang, director of uh Department of Community Corrections. Um this is an agreement uh with BI Incorporated. They've been our vendor for a while to provide the electronic home monitoring equipment um that we use uh on the clients that are ordered to home monitoring. Uh electronic home monitoring is used as a community-based alternative. It's ordered by the courts and it's a way for individuals involved in the justice system to be able to be at home ra and rather than be held in uh our adult corrections facility. Um, this also allows them to uh work while they're out. Um, on average we uh supervise approximately 750 adults and juveniles on electronic home monitoring. Um, many are um predisposition on home monitoring as well. So it's it is used both pre and post disposition. Um, and it is used for both adults and juveniles. though juveniles we need a um but majority of our clients are predisposition on electronic home monitoring um um I don't know if there's any specific questions you had commissioner sorry it's been a it's been quite the day so I'm a little I'm a little discombobulated I'll just be honest >> Mr. share. >> Um, thank you. Thank you. It's It's fine. I I was getting to a specific question. Yes. And that was So, this is a 5-year contract at 9.2, which is high, but I'd be interested in like a while. You said we've we've used them for a while. Um, but that there was a request for proposals that went out. So, how long have we had them? Were there um other proposals that might have been less expensive for the five-year period or um did we get the best value on this one? Just more details around the dollar amount, I think, is where I'm going. Thank you. >> Yes. Uh thank you, Chair Fernando, Commissioner Connley. Um I may need to get back to you with many of the details, but what I can tell you is yes, we put out an RFP back in January and we had four uh responses to that request for proposal. Um and ultimately we did go back go back and choose BI incorporated over the other uh vendors that proposed. The decision was basically made based on the the quality uh that they provide their experience um meeting all the requirements that we had and they were um by the team that that was participated in this decision. They were the most costeffective uh proposals. my understanding um they were able to really give us a fairly good deal. Seeing as how electronic home monitoring is something that is increasing and we are finding more and more clients being placed on it. We were looking both for um quality of the equipment, the reliability of the equipment and cost effectiveness. But um we are seeing an uptick and we we imagine that's going to continue into 206 and beyond. Any other questions or comments? I just had uh one question I I think it's something um a homework question. I'll put it that way. Um I I'm interested, you know, I hear public will ask about electrical monitoring is not being safe. Is there like could we get uh follow memos is what I'm aiming for. Uh about people who violate electrical monitoring or they cut them off because I hear that oh they're just cutting them off. They're just they're not paying attention. And so data is more important than hearsay. And so I'm just curious how often that happens and is that something that we can just get provided to us later. >> Chair commissioners, that's something we can follow up with the board and provide the follow-up information as it relates to EHM both pre and post adjudication. >> I appreciate it. Thank you. Seeing no further requests for back uh ground information, we do have a this motion is for 2 A, 2 B, and 2 C. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. And with that, the agenda of the law, safety, and justice committee is complete. And I'll declare the meeting Um, good afternoon everybody. Uh, I'm going to be chairing public works this afternoon. The first item on our agenda is to approve the minutes from our previous meeting. And I'm sorry, I do like to say the date. Today's September 16th, 2025. And our previous meeting and the minutes are from August 19th, 2025. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. Second. >> We have a motion from Commissioner Fernando and a second from Commissioner Eden. Any notes corrections? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. The minutes are approved. Um under uh new business, we've got a handful of items here. Item 2A is to negotiate an agreement with Ramsey County for maintenance on specified roads and traffic signal systems. The period is January 1st, 2026 to December 31st, 2030. Um, the estimated county cost is $400,000 coming from the operating budget. Um, we've got some attachments to back this up. Uh, I'll move approval to bring it forward. Is there a second? >> Second. >> We have a second. Um, Miss Cernney. >> Chair Green, uh, you are correct in this is a long-standing agreement. It's a collaboration with the with Ramsey County. Um, this provides us the opportunity to ensure that timely and effective services are in place for these locations. Great. Any questions? I'm hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> All those opposed. That item passes. Item 2B is to negotiate an agreement with the state of Minnesota to make upgrades to Coffee Cove Shore Fishing Area on Lake Minnetonka in Spring Park. The date of execution is December 31st, 2026. Um, oh no, the period is the date of execution through December 31st, 2026 with $190,000 receivable. Um, and then a different agreement with the state of Minnesota for long-term maintenance of the same area and the date of exe the the period for that is the date of execution through December 31st, 2045 with no county cost. Um, is there a motion to bring this forward? >> I'll move it. Second. >> Motion from Commissioner Catel and a second from Commissioner Fernando. Uh, Miss Ernie, >> Chair Green, Karen Gallas is with us today and she can provide some additional background on both the work as well as the agreement. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Chair Green and Commissioners. Karen Gallas, Department of Environment and Energy. Uh, this action seeks approval to accept up to $190,000 from the Department of Natural Resources to make site improvements at the Coffee Cove shore fishing area in the city of Spring Park. Improvements will include a shoreline shoreline boulder repair, concrete replacement of the fishing platform and sidewalk, and a complete mill and overlay of the parking lot. The DNR is providing these funds through a program that they operate called Get Out More Minnesota, which seeks to ensure motans of all ability abilities and interests can enjoy the outdoors. The updated long-term maintenance agreement, that's that second m agreement that you mentioned, um is between the county and the DNR. And under this agreement, minor routine maintenance for the cost of coffee cove after this u major investment will uh continue to be funded from the solid waste enterprise fund through the department of environment and energy's annual operating budget which is um how that has been happening for the past many years. I'd be happy to ask answer any additional questions that you have. >> Um thank you. Any questions? Uh hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. >> I. All those opposed. Those agreements are approved. Item 2 C on our agenda is an amendment to an agreement with the Minnesota Land Trust to cohold conservation easements in the cities of Independence and Madina um increasing the not to exceed by $48,000 for a new total not to exceed of $546.5,000. Um is there a motion? >> I'll move it. >> A motion from Commissioner Fernando. Uh second from Commissioner Eden. Miss Cerny, >> Chair Green, Karen Gallas can provide some additional background on these conservation easements. >> Miss Gallas, thank you. >> Thank you, Chair Green and commissioners. Uh this action seeks approval for Henipin County to co-hold two additional conservation easements with the Minnesota Land Trust. These are in the cities of Independence and Madina. We also seek approval to pay the $24,000 stewardship fee to the Minnesota Land Trust for each of these two easements. This work is supported by grants from the Outdoor Heritage Fund, which is part of the Clean Water Legacy and land land and legacy sales tax amendment. Uh the climate action plan made habitat conservation programming a cornerstone of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies and a foundational component of achieving the goal of having net zero carbon emissions by 2050. That plan also directed us to acquire 6,000 acres of conservation easements by 2040. So, we've been working very hard at that and the two projects being recommended today totaling 76 acres represent a very important step towards this goal. I'd be happy to answer any additional question the commissioners have. >> Um, thank you, Miss Gallas. I'll just share it's really exciting to hear you sort of play back what we've asked for and then dimensionalize for us how it's happening. Really exciting. Um, Miss Fernand, I'm sorry, Commissioner Fernandez. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm also um interested in this and I'm glad that we had asked for it. When was the last time we had conservation easements? I'm just curious. I know I've I've read about it in um in our plans, but I'm actually not recalling a board action. So, I'm Yeah, I'm just curious for some context. >> Chair Anderson, Commissioner Fernando, or Chair Green, I apologize. Commissioner Fernando. Um the the reference that Karen uh shared was in our within our climate action plan, the 6,000 acres and then we have brought forward individual conservation easements as this the staff team have negotiated and identified those opportunities. >> Got it. Thank you. So there was the there wasn't an action on the that's what I was trying to recall. Thank you, Madam Chair. Very exciting. >> Any questions or comments hearing? None. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. That item passes. Uh item 2D on our agenda is an is an amend is amendment number two uh to an agreement with Kimley Horn and Associates Incorporated for final design services for Lindel Avenue South reconstruction. uh extending to December 31st, 2028 and increasing the not to exceed by $1.7 million for a new total not to exceed of $3.79 million. And a parenthetical note that I want to add is that $3.032 million is in state aid and $758,000 is from Minneapolis. I will move this item. Is there a second? >> Okay, second from Commissioner Connley. Mr. Chair Green Jessoich is with us today and can provide some additional background on this agreement. >> Welcome, Miss Traboich. >> Thank you, Madam Chair and commissioners. I'm Jessa Tboich with Transportation Project Delivery. This request is to amend a contract with Kimley Horn for the final design of Lindell Avenue between 31st Street and Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis at an additional cost of $1.7 million. funding is available within the project budget. Thank you. I'm happy to answer any questions you have. >> Um, thank you. Any questions? >> I will just um say that this is an exciting time for this project. Very excited to see it take shape. Lots of people interested in it and uh just want to thank the team again for doing a magnificent job. I know there was a big meeting this morning with community members. So things are, you know, green light means go on this project. Um, hearing no other comments or questions. Uh, all those in favor say I. I. >> I. All those opposed. That item passes. Item 2E on our agenda is an agreement with Samitech LLC for construction administration inspection and I've made those sound separate. Construction administration, inspection, and surveying services for reconstruction of Sunset Drive. uh period for of November 3rd, 2025 to June 30th, 2028. A county cost not to exceed $1.84 million, increasing the budget by 1.4 1.84 million. Um and the parenthetical is that $1.415 million is state aid municipal and 425 million is coming from Spring Park. Um I will move approval. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Um second from Commissioner Gatell. Um, Miss Cernney >> Chair Green, Narman Vaki is with us this afternoon to provide an update. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioners, uh, Narman Vanaki with transportation project delivery. Henipin County is working with the city of Spring Park to reconstruct Sunset Drive between Shoreline Drive and Shadywood Road. Uh, construction of the project scheduled to begin next year. This requests for an agreement with Samitech for construction, administration, inspection services of the project. The action also increases the project project budget for these services. Thank you and happy to answer any questions. >> Um thank you so much. Any questions or comments? Um hearing none, all those in favor say I. I. >> All those opposed. That item passes. Um, item 2F on our agenda is an agreement with Alliant Engineering Incorporated for preliminary design and professional services for CASA 152, also known as Washington Avenue. Um, for a period December, I'm sorry, October 25th, 2025 to February 26, 2027, uh, not to exceed of $1.26 million. Uh n.91 million is active transportation funding.238 million is from Minneapolis and $112,000 is from the Met Council. Uh is there a motion? I'll I'll move this item. Is there a second? >> Second. >> A second from Commissioner Connley. Miss Ernie >> Chair Gessa Trabo is with us to provide a little bit more background on the scope of this work. >> Welcome back. Thank you, Madam Chair and commissioners. I'm Jessoich with Transportation Project Delivery. I'm requesting approval of a consultant contract for the multimodal safety improvements along Washington Avenue between 5th and 11th Avenues in downtown Minneapolis. The project will create safe and accessible connections to the planned Hline arterial bus rapid transit service. Alliance Engineering was chosen through a competitive selection process and will provide preliminary design and community engagement at an amount not to exceed 1.26 million. Throughout the project, the team will engage with people in a variety of ways to develop a design that best meets project goals and serves the needs of the community. Thank you. I'm happy to answer any questions you have. >> Um, thanks so much. Any questions? Um, Commissioner Connley. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. No questions. But we're always excited to see new bus rapid transit lines come in. Um because I know this also brings things like bus only lanes and protected bikeways and all of the things that are described in the background. So I'm excited to see that this uh is we're getting ready for this. We're going to start digging in the ground for this soon. And I know that this connection to the fine right there uh is going to be um pretty pretty crucial in getting folks uh to campus and back. So, thank you. >> Um, thank you, Commissioner Fernando. >> Yes, I'm also eager for this project and for all new BRTS. Um, I'm just want to thank staff especially for looking at the behavior of this area. There's significant kind of pedestrian behavior that might not be as intuitive and I appreciate staff's attentiveness to that. Um, and this is also near where um, yeah, multimodal, right? This is also where the proposed uh kind of light rail is uh nearby. So this will be a very very exciting set of projects in partnership with the city. Um so it's been very multi-jurisdictional on this one and want to emphasize that. Thank you. >> Any other comments? I share in the excitement. Uh hearing no further comments. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. That item passes. We've got two items for discussion and action. Item 2G is to adopt the Henipin County Toward Zero Deaths action plan for county roadways. I will move approval. Is there second from Commissioner Gatell? >> Um, Chair Green, Tom Musk is with us today to provide an update on our toward zero deaths action plan. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Welcome. >> Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair and commissioners. I'm Tom Musk. I'm Henipin County's Toward Zero Deaths Coordinator. Um, next slide, please. Um, the the request before you today is for approval of the county's toward zero death action plan. This presentation will share our efforts over the past couple of years to develop this plan, which demonstrates the county's commitment to safety along our transportation system. Shown here are the plan elements which include the county's commitment to a long-term goal of zero deaths along our our roads, the safety analysis that was used to create a high injury network across the county system, datadriven strategies to reduce crash frequency and severity, ongoing engagement with the community and our partners, and a roadmap for implementing the plan. Here you can see that fatal and serious injury crashes, which are the primary focus of this plan, have been increasing across the county in the last 10 years. Based on the data, these crashes occur countywide with 69% in urban context, 24% in suburban context, and 7% in rural contexts. A key element of the plan was to develop our high injury network. The network identifies county roads with the highest number of fatal and serious injury crashes. This was developed countywide in urban, suburban, and rural contexts. The HIN is most concentrated on county roads in urban and first ring suburban communities with 65% in urban, 25% in suburban, and 10% in rural areas. Similar to the crash trends shown previously, the TZD plan includes robust engagement with the community and stakeholders. One way we are engaging is through in-person connections, attending community events, conferences, schools, fairs, neighborhood gatherings, and project meetings. We also are using social media and online tools to reach a wider and more diverse audience. We use the county's Be Herd Henipin website to host a multilingual online survey and interactive map and we've received more than 1,400 responses to date. We also are leveraging existing communications channels to promote TZD including newsletters, service centers, libraries, gov delivery emails, and working with outreach and community supports and the trusted messengers program to reach as many people as possible. To achieve our ambitious zero goal, it will require partnerships and collaboration with the five E of traffic safety. This is much more than just an engineering response. And no one of these can do it on their own. Many of the strategies identified in the plan focus on engineering, designing roads to prevent crashes and reduce harm when they do occur. We also include strategies focusing on the other E education, enforcement, emergency response and engagement for a comprehensive safety approach. We appreciate your support and collaboration on the development and implementation of this plan. And as we begin implementing this plan, we will continue to pursue safety funding to make improvements along the high injury network and throughout the county transportation system. We will continue community engagement and collaboration with our partners from the five E to promote and enhance safety. And we will create a county TZD website with fatal and severe crash data to monitor and demonstrate progress. Thank you very much for your time and I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. >> Um, thanks so much. Um, Commissioner Gel, >> I just want to make a comment. And I'm really excited to see that we're going to have a dashboard and that we're actually going to track this and we're going to be able to see this and I'm sure there'll be a level of detail which I'm really looking forward to because sometimes I hear about this I sit on the tab and we talk about safety all the time and we always get a report every month about the crash and um injuries. We it goes down to what motorcycles are in um is it a pedestrian in a vehicle u those kinds of things. how that happens, what that is, where they're at, and where we're seeing the trend go. So, I'm really excited to see because as we start tracking where things go down, which is really great, we can start looking at other places where we could maybe get ahead of the curve. I hate to think that, you know, we wouldn't be up above this. And so we may know where a specific intersection is really dangerous, but as we look to the future or when we look and we can't necessarily upgrade something, what could we do differently before a tragedy happens? So the idea is always to be up curve and I I know I've already talked to public works about this. This is near and dear to my heart. How do we get upstream? I've already talked about it in my own communities and issues that people are bringing to us and you know this is where we start with this. So, we'll be moving through some of those things and I want to tell people that you should comment. You should talk about the intersections that are near messes for you. We should be monitoring those. You should so your public safety know about it too. There are some places we know specifically and we are and trying to address them. There's this one in old Jakapi um on that road and there's lots of them there and I want to thank the staff for for um taking note of those and saying how we're going to be taking these. This is a real engineering feat that needs to be done to make that safe safer. So, I just want to thank the efforts. I think this is a real good place to to begin some of our great work on this. >> Um, thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Gel. Uh, Commissioner Fernando. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. So, I have three comments. Really, really appreciate the work. Um, so two of them are on page nine. So, I know you verbally stated 69% of crashes in urban areas, 24% in suburban, and seven in rural. uh as the dashboard gets kind of stood up, I would appreciate kind of the proportionality relative to number of trips. Uh we would expect some amount of um I I'm interested if there's a disproportionality. So that's comment one. Um comment two is still on page nine. I mean, it's have 88 as the lowest year on the graph that you showed in 2014 and 117 crashes in 2022ish. I didn't see kind of I know this is more about the data versus kind of the analysis. Um, I would be interested in knowing what was happening around 2024 that helped to lead to fewer uh fatal and serious injuries, whether that's here or Minneapolis or, you know, where were these crashes occurring. Um, but what was taking place at the time? Maybe there's an effort that we're aware of. Maybe there was greater speed enforcement. I mean, I'm not sure, but I'm interested in that. And then the last comment I have relates to page seven. Is it page seven? Excuse me. Page eight. top of page eight. This is under the safety analysis. Statistically, reported walking or biking crashes pose about an 1 in seven chance of experiencing a fatal or serious injury, whereas all other reported crashes pose about a 1 in 50 chance. I mean, that makes sense. One in seven if you are exposed. Um, and we are seeking to increase the walkability of our region. we are increasing the multimodal use. And so maybe you know I I'm a little bit biased. I would kind of begin where we have um where we are also an employer such as the intersection of Penn and Plymouth where we have North Point. I'm wondering if staff thinks it makes sense to pilot some different kind of crosswalk methods. I don't know how many of these fatalities or serious injuries are in the crosswalk, but if there is a high injury network and there's a way for us to understand if folks are in the crosswalk, not that anybody should ever get hit, just to be very very clear. Still, I'm I'm eager to understand if there are ways in which we can pilot um increase pedestrian safety when crossing a road or crossing tracks or something to that effect. So, I don't necessarily expect expect a response now, but this is a very robust um engagement and wanted to highlight a few things that I'm looking forward to in the future. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Um, thank you, Commissioner Fernando, Commissioner Connley. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Speaking of crosswalk pilots, I am such a fan of what our colleagues are doing in Orange County where when there's a county road where the crosswalk leads to a school or a park, it's like rainbow colored. They just paint them multiple different colors. There's other examples where the crosswalk is painted in a way to look 3D to the driver. It's really not 3D. It's just two different colors of paint to give the illusion. The driver slows down automatically on approach because it looks like they're going to hit something and you get close and then you're not, but you're already slowed down. There are so many innovative ways that we can increase uh safety along our crosswalks. And so uh so I just want to say I'm a big fan of crosswalk pilots. Let's do them. Uh, and this is a great plan and I appreciate the way that you have engaged, Mr. Music. I I appreciate seeing you at the Park in Portland community meetings to talk about what safety looks like along two very wide, long, dangerous county roads. Uh, and I'm just peeking at some of the the background in here about how 50% of fatal and serious injury crashes that occur in our county are occurring on county roads. and as we again move towards a more walkable, bikable, um multimodal county that we are eliminating the risk for those of us who aren't surrounded by metal when we're doing so. So, um I'm uh thrilled to see this. One of the ease that stood out to me was the engineering and that is what can we do differently on the roadway um that will result in um zero deaths. And to me that is be that is that innovative approach. How do we do crosswalks differently? How do we do centrome medians differently? And um living between two of those uh dangerous county roads and that urban section of the ch of the map that we saw um there are a lot of neighbors who talk about these ease right who talk about enforcement even. Um, you go down. I'm going 30 miles per hour on Park Avenue to get to the government center and people are flying past me, right? We're we're gonna get to park in Portland in 2027. We're going to get some major I'm like every time I come come in I'm like I can't wait to till they get to slow down or have to. Um, but I'm I'm always asked about whether or not we enforce speeding on county roads and I think my response has been that's MPD or something like that. But can you speak a little bit to enforcement? Because when you're going 50, 45 in a 30, come on. Uh I know that I I've seen like there's like the flashing you're going too fast, but like what does enforcement look like in a toward zero deaths plan? Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Yeah, I appreciate that. Um and you're right, it's it's an important component to this. You know, engineering can take us a long way toward improving safety. it doesn't take us the entire way. So, so one of the other major pieces of that is enforcement. Um, especially when it comes to excessive speeds, which you're kind of indicating. So, it's not you're not necessarily the people going 36 or 37 and a 35, it's the people going, you know, maybe they're going 50 plus. And we know that puts everybody at risk and especially those vulnerable road users. Um, we have developed relationships uh with law enforcement throughout the county. Um, and we're trying to continue to do that to create that dialogue because, you know, we're looking at the roadway system. we're seeing the crash data. Officers are out there on the street every day and they can relay um the things that they're seeing um not just in terms of crashes, but also in terms of speeds. Um and that conversation about enforcement is really important and thinking about ways that we can continue to let people know um you know, it's just not acceptable to go excessive speeds especially. >> Um yes, please. >> Thank you. And and and I appreciate that enforcement is just part of this ecosystem of safer roads and getting to zero deaths. It's not the only thing because I I do believe that, you know, road design in and of itself is what keeps us safer, is what keeps us going slower and what might eliminate the need for that e in some areas, that e for enforcement in some areas. So, um I I appreciate how much of a living document this is and that you are continuing to engage communities because what if if I've learned nothing else from the engagement with uh the park in Portland safety improvements that are coming to us is that uh communities will get involved. They will share where exactly the pinpoint the intersection that is the problem and um we'll want something temporary so to speak. You know, just can we put something out there to make it safe now until the big project comes? Um, so I just really appreciate the work that's gone into this, the work that will continue to go into this because residents I think are the experts. Uh, the people that are using the roads are the experts uh, just as much as the engineers designing them are. So I appreciate you. Thank you. >> Um, thank you, Commissioner Connley, Commissioner Lundy. >> Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. Just um, uh, want to thank you for the report. I I did want to highlight the enforcement because it's is absolute fact that uh you know police have pulled back on enforcement because they're trying not to pull people over. The problem is that only emboldens people when you're going 45 and a 30 and no one's paying the price people will keep going. I mean it's just a assume thing. Um and so I I think that's important it when we get like a we talk about deaths but there's injuries. Do we get like a good idea of what I mean like excessive speed? Is it visibility? I mean do do we see those and then do we share that back with the police because I think that you know sometimes those things happen and is that information being shared out? >> Thank you. Thank you commissioner. Yes, good question. Um yes we do. On those police reports that we see it will list uh contributing factors. So it might it might indicate speeding or impairment. Um sometimes it'll indicate distraction. So oftentimes a contributing factor is in included on that police report, not always. And those officers who are on the scene, they're handling a lot. So they're out they're at a scene and and they are the ones who fill out those crash reports uh that we ultimately see. But it gives us a good indication of some of the contributing factors that are the the the biggest reasons for those severe and fatal crashes. >> Okay. And you my question it comes from lived experience uh Noble Parkway and Brooklyn Park. You know, we always work with the county at that time when I was mayor and it was like, you know, there's not as many crashes happen, not as many crashes happen. And then we did a pilot study and we found out there was a lot more crashes happening because they weren't being captured either a in our data or the city or oh that's an insurance matter. So nowadays, police are just like, yep, take it up with your insurance. So warning signs that, hey, this is a dangerous intersection may not happen because two cars hitting each other, that's an insurance thing. That is not a death. however, it may be uh symptomatic. And so, it's just something I've always been curious about is just how much do we capture? To your point, police are busy. Uh my wife got in an accident and basically the cop was there. Okay, here you go. And gone because they were on to the next thing. And so, it was left to the insurance and if we don't see that information, we don't know that a crash occurred. And so, is is there ways to improve that? because you know oftentimes I find out residents will tell us and we're like the data doesn't back up what you're telling us and then we find out later that they were probably more right than wrong. >> Yeah, I can I thank you commissioner. at our um we have an annual toward zero death statewide conference and at those conferences oftentimes there'll be uh conversations between law enforcement and and engineers who say who kind of um speak to the point you're making and the engineers will let law enforcement know those crash reports are really valuable and letting us identify high crash locations um because we do know as and again officers are very busy there's lots going on so we know agency to agency it's there's not always a full maybe a full picture of those property damage damage only crashes especially. Um this report was based on injury crashes with a special focus on severe and fatal injury crashes. So we have confidence that that we're seeing a robust uh report, you know, in terms of the crash reports. We do know there's inconsistencies in those property damage only crashes and we do try to let law enforcement know that it it's it's I know it's a hassle. I know it'll take, you know, at least a few minutes to fill out that report, but ultimately that information really helps us understand even where the property damage crashes are um to help inform, you know, our future our future efforts and our future decisions. >> Yeah. And and I would actually argue back to law enforcement, it is damn important because if we are not capturing that data, we don't make changes, someone dies. Okay. Does it become important before the death or after the death? So, we get more involved when there's a death, when there was probably conditions that would have predicted this is area, maybe it's becoming more dangerous, more traffic, maybe there's traffic changes. Um, and so I I think it's definitely something we shouldn't just accept that they're busy because how many times can an intersection be dangerous before they're back nine times when if we were to be able to identify stuff. So making sure law enforcement understands that linkage between those traffic reports are indicators. I'm going to guess an unsafe road for cars is probably damn unsafe for residents. And the last thing I'll just say is just the I think you know to Commissioner Fernando's question about you know and I think your point on county roads is higher speeds leads to more deaths. Uh if a pedestrian is crossing Highway 252, good luck. Uh, I just mean that that if a person's hit there, they're they're not surviving when cars are going 65 in a 55. And so those higher speeds I think do contribute. And I I do think that's a very big thing. And um, you know, I I think, you know, especially I think of 2v2 where people are like, "Oh, we just want to slow stuff down." Well, that just drives that traffic into city streets, which then puts commuter traffic into roads with a lot more pedestrians, which I don't think people look at that linking. So, thank you. >> Um, thank you, Commissioner Lindy. Uh, I wanted to say a few things. First of all, thank you for this. Really excited about this body of work. Um, I wanted to and you shared this in one of the images on your slides, but page 16 in the report is um the heat map essentially, and it's just it's devastating. And I just had to name it and make sure that we drew our eye to it. and I know that this is going to be an important part of how the work is guided. Um, so thank you for that. Um, I also wanted to echo some things that Commissioners Fernando and Connley said about um, pedestrian safety and so on. There's a um, there's a lawn sign, there's actually a lawn, let's say, in my district that I drive by with some regularity and I feel as though the signs that pop up on this one lawn speak to my conscience. And one of them that's up right now, and I'll get a picture of it for us, is says something much smoother than I'm going to paraphrase here, but essentially bikers and pedestrians have to make safety accommodations so drivers can continue to be unsafe. And yeah, um and so I really appreciate this conversation around various ideas, you know, the the um the crosswalks and so on. And also I do remember there was a a hot intersection in in my district where there was a lot of conversation. It was when I actually first learned about the five E. And one of the things that was really emphasized in the conversation was engagement and specifically engagement of drivers. Um because I recall a statistic being shared that was quite high. high percentage of people who are involved in um traffic accidents and crashes live like within a mile of that intersection. You know, it's some it's an overwhelming number. And so this sense that neighbors might have of like, oh, it's the speeders coming from destination or or source X or whatever and they're just crossing our neighborhood. It's not actually mostly true. It's mostly untrue. Um, so I just wanted to also emphasize that that how what are the ways that we can work with drivers and that's a rhetorical question. I just know it's going to be a part of this body of work. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh, seeing Oh, yeah. Commissioner Lundy. >> I'm sorry, Madam Chair. I just one thing u just wanted to highlight the the need for education. Um, I when I think of pedestrians, I think of and maybe because I'm on the U of M campus every third day doing supply drops uh for my sons is good luck figuring out where scooters are, where they're supposed to be, and where they actually are. Um, you know, people using them, I'm like just petrified you're going to turn and then someone going somewhere. And so I think the responsibility of pedestrians, I think of scooters, I think of the new motorbikes that are ebikes that are really motorcycles. Um, and then I think in the new law about lane splitting, which if you look at the law is not supposed to be used when people are stopped, there's some little wrinkles that people are skipping and I see people doing that. And I think we've now introduced whether it's good or bad doesn't matter. It's state law. But I think some of that education about what people should be doing on scooters that are not just a free-for-all. The whole road is not your your lane. Uh, things like that. And I challenge everybody to go to the U of M and you'll see it happen all over the place where people are not wearing helmets. >> Um, and so to that point, if I'm well, I'm not going to be on a scooter. I'll say my son is on a scooter. He gets an accident. Is that a pedestrian or is that a what is that classified as? >> Yeah, that would be classified as a non-motorized user on a on an ebike or an e- scooter. I know these are emerging with these conversations are definitely pretty fresh. Um, but that's how that would be classified in the crash reports. >> Yeah, because I see on I think of you because it's much more concentrated. They've got paint everywhere. Yeah. That just kind of guidelines at best and hope is at worse uh about where those scooters may or may not be. Um, it just >> I wonder about crash data on the U of M campus or just that because you know person going pretty fast without a helmet and I've never seen somebody with a helmet on by the way on a e scooter is just as dead as a person who was walking. >> So, thank you. >> Um, thank you, Commissioner Lendy. Commissioner Fernando. >> Yeah. Sorry, one more thing. I forgot about the lane splitting law that got I don't know if we want to think of like a public health kind of announcement on some of our channels. Um I grew up with lane splitting and it's emphasized at a very young age how to travel safely with that and so with a new law and new behavior um from a public health perspective, public health comms perspective that might be a consideration uh for staff. Thanks. Um, thank you, Commissioner Fernando. Any other notes or remarks? Um, seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Um, with that, we have adopted the Henipin County Towards Zero Deaths Action Plan. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Uh, item 2 H on our agenda is to adopt the Henipin County Americans with Disabilities Act transition plan to improve accessibility for all people on the county's transportation system. I will move approval. >> Second. >> We have a second from Commissioner Gatell. >> Chair Green. Chad Ellis is with us to provide um background on this plan. >> Thank you, Madam Chair and Commissioners. Chad Ellis, uh planning manager with transportation project delivery. The request before you today is for approval of the county's Americans with Disabilities Act ADA transition plan. This presentation will share our efforts to update the plan and will guide us in improving accessibility for all people along our transportation system. Uh we recognize that Henipin County Public Rightway has a valuable asset connecting all people to jobs, schools, health care, and important destinations. uh has developed uh the county's ADA transition plan is compliant with title two of the Americans with Disabilities Act which supports uh the full participation of people with disabilities and equitable access to transportation. Uh the plan identifies locations along our transportation system where pedestrian infrastructure currently meets standards and where modifications are needed. Uh the plan also establishes a county goal for full compliance by year 2040. As part of the AADA transition plan, uh pedestrian accessibility needs are evaluated along the county's uh entire transportation system. The plan provides an inventory of all these pedestrian facilities, including the curb ramps, sidewalks, and trails, accessible pedestrian signals. Those are uh they provide visual, audible, and tactile information uh for people who are blind or hearing impaired. All of these elements are important as people, especially those with disabilities and limited mobility, travel along our roadways. Uh, county staff inventoried uh the sidewalks and trails, the pedestrian ramps, and the traffic signals to determine which needed repair, modification, uh, or replacement to meet the current standards. Roughly 60% of our pedestrian ramps meet current standards and roughly 30% of our traffic signals provide accessible pedestrian signals. A link to the full inventory uh is provided in the plan which will be updated regularly to track progress on our system. There are 2,200 roadway miles and it's important that we plan a program with a range of projects to maintain and preserve this system. Each year we complete a variety of activities including pavement preservation, rehabilitation and full reconstruction and to ensure that we are making the right fix at the right time and in the right location with all of the projects. Uh we complete ADA upgrades to ensure compliance with current standards and to improve accessibility for all people. In compliance with federal re requirements, public input was invited during a 30day comment period. Uh we had the draft plan online as well as as a survey posted to our behard henipin site uh May 23rd through June 30th of 2025. Staff also emailed people who requested updates on the ADA transition plan. uh signed up on the website for those updates. In addition to uh emailing this information to advocacy organizations, senior centers, cities, p uh park districts, and transit agencies to get other additional input. Uh the comments received were incorporated into the plan or will be addressed through implementation and other efforts. Thank you for allowing us to present today and for your consideration. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Um, thank you, Commissioner Catel. >> I just want to say that we've had conversations for a very long time. How many intersections, how many places do we really need to make accessible? And here we are. Thank you. This is a lot of work. It's taken over a long time. And I know I've had a lot of calls where I've had to have you speed up a a ramp or something around the way. But one of the other things I wanted to mention that wasn't in here, but I know we're working on and doing a great job is when we do some of these large road projects, when we did the 494 expansion and that work, we made sure that people had access across the bridges and that delayed other parts of the project. It also cost us more money, but it made sure that everybody had access along the entire construction time of that project. And there are a lot of people with disabilities on one side in a very large apartment building. And so I just want to say those are the kinds of considerations that we're looking at beyond just sidewalks and signals and that really matters to these people lives because those are lifelines to their grocery store to their pharmacist and sometimes to their doctor and a lot of them are using a motorized chair just to get there. So I just want to say what the great work that's that's going on in regards to this even before this plan was coming out. So thank you very much. Um, thank you, Commissioner Gell, Commissioner uh Connley. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, and and thank you. Um, this is, uh, really great. I'm I'm glad to see the progress that that we're making and the and the strides that we're making. I had a question about sidewalks, though, because I know that gets tricky sometimes with with like cities, counties, but it but sidewalks are in here. I'm wondering if there's like a like a to be ADA compliant, does a sidewalk have to be a certain width? And I'm thinking about there's some areas that I've seen in community where the sidewalks are really really narrow. There's no boulevard. It's curb and street. And so in the winter time sometimes there's people in uh uh motorized scooters that are in the street because they can't get through. You've got poles too in the in like the curb. So that makes the sidewalk feel even smaller. So um I'm thinking about sidewalk width and whether or not that's an ADA compliance issue. Is it something that is the city? Is it in this plan? Talk to me about sidewalks. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. Madam Chair, Commissioner Connley, great question. Um, I think what you're referring to is what we refer to as the pedestrian access route on a sidewalk to make sure that that is clear and free from obstructions. Um, so yes, there is a a dimension. uh I believe like the minimum is right around three feet but uh preferred is more than three feet at least four feet. So yes uh so as part of our efforts we do document where those occur across our our system uh within county rightaway and then it uh work with our cities to make them aware and to look for opportunities to uh remove those um narrow sidewalk or obstructions that may be there. But, uh, definitely know where those are and a lot of our capital improvement program projects are addressing a lot of those concerns. >> Um, thank you, Commissioner Lundy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a couple questions, too. Um I I just want to advocate for whenever possible. We also look at refugees in the middle like those larger roads which I think are going to be more county or people who you know need more time across and even if the and I know you guys are engineers have calculated that they can get across. Sometimes people move slower, they're more nervous and they're looking at the clock and they're like I don't think I'm going to make it even though they might. They don't want to be in the road especially if you're in a you know maybe you're not fully physical capable. you're in a a motorized and so they don't make it and so I think having refugees most refugees I've seen aren't marked they're just wide and so I don't know if there's a way to start to do that and I realize not asking you to go out and construct a bunch but is there ways to so people know there's a safe spot and I I think that's different than just having a place they can pause um and I don't have any good examples and the other one I just had and I think Commissioner Connley talked about is how do these ADA compliant things change during the winter because we know how snow gets plowed. We know where it goes. I have seen, and I'll just use St. Paul, they're the worst. Uh, good luck with their sidewalks. Um, and I say it, if you go to the Capitol and you park, you're walking a trail like you're up in the Himalayas to get through some of these things. Um, and if you're a person who needs a sidewalk, you're not you don't have one. And so, different communities do it differently. And so I always worry about when snow gets piled up and I realize we're clearing the roadways. But then again to commissioner uh part we're prioritizing the cars but people that might need that walk path then have to wait for a someone to come clean it out and then they do end up in the street or kids catching a bus end up in the street. So, uh, not really expecting response, but the refuge is one thing I think I don't know what an example of one that's designated so people know it and feel safe versus just a patch somewhere that people stop. So, >> um, thank you, Commissioner Lundy. Commissioner Fernando. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, first question, how often do we update this? Yeah. Uh, Madam Chair and Commissioner Fernando, uh, this is the first time that we've brought this to the county board for adoption. So, um, we do have a plan that was not adopted. Uh, it was a staff effort from 2015 that's posted online. This will supersede that. Uh, but we plan on updating this more frequently in the future. >> Okay. And I was wondering if the 2015 one I found was the last one. Okay. So, then two followups. Um, one, I would encourage us to consider a timeline so that we can kind of stay accountable to that. And when that comes forward, I'd be interested in um, two aspects of inquiry. Uh, the first is around transit stops, particularly like local service stops. Um like on Glenwood for example, the nine is a frequented uh bus that I use and it's just not comfortable for people to cross the street to catch the other side of the bus um particularly uh when they're in wheelchairs. And so I don't know how we just think about the transit experience differently or focus on high idily utilized transit routes. There's only one or two spots. So I mean it's for those who've um ridden on the bus if that is taken up like you have to wait that's also true for other wheels but of course we're focused here in ADA. So whenever this comes forward and I hope it's sooner than a decade um just the attention towards transit users uh and ADA um best practice versus just compliance. Uh the second thing that I would say I guess Commissioner Lundy has kind of inspired me here on the scooters um situation. I don't know what education needs to occur there but um scooters are being parked just in the middle of the sidewalk. And so if I'm an individual who um cannot see or um have different mobility needs, the harm to me is just much more significant than otherwise. So, those are two aspects that I think greater attention would be beneficial in this plan. Thanks, Madam Chair. >> Um, thank you, Commissioner Fernando. Any other notes? Um, thank you so much for this and um, Commissioner Fernando, I'm glad that you asked about sort of the timeline frequency and so on because I was thinking to myself like why am I suddenly feeling so much more confident honestly that um, some of the hot spots in my district are going to be ident because they're identified and um, so I really appreciate your instincts to bring this to us and um, yeah, let's keep it up and let's keep um, checking it out And I do want to say to my colleagues that this map, if you click through the report to this map where you can zoom in and out block by block, intersection by intersection, it's like incredibly detailed and you can check all your pet peeves and see if they've been identified and they have been is the answer. So, it's great. It's I feel sort of a sense of like okay now I can sort of talk with greater confidence with residents and say look we we know and and not just I know but the organization knows so thank you for this um without further comments all those in favor say I >> I all those opposed that item is approved and I think that's the final item on our agenda I will call us adjourned thank you >> but don't go away Yeah. Don't run up Welcome to the resident services committee of Tuesday, September 16th. The agenda item one is the minutes from the previous meeting of August 19th, 2025. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any corrections, changes? All those in favor signify by I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. Um, item two is new business, but it's a routine item. It's an amendment to an agreement between Vision Government Solutions and Henipin County for software maintenance reducing scope of support services and contract amounts in 2026 and 2027. May I have a motion? >> Second. >> May we have a a quick summary? >> Certainly, Madam Chair. In 2024, uh the county moved to um start to replace its KMA system, uh computer rated mass appraisal system internally and we have a current vendor vision and this contract uh ends. Um, and this is an extension of that contract for two years while we uh build out our own system. And it reduces the uh scope of uh what we're going to be using vision for so that uh really in case it breaks, we'll be able to get it fixed, but we're not going to be spending more money uh than we need to on it. So, this basically extends it so that um we're going to get to the end point and be able to uh have our our own internally built system uh replace it. >> And Josh Hogland, the county assessor, is here if there's further questions. Any further questions for my colleagues? This is money savings. I'd like to hear that. Seeing none, all those in favor signify by I. I >> I oppose. Motion carries. And that concludes our agenda. We are adjourned. >> Learn about ADA. construction. >> It's funny on the layover question, Sherry's up just talking to herself. I'm like, just get in the chair. No, no, no, no. She's like, I read this every time. Progress.