Let's go. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the administration's operations and budget committee of Tuesday March 10th. We'll begin our agenda with item one, which is the minutes from the previous meeting of February 5th of 2026. May I have a motion? >> Move approval. >> Been moved and seconded. Are there any corrections, changes? >> All those in favor signify by I. >> I. >> I. >> Motion carries. We have some routine business. Um item two. Um item 2 A through 2F is routine, but they're definite enough that I'm actually going to do them one at a time. Um, but if you I'm going to ask and see if anybody wants explanations on them. Um, item 2A is recognize the public art portion of the capital budget for the Southdale library replacement project will be $46,500 and amend the 2026 capital budget to reduce the Southdale library replacement capital project by $46,500 in general obligations bonds. I will move this. Do I have a second? >> Second. Does anyone want to This was explained to us, I believe. Does anyone want an explanation? All those in favor signify by I. I. >> Motion carries. Item 2B is to negotiate agreements with Three Rivers Park District for operation of the Glen Lake Golf and Practice Center starting January 1 of 2026 through 1231 of 30 um with Parker Lake Golf Center. Um no county cost. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. Any anyone want an explanation of this? All those in favor signify by I. >> I. Motion carries. Um item 2C is an amendment to the agreement with David W. Lopez to provide communication consulting for Henipin County opioid response extending the end date to 1231 of 26 including a not to exceed of $170,000 for a new total not to exceed of 226,512. I'll move this. Do I have a second? >> Second. Does anyone want an explanation comment? All those in favor signify by I. I. >> Motion carries. Item 2D is request subsequent designation of the Henipin Carver Workforce Development Area and submission of letter of intent to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Design Commissioner Irene Fernando as the representative of Henipin County in its capacity as chief elected official of the local area. Would you like to move this commissioner? >> So moved. >> Second. Any explanation? >> All those in favor signify by I. >> I. >> You're another esteemed title. Um item 2E uh amendment to agreements with hired and with a vivo to allow for acceptance of a 2026 Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act young adult grant funds extending the end date to March 31st of 2028 and increasing the combined not to exceed by 30,000 for a new total of 850,000. Do I have a motion? >> Second. >> Does anyone want an explanation? >> All those in favor signify by I. I >> motion carries. Agreement 2F is a as to amend current benefits clift succeeding in employment and youth employment services contracts for continued funding through February 20 um8 2026 with a not to exceed of $213,721 $166,286 for succeeding in employment and 14,435 for youth employment services. May I have a motion? >> Move approval. >> Second. Been moved and second. Anyone need an explanation? All those in favor signify by I. I. >> Motion carries. Items. Um, now items for discussion and action. Item 2G is revision of the Henipin County Human Resources Rule. I'll move this. >> Second. >> Um, and may I have staff? May I have a rundown on this one? >> Um, Commissioner, I'll have uh Javanni Kone, the human resources chief human resources officer uh present this item. Welcome. >> Thank you. Um, Chair Gatel, committee members, at its February 4th, 2026 meeting, the HR board approved a revision to HR rule 12.1, which is hours of operation. Currently, that rule indicates that special leave without pay is considered time work for the purposes of calculating overtime. Um, and in 2018, the county's practice changed and special leave without pay as of that time no longer counted toward overtime calculations. I'm sorry, I'm out of breath. Sorry. Um, so the county's practice changed and last month the HR board voted on a an update to the rules that basically aligns the rule with the county's practice for the last eight years or so. So the proposal is that the language would be changed to indicate that special leave without pay does not count toward the calculation of overtime pay. So back in 2018 when the practice changed the stakeholders were notified but the HR rules were not updated at that time. So this is a longstanding practice. So this item is before you for consideration and I will stand for questions. >> Questions from my colleagues. >> Seeing none, all those in favor signify by I. I motion carries. Thank you. >> Item 2H is an amendment with the agreement with the University of Minnesota to provide general professional research and technical services countywide extending the end date to June 30th of 3031 increasing the not to exceed by 5 million for a new total of 9,500,000. May I have a motion? Move >> approval. >> Second. Okay. Commissioner Eden, please. >> Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I'm wondering um if someone from county administration can talk about why this has increased so much. >> It's quite a bit. >> Certainly. Uh Madam Chair and Commissioner, uh starting in 2018, we entered into this agreement with the University of Minnesota. And then in 2021, we uh had our first amendment where we extended it uh for 5 years and and had an increased the not to exceed to $4.5 million. This is the second amendment which uh extends the agreement for an additional 5 years. um for uh increasing the NTE by $5 million. Again, so this is a five-year agreement at uh for over $5 million. The uh all of the uh actual expenditures related to this are either less than $100,000, which the county administrator has authority to to sign, or anything that's more than $100,000 comes back to this board for approval. So, this is a master agreement that allows us to expeditiously uh enter into agreements with the University of Minnesota. It sets a large NTE, but it doesn't actually have a budget that's associated with it. The budget for all of the items um are embedded in each one of the departments um uh and and the the larger contracts come back to the board for approval. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. That answers my question. >> Any other questions? All those in favor signify by I. >> I. Motion carries. Thank you. Um we have several addendums. Um, uh, 2 I is to establish a public hearing on HUD 2026 annual action plan on Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. I'll move this. >> Second. >> Been moved and seconded. We don't need an explanation. This has happened every year. All those in favor signify by I. >> I. >> I. >> Motion carries. Item 2J is to support small business relief in Henipin County by waving penalties for late license renewals. >> Move the vote. >> Second. Um, any further discussion? I think we saw this. Does staff want to say anything? >> Madam Chair, I think it'd be good to explain it because it's relatively new. Thanks. >> Okay, >> Madam Chair, I'll ask Dwayne Hudson to present this item from public health. >> Welcome. Uh, committee chair, members of the committee, I'm Dwayne Hudson. I'm program manager for public health, the environmental health unit. Before you today is a a proposal to wave late penalty fees. uh the environmental health unit, licenses, small businesses, um restaurants, uh food established, grocery stores, hotels, motel, uh body art, tattoo piercing. Um as a result of Operation Metro Surge, many small businesses uh here in Anaben County are experiencing severe financial hardship. Uh a sharp decline in customer traffic coupled with the inability of affected staff to report to work has led to significant revenue losses. Numerous business owners have been forced to temporarily close their doors and many are now at risk of permanent closure uh without immediate intervention. Submitting licensing fees and renewals has remained a significant challenge for many of these small businesses uh throughout the operation metro surge due to substantial revenue losses. Um, ordinance one, uh, county licensing and procedures, uh, sets forth a late penalty structure and, uh, under ordinance one, last updated 46 years ago, uh, imposed financial penalties that no longer align with current business practices or the economic realities facing small businesses today. So, as part of operation reconnect, the county assessed uh community needs with a focus on how to mitigate these impacts and support economic stability. Henipin County Public Health is recommending waving all penalties incurred for late renewal of licensed businesses for the year 2026. This action supports the county's disparity elimination efforts in the income and employment domains by rapidly delivering relief to licensed businesses most impacted by Operation Metro Surge. I'll take any questions you may have. >> Questions, colleagues. Um I saw um Commissioner Anderson. >> Thank you. Um so just a a quick clarification. And this is only on the assessing of a late penalty fee, not the work associated with validating the safety of any business. Correct. >> That's correct. Uh we uh for existing uh licensed entities that there's an annual renewal process and ordinance one if they don't pay on time there's this a reoccurring late penalty fee and we're proposing to wave that late penalty fee because it it is a significant >> uh cost 25% and then 50% and then basically double the fee. >> I appreciate that. Just knowing that we're we're still doing our work. We're just trying to help our business community uh stay afloat. I I appreciate it. Thanks, >> Commissioner Green. >> Um thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to voice my gratitude for this and I know that um the elements of Operation Reconnect are going to be sort of bubbling forth as the group continues to meet. But I um really appreciate this. I had I've been a part of a couple different meetings in south and southwest Minneapolis and uh I know I appreciate that we are doing what we can with something like this and I know that residents and business owners appreciate that we're doing what we can. So many thanks >> Commissioner Ad. Okay. I very Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm very I'm very supportive. I just want to make sure I understand the the financial implications of this. So, um, if the person pays their taxes late, I I agree with the fee parts, but what at what point I'm I'm just trying to understand here are we allowing that extension of I mean, because these there that's revenue for our county. And so I guess I would love to hear from county administration in terms of what this looks like and the dates of when we're anticipating because I see with applications due by June 30th for the first half of penalties and then J Dan it would be helpful to help us chair commissioner I think that you're working ahead and you're on to the next item already. Uh I am so I will answer that question when we get to that. >> That would be great. Okay. Okay. Other questions? Oh, Commissioner Connley, please. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just sharing in the thanks. I think that um anything that we can do for our small businesses right now is going to be um very wellreceived. It's been asked for um for all of the reasons that you described and describing what this board action is and what it does. This is just one piece of the puzzle that a lot of our small businesses are facing right now in terms of um getting back to where they were and sustainability for them. I think that being able to wave some of these late penalties and um late fees, etc. that that as you described continue to double and compound and drown small business owners is going to be um incredible. So, in terms of um how long we're able to do this, how long we're able to wave the license renewals or the penalties for that, can you speak to how long we might be able to keep this going for business owners who need it? >> Uh yes, Commissioner Connley. Uh so we're proposing to wave all late penalty fees for the entire year. Now are they still responsible for their original uh invoice amount? Yes. But um the late penalties will not acrew. >> Thank you, Commissioner Lendy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a couple questions. Do we know if fees actually lead to people paying? Because I know sometimes people provide fees and the idea is that if we put a fee that gets them motivated to come in and pay. I'm just kind of curious if do we have data actually shows that drives behavior? And then my second question is if a business goes out of business, does the fee assess or is it just disappear cuz uh curious if it goes to, you know, if it's a safety inspection, does it go to the land owner if it's a tenant or something like that? So I'm just kind of curious, you know, some you looked at fees I think during COVID about does it make sense and I'm curious does it actually lead to people paying, you know, when you compound them anyway or does it make people just say, you know what, I'm going to walk away from a a large fee. So >> if you don't know, you can get it to me later. Sorry. Thank you. Uh first I can say that um all license fees including late penalty fees are given to the business owner not not the property owner. So um so let's say we have a restaurant tour that's renting a space in a strip mall. It it's going to the owner their billing contact. Um do late penalties um encourage early payment? I'll let you decide that, but um it usually does. Um some have already paid their late penalty fees, so we'll be giving a reimbursement or refund on those. Um this has kind of been presented to the committee a little bit late in our timeline, but um I think it'll still be appreciated by all of our licensed entities. >> Thanks. Any other comments? All those in favor signify by I. >> I. Motion carries. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Item 2K is authorize onetime abatement of property tax penalty in 2026 upon application of taxpayer based upon hardship. I'll move this. Do I have a second? >> Um I'll pass this to staff. >> Um Madame Chair and commissioners, uh Henipin County collects property taxes on behalf of all of the taxing jurisdictions in the county. We collect more than$4 billion dollars um every year. Under Minnesota law, property taxes are due on May 15th and October 15th. And if not paid, uh, penalties start acrewing the next day. Um, this bar is similar to one that we passed, uh, twice during COVID where we, uh, abate that penalty. So, essentially, we wave the penalty fee. We don't wave the property taxes that are owed, but we wave the penalty fee if somebody makes a payment uh in in the the new time frame. So, property taxes, the first payments are due on May 15th. If somebody pays in full by June 30th, the the uh penalty that had occurred during that time is waved. Similarly, uh your second payment is due on October 15th. If somebody pays by November 30th, uh the the penalty is waved. So, this essentially gives um all uh property owners in Henipin County who are impacted by Operation Metro Surge who apply, it's a very simple application to to say that I was impacted um approximately an extra six weeks to pay their first half taxes, property taxes and their second half uh property taxes without incurring a penalty. I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Commissioner Eden, did you have a you had a question before? Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry, I was moving ahead. I apologize, colleagues. Um, okay. So, yes, I do have just I just need a clarification. Thank you for that. That was very helpful. Um, so with that waving, when we looked at CO 19, do you know what percentage of the population applied? Because I'm I'm curious what we should be expecting because at six weeks in terms of taxes, I agree with the concept of what we're doing. I just want to say that, but I'm just wondering what the financial implications to the county could possibly be here. Certainly, uh, Madam Chair and Commissioner, it's a small percentage of people that applied, um, last time because most people pay their property taxes through their mortgage and the mortgage companies are, you know, pay um, on by by the 15th. So, this is really primarily uh, ends up being people who are who are paying their their own because they don't have a mortgage on their property uh, any longer. Um uh so so it kind of starts out with a smaller number of people and the impact here is um we're going to have a slightly less amount of money for 6 weeks. Um and so uh the county when we have that money and we haven't had to pay it out to taxing jurisdictions yet, we get to put it in our investment portfolio and get a little bit of investment for that period of time of six weeks. So this will cost whatever amount we don't get in between May 15th and and June 30th. The investment part of that will will not uh uh be a benefit that that that we get. Again, it's it's a relatively small amount. Um uh it's essentially the float for that six- week period. Um and um in it didn't have a significant impact during COVID. Um, and this uh bar also has a limit on uh it only applies to people who have a property tax that they owe of less than $250,000. So for those of our our largest property uh owners, the Mall of America, some of the big buildings that pay more than $250,000 a year in taxes, um this doesn't apply to them. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Dan. That was very helpful. >> Other questions? Seeing none. All those in favor signify by I. >> I. >> Motion carries. Item 2L is budget compliance for Henipin County Sheriff's Office. This is offered by Commissioner Connley. Commissioner Connley, would you like to move it? >> I will move it. It's been moved and seconded. I'll hand it over to you. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, colleagues, you all received a copy of this. This board action is uh very cut and dry and it really is about guard rails around property tax spending. And I think that we all are very familiar uh with what we've been trying to do after uh months and months of briefings and just updates, budget updates that just started. Um and given the enormous pressure that we're under with limited resources, I think this is timely. Um, and so I've worked extensively with the Office of Budget and Finance on this board action and county administration. I've spoken with Sheriff Wit, who is here today. Um, and I think that, uh, as far as the background, we've included as much as possible. But ultimately what this um board action is designed to do is to not authorize external posting for positions or hire new employees in the sheriff's office except for detection deputies uh in the ADC telecommunication telecommunicator positions and any other positions that really are critical for the HC uh to meet its statutory mandates. So there are statutory obligations that the sheriff's office has and we don't want to put any there's no limitations around that. We can't do that. But within our statutory authority as the county board um we are responsible and um for mandating that the county's annual budget shall not include expenditures in excess of estimated revenues. So the bar in front of you um create safeguards around that and u madam chair I'll hand it back to you. Thank you. >> Okay. Other comments or questions from any of my colleagues? Any discussion on the board? Commissioner Lendy, did you >> just more of a comment? U not so much on this motion, but uh I'm going to hijack Commissioner Connley's uh bar. Uh just ask a question. I I I'd like to have a further conversation. Um and I know the sheriff has talked about this. I'd like our staff to talk about this is the amount of time that we spend in Minneapolis helping them police. Um and here's where I go with it. I don't think it's fair that we require small cities to sign a contract with the county where they pay us to help them police when they need help. And yet we don't have the same or similar with the city of Minneapolis. So either a we should stop doing it for the small cities and just say we're going to do it all consistent or I do think we need to have a conversation with Minneapolis about um if we are providing services above and beyond what we normally do that the sheriff's department gets reimbursed. And so, um, I do think there's inherent fairness. One of my cities, Brooklyn Center, had the contract during a time where they suffered, uh, significant personnel, uh, departures and I know Golden Valley, has done it. And I'm sure there'll be a future where someone else does it. So, I just don't think it's fair that we have certain different rules for different cities. I do think that the city of Minneapolis, if they are uh consuming uh sheriff's office resources, that they should pay for it like we do other cities in the county. Um and so I'm not sure where to place this, but I do think it goes to revenue. I do think it goes to the sheriff's budget about getting a reimbursement to them uh for services that they are providing. So, >> Commissioner Anderson, >> thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I would agree with Commissioner Lundy on on this point. Now, I don't think that we should be cutting off service. I think public safety is an important part of what we do and what the sheriff's office is uh mandated to do. Uh, I do think that Minneapolis should be paying their fair share. I think it is, you know, I know several of my cities uh have contracts with the sheriff's department. Um, and I think that that's completely appropriate. You know, a number of them that's decisions they've made. Uh, and it it's agreements that they're making with uh another law enforcement agent to agency to provide patrol services and and law enforcement services. So, I think um I think getting reimbursed for our our services is entirely appropriate and we should be talking with Minneapolis about how best we can do that. um to this specific bar. Um I think I I appreciate the update that you uh provided um about making sure that we aren't um overstepping into statutory mandated services. I think it's really important that we are supporting uh law enforcement to the extent that um you know they are providing a needed service just like so many of our uh departments are. Um I also think we are asking all of our departments to make sure that they are managing to their budgets. Um and a lot of that includes cuts. Um and so we aren't asking for for cuts to to the budget. Um the sheriff's office has traditionally received uh increases year-over-year and uh kind of commiserate with additional need that uh that comes and but having greater sight lines into it and making sure that we are managing to the budget uh like we are asking every other department in the county to do um I think is appropriate. So, uh, thank you, >> Commissioner Eden. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And I just want to I want to thank Commissioner Connley for making um one of the um edits to on the statutory language. I really do appreciate that. Um and so I will support this. Uh one thing I will say is to um to what has happened with the sheriff um when we look at at budget, I think it's really challenging when we think about I mean so many people that came here tonight talked about um ICE and then what ICE did in our communities. Well, ICE also um forced our sheriffs, I think, in a very impossible situation. Um and I think that we should be exploring ways for FEMA to reimburse us for what happened during January, well, December, January, and February. Um or looking at I imagine any lawyer would tell us that we're not going to get any um any relief in the sense of a lawsuit. Um but there should be some sort of of mechanism that we should hopefully get some relief from. um because I can't imagine I know that one point I read it was over 500,000 and I imagine that was just a small period of time. So um some of these costs um why it's important is just to you know a public safety budget is is fluid and flexible and it's has to be that way. Um I would also like us to look at the sheriff's vacancy rate. I think right now we're at 8%. I think that is too high. Um I think that you know at 1.5 maybe is too low but we need to be somewhere in the middle. And so I I would just imp encourage us to look at how we're uh looking at the sheriff's budget in that sense and look at other county sheriff's departments and see where they are so that we're comparable. We are the largest county though and so we are going to be busier than other counties. So I also think it needs to be dynamic in terms of how we approach them. So thank you. >> Thank you Commissioner Fernando. >> Thank you Madam Chair and thank you Commissioner Connley for authoring this. Uh I view this action as ensuring that we get as much data as early as possible. This uh this 2026 year, we've had more budget briefings this year this early than any other year. And it's because just of a number of pressures. So, just want to um appreciate Sheriff Wit and her team who is in the room and out in the community um and the level of financial need and the limited resources that um Henipin County uh is expected to steward. There there is a confluence point and this allows us to get data sooner so that we can um look systemically on payments and services. And we uh started this a few years ago. Of course, uh learning kind of later in 2024 about um a large gap and you know $89 million is a full levy point for us. And so when we for me this is more about data so that we are we the county board are able to get an understanding earlier in the year should there need to be different shifts made. Uh the other aspect um of of time on this is the later we find out the later we can correct our other departments. And of course we are all very uh committed to ensuring that HTMC remains open and continuing its vital service. And just from public comment today, I know it's not videotaped, but elections, rental assistance, SNAP, I mean, kind of you name it, people are coming to counties, and we will need to be thinking thoughtfully around property tax, around uh cooperating or consolidating services among other jurisdictions. That's certainly not going to be popular with our jurisdictional partners. um and our residents deserve high quality services and that is not coming uh forward in the f federal budgetary process. And so how might we ensure that we're getting the data as early as possible. Um so that that's what I I would say here. This this is to ensure that we the county board are aware of the financial pressures as early as we can so that we can um correct on behalf of the whole county and the state where possible. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Commissioner Lundy. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I I was just thinking, you know, being committee is more discussion if we might invite Sheriff Wood up. Uh I know she's in the room with I think different in a board meeting where this is more discussionary, but that would be your call, Madam Chair. >> Well, if you have a specific question, that would be really appropriate. >> No, I just thought giving her a chance to speak since we're talking about the budget. Well, I well, I would give her a chance to speak. I don't have a problem with giving her a few moments to speak, but I I just wanted to speak to this, too. You know, we're in difficult moments right now, and right now, our our public safety really stood up for us for ICE. And I just want to say, first of all, thank you, and thank you to the deputies who were there and to our other public safety folks who were out there from different jurisdictions. But it's these are difficult moments. And it's not just the ICE. It's it's the hospital. It's the county. It's the HR1. It's the Medicaid cuts. It's all of it. And all of us, every department does have to do more with less. And we're all going to have to tighten our belts and figure out how can we breast bring our best selves to the table at this budget time and make some very difficult choices on cuts. So, Sheriff Whit, please. >> Good afternoon, everyone. Um, first if I could address before I address the bar, I wanted to um um address the two comments that were made. One by Commissioner Lundy in regards to the contracts with Minneapolis or lack of we do have contracts with other cities. Those contracts also says how much time hours we would be spending in those cities. The time that we spend in Minneapolis is basically data driven where the crime is we are and things like that. But rest assured, we have had conversations about um um how we can be reimbursed as of all the time that we are spending in Minneapolis. But I will say that, you know, Minneapolis residents do um cannot wait for Minneapolis Police Department to be fully staffed to get um public safety. And so we will continue to have those conversations. Um so thank you for that. Um, Commissioner Eden, our vacancy rate um, factor is actually a little bit over 11%, not 8%. So, I wanted to make sure that I clarified that as well. Um, now to the prepared statements I had. I'm sorry. Um, chair, commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to provide more background related to this proposed resolution and my budget. Since I took office, my team and I have worked hard to fill the positions that I have been approved by this board to have. There have been tremendous efforts to collaborate and fill them and I am proud to say we accomplished that goal. Unfortunately, my vacancy factor has only increased more than doubled since the time that I have taken office. Meaning that I although I am approved for 883 positions, I do not receive budget for all of these positions. In fact, I receive approximately $9.6 million less than I need to pay for these positions. meaning I'm starting off my budget year in the red. That means that if I am fully staffed and I am as I'm approved to be, I would not be able to hit any sort of budget target in 2026. In the recent past, we have shown the need to ensure appropriate staffing levels in a 247 public safety operations such as the heavy cost of the conditional license order for the jail. Even prior to the CLLO, I continue to advocate for adequate staffing levels as those within my office continue to feel the impact of inadequate staffing. This includes high overtime costs, burnout, fatigue, and turnover. Henipin County has commissioned several studies in the past year and a half to address the concerns of overtime and appropriate staffing levels. In each, there are numerous appeals to dramatically increase staffing levels in critical areas to prevent employment burnout, reduce long-term costs, ensure a safe environment in the jail, amongst others. In that context, our budget authority has not only failed to meet those recommendations, but we are met with resistance to maintain the current levels. In February 2025, you received a board briefing related to the third-party analysis and of overtime costs within my office. There were key recommendations which ultimately led to the staffing analysis for the adult detention center division. In February 2026, you received the results of that staffing analysis which highlighted the need for a significant increase in staffing related to jail operations. Their recommendation to reach minimum and necessary staffing levels levels included an additional 43 detention deputies and six sergeants with optimal staff staffing levels seeing an increase of 58 detention deputies. They also recommended an additional nine employees in central records which is also a 247 operation. In past budget presentations, I have repeatedly informed this board that our authorized numbers are not enough, that our jobs are simply more difficult than years past. I raised concerns about the number of retirements we were facing and the need to plan have a plan accordingly to fill those critical positions. The question has come up on why I don't reassign licensed deputies into the jail. First, it should be noted the county commissioned overtime study that in fact agreed that it would be f fiscally irresponsible to hire licensed deputies for the jail as they are licensed peace officers and paid at a higher rate. In addition, I have critical and mandated operations across my office, including civil process, court services, investigations, 911 services, and much more. And those obligations must also be met met by statute. have also been asking for staffing analysis of all areas of the sheriff's office and this has yet to happen. Related to 911 services, in March 2025, you were provided with the results of a third-party staffing analysis for emergency communication centers. In there, they state HCSO ECC is both low staff and earners staffed. They recommended an increase in those handling 911 calls from 54 to 73, records staff from 7 to 12, and firstline supervisors from 9 to 12. While I understand these recommendations may seem daunting, they highlighted that my office is significantly under staff and my budget continues to be under scrutiny. We are not moving in the right direction to increase staffing nor budget in any of these critical areas. Although the experts who conducted the jail analysis even recommended a three-year strategic hiring plan. If we are not interest increasing staffing as recommended, there comes sorry there comes the need to fill a plan and unplanned vacancies with overtime as we are a 247 operation. Unfortunately, my overtime budget has only reduced by several millions dollars the last year and continued into 2026. During the 2026 budget process, county administration's submission guidelines mandated that we are not authorized to submit a budget in excess of the budget target. We submitted an adback request to fully fund the needs of our agencies, which were rejected. It is not accurate for anyone to say the adopted budget aligned with what I requested last year. A reduced vacancy factor and an appropriate overtime budget has presented was presented in our adbacks would have mitigated most of the budget to actual variances. With that said, the authorized budget is unattainable target target. And you know what? Let me say this. I know everything. I'm not underestimating all the pressure that is on this board. I want to say that. I acknowledge that. But I sent the board a memo in early 2025 explaining that a budget which does not fully fund our agency jeopardizes the safety of our residents. To set a restrict to set a restricted budget that intentionally fails to fully cover the cost of the staff that is authorized as arbitrary and capriccious as the terms used in the Minnesota statute 387.20 which is grounds for appeal to the district court. In the bar that has been introduced, it references that the Hannipan County Sheriff's budget has grown from 141.2 million to 182.5 million in the last four years. But it's important to know why that increase in expenditures have happened. We know that there are both unpredictable as well as anticipated cost drivers. Some of those are highlighted in the overall increases of my budget have been seen over the last several years. Since 2023, jail medical expenses increased around 7.5 million and personnel salaries and health insurance over $18 million. Just in 2026, we saw significant increases because of general salary merits, jail medical, health insurance, workers compensation, as well as software. And I apologize, I'm almost done here. The volume of work that has been shouldered by my agency is tremendous. civil services mandates such as domestic abuse orders and orders for protection data practice requests that rose from 2,000 in 2022 to nearly 4,000 in 2025. These are mandated for the sheriff's office to take care of not of not the municipalities. The jail population crisis, the medical cost for detainees, response to civil unrest in recent months, personnel costs, including the addition of the new statemandated leave benefit, just to name a few. We continue to partner with county administration and OBF along with implementing stringent internal financial management practices such as position management to effectively take care of these issues. We engage with county leadership on a routine basis and all the hiring and staffing decisions are coordinated with the county administrator and her team through position management framework. The bar we are here to discuss references references our staffing compliment and forbids us from exceeding our authorized FTE levels. Throughout a series of discussions with county administration over the course of years, we were expressly encouraged to hire above compliment, specifically detention deputies, in order to meet the mandates of the Department of Corrections and address the understaffing crisis that contributed to the detaining annexation cost which cost our taxpayers millions of dollars. I totally understand and appreciate where the county is at and my team and I have been working hard to find the savings where we can. As you know, there are many things out of our control as we work to meet the needs of the community and strive for public safety. But it's important for this board to understand that I don't run a department. I run an office and I do have the autonomy in operating my office as the elected sheriff. As indicated in the bar, it is stated that you have the authority to set my budget. But with that, that budget should be structurally sound. I have started every budget cycle in the red, largely because of the vacancy factor, which is much higher for the sheriff's office than any other Henipin County department or office. While vacancy factors may be practical budgeting appro budgeting approach for certain administrative departments, their application to public safety agencies, particularly sheriff's offices, raises significant operational, fiscal, and governance concerns. Sheriff's office operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, while performing statutoily mandated duties. Applying a vacancy factor to a sheriff's office budget undermines public safety operations, create unrealistic fiscal expectations, and shift significant operational and fiscal risk to the county. Lastly, the bar reference references positions critical for the Henipin County Sheriff's Office to meet the statutory mandates. quote. As the elected sheriff of this office, only I can make that determination, not human resources and not this board. I respectfully request this board to vote no or reconsider moving moving um for more conversations um prior to any approvals. And with that, I will take any questions if you have them for me. >> Commissioner Eden, >> thank you, Sheriff. That was that was very helpful. So 11% interesting. Um so critical that it actually is a you bring up a good point because um critical was inserted before statutory um in term I guess with county administration. Can you please tell me how we would be determining because we had the sheriff does have a has a statutory requirement. How would you apply that standard of critical? Would it be the sheriff applying that standard and telling you or >> uh Madam Chair and Commissioner um certainly we would rely upon the sheriff's office to to bring forward um what they believe are critical. The reason I I believe that we that the language is in here that is says critical as opposed to statutory is there are some positions that are in the sheriff's office that are critical for the functioning of the sheriff's office that you couldn't directly identify a statutory basis for. for example, um some of their budget work or some of the clerical staff that if they got down to a certain level, you would say that it's it's a a critical vacancy that needs to be filled. And it might be hard to go back to a specific statutory provision to say, is this uh sheriff's water patrol deputy that's that's in there. So, that's that's the purpose for that is to is to make sure that the sheriff has the ability to to articulate why they believe a a particular position is critical. So sharer, for the record, it sounds like when you are applying that that um threshold that we have that you have it on a record that essentially statutory positions um would be covered. And then the I guess the one thing I would say to county administration is with this 11% because sheriff again this isn't personal at all from my perspective, we are trying to figure out how we bring our budget down. I mean, I think we have a a a currently looking at double digit um and this is not, by the way, not just because of you. You that's we're talking about one levy point. We're looking at, you know, double digits in terms of a a levy increase um in in December. And I I know we have a resident here that's been coming to all the meetings. I appreciate you coming. Um I know that my district and I know all all residents, we can't we can't sustain that. So, as we do look at how we can make these cuts, I think that's important. But if the sheriff is is saying an 11% uh vacancy factor, that that is concerning. So I would just say to county administration um if we could set up meetings as of like next week to make sure that we're addressing that because that already if what the sheriff is saying too is that she's starting off her budget in the negative. Um that's that's also challenging, right? And then when people do elect the sheriff, they are electing the sheriff to manage her own budget. And so I just want I don't want us to treat this sheriff differently than we've treated other sheriffs as well. That seems um not like the right path as well. So I don't want us to micromanage the sheriff in this, but I also think that we have to find that balance of making sure that we are striking um the right property tax amount that we can levy for next year. >> Other comments or questions? Seeing Commissioner Anderson, >> sorry, I do have um just one question. I was looking through some budget numbers and the um how much of the of your budget is staff? Cuz I I was trying to figure out the difference between the 11% vacancy factor and $9 million. Um, and trying to figure out where the uh how that balanced out cuz in like some of my back of the napkin math, it was closer to like 6% of like property tax, but I I know that's not all staffing driven, but I'm just curious if you could Sorry, I like numbers and sometimes >> Um, thank you, Commissioner Anderson. Um approximately 80% of my budget goes to salaries >> and that's overall sorry not the $186 million cuz I know we have like we levy $160ome million um in property tax for it and then but there's another $20 million or so and um that comes from fees and other sources. Well, and and thank you for that, Commissioner, because again, when looking at some of those numbers, a large uh part of those expenditures were for salaries. You know, our staff were did have increased pay. We were catching up to other um professions that were doing the same work. And so, I don't think that that and and I sorry, there's more people who could speak smarter or more intelligently to that, but we were catching up later. And that's how I that's how I see it. But I think it's important. Again, 80% of that is because of our staff, which we do say is our greatest resource, right? >> Yep. I I mean that's true across all every part of Henipin County. Like we don't do this work without our staff. So, um I think that's I just wanted to try to better understand it. So, thanks. >> Other questions or comments? >> Commissioner Connley. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And I just wanted to say thank you for the for for presenting um and speaking to the realities of your department um of your office not department. And I want to be clear that um given the enormous pressure that we're under which you've which you've recognized there's two pieces of this that I think are really important and does not limit you. And one of them is that it's the I think Mr. Rogan already explained what critical is. That's something you define yourself. But also the exception for detention deputies serving directly within the jail. So the ADC and then the telecommunication pos telecommunicator positions that you mentioned. But also the second page of the of the board action really goes into that statutory obligation. Number one is the salaries of your deputies, right? And then goes into uh the other things that you're obligated to do by state statute. making room I think in the resolving clause for those water patrol positions etc or the clerk's positions that may not be so strictly outlined in statuto in in statute but that you need are something that that in the final resolving clause would be a discussion between your expertise and the expertise of the office of budget and finance and county administration. So I think there are safeguards in here for you to do the work that you are obligated to do as the elected sheriff of this county. In addition to us, you know, recognizing that for 2025, it's an estimated e exceeding of the budget for by 10 million and then for 2026 an estimated exceeding of the budget by $15 million. So, we're continuously going over budget. We want to be able to have a tighter grip on that because we can't afford to do it anymore. Um, and so I just wanted to add that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Can I respond to Commissioner Connley? quickly. >> Sorry, Commissioner Gellis. Okay, that's fine. Okay, quickly. First, I don't take this personal. Again, I do know that you're under tremendous pressure. Um, you have a very some very tough decisions and I'm also in agreement we have to do whatever we can to save the hospital. Um, so I I do agree with that. Um, I just want to say though, you know, we can't create other um crisises to um um in the meantime. Um, with that being said, the practices that we have in place, the position management, my fear is, which is not outlined in this bar, is that again with me being the person who needs to make those determinations that we're putting processes in place that are going to slow us down. I shared last year the number of retirements that we've had coming and we should be prepared for that. It is very exhausting always trying to play catch-up rather than keep up when we see something coming. I need that autonomy to make those decisions when we need to make them and not slow down the process so that we are better prepared for whatever is thrown at us. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. >> I This is important, Madam Chair. I just want to make sure then to um to that because I think the sheriff is expressing anxiety or worry worry, excuse me, and I I'm I'm I'm picking up um that in terms of the turnaround if somebody I guess to county administration then if someone does retire and the turnaround again that this is not none of this is about personally about the sheriff. This is about running that office. And so if someone does retire, um the sheriff gives notice that they she's filled all of the positions, but she needs to maybe the vacancy factor is not there. And what is the quick turnaround that the sheriff should expect from you? >> Uh madam chair and commissioner, we have been um uh getting reports weekly from the sheriff's office and and turn those around in the same week. Um the the challenge that that is here is is as the as the sheriff uh indicated is is uh the budget that's adopted is has a high vacancy factor. And so to meet the to to meet the budget, it is um you know making sure that we're hiring just those critical positions. And so there has been back and forth, but but we have been responsive to the sheriff's office to make sure that they understand. And part of the resolving clause in the uh bar here is to make sure that the county board knows what um we're approving as as critical. And if there's uh yeah, a basis for the board to think that what we're approving is not critical, there's time to to correct or for the sheriff to come in and to say that we're we're slowing things down. Um you know, we're happy to do that. We certainly understand the needs of of the sheriff's office and are working diligently to meet the sheriff's needs and to follow the direction of the county board. >> Thank you. >> And madam chair, just one last thing in terms of of there's a legal liability for how we staff the sheriff's department too in terms of making sure that we are staffing it appropriately. So if we can turn around those positions with this bar passing today, that we we want to make sure that we're doing that quickly. Um, and so, Sheriff, I I I just want to make sure that you have we had that discussion for the record again so you you know um where things are and that that is being that's open to the public and this is not behind in some in some close meetings. So, I just wanted to make sure we had that. So, thank you. Seeing no further comments, I'll call the question. All those in favor signify by I. I. Those opposed. This motion carries. Thank you. And that concludes our agenda. Good afternoon. Now call to order the health committee on this Tuesday, March 10th, 2026. The first item of business today is to approve the minutes from our previous meeting which was held February 5th. Is there a motion to approve? >> So second. >> Minutes have been moved and seconded. Any corrections or comments on the minutes? Hearing and seeing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? The minutes have passed. We have one item uh under 2A for new business routine items. This is an amendment to an agreement with the Mercury with Mercury Healthcare Incorporated or WebMD Ignite to provide Henipin Health members with access to an online health encyclopedia and video library that contains evidence-based topics in English and Spanish languages, extending the end date to March 31st of 2027, and increasing the NTE by $23,155 for a new NTE of $183,920. $20. Is there a motion to move that? >> So moved. >> It's been moved and seconded. Director Holly, any ACA Holly, any questions or comments on this one? Summary description. >> Chair Connelly. Thank you, commissioners. Mike Herszing, Henipin Health CEO is available to provide background on this bar. >> Thank you, Mr. Herszing. Welcome. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, commissioners. I'm Mike Hersing, the CEO at Henipin Health. Yeah. Again, this amendment is to add $23,155 to our contract that we've had with Mercury Healthcare, Inc., which does business as Web uh WebMD Ignite. It does provide our members with access to health, wellness, and clinical knowledge based content. Uh we know that evidence-based and certified decision making aids the provider, the care manager, and the member. The solution offered by Mercury Healthcare meets our DS DHS contractual obligations. Its content is certified by the National Committee for Quality Insurance. Um, and finally, I'd add that there are no um county property tax involved in these. These are all just our enterprise dollars that go to fund this. And I'd be glad to take any other other questions you might have. >> Thank you. Questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing and hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That item passes. Thank you, Mr. Hersing. Um item 2B, there's an item for discussion and action. I have some comments on this one. First, um one of the things that I wanted to just highlight first of all is just I appreciate hearing from all five of our 911 EMS providers who serve Henipin County residents. Three providers, however, Alina, North Memorial, and Ridgeview, have voiced strong support for adoption of an amendment of an amended staffing requirement to ordinance 9 that would set a baseline ALS staffing model of at least one paramedic and one EMT per ambulance. Edina, the only firebased EMS provider, supports this amendment. However, it has stated that it plans to continue to staff with uh two paramedics because it hires only paramedic level firefighters. Henipin EMS is part of the Henipin Healthcare system has so far maintained two paramedic staffing to serve ALS patient needs of its primary service area. However, Henipin EMS and HCAP have concerns about the sustainability of continued um funding to staff with two paramedics, two paramedics per ALS ambulance. Um, in in this in the PSA, the Henipin EMS medical director and EMS chief have determined that two paramedics per ALS ambulance are needed to serve complex high acuity medical conditions of their patients and to support that Henipin EMS medics who respond in this high um high call volume area. So, because the ordinance's staffing decision significantly affects the operations of all five of our EMS providers of 911 service across the county, I want to take some time to convene a task force to study the governance of a of Henipin EMS in light of sustainability sustainability concerns for this essential service for our residents. We want to acknowledge that three EMS providers have testified before us that they would be forced to cut their available ambulances by up to 50% if they have to go back to the two paramedic staffing model. So that would drastically reduce um 911 medical services for many of our county residents. We also understand that each PSA has unique patient populations and we want to ensure that the staffing that's required to meet those patients medical needs is available now and in the future. So, if we extend the suspension of ordinances, ordinance 9's um section 7 staffing requirements, it would allow each 911 EMS provider to continue to staff according to the decisions of the EMS medical director and EMS chief as long as the staffing model meets the state standard in chapter 144E that requires at least one paramedic and one EMT per per ALS ambulance. and it would allow us enough time to assess serious concerns about the future of Henipin EMS as an essential public service to our residents. Um, so what I would like to do is make a substitute motion and I believe those are coming down the dis right now. So this would be a substitute motion to item 26-0079 that changes the direction from adopting the proposed amendments to convening a task force to study the current governance and funding of the Henipin County EMS system. The task force shall report its findings to the county board with one within one year of its formation. Section 7 subsection one of ordinance 9 would continue to be suspended until no later than December 31st 2027. So I'm going to move the substitution if there's a second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Colleagues, comments, questions, discussion. Commissioner Fernando. >> Thank you. Um Madame Chair. So, if I'm understanding correctly, the suspension then allows the same staffing operational structure that we're in. And this resolving clause is specifically for the governance of Henip and EMS, right? Just to make sure. >> Yes. >> Yeah, that's I I think that's a great idea. I mean, the ordinance 9 coming up to us is already kind of peculiar, just to be like very upfront. Um and I if it does not operationally change what all of the providers are doing um allowing a little bit of study with respect to Henipin EMS given the material information we've received on Henipin Healthcare in the last several months um I as if it's operational status quo essentially so continuity of the understanding and then specified study for Henipin EMS specifically uh I I see the value in that because the the ordinance 9 rolling up to us is like from decades previously and then there were changes at the legislature in recent years with EMS and then on top of that it comes up to us whether it is a uh privately governed entity or a publicly governed. I just if it if it keeps continuity of operations and allows specified study of governance that seems very suitable given the dynamic conditions we find ourselves in. That's my commentary. Thanks, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. Um, thank you. And I would agree and I just would include that it's the current governance and funding of Henipin EMS. So, I think giving us time to at least study that would be helpful and keep operations at status quo right now. Commissioner Ed. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And um there so the funding of this will kind of all be within what we it's not going to be additional funds. Correct. We'll just kind of be wrapped up in what the current budget is. >> Not to my knowledge, but staff is prepared to answer that. Uh Deputy Murphy. >> Uh Madam Chair, we do have Assistant County Administrator Holly here to answer. I believe it'll be a good answer. >> ACA Holly. Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioners, my understanding is this would not have budgetary impacts. It's a study of the work that Henipin EMS is doing to serve residents here in Henipin County. So that's the the premise of the study is to to determine that um and to look at capacity and staffing related to the ordinance. Anything additional Kristen that you want to add? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Madam, just one more followup, Madam Chair. Um and so thank you for that. Um Director Holly, so how did we ever enforce ordinance sign anyways? I mean, honestly, to Commissioner Fernandra's point, I was like, we we're not we don't have what do we have like people patrolling to see if there was two paramedics on an I just don't understand how this would even function if we said we're not going to do this task force. So, thank you for doing the task force because I think I genuinely don't understand how this would actually be enforced if we don't >> Yeah. May I, Madam Chair? It's it's a board right now. It's it's a board that's over this and we there is besides that that's why they put it to us is so that we would be in contact with some of these folks to to ask and actually we would expect that they would answer honestly but also there's unions involved in here so somebody would say something to us if there was so it's not that there this is really a checks it's oddity that it's up here I remember when it first came to to me as a commissioner and commissioner green and I remember when this first came back up and we've renegotiated pieces of this many times with the board makeup and everything and about how we do treatment and care and everything. And so it's it's kind of an oddity, but I I do agree that looking at that governance might be a really good idea, although I would say that I haven't heard of any excursions from the model and what we allow them to do. Do you want to add anything? ACA Holly, >> Madam Chair, I don't. Thank you. >> All right. All right. All right, I got uh Commissioner Lundy. >> Uh thank you, Madam Chair. Uh just uh in my ever ending quest to add more enemies to my list, um I would be curious to see if there's a model across the country that has just one EMS system. Um I really take to heart the fact that we have got to rethink how we do local, county, state, and how we have these different pieces and managed by different people. Um, you talk about 911 centers, you talk about do does every city need to have a police agency? Uh, that's how far I'm willing to broaden my list. But we we're talking about property taxes. I mean, everybody here has been at the capital and we've heard from legislators concerns about property taxes. Will property taxes pay for this stuff? So, if we're not willing to ask these questions about is there a different model? I wonder each of us are raising property taxes pay for our own separate pieces. And I think the time has come across everything. We should at least ask. And if the qu answer is nope, this is a horrible idea. No one does it. Great. But if we don't when we have a task force, at least ask the question. Um I think we're missing something because I don't see the property taxes getting better. Does anybody here think suddenly in 3 years that no one's going to be talking about property taxes? I mean, they're compounding on top of people. >> And so I just want to ask the question and I would just ask if the task force could do that. And if the answer comes back that no one does it, here's why. Awesome. But to not ask that question, I think would be that. I mean, we also have we have air ambulance. We have so many different ways that maybe things could be sliced because I just don't feel like our property taxes. The solution is to just keep everyone keep raising every city, every school. We've got to see how can we share stuff, I think, across the board. And uh if it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense. But if we don't ask, um, I feel that's a lost opportunity. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Goel. >> Oh, no. I that was my comment. I was going to comment. >> Commissioner Anderson. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I think well, Commissioner Lundy at like finding enemy is like one of your superpowers, I think. But, um, >> the legislator, >> right? Like um I think one of the things another thing that I would be interested to know is what role insurance private insurance plays in the funding of EMS cuz I know um especially when um like a municipality is sending out uh fire in an EMS capacity. uh there is and I have heard that there is an incentive to to be the agency responding uh as an EMS so that they can get insurance dollars from it. Um and so having a unified uh response that is more efficient. Um and I think you know I think this is part of the the problems in rural Minnesota as well that uh response times and the payment of how to fund EMS more broadly um is really challenged. And I think having us do a study to um to evaluate how that funding model looks, how it functions, uh how best to regionalize potentially um can be informative for not just us but for the rest of the state. Um and so that's what I'll say. I think it's uh it's good to find more information. Um, I will say I'm I'm comfortable with the like either prolonging or approving the the change to the ordinance. I, you know, kicking the can down the road for another year doesn't necessarily solve anything other than uh like prolong what I think will probably happen in the end. So, thanks. >> Thank you, Commissioner Fernando. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to extend the comments from Commissioner Lindy and Anderson um regarding just the need for emergency response to be further studied and refined. So in our 10ount metro, there is something like 18 public safety answering points that deploy to over 400 emergency service zones. So when we think of ambulance, police, fire, and now mobile mental health or excuse me, mobile health as well as mental health uh response, we have added appropriately to the system over the years to have the right level of response cuz a rig is quite literally more expensive than other responses. And so further refining what the appropriate services for the appropriate call makes a lot of sense. And I've know I I've said consolidation in the past, but prior to that, we should be looking at what is the cooperative mechanism to increase the regional uh effort that should be occurring. Anyway, I want to repeat this, 10 counties, something like 18 or so PA SAPs, public safety answering points that deploy over 400 unique emergency service uh zones. And that's a lot. That's a lot of governance. That's a lot of overlap. What happens when a service concludes? I have actually not gotten a clear answer to that question. What happens when for for for any reason we at least uh are able to see um our kind of financial cliff coming and so we are engaging differently but we have stories all across the state where hospitals and services have just fully dissolved without any real notice. So, just from I know we're this is about Ordinance 9 and so I'm sure we're very far from it, but I couldn't help. Uh, but B, maybe it's a little bit scary when I'm energized by uh the enemy comment. I'm not sure. I I I I support you though uh Commissioner Lindy to commission as you wish. But from my perspective, 911 is the only service that everyone should expect to receive, no matter who they are, no matter if they're visiting, no matter why they find themselves in need of that. And there is some further clarity needed as we think of that emergency response system. We think about it as 911 going. That's not how it begins. It's someone having the worst day of their lives calling 911 for a very very long fewinute response. Um and so uh I get to be on MSP with Commissioner Anderson and we're also talking about even further regionalization cuz it's it is not um economically feasible for all of our counties to uh to be sustaining this. So, wanted to add that as a benefit for the year-long study because it's not that it's scoped into this study. These are conversations that counties are already having. These are conversations that each region is already having. Um, and uh quite frankly, everyone is looking for some sort of a miracle to uh have a logical cooperation or consolidated effort so we can save money and hopefully increase efficiency. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. Other comments? Um I'll just say this uh this task force will be busy out the gate. They've got uh my only uh suggestion is to make sure that leadership from um all areas are a part of this task force especially um the workers and union members uh who are who may be able to select folks to participate in the task force themselves. I think there's some autonomy there. They're on the ground. and they understand what their needs are and they can really help shape um what comes out of this study. So thank you colleagues with no further questions or comments. All those in favor please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Substitution passes. That appears to be the final item of business on our agenda. So I will declare us adjourned. I will call to order the human services committee. It is Tuesday, March 10th. It is 3:17 p.m. and I'm the chair, Heather Eden. Our first order of business is to approve the minutes from February 5th. If I could have a motion, please. >> Move approval. >> It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please say, "I >> oppose." Motion carries. We have one routine item before us today. Um, if I could have a motion for 2A. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. I'll read it into the record. Um 2A is a human services and public health resolution including contracts and amendments to contracts with providers. More information is outlined in the human services and public health contract report 2603. Are there any questions? These are pretty routine. Looks like there are none. All those in favor with no so with no questions. All those in favor please say I. I. >> Those opposed. This motion carries. Uh we have two agenda before us today. I'm going to if I can have a motion be put to uh item 2B and 2 C before us and then I'll read them into the record and we can have any questions. >> So moved. >> Second. >> They've been moved and seconded. Item two B um is an amendment to an agreement with the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency incorporating and updating exhibit B attachment for homework starts with home work plan with no changes to contract terms. And item 2 C is the joint powers agreement which I know my colleagues are very excited about and this is great news. The city of Minneapolis for um has sent us the emergency rental assistance for the period of March 1st, 2026 through December 31st, 2026 in the receivable amount of 1 million. Uh are there any comments or questions? Uh Chair Fernando. >> Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to acknowledge uh gratitude to City of Minneapolis for um outlining additional money that was previously not budgeted. It sounds like, of course, I want to appreciate that we have um we've all the county budget includes significant funds towards this. My request and encouragement is for us to begin tracking administrative expenses. I'm looking I'm looking a lot of places. Administrative expenses on top of the actual benefit. My reason for that is not unlike what's happening with SNAP. There's not only are we're getting hit twice, right? the decreasing the amount of money that is going towards a particular service and in that case increasing the administrative burden to deliver that service. So just in general wanting to kind of track um the administrative cost as well as the actual amount. Um and then if there could be a summary on there's just been some changes in terms or excuse me additional funds that have been outlined or at least requested I should say. So, a summary on any legislative efforts that are ongoing, any other cities that are kind of uh contributing to this space. Um, quite frankly, any jurisdictional partner, perhaps there's a school district or a different kind of we locals do need to stick together and Henipin plays uh appropriately kind of a regional role in that. Um and so hopefully in my mind we can get just uh be alive, be dynamic on the sense of need and then hopefully have some data on administrative spend because that's a huge aspect of the shifts that are coming down from um other kind of levels of government. So very supportive of both items and that's my comments, Madam Chair. >> Sorry. Okay. Uh, and thank you, um, Commissioner Connley. And I would just say this great news. Um, and I I just wonder if, uh, we, um, I know, Director Murphy, that we, you had sent out an email about, um, rental assistance and making sure, um, maybe if you could just bump up if there's a link that's sharable so that everybody could have it in their newsletter so that we're making sure that rental assistance is, um, getting out and people are getting access to it because, you know, government programs when they're hard to access, that's always a challenge. So, as long as we are getting those funds out and maybe we should get an update um in in the next 3 weeks on just how if are applications going out, are people able to get access? Are there any barriers that we're seeing? Would be really helpful. So, um with that, I thought Commissioner Connley, I was really surprised you didn't have anything. No, I actually jumped to the mic because I thought I was still chairing. It's this health committee's over, but no, thank you. I I want to just share the gratitude to the city of Minneapolis again. us locals uh I always say are the first line of defense uh against uh bad things that may happen above our heads but we really have um a package that we're approving today and also um work that we're doing to keep people housed, keep people um keep small businesses open. We are really responding to the moment in a way that I think is very much appreciative. So I'm I'm grateful to the city for being able to put up this money. am grateful to us for being able to receive this and uh and and and also have dollars that are have a very far reach throughout our county. I have a very small question and um the question came up in another committee around um property tax relief. So for folks who have mortgages where the property taxes are paid through the mortgage but perhaps they might be rolling behind on their mortgage and once you hit that second month it's double and it's very hard for people to pay. What mechanisms do we have right now for um any mortgage assistance? I think that even came up in public comment. Thank you Deputy Murphy. >> Uh Madam Chair, Commissioner Connley, I just was just a clarifying question. Are you referring to the portion of a mortgage payment for a family that's experiencing duress that would be uh principal and interest or are you portion or questioning the portion that would be attributable attributable to property taxes? >> I think the whole thing the whole you know if if I'm behind on my bill that it's principal interest part of it gets paid. So probably pro, you know, principle and interest I guess, but all of it really. >> Madam Chair, I'd greatly have the county administrator respond to that question. >> Madam Chair, commissioners, we do not have a um a program in response to mortgage assistance. However, what we do have is a partnership um with human services for our navigators. So for residents who are in homes where they are now um behind on their mortgage and struggling and at risk of losing housing due to that, our navigators come in and assist them and look at all solutions including how to assist them maybe with their current mortgage rates or whether or not alternative funding sources are needed or if they we need to assist them in finding um housing that they are able to afford. All right, with that, it looks like there's no further questions. Uh, so we will move to a vote. All those in favor of approving items 2B and 2 C, please say I. I oppose. Say n. The motion carries. That concludes the human services committee committee and we are adjourned. See you. See you guys. >> Have a good one. like to call to order the law, safety, and justice committee uh for today, March 10th. I just have a few items. Uh first up is uh approval of the minutes from February 5th. If I get a motion, a second, please. >> Approval. Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any changes, corrections, additions? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. We have two routine items. U because they're a little distinct, I'm going to do them separately. Could I get a motion to move? We do have an R1 which corrects the contract date or contract number. Um if I could get a motion to move the R1, please. >> The R1. >> Second. >> We have a motion, a second to on 2A to move the R1. The R1 is amendment to agreement uh with RS Eden to provide residential treatment programming, outpatient treatment programming, supportive housing for community corrections clients, revising 2026 budget line items with no other change to contract items. Does anybody need overview? >> Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. The second one, if I get a motion, put on the table, please. We have a motion, a second to move a joint powers agreement between Henipa County and the cities of Edina, Minnetonka, and St. Louis Park. The autotheft collaboration cooperative agreement period of 1126 to 123128. I'd ask if we get some background, please. >> Good afternoon, Chair Lundy, commissioners. I'd like to invite Major Shane Magnus from the sheriff's office to provide background on this item. >> Chair Lundy and commissioners, thank you. This collaboration establishes a multi-jurisdictional team for investigating automobile thefts and other vehicle-reated crimes within Henipin County. The JPA outlines responsibilities, protocols, resource commitments from each participating agency with organizational oversight provided by the Henipin County Sheriff's Office. The collaboration's mission is to respond real time to active vehicle incident theft incidents by employing proactive intelligence-driven approaches utilizing analysts and analytical data to identify and focus on areas where car theft is the greatest threat. Each participating governmental agency will commit licensed peace officers, equipment, and necessary resources to support autotheft investigations. The collaboration will utilize grant funding awarded from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Auto Theft Prevention Program in the amount of in the total amount of $631,000 ending fiscal year or ending June 30th, 2027. Grant funds will support specialized training, overtime compensation, and operational expenses essential to the collaboration's missions. Member agencies will bear all costs associated with salaries, equipment, and resources for their assigned officers. Any questions? I I did didn't have a question, just a request. I I'd love to see I know it's out a couple years, but to hear how the results go and it doesn't have to be like a formal thing, but I'm always kind of curious when you see these uh to see does it how well does it work? And you know, if there's things that we lessons learned that we can then kind of make part of our DNA that we do on every day. But uh anyway, >> I have some I have some we've had an unofficial collaboration. I have some kind of stats I can share with you right now if you want. >> So, we've worked with some of these agencies over the past year. We've recovered about 568 vehicles worth approximately $8.6 million in assets that we were able to return these to the victims where they were sold. This is obviously everybody who has a vehicle understands the implications of not having a car and jobs and everything else that it makes so much harder and being able to quickly recover these vehicles is an immediate turnover response for the citizens of Henipin County. >> Thank you. Thanks for that. I meant you had more time. You didn't have to get back to me right away. But >> trying to be prepared commissioner. >> Yes. >> Uh so we do have a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Opposed. >> Motion carries. And with that, the uh agenda of the law safety justice committee is complete. We're adjourned. I will call to order our public works committee uh meeting for today. Our first item on the agenda is to approve the minutes from our February 5th meeting. May >> we have a motion and a second? Any additions or corrections to the minutes? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The minutes are approved. We have two routine items. I would move both of them together as a block. May I have a motion >> and a second? >> I will read them into the record. Uh item 2A is to negotiate an agreement with Brooklyn Center for cost participation and maintenance for CASA 57 or Humbult Avenue. Um estimated county cost of just under $3 million uh with the transportation advanced account preservation and $85,000 of county bonds. Uh item 2B is to negotiate an agreement with Bowri Oil and Service Inc. to provide energy center with fuel delivery services with a period of 32026 to 123134 with an estimated not to exceed of $2 million. Uh my colleagues have any questions? Both of these are pretty routine items. Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Those items are approved. Item 2 C is to negotiate various agreements for food rescue grants for periods between 4126 and 331-27 and 4126 and 93027 with a total combined not to exceed of $300,000. May I have a motion and a second? >> So moved. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Miss Cerny. >> Chair Anderson. Ben Kudson is with us today to provide an update on this topic. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Kudson. Chair Anderson, commissioners, the food recovery grant program was established in 2024 to provide funding to food shelves and food recovery organizations to rescue edible food that would otherwise be destined for disposal. These grants fund transportation, storage infrastructure, staffing, and equipment to process food and other items related to food recovery. We released a RFP in November of 2025 and received 20 applications. And the evaluation panel, which included staff from public health, is recommending eight grant awards for a total of $300,000. I'll quickly list the organizations and uh what what they're using that funding for. Uh St. Louis Park Emergency Program, $8,000. It's for a freezer. North Suburban Emergency Assistance Response 18,500 for cold storage. All Nations Youth and Community Assistance Program 29,600 also for cold storage. Sisters Camelot 34,900 for a truck to transport food from food rescue. uh the Church of the Incarnation, 120,000 for a hub and spoke model where they would receive surplus food and then get it out to the places that need it most. And then the community and emergency services, 15,000 for a freezer. East Side Community Neighborhood Services, 54,000 for a truck. And the last one on the list is Inter Congregational Communities Association, $20,000. And that's to do more food rescue associated with farm and agricultural surplus food. And you you'll see the difference. One one group is for certain time period and the other group is just for 6 months longer. And these grants are projected to recover approximately 8 million pounds of food annually. And the best part is these efforts support several county goals. It's eliminating health disparities by increasing access to healthy foods and it's climate action by diverting organics from the trash and of course accelerating progress towards zero waste. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you. Yes. >> I just want to say first of all, I'm really excited that we're doing a lot around this whole food rescue because this organics things is a really big issue for us and we're hearing about it. And I don't think people understand the amount of organics and what that does for our waist streams and how we have to have that to get to the goal that we want. And so I'm fully supportive of all these kinds of initiatives that we're we're doing on this. I just I want to say that um we have a next step to do that's really kind of cool because I've been following I don't know if any of you follow France and what they've done. They they were the first ones to start the ugly fruit and buying the ugly vegetables and stuff like this. France instituted that. It's very cool. But the last thing that they just did and just passed and I don't know how long it'll take them to institute it is that when a ger's produce is at a certain age, they have to give it away to a food source if it's edible. So they have to give it to a food bank or something like that. When you think about what that does to the system, that's a whole different ballgame. And that that's a very interesting concept. You it'll take a while to set up a program. You know, you you have to have the trucks, the storage, all that kind of stuff and how to get it out quickly and fast because this produce is aging, right? But that's a very interesting concept. >> Thank you, Commissioner Connley. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I'm also a big fan of this. Um, and want to recognize that this program is only a two years old. It looks like we started this in 2024. >> Yeah. So, great. Um, but I'm also not uh shy about how when I look at, you know, discarded food can fill up Target Field one and a half times and most of that food comes from restaurants and big chain grocery stores. I am not shy about the fact that I want to hold big chain stores accountable for the amount of food that goes into our waist stream that ultimately ends up in the trash when it shouldn't be. So, I'm a big fan of diverting that. That means more resources and more dollars out the door to the organizations like this who want to feed people and um and and share in our acceleration of zero waste. But I think that uh we're doing some research right now on what we can do around making sure that big chains, big grocery chains and restaurants aren't throwing the food away in the first place and are really being a part of of how we get to a zero waste future, how we speed that up. Um, I really am impressed with the work that we've done over the last two years in this um with these grants and I I certainly think that there's um there's opportunity to be had and who we can hold accountable or what we can possibly mandate. Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner Lundy. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh just a question. I don't know if it applies, but it would it brought my my grandfather before he passed, he spent retirement, but he for 30 years he'd pick up day old bread and he'd have a route and they'd visit different houses that the churches would give him and he would just deliver food and he's kind of a nosy guy. So, I think it really kind of fit his thing, got him out of the house. Um, but they ran into problems because the local government started to say, "You can't take this food. You can't distribute this food." So, it was like government with regulations started to get in the way of what they could do. when it took like town action to say don't mess with the red route cuz it's been going on for so I was curious are there things that we may be doing that preclude some of the stuff that we're talking about how can we capture food before it just gets tossed because we have regs and you know just like drinking out of a hose is horrible even though I did it in my entire life as a kid and so did most kids and we all survived but there's rules on it now so I'm kind of wondering do we start to in our effort to protect everybody from everything start to stop some of the stuff where this stuff could make it downstream to other places. >> Chair Anderson, Commissioner Lundy, it's a good question and I think for us it's mostly around perception versus what's actually in place and there are good Samaritan laws in place that don't prohibit those donations. But I think it's more it's about us making people aware of that so they're they're not concerned about donating. And so we have developed some information, some brochures in the past so we can distribute that information to say, hey, you're gonna you're going to be okay if if you do the right thing, you're protected. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Um my comment, uh Commissioner Connley, I want to thank you for highlighting the the big stores. Um, I know in suburbs there are a lot of big stores with some pretty significant produce sections. Uh, that I mean, for as much as we use, I know um, often times we could do a better job of making sure that that produce and and food is getting to uh, the appropriate places better. I know that there are several nonprofits in the suburbs that are doing some of this work. Um, I'm curious in this list because it's pretty centered on like in Minneapolis and the First Spring suburbs if they're doing work to get the get food sources from kind of the bigger stores from the suburbs into areas where there might be more need. I mean, there's need everywhere, but um, you know, we've seen food shelves being stretched to their max. um to what extent are we making sure that the this work is regional across the entire county to make sure that we're collecting from where the food is to where it needs to be. >> Chair Anderson, I I really want to share a list of the 2024 and 2025 grantees with you as well. I think those uh had some good suburban locations on there. And also, yeah, good question about even the ones on this list. how far is their network reach? And I think I'll highlight a couple of those. One is the Church of the Incarnation that that is in Minneapolis, but they're working with Twin Cities Food Justice and they're they're collecting a lot of surplus food and then they're making sure they can get that out far and wide. Twin Cities Food Justice, I believe, has 40 maybe 40 or 45 different locations throughout the county and they work with smaller food shelves as well. So, they they have a good reach there. And couple other examples on that list where >> Mhm. >> it goes far and wide. >> Yeah. I I know that like in years past some of the other recipients have been suburban providers. I guess my question is more along the lines of making sure that if those needs like that food that is going into some of these suburban providers aren't also going to waste, right? or how are we making sure that the food is getting to people as efficiently as possible to make sure that um that people who are hungry are getting food um no matter where they are so that the appropriate amount of food is getting to the appropriate amount of people if that makes sense. Um so and that doesn't have to be answered right now but perhaps a followup at some point. Thank you. Any other questions? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Uh, that item is approved and that concludes our agenda. Good afternoon. Now call to order the housing and redevelopment authority on this Tuesday, March 10th, 2026. Our first item of business is to approve the agenda. Is there a motion to approve? >> So move second. >> Uh the item has been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. The agenda is set. Thank you. Item two is to approve the minutes from our previous meeting which was held on February 5th. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Minutes are moved and second. Any comments or corrections on the minutes? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? The minutes have passed. Item three is the claims register for which we have none. We have four five items on new business today. Um, is there a motion to bring item 4 A before us? >> Move approval. >> Second. Item 4 A has been moved and seconded and this is to negotiate an agreement with Ramsey County Housing and Redevelopment Authority for March 1st or March 12th, 2026 through December 31st of 2026. We are receiving $20,000 for this and Patricia Fitzgerald will give us an update. Thank you. >> Thank you, Chair Conley. Commissioners, Patricia Fitzgerald, Housing and Economic Development. Um, this item would authorize an agreement with the Ramsey County Housing and Redevelopment Authority for their participation in one of our cohort-based uh, small business support program, CEO Now. Uh, CEO Now is sort of in the middle of our series of business support cohorts um, that help businesses go from startup all the way to second stage. CEO now is really for businesses that are beyond the startup phase and who are really ready to focus on the foundations of running their business more efficiently and strategically. Um this is our fourth year offering the CEO now program and the third year that Ramsey County HR has chosen to participate. These funds will um part buy essentially seats for four businesses from Ramsey County to participate >> and I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Yeah, thank you. I'm glad they're involved. Questions or comments? Commissioner Fernando, >> I'll just make a comment that this is a multi-county effort and Ramsey has been a growing partner in recent years. Um I particularly appreciate the partnership between Ramsey and Henipin's HAS uh whether it was Noah from you know many moons ago now and then in the last handful of years with respect to small business equipping has really it has to be multi-county it can't just uh be one county and I think the partnership thanks >> thank you other questions or comments seeing and hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying I any opposed that item passes there a motion to Item 4B before us. >> So moved. >> Item 4B has been moved and seconded and this is to authorize conveyance of tract L of the Lake and Hayawa redevelopment project to the Metropolitan Council negotiating an agreement with the Met Council allowing the Met Council to temporarily lease tract O of the Lake and Hayawa redevelopment project for construction purposes. And I believe Spencer Agnu will be presenting on this one. Mr. Agnu, welcome. Thank you, Chair Connley. Good afternoon, commissioners. Spencer Agnu, uh, facility services. As you mentioned, this action pertains to two H own properties at the lake and Hayawata site. Uh, tract L is a small piece of land that's, uh, immediately adjacent to the light rail track vioaduct. Um, there was a prior HR board action that authorized transfer of this property to Mandot, which at the time was the owner of the light rail track property. Um subsequently met Metropic Council became the owner of that tract. So this action would authorize conveyance of the M met council who's the appropriate owner for the PO parcel and would authorize uh conveyance of ownership so they can take on ownership and um ongoing maintenance responsibilities for this piece. The second parcel is tract O which is a surface parking lot planned for future redevelopment. Uh, Metrop Metropolitan Council has requested temporary use of this property for construct construction staging related to its planned major rehabilitation of the Lake Street Midtown Light Rail Station. That temporary use would last for approximately 18 months as um the Met Council completes substantial renovation of the station and adds accessibility improvements. The long-term plan for this property remains seeking redevelopment for affordable housing and possibly other uses. So, we would anticipate re-engaging in that effort to seek um new proposals for the site once we have clarity on Metropolitan Council's timeline and hopefully line up a sale uh for shortly after their project wraps up. And I'd be glad to answer any questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. Questions or comments from my colleagues? I'll just say the Southside is really much uh very much looking forward to the redevelopment there. Uh all those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That item passes. That brings us to 4 C. Uh, is there a motion to bring 4C before us? >> So, move second. >> It's been moved and seconded. 4 C uh is an estimated capital project in the 2026 special projects budget. A transfer or fund 37, a transfer of a little over $813,000 in budget authority from cap from another capital project to a different capital project to close a capital project. I'm going to have Mr. Dockery explain all of that to us. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, the H created a special project in 2025 to help facilitate completion of affordable housing contracts that were approved under the American Rescue Plan. One project, the Minnotonka Boulevard affordable home ownership project in St. Louis Park, encountered additional challenges in 2025 that completed its transition last year. Today's action will create a new 2026 project for the Minnotonka Boulevard contract, transfer funding from the 2025 contract budget to the 2026 um budget, and then close out the 2025 project. Upon completion, the Minnetonka Boulevard project will provide eight affordable home ownership home ownership units. Staff has confirmed the ongoing support of the project by the city of St. Louis Park. With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> Thanks for breaking that down for us. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That item passes, which brings us to 4 D. Is there a motion to bring that before us? Has been moved and seconded. 4 D is to negotiate agreements with Sigma Consulting and Training and with Small Business Dream Builders to provide financial management consulting. The dates on this item are April 1st of 2026 through December 31st of 2026 with a total combined NTE of $60,000. And I'll ask Patricia Fitzgerald to come back for that one. Thank you. >> Uh thank you again, Chair Connley, Commissioners. Patricia Fitzgerald, Housing and Economic Development. Um, this action would authorize two agreements that provide back office support in the form of financial management consulting for up to 30 service provider organizations that have Henipin County contracts. The agreements reflect a collaboration between housing and economic development and purchasing and contract services. The goal of this work is to help the county's contracted service providers and especially smaller nonprofits proactively work on their accounting systems, refine their financial policies, and strengthen their billing and financial reporting practices. Resources for these agreements were included in the and planned as part of the HAS's approved 2026 budget over the long term. Really the goals um are to not only reduce risk to the county but also to improve the capacity and sustainability of service providers who do important work for the county. And with that I'm happy to answer questions you may have. >> Thank you. Questions, comments? Commissioner Anderson. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Just um expressing appreciation for this. I think it's uh it's important when we're able to provide modest resources to support small businesses, nonprofits to do what we're expecting to avoid mistakes um and other administrative overhead down the road. Having served on the audit committee, I know uh this is one of those places where uh every time we're going through an audit, the cleaner we can have books coming to us because of, you know, kind of relatively modest support, it saves on our administrative overhead or audit uh uh needs in the future and that way we know that services are are being delivered efficiently. So, just appreciate how how we're approaching this Absolutely. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That item passes. I'll move item 4 E if there's a second. >> I'll second it. >> All right. 4E is to authorize supplemental appropriation to amend the 2026 Henipin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority budget. Authorize interfund cash transfers to support small business recovery fund program. Um, I believe Patricia Fitzgerald, are you coming back up? Welcome back. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, thank you, commissioners. Patricia Fitzgerald, housing and economic development. Um, so this action is in response to the financial and operational impacts that many small businesses across the county have experienced due to Operation Metro Surge during the time period from December 2025 to February 2026. The action would authorize approximately $2 million to establish a small business recovery fund that would make grants of up to $10,000 available to small businesses that have physical brickandmortar establishments that experience significant financial hardship associated with operation metro surge. We know from multiple sources that businesses across industries and across municipal boundaries are reeling from steep declines in revenue as many customers stayed home out of fear of immigration enforcement actions and operational impacts as legal foreignb born workers stayed home due to safety concerns. Reports document the most striking impacts to the retail accommodation and leisure sectors including food service businesses. One report by the city of Minneapolis estimates that revenue losses among restaurants and small businesses in Minneapolis alone were as high as $81 million in just the month of January. staff's direct outreach, outreach by Elevate Henipin Adviserss, surveys and reports from the city of Minneapolis and the Federal Reserve, and outreach reported by partners in the cities of Brooklyn Park and Bloomington, for example, show similar patterns with 70% or more of businesses in many locations reporting significant negative impacts, including temporary closures by an estimated 25% of businesses in some business districts. The action for your consideration today is designed to help mitigate those impacts by providing direct funding support to businesses to help them survive and recover, preventing widespread business closures, job loss, commercial vacancies, and blight throughout the county. The action includes a contract amendment that provides for grant administration services to be provided by a local nonprofit community-based lender. Next stage resources for this C fund come from existing HR funding in the total amount of $2,19,610 comprised of loan repayment proceeds from the community asset transition fund loan that's one loan rescended transit oriented development projects that did not move forward and a portion of the 2026 allocation for the transit oriented communities program in addition to HA fund balance and with that I'm happy to answer questions. Thank you, colleagues. Commissioner Fernando. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to express gratitude for the creativity and the speed. There were a number of, of course, written comments over the um time period, but just today, the public comment had quite a strong thread towards this. And for those watching at home, this is similar to what we did in 2020. And we know that that was such an instrumental, of course, that was called the relief fund at the time, but that was so instrumental. We've received feedback over the years um on the success of that program which also came from reappropriated reallocated funds. So for those watching at home, we are using existing funds to uh redeploy in areas of defined need. Uh the request that I'll have similar to in 2020 when the applications come through, please um we're always oversubscribed. I'm always aware that we're overs subscribed and we should still know what the trend in data is expressing with that um with the applications that are coming in. Um not unlike a previous uh item in a previous committee around food, we locals do kind of need to stick together and our role as um our role as county a lot of it can be data, right? like what what trends are we seeing from which places? Uh cuz perhaps there are some partnerships or at least some meetings or convenings that might be uh important for us to uplift uh in this time period. Those are my comments. Thanks, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Commissioner Anderson. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um I was wondering if you could speak to how businesses would access uh like how they would go about accessing this and what the evaluation criteria is. Um, I know that like Operation Metro Surge impacted businesses across the uh across the county, across the metro area. Obviously, we're focused here, but um but not all businesses were impacted equally. Uh so, I want to make sure that uh we're directing it to impacted businesses and and that we're doing that in a fair way. >> Yeah. Um thank you, Commissioner Anderson, Cheer Connley. Thank you for the question. Um I would say that communication and outreach so that businesses are aware of the program has become one of our strengths. Um and so we do are we are fortunate to have a very widely read newsletter um through which we publish news such as this. We also have great partnerships with our cities throughout Henipin County to help spread the word as well as doing direct outreach and outreach by our Elevate Henipin advisor network that serves the county. Um, in terms of evaluation criteria, um, well, let me speak to time frame. Also, I think what we're cognizant of is the urgent nature of making, uh, an application period available so that funds can get in the hands of business owners as quickly as possible. So, we're balancing that also with the need to get the word out and make sure we're spreading funds equitably and have an equitable reach. Um, so we hope to promote the fund starting in the next few days, be open for application in about a week, leave the application open for about a week so that people have time to to apply. Um, we also do a good job of making supports available to complete the application and providing materials in five different languages. Um, in terms of evaluation criteria, what we're looking at is demonstrated revenue losses during the time period over a comparable period um from the from the previous year. Uh, in addition, we do want to ensure that these are businesses that have a physical storefront um and a few other kind of detailed pieces that will be in the application and guidelines. >> Thank you. Other questions or comments? Um, one of the things that I just wanted to add is, you know, I'm very uh appreciative that we were able to piece together from different areas the funding necessary to get into the hands of small businesses within a week, within a few days, like get the application period open, but also just highlighting the direct outreach. So, I know you came to Marcato Central in District 4. I know you went to businesses on the north side. I know that the direct outreach really was to hear what business owners needed. And those were some really hard stories, right, of just drops in sales by the 80 90% uh the inability to um even open their doors for all the reasons that you've highlighted, the fear, etc. But that is a devastating impact. So, every dollar helps gets those businesses back to business, pun intended. Um and um we are not shy about the fact that small businesses are the driver or the engine, the economic driver of our entire county. And so anything that we can do um to help bring them back um to the black again, so to speak, is is great is um is really good work. So I'm I'm thankful that we're able to do this and able to do it quickly through this body and get it out the door. and um five different languages for the application materials is also beautiful, but I do want to just uplift the direct outreach that you do really is what helps guide how you get this out the door and the people that you are doing the outreach with are the experts. Um so taking their lead is is a beautiful thing. Thank you for that. Seeing um no other questions or comments, any uh um we'll go for the vote. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? That item passes. That is the final business uh for the H today. I will declare us adjourned.