All right. All right. We will call this meeting of the Richfield Housing Redevelopment Authority of February 17, 2026. Um we'll start with uh roll call. So noting attendance. Everyone is here which is great. Um moving to um open forum. So participants can share their comments in person by voicemail or email and also may request to participate virtually. For information on submitting comments, refer to the housing and redevelopment authority agenda and meeting page on the city's website. Um, there is no one here, I believe, for the open form in person. Um, did anyone call in or leave any notes for us? >> No, no comments for receipt. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, so that takes us to item number four, which is approval of agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. >> Uh second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any comments, changes, additions? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The agenda has been approved. Takes us to item number five, approval of the minutes of the uh housing and redevelopment authority work session of January 20, 2026 and the regular housing and redevelopment authority meeting of January 20 20th, 2026. I'll move approval of both sets of minutes. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Any comments, questions, concerns, or changes? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The minutes have been approved. That takes us to item number six, presentations, the 2025 H EDA year in review. Yes. Thank you, Chair Reese Daniels, members of the HA and EDA. Um, I am going to present this the 2020 2025 year in review. Um, and I just want to say that every year when this comes up and it's time for us to prepare this presentation, I go, it's another thing that we have to do. I think everyone on staff does. And then as we start to fill out the presentation, we realize just how much really good work that we have done with you over the past year. And it it really is nice to just take a few minutes and reflect on it and celebrate. So that's what we are if you could move to the next one. Thank you. So that's uh how we have organized our uh presentation this year. We can I go to slideshow this little >> Okay. Uh so this year we Oh, it does show the notes up there. Okay, that's why you're doing that. Anyway, >> I'll just start going and we'll work on the slideshow. Uh this year we've organized the review around a a theme of things we're proud of. So, um, again, I'm excited to celebrate the great work, uh, that you and staff have done together. All right. So, uh, first we're celebrating our first loan for a detached ADU. Uh, this was a resident who was getting an insurance payout for a garage that was destroyed in a storm when some trees came down, and they saw an opportunity to add an ADU above that garage. This project was completed just a month ago. It's a cozy little 600 uh 650 square foot rental right near Penn the Penn Avenue corridor. Um it's an example of what you know our zoning code has been looking for and what we have been looking for in the community. Very gentle density adding a unit here on an existing single family lot. Um something that will very very nicely fits in with the neighborhood. Um, overall since 2021, I will note we've uh offered or we've funded three ADUs through the transformation loan program. One ADU uh was also constructed through the Richfield Rediscovered program. All right. Next, uh Penn Station. We're celebrating our final approvals and the beginning of construction for the Penn Station project. This project checked a lot of boxes for us. It is 42 units of workforce housing. Uh affordable and accessible units, three and four bedroomedroom units, deeply affordable units that will be available to those earning 30% or less AMI along with the supported services uh that folks in the building may need. And while it was not part of our criteria, the developer of this project, uh Johnny Opara, is an emerging developer of color, which just happened to be a bonus. Um and we are excited to be expanding opportunities uh and to grow representation in the development world. Uh this project replaced very distressed older buildings. You will remember uh it offers affordable units in a corridor where we hadn't seen any new affordable units with the Novo and the Lansby. Those projects had been entirely market rate. All right. And then we just talked about uh the no our Noah preservation work at our work session, but this is the Hemple project. And in 2025, the Han council wrestled with our first large 4D tax classification related request with the sale of uh Winton House, Richland Court, and New Orleans Court. The H and EDA contributed $1.77 million for acquisition, preservation, and rehab of 236 units. Playing into that decision were the particulars of these communities. There were 48 rental assistance families in these communities, 24 three-bedroom town homes in a community that generally lacks larger uh bedroom units, and the knowledge that two large tiff districts would be desert certifying at about the same time and therefore helping to balance the change in our tax capacity. As part of the sale, the new owners are investing $7.3 million into building improvements. So, we're celebrating new homeowners at Woodlon Terrace, which is exciting. Two new homeowners uh bought into the community last year. Both were single parents with children. Uh you could um the home buyers are here. One of the home buyers is pictured with her daughter and had rented with her family in Richfield and Bloomington for years. When her children were young, they had regularly played at Lincoln Field, which is adjacent to Woodlon Terrace. So nice full circle moment for them moving back and becoming a first generation home buyer there. Uh this was very complicated. There were lots of partners involved in this. The purchase was supported by a new lending product that was funded by the 2023 Minnesota legislature funding and administered by neighborhood neighborhood I can't say that neighbor works such a weird neighbor works home partners and supported by co- north uh and funds also funds from the Met Council. Notably uh work to support these low-income buyers has taken years of collaboration. We're proud to say that three more uh new homes for low-income families are planned. Met Council LHIA funding uh has helped to support these uh homeowners and the city was awarded a grant in 2023 also to assist. All right. And then finally, uh our Woodland Terrace utility improvements were completed in 2025. That also took some time. Um the Woodlon Terrace Cooperative leadership like to take um vials uh jars with the uh old water from the from the park and show the legislature and um the the type of water that they had available and now they're on Richfield water. Those uh jars of wellwater are displayed up in their community room in the community building uh kind of as a showand tell. Um so really exciting to have them fully supported um on city utilities and that supports the new homes uh that were that are being added to that community. We're very proud of the work of housing staff and the HA for our housing program evaluation. In order to make sure our programs serve the needs of the community and the priorities of you, our leadership staff completed program evaluation late in the spring of 25. Already as part of that evaluation, staff has forgiven more than 40 deferred loans for housing maintenance uh with the change of the loan term from 30 years to 15. And this expedited the request for forgiveness for two loans. All new loans are being issued now with that 15-year term. Staff continues to consider tweaks to the programs to align better with the findings of the value evaluation, and we've begun collecting more demographic data about applicants for all of our programs. We're looking forward to introducing changes to the transformation loan program later this year. Uh staff identified a property listed for sale that was a great fit for the Richfield Rediscovered program and we purchased the property at 680414. This was a very distressed home. Uh the owner did not have a lot of options for sale. um acquisition, abatement of hazards, and very soon demolition will open this lot for construction of a new home, helping to diversify our local housing stock. The plan uh currently is that the lot will is well suited for a single family home and could be an opportunity to support um climate friendly and eco-conscious new development or a universal design, a home accessible to aging people or those with disabilities. So stay tuned uh for more on 680414. We had great success in our applications for grants. Uh we were awarded a policy and affordable housing program development grant from the Met Council that's helping us to add additional staff time to create a homeowner maintenance program using LAHA funds. The picture Oh, sorry that picture was removed. I'm not going to talk about the picture. Uh we ac we we successfully applied for TBR funding for cleanup of the former American Legion site. We also ha got TBR and LHIA grants for Penn Station. We got a matching grant from Minnesota Housing for our affordable housing trust fund and an award for the Bring It Home State Voucher Program. All in all, it was $2.36 million. And while money itself is wonderful, we owe thanks to all the funders. But I also want to call out our staff who monitor the availability of these grants. Uh in many cases we are the party that applies for these grants. Then we submit all the monitoring documents for these. Um so a lot of thanks to everyone on staff who applies for these and to Colleen Thorn Thornberg in finance who helps us to manage all of these grants. We want to celebrate uh some business successes as well. We sold a remnant piece of land to a dentist on the east end of 66, then brought that uh small piece of property back onto the tax roles. Now, it seems like something like just selling a little piece of remnant land uh would be easy, but this took several months of work. um a lot of work in conjunction with public works or attorneys and others to get that done. Uh ultimately, I think the dentist is very happy. It made their their property make a lot more sense and it really truly was land that the HR um didn't need anymore. So, thanks to Jan on that months and months of work. Our sack assistance program awarded almost $10,000 to a new coffee shop that will soon uh be opening at about 13th Avenue and 66th Street. Our Elevate Henipin partnership continued and it was again quite successful. 39 businesses received help. Um the most used advisor services were for marketing, access to capital, business strategy and legal assistance. and our business bulletin which is a keyware key way to share information and resources with businesses. Um in 2025 we meaning Jan doubled the number of subscribers um which helps expand our reach. It helps us build relationships with our businesses. Um she is really doing an excellent job on that and specifically um in re reaction to operation metro surge getting our businesses as much information as we can to help them uh manage manage these impacts. Continuing with economic development in 2025 17 new businesses opened. Those range from salons to coffee shops to restaurants to Lommo Bonita uh at the hub through staff referrals. Richfield businesses were the first to participate in a new commercial property ownership loan fund which helped a small business owner purchase uh the property he was leasing. That's Stall One Auto Stall One Auto on Lindale and uh a small business loan program which filled a financial gap and helped a business launch and that was open hairspace. We worked with Civic Brand to develop a branding and placemaking strategy. The EDA will hear more about that later tonight. there was significant engagement to inform uh to inform that project. More than,00 people participated. Um and then we developed Jan developed with your help the revive program. Uh that launch has been paused due to operation metro surge and our uh reactions to that. But that will hopefully be kicking off here in the next couple of months. And then this is always my favorite slide. Um, just a reminder that we are, what we're really celebrating here are the people of Richfield, the people that do business, the people that make up our neighborhoods, the people who are our friends and who attend school with our friends here in Richfield. Um, by these numbers, the HR and EDA served, this number changed several times, 557 households and businesses. Um, more households were served by CE remodeling and home maintenance loans this year with the change in the interest rate. Um, after a year of significantly higher uh first-time home buyer loans in 2025, 20 or 2024, 2025 returned to a more normal uh rate on that program. Four new home households uh were helped through homes within reach in 2025. uh low-income households using the home energy squad visits rebounded. Uh we did have a lower number of architectural consults and remodeling advisor visits than in previous years. And we're going to look more at those programs and what we can do to advertise those. But still 557 households and businesses is really something to celebrate. And then I want to celebrate these people too. Uh you all set the policy, the council sets the policy, but these are the folks that get that done. So thanks to Julie Urban, Jan Youngquist, Lynette Chambers, Hillary Love Lace, Celeste McDermott, to Lisa Parson, Michelle Luna, Latana Dubois, and Colleen Thornberg. And that is our presentation except for you think it was hard to put together a year in review. Think about putting together a 10 years in in re year and [laughter] year in review. Um we wanted to recognize chair freeze Daniels and thank you for your leadership. Um this is just a a sampling of the projects that you have been involved in um over your tenure with the HR and before that the planning commission as well. Um so I uh would like to give you a certificate and a little gift and congratulations >> [applause] >> Thank you. >> Well, thank you. Um, I will just first say like after 10 years like it has been such a source of pride and joy to get to like be part of the HA and the EDA and get to work with all wonderful people and the staff throughout the years and to think about like all the things that um have happened. This is always my favorite meeting of the year seeing the year in review because it's so cool to think about all the stuff that's happened past year and I think back the past nine to 10 years it's been just wow such a great place to live and I think like this just amplifies it and getting to see a little bit more of the insides of kind of all that happen. Thank you. Thank you everyone. I'm going to do this on Monday nights now. >> Well, you can always come back to the meetings. Thank you so much for all that you've given to the city over these years. We are going to miss you. >> Thank you. Well, I'm not going anywhere. I'll still sit up there and watch. So, but back to the annal, you know, it being not a quieter year, but a quieter year for development. But then you look at all the great things that like the staff has put together and the done and everything is just astounding and amazing and all the businesses too. Like little old Richfield had that many new um businesses joining. That's amazing. Love that. And I love to see uh how this community continues to show up for each other not just in the housing that this work but in every aspect. So thank you to everyone. Anybody else want to comment on the year? Well done. I'm Last year I remember thinking, "Oh my god, they did all this stuff. It's amazing." So well done is what I would like to say. And Chair Reese Daniels, it's been a pleasure. And you don't know this, but I've learned a lot from you. It's my first time on a public board. I've learned a lot from you. Ask questions, make comments. I really appreciate what you've done. >> Um yeah, I will also thank staff for the presentation. Um, and I the number of new businesses I realize they vary in scale, but that was also really encouraging to see. So, thank you for your work. And Erin, thank you so much. It has been ever since our first training and planning commission, it's been a pleasure to serve with you in various capacities over the years. Um, yeah, you've just been a great great in a number of ways. You've been a great chair to our group. You've been a great I think skeptical eye to policy. You're not a you're not a rubber stamper. You've asked great questions. Um, and Richfield is is stronger for it. So, thank you for your work to help you continue to stay involved. >> Erin, I just want to thank you for Yeah. for your service like everyone else. And I and um what I really liked about you is that you you kind of kind of dig into the issues. And so, it's not just kind of like a surface looking at the issues, but you you have kind of a very analytical mind who can bring up questions that well, nobody else thought of. And that's a that's really a very valuable asset you brought to to our board. >> And I also um want to thank the staff for all of the um programs we've been doing. And I want to really call out the business bulletin because right now with all of the economic impacts that are coming with Operation Metro Surge, it's been a valuable source to our community to find out where the grant programs are and where the ways that businesses could reach out for help. So it is always fun to to watch the year and review and see all the great work that was being done. But I really want to call out the business bulletin and I'll say again, thank you so much for all you've done, Chair Vice Daniels, and best wishes for your future adventures. >> Thank you. All right, if there is nothing else, we will move on to agenda item number seven, the consent calendar. I don't think there's anything on the consent calendar. Thank you. Um, so that takes us to number nine, there are no public hearings. Um, item number 10, resolutions. Turn it over to Executive Director Pilman. >> Thank you, chair. Uh, I will ask assistant director Julie Urban to present. >> Thank you, Chair Reese Daniels, members of the H. This particular item we often put on consent, but I think it's helpful every now and then periodically to bring some of these off and just offer an opportunity for more dis discussion if you would like to or just to be a little bit more um focused on some of our programs that well they become routine but maybe it's it's helpful to refresh and to think about them. So in this case, the housing and redevelopment authorities new home program provides affordable home ownership opportunities in the community through new construction acquisition and rehabilitation and down payment assistance. As part of the program, the HA works with the West Tenipan Affordable Housing Land Trust or Walt doing business as homes within reach to purchase and rehabilitate homes to be sold to income qualifying households. Walt is a community land trust that allows moderate income buyers to achieve affordable home ownership by holding ownership of the land in perpetuity and thereby reducing the overall amount to be financed and the down payment required. The model ensures ongoing affordability throughout the lifetime of the property and with multiple owners. Walt is seeking to continue providing affordable housing in Richfield through this model. The proposed development agreement with between the HR and Walt details the terms of this continued partnership through 2026. Under the terms of the agreement, the HR has $240,000 available for Walt's purchase and rehabilitation of at least three single family homes. Walt will then resell the homes to households earning no more than 80% of the area median income. And I also would call your attention to the fact that we're finding funding for this program from a variety of sources, including our affordable housing trust fund, a grant that we received last year from the state's trust fund matching grant program, and hopefully community development block grant funding. And that is the end of my report. We recommend that you adopt a resolution authorizing execution of this development agreement. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer. We'll start with a motion. Is there a motion? >> I'll move to approve a resolution authorizing the execution of a develop developer agreement with the West Henipin Affordable Housing Land Trust doing business as homes within reach for the acquisition, rehabilitation, and sale of at least three houses under the new home program. >> Is there a second? >> I will second that motion. >> All right. It has been moved and seconded. Um, comments, questions, concerns. All right, seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The resolution passes. Thank you. Uh, takes us to item number 11, other business. I'll hand that over to Executive Director Pilman. >> Yes, thank you. And Miss Urban will present this report as well. >> Thank you, Chair Ree Daniels, members of the HR. In September of 2025, the HR acquired the substandard property at 680414th Avenue with the intent of preparing the site for future redevelopment through the Ridgefield rediscovered program. The property has since been declared of debris and abated for hazardous materials. In recent years, the HA has required the buyer of the lot to remove the structures from a property. However, given the poor condition of this particular property, staff recommends that the HA undertake demolition of all the structures. A priority of the Richfield Rediscovered program is typically to incorporate deconstruction into the demolition process whenever feasible. Deconstruction involves the careful removal of salvageable building materials for recycling or reuse, thereby reducing the amount of material sent to landfills. However, the cost to deconstruct and demolish has greatly increased since the last time the H utilized deconstruction services. The cost estimate to deconstruct and demolish the structure on this property is $59,000 and 5 $59,530. A grant from Henipin County would reduce the total cost to $41,530. However, the bid for demolition alone is significantly less at $22,34. Given the substantial difference in cost between deconstruction before demolition and demolition alone, staff is recommending that the H approve and execute a contract with Harkness Excavating for full demolation demolition of all structures. So, we recommend you approve a resolution uh authorizing execution of this contract and we're happy to answer any questions. Any questions with staff or motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve a resolution authorizing the executive director to execute a contract with Harkness Excavating for full demolition of all structures at 680414th Avenue South. >> Second. It >> has been moved and seconded. Any comments, questions, concerns? >> Uh I'm just curious from staff if we got any insight on why this was less competitive than the previous time we did it or the pricing. Was it is it particular to this property or just like people don't really want to do this or aren't willing to do it for cheap? >> Well, there's one particular firm that does it and I think there were two three explanations. One, just costs are higher. Um two, they are paying their workers more which we certainly support and um we struggled with this because we believe in the deconstruction process. We just couldn't couldn't recommend it in this case. Um, you certainly can choose to do differently in what was my third point? I don't remember now. There was a third reason it was so much higher. Well, just this property is in such poor condition. There's there is timber to be salvaged, but no doors, no windows, no real Yeah, there wasn't a lot of value. And there's three four structures. There's a shed and two garages and the house. And so it just is a it's a challenge. >> So I asked that in part because I do we expect this to be an issue anytime this happens in the future or is it kind of hard to say because it's so property too? >> I think it's hard to say but it could be yeah that it's just going to become where it's not feasible. >> Okay. >> Will the county put more money into it as a result? I don't know. I mean the last time we ended up um it reduced our cost to $9,000. So it's a significant difference and Yeah, go ahead. >> Well, I'm gonna I'm going to support this particular uh action tonight before us. Uh but I was just kind of questioning kind of the general policy of requiring the buyer to, you know, remove structures on a property and I I certainly understand the interest of the city to maintain and not bear extra cost, but it just seems like that would be such a disincentive for participating in the program. So, I was just wondering about a, you know, comment on that. So, it came about um back in the teens when we were doing a lot of Richfield rediscovered properties and we had one builder in particular who was very successful and did a lot of them and he pointed out that we were turning them over quickly and so we were filling this hole. The develop or the demolition contract would fill a hole and he'd just come and clear it out and a lot of times they'd fill it with stuff that wasn't the highest quality and it was costing him more. he it was just more efficient for him to do the demolition. So that's kind of where we we landed and and so so that may change. You know, we don't get a lot of these properties anymore and I would say that we'll take it on a case by case basis. >> Thank you. Um I I appreciate that we are always trying to um reuse and recycle um as much as we can and but I ultimately I really appreciate that we're looking at individual properties one by one and that we are being as financially feasible uh responsible as we can with this and knowing we aren't getting much value out of it that it's just not worth it in the end here. So um I'm supportive of this as well. Anybody else? One last call. All right, it's been moved and seconded. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed. The motion passes. Okay, that takes us to item number 12, executive director's report. >> Thank you, chair, members of the board. Just a couple of things to note. Uh we are working on the bring it home program. As I noted in the grants, we received a grant for the state housing voucher program. Uh the next step is a webinar that our housing staff are putting together to um help educate landlords on how this program will work and um how we'll be looking for them to partner with us in uh in creating a successful program. We're hoping that the uh list will be um opened in May. So, and we're also working with the county on the school to housing program. uh that's a way to get referrals from the school um to people who might uh qualify for the program and address families uh with the greatest need. That is the priority that we identified as part of this application. So wanted to let you know that that work is moving forward and hopefully in May we'll be opening the waiting list and that's all. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um that takes us to item number 13 H discussion items. Are there any discussion items? >> Yes, go ahead. >> Um, this came up earlier in the work session, but I'm was just curious if you could help us um give an update on the VEP and the housing assist or rental assistance program. >> Yes, thank you for asking. Um, as you'll you'll remember that last month the H committed $50,000 uh to VEP to provide emergency rental assistance. um knowing that Operation Metro Surge was likely going to create a lot of problems for um who were unable to go to work or whose uh work wasn't operating, etc. Uh we did check in with VEP last week. As of last Thursday, $12,000 of those $50,000 had been spent. There were a number of applications in process. We have a great relationship with BEP. We will continue um to monitor those funds. We're also reaching out to our landlords um to kind of anticipate uh the need going forward and we may be back with an additional funding request for you um next month. We'll keep you posted. >> Thank you. Anything else? >> Right. Seeing none. Um item number 14, approval of claims. Is there a motion to approve the claims? Motion to approve. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any questions, comments? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The claims have been approved. That takes us to adjournment. Thank you everyone. We'll move on to the EA unless anyone wants a break quickly. No. Um. All right. And then I will call the Richfield Economic Development Authority meeting of the city of Richfield of February 17th, 2026. It is 7:32 p.m. Um hopefully we can note attendance. Um we'll start then with open form so participants can share their comments in person by voicemail or email and also may request to participate virtually. For more information on submitting comments, refer to the economic development authority agenda and meeting and minutes page on the city's website. Looks like there is no one in person for the open forum. Did anyone call right in? >> Thank you, President Ree Daniels. We did not receive any comments. >> Thank you. Um, so that takes us to item number four, approval of the agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> Uh, motion to approve the agenda. >> I'll second that motion. >> It's been moved and seconded. Is there any comments, questions, concerns, changes? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> The agenda has been approved. Item number five, approval of the minutes. Uh, is there a motion to approve the minutes of the regular economic development authority meeting of November 17, 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any changes, comments? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. I opposed. The minutes have been approved. Um, item number six is presentations. I don't believe we have any presentations listed since we did the year review for the H and the EDA together. Um, I don't see anything on the consent calendar for item number seven. Um, I don't see anything number nine for public hearings. Number 10, no resolutions. Taking us to item number 11, other business. Um, I will hand it over to Executive Director Palman. Thank you, President Reese Daniels, members of the board. Uh, tonight we're asking the EDA to consider approval of the downtown Richfield brand identity and style guidelines and the placemaking playbook. And economic development manager Jan Youngquist is going to take you through that work and uh the final results. There we go. Thank you, President Breeze Daniels. the last time I get to say that. And uh board members, I'm really excited to bring to you tonight the downtown branding and placemaking strategy project. Um thanks to a grant from Henman Countyy's business district initiative, we were able to hire Civic Brand, a national consultant to lead this project. The most frequently asked question um as we embarked on the project was what or where is downtown Richfield? Um this is not an official boundary but for the purposes of this project um we identified um the area essentially focusing on Lindale 66 and Nicollet um and the surrounding commercial areas. There are also uh multifamily um housing in the area as well as natural amenities in Richfield Lake Park and Woodlake Nature Center. Um goals of the project were to develop a branding and placemaking strategy that's rooted in and informed by community engagement. Uh define a clear and distinctive place brand identity and create an implementation plan that includes um near and long-term strategies for placemaking projects and activations. Uh [clears throat] there was a lot of community engagement that went into this project. Um uh we did a popup engagement at Lakewin's Co-op. There was an online survey with um 1,143 responses. Civic Brand was shooting for 400 and we blew them out of the water. Um, there were two virtual focus groups with business owners, property managers, residents, and representatives from the planning commission and a local nonprofit. One-on-one interviews with a council EDA member, nonprofit executive director, planning commissioner, and a small business owner. um a project advisory committee that was invaluable to this um project um consisted of city staff, a small business owner, a representative from Visit Richfield um and a representative from the arts commission. And as you'll recall, we had uh small group sessions and a work session with EDA and city council members. So we estimate that maybe 1,160 people uh took um provided feedback that informed this project. What did we learn from the engagement? Um location. Uh people really value the uh convenient location and um convenient and centralized location of downtown. Nature and parks. Uh people value green spaces, walking and biking trails, access to nature in an urban setting and uh diversity especially in food. Um but the multicultural nature of the district is highlighted particularly with um all of the great food options. Uh other themes that arose from the community engagement uh showed um some dissatisfaction. Uh people thought that uh downtown lacked an identity. Uh while a lot of people praised the walking and biking infrastructure, others um indicated that walkability was perceived to be dangerous or difficult when you've got large surface parking lots to to cross um over. And the hub came up quite a bit in engagement um described as outdated and rundown. Here's just a few um quotes from the engagement. Uh the area feels separated and not cohesive. Uh it's a place where you go and leave as soon as you're done picking up something. It's not a destination in and of itself. And I love this one. Uh downtown has all of the ingredients, but they're just kind of sitting in a pot and they're not fully cooked. So taking that um engagement feedback into account in crafting a branding and placemaking vision um strategy. The vision um guided the work. Uh so the vision is in the future the area is no longer just a place to run errands. It's a place to linger, gather and connect. People come here to explore locally owned shops, try diverse restaurants, and enjoy the cultural events that reflect Richfield's diversity and character. The district's lakes and trails provide natural anchors for activity and relaxation, inviting residents and visitors to spend time and experience an area that balances neighborly character and urban accessibility. Um, as this area evolves over time, uh, it will be grounded in Richfield's urban hometown spirit. And this is so motan, but it's modest yet urban, welcoming yet distinctive, and blends a mid-century charm with a modern, diverse, and inclusive community. So, we'll go to the branding. You'll recall at the work session, there were three branding concepts that were presented. um and the concepts that the EDA and council decided to move forward with um are included in this presentation. So um the branding is taking a mix of rich field the the logo font which has a mid-century feel to it and then bringing in bright vibrant colors and shapes that reflect the diversity and vibrancy um of the area. What's really cool about this is that with um the colors and shapes that you see on the right, we can pull out um um different pieces of that at different angles and use it throughout the branding. And so it gives us um while the the colors are uniform, it gives us a lot of different options um to carry forward in the branding. Um, and so then that's the branding piece, the placemaking playbook. Um, so it's a framework. It's not a rigid plan. Um, it's a collection of ideas, opportunity areas, and potential approaches, and should be viewed as a tool to guide decisions, support collaboration, and position the city to pu uh pursue future grants, partnerships, and private investments. So um the placemaking acknowledged that the city's made a lot of investments in infrastructure um in the downtown area and so the focus was in on how people experience the area rather than the physical. It's more about the experience. Uh looking at like the west side of the uh area has the natural amenities and newer redevelopment. The east side has older buildings, small local businesses, and that's where the diverse restaurants are. So, um, what the branding was trying to do was to, uh, celebrate the difference, the differences between the two areas, layer in placemaking, identity, and connection u to transform into a downtown with a cohesive uh, walkable place that's inviting and reflects the community. So, I'll walk you through some of the elements in the placemaking playbook. So, we'll start with uh Richfield Lake and Woodlake Nature Center. Um, a lot of people don't realize that Richfield Lake is even there. Um, and so one thing that came through in the engagement was looking at ways to um use branding and placemaking to uh build awareness um uh using entryway signage, wayfinding signage and lighting. Um but also trying to preserve the quiet character of these areas. Uh the branding can be brought through into bicycle parking signage um at these areas. And there is um on the trail that goes around Richfield Lake, there is poetry that is done by local um local residents that changes out every couple of years. So, um it's on just regular wood posts and um uh the branding can be woven in uh to that for um the the poetry. Uh there was a lot of value and excitement about the 66th Street um cycle track and bicycle spine. And so there is um opportunities for branded maps, bike racks, um bike repair stations. Uh One of the things is a centralized kiosk that can direct people to other parks and destinations across the city. So, showing people how quick it is to get to Veterans Park or the library or the community center on a bicycle. Um, and so the signage is really what we consider traditional way finding, but there are also recommendations for exploratory uh, wayfinding, and that can be done through painted benches, um, planters, ground graphics, so visual cues that, uh, lead people through an area and explore the area more intuitively. So, here's an example of ground graphics. uh what they're recommending, these are um vinyl uh pavement uh decals that can be placed um and so it can help direct people to different destinations like the sculpture garden or helping people make the connection between um uh Richfield Lake Park and Woodlake Nature Center. Uh the roundabouts were identified as areas that could be used for gateway branding and public art, creating kind of a sense of arrival as you enter into the area at Lindale and Nicollet. And banners can be used as um gateway elements kind of announcing entry into the area and helping establish a sense of place. So you'll see a variety of the color elements from the branding combined with um destinations and messages such as where culture connects and and made to meet. So it's kind of building a sense of place and kind of eventually earning the term downtown. Uh the vacant parcel next to Lake Wind's Co-op and um the Lindel Gardens amphitheater was identified for some um shortterm opportunities such as a mural uh seasonal art or food trucks, coffee carts um to activate the site until redevelopment occurs. Now, obviously this is private property, so it would need to be coordinated in conjunction with the property owner. Uh the area in front of the liquor store, which is adjacent to a bus stop, could offer public art, seating, shade, um to strengthen the area as um a civic space. [snorts] The railroad tracks that separate the east and west portions of the district were identified as opportunities to strengthen pedestrian connections. So, um, in the short term, we could look at using those vinyl, um, uh, ground graphics in the interim to lead people, uh, between the two areas. Long term, uh, the suggestion is for arches that draw the eye and make an interesting walk and lighting could be incorporated into um into those arches. >> [clears throat] >> Uh the hub with its large surface parking lot was identified as a key opportunity. Um some interim ideas were uh pedestrian paths. Uh so those are shown in the red um on this map. Uh those could be done with paint um that could draw attention um for both the pedestrian as well as people in vehicles and kind of mark a walking route from uh 66 or 65th. um to stores at the hub. Parklets are also suggested as gathering spots where people could eat food that they've picked up from restaurants in the area. Again, this is private property uh would take coordination with the property owner. Here's an example of how the branding could be pulled into a parklet structure. Um and the images on the right show ideas of brightly painted areas that could serve as the pedestrian walkways or gathering spaces. So these are all um inter interim um short-term lowerc cost activations. The bigger dream um is to create more public space at the hub which could be used for flexible programming, food trucks, popup events. Um trying to help it function as a destination that's adaptable and reversible. So again, an interim idea. And the even bigger dream um is to create a more permanent gathering space by converting some of the parking lot into a destination. Uh the images that you see on this slide are from Dallas, Texas. Uh the upper is an aerial of a older shopping mall um that the um space in between uh the two sides of the building was converted into um green space and a park. uh that transforms it into a a a people- centered environment that draws people in and it supports the retail um adjacent. The restaurants there um have created patios that take advantage of the green space. So this is a big big dream. Um so um so that's the placemaking playbook and again uh the idea is to create a sense of place and help uh uh earn the name downtown. Um again the playbook is a framework not a rigid plan. Um we're asking you to approve it tonight but it doesn't mean that you're approving all of the concepts in it. It doesn't mean we're going to do all of the concepts in it. um their ideas to spark discussion. This is not the end of the project, it's really the beginning of the project. Um so next steps include identifying potential partnerships and funding opportunities. Um there's a lot of coordination with stakeholders that would need to happen whether it's public works, recreation, private property owners, the arts commission, the community in general. Um and would really love to begin implementation uh testing things out. We've got some funds in the economic development budget. Um, and so we can uh try out the low hanging fruit banners, maybe the uh vinyl, um, uh, ground decals and see what works, what doesn't work, and then make a plan for the future. So, um, that concludes my presentation, and I'd be happy to take any questions. >> Anybody have any questions? Go ahead. >> I just had a a comment. Um, this was great work and thank you for doing all of that. I really appreciate it and also kudos to um, Council Member Hayford because I remember you brought this up as a policy proposal back in the day. So, thank you for getting the ball rolling. Um, I did have one question. You know, the the mobile coffee carts and some of that stuff. When I asked about that, I was told we had to get a food truck ordinance. Can you speak more about the food truck uh, um, how that works? >> Sure. So, uh, planning staff, myself, and um our environmental health folks have been uh working on a draft of a food truck ordinance. So, uh this might just be the the impetus for uh getting that um brought before the council. >> Thank you. I think that's pretty exciting that that's a possibility coming up. >> Um I'll give some feedback first and then ask some some general questions. This feedback I also shared during the work session, but I believe sort of not putting downtown on the signs to to the extent we put signs up um makes sense in response to the community feedback. I do worry as policy makers that it it distracts us from our goal of what we're trying to create and it isn't clear. So, I would just encourage us internally to continue to use the term downtown and I would say that the staff report and the title of the document both do that. So, that's a good example. But as we think about the comp plan, as we think about these discussions, if the brand is just Richfield, obviously we're always talking about Richfield. So we do need to have some sense of like this area is distinct um from the rest of the community and the rest of the business districts. And in the same way when we talk about sort of implementing the graphics of this, we in order to create a sense of place without using a name, whether that's downtown or like Lindale or anything, we need extreme consistency. And we've never really done that as a city so far. Um and I will just It's a low hanging fruit, but I'll call out we we just had name tents redone and even those like don't meet the padding requirements of in our officially adopted city guide for branding. So like we need to be like hyper consistent. So I love hearing that you have a lot of assets ready to go from what they've produced. Let's really try to stick to that and also try to be sure that we're not using that outside of the downtown area. So as much as it might look nice to brand 77 to Lindale like that, that's not what we're doing here. So, I just think it's we're being responsive to the feedback that that downtown on those signs on day one would feel insincere, but we've created a challenge of oursel for ourselves with this solution that we need to be hyperconsistent to make it compelling. And then my my question is, especially since we did have this previous way finding plan that we never did, um how are how are we going to actually do this and what what makes it different this time other than of course having you in the role? >> Uh thank you for the question. So um the wayfinding plan that was adopted but not implemented in the past um there is an opportunity to weave in this branding into that. So I envision us um uh implementing that plan with this branding as well. >> So that highlighted like locations and things you want to do and this would sort of be the visual of how that goes. >> Correct. Yep. Let's go ahead. >> Well, you mentioned that this is now of course just the start, not the finish. Now that we have this plan, um what kind of a timeline do you see for like implementing it and what is a a good measure of success at at points in the future? >> Thank you for the question. Um, so the timeline that'll be interesting because that will uh depend on funding opportunities, conversations, anything that uh is dealing with private property. Um, uh, I already have my eye on some grant programs out there to to help us implement this. So, uh, like I said, we'll be starting, uh, this year, uh, uh, likely with the banners and things, uh, with our current budget, but then we'll be exploring other opportunities and just having the conversations with stakeholders. So, there's it's it's a, um, as you can see, some of the um, the concepts we're dreaming very very big. Um, and so it's going to take a lot of coordination and conversations um, over the next few years. Well, I think I think it's a really good plan, a very good start, and uh um you know, I think it's going to kind of change how we look at our whole area uh you know, in significant ways. So, I think it's a good uh a good step forward. >> Thank you. Oh, I neglected to answer one of your your questions. I just realized uh a success I think uh awareness with people. I think once we get the branding out there and start creating this sense of place in this downtown area and people start to recognize it, I think that'll be a um a key metric of success. >> You've answered my questions. I had a couple questions, but you've answered them. I would just say I think this is a great idea. I'm all for it. Thanks for the work on it. >> Thank you. >> Is there a motion? Um, I will move that we adopt the Let me just approve the Downtown Ridgefield brand identity and style guidelines and placemaking playbook. >> I will second. >> All right. It's been moved and seconded. Any further comments, questions? Um, I just want to say I'm it's been really exciting to see kind of the evolution of this and you you said at the start and I can't wait to see it all come together. Um, having something in place to go and people to get more funding, to get more ideas and um I love that we are dreaming things. That's awesome. >> Oh, we did have one. >> Yes. Um >> to the extent that we have sort of assets ready to go when we are working with private partners, I don't know how that can be woven through like the development process, but I think of like where we've worked with major river developments to get public art. Um and even like through the revive program, like if something was in this area, it would be great if it was like, hey, would you like to get on rich field decal to throw up front? Like that's a that's a freebie. just things like that to encourage private businesses to sort of get on board because so much of the area is private property. So, thank you. >> Right, one last call. See none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion passes. Thank you and thank you for all the work. All right. Um item number 12, executive director's report. >> Thank you. My only report tonight is to thank you again, President Breeze Daniels. Um, it's been a pleasure to work with you. I really have enjoyed it. Um, both on the planning commission and in this role. Um, thank you. >> Thank you. Same. Um, all right. Uh, item number 13, EDA discussion items. Is there any EDA discussion items? Seeing none, um, is there a motion to approve claims? >> I'll make a motion to approve claims. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded. Uh all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion passes and we are adjourned. Then takes us to adjournment. Thank you everyone.