Good evening and welcome to our city council meeting. It is 6:16. We will get started. Roll call, please. >> Council member Bashore >> here. >> Council member Engel King >> here. >> Council member Bud >> here. >> Council member Brosen >> here. Council member Bodwin >> here >> and Mayor Prom Ferris >> here. Um please join us in the pledge of allegiance if you are able and willing to do so. >> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Agenda. Approve agenda. Can I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Um, all in favor? >> I >> I. >> Any discussions? No discussions. Before we get started with tonight's agenda, I want to acknowledge what our community is going through. On Friday, July 17th, the St. Louis Park Fire Department responded to a fire at the Helix Apartments. Council member Bud, as war representative, I believe you would like to make a statement. >> Thank you, Mayor Prom Ferris. Um, I just want to acknowledge the tragedy and the trauma that was suffered in our community this past weekend. Um, with the fire at the Helix Apartments near Highway 7 in Louisiana, over a hundred people lost their homes and their belongings in a matter of hours on Friday evening. I watched from nearby as the plumes of smoke and flames bigger than I've ever seen, rose up into the sky. It was quite quite um impactful. Um, but miraculously between the alarms and some quick acting property management and other residents, everyone made it out of the building to safety. I know um some pets were not able to make it out um but actually as conditions have stabilized now, there's some that are um are being able to be rescued um as the buildings have gotten a little safer. Um so I just wanted to express my thanks to the St. L Park Fire Department. Um, Chief Peter Hanlin led a lot of folks that night. Um, we had over 20 other fire departments and medical um, units that came to assist. Um, most of the time I was watching, there were at least four streams of of water and people up very high on the ladders in in really um, intense heat. We had a couple um, firefighters struggle or suffer from some uh, heat exhaustion. Um but but other than that, people were okay. Um I um also wanted to mention because it's so important the outpouring that we got from the community. Uh even Friday night, people were hauling in water and and uh masks. Um it was very smoky and um and what they could to help while they stayed on the perimeter, not getting in the way of the operations. But um but and then um Saturday morning um there was a whole uh uh setup station where community members were dropping off goods and and materials and we finally had so much stuff there we started saying please just um make donations so um so people can uh get some help uh with lodging. So, step was there um and uh and jumped right into action with having an open open house. I don't know if that's the right word, but on Sunday um so that people could stop for emergency support on on Sunday and um and then went into full gear on on it today again. Um who else did I want to make sure I made mention of? The Red Cross set up a temporary shelter at the middle school, St. Louis Park Middle School, um on very short order. So that at least gave people an option if they didn't have anywhere else to go. Um that was uh pretty important. And um and um of course the uh city staff um they had to uh manage the whole thing internally um and um make sure that they were communicating out um information that was both accurate and um and um appropriate. So So it um it's not over. There's a lot of hardship in front of some people. Um I talked to many of them. Um and uh and it's real tough. I um we are our our family actually lost a a log cabin back in one of the forest fires a few years back and and it's a different feeling than I'd ever felt before of just having lost everything there. And that wasn't my primary home. This is their primary home. So, so our thoughts are with them and I just wanted to thank those people that stepped up to help out and um and keep that all in our in our minds. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments, Council Member Bud. >> No, I was going to ask would anybody else like to speak? >> Go ahead. Thank you. Um what we didn't note was that the St. St. Louis Park Emergency Program has set up a mechanism for making donations specifically to help people impacted by the fire. And it's pretty simple to use. You go online under step and you'll find a link to be able to make a donation. And the help is really needed. As council member Bud stated, u people lost all their possessions, you know, and and to recover from that is difficult even if you're in a good circumstance and u they're going to need as much support as the community can give them. So, please consider making a uh contribution to step as soon as you can. >> Thank you. And I just wanted to add into the the thank yous the I think it's over 20 other fire departments that came to assist as well which was just really a powerful it was a powerful scene. Um and again I was uh talking with Chief Hanland a little bit when it was a little bit of downtime during it. Not really downtime but where he could talk to me when I wasn't in the way. and just witnessing his leadership in in a very scary and dynamic situation was um something I've never seen before. So, thank you, Chief. Um we are we are blessed with an incredible fire chief. I'll just say that. [clears throat] >> Thank you. Anyone else say anything? Okay. We have two special presentations on the agenda this evening. the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association Award of Excellence for Rolling at the Rock. I'd like to call forward and introduce Jamie Nelner. Okay. Uh from the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association. I'd also like to invite Heidi to come up to the front of the room. Heidi is our recreation and facilities supervisor. Good evening, Mayor Pro Tim Ferrris and council members. I'm Jamie Nelner. I'm the program advancement administrator with the Minneapolis Park Board and I'm also a member of the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association Awards Committee. [snorts] It is an honor to be here. I'm seems like I'm here every year because your team wins every year, but uh it's it's an honor to be here once again to present a Minnesota Recreation and Park Association Award of Excellence uh to the city of St. Louis Park. So before I do that, I have to take a couple seconds to tell you a bit about the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association or MRPA. MRPA was formed in 1937 to foster growth and development of the parks and recreation profession throughout the state. The awards of excellence is an annual program created to recognize agencies and staff for exemplary projects, events, programs that either were implemented in 2025 or had a substantial revision in 2025. So MRPA members nominate these projects for an award of excellence. Nominations are reviewed, scored, evaluated by awards committee members like myself with only the top scoring nominations selected to receive award of excellence recognition, which is why I'm here tonight. It is my sincere pleasure to present an award of excellence from the programming and events category to the city of St. Louis Parks and Recreation Department for the winning program rolling at the ROC. This program was created after St. Louis Park's longtime indoor roller rink closed in 2021. With the nearest rinks now more than 15 miles away, Rex staff wanted to restore an accessible roller skating opportunity to the community. Staff applied for and received a Henipin County youth activities grant to purchase 80 pairs of roller skates and launched Roland at the ROC. These skate these skate sessions were offered twice a month for just $5, which included admission and rental. Um, and free skating lessons were also provided by valued program partner, Twin Cities Skaters. All this makes roller skating welcoming and affordable for all ages. We also want to recognize recreation supervisor Heidi Batistic for nominating this project for an award of excellence. So on behalf of MRPA and the awards committee, congratulations. >> Congratulations. [applause] Heidi, you need to come back and sing us a song or something. [laughter] You don't want to say a few words. [laughter] Thank you Jamie and MRPA for um this award of excellence from uh the association. And I did want to give a really special shout out to um Twin City Skaters who taught me everything I know about roller skating. Um helped us buy um our skates from Ryel and directed the whole process. So um Ron is here from Twin City Skaters. So, um I'm really appreciative of their [applause] partnership with us. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um would any of my council members like to say anything? Okay. Okay. Um thank you so much. Um Okay. No one's want to say anything. Okay. Um our second uh acknowledgement recognition of the city of St. Park by two awards program. Our communication tech technology director Jackie Eie Smith is providing us with the next presentation. >> Right. Uh Mayor Prom and Council, thank you for the opportunity to highlight the work of our park TV and communication staff this evening. Um they were recently recognized with awards from two professional organizations and I would just ask for those who were recognized to stand um as I read your awards. Um the training as a St. Louis Park firefighter video received a hometown media award in the public student safety category from the foundation for the Alliance for Community Media. Park TV production assistant Monica Munel produced the video in her previous role as Park TV intern um in coordination with Boe assistant fire chief and several other fire department staff. Thank you, Monica. [applause] The Minnesota Association of Government Communicators recognized three projects in its Northern Lights Awards program. The Is it Ready Yet video series received a silver award. Project leads were Savannah Buyers, social media specialist, and Proxy Malik, Park TV multimedia producer, with video appearances by community members and city staff, including Michaela Buke, Jeff Clark, Mike Oki, and Larry Humphrey. Congratulations. [applause] The Pitch of Pumpkin Videos received a Northern Lights Award. Project lead was Savannah Buyers, social media specialist with video appearances by Michaela Buke, Nikki Friedrich, Charlie Mcchznney, and Addison Tan Tanzam. Congratulations. [applause] And last, the pothole patrol video received a silver award. Project leads were Proxy Malik, Park TV multimedia producer, and Savannah Buyers, social media specialist. Mike Oki, Brandon Cathers, and other members of the streets divisions participated in the video. Congratulations. [applause] >> Um, do any of my fellow council members want to offer a comment? >> I would, Yolanda. >> Okay. >> Uh, first off, uh, thanks to our, uh, professional, uh, communication staff. It's always great work. if anybody's interested in seeing their award-winning uh content, it is in the uh the URLs are in the uh packet uh this evening. Uh secondly, to our professional staff, you know, a lot of times when you're the person, they want you to, you know, go be in the video. It's not always uh the most comfortable thing in the world, particular if they want you to get in a kind of a a goofy costume. Uh so you know to our professional staff that helps uh you know do the acting and uh you know make our uh content special uh thank you very much but uh outstanding work and welld deserved. Anyone else? Next, I would like to recognize the donation from consent item 3C, recognition of donations. Paige Beckers in Gatorade Fuel Tomorrow in partnership with Good Sports has donated $45,000 for the renovation of the basketball court in Blackstone Park. Do Do any [clears throat] of my fellow council members want to make a comment on this donation? >> Right. me as well. Hey, this is a big deal. I don't know how many people know about Paige Beckers. I think most motans have heard about her, but um she's not just a big deal here. She is one of the top premier women's basketball players in the world. Um and has an tremendous following nationwide. She plays for the Dallas Wings in the WNBA right now. um and is also known as somebody who in particular gives back um at levels that not all players do, although most players do, but um but she's particularly uh just someone who's always out there giving, giving, giving. And so we are the you know have the benefit of um this donation from she grew up here in St. Louis Park even though she claims Hopkins where she went to high school on her bio. Um but she did grow up in the St. Park area and it's just we're proud of her and excited to be part of part of her world. >> Of course. [clears throat] >> Yes. I I had the uh honor of meeting Paige Beckers at at the dedication of the basketball court 5 years ago. And what a nice unassuming young lady she was then. At that point, she was just a college athlete, >> but she was getting some name, image, and likeness money and donated the money necessary to totally re build that basketball court 5 years ago. And uh inspired a program there that day that brought hundreds of young ladies out to the park. It was wonderful to see during the summer and uh just a joy to meet her and it's great to see she continues to value her connection with St. Louis Park and try to make it a better community. We're grateful for that. >> Okay. Thank you. Moving on to the meet meeting minutes. We have one set of meeting minutes from July 6, 2026. A motion to approve the meeting minutes. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any amendments? Any discussions? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. The meeting minutes are approved as presented. Let's go. Sorry. I did not hear that anyone wanted to move any items to the regular business agenda. So, I will ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> I'll move to approve the consent agenda as written. >> Second. >> Um, any discussion? All in favor? >> I I >> opposed. Consent agenda is approved. Public hearing. We have none. Regular business. First reading of zoning ordinance and map amendments. Resolutions approving comp plan amendment. Commercial districts. We have a couple of regular business items on our agenda this evening. Before staff begin their presentation, I have a couple of thoughts to share. This is an opportunity to hear directly from residents, but by design. These items are not question and answer form because we have because we know that we this can be frustrating when you want answers. Staff is in the back. Could you raise your hand? Staff >> up here. >> Oh, there. Okay. Okay, there we go. Um, staff will be available after the meeting to help answer questions. So, I'd like to draw anyone's attention to the blue cards in the back of the room. If you'd like to comment on an item, please fill out the blue card and pass it to a staff member. While the cards aren't required, two comments. They help to keep us keep the meeting flowing smoothly. There you go, staff. Thank you, Mayor Prom, members of the council. My name is Gary Morrison. I'm the zoning administrator for the city and I'll be presenting the zoning text amendment and zoning map amendment tonight. Also with me is Caitlyn Shampoo, who will be presenting the comprehensive plan amendment tonight. Due to the size of the ordinance tonight, which is approximately 350 pages, along with additional information that's provided in your staff report, because of all of this information, I'll be keeping the presentation brief tonight. Thank you for spending all your time getting familiar with the with the request tonight. But in addition to the staff report that was forwarded to you last week, the ordinance was also presented to the council and study session in November of 2025. Also, the planning commission conducted 10 study sessions and it's my understanding that those minutes were made available to the city council. So therefore, I assume you're all familiar with the request and I'll be keeping the or the presentation brief tonight. However, as always, staff is available after the presentation to answer any questions that you have. So, with that, the actions requested tonight are amendments to the comprehensive plan amendment, the zoning ordinance text amendment, and to the zoning map amendment. At this time, I'm going to turn the presentation over to Caitlyn. >> There we go. Uh, good evening, council members. My name is Caitlyn Shampoo. I'm a planner in the community development department, and tonight I'll be presenting the proposed comprehensive plan amendment for your review and consideration. Um it is presented in conjunction with the zoning code update to ensure alignment between the zoning code and the comprehens comprehensive plan. Um the comprehensive plan amendment proposes to adjust the descriptions and minimum densities for two residential land use designations. Change the future land use of a 4.4 acre parcel from commercial to highdensity residential and update a tables to reflect these changes. There we go. Um, the first amendment proposes to adjust the descriptions and minimum densities of the medium density residential and highdensity residential land use designations. This amendment is not intended to make any major policy changes. Rather, it's a cleanup amendment to ensure the city can administer the zoning code as intended. During the first phase of the zoning code update, the city council approved a comprehensive plan amendment um revising the density ranges of the low, medium, and high density residential land use designations to better align with the new neighborhood zoning districts. The intent of this amendment was to make sure both the comprehensive plan and the zoning code would allow for a wider range of housing types across the city. After further review and application of the new zoning code, staff determined that there was still a gap between policies in the zoning code and the comp plan. Um because of this misalignment, staff proposed reducing the low end of the density ranges for the medium density residential and highdensity residential land use designations to maintain flexibility in the types of housing that are allowed throughout the city. And then the second amendment proposes to change the future land use designation of a 4.4 acre parcel located at 8800 Highway 7 in the southwest corner of the city. Um the change would be from commercial to highdensity residential. And this is accompanied by a zoning map amendment that would change the zoning of the property from com uh C2 general commercial to N4, our highdensity residential land use category or zoning district. Apologies. Um and then the final part of the comp plan amendment is an update to applicable land use tables in the comprehensive plan um with changes to the density ranges mentioned on the previous slide and the land use changes shown on this slide. Um but with that I'll hand it back over to Gary. Thank you Caitlyn. Phase one of the update was completed in March of 2025. It focused entirely on the neighborhood districts. Phase two, it continues the update by restructuring the remaining articles of the ordinance to coincide with the structure initiated in phase one. It also proposes to restructure the zoning districts and proposes some minor changes to uses, dimensional standards, and developmental standards. The current ordinance is format formatted in six articles. The proposed ordinance is going to expand that into 10 articles. This will make the information available in these articles easier to find because they're better defined in these 10 articles. The ordinance is also proposing to consolidate the non-district non neighborhood district ordinance zoning districts into from nine districts to seven districts. Um it also proposes to expand the density and height bonuses to the MU2, MU3 and B1 districts. The density and height bonuses are allowed by conditional use permit and which will require review by the planning commission and action by the city council and of course it will also require application of the city's inclusionary housing and energy policies. The information provided in the update will be presented in table format. So, if you'll indulge me in a moment of drama, this makes the information incredibly easy to find and it incredibly reduces the amount of redundancy in our ordinances. So, we're very excited about this. Parking is being adjusted in this proposed ordinance. Um, in the we're proposing to apply the historic Walker Lake parking minimums to the mixeduse districts. What this means is that those uses permitted in the mixeduse districts will be allowed to occupy any existing building without having to meet minimum parking requirements. This comes with a couple conditions. One is that the on-site parking that exists on each of those lots has to remain. And it also means that any additions to buildings or any new construction has to meet minimum parking required in the mute districts. I will note however that the minimum parking required in the mixeduse districts are less than those required elsewhere in the city because of their proximity to the transit uh opportunities including the light rail transit stations. Parking minimums in the historic Barker Lake overlay district are proposed to be removed in their entirety. So this means a couple of things. Existing parking lots can now be converted to another use such as an addition outdoor seating or even landscaping and new construction does not have to meet any minimum parking requirements because we are making adjustments to the zoning districts. This also of course means we have to make amendments to the zoning map to accommodate these new zoning districts. What you'll see on the zoning maps and there is a copy of this included in your staff report is that the mixeduse zoning districts are centered upon the transit station areas and the west end area. There are the MU1 districts, the smaller mixeduse districts follow along the main transportation quarters such as Excelsior Boulevard and Minnitanka Boulevard where we have some commercial nodes. You'll also note that the current C2 general commercial district, which houses the big box retail and other uses like um our new car dealerships, those areas are proposed to be zoned B1, business one in the new map. And those areas that are covered in the city are greatly reduced. So basically, they're confined to the existing Bitbox retailers such as Target, Costco, and Home Depot and our existing car dealerships along Wisetta Boulevard. So with that, the if the city council approves the first reading tonight, the second reading will be forwarded to the city council on August 3rd. If the city council approves the second reading, then we will publish the ordinance and the map on August 13th. And then the ordinance and map become official 15 days after publication, which is August 28th. The planning commission did conduct a public hearing and is recommending approval of the three actions tonight. And the motions that are recommended for the city council tonight are on the screen for your convenience and of course on the first page of the staff report tonight. And with that, staff will answer any questions that you have. >> I open the public comment. >> Oh, thank you. Before I open the public comment period, do any of my colleagues have any clarifying questions? So Gary, I presume this means that formbbased zoning is dead in St. Louis Park for now. >> Um, sort of elements of formbbased have been incorporated into the new ordinance, but for the most part, um, we're transitioning to the mixeduse districts as presented. >> All right. Thank you. And I just wanted to clarify, I think I saw this in the description, but just for the public to hear, there is um a study being planned on um parking minimums. Is that right? Can you say a couple words about that? >> Yes. Thank you, council. Um the question about uh eliminating parking standards minimums in the city or at least having a conversation about parking minimums in the city is being taken up by the planning commission this year. So they will be conducting some meetings. Uh staff will be doing some research as directed by the planning commission and the intent is to come up with a recommendation of some sort. So that will be going on during the the year of 2026. So if those that are interested um can monitor the agendas of planning commission to see when the topic is coming up. >> Thank you. Can I ask one more clarifying question? Um, I believe that a resident from Word 3 was at the planning commission inquiring about um the use of a um of uh what was a parking lot being converted to multi-use. And just to clarify that that is not now is not the time that we would take action on that that that will happen down the road. >> Correct. Thank you. The Gorum parking lot is what we call it here at the staff level. It's on Gorum Avenue. It's included in the historic Walker Lake District overlay district and it converting it to an entirely different use is not just a zoning map change but also involves a comprehensive plan amendment. Uh so the thought is that that conversation would be had during the comprehens comprehensive plan update which is being initiated now. >> Okay. But until a developer or someone comes forward with a use for that it won't be backed before council. Is that correct? >> Correct. It is a city- owned parcel, so we do have control over the parcel. >> Okay. Thank you for that clarification. >> Anyone else? Okay. I don't have any blue cards for this item. Is there anyone who would like who would wish to speak? Going once, going twice. Oh, okay. As a reminder, we will be voting on this item tonight. Got to say that. Um, so let me go over here. >> Oh, I'm sorry. My apologies. >> I'm sorry. Uh, any comments for my colleagues? Sorry. Uh I will offer a comment on behalf of my uh Mindicata Vista constituents uh reached out to me. A number of people uh one of their concerns is with the compression of zoning types that the south side of Excelsure. So think Miracle Mile up the street from Miracle Mile to Panic and Husse uh now uh zone for up to six stories, maybe some additional stories if you get your height bonus. Uh and I think one of the things as a council, as a city, as we plan is we need to give some consideration to how we make that transition from higher density housing to our residential neighborhood. So, there will be people that literally that apartment building will be right out at their uh at the end of their backyard. And, you know, to all of a sudden have a six-story structure blocking your sun, blocking your uh view, you know, having this monolith hanging over your uh what you know was a single family residential uh property uh certainly uh diminishes the character of our residential neighborhoods. And I think as a council as we move forward, something that we really have to give some thought to is, you know, there's certainly areas near our uh light rail stations that are very well suited uh or they're in a uh industrial uh type area, very well suited for highdensity development, but how do we make that transition back to our traditional single family uh neighborhoods? >> Thank you. Anyone else? Yeah, I just want to say I'm uh I'm I'm kind of excited about this change. I think it's going to offer a lot of flexibility um and open up a more wide variety of types of housing, which is something we've been hearing from many many people that that they want that I believe in myself. Um and uh yeah, so I'm just um I'm excited that uh we're going to be we're going to be doing something that I know is also being talked about nationwide that that people are saying cities should be begin to look at uh because there's equity issues involved in this and um and so it's just a great opportunity for us to diversify our housing, which is something that I know we've been talking about for years. So hopefully it opens up opportunities for that ever desired missing middle more than sixtory [laughter] monsters. But uh but yeah, this will this will make things I think a little smoother and easier for us to go down that road. >> Anyone else question? >> Uh yeah, I'd just like to st thank our professional staff for the hard work on this because this is a gigantic undertaking to revise our zoning code and you've done it already on the housing side and the neighborhood side and now to do it on the commercial side. Like I say, massive undertaking. I know you employed some consultants to assist on it a little bit, but you guys did the heavy lifting and and thank you very much also to the planning commission because they spent a lot of time studying this and providing really important critiques and comments and questions around this development. So, it was it was really a massive labor and we're all going to benefit for it. So, thanks again. Council member Bes. >> Um I just want to touch a little bit on sort of the parking uh minimum changes that are happening here. I'm excited to see that there are some changes to the the parking requirements for existing buildings and certainly for the Walker Lake District. Hopefully see that promote some additional growth and development at that area which kind of orders I think WS one and three. Um I'm a little disappointed to not see kind of more broader parking changes and am eagerly anticipating uh hearing the outcomes of the study session from the planning commission. Um I think we pride ourselves in being forward thinking and um kind of doing things that maybe other folks are a little afraid to do and we want to continue to be forward thinking. I think being really radical about how we approach those parking minimums and how that could im influence development of our space especially the commercial spaces which is why I would love to have seen it with this but I know takes some time so uh we'll patiently uh but eagerly await to the outcomes of that study session from and the recommendations from the planning commission and encourage anyone in the city who is passionate about this to participate in that process. um attend the planning commissions. Um let your council members know what you think. We that's how we um know how to govern on behalf of the residents. So if you have strong feelings, please uh reach out with those. I'd love to hear them. >> Thank you. >> So we are able to Oh, did you want to say something else? >> No, no, no. Did you want to say something else? I was just going to make a motion to adopt the proposed resolutions approving the zoning ordinance and map amendments and also the resolution approving the comprehensive plan amendment for commercial districts. I do understand that it takes five votes for the last of those, but hopefully based on the comments I've heard, we're in a court and we can vote on all of them as one. >> Yes. Second. >> So, all in favor? I >> I >> I >> opposed. Any discussions? Okay, the motion is approved. Uh thank you. We are now moving to our next item under regular business. Approval of professional service agreement for 2050 comprehensive comprehensive plan update. Hey, good evening, Mayor Prom, members of council. My name is Jennifer Monson. I'm the city's planning and economic development manager, and tonight I'm presenting the 2050 comprehensive plan update professional service agreement for council's consideration. The policy question before you tonight is, does the city council want to approve a professional service contract with Stantech for the 2050 comprehensive plan update to help meet the city's strategic priority of being committed to delivering reliable services, using city resources responsibly, operating transparently, and building strong relationships with residents. A comprehensive plan is a long range policy document that provides the vision and framework for a community and it's used to guide decisions for the next 20 years. State law requires communities in the 7ount metro area to update their plan every 10 years. These updates are also required to be in conformance with the metropolitan council's guidelines. The comprehensive plan is typically a multi-year planning process and in St. Leis Park. We have historically started our comprehensive planning processes by first updating the vision for the city. In 2025, the city completed vision 4.0 and established new strategic priorities. This vision and the new strategic priorities will be incorporated throughout the 2050 comprehensive plan update. The plan is also envisioned to be forward-looking with actionable strategies and measurable outcomes. Including of included in the scope of this project is a large emphasis on implementation of this plan. Past St. Louis Park comprehensive plans have been very long and textheavy like 500 page plus. So the goal of the 2050 comprehensive plan update is to create a digital and interactive plan that's easier to read, to use, and update. As a comprehensive plan is a living document just like we saw in the item before us. is intended to be updated and change as we change and make decisions. Um, however, we still need to create a print version of the plan to meet MET council guidelines. So, with vision 4.0 established and strategic priorities updated, the city issued a request for proposals for consultants to help with the 2050 comprehensive planning process. Three strong proposals were received from teams comprised of planning, engineering, and engagement experts. All proposals were similar in cost and experience. So staff and a staff committee reviewed and ranked the RFPs and all teams were interviewed. The top scoring team and the team staff recommends to lead the 2050 comprehensive plan update is Stantech Consulting Services. This team includes Stantech, which is a large multidisciplinary firm, Modernday Me, a creative community engagement organization, and SRF consulting group, another planning and engineering firm. Throughout the RFP and the interview process, this team demonstrated a thoughtful approach, a comprehensive scope, and a high level enthus of enthusiasm and creativity for the project. Staff is confident the team understands and will help execute the city's vision and goals for the 2050 comprehensive plan update. The 2050 comprehensive plan is a multi-year effort that will begin in 2026 and continue through the end of 2028 with plan adoption um which is anticipated at that time. Stant's complete RFP and the full project scope timeline are included in the the staff report for tonight's meeting. So, the recommended action before council tonight is a motion to authorize execution of a contract with Stantech Consulting Services in the amount of $214,925 for the 2050 comprehensive plan update. And with that, I'm here to answer any questions. We also have Beth Elliot here representing Sante. Um, before I open the public comment period, do any of my colleagues have any clarifying questions? Okay, I don't have any blue cards for this item. Is there anyone who who wishes to speak? Going once, going twice. So, okay. Um, where do we go from here? Okay, as a reminder, the city council will be voting on this item tonight. With that, um, I'll close the Okay, with that, I'll close the public comment period. Okay, I'm closing the public comment period this item. We appreciate your Oh, no, there was no comments. So, we don't appreciate nothing. [laughter] Sorry. Uh, where am I? Oh, is there a motion to approve the professional service agreement for the 2050 comprehens comprehensive plan? >> So moved. >> I'll second. >> Any discussions? All in favor? >> I >> I >> The contract is approved. Thank you, Jennifer. Uh, communications and announcements. Kim, any communications for this evening? >> Thank you, Mayor Pro Tam. I do have a few. I had quite a few that I could choose from. If you go on to our city calendar, you can see that um PO uh public engagement in in St. Louis Park is alive and well. Um three that I want to call out is we have a pavement management almost the first one in the series um for our 2027 project. I'm going to tell you some of the neighborhoods that have streets in them before I tell you the details on the dates. So, um, some streets in Aquilla neighborhood, others in Cobblest, and some in South Oak Hill neighborhood. All three of those will be on the table for 2027. So, come and learn more on July 23rd at 5:30 over at the MSSE. It's an open house ser uh models. You can come from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Uh, moving on to just a couple of fun park and wreck programs. We've got Skatera Palooa on the 22nd um over at Carpenter Park right behind us here uh at 5:00 and we're having professional skaters from Third Layer. They're going to be handing handing out free skate items. They're going to show off their skills and then offering lessons as well. We'll have food vendors and giveaways. Um and then the other one I want to call out is the Penny Carnival. This is always a fun one. Um gather all your coins, come nothing costs more than a nickel. Um, and it's going to be over at the Rock on the 24th from 12 to 2. Thanks so much. >> Is that July 24th? >> That is July 24th from 12 to 2. >> All right. Any other communications? >> Yeah. So, um, as many of you are, most of you are aware, there's massive construction taking place on Cedar Lake Road and at Louisiana, and they're installing a roundabout and tearing up the well, they've torn up the whole area. The good news is it's getting reconstructed. It's making progress in the next two to three weeks that should be substantially different over there. But meanwhile, the businesses that reside there, the 13 14 small businesses plus Walgreens are suffering substantially because of the lack of access or the difficulty accessing those businesses. You can access them. I was over there last week and you can go there and spend your money and I'd encourage residents of St. Louis Park to please make that effort. It's really important to support these small businesses. They didn't choose to have construction done this summer, but it had to be done and they understand that. By the same token, they're struggling to make their rent, to pay their employees, to keep those businesses open, and anything the community can do to support them would be most appreciated. I also understand that they're going to have an event on August 8th, 2026 upcoming that they're going to celebrate 72 years for the Westwood Mall to be in existence. And they're going to have uh games and events in the parking lot there on the southwest corner of the intersection. And also the residents, I'm sorry, the businesses will all be open for business. and it's an opportunity to go there and show your support for them and uh provide assistance to your neighbors there that are over there working and trying to keep their businesses alive. So, anything you can do, please do it. >> Thank you. Any other announcements, please, sir? >> I would also add if you come upon those local traffic only signs that are sitting there about, you know, a mile away from uh Louisiana on Cedar Lake, just ignore them. Keep driving. You can make it all the way through. [laughter] Currently, the only direction you cannot access the uh Cedar Lake, Louisiana intersection from is from the south on Louisiana over the bridge. Uh but uh short of it is if it says local traffic only, that means you're going to be able to make it all the way to uh support our uh local businesses. Any other All right, this meeting is adjourned.