Okay, our first uh item on the agenda item number three is a public hearing. It's a public hearing uh uh for purposes of uh the annual municipal separate separate storm water system MS4 public hearing and to approve its annual report. And who is going to start this one for us in terms of comments? Mr. Langanger, welcome. Please introduce yourself. Good morning. Skip Langanger with Homemstead Soil and Water Conservation District. I'm the manager and I'm here with Jenna Rasmusen, one of our excellent conservation technicians. We work on storm water together um as well as with others in public works. Um so today we would like to hold our public hearing regarding our storm water pollution prevention plan for the municipal separate storm sewer system program. Uh it's a requirement of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and it's an opportunity for the public to offer input um as they wish uh regarding our program. >> Any further comments about the program or is are you going to go through >> um >> any of this? >> Oh, I didn't know if we do. You want to do the the presentation first and then open the public hearing that? Yeah, let's just do it first for the public. Yeah, >> sounds good. >> Um, so again, we're here to present on our annual work that we do under our storm water program, the MS4 program, the municipal separate storm sewer system program. And so, Jenna and I have been working closely over the year with our public works staff um to bring them into the fray on the program. Uh it really is a a look at um our storm water uh runoff within our system which falls uh within the urbanized area of Rochester. I think if we move forward to the next slide then we can get started. Jenna is going to take over here for a moment. >> Welcome. Would you introduce yourself for the record, Mr. Rasmmanson? >> Yeah. Uh my name is Jenna Rasmmanson. I'm a conservation technician with the Mstead Soil and Water and talking about MS4 today. So, we wanted to open up with just defining what is MS4. We use a lot of acronyms in our work. So, it stands for the municipal separate storm storm sewer system. And it's just a series of roads, ditches, and pipes that convey storm water. And it does not include a water treatment facility. So when we think about storm water, it's runoff on the land off of our county roads that then go straight to our public water courses without treatment. Um the MS4 permit is regulated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and it there's a state statute that defines you know what entities are responsible for managing an MS4 permit and as county we fall into this due to population size and some other definers. Um, we're currently in a permit cycle for 2020 to present. The MPCA is working on updating a new general permit. So, we're waiting to hear from them and then an online form or system for us to um record our work and um confining to the permit requirements. And the whole purpose of it is to protect water quality. Um, as I said, you know, our storm water goes directly to our surface water. So, it's really important we're doing all of our best management practices to prevent uh pollution and contamination. So, through that, we develop our storm water pollution prevention program and that's why we're here today uh to talk about our program and uh receive public comment on that. So, next slide. So, >> Mr. Asmus, can I go back? You don't have to turn it back, but are we talking about urban areas of what 10,000 people? Are we talking about the surrounding townships of of our >> or are we talking about all of the uninccorporated area county? >> What what is the space that this permit >> So, we'll we'll [clears throat] get into that in a moment. >> Later, if it's later, that's fine. >> Yeah, we just we have a problem map. It doesn't include the the townships, but we'll talk a little bit. >> Okay. I'm sorry. >> Yep. No, that's fine. Great question. >> Yeah, just speaking on the the county for now. So, um what our responsibilities are within the permit um is the mapping component. So, on the slide there is a image of a map of uh the urban area of Rochester. So, although not within the county's MS4, I think this map really displays um the infrastructure that goes along with storm water. So, you can see uh hopefully on that map there are purple dots. Those are the inlets and then go through the blue lines underground towards the surface water which is a Zumbro River. You can see the water is directly being put to the surface water. So um that mapping and maintaining where all of our infrastructure is is important um and relates to our minimum control measures which include maintenance which we'll get into later in the slide. Um but the minimum control measures are outlined in our SWIP which is the storm water pollution prevention plan and includes public education and outreach, public participation and involvement, elicit discharge detection and elimination. So if you've ever seen on a storm drain a little decal that says only rain down the storm drain, uh this is why. And then the county's uh elicit discharge detection elimination ordinance. Um, other components of the minimum control measures include construction site runoff control, post construction runoff control. And then number six is the better housekeeping and pollution prevention. >> Yeah. So, here's a picture of the city of Rochester. Um, all of the dots that you see within the photo are areas that have storm water features like are shown in the in the pictures um associated with the map. So, typical types of outfalls where you see an outlet at a culvert, you see on the bottom left is a wet storm water pond. Um, those were things that we saw regularly placed into a the MS4 storm water system. Today, they have a a plan, I think it's on the next slide, that shows that um that we look at storm water a little bit differently where we're infiltrating storm water first. Then we do bofiltration where we pass storm water through linear features that are full of plants that uptake nutrients, slow down the flow of of storm water, remove sediment and things like that. And then thirdly, we build the the retention ponds, the wet ponds that you see. But there's other resource protection elements to the storm water um the storm water protection plan. Um, and like you see some examples around some of our buildings of features that we have out in front of 2122 over on the the left side of the right side of the page is um an in a tree infiltration trench. So those have um uh coarse materials in the bottom of them that allows the water to run off from the parking lot and then um it it soaks into the ground in those locations. The soil profile provides treatment to storm water. Um you see in the bottom in the center with the sign there, that's part of the system above and below the words there in the middle that wrap around 2117. Um there's actually a storm water feature that that treats storm water as it moves um around the building collected into the features and then um deep rooted plants uptake nutrient and and um in infiltrate storm water. And then of course our a unique feature that that you see is our sand and salt shed out at the public works um service center. And [clears throat] so we store our sand and our salt resources underneath that um the underneath the shed and it's protected from the elements. Um it keeps uh you know rainwater from taking that into the storm water basin and and washing it into streams and creeks. Uh go to the next. So some of the storm water maintenance that we do. I said that we work with our public works um our public works staff. Um they're out on roads. They're really the boots on the ground folks relating to um storm water management. Um they're looking at these at the outfalls. An outfall is an area where our storm water leaves our system permanently. So it could be that it leaves our ditch and it runs into the city of Rochester. It could be that it that's where it runs into um one of our um our public waters or non-public water streams and is is moved um through through the system to to a public water to the river generally the Zumbro. Um so those are managed to make sure they're in good condition. Uh the structural storm water BMPs we talked a little bit about those. Those are things like our infiltration trenches, our bofiltration um linear features, and then we have our storm water basins, too. So, they're looking at those. Um we go out and do inspections of those sites when we're finding things that need attention by our public works crews. Um they have access to that information and they're able to go out and make repairs within the system. [clears throat] >> Yeah. And I'll just add on to that. So, I'm relatively new to the MS4 program and since I've come on, we've been working to be more collaborative with our public works department and capturing some of the work that they do. They do a lot of awesome work and um a lot of times, you know, we work with a lot of grants and we have to do reporting and that's something that I focus on in my work and how can we take credit for the good work that's happening. Um, so we started meeting with uh other members of public works on a bimonthly basis and we've also been working through a self audit of the MS4 program. So the MPCA has been talking more about they're working through the state to audit all of the MS4 entities and we want to be prepared for that when it happens. Um, we don't have a timeline on that, but it's best to do our homework ahead of time and that's something we've been working on. We've also been working on improving our mapping and inventory system using uh RJS online systems and hopefully being able to integrate that with public works as they do maintenance so that we can record things that they've been doing. Um this isn't relative to 2025, but this year already, you know, we've gotten updates from the public works department on some of the maintenance they've been doing within our MS4 entity that we haven't had that um amount of collaboration before. So, we're really moving in a great direction. >> [snorts] >> So street street sweeping is another part of the program. It's something that we see and probably take for granted. Um but the importance of the street sweeping is that it does remove a lot of the fines that um that are um uh you know spread onto the road during our winter months. So the primary activity happens in the spring of every year. In 2025, we collected 51 cubic yards of material. So, we have a little graphic there that shows, you know, six tandem loads of of material that gets collected. Um, most of it is sand, but of course, there's also garbage and other debris that we find in that. So, we take that reclaimed material, it gets screened, and then we blend it as fill to be used in some of our road projects where maybe we're we're um expanding and easing some of the inslopes along um our shoulders and things like that so it can be incorporated into that fill material. Um but you'll see them. We have two different types of vehicles out there, the truck and the typical sweeper that most see. They really do um a great job of of collecting material off off the roads and keeping them out of our conveyance system. >> Yeah. So, another important uh MCM or minimum control measure is the storm water outreach and education. And this is something I've had an opportunity to work on u more directly through various events. So, of course, with our Onstead County Fair, that's a great opportunity to get in front of the public and talk about storm water. And we're almost always situated right next to the city of Rochester, who also has a really nice display on storm water management in an urban area and collaborating with them to do education and outreach. Um, one thing that started in 2025 was our Cascade Creek Rain Barrel program and that's within the Cascade Creek wershed through our 319 grant. Um but providing uh rain barrel cost share to u homeowners in the Cascade Creek area um to kind [clears throat] of help manage that storm water flow. Um I do surface water quality monitoring throughout the county and monitoring on the Zumbro and it's very evident after a rainfall event. um you know in the stream you can see there's a more higher sediment load and so being able to communicate you know my work what I see in the field to homeowners and things that they can do um and their own land to help prevent that excess storm water flow. >> Yeah, it's a great [clears throat] yard by yard um educational opportunity for land owners to install rain barrels and and rain gardens to be honest. So, we have had a really strong collaboration with the city, um, which has been terrific. They have a more robust program. They they charge every homeowner within the city a fee. Um, so if you live in the city, you pay, I don't know, $15 a month to to the city. That goes into their budget for their storm water management. and and of course they just have many many more features to to maintain within the city than than we do. But the collaboration has been excellent. So lastly, as part of the minimum control measures, we're required to do education within house. And so we do annually pull together our public works team. There's a a picture of a previous meeting that we had. Um and so 85 staff attend. We usually play some videos regarding um elicit discharge dete uh detection elimination. Um we talk about sanding and salting of roads. It's nice to do heading into winter, especially um our crews, you know, we have added things um into our uh into our public works system like um we do brining of roads now, which um you see those streaks down the the streets that are actually a a salt slurry mix that is um is put together to help um keep the snow and the and the ice from adhering to the road. So, it's a pre-treatment that reduces the amount of material that we would use um post event. So, it's a it's a really great way to to attack um uh the winter um winter conditions and and maintain road safety. Um other things that we have are like individual job specific certifications. So, our inspectors and some of our other folks go through storm water um uh trainings that give them some certifications um to work with. Oh, some of our contractors, especially um on our road projects to make sure that the SWIPS that they hold for those road projects are being followed um that we're not seeing indiscriminate sediment moving um off our off sites during rain events and things like that. So all of that has to is is part of the recordkeeping that we do. Most of the training is offered through University of Minnesota. Um Mandot offers some as well. And then the Minnesota Erosion uh control association is is another organization that offers those. Um yeah, there's a a web page you can go out to on the public works website um if you're interested in more information. And beyond that, I guess if you have questions, we'd be happy to take them. Appreciate your time. >> Any questions of uh of our witnesses. Any questions at all? >> I I just Road salt is uh always a kind of a topic to to this subject. Do we do anything special in Mstead County with respect to road salt or even the use of for instance chloride in terms of dust control? >> Yeah. Um, well, that might be a better a better question for Ben, but what I can say is, um, we do apply chloride, road salt, to to roads to help break up, um, ice and and snow, of course, and that usually comes post uh, event a lot of times. Um, we're looking at intersections and things like that. that those are areas where you get that the drip off of um off of exhaust systems and and things like that just dripping off of melting, you know, snow and ice off of cars. So, those are important places that we that we utilize the product. One good thing about the chloride, like I said, we we do brining now, which is a great way to save on the on the um the solid form of of our salt that we that we spread on the roads. But um we don't have any impaired streams here in the southeast for chloride, which is wonderful. Um chloride is one of those impairments that you can't remove once it is impaired. Um in the Twin Cities area, they do have a number of streams and rivers that are impaired. Of course, they still take measures to reduce that impairment, but you know, like I said, once the impairment is in place, it it does become permanent. So, >> thank you. Any other questions? >> Sensing none, you can have a seat and we need you back. Is there a motion to open a public hearing? >> Move. >> There's a motion and a second. Uh, any discussion? Sensing none. All in favor of public hearing say I. I. And we public hearing. Are there any members? Is there any member of the public that wants to comment on the uh report uh relative to storm water management? Is there anyone want to report or to comment rather on this uh on this matter? Anyone else? Sensing none, is there a motion to close the public hearing? >> Still moved. >> There's a motion and there's a second. Any discussion? Since it done. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Public hearing is closed. Is there a motion? And here you might help me a little bit. Is there do we need to accept the report as given? Is that the motion today? I think that would be valuable for um the record for police control agency. >> Okay. Is there such a motion? >> I'll make a motion. >> Okay. We have a motion to accept the report as presented. Is there a second? >> Second. >> There's a second. Any discussion on the report? Sensing none. >> All in favor say I. >> I. I. Opposed? Nay. And thank you so much. >> Thank you for your time. Appreciate it. >> Good. Moving on then to the consent agenda for today. Uh we've got have several items here. First to approve the OMS County Board minutes of August 18th, 2026. Second uh and award a contract for county project C24-12, Mill Batumitus Surface and Batuminous Overlay on County Road 112 and County Road 12, pardon me, 24 154. Uh, next to approve the RFB 2026-17 turbine generator service and repair contract. Next, um, and graciously here to accept the donation from Janette Denny, a donation to Oxbow Park and Zman Zoo. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Approve the consent agenda. >> Okay, we have a motion. We have a second. Uh, any discussion on it? All in favor then say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. And the consent agenda is approved. Moving on to item five to authorized issuance and sale of general obligation bonds series 2026A. Our treasur Mr. >> CFO >> Mr. Roman Catalop. >> Good morning commissioners and Mr. Chair. Um, yes. Wilfredo Roman Catala, chief financial officer for Homestake County. uh in front of you there's a request to authorize the issuance of the sales of general vacation bonds series 2026 in the approximate amount of 29,350,000. Um most of those dollars as you're very familiar will go to support uh the payment of uh equipment needed for the materials recovery facility. So about 26 million of those 29 million will be used for that. Um about 3 million will be used for various projects within the organization. So the first 26 will be paid with material recovery facilities and waste management fees. The other 3 million will be supported with property taxes. Um and then the the small balance of about 300,000 is for issuance cost. >> Um so you know the bonds will will be sold on October 5th. Uh the resolution awarding that sale will be on October 6 and then closing and proceeds will be available to us for spending in on the 29th of October. Um if you have specific questions uh with regards to the uh financial plan, we have Tammy Alell from uh Northland Securities. Uh in the event you have specific questions about that process. >> Okay. Uh are there any questions of uh Mr. on Katala. So I just Okay. I have So we're going to bond for and receive obviously hopefully $29 million to use. Is are there other obligations out there that there there are certainly within our capital improvement plan beyond that? But where are we in the state of this pool of money to apply towards towards uh capital projects? If you I don't know if I'm not sure I'm clear on that but >> so let me try to see if I understood. Out of these 29 million 26 million will be used for the MURF. >> Yeah. >> About three million will be used for buying squad cars for example. Okay. Uh part of the u parks and trails will have a u um a a bridge that will be partially funded with these funds as well and some other equipment that is needed for for throughout the organization. And then the small amount of those dollars will be used to issue to the cost of issuance the bonds. >> Yeah. So as to move forward with our capital improvement plan as I suspect we will uh we'll have to come back to obviously some more bonding. >> That is correct. Okay. So in 2027 we'll do the same approach just like we done in years past. We recalibrate normally during the summertime in your retreat. What is needed? do we need to increase decrease the amount of funds needed to support the equipment needs that we have as an organization and then at that point in time we do this process one more time >> okay >> I know some other organizations may issue bonds in a large scale and then they may not come in front of you on an annual basis we rather do it on a in a way of peace meal because in my opinion that's more effective use of our taxpayers dollars >> good any questions answering none And uh this is not a >> any specific question you would like Tammy to address to you today. She's here >> members. Yes. >> Question. >> Commissioner Right. >> So what's the process of how you inform financial agencies that this is available and that we are a very good risk. So we want the lowest rate. So, how do how do you go about doing that, >> Mr. Chair? Excuse me, commissioners. Tammy Umdall with Northland Securities, Northland serving as financial adviser. To introduce myself, that is a great question. Um, so the process that we go through and maybe to speak a little bit now to the finance plan. Right now, we're working with county staff on securing a bond rating. As the county board is well aware, you hold that AAA rating. We expect that to be affirmed, but that is a process and we're in the middle of that right now. So that is the first step that we want to get that bond rating affirmed and these bonds rated. The next step is there is an offering document called the preliminary official statement. That document is very important that lays out your plans. It lays out information on economic development, the strength of your financial management. Once that process is complete, all leading up to that date of October 5th for the 2026 A bonds is that then we are marketing that and distributing that to underwriters that are interested in bidding and broad distribution of that. Um and then um really evidence of the success of that in recent years is the number of bids that the county has received on your sales. So, our goal would be to continue to um market this in order to achieve competitive bidding on the sale of these bonds and the county has been um very successful in the past with respect to competitive bidding in the rate. You have before you the finance plan. And I know this wasn't your question, but based upon um what was current market conditions for those that follow the market, there's a lot of volatility this morning in the um global bond market. Municipal bonds don't directly follow that, but certainly and especially the longerterm maturities are impacted. Well, Fredo did a nice job of describing that these bonds while sold in their entirety at the $29.3 million individually, they're structured around the useful life of those assets being financed. So, that means your assets with shorter term maturities are um being paid off sooner. So, I note that 3.8, we'll see what happens here. here, you know, not till October 5th, but there is volatility, but the strength of the county's financial management. The strength of that AAA, we expect to be effective to close with your answer in getting um a competitive bidding process for these bonds. >> Yeah. So, I know I think our last three bonds were all purchased by the same company. Is is that a coincidence or is that just that they think that we're great or um or people aren't willing to bid against the one and I can't remember the company sorry but >> um so to answer that so I that is correct and I didn't bring the full list from your last two years for example bits but um based upon experience that would speak to that they have investors and they have experience in placing your bonds with those investors. I would note that in the bonds, it is a measure of the true interest cost, the rate. So, it is not the firm, meaning if it's a reputable firm and as part of our process, the um the award of [clears throat] the bid is solely based on the lowest true interest cost, the rate to the county. So, not I wouldn't say a coincidence, meaning they aggressively bid to purchase the county's bonds. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Maybe just a followup. Is is it a is it is a seal build bid bond and like everybody gets like if they want one one chance to bid and I say that referencing unless they've changed the state of Minnesota has a like a live auction where where people know what the other person's bid and they can they can beat it if they want to. >> So it it is all electronic. It is not an auction. Municipal bonds in Minnesota with rare exception of some cities I think may still do that process but it is a time certain um electronically submitted to Northland on behalf of the county. >> Okay. Anyone else? Uh sensing none then I think we're ready to have a a motion of discussion. >> Thank you commissioners. >> Yes. Thank you. Is there a is there a motion to uh proceed with the authorization of uh the issue of the bond and and sale of the general obligation bond? >> Move to proceed with the sale of the bonds. >> Okay. Second. >> There's a motion and second. Any discussion on the motion to proceed? >> Sensing none. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. And oppose. Nay. And uh >> the motion is adopted. Next item six. >> Mr. Chair, if I if I could please just to interrupt real quick just to clarify the motion that was made as it related to consent agenda. >> Uh the items that you read were A, B, C, and E. And there was an intentional um decision there that we did not um address item D. And I just wanted to on the record acknowledge that item D will be appearing on your consent agenda on September the 15th. It was not an oversight that it wasn't read. I just wanted to get that onto the record. >> Will the clerk note that for the minutes? Okay, good. Uh, okay. Moving on. And, uh, what a delight this is. Uh, we're going to introduce our, uh, our Rochester City Administrator, Allison Zelms, who's going to give us a little idea of what's going on in our mother city. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, uh, Chair Synum, uh, commissioners, uh, great teammates at Olmstead County. appreciate you taking my presentation at the last minute today. I will try to make it a delight, but we can't ever make a guarantee at the city of Rochester that it won't be something exciting on the agenda. Um, so I did want to sort of start off by just focusing on what is happening around town, which is a lot of construction. And so people experience that as construction. But what actually results from much of that construction, whether that's public infrastructure or private infrastructure, is continued growth, expansion implications countywide um with the scale of development that we're seeing in the city of Rochester. And that can also be very positive countywide for the other communities that um are instead county. So that's sort of the thrust of my presentation. I will try to keep it short and focus on opportunities for any questions. Um, and I will even entertain those that have not been covered on the agenda that I have before you and try to answer them or follow up with any follow-up. So, again, really talking about growth, transformation, and regional opportunities that that presents. I will define them as opportunities. They might not always feel like opportunities, um, but over time they should feel like opportunities across the city. I point this this way. I press. I went too far. Maybe I didn't. >> You did. >> There we go. All right. So, these are the opportunities. Um, so obviously out front of the government center or maybe depending on how you look at it, out back of the government center. Um, there is significant investment happening on the almost $200 million link BRT system. But that has opportunities across the region and a lot of conversations are happening with partners about how we might get regional transit connected in and through um Mstead County. Um sort of reestablishing some of that precoid opportunity that happens because we know many of the folks that work or visit or shop in Rochester are from across um our MSA. Um it also presents an opportunity for tax base and growth in new construction. So, um, as you're continuing to invest across the county, hopefully there is additional tax base that isn't placing that burden on existing taxpayers in the same way because services tend to need to grow with that new investment that's happening. The expectations don't go down um, as we continue to invest. Um, they don't always go up, but they don't usually go down. Um, but I think that also presents additional opportunities. Many of those we've already um been talking um together as staff team um for shared systems, shared opportunities for how we can um divert some of those costs going forward. And so planning together can help us really focus on the taxpayers and residents across the county and how that can be beneficial not just in Rochester but across the region. We know that in order to be a regional center, we need to not just be a rock. We need the filings to want to come to the rock in order to be a magnet that actually generates that type of economic activity that's necessary to support the economy here. So that link BRT is expected um when it starts service um in August about 2027. Um a fair free service of about 11,000 riders a day, which is significant movement through um that two-mile corridor. Um, but also there's a lot that has to happen in order for that start date to occur. Um, we have additional investment forthcoming with this six street bridge. We just got the grant agreement for that this week. Um, obviously downtown is under construction, not just with public infrastructure, but also with private investment and not just Mayo and DMC, but other private investments with housing opportunities that are starting to come out of the ground across the street from the former Osman building now a giant hole in the ground um with the CityWalk Apartments um across the street here at the north civic center lot with the Sherman development and then um the um Lincoln communities that is up on that fourth street. So, surrounded by construction, both private um and public, we also are actively completing in phases East Center Street reconstruction um and will be starting here in 2027 on the 18th Avenue Southwest. So, definitely spreading out from the downtown, but a significant amount of impact downtown. Um and we'll talk a little bit about what that does for the economy. Um but obviously that starts to make us think more about regional commuting. what kind of emergency response needs to change or adjust as we get more high-rise activity downtown. Those are things we're thinking about as a city for fire response, emergency response. Um we have new drone um program that the Rochester Police Department is investing in to try to mitigate the cost of personnel but still respond well, have eyes and ears um but also hopefully a positive impact on the broader um county economy. So, we have major scale development happening coming out of the ground downtown, but we also have significant expansion in the northwest sewer shed area and um we did receive bonding for the Zumbro sewer shed. So that should be south and southeast and desired development happening in all of or at least coming coming up and bubbling up as desired um devel excuse me development for edge growth um in those areas and the utilities hopefully to be able to support that because that is an important consideration um for a city like Rochester. Um you've seen a bit of this um small inset slide if you can even read that when we talked um at the DMC joint meeting uh in May about the urban 3 study. So the city of Rochester's investments both public and private have resulted in about 11.8 times the productivity for those that acreage of land within Mstead County. So you're getting more tax capacity for the acreage that's developing there for the city. Um, when you start even looking farther in at the DMC district, that's producing about 148 times the amount of value in property tax assessed for the land area within Mstead County. Um, significant um, value in being able to look at some of that vertical construction based on the acreage and what kind of services need to be provided. Um, but the next phase, it's not done yet, by the way, when the link is done, uh, is significant utility investment downtown and throughout town. Um, so streets will continue to be impacted. We are trying to take advantage of having so much activity downtown so that we are building infrastructure once. So about $34 million of infrastructure, public infrastructure below street and at grade will also be done. At the same time that um Bayo Clinic is under construction and some of those other private entities are building um we are working very hard to sequence um as much as possible but there is a lot of movement happening on the ground. So we are doing that daily. We understand that there's impacts to businesses and visitors um that are macro impacts but there's also obviously an impact when we're under construction. But we're hoping to be a more livable community with all of these investments coming online both public and private. Uh and you can see it starts to spread out. So the more sort of concentrated investment we have in the downtown, it starts spreading out further in the walkshed and across um the community. You it's you see it all the time. When there's investment, it's usually followed by more investment from the private sector. The cost of serving a growing regional center, not insignificant. Um we are looking at a 2027 budget of nearly $800 million for the city of Rochester. Um about 463 million of that is operations. Just a reminder to anyone that is watching, we do operate a water wastewater and electric utility and that is a significant amount of those dollars about uh less than 16% of the revenue to support that is property tax levy. So significant amount of that are rates that people pay for um different services that they utilized. But we know there's going to be some pre pressure with this um positive pressure and potentially the feeling of negative pressure is understanding what the workforce is going to be necessary to support the economy. Um how do we make sure that we have a positive influence on that? We've been investing in housing to try to um have a positive impact on that and it's going to change the demands on some of our different infrastructure and services that we provide. Um so those are things that we're thinking about. How do we coordinate those investments? um they don't all have to happen in the city of Rochester. Um but if the housing is happening um further out from Rochester, we need to figure out what's that's going to mean for traffic patterns and service expectations. We're also trying to deliver on community experience. So we are a destination medical center, the America City for Health, but lots of people have shared that they like to visit here for the outdoors, for other experiences. So making sure the Mayo Civic Center operates well. We've been talking about Chateau activation, the Chateau Theater. Um, you see across the street um, the Civic Center Marquee to make sure folks know what's happening. U Mayo Park has had some investments in it to be able to support different festivals and events. Um, and our goal is really to make a stronger regional destination here to draw folks to the southeast. Um, not just Rochester, but in general we're a place where you could spend your time, invest your dollar, or want to live or visit uh, regionally. that requires a lot of investment uh in the utilities necessary to get things done. We have the 2030 power resource plan. I know that general manager McCulla has been here before. They have been on a wild ride over the last 18 months with changes in the energy market to be able to deliver not just a reliable um electric resource but also make sure that they have enough load for future growth. Um, and doing that in a way that's affordable and sustainable has created some like they they had a game of snakes and ladders with us at a recent study session. There were more snakes than ladders at certain points of the year and more ladders and stakes at other points in the year. Um, but definitely trying to make sure that we're resilient in our ability to provide electricity and um, we are entering a new phase where we are unlikely, not just in Rochester. water doesn't know a lot of boundaries as you heard from your MS4 team. Um it also doesn't know boundaries when you are accessing water in an aquafer system. So we have been informed um and not just the city of Rochester cities across southeast Minnesota that it is unlikely we will continue to be able to access the Jordan aquifer. So significant regional implications there um and local in infrastructure implications for how and where we treat our water and how we mix the water and where we get that resource from. So things that are on our radar that we're paying attention to. You all have been supportive of us trying to help out Mau County with their dispatch situation. We're continuing conversations. Very important that um this isn't the only county that is having challenges with being able to provide dispatch. Um we're very fortunate to have the relationship we do with Olmstead um for the provision of 911 services here in um our region, but it doesn't necessarily mean consolidation. There's a lot of moving parts for um some of these smaller uh counties and organizations to understand what makes sense for them short-term and long term. So just pointing out we are working together on those things. um had some great conversations about public safety training facilities, how we can continue to explore um shared or regional facilities. Sometimes it's not going to work to have everything be allin-one, but how do we coordinate our investments in a way that makes sense long term? And then obviously coordinate, coordinate, coordinate. We've had great conversations. Um your task force came to the park board to talk about um trails and parks. And so we are getting ready to update our master plan for parks. So a lot of opportunity there to understand how some of those transportation systems as well as um trail master planning can connect people to places they want to be throughout the county, not just in Rochester. Uh and then natural resources, you heard um we work very closely on the um storm water system and making sure that we have uh coordinated systems there. appreciate your conversation that you're having with staff about County Road 34 and is there an opportunity um despite there probably are trade-offs to prepare now for the potential for future infrastructure um that is more multimmodal and then just thinking about the future and the shared opportunities that we have not just with Rochester and Mstead but across the county and different communities that are represented. So I think I did it pretty quick uh >> faster than the construction's going. Uh and opportunity for any discussion or questions as a witness. >> How much uh Mrs. Helms? Any questions of uh for our city administrators? Any at all? [laughter] >> Can I share one thing? >> What? >> The parcel per parcel fee for storm water is $5 a month. Just for clarity. >> I thought that was a little high. Yeah. [laughter] >> So far it's $5 a month, but we'll see what we can do for you. Uh not the $5, but I think he said 15 or something like that. >> Just wanted to clarify. >> Yeah. Uh any questions? >> Yes. So on the >> Commissioner Thine on the Jordan aquifer, what are they they proposing here going down to the Iron Tiger or Wanowakur? We are very deep into a significant um groundwater study and um understanding what the implications would be across different aspects of the geology for um accessing different types of water resources. Our strong preference would be to be able to um utilize the Mount Simon aquifer which is a little west of us. The alternatives beyond that are not great. They involve going to the Mississippi and other places. >> Why why the Mount Simon? Why are you skipping an aquifer in between? >> Um, I probably would need an actual water resources expert to tell you that, but it's based on the flow generated. So, it's looking at the different mix of water. So, you have different treatment requirements depending on how you mix water and what's necessary in order to get the appropriate levels of treatment for all all varieties of different either contaminants or just levels of chemical that naturally occur. >> Sure, radon and stuff. Maybe I'll take this offline to Todd and see what his thoughts are. >> Todd would absolutely be able to answer that question detail. >> Are they going to be doing similar restrictions to other communities or they just pick it on Rochester because you're class one or >> It is going to affect all of the water um providers in that that currently access most of their water through the Jordan aquifer. So, we probably had some of the first notice of that because as you continue to look at drilling wells, they tell you we this is the last one unless you look at different sources to be able to um to address that. It's related to the challenges that are much worse at this point that are happening north of us. Um so, it's related to it's very interrelated. So when they're doing all of that water modeling, it's based on all how does all of the uh geology underground, above ground, how deep are is some of that geology and what are the actual implications um for the aquifer depending on where you're sourcing your water from. >> That's what I find interesting because it's I mean they put a moratorium on the Mount Simon for drilling unless it unless it is for portable use. You can't use it for anything else. I used to work in a city that got a lot of its water, some of its water from the Mount Simon aquifer and the rest from shallow wells in the river and that requires a different type of water treatment than we currently are providing here in Rochester today. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Any other questions? I have one. I I I got I received a call recently. Not sure I can articulate this, but is there something going on with a disability bus service that that may be just tenuous just in terms of affordability or something like that? >> Um, the city in general has just started with a new operator that will actually fully get up and running here in the next week. Um, and that includes the current fixed routes, the ZIPS provider, and they will also be providing the bus rapid transit link system when that comes online. So they have some sign they're very focused on technology and technology and data are very important in optimizing rides. So it shouldn't change the price of zips for riders but we're hoping that it will be much more it's easier to use um have more clarity about where their ride is when they should be arriving. Um they can also share that with a care provider. They get a little bit of different information based on HIPPA laws. Um but we haven't we executed that contract about 60 days ago and we are in the transition phase from our our [clears throat] prior our current provider transdev to um VIA who will be the new operator of all three systems. >> Good. Thank you so much. Anyone else? This is our chance. [laughter] >> I'm down the hall if you other question. >> Wonderful job. Thank you for a great presentation. >> Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Okay, at this point, uh, we're going to recess into a closed session. And that closed session is to, uh, discuss the Melvin Bush wrongful death matter entitled Ariana Bush versus Advanced Correctional Healthcare Incorporated. And the board will move into conference room two. Oh, [laughter] Dave gets to do the interview. >> What? Oh, [clears throat] yeah. >> [clears throat] >> Hey, we are returning from recess uh on the Bush matter. Uh at this point, we're on item eight of the agenda, which is board and committee reports. Uh are there any uh board or committee reports? Uh members, uh Mr. time. >> I just I just want to put on the record that, you know, a local news agency did a halfhour expose of our our accidental taxation over taxation and and then really all they could prove is that that our leader Travis does a great job protecting his employees and I'm proud of the work he did on that on that interview. Good. >> Commissioner Wright, >> no report. [clears throat] Commissioner Mueller, no report. Commissioner Hopkins. >> Yes, Mr. Chair. Um, uh, I just want to announce today that at the next meeting, um, I will be putting forward a motion to resend the previous motion to raise the ADC rate for Dodge County to $323. Um, I'll then um put forward a motion to raise the ADC rate for Dodge County to the previously negotiated rate of $100 a day um and to for that to increase annually at 3% thereafter. >> Okay. Commissioner Pulki Smith. >> Yes, Mr. Chair. My report is about uh transforming trash, the uh artist in residence program. On Friday, we held our exhibition for our most recent artist in the rotunda there. You can go visit uh the creation that she made. Uh it was about a thousand hours worth of work and almost 400 pounds of diverted uh fabrics, textiles, threads and other materials to create that installation. It was um very well attended about 60 65 people uh attended. It was really interesting, fun and engaging and um a big success. So that's my update. >> Mr. Rosman. >> Fantastic. Um, I would just, we've seen it on social media and it was touched on in one of our committee meetings today, but um, our the state county public health services team was just recognized nationally and this was for an initiative where they identified the fact that uh, Minnesota Department of Health was not sharing data in a timely manner that was useful to us as a county and took it upon themselves to uh, build a dashboard that is now used not just in county, but regionally and is actually moving out to a state model. And this has also led to now discussions with um state leaders in um allowing them to see how this initiative um and and [clears throat] how that model worked and how the the the leadership and knowledge from the county really needs to lead and build programs that they're actually looking in other ways to to use that model. So just again a tremendous example of how Olmstead County uses their the the knowledge and expertise that our staff hold every day and the passion that they have for continuous improvement that not just affects the the citizens of Mstead County but regionally and now statewide. And I don't see that that attitude um changing. And again, Mark recognized our administrator for his leadership. Um clearly thoughts like that start at the top and with that leadership and I would just commend our entire leadership staff and um down through to departmentwide. um that that attitude um raises us all, not just in Mstead County. And um as we continue to see those those examples, I'll try to continue to bring them forward because our citizens need to understand the tremendous talent that is on staff in Homestead County and that attitude of continuous improvement across all programs. >> Good. Thank you. Uh I will just report real quickly. Uh there was a board meeting of the county Historical Society History Center last Wednesday. Uh very positive, a lot of work going forward in terms of uh of um if you will the renovations and expansions of the uh of the history center relative to uh some of the money that they've raised and they've raised a fairly goodly amount. They're certainly looking at raising more and really taking that history center to a new level. They had a Brooker Mini uh uh concert out there uh Saturday or night or two ago and it was just I think over a thousand people were there. They were just elated with that turnout and uh and a lot of people are kind of finding their way to the history center. Pretty exciting time to be involved with that uh particular initiative. So if there's nothing else uh motion to adjurnn. >> Move to adjourn. >> Okay. A motion to adjurnn and a second. All in favor say I. I. We are journ. Thank you. Basically, you fix it.