North St. Paul City Council — Transcript
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Art Cart Updates
Art Night Program Planning
Autumn Arts Festival Preparation
Planning for 'Taste of North St. Paul Night'
Budget and Events Calendar Review
Commissioner Reports
Votes (5)
Community Craft Project Selection for Autumn Arts Festival
The commission discussed various craft ideas for the Autumn Arts Festival, aiming for take-home projects suitable for teens and adults, requiring minimal instruction and time. Options included leather cord bracelets, felt coasters, mosaic tiles, and yarn bowls. Concerns were raised about time commitment for parents. The commission favored projects that were quick, easy, and inclusive of all ages. Other ideas, like wooden fish, were also briefly mentioned.
Public Art Project Progress (Concrete Stamps & 'Bring Snowy Home')
Troy Woods reported that the City Manager approved the idea of stamping a snowman image into new concrete sidewalks. The subcommittee is investigating materials with consultants. Additionally, progress was made on the 'Bring Snowy Home' initiative, which involves creating small, decorate-your-own Snowy figures (birch preferred over acrylic) for residents. Cali Soda Girl Creations provided a quote, and the project has a $5,000 budget. Distribution at Big Truck Night or National Night Out is being considered, along with a 'Best Town Snowy' competition. The idea of year-round snowman yard figures, similar to White Bear's polar bears, is also being explored.
Murals Project: Historical Society Mural & Funding Policy
Tremendous progress was reported on the mural initiative, with the Historical Society agreeing to have a mural on their building next to Cannon Park. The commission decided to fully fund the Historical Society mural (100% of costs, estimated around $6,000 from the $12,000 budget) due to the organization's unique mission and inability to contribute financially. For private businesses or other nonprofits, a policy of funding up to 50% of mural costs was affirmed. The next step is to prepare a call for artists for the Historical Society mural, with the artist responsible for all aspects including building prep. The selection process will involve the Arts Commission, city staff, and the Historical Society.
Utility Box Art Project Progress (Veterans Park)
The Utility Box subcommittee reported progress on several fronts. The 'Heart Hands' images with colorful mosaic backgrounds have been edited and are being compiled for submission. A new streamlined 'template-style' call for artists is planned for annual utility box projects, aiming for three to five boxes per year, to make the process more efficient. For the Veterans Park utility box, a specific box has been approved, and a call for artists has been drafted and is awaiting final city approval, with a goal to have the artwork completed by August 15th for the park's 10th anniversary. No updates were available for the 'Rodies' box.
Staff Report: Snowy Card Envelopes Purchase
Jordan Layman requested clarification and approval to purchase colorful envelopes for the Snowy cards, which are planned for distribution at the upcoming Big Truck Night. The proposed purchase involves two packs of 140 envelopes each, totaling 280, with a cost of $8.99 per pack. The commission agreed on orange-colored envelopes.
Notable Quotes (14)
This year I did want to focus more on a take-home project for people rather than something we'll hang publicly. Um focused on more a teen or adult crafts because we will have the art cart for children. Okay. um trying to find something that doesn't take too long and also doesn't need a ton of instruction.
I like this mosaic tile, but I kind of think that that's something that it's almost like an art night project. Yeah. Where people can relax and have time and then you don't um have people mixing up the colors or the beans or whatever.
me personally I feel like the leather cord bracelets would catch my eye. Obviously the tiles catch my eye too but a quicker one and something where it's inclusive to all ages and everybody would be the bracelets because it's not like oh only a guy can wear this. Oh only a girl can wear this. Oh only teens can wear this. Everybody can wear it.
I talked to the city manager about it and he said, 'Yes, that is an option. He's on board with it.' So, he was going to start looking into it.
The idea of having a Snowy that people could take home and decorate according to their own culture. So, we've um been kicking around the idea of bring snowy home.
Her small business is called Cali Soda Girl Creations. Um, and she told me that she can make a max size of 18 by 23 um, without distorting the snowman. She's got like a laser a laser bed and so same thing, it would be made out of birch and she said she could add a steak.
We've reached out to the historical society and let them know that we're you know we are ready to move forward and these are the parameters. Yay. They responded and they have um let us know what type of mural they want. They want to go ahead with it which makes me very very happy.
with the historical society because of its mission and purpose, um, that we would be willing to fund the full cost of the mural for the historical society. So, that is not a blanket statement for any kind of nonprofit organization that we would do that.
So, I'm thinking probably at least in the neighborhood of $6,000. Again, I think that was what we put down for the garage building was 6,000.
The heart hand the heart hand images um have been edited with the colorful backgrounds. So, we went back to the original idea to have kind of the primary and some secondary color backgrounds in the mosaic.
We have um decided what box is going to be approved to be done. So, that's done. I've drafted a call for artists. I've handed that off to Jordan to get that approved by the city to make sure like whatever else I need to put into it.
The goal still is to have it done by August 15th for the 10th anniversary of the Veterans Park.
I just wanted some clarification before I made like final purchases for these snowy card envelopes that we plan on giving out the big truck night. Um, so I have found some colorful options where they're like, you know, red, green, blue, everything. Um, they're $8.99 for 140 pack. So I don't know, maybe do two. So total of 280 uh envelopes. That sound good for everyone?
Do you want just orange? Yes. Sorry, that was too loud. Yeah, go for it.
Ordinances & Resolutions (3)
Document drafted for the Veterans Park utility box project and planned for the Historical Society mural.
City codes enforced by the fire department, specifically regarding trash in yards and trailer parking.
Discussed in relation to local bakeries participating in the 'Taste of North St. Paul Night'.