North St. Paul City Council — Transcript
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Public Art Initiatives and Maintenance
Arts Programming and Community Outreach
City Administrative and Electoral Updates
Policy for Artist Submissions
Votes (5)
45th Parallel Monument Proposal Review
Dissent: None
The Parks and Rec Commission reviewed the proposal for a 45th Parallel Monument at Southwood Nature Preserve. While supportive of the concept, they expressed a preference for a natural style (e.g., boulder, wood sign) over an obelisk, to better blend with the preserve's setting. They also recommended the Arts and Culture Commission connect with Southwood volunteers and potentially nearby residents for feedback, though it was noted the monument would not be visible from homes.
Downtown Light Pole Banner Refresh Initiative
Dissent: None
The commission discussed the need to refresh existing downtown light pole banners on 7th Avenue and Margaret, noting their faded condition. The City Manager expressed support for the Arts Commission taking on this project. Initial steps involve gathering information on the total volume and locations of banners, securing estimates from Screen Tech, and drafting a proposal. The subcommittee will consider whether to issue a call for artists or pursue a simpler artistic approach.
Art Cart Event Management and Logistics
Dissent: None
A review of a recent Art Cart event at House Park highlighted communication gaps with city staff (Ava) regarding event promotion and layout, which led to low participation despite a good artist. Commissioners discussed clarifying expectations for artists, event timing, and improving internal and external communication for future Art Cart events. Planning for upcoming events at Music in the Parks (potentially Silver Lake Beach) and Big Truck Night was also discussed, including staffing and activity ideas.
Policy for Re-considering Prior Utility Box Art Submissions
Dissent: None
A discussion arose regarding a previous directive to consider Applicant #7's art for a future utility box wrap. Commissioners debated whether a formal motion was needed for this and the ethical implications of using prior submissions outside an open call. It was clarified that city staff advised ensuring future calls offer equal opportunity. The commission ultimately decided to hold off on a formal motion, acknowledging the intent to re-consider strong past submissions while planning to add language to future calls allowing artists to resubmit previous work.
Council Liaison Report: City Budget & Elections Update
Dissent: None
Council Liaison Troy Woods reported on the city's ongoing budgeting process, noting that departments have submitted their proposals and the first council discussion is scheduled for July 21st. He also announced upcoming elections for two council spots and the mayor's position, with a filing window from July 14th to 28th. Troy mentioned the successful Time Capsule opening party and, in response to a comment, briefly discussed the broader implications of property tax assessments, referencing Best Buy's situation in Richfield.
Notable Quotes (16)
overall, they're very supportive of the idea. They think it's a great opportunity to bring uh, people to North St. Paul.
one of the things they had two main points that I think of uh, feedback was that they are not super enthusiastic with the obelisk style of the monument. They are recommending more of a natural style um, like a boulder or wood sign kind of something like that to blend into the natural setting given that um, in a nature preserve.
they would like for the Arts and Culture Commission to connect with the volunteers of Southwood to obtain their feedback and would recommend contacting the neighbors of Southwood if the monument is visible from homes.
it is not visible from the street or a home. You have to walk into the park to access the 45th parallel.
I did I did connect with the city manager about that and he thought that that would be a good idea for the arts commission to pick that one up
my desire with this project is to uh keep it artistically very simple.
Some of them you can see are pretty faded. You can't you can't read everything.
I got feedback from Ava that one, she didn't know the cart was coming. Um, so we need to kind of talk to her about like the best way to communicate and then also kind of the layout of it was because where we were set up, where the art cart was and that it was a covered pavilion which was really nice. Um, but even with the park and the kids coming and going, like they were all inside and that's how Ava designed it. So it kind of didn't promote a flow of having the art cart, especially hiring an artist.
I think we would have had a better turnout if we had been able to leverage Ava and her social media and that kind of stuff.
I I'm will touch base with her with kind of like what we talked about tonight. um and see kind of what works with her or what works best and communicate that and then kind of bring it back to you guys probably in an email since it'll be a little bit too long to wait um for the next time.
Do we really need a motion for that though? I mean we I mean that seems for the second part. We don't need a motion. The language. We don't need a motion.
it seems to me that we can just wait until we have the next um planned utility box and determine what we want to do and we just know that we have this other submission that is available and we can always reach out to that person if it is an open call and say, "Hey, we can resubmit yours for this one if you'd like." Um or if we if we don't want to have an open call, we can say, "Hey, we want to just do this one. Are you okay with that and go that direction at that time?
And in the future, we'll just add those couple of sentences I wrote to every single call for artists, right? That hey, you don't have to draw something new. Just send it back because we might have actually liked it. Look at us getting better every time.
budgeting is happening with all the um departments. Um I just spoke to city manager and it sounds like they've met with all the departments and have budgets. We're going to have our first discussion about the budgeting um on the second meeting this month, the 27th. Is that right? Sorry, 21st.
elections are coming up. So, if you want to run, um there will be two council spots up for um election as well as the mayor spot is open.
the um time capsule opening party was last Friday. Yeah. Um or sorry, last Thursday. Was a lot of fun.
Ordinances & Resolutions (3)
Submitted by Jordan Layman, discussed at previous meeting.
Pertaining to Art Cart artists and services.
Previously submitted art for a utility box wrap, considered for future use.