e we at time oh time still showing 629 there it goes okay call the North St Paul arts and culture commission meeting to order on April 3rd 2024 um if you could take rooll for us please Sarah sure Tom Sonic here car Neto here Amanda black here Sharon Clark Williams here Raquel SoDo here Laura string here Cen here Lisa Wong here and Sarah Lang our commission secretary I want to draw special attention and please welcome everyone Raquel sto who is joining us for the first time hi Raquel um Raquel is joining as our our student commissioner although we have just had a commissioner seat open up so on the commission so we'll see what happens from there we need to we got to go through a lot of you know government channels um but we'll see what happens um but welcome to your your first meeting with us we're happy to have you here and I would just say ra you you have the agenda you we kind of go through the same process every month when we meet um and as we go I I might ask you you know if there's anything in particular with these uh work groups that we have if there's anything that you would like to be involved in um and just feel free to stop and ask questions at any time even though we'd go through Robert's Rules of Order stuff it's still pretty informal so um but really happy to have you here welcome aboard um all right well let me well before we move on why I want to Raquel let's have you um introduce yourself and maybe if you want to tell us and the world a little bit about yourself I think we might have I think we could be outdoing the women's NCAA basketball tournament there's probably over 12.3 million viewers right now no I'm kidding there could be but there could be in total over the coming months up to 12 people who view this that includes Tom when he goes back to view it that's right how did my hair [Laughter] look okay well for your mom like I told all well you introduced me already I'm Raquel SoDo um I've probably been living in the neighborhood for past three years going on four um I'm currently a student at Dunwoody College of Technology studying architecture um and really just wanted to get involved with the community um you know help bring liveliness back to North St Paul um so it's I'm excited to be here good and you had some some art background as well right or you do you have some involvement in the Arts or not particularly but I think with you know my architectural right degree a lot of it is heavy in the art um contrary to what a lot of people believe but yeah there's a lot of design work that goes on with you know making a building and making presentations so yeah and how far along are you at Dunwoody so I'm technically in my fifth year um but that's kind of you know messy gray area I've kind of always had a full-time job so I cut back a little bit last year and so after this semester I no longer have any Studios so this is my thesis my big one um but then it's just part-time doing my little extra classes that I kind of dropped off on so great yeah what do you what do you want to be when you grow up wow well um originally I thought I Was An Architect yeah hopefully for a few years it will be but I think um I I'm kind of like my mom I want to follow in the path of being more involved in the community and helping people that are you know you know that I can identify with so yeah good well I still haven't figured out what I want to be when I grew up sometimes it takes a while yeah well welcome again um so now we're going to adopt the agenda so I'll entertain a motion to adopt the agenda as is if anyone wants to make any changes or has any thoughts we'll hear those first of all if not motion to adopt agenda so moved we move thank you do we have a second second second all right all those in favor of adopting the agenda as is say I I opposed agenda is adopted now to approve the minutes we had some minutes from the March 6 2024 meeting everyone get a chance to read those yes I have one uh I don't know I I don't know if someone Mis misstated it or if it was a typo but it's ashin Productions not promotions that's number six in the Autumn Arts Festival it's not a huge deal I just thought we should have a correct reflection of what we're talking about that's it otherwise beautiful as always thank you Sarah wonderful job anything else okay so um would anyone like to make a motion to uh approve the minutes with that minor edit in place so moved moved by Laura second Carri I think go all right second by car all those in favor say I I opposed minutes are approved may open to the public there's nobody here moving on so public hearings we have no public hearings commission business action items and recommendations so um as particularly for um Laura and Sharon and Raquel um this is going to be emailed to you short if Sarah hasn't already done it she's pretty quick um but what I do um every time we meet is go through what what I call work Improvement A3 it's just it puts all of our work together on one piece of paper or one page um so that'll be something that you can you can look through or your subgroups as you're working on some of these key initiatives if there are specific steps that you want to call out things that we need to do to in to ensure that we can deliver on those key initiatives once you see it it'll make more sense um but we just use this to kind of keep track of progress on each of the projects that we're working on so as of this year our projects are project snowy again our mural project which is kind of an ongoing thing we have our utility boxes project the art cart paint night and the Autumn Arts Festival although that's been largely uh taken over by City staff so each time then we just go through each of those and see where we're at with progress with each of those although we are always open uh at any time to if anybody has something new that we want to discuss if we if we feel that we have the capacity and the wherewithal to take on another project or even if it's something we want to propose for the coming year then we can budget for it which would which would make it uh more doable but if there's something else that you want to talk about or add we can always add something so I know boy when we first started this commission we started talking about well what are some ideas of home like I know we kept the list somewhere but it was like okay we got to pick you know we had lots and lots of ideas and I hope all of you have lots of ideas too but and we want to we want to get at everything that we can um but we have to we don't want to overwhelm Sarah too much she gets mad at [Laughter] me be behind that friendly exterior Li's a a killer you know if you try and do too much no I'm kidding um so we'll start with uh project snowy so uh C and Amanda have been uh taking the lead on this and Laura I think you were joining that subgroup so any update from that group on Project snowy this month you want to go you wrote down stuff I I see you wrote some stuff down too go ahead all right uh purchasers have made their selections of artists this last month and oh really yep great and so we have connected artists to purchasers well Sarah is in the works of emailing those artists to see if they agree with the terms and we'll sign their contract before we have the businesses and artists work together we' have selected a design for the city snowy um and painting will be happening May 15th to the 28th at the community center 15th to the 28th okay it's May 15 to okay I had the 14th to the 29th on there that those are delivery dates so they deliver they count the delivered the 14th but they need to leave the 29th so gotcha um did we pick an artist for the the the snowy that that we bought mhm so you the the subgroup picked that yes we did okay out of the ones that were remaining after um purchasers chose theirs okay uh we chose Jean and remind me of his last name do you remember Coke okay um oh you don't have it his snowy theme was very based off of winter and relating to the St Paul Winter Carnival he had a great submission um as well and showed us a statue he did for the Kom Zoo oh so we're really excited to see what comes with with those seals yes cool a winter themed snowy H well you'll be impressed this one has people sledding on it oh neat it's not doesn't look like a snowman necessarily wow okay good um you still need people to Babys set the artists right yes there's going to be a little bit of update on that I was kind of waiting to see what else okay I just want to make sure I have my calendar yep uh did you have anything else certain down see um I I I see that Sarah's wanting to jump in here as well but I just want to round out as far as next steps uh the um so we're once we get the artist agreements back that will kind of finalize that um and then and then we'll have the reach outs as far as like when they plan to do their art and of course we still need to do final art approvals of having them um like there there might be minor edits that the that the business might be wanting so um our committee will be doing final approvals on that and then of course Amanda is doing some Villa design I don't know if you mentioned that um and then of course we need to get some Final locations for those that are donating to the city uh and then yeah and then Sarah I don't know if you want to jump in or Laura do you have anything okay um so yes we I've been working with some of the artists I've started connecting the artists with their purchasers that have actually returned their artist agreements um a couple of them I have not heard back from yet so as a result of that I have not reached out to our artist yet because I just wanted wanted to make sure we had everything in place before sure I guarantee ours um but that should be I would think later in the week with that being said I haven't heard back from many on what times or days they're thinking about painting um so we don't have a schedule yet to send out to the group to see go to see who can babysit them or represent the city um but Amanda had um volunteered herself to do all of the weekday from during the day um 10 to um so we would just need people in the evenings from 5: to 7:00 on the weekdays and then weekends as well so um I will be sending that out here I'm hoping by the end of the week I can get everybody kind of collected if not next week and we can do that but otherwise yeah it's been going great awesome s could we add that to our events calendar just like yeah just so I can stay organized I'm sorry no absolutely I will do that has a location been finalized or is that still up in the uh so they will be painting at the community center um there's going to be a key for that um and access will be off of sepa Boulevard um Amanda has also been gracious enough to be the key keeper um for key master key master that is way better yes um so if somebody is going to relieve her during in the evening um just making sure the key gets back to her she lives really close to the community center so it's not too difficult but um I will also send out as we get closer like a map of which door to go in and everything so nobody has to stress about that so hey thank you so much that's kind of nice that it'll be at the community center rather than public works yes um what uh what number of the snowies are going to be uh donated back to the city including the one that we bought ourselves so again that's up in the air right no oh okay so one will be donated later in the summer from Premier Bank um they want to have it first for a little bit um I reached out to TA shiy they want to keep it oh okay so um I know they've been going back and forth um and I'm kind of surprised what what's happening with ta shipskis to get this big auction I don't know if anybody has a clear answer so shipskis so retiring and selling off all this stuff yeah have you seen the signs for that no I missed it shoot purple wave yeah the purple have you gone like all their trucks are for sale like $80,000 if you want to get a truck or something I think their auctions like in two weeks or something milons of dollars of vehicles and tractors and stuff no I I have that like what's to Happ it sounded like they're retiring the the paving yeah it's only a portion of the business but I think all of that those mounds of stuff are generally used for Paving I think so yeah I think it's like asphalt and concrete I think so so they want to keep it they asphalt Contracting that they do there you go their yard will still be open for business oh okay so that makes sense then that they want to keep it the other one that's kind of up in the air is um the new apartment building article number seven they're one of the buyers oh um and he's not sure he's thinking he might have another spot on 7th Avenue in one of his other buildings that he's looking to purchase to put it in otherwise he may have to donate it we're we're kind of working through that with him but it sounds like everybody else is going to keep there so that works yeah that's just great so which which apartment building bought one the the one that's being built or the yes oh wow the one on Seventh y great yeah yeah they're really excited so that's fantastic and if they find a spot for it right downtown fantastic that's and our city one is just going to stay outside of City Hall is it mhm okay yep so so far we just have one we need to for sure play of the summer um they requested Silver Lake Park so I'm going to work with public works and see get that going it love it well we could use one at Casey though too do you have $5,000 yeah well if we didn't want to put the one right outside City Hall uh City staff has requested oh really they really enjoy they like it the atmosphere of snowy outside of City good well they got the giant one right there GRE greedy greedy how many snow do you need all right no that's fantastic uh what else anything else on Snowy Next Step uh see you mentioned some next steps but we also still need to plan the full event because we're not sure what's happening as far as event planning um so the reveal event and hopefully some Media stuff is still in the works there yeah there's a little bit of Gap there if anybody hasn't heard that car's leaving the city so our cour uh Communications person will be gone before she leaves in two and a half weeks so well before our event so she was kind of taking the lead on that I'm sure I'll have to take some of that back or if somebody else comes in so we're working on it it's not going to fall away but um is is she going to be replaced yes okay that's the goal and then who else is leaving so the police chief M um we can sh talk about yeah yes we're getting off we'll take that offline all right you know I like to sound like the old person of the group sorry um but I remember my very first arts and culture commission meeting the very first project we talked about with mayor furong at the time was Project snowy so huge congratulations to you three for bringing it across the Finish Line it's been a long time coming I can't wait it's not there yet it's closed it's like right there basically not it will happen no it will happen it happen we manif positive yes think positive um no great work um really appreciate it um okay mural's [Music] team I'm on that cre I'm on that yeah um so we were talking about doing a mural on an actual privately owned Place building that's what they're called um so we're going to put together an RFP for for interested businesses to apply to see who's interested in having a mural and work with them from there so I think would you sorry would you please include Gabriel's fallen angel on that list because I know they showed interest in having a mural and they're artists yep they could do it themselves is the goal then of this just for clarification so I know um for the businesses to pay for it and we helped facilitate it or I think what we'll do is we'll get we'll get a proposal put together Sarah we won't send that out or do anything with it before reviewing it with you in the city um um but the intention I think would be to see if there are businesses who are interested and that the city would partially fund um it would not be Our intention to fully fund a project for a private business but that we would partially fund that so if there are businesses who are doing willing to do that and willing to um uh you know play a major role in the in the funding of it themselves that the city can help facilitate uh finding an artist and and help with uh the cost so but we'll try and get more of that um we'll try and get that to you this month they help with the cost but also with the design approval and all that so yeah I think with what you're saying yeah so the design approval I think um when we can we can work with the uh the private business in that but I would want to leave that largely to the business to decide what they'd want to do but I think as these are some of the parameters we have to think about that we would put into the proposal to businesses that uh you know businesses selected to receive you know some funding from the city would be you know we would have a bias towards those who want to involve the community in some way those who have something that's relevant to City history or something like that you know uh we've talked a lot about those things in the past and how we um decide what what art or artists that we would select and and that type of thing so um those are all details that we need to work out before we send anything out and we did have a third person in our subgroup but she recently left the commission so if any okay yay Sharon's joining Sharon awesome so Sharon I'm putting your name on it so you're stuck now sorry Sharon um so Sharon and Carrie before we leave tonight we should set up some meetings in the next couple weeks got it okay that's okay yep all right um so that's that's the update on the murals for now um utility boxes so we have C Laura Sharon and Lisa W on this subgroup any update on this one uh so our committee did get a chance to meet early on um and so folks uh our team should be up to date on what's what's happening as far as the um high school project for the utility box WP and um so we've also connected with uh Alexis Lexi from ISD 622 uh who has been facilitating the conversation with North High uh to get the program running so the latest update there is that um she that it is within their channels of communication out to students but knowing that we have not had any submissions yet that um uh we are extending the deadline to April 22 um and shortening some of the other other things that we're doing and then uh Lexi has volunteered I don't know it's part of her job I don't know about volunteering but but she she has graciously agreed to go to North High to um do additional promotion and connection with the art teachers and um and the folks over there in admin great so how long has the um notice been out to the students I believe it went out um last week okay mhm so it's just been a week with that they haven't had any submissions okay yeah and so yeah and maybe Sarah might have more to share the only thing I can say is we've had it open at the city level since the 18th of March um but I don't think the high school started promoting it till last Monday so the 25th so there was a week Gap in there we need to push our kids Gary and and I don't know if there's also additional things that we're we're planning to do as a city to do more promotion around this opportunity um we certainly we certainly can keep pushing it if you guys have ideas too um I think it's going to be in this case really important at the high school level though because that's the how we're going to reach them they're not reading our newsletter or going on our social media so um but if you have ideas we can certainly help facilitate that yeah uh any ideas are welcome I'll push it so just a quick plug too there's a the North High play uh the spring play opens tomorrow it's called she kills monsters um and that's tomorrow Friday and Saturday night at 7:00 um so there's a little plug for that but I'll see a lot of the kids um this weekend so I'll I'll talk to them push it around tell them to tell their friends too we have any paper flyers or like graphic design Flyers about it uh we do have a flyer there yeah there is a flyer is it nothing printed though but it is like shaped like a f okay could we send it to North ask him to print some and hand them out at the play oh um yeah I I I guess like I I don't know who to connect with I do send it to me okay great or even just getting getting them in the art rooms yeah yeah I Haven no but which is what our con contact is going to do tomorrow actually she's going out tomorrow to all the art rooms and talk to the teachers and do all that that'll help good yeah yeah that'll be good but I'll I'll get it over to you guys in case it helps okay or put in too we'll need it okay if it doesn't matter I will email there are there is a ton of artistic talent at North High so there was um uh what was the thing I went to it it was downtown St Paul it's a they they have this art show of uh high school students from across the Twin Cities area I think um um and it's down at the Landmark Center still still there and there were there had to be eight North High students that had art selected to be shown in the in the thing so it's great yeah so there's a ton of talent there um okay art cart so Amanda if you have an update but this is also one where we are looking for a volunteer to help with this team so since dates have been selected I am I have a couple of projects in mind but haven't solidified anything because I'm waiting for a second commissioner to join me great Rael perfect so I think that would be great Raquel so just a a quick on that one it's um do you know what the art card is have you seen it I think you guys told me about it I never actually yeah it's our big orange trailer um that uh we had people through the community paint and put handprint sound and stuff like that but we usually have it down um at Casey Park during music in the Parks and then we also have it uh at the car show at least once in the summer so we usually kick off so June 9th this year at the that's City night at the car show is that right it's on the back I think it's on our yeah yeah and it's and we're doing rock painting again right I think I don't know if we have to and okay you can change it was was that um I have the 14th that's a car show but yeah so I wonder if that was what I just had from the previous year I think it was closer to that date last year yeah it was y so what is the date for the um city night at the car show do you have it the 14th it's the 14th oh oh oh oh okay thanks and then the music in the Parks the 20th the July 18th and August 19th okay we have the listing up to get volunteers but I'm don't think anybody's applied just yet no or up yet um dates are still pretty out there so I think that's fine July 18th and the in August Amanda do you need a list of um the like projects that we pre-planned for as far as like we ordered like the stamp making kit and that kind of stuff do you want the only thing I remember is the stamp making kit and I think we ordered more rocks at the end of last year we did and then like Mosaic um okay things I can send that to you too exactly what we ordered okay Rael did you see that in the back of the packet there's that schedule it's very colorful yeah there you go yeah this is oh this is fantastic um so there's that and so I think the the two big things there are um finding volunteers so if any of those dates that you could volunteer would be great Raquel um we want to have at least two people um and it's just helping the kids do stuff um and then also just the programming too so whatever you want to do as a as a thing I keep pushing for plaster app Paris molds but kid- centered projects that are easy and not timec consuming probably fun fun of course messy not too messy yeah right rapidly successful yeah art should be messy um so anyway so fantastic Raquel I'm going to add your name on there um and uh so Amanda and Rael if you want to connect after the meeting and also can I get clarification on there yeah so does art cart only happen when music in the park happens or are there other questions so not necessarily so when we when we started out with the artart Our intention was to really have it a lot more days throughout the summer and we tried to do that um but we just didn't get any attendance so if if we had it in the in a city park like some like Sharon and I grew up here when we were kids they had this art cart it wasn't the same one but they had one out in the Parks and everyone would just find it and we'd go and do these crafts um kids just don't show up like that anymore um so we wanted to try and put it where there's another event already happening so music in the Parks was just a really easy win for that so we connect with music in the Parks and and we get good turnout of kids to do art at those things so same thing with the car show and we I think the first time we did we did two car shows I think now we're just doing one um but it it can certainly be used more often and in more places if it makes sense how to grow it I was just wondering like what the timeline look like over the year so right now it's largely summer there are five dates um the first car show the three music in the Parks and then the Autumn Arts Festival okay right but you can do whatever you want with it I mean we could add something for the snowy reveal coloring a snowman maybe you can do whatever you want we just have to coordinate with the city staff because then we got to get Public Works to haul the thing around and drop it off somewhere and and we need volunteers and you need volunteers and then you want people to show up so but everything is is pretty wide open we can we all just came up with this whole thing so it's just all it's all up to us people to do stuff um anything else on that you want to add Amanda or any other questions Orel okay okay paint Knight this was another one that was uh led by Lisa and uh Carrie also on this Carrie any thoughts on this one um yeah I think we're pretty set with our uh paint nights set with our guest artists we've got four coming up I have committed to being the staff liaison commission liazon whatever um to host those artists for those events would love if anyone else wants to join but we've got June 17th July 11th August 29th and then all the way down in October 24th at Casey Lake so I think we'll go with that I know Lisa was considering doing an April event but um decided against it so we have those four dates for now um and that's another one I do you need help with that one carried I would love help with that one I feel like we're set for this year but moving forward it would be great to have some additional input so if anybody wants to connect with carry on the paint night um just to let us know mhm 29 October 24th I love it that we're going to have these different artists I'm excited yeah it should be fun and 16 people Max going forward is that right I think so is that right yeah what we said okay I thought that was a good number um and then the Autumn Arts Festival this I would I'll hand over to you Sarah if you have any thoughts questions yeah I mean like I mentioned before with Carrie leaving she was kind of taking over the role of um there's a different Carrie by the way not this Carrie um Carrie erbach our Communications coordinator um she was taking over event planning um we're hoping that the new person that will take over her position will also take over um helping Accord the Autumn Arts Festival so for right now um there's not really any updates on my end but um you know again that's something we won't let just drop it's going to be we're going to keep working on it and we might end up leaning back on the commission a little bit more as we get back closer to the event so okay that's all I got but nothing you need from us nothing you need to know not at the immediate moment I think we're okay we got time did you say what you got time no I said we've got time oh we've got time oh but I have um started accepting vendors good that's good okay um so far we've got I think five that have paid so they're all secured and ready to go um I've got another like seven that I've approved so we're moving along good with that too so are they a lot from the previous year yeah most of them are there's I think believe two new ones so far but the rest are repeat awesome well I think people had a good year last year yeah it was great or a good day anyway um I wanted to jump back to the mural thing you had sent me an email Sarah about getting a voma for the mural right I would like to connect with you Tom about information that you'd like on the Vana okay yeah Tom had a really specific plan in mind for what he wanted like remember he wanted like a whole stamped concrete thing with the artist statement and all that oh you don't remember that um I do I do remember that cuz he wrote such a beautiful thing about why he his inspiration but I don't know how much space we have on AA so our space is limited I I knew going into this Tom that your words would expand the space required can we have two velas does that get you closer to your requirement I think it could be a different size well we were going to keep it easy and keep it the same size same format as the snow consistency sorry so it is in a triangle shape a triangle it is interesting um I will connect with you okay about the information if you have something set that you would like on there I can work with it right now and show you what I can do with that okay I think I would need some parameters and then I could so what I understand is that there's like a there's a minimum dollar like you have to spend so much 250 and I think we sit at like 180 right now with what we're ordering for Snow's um so they will still charge us the 250 just to get the order out but I figured if we can get another voma out of it okay do we have a place for snake girls rocks no because that would be a perfect Vela to describe what that is it would be but I don't know where yes any thoughts on that would be moving forward you can tell me utility boxes could we add to the utility boxes I I think it's too big it's pretty big is it okay but good thinking you know me I try um all right I think that gets us through all the updates from our subcomittees so we will move on to Old business anybody have any old business to talk about we kind of talk about all that when we do our updates Sarah Lisa nope okay uh reports from staff so bud update and then the event update yes so um won't go into great detail because not much has changed but I updated our budget to reflect the purchase of the baggies for um the AR cart and the drop cloths for project snowy um so that's the only thing new from last month um and then and $12.18 I know you know we really need to slow it down we're just earning money art cart we're spending too much money too much and it does this also reflects the uh reallocation of the funds for project snow to so um so that's it for Budget unless anybody has any questions or anything no I really appreciate you doing this I'm sorry to add an extra thing but I I a lot that's you're welcome um and then we have the event planner that we've already referenced um this again we're going to need people at each of these events so um if as we get closer if you are going to be there if you could just let me know um I can add you to this list and we can just make sure we're all good to go um and yeah with the music in the park one that is referencing the art cart so just so we're all clear on that um any questions on the events um I would just put one thing out there I mean it's great if Commissioners here if if we can try and attend any and all of these things but I think um the car show is a great event so the city night at the car show that's a great thing for us to attend and that's a you know we can maybe hand out some swag or something stickers or or something but it's a great way for us to U connect with the community at the art Carton and uh tell people what's going on on um but also the parade that's something everyone El everyone should also um put a star by that that's something we want to try and have every commissioner at the parade if possible and the festival and the Autumn Arts Festival yes on Festival we autum Arts Festival we need we need a lot of hands you know we need uh people to help but um it's it's manageable but also just you know wearing your T-shirt and I think we need some we need some t-shirt so needs a t-shirt Sharon needs t-shirt great Point tshirt and uh but we love it's good to have everybody um walking around the place with uh showing their arts and culture Pride well between now and the next meeting I will get the numbers for the t-shirts if we reorder for this year and I'll get everybody sizes and then we'll go from there vote on it next month cool awesome yeah maybe we could even get them by the car show huh that would be fantastic I think it's doable good okay well my last update is going to be one that's going to leave some of you probably upset with me but um you know there's been a lot of change at the city there is another change I'm going to be leaving the Arts commission what I am I am going to park and wreck um and so this may be my last meeting a um I'm pry sure wasn't going to be here in May anyway but there's a potential I'll be here in June but the new person um that we're going to be bringing on that's similar role to me um we're looking for somebody that also enjoys Arts might have an art background as well that's part of the job description so hopefully we can get somebody and that's a good fit too um but yeah that's going to be a change um I really really have enjoyed working with all of you though so it's certainly Bittersweet on my end um but any like project snowy um that's not I'm going to see that to the end so I'm not leaving like done um and I want to make sure that everything that we've started is going to continue to get to the finish line so I'll be helping out but as far as being your staff Lea on I'll be moving [Music] roles I thought we had a good thing going we do we absolutely do um it makes more sense with my background my background is sports my background is Parker and wreck my background is Sport management so when they are looking for somebody to take that over and more of the park responsibilities it's just a more of a natural fit so that's the move it has nothing to it's not you it's me um but I'm not completely abandoning because I feel like I have a lot invested in this commission too so I don't want to just be gone I still want to be involved so so yeah that's my update congratulations thank you well that's just great be nice to that's good that you're moving forward to something that's more align with your experience so congratulations well Sarah it's a total drag I'm really bummed it really sus for us I know well it does well we don't know that we don't know what the new person's going to be like oh I it could be Sarah times 10 I don't know no well there is no replacement they have a big job to fill absolutely it is is very safe to say that everything we've done since you've been here we wouldn't have been able to do without you well thank you um so it's and that's not just lip service or anything I know I know I mean we put a lot on you and you never once complained our fa so will the new yeah then I and that's fine I don't care if you complain wherever wherever else um go home and kick your dog or whatever um you know for the record I would not do that okay okay but uh no you've you've done just you know great stuff for us and you know we like I said we did put a lot on you and and you just came through every time smiling with it so um I'm bummed me too it's it'll be it'll be it'll be fine joint meetings or something yeah there we go go to the Parks Commission and Heckle yeah till they give us our Sarah back Sarah is there a um definitive cut off date like some of the work that we're doing um no um not at this point because it's still kind of up in the air when we hire somebody and what that transition is going to look like but as we move through the process I'll make sure to communicate that and so we're all on the same page H we're not on the same [Laughter] page well so just add that to the list of changes going on in the city right now yeah well good we'll do it all at once and then rip off the Band-Aid and move forward um well I I guess we should move on what's next on the agenda Tom well reports from Commissioners so um Rael welcome again I this is uh item 10 what we do here is we go around the horn um I always start down at this end and go down um but if there's anything that you want to talk about bring to everybody's attention or anything that you want to bring up regarding North St Paul or the arts and culture commission that would be uh related to the work that we do um this is your opportunity so sorry to Spring that on you I can come back to you at the end if you want to think about it and you can say nothing too that's okay don't have anything yet get comfortable so yeah you know as you become comfortable this is this is a one opportunity you can also talk anytime throughout the meeting if you want to too but um so nothing nothing this month all right thanks forel Sharon anything um Lauren I hope to get down to the History Center now to look at photographs for one of the utility boxes oh fantastic now we're going to get to the point where two newest no longer the two newest members will be proceeding with a project together fun yeah I'm looking forward to it good good should be great which and this is for is this for the rodes ones still or yes okay gotcha sorry I didn't clarify that no no that's good anything else nope that's it Carrie our former student commissioner CC gaki was recently nominated or voted in to be the president of the entire Min state of Minnesota student councils so she's basically running the state at this point I know I I tell you I hope we all got pictures with her because she's going to be president of the United States eventually so so I was excited about that great yeah yes big shoes big shoes that's it it um for me just uh reminder again uh she kills monsters is the name of the play at North High it's very good opening tomorrow have you seen did you saw oh you saw it a t okay great um final dress rehearsal tonight and then um opens tomorrow and then Friday and Saturday at 700 p.m. um what else Arts commission well Sarah again I'm very I'm happy for you if you're GNA if if you really are interested in Parks um but uh just want to say again that I'm I'll be very sad to see you go um and I think that's it for me okay C anything nothing for me thanks thank you man uh I would just like to put out there that once snowy is finished up and wrapped up I'm down to possibly just art carts if Autumn Festival is not on our list I'd love to join C and working on culture stuff for next year the end of second half of the year if that okay and we also have paint night Carrie is uh very lonely that's in [Laughter] that it's practically running itself at this point I kind of feel like you know Sarah's got us all set up yeah so that's my update okay Laura the only thing for me is I got to have two sub committee meetings last really enjoyed do that so it's a lovely start to jumping in great great excellent and so hope everybody and Raquel and Sharon you're going to get in there too and and so you went to utility box you had a utility box meeting yeah great okay and we'll figure out something for um the mural all right uh reports from Council liaison Lisa Sarah yeah I think um certainly uh you've done a lot for for this commission and um you're diligent you're professional you get the the job done um and it's very evident to me that um everyone up here really appreciates all the work that you've done um so thank you and um yeah Parks you're not that far away Rael welcome um and then let's see uh I can go into um some of the updates um not sure if you all saw but wanted to throw this out again but there's a a lead line check it's a federal uh mandate that we need to kind of identify all the lead pipes um in our municipality um I think they adjusted the date now to the summer of 2025 um so we're but there's a lot of homes to to figure that out um there are instructions on the website on how to figure out if your pipe is lead or not and if you don't feel confident or comfortable um you can schedule with public works for 20 like a 20 minute slot and they can just come by and and and quick do it um and report it quick question do you know if is there a time when homes were being built that lead just stopped being used so like homes built after X date won't have it um I I believe there probably is I don't know what it is off the top of my head typically for like building permits the other part of my job um usually it's about 1978 is or so so around there thank you g miss you um the Eda has um three position I think three positions open um for uh Commissioners so if you know anyone there um that is is open for for discussion I think last or for applic for applying and I think last time they were working on uh it um storefront Renovations what is that called storefront like the facades facades that's the word yep facades um a grant program for uh some of the the businesses so okay can I ask a question Lisa sure can I thought wasn't the Eda going to be subsumed by the council yeah that's a great question so it I guess the Eda decided that they would hold off a little bit um and so the commission is open and um but yeah that was kind of in question for a second but okay um 11th Avenue um we had received a grant for a sidewalk there and so um we've um went ahead and um approved uh seeking bids for that sidewalk construction from aeriel all the way to mcnight um so that will be a really nice addition to that um to that road um the community center so there's been a lot of information coming around the the community center it's been a very hot topic and the main focal point I would say of most most of our Council work in the last month or so um so deed um the department Department of economics and employment um development to explain the reimbursement process a little bit to the community um um to council and so a little bit more clarity around what that looks like and the longevity um how long do we have to operate this building at first it was was it 37 years and it's like well not quite it could be less than that um so there is some gray areas in which the the language has been it's it's broad enough um to where um we can meet our community's needs um when we do some more Community engagement these are the grant stipulations this is the yeah the legislative fonding okay yeah so um we also received um federal funds now um 850 ,000 there and so we're looking at$ 5.35 million for Community Center Renovations um should the council decide to move forward on that um in our last meeting we talked about getting a request for information so that is being developed at this time and we are we've had a lot of community um organizations and people come out and so um we're going to um seek a request for information and what a partnership could look like um you know what their interest might be in using the community center or being a partner in it um so just trying to get a lay of the land on who's interested um in a more formal way yes and I was wondering is there would the city is the city going to also take like proactive measures as far as like who they might see or be interested in having in the center as well you know like to I don't know build out well-rounded a community center or something I would think that would be a goal is to kind of assess the needs it will it is a goal I think that would be the goal yeah okay are you asking see like a like an anchor tenant or like all of the potential uses programming yeah I I mean just like uses and programs or um because you know like requests for like who who would be interested in partnering but then like um you know what if it's like geared towards like this certain Niche that like doesn't fit a lot of our community needs right like when we also want to do some Pro itive Outreach to um you know like programs or partners that we would be interested in having within the community so yeah I think that might be certainly a part of um exploring that um I think the last time we engaged businesses and organizations they were more confined to just North St Paul and so think there's more opportunity to connect with other Partners beyond our our borders cuz we are very much a regional hot spot I think in my opinion um yeah does that answer yes yes I just wanted to make sure that we're you know like to um mitigate potential like pitfalls to that we're being strategic around or we're we're wanting to be strategic around how we go about the community center going forward sure yeah I I think um I would think that staff will be doing a lot of um investigating of that and then um this will be very transparent a lot of these are workshops and going to going to be continued um publicly and very transparently there's a lot of interest in it and so um I think that gives us room for discussion and conversation and then also if you um are interested um um every meeting even a workshop now for the community center we're allowing um because it's not typical but um Public public comment and so that's another opportunity to speak your piece or your your perspective okay good all right um I missing anything else with the community center project snowy okay okay uh we also had the Ramsey County Library as you all know that's in the community center um it's one of eight libraries in the county we one of two of the smaller smallest ones um but uh we had the deputy director come and kind of just give us an update on what they're doing and you know what they're seeing and so um because they're interested in in continuing um a partnership too so 763 new library cards at our library 53,000 patrons um 990,000 items checked out about half of them were children's materials um we are the only uh library in Suburban Ramsay County that has um access to drr state park passes so um people can go there and get a pass and use that up for up to a week um and so that's that's really wonderful um computer and digital literacy is in high demand um and uh there's a new Dropbox outside the community center so for returns you can do um it outside of business hours now um let's see we've had some changes in Staffing um so Chief um Phil baben Roth he will be um the UND Sheriff at Ramsey County so that's a a big move for him so congratulations to him um and Sergeant Ray Rosalez has um now become or will become our chief um so please Chief Ray um and uh I think we alluded to Carrie Urban boach um having um uh or resigning and then um also um we have two officers that are going to St Paul and then um an accountant and Brandy how the community development director um so there will be a lot on Sarah's plate so give her some Grace um but yeah there will be um some hiring going on um at the city so tell your friends um but yeah there's still um let's see we're in a pretty good spot in terms of like where we're at with some of the community center stuff so I think um that's that's that's that will help with workflow um but that's all I have um thanks How could a person find out when an ash tree in the Boulevard in front of their house might be removed sorry one more time how could a How could a resident find out if there's been an ash tree that has a red x on it in the Boulevard in front of their house how could they find out when that will be scheduled to be removed I can speak that too cuz I also represent Public Works um uh if it's got the Red X um they're doing removals over the next couple of weeks so you should see that they don't have a firm timeline yet it's all weather dependent but next couple weeks as I say the the streets that are listed are 12 13th 18th and 6th I know and uh it's cuz I those streets had the majority and then there's a few in between so I'm sure you're on the in between streets but they will be getting them all at once so wow so it's going to go pretty fast over the next couple weeks yes wow and then the stumps come back and get removed in the fall so we will have the stump for a little while is there uh intention to uh replace those trees as they go or how is that going to work typically um don't usually do it in the same year we see that usually a lot um the following year following summer so yes they do replace them they do okay MH yeah and um our Forester he uh submitted a grant and received I think about 400,000 or almost half a million dollars for um trees in our city so a lot of it is going to this effort um the majority of it going to Emerald ashor and then um there's also ability to um apply for a grant if you're eligible income eligible um to have those trees cut down as well so um that's yeah your private trees yeah your private trees not your neighbor's tree but yeah and I I remember learning about these ash trees uh once they're once they're dead they're they are more brittle than a lot of other trees so it's like if you have one on your property it's a good idea a to to take that down um because it's you don't want it to fall on your house more or less the bugs kind of eat it from within so then it becomes Hollow so yeah it's fun thanks for your question anything else anybody if not item 12 is adjournment so I'm looking for a motion motion to dismiss thank you C anybody second second by Sharon all in favor say I I I oppos uh the meeting is adjourned at 7:32 p.m. thank you