St. Paul City Council — Transcript
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Federal Transportation Safety Funding for St. Paul
St. Paul Port Authority 2027 Budget and Economic Development Initiatives
Salt Storage Regulation Ordinance
Xcel Energy Franchise Agreements and Fees
Fire Department Funding Amendments and Grants
Operation and Maintenance Approvals for City Facilities
Sound Level Variances for Events and Infrastructure Projects
Votes (20)
Consent Agenda Items 2-15 (as amended)
Moved by Vice President Yang [0:3:27]
The balance of the consent agenda, excluding item 6 which was pulled for separate consideration, was approved without further discussion.
Item 6: Resolution 26-1460, Authorizing the city to enter into a grant agreement with the Federal Highway Administration for safe streets for all funding.
Moved by Council President Akre [0:11:34]
Council President Akre pulled this item from the consent agenda to allow Public Works staff, represented by David Peterson, to detail the federal 'Safe Streets for All' grant. Peterson explained the $18.1 million funding (Federal + State match) would target 40 miles of St. Paul's high-injury network for low-cost safety improvements like high-visibility crosswalks, curb extensions, and traffic circles over five years. Questions arose regarding specific project locations and public engagement plans, which staff indicated would be developed during preliminary design. Council members lauded the external funding for addressing critical safety needs.
Item 16: SR26-185, St. Paul Port Authority 2027 budget presentation.
Mike Solomon, CFO of the St. Paul Port Authority, presented the preliminary 2027 budget and was joined by President CEO Todd Hurley and other leadership. The presentation detailed the Port Authority's role as an economic engine, highlighting river terminal projects (Barge Terminal one, Barge Terminal 2, Southport Terminal), inland development (The Heights, former Kmart site), and energy loan programs (MINPace, Trillion BTU). Solomon requested a $75,000 increase in the operating levy to offset inflationary costs, noting the levy supports only 35% of their budget and is well below maximum capacity. Council Members Johnson and Vice President Yang, who serve on the Port Board, expressed strong support, commending the Port's work and significant return on investment.
Item 17: Ordinance 26-39, amending chapter 63 of the legislative code pertaining to salt storage regulation.
Moved by Council President Akre [0:33:55]
A public hearing was opened for this ordinance but no public testimony was presented. The Council decided to continue the public hearing to September 23rd due to a pending revised version of the ordinance.
Item 18: Ordinance 26-40, amending appendix B of the legislative code relating to Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Gas franchise.
Moved by Council President Akre [0:42:14]
Public testimony was received regarding the proposed gas franchise ordinance. Murf Dawkins from Arentos praised the new provisions for their equity, specifically the 50% franchise fee return to low-income LEE program participants and the adjustment of rates to prevent residential sectors from subsidizing commercial ones. John Purie, a resident, raised concerns that Xcel Energy's definition of 'residential' might exclude many low-income apartment dwellers who pay heat through rent, thus preventing them from benefiting from the fee discount. Council President Akre committed to following up on these equity concerns with staff.
Item 19: Ordinance 26-41, amending appendix C of the legislative code relating to Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Electric franchise.
Moved by Council Member Jo [0:45:26]
Murf Dawkins provided public testimony, specifically noting that this agreement also brings equity by adjusting commercial rates upwards and proportionately lowering residential rates, addressing a past subsidy from the residential to the commercial sector. No other public testimony was given.
Item 20: Ordinance 26-43, amending the legislative code by adding a new appendix B2 relating to Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Gas franchise fee.
Moved by Council Member Jo [0:46:16]
No public testimony was presented for this item. The public hearing was closed and the ordinance was laid over for final adoption.
Item 21: Ordinance 26-44, amending the legislative code by adding a new appendix C2 relating to Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Electric Franchise fee.
Moved by Council Member Jo [0:49:10]
Prior to the public hearing, Council Member Johnson requested a formal update from staff regarding the equity concerns raised by Mr. Purie earlier in the meeting, specifically concerning the impact on low-income renters, before the final vote next week. Council President Akre agreed to follow up with staff on this matter, acknowledging the importance of the comments. Xcel Energy representatives present were thanked for their engagement. No public testimony was received for this specific item.
Item 22: Resolution public hearing 26-123, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of 1,250,000 to accept the 2026 economic development initiative community project funding federal earmark for the fire department's burn building restoration and reconstruction.
Moved by Council Member Buoie [0:50:0]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 23: Resolution public hearing 26-255, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of $5,467 for a payment received for recycling scrap metal that was no longer needed by the department.
Moved by Council Member Coleman [0:50:50]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 24: Resolution public hearing 26-256, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of $30,000 for a grant from the state of Minnesota through the Department of Labor and Industry to support staffing for the apprenticeship program.
Moved by Council Member Johnson [0:51:39]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 25: Resolution public hearing 26-176, ratifying the assessment for repair of sanitary sewer line on private properties.
Moved by Vice President Yang [0:52:26]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 26: Resolution, public hearing, final order approving the seventh place mall operation and maintenance for 2025.
Moved by Council Member Kim [0:53:13]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 27: Resolution, public hearing 26-181, final order approving the seventh place mall operation and maintenance for 2026.
Moved by Council Member Buoie [0:53:57]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 28: Resolution public hearing 26-192, final order approving the Grand Snelling parking lot operation and maintenance cost for 2027.
Moved by Council Member Jo [0:54:40]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 29: Resolution public hearing 26-248, approving the application of the University of St. Thomas for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for the 2026 University of St. Thomas football season series.
Moved by Council Member Coleman [0:55:31]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 30: Resolution public hearing 26-251, approving the application of Twin Cities in motion for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon weekend event.
Moved by Council Member Johnson [0:56:20]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 31: Resolution public hearing 26-252, approving the application of Anderson race management for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for get your rear and gear Twin Cities event.
Moved by Vice President Yang [0:57:04]
No public testimony was presented for this item.
Item 32: Resolution public hearing 26-253, approving the application of Excel Energy for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for an Excel Energy infrastructure utility project.
Moved by Council President Akre [1:3:33]
Council President Akre questioned an Xcel Energy representative about the project's 24/7 nature, duration (October 19th - November 2nd, 2026), and anticipated sound levels for an infrastructure utility project at the CPKC railroad crossing. The representative explained that 24/7 operation is necessary once work begins under the railroad tracks to prevent deflection, with primary noise coming from equipment within a 15-foot deep trench box and a generator, for which noise barriers would be deployed. Estimated noise inside the box would be 90-100 dB, with less sound above ground. The project duration is expected to be 2-3 weeks.
Legislative Hearing Consent Agenda Items 33-69
Moved by Vice President Yang [1:4:16]
The Legislative Hearing Consent Agenda, comprising items 33 through 69, was presented for consideration. No individuals were present to testify on any of these items, leading to their collective approval.
Notable Quotes (13)
I wanted to pull this off of consent just to give our staff an opportunity to tell us a little bit more about what this funding would make available. I know all of us hear frequently from our constituents about the need for safer streets, safer pedestrian crossings. Um, and this is the kind of funding that gets us there.
Some of the types of improvements that you're likely to see with this, um you've seen some of these around St. Paul elsewhere. Um they're not uh they're not uh uh incredibly uh what do you say? They're they're not the the most innovative. They're kind of the bread and butter of doing a lot of safety work. So, you'll see high visibility crosswalks, uh curb extensions that you've seen in your neighborhoods, traffic circles, uh diverters, um median refuges, um pedestrian medium refues, um beacons, uh reflective signal back plates...
It's it's really great to see external funding coming in for this. We're frequently telling folks we don't have the funding for that particular treatment that you want to see to make the neighborhood safer and now we won't have um enough to make every intersection safer, but it sounds like this will make a big dent in things.
So, we are an economic engine for St. Paul and the entire state of Minnesota. We redevelop underutilized land into thriving business centers to bring jobs and tax base to St. Paul. We offer finance tools to help Minnesota companies become more energy efficient and resilient and manage the St. Paul Harbor on the Mississippi River, providing jobs and connecting our region to a global marketplace.
our recent industrial land study showed the importance of industrial land as a part of the city's tax base with only 6% of the city's acreage generating more than 9% of all property tax revenues, using less city services than it pays for and supporting 31,000 jobs, nearly 18% of the jobs in the city. So, we're really looking forward to working with the city on the upcoming comp plan uh to discuss how to increase this valuable resource.
I'll be um, honest here, I'm very surprised to see just like the the small requests in terms of the proposed um, budget change for next year knowing that the return that we get from the port has just been um, enormous. And uh, and so I wanted to name my my support for um, continue to support the work of the port.
The um bills before us are just a really magnificent step forward for the city in terms of uh equity. The uh franchise fees have in the past been very regressive. Uh charging people who have uh very poor insulation and very leaky houses more to be warm than because they just have to burn more energy to keep their unit that is leaking fuel leaking uh sorry heat into the winter air. Uh charging them more than the people who live in a nice tight wellsulated home.
The gas rates, franchise fee rates uh are being lowered to the level that the uh Unitos lady said. Effectively, it looks like 3.4%. franchise fee. Um that applies to people that own homes. uh you have to show a bill to the Department of Commerce that shows your gas bill. You only get a gas bill if you own the property and pay the heat. And so the other problem is that Excel recognizes residential people as living in a single house, a duplex, and that's it. Everybody else is considered a commercial account.
The other equitable equitable provision now in the legis in the um in agreement with the utility company is that in the past the residential sector whether you're rich or poor was subsidizing the commercial sector in terms of the percentage of the um rates that are provided by those um categories. ries and so this agreement also made that more equitable. It raised the rate that commercial uh parties are paying and lowered the rates proportionately that the residential have to pay.
I just wanted to make a note of the the public comment from today of just whether or not we would have an official update from staff prior to the final vote next week um, regarding some of the public comment that was given today. I did have a chance to review the record, but I also think that it's important to to address in real time and um would love for there to be staff I would have asked those questions if that was something that you know staff would be present here today to talk to it, but I actually really like to see the formal response to Mr. Party's uh comments.
I received some questions from my constituents about the duration of this project, about the 24 hours a day nature of this project. Um, really curious to know more about why that is needed and what level of sound you're anticipating and what is going to be done to I understand that sometimes you apply for a sound level variance to give yourself the max possible opportunity to do work. I would really like to understand what is likely going to be happening when and how loud things are likely going to be and whether or not it truly will be 24/7 for uh a lot of days.
Um, the the equipment that'll be running 24/7 will be inside of a a trench box, which will be by 15 ft in the ground. Um the noise from that probably isn't going to be as loud up top. Um, but there will be a crane up top to set equipment and material in um at certain times, but not a 247 uh operation up top. Um, there will be a generator that'll be running 24/7. Um, we have uh discussed that we'll put some type of a noise barrier around it to push the noise more uh east than south or or west towards the the res the apartments or the house there on Eagle Parkway.
Um well the whole project itself is probably about a year and a half but just the jacking the casings under the railroad tracks is where um we'll need the variance um because that stuff once we get to a certain point on the railroad tracks we have to keep going um just because the the we don't need the tracks to deflect any more than a half inch. So once once it gets to a certain point we have to keep going. You can't start and stop when you're working on the railroad tracks like that.
Ordinances & Resolutions (28)
Authorizing the city to enter into a grant agreement with the Federal Highway Administration for Safe Streets for All funding.
City plan used to identify the high-injury network for federal safety funding.
St. Paul Port Authority 2027 budget presentation (staff report).
Upcoming city comprehensive plan to discuss increasing industrial land resources.
Statewide energy efficiency loan program administered by the St. Paul Port Authority.
Energy efficiency loan program specifically for St. Paul, administered by the St. Paul Port Authority.
New grant program providing funding for capital improvements in the capital area.
Amending chapter 63 of the legislative code pertaining to salt storage regulation.
Section of the legislative code governing salt storage regulation.
Amending appendix B of the legislative code relating to the Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Gas franchise.
Section of the legislative code related to the gas franchise agreement.
Amending appendix C of the legislative code relating to the Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Electric franchise.
Section of the legislative code related to the electric franchise agreement.
Amending the legislative code by adding a new appendix B2 relating to the Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Gas franchise fee.
New section of the legislative code defining the gas franchise fee.
Amending the legislative code by adding a new appendix C2 relating to the Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Electric Franchise fee.
New section of the legislative code defining the electric franchise fee.
Amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department to accept a federal earmark for burn building restoration and reconstruction.
Amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department for a payment received from recycling scrap metal.
Amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department for a grant from the State of Minnesota to support the apprenticeship program.
Ratifying the assessment for repair of sanitary sewer line on private properties.
Final order approving the Seventh Place Mall operation and maintenance for 2025.
Final order approving the Seventh Place Mall operation and maintenance for 2026.
Final order approving the Grand Snelling parking lot operation and maintenance cost for 2027.
Approving the application of the University of St. Thomas for a sound level variance for football season.
Approving the application of Twin Cities in Motion for a sound level variance for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon weekend event.
Approving the application of Anderson Race Management for a sound level variance for the Get Your Rear in Gear Twin Cities event.
Approving the application of Xcel Energy for a sound level variance for an infrastructure utility project.