I was super thrilled to see this on the agenda, so I couldn't pass on the opportunity to um not comment on it. And so I wanted to first say um thank you to our incredible library staff and director Hartman. Um also um our climate team too for making this happen.

And one of the reasons why this was a very important project is because I think about the conversation I had with a mom um a few maybe like sometime last year and she shared about how whenever she goes to public facilities, you know, she brings along her son who had a choking incident and to this day he you know his entire body is still still paralyzed and whenever they go out she has to change him and often times there aren't any adult uh any changing stations. So she'd have to put her child on the ground and then change him that way. And I'm just like this is no way at all for any parent or child to have to experience and we can definitely do better.

Um, and I'm personally very excited about the name that emerged as the preferred name. It's connected to our history. It's connected to our geography. Um, the brewing history in West 7th is just still so prominent today. Um, and part of that is because of the bluffs and the landscape that made it possible for brewing to happen. Um, it celebrates the immigrant that immigrants that came over with the brewing traditions. Um, breweries became not only a workplace but a gathering place.

Um yeah, the J Grant. We've received J grants for many years going back to the time when I was a police officer. We do not use the J grants to purchase any technology, electronics, or equipment. It is all used to pay for overtime.

I would appreciate a follow-up of kind of the breakdown of how those funds will be used kind of to piggyback off of council member Kim's questions because um the description here does seem like it could apply for a lot of things and especially as our council is trying to understand um police overtime and how that impacts the budget and I know we're only talking about $250,000 but still just trying to get the total picture.

This is um related to an item we actually had to suspend the rules for earlier and and talked about how neighborhood house is um really trying to get this the this financial situation ironed out and resolve it. And um there's a sense of urgency with with cash flow to actually get it handled. This due to some staff work was not on the agenda in time. Um but it really is a matter of um of seriousness to get it done today. So I wanted to bring it under suspension um related to accessing these dollars but from the state.

I think if we had been assessed for something, I think that we would have much rather preferred to see like a roundabout put in um maybe around um Rondo and Victoria. I mean, we live right there um and people fly through there at 60 70 m an hour at all times of day. Um kids getting off of school buses and people are flying through the neighborhood.

I I think this is true for all of the upcoming items and it's it's um these are all tough because being assessed for road work is not um is not pleasant and it can often be a burden which is why we have the hardship programs that we were talking about. Um and often there is more that needs to be done as the testifier was saying in terms of pedestrian safety and traffic calming and those those might be additional projects that need work.

Our team, our ambassadors are out in place, the safety communication centers available. Um not just I think some people think we're just picking up candy bar rappers and the reality is um we are uh engaging our team is engaging in in really meaningful um nuisance issues and quality of life crimes. Uh about 5,000 calls came in uh over those issues and 85% or more of the time uh when our team asks somebody to maybe move to a different location or stop some of the problematic behavior, they're complying with our ambassadors. And so that's 5,000 times that police are not needing to get engaged and and uh and they can stay on the beat doing the important police work.

St. Paul's on its knees. I've been a developer for 55 years down here. This is the worst I've seen it. It is not the time to tax St. Paul. We as building owners and I own several buildings. We pick up a trash. We we greet the people. We power wash the sidewalk for gum. We power wash graffiti. We do everything. And so why would we pay the same tax twice?

I am going to move approval of this item because I believe we need a strong downtown to support our tax base and ultimately to um keep taxes reasonable for all of us. I think the worst thing that we can do actually is to take our foot off the gas when it comes to downtown revitalization before we had our downtown improvement district. We were the largest city in the country that did not have one.

The resolution is seeking permission to accept the structure and labor, a donation of approximately $20,000 from FCC. FCC will be responsible for hauling the food scraps. The city will pay disposal costs and the federation will maintain the site. We're excited to have a new drop off in an area that doesn't currently have access to one, making composting accessible to a new group of residents.

Our neighborhood has been working really hard to advance climate action on a hyper local level and so we're excited about this. We're excited to get people using it. Um, hopefully, like they said, they can go down a cart size and save some money. Um, we're also proud of the collaboration that made this possible working with the W 2 office, FCC, public works after, you know, some difficult times through the last year. Um, it's exciting to see something that is positive for the community and coming out of the process.

Our zoning ordinance specifies that we apply the rules that are in our code at that time. Uh Murka specifically uh so is a 1970s uh uh um rule uh that was set by by the state and those uh Murka rules were in effect since the 1970s are part of our our city code and then in 2017 the DNR rules were updated at the state level and those rules then needed to become adopted by local government authorities. And the Minnesota rules, they not only set what the rules would be, but they also established a process and contingencies and timelines and responsibilities for adopting those rules.

We have two, as as Miss Anderson alluded to, we have two particular issues. We think the building height is too high at 50 feet. We want to see it at 35 ft of course because of the murka. Um so uh Miss Anderson talked about the adoption process. Um we were notified the city was notified in January of 2020 that we could move ahead with our revisions. Uh we got a model ordinance from the DNR and uh so that gave us 12 months to get the revisions in. Um, we asked for an extension of four months, so kind of at admission that we could complete them by uh, April of 2022. As you know, we actually got those in in January of 2026, 44 months after the deadline. So, we think that should have some weight in uh, the decision as to whether we'll approve this site plan or not.

This is an ethical issue that I don't believe can be decided here today. During your tenure uh President Naker, there was the 2040 plan and MKER was supposed to be passed in 2021. Therefore, Ryan developer who developed Highland Bridges, they stayed and honored that 35 height limit in the same area. And we're asking pastor to do the same. Just keep it at 35.

I did not find any error in fact finding a procedure from the decision made by the planning commission and I agree with the original decision made by the zoning administrator. So with that I would make a motion to deny this appeal.

What we have is in the boulevard uh what could be argued to I would accept an argument that it is uh a turf lawn that is in excess of 8 in and within the turf lawn are some um pollinator plants. The yard itself is in the process of being converted from turf lawn into more of a native type planting. Uh Mr. Bhalla has been working on this for a while at this point.

I am asking to grant my appeal to not need to mow any grass or weeds because it is within compliance or to at least um grant an extension to this coming spring. Um, as Miss Mormon had said, I had spoken with her earlier. Um, I don't know if I can show pictures, but um, we had looked over pictures of the boulevard and agreed. I had already planned to turn over all of the grass on the boulevard. ... if I were to mow everything down now, that would kill off all of the native planters that are already hibernating in my milkweed, my ragweed, and my horseeed. Um, it wouldn't actually do anything to the grass because the grass is already below 2 in, which is well within the 8 in requirement. Only the native plants are above that.

I would ask my colleagues to um I I I'm going to say that I think um I would support or I would amend the staff recommendation essentially moving forward with um like I'm trying I want to make sure that I can make the action but I want to change the date uh from when he has to meet the compliance. from October 9th to December 31st.

So he actually has begun that work. Miss Buoie indicated she had uh even seen that ongoing and happening. So fantastic. We want to see that. What we don't have at this exact moment is an idea of when the work will be completed. We have a very sound plan that's gone in. It's under review for permits. the contractors are lined up and we need there's the variable of the plan review and the variable of how long to seal up the building is something I think we need to take into consideration. Therefore, I'm asking the council to grant 90 days rather than traditional 180 days.

I just wanted to highlight that this is a beloved establishment. Um, it has, you know, historic African-American ownership. Um, want to just reference Road Buddies. Um, that was a place that hosted legendary artists like Ray Charles. Um it was host it used to host our twin cities uh baseball players and many many many um different organizations across the nation. Um there has been I just want to highlight as well too for a million view viewers there has been like preliminary conversations referencing you know if this could be a site that has a historic registry that has not been um there hasn't been any application and we also have been working really well particularly with the owners and the community members who want to ensure that that historic uh reference or relevancy is embedded with the renov renovation.