[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Hey, [music] hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Down. [music] [music] Hey. Hey. >> [music] [music] >> Hey, [music] [music] hey, hey. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Hey everybody. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Call the meeting of the St. Paul City Council to order. Roll call please. >> Johnson >> here. >> Jo >> here. >> Kim >> here. >> Yang >> here. >> Buoie >> here. >> Coleman >> here. >> And council president Akre >> here. Seven present. None absent. Good afternoon everyone. Welcome. Thank you for joining us at our city council meeting. We invite everyone to join us in standing for the pledge of allegiance. I >> pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Consent agenda items 2 through 15 are before you for your consideration. I know we are pulling items six for separate consideration. Is there anything else to come off of consent? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to approve the balance of the consent agenda. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The consent agenda is adopted as amended. Item six, resolution 26-1460, authorizing the city to enter into a grant agreement with the Federal Highway Administration for safe streets for all funding. And 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. So, uh, wanted to give an opportunity to talk about that. Welcome up. Okay. Okay. Can everyone see that? Is that up? Just want to make sure it's up. Um, council president, council members, my name is David Peterson. I'm a uh, transportation planner and public works department. And let's see here. Okay. Uh and I'm happy to bring this uh to you today. Uh it's been a kind of a long time in coming um in entering into this agreement. Uh we have a very short presentation here for you and then we can take some questions. Um so this is the federal safe streets for all um transportation grant from the federal highway administration and what's before you today is authorization to accept the agreement. Um just want to show you a quick map of the project corridors. Um this grant uh funding is intended to kind of uh provide a lot of kind of lowcost um solutions across a lot of different streets. So this is approximately 40 mi of city and county roadways on what was determined to be the high injury network from our transportation safety action plan. Um we need to account for additional work that's going on in uh along corridors. Uh some of these there's already county work. There's also some some state MIDOT work happening. Um so there's coordination that's required. Um just to note 10% of the budget was um removed from the original uh grant agreement by Federal Highway Administration in March of this year. Um there's a five-year timeline for project uh implementation. That's completion of the project. So once the federal government signs counter signs our document, we have 5 years to complete the work. So that's the preliminary design, uh final design, um construction and and uh project closeout. 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 are actually one of those lowcost things that you don't think about until you figure that you don't see a traffic signal when you're when you're approaching an intersection sometimes. So, this is a sample of some of the types of things that you'll see. And just briefly on the project budget, um so the funding comes in two groups of funding. Uh we have the federal grant which is about $14 million. And then we have about a $4 million match from the state's um IIG matching fund. Uh we were able to procure that for a total of about $18.1 million. Um the budget is about u 15 million of that is going to construction and contingency costs uh 3.2 2 million to engineering uh and inspection costs and then we have some administrative costs that we've set aside for city to the city to administer the project and generally on the timeline um we are looking to sign this in the next uh week or two um and once we do that we have a mindot agreement also to sign but we can get moving on the on the agreement otherwise we have to hire a consultant team to help support this so we want to get the request for proposals out right away soon as we can um So we don't waste anything of that fiveyear but uh timeline. And then uh the first year that's the first year of project delivery is 2027. That's going to be preliminary design and our environmental work followed by 2028 final design and then um construction mainly across two years in 2029 and 2030. And then the last year really would just be kind of for cleanup work. So given the scale of the construction work, we think that that would that's feasible to to just have kind of punch list type items the last year. And that's all we have. Very short presentation. So any questions? >> Thank you so much. It is great to see this funding coming in for such needed projects. I'm just curious. Do we know already or could we find a list online somewhere of the specific I know you showed a map, but the specific intersections that can expect this kind of treatment? >> Uh well, we have so one of the things we'll need to do with the consultants is sort of drill down exactly to where we [snorts] would like to see the improvements happen. So they're going to be along those corridors. the intersections are the places where we tend to have the most crashes. Um especially crashes between our arterial and collector streets. So um we don't have that for you yet. We will be developing that in year one. >> And is that something there will be some public engagement around? >> We'll do we'll do some degree of public engagement. Um we do need to try to get through our preliminary to our our environmental documentation by the end of next year. >> So we probably won't do a whole half year of public engagement. >> Sure. Well, thank you. I I would look to see if my colleagues have questions as well. I just want to say 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 grateful to you for the work to get this grant. Is there are there other questions or comments? Seeing none, thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> And I would move approval. Um, any discussion of the motion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 16, SR26-185, St. Paul Port Authority 2027 budget presentation. We are pleased to welcome uh Mr. Solomon and his friends from the St. Paul Port Authority to give their budget presentation. We ran out of time a little bit in our uh budget calendar, so we are having this come at a council meeting. Um, I'd ask for us to put 30 minutes on the clock. Um, and I would look to our budget chair to see if she has any introductory comments. Ms. Johnson. >> Well, um, as a member of the port board, I also, you know, just want to say thank you for providing this opportunity. I think every year the St. Paul Port Authority is more than willing to come to the council to give a presentation. Sometimes in our budget calendar, um, we have our internal city departments that often take, uh, somewhat of a precedence just because of the size of funding we talking about. But, uh, the Port Authority did present their budget to the actual board itself prior to being here, so I've seen it. But I also will say that, um, you know, I'm looking forward to just hearing what questions may come from my colleagues. Uh, and as you guys know, the the increase from year to year for the port is minimal. And so that's the same this year as well. >> Thank you. Welcome, Mr. Solomon. >> Uh, thank you, Council President Naker, council members. Mike Solomon, chief financial officer of St. Paul Port Authority. I think my slides are up. Um, I'm not getting the full screen, but hopefully they look okay for you. Um, I'm joined by my leadership team members here, uh, President CEO Todd Hurley. Um, Ashley Arum, our senior VP of communications, external affairs, Emily Lawrence, our general counsel, and Christine Williams, our chief development officer. Um, so our first slide here, coming back up, um, is just a little bit about the Port Authority. 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. Can advance the slides there. Um, so a little bit about background on our connection to the city of St. Paul. Uh, so we've been the city's economic development partner via state statute since 1929. We have about 24 team members at the Port Authority and we have a mayor selected and council approved board of commissioners. Uh two of those board seats are held by city council members. Those being council vice president Yang and Council Member Johnson as you just heard. Um and the port's operations are supported by a property tax levy. Uh we hope to show you a little bit about the return on that investment in this presentation. And so we're going to talk about is the port's different lines of business, um our budget and that levy. Um, so the port of St. Paul en enables Minnesota industries to compete in worldwide bulk commodities markets via the Mississippi River. And so you can see here some of the statistics um the four locations of our barge terminals largely uh down river of downtown St. Paul and some of the top imports and exports that we're dealing with uh through the port's barge terminals. So 5 to 8 million do million tons of commodities annually, over 500 acres of land with 21 tenants providing more than 700 jobs on the river and 2.3 million in annual tax revenue coming through those barge terminals. Um our top exports are largely agricultural uh and top imports, fertilizer, petroleum products and other industrial um things. It's got some really significant projects going on at our river terminals this year. Um this is critical infrastructure for operations um at these terminals and they're great examples of the port leveraging outside dollars uh with state and federal grants utilized in public private partnerships with our tenants. So the first uh set of projects is at barge terminal one. Our tenant there is bulk silos and we're doing a barge receiving system and m material storage and transfer system project there. Um ports are the first and last mile to the rail and trucks that feed other districts. Uh the cement material arriving at this location is distributed throughout throughout the city and the region and the efficiency of moving this material by barge has a direct impact on construction projects by reducing material costs. Uh phase one of this project about $8 million uh replace dilapidated infrastructure and allows direct loading and unloading of barges at this location. Uh phase two is going to be about $10 million. um will enhance the land side silos and transfer systems for this tenant, leveraging additional private and public investment in the terminal. Um and we anticipate that starting in 2027. At Barge Terminal 2, we have about an $18 million dock wall rehabilitation project going on. It's a $60 dock wall that's being replaced. And we additionally secured federal dollars to include an emergency response boat ramp, providing the only downtown river access for first responders and enhancing safety by ever for everyone using the river. And again, nearly an $18 million uh project there currently under construction. We hope to see that um boat ramp opening soon. Uh the last big project at the river is at the Southport terminal. an 800 thou an $800,000 federally funded grade separation study and that's underway to identify solutions to address train blockages at the Southport terminals only vehicle entrance. Uh trucks attempting to access the terminal there are blocked by trains at the grade crossing um that causes impacts to traffic and the surrounding community. the study's underway, but building on that work, we've submitted a grant request to the Federal Railroad Administration to execute on the work currently underway. Um, and that will uh be a grant for the final design and construction phase. Uh, so that's potential request of over $38 million from FRA. Um, we're applying for that now, the studies in process, but the design and construction for that work will take several years of planning and partnership with city and regional stakeholders. So, a really big year, couple years for infrastructure projects at our river terminals. >> And just to connect the dots on that last one, because we heard earlier today about the Southport area and the lack of any there's only one ingress and egress point. This grade separation study would create that second ingress and egress point. So, it would address um some of the concerns we heard today from residents, although not all of them. So, just wanted to connect. >> Yes. Thank you, Council President. >> Um so, moving to some of our inland development work um that started in the 1950s. The port business centers are really all across the city and have large um economic impacts in jobs and tax base. Um 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. Um you can see the impact of the existing business centers about 1,000 acres of land supporting more than 500 businesses, 22,000 jobs, and paying under just about $46 million in annual property tax revenues. Um we've been busy with current and recent projects as well. Um so the demolition and redevelopment of the former St. Joseph's Hospital downtown um is underway. Uh we're working towards completion of the public infrastructure at the Heights, industrial land sales at the Heights, and progress on affordable housing. Uh we hope to have some further progress on that and potentially an action in front of you yet this year to move forward the first multifamily project on that site. Um so a lot of uh work out at the heights. We're continuing demolition and remediation work at the former Kmart site, getting ready for a future redevelopment there, and managing our 400 Wobba shop building through some of downtown's recent challenges. We wanted to include the uh successful opening of the sandbox heavy machinery classroom project. Uh we partnered with St. Paul public schools with on this year. So these are just some of the uh current and recent projects we have going on with our development team. The port is also the statewide administrator for the MINPace PO property assessed clean energy loan program and we also act as a lender through our trillion BTU loan program um for lending in the city of St. Paul. So on the map you can see uh shaded green the different cities and counties that we work with as well as the completed projects shown as red dots um on the map. um almost 500 loans completed uh $390 million in investment and those projects are saving almost $40 million in energy use annually. So really a lot of impact and we're always looking for opportunities to expand the uh reach of these programs. Um partnering with Minnesota's uh green bank uh looking for private lenders to partner with and clean energy advocacy groups to get the word out. Um, a great example project uh that just opened up is the Stella market rate um housing downtown. Um, it's a good example of seeing PACE loans that are increasingly included in the capital stack for both new construction and office to housing conversions um in addition to the more traditional energy efficiency and solar projects uh we financed in the past. and our capital outreach for res revitalization and expansion grant program core was a new program this year. Um we're proud of our team's work to stand this up with legislative funding specific to the capital area. Um our first four projects were just announced um with $530,000 granted to four businesses for capital improvements. Uh two of those are up on the Rice Street corridor and two of them are in downtown St. Paul. Um, our round two of grant funding is closed and currently being scored. And with an additional $600,000 from the legislature in 2026, um, we're looking forward to even a round three of this program again for the capital area. Um, this slide shows the early descertification of the Williams Hill and Westminster TIF districts, which were um, in the headlines last year. Um, and we're excited to continue to descertify more districts ahead of schedule and as legally required once obligations are repaid. And so for 2026, we're proposing to bring forward the great northern, north, and south districts as well as the energy lane districts um for early descertification. Those were originally scheduled to be descertified in 2029, 2032, and 2030, respectively. um they generate roughly $2.3 million in property taxes each year. And so we see these as really great um continued success stories for our TIFF work um where we have job and tax outcomes from the use of this tax increment for acquisition, demolition, and remediation. So descertifying these districts will generate about a $66 million in tax base being returned to the general tax base. Growth that would not have occurred but for this public investment. And we're really looking forward to similar success stories with our St. Joe's and Kmart sites in the future. And I know there's interest in understanding the tax bill impact of these descertifications. I don't have those numbers here today, but we're happy to work with uh the city's tiff expert, Jenny Wolf, and the county uh to kind of crunch those numbers and report something back to the council. >> But it's a good impact. >> This a positive impact. We see these as really great um examples of tiff working as it's intended to. Um so transitioning to kind of the budget part of the presentation. Um here um you can see my my graphic that we like to show. Um in 2026 our operating budget sources only 35% came from the property tax levy. So I know that's unique from um other city departments that are more levy um based. Uh the levy here supports only 35% of our operating budget. again pointing to the return on the city's investment um with those funds. [clears throat] This slide shows our adopted 2026 and preliminary 2027 budget. Um our timeline is a bit different with the mayor and council budget process happening ahead of our internal budget process. Um but looking at just the nondiscretionary growth that we're projecting, um we knew there would be a gap early on. And so we're very grateful to the mayor and OFS for including $75,000 increase to our operating levy in the 2027 proposed budget. Um that said, as you can see on the slide, we're still uh looking at a potential gap of around $125,000. And I'm confident that we will solve that through our internal budget process, balancing revenues and expenditures kind of internal to the port. Um so starting at the top you can see the the $75,000 increase to the property tax um operating line item and all the other revenues really held flat pending our internal budget process that will um is going on right now and we'll review those individual line items with our different departments. Um for expenses we are similar to the city and having the majority of our costs be people. Um and so projecting inflationary growth in personnel costs including health care benefits. That's what's really driving that bottom line gap that you see there. But again, a lot of confidence our internal process will work to to balance this and and deliver a balanced budget to our board. Um the Port Authority's three different tax levies are shown on this slide. Uh the general obligation bond death service levy is set for the life of a bond at the time of issuance and there's minor fluctuations annually. So that's that small change you're seeing there. The mandatory tax levy is a limited tax levy capped at 01813% of the city's market value. And as I'll show on a later slide, the port is utilizing less than 50% of that capacity um with this proposed number. Um, again, to help with inflationary cost pressures and maintain staffing to complete our existing projects and seek out new opportunities, um, we are requesting your support for this $75,000 increase in the mandatory or operating property tax levy that was proposed in the mayor's budget. Um, and then the last item here is the discretionary levy for operations that is capped at $105,000 um, annually. >> So, Mr. Mr. Solomon, does that 75,000 additional mean that you're actually hiring new or doing new programs or services or is it just to cover the cost of inflation? >> Yep. Thank you, Council President Naker. It's just to cover inflationary costs and as I'm showing on this slide, we'll still have some work to do to even balance from there. >> Thank you. [snorts] >> Um, this slide has a little bit more detail on our general obligation debt service tax levy. Um the port's geo levy is separate from the city's operating levy on a property tax statement. So similar to Ramsey County or St. Paul public schools, it's it's a different line on the tax statement. Um our geo debt levies are approved via ordinance at the time a bond issue is brought forward um to the council for for issuance. And we structure our debt with the goal of an overall level debt levy over time. Um you can see some examples of the projects financed by past geo bonds that are still outstanding and their annual debt service levy amounts. So um the Beacon Bluff redevelopment was a big one for the Port Authority. Um you can see the acquisition of the Hillrest Golf Course now the Heights redevelopment. Um the city's Emerald Ashbor project that was um completed back in 2022 and then our opportunity fund for the Kmart site acquisition and what each of those are going to cost for repayment in 2027. um totaling about $5.5 million. You can also off to the side of the slide see what that debt levy is um both 2026 and into the future as those past amounts are advertised and repaid. Um switching back to the mandatory or operating levy that's capped again at 0183 of the city's market value. This graph just shows um how over the last 10 years the levy um the blue line was relatively flat while market values and the authorized limit in orange um increased. And so again uh just a reminder that if approved this levy would still be less than 50% of our maximum. Um typically other limited tax levies such as the HASS or county HR are usually at or near the limit. So um it's good to have that capacity there. Um, so this is kind of our wrap-up slide. Just a reminder, investment in our uh St. Paul Port Authority operating budget is really key for us to have the tools we need to be opportunity ready and continue the return on investment that I hope we've shown. Um, our next steps again are continuing our internal budget process, preparing our budget through October, um, to develop a detailed budget aligned with our 2027 work plan. Um, and then we will be presenting that budget for approval at our board along with our tax levy certification in November, all leading up to the council's final process um, in December of this year. So, those are our next steps and I'm happy to take any questions from the council. >> Thank you so much for this comprehensive information, Mr. Solomon. I appreciate uh, not only that you are at 52% of your max possible levy, but also that you used about 52% of your max time with us today. So, thank you for always being on time and under budget. Uh there are questions from my colleagues. >> Miss Johnson, [laughter] >> it's not necessarily well it is a question but it's um more so for folks that are maybe looking into the presentation or even just wondering about the funding structure. Can you just share a little bit about what does go into the decision around the the levy and every year how it is determined um that the port is needing? What percentage like what those decisions ultimately look like? just for folks that are just trying to wrap their head around uh where the port aligns within the city levy. >> Sure. Thank you, Council President Naker, Council Member Johnson. So, I think like most departments, we're we're going through the process every year, right? We're looking at our again non-discretionary costs, which for us primarily people, um wages, healthcare, benefits, things like that that many organizations have been dealing with inflation on. Um and that helps us develop kind of a preliminary number. Um and so that's what we bring into the mayor's process every year. Um, sometimes it's around hiring new staff like the council president noted. Sometimes it's just dealing with those inflationary pressures. Um, but really just um having the resources we need to can kind of continue devel uh to deliver on the projects we have and and really be ready for the next opportunity. Um, and like I said, we we have our own process and then we fit into both the mayor phase and then back here at the council phase and then hopefully it all comes together in uh November at our board and then December with the final uh tax levy votes here at the city council. Thank you. I think I saw Vice President Yang. >> Thanks, Council President. Well, Mike, I wanted to say thank you for your presentation. I also want to say thanks to the entire port um team for all of the um important work that you do. When I think about the port, I'm always thinking back to what President Hurley said, which is that the port is the economic development engine for the city. And um that remains true to this day. And so, I really commend you all. Um, it's been an honor to sit on the port board alongside uh, Council Member Johnson and I'm really excited for all of the work ahead. 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. And um you know I I would even question the 73,000 here. Does it even cover the full inflationary cost that you all have to um to work to fill. And so um I want to say keep up the incredible work. The slides around the t um success stories was phenomenal. And I just wanted to um name my support for those early descertifications. Um, another thing here too is that when I just even look at the before and after photos, I mean, it it's really incredible the changes there. Um, and just the economic growth and development in those areas. I'm very confident that without the work of the port and those tiff districts that these would properties would continue to be um, blighted properties. And I say that knowing that in my ward, but even we have very many small properties that continue to be vacant um and have been for over 10 years. And so there's many success stories to celebrate. And again, um I'm very supportive of the requests coming from the port here and keep up the amazing work. >> Thanks, Vice President. And thanks so much to you and Miss Johnson for being our able representatives uh on the port board. There any other discussion items or questions for Mr. Solomon? Doesn't look like it. Uh, thank you so much. And this was just a staff report we will be considering and the budget and taking action um in the coming weeks. >> Thank you so much. >> Item 17, Ordinance 26-39, amending chapter 63 of the legislative code pertaining to salt storage regulation. So, this brings us to the public hearing section of our agenda. If you are here for a public hearing, when your item is called, we will ask you to come to the front, stand between the two microphones. You don't need to adjust them. You can stand up straight. They'll pick you up just fine. You'll have two minutes to testify. We ask that you start with your name and where you're coming from. And when you're done, please sign in on either of the two signin sheets. Um, we are not moving a version two because it's not right. So, we are going to hold a public hearing on this item. We actually are then going to continue the public hearing until next week because there was supposed to be a version two that is not yet ready. Um, so this is a public hearing on item 17. If you're here to testify, please come on up. Uh seeing none, I will move for us to continue the public hearing till September 23rd. Uh public hearing is continued to September 23rd. >> It will just happen. >> Uh items 18, ordinance 26-40, amending appendix B of the legislative code relating to Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Gas franchise. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Come on up. You guys are gonna have to race for it. Just kidding. [laughter] I was worried about a collision there for a second. I think Murphy, you're first. Welcome. >> Good afternoon. >> Oh, just just would you stand right in between the two microphones. So there you go. >> Thank you. Sorry. >> Yep. >> Um my name is Murf Dawkins and I live in Ward 7. Kenika Johnson is my council person. Hello to all of you who represent different wards in the city. Um, I just wanted to speak in favor of the next four items on your agenda. We're really very I work with Arentos, the organization um that works on immigration and uh conservation and climate. 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. and uh for their heat house to be warm, it doesn't take nearly as much gas to or electricity to do. So with the part of this ordinance which returns 50% of the franchise fee to the low-income people who are on the lee program, the counties and federally funded uh heating assistance program to return 50% of that franchise fee to the to the poor people is a magnificent step forward for all those families and for um the city as a whole. So thank you and congratulations. I'd like to especially thank and congratulate those who negotiated this agreement because I think it was a tough one that played very hard ball. I understand. So, thanks to all of you and uh thank you very much. Thank you so much. Make sure to sign in. Uh welcome up. And as Mr. pretty comes up. I will say that uh we communicated in advance and he wanted to testify on uh two of the items and rather than having an artificial break at the two minutes and coming back for another two minutes, we decided that he would have four minutes to testify but it will be related to two of the items on the agenda. Welcome Mr. Py. >> Thank you uh council members and council President John Purie Westside. uh the uh 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. And so that's the problem. We've now started to widen the gap because between people that live in apartments that are not paying their gas bill but are paying it through their rent. And so just to just to show what this does, it creates a about a 5% gap between a low-income person that owns their property and a low-inccome person that's living in an apartment and paying the rent and the heat as well. where this matters. If I might have the overhead slide, I I I met I I ran reran the list of people that I had attached, but I realized it wasn't doing any good. I re modified it to give you a better insight as to who these people are. And if if I can Yep, we're seeing it >> overhead. Okay. Um >> we could use a little zooming in though. think it'll go >> to the voice activated projector spirits. >> You can keep going, Mr. Pretty. >> Stop the clock. >> Keep going. Well, I can't without showing it, but anyway. Uh, is it going to light up? >> I assume it's going to be We see it. We just need it zoomed in. >> I'm sorry. Yeah, >> you can. I forgot about Usually there was a light that projects. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is pe people rent properties and the newest ones look like this. This is right by our house. You can see the building and you can see the gas meters right there. Can you see them gas meters uh on both sides of the property? Each you each person has their own gas meter. They're going to get this if they're low income. they're going to be able to receive the the low price because they pay their gas bill. Okay? So, that's the type of this is new construction. What I'm talking about are what I call legacy buildings that are all over the city. There's 316 of them. And I I identified them in photographs, but here's a different list, which is much better for you to understand what I'm trying to say. Um, if you start out here, you'll see on the front page, if you can see this, you'll see that we're talking nonhomestead, low lowinccome rental. These are all lowinccome rental on page one, low income rental, page two, all across the page. Uh, keeps on going, you know, three pages. There's and and not just the low income, but these are starting out units that people rent. These things are built in the 1900s and they're not always going to attract people other than the rent that that's able to be paid for that. Uh so there's low income throughout these properties. There's 318 of them and I apologize. I did bring a list that I can leave with you. It's a better list. So what I'm trying to say is because of what Excel does here with the way that they call us a residential property, it ex the discount excludes all these people. >> Thank you, Mr. Pretty. That is four minutes. >> 7 seconds, 8 seconds. >> Uh all all I can say is if you'll if as I hand you this list, you'll see that there's many many it's 318 units, but these are high-rise units. There's a lot of people in them. I would say it's affecting probably more than the 9,000 people that that uh are being gratefully given a discount. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Pie. I do need to stop you there. We're 30 seconds over. Um I appreciate the fact that you also emailed these comments. Please leave the list here. Um and um I know I will be following up on the questions that you raised both about the equity arguments that you're making and also about some of the other questions you had about details of the of the agreement >> of the fee. the Yeah, I'm not so concerned about those because I know you're not going to look at them. I don't think they ever did before, but it's helpful to have a a way to look at p past bills, but thank you. And >> thank you, Mr. You can leave that with Mr. >> Williams. I have four. My ran out of >> Thank you so much. >> Um and make sure to sign in. >> Is there anyone else here to testify on this item? Seeing none, I will uh move to close the public hearing. Uh all in favor say I. I. >> And this ordinance, >> seven in favor, none opposed. Public hearing is closed. The ordinance is laid over for final adoption. Item 19, ordinance 26-41, amending appendix C of the legislative code relating to Northern States Power DBA XL Energy Electric franchise. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Jose to close the public hearing. Oh, so sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Come back up. Come on up. True. Might as well come up now. >> Hi, Murf [clears throat] Dawkins again. I uh forgot to mention in the last statement that I made again applying to all four of the bills for us that 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. So that's that second important major uh equitable uh development. Thank you. Thank you so much. I think you're good without signing it again. Uh is there anyone else here to testify on this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Jose to close the public hearing, lay the matter over till September 23rd for final adoption. All in favor say I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The ordinance is laid over for final adoption. 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. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Jo to close the public hearing and lay the matter over for final adoption on September 23rd. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The ordinance is 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. >> This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? >> Oh, Miss Johnson. >> Yeah. Before that, um, 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. Thanks, Miss Johnson. Yes, my plan was to follow up the email with staff about and requesting information on Mr. Party's comments and then being able to both speak to it here and also share it back um with him. Um but that said, if there are staff here today who want to respond and are prepared to, we can certainly welcome that. Doesn't look like it. Um but yes, I absolutely will be following up on that and I agree. I think those are really important comments and especially appreciate again the concern for equity of folks living in different types of units that Mr. Pertie's raising. So thank you. Um actually before we hold the public hearing I also want to recognize that uh representatives from Excel Energy are here and so um it takes two to tango and we appreciate the fact that you engaged with us um in good faith in this process and um I think you're hearing a lot of support for what we came up with and we really are grateful for that. Um this is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Joe's to close the public hearing and lay the matter over till September 23rd for final adoption. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. Seven in favor, none opposed. The ordinance is laid over for final adoption. 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. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? >> Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Buoie to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. 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. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Coleman to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adop adopted. 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. >> This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Johnson to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. >> I. All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 25, resolution public hearing 26-176, ratifying the assessment for repair of sanitary sewer line on private properties. >> This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 26, resolution, public hearing, final order approving the seventh place mall operation and maintenance for 2025. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Kim to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 27, resolution, public hearing 26-181, final order approving the seventh place mall operation and maintenance for 2026. >> This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Buoie to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 28, resolution public hearing 26-192, final order approving the Grand Snelling parking lot operation and maintenance cost for 2027. >> This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Jo to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed? >> Seven in favor, none opposed. Resolution is adopted. 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 on Saturdays of September 19th, 26, October 10th, 31, and November 14th at 20 215 Summit Avenue, Oani Stadium. >> This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Coleman to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. Resolution is adopted. 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 Medronic Twin Cities Marathon weekend event on Saturday, October 3rd, Sunday, October 4th at 75 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Minnesota State Capital Grounds. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Miss Johnson to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. 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 on Saturday on Sunday, October 11th at 200 Dr. Justice Soh Boulevard at Harriet Island Regional Park. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. >> I. All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. 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 on the CPKC railroad crossing at Eagle Parkway and Shepard Road from October 19th through November 2nd, 2026 at Eagle Parkway from Shepard Road to North Chestnut Street. And before we hold the public hearing on this item, I did have some questions for Excel Energy representatives. I don't think that they're here. They are here to talk about Okay. I wasn't sure if they were just here by happen stance. Come on up. I appreciate you being here. 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. So, >> please, >> council members and council president, um the work we're doing down there to get under the railroad tracks to get new infrastructure um from the high bridge plant to the uh west side of downtown. 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. >> Thank you. So, the sound that's going 24/7 is the generator which you're going to try to create a sound mitigation barrier and then the box that is below ground. >> Uh, yep. the the trench box is about 40 feet by 20 feet. Um, and there'll be equipment inside there that'll be running 247. Um, we're anticipating minimum of two weeks, possibly three depending on the uh the soil that we have to push these casings through under the railroad tracks there. >> And how loud is the equipment like in the box? I'm just trying to get a sense of >> um I tried finding those decibb um inside the box would probably be around 90 dB to 100 dB, but up top I I haven't able to find the exact decibel level um above ground >> and I assume that this work has to happen at these times and for this duration. Can you say a little bit more about what the actual project is that's happening? 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. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I see Miss Jo. >> Um, thank you, Council President Naker. So, how deep is the trans trench box and it sounds like you're basically there will be sound. There will be vibrations from what sounds like an excavation and drilling process. You said that you're you mentioned casings. Could you just say a few more words about that? >> Um, well, the bottom of the trench box will be roughly 15 ft down. >> Okay. >> Um, just a big steel trench box to, you know, to be safe in there. >> Um, and the equipment will be in there. they'll be running. Um, as far as vibration, it's more more of an augur that kind of drills through it as it pushes the casing as they pull the dirt back out. Um, if there is any vibration, it probably be if we hit any um, rubble or shale rock or whatever down there would be some vibration from that. But, um, we have done soil board samples and there doesn't appear to be uh, much of that type of material under there. Um, but it is St. Paul, so we're anticipating a little bit, but probably not much. >> Okay, got it. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Great. I I really appreciate you being here on short notice to answer those questions. Um I would also note that we actually approved the sound level variance, I believe, back in April, but the work couldn't quite happen then. Um at the time, I hadn't heard any concerns and so didn't ask any questions. Now I had and wanted to. Um but with this information, I feel more um assured about both the necessity of the work and the measures you're going to take to mitigate the noise um and the level of noise expected. So, thank you for that. Y >> um we have yet to hold a public hearing, but >> depending on how that goes, I'm going to be moving approval. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Thank you. >> This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? >> Seeing none, I will move to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Legislative hearing consent agenda items 33 through 69 are before you for your consideration. Welcome, Missy. >> Good afternoon, council president, council members. I'm not aware of anyone here to testify on a legislative hearing item today. >> All right. In that case, we will hold a public hearing on items 33 through 69. If you are here for any of those items, this is your public hearing. Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to close the public hearings and approve the items with the amendations and recommendations of the legislative hearing officer. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. The legislative hearing consent agenda is adopted as amended. brings us to our favorite time of the week, the end of the council meeting and good news from around the wards. Any news from the wards? Vice President? >> Thanks, Council President. I wanted to share that next Monday, September 21st, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., I'm hosting a community meeting about the Duth and Case Recreation Center proposed closure um that we heard in the mayor's budget. I um welcome everybody to come. It's also an opportunity for folks to just share generally um their thoughts about the the budget proposal too. Um however, the focus really is going to be about the rec center. Um and it will be located at the Duth and Case Rec Center. >> Great. Thank you. Um Vice President, I see Miss Johnson. >> Keeping it trucking on the east side and related to budget conversations. I will be at the Duthan case conversation as well, but there will be also doing a Dayton Buff Library uh conversation at Dayton's Buff Library on Thursday, September 24th at 6 PM uh to talk about the proposed closure for Dayton's Buff Library >> and I will be there and I'm sure those others will be showing up too. This is a big >> All of my council colleagues, [laughter] you are all invited. >> Might need to notice it. Uh Miss Kim >> and if you are going, let us know because we might need to notice it. But yes, you're invited. >> Okay, >> Miss Kim. Um we have a free farmers market um at Rice and Arlington Ballfield on September 18th and October 23rd. Um everyone is welcome and they receive free fresh fruits and vegetables. Um the events take place between 10 10:00 a.m. and noon. Um and it's through Keystone Keystone services. So come join us at the Rice and L Oh my goodness. Rice and Arlington Field >> September 18th Arlington. >> Yeah, I almost got it right. Uh September 18th and October 23rd. And thank you to council Yang for sharing having my good news for me today. >> It's all one city. Miss Jo, then Miss Coleman, Miss Buoie. >> Thanks, Council President. Um, so this weekend is the Nativity County Fair in uh Mallister Groveland. It is at Nativity Church and School, which is at 1900 Stanford Avenue. Um, it's the it's this Friday through Sunday. And so Friday it starts at 5:00 until 10:00. Saturday is noon to 10:00. And then Sunday is um after must be after mass 11:30 a.m. to 3 o'clock. Um so it's a really fun event that I look forward to every year. It is um just over 50 50 years um uh old and they have rides and fair food and lots of activities. It's super fun. And this year they're going to have Conniey's Creamy Cone which I'm really excited about. So, lots to do, something for everyone and encourage you to come check it out. >> Awesome, Miss Coleman. >> Thanks. I'm excited that uh the Creative Enterprise Zones Chromosone Chromosone Festival is back this week. [laughter] Um, it's really hard for me to say. It's a mural and art festival that's in kind of the South St. Anthony Park and West Midway neighborhood. It's really amazing. They do these incredible murals every year. Um, you can go watch the artists work. There are tours. There's an artist talk on Thursday night at Bang Brewery. Um, it's all around just a really fun and exciting event to bring a lot of culture and sense of place to a very industrial part of the city. So, yeah, check it out. Um, I think that event start tomorrow, but painting has already started, so you can go and look at the murals as they're being made. All right. Thank you, Miss Buie. >> Yes. Um, in the spirit of supporting events and festivals, um, and also, um, highlighting some of our star grant recipients, we have couple celebrations in Ward 1. Uh, one of them being the Frogtown Arts Festival. Uh, their theme this year is Beat of the Block. They're going to have a youth um section as well as some performers. Um, it's going to take place this Saturday right on University on the corridor. And also thank you to the commercial corridor funds to support this initiative. Um it's going to be between 2 to 900 p.m. It's also the same time that they're going to be doing their uh Frogtown Neighborhood Association's hosting their elections. So if you are interested in being a board member, uh you can uh also sign up and they'll be doing that democracy and elections right then and there. uh our second event that's happening on the same exact day Saturday as well uh at the Capitol Grounds uh I believe the yeah the Capitol Grounds is the Capitol Fest. So that's going to be taking place at 11:00. Uh they have food celebrations. They have a really cool car show there. So if you're into those antique cars, it's a great opportunity. Um I know in the years before they also had like a Wrestlemania match um right there on on the on the ground. So uh great opportunity to bring the kids. And then the third event that's happening in Ward 1 on Saturday as well. So I have to be in so many places. Um from 10:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. at Arts US. Um also known as the Dunning Rec Center is going to be the intergenerational community health fair. So, uh, free checkups, free mobile health units there, uh, free health coverage and screenings. So, if you want to get your eyesight tested for, get measurements, blood pressure, um, blood glucose screenings. Um, and there's also job and career opportunities. So, it's going to be a career fair as well. So, that's taking place 10:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. at Arts US. Um, yeah, and it's going to be a phenomenal weekend for for many of us. So, >> wow. It's good to know that it is not just me feeling overwhelmed. It is the month of September. There is so much going on. Miss Jo, >> sorry, I thought of one more thing. Um, about I think it was a month ago, our council voted to turn on the lights at the Highland Golf Course. Um, or anywhere, but we already have lights at the Highland Golf Course. Tomorrow night, we'll be turning on the lights at the Highland Golf Course after 7:15. Um, so if you want to come by, I'll be there. I'm still not sure of all the details, but it's really exciting and I look forward to um you know what more we might be able to do in the future now that our council has made that change. >> Will we be able to golf >> on the driving range? Yes. >> If we know how to golf. >> Okay, >> you can just come. >> Okay. [laughter] >> I don't know how to. Uh great. I will close us out uh by giving one that steals from every single one of our wards and then one that is W 2. Um tomorrow night, the League of Women Voters, this is super cool, especially this year. League of Women Voters is partnering with us. Uh the St. Paul Public Libraries and the Office of Minnesota Secretary of State to put on voter education night across the city of St. Paul. Every one of our wards has a library that is doing this. Um it is in Rondo, Riverview, Highland Park, Marian Park, Rice Street, Arlington Hills, and Sunray. And you can tour a sample polling place and you can get a sample ballot and you can make a plan to vote and you can learn how to find about candidates. You can do all that stuff. And it's from 5:30 to 7:30 tomorrow. So, I'll definitely be stopping by mine in Riverview and would encourage us, especially as co-sponsors of this, to make a plan to be at our libraries if we can. Um, and then also exciting news for more 2. Uh, Aldi is planning a couple of sneak preview events next Wednesday and Thursday. Um, still not totally sure on the time, but I think Aldi generally opens at 9:00, so my assumption is it's 9:00. Um, but both Wednesday and Thursday, you can come kind of get a sneak peek. I think you get a free tote. It'll be great. Most importantly, all these coming and it's really here and it's next week. So, look forward to that. With that, thanks for a really productive day and we are >> [music] >> I know. Hey