When asked what his values and priorities were for his new role in Wiper Lake, he told me they were simple. treat people right, be professional, keep learning, work hard and have fun, and take care of oneself and each other.

I'm going to be out there. I'm going to be active. Uh you're going to be seeing me at community events. I'm just a phone call or or a visit away. And I just want to be connected with the community and and be here to serve and uh and that's what this police department is going to do.

after review of the service and rates, city staff and Republic have negotiated a 5-year extension um with a rate increase of 3% per year on um, collection, bulky item pickup, and yard waste. So per staff's review of similar contracts in the area, uh even with those increases, we will remain below market for what we compare to in our area.

What's really neat about this is for so long a lot of plastics were downcycled into textiles, lawn furniture, carpets, and now with the polymer center, we're able to recycle those bottles in jugs six to seven times with a turnaround of about 120 days from the time the material gets to our center to the time it's back on the retailer's shelf.

your recycling contamination is is very good is the residents do a nice job. How do you compare amongst other cities? I would say that you're in the the top portion, not the bottom portion.

we are a nonprofit mission-based Minnesota based organization. Um, so that means that all of our decisions are really driven by what is best for our community. Uh, that said, we are about 99% fee for service. So, uh, we really aim for our operations to be self- sustaining.

Our residual rate is about 10% which is really low. It's about what White Bear Lakes residual rate is too, which is definitely the lowest in the country. When I speak around in other states, they're very envious of Minnesota's excellent recycling programs and how good our residents are at putting the right thing in the bin.

The really exciting thing though is in 2029 the reimbursements will start. So as the previous speaker mentioned the city will start getting reimbursed for their recycling processing costs if there are any as well as collection costs and additional education and outreach costs too. So if there's more drive to go out to residents to talk about what can go in the cart and make sure they're recycling right, that is another thing that will then be covered.

the purpose of a PUD is to really allow flexibility in some development standards in exchange for a higher quality development. And so back in 2012 that PUD um based that um the the exchange or the flexibility in the standards based on uh that the uh Serenity facility served a critical need for an aging population.

He said these trees are mostly in fair condition with many having multiple trunks, some dead branches and thinning canopies due to due to lack of maintenance including nutrient supplements and and crown pruning. So the trees were not in great shape. I mean they're not bad.

I just really appreciate you taking the time to do that. And again, it's important, I think, that we're honest and transparent, especially um because in White Bear, we really do value our tree canopy.