Let's call a Shakopee City Councilmeeting for March 3rd, 2026 to order. Can you please take the roll, Clark?Council member Delaini? Here. Council member Weiding? Here. Council memberContreras? >> Here. Council member Lara? Here. MayorLehman? Here. Item number three, if you join us in thePledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of theUnited States of America, and to the republic for which it stands,one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justicefor all. Item number four will take us to theoath of office for Shakopee Police Chief Jamie Pierson.Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of Council.Uh first of all, thank all of you. I presume you're not here just for theCouncil meeting. Uh it's great to see such support forour next Chief of Police for the City of Shakopee.Uh the former Captain Pierson was thenumber one candidate that came out of the commission as they reviewed all thecandidates that submitted. And she was the unanimousuh person that was selected from our internal committee as well.She has a long and storied career here in the City of Shakopee and is committedI mean, she lives in Hudson, for God's sake. She drives here every day.Uh and and you know, this is really a historic moment for all of us. Uh she'sone of our own. We're extremely excited uh about thefuture that she holds. She has very big shoes to fill, but you know what? She'smore than capable of doing that. Uh and we're excited.Chief Pearson, who would you like to pin on your badge? Uh my dad.Sir, can you join us? Please raise your right hand and repeatafter me. I, Jamie Pearson, I, Jamie Pearson, dosolemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of theUnited States, that I will support the Constitution of the United States,the Constitution of the state of Minnesota,the Constitution of the state of Minnesota,and that I will faithfully, justly, and impartiallyand that I will faithfully, justly, and impartially discharge the duties of theoffice of Police Chief discharge the duties of the office of Police Chief of the city of Shakopee, Minnesota, ofthe city of Shakopee, Minnesota, to the best of my knowledge, judgment, andability. to the best of my knowledge, judgment,and ability. So help me God. So help me God.Congratulations. Thank you. >> All right. Well, I think one word comesto mind in this situation and it's just I'm really honored to be herestanding in front of all of you today taking this oath. Um, I take it veryseriously. I understand I have big shoes to filland I'm I'm up for the challenge. UmI'm super excited for for what's to come uh for not just myself, but for my team.I've got a great team behind me and I have no doubt that we're going tocontinue to be successful. Um, special thanks to Chief Tate.I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for the opportunity that opportunitiesthat he's given me over the last 20 years. Ummy family in the front row uh my biggest fansum supporters and all of you standing here. There's amix of of community partners here, justice partnerscommunity members, friends, co-workers, um and I'm super gratefulfor my relationship with each of you. And I'm super excited. So, thank you allfor being here, for supporting me and let's do this. All right, Jamie, you can't go anywhereyet. We're going to have a photo. Photo with council, please. JamieCouncil member Yes. Thank you. Yes. >> Thank you. So, the hearing will berecorded and we're looking excited for the future. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, everyone is dismissed.There they go. All right, you you all can stay for thecouncil meeting. I I you know, I just want you to knowthe invite is there. We got We got our survey coming up.>> Well, we're going to take just a couple ofminutes here before we proceed. WhatThere must be cake. Bagels. Bagels.>> I didn't say anything. Donuts. Extra frosting. Let's see. Do we got the I think hewill. They will. I was looking forward to the surveydiscussion. Item number five, approval of theagenda. Are there any changes to the agenda from staff? Nothing from staff,sir. Changes from council? Councilor Contreras? No changes. Just I'd make tomake make the motion to approve the agenda. Is there a second? Second.Second by Councillor Delaney. Any discussion on the motion?Discussion, seeing none. All in favor say I. I.Opposed? Motion passes. Item number six is a consent agenda. Anychanges to the consent agenda from staff? No, sir. Any changes fromcouncil? Mr. Lara. Make a motion to approve the consent agenda.I'll second that. Second. Uh we didn't have a chance to see if anybody had anychanges. Any changes to the consent? None? Okay, we do have a motion fromCouncillor Lara, seconded by Councillor Whiting. Any discussion on the motion?Read it. If we could have uh Mr. Reynolds, if youcould read the consent agenda, please. Yes, sir.These are the consent agenda items for Tuesday, March 3rd of 2026.6A awards a contract for the fire station number two remodel. 6B is theScott County Public Health Statewide Health Improvement>> Microphone, please. Microphone. Need it closer?>> Yes, we can't hear you. I can actually hear once because I gotmy thing in. 6B is the Scott County Public HealthStatewide Health Improvement Partnership Grant Award. Thank you to Scott Countyand uh thank you Councillor Brennan for uh or Commissioner Brennan, excuse me,for uh supporting that. 6C is the award award of the low bid contract for ValleyCrest Park improvements and approves the installation of play equipment by Kopmanand purchase of a shelter from Northland Recreation,both using the Sourcewell contract. 6D awards a contract for the OldCarriage Court Corridor Improvements Project and accepts a proposal fromKimley-Horn and Associates Incorporated forconstruction services. 6E accepts a feasibility report for theL16 dual force main improvements. 6A authorizes final acceptance and paymentfor the Valley Crest Trail project. 6G accepts donations from Shakopee YouthBaseball Association. 6H approves the renewalof consumption and display permits for 2026.6I approves a temporary liquor license for Delim Brewing Company doing businessas the Shakopee Brew Hall. 6J approves a special event permit forthe Shakopee Chamber and Visitors Bureau and suspends city code 114.11to allow consumption on city streets for the Shakopee Brew Hall Bock Party event.6K accepts a proposal from Alliant Engineering for the 6 for the SS4Asafety action plan development. 6L approves the February 17, 2026city council minutes. 6M declares one forfeited vehicle assurplus property and authorizes its disposal.6N approves the interim use permit and purchase of temporary fire station twofacilities. And 6O approves municipal state aidstreet system designations. Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. We do have amotion and a second. Any discussion on the motion?Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. Opposed? Motion passes.Item number seven, public comment. If you're here for an item that is not onthe city council agenda, now would be the time for that discussion.Are you here for an item not on the agenda? Last call. Seeing none. Item eight, we have no business removedfrom our consent agenda. Item nine is a recess for Economic DevelopmentAuthority meeting. Councilor Contreras. I'll make themotion to recess to the Economic Authority meeting. Second? Mr. Delaney.Discussion? All in favor say I. Opposed? Motion passes. We're in recess for EDA.All right, let's call to order the Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026 meeting of theShakopee Economic Development Authority. Please make note of the roll.First item is approval of our agenda. Mr. Kriesel. Yep, I'll make a motion toapprove our agenda. Is there a second?>> I'll second. Motion and second. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I.Any opposed? All right, we do have item number threeas our consent business and that's just the approval of the last EDA meetingminutes. Mr. Lyman. President, I'll move theconsent agenda. Second. Motion and second. All those in favor say I. Anyopposed? All right.General business, item 4A, it's the modification of a lease at 155 1stAvenue at River City Center. Mr. Kurski. Chairman,board members, so this is a modification to one of our tenants' leases. Some ofthem have been significantly impacted over the past few months for what's beengoing on. This particular user, we did review their financials and theirbusiness is down about 30%. They have until I believe it was October of 2027left on their lease, so rather than have them close, we recommend rolling theirrent back to the original value. Questions of staff? Mr. Lara.Okay, so this is for the current lease through 2027.Um if they choose to renew, are we going tobe going back to the original rate? Is it going to be a modified rate? Are wegoing to take it as it happens? President and board members, we'll haveto see in 2027 where they are business-wise, but I think we'drenegotiate going forward. This is just a stopgap measure to make sure theydon't close and we can keep businesses in there. Mr. President, you had a question? Thankyou. Um, I guess my question is, um, looking into the future, I know things Imean, we're doing this to help this business, and I'm trying to, you know,see both sides. You know, would we ratherhave this business close and have that place empty and lose those revenues, orgo down like we're doing now? But, my question iscan we do that for other businesses if they start to struggle? President and members, I mean, I thinkit really depends on each situation. Real estate's like a lot like anairline. Once it takes off, you can't resell it. Similar is true with rents.If the tenant leaves, we're going to be stuck with an empty space generating norevenue. So, I'd rather take $14 a square foot than nothing right now. Thiswas not our original lease. We inherited this tenant. Um,we're We have a lot of leases coming up over the next 2 years, so we want tomake sure the building right now stays occupied. Okay. Mr. Layman.Thank you, Mr. President. My question is doesn't this open up Pandora's Box forall the businesses that haven't hit the profit margins of last year to ask forthe same reduction? Chair and Commissioner, it's not aprofit margin. It's a substantial loss they took. It has nothing to do withthem making a profit. So, we reviewed their financials pretty extensively, andtheir sales are down dramatically. So, no one else has asked for it. Everybodyelse is actually, um,either an office tenant, so they're not really impacted by what's been going on,or they're a carryout business, so they have not been impacted.Mr. Mr. President, follow up. Uh, so instead of sayingdidn't meet their profit margin, for any business that took a loss,why why they not come in and ask for the same thing? And even if they're not inthe downtown, if we're if we're doing it for one business, why would we not do itacross the board for all business? Cuz Chair and Commissioner,EDA happens to own this building versus other buildings in the city. So, yourchoice tonight is either they can leave and we'll have an empty space or we canget $14 a square foot through October of 2027.You can make the same argument for a business that's not in downtown. Ifthey're either going to close their doors and leave unless But but But thedifference Mayor is that we own this building and it's owned by the EconomicDevelopment Authority and it's our best interest from an economic developmentstandpoint to keep the building occupied and they're a local tenant. They're notsome chain or whatever and we control the rent there. If the project's beencovering its cost substantially over the past 2 years, it's performingway better than it ever performed in its history. So, I think from an economicdevelopment standpoint, it's better to support a small local business who'sbeen in the community for many many years.Cuz we control the rent. It's not we're not a different landlord. It's the city.Right. Okay. It's the EDA.Yes, the EDA. How long have they been in Have they been in that space? How longhave they been there a tenant? I can't hear you. Well, how long have they beena tenant? They are in their I believe fourth year of their lease.So, they came when we acquired the building. Any other questions? Mr. Mayor. Uh Mr.President, the other question I had is how did we determine 2760to 2020?How did we determine the amount? So,Mr. President members, it's based on per square foot. So, that's$14 a square foot times their amount of square footage divided by 12generates what the rent rate is. Right, but they had a rent here and nowit's going to here. What determined to take it from here to here.>> $14 is the lowest anyone's got in that building and so that's kind of ourbasement level. We will not go below that. Uh I got some questions. So, umdo we feel that uh the market What is the market rate? I meanit's what we can get, obviously, but uh uh you said $14 is our lowest rent andthat was on a lease agreement uh from the past. Umis that something that fits with our market downtown that uhis that high? Is that low? Chairman and um board members, I thinkthat's about average down there. Um there are some people higher, there aresome people lower. I mean, we the EDA invested a lot of money in thatbuilding. Um you know, we're working to pay back that and we have overhead costsfor the property. So, $14 is kind of our minimumbasis that we've had there since the day we acquired it. So. And you you statedif this tenant were to have to leave, that we'd have an empty space. Could wecould re-rent it? Couldn't we?We could, but we're not having great luck right now renting space down there.If you look at any of our retail centers, there's been a number ofnational bankruptcies in some of the bigger centers and they're that space issitting empty. Uh if you look at um out in Southbridge,there's a number of vacant spaces out there. I mean, it's a very competitiveretail market right now. So, if we have a tenant who's been there long-term,who's got an established business, who's a shock appeal person, I think it's inour best interest to try to at least keep them through the end of their leaseand keep that space occupied. Cuz right now, we have one vacancy and we have hadlittle or no interest in it. Uh why why can't they pay the rent?Uh their sales are down substantially. I'dsay they're down 15 or 20% month over month.So, if you use the national average, their rent really should be probably forthe business they're in, if you look at the national average, it's probably 10or 12% and we're substantially above that even at $14, but they've agreed topay that. Any other questions? What are the wishes of the body? Mr. Lara. I'll make a motion to approvethe modification of the lease rate. Rate.Second. We have a motion and a second to approvethe modification of the lease. Any further discussion?Further discussion? Discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Opposed? I.Four to one. I'm I'm opposed. Three to two.>> Three to two. All right. UhLast item on our business is the EDA bill list, itemfive. Any questions about the bills? No question.>> No question. Nope.All right. I'll look for a motion to adjourn.I'll make a motion to adjourn to Our next meeting.>> April 7th, 2026. Is there a second? Second. Sorry. Wehave a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. We stand adjourned. All right. We'll reconvene the ShakopeeCity Council meeting. Item 11A, 2025 community survey updates.And Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. Chelsea will be presenting on thattonight before she gets up there and talks. Assistant City AdministratorPeterson will be Yes, sir. Presenting. Outstanding.You know, we we've been doing this for multiple years and and this year reallywas a major shift for us as an organization.Um when you look at the numbers that came back from the survey.There was a really a lot of a positive that that was there, and in areas thatwe as a city and as a council and as staff have been working on for years.And so I'm when I first got a look at the survey, I was actually prettydelighted by the numbers that we saw. And Chel- Chelsea will go Excuse me,assistant city administrator Peterson will go into that at this time. Uh good evening, Mayor and Council. Uhwe are going to do a brief overview of the survey, and then what I really wantto show you tonight is the survey tool that the public can um access if theywish to view the survey results as well, or um you guys can all do this a littlebit later on this evening. Um so, the first thing we put togetheris Shakopee by the numbers. We took um some of the highlights from umthe survey. Residents love Shakopee. That's a really really impactful. Umwe generally trend pretty high in this, but we're over 90% of residents say thatthey would recommend Shakopee as a place to live. Um our economy is veryresilient, and and people have very positive feelings about that, which isgreat anytime, but particularly right now.Um and this is fitting for tonight. Police and fire services are ratedexceptionally high. People feel very safe in our community, and there'sprobably not a safer building in the community tonight here.Um but that is another area where weconsistently rank really high, um and that just speaks to the quality of ourpolice and our fire, and um how engaged they are in our community.Um city is well designed. People generally like the layout and the openspaces and how the the transit works and or transit options and things like that.Um and trust in government governance is rising as well. Um we had a lot ofreally positive marks, um both historically positive, and we had umsome nice upticks in that area as well. So, that really speaks to the quality ofcity staff across the board Um and the service that we deliver to ourcommunity. The streets are top notch. I mean noneof these things should be surprising, but it's it's really really nice to beable to see them from the community. We we see it and we live it but to hear itfrom our residents is just wonderful as well.Um you know, we can see it there sidewalkupkeep, traffic enforcement, street repairs, snow removal all getting reallyhigh marks.Um and people feel welcome in Shakopee andthat's I mean that's one of our values. That's something that we strive thatwe're we're opening we're open to difference and we're welcoming to all.So we're again really kind of living our city values there.Um we're rated above our national benchmarks as well as our comparablecities. So the comparables are about uh it's about 20 cities in Minnesota thatum the survey tool actually kind of identifies based on Sorry about thatMayor. Um based on uh population and and location and things like that. We'rejust we're much more like cities in Minnesota than we are umcities across the country. We deal with the same things whetherum natural disasters, things like that. So um so yeah, we are doing reallyreally well against the national benchmarks as well as our local citieshere as well. So the piece um and these will actuallybe going out in um Shakopee utility billsin the near future. Um so we'll have some at city hall. We'll bring them tocity events and then everybody will get this um to their home as well.Oops, sorry. So um one of the things Let me back up a step here. So if you go toour Shakopee city website um under residents in the bottom corner we haveour community survey here. So this page lives on our site always. Um the lasttime we did the survey was in 2023 um and so thisthe 2023 lived there until our 2025 was done and now this will carry on until wedo our next one. So these results are available toum anyone at any time. So, um it does a really great job of breaking down all ofthe um major areas of the survey, so you canreally dig into Covered Events if you wantedum see metrics that way. The piece that I really like is the um interactivedashboard here. So, um and we can we can go around to acouple areas, but this is just one. Um in our Shakopee Place to Live, oops.Hold on. Their website is a little bit finickyand I clicked um so, you canuh pick all these different areas and then you can also drill down into umkind of the metrics behind them. Sorry. There we go.Interactive dashboard. So, we have ourShakopee's Place to Live, uh Your Neighborhood is a Place to Live. You cansee that we have all of our positive rankings here, where we are against thethe national and the custom benchmarks. Um and then again, you can go down hereto the bottom and based on the the length of residency is the one that Ikind of like to see. So, people in the community that have lived here less than5 years, it's pretty split across the board um well, in duration forexcellence. Um and then you can look at people that have lived here a very longtime, 6 to 10 years and more than 11 years. There very few people that areranking Shakopee as a poor place to live. So, the people that stay here wantto be here. They they enjoy this community um yeah, they enjoy being here. We haveparticularly high rankings from people that have been here a long time. So, umagain, you can drop down this facet and you can go to again, safety, right?We talked about how that's always perpetually very high for us, 82, 92,90, 83. Um again, people feel very safe. Uh we're safe from natural disasters aswell, not just uh man-made. Particularly high against the nationalbenchmarks. Um and so again, you can look at howlong people have lived here, more than 11 yearsis very good. Umyou can also look at presence of older adults, presence of children. Again,these are all voluntary, so the people that are taking thethe survey are reporting in on that, but um you can really kind of drill into ourdata and see again, a lot a lot of very interestingtrends. Um but by and large, Bill kind of highlighted it all. People reallylike being here. Um they enjoy the quality of services that city council orthe city of Shakopee provides. Umand they enjoy being here.So, Oh, there was one other one. Hold on. The open questions, um we do that everyyear. If there's something particularly timely that we're looking to gaininsight in, um we've done questions in the past on communication methods andparking in the downtown and public safety and uhfunding for roads and a number of different things.Um so this time we looked at um response times and and tax values and things likethat. Um strong there is significant support for people that would be willingto pay a $2 monthly increase or a $24 annual dollar increaseum for public safety um and public roadway improvements.Um, and then this one is one that's been particularly of interest for city staffin the last couple years with the local papers going away. Um, we're curious howpeople are getting information, how they're gaining their um, city news.And um, so the city website andhold on here. I did all my math, cheated.Um, city website 90% say that it's either a major or minor source.Um, which is good cuz that's one of our primary areas of posting information.Uh, utility bill stuffers. So this the utility bill stuffer that we're going toput in with this information. Um, 70% of people listed as a major or minorsource. City social media is another significant one at 78%.Um, and then another one that I think wasparticularly interesting, local media outlets, 12% wish it was a source.Um, and that's of course we don't have any control over that, but we do thebest that we can through other channels. So um,it seems that the the areas that we generally invest the most of our timeand resources in is uh, where people get their news. So that's very uh,You got to scroll down to the city council meetings. Yes.Yeah, and that's >> There we go. Never mind. City council. I did my math on that one.66% say it's a major or minor source. I find it interesting this ShakopeeSnapshot is not higher. Yes, that wasCuz I'm sure that doesn't that's not cheap to do four times a year. And if they're not working and we havebeen um, tinkering with the Shakopee Snapshot. It used to be four times ayear. For a while we um, went down to three. Um, but I believe um,I was gone when we planned it for this year. Are we back up to four times ayear, Mr. Reynolds? Yes, we are. Okay. What's the When did we change the nameof that? The snapshot? Yes. Uhthree, four years ago? Yeah. In the last couple of years. So, they have plenty oftime to make the All right, recognition recognition change? Uh hopefully. OneOne of the important things to recognize is that not all people go to one source.Yeah. And so, as we shotgun, if you will, we're hittingpeople with different things based upon what they do. Andyou know, as I look at this, I see that all of these things have a significantimpact. And but, you know, there's not one person that's simply doing onething. And and, you know, we are trying to get everyone in in a range that wecan to give them the information uh that that we have available. So,you know, to your point, uh Counselor Laura, you know, it it is expensive, butit is, you know, frankly, older residents like The Yeah. You know, theylike something in their hands as they're having a cup of coffee in the morning.I'm not looking at you particularly, Mayor.Actually, I'm that way. Uh but then we get younger people, uhyou know, who want to go online and look at look at something on on on on on uhour website or elsewhere. So, Well, we do try to cross-promote all of ourinformation as well the the more critical news stories that appear in theShock This Snapshot. They're also on our website. We're also sharing them on oursocial media. So, even though people do find our information a variety ofdifferent ways, we are sharing consistent information.All right, second. 14 and 15. Okay.Okay. Um I just I just wanted to point out onIt's 184 in our packet.Our City Well designed at the top, governance trusting in customer service delivered by cityemployees is up 8%. That's outstanding to see that.You know, we are a customer driven. They come in looking for a service.And to be up 8% is is pretty pretty awesome.And then kudos to council conference in city government is up 10%.So that is good. There are some that caughtmy attention about transit, but you know, that's a fiasco with the MetCouncil and federal funding sources and so on and so forth.But it did catch my my eye and I think it was page 14, 15. 200 Um ease of travel by publictransportation went from 52 to 38. Yeah. And then on thefollowing page It might get a lot worse. Umwhere was the other one? Um There was another indicator. Um but it was also down substantially. Sowe we know we know we have a bus, it's in a bottom of 15. Bus or transitservices 62 to 45. So we know we have our challenges withour provider to try to figure out the best modeling.And I don't know what the time frame of this was compared to when we changed ourroutes and when we added the local option. That might have been after thishappened. >> Yeah, I think what you're looking at issnapshot of past. >> This was performed October throughNovember of last year. Okay. >> So, it's uh prior to some of themchanges already. >> Prior to some of those changes, butwe've had some more changes since then, but>> Yep. Um yeah, we'll talk about that in my my time, but uh um it uh it couldalso have been a couple of people skewing those results.>> Sure. Sure. And the overall um participation wasUh we had it I believe it was 14% for the umrandom participation, the statistically significant part, and then we hadanother 123 responses for we uh we do open it up to the entire community, sowe can gain input from a larger pool. We just keep those umseparate to keep the statistical significance. So, overall, we had about525 people um if you combine those pools. Out of a city of 46,000.So, 3,000 um mailers went out, um and they adjust for those that are delivereddue to vacant homes, uh other issues and stuff like that. Yep.Yep. So, we had a 14% response rate um when taking that into consideration, andthen 125 um from the open. Okay.Any other questions of staff? Just your point, Mr. Mayor, on on thethe customer service and confidence in your city government.Uh I I think that's really strikingwith where we are today and everything else around us. Uh Ithink it's I think it's pretty substantial and, youknow, umand I know I've told you this before, when when new employees come into thecity, I sit down with each one and I talk about what I call 2.5 things. One,ethics. Two, customer service, and the pointfive is have fun in what you do. Yeah. Uh but the customer service is thisplace was designed for for service. If you remember our old building, we wouldhave people walking in. Nobody knew they were there becauseyou you could come in and no one could, you know, greet you and say, "Hey, howcan I help you?" And and you know, we we we've been inwe've been trying to impact that number at least in the last decade and and II I'm very happy to see that as well. And one of the things that really helpsthat number is when when we went from and I said this at the old city hall andwhen we built this location and layout was from my own personal experience.Go to the old city hall for something, whether it's a fence permit, whatever,and you ended up getting chased around townfor different, you know, you couldn't get things here, you had to go toengineering or you had to go over there or and it was just The the old I'msorry, I can't help you. You have to drive over there.>> really inefficient. >> Yeah, it was and, you know, we we wantwhen somebody comes in the door, you know, I'd like to have two contacts.One, that greeting and two, the solution. Now, we always can't do that.>> Right. But, you know, that's ultimately the goal. So, you're not>> that can find that solution. >> Correct. You know, they're not bouncingaround and like, "Oh, I'm sorry, that's not my department." No one is going tosay that in city hall. What we're going to say is like, "Well, let me get yousomeone who can help you." Right. And that's the key.Well, I just wanted to recognize staff for that. Uh 8% increase is is awesome.That's uh definitely the right direction. It's good to see that.Council, kudos to you. 10% up in city government at a time when the state'sgot its issues and the federal got their issues and everybody's got their issuesand and we'rein our our lane, so to speak, doing our thing and Yes, sir. and uhVery good. Any other questions, comments for staff?Okay. That's it. Thank you.>> Item number Thank you, Assistant Administrator.Peterson. Peterson. >> Mayor.Liaison and Administration reports. Where did we start last time?Oh, so over here this time? >> Mr. Delaney. Okay, thank you for that.169 Coalition finally had the dissolution meeting last Thursday. We dohave one final meeting of the board so we could get to the final numbers andeach of the members will get a refund back from the the dues paid I thinkbetween one and two thousand dollars. So that should be showing up here sometimethis year. Uh we had some great speakers um Senator Pratt uh Lisa Freeze um MayorHoblin. Uh so it was really It was It was umit was a happy but somberum meeting because a lot of the activities were a lot of uh long-timemembership there but also um covering the the uh projects that diduh happen to you know um get completed under 169 Coalition. Sothat was a Uh so that meeting that have one moreboard meeting and that's it. As far as Shakopee Public Utilities, we did have ameeting uh yesterday. I just want to remind everybody that if you'reone thing that came up was looking for uh if if you're having trouble payingyour bill, the best thing is communication. Please talk to theutilities and figure out something from there versus just not paying your bill.Uh there are resources available uh through the CAP agency and others. Sojust putting that out there. And that's it. Thank you.Thank you, Counselor. Mr. Weidner. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uhon uh February 19th, we had our uh a short board meeting for the MVTA andalong with a board retreat. And one of the focuses was on the uh high subsidytransit routes. So as you know, the Met Council has targeted the suburbantransit groups to try and put them out of business and take their funding andkind of we'll be all relying on any transit it'd be through a Metro Transit.So, high subsidy routes MVTA had a lot of them. And what we're talking about iswhen it costs $100 or $106 for one passenger to take that bus ride.And unfortunately, Shakopee had some of those routes and soum even though sothe Met Council had called out like 24 different routes, several of them werefrom MVTA. Uh they were using data from 2024 postCOVID and you know, uh during the COVID years we had to shut down all theexpress service to downtown. Uh but we were nimble enough to be ableto create that MVTA Connect so you pay the two bucks, you can jump on the bus.So, we were able to do that. Um but having them focus on those certainroutes uh which 24 2024 data, of those routes six ofthem had already been canceled. Six other ones had been severelymodified. Uhfour of them were planned to be discontinued andstill still are on the chopping block but you know, you can't just shut off abus. You have to takes months to do that to be able to have the equityfor those riders and things. Uh and then also the reason why theywant to shut some of those routes down is cuz within a 3/4 mile distance of anybus route the Met Council or the state has toprovide Metro Mobility within those bus routes.So, that would cut down that cost as well.Um a couple of those routes that they're talking about actually got grants. So,they gave us a grant to create a route and try to make it work. Well, it didn'twork cuz it ended up being on the highest subsidy list.So, I understand there's a lot of politics going on but if that's your buswe canceled you're going to mark it as a in oursurvey as having bad transit options.Uh I think MVTA Connect has been quite agreat bonus for people if they know how to use it.Um and uh you know, some of the target theother targets that the Met Council has been having on us is that we have toomany buses. Well,we had to downsize our buses to make them fit better, so we have smallerbuses now and it's hard to get buses at the time there was a chip issue.Um and then when the State Fair rollsaround, uh everybody's glad we have all the buses cuz everyone's on the road andeveryone's making money and that's one of our peak times. So,um there's a lot of different moving parts on this, but uh we do recognizehigh subsidy routes and we take the time to cut them out, but uh uh you got tolet them develop a little bit too to see if there is going to be ridership. Now,express routes downtown still haven't picked up, but uhsomewhat they're getting better and that we actually have a 14% I think it wasincrease in bus service, so uh it just has not come back topre-COVID uh bus riding and I think Mondays andFridays are still a really lulls for us, so we're adjusting some of the routesfor that. Um people are still working from home on Mondays and Fridays, so uhum we're it's a new normal, I think, and we're trying to getadjust for that. But uh I I still recommend everybody looking at the MVTAConnect as an option. Uhbecause if the legislature gets their way, umwe'll have little to no transit options in Shakopee. So, that means our Amazons,our Canterbury circulator route, uh which remember uh the amphitheater istransit-dependent. So, uh we don't have a bus, uhwe're going to have a problem. So. Questions, I I have a few. Doesanybody have any questions of Counselor Whiting?Um the numbers that they're using from the COVID era, which are obviouslyreally low in ridership. It's 2024 data, so it's post-COVID, but still not backup to speed. >> Yeah, but they're theyit almost look it almost looks like they picked cherry-picked>> Oh, you say certainly they did. >> timeline of what to use. Yep. Andthe other thing I was going to point out is when they it's a question when theylook at these timelines, let's say that they take Aroute and it's heavily subsidized or something. They're looking at it over aperiod of Do they look at maybe this route isserving rent fast for this period of time? I don't think they look at any ofthose routes. >> If if that was included it it it takesaway from that subsidy because it's actually productive. Youknow? >> No, they'll take a route that goes fromA to B, like the 460 or the 480 route, and say, "Well, this this is costing usper passenger." And then what the Met Council say, "Well, the Met Council canrun it better." But the Met Council doesn't own any mechanics, they don'town any bus stations, that's all through Metro Transit. So, it's not anapples-to-apples comparison. >> Right. So, Metro Transit cannot MetCouncil doesn't run a bus company. They theyjust organize it and then they let Metro Transit do it. So, the numbers are notthe same. And then the the last question I had is and this is something thatwe've been beating up for years on. Connections, connections, connections toother providers. So, if you take this one from uhShakopee to Burnsville or Eden Prairie or something, you can get on somebodyelse's, whether it's Southwest Metro or whoever. UmAre do they look at them that situation as connecting with somebody else andusing that other provider or howI mean, does that work against us or in our favor?Well, I think the best example of that would be going to the Mall of America,dropping off, cuz you you get any bus from there, any train, andmaybe not any train, but you know, get on the train from there.And they're not looking at those routes. You know, they're looking at the onesthat are underperforming. Okay. And so, we have adjusted We've lost some routeshere. And that actually got us into a bindwith some equity issues. We had to actually increase in Shakopee so that wehad the the county wanted to make sure we had the balance, right? So that theyweren't losing out some of those federal dollars as well.So, it's it's a uhand that metro mobility connection within 3/4 of a bus route,that's a big deal for people that use that. So, um just remember this ispolitical and we're a target. So, uh anyway.It's It's our state rep who's uh And the Met Council's doing a great job, right?Uh well, you know, they do their best, but they're they're looking for money,too. Everybody's looking for the mighty dollar. Mhm.All right. >> They find it where they can get it. Allright. Well, keep up the efforts. We appreciate your work. CouncilorContreras. Thank you, Mayor. So, for me, I had two events. Um February 20th, Iattended the MMLC um 2026 regional legislative breakfastum update, sorry. And it was um more of just, you know,just talking about their um priority and overview and housing priorities. Aconversation that never ends and somehow we can't find solutions.And then the last one, I attended the uh Chief Tate's retirement party. Verygood. Councilor Lara. Um on the 20th, I also attended theMunicipal Commission uh legislative update. Umyeah, that housing talk, it totally is just it's one big circle. Um I I I foundit kind of taking a little back how they were blaming the cities.Um anyways, it's just going to go around ina circle. Um the 23rd, I had a school boardmeeting. Um the biggest That was a long one. And then the what they weredebating was um so, in their last umcontract union contract negotiations the teachers wanted four days removed fromuh the school year. And so the school board said, "Sure,we'll take them off, but we get to choose when." Cuz the teacherswanted them on the last at the last of the month um to shorten the school year.And so the school board ended up just um scattering them out throughout the year.Well, to make up for four days, they have to then find 10 10 minutes a dayextra per school day. And so the debate was, "Do we do 10 minutes before school?Do we do 10 minutes after school? Or do we do 5 minutes before and after?"And so after they And it was some very thoughtful debate. Um they decided on 5minutes before and 5 minutes after. So that will start next school year or the2026-2027 school year. No extra days added. Just>> No extra days added. So they removed four days, but they have to to make upfor that. >> Yep. They cuz they have to do time. Umand then uh Jeff Tait's uh retirement, we wish you all the best in your new newendeavors. Very good. My uh my report February 20th uh MLC legislative updatebreakfast, good showing from council and staff. And you're right, as I've beenreporting to this this council body about this for a while now, it is acircle. It what started out 3 years ago as how do we make housing affordableis in at least in my opinion turned into how can you stack and pack more and moreand their mind is that's going to make themcheaper uhbecause it lowers the land cost. However,it it really drives higher service level needs from the cityuh and county. Um So I don't know that that necessarilymakes the actual purchase price less. Mhm.Um Yeah.Mobile homes. Yeah. Well, you know, and we're a citywith four of them either in or very close. So, we are probably and we have avery large uh naturally occurring affordable housing stocklocated, you know, Levy Drive up to 10th Avenue, the older area of town.And uh a lot of times none of these things are even recognized in some ofthese discussions or they try to come up with a as Ms. Reynolds points outrepeatedly with a with me that their one-size-fits-all model just doesnot fit every community. There are some communities that have uhsome industrial areas that are maybe havesome contamination from the past that are cleared that they want to dosomething different with. So, they want to do you know, apartments or housing orwhatever. So, they're looking for that, but we're not looking for that. We'relooking to preserve our industrial and put industrial uses on them.Um So, there's a lot of differences from alot of different There's some communities, Prior Lake for example, whouh you know, they have high-end housing for the most part they've they've optednot to have a commercial industrial base and they're the benefactor of fiscaldisparities. They their bodies over the years their elected bodies have madethem decisions and uhyou know, why should others pay for the decisions they've made? Youknow, nothing against Prior Lake, it's a nice community. I'm just pointing outdifferences of how different bodies have visions for their communities. So,yeah, it's a tough nut for sure. Uh I got to have a lot of fun there.Um February 26th attended uh Chief Tate's retirement.Said a few words on behalf of the city council and uhyeah, it's uh it's hard to see him go when he's been here so long and he'sdone such a great job. So, I pretty much summed it up in in my speech. I alsoattended the 169 Corridor Coalition meeting out at Canterbury that night.Uh, Councilor Delaney is the president ofthat. I've served many years from its very beginning on that. Um,started as an alternate of under Jim Mayor Schmidt. AndI've got to be honest, it's the the group that I've enjoyed the most overthe years because it was 100% non-partisan, non-political, and wastotally focused on the thing that matters to most, infrastructure.169, these safety issues on and to be honest,in such a short period of time, and I say short and it's not really short, butin reality for what we achieved, it is a very short time. In in 20 yearsor less, we've achieved a 494 169 flyoverinterchange. That wasready to not happen at the 11th hour at the CTAB, where there was a lot ofpressure to to help get that done, and that helps Shakopee quite a bit.Um, the 69 overpass, that was an improvement in Shakopee.There was an improvement at 41 and 169. There's a lot of good282 in Jordan is going to happen now. Uh, 59, some of the other overpasses.That's a lot of infrastructure improvement dollars in a very smallarea, and I say short time, 20 years, for that type of infrastructure is ashort time. II remember talking, and Jay might have remember, we were talking aboutthe future river crossing, 41 lining up with 169 at 41 kind ofkitty-corner to the new two uh 212 by the the umthe Fleet Farm out there. And that's been in the works for 25-30years. They've done, you know,phase one environmental studies, the sanitary fence, all these types ofthings. Uh sanitary fence, sorry.Uh I know some properties have been acquired for futuremaybe needs and and projects. But that'll never happen in my lifetime.I would I would go to the casino and bet my life savings on that one. It's justnot going to happen. But the reality is weas a southwest quadrant need river crossing capacity. And thesad part is the 169 coalition with all of itssupport couldn't get that done. Little Dan patch, yeah. And it's a huge,huge project. I get it. It's a lot of lot of investment.But I guess the sadder part is even MnDOT won't restripe it. Not during the winter months. And andthat is very disappointing because we have a lot going on in the summer timesin our entertainment. We have the Renaissance. We have Valleyfair at itspeak. We have the amphitheater coming online. We have Mystic Lake uhCanterbury Downs with all their their horse racing and other activities. We'vegot a lot going on. And and we need that capacity. And theyI I can I can agree with let's not do it inwinter months because there's snow issues of plows and whatnot. And I getit. Okay, I get that. But what's the excuse of not doing this in the summer?There's just not a good excuse in my mind not to dorestriping. Um the cost compared to putting anotherlane on that bridge is substantially less, so I don't know I just don't getit and I'll continue to have that conversation with MnDOT because it'simportant. So that's my report.Uh 12A city bill list. >> Mr. Mayor, if I may.>> Yes, sir. Uh I just wanted to to say hats off tothe 169 Coalition. Uh uhboth Counselor Delaney and and yourself were been involved in that and um I'vebeen in government my whole entire adult life.I've never heard of an organization saying, "We have achieved what we canachieve and now as a government organizationwe're going to dissolve."That is so fundamentally striking to me and you knowthe achievements, you're exactly right. They're just massive achievements in areally short time. If you think how long it takes to just design major highwayimprovements, the fact that we got all of that done through the 169 Coalitionefforts and the efforts of the county uh and and and you know the county staffwere phenomenal in that regard and their support is just amazing. And uh to tosay we've done what we were supposed to do,we're now going to go away and put our efforts elsewhere.You know, hats off. What what what an outstanding thing. You know, it just tome I found that just absolutely striking.Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. And I just don't know anyuh governmental entities, Scott County and many others along the corridor,cities around us that would be opposed to any capacity increase on 169. The theis the dollars. It is what it is.>> money. It is a lot of money.12A is city bill list? Uh no questions for me. Any issues onthe bill list? 12B news and announcements.I can start. Go ahead. Tree removal. Tree removal in Huber Parkalong the Minnesota River will begin the next uh 1 to 2 weeks. This is the firststep in construction of the Minnesota River Bank restabilization project. Themajority of the trees along the south river bank extending from Holm StreetBridge to the Market Street will be cut down and removed. The tree removal isnecessary to be completed prior to the end of March for protection ofendangered species and that may be nesting in the trees.Larger construction project will not begin until later this fall. Pleasecontact engineering department with any questions about this project. And and ifI can say it's going to be messy down there.Uh you know, we're we're we're going to have big equipment down there. There'sgoing to be mud. We're going to do what we can. It's going to look bad for awhile. Uh we're going to have to live with it fora bit. Uh but ultimately, as you know, what we're going to be putting in placeis going to be pretty striking. So uh members of the public, please havepay please have patience. It's going to look bad for a bit. Yes, we're cuttingdown trees, but these are garbage trees. These are cottonwoods and just your normSome are just big bushes. We're going to we're going to put some fencing in tomake sure people don't want to you know, cuz that steep that riverbank isexceptionally steep right there. And uh but it's it's going to be messy and Ijust want to make sure everybody's aware of that and you know, it's the shortshort once again the short-term uh pain for the long-term gain. There gomy mulberry pies now, too. So Get down there. Get them while they'rethere. >> Yeah, I'll get the next one. Go ahead,Mr. Whitey. It's the egg hunt and candy grab. Join the Parks and RecreationDepartment for the annual egg hunt and candy grab from 1:00 p.m. 1:00 to 2:30p.m. Saturday, March 21st, 2026 at Topa Park. This event is free and will happenrain, snow, or shine. So, please make sure to dress for the weather. Bring abag or basket for your goodies. I was going to point out that there's aa food truck event put on by the chamber at uh Three Riverssometime in March. I think it's in That's in Is it in March or May?I thought it I thought it Well, at any rate, just check the chamber's websiteand uh go from there.I just throw that out there. Okay, very good. Mr. Mr. Whitey. Other business, uh ifyou don't mind, um Commissioner Brennan's in the in thehouse. I'm not going to put you on the spot, but uh people ask me and I alwayssee the commercials for the home title theft.So, if you could do some homework from the county and see how many titleshave been stolen or you know, re- claimed or however they do that. And Iknow some counties have uh uh some things in place to prevent that. So, ifyou want to come back some other time and talk to us about home title theft,uh I think that'd be great. I will point out that a lot of that hasto do with the site type of system that that state /county work with.>> You've state and county work with a theabstract uh which is a is somewhat of a safer way than some other states thatdon't use uh property abstracts. So. Okay, well, we'll Look forward toyour report, Commissioner. I'm sure people will be interested.>> Thank you. Any other business? Wishes of Council, Counciluh Contreras. I'll make a motion to adjourn to March 17th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m.Second. I'll second. Seconded by Mr. Lara. Any discussion?Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? We're adjourned. Thank you.