I wanted to state on the record that our meeting minutes haven't been displaying opposition. So when there is a nay vote, there has been no recording of why that is occurring.

Minutes are only required to record votes, items that come before us and the votes. I think Stephanie has done a good job in that process.

I just want to note that in the document that the board approves each year, the operating procedures and guidelines on the bottom of page two, there's a paragraph that identifies how the minutes will be taken for the board meeting. The staff follow that language in that document.

We believe the appointment will create significant conflicts between his duty and responsibilities of mayor in Forest Lake City and those independent-focused statutory responsibilities of watershed districts to protect and restore Minnesota waters and their necessary ecosystems throughout the district's boundaries and serve multiple LGU entities.

Despite what was just said here recently, I am very favorable to watersheds. There's nothing negative. I think there's some concerns on the taxing authority that these watersheds have.

It is very unusual for a mayor to be on a watershed board. ...this is not what I would consider ethical. There's too many issues legally that I can see right off the bat that will cause issues during voting.

There's a document that's put out about incompatible and compatible offices. It does not show that the office of mayor and the office of watershed district is incompatible. And also, our county attorney's office reviewed so that we don't believe there's any issue with Mayor Roberts serving on the watershed district.

Opened in 2025 in collaboration with the Washington County Community Development Agency, the EHSB is the county's first permanent emergency housing facility for adults experiencing homelessness.

Mental Health in Motion is an outreach van that was launched last year in 2025. It's a mobile program that has allowed us to bring a variety of resources and supports for mental health and substance use disorder directly into Washington County communities, and to allow us to meet individuals where they're at.

These three areas, housing, transportation, and mental health, I think are three really high priorities of this board and the county staff, and it's great to see the county staff rewarded for their efforts.

My four years here, when I came on board, there was no homeless shelter, and we didn't know if we were going to be able to get a homeless shelter... And now I hear the relief from other people that it impacted.

The improvements associated with the new equipment and surfacing are designed around accessibility, while also creating quiet spaces for youth with sensory issues and autism. During the process, staff worked closely with Valley Friendship Club to provide experiences that are accessible to everyone.

Through this partnership, the Joint Powers Board oversees $240 million of county funds for the total $505 million project, maintaining federal compliance, full transparency- ... risk management, and responsible stewardship of county funds. Thanks to this collaborative structure, the Gold Line, the project is expected to come in nearly $40 million under budget.

I really think that that attitude of the entire board and staff of looking at those bids, questioning different steps of the way, really makes everybody disciplined to why it did end up being on time and on budget.

This is the blueprint for how transit projects should be done. To codify some of this into law would be very wise of the state. And the processes that come forward as a result of it show that the transparency and integrity that this project had would do well in future transit projects.

Public Works has prioritized this project in the pavement preservation program because the pavement condition index, PCI, of the different segments ranges from 47 to 58, which is on the low side of the yellow range. So performing a rehabilitation project now will significantly extend the life of the corridor's roadway asphalt pavement.

The contract amount is in the amount, as stated on the slide. That is the dollar amount that we are agreeing to. Work is planned to start upon your approval today. Work is planned to start within the next week, so we would not anticipate inflation.

My line of questioning is about is that... I'm just trying to figure out if it's Wayne Sandberg who recommends final, or if it's more of a staff recommendation... I feel like there's a missing piece, and the missing piece is constituents.

Commissioners, I feel like I'm repeating this answer over and over again about how we get to project development, but certainly it starts with the development of the five-year CIP. That process has a lot of engagement with our city partners and others and communities.

When issues were identified related to disbursements, recommendations were made to the Audit Advisory Committee to strengthen internal controls to ensure that all county policies and processes and procedures are being followed. During the course of reviewing each of these disbursement testing periods, there was one written issue identified regarding payments for services without a valid contract in place.

where 77% of all spent dollars was reviewed through the audit committee in some capacity of review. That's quite amazing. And this audit probably leads a long way towards where we win a lot of awards on our finance at the end product.

There are three forces that really shape this budget: input costs, workforce and regulatory pressure, and the condition of our pavement network.

Gasoline for 2027 is predicted to be up 48%, from $2.19 a gallon that we pay to $3.25 a gallon. Diesel, we're expecting to be up 43%. Salt is up 11% next year, over $117 a ton.

I do need to share they did not support increasing the daily permit fee increase. Their concerns is that the Minnesota DNR daily permit rate is at $7, and any increase affects visitors. A $3 change from 7 to 10 in one year, they felt would be a lot for occasional and first-time park visitors, and they were concerned that a higher daily fee might discourage first-time use.

Zero county levy in this program [Road and Bridge]. Zero in 2026, zero again in 2027. It's fully non-levy funded.

The current split today is 50/50 between transit and transportation. For 2027, we are proposing an 85% transportation, 15% transit split.

with the budget going up, levy dollars going down, which is property taxes, and I really like that scenario, if that could be continued.