Good morning. I'll call the July 14th, 2026, Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting to order. Clerk, please take the role. Commissioner Miron. Here. Commissioner Karwoski. Here. Commissioner Cox. Here. Commissioner Bigham. Here. Commissioner Clausen. Here. Role call taken, all present. Thank you. Please join us 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. All right. We are at the comments from the public portion of the meeting. I do not have any speaker cards up here at the dais. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to address the county board at this time? Okay. Seeing none, we will move on to approval of the agenda. Members, is there a motion to approve today's agenda? Madam Chair, I would approve as printed. Second. Moved and seconded. Discussion? I have a discussion point, please. Mm-hmm. Thank you, Chair. I would like to request that we move agenda item B, approval of administrative policy number 1300, Washington County guidelines and procedures for Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, to be moved to the policy section so we can have further discussions. It doesn't seem that we have Stuart Campbell in the audience, and was hoping that I would be able to ask him direct questions So that is a motion, so that would be an amendment to the motion. Is there a second to that amendment? Okay, seeing no second, that amendment dies for lack of a second. Any other discussion on the approval of the agenda? Seeing none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Nay. Motion carries. Agenda is approved. Consent calendar. Are there any items that commissioners wish to discuss? Thank you. I would like to remove item B for questions for staff. Madam Chair, I would move the consent calendar, all items with the exception of item B. Okay. Is there a second? Second. Moved and seconded. Clerk will take the roll. Commissioner Miron? Aye. Commissioner Karwoski? Aye. Commissioner Cox? Aye. Commissioner Clausen? Aye. Commissioner Bigham? Aye. Consent calendar passes five zero. Sounds good. Now we have item B. Commissioner Clausen. Thank you. I'm not able to connect to Wi-Fi, but I'm going to be able to read it off of my phone here. I think that we should at least read out loud what the item on the consent that is going up for a vote for approval after we have this discussion. This item today is for a request for change of data. There is a red line item that's attached to the agenda and which outlines the changes. If you look and highlight at the request for the council action, you can see that it states that there's no significant changes. However, I view that very differently. The way that I'm reading this, it says that, "The request of a non-public data form shall be completed for all requests by the public for government data that is classified as other than public. A requester seeking non-public data shall, in addition to completing the request for non-public data form, shall be required to identify themselves with government-issued photo ID or another responsible means in order to verify that the requester has the right to view the non-public data requested." Also, within this change, we are changing the designation of the data request procedure to the county attorney's office. So I have multiple questions for staff today. If I could select a staff person that would be someone I can ask the questions to, would it be you, County Administrator Corbid? I believe that if- Or maybe County Attorney Renstad ... the appropriate staff is not here, which I believe is Stuart. I would probably prefer to just send this to a workshop versus having staff who had no notice that this was coming up try to navigate this. So, this is non-public data that the question is about to- Correct ... come, so- It's non-public data. Is that health records, infection notices, traffic accident records? Yeah. If it's somebody's child and they don't have a government-issued ID, can they still get the records they need? I have multiple questions. Yeah. Mr. Ristad. Madam Chair, Commissioners. At least as it relates to showing ID for making a non-public data request, we typically do that to make sure that we protect people's non-public data, so that any one of us could request data on ourselves that the rest of the public can't access. So, for example, I could set up a fake Gmail account that's commissionerbingham@gmail.com, pretend to be the chair, and try to request your private data. This is a safeguard that we have in place to make sure that sort of thing doesn't happen. Yeah. I'm sorry. I have to disagree with Mr. Renstad here. As a certified municipal city clerk, I've handled a lot of data requests, and it's not required to give your name. It's not required to give that type of information. And so this today, I have a lot of questions because we're also changing the authority to your office. And so I ask the question about what's the budget? Are we moving items then? Are you going to take over the fee schedule? And I don't see the changes of the fee schedule that would be needed to make this change today, because it does say that we're going to be utilizing IT hourly rates and possibly the attorney's rates then. So when people do request their data, they're going to be charged ... different rates. And currently, I have a complaint from a resident from another local government that is being charged $2,000 for government data. So any changes that are occurring right now, people are very much wanting to be involved in. And so I'm also asking for the opportunity to take this back to groups that would be affected. Those that might be small business owners who may work getting public property records or traffic accident reports, that may get that information for other referrals. I've known of a lot of people that need this type of information, and it actually, the more I look at it, the more I think that we're putting undue burdensome onto departments because then election records would actually be requested through who? Would it be through the attorney's office, or would it be through the election's office? And if they can't get their government-formed ID, how are they going to get the information? So there's lots of... And evictions and housing. There's a lot of information that the government stores here that could be implicated that has ripple effects to this. And I just want an opportunity to hear from Stuart Campbell, about why he doesn't think these changes are significant, and also what he believes is public and non-public and personal data. Because as you know, he's taking in the requests, so it's really important that he is here to tell us what his opinion is. I'm going to go to Commissioner Miron. Yeah. Madam Chair, our agendas come out on Thursday. When you have a lot of questions, you try to get those answered prior to the meeting on Tuesday, but since that didn't happen here, I'm going to move that we postpone action on this item until our next regular meeting- Okay ... so that Commissioner Clausen can have her questions answered. I will second that. And so that is a motion to postpone to a time certain. And so what is the discussion is the time and the reason for it, which was articulated by Commissioner Miron. Any discussion to either of those two items? Okay, seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Motion prevails, and item B is postponed until our next board meeting. And we have voted on the consent calendar already, so the next item on the agenda is to adopt a resolution proclaiming July 19th through July 25th, 2026 as Pre-trial Probation and Parole Supervision Week with our director, Terry Thomas. Welcome. Good morning, commissioners. Again, my name is Terry Thomas. I'm the Community Corrections Director. Thank you for having me today. I'd like to begin by recognizing the extraordinary dedication and commitment of our staff. Each day, they make meaningful differences in our community by advancing public safety through evidence-based supervision, accountability, and client engagement. Their professionalism, compassion, and unwavering commitment to this work are the foundations of our success. Last year, our staff served over 8,700 juvenile and adult clients. Through the STS service program, our crews completed over 44,000 hours of community work service benefiting our local partners. In addition, our staff facilitated over 1,100 cognitive behavioral group sessions that promoted positive behavioral change and helped reduce recidivism. To support informed decision-making by the courts and effective case planning, staff completed over 500 pre-sentence investigations and over 2,100 validated risk-and-needs assessments. Their commitment to excellence is further demonstrated by the creation of over 71,000 documents in our CSTS system and over 156,000 case notes entries ensuring accurate documentation, accountability, and continuity of services. These numbers represent far more than completed tasks. They reflect thousands of meaningful interactions, difficult conversations, thoughtful decisions, and opportunities to change lives. I'm incredibly grateful for the dedication, resilience, and professionalism our staff demonstrate every day. Their tireless efforts strengthen our communities, supporting individuals making positive changes, and help making Washington County a safer place to live, work, and raise a family. On behalf of our department, I wanted to thank our staff for the exceptional service and unwavering commitment to our mission. They truly deserve our appreciation and recognition for the outstanding work they do every day on behalf of the community. And with that, I would stand for questions and ask to adopt the resolution. Sounds good. Would you like to have the clerk read the resolution, or do you want to- I could read it, too, if you'd like. Why don't we do that? Okay. A resolution proclaiming July 19th through July 25th, 2026 as Pre-trial Probation and Parole Supervision Week. Whereas Washington County probation and parole officers are an essential part of public safety systems, and whereas they are responsible for supervising adult and juvenile probationers in the community. And whereas Washington County probation and parole officers uphold the law with dignity while recognizing the rights of the public to be safeguarded from criminal activity. And whereas Washington County probation officers are trained professionals who work in partnership with community agencies and groups. And whereas Washington County probation and parole officers intervene with offenders to change behavior. And whereas Washington County probation and parole officers provide cost-effective services to the citizens of Washington County. And whereas all community corrections staff play a vital role in supporting the work of probation and parole officers, and whereas community corrections professionals are a true force for positive change in their communities. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Washington County Board of Commissioners hereby proclaim July 19th through the 25th, 2026, as Pre-trial Probation and Parole Supervision Week, and encourage all to honor those community corrections professionals and to recognize their great achievements. Thank you. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we adopt the resolution proclaiming July 19th through July 25th, 2026, as Pre-trial Probation and Parole Supervision Week. Second. Moved by Commissioner Cox, seconded by Commissioner Clausen. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Director Thomas, for bringing this to us again this year. I do not have personal experience with a probation officer, but I am grateful that we have them here on staff, and that they do this really important work. You threw a lot of numbers at us. I cannot digest all of that. But I think how you summed that up was, these are all interactions. Lots of interactions that are creating positive behavior change in our community to keep our people safe. And so, I just want to thank you for this important work. I see a lot of your staff here in the audience. Ms. Linnea. I saw Ms. Diane. Ren is here, too. This takes a whole village to make this work, and I'm grateful that you are leading our village, and that they're here today to support you. So, thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Clausen. Thank you so much for that presentation. I actually really appreciated the amount of numbers you gave. I could see myself figuring out everyone's job, and I'm like, "Oh, yeah. At the end of the day, reports," and how tough that might be on those days that you have to, have had a really hard interaction. Somebody who maybe has never really been seen, and still have to maintain your professionalism and continue the job, even when you're writing those notes and you might be tearing up. I know that's probably what's happening at times, because I imagine those examples that you've talked to us about, or that we've had conversations with probation officers and people in this job. It's a tough job because you're in this pause of somebody's life. You're in a holding, I call it a sitting period. Nobody wants to sit and really just be talked to about the things and the actions and take accountability, and that's what they're doing. And so, I really am grateful. I have a lot of gratitude to the people who are dealing with them every single day, of people who just have had a really tough life a lot of times, and maybe don't have the best attitude. And to change those behaviors, that's really tough. But to be an employee and actually say, "Hey, you matter, and we really want you to be successful," that's different. And so, I think one thing that you said was meaningful action and that's what I take away from your presentation. I know you gave us a lot of numbers, but at the end of it, you just showed me in those numbers and those specific examples, what they do every day. So, thank you for that presentation. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Director Thomas. I really appreciate every year that you come up and do this and highlight the important work that you and the team do. The thing that always sticks out in my mind is the constant change that happens in your area of expertise and with your team, because of mainly the state making changes and not adequately funding. And so, just appreciate the professionalism that you bring, but also this is an area that you have really honed in on for innovation and modernization of how we provide that community-based programming, and it really has made a difference. And so, really appreciate the efforts of you and your team. With no further discussion, the clerk will take the roll. Commissioner Miron? Aye. Commissioner Karwoski? Aye. Commissioner Cox? Aye. Commissioner Clausen? Aye. Commissioner Bigham? Aye. Resolution passes five zero. Thank you, Director Thomas. Next up is a couple items from Public Works, and we will start with Becky Hayden, an engineer. Engineer three. Thank you for being here. Good morning. Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair, Commissioners. My name is Becky Hayden, and I'm an engineer three in the Public Works Department. Today, Public Works will be recommending approval of a construction contract along with three agreements and adoption of a resolution all related to the County Highway 12 Safe Routes to School Trail Improvement project. During my presentation, I will provide an overview of the project location and scope of work, discuss bids received, provide an overview of the financials, review the project agreements, and close by recommending approval of five board actions. This project is included in the county's capital improvement plan as RB2824. Washington County submitted a successful application to the Safe Routes to School program for this project and was awarded funds for 2026. The project is located within the city of Grant and includes construction of two trail segments The first, illustrated in red, includes construction of a trail along the south side of County State Aid Highway 12, also known as 75th Street North, extending easterly from the signalized intersection to Mahtomedi School along easterly to Inwood Way. The second is illustrated in blue and includes construction of a trail on the east side of the signalized Mahtomedi school access and extends northerly from Highway 12 to the existing pedestrian and bicyclist facilities located within the school campus. Construction bids were opened on June 30th. Seven bids were received with a favorable low bid coming from Dressel Contracting in the amount of roughly $382,000. Breaking down the financials of all the elements of this project, total project costs are roughly $540,000. Construction project expenses are shown on the slide, which include our typical 7% construction contingency, plus an added contract incentive. Contractors typically bid standalone trail projects as side work. Therefore, we have added this contract incentive to this project to not only comply with school district timelines, but to also streamline construction staff and efficiency. Please note there is also a disincentive if the contractor fails to complete the work by the established contract deadline. Revenues for this project total approximately $800,000. It consists of TAA multimodal funds, local contributions from both the City of Grant and Independent School District 832, and a state grant under the Safe Routes to School program. Totaling the project expenses and revenues leaves a remaining fund balance of approximately $260,000. Moving on to project agreements. We have three agreements and one resolution. The first two are cost and maintenance agreements, which define local costs and long-term maintenance responsibilities of infrastructure being constructed under this project. The first is with the City of Grant, and it follows the county's cost participation policy. The second is with Independent School District 832 and requires the school district to fully fund and maintain the portion of the project being constructed along the Mahtomedi school access road. The third is a grant agreement with the State of Minnesota, which defines project costs, maintenance responsibilities, and terms for acceptance of the Safe Routes to School funds. The last is a resolution approving the grant agreement previously mentioned and will be included within the overall grant agreement. Before I close with recommendations, I want to highlight how this project directly addresses a number of objectives within the county's strategic plan. This includes maintaining strong partnerships with local entities, such as the City of Grant and the school district, maximizing grant funding to grow and sustain the county's ability to fund infrastructure, and the addition of bike and ped infrastructure to provide sustainability benefits by reducing vehicle emissions. So with that, Public Works has five board actions that are recommending approval on today. This includes the construction contract with Dressel Contracting, three agreements, and one resolution. It is likely best to review and take action on these board items one at a time. So I will turn it over to the board chair, and I will stand for any questions. Madam Chair. Thank you, Ms. Hayden. Commissioner Miron. Thank you, Madam Chair. I will move to approve contract number 18448, in the amount of $381,529.77 with Dressel Contracting Incorporated. I'll second that. Moved and seconded. Commissioner Miron. Yeah. Thank you, Ms. Hayden, for the presentation and for all the work that's gone into this. I think it's exciting to see a local company receive an award of a bid here on a project that we've been looking at for quite some time, and to come in at such a reasonable amount in comparison to the engineer's estimate and really what was planned for this project in our CIP. So, excited to award the bid to Dressel. Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Hayden, thanks for the presentation. Very thorough. Working with Commissioner Miron as we developed many years of reconstruction of County 12, we knew it would culminate with this vital trail to the schools. It was always a thought that it would be a Safe Routes to School type grant, and so I'm glad this came to fruition. I think this may complete all the construction on County 12. Am I correct? I'm not sure if there are any- Okay ... future projects in the CIP. It is now through Grant, as Commissioner Miron represents the City of Grant, and got to commend Commissioner Miron for his leadership and all the work he does with City of Grant. But what isn't mentioned, but it really does help the citizens of Mahtomedi, whether they're using this trail to go to other neighborhoods after school or to go to the recreation fields and such. So it's really a win-win for the area, anybody that goes to those schools. I did have a question because it was so under budget, under the engineering estimate. Was there any explainable reason for it that came to mind? I don't want to knock on wood because I have a bid opening this afternoon. Our bids have been still coming in well. We try to get our construction projects out to bid, and just lately, like I said, I'm knocking on wood because I have one today. They've been coming in low, which says the contractors are still looking for work right now. Good. Well, it's a good thing. Really happy to support this. Commissioner Lucke. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Hayden, thanks for the presentation. Actually, there's a group from Public Works that joined me at Stone Bridge Elementary here in Stillwater yesterday. And so, getting our young people back and forth to school safely is really important. So I'm glad to see that this is happening, and I'm happy to support it. Any other comment? And thank you, Ms. Hayden, for your presentation. This is a fantastic project that's been in the works. So, we will proceed to take the vote. All in favor of approving contract number 18448 say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Motion carries. Item number two, Commissioner Miron. Thank you, Madam Chair. I will move to approve the cooperative agreement number 18-281 with the City of Grant for construction costs and maintenance. Second. Moved and seconded. Discussion? Commissioner Miron. Just we've had a lot of work with the City of Grant here recently as we look at Lake Elmo Avenue and 36. They've been involved in that, along with Lake Elmo and obviously the State of Minnesota and Washington County. But Mayor Geer came into office. He's really impressed me as a strong leader. He's been working with us through scheduled regular meetings with Public Works, and myself. We're in good contact. I just so much appreciate his leadership at this time when so many of these projects are coming forward. So I just wanted to give a shout-out to him. He's just impressed me as a good leader and looks after the welfare of the City of Grant and the work that we're doing there, and just so much appreciate working with him. Any other discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Next item is approve cooperative agreement number 18-282. Commissioner Miron. You bet. I can move to approve the cooperative agreement number 18-282 with Independent School District 832 for construction costs and maintenance. I'll second that. Moved and seconded. Discussion? Madam Chair, all I will say is Mahtomedi School District is just well known for its educational system, its care, and for students within the district. It's just an outstanding school, and we appreciate the cooperative work that we've been doing with the school district as well. And their flag football team. There you go. Any other discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Motion carries. Next item. Commissioner Miron. I'm going to move to approve the grant agreement. Not the City of Grant, the grant agreement. Number 1063552, Washington County agreement number 18-415 with the State of Minnesota. I can second that for you. Commissioner Miron, any discussion? Nope. All right. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Motion carries. And final action on this item is to adopt a resolution. Commissioner Miron. I'm going to move to adopt the resolution to approve the grant agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation for funding under the Safe Routes to Schools infrastructure program. Second. Moved and seconded by Commissioner Cox. And Madam Chair, if I might, just to build on Commissioner Cox's comments, obviously the youth of our county are important to all of us. Mm-hmm. Making sure that they're safe on their way to and from school each and every day. And certainly, we've got some neighborhoods within this area that kids are taking their own transportation systems, whether that's their feet or their bikes or what, to get to the school. And I'm just excited that we're able to work with the State of Minnesota on the Safe Routes to School program, and that the funding was provided here to help us make sure that this is a cost-effective project. Any other discussion? Seeing none, the clerk will take the roll. Commissioner Miron? Aye. Commissioner Karwoski? Aye. Commissioner Cox? Aye. Commissioner Clausen? Aye. Commissioner Bigham? Aye. Resolution passes 5-0. Thank you, Ms. Hayden. Appreciate it. Next up is to approve a contract about our library strategic facility plan. And Ms. Raim's coming up. Good morning, Chair and commissioners. My name is Andrea Raim, and I am a planner and project manager in Public Works Department. My presentation today is to recommend board approval for a consultant contract for the library strategic facility plan During my presentation, I will review a study overview, connections to the county and library strategic plans, the study schedule, consultant services and the selection process, contract funding, and I'll conclude with a recommendation for board action approving a consultant contract. The library strategic facility plan is identified in Washington County's capital improvement plan as BSDLIB2601, and the library and public works collaboratively identified the need for this plan to help guide decision-making and investment in library facilities over the next 15 years. Today, Washington County Library proudly serves library users at seven branch locations, a law library in the Washington County Government Center, and three library express locker locations. While not included in the graphic on this screen, it is important to note that Washington County Library facilities exist in relation to and have overlapping users with other systems, like city-operated libraries or neighboring county systems. Objectives of this study include inventorying and assessing existing facilities operated by Washington County, identifying current and projected geographical and population-based gaps in library service, and developing recommendations to advance countywide and library strategic plan goals. This plan will build off of the county's strategic plan, specifically the strong and sustainable environment strategic priority, by working towards creating spaces that promote livability, increase access, and enhance community wellbeing. The plan will also help building services work in planning, building, and maintaining county facilities that are accessible and adaptable to meet future demand and needs of the community. This project also aligns with priorities set out in the library's strategic plan by creating a physical infrastructure roadmap to ensure library spaces are modern, safe, and inviting for all. This study is planned over a 14-month schedule following award of contract and includes four phases. Phase one will include inventory and review of existing conditions. Phase two will analyze demographic and library use trends. Phase three will conduct a gap analysis and identify potential improvements. And phase four will document recommendations. County board and stakeholder engagement will occur throughout the study to allow the board and others to weigh in at key milestones. The study is scheduled to conclude in fall 2027. The consultant contract for library facility planning services includes project management, the development of accessibility standards and an inventory of existing facilities, demographic and trend analysis, stakeholder engagement, gap analysis, recommendations and implementation planning, and study documentation. A request for proposals was issued in April 2026, and six firms submitted proposals. The proposal review and interview team included staff from Public Works Planning, Building Services, and the library. Proposals were reviewed using a qualification-based selection, which considered the quality of proposal, project team experience and qualifications, study understanding, and work plan and budget. Interviews were also conducted to aid the final selection. MSR Design was selected through this process based on their strong experience developing similar plans and the synergy they offer as the firm contracted for the R.H. Stafford Library project. While the work of this facilities plan will be focused on a vision for the longer-term outlook of the library system, there will be a feedback loop and a benefit between this plan and the site-specific work at R.H. Stafford. The contract was negotiated in the amount of $180,000 based on the services needed to complete the scope of work. As noted, the final scope of services for the contract before you today was negotiated in the amount of $180,000. $20,000 is budgeted for parallel contracts to conduct targeted engagement with underserved communities via the county's trusted messengers. And these items together total $200,000, which is the amount allocated in the CIP from the Capital Projects Fund. With that, Public Works is recommending board approval of contract 18399 in the amount of $180,000 to develop the library's strategic facility plan. And I'm happy to stand for any questions. Thank you. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move we approve contract number 18399 with MSR Design in the amount of $180,000 to develop the library's strategic facility plan. I will second that. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Ms. Reem, for the presentation. I know that there is a community group in the city of Stillwater that is very excited to see the results of this. So 14 months is kind of the schedule, so I appreciate you sharing that. I wrote fall of 2027 down, so I can share that with them. I'm really excited for the use of trusted messengers. I think that is a brilliant idea to put that in there. And then under kind of the consultant contract services, I'm really curious to see what this demographic and trends analysis, some of those engagement pieces really bring about. Libraries have been pivotal community centers and are very important in our community, but I feel like libraries are changing, and so I'm just kind of excited to see what comes out of this, what they're suggesting for size and use of space and some of those different things. When a lot of collections, and correct me, Director, if I'm wrong in the back there, but a lot of digital, use of Kindles and use of tablets to read and things like that seem to be growing in popularity. So this feels very timely, and I'm excited to see the results. Thank you. Any other? Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Rum, thank you for the presentation. I agree with the highlights that Commissioner Cox points out. I had a few too. Our libraries are, and I commend the staff, amazingly run. They're very effective. But with that said, I see that doing this study is really money well spent. Because I see, even though they're well run, we're doing a lot of good things, there's so much opportunity, I think. And I agree. Well, one, Ms. Rum, if you could touch on, I think you might have mentioned it. I know we have our library board advisory board, which is citizens. Will they be called on to give input into that strategic plan, and is there any process to get regular, everyday citizens to weigh in on things that might help with gap analysis? Chair and Commissioner, the stakeholder engagement plan will be developed with the consultant once under contract. But we do anticipate both engagement with the library board and others. The details of the public engagement are still to be determined, but certainly can bring that comment into those discussions. Fine with that. One of the areas, I think, and we've been working on it with our libraries, Commissioner Miron and I were involved with the Wildwood Library, and it was so interesting and rewarding, multiple meetings, and now recently with the R.H. Stafford Library. But one of the things that resonates is to make them effective for everybody. I'd like to see a concentration on that. How do you make them effective for people of all ages? That separation, that balance. You could have a full library with all ages and everybody's got a great place. I struggle with that. I think it's a great opportunity. And then my last comment that I'm putting a plug for is I really think we should look closely at the workforce development opportunity, because most people that go to want to improve their livelihood, their work, may not go to our workforce development staff, they go to libraries. And I just think there's a real good opportunity to make that much of a presence. I'm not saying it has to happen, but I'd really like to see that topic looked at closely. Thank you. Commissioner Miron. Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate Commissioner Karwoski raising our attention to the public engagement process on this project in particular. But that public engagement was represented in all of the projects that we looked at within the city of Grant, with the trail project there. We had some work that we approved under our consent calendar, the public engagement in those. It's just so important that we are guided by public participation in these events. I think it just demonstrates how transparent our process is and how valued we recognize the public engagement on these projects. So, thank you for bringing our attention to that issue. Commissioner Clausen. Yeah. Thank you for the presentation. I agree that engagement is the most important, but I also feel like this plan prolongs and pauses the current R.H. Stafford construction plans, and I'm worried about what that means for our bond. I also don't understand the timeline, so if you could go over that, and if you understand the bond timeline, if you could tell me how that is going to work. Chair and Commissioner, the two projects are separate, so will continue to progress independently. So, the timeline of this project will not slow down other projects. I mentioned a collaboration of information sharing back and forth from the project, so there will be some information sharing, but the R.H. Stafford work is not dependent on the study being finished to continue their work. And then, Commissioner, if you could repeat your second question. It's about the timeline and the bond, but according to you, the two are separate, so you don't have to answer that question then. But if I could press a little bit more to get more details on this. Because we also did a survey to all the community for R.H. Stafford, are we going to see the results of that as well? And when are we going to see the results of that? Chair and Commissioner, I think the project manager for the R.H. Stafford project may be better suited to answer specific questions about that, but we will be taking that information gathered and incorporating it into our study as well to not duplicate some of that engagement. Correct, because I'm a little confused about the messaging here. You could imagine that somebody in Woodbury would be like, "Well, why now are we doing a strategic plan? Are we not planning for a million- However million dollars, $30 million, $40 million library, they're going to go, "Why are we doing this strategic plan now?" And so you can imagine the confusion that's going to occur. So do you have a plan on how you're going to message? Chair and Commissioner, we can work on the messaging of distinguishing these two projects from each other. This study will be more of a systems approach, looking at the whole library system, whereas the R.H. Stafford Library is site-specific to that library. Okay. So if it's just systems approach, we can't really discuss workforce development in the strategic plan either? Is that what you're saying, because it only has to be library focused? Chair and Commissioner, if we're discussing about how library spaces are used generally, we can be thoughtful in making sure that spaces are adaptable to have complimentary services available at library sites. But the level of detail, I think, is still to be determined on how far we can get into that. Okay. I guess I have some other questions. Do you think that there'll be other things that come from this strategic opportunity for identification improvements? Do you think that as commissioners, we'll see this before it's too far along? Chair and Commissioner, as part of our stakeholder engagement plan, we will work on the timing and what touch points will come to the county board, so we can follow up with more information on that. Okay. I really appreciate it. I do see that there are several services around the libraries that I am very passionate about, as well as Commissioner Kowalski discussed today. So I would like that to be a part of this discussion. I see that it might be different than the study itself, but I do see them together. And I'm also on MELSA, so I think that that MELSA plays a good role just by helping redefine what we are doing at the libraries, and they're really creative in the changes that we're doing to get more of the community involved in the libraries. Thanks. I'm going to go to Administrator Corbid first. Madam Chair and Commissioners, the plan is to issue the bond in 2027. I think the general timing is late spring, early summer, if I remember right. We do have ability to spend bond proceeds prior to issuance of the bond by passing a resolution. And there are some timelines in which the bond proceeds must be spent by, so we will certainly keep those in mind. But I don't think that bond schedule will impact either the R.H. Stafford library schedule or the strategic plan schedule. I'd also remind the board that we have done library planning in the past. You review a lot of the walking distance to libraries, the driving distance to libraries, the benefits and negatives of having multi-floor libraries were part of that plan and discussion. So it might be helpful to share a copy of the current or the last completed library strategic plan, because I think that can, not strategic plan, but the facilities plan. I think that can give you an idea of what might be included in this next version, so you can get an idea of what that would likely entail. So certainly, that current information will help guide both the R.H. Stafford Library and this long-range facilities plan. I think we have been talking with the library about how do we make sure that this plan does not slow down the R.H. Stafford design process, and I think there's some ways we can do that as part of the integration of the two projects, so... Chair Karwoski. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to provide a little insight into our youth workforce as an example of when you're looking at strategies to improve the library. By all means, I'm not saying it has to be... It can be subtle but effective. As an example, there's all sorts of computers, and I noticed Dakota County just got a national award for social services to bring attention in the library to social services. So in workforce, it could be just strategies on how to market the opportunity to look for a job at the library. I'm not even prescribing. I'm just saying there's other learning opportunities. Hopefully, the gap analysis feedback you get will be just things you can do in the layout or maybe a software capability on the computers that would enhance the experience. So I'm trying to be wide open. I'd just like to see some specialized study and a plethora of learning opportunities. I have a passion or interest in the workforce area. But just wanted to be clear and helpful to the process. Thank you. Thank you, Andrea. We appreciate the presentation today. I think a lot of my comments have already been stated. And on top of workforce, I think the family resource centers out of community services would be something that would be interesting to have be part of this discussion. So I think just overall or big picture, it would be probably helpful to see how the other departments play into the strategic plan. I guess just summarizing, I think, some of the comments I've heard this morning. And then I think it's fantastic that we have the data from Park Grove that will be opening in the middle of this And then starting with Stafford, who will be under construction during that time, or starting it, I should say. Because there is a lot of community feedback and involvement in those two, and so to be able to utilize that updated information I think will be helpful. And then, I think the other stakeholder group that at least should be discussed and interviewed are the planning departments in the cities. Because if you look at demographics and trend analysis, that's very heavy on our population and comp plans of the cities that they have, and that also would involve the schools and how they play into this. And then, I think the gap analysis is going to be hugely important related to the technology and modernization of library services. But with that, the cost of that technology and modernization continues to grow and continues to be paid for by the levy, to be honest. So, I think all of that will be good to have in one study, and for us to be able to make future decisions on. So, oh, Commissioner Miron. As we talk about facilities and library facilities- Mm-hmm ... within our strategic plan, obviously we don't have libraries in every community, but- Right ... part of our facilities are lockers that are available in a number of communities. I continue to be impressed with how well those are utilized. And so, I hope that as we look at those services, we also look at those ancillary services that we provide within the communities and how well they're utilized as well. So, this board, and really previous board as well, has dedicated a lot of resources to our libraries. And I think rightfully so. Mm-hmm. But it'll be interesting to see the results of the facility plan and the work that's being done here to see how well we've addressed the needs and what additional needs are out there in the way of facilities. Sounds good. I see no further comments. All in favor of approving contract number 18399, say "Aye." Aye. Opposed, say "Nay." That passes. Thank you. Next up is general administration. Madam Chair and Commissioners, I just have a couple of items for information for the board this morning. One is, at your desk today you will see a copy of the annual comprehensive financial report that was completed for budget year and calendar year 2025. That was provided to the audit committee at its last meeting, and we reviewed that with the external auditors as well as the staff from Accounting and Finance Department. In addition, you'll see the popular annual financial report, which is also a streamlined version of that annual comprehensive financial report that makes it a little easier for the average citizen to read and understand the county financial situation. And then finally, with that group of documents, you have the management and compliance letter that's issued by our external auditor, CliftonLarsonAllen. So all those things are provided to you today. There will be a presentation of the material in late August to the board, and that'll be done by the Accounting and Finance Department staff. We oftentimes try to pair that with some awards that we get for the budget book or the annual comprehensive report. So, I think you'll see those. As well as we'll have an audit committee annual update to the board in early August, and that'll be presented by Internal Auditor Melanie Groove. Madam Chair, the second item is asking for a motion by the board today to turn the July 28th board workshop-only meeting into a regular county board meeting. There are a number of items that were showing up on the preview for the August 4th meeting, to that the August 4th meeting was getting a little lengthy, and so in order to pull some of those items up into July 28th, we'd like to have a full regular board meeting instead of a board workshop-only meeting. Okay. I will move to turn the July 28th workshops-only meeting into a regularly scheduled board meeting. Second that. Moved and seconded by Commissioner Karwoski. Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, say "Aye." Aye. Opposed, say "Nay." Motion carries. Anything else? Madam Chair and Commissioners, I do have a couple more items. One is just a response to Commissioner Karwoski's question related to bids that was asked today on the road projects. Certainly, the answer that was given was right on as far as the road projects. One thing that we've seen differently, though, is in the building projects. Those are coming in and showing a little bit different experience. And so, we have a lot of large building projects going on with libraries and the environmental center updates. And so, we're not seeing quite the competitive bids on the building side that we are on the road side. So, just wanted to caution you there. Also, just a note to Commissioner Clausen's question about the libraries, just a reminder that the bond issuance in 2027 has $20 million for the R.H. Stafford Library. I know that she mentioned a couple larger numbers, and so certainly if those costs come in higher than 20, we'll have to have some discussion with the board on how to fund those or what approach to take. Also, just a note on the upcoming budget process. 28th of July, we'll have our first presentation of the CDA's budget presentation for 2027, and then August 4th, we have the first introduction of the county's overall recommended budget. I would just add to Commissioner Miron's comment this morning that as we prepare that budget presentation and you see those workshop PowerPoints or the material we present to you, that if commissioners do have questions, it'd be very helpful to get those ahead of time so we can have the appropriate staff prepared to answer those questions so that the board can all benefit from hearing the answer to those. Certainly, we'd like you to ask them still during the public hearings, but the more time you can give us to prepare and get the information the board needs, the better for, I think, all of us. And then finally, Madam Chair, we have prepared a summary of some initial findings related to the issue that Commissioner Clausen raised related to public engagement in the CIP process. This had been worked on by the office administration and the public works department. We will email that out to commissioners this afternoon so you can review that, and then get feedback to the board chair or myself if you have any questions or concerns, or want to move forward with something related to that process. So that will go out this afternoon. Sounds good. Commissioner Clausen? Yeah. I would really like if we could have your reports in writing, County Administrator Corbid. There was a lot that you talked about today, and if we could put that in writing beforehand so we could come up with questions for you, and be ready for them, that would be outstanding. I've looked at other agendas and other local governments, and it seems that leaders are providing reports in writing, so I really would like that. If you could do that, that would be great. Thank you. Anything else? Okay, we'll move on to commissioner reports. Commissioner Clausen, want to start us out? Yeah. Thank you. It's almost my birthday, so I'm just really expressing a lot of gratitude. 365 days around the Earth, and I've learned so much this last year. I have really grown my relationships with people in the community, and I really feel that we're doing an amazing job at the county. I feel like staff really cares about constituents, takes time to get to know them, and I have so many times of hearing what wonderful staff we have. The biggest part of my job is hearing how wonderful staff is. So I'm holding a lot of gratitude. I was really happy that Terry Thompson came and talked about some of the work that the staff does because it helps remind me of how important people are to government, how important government is to the people, and when it's done right, it can be done so well. And I do love being a county commissioner, but I have just a little bit time left, and so I'm just soaking in all of the time that I have left to make sure that I'm helping my residents and listening to constituents. So just wanted to say thank you for electing me as your county commissioner as I celebrate my birthday, and I have so many wonderful celebrations. I got married. I'm still a newlywed. We're celebrating so many things in a blended family. So I just wanted to take time and thank everybody for the relationships here, the board and staff and yeah. Thank you. Commissioner Miron. Thank you, Madam Chair. Metropolitan Emergency Services Board met. I appreciated Commissioner Cox joining that meeting as the alternate. We approved amendment to Scott County, Anoka County, and the Minnesota Task Force to their armor participation plan. We approved an agreement for bus maintenance. We will be seeing joint powers agreements for all of the counties coming before us. We approved that at the meeting, but that will be something that'll have to be approved by this board, along with other counties that participate in the Metropolitan Emergency Services board. And then we approved the operational budget capital needs forecast. Obviously, the operational budget will set our maximum levy that can be reduced as we move forward. And then the Budget and Outcome Committee of the Clean Water Council met on Friday. We spent the entire morning and into the afternoon looking at program proposals. We've got close to 350 million for the biennium that will be designated for various program proposals. It was a nice meeting to see where the individual members' priorities were, and where we thought we could utilize some increased funding for some of the various programs that are out there. So obviously, we have these discussions. We will designate the allocation of funding, and that recommendation will go to the legislature. So- It's an interesting process. That's all I have, Madam Chair. Thank you. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. I was able to meet with one of our newly appointed watershed managers of Browns Creek, just to have coffee and check in. Was able to attend the MESB meeting virtually. Appreciate that option. Attended just a leadership connection with a mental health LAC, as their new leadership gets their feet underneath them. Then attended the executive committee meeting for SCHSAC. I wrote it down this time, Director Brummel, the State Community Health Services Advisory Council. Someday I'll know what that means without having to do that. So that's a really exciting group who's adding in the tribal council to that statewide group as well. So, it'll be great to be part of that transition and to welcome them in. Director Thomas met with me, thankfully, on Friday, as I will serve on the Community Supervision Working Group with the Department of Corrections, and gave me a really good background, and I still have reading and homework to do. But I appreciate his time in walking me through what that means for us as Washington County and all counties around the state. I did mention the Stone Bridge Elementary meeting. One of the crossing guards actually reached out and said, "Traffic is increasing on this county road, and I have concerns about the children safely crossing." And so it was great to bring a group of people together and have a conversation about it. So hopefully some great changes can happen there. And then I will be attending, leaving tomorrow, the National Association of Counties annual conference in New Orleans. So I leave tomorrow and will return Tuesday of the following week. Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you, Madam Chair. Some of my normal advisory boards are not quite ramping up. So as far as formal meetings on committees and such, that's kind of resuming back to normal after the Fourth of July holidays. But I did have a lot of community engagement. Oakdale Chamber had a Coffee and Commerce. They've turned a new event, a once-a-month interaction with the business community. Had a lot of interaction with some of our local electeds. Had a lot of staff follow-up and discussions on several District 2 type topics that are in process. And then as Commissioner Cox pointed out, I also will be attending, starting on Thursday, I fly to the NACo conference, the National Association of Counties. That'll be from Thursday, July 16th, and returning Tuesday, July 21st. I want to point out that most of the conference is during the weekend. But look forward to that. Thank you. I had probably four different meetings related to the age of delinquency and JJAC, the Juvenile Justice Advisory Council, because of the August 1st implementation date and people scrambling to get guidance from it. And I think the highlight of the week, though, was having Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon come and observe the public auditing of our equipment, which is required by state statute, and he stood for a lot of different questions from the media and from observers. And I just want to thank Manager Moore and Director Amy Stenfenagel for their work and their whole team's work to do the required testing with the election judges, and just want to thank the election judges for all their work up to here and going forward, because we've got a long way to go yet. So, just appreciate that effort to ensure that our elections are safe and fair and secure. And so, appreciate all the effort with that. And I had a few constituent calls and meetings as well. Next is actually board correspondence. We have none. Prior to adjournment, I'll just say that we do have a finance committee that will, because it's noticed at 10:30 and it's a public meeting, it should be held at 10:30, I believe, unless I'm told otherwise by the attorney, which I am not. So, seeing no further items on the agenda, the board is adjourned.