Good morning. I will go ahead and call the Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting to order for August 11th, 2026. Clerk, please take the roll. Commissioner Miron? Here. Commissioner Karwoski? Here. Commissioner Cox? Here. Commissioner Bigham? Here. Commissioner Clausen? Here. Roll 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 today's meeting. I do have two speaker cards. So, while Ms. Anderson is making her way up front, I just want to remind folks that please limit your remarks about three to five minutes. Please don't repeat other speakers. And just a reminder that we do not respond to public comments today, and that staff will follow up, or after the meeting, they will follow up. Ms. Anderson. Thank you. Is this... Okay. My name is Jackie Anderson, and I serve as president of the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District Board of Managers. I am also a founder of the Watershed District. I've served on the CLFLWD board for 25 years and devoted six years prior to that during the creation period, working with state agencies and local government entities to form the district. I live in Comfort Lake in Wyoming and am one of two managers representing Chisago County. I come before you today to respectfully ask the Washington County Board to consider the certain-to-happen conflicts as Mayor Roberts joins the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District while also serving as mayor of the district's largest city. 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. I hope you will be open to our reports as we all adjust to this new makeup of our appointed board. I am submitting these comments to the public record and to express the Comfort Lake's board's commitment to making this work. Forest Lake City is the largest city in our district. Although the governing statute does not expressly address whether a local public official may serve on dual government entities concurrently, the issue is informed by Minnesota case law and by the doctrine of compatibility and incompatibility of public offices. The League of Minnesota Cities has provided guidance on when two local offices may be considered incompatible, including, in their opinion, circumstances where both offices require an oath and bonding, and conflicting situations when the public official would have to decide an issue based on the best decision for both entities. We will keep careful notes through this process. There will be a lot, I'm sure, of times when Mayor Roberts will have to excuse himself from voting, and we don't like that, but it is what it is. We will keep careful notes through this process and report to you regularly as needed. Forest Lake represents the district's largest sub-watershed, largest lake, largest natural resources in wetlands, largest residential population, and the largest commercial areas. Because so much of the district's regulatory work is in Forest Lake, the city's mayor will regularly face matters where city priorities and district responsibilities could diverge. It should be noted also, the majority of the commercial area of Forest Lake City drains through the Comfort Lake sub-watershed into Chisago County. So development in Forest Lake City directly impacts Comfort Lake, four miles downstream, and Chisago County. Water does not follow political boundaries. Mayor Roberts has been very vocal about his negative opinion and attitude toward the district by publicly criticizing district rules governing soil disturbances, flood protection, erosion control during and after construction, and stormwater management measures such as holding ponds. These rules are core tools the district uses to protect water quality and reduce flood risk in a rapidly developing city. Watershed districts are mandated to have rules protecting the waters of Minnesota. There is no getting around this fact. Even though Mayor Roberts has declared our rules to be restrictive, we have not had complaints from prior permittees, and more importantly, we have not had any complaints over our rules from developers seeking permits. There remains a steady annual flow of building permits from Forest Lake City. I look forward to setting up a meeting soon with Mayor Roberts, introducing him to our watershed history, operations, and fellow board members, and hopefully clarifying his current negative opinion of our watershed and incorrect claims of uncontrolled levies when Forest Lake City had the same 23.8% increase percentage spread over 2024 and 2025. But on a basis levy eight times higher than the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District. The Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District is usually successful in dealing with challenges and is committed to making this rare situation work. A good manager must first want to do the work of the district, not destroy it. We hope Mayor Roberts believes that also. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker I have is Mayor Roberts. Thank you, board of commissioners. Just want to take this opportunity, since I am down here for the potential appointment to the watershed, to first thank you for your support in the partnership between the City of Forest Lake and Washington County. As you know, we have a number of projects going on. Your staff has been amazing. The engineering department's been great on County Road 50, that's going to be coming forward, also on County Road 32, and of course, County Road 33 that we just finished about a year and a half ago. So, thank you for that. We appreciate the partnership and look forward to continuing to work with you on all county and city matters. About my potential appointment, I want to thank the support of Commissioner Miron, Cox, and Bigham for that support from the interview process. 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. This goes back to 2022. Commissioner Miron, and you and I started speaking when they had a letter of intent signed to buy a $2.1 million lakeside restaurant in Forest Lake. And from there, it's just gone on. The 22 or 24% increase in levy. We have had up to 24% increases on our preliminary levy. We've never come close to that in the City of Forest Lake on my time on the council. So, I had written an email to Mrs. Anderson and Administrator Kenney two and a half weeks ago to talk about some of these differences. I've yet to hear from any of them yet. So, I'm here to thank you for your support and ask for the rest of the commission's support this morning. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Is there anybody else at this time that would like to address public comment? Okay. Seeing none, we will move on to approval of the agenda. Madam Chair, I would approve the agenda as printed. Moved and seconded. Moved by Commissioner Cox, seconded by Commissioner Miron. Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Aye. Motion prevails, and the agenda is adopted on a four to one vote. The next item on the agenda is consent calendar. Are there any items that members would like to pull? I would like to pull item E. D. And I would like to pull item A. D and A. Is there a motion to approve the rest of the- Madam Chair, I will move the consent calendar, all items except item A and D. Moved by Commissioner Miron. Second. Seconded by Commissioner Cox. 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. Thank you. Now, we're going to take those in alphabetical order. So, Commissioner Clausen, we will go with A. Yeah. Thank you. 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. So I'm asking that the minute taker just put a sentence of why an opposition occurred, so that we have that properly recorded in the minutes. Commissioner Miron. Madam Chair, I will move item A as presented. Second. Moved by Commissioner Miron, seconded by Commissioner Cox. Madam Chair? Yep. Commissioner Miron. Yeah. Thank you. 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. Obviously, the minutes come out in advance for us to review prior to them coming onto the agenda. So there's ample opportunity, and if we start, and some organizations do provide all of the discussion that occurs, we will have some very, very lengthy meetings. So, I would suggest we continue the process that we have, and I certainly support the approval of the minutes today. Anything... Commissioner Clausen. I think it's really important to note that this is the only televised meeting, and workshops are not televised. And those meetings are very similar, too, where opposition is not being discussed. And you're not seeing a lot of discussions happening at the board, and you won't see a lot of discussions happening today, and opposition of anything being recommended by staff. So I just wanted to state that in the record, and I would hope that this is recorded on the record. Thank you. Commissioner Miron? Yeah, Madam Chair, I just want to make one other point. Commissioner Clausen voted against approval of the agenda this morning. She didn't provide any rationale. It would be difficult for the clerk to record the rationale for that vote against the agenda. So I think we follow the protocol we've been following. I think it's good practice, and doing otherwise, I think, puts our staff in a very awkward position, trying to articulate the rationale for someone voting against something like the agenda this morning. Excuse me. Commissioner Clausen, and then we're going to move on. Thank you for addressing. The reason why I didn't say anything at the approval for the agenda is because every time I do speak up, it is very common for... Well, habitually, as a pattern, that Commissioner Miron takes an enormous amount of time away from the agenda and speaks about the matter. And I actually just have really concrete reasons for opposition. And so I don't agree with your opinion. I am very certain that you're going to share your opinion again after I just shared mine. But respectfully, I've been a minute taker of minutes, and it's very common, and it's also in the procedures that you have an opposition, that you state what the opposition was. Thank you. Madam Chair. Administrator Corbid. Madam Chair, 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. The board has a periodic opportunity to amend that document and make changes. Unless directed otherwise today by the board, we will continue to follow the direction that's provided in our operating procedures and guidelines on minutes. Thank you. Chair. And we're going to move on. And also, just to correct the record, our budget workshops are televised, which are immediately following this board meeting. The clerk will take the roll. Commissioner Miron? Aye. Commissioner Karwoski? Aye. Commissioner Cox? Aye. Commissioner Clausen? Nay. Commissioner Bigham? Aye. Item passes 4-1. Commissioner Clausen to item D. Thank you so much. We heard from two people today that shared more information on what was before us. There have been multiple changes in watersheds recently. I have wondered why, and I'm really confused on why we're having so many changes. I have not been, as a commissioner, respected on the board during these types of appointments. I have been told my opinion isn't counted and respected by Commissioner Miron. And so I haven't been a part of the interviews. I also haven't been able to make an appointment in my own district, because I was also told by this board that they out-vote me, which they do. But it has to be said that it is very unusual for a mayor to be on a watershed board. I really appreciate the amount of experience I come with because I do have a master's degree in public administration from Hamline University. I worked in local government before this for 12 years. So as a W-2 employee, I understand a little bit more than just the-- I've had different acumens, but really my profession is government, and 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. It's also two different taxing authorities providing money to the same person. And so when you look at that, I don't know how legally that will be weighed, and I think that does put us in another potential liability here. We did have a liability issue that came up from the last watershed, and it seems like it's another liability issue. And so my job is to... I have a background in legal. I was a paralegal for seven years before I became a city clerk. So I'm very cautious on putting the county in positions where we could have to go to court. And I think I've done a pretty good job. We did have a lawsuit that was settled, but I do think I played a huge part in that, and I've kept the county away from these types of really sticky situations. And so this is a sticky situation again. And so I'm going to have to-- I wanted to make sure that the board knew that this is a sticky situation that you are agreeing to, and that we are putting ourselves in liability doing this. And me saying this also puts me in a vulnerable spot because I am, when I state these opinions, I'm not treated well. ... by the board members. And so I do get consequences for speaking out. But this is something that part of what I was taught at Hamline is this is something that we don't do. We don't put two taxing authorities in control of one person. I know there's three people on the board, but you can see how much a board can really take away one person's power in their own district. And so I really caution you, the board, to approve this, and that there are rippling effects that this can create. And if Miron didn't support this, this wouldn't be happening. And so this is obviously supported at the local level by Miron, and so this is going to go through today. But I just wanted my words to be stated. Obviously, they won't be in the minutes, but they'll be on the recording of this meeting. So, thank you for the time. Commissioner Miron. I'll pass. Commissioner Cox. Madam Chair, I would move adoption of the resolution appointing Blake Roberts, Forest Lake, to a first term beginning on September 24th, 2026 and expiring September 23rd, 2029 on the Comfort Lake Forest Lake Watershed District Board of Managers. Second. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. This board has been in a similar position. A Stillwater City Council prior to my time on the board also served on the watershed, so we have a bit of a history of doing this before. I trust that Mayor Roberts understands when he's in a conflict of interest, and their legal counsel can also support if needed. I will also mention that calendar invites do go to all five of our commissioners for every single interview. And so looking back a couple weeks ago to these interviews, all five of us were invited. Calendars fill up, I get it. We can't always all make it. But I'm grateful that we are all included on those, so I'm happy to support Mayor Roberts today. Thank you. I'm happy to support Mayor Roberts as well. Very good interviews, very good candidates. There's also precedent in South Washington Watershed where then Newport City Council Member Chapdelaine was on the watershed, served as a city council member, and if you notice on the consent calendar this morning, we passed his successor and approved her today out of Denmark Township. Within the last six months, Ms. Andrea Date from Woodbury, resides in District 5, was appointed to the South Washington Conley Watershed District. Cities send recommendations. Cities send recommendations, and the letters that we received regarding this appointment had Mayor Roberts on both. So, Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you, Madam Chair. I wasn't able to make the interview. Due to a conflict, I was able to make a couple of the interviews, but I didn't think it was right to not be there for all of them. But in the past with watershed votes, I think I can't think of a time in any recent time I've not been at all the interviews going back several years. But with that said, I think the vast majority of the time we rally around a very clear and concise person or persons we're appointing. And since I'm not based on that, since I wasn't able to be at this interview, I trust my colleagues here in support of the recommended appointee, Roberts. So, I just want to give my background. Sounds good. Thank you. Commissioner Miron, then Commissioner Clausen. I just want to make a point with respect to the letters of recommendations from the two cities. We did receive those letters, although the Forest Lake Comfort Lake Watershed is not fully encompassed within the metro area, and so those letters do not weigh in this situation the way they weigh in other watersheds within the metro area. And then we also recognized the nature of how this watershed was formed as well, was formed by a citizen petition. And so based on that, those letters of recommendations from the cities don't carry the weight they do in a watershed that would otherwise have been created differently. So, I just wanted to make that point. I appreciate you mentioning that Mayor Roberts did receive letters from both Scandia and Forest Lake, but those letters didn't play into our decision the way they normally do in a metro watershed or a watershed that's created differently than what this one is. Commissioner Clausen. Yep, thank you. So I heard that there's two letters of recommendation from cities, but as we know, the mayor is the city. So when a mayor really is asking for something from another city, there are often times in which there are discussions happening that we're not a part of. And so we really don't know the discussions that have been had, and I think that's the point. I think the point is, is that what also happens is it creates other types of conversations that the public's not privy to. So open meeting law is important, and that has been something in which when you don't see a lot of conversations happening, you can believe there's open meeting laws then that potentially have been broken, because how does everybody know about the issue and what's already going on before we've even had a conversation about it? And so I do caution us about open meeting violations that this could happen. I think we should be very careful. The public knows that these types of conflicts now exist, and it does put, like I said, there's ripple effects that come with trust. And so I did hear a rumor about data center in that area. I hope that's just a rumor. But if it's not, then there is more to this, then this is going to be examined a lot more. So I just want to make sure that we understand what's in front of us and what we're doing, especially if there is a potential rumored data center that's going to be occurring over there. Administrator Corbid. Madam Chair, I'm not sure if Commissioner Clausen was referring to the county activity or not, but certainly want to make the public aware that the interview process is noticed as required. Those meetings are open to the public. Anybody can come and join in, and listen to the interviews that are created. So all the processes that we take follow the open meeting law. I would also add just a couple of other examples of individuals who have served from cities on watersheds. Brian Zeller, who was actually a mayor, in the river communities, I can't remember which one exactly, but he served in the watershed district, I think, as well. And so, we also have had this issue reviewed. 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. All right. Clerk will take the roll. Commissioner Miron. Aye. Commissioner Karwoski. Aye. Commissioner Cox. Aye. Commissioner Clausen. Nay. Commissioner Bigham. Aye. Resolution passes four one. All right. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is very exciting, for some national recognition here. Ms. Beth Pierce, our deputy director, and also, Kathy Mickelson will be presenting a couple of national awards of excellence. Good morning. Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners. My name is Beth Pierce, and I'm the deputy director in community services. It's my honor to present on behalf of the county and the Community Services Department, a 2026 Achievement Award in human services from the National Association of Counties to the Board of Commissioners for the Emergency Housing Services Building, or EHSB. 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. The facility includes 30 private living units, providing safe and stable shelter within the community to help individuals transition to stable housing and strengthen the continuum of care while reducing out-of-county moves. Residents now have access to a secure facility with 24/7 staff presence and coordination with transportation, social services, employment assistance, and health support. Since 2022, the county's interim hotel program has assisted 252 people through homelessness, and yet an average of 166 individuals experience homelessness in Washington County at any given time. The EHSB expands local capacity to respond by providing additional beds and a unique trauma-informed setting and is an important and innovative step to supporting adults experiencing homelessness in our communities. I'll move on to the next- Yeah. Thank you very much, Kathy. Madam Chair and Commissioners, maybe just for a process here, if we could do, is it the first three, I think are being presented? And then we'll stop and have photos taken with those individuals. We can come up and recognize them, and the board can make some comments as well. Okay. Great. Thank you. Secondly, it's my honor to present on behalf of the County and Community Services Department, a 2026 Achievement Award in transportation from the National Association of Counties to the Board of Commissioners for the Go Washington initiative. First launched in 2022, Go Washington is the county's one-stop transportation information site designed to simplify how residents identify and access mobility options. Developed in collaboration with planners throughout several county departments, the program consolidates public, nonprofit, and share ride services into a clear, multilingual, and easy-to-navigate resource operated by the Community Services Department. The program improves access for older adults, individuals with disabilities, low-income residents, and multilingual communities and has already demonstrated a strong and growing impact in its short lifespan. In the past year, there were 818 resident inquiries and 9,000 website visitors who benefited from the program's resources. In the past few months, there have been a surge of more than 60% percentage usage in some key targeted areas that support older adults in our community. These successes have helped make Go Washington the primary mobility information hub in the county Strengthening equitable access and supporting residents' ability to reach essential services across Washington County. Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. My name is Kathy Mickelson. I'm the adult services division manager in community services, and it's my privilege to be here today to present the NACo Achievement Award for our mental health outreach program. 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. In the first year, the van connected with close to 9,000 individuals. The outreach team participated in over 100 community events that provided not only the opportunity to connect individuals with resources, but also increase visibility and help reduce stigma. This program has also given us a number of opportunities to develop partnerships with community organizations across the county and find new and innovative ways to support Washington County residents. We truly have found that Mental Health in Motion is an extremely impactful and a strong addition to our mental health continuum of care. And I'd like to acknowledge three of the members of our team who play a pivotal role in bringing this project to fruition, but are also out in the community almost every day, ensuring that it's an ongoing success. And that's Kelsey Provo, Connie Tanner, and Annie Roney. So, thank you. Thank you both so much. Comments from the board? Commissioner Karwoski, then Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you both for the presentations. It's great to get these awards on a national level, because a lot of times, talking to either our administrator or staff, you don't want to take the time to apply for these. And I'm glad you do, and I think often we could get even more awards. But you're very selective. But it's nice to see these are very worthy to get them on a national scale, because, one, I've seen this board kind of support these areas that you're getting awards in, so it's a real good team environment, and your staff that is so key to getting these awards. I was going to briefly mention the emergency housing. I really think we had a breakthrough in not calling it homeless. It is truly emergency housing. So we really, I think, put a value on the people that are staying there. By the way, words matter. But that's a great investment, and right here on the campus. The Go Washington, I know this board has been working. It's so hard to make progress on transportation needs without it getting overly costly, without creating a new program. So we've been able to dovetail specific-- Usually we're adding on to an existing service. But regardless of the details of this, it's nice to be recognized on transportation, because we have worked really hard, and I know staff has really worked hard on how do we reach people that really need that transportation. And then lastly, the mental health outreach with this van and all the visits it made, bringing it to people. And I know we're, again, working a lot on mental health. I think society as state and federal, but especially at a local level, we're just trying to do more in mental health regards. Crisis intervention teams with the police departments, this outreach program, just numerous areas where it can reach people earlier to get them the help they need. So 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. Thank you. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Ms. Pierce and Ms. Mickelson for the presentation. When I think of quality of life in Washington County, these three parts play a really big role. Housing, transportation, and then mental health, and I just appreciate you bringing these forward to us. And just in case there's people watching, there's more than 3,000 counties in the entire country. And so for Washington County to kind of clean up three awards in community services for this really important work, to me, means a lot. And so I'm grateful for the work that you and your teams do every single day, and for what it means to our community. It's incredible. Thank you. Commissioner Miron. Thank you. My colleague said it best. I just want to say congratulations. Being recognized nationally is certainly significant. The partnership that we created with the CDA on the emergency housing, the use of ARPA funds there to fund the bulk of that cost was really a brilliant solution, I think with respect to something that we saw as a very daunting task because of the cost of that facility. But what a good use of those ARPA funds. The Go Washington is just, again, adding to the service, but making it more available, allowing people to schedule rides and that type of thing. And then the Mental Health in Motion, again, they were at the county fair- Mm-hmm ... making themselves available, taking some of the stigma away from mental health, helping people understand ... the services there, and the fact that we all care about one another, and how important that is to, as my colleagues pointed out, the quality of life here in Washington County. Commissioner Clasen. Thank you. Thank you for all of your hard work on these achievements. They mean a lot to me. 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. As you know, at the time, the city of Stillwater had put a moratorium on the shelter, and my sister was homeless in Stillwater. And I lost her because there is no homeless shelter, they brought her to downtown St. Paul, where I lost her for three months. By the time, it was the coldest day of the year in January, when she came home. My mother lives on the east side of St. Paul, and she walked with no shoes on. She is one of those mental health people that was in very much need, and this meant the world to me, being able to have the shelter here right near where the best people I know are that can help them. Our host team, our coordinated police services that we have, all really mean so much to me. As a commissioner, I really do feel like I was brought to this position during this time to help with the shelter, to make sure that it happened. And now I hear the relief from other people that it impacted. And so sometimes it's just the one person that comes at the exact same time that needed that story, and my story I just told you is really personal, and I don't like to talk about it, but I'm telling it today because those stories matter. And that was what changed the velocity of the shelter to push it forward. It wasn't me as a commissioner, it was a story. And I just want to tell people how important your stories are and how meaningful they can be. I really appreciate Go Washington because there are times where people will get really frustrated with the transportation system, and there have been a lot of changes. Really good ones, though, Micro Metro and some of the changes that have happened with the transit and Gold Line. We'll talk about that later, the Gold Line budget. They're all really necessary, and I can see that seniors and people who don't have transportation are really just benefiting from everything you've done. And every time I see the van, and I've heard all the stories from Annie Rooney and Kathleen, and you guys shared the stories of how many people are benefiting from the mobile van, and I just, of course, love the graphics that Jackie did. And we just have a really amazing staff, and we're lucky. And I am so grateful for the award that you received. NACO is just one organization that gives out awards, but you could probably get awards from any organization that you submitted your achievements to, to be honest. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you so very much. All credit goes to staff. They see the needs, they use the data, they have the conversations in community, and they make things happen. And this recognition is acknowledging that hard work, that emotionally difficult work, but it's also the acknowledgement that we are serving the communities of Washington County in a way that they had not been served before. And we're a growing county, and our staff recognizes that and then completes projects to make sure that we are able to meet this moment. And that includes being mobile for mental health and community. That means being able to arrange an Uber to get someone to an appointment or maybe a parental visit. And so these are the important issues that our staff tackles every day on behalf of our residents, and we could not be more grateful. So thank you so much for all you do, the staff does, the leadership of the county to meet the needs of our residents is nationally recognized and rightfully so well-earned. Thank you. Thank you. Madam Chair. We're going to take a- Deputy Director Pierce, are you able to list the names off the individuals who are here for the first award, and we'll take a picture with that group? I can try. Okay. I'm sorry to put you on the spot for that. It's okay. The first group is Emergency Housing Services building, and we have Amy and her team. Oh, sorry. The Emergency Housing building, we have Amy and her team here to accept the award. Nice. Well, bring them all up, too, for the picture. The second award is for Go Washington, and it's Barbara Burstag and her team. Oh, no. You sit there. Sit there. You got one. All right. The next item on the agenda is public works. We are not done with the national recognition of our incredible staff. We will start with public... Well, I was going to say public works director, but that's Parks Director, Alex McKinney, to present the recognition of a 2026 NACo Award of Excellence. All right. Good morning, Chair. Good morning, commissioners. I'm Alex McKinney, parks director here. And today I'm here about the sensory-friendly and accessible play features design in the new playground at St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park. 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. The playground itself replaced a 26-year-old structure that was not ADA compliant, and the equipment selection provides varied play experiences for multiple age groups, which include balance, climbing, swinging, and music. Sensory equipment includes foxhole swings, sheltered quiet places, and a wheelchair-accessible merry-go-round. The tan and green surfacing is displayed in poured-in-place rubber surfacing, which, as mentioned, will cover the entire play container, and it maximizes accessibility, safety, and is maintenance-friendly. It truly is a place for everyone to enjoy and to recreate and have fun. Thank you. Thank you, Director. And I just want to say that I appreciate the improvements. As you said, they're now ADA approved. And also, the reuse of the former previous equipment gets donated, and not only is that a good sustainable practice, but it helps other communities. And so I just appreciate the diligence that the staff does to make sure we can get the funding to meet the needs of the communities and upgrade the assets we have in our parks, which are highly ranked in our residents. So really appreciate that. And then if there's other comments, we can come down and get a photo. We have one more award. Oh. We have one more from public works, Chair. I'm sorry. I just had the parks one. I'm sorry. Chair, commissioners, that is okay. This is a very different public works type project. Maybe not as flashy as a very cool piece of playground equipment, but what a privilege it is to bring before you today a recognition for the Gold Line Joint Powers Board. It won an award in the NACo financial management category. So Commissioners Clausen and Karwoski serve on this board, and Commissioner Bingham is the alternate. The board is a joint effort with Ramsey County to coordinate leadership and funding for the creation of Minnesota's first dedicated lane bus rapid transit system, which is called the Gold Line. 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. So, this board is a strong example of regional collaboration and responsible stewardship. It's a model for governance nationwide. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Allen. Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Allen, thanks for presenting. You've also been with it from the beginning of the Joint Powers Board, so you've been a big part of it and a big point person. So thank you, and thank our staff. I wanted to point out that though it's a joint venture between Ramsey and Washington County, Washington County often is the case, especially in our public works, wanted to lead. So we actually provided the accounting staff, the attorney staff. We share in that cost, but I think often, since this was our first bite at the apple, our first large-scale transportation project, transit project, I think we wanted to lead as much as possible. I wanted to say, though, the Joint Powers Board, and I don't know, it must've been going on for almost six years, if not longer, meeting quite often. Not so much recently because the project's complete. We would, in detail, go over those budgets and ask, "How are the bids?" And that kind of stuff. And 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. So, to get recognition for that is no small feat. And especially worth mentioning is I think if you were to look at any transit project done up till now in the Twin City area, they've all been controversial. Mm-hmm. This one has just cruised below the radar screen. Really, it's had minimal opposition. Those that have been in opposition of most have really learned to appreciate the product. But really what goes a long way to that acceptance is being on time and on budget, and I'm so happy that NACO got that recognition to the Gold Line. And we've got to mention not only you, Ms. Allen, but our entire staff and public works department working with Ramsey County really did all the lifting, and you deserve all the recognition. Thank you. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you both for the presentation. I'm grateful for my colleagues that have been involved with Gold Line, and staff from the beginning, and that have pored over the details. So that's about all. Unfortunately, sorry, I just ride the Gold Line I have to say about that. But just to the parks and the equity that we see there in Saint Croix Bluffs, I know it's really easy to just move forward with our staff and maybe with the provider of the equipment, that purveyor, but I really appreciate the time to slow down and invite Valley Friendship Club into that discussion. I think if we're going to make this community for everyone that lives in the community, we need to make sure that they're invited to the table. And so I just appreciate that extra step. I know Ms. Karen Keenan is a great supporter of equity in all of our communities, not just here in Stillwater, and it shows that her group worked with us in this park. So just thank you for that. Commissioner Clasen, then Commissioner Miron. Thank you. When I came on board, this project was already pretty much about to set sail, and moving forward with actually spending the money is the way it was. And I just want to say how important it was for my predecessor, Lisa Wyke. This project wouldn't have happened without her. And she was really the person on the board pushing for the Gold Line repeatedly and really brought it forward. And then how cool of us to get almost $240 million from the Federal Transit Administration, which is really unheard of, and then to be able to say that we have received national awards. And to get infrastructure, we would have never had the bridges, we would have never had Behling Berg Bridge, we would never have had Fourth Street Bridge. And then we also get the Kellogg Bridge to be updated and improved. So we are going to see our ability to get to St. Paul from the northern Woodbury within 10 minutes. However, you can't go from North Woodbury to South Woodbury in 10 minutes or 20 minutes. Just had to put that out there. But I actually am so proud of this project because I got to see two large organizations, Metro Council, and you, the county, work together. And as somebody who worked in city government, it's a different perspective, and it was something I learned a lot from. I learned how you guys were able to work seamlessly together, and then I learned where the hiccups came from and how those hiccups came. And it always came down to communication, making sure the local communities or the local neighborhoods were very involved. And we do have still some of those right of way contracts still having to get negotiated. So it's not completely tied up with a pretty little yellow bow, but overall, it's the most successful project I could say in the entire state for transit. And probably nationally too. Right now especially, there's some hardships, so I can say that this is probably one of the best of the nationally. So to be a part of it, Sarah, you're so lucky. It's just been a great project. I'm lucky, you're lucky. We're all lucky to have been a part of the project. And you've done a wonderful job. Thanks. Commissioner Miron. Yeah. Thank you. We continue to invest in our parks. Alex, you've got a great department, and within public works as well, designing and bidding and making these improvements. Both parks and transportation transit services rank high among citizen opinions, as we reach out and take opinions from the community we serve. With respect to the Gold Line, and I'm certainly pleased that former Commissioner Weick was recognized because she was a driving force with respect to this. But, I do remember some very arduous meetings of the county transit improvement board. I think the success we saw was certainly largely because that board was dissolved, and that this project was managed by Washington County. Certainly with the dissolution of the CTIB, we also negotiated some significant money that came back to Washington County to help fund this as well. So, there's a lot of work that went on over the years, and I think certainly this award is very well-deserved, and I appreciate all the effort that staff put into it, and just the creation of that joint powers board to replace what was in existence prior to. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Allen, for all the work that you and your team have done on this project. There's a lot of people that have been involved in it. And I've specifically had conversations with staff about 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. So, just kudos, and thank you for setting such a great example and putting such a highlight of how it should be done, and being a shining example for the rest of the state and nationally, because this is NACo. And just really well-deserved kudos to you and the team, Lissa and everybody. So, thank you very much. We're going to give a round of applause. And we have another round of photos, so make sure we get everybody up here for them. If I can have Erin Klarkowski come up. She was the project manager for the play structure at St. Croix Bluffs. All right. Next item on the agenda is to approve contract number 18527. And to present that is Ms. Blalock. Welcome. Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. As mentioned, my name is Erin Blalock or Erin Klarkowski, and I am a civil engineer with Public Works. I'm here to discuss the county State Aid Highway 38 pavement preservation project. Let's dive in. The plan for my presentation is to review the project's location, scope, received bids, quick touch on the financials, which will ultimately lead to my recommendation for board action on behalf of Public Works. Washington County has identified an annual program comprised of pavement preservation projects in the capital improvement plan as RB2204. This project has been identified within that pavement preservation program as RB2204-03. The project location is the entire four-mile extent of County Highway 38. County Highway 38 is a very unique urban corridor, so although we at the county call it County Highway 38, our communities reference the street names, which include some of Hastings Avenue, some of Glen Road, some of 7th Avenue, all of 21st Street, and all of Maxwell Avenue, as shown in the graphic on the right The corridor is located within the cities of St. Paul Park, Newport, and St. Paul. You may notice that that northernmost part of County Highway 38 is technically within Ramsey County, but Washington County remains the road authority as is allowed per Minnesota Statute 162.02. It is also noted that the project location includes the MRT, Mississippi River Trail Bikeway, which is namely US Bicycle Route 45. Our project improvements include roadway and trail resurfacing. It is noted that the roadway resurfacing will be limited to asphalt paving because the concrete pavement on Maxwell Avenue is remaining in good condition. We have also identified an exception area for the entirety of 21st Street, as a recent county project was performed on this stretch a few years ago. 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. In addition to pavement resurfacing, the project includes ADA improvements, stormwater management, including the installation of new storm sewer along Glen Road, and signing and striping replacements. These project improvements are consistent with the Washington County strategic plan, specifically the goal to enhance and maintain investments in the built and natural environment to encourage growth, accessibility, and resilient communities, including the objective to maintain, develop, and expand multimodal transportation options to improve ease of travel across the county, and the annual measure of pavement condition index, PCI. As far as the public procurement process to get us here today, the project was posted for bids on June 26th, and bids closed on July 28th. Public Works held a public bid opening on July 28th, and three bids were received. Bituminous Roadways, Incorporated submitted the low bid at $3,533,033. Nope, I'm going to try again. $3,533,333, and it was 33 cents, but we weren't going to talk about it, which came in just below the engineer's estimate, which was not anything with threes. My brain couldn't take it apparently. Taking a quick look at the project finances, the project expenses are approximately $4,127,000, which includes consulting costs, permits, and today's board action for the construction contract. Revenues budgeted for the project total approximately $4,208,000, and therefore, the remaining project balance is just over $81,000. Funding for this project comes from wheelage tax, Transportation Advancement Account, TAA, specifically the preservation fund, state aid, and planned usage of fund balance. With that, Public Works recommends approval of contract number 18527 in the amount of $3,533,333 with Bituminous Roadways, Incorporated. That concludes my prepared presentation, Madam Chair, and I will now stand for any questions. Thank you, Ms. Blalock. I will move to approve contract number 18527 in the amount of $3,533,333.33 with Bituminous Roadways, Incorporated for the CSAH 38 pavement preservation project. I'll second it. Moved and seconded. Thank you so much for the presentation. And this project is part of an ongoing project also with 65th Street and Hastings, and just the gratefulness that this is getting improved, so that the roads can withstand some longer durability is very much appreciated. There's been a lot of construction on the 61 exit, and so they've all been getting their fair share of traffic. And I believe that the bids were fantastic, and I'm happy to see the continued trend of that. Let's hope it continues. But really appreciate the time you've also spent with the city of Newport. So, very much appreciate that. Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Ms. Blalock, for the presentation. Fully supportive. I think we're all interested in keeping our pavement conditions in good order, plus with trails. This is part of our capital improvement plan. They're well thought out, so it's part of the process of going through our capital improvement plan and continuously improving our roads. So, I'm fully supportive. Thank you. Any further-- Commissioner Clausen. Thank you. I enjoyed your presentation. I have a question. There's been some discussions on inflation lately, and so I'm going to be asking the question about, do you expect this project cost to rise with inflation by the time that this occurs? Ms. Blalock, if you- I'm sorry. I don't know why you're interrupting. I'm calling on her and recognizing her. Nope. We don't do that. Yes, we do. You don't actually speak until recognized. No. That's not procedurally correct. Yet, it's Robert's rules. We don't formally adopt Robert's rules. It says right here on D, on the Washington County Board of Commissioners operating procedures and guidelines. I'm supposed to be able to ask her questions directly. Yeah, when recognized. So- No, Chair. I know ... Okay. Well, we could just move on then, if you don't want her to answer the question. Any further discussion? Chair Bigham, I'm asking questions to the speaker. Okay. Ms. Blalock may answer the question. Thank you. You don't need to tell her to answer the question. Okay. Okay. Go ahead. Madam Chair, commissioners. 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. Thank you. What determines the difference between the asphalt or in concrete in this project? Ms. Blalock. I don't understand. Why are you... Oops. Madam Chair, commissioners. Essentially, so the choice between pavement surfaces, asphalt versus concrete, is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all approach. There's certainly pros and cons to asphalt versus concrete in our climate, with the different seasons. And so, when our pavement preservation team looks at our system and which candidates could be good fits for our upcoming program, we look at the maintenance cycle as determined, informed by the State of Minnesota to help with those climate expectations. And that maintenance cycle indicates that a rehab project was needed at this time, which would not reevaluate the pavement material type at this point. It would resurface the pavements that are already out there. When you determine when the county and staff go into a road and you look at the PCI, how are you determining the ranking? Because this range is different. It says a range, it's like 49 to 56 or something. So what determines that long range? Because I've seen roads not get this type of reconstruction that was in the range. But because you did a range that's larger, this road seems to be getting done sooner. So I was wondering how that PCI gets determined, and then how the range then works. Madam Chair, commissioners. The range that was shown on the slide was simply me choosing to simplify for the five different streets that are on this project, the range of the data that each street's PCI is associated with. I'm happy to provide, as a follow-up, the detail of each street's associated PCI, which are falling between 47 and 58. Oh, okay. So when a range is presented to us, that usually means that each segment is ranked at a different segment, and that's the range that you're including? Madam Chair, Commissioner, I can only speak to this project currently. But as shown and as I discussed in my presentation, with the alignment being so tricky, it's a four-mile corridor. As mentioned, it's Bailey Road, Maxwell Avenue, 21st Street, 7th Avenue, Glenn Road, and Hastings Avenue. So the 47 to 58 is the different PCIs within, essentially, that green line that's now on the screen. When you determine which roads go in front of other roads, do you look at the traffic counts? And if so, did you look at the traffic counts on this road? Ms. Blalock. Madam Chair, Commissioner, I can only speak to how this project got here today, which was informed by the pavement maintenance cycle, was how it was programmed. We do look at traffic volumes in determining what the different rehabilitation alternative would be. Especially on this project, we certainly look at each piece individually to make sure that we're making the most strategic and responsible improvement for the character of the road. And then when you say we, who makes the ultimate decision on which roads go in front of others? Ms. Blalock. Madam Chair, my understanding is the county board ultimately has approval on our programming. Excuse me. Who recommends? Madam... Oh, wow. I was just going to say Madam Chair. There we go. I'm going to say self. These are, I think, questions for either the director of public works, which he's up next in the workshop, or else a- If Administrator Corbid wants to respond to that, but, Administrator Corbid I guess I'll just finish, actually. What my line of questioning is about is that the road Bailey Avenue was given, instead of reconstruct, it was given a... What is it called? Craxium. Thank you, Chair Bigham. You're welcome. But that PCI, when you're talking about PCI, it's determined by the same person who's determining the road. So I'm just trying to figure out if it's Wayne Sandberg who recommends final, or if it's more of a staff recommendation. And it seems like you're not comfortable asking that question or answering the question, but I did hear that there's a group that gets involved to make the determinations for the PCI, and I feel like there's a missing piece, and the missing piece is constituents. And so, other larger committees or counties, they have advisory committees that help to determine this to make sure it's fair and it's equitable at the top, because there are roads that really need work too. And this one seems to have some roads in the segment seem to meet the need, and then some in the segment don't seem to meet the need for what we're doing today. And so, that's really what I'm trying to get to understand, just more of the process, because this isn't our money. These are taxpayers' money, and so asking these questions, who recommends that from staff, shouldn't have this much hostile feeling. Bye, Chair Bigham. Madam Chair. Administrative Corbid. 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. There's a lot of staff input that's done by the engineers, the project managers, the leadership team in the Public Works department. The Office of Administration reviews all that information before that recommendation is made to the county board, and then the county board reviews that, holds a public hearing, asks for letters of comment from each of the communities within the county before we adopt it. So the answer to this is that it's very much a group effort leading to a staff recommendation, and then the county board approves it. This project is in the CIP, as Ms. Blalock mentioned, as are all the projects that come before the board as part of this process. So, it is not one individual's decision. It is a county staff activity leading to a recommendation and then a county board approval of projects and their timing and delivery, so... Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and renew my motion to approve contract number 18527. All in favor of approving the contract, say "Aye." Aye. Opposed, say "Nay." Motion carries. Thank you so much. Next item is general administration, and we have our internal auditor to present our 2025 Audit Advisory Committee report. Thank you, Madam Chair and Commissioners. My name is Melanie Groof. I am the internal auditor for Washington County. The citizen members are Mr. Joseph Rheinberger and our newest member is Ms. Janine Cuwick. The other two members of the Audit Advisory Committee sorry, are Commissioner Bigham and County Administrator Kevin Corbin. On behalf of the Audit Committee, I am pleased to present the committee's annual report to the Board of Commissioners as required by County Policy 2160. A little background on the Audit Committee. The committee was established in 1984 and meets quarterly. During these meetings, the committee meets with the county's external auditors, the internal auditor, and various other county staff. I have served as the internal auditor since 2016. I have been assigned work with the external auditor, and I also perform tests of the county's internal controls and compliance. The majority of my work is testing those internal controls, and determining whether the county is in compliance with federal and state regulation and county policy and procedures. The Audit Committee met four times during 2025. At each meeting, I presented reports of testing conducted during those quarters. Throughout the year, all payments that equal or exceed $25,000 were tested, along with judgmentally selected samples of payments under $25,000. This process of disbursement testing and reporting to both the Audit Committee and the county board is required by law, and this reporting is in lieu of the board having to approve each payment at its boards meeting. When issues were identified related to disbursements, recommendations were made to the Audit 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. Recommendations were made to the Audit Advisory Committee to strengthen internal controls to ensure that a valid contract is in place before any services are provided The county also utilizes purchasing cards as a method for county employees to pay for county obligations and expenses. The use of these cards is efficient and allows for the testing and tracking of these purchases to ensure compliance with all county policies. I completed testing on random and judgmentally selected samples of all purchases made using the general use purchasing cards and the uniform allowance purchasing cards. When issues were identified related to use of purchasing cards, recommendations are made to the audit committee to review current policies to address the issues identified. During the 2025, no issues were noted in PCards. In addition to the quarterly testing, I also complete random unannounced cash counts for our change in petty cash funds. During 2025, all the petty cash and change fund accounts that I reviewed were balanced and correct. During the year, the audit committee met three times with the external auditor. At the first meeting, the audit manager reviewed the progress of the 2024 audit, and during the second meeting, conducted the audit closing meeting and discussion for the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The final meeting with the external auditors occurred in December to conduct the opening meeting for the 2025 audit. During 2025, there were no thefts or frauds identified. On behalf of the audit committee, I am pleased to present this report, and if you have any questions, either I or other committee members will attempt to answer them. Any questions from the board? Commissioner Karwoski. Madam Chair, maybe a compliment rather than question. Thank you, Ms. Groof. Did I pronounce that right? Yes. Thank you. Appreciate the work you've done year in and year out, and different departments that help you. And I thank Chair Bigham, who chairs the audit committee. You replaced an icon- ... Commissioner Krezel, that was on it for many, many years. But when they meet four times a year, what I really think is the big highlight is, in the memo is 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. So this is an important checks and balance along the way. I just want to thank yourself and other department heads and staff that are part of the process, and the advisory committee. Thank you. Any other discussion? All right. Thank you, Auditor Groof. Look, this is such a vital, important action that the county does to ensure integrity of our finances, and it shows, Commissioner Karwoski, those awards are coming to a meeting near you soon. And just the efforts and the work that you do and the committee does, the recommendations that go through our auditor, it's really amazing and neat process. Administrator Corbett. Madam Chair and commissioners, I just want to point out that the newest member of the audit committee, Ms. Janine Kuik, is in the audience, if you don't mind raising your hand so you can put a face to a name. Ms. Kuik comes to us, she's a resident of the city of Woodbury, and she also serves on the Woodbury Investment and Audit Committee as well. And so, she's been with us for two meetings. She very quickly showed that she knows how to talk the talk and walk the walk of the financial statements and everything else that we're looking at. So there is no doubt she's going to be a tremendously valuable part of the audit committee going forward. And as Ms. Groof mentioned, she said she's been county internal auditor since 2016. The quick math there means that she is celebrating this month, her 10-year anniversary with the county. So, if commissioners are around after the personnel committee, we've got a few treats that we're going to put out in 5518. You're more than welcome to join us to help celebrate Melanie's 10-year anniversary with the county, and that goes to you as well, Janine, as well, if you'd like to join us. Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Anything else, Administrator? I do not. Okay. Then we are up with commissioner reports. Commissioner Clausen, would you like to start us off today? Yeah. Thank you. I just wanted to spend some time reviewing the Washington County Board of Commissioners operating procedures and guidelines. So I wanted to actually talk about the Robert's Rule of Order, and I wanted to be able to just state it out loud, although not adopted formally. The county board generally utilizes the parliamentary procedures found in most recent addition to Robert's Rule of Order during the meetings of the board. The county board recognizes that a small board, five members, it may benefit from some flexibility with the formalities found in Robert's Rule of Order, but the county board also recognizes, and utilizing the procedures found in Robert's Rule of Order allows for an efficient processing of the county board work and promotes decorum. Also, in this guideline, it says that the board minutes are the official recording So although we heard today that we couldn't actually spend time providing opposition in an issue, what we hear right now is that, and what I'm stating here, is that these are permanent records. So we are hearing one-sided commission board's opinion, and that's not democracy. That's not democracy. So the way I'm looking currently at the minutes, and I'm reading how these Washington County Board of Commissioners' operating procedures and guidelines go, we all need to review these. I think we all need to review them again because it also says you're not allowed to interrupt a commissioner when she is speaking to another staff person, especially County Administrator Kevin Corbid, and that's been done repeatedly by Chair Bigham. So if we continue to talk about Robert's Rule of Order, I would ask, since we generally adopt Robert's Rule of Order, but we also then grab our very important Washington County Board of Commissioners' operating procedures and guidelines so that we just are fair because we all agreed that this is what we agreed on. Well, actually, I didn't agree with it not being televised because I do really believe in having minutes televised, but I don't believe that we should be going back and forth stating that televised recordings are the permanent record. And now, it's meeting minutes that are a permanent record. I've been told two different things by Kevin Corbid, and as somebody who drafted meeting minutes for the majority of my career in local government, I do have a lot of questions on how the changes are occurring. And it comes down to processes, and one of my disagreements with staff on some of the items is when there's changes that occur with no written processes. And it's been an ongoing issue because it's so important that we value the law and we value best practices. And I'm not, and I haven't been seeing that on my board when it comes to interruptions during meetings and the recordings. And so I'm hoping that they're listening and that they take in what I'm saying because other cities and counties, they don't do that. And if you can show me other cities and counties that don't allow the other opposition to be stated, please show me. But it's very rare what you're doing and I wish it would change. But I understand, and I will make sure that my predecessor, whoever that is, understands what has occurred and what needs to change, as well as our designated newspaper. Our designated newspaper is up in May Township with only 300 subscribers. So a lot of times, people in Oakdale and Woodbury and even everybody are not seeing the amount of money that is being reported from the county. And so it's another part of this that frustrates me because this is about transparency for me. And I'm going to keep talking about this because it is something that needs to be-- With everything that's happening around us in the federal government, it's the only thing we have, our rules and our practices and the respectfulness that we're supposed to give to each other in this office that I haven't seen. And I've been disappointed. It's been disappointing. But I know that I'm just one person and there'll be another person taking my spot. And so I'm here for my representative, for my people. I'm here for the 55,000 people that I represent. I went to, I don't know, probably 12 different Knights of Unite on Tuesday and had amazing conversations with constituents. And everybody really thanks us and leadership for everything that we've gone through when it comes to the ICE detention center. It's still very much on people's minds. And I don't talk about it enough up here about how scared I was during that time, and how much I fought to make sure it didn't happen in my district. But people are very upset and concerned that we have nothing at the county that prevents that from happening again. We have nothing procedurally that protects us from that whatsoever when it comes to the ICE detention center, and the city doesn't have any rules or regulations against it either. And I heard from people concerned about data centers, and it's very much on our mind, and we can do something on this board. We can do a moratorium if we all agree to do that. Cities are doing that currently, and that is one topic that I heard about. And people are scared. They're scared. And if we are not allowed to talk about it, and if opposition's not allowed to be written on minutes, and if everything's supposed to be hushed and I'm supposed to take my posts off social media, what are we doing? What are we doing? Democracy is so important that we cherish it. And so I just really want us to think about what we're doing and how there's ripple effects. Another really great thing is lots of things going on in Woodbury. Preparing for Woodbury Days is upon us very shortly. Very excited to be able to be a part of the community of Woodbury. It's been a lot recently. There's been a lot of traffic, and we've seen some accidents occur, and so people also are talking to me about that, too. That was very much on people's minds during the block parties, about the traffic, and it's getting worse. And so I don't see on the projects that we have in front of us for the capital improvement that that's going to help any of the issues that we have, which is unfortunate. But I continue to tell people what's happening and continuing to spread the word on the needs that we have in the community, because they need to hear from you. And so at Woodbury, if you have concerns, please email the board. Not just me. Don't just tell me. Tell the other board members, because they need to hear from you. So, thank you. Commissioner Miron. Thank you. I was just actually looking at Robert's Rules of Order, Madam Chair, and certainly there are cases in here that clearly state that you must be recognized by the chair in order to speak, and if you feel that you haven't been treated fairly, then calling a point of order is the means by which you establish that. So, there are good rules and regulations within Robert's Rules, and we generally follow them, and certainly I support that procedure, but we do need to have orderly conversation here, and I think you do a good job in chairing. Just really quickly, just a number of meetings. Nothing significant from a policy standpoint. I appreciated my opportunity to get out into neighborhoods for the National Night Out event a week ago. I attended a Water Consortium tour of some conservation projects within northern Washington County, Lost Lake, Browns Creek, and then the Mills Creek up in Marine on St. Croix. I enjoyed the Child Foster Care Appreciation event, had a meeting with staff on our Climate Action Plan, had a meeting with staff on the Glacial Hills Trail, and then yesterday I was able to attend the Asian and Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group. Extremely impressed with the organization of that event and the speaker that was there, and Commissioner Cox introduced the program, and I thought she did an excellent job as well. That's all I have, Madam Chair. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. Night to Unite, I think was a great event for many of us. I was able to attend in the city of Stillwater. Big thank you to the Public Works team for another meeting with Stone Bridge Elementary, kind of squeezing that in before the school year starts next week. And they are going to put up some flashing lights to actually continue safety improvement with that school, so I'm grateful for that help. The Water Consortium tour, thank you for mentioning that, Commissioner Miron, was incredible. It was really great to sit with other water people and take a tour around the county and see some of the good work that's being done. I snuck in at the very end of the Foster Care Provider Appreciation Celebration. What a great event. I was there when they were packing up food for some of the families to take home. So just the care that's extended, not just goes to inviting and having a great event, but also sharing the wealth of, "There's extra food. Please take it and feed your family." I loved it. Had some Public Works staff meetings. Thank you for answering my endless amount of questions that come from constituents. Very, very grateful for the support there. Just yesterday in St. Paul, attended the Community Supervision Working Group. Director Thomas, I'm coming to you after with questions. That's a great group, and it's meeting very quickly to meet legislative policy. The AAPI ERG event was great yesterday. Thank you for mentioning that as well. Once you read one of Ms. Yang's books, you just keep reading them. So I'm grateful that the team brought them here to the county. I believe Deputy Administrator Lucke shared that she sold out the Ordway. So author Yang took time to come to Washington County and talk to us is- It was amazing when she shared that. So, we were truly in the presence of greatness yesterday. Climate Action staff meeting was great yesterday with the team. And then Commissioner Clausen, I'm grateful that you brought up the board operating procedures and guidelines. I think it's very important that every commissioner reread Section 4, which is the Commissioner Code of Conduct. I have felt over my time on the board that the respectful workplace requirements have not necessarily been managed here on the dais, and so I encourage us all to reread that. And then as far as meeting minutes, I just want to make it said that the statute is very clear. That is referenced right here in this document. And I am not experiencing any of the changes that were mentioned, so I'm grateful to move on as it is presented in this document. Thank you. Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you, Madam Chair. Maybe the significant things for me this past week were went to an event sponsored by Greater MSP, that I serve on that board. It was other various sponsors. It was called Complete 2026. It was a breakfast event with a bunch of business leader ... leaders, business leaders, and had some housing component. But how can we move the dial in having companies grow here, but more importantly, maybe new companies land here and be an incubator place for new companies. CDA was represented at this breakfast, too. Attended the Good Morning, sponsored by the Woodbury Area Chamber. We often forget that these are area chambers, just like the Oakdale Area Chamber. So their membership is outside the boundaries of Woodbury or Oakdale. This was an example where Nayan's law firm sponsored it. They're near Oak Marsh Golf Course in Oakdale, but it was the Woodbury Chamber event. Very nice event. Got to thank our sponsors that step up with some money and organize, really helping the community to start the day. Beautiful morning for that. Prior to this meeting, Commissioner Bigham and I, with staff, got a sneak peek at our workshop on the R.H. Stafford Library project, how that's coming along. That was very fruitful. We both represent areas of Woodbury, so that's why we got the early sneak peek. Night to Unite, I think we all enjoy that event each year. It's fun to lay out the strategy. I got to 10 neighborhood gatherings in four of the eight cities I represent, and very worthwhile getting out and meeting our neighbors, our constituents. You really can see that community spirit on that event. Got to thank our local police and fire departments and our sheriff's department. They're very popular. I sometimes try to get out ahead of them for that. No, I very much appreciate when we come by, but what really makes it is seeing those fire engines and squad cars and things. Also, was able to go to, I had to split duties between the foster care. I ran across you, Commissioner Cox. I had to go to the foster care early in Bayport to recognize those foster families that do such amazing work on behalf of our communities. And then also that night, I got to the Landfall. Our human services department, along with a lot of partners and nonprofits, sponsor back-to-school events. So Landfall had one for basically filling kids' backpacks with much-needed supplies that have gotten very expensive over the years, and to get those kids off to a good start. One of the partners there was Woodbury Lions Club, and I know a few years ago they've got some amazing way to do a eye check where, if you can envision trying to do a eye check on a young kid that really would make me feel, wouldn't matter your background, you're just going to feel uncomfortable going to an eye doctor. They have something that can, it's too hard to describe, but it's basically almost just standing there. It's somewhat of a laser read on their eyes, so they were giving kids prescriptions so they could get off to a good start in school. That was one of the many highlights of our different partners that show up that help our county. Yeah, regarding rules of conduct, we're all responsible for that. I'm comfortable with our policy the way it is. I'm always open. I'm not going to prevent any of us from reviewing that. I think the key to our record keeping is every meeting is recorded, and I know when I talk to constituents, you can go back and see the written, the spoken dialogue. We often put our comments why we oppose something, why we support something, and rather than try to convey that in a written words and change our policy and make it in a written word in the meeting minutes, I think the way we film and record our meetings is a good, solid record. That's my perspective. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. So the event yesterday with Ms. Yang was incredible, and her talent was just amazing, and just so grateful that staff was able to have her here to share her just incredible work that she's done. National Night Out was very busy. Made it to events in Newport, St. Paul Park, and Cottage Grove. Always one of my favorite days of the year. I've had multiple meetings on the raising the age of delinquency implementation and also the act. The foster care provider appreciation event was just fantastic, and really appreciate staff putting that together to be able to highlight the incredible angels, as I call them, that are our foster families to give children such a wonderful opportunity. And Pioneer Day was in Newport, very just wonderful weather. So it was a good turnout to be able to talk to residents down there. And then I attended Farm Fest, which is always interesting. It's my second year going, and being that we are over 50% agriculture, it's important to do that. Don't threaten me with a good time talking about Robert's Rules of Order. I will just look at the operating procedures. I appreciate Commissioner Cox lending me her copy because mine slipped out of my-- Oh, wait, no. Here they are. Got it. Section 2C, role of the board chair. Board chair is responsible for leading the county board meetings, including board workshops, in a manner that maintains order and allows for opportunity for all members and the public to be heard. Then if you flip the page, page two, third bullet down there, all members are to be recognized by the chair prior to making a motion or speaking on an issue. And then, I like the section four, talking about the code of conduct is always important, especially when interacting with staff, whether that's in person or via email. That is very important to do that with respect and professionalism. And then, these do have the discussion about allowing the Robert's Rules, even though they're not formally adopted, I'm going to say it again, is that they offer and make sure that we have the decorum that is necessary. So, just thought I'd point it out. Thank you for doing that. We have two board correspondents, which are the annual TIF reports from Cottage Grove and Mahtomedi. And following adjournment of the board today, we have public works budget presentation, and that is the actual big department, and then the other parts of regional rail and Gold Line are immediately following that, and then we have personnel committee. Before we adjourn, we're going to take 10 minutes here. So we'll start maybe a little before 11:00. You know what? Let's round up. Let's just go to 11:00. Easier for staff to remember that, too. Seeing nothing further, we are adjourned. All right. We will go ahead and get started with the Public Works 2027 recommended budget. Before you start, Director Sandberg, I have to say thank you for bringing everyone right here to the front to make sure any possible question we have- ... is going to get answered in a timely fashion. So I appreciate the effort with this today. And I will let you start because we have 50 minutes- Okay ... to get through a lot of things, so. We'll move quick. Well, good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. Thank you. As was stated, my name is Wayne Sandberg. I serve as the Public Works director and county engineer. I'm excited and honored to be able to stand here and present the Public Works 2027 recommended budget. You'll see as we walk through this budget, the breadth and scope of the work that Public Works does is very broad and wide, and so we're going to try something new this year, as you mentioned. Seated up front are representatives of leadership from Public Works that were involved in developing the budget. We have Aaron Zelmer, our internal services director, Alex McKinney, our parks director, Lissa Lightner, our planning director, Greg Wood, the building services director, Corey Slagle, our assistant county engineer, Sam Gibsons, our county surveyor, Kevin Petersons, our design engineer, and Frank Tickner as the deputy director. Also mentioned in the crowd, we have Hoang Trung, who works with Aaron's team. Also, Zachary St. John, who also works with Aaron's team on finance. We have Christina Mastro from Building Services here as well. All contribute, plus many more, to this large budget. And hopefully, the concept of them being up here is that they are subject matter experts, and if there are questions, we can defer to them. Our mission is simple in Public Works. We plan, build, and maintain a better Washington County. Our values spell STARS: safety, teamwork, accountability, respect, and sustainability. As I said, we're a large department, and the work that we do is visible. The road you drove in on this morning, the park a family visited this weekend, the building we're sitting in, that's our work, and residents see it every day. We're also unique in that we work very closely with every other county department on a regular basis, and several of them daily. We maintain their fleets. We operate the buildings that house their services. We collaborate regularly to provide quality services to the public. Here's the path we're going to take today. We're going to start with talking about some of the work that we do, then we're going to review some of the cost and demand pressures that shaped this budget. From there, we'll go through the operating budget. We're going to review a parks fee increase proposal today, and then we'll talk about the capital program. We'll then review the recommended updates to the county transportation sales tax eligibility list, and we'll end our journey with summary and discussion. A quick tour of the department before we get into the detailed numbers. Public Works is seven service areas. Transportation covers highway design and construction, snow and ice control, fleet Traffic operations, bridges, and right of way. Building services runs our county buildings and grounds. They're responsible for energy management, procurement, and capital delivery of new and updated facilities. Parks handles park operations and guest services, natural resources stewardship, and parks programming. Survey maintains the land records and monument network across the county. Our planning division covers transportation planning, the development code, and regional coordination. And Regional Railroad Authority carries transit planning and Gold Line project delivery. And internal services holds administration and finance to support the work of the department. Transportation is the largest piece of the department. It carries some of the highest visibility. We have almost 300 miles of road, 845 culverts, over 100 traffic signals, and 21 roundabouts, with three under construction right now. 87.5 miles of trail run alongside our county highways. This photo is of a bridge deck pour from a past construction season. We maintain a county network that connects communities. We invest in mobility and safety, and we manage these assets proactively so they deliver now and 20 years from now. This is also the group that delivers our highway capital program. Design, right of way acquisition, construction administration, all lives in this division. This is also where the partnership with our cities and townships lives the most. Most of these projects are cost-shared, and our staff are at the table negotiating those agreements and keeping everyone's schedules and budgets aligned. Snow and ice control, pavement condition, and traffic signal operations are what the residents notice first from this group. And our crews take real pride in the work that they do. After a storm, when a resident tells you the roads were clear before they left for work, that is our plow operators, who are out at 3:00 in the morning, that make it true. They do it on Christmas Day, they do it on their kids' birthdays. And on the night when the wind is bad, they're out there when nobody else is willing to be on that road. The parks system this last year took in over 2.1 million visitors. That's nearly a 24% jump. The parks system is comprised of over 5,000 acres. That includes eight parks, three regional trails, 67 miles of park trail, and 46 buildings in our parks that we maintain. The parks is the largest single land steward in the county. This photo is of the historic courthouse in Stillwater, which is also part of our parks division. We focus on outdoor recreation, natural resources stewardship, and community gathering places. For some residents, the park visit is their only direct in-person experience with county government. Building services runs 21 buildings, and that encompasses 1.1 million square feet of space and 283 acres of grounds. Energy use is down 4.4%, and greenhouse gas emissions are down 39% against a 30% goal. So this team is doing a good job managing those services and getting to our targets. The themes on the right side here describe a division whose whole job is making sure every other county service has a safe working place and to make their work happen. The surveyor's office is the county's land record backbone. Over 2,200 parcels were maintained last year, a 30% increase. Forty-five public land survey corners are monumented, and this is an annual process that we do every year. Our goal is to turn around plat reviews within 21 days. We're exceeding that goal. We're at between 15 and 17 days on plat review turnarounds. That keeps development moving in our cities. And the datum conversion mentioned here, we are converting to the latest national geodetic survey datum, and eight of our 12 townships are complete. This work is going to continue to keep our data accurate and usable for every city, every developer, and every utility that relies on it. The planning division works across roughly 50 county products in a given year and regional committees. They administer the development code. That includes zoning, variances, conditional use permits, and comprehensive plan implementation. They carry transit planning. They sit at the regional table when it comes to transportation, environment, and their focus is on providing economic vitality for the county. This is also the group that leads our grant application process. Dollars that the planning division brings in show up later in the capital improvement plan as county levy that does not have to come to those projects. Our accounting team in the internal services group manages more than 100 multi-year capital projects and over $100 million in department and capital budgets every year. In 2025, that was 14,000 accounts payable transactions totaling $108 million, 530 receivable transactions, 500 contracts and amendments, 331 purchase orders. They do their work alongside the county's accounting and finance department and administration department's accounting teams. Those relationships are what keep our figures accurate and our practices compliant. Administration, public works, and internal services administration connects all the divisions together. So commission work and advisory board staffing, department training, front desk service for employees and visitors, department technology, and support for an inclusive workplace. Over 170 board actions ran through this group in 2025. Every item that reaches this agenda in this boardroom from public works comes through this team first. So before we get into the numbers, here's what's driving them. There are three forces that really shape this budget: input costs, workforce and regulatory pressure, and the condition of our pavement network. This slide fleshes that out a little bit more and explains some of the reason behind the numbers. Starting on the left, 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. So that's about $1,300 per loaded truck that leaves the shop during a snowstorm. Plow cutting edges have tripled in cost from $124 a foot to $375 a foot. So let me explain that one a little bit. The cutting edge is the carbide steel blade bolted to the bottom of the plow. It's the part that touches the road, and it's built to wear out so that the plow itself doesn't wear out. Every truck carries about 30 feet of that edge, front plow, underbody scraper, and wing plow. At the new price, that's roughly $7,500 more per truck every time we change those blades out. Across 20 plow routes, edges and guards now take more than half the entire fleet parts budget. Vehicle insurance is up 93%, and a plow truck went from $240,000 in 2020 to almost $400,000 today. Property insurance is up 60%, and utility rates do keep climbing. The chart on the right is our pavement condition. We've been holding between 67 and 70 since about 2019. We're below our target, which is 72. So trying to achieve and bring that number up to our target is what helping inform some of the decisions we're going to talk about further on in the presentation. Our 2027 operating budget totals $39,312,800. The next four slides are going to break up into where the money comes from, where it goes, and the staffing that supports it. Here's where that $39.3 million comes from. 16.8 million is internal revenue. That's property tax levy at 14.5 million. That's wheelage tax at just over two million. And the county aggregate production tax, also called gravel tax, at just shy of $200,000. 22.5 million is external to public works. Internal rent is 11.4 million. That's what other county departments pay building services to occupy the spaces that they are in. Miscellaneous revenues is just shy of a million dollars. That's park rental fees, picnic shelters, group camps, facility rentals across the system. 63% of what funds the department comes from non-levy sources. The property tax carries 37% of public works. Intergovernmental revenue is over $8 million. That's mostly stated in partner contributions. Other taxes at 2.3 million is, again, that wheelage tax and aggregate production tax combined. The rest is licenses, fees, and permits that we sell. And on the expenditure side, personnel services, labor costs are up 10% at 22.9 million, about 58% of the budget. Services and charges rise about 3% to 9.2 million. Materials and supplies are at 3.9 million, they're up 15%. That represents that commodity pressure that I was talking about on the earlier slide. And operating capital drops down to 1.8 million. We start going into this process with 185 full-time employees, adopted in 2026. This budget recommends adding 5.5 new positions. That would land us at 190.5 FTEs for 2027. The positions that we are recommending adding are as follows: parks maintenance worker, a half-time grounds and facilities technician, that would also be in parks, a building services product specialist that would support the capital delivery and building services, an engineering project manager that would support capital delivery in our highway program, a right of way specialist that would also support capital delivery and right of way acquisition, and an operations manager in our highway operations component. Total cost of these recommended additions is $694,900, and every dollar of it is recommended as non-levy funded. The levy column is zero across the board. The parks positions would be funded by the fee package that I'll talk about shortly. The engineering and right of way positions are funded by the capital program that they would support. Moving into the parks fee proposal. This slide was built off of nine recommended fee changes, generating an estimated $293,500 in added revenue. The two largest, the annual vehicle permit fee, we recommend moving from $30 to $35. That would generate about $107,000. The daily vehicle permit fee in this proposal moves from $7 to $10 per day, generating about $150,000. The rest are smaller adjustments shown here. Together, these nine adjustments, again, produce $293,500. That figure is built into the proposal and includes the staff. What's driving this and why this matters, the three numbers that frame this, the increase in county visits, 24% growth in a single year. The last time we've increased fees in parks was 2017, almost a decade ago. The system has grown alongside that use. Like I mentioned, over 5,000 acres of land that we steward, 46 buildings, significant amount of trail, and we continue to acquire land. There's a bit of a typo here. Kelly Farm, we've included, added already 320 acres with a potential to add 565 additional. And so we're continuing to grow, as an example, Kelly, but other areas we're growing the park system. Meanwhile, staffing, insurance, equipment, utility costs keep climbing. Seasonal wages, for example, rise about 3% per year. Permit revenue has been held flat for nine years, while everything that it pays for has continued to go up. And to help manage the system and to be able to respond to some of those increased costs, we've already had to do some reductions. Starting in 2025 and continuing through 2026, this is a list of things that we've already reduced in our parks. The Big Marine Park office is closed three days a week. Lake Elmo swim pond concession has been closed and stays closed. The Park Ambassador program was ended. We have reduced restroom cleaning, trash service, and the number and location of satellite toilets across our park system. We did not expand lifeguard coverage this year to Big Marine or Point Douglas, one of our goals. And seasonal support for national resources was cut back. Those reductions kept our budget in balance, but they also lower the service that we are providing in the busiest years of our park use that we've had. So what that recommended package would fund, we divide the 293,500 three ways. Ongoing staffing at 124,900, so that'd be that park maintenance worker and that grounds and facilities technician, half-time. Seasonal staffing, we would bump that up an additional 80,000. That would pay for a salary increase, but also the goal would be to add more lifeguard support and other seasonal support. And 88,600 for park operations to increase, get back to some of those levels of service of restroom cleaning, trash removal, facility repair, and utilities, supplies, and equipment. I want to note that every dollar that could be collected by these fees through parks would stay in parks, so this money is going to stay with the park system. I do want to mention the Park and Open Space Commission recommendation as it relates to this fee increase. The commission did review the full package that I just shared with you, and they supported the annual permit, the campsite changes, the reservation fees, and the program changes. 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. And while the commission's concern about access is understandable, the 2027 parks budget that I'm presenting to you now is built upon that increase. In a fee-based park system, the daily permit is one of our largest revenue sources, and so a different direction would mean either backfilling that with different kind of money or continue to do less in the parks. So just wrapping up the park fee increase. The 2027 park budget is built on the full fee package, including that $10 daily permit. The fee increases fund the staffing and park operations I just described. The full fee schedule will actually come back to the board as a separate conversation and a public hearing before anything is adopted. So today is a preview. Jumping into public works capital. The 2027 capital program totals almost $190 million. County net levy in the capital program drops 12%. Non-levy revenue rises 75%. The big pieces, we're going to be selling a $40 million plan bond in 2027. We're pulling in about $39 million of use of fund balance related to our South Highway facility. A 22.9 million from the county transportation sales tax. 19.1 million in federal grants is reflected here, and 15.6 million in state grants. 97% of capital revenue comes from non-levy sources. The spending side mirrors that. Construction costs are 170.8 million, 90% of the program. Consulting costs are at about 7%, or 13.3 million. And then contribution to fund balance and land acquisition rounds us out. Nine out of every $10 goes directly into construction in our capital program. Road and bridge is the largest piece of our capital program at 143.1 million. Zero county levy in this program. Zero in 2026, zero again in 2027. It's fully non-levy funded. The program goes from 100 million to 143 million, up 43%. That funding mix breaks into four pieces. Federal and state aid, 54 million. County reserves is 48 million. County transportation tax is 26 million. Local partners, 16 million. These are the changes between the CIP you adopted and the final 2027 recommended budget. When you adopted the 2026 through 2030 CIP, each of these projects carried a planning number. Now that a year has gone by and we have finished design or made further along in design, we've gotten updated estimates. We have better set schedules. So this table shows where those numbers have landed now in our recommended 27 budget. 19 projects changed. Green here shows projects that went up in budget. Red shows projects that went down. Two that you might notice, County Road 19A came down because we narrowed the scope of that project significantly. County Road 27 came down because we've actually moved that project to 2028 at the request of the city. Just want to highlight six projects in the entire program. There's certainly many more projects. I mentioned the County Road 19A project in Cottage Grove. This is a new alignment that connects Highway 61 to 100th Street, a new rail crossing, a separated rail crossing, pedestrian and bike facilities. 13.6 million in grants have been secured for this. County Highway 13 in Woodbury is at 20 million. That's Radio Drive, and we're going to widen that to four lanes, a four-lane divided highway with trails on both sides and two new roundabouts serving continued growth in the south part of Woodbury and Cottage Grove. County Highway 32 in Forest Lake is at 18.4 million. That includes our federal congressionally directed spending funding that we secured. County 16 in Woodbury is at 6.9 million. This road was last repaved in 2006. County Highway 5 and 96 intersection in the north side of Stillwater here, 6.6 million. We're going to replace an all-way stop with two roundabouts and clean up a very confusing area. And $400,000 for the CSA 18 Bailey Road Corridor Study that we're actually recommending moving up from '28 to get started in '27, a year early. Parks and Historic Courthouse capital total is 6.1 million for 2027. Zero county levy here as well in both years. The program does increase, driven by new state and Met Council grant awards. 71% of the funding is state and regional grants, 2.7 million in state grants and 1.5 million from the Met Council. Again, highlighting six products in the park program. The Hardwood Creek Regional Trail Extension is 3.3 million. It closes a one-mile gap where the rail line remains active, so we have to go around the rail line. It'll extend the trail from the current termini in Hugo south to the county line with Ramsey County. The Lake Elmo single track is $975,000. We're recommending building this in phases. This would be phase one, funded with a $500,000 grant plus $475,000 of park fund balance. Big Marine planning and design for the future of that park, $350,000. Pavement preservation in the parks, $300,000 targeting St. Croix Bluffs and the campground design at 150,000 in St. Croix Bluffs. And then Historic Courthouse, $125,000 to look at some of the historic structures report. We've got an ADA-accessible ramp that we're going to redo and the parking lot of the Historic Courthouse. Building services capital is at 39.3 million, and we'll get into that here. County levy drops 12% here from 6.3 to 5.6. Non-levy revenue is increased. 79% of this program is a 2027 bond funding those two library projects, the R.H. Stafford Library and the Park Grove Library. I want to talk a little bit about capital redirect, but before I get into the numbers, a reminder of what capital redirect is because the term does not necessarily explain itself. So part of our county levy is dedicated to funding debt service, and those dollars make the payments on bonds that we issue for capital products in earlier years. Now, bonds eventually get paid off, and when one is retired, the payment stops, but the levy dollars that had been making that payment are still there. So we redirect those dollars to new capital projects. That's what we call capital redirect. It's a levy that we are already collecting, moving from paying off yesterday's projects, the debt, to paying for tomorrow's projects via cash. Two things that follow from that, it adds nothing to the levy, and it lets us pay cash for work we would otherwise maybe have to borrow for. For 2027, the redirect amount available is 5.6 million. We're splitting it in two ways, shown here. 2.695 million is programmed, 1.5 million for life safety systems, $300,000 for the 10-year space use plan that the county's growing and we need to adjust how we're housing all the staff in our county systems, and 895,000 for facility improvements. 2.9 million then is held as a contribution to fund balance, allocated to capital improvements based on priorities that this board determines in the future. We'll be bringing back prioritized recommendations through the CIP process. We're going to develop those with departments and county leadership, and you'll be able to make the final decision on how to allocate those funds. I want to highlight six products in the building services group. The South Shop right now at 44.6 million. We're actively right now in design, heavy design, working with the city of Woodbury, trying to really figure out what that product's going to end up looking like. I do expect that we'll have a workshop in September to dig in much more detail on the South Shop. R.H. Stafford Library, again, I mentioned, with construction starting in spring of 2027. Park Grove Library, again, under construction right now, but the bond will be sold next year. Southern Yard Waste at two million closes a gap in the residential yard waste service in the south of the county. That's going to be tied to an expansion and improvement of the South Environmental Center. And then Government Center Fire and Safety at 1.5 million replaces an outdated fire alarm system serving both the government center and the courthouse. And then last, a $500,000 sand separator. This is an environmental project up at the North Shop, where when we wash our plow trucks after storms, we get a lot of sand that goes into the drains. And this system here will actually separate that sand out from the water, will send the water down the line to the sewer system in Stillwater. We'll be able to collect that sand and dispose of it properly. The last section I'm going to cover today is the county transportation sales tax. This tax is half percent transportation sales and use tax, plus a $20 excise tax on motor vehicle sales authorized under Minnesota Statute 297A.993. Projected in 2027, collections are at 27 million, an increase of 1.5% over 2026 projection. The current split today is 50/50 between transit and transportation. For 2027, we are proposing an 85% transportation, 15% transit split. That would put 22.95 million into the Road and Bridge Capital Program, up from 13.3 million in 2026, and a little over four million toward Gold Line Regional Rail Authority and county transit services. Now, here's how that 15% in the transit side would break down in this recommended budget. Gold Line BRT at 1.149 million. Regional Rail Authority operating at 115,900. This is the cost to operate and own and keep open the North and South Transit Center operations, one in Newport, one in Forest Lake. Community Services transportation programs totaling 289,300 across employment and day support. The section 5310 grant match. This is a grant that we receive from the state that helps the Go Washington program exist. This would be the match to that grant. Non-emergency medical transportation administration and client transportation. We also are recommending $120,000 for the sheriff's inmate rideshare service, and that would leave 2.3 million unallocated for future board direction and also for transit priorities. On the transportation side, this is the recommended eligibility list for that 85% share. Since this is the 2027 budget, we've highlighted in yellow the three projects that are listed for 2027. County Highway 13 from 62nd Street South to County Highway 18, County Highway 32 from 33 to 61, and County Highway 19A from 100th Street to 61. Those three are targeted for delivery in 2027. Everything else on the list, we consider kind of a pipeline. We'll be talking in much more detail about the other projects as part of the five-year CIP presentation. I do want to mention the three green rows. It's a new add to this list. We've added some parks transportation components. That parking lot resurfacing, some pavement condition improvements in both Lake Elmo Park Reserve and St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park. The plan moving forward is to now update this list on an annual basis. And so if there's a project that you don't see on here that you think should be in the future, we'll be talking about this every year from now on and have it rerun parallel to our capital improvement plan program process. So, to wrap up the county transportation sales tax, you will be holding a public hearing this fall. It'll be the same time as the CIP or Capital Improvement Plan hearing, so they're going to come in parallel process. They'll come together with you. The public hearing is required by state law, and then the goal would be to update this list on an annual basis, like I mentioned. So wrapping up, to bring it all together, an operating budget of 39.3 million, a capital program of 189.9 million. 90% of our capital is funded outside of levy, and $32 million in grants secured. What we do, highways, bridges, and traffic operations, parks, trails, and campgrounds, county buildings, shops, and fleet, land survey, planning, and transit. How we plan for it, a five-year capital plan rebuilt every year. We use pavement condition data. We set priorities. We secure grants whenever we can. We use performance measures, and we recommend to you, the ultimate decision-makers. What you're going to see and receive in 2027, no levy in road and bridge or parks capital. Again, mentioned 32 million in federal and state funding already secured. 5.5 new positions with no property tax. Let me just wrap up by saying Public Works maintains what our residents use every day, and this recommendation, we feel, keeps that system on a plan cycle, funds nearly all the capital work outside of the property tax levy. And so with that, we'd be happy to open it up for discussion. Thank you. Director Sandberg, get a drink of water. It feels like you just ran a marathon running through all of that. I appreciate this summary slide, especially because it really just shows some of those highlights. And we still have one more presentation. We have one more after we all share comments. We'll start with Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. I'm going to ask one question, but I have some summary comments. I would like to hear from the other board members' questions before I just summarize some highlights to me. Director Sandberg, thanks for the presentation, and appreciate your department that can be here. Appreciate the staff and all the good work you do and our entire Public Works operation and employees, both permanent and seasonal. My one question just ties into, so the budget is an increased budget of 38.3 million. But yet I'm really impressed by the levy contribution going down 7%, and then these alternative sources of funding, and also the zero levy for road construction. So with the budget going up, levy dollars going down, which is property taxes, and I really like that scenario, if that could be continued. I know that the transit 85% to roads and a shift of 85% roads, 15% transit is great. My concern is, and this is my question is, with that all said, moving forward, I think, is this budget based on some of the shift of transit dollars to road projects? Also, I know we've gotten some federal state grants and additional funding. What happens moving forward if grants and some of the non-levy revenue dries up? Can we adjust the budget downward a little bit to realize state and federal not contributing as much and other factors? Madam Chair, Commissioner Karwoski, I'll try to answer that maybe two ways. One, I want to emphasize in the operating component of the budget, levy did go up. Levy went up from 13.5 million to 14.5, so about 8%. And I think on that side of the equation, if our external revenues do start to dry up, because the majority of the department is still funded through external funding source, non-levy sources, you would see us continue to do things that we've done in parks, where we'll scale back services, try to find a way to bring in balance, but ultimately provide less service or have a conversation with the board about how we want to backfill those. On the capital side, I think what you're seeing is what you talked about, a couple different shifts. One is we are selling a large bond in 2027, and so that does show up in the numbers as a large influx of money. But also that shift of the transportation sales tax brings in a significant amount of money into the road and bridge program, which ultimately, I mentioned early on, the PCI and our pavement condition, our focus with that money over the next five years is to try to get that number back up above our performance measure. So you're going to see us recommend putting a lot of those dollars into the road program, the pavement condition part of the road program. If no external money, which you've always said, go out and find as much external money as you can, and I think you know that our team is adept at finding grants. We work closely with our state and local politicians to bring in federal and state dollars through bonding and other forms of community-directed spending. If those dry up, typically what happens in our capital program is we shrink the program down. If the money doesn't come in that we were expecting, we either delay that project or we don't do the project. And so it'd be more of a focus on managing the number of projects per year if on the capital side, we started to not receive the grant external funding that we were expecting. Thank you. Great question. Commissioner Miron. Yeah, thank you. Wayne, you talked about increasing the park fee. And the concern that the Parks Commission had for first-time visitors or reduction in number of people that would be first-time visitors. There was no discussion about eliminating the free Tuesday access to parks. Am I correct there? Yep. Madam Chair, Commissioner Miron, correct. The free Tuesday, we also have the day after Thanksgiving, and is there one other one that we do, Alex? National Get Outdoors Day. Yeah. And then, so we are going to maintain those. So maintaining those, I think, would alleviate some of the concern about the opportunity for first-time visitors with respect to park fees. As you pointed out, for capital needs, this split on the county transportation sales tax is going to be an important issue, and obviously we've got a public hearing coming up for that. So, we do have to obviously weigh in public opinion on that. But having said that, what I saw in a proposal was we're going to have adequate funding with the new split to cover the transit needs, plus have money in reserve there. Am I correct about that? Madam Chair, Commissioner Miron, yes. For 2027, that is true. We actually are going to have a contribution of fund balance that'll be available to spend on additional transit priorities as we flush those out, those partnerships out through the rest of this year into '27. As we grow our transit side of that equation, that's probably going to become a smaller amount over the years. But for 2027, there is a contribution to fund balance, yes. Yeah. And then, the proposed increase, obviously with operating expenditures increasing 8%, it's very surprising in my opinion that you're able to keep the limit on the levy as a whole. When we look at the cost of, as you pointed out, the wear parts on the plow trucks, the fuel, and some of the other increases in costs that we're incurring, cost of plow trucks going up. So, appreciate the whole team being here and the work that you do every day. I think in many ways, the work that Public Works does in all the various departments that we have is what the public sees, right? As far as services from the county. So appreciate that work. Thank you. Commissioner Clausen. Yeah. Or Commissioner Nossoff. Sure. Okay. I can go. Thank you for everyone being here. Guess I'll start first with-- I guess we could talk about the debt levy. Thank you for having accounting here so I can ask some questions about the percentage of debt. So the current budget in front of us has a change of percentage of levy. We are going from 13% to 14 point-- Wait, sorry. 13.5 million to 14.5 million. Is that correct? Madam Chair, Commissioner Clausen, that is correct. Okay. So, about 10% of an increase is what you, from 2026 to 2027. Madam Chair, Commissioner, I believe the slide calculates it out to be an 8% increase, but- Okay. You said it's an 8%? Correct. Okay. So there is an 8% increase. Does that include the capital project fund, the CRF And the debt service Madam Chair, Commissioner Clausen, can you repeat the first three categories again? I was just wondering what percentage that you hold for debt for the capital project fund, COP, the capital repair fund, and the debt service fund. Yep. Madam Chair- I was just asking what the percentage you have according to that. That was a question that we had talked about for the sheriff's department. Yep. So I'm asking what yours is as well. Thank you for the question. I think the capital repair fund is the one that we have the most control over, and I'm going to look to Greg Wood to see what percentage of the building services budget is put into the capital repair fund on an annual basis. Roughly 10%. So we set aside roughly 10% of our building services into what we call the capital repair fund. In building services, that fund is used to do things like carpet replacement, painting walls if they're damaged, just a general capital repair of the facilities that we have. It can sometimes be used for a little bit bigger remodels of office space. But primarily, it's meant to just maintain and repair what we have. As it relates to the overall debt service, that is something that administration and AFD handle outside of us, and so I would maybe defer to Administrator Corbid on how he wants to approach the overall debt service conversation. Madam Vice Chair and commissioners, I don't have the total debt service levy in front of me right now off the top of my head. What I can tell you though, as it relates to the public works budget, it is the county's practice to take the debt service levy and increase it by 2.5% each year when we create the budget. You might recall a couple of years ago that increase was 5%, so we had a practice of increasing the debt service levy by 5% a year. That was getting to be a very large number annually to come up with new levy at 5% of a debt service levy that I think is somewhere around 16 million or something close to that. So the board directed us to reduce that down to 2.5%. So we calculate that number each year. We then figure out what we need for the bond payments for the following year, and the amount that's remaining goes into the capital redirect fund. And that goes to pay cash for building projects mostly, not typically road projects, but building projects. And so one of the slides that Director Sandberg showed was in the capital area where it showed tax levy. I believe that was referring to the capital redirect money, and last year's calculation led to a higher capital redirect amount than coming up for 2027. So that's why you see that drop in the amount of property tax in the capital side. That is the redirect. If you're looking for a number of what's the total debt services compared to the total budget, we can try to calculate that quickly and get you that answer here in just a few minutes. Thank you. That would be helpful. I am actually asking what percentage of public works holds the debt service, and I'm hearing that it's a large percentage of the facilities. Is that correct? Yeah. Madam Chair, Commissioner Clausen, I think if I understand the question correctly, primarily the debt that the county has is related to bonding for capital projects, and public works would be the department that would be delivering those and essentially managing that process. Although the actual debt management happens with AFD and administration, and we work closely with those two departments to ensure that that all works out. Such a large percentage of levy comes from the debt service. The debt service makes up 10.2% of the total levy. It's a pretty large chunk. And with the discussion today about bonding in 2027 and with the changes that we're seeing from grants that we're awarding, from inflation, from the cost of roads that you exhibited and some of the price adjustments and procurement hikes that you're seeing, we could potentially get less than we get every year because of issues with collecting. And I'm in fear that we're not going to get as much taxes back as you are proposing. And there is such a large amount of debt that we are starting to hold, and I am in fear that if we move forward with the library for Stafford, that that will inevitably cost us even more when it looks like we still haven't completed the countywide library strategic plan, which should definitely be before a large purchase or a large project like Stafford. And I know that if we scaled back, we could potentially have a less levy amount this year. So I'm proposing that. That would really decrease what you're proposing. And so we can go back and talk to staff and Woodbury residents on the library because there seems to be Two sides coming and emerging. Mm-hmm. And I think we owe it to our constituents to really hear what they're saying and talk about it, and also show them what you are going forward with, with the strategic plan that I don't know enough about, to be honest. We had it in front of us one time, and we haven't had a work shop on it. So that I do believe would help us at least cut a percentage of a levy. But what I'm showing is that the budget that you're proposing and placing today, there's a lot more of that that makes up of the total budget. So, let's say last year you had 36.9 million, but it doesn't account for the debt service or the capital repair fund or the capital project fund. And what I want is to know what public works really holds in regards to those funds, percentage-wise, to really get a good understanding of what really is the cost for public works. It's a huge department. Mm-hmm. Usually it's cut. Parks has their own department, and it's not all together like this. As we get bigger, we're almost hitting 300,000, there has to be a change to your department, because this is too large, this is too big, this is too much. Talking about population, you hadn't addressed the population growth, and you didn't discuss how you took the population growth or changes to traffic capacity into consideration when coming up with this budget. If you could do that now, that would be great. Yeah. Madam Chair, Commissioner Clausen, and one other thing I'll touch on, too. You mentioned the debt service and the overall. The county does have policies related to debt. There's also state policies related to what a county like us can have as debt. I don't think we're prepared to review those in detail today, but that certainly could be a conversation in the future, is our overall debt, how we manage that, and what those policies are, and how we're under those thresholds and maintain that. As it relates to population growth, I think as far as the budget goes, you'll see the population growth primarily responded to through our recommendations on capital projects. So whether it's service centers that provide additional access to residents, whether it's new libraries, expanded libraries, whether it's expanded roadways. We go from two lane to a four lane, like Radio Drive, we're going to be widening that to a four lane. Those are all in response to the growing nature of Washington County. I think it's also fair to say that a lot of the work that we do becomes the foundation for economic development growth as well. When we build new roads, new interchanges, it's very common to see immediately after we're done, development pop up. An example of that would be Highway 36 in Manning, where we finished that project and about a year later, the hospital announced a $500-plus million investment in the region. And we're going to be seeing that on the south side now here too, next year, as soon as we're done with that road. So, that's really how we try to respond to population growth, is to make sure that the products that we're recommending to you are in the right places and at the right size to accommodate that. We have had a lot of growth in Woodbury. I believe we are the largest city in the county. And recently, there was a project that was determined to have more of a PCI than I believe that the traffic capacity showed, but traffic capacity wasn't studied. When do you decide to study the traffic capacity when looking at a road? Yeah. It's a combination of a couple of things, Madam Chair, Commissioner Clausen. One is as we work with the cities, as development's marching in, we can get a sense of how dense the development is around a corridor, and those are oftentimes triggers for those types of studies. I believe the corridor you're talking about is County Road 18. We had studied that back in 2010. We had a vision for the corridor. We've been implementing that vision. But now as continued and further growth have happened, you'll see in the CIP, we've moved the study up to 2027 to help respond to some of that growth along that corridor. When populations grow as much as Woodbury has, do you study any of the arterial label of roads and routes? Yeah. Madam Chair, Commissioner, almost all of our county highways are the major arterials in these cities. They're the commuter routes. They're the truck routes. They're often higher speeds. They're often more higher capacity. We do work collaboratively with cities, where we say if a local road maybe starts to become more like a county highway. An example of that in Woodbury would've been Valley Creek Road, east of County Road 19. 10 years ago, that was a city street. Now it's a county highway. Those are rare. Usually, we work collaborative with the cities to have them invest in their roads that support the county system. But there can be a conversation about where should the arterials be and who should own and operate those. That's a great question, because that brings me to the turnbacks. How many turnback projects are currently pending? Madam Chair, Commissioner Clausen, right now we have no turnbacks pending, although there is conversation about the Century Avenue and 36 interchange, and would Century Avenue become on the county system So right now it's just an initial conversation with the state. We're working collaboratively to try to secure funding for that interchange project. I believe if that interchange project were to happen, there would also be a conversation and a request from the state for us to take back another portion of Century Avenue. Can you talk to us about the 96 turnback and how that ended up? I never heard the results. As far as? New miles, what that meant for... Did you have to hire someone new for that to plow? Similar questions about adding miles to our overall roads. Yeah. Madam Chair, Commissioner Clausen, I'm going from memory here on 96. I believe it was about 9.1 miles of new road added to the system. I can't remember what we received for a payment. Jennifer, do you have that one handy, or Kevin? What's that? Yes. This is the document. I think, Commissioner Clausen, we emailed this document to you earlier this last week, and I apologize, I didn't have it in front of me. Nine miles of new road added to the system. So Highway 96 was a state highway, a two-lane state highway. We took it on as a county highway. We received a one-time payment of 14.46 million from MnDOT for that road. And then when you add a state highway onto your county highway system, the miles automatically are added to your state aid highway system. It's an automatic add. And so by adding those miles, we also increase our state aid apportionment. If the turnback would've happened in Hugo for Highway 61, how many miles would we have added, and how much would it have cost? Yeah. Madam Chair, Commissioner Clausen, I don't know off the top of my head the number of miles of 61 in Hugo, and we don't have a proposal or a vision for what that road should be or needs to be. Typically, when we do a turnback, we look at what does a road need to look like in the next decade, next 10 years, and that's the basis of our negotiation with the state. And these truly are negotiations. We have not had those conversations yet, so I don't have a number for you here today. Is that still pending? Madam Chair, Commissioner Clausen, it's not pending in a way that we're not having active conversations about it, but I do bring the board's memory back. There is an MOU that was signed between MnDOT and Washington County back in 1996. It is identified as one of the potential turnbacks in the future. Commissioner- Oh. Commissioner Clausen- Sorry. I've asked these questions ahead of time so that I could ask these questions again because I needed another clarification. I- So I definitely did my homework, and I definitely prepared Great. Thank you. So what I'm going to say is you've had the floor for 15 minutes. I'd love to get to Commissioner Clausen and a couple other people- ... and then we'll circle back to you, if that's okay. Okay. You said Commissioner Clausen. Yes. We'll circle back to you. Commissioner Bigham, I'm sorry, has questions as well. Are you sure? Okay. Yes, she does. Well, then I have to come back. Yep, absolutely. And I prepared, and I gave them all the questions ahead of time. Thank you. Yeah. Commissioner Bigham. Thank you, Director Sandberg, and staff for being here. I think this is a fantastic budget, that it meets the moment in time, both financially and the pace of growth. The capital improvement plan, which is the bonding and non-levy sources, are very important, the investments that we make. And I think that partnering that with the change we made in the sales tax is incredible, and it's allowed us to move up projects. And I know I'm not going to specifically talk about projects because that's the CIP, but I just want to say broadly as a policy and just the presentation is appreciated, and you can definitely see. A couple things. I don't necessarily have questions. I appreciate being able to ask a couple of them ahead of time just for clarification. The insurance increase is a macro thing. Very concerning. Very concerning. And the postage, too, which is vital because that's how we give our public notice, right? And then they keep tweaking that up, and that keeps adding cost to us. So I think those types of things shouldn't go unnoticed, that they increase the operation side of the budget more than people think, to be honest. So, and then the other thing that kind of surprised me, and maybe this is Director Sandberg, where you can elaborate a little bit, but the roadkill issue. Yes. I don't know if you want to elaborate on it. It was shocking to me. The deer and skunks, there's a price difference, too. Yes. Yes. Yes. So I don't... Yeah. Madam Chair, Commissioner Bigham, we have seen an uptick in dead deer on our county highways, and I think it also mirrors the uptick in deer population in the county. Yeah. And deer removal is not cheap. We had over 560 deer last year. I think we're on pace now to maybe over 600 this year, Corey? That look right? And the price has gone up as well. Right now, a deer removal is about $125. It's $150 for a skunk removal. Yeah. That is built into this budget, but it is an increasing cost. Yeah. No, thank you very much. Just a couple other, I guess, comments. I'm very pleased that we are now paying for the community service department transit projects that are so important for our residents that need that. And to have it out of the transit section of our sales tax is great, and I think that's where it should be. And then I know that there's some of us that have circulators with partners, like mine's DART, and I know they're eager to expand, and that's great. And I support that. But I think we just put money in- Mm ... and I think to look at how that is working out is important as well before just flipping on that. But we really got to work with them. The one in my area with DART is very popular according to DART. So, I appreciate that. And then, I'm just going to lift up... I don't like the idea of increasing the daily park pass. I don't. But I also want to have dogs in the campground, and I want to have that kind of stuff that will increase the operations of it. And there's going to be a new regional park probably in the next 10 years in District 4, and that's going to cost money. And so, I do think our parks get such high ratings from our residents and on surveys, and also our libraries do. And that's a big component of our future right now. And so, I think this is a very good budget and appreciate the efforts that have gone into it and look forward to having the conversation on the capital improvement plan, and seeing the city's feedback, and really just appreciate the effort that's gone into this. Commissioner Karwoski has a couple comments, and then we'll go back to Commissioner Clausen. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Just some observations that I think are really positive highlights of this budget. One, the 2.2 million park visitors, up 24%. That's a great testimony that our investments are paying off. Building energy use is down 4.4%. Just for it to be down, even level. We've added square footage, so in theory it should go up, but that's due to some of the things of solar use, and new building materials, maintaining our buildings properly. So thank you on that. The new positions, which when you have that increase of 2.2 million visitors, 24% increase, I think we've started to see where our constituents, our residents really need good park service, and I do think that was becoming really much needed. But to do that, new positions with non-levy, do it without property taxes, largely due to the $294,000 which we park fee increases. There were nine areas. I think they were all modest. When you haven't had park fee increases since 2017, that's almost 10 years. I found I have never had any resident constituents say our park fees are too high. Just it's never happened to me. I'm sure it may have happened to others, but I go by that feedback being out in the community. And I do think part of that is we got to continue in our parks. Our roads have no property tax contributing toward them. We have to stay the course on that. And I think we're minimizing our park levy contribution because I think the... I'm the liaison on the Park and Open Space Commission. There was a very good discussion about these fees, and even though the daily fee is $10, I think to go out to our parks with all they have to offer for $10, your whole family in the car, it's worth it. I was adamant at that meeting to say, and I think it was largely the consensus of the board, is to not shift park fees onto our property taxes. Have a user fee, that those that are enjoying the parks use them. Plus, it's proven evidence that we get a lot of our park users from outside our county. So having these fees, they're helping pay for the parks. Those were highlights. Also, I had a constituent really within the last few weeks that we get such great feedback from our residents and our county workers and our park workers. So this was really a rarity, but this constituent had some service problems regarding responses and such. And I really think the added employees will help that, along with some other things being done, will really help that situation. So I just wanted to make those, those are kind of highlights for me. There is a lot to digest, though, as part of the overall county budget, and taxpayers are really hurting. So whatever we can do to keep our improvements off the backs of the everyday property taxpayer through the levy is good. Thank you. Commissioner Clausen. Yeah. Back to the debt Yeah, I agree with Commissioner Kowalski. We need to do more to cut the budget. I did get several emails asking us to do what we can, and this is the budget where it's the largest percentage, and it's a huge share of their overall budget. What is that, 187 million in roads and bridges? And there are opportunities that we can provide to cities for opportunities to do projects for less money. I believe there are other directions that the department can go into to decrease the amount. People are not doing well. Honestly, the jobs are going down further than I've ever seen, and people are going to be struggling. Wages are flat. Inflation is skyrocketing. We need to do more to cut the overall expense of the budget, and I brought up several areas in which I think we can do that already, so I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole again. But we need to do what we can. I don't think I've ever seen numbers like this when it comes to the labor market, and it's a scary time. So increasing fees will hurt the people who go to the park for an outing because that's all they can afford. And so when we go after the small little things, little money here, little money there, it does matter, but in the end, the larger piece is actually up here that we often miss and are not talking about. Because we'll talk about the park fees 100 times because we understand those, but what we need to understand is debt and what that means for people. We need to ask those questions. If you don't know what that means and you don't understand it, we need to talk to them and ask them about it. I've worked in local government. I understand the budget. I understand what's happening, and I'm only one person asking that we try and decrease this. 7.9 is high, and 10% is coming from this budget from one year to another. But what I didn't ask, "Well, in the last four years, what has the percentage increase been for your budget?" Because if we put them together, I think it's scaling higher than other departments, and I've been watching that, and that's why I'm asking you today to re-look at this and present something that means less overall levy for everybody. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Director Sandberg, for the presentation. I'm supportive of what you've laid out here in front of us. I think this is a tight walk that your team does every time we do this. Finding grants, finding the shift from the transportation sales tax and bonding money, that's $94 million of money that is coming in to support these projects and this work. So, I'm grateful to the team, and if you're ready, we'll hop right into Regional Rail. Oh- Thank you ... Administrator Corbid first, please. Madam Chair, just a couple of comments, and hopefully some numbers that will help. Commissioner Clausen, you're correct. About 10% of the gross levy goes toward debt service. So that's correct about that number. If I heard you correctly, the thought of delaying the library project and not issuing the $20 million in debt in '27 for the R.H. Stafford project, the bond payment for that issuance in 2027, or the first year of the payment, is about 1.5 million. If you cut your bond in half by delaying that project, you'd save about $750,000, which is equivalent to about a half of a levy point, so 0.5% of that 7.9% levy increase. Just on the total debt that the county holds, I think that's really a positive story. Back in 2016, the total debt the county held was almost 200 million, about 185 million, plus interest. We are now down to about 105 million. So we've almost cut the debt we hold in half, which certainly saves on interest payments and other things that we are doing from a county basis. And then finally, certainly you're right to focus on this capital project. It's a big budget. It's a big part of the overall county budget. But just a reminder, as Director Sandberg said, there's no levy that goes to that road and bridge project. So you can cut in that capital area on the road and bridge side, but it wouldn't impact our need for the 7.9% levy increase. So that's just a comment. So thank you for your questions today. Director. All right. Madam Chair and commissioners, again, good afternoon. My name is Wayne Sandberg. I'm the Public Works Director and County Engineer. We have two additional budgets in front of you today, Regional Rail Authority and Metro Gold Line. So we'll just talk about the Regional Rail Authority first, and then jump into Metro Gold Line. Starting with Regional Rail, before I get into numbers, just a little bit of history that was asked about. In the late 1970s, railroads were abandoning branch lines across Minnesota, and once a corridor is abandoned, the pieces are sold off to adjacent landowners and it's gone. So back in 1980, the Minnesota Legislature created the Regional Railroad Authorities Act And the purpose of that was to allow counties to create regional rail authorities that could come in and buy those rail lines. So a regional rail authority is its own political subdivision with its own levy authority. You sit as the regional rail authority board. That structure was deliberate. It gives counties a durable way to hold corridors for the long term, but insulated from the year-to-year pressures of the county general budget. So what happened was, in 1987, the county board did adopt a resolution that created the Washington County Regional Rail Authority. And again, it's a separate political subdivision with its own levy authority. You do have a joint powers agreement with Washington County to overall manage legal, accounting, budget, and administrative services, which is why I'm standing here today talking about it. So, three things this division does. It staffs commissions and partnerships that bring regional partners to the table. That's a way that we stay in front of these regional transit conversations. Regional Rail Authority works with cities and townships on permitting inside regional rights-of-ways. We hold those corridors. We are the stewards of those, so we permit things that are built or use them. And it also does studies on future transit corridors and coordinates transit expansion with our partners. Three pressures on this budget. We know travel patterns are shifting. Hybrid work, population movement have changed where people go and when they go. We watch that and try to work with our transit agencies and partners on that. We also are seeing requests for transit increasing, express service, microtransit, connections that don't even exist yet. So we all work through that process as well. And like I said, we manage the regional rights away that we hold. Hardwood Creek Trail Corridor is an example of that. The levy holds flat in 2026, $660,000. The budget is entirely made up of people. Personnel is $560,800. FTE is a full-time equivalent. Stays the same at three. Then quickly jumping into Metro Gold Line. The Gold Line has been carrying passengers since March of 2025. This budget continues the county's financial obligation to the project. Revenue is recommended at 3.9 million. That is 15% transit share of the sales tax. Two commitments remain: $875,000 for capital obligation and 87,500 for our Joint Powers Board administration. As Sarah mentioned earlier, this project is coming in about 10% under our original estimates. So that's good. That does leave about 2.8 million held, and if there are unforeseen costs, future right-of-way issues that are not resolved yet, we have some buffer there to take care of those. Zero county levy in Metro Gold Line, zero in '26, zero in '27, zero for the entire project. Fully funded through the county transportation sales tax. And this shows expenditures. Other financing use is down. Services and charters are down. Both track on kind of winding down the Gold Line project and our involvement in it, although we will stay involved for a number of years. We go down from 1.25 FTE to 0.25. We removed our transit deputy project manager position. That's, again, reflecting that the project is ending. Construction management workload is finishing. And so as you see that in future years, this will start to phase out as well. And so with that, happy to stand for any questions. Thank you, Director. No questions. All right. Before we wrap up, though, I do want to just confirm, Commissioner Clausen, are you requesting that staff delay the Stafford remodel project? What was your question? My question, Commissioner Clausen, is I just want to clarify before we end the workshop. I heard that it sounds like you want staff to delay the Stafford remodel project. I just want confirmation that I heard correctly. What I said was that we have a large debt and that that bond brings our debt service even higher, and that we have two different types of people that are wanting the library at Stafford to be at a different level than we have than the others. And so right now, we need to take time to do that. So if that would free up the debt so we could change it, I heard 1% of a 0.1, even 0.1, even 7.77 makes a difference. We aren't ready to move forward based on what I'm hearing from constituents, the city council, and from the board. And so with moving forward is a timing situation, but also a money situation that we will talk more about at the work session next week. So we'll talk more about it, and you can hear both sides, but they're compelling, and they deserve to have that strategic plan that the countywide library is going through so that we can ensure them that we made the right decision, because right now we can't say that. Thank you for the clarification. I look forward to the workshop next week because I don't know what the heck is going on- Yeah ... with that, so that'll be good information. Administrator Corbid, before we wrap up. Madam Chair, just one other comment to kind of keep in your mind as you prepare for next week's discussion around this library project is the county only borrows issues debt about every three or four years. And so depending on how long you wanted to delay the project, you still might need to have the cost in the bond issuance, because you don't want to be borrowing every year. There's a lot of cost and time and energy taken to issue debt. So just keep that in mind about Depending on how long you want to delay, we might still need to have the money for whatever project we pump in, in that bond issuance. Thank you for that clarification. Thank you, Director Sandberg and the entire Public Works team. Personnel.