Good evening and welcome to the Newport City Council meeting. Today is March 5th, 2026. We'll begin the meeting with the pledge of 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. >> Will staff please call the role. >> Council member Schmidt >> here. >> Council member Sumar, >> right here. >> Council member Ingamman >> here. >> Council member Taylor >> here. >> Mayor Elliott >> here. Next on our agenda is to adopt the agenda. I understand we have one amendment under um item 10, the engineers report, and that would be item A to extend the Washington County uh work hours for the county 38 project. Um with that, are there any other amendments to the agenda tonight? >> Hearing no additional ones, I'll move the agenda as amended. >> I'll second. >> I have a motion from council member Sumar and a second from council member Ingamman. All those in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed, the agenda is adopted. Next on our agenda is our annual state of the city address. And so, good evening and I'd like to welcome everyone to Newport State of the City address. Tonight, I'd like to talk about some of the highlights of Newport's many accomplishments in 2025. And as expected, it was another active year for the city. To start, let's take a walk through our park system. There were several projects completed last year and new initiatives in the planning stages. Parks are always fun to talk about because they get people out in the community. The improvements energize our image and they play an important role in business recruitment and retention efforts. One tool that has provided the council with clear guidance is our park survey. It helps set priorities and we're seeing that every project we complete is well used. 2025 was a milestone year because we finished the third priority of the top three identified in the 2021 survey. the much requested sports courts resurfacing and adding pickle ball. Stabilizing the base underneath will make future resurfacing easier and help extend the life of the courts. I encourage everyone to get out and try the new tennis, basketball, and pickle ball courts this summer. It's been very rewarding to complete the community's third priority. Trailblazing ahead, another major accomplishment for our parks was the trail system plan. Working with a consultant, we reviewed existing trails, identified new routes and connecting segments, and gathered public input. This plan identified almost 30 segments and trails to add to the system that will connect the community to businesses, parks, the school, public transit, and other trails, including the Mississippi River Trail. The river trail starts at Lake Itasa in northern Minnesota, and ends near the mouth of the river in Venice, Louisiana. It's exciting that Newport is part of a trail system that connects communities and states along one of the nation's most iconic rivers. And this plan has already paid off. We'll receive $1.4 million in federal land access program grant funds in 2028 for trails leading to the Cedar Lane area and a perimeter trail within the future park on the riverfront. A second project is a new trail on 65th Street, which will be built this summer as part of the Washington County Road project. Together, these two projects represent about 1.5 miles of the 10 miles of new trails identified in the plan. We'll continue adding trails as development projects, road maintenance, and reconstruction, and funding opportunities allow. There was more pioneering fun in Newport when the Pioneer Day Committee made some exciting changes. They moved the event to Saturday, added a 5K and a kids fun run, and introduced a Friday night movie. They also created a new website with the event schedule, volunteer opportunities, and sponsorship information. Despite the hot evening on Friday and some rain on Saturday, everything was well attended, umbrellas and all. Thank you to the committee for bringing new energy and ideas to the event and all the bes be behind-the-scenes effort required to organize a multi-day multi-activity celebration like this. Congratulations on a job well done. Continuing with our winning ways, the last thing I want to highlight related to parks is a first for Newport. We received an award from the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association for the playground reconstruction at Busy Beaver Park. This is the first award our park system has ever received. I want to congratulate our public works staff for their work in planning the park amenities and the many improvements they made to the site. This award is well-deserved recognition of the good work being done in Newport. Plowing ahead, let's talk about public works. In addition to supporting our park projects, they've been busy maintaining and improving utility systems. We continue to replace sections of leaking sewer lines, also known as inflow and infiltration or INI for short, and to improve our storm water management. Storm water is one of the enemies of sewer pipes, so directing where rainwater and snow melt travel extends the life of the system. Typical to our INI projects, there's always an unexpected surprise that delays completion and can add costs. Public works superintendent Matt Yokiel and city engineer John Herdigan have guided us through many of these challenges while working within our limited budget. This important work will continue in 2026. Keeping the flow going, public works has also been focused on drinking water. PAS isn't a new subject to this update, but we've shifted our approach from connecting to the new water systems in Woodbury and Cottage Grove to pursuing a Newport-based water treatment plant. Visibility studies have been completed and are now in the hands of the 3M PAS settlement trustees. We'll continue meeting with them throughout 2026 and until the PAS issues are resolved. As a reminder, construction of the treatment plant itself would be funded by the 3M PAS settlement. Anything that we'd like beyond the standard plant, such as extra storage space or improved landscaping, would need to be funded by the city. They're also working on a third well for our drinking water. Cadmium has been detected in well one and isn't providing the water quality we expect and want for our residents. As a result, we are making plans for a new well location and we expect to explore two potential sites in 2026. Earlier I touched on the Cedar Lane area as a future riverfront park. A key first step was breaching the levy there to set the stage for park development. Matt and John also led this effort with most of the cost covered by federal FEMA and state DNR grants. Turning to a new page, the library continues to offer a wide variety of programs for youth, families, and adults, and 2025 was no exception. They offered numerous adult and youth craft opportunities, sponsored literacy programs like Read with Me and Story Times, and got kids out into the community with Adventure 5505. They hosted their second annual quilt show and even have a weekly silent book club. They also received a healthy living grant through Washington County and used funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to bring in Dazzling Dave, the Yo-Yo Master. Sarah Marie Malowitz, our library and community center director, has been an enthusiastic and creative leader, introducing engaging and dynamic new programs for the community. If you haven't had a chance to check out our library offerings, 2026 is a great year to start a new chapter. Rolling on, transit is moving again in Newport. Bus service returned to the transit site on December 6th, providing hourly service to the Gold Line in Woodbury, the airport, the Mall of America, and other stops in between. The route operates 7 days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. with reasonable fair prices. In more good news about getting around, Washington County and our county commissioner Carla Bigum are expect expanding the darts bus into Newport. This is a local circulator bus that will begin service on April 9th, operating on Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Newport and St. Paul Park. The scheduled stops are at Red Rock Square Apartments at the transit site and Red Rock Manor on 10th Avenue. Bus drivers can also go a few blocks off the route for pickups and drop offs. Riders let the driver know local destinations where they'd like to go, such as nearby grocery stores, Newport Center, Goodwill, Kohl's, Menards, Target, and Walmart as a few examples. More details about this new transit service will be available in the coming weeks. Laying the groundwork for Newport's future, city planning was front and center in 2025. The council meant spent more hours on the zoning code update, including the zoning map, future land use map, and land use table, than any other matter in 2025. It involved 10 to 11 hours of joint meetings with the planning commission in addition to numerous council workshop discussions and public hearings. This was a long overdue update. In broad terms, we added language to address current planning issues, clarified and standardized processes, reorganized the material to make it easier to find and understand, and we incorporated performance standards to better reflect today's development needs. I do want to acknowledge and thank city planner Nathan First and Madison for navigating an incredibly tedious and lengthy process. Thanks to their work, we now have a solid foundation and timely review is planned to keep the code up to date and going forward. The code update was just one piece of our overall plan to strengthen our economic development outlook. Another high priority from our 2023 area study was continuing our code enforcement efforts. In 2025, staff opened 134 cases compared to 100 cases in 2024. Almost half of these cases came from proactive code enforcement where staff identified and addressed concerns before they escalated. Over 80% of these cases were resolved after the first notice. Of the issues brought to our attention by others, most were corrected immediately or after the first letter. Some cases require more extensive follow-up and longer timelines, and the work continues with these cases. Code enforcement is an important tool for protecting the safety and welfare of our community. It also establishes community standards and preserves property values and public perception. Violations don't just affect the immediate property. They can impact the surrounding neighborhood and even influence a developers or businessers business's view of Newport. That's why code enforcement not only ensures health and safety but also supports our economic development efforts to attract new investment. This work can be underappreciated and I want to recognize Christina Adet for her commitment to Newport's health and safety mission and for remaining positive even when faced with difficult feedback for her efforts. In 2025, we successfully secured just over $3 million in funding for various city projects through multiple grants and other sources. This impressive total was more than our entire 2025 operating budget. We owe a great deal of thanks to Congresswoman Angie Craig, Senators Amy Clolobashar and Tina Smith, State Representative Rick Hansen, State Senator Matt Klene, and County Commissioner Carla Bigum. Their work and the staff's efforts in identifying and applying for these grants reflects their commitment to moving Newport forward while keeping the financial burdens on residents as low as possible. Looking ahead to 2026, a number of housing projects are on the schedule. These take multiple years to plan, fund, and construct. On Century Avenue, Cherrywood Homes has started construction on 117 single family and connected town homes. This project was completed was complicated by the lack of water service to the area, but we reached an agreement with Cottage Grove to provide water. We expect Cherrywood to be fully completed in 2027. Keller Fence finalized their land acquisition on the south end of 7th Avenue in 2025. They're currently storing some materials on site and completing work related to soil contamination concerns on another portion of the property. This family-owned business provides both commercial and residential fencing. They'll be constructing a new headquarters building for up to 50 employees later this year. At the transit site, M MWF is con constructing the third and final apartment building for that location. Like the first two buildings, it will be multifamily housing with 51 units of mostly two and three bedrooms. The building will be completed and ready for occupancy later this year. Keeping the wheels turning, the city purchased the Palo Tire location on 7th Avenue for future development. This location was identified in our area study for potential future housing. The building will eventually be torn down and the site is currently being used for INI staging work. Shifting gears, the county will be leading two major projects in Newport this year. The first is the reconstruction of 65th Street. When completed will have storm water drainage, improved traffic flow and safety, and the new trail mentioned earlier that will lead to Newport's retail and business area. The second is the County Highway 38 pavement project. This covers a couple of miles in Newport starting on Maxwell Avenue just north of City Hall going east on 21st Street then south on 7th Avenue to the Glen Road interchange. Crossing Highway 61, the project continues south on Hastings Avenue past 65th Street and into St. Paul Park. Plans include pavement and trail resurfacing, storm water management, sign replacing, and striping. Both projects are on busy streets, so please be patient and allow extra travel time this summer. Enhancing our curb appeal. We also plan to complete a streetscaping study for Hastings Avenue this year. Streetscaping is about making streets and public spaces more attractive, comfortable, and enjoyable to use. It can include things like landscaping, benches, and tables, lighting, and public art. The goal is to create places where people want to walk, gather, visit businesses, and spend time. This is another recommendation that came from our area study aimed at improving Newport's economic development prospects. Taking shape are several planning components for the Bailey Farms development, which will continue in 2026. This includes the Quick Trip and apartment building and a business park, all located on the north side of Bailey Road. This development starts about a half a mile east of the Bailey Road and Military Road intersection. and we placed a bookmark in 2026 for a library study to learn how to better use the available space in this historic 1868 building. We'll also begin planning for the reconstruction of Lions Park, which was reduced in size when the new city hall was built in 2022. As you can tell, 2026 will be another year that keeps staff, council, our citizen committees, and residents busy with planning, project completion, and community-based initiatives. Next, we said goodbye to Sergeant Herrell, who led the deputies serving Newport for several years and provided keen insights for the planning of the law enforcement portion of the new city hall and public safety building design. He's still with Washington County, but has rotated into a new role. He built strong relationships with residents and staff when he was here and always treated people with warmth and respect. Fortunately, there was a wonderful replacement waiting in the wings and Sergeant Joel Leget joined us as Bill's replacement. He has been another great law enforcement leader for the community. The other significant departure for 2025 was our longtime fire chief Steve Wy. Steve had been with the department for 39 years, the last 11 as chief. He had a vision for the department and his strong commitment to public service, professionalism, and teamwork changed Newport for the better. His experience brought important insights into the planning and design of the fire portion of this building. and true to his nature, he prepared prepared someone to take over his role upon retirement. We welcomed Derek Marson into his new role as fire chief this past fall. I also want to mention something that seems a bit small but has important implications for the future. It's a little bark with a big bite, and that's our dog park lease agreement with Marathon Refinery. The original agreement had a 90-day notice to end the lease, which wouldn't have been enough time to relocate the park. We requested an amendment and they agreed to extend the notice period to one year, assuring enough time to establish a park in another location if needed. While we expect the dog park to be in its current location for many decades, it's important that decisions we make today are forward thinking. This is just one example of the many small changes council and staff make each year to position Newport for long-term success. Whether it's fine-tuning a financial policy, adding another tool to our communication efforts, or implementing a better workflow process, each of these small things add up and make a real difference. On behalf of the council, I want to acknowledge that this kind of work only happens with a dedicated staff that's committed to serving Newport residents. There are several individuals that contribute to our success that haven't been named tonight. The importance and value of every project we complete and every dayto-day task staff performs are all central to Newport realizing its full potential. Please know that Newport works because they work. And I want to thank them for their great service in 2025. And if there's anything that our city administrator Joe Hatch has proven, it's that leadership matters. As you can tell from this address, he wears many hats. Much of the progress I've described tonight, from navigating complex infrastructure projects to pursuing grants, managing daily operations to long-term planning, it all reflects the coordination, persistence, and problem solving that happens quietly in the background every day. On behalf of the council and our residents, I want to thank him for the steady leadership, energy, and commitment he brings to Newport each year. In closing, I'd like to thank the city council for their work throughout 2025. We continue to tackle not only many issues, but some of the toughest challenges Newport has faced in a long time. Sewer systems, drinking water, economic development, and park improvements. Each of these is significant on its own. This is complex and time-consuming work that everyone at the DEAS has taken seriously with thoughtful and collaborative decision-making. This approach is key to our continued success as leaders of this community. With that, I want to thank you for your attention this evening. And we'll now turn to the rest of tonight's agenda. And I do want to acknowledge that we have county commissioner Carla Bigum in our audience tonight for the state of city address. And this was sort of a last minute. She said she was going to come. So, um, she is here. So, thank you so much for that. So, with that, let me find my agenda um, under the pile. Um, so next we have public comments. And public comments is a chance where u members of the audience can come to the podium uh give their name and address for the record and speak for about three minutes on anything related to city of Newport affairs policies or practices. Um the council typically doesn't take any official action but if necessary would uh refer something to staff for uh further review. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak during public comments? Seeing no movement, we will move on to the consent agenda. So the consent agenda is where we consider a number of items under a single motion that are consider and these items are considered to be routine by the city council. There's no separate discussion unless a council member or citizen so requests in which case the item will be removed and considered at the end of the consent agenda. Is there anything to be removed from the consent tonight? >> I'll move the consent agenda. I'll second. >> I have a motion from council member Ingamman and a second from council member Sumar. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. >> The consent agenda is adopted. Next in our agenda is the Washington County Sheriff's Office report. We have Sergeant Leot with us this evening. >> Good evening, Madame Mayor and Council members. Good to see everybody. Apologies for my tardies. Last month I was at uh Executive Law Enforcement Development Training, so uh wasn't able to make that one, but I'm glad I'm here today. It's always fun to see administrator Hatch Blush. So, it was fun to hear those good comments. Um and of course, as always, we always love our public works out here because they do such an amazing job. And I will say it's been a great pleasure to work with uh Chief Marson with uh everything that he's done with the fire department and continues to do. So, it's a it's a good partnership that everybody has here and I'm very grateful for that being in the city. Uh, a few things to bring up. Uh, since I wasn't able to talk last month, uh, there's just a little bit more on the agenda. Uh, first things first, it is getting warmer, though I know it'll get cold again and warm and cold, but ice is getting thinner. So, for anybody that is out there and you see any ice, just please do not let your kids get out there. Uh, it's it's not safe. And that includes even little ponds. It's just it is not a safe thing. So thin ice is a real thing and that is uh that is happening right now. Things are going through the ice, ice houses, cars, you name it. So just please be careful uh if you are venturing out there even as a fisherman. Secondly, uh it has uh been a little busier, but that comes with warmer weather, right? Um and just to highlight something uh to highlight the work that some of our deputies do. Uh I know some of you saw this report. There was a crash that happened um in off of Maxwell Avenue and thankfully nobody was injured but it was a fender bender and the driver did take off but because of the cameras that were around um with vehicles as well as the building and good hard work we were able to track down who that was and that person has a definitely does not have a license and he uh we ended up charging him uh for a hit and run for uh the vehicle that he struck. So there's a lot of just coming to take a report. There's quite a bit more that takes place behind the scenes that a lot of people don't get to know. And that's just one really really small minor example of uh the hard work where we just don't give up. Right. A couple other things I'd like to add and I'm not sure if uh many people do know that mental health is is and always has been something out there. I think it's just talked about more and for our call loads uh recently mental health calls have to be very honest gone through the roof >> and we've been very very busy with that. Um but being in law enforcement we are not counselors though we do act as counselors to our best of our ability and not psychologists. Um but we do what we can to counsel to help and to get them the resources they need. Um, and with that there is a member of a community services with the county, a social worker that specializes in mental health that now sits with dispatch. So the hopes are that if a mental health call does come in that that person might be able to take that call and potentially give them the resources right there without having to dispatch us and take us from other emergencies that might be taking place in the city or around the county as a whole. So it is a newer thing that we are trying and so far it has been successful. Uh it is not 247 at this time. It's more of a little pilot project for certain certain time frames. But my hopes are is to see that continue to grow. Uh additionally our coordinated response unit which is a social worker u with community services and a detective that is a fourperson division I guess five if you include the sergeant. and they have been active down here uh helping us out. Uh and when I say down here, I don't mean just specifically Newport. Uh it's the whole southern part of the county. They kind of split it up uh between the two teams and they have been a vital resource for us and I do appreciate their help uh coming and specifically helping us on some calls where we just didn't have any more resources and they were able to come out and help us even on the call while we were there to get those members some help. So that has been a great partnership and a good program which I also hope to see grow in the future because clearly this is going to be a forever challenge uh for law enforcement and how to deal with these calls. Uh so my point to bringing that up is it's been very successful and it continues to be. Uh, additionally, I would say with the uh, warm weather, kind of going back to that topic, that does bring out kids, right? Kids with bikes, kids with balls that go into the street just running around. I do ask people to please pay attention and slow down to the best of their ability. Um, there's certainly been some close calls out there and I do get some calls here and there for uh, driving complaints. We will continue to do our best to enforce the rules out there and to educate folks. Um, but caution to everybody with the warmer weather comes kids playing outside more. So, I do ask people to please be careful. Also, with that, it's great running weather. So, a good pair of shoes and a great pair of socks are vitally important. Um, but know that when you're running out there, uh, it's not time for public works to necessarily sweep the streets. There might be a lot of debris on the side where you're running. So, you could trip, you could actually step onto something that might be sharp, go through your shoes. So, just be careful, right? It is uh something a lot of people don't think about. Uh, and with that, geez, I think I hit most of everything on here. Oh, I got one more. Sorry. Uh, I did mention earlier this year, which isn't that long ago. The homeless shelter is open and it is operating up at Washington County. It's next to the county government center and the law enforcement center. Now, with that, if anybody in the public does know some folks who could use that resource, we encourage them to go online and look at the Washington County website. There's a number you can call, but I will give it to you right here and right now. >> It is 651-4306488. This facility is not a come and drop in. You do have to call that number, make an appointment, and then with that appointment, you will have an interaction with a social worker to see if you qualify to be in that facility. So, this is not a drop off type of facility. They will not accept people that are aren't just dropped off. You need to make that appointment. But, if you do know know people who need that resource, I highly encourage it. It's a beautiful facility. They have great resources there to help people get on the right track. So, I encourage the use of that. Now I am done. So Madame Mayor and council members, if you have any questions, I stand here. >> Thank you. I appreciated the break after the long talk. >> Um, and thanks for bringing up the thin ice and the ponds. And I want to ask Matt like things that look like a little shallow pond, those holding ponds, what's the typical depth on one of those? >> It really varies greatly. So, okay. I mean, anywhere >> 10 feet or >> Well, some are only a few inches. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> But it really depends and it's deceiving. So, >> okay. >> Don't don't count on them being shallow. So, >> yeah. Okay. Thank you. Anything for >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much. Have a great night. >> Thank you. And next we have our fire chief's report. >> Is it going to be a long one? Good evening, madam mayor and councel. Pretty hard to follow the state of the city address and shredding leg. It's uh so I'll make it short and sweet for you. Um you stole a little bit of the thunder with the thin ice, but also remember that it's daylight savings time this weekend. So check your uh batteries and your CO and smoke alarms. Um 15 calls for the year or not for the year, sorry, for February. 34 of them were mutual aid, two to Woodbury, one to Grove, and one to St. Paul Park. Um, we've had a total of 118 incident hours, uh, 225 training hours and 181 activity hours, which would be like community events and office work and that type of stuff. Um, lastly, I have is uh at the end of the month, we're going to be hosting a fire inspector course for Centry College. Uh, we have six people in there. So, at the end of that, we'll have 10 total uh fire inspectors for the fire departments. And I'll stand for any questions. >> Um the four mutual aid calls, what were the four communities we helped out with that? >> Uh Woodbury, two in Woodbury, one in Grove, and one in St. Paul Park. >> Got it. Thank you. Any questions? I think we're good. Thanks so much. Next, we have the engineers report. John, >> good evening, mayor, members of the council. Uh, thanks for the, uh, accommodating the late addition to the agenda. Uh, Washington County had formally requested to extend their work hours for the County Road 38 resurfacing project that's uh, scheduled for later this summer. Uh, it'll be likely starting end of July and then running into uh, October. Uh, typically our our work hours are 7 to 7 Monday through Friday. and uh contractors or applicants may request uh uh work hours directly from the council for any weekend work. Uh the county had requested work on Saturdays between the hours of 7 and 7. Uh they did not request um any work on Sunday. Um so in the past we have allowed that uh Saturday or Saturday work. Uh this is going right through the the heart of Newport. Uh so there's some consideration there, but uh we had said that we would pass along that request to council for consideration. >> Great. Thank you. Any um discussion or concerns on this? I just think for the public, we get these requests, you know, with the the apartment buildings being built on the transit site. Uh sometimes they needed a little extra time on a weekend to get something done. And so this isn't common, but it's not an uncommon request either. Um, >> and I will mention that this is a resurfacing project. So, it's it's limited excavation equipment. So, it is really, you know, removing the pavement, ensuring that the subgrade is in good condition, and then repaving. So, it is it's a lesser scope than a lot of the uh city reconstruction projects that we've been working on lately. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Council Member Sumar. >> I just want to emphasize your your comment that it's not going to be any deep excavation. So there's not going to be any likeliness to encounter rock that needs to be blasted. So it's just going to be typical >> um trucks, trailers, excavators. >> That would be my expectation. Yes. >> So I think that gives us a better opportunity to allow this. >> Okay. I think um let's just put this on the record then. Can I have a motion to extend those hours to Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.? >> So move. >> Second. I have a motion from council member Ingramman and a second from council member Sumar. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. The extended hours are approved. >> And I have just uh one update on our water system interconnect project. We have received our flow meter that's going to measure the flow between uh or leaving Cottage Grove into Newport. Uh Excel is working on extending power uh along Century Avenue. They're replacing all of the singlephase power uh with three-phase power to serve the Cherrywood development and that will also serve our uh our metering vault. So, we're we're patiently waiting for them to complete their work and then for things to dry up a little bit so we can put in our control panels. So, we're expecting startup toward the end of uh toward the end of April uh weather depending. Uh but that is the um I guess the update for our Thanks. Nope. Glad to hear there's progress going on there. Any questions for John? >> Thank you. Next, we have the superintendent of public works report. Matt, >> uh, good evening, Mayor Elliot and council members. I have nothing formal this evening, um, but two updates. Uh, one good, one bad. Uh, we did have a water main break yesterday on 14th Street. Um, so we appreciate the patience from the residents directly affected by that. Hopefully that's, uh, we're nearing the end of water main break season. Um, but our plow truck is also complete. Um, so we haven't taken delivery yet, but uh staff is definitely excited about uh the new new plow truck and that will definitely uh vastly improve our ability to uh apply salt at a lower rate, which obviously is good for the budget, good for the river, good for everyone involved. So >> right, >> I hope so. Hopefully not we don't use it till next next season. But um with that, I'd be happy to stand for questions. >> Council member Sear, >> can you just detail a little bit more about what the plow truck uh configuration will be? >> Uh it'll be a single axle dump truck. Um you know, very similar to uh what it's replacing. It just uh 25 years newer. And uh um like I said, the big the biggest difference will be the the controls which uh meter the salt and then also it'll have a a pre-wetting kit on it which we put salt brine onto the salt before we apply it. And uh that that allows us to activate the salt faster which reduces the amount of salt needed. So that's the biggest biggest difference. So >> So we've had a couple years of using that uh wetting solution. Mhm. >> Are you seeing good uh good good application of it? >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Has it been a successful product? Oh, outstanding. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Great. Other questions? >> Thanks so much. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have the administrator's report. >> Uh mayor, members of the council, nothing formal tonight. Um so, happy to stand for questions. >> So, we do have a closed session. Um I'm going to move that to after the mayor and council reports um so that uh with the close session we go off camera and then we will come back for the adjournment or if there's any sort of motion that needs to be made all that needs to be done um on camera. So for mayor and council reports I just want to let people know that um you should have gotten the parks and recreation catalog from Woodbury. We contract with them so that our residents can uh sign up for several of their programs and pay the Woodbury resident rate for the program and not the non-resident rate. So, take a look and take a gander through it and if you see something uh that you're interested in, go ahead and sign up and then we end up paying the difference in the cost, but it's uh to you. Um you just pay the resident rate for that. So, that's all I have. Well, I guess I do want to mention too um the staff really did a wonderful job. Um, we had a council retreat and it's the first retreat I think they've had in a few decades here. Um, but it was five hours on a Saturday. I could tell our staff had worked really hard um to get ready and to present us with really, you know, quality information to help us, you know, just learn more and understand more about the work that they do and how that impacts the decisions that we make. So, I do want to thank Joe and Matt and uh all the others that were there, Christina and Na'vi and who else was up in front of the the podium? Yeah, it was quite quite a few of you. And Joe Joe was up there, too. Um but Jill, yes, that's right. Joe was there. Um so, I just want to thank all of them. I I know that they really put in an effort to make sure it was successful for us and so just, you know, thanks to them and others can comment on their their thoughts about that as well if they'd like to. So, um, thanks for for the good work on that. Um, with that, Council Member Ingaman. >> Nothing. >> Council member Taylor, Council Member Schmidt. >> I was just going to second the the council workshop that we had. Staff did a fantastic job and and it really it shows the maturity and and just the professionalism of the team. So, really really proud of what was put together and proud of the team. So, >> I will also comment very uh appropriately on the the retreat. It was just outstanding to see the people that we have working with us and for us in the staff positions, how competent they are. We we know that they do a lot of stuff and just to see them in action and to have them explain what they do on a daily daily um um time time frame. It was it was very nice to be assured that we've got quality people. the administrator has worked hard to develop them and they are shining with uh that opportunity to excel. I've also been attending the uh library advisory committee meetings and in the future next month all month the quilt show will be again happening and throughout the month you'll be able to vote on the quilt that you enjoy the most that you think is the nicest. There is a need for volunteers at the library. One Tuesday a month between 5 and 8:00 p.m. and two shifts on Thursdays, either 3:30 to 5 or 5 to 8. These are opportunities to meet more of your neighbors in Newport and also to help keep the library open, which is an important part of our Newport functions that uh were highlighted by the mayor's report. And also, if you go to the library and take advantage of the library, this allows us to keep it open and and bring more people in to enjoy the library functions. We also had a presentation from Miss Shot Mueller. She's been doing some gardening work down there. She shared some ideas that she's got about putting plantings in. I think that they're going to the to the uh public works. I don't know if a final decision has been made on that, but we look forward to a a redo of the plantings in front of the library. There's also going to be an opportunity for kids to have some space to do some annual plantings. So, get the kids involved with the upkeep and presentation of their library, their community center. Also, it was mentioned in the mayor's report, but the silent book club meets. Now, this is a short period of interaction, but also uh a longer period that people can come down and have a quiet reading time. You've just have got the camaraderie of having neighbors, but you don't have to engage with them the entire time. It's between 6:30 and 8 on Thursdays, 8:00 p.m. And it gives people in the neighborhood, our residents, a chance to go out and to the point that you want to be involved with chatting with people, you can. but also it just encourages you to be out, interact with the neighbors and also encourages people to do their reading. So these are a few of the things that are going on at the library. It's just full of full of much activity and I encourage you to be involved. Now, the recently we had a mailing come to us with the Washington County's InTouch mailing and there is a spring parks events and programs spring equinox forest bathing. This is a chance for you to go out and uh celebrate the return of light and the renewal of spring with a guided forest bathing experience. This is with clothes on folks. It honors the spring equinox and the international day of trees. It's presented by the Washington County. It's at the Lake Elmo Park Reserve. So forest bathing is something that is a real recognition of the impact of being in the forest, being in the parks that it has on people. And we talked about the mental impact that is impacting mental difficulties that are impacting people. And this is one way that people can settle down and become more connected with the earth. So I enjoy I encourage you to look into forest bathing as an option to enjoy our parklands. >> Thank you, Bill. >> Um with that, we'll move into close session. That means anyone uh who is not a member of the council or is not a party to the discussion does need to leave the chambers at this time. >> We can return after >> Yeah. Yeah.