Good evening and welcome to the Newport City Council meeting. Today is Thursday, January 8th, 2026. We'll begin the meeting with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. For all. >> Will staff please call the role. >> Council member Schmidt >> here. >> Council member Sumar >> here. >> Council member Ingamman >> here. >> Council member Taylor. Taylor. Uh, Mayor Elliott >> here. The next item on our agenda tonight is to adopt the agenda. Do we have any changes to the agenda? >> Hearing none, I'll move to adopt it. >> Thank you. >> I'll second. >> Second. >> Oh, I have a motion from Council Member Sumar and a second from Council Member Schmidt to adopt the agenda as presented. All those in favor say I. I. >> Those opposed, the agenda is adopted. Next on our agenda is to recognize our business of the year, core fitness and performance. Get up. Tell me what to do. You just have to stand there >> from up front. >> Such a nice. >> All right. Well, um, a couple weeks ago, we had our volunteer, uh, recognition dinner, and at that time, I announced that Core Fitness and Performance was our business of the year here in the city of Newport. Um, you weren't there to attend um, that night, but I do want to um, talk a little bit about Core Fitness and why you were selected. What I have here, who I have here is uh McKay Courts and unfortunately her husband is unable to attend tonight, Braden, who is the general manager of Core Fitness. And just a little bit about this business, they do adults and seniors and kids programs. It's fitness and nutrition. And what's one of the things I really like is it's a familyowned and a familyrun business. And I we have a lot of those in Newport. and they're just it's the legacy that they leave behind is just really really precious to us. Um they also do training and events and they do competitions which bring uh people into Newport and I know you had a pretty big one a few weeks ago because a friend of mine had a relative a nephew participating and they had an awful lot of fun uh doing that and and this business has a real loyal following. They draw people from all over the metro area from Egan and Hastings and um they just bring a lot of people into our community and get a they get a chance to see what Newport's all about. Um and another thing that I really liked about Core Fitness is a lot of their members come and train and then they if they're there in the morning they go have lunch down at the North Pole and if they like to work out in the evenings they >> they clover leaf. >> They head down to the clover leaf. That's right. And so this kind of cross business that supports other businesses is really valuable to communities like Newport. So um and you guys were also a sponsor of our 5K our very first 5K run um for Pioneer Day. So you've really been involved a lot uh with Newport in the few years that you've been here. And all of that I just found very impressive and that's why uh business of the year for Newport. So, we have a plaque here for you and um it says city of Newport 2025 business of the year core fitness and performance in recognition of exceptional contributions and support to enrich the lives of our residents. And you have certainly done that. >> You're very welcome. Appreciate it. >> Thank you for coming out tonight. One of the cutest attendees we've ever had at a meeting. So, um, next on our agenda is the community garden presentation, and I think we're going to be calling that up. We have both uh Susan Lindu and Marge Maroneus with us this evening. The podium has an operating microphone and a camera that points at it, too. Okay. So, we're here tonight. I'm Marge Mcconis. This is Susan Lindu to um give our report for the Newport Community Garden. Um, next slide. Thank you. So, we started out in 200 um 11 and it was a small group of women in the city of Newport and we made a had a little nonprofit created called Newport on the Move, which is basically women who get things done. And our goal was to do good things for Newport. And we had two directions we went. One was with the arts part which um people can see with the flood markers down at the on 10th Street and the other one was our community garden. So the original community garden like I say 2011 was um next to the old fire station on the east side of Highway 61. We had um mostly raised bed gardens and you can see there's a lot of grass, all that kind of stuff in between. Um it was a very nice spot for us, but um the old city hall or sorry fire department was going to be torn down and the property could really be used better by the city for other uses. So we started to look for a new spot and you can flip to the next one. In um 2017, we moved to the corner of 4th Avenue and 15th. So, this spot was good for us in uh for several reasons. One of which is that it would not be developed beyond a community garden. Uh it had something to do and I don't know all the details of this or don't remember them all, but it had to do with the Glen Road interchange that um the property reverted somewhat to the city but somewhat to the county, but it was not going to be developed. The other big thing that we could do there, of course, is fence it. Um, and we fenced the area to keep the animals out, but also to keep humans out because some people's concept of a community garden was people are growing vegetables. I'm in the community, let's go pick them. And so now we had a fenced secure place. and to go to the next slide. Um, this new place also offered us a chance to kind of start over again. So, before we had grass in between all the plots, as you can see in this one, especially on the left hand side, there's geotech um, uh, paths. So, we had that material that meant we didn't have to weed, which was awesome. Um there's dedicated water in there and we have like a jury rig system. A large bore hose goes down the middle. We have side hoses that will reach every plot within the garden. Um it's a little rickety at times, but we make it work. We also had a shed at the other uh garden which you see on the right hand side that was donated by Lutheran uh the Lutheran church and we had that moved over there. One of our auxiliary members, Steve U. Shop Mueller, built the deck in front of it, and that really helps us when we're doing our um preparations for harvesting and planting. Okay, next slide. So, the plots themselves that we rent out or the city rents out, um we have two sizes. First one is a small plot, a 10x5, which is very small. Um the other one started out at 10 by 10. Eventually, we expanded it to 10 by13. Again, you can kind of see where the paths are covered with this uh geotech fabric that uh helps a lot keeping the garden clean, free of weeds. Okay, next slide. Um, every community gardener has to sign an agreement with the city and basically it's uh requiring you to pay a certain rental fee, which is $10 for the small one, 20 for the big ones. It also has a um like a deposit you put down. So that's covered in the agreement as well. And then the rest of it is pretty much, you know, following basic rules of gardening. You know, keep your plots free of weeds. Uh don't grow things that are illegal or unwise to grow in our community spaces. Um, and people have been pretty pretty good about following through with it. And we have had to amend it several times. We'll probably have to amend it this year as well. Next slide. Fully half of the beginning of our community garden at the new site was um given we call it the giving garden and that is directly farmed for the friends in need food shelf. So, we've done this ever since 2011, but now we're really into the business of it. Um, in exchange for us using this land to garden for the community or for the food shelf, we are more or less the managers of the community garden. So, we take care of the watering systems, we take care of uh problems that arise, the fencing issues, that type of thing. We pretty much take care of the in inside of the garden. Uh the city maintains the outside still. Um next slide. So one of the comments we always had from the community part of the garden is that they would like larger plots. Originally we started by 10 by 10 were the large ones. Um to accommodate larger plots, we really needed to expand. Um our old supervis um public works supervisor, Bruce Hansen, really pushed us for this one. Um so we expanded to the east. Uh, and we were able to expand the size of eight of the large plots and the intention was to add four more community plots and then also expand our giving garden that goes to the food shelf. Next slide. So, the problem is this is a picture like when you're up on top of the Glen Road overchange, you can kind of around the loop there. So, we did it. This is expanded garden and uh what we ran into was a hard pan. So originally when we surveyed this site, we did do a soil test that was mostly for things like lead and contaminants that uh because there was a uh apartment building there, maybe two apartment buildings, but then there was a parking lot. So that um we didn't do a percolation test which lets you know how well the water drains through and we discovered this hard pan in this particular area of expansion. It um yeah it was really tough going for a while and uh we had to address that before we could go out and let other people rent plots and as well as we had to fix it for our own use. Um, next slide. So, we did three basic things and a lot of it came with working with Matt um trying to because he's a farmer, too. We were trying to figure out how can we break up this um hard pan without bringing in huge equipment to dig down that 2 feet around 2 feet deep. So, one um idea that he and Derek came up with was to use an augur and a post hole digger type of thing. And they went through that entire new section and dug holes and it was uh then we came through and got bags of compost and we filled that with compost and then we rotilled that again. Um we also did cover crops which um help in certain regards. This is a picture of buckwheat which adds organic matter but we also used a cover crop called daicon radish which is permeates that helps to permeate that hard pan. It is working but it's a work in progress. So it's getting there. Next slide. Um and as any good gardener knows you always have to add to your soil all the time. So this spring with a grant from the Washington County Ramsey County Environmental and um recycling center, the place where all your compost bags go um and then they send them out to Shakipi. We were able to get a grant from them and we actually got I think it's 20 cubic yards of compost. We offered anybody in the community garden that they could um share this compost with us if they came and helped us spread it. A few people did, but not many. And uh but we have added tons of compost to the site. And uh yeah, you can see there's old people, small people, all kinds of people. And I think is that the end of me? Um yeah, the only thing I would add is in is that No, I'm gonna leave it at that. Go ahead. I was going to say that um what Marge didn't say was that when we do the compost, we invite all of our friends to a garden party and ask them to bring shovels and it's and we get it we get it done. Um so I would say all in all the garden is doing pretty well. We have a small turnover every year of you the people we call them plot holders. It's a terrible name but what can you call them? The citizen gardeners who have plots. Um we have a small turnover every year. Um, but we're we're pretty much meeting I think most of the need of people who want to plot. Um, and I um Marge didn't say this, but we in in those rules, we've had a couple of instances where people didn't maintain their plots and we did have to work with the city to let them know they couldn't come back because if you don't maintain your plot, the weeds get into everybody else's plot and it's really kind of a mess. So, next slide. Okay, so this is our 15th year. Last summer was our 15th year of the garden, which means it's also the 15th year that we have been growing food to donate to the friends in need food shelf. Um, and we work with the food shelf. So, basically what we do is we try to buy crops or try to grow crops that they would be buying from a wholesaler. And like a good example are beans. Um, they buy beans from a wholesaler. And when when we're harvesting in the summer for several weeks this past summer, we were able to supply all or most of the beans that they gave out to the to the clients. Um and so that would mean that maybe they would buy one case of beans and we would supply what we the equivalent of two or three other cases of beans. Um and next slide. Besides beans, the other crops that they purchase that we can supply so they don't have to purchase them are in particular tomatoes. And there are weeks when you guys know how when you grow tomatoes, there are weeks when we can supply all the tomatoes that you can use. Um, also green onions are a big one. Um, collards, um, cucumbers, um, beets and then also, interestingly enough, hot peppers, habaneros, and and, um, jalapenos are very popular at food shelves, and we grow those. Um, besides that, we also grow some crops that the food shelf would not be able to buy, but that the customers do like and things like eggplant and kale and um oh, basil and um cilantro, things that they can afford. Um, and then other kinds of hot peppers. In fact, we grew I don't know if you guys know hot peppers, but we grew ghost peppers and Carolina Reapers in different years. So, if you're a hot pepper fan, you can appreciate those. And they were very popular. It was kind of fun. And then we're also able to grow some crops that um are important to certain segments of the the population that we're getting in. Um especially um our migrant immigrant community like um toatillos and lemongrass and amaranth was a new one which is very uh green that they grow a lot in Asia and Africa. So we're able to grow some of those things as well. Um okay, next slide. So, this is a chart showing the amount of food that we've donated every year in pounds. It's kind of hard to see, but the top the very top bar, the big long one, that's how much we donated this year and for this past summer, and it was the most amount that we've ever been able to donate. It was over 3,000 pounds. So, it was a really good year. Um, but I want to point out that you can kind of see that the very bottom um blue line is 2011 when we began. And you can see that most years we've been able to increase more or less increase a little bit every year. But if you notice the year right below the top one that was 2024 and Marge mentioned that we are farmers and we understand the problems of farmers. You are so dependent on the weather. So in 2024 we had a really cold, wet, cloudy spring and the plants never just never took off and they couldn't make up for it. So that year we gave one of the lowest amounts of produce that we've ever given. And then this year we had this wet spring but warm and not as cloudy and you know the plants really took off and we had the best year we've ever had. So that's always a part of the giving garden that we face every year. What's you know what just like farmers what will the weather be like? Thank god we've got rain or we've got a water supply. Thank you to the city. We've got a water supply but that we can't do anything about clouds. So that that happens. Um, next slide then. And this this is a chart from the food shelf showing the the number of clients per two-week period. Um, and I if you can tell way over on the left side um in 2023, this was right after the pandemic and we were getting back to our normal number of clients. Beginning of 2023, we were getting about 300 clients per two weeks. And by the way, one client represents a family size of between four and five people. So for one client, multiply that by four to I think it's 4.8 now. That's a number of people that are actually getting fed by um the food shelf. So in 2023, we were at about 300 clients every two weeks. 2024 we gotten up to about 400. And by 20 the beginning of 2025, we were up to about 550 clients every two weeks. So a great increase. And this has been going on all across um the Twin Cities and across the state I suppose in the county as well. So this was a really important year for us to be able to donate more that we had more crops. We were really happy with that. Um and I those those extreme peaks that you see every year, those look kind of weird. People are always kind of asking us what's going on there. That really high peak that is Thanksgiving when the food shelf is able to give away um a voucher for a turkey. And so people who've been coming all year make sure that they can come on that time. And then it dips down quite low um around Christmas when people are gone and they've kind of stocked up for the holidays and the weather is usually lousy and also we're not open quite as much. And that also happened this year in 2025. But the peak as you might see is is higher than normal. And that was because that time in in November was also when the government shut down and the SNAP benefits weren't going out. And so we really changed that. So we've been coming back down when the benefits came back. And we what looks like we'll probably be around 500 to 550 people um through the rest of this year. Um unless the SNAP benefits go away again, in which case it'll go back up. So um in If you want to go to the next one. Uh these are the names of the people. There were 10 of us this summer, which is more than we've had in past years. It was wonderful. 10 of us this summer who were the um community garden volunteers only grew the produce for for the uh food shelf, but we also do other kind of maintenance things for the garden in general, the paths and if there are water problems. And I want to point out that about half of those names are people who are citizens of Newport, but there are also people from Cottage Grove and even one person who comes down from St. Paul for it. And just one last plug and then I'll stop. I want at this point put a plug in for volunteering at the garden and you don't have to be a gardener. We we can train you. Marge especially can train anybody to garden. We're always looking for more volunteers. Um, and then also for the food shelf, if you if you've got free time on a Tuesday, which most people other other, you know, younger than we are, don't often have, but if you've got time on Tuesday or on Wednesday night, um, the food shelf is always looking for volunteers. And I will say that not only is it not only is it kind of rewarding to do this work, but the people that you meet at the food shelf, the volunteers and the clients are really good people. So, it's a really enjoyable volunteer activity. Okay, so that is it. Um, thank you for giving us the opportunity to tell you what was going on at the garden and if you've got any questions, I'm sure we'd be glad to answer them. >> Sure. Well, I want to thank you both for um coming out this evening and talking about the garden activities. I always find it very interesting all the different things you're doing and and great to see what a wonderful year you had last year with how much you were able to produce and donate. And our uh community garden was actually highlighted in the League of Minnesota Cities magazine in 2025. And part of that article was about the giving garden and the work being done there. And it it was also to help other communities start community gardens and kind of questions to ask and things uh to be aware of. So um the word is out about our our little garden out there. Um any questions at all? Thank you. I think you did a good job of covering everything. Thank you. So, next on our agenda is um the Washington County, as they like to call it, CASA, county state aid highway um 38 pavement uh preservation. We have uh Kevin Peterson and Aaron Bllelock here as well as our own engineer um John Herdigan that are going to help with this presentation. And this is just a discussion of some paving work that is going to be happening and kind of a detour that they'll need for a couple of weeks. So, go ahead, Erin. >> Good evening, mayor and members of the council. Is there a way that I turn this on? >> It's on. It's on. >> Oh, great. Okay. Um, as mentioned, my name is Aaron Bllock. Um, I'm a civil engineer with Washington County representing Washington County Public Works this evening. Um, as you've already noticed, potentially Washington County District 4 Commissioner Bigum is also here this evening and I'm told that city engineer Herdigan is willing to Vanna White for me. So bear with us if we as we have not practiced. >> Wow. So tonight, our presentation will review the project location, planned improvements, the anticipated project schedule, estimated project costs, and our current plan for construction, staging, and detour routes, which will tee us up for our project requests this evening. And we'll follow that with next steps, and of course cover any questions that you have. So, County Highway 38, um, the project location is actually the entire extent of County Highway 38, which is actually one of Washington County's craziest corridors. Um, and so it's approximately four miles long and covers three distinct crossings of major MIDOT facilities. Um, so I'll attempt to kind of review to wayfind us. Oh, imperfect city engineer. Um, Hardigan is gonna Vanna White with us or for us with the mouse there. Um, so starting at the south, city engineer Hardigan, >> there you go. >> Um, so adjacent to 70th Street, which is our county highway 22, we have a small portion of the county highway that's actually in St. Paul Park, um, outside of that green area of Newport, um, which is starting on Hastings Avenue. As we travel north into Newport, the corridor actually turns east onto the Glenn Loop Road, um, which then goes over State Highway 61. Um, turns down to 7th Avenue and continues north on the west side of 61. He's doing a great job, Vanna Whiting, isn't he? Um, and then it reaches 21st Street. And so we recently performed the trail and roadway project on 21st Street in 2023. So there will be no project work um with this project along 21st Street. So we'll pick project improvements back up um just north of where we are this evening actually at the project tie-in on Maxwell Avenue. Um and then Maxwell Avenue crosses under Interstate 69, excuse me, 494. And the county highway actually terminates after it transitions to become Bailey Road, which is after it has crossed uh State Highway 61 more time. So, a large portion of that northern part of the corridor, Maxwell Avenue, has concrete roadway pavement, which is actually holding up pretty well. And so, therefore, pavement resurfacing will not occur along this stretch at this time. Interestingly enough, that northern part of the county highway does terminate in Ramsey County, but Washington County still maintains jurisdiction of this stretch. The majority of our project scope will include roadway and trail resurfacing. It's noted that the roadway resurfacing will be limited to asphalt pavement because as previously mentioned, there's a fair amount of concrete roadway pavement on the corridor that's in good condition. We've prioritize this project in our program because performing a rehabilitation project now will significantly extend the life of the pavement. We're aware that the city has finalized recently finalized a trail network plan and an effort to create a more connected community. So, our resurfacing of the existing county trail pavement and many pedestrian ramp replacements along the corridor will support both the county and the city's multimmoal goals. Storm water management on the corridor will look like casting replacements and adjustments as well as storm sewer cleaning. Signs and pavement markings will also be replaced. Next slide, please. Taking a quick look at the project schedule. So that red pin um up at the top of the spectrum there is where we are today. We're almost through the design phase of the project with permitting and approvals still ongoing and expected yet this winter. We're planning to advertise the project for bids and initiate construction communications this spring 2026 with construction planned for a midsummer start. We do expect that the majority of our construction work will occur this year. We would like to note that we certainly would anticipate to come back next spring for kind of our cleanup punch list work items for example things like turf establishment eros removing erosion control measures etc. So pivoting to review the project costs the county has spent approximately $300,000 on design and our current construction estimate is right around $3.2 million for the project. If we receive favorable bids around that price, we'd expect construction administration and engineering to be approximately $400,000, which all totals up to be just shy of $4 million. We currently do not have any project scope that requires local cost share per Washington County's cost participation policy. So, 100% of those project costs are county funded. I will now provide a brief overview of our plan for construction staging. Typically, these type of details are developed internally on our pavement resurfacing projects. With the detour request here tonight, we certainly wanted to ensure that you have enough background as you consider our request. In coordination with the County Road 74 project team, the project work will start later this summer on 38 to minimize overlap of the construction for both county projects. We're tenatively planning for a threemonth project for county highway 38 with a mid August start that will begin with stage one on the left side of the screen um which is in the orange hatch. um on the west side of 61 while the county road 74 work is finishing up um kind of off the screen to the southeast. Generally the following stages so stage 2, three and four will progress the project work to the south over those three months and we are planning for stages 1 2 and four to detour to state highway 61 which is subject to mind approval. We're here tonight to discuss a request for stage three, which is a portion of the Glenn Roop uh loop road overpass from Hastings to Glenn Road. So, we'll dive into that here on the next slide. So for that third stage, we're planning for a complete reconstruction of the Glen Roadway pavement from Hastings to where Glen Road turns to go west over 61 as is shown in the Yep. in the orange crate. Um we expect this portion of work to take approximately 3 weeks to be completed. It's actually only about 700 linear feet is what that length is in the orange. And so we are able to keep westbound traffic, excuse me, westbound traffic open to ensure residential and business access, but aren't able to fully keep the road open. So eastbound traffic will need to detour for the entire duration of this stage three. So our starting place on county projects is typically to detour to other county facilities. But as you can see from the graphic in the middle, which is very zoomed out, but that's the point, um, is that our closest county roads would certainly be circuitous and we'd still anticipate cut through traffic because our experience with other county projects is that drivers in this Google Maps era generally will take the shortest route no matter what. So, we're here tonight to request utilizing the city's High Street and 10th Avenue as the posted detour route for eastbound traffic only during this third project stage. So, for the 3-week duration, please note that this is a county highway detour and so therefore, you know, county highways are dedicated truck routes and that would mean that trucks would utilize the posted detour route as well. I know that was a lot of information. Um there's a lot going on in the graphics there. I'm going to cover next steps on the next slide. Um and we'll certainly come back to any questions that you have on the details after that. So, regarding next steps for the County Highway 38 project, our remaining design tasks include finalizing our construction documents, coordinating our necessary permits and approvals, advertising the project for contractor bidding, and then pivot, excuse me, then pivoting to prepare for construction, which will include public engagement to provide the surrounding residents and businesses with what to expect regarding construction details. With that, Madame Mayor, that's all I have prepared this evening and we're happy to answer any questions from you or council on this. >> Well, thank you and I think the uh mapping was very helpful. Um, do we questions uh for Aaron? Can Yes, thank you. this slide. I think I'm a little confused about how someone goes east. You said the westbound traffic will remain open, but eastbound cannot. So, how am I am I coming down 7th Avenue then heading east and then being stopped and having to go? How am I getting on to Hastings to get on to High Street? I guess I'm I'm confused. >> Mayor, members of the council, it is difficult to capture everyone's experience or everyone's um origin location on the map in the middle, especially in such zoomed out form. Um but yes, generally, so on the left, what you see is the portion that you would only be able to go west only. And so if you were looking to, for example, go to Burger King from um from Hastings further to the south from our award-winning business this evening. Um we would recommend um in that middle kind of the county standard detour graphic to go all the way down Hastings as you suggested. Um that would be the posted detour down to our next county highway which is 7 or county road 74 up to county highway 13. Um and then across to County Highway 18 Bailey Road. Um so generally that would be you know the signed posted detour. We would block off access for all vehicles except equ construction equipment so that no traveling public could enter um the construction area from essentially from the north or the south on Hastings Avenue. Um you would have to go around So is there a reason this stage three work are you planning to do like I mean it's two lanes in each direction isn't it mayor members of the council um maybe one of the terms that I use so generally this project the four miles of the project the meat and potatoes is skimming off the top two inches of the pavement and putting it back down. But on this port, this graphic, the stage three area, that's a full pavement reconstruct. And so we'll actually go down to the entire depth of the pavement and actually into the base layer below. Um, and so it's more difficult to work on that with adjacent traffic depending on unless you had um a significantly wider road. And so it's it's just a more extensive project scope in this stage than we're talking about in stages one, two, or four. Okay, I think I understand where I'm getting confused. Um because with the orange hash marks, I see that as both eastbound and westbound traffic, but you're Yeah. So, if it's two lanes today, if I drove down, that was two lanes going east and two lanes going west. >> One with shoulders. >> Okay. >> And not enough shoulder to turn it into two-way. Okay. >> Correct. >> And it's only going to last what? >> Three weeks. >> Three weeks. >> Correct. to council members. >> Weather permitting. >> Weather permitting. 3 weeks. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Yes. I would watch for signage and you said you would notify the neighborhood because they'll have traffic coming through later in evening hours that they would not normally be experiencing. >> Mayor, council members. Um yes, absolutely. So, a part of our construction communications that we roll out, we send out a postcard or a newsletter um to surrounding residents in the area. Obviously, not only residents are using the county highway. Um, and so we have to catch folks in other ways and so, um, we use dynamic signage a couple weeks in advance to tell folks, hey, this road is going to be closed. You know, you know, follow post a detour. Um, and then social media can really be used as a tool as well. And so we'll start to once we have our contractor on board and we have those dates set, we'll start to let folks know ahead of time of what to expect. Um, and we can really partner with the city on that where the city can, you know, help us get out the word on some of, you know, your social media pages as well. Um, so that folks hopefully it isn't the first time they're finding out um when they get there. Um, but if it is, then there is ideally a a shorter way around. Um, if if council and yourself would >> and I think if we can get the the link to your project page on this, we can get that on our page as well so that people can link and and follow what's going on. Absolutely. >> Okay. Thank you. Yes. >> Real quick question for the high street detour um to 10th. Are we doing speed reductions as well with this detour or no? >> Mayor, uh council member, my understanding is those are low-speed roads. Um so we would just be the posted detour would be abiding by the the speed limit that's posted. It wouldn't be matching the county highway speed limit if that's what you're asking. I I was asking if we're increasing traffic on local roads, would there be part of this plan a plan to reduce speeds temporarily for those three weeks? And I don't know if that's your call or our call. I was just posing the question, >> council member. Um, the city has jurisdiction of their own speed >> on that road. Perfect. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> Council member Ingramman, would you like to make a motion? Yeah, I'll I'll move that. Um, >> there's a resolution here. >> All right. Resolution is uh 26-01. It's a resolution providing support for the detour of eastbound state highway a state highway aid >> 38. >> Highway 38 traffic looking. Yeah. Onto local streets. >> Yeah, whatever. >> We certainly know what you mean, council member. >> No, absolutely. >> It didn't make any sense. >> Thank you, Tom. That was excellent. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Or does nobody want to want to uh second that motion? >> Just kidding. >> Yes, >> it's in the packet. >> Eastbound County State 8, Highway 38, traffic onto local streets. Yes, >> I know it's a little I don't know. My screen's just a little darker tonight. So, um I know what you're trying you're going through over there. So, have a motion from Council Member Ingamman and a second from Council Member Schmidt. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed. >> The resolution is adopted. Thank you so much, Aaron. >> Thank you. >> Um next on our agenda is public comments. And this is where members of the public can address the city council about any local government topic that is not included on our regular agenda this evening. This is limited to concerns that are relevant to the city of Newport affairs policies or practices. We ask that you come to the podium. Clearly state your name and address for the record and limit your comments to about three minutes. Generally, the council will not take any action at this time. Uh but we would refer matters to staff if appropriate. So, this is for items that are not on tonight's agenda. Is there anyone who would like to uh comment during public comments? Seeing no movement, I am going to move on to the consent agenda. Um, is there anything that we need to remove from the consent agenda? Council or staff? >> I'll move the consent agenda. >> Thank you. >> I'll second. >> I have a motion from council member Ingramman and a second from council member Sumar to adopt the consent agenda as presented. All those in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed, the consent agenda is adopted. Next on our agenda is the Washington County Sheriff's Office report and we have Sergeant Leget with us tonight and a whole cadre of um deputies. I'm not sure what's going on. >> Well, we need to talk after this talk. I'm kidding. Uh Madame Mayor and council members, good to see you. Happy New Year. Uh first for the year. So, I'm excited to see this year go and kick off running. Uh just a few stats from last year. Uh in the city of Newport, the amount of incidents uh that the sheriff's office handled was 3,668. And of that, it could be a range of things. It could be just citizens who call that just have questions to those that might have medicals and and so on and so forth. Uh another stat uh just for December as a reference, we had 368 uh uh incidents regarding traffic. Now, that can be related to crashes that have happened or written warnings, stuff like that. And also uh last uh month we had 87 uh calls for quality of life things like alarms um some medicals, mental health, noise complaints, so on and so forth. So just give you a little idea on some of that. Uh we also hit on uh some directive patrols certainly throughout the city where there were concerns that citizens had for different things whether it was speeding, parking violations, you name it. Um the reason uh why you see all of my partners in the back here, it is a new year and we do have some new folks uh since we have some transitioning taking place at the sheriff's office. And uh as much as they hate it, I'm going to I wanted them to come up one at a time to just uh say who they were and how many years they've been here just so that you can put a face with the name and uh you can give a good friendly wave as they drive by. So, I will certainly let um one of them and none of them are going to come up, so I'll just have to call out. So, here's the first one, Stephanie Hernandez. All right. Uh so, I'm Hernandez. It's very nice to meet all of you. Um I've already been here with the sheriff's office almost three years now. Um and up Newport a bunch of times, but I am newly assigned to the to the contract, so I work day shift. So you might see me around a little bit doing a lot of the extra patrols or anything like that. So feel free to call if you need me to handle everything. More than happy to answer. So yeah, >> thank you. Deputy Hernandez. >> Oh, really? I got to call all >> I'm Deputy Chris Mazi. I think I've met most of you guys at this point. I've been with the sheriff's office for five years and spent almost that entire time down in Newport. I currently work on our afternoon shift, so you'll see me around. >> Thank you. >> Hi, Chris Bergi Otis. I've been with the sheriff's office almost eight years. Uh many of that was in the jail, almost three years now on the road. Uh been down in the contract for a year and I'm the second afternoon car. So, >> hi. >> Thank you. I am Deputy Frank Hence. Been with the sheriff's office for a little over three years and your night shift deputy here uh for a little over two. It's been a pleasure serving here and I look forward to this next year. >> Wonderful. Thank you. >> Hey, my name is Dylan Jang. I've been with the sheriff's office for three and a half years. I've been in down here in Newport for a year and a half. It's been a pleasure to serve you guys and the community. Um I just transitioned from night shift to day shift, so no more darkness for me. Thank you. >> Hi, I'm Deputy Gner. I've been with the sheriff's office since July of 2020. Um, I briefly left and came back last year to serve as a deputy. Happy to serve Newport. >> Thank you. Okay, you all survived. That wasn't too painful. >> Uh, so thank you guys for doing that and hopefully uh their faces you guys will remember as they're driving around. Um, something I just did want to bring up for the community, we are certainly getting a lot of uh, spam calls and unfortunately some people are being tricked out of a lot of money. Uh, so I know I brought it up in the past, but it is in full force right now and I just want to remind everybody, a bank is not going to call you and ask for your personal information or to say transfer this to that. That is just not going to happen. If you do not believe it, hang up on them. get a number that you know is your bank and you can call them, right? Uh they are not going to call you. We are not going to call you to collect money as a sheriff's office. My name was used out there as well. So that is not a thing. Um please, please, please, if you do not believe it, just hang up. You can certainly call us. We can let you know if that is the current uh scam that's going on that we know of or it's a new one so that we can educate our deputies to pass on to other citizens out there. But it's the sad thing is some people have been uh ripped of quite a bit of money of uh their retirement and it's a sad deal. So please please please uh watch out for maybe uh the older folks in our community and and honestly the younger ones too. Anybody can be victim of this. Um so aside from that I do not have any further uh things. I stand for any questions. >> Questions? Council member Sumar, >> can you briefly touch on an example of a couple of the scams that have currently or recently sent out to people so they can be aware of what what type of things to watch out for. I know several years ago a notice came out the existing mayor at that time was in the Philippines and he needed money sent to bail him out of jail >> and we left him there. >> Did you? Yes. Well, I don't have a comment to that honestly. Yeah, I never knew the guy. So, uh but uh yeah, to be to be honest, uh Madame Mayor and Council, they they change so much so frequently, it's hard to pinpoint, but a couple would be uh we've had ones pose as Washington County deputies, sheriffs, sergeants, you name it. Um saying, "You have a warrant. You need to pay this fine right now over the phone or we will send officers out there to arrest you." That is not accurate. That's not going to happen. Um, we've also had some that have posed as maybe grandkids and they call these folks claiming that they are the grandkid or they uh they are friends of a grandkid and they are stuck in let's say Mexico and they need to get money to get back home. That has been a scam before. Uh the one more recently that we had uh unfortunately they were getting calls every single day and getting instructions on how to transfer money um into gold bars into you name it. There's there's I could go on forever. Uh but that is just a couple to be to be honest. So, >> well, and I think even very level-headed people get taken in by these scams. And it's okay to pause and say, "Give me a number and I'll call you back." It's okay to do that. And if it's a grandchild, it's okay to then call the mother or the grandchild directly to make sure they're okay. Um, if somebody wants you to pay through cryptocurrency, and I've been seeing some national news stories on this, no legitimate business is going to have you paying using cryptocurrency. Um, and to just just take the pause. And I the story I saw in the national news, the woman was feeding money in in a it was basically like a a gas station type store. and somebody saw them doing this and they alerted the store manager who told them to stop and they wouldn't and they called the police and the police told them to stop. They were on the phone. The police got on the phone with the scammers and even then it was very difficult for this elderly person to believe that they were safe. And so it but just know it's okay to call someone in or to call a deputy or you know to call a friend, call a family member and just try to have somebody else help you work through it. Um because yes, it's I want to say it's over a billion dollars. I was thinking it was in the $3 billion range of scams going on. So >> no doubt >> there's a lot out there. >> Yeah, text messages are pretty popular, too, with links. click on this link to track your package, which everybody's always ordering packages. Just don't honestly don't click those links. That'll get them access to your cell phones and they're very convincing. Extremely convincing. So, >> yeah, >> you got to be careful out there. >> Thank you so much for that reminder. I think it's really important. >> Any other questions, >> Council Member Sar? I understand that with some of the technology they have, they can clone a person's voice from just a few simple words and make it make an entire conversation that sounds like your your relative or your grandchild. >> So, be be aware that just because it sounds like something you know in fact not >> uh yeah, technology is going faster than absolutely any one of us could imagine. No doubt. And especially with AI becoming a thing, it's >> just got to be careful. Okay. >> If the name doesn't show up and you don't know the number, don't answer it. >> Right. Exactly. It's that important, they'll call back. >> Yeah. >> So, >> thank you very much. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Um, next we have the fire chief's report. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Uh, first thing on the docket for us is I'd like to introduce the new command staff. Behind me, we'll have uh James Hutchinson, who's our new uh assistant chief of training and fire marshal. And next to him is Pat Joyce, who's our new assistant chief of operations and personnel. So, there they are. You guys said uh James Hutchinson, been a firefighter for about 23 years. Uh going on two here at uh at Newport. Uh spent my other time at Woodbury in Maplewood. Um pleasure to be here. Thank you for the honor of uh serving you guys. >> Thank you. >> Hi, I'm Pat Joyce. I've been a firefighter for 25 years, 12 of which is here and 12 in Cottage Grove. Um, I'm just here to help. So, >> thanks. >> Well, thank you both for being part of our department. >> And he's not the first Joyce to be a chief in this department, too. So, it was little trivia there. >> His grandfather a chief. >> Next on the list, I have some stats for December. We had total of 19 calls, two mutual aid, one to Cottage Grove and one to South St. Paul for structure fires. Uh, total training hours is 174.5 hours. Total uh activity hours which includes uh community events and meetings and all that stuff is 198.89 hours. Uh total calls for 25 was 214. And then total training hours for 2025 is 3,786 hours and85 hours. And then uh total activity hours is 1,264.32 hours that we had in the departments. Um, lastly, I want to plug in the reminder of the winter family fun night on January 31st from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Um, we got the tug of war with the fire department and we'll be out there the whole time and uh, I'll stand for any questions from the council or mayor. >> Do we have any questions? Council member Sar, >> where will the event be held? >> Uh, Lovelin Parkland. Yep. >> And what time? >> 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Yep. Sorry. >> Who's going to win the tug-of-war? >> We usually have not. So, >> is your training regimen for the tugof-war uh top secret that you're not revealing any? >> Yes, that's most of our 3,700 hours >> just so we can win >> is prepping for this year. So, kids >> kids >> be ready because the the fire departments uh they're gearing up for it. >> That's right. >> Okay. >> Any other questions? Thank you very much. >> Uh next we have our engineers report. >> Good evening, mayor, members of the council. Uh three items for formal consideration, all involving the uh county roads 74 improvements project. And I see the county staff uh stuck around to make sure I didn't screw this up. Uh but we have uh the county is planning to improve County Road 74 uh also known as 65th Street uh between Hastings Avenue uh almost all the way up to uh Good View Avenue which is the roundabout there at the middle school. Uh planning to do a full reconstruction of the existing pavement surface uh realignment uh some storm water improvements and a batuminous trail uh along the uh along the corridor. Uh construction is scheduled to begin uh later this year. Uh as uh Miss Bllelock had mentioned in uh co or coordination with the county road 38 improvements she discussed. Uh the uh county would like to uh propose two agreements. One is a cost share agreement. The other is a maintenance agreement. So, according to the uh county uh cost participation policy, uh there are some portions of this project, including portions of the trail and and other ADA improvements that are eligible for city cost participation. The total amount of that cost participation is $248,570. Uh the city has budgeted for this uh and is going to be paid over the next five years. So it was this is the formal agreement that outlines that cost participation. Also enclosed in your packet is the maintenance agreement. This is a standard maintenance agreement. We recently completed a very similar one for the County Road 38 trail that's right out our window here. Uh outlines what the uh the city and county responsibilities are. Mainly the city is responsible for removing snow and ice from the trail and then maintenance of that boulevard section. the county has committed on this uh particular segment to be mowing that boulevard uh at least twice a year. So, we uh have reviewed both cost agreements as staff. We uh we support the the agreements and look for council uh um council approval to um execute both agreements with the county. >> Thank you. Any questions for John on this? >> We've discussed. Yes, >> we've discussed this previously. >> Yes, this is uh come at some workshop meetings and you know the overall project cost is over $5 million. So, you know, our cost share portion is pretty small um when you look at the overall of what's being done there and it's it's pretty eroded on the sides of the existing road. There's storm water issues up there. I know the watershed has been pushing the county to go and fix this and finally it has um come to the top of the list in terms of all the projects that they're try to juggle as to what they can do when. So it'll be good to have it done. I think it'll it'll be good for a number of reasons, but also that uh the trail connection which we're paying um on is uh is a good thing. I think so. Um, with that, I think can we do the cost share and maintenance agreements in a single motion? >> I think that's appropriate. >> Okay. So, I'd look for a motion to approve the cost share and maintenance agreements for County Road 74 improvements with Washington County. >> I'll move. >> I'll second. >> Okay. I have a motion from Council Member Ingamman and a second from Council Member Schmidt. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed, the um agreements are adopted. And then >> and then lastly, the uh county is anticipating a a fairly tight uh schedule for the improvements and the potential of working outside of the city's standard working hours, which are normally uh 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Uh the county has requested uh permission to work on Saturdays uh which do normally require council consideration. Uh from a staff standpoint, uh this is a this is an area that does not have a lot of uh direct uh well direct residents uh near the project. Uh we think that it's reasonable to uh to consider that uh extension onto Saturday work. We had recommended typically a 7 to5 uh but would you defer to the council's um preference on hours of uh hours of operation on Saturdays and it would be um it would uh not be intended to be the entirety of the project. Uh but we would ask that it would extend for the project just to give them the flexibility to be able to to coordinate that schedule as needed. >> Thank you. um comments or questions on the suggested uh Saturday hours. Council member Sumar, >> I would move to allow them to go 7 to 7 if they they think it's necessary because there's so very few residents in the neighborhood. >> That's true. >> It's more traffic oriented. >> I'll second. >> Okay, Council Member Schmidt, >> I was just going to say 8 a.m. I'm fine with later. I'm not going to lose sleep over this one, I guess. >> Oh, sleepy. >> Let's say 8 a.m. You guys want to go for it? 8 a.m. to 7. >> Well, there's a cemetery on the north side of this road, so I think they'll be okay. I think they'll be okay with the with the 7 a.m., but I know what you're saying. >> All right. It's up to you guys sometime. Yeah. >> Okay. So, um we'll allow 7:00 a.m. to 700 p.m. And you know, just as the previous project, uh that was presented to us by um Aaron, these updates and keeping infrastructure up to date, functioning, making it last as long as we possibly can, it is disruptive. There's just nothing that can be done about that. And so we just, you know, kind of just know that it it's it's temporary and it will be completed and they won't be back for at least 20 years. So So keep that in mind as you're uh being awoken at 7 a.m. on a Saturday by backup beepers. Um with that, so with that, I have a motion for a 7 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Saturday work hours. Any further discussion? >> All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. The motion is adopted. And that was from Council Member Sumar. And the second was from Council Member Ingramman. Anything else on that? >> Uh, nothing, Mayor, but I'd be happy to stand for questions. >> Okay. Any questions? None tonight. Thank you. Next, we have the Superintendent of Public Works report. >> Good evening, Mayor Elliot and Council members. I have nothing formal for consideration this evening. Um, but I would like to uh make an update. Uh the ice rink is open and uh you know it's been a little soft the last couple days. Um but we didn't feel it was worth closing to try and bounce back and forth. So um you know if it is soft ask you to stay off it but use your best judgment. Um we were also unfortunately had an incident where our warming house attendant called in sick late and we weren't able to find a replacement. So Monday the the warming house was closed. Um, and we posted that on the website. We plan to put a put a sign up uh near the warming house. So, if you pull up there, you notice that. So, if it's a concern, we just encourage you to check the website before you head up there if you've got young kids that uh you know need need potential supervision. Doesn't mean the the rink is closed, but we just don't have the warming house open and we can't open it and leave it open without an attendant in there. So with that, I'm happy to stand for any questions. >> Do you want to talk a little bit about the grit with these these icy conditions? Just what's available? >> Sure. Uh at both at public works and at the in the front vestibule here at city hall, the watershed has provided free of charge um what they call a chicken grit, which is granite chips of rock that uh uh you're free to come and grab a bag. I think they're 40 pounds or 50 pound bags. You can throw that out on your driveway and uh it doesn't doesn't l or it doesn't disappear, doesn't melt away like salt. It won't melt the ice, but it does provide traction for a long long period of time and is not harmful to the environment. >> Okay. Does it affect asphalt at all? The >> not unless you would drive it in, you know, like uh driving over it. But if you sweep it up >> in the spring, I think very minimal impact. Okay, great. So, um I think they're like 25 pound bags. I don't know. You think they're 40? >> 25. Yeah, >> those are I I haven't picked one up recently. >> I have picked up a bag and 40 pounds is a lot for me. I didn't call anybody out to help me get it into my my car. Okay. Um thank you. Any other questions for Thank you so much. Um, next we have I think what people have been waiting for and I appreciate uh people's patience. Uh, next we have the administration report. So, I'll turn that over to Mr. Hatch. >> Uh, mayor, members of the council, a couple items tonight. Uh, first item here is a public hearing um, regarding the revisions to the Newport zoning code. And we do have a presentation by our city planner, Nathan First. So before we start that, I'm just going to let people know my general process, which is the staff member um presents uh information on the uh subject of the public hearing. Uh then the council can ask questions if they need any clarifications on anything. Um we've been talking about this for I don't know 15 to 20 hours of council and planning commission time, so we've probably had most of our questions already answered. Um, so it's not that we're not interested in what he said, but we've we've had many chances to get clarifications, but once the council has kind of gotten our uh questions answered, then I open up the public hearing for members of the public uh to speak on any anything they have questions on, concerns about, um, something you might need a clarification on, or you want to understand how it works uh, for a a specific property, we'll have you come up to the microphone so that uh, people can hear you and state your name and address for the record and then we'll we'll go from there. So, um I'm going to turn it over to Nathan first, our city planner. >> All right. Well, thank you, Madame Mayor, and good evening, uh Madame Mayor, members of the council. So, as the mayor mentioned, we've been working on this for over a year. So, this is this uh effort has been underway for quite some time. Uh and we're at a kind of a an important milestone in this process looking at the adoption of of our ordinance and map amendments. So, I'm going to kind of synthesize all of that into hopefully a brief presentation for you all and then can answer your questions and we can open that public hearing. So, we'll talk about just an overview of the process, what led into it, um what essentially are we getting at with the future land use and zoning map amendments, um what are we accomplishing with the subdivision and zoning ordinance amendments, and then some public comments and uh recommendation. So, as far as the process goes, this actually does start in 2023 with the uh finalization of the Newport commercial small area study that identified uh zoning code updates as a key priority for the city. So, um Joe and the administration team have been kind of tracking down all of these different things and accomplishing them. Um here we have uh another part of that small area study which is a generalized land use map that uh pretty much told us here's what we think these areas are uh most appropriately guided could be most appropriately guided for given market conditions and other factors. Uh this process is also informed by different development applications. And so the city has a really nice page on the website where we have a bunch of the current and recent developments that have taken place. And so in in in processing these projects, we've come to understand uh some of the shortfalls in the current zoning ordinance and some of the areas where we can make improvements. Uh we also have state statute which requires conformance with our uh future land use and comprehensive plan and our zoning controls. So keeping all that in mind that is informing some of these changes as well. And lastly, uh you can see here we have the 2040 comp plan uh that future land use map and that's going to that map is going to guide zoning or that's at least the idea. So as as far as an overview of this entire process uh in terms of zoning changes, these were both aimed to make smaller fixes and a little bit more large um broad changes to complement the vision that was set out in that small area plan. Um and then in between the zoning and future land use map, just making sure that we're bringing these different um zoning or land use controls into alignment, making sure they're saying the same thing and moving in the same direction. Lastly, with the subdivision and zoning ordinance, um we we looked at really three primary ways to make improvements in these uh chapters of the zoning or the city code. Uh the first is making sure that the structure makes sense that we have uh unified definitions that are all in the same place and make sense. Uh looking at our procedures and how we're processing different applications, making sure we have the right tools in our tool belt and the right process to get things done. And lastly, looking at design and performance standards. So through some of those recent projects, really identifying what are some of the areas we can make some changes to to help both um developers come through and also set our expectations for what we want to see. So uh just a highlight of the zoning and future land use map amendments. You can see and these were in the report and I know the council and planning commission have seen these at nauseium. So I'm going to move quick. Uh we have our current maps which are on the screen here. our um and then the changes going from our existing to our proposed future land use map. You can see uh kind of shaped with those black outlines, you can see the different areas where there are changes. Uh same thing for the zoning map existing and proposed. And then those two maps when taken together uh again are consistent. We're going to have a zoning that's complementaryary to the future land use that's guiding uh future land uses in the city. So, I just want to kind of uh say a reminder for folks that do have questions or concerns about this and just say what this process is not. It's not a requirement for people to change their physical property right now. Uh it's not a requirement to change their their land use, particularly if they have an existing legal land use, and it's not a restriction from selling land with uh legal non-conforming use. So people don't need to be coming in and getting new entitlements from the city, although zoning verification letters are always a good idea. All right. And now into our ordinance amendments. So uh you can see the general structure of our subdivision and zoning ordinances on the screen. These are chapters 28 and 36 in the city code. The subdivision ordinance did have fewer changes, I will say, than the zoning ordinance, but that was expected. Again, those key priorities were to make sure the structure made sense, look at our procedures, and look at our standards. In terms of the structure, uh the reorganization has really helped to move things around to consolidate standards and make sure that things are clear for residents and uh business owners as well as other interested parties. Uh create reserved code sections to help us kind of futureproof the the structure of the ordinance to make sure that we can make changes as we go. uh make sure that this is actually easier to navigate online by the way that we're kind of setting up the hierarchy and um make sure that we're just making yeah just really clear listing order for our sections and subsections. Um in terms of definitions in the zoning ordinance in particular, we combined over 10 sections of different definitions into one section. Uh this was really important to help just consolidate where do we look when we have questions about how things are defined. Um, and there were a number of cases where we had multiple definitions and sometimes we had to reconcile and make sure that we have one kind of good definition. Lastly, I think and maybe most importantly, we've consolidated the land use table. So, we used to have a a land use table that was split in different sections. We now have one table that's much, I think, easier to navigate. Uh, and it's been streamlined or simplified. Um, in terms of procedure improvements or process improvements in the subdivision ordinance, we've added a concept plan review process for subdivisions. This process has been very helpful as we move forward with development. We've given uh ourselves the minor subdivision process tool and uh made um other changes to lot line adjustments and park dedication language has been moved to its own article. In the zoning ordinance, u we've modified the zoning map and text amendment procedures to match best practices, our current practices in the city. Also, in coordination with the city attorney, made changes there. Um, with site plan review, this is an important process or tool for our tool belt for commercial development in particular. And so, we're making sure that's really clear for applicants, especially those that might be commercial or industrial. uh reorganizing and modifying our planned unit development section primarily to um make sure that the pro procedures are clear and change the process to be a zoning amendment in in practice. In terms of our design standards, a lot of heavy lifting happened here as well as I mentioned. Um I think I'm the most proud of the fact that we now have one section where you can find all of your standards in theory. you can find your landscaping, screening, tree removal, off- streetet parking, architecture, you name it, you can find all of those things where I think you would expect to find them. And uh we've also streamlined, I think, standards for um you know, we're focusing on uh applying development standards citywide as opposed to by specific districts such as the MX2. And lastly, we've really focused on non-conforming structure and lot language. um in making sure that's clear and in in in one unified section as well. Um you'll find that now we have development standards for like three different buckets I would call it. The first is single and two family residential. Then the second is multifamily and the third is non-residential buildings which would be commercial or industrial primarily. So we're applying these standards um uniformly across the city wherever we have these different forms of development permitted. I do want to talk about a couple of quick uh notes here from uh our last work session up to now. So, just a few things that have changed in the draft ordinance in front of you today. Uh we did talk about uh changing uh gender pronouns from very specific to he his to they them in in the code. So, that's been implemented here. In article two, administration and enforcement, we talked about this legal non-conforming lot of record language last time. uh that has been incorporated into the non-conforming section. Uh zoning amendments, as I mentioned, the supermajority vote requirement has been removed per the city attorney. Article three is zoning districts and uses. That's where we have our land use table. There was discussion at the last meeting and so a few subsequent changes to the land use table that have been incorporated uh in the draft in front of us. The first is to remove uses that are unlikely to really occur, which is airports and golf courses in Newport. Another use that was removed just for simplicity was internet publishing and broadcasting. Um that use in particular um is is effectively either a home occupation or an office use. Uh we've separated the cemetery and crematorium uses that were previously combined. Uh these are very different uses. So cemeteries are permitted in open space. Crematoriums are actually not listed as permitted unless if someone wants to come in and and do one, they would have to go through a zoning amendment. Daycarees in a single family home with fewer than 14 students are uh a permitted use in residential districts. Uses now uh uses in the B2 are now consistent with MX3 more more generally. Uh since we've increased the size of the B2 district, having more uses um such as artist studios, contracting offices, financial services, fitness centers, food catering, motion picture and sound recording, etc. Uh those are allowed in the B2 with uh the same designation that they had in the MX3. And lastly, motor vehicle sales. The idea in expanding the B2 further to the north on Hastings Avenue was that we bring those motor vehicle sales lots into into performance with the code. So, we're proposing to add that as a conditional use uh with the same general standards that contracting offices have. Um standards for agurism, home occupations, and outside storage have been added into the code. I just noticed that they had to be added. They they were unintentionally omitted. So they they were put into the article 3. And lastly, uh we did make a clarification for open space district for the open space district where we do have residential uses. I believe there's at least one property that would be subject uh special overlay districts. Just want to note again that we've added um industrial uses as a conditional use if they're over 750 ft away from a lake. So that's going to come into play in the next item on the agenda. Uh changes to the future land use map. um and the zoning map. The first change here is just that we've identified there was a couple of parcels owned by Marathon on the south in the south area of the city that are along the Mississippi. They're unbuildable and so instead of zoning them uh R1A, which is single family residential, they're proposed to be open space or park. And then 1301 9inth Avenue, we are no longer proposing to change the future land use and instead keep keep it how it is, which is mixed residential. And then 1375 7th Avenue on the future land use map is proposed to have a future land use um of mixed residential, which is consistent with the area study and the proposed zoning. And then then on the zoning map, uh 1301 9th Avenue is proposed to be R2 instead of R1. that will complement the existing future land use. Okay. So, those were the changes that you haven't heard about, but now you have. Public comments. I'm going to run through these. We've already talked about them. Um, we had one comment from 6827th to keep the MX3 zoning. Staff are going to work with this resident to um make sure that they kind of understand the home occupation side of things and we think that's going to work for them and we'll work separately on any other code issues. U Mr. Coppen at 1301 9th Avenue. Um I believe we've addressed this request by the changes that I just talked about to the zoning and not changing the future land use. Um Mr. Joe Keel at or Kyle at 5967th um was concerned with keeping the MX3 zoning, but um having added this legal non-conforming lot of record language, he did say uh that he felt more comfortable with the changes that are taking place. And so I I believe that we have addressed most uh most of his concerns and happy to work with him uh should he have questions about his property. We got a comment from 8851 12th Street with concern for uh just property tax implications and keeping the MX3 zoning. Um we think that keeping the zoning will will help that new lot of legal non-conforming a lot of record language will help and property values are based on the present not some future use of a property. We did get a couple of other comments here on the screen from residents on 7th Avenue just really trying to hammer home the importance of our um land uses being complimentary in that area to res uh to residential. So, uh kind of wrapping things up here. Uh we're at the end of a a year-long or even longer road, but uh I think we're in a better place thanks to a lot of hard work from the planning commission and the city council with five different joint work sessions together to really work through a lot of this content that you've uh seen in front of you tonight. Uh the final phase here is to to repeal and replace the chapters 28 and 36 in the uh city code along with an ordinance adopting a zoning map amendment and a resolution adopting a complant amendment. So u before we talk about that um if we've talked about criteria for amendments um I'll mention that the planning commission did hold a public hearing on December 9th of last year. Uh they did make a unanimous motion to bring all of this forward to the city council. Uh they were uh one one aspect of their recommendation was to review that legal non-conforming language I talked about and and um to allow that to help in situations that were identified by the public comment. I would remind you that we do have a public hearing associated with this item as well that you'll open here. But I have four different um example motions that are on the screen. Again, one resolution adopting a comprehensive plan amendment, an ordinance adopting the zoning map, an ordinance repealing and replacing chapters 28 and 36, and lastly, a resolution authorizing summary publication. >> Thank you for Are you done? I'm sorry. >> I think last time I jumped in and you still had slides to go. Okay. Thank you. Um, any questions for our planner? Can you just quickly point out on the map where that Marathon property was? Absolutely. You >> Yep. So, it's right on the Mississippi. I'm going to go back to the full map here. >> Yeah. >> You'll have to bear with me. >> If you can see my cursor, it's down on the south very southwest corner of of the city. These parcels were um actually zoned R1A previously. um they're undevelopable for all intents and purposes and so it just made more sense to try to keep with our parks approach. >> Thank you. Yeah. And you talked about the flooding issues and all that down there. So Okay. >> Thank you. Um anything nothing else. Okay. Um and with the public hearing, I'll open it. We will take comments from uh people in the chambers. We know we have a couple of uh comments that uh residents have asked us to read into the record. So then we'll do that and then I will come back to the people in the room. If you haven't said something but you decide you would like to, you will get another bite at the apple to come up to the podium and do that. So um the time is 6:52 and I am going to open the public hearing. Uh if you are interested in making comments or have questions, please step up to the podium, state your name and address for the record and um we'll be happy to hear what you have to say. Don't all jump at once. >> Okay. So, I think we'll take a pause and uh Joe, are you do you ready to read into the record? >> Yes. Uh, mayor, members of the council, I did have a phone conversation with uh Mr. Joe Kio, and he wanted to just reiterate, unfortunately, he was unable to attend tonight. Um, but he did want council to know he'd prefer if there was no change. Um, but that he did have a meeting with Nathan and myself and with the recommended changes that Nathan presented tonight, he's comfortable with that and he wanted that to be on the record. Uh, additionally, mayor, members of the council, um, we did get an email from Mr. Mark McKenzie. Um, you know, as we know, along with others in the 7th Avenue corridor, uh, they've been advocating for policies that align with the predominantly residential nature of this corridor. The city's decision to zone a larger portion of the 7th Avenue for residential use is a positive and hopeful development. Our goal has always been to preserve the corridor's residential character while promoting the safety and well-being of its residents. We also want to ensure that future developments do not lead to situations in which the city is compelled to allow businesses on 7th Avenue that conflict with the interests and safety of current residents. For example, Absolute Towing and Keller Fence serve as historical examples of such conflicts. While some businesses can coexist with residential life, others can be detrimental. We hope the descriptions in the zoning and comprehensive plans clearly delineate not only which types of developments and activities are permitted on 7th Avenue, but also which are not. For instance, a small office building that would cause a slight increase in traffic, require some off-road parking, and operate during normal business hours is reasonable. On the other hand, a business requiring large storage areas, extensive parking, a fleet of trucks, semi- deliveries, the use of forklifts, handling of toxic chemicals, industrial type lighting, traffic, obstruction, intrusive business hours, etc. is not reasonable. We believe the city should have the legal authority to control and direct its future. Residents should not be adversely affected by policies that limit city officials ability to act in a community's best interests. On behalf of many residents, I urge you to ensure the zoning of comprehensive plan are carefully developed to grant the city the authority it needs to protect its residents and guide its future. The council has made a significant effort to align zoning regulations with the city's values and aspirations which is commendable. Thank you. I have taken this opportunity to express some of the corridors concerns and interests with hope that they have been and will be taken into consideration in your ongoing work. I guess what I'm saying trying to say is that I hope I might be speaking to the proverbial choir be well. >> Thank you. and that uh if Mark was here um he's at 9997th Avenue so we would have him read his address into uh the record for that. Um anybody in the room like to make any comments on this? Okay. >> On that particular just that or as a whole >> on the whole um whether it's the subdivision or the zoning section updates. Yep. Uh thank you, Madame Mayor and and council members. Uh Mike Brazier, uh 88512 Street, uh Newport here. Um this is uh I just want to reiterate some of the points. Thank you for for uh noting my previous uh attendance and and concerns. I just want to reiterate the same things as well. I think it's just important to make sure that it's a matter of record as far as the the mixed use which currently it is right there. That's important for me as well and and the business that we're trying to structure as well as not only um but it's also the amount of the significant amount of of costs that we've already exumed in in in making the the structure better as well as the the whole uh air underlying area uh the property itself. but it's also my concern with the potential tax increase that it's going to be. So, I just want to make that known and reiterate that although it was mentioned earlier and I appreciate that, I still want to reiterate that and make sure it's a known on another record. >> So, >> thank you. I appreciate that. And you know, the planning commission and the council, we build this document, but we really count on residents to help us refine it. And so for all of those that made comments, whether it was at tonight or read into the record or at the planning commission uh public hearing, so this is our second public hearing on this. Um that's all about how we get a better a better plan and we really do count on the public helping us with that. >> I appreciate y Thank you. >> You're welcome. Anybody else? Okay, I am going to close the public hearing. The time is 6:58. And uh with that, any other comments from the council before we move on to motions and such. >> Um that is what you know I mean this has been a long I mean a long lot of work and you know I really want to thank Nathan in particular for guiding this. it takes the right person to to guide a lot of these changes. Some, you know, they hit people directly. There's a lot of technical stuff that we don't want to focus on that he has been working on and just guiding this process, helping get, you know, our staff getting grants to help cover some of this expense. This is this has been a long road and I think it's we've I'm I'm proud of the process that got us here tonight. So, I just want to want to thank you for that because this is this is a big change. you know, it's something I look forward to, but you don't know how it's all going to go. And I I appreciate your efforts a lot. So, >> and yes, and I I had some notes comments similar, but thank Madison as well. I know she worked very hard on this. Um and uh you as uh was mentioned, our city administrator Hatch also um and really to our planning commission and and co-consil members a lot of hours outside of meetings, a lot of hours inside of meetings. And I know one of the comments at the planning commission and I'll just name her that Pauline shot Mueller said was like don't don't mess this up. you know, we made decisions 20 years ago and make sure you get this right this time. And and you know, really my answer to that is that 20 years ago, you did the very best you could with what you knew and how people were doing planning at that time. We are now 20 years later. hindsight is uh you know much better than than foresight. But I do think we're going to keep a closer eye on how this is working and we're going to try to make updates on a on a more regular basis um so that we we can learn as as we go and and not uh ever have someone have to do a big a big rewrite like this one has been. But I think many improvements as you pointed out, but I sort of think we're at probably the 80 85th percentile and we'll find some tweaks and some nuances as we go along and certainly doing our comprehensive plan update uh will, you know, also kind of reflect on what's going on in in planning and zoning in these future land use maps and current land use maps and all of that. So, um, with that, I I think if we will go through, uh, approving these things and we've got, um, the actions up on our screens here so that we can just go ahead and do that. So, I would ask you to make the motion and read uh, the adoption off of the screen there and then I will ask for the second. So, do I have a motion, Council Member Sear? >> I'll start. >> Is that okay? >> Yes. >> Okay. Move to adopt resolution 2020 through 2020 amending the 2040 comprehensive plans future land use map. >> So stop there. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Oh, I have a motion from council member Sumar and a second from council member Schmidt. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Those opposed, the resolution is adopted. Okay, next one. >> Make the next one. >> Council member Schmidt. >> I'll make motion to move to adopt ordinance 2026-01 amending the Newport zoning map. >> And a second. >> Second. >> So, I have a motion from Council Member Schmidt and a second from Council Member Sum. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed, >> the ordinance is adopted. I move to adopt ordinance 2026-02 repealing and replacing chapters 28 subdivisions and 36 zoning of the Newport city code. >> I'll second. >> So I have a motion from council member Taylor and a second from council member Ingamman. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. >> Those opposed the ordinance is adopted. I'll make a motion to move and adopt resolution 26-09 authorizing summary publication. >> Okay, I think you're a little bit Oh, yep. Sorry, you're right. Authorization 26-xx. >> That's 01 and O2. >> 01 and O2. >> 01 and O2. >> Oh, okay. 01 and O2. It just said XX. >> I know I didn't finish my thought there. >> I'm just reading what's there. Perfect. That's perfect. Um, do I have a second? >> Second. >> So, have a motion from Council Member Ingamman and a second uh from Council Member Sumar. This uh summary publication is so that we do not have to publish the 200 pages of the code uh in the Pioneer Press. And so, um, this is just a, this is just standard what cities do when it's a large voluminous, uh, document is they do a summary publication of what's being done. >> Be kind of fun though to see though. >> Yeah, they'd be having a party down at the Pioneer Press uh, with the cost for that. Um, so any discussion? >> All those in favor say I. I. >> I. Those opposed. And the summary publication uh, resolution is adopted. Anything else for Nathan on this? >> Mayor, members of the council, yeah, I do want to thank Nathan. He did uh great work here. This was uh part of our initiative. I think the highest priority initiative from the 2023 area study. So, it's uh nearly two and a half years of work and uh just uh really good work there and thank you Madison too. Uh, next item here is we do have the environmental assessment worksheet for the Bailey Farms business park and that uh will be a presentation by Nathan. >> Thank you, Joe. Uh, all right. So, the second item I have prepared for you is the uh review of the Bailey Farm Business Park environmental assessment worksheet. So, um, this project was re reviewed, actually there were two different concept plan reviews that the city council looked at, um, over the course of roughly the last year. Uh, one proposed by United Properties and another proposed by a combination of real estate equities and, uh, QuickRip. And so those two concept plans have kind of combined to form the site plan that we're going to look at here as part of the EA. uh we'll walk through the EAW and uh some of the uh considerations for your review in this uh brief slide deck. So, you know, as we look at the overall site, um this this particular development is uh anything but simple. It's uh the parcel that you see on the screen, which is located in Newport, but it's actually uh located next to or it's part of a development site that's in three different cities, two watersheds, two counties. You get the idea. So, there's a lot going on here, but we um we have a roughly 36 acre site in the city of Newport that's uh shown in this figure. And I'll I'll show you the site plan here in a moment, but just want to run through some initial information here as I mentioned. And the proposal for this EAW, which comprises the entire site, is United Properties. Uh this is a mandatory EAW. We'll talk about what that means. Uh the project includes two industrial buildings, one multif family apartment building and one uh commercial building. Uh the construction of this project would be in multiple phases potentially be beginning in spring of this year. Uh existing conditions u this site is 36 acres with primarily agriculture and and a few trees on it. So you can see that existing uh coverage or um yeah the the area coverage in a figure that was provided in the AW. Uh but probably the most important for you is to understand kind of what's laid out here on the concept plan. So you can see those two industrial buildings, apartment building and the quick trip site. So uh with environmental review, what are we what are we doing here? Uh the Minnesota EQB um says that in addition to the legal purpose of the AW uh in determining the need for an EIS, the EAW also provides permit information, informs the public about a project, and helps identify ways to protect the environment. An EAW is not meant to approve or deny a project, but instead act as a source of information to guide other approvals and permitting decisions. >> Um Nathan, do you want to just for the viewing audience what EQB stands for and EAW and EIS? Yep. So, an EAW is an environmental assessment worksheet. An EIS is an environmental impact statement. I'll talk a little bit about those on the next slide. Uh, the Minnesota EQB is the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board that was created through the Minnesota Environmental Pollution no Policy Act or MEPA is what it's called uh for the purpose of administering environmental review. So, >> thank you. >> Yeah. So um you understand that the the process for EAWS is really to provide information uh to the public on uh the potential environmental impacts of a project. There's three different levels of review. I talked about the EAW and the EIS. Uh there is another it's called the AU alternative urban areawide review. Those are used far less frequently and have a very specific use case. Um, typically what you'll find is that most projects are um the environmental review requirements are satisfied through the EAW. Really large projects or projects that have great concerns may may need an EIS. And so that's the process we are going through here is to understand um do we have enough information or do we think we need more? Basically the EAW threshold in Minnesota there are minimum thresholds over which a project needs an EAW. Uh the thresholds for residential are 2450 attached sorry unattached units or 375 attached or 200,000 square ft uh that's gross square feet of industrial or commercial buildings. So uh this particular project does go over the EAW threshold. That's why it was called mandatory. Uh it is this project is below the EIS threshold which is 1,000 unattached or 1500 attached residential units or half a million gross square feet of industrial or commercial buildings. Uh what does the AW look like? It's a um it's a it's like 40page document with a bunch of appendices. You can see the contents on the screen here. uh the the the EAW attempts to answer uh bas 20 or so basic questions about the project uh getting towards um different types of information from the description of the project to climate adaptation and resilience, land cover, geology, water resources. There there's a large amount of different questions that are asked and answered through the EAW. Uh the appendices are where all the technical information really lives. So you see um you know that's why we have such a long document that was posted on the city's website for review. The process for environmental review is a little complex but uh to streamline things uh the timeline on the bottom of the screen kind of does that uh for you. So um starting uh with the proposer submitting the EAW there's a review by the RGU which is the responsible government unit. Uh that's the unit the government unit that has jurisdiction in a in a particular case. Um once the RGU determines that the EAW is complete, it's got to do that within 30 days. There is a 30-day comment period and following the closure of a comment period, the RGU needs needs to determine uh if the environmental um impact statement and EIS is needed to understand more about the potential impacts of a of a project. So, in this particular case with the Bailey Farm Business Park, um we started in coordination with the developer um quite some time ago and they've been working their way towards the AW. uh they ended up submitting in fall of last year and we found the EAW to be complete um on the city's end in October and so uh we then uh put that environmental assessment worksheet on the um EQB's monitor. So there was a public comment period that ended in November on November 27th for uh anyone in the public to comment. So, in that 30-day period, we received eight different comments. Uh, we actually did not receive any public comments from residents or anyone that wasn't affiliated with a local or state agency. So, you can see on the screen the comment letters that we got. They're from a variety of state and uh other partner agencies. I'm going to walk through each of these just to give you a sense of the comments and summarize them, but I won't go into great detail unless you have questions. So, uh, the city of Woodbury, uh, who is a very integral part of this process did have a a comment letter. Um, one I think the the more general high level comment from them was just noting the interconnected nature of this project with uh development proposal that's going on at the same time in the city of Woodbury. Uh, and so they wanted to emphasize the requirement for different approvals in in their community. And so, uh, certainly, uh, understanding that staff have, um, added a little bit of language to the findings of fact document to acknowledge that this is a very interconnected project, uh, that both Woodbury and Maplewood are RGUs in their respective communities and any agreements and approvals relating to shared infrastructure will happen and may require continued coordination. Uh we also note that there is an emergency water uh connection proposed for the project with the city of Woodbury that will require approval and agreement with the city. Uh the the city of Woodbury did provide some specific comments and asked for some additional clarification on a couple of different uh parts of the EAW document uh going from the regional storm water system uh transportation impact study findings uh the concept plan and specifically the number of surface parking stalls that were shown and uh the and they also clarified um what permits would be required in their community or ask for that. So all of that information was either um provided in the findings of fact document as kind of a response to the city of Woodbury or uh can be noted uh for future review and approval. >> So some of these things seem to be a little bit outside of the environmental component of why the EAW was done is >> yeah I think mayor you'll sense kind of a theme in in the comments. They're not necessarily in my mind um pointing out discrepancy or you know lacks of information that seems to be that almost all of these comments have been oh don't forget >> X you you need a permit for this you need to be cognizant of that uh there certainly were some questions that in and clarifications that were asked for but I think for the most part in those situations we have been able to get the information that these entities have requested >> you know I appreciate that they found this as one path to make sure um that it was put on the record. But I also think it's a it's a great checklist for us as we move forward that you know we we've got what them telling us what what they need and when we need to check in and and all of that. So Okay. Thank you. >> Yep. And absolutely. And for the city of Woodbury, this is you know this is coordination that's happening all the time with their staff. >> Yes. And I for people to understand, east of this little piece of property is Woodberry and west is Maplewood. And so, and they have much bigger uh acreage in their communities than the 36ish acres that are in Newport. So, it is very concerning them to have this little this little piece, but it's ours and we're keeping it. >> Not giving it back. >> That's right. So, uh, just keeping things moving here with the other comments. Um, the Met Council also sent us a letter. I think the most important thing that was provided in their letter was a general comment near the top noting the EAW as complete and accurate with respect to regional concerns. That's a good start. Uh, they did provide some specific comments and and suggestions to the city. Uh those things range from climate adaptation, uh making sure that you just understanding, you know, how's that impervious surface variance going to work with some of our um other other concerns, um population forecasts and questions about aggregate resources and clarification there. Um questions about water resources, greenhouse gas emissions, and and transportation. Again, um a lot of a lot of this just either noting information that's important for the review process or asking questions of the city to consider as it furthers its review. Okay, I'm summarizing three letters on this one slide. So, Shipo is the state historic preservation office. Uh their letter uh I think is one that pointed out one area that um more review will be needed and that is for a phase 1A literature review. And what that will do for the project is identify are there is there a potential for some type of uh historic site on on this property to be identified. Um and so uh staff uh completely understand this this recommendation and recommend that as we move forward the project proposer get this phase 1A literature review done before work starts on the site. So that will be moved forward as a condition for approval as we as we go go along. Uh they did agree there's no historic designated properties located within the project area. The Minnesota Department of Health uh made a couple of comments as well. Uh the first one was noting the potential for carsted soils on site. Um there will be a geotechnical review that happens as the project moves along. >> What's a carsted soil? Karst soil is a soil that's um I'm just gonna look right to John honestly. John can >> it's a it's a extremely pvious soil that has a potentially to have a direct uh a direct interface with a under underground aquifer. >> Oh okay. >> Southeast Minnesota is lots >> there's a lot of carst soils that are identified in the city of Newport. But um I've understood from you know conversations with public works and engineering that we haven't often found there to be car soils but we will identify their presence with geotechnical reports as we move along. >> Um the next comment here was that the project falls within the city's drinking water supply management area. That was definitely noted and uh amended as far as information in the AW uh the city water demand. Uh there was a actually a question from them uh for an estimate of city water demand which was provided in the findings of fact document. Uh the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources provided a comment that a you know a portion of the project area uh is within the shoreland area of Rio lake. Uh and they identified that industrial uses would need to be approved and they weren't permitted in the code until a few 30 minutes ago I'll say when you approved the ordinance amendments. So, I feel that we've satisfied that particular concern, but we will need to continue to work with the DNR as we um have applications within the Shorland area for notification purposes, and they'll have to receive several different entitlements because of location within the shoreland. Uh the Minnesota Department of Transportation, um you know, commented here. They had some questions on the traffic impact study that again were largely answered in the findings of fact document. uh they they did note a desire to be updated as this development proceeds primarily because it's a really large site in close proximity to an an interchange with one of their >> highways. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency uh provided a a specific question about the um treatment plant that the wastewater would flow to and that would be the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant and those flow rates were identified in our findings of fact document. uh the industrial and domestic wastewater. They just had questions about what that was. It's domestic wastewater. Um average daily sanitary sewer flow was requested and again that information is provided by the city staff. And lastly, we got some what I will call sort of like form comments on on noise. We tend to get these comments a lot from um from agencies. Um, we feel that the project has either has addressed or the city code in coordination with further reviews can address any concerns there may be with noise relating to the property's development. All right. And then lastly, uh, Washington County provided us a letter. So, um, again, these were sort of themed as like development review type comments, so things to be aware of and not necessarily commenting on any deficiencies. So um there were comments on best management practices for work within the DWISMA and in areas with PAS contamination. Uh there was support for the approach for the overall development to have regional storm water ponding and in particular for that uh storm water ponding to accommodate future improvements on Bailey Road. So that's something that the city will keep in mind as development proceeds in this corridor. Uh again, they also noted the location of the site within the city's drinking drinking water supply management area. Um they had comments as well on noise. They had um a comment just that the county is actually adding CASA 18 or Bigly Road to its capital improvement plan. There are several projects that are planned uh in coordination in the future uh with this development. Um access permits will be required from Washington County and so will right-of-way permits when work occurs. So, uh, that's kind of a highle summary. The findings of fact document has everything in the weeds for you as far as you'd like to go. But, uh, generally speaking, the city has two options. The the first option is to adopt and approve a findings of fact and conclusions and associated resolution that, uh, approve a negative declaration on the need for an EIS. This basically saying we don't need any more information for environmental impacts. Uh the the second option is to say we do need more information and and identify what that information might be. Um as you've seen um pretty much all of the comments have been kind of advisory or related to things that will be required through the review process. And so I think you know in that manner um I feel pretty confident that we have enough information to understand what are the actual possible impacts of the project. And so, um, because of that, staff is recommending approving resolution 202610, which would approve a negative declaration on the need for an EIS, and it would have that findings of fact document associated with it. Um, which is the kind of record of decision for this. So, with that, that's all I've formally prepared. I would note that our proposer is here tonight if you have any questions for them. Happy to take any questions you have. >> Okay. Okay. Um questions. Thank you. That was uh very well done um for a very long report. Um any questions for Nathan on this? >> Do you I mean you mentioned there at the endy's looking at adding to the capital improvement plan. Obviously the traffic is is things we're only looking at this particular area. There's obviously a lot of the concerns about the bigger impacts of traffic. I mean obviously there's only so much you can get with the information. I think we got the information we can get, but there yet a lot of it's still I mean what can you say to I guess to address the traffic from what you've learned what you've learned from the traffic impact in your conversations of what what might happen for the county. What can you say I guess to to >> So um I I would say that first of all the cities of Newport and Woodbury are respectively doing separate EAWs. They'll have the traffic impact study um in both documents. Um John and his team did review the traffic impact study to provide comments on that. So I would look to John if there's any um thoughts on the information that we got that we got through this process on on that. >> Yeah. And I and I think the the traffic impact study and and more specifically that intersection with with Bailey Road where the majority of that traffic is getting is getting funneled into the one main interchange which will eventually be an extension of Century Avenue. um with the with a secondary access at the Newport uh Maplewood border. Uh as of right now, the the chip the trip generation from the Newport portion and that's really all the only part that we can comment on and we're again we're a smaller piece of this is not uh is it it does not overbear the uh the capacity of of Bailey Road. Now, I know globally that may be a different story and I think that would be a center point of our comments back to Woodbury as they evaluate the the EAW that they have currently in process. >> I would just go back to the part of the question talking about what are the county's plans for Bailey Road. Uh, I know that Joe has been in close coordination with them, but they do have, I believe, a feasibility study scheduled in their 2028 capital improvement plan to help understand the improvements needed to Bailey Road. So, I don't know, Joe, you have anything else? >> Yeah, mayor, members of the council, we've coordinated with Washington County from the beginning and let them know about uh the concept plans and other uh land use items that have been proposed here. the county is providing or planning on providing the required controls based on the uses. Um, of course, we've had the concept plans, but we haven't had any uh land use applications yet, but we believe we're we're getting very close. Um, we believe that will happen in in the coming year. Uh, and then we'll work very closely with the county to make sure those those controls are in place. I think that's the number one piece. I think longer term I think uh you know I do plan on on lobbying and pushing the county to make the improvements long-term to Bailey Road to deal with some of these traffic issues. I think that's a position that will be uh benefit Newport and Newport community and its residents. Uh cuz obviously as John pointed out um this is a a smaller portion of a much much bigger project. Um, you know, and what I know about Woodberry's planning is, you know, there there there there is, I believe, three phases at this point. Um, so it's not all going to occur at once, but, uh, we need to be thinking ahead about the impacts for traffic here. There's no doubt. So, >> is our portion of this really first up though for development? >> It basically, yes. uh the Newport portion along with uh I think some of that Woodbury phase one which would be kind of across the the road from that future Century Avenue there. I know I know that's uh getting getting closer. So >> I know we do have uh people here uh that are are part of the uh businesses that are uh intending to go into this area. Is there anything you would like to comment on? anything you think wasn't covered or any comments you'd like to make? You've been here for two hours. I just want to give you a chance to >> Yeah. Good evening. My name is Nicole Fontaine. I'm with United Properties. Um I also have my civil engineer here with me from Samitech who did most of the work on this EAW. So I don't want to take full credit um on this. So I have him for any specific questions as it relates to the EAW. But I just want to thank the staff team who has been great to work with and very responsive throughout this process. So, thank you all. Um, here really just to answer questions about the EAW, but just as a reminder, we will be back for development applications later this year. So, there will be more time to comment on the site plan and other details like that. So, thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, yes. And and this is this is an evolving thing. You you do some preliminary work, you learn some things, you do some additional work, you learn some things, and everything kind of gets fine-tuned as you move down the road and and have different meetings with people. Is this property still owned by Bailey Nurseries, or has the ownership, so the ownership hasn't transitioned yet? >> So, there's various contracts, one with United Properties, um, and two with other development companies with different plans with various clothing closing stages. Um I believe those are mostly in 2026. >> Okay. >> So that ownership will change. >> Okay. Yes. A lot of work before you even get get to that stage. Um >> any questions for Nicole? >> Do you know what the timeline is for the EAW and Woodbury? At least is that being done in one FA or is that separate? Is that outside of United or is that >> Yeah, I wish I knew more and I'm trying to >> push as much as I can although we don't really have control over Woodberry ZW, but we're trying to be the squeaky wheel and to keep that moving as kind of the master developer. Um, and we ask Joe helps me weekly with updates on their end. And I believe, and I asked Joe this before, that they were supposed to publish their EAW before the holidays, but I don't know if that happened. Okay. I >> think close hopefully. Then >> mayor, members of the council, uh, and I forget how many months I this project and we've been working with the Bailey team, uh, and their broker and then also United Properties, Real Estate Equities, and Quick Trip for years. Uh, so it's been since my first day here, we've been working on the development. Uh over the last 3 months or so, we're doing um monthly that have turned to bi-weekly meetings with the Bailey development team, which includes everybody associated with this, including the city of Woodbury. And then in the off weeks, we're doing bi-weekly meetings with the city of Woodbury. Uh there's a master plan document that Newport is commenting on and and going to have comments on, and that's a Woodbury document that's not finalized yet. uh you know the the latest information we heard was uh that their EAW was going to be published uh and then there's the 30-day comment period and then likely it would be uh presented to their council uh in a meeting in February. So, lots of things up in the air, but we're coordinating as the best as we can uh to try to get everything lined up with uh you know a pretty complicated development. >> Thank you. And I mean this area is as you could see from the images, it it was just where they were growing uh flowers and other things, shrubs and things that they sold. So it's a it's pretty straightforward as far as I think a a typical EAW. We're not cutting down trees and we're not clearing out brush and we're not, you know, damning up rivers or streams or adjusting where a lake might be. Um it really is more, I think, the storm water and the aquafer. um from an environmental perspective that uh we're keeping an eye on. So, okay. Any other comments? I think with that, I'll take uh someone to read the motion here. I move to adopt a resolution 2026-10 approving a negative declaration on the need for an environmental impact study for the Bailey Farm Business Park Development Project. >> I have a motion from Council Member Taylor and a second from Council Member Sumner. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. >> The resolution is adopted. Thank you. Thank you for coming in. >> Mayor, members of the council. No additional items, but I'm happy to stand for questions. >> Okay. Any questions for Joe? >> None for you. So, we'll move on to mayor and council reports. And uh Chief Marson sort of took my thunder. I was talk about the winter family fun night, but just know there's uh games, there's food, um hot beverages to drink, a bonfire, and uh music and other fun things to come out, meet your neighbors, meet some new neighbors, um and make some new friends. And again, the uh great tugof-war event with the fire department. And as you heard earlier, they have secret plans for building up their muscles and maybe pull off the win this year. Um, so that is my announcement. Uh, Council Member Ingamman, >> I have nothing. >> Thank you, Council Member Taylor. >> I just wanted to thank Tony Mimmude for quite a few years of service. I'm going to guess 12 to 14 years on the planning commission. >> It was 16 >> 16 13 by 12 to 14 was very good estimate. So, >> you know, it's it's a it's a commission that >> can be can be very demanding and stressful. And he's brought kind of a human side to it a lot. ask you know he he has a he has a stylist you know if you've if you've been to the meetings and he'll be he'll be missed and I appreciate his service and and welcome Bridget who's managed to stick through this meeting tonight so >> yes >> you know I just got on that point too it's just something that that's it's special in a community like this that we can keep all of our commissions fully staffed and that that broader participation of the community is important and it's one of the things that makes a small town work and I I appreciate that again we're able to to do that not many other communities are able to do that. It's a struggle sometimes to find people and I I appreciate that aspect. So, >> thank you, Council Member Taylor. Council member Schmidt, >> nothing tonight. >> Council member Sumar. >> Yes. >> Oh, make sure you're talking into your microphone. Thank you. >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Coming to you from downtown Newport. As a member of the library advisory board, I just want to remind people that there are a wide number and type of events that go on at our library. The the librarian/manager has a great imagination and puts together programs that can draw in kids and adults. They have classes, they have coffee, they have reasons for many people in Newport to get together and participate. And there's also important volunteer activities. So for those individuals that are sitting at home in these dark, dreary, cold winter days by yourself, come down to the library. You can sign up and as few as a couple hours a week you can participate in an extremely important aspect of the small town life that we've just been talking about recently and it does make Newport an exceptional town to live in. >> Thank you. I don't think anybody can top those comments with that. I'll take a motion to adjurnn. >> So move. I have a motion from council member Ingamman and a second from council member Sumar. All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Thank you so much for watching. We're adjourned.