[7:55] good evening welcome to the city of Woodberry City Council meeting for today May 28th [8:01] 2025 looking at the wrong sheet it's 7:30 p.m we are here in council chambers [8:07] um this meeting it takes place in person we do have some people live here tonight with us but it's also um also um [8:13] available uh to stream um easily just go to the agenda on the website and you can [8:19] click into the green button and stream it from the comfort of wherever you are um they're also recorded um meetings are [8:25] recorded we now have a new uh cable commission name so let me just read this meetings are recorded by True Lens [8:31] Community Media and they're broadcast live which is happening as we speak and also replayed on cable channel 799 [8:39] meetings are also available on the city of Woodberry's YouTube channel um members of the public are again when [8:46] you're here in person welcome to join and and have an opportunity to speak or you again can uh watch virtually click [8:51] into the button and um Ashley or city clerk will monitor that and be able to take your question or your comment um [8:58] but is as our norm would you please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance [9:04] i pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the [9:09] republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and [9:15] justice for all okay Ashley would you do the roll call please council member Morris here [9:23] council member Santini here council member Stafford here council member Wilson here mayor Bert here we are all [9:29] here tonight so we're able to conduct tonight's business i'll just make a note of saying this is and I'm not going to too much attention on this Clint but [9:36] this is Clint Gidley's last city council meeting after a 21-year career he retires next week so um big big uh big [9:44] deal for Clint being the last one tonight we'll make it special for you Clint um we do have an open forum be [9:50] quick yeah exactly we have an open forum and uh we don't often have these we've got a green sheet for open form um so [9:56] let me just read this portion um open form is a portion of the council meeting where a maximum of three persons will be [10:02] allowed to address the council on subjects which are not part of the meeting agenda persons wishing to speak [10:07] complete the green signup sheet which is here um people listening if you're listening in you can also again ask a [10:14] question virtually on the Q&A chat feature um when you come up to the podium please provide your name and [10:20] address for the official record we limit you to three minutes each uh council listens attentively but in most [10:25] instances we don't respond at the meeting because we don't have the full information and we need some time to digest it or involve staff to to [10:32] complete to have a reply but usually replies um will be made via letter or phone call within a week so with that I [10:39] do have uh Samantha Wolf if you'd like to step forward again now you state your name and address for the record and um I [10:46] think you're here to talk about chickens you said so yes um so my name is Samantha Wolf 21101 uh Cameron Drive in [10:53] Woodbury that's my address so as I said my name is Samantha and I'm speaking in [10:59] support of Backyard Chickens today for Woodbury residents i've lived in Woodbury for three years and I'm so [11:04] happy to be part of this vibrant community i live in Royal Oaks on a quarter acre lot with my three and [11:11] five-year-old and my husband uh the large backyard was the first thing we loved about our home and as soon as we [11:17] saw it I told my husband we could have chickens here because we had moved from South Minneapolis where many of our [11:22] neighbors had chickens on their small city lots so I was excited to move to a space where we could uh have a large [11:28] backyard and raise a few egg laying hens so I was surprised when I learned that Woodbury City Code did not yet allow [11:34] residents to own chickens as you're likely aware the ownership of chickens is allowed in most communities in the [11:40] Twin Cities including our neighbors Adina Cottage Grove Maplewood and Oakdale but fast forward a few years [11:47] later and chickens are now allowed in rural zoning districts so thank you so much for your work on that we really [11:52] appreciate it especially the discussion and subsequent change to allow for a maximum of six chickens i live in our [12:00] four zoning district so I'm hoping to be able to keep chickens on my property also in the near [12:05] future growing up in Wisconsin my sister and I raised hens and it was a great way to learn about agriculture and where our [12:12] food comes from and I want my daughters to have that same opportunity for learning and chickens do make great pets [12:19] believe it or not i'm not sure if any of you have personal experience raising chickens but there are a couple things [12:25] I'd like you to know according to to the USDA wildlife services program it's [12:30] unlikely that backyard chickens will attract any more wildlife to a residential area than is already [12:36] present chickens actually do not smell animal waste smells all animal waste [12:42] smells uh no odors emanate from properly managed backyard coups chicken manure is a highly [12:49] sought-after fertilizer four hens produce approximately 4 ounces of garden fertilizer daily compared to the average [12:56] dog which generates approximately 12 ounces of pathogenic unusable feces [13:02] daily chickens eat leftover food scraps reducing food waste a single chicken [13:08] will easily eat a quarter to a third pound of food waste daily in closing I'd like to thank you [13:15] again for working with the community to allow hens in rural zones and I hope all the people uh raising birds find success [13:22] this summer and by this fall they should be getting fresh eggs when the topic of chickens for our for zones comes up [13:29] formally at a city council meeting myself and my fellow chicken experts are excited to be part of the conversation i [13:36] know there are a number of chicken curious young families and residents in Woodbury especially with the uncertainty surrounding um commercial egg supply i [13:44] appreciate your consideration in this matter and thank you all for making Woodbury a great place to live great [13:51] thank you yeah I was going to appreciate your and um that these two signs got on the screen just the way it's filmed but [13:56] why don't just because you guys did a lovely job especially the picture over here we can't see the people with their signs if you just want to come up and [14:02] stand in the middle for a moment so the camera captures your lovely artwork and your support of this because uh you did [14:08] a great job face yeah there you go this way well now that No the the camera the [14:14] camera person just needs to go uh uh and turn around oh there no [14:21] there you are she's changed the She's changed it there we go nope okay go go [14:26] back that's what I was Okay camera's here okay there we go okay there's the give a clock help make I can't even read [14:34] help make backyards productive productive worker garden raise chickens and support support support our hens was [14:40] a very patriotic I know they are lovely great artwork thank you artwork [14:47] those are great yes terrific thank you thank you um oh and um Nicole Mitchell [14:54] just showed up also with the topic you want to say something more on chickens okay come forward as you know um state [15:00] your name and address for the record [15:09] Uh my name is Nicole Mitchell i live at 3033 Leland Trail um so uh this is [15:15] actually something I've been interested in as well and I've also talked to people in the community um I thought [15:21] more people would be coming up tonight to talk about some of the benefits um which so this is something that we would [15:28] be interested in doing in my family uh they eat a lot of insects like ticks and [15:33] Japanese beetles which I uh think everyone does not like so uh so there's [15:38] some really good benefits um in addition to the eggs and um them making good pets um I thought other people would talk [15:45] more about those benefits so I wanted to talk not in my official capacity but because I kind of understand how some of [15:51] these decisions get made a little bit more on that uh I understand that there was a survey done about chickens and [15:59] that the review on it was mixed um you know I think part of the job of electeds is sometimes to understand the issues [16:06] more because if we look at the local option sales tax because that had to go on the ballot there was an education [16:12] campaign because people might not have understood the issue um had they had [16:17] they not had the education campaign or even I get questions about all the construction around town from people that don't love it until I tell them [16:24] it's for you know the water infrastructure and then they're like "Oh okay." And I feel pulling people about [16:30] chickens is a little bit of the same thing because a lot of people don't understand when you use the word chickens that it almost never refers to [16:38] roosters no no place has roosters and that's what people think of they think [16:43] they're going to be woken up at 4:00 in the morning so they don't completely understand the issue um I'm going to [16:50] analogize this and and what I passed if anyone wants to look at it I looked at the top 10 cities um Woodbury has now [16:57] become an outlier uh one of only two cities that has a a pretty restrictive [17:03] chicken ordinance um even cities with small backgrounds like St paul's allow [17:08] this in residential areas um with some parameters like it's not right next to [17:14] your neighbor's fence um you you might have to get a permit first to me it's [17:19] very much like being any other sort of a good pet owner so I'm going to analogize [17:25] it to the most popular pet which happens to be dogs no offense to cats it's just the most popular pet anyone can be the [17:32] type of owner that lets their pet bark in the middle of the night anyone can be the type of owner that lets their pet go [17:40] to the bathroom where they shouldn't or not clean it up in their yard um if people have those concerns about [17:46] chickens it's actually far less because a hen which is what we're talking about roosters same volume as dogs hens same [17:54] volume as a human conversation they're very quiet and they sleep at night [18:00] um their coupe is where usually any waste goes and if you don't clean it out [18:07] the chickens are more likely to get diseases not produce eggs so chicken owners tend to be pretty responsible [18:13] owners um they also like to stay close to the to the roost so unlike a dog that [18:20] if it gets loose you could find on the other side of town and there could be problems with you know unfortunately it [18:26] doing something to a person or another pet a chicken's probably if it ever got out not going to go much farther than [18:32] the next yard and it is more likely to have something happen to it than [18:37] anything else that would happen so I think a lot of the concerns that people might have about backyard chickens are [18:44] just based on not fully appreciating the issue or understanding that they they [18:49] cohabitate in a lot of residential areas in our own very own metro so that's all [18:55] I wanted to say um that and the fact that you know I've heard a lot of people very very interested in this from [19:00] everything from education to food sources um so hopefully there's a reconsideration of the policy thank you [19:07] thank you [19:12] okay that's it for green sheets we'll now move on to the consent agenda all items considered listed under the [19:19] consent agenda or considered to be routine by city council will be enacted by one motion and affirmative vote by [19:24] roll call of the majority of the members present there'll be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member or citizens so request in [19:31] which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered a separate subject of discussion by the [19:36] council uh tonight we have items A through Z in consent um anyone from the [19:42] public want anything removed and I always turn to Ashley too to make sure I know you're monitoring [19:48] online no nobody okay uh council members I'm just disappointed we didn't add one [19:53] more for a A i know double double A oh we've been well past that before i'll [20:00] take 6B as in boy 6b is in boy will be removed and moved to discussion [20:08] anything else right hearing none um would anyone like to put forth a motion for the others i'll move to approve [20:14] consent agenda item 6A through 6 Z uh with the exception of 6B [20:22] second motion and a second any further discussion hearing none the roll call [20:29] please council member Morris i council member Santini i council member Stafford [20:34] hi council member Wilson hi mayor Bert i those consent agenda items [20:40] pass um okay we will now move on i do did you want to do 6B now and then those [20:46] guys can go instead of staying all meeting i know our parks people are here because I pulled it oh okay otherwise [20:53] you don't have to be here am I yeah no that's a good point michelle would probably appreciate getting this done okay very good very I was just going to [20:59] say make her say no joy joking i mean it might be a little longer meeting there's [21:04] Michelle don't listen to him i'm the minority vote okay six uh 6P so [21:10] this is Pioner Park Playground and Carver Lake Park Beach playground replacements yes um yeah and you're [21:16] pulling this um Okay go ahead i am I am pulling this and I'm pulling this u because I do intend to vote differently [21:24] on this not because I am against parks and playgrounds or replacements um I but [21:31] I am concerned that the the way our park replacements are happening are not um I [21:38] don't know if it's a financial situation or if it's uh what's available situation [21:43] but I feel like what we are what we're taking down and what we're replacing with are not the same and I know we had [21:51] this issue a couple years ago in a neighborhood park where the uh residents were fairly vocal and upset about it and [21:58] now we get to be to my my park and so um so I also do not spend a lot of time on [22:05] the playground anymore um maybe we need a hammock swing there no hammock [22:11] swings but this but this park is a great park if anybody has has not been there I [22:17] would encourage you to go we have pickle ball tennis courts full basketball courts uh baseball soccer fields and of [22:24] course a fantastic um playground which may or may not be i [22:30] don't know how old it is i don't know i know my kids played there so it's it's got to be 25 years old um so it's and [22:37] this is a you know a once a generation thing that we are changing um I do have pictures of the park i know that um [22:44] often times council is not wanting to see the pictures or or take a look at them but I would share what is proposed [22:50] and what we currently have and I am encouraging that we figure out why why [22:56] we can't get these replacements um a little more to the same or better [23:03] than what we have and uh would be the number one whether it's financing or is it the um vendor that we're using or or [23:11] what is it and I know that you've addressed this with safety standards have changed so then the question is is [23:17] is it worth changing if we have to eliminate so many um options for these kids to plan the [23:26] the uh new park uh proposed park did go through the parks um but it was [23:31] presented to them uh about 10 days before uh the council meeting and there [23:38] was great discussion um on what um what they wanted to see um and and [23:45] some concerns were expressed and um so it's not like uh it's not like the parks [23:52] and natural resources commission is drawing up plans to parks or anything else they're looking at the plans and [23:58] saying "Yeah I mean you did the your research and we'd like to see this next time or that." So but this is not [24:05] something that we can do and redo this is something that will be in for 20 to [24:11] 25 years and um so I'll let Michelle take it from there and then we'll see [24:17] what happens sure thank you good evening U Mayor and members of council thanks for the opportunity it actually this [24:23] playground does have what is almost a hammock swing so you can for what it's worth [24:29] um we we did follow a process for review i can speak a little bit to playgrounds [24:36] have a container that is a um a sort of the boundary or the guidelines of what [24:41] what we put the playground in this particular container is there um safety [24:47] standards have changed so spacing of fall zones um and I'm not a playground [24:52] expert so I'm going to do my best as well um Josh Kenny our parks planner has a class this evening so he could not be here so I'm um pinch hitting on this [24:59] item um so yes the amount of items that can fit in a container has changed this [25:07] particular park is I believe 22 or 23 years old which is our um we we don't on [25:12] the year but this playground does need replacement in fact just recently an item um was posted i I believe it it [25:20] circulated we got the news and the item was or a piece of it was replaced so it is in need of replacement um playgrounds [25:29] are very subjective they are one of the very difficult things in fact at the [25:34] PNRC meeting it was just classic of what we experience in our engagement one uh [25:39] commissioner swings was the big topic we're going from a four bank of swings to a two bank and this additional item [25:46] from a staff perspective swinging capacity had did you ever think you'd hear that in a counseling swinging [25:51] capacity um is essentially the same it's it's not the same in the traditional [25:56] belt swings but we're trying to keep the swinging capacity the same with two traditional swings and then this flex [26:02] swing which is a more um inclusive swing to allow for um multiple children an [26:08] adult and a toddler or um possibly someone with disabilities to be able to lay in this um it's called a flex swing [26:16] so with that we um we do believe that we followed the process that was one of the things that we asked the commission is [26:22] do you believe we followed a process to get appropriate feedback um playgrounds again are subjective they [26:30] they looked at things they may like this they may like that just like when we're meeting with families um there's a lot [26:36] of subjectivity to it i can't guarantee that any one process will get us to [26:42] everyone will love it we as staff want to do a process that we can stand behind [26:47] and that when we do get complaints and it's not an if it's when we do get complaints that council feels [26:53] comfortable that we've followed a reasonable process um as it relates to [26:59] budget we believe that we're budgeting for what can fit in a container we also [27:04] there's many other factors that we look at that staff looks at when we're implementing a replacement what can go [27:11] in there what's diverse um what's not just like the playground nearby um what [27:17] have we heard from community members that they desire that we don't have what are we try to always have traditional [27:25] swinging sliding climbing and so in this particular engagement we adjusted a [27:30] little bit from the Ridge Park replacement um and we did a base playground um as you remember we [27:36] communicated that we were going to elevate the inclusivity a little bit all playgrounds are ADA accessible we found [27:42] that um it was staff's opinion that we had a little bit of an opportunity to increase that with a few amenities um to [27:49] be clear we worked with the designer that those elevations didn't take away [27:55] from possible amenities so it's not we didn't do that at the deficit of more [28:00] amenities it's just a different way to access the platforms but it is different [28:05] than the park that's there we experimented last year in trying to replace a playground that that was [28:11] almost exactly like the one that was in the neighborhood um prior so we did [28:18] little engagement we said we're replacing it these are the swings the slides almost identical i think again we [28:23] did lose a couple smaller amenities because of those fall zones the comments [28:28] we got back were "Why didn't you change it it would have been fun to have something different for the next playground." So we we did try to do that [28:36] again um I feel that staff did a process i cannot guarantee that when we implement it we're not going to get [28:42] calls that people don't enjoy it um there's a lot of thought that goes into it and professionalism both on the [28:48] staff's perspective but you utilizing the professional playground designers so we want to do a process there's a [28:55] hundred ways we could do this um and I don't disagree this is once in a decade we we replace these things um every 20 [29:03] to 25 years so um with that I would entertain any questions you might have [29:08] if you have another way that you would like to see us doing this please let us [29:14] know how you would like to because we don't enjoy you getting those phone calls we're not in the business of implementing any amenities that families [29:21] don't enjoy that's not our objective can you just address the the fiscal [29:26] piece of it um I know we have a parks and trails replacement plan and so you're looking at that and how do you [29:31] determine um you know through that whole process how much you're going to spend on any particular park certainly the [29:38] park you're putting in now costs something very different than it was 25 years ago but how do you determine Yeah [29:44] so thank you for the question um how we've again just generally done it is [29:49] each playground has a size and e every couple years we look at how much actually have we been spending on those [29:55] playgrounds that are approximately that size so we budget it we also look at how old it is when it was implemented if it [30:03] has drain tile or needs drain tile if the curbing needs replacement um so [30:09] those are some of the factors that we look at as we're budgeting how many playgrounds are needed looking at our [30:14] overall plan our CIP what can the budget handle this particular plan we feel like [30:19] the budget is sufficient to be able to do what we want to do um there are many [30:26] playgrounds we've we've gone back and forth with two or three different vendors and that's really based on the [30:32] feedback from our maintenance crew there are certain vendors and certain playgrounds that last a little longer [30:38] and that when things do break um they're easier to get parts and so they've kind of helped us eliminate it also to be [30:44] able to do the engagement that we desire to do we use the state contract because we can select a vendor get that base [30:51] playground um and to start the engagement from there and then can you [30:56] just describe what what is your engagement process for this particular park since sounds it's more of a it's a [31:02] it's a bigger park you got a lot more amenities there so how do you reach out to those so Yep so what we did this time [31:08] was we had um a approximately the month of April we had a variety we had we hosted an open house we sent letters uh [31:15] this neighborhood um 200 400 Oh no no that's that was Carver so [31:22] approximately 295 mailers so we sort of look at the distance um we go greater [31:28] than the 500 ft that community development does i I can't remember i should have looked it up at how many but [31:34] we try to get letters to the adjacent properties so a ring or two around the [31:41] the park and then we put a a sign a QR sign so so the users we try to capture [31:46] the users that was up for approximately the month of April and then we did a few social media campaigns which again is a [31:53] question mark this is a neighborhood but again trying to utilize the community engagement plan we did put it on social [32:00] media so that if there are users that go there that were interested in providing feedback on either Carver or uh Pioneer [32:07] Park so those were um and then the survey so again just to [32:12] speak clearly about the playground we worked with the playground designer to design the base playground based on some [32:18] of the um amenities that were there so the bridge was a big thing there's there's a bridge structure it's not the [32:24] same bridge structure but we used this ramping system that sort of creates a bridge but it's also um inclusive for [32:30] wheelchair users walkers toddlers grandmas [32:35] a foot scooter could could access it um and then how to and then there's also [32:42] a couple of other priorities that we've heard in the in the last few years separating entrances and exits for [32:48] toddlers versus big kids so that their interactions are a little bit different um and then where where can we fit these [32:54] other amenities and how do these structures fit together so it's not a perfect system by any means and it's not [33:02] um I don't believe we will ever get a playground that everyone loves sure i [33:07] will say you know as somebody that has people have used it not that long ago at [33:13] different times and are like um you know going through the phases and I remember [33:20] the one at um Ridge Park when the community came and you know what I [33:26] somewhat chuckled about some of their feedback was is they were very um adamant about sort of that toddler [33:33] structure but I sort of had to laugh it to myself to say they're not toddlers forever you know that they're going to [33:39] age and I think and I but at the same time I remember when the boys were toddlers and sometimes you would go to [33:44] parks and gosh these are really difficult so I feel like as we have had the opportunity to sort of combine those [33:51] two elements because right these neighborhoods are going to constantly change over right you're going to have the kids that are the toddlers for a [33:57] while and then they're going to age and they're so to have that ability to sort of combine the two I think is an [34:04] appropriate strategy to because again I do think we have some parks where you might show up and if you had a toddler [34:10] you're like this is not really the best fit for them but I think those were sometimes older parks where those [34:16] amenities ities were you know so and I agree I agree with that statement I I [34:22] and I also agree that your todd your it's interesting because your toddler phase although it feels like it lasts [34:27] forever it doesn't and um your kids spend more time on the bigger structures [34:33] than they do on the toddler structures and that's exactly my point on this park is I feel like we are losing the bigger [34:39] structures and I think that was Ridge Park's also concern that they were losing the amenities for the older [34:46] children and and focused more on the um toddler area which is underutilized [34:54] um because you're not toddlers very long and the swings yes they go from four swings to two uh currently there's two [35:01] belt swings do they call them belt swings you know regular sling swings I call them and then two toddler swings so [35:07] now we're going to one belt and one toddler which is fine except if you have two kids who want to swing you're not [35:14] you're they two kids can't even swing so um these are the things that um and I I [35:20] think I've brought up in the past um when the Ridge Park incident was happening that there are ways that we [35:26] could do this and I I don't know if parks and natural resources commission is the right way to do it and I know [35:32] staff puts in a boatload of time on this kind of stuff but I know there are active groups of parents in this city [35:39] who do utilize a lot of these parks they would love to get together and figure [35:44] out what we can do on these park systems another volunteer group this park you know next year we have this park they [35:51] would go out they would get um feedback from the residents they would see how people use it if they have their own [35:59] kids they would use it themselves and see and see what could we do what needs to be done so there are ways that we can [36:05] do it that does not put burden on staff but actually takes it away and gets more community feedback [36:11] mayor yes so I think this is a good opportunity just to think about how does the council want to address things like [36:18] this so what are the things that are in your wheelhouse what are the things that are not going to be in your wheelhouse [36:24] and think about this from a precedent standpoint because as Michelle mentioned we're going to be doing parks year in [36:30] year out so the question is do you want to be as a council think about the [36:36] various lanes there's the financial lane which is squarely within the council's realm the fiduciary aspect funded not [36:43] funded how much is it funded we go through that with the capital improvement plan in the annual budget [36:48] the second clear lane is process and council has been very clear with us and done a lot of work to improve our [36:55] community engagement and to make sure the process is done the third one is the design [37:02] so I just asked the council to think do you want to be in the business of being the arbiter of design you do have a [37:09] citizen advisory group they were used in this process they have confirmed the [37:15] design we did have engagement process but if council says you know on each of [37:21] these projects relative to the design and the particular items we are the council we're going to engage in that [37:27] then you are setting a precedence that you're going to be involved in the minutia of picking different pieces of [37:35] equipment and I just have to ask you um do you want to be in that business do you want to certainly the fiduciary the [37:42] engagement but on the design part you know there are many communities that [37:48] will not have this is as an item at all so as you wait into the design and [37:56] whether it's a swing or a hopper or this a you know be thoughtful of okay does this the avenue we want to go and be [38:04] available year after year whenever we get citizen feedback so just think about [38:10] that going forward i just want to push back a tad bit i know it's your last meeting so it would be good if we had a [38:16] good thing um to just to say that there are a lot of communities that wouldn't even do [38:23] this type of thing you know that's what makes Woodbury unique and different and special is we do seek in citizens and we [38:30] do have a very active community we have citizen advisory boards of people lining up and being rejected because we don't [38:37] have enough spots to sit on our citizen advisory boards and so we do have an active community in terms of that i I do [38:44] know sometimes you know when you look out here and there's nobody sitting out here it does feel like we don't have an [38:50] active community um but we do have people who are interested in this i just I just caution um council this this is [38:58] in no way um anything against the parks department or Miss Okatada or or Mr this [39:06] is nothing against them they're doing what they are supposed to do now I'm [39:11] looking to council and saying is this what we want to do is this the direction we want to go with this because [39:18] replacing a park and then having it not be what it used to [39:26] be is detrimental to the neighborhood especially when we have a policy that says we want everybody to be within [39:32] walking distance of a park it's your opinion that it's not going to be what it's used to be and that's part [39:38] of part of what what the director had said too and my my feeling is that parks [39:44] are going to be like pizza everybody's got an opinion on what they like on their pizza and everybody's going to have opinion there was community [39:49] engagement that was completed u staff completed that 295 households plus the [39:55] QR code or the the ability to catch users that may not live in that area that are using the park that's that's an [40:01] effective method of community engagement and then the last part is that it went through our volunteer commission it went [40:07] through the volunteer commission but it didn't i will say it did but it didn't so you can say that it did and and I [40:13] wasn't done saying anything okay go ahead it went through our commission in the process and there is feedback and if [40:18] the commission and we all sit on those commissions as the liaison and if the commission really didn't like something [40:24] in the park they can push back to it and they have pushed back and said nope we don't this there's enough either [40:30] community feedback and I was on the commission I was the less on year ago or two years ago and they there was [40:36] significant community push back on the design of a park and the elements that were contained in it and I think that thing came back three different times [40:42] before the commission said hey listen it's never going to be unanimous unlikely to be unanimous but here's at a [40:48] point where we can we can make the recommendation to go so I'm comfortable with the process to to Clint to [40:55] administrator Goodley's comment about process um that that for me is the [41:01] question I'm going to answer the the Clint's note of I don't want to be in the design it's the same thing for [41:07] architectural review it's what we have ordinances for we have a process is the process followed was there budgets i [41:13] don't want to be in design process that's my feeling to answer your question that's not where I wanted want the council to be because then it's [41:19] subjective to the only the five people here and our opinions well correct and I [41:24] wasn't suggesting that the council design parks just to be clear that was not my suggestion so what is the [41:30] suggestion what do you want us to do there was a community there's there are community members who are interested in [41:36] participating and taking design leads on these parks that need to be their feedback is welcome at any point in time [41:42] during the parks and recreation commission they can come to those conversations they can inter interact with staff at 100% do we need another [41:48] commission we do not okay and then just just to clarify I believe the the um [41:54] feedback on this park or the gathering of information on this park was like four pictures would you like this swing [42:00] or this swing it wasn't full full out play structures it's like would you like this swing or would you like this swing [42:06] would you like this swing or would you like this swing right sounds as though there are limitations there's a space [42:11] limitation there's a financial limitation there's a safety these new safety things too bad we can't all just [42:18] you know play on playgrounds what we did is kids yeah fall off dizzy fall into [42:23] things you know things are different things i don't know how I didn't die um I agree with Steve that I think that if [42:29] we've got a are we doing it financially right and it sounds like we are unless for some reason there's a proposal and [42:35] we can talk about it at the upcoming budget meeting do we want to start levying for more dollars to make more spectacular parks expand the the uh [42:43] containment and do all kinds of other things that's certainly an option in the future but I think based on what exists [42:50] there are parameters and you're following it and you're getting feedback and um again it's the pizza thing and [42:56] we're not going to make everyone happy we we did look at the potential for [43:01] expanding this container to retain the four bank swing um there's a tree consideration and a um storm water swale [43:09] consideration so it again all of these things can be done and so when the [43:15] commission was vacasillating with how to do these things yes we can we can have [43:20] four swings we can have more slides there is a dollar component which I do [43:26] think that we're we're being um good about the budget we have increased it we [43:31] can look at more uh we're trying to be you know to the spirit of the replacement fund so that to keep it in [43:38] that container size but we can absolutely we again we want to serve you [43:43] we serve at your will we do not want you to get phone calls that people don't like these parks so if there are [43:49] specific we we can look at the next playground replacement and do a community type build we we can if that [43:55] is the desire we want to serve in that capacity can I offer a suggestion is perhaps I [44:03] don't know that I would support that for neighborhood parks right because those are much smaller packages i wouldn't know this for neighborhood parks but [44:10] would the council maybe consider direction to staff to include um a [44:15] little bit more specificity with the parks and natural resource commission to say the council gives latitude to the [44:22] commission would we consider this is what I'm asking you is would we consider the direction of the commission to give [44:27] them a little bit more latitude to say listen if there's a feeling that maybe the amenities aren't up to up to a same [44:34] mirror standard you can give staff direction to maybe bring alternatives [44:41] that have are outside of our fiscal you know it's if we got a $1,000 budget it's [44:48] going to be $2,000 right is is to be able to give the commission a little bit more leeway in that feedback because [44:54] maybe perhaps and this is where I do agree with council member Wilson is they may be a little restricted I think on [45:00] that commission of what they think their latitude is would that be something that we would consider is to allow them the [45:07] ability to have that larger feedback because the commission's job is to represent their neighbors as all of ours [45:12] is but to give them just a little bit more latitude that would be my only question to you i'm not sure i'm totally following [45:19] because maybe I I just think it it I do agree and I think the the um PNRC had [45:24] asked that things be brought to them sooner so they because the feedback they were giving them then they felt the [45:30] feedback that was expressed at that meeting it was also followed up with well this is supposed to be before [45:36] council next week which was unfortunately the meeting we had to cancel because I wasn't going to be here for my broken foot so um so that was [45:44] only you know six seven what eight days before and they needed to see it they [45:49] felt like the feedback they were giving was now going to postpone the um the [45:54] redevelopment or the replacement right and so um I just I'm just this and this [46:00] isn't I don't Is this considered a neighborhood park yes okay you know we have pocket parks and we have [46:06] neighborhood parks and and if this is a neighborhood park this is a one of the biggest neighborhood parks then that [46:12] there is because of the um amenities that are offered at this park it's not [46:17] um it's not a normal neighborhood park so would we give consideration again to give staff direction we consider when we [46:23] consider uh directing staff to advance the process from a timeline standpoint [46:29] to say listen we need you to go out further and there are going to be budget implications of that because they're going to forecast something that we're [46:36] not going to buy for a year or whatever but in order to give PNRC more time is that what you would Well I definitely [46:42] think somebody needs to have some input into it and if that's PNRC that's fine we could certainly do that I think that [46:47] there needs to be time leading up to it that PNRC would be able to say is you know could we maybe change this or look [46:53] at that now we you know there have been um more regional or plans brought before [46:59] PNRC to get uh over feedback and overview feedback like the Kobe Lake [47:05] Edgewater Edgewater yep um the Edgewater Park that the potential changes that are coming there um and they gave their [47:12] feedback and and I think that's good and that's valuable and I think that that's the way to do it but in this case I feel [47:18] like this is a rushed not rushed on your part okay I want to [47:24] be clear i know you guys have been working on it a long time so it's not rushed in your end but to the public it's a rushed it's a rushed thing if in [47:31] April you're asking which swing do you want and then in May you're coming before council and saying here's the [47:38] plan and people aren't able to the trade-off is if we do it sooner that I mean there's there's always a trade-off [47:44] if we if we do that sooner then they may not live there anymore so well sure but [47:50] there's a lot of people there's not there's more people staying than moving i just will say there's not a big ex [47:57] exit out of member Wilson when you talk about the people are you talking about the people that are in the neighborhood [48:03] who we would normally well that contacting a survey that that [48:08] would be 100% i feel like those are the neighborhood people for sure yes yes and [48:15] I and like I said this is in my neighborhood i'm outside the second tier circle so uh you know the only way I [48:20] know about it is by um social media posts or whatever and of course you're not necessarily residents in that [48:28] neighborhood of either of these two parks no I am a resident in that neighborhood but two the two tiers is [48:34] like the first row of houses around the park and the second row of houses around the park i'm not in the first or second [48:39] row of houses around the park you know our policy says they want to park with at within a half mile walking distance [48:45] i'm within a half mile of that park that's my park that I walk to and you want another swing well I I would like [48:51] to see more than another swing i would like to see uh a playground that is [48:56] going to um have a toddler area yes but also more amenities for older children [49:03] but it sounds as though there's again there's a space limitation there's the container size there's storm water [49:09] there's a tree and then Clinton you wanted to say something i'm Well I just wanted to mention why is this on the [49:14] agenda okay okay so what's the question this is a public bid item so it's on the [49:20] agenda because we're required to have you approve public bids it It's not on [49:27] the agenda to approve the design it's It's not on the agenda to approve the [49:33] It's approve the public bid this is So that's that's the question before you [49:39] now relative to council member Morris's statement if council wanted to clarify [49:45] rules and say "Okay we are as a council going to delegate that design decision [49:51] to the PNRC," you could direct that the PNRC ordinance reflect that that the [49:58] PNRC will make decisions relative to uh designs of playgrounds so that it is [50:04] strictly a fiduciary responsibility of course citizens can always appeal to the [50:10] council or through a council member but this is this is not to approve a design [50:16] this is to approve a public bid an award of a public bid and I would agree with that statement 100% and that's why you [50:23] know I I said I would pull it and I'm going to vote no but keep in mind our yes votes means that we approve it not [50:30] just the contract but we're approving what's before us because if we as council are only going to look at the [50:35] one single thing that's before us and say the contracts before us we're not taking a look at what we're approving or [50:41] how that fits into what's there or you know the rippling effects then we're not doing our job as council but we delegate [50:47] that this is why we have staff we delegate those decisions to staff and and to the commissions so I would I [50:53] would think that it would consider uh council member Wilson's point is the larger part of the process part that I [51:00] think that that I think is is merit to have another discussion of the of the [51:06] design element and I get that that's not the point here but and I don't know if again I I I would ask the council to [51:12] either consider this for an upcoming workshop to talk about this process and talk about that the ordin the directive [51:18] on the on the PNRC commission and their leeway or direction to to give that [51:24] staff can give the PNRC i I think that that's worthy of of conversation to address this concern but I get your [51:30] point of I get I get what this 6B is about but I also would would support [51:37] that how about we go forward this way you said you're going to vote differently let's let's take this one to vote and let's give some consideration [51:43] to extending or expanding a little bit of the time do we want to have a workshop it could be a workshop could be [51:50] a workshop discussion well and one of the things I was going to say sort of in tandem with that is [51:55] maybe whether again it's a workshop or something but um again not that I want [52:01] to add more to staff but to identify maybe a little bit better process and I go back to the um and I'm never going to [52:06] know the acronym but the spectrum of the decision- making a [52:12] and to possibly identify when is it more appropriate to make you know the difference of sort of the park planning [52:18] fall into that right but even within park planning maybe the different levels of the parks you know that this might [52:24] just be more of an which we we did identify that but what I'm hearing from council is you would [52:30] like us to increase that so we were at the consult rate you would like us to to bump it into the next level i don't know [52:36] that I'm there i just that I'm at the point of wanting to cons we should consider that i'm not saying that I'm [52:43] ready to give that direction right um mayor and and council would it be uh if [52:48] you give staff a a let us put a memo together hearing what you're saying of [52:54] what we're what we're hearing see if we can affirm that through a memo if not an additional discussion is worthy we could [53:01] come to a workshop would that be um and again now the workshop is is relative to [53:08] roles right not to chew we're not picking we're not [53:13] yeah you're like who's going to be the famous George Bush who's gonna be the decider yeah you know you know is it the [53:19] PNRC as the decider is it the council you want to be the decider your obscure references do you want to [53:26] have do you want to have staff be the decider someone in the end has got to be the arbiter am I um right do you [53:34] remember Lawson's face that that robot no you know Mr danger danger Robin so [53:40] danger council if you're going to be the arbiter of design you will find yourself in this place over and over again are [53:46] there is there a list of these that you've been saving for tonight i got a lot of them it's all coming out tonight [53:51] uh mayor and members of the council is this something that you would like us to exercise this new formula with this [53:58] playground because we Is that something you'd like us to do or are you going to vote on this and that would be for [54:03] future playground i'm going to suggest we vote on this and move forward yeah I agree mhm so with that would someone [54:10] like to put forth a motion uh Jen or [54:15] That's just because I was looking for it adopt resolution 25-92 a resolution awarding the contracts for replacement [54:22] for the Pioneer Playground and the Carver Lake Park Beach Playground to Landscape Structures Inc and flagship [54:28] flagship recreation for a combined amount not to exceed $345,000 and authorize the mayor and [54:35] city administrator to sign said contracts upon the approval by city attorney i found it i second motion [54:42] second question is it 345,000 for both playgrounds correct [54:49] any further discussion hearing none roll call please council member Stafford I [54:54] council member Wilson no council member Morris hi council member Santini i Mayor [54:59] Bert I that resolution passes uh we will now move on to the public hearings we [55:04] have I believe four public hearings tonight in order to allow for the full airing of speaker comments individual [55:10] remarks may not exceed 10 minutes do we have anyone here for public hearing otherwise I don't have to [55:16] read all this nobody's here i don't have any green sheets i'm not going to read it if somebody chimes in online I'll [55:22] I'll I'll go over it but let's just move right on to our public hearing we kind of know the standard process we will [55:27] start with opening the hearing for restaurant 3 LLC doing business as Lily Anna and this goes over to our assistant [55:35] city administrator city clerk Ashley thank you Mayor Burton and members of the council i just have a brief PowerPoint for you this evening um the [55:43] uh Restaurant 3 LLC is doing business as Liliana uh they have applied for an [55:48] application for an on sale liquor license including Sunday sales and patio sales um the address of the property is [55:57] 1060 CityWalk Drive Sweet 102 uh and the two owners are listed on the screen as [56:04] well uh as required by our city code a criminal history check was completed and [56:10] was clear uh the applicant has submitted all necessary fees uh our city attorney [56:15] has reviewed application materials and has found them acceptable and then as is our practice we did mail public hearing [56:21] notices to the surrounding properties [56:27] so with that said uh staff's recommendation is that you approve an on-sale intoxicating liquor license [56:32] including Sunday sales um to the restaurant as shown on the screen oh [56:39] great i know there's been some excitement about this restaurant coming and opening um there's any I don't see [56:44] any green sheets from the public and anything online if not I make a motion we close the hearing second motion [56:51] second all in favor i I hear's closed and open it up to council members just [56:56] making sure that we have the correct so in the packet the address is one thing and on the screen is another so just [57:03] prior screen I think showed 111 060 okay this one is one 050 on this screen on [57:10] the slide okay so it's 6 6 thanks for noticing they don't have to move their business [57:16] i will make a motion to approve the on sale intoxicating liquor license including Sunday and patio sales to restaurant 3 LLC DBA Liliana located at [57:23] one 060 Citywalk Drive Suite 102 second [57:29] motion second any discussion hearing none roll call please council member [57:34] Wilson i council member Morris council member Santini hi council member Stafford hi mayor Bert i that passes [57:41] again lots of fix nobody's here from the restaurant but I'm I'm again hearing awesome things i think it's a sister restaurant to one in St paul and it's [57:49] their third I'm guessing oh is it okay restaurant three it's the name after the children or something i I maybe that I [57:56] don't know if that I don't know if all that's true i don't know sisters some relative it's in the record now cute name i don't know is it in the where the [58:03] Dun brothers coffee is okay on that corner yeah so um like I'm curious if [58:09] they're looking for a liquor license how close are they to opening any idea they said that they are hoping to open June [58:14] 1st so Oh fantastic all right fantastic all right we'll now move on to the next one um Wu Hot Pot [58:22] and Barbecue LLC doing business as Feast Buffet and Banquet also for a liquor license so the hearing is now open [58:28] ashley right so similar format as the previous one uh we have a restaurant Wu [58:33] Hot Pot um and Barbecq LLC they're doing business as Feast Buffet um they are [58:39] applying for an on sale wine and beer liquor license with Sunday sales and patio sales uh the address is 1690 [58:46] Woodlane Drive um they have 11 owners so I won't read through all of them but they're on the screen for your reference [58:53] um just for clarity it's Clint's last meeting you should or I'll spare you all [59:00] uh and as is our process we did the criminal history check um it was completed and clear uh the applicant [59:05] submitted all the fees the attorney has reviewed the application materials um found them acceptable and we did um send [59:12] the public hearing notices to the surrounding properties and so with that our recommendation uh for you is on the [59:19] screen and I'd be happy to entertain any questions if you have them and again no green sheets for it nothing online so I [59:25] make a motion to close the hearing second motion a second all in favor I hearing's closed council members are we [59:32] sure that that's not a typo the wagoo I know I was wondering if it's wa Okay that's what I was looking at going am I [59:37] saying this right is it w a yu w a y gu it's spelled that way in all [59:42] of our materials so might just be pronounced anybody [59:48] anybody good all right i make a motion to um What am I doing i make a motion to [59:54] approve the uh on sale wine and beer liquor license including Sunday and patio sales for the restaurant [1:00:01] WGU Hot Pot and Barbecq LLC DBA Feast Buffet and Banquet located at 1690 [1:00:07] Woodlane Drive second motion second any further comment hearing none roll call [1:00:14] please council member Morris i council member Santini i council member Stafford [1:00:19] i council member Wilson i mayor Bert i that passes and congratulations to both [1:00:24] new restaurants i know we love restaurants in Woodbury and we love all the visitors that come to our restaurants in Woodbury so um enjoy both [1:00:30] of those new locations do you know their timing they I don't believe gave us a time okay [1:00:37] okay fantastic and Janelle I think knows about how many food places we have now yes um I think council member and Mayor [1:00:44] Bert um you had asked for our DMO manager to make sure we put all of those [1:00:49] within our website and those kinds of things i think he counted 130 so he's slowly places to eat or drink now that [1:00:57] includes you know multiple McDonald's and you know Subways and whatever else [1:01:02] would 13 wow maybe we need like a around the [1:01:09] world and you know tickets you know go to each one something or a progressive snack bus [1:01:15] yeah it's kind of we have to wait till the roads open which we'll be getting to [1:01:21] okay we're now moving on to um an item 7C uh Doug Nak is here from staff [1:01:27] welcome Doug i think this is one of the first that you've been to that I've been here it's uh yeah so good good that [1:01:33] you're here um to talk about special assessments but before we get into it I need to read that anyone who wishes to [1:01:38] object to the special assessments and reserve the right to appeal in the district court should provide their name [1:01:44] and address in writing prior to the council action to um to the close of the hearing we have a form available for [1:01:50] your convenience and I do already have one um here larkinhoff Larkin Hoffman is [1:01:56] representing um client Wood Woodook LLC um properties [1:02:04] identified as ID 04-028-21-31-0012 so we do have their [1:02:10] letter here um so with that um the hearing is now open doug please share [1:02:15] what you need to share all right good evening mayor members of council um the purpose of the meeting is to hold [1:02:21] the assessment hearing um accept any written objections and approve the resolutions which adopt the assessment [1:02:27] role award a construction contract Amanda budget and authorized consultant [1:02:32] contract this project is uh runs from weir drive [1:02:39] to radio drive and includes the streets north and south as you get close to radio drive the commercial street season [1:02:45] parkway collar way tamarack bay the scope of the project is a mill [1:02:52] and overlay spot curb replacement um we are doing some also doing some [1:02:57] median replacement pedestrian ramp replacement there's a trail rehabilitation on the south side of [1:03:03] tamarack back and a new trail construction going on the north side of Tamarack there's been a fair amount of [1:03:10] public process including a public improvement hearing on July 24th we've had multiple open houses had individual [1:03:17] meetings with property owners along the route the trail in red on the screen is the [1:03:27] current trail that's going to be rehabbed and the trail in blue is the new trail running from Beenburgg to [1:03:33] Radio Drive the proposed schedule they want to start this project in early June and [1:03:40] it'll run through October um the hope is to have it completed by the end of October we're well aware of all of the [1:03:47] other projects that are closing roads and we're trying to work around those those road closures as we move forward [1:03:54] with this one funding for this project is roughly $1.5 million in special assessments [1:04:01] that's 77 properties being assessed the range in assessments is from [1:04:07] $478 to $238,000 um there's also a $ 1.5 million state [1:04:14] grant for this project the rest of it is funded by the city for those online or who don't know [1:04:22] special and chess special assessment is a charge imposed on properties for [1:04:27] improvements that benefit the owners along the route a levy the city uses to finance or partially finance certain [1:04:34] public improvements we followed the assessment policy and [1:04:41] did a benefit appraisal um we calculated the assessments based on our policy and [1:04:46] then compared it to the benefit appraisal and selected the lower of the [1:04:52] two the benefited properties are on the screen they're all commercial properties along the route um they're in light blue [1:05:03] there so there was uh assessment hearings being held today um anyone who [1:05:10] is assessed can have a 30-day no interest payment payments can be made over 15 years first payment would be due [1:05:17] first half of property taxes in 2026 with a 4.1% interest rate calculated by [1:05:23] our finance department so our recommended actions is to close the assessment hearing um that [1:05:31] requires a simple majority vote and adopt the resolutions to certify the assessment role award a construction [1:05:38] contract amend the budget authorize consultant selection anyone who wants to get more [1:05:45] information on the project on the screen there's Woodbury InTouch my name is on [1:05:50] there and also Tony Kudsky the city engineer great any questions we'll go to council [1:05:57] in just a minute but um I don't believe I see any green sheets is there anyone else online that at last minute here [1:06:02] wants to put in an objection i don't see anyone okay hearing no none of that then I'll make a motion that we close the [1:06:08] hearing second motion a second all in favor i all right the hearing is closed now open to council um I have a question [1:06:16] i'll just kick off first i feel like in the past we've always seen the specific assessments by property address [1:06:24] or by property is that a listing that's typ I just feel like in the past we've seen it i don't know that I've seen it [1:06:30] for this project does that exist the assessment role i guess that's what it's [1:06:35] called each property the amount each property is getting charged in an assessment i use that called an assessment role yes there is an [1:06:41] assessment role right finance has I don't feel like we always get it i feel [1:06:46] like once in a while depending upon I think you get properties that are representational what does that mean uh [1:06:53] in other words whatange what a typical resident would get and then if they're [1:06:58] individual businesses you might have gotten some of the individual businesses that might be bigger payers that's my [1:07:04] point i haven't seen what I'd say it's inconsistent yeah okay so my point being I feel like I've I get it usually [1:07:10] residential it's kind of split evenly we kind of know what those numbers end up being and those are talked about but I feel like for these bigger commercial [1:07:16] properties we normally see you know I know in the past we've seen maybe it's [1:07:22] inconsistent maybe we could look at when when we get it when we don't but I'd be curious to see what this one is [1:07:28] we can definitely get that to you is it in the feasibility report mayor members of the council it's in the feasibility [1:07:34] report is the preliminary assessment role um what you're referring to is prepared by finance which is the [1:07:40] assessment role and it's different from the content that engineering presents as part of the assessment hearing and that [1:07:47] should be prepared I believe as part of the um council packet [1:07:54] um adopting resolutions or is that already is that going to council next by [1:08:00] finance I thought finance had it on today's meeting or should have it is [1:08:06] Yeah I don't we don't have it not so there's a reference to the particular assessment role in your resolution but [1:08:12] the assessment role itself is not in your packet correct [1:08:19] yes i I mean I'm if you want that as a follow-up document we can share that with you okay i I I think I'd like to [1:08:26] see it i don't know that it would change my but but having that information ahead of time I think is helpful just to have [1:08:31] it um I did have a business owner reach out to me that was very concerned about it and I'd like to be able to communicate what that is and how and why [1:08:38] and are you financing aren't you financing and all that um so if we could just have a process whereby we we have [1:08:45] consistently share that or some that would be helpful mayor members of the council I I think this comes down to [1:08:51] some of the confusion from the canceled meeting was on the agenda for the last meeting and um we can circle back on that this [1:08:59] wouldn't typically happen this would be done in tandem between engineering and finance and there was a lot of stuff on [1:09:04] the agenda um it's something that I just missed okay i appreciate that yeah again [1:09:10] I'm going to trust and you you all follow process you do it right it's you know it and we and and and business [1:09:17] owners are aware they're aware they have the opportunity i just I just like to know to know so if you could follow up I [1:09:23] would appreciate that yep and the assessment role we mail out a notice which says it is available to the business owners and the property owners [1:09:29] and they can come in and view that at any time with the city leading up to the assessment here yeah okay and and each [1:09:36] individual property is mailed their specific assessment amounts as well yes right okay [1:09:42] okay thank you yeah anything else from council otherwise this can be typically [1:09:47] is pretty straightforward um [1:09:56] nobody are you looking for a motion that's if it's silence motions are Hang [1:10:01] on i guess I just was curious so I just trying to see if possibly but I guess I don't necessarily see it either in the [1:10:08] May 14th i I that's I was looking it wasn't in there either okay that's all i [1:10:13] just didn't know if we had access to it relatively easily as Chris said that I was looking for it it wasn't there yeah [1:10:19] so okay i'll make a motion to adopt resolution 25-118 a resolution approving [1:10:25] the special assessments for the Tamarak Road from Weir Drive to Radio Drive pavement and rehab project [1:10:33] i'll second motion is second any further discussion hearing none the roll call please council member Santini I council [1:10:39] member Stafford I council member Wilson no council member Morris hi mayor Bert I [1:10:45] that resolution passes uh we now will go to 7D which is now this is fairly procedural after we just did 7 C uh [1:10:54] which but it is in an open hearing but there is no no I don't really it's not no it just came after but it's not [1:10:59] really hearing so we can just take these resolutions one at a time then actually well and so I had two questions I felt [1:11:06] it was more um I know that this is more about the con uh awarding the contract [1:11:11] and everything um just a quick question for just understanding and I know we [1:11:17] Do we think that construction on this will not start until after Valley Creek is at least open given so construction [1:11:24] is supposed to start in June in the commercial areas there wouldn't be any road closures it'd be under full traffic [1:11:29] okay the construction for Tamarak would not happen until after Valley Creek was [1:11:37] opened up thank you that was one of my questions and then my other question I know when this project originally came [1:11:43] before us I had a question about off of um Season's Parkway any update about the [1:11:49] because there's a private road to it on Se off of Season's Parkway right there's [1:11:54] a little that goes off right that would be the responsibility that's a private road and I know we talked about possibly [1:12:01] if um reaching I don't know who owns that or who has to maintain that but from a because that section is really [1:12:07] bad and the only reason why I know that is because the kids orthodontist is in that area and so I just didn't know i mean again the whole area would stand to [1:12:14] do an update but I know we can't force them but if there was a um economy of scale and sort of a timing do we know if [1:12:21] they're thinking about updating around the same time we haven't reached out to them okay [1:12:27] because we don't have a contract so it' be okay so maybe it is it is often that property owners will ask for an economy [1:12:34] of scale okay and then it's up to the con the contractor to decide if they would like to take on that work [1:12:40] oftentimes private roads have different considerations different equipment a lot of contractors do not want to do private [1:12:46] work they only want to do city utility work okay but we do have uh code court [1:12:52] code ordinance code uh compliance though if the if a property if a if a roadway [1:12:57] gets crappy enough we can take a drive there do we have code compliance for roadways [1:13:03] yeah oh Janelle we had conversations about this about Southern Social and that [1:13:11] parking lot that was a parking lot it's a parking lot yeah i would have to look at the development agreement and see what that said for that particular one [1:13:17] if I'm understanding where this is so yeah but we also did the private road that's Jerry's had a pot a couple of [1:13:24] potholes in it that by Sam's I think we had some issues there where we would go [1:13:30] out and and Yeah um issue concerns about those yeah because as the business owner [1:13:35] that had to fill the pothole I'm very well aware that the city was after me to fill my pothole [1:13:42] maybe it was just me just remember the post office if anybody remembers that post office thing and we would get [1:13:47] numerous complaints and we would say we can't do anything about it but that was a federal cuz that's federal yeah that [1:13:53] was federal trust me I wish they post office would restripe their lines i just remember that that was my um Well that [1:14:01] was all I just from a timing perspective and again just highlighting we did get a what a over a million a million dollar grant a million and a half and that came [1:14:08] from where I state so that's a local road improvement program okay and it's a [1:14:14] grant set aside by the state of Minnesota by and their legislature uh only a certain amount is available and [1:14:20] it's very competitive um it's not often a single or a city will get that grant [1:14:25] um within a few years of each other so it from the state's perspective it [1:14:30] recognizes the importance of Tamarack Road relative to the region and a million and a half just really goes [1:14:36] right through our state aid accounts it has very little restrictions um it's it's awesome that we we competed for [1:14:43] that and got and got it congratulations thanks for the extra work to to make that happen make a motion to adopt resolution 25-119 a resolution awarding [1:14:51] the construction contract of Batuminous Roadways Inc the amount of [1:14:57] $4,474,55955 for the Tamarak Road and weird drive to radio driver pavement rehabilitation project and authorizing [1:15:03] the mayor and city administrator to sign said contract second motion is second any further [1:15:09] discussion hearing none roll call please council member Wilson i council member [1:15:14] Morris i council member Santini i council member Stafford hi mayor Bert i [1:15:19] that resolution passes i'll make a motion to adopt resolution 25-120 a resolution authorizing the mayor and [1:15:24] city administrator to execute an engineering consulting services contract with WSB LLC in the amount of [1:15:30] 377,218 for construction administration services for the Tamarak road and wear drive to radio drive pavement [1:15:36] rehabilitation project second motion second any discussion hearing none roll [1:15:41] call please council member Morris I council member Santini I council member Stafford I council member Wilson I mayor [1:15:49] Bert I that passes in order to draw the meeting out long i will make a [1:15:56] motion to adopt resolution 25-121 a resolution amending the municipal state aid roadway construction fund the storm [1:16:03] water utility fund the water and sewer utility fund and the parks and trails replacement fund budgets based on the low bid for the Tamarak Road from Weir [1:16:10] Drive to Radio Drive pavement rehabilitation project and just to drag [1:16:15] it out call second motion a second any further discussion [1:16:22] hearing none roll call please council member Santini I council member Stafford [1:16:28] I council member Wilson i [1:16:33] uh Council Member Morris i Mayor Bert I that resolution passes [1:16:41] that covers our um public hearing public hearings okay we'll now move on to discussion items so up next is Chris [1:16:47] Hartzell safe Streets for All [1:16:54] clint did Clint have a game day update he just said it he says we're getting crushed [1:17:00] oh oh sorry not good it's to be expected [1:17:06] so mayor members of the council um I did touch base with Mike Ka our assistant city engineer about the assessment role [1:17:13] it is on the agenda but it is not in detail it's produced by finance the [1:17:19] reason is is there's 76 unique individual properties and sometimes when we have assessment roles we we sort of [1:17:24] list out by the types of properties because they're all consistent in this case they were so different that it was [1:17:29] an overall assessment role so it is included with your packet so you should feel comfortable u approving that as [1:17:36] it's not in the pack it's not in the packet it's item like the listing 76 line items oh each [1:17:43] 76 yes that that is not in the packet i as just to follow up I would like that please okay thank you i think it's in [1:17:49] the feasibility report correct in the feasibility and then the actual assessment role that's available to each of them from finance correct would that [1:17:56] would we get that in time for the packet would finance have that in time for the packet um yes because they have to make [1:18:02] it available we just haven't typically in the past made that to that level of detail on the council i was going to say [1:18:07] I don't think we always get it in i don't know that we have this many commercial properties i mean I've seen [1:18:12] it before we did up Normal Lane we saw those i was little you know anyway okay [1:18:19] so sorry for the lack of clarity on that i had to quickly look and it was easier just to talk to Mike [1:18:25] yep he knows what's going on um so uh good evening mayor members of [1:18:30] the council um we specifically wanted to put the safe streets and roads for all adoption of the action plan and the [1:18:37] safety first council directive on the council for general discussion unfortunately the project manager that [1:18:43] was leading this Drew Boxrad isn't available tonight so I offer to present this uh instead [1:18:49] um I think it's really important to sort of highlight how this came about uh I [1:18:54] think we've had multiple discussions during the course of last year uh a lot of process that went through um but just [1:19:01] starting at the very high level that this was originally part of the bipartisan infrastructure law and it [1:19:07] established a safe streets and roads for all discretionary program and that was available throughout the nation um and [1:19:16] uh they distributed a certain portion to the state of Minnesota and we were one of the lucky recipients of three of the [1:19:23] safety objectives which is planning demonstration projects and implementation and where we landed under [1:19:29] that was planning and demonstration because to get to implementation and project grants which is where large [1:19:35] substantial sums of money you have to have an action plan in place but we were lucky enough to receive one of the [1:19:41] maximum grant awards for the planning and demonstration projects and on top of that $100 million were set aside from [1:19:47] the Minnesota legislature called the IIGJA match program and they essentially [1:19:53] paid the match for the city of Woodbury that's required on the federal aid so the total project for us to be able to [1:19:59] deliver this was $375,000 and it cost the city of Woodbury 0 and helping to better [1:20:05] understand our system wow i would say that all of those IGA funds are [1:20:11] vaporized in the state of Minnesota nothing's left so we were glad to be part of this uh program at the time so [1:20:18] just in general uh this was created through the safe systems approach and what's a little different uh from [1:20:24] previous approaches is it's not just an engineering it's not a public safety issue it's a collective issue that [1:20:32] multiple departments uh and this graphic shows it really well that talks about safer people right so that's education [1:20:38] outreach campaigns safer vehicles working with auto industry uh to to make [1:20:43] sure you know they have speed governors seat belts airbags those type of things not really part of what we do but that's [1:20:50] part of the collective program safer safer speeds so we can do that through both engineering and public safety [1:20:56] enforcement safer roads that's definitely an engineering thing as well as postc crash care so our EMS fire EMS [1:21:02] services uh and I really love this graphic and I continue to show it um it's the Swiss [1:21:10] cheese approach to safety uh it's provided by the FHWA but obviously the Minnesota Department of Transportation [1:21:16] uses a lot but it really kind of explains what they're trying to do you know if you go back to that graphic [1:21:22] there's five different postc crash safe road safe speed safe vehicles really what they're looking for is layers of [1:21:29] redundancy to prevent fatalities and injuries right so it's not just one thing it's all things because at some [1:21:35] point you know you may not have a safe road user but you're hoping that safe vehicles or postc crash care saves their [1:21:42] lives or prevents a major injury when that fails is because it's found the [1:21:48] perfect dynamic of you know the maybe the geometries weren't right uh regular [1:21:53] uh speed enforcement safe vehicles not having safe users all of those conditions hit right and that's [1:21:59] generally when you may see a fatality and injury so part of the work that we do is controlling what we can control [1:22:04] and the biggest impact that we have in this Swiss Swiss cheese layer is the safe roads and the safe [1:22:11] speeds so we had a really large and inclusive project management team you know everybody almost across all the [1:22:18] departments participated to sort of understand what is it we can do from a department level but also one of the [1:22:25] requirements as part of this was extensive community engagement we had almost 12 months of community engagement [1:22:30] i know it seems like it's been a while since we've been back because we had to deal with a lot of language issues between us and other jurisdictions and [1:22:36] making sure that we're all synchronized uh but there was a lot of popup events we're showing up at grocery stores [1:22:42] online participation got a lot of participation on you know what do we think needs to happen for our for our [1:22:49] system to become u safer and when did you start this like when did all this begin about uh early part of 2024 okay [1:22:57] so we got a grant in 2023 then we started kicking it off and uh it took a [1:23:03] while to get through there's a lot of data collection if you imagine how much money is spent on the data collection and analysis it's pretty extensive and [1:23:10] if you've had a chance to review the report it's several hundred pages um with the impendencies and I think you [1:23:17] know thankfully Drew was able to prepare the presentation and he kind of showed the graphic sort of tailing off uh on [1:23:23] the right side but he's just really trying to express there's a lot of data you know we talked about equity safe [1:23:29] streets priority network uh Woodberry uh some of the things they're doing in the in the countywide level state of [1:23:34] Minnesota nationwide um taking all that information and decipher it and filtering it and what's specific to [1:23:40] Woodbury so we had council workshops March 20th uh where we really talked [1:23:45] about an overview what it is we're trying to do some of the goals that we're getting out of it in September um [1:23:52] we talked about the action plan and the council directive and council gave us good direction input and guidance on [1:23:59] things they may be concerned with or language they might want tweaked um but we also talked about our demonstration [1:24:04] projects which I think was a big thing for us is demonstrating you know things that before we go do larger improvements [1:24:11] that we can do small temporary safety improvements to see are these working not only from an engineering perspective [1:24:17] is it doing what we thought it would do but also trying to gain acceptance from the community i think a lot of times [1:24:22] when we talk about um changing uh roadway design right people have this [1:24:28] perception like well let's put up speed bumps or put up signs that isn't always effective but people don't really [1:24:33] envision what does it mean when we talk about making safer roads often times it's putting in geometries necking down [1:24:39] intersections and that causes concerns because really what provides a lot of the safety impact is making people feel [1:24:45] a little uncomfortable and then they pay attention to the roadway more and the elements in the roadway especially [1:24:50] vulnerable pedestrians so an example is in your neighborhood and you put in the traffic traffic circle demonstration is [1:24:56] that Yeah also putting in the um what do you call calming traffic calming yep yes [1:25:05] several of them and what that does if you look at even Royal Oaks we did some traffic calming features if you notice [1:25:11] Queens Drive Courtley Road we narrowed it quite a bit and I think it's been pretty effective in slowing traffic even [1:25:17] though generally on new pavements people speed faster because it's more comfortable right but the reality is is [1:25:23] when you feel like you have to pay attention you do pay attention when you feel super comfortable can wander all over the road and pay attention to your [1:25:29] phone that and we build roads that support that that's when it causes issues for the record poor pavement [1:25:36] maintenance is not one of our solutions it's not but it is very effective at slowing people down to Jen's point of [1:25:43] the road that she goes to for the kids dentist yep it's traffic calming Jen [1:25:49] speed bumps yeah exactly hard to plow those roads though that's what St paul does [1:25:56] so back we came back in October u we talked about our recommendations we reviewed some of the input and then we [1:26:02] really focused in on the our one of our big issues at the time which is sidewalk and retrofitted trails in existing [1:26:08] neighborhoods and I think we developed a better process where we're checking in with council earlier and getting their [1:26:14] feedback before we're going out to the public and sharing what our recommendations are um so that was a [1:26:20] really positive aspect of uh that process and then just talking about the [1:26:25] council directive I think that's the big thing that you're going to see coming out of this we have an action plan um [1:26:32] but the council directive is the required leadership commitment when they say leadership commitment that's by [1:26:37] council and staff and what this does is it formalizes many of the existing [1:26:42] operational practices we already have but we don't really write it down or we don't talk about we're talking about it [1:26:48] internally but we're not talking about it to the public we're not talking about it as much to the council and then [1:26:54] formalizing some of the departmental collaboration we have you know so when we work with public safety or parks and [1:26:59] wreck or all those in public works we're talking about how do we make safer roads but now we for sort of formalized it [1:27:06] into what we're already doing and creating a directive that sort of gives guidance to staff uh and especially um [1:27:13] new staff and then some of the new items that came out of this is some reporting metrics so we talked about leading and [1:27:19] lagging metrics now we already do that for through our performance metrics but one thing we weren't tracking necessarily is how many popup community [1:27:26] engagement events are we talking about for driver safety um are we you know are we doing stop for me campaigns other [1:27:32] types of both leading and lagging metrics and so it suggests that we should consider some different things to [1:27:38] report back on the council and see if we see measured changes and fatalities and injuries we also talk about council [1:27:44] communications so by adopting a council directive you know we often have the the statement in there how does this uh you [1:27:51] know um pertain to policy now we can say okay this specific thing that we're [1:27:57] suggesting pertains to the policy and why we're doing this and so that gives both staff some thoughts about how to [1:28:04] collectively put it together and maybe council sort understanding of where we why did we come up with this and and why [1:28:09] are we making these recommendations we also talked about a transportation needs list instead of waiting for people to [1:28:15] come hey I want traffic calming in our neighborhood and start making a list of issues that we have we get well over 140 [1:28:22] traffic complaints a year start putting those in a database and understanding where are needs rather than waiting for [1:28:27] people to come and say "Well we want something at this time." Maybe we're proactively looking ahead and where we should prioritize our investments and [1:28:34] allowing council to understand the priority of our investments and then establishment of a demonstration [1:28:40] projects and you'll see this in the next CIP we put a small dollar value in there to just really tee up and it's at this [1:28:46] time it's just a placeholder and we um but looking ahead in the near future with road rehab projects if people want [1:28:52] traffic calming are there things that we can do from a demonstration perspective to get ahead of um implementing those [1:28:57] type of things and hopefully getting again more accepted so where we're at [1:29:03] today is we're hoping council considers adoption of the safe streets uh for all action plan as well as the council [1:29:09] directive that's in your packet and I'll end with you have any questions [1:29:16] i'm mesmerized by the I did that on purpose you didn't want to do that all [1:29:21] into that was Drew he was very creative i Yeah [1:29:28] long long time in the making that right this has taken a lot of amazing project [1:29:34] all inclusive [1:29:40] all right council what do you have to say we've seen this many times i'm big [1:29:45] fan of the in the directive the council directive i think helps um tie it all [1:29:51] together and y we we don't lurch yep um [1:29:56] well I'd like to put forth a motion i'd like to make a motion to recommend to the council to adopt resolution [1:30:03] 25-122 a resolution adopting the Woodbury Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan and Safety First Council [1:30:10] directive second motion a second any further discussion question point of clarification when we uh adopt this I [1:30:17] feel like we've talked about this for a long time and we've even referred to it in our past in in some past [1:30:25] um projects that we've done yeah um so are those projects going to change all [1:30:31] because I feel like we have been good where you recently you've come to us said how do you feel about the sidewalk [1:30:37] here or here or trail trail here or here or what are you going to do about here is this taking that away no okay no [1:30:49] because this is just a policy correct directive direct yeah which action plan [1:30:54] action plan and the dropping the action plan and then and then the corresponding directive yes for me I felt like this [1:31:02] took we had one of the more I felt like one of the last touch points on this was [1:31:07] about sort of that notion of really trying to fine-tune the um and maybe it's on one [1:31:15] of your slides about sort of the sidewalk and the retrofit and you again how do we approach that when that timing [1:31:21] comes to us you know when the timing of when it comes to us before public engagement ever to me that's what the [1:31:27] directive was doing it was more solidifying a better uh process approach where it's still [1:31:32] coming to us beforehand before they follow i just want to make sure that we're not taking that away that before [1:31:38] the project gets order all the offramps that we didn't have yeah that we experienced with Royal Oaks sounds good [1:31:45] correct okay uh any further comment hearing none [1:31:50] roll call please council member Wilson hi council member Morris hi council member Santini i council member Stafford [1:31:57] hi mayor Bert i that resolution passes you must feel pretty good Chris you're tying bows around big things that have [1:32:04] been on your team's plate for a while this is a weight off my shoulders i'll be honest with you this is great but I [1:32:10] mean we did spend an hour downstairs shedding light on a new project for you so right shedding light there you go all [1:32:17] right uh Chris transportation update yeah so I'll be honest with you my team [1:32:23] put a super robust uh PowerPoint together um with lots and lots of [1:32:29] information u but what I'm going to do because I'm about to turn into a pumpkin is um to go through some elements pretty [1:32:36] quick and allow the city administrator to do his report so I'll be very brief i know a lot of people had questions about [1:32:42] the water treatment pipeline projects and there's some pictures in here i'm not going to go necessarily line by line [1:32:49] all the traffic closures and detours i got to say that if the public or council wants to know the latest and great [1:32:55] greatest the website has a really good web page that talks about weekly detours [1:33:00] and construction and it's really good and they're keeping it up to date and [1:33:05] it's too complex to list out everything in this meeting um but needless to say [1:33:11] that you guys are experiencing all of the construction the detours the inconveniences frankly that's not going [1:33:17] to end for a while uh there's going to be a lot of work going on on Valley Creek even though that section near City [1:33:24] Hall is going to be closed it's going to open up eastbound in the next couple of weeks westbound will still be closed but [1:33:30] there's going to be little pieces all along Valley Creek all through the end of the year but I trust to say that uh [1:33:36] Tony Kutsky the water distribution pipeline staff have done an an amazing job of trying to time every project to [1:33:43] make sure that we're minimizing impacts relative to each other but that's not to say there isn't [1:33:48] impacts so this picture here is really just showing the water treatment pipelines on Interlock and Parkway um I [1:33:56] know some of you have seen this i think one thing I would point out is that that middle picture um has a trench box and [1:34:02] you'll see there's a 36 inch pipeline there's not many communities I've ever worked in that has that big a pipeline [1:34:08] so this is uh pretty unprecedented in fact I would say the material suppliers don't make a lot of this because they're [1:34:14] not a lot in demand uh so one of the things we're still on time and on target but at this moment I just want to [1:34:21] preface it on materials for 36 pipelines are coming in just as the contractor needs them to install so if there's any [1:34:28] upset in the material distribution that will cause an impact and delay to [1:34:33] Interlock Parkway and Pioneer i'm just throwing that out there because it is something that we're a little concerned [1:34:39] with but so far the contractor is able to produce the materials when he needs them and so that's maybe more of an [1:34:45] internal concern uh this is the Tamarak Wellfield pipe project this is the one [1:34:51] closest to city hall i will point out that what the picture you see in there is steel casing pipe extremely expensive [1:34:58] they have to weld all those pieces together it's about 2,300 bucks a linear foot but notice all of the utility lines [1:35:05] that people don't think about when it's underneath a roadway how many those are [1:35:10] fiber optic cables electric all kinds of stuff and we're just thankful that the [1:35:15] the construction management team and the designers really thought about all that as they place those pipes [1:35:23] so that's why you call before you dig yeah if you don't one of those fiber [1:35:28] optic cables can be a lot of money not when you have 12 of them you might as well just go bankrupt that's good that's [1:35:34] good advice for people doing home projects uh I fixed my own garden but it was pretty pathetic when I [1:35:41] cut through the the irrigation wire too um water treatment uh the pipelines [1:35:47] here at the Bailey Road section um the picture on the left that's a jacking [1:35:52] boring tunneling machine so what it does is it sits down very deep to get under the road and that actually pushes pipe [1:35:58] through and there's an augur tunnel system that's pulling out the excavated material within and it jacks that steel [1:36:04] pipe in with enormous pressures that's cool uh East Wellfield this is on the [1:36:09] eastern part of the city with Cottage Grove Drive and Sers Ridge Parkway um is currently under construction and will be [1:36:17] for quite some time and then just talking about Dale Road uh this is on my drive to work it's a total [1:36:23] pain in the butt um but again we're we're working on that um and I think [1:36:29] that the storm sewer work is going to go through here the end of uh June and then [1:36:36] early July i think they're going to start some water main but again it's a roadway that's long been under [1:36:42] development it's coinciding with some of the water treatment pipeline things and there's going to be a roundabout at Chestnut [1:36:49] Drive here are some pictures uh you can see what a difficult time we've had with the rain um contractors had to go away [1:36:56] and then they sort of have to wait for things to dry but they've done a pretty good job of managing erosion control for [1:37:02] a project relative to this size the 2025 road rehab project phases [1:37:08] one two and three are all currently under construction phase four which is [1:37:13] um East View Road will be under construction starting in July everything so far is on [1:37:21] target uh this is some pictures of that um what you see on the left is a milling machine it has a large augur underneath [1:37:28] that has a rotating drum with teeth and it just lifts up the pavement in uh inch [1:37:34] level sections and dumps it into a truck and it's amazing how fast that goes um [1:37:39] and how specialized that construction work is on the uh the picture on your right there looks like they're working [1:37:45] on some storm sewer uh Bailey Road water tower i just [1:37:51] want to point out this is another little wrinkle in all the construction activity that's shutting down roads thankfully [1:37:56] this is just a very short uh duration where we need to close this section of Bailey Road we're essentially uh taking [1:38:03] the water main pipe that's already under Settlers Ridge Drive uh bringing it to the new water tower site and then they [1:38:11] need to construct and that's what they're currently working on now and then they need to put casing pipes under [1:38:16] Bailey Road and that's what's going to take the week or so of closure um they've already started procuring [1:38:23] materials for the water tower uh tower foundation work will start in early July and again this is going to be a two-year [1:38:28] project so it's a slow burn but it's a lot of material and a very specialized um field of construction only four exist [1:38:36] contractors exist within the entire Midwest uh we were lucky to get good bids on it and upcoming projects tamarak [1:38:43] Road from Weir Drive to Radio Drive you heard that tonight um and then the Woodlane Drive trail from Valley Creek [1:38:48] Road to Gider Drive which Clint alluded to earlier uh when we did an exchange for the uh Washington County License [1:38:56] Center and I'll skip through that and again if you have any questions [1:39:02] our project website has a great website for you to sign up for in touch sign up for any projects you're interested in [1:39:08] and you'll get regular updates about what's happening dad do you have any question any [1:39:13] questions lots of questions i know not right now okay um if no questions [1:39:21] for Chris then we'll go on to Clint for your city administrator's report and maybe some final words thank you Mayor [1:39:26] um yeah we have a ninepage administrator's report just like to highlight a couple items in here i will not be going through it in detail uh but [1:39:34] importantly in the beginning is the recognition of our distinguished budget presentation award this is the second [1:39:40] time we've had this this is I've gone through this uh previously and then [1:39:45] through the city of Woodbury it is a very detailed process of submitting [1:39:50] checking all the things having it reviewed and I'm so proud of the finance team that really have taken the bull by [1:39:56] the horns the last two years you received this award um and just to mention it's the highest form of [1:40:01] recognition in government and budgeting his attainment continues to represent a significant achievement by our [1:40:07] organization you have other language in there in this regard but I'm just you know very proud of the finance team that [1:40:13] have gone through the shaping of the budget the submission of the budget and I think it's a document we can all feel [1:40:19] very proud of um in terms of Metro Transit updates um probably uh anticipated change has [1:40:27] been uh Metro Transit informing us that the park and ride for Route [1:40:33] 323 and route 355 will be relo relocated to the Queens Drive from the Queens [1:40:39] Drive movie theater site to the Woodlane Park and Ride again part of a a [1:40:44] long-term vision we've had this will be effective uh on well actually it has [1:40:49] been made effective on May 17th for route 323 and then on Monday it occurred [1:40:56] for uh route 355 so and this is the express bus service [1:41:01] to Minneapolis right okay so just to be clear then is there any more park and ride at the movie theater site it's is [1:41:08] there anything left there or is it all now cons i believe not okay that is and that happens i mean we've been asking [1:41:14] about it and it's kind of been silent but then all of a sudden it just happened so a met council metro metro [1:41:20] transition so bringing these transit routes all together is so much more efficient it's easier to understand and [1:41:28] it you know it allows uh that theater spot to become something something else [1:41:34] or something better than what has been it's just odd that the communic we've been talking about it for so long and [1:41:40] there was never an answer back so but glad it happened yes the food scraps pickup program has been [1:41:47] very popular so that became available to Woodbury uh April of 2024 in one year [1:41:54] 4,045 Woodbury households or 13.8% signed up to participate in the program [1:42:00] exceeding the one-year participation rate goal of 10% the city has been a promotional partner with this program [1:42:07] which is offered and managed by Ramsey and Washington County Partnership [1:42:13] yep easy to use so the mayor and our [1:42:19] community relations manager uh paid a trip to Washington DC and then there's been a number of testimonies at the [1:42:25] state capital so thank you Mayor Anne for your representation of Woodbury so [1:42:30] well um you had a very very busy time in DC i saw your schedule uh a lot of [1:42:37] meetings with a lot of groups and then the testimonies demanded from us at the state house have been very vigorous so [1:42:43] we're still in play on a number of bills both at the state and the federal level um they don't have their budget done on [1:42:51] time i might have something more to say about that in a moment so um another [1:42:57] really great program this is why I like Chris to go first he kind of tells you all the bad news about the road closures [1:43:02] and then I get to tell you about the awards and the good work and I'm going to continue on here with a Woodbury Community Garden which has really grown [1:43:11] quote so now it's up to 95 more households and [1:43:17] organizations in the program so in addition to the original 48 in ground plots the expansion included 48 new [1:43:24] plots uh 35 new raised bed gardens and 12 new wheelchairs accessible garden [1:43:31] beds so this is such a cool program and I really appreciate the Woodbury [1:43:36] Community Garden group that has partnered with us woodbury Thrives uh [1:43:41] Washington County Master Gardeners have been involved imagine the Heritage Society has been involved in this as [1:43:48] well so really a great team of people have come together and made this wonderful opportunity [1:43:54] in terms of public safety everyone's interested in some of the things we do and one of the more effective uh things [1:44:00] we have uh been doing is our community impact in retail so through uh public [1:44:08] safety's um uh community impact unit uh [1:44:13] we've had 15 arrests made over an 8 hour period we coordinated efforts demonstrate our priority of a safe [1:44:20] community proactive skills and dedication of our officers and the value of relationships built with the officers [1:44:27] and the retailers so really focusing in on that retail crime and having a special unit dedicated to that has been [1:44:33] very helpful i would I would add to that um I spoke with the chamber president the other day and uh the public safety [1:44:40] team is also meeting uh with the chamber uh both chamber um [1:44:46] members and non-members the chamber's opening it up to uh retailers and business owners across the team so that [1:44:51] that partnership with public safety and the chamber is and the community impact team is absolutely phenomenal yeah and [1:44:59] maybe you can go on Steve just tell about your presentation that you've made about uh well yeah that was in Dallas [1:45:05] but yeah but that but that partner the the partnership between the public safety departments and the business [1:45:10] community is just absolutely paramount and I had opportunity what Clint's talking about I had the opportunity to go to uh Dallas and and speak to uh [1:45:18] their organization the Dallas police department through the actually through the city attorney's office um and that [1:45:24] we are absolutely privileged and lucky to have our public safety team in connections to the business that they [1:45:31] don't have so it was nice it's nice to see we've had another nice recognition our fleet [1:45:37] services has been recognized among the top public fleets in America so they [1:45:42] were previously ranked at 60th of uh two years ago and now that rating has [1:45:48] dropped down in a positive way to 34th of the 100 best fleets in the America's [1:45:54] contest so it's part of the uh fleet management association program they do [1:46:01] evaluations and rating and uh we you know more than doubled where we were [1:46:06] before and really appreciate our fleet services team our manager Dan Soulhide [1:46:12] who's retiring tomorrow uh after a great career with Woodbury i'm sure that the staff is going to continue with that [1:46:20] another really good program that uh the council is very aware of is our tree replacement rebate program so so far in [1:46:27] the first 12 days uh as of the writing of this we had over 60 applications have [1:46:32] been processed with more waiting and only about a fifth of the $30,000 available remaining and then our private [1:46:40] ashtree removal assessment program another new program is also been wellreceived so it launched May 1st has [1:46:48] uh as of the writing seven applications in this multi-step process including residents attaching two quotes from [1:46:54] contractors with the initial application and we're looking forward to continued [1:46:59] um success with residents in uh in making this option available if finances [1:47:05] are proving to be a problem in terms of Sorry okay never mind um in terms of [1:47:12] upcoming meetings we have no neighborhood meetings scheduled uh far as far as the planning commission [1:47:17] meeting of June 2nd we have one the Woodbury Leadership Academy use permit [1:47:23] and then for the parks and natural resource commission meeting of June 3rd we have two items the environmental [1:47:28] stewardship update parks and recreation department finance review through April [1:47:33] 2025 how exciting Michelle and then preliminary items scheduled for the council workshop of [1:47:39] June 11th you'll be doing a tour so we're going to have the mayor and I had a chance to go to the alum treatment [1:47:44] plant so we're going to bring the rest of the council there too to see that it's really interesting facility and as well you'll take a look at the [1:47:50] Hassenback public art if you haven't otherwise seen it so um the watershed district South Washington Watershed [1:47:57] District will be providing that tour for you and then in terms of public hearings for June 11th we have two we have the [1:48:03] Woodbury Woodbury Leadership Academy conduit debt issue and then Woodbury Leadership Academy conditional use [1:48:09] permit so no other meetings are scheduled and if I could this is my last [1:48:16] report to the council and to the public and my last meeting has been mentioned [1:48:22] um you know the last year and a half has been bit of a unintentional parade of [1:48:28] last times for me and I sincerely hope this farewell tour has not been a distraction or an annoyance i would like [1:48:34] to conclude um the agenda with just a few remarks and thoughts that I have [1:48:39] assuming I'll have an opportunity to say a few different things on June 5th i don't know how many many many council [1:48:47] meetings I've been to and commission meetings uh all of them in the evening since 1983 when I first started as a [1:48:53] part-time intern with the city of Lake Forest Illinois even in my earliest years when I did not have a special role [1:49:00] at council meetings I came to council meetings as part of my career development my first important role at a [1:49:05] council meeting was as assistant to the city manager in Highland Park was on Monday night football games when the 85 [1:49:12] Bears were playing and Mayor Buhai was a passionate Bears fan and would occasionally ask me to announce the game [1:49:18] score that I tracked on my Sony Walkman if you remember those i was also responsible for getting the food for the [1:49:24] council workshops ahead of the meeting back then we fed a large contingency of staff council members even the press [1:49:30] corps ate with us uh and it always had to be hot food no sandwiches allowed what pressure to deliver on time and [1:49:37] still hot and ready to serve i've always loved local government council meetings with one exception we had a 1:00 a.m [1:49:44] meeting here at Woodbury it's my second meeting uh as city administrator didn't love that i think you might have been [1:49:50] there Janelle it was it was quite a meeting but normally I really do love council meetings they are true democracy [1:49:56] and action doing the people's work in harmony with the intentions and purposes of our founding fathers as you may [1:50:03] recall my 2025 budget theme was Woodbury a city government that works i can cite [1:50:09] so many ways that our local form of representative democracy works well such [1:50:14] as council and staff alike are lecture appointed on a nonpartisan basis council [1:50:20] members represent the whole city not just a section of the city or a ward there are no closed political caucus [1:50:27] meetings and we strictly comply with the open meeting act our meetings are open and accessible at city hall in the [1:50:33] evenings so that the public can more easily attend compared to day meetings regular council meetings are cablecast [1:50:40] and also available online with the ability to ask questions online every council meeting has an open form where [1:50:46] members of the public can address the council in person or online and get answers to their questions agenda items [1:50:53] are handled as single issues not log rolled into large Christmas tree omnibus [1:50:58] bills any item on the consent agenda of routine or non-controversial items can [1:51:03] be pulled to discussion without question by the public council members or by staff and voted on [1:51:09] separately our budgets are passed on time with revenues balanced against expenditures are annually audited and [1:51:16] meet the highest professional financial standards any gifts with resale value exceeding $5 are prohibited all [1:51:24] purchasing is competitive and no family members of the council the city leadership team can be hired our [1:51:30] non-personnel litigation are non-personnel and non-litigation documents are available to the public [1:51:36] and the list goes on i've been very gratified to have been a part of the great American experiment of [1:51:42] self-governing based on the principles of liberty equality and the consent of the govern a society where citizens [1:51:49] actively participate in the shaping of their government the city of Woodbury is a shining example of this ideal with [1:51:56] active talented engaged members of the public dedicated council members who work very diligently without fanfare for [1:52:03] their community and sometimes with very long hours like the last two days and a talented and committed staff that works [1:52:09] as stewards not owners of the government that they serve a key to any government [1:52:15] is its sustainability and rec replicability hard to say at this hour [1:52:22] uh we've had a history of excellent elected leaders and I've witnessed in my tenure the baton of leadership [1:52:27] thoughtfully and respectfully passed from Mayor Bill Hargus after 17 years in office that began at a very difficult [1:52:33] time in our city history you would certainly know that council member Stafford onto Mayor Mayor Stevens and [1:52:40] then on from mayor Mary to Mayor Anne Bert the same sustainability and rep [1:52:45] replicability I shouldn't put words on there I can't say um has been true for the city staff leadership with a 1977 [1:52:52] appointment of pioneer pioneering city minister Jim Lina who served 11 years [1:52:58] until his death June 11th n 1987 and then came Barry Johnson on [1:53:04] October 1987 to July 2004 serving more than 16 years I've had the good fortune [1:53:11] of building on their foundation over the last 21 years in close partnerships with mayors Hargus Stevens and Bird and [1:53:18] hosted talented staff council members commission members as you all know the city is very well positioned for the [1:53:24] future and for the next generation of leaders thank you for the privilege of serving you and being blessed to be part [1:53:29] of an organization and a system of government that works thank you [1:53:46] mic is off you didn't pull a tissue out Clint okay well done pulled it together [1:53:51] yes um very very well spoken and very well said we look forward to celebrating with you on the 5th 4:30 to 6:30 at [1:53:59] Eagle Valley Golf Course um there'll be some fun going on there and then your last day are you working a full day on [1:54:04] your last day are you working from home you working from the office and the office yeah that's going to be a that'll [1:54:10] be a tough day it's I know in my career the times I've walked out the door of places for the last time is very [1:54:16] emotional and I'm sure that'll hit you that day but um we've been so blessed to have your leadership here for 21 years [1:54:22] and thank you very much yeah okay check up on us anytime oh you're online as I [1:54:29] said yeah that wraps our up our meeting i make a motion that we adjourn second motion second all in favor i We are [1:54:36] adjourned