[4:06] Good evening. Welcome to the city of Woodbury for city council meeting. Today it is August 13th, 2025. It is 7:30 p.m. [4:13] We are here in council chambers. This meeting is also taking place virtually. Uh it's good to see some people in our [4:19] audience. If you're having so much fun watching this in person, feel free to click check in anytime um remotely. You [4:26] can watch from home. Um for members of the public, just find the agenda online. Click into the green button and you join [4:32] us virtually through a variety of computer things and phones and all kinds [4:38] of stuff. Um okay. As is our norm, would you please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance? [4:44] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the [4:49] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and [4:55] justice for all. I did fail to mention too, we always record these meetings. They are streamed live as well through True Lens Media. [5:02] So, we're always happy to have them partic [5:11] here. Council member Santini here. Council member Stafford here, Council Member Wilson here, Mayor Bert [5:17] here. We are all here tonight, so we're able to conduct tonight's business. Uh the first special order business, we [5:23] just just came from a closed session. Kevin Sandstrom, our city attorney, will give a brief update on what occurred [5:28] during that close session. Thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. Just to um summarize the close [5:34] session we just had at your workshop, there was a close session pursuant to statute 13D.05, 05 subdivision 3D which [5:42] relates to a closed session on sensitive security protocols, security briefings or emergency response procedures. [5:49] Tonight's uh uh closed meeting of the city council related to physical safety and security protocols uh in place and [5:56] presented by the public safety department particularly your public safety director Jason Posel and your [6:02] emergency services coordinator Kira Steedman. And the issue was safety and [6:08] security protocols for elected officials both at city hall and out at uh public events. [6:14] Terrific. Thank you. Um okay, we'll now move on to our open forum. I do have one green sheet for the open forum tonight. [6:20] So because of that, I'll read the uh introductory paragraph. Um this is the portion of the meeting where a maximum [6:25] of three personal persons will be allowed to address the council on subjects which are not part of the [6:30] meeting agenda. So are you Michelle? Okay. So, I'll call you up in just a minute, but you've got something that's [6:35] not on our agenda. Is that right? And then because we have three up to three people, you're the only green sheet, but [6:40] I always check in to see if anyone virtually as well. So, I'll check in with Ashley shortly. Um, so you fill out [6:46] a green sheet, which you've done. Thank you. Um, when you come up, just provide your name and uh your where you're just [6:53] the city where you live in. You don't have to give your full address. We used to do that. We changed that those rules. Um, and then make your question for the [7:00] official record. You're limited to three minutes. We do have a little timer over here. We don't we're not too ultra picky [7:05] about it, but we're just trying to just watch the time. So, Josh will get the timer going. We do listen to your [7:11] comments. Um, and but in most instances, we don't respond here at the meeting because we don't know what the topic is [7:16] and we may not be prepared. So, we will always follow up with a letter or phone call within a week. So, with that, I [7:21] would like to um invite up Michelle Pasco. So, again, name and state of or city of [7:28] residence for the record. Yeah. Hi, I'm Michelle Pasco. I live in Woodbury, actually two blocks down that [7:34] way. So, really quick drive over. Um I would like to talk about um rent and the [7:40] increase in Woodbury. Uh Woodbury Park over there, that's where I live. And um [7:46] my rent went up 8% and some people in that um area it went up 20%. Uh which is [7:52] quite an increase. And I was looking at St. Paul, which is our neighbor, and they have a cap at 3% um per year that [8:00] rent can go up. And just thinking about the cost of living and expenses, I feel like that's really really really kind of [8:07] crazy that up to 20%. And to put that into perspective, I'm paying around 1,700 a month for onebedroom, one [8:14] bathroom. Um, so you know what it it's kind of crazy and I just want to keep [8:20] that on your radar that potentially other people may be coming to you or, [8:26] you know, maybe they don't even know it's an option to speak at this. But um yeah, I just wanted to come and bring my [8:32] grievances to the council. Great. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's always uh sometimes intimidating. [8:37] So, welcome to I'm glad that you came and spoke. And yes, for anyone else that's listening or spread the word, [8:43] we're always open for people to come and make comments. So, thank you. And you'll get some information to follow up for [8:48] you. Awesome. Thank you. Great. Thank you so much. Okay. We'll now move on to the consent agenda. All [8:53] items listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the city council and will be enacted by one [9:00] motion and an affirmative vote of roll call by the majority of the members present. There will be no separate [9:05] discussion of these items unless a council member or citizens their request in which event the item will be removed [9:10] from the consent agenda and considered a separate subject of discussion with the council. I do just want to make a note [9:16] that we do have people here from the K9. It is on consent. I do plan on letting someone speak afterwards. I don't think [9:22] you have any issue regarding whether how we're going to vote. So, but I'll just bring you up afterwards. Okay. So, with [9:28] that, anyone else want to have anything removed from consent hearing? None. Council members. [9:34] 6D as in dog, please. 6D. Okay. So, if someone would like to make a motion for all the others except [9:41] D. 6. I'll move to approve consent agenda items 6A through 6J with the exception [9:48] of 6D. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion hearing? None. Roll call, [9:54] please. Council member Santini, I. Council member Stafford, I. Council member Wilson, [10:00] I. Council member Morris. Hi. Mayor Bert. I. Those consent agenda items pass. And [10:05] we will move 6D to discussion. Make a note on my agenda. Um, okay. Uh, one [10:13] comment is 6F. We just approved uh money coming in from public safety, a [10:18] department of public safety autotheft prevention. Grants came in. Um just really pleased. Anytime we get grant [10:24] money, it's going to be for some additional um uh cameras that are that are being used [10:30] in our community. It is a force multiplier though for our public safety team. So happy to have some uh great uh [10:36] technology to help our public safety do a great job keeping our community safe. Um, okay. With that, uh, public safety, [10:43] is it Bob Bixby? Are you going to come forward and speak about the K9? Um, okay. I just would like to say that [10:49] normally when they come and they talk about a new dog, we get to see the puppy. I understand we don't get to see [10:55] a puppy today. They brought the new handler brought his lovely baby, which is adorable. So, he's equally as cute. [11:01] Um, but maybe we have a picture and we're waiting. Could be a name reveal. Name and gender, right? [11:08] Okay. So, thank you and Maryanne uh and council members. Again, my name is Bob [11:15] Bixby, president of the Woodbury Police K9 Fund. The purpose and mission of the K9 fund is to purchase, train, and [11:21] provide retirement funds for our kines and their handlers to support our public safety and their missions in Woodbury. [11:28] Since inception 10 years ago, the Woodbury Police K9 Fund has raised funds to provide seven kines, one community [11:35] service dog, um, and and, uh, [11:40] service therapy dog. In addition to the procurement of the actual dogs, we support retirement accounts, medical expenses, and end of life costs uh, who [11:48] served our Woodbury community. Total donations year to date are roughlyund well to date are $140,000. [11:57] Mhm. The Woodbury Police uh K9 Fund was established in honor of Bruce Stafford. [12:02] Bruce served the Woodbury community for 35 years in public service as a [12:07] paramedic, a firefighter, and fire chief for the city of Woodbury. Our founder, Donna Stafford, Bruce's spouse, [12:14] established the Legacy Fund to express her deepest appreciation in the entire Woodbury uh public safety team. While at [12:21] the beginning it was deeply uh personal connection of and in honor of Bruce and [12:26] the family and the lifelong commitment to the public safety and it has now turned into a labor of love and a per I [12:34] can never say the word perpetuity perpetuity of gratitude. Um that's Harvard talking. [12:41] That's right. Most recent Harvard graduate. Um upcoming events, Woodbury Days, we will have a booth and we just [12:47] encourage everybody to stop by and say hi and we'll have canines and and Otis out multiple days. [12:53] Um we're going to have a puppies on the patio in on September 11th from 4 to 6:00 p.m. So bring your puppies out [12:59] at the wick. What patio? Thank you. At the wick. Uh and we will have a special appearance [13:05] from Adam and Otis. Mhm. Uh photos with Santa on December 7th and [13:10] that is over at Pet Evolution. Pet evolution and Woodbury K9 fund gayla [13:16] to be announced uh December we'll save the date will be announced soon but uh December 4th and more information to [13:24] follow. Now I'll have Natalie introduce Matson say a few words about our newest canine and maybe reveal the name. [13:32] Yeah. You wish he was here but he's not trained yet. So trust me. Well, you have to bring them back. [13:38] We'll bring them back. Okay. You need to bring them back. Well, both. They're both untrained. Yeah. Um, on behalf on I'm meeting my [13:46] new boss for the first time, too. That's a fun twist. Um, on behalf of the Woodbury Police K9 unit, I would like to [13:53] express our deepest gratitude for this donation. After the recent unexpected illness and death of my canine partner, [13:59] Woodbury has been working with only two canines on duty. This generous gift that will cover the cost of this dog and full [14:06] training school will allow the police department to better serve I know Kaden, it's exciting to better serve our [14:13] community and keep our officers safe. This is now the eighth K9 that the fund has given to the city. Without their [14:20] dedication and contributions, the heavy burden of this funding of these tools would have waited on the city. The [14:26] Woodbury uh Police K9 Fund has had a huge impact on the way that we are able [14:32] to serve, keep the community safe, and make the dreams of officers come true. [14:38] A little bit about [Applause] Victor. Victor. [14:45] He's a German Shepherd from Germany who was named after the Viking mascot by his [14:51] handler, Officer Andrew Matson, who is, to put it lightly, a Minnesota sports [14:57] fanatic. I'm sorry. Unfortunately, yeah, and a masochist, right? [15:02] Victor has already proven to be a quick learner and eager to please uh Officer Matson, who has been working vigilantly [15:09] before training school to bond with him. The duo will attend K9 Academy starting this Monday for three months full-time, [15:15] working tirelessly to train Victor in both patrol skills such as searching and tracking as well as firearm detection. [15:23] This is exciting because it uh not only will Victor serve as our very first firearm detection dog of the city of [15:29] Woodbury, but also the first in uh all of Washington County. After academy, he [15:34] will be s fully certified in detecting hidden firearms as well as ammunition either spent or live that could be key [15:40] evidence in high level investigations or used for sweeps at our schools to keep our children safe. Again, we could not [15:47] be more grateful to the K9 Fund for continuing to dedicate countless hours to events and fundraising for our [15:53] benefit. Their commitment and enthusiasm are unmatched, without which we would [15:59] likely not be able to have a robust K9 unit for the service of Woodbury. Thank you. [16:05] Thank you. Thank you. I just have a question. So 140,000 earned or donated [16:11] in the 10 years. In the 10 years, do you feel like they that mostly comes from our Woodbury residents and people in our community or [16:17] are you ever getting funding from outside or is that really just our community stepping forward? I think it's mostly our community [16:23] stepping forward. Our fund uh and our you know in cahoots with our officers do a great job at making those connections [16:29] out and about and so it's small donations. It's, you know, making those business connections for some of those [16:35] larger donations. For this dog in particular, one of the major donors was Primrose Schools who we met through [16:42] mutual connections, met the owners who live in town um and made that connection. So, [16:47] and they host a host to do a funer [16:53] and it is it's phenomenal. Two years in a row now. It's been absolutely well relationships. Yep. [16:59] May I ask a question? Sure. Um we always seem to get our dogs from a different country. Oh why is the [17:06] reason for that? Yeah. So typically they are import those working dogs for police work are imported from Europe. Um they just have [17:14] been doing it that dog sport for so much longer than we have. And typically in America we breed dogs for looks or for [17:21] show. So for confirmation is what it's called. So we don't you know we want our dogs to be pretty and all but we really [17:28] care about their working drive. And that that bloodline is so much more established in Europe. It's sort of like soccer players as [17:34] well. It's one they're just better. They're just better. They are. Yeah, [17:39] that's true. That's fair. That's very see. Yeah. So, yeah. [17:44] Yeah. One that if Clint was still here, I don't know if Officer Matson would get away with the name. So, [17:54] that's true. I didn't know that. Yeah. Well, congrat. So, when do you think he's going to be [17:59] done with training that you get ahead? Middle to end of November is when we'll be done. Okay. So, how old will he be at that [18:04] point in time? Uh, a year and eight or nine months. Old enough. He should be in his teen years. Will more behave. Bring it. We'd [18:10] love to see him at some point. We'll come back. Officer was was given a distinct [18:15] pleasure for representing Woodbury as part of his his class. Do you want to share that? [18:20] Uh, yeah. I so in my class there's n eight other people that are going to be going through and I was selected as the [18:26] class president in my class so I get to take on all those duties. So going to be fun leadership opportunity for me. So [18:31] fantastic. Congratulations. That's great. Please make sure you use the good squad in representing the clean one that [18:37] doesn't make noise. Appreciate that. Of course. Wow. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. [18:43] Appreciate having you here. Okay, we'll now move on to our public hearings. We have uh four of them [18:50] tonight sort of. Um because of that, let me just share with you the how we do public hearings. In order to allow full [18:56] airing of all speaker comments, individual remarks may not exceed 10 minutes. Speaker, if a speaker [19:02] determines that more time is necessary, then um please let us know and we'll make some accommodation. If there's more [19:08] than three people that need to speak, you know, 10 minutes each, we kind of do a max of 30 minutes total. I really [19:13] don't think we're going to have that tonight, but um remarks or points already made by someone else should not [19:19] be repeated. Um limit to the subject at hand. Speakers are encouraged to coordinate presentations. Um those in [19:25] attendance of the public hearing will refrain from applause or other expressions of emotion. And so just behave yourselves. Um the uh we'll go in [19:33] order here. They've uh the first one we have is the ranch road edition, but I understand. Are you going to share what we're doing with this one, Janelle? [19:39] Because we're opening the hearing. However, open the hearing and let you speak. Mayor Bird, members of the city council, [19:46] uh this application is requested to be continued again, as you know, it was continued from a previous meeting to [19:51] tonight. Um we need to continue it again to the August 27th meeting. It is going to planning commission next Monday, [19:58] August 18th. So, that's the reason for the Okay. So, we have opened the hearing or it has it's already been continued once. [20:04] It's already been open. We're So, I make a mo I make a motion that we continue this hearing. Second [20:09] to August 27th. To August 27th. Okay. Second. Motion is second. Um any discussion? [20:16] Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. That will be continued to August [20:21] 27th. And then um Ashley, are you doing this next one? This is for GK Liquor LLC [20:29] doing business as Elite Liquor. Yes. Thank you, Mayor Burton, members of the council. Um similar to the previous [20:35] item, um I'll be brief here. Um we are looking to continue this uh item for the [20:41] next meeting in August. So August 27th. Um the reason being that the applicant just needs more time to um provide the [20:47] materials that we require for a liquor license. Um and we had previously um [20:52] provided the notice. So this just allows us to um continue that to the next meeting and not renotice. [20:58] So to be clear, I did open the hearing, although I didn't use those words, but the hearing was opened. We do need to continue it. So I make a motion that we [21:04] continue this until August 27th. Second. Motion is second. Any discussion? [21:10] Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? No. Okay. That will be continued to August 27th. We now will [21:16] move on to uh Top Golf, which is very exciting project coming our way. Uh but this is having to do with the liquor [21:22] license. So I'll turn back to Ashley for this one as well. And the hearing is now open. Yes. Thank you, mayor. Um, so as uh you [21:29] may know, Topgolf um is opening here in Woodbury and they have uh submitted an application for an on sale intoxicating [21:36] liquor license including Sunday sales and patio sales for their business located at 560 Balenberg Drive. Um [21:44] Topgolf is owned by TG Holdings 1 LLC uh with no individuals owning over 5% of [21:50] the business. Um for the application, all necessary fees have been submitted. Uh our city [21:58] attorney's office has reviewed the application materials um as is our our practice. Um and they found them to be [22:04] acceptable. Uh and then also as our practice, we did mail out public hearing notices to the surrounding uh properties [22:11] um and notice of tonight. Uh, so with that, staff's recommendation would be that you approve an on-sale [22:17] intoxicating liquor license, including Sunday sales and patio sales to Topgolf USA, WB LLC, doing business as Topgolf, [22:26] located at 560 Beanberg Drive. Terrific. Thank you. So, the hearing is open. I also still I have a green sheet [22:32] from those that are present here tonight. Um, it's an opportunity to come forward. We always like and if you want [22:38] to come and share a little bit more. U, this is pretty straightforward. I can't fully predict that it's going to, you know, but once I close the hearing, then [22:45] it's more difficult to have you come up. So, please come up, take a few minutes to um tell us about Topgolf. Jordan, [22:51] good to see you again. And who is your companion? This is Daniel Christian's council for Top Golf. [22:58] Fantastic. Wonderful. So, um yes, tell us more. Yeah, absolutely. So, great to see some of you in person and I've talked to you [23:05] some of some of you via email. Uh my name is Jordan Campbell. the director of operations for Topgolf opening in Woodberry. I know this has been years in [23:12] the making, so I think that um the city of Woodberry is just as excited as Topgolf is to be joining this community. [23:18] I know Steve is shaking his head over there. Um so the mini donuts are fantastic. Oh, they are so good. [23:24] Is that a standard on the menu? It is. And every every doughnut hole order $1 we donate right back to Make a [23:31] Wish, too. So Oh, lovely. They're delicious and it's very good. I did not even know that. you know, [23:37] we're like three. Yeah, Make a Wish is one of our national partners. We do I know I've talked to a few of you individually, but so excited [23:43] to get back into the community. Um, Topgolf does so much in their local communities in terms of um giving back [23:50] to the youth in sports and just growing the game of golf and what Topgolf calls not golf, too. Um, it's a little bit of [23:56] both, right? And so, we're just um I I cannot understate our excitement for being able to join the community and [24:01] really get involved. So, that's wonderful. Yes. Open opening late fall. I know [24:06] that's always always the million-dollar question late fall. I'm shooting for the end of October, but I've promised um a [24:12] lot of people in this room and a lot of people on the chamber that you'll be in you'll be the first to know when we do open. Um and hopefully we can host many [24:19] of events for you moving forward. Yeah, that's great. And because you have massive heaters, uh late October is just [24:25] a fine time. It's fine time to golf anytime at Topgolf. Absolutely. And actually, when it snows, it looks like snow globe on the field, [24:31] too. It's a lot prettier than you would anticipate. So yeah, and in true motan fashion, I mean it's below zero. People [24:37] are still out there swinging. So um and then you and I spoke once before. Do you just want to share briefly about the number of employees that you will be [24:43] hiring and kind of what the status is because there might be people listening that would be interested. Absolutely. Um so we've hired on the [24:50] majority of our salaried leadership team. Um that's opening with about 20 of us. Um we're hoping to start with closer [24:57] to about 375 hourly um associate team members. Top Golf calls them playmakers. [25:03] Um, and so we're hoping 375 is not a total like fullterm full-term, excuse [25:10] me, um, hourly population. We're going to have a combo of part-time and full-timers within that population. Um, [25:16] that does tend to fall off in the first 90 days. So, it does shrink typically from there. Um, so we'll probably sit [25:21] closer to 325 as we navigate through the next two years. Still a lot of people, right? When will your hiring process begin? had [25:27] a little bit of um yeah, the application process is going to open at the the last week of August, we're hoping for those [25:34] applications to open. Um and then hopefully starting the beginning of October. Um we'll hire through the whole [25:39] month of September and we'll have individuals starting the first week of October hopefully with the Metro Gold Line station right [25:45] there. It's perfect for Yeah. And as I was sharing too, we have um we have facilities team that's actually [25:51] working. If you've driven by, you probably start seeing the field come into place as well. Um, we actually have an individual on our facilities team who [25:58] takes it to to work every day, too. So, I think it's going to be fantastic addition to have. [26:03] Yeah, that's great. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Um, are there any other open comments? I don't know if any anybody's online. [26:09] That's the only green sheet I have. So, with that, I make a motion that we close the hearing. Second. Motion in a second. All in favor? I'm [26:15] sorry. Any discussion? All in favor? Okay. I Any opposed? No. Okay. The hearing is closed. Um, uh, would [26:22] somebody like to put forth a motion or have any further comment or questions? Somebody I'm holding my record. [26:27] Okay. All right, Steve. Continuing my records. I recommend to make a motion to approve the on sale [26:32] intoxicating liquor license including Sunday and patio sales with the Top Golf USA WB LLC doing business as Topgolf [26:39] located at 560 Billberg Drive. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? [26:45] Hearing none. Roll call, please. Council member Stafford, I. Council member Wilson, I. Council member [26:50] Morris. Hi. Council member Santini. Hi. Mayor Burch. I. That passes. Congratulations. You get [26:56] a liquor license. That'll be a lot of people. Happy to know that. Appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you. Good luck with opening and hiring and all those great things. [27:02] Donuts for a cause. I did not know that. Oh, see how that's going to be more more incentive to buy more donuts. [27:07] We can sidebars. Yeah. Record. Um, okay. Our fourth uh hearing has to [27:14] do with an ordinance amendment. Janelle, um, if you'll take it away with this one. This the hearing is now open to [27:19] talk about this. Thank you, Mayor Bert, members of the city council. So, council is being asked tonight to consider some changes to our [27:26] fee schedule, which is adopted by ordinance. There are two sections of the fee schedule being considered tonight. [27:32] The community development fees, which are really our planning and zoning fees, and some changes to our electric permit [27:38] fees. Um, since the community development fees are related to zoning, changes to that ordinance do require a [27:44] public hearing. Typically the annual update to our fee ordinance is on consent and we haven't changed our [27:50] planning fees for many years. So have been on public hearing for that. Um but [27:56] um again I'll go on in in a bit why we are actually um having the public hearing tonight with those those [28:02] particular fees. The second portion of the fee schedule changes related to electric permit fees. That does not [28:09] necessarily require a public hearing, but since we're in the fee ordinance, we're just going to do them all together. [28:15] So, the community development fees um really were inadvertently omitted last year when we updated the fee ordinance. [28:22] Um I just happened to be in there looking and I noticed they weren't there. They weren't struck through. They [28:27] weren't like purposefully deleted, but they also weren't in the final adoption. So, consulting with our our attorneys, [28:33] we said we need to add those back in. So, we've scheduled that public hearing and no changes proposed to what has been [28:39] on the record for many years. So, we're just looking to reinstate them basically with this action tonight. [28:46] In regards to the electrical permit fees, um we are looking to again update [28:52] the residential portion primarily ahead of our new permitting and licensing software that'll be going live uh later [28:58] this year, early next year. Um we'd like to get these changes to our software designers so they can incorporate that [29:04] as we're doing the testing and and things of this nature. We are also looking at some changes to the [29:09] commercial fees. Um, but we're still reviewing those. Those would likely be incorporated when we come back to you [29:14] later this fall with the overall fee ordinance. So, tonight's meeting again focuses on the residential. Um, [29:22] customers are going to be required to apply online with the new um software. [29:27] So, we want to make sure they're very clear. There's not any um, you know, what is this? Do I have to check this box? And those kinds of things. Um, so [29:33] we've cleaned up some of those things. A lot of our applicants are homeowners. So again, clear language, those kinds of [29:39] things. Um, and again, I'll go into a little bit detail more on that. So, [29:45] under the electrical permit, um, we are looking to enhance efficiency and improve services. So, the main, um, [29:53] purpose that we're going to be doing there is to eliminate typical reinspection fees that are currently [29:59] charged separately after a permit is issued. So, our price of our fee currently does not include we kind of [30:06] assume you're going to have you for a home maybe or a residing, let's say, two inspections, a preliminary and a final, [30:13] but sometimes they're called back for a reinspection. We charge reinspection fees for that and that's really a pain in the backside [30:20] to um go back and collect that fee after. We don't know how many um inspections there's going to be. With [30:27] our other permit fees, it's really a this is what it should cost for sort of the average reinspection. So, we've [30:33] calculated the number of reinspections we typically have and have adjusted the fee accordingly. I think our homeowners, [30:39] our contractor for our electrical inspections are done by a contract employee. That'll be easier for them as [30:45] well. Um, and again, it should be fairly net neutral, maybe a little positive to the city, but fairly net neutral. We're [30:51] not looking to to um lose money on this, but we're not looking at necessarily to gain a whole lot either. [30:57] Um, so again, the other thing I think this does, it provides a very upfront, transparent fee to our customers. It's a [31:04] fee for the whole service rather than a variable charge based on if you're sometimes inspections are canceled [31:10] because they're not ready for the work. And so that's just, you know, again, we want to make sure that um we're being [31:16] upfront with that transparent fee. And then it is very difficult to collect them after the fact. And that takes some [31:22] time and energy and a lot of consternation. And then lastly, it also can lead to [31:29] delays in closing out a project, which again is the homeowner service issue. Um, and then we had some other things in [31:36] there that are consistency. So we wanted to make sure that some of our fees as we looked at it weren't necessarily [31:42] comparable. For example, basement finish and pools, the old fee had them off by, you know,5 or $10. They take the same [31:49] number of typical inspections, so they should cost the same. So, we did some of that cleaning up and consistency. And then also simplifying [31:57] some of the fees again to that simplification having a base charge. Right now, there's some we call them [32:03] tickytack things. You have to add in how many circuit breakers or how many of this and it that can be very confusing [32:09] not just for the applicant, but then our staff is verifying that. And so, again, just trying to keep it as simple fee [32:15] kind of work. Um, lastly, a couple other things. Um, [32:21] some of the electrical things for like EV chargers, solar batteries. We're going to, um, eliminate some of those [32:26] various add-ons. So, again, keeping it simple, hopefully even incentivizing a little bit, um, for some of those, um, [32:33] environmental stewardship things. And then lastly, we did look at what other cities charge, comparable cities. This [32:40] will bring us well more, as you know, we've been upping the last couple years because we were sorely behind. Um so [32:45] this again brings us much more in line with other cities and also the state just updated their state electrical fee [32:52] schedule. So this is very in line with that. So with that uh we do recommend [32:58] that the council adopt an ordinance um amending section 23 fees for various [33:03] services and also um author authorizing us to publish a summary of the fee [33:09] ordinance. Okay. Terrific. Um I don't have any green sheets on this. Is there anybody [33:14] online? Okay. Okay. I make a motion that we close the hearing. Second. Motion in a second. Any discussion? [33:20] Hearing none. Um, all in favor? I. Do you need to make a motion? Did I? [33:25] She did. Oh, you didn't make I thought I did and you seconded it. I thought that was just to Oh, we're just still closing. I thought you were [33:31] voting. I was like already like I'm already voting on like adopting. I was like, "Nope, we made the motion to [33:36] adopt." Just close the hearing. So, all in favor I think I heard the all in favor. Can we just verify? All in favor of closing the [33:42] hearing. Yeah. Okay. The hearing's closed. I think that's what I heard now. Paul, questions or comments regarding the [33:48] topic at hand? Apparently. I am clearly. All right. [33:55] I don't think I'm not seeing any questions. Okay. I'll move to adopt ordinance 2061 and an ordinance amending sections 2-3 [34:02] fees for various services of article one of chapter 2 administration and uh authorizing staff to publish the summary [34:09] of the fee ordinance in the city's designated official newspaper second motion and a second any discussion [34:16] hearing none the roll call please council member Wilson I council member Morris I council member Santini I [34:22] council member Stafford I mayor Bert I passes Thanks for doing the clean up on that, [34:28] Janelle. Thank you. All right, we'll now move item that was consent agenda 6D forward to discussion. [34:34] That is a Gold Line bus rapid transit project. This has to do with ownership and maintenance for the traffic signals [34:41] related to that. So, Council Member Wilson, you I did I pulled this I had I do have some [34:47] questions on like why do we take ownership of these uh traffic lights? [34:52] What's What's to our advantage? It's a Chris answer here. Is it going there? [35:01] There it works. Lots of faith in our engineers having trouble with the microphone. Yeah, just a single button really confused me. [35:06] Yeah. So, mayor, members of the council, it is [35:13] typical um as part of any project when we share a jurisdictional roadway that [35:18] the different jurisdictions that have legs on the intersection of signal pay a proportional share for maintenance. In [35:25] this case, the actual cost of the signals were built with the bus rapid transit line, but ongoing maintenance, [35:32] you know, we have city roads that come in. Um, the actual bus guideway is paid [35:37] through Metropolitan Council and at the end of the day, Washington County is kind of the agent that bundles that all [35:43] together because they have the expertise to deal with the coordinated signal system and all of these signals are tied [35:48] together um from Woodbury all the way into St. Paul. [35:53] Okay. So, in this is this asking for Woodbury to take ownership though of those lights? They're [36:00] they're responsible for a portion of the ownership. So when they they were [36:05] originally constructed with the gold line that was all paid through that gold line project. When they come for capital [36:11] replacement in 25 or 30 years, then we would pay a proportional share of the [36:16] renewal cycle. Really, this is mostly about the maintenance and making sure Washington County is going to operate [36:22] and maintain those signals. And then we pay for our proportional share of those costs. Okay. I I thought I I thought I read [36:28] that it was asking Woodbury to take ownership and the Washington County would pay a proportion along with the [36:34] Met Transit. It says that we will take ownership of the street light luminers and not [36:40] necessarily the traffic signals. Yeah. So the luminires if they need to replace the lamp, they just go up there [36:45] and replace the bulb. But in terms of ownership, we all have a proportional ownership share, but that's essentially [36:52] going to be regulated or or coordinated through Washington County and then mech council pays for their share and we pay [36:58] for our share that that has our legs of the roadway. I guess it's hard for me to make a [37:04] decision then without any clear sort of um you know without seeing the agreement. I [37:10] understand that this is maybe what has been going on in the past with all of our street lights, but I guess I'm I'm [37:16] questioning why why do we have any ownership in any of the street lights if they're all on county roadways and we [37:23] don't have any sort of control over them? Well, they're 100% on city roadways. City. It's a city road. [37:28] I'm sorry. I thought I read in here that this goes [37:35] along with all of our other street lights that are agreements that we have in Woodbury. It follows along suit with [37:42] the other street lights. It's very similar, but this is a specific separate agreement just for the gold line because it's three parties on [37:49] this agreement. It's not council, city of Woodbury, and the county. So the other street lights we have in [37:55] this city are on county roads. Correct. and though and that ownership again when it has a renewal cycle it's [38:01] usually always based on which legs of the roadway and so there's a proportional share. So if a city road [38:07] goes through in a county intersection there's usually a 50/50ish cost share on that on the intersections [38:13] when it comes for renewal replacement. Okay. Um I just have one question. Who [38:18] controls the pattern of lights? I it could be improved a little bit. I'll just make that comment. That would be [38:24] Washington's stopping along the way. And I guess that's I guess that's what I guess that's my concern is why are we taking [38:30] ownership of them at all if we have no control over anything. Well, they're for the benefit of the [38:35] city of Woodbury on city roadways. We advocated for a number of these especially along Beenberg to allow for [38:42] the de development patterns that were that were in that corridor. So if you look at all of those intersections, it stops traffic when the bus guideway is [38:48] going through. That was a decision that the gold line and Washington County and the city partners uh made. Um the gold [38:56] line paid for the the the signal itself. So that cost was covered, but the maintenance was always agreed to be [39:03] split proportionally and it was actually included in the budgetary cycle. And we had a pretty lengthy discussion about [39:08] this at that time for 2025. It's roughly $60,000. [39:14] Okay. Thank you, Chris. Anything else from anybody like to [39:21] somebody put forth a motion? I'll move to adopt resolution 25-145, [39:26] a resolution approving the ownership and maintenance agreement with Washington County and the Metropolitan Council for the operation and maintenance of the [39:32] traffic signal control systems installed with the Gold Line bus rapid transit project. [39:38] Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Council member Morris. [39:43] Hi. Council member Santini. I. Council member Stafford, hi. Council member Wilson, [39:49] no. Mayor Bert, I. That resolution passes. Um, okay. We [39:54] now are moving on to the city administrator's report. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, good evening, [39:59] council members. I'll try to keep this pretty brief to honor council member Santini's wish for a quick uh rest of [40:07] the meeting here. Uh, so four things I just want to touch on in the report. One is a lot of construction going on on the [40:13] northeast side of town. Uh we're in the process of of constructing almost 500 [40:19] units of affordable workforce housing uh in three buildings, two projects. One [40:25] project has two buildings and the other one on Manning um is one building. So that's exciting. Uh a lot of [40:31] construction over there. Uh in addition to that construction, kind of uh overlapping in uh engineering and our [40:38] utilities, uh we're in the process of building a new water tower. Um, it's [40:44] going to look a little bit different than the others. It's going to be a little bit bigger. Um, the the stem of [40:49] it is going to be a different color. It's going to be made out of a different material, concrete, I believe. Uh, so [40:55] it'll looks more similar to the the newer ones in Lake Elmo, uh, but more [41:00] efficient and and bigger uh, actually, than uh, previous ones. Uh, construction will last basically over the next year. [41:07] Uh, and then it'll ultimately be put into the the system in 2027. So you'll [41:13] slowly but surely notice that going up over the horizon uh on the souththeast [41:19] corner of Bailey Road. So I noted that in the in your report it [41:24] said 2 million gallons. What's a normal Hold on. I want our city I wanted a new city administrator to answer that. [41:29] What's the normal water tower storage? I'd say the normal water tower storage is about one and a half million. [41:35] Oh wow. He's close. Is it accurate? [41:41] Okay, that was a guess. Um, [41:46] I think they're all different depending on Right. We have several different dang [41:53] off of lake. Wait, we're going to go through all 20 of them. No, just a water. [41:58] We don't have a water. Just a water towers, not the wells. So, mayor, members of the council, uh, in [42:03] terms of the storage size, 2 million gallons, uh, that's similar to the one that's up in Stonemill Farms. The [42:10] it's the one we climbed. The difference here is instead of having the fluted steel column, it's going to be the concrete pillar, [42:16] but in terms of the size, it's going to be our tallest water tower. So, it's almost going to be 180 ft tall. So, [42:23] pretty substantially tall. At least 10 to 15t taller than any of our existing [42:28] water towers. We're doing it in about the hydraulic grade. Somebody else climb it. [42:34] It ain't going to be me. And where is this again? Southeast corner. I feel like they So if you if you know where the uh the [42:39] impound lot or just east of the county service shop, that's where it's located. So to me, this is the one that it will [42:46] be similar to um like 10th and what is that? Inwood. Yes. Very similar. Yes. [42:52] Okay. There you go. Yeah. And and the reason we do that, one, as uh mayor or city administrator [42:57] Jeff mentioned, um it's a lot more efficient in terms of timing. It's also a lot more cost-effective. [43:04] If we had gone with a traditional steel hydropillar, we'd be looking another year out just from a fabrication [43:09] standpoint. Really? Yes. I will say that that water tower looks unfinished every time I drive by it. [43:14] The concrete. Yeah, it says what? It looks unfinished. I keep waiting for them to finish it. [43:20] Paint it. Yeah. Something. And it you definitely don't want to paint the concrete. [43:25] I'm just saying it looks unfair. Yeah, that's all I was saying. I wasn't recommending We We interrupted your [43:30] Yeah, that's okay. Two two other quick ones. One, uh really big news. Central Park, a lot of progress going on over [43:36] there. Uh the mayor and I had a privilege to go on a quick tour with director Okata. Um so right now it's [43:44] basically the finishing touches on the interior, the sheetrocks up. Uh there's a lot of little things left that's still [43:51] needing, but uh at this point the plan is to reopen to the public on Wednesday, October 1st, which you know is 6 weeks [43:59] ahead, so not too uh far away. Um and there'll be more details about grand [44:04] opening events, but the regrant opening at this point is uh scheduled for Sunday, November 2nd to the public. So, [44:12] uh, stay tuned, uh, you know, to our our website or, um, all of our our media and [44:18] we'll have more details, but that's moving along very quickly. And first kind of the opening to the public will [44:24] be October 1st. Lastly, um just wanted to note that at the next [44:30] meeting, next city council meeting before the meeting with the workshop on August 27th, a reminder that um the two [44:38] items is a water treatment plant site tour and strategic initiative update that'll be at on location. Uh obviously, [44:46] uh and then we'll have a close session with Taft Environmental uh special counsel. So that all of that will be [44:52] happening uh not in the normal public fashion. So, it'll be a little bit different, but wanted to let uh both the [44:57] council and the public know that it won't be open to the public. And that's it. Can I administrator Doll, um [45:04] the Central Park October 1st planned reopening? Is that the entire Central Park will be open October 1st? Are we [45:11] anticipating? Uh most of it. So, there might be some components like the amphitheater that they're still working on, but you know, [45:18] the majority of it will be open. And the skyway from Stone Crest to Central Park should be [45:23] and lookout. And lookout Ridge. Y which is looks phenomenal. The true lens space though will that's [45:29] still some time away. So that won't happen but everything else will be close to being ready. I think they'll be [45:34] anticipating as we talked to Michelle, you know, they they picked up a lot of furniture but not all the furniture. They kind of want to get in there and [45:41] decide. Yeah. Live in the space. Yeah. Live it and figure out what to add or how to move things. So, um, so little [45:46] improvements will keep coming along the way shortly after it's open. Um, I just want to do a shout out also real quick [45:52] for, um, two of our public safety officers. Uh, they've had some write up on this, but just want to do a shout out at the meeting for Jack Milbower and [45:59] John Miller. Both were recognized uh, recently for the DWI enforcement [46:04] all-star team. They were recognized at Target Field the other day, Sunday I believe it was, um, for their DWI [46:11] arrests. uh Jack Milbower at 57 in a year and John Miller 50. Um they really [46:16] work very hard to protect the lives of everyone on Minnesota roads. So we appreciate all the work done there. And just in general too, some people may [46:22] have heard this already that um there was a big study done about the safety of communities. Um specifically suburbs [46:28] greater than 5,000 residents which are within 15 to 45 minutes from a major city. And Woodbury uh was listed in the [46:35] top uh of the safest cities um on that list in the country. This is by country. were in the top 100 and only 10 cities [46:43] were recognized in all of Minnesota. So, we were one of them. So, shout out to public safety team and all the great [46:48] work you do to keep our community safe. Much appreciated. Um, that's all we have for tonight. So, I make a motion that we [46:54] adjourn the meeting. Second. Motion a second. All in favor? I We are adjourned.