Good evening. Welcome to the city of Woodberry's Economic Development Authority meeting for today, August 26th. It is uh actually now 7:33 p.m. As I said a minute ago, we're a few minutes late kicking this off. Um this EDA meeting is taking place virtually and here in person. Meetings are recorded by True Lens Community Media. They are broadcast live. They're also replayed [clears throat] on cable channel 799. Um, and they're available to watch on Woodberry's YouTube channel. Um, public comments are accepted during the meeting in person. I don't know if I have any green sheets for that part of the meeting. I've got them for the next the next meeting after this. Um, so um, we're ready to kick off and begin. Would you please do the roll call? >> Janelle, >> Commissioner Morris, >> uh, here. >> Commissioner M. Santini >> here. >> Commissioner Stafford >> here. Commissioner Wilson >> here. >> President Burnt >> here. We are all here tonight so we can connect this business for the economic development commission. Um the all we have tonight is a consent agenda. So all items listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the EDA board will be enacted by one motion and an affirmative vote by roll call of the majority of the members present. There be no separate discussion of these items unless a commissioner or citizen so requests in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered a separate subject of discussion by the board. So with that, I do always turn to our live audience here and ask if you want anything removed from this consent agenda. Seeing none, I then turn to our council members. >> I don't necessarily want anything removed, but I do want to make a comment before 3C. And Manny Bird, I do have a a comment for um item 3B, which is the minutes 3A, excuse me. >> I'm sorry. You have a comment. Oh, >> not the minutes. I'm sorry. The financial statements on 3B. >> On 3B. >> Go ahead. So, you do have in front of you of corrected um I did find a rounding error of $1. So, we did produce a corrected sheet, a balance sheet for the EDA. So, I just want to make sure you you were aware of that. Um and so that is the >> can you what spec where specifically is that $1 amount was you the original in the packet had1,121,35 it should be1,121,36. >> Okay. >> So there's just a rounding thing within the spreadsheet that corrected. So >> all right. So that's your only comment on 3B. Okay. Uh, do you do you need to comment on 3C before we vote or should we vote and then you just want to make a follow-up comment or >> I'm struggling with this? Uh, I'm struggling with this vote. Um, only because um, >> do you want to pull it? I guess I'm [clears throat] going to ask that question. >> I can pull it. >> Okay. So, um, if anyone would like to put forth a motion for 3A and 3B. >> I'll move to approve consent agenda items 3A and 3B. >> Second. >> Motion is second. Any further discussion on those two hearing? None. The roll call, please. >> Commissioner Morris. >> Commissioner Stafford. >> I. >> Commissioner Wilson. >> I. >> Commissioner Santini. >> I. >> President Bert. >> I. Those items pass. >> Um the item on 3C is the approval of authority property acquisition of 8130 Aftton Road. >> Okay. Council member Wilson. >> I'm very happy to see that this is being um taken care of. Um I know we had discussed earlier uh maybe um I'm not I'm not sure how the EDA is getting involved in this as opposed to uh open space or parks or um uh give me something else parks. What do we when when the developers pay what's park dedication? [clears throat] Yeah, that kind of money being used for it. um as opposed to the EDA. Um I feel like the EDA puts it into just to be clear, I'm for this this resolution of take just taking care of this property and the amount my my question is where the money is coming from. I would like to see it have come from park dedication um as opposed to the EDA. >> I'll just add a comment that I think we have not yet as a body determined the highest and best use for this property. Right now there are funds available in the EDA to purchase this. At some point when there is a policy decision on what happens with this property then does it become park dedication or does it become something else and we're just we're not at that point yet. The transaction opportunity came available. This is the timing for it. >> And Mayor Bird if I may add the funds in the EDR are are eligible for this type of purchase. some of the other funding sources that we talked about are more restricted or just are already spoken for essentially throughout for future park projects. So we feel like this was the best for the city and also will give us the flexibility after a plan an engagement process has been completed to determine what it ultimately is going to be used for. >> Perfect. And then just just for minutes [clears throat] purposes as this moves forward through the next year or two or whatever, um I said yes to this because I was hoping this would be turned into park and open space as opposed to any sort of type of highdensity housing or whatever. So that so that's my concern is that now the ED or the EDA or the EDC is now kicking in and taking it. So that's my concern. Well, a future body will then be deciding whether whoever that might be. >> Yeah. >> A future body can decide it. Yes. But it would be nice if we had something laid out like this is what our intent was. Do you understand? So that's the difference. >> Yeah. I think it's one thing to Do you want to Were you going to say something? I >> mayor, I just going to mention that we unfortunately we need to act now on this given the circumstances, but we still have the availability and opportunity to determine its ultimate fate. >> Correct. And I just was hoping the minutes would reflect. That's all >> your your your preference, >> not just mine. It was stuff that was discussed. >> Yeah. And then which is why we chose not to use potentially like LAA funds cuz I think you know then you were really correct. >> We wanted flexibility. >> So we would be looking at other options besides possibly a park for use of this land. But as of today, we don't know. >> We don't know. Correct. We just there's an opportunity to get this piece of land at this does not restrict us. >> Correct. Yep. I make a motion to adopt resolution 26-02, a resolution authorizing the acquisition of the remaining 50% interest of the property located at 8130 Road. >> Second. >> Motion second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, the roll call, please. >> Commissioner Stafford, >> I. >> Commissioner Wilson, >> I. >> Commissioner Santini, >> I. >> Commissioner Morris, >> hi. >> President Bert, >> I. That passes. Uh, we have no public hearing, no discussion items. So I make a motion that we adjourn this EDA meeting. >> Second. >> Motion a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? >> I. All right. We are adjourned from that meeting. >> Uh cable commission. Good evening. Welcome to the city of Woodberry's city council meeting for today, August 26th. It is 7:41 p.m. Um, this meeting is taking place virtually um and here at Woodbury City Hall in the council chambers. These meetings are recorded by True Lens Community Media. They're broadcast live, replayed on cable channel 799, and they're also available on the city of Woodberry's YouTube channel. Um, with that, would you please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance, as is our custom? >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Uh, Angela, would you please do the roll call? >> Council member Santini, >> here. Council member Wilson, >> here. Council member [clears throat] Stafford >> here. >> Council member Morris here. >> Mayor Bert >> here. We're all here tonight, so we're able to conduct tonight's business. We have a couple of special orders of business to kick tick to kick things off. Um we recently our communications team was uh received many wonderful awards. So we've got a presentation from the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators uh to talk about the Northern Lights Award and Don Reer. Is it Don Reer? >> No. Uh >> Gore Don. Okay. Oh, you're G. Okay. I knew there >> Yes, I get that. I heard the other Don name before and I'm like, you don't look like that, Don. No, >> that's why. Cuz you're Don Gore. Okay, Don Gore, welcome back. We've seen you before. >> Thank you. Yes. >> And we do like your We do like your sister. >> Thank you. So [laughter] do I. >> Babysit in a couple weeks, so very excited about that. >> Not the sister. [laughter] >> Just being able to see the kids. >> Yes. >> Um. >> Yeah. >> So, yeah. Uh, welcome. Thank you for welcoming me back. Um, it's good to be here. It's kind of a nice habit to get into. Um, madame mayor, council members, uh, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Don Gore and I represent the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators. Uh, I'd like to talk to you tonight about leadership, not in theory, but in practice. specifically how Jason Aggerstrom's leadership of a team of spoiler alert uh award-winning communicators uh sets a standard worth celebrating. Great leadership, as I'm sure you know, is not about titles or authority. It's about creating conditions where talented people can thrive. It's about being the example that you want your team to follow. As a senior community relations coordinator, Jason understands that communication is more than just press releases or polished campaigns. It's about public trust, clarity, and connection. Under Jason's leadership, his team has consistently delivered award-winning, impactful work for plenty of reasons, a few of which I'll speak briefly about. Trust. With over 20 years in public service, Jason as the city of Woodberry's primary media contact delivers clear, accurate, and unbiased information that strengthens public trust and the trust of his team, collaboration, and innovation. He brings together department directors and city leaders, whether on AI project management, cannabis, or water treatment steering to ensure alignment and shared success. mentorship. Jason's become a go-to adviser across the organization, offering guidance, supporting colleagues, and going beyond to ensure clarity, credibility, and purpose in communication and professionalism. Jason's well regarded for his calm, deliberate approach, something that we can all appreciate in a time of escalating concerns and frankly frantic shifts of public opinion. Leadership and communication is about creating connection. When residents understand what's happening, when they feel heard, when their stories are reflected back with respect, [snorts] that's when trust in government grows. His team's awards are not just pieces of pretty plastic sitting in a display case. They're proof that effective communication strengthens communities, evidence of excellence. Jason's leadership allows a talented group of communicators to be an exceptional one. He shows that when you lead with trust, collaboration, mentorship, and calm, excellence cannot be far behind. Uh I'll give you a quote from his nomination. He not only elevates the work of his organization, but also strengthens the relationship between the city and the community it serves, embodying the very best of government communications and public service. Jason Edgarstrom's example reminds us that leadership is not his title or his authority. It's about creating an environment that attracts talent and allows it to thrive while creating communication that serves the public good. That is why his leadership deserves your recognition and why I proudly present him with the Northern Lights Award for Communicator of the Year. [applause] >> [applause] [applause] >> Don or Shelley, can you just say more about that? Like that's kind of a big deal across how many cities or counties or people or you know how we know he's outstanding, but tell us how well he how much outstanding he really is. >> So uh I'll tell you really quick about the Minnesota Association of Government Communications. It's a peer group. It's a nonprofit. Uh communicators across the state of Minnesota. Um there are uh oh gosh, we have over 500 members. Uh cities, uh we have uh nonprofits who are involved, counties, uh I represent the state of Minnesota, uh as a member of the board. So uh it's government communicators across the state. Um what we do is we have uh an annual awards ceremony where people can submit in many different categories uh to win awards. We do it every year. It's called the Northern Lights Awards. And uh there are a few very special awards that we give um as a board uh and they are nominated uh by someone within their organization. Uh and as a board we look through and we deliberate a lot of very high quality candidates. Um, these are the best of the best and it's a distinct honor uh to win communicator of the year. There's only one award given each year for it. Um, and and it's prestigious and it's really really uh uh an amazing thing that doesn't happen, as I mentioned, without incredible leadership and just clarity of purpose. So, it's a very impressive thing. >> Great. Well, congratulations again, JASON. [applause] >> [applause] >> OH, >> good evening, mayor. [laughter] He didn't want to speak. >> A communicator doesn't want to speak. [laughter] >> He's really good at the written word. Really good. >> He is incredible and we're so lucky to have him. And thank you, Don, for being here tonight. Uh he you are one of the best in the business. He sits on the board of magic and um grateful to have him here and uh share his words. Uh it is truly an honor to be here tonight to uh celebrate the awards of our that our team received from the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators. I'm especially proud of Jason um for the well-deserved award. Uh he's one of the best in his field and an asset to the city. I also want to recognize our entire community relations team uh and the creative innovative work that they do to keep our community informed and engaged. So along with Jason and myself, we also have Ashley Bendar uh Genesis Cedarth and Sam Verdict uh who are here. Um, this team puts their heart and soul into the work they do and it has paid off because at this year's um, uh, Northern Lights Awards, our team uh, took home 10 awards including Jason's and nine additional awards um, including the best in show which is the top award for all categories and we were incredibly grateful to receive the recognition. Um, so along with Jason's award, the team received three Northern Lights awards, which are the top awards in each category. And those included uh in the best of h use of humor category, our game day woodberry snowplow operators video. And uh this submission is the one that also won best in show. We're going to show that at the end of my remarks so everyone uh gets a chance to see it. Um, next in the social media engagement category, we won for putting people first, a step toward real connection in Woodbury. And this recognized our work uh to include our staff and community more in our videos. Uh, highlighting the people who make up our community, much like uh the snowplow video did. And then our third Northern Lights Awards was for our in the video campaign or series category. We had two uh video series. one for the Asian-American Pacific Islander Month and then one for the Hispanic Heritage Month and we won for uh those video series. Then in the silver awards, we had three um our first under the newsletter or magazine category, we won for our updated design of our city update newsletter. Uh the second under special events, we had the new format for our state of the city. And then third, under the public health or public safety video category, uh the video that was entitled from collapse to comeback, a community's race to save Scott, which I think Jen Santini was up. >> Um and then finally in the bronze award category, we had two awards. One was in the community interest video category. Uh there was a video entitled Minnesota's push to honor M veterans of the secret war. And then lastly in the interview talk show or news magazine programming category uh we have Ashley's internal series that she does highlighting staff called spotlight on. So as a team we are always looking for new and exciting ways to tell our um our story and the stories of our community members. And I would be remiss if I didn't give a huge shout out to True Lens Community Media for their incredible partnership with the city. Um it has been a pleasure to work with them. we come up with the vision and they bring it to life and uh it's just been a joy to collaborate with them. So, thank you to council and city leadership for being supportive of the work that we do. Um thank you to our great team and thank you to Dawn and Magic for being here and for the recognition. So, now we'd like to show you the video that won us best in show and then afterwards we'd love to get a picture with council uh Don and the team afterwards. >> Uh just before you start that. Okay. You came home with a lot of hardware. Did you bring all the hardware here so we can see it all? [laughter] >> We have uh each of us has one or two that we'll bring into. [laughter] >> Okay. So, if we do a group photo, then we can have all the hardware included. Absolutely. >> Because they're I mean just the I know it's just beautiful plastic, but they are beautiful and >> absolutely budget for a new trophy case. We're going to need one. >> It was that's we have talked about that. [laughter] We did. It was a good day and we are very grateful for >> And then just can I go back to Don for a minute for a question? Okay. How many awards? Nine. >> Is this a little unprepedented or >> Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Uh >> you have to go to the mic otherwise. >> Yeah. >> The in particular from my viewpoint I the most impressive part about it is the video. It's a very hotly contested uh category. We get no more submissions in any category than video, which is >> and for this one to win the top spot. >> So, yeah, it's tough to win. >> Um, I don't I've served on the board for uh better part of four years now and I have not ever seen one group win this many awards. >> Wow. >> So, yeah, we'll see. >> Okay, that's fun. All right, that's awesome. Okay, on on to the video. FOR SNOW. >> WELCOME TO WINTER GAME DAY. SENIOR PUBLIC WORKS SNOWPLOW STARTING LINEUP. STANDING AT 5' 11 MOUNTAIN FUELED BY COFFEE, TONY Drew at 5'11 from Cottage Grove AND UNDEFEATED AGAINST SNOWBANKS. BRADY PERFECT. [screaming] STANDING AT 5' N, ANNA STILLWATER WITH MORE WINTER HOURS THAN DAYLIGHT, ERIC NELSON. STANDING AT 5'11, HAILING from Rosemount, BATTLING SNOW, ICE, AND A LINGERING BACK ISSUE. [laughter] At 6 foot, representing Redwing, known for precision PASSES AND PERFECT FLOW LINES, AARON PEARSON AT 5' n from Lo Lakes, the closer, Ryan Rose. When winter hits, this is our starting lineup. [laughter] >> That's [applause] great. So, whose idea was it? Who sparked it? >> Jason. >> Okay. Oh. Oh, [laughter] he's going to come up and say something now. Okay. >> It was a combination. U Evan, our streets manager, mentioned we should do something, you know, not sure what. So, Bob Mcsher, the lead producer at True Lens and I got together. We threw out some ideas, but it's truly the crew that brought it to life. Like Sam and I went over there the day we shot it, and we noticed they brought their own fog maker from [laughter] So without it, it was the characters that we have over there that really brought brought it to life. So >> price priceless. Priceless. Oh my gosh. Okay. So Shel, you want to do a photo? Is it is it something else to say or are we doing a photo? >> We are done. >> Okay. Do you want us standing back here and you guys in front? Does that work? >> That sounds great. >> Okay. Beautiful. >> In good. >> All right. >> Say cheese. >> All right. Get it both ways. >> Okay. >> Very good. All right. Thank you. >> Okay. And can we just [applause] Shelly? Shelley, can we just have um everyone introduce themselves because it's good to see faces with names. So, the rest of the team. >> Yeah. >> I'm Sam Verdict, community relations technician. >> Hi, mayor, city council. I'm Ashley Bednar, community relations specialist. Everyone, >> good evening. I'm Genesis Setter, community relations coordinator. >> Thank you. Of course, we know who you are. We wanted the rest of the world to know who you are. But um congratulations again. What what an honor. I don't know if you're going to be able to bring nine home next year, but fantastic. That was very fun. Thank you. And thanks to the public works team that did the video, too. That was fantastic. Sweet. Okay. Uh now moving on to um our next special order of business. And this is getting an update on our destination marketing organization. Eric Satre is here for that. And drum roll, the organization is called Destination Woodbury. Welcome, Eric. >> Thank you. >> Go ahead. >> Okay. Um, mayor, good evening, members of the council. My name is Eric Satche with Destination Woodbury, the marketing and tourism arm of the city. Happy to be here. Um really I think uh you I'm a oneperson show uh within community development but certainly their all the city staff uh project management team certainly the city council and economic development commission really support um this role. So really grateful for that. Um so my audience is visitors. So this is something fairly new um you know with the city of Woodbury. So really we're trying to market to visitors and what that does is support um hospitality and leisure jobs um within the city. Um it also brings economic activity to local businesses which is very important and also generates local taxes. Um for me personally I've spent nearly 20 years in um hospitality and tourism. Um the majority I visit St. Paul but when this position opened up about two and a half years ago a little less um just jumped at the opportunity. Um what an amazing city. Um so certainly just happy to you know increase that visibility you know with our amenities, the local businesses um support community outreach and events and then bring intentionality through authentic storytelling and that's really what I'm um focused on. So, just real quick brief agenda, DMO background, our strategic plan goals, which we're getting to the end to um metrics, milestones, and marketing, and what's next, which I invite you all uh to be a part of. A little bit about the background. So, the city authorized a 3% uh lodging tax on Woodbury hotels, which took effect in April of 2023, and that's the funding for my uh position as destination Woodbury. The city appointed a DMO task force. So they created the strategic plan, the name, the logo, a lot of those things. So thank you to the task force. Um the economic development commission serves as the advisory board. So there is a line item on uh regular meetings that um that the DMO presents to. And then a special revenue fund was established and budgets are approved annually by the city council. Um, just really quick, uh, just a review. We're getting into the the end of our strategic plan here from 22 to 24. Five goals, pretty simple. Connect visitors, activate central park space, cultivate local and industry partnerships, promote and support hotels and city facilities, and transparent financial reporting and planning. So, I'll be talking about um some of those. Um first of all um again the funding the local hotel lodging tax. Um so you'll see 24 25 and 26. Um the the tax is collected and administered by the Minnesota Department of Revenue. Um these are actually the months that they occurred. So this it is a couple behind couple months behind in in their collecting. So far so good. Um for this year um you know every year 24 25 26 we keep raising the bar. It's been a little bit slower summer from what I've seen. So, I just look forward to connecting with the hotels. Actually, our next quarterly hotel meeting is tomorrow. So, looking forward to connecting with them um just to kind of see like trends and opportunities they see um you know, ways that we can engage and then just help them understand as well like different initiatives that that we're doing. Certainly, we want their their input. Um and we do track this. So, we have external measurements and more internal measurements. These are more like how do how does the DMO influence um hotel stays and people visiting the area. Um external measurements. Um and then one thing to mention per state law these funds can only be used for attracting visitors. Um it's called the state law was written to the community um by ADMO. [snorts] Um so couple things milestones. Um, super excited. Destinationwberry.com. Um, we launched last April and, uh, put our name in the hat for the best website, best website and explore Minnesota acknowledged it for, um, best destination website at the 2026 tourism conference. Um, that's not a oneperson thing. It's definitely a team of people um including the economic development commission who helped uh you know just certainly bring their reactions and um feedback too which was so helpful. Um it's definitely a team effort. Um top website pages. Um I love this because Woodberry is not one thing, right? It's this shows like quality of life. Um so it's not just tourism. Tourism affects and relates to other things to things that already existed. So, dining certainly, restaurants, um people want to know what's going on in the city with events. Um we have new attractions, uh certainly um things to do, shopping. Um first year goal from April to April was 70,000 users and 82,000 users was the results um that we got. So, super happy with that. I'll also mention while we launched it, the work is just beginning. Um there's a lot of behind the-scenes things happening with um search engine optimization. Um you know certainly uh you know making sure we're in line with ADA standards um for our website um and some of those things. So um just continuing to work on that part of it. Um, you know, in terms of social media, which is another important, um, tool for Destination Woodbury, um, we're, um, right now we have a 2,300 followers, but kind of year-to-year looking at that goal, we wanted 500 followers, we got 1,800. So, like super excited about that. About half of the audience is from Woodberry, half is outside of Woodberry. So, again, just kind of getting people outside of the area interested and and coming in and spending money and having fun. Um, Instagram 250 followers was the goal and April to April, oh, missing an arrow. Was 499 users. I just needed one more user to get that 100 500. So, thankfully we're there already. I know you guys. Thankfully, we're at 600 now, so don't worry about it. >> Um, so this is just kind of the the chart of of growth that we've seen. Um, something I'm really excited about working with a community relations team is, you know, very intentional about just not throwing money at it right away, just not throwing advertising money at it. Um, necessarily, just trying to grow organically. So, people are very excited about new business openings. Um, Feast Buffet, when I read it on Woodbury Newset, I went out there like day off, got there right away, did a quick reel, and it got 100,000 views. So, just um, amazing. And it was completely free. The only thing I I had to pay for was my lunch, which I was happy to do. Um, [laughter] and then just continued growth. It's like, okay, so as a marketer, people are really interested in restaurants. Okay, let's do a blog about 11 new restaurants in Woodbury. We had a lot of new business openings. Okay, Top Golf is coming. People want to know when it opens. So, I was able to get that information um and post on it and worked out really well. And then roughly 6 months later, started to do advertising leading up to um Central Park reopening. obviously a very big investment. Um, so I help market that facility for meetings and events. Um, and I'll talk more about that. Um, and then we did like a a small ad for, you know, three holiday party locations to look to to look look into to book in Woodbury. Um, so continue growth. I don't have time to mention all of them, but again, you know, main event opening that was Slick City as well opening. A lot of um, interest around that. And then recently, um, Savannah Bananas was at Dairy Queen. So, um, was great to just I think the best part about this is like being able to grow the relationships with the local business owners and said, "Hey, is there anything we can help you out with?" You know, I feel like that part of, [snorts] you know, the the the attraction gets built and certainly there's relationships, but I feel like that's a role for the DMO is to continue that and it's like, how can I help you from a marketing standpoint? You know, a lot of these, you know, they don't have a marketing budget. So, it's like, how can we tell that story uh to the to the the broader audience? Um and then just uh different marketing activities as well. So this uh parks and trails map was brought back after a number of years where we didn't have it. Perfect opportunity for the DMO to fund this project. Worked with um city staff to help produce it. Um the goal was 4,000 maps. Today we've or yeah today we've um delivered uh 7,000 maps. So happy with that. And then the first ever Woodberry visitor guide launched in 2025. goal was 5,000, result was 6,000. So um super happy. There also is a digital version. So definitely um promote that as well depending on what people are looking for. And then um to finish up with this slide, there's new versions. We're redoing like every other year. Going to be redoing these two um resources. So look for them in 2027. >> Eric, just real quick, are both of those print versions still available or are you now you've distributed everything and now you're out of print? >> Thank you. Great question. They are still available at Central Park, so you can pick them up for free. Free resource. Um, that's they're also available at the Sports Center. Um, but we're telling people Central Park is, you know, the the DMO has a has a physical presence there. So, we want to make sure people get there and, um, but they're, yes, they are still available. Thank you. Um, next year or next is new e newswsletter. You know, I do a lot of different things, but they're all done for a purpose. Um there's different ways to market to people and it really it's just based on preference. I think the great thing about an e- newswsletter and this is just a a quarterly basis. So um really being able to have an audience to control the messaging and just really talk very obviously uplifting about Woodbury which is very authentic. Um but then also talk about things to do you know new businesses um coming up sort of behind thescenes look. So this kind of gives us a um a little bit um different promotion in terms like this is if you want to be like an insider join this um subscriber group and um look for the newsletters. So these come out like I said quarterly really on a seasonal basis to start. We thought okay 100 signups um we got 238 so we're uh we're on our way. We're about 275 now and so look for the next one um in uh next month. I had to think about that for a second. Um so this is just for fun one that I threw in [laughter] you. I It's insane. Um I know Maple Grove named themselves like dining capital of Minnesota or whatever. I'm like, "Okay, we got to come to Woodberry." Because I mean, 146 restaurants, these are all on the destination woodberry.com website. It took me a long time and they'll work with a lot of different restaurants. So, the goal here besides to promote Woodberry is to like get users on the website and then get them to these businesses, right? So, we want to support local businesses. I've not dined at all the restaurants, but um here's just a few visuals. So again, just great to be able to meet with the the local owners, support local um restaurants um and minority restaurants. Um so just I've had a lot of fun. Um so I just have to, you know, like I said, I I pay for this myself. I got to watch my waistline, you know, so I'm trying to, you know, average it out here a little bit. So um and then Central Park, obviously very important in the strategic plan. um really a city or a a facility that's prioritized in addition to the sports center among others. But um you know we launched a marketing campaign in July of 2025. Um and really a team effort and really had great results. um the booking goals, that was the the bottom line goal was, you know, booking a certain number of events and um you know, we ended up just destroying those goals and it was in a good way. It was amazing. [laughter] Um so for for this year, we have 80 roughly 80 events in the Woodlands Room and 80 events in the amphitheater. Um the goals were much lower. So um really just continuing to get the word out. I think when people walk in, they're like, you know, I think trying to like bring some like brand identification to it's we love the library, but this is Central Park, you know, and um but and they're all, you know, great facilities. So, just um and with that, you know, like I mentioned the DMO having a presence there. We're bringing in um new signage for the welcome desk, so that'll definitely help. And then, like I said, I'm working with um Central Park staff um as well. Um, my role is more of like if they book a wedding, book a meeting group, sort of I'm the next point of contact. Okay, staff says talk to Eric, book your hotels. If you need group dining, talk to Eric. You know, so really trying to make it seamless um for that and really trying to generate that economic impact um for the city. [snorts] And then one thing I worked with the um it's pretty unique worked with the Economic Development Commission on it's called an event rebate program. So there's lots of regional and national events and tournaments that kind of rotate around the the United States. Like this is our opportunity to get these events that generate a lot of economic impact and hotel room nights. Um, so the first one that we've gotten was actually this past um, summer is called and I know Steve uh, Council Member Morris uh, he commented on my post. Appreciate that. Um, yes, I know. I know. >> So, it was their super regional event which is Midwest and East region. Um, so love this photo, True Lens. Shout out to them. Um Nikki interviewed the director and check out the the sort of the highlights video on the city of Woodbury YouTube page. Um but a great event. Um generated hotel room nights for the the hotels and um they had such great things to say about the sports center and their experience. They want to come back um next year. So um and then really quick just to mention local sponsorships. I really feel like outreach is a huge part of this role according to the strategic plan. So, Woodbury Area Chamber of Commerce, I'm a member. I'm on their golf committee. I'm also I just signed up for their um to um ambassador. Thank you. Ambassador committee. So, great to work with. Um so, this is the first time this year they were in uh at Central Park in Woodbury. So, they've never been in Woodbury before for the the gayla. Um >> because we never have had a space big enough. >> Because we never had the space big enough. So, first of all, kudos to Central Park and then with a small sponsorship, the DMO was able to [clears throat] help them out, too. Fourth of July hometown celebration. Um, I heard the city council like, "Hey, maybe the DMO should support this." We supported it. Um, so super excited and the biggest reason it definitely draws a lot of people, residents and visitors. And then Woodbury Day is kickoff dinner. It was our first time in Woodbury because Central Park and then also the DMO um supported them. Um and then the last thing is uh we have a Wi-Fi sponsorship at Central Park and Sports Center. So we were thinking like how do we connect visitors that come to these facilities um people go on their Wi-Fi and so they it's an easy advertising opportunity um for the DMO. [snorts] All right, what's next? This is where you can all help me. Um and certainly the EDC is involved as well. Um the EDC has mentioned leveraging influencers. It's not just my voice. Like, we're trying to spread it out, get other people involved and and build that user generated content. It's part of our strategy. Um really, we're we're looking at we're doing a uh sort of a foundational video. It's a marketing piece that um that will introduce Woodberry to the masses. Um promoting it as a destination, obviously, promoting facilities and amenities. Um and then these are um fun items. Um future hockey day Minnesota. So [snorts] >> are they booked that far out? >> They are booked a few years out, but uh there's definitely a lot of planning involved. Um Woodbury Hockey would be involved. Um from a DMO standpoint, it's really perfect timing because this is a a way that the DMO can lead um these types of initiatives. Um, the 2020 28 NFL draft is coming to Minneapolis. Um, so I can work with uh Minnesota Sports and Events, Minnesota Vikings. Um, how do we leverage our strategic position within the Twin Cities to get fans here? There's hundreds of thousands of people that come from out of town. Um, do we throw special events um to get people here? There's all sorts of things that we can do. Um, so really excited about that. And then I mentioned we're at the end of our strategic plan um just involving the EDC and you all uh for a DMO action plan to help plan some of these things out. So appreciate your time. I'll open it up to questions. >> Well, I thought that was really thorough, so I don't have any. Donna, [laughter] did you just turn your mic on? >> I did just turn my mic on. I noticed, Eric, that in May the hotel occupancy jumped. I suspect that may have been your efforts around the Lions Club garage sale and the people coming from out of state and out of town. >> I I will say on an annual basis there is um I would say very distinct spikes of website traffic and it happens around the 4th of July and it happens around the Lion's Club garage sale. So, it's definitely an opportunity and the uh 50 years next year, right? >> So, there we go. >> Outstanding. >> All right, Eric, if anybody So, you do work and and essentially marketing the city, but if somebody were to like say a nonprofit organization or a local group that wanted has an event that they're working on, how would they get a hold of you? >> I would say the website's the best way. That's what I was trying to figure out. >> Um Yep. Yep. go to the Yep. contact us page. Thank you. Appreciate that. >> Um and you can get a hold of me there. And there's already been a lot of events uh coming in that people are say, "Hey, promote on the website." Been doing that. Um and uh individuals reaching out as well. So, thank you. >> Excellent. Any other questions? Thank you. That was a wonderful overview. Thanks for all the work you're doing to bring uh more attention to Woodbury. >> Visitors always welcome. Okay, we'll now move on to the open forum portion of this meeting. This is an opportunity for the public to share comments, concerns, or input on subjects which are not part of the meeting agenda. Uh, if you're wishing to speak, please send up a a signup sheet. I have several here. Um, when you come forward, please name state your name and your city of residence with your question or your comment. That's for the official record. We limit you to three minutes. Uh, we do a maximum of 20 minutes set aside for this entire uh section. um no more than three speakers per topic and I yeah I think we're well within that. So um that said, let's just kick this off. The first person I have up is Shamim. You and I have met before. I can never begin to pronounce your last name. So you're going to state the whole thing when you get up here. But uh good to see you. And I think you've got a group with you as well. >> There are. Yes, there are some friends and family here as well providing moral support which is well appreciated. Uh my name is Shamim Moshef. I live here in Woodbury. Um has my time started? My time has started. So good evening friends. Um I'd like to talk um tonight about a message of goodwill and hope entitled a common endeavor uh that was issued by the bahigh of the United States on the 250th anniversary of the signing of declaration and the founding of this country. Um the message is addressed to all who hold the promise of America in their hearts. And I wanted to invite Mayor Bert, members of the city council, and everyone else here tonight um to read this letter and consider how it uh how its contents uh might affect our community building efforts here in Woodbury and surrounding areas. As some personal background, my wife Emily and I have lived in Woodbury for the last six years. Um and my parents and grandparents have lived here for about four decades or so after immigrating from Iran um to escape religious persecution against members of the Bahigh faith. I speak tonight as a representative of the local Bahigh community here in Woodbury. Um for anyone who may be unaware, the Bahigh faith is an independent religion founded by Bahala uh with followers in virtually every country and territory on the planet. And the central principle of the Bahigh faith is the oneness of humanity. Uh and in my remaining time, I'd like to read a few selected passages from the uh from the message, a common endeavor. Quote, "The founding of our country was based on ideals like freedom, equality, and justice that reflect deep shared human aspirations. Generations have labored to realize those ideals and to build a more perfect union where all can flourish. The Bahigh sacred scriptures envision a destiny for America that fulfills and even exceeds the principles of its founding. These scriptures also recognize the gravity of America's challenges and they offer the insight that there is a moral and spiritual dimension to the task of shedding the ills that blight our society. At the heart of the change required for true prosperity is the recognition that all people belong to one human family. Only in unity can we thrive. And yet the principle of oneness is not based on uniformity. Instead, it embraces and nurtures the diverse expression of our common humanity. We all have a part to play in fulfilling the hope of this country. Whatever the adversities that lie ahead, the Bahigh writings offer a hopeful vision for our country. That our varied communities and peoples can live in peace and justice. Let us not falter now. Let us see through our differences and recognize the sincere, fair-minded souls around us who long to contribute. Let us join in common endeavor together. Let us bring about the spiritual renewal that will lead us to the realization of our highest aspirations. End quote. And the bahigh of Woodbury have prepared printed booklets of a common endeavor for Mayor Bert and all the members of the city council. Um, for anyone else in the room who's interested, I have additional extra copies which I can place on the table out back and it's also available online at a commonende.org. Uh, thank you very much for your time and for everything you do for the city. >> Thank you. What a a very Yeah, [applause] thank you. A very kind message and especially in this year of the birth of our country uh as you stated. So, thank you for bringing those with us and I think your group always is uh participating every year in the Woodbury Days parade. You are again >> Woodbury Day is one. >> Okay. Wonderful. Looking forward to seeing you there. >> Thank you again for coming and and sharing that message. Uh Chris Hullbrook. >> Hi. Thank you for having me again. Chris Hullbrook. I live here in Woodbury. Um, sorry to be the wet blanket on all the celebratory presentations here, but um, I've come here again to discuss the flock uh, situation, the surveillance camera, uh, the contracts that we have in the city. I've come here a couple times before and have talked about the abuses that have appeared in the news, uh, as well as the data breaches and the mistakes that have happened. I am again requesting that we have a risk assessment study on privacy, that we have a public hearing where everyone can give input, and that we have a vote on possibly pausing or suspending this. You've seen the breaking news, I'm sure, out of St. Paul. They just had a public hearing and voted the same thing. Not saying their model that we should necessarily be like St. Paul, but um the fact is I think that it's time for having having an open discussion on building a mass surveillance database for a private corporation uh of all people without warrants or probable cause or optouts. The amount of trust is uh deciding factor for several other offices that have announced since my last appearance here that they are cutting ties Sherburn County. The sheriff said that he puts a high value on the relationship with the people in the community. They don't want to erode the trust that this program is causing. City manager in St. Paul said a very similar thing. The concern that is grown around this technology is not about the people. It's about the system and whether a tool like this belongs in the city. At this time, the community is saying no. I would like to read I know I only have a few minutes here actually today from the flock contract itself. uh and in it they do say that they do not own and they do not sell the the data. However, they share it and they can give access to it. That's separate from owning that's separate from selling. Paragraph 4.2 to in the flock contract between flock and the agency that's Woodbury title interest and right to the data of the agency that's Woodbury belong to and are retained by the agency. The agency grants Flock a limited non-exclusive royalty-free worldwide license to use the data to perform all acts with respect to the datas may be necessary for Flock to provide its services including without limitation a non-exclusive perpetual irrevocable worldwide royalty-free fully paid license to use, reproduce, modify, display, and distribute the agency data. So, I just wanted to point that out as a clause in here, which again is deceptive, I believe, and contrary to what Flock [clears throat] or Axon is telling the cities that they are setting up programs with. So, I again want to ask for a hearing, a vote, and a assessment. >> Wow, you nailed that timing. [applause] Thank you. [clears throat] And next we have Ian Franle. >> Well, we can continue that with more of the same. Uh, madame mayor, council members, uh, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I'm Ian Frankle. I'm 20 years old. I've lived in Woodbury my entire life. This is my first time actually at Woodbury City Council meeting, and I'm also here to share my concerns uh, about flock cameras um, and automated license plate readers in general. Um, in 1755, Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin said that those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. And I think that having flot cameras in the city of Woodbury gives up our essential liberty by giving a private company with no accountability access to data of hundreds of thousands of people in the city. Um with continuous warrantless tracking shared to agencies outside of Woodbury, ICE agents without the consent of those in Woodbury. Um, according to Flock's own website, over 400,000 cars in the city of Woodbury in the past 30 days have been tracked with these Flock cameras. And you know, reiterating what was said previously, Flock is a private company that hasn't passed a data security audit. Um, and you know, because of their vulnerabilities, people have been able to get into their systems and track where anyone has been, even not as members of law enforcement. And the police department does not fully own this data, which just leads to an erosion of trust between the police department and the community and residents of uh Woodbury. And you know, we've seen how there have been so many abuses with plot cameras. They've been used to target women crossing state lines for reproductive health care. They've been used by police officers to stalk exes, to know and track what political events and actions one may be taking. And it's in general building a private security uh surveillance state that doesn't necessarily for the security of citizens of Woodbury instead profiting off of our privacy, profiting off of our data, profiting off of where we go. Every time I, you know, go shopping in Tamarak Village, that is a private company that gets to know that I chose to go shopping. every time that I, you know, drive my car anywhere, any of these people who are not elected officials, not held to any public accountability get to know where I've been and what I've been doing. Um, and so I'm going to reiterate asking for what was asked for previously, which is a public hearing on automated license plate reader use, um, with Flock and Axon. um a independent study on privacy risk and it being brought to a vote to you know instead of this thing being pushed on to us without citizens consent instead allowing us to decide as a city of Woodbury whether or not it supports our mission or instead erodess our trust and erodess our privacy and our ability to go about our dayto-day without a private company watching us like big Mother, [applause] [applause] [cheering] >> administrator Doll, do you have anything to add to this? Uh, Mayor Bird, I just, you know, uh, kind of dovetailing off of some of the comments that we've heard over the last few meetings and then also when, uh, Chief Posal was here, he provided some updates based on some of the news stories that we've heard. Um, and I just want to reiterate kind of how we got started and also where we are now and where we're going. Um several years ago when this equipment was first debuted in within the the organization uh privacy was a huge deal and discussed amongst community leaders, the city council and staff. Uh this has this technology and tool has been evolving. Um we we put shared information about uh this equipment on our website right away. Our newsletter we've been highlighting why we use them and the benefits they have. uh in terms of keeping our communities safer in a more efficient and effective way. Um we put information and there's information out there now in terms of where the placement of the uh 19 fixed um flock cameras are in the community which are primarily focused in commercial areas uh where the need of uh is the greatest. Uh there are there is some data out um um online and whatnot that identify other equipment as a ALPR cameras which are um overstating the number but there we have 19 cameras in the community just to be clear. Uh so that's the background of kind of the when we got started why and um what the current infrastructure is now in the community. Uh what we know, you know, fast forward several years, um based on some of the concerns that we've been hearing, based on um uh some of the actions of the federal government and sharing of data, earlier this summer, the city further restricted outside agency access to our automatic license plate reader data. We now require a written request with a case number and justification followed by an approval with a from a Woodbury Police Department supervisor. All requests for Woodbury ALPR data um whether it's approved or denied is documented uh so that that is can be tracked if necessary. Going forward, we're going to be updating the city website uh with uh an FA FAQ about uh automatic license plate readers and we'll share the information through additional communication on our newsletters and other media uh avenues that we have. Um as well as continuing to meet with community members to get the feedback from them, more feedback obviously, and then to inform too because there's a lot of misinformation out there. Uh and getting to one the gentleman's point about an audit. Um we have had it audit from the BCA. We're currently exploring uh especially after hearing about the misuse of some of the technology outside of Woodbury. Um an independent third-party review of our uh current uh systems, processes, technologies, settings, and safeguards in order to ensure that uh our compliance exceed the requirements and follow best practices. and we will also publicly report those findings. So, that's what staff's doing internally to a keep up with the technology to do our best to mitigate and address the uh privacy concerns and ultimately move forward and continue to make our community safer. >> Thank you just for sharing that little bit of update. I understand too that there's an upcoming some group is holding a meeting next week to share more information. And we have one of our uh public safety officers attending that possibly to just answer more questions, get into more detail. >> Exactly. Yeah. So, we're we're going out we're we're um informing the public and getting more feedback as well in in avenues and venues even in addition to the council meetings. >> Thank you, >> Mayor Burch. Just for clarification, is that an or a meeting that the public is invited to or just a certain group? I have seen um information that it's a certain group. Okay. Um that is hosting it. I don't know. It be >> certain group is hosting it, but everybody is welcome if they sign up. >> Oh, okay. If anyone didn't hear that at the mic, um it's you just have to sign up and you can go. How might people find out about it? >> Sign up. Yeah. >> Okay. Community conversation at Deavani's September 2nd >> SD47 website >> SD Okay. And what time is that gonna be? >> Seven. >> Seven. Okay. Well, that's helpful to know. Great. Very good. I think that'll be helpful. We don't take any more comment unless I have green sheets, but we're moving on from that. But you're welcome to hang out and chat with somebody after the meeting. Uh we're now moving on to um our consent agenda. All items listed under the consent agenda will be considered by routine by the city council will be enacted by one motion and firmware vote of roll call by the majority of the members present. There'll be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member or citizens so request in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered a separate subject of discussion by the council. Um would anyone I always turn to the audience first. Would anyone like anything removed from the consent agenda? Uh seeing none I then turn to council members. Anybody to remove anything hearing? None. Would or I haven't heard any case. Uh would anyone like to put forth a motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda item 6A through 6K. >> I'll second. >> I'll second. >> Motion is second. Any further discussion needed? Hearing none. The roll call, please. >> Council member Wilson. >> I council member Stafford. >> Hi. >> Council member Morris. >> Hi. Council member Stanti >> I Mayor Bert >> I those consent agenda items pass. Those of you that are sticking around you're going to be very happy to know this is going to be a short meeting and you're sticking around for the most important part and that's the transportation update by Chris Hartzell. Always good to know what roads are closed, what roads are open. Everyone wants to know about Woodbury Days is Wood Woodlane Drive in the section needed for the parade going to be open. So take it away Chris. >> All right. Thank you mayors members of this council. I'm just getting off 11day road trip. So this is a a update for me as well in many ways. [laughter] So we have a number of active construction projects. >> I thought you were going to share slides of your road trip. [laughter] >> That would be really cool. >> Be cool. >> By the end of it, my kids were completely national parked out. You know, Yellowstone, Glacier, everything along the way. >> Um but tonight I'm going to talk about the water treatment plant and pipeline projects. uh Valley Creek Road Trail project, the 2025 and 2026 road rehab, Woodlane Drive, which is the one you're concerned about, Mayor Bert, uh Bailey Road and Settles Ridge Parkway, Bailey Road and Manning, Intrepid Fiber to the Home, and the 2026 Rejuvenator project, which has now been complete. >> So on the north end of the map, this is the water treatment plant pipelines. Westbound Valley Creek Road east of Woodbury Drive remains reduced to one lane through September. Westbound Valley Creek Road is closed from Catalina Drive to Interlockan Parkway currently and is scheduled to be reopened to one lane of traffic beginning August 31st with additional phased reopening continuing into the fall. >> Doesn't look like it. >> Wow. >> They're going to they can do some amazing work. We'll see what happens. Uh eastbound Valley Creek Road is fully open. Woodbury Drive from Valley Creek Road north to Bridgewater Parkway is scheduled to be closed from August 31st through the end of September. Say that last time. >> Say that again. >> I know. >> Yeah, that one's too fast. >> Yeah. So, that's the difficult >> The last one. >> I know. So, you're trying to just pass through past it. No. >> So, essentially, they have to cross the intersection. >> Say it again. Say it all again. >> Woodberry Drive. >> Woodbury Drive. >> Woodbury Drive. Yeah. >> From Valley Creek Road North to Bridgewater Parkway. It's a [clears throat] little section on the north side of Woodbury Drive and Valley Creek is scheduled to be closed August 31st through September. They got to get the pipelines across the >> through September. An entire month. >> Just time. basically like how it was for radio driver. >> That's 100% exactly like it is >> for six lanes of traffic. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Well, there's no other way to construct that pipe across the road. >> And so what is the detour then if you cannot go northbound on Woodbury Drive? >> A detour will be along Valley Creek Road because you'll be able to go westbound. >> Okay. >> You can also go eastbound because that's fully open. And then you can uh any of the north south routes, Manny Avenue, uh Interlock and other uh neighborhoods. The official road will be um most likely Radio Drive to Tamarack, but I think most people will find their way Yeah. through where they need to go. >> We don't we don't publicly encourage >> We don't publicly encourage it, but that's in reality what happens. Typically, you go from County Road to County Road with a detour. >> Just for clarification, will the intersection of Valley Creek and Woodbury Drive be closed or just the north? >> Just the north leg. >> So, we can cross over it at Valley Creek. You should be able to cross uh if you're going up Woodbury Drive, you should be able to take go eastbound or westbound. >> Okay. >> You just won't be able to go northbound after that intersection. >> Yeah, I tried to go over that one quick. You guys are too smart for me. >> Uh Valley Creek Road Trail, um water man testing is completed along the trail corridor. So happy to, you know, I know that it wasn't passing for a while. Now, a lot of that's passing and so that trail is being paved in September on the north side of Valley Creek Road from the existing trail located east of Dancing Waters Parkway to the Kobby Lake Park underpass. And they already started doing some of that work up near St. St. John's Drive. The 2025 road rehab will continue with construction along East View Road beginning in early September and concluding in mid-occtober. If council remembers the project was delayed last year to coordinate with Met Council and their pipe work and the force man that's coming through along there. There's about 1,200 feet of pipe at the end of East View Road that there's not really much we can do other than full sail dig it up and replace it. And so that work is likely to be coordinated with the 2027 roadway rehabilitation project next year. >> Yeah. Can I ask a question about the about our 25 and 26 roadway projects? As I was going through those neighborhoods, I'm noticing a lot of yellow pylons that are sticking up and seem to be permanent new fixtures in people's yards along the right of way and tell me what's happening there with just little concrete slabs. >> So, um, mayor, members of the council, um, what I think you're probably referring to is when they do the bumpouts. So at those roadway crossings where they the curb line goes in, they've been putting those pylons essentially for snow plowing effort. So as they go by, they're not hitting the curb and running up over it and damaging the yards. >> Yeah, I feel like it it wasn't at the bumpouts and with the concrete, but I I took some pictures. I'll show you after. >> Yeah, off off the top of my head, that's what I'm thinking, but I'd be happy to look at it and inform you further. In terms of the 2026 road rehab, eastbound traffic along Aftton Road from Tower Drive to Radio Drive is closed and anticipated to be reopened in late September. A detour route is established in coordination with the closure. In order to construct the new trail, several private utilities needed to be relocated and those are happening now. So, if you've been along that, the utility poles have been moving to move out of the way of the trail uh the sidewalk project. Construction in phase 4 began August 3rd. Phase four is the section in green. um in August uh and is anticipated to be completed by late September. So this is an image on the left side showing asphalt paving along Columbia Court. Uh so they mil the the overlay and then they put an inch and a half of overlay on top of it. And the right image shows drain tile installation along Bristol Road. And I believe that's the section that has continuous sump pump drainage. And so that'll allow residents to connect uh to directly to the drain tile and carry [clears throat] that water away. >> Woodlane Drive um from Wooddale Drive to Courtley Road will remain open to southbound traffic only until early October. For phase three, Woodlane Drive was open to two-way traffic between Courtley Road and Lake Road on August 21st. And Woodlane Drive from Lake Road to Bailey Road will be open to two-way traffic on August 28th. Flagging operations are anticipated the week of August 31st to complete the storm water basin south of Lake Road. >> Can you read the sentence just before that one? >> Woodland Drive from Lake Road to Bailey Road will be open to two-way traffic on August 28th. >> Oh, okay. There you go. In time for the parade. >> Yeah, we thought about that. >> Okay. [laughter] Well, and it actually got done, which I was really worried about. Okay. >> Uh the left image is showing the base layer of asphalt paving near Woodbury High School. Uh the center image is showing the final layer of asphalt paving near Woodbury High School and the right image is showing the milling operations at Thames Road and paving is following the next day. So Bailey Road, Settler's Ridge Parkway. Um as we know, new roundabouts under construction. It's already open to traffic. Remaining work is on Settlers Ridge Parkway north of the intersection. This work is nearing completion and is scheduled to be open to traffic in early September. As always, residents can sign up to receive project updates at washington countymn.gov, county road 18, and click on notify me. For Bailey Road, Manning Avenue, um, this is a project being constructed by Mindot. The roundabout is while it's under construction, the north south traffic is maintained on a temporary bypass. Overall, this project is anticipated to be completed yet this fall. and residents can sign up for any updates on the Mind DDOS project web page and you can just do a search for Highway 95 or Manning Avenue and Bailey Road and you'll find that pretty quickly. In terms of Intrepid Fiber to the Home, uh installation continues as part of the Intrepid Fiber to the Home project. Areas currently under construction with five crews are shown here along Fox Run. Areas north of Dale Road between Radio Drive and County Road 19. So that's all the areas that are kind of highlighted in that red text. Everything else is either in design or is being planned and moving along. I am happy to report that I just talked with uh some of our construction administration staff. Um and they actually have a website where they have uh resident complaints show up on Intrepid Fiber and and they go and reconcile those complaints. And he's happy to report that Cottage Grove has lots of complaints, Woodbury, very very few. and he attributed that to himself and all the efforts that they're doing to be out there working with those fiber companies, checking on them every day, making sure they're following, setting the tone and our expectations. And so, knock on wood, we hope that the good work in Woodbury continues. >> Right. >> In terms of our rejuvenator project, um just under 70 miles of streets were treated. So, this is darn near looks like 10% of the city. Uh this was by far the largest rejuvenator project the city has ever completed and we're successfully completed with that. >> Okay. I have a question about that because I always thought that we did that rejuvenator the year after there was new asphalt laid and maybe that is true but you're doing streets in addition to that. >> Correct. So what is happening now is they they typically recommend that after that following first year that every five to seven years you reapply it. >> Okay. >> Because it it wears off. So >> like sealing your driveway. It's like sealing your driveway essentially. >> Okay. So, >> and so now we're on the second application. >> Okay. >> And five to seven years ago, we did a lot of projects. Um, we had an extreme catch-up since 2014 of doing a lot of projects because our roadway rehabilitation wasn't keeping up with the infrastructure demands. >> And that process uses the rejuvenator product and then sand on top. >> Correct. >> And then the street cleaner, street sweeper goes in afterwards. >> Correct. The sand is just an application to prevent a lot of tracking. >> Okay. of that rejuvenator project, but it very quickly soaks in. >> Okay. >> And then does public works come back and repaint the lines? Cuz the street sweeper didn't they left a lot. >> They're it's the streets are really muted. Muted is the word I'll use. >> Yeah. Uh no, they typically don't. >> That that just happens to wear off and those lines. >> If we could get some rain would be would be good. That would probably help some. >> What lines are you talking about? Just like the way what >> pioneer is like all like the line like the road lane >> lines are all just >> the paint itself. >> Oh, >> because it's it's because it's underneath the >> Well, yeah, cuz it's got a lot of stuff on top of it and it hasn't rained. >> But I just have a question regarding that. So, we want it to rain, but is it but is it oil and is it going down? And I'm confused on this. And where is it washing to and how is this affecting? >> Well, most of it soaks in. There is some that comes off, but it's a safe product for it's not really oil. It's filled with molten and other products, but the the sand application picks up most of it. Um, we we watch our our outlets on our storm water pipes very closely. So, if there is a rain event, um, we we're making sure there's no sheen or anything else in the water that presents itself. We don't have any concerns with the product itself. >> Okay. And then as always, um really happy with this uh this year and last year. Um our roadway and trail closure map. This is in coordination with the water treatment plan, but we used it overall to show all of our road and trail closures and all of the detail routes. So I know you were asking about detour routes. If you want the most up-to-date information, sign up for this and go to woodburymn.gov water treatment and you'll see everything that's going on current up to date. And then as always, we encourage you to sign up for InTouch. We have a number of different projects, not just street projects, a lot of construction projects, and a lot of things going on in the community. Sign up if you're interested, and you'll get emails keeping you up to date. >> Matt, do you have any questions? >> I don't think you thorough report. Anybody have a question? I think we asked them as we went along. >> Yeah. [clears throat] I can't believe everyone stayed here for this. >> Well, I know. And what was the best part of your 11-day vacation? spending 11 days with family. Um, [laughter] honestly, it was wonderful. We visiting Glacier Park is one of my favorite parks in the world. We did Going to the Sun Road uh in Montana. >> So, my parents actually had been building a home out there as part of a retirement uh on my grandfather's property, which is just an hour and a half outside of Glacier. >> So, we used it as a home base and we went out there. So, both spending time with my mom and dad. What's that? >> But an education. >> Oh, yeah. And we loved it. We saw elk and bison and bears and all kinds of things and uh we went to six national parks so we were >> we were doing good. >> That's awesome. >> Did you get the national park book where the kids can get their >> No, we didn't. Sorry. I know I should, but they got plenty of swag at the gift shop. Trust me. [laughter] >> Thank you, Chris. We're glad you made it home safely. >> Yeah. >> Um Administrator Doll, do you have an update for us? >> Uh thank you, uh Mayor Bert. Um, tough pivoting for from that from Chris's vacation to a public safety item here, but I'm going to try to do it. Um, this is the last meeting before our planned full scale fullcale exercise that our staff is leading. Uh, that fullscale exercise will be on September 8th, which is a Tuesday, right before the next council meeting. >> Exercise, >> it's it's uh the full scale exercise. >> I'm getting there. Thank you. [laughter] Um it's uh there's going to be a large emergency responder presence uh and that'll be around uh noon or so uh actually in the morning from 7:00 a.m. to noon around the Tamarak Nature Center. It's a public safety training exercise. Uh it's all planned. This is this message is to the public. There is no need for alarm. The public has asked to stay away from the training activity. Um, you may have seen some uh communications already uh in some of our uh media venues, but and we'll continue to escalate that as we get closer, but we thought we'd use this opportunity to to remind the public as well. Uh, parking in that area will be prohibited on both sides of Tower Drive north of Valley Creek Road between 7:00 a.m. and noon on September 8th. However, the nearby neighborhood will remain accessible via Tower Drive during the exercise. the new disc golf course, the the kind of the trial golf course and playground in the area as well as all the trails around the south end of the Tamarak nature preserve will not be accessible during that time. We will uh we practice full-scale exercises to safely test how our emergency plans work in real life just in case. We hope we never have to use them, but you never know. Uh these lifelike events help teams spot hidden challenges, train for high stress moments, and practice communicating across different groups like police, fire, and other city staff. Uh public safety agencies from neighboring communities in Washington County dispatch are all aware of the training exercise and Woodbury public safety is prepared to respond to all real emergency calls during that time uh while the training is going on and it will not uh impact any response times for the real crisises that are going on. We've communicated as I mentioned about this already, but we will continue to escalate that. Uh more information can be found on the city's website. Uh we've we've mailed um letters to the adjacent neighborhood. We will have an article or we had an article in the August city update newsletter and we'll continue to blast out emails as I mentioned in InTouch and social media um uh prior and leading up to the September 8th date. Go to the website now, go to emergency training uh that's the backslash uh to find out more information. Basically reiterating what I just said. Um, >> maybe I'll pause there, council. >> I was glad to hear that you sent letters to that surrounding community because it's not it's a limited number of homes that are going to be correct right there. Yeah. And then might you put up signage or something so people that drive by would see signage, you know, practice in place or, you know, something. I'm just >> Yeah, it's a it's a great question and I'm sure our uh emergency management officials will do so if they think it's the best practice. We also don't want to draw unneeded attention, too. So, >> um, it's a good point. I'll clarify that, uh, with our our staff. >> Any other questions? >> No, we're good. Uh, the only other thing I have is, of course, Woodbury Days. It's coming up, uh, Friday, uh, Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, obviously, in Ojiway Park. Come by, everybody. Um, come by and say hi to our council members. Be nice to them or or be respectful anyway. Right. >> Beautiful. [laughter] Um uh and and they'll be respectful back, I am sure. Correct. [laughter] >> Uh but we have a a great staff presence. You can learn about what's going on in the community, our parks, public safety, our great elected officials, uh and a bunch of other things. Um information about ours, parade, music, and all the events going on. Uh go to woodburys.com. And a huge thank you to all the uh the folks that volunteer, especially the Woodbury Days Council. Uh this event could not happen if it weren't for all the volunteers uh inside of City Hall and way beyond City Hall as well. So, thank you community for doing what you do and I look forward to a great Woodbury Days uh this year. That's it. >> I'd just like to put a plug in. We have over 100 volunteers for Woodbury days this year. It's outstanding. We haven't had that many in years. So, there's over 100 Woodbury residents stepped up to volunteer for us. >> Yeah. Just in case people at home, uh we've got over 100 volunt 100 plus volunteers, uh which is a unprecedented amount versus previous years. So, thank you Karen for mentioning that. >> That's awesome. And here's to good weather for the weekend for that. Yeah. Have fun everyone. Um okay, I think that wraps up our meeting. So, I make a motion that we adjourn. >> Second. >> Motion second. Any discussion hearing? None. All in favor? >> I We are adjourned.