City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. So, uh, good evening. Uh, my granddaughter Sawyer is, uh, I guess calling the meeting to order for the April 1st, 2026, uh, Cottage Grove City Council meeting. Uh, the first order of our business this evening is the pledge of allegiance. So, if you please rise. Yes. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Will the clerk please do the role? Council member Clawson here. Council member Olsen here. Council member Theiti here. Council member Garza here. Mayor Bailey

here. Uh, next item on our agenda is open forum. This is the opportunity for anybody who wants to speak on open forum is welcome to do so. Uh, we did have a signup sheet out in the entryway and we did have one gentleman uh who I know uh that signed up to speak. If you would just like to come up to the podium and state your name and address for the record and you have uh three minutes. Thank you. That's John Yang by the way. Vang Yang.

Yang. Okay. Thank you. I guess I didn't see the Y there. and welcome. All right. Well, um first of all, I want to say thank you for having me here today. Um I just wanted to um you know, come talk to you guys about our event that's coming up in May. um and kind of just seeing if there's any way that we can make more of a um formal partnership with Cottage Grove. Um and I got little, you know, something written here and so I guess I'll start off with this. You know, um you know, I want to first say thank you for the opportunity of speaking on behalf of One Family. Um, since 2019, we've partnered with Cottage Grove to create a weekend-long festival and series of youth and adult sports tournaments to bring families, athletes, entrepreneurs, and small businesses, uh, vendors together to Kingston Park and across the city. Uh, we began modestly as three sports, you know, we had flag football, volleyball, and, uh, soccer. And we only had two food trucks in 2019. Now it has grown into a thriving inclusive community tradition in which today now we have six sports. We have flag football, volleyball, pickle ball, basketball, soccer and cornhole. Uh we have over 230 teams competing across all those sports. Uh we also have a youth jamberee uh which draw that right now draws in about 400 um little kids uh that comes out there and plays soccer with us. We have 26 food vendors and more than 30 merchandise vendors. Uh right now we are for our third year now we've been implementing a we're growing a youth entrepreneurship program um in which we provide grants for the youth that you know it's not a huge grant you

know but then it's it's something just to get them on their way you know just to get provide them a little motivation to continue on with their business. Uh we do also have out of state and statewide participants. We have teams traveling as far as um Kansas City that comes out to Cottage Grove and uh all of our local participants, you know, they they come from all over the Twin Cities. Now, this event is is free and intentionally inclusive. Uh we don't charge a mission because our mission is to build community bonding. Um to provide a safe, affordable recreation for our youth and families, to give young entrepreneurs a program, a platform, and create accessible economic opportunities for local vendors. We fill Kingston Park all day, all weekend with activities, volunteers, visitors who patronize uh local shops and restaurants, increasing economic activities across the city. So what we're looking for is more of a formal partnership with city of cottage grove you know um you know where we can create what matters you know community impact economic value operational scales um you know we requesting for partnership and relief so we can sustain what we're doing you know um we we are a nonprofit uh 501c3 and so I mean I know that there's grants out there, too. But, you know, as we know what's going on right now, it's it's a lot harder to get these grants, you know, and we're trying to find some way to sustain what we what we do and what we bring here to the uh city of Cottage Grove, you know. Um you know specific areas of partnership that you know would make a immediate and measurable uh difference would be you know from uh waving fees, reduction of

park reservations, um in kind support with like city equipment, dumping fees, um portable bathrooms. Um we also another thing would be marketing and communication support um or even partnership in our youth program. Uh something like that that would definitely help us out tremendously and you know with these purpose with the um the bis the benefits of it you know continue free programming to enhance the quality of life with the the residents. Uh measured economic activities captured by local business and vendors. positive media and reputation and expand our youth development opportunities and entrepreneurship pipeline tied to local work and economic goals. And so, uh, with that being said, you know, we do want to go ahead and give a special thank you to Jim Jordan, Noah, um, from the parks and recck department. Um, they work very digitly with us. You know, the, um, Cottage Grove Police Department, you know, thank you for for always being out there with us and keeping us safe. And um you know we've 7 years not a problem and that speaks tons tons when you look at um you know some festivals that are at this size and you know it's rare to me I feel like it's rare to have something like that where um we have the police presence there and they help make our environment as safe as possible and I really appreciate that um in closing, you know, one family is committed to working closely with uh the city staff to build an efficient accountable partnership. Um you know we can we propose forming like a small working group uh where uh to identify costs finalize finalize

which fees and or supports are more impactful and produce a memorandum of understanding for the 2026 season. Um now we can provide detailed budgets, event schedules, vendors and team counts, insurance certificates, and travel safety plans immediately on request. Um you know, we ask for the city to stand with us in keeping this event free and accessible when sharing operational loads so college can continue to reap the social and economic benefit. Uh we're proud to call Cottage Grove our home and look forward to growing this tradition together. So, thank you for your time.

Thank you. Uh, John, could you do me a favor? I didn't ask you to uh state your address, please, for the record. So, then we can obviously get in contact with you. Yes. Yes. Um, John Yang and my address is 2626 Roof Street. Uh, that is actually in uh St. Paul, Minnesota 55117. Thank you. And I know I owe you a call. Yes. Thanks for coming by. Thank you. No, not a problem. Thank you. Good. All right. No one else did sign up out there just to be safe. Was there anybody else that wanted to speak on open forum that did not sign up? Right. Hit the g. So seeing none, we'll go ahead and close open forum and then we'll move to number five which is adoption of the agenda. Move the agenda.

Motion by council member Olsen, second by council member Theiti. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh next is presentations. We have two this evening. Um, one is the uh A is World Autism Month Proclamation. And uh, Council Member Olsson, you're going to read that and make the motion after.

Thank you, Mayor. It's my honor and privilege to read the proclamation declaring April 2026 World Autism Month. The proclamation reads as follows. Whereas the city of Cottage Grove recognizes the importance of fostering a community that embraces diversity, inclusion, and understanding. And whereas World Autism Month begins with World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd and provides an opportunity to raise awareness about autism or autism spectrum disorders known as ASD, celebrate the unique contributions of individuals on the autism spectrum and promote acceptance. And whereas the city of Cottage Grove acknowledges the need to support, empower, and uplift people with ASD, their families, their caregivers. And whereas World Autism Month provides an opportunity to celebrate the unique contributions of individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. And whereas the city of Cottage Grove commits to creating an environment where everyone regardless of neurodeiversity feels valued, respected, and included. And whereas we celebrate the strengths, talents, and perspectives of autistic individuals which enrich our community and contribute to its vibrancy. Now therefore, the mayor and city council of the city of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, state of Minnesota, hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 to be designated as World Autism Month passed this Wednesday, the first day of April 2026. and mayor, on behalf of uh myself and uh my son who has autism and our family, uh I appreciate the opportunity to read this proclamation and I will move that we declare April 2026 World Autism Month in the city of Cottage Grove.

Thank you, Council Member Olsen, for reading and making the motion. Do I have a second? Second. Second by council member Thei. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. And then the second proclamation this month is National Volunteer Month and I've asked uh Council Member Clawson to read that and then also make the motion.

Thank you, mayor. Uh this is a proclamation for April 2026 of uh to be National Volunteer Month. It reads as follows. Whereas the contributions of volunteers in Rich Cottage Grove and the lives of our fellow community members and whereas volunteers play an essential role in our community dedicating their time, talents, and passion to make a positive impact. And whereas their commitment to service inspires us all to create a better, more connected and vibrant city. And whereas National Volunteer Month provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the invaluable contributions of volunteers. And whereas these dedicated individuals enhance the quality of life for our residents by fostering community connections and promoting civic engagement. And whereas we recognize that even small acts of kindness can have a profound impact on our community's well-being and future generations. And whereas during National Volunteer Month, we honor those who generously give their time, talents, and passion to make a difference. And whereas we extend our deepest appreciation to all volunteers who contribute to the well-being of our city and its residents. Now therefore, the mayor and city council of the city of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, state of Minnesota, hereby proclaim the month of April 26 to be designated as National Volunteer Month. And mayor, I would move that we dedicate or proclaim April 26.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So, thank you. You made the motion and thank you for reading. Council member Clawson, I think I heard Council Member Garza made the second. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. All right. Now, we'll move to consent agenda. By chance, is there anything council wanted to pull on consent? Nothing. Consent. All right. So, we got a motion uh to approve consent by council member Olsson. Do I have a second? Second by council member Theiti. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. So, if anybody is watching or here for anything on tonight's consent agenda, they have all been approved. Uh number eight is approve dispersement. 8A is to pay the bills.

Move to pay the bills. We have a motion by council member Garza. Oh, second. Second by council member Clawson. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Moving right along. Are you ready for that, Pete? Uh nine is public hearings. We have none this evening. Uh we do have one item on 10 uh bid award which is the 80th Street East Point Douglas and Highway I'll say Highway 61 80th Street interchange rehabilitation project bid award and our city engineer Paul Spanholtz. Did I say that right? You did. Yes. Wow. There we go. Um is going to walk us through this one.

Very good. Thank you, mayor, members of council here. As you know, for a long time we've been working on the plans for this project here um on 80th Street and East Point Douglas Road. Uh Mindot is uh incorporating a part of their project uh the 60 highway 61 interchange project as part of this project as well. Um finally we're here ready to get the project bid. Um the project on 80th Street stretching from Hadley to Ideal and on East Point Douglas starting from the frontage road and going up to 80th Street. Um along with several other uh earlier public meetings, we held an open house last night to provide information on staging plans and the construction plans. We'll continue a robust communication effort and the uh throughout the project, make sure the public and the all the businesses along this project are uh informed of what's going on. I got a website uh our ad streetcg.com is a good website for more information and I encourage people to go to that site. You can sign up for email updates uh as the project's gone. Once we obtain all the approvals for awarding this contract, the construction is likely to begin uh at the end of April, looking about April 20th, weather permitting and so forth. And then we hope to have everything wrapped up by November. So, city council approved plans and specs and authorized bidding back in January. We advertised for bids in February and then open bids March 17th. Uh three bids were received as shown. uh park construction is the apparent low bidder at $13.1 million just at 2.3% under the our engineers estimate which was about 13.4. Park Construction is a responsible contractor by state statute. I'm not aware of them doing any previous work here for the city but they have done uh many similar projects uh for our neighboring cities uh counties and uh MDOT projects. This project is uh shared by the three

entities here. City of Cottage Grove. Uh the low bid is going to be about $8.8 million. MDOT's portions come to about 3.7 and Washington counties participating about three about 500,000. We do have concurrence from Mindot and the county to proceed with a low bidder if that is the council's choice. As this is a federal project, there are several steps for us to go through before we can award it. Uh we're still waiting on Mindot Office of Civil Rights to review the contractor's documents. Um they have specific requirements to meet uh disadvantaged business enterprise uh on the job training and workforce goals. So once we get that uh OCR approval, then we can certainly move forward. We expect that within the next couple weeks. Since we don't have that approval quite yet, we're asking the council to delegate uh um or authorize the city administrator to award the project once we receive uh those final approvals. So with that, this is our recommendation. Uh I can answer any questions.

All right. Thank you. Uh any questions by council on this one?

I know we've seen this and worked through it for quite a while. So thank you for doing the recap. Uh so with that I'll you can see on the screen I'll need a motion and a second from a council member. May I'll move to adopt resolution 2026-059 authorizing the city administrator to award the contract for the 80th Street Highway 61 to Ideal Avenue uh East Point Douglas Road from 80th Street to the T intersection and excuse me Highway 61 80th Street interchange rehabilitation project to Park Construction Company for a project cost of 13,125,468 and the allimportant 18 upon MDOT Office of Civil Rights Approval. All right. So, we have a motion by Council Member Olsen. Do I have a second?

I will second that. Second by Council Member Clawson. Any other discussions on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Thank you, Paul.

Uh 11 is regular agenda. There is no items uh for regular agenda this evening. And so, now we're down to council comments and requests. And I would just uh share with you for those that are at home, they may not be able to see at the moment, but our room is pretty full, including the hallway out in the entryway uh because tonight is a very special night. Uh it's a special night for our council, um a special night for our city, um and um for a particular individual uh who many of us have known for a very long time. And I would just say uh and what we might people may not know because this kind of I'll say technically came out of uh left field if you will but uh our director of public safety Pete Pete Kerner is going to be uh retiring. Uh he's taking a medical uh because he's got some health issues that he needs to work on and Lord knows all of us up here. I sure every citizen I've seen some posts out on social media um 100% support everything that you've done for the community uh and they also support for your healing uh and getting better and and enjoying uh retirement officially. Um you and I have had a lot of opportunity together uh over the years and it's been an absolute pleasure to work with you uh be a friend uh like a friend to me along with your family uh and your your well I guess it would be your father-in-law Kevin in the room here. Um and it's been amazing to see uh what you've done over the years uh in our community. So, for the public, um, before we kind of go through a council comment piece of this, um, I'm going to invite, uh, anybody that would like to speak, uh, or comment about, uh, Pete's, uh, pending, uh, retirement. And I think what I'll do, because I do know we have one particular person, I'll just I'm just going to start with only because I got to get it

out of the way. I'm going to start with our county commissioner, Carla Bingham. And I believe uh Sheriff Star is also going to be there. Well, I was going to actually tell some golf stories um about the numerous times that I actually out drove Pete. All right, Pete. Pete, she told me I told you I was quick. It wasn't immediate. She told me in the back she's like I said you're going to cry. She said, "No, I don't think I am tonight." Pete gave you 30 seconds. Is it my speech or Thank you.

Um so, uh the the golf is he's an amazing golfer and so much fun so many fun stories. Um and I do know uh the object of the game is to get it in the hole, but uh sometimes it doesn't work for me. So, I appreciate um appreciate your mentorship on golfing as well. Um but congratulations and thank you for such an incredible career and um it's been filled with innovation and modern like modernization not only for the department for the community but actually for the profession. And whether it was working with me as a brand new 25-year-old city council member, possibly trying to convince somebody who else was on the council, but might be mayor, to reconstitute the K-9 unit and bring Blitz here. And um that was no small feat and we made a great partnership on that. Um, also, um, working with myself and officer Vandervort on SISM policy that went through the state and working with myself and Representative Jurgens um, on of course the hero center. All of those have had such a positive impact on our community and the profession and you know that's all a couple townies you know want uh to improve the community that they've lived here their whole life. So it's a pretty neat thing you got to do there. Um but I have a certificate that says thank you and congratulations too. Um, and lastly, I just want to thank because as a daughter and sister of firefighters, I know the family

uh makes a lot of sacrifices. And so I want to thank Kristen and Alec and your extended family for sharing Pete with us and the incredible friendship uh that has grown after a few decades of uh couple decades. Sorry, that PhD map just came out. A couple decades of uh of friendship. So, thank you. Thank you.

We didn't have to interpret you did really well. Thank you.

Uh Mr. Mayor and uh council members, I'm Dan Stary, Washington County Sheriff, and glad that I'm back again. Um it seems like uh I was just here in 2018 and uh Chief uh then Woolery was retiring and you were just coming on. Um I have known Pete uh uh for a long time. uh whether it was uh out on SWAT and you were my assistant team lead for negotiations or whether it's uh peer-to-peer as a director and the sheriff. Um you have always been there, you've always been there for the county. Um one of the things I think that we all uh we all know about Pete is um I don't know if there's anyone that doesn't like you. I can't find one. And I will say that uh in knowing him, in knowing uh in having this friendship uh that we've had for all this time, um the the servant's heart that he has uh is uh one that uh is is hard to find. He is compassionate. He cares. He does things for the right reason. He has never asked on the other side for anything in return. And that is a true servant and a heart of a servant. Um, this is tough for me as well. I'm not going to cry. I'll cry later. Um, but Pete, from from me to you and on behalf of the citizens of Washington County, uh, thank you for all that you have done for not only the community of Cottage

Grove, but also for Washington County. And I'd like to read the plaque if I if I may.

Absolutely. Uh this is to public safety director Pete Kerner in honor and recognition of 34 years of public service serving the citizens of Cottage Grove in Washington County. We are grateful for your nine years of leadership and dedicated service on the Washington County SWAT team and your eight years nine as chief. We recognize your vision for collaboration and partnership that has created lifelong relationships with all law enforcement agencies within Washington County. And I would like to uh call up Chief Mueller uh as well to go along with this. So Pete, congratulations. Thanks.

Thank you. collecting items.

Thank you, Mr. May Council. My name is Brian Mueller. I'm the chief of police in the city of Stillwater. I'm here on behalf though of the women and men that serve as chiefs of police and have served as chiefs of police in the in Washington County. Um I also was here with the sheriff back in 2018 and so I've seen two of my colleagues and two of my mentors um actually retire from this department and so uh that's been really tough. I see Chief Wery back here. Um, and now I'm looking at Chief Kerner and he's absolutely been a mentor. And so it's no it's no secret that we're this county is different than the counties to the west of us and we actually get along and it's because people like Chief Kerner who develops relationships and builds collaboration and his humor and his willingness to work with all of us um creates something different in Washington County creates something that we want to absolutely be a part of. I also have some stories about SWAT like the sheriff, but those I have to keep to myself because there's too many eyes and this is a public meeting. But serving with Pete on that team, like I said, he's been a mentor and um really a leader amongst all the chiefs here. Almost every chief in Washington County currently serving is here right now. And that's just a testament to the work that you've done, the relationships you've built, and the friendships that you've had over the years. So, if you'll indulge me, I'd like to read this as well. Um my gray hair and my eyes though a little bit different than the sheriff. This is honoring Chief of Police Pete Kerner Kajill Police Department. We value your eight years of outstanding service, dedication, and leadership as a member of the Washington County Chiefs of Police Association. You have had a direct impact on the excellent reputation of law enforcement and all of Washington County. For a career dedicated to fairness and humanity, we salute you for your pursuit of excellence. Thank you for going above and beyond for the citizens of Washington County. We wish you all the best for continued success and most importantly we wish you peace and relaxation in retirement.

Absolutely. Congratulations.

All right. I believe the public safety board would like to say a few words.

For those of you that don't know, my name is Cindy Bailey and I am the president of the Cottage Go public safety board. Um, I would like to say as on behalf of the Cottage Grove public safety board, we would like to thank you, Pete, for all of your support that you have given this board. We look forward to working with the next director of public safety safety and we wish you all the best in whatever the future holds for you. Thank you for just supporting us. We appreciate it. All right. before I bring the council down in front uh for them to say anything and then we'll bring Pete up here. Is there any other individuals that like to speak this evening? I will I will mention um if it's okay with all of the officers that are out in the entryway. I think it would be uh fantastic if you would be able to come up and come behind the council deas. The council will come down in front and we'll bring Pete up because I think would be kind of nice to see the support that you've had over the years. So council, why don't you join me down in the front? You can go or you can stay here. It's your choice.

Our rates All right, Pete, come on up. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to just check from a council's perspective who if there's a council members that like to speak and then I'll finish and we'll turn it over to Pete. Um, Council Clson, would you like to speak? Sure. Couple short. I won't be very long here. Um, Pete, well, we started on the street in 1995 together and I made it through 26 of the years. Uh, you as your subordinate. Uh, thanks. And of course we had a lot of a lot of fun over the years and again much of it will be be nameless uh from here but uh thanks so much for being such a great friend and um and your leadership here at the police department. Thanks a lot.

Council member, do you want to tell them what gift you gave him earlier today? Well, sure. Well, you know, and and probably of the the folks up here, maybe except for you, I've probably known Pete the least amount of time. Uh but uh you know, just in that time, uh you've uh done a fantastic job. You and and you you almost are as good at dad jokes as as I am. But uh you'll have time.

But uh yeah, so now the fact that you're you're going to have more time maybe to golf and things like that, you know, I actually did find uh you know, probably, you know, about a dozen of the the best experienced golf balls that I had. So, you know, and and the fact is is they they'll still fly. So, you know, why throw them away if they still got some some, you know, flight in them, you know, and things like that. So, uh, so hopefully we can, uh, maybe even go out together and and use some of the I got a bunch more experienced gallop poles in case you lose any of those. So, congratulations. Good luck.

All right. And, uh, by the way, for those that may not know, our guru of making sure we get every ounce of everything out of our city. That's basically, just so you know, that's what Dave gave him is a bunch of basically a dozen, nine golf balls that have been used before. Yeah, the golfer's dozen with three good real good balls. So, yeah, we'll we'll we'll leave it at that. But that if anybody knows Dave, that was perfect for Dave. So, Mon'nique,

and I'm sure you saved that saved us quite a bit of money in the city by recycling those golf balls. So, I appreciate that. I appreciate that. So, I just want to say thank you. You've like just embraced me and and was have been so awesome to me. You've always looked out for me. You send text messages, keep me updated. You've just been really amazing friend and it's been really a good transition to be a city council member and just to be accepted so much by you and with all of this the support of everybody else. So, thank you so much and I'll be seeing you out there on the golf course because I'm getting my game up. I believe that, too. All right. Uh, Council Member Olsson. Thank you.

I could be here a long time, but Brad and I have a bet, so I have to be brief. 34 years of dedicated service to this community. Your mom and dad, I'm sure, are very proud of you. Your dad looking down tonight. Um, Wayne and Peggy. Um, former council member Kevin Ron. Your father-in-law. Bev again looking down from heaven and of course your amazing family uh Alec, Kayla and Kristen. We thank all of them for sharing you with us. You have been an integral part of this community for a very long time and you will continue to be in your retirement. I for one am grateful that you can now serve drinks at the Strawberry Fest with the Lions Club. That'll be great because we always could use the help. And I think it's important for people to know Pete's not just a public servant with regard to his role in the public safety department, but he also has uh been a selfless advocate for uh food insecurity as part of the friends in need food shelf board. He works on the holiday train every year. He's a board member for the YSB youth service bureau and he's also a uh valued member of the Cottage Grove Lions Club. And now that he's going to be retired, we expect him to be at every meeting, not just once in a blue moon. But this man is a giver at his heart, and that's not going to end. Uh, as he said in his um very well-ritten note to the team, you know, this isn't goodbye. This is I'll see you around. But what a testament to your character and the respect that you have amongst your peer group, amongst your subordinates and amongst uh everyone else in this community. I see Representative Johnson's here to honor you. I see Senator Seabberers here to honor you. I see so many of your uh counterparts,

your chiefs of police and Sheriff Star here to honor you. And uh that to me speaks volumes, more than any words could ever say. So hopefully I don't owe Brad five bucks yet, but what I will say is this, Pete. We're so grateful for everything you've done and we appreciate the way that you've helped this department evolve over time. I know you took on a big project after Willery left. That was a lot to do. Uh you came in during a time when we transitioned into a global pandemic for God's sake, and you helped us navigate our way through. So, thank you for everything you've done and for everything that I know you will continue to do for this city.

Thank you, Council Member Rosen. So, to kind of I guess wrap it up, I mean, we get, matter of fact, Pete and I went out and had dinner on on uh Monday evening and got to talk about maybe some of the things that uh maybe us even would and our spouses might want to go do in the in the future, which is really what this is all about. It's about family. Uh it you got a family behind you obviously uh your public safety family. You got your family sitting in front of you. Uh that everybody here cares about you and we want you to uh get that issue resolved and get better soon. Um I will mention from a public standpoint that there is going to be a celebration uh uh for all of the years that you've had here in May. More to come on that. Uh, and I also can throw in, he mentioned, uh, the YSB because you already know this. We're we're trying to keep it secret, uh, but, uh, Pete is going to be honored at the Youth Service Bureau gala uh, in about two weeks, I believe. Three weeks. And, um, he is being awarded and what's the exact ward?

Service. Youth Youth. Go ahead.

Youth service. Yeah, it's called the youth service award. For all the years that he has done things and worked with the youth service bureau before I was involved with it, before our city administrator was involved with it, Pete was an integral part of helping uh get youth um the the resources that they needed. So, it didn't they didn't have to spend time going into jails and such as they got older. The other thing I wanted to mention is when you talk to anybody, with all due respect to our other chiefs in the room, everybody I talk to talks about how special Cottage Grove is. Um, when there was comments about uh use of force training after the unfortunate George Floyd situation, we were already doing it. It was already being done. We worked with the city of Woodbury to build a hero center in our store which started with with Craig and and the team there and worked its way through and we have some of the state-of-the-art uh programming over there and whatever's new social embedded social workers working with the county. Uh Pete was coming to me going, I think this is a really good idea. I think we need to do this. The therapy dog, all of the, you know, getting additional canines. Um, and of course I trust him and so and I know our council trusts him. And the point behind that is we knew if you're requesting it, it was going to be a benefit to our community. And so what I want to do before I hand it over to you, hopefully you can do that, okay? Is thank you. Thank you from me. Thank you from everybody that you're seeing here and the ones watching at home. Um, again, sometimes this feels like it's goodbye, but it's not. I told he already told me that he though he did tell me now. We'll see if this holds though. He said he's not running for council.

Kevin, I don't know. I've heard that before.

Uhhuh. Uh-huh. So, but he might get on a board or something. Yeah. Maybe a commission or something. But I again just I'll just say for myself um specifically uh this may sound corny, but love you. Uh, we all love you and we want you to get better soon and thank you for all the years of service. Perfect. All right, bud. Honestly, I I didn't want any of this. I thought I was going to go off into the sunset. I had it all planned out that I wasn't going to come to the council meeting. Uh, Jennifer was being pretty persistent. Things were getting a little fishy the last few days that um I figured I I I should come. Um but words will never do this justice, you know, uh 1992 I walked through. I thought I was just, you know, I was this young and dumb kid. You know, now I'm in my 50s and I'm a old and dumb guy. You know, I I had red hair and I I don't want to name her, but you know, Greg Renzel had hair. I had red hair. So, I mean, we're two Armstrong kids, but um I didn't have anything prepared because I I just I usually wing things, but um I do have to thank the whole public safety team and the city hall staff. Um it's never been about just public safety, the police department. I've always just cared really about our department. So, um and all the mentors that I've had come before me, they they really blaze the trail ahead. So, um, the the way people talk, you'd think maybe next April you'll see me on the Masters. Uh, I'm not that good. U, but I have fun and, you know, so if people are ever looking to together, I'll certainly go golfing with you. But, you know, I I I appreciate what the mayor just said about, you know, the trust. I I think I've I've pushed the budget to the limit, you know, so with all due

respect, yes, we've always been really fortunate in the with um everything. I'm really proud of also my connections. I as the public safety director working with the fire department, too. When I first started as a cso, I'd go to station one and have a sandwich with the firefighters and they they kept like, "Get away, kid." You know, I'm like, "You know, someday I'm going to be your boss." You know, care what you guys say, but you know, really um I don't want to I can't name everyone. But it means a lot to me, too, to see the sheriff here and the the other chiefs, too. We It's been a heck of a ride. Um, you know, those last few weeks I watched the Hastings chief retire, Forest Lake, you know, so this was kind of their time and it just so happened with everything going on my life that I needed to make it my time, too. But with that, um, thank you. Good luck to all the officers behind me. It's a it's a heck of a career. Thank you. Especially a lot of you younger ones that put in for this career during civil unrest and COVID and everything we've been going through. Um, now you have all the you have computers and cameras and I didn't have any of that. So, um, but it's been a heck of a ride. Thank you. I'm not running off and we'll be around. So, but and I I do need to thank my family. So,

sitting right there. Yeah, it's kind of awkward. You know, I will remember our 29th wedding anniversary next week, too. But um yeah, the really the the sacrifices that my family have made is, you know, but with that I'm going to I'm going to end right now before I start crying. But thank you to everyone. pictures. And I would also say, why don't we get I know it's going to be large, but you'll have to figure this out. Let's get the sheriff and the uh chiefs up here with us, too. And

John, also fire and our electeds. Let's get you up here. We might as well. We're going to basically empty the audience, but that's okay. Yeah. Craigight. Craig, come on up. Cindy, you can come up, too. You're representing the safety board.

Squeeze it together. Fantastic. All right. Thank you. Thank you. One last round of applause, please.

You guys been good with the whole angle. I see. They've done this too many times. Thank you.

One more. I'll tell you. So you guys are headed

I said the one stop is nice cuz that for the birds I don't mind. Yeah. Thanks. But it's still nice and stuff. So that's nice. But that would be nice where you stand. I mean the lights. All right. So I guess I will ask is council uh any comments other than comments may any comments council comments at all? Good. Just just that uh there's 78 days till strawberry fest. Yes. Mark it on your calendar. There we go. Got it. Okay. And Mo, anything from you? No.

Okay. Sounds good. All right. Uh next on our uh agenda is a workshop open to the public. We do not have one this evening. Uh but we do have a workshop uh closed to the public and it's uh labeled as performance evaluation for Jennifer Levit, our city administrator. And I will just mention in the open meeting here that uh the meeting will be closed uh pursuant to Minnesota statute 13D.05 subsection 3A to conduct a performance evaluation of our city administrator Jennifer Levit. So, uh, the council will be actually, uh, leaving in here, going into the, uh, the meeting room, and then, uh, we'll end up adjourning the meeting in there. Uh, so with that, um, I will now, um, I will let our, I guess we will technically adjourn in here. So, I will let my, uh, granddaughter here, uh, Sawyer, uh, you can hit the gavl and say we're ajourned.

Hit her. Hit it loud hard. We're ajourned.