Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Read up on the screen so it works for a lot of people.

It was authentic.

Yes, it was. It was very good. Very good. Awesome. Yes. That's great.

You don't need this one.

I was told to stay in here and jibber-jabber, so I'm just going to keep doing that. That's right.

Can I bring you up there on the board?

I think, yeah. I think, yeah, there we are. Yes, it was.

We have our captions. Our conversation, and I'm not even lying.

Which is pretty impressive.

And our conversation was up on there.

That's kind of crazy. I wonder how much it picks up. I don't know, we've been doing a lot of testing on this stuff, so. Yeah, it'll be exciting to finally have the boardroom back today. I don't believe so. I think everything stayed the same height-wise. But I mean, this might be a little bit lower, so maybe that's why. But it does, it feels a little less formal, so it's like not as intended for people to come up and speak. Yeah, I agree. I agree.

You look good. Hey, thanks. You're a natural.

You might want to just stay there. I'm trying. I'll just stand here for the rest of the meeting. Sure. Why not? I'll keep the microphone warm for everyone.

That sounds really good. Yeah, it sounds very good.

Let's see.

Yeah, so this...

I had one the size of a football.

So it's a green light. And then. I missed that then. So it's very.

That's the thing I was waiting for. There we go. I'm going to call to order the county board meeting for July 7, 2026. And the first item we will do is rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, as you are able.

transfer the voice using the press box. Yes. Along with that, we have upgraded AV Control Room. We welcome you to view that. And I believe Sean will also be able to discuss and share that particular information about AV upgrades within the AV Control Room. Sean, would you like to introduce yourself? Yeah.

Madam Chair and Commissioners, I'm Sean Lesman, IT Desktop Supervisor. Yeah, a lot of the things Hamsa covered here are the more evident displays and things. We did upgrade the cameras as well with new high resolution cameras. The work being done in the back, though, modernizes a lot of the systems, bringing in teams. This is a team's meeting space. It also offers a lot more opportunities for the future for our public broadcast live stream. So those are a lot of the changes we made in the back. Do we have any other? Welcome you to take a look after the meeting.

Madam Chair, Commissioner, we'll be happy to take any questions if there's any. Otherwise, we'll request you guys, when you get a chance, to visibly walk through and let us know how the upgrade went for you all. Thank you.

Very good. Thank you. I do have questions from the board members.

I feel like I'm announcing a sporting event now. So Sean, I think, talked about, or both of you talked about the high resolution. Some of us look better in low resolution. My question is actually, if somebody is watching the streaming, they can, obviously we've got captioning here, they can get captioning at home.

Yeah, previously we had captioning as well, but we will continue having captioning with the new system. I will add that in.

And it appears that the captioning is almost, I'm reading what I'm saying as I'm saying it. Is it as instantaneous at home? Do you happen to know?

I haven't looked at the, I assume it would be coming up there quickly on the, the live stream actually takes place a couple moments after what's happening live, just for recording purposes.

Well, thank you very much for the work. It's particularly from an accessibility standpoint, it's very valuable. So appreciate it. Thank you.

Any other questions or comments from the board? Hearing none, we appreciate the work that's been done. Oh, I'm sorry, did I? Oh, Heidi.

Madam Chair, if you don't mind, this was such a big project. I would love to just have a little thank you, if you don't mind me just reading out the names of the staff that worked so hard on this. First of all, as you noted, Hans Akram was the project lead, and he really stayed on top of it. This is exactly the kind of project that I worry about. It goes over time, but I couldn't be more happy. And Nsema Eppi, David Milan, Sean Wassman, Mariah Holstrom, Devin Drufik. Did I say that right? I hope so. From IT. We also had our video production engineer who you've met before. Michelle Nielsen's been involved. Jenny Reynolds and Kaylee, she's hiding now back in that room where they used to be sitting over here. She can hear us. And from communications, Nick Peterson. And finally, facilities, Christina Lundgren. So we're just really pleased with this project. Thank you for the opportunity to thank that group.

Well, thank you all. Thanks for updating us and appreciate the project being done on time. It was hard to be out of the boardroom, but we took that step so that we could, as Commissioner Atkins noted, provide better accessibility to the public and and provide more reliable technology so that we as a board are always able to be accessible and transparent when we're having our meetings here in our boardrooms. So the new technology will allow us to do that in a reliable way. So thank you so much. Next up on our list we have Thayna Ross from the League of Women Voters who wishes to address the board. Welcome. You can state your name and you've got five minutes.

Thank you Madam Chair, Commissioners. I'm Thayna Ross and I'm one of the co-presidents of the League of Women Voters Dakota County. And I've observed, along with the League, the post-election review in Dakota County following both the 2022 and 2024 elections. Thank you for allowing me to present the League of Women Voters of Minnesota's report on the 2024 post-election review. Following the 2024 election, League of Women Voters Minnesota and our local chapters organized and trained 160 members and nonpartisan volunteers to observe PERs in counties throughout the state. These teams observed the PER in 43 of Minnesota's 87 counties in 2024. We hope to cover more counties in 2026. In Dakota County, we had eight trained volunteers observing the process right here in this room. I'm here today to affirm that Dakota County elections are verifiable and accurate, that the election certification process is transparent, and that it is well run by the dedicated election officials of Dakota County. Thank you very much to Michelle and her team. The post-election review is a key part of the election certification process in Minnesota, and it's conducted after every even-year election. So, yes, we will be back again this fall. During the PER, deputy election officials hand count the ballots from randomly selected precincts. Those hand counted results are compared to what the precinct machine reported. In Dakota County, five precincts were randomly chosen. We were there to observe that process as well. The post-election review is done by counting races specified by the state. In 2024, the audited races were the presidential race, as well as the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives races. When there are discrepancies between the hand counts and the machine count, those are reported and then investigated by a team of deputy election judges who come to a consensus regarding the voter's intent before the results can be certified. Then they are forwarded to the State Board of Canvassers. In total, there were nearly 7,000 Dakota County ballots hand-counted three times that day. Actually, more when you count how many times it's redone to get it right, find the right answer, you know, to find if you miscount in those 7,000 ballots. Discrepancies included cases where the voter wrote in a person's name, but didn't fill in the oval for the write-in line, or the voter circled the candidate's name instead of filling in the oval, or the voter changed their vote instead of asking for a new ballot. No more than two voter errors were identified in any race. That's less than three one-hundredths of 1% are well under the error allowed by state statutes and regulations. As humans, we do make errors, especially in complicated processes. So the system is designed with redundancies and with steps to cross-check and double-check the results. Post-election reviews and the laws governing the election certification process also help prevent potential voting errors in the future. In 2024, there were two counties, Scott and Sherbourne, where discrepancies were found. Those led to recounts and to legislative changes made in 2025 so that Minnesota can improved the process in terms of confidence in the certification of election results. What we saw in Dakota County was that the post-election review was conducted openly and fairly. Dakota County election officials demonstrated professionalism in how they carried out the job, from handling the ballots, which arrived in their sealed boxes, to how the Two or three hand counters sitting or standing side by side completed their counts without knowing what the end result is supposed to be and how the discrepancies which arose were resolved. The election officials were all professional, sought to help us understand what was happening throughout the day, We all walked away with a better understanding of the post-election review and election certification process. This experience goes a long way to build confidence in how our elections are conducted, not only for ourselves but also when we share the details with our friends, our local leagues, and our neighbors. to spread the trust we have in elections and how fairly and professionally they are conducted in Dakota County and throughout Minnesota. We hope that this report can dispel election misinformation and reinforce confidence for voters that Minnesota's elections are transparent and accurate. Thank you very much for your time and for all the great work you do for Dakota County.

Thank you so much for your report and the feedback and we did received some printed document excuse me some electronic documents that were shared with the board on July 7th and so we have a post election review report a press release that summarized the report and a handout summarizing the steps taken to ensure that every election in Minnesota is secure accurate and transparent. So we appreciate that report and the time you took to review our elections as members of the public. Next on the agenda, we are looking for an approval of the agenda members. Is there any changes or is there a motion to approve?

So moved, Madam Chair.

We have a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

We have a motion and a second. We can take a vote.

Commissioner Holberg. I'd like to amend the agenda, so I guess I'd have to. amend the motion to remove item 9.10. This is a substantial change in budget. There are a number of questions that I wasn't able to get answered this morning. Director Fischer has stated that we could put it on the PDC agenda for next week and bring it back to the board for approval in two weeks.

So Commissioner Holberg is recommending the removal on the consent agenda, item 5. The seconder is fine with that.

9.10.

item 5 on the agenda and item 9.10 on the consent agenda so we are looking to amend the motion to approve the agenda to amend the consent agenda I just want to be sure we're doing this in the right spot Madam Chair I am happy to amend my motion and to

eliminate or to accept the amendment that, well, I could do that or I could just redo mine. I could take mine away and give you a new amendment. And that would be that we would approve the agenda item on 9.10 on the agenda. Okay.

Secondary's fine with it.

Thank you. So we have an amended motion, and the seconder approves that. Any discussion to that motion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, no? Thank you. We can move on to the consent agenda. As amended, is there additional changes or comments on the consent agenda or a motion to approve?

So moved.

As amended. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Second. We will take a roll call on this motion.

Jenny? Commissioner Workman? Yes. Commissioner Atkins? Yes. Commissioner Holberg? Yes. Commissioner Halverson? Yes. Commissioner Droste? Yes. Commissioner Heyman-Roland?

Yes, except 9.2.

Commissioner Slavitt?

Yes.

That motion prevails.

And we can move to our regular agenda. First up, we have Central Operations Administration scheduling of a public hearing for the issuance of revenue obligations by the city of Lillydale to finance a project with 360's community. Welcome, Mr. McKnight.

Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners. David McKnight, Deputy County Manager. Before I get started on my item, I needed to thank all the staff involved in the technology project in the boardroom. They failed to mention what I think is the biggest highlight of the project. Only the 11 of you can see it. If you look down at your feet, you don't see any wires back there behind your eyes anymore. So that was a weird highlight for me, but I was happy that they were able to make that happen. Madam Chair and commissioners, I'm here today to request that you schedule a public hearing on the issuance of revenue obligations by the city of Lillydale to finance a project by 360 communities. You are all well aware of what 360 Communities does. They're a nonprofit organization serving Dakota County that provides safety, crisis support, and stability to over 26,000 individuals each year. They focus on three core pillars, violence prevention, school success, and community resources like food shelves and housing aid. And you all know they are based out of Burnsville here in Dakota County. 360 Communities is planning a new Lewis House project. This is a 50-bed apartment-style domestic violence shelter with construction scheduled to begin this fall and be completed in 2027 at an estimated cost of $14 million. One of the ways they'll finance this is through tax-exempt financing, and IRS rules require that 501c3 organizations using this type of funding must be approved by the host, which is the location of where the project is housed. And in this case, it would be either Dakota County or the City of Eagan, and they have requested that Dakota County serve as the host. And the City of Lillydale will issue the bonds for the project. As a county, we will not incur any costs for serving in this role. We're not responsible for paying back any of the bonds. Our role is administrative, the work that falls onto me and then some support staff, so our role is pretty minimal. You did do a similar project in Farmington in 2024 where you served as the host for the St. Francis Health Care and Senior Living Facility. This is the first of two times you'll see me in this issue today. We'll set the public hearing today and then hold the public hearing on August 4th. At that meeting, we'll have representatives from 360 communities and their bond council to talk about the project and the funding. They'll provide a project update, like I said, talk about the funding a little bit more, and answer any questions that you might have. So at this point, Madam Chair, after you have a chance to ask any questions, staff recommends that a motion be made to set a public hearing for Tuesday, August 4th, 2026 at 9 a.m. at the Dakota County Administration Center for the purpose of serving as the host for the 360 Communities Lewis House Project as required by Internal Revenue Service Rules. And with that, Madam Chair, I take any questions.

Thank you, sir. That would be the hiccup I had warned you about. Are there any questions from the members of the board? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the resolution?

So moved, Madam Chair.

And a second.

Madam Chair, I'll second.

Very good. We have a motion and a second. We can take a roll.

Commissioner Atkins? Yes. Commissioner Holberg? Yes. Commissioner Halverson? Yes. Commissioner Droste? Yes. Commissioner Heyman-Roland? Yes. Commissioner Slavik? Yes. Commissioner Workman? Yes.

Thank you, and that motion prevails. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have the opportunity for a closed executive session to discuss the legal strategies for acquisition of property interests from Felton, Nora L. Felton, Felton Family Farms, LLP in Randolph Township. for project 8824 we would need a motion to go into closed session if we do go into closed session as recommended we will complete the public portion of this agenda which would be reports from the members of the board and then go into our closed session we will adjourn the board meeting after we reopen closed session in room 3A. And then we can go into GGP after that, general government and policy. Sorry, I was using acronyms. So with that, is there a desire by members of the board to go into closed session for this purpose? Commissioner Selleck.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe the staff county attorney recommendation is to go into closed session, so I will move the resolution.

Very good. We have a motion. Second? Second. There's a second. Is there any discussion of the motion? Hearing none, we can take the roll on that motion.

Commissioner Holberg? Yes. Commissioner Halverson? Yes. Commissioner Droste? Yes. Commissioner Heyman-Roland? Yes. Commissioner Slavik? Yes. Commissioner Workman? Yes. Commissioner Atkins?

Yes.

And that motion prevails. We will go into closed session. First up, we will go through our interagency reports and then hear from our county manager. First up, the Association of Minnesota Counties, Commissioner Hayman-Rowlands.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On June 29th, Commissioner Slavik and I had our AMC board meeting. There will be a 3% dues increase in 27, and we'll see the numbers for our county in December. um strategic planning will occur this next for this next year and it will take place on august 20th and 21st in otter tail county our snap impacts the snap error rate in 2025 is is the amc is creating an advocacy toolkit and a media outreach, and we'll be doing advocacy for the next two months to assure that we make sure that our counties are protected. Anoka County is creating a new statewide video on how property taxes work, and it will be available before our Truth in Taxation meeting, so we'll have that. And AMC plans to host candidates a candidate forum focusing questions on county priorities, which I think is a really smart idea.

With the governors. With the governors.

And Commissioner Slavik, is there anything else that you would like to add? No, I'm good.

OK. Thank you. Very good. Anything else on the Association of Minnesota Counties? Hearing none, Metropolitan Emergency Services Board.

Needs tomorrow.

Very good. Minnesota Inter-County Association, MICA, we do not meet in July. So we received a written update. And we will be reconvening in August. Metropolitan Mosquito Control District Commission, Commissioner Workman.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good news, the mosquito that carries West Nile is down. Not that I don't speak Latin, so I don't know how to say it. But we had an executive meeting on June 24, and we were going through a list of items. And one of them is the fact that this organization that is 68 years old didn't have its own retention policy. So I'm thinking, OK, it's 68 years worth of paperwork in a metal credenza somewhere that they've been. So we're creating a policy, OK, on retention. So I just have this visual of a room with 68 years worth of paperwork in it. And it's like, well, you're going to have a space. Anyway, that was a big thing there and the next Commission meeting is the 22nd Very good.

Thank you so much National Association of counties any updates there madam.

Mr. Heyman Roland Thank You madam chair given that our public health and libraries run very lean and our efficient departments are This award, which will be coming in the next month and you will receive, is the NACO awarded Dakota County Libraries as Community Health Hubs best in achievement awards. So there are achievement awards and there are best in achievement awards. Those are the top tier. We will be receiving that. And we just want to say thank you to our Dakota County libraries as well as our public health department. And since we are also the public health board, it is important to acknowledge that. Thank you.

Thank you. Transportation Advisory Board, Commissioner Holberg.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I've already reported on the June meeting. The deadline for the regional solicitation was last week in June. So all the applications are in. They'll begin scoring them. And the meeting for July has been canceled, so I won't have a report for a while.

Very good. Vermilion River Watershed Joint Powers Board. Commissioner Slavik.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Vermilion River Watershed Joint Powers Board did meet on June 25th for our meeting. A couple just items that were a little out of the ordinary. We did go and approve a... stewardship grant program guidelines we had done this in the past it's part of the ten-year watershed plan but it's some cost shares with some nonprofit organizations and cities to be able to do and enhance parts of the watershed that that fit the plan it's a very small micro grants and we've kind of cleaned up the guidelines and we're issuing that as well as just some kind of standard business operations

Thank you so much for that update. Workforce Development Board.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just wanted to report out that Jennifer Harmoning was indeed elected the chair of the Dakota Scott Workforce Development Board, and she comes to us from Burnsville. She is the Chamber of Commerce. Yes, I see the thumbs up over from Commissioner Workman. She's really terrific. She's a wonderful leader. Kyle Chester is going to be recommended as a new member on the Workforce Development Board. Mr. Chester is a business associate executive for the Dakota Electric Association, and he represents the private sector. Hannah Axtman also will be recommended as a new member on our workforce. She is the director of operations for TA Dedicated. She would represent the public labor sector. And both of them will be recommended to our Dakota County Board for approval. And then last, but certainly not least, longtime Dakota Scott Workforce Development Board, Mark Jacobs, will be retiring September 18. I'm actually keeping him longer. September 18. So he shared that with all of the board members this last week. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Well, that is certainly the end of an era. It is. You'll be missed. Very good. Other updates, Commissioner Atkins?

I have one on behalf of Commissioner Workman and myself, and that is you'll recall in the past when Dakota County has had medal-winning Olympians, we've recognized them here, Suni Lee, who's a South St. Paul High School graduate and others, and Commissioner Workman and I were putting our heads together. I was aware of one. Special Olympian, you know obviously the Special Olympics USA took place here last week and and Liz Noted we actually had two both of them are from West Saint Paul, which is why she's letting me talk So I was aware of Jesus Ortega Who he took the bronze in 1500 and then he took gold as part of the 4x4 4x400 track team And then she notified me about Demetri Johnson. Demetri just killed it. Four gold medals in powerlifting. And so I think that might literally be every event in powerlifting. And so I just wanted to make sure that we recognized Demetri and Jesus. And then, of course, all of the nice folks, all the athletes, the families, the coaches, the sponsors. My wife and her sister went to the event, and they just were so wonderful. So moved by it it was it was pretty amazing and the cool thing like I was telling telling Liz is that it doesn't matter Whether you're finishing first or eighth or 64th. The crowd is going wild and it's just a phenomenal event So congratulations to everybody and thank you for all those who make it possible Thank you so much a great update anything else Commissioner Slavik

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just I'm not sure if you got the invitation. Otherwise, I can forward it to all of you. The Cannon River Watershed does a biannual watershed tour. This year, it's in LeSueur County to go in as part of the start of the Cannon River. And the impacts certainly flow through Dakota County. On August 5, RSVP by July 26, if you are interested in going and doing a watershed tour, which they do every other year, that is August 5 is the date. But if you have not received an email on this, I will forward it to you. later today. Very good. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Anything else? Quickly, members, I just wanted to make note as part of our Dakota County by the Numbers conversation, give you all an update quickly on our numbers on recycling. Dakota County and all counties have a responsibility, as deemed by the state, to keep waste out of our waste streams. It's especially important for our Dakota County residents because we host landfills in Dakota County. And keeping our landfills from growing is an important piece of our stewardship, and it requires all of us to be part of that process. So Dakota County Board just broke ground on the facility in Lakeville, the new recycling zone. And it's a partnership with Scott County we're extremely excited about so that we will be able to continue that stewardship on recycling. But it's also a good time for us to make note of the ways and the numbers that we're seeing with regard to keeping waste out of our waste stream. And so these numbers from just from the last year, more than... 68,000 vehicles pass through the current recycling zone in Egan. Those are our neighbors who are getting rid of hazardous waste or things that can be recycled or things that can be reused.

68,000. I love that.

More than 4 million pounds of materials were dropped off at that one recycling zone locations. And residents picked up 394,753 pounds of materials at the reuse zone. Reusing paints, household chemicals, and other items saved the county nearly $250,000 in disposal fees. And if you're looking for recycling information, go to our website at dakotacountymn.gov, and you can search recycling guide. We also get that mailed to us annually, and it's always hanging up inside the cabinet in my kitchen. I really appreciate the good information we get. But those are all of us participating in keeping waste out of the waste stream is going to make a big difference for Dakota County and our neighbors. So thank you for everybody who participates and for the employees who make this happen. I turned off my mic. We're going to go to the county manager for the county manager's report. Heidi.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a couple items for you today. First of all, I'd like to call out an item that you passed on your consent agenda, number 8.2. which is a proclamation of pre-trial probation and parole supervision week. We have 188 FTEs and community corrections. And we have Director Kirkland in the audience here today. I just want to call out what a hard job it is. It's a hard work that requires not only a balance. It requires them to really balance public safety, but also to be part social worker, where they are really trying to bring people back to their best lives and also keep us safe at the same time. I really appreciate the work that she does overseeing a very hard set of work and the work that all of the group, all those 188 employees do for us. Second, I wanted to call out an item that came to me in the last couple of weeks, just a good news item and something that the public should know. Our Employment and Economic Assistance Department uses a telephone line. We sometimes refer to it as IVR or an active voice recording. It's a way for clients to call in and get information about their case without having to wait in a phone line for a staff person. And they added Spanish to that line as an option for people to select in the last month or so. So this allows our constituents to call in and receive information immediately in the language of their choice, if Spanish is their choice. And in just the first few weeks, it allowed 400 people to call it and receive that service immediately and saved our staff the time that it took to answer those 400 calls. So really good work there in E&EA. The third thing I wanted to mention for the public is that our new website will be unveiled on July 9th. We've been working on this project for almost two years. It's a new technology, but more importantly, it will be accessible. We've worked really hard to make sure that it is going to be a much more user-friendly experience for people who might have challenges in seeing websites or navigating websites. A lot of people have put a lot of time in on that, and so look for that to be unveiled the evening of July 9th. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Heidi. Any questions from the board on anything that Heidi reported? Hearing nothing. With that, having concluded all of our regular business except closed session, we will recess into closed session. And with that, we are currently in recess into closed session. Thank you.