Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Yeah.

Good morning. I'm going to call to order the county board meeting for Dakota County on August 4th, 2026. I'll invite you to stand as you're able and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the

Thank you very much. I'm going to make a note. We have new technology in this room. I'm still trying to get comfortable with it, the way our microphones sound, whether we're pushing buttons or not. So I'll ask everybody's patience as we continue to get to know our technology upgrades in this room we made the upgrades so that we could have better technology and access for the public and the public is here today and we have a number of people who have signed up to speak for our audience time we have a tradition that in our rules state that people can sign up to speak or come forward to speak to address the board on an item that they wish to speak on that is not on the agenda or that is on the consent agenda. You have five minutes as a member of the public to address the board, and it is not a back and forth, so I just want to make sure that everybody understands. The procedure, this is your time and your time to present. So with that, I have a list. If I'm missing anybody, at the end, I'll invite anybody who hasn't been heard to come forward. The first person on my list is Reed Scheller. Would you like to come forward? And you have five minutes. Welcome. Thank you.

Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair and fellow board members. Services at the Western Service Center. A little bit about me is I am an individual on the autism spectrum. I served on the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities from 2017 through 2023 and the Minnesota Employment Learning Community from 2014 through 2018. I have lived independently since 2017 in a non-CDA apartment. And I received support through the county's DD waiver with individualized home support and transportation funding for Lyft. I really appreciate this excellent program. For my job, I was hired by Dakota County on June 6th, 2022 and work five days per week, six hours per day. My duties include making packets, scanning confidential client information, delivering mail and checking zip codes and miscellaneous tasks such as refilling copy machines. My duties save time for social workers and children's mental health, child protection, childcare licensing, and other units as packets are ready for delivery and client information is digitized for easier access. And it also saves time for senior program associates, front end staff, and front desk staff who remain at their stations as mail is brought to them. I love my job and I am excelling at it. I earned exceeds expectations in my last three annual performance reviews. And in May of this year, I was recognized for advancing the vision and values of the children and family services division. As an employee with a disability who also continues to benefit from county social services, I asked the board to thoughtfully rule out cuts to the social services department. People depend on us every day for reliable, timely and effective services. Thank you very much for your consideration.

Thank you very much read I'm sure Could you ask somebody that knows how this technology works to work on getting our monitors up, please?

I will do that. I think you've done that On behalf of Commissioner Holberg.

We're looking for some assistance with the monitors Heidi Madam chair the commit the the monitors will come up as soon as the presentation starts

Okay.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Commissioner Holberg?

Generally, we're able to view the speaker and stuff here, too. So are we not able to do that anymore?

Heidi?

There we go. Or Jenny.

Oh, there you go.

They got them working. Earlier, they told me it was only during presentations, but there they are. You ask and you receive.

So now we have to look at ourselves. Way to go.

Way to go.

It's all good.

They've upgraded the monitors to be high def. It's a little unsettling the first time to see yourself in high def. Next up, I'm going to invite Katrina DeVore forward. Welcome.

Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Katrina DeVore. I work in the Public Health Department, and I'm also the chair of the M&A bargaining unit here in Dakota County. I just want to take a few minutes to connect the budget discussion with the work that happens every day here across the county. As you know, county services are so much more than line items in a budget. They are people answering crisis calls, supporting families, maintaining roads, protecting public health, helping residents navigate difficult moments, and making sure that essential services continue without interruption. The work we do matters deeply to residents, and it often happens in the moments when they need help the most. In my role in public health, I work in environmental health. I've been with the county for 10 years. And part of the services we provide, we respond directly to resident inquiries when they have concerns about environmental health. We manage a radon program that distributes radon tests so that people can test their homes. Unfortunately, we do have some higher levels of radon in the county. We make sure that our beaches are safe for swimming, and we work closely with partners across the county to ensure that there are high water quality in our communities. and responding every day to various environmental health concerns. So the work we do is certainly essential for our community to stay safe and healthy. As the budget discussion continues, we ask that staffing decisions be not viewed only through numbers on a spreadsheet, but through the impact those decisions have on residents and the county's ability to provide reliable, timely, and effective services. Our staff are very skilled and dedicated public servants who care deeply about this community. When positions are lost, the impact is real. There are longer wait times for the public, reduced services, delayed responses, and fewer opportunities to meet the growing needs of residents. We know that these decisions are very difficult, but we also know that investing in county staff is an investment in the people who rely on county services every single day. Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your consideration.

Thank you very much. Next up, I'm going to invite Tori Thompson. Welcome.

Good morning, chairperson and commissioners. My name is Tori Thompson. I work in the Adoption Guardianship Unit within Children and Family Services. And I love my job. I absolutely love it. But it is the hardest and most stressful job I've ever had. And I have had a lot of stressful jobs that I'm going to share with you a little bit to help understand why I can say that. I grew up in White Bear. At 17, I thought my dad was far too strict, so I joined the Army. Not a great thought. I didn't think that one through. But nonetheless, I joined the Army. And I was tested. And they said, you could pick any job. I'm like, give me something I could never do on the outside. Again, not really thinking through. So I joined as Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb Squad. Did that, decided I don't like being hot, and my vision was a little bit going. So I reclassed to become a flight medic. And I deployed several times, being shot at while I'm trying to put a chest tube in a two-year-old that had been in an IED accident. Trying to save soldiers, very, very stressful job. Decided that this might not be my jam, and I want to be a social worker. Somehow that connected in my brain. So I got out, went to school, and did my internship at Fort Hood in the child and adolescent psychiatry unit. A year and a half after I graduated, I was dropping off paperwork to a client at the Soldier Readiness Center. And there was a mass shooting in the room next door to me. Multiple people were killed. And the fun part for me was I interned under Nidal Hasan, the shooter. So I was interrogated. And I'll say interrogated by all the alphabets at ATF, CIA, FBI, and the Texas Rangers. That was pretty cool. So again, a very stressful situation. proceeded to work with children and families in Texas, and then decided, I want to go back home. I want to go back to Minnesota. And so I started putting on Facebook, where should I work? And everybody said Dakota County. And I'm like, OK, cool. There's a child protection opening. interviewed while I was doing the interview there was a tornado so I'm literally doing the interview in my bathtub did not get the position but Rick Morrissey at the time stay connected with means like there's job openings here and here and here that goes to show how dedicated he is to the county and he doesn't work here anymore but that was a really important thing so I went and worked in a different county for child protection another very stressful job When the adoption guardianship position opened, I'm like, I am applying for it, and I got it. And it has been, by far, their most rewarding and most challenging. I am their legal guardian. They have no parents. They count on me and the rest of the Dakota County team for everything. And we spend thousands of our own money trying to get these kids birthday presents, take them out, because we know there isn't funding for that, but we do it out of our heart. And because we care about these kids, and we love our job. And what does this have to do with the budget? Well, bumping. Bumping is going to be a nightmare. And what I mean by that is if you cut positions, a lot of these positions that are being proposed to cut are senior employees. They're going to take jobs from, they're going to bump down into another job. And it might not be a job they're passionate about. It might not be a job they care about. And that's going to have lifelong impact for the citizens that they serve or the clients. If their heart's not in it, if somebody doesn't love the kids the way I do, they're not going to be as effective and serve. The harder part is going to be that there's going to take time to train people into positions that they were not hired for and they don't care about, in all honesty. I love my job. I would rather work in child and families than MnChoices. And that's not a bash on the MnChoices. That's just not where my passion lies. So I'm not going to be as effective. And that's across the board. It's going to take time and money to train people in. And during that time, there's going to be longer wait times for everybody. People are going to not get the quality services that they not only need, but they deserve. Currently, many high-profile and successful programs are proposed for cuts, FDTC, Truancy, there's proposed cuts to the crisis response unit. All of those positions are vital. And if we take those people and we take those positions, that's going to be a lifelong impact for the county and the people that not only we serve but that elected everybody here. Bumping will move 109s, our program coordinators, into 107 positions, 106 positions, things that they're overly qualified for, and a loss of assets to the county. I mean, people that are not passionate about children could be put into a child protection. And that could cost lives. I am passionate about teens. Give me all of the hard teens, every single one of them. They are my jam. I believe in them. I would not be effective in another role. And I know that's the same for a lot of people. Since levy talks have started, being a union rep, my phone has been ringing off the hook. I took a phone call the other day at 2.30 in the morning from a member who's in a very abusive relationship and is low in seniority and is afraid they're going to have to stay in an abusive relationship due to financial costs. I have other people calling and reaching out to me saying, I don't know what to do about my child's college now because they're not high on seniority. So I want you to understand that there is more at stake than just jobs. It's people's livelihoods. This is going to be lifelong or decades-long impact for the people. And so I strongly encourage you to consider keeping jobs, keeping programs, because the county is counting on you guys. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. thank you for your comments and thank you for your service miss Thompson Julie Finnerty tell me if I said your name wrong you may correct me

Hello, good morning. Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners. My name is Julie Finnerty, and I work for Dakota County in the Family Child Care Licensing Unit. We are looking at proposed cuts to our team of 33%, which would mean a position and a half. We are only staffed with six positions, as it is. I have been with Dakota County going on 20 years. Prior to doing this type of work, I worked in child protection for 13 years. And as Tori was commenting on, it is some of the toughest work that I have ever done. And yet I see such a tremendous impact it is for families and for children, our most vulnerable. So speaking a little bit more with family child care licensing, again, the unit that I'm currently in, what would happen if we had any staffing cuts to our unit would be detrimental to our child care providers? I want to clarify that what we do is we license in-home family child cares in Dakota County. We are also overseen by the Minnesota state. And so the state put out the rules, regulations, and statutes. We come in and encourage and do a little bit of enforcing in ways for child care providers to follow those rules and regulations. They are more, though, than just child care providers. They are also people that live in the community of Dakota County, and so they are small business owners. Small business owners brings money back into the community and so on and so forth. We at, excuse me, they as business owners do also generate revenue within the community. And any, again, of these proposed cuts would severely limit our, meaning family child care licensing's, ability to promote. We do lots of child care recruitment. We offer a lot of provider training. And then we offer sessions for interpretation of statute changes, which are also going to be coming in effect in July of next year. And also, if we were cut, it would affect the timely response. for our providers. You know, we hold a high regard of responding within 24 to 48 hours for our childcare providers in the community. They rely on us. And again, with any staffing cuts, the wait time, the response time will go down. Again, I just want to say that if we do not have enough of our staffing, this could significantly impact our local community stability and the availability of affordable care, and also to fulfill the duties that are required by the statutes, which, again, come from the state of Minnesota. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you for your presentation. Next up, Desiree Wren. Welcome.

Good morning, Chair, Madam Chair, and commissioners. Thank you for allowing us this time to speak. My name is Desiree Wren, and I am a truancy social worker. I have a clinical independent license. I do not live in Dakota County. I live in Scott County. But I took a job here in Dakota County because I was impressed with the level of leadership, the level of professionalism that many of our workers bring. I'm working in the truancy unit. It's not an easy job, but I think many people think it is because they think we just go and address youth that have barriers not going to school. And since COVID and ICE, that is truly not the fact. 70% of our clients are have mental health barriers. And especially since COVID, it increased even more. About 30%, 20 to 30% of our clients don't go to school because of food, clothing, and shelter and other barriers. And then you leave that small portion that just don't like school and don't go to school. And that would be your truancy. In the truancy unit, we provide wraparound services using a holistic approach, meaning we don't just address truancy, we address all the other barriers that the family is going through. Whether that's mental health that's undiagnosed, underdiagnosed, um we address those we help the families get connected you know to mental health providers we go into the schools we go into the hospitals we go into the doctor's office if the clients need us for that we also provide parenting where we can to some of the families a lot of our families have to go into the city because resources are limited out here And so I'm advocating for the families, first of all, and then the employees. Because Dakota County is either the third or fourth largest county here in Dakota County and in the state. And with us being that large, we are continuing to grow. And as we continue to grow, the barriers are going to continue to grow. And so not assisting these young people, you know, to go to school as a right, because it's a law, to help them find their niche in life, to help them prepare. If we have clients that are 15 or 16, we go out and we explain to them if school's not an option for them, we try to find them other ways to go to school, whether it's taking classes at DCTC Whether it's going to Job Corps, and I'm to understand, Job Corps is going to be closing within the next year or so. Summit Academy over north, we try to provide the older kids with resources so when they get to that place that they decide we're not going to go to school, they have other options. And for the younger kids, we work with the families to really try to help them understand that if they're having mental health barriers. So being a social worker in truancy, we just don't go we're addressing a school issue and then we stop. We provide all the services that's needed so that family doesn't have to go from truancy to children's mental health or to assessment. We address those barriers in there to make sure that we can provide all the services that that family needs. I had the option when I first started 23 plus years ago to go to Hennepin County or to Ramsey because being a clinical licensed social worker, they pay more dollars. I was committed to Dakota County because I truly have a passion for the work and for the leadership I've seen there to still be there today. And so I think it's imperative with not only the truancy unit, but with all the cuts that you guys are getting ready to make, that you find a way to keep employees there to make a difference for the families. Because that's what we promote, that we're there for the families. And if we're going to be there for the families, you know we have to have the leverage to have the employees that can do the jobs effectively our caseload runs around 18 19 cases throughout the year in an ideal situation we should only have 12 to 15. but our team at dakota county social services at the western service center are committed that many of those units take on like we do in truancy those cases to do the work. And as it was stated earlier, if we can provide a little something out of our pocket to do that, we do that Because we know that family is in need, you know. We do follow policy. And also, for the record, I wanted to state that I'm here on flex time because I'm that committed. Most, all of us, I think, are here on personal time just to let you guys know we love our jobs. We are committed. We realize it's a hard job you guys have because you have to make cuts somewhere. But I'm advocating to say don't make them, if possible, with us, the employees. Thank you for your time. Have a great day.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Next up, Andrew Kirsch. And if I mispronounced your name, please let me know.

You did a wonderful job.

Welcome. Thank you.

And those were difficult comments to follow. But Honorable Dakota County Board of Commissioners, The issue I put before you today is this. How should Dakota County government employees treat citizens of this county who happen to express disagreement with a decision made by a county entity? As you will soon hear, this is not a purely hypothetical question. I'm sure that each of your individual answers to my questions is that your constituents should always be treated with respect, respect for them as persons, respect for their point of view. You might reasonably expect that in this case, even though there is to my knowledge no written policy nor training to guide employees in ethical interactions with citizens, that they would also have that standard. Sadly, in the absence of such a written policy and training, I was subjected to what were clearly unethical actions by a senior member of our Dakota County staff, simply because I happened to write an email appealing a decision made by our library system. Before I go further, let me reassure you that I do not intend to name the senior member in this public statement. Although I have irrefutable evidence of these breaches of ethical conduct, obtained by me through the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. I will simply summarize the nature of the actions. On September 4th, 2025, I sent an email to the Library Advisory Committee to express my disagreement with a decision that had been made by the Dakota County Library Systems Review Committee. Because the county email addresses of the advisory committee are not published, I was instructed to send them to an administrative person. That employee then forwarded it not only to that committee, but to a non-library senior staff member for reasons that I cannot comprehend. On September 8th of 2025, a few days later, the senior staff member who is at the center of this matter sent an email to the first assistant county attorney of Dakota County, in which were passed along to him the results of a search done on me, which found some past public comments I had made to a state agency. In summary, I believe that the senior member performed two unethical actions which failed to respect my privacy, first, conducting or receiving the results of an online investigation made on a constituent who simply disagreed with the decision of a government body. In other words, this was an unwarranted phishing expedition into my past. Secondly, passing along a link to those findings of that online investigation to another government employee and worse yet, circulating information which the member acknowledged in that email to the first assistant attorney to be unrelated, quote, on a different topic. I want to clarify that I am not aware of what that first assistant attorney did with that information because his reply was redacted. So my mention of his name or position should not be taken as an accusation of any impropriety on his part. I only mention it because no citizen wants to be presented in a questionable light to a member of the county attorney's office, lest he need to interact with that office later. The county attorney's office had no evident need to know about my earlier comments to a state agency on an unrelated matter. Let us pause for a moment to consider what should have happened in this instance. My appeal should have been considered on its merits, not who I was or what I might have said or done in the past, unless it was directly related to the business at hand. I should not have to forfeit my privacy simply because I want to contribute to my county's decision making. Let me ask each of you to consider how you would feel if someone in your family was treated in this fashion. I'm sure you'd feel their rights to be an active citizen had been infringed. So do I. Now, I have been reassured by my county commissioner that a conversation has been had with that senior member, staff member, although my two direct requests for an apology from that member have been ignored. The reason I am addressing the whole board today about it is that I want to strongly urge that you establish a written ethics policy to address the treatment of citizens who choose to express disagreement with a county decision and make it part of required training so as to reassure the rest of Dakota County citizens that such unethical actions will not be repeated against them.

Mr. Kirsch, we've reached five minutes, so if you could wrap your comments up, please.

Okay. Final sentence. Thank you. This would be an appropriate and powerful statement by this board that the principles of open government and ethical treatment of citizens are hallmarks of this fine county. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. A couple folks who signed up but didn't sign in. We'll see if you're here. Dan Martinez, do you wish to address the board? Not seeing. Or Simon Spurl. Welcome to the board.

Thank you, Chair Alderson and commissioners. My name is Simon Spurl. I've been providing benefits to Dakota County residents, primarily medical assistance, for the past six years. What I want to draw your attention towards is the potentially devastating consequences that Dakota County could face if we continue to not meet processing timelines. By not providing employment and economic assistance with the staff necessary to do the work, Dakota County is at risk of severe legal and financial penalties. This is from Section 1902TT of the Social Security Act. If CMS determines that a state is not in compliance with federal eligibility redetermination requirements, CMS may impose civil money penalties of up to $100,000 for each day a state is not in compliance. Additionally, civil rights and health advocacy groups can and do file class action lawsuits against counties that are not in compliance. Counties in this situation face millions of dollars in legal fees and damages. I could talk about almost any team within E&EA. The team I'm going to focus on is the Mets team. They're an incredibly hardworking but terribly understaffed team. They handle medical assistance cases in the MNsure system and will be hardest hit by the addition of HR1's new work requirements. Before HR1 has even taken effect, this team is about 18 months behind in processing documents. CMS says that counties have to process documents the month following the month that they're received. So I'll say that again. CMS says we need to process documents received in July by the end of August. We have documents that are unprocessed from January 2025. Staff have been raising these concerns for years. E&EA management, to their credit, is asking for 70 additional staff. Our county manager, Heidi Walsh's recommendation, based on your unwillingness to raise taxes in Dakota County to levels equal to similar counties, is to add 11 FTEs. 11 instead of 70. This is irresponsible. We are going to be penalized for this. It is your responsibility to ensure the county has the staff necessary to do the work. If this becomes a national story about fraud, waste, and abuse, my face is not going to be on those 24-hour news channels. Even before HR1, we are ripe for financial and legal penalties in a time where the federal government is looking for ways to punish Minnesotans. You have the opportunity to change course. We can fund the county with a 29.9% levy, just $248 for the median home, and begin digging out of this hole. This is your opportunity to protect the county against legal and financial risks. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me today.

Thank you for your comments. Is there anybody else in the audience wishing to address the board at this time? Seeing no one come, we will close the audience participation section. And thank you again for being here today. Next on our agenda is to approve the agenda. Are there changes or a motion to approve the agenda?

Madam Chair, I will move approval without changes.

We have a motion. Is there a second?

I'll second, Madam Chair.

And we have a second. We can take a voice vote on this. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, no. Hearing none, that motion prevails. Next up on our agenda, we move to a public hearing to consider giving host approval to issuances by City of Lillydale of revenue obligations for 360s Communities Project. And we get to hear from Mr. McKnight. Welcome.

Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners. As the Chair said, I'm Dave McKnight, the Deputy County Manager. I am here today to talk about the public hearing required for the 360 Communities Project that we talked about a little bit at your previous County Board meeting. You're all aware of who 360 Communities is. They're a nonprofit organization serving Dakota County that provides safety, crisis support, and stability to over 26,000 individuals each year. And they are located in Burnsville. You're also aware that they're currently undertaking a new Lewis House project. It's a planned new shelter in Eagan. It's a 50-bed apartment-style domestic violence shelter. Construction is set to begin this fall with completion in 2027. And the estimated project cost is right around $14 million. This project will be partially funded through tax-exempt financing. IRS rules require that 501c3 organizations like 360 Communities using this type of funding must be approved by the host, which is the organization where the project exists. 360 Communities has asked Dakota County to serve in that role. The City of Lillydale will issue the actual bonds for this project in an amount not to exceed $8 million. As a county, we will not incur any costs serving as the host for the project. The county is not responsible for paying back any of the principal or interest obligations. We had minimal staff time and then your time as the county board holding this public hearing as our investment into this project. You may recall that the county served in a similar role for a project for St. Francis Healthcare in Farmington in 2024. We do have here today representatives from 360 communities. Jeff Mortensen, their president and CEO, is in attendance. And he can talk about the project and answer any questions that you might have if you do have them. But your recommended action today is for the County Board to hold the public hearing and consider any comments received. Once the public hearing is complete, staff recommends that the County Board approve the resolution providing host approval on the issuance of tax exempt obligations by the City of Lillydale, Minnesota. This resolution also includes the approval of a cooperation agreement with the City of Lillydale. And with that, Madam Chair, I'll take any questions you may have or let you ask Mr. Mortensen questions if you have them of him as well.

Thank you very much. Members of the Board, are there questions for Mr. McKnight or Mr. Mortensen?

We've already done it.

Hearing none, and for the members of the public, we have reviewed this proposal already in a GGP meeting. So if things seem like they move fast, it's because we've usually heard Ann discuss these matters in the past. So with that, I will open the public hearing if there are comments on the project. Are there any comments? Anyone wishing to be heard? Anyone wishing to be heard? Seeing no one come forward, I will close the public hearing. And I will turn it over to the board for action.

Madam Chair, I will move the resolution.

We have a motion on our resolution. Is there a second?

I'll second.

We have a second. Very good. Any comments to the motion? Hearing none, we will take the roll.

Commissioner Workman? Yes. Commissioner Atkins? Yes. Commissioner Holberg? Yes. Commissioner Halberson? Yes. Commissioner Droste? Yes. Commissioner Heyman-Roland? Yes. Commissioner Slabitt?

Yes.

Excellent. That motion prevails. Thank you, Mr. McKenney. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mortensen. Next up, we have a public hearing to receive comments on and adopt amended park ordinance 107. We get to hear from our parks director, Nikki Geisler. Welcome.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and good morning, commissioners. I'm Nikki Geisler, Parks Director for Dakota County, and I'm here to talk about the proposed amendments to Park Ordinance 107, which governs the rules and regulations and allows for enforcement of those rules and regulations within our park system. An overview quickly of the process of creating the amendments that was shared with all of you at the Physical Development Committee. The intent of the ordinance update was to correct and clarify language, to add detail to certain activities, make recommended changes to accommodate real life application that we were able to experience since it was last adopted a few years ago, specifically around electric power devices and motorized recreational vehicles. And review happened at the physical development committee where you directed us to provide public notice and schedule this hearing. The proposed amendments were reviewed and supported by the County Attorney's Office and Dakota County Sheriff's Office. Staff did a thorough review of the amendments as well. Public hearing notice was posted in the Hastings Journal and on the county website. No public comments have been received to date. So with that, post the public hearing, we are asking for an adoption to the amendments of Park Ordinance 107.

And Madam Chair, I now stand for questions. Thank you very much, Nikki. Are there any questions for Nikki before we open the public hearing? Seeing none, I will open our public hearing and ask for your comments. Does anyone wish to be heard on this item? Are there any public comments to this item? Is there anyone wishing to be heard? Hearing no one, I will close the public hearing. Thank you. And we can turn it over to the board for action. What are the wishes of the board?

So moved.

We have a motion. Is there a second? And we've got a second. Thank you, members. And with that, we'll take a roll on that, please.

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

Yes. Thank you very much, and that motion prevails. Thanks, Nikki. All right, next up on our agenda, we have the consent agenda to consider. Are there any changes, or is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

Move approval, Madam Chair.

We have a motion to approve. Is there a second? Second and a second We will roll call this Jenny Commissioner Holberg.

Yes with the exception of 7.1 Commissioner Halverson.

Yes, Commissioner drasty. Yes, Commissioner Heyman Rowland. Yes, Commissioner Slavitt Yes, Commissioner workmen. Yes with the exception of 7.1 Commissioner Atkins.

Yes And that motion prevails. On to our regular agenda. We have a presentation for information only on the recognition of the Minnesota Counties Award. Evidence-based practice unit. Chris Cornell, Jim Scovel, who are we hearing from today?

National.

It's always hard to get people to come forward and take credit. Come on.

Welcome. All right. Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners. I am Swanna Kirkland. I am the Director of Dakota County Community Corrections. And I am here with our supervisor and two of our three evidence-based practice unit staff. Last year we won an award, and it was for our evidence-based practice unit. And I don't want to do all the talking because they do the work. They really have set the stage in Minnesota for evidence-based practice unit and Dakota County. And so we continue to lead in this space. I am very proud of the work that they do. And they continue to serve not just Dakota County, but statewide. So I'm going to turn it over to Supervisor Chris Crudell and our staff. Welcome.

Thank you, Madam Chair and Commissioners. My name is Chris Cornell, as she mentioned, supervisor in our corrections department. And thank you for the time today for recognizing us with this award. It really is a privilege of mine to supervise our three evidence-based practice coordinators. We have Nicole Bars, we have Shan Olin, and Elizabeth Miller, who was here but had to leave to go do exactly what we're talking about. Our evidence-based practice unit has become a statewide leader in expanding our cognitive behavioral programming, which is by embedding evidence-based practices into our daily operations. Their work has become measurable produce measurable results while creating a sustainable model that other counties continue to learn from. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most effective correctional programs and interventions that we can do for reducing recidivism. Research shows us that when delivered correctly and with fidelity, cognitive behavioral therapy can reduce reoffending by 20 to 30%. By helping the clients change their criminogenic thinking, Strengthen their problem-solving skills and to make better decisions Dakota County has intentionally built this programming around these evidence-based practices principles since 2019 referrals to our programming in internally in our in our County have increased from 110 to about 280 clients annually during that same period our graduation graduation rates have increased by more than 30% and Completion rates this year remain strong at 82% for juveniles, 75% for adult men, and 73% for adult women. A key reason for this success is the department's investment in its staff. 79 of our staff members are trained in delivering this curriculum to our clients. Every facilitator receives regular observation, coaching, annual booster trainings, and communities of practice reinforcing the skills. And that's due to the credit of these three staff. In addition, supervisors integrate the CBT principles into ongoing staff coaching. So the EVP unit's commitment to innovation, accountability, and measurable results has strengthened client outcomes, it's enhanced public safety, and it's created a model of evidence-based corrections that is recognized across the state. So thank you again for your time and for this public recognition.

And I don't know if we mentioned these wonderful staff that do this work for Dakota County and across the state, but we have Nicole Bars, Shannon Olien, and Elizabeth Miller who had to leave out. But these are the ladies that do this work. They do it proudly. They are highly respected and regarded in the state of Minnesota. And we're super, I mean, we're just excited about the work that you do. So thank you.

Thank you very much. We really appreciate it. I hope everyone can stick around. We're going to do photos after this, if that's okay. Thank you. And Jenny, do we do the presentation now or are we doing it at photos? It's your choice. We'll do the photos at the end then. Very good. I want to hear from all the presenters. Thank you. All right. Next up, we've got the National Recognition of the NACO Awards, the National Association of County and City Health Officials. That's not NACO. That's NACO? Come on up. Tell us what it is. This is a NACO. All right. Make me hungry. Welcome, Mr. Gillen. And we want to hear all about this award that my colleagues got to accept out in.

This one was actually Kentucky. That's number three.

Kentucky. OK. Sorry.

OK. Too many awards. Good morning, Chair Halverson, commissioners. My name is Matt Giljohn. I'm the communications coordinator for Dakota County Public Health. I'm happy to share that our public health annual communication planning strategy has been recognized as a NACCHO model practice. Before this practice, our public health communications work was largely reactive. When teams had an idea or an event coming up, they submitted a request and we did it. Sometimes we got a lot of advance notice and sometimes we didn't. So in 2023, we said, let's try to look into the future. We asked five of our public health programs to guess all their communication projects for the year. Flyers for clinics, social media posts for recognition months, updates to web pages. And it worked. Now instead of reacting project by project, each unit now maps out to the best of their abilities the entire year in advance. We're now able to anticipate busy periods and plan time strategically instead of constantly playing catch up. And even when we have pop-up projects or board requests, we can respond better. All of this at zero additional cost, just existing staff time and simple tools like Word and Excel. Proactive planning internally means clear, more timely public health messaging reaching every resident in Dakota County. It's low cost and easy for any health department to replicate, which is why NACCHO named it a model practice. This is a win for our department, our communications team, and for every resident who benefits from clear public health communication. Thank you. Thank you very much.

And please stick around for the presentation of awards after and photos. Can we give them a round of applause? Yes. May I just make a comment? Yes.

You saved lives, and I think it was worthy of our recognition, so thank you so much.

Thank you. And finally, we get to hear about the NACO Awards, recognition of the 2026 National Association of Counties Achievement Award Best in Category for Health, a combination of a partnership between our Dakota County Libraries and Public Health. Welcome this, I always do it.

Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair Halverson and commissioners. I am Gina Pistalka. director of public health, and I'm here with Jen Reichert-Simpson, our library director.

Sorry.

Oh, you have to do it. Our innovative and passionate teams of public health and library sit behind us. We are so excited to be here to celebrate Dakota County's recognition with the 2026 National Association of Counties Achievement Award in Best in Category for Health. This award recognizes public health and the library's work to transform library locations into public health hubs. This achievement reflects the outstanding work and commitment of everyone who contributed to the success. Our partnership began with a simple but powerful goal to improve community health by meeting people where they are. We know that mental health is one of the top health concerns identified by Dakota County residents. In the face of the opioid epidemic, access to naloxone and fentanyl test strips can save lives. Timely nutrition support, breastfeeding resources, and connections to other services can make a meaningful difference to new parents and families. Addressing these needs requires strong public health programs. It also requires delivering services in places where people gather, places that are trusted, welcoming, and accessible.

Welcome. And that's the library. The library is among the county's most trusted, valued, and used services. People come to borrow books. They also come to the library to learn, get resources, and be in community with one another. By combining public health expertise and programs with the library's welcoming staff, spaces, and connections to residents, We expanded the county's reach, we reduced barriers, we leveraged resources, and we made our shared work more effective. That work included last year 10 library locations distributing over 1,200 naloxone kits 300 fentanyl test strip kits, and over 2,000 opioid educational materials. Library staff also distributed over 1,000 education materials on mental health for all ages, and we were the host site for 80 feeding your baby support sessions at the Westcott and Heritage Libraries, increasing attendance at those sessions, and in fact, Those sessions are happening this morning as we speak. This work continues in other ways too. In August, public health is having a school supply drive and five library locations will be pickup sites along with the northern and western service centers. Public health and the library's collaboration transformed library locations into community health hubs to improve health outcomes for Dakota County residents. Thank you for recognizing the award, but truly thank you for recognizing the amazing public health and library staff.

Thank you. What a great story. Well, we will ask all of our award recipients to come forward. We will present you with your award officially and take a photograph. So please, everybody, stick around for that. And then we will resume our meetings.

All right. Thank you.

And let's see. Yeah. Can I? Can't see Heidi. Maybe over the, maybe the one more.

There you go. Oh, no, no.

Can you see the camera? That's all we want.

Okay.

Let's see. All righty. One, two, three, four.

We can be in it if you'd like.

I can grab Scott, okay?

And then others?

Do you want to separate all of it? All of it? Is this the first one or the second one?

That one? Yeah, I think just Matt's. Matt's first. All right. There we go. Got to be able to see me.

Can you see me? Solve it up.

This, I think, no, doesn't move.

New room, sorry. All right, right here.

Thank you.

Okay, some of you are staying up here.

You can't move this very far because it's corded.

Yeah, that's what I remember. Smile. One, two, three. Thank you. Thank you.

I'm a big guy when it comes to this. Okay, that's great. And you know what?

It can be very interesting. It is...

Well, what a wonderful thing to celebrate today. Does anybody have any comments? We went through three regular items. We didn't do any board comments, so I want to be sure if anyone has any comments that we have a chance to hear from the board.

Madam Chair, Commissioner Hayman-Roland. I just wanted to recognize that the partnership between the public health and the library made the full page 11 in the NACO news. So that's national recognition beyond the award and will continue. And I believe because of its effective and truly efficient use of our staff, it's going to get replicated in the country. So thanks for the leadership.

Commissioner Slavik.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I think also of note, you know, every year the National Association of Counties gets hundreds and hundreds of amazing projects that have happened across the country. And they only recognize a handful of special achievement awards the last time. These are the best of the best, usually somewhere between 10 to 16. So it's a pretty rare and extraordinary honor to go and be able to get to this point here we always have those uh naco for kind of a best in class but this is one of those steps above that that doesn't usually happen and the fact that within the last eight years we've had two it happened twice in dakota county is quite a testament to all of the good work that happens in the innovative work uh each and every day so just wanted to say this is above and beyond what we do when we acknowledge our naco awards this is one of the best of the best

Thank you very much, Commissioner Slavik. And you got to be there to accept it? I did, yes. With Commissioner Atkins? Atkins. I bet that was a proud moment. It was. Very good. Thank you so much. Any other comments? I do just want to... Sorry, I didn't miss you. Okay. I do just want to say that since I've joined the Dakota County Board, it's been almost six years now, that being a county that gets a recognition from our peers, from other counties, from our... appears nationally, and that is seen as a county that leads and doesn't follow, that innovates and doesn't rest on its laurels. That is who Dakota County is, and it's been a value that the board has stated that we want to be A county that goes above and beyond that is recognized as a stellar county. And these kinds of awards, I think, affirm that the vision and the work that is being done is seen by others. and is really making a difference in the lives of the people of our community. On a personal note, I'm going to say usually the days of award presentations are nothing but fun and nothing but joy for me because I am so proud of the work that our staff are doing in our communities and the difference that you're making. I will say with the challenges that we are facing and talks of cuts, And it feels like there's a little Paul over at this time because this is a Dakota County I don't want to lose. And so I just want to recognize the work that you're doing, the innovation that you're doing, and that I'm proud that others see it. But I want you to know as a board member, and I think I can speak on the board, we see it too. So we really appreciate you. Thank you very much. And with that, we get to hear from our interagency reports. The Association of Minnesota Counties. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Let me just pull this up and see what I wrote for this. Here we go. Of course, I'm getting text messages right now, too. Oh, I just wanted to remind everyone that the AMC fall conference in Bemidji is at the Stafford Center between September 16th to the 18th, and the AMC board meeting will be held on September the 17th. So it's a short and sweet one tonight. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Hayman-Rowland. The Metropolitan Emergency Services Board.

I did want to point out, though, that it was July 27th was the first meeting of ARMR, which for Commissioner Holberg, she doesn't like acronyms. So it's Sheriff Allied Radio Matrix Emergency Response System. Kind of a big deal. It allows first responders to communicate across the state. Obviously a big deal. The first meeting of the funding group, the legislative task force that was appointed, I got together, it was mostly organizational on the 27th, and it was, I wanted to point out that Representative Hewitt from here in Dakota County, Representative Rosemont, was one of the chairs. There is a Republican co-chair. They wanted to make sure it was a bipartisan effort, and their goal is to have Legislation ready to be proposed by the time the session starts in January Funding of the armor system is obviously a huge deal Almost as big as the the system itself as we got to figure out how we how we pay for it And that's what their task is going to be bill. Did I miss anything from the meeting?

If I may, we approve budget. And to the counties, it is going up 6.57, but it's zero to the counties because of reserves from the radio and Washington County 911. On another note, our very existence joint powers from 27 through 31 was approved. So that'll be going out to all our agencies for approval by the end of the year. And that is it.

Excellent. Thank you so much. The Minnesota Inter-County Association, MICA, we meet next Wednesday. And the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District Commission, Liz Workman.

Our next full board meeting is August 26th. Thank you.

Next up, the National Association of Minnesota Counties. I think that got covered well. Yeah. Commissioner...

I sent, so we had telecom and technology committee did a lot. It was probably the heaviest meeting we've ever had. AI, cybersecurity, which obviously we've had issues with our water treatment facilities here in Minnesota of late. And of course data centers. So it was wall to wall packed with a lot. And I shared that, sent out most of those materials to everybody on the board.

Thank you very much. Commissioner Slavik.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And just with the Finance, Pensions, Intergovernmental Affairs National Committee, a lot of the focus, as you know, next week for Minnesota is a primary day. It's election day. And we have our general election in November. So election security, protecting of our poll workers, some of the funding that goes into the systems to make sure that our elections are free and safe. So there was a lot of energy of the discussion based on that. The other aspect in there, this board has had a discussion recently related to some of the new federal guidelines related to funds that come from the federal government to the states and then to the counties and kind of some niche discretionary opinions on how and what should get funded. And even though contracts that have been approved... and pulling them out and just really right now there's a rule making process going at the federal level that can really give a lot of power to the executive branch to go in and pull out monies because of whatever opinion they choose to have and there's a lot of concern that that will actually depending on which administration is in at the time could go in and punish or reward states and counties. And so we had a great discussion on that and then actually have some national working with Congress to try to go in and kind of tighten up those rules to make sure that no matter who is in the White House that you would be able to have the same standards put on that part there and not have that discretion. And then the last thing, just to note, that Minnesota's kind of taken the lead on one of the platform amendments that myself and Commissioner Weckman-Brecke out of Scott County have been working on and carried and championed. It did get unanimous approval again related to our compensation for our volunteer drivers. As you know, that's one of the ways that we save tax dollars is by using volunteers to drive veterans and disabled individuals to appointments and That rate for mileage has not changed since 1996. It's 14 cents. So even this year, that mileage rate has changed between January and July. It has gone up again for the business side of things. So if we want to go and continue to be good stewards of tax dollars, this is something that we in Minnesota have championed to say that that should at least be able to have the tax write-off comparable when we are going and really providing those services for our communities and our neighbors.

Thank you.

great report transportation advisory board commissioner holberg thank you madam chair the july meeting was canceled uh there are things happening behind the scenes they're working on scoring all the applications for the regional solicitation and it's my understanding that the letters submitted by scott and dakota county a couple months ago um there's movement on those issues as well so

stay tuned thank you vermilion river watershed joint powers board commissioner slavic thank you madam chair on july 23rd the vermilion river watershed joint powers board did meet uh two things of note one of them we did receive the uh uh results of the uh 2025 monitoring network report i think as somebody who grew up swimming in the vermilion river and uh Someone who lives on the Vermilion River now, I can tell you that though there's still a lot of work to do, things are sure a lot better than they were 25 years ago. So that is one positive of that, that we are making steps in the right direction. And second thing is a discussion going on. We will be working towards our preliminary levy in September.

Very good. Thank you.

Workforce Development Board, Commissioner Hayman-Rollins. Thank you, Madam Chair. West St. Paul will be hosting a coffee break for members of the River Heights Chamber of Commerce and the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, September the 15th, and that'll be from... 8 to 9 a.m., and it's going to be at the Northern Services Center in West St. Paul, and there will be a great chance for you to network and get to know employers in the area. Thank you. You're welcome.

Are there any other comments, updates from commissioners? Hearing none, we can move on to the county manager's report. Heidi. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just two items today. First, I wanted to thank our physical development team for their organization of what I thought was quite a successful tour of capital investment projects that the Board took last week. Really a good tour, and I thought a lot of good detail that we were able to see and think about. Second, I want to remind the public that they are, as always, invited to our board meeting next week, which will be a special meeting at the county fair. So we always enjoy being able to see people when we're out at the fair. And just a reminder to come on out.

Thank you. Anything else? Madam Chair. Commissioner Hayman-Rowland.

We did have a county manager, Welsh, we did have a great tour. And one of the things that I was charged with is to learn about how we could get a different bus. And I was at the MVTA meeting and learned, I asked them about this, and learned that our joint powers agreement includes two times where we can have a bus, and that is at no cost. So it is not something that we would be given as a gift. It is part of our agreement. So thank you. And it's not a school bus. What I want to tell you I ask for is it's the accessible bus. It's brand new. It's wonderful. And I thought it would be a great way to show off what we can provide to our residents in our area. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Commissioner Wells. Manager Wells, I also perhaps wanted to make note that this week is our first budget open house of the week. Oh, yeah. Okay.

There's a lot going on.

But I do want to be sure that the public knows that it is at the CDA building in Egan from 5 to 6.30 p.m. And all the experts will be there, and us. So we are learning a lot and really want to thank the staff that have been working so hard to put this together so that the public has an opportunity to engage in our budget process. And with that, is there anything else for the good of the order? Hearing nothing, I will ask for a motion for adjournment.

Move to adjourn.

It's been moved and seconded enthusiastically. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, no. And with that, we are adjourned. Thank you.

Better.

Well, I can see that. What was Nelson doing?