City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to the city meeting. Today is November 5th, 2025. It is 7:30 p.m. We are meeting here in council chambers. We also are sharing this um uh meeting uh virtually. Uh meetings are recorded by True Lens Community Media. They're broadcast live, so if you're watching from home, that's what's happening now. They're also replayed on channel 789. You can also follow up with these um meetings on the city's YouTube channel. Uh we have um lots of things on our agenda tonight, but let's begin with our pledge of allegiance.

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. Um [clears throat] Ashley, our city clerk, can you please do the roll call? Council member Morris, uh here. Council member Santini, here. Council member Stafford here. Council member Wilson here. Mayor Bert here. We are all here tonight, so we're able to conduct tonight's business. Um I just want to verify, we talked about this briefly in our workshop. Are we holding off on the K cash for coins for canines proclamation? And did we decide that, Mayor Bert? Uh, we will go through with it tonight.

We are going through with it tonight. Okay. Do we have somebody here to speak to it? Uh, Mayor, we're going to have our police officer uh representative speak to it tonight. Okay. Fantastic. Okay. So, let's do that first order business. And that is the um the adoption for the coins for canines uh proclamation. And am I inviting our guest up now? Uh yes. Yes. And it is I understand you're a decoy. Which Right. So, um, Officer Nick Waggner. That's right. Um, who is a de? You have to tell us what a decoy is. I don't know what a decoy is. Are you Are you getting your arm bit? Is that what happens?

Yeah, pretty much. So, I can wear a suit or a sleeve and basically get beat up and help the dogs, help the handlers. So, yeah, I train train with them. I don't have a dog. I'd like to someday. That's kind of my aspiration. That's what you have to do in order to work your way up to actually getting a jogging. Yep. put in the work to to get there. So,

yeah, I'm here tonight uh to speak on behalf of our K9 unit um as a representative and like you said, um I'm a decoy, so I'm on our team um I'm here tonight to thank uh Donna Stafford um primarily and and the K9 fund, the Woodbury Police K9 Fund in general. Um for adopting this annual proclamation for CA coins for canines. This initiative was started, for those of you that don't know, uh, by the Woodbury Police K9 Fund under Donna's leadership as a creative way to partner with businesses in order to, [snorts] um, raise [clears throat] much needed funds that help us keep our K9 unit operating at the highest level. [snorts] Each year, the K9 Fund works tirelessly to put out donation boxes at several of our local businesses to receive donations that directly support training and equipment for our canines at the police department. It's no easy feat. Uh, it requires the police K9 fund volunteers um to dedicate their personal time to collect the boxes on a regular basis. As someone who aspires to be a K9 handler, like I said, I know the value of these efforts and thank the fund very much for their tireless dedication to our K9 unit. Without this commitment, the cost to the city of Woodbury alone would increase significantly, making this valuable program much more difficult for us to operate. On behalf of the K9 unit, thank you for adopting this important proclamation that allows us to serve our community at the highest level.

Great. Thank you. Yes. And I the coins for the group, somebody comes every year. We um always honor this. So, we've got a month ahead. Um I'm going to go ahead and read the proclamation because that's one of the things we always do. So this is the proclamation of the city of Woodbury, Washington County, Minnesota, naming coins for K9 month, November 20th through December 20th, 2025. Whereas Donna Smith Stafford's husband, Bruce Stafford was a Woodbury firefighter for 22 years and retired as chief as well as a 35-year paramedic. And whereas on November 20th, 2014, Bruce passed away suddenly. Seeing the first responders doing everything they could professionally, their shock and grief, and the caring gentleness shown to his widow, Donna Smith Stafford left a lasting impression on her. To show her deepest respect and gratitude, and with guidance from Bruce and Dick, a fund has been established to honor Woodbury's public safety department, which has been established as the Woodbury can police K9 fund. Whereas the fund's purpose and mission is to purchase canines, equipment, and train officers in Woodbury. And whereas to sustain the fund to remain true to the vision and mission, the coins for kines's program was established. Whereas the city of Woodbury will declare the month between November 20th and December 20th every year to be designated as coins for kines's month in Woodbury. Now therefore, I am W Bert, mayor of the city in Washington County, Minnesota, do hereby proclaim November 20th through December 20th, 2025 to be coins for canines month in Woodbury. Donation boxes will be distributed throughout the community, giving an opportunity for everyone to give thanks to our police officers, K-9 officers, paramedics, EMTs, and firefighters. Any idea how many boxes will be distributed around the community?

I don't know the exact number. 75. [laughter] Steve is on You are a board member of the Coins. Yep. So there are approximately 40 businesses that will be visiting this year that will host a box as well as new this year will be a number of our food and u entertainment establishments. U you will see um coasters with our QR code to donate which are new this year as well. Okay, cool. For those of you that visit our bars and restaurants. Fantastic. All of the all of the businesses are going to be listed on the uh website for uh not coins for the Woodbury Police K9 Fund website and featured on social media. Fantastic. That's great. Thank you so much. Thanks.

Good luck with all that dog training you're doing. [laughter] And Donna, thank you for uh establishing this fund. I know this is always an emotional time for you and um it is. And um but what a great uh what a great uh legacy to leave behind for your beloved husband. Okay, we'll now move on to the open. I'm sorry. Wait, do we do we have to do we have to formally adopt anything or no? Uh for the preparation. Yeah. No. Okay, got it. Thank you.

Do we have anybody for open form? I don't have any green sheets. Anybody online? Okay, then we'll skip that. I'll go on to the consent agenda. All items listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the city council would be enacted by one motion and affirmative vote of roll call by the majority of the members present. There'll be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member or a citizen so request in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered a separate subject of discussion by the council. We have people in the audience today. Does anybody need anything removed from consent agenda? Seeing none online? No. Okay. Council members, anybody? Or otherwise, I will take a Somebody can put forth a motion.

I'll move to adop adopt uh consent agenda item 6 A through 6J. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion?

Okay, my mic. So, um just just regarding the um delinquent utility bills, I had asked that question earlier also on why there was and and then we did have a um member of the public also write in on this. Is there an explanation on why we have such a huge increase in these delinquent bills? Uh, Mayor Bert, Council Member Wilson, we're uh I did uh talk to staff about getting that information about kind of uh more of a historical context and if there's any trends. Uh I don't have that information offhand. I can tell you that um I wouldn't say it's an abnormal uh increase, you know, just based on where it was a couple of years ago and um and some of the newer, you know, the more growth in the community. It wasn't alarming. Um but I can get back to the council at a future date with some more information about uh trends and kind of projections. Did you did you actually look back to see what it was in

I mean it's in the it's in the uh historical comparison it's in here 2023 was 457,000 and 2025 we are up to 727,000 I'm just always amazed at the numbers I mean there's how many or do we did it number the number of 175 yeah it's just always a lot it just always kind of amazes me [laughter] that many people are not paying but but what is the consequence I mean it isn't like they're getting by without paying. There's a consequence. No, there's there's admin fees, there's fine, late fees that ultimately the city is made whole and uh some of the reason why it's going up is because rates have gone up as well. Um that's part of it.

Yeah. But then some of them there are some big ticket items, but some of it is for curb stop repair. Some significant things go into that. If there's then those just get put onto the their um property tax statement. Is that correct? Correct. Yep. and it's not payable over 15 years like our road rehab projects or anything. Uh curb stop or some of those uh more um infrastructure related costs can be delinquencies are not. And so for reference just for number of accounts if I'm doing my math right it's 28 from 24 to 25. Yeah, that's what it dollar amount is 200. Correct. Number of units. 24 to 25 is

I I did 23. That's okay. 24 to 25. You what did you say? 28 additional homes, but it'sundred and some thousand. Yeah. For the 20 homes. So, um I it's always interesting. I would like to know from somebody why they don't pay, but whatever. Um, anything else I would note and and I'm I'm going to ask a question first staff to follow up to follow up on. I I did notice as we went through those the number of what appear to be rental units. There was a disproportionate amount of rental units. So to answer your question, I would like to, you know, I I'm going to ask a question of staff [snorts] outside of this, but I'll ask the question of

is there a trend? Is there something we're doing on the on a rental unit standpoint that maybe they're they're gone? They're no longer renting the unit and the thing is abandoned. We can't get a hold of them. So, is this going to be written off? So, there's going to be part of that's going to be one of my questions that I had because I just noticed there was a disperate. I guess that's I did ask that question too like there seems to be a whole neighborhoods or whole sections of people and the question is is why is that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mayor [clears throat] and council members, we we we're pretty confident there's some there trends in terms of why and in some um you know, whether it's rental housing or or new homes that are are being sold, but we'll get better information uh and come back to the council with that.

Is there some reason why we don't I mean, I hate to prolong this meeting. I know. I'm sorry. Is there some reason why we don't in rental units, if these are in fact rental units, the whole swath of a certain [snorts] street or numbers, why we don't collect uh an upfront fee? I do know that in other communities they will say we need x amount uh holding which is almost like your last month utility payment um in order to connect up to utilities. Make sense? So like a security deposit almost like that. Thank you. Yep.

It's a great great question. we'd have to research that a little bit more. Um, there's admin costs associated with that and really gets down to if it's a reoccurring problem and and if that would be a solution to that problem. So, I do know that I think well I believe this to be true that uh if it's landlord owned the landlord is ultimately responsible for the water payment. It's, you know, [clears throat] it's not the renter, it's the landlord. So, but that's I think reflected in the fact that these things are being assessed against the property itself. And so, if the renters's gone, it's going to fall on the property owner to price things off, right?

Yeah. Yeah. I was just trying to save us admin fees and get our money up front as opposed to going through this process. That's all. Um, okay. Any other discussion on with today's economics and where things are going? I suspect we may see a larger number next year. So, we may want to discuss some options that we might be able to have to help people out. Okay. Anything else? All right. We had a motion, a second. Roll call, please. Council member Santini, I. Council member Stafford, I. Council member Wilson, I. Council member Morris, hi. Mayor Bert,

I. Um, those pass. Um, okay. We the only public hearing we have tonight is for a um liquor license. So rather and do we have the the person here? No, I don't I don't think so. So rather than reading through the whole thing, I don't we have no if if somebody needs to speak then I have to tell you what you need to say or what what the guidelines are. But if not, we're just going to go right on and talk about the liquor license request. This is um item 7A. It's the approval for Seelad Enterprises LLC doing business as Good Bites Mexican Grill for um on sale intoxicating liquor license. Thank you, Mayor Bert, members of the council. Are our screens not working? Nope, I didn't touch it.

Okay. [laughter] So, I don't know if the cable folks haven't turned them on or Okay. Well, we'll just I got blamed for it last time. [laughter] Thank you. You kicked it. Okay. All right.

Again. All right. Um, Celid Enterprise LLC doing business as Good Bites Mexican Grill has submitted an application for an on sale intoxicating liquor license including Sunday and patio sales for the restaurant located at 10150 Hudson Road, Sweet 122. Um, they have one owner of that business with 100% interest. Um, the name is Uleia Varela. Um, as required by city code, a criminal history check as it pertains to liquor licensing was conducted um on the owner and no violations that would preclude the officers of the corporation from obtaining a liquor license was found. Uh, all necessary fees were submitted. Our city attorney has reviewed the application and found it to be acceptable. And then as our procedure, we uh mailed out public hearing notices to the surrounding properties for tonight. Uh, with that, the staff recommendation is on the screen and I'm available if you have any questions.

Great. And any green sheets? Again, just checking seeing none. I make a motion that we close the hearing. Second. Motion a second. All in favor? I. Hearing's closed. Council members. These are always pretty straightforward. Yeah. And this was a former business. This just had a change of ownership and a change of name. I will make a motion to approve the on sale intoxicating liquor license including Sunday and patio sales to Celad Enterprise LLC DBA Good Bites Mexican Grill located at 10150 Hudson Road, Sweet 122. Second motion second. Any further discussion hearing? None. Uh, roll call, please. Council member Stafford, I. Council member Wilson, I. Council member Morris,

hi. Council member Santini, hi. Mayor Burch, I. That passes. Good luck to the new enterprise and I hope all goes well. All right, we then uh have a discussion item tonight. This is to authorize financial assistance to open cupboard food shelf and uh Jeff is going to share some more with us.

Thank you, mayor. So, yes, this item is to consider the authorization of financial assistance to Open Cupboard Food Shelf. I'll be going through a brief presentation. Uh and Jessica Francis, the executive director of Open Cupboard is here as well to provide uh additional context and uh also answer any questions that the council may have as well. Uh so as most of us know as of the first of this month, SNAP, which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, uh those benefits from the federal government have been delayed and reduced due to the federal government shutdown. Open Cupboard, the food shelf that serves uh predominantly Woodbury and Oakdale, uh a growing number of community members as a result of this shutdown. Uh specifically, there were 2400 just over no north of 2400 visits from Woodbury households in September. More recently, um uh above and beyond that number, visits have increased 10 to 15% and dependency is anticipated to further increase uh given the absence or delay or partially funding of SNAP uh benefits. So overall, you know, there's significant impacts to Open Cupboard in terms of the community reliance on the food shelf. Uh as a result of this, Open Cupboard has requested $10,000 from the city uh to make up for the absence of SNAP funding from the federal government and the overall increased visits visits overall but also exclusive to Woodbury residents. As a result of this, staff is requesting authorization of $20,000, uh $10,000 to be distributed now per their request, and an additional up to $10,000 for a future dispersement if additional funds are requested based on

the length of the government shutdown and substantiated need. This isn't a a blank check or just a no matter what that the city would issue this additional $10,000. it is if there's a documented need and the government shutdown continues to, you know, go on into the month and into the holiday season. Um, just a little bit of context about Open Cupboard and the and the area and what other how other entities have stepped up to the plate. Recently, the city of Oakdale contributed $10,000 as well, and Washington County contributed $250,000 overall to all uh nutrition or food shelf related entities uh to address food insecurity given the current circumstances, 75,000 of which will go to open cupboard. Um a little bit about you know this is not a typical thing that a city does and in kind of give direct financial assistance to a nonprofit like this. Um we do have a fund that is uh appropriate for this. It is our local local gambling contribution fund. These funds are highly restrictive and only can use for certain things. At this point all we are using this fund for is um public safety equipment which we have a budgeted kind of line item for uh annually. Um so it's restrictive and there are we we do keep a healthy reserve in this fund. So we are able to make you know the the aphformentioned payments if approved.

You just really quick want to talk about where that's coming where that lawful gambling contribution revenue is coming from. talk about right super high level

high level it's coming from a a fee that um other nonprofits pay to provide for pull tabs um bingo those types of activities in which those nonprofits uh ultimately get a profit to to cover their you know costs. Um so based on this request um oh that's moving on sorry um ultimately um in addition to if the council moves forward with uh funding tonight staff will continue to work with open cupboard uh to leverage city resources and facilities to increase community awareness and support. We're already talking about potentially an event uh at our our tree lighting ceremony to encourage the community to come out and support. We need to there's a lot more to to do there. But the the point there is, you know, we're we're working on promotion and advertising in order for the community itself to get involved and provide support for this great cause as well. Real quick before I get into the recommendation, you see the uh the website address on the um on the uh PowerPoint there. Um, Open Cupboard has a great website where you can just click on it to either if you need help, if you want to volunteer or if you want to donate right then and there, go to the website. It's all right. It's really easy. Um, so in short, we do have the restricted financial resources available for this very ne unique and exceptional circumstances. Um, and we do recommend moving forward with resolution 25183, a resolution authorizing financial assistance to open cupboard food shelf initially at $10,000 to support Woodbury residents in need of uh in need due to the gap of federal funding and approve the associated budget amendment. So $10,000 now, but it could go up to 20,000. That is what's in the resolution for you to consider tonight.

Happy to answer your questions. Can we invite Jessica up to say a few words, Jessica Francis, who is the I think your your title is executive director of Open Cupboard Food Shelf. Hi, Jessica.

Hello. So, thank you so much for having me here today. Um, I just want to explain what's been happening in the last couple of weeks. It's only been about two weeks, but about two weeks ago, SNAP recipients in Minnesota and across the country were notified that their November um SNAP benefits would not be paid out unless something changed. They they were all notified that they would not be receiving their November benefits. Since that time, our numbers have been climbing. Um you know, when we open at noon each day, we are open six days a week. We open at noon uh Monday through Friday and every day when we open at noon the line is getting a little bit longer. Um you know before November 1st it was because people had had been notified that this was coming. I I like to say it's it's like uh when we all know a blizzard is coming everybody you know goes to the grocery stores. Um that was what was happening in the community you know for for SNAP recipients. And so while now we are told that a portion of the SNAP benefits will be paid out, um no one knows exactly what time line that will be and of course don't we still don't know when or if those November benefits will be made whole. So there's a there's a a really urgent situation in our community and we're really grateful that the city is considering supporting that. Um, it's going to help the thousands of people in Woodbury that rely on um us for fresh and healthy food. Some of the people that come to visit us um only only come to to visit us every once in a while. Um or they might they might only come when they um you know have have a car repair or something happen um in their household that that really spikes their need. Um, many people are working

families that visit us maybe once a week or once in a while just to stretch their budget because the items that we know keep people the healthiest are the ones that are often the most expensive at the grocery store. So, you know, meat and fresh produce, all those uh other fresh items, those can be out of reach for a lot of families um that are on a tight uh working budget. So they come to visit us, they stretch their budget, and they get the food that they need. Other people that come to see us are living in their car, and so they they can't get a lot of um a lot of other items, but they come in, they get fresh produce, they get the items that they they don't need to to cook. Um and they they uh live in their cars, and they stay with us. Whatever the situation is, we are here for them at Open Cupboard. We're open six days a week. We are the most visited food shelf in Minnesota. And we make sure that we are here for our community. And so we're just so grateful for the city of Woodberry support making sure that we continue to be here in this time of increased need.

Great. Jessica, can you just clarify? I've talked to someone earlier this week that um said and maybe you just talk about the the best way to get donations beyond, you know, these big dollars coming from the county and from the cities. Is it cash? Is it canned goods? What what is it that works best for you if people want to contribute? you know, financial decision or donations make a huge impact because we're able to use those at the the food banks mostly uh at Second Harvest Heartland um where we can we can get $8 worth of food for a $1, um donation. Um and so that makes a huge impact and we're able to see what we got from food drives and from the grocery stores when we do our food rescue and we're able to order the items we need most. So financial donations are incredibly important.

Okay. But other than that, we say, you know, personal hygiene items, other items that we um can't always get from the food bank, our household um cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items. Great. Thank you. Yeah, I'd heard that about cash. Cash is good because you can do so much more with it. And maybe for the public that's easy, too. You don't have to be collecting things. You don't have to drive up. You can just go online and donate uh through your online system. So that would make it easy. I have a quick question, Jessica. Do you also accept any gift cards? Reason I'm asking that is when you said there's people living in their car, food doesn't put gas in their car and heat the car in the winter if that's where they have to live.

Yeah. Um that that's absolutely true. And so sometimes, for example, Washington County will their their team will call us and they'll say, "There's a family that we're working with. they are living in their car. They are out of gas and so they they ask us, you know, to provide uh gas cards and we do keep some. Okay. So, you take you do that from your end. We Yes, we do not budget for it. We don't always have those, but when we do get them, we we use those strategically for those really emergency situations. Thank you. Great. Anything else for Jessica? Okay,

not for her. I just have some comments um and some questions if I if I can. Sure. So, we are you we're proposing a 10,000 now and then a 10,000 in a future dispersement. So, my question is is are we going to put a a date on that that if the government doesn't open up and benefits resume by a date that we would consider advancing that? Otherwise, I'm just trying to figure out why we say 10 now and 10 later. What's later?

Yeah. Council member, u Madame Mayor, um later is kind of depending on, you know, what happens. Uh the idea of having um an additional 10 if needed given, you know, another request and the r and an appropriate rationale like we're hearing tonight is really just to cut through any, you know, red tape so you don't have to wait to get it and have a council meeting or anything like that. So that was the um the intent behind that. In terms of a date though or or what would be required um it really depends on how long this persists and what the needs are of open covered. My guess is open cupboard could use money all the time.

Well, correct. I mean it's like let's I mean I'm I just want to be clear. It's it's a food shelf, right? of what do we call have a shelf or a bank or I don't want to use the wrong term but it I mean they're serving people in the community and where money is needed in order to help people in the community. So

and and council member madame mayor you know we in this presentation a couple of times it was reiterated this is an exceptional uh period of time based on the the shutdown than the the uh shutdown of or lack of funding. If the shutdown ends and there's funding, but they still the food shelf still needs funding. To me, that's not exceptional. So, that that would be that would preclude, you know, us from, you know, without any additional authorization providing uh another check of $10,000. Is is are you advocating to just a that the Can I ask a question? Sorry. In the middle of your I didn't interrupt [laughter] I didn't mean to interrupt you. Is the the fund balance is adequate enough to sustain the 20 today?

Yes. Is there is there appetite for the council to just say just be done? To your point, it's not like they're never going to need it. Is there is there appetite to just be 20 and done for this fiscal year? I wasn't advocating for that. Yeah.

Just so you know, that wasn't what I was advocating for. My question is this. I mean, we're 5 days into November. Yeah. Um there are people who are very optimistic that this federal government is going to open up and and there have been maybe even some legal challenges [snorts] on whether SNAP benefits can be um cut off like that. And so I guess I'm I'm saying um we had a a constituent, a resident of Woodbury [clears throat] say something or type in online in the chat and and during the work during the work, sorry, during the workshop.

Um and so and I those were the same feelings I guess I had also of the of the money. So as a I'm just going to just spill my guts and just speak freely. because I know everybody loves that. Um, you know, the government is I just feel is not is not something that we shouldn't be looking to the government to bail people out. And unfortunately unfortunately I um or fortunately um was a recipient of AFDC and WIC and food stamps and and so I understand the need for all of this. Um, but it's a it's to me this is a community. I would love to see the community come together as opposed to taking it from gambling funds that we are setting aside to offset future tax levies um for police equipment. Does that make sense? I mean, either way, it's coming from our funds. And so I I just this is a great opportunity for I know we're talking about a tree lighting ceremony and things like that. I think I had brought up that Central Park grand opening would have been a great time for people to to bring in donations as they came to Central Park that the community really needs to come together on this. You know, we we do have people in our community who who don't who who are struggling and we know this. um whether we can look at our delinquent taxes or our delinquent um utility bills or whatever is happening. We know this is happening. And so I'm going to I just want to throw a challenge out to the community. Um, I would rather see our community come together um and and get these dollars and donations donated to

this um to to the open cupboard as opposed to um tax dollars or gambling dollars coming out of our bud. Either way, it's coming out of our budget. Um you know, maybe your kids went to college like mine and they left behind food that you bought for them and they you don't want to eat. look in your cupboards, make sure it's not expired, and and get it over there or um drop it off on my front porch and I'll get it there. Let's let's This is a time for the community to come together for the people who need it. Am I against the 10,000? Um, I hesitate on it and I definitely hesitate for having an open another open 10,000 without saying if by December 1st the government hasn't reestablished these SNAP benefits. Um, I need a date, not just an open-ended Council member Wilson and Jessica. Um, from what I've been seeing in social media, our community has reached out substantially. We have a lot of our businesses that are doing collections, food collections. Um, I believe that your volunteer rates are up. We we just had our our biggest volunteer orientation yet today. So that the community is responding with volunteer hours which is fabulous.

Yeah. And I think the community is reaching out if I can deep dive into this. Um the 10,000 that's requested now and a potential 10,000 later is our community. These are dollars that we collect from different sources and a lot of it comes from our community and the form of levies and taxes. So indirectly they are we are all giving back

for for the record this yeah this is not coming from levy or other sources. It's it's lawful gambling proceeds where they gambling organizations like pole tabs are paying money into the city and as city administrator doll indicated this is a restricted fund but just to clarify particularly because there were some public questions about what does this mean or where these dollars coming from. The restrictions include an expectation that these funds can and should be used for charitable purposes, particularly donations to nonprofits and even more particularly donations towards organizations that help with poverty and specifically with food shelves by statute. And so this is and that's why you see not only our city but Oakdale and other organizations looking to use these particular funds for this particular purpose because by statute that's one of the expectations of what these types of funds are used for.

And I'm just going to go on the record for the fact that when we set up this fund I actually thought that these were the conversations we would have each year about the dollars in that fund versus showing up to the budget and having it sort of already line item for various things. And so truthfully, I'm really happy to see that this money is going in this manner because I guess that's what I really thought this fund was going to be utilized for. So,

and if uh you you weren't council member Stafford, you weren't on council, but when we when we created this with this, but we had very long conversations about which organizations where the the radius that that would be included for all. I mean, we had we had very long conversations to know to understand the restrictions that where these can go to and even within those restrictions, the restrictions within them. Um, there was a lot of um a lot of discussion. So, I would encourage probably to get council member Stafford up to up to speed with those. You weren't here. Neither of you were here now that I think about that. So, [laughter] somebody's going to have to download from somebody that doesn't work here anymore, right? What what those conversations were. But uh I'm with Council Member Santini and and and Council Member Wilson, you may not have been going there. I'm with you on a date certain. I would particularly like to see this prior to 1231, but I would actually go to the extra mile and saying, "Hey, listen. This is a fund that is extremely restrictive in its use. We've only had a singular purpose on this and it is to offset some public safety costs, but minimal minimal costs for what this is. that the true intent purpose of this fund of this particular fund was to go to those specific needs. So I I get that there's an emergent need on the 10,000 now and I understand the withholding of that but again this is what we created this when we passed the lawful gambling and changed those ordinances. We knew it was going to generate some revenue um disposable revenue quite frankly because that's what gambling is is disposable revenue uh from people that are choosing to do that and and support the local organization. So, I would actually advocate just do the 20 straight up be my change to the to the resolution

and just be done with it if it's in the fund. It's part of the pro approved use. We've had no other um uh uh expenditures out of this fund to date other than the public safety. So, that my my uh if if the council is open to it, I would change the resolution to just do the 20 straight up. I do have a question. How many visitors do you get uh per month in in at your facility? So, we served over 109,000 total individual visits last month. Last month, last month and 2,000 are Woodbury

that it's 2,000 households. The individuals is uh uh house or individuals when I'm quoting the 109,000. Okay, got it. That is the the total number of household members that were served by that visit. 109,000 people that Yeah. individual visits can because some people might visit multiple times. I'm sorry. When you're saying individual visits, they're not individuals. They're visits. 109 visit 109,000 visits that someone could have five kids, right? And they and they could visit every Thursday, for example. So they're represented multiple times in those.

Yeah. So if we're talking apples to apples, how many visits out of the 109,000 came from Woodbury? 7,000 [clears throat] approximately. So we're about 7%. 2400 households. Well, when I say the 109,000, that is including our Maplewood site. Um so so that is our organization's whole service to the community. Okay. So um so there's a there's a lot of breakdowns in it, but we gave all the breakdowns specific to Woodberry. So that's the 21 um 2100. Can you go back in the That's No, that's the 7,000. I'm sorry. 2,415 visits from Woodbury households.

House. Yes. That is the number of of individual families. Oh, who's running that? Yeah. 2,400 families. Families. And then that was more than 7,000 people or individual visits cuz that that household might have three or four members in the household. I understand that. So 2,400 households came to vi from Woodbury came to visit your visits. But not it could not it may not be unique ones. It may be correct that same family is coming every week. So it might be correct. Yeah. There's and there's some so there might be a thousand households and they're coming twice could be

right there's some of our programs that you can use once in a month. Um so we so when I quote a month that is one household um but there's other programs like our today's harvest market that people can use multiple times. So that's that makes it difficult, you know, when you're when you're trying to talk about different services. And and I would I would just add for context, obviously they serve a greater community, but and the same thing for the revenue that this is generated from. It's from individual from businesses certainly in Woodbury that we've licensed, but the patrons of those that are the folks that are playing PBS are coming from all over. It's just like a sales tax of those folks are coming from all over. So it's also the revenue is not generated solely from Woodbury residents.

Oh, I understand. Yeah. So, the greater good of anybody who buys a pull tab is contributing to that fund. That's what I say every time I do it, which is not me. Which is not me. I'm a I'm a net generator. And to Steve's point, I think it's also the fact that we have people that contribute to our community that might not necessarily live here. That's right. That's that work here that you know. And so to me, I get that yes, some of this benefit might go to people who actually don't live in Woodbury and they're supporting the charity that that runs the thing. And just to reinforce, if we give $10,000 cash, you can almost turn it into $80,000 worth of food supplies, cleaning items, whatever. Correct. You can do a lot with that. So, um, Mayor Bert, we did have a question from someone online. Okay, perfect.

Um, it's from a person named Belinda Reid. I did verify that they are a Woodbury resident. Their question is what percentage of the 20,000 from Woodbury will go for administrative costs and what percentage goes to the recipients? That's a good question. Very good. So um more than 98% of of our funds which is in our um a audit because we are we are audited every year uh are spent on our programs. Um, if you wanted to, you know, make the the funding that you are making available specific just to food, we we'd be very comfortable with that because we the the vast majority of our of our expenses are food and staffing. 90 98% rate is phenomenal.

Phenomenal, right? Yeah. We are a lean machine. Yeah, it's Yeah. Yeah. I I I do feel extremely torn on this and I'm only saying this because um because I am optimistic the government is going to open up. We're only 5 days into the shutdown and no benefit and no SNAP benefits have you know for 5 days and even though it is coming out of the gambling fund if the gambling fund doesn't do what we need and purchase what we need then it's going to be levied for. So ultimately it's it's coming from someplace. Yeah. Low risk I would say for what we've been expending from

our expenditures out of that fund are extremely low risk at at risk of being but they can also go toward they can also go toward police fire and EMS for various things. Is that right? Budgeted for 2026. Correct. Right. And this is not that is not at risking this. Yeah. Correct. There's there's uh healthy reserves in that fund to both budget our annual police and fire contribution and uh this specific expenditure and there'd still be a a reasonable reserve. That would be better than best practice in terms of how much you'd want to leave for a reserve. You know, this is this would be our first expenditure out of this fund. Yes.

Nonpoint. Since we had a very heavy discussion earlier about the budget, could we pull money from this fund to help cover the fire and EMS services in the budget? Um I mean that just we were talking about all kinds of things in our workshop meeting about the budget. So one question is if we need to do a little offsetting that would be one one place to consider doing it. Um I would How much is in that gambling fund? Uh at the end of the year there's going to be $125,000 128. And while it can go to some stuff for like please, it is limited sort of to what it can go to. So it's not very limited. It's not like a blank check that we can just put into the general fund of

No, you can't. But it goes to it can go to it ultimately is a is a source of our CIP that pays for uh public safety related equipment. Right. Okay. Um I'm going to I'm going to throw this out. You asked for 10,000. I'm happy to to say yes to the 10,000. And if there's if we go into if the government stops their shutdown and we don't need the extra 10 or if we do need the extra 10, can we come back absolutely November 19th at our next meeting and say we need the we think we're going to need the extra if you think you're going to need it. But right now the request came in at 10. I can get on board with hesitantly on board with doing that without um approving the second 10 at this point.

Would you like to make that motion? Uh uh okay. Um, [laughter] show it to me. Just this. Yep. Okay. Um, I'll make a motion that council adopt resolution 25183, a resolution authorizing financial assistance to open cupboard food shelf of $10,000 to support Woodbury residents in need due to the gap in federal funding and approved the associated budget amendment. It only says 10, but you're going to need but the actual resolution says 20.

So you need to you need to clarify if you're adopting the resolution 25183 with the with the amendment. With the amendment, yeah, the final paragraph, the final therefore resolved of the 25183. Council member Wilson, I think just clarifying that it's a uh budget amendment of $10,000 would provide the clarification needed with a budget amendment of $10,000 only and if additional monies are needed to come back

that good. Let's go to our attorney. What do I need to do? three different references in the resolution and in the now therefore be it resolved portions of the resolution to the amount of the uh expenditure or allocation being $20,000 and I think we just should clarify that those are amended to $10,000 in the in the written resolution. Got it. I see it in the last line of the resolution 25183 which for the record on the screen it's a little tiny thing but I have a full sheet of paper in front of me of resolutions right and then on the so it says it down here on the bottom and then it's I think he's referring to these other two on the back. Okay.

How about if I how about if I make this I'm going to make an amendment to resolution 25183. I would like to amend this resolution to say that we will um that we will give $10,000 now to support open cupboard food shelf. Um and if future money is needed that open cupboard can come back to the city and ask if [clears throat] the uh federal government does not open back up. And so I would also um ask that the fund of lawful gambling um be decreased by $10,000 to forward this money to um [clears throat] open cupboard and uh not the 20. It's not poetic. I'm sure someone can clean that out.

So I think just to clarify council clarify I just want $10,000 everybody. Yeah. It's Can I Can I Can I make a motion then? All right. So, I make a motion to to adopt resolution 25-183 with the following amendments changing $20,000 to $10,000 where it's referred to in the resolution. Thank you, Steve. Pretty clean. How'd you do that? We have a [laughter] We have a motion. We have an amendment. So, that's your That's the motion. Amendment to the amendment to the motion. So, that's the first. Yes. Does anybody want a second? We got a second. Okay. Uh let's take a vote or any further discussion. Any further discussion hearing? None. Ashley. Council member Wilson. I. Council member Morris. Hi. Council member Santini. Hi. Council member Stafford. Hi.

Mayor Bert. I. Right. That that resolution. I still will renew uh my plea to the community that this is a great opportunity for everyone in this community to come together. And I know that there are drives out there and everything else, but it hasn't come from up here. And so I'm going to forward this out to everybody who's watching. um let let's come together in this time um and and help people and actually it should just be our way of life um and in this particular instance open cupboard needs it right now and I know there's a lot of places that do need help um during these lean times and so let's uh figure it out and come together as a community

great thank you thank you Jessica thank you for being here and thanks for all you're doing and I know everyone's working their tails off oh Shel would like a quick picture. Yes. Is that okay? Yeah. Okay. Who's coming in for the picture? Should we just stand up here? That would be great. Yeah. Jeff, are you guys Would you guys stand stand if they're Yeah, we should stand. You guys look good in your blue. [laughter] Yeah. Stand. Stand. Yeah. This is a way that we can share then what we accomplish and then encourage others to donate. Okay. Scoot in, Jeff. You got a gap between you. There you go. You're welcome, Donna. Yeah, but it always happens.

Okay, great. Thank you. Um, okay, we're on to staff reports and Jeff, you're up with your city administrator's report. A break. Sorry.

Okay. Thank you, mayor. two quick thing or three quick things on uh actually. Uh one just wanted to congratulate um the winners of the election last night. Uh we the city of Woodbury was kind of a focal point throughout the region for a special senate uh election as well as school board. So, congratulations to Representative Amanda Hemington Jagger on her victory. Overall, um uh in in for the election in Woodbury, there were 50 over 5,300 absentee ballots cast and then uh for over 14,000 ballots cast uh yesterday in person. So, overall just shy of a 37% turnout. Uh my understanding uh for something that's schoolboard or special is a very high turnout. So kudos to the community for showing up last night. Uh, also thank you so much to Washington County and the partnership we have with them for running the elections, our assistant city administrator and city clerk Ashley Sullivan for leading uh the city's uh part in that partnership and all the election judges uh throughout the community residents including council member Wilson who actually registered me last night at uh the precinct you

or whatever I don't know what it's called. checked you. I checked him in. I just checked him in [laughter] for checked in. I was registered. That was his other brother. So, uh, congrats, uh, for everyone on the school board. Uh, and, uh, again, Senator or, uh, Representative Hem, just a clarification there. We will now need a special election because, um, Representative Amanda Hemaner will is moving on to the Senate and so now we will need to have a special election to replace her. I don't know the timing of that. Does somebody know? Ultimately, uh, Madame Mayor, the governor has to make that call, but we would expect that to happen pretty quickly, uh, over the next couple months and, um, you're ready for session in which starts this year in second week of February or something, right?

Yep. Exactly. Okay. And I'm I just want to say I hope more than 37% of the people show up for elections because although I think that's a good number according to administrator Dah, 37% 37% is not a good number. Let's get together and do our job.

Uh, next item, I just want to remind uh the council and the community that we're uh having our committee interviews uh this Saturday starting at 8 a.m. here at city hall. Um, it's going to be a long day because we have a lot of people to interview, but I think that speaks to the the interest and the and the people that really want to give back and participate in in our government. So, looking forward to that. That's on Saturday. uh the ETH. And lastly, I wanted to acknowledge the passing of former Chief Bill Herring. Um I'm sorry. Thank you.

Oh, you're welcome. I I thought I mispronounced the name. Um uh I know it's been a tough week for obviously the family and the community and especially our public safety department. Uh Bill began, for those that don't know, Bill began his career in 1970 as a police officer in Bayport, carrying on his grandfathers and father's legacy of public service. He also served as a firefighter in Rapids and a police officer in Oakdale before spending 32 years serving the city of Woodbury and retiring as chief of police and director of public safety. Um I think Chief Posel said it best. Uh he he offered these words in an email to his crew. Uh for those that didn't have the opportunity to work with Bill, he was a gentle, kind, and thoughtful leader with a wonderful sense of humor. He helped shape the culture we're proud of today. Grounded in doing the right thing for the right reasons, treating everybody with respect and serving with compassion and courage. Bill guided our organization through significant growth and change and always with a steadfast commitment to excellence and service. And uh for that we thank Bill, his family and our grieving there with him. But we really appreciate all he had done for our organization. Do we have any funeral information yet?

Yes, it's uh the obituary came out today or yesterday and it's going to be the not this coming week but or not later this week but the next week at the towards the end I think the 14 13th and 14th or something like that. But we'll I'll send that information out to the council and I'm sure if you just kind of Google it you can get more information. And that's all mayor. Thank you. Thank you. Um all right that wraps up our uh meeting for tonight. All right. I make a motion that we adjurnn. Second. Motion second. All in favor? I. We are adjourned.