City Council - Regular Meeting

Evening. Welcome to the city of Woodberry's uh meeting for tonight. We're kicking off the night with the economic develop authority meeting. This ED EDA meeting is taking place virtually here at city hall in council chambers. Uh the meetings are also recorded via True Lens Media and are broadcast live and also displayed on channel 799. Meetings are also available to watch on the city of Woodbury's YouTube channel. Members of the public may attend the meeting in person. May also join using a computer, tablet, smartphone, or access accessing the virtual meeting at woodbury.gov/verirtual meetings. So easy way just to join. If you find an agenda in the future and want to join, there's a green button to uh push. Um, so we're kicking off tonight with the EDA meeting. And with that, um, Janelle, would you please do the roll call? [snorts]

Member Morris here. Member Santini here. Member Stafford here. Member Wilson here. President Bert

here. We are all here tonight. So, we are able to conduct tonight's business for the EDA. Uh, we'll first start off with a consent agenda. All items listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the EDA board will be enacted by one motion and an affirmative vote by roll call of the majority of the members present. There be no separate discussion of these items unless a commissioner or citizens so request in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered a separate subject of discussion by the council. Now there's only uh two items on this consent agenda. It's the approval of minutes and the approval of the 2026 EDA calendar. So, pretty straightforward stuff. Uh, anybody in the audience want to remove anything? Seeing none, I always then have to ask Ashley about virtual comments. We always look um and then I'll turn it over to council. If nobody wants anything removed, then if would somebody like to put forth a motion?

I'll move to approve consent agenda items 3A and 3B. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. The roll call, please. Member Morris. Hi. Member Santini. Hi. Member Stafford. Hi. Member Wilson. Member. [clears throat] Did I get them all? Chair or President [laughter] Getting too confident. Yes. Um Okay. Um that sounds unanimous. Oh, I said I didn't even say it yet. I Okay, it it is approved.

We're all tongue tied tonight or something. We'll now move on to the discussion part of the topic. It's item 5A. It's the approval of the adop approval of adopting the 2026 2026 EDA budget. And with that, is this going to you Jamie? Jamie, it's it's all you now. Go ahead, President.

So, um, yeah. So, tonight's discussion item is just a quick review of the, um, 2026 EDA budget that was discussed at the council budget workshop back on September 10th. Um it's pretty straightforward. It's unchanged from the previous year. There's a few adjustments to um administrative costs. Um but relatively everything else remains the same. And typically how those expenses are paid for are use of the EDA fund balance because we no longer levy with our EDA and we don't really have any other sources of revenue out there for the EDA. So right now the total appropriation requested is 48,200 and the total source of financing is 48,200. And with that uh staff is recommending that the EDA adopt EDA resolution 25-02 for the 2026 EDA budget.

Again, pretty [clears throat] straightforward. Any comments or questions by members? [snorts] Someone like to put forth a motion? I'll move to adopt EDA resolution 25-02, a resolution adopting the 2026 economic development authority budget. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, the roll call, please. Member Morris. I. Member Santini. I. Member Stafford. I. Member Wilson. Hi. President Burke.

I. That passes. Thank you very much. And that can that is all on the topics we have for the EDA meeting tonight. So I make a motion that we adjourn this meeting. Second motion. [laughter] I said a motion. Kim, you said second. All in favor? I. We're adjourned. So, [snorts] in just a moment then, as soon as she changes the screen and all, we'll roll into our housing and redevelopment authority meeting. Uh, which should be pretty straightforward and go almost as quickly.

Have Jeff help you. He's been good with technology. Yeah, there you go. Now you're connected. Good evening. Welcome to the city of Woodberry's housing and redevelopment authority meeting for today, December 10th, 2025. We are meeting in council chambers. This meeting is also available to watch uh virtually and is available on a variety of media sources including uh True Lens Community Media and their cable channel 799. Um uh Janelle, would you please kick us off and do the roll call? Member Morris here. Member Santini here. Member Stafford here. Member Wilson here. Chair

here. We are all here tonight to conduct tonight's meeting. Um items. First item is the consent agenda. All items listed under the consent agenda are considered be routine by the H board. Will be enacted by one motion and affirmative vote by roll call of the majority of the members present. There'll be no separate discussion of these items unless a commissioner or citizens so request in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered a separate subject of discussion by the board. Um for tonight, this consent agenda contains two items. The approval of minutes from the October 8th meeting in addition to the um H calendar for 2026. So um anybody want to have anything removed? Actually, no. Okay. Council members or you guys are called commissioners at this point. Um,

I'll move to approve consent agenda items 3A and 3B. Second. Motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. The roll call, please. Member Morris. I. Member Santini. I. Member Stafford. I. [clears throat] Member Wilson. I. Chair Bert.

I. That consented those consent agenda items pass. We will now move on to the discussion portion. This is the approval of the 2026 Housing and Redevelopment Authority budget. And I back to Jamie. Thank you, Chair Bert, commissioners. Um, so once again, this is just another brief uh review of the 2026 H budget, which was also discussed at the at the September 10th uh budget workshop. And this budget is also based on direction given by council um at a April workshop regarding H programming in the budget. Um so these line items here are just um a condensed version of the budget that's in your budget book. So, we have salary reimbursement, professional services, operating expenditures, uh, loan program dispersements, which we're now putting at $250,000 of HA funds. And then we have a new line item that we haven't seen for a couple years, which is in addition to the fund balance of $65,500. Um, and then if we go into appropriations, we have the H levy. Uh, the not to exceed levy was approved back in September. uh that was also based on direction given at the workshop and the budget workshop in September. And then we have some other miscellaneous revenues. And then our two other primary sources of revenue are loan principal from loans that are being repaid that are outstanding. Um and then loan interest payments that are made with loans with interest on them. So total appropriation request is 544,700 uh with total sources of financing equaling the same amount. Uh just a quick review of the public process. I already went over this, but budget workshop in September and then also the not to exceed levy um being adopted in September the 24th. And then staff's recommendation is for the HA to adopt H resolution 25-10 adopting the 2026 H budget.

Great. Thank you. Pretty straightforward. [clears throat] Again, this has all been discussed several [snorts] times and reviewed. Would somebody like to put forth the motion? Can I actually just ask a quick question? How come I'm just realizing how come nothing or maybe that's part of the addition but um nothing in here reflects any of sort of the LAA funds. Yep. So um last year we made the decision just for the sake of making it easier to account for this those funds to make a separate fund. So that's fund 296.

Yeah. But then um like in that I'm just looking at the budget document. It talks about how there's like a 300,000 of LAAHA that would be used to supplement the loan program. So, we're not going to reflect that into the HRA, right? So, we're just reflecting that out of fund 296 as an expenditure for those dollars. So, that's not going to be included in here because that's going to be under, you know, a city operated fund, not an H fund. Okay. Yeah. [clears throat] Okay. Thank you. So, it's an act total loan pool of 550 is what I'm reading there. Correct. There's a is there are we doing a kind of a LIFO We're using LAA funds first before we're using HA or Well, we have to use HA funds first and then LA. So, it's reverse. Interesting. Turn the page. Okay.

It's where the LA is. Yep. That's what I If nobody else has any other questions, I will move to adopt H resolution 25-10, a resolution adopting the 2026 Housing and Redevelopment Authority budget. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion hearing? None. The roll call, please. Commissioner Morris, I. Commissioner Santini, I. Commissioner Stafford, I. Commissioner Wilson, hi. Chair Bert, I. That passes. Uh, with that is the end of the topics for this uh H meeting tonight. I make a motion that we adjourn the meeting. Second.

All in favor? I. We are adjourned.

And give us just a moment. the screen will change and we'll go on to our regular council meeting. Jamie's like I'm out. Good evening. Welcome to the city of Woodbury City Council meeting for tonight, December 10th, 2025. It is 7:41. We're a few minutes earlier than what we thought uh to kick off this meeting after we've just completed our HA and our EDA meeting. Uh this meeting is taking place in person. It's also available virtually. Uh the meetings are recorded by True Lens Community Media broadcast live replayed on channel 799 and also on the city perry's YouTube channel. Public may attend the meeting in person. And uh if anyone has green sheets, I already have a couple. So if anyone else, it's good to see people here. If you want to say something, we need to have you fill out a green sheet and bring it forward and we'll make sure that we give you time to address your question or your concern. Um, but in addition, if anyone's watching virtually and you want to make a comment, Ashley will be monitoring that on online. Um, so with that is is our normal standard. Would you please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [cough]

Um, okay. Ashley, would you do the roll call, please? Council member Morris here. Council member Santini, here. Council member Stafford here. Council member Wilson here. Mayor Bert here. Uh we're all here to conduct tonight's business. I'm just looking real quick. Um the okay the Tamar Nature Preserve Discourse that that's not open form. That's actually Was that a consent? Where was that in our meeting? Sorry, I'm just now who remembers? It is. Or is it not in any of these? And it's open forum. Parks. It was in the park and I swear it was in our I know. I know. Sorry. I can't remember if it was this the lake. This is the

Yep. This is Tamar Nature Preserve. Disc golf, right? Hang on. 6B. This is not This is what? I think maybe we just got Wasn't it Was it just in the parks? Yeah. Does anyone remember? I think I just talked to staff about it, Mayor. I don't believe it. It's not it's it's and it's an open form item, right? It's it would be just a regular open form item. Okay. I just wanted to make sure because it it's the parks materials recently at the last meeting. Correct. Okay. All right. So, this is open form. So, as a result, I have one or two I have two sheets for the open form. As a result, I need to read all the rules around open forum.

This is the portion of the council meeting where a maximum of three persons will be allowed to address the council. And I have two top two of them. someone else can choose to speak or maybe somebody online. Um, complete a signup sheet, which again, I've got two of those. Um, uh, please provide when you come forward, please provide your name and your city of residence with your question for the official record. Speakers are limited to three minutes each. We do have a timer over here, and when you come forward and speak, you can kind of watch that, and it'll alert you when your three minutes is about up. um we will listen attentively to comments but in most cases because this was not part of the agenda and we're generally not prepared to answer we don't answer typically um and that instead what happens if um you will get a reply to your concerns made back to you with by letter or phone call within a week. So that's how that generally works for open forms. So with that I would like to bring forward Galdoni. Hopefully I'm saying that right. So, so again, state your name and just your city. We don't need your We used to ask for the full address. We don't need that. We just need to know what city you're from.

Well, good evening. Uh, my name is Beta Gualdoni and um I'm a resident of Woodbury. I've actually lived here over 20 years and I've been in my neighborhood for 15 years. I love our neighborhood. The Tamarack Nature Preserve is like an extension of our backyard. My girls have grown up here. my uh dog who's 14. We just we love it. It's a jewel in Woodbury. Um, having said that, um, in I I well, in November 13th, we received, uh, a letter to residents from Parks and Wreck stating, um, that they are proposing putting in a, uh, 9 to 10 hole disc golf course in um, the southern end, I think they said, of the nature preserve. Um our concern um is we would like to request that the matter of this disc golf course be tabled for further review. Um and we feel that because we haven't been given sufficient notice or been consulted. It's unfair that um we weren't consulted because it will directly impact our neighborhood which is Parkwood Null. um where they want to put it is the entrance and we are um a closed development so there's only one way in one way out and we've had construction traffic over the summer there was no additional parking placed there for um hosting large events. So, in this letter, which I've practically memorized, um I've spoken to um the director of parks and wreck, Michelle Okata, um for about 40 minutes on the phone, and I know they're trying to give us a chance to voice how we feel, but um

I feel very strongly that this um proposed plan um would pose a a hazard for traffic flow. I also feel like it's not necessary. It's um I would rather our legacy be that we protect the last bit of unprotected land in the preserve and allow it to continue to be a peaceful um wonderful sanctuary for not only animals and nature, but for the residents who enjoy there. Anyone is welcome to come visit. We're not trying to say like, "Oh, you can't come into our neighborhood." But if they host these big um frisbee golf events, people could park along that road, which is Tower Drive and Valley Creek. And that's, like I said, there's one outlet, only one way in, one way out. And um I'm just asking please um don't do it. Um, and again, I [snorts] it would be dangerous for people um trying to get in and out if people are parking along that road. That's the main concern. But also, I mean, I I'm a teacher. I've seen things thrown into the woods and they don't get retrieved and it's a nonbiodegradable. There's there's many things to consider. So, I'm probably out of time, but thank you for for listening.

Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. And then uh Sherry De Brule again just name and city of uh residence on the Hi there. Um Sherry De Brule and live in the neighborhood too of Park Nolo. Been there for 46 years. Born and raised in Woodbury. Loved it so much. Never left Woodbury. Um [snorts] but just wanted to you know preserve the the the whole Tamarack nature preserve. So it's like why all of a sudden you know did this come up? why did we get notice? That kind of thing. And I feel like VA made, you know, some some really good points and everything. And I don't really have, you know, too much to add other than that. So, um, just wanted to, you know, have you reconsider. So,

great. Thank you. Thank you. Um, okay. So, I only got the two grain sheets. Is there anybody online, Ashley? No. Okay. So, um, like I said early on, we're usually not prepared and I don't think we are again in this case to say a whole lot except for my only one understanding of it is and I haven't seen the whole layout and all the detail because that's all handled by staff

um except that I think it was intended as a trial or a pilot or you know just to see how it goes. I think there have been some um there's been expressed desire by residents that want to have a place to play disc golf. it's becoming a popular recreational activity. Um, and so I think working through the parks and parks and natural resources commission, working with staff, they thought this might be a reasonable place to put it and to give it a try and that's all I know at this point. And Mayor Bird, just one thing to add, too. It's adjacent to the preserve, but it's not within the preserve. Just want to clarify that, too. Yeah. Okay. Is it actually then on the water treatment plant side? Yes, it is. And isn't there already a play structure there?

Yes. Okay. So, it's in within that area. So, in terms of parking, I know there's some parking back. I don't know how many spaces, but yeah, there's there's parking over there and then there, you know, there's some street parking available, too, but um

Okay, great. Thank you. Well, thank you very much for your comments and again, there'll be some follow-up for you. Um Okay, let's move on to the consent agenda. All items listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the city council will be enacted by one motion and affirmative vote by roll call of the majority of the members present. There be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member or citizens so request in which event the items will be removed from the consent agenda and considered a separate subject of discussion by the council. Uh today we have many items 6A through page page four 6 A through 6 Q. So many many items. Um, and does anybody look at it and want anything removed? Doesn't look like it. Anybody online? Okay. Uh, with that, I'll turn it over to council members. Anything removed? And if not, if you'd like to put forth a motion.

I I would like 6B as in boy removed. 6B. 6B is in boy 6 L J K Oh, okay. Got it. All right. Anything else, council members? Nope. So, does somebody want to put forth a motion for all the other items except 6B and 6L? I'll move to approve consent agenda items 6A through 6 Q with the exceptions of 6B and 6L. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. The roll call, please. Council member Morris. I. Council member Santini.

I. Council member Stafford. I. Council member Wilson. I. Mayor Bert. Uh I. Those uh agenda items pass. And I'm sorry. I'm just giving some consideration to are we going to handle these now or wait till the end. Wait till the end. Sure. Okay. Then I will um we'll move on to the public hearing portion of the meeting. Um there are two items uh two let me check that two for public hearing tonight and they both have to do with liquor licenses. So normally I have a long thing to read about that but liquor licenses are pretty straightforward. So, I'll save everyone my long paragraph unless somebody thinks they want to be here to talk about it.

I'd like to make a motion to make you read it. [laughter] I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. Okay. If we need to read it, if somebody step forward, [snorts] I will read it. But in the meantime, we're just going to move on. I'm going to say the hearing is now open for item 7A, which is the consideration of approval for a liquor license um with a new ownership for at the Courtyard by Marriott. And with that, I'll hand [cough] this over to Ashley. Thank you, Mayor and members of the council.

Uh, Shublub Hospitality MSP LLC doing business as Courtyard by Marriott uh has submitted an application for an on sale intoxicating liquor license, including Sunday and patio sales for their restaurant located at 185 Radio Drive. There are five owners of the business that are listed on the screen. Um, as required by city code, a criminal history check um, as it pertains to liquor licensing was conducted on each of the corporate officers and no violations were found that would uh, preclude the officers from obtaining a liquor license. Uh, all necessary fees have been submitted. Our city attorney's office has reviewed the application. Uh, and then we did mail out public hearing notices in advance of of the hearing tonight. Um I do want to just note that the business is currently being operated under a management agreement with the current owners. Um this is a situation where a new owner is purchasing the the business. So uh once the liquor license um is approved, the uh operations will transition to the new ownership. Uh and with that, the staff recommendation is on the screen and I'm available for any questions.

Okay, great. Thank you, Ashley. Um so I'll make a motion that we close the hearing. Second. Motion a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. I. Okay. The hearing's closed. Open it up to council members. I will make a motion to approve the on sale intoxicating liquor license including Sunday and patio sales to Shubl Hospitality MSP LLC doing businesses courtyard by Marriott located at 185 Radio Drive. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Council member Stafford. I. Council member Wilson. Hi. Uh, Council Member Morris. I, Council Member Santini. I, Mayor Bert,

I. That passes. [clears throat] We will now move on to the other liquor license. This is for, um, Woodbury Ice. Uh, the, and this is a continuation of a hearing. We actually opened the hearing at our last meeting. Uh, it was not ready to move forward for several reasons. Uh, so it's now officially continued. So, it's continued. There we go.

Thank you, Mayor Burton, members of the council. Uh that is correct. This was continued from November 19th at the request of the applicant. Uh so Woodbury Ice LLC doing business as Woodbury Ice has submitted an application for an on sale intoxicating liquor license including Sunday sales for their business located at 2122 Wooddale Drive, Sweet 100. There are four owners of Woodbury Ice LLC that have 5% or more interest in the business and they're listed on the screen. As required by city code, a criminal history check as it pertains to liquor licensing was conducted on each of the corporate officers and no violations that would preclude the officers from obtaining a liquor license were found. Um, all necessary fees have been submitted. Our attorney has reviewed the application and notices were mailed out ahead of the hearing tonight. Um, I do want to just note that Woodbury Ice is preparing to open this fall with food and liquor sales while the remaining construction is completed. Um, and just also noting that an application for lawful gambling on the premise is part of the consent agenda that was approved this evening as well.

Okay, great. Um, and with that, the staff recommendation is on the screen and I'm available for any questions. Great. Uh, doesn't appear like there's anything from the public. I'll make a motion that we close this hearing. Second. Motion a second. All in favor? It's closed. Actually, can you just go back to the percentages real quick? So, that doesn't add up to 100, but you don't need anybody that's under 5%. Is it? That's correct. So, there's one owner with 4% that did not need to be included in the background. Got it. Detailed. Well, sometimes things just strike me that way. Just curious. Okay. Um that's all that's my only question. Anybody else? If not, put forth a motion.

Only thing missing is a dog park inside there. I recommend a move um approve for on sale intoxicating liquor license including Sunday sales to Woodbury Ice LLC DBA. Woodbury Ice located at 2122 Wooddale Drive. Sweet 100. Sweet 100. Second [laughter] motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. The roll call, please. Council member Wilson, I. Council member Morris, I. [clears throat] [snorts] Council member Santini, I. Council member Stafford, I. Mayor Burch,

I. That passes. So, congratulations to those uh two new uh business owners. Um fantastic. We will now move on. Now that Jeff is back, if you're ready for this, um the discussion items, we will start off with the um 2026 property tax levy and budget truth. This is the official truth in taxation meeting. Uh and I'll hand it over to Jeff to share some news with that.

Thank you, Mayor Bert. And good evening, council members and and members of the community. Um uh Miss Schmidz is going to help me uh she's going to drive and uh follow along with the uh PowerPoint presentation tonight, but it's really my pleasure to uh walk through and and present the uh 2026 final proposed city budget. This is also the truth and taxation hearing. So, uh, when all of our residents and property owners receive their preliminary t property tax statements in the mail, it highlights this date to come. Uh, there's other opportunities, of course, to provide feedback, but this is kind of the the the the public hearing for any feedback that the community has before we adopt the final budget.

Um, so, uh, again, it's my pleasure to introduce it. This is really a year's worth of effort by staff and council on behalf of the community. Uh, and I'll go through a little bit uh, about that uh, process uh, in the next couple minutes. Uh, before I get into the details though, I do want to thank all of our staff and especially the finance staff uh, that has led the budget process. Uh, thank you to Lyn Hazley, um, Michelle Keer, Jason Shermacher, and Angela Gorl for all your hard work, creativeness, um, tweaking at the last minute, uh, with, uh, uh, after my review and just overall attention to detail. I really do appreciate your hard work. Uh so the budget presentation um probably should take about 15 to 20 minutes but overall uh we'll do a quick context and history uh next year's overview. Uh look at property valuations because that does play into the overall tax impact to individual uh property owners. Um also look at some comparisons user fees and then uh conclude with the staff recommendation. So, on to the budget uh development and background. Uh just a couple um seconds here on public process. Um transparency is super important to staff, the community, and the or organization. Uh all meeting agendas, and there's dozens of them throughout the year uh are online uh and publicly noticed. Public input is welcome at each step of the process, whether it's at a workshop or a regular meeting. uh over the past several months. Uh budget uh budget documents are available at the library, city hall or online as well. And um also the budget info is presented in newsletters and um uh this year in our preliminary tax statements as well. So there's there's a number of opportunities. We do our best to get the word out so we can

get people at this meeting and hear from them about what we're doing well and and what they don't like from um the upcoming year's budget. Uh when I said it's a year or referred to it's a year-long proc process, I wasn't joking. Um you can see from this image here, it really does start in February. Uh that's when the capital improvement process fires up and then ultimately going through the summer, September and uh November, December, we wrap up with uh the truth and taxation hearing. But there's a number of points along the way um where we uh usually sharpen our pencils, have difficult conversations in order to um move forward with the the the best most um feasible and uh financially pruded uh budget. Uh internally uh this is not a top-down process. It really starts from uh the people that are that are our employees that are um uh on the ground, boots on the ground. It starts with the division and sections of the the organization. Uh goes to the departments ultimately in the summer. Um the preliminary information is uh reviewed and um analyzed by finance and then ultimately it makes my way or makes its way to my office and then the city council uh reviews it in September. So um it is a real organic process that I I I think is uh best practice really uh throughout the way. There's also a lot of checks and balances uh not only from a staffing p perspective but we do take very seriously uh two specific tracking mechanisms. One is our community survey that we do uh every other year uh that really highlights trends and how we're doing in certain areas if we're falling

behind or or hopefully improving in the services that we provide. Um we also have our annual performance uh measure assessment which is a much more detailed approach uh in measuring all the services that we provide response times um both internally and externally. So we have a lot of data to track that shows how we're doing and where re resources should be allocated. In addition to that, lastly, we do look at other communities and we'll see later where they're at just to make sure we're, you know, we're not um too far of an outlier. Uh usually that that's a red flag in some ways. And all this process, all to say, we do have proven results here. Uh we obviously have a community that is continually growing and is is prosperous. Um we're constantly in the top uh you know 10 top 50 cities in the US and the um [snorts] in the state uh for quality of life number of financial uh finance related awards. I'm really um proud of our AAA bond rating that ultimately means we can issue debt for a very low cost which really saves the community uh a lot of money uh in the long term. Uh and and that's you know we don't issue debt that much so when we do we don't have to pay a lot for it which is which is impressive and that shows in more of some of the the the surveys that we've done uh very high ratings with really uh people receiving feeling like they're getting a good bang for their buck or ROI with city services. Um and this year's theme we can jump ahead a couple there. Uh, Miss Schmidz, thank you. This year's theme is really about, you know, not only being a comm a premier community, which is our uh overall mission, uh, but really a

commitment to public safety. Uh, you'll see, uh, not every there's there's other budget drivers that I'm going to mention here shortly, but, um, a big chunk of the increase this year is related to, um, having the best public safety officials, which means we have to compensate them appropriately. and also having a fully staffed public safety department which we haven't had and most cities do not have right now. It's a very tough position to fill. Uh fortunately through the um encouragement of the council uh through the um diligence of our leadership in public safety, they have been successful in um fully staffing our public safety department and we're thrilled about that. That does there is some cost to that. Um, beyond public safety, there are some other major budget drivers I just want to mention. Um, uh, there there are, uh, direct and indirect unfunded mandates from the state. This year, the big one is, uh, uh, Minnesota [snorts] paid leave, which is essentially like a kind of a hybrid short long-term leave uh, uh, benefit that you would otherwise have to pay for, pay for a private party to uh, issued. That's all happening through the city and the state. Um there's a cost to us to do that both on the front end. There's also an indirect cost there will be in terms of staffing because you know um even though we encourage people to when they're sick or if there's something going on in their personal lives to take time off. Um there is a cost to that and this will provide more leniency for that which is good. But no matter what, it does have a cost to uh personnel. Uh so that's an example. And the and the state is not um uh they passed legislation to allow that

and they're not funding the entire or even more than half of the um benefit. In addition to that, uh I would say the two biggest and these are more general drivers is just the overall we're we're a growing community so there's more services that are being provided. Uh and o overall the cost of doing business is going up. Inflation, CPI, it's starting to stabilize a little bit more but fuel is going up. Uh energy costs, things like that. Um it's still going up at a a rate higher than CPI. Uh so that kind of really sets the tone. I'm going to give a quick snapshot of the the numbers. Uh but first I wanted to start with um where we started from just to highlight and then I'll I'll get into the the the actual numbers. um in September at our first workshop meeting. Uh from that meeting, we ultimately with a combination of increasing revenue um and being creative about re revenue and and updating our numbers based on actuals and cutting expenditures. uh that in addition to elimination of a debt levy that we had planned to start next year uh we reduced the we had an overall net positive impact of a million dollars to the levy. Um that's ultimately the biggest reason why we're we were able to go from 11.7% in September all the way to 9.7%. Um and you can see uh on the screen um if you want to go to the next one. Uh thank you. You can see overall the the the tax levy change from 58 and a half to 57 and a half essentially. Uh that's a big deal when it comes to the overall impact on a

household. Uh the overall increase went from uh 143 additional city taxes to 115. So a pretty substantial increase

per year, I'm sorry. Thank you. [snorts] Uh but getting zooming back again, uh overall the the budget uh amount is uh I have that in front of me. Where is it? Uh 15 almost 154 million. But when you take away transfers and some of the the others uh that that net out with uh expenditures, it's overall with the levy and uh non-levy revenues, it's $132.1 million. And you can see what that looks like in terms of the increases. Non-levy revenues. I want to just take a second on non-levy revenues. [snorts] those revenues uh account for you know um administrative fees, development fees, permits, things like that. In addition to that, we've been very successful uh recently and in and points uh previously also in securing grant dollars for operational needs and for capital needs as well. So, um, we've received $1.7 million in 2025, [snorts] um, as an example and, um, and that's nonwater water quality related. In addition to that, we have got about $80 million coming in for that. So, I just wanted to note that um a lot of those revenues are ones that our staff, our personnel are bringing in uh from other entities. Um so, uh very impressive work and hopefully that number uh increases even more so in 2026. Looking at expenditures, you can see there um operating is going up 8.3%, capital 9.1, and debt service is 4.5%.

Um [snorts] when I when I mentioned the um the main budget driver of p public safety public safety excuse me um in addition to the increased labor costs you can see in terms of um FTEES we are bringing in 16 next year 13 of those are public safety both police and fire EMS three of them are will be in admin essentially um and you can see how those um positions will be ultimately funded. Uh in addition to personnel, we have a lot of major PA capital projects that are a part of the budget. Um as I mentioned before, the water treatment plant and piping project, that's a 300 plus million dollar project. Um we are intending to move forward on a public safety new public safety building next year. That's a 60 plus or minus 60 million plus or minus project uh slated to commence next year. And then um the biggest other project is the roadway and trail resurfacing which is an annual um project but uh substantial in terms of budget. Okay. So we have the budget um we have um [snorts] you know the the revenues and expenditures ultimately how you get to the impact on um uh on an individual property or your resident is based on your valuation. So a real quick look on of property valuations because that is a key factor what ultimate impacts are. You can see from this graph uh last year 2025 was an exceptional year in that um the value of city real estate uh citywide went down for the first time in many years. that

was a function of both um uh de depressed quote depressed you know not significantly but depressed uh property values and not a lot of additional uh property or development happening this year I am happy to say that we're back um increased uh from the previous year uh you can see from the next slide we're um just about $500 million more in value that's a combination of both new development and uh property values going up slightly. Uh you can see from uh a median family home in Woodbury uh it went from 441,000 last year to 451,000 this year which is is slight and certainly um less than previous years but uh back on the right trajectory. So getting back to impact on uh individual properties, uh the levy portion of our budget is really what has the impact that is levied onto uh uh properties. You can see here with the property tax allocation how the levy is um uh broken out overall. It's 57 uh over 57 million which is gets to that 9.7. That's the key number that we focus on because that really does have the impact to the uh property owners. Um and the levy is actually the the leading factor or the leading part of the general fund. You can see here um a breakdown of our general fund. Uh the levy part which is next neck taxes essentially [snorts] um is the driver but we also have licensing and permits intergovernmental um recreation and services transfers in and some other miscellaneous items too. But the levy really drives the general

fund which really gets to the essential services that we provide. Police, fire, public works, uh parks and wreck and admin. That's essentially it. Overall, the 9.7 that I just referred to uh certainly is the highest uh in the past 15 years. The the 15-year average is 4.9%. So, you can see over the past five uh since essentially COVID, uh we've steadily gone up. Um but our hope is with some more long-term planning and uh you know different u uh circumstances next year that that won't continue to go up uh historically. So tax rates real quick. I'm not going to get into um a session on tax rates, but ultimately for tax rates um um the levy is inc if the levy is increasing at a rate higher than your values are, your tax rate is going up. tax rate really is kind of the way I look at it com comparatively with others is really your ROI on um your your dollars that you're um paying for the city through taxes and the services you're getting. So the last two years you can see we've had uh very high relatively speaking high increases in the levy and our tax values have not gone up as high. So you could see the the um the tax rate going up. Previously the last 13 years essentially it was slowly going down and and we hope and expect that trend will come back. [snorts] Um as it relates to the medium home value and the impacts the city levy has. Uh you can see here compared to last year

it was uh just south of $1,400. This year we're at $1475. Again that's the $115 uh additional dollar amount which is 8.5% increase. Uh the reason why it's not 9.7 is because we have additional growth and you know shifting between commercial apartment and ultimately for residents it means that it's not as high as 9.7 which is a good thing. This is probably my favorite part uh part of the presentation. And it really gets to that amount of money that I just referred to, uh, the, um, 1475, and really breaks it down per month where the money goes. And you can see from my um previous statement uh over 75% of the cost, your monthly cost of just under $123 goes to essential services, police, fire, public works, parks and trails, uh those types of services. Uh so all the snow plows and the plowing that happened over the past few days and our great public safety teams, you know, addressing if there's been an accident or anything, that's where the lion share of the money is going to. [snorts] Uh because of that lower tax rate compared to other communities, which I'm going to show shortly. Uh fortunately, our overall total is just a shade over what a you know or or maybe it's under a cable bill would be uh for most people uh most residents [snorts] in our community. Um next chart is just showing kind of the the increases along the way. 115 is significant compared to previous years and that that graph certainly shows

that. uh looking at you know Woodberry is a very diverse community with different neighborhoods. You can see uh this graph is I like this because it shows impacts on uh our with our current levy on the changing values because different neighborhoods change values at different rates. Uh you can see uh there's more of an impact on ridgegate patio homes uh and wild canyon for example uh is uh in the levy impact is less there. [snorts] Another graph just showing you know still talking about the impacts to community members. Uh it shows you that the the lion share of our residents will be receiving between a five and a 15% overall city tax increase which makes sense if you split the difference. We're at about eight which is the the average. Um I think we'll skip to the next one Janelle please. Thank you. Lastly, before we kind of get into some of the uh comparisons, a reminder I emphasize city tax rate uh city taxes. Um when residents get their uh tax statements, the city portion is 26%. So just a shade over a quarter of the tax bill. Um the the lion share of the tax bill is between the Washington County and whatever school we have three school districts in the community. Uh whatever the school district is. Um so the city portion is is for the in this sake it's we're we're using as an example 833. So it's 26%. In others it'll be different a little bit more or a little bit less. Um

uh but all all to say that if those entities are increasing or decreasing, they're likely like likely to have a much greater impact on your your overall property taxes than the city levy itself. Not to say that the city levy doesn't matter. It certainly does. Um but it's it's it's just one of many key factors. Okay. looking at uh some where other cities are at because it is good to check your neighbors and other uh similar type communities just to make sure that we're you know not outliers and if we are making sure that we're really doing our due diligence and asking ourselves why. You can see overall our tax rate uh even with the significant increase this year remains on the low end uh to be sure uh compared to other similar uh cities with similar population or similar size dynamics. Um so we're staying kind of on the low end which is good. Um and then in terms of our overall le levy increase, we expected that we'd be towards the higher, not the highest or not even at the highest few, but uh this year uh we are, you know, kind of in the middle slash higher than our our comparable cities. [snorts] Looking at just Washington County, we are um from a tax rate perspective, we remain low. We are and and remain low. Uh and even um uh sorry maybe that's the same one actually we can move to the other one. Oh that's with the uh adjustment for the um uh with the 9.7 uh% levy increase. We still remain um at that second to the lowest of comparable cities.

looking at the levy increase, uh even with the 9.7, we're we're lower than most of our neighbors, which uh that was a surprise uh for me. So maybe I'll pause there. Any questions about the comparisons about uh what other communities are or how we got to that um you know, how we got that data or anything? No. Uh last portion of the presentation uh a significant component of our our revenue base is from user free fees. Uh this is more in our enterprise funds uh that are [snorts] um mandated to ultimately just pay for the operation and capital costs. There's no profit. There's no transfers. It just pays for that specific utility. I'm talking about water, sewer, storm water, those types of utilities. Uh in order to um appropriately fund uh the increases in operational costs and capital projects, you see here the uh changes that are built into the budget um anywhere from 8 and a half to 3% um for water and sanitary sewer. And on the next slide, uh, we have storm water fee at 6%. And then a pretty significant increase for street lighting. It's a significant increase. The amount is still relatively small, so it kind of gets skewed there. Uh, but again, that is um I know that the city did a lot of work on that recently and that's in order to fund appropriately the the level of um operations.

Nothing changed for years. 15 years. Yeah. Right. We're catching up. Yeah. So, with that, um, happy to answer any questions. I'm not sure if there's any committee members after that that want to ask any questions, but happy to, uh, uh, take feedback, mayor and council, and a and ask and answer any questions you have. Overall, we're we're me recommending the u many resolutions tonight, but we have a cover resolution that adopts all of them, so you don't have to read the 20 or so that are are in the packet.

Um I'll just like to make a point of clarification for the audience and anyone that's listening online that um again, so much work goes into this budget. It is a year-long process. We've got a whole team of people that [snorts] work on it. As you said, it starts with the the division level moving up to department level and all that. It gets built and then it gets presented to us. And I just want people to know that council um I think I can speak on behalf of all of us that we realize this is one of the most important decisions that we make in the entire year that how do we how do we use the public's money to do the right thing in our community. Um so we spent a lot of time scrutinizing the bud budget and and going to the the um the meeting for it and providing comments and recommendations. So since our meeting in September, there's been ongoing discussions and guidance given to say hey we kind of feel overall we felt like the budget was just a little too high. It was too much to ask of the public to pay for. So where can we trim? Where can we cut back? So very pleased to see that staff has listened to the guidance by council. Has brought that down from the 11.7 to the 9.7% um increase. Again, uh we we do recognize that that's a higher increase than we've had in the past, but our commitment has been to make sure that we get our public safety fully staffed and get a good team in here. And we finally have achieved that. It's been our plan for a number of years to get up to there and we're finally there. So, um, that's just kind of a little more background on all that.

Thank you, mayor. So, yeah, clearly it's not the first time we've seen this. Jeff throws through all the numbers. We're like, we've got books, we've got details, we've got notes, and we've had a lot of discussion. So, thank you. Um, always again, happy if anyone from the public wants to comment or ask questions for clarification. Uh, Ashley, if there's anybody online and if not, I'm going to open this up then to council members. We do have a resolution pass, [cough] but you may have [clears throat] a comment or question that you want to even though you spent a lot of time on it already, there might be something more you want to add or say.

Um, I have a question. Um, and maybe it can be answered and maybe not. Um, you had talked about the unfunded mandates that the um that have been imposed on basically every person working in the state of Minnesota, which is the paid family medical leave. Um, do we know how much of an impact that has had on our budget? How much do we end up paying as a city?

Um, Council Member Wilson, Mayor Bert. Um, I'm going to look over to uh, Miss Gorl, I I believe it's around a couple hundred,000. Uh, but she can provide that detailed answer. That's the direct cost, but there will be indirect costs by I just am talking like right now. How much are we having to pay into this fund? The general fund total is about 134,000. Okay. Total and then from the enterprise funds um about $10,000 from water and sewer utilities and then smaller amounts from the sports center in Eagle Valley as well. So we could say 140,000 safely. And do we do we have employee contribution to that or are we picking everything up? Yeah. So the employees now also then have to pay into that fund, right?

Yes. We're we're splitting it 5050 place that everybody understands free for no one. Just I just want everybody to understand that that there are unfunded mandates that have come down and um and the indirect costs would be if somebody did exercise their I believe 20 weeks up to 20 weeks that means um we as a city then would have to find somebody to do that job for 20 weeks or go without or delay services. If you remember from the budget, the budget workshop, the specific one of the FTEES in public works was a mechanic, right?

Because there's only two mechanics. If one mechanic [clears throat] goes out, the stuff still has to rolling stock still has to roll was the was the explanation. So we we can't either outsource that or what have you based on some of the so that's the indirect cost that you're talking about that there was a specific FTE that we we wouldn't have had had it not been for this at this at this point we would have eventually because the stock would have gone up but it not was not as present rolling stock with with the equivalent of you know up to 400 FTEES in this organization you know a few people using it every year and there's It's going to be more than a few people. It's going to have the equivalent of at least a couple full-time employees.

Right. Then I also uh just want to reiterate um what um Mayor Bert said and I do appreciate staff sharpening their pencils and bringing down this um this levy. I I would still like to see further um decreases in here. I think it's difficult for PE safety building. Correct. Right. That's so that'll be next year's levy, correct? Yeah. If we need a levy for it, it'll be on 2027. Yep. The debt service for it. Yeah. I promised the mayor that I was going to write mine down so I didn't meander because I I don't know if you guys know or not. I tend to I tend to ramble. Yeah.

Really?

Yeah. So, uh here it is. I've worked on budgets u in the private sector and publicly held companies for 20 years. This is our seventh um collectively. This is our seventh budget cycle. Throughout all of those experiences, I've never encountered a single budget in which I agree with every item, every department, every dollar in revenue or expense. Budgets this size cannot be compared as is often done in social media cannot be compared to a family's personal budget as as I we see in social media because the seriousness of the services and the offer that we have as a city is not a fair or accurate comparison to make to your personal home budget. So, let me try this instead. As a Minnesota sports fan, I have never experienced what it's like to be in a Super Bowl or an NHL Stanley Cup contending team. What I do know is that in order to have a championship team, you have to pay for talent. And as Minnesota fans know, it's not about a single player, as the Lord knows that we've spent some chunk of change on some players, but have still not produced a championship team. The single largest expense we have, as administrator all just explained, is labor. the single most expensive one that single most expensive element that we have uh what we do in the city is provide services parks pavement police and paramedics that costs dollars for capital equipment material that's our stadium that we play in but just like the sports team we have to have a team that executes it and that team costs money for us these Heisman trophy level players in the hockey equivalent of that are instead our engineers parks and reccks IT accounting and finance public works and public safety teams we desire to be a premier community to live, work and thrive. And that costs money. If we change nothing, doing the same thing next year as we did this year will still cost us more money.

So understanding this when we started out and we said this at the budget workshop on in September was one of two things had to happen. Either we change and alter our expectations or we change the budget. Simple. It's all it is. As evidenced in the last snow event, we expect to have streets plowed in this in the city once within eight hours of the completion of the snow event. That's our expectation. That's our goal. This is just math. One plow truck costs x amount of dollars. To staff and run that truck and keep it functioning costs x amount of dollars. That truck can plow a certain amount of lane miles per hour. It's simple math equation. So the number of lane miles divided by the number the cost to run the truck. That's the number. So either we change our expectation of 8 hours or we change the budget because those same that same cost of operation and maintenance is going to be more next year. That's it. That's that's as simple as the budget gets if we change nothing at all. As mayor said, this council goes through a budget with a detailed eye. If you watched, listened, or attended any of the budget workshops and subsequent ones that we went to, you heard all five of us considered, debate, and discuss the details of each department's requests. So, I like the mayor, I don't like increasing the budget, and I don't agree. I'm with Council Member Wilson. I don't agree with every single item, but the overwhelming majority of the budget, I believe, puts the company's priorities front and center, allows us to deliver the services the community expects and demands and will serve us for year to come, years to come. This council, you were not on council yet. So, four of the five of us at last year's budget meeting gave a challenge to the public safety department and said, "Enough is enough. Staff it. Get it done." M

I when I agreed with that statement did not think they were going to do it in one year understanding that the imp the impacts to the budget that it would have could be absorbed over several years and we wouldn't have this ginormous increase that we did. I did not expect that to happen. I'm overwhelmingly happy that we did. It's better for the community that we fund our police, fire, and paramedics. And so understanding that's the majority of the increase, we looked at the other areas in in detail and where we can cut out. I'm aware just like administrator Dah said, I'm aware like that dollar bill example, we're not the only mouth at the table that's being asked to be fed and we're not the only ones asking for an increase.

U but we have a job to do and that job this budget is that job. And I'll and I'll finish by saying this that we have as a community, we have to pay attention to all levels of government. Costs that were shifted from federal and state levels to counties, cities, and school boards is being seen in this year's budgets and subsequent budgets. So when you hear individuals at state and federal level say that they're cutting budgets, be careful because it's not a budget cut unless a program or a project gets cut. it's just shifted

and that's what council member Wilson was talking about. Some of our some of our costs are those shifting budgets. So, just be aware. We have to pay attention to overall and what we can do uh from an overall government standpoint. So, it's a political shell game that I do not appreciate being in the position of. But that being said, um in order for us to keep our our commitment to being a premier community, I would encourage the council, even though I don't agree with every single item, I would encourage the council, my vote will be a yes and I encourage the council to vote the same. Thank you, Stephen. Thank you for writing it down and keeping it uh all succinct. Well said. Ashley didn't even have to put me on a timer. Thank you. Any other comments from anybody? If not, um

I will just say um two things. One is just to I think reiterate, we actually don't really get a lot of attendance at this meeting. There's a lot of times we have this conversation on in December at an empty house. So, I think having everybody here is a great thing. Um, but just again to also I think just really put it in perspective when we added these uh staffing under public safety. [cough] So these are rough numbers that I had jotted down but uh per officer and you have to remember right it's not just their salary it's the uniform it's the equipment it's all of these things. So roughly per officer when you add them in is roughly $133,000 per year. And for fire and EMS, it'sund roughly the same amount. Every two officers requires a new squad car. So again, when we talk about those essential services and we want the community to we're having such an increase for EMS calls, things of that. We're putting a new um uh oh gosh, what am I thinking about? Um team crew, right? we're trying to add another crew for the EMS and fire response so that we can have faster response times. So, just I think really understanding when you boil down what those actual costs look like. Um the other thing I just wanted to mention is that um because we do know it's impactful, but that you should really look at your tax bills and that there are some relief programs out there. So, if for some reason your property tax bill is more um I believe both programs are it has to be more than 12% um from last year's and then there's some caveats here and there about one being um there's no income qualifications for eligibility and one does have uh qual uh income qualifications. [cough] So just recognizing that, you know, if you do have questions, whether you call the city, whether you call the county, that there could be some additional relief if needed because we know that this is impactful on our residents. So

great. Thank you. There's nothing else. It's probably time for someone to put forth a motion. I move I had to read here. I move to adopt resolution 25-203, a resolution which approves the various fund budgets, sets the tax levies, and cancels various debt levies for next year. One res Yes, there we go. Thanks. Just the one resolution for 26 others. Yeah. Uh that was a second by Donna. Great. Motion second. Any further discussion? [clears throat] Hearing none, the roll call, please. Council member Morris, I. Council member Santini, I.

Council member Stafford, I. Council member Wilson, no. Mayor Burch, I that resolution passes. Um, and yeah, so I think, you know, overall we've got just a little good news. People got their truth in taxation notices. So, bottom line is it's going down. It's going to be better for you than what you received in the mail. So, that's a good that's really good news. So, yeah, I just looked at mine again the other day or just this morning. Um, and I'm like, "Oh, well, the new one's going to go down." So, I don't know when those come out, though. February or sometimes. Does anyone know? Yeah, I think around the first quarter. Yeah. So, um look look forward to the change because we've brought it down for you.

Um okay, we now move on to our next um which is just um Shelley is here, Shelley Schaefer to talk about our legislative priorities. Um, this is something that doesn't necessarily have to come in a formal way, but we thought it's important for people to understand the work that we do. As Jeff talked about before, trying to get um, what's um, dollars, grants, dollars, grants, grants is the word I'm looking for, grants, and other things that we work on, things that we work with our state legislators on in terms of things that we need for our city that we want them to look to help us with at a state level when it comes to legislation or even things at the federal level. So, um, Shelley will highlight this for us.

Wonderful. Good evening, Mayor, council members, administrator Dah. I, uh, as the mayor had said, will be here tonight to review our proposed 2026 legislative priorities. I last joined you on October 22nd at the workshop where we first discussed the priorities. Tonight, we'll do a brief uh, review and highlight some of the refinements we made based on your uh, recommendations. So tonight we'll start with our uh state legislative priorities, review our federal, and then hopefully adopt the 2026 legislative priorities. So the first two priorities um were a carryover from last year as our two bills did not get passed in our last legislative session. So our our top priority um the first one is our state bonding request of $2 million for La Lake Park restoration and development project. And then the second one is our sales tax exemption for water treatment plant water tower including the pipeline materials and construction. So just to dig in a little bit more on our law lake restoration and development project. This is a project that is currently in our approved CIP and we gained a pretty good amount of traction this last legislative session on this project. I included a couple renderings here that I I believe you've seen before that just giving a little bit of a vision of this project. Um we saw this project as a great candidate for the bonding um uh proposal because of its regional significance. Um it borders Newport and uh right on the border of Woodbury and Newport and the city of Newport as well as Washington County uh support this project. The project will provide year-round access to residents uh in the region including those with mobility issues by improving the trails and connectivity. Um, and as you all know, we were very honored to have members of the House and Senate bonding uh tours um as part of

the the um capital investment committees. They came to Woodbury to learn a little bit more about the merits of the project and we were able to share that. So, we uh will walk into next session hopeful that we will get our $2 million in bonding project. Uh the next uh bill that we have proposed is our water treatment plant. Uh again, this the sales tax exemption for our water treatment plant, water tower, including the pipeline materials and construction. And uh this bill again was a carryover from last year. It will be retroactive to anything purchased as of January 31st, 2024 and will go until [clears throat] December 1st, 2028. Um, [snorts] other priorities include the commitment to housing diversity, which we had on our legislative [snorts] platform last year as well. Uh, as you know, housing has been a big issue at the legislature over the last few years, and we have been following it very closely. Uh, we share the commitment with previous bill authors about uh the importance of housing affordability and um housing diversity in our cities. It's just a matter of how to get there. Um, the city has been a leader for several decades in providing housing opportunities for all. For an example, our uh comprehensive plans have consistently included a commitment to housing diversity with 50% single family homes and 50% multifamily homes. And we were also early adopters [snorts] of the first uh home buyer loans and first generation loans. As a city uh that is actively developing, we could be significantly impacted by housing legislation being proposed at the capitol. Uh so as a result, our staff has really been proactive in uh having conversations with stakeholders and organization like the sensible land use coalition to come up with solutions both for cities uh

builders and ultimately legislators. So, in the meantime, we identified three areas uh that we believe um are important to consider when developing housing legislation. The first one is the increase in state financing for affordable housing. And per council's direction, you'll notice that we move that from the third bullet to the first. And we also included in, you'll notice in the council letter in the messaging that we'll use when we create the handouts and and meet with our legislators, we include an emphasis on uh needing to kind of overhaul that system in how that state funding is allocated. The second uh bullet is aligning local control changes with housing affordability. And again, in that council letter and that messaging, we took council's direction and we added a stronger statement that we are against losing local control as we believe that housing needs can be met without reducing local control. However, if it happens, then we emphasize the importance of buying uh of tying any local preeemption to affordable housing being built. And then finally, the third bullet emphasizes the importance of preserving the comprehensive planning process uh with community input and highlights the Met Council's role in that.

Our next uh set of priorities are almost positions on um legislation that is being proposed that could impact the city. Uh the first one is supporting sales tax exemptions on all city projects. And this has historically been uh carried by the League of Minnesota Cities. The second one is supporting the equal access to broadband bill and this explicitly authorizes the city to um the ability to implement a franchise fee on telecom at the state level and essentially this would protect our ability to franchise by codifying it. The third uh position is the support of recommendations to address safety concerns on e transportation. Um there is a task force looking at uh you know this the safety concerns around e transportation including ebikes and so we support um that those conversations and those recommendations. Um and you'll note that we did change ebikes to e transportation for council direction. Um so after the adoption of the legislative priorities, we will uh create a graphic, a handout. Um we'll use that when we talk with our legislators as well as in uh a variety of other communication channels. So switching to our fragile priorities, I just [snorts] wanted to give a brief update on the bills that we are still currently waiting on. As you know, we've we put forward three congressionally directed spending requests last year, and that included uh weird drive flood mitigation, a new emergency operations uh center at public safety, and a records management system at public safety. All three are in the bill and are currently still alive. Um when the government went back after the shutdown in November, they passed a continuing resolution through January 30th, 2026. They have passed a couple of non-controversial bills. Unfortunately, ours was not included, but we have been

told that we have a very good chance for these to move forward. So, we will continue to watch, keep our fingers crossed, and hope that uh that goes forward. So, once the 2026 budget bill passes, we can move into submitting our uh 20 or FY 2027 budget. Um we are labeling this the 2026 legislative priorities because we will begin to advocate for them at the beginning of next year. Um our federal uh federal priorities did not change since the workshop and they include uh the deferred um water storage maintenance project, the community community development block grants request for trails, security updates for the public safety expansion and renovation and public safety technology requests. I should also uh mention that we are still waiting to hear if we got the um uh grant request from the National Endowment of Arts for the arts planning process. [clears throat] Um that is expected to be decided in mid January, our understanding. I think it got a little bit delayed because of the shutdown. So, we're still waiting to hear on that. And if received, it would be woven into the long range parks planning process um to evaluate um public art implementation, programming, maintenance, etc. So that is the presentation of our state and federal priorities. Do you have any questions?

I'll just highlight some benefits of doing this. Again, having preparing all of this, we get grant money that has helped uh with our budgeting. One of the other key things is um we put on last year's that we were interested in Metro Micro and we got the Metro Micro program uh here in Woodbury. It was one of two places. It was us and Roseville and then we further had conversations said there are 13 square miles is great. It's growing to like 16 square miles or something like that. The the um the map has been expanded and um and more people will be able to utilize that system. So all of this helps in having these conversations with our other governmental agencies that we interact with. So and again another whole reason for it is we all pay taxes. The city the city contri we we do as people. The city contributes dollars that go to the state. We just ask for maybe bring a piece of it back. You know we we provide a lot that supports other state things. And the same thing with the state of Minnesota gives a lot to the federal government. We ask for a piece of it back. So this is how all that some of all that works. So, thank you for leading all this, Shel. Does anyone else have any questions for Shelley or comments to make?

I just have a um I just have a few comments. Um because you want to go right into the approval, right? Okay. Yeah. Right.

So, I just want to I just want to say um one thing. I know we did have a a lot of discussion on this on October. Um and um one of my concerns was regarding that commitment to housing diversity, I think is what it was, if I remember right, is how it is. And and I'm not opposed to housing diversity. I actually think Woodbury has done a great job in providing all sorts of types of housing, which is the diversity part of it. Um my concern at that time in October, and it still is today, is the however statement. I don't think I I'm only going to speak for myself. Everybody else can chime in on their own, but and I'm hoping this makes it into the minutes. I am not um in support of any state entity coming into any city and telling them they can or cannot do things. I I do not appreciate that. And um I think Woodbury has done a great job in planning our growth and offering a diversity of housing. So what might be good for one city doesn't mean it's good for all cities. Um, so I understand why we put that however statement in there, but I I want you to know that I am not in support of that however statement and I wish that we as a council would take a stronger stand to say we are not in support of this as opposed to saying, well, if you do decide to do it, then this is what we want. So, um, I made that um, in October and I and I'll just hope it needs to be in the minutes. My [clears throat] position on that. Thank you. Well, I'll just add that that's generally our position as well. Um, and that gets communicated. It all becomes it's it's a matter of how you negotiate and how you get your point across and trying to uh create compromise [clears throat] and figure out a way that overall we the state the region can

solve a housing issue. But um yeah, fully agree with you. Generally, we as local government is against preeemption. This is preeemption creeping in. Yeah. Um, another example of preeemption that creeped in to our city is um is cannabis uh sales for adult use cannabis. Those are those are preeemption things that creep in that we don't have any control over. So um this would be just another example. So we we push back respectfully and um yeah but I I hear your I hear you and agree it's just wow it's always a negotiation. So, thank you.

And I would just say and mayor and council member Wilson, I appreciate your your comments and um you know, that's why I think the addition of the um we we do not support that is important. Where we found oursel last last time was that they were moving forward with that being included. And so, we're just trying to give the caveat that if that's happening, please make sure that it's tied to actual affordable housing. So, just getting that on record, too. But I appreciate I understand. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Anything else? If not, does somebody want to put forth a motion? I'll move to adopt the proposed legislative priorities listed in council letter 25-293.

Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Thank you, Shel. and you're going to create a little infographic for us right as as we're preparing to meet with our legislators and uh congressional delegation. So, thank you. Thank you for that. Thank you. Um okay, now we had two items pulled from consent agenda 6B and 6L. So, we will now address those as part of the discussion.

So, 6B 6B is the approval of the La Lake south improvement project. So, not the north one that we just saw on this map, but [clears throat] it would be the south improvements. I um I I appreciate um Michelle Okata's response. You know, there have been studies done, environmental studies done on this project. Um things along those lines which caused some change so we can protect oaks and wildlife and things like that. My concern with this is that um this is a uh unique piece of property in that yes it does border a number of cities but it it al it is also um home to wildlife that I think we wouldn't find other places around here um really in the Twin City area. Um and and I have concerns that this park is going to end up being [snorts] um I wish is it I what's the name of the park off of Manning Ridge?

Prairie Ridge. Prairie Ridge. I knew it was something Ridge. um Prairie Ridge where that used to be extremely wooded and now you can um you see to the back of it or um I think the dog park has had some clearing, Valley Creek Park has had some clearing done and I and I and that concerns me that we have um this unique piece of property and that we're going to go in and start clearing um some things. So, um I guess I'm torn between maintaining a beautiful wooded piece of property and caring for it. Um which I understand, you know, taking out your um what are those stupid things?

Buckthorn. Thank you. [laughter]

The buckthorn. Um, but we also seem to be removing things that are non-native or trying to restore prairies or oak savanas or things along those lines. So, I'm hoping that this project and this improvement maintains the woodsiness and the natural habitat that has been flourishing there. um without trying to go in and restore it back to the way it was 150 or 200 years ago is what is what my point is for the non-native. So a lot of times they'll say these are non-native um trees. They weren't found here at that time and so then we're taking them down and replacing them with native trees and I'm saying we could wait until they actually need to be taken down to take them down and replant. we don't need to clear an entire area, which I'm hoping the environmental assessment has shown that that wouldn't be an appropriate thing to do.

Well, Michelle's not here to answer. She's not. And I and I told um I told um city administrator Dah that she did not need to be here for this. I was going to make my statement. She gave me an explanation. She told me things. Um I said, "Don't don't make her come in and sit through this meeting tonight for this one thing."

Yeah. But that said, I do believe I mean they they go we as a city go to a [clears throat] lot of effort to make sure that we can maintain I mean this has been one of our premier things that we stand by is preserving our natural resources um improving parks where where it makes sense. Um I think Prairie Ridge for example it's my belief what got cleared was all the buckthornne which is invasive and then ends up hurting the trees and all the growth. So, while it looks clear, yes, you can now see through to the back, the buckthorn's been removed. And, you know, of course, it'll probably grow back cuz it's hard to get rid of it, but you can't get rid of buckthornne.

Yeah. Unfortunately, but but but things are being done to restore. And I think as a city overall, I I I'm very proud of the work that we've done to make sure that we do restoration the right way. Um, and I think we've got people on staff that are very focused on that. So, I know um just a few notes were given to me on um you know, things that Michelle's gone through. I mean, just all the reviews they've gone through and uh DNR and natural uh heritage review. Um, they looked at things like the rusty patch bumblebee and the northern long-eared bat and wetland delineations and uh, no lost wetland approval, tree inventories, cultural and architectural reviews, floodplane, storm water review, agency consulting consultation with US Fish and Wildlife Service, MINDOT environmental services, migratory bird treaty act, the bald and golden eagle protection act. I just I I wanted to share some that just to point out that we don't justyw willy go in and decide we're going to clear something. There's several things that we have to go through from an environmental perspective. And um

well, first of all, I Okay, so now we've gone down a path that I'm not didn't want to go down, which is I wasn't suggesting that the city willy-nilly does anything. Um that would be number one. And number two, I claim that there were environmental assessments done

and those came back which caused uh the plans to change and alter to preserve the oak trees. So, I'm appreciative of that. I made all of those comments. I'm not suggesting anybody's willy-nillying anything. All I'm saying is is I'm hoping that this park can maintain some of the woodsiness. Prairie Ridge was cleared, Valley Creek was cleared, uh dog park. So, those are three parks that um that minus the ash trees and the buckthornne have also had other um vegetation and trees removed. I'm hoping that this park can maintain a lot of the trees that are there, whether they are native to this environment or not. That's all I'm suggesting. I wasn't suggesting anybody was willy-nilly anything.

Okay. Thank you. Anything else? I'll make a motion to approve the resolution 25-191, a resolution approving the award, bid, and execution of the contract with DRight contracting in the amount of $692,610 for the construction of the LA Park South improvement project and authorizing the mayor and city administrator to sign contract. I'll second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, the roll call, please. Council member Santini, I. Council member Stafford, I. Council member Wilson I. Council member Morris. Hi. Mayor Bert. I. That resolution passes.

We'll now go on to L 6 L. This is the approval of appointing members for advisory commissions 2050 comp plan task force parks and natural parks and facility longrange plan focus group and city council liaison appointments. I do have to add one thing to this. It's been brought to my attention that um there was a two names that were unintentionally missed from the list. Um two other people were appointed to the parks and facility long range plan focus group. Thomas Anderson and I'm going to get this other name wrong even though I had the pronunciation for it. Olan Olen Riu Waju and I very sorry for butchering that. Um but just uh two additional people um that were

missed out on the letter. Missed out. Yeah. On the letter. Correct. And then did we have Sorry. Yeah. Go ahead. No, go ahead. We also had additional discussion about an appointment for somebody that there was a communication problem and that we missed two ships passing in the night on the actual advisory commission inter interview schedule. We had I talked to city administrator D about that yesterday. Did we follow up with Mr. Dr. Kmerki, do you know in that followup? I gave that to you yesterday. No. Um, so by the look on your faces, no, you didn't. [laughter] I thought we had two people. [clears throat] Yeah. Council member Morris, were they an applicant for the parks focus group?

It was part of the discussion that that was going to be the offer to to join that. Okay. And then there was communication that was received, I think, that morning that they weren't going to make the commission interviews. We discussed it and that that went out. There was followup made to Mr. Kmer Murki and then there was follow-up that was missed was my point. Okay. Well, we'll clarify that right shortly. [clears throat] And if I recall correctly, Mr. Kasmmerski was not the only one. I believe there were two people we were going to follow up with. I thought these I'd have to go back in my notes and look. Those were people I think we had placed on there. Yeah. That were missed out of the packet. Right. Okay, I have an answer. Good. That was only one.

Mayor, I can respond to your question, Council Member Morris. So, the two that are going to be added tonight to the council letter um are two of those three. Mr. Kazmmerski was the third and staff confirmed that he's not available uh for the focus group. So, just the confirmed that. Yes. Okay. Okay. All right. Can you pull You have something else? I did pull this. I did pull this and I like council member Morris have a statement so I don't get lost or um mine was two and a half pages though.

Oh yeah, mine is real big font for my old eyes. So um so first and foremost I do want to thank all the applicants um for having a desire to serve on all of our various commissions. Um these commissions often go unnoticed by the public but um but the as the council does consider them a huge asset. So, um, council spends almost an entire Saturday rapid interviewing candidates, um, after those interviews, we get together as a council and start discussing each commission opening and appointing them one by one to fill the open seats. This is a give and take. It is a discussion and one that has always ended with a unanimous thumbs up for each person appointed to the commission. However, this year one candidate did not receive unanimous thumbs up from council and at most they received three thumbs up to their appointment. So why am I opposed to this one appointment? This person has attacked residents on social media, threatened to boycott businesses because they opposed the groups that rented the venue for private events, and has threatened me personally in public and engaged in defamation, false statements, and lies. When we have an applicant pool that far exceeds commission openings, there is no reason for anyone to be appointed who doesn't receive a unanimous yes from the council. This is an all orno vote. In other words, we don't vote on each appointment individually.

So, it is for this reason that I'm going to make a motion to table this vote, ask that this be set for a workshop so we can gather again to reconsider the appointments and then place this on the agenda for our next council meeting. Um, I would just like to add to that. Um, I put a motion out though. You did put a motion and I haven't heard a second, so I'm going to just Will you see if there's a second?

Well, anyone can second, but I have something I'd like to say, so I'm going to say it. I don't I don't think I have to wait for a second or nothing. I can speak. So, I'm going to um these um there are many votes that we take in council which are not unanimous. It's not required that that votes be unanimous. It's just a majority. Many many many votes that we take here are unanimous, which is fabulous. Sometimes they're not and sometimes there are differences of opinion. But just to clarify the interview process in the past um as as we all know we split into two groups and we don't all get to interview every person.

Half the group does one half and the other half a group does the other half. In fact it's not half. Two council members are with a group, three are with the other. So when we come forward it is a negotiation but half of us have not seen what the other half is proposing that we place. So, while it may feel as though it's been unanimous in the past, sometimes we have to make decisions without even knowing who we're placing. So, I just want to make that clear um that we don't always it's not always a fully unanimous decision because we haven't vetted fully each and every person.

Well, I would like to add to I want to clarify that for the 5 years that I have been on the advisory um this these advisory interviews there has never been a thumbs down to anybody being appointed onto those commissions. So so you can say it might not be unanimous but there has never been an a thumbs down or a concern raised about anybody that is not true. Not someone that was appointed, not someone that we said, "Let's appoint them." But that's because the majority was against them, right? So they don't

I don't know that there was anybody that was yes to them. I [snorts] think once I think there was a concern raised and then we all went, "Oh, okay. If you know and we don't, then that's fine." It wasn't somebody saying, "We want this person. We want this person. I don't I also know that we've we've done a fair share of of give and take in that we wanted a certain candidate or a certain group interviewing group um had a preference for a candidate and in exchange for another group's preferred candidate we would we would do some swap because there are only so many spots. This is a little unique as well is that there are two additional these two commissions. The part the long range planning park I'm going to screw it up. The park the long range park one and the comp plan. So these are a little bit two two different ones that it is uh it is a unique set of um considerations I think in my mind of the the qualifications that candidate of a very focused and and time constraint too. This isn't a full neither of these are full terms, but the the focus of these commissions, they're not even commissions of these task force is very narrow and very specific. And for that reason, we want a specific set of of skill sets and backgrounds that we're looking for. And so, it's a little bit different. I I understand what you're saying in that there's there's not been a if there's been opposition, we've generally agreed on an opposition and then removed that candidate. In this case, this is a specific situation in a in a u in these specific roles with specific things that I looked for was hoping to look for in those roles. Um, and then it was a three-to conversation because I also don't um you I also don't I I appreciate

and and um respect your position on this, but I don't share it. You don't have to share it because it didn't happen to you. I know it was my it happened to me. I agree. But I it's visible. It's public and I understand it and see it. I don't share that same the same I understand the situation. I understand what you're saying and why you're asking for it. I don't I don't share and agree with it. That's why I voted the way I did. Um, so what is it you don't agree with? When you say you understand it, but you don't agree with it, which part of this don't you agree?

We're we're public individuals. Anybody can come to us. Anybody can say anything about us. Anybody can come to a council meeting. That's part of the That's part of the position. It's not defamation. It's part of the position. Welcome to leadership. So, I don't agree with the situation that it's defamation. You didn't c the legal definition of defamation is not met. Otherwise, you'd file a suit. So, file a suit. It's not definition. We're public. We're public servants and people have a right to to express their criticism of us in an appropriate fashion. And I felt that that was what was done. You can not believe that you I'm not sure that you were there to witness it though. Were you? You've shared many times. Were you there to witness what happened?

The individuals I don't remember of all the different times that you've made this claim. It's not a claim, it's a fact. Understood. Then file charges. Okay. Thank you.

I will say I do. So my position is the fact that I do appreciate the concern and I do appreciate the opposition. I do think it does maybe we have never had one where it is such um a divisive candidate but the same I have feel like every year there's definitely people that I'm like no they made it on I'm not that happy about it but and so to me again I take it as again there's probably people I didn't vote for but I got outvoted you know but I get on board and the fact is is that um as a whole so you know I I don't feel feel that we need to table it. I also feel that it's important because I don't think that we would get to a different conclusion by then and also that we need appointments in order to do what we need to do. Um and so again, while I think that it does seem more that it's been unanimous in the past, I think there are certainly times that people have voted to support the slate of candidates not favoring everybody.

You have anything to add? I will make a motion. I will make a motion to approve the appointments of the city advisory commissions, the 2050 comprehensive plan task force and the park and facility long-range plan focus group as listed in the council letter 25-285 and with the addition of these two with the addition of the two presented by the mayor. Y and approve. Do I have is that separate? Second do it separately. Is it separate? Want to do it separate? Two. Okay. They have to be separate. No, the second part. Yeah. Oh, no. It's all in one council letter. It is all in one council letter.

Yeah. Put it all together. Okay. And Okay. Which includes that the council approve council member assignments to various liaison positions as listed in council letter the same council letter 25-285. That's weirdly worded. One motion as adopted or as as Yes, I'm done. I'll second. Thank you. Motion is second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, the roll call, please. Council member Stafford, I. Council member Wilson, no. Council member Morris, hi. Council member Santini. I. Mayor Burch.

I. That passes. I'd also like to point out with that we have a new well just because we approved it a newly appointed planning commission member or student member over here which is uh came tonight as a student at um Tartan High School. I was I was trying to come up with the name. I'm just thinking Oakdale Tartan High School. So thank you for coming tonight. We wanted to participate and see what this is all about. See how we do these meetings and we'll look forward to um having you come. You'll be getting you probably well in your letter we're having an advisory commission meeting, kickoff meeting that we'll be doing and then getting you placed. So, thanks for coming. I is one anyone else appointed that's here tonight? Oh, and what are you? [laughter] Oh, yeah. As of 38 seconds ago.

Yeah. Natural resources. Welcome. Fantastic. Thank you. Welcome. Well, thank you for coming and it's good to see what why are the others of you here? You just interested in local government budget therefor school school assignment. Okay. Required my work. Does anybody need a picture up here of proof that you came? So come on up. [laughter] Come on up. Yeah. Come come come and stand here in front. We'll stand behind you and then you can send this to your teacher. Proof that you were actually here. You get extra credit if we went past 9:00. You have to talk to our I would we'll sign a letter. So yeah, very impressed that you're all here. Thank you. Yep. This is good. We'll stand here behind you.

What school are you guys? Oh, fantastic. Wow. Ready? One, two, three. Pick a couple. Awesome. Thank you. Well, I hope you learned something. I hope we didn't bore you to tears. Scouts. Yeah. Scouts. Do scouts need badges or pictures? Do you guys want a picture? Plus, you're going to be on TV. Everyone can go back and watch the recording. Last meeting for another month on the table. We don't until January. Yeah. Hi there. Yeah. What troop are you guys? Matthew. Fantastic. Yeah.

All right. One, two, three. Great. Thank you. Thanks for coming. Um, okay. So, let me just double check. I think that's going to wrap [clears throat] up our Oh, no. We have a staff report. Jeff Doll, I know. Sorry. Liver sponsor. I know. Yeah. [laughter] Thank you. Uh uh mayor. Uh a few quick things tonight. One is uh you just referred to Metro Micro. Yeah. Um and we wanted to show a map

showing the launch of Metro Micro to the community. We'll have it on our website as well, but we're really happy that it it has finally expanded. We were happy when it first started as a pilot program, but you can see um Mishmidz brought up the map here, the additional areas that it expanded to. And you'll notice kind of on the uh eastern part there um northeastern part I should say along 94 Hudson Road and Settlers Ridge Parkway where we have a lot more business activity and some of our industrial uses and multifamily housing as well including senior housing. So really excited about that and we're hoping that it'll expand even uh further.

And it's also got like Eagle Eagle the e Eagle Valley Marketplace area correct covered. Cool. All right. [snorts] I know it's it's not including on, you know, all of the higher density areas. So, again, we're we're hoping that we'll can we'll continue to push them to expand, but uh good progress anyway. Yeah. Fantastic. So, I wanted to mention that. Um, in addition to that, and maybe Miss Schmidz can can add a little bit more detail, but I know that there's additional connections uh now, uh, both from the Newport Park and Ride and then the Gold Line, which ultimately will take folks to both the airport and I believe uh, um, the center cities as well. Mall of America.

Mall of America, too. So, more connectivity ultimately both um, uh, within Woodbury and then outside uh, for the region, too. So really good. Uh, next item I wanted to mention that Tuesday we have the primary election for um, representative district 47A. Um, and uh, more check for more information on our website about precincts and whatnot. Again, it's the the west side of Woodbury essentially and the the narrow strip of Maplewood and that is for the DFL primary. And um um Miss Sullivan, can you remind me when the general election on that will be?

Uh January 26th, I believe. 7th. Thank you. [laughter] January 27th, which is uh just before the legislative session begins. So good timing. They're able to But just to be clear, there is nobody running on the GOP. [snorts] Correct. There's no candidate on the GOP. So this primary is is critical because whoever wins a primary unless there's there will be a general election unless there is a right in there is an independent running there is there was a person that was going to be somebody not true I don't think so there is somebody that was going to be an independent that switched and signed up as the DFLer that's my understanding or is it the other but maybe all that needs a lot of clarification so

check all that out who know maybe that's changed but so and it's precincts uh 1 through eight. So, if you know your precinct, and I would also encourage everybody to please find out where you vote. We did have some changes, I think, and um so please log in to the Minnesota Secretary of State. Y uh put in your address and find out where you vote that day. And it is important [snorts] to vote in the primary. I will see you there. I'll be an election judge. Thank you for for volunteering to do that. uh again,

two other uh kind of uh appropriate um items uh this time of year. One is uh thanks to the community for really stepping up. Um the grand total for the uh pounds of donated uh goods, I'll say, but mostly food for open cupboard with our food drive over the past few weeks was 1,500 pounds. Very nice.

That's a lot. uh that's from both uh Central Park uh City Hall and M Health Fairview Sports Center. So, thank you uh community members. That will really go a long way to help open cupboard especially during this time of year and with all the the stuff going on on other political levels. Uh it was really needed. So, thank you. Um, and lastly, um, residents at home in the in the crowd here tonight, um, I'd encourage you to, uh, Google, uh, Officer James Stafle and Minnesota Vikings to watch an online, uh, snippet of, uh, Woodberry's own officer Stafle uh, surprising his family on the field, last week's Vikings game. you'll

after being deployed and over where coming home early essentially great. Yes. Uh you'll probably cry, you'll feel good. It's pretty touching and it was our very own officer sawful. So Google that and watch it and you won't regret it. Yeah, that's all I have. Is that everything? Okay.

Well, that is going to wrap up our meetings for the year for tonight. Um I just wish everybody that's listening and all of you that came uh seasons greetings to all of you enjoy this time. This is a time of um you know the the cadence of life changes a bit. We've got time off school, some time off of work. Um enjoy time with your family, friends. We're very blessed to be living in this community. Fortunate to have wonderful neighbors and community members, staff members, fellow colleagues here on and just you know it's it's really a wonderful thing. So enjoy, celebrate, and u we'll be back in 2026. And with that I make a motion that we're that we adjourn. Second. All in favor? I we are adjourned. Thank you.