City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay. Good evening. Welcome to the city of Woodberry's city council meeting for today. It is what is our date here? I had so many papers. April 22nd. Um I apologize for the few minute delay. We're meeting with Cub Scouts. So great to have them here. Um, and they're going to be coming up helping us with the pledge of allegiance here in just a minute. Um, just a couple of things. Uh, meetings are recorded using by True Lens Community Media. They're nicely over there in the little broadcast booth. Uh, this replays back on cable channel 799. Um, Cub Scouts, I know it's always kind of fun to see yourself on TV because when you come up here, you'll be able to then watch it. So either look for channel 799 or look at the city of Woodberry's YouTube channel and you can go back and and watch yourself. Um okay with that why don't you all cub scouts all come up. This is troop 601 right? 601

come on up all of you and you can come up here and lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Trying to avoid blocking everything. Okay. Come like just come in here. Of course we face the flag.

Turn flags this way. Okay. Actually, let me I'll let them nice to Okay. Ready? I aliance 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. Thank you. Fantastic. Okay, I've got uh Well, hang on one second because

I'll let you all get here. Everyone gets one pound of the gavvel. pass. Yep. And then you get Jen little Everybody get Do not use it on your siblings. He had to go to that. I was going to say I've got little boys just like your age. So I know. Oh, I see myself. And then um we're going to have you all go down in front here and we'll take a picture. Everybody

down

and then come up here. Face that way. Now you can see yourself on TV. There you are. line up. Almost every day. Welcome to my life. It's not like pictures. It's like the first thing that I Okay. And one of the one of the scout leaders is taking pictures. Okay. Everyone look look at your scout leader. Smile. Look at your scout leader and smile.

Awesome. All right. Thanks, boys. Thank you.

Um, with the beginning of that, would you now do the roll call, please? Ashley, Council Member Morris, here. Council member Santini here. Council member Stafford here. Council member Wilson here. Mayor Bert here. We are all here tonight. So, we're able to conduct tonight's business. We've got uh special orders of business to begin with. Three important proclamations and I'm going to begin with the very first one. Is Mike Where's Mike Madigan? Right there. Oh, there he is. Hello. Hello, Mike. Good to see you. We're putting we're putting some pressure on you.

But positive pressure. No, I'm going to invite you up in a minute. But let me just read our proclamation. Um this is a proclamation for the city of Woodbury, Washington County, Minnesota. We are recognizing Woodbury resident Mike Madigan. His 18 years of tenure on the South Washington Watershed Board District Watershed District Board. My apologies. Whereas Mike Madigan is a resident of the city of Woodbury. Mr. Madigan has served as a manager on the board of the South Washington Watershed District for 18 years. Through Mr. Madigan's leadership and service, South Washington Watershed District has fostered and sustained effective working partnerships across southern Washington County. And whereas under Mr. Madigan's leadership, South Washington Watershed District has made substantial infrastructure investments to protect district resources, including the central draw overflow in Glacial Valley Park, Hassan Bach and Cargle Parks storm water facilities, and enhanced street sweeping. All of which directly benefit the surface water and groundwater in Woodbury. Whereas Mr. Mad Mr. Madigan retired from his tenure at the South Washington Watershed District Board of Managers on Tuesday, April 14th, 2026. Now therefore, I anne Wbert, mayor of the city of Woodbury, Washington County, Minnesota, to here recognize Mike Madigan on his years of service and commitment to preserving and protecting water quality for current and future residents of Woodbury. Um and again just thank you besides uh the years he spent on that uh he has been our liaison to the 3M settlement with all that's been going on with the PAS group that started in 2018 or 2019 and it has taken more time and effort than one ever thought it was going to but without your involvement and leadership we would not be where we are today. So thank you for that. Mike was also formerly a U city council member for the city of Woodbury. So just outstanding service uh and again so much great work for the uh watershed

district. I do have um an official proclamation framed that I will hand to you and would you like to come up and say anything at the mic for the group? Just thank you for the kind words and the opportunity to serve. Thank you very much. That's it. Mike, we have the box for you. Mike, he's leaving. That's it. 18 years and he's out of here. Oh, he'll be back.

Okay, that's that one. Okay, then we have uh a proclamation recognizing public service recognition week. Uh uh. No, hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Volunteer. I don't know that I I don't know that I have that one in front of me. Do I have that one in front of me? You know what? While we look for that, I'm going to go on to the next proclamation, which is the recognizing volunteer recognition week. Uh so volunteer recognition week is the week of April 19th through April 25th, 2026. Whereas volunteerism is an integral part of our great culture and heritage in Woodbury, more than 400 volunteers of all ages annually contribute to volunteer services. Now I say that that's just those that contribute to the city itself. We have got volunteers all over doing all kinds of great work throughout the community, but we're speaking today specifically about those that uh engage with the city directly. Whereas volunteers make significant contributions to the quality of life in Woodbury and through their efforts help to ensure a brighter future for our city. Volunteerism promotes personal, social, and intellectual development of young people and prepares them to become involved and responsible citizens. Individuals and groups volunteering in Woodbury are making their neighborhoods better places in which to live by providing support to those in need, solving community problems, improving schools, helping people with disabilities, and preserving the environment. Whereas recognition should be given to our dedicated volunteers who have demonstrated their commitment to the betterment of our community throughout the year. Now therefore, I am W. Bert, mayor of the city, Woodbury, Washington County, Minnesota, do hereby proclaim April 19th through 25th, 2026 to be volunteer recognition week. As we continue to face the challenges and opportunities of our society, I call on all citizens of the city to sustain and increase Woodberry's volunteer spirit now and for the future. together we

serve Woodbury and serve it well. So, thank you to all those volunteers. We do a very nice thing. We sent cards and letters out to all those that have volunteered uh offering them to come in and uh pick up a special gift from the city. Um many many more opportunities exist. So, um thank you again and sincerely for all those that do what you do to make this city great and uh I encourage those who haven't look for opportunities to do so. So, thank you. Mayor Bert, where could people find those opportunities if they wanted to get involved with the city? Is it on the website? That is a good question. Can Ashley, can you uh because I don't I'm This is as much volunteer as I can do right now as this job, but I know. Yeah,

we do have opportunities on our website, but also just reach out to staff and we'll be happy to connect people. Thank you. WC. Well, well, that's a different because we were talking about the city directly, but yeah, Woody Community Foundation is also a great source and we are actually working in collaboration with them to see if we can come up with a method of encouraging additional volunteerism and having a way to get the word out on what the needs are and have people that's in a long range plan which we just made on that met on that last week. So, as well as other organizations like the Lions Club, the Heritage Society,

right? Ex Exactly. Lots of ways. Lots and lots and lots of ways to to uh Exactly. Okay. Now, we're going to do uh 4B, which is a proclamation recognizing public service recognition week. So, public service recognition week is May 3rd through May 9th, 2026. Uh this covers peace officers memorial day, which is May 15th, National Police Week, which is May 10th through May 16th, and then Emergency Medical Services Week May 17th through May 23rd. So actually we've got four different together in this one proclamation recognizing all those various groups. So where whereas the services of the city of Woodbury employees are of vital importance to the health, safety and well-being of the citizens and vitality of the businesses of the city of Woodbury. Whereas the members of the Woodbury Public Safety Department, Police Division play an essential role in working collaboratively with federal, state, county, and other law enforcement agencies to promote safety and safeguard freedoms of Woodbury residents. Whereas the city of Woodbury acknowledges the sacrifices that public safety employees make in serving the community with courage and compassion every day as well as those officers both locally and nationally who have sustained injuries or lost their lives in the performance of their duties. Emergency medical services is a vital public service and the Woodbury Emergency Medical Services team used their medical expertise, courage, and compassion to provide life-saving medical care to those in need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Now therefore, I and W Bert, mayor of the city of Woodbury, Washington County, do hereby proclaim May 3rd through 9th to be public service recognition week, May 15th to be public, I'm sorry, to be peace officers memorial day, May 10th through May 16th to be police week, and furthermore, I hereby proclaim that May 17th through May 23rd to be emergency medical services week in Woodbury. I do encourage members of the community to

observe these designations and express their appreciation to the important services provided by the city of Woodbury personnel. So, thank you again to all of our staff and all that you do to uh besides all the volunteers that happen. You all, you know, it takes a a team here to make this a great city and thanks for all that you do for that. Any other comments from council members? Yes. Do you mind if I just say a few words about our staff? Yeah, please. That would be great.

I'd love to. Um, as city administrator, I'm honored to recognize all of our public servants and outstanding individuals who serve our community every day. Our 500 plus full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees from public safety to public works, from parks and w to engineering to administrative uh services to ICT to community development. We've got a lot of departments here and a lot of services that that we provide, but overall our employees are our organization's greatest asset. To our team, your dedication in living out our organizational values of responsiveness, professionalism, and leadership while meeting the ever evolving needs of our residents are the foundation of a strong and thriving city and allow us to exceed expectations and be the best. From delivering essential services to supporting one another as a team, your work across all of our departments does not go unnoticed. Thank you for the pride that you take in public service and for the positive impact you have in our community every day. Your work really does matter and I hope you all have a little extra swagger in your step in May because you deserve it. You're awesome and I know I and we all really appreciate you. So, thank you everybody uh in this organization. You're the best.

Thank you. That's a round of applause for all. Thank you. Okay. Um we're now going on to the open for open I can speak open forum portion of the council meeting where a maximum of three people will be allowed to address the council on subjects which are not part of the meeting agenda. So I'll just begin with this. I have more than three sheets here. So I'm going to have to determine which ones we're going to address tonight. Um persons wishing to speak must complete a signup sheet. Again I have those here. Um when you uh we will again have somebody come up. Please provide your name and city of residence with your question for the official record. Speakers are limited to three minutes each. And we do have a timer system. So if you're not familiar with this, we've got a timer that'll be going there that shows three minutes. We have a red, yellow, green system up here with lights. Um it'll start off being green when you have one minute left it turns yellow and then it turns red when you're you're going to be finished. Um we do listen attentively to comments but in most instances we will not be responding today at the meeting itself. Um, so here is my challenge is that I have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. I can I'm going to pick three. I'm going to start at the top, but I would like to hear from people that are here for different reasons. So if you're all here for the same reason, then one spokesperson can speak. I if you've came in a coordinated manner and there's a particular topic that one of you wants to speak on maybe you want to amongst yourselves determine that. Um otherwise I do have uh one person wants to speak about ice detention but window replacement inspection. So I think we're going to take I I'll I'll take somebody on ice detention and then you can speak to

window replacement since that's a whole different topic. Um, and then I have someone else that wants to speak on parks and public building resolution. So, I think we'll take that one because that's a different topic. Okay. We have heard um we have heard several and have had many opportunities for people to speak on ICE detention facilities and what we're doing about that. So, uh if there's one person that wants to speak on that and be a do you have a recommendation?

Well, just one uh well, two quick things. one is um we don't have any online so that makes it a little bit more simple. Um and I do know that Miss Densen came here and maybe um wanted to speak under the volunteer appreciation week. So I think she uh wrote one too. So if we were able to allow some time for Miss Densen, that'd be great. Well, let me Okay, why don't we take uh Miss Densen first then because that really relates to our prior topic which is not open forum. So Christie, come on up and um you have time for that. Um one, one, two.

Well, thank you. Uh good evening, mayor, members of council. My name is Christy Densen. I'm the board chair for Woodbury Community Foundation. And before I begin, I just want to thank you for recognizing volunteer appreciation week here in Woodbury. It's a meaningful reminder. Um so much of what makes our community strong um are the people who give their time. And um with that at the Woodbury Community Foundation, that belief really is at the core of what we do. And our mission is to connect people and organizations to causes that matter, strengthening the fabric of this community. We are an allv volunteer organization and we're proud to work alongside many outstanding nonprofits and community partners who are doing incredible work in our community every day to serve Woodbury. Um, we see our role not as competing with that, but really amplifying it and help connecting residents to philanthropy in our community, elevating causes and growing a culture of Woodbury um that gives back. Over the past year, we've had almost 13,000 volunteer hours come out of our organization alone that have been contributed to our network, supporting families, strengthening nonprofits, and responding to real needs in our community. Um but beyond the numbers, we're really focused on strengthening the pipeline of leaders in our community. We have partnered with the city on many objectives over the years, including the community academy, youth engagement leadership academy, providing opportunities uh for members to engage through thrives and the community garden. All of these are opportunities for people to onboard and serve in our community um and and create accessible entry points. But what we're finding right now is that there's a challenge and an opportunity. Volunteer opportunities um are fragmented across Woodbury. And for many residents, the barrier isn't willingness, it's knowing where to go. So um we believe there's an opportunity to change that. And we respectfully just ask for the city to consider a couple of things as we're

looking toward opportunities for that. And so first, um, to help support a more centralized approach to community volunteerism, just to make it easier for residents to connect with volunteer opportunities across multiple organizations. We have so many good ones here in Woodbury. And second, to leverage the city's communication channels that would help amplify volunteer needs and opportunities. You already have trusted, far-reaching platforms that can help elevate this work. And third, um, considering volunteerism and civic engagement as a priority value in your future strategic plan. Uh, strong communities are not built, you know, heard a lot a lot of the important services. Um, but they're not built by services alone. They are built by people who feel connected and invested in one another. Um, Woodbury Community Foundation stands ready to partner in this work with you. We have the relationships, we have the volunteer network, and we have a community that wants to show up, but with together, we can make it easier for them to do so. So, thank you for your time and for your leadership and the opportunity to share tonight.

Thank you, Christie.

Um, do you have a comment? I mean, we're talking about 18 minutes. would because there's six would seven. Okay, six now. Yeah, Christy was a different category. I I would make a motion. We're only talking about 18 minutes. I'd make a motion to let all six go. We did it in January. I'll make I'll make a motion to allow all six. Motion. I'll second. Second. Motion. motion to allow six to extend the period pass or the official motion is to extend the public forum to the six to allow six people to allow six instead of three instead three minutes each. Yeah, I second. Motion a second. All in favor?

I I Any opposed? No. Okay. I would just Can I just recommend then that maybe we take the ones that don't have to pertain to a certain topic first to find it. Well, I don't know what they are because they're not identified. That's part of my issue. I thought you pulled some. I'm sorry. I thought you pulled some out. So then they're just not getting in the middle of stuff. Yeah, unfortunately. First only two though. Yeah, only two. Okay, why don't we take I I'll do that. I'll take um

Let's do this. Uh Jenny Stevens regarding the parks and public building resolution. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This is for immigration enforcement. Oh, that's the same topic. I'm sorry. I read parks and public building. Okay, that's the same topic. We'll just I'll just go. You know what? These have gotten mixed up. I'm going in the order that now sits at the top of my desk, which is um Susan as blend. So, you may come up first. And while I say this, too, uh one thing occurred in one of our previous meetings, we do not allow or appreciate or allow outbursts and you may not come and speak at the mic unless you've been invited up. So, I will read the six names and you'll be invited to speak. There you go. You're invited. So, state your name and your uh city of residence for the record, please. Uh, my name is Susan Aspen and I'm a a resident of Woodbury. Do you need address?

No. No.

Okay. All right. Uh, in the past month, community members drafted and presented a resolution affirming the city of Woodbury's commitment to community safety and restricting the use of city property for federal immigration enforcement activities. More than 150 community members signed a petition in support of this resolution. In January, hundreds of people came to the council meeting because they were deeply concerned about the activities of DHS and ICE in Woodbury. That concern has not gone away. To your credit, the April 8th proclamation from the mayor and the city administrator affirmed the city's values and outlined steps taken so far, including opposition to a federal immigration detention center in Woodbury. But a proclamation is not policy. It creates no obligation, no sense of protection, and no meaningful change. We know from your own discussions that policy matters. Council member Kim Wilson stated on April 8th that resolutions establish policy. The city attorney confirmed that this council has the legal authority to restrict the use of city-owned property. There are examples throughout the Twin Cities metro area of city councils taking action. The Cities for Sta safe and stable communities is a coalition of over 30 cities advocating for public safety approaches that respect constitutional rights and support community stability. One of their major tenants is that effective public safety depends on trust. When residents are afraid to engage with the local government or access services, communities become less safe overall. Right now, there is no policy in

Woodbury preventing ICE or DHS from using our city-owned spaces. Our parks, our community centers are meant to serve residents, not to be used in ways that put us all at risk. The impacts of federal police actions fall hardest on the people who are already navigating systems of inequity and fear. You have the authority to act and this community has asked you to act. I am asking you to place the proposed resolution restricting DHS and ICE activity on a future agenda for a formal vote. The proclamation was not enough. Residents deserve a clear recorded vote. Thank you for your time. Next up, Sumitron Ness. Hello, my name is Sumitra Ness and I have resided in Woodbury for almost 30 years. Please note that tonight we are convening at a location 20 minutes from Fort Snelling, Minnesota's first concentration camp where the people native to this land were imprisoned and starved. One would have hoped that would be the last concentration camp in Minnesota. But here we are guessing the ages of the people here on this council. You have close family members, fathers, grandfathers, or uncles who fought in World War II and possibly participated in the liberation of concentration camps run by the Third Reich. If they did, I urge you to learn their stories. And if they didn't, I urge you to familiarize yourself with the stories of American soldiers who did so. I'd also urge you

to read accounts from Japanese American citizens who were stripped of their belongings and their property and put in internment camps here in the United States of America. Some who were children at the time are still alive and can be asked directly. All of us in this room are very lucky. We grew up in a time where we knew this horrific history but believed it when we heard people say never again. But here we are. The mayor and city council have given verbal assurances that the building targeted by ICE here in Woodbury would not become a concentration camp and that you worked behind the scenes to make that happen. But as you stated in a previous council meeting, you will not disclose how that disc arrangement was negotiated. Aside from not being transparent in any way, it certainly raises questions about how that transpired and gives no framework to understand how new locations might be dealt with. That is why hundreds of citizens signed a petition asking for the city to pass a resolution against ICE in Woodbury. There are currently horrific concentration camps in our country. Elected leaders are routinely denied access. And when they do finally get access after prisoners are moved, they describe inhumane conditions. One can only imagine what those conditions are like before the electeds are allowed in. The dilly in Texas is one such camp. Someday, someday very soon, the word dilly will be equivalent to do. Everyone born since 1900 knows the word docau. But we don't really know anything else other than it was a concentration camp after World War II. Many people said most Germans didn't know what was happening. Understand that now in 2026, we all know, the whole world knows what

is happening here in the American concentration camps and we the people expect our elected leaders to act on this information. We have a wonderful city here. Abundant medical services, fabulous indoor and outdoor entertainment, sporting facilities, good schools, shopping, and restaurants. You have all worked very hard to advertise our city as destination Woodbury, a place everyone would want to visit. Should a camp be built here, the name Woodbury will go down in history like Dao or Dilly, and destination Woodbury will have a whole new meaning. I am sure there are solid legal arguments about why it does not seem possible to win a fight against the federal government should they sue Woodbury if we passed this resolution. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try and if we fail, try again. I urge the mayor and city council to put the resolution to a vote. I urge you to remember the never again mindset that we all grew up with and to be on the right side of history. Thank you.

THANK YOU. I ALWAYS HATE THE IDEA OF HAVING TO cut people off, but I'm going to ask everyone that that when you come up and when the red light goes off, please just finish your sentence so that we can be respectful of everyone else's time. Uh, Linda G,

you have two topics on uh, ice detention and window replacement inspection. Um, my name is Linda G. I live in Eagle Valley, Woodbury, Minnesota. Um, I've lived in Minnesota for over 30 years now. Um, when I first came here, Mayor Hargus was the mayor and Jim Lamers was the city attorney. Now, I'm on my second home now, my move up home. And um, so now my home is around 22, 24 years now, 24 years old now. And so my husband and I were trying to do a age in place type of home. So we were we wanted to do some remodeling. And so one of the things that we were um we did was we contracted for window replacements. And this is one of the most expensive item when it comes to um home modif um home uh renovations or just uh maintenance of a home. And so people can spend 80 or 90 or $100,000 on new new windows for a whole entire house with 20 openings. Now the kind of um window replacement that I had is called full frame window replacement where they pull out the whole entire f frame. It's not an insert replacement. They pull out the whole frame so that it's down to a rough opening of just a wood opening. And so at that point the wood is very vulnerable to water intrusion. So it's very important that the contractor carefully flash the opening and tape and to tape to the the water barrier which is also called Tyvek. So in in my project that was not done. Um my contractor had something that they called a Z channel perimeter flashing. And so what they did was they put the new window in after they pulled out the old window and they put this thing called they call Z channel a perimeter perimeter flashing without without

removing any of the exterior trim or any of the um sighting. So this was pretty much their experimental window replacement installation. Okay. And so we immediately had issues with our windows and there was water and mold growing on our windows and we had water intrusion on the top. Now when I learned when I I went to the Marvin website and I carefully read all of the the information about window installation carefully read about preparation of the rope ref opening and uh flashing it and my contractor did none of none of that. Now, when it came to the building inspection department, they have this policy that they follow where they don't they don't inspect the midpoint. They don't inspect the flashing of the wood, the wood rough opening. They wait till everything is done to get to the end of it and then they when the windows already in there and it's um they have this thing called the channel on the top and and that's the only thing they inspect and so they don't have the midpoint inspection and they also don't other cities have this thing where contractors upload photos of the of how it's flashed. They take a photo of the exterior wall where the window has been placed before it's been covered up and they and then they upload it to the the website for the build inspection. So without any of this happening, we're in a situation where we have damage to our home. We have to have somebody coming out to redo our windows or basically get new windows. And this is like a $16,000 investment. And then I had a a big thing with the building official that we don't have to do that inspection. And so I just was um thinking that that's not

helping residents who are trying to get replacement windows, which everybody who has a 25-year-old h house has to worry about. Thank you, Miss G. So your point is you would you're suggesting that there be a different process or you were asking for something just in a in a few short words.

There has to be a midpoint inspection of the of the waterproofing the the taping when it's flashed and taped to the water barrier. And they need to have and other cities do this. They have contractors take a a a shot a photo of the exterior before you put the f before you put the window down. just the rough opening to the wood and then upload it so there is evidence about how they installed the window. If there's no evidence, they are free to cut corners however they want. Thank you. I I'm sorry to hear that you've gone through that. I think that's something that we can well we'll follow up on. Yes.

Every city in America will tell you they're not responsible for the quality work the contractor did. Well, but other excuse me um this is not a place to debate. I'm sorry. I appreciate that. You guys can I just got to shoot. Okay. Well, he he said something like a contractor would say to me. Okay. And so that's why I was responding him because that's what they all say is like that. Thank you. Um thank you, Miss Jean. Um next up, Justin Repella. anywhere.

Welcome, Mr. Repella.

Thank you. Hi. Um, my name is Justin Roella and I live in Woodbury. Um, I am here to discuss the resolution regarding immigration enforcement and uh the use of municipal property. On April 8th, this council issued a proclamation opposing federal detention center in Woodbury. Uh, while the sentiment is appreciated, uh we do need to be honest about what a proclamation is. It is a ceremonial statement. It does not establish policy. It does not create enforceable rules and it does not direct city staff to take any specific action. If anything in this process has been performative, it is the use of a proclamation in place of a resolution. When concrete action is available to this body, the original draft resolution was designed to do what the proclamation does not. It included explicit directives to restrict the use of city-owned or city-controlled property like our parks and our public buildings uh for the purpose of staging or supporting civil immigration enforcement activities. This is not a symbolic gesture. It is a concrete exercise of local authority. Um I have heard concern that the resol a resolution like this is uninforceable or that it risks impeding federal agents. And I want to be very clear. The city of Woodbury is not a subordinate branch of the federal government. Under the anti-comandeering principles of the 10th amendment, we are not required to voluntarily offer our local assets as operational locations for federal agencies. Choosing to withhold a home base for these tactics is a valid and lawful policy choice. The resolution would empower city staff to evaluate and update our facility use agreements and property permits. These are standard administrative tools. By cottifying the separation between our local public spaces and federal immigration enforcement, we create a predictable environment for every resident. When people know that public property that they visit and the parks where their children play uh can't be used uh as staging areas for raids, they feel more

comfortable. They feel more secure and that creates trust. That is a trust that is a practical safety asset to our community. It ensures that residents feel comfortable calling 911 or seeking help in an emergency without fear. The community has asked for transparency and accountability and replacing a uh policy directive with a statement of sentiment intentionally avoids that accountability. I am asking the council to place the full resolution on an upcoming agenda for a formal recorded vote. If the council believes that our public property should remain available for these federal operations, then that position should be stated and voted on. Governance requires more than shared values. It requires the courage to put those values into enforcable policy. Thank you. Next up, uh, Kevin Shelberg.

I think I'm here on He's the This is the objections. Oh, okay. All right. That was not clear on this sheet. Uh, Jenny Stevens.

Good evening, members and mayor. Jenny Stevens, Woodbury. Um, so I'll tell you a little bit the story. My daughter was home from college, our one and only um this winter break. I was looking forward to help her helping us out with simple things at home like with the dogs and running errands and things like that while um my husband and I are are teaching during the day. Instead, she was on house arrest by me and her dad. Why? Because she's an East African immigrant. The first night Ice was in the area, I was paralyzed with fear. She was at a restaurant in Winbury with her boyfriend's family, and I insisted that she come home immediately. Did she have her passport on her? No. Did she have her certificate of citizenship on her? No. Why would she? I never imagined my child would need to carry proof of her citizenship to go out to dinner in our community. For the weeks that followed, I was emotionally paralyzed. I showed up to work every day. I'm a special ed teacher. I have to keep it together for my students. And I told no one. I was literally falling apart inside. This is not theatrical. This is what fear looks like in our community. And this is why it matters. So, we sent our daughter back to college with her um passport, her certificate of citizenship. I'm not sure if you all know what that is, but it's a really important document that when we um adopted her all those years ago, they said, "You don't need it. You don't need it." But um and she was already denied once for her passport, but now she has it again. I don't know how many of you have college students

and you ever think about sending them with their passport to school, but as she's driving um out of the city down through all of the um the small um towns and her four and a half hour drive, it just as a parent um it was hard and it's hard still every day. Um, and when she's in this lovely community, both of her parents are teachers. We support our community. Um, but it was in this proclamation, you all know what you need to do. You know, the right thing that you need to do for the community here that um voted for you and and um put their trust in you. So, thank you. Well, thank you again for sharing these additional thoughts. Uh, you know, this has been agonizing, I'm going to say, for all of us in this, uh, whether it's in Woodbury or this broader community, this been a very, very, very tough time. And, um, and your coming forward has meant a lot to us. And we have we we agree with you. The question and this is where it becomes difficult is what do we do as a as a governing body? Um there are there are some limitations for us. um to and to be clear a couple things that I heard is that we maybe and I don't I won't get the words right but one of the speakers spoke about that we haven't been fully open and and full disclosure about how we've gone about where we've learned things but we have been and I don't know if we what like if I think we've explained it over and over again how we've gone about learning what we learned we have things in writing we have it's not just verbal we have things in writing we've got we've had communication

Operation Metro Surge has really essentially gone away in this community in and we no longer have the extent of Okay, but my point my Okay, hang on. Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. You all have had an opportunity to speak. I I'm just and we can all have okay

we have all you all have had the opportunity to speak. Council has an opportunity just to say a few things and I'm not going to get into an argument. I don't mean to. But I think it's whether or not you believe it's we no longer have 3,000 ICE agents around the area. The surge has changed in its format over time. Yes, I understand there's still fears out there. We understand all that. I want to be clear that when I hear things about uh safe and stable coalition, we looked at joining that group. That group really is focused and they haven't done anything formal and none of those cities have done a resolution, by the way. None of them have. None of them have done a resolution. You're asking for this city to do something that no other cities have done except for except for

Okay, you have had your opportunity to speak. This is now the council's opportunity to speak. And again, I I understand the sentiment. I understand the fear there, but the only cities that have done resolutions from my understanding are St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Richfield. Those are cities.

Yes, those are the only cities have done resolutions. Others have done things similar to what we have done. Um so I just want to share that the safe and stable coalition is a group of cities that have come together and their focus is on recovery and looking for how to get uh financial support for any costs that they have incurred and we have talked about that in in our city. Um when it comes to staging to be clear we have had no staging in the city of Woodbury and one of the challen staging in the city of Woodberry's occurred on city property. To be clear, one of the challenges that we have here in city government is to look at where we spend our time and effort and what needs to be done. We are constantly balancing all kinds of things and trying to make most sense for where we can apply their best judgment decisions going forward. So

we have felt that that as a council that what we have said and done thus far is is is working. I would like to open this up to council members for any other comments. Again, I I I hope you can understand we we are not we we Okay, you're asking for a resolution. There are times resolutions work and sometimes when they don't operate the same way. I'm just going to say st would anyone else in council like to say anything?

Excuse me. I uh made a statement in January. I believe I made one in March. And I will stand by those statements.

I make a motion we move to consent agenda. Okay. Thank you. Agenda. Second. Okay. No. Okay. We'll just move on to consent agenda. Again, I appreciate everyone coming and sharing your your sentiment. 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 an affirmative vote by roll call of the majority of the members present. There will be no separate discussion of the items unless a council member or a citizen sell request in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered a separate subject of discussion by the council. I'm sorry but we can't hear you. My mic is on. I don't know

because the doors are open and they're being loud. So just give them a minute to exit. Does anybody want a poll or discussion? Anybody want Did anyone want to have anything removed from consent agenda? Hearing none. Any anybody online? All right. Council members, anything to remove to be removed from consent agenda? Hearing none. I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda items. Where am I at here? 6 A through six. J J. I'll second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. The roll call, please. Council member Morris. Hi. Council member Centini. I. Council member Stafford. I. Council member Wilson.

Hi. Mayor Bert.

I. Those consent agenda items pass. We will now move on to the public hearing portion. We have two um agenda items for this public hearing. uh one is um regarding franchise fees and the other is regarding special assessments. So with that assuming and I do have one person that wants to speak on the um special assessment. So with that I'm going to formally share what the rules of engagement are for public hearings in order to allow a full airing of all speakers. Again right now I have one but maybe there's more online. Individual remarks may not exceed 10 minutes. If a speaker determines that more time is necessary, they're advised to make a request in writing um three days in advance. Okay, we'll skip that. Uh D um remarks or points already made by someone else should not repeated. Uh remarks should be limited to the subject at hand. Speakers are encouraged to coordinate presentations if needed. Those in attendance at the public hearing will refrain from applause or other expressions of emotion, whether in favor of or opposition to any particular application or argument. Inappropriate language, outbursts, or criticisms aimed at individuals or groups are not allowed. So with that, the hearing is now open for the subject of considering the approval of an amendment to chapter 9 franchises section 96, Centerpoint Energy Resources Corp. Gas franchise fee schedule A. Angela Gorl is here to share more about that. Welcome, Angela.

Right. Good evening. Thank you, mayor, members of council. So somewhat of a unique uh agenda item for your public hearing tonight. So, it is an amendment to our Centerpoint franchise fee. The the fee schedule in particular, um, an exemption was requested to our franchise fee uh for a grain dryer operation. Yes, we have a grain dryer operation in Woodbury. Um, can you explain what that is? The corn. Dry the corn on a farm. Okay.

Yeah. Um, so the need for the exemption is Centerpoint Energy changed their grain dryer, what they call their tariff, which is basically their fee schedule. So, the fees on this particular single operation changed from about $90 a year to over $1,000 a year for their operation. Um, we did confirm it is the only such operation in the city. So, it's a very narrow exemption we would be providing. Um, the tariff uh required the operation basically would be charged year round. And I I put in the council letter all the detail of kind of what changed with the tariff, all the the detail around that. Um, so essentially the drier though only operates one to two months a year, but they're essentially charged this tariff year round. So it's kind of run up to a situation with our our franchise fees and how it's Centerpoint has to charge that. So staff um did review um the exemption request. Um we did take some time to to really look at it partly because we wanted to take a look at our park and trails replacement fund which is the franchise fees fund that. So, both the Centerpoint fees and the Excel Energy fees uh fund, the park and trails replacement fund. We wanted to make sure if we're going to come to council asking you to change these fees. Um it's a more involved process. There's notifications. It's an ordinance. Um there's this notification period also to Centerpoint if we change it. So, if we were going to take the effort to do it, we wanted to make sure were there any did we want to change the fees or make a recommendation to council on on changing the overall fees. So, uh, we wanted to get a good, uh, footing on us for the current capital improvement plan, which we did, and staff doesn't have recommendations as part of that plan to change the broader franchise fees. Thus, why we felt comfortable to bring this forward to council to look at this this single exemption. Um, we were hoping we could do it just through administrative action, but fortunately, if we're going to touch the franchise fees, you got to go through the whole ordinance process. And basically whenever we change franchise fees, however, we adopted the fees, you basically got to do the same process all over again. So um so thus a

public hearing is required. Um if approved, the the fee change wouldn't be effective until August 1st because it requires that much notification period to Centerpoint to allow them to change, you know, their fees on their end. So So it's a very simple u change to the fee schedule. So, it's the schedule A within the franchise fee. And so, effective August uh 1st, 2026, agricultural grain dryer customers and all customer classifications shall be exempt from payment of this fee. Um again, no other changes to the fee amounts themselves, just this single exemption. So, staff recommends um the ordinance as listed.

Okay. Thank you for that. Um I don't have any green sheets on that topic. Is there anybody online? Okay. Okay. I make a motion that we close the hearing. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. I. Okay. The hearing is closed. And I'll open it up to council members for questions, comments, or make a motion. Straightforward. I get it. I'll make a motion to adopt ordinance 2077, ordinance amending chapter 9, franchises section 96, Centerpoint Energy Resources Corp. Gas franchise fee schedule A. 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 passes. All right. That'll make those people happy that have the one green dryer. Um, all right. The next topic, and the hearing is now open for considering approval of special assessments for the 2026 pavement rehabilitation project for Woodlane Drive. Um, so we will have a presentation by staff and then after you're that's done, council members remind me I've got a few to make public that we've received. I'll have a green sheet to address. Um, so go ahead and welcome Mike McCaina as our assistant director of engineering.

Um, thank you, mayor, members of council. Um, here tonight to present the Woodland Drive uh, pavement rehabilitation project assessment hearing. Uh, so purpose of this meeting here is just go over the project scope. Um and then we will hold the assessment hearing, accept any written objections, um and then we will ask council to certify the assessment role um and approve the associated resolutions. So, a little background on this project. This is Woodlane Drive, um between Wooddale Drive and Bailey Road. So, um a pavement rehabilitation project and this map highlights the properties that are going to be assessed as part of the project based on our assessment policy. Uh so, there's been quite a bit of public process with this uh with this project. Um, so we've had four separate neighborhood meetings. The project kicked off with a corridor study in 2024. Um, and then we had some further um, neighborhood open houses in 2025 once the the scope was more well defined. Um, and then another neighborhood open house about a month ago in March of 2026. Um, we've sent over 5,000 letters to over 1500 addresses to um, really get a lot of feedback on this corridor since it's a a pretty significant corridor in the city. Um we've had over 170 people that that have attended neighborhood meetings. Um and we also had an online questionnaire with um nearly 140 um online responses.

Um we've also had um several check-in points with um city council. Um we authorized the corridor study back in 2024 and then um there was a council workshop where we had discussions on what staff was going to recommend for trail and sidewalk improvements um with this project. Um in 2025 we had council authorize the pre preparation of the preliminary report and then held the public improvement hearing um June of 2025. Um and then today is the assessment hearing. General project scope here. Um so this is uh a 4 to three lane pavement conversion project. So similar to what we've done on Lake Road um east of Wood Woodlane Drive. um which is uh pretty typical um safety improvement project that that we've done a handful of throughout the the community. Um so we will be replacing all of the pavement um and doing curb replacement. Um and then we're doing um some pedestrian crossing enhancements. So we've got five different areas where we're looking at doing some of those pedestrian refuge islands that we also have on Lake Road to help it be more accessible for pedestrians to cross safely. um replacing all the trail that's uh currently along the east side of Woodlane Drive and then also a couple of trail extensions um between Newberry Road and Bailey Road. So that's kind of the very southern part of it where there's an existing gap and then a short extension near the high school to make a more convenient crossing for the kids because the high school has changed their um their pedestrian trail along the the high school.

Uh Woodbury High School. Oh, I thought about your pointer. Sorry. Following the point.

Sorry for the confusion. Yep. So, Woodbury High School up here. So, there's another extension um right around here. Um with the project scope, we also looked at extending trail along the west side of Woodlane Drive. Um it's we've we've heard some concerns from um residents in this neighborhood about pedestrian safety, but um really when we looked at impacts with property acquisition um tree impacts and and grading um and then when we got the feedback from the the residents, a lot of the concerns really related just around crossing Woodlane Drive and a lot of the concerns we heard was from the the high schoolers. So um putting the trail along the west side wouldn't eliminate the need to cross wood lane. So with this project, we really focused on improving the crossings um to make it safer for for u pedestrians to cross Woodlane Drive. Uh we also have some water man replacement with this project that's primarily on the north side here in this commercial area and then some minor storm and sanitary sewer improvements. So we have several funding sources for this project. Um want to highlight here this um grant that we received. So, we received similar grants for the Lake Road 4 to3 lane conversion projects. So, with um this is our third one that we've received a grant for for a 4 to3 lane and over $3 million that we have um secured in in funding for those projects. So, um it's been great to to get some money, some financial aid from um these grants. And we have um additional funding sources from the street reconstruction and maintenance fund. It's a little over $3 million. Um and then about $460,000 from the storm utility fund. Um and then $769,000 from parks and trails replacement fund. And then um $766,000 for water and sewer utility fund. Again, a lot of that is for the water main replacement on the north side of the project. And about $800,000 of special assessments. Um with this project, special assessments are about 11% of the total project costs. Um, and that's

slightly under what the 2026 adopted budget is. Um, 7.1 million is the total project cost. Slightly under what the adopted budget total cost is. It's always nice to see something come in under budget.

Yep. Exactly. Um, proposed assessments. There are quite a few different types of properties um along this corridor. So, we have a wide range of assessments. Um, so single family properties, we've got a range from about $5,000 to um close to $12,000 per parcel. um multifamily um between $1,900 and $30,000. Um commercial properties between $4,000 and about $37,000 and then public semi-public which are the the Woodbury High School properties um 31,000 to 141,000. So special assessments are a charge that are put on the project for properties for certain improvements. Um they benefit the owners of these properties and they're used by the city to partially finance public improvements. And we have existing policies in place that were used with the development of the assessment role for this project. U we also do benefit appraisals um to ensure that we are not assessing more than what the benefit of the improvement is. And so we do check those and and we'll adjust the assessments if the benefit shows a lower amount and the city's city funds the remaining balance. So we hold the assessment hearing prior to the project award. Um there's a 30-day no interest payment period. Um but um people can pay people can pay over 15 years. Um and the first payment would be due uh with the first half of property taxes in 2027 and the interest rate is 4.5%. We would also encourage anybody um who is uses Woodlane Drive or lives along this corridor to sign up for InTouch to get weekly updates as far as the construction schedule. Um, so this is uh a link to um how you'd be able to get more um notice about the project and then the um project contacts from the city, Colton Espinosa and then myself. So the recommended actions tonight would be to hold the assessment hearing um acknowledge any objections to the

assessments and then adoption of the resolution certifying the assessment role and then following that we'll have a discussion where we will ask council to adopt the resolution toward the construction contract amend the budget and authorize cons consultant selection um of construction services. With that I'll open up to any questions. Uh, thank you Mike for sharing that. And um, it's important to know that before we close the hearing, anyone that objects needs to put that in writing. I guess we have a form available in case someone is there that hasn't done it yet that is here for that. Otherwise, I have from Kevin Schoberg three different parcels and uh you're at this point you're welcome to come up if you want to state what those are or I can I've got them here as well, but if you want to officially

what I'd like to do, Mayor and members of the council, um I I should have four objections filed. Um, one on behalf of KRS Properties LLC, two on behalf of CTS3 Properties LLC, and one on behalf of LWK-2. Okay, I think that's right. So, um, one 1809 Woodlane Drive is parcel, one parcel. Yeah. 1951 Woodlane Drive is par there are two parcels on that. And then one at KRS at 1803/1805 Woodlane Drive. Correct. Okay. Yep.

All right. Um, my name is Kevin Schubberg. I've been an attorney in Woodbury for quite some time. My office is on Woodlane Drive. Um, I've provided the written objections uh for you to review, but I want to just kind of briefly go through some of my client's concerns. Um, the scope of this project has changed from what was proposed and what's attempting to be assessed. It's especially true with respect to how it relates to KRS properties LLC. When the process started, uh KRS was being assessed a full assessment for 22 ft of frontage. Now, under the new proposal, the road is going actually on the other side uh of the on the boundary of the property. And my understanding is is that that's based on the fact that the city doesn't have any records of where the water is. So as a result of that, we now I'm now going to pay or KRS properties is going to be paying uh because you don't have records of where the water is. Um I got that from the SE agent who came out uh and looked at it. Um I'm not quite sure how that makes any sense. we didn't think we were going to be involved in that project at all. Um it's difficult in general to understand how the assessments were calculated. Uh it should be noted that the numbers in your feasibility report uh they don't match up with the assessments that are being proposed against the parcels. Um, in particular, I think my clients are concerned because Woodlane Drive is a major arterial road under your 2040 comprehensive plan. It provides access to the high school, Valley Creek, Bailey, all of those things. This is a project that the city should have paid for. There shouldn't

have been any assessments. The fact of the matter is is that in this case um in particular, my understanding is there's a car count of about 9,000 cars on Woodling. That's not going to benefit any of my clients. The reality of it is is when this project is completed, there was a road in front of the all of the properties. There'll be a road there. In fact, what we think is going to happen is that the properties will actually decrease in value because we've already had some experiences with this moving from four lanes to three lanes. The reality of it is uh Mr. Sedle, my client, sent you a picture, some information in 2025 where he showed you what was happening. Um, what we're quite surprised about is the city hasn't done anything with the Chick-fil-A issue. Um that's it's not this project that's the problem. This is a maintenance project. Uh there's nothing in the wood repaving project that's going to add special benefits to any of my clients. Their properties aren't going to increase in value. Um the fact of the matter is um these particular properties, the four that's listed, KRS properties pays pro uh property taxes of $21,166 in 2026. LWK2 pays 57,94. CTS3 Properties pays $24,592 for one property and 3674. Now, what that means is that $50,523.89 is paid to the city of Woodbury every year. You clearly have enough money from

just the four of us, almost 50 grand a year. We don't we don't see the benefit. Um, in particular, what my clients are worried about is from 2023 until now, the assessed values have increased 23%. Which means our taxes have done the same thing. I mean, we're paying taxes at a much higher rate than the residential. And that's part of our issue with this proposal. um the proposal that you're working on is something that actually benefits all of the residential properties in that area. It's not a benefit to the commercial properties. The fact of the matter is we already have a road there. In fact, we think that with four lanes of traffic, it's better than with three. Um, in particular, when the city adopted these policies, we think they're unfair. I don't know whether you guys, the council knows it or not, but when you did the Tamarak project, all of my clients paid for that. How would that be? We're not anywhere near that, but we all paid assessments for it. I don't know how that's possible. And you can't adopt a policy that says all of these residentials, you just heard what your engineer said. Over 5,000 people were surveyed. Why is that? Because there's many residential houses in that area that travel on Woodlane Drive. It's the major arterial in that area. in particular. What's even worse as far as we're concerned, assessing it on a per foot basis doesn't take into consideration what the improvement is doing. The reality of it is is that the city received the highway safety improvement

program grant and took the $1 million and allocated it to the city's responsibility, not the entire project. Completely unfair. that should have been broken down and we as the people who are being assessed should have got some of that benefit. That is completely unfair. In addition to which the city has a history of not properly determining be benefit from projects attempting to collect fees that are not owed. I can draw your attention to Harststead versus city of Woodbury. I mean, the reality of it is is this project should have been funded by the city of Woodbury. It benefits everyone. It doesn't benefit us in particular because we already have a road there. We already have a sidewalk there. In this case, we're requesting that the that you not adopt the assessment role as it's proposed because quite frankly, I was kind of surprised with some of the numbers. My understanding is that the school district is going to have an assessment of about $222,000. What I read from their minutes and so forth is they intend to assess that over the entire district. So guess who's going to pay for that, too? All of my clients. We're going to pay your assessment, then we're going to pay theirs. Completely unfair. The reality of it is is this project doesn't add special benefits to any of our properties. We're already paying taxes that should be used to fund this and you should be paying this out of your general fund because it benefits all of the residents in the city of Woodbury. So, we've filed our written objections. Uh we would urge the council not to go forward with the assessments as they are. uh we don't think that there there

will be any special benefits to my clients and as a result of that uh we think that uh this the way that this has been done is not fair. It's unfair to us and I think it's unfair to you because the reality of it is is this project supposedly benefits everybody and if that's the case then everybody should share in that. I don't have uh any customers in my building or any of my other clients where we're using the sidewalks or any of those things. It's a commercial area, but we see the residents walk by. It benefits them. It doesn't benefit us. Thank you.

Thank you. Um anybody else need an opportunity to speak on this or anyone online? Okay. Because again, this is the last opportunity to get your objection recorded and known before we close the hearing. So with that, I make a motion that we close the hearing. Second. Motion a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. I. Okay. The hearing is now closed. Um Kevin, city attorney, can you just share what the process is now that these these objections have been provided? What where does this go from here?

Sure. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh certainly I believe the city staff disagrees with Mr. Schubberg's objections and uh certainly on behalf of his clients, he can choose to continue to appeal this matter to the court system if he so chooses. Okay. Um and again, I just think from one one of the we we have a policy that's been in place. It's been in place a number of years. We follow the policy and do it consistently across every project that we've had. It's my understanding of it. So, um, any other comments from council? Briefly, as much as I can be brief,

I I understand and I hear the the the argument that was that was just given to us and that we've received, you know, that the argument um that the city should pay the full full amount, that's that's a valid argument. That's a change to the assessment policy and can't be done individually by project. That's not fair. And that if the council so wishes to change the entire mathematics and structure of how we fund roadway projects, then that's then that's a question that that has to go should go to taxpayers and need to go because that completely changes the mathematics of how roadway repair is done across the city for the next hundred years. It's a huge change with a very high um which will impact taxpayers in general negatively because everyone's going to pay more because now there's no assessments and everybody the roadways are going to get done. So I'm not saying that's not a a valid argument and a valid conversation. We've had that conversation before. I'm not not a fan of that u every 20 years. I'd prefer to pay a little bit more every 20 years when it comes comes through. So to your point, we have an assessment policy. We haven't established a pest assessment policy. It's up to the city attorney and the engineers and and they go through that process and what has been provided to us in our packets is is the application of that which I think I understand the arguments and the and folks are free to make those arguments and and make those u those appeals. That's what the process is for. But there's nothing in here that would say that we've deviated from our process and that the that the merits are going to need to be argued as the merits. I don't think there's anything for us that's that's that deviates from that. So that's my position. Well, everybody knows on this council that road assessments are what got me to run for city council because I found myself in the same situation of questioning the feasibility report and the assessments and how this came about. Um, I do know for a fact that we have a policy. Uh, it has been in place for I

think it was approved in 2015. Um, so it's been in place for 11 years. that was supposed to be um relooked at starting in 24 to be implemented in 25 but um we did not have time to do that. I agree uh that I am not a fan of assessments but I will also say that although we have a policy we have in the past deviated from the policy on some occasions um based on the feasibility reports. So I but um but but the road needs to be done and everything that you said. I wish I knew you 10 years ago. Um so um but I do have questions on on the um can you just tell me where the where you said that there was a multifamily assessments on there. Can you tell me where there's multifamily? Um

I think south of Lake exactly where they Yeah. Council member Wilson. So there's a a handful of multifamily. So this parcel right here is assessed because they have private street. So it's this um kind of reddish color. Um and this is also multif family up here as well. Um and then this is senior living down here at the corner of Wood Lane and Lake Road. Um those are all multif family. I see what you're saying. Yes. So that's considered th this the um senior living center is not a commercial property. then that is considered a multi- tenant like a town home or apartment building, right? Correct. Okay.

And then the the other one at the top that is is that a rental town home? Correct. Yes. And they have access off of Woodlane or access off of They have private street access off of Woodlane Drive. So they would be assessed.

Okay. Is that it for you? Uh, and are we going to address the sidewalk issue? I'm a little confused on on what has happened because I do remember attending these open houses on the I I'll say trails. I said sidewalk trails on the west side and how it was discussed. Will there be a trail on the west side from Bailey up to is it is it Lydia or Lydia is the first street? Will there be a trail there on the west side?

Correct. Yeah. So, so right now there's a trail between Lydia and Newberry on the west side. So, with this project, we're going to extend it so it has more of a logical end point and extend to Bailey Road. So, there will be a trail continuous trail from Bailey Road up to Lydia Lane and it will end there. End there. Okay. So, um this project received federal funding. um what we proposed uh the project that we put forward to receive that federal funding has it changed from what was proposed that we received it the funding does that make sense so we sent in the the feasibility and the plans and received federal funding for it has it deviated from that

yep so we applied for federal funding before we had a feasibility report so we we had this federal funding um approved maybe in 2024 Um but we have it's a fairly high level scope at that point. Um so we haven't deviated from what um was approved with the federal funding. Okay. So what was sent to the federal to receive the federal funding in 24 is what's going forward today.

Yeah. The city's receiving federal funding for the four lane to threelane conversion portion of the project and that's what the application was for and that is what we are proposing with the project. So there are additional components to the project that are not funded. It's only a million dollars of our um total project cost. So the grant was provided because of the safety improvements that are provided by a Ford through lane conversion. Okay.

I I mean I understand what you're saying. I just I do remember calling into question something on Lake Road and was asking why we wouldn't just add the trails right away when we were doing Lake Road. And the and the response I got was that it was um because you had already received the federal funding, we couldn't change that scope. And so my so my question is is is have we changed the scope from receiving the federal funding? No. And and the to be very clear, the scope of this project is the same as approved by council at the public improvement hearing at which there was significant discussion at a workshop ahead of the public improvement hearing for the scope of the project. What you're saying probably or I'm assuming, please fill in

is that if we were to give direction to try to put a trail or sidewalk along the west side because that wasn't within the scope with the federal funding, we wouldn't be able to do that within the funding, you know, within that grant money.

Yeah. At this point, you've bid the project. Um, you'd be talking about a multi-million dollar addition to the project. We would have to go back and rebid the project. um you would be starting the project over because of the significant property acquisition that we had shown um during our initial analysis of that trail on the west side. Um we would need a year plus time to go out and acquire that property likely some of them through condemnation. Um and we would have to redesign the project and rebid the project. So that that would be a s a very significant change to the project.

So then if you could just help me understand because we do have high school students crossing then where there is no sidewalk on the west side. We do have a sidewalk on the west side that was put in or a trail a trail on the west side put in and I don't know the name of the road but it was we have the stop lightss to go right into the school there and it and it's on the west side and it goes down to is it that next street over so it offers a straight a a safe crossing there but then there there is a significant gap for all of the students that are trying to cross Wood Lane. Um what are we doing? Are we putting in a a a signal a flashing signal like we have on Lake? are what are we what are we doing?

Yeah. So, um you're correct. We've got a trail on Copper Cliff Trail. Copper Cliff Trail here um just north to the high school. So, we're extending that a little bit just so it aligns better with the high schools actually changing their trail into the school. They're going to move it to the north side of their driveway. Um with these other streets that are further south where we don't have that trail on the west side, we are proposing to put in those refuge islands on Lake Road. Um we're not proposing the rapid flashing beacons right now, but um we have those at um Stratford Road, Sherwood Road, um and Lydia Lane. Um we'll have those um enhanced kind of refuge islands at those intersections.

And Mayor Burton, members of council, we have had uh positive feedback for those refuge islands on Lake Road. Um and throughout the process on uh will they drive here at the open houses we did hear positive feedback that um they'd like those features on this project and because of their effectiveness. Correct.

Thank you for that additional clarification. I just want to make a comment too on what I heard um Mr. Schoberg say if I heard this right and I apologize if I didn't but I think you were referring to property tax and that whole bill. And I just want to point out that if you study the property tax, you'll find that that whole amount that you were quoting was paid, I believe, was you the city only has a portion of that entire bill. If you look at your property bill, a lot of that goes to the county, the school districts, etc. So, just just to clarify that, maybe you knew that, but I just for anyone else listening and that the appraisals are done by the county, just to be clear on that. Did anything else you want to say? also add that property classifications and how they are uh how they are taxed is a state matter. The city does not determine the classifications or their allocation of the tax.

Yeah, good point. So, a lot of complexity and all that. Um if I can the numbers I gave you was your contribution. You received $50,000 each of the four. Okay. So, it to give you an example, one of the my clients pays 57,000 a year by himself. the other client 22,000 just to and you're saying what you're saying is that's just to the city. He's got another portion of his bill. What what I'm saying is is that it's almost $100,000 but the city receives $50,000 of that money. Okay. Thank Okay. Okay. So, and I'm well aware of the classification. It's not the state. It's the county that uh controls that

and appraisals. Okay. Thanks. Just want to clarify in case I misheard something. Maybe I did. police, fire, water. I'm just adding the things that go to property taxes. Sure. I I would love to, you know, I for the record, I think I, you know, I can't wait to get back on on and to and re-evaluate our assessments and run some numbers and figure out how we can do this. Uh because those assessments are um um debilitating.

Yeah. In addition to everything else that's going on. So, yes. Well, and it in addition, it costs a lot to maintain roads. So, there's got to be payment from somewhere. So, we are at this point in time just continuing to follow our policy. Um, okay. With that, um, if there's no more discussion, would somebody like to put forth a motion? I'll move to adopt resolution 26-46, a resolution approving the special assessments for the 2026 pavement rehabilitation project, Woodlane Drive. Second. 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 Bert, I. That resolution passes. We will now move on to item 8A. This is under discussion. So, after we've just approved the assessments, now we have to um basically award the contract. So, do you have more to say on this? You pretty much have said it. Do you need to Right. So, the presentation covered both items. So, if you have any questions, we're happy to answer. Yeah. Any So, council members, any questions on that or was that clear enough for you? Okay. If somebody would like to put forth a motion,

I'll make a motion to adopt resolution 26-47, a resolution awarding the construction contract to Magnamera Contracting in the amount of 5,687,3446 for the Woodlane Drive Bailey Road to Woodlane Drive pavement rehab project and authorizing the mayor and city administrator to sign said contract amending the 2026 adapt ED annual budget and authorizing the mayor and city administrator to execute a professional engineering services agreement with Inc. in the amount of $662,900 for construction administration services for the Woodlane Drive Bailey Road to Woodllay Drive pavement rehab project.

Just making sure you got every word right. I'll second motion a second. Any further discussion hearing? None. The roll call, please. Council member Wilson, I. Council member Morris, hi. Council member Santini, I. Council member Stafford, I. Mayor Bert, I. All right. You may award the contract and get more construction going because we don't have enough right now in the city. We always need more. But we do like the road.

Yeah, we do like the roads when they're all done, though. They sure are nice. So, thank you. Um, we'll now move on to staff reports. And, uh, Tony, it looks like you're on board to give us a transportation update. I am good segue into all of the traffic impacts around town. There are a number of construction projects this year. This will be another busy year just like uh last year was. Um the active projects right now we have about four of our seven um active uh after your award tonight. We'll be working with contractor to get started on our wood lane drive schedule. Also, what you see today for construction and road closures is mostly our water treatment work. Um water pipelines are being installed along Valley Creek Road. Uh there is a single lane closure for westbound and eastbound traffic on Valley Creek Road between Woodbury Drive and where the old intersection of Cottage Grove Drive was. Um that work is to install uh water treatment pipelines under the uh roadway and um after that the roadways will be rebuilt and a trail will be added on the north side of Val Creek Road within that area. along Bailey Road. We do have a significant number of pipe crews working down there right now. Um they've installed probably about 90% of the pipe along Bailey Road. Uh they've made a lot of progress in the last month. Um that work is mostly underneath the trail. Um but we do have a closure between Radio Drive and Salem Drive uh because we needed to cross Pioneer Drive with our pipelines heading south in the Pioneer Drive corridor. So that closure there um will remain uh till about miday. Um and then the contractor will work on opening Bailey Road uh for our next phase of the construction project. Contractor is currently working south on Pioneer Drive um to install pipe towards Harst Parkway where they will head west to the water treatment plant location.

Vel Road project um uh as I'd mentioned does have a trail being constructed uh on the north side of Velcro Road from just east of Dancing Waters Parkway where it connects with the existing trail network uh west to the underpass on Kobe Lake Drive. You won't see a lot of traffic impacts for that. That's being coordinated with the water treatment work. So right behind the pipeline installation, they are um constructing that trail um with the closures that are in place uh for the water treatment work. There is a traffic signal um being constructed for Math and Science Academy at Bailey Road and Fairway Drive. Um a number of the uh items that they need to get into the ground uh for that project are being done and coordinated with our existing closure. The traffic signal itself will be erected um later this summer. We don't have exact date on that. We'll need to get delivery of the uh steel for that. It is planned to be operational prior to school going in session in the fall. The roadway rehabilitation project for 2026 is also underway. Uh the first phase here is Afton Road. Uh no work has begun quite yet on that portion. We're working through permitting uh for the project. Um but the contractor has mobilized into uh the blue area that's shown on here which was our phase two. They do have utility work with sewer and water improvements. They have removed the pavement in phase two and then also um mobbed in some equipment for temporary water uh where they will need to replace water manes and have water service out for a temporary period of time. This is a picture of the temporary water lines that are laid out um to provide temporary water service while those uh water lines are being uh repaired. Woodland Woodlane Drive pavement rehabilitation project. This is a future project. We'll work with our contractor on the schedule now that we have authorization to move forward with that

contract. We'll bring that back at the next transportation update. Starting May 4th, Washington County has reported that they will begin construction at the Bailey Road and Settler's Ridge Parkway intersection. You do see some activities out there um in in recent weeks. The utility companies are moving their private utilities out of the way of this project so that on May 4th, the road contractor can move in and mobilize. We do anticipate road closures or intersection closures um beginning May 4th. And then uh in Intrepid Fiber project, we are working on authorizing permits uh for their work to begin. They have indicated midmay that they will likely begin their work. Um, so we're still refining schedules with them and and their locations of where they'll begin, but uh they're um they will start with their they call it backbone um infrastructure and then work their way out through neighborhoods um on that um on that schedule. The mo majority of the work is focused here. The green box that's drawn in here is really the general borders of Woodbury. So you'll see they're focusing construction this year in the southern portion of Woodbury, southern third and the eastern portion um kind of in the Stoneville dancing Snowmill Farms dancing waters area. Sorry, tried to spit that out too quickly.

Uh before you move on to that, can you just go back because of course everyone's like, well, when's it coming to my area? So how do people know if it's because I can't read this map, but people knocking on the doors there? There is that there is um Did you say that there is mailing out? They're okay. I know I he didn't just say that, but you you're seeing it cuz you live that way. I am. Okay. I did not buy. Good job. Okay. That they will provide a notice to you ahead of their work beginning. And then also we do have a website set up at uh woodburymn.govfiber. Um and also some information from Intrepid Fiber themselves on intrepid fiber.com which will provide updates uh to their phasing of their work.

Okay. Any other questions on that? Tony, not a question on this project, but are they going to complete East View Road?

Yes, that's a great question. Uh, right now the Metropolitan Council is working on some sewer force mains in that area. So, our work, um, as may have been reported at Transportation Updates was delayed till this year. The Met Council is working to get under contract to do some excavations of that, uh, pipeline that they're working on or sewer pipe. uh they anticipate that would last a few months this summer and then we would come in. Our contractor has um agreed to a change order to allow them to do that work um following Met Council's work. We don't have precise schedules on that yet because Met Council is not quite under contract with their contractor. Did we do final lift on that last year?

Uh no, we delayed work on East View Road. Yes. We we we basically abandoned all work on East View Road until we had better um uh better knowledge of what was going to happen with Met Council. Do we have a picture of that? I do. Yeah. So that in case anyone's trying to track this. Oh, okay. All right. There we go. Okay. So, the Met Council will be working between the two green stars. So, um Ridge Drive, uh just west of Ridge Drive to about Sers Ridge Parkway. That's an open excavation area. um they tried to repair the pipes without excavating but are now needing to go back and dig up that pipe and replace it.

So, we've we will um city staff has recommended to the contractor we hold off on our road rehab work until they're completely done and out of the way in that area. So, then we'll come in. We will need to update residents um as we have a more a definite schedule. Okay.

Uh I want to remind everyone that woodburymn.gov GV/watertreatment is our full uh road closure and um traffic impact map. We update this um anytime that ch traffic changes are made. Uh so not quite daily, but anytime that they're done, we we do update this map. We also um contact ways um the Apple Maps and Google Maps so that when people do type in uh stuff into their navigation systems, they can find their locations on the official detour routes rather than um other routes that Google Maps might find. Um so please visit this often. It it is your uh Bible for knowing what's closing and what's coming up. We do have the future road closures and phasing also included on this web page um with additional information about the projects. Reminder to sign up for inouch if you want to receive uh information about specific projects. You do need to opt in by checking the box and adding your email to that. And that was what I have for transportation update. Can

I ask a question? Yes. Um on the Valley Creek uh trail project would be on the north side. It ends at jewel or spker spread. There you go. Right there. It doesn't continue on because why?

Yeah. So, there was a a fairly good study conducted in cooperation with the county and the city on this. Um there is a tunnel today at Kobe Lake Park um at the location of terminus and it will connect into the existing trail network. Once we go west of that tunnel that's in there um towards dual drive, uh there are significant grades um that do not accommodate the trail very well. Um so it is feasible to construct. We are probably talking about the cost to build this mile and a half um could be about the same cost to construct a few hundred feet of that trail. So um that's not to say that that wouldn't be proposed here in the near future. Um, but it needs further investigation and planning into our capital improvement plan if we're going to construct that.

Is there anything we can do in the meantime to help people cross um if you've ever if you've ever tried to um cross Valley Creek uh without um signalized intersections. It's almost like Frogger. Yeah, certainly crossing at controlled uh intersections would be the um recommendation. Um, in the meantime, we don't have any other I'll call it improvements. I guess what I'm saying is is there are no controlled intersections uh between right between Jew between Juel and not until Kobe Lake. So, all of those residents on that side have to try to cross I I mean I'm going to say eight lanes of traffic. Um, yeah, agree.

Or they can maneuver through the neighborhood to get to Kobe Lake. We would recommend them move through to Kobe Lake Drive and cross at a signalized intersection. How Okay. Yeah, we just talked about the path of least resistance when people have to go someplace and now you want them to go back. I will add that city and county staff are looking at um are we are looking at extending the trail further west. It's just not at this time. Yeah, I know. We do. We just Yeah. Anything else for Tony? That was my big thing since I've done it. I have to do it and it's understood. Thank you for stepping in for Chris. my run on. Appreciate that. Um, city administrator Jeff Doll, do you have any updates on your

Mayor Bert? Uh, just a couple of events coming up that I want to um remind the council and let the community know about. So, similar to green talks, another event that has its origins from the uh all the great work that the environmental stewardship plan has in it. Uh we are having a electrify everything workshop at on April 27th be at Central Park where we deep uh dig deep have it have a deep dive on heat pumps and home electrif electrification excuse me from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. uh at Central Park. It's free in person and residents can come and explore how uh they can make energy efficient changes that uh not only is better for the environment but also saves them a lot of money. So encourage uh folks to go and check that out.

Should be noted that your two attempts at puns failed. Uh in a deep dive into you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Uh council member Mor. That's true. Uh next item is our joint workshop meeting with Cottage Grove. That'll be next week uh April 29th which is a Wednesday. It's um no next week.

We do this every two years. We have a lot of partnerships with Cottage Grove. So, we talk about, you know, those partnerships, give each other updates on what's going on, and just build those relationships since we have so many things in common with Cottage Grove. So, looking forward to that. It'll be at Central Park. Um, and lastly, I wanted to give the community a heads up. Work is still continuing. We're almost done uh with the changes or the updates to the lower aftton fire station. Uh it's being recommissioned. station is uh to be to uh not only serve the area but to be updated in order to accommodate our new 24-hour um shifts for our fire department. Uh so we're going to be having a open house on May 14th, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 or at 7:30 p.m. Come one, come all. uh the entire neighborhood and everybody else who wants to see the new station, the improvements that we made, and how we'll be serving that area of the community, and how we'll be also um providing uh much needed space as we move forward with the demolition and construction of the public safety building as well. So, perfect timing to have that.

What is the date again? uh May 14th, 7:30 p.m. or uh 7:30 I'm sorry, 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. So it'll be in the afternoon and evening. I'm sure we'll have treats and tours and tours and trucks to look at. So bring the family, dogs, the pet. Yep. I'm sure Otis will make an appearance. So, yeah. Um, so so hopefully we'll have good weather and, uh, madam mayor, that's all I have. That's great. Thank you. Any questions for just one question. Is there parking? Well, like where will people park when they go to that fire station because it is on Aftton Road?

That's a great question. I don't know if uh, assistant engineering director, city engineer Tony Kutsky knows that one, but we'll we'll we'll get information out so people know where to go. Yeah, good point. Okay. Anything else? Not I make a motion that we adjourn the meeting. Second. Motion second. Any further discussion? All in favor? I. We are adjourned. Thank you everyone.