City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you. Thank you.

Call the meeting of the St. Paul City Council to order. Roll call, please. Johnson.

Here.

Jost.

Here.

Kim.

Here.

Yang. Here. Bowie.

Here.

Coleman. Here. And Council President Naker. Here. Seven present, none absent.

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome. Thank you for joining us at our City Council meeting. We invite everyone to join us in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Consent agenda items 2 through 15 are before you for your consideration.

I know we are pulling item 6 for separate consideration. Is there anything else to come off of consent? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to approve the balance of the consent agenda. All in favor, say aye. Aye.

All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The consent agenda is adopted as amended. Item six, resolution 26-1460, authorizing the city to enter into a grant agreement with the Federal Highway Administration for Safe Streets for All funding.

And I wanted to pull this off of consent just to give our staff an opportunity to tell us a little bit more about what this funding would make available. I know all of us hear frequently from our constituents about the need for safer streets, safer pedestrian crossings. And this is the kind of funding that gets us there. So I wanted to give an opportunity to talk about that. Welcome up.

OK, can everyone see that? Is that up? Just want to make sure it's up. Council President, Council Members, my name is David Peterson. I'm a transportation planner in the Public Works Department. And let's see here. Is it up? OK. And I'm happy to bring this to you today. It's been kind of a long time in coming in entering into this agreement. We have a very short presentation here for you, and then we can take some questions. So this is the federal Safe Streets for All transportation grant from the Federal Highway Administration. And what's before you today is authorization to accept the agreement. I just want to show you a quick map of the project corridors. This grant funding is intended to provide a lot of low cost solutions across a lot of different streets. So this is approximately 40 miles of city and county roadways on what was determined to be the high injury network from our Transportation Safety Action Plan. We would need to account for additional work that's going on along corridors. Some of these, there's already county work. There's also some state MnDOT work happening. So there's coordination that's required. Just to note, 10% of the budget was removed from the original grant agreement by Federal Highway Administration in March of this year. there's a five-year timeline for project implementation. That's completion of the project. So once the federal government signs, countersigns our document, we have five years to complete the work. So that's the preliminary design, final design, construction, and project closeout. Some of the types of improvements that you're likely to see with this, you've seen some of these around St. Paul elsewhere. They're not incredibly, what do you say, they're not the most innovative, they're kind of the bread and butter of doing a lot of safety work. So you'll see high visibility crosswalks, curb extensions that you've seen in your neighborhoods, traffic circles, diverters. median refuges, pedestrian median refuges, beacons. Reflective signal backplates are actually one of those low cost things that you don't think about until you figure that you don't see a traffic signal when you're approaching an intersection sometimes. So this is a sample of some of the types of things that you'll see. And just briefly on the project budget. So the funding comes in two groups of funding. We have the federal grant, which is about $14 million. And then we have about a $4 million match from the state's IIJA matching fund. We were able to procure that for a total of about $18.1 million. The budget is about $15 million of that is going to construction. And contingency costs, $3.2 million to engineering and inspection costs. And then we have some administrative costs that we've set aside for the city to administer the project. and generally on the timeline. We are looking to sign this in the next week or two. And once we do that, we have a MnDOT agreement also to sign, but we can get moving on the agreement otherwise. We have to hire a consultant team to help support this, so we want to get the request for proposals out right away as soon as we can. So we don't waste anything of that five-year timeline. And then the first year, that's the first year of project delivery is 2027. That's going to be preliminary design and our environmental work, followed by 2028 final design, and then construction mainly across two years in 2029 and 2030. And then the last year really would just be kind of for cleanup work.

So given the scale of the construction work, we think that that's feasible to just have kind of punch list type items the last year.

And that's all we have. Very short presentation. So any questions?

Thank you so much. It is great to see this funding coming in for such much needed projects. I'm just curious, do we know already, or could we find a list online somewhere of the specific, I know you showed a map, but the specific intersections that can expect this kind of treatment?

Well, we have. So one of the things we need to do with the consultants is sort of drill down exactly to where we would like to see the improvements happen. So they're going to be along those corridors. The intersections are the places where we tend to have the most crashes, especially crashes between our arterial and collector streets. So we don't have that for you yet. We will be developing that in year one.

And is that something there will be some public engagement around?

We'll do some degree of public engagement. We do need to try to get through our preliminary to our environmental documentation by the end of next year. So we probably won't do a whole half year of public engagement. Sure.

Well, thank you. I would look to see if my colleagues have questions as well. I just want to say it's really great to see external funding coming in for this. We're frequently telling folks we don't have the funding for that particular treatment that you want to see to make the neighborhood safer. And now we won't have enough to make every intersection safer. But it sounds like this will make a big dent in things. So grateful to you for the work to get this grant. Are there other questions or comments? Seeing none, thank you so much. And I would move approval. Any discussion of the motion? All in favor say aye.

Aye. All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 16, SR 26-185, St. Paul Port Authority 2027 Budget Presentation.

We are pleased to welcome Mr. Solomon and his friends from the St. Paul Port Authority to give their budget presentation. We ran out of time a little bit in our budget calendar, so we are having this come at a council meeting. I'd ask for us to put 30 minutes on the clock. And I would look to our budget chair to see if she has any introductory comments. Ms. Johnson.

Well, as a member of the Port Board, I also just want to say thank you for providing this opportunity. I think every year the St. Paul Port Authority is more than willing to come to the council to give a presentation. Sometimes in our budget calendar, we have our internal city departments that often take somewhat of a precedence just because of the size of funding we were talking about, but the Port Authority did present their budget to the actual board itself prior to being here, so I've seen it, but I also will say that I'm looking forward to just hearing what questions may come from my colleagues, and as you guys know, the increase from year to year for the Port is minimal, and so that's the same this year as well. Thank you. Welcome, Mr. Solomon.

Thank you, Council President Naker. Council members, I'm Mike Solomon, Chief Financial Officer of St. Paul Port Authority. I think my slides are up. I'm not getting the full screen, but hopefully they look okay for you. I'm joined by my leadership team members here, President and CEO Todd Hurley, Ashley Arum, our Senior VP of Communications and External Affairs, Emily Lawrence, our General Counsel, and Christine Williams, our Chief Development Officer. So our first slide here... Coming back up. It's just a little bit about the Port Authority. So we are an economic engine for St. Paul and the entire state of Minnesota. We redevelop underutilized land into thriving business centers to bring jobs and tax base to St. Paul. We offer finance tools to help Minnesota companies become more energy efficient and resilient and manage the St. Paul Harbor on the Mississippi River, providing jobs and connecting our region to a global marketplace. You can advance the slides there. So a little bit about background on our connection to the city of St. Paul. So we've been the city's economic development partner via state statute since 1929. We have about 24 team members at the Port Authority. And we have a mayor-selected and council-approved board of commissioners. Two of those board seats are held by city council members, those being Council Vice President Yang and Council Member Johnson, as you just heard. And the port's operations are supported by a property tax levy. We hope to show you a little bit about the return on that investment in this presentation. And so what we're going to talk about is the port's different lines of business, our budget, and that levy. So the Port of St. Paul enables Minnesota industries to compete in worldwide bulk commodities markets via the Mississippi River. And so you can see here some of the statistics. The four locations of our barge terminals, largely downriver of downtown St. Paul, and some of the top imports and exports that we're dealing with through the port's barge terminals. So 5 to 8 million tons of commodities annually, over 500 acres of land with 21 tenants providing more than 700 jobs on the river, and $2.3 million in annual tax revenue coming through those barge terminals. Our top exports are largely agricultural, and top imports, fertilizer, petroleum products, and other industrial things. We've got some really significant projects going on at our river terminals this year. This is critical infrastructure for operations at these terminals, and they're great examples of the port leveraging outside dollars with state and federal grants utilized in public-private partnerships with our tenants. So the first set of projects is at barge terminal one. Our tenant there is bulk silos, and we're doing a barge receiving system and material storage and transfer system project there. Ports are the first and last mile to the rail and trucks that feed other districts. The cement material arriving at this location is distributed throughout the city and the region, and the efficiency of moving this material by barge has a direct impact on construction projects by reducing material costs. Phase one of this project, about $8 million, replaced dilapidated infrastructure and allows direct loading and unloading of barges at this location. Phase two is going to be about $10 million. We'll enhance the land side silos and transfer systems for this tenant, leveraging additional private and public investment in the terminal. And we anticipate that starting in 2027. At Barge Terminal 2, we have about an $18 million dock wall rehabilitation project going on. It's a 60-year-old dock wall that's being replaced. And we additionally secured federal dollars to include an emergency response boat ramp, providing the only downtown river access for first responders and enhancing safety for everyone using the river. And again, nearly an $18 million project there. currently under construction. We hope to see that boat ramp opening soon. The last big project at the river is at the Southport Terminal, an $800,000 federally funded grade separation study. That's underway to identify solutions to address train blockages at the Southport Terminal's only vehicle entrance. Trucks attempting to access the terminal there are blocked by trains at the Ak-Raid crossing. That causes impacts to traffic in the surrounding community. THE STUDIES UNDERWAY, BUT BUILDING ON THAT WORK, WE'VE SUBMITTED A GRANT REQUEST TO THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION TO EXECUTE ON THE WORK CURRENTLY UNDERWAY, AND THAT WILL BE A GRANT FOR THE FINAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PHASE. SO THAT'S A POTENTIAL REQUEST OF OVER $38 MILLION FROM FRA. WE'RE APPLYING FOR THAT NOW, THE STUDY'S IN PROCESS, BUT THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION FOR THAT WORK WILL TAKE SEVERAL YEARS OF PLANNING AND PARTNERSHIP WITH CITY AND REGIONAL STAKEHOLDERS.

so a really big year couple years for infrastructure projects at our river terminals and just to connect the dots on that last one because we heard earlier today about the south port area and the lack of any there's only one ingress and egress point this grade separation study would create that second ingress and egress point so it would address some of the concerns we heard today from residents although not all of them so just wanted to connect yes thank you council president

So moving to some of our inland development work that started in the 1950s, the port business centers are really all across the city and have large economic impacts in jobs and tax base. Our recent industrial land study showed the importance of industrial land as a part of the city's tax base. with only 6% of the city's acreage, generating more than 9% of all property tax revenues, using less city services than it pays for, and supporting 31,000 jobs, nearly 18% of the jobs in the city. So we're really looking forward to working with the city on the upcoming comp plan to discuss how to increase this valuable resource. You can see the impact of the existing business centers, about 1,000 acres of land supporting more than 500 businesses, 22,000 jobs, and paying under just about $46 million in annual property tax revenues. We've been busy with current and recent projects as well. So the demolition and redevelopment of the former St. Joseph's Hospital downtown is underway. We're working towards completion of the public infrastructure at the Heights, industrial land sales at the Heights, and progress on affordable housing. We hope to have some further progress on that and potentially an action in front of you yet this year to move forward the first multifamily project on that site. So a lot of work out at the Heights. We're continuing demolition and remediation work at the former Kmart site. We're getting ready for a future redevelopment there and managing our 400 Wabasha building through some of downtown's recent challenges. We wanted to include the successful opening of the sandbox heavy machinery classroom project we partnered with St. Paul Public Schools with on this year. So these are just some of the current and recent projects we have going on with our development team. The port is also the statewide administrator for the MinPACE property assessed clean energy loan program. And we also act as a lender through our Trillion BTU loan program for lending in the city of St. Paul. So on the map, you can see a shaded green, the different cities and counties that we work with, as well as the completed project shown as red dots on the map. Almost 500 loans completed, $390 million in investment, And those projects are saving almost $40 million in energy use annually. So really a lot of impact. And we're always looking for opportunities to expand the reach of these programs, partnering with Minnesota's Green Bank, looking for private lenders to partner with and clean energy advocacy groups to get the word out. A great example project that just opened up is the Stella Market Rate Housing Downtown. It's a good example of seeing PACE loans that are increasingly included in the capital stack for both new construction and office to housing conversions in addition to the more traditional energy efficiency and solar projects we financed in the past. And our capital outreach for revitalization and expansion grant program, CORE, was a new program this year. We're proud of our team's work to stand this up with legislative funding specific to the capital area. Our first four projects were just announced with $530,000 granted to four businesses for capital improvements. Two of those are up on the Rice Street corridor, and two of them are in downtown St. Paul. Our round two of grant funding is closed and currently being scored. And with an additional $600,000 from the legislature in 2026, we're looking forward to even a round three of this program, again, for the capital area. This slide shows the early decertification of the Williams Hill and Westminster TIF districts, which were in the headlines last year, and we're excited to continue to decertify more districts ahead of schedule and as legally required once obligations are repaid. And so for 2026, we're proposing to bring forward the Great Northern, North, and South districts, as well as the Energy Lane districts for early decertification. Those were originally scheduled to be decertified in 2029, 2032, and 2030, respectively. They generate roughly $2.3 million in property taxes each year, and so we see these as really great continued success stories for our TIF work, where we have job and tax outcomes from the use of this tax increment for acquisition, demolition, and remediation. So decertifying these districts will generate about $66 million in tax base being returned to the general tax base, growth that would not have occurred but for this public investment. And we're really looking forward to similar success stories with our St. Joe's and Kmart sites in the future. And I know there's interest in understanding the tax bill impact of these decertifications. I don't have those numbers here today, but we're happy to work with the city's TIF expert, Jenny Wolf, and the county to kind of crunch those numbers and report something back to the council.

But it's a good impact.

It's a positive impact. We see these as really great examples of TIF working as it's intended to. So transitioning to kind of the budget part of the presentation here, you can see my graphic that we like to show. In 2026, our operating budget sources, only 35% came from the property tax levy. So I know that's unique from other city departments that are more levy-based. The levy here supports only 35% of our operating budget, again, pointing to the return on the city's investment with those funds. This slide shows our adopted 2026 and preliminary 2027 budget. Our timeline is a bit different with the mayor and council budget process happening ahead of our internal budget process. But looking at just the non-discretionary growth that we're projecting, we knew there would be a gap early on. And so we're very grateful to the mayor and OFS for including $75,000 increase to our operating levy in the 2027 proposed budget that says you can see on the slide we're still looking at a potential gap of around 125 000 and i'm confident that we will solve that through our internal budget process balancing revenues and expenditures kind of internal to the port So starting at the top, you can see the $75,000 increase to the property tax operating line item and all the other revenues really held flat pending our internal budget process that is going on right now and we'll review those individual line items with our different departments. For expenses, we are similar to the city in having the majority of our costs be people. And so projecting inflationary growth in personnel costs, including health care benefits, that's what's really driving that bottom line gap that you see there. But again, a lot of confidence. Our internal process will work to balance this and deliver a balanced budget to our board. The Port Authority's three different tax levies are shown on this slide. The general obligation bond debt service levy is set for the life of a bond at the time of issuance, and there's minor fluctuations annually. So that's that small change you're seeing there. The mandatory tax levy is a limited tax levy capped at .01813% of the city's market value. And as I'll show on a later slide, the port is utilizing less than 50% of that capacity with this proposed number. Again, to help with inflationary cost pressures and maintain staffing to complete our existing projects and seek out new opportunities, we are requesting your support for this $75,000 increase in the mandatory Or operating property tax levy, that was proposed in the mayor's budget. And then the last item here is the discretionary levy for operations. That is capped at $105,000 annually.

So, Mr. Solomon, does that $75,000 additional mean that you're actually hiring new or doing new programs or services, or is it just to cover the cost of inflation?

Thank you, Council President Baker. It's just to cover inflationary costs. And as I'm showing on this slide, we'll still have some work to do to even balance from there.

Thank you.

This slide has a little bit more detail on our general obligation debt service tax levy. The port's geo levy is separate from the city's operating levy on a property tax statement. So similar to Ramsey County or St. Paul Public Schools, it's a different line on the tax statement. Our geo debt levies are approved via ordinance at the time a bond issue is brought forward to the council for issuance. And we structure our debt with the goal of an overall level debt levy over time. You can see some examples of the projects financed by past GO bonds that are still outstanding and their annual debt service levy amounts. So the Beacon Bluff redevelopment was a big one for the Port Authority. You can see the acquisition of the Hillcrest Golf Courts, now the Heights redevelopment, the city's Emerald Ash Borer project that was completed back in 2022, and then our opportunity fund for the Kmart site acquisition and what each of those are going to cost for repayment in 2027, totaling about $5.5 million. You can also, off to the side of the slide, see what that debt levy is both 2026 and into the future as those past amounts are amortized and repaid. Switching back to the mandatory or operating levy, that's capped again at .0183 of the city's market value. This graph just shows how over the last 10 years, the levy, the blue line, was relatively flat, while market values and the authorized limit in orange increased. And so again, just a reminder that if approved, this levy would still be less than 50% of our maximum. Typically other limited tax levies, such as the HRAs or county HRAs, are usually at or near the limit. So it's good to have that capacity there. So this is kind of our wrap-up slide. Just a reminder, investment in our St. Paul Port Authority operating budget is really key for us to have the tools we need to be opportunity ready and continue the return on investment that I hope we've shown. Our next steps, again, are continuing our internal budget process, preparing our budget through October to develop a detailed budget aligned with our 2027 work plan. And then we will be presenting that budget for approval at our board, along with our tax levy certification in November, all leading up to the council's final process in December of this year. So those are our next steps, and I'm happy to take any questions from the council.

Thank you so much for this comprehensive information, Mr. Solomon. I appreciate not only that you are at 52% of your max possible levy, but also that you used about 52% of your max time with us today. So thank you for always being on time and under budget. There are questions from my colleagues. Ms. Johnson.

It's not necessarily. Well, it is a question, but it's more so for folks that are maybe looking into the presentation or even just wondering about the funding structure. Can you just share a little bit about what does go into the decision around the levy and every year how it is determined that the port is needing, what percentage, what those decisions ultimately look like, just for folks that are just trying to wrap their head around where the poor aligns within the city levy.

Sure. Thank you, Council President Naker, Council Member Johnson. So I think like most departments, we're going through the process every year, right? We're looking at our, again, non-discretionary costs, which for us, primarily people, wages, health care benefits, things like that, that many organizations have been dealing with inflation on. And that helps us develop kind of a preliminary number. And so that's what we bring into the mayor's process every year. Sometimes it's around hiring new staff, like the council president noted. Sometimes it's just dealing with those inflationary pressures. But really just having the resources we need to kind of continue to deliver on the projects we have and really be ready for the next opportunity. And like I said, we have our own process and then we fit into both the mayor phase and back here at the council phase. And then hopefully it all comes together in November in our board and then December with the final tax levy votes here at the city council.

Thank you. I think I saw Vice President Yang. Thanks, Council President.

Well, Mike, I wanted to say thank you for your presentation. I also want to say thanks to the entire port team for all of the important work that you do. When I think about the port, I'm always thinking back to what President Hurley said, which is that the port is the economic development engine for the city. And that remains true to this day. And so I really commend you all. It's been an honor to sit on the port board alongside Councilmember Johnson. And I'm really excited for all of the work ahead. I'll be honest here. I'm very surprised to see just like the small requests in terms of the proposed budget change for next year, knowing that the return that we get from the port has just been enormous. And so I wanted to name my support for that. continue to support the work of the port. And I would even question the $73,000 here. Does it even cover the full inflationary cost that you all have to work to fill? And so I want to say keep up the incredible work. The slides around the TIF success stories was phenomenal. And I just wanted to name my support for those early decertifications. Another thing here, too, is that when I just even look at the before and after photos, I mean, it's really incredible, the changes there, and just the economic growth and development in those areas. I'm very confident that without the work of the port and those TIF districts that these properties would continue to be blighted properties. And I say that knowing that in my ward, we have very many small properties that continue to be vacant and have been for over 10 years. And so there's many success stories to celebrate. And again, I'm very supportive of the requests coming from the port here and keep up the amazing work.

Thanks, Vice President. And thanks so much to you and Ms. Johnson for being our able representatives on the port board. Are there any other discussion items or questions for Mr. Solomon?

Doesn't look like it.

Thank you so much. And this was just a staff report. We will be considering the budget and taking action in the coming weeks. Thank you so much.

Item 17, Ordinance 26-39, Amending Chapter 63 of the Legislative Code Pertaining to Salt Storage Regulation.

So this brings us to the public hearing section of our agenda. If you are here for a public hearing, when your item is called, we will ask you to come to the front, stand between the two microphones. You don't need to adjust them. You can stand up straight. They'll pick you up just fine. You'll have two minutes to testify. We ask that you start with your name and where you're coming from. And when you're done, please sign in on either of the two sign-in sheets. We are not moving to version two, because it's not allowed. So we are going to hold a public hearing on this item. We actually are then going to continue the public hearing until next week, because there was supposed to be a version two that is not yet ready. So this is a public hearing on item 17. If you're here to testify, please come on up. Seeing none, I will move for us to continue the public hearing until September 23rd.

Public hearing is continued to September 23rd. It will just happen. Item 18, ordinance 26-40, amending Appendix B of the legislative code relating to Northern States Power DBA Xcel Energy gas franchise. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item?

Come on up. You guys are going to have to race for it.

Just kidding. I was worried about a collision there for a second.

I think Murphy, you're first. Welcome. Oh, just would you stand right in between the two microphones? There you go. Thank you. Sorry.

Yep. My name is Merce Dawkins, and I live in Ward 7. Janiqua Johnson is my council person. Hello to all of you who represent different wards in the city. I just wanted to speak in favor of the next four items on your agenda. We're really very pleased. I work with the organization that works on immigration and conservation and climate. The bills before us are just a really magnificent step forward for the city in terms of equity. The franchise fees have in the past been very regressive. charging people who have very poor insulation and very leaky houses more to be warm, because they just have to burn more energy to keep their unit that is leaking heat into the winter air, charging them more than the people who live in a nice, tight, well-insulated home. And for their heat house to be warm, it doesn't take nearly as much gas or electricity to do. So with the part of this ordinance which returns 50% of the franchise fee to the low-income people who are on the program, the county's federally funded heating assistance program, To return 50% of that franchise fee to the poor people is a magnificent step forward for all those families and for the city as a whole. So thank you and congratulations. I'd like to especially thank and congratulate those who negotiated this agreement, because I think it was a tough one. They played very hardball, I understand. So thanks to all of you, and thank you very much. Thank you so much. Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up, and as Mr. Purdy comes up, I will say that we communicated in advance, and he wanted to testify on two of the items, and rather than having an artificial break at the two minutes and coming back for another two minutes, we decided that he would have four minutes to testify, but it will be related to two of the items on the agenda. Welcome, Mr. Purdy.

Thank you, Council Members, Council President, John Purdy, Westside. The gas... rates, franchise fee rates, are being lowered to the level that the Unidos lady said. Effectively, it looks like 3.4% franchise fee. That applies to people that own homes. You have to show a bill to the Department of Commerce That shows your gas bill. You only get a gas bill if you own the property and pay the heat and so. The other problem is that Excel recognizes residential people as living in a single house, a duplex, and that's it. Everybody else is considered a commercial account, and so that's the problem. We've now started to widen the gap because. between people that live in apartments that are not paying their gas bill but are paying it through their rent and so just to just to show what this does it creates a about a five percent gap between a low-income person that owns their property and a low-income person is living in an apartment and paying the rent and the heat as well Where this matters, if I might have the overhead slide. I re-ran the list of people that I had attached, but I realized it wasn't doing any good. I re-modified it to give you a better insight as to who these people are. And if I can get the- Yep, we're seeing it. Overhead?

OK. We could use a little zooming in, though.

Think it'll go?

to the voice-activated projector spirits. You can keep going, Mr. Preen.

Stop the clock.

Keep going? Well, I can't without showing it. But anyway, is it going to light up?

I assume it's going to be. We see it. We just need it zoomed in on.

Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot about it. Usually there was a light that projects. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is people rent properties. And the newest ones look like this. This is right by our house. You can see the building, and you can see the gas meters right there. Can you see them, gas meters, on both sides of the property? Each person has their own gas meter. They're going to get this. If they're low income, they're going to be able to receive the low price because they pay their gas bill. So that's the type of, this is new construction. What I'm talking about are what I call legacy buildings that are all over the city. There's 316 of them. And I identified them in photographs, but here's a different list, which is much better for you to understand what I'm trying to say. If you start out here, you'll see on the front page, if you can see this, you'll see that we're talking non-homestead, low-income rental. These are all low-income rental homes. on page one, low income rental page two, all across the page. Keeps on going, you know, three pages. And not just the low income, but these are starting out units that people rent. These things are built in the 1900s, and they're not always going to attract people other than the rent that's able to be paid for that. So there's low income throughout these properties. There's 318 of them, and I apologize. I did bring a list that I can leave with you. It's a better list. So what I'm trying to say is because of what Excel does here with the way that they call a residential property, the discount excludes all these people.

Thank you, Mr. Purdy. That is four minutes.

Seven seconds. Eight seconds. All I can say is, as I hand you this list, you'll see that there are many, many, it's 318 units, but these are high-rise units. There's a lot of people in them. I would say it's affecting probably more than 9,000 people that are being gratefully given Thank you, Mr. Purdy.

I do need to stop you there. We're 30 seconds over. I appreciate the fact that you also emailed these comments. Please leave the list here. And I know I will be following up on the questions that you raised, both about the equity arguments that you're making and also about some of the other questions you had about details of the agreement.

Yeah, I'm not so concerned about those. Thank you. Because I know you're not going to look at them. I don't think they ever did before, but it's helpful to have a way to look at past bills. But thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Brady. You can leave that with Mr. Wilms.

Thank you so much. And make sure to sign in. Is there anyone else here to testify on this item? Seeing none, I will move to close the public hearing. All in favor, say aye.

Aye. On this ordinance. Seven in favor, none opposed. Public hearing is closed. The ordinance is laid over for final adoption. Item 19, Ordinance 26-41, Amending Appendix C of the Legislative Code Relating to Northern States Power DBA Xcel Energy Electric Franchise.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Jones to close the public hearing. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Come back up. Come on up. Might as well come up now.

Hi. Murph Dawkins again. I forgot to mention in the last statement that I made, again, applying to all four of the bills before us, that the other equitable provision now in the agreement with the utility company is that in the past, the residential sector, whether you're rich or poor, was subsidizing the commercial sector in terms of the percentage of the rates that are provided by those categories. And so this agreement also made that more equitable. It raised the rate that commercial parties are paying and lowered the rates proportionately that the residential have to pay. So that's the second important major equitable development. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I think you're good without signing in again. Is there anyone else here to testify on this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Joost to close the public hearing, lay the matter over until September 23 for final adoption. All in favor, say aye.

Aye. All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The ordinance is laid over for final adoption. Item 20, ordinance 26-43, amending the legislative code by adding a new appendix B2 relating to Northern States Power DBA Xcel Energy gas franchise fee.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Joost to close the public hearing and lay the matter over for final adoption on September 23rd. All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed. Seven in favor, none opposed. The ordinance is laid over for final adoption. Item 21, ordinance 26-44, amending the legislative code by adding a new appendix C2 relating to Northern States Power, DBA, Xcel Energy, electric franchise fee.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item?

Oh, Ms. Johnson. Before that, I just wanted to make a note of the public comment from today of just whether or not we would have an official update from staff prior to the final vote next week regarding some of the public comment that was given today. I did have a chance to review the record, but I also think that it's important to address in real time and would love for there to be staff. I would have asked those questions if that was possible. something that, you know, staff would be present here today to talk to it, but I actually really like to see the formal response to Mr. Purdy's comments.

Thanks, Ms. Johnson. Yes, my plan was to follow up the email with staff about and requesting information on Mr. Purdy's comments and then being able to both speak to it here and also share it back with him. But that said, if there are staff here today who want to respond and are prepared to, we can certainly welcome that. It doesn't look like it. But yes, I absolutely will be following up on that, and I I think those are really important comments. And especially appreciate, again, the concern for equity of folks living in different types of units that Mr. Purdy is raising. So thank you. Actually, before we hold the public hearing, I also want to recognize that representatives from Xcel Energy are here. And so it takes two to tango. And we appreciate the fact that you engaged with us in good faith in this process. And I think you're hearing a lot of support for what we came up with. And we really are grateful for that. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Jost to close the public hearing and lay the matter over until September 23 for final adoption. All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, none opposed. The ordinance is laid over for final adoption. Item 22, resolution public hearing 26-123, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of $1,250,000 to accept the 2026 economic development initiative community project funding federal earmark for the fire department's burn building restoration and reconstruction.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Bui to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye. Aye.

All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 23, resolution public hearing 26-255, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of $5,467 for a payment received for recycling scrap metal that was no longer needed by the department.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Coleman to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 24, resolution public hearing 26-256, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of $30,000 for a grant from the state of Minnesota through the Department of Labor and Industry to support staffing for the apprenticeship program.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Johnson to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 25, resolution public hearing 26-176, ratifying the assessment for repair of sanitary sewer line on private properties.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye.

Aye. All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 26, resolution public hearing, final order approving the seventh place mall operation and maintenance for 2025.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Kim to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye.

Aye. All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 27, resolution public hearing 26-181, final order approving the seventh place mall operation and maintenance for 2026.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Bowie to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye.

Aye. All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 28, Resolution Public Hearing 26-192, Final Order Approving the Grand Snelling Parking Lot Operation Maintenance Cost for 2027.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Jost to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed.

Seven in favor, none opposed. Resolution is adopted. Item 29, resolution public hearing 26-248, approving the application of the University of St. Thomas for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for the 2026 University of St. Thomas football season series on Saturdays of September 19, 26, October 10, 31, and November 14 at 2115 Summit Avenue, O'Shaughnessy Stadium.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Coleman to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed.

Seven in favor, none opposed. Resolution is adopted. Item 30, resolution public hearing 26-251, approving the application of Twin Cities in motion for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon weekend event on Saturday, October 3rd, Sunday, October 4th at 75 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Minnesota State Capitol Grounds. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Johnson to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye. Aye.

All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 31, resolution public hearing 26-252, approving the application of Anderson Race Management for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for Get Your Rear in Gear, Twin Cities event on Sunday, October 11th at 200 Dr. Justice Sohage Boulevard, Harriet Island Regional Park.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye.

Aye. All opposed. Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 32, Resolution Public Hearing 26-253, approving the application of Xcel Energy for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for an Xcel Energy infrastructure utility project on the CPKC Railroad crossing at Eagle Parkway and Shepherd Road from October 19th through November 2nd, 2026 at Eagle Parkway from Shepherd Road to North Chestnut Street.

And before we hold the public hearing on this item, I did have some questions for Xcel Energy representatives. I don't think that they are here to talk about it. OK. I wasn't sure if they were just here by happenstance. Come on up. I appreciate you being here. I received some questions from my constituents about the duration of this project, about the 24 hours a day nature of this project. I'm really curious to know more about why that is needed and what level of sound you're anticipating and what is going to be done to I understand that sometimes you apply for a sound level variance to give yourself the max possible opportunity to do work. I would really like to understand what is likely going to be happening when and how loud things are likely going to be and whether or not it truly will be 24-7 for a lot of days. So, please.

Council Members and Council President, the work we're doing down there to get under the railroad tracks to get new infrastructure from the high bridge plant to the west side of downtown. The equipment that we run in 24 seven will be inside of a trench box, which would be by 15 feet in the ground. The noise from that probably isn't going to be as loud up top. But there will be a crane up top to set equipment and material in at certain times, but not a 24-7 operation up top. There will be a generator that will be running 24-7. We have discussed that we'll put some type of a noise barrier around it to push the noise more east than south or west towards the apartments or the house there on Eagle Parkway.

Thank you. So the sound that's going 24-7 is the generator, which you're going to try to create a sound mitigation barrier, and then the box that is below ground?

Yep, the trench box is about 40 feet by 20 feet, and there'll be equipment inside there that'll be running 24-7. We're anticipating a minimum of two weeks, possibly three, depending on the soil that we have to push these casings through under the railroad tracks there.

And how loud is the equipment in the box? I'm just trying to get a sense of...

I tried finding those decibels. Inside the box would probably be around 90 decibels to 100 decibels. But up top, I haven't been able to find the exact decibel level above ground.

And I assume that this work has to happen at these times and for this duration. Can you say a little bit more about what the actual project is that's happening?

Well, the whole project itself is probably about a year and a half. But just jacking the casings under the railroad tracks is where we'll need the variance because that stuff, once we get to a certain point on the railroad tracks, we have to keep going just because we don't need the tracks to deflect any more than a half inch. So once it gets to a certain point, we have to keep going.

You can't start and stop when you're working on the railroad tracks like that.

Yeah.

Yeah. OK. Thank you. I see Ms. Jost.

Thank you, Council President Naker. How deep is the trench box? And it sounds like you're basically, there will be sound, there will be vibrations from what sounds like an excavation and drilling process. You said that you're, you mentioned casings. Could you just say a few more words about that?

The bottom of the trench box would be roughly 15 feet down. Okay. Just a big steel trench box to, you know, to be safe in there. The equipment will be in there, they'll be running. As far as vibration, it's more of an auger that kind of drills through it as it pushes the casing, as they pull the dirt back out. If there is any vibration, it'd probably be if we hit any rubble or shale rock or whatever down there would be some vibration from that. But we have done soil board samples, and there doesn't appear to be much of that type of material under there. But it is St. Paul, so we're anticipating a little bit, but probably not much.

Got it. Thank you. Any other questions? I really appreciate you being here on short notice to answer those questions. I would also note that we actually approved the sound level variance, I believe, back in April, but the work couldn't quite happen then. At the time, I hadn't heard any concerns, and so didn't ask any questions. Now I had and wanted to. But with this information, I feel more assured about both the necessity of the work and the measures you're going to take to mitigate the noise and the level of noise expected. So thank you for that. We have yet to hold a public hearing, but depending on how that goes, I'm going to be moving approval. Thank you. Thank you. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I will move to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed. Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Legislative hearing consent agenda items 33 through 69 are before you for your consideration. Welcome, Ms. Zimney.

Good afternoon, Council President and Council Members. I'm not aware of anyone here to testify on a legislative hearing item today.

All right, in that case, we will hold a public hearing on items 33 through 69. If you are here for any of those items, this is your public hearing. Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to close the public hearings and approve the items with the amendations and recommendations of the Legislative Hearing Officer. All in favor say aye.

All opposed. Seven in favor, none opposed.

The legislative hearing consent agenda is adopted as amended. Brings us to our favorite time of the week, the end of the council meeting, and good news from around the wards. Any news from the wards? Vice President.

Thanks, Council President. I wanted to share that next Monday, September 21st, from 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. I'm hosting a community meeting about the Duluth and Case Recreation Center proposed closure program. that we heard in the mayor's budget. I welcome everybody to come. It's also an opportunity for folks to just share generally their thoughts about the budget proposal, too. However, the focus really is going to be about the rec center. And it will be located at the Duluth and Case Rec Center. Great. Thank you, Vice President. I see Ms. Johnson.

And keeping it trucking on the east side and related to budget conversations, I will be at the Duluth in Case conversation as well, but there will be also doing a Dayton's Buff Library conversation at Dayton's Buff Library on Thursday, September 24th at 6 p.m. to talk about the proposed closure for Dayton's Buff Library.

And I will be there, and I'm sure those others will be showing up, too. This is a big conversation. All of my council colleagues.

You are all invited. I need to notice it. Ms. Kim. And if you are going, let us know, because we might need to notice it. But yes, you're invited. OK. Ms. Kim.

We have a free farmer's market at Rice and Arlington Ball Field on September 18th and October 23rd. Everyone is welcome, and they receive free fresh fruits and vegetables. The events take place between 10 a.m. and noon, and it's through Keystone Services. So come join us at the Rice and Arlington Field. September 18th. Yeah, I almost got it right. September 18th and October 23rd. And thank you to Councilman Yang for sharing, having my good news for me today.

All one city. Ms. Jost, then Ms. Coleman, then Ms. Bui.

Thanks, Council President. So this weekend is the Nativity County Fair in McAllister, Groveland. It is at Nativity Church and School, which is at 1900 Stanford Avenue. It's this Friday through Sunday. And so Friday it starts at 5 o'clock until 10. Saturday is noon to 10. And then Sunday is after... It must be after mass, 11.30 AM to 3 o'clock. So it's a really fun event that I look forward to every year. It is just over 50 years old. And they have rides and fair food and lots of activities. It's super fun. And this year, they're going to have Connie's Creamy Cone, which I'm really excited about. So lots to do, something for everyone, and encourage you to come check it out. Awesome. Ms. Coleman?

Thanks. I'm excited that the Creative Entrepreneurs' Prize Zone's ChromaZone Festival is back this week. It's really hard for me to say. It's a mural and art festival that's in the South St. Anthony Park and West Midway neighborhood. It's really amazing. They do these incredible murals every year. You can go watch the artists work. There are tours. There's an artist talk on Thursday night at Bang Brewery. It's all around just a really fun and exciting event to bring a lot of culture and sense of place to a very industrial part of the city. So yeah, check it out. I think that events start tomorrow, but painting has already started, so you can go and look at the murals as they're being made. All right, thank you. Ms. Bowie.

Yes, in the spirit of supporting events and festivals and also highlighting some of our Star Grant recipients, we have a couple celebrations in Ward 1. One of them being the Frogtown Arts Festival. Their theme this year is Beat of the Block. They're going to have a youth section as well as some performers. It's going to take place this Saturday right on University on the corridor. And also, thank you to the Commercial Corridor Funds to support this initiative. It's going to be between 2 to 9 PM. It's also the same time that they're going to be doing their Frogtown Neighborhood Association's hosting their election. So if you are interested in being a board member, you can also sign up. And they'll be doing that democracy and elections right then and there. Our second event that's happening on the same exact day, Saturday as well, At the Capitol grounds, I believe, yeah, the Capitol grounds, the Capitol Fest. So that's going to be taking place at 11 o'clock. They have food, celebrations. They have a really cool car show there. So if you're into those antique cars, It's a great opportunity. I know in the years before, they also had like a WrestleMania match right there on the ground. So great opportunity to bring the kids. And then the third event that's happening in Ward 1 on Saturday as well. So I have to be in so many places. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pet Arts Us, also known as the Dunning-Rex Center, is going to be the intergenerational community health fair. So free checkups, free mobile health units there, free health coverage and screenings. If you want to get your eyesight tested for, get measurements, blood pressure, blood glucose screenings. And there's also job and career opportunities. So it's going to be a career fair as well. So that's taking place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Arts Us. Yeah, and it's going to be a phenomenal weekend for many of us.

Wow. It's good to know that it is not just me feeling overwhelmed. It is the month of September. There is so much going on. Yes. Ms. Jost.

Sorry, I thought of one more thing. I think it was a month ago our council voted to turn on the lights at the Highland Golf Course, or anywhere, but we already have lights at the Highland Golf Course. Tomorrow night we'll be turning on the lights at the Highland Golf Course after 7.15. So if you want to come by, I'll be there. I'm still not sure of all the details, but it's really exciting, and I look forward to what more we might be able to do in the future now that our council has made that change. Will we be able to golf? On the driving range, yes.

If we know how to golf.

You can just come.

OK. Great. I will close this out by giving one that steals from every single one of our wards and then one that is ward two. Tomorrow night, the League of Women Voters, this is super cool, especially this year. League of Women Voters is partnering with us, the St. Paul Public Libraries, and the Office of Minnesota Secretary of State to put on voter education night across the city of St. Paul. Every one of our wards has a library that is doing this. It is in Rondeau, Riverview, Highland Park, Merriam Park, Rice Street, Arlington Hills, and Sunray. and you can tour a sample polling place and you can get a sample ballot and you can make a plan to vote and you can learn how to fight about candidates and you can do all that stuff and it's from 5.30 to 7.30 tomorrow so I'll definitely be stopping by mine in Riverview and would encourage us especially as co-sponsors of this to Make a plan to be at our libraries if we can. And then also, exciting news for more, too. Aldi is planning a couple of sneak preview events next Wednesday and Thursday. Still not totally sure on the time, but I think Aldi generally opens at 9. So my assumption is it's 9. But both Wednesday and Thursday, you can come, kind of get a sneak peek. I think you get a free tote. It'll be great. Most importantly, Aldi's coming. And it's really here, and it's next week. So look forward to that. With that, thanks for a really productive day, and we are adjourned.