Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

I will go ahead and get started then. Like to declare this meeting in the Valdez planning and zoning commission for Wednesday, October 15 to order. Let the record show that all commissioners are present with commissioners Wade and Raditich on the phone. Our first item is approval of the minutes for 10/22/2025. Did anyone have comments? Corrections? Alright. And then the second minutes is for 09/24/2025. Any corrections or comments?

None.

Alright. With that, the minutes are approved. Public business from the floor. We have nobody in the audience unless mister Gray would like to speak to us on a nonagended item. And moving on to new business. Approval of recommendation to city council to authorize a gravel lease for Connect Construction Company on a twenty one and point three acre portion of Parcel E 1, Tract A, ASLS 79 Dash 116 according to plat 2,002 dash 12 and track c dash one, A S L s 79 dash one one six according to plat 2,002 dash 13. Move to approve.

I'll second.

It's been moved by commissioner Molton, seconded by commissioner Goodreau. Any discussion on this one?

Chair Hayes, can I just make one correction for the record?

Please do.

I think you misspoke and said October 15. So for the recording, I just wanted to note that it is

Oh, okay. Yep. I was looking

November 12. Right? Now I'm questioning.

Map on the on that desk.

Oh, yeah. We've

got October

for you. Yeah.

So it's

11/12/2025.

Thank you for the correction.

Someone's in November room. Barely.

Yeah. That fifteenth threw me. I'm like, it doesn't feel like the fifteenth.

Yeah. This is Steve. The only thing that I have, and I'm sure they're aware of it, but I was out there at high tide. You know, there's super high tides, and that was underwater.

The dock?

Not the dock, but that piece of land. Oh, really? Yeah. It was pretty amazing, but that only happens a couple times a a year. But I'm just I'm sure they're aware of it. I was not really shocked because I'd seen it that way before. But Wow. It's super high tides. It's inundated.

I don't see any problem with this. It's been in this this use for twenty three years. I'm imagining it's a good use. I did have a question on the this was the one where we made conditions that it was only gonna be a five year lease instead of a twenty year lease that they'd asked for. And then on our next item, that one was already a lease for over twenty years. So I was wondering why the discrepancy between the two types of leases.

Sure. So with the the recommendation from staff is for five years for any new gravel lease or land lease, and that is because that is what is listed in the adopted land use procedures for the department. And so that was adopted by city council in 2005. And so staff is following those procedures when we make that recommendation. City council has the ability to authorize a longer lease, and so the, you know, applicant has made their request, and that is brought forward to city council in the case of a new lease.

In the case of a lease transfer, that will go with what is already established for the existing lease, and so that's a slightly different process. So city council can choose to grant the lease term that was requested by the applicant or follow staff's recommendation. I would also like to note for the commission that those procedures, which are related to both land leases and land sales, primarily including, gravel leases and management of city lands, they were adopted in 2005. They are definitely, due to be looked at again. And so that has been on staff's radar for quite a while and is in our work plan part of the process we're working through, which began with the comprehensive plan update, then the zoning code revision, currently the subdivision code revision.

And in our 2026 work plan, we're going to be bringing forward both updates to title four related to, the disposal of city land as well as those, 2,005 adopted procedures. So it's something that we'll be working with the commission and city council to update, and so it's a good topic for consideration as far as lease term goes. But there are many cases where longer leases have been extended of city property, particularly if there's development and infrastructure.

Yes. That's great. And along that that same line, you don't anticipate the city needing this land for other uses, like expanding the landfill or anything in the, you know, in the near future, in the near twenty years.

Okay. Sorry. We just wanna confirm because the discussion has gone back and forth a bit, and my, granicus isn't working, so I don't have the agenda in front of me. Are we talking about the gravel lease or the Tide

Land lease? Gravel lease.

Okay. That's what I thought. Right. Yeah. Okay.

Yes.

So I just wanted to make sure. So that is, that area is not expected to

be needed for the landfill.

No. Okay. Great. Alright. That's all the questions I had.

Yeah. The only question I had is I misspoke because I was looking at other lease for the water and indentation. But going back to extension, I remember Jesse Hasson came in, and he was recommended a five year, but then gave him a ten year because he said that he need needed it. So it could be done if we wanted to.

Correct? So the, staff is handling the this lease application the exact same way that we handled the mega trucking gravel lease application. The applicant requested a twenty year term, because of the adopted land use procedures, staff, recommended a five year term. And in that case, counsel, after hearing from the applicant, opted to grant the twenty year term. So, again, they absolutely have the authority to do so. Staff's recommendation is just following that adopted procedure that, was adopted by counsel in 2005. So that that could very well happen in this case. It's a similar scenario.

Thank you. Commissioner Walton?

I was just gonna ask how this property was inundated.

But Okay. I

was really worried for a second. Thank you. The wrong map was put on, or we have bigger

issues? Right.

Don, it looks like you have some questions online.

Oh, commissioner Aditych. Thank you.

Yeah. I had a couple questions as well. I did wanna I know that there was a lease that was granted for twenty five years, not anything to do with this business or anything else, but I think the city regretted that. I remember just as a community member, so I think they try to be a little more cautious at first with new contracts because of that situation. I also so that's, I guess, a statement about contract contract terms.

But I did have a question about the extraction of gravel from that area. Is there any type of volume limit of? I saw that it's, like, anything over 5,000 cubic yards will then be charged 60¢. But is there any concern of how much can be even taken out of there?

Sure. I can take that. So there isn't an explicit volume limit. It gravel lease in Valdez, we call it a lease. You know, it's different than a land lease.

It's essentially a permit to extract gravel from a particular area. And so the the numbers that you're seeing in the agenda statement refer to the city council resolution that extracts the rate that the contractors will pay for the material that they extract from the pit. So we rely on contractors at the end of each calendar year to self report the material amounts that they extracted. We, in the past, haven't had as many easy tools to, be verifying the amounts extracted from the pit, but we have started in the last five years doing volumetric surveys. So you probably saw in the agenda statement that for this lease and, other newer gravel leases, we are conducting a volumetric survey to make sure we have a baseline of what material is there and then are conducting those on a regular basis to verify the amounts that are self reported by the contractor.

But at this time, there's not an explicit limit to the amount extracted. There are guidelines around reclamation. So when the the pit is mined out, we do have require a reclamation plan so that there is a standard slopes and things like that that the contractor has to complete once they're done mining that area. Great.

Any further questions?

There any did have just one other question that's kinda attached to that. So is there any concern of being semi close to the glacier stream that remove extracting gravel from there will not impact the, I guess, the the area in a negative way?

Yeah. This is, you know, definitely a general concern overall. Many commissioners are probably aware that we used to have gravel lease areas right along Glacier Stream. That is now the Glacier Stream bed. Those historically were on the other side of Glacier Hall Road.

With recent gravel lease applications, staff has encouraged applicants to apply, for gravel lease areas further from Glacier Hall Road, because we know that we are already doing work along the Bank Of Glacier Stream to protect Glacier Hall Road. So in this case, as you can see looking at the map, the area that Kinnett Construction has requested to lease is the area north of, the larger existing pit that Harris sand and gravel previously mined. So they're requesting the area to continue moving removing material to the north, which is what we recommend. And so we'll be working with Bill Harris to make sure that the area south of what Kinnech is leasing is reclaimed per the standards. And then we are recommending this lease partially because they're they're moving to the north away from Glacier Stream.

Thank you. Thank you. Alright. Commissioner Wade?

Yeah. Thanks. I kinda have the same question that commissioner Raditich had on on volume and quantities taken out. I know currently, you know, the the, I guess, previous owner, you know, were local and and kinda using this stuff locally. And I it's it's just, I don't know, a thought that the new owners I know there had been discussions and stuff about, shipping gravel around the state to various projects that they have there, and I I just you know, it's kinda differently than having gravel local for local projects.

But then if we start shipping it out in massive quantities more than that and just kinda be in left with a gigantic hole, you know, down there. And even with reclamation, I mean, you just kinda, you know, fill in the sides of the hole or whatever. But, that was just I just kinda to add on to what what she said. I was just kinda curious as to what kind of volume, they're expecting and if it's gonna be significantly more. Because if we're providing gravel to other areas in the state, you know, it may be a considerable amount more taken out of there. So it was just a a thought that I wanted to address.

Thank you. Is that a concern? Anyone would like to put that as a condition, a certain limit? Or

Also, I'd just like to point out if commissioner Wade had questions about the material extracted and the expected volumes, the applicant is online. Troy Gray from Kinnek Construction is online for question.

Yeah. Mister Gray, if you'd like to address how much gravel you plan on taking out, you're welcome to, which you're not required to, of course. Sure.

Can you guys hear me?

Yes. Thank you.

Yeah. So I I don't expect it to be too different than, what traditionally has been taken out of there. And, you know, the feasibility of moving gravel around the state isn't really there. So I I wouldn't I wouldn't I wouldn't expect that. You know, we we operate other sites, and the markets are typically serving, local areas, not not going far out, especially with the gravel product, which this land supports.

Thank you. Mister Wade, does that satisfy your concerns, or were you looking to add a condition?

No. I guess I I I guess I guess that's that's fine. But, you know, things change. What's expected and and what's not has changed. And if there's if there's no cap or anything on there, it kinda kinda leaves us with without much control on it, but, just not much of an issue. Alright. Thanks.

Any other comments?

Mike, the only comment I've been had is it's a five year lease. Correct? Yes. So after five years, if we see something, we can always change that lease. Great. Thank you.

Just again, staff is recommending a five year lease, but it's up to City council. City council. They they'll have final approval on that if they want to opt with staff's recommendation or to, grant the applicant's request.

Oh, commission.

I did have one other question follow-up on commissioner Wade to where the in the lease, it says, gravel to be used in the Prince William Sound and other areas. And I'm wondering, is that the similar verbiage that was on the permit before? And maybe that's the

I don't know the stuff. Do you know?

Yeah. That would be I expect that you're looking at language from the past lease. So at this time, staff hasn't recommended a specific restriction on the amount extracted or where it is utilized. So if the commission was interested in making a recommendation on either of those topics to city council, I can take that forward to city council when this goes for approval and include it in your recommendation.

I'd like to put my 2¢ in. I I don't think the economics of hauling gravel would allow too much gravel to travel too far. It's not a very, valuable commodity to be shipped. So the cost of shipping it would probably outweigh what it's worth rather than just finding a new pit somewhere else. That's just my opinion. I I don't have any economic background to to weigh in on it.

Yeah. I didn't articulate that very well, but that that was what I was trying to convey there. And and the language from the past permit application to now is about the same because our intent is to serve the same market as, Harrison and gravel did. So

Thank you. Are there any other comments or any amendments anyone wants to propose? Alright. Let's go ahead and vote. You'd call the roll, please. All

those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed, please say commissioner Raditich, can you just confirm your vote for me? I didn't hear it. Aye. With that, we have seven yeas. Motion carries.

Thank you. New business item number two, approval of a recommendation to city council to authorize lease assignment and amendment for use of 4380 McKinley Street, Parcel B A T S 10 owned by the city of Valdez from Harris sand and gravel to Connect Construction Company Inc. Motion to approve. Moved by commissioner Bitis. And was that commissioner Betroka seconded?

Thank you. Is there any discussion on this one? Again, I agree with staff's recommendation. I think it's it's been a long standing use, and I don't see any reason to change it personally. So I'm in favor. Did everyone get a chance to see the conditions? They were pretty basic. Know.

Yeah. I they they did do, initial soil service survey before they put the material on there. And then across the street is where the dock is. There was some I didn't did they do did Bill give us a survey when he left it?

I I think that you're referring to, like, a phase one environmental assessment or something like So that is not a condition of this lease, and it wasn't a condition in the past.

Okay. Alright. Thank you. Thank

you. Any comments online? Questions? Alright. Let's go ahead and take a vote on this one.

All those in favor, please say

aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Those opposed, please say nay. With that, seven yeas. Motion carries.

Alright. Moving right on to reports. We have the community development director.

Thank you. I have a couple brief items, and then I am going to share my report with a guest that we have online. So really quickly, first, we're nearing completion of the housing needs assessment. So we're we're on track to deliver that to city council in December, either at their second meeting in December or at the latest at their first meeting in January. So I will bring that forward to you as a report at your next meeting that's closest to the time that it's shared with city council.

I will also let you know when it's on the city council agenda because the consultants will be presenting with the report, and so you may all be interested in tuning in for that. Also, we are working hard on the title 16 subdivision code draft, and I really appreciate everyone being willing to come in for a special meeting next week. However, our city attorneys need some more time to review the draft. They have been in court this past week and didn't get to look at it as quickly as they had planned. So we really wanna make sure that the public and our surveyor community has time with the draft before we bring it to you all for the public hearing and your recommendation.

So I'll keep you posted via email. We're we're still hoping to release the draft prior to Thanksgiving, but then we we don't wanna push it. We'll look at a public hearing sometime in December. So more to come on that. And then joining us online is Kristen Smith, the executive director of the Prince William Sound, Economic Development District, and she is here to share some information about their upcoming planning process and a survey. So I'm gonna throw it to Kristen.

Thanks, Kate. Hi, everybody. Hello, Valdez planning and zoning commission members. Thanks for letting me join your meeting tonight. As Kate said, I am, working with the Prince William Sound Economic Development District, which you're all probably familiar with since Valdez is the home the original home of the Economic Development District.

But, yeah, we serve all of Prince William Sound. So Chenega, Tititlick, Valdez, Whittier, and Cordova. And like Kate said, we are just beginning the development cycle the development process for our next five year economic development plan. And I just wanted to, let you all know that our survey is gonna be open, shortly, and I will send a link through Kate that maybe she could distribute to you all. We're embarking on the comprehensive economic development strategy, which will be a five year plan for years twenty twenty six through 2031.

And we're starting that process with a survey. There are four required elements to a SEDS. So a survey, strengths, weaknesses, and opportune or I'm sorry, the the demographic background information. We have to collect a lot of demographic data about the region. We need to do a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats or a SWAT analysis.

We need to come up with develop our goals and strategies for economic development for the next five years and then have an evaluation framework. So those are the four elements, of a SEDS. I'm I'm sure this is not news to any of you, but I just wanted to go over it as a refresher and also in case there's other people in the audience or other people listening. And we are starting the survey this month. We hope to get a 100 responses from folks, all over the sound, so it'd be great if you can help us get that number, reach that goal.

And we're hoping to complete our SEDS by the January 2026, and maybe we can report back to you by then with a completed SEDS. We have a SEDS steering committee that's made up of folks from around the sound, and Martha Barberio is representing Valdez for us on that committee, which is great. And, yeah, I hope you can, like I said, take part in the survey and help circulate information about the survey among your respective networks. If you all have certain professional groups or affiliations or business groups or anybody that you could, share the word with, that would be a big help. Yeah.

And so I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much. Thank very much. Does anyone have questions? Alright. I guess you covered it clearly. Thank you, missus Smith.

Great. Thanks so much for your time.

Thank you, Kristen. Appreciate it.

Thanks, Kate. I'll be in touch.

And I'll forward the survey and any other information I received to you all. I had a go through

the Valdives survey cycle? Think I've gotten a number of surveys from the city.

If you're thinking of Flash Vote, which is the survey tool we've been using, that is really limited in the amount of questions. So we won't be promoting it exactly that way, but we definitely will be sharing the survey with the community and pro promoting it through our various communication channels. Yeah. Absolutely. I have one item that I meant cover in my report that I forgot. I wanted to update you all on the hazard mitigation plan process. We have been working on that previously with a really great group of community stakeholders from and industry. And, also

There's a little bit of a echo.

I think we're okay now.

Yeah. Okay.

Also, some planning and zoning commissioners served on that committee. So just if if you all remember or if you weren't with us yet, we did an internal process to draft an updated comprehensive plan updating the 2018 comprehensive plan. We sent that to the state and FEMA, and they it it was adopted by city council. We sent it to the state and FEMA, and they found some deficiencies in the plan, particularly with new standards that they had added in between our last update. And they had initially, we had requested for the state of Alaska to help us update the plan because they have a program.

We had ended up doing it on our own because that process was taking a significant amount of time. So they encouraged us to stick with their program. So the time has come where they actually have a contract with a consultant who's gonna help us take all of the work that was done in that update and the community survey and all of that and just make some tweaks and change some formatting to the plan so that we can get it in a format that will be approved by the state and FEMA. So it's gonna be an abbreviated process because we already did most of the work for the update, and they were really impressed with the plan that we came up with. So I will keep you all posted, but there will be at least one public meeting likely at a planning and zoning commission meeting and some opportunity to review the new final draft of the plan.

That's that's forthcoming in in the next few months. We don't have an exact timeline yet. We've really just had our first meeting with the consultants, but I will keep you updated when we do.

Thank you.

Yeah. Just so it'd be a large conversation, but I didn't get on the commission till after that housing needs assessment was out. I remember quite a bit from my years on council about housing and all the discussions around town. What is the real hopeful takeaway from that assessment? I read through what you sent. It seems like a lot of,

you know,

probably, you know, just kinda see it coming, what people say and what people want. I don't like a lot of these surveys. I come back with a lot of, like, what we want, and then it just puts on a shelf. I'm like, yep. People want new houses. So what's what's the what what was the driver? What is the the goal to have this? Is it to change code? Is it to to to guide counsel on appropriating monies for housing? And as I know, all of the above.

Yeah. That Thank you. Yep. That's a great question. So the the housing needs assessment was requested by city council, particularly because, you know, we all we all agree and are very well aware that housing is an issue for the community. It's our it's city council's number one priority. It has been for a number of years. And we know that there's a desire for more housing. And so as part of that priority, council has started a number of general incentive programs. There's the housing unit incentive, which is just a simple per dwelling unit grant payment, as

well

as the infrastructure grant program for somebody who's developing in lands for residential uses. But city council really wanted to be able to target those incentives more specifically, and so they were asking for a further breakdown of data beyond just we know that there's a need for housing. And so when you see the final report, it's really getting down into not only looking at the overall need for what would serve the existing population. It's also looking at if the potential for supporting a larger population and how our lack of housing might be stifling our potential for population growth or for business development, for workforce. And then additionally, really looking at what what the demographics are here and what will be affordable to the local economy so that we're making sure that we're encouraging the right housing types, both for what people want, of course, for the lifestyle here, but then also what fits the population and what is truly attainable or affordable.

So we're hoping that there'll be some great data in there for council to make more specific policy decisions. And then additionally, we are setting this up in a way that we intend to, if housing continues to be an issue and a priority, to keep it updated every three to five years depending on what the need is to make sure that we're adjusting as we do have housing developments come online. So right now, we know that we have the senior apartments and we have a CAH development that's going to serve lower income populations. And so we wanna make sure that we're looking at real time data moving forward, how things are changing, how workforce needs are changing, and that we keep it up to date. So it's certainly intended to be utilized and put into action more immediately by city council and particularly the housing subcommittee and the work that they're doing.

Will this and, again, we can talk offline if I'm taking people's time. But would this also come with recommendations on how to do so in terms of public private partnerships. I talked ad nauseam on council about different developments around the country where, like, in Summit County, Colorado where things were yes. Talk about this. Where stuff has actually been developed, and there's already models in place, and we seem to always spin our wheels here. Like, Saint Patrick's, I believe, they received some some monies for their infrastructure.

They received an infrastructure development grant.

So there's no they don't have to do anything. Right?

Yep.

We gave them money. We have two units built.

Yeah. That program is serving parcels created that are designed for residential development.

Yeah. So I get my hope in I don't know exactly where we fall in this. I know council makes all the big decisions. I guess I would hope that this would come with not just a survey or assessment of what could be needed, but also pathways to make that happen

Mhmm.

Instead of just telling us what people want to see, how to then accomplish said want.

Yeah. What I will say is the scope of this project, it truly is a needs assessment. So it will certainly touch on, some of those paths forward, but it's not an action plan. It's not diving into the details of how we use this data and information. So it is a needs assessment and looking at the demographics and needs in the community.

But one of the other reasons that I didn't mention additionally that city council really wanted to see this assessment done and staff is looking at what we can do with it. It's also a really great tool for us to demonstrate the demand that's here both for grant opportunities, but also for public private partnerships and for us to be able to show a potential developer that we're working with that we have a really concrete established need that's, been identified through this study and is really clearly laid out. So I think it will be a tool to help us towards some of those solutions, and there are lots of great ideas out there and examples that we're absolutely looking at from in Alaska and across the country. So I think it's one piece to help us get there, but it's not a housing action plan. Our intention is to that's not going to be the next RFP we go out for.

That's something that staff really has the ability to build using the comprehensive plan, updated codes that we've already updated or in the process of updating to try to make developing housing easier and then take this data and information from the study to really put that together into action that we can take locally. So I think we're driving towards what you're getting at, but I do wanna temper expectations for this report that it is a needs assessment.

Okay. Sounds

great. Thank you. Thanks for bringing that up.

That's all. Got nothing.

Commissioner Vigas, make wise words for us.

We'll see if this is my officially my last meeting. So if it is, thank you, everyone. I really enjoyed this last three years, serving on the commission with you all. If it's not, I will say the same thing again next meeting.

The only thing I have is there was some discussion, though, maybe three years ago dealing with Robe Lake and the city getting some of the properties from the state of Alaska or from the university. How close are we to be getting that?

The service is complete and approved.

So if, yeah. I think there there might be two things that you're getting at. So the first would be our municipal entitlement selection that we called Road Lake South, which is that large piece of state land on the South Side Of Robe Lake. That is completed, and that property is now city land. The other issue that has been brought up in the past is around some of the recreation that happens at Robe Lake in that area.

So that the the right of way there is still a DOT right of way that was not vacated as a part of the municipal entitlement process. And so that right of way remains. And the majority of the activity that happens at Robe Lake kind of in that area is actually within the state right of way. So I know there's been some, you know, really initial discussions or inquiries about maybe having some more facilities there like a bathroom. And that's certainly, I know I know that the city administration is aware of that, but the first step if any development if we wanted any permanent development to occur there right in that particular area would be to vacate the DOT right of way, but that no action has been taken towards that, and I haven't heard any, concrete plans as far as the capital process capital project process.

So does that answer your question?

Well, well, it's because that that's the piece of property that I was specifically mentioning, one that we can access, put our votes in

Mhmm. Do

whatever. So that's guilty right away still. And there's no way that we can get control of it?

There is certainly a process. So if there was ever any discussion about whether the Parks and Rec department putting a facility in there or anyone else at the city, the first step would be to get that right of way vacated. So there's a process that you can go through with the state. Takes a while. Yeah. But it's it it is possible. So but I think, you know, we would wait until there is at least some sort of plan established for the area before pursuing that process.

Alright. Thank you. Thank you.

Commissioner Adityich.

Yeah. I'll piggyback on commissioner Goodwill's comment. I went to a public meeting about with army corps of engineers that were talking about making the streams unblocking the streams into Robe Lake. And they're seeing I went to that meeting, but it was a while ago, a year or two. When was that? Anyways, I was is that is that dead in the water, or do you know anything about that?

Yeah. So what commissioner Raditich is referring to is the army corps did a study looking at possibly reintroducing one of the former tributaries of Corbin Creek back into Robe Lake. One of the issues that we see with the vegetate vegetation growth in Robe Lake is because at one point that the the channel was moved so that it was no longer flowing into the lake, and now there's not as much of a source of that glacial cold water. And so that was a study done looking at increasing the flow of colder water out of Glacier Stream into Rogue Lake. But there was so there there were a couple public meetings related to that, and the study was completed.

But due to, a lot of questions and concern from residents who live right along Robe River and not feeling like there was enough data about exactly what the impact would be to the flow of Robe River. The at the the time the city decided not to pursue any project related to that study. So there, you know, there there wasn't a lot of data. There are existing flood concerns at Robe River that exist right now with the current situation, but there was a lot of, public input and concern about what introducing higher flow into the river would do. And so that the the study was completed, and that's where it ended.

Alright. Thank you. Anything else? Thanks.

No. I have nothing further. Thanks.

Alright. Commissioner Wade?

I didn't have anything until we started talking about Robe River. So just a quick question. I know Valdes Fisheries was pursuing a project they were trying to do out there. Do we know if they're still doing that?

So they were the partner in with the city in doing the study with the army corps. So they took a leadership role in that study, and they were part of the driver. It it wasn't just the city. It was also the FDA who decided not to pursue it based on the public response.

Gotcha. Thanks.

I I got a little clarification on that. The people that were there was a certain amount of money that they could get from Grant. And by taking this grant, they just had to allow the water to flow in free freely. They could not control it. And that was pretty much the reason that they backed up because by just opening it up, they weren't able to say how many gallons were actually gonna be flowing off. They put a dam up there or something where they could regulate the water, there'd be no problem. But the grant they were looking for would not allow them to do that. Thank you.

Yeah. So, one clarification I would make is just that, you know, there was potential in their scenarios that introducing the flow could actually, because of scouring in the riverbed, could actually improve the situation on Rope River. So I just wanna reiterate that there there were a lot of possibilities, and and the issue was that they the public was concerned that the modeling wasn't sufficient enough to give them confidence that it would work how suspected, but just just want to put that out there that there were variables, and it had the potential to also help with the flooding issues out there. But it was just there was a limit to the amount of study that they did under that project and the modeling that was available, and so the confidence in that just wasn't there. There was more questions than answers.

Alright. Thank you. And I don't have anything to add except to invite you all to have some cake. I baked a chocolate cake from equal quality Oh, thank you. In honor of Sherry's and and thanking her for her service. So if you have time, grab a piece of cake on your way out. With that, we are adjourned.