Washington County Board Meeting

Good morning. I'll call the Washington County Regional Rail Authority meeting from March 10th. To order Clerk, please take the roll. Commissioner Miron Here. Commissioner Karwoski Here. Commissioner Cox? Here. Commissioner Bigham. Here. Commissioner Clasen. Roll Call Taken. Commissioner Clasen is absent. Thank you. Please join us for the pledge. I pledge Allegiance to of the United States of America and to the Republic for stands, one nation undergone indivisible, But liberty and justice for all. All right. Next on the agenda is the election of the 2026 Chair of the Washington County Regional Rail Authority. I will now entertain nominations for the 2026 chair of the Washington County Regional Rail Authority. Are there any, oh, are there any nominations? Madam Chair, I will nominate Commissioner Karwoski to serve as our 26 regional rail chair. Alright, are there any other nominations? Are there any other nominations? See none. The name of, uh, Commissioner Karwoski has been placed into nomination for chair.

I will now close nominations and we will vote for Commissioner Karwoski as the 2026 Chair of Washington County Region Rail Authority. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Same sign. Congratulations. Commissioner Karwoski, I'll turn it over to you. Yeah. Thank you. Um, I'll hand, I'll proceed to item two, which is the election of the 2026 Regional Morale Authority Vice Chair. I take motions on that. I will nominate Commissioner Bethany Cox for Vice chair. Okay. We have a motion. Any other nominations? Any other nominations? Any other nominations with none? We'll move to a, a vote, uh, to elect, uh, vice chair, uh, Bethany. Cox. Commissioner. All in favor signify by Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Same sign. Motion carries. Bethany Cox, vice Chair. Congratulations. Then, uh, we're moved to item C on the agenda, which is the approval of the, uh, September 9th, 2025 Regional Rail Authority meeting. Minutes. Mr. Chair, I'll move approval of the September 9th, 2025 Regional Mail, rail, uh, authority meeting minutes as published.

Okay? Okay. Um, motion to approve made by Commissioner Bigham, second by Commissioner Cox. Any changes or, um, modification comments Withdrawn. All in favor of the, uh, minutes being passed, signify by Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Same side. Uh, motion Carrie. Minutes approved. And we'll move to item D on the agenda. Um, this is the Adopt a Resolution to appoint Commissioner Michelle Klassen as the 2026 Washington County Regional Rail Authority representative to the Goal Line Joint Powers Board. If There's no conversation, we would look for a motion to prove that Mr. Chair, I will nominate, uh, to, or I will, uh, move the resolution to appoint Commissioner Michelle Clasen, uh, for the 2026 Washington County Regional Real Authority representative on the Gold Line Powers, joint Powers Board. Yep. I will second that.

Motion to appoint Commissioner k Clasen to the Gold Line Joint Powers Board was made by Commissioner Bigham, second by Commissioner Karwoski. Um, Mr. Chair, it's a resolution. Yep. Clerk, uh, roll call please. Commissioner Miron Aye. Commissioner Karwoski, or, I'm Commissioner. Commissioner Karwoski. Aye. Commissioner Cox? Aye. Commissioner Bigham Aye. Resolution passes four zero. Thank you. Uh, we'll move to item E on the agenda. It's our last item for the Regional Rail Authority meeting, um, public hearing notification. Uh, Mr. Lightner, welcome. Good morning. Good morning Chair and commissioners. I'm here today to, is this gonna, yeah. Okay. Uh, here today to give a quick overview of the Property Management Ordinance. Um, and the action in front of you is to set the public hearing date. Um, I will like to say this is a monumental occasion in my career at Washington County. I first worked on this when I was an intern 15 years ago. Uh, so did multiple people in this room.

Um, and so while this is a very in the Weeds document, uh, there is literally six or seven staff who have touched this, um, in the last 15 uh, years. So we are all very excited that we have gotten to this point. Um, so with that, we're gonna give a little bit of background on the property management process for the Regional Rail Authority. The, um, the thought process to change it from a plan to an ordinance, what is in this updated document. And then, like I said, the action in front of you is to set the public hearing date. So this plan was adopted in 2002. I will state one of our staff working on this said she was not born yet, um, when this was originally adopted. And that plan currently addresses, uh, it addresses the current and future use of the property, the current access to property and future access needs, the condition and disposal.

Um, so as you can tell, a plan that is this old obviously needs to be relooked at and refreshed to make sure it has the most current information. Um, and just a general update. So as we were doing that, um, we asked ourselves, why is this, is the plan, the right approach for this document? Now, um, 24 years ago, it was really a planning document to kind of set the vision of what it looks like for, um, future rail property within the county. At this point though, we use the document in the exact same manner as we use the county's ordinance for the management of County Highway right away. So Ordinance 180 8. Um, and so in consultation with the attorney's office, we discussed changing the content from a plan that is really typically a guiding document and shapes decision making, um, to an ordinance that is an actual law that can be formally amended, has, uh, a a few more powers.

And then it is really, like I said, the exact same way we're treating County Highway Right away, we would be treating the regional Rail authority right of way. So the updates in this draft ordinance ordinance are fairly minor. It was primarily a copy paste effort, if you will, into an ordinance document. Um, so it does not change the overall intent. It was updated to have the regional rail owned property descriptions be consistent. Um, we expanded the definition section. It does add language to provide flexibility in the permit fee that doesn't really exist today. A good example, which has been in, in front of you previously is with the Forest Lake School district to reduce that fee by 50%. Um, that the current document gives us a tiny opening. This formalizes the board's ability to do that when specific cases come up. It does clarify roles and responsibilities between our staff, the you all as the board and the permit holder.

And then it does update multiple references throughout, including the acceptable use of county facilities. That document was created somewhat recently, so it makes sure that we reference that as well as the updated, um, memorandum of understanding between the city of Hugo and Washington County about Trunk Highway 61 generally. And the intent of this document is to lay the ground walk for these properties that the count the regional rail owns, but really references the two overall documents that guide our uses of our right of way and facilities, which is the county highway ordinance and the county facility acceptable use of county facilities. Um, so like I said, the action before you today via Minnesota State Statute 3 9 8 0.34 requires a public hearing notice. Um, we have worked, and that will be, um, in the official county newspaper. We're setting that public hearing on March 31st and then having the adoption of the document on April 14th.

Obviously, we have that as a tentative date for now. If we receive a ton of public comments that require some additional work rework, we can move that date. Um, one note, this document has been sent to the cities of Hugo Forest Lake and Newport. Those are the three cities where the physical properties the regional rail owns, resides. Um, we have not heard anything from them yet. My guess is they won't have any vague concerns, but that document was sent directly to their staff. So with that, um, the recommended board action today is approval to set the public hearing for March 31st, 2026, on the proposed Washington County Regional Rail Authority Property Management ordinance number 2, 2 2. So thank you for the presentation. Um, we'll start the conversation. We can certainly, uh, do more of our board conversation at the March 31st meeting, but we certainly, and if any board members would like to discuss her questions as this would be a good time also Chair, I will move, uh, to, uh, set the public hearing for March 31st on the proposed Washington County Management. Two Second.

Is that Commissioner Bigham on the second? Either one. Okay. I got her. Okay. Uh, we have a motion. Second. Any, uh, Commissioner, mayor, I, I'll Just comment. Uh, this, uh, I'll probably a month or so ago that, um, school board member, uh, from the, uh, forsake school District had reached out to me about the lease, uh, of the property. Um, certainly, um, you know, asking or questioning whether or not, uh, we could adjust that lease payment, um, to, to the school district. So my question is, within the proposed ordinance, um, typically changes would require a public hearing. Um, in this case, when you talk about the, uh, flexibility in the ordinance, does that allow for adjustments such as a lease adjustment without a, a public hearing? Or, uh, if that were the case, do we need to go through a public hearing Chair and commissioners? They have a five-year permit, and I would have to go back and look at the, the stipulations in that on what it would take to amend that within that five year time period.

I think we're in year three of that. Um, but I would have to go back and look to see what that would take if that can be amended, you know, in agreement between the permitee and, and, and ourselves. Um, but we can look in this, this document does give the board explicit ability to reduce the standard fee if desired. That would be a, that gives the board the ability, not staff. Um, so because of that, we would likely have to bring it back to this board no matter what. I don't think it would take a public hearing, but it would likely take a regional rail authority action. Uh, maybe if I could just ask that, that be reviewed prior to the, um, the public hearing just to get some added information for my Yep. Good question, Commissioner. Thank you. I just wanna say thank you for, um, sending that out to the three communities that, um, are, you know, uh, that this currently impacts and allow allowing them for, uh, public comment as well.

And just to review it. Um, I think to Commissioner Moran's point, sometimes these things trigger, uh, conversations that need to happen or have been meaning to happen. So just appreciate that and, and staff's effort. Any other comments, questions from the board? Okay. We will, uh, move to a vote. Um, a motion was made by Commissioner Miron, second by Commissioner Bigham to, uh, approve and set a public hearing for March 31st, 2026 on the proposed Washington County Regional Rail Authority Property Management Ordinance number 2, 2 2. All in favor signify by aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Same sign. Motion cur public hearing will occur on March 31st. Thank you again, Lisa, and with no further regional rail authority, uh, agenda items, we'll call this meeting to adjournment. We are adjourned. All right. Go ahead and convene the Washington County Board of Commissioners for March 10th, 2026. Clerk, please take the roll. Commissioner Miron here. Commissioner Karwoski Here.

Commissioner Cox Here. Commissioner Bigham Here. Commissioner Clasen. Roll call taken. Commissioner Clasen is absent. Thank you. Um, so we're moving on to the comments from the public. I do have one speaker card here. Uh, uh, Ms. Carrie Mitchell, if you could approach, uh, the, uh, speakers, Mike and state your name and community for the record. Hi, my name is Carrie Mitchell. I live in s Scandia. Wildwood Acres is the development I wanted to share with you public comments that, um, I offered to the City of s Scandia in December. I requested the city assist in identifying cost-effective pay for use water resources solutions for my home in Wildwood Acres. My concern was that I've paid and overpaid, um, to access well and septic resources for my three bedroom home on two acres. When building in 2005, I paid over 26,000 to buy into a shared community while in septic system that did not turn out as stated in longevity or operating and replacement costs.

Individual systems could have been installed for less at that time, been less costly to maintain longer lasting and alleviated undue economic burden. Some of the challenges homes were built exceeding the three or three and a half bedroom developer agreement septic plan, creating an inequitable assessment situation. Water meters were not installed after developer foreclosure. The remaining lots tied into the well in septic systems without paying the 26,000 infrastructure fee to the HOA creating greater inequity and unsolved problems. The septic now requires an expansion to accommodate the additional bedrooms that deviate from the Scandia Developer Agreement and well in septic agreement that was signed as well as a nitrogen upgrade. Additionally, the well also needs costly work. The HOA exists to manage the water utility and has no other shared amenities. The city offered to request and administer an MPCA loan over nine to 10 years, which still does not solve the unrealistic costs of the current water and sewer situation.

Even if the city had not issued permits exceeding three bedrooms, the system is still not financially sustainable. And in line with Scania's rural water model, the project estimate in 2024 was approximately, um, $977,000 for 26 home or 27 homes. This estimate is not up to date and does not include all costs. Um, my house septic costs, including electrical, um, is 39,000 approximately and fits the long-term cost effective rural model. Um, a septic design plan for my property was completed for about $1,500, and I would like the city to assist me in identifying septic and well funding resources to uncouple my home from the HOA. So just a further update, this again was in December at the city council meeting. Uh, I followed up with the city administrator again on February 26th, 2026. Um, requested the mayor to put me on the work session for March 4th. In between then, the city had forwarded their attorney emails dated from 2023 and 2024 regarding my request for assistance.

And then, uh, the plan then is to amend the HOA bylaws and the city will amend the documents such as the developer agreement two to three. Two of the three board members attended the work session meeting last week, and then I met with a board member yesterday to coordinate obtaining signatures and streamline the entire process with Scandia. I wanted to make you aware, um, today of what's going on to bring you into the loop on water utility needs. Um, I did speak with someone last week from the septic department, let 'em know what was going on to just, um, ask them what to do if I needed to apply for a permit. And they said, just wait until you have this situated and then submit for a permit. So I'm submitting this and sharing this with you today to give you an update. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you. Um, Ms. Mitchell, we appreciate you coming in today.

Thank you. And, um, if you have any further questions, staff is available to, to answer them too. So thank you. Um, the next item on the agenda is to approve the agenda. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Moved by Commissioner Cox, seconded by Commissioner Karwoski. Uh, all in favor say, oh. Any further discussion? I'm sorry. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye. Nay. Motion carries. Uh, we are now onto the consent calendar. Does anybody have any items to pull? If not, a motion would be in order. Madam Chair, I will move all items onto consent calendar items A through you as, uh, presented Second, then moved by Commissioner Miron, seconded by Commissioner Cox. All in favor say aye. Oh. Um, that's a Roll call. A roll call. My bad Commissioner Miron Aye. Commissioner Karwoski? Aye. Commissioner Cox? Aye. Commissioner Bigham. Aye. Consent calendar passes. Four zero. Thank you. It's team effort. Uh, next on the agenda is, uh, the Washington County Community Development Agencies, um, presentation.

And this is a resolution just so everybody knows. Uh, Ms. Schumann, deputy Executive Director. Thank you, Madam Chair and commissioners. Carly Schumann with the Washington County CDA. And the resolution before you today to consider, uh, is to update our existing and then our upcoming qualified allocation plans for the housing tax credit program. Sure.

Just give us one second. I'm sure it should pop up here. There We go. Here we go. Thanks for your patience. This is an item that comes before you about every two years, and so it's not something you see frequently. And so I do like to try to give you some background and just a chance to ask questions if you have them. Uh, the low income housing tax credit program, I think you're all familiar with the program itself, uh, but it was established in 1986 through Comprehensive Tax Reform. It's regulated by the IRS. Sometimes you'll hear tax credit housing referred to as Section 42 housing, and that's because it's section 42 of the IRS code that actually regulates this program. Uh, the federal government then the IRS, uh, allocates a certain amount of tax credits to every state based on, uh, population. And then kind of a, you know, like a division factor. And usually in every state, there's just one state agency that then allocates those credits statewide.

So Minnesota is a little bit unique in that in state statute we actually, we have sub allocators. And so there are a few jurisdictions that have the ability to allocate these tax credits within their own jurisdiction. So in Minnesota, the, uh, state allocating agency is Minnesota Housing. They allocate the credit statewide. And then the other allocating jurisdictions include the city of Minneapolis, the city of St. Paul, Dakota County, and Washington County. And so the benefit of being a sub allocator is really that at allows for local priorities and looking at our own development context, making sure that we comply with the program, uh, but looking at what's gonna work best locally. Section 42 does require that we adopt a qualified allocation plan or a QAP for each allocation year. Uh, we've taken the approach to have a two year allocation plan because that provides more certainty for developers as they're, uh, planning out their development proposals.

And it also allows us to allocate enough credits at one time to complete a new construction development. So this QAP defines how the credits are gonna be awarded for each allocation year for both limited and non-limited tax credit applications. And in 27 and 28, so those are kind of the next upcoming allocation years. Our projected allocation amount for Washington County is a little over 860,000. There are two different types of housing tax credits. So there's what we call limited or competitive 9% housing tax credits. So these are the volume limited credits that are allocated to each state by the IRS. They're really designed so that the equity will provide about 70% of the cost of, of the construction to reduce the amount of debt that that development has to carry. And then they'll fill out the, the financing through first mortgage debt. The amount that they can carry on that debt is really determined by the rents.

So the higher rents they have, the more amortizing debt they can carry. The lower rents they have the lower amortizing debt. In either case, oftentimes there's a financial gap. And so that's often where the CDA will come in, will allocate the tax credits, but will also help to fill that gap. And that gap can be filled through a variety of methods. It can be through deferred developer fee, it can be through rebates, energy rebates, or other kinds of rebates that they can receive. And then it can also be through GAP financing programs like the CDAs Grow Program. So that program is financed through the HRA levy and it helps to fill these gaps. So that's sort of the competitive side of the tax credits. The unlimited, uh, tax credits, sometimes we call 'em, the 4% tax credits are really what's paired with an allocation of tax exempt bonds. So that allocation of bonds comes through Minnesota Management and budget, and those bonds are limited.

So there's still a limited number of developments that can use this financing structure, but the tax credits themselves are not limited. That side of the tax credit program is designed to provide about 30% of the construction financing through equity. So those developments need to carry more debt, which tends to mean that those developments have higher rents, uh, in order to support that debt. And then again, the remaining financing is filled with gap financing. Kind of the same types of sources you'd see in a 9% tax. Credit development, housing tax credit program is really the most powerful tool we have in the US to both create and preserve affordable housing. And one of the reasons it's so powerful is that annual allocation multiplies over 10 years. So when we're looking at an annual allocation of about 861,000 over 10 years, that's gonna provide about $8.6 million in equity for a development. And so that's where it can help to support the cost of, of construction in any development.

Though we do have to be mindful that the tax credits are just gonna be part of the capital stack. And so we need to be mindful of what the other capital markets are doing. You know, what is perm debt looking at in terms of underwriting or construction debt so that when we suggest changes to the QAP, we make sure that they're in alignment with where those capital markets are right now, so that they're not kind of running counter to each other. And just to demonstrate the power of the program, since the inception of the program, there's been over 4,000 housing tax credit units either created or preserved in Washington County, and over half of those have happened in the last 10 years. So this has been a really productive time in Washington County for new development and preservation. As we suggest changes to the QAP, then we're always also trying to look at what is the county's strategic plan and priorities.

And then, uh, the CDA strategic plan also aligns with those. And so it's really a two-pronged approach with housing tax credits. We're looking to both expand the supply of affordable units and then also to preserve the existing units. We know that in Washington County, 49% of our renters are cost burdened, which means that they pay more than 30% of their gross income on housing costs. And so we're always trying to incentivize deeper affordability and longer affordability. Were also required under section 42 to incentivize deeper and longer affordability. And so that's what runs through the QAP. Uh, we also know that these developments are time limited. So the income and rent restrictions last for typically about 30 years. And so after that time, then the, the income restrictions will expire and the development can convert to market rates. So we're always trying to incentivize the preservation of those units. It's voluntary and so we have to incentivize it.

Um, and so through the QAP, we're looking to do that as well. Uh, we have had tax credit units expire within Washington County. At the same time we've been able to provide more new construction tax credits than have expired. So what we're always trying to look at is on a net level, are we gaining more affordable units within the county. So then in terms of the proposed changes for the actual QAPs, they're relatively minor. This is more refinement than anything for both of them. Uh, there have been some updates in IRS regulation and state statutes that we need the QAPs to align with. And so for both of them, we're proposing to align them with, uh, a new IRS requirement that reduces the amount of tax credit bonds that need to be paired with the tax credits. That should open up more developments to be able to access those 4% credits. And then the state, uh, recently implemented prevailing wage requirements for tax credit developments.

And so then we're aligning both QAPs with that too. We have been doing that in practice, but we just wanna make sure we have that in the QAP in the 27 28 QAP. So that would be the next allocation cycle. We're also proposing to increase the minimum points for those 4% allocations. Those are those non-competitive applications. Uh, what we tend to see because they're not competing against other developers at the same time, is they tend to just take the minimum points that they have to. Um, and so we wanna just make sure that, you know, in that we're really incentivizing that deeper and longer affordability. And so we're proposing to increase the minimum from 30 to 40 in looking at the, uh, applications that we've received, you know, that that's really kind of in line with where they would be. It doesn't put undo burden where then we kind of run counter to where the, the debt and equity markets are.

Um, but it would just push them a little bit further. We're proposing to remove points for rental assistance coordination, and that's really because that should be become duplicative language. We have allowed points for that in the past, but, uh, we've actually shifted that to a threshold requirement. And so what that means is that a tax credit development needs to notify us as, um, the public housing authority that has the housing choice vouchers to make sure that when they have an opening, we can let our, our participants on the voucher program know so that they could take, take advantage of that development. Or if they're on our waiting list, we could let them know so that there's another affordable development that they could apply for. We've also aligned our transit points to options that are available locally. So we hadn't referenced micro transit or loop buses yet, and so we've just added that language in so that we can reference that.

And then we're proposing to incentivize lower intermediary costs. So we just removed one, uh, one point for kind of the highest intermediary cost category and just push that down a little bit. Those are not optional costs for these developments. They're things like legal fees and architect fees and city fees, um, utility fees. It's also developer fees. So that's kind of the one that the developers do have the most control over. But wherever they can try to negotiate lower fees, um, we're, we're trying to incentivize that. Just keep the costs in check. So the action steps for the QAP, there is a very kind of prescribed public process for these QAP updates. We, in January brought a discussion item to the CDA board to just get their perspective and feedback. And then we issued a public notice on January 30 30th. Um, in February, we held a public hearing with the CDA board. Uh, we didn't receive any public comments.

We did submit, uh, the proposed changes to the development partners that we often work with in Washington County, kinda the active developers. The only comments we received back was just, you know, that they were in line with the proposed changes. They didn't have any concerns about them. So that was good to hear. And then today, then you're considering the QIP approval if approved, then, uh, they would become active and we, we go ahead and publish them for developers to look at and submit applications. We will have a request for proposals for those competitive tax credits in July, and then we'll award those competitive credits probably in the fall. The non-competitive 4% credits just get allocated and reviewed as a development receives an allocation of bonds. So that typically happens in January and July. So there is a resolution before you to adopt, uh, a resolution approving the 27 28 qualified allocation plan for the housing tax credit program and then amending the 25 26 housing tax credit qualified allocation plan.

Mr. Ramir, you stand for any questions? Thank you, Madam Chair. I will, uh, move to adopt the resolution Approving the 20 27 20 28 qualified allocation plan for the housing tax credit program in amending the 20 25 20 26 housing tax credit ADE qualified allocation plan. I'll second that. We have a motion by Commissioner Miron, seconded by Commissioner Karwoski. Commissioner Miron. Well, thank you As, um, deputy Executive Director Showman, um, mentioned this was before the CDA at our last meeting. Um, I'm excited about the changes. I, it it continues to align itself with our strategic plan. As Carly pointed out. Um, you know, it, uh, is an important tool that leverages some significant outside funding, um, for affordable housing and and development. And I think the big change that I am excited about is the, um, the alignment with the transit, um, options that are available locally. Um, I I just think, um, you know, for quite some time we were focused on, on the transit that was available within the communities.

And I think this, um, um, this amendment, um, you know, to line up with what's available locally is going to allow for affordable housing within all of the communities in Washington County. Um, and in my opinion, it just provides lifecycle housing for people that have lived in some of these communities their entire life and, you know, find themselves, uh, in need of affordable housing. And, and this I think is going to allow, through the scoring process, allow for affordable housing to be built in those communities that aren't necessarily served by the major transit, um, lines that are available. So I think good changes and, um, obviously the, um, the CDA, um, approved it and that's why it's before us today. Excellent. Commissioner Karwoski, Uh, thank you Chair Bigham. Um, I concur with, uh, good comments made by Commissioner Miron. Thank him for his leadership serving on the CDA board and the work the CDA board did on this.

And they've previously approved this, um, executive, uh, deputy executive director, uh, Schumann. Thanks for the presentation. Um, I was curious though of the process, uh, of how you, uh, do you work any, any future housing that's being proposed in the city? Is it something you have a relationship with the city to kind of offer up this? Because as an example, I noticed on the Woodbury, uh, council agenda, I can't recall for tomorrow or Wednesday, is either a workshop or the agenda, I'm not sure, but they're looking at a pretty sizable, uh, housing units along beberg, which is the goal line as an example. How do you work with the cities in advance that try to offer up is Sure. Commissioner Karwoski? That's a good question. We do, you know, I think as a CDA, we see, really see our role as partners with both the county and the cities. And so we do maintain those ongoing relationships with the city, especially at a staff level.

So we're constantly having conversations with them about the financing options we have available, um, responding to any questions that they might have so that they can respond to the development community as questions come up too. And then what they'll often do is they'll refer the developers to us if they are interested in using any of these resources so that we can have a direct conversation with them. So not every development proposal will take advantage of some of these financing tools, just depending on kind of the rent levels and the financing structure they're trying to hit. Um, but a fair amount have, and in Woodbury in particular, we've financed, I think it's like 500 to 600 units in the last two years. So they've had a significant number of new tax credit developments in the city, which is really great to see. And then that's actually been helpful, um, on the transit side because those new developments then have allowed Met Council to extend that micro transit pa I think it like stopped at the Walmart and this was about a mile past that.

And so folks were having a little bit of a hard time getting where they needed to go if they didn't have a car. And so then that new development allowed Met Council to extend that micro transit. That's been really helpful. Great. Thank you for the explanation. Fully supportive. Thank you. Any other, uh, I'll just, um, wrap up here. Thank you Ms. Hortman for the presentation. Um, thank you Commissioner Miron to you and to the CDA board. Tremendous work that goes on, uh, in that organization and on that board. Um, the things that, that I appreciate, uh, is the codification, if you will, I guess for a better word, uh, for prevailing wage. It's very important, um, not, you know, to the county, to the board, to the staff. And so, um, appreciate that. Um, I really concur with Commissioner Miron's comment and Commissioner Karwoski lifting it up as well as, um, the benefit for the transit areas.

And, um, you know, in April we are on Thursdays starting, um, with darts in Newport, St. Paul Park, um, to be able to go through Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park and Newport. So we're expanding that. And as folks know, the Red Rock buildings, um, are right at the transit center in Newport. So, um, it just shows that it, it's a priority for us and I just appreciate, uh, the publicity around the connection to the strategic plan. Uh, I think so many times people think that governments, uh, and maybe some levels do, but not this one where we make plans like a strategic plan and then they get thrown on a shelf and dust collects on 'em. And that's not what we do here in Washington County. We actually execute our plans and make sure our investments are targeted to them. And I just appreciate you coming here and making sure that, um, we are connecting those, you know, goals.

Uh, and finally, I know no one from the legislature is watching, but it would be very nice if they would actually increase the amount of housing bonds that they authorize. I'll remind them they do not need a super majority, uh, to pass those 'cause they're not general obligation bonds. And so they've kind of been stuck in, correct me if I'm wrong, about the 200 million level for quite a while, That that seems about right. I, i, I don't know. And a novel idea to maybe, um, double that. Uh, because these credits, these bonds, they run out so quick 'cause there's such demand, uh, instead of trying to take away, uh, local control of authorities that have zoning and planning authority. So I will get off my soapbox, but, um, thank you, uh, Ms. Truman for being here today. And, um, if there is no further discussion or comment, then we will take a rule. Adam Kirk, Commissioner Miron Aye.

Commissioner Karwoski Aye. Commissioner Cox? Aye. Commissioner Bigham Aye. Resolution passes four zero. Thank You. Thank you. Uh, next item, uh, is about nine different agreements. Uh, wait, no, that's the, the, it's done. Uh, go ahead with, uh, Mr. Klein, uh, coming up, uh, to approve multiple items, uh, for the CIP, uh, related to County Road 74, which is 65th Street, and then Hastings Avenue, which is Cassa 38 to Geneva, uh, for roadway improvements. Exciting project Mr. Klein? Yes. Good morning, Madam Chair Commissioners. My name is Mike Klein and I'm a project manager in the Public Works Department. Today, public Works will be recommending approval of nine board actions related to the County Highway 74 roadway improvements project. During my presentation, I will provide an overview of the project and the construction schedule review the project scope review the project bids received, discuss how the project will be funded, review project agreements ENC close with recommended board actions.

Washington County Public Works has identified corridor improvements to the segment of County Road 74 from County Highway 38 38 to just east of Geneva Avenue, which is located within the city of Newport and Cottage Grove, and is a rural two lane undivided minor collector road, approximately one and a half mile in length. The improvements are included in the capital improvement plan under RRB 2 6 7 5. Construction is currently underway with tree removals and utility relocation work occurring. A road closure is to complete the roadway construction will begin in in May. This project has been coordinated with the up upcoming county Highway 38 payment preservation project to limit overlap between the two projects and minimize traffic disruptions. The scope of this project includes the realignment of County Highway 74 at the intersection of County Highway 38. This realignment will eliminate the existing scur that exists today and allow for a perpendicular connection at that intersection.

This will improve safety and sightlines for drivers. The scope will also include adding a new multi-use trail along the north side of County Highway 74 and County Highway 38 to Geneva Geneva Avenue. This trail segment was identified in the city of Newport's Trail Network plan and will serve as a good connection to other trail networks within the city of Newport and Cottage Grove Storm sewer and curb gutter will also be included in this project. Scope. The roadway drainage will be captured in the curb gutter and directed to a storm sewer system, which will ultimately end up in a newly constructed stormwater basin that will treat and capture the roadway runoff. These additions will help better control roadway, roadway drainage, and reduce the runoff in erosion issues that exist out there today, the South Wash Washington Watershed District will be completing a ravine stabilization project at the same time as our roadway project. The watersheds project will address erosion concerns in the ravine on the north side of County Highway 74 on the Marathon Refining Company property.

This project was bid with the County Roadway Project to help ensure a smooth construction process. The project team met with the refinery multiple times throughout the project and through that process, the refinery donated easements to the county and to the watershed to allow for the work completed to be completed in the ravine area. Finally, the ride along County Highway 74 will be improved through the replacement of payment within the project limits. I do want to highlight how this project scope directly addresses a number of a objectives within the county's strategic plan. This includes helping reduce the risk of serious injury crashes in this area, increasing the use of multimodal transportation by adding trails that are separated from the highway, maintaining a strong partnership with the city of Newport and Cottage Grove and improving water quality of natural water bodies in the area. Construction bids were opened on February 19th and Public Works received seven bids from qualified contractors with a low bid coming from Meyer Contracting in the amount of $3,735,359, which is lower than the engineer's estimate.

On this slide, you'll see a project funding overview. Project expenses on this project include planning and design property acquisition construction costs, which include the low bid from Meyer contracting, the 7% construction contingency project permitting and tree removal, totaling $4,817,903. Project revenues will come from local contributions, county transportation, sales tax, and the 2026 Road and Bridge Fund Balance two Bud Two. Budget amendments are also being recommended as part of this project. First is an increase in $60,119 in local contributions, and second is an increase in the road and bridge fund balance to $107,784.

Moving on to project agreements, there are five agre five agreements that are included with this project. Two, the first two are maintenance agreements with the City of Newport and Cottage Grove to define long-term maintenance responsibilities of the infrastructure along the corridor. Next are two cost share agreements with the city of Newport and Cottage Grove to define design and construction responsibilities between the agencies. These agreements splits split costs according to the county's cost participation policy. These agreements have been reviewed by our partners at the city and the language within the agreements have been agreed upon and are ready for signatures. We also have a cost share agreement with the South Washington Watershed District that defines cost responsibilities to fund the watersheds ravine stabilization project. Lastly, a design contract amendment with stonebrook engineering for final design services is being recommended for approval. This amendment addresses the final design elements that were necessary to complete the project prior to bidding funding for this amendment was included in the 2025 capital improvement plan.

So to close Public Works is recommending board approval of nine board actions that are in front of you, a construction cost or construction contract with me contracting a cost share and maintenance agreement with the city of Cottage Grove, a cost share and maintenance agreement with the City of Newport, a cost share agreement with South Washington Watershed District, a design contract amendment with Stonebrook engineering and two budget amendments. And this is the end of my prepared presentation, Madam Chair. I'll now stand for any questions. Thank you Mr. Klein. Um, I think if, uh, it's, there's no objections from the board, I'm gonna move the first item and then maybe we can have our comments and then proceed to the votes. I know it was 15, uh, for the, uh, park Grove Library and now we got nine here. Sorry about that, but it's important work. So with that, um, I will move approval of contract number 1 8 0 6 9 in the amount of $3,735,359 and 11 cents with Meyer Contracting Incorporated.

Second, we have a motion and a second. Um, so first, um, thank you, uh, Mr. Klein for the presentation and you know, there's a lot of moving parts in this project, uh, so thank you to you and your team, uh, for, you know, collaborating and, and coordinating all of that. Uh, and I do wanna give, um, a shout out to, uh, Cottage Grove Newport especially, um, and the watershed, uh, they really, uh, have, they've wanted this project for quite a while and they kind of have been waiting on us, uh, to get it going. And it, it is moved up slightly because of, um, the ability with the cities and, um, the watershed. So, uh, this is gonna be fantastic. And, um, I wanna thank Marathon Refinery too for their, um, generosity in the right of way that, uh, saved considerable amount on, uh, the project. And the, for those that don't know, this is just, now I'm gonna use my directions, help me out here north, north of the Oldman Middle School.

And, um, just north of that is, um, on more east whatever, um, near that are two larger developments that just came in in the last few years, um, in Cottage Grove. Uh, and it's just a very growing area up there. And then, um, this road is just kind of off to the side a little bit. So, and the guardrails always come down and I'm emailing and texting Wayne about the guardrails. And so, um, it's just really needed, uh, in there and, and the improvement is, is really gonna be helpful. Uh, and then I just think having the seven bids and coming underneath, uh, the engineer's estimate is important. I think it's good and I think it's continuing. So I'm feeling good about, uh, this upcoming construction season for us. But, um, so again, just appreciate, uh, appreciate everybody's help and support on this. Mr. Ramir. Yeah, thank you Ma. Madam Chair. Um, good project. Thank you, uh, Mike for, um, the background information on this, I, I just wanna mention the, uh, the funding, um, and the use of, uh, transportation sales tax.

When the county board made the policy decision to implement a sales tax to support transportation, uh, here in the county, um, we recognized the opportunity to, uh, relieve the burden on property taxes for road improvement projects such as this particular one. And I think Michael, if I remember right, the slide showed 4.4 million in possible funding coming from the sales tax for this, uh, project. Um, you know, these improvements, um, in many cases are, um, the people outside of Washington County are helping to carry the burden for these improvements. They're using our roads, um, you know, our roads are, uh, seeing additional wear because of those people. We welcome them in the county, we appreciate their, um, their retail, uh, business, uh, within the county. But, um, you know, being able to capture that sales tax to help improve roads in, in my opinion, is allowing us to make greater progress on road improvements here without burdening our property taxpayers, um, to the extent we otherwise would need to.

So I'm excited about, uh, the use of the sales tax for these types of projects and certainly fully, uh, supportive of it. Thank you Commissioner Cox. Um, I'll just share Thank you Mr. Klein for the presentation. I wrote down three things. One is safety. Yay. Thank you. Um, you know, looking at those shoulders and things like that, I mean, I can't imagine running, biking, anything along that road. Mm-hmm. Um, and then water management water always wins. So the, the, the partnership with the watershed with the private business, I think that is just to be commended. That's incredible. Um, and then the addition of trails was the third thing I wrote down. So again, that safety, the idea of, you know, someone pulling a buggy or someone pushing a stroller, um, is now a safe option for those new neighborhoods in those those families. So, thank you Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you Chair Bigham. Um, I agree with my colleagues comments.

A good comments were made. Um, uh, Mr. Klein, um, the, the road's got a lot of character. It's really a gorgeous, I've driven some of the roads in the, as you come down the hillside. I, not necessarily this one though, even with those improvements will, uh, I imagine some widening of the road, but will this road still have, uh, some of that same character, you know, uh, kinda, Yeah, Mr. Chair, Commissioner Karwoski, um, the character will stay the same. We did have to do some tree removals as part of that, but that's to get the slopes to be at a safe, safe slope. So, um, the trees beyond that are all staying the same so that that character will still be there. The curve will still be there. So just improving that safety out there. Good. I did, uh, like the amount of bids and it is considerably under the engineering estimate. Those are good things. I want to thank Cheer Bigg's, uh, leadership, not only working with Newport City of Cottage Grove, the different partners mentioned a lot, lot, lot of work has take place.

I appreciate your leadership, fully supportive of this project. Thank you. And I just remembered another comment that, um, something that Commissioner Cox had triggered. Uh, the comment is the runoff, uh, in the bluff area is a problem for Newport. They have a huge INI problem and they're fixing the infrastructure. They're, they're trying to get state money and federal money and they have done, uh, some improvements there. But if you're not working to stop the runoff from the Bluffs, you're not really fixing both problems. You're only fixing one and it's just gonna exacerbate the other one. So, uh, the leadership of of Newport has been incredible on the INI issue. And this is a, um, preventative measure to hopefully alleviate some of that. So, okay, if there's no further discussion, um, all in favor of approving contract number 1 8 0 6 9 in the amount of $3,735,359 and 11 cents with Meyer Contracting Incorporated. Say aye. Aye. Aye. Oppose, uh, say nay. Motion carries.

Um, I will move to approve cooperative cost share agreement number 1 7 8 6 2 between the city of Cottage Grove in Washington County. Second, We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? See none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Motion carries, uh, I will move to approve cooperative maintenance agreement 1 7 8 7 5 between the city of Cottage Grove and Washington County. I'll second that. Any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. I dunno if somebody else wants to jump in on the fund, Adam Chair, I can move approval of the cooperative cost share agreement number 1 7 8 7 7 between the city of Newport and Washington County. Second. Any discussion? See none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All right. Next page. I'll make a motion on item five to approve the Cooperative maintenance agreement. Number 17, 8 7 6 between the city of Newport and Washington County.

I'll second that. Any discussion? See none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries Madam Chair, I will move to approve the cooperative cost share agreement number 17 7 97 between the South Washington Watershed District in Washington County. I'll second that In a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Say nay. Uh, I will move to approve amendment number one to contract number 1 6 5 1 8 in the amount of 200,000 with Stonebrook Engineering Incorporated. Second. And a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor say Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed say Nay. Motion carries. Um, I'll move to approve a budget amendment to increase the local contributions by $60,100. Second that, Any discussion? See none. All in favor say Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. And then lastly, I move to approve Budget Amendment to use the 2026 r and B fund balance of $107,000.

800, $107,000 and eight. Wow. $107,000 and $800. Whatever. I need more coffee today, Madam Chair. I will second that motion. And that's, I believe for a total of $107,800. Yes, that's, that's what I meant to say. Any discussion, Madam Chair? I I just want to compliment the work you do in representing your district and the communities. I mean, this is a important, um, uh, number of contracts here that, and agreements that we're approving and, and, um, you know, important to both the city of Cottage Grove and the city of Newport. And as was pointed out earlier, um, you know, the watershed and, and, uh, the opportunities to improve water quality. And I know our public work staff here at the county is always working with, um, uh, water authorities to, um, you know, as we develop projects to, um, to, to look where we can improve water quality, um, uh, along with our, our project improvements.

And so just congratulations to you and your leadership here, uh, representing your community and helping bring these projects, uh, to fruition. Well, thank you and thanks everyone for your support. Madam Chair. Yep. Can I, thanks. One comment before we approve this item. Um, there was a couple of comments made by the commissioners about the bids that we received. Yeah. And being significantly below the engineer's estimate, I don't wanna leave the impression though that we're saving that money as a gap. So you saw the estimates engineer's estimate was about, I think, four or 500,000 higher than what the actual bids were, but the budget for this project was basically right at the budget in the, in the, uh, CIP. So this action is to do a slight increase in fund balance because we're slightly over the budget. So I didn't wanna leave the impression that the bids and this project created a gap of money that's available for something else.

So just wanna note that. Yes, thank you for that. And it's also more difficult with the ESS estimate wow. Engineers estimates, um, because of the macroeconomic issues that are going on as well. So, uh, we do the best we can with that. So, any further discussion? See none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Motion carries. Thank you Mr. Klein. Thank you. Uh, next item up is, uh, approving four items for construction administration inspection and survey work to aid in the delivery of transportation projects during the construction season. Covered by the CIP project number RRB 2 6 51 with Mr. Brandt. Good morning, Madam, Madam Chair Commissioners. As stated, my name is Alan Brandt. I serve as construction engineer in a public works department. So, uh, this morning Public Works is recommending board approval of three construction or three consultant contracts to support the 2026 Road and Bridge Construction program. Also, at the end, there will be a budget amendment to support that program.

So in 2026, we're looking at 20 projects, over 70 plus million or $70 million in construction cost. Currently the county, county staff consists of one project engineer, three construction inspectors, construction project survey coordinator, and three survey technicians. With this staff, we can support ad administer and inspect in projects. With the, uh, the size of our program and the size of our staff, we feel the need to go out and, and, uh, procure additional staff to support our program. So we, we released three requests for proposals. The first request for proposal is a, for a one year contract to secure a consultant to provide a survey and staking on four of our projects. We received seven proposals and we selected WSB and Associates to perform that work. The second RFP was to secure services for a one year, a one year contract to secure services for construction administration and inspection. On roughly nine projects, we received seven or seven proposals and we selected SRF Consulting for that work.

The third RFP was, uh, is for a two year contract to secure construction administration inspection and survey and staking all in one for the Highway 13 Highway 36 intersection reconstruction project. We received six proposals for that and, uh, Kimley, Horne and Associates was selected for that work. All of our RFPs were, were reviewed based on qualifications and the, uh, fees were negotiated compared to industry standards. So our financial review, current funding, so all of the, all of the work that the, uh, 2026 construction program survey project administration inspection and survey falls under Road and Bridge 2 6 5 1 in a capital improvement plan. Current funding totals $4,321,400. Cons and consists of wheel tax, transportation, advancement account, local contributions, state aid and county transportation sales tax expenses. Currently we have a, a contract open with Samba Tech that's for construction administration and inspection that's from 2020 or 2025 work. So we always carry a few projects over into the following year because we're waiting on turf establishment and we need to ensure that that happens before we can close out permits and whatnot and close out the project.

So that project or that contract is still open. The, uh, open balance on it is $54,600. Contract 1-804-ONE-WITH SRF, which we're seeking board approval totals $1,114,156 contract 1 8 0 6 8 with WSB and Associates, uh, for $309,000. That's for the survey and staking. And in contract contract 1-806-SIX-WITH Kimley Hor and Associates for the Highway Highways 36 and 17 intersection project at $3,225,510. So total expenses are 4 703 266. So as you can see, the revenue and expenses leaves a negative project balance of $381,866. So Public Works is proposing a budget. Amen. Budget Amendment of $381,900 that budget amendment would be, would be funded through fund balance of remaining 2025 wheel age tax. So with that, uh, public Works recommends four board actions, three consultant contracts, and one, um, budget amendment proof contract number 1-804-ONE-WITH SRF Consulting Group and amount of $1,114,156 for project administration and inspection services to support the 2026 Road and Bridge construction program.

Action number two, approved contract number 1 8 0 6 8 with WSB and Associates in the amount of $309,000 for construction survey and staking services to support the 2026 Road and Bridge construction program. Action number three, approved contract number 1-806-SIX-WITH Kimley Hor and Associates in the amount of $3,225,510 for construction administration inspection and survey staking for the county Highway 17, highway 36 intersection construction project. And then board action number four is for that budget amendment in the amount of $381,900 to use the fund balance of the 2025 wheeled tax remaining fund. Thank you. Thank you. Um, to begin discussion and need a motion for the first Madam Chair, I would be happy to, uh, move approval of contract number 18 0 4 1 with SRF Consulting Group, incorporated in the amount of $1,114,156 for project administration inspection services to support the 2026 Road and Bridge Construction program. Second, I'll second that. Moved by Commissioner Miron, second by Commissioner Karwoski.

Uh, Commissioner Miron, Madam Chair, I just, uh, well, thank you Alan, first of all for the presentation, but I appreciate, um, how lean our public works department operates. Um, we've got some really, really good people. Um, uh, and we've got some excellent projects here that, um, you know, we're looking at for the, the coming year and, and obviously there's more work here than what, um, we have staff to, to provide oversight on and, and, uh, utilizing, um, contractual agreements with, uh, good firms, um, I think is going to help, um, uh, you know, allow us to complete this construction season here, um, with, um, uh, you know, good deliverable projects. So, and then I'll just remind the board that, you know, we've been taking on additional projects here in the county and leading projects that otherwise potentially could be led by, um, you know, the state of Minnesota or MnDOT. And, um, their trust in our staff's capability and our ability to hire good consultants to carry out this work is recognized and, and, uh, appreciated by those, um, state agencies and other, uh, community, um, communities within Washington County that we serve.

And so I think this just a, a fabulous way of handling, um, these projects and getting them scheduled and done on time. And I would just say, you know, you look outside now, and it might be different by the end of the week, but it looks like our, our construction season could even start a little early, um, you know, based on, um, the, the early spring here, but I know they are talking snow for the end of the week. So yeah. Commissioner Karwoski, uh, thank you Chair Bigham, uh, Mr. Klein, good presentation overview. I would concur with, uh, Commissioner Marin's comments. And then to add, he, he referenced this the last road project, but the, it's true on this one. Looking at slide four and all the funding sources are definitely not, uh, not property taxes. Again, there's, um, I'll just summarize, there's, uh, uh, seven funding source and with the, uh, modest contribution of Lake Elmo on one of the projects, that's all sorts of, um, taxation based on use of our roads.

Mm-hmm. And as mentioned earlier, we get about 30% of our, uh, sales tax revenue from, uh, Wisconsin, uh, or outside our county. They put wear and tear on our road, so they also support 'em. Uh, but these are 20 projects, uh, that we're talking about and, uh, can't emphasize, I think because of our Public works department, highly good reputation, I think we get a really a lot of good partners that come forth that wanna work with Washington County. And I think that, uh, pays great dividend on quality of these projects. And as pointed out as Commissioner Meran pointed out, uh, uh, Lake Elmo Avenue in 36, uh, these projects don't get, they would even get done many, many years later if we didn't take the initiative to promote 'em and, uh, put together the funding. So that's, uh, going to, uh, get all my comments out on these four approvals. Gotta, and that's the big one in this mix here is, uh, the late MO at 36 interchange.

And I know Commissioner Cox, uh, and Commissioner me put in a lot of time on that and a lot of partnering. So thank you for your leadership on that. And we had Commissioner Creel who retired that did a lot of work for years on these projects. So, thank you, Madam Chair. That's all I have to add. Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, thank you Mr. Brant for the presentation. I was kind of wondering, as, as projects kept getting added for this construction season, how your team was going to do it all. Um, and I think being my second year now, I'm understanding a little bit more, and I'm grateful to see that the utilization of consultants is really the way that this work will get done. So thank you for seeing the need and for making that happen. Awesome. Um, yeah, our roads, uh, definitely took a beating this year too, with the, with the weather and, uh, um, snow and all that.

So, uh, you guys are gonna definitely be busy. So thank you for, um, the presentation and, and you know, we go through this kind of annual exercise doing this, and, um, it's just important, you know, it's a core function of, of our county government, is to keep our roads, uh, safe and and functioning. So, um, appreciate, uh, you guys taking the time to go through all of this, and I do appreciate, uh, that is a big project on Lake Elmo 36 and just appreciate, um, the leadership of, of everybody involved. Commissioner Cox, Commissioner Miron, and the staff. So, any further discussion? See none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries. Next item. Madam Cox, I would move, uh, to approve contract number 1 8 0 6 8 with WSB and Associates in the amount of $309,000 for construction survey and staking services to support the 2026 Roaded Bridge Construction program.

Second. Alright, it's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? See none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Motion carries.

I I can make the motion approve. Con I'll move to approved contract number 1 8 0 6 6 KIMLEY Hor and Associates in the amount of $3,225,510 for construction administration, inspection, and survey and staking services for the CAAs 17 and, uh, trunk Highway 36 intersection Construction Project. Seconded by Commissioner Miron. Any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries. I'll make a motion on the fourth one here, which is to approve the budget amendment in the amount of $381,000 $900, uh, to use the fund balance of the 2025 Wheeler tax remaining fund. Second Move by Commissioner Karwoski, seconded by Commissioner Cox. Any discussion? See none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Say nay. Motion carries. Thank you. Appreciate it. Uh, next is general administration and we're going to start, uh, with the adopting a resolution proclaiming March, 2026 as Women's History Month and Ms. Blaylock. Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners, as mentioned, my name is Erin Blaylock, and I'm an engineer too with Public Works, but I'm here this morning representing as a co-chair for the Women's Empowerment Employee Resource Group.

I'm joined in the audience by Emily Jorgensen, our executive sponsor in Theresa Hoffer, um, one of our members, as well as some other members joining virtually. So, the women's empowerment ERG began in 2023 with a vision of advancing equity for women through respect, empowerment, connection, and social impact. We are committed to our mission of advocating for policies and practice that empower women's rights and promote GE gender equity in the workplace and the community. Our group currently has 12 members across five departments. So March is Women's History Month, and we're here this morning to ask you to adopt a resolution supporting women as we celebrate the achievements, contributions, and resilience of women throughout history as well as our lives today. This month is a time to recognize, honor, and celebrate the role of women in history and how they will contribute to the wellbeing of the future appropriately. The National Women's History Alliance has designated the theme for Women's History Month this year as leading the change, women shaping a Sustainable Future.

The powerful leadership of women is pivotal in creating a future that is rooted in equity, justice, and opportunity for all. According to our recently updated workforce data from 20 25, 60 3% of Washington County employees identify as female. So it comes as no surprise that women employees at Washington County are on the forefront of positive change to equitable and sustainable systems, as is consistent with the values identified in Washington County's strategic plan. With all of that being said, we respectfully ask the Washington County Board to adopt a resolution declaring March as Women's History Month with this proclamation. Madam Chair, is it okay if I read the resolution? Absolutely. Whereas March is National Women's History Month, and the National Women's History Alliance has designated the theme for Women's History Month 2026, as leading the change, women shaping a Sustainable Future. And whereas this theme honors the women who have and are re-imagining and rebuilding systems to ensure long-term environmental, economic, educational, and societal sustainability.

And whereas women of every race, Clasen ethnic background served as early leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social change movement. And whereas women have been leaders not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the AAL abolitionist movement, the Emancipation Movement, the Indus, the Industrial Labor Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and other movements, especially the Peace Movement, which created a more fair and just Society for all. And whereas the powerful leadership of women is pivotal in creating a future that is rooted in equity, justice, and opportunity for all. And whereas equitable and sustainable systems are core values of Washington County, and whereas in 2026, women's leadership is not only addressing today's most urgent challenges, it is laying the foundation for a more inclusive and resilient tomorrow. Now therefore be it resolved that the Washington County Board of Commissioners do hereby proclaim March, 2026 as Women's History Month in Washington County and be it further resolved that we encourage our communities in organizations to support women leaders of the past, present, and future.

Lastly, Madam Chair, our group wanted to make the board aware that on March 24th, the women's ERG is hosting our annual event. This year's event theme is Women Creating Art, where we'll celebrate creative women of the past, feature local artists and vendors, and learn how creativity contributes to our overall wellbeing. All of the commissioners have been invited, and we hope to see you there. That's, um, early afternoon at the government center here in the lower level. That's all I've prepared, Madam Chair, and I'm happy to stand for any questions on behalf of our group. Thank you, Ms. Blaylock. Mr. Cox? Thank you, Madam Chair. I moved to adopt a resolution proclaiming March, 2026 as Women's History Month second, uh, Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, Ms. Blaylock, thank you for the presentation again this year. Um, I'm grateful to you and to the entire women's empowerment, ERG, for bringing this forward. Um, I love the theme of leading the change.

Um, I, it's amazing that there's two and three of us that are typically sitting here, um, in front of our county. And I know I just saw Miss Sally Everett, um, last week, the first wa female Washington County Commissioner. Um, and I truly stand on her shoulders and I'm grateful for all the work that she did. And so happy to hopefully be part of leading the change. And also grateful to be one of the 63% of employees that identify as female here at the county. I think, um, that's the number I will, I, I will start telling, um, you know, when I talk about the amazing 1500 employees, but that 63% of them are women, I think is a great, a great addition. So thank you. Um, and I, uh, any other comments? Yeah, and I'll Close this up. Thank you, chair Bigham. Um, yeah, I fully supportive and, uh, the 63%, uh, is definitely positive, uh, to have a majority of women working for the county, but also I think we've done well.

And I think our county board, uh, is very supportive to make sure the playing field is fair for women to excel in Washington County in leadership roles. And I think we statistically are doing pretty good in that department. Um, but we'll always be making sure that, uh, uh, obstacles are eliminated in. Uh, I think this board is very supportive and, um, look forward to the events on, um, March 24th. Ms. Ramira? Yeah, I thought maybe since we're recognizing and honoring women today that you'd let the minority, um, make the motion in the second here. Um, you Know, we're leaving the change, we're Leading the change. Um, but just appreciate the leadership certainly that, um, women have provided over the years. I, I think, um, the best boards that I've ever served on have had, had a mix of gender, um, on, on them. Um, and, um, and certainly we've had, uh, tremendous leadership, uh, currently and in the past from, uh, women on, on this board.

And, um, Erin, I still, you know, getting used to your change in name here, but Ms. Blaylock, um, just appreciate the presentation today. And I know you've provided leadership on this as well. I've got a conflict on the 24th, so I'm not gonna be able to join you, but I'm, I'm gonna miss that. So, but, um, I appreciate, uh, your leadership on this. Thank you Ms. Blaylock for, uh, the presentation today, reading the resolution for the leadership of the group, uh, lifting up this message and, you know, being a resource and, and guide honestly, for the county and its leadership. Um, I'm gonna echo the, the comments of, uh, Commissioner Cox. And the one thing I wanna add, I'm especially proud of the highlight in and the women in our engineering and planning. You can't call planners engineers and engineers planners is a whole thing. Um, but I appreciate that, um, because there, there definitely needs to be a focus in science and math engineering, uh, in that field.

And I'll just end with this, that I just think women lead, uh, differently. And I think that's where you see, um, a lot of the, um, lifting up and, and um, cheering. And I see that from a lot of, of the women, whether it's in administration, department, heads on down. And I think that's something to be very proud of. So thank you so much for, uh, the resolution today. Any further comments? Seeing none, then we will take the vote. Madam Clerk Commissioner Miron Aye. Commissioner Karwoski. Aye. Commissioner Cox? Aye. Commissioner Bigham Aye. Resolution passes four zero. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, next is, um, we are going to adopt a resolution authorizing Submittal Pro proposed projects for fiscal year 2027 on the Congressionally directed spending requests. Ms. Lucky. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, good morning, uh, commissioners, uh, Jan Lucke, deputy County Administrator. I'm going to, um, speak to the next two items on the agenda.

So it was the one, the Madam Chair called out is an action, uh, which is a follow up to a workshop that we had on February 10th where staff presented suggestions for congressionally directed spending requests. We discussed five projects, which are listed by title in the resolution before you, that includes the County State Aid Highway, uh, 16 or Valley Creek, a reconstruction project, the County Road 19 A and hundredth Street Realignment Project, the County Road 50 and Highway 61 Intersection Improvement Project, the fiber optic line from Washington County Government Center to a new public safety facility in Afton, and a drone as a first responder program with real-Time Information Center. So, friendly reminder details on each of those projects are included in one of three plans. The Capital Improvement plan, the county technology plan, or the Capital Equipment and Fleet Plan. So, following that workshop, uh, several of you attended the NACO Legislative Conference and met with, um, Congress members or staff, um, from each of our five, uh, members of our Congressional delegation.

All five of the projects, um, including that resolution, uh, were well received, uh, by those members. And then immediately upon our return, uh, the house members, uh, opened their project portals. And so we submitted projects to house members, Craig McCollum and Alber on Wednesday and Friday of last week. And we expect the portals for Senators Klobuchar and Smith to open any day. And we'll be adding letters of support, uh, for those projects from impacted communities, um, over the coming weeks. And then hot off the press, uh, 30 minutes ago, uh, Allie au from it was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Stowers Project sent me an email saying that the On County Road 50 and Highway 61 project has been selected as one of the 15 projects that he's going to move forward, um, to a appropriations bill. So that was quick and exciting, and your trip in that conversation we had with, uh, Congressman Stauber was very well timed.

So, um, while you're contemplating, uh, the resolution, I just wanna lift up, uh, the Public Works Planning team. Many of them are here today, including Alyssa and Emma. I don't see Sarah. Okay. Uh, I'm just gonna read their names 'cause they're not all here. Alyssa Lightner, Sarah Allen, Andrew Ream, and Emma Kellin. Each application, I think you may know this, but each application to each Congress member is unique. So that is, um, 17 applications submitted in seven in seven days. It is a herculean effort, and if your project is selected, as we just heard from Congressman Stabbers office, you then submit another application to the House portal for that specific appropriations bill, which is due on Monday. So it is, um, it is a lot, um, but it is really important work and it brings, as you know, a much needed funding, uh, to our organization. So I will, uh, pause there, Madam Chair for any questions.

And then, um, the action before you is approval of the resolution. Mr. Ramir, Um, Madam Chair, I will move the resolution authorizing submittal of the proposed projects for fiscal year 2027, congressionally directed spending, uh, requests. I'll second that. Moved and seconded. Commissioner Mi? Yeah, I just wanted to get it before us. Um, you know, I want the public to recognize the value of the work that our staff is doing here, um, and the success of our, um, lobbyists at the federal level, um, on, on these projects. Um, and also recognize, um, this recommissions to my right here that, um, went to DC and, and went to the congressional offices and, and Senate offices to support these requests. Um, you know, Washington County gets tremendous value here, and I look at the, uh, the project that, um, we received funding for, um, up in Forest Lake. Um, I believe that was $5 million Jan, um, that we would other not otherwise not have, um, if it were not for the leadership of all of those individuals that I, that I just mentioned.

Um, and, um, and I think in recent years in particular, um, we've just had such success with our requests, and I think that demonstrates, in my opinion, um, first of all the quality of work that's being done and the quality of projects that we're submitting that have, um, you know, regional, um, significance, uh, enough that, um, our, um, federal legislators are supporting these projects. Um, but, you know, just the, uh, the tremendous, um, value that all of this brings to Washington County. And, and, um, again, just, you know, thank you to everyone. I, I really do believe, and we've had good discussion about the various projects that we're submitting. I think these projects that are, are being proposed this year are equally as good as the projects that we've submitted in the past. And I think, um, we've finally, I maybe got a, a a taste of what they're looking for and, um, um, we certainly, um, you know, are able to, um, deliver those projects in a, in a very good way here within Washington County, again, because of the quality staff that we have, um, in, in bringing these, uh, projects to fruition when, when the money is available.

Thank you. Commissioner Karwoski. Thank you, chair Bigham. I concur with, uh, Commissioner Miron's comments. Uh, uh, deputy Director, lucky, uh, thanks for the presentation. Uh, just to add some extra comments is, uh, I wanted to stress that these five projects, uh, as I joined, uh, uh, chair Bigham and Commissioner Cox and myself and staff supporting us, uh, deputy Director Lucky was part of our team there to visit Washington, and we did meet with, um, representative Stauber, uh, representative Craig, uh, um, representative McCollum, uh, uh, and then the two senators, Smith and, uh, Klobuchar and the combination of staff or the, uh, elected representatives. And these five projects were overall very well received. So I think they're all of God interest, so hopefully, uh, more of them will come to fruition as far as making it, uh, being selected, uh, to, to be, uh, further in contention. Um, but as mentioned by Commissioner Mann, they're really regional in nature.

You know, like there's none technically in district two, but it doesn't really matter because they serve the road projects or roads that everybody from the county are gonna enter. They're gonna benefit the entire county. And then, you know, uh, two of these are on road, the, um, fiber optic line and, and the drone emergency, uh, technology to support our sheriff's department for early, um, early identifying a, a scene of danger, I guess I'll leave it at that all well received. And, um, very happy to support these five. It's, it's always difficult. There's many more projects that we would like to put on the list, but I think as Commissioner Marin pointed out, uh, staff has done, we've kind of, uh, working with our, our, um, uh, lobbyists and working with our staff, we've kind of honed in on what, uh, has our best chance. And, um, there's many more projects we move forward with, realizing we don't give federal funding on all of 'em, but we certainly paying a lot of federal tax dollars from Washington County.

So we're trying to get back dollars that, uh, you know, proportionate to what we we pay in, uh, taxation. So, thank you, Madam Chair, Commissioner Cox. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ms. Lucky, thank you for the presentation, and I really appreciate you calling out the staff in the audience and those that really helped with this. I don't think I realized how staff intensive that was. Um, and so I really appreciate the support. This makes a really big difference when we start talking our budget here. Um, and just the changes that we can, you know, impact our communities with. So thank you everyone for that. Um, and I will just kind of echo, you know, we had some really good conversations out in dc. I think, um, the three road projects are really smart to pick one in each, um, representative's district. I really liked that strategy and I think it went really well. Um, and then the conversations about the fiber optic line maybe were not as robust, but the drone really was, um, kind of a fun point of conversation.

So I know the sheriff has stepped out, but, um, I'm really hopeful for that one. There was some really interested, um, questions and, and some good kind of back and forth on that one. So thank you. Yeah. Um, thank you. And yeah, I appreciate staff. The turnaround and the quickness on this is, is, uh, lightning speed. So just appreciate the versatility and, and flexibility to do that. Uh, so really appreciate staff. But I also don't, uh, you know, you didn't think yourself in there, Jan, uh, our deputy, uh, county administrator, it's a lot of work to, uh, we'll make sure the three of us, uh, are where we need to be, uh, when we're out there, but also just all the time and effort that you put in as well to, um, coordinate with our, our federal lobbyists and the staff. And so, um, I just wanna thank everybody involved on that. And then just to, to add to Commissioner, um, Cox's comment about the drone, uh, KSTP just did a story, uh, about the West Min drone and, um, that it's kind of on the frontline.

So, um, I may or may not have shared that with, uh, some of the congressional staff and, uh, to hope, hopefully nudge that, uh, for the sheriff, but more importantly, not only for the safety of our staff and our, our law enforcement here, but our municipal partners and the residents, uh, it's an important project. So, um, appreciate that and, and, um, appreciate all the conversations with the congressional delegation and their staff as well. So, uh, with that, I think we, uh, need a vote if there's no further discussion on the resolution. Uh, Madam Clerk, Commissioner Ram Miron. Aye. Commissioner Karwoski? Aye. Commissioner Cox? Aye. Commissioner Bigham Aye. Resolution passes four zero. Thank you. And then you have more from the legislative state legislature? I do. Uh, thank you, uh, Madam Chair. And just a quick note on that action you just took, there are 17 letters of support waiting for you to sign. Madam Chair in Jenna Husky's office, if you could stop by, I'll stop by.

Um, I'm just going to, um, provide a, just a little bit of a top off, um, on the federal legislative update, uh, to build on the action. And you just took, um, in addition to talking with the Congress members about Congressionally directed spending projects, we also talked with them about AMC's, uh, human services, uh, legislative priorities. And we also, uh, shared concerns about recent federal legislation related to elections. Um, and I just wanna lift up a few more people in that regard. Um, we are grateful for the work of Ryan Silac and Elam Mason in Community Services, Amy Sef, Nagel and PRTS, and George Johnson, uh, Macklan Hutchinson and Eleanor Han in administration. They wrote the talking points on, I think there was at least a dozen items. They were detailed. Those of you that made the trip had noted that you felt very well prepared. And it is credit to those individuals I named, um, that made it.

So. So that concludes the federal update. I'll just swiftly move into the state legislative update. It's been a very busy two weeks. On February 18th, Commissioner Bigham and I met with Chair Pappas of the Senate Capital Investment Committee. We presented the county's legislative platform, uh, focusing on our bonding request. Um, the chair Pappas shared that, uh, she is contemplating a $1.2 billion, uh, bonding bill on February 19th. Commissioner Karwoski and I met with a co-chair fo Lee of the House Capital Investment Committee. Um, likewise, we presented the county's, uh, legislative platform focusing on the bonding requests, um, both with, uh, chair Pappas and co-Chair Lee. The projects were well received. Co-chair Lee mentioned that he's also contemplating a bonding bill upwards of a billion, but they all acknowledge that, um, it is a very short session, and the likelihood of a bonding bill somewhat depends on how well everyone is getting along. So we will, um, wait to see how that unfolds.

The evening of February 19th, we held our annual legislative reception. It was well attended despite the floor session running a little bit long, um, in the house. Um, Larkin Hoffman came well prepared with jackets, um, for each of our Senate and House bills, and we secured many authors and co-authors. That night. At the Deus is a bill tracker that we will start sharing with you every week. It lists, um, the bill numbers, the authors, uh, as of today, and also, um, a status column to update you on how that bill is moving forward. If you have any questions about that, you're welcome to talk to me or Emily Jorgensen. And then finally, on March 3rd and fourth, several of you attended the A MC Legislator Conference, which included meetings with, uh, our delegation on Capitol Hill, Commissioner Bigham, um, Commissioner Co Cox and Commissioner Clasen. Met with 11 of our 15 members. Um, we focused on AMC's human services platform, and we also found time to talk with each member about our county priorities.

Um, spending a little more time on the ladder with anyone who had, uh, was not able to make it to the reception. So it was another set of productive and engaging meetings. With that Madam Chair, I'm gonna make a slight, uh, pivot to a specific request, um, which also is gonna draw on a handout, um, at the deas. This last item here for the legislative update is a request from our parks director, which was, um, that our Parks director received, uh, to sign a letter of support for Senate file 33 70. So a copy of that senate file is at the deus, as well as the draft letter. Um, the House companion for this bill is 32 of 50. This bill was introduced last year and did not get a hearing. It, um, in sort of summary, it adds an option to purchase your annual State Parks Pass as part of your license tab renewal.

So we have some questions about the process and the work, um, that this may create for our licensing staff who are already stretched thin. Um, and there's some questions about how the tab, uh, may be displayed and whether that's, um, supportive of law enforcement. And currently how the bill is written. None of the revenue raises would go to Metro Parks. It would all go to Spate Parks. However, the reason this is before you today is because we've been told that Senator Dibel is working on an amendment that would make a portion of the revenue generated from this tab renewal option available to Metro Park's operational and maintenance costs, potentially in upwards of 30 to 40% of the revenue. However, the amendment has not been drafted yet. Um, nor is there any accompanying Senator House research doc documents or a fiscal note related to the bill. Um, so today, um, we're, um, we're, we're wanting to get this on your radar, but we're stopping short or we're not really comfortable with, um, recommending that you sign the letter as of yet.

Um, but we also acknowledge that, um, this board doesn't meet again until March 24th. Um, it is possible that the Parks implementing agency will send the letter before then. So I will turn it back to you. Um, Madam Chair, happy to answer any questions, and I know Alex is in the audience as well. So, deputy administrator, luckier, are you asking us to discuss whether at some point in time the letter could be signed? When you say, so, One option, Madam Chair, is that you could authorize the county administrator to, uh, direct the Parks director to sign the letter. If the questions, um, that we raise today, um, have answers that, um, are comfortable. Okay. Commissioner Karwoski, Um, chair Bigham. Um, if I understood that, uh, I would make a motion to approve the letter, whatever that final draft looks like. It can be looked at, at the very least by our board chair. And I would recommend that our, our be signed by our board chair.

Um, that's, there's no name on this, but wouldn't that typically come from our county board chair? Madam Chair, Commissioner Karwoski, that's an excellent point of, uh, clarification. I failed to mention that the letter is being proposed to be signed by the parks director of each of the implementing agencies. So if, um, Alex McKinney were to sign as our parks director, it would be, um, you know, on par with others that are signing. Well, then my motion again is to approve the letter, the final draft. Uh, at very least whether the county board or board chair Bigham reviews it, but it with the signature, the Parks Director, I think we've done that in the past. And yes, that would be consistent. So that's my motion. Uh, I will second that. Uh, any other discussion, Mr. Karwoski? Okay. Commissioner Cox. Um, thank you Ms. Lucky for bringing this forward. I just have questions. Um, you know, I, I just wanna highlight in this letter, if you don't have it in front of you, it talks about how the state currently funds operations and maintenance maintenance at approximately 9% of actual costs.

A fraction of the longstanding commitment of 40%. Mm-hmm. So, um, as a county, we're clearly not getting the support from the state at the level that they have said they would fund our parks. Mm-hmm. So anything that, that minimizes that gap and brings us closer to 40%, I'm all for. Mm-hmm. But I have questions about, you know, I, I have these license plates on our vehicles at home. Our state parks are really important to our family, but how much money does it really bring in? And is it, if we start bringing some of that money to the Metro parks, what does that do to our state parks? Where's there then gonna be a gap that then potentially there's funding challenges that, you know, the state will get creative in how they fill. So I guess I, I'm happy if all the parks, directors, director, McKinney's in the audience, feel that this is the right thing to do.

Um, I just have questions, I guess still, Madam Chair, we, we have the same questions. So another option is that you could bring this back before you on March 24th. Um, and it might mean that you might not sign with the other implementing agency if they, if they chose to move forward, but you would then have all of your questions answered. Um, I mean, we can still, you know, get the information and, and share that with you either way, but it's another option on how to proceed. Madam Chair, just, just one comment. If I may, you know, I, I share some of the, the concerns that Commissioner Cox raised. You know, certainly we would like to support any effort to improve our parks funding. Um, the I idea here that we're gonna, uh, rely on donations to do it, um, by residents, um, seems like we may be letting the legislature off the hook to find, you know, ongoing real money to fund Metro Parks in the way that they've said they're going to.

And so, you know, I, I think the, the fiscal note on this is not prepared. It's unsure about how much money would they would raise. It looks like they're actually reducing the cost of a state park has, if you buy it through this mechanism, and assuming that there'll just be more people that do it, which raises more money, uh, which may happen, it may be that may, uh, pan out. Um, but again, I I, it just seems to be that we ought to ask some questions about, you know, the certainty of the funding. How do we, um, play into that role. Um, uh, and I, and I, it may be that we wanna sign on. I would just give either the board chair or myself kind of the ability to get more information and then determine if we wanna be signatories to this letter. Um, you know, at some point this week, if it remind me, um, deputy, uh, administrator Lockey, when the parks meetings are that they meet with the legislators, Uh, Madam Chair, they, um, we're trying to time the letter with the, uh, pizza party they host, uh, for the Senate.

Now, that pizza party was this week, but I believe it's been moved to March 18th. Okay. 18th. Yeah. Uh, oh. Yesterday they moved that, um, pizza party to March 18th. So that is when they were hoping to have the letter signed so that they could distribute it at that, um, event. Commissioner Karwoski. Yeah. Thank you ma'am. Chair. Uh, don't we, uh, Alex have one on Thursday, though? House one? Yeah. Madam Chair, or the house Pizza party is on Thursday Yeah. Of this week. So, So, and you have Commissioner Miron. Well just comment. I mean, there has been, uh, quite a number of bills in the legislature looking at various license plates and, and helping to fund various initiatives. Um, and that's been going on for a number of years. Um, you know, the four H, uh, was supported by this type of thing, but, um, there is some significant money that comes in and allows people, um, you know, that are passionate about those issues to, to support it.

Um, I don't anticipate that this is gonna take away from the responsibility of the legislature, um, but I think it's worthwhile supporting, providing that option. And I think, um, you know, getting this letter or approving this letter and getting it signed in a timely manner so that, um, when you're attending that event, um, there, and Alex and I have attended it in the past, um, it's important to have, uh, the signatures and the support. So I think we should move on this today. I think we should act on it today. And, and, um, I certainly am willing to support it, but, uh, also recognizing that, you know, there's still going to be gaps here to, um, to, um, uh, to fill with respect to funding. And maybe the letter could be tweaked a little bit just to recognize that, that those gaps. But I think, um, uh, the way the motion was, uh, brought forward, um, it allows for some adjustments in the letter if we need to make that.

Yep. Any, any other comments? Um, so I think I'm, I'm fine with the idea sort of, um, I think the letter, uh, to Commissioner Miron's point could be tweaked to be strong about our preference is for bonding and the full 40% as committed, um, to remind them that we know about that we're not gonna forget. Um, what is the distribution of the revenue then that is collected from this? Because if you look at the Metro parks, our county has quite a few, and I would wanna make sure, um, that it's maybe distributed for population of parks in your county, maybe specifically a district. Just kidding. But, um, I mean, we have two, two state parks, Afton and William O'Brien, and then we have a bunch of our parks, obviously, but you look at other counties and they don't have as many as we do. Yeah. Thank you. Chair Commissioners. Um, so right now, the way this is written is in, uh, administrator Corbid's, right?

Uh, this would allow for you to purchase your park permit through your tag on your license plate. Uh, it was like $17, and they move it up to $19. I think that was expected to bring in, in, within 10 years, about, uh, $31 million in revenue total. And the way the state sees this going is there'd be a reduction in the, the window stickers. You can still get those, they're calling it the direct action, where you would still pay like $35 for an annual there, but if you do it as private registration process, you'd get it for $17. Um, right, right. Now, the way I understand it is the legislation, uh, Senator Dills introducing would allow us for a percentage of that, I believe it was between 30 and 40%. We follow a 40, 40 20 policy with legacy funding. And so I think the proposal do be similar to that. Um, so 40% of $30 million would get us an additional for the regional system, approximately $10 million if this were to go through, uh, Washington County share.

Right now we get 11 million, we get about 500,000 in our budget, so approximately double our, our o and m would then go into there. So still not the 40% as you talk about, but closer to that 20% would be funded. Then Commissioner Karwoski, Alex, uh, is it determined, and I, I have a hunch as they're just, uh, speculating the extra volume of revenue at a lower rate for the, for the sticker, um, through the licensing, can they commit to the dollar amount? Let them worry about reaching the expectation. So they're saying revenue's going to double, are they committed to the revenue and not, not just the method. Uh, director, chair and commissioners, um, you know, I think this is all I I, I, I believe they've done the case studies with Michigan, Kansas, and Colorado as the comparables, and that's where they're pulling their percentages from as far as the percentage of people who opt into this program, which is what this would be.

Um, and so I believe that right now the legislation is really meant because there's a, a backfill of funding to Commissioner, uh, Cox's point for the needs of the state park system as well. And so this is a way for them to increase that so they can continue to provide the park services to the public, but it will create additional funding, um, in addition to the needs of the parks. Right now, the legislation calls for the, uh, like SNAs and WMAs and some of that to get funding as well. And so, Commissioner Karwoski, did I answer your question? I'm not sure if I addressed that right. It's kind of what I expect. Okay. And I didn't have a chance to read it close enough to know if, uh, uh, that revenue through a park sticker for state parks at any time in with the county parks? No, they, they're separate. Yeah, They're separate. So, Um, also just a cursory review of it, um, talks about the Commissioner.

I'm assuming that's, um, DNR. Yes. Um, at somewhere in here, you may wanna just suggest that it should be, um, in consultation with the chair of the MET Council Sure. Or designee, um, because they're the ones that, am I not right, that the bonding money goes to Medicare? Correct. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, yep. Somebody may wanna suggest that because then that's where, if they are receiving the money, then that's where we can have the argument, if you will, about, um, any formula, uh, changes or whatever. I mean, I don't like to do math in public, but I don't think that, um, we've received that amount of money in 10 years in a bonding bill. So, um, I just, I mean, it's kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't type thing, uh, on it. 'cause we would probably get more money doing this, and yet we're not getting the money that were promised, and they probably have no intent on doing it.

Um, and so it, it's just kind of, I mean, I give credit for, uh, whoever thought of the idea. Um, I give them credit for trying to solve a problem. Um, let's just see what the details are like, and I just would prefer to, if it's gonna be, you know, the, the distribution is what now I'm hung up on. So, um, maybe there could be some discussion about that. But anyway, that's just where I'm at. Uh, and so we do have a motion on the table, so if there's no further discussion, uh, Commissioner Karwoski renews his motion, uh, to do the letter. And, uh, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Motion carries. Thank you, director. Anything else? Deputy Administrator? Nothing else, Madam Chair. Um, administrator, Corbid, anything? Um, while we're still under general, uh, administration, because it's dealt with the consent calendar, I just wanna lift up, I didn't wanna pull them because we didn't need to do a separate vote, but I just wanna say that there were some, um, important donations, uh, in the consent calendar that I think are worth lifting up.

Uh, one was an anonymous donor and $30,000, uh, to the Washington County Libraries. Uh, very grateful to whoever that was, uh, and is. Um, and then, um, because canines, uh, are near and dear to my heart, um, uh, uh, Jim Dingle, uh, donated $10,000, uh, from Washington. He's a Washington County resident to the Sheriff's Office canine unit. And then I also, um, want to, uh, congratulate Sergeant Justin McDonough on the transfer of ownership to Canine oti, uh, and appreciate, uh, him taking, uh, uh, on that, uh, responsibility for his partner. 'cause we appreciate, uh, the canine units and the officers, uh, that, uh, take on that extra role. So, uh, anything else for administrator corporate adminis? Uh, I almost called you administrator Mi Miron. Commissioner Miron. Yeah. Thank you. Um, I, as long as you're mm-hmm. Um, identifying things on the consent, certainly the Jordan Bequest and oh, the money for the Marine Library as well.

Um, that process has been so streamlined now. Um, you know, I think we all receive the, um, annual report. Um, the library continues to flourish and mm-hmm. And it's because of that bequest and the distribution of the money and, um, the flexibility that this board provided in, um, uh, investing and demonstrating a good return for that and, and making it easier for that transfer of funds. So just, um, mention that as well. Absolutely. See, nothing else. We'll move on to the next item, which your Commissioner reports. Um, Commissioner Karwoski, do you wanna start us off? Sure. Um, probably, uh, we haven't met for a while as a board, but probably the biggest item was the, our naco, uh, March, uh, 21st Saturday, March 21st, the 25th. I won't cover our visits because, uh, we cover those with, uh, deputy Lucky's presentation on our, our platform, but in addition to those visits. So it's important about NACO is really going to our, um, our, uh, committee assignments.

Mine was transportation. One entire day was spent on that. Different breakout sessions. Um, so anyhow, very good trip. Very worthwhile to see what other counties are doing to make sure you're either all rowing to together or it gives you ideals on what we could be doing. Um, had a meeting with the, uh, uh, our staff and Monte Mede City, uh, council membership and mayor to, uh, discover sir the, uh, seven, uh, century Avenue, uh, turn back and, and rebuild project, uh, along Century College. There's a development of property there that has some sensitive issues, so trying to work through those. Uh, attended the District 10:00 AM c transportation meeting, um, uh, uh, cheer, um, Bigham might have more to say on that, but we big, the big topic was the greenhouse, uh, effect on some of our transportation projects. Uh, very challenging. Uh, a lot of work needs to be done on that. Uh, had a tab meeting, transportation advisory, board meeting.

Uh, nothing significant there, but we are getting very closer to, uh, solicit, uh, decisions about, uh, appropriating the solicitation, uh, money from the, uh, federal government, uh, attended the transportation day at the capital, uh, transportation Alliance. Sponsors that as mentioned, my deputy director, lucky her, I and our, um, Hoffman la and we visited with, uh, uh, house Bonding, uh, cheer a fool Lee. Uh, he's very interested, very knowledgeable on our projects, uh, particularly 19 a and 100. Uh, I had raised the question, knowing we were gonna meet with him, I had raised the question at the, uh, the big session with a lot of notable, uh, speakers, uh, in front of the Transportation Alliance that they should do the robust 1.2 billion. He did take notice on that, and he did remind me when we met later in the day, that he was very supportive of something greater than the 600, 800,000 that some of 'em are, uh, kind of sticking to.

I mean, that means that the, the capacity is there. It's a safe investment for our state legislators to, to do something large. Um, uh, many of us, I think our entire board here, we attended the, uh, uh, Sheriff's Swear in ceremony. Uh, chair Bigham did a great job presenting, uh, some nice words on behalf of our board, uh, attended the Black History Month, uh, that we all were at. Um, great presentation there. Uh, they were Entertainment, uh, is amazing. You know, the, um, it's really not entertainment, but it's entertainment in the sense of bringing back historical, uh, uh, from the black culture and, uh, really, really enjoyable. Uh, attended the Woodbury, uh, Commissioner, uh, Bigham and I, we were at, uh, the Woodbury State of the City address by Mayor Bert. Uh, always a lot happening in Woodbury, so that's interesting. You get that one year recap of what's going on. And then lastly, we all had that legislative reception at our new Central Service center, a good turnout there.

And it's always good to, um, uh, get our legislative body, which I think is 15 six senators and nine representatives, I believe. Uh, all marchy in the same direction, so thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Commissioner Cox. Thank you. Uh, Madam Chair. I'm sorry, I have a long list. It's been a couple weeks. Um, I was able to connect, I, uh, maintain the connection with our National Park Service Superintendent, so Craig Hansen, um, so great to connect with him and just learn about different projects that they have in the works as well. Um, and then attended, um, with staff on a snowy night director McKinney. It feels like it was a really long time ago, but the, uh, city of Lake Elmo Parks Commission, um, I'd love some more of that snow. But, uh, then the legislative reception, a huge thank you to the staff. I know we get to show up and put on a name tag, um, but there are a lot of hours spent behind the scenes, making sure the invitations are sent, the food is incredible, and all those pieces.

So thank you for making us look really good. Um, it, it did not go unnoticed. Um, then the naco, so the National Association of Counties Conference, um, some really great connections. Um, and Commissioner Karwoski mentioned his committee I serve on the health committee. Um, so we had a lot of conversations about the impact of HR one with SNAP and Medicaid, and, um, it was just great to be in the room with some really, really smart people, um, who understand this on a level that I don't, but that I could learn from. So I appreciated that, um, was able to attend a Metro mosquito control meeting. Um, and so no huge, um, you know, outcomes of that necessarily, but I'm hoping to get my hands on their 2025 annual report. So it's the first kind of publication that they've put together, so I attended virtually, so still hoping to get that. Um, and then thank you, Commissioner Miron.

You, um, put together a meeting with developer Len Pratt. Um, so he is working on a large-ish development in the city of Bayport, and so it was great to put a face to the name and thank you for, um, the staff from Public Works also that were able to attend that. Um, I attended, uh, the greater MSP presentation, so it was really great to hear what that organization has done in 2025 and is looking to do in 2026. Um, then the Association of Minnesota County's Legislative conference in St. Paul last week. So was able to, um, visit with many of our legislators, and then also on the second day was able to attend the House tax Committee hearing. Um, and that was really interesting. There was a lot of agreement that the systems modernization is needed, and so now the work begins, um, to actually make it happen. So it was exciting to hear all of that.

Um, and then I was able to be joined by Ms. Sarah Triple, um, for an emergency housing services building presentation. Um, the folks at Boutwell Landing asked specifically to learn more about that, so there were, uh, about 25, 26 in attendance for that presentation. And she is incredible and able to answer all the questions, so that was great. Um, Commissioner Bigham put together a tour of way makers to recovery in Forest Lake. Um, so thanks to Lisa, Ryan and Mike for showing us around and answering our questions. Um, in talking to community about that organization, um, essentially if you have someone who's looking to enter recovery, you can call them and they will do an intake and find the best solution for your loved one. Um, and I talked to several people who went, oh my gosh, that would've been so helpful for our family because we had to do that ourselves and we maybe didn't get the first choice correct.

And so that, that, um, family member and loved one, you know, relapsed and then had to start again. And so, um, what an awesome opportunity to have them in our community. So grateful, um, for that tour. Thank you. Um, still visiting and meeting about the Stillwater Prison decommissioning. So more to come as 20, 29 gets closer. And then yesterday, um, the Stillwater Chamber puts together once a year, they call it Toast and Topics. And so Senator Housley, representative Hill and Representative Johnson came and spoke, um, to those in attendance at Bay Port's Library on just what they're, what they're working on, what they're seeing, how they're working together, um, just nice for a lot of community members to get that interaction with them, um, right here kind of at home and not having to go to the capitol for that. Um, and then I will just say one more thing and then I'll be done.

I'm sorry. Um, sheriff Starry did step out, but for those of you who maybe aren't as connected to the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, he was, um, presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday evening at their event, um, and sharing community awards. So, uh, the Chamber really, and the community has really, you know, um, appreciated him and all of the work that he's done through his career here at Washington County. So please share, uh, your congratulations with him on that amazing award. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Muren. Yeah, congratulations, sheriff Star. It's a well deserved recognition. Um, attended a CDA meeting. We approved the, uh, the requests there, um, uh, today in that resolution. Um, um, I attended a meeting up in Forest Lake, a workshop meeting with the city staff on a CASA 32 update, um, with Ryan Hayes, uh, from the, uh, public Works Department engineering here in Washington County. Um, attended a Scandia City Council meeting, a Hugo Parks Commission meeting, uh, where they, um, approved a letter of support for our Glacial Hills, uh, trail.

Um, was able to attend the Washington County Sheriff's Office swearing in ceremony, which was just really a highlight. Um, um, the Washington County Legislative reception was mentioned. Um, spent a a a day and actually, um, two days reviewing applications for the Clean Water Council. Um, and then I spent another day, um, here, actually close to two days over the weekend with the next, um, group of, um, applications for Clean Water Council funding. So a lot of time going into that, but it is interesting to see the, um, the various projects that, um, um, or programs that are being proposed for funding from the Clean Water Council. So, um, Ramsey Washington Recycling and Energy Board, uh, attended that with, um, Commissioner Bigham. Um, um, trying to think what, uh, um, maybe highlight, I mean, we, we talked about our legislative, um, uh, requests there. Um, recognized Dave Benke from, uh, pollution Control, um, who's been with us since we formed and created that Exofficio, um, member there.

But he's retiring and had an opportunity to recognize him at that meeting. Uh, attended the Black History Month celebration again. Um, great. I didn't know that. Um, uh, deputy Director Wagenius was so talented. Um, but, uh, it was a great, uh, great event again, um, this year, just well planned and, and, uh, organized. Um, we had the, um, open forum discussion this morning about the issues in Scandia regarding the septic system, and, um, did have a chance to, uh, meet with, uh, some of our county staff and the mayor and, and their city staff on some of the issues, uh, surrounding their, um, septic systems, uh, public systems and permitting process and that type of thing. I think that meeting was helpful, um, in providing some direction and, and, um, I'm happy to, um, to, uh, reach out to the individual that spoke to us today as well. So there are some issues going on there.

Um, um, and, um, I just appreciate our, um, public health department and their willingness to work through those issues and, and assist, um, those people within Scandia and, and the developers that have interest in property there, um, that, that may need to receive permits for, um, you know, their septic improvements there. Um, uh, uh, one of our planners, uh, Matt Heimer, um, and I attended the City of Grant, uh, meeting with a Highway 96 study, um, presented that to the, the city council for review. And then, um, I actually was a head of, uh, Commissioner Cox and Bigham and Touring Way Makers. Um, they are a recipient of our opioid settlement funding and, and, um, you know, it's good for us to go and see what they're doing. Mm-hmm. Just to, um, um, I think, uh, not so much that, um, that there needs to be an accountability there, but I think it's just a recognition of the important work that they do and how fortunate we are to have received that funding and are able to, uh, provide it.

And thank you again to the, to the community team that reviews those, uh, funding requests and, and, um, recommends a approvals for the various ones because, um, um, you know, if it were not for that, um, settlement money, I'm not sure that way Makers will be there and we need to, um, maybe, uh, work with them a little bit on their, uh, 5 0 1 C3, um, which has been held up, um, I, I think on the federal approval there. But, um, um, you know, that was identified at least in the tour, and I think it would be a highlight, um, for our, um, newsletter at some point in time. Um, recognizing, you know, some of those, um, um, uses of funds through that settlement there. That's all I have, Madam Chair. Thank you. Um, I, uh, really enjoyed the, the way Makers to Recovery organization, and I concur with both the comments. And I think what sometimes people don't, um, from the outside know, is that I always and often say that if a resident contacts, uh, an elected official, they're at their wit's end.

Um, and we do get contacted, um, from people that are very desperate to help in someone. And so it's good for us to see these organizations to know that they are available. And, um, I just, they do incredible work. And the 5 0 1 C3 issue was brought up and I did email Senator Smith's staff, uh, and they, uh, are working on it. So I did get a response, and I can forward that to you too. Um, so, uh, I attended the A MC District, uh, 10 transportation group. Very frustrating meeting, uh, the Greenhouse Gas offset, the cost, the process, it's just not gonna go the way people think, and it's frustrating. Um, and so I don't think it's gonna fall upon deaf ears at the legislature, but we're gonna be loud talking about it because it's not that we don't wanna, you know, we recognize the goal. Just that means to that goal are not going to, um, result in that, in my opinion.

Um, we had the A MC solid waste, uh, group. Uh, we had presentations from Zero Waste Group and the PCA, um, gave, uh, an update on, um, you know, their goals and, um, some of the critical materials that they, uh, are dealing with. And so it was very, uh, interesting on that. And I do think that they have to help us, um, meet and move up the hierarchy. And I thought that it was a good conversation about that. Um, I attended the NACO Legislative Conference. I, I serve on the Justice and Public Safety, um, committee. We talked a lot about immigration, uh, and, uh, the also, uh, political violence against, um, elected officials and judges as well. Um, and so there was just, it was a really robust discussion on a variety of topics. Uh, I thought the meetings, uh, with our delegation went extremely well and appreciate, again, our time, uh, with our, uh, federal lobbyist and with staff and colleagues on that.

'cause it's, uh, it's conversations worth having. Um, I also attended the A MC Legislative Conference, and I'm on the public safety committee there. And, uh, there was a, I'm gonna also say again, a frustrating presentation, um, about a jail merger study, um, with a Commissioner of Corrections where there was only 13, um, responses to a survey, and apparently that was statistically valid. Any who, um, I attended the state of the city for Newport, uh, and just wanna give a shout out to Sergeant Leggett. Uh, he was, uh, called out by the mayor for the wonderful work that he's doing in that community, uh, building community and a team. And so that was, uh, uh, really good to hear and a lot of kudos to our county staff from the city of Newport. So I just want to, uh, lift that up, that it doesn't go unnoticed from our, uh, local partners as well. Um, I, we had a a MC Board of Directors meeting, um, really focusing on the, if you recall, the waiver, uh, services, the shift.

There's a, a, a task force, uh, I think it's Commissioner Breck, uh, Commissioner Clark, uh, um, d um, from Waseca County. And I think there's one other, um, that are on that identifying some of the, and, and I know Director Castillo is also on that. Um, and, uh, direct, there's a list and they have to get to, um, a savings. And so we went through all of that and how it would impact, and, you know, just being able to come up with a list that it's gonna be felt, but we need to, um, make the decisions. Um, one thing I wanted to highlight also, um, I'm sure you've seen in the news, uh, Hennepin County Medical Center, HCMC, uh, is in some fiscal straits, uh, dire straits. And the county board has a ballpark tax for target field, and it's expiring 'cause it's a local option sales tax. And they have a legislative proposal to extend that and like swap it out, I guess is the best way to say it for HCMC.

And it raises quite a bit of money for them. It's not gonna solve everything. But, um, I organized the chairs of the, uh, metro counties to support a letter. It's at your DAAs. Um, because the fact is if HCMC closed, it would be pretty catastrophic to the metro area and probably the state. They're trauma one, they have our burn unit. Um, not that we, we have other trauma one hospitals, but, um, they also are primary care clinics for many people in need. And, um, not to mention the workforce issue it would create. And so, um, I'd just, it's, uh, the letters that the DAAs, anybody from the public wants to see it, we can make that available too. Um, but the gratitude that Hennepin County had was, uh, appreciated, uh, from the whole county. So, uh, the metro area, and we did discuss it at a MC, um, and there was no action taken by the A MC organization, but it definitely, uh, is on their radar.

I also am on a BCA task force, um, statewide task force through a MC. It's fascinating. Um, and the topic this month was about AI being used for body cams, uh, Axios, um, and how they could organize things better faster for, um, the county attorneys and public defenders. So they, uh, they had a little bit different priorities, but it was, uh, nonetheless, all the feedback was taken. It was fascinating. I wanna congratulate New St. Paul Park, uh, police chief, uh, whiteford. Uh, it was very, um, moving ceremony to swear in new police chief. We had a lot of clios from the sheriff. Uh, uh, sheriff Starry, uh, chief Mueller, chief, uh, Mueller chief, uh, Kerner, and then a bunch of, uh, the officers and sergeants and captains from some of the surrounding areas. So, uh, that was great. And they also swore in a firefighter as well. Um, I had a r and e tour with St. Paul Maher.

Uh, she had a lot of great questions and, uh, obviously looking forward to St. Paul coming online with the Food scrap program here at the end of the year. Um, I had a meeting with the Met Council, the new MET Council chair. Uh, she is going to be coming to a board meeting. I asked her to and gave her a heads up on some of the issues that I feel, um, you know, the board is gonna wanna talk about from their silence on, uh, the greenhouse gas offsets and the density issue, uh, to the missing middle, where both of those legislative proposals, um, will literally negate their comp plan. And then also I did, uh, I'm not the expert on this, but the population counts over the White Bear Lake. Um, so I wondered to be prepared to talk about that. 'cause I know that a couple of you will be bringing that up. Um, I attended the Woodbury State of the city, that was great.

Um, really appreciate all the legislators that showed up to our legislative reception. And also the staff are putting that together. It is, as Commissioner Cox said, a lot of detail. Um, and also wanna give a shout out to, uh, Margaret and her team at Larkin Hoffman. They did a great job, um, getting people signed up. Uh, the Black History Month celebration, uh, was just phenomenal. Uh, the, the speakers, the music, um, and the dancers and the, um, you know, poem being read by Quita, it is, uh, just fantastic every year. I look forward to that. Um, I did attend the r and e meeting and, um, uh, that I think the legislative proposals, um, going forward are gonna be very important. Uh, and we're gonna be having, um, a presentation by Executive Director Martinson here at the end of the, this month. Um, and also on Thursday, I'll be testifying in both the House and the Senate on the hazardous waste medical waste disposal.

Um, and so, uh, that stuff is moving, uh, along there. And we did receive a pretty good update on the food scrap program and just making, we're at, uh, both counties, uh, are at 12% as of right now. So that's, um, we keep talking about that. And the next step outside of resident residential food scrap, um, later this year, this summer, we're gonna be getting a, and then I just wanna also, uh, two last things. Um, the sheriff deputy swearing in 10 deputies was fantastic. Um, and, uh, you know, we still have to continue to recruit and retain in that area due to retirement. Uh, and just the departments all over the country, to be honest, having issues with that. Finally, I just wanna say Happy Township Day. I'll be attending, uh, Grey Cloud Island Township tonight for the annual meeting. So anybody forget anything or need to add anything? Commissioner, mayor, Um, you mentioned the Met Council and, and certainly this, uh, water appropriation system statement, um, is something that has an impact on all of our districts.

Mm-hmm. Um, you know, Oakdale and Commissioner Karwoski, uh, Lake Elmo and Commissioner Cox's, uh, Woodbury, a number of you represent portions of Woodbury, uh, Hugo Forest Lake, um, in my district. And, and, um, I did have a meeting that I didn't report on with Hugo City staff, but it's interesting, um, as you look at what's going on, I think there's a lot of data out there that Met Council isn't looking at or hasn't looked at, say the Least. Um, you know, back, uh, in my time when I was mayor there, we started a, a water reuse program, which the mayor, the new mayor and the council have embraced. Um, they've actually reduced water consumption, um, since 2012. Okay. The city's grown by 40%. Mm-hmm. Um, and they've, they're using less water today than they were in 2012. And I think that's something that's just not being looked at. Correct. Um, but there's data out there, um, you know, supporting that.

Um, it's interesting because one of the proposals for Clean Water, um, funding was from the Med council, uh, for water reuse, um, programming. And, um, you know, I think there's cities out there that have been leading that effort for some time now. And, and, um, you know, I'm not sure they even have the data that, um, you know, is being provided there. But anyway, just wanted to mention that because I do think that's an important discussion. And I know I've got a meeting coming up with, um, met Council, um, representatives on that particular issue. I think car, uh, Commissioner Karwoski is scheduled in that meeting as well. Yeah. I found Chair Hutchinson to be, um, very deliberative. Um, although she admitted that her staff didn't properly prepare her to meet with me. Um, apparently it wasn't bold letters, you know, watch out. But, um, 'cause I had about six things. Um, but she was, you know, um, she deserves the grace and space, um, to, to kind of change that culture.

Uh, and I hope that she does do that, um, with the time, you know, that she's there and, and, uh, I found her very knowledgeable and listening and wanting to learn. And, um, I, I also will say that, um, she spoke very, very highly of our planner, Alyssa Lightner, um, and knows our staff, uh, very well. 'cause she's a planner. I made sure to clarify that. And so, um, but she was very excited about our opportunity, understood the work ahead, um, and appreciated just my directness of, of saying, Hey, you've, you've, we've gotta figure some of this stuff out. So it's, it really is a problem that council really is a problem and let's just hope her leadership, uh, will change that culture and write it. So anything else? Um, with that, uh, we, next item is board correspondence. We have none. And after we adjourn, we have, let's see, four workshops on website redesign, feasibility study for land legacy program.

And then we have assessment review for property values and discussing the budget development for next year. So with that, there are no further items on the Madam Chair. Just to note for the record, the workshop on the Land and Water legacy program is scheduled for 1120. We would advise taking that one first at 1120 because we have presenters that have a short timeframe. They can join us and then we'll go back to the, um, workshop on the website redesign. Absolutely. Thank you. With no further, uh, items on the agenda, we are adjourned.