[0:03] Good evening everyone. It is now 6:30 and I will call this budget work session

[0:09] of the Burnsville City Council to order. Um members of the public always welcome

[0:16] to attend in person and also may choose to watch the meeting on burnsville

[0:22] mn.gov/meings gov/meings

[0:25] or Comcast channel 16 or 859. The public can also participate through

[0:32] Zoom by joining us at zoom. us/join. More information is available on our

[0:39] meetings web page and in the council agenda packet. This is a budget work

[0:44] session and we go directly to our agenda. And the first item on the agenda

[0:49] is the capital improvement plan review. And Jenny Rodia, our deputy city manager

[0:55] and CFO, is presenting. Jenny, the floor is yours. Thank you. Um, good evening,

[1:00] Madame Mayor and Council members. Tonight,

[1:05] we will uh be reviewing the capital improvement plan during this budget work

[1:09] session. Um, this is the proposed plan for 2027 through 2031.

[1:15] We'll start out with capital studies. In 2023, as we were preparing for the 2024

[1:21] budget, we realized there was additional information that really we needed to

[1:25] help um make short-term and long-term capital decisions. So, we identified six

[1:29] studies at that time um to really help in data-driven decision- making um and

[1:36] then we over the course of the last two years, we've we've um identified seven

[1:41] more. So for a total of 13, we've been working through those studies over the

[1:46] past couple of years and we anticipate completion of all of the studies in time

[1:51] for the 2028 budget. So certainly we have a majority of them completed at

[1:55] this time, but there will be a couple more um coming at the year end. So um

[2:00] all of those will be completed by the time we're um preparing for 2028's

[2:04] budget. They also include ongoing updates. So,

[2:09] as we're as we are um carrying these forward, we're updating those and

[2:14] managing that data in a way that we can keep them updated and keep utilizing

[2:18] them for future capital plans. The first group of the first group of

[2:23] six studies are on this slide. Um those were um finalized and discussed um from

[2:30] 2024 through 2025 with the fleet study being the the last one completed last

[2:36] December. The other seven that were identified um

[2:40] we're still working through with um two that you saw earlier this evening. The

[2:45] city-owned property study and the sidewalk trail study and then the parks

[2:49] camera and lighting study is planned for October and the street light study is

[2:53] planned for December.

[2:57] Our 2027 plan uh the financial management plan identified a 7.69

[3:03] year-over-year tax increase. that does um match the last and final year of the

[3:09] non-binding resolution from the 2023 budget. Um we are currently balancing

[3:15] the budget to that target. Certainly over that five years and and

[3:19] continue we we still have unpredictable condition conditions right now that are

[3:23] that are challenging that budget but we feel what we're presenting tonight is

[3:27] really responsible to support operations and future planning in including the for

[3:32] the capital funds

[3:37] in 2027 we are continuing to see inflationary pressures although in some

[3:42] areas they've flattened out we are definitely still seeing those especially

[3:47] um tonight in some of our capital funds as well as operations

[3:52] um increasing demand for services and uncertainty around federal and state

[3:56] grant grants and funding um [clears throat]

[3:59] that continues. Uh there there is also a proposed um OM

[4:04] uniform guidance revision that really does govern federal grants and

[4:08] administration and that is expected to be implemented later on this year and

[4:13] that's expected to have some significant changes for local governments in the way

[4:17] um federal grants are administered and used.

[4:21] » J what kind of services are we starting to see increased demand for? Um I think

[4:26] across our really across our public safety but as well as even you know in

[4:31] our other areas, parks, public works, right? There just really is um an

[4:36] increased an increased overall demand and that is definitely putting pressure

[4:41] in the capital on us on the capital areas as well as operations.

[4:44] » Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. I also see in the um [snorts] city

[4:50] manager's um weekly report that we're getting zero in

[4:57] LGA, >> correct?

[4:59] » In 27. >> Yep.

[5:01] » So, we're going to have to backfill on I think it vehicles vehicles were part of

[5:07] that. >> Yep. And we'll talk about that a little

[5:09] bit um as we talk about that fund. So we'll touch on that your realities and

[5:14] » um and this really we feel like this plan prioritizes and continues to

[5:18] prioritize um what we need for a sustainable future going forward last

[5:24] year. >> The overall capital plan for all capital

[5:28] purchases um this is a bar showing kind of the the planned investments in each

[5:34] year. Um total across all five years is about $217 million. that is about a 12%

[5:41] or 20 $23 million increase over last year. Um two of the funds um that have

[5:49] the majority of increases are the water and sewer fund with about 9.5 million

[5:53] and the ITF fund with about 9.5 million increased projects. And I'll talk a

[5:58] little bit more in depth about those plans um when we get to those funds. But

[6:02] um overall an increase um this doesn't include any police city hall budget.

[6:08] that budget was in 2025, but it does include an estimate in 2028 for um fire

[6:14] station 2.

[6:18] Um just as a matter of reminder, the levy um [clears throat] we have seven

[6:22] levy funded capital funds um their forestry infrastructure trust fund um

[6:29] improvement construction, street maintenance, parks renovation, equipment

[6:32] and vehicle and information technology. So those those capital funds are

[6:37] primarily funded and supported by the property tax levy.

[6:41] » Mayor, just one question. The difference between can you delineate the difference

[6:46] between the infrastructure trust and street maintenance fund?

[6:50] » Yeah. Yeah. So, the infrastructure trust fund is really used for um major street

[6:55] improvement projects where we're doing reconstruction, rehabilitation,

[7:00] um those kinds of, you know, we're replacing the road in essence,

[7:04] » significant overhauls. >> Yeah. The street maintenance is more for

[7:07] um right-of-way maintenance and that kind of routine year-over-year type of

[7:11] projects. >> Gotcha. Yeah. infrastructure goes for

[7:15] reconstruction, rehabilitation and

[7:20] reclamation. >> Yeah.

[7:21] » Like replacing assets where the maintenance is just

[7:25] » kind of annual upkeep. >> Yeah.

[7:27] » Yep. >> Street sweep sweep.

[7:31] » Um then these funds are special revenue and enterprise funds. So these funds

[7:35] also have um significant capital purchases with within them and they are

[7:42] funded really through other types of fees um whether that be charges for

[7:46] services, franchise fees or um utility fees.

[7:54] Um the first fund we'll talk about in depth is the parks renovation fund.

[7:59] this fund um is informed and [snorts] the investment um in the CIP is informed

[8:04] by the parks plan that was actually our first capital plan completed in 2024.

[8:10] Um we're really prioritizing the replacement of condition one and two

[8:15] items that were identified in that plan. Um with safety being a priority as well

[8:20] as when there are are nonrelevant amenities that are end of life, we'll

[8:24] remove those. Um there's been additional studies and there will continue to be a

[8:29] couple of additional studies that will continue to inform future projects in

[8:32] parks. In terms of our progress on condition

[8:37] one and two assets, we do maintain a parks asset management dashboard. That's

[8:41] a live database that reflects the status of park assets. Um condition

[8:46] description, um CIP, year planned, those kinds of things. It's a live database

[8:52] though that reflects the status of park assets at a point in time. So as um it

[8:58] includes both operational and capital items. So while it includes those that

[9:02] are in this capital plan, it also includes assets that would be replaced

[9:05] as part of operational maintenance um activities.

[9:09] The original plan in 2024 identified 293 condition one and two assets

[9:16] and about $7 million.

[9:21] And [snorts] as um as assets continue to deteriorate or are improved, those

[9:27] condition scores are updated. So it is kind of a constantly changing database.

[9:32] Project years are updated after the CIP is approved. So once we have a CIP, if

[9:37] we've um added any projects or switched or maybe we've shifted years, we make

[9:41] sure to update that once once the CIP is approved.

[9:48] The major projects in the parks renovation fund for 2027 are listed

[9:53] here. Um, Alamagnet East parking lot replacement is a condition one asset

[9:57] that is the largest um individual project that actually was um I believed

[10:03] moved forward or shifted forward a year because of its condition. So that is um

[10:09] is a majority or a big percentage of of the increases in or the projects I

[10:14] should say in 2027. Um, we have a few projects at Echo Park, a playground

[10:18] replacement, a tennis court replacement, a parking lot and trail. Those are both

[10:22] one and two condition assets. So that I forgot to say the number behind just

[10:26] indicates their condition score. So one and two assets are either poor or below

[10:31] average condition assets. >> Jenny Garrett Laban picnic shelters. Are

[10:37] these the ones in the park or the ones up around the athletic

[10:46] Um, Madame Mayor, these would be the uh ones

[10:50] that are more for uh the picnicking to the north, not by the athletic fields.

[10:56] » Yeah. So, they're down in in the park, not up at the athletic campus.

[11:01] » Yep. >> Okay.

[11:03] » Do we have do we have the uh money in the fund for this now? Is it in the

[11:08] parks fund now? So, that this is money that we have set.

[11:11] » Correct. This is in the capital improvement plan. That's what you want

[11:14] to make sure. >> Yep.

[11:18] » Madam Mayor, >> the Alamagnet East parking lot. Uh I

[11:23] think I know what it So the the west would be the first smaller one as you

[11:27] come into the park. The east one is is Are we talking about the entire length

[11:32] of where parking starts all the way to the north?

[11:36] » Is that that entire area is considered the east

[11:38] » by the dog park? >> Yeah.

[11:40] » That that parking strip by the dog park. [clears throat] Yeah. Starting at the

[11:44] dog park going all the way to the north. >> Gotcha.

[11:47] » Yeah, that's subual. >> Yeah,

[11:50] » that's a monster parking lot. >> That's why it's 1.2 million. [snorts]

[11:54] » It's in rough shape. >> Thank you.

[11:58] » Um, so as we put the financial plan, the five-year plan together for the budget,

[12:02] some key assumptions. Um, there was a 3% increase in the property tax levy in

[12:08] 2027. [clears throat] um for future years as we as we um developed developed

[12:14] the finance plan, we included 6% a 6% levy rising to 10% by 2031. That isn't

[12:22] overall. Keep in mind that's not overall. That's just within this fund.

[12:26] Um if we looked at five-year average annual expenditures, uh they're about

[12:32] $3.3 million, but our five-year average annual revenues were about 3.1. And that

[12:37] does include um this increase investment in the property tax levy. The average

[12:43] levy is about $1.3 million a year. So we have about $2 million a $2 million

[12:50] um difference. A majority of that currently is covered

[12:54] by landfill host community fees um that are expected to be about $1.7 million in

[13:00] 2027. Um as we look at that fee while that's

[13:04] is covering a majority that is covering a big portion of those parks investments

[13:08] we do know that host community agreement um is la is um estimated

[13:16] um will continue sorry we'll continue through landfill capacity and that was

[13:21] originally estimated in a to be approximately 10 years. So, as we think

[13:25] about this fund going forward, we wanted to start making some small increases in

[13:31] the property tax levy so that when host fees do decline, we'll have revenue to

[13:36] um make up that difference >> and that'll get to all of the one and

[13:41] twos that we need to get done. >> We will be prioritizing those certainly

[13:46] more. We have a large number of category 3 assets kind of those average assets

[13:52] » because that's coming up. So we know that that will continue

[13:55] » thinking about the one and twos. >> Correct.

[13:58] » Okay. >> So we know that will come be one and

[14:01] twos but we will continue that investment. So we wanted to make sure we

[14:04] were starting to think about you know the future levy once host fees do

[14:09] decline and that we're going to be in a place where where we don't have a big

[14:14] shortfall. [clears throat]

[14:18] Parks visioning. Um we have done um we have done parks visioning in phase one

[14:25] for 26 community and neighborhood parks. Um that really is a guide for existing

[14:30] maintenance and any future improvements. Certainly as parks are identified for

[14:35] improvement. It we would we would look to that as a guide and it includes base

[14:39] design concept as well as any visionary concepts like what what new things could

[14:44] we add? Um next steps in terms of the parks renovation fund as you mentioned

[14:50] madame mayor prioritize condition one and two assets and continue to do that

[14:54] in the future. Um we reviewed the sidewalks and trail study tonight and if

[15:00] there is a if um and once we have a trail plan that will help inform the

[15:07] future um as well as a parks vision building study and a vision study for

[15:13] remaining parks. So we are still planning to do a phase 2 vision study

[15:17] for the remaining parks in the system.

[15:22] Um [clears throat] this is just a graph of the the finance finance picture here

[15:27] of the parks renovation fund. As you can see we do have some significant

[15:32] expenditures in the near term. As um council member Gustoson me mentioned

[15:37] that park that parking lot in 2027 is quite large but we do have the funds on

[15:41] hand to manage that. um that blue line kind of that blue line running across is

[15:47] our target fund balance and the black line that you see kind of go down to the

[15:52] blue line and back up again is what we expect our ending fund balance to be. So

[15:56] with this plan we do anticipate that we do remain

[16:00] within our fund balance targets. >> I got a lot of questions tonight. Yeah,

[16:05] » this is actually for Garrett. I think um we've we talked about uh um inclusive

[16:13] type parks that like we have at Red Red Oak. Is this in these plans now for

[16:18] going forward that because I know we talked about zoning our putting in

[16:21] different zones of the city. Is that part of this plan?

[16:27] Um, I would say from the the parks renovation fund in general that the the

[16:33] type of cost associated with the playground that you're talking about

[16:36] would not come out of a park renovation fund. That that's more of a replacement

[16:40] asis kind of situation. Um, we will need to be once we get through all these

[16:46] studies and start to look at the future of our park system, we'll want to be

[16:50] looking into how do we start to accomplish some of those things like you

[16:55] just talked about. And um, as I've shared before, you can pretty much

[16:59] double the cost of a playground when you want to put in a port in place surface

[17:03] that makes it inclusive. Um, in addition, if you really want to double

[17:07] down on an inclusive type playground, those that equipment tends to be more

[17:10] expensive as well. So, um, there's there's a lot of factors that will go

[17:14] into >> add on then right now.

[17:15] » So, those Yes, that would be that would be more in the improvements area than it

[17:19] would be in the parks renovation area. >> Thank you.

[17:22] » Yep. >> Yeah. Currently in the parks renovation

[17:25] fund, it is really just replacing those one and two assets,

[17:30] » at least at this time. The parks investment fund, um, this is,

[17:36] uh, basically funded with parks dedication fees. We do have a couple of

[17:41] small projects in this fund. Um these are for any new fiber and security if

[17:47] those projects do come up in the current um in the next year as well as any other

[17:53] improvements that might come up that are new. Um those but those total a 100,000

[17:58] combined or a little less than $100,000 combined.

[18:02] » How much do we have in the parks investment fund? Oh, I see. It's you I

[18:07] just asked ahead of you. We'll get there. Who's there?

[18:10] » Yeah. Um, currently right now, as we we just mentioned, we're taking care of

[18:14] what we have first. Um, we do have budget carried forward for a pickle ball

[18:18] project that was um $1.1 million and was budgeted in 2025. We

[18:24] have carried that forward as we've gone through that that process and again um

[18:29] we'll be revisioning the remaining parks that we have. But the fund balance

[18:34] available for future projects is I think this is the same about the same as what

[18:38] we said last year about $5.9 million um in that fund.

[18:42] » We got to be real thoughtful about that. That all we have in the parks investment

[18:47] fund is 5.9 million. >> Yep.

[18:50] » Yeah. There isn't a Oh, go ahead. >> Go ahead. Finish your

[18:54] » um Dan G. >> I can wait.

[18:57] » Okay. >> Okay. I'm G.

[19:00] » Yeah. I'm sorry. >> I'm first. [laughter]

[19:01] » Yeah. W can

[19:04] » I'm looking at you and saying G >> uh

[19:10] » you said it's almost exactly the same amount as a year ago

[19:14] » very similar >> is there do we get investment results or

[19:18] do we apply our investment results by the fund where the

[19:22] » the source uh principle is is is sitting right so a year ago this 5.9 might have

[19:28] been 5.5 or six or seven >> it's possible there were some

[19:32] expenditures. I do think we had um a trail project that got completed. So

[19:36] there were some expenditures from the fund but generally speaking yes they

[19:40] have invest basically this fund has parks dedication fees and then

[19:43] investment revenues right >> um annually based on the fund balance.

[19:47] » One of those I suppose maybe the largest [clears throat] of recent time would

[19:51] have been waste management's contribution as a result of the landfill

[19:55] agreement that they I was it 2.9 million? Yeah, I think so about half is

[20:01] that about right? Is that half that fund is from that?

[20:03] » Yeah, I think yeah, I think it was about $2 million if

[20:06] » it was 1.9 something otherwise is

[20:11] » and it just gets into the investment fund because it covers all the parks

[20:15] » investments. Yeah. >> Um here is the where you see that top

[20:21] bar at the top. Um so you'll see that investment is slowly growing. Um we

[20:26] don't assume we only assume about $100,000 annually for parks dedication.

[20:31] We know that in some years we won't get any. Um we did get some this year. I

[20:36] think we got about 600,000. And so we don't want to um overestimate

[20:41] that because it's not really a sustainable source of revenue going into

[20:46] the future. Um and then that large bar, the gray bar is um that anticipated

[20:52] alagnet or not l magnet, excuse me, anticipated pickle ball project.

[20:58] » Okay. [clears throat] Those funds were there at

[21:01] » Yeah, they were there identified. >> They've been there for a long time

[21:05] » for a pickle ball project and we've carried those forward as we've gone

[21:08] through that process. [snorts]

[21:13] » Um the next fund is the equipment and vehicle fund. So, as we look at 2027's

[21:18] major project, it really is the replacement of um plow trucks,

[21:22] ambulances, squads, um a front-end loader replacement. So, that is about

[21:27] half of half of the capital budget for um 2027 in this fund.

[21:34] When when we have those um vehicle funds,000

[21:40] » and uh you're calculating, are you also putting in in that line item the

[21:46] upfitting of all those vehicles? Because oh my god, the upfitting is more

[21:52] expensive than the vehicle. >> That is correct, mayor. [clears throat]

[21:56] When we budget for the each of the vehicles is it's the total cost in. So,

[22:00] not only is it actually the chassis and the upfit, but also if there's a tax,

[22:03] title, and license as well. >> Okay.

[22:09] » Certainly in this fund, again, the demand for services does impact our

[22:14] vehicles as well as we're seeing just shorter replacement schedules with the

[22:17] amount of use that certain vehicles get. Um, continued inflationary pressures

[22:24] that has leveled off somewhat in this fund. And I think we've that we've done

[22:28] a good job of planning for all those costs in the last couple of years and

[22:32] getting that getting those budgets a little bit right more right

[22:35] [clears throat] sized. Um also continued long lead times. So if you look and

[22:41] you'll see this when we look at the financial picture 2026 includes carry

[22:45] forwards of $5 million in prior projects. So that really means prior

[22:49] budgeted um items, pieces of equipment, vehicles that in the most in most cases

[22:56] have been ordered. We just haven't received them yet. So we're

[22:59] [clears throat] we're holding a bit of cash right now. And once we once we get

[23:03] all those vehicles, that cash is spoken for, right, in previous budgets. But um

[23:08] that just kind of goes to [clears throat] speak to to those long

[23:10] lead times >> because we have two fire trucks on

[23:13] order. >> Yes. But we don't have to pay for them

[23:18] until they're delivered. >> Correct.

[23:20] » So everything is on. >> Yep. So we will you'll see a larger cash

[23:23] balance. >> And that's [snorts] and that's including

[23:28] the upfitting of all of the the fire trucks also.

[23:32] » Yep. The full cost. Yep. Again, the capital improvement plans in

[23:38] this fund are are informed by the fleet study as well.

[23:44] key assumptions. Um there's a 3% property tax levy in 2027.

[23:51] Uh this will be a this will be similar to the parks fund. We've in included a

[23:55] 6% levy >> [snorts]

[23:57] » um year-over-year. And this is just in this fund, not overall in the in the not

[24:02] the overall city levy really rising to 10% by 2031. Uh we did see no local

[24:08] government aid for 2027. So we're just we're assuming that is zero going

[24:12] forward. It has gone down from 426,000 in 2024 to 221,000 this year. So really

[24:20] over the past >> zero is zero.

[24:22] » Yeah. So that does reduce kind of the the revenues that we can anticipate in

[24:27] that fund. Really if you're looking at a comparison from 2025, it's about $2

[24:30] million. [snorts]

[24:34] » Creates pressure on this particular fund.

[24:36] » Yep. Um the five-year average of um annual expenditures is about $4.6

[24:42] million. And the 5-year annual average revenues is about 4.3. Again, we are

[24:47] slightly below um the expenditures. So, we are drawing a little bit down on fund

[24:52] balance. And the average levy is about $1.8 million. And that is with that

[24:57] increase to 10% over the five years. Currently, landfill host community fees

[25:03] are and equipment certificates are filling the gap in this fund. So, um,

[25:07] similar to the parks fund, that is a significant revenue for us right now at

[25:12] $1.77 million annually, but we also know that that is will sunset once the

[25:19] landfill is at capacity. So, we wanted to start planning for that and be in a

[25:24] place where um, you know, we're increasing those property tax revenues

[25:29] um, slowly over time so that that's not so that's not such a big um, jump we

[25:34] have to make. Um, we were able to reduce equipment certificates um, last year. I

[25:40] think we had about a little over $7 million planned. We were able to reduce

[25:44] those to about five. And we will continue to look for ways to reduce that

[25:48] debt because um, it just saves saves cost, saves interest, and then we could,

[25:54] you know, we'd rather use that to buy equipment than pay interest on equipment

[25:58] certificates. So, we'll continue to look at that as we as we go forward in future

[26:02] plans, but right now we have debt financing planned for 2026 and 2029.

[26:08] 2026 will depend on when we receive those vehicles. So, um it's it may not

[26:14] happen before the end of the year, but we would we don't want to issue before

[26:18] we receive the vehicles. Um debt will require debt levies in 2028 and beyond.

[26:24] One thing that helped is when we did reduce equipment certificates, we did

[26:28] have debt levy that wasn't needed in the debt fund and we were able to apply it

[26:32] here. And so we'd like to continue doing that and we'll continue to look for ways

[26:36] to do that going forward. >> Jenny, can you talk, excuse

[26:40] [clears throat] me, can you talk just a little bit about future strategy on

[26:44] equipment related debt and both how we've used it in the past and how we see

[26:49] appropriate use in the future [clears throat] for the fund? Yeah. Um

[26:54] we've used it most recently to purchase a firet truck in 2022

[27:01] » and um we have filled you know we have we have looked at um

[27:08] financing some larger equipment like firet trucks or maybe larger maybe

[27:13] ambulances and things like that. Some larger vehicles with a useful life

[27:17] that's longer. Certainly, we'd rather not issue if you issue debt, you really

[27:21] want to issue debt kind of the length at least have a useful life that's longer

[27:26] than the length of your debt. So, we definitely look at that um when we're

[27:30] looking at opportunities to finance some of these vehicles. And then just trying

[27:35] to trying to reduce that burden. And so, we kind of continue to to um make those

[27:41] adjustments year-over-year. And hopefully we'll get to a place where we

[27:45] can this plan can can adjust those equipment certificates out of this.

[27:52] » Okay, Dan, >> uh since you brought up fire trucks, I

[27:56] want a question for uh Chief Jungman who I want to compliment that the hair

[28:00] growth serum must apparently work. [laughter] Um are we anticipating the

[28:05] purchase of another fire truck of some sort large apparatus truck in the next

[28:11] five years? Ambulance would be the next >> one that's up. Uh fire engines and

[28:16] ladders have typically have their service life. I believe

[28:20] » I don't know off can't remember off the top of my head what the I think it's

[28:22] about 10 years service life for for engine it's more for a ladder truck but

[28:27] ambulances will be the lower of of the group.

[28:30] » When's the next because the fire trucks are well over a million now. When when

[28:35] do you anticipate the next ladder andor full-size apparatus truck to be needing

[28:41] to be required? Is it I suppose it might be in our capital long-term capital?

[28:45] » Yeah, it we have one program did for 2026 and it's on order. We just haven't

[28:50] » we're waiting for that one >> and then a 2029. So about every 3 years

[28:54] we purchase a larger um fire truck. >> How many total large apparatus trucks do

[28:59] we have? Non-ambbulance.

[29:04] That one I'm not going to know. I'm gonna have to

[29:05] » Yeah, I believe I'd have to look at the fleet map, but I believe we have three

[29:09] engines right now. And I think we have two ladder trucks, but I have to I have

[29:13] to double check the fleet map. >> Five

[29:15] of the big big rigs. >> Thank you.

[29:18] » And we have six ambulances. >> And I think we're due for replacement of

[29:24] one. >> Yeah,

[29:26] » we have an ambulance planned in every year of the capital plan basically. So,

[29:31] an ambulance a year and then about every three years for the fire trucks.

[29:36] » Just one followup. Is there a need for more ambulance as we scale up the staff?

[29:42] [cough] >> Will will we actually increase the fleet

[29:45] of of you know the circulating fleet by a unit or are we just in replacement

[29:51] mode for the near term? Um, I would have to bounce that off of Chief Jungle, but

[29:56] the data driven like how how many calls are running on is definitely going to

[30:00] dictate the amount of ambulance demand, right? And as that's trending

[30:05] upwards, so will the equipment that we need. So,

[30:09] » thank you, >> Madam Mayor, members of the council.

[30:11] We'll get you the specific answers on fire fleet, not to put Nate on the spot.

[30:15] Um, [snorts] uh, but also generally speaking, is as we've talked about the

[30:19] fire standard of cover and you look at our capital planning, we have planned

[30:23] for additional, uh, specific to the question, we have planned for additional

[30:27] ambulances as the operation scales and is of a scope to address the demand for

[30:33] calls for service. And that I would assume that's all in because we're good

[30:37] about comprehensive planning, right? >> It's incorporated into the design for

[30:42] fair station 2, for example, if that was going to take on another apparatus,

[30:46] another bay is needed or whatever. >> And it's all on her capital improvement

[30:50] plan for equipment and vehicles.

[30:54] » Madame Mayor, members of the council, that that is a one of the the hallmark

[30:58] and important design features of Fire Station 2. As a matter of fact, one of

[31:02] the reasons that the current site [snorts] just doesn't fit the the

[31:05] programmed needs as they've been defined uh both by the fire standard of cover

[31:10] and the other study that we do to inform what those needs might be is we we know

[31:15] that uh we essentially need the same type of apparatus bay configuration as

[31:21] fire station one in fire station 2, which is what's currently contemplated

[31:25] in the site fit, which then requires us to look for a different site, which is

[31:29] where the cross town east um parkland um recommendation came from.

[31:34] » Thank you. [snorts]

[31:38] » Here's the um financial uh picture or financial plan for um the equipment and

[31:43] vehicle fund. As you can see, um certainly some larger expenditures

[31:50] in 2026. That really is the budget plus the carry forward. So, we're at about $9

[31:56] million and um we're assuming we're spending all those carry forwards once

[32:00] those vehicles come in. Um they [clears throat] have most of them have

[32:03] been ordered. And then um the two larger blue bars are the

[32:09] areas where we have identified um potential [clears throat]

[32:12] equipment certificates being issued. But during um during the five years of this

[32:18] plan, we are keeping our fund balance above our target and really maintaining

[32:22] that fund balance going forward. And again, as we go forward,

[32:27] um this plan does include a small uh slowly increasing property tax levy to

[32:33] prepare for um a time when the hoof fees are are no longer available to us.

[32:40] » Madame Mayor, >> yes,

[32:41] » clarification of your your terminology. >> When a

[32:46] a certificate is issued for a new piece of equipment,

[32:49] » we're buying another one and we're going to issue debt to purchase it. Is that

[32:52] what the certificate >> refers to?

[32:54] » Yes, it's it's a bond um kind of quotation marks because it's equipment.

[32:59] They call them equipment certificates, but it basically is a shorter term um

[33:04] debt investment. >> Thank you.

[33:09] » Um the IT capital fund is next. Um major projects include a $2.8 $8 million ERP

[33:15] system that was um has been carried forward or has been rebudgeted from 2026

[33:21] to 2027 uh with the focus on implementing a budget system in 2026. We

[33:27] did shift the ERP system to 2027 that really includes finance HR as well as a

[33:34] utility um solution. And then we have some network equipment

[33:41] replacements as well as staff endpoint device replacements and some camera

[33:45] replacements at the maintenance facility.

[33:49] » I got to talk about the 2.8 because it's a big number. Uh how old is the system

[33:53] that we're currently using? Um have we long since depreciated that cost? And

[33:59] are we using an antiquated system and then or overdue for a major update?

[34:06] That's a big ticket. So, I think we need to explain to our viewing audience

[34:10] » what it all really entails and why we're spending 2.8 million on it.

[34:14] » Certainly, Council Member Keley, we are um on a system that we implemented in

[34:19] 2006. So, we've been on the system about 20 years.

[34:23] » Um the replacing telephones >> came in when I could go wrong at 20

[34:27] [laughter] years, right? >> Just just a year after I came here, too.

[34:31] Um, and it the uh software provider has notified us that they are no longer

[34:38] making improvements to the software. And while it currently works for us,

[34:42] certainly new software um will provide features that we don't currently have as

[34:47] well as just being a little more user friendly for we we certainly expect um a

[34:53] lot of a lot of people are in our system every day. um departments are entering

[34:57] invoices and purchase orders and things like that and so a new software will

[35:02] certainly probably be a more modern and updated platform as well. So it just you

[35:07] know it's time and we definitely want to um want to make that change before this

[35:13] this platform doesn't work for us anymore.

[35:16] » Yeah. >> Sounds like Windows we're no longer

[35:19] supporting Windows 10. You got to get on 11.

[35:22] » Yeah. Yeah, Madam Mayor, members of the council, this is a project that has

[35:26] moved several years out. So, we've talked about this for a few years, as

[35:29] you recall. Um, it is um reflective of one of the single most important

[35:36] projects that we will undertake uh over the course of this planning window. Uh,

[35:40] a very good example of a first step is this year we implemented the finance

[35:46] team implemented a new budget system. Uh, Adam is our budget manager has been

[35:50] helping uh the team through that. So everything you see tonight is completely

[35:54] informed by different technology. Um this project will expand that and help

[36:00] create the foundation by which once we really have the basics down right will

[36:06] give us the opportunity to to look at new opportunities to connect with the

[36:10] community, increase transparency, um improve connectedness across the

[36:15] community, uh look at how we we make and shape priorities from a budgeting

[36:20] perspective. So it really gives us the the foundation to move into the future

[36:24] at a at a faster more effective pace. So important work and a to your point,

[36:30] council member Keely, a significant investment in the current IT capital

[36:34] fund. >> But but I I always just want to touch on

[36:38] your point about sort of getting up to modern. I mean legacy systems are are

[36:44] great [snorts] because they become very stable over time. It's also a very

[36:48] expensive process internally from a training, you know, the conversion

[36:52] process to a system that large has a price to pay with, [clears throat] you

[36:56] know, stress and time and training and a lot of other things.

[36:59] » Um, is that all baked into that 2.8 or is that the

[37:04] » we've >> software hardware acquisition cost? Um

[37:08] we've pl we've planned for a consultant to help us um with our selection process

[37:12] as well as we have plans for a consultant that could help us with

[37:17] implementation as well. So certainly we are thinking about those other costs and

[37:21] the and just the amount of work um even as we plan for staffing resources,

[37:27] right? We're thinking about that as well in terms of [clears throat] making sure

[37:30] we have enough staff. staff are going to have to continue to do the work that

[37:34] they're already doing as well as implement a new system. So, we we

[37:38] definitely are um trying to plan that out and make

[37:42] sure we're providing enough resources as we go through that.

[37:45] » Good. I'm sure the there's there's a lot of new especially even now software is

[37:52] evolving at a very fast pace, but there's a lot of new tools. So, I think

[37:56] it'll be a great project and a process for the city staff to go through and and

[38:00] I I'm really glad that uh city manager Lindberg hit on the benefits of this

[38:05] type of thing can go beyond this building, right? Can how we connect and

[38:08] how we operate transparently to the public accessibility to things. Um

[38:13] that's that'll take us light years ahead of where we've been.

[38:17] » Yeah, >> it's the right time to do it too when

[38:19] we're doing the expansion of both >> Yes. city hall and police and all all of

[38:25] that. So, >> a bigger, better, more transparent city

[38:28] of >> Yeah. When you think about it in that

[38:30] totality. >> Yeah.

[38:32] » Yeah. >> It's this is a that's not only a big

[38:35] price, that is a massive undertaking as a project,

[38:38] » it is. >> Yep. It will be. And we want to make

[38:40] sure we do it right >> the first time, right? And so, um, we're

[38:45] being very thoughtful in planning that. Um, one of

[38:49] the things with with the budget system, [laughter] our ERP system served as our

[38:53] operating budget um, platform in the past and so we thought, hey, let's get

[38:59] our budget system up and working and make sure that's in place before we

[39:03] before we replace an ERP system because most likely most ERP systems these days

[39:09] don't have their own budgeting module. So, we wanted to make sure um really the

[39:13] biggest project that that we have in a year is um is taken care of first.

[39:20] So, >> mayor and council, I I think that's

[39:23] another really great example of staff thinking about not just effectiveness,

[39:28] but efficiencies in our operation. um the the decision to to approach the

[39:33] budget system first is going to set a foundation for us to make not not just

[39:38] more effective decisions but more efficient decisions down the road when

[39:42] it comes to the technology that we're using and integrating uh at the core of

[39:46] our operations. So, uh, Jenny and Alyssa and Adam and the finance team alongside

[39:53] the IT team, uh, deserve a lot of credit for thinking differently, uh, and and

[39:57] not just going to market to spend $2.8 million on a, uh, on a system or a

[40:03] system project, but rather really thinking about what are the operational

[40:06] needs, how can we do it most effectively and most efficiently, not just for our

[40:10] operation, but for the community uh, in terms of deliverables, outcomes,

[40:14] results, and how much it costs. >> Yeah. And I also reading [clears throat]

[40:18] in all of the information that you share with us, um the updates to the website

[40:25] allows the budget to be in a way that is very

[40:31] efficiently uh put out and then very readable by the

[40:36] general public. >> Yep. And we're looking to make

[40:40] additional advancements in that area as well. So um certainly that's exciting

[40:45] » and that's addresses our transparency as well. So that's really great. Yeah.

[40:52] » Um some key assumptions. This fund has historically been a challenged fund in

[40:57] terms of um overall fund balance. Um there was a 12% levy increase

[41:02] year-over-year in this fund. Um we increased um the the last four years

[41:08] 30%. Now that's 30% of what was going into the ITF fund. So then that's about

[41:14] um you know 150 to 250,000 a year. Um but really you'll see when we look at

[41:20] the finance plan that we did need to to make an adjustment there. Our annual

[41:25] average expenditures are about $1.8 million and revenues are about 1.4 and

[41:31] our levy was about $1.1 million over the five years on average. is the telephone

[41:37] system that we're replacing. That's on the 26 budget, not on the 27.

[41:43] [clears throat] >> Madame Mayor and council members, that's

[41:45] a project that's actually moving forward currently that was approved in the 2026

[41:48] budget. >> That's what I was thinking.

[41:50] » Yep. And it's a it's a hosted platform. So, it's the first phone platform that

[41:54] we'll be using that's cloud-based. >> Yeah.

[41:56] » Um and we'll see a reduced amount of capital um replacement costs going

[42:01] forward as a result of that. Yeah, that's good because I thought it was

[42:05] we're looking at 27. That replacement was in the 26 budget

[42:11] » and and you'll notice a dramatic increase in features.

[42:15] » Absolutely. >> It's a big jump.

[42:18] » Does that come with uh additional exposures to outside bad guys when we're

[42:23] going to a more cloud-based system? >> The cloud-based platform that we're

[42:27] actually moving forward with is a government-only cloud-based platform. as

[42:30] part of our M Microsoft ecosystem through their government-only cloud

[42:35] services. So there's an added layer of protection as a result of that, but

[42:38] we'll treat it like any new systems and we'll continue to apply our several

[42:42] multi-layered security to that platform too. um a lot of new functions and

[42:47] features are are available as a result and there may be some new risks as

[42:51] associated with that. But um we're taking that into consideration as we

[42:56] move that project forward and it'll just become another asset that we maintain

[43:01] like we do most of our IT assets today. >> I was glad we weren't on Iran's hit list

[43:06] with [clears throat] the water treatment facilities. Yeah,

[43:10] » even if they were, they wouldn't have gotten through.

[43:12] » And because I know that we have, >> I think was 911 that we started

[43:18] hardening the the um water system plant and you keep on top of that and so we

[43:27] harden the uh security of that water delivery system. Well, madam members of

[43:34] the council, certainly one of the investments that we've asked the

[43:37] community and that you've asked the community to make uh through the ITF and

[43:41] other funds I is a significant investment in cyber security. We take uh

[43:46] the protection of the public's data and our infrastructure seriously. Uh Tom and

[43:50] his team have done quite a bit of work in this space over the course of the

[43:53] past couple of years. Maybe just by way of education for the community and the

[43:56] council, Tom, can you just talk a bit about what we've studied and what we've

[44:00] planned for and the current state of cyber security?

[44:04] » Um, we went through a a security assessment in 2025, early 2025 as a a

[44:10] follow-up to previous [clears throat] assessments that we've done um over the

[44:13] year last few years. Um this one really identified um gaps which we anticipate

[44:19] with any assessment that we do and areas of focus that uh we want to bring

[44:23] forward um that align with our capital improvements plan and our operating

[44:27] expenses. Um and that really what we're doing today and what we're asking for in

[44:31] the budget going forward is a reflection of that most recent assessment from

[44:35] 2025. Um in addition, we're moving forward with additional managed

[44:39] services. We recognize that we don't have the staffing resources to stay on

[44:44] top of some of the newest risks and um items out there that are um malicious

[44:50] and are constantly attacking. Um and as a result of that, you'll also see going

[44:56] forward in our budget requests um additional operating expense increases

[45:00] for uh additional security as a service um services um primarily through Lois,

[45:07] but we're also using additional third parties. We don't um put all of our eggs

[45:11] in one basket. We have a as I mentioned earlier multi-layered approach that

[45:15] really is the essence of a good security plan is making sure that uh you you you

[45:20] have several layers um and resources available as incidents [clears throat]

[45:25] do occur and they will occur. Um our goal is to minimize the risk and

[45:29] minimize the the occurrence of those incidents that occur. I remember the

[45:34] consultant coming in to present the study and [snorts]

[45:38] um the conclusions and what we need to do.

[45:42] » So that was a good report. >> We anticipate um going through similar

[45:49] assessments in the future with third parties. We also have the ability to do

[45:52] self assessments. We have tools in place today that we can ask ourselves how

[45:56] we're doing, score ourselves, and create metrics that help us continuously

[46:00] [cough] improve our posture. >> Um, it's probably one of the most um

[46:06] increasing areas of >> um time and effort from a labor

[46:12] standpoint in our group right now. And that'll continue and that but that's

[46:16] also why we're we're trying to address that through thirdparty services that

[46:19] can help us stay on top of everything. And I'm really grateful for the work

[46:24] that all of you do, especially with what happened to St. Paul and how quickly you

[46:28] made sure that ours was all hardened and secured.

[46:34] » How do how does a I don't want to get too far off track here, but how does a

[46:39] city like Plymouth, how do how do I mean, I would imagine they have similar

[46:43] resources to us um find themselves in a situation like

[46:48] that. There's a lot of variables of course

[46:51] between the different services that the cities provide. My understanding is um

[46:57] they may not have the same involvement from their IT group in some of their

[47:02] » services that they they they run. Um and it's just different set of

[47:07] circumstances. I can't speak in detail what occurred at Plymouth, but um in

[47:12] general, it just depends on who is leading the effort to secure systems and

[47:18] platforms and how well that group may or may not be doing.

[47:22] » Um we are involved in our water utility platform and have been since 2009 when

[47:28] we built out that fiber optic infrastructure.

[47:31] » Yeah. Um, and we continue to leverage that infrastructure along with the tools

[47:36] that we've been able to bring forward over the years um to stay involved in

[47:40] the security of our water utilities specifically, but we're also very

[47:44] involved in a lot of the services across the organization um that touch the

[47:48] city's network essentially. Um, and there may not be that same level of

[47:53] involvement in other organizations. Well, it makes me feel better about

[47:59] spending almost $3 million on a system knowing that [laughter]

[48:03] » I would much rather security >> than

[48:08] » being sorry with what happened in St. Paul and how many

[48:11] » weeks that it took for them to even get back up to Yeah. And it wasn't I think

[48:16] it got two months. [clears throat] >> Yeah.

[48:19] » Jenny, back to you. >> All right. Well, I think Tom took care

[48:23] of my last bullet point there. [laughter]

[48:27] Um this is the fund. Um you do see that we do um this fund is more challenged

[48:34] than our other funds at the moment. But with that additional investment, we do

[48:39] get back to our targeted fund balance by 2031.

[48:43] » Certainly cash flow is going to depend that we have that entire large project

[48:48] in 2027. We anticipate that's probably not going to all happen in 2027. It's

[48:52] going to happen over a period of a year or two, maybe maybe a little into 2029.

[48:58] So, we may not see that fund balance dip as low as we're predicting. And we'll

[49:02] keep an eye on that. >> We have a plan to meet,

[49:04] » but we have a plan. >> Okay, good.

[49:06] » So, >> because I look at that and

[49:09] » and this fund it really, you know, we've been we've been ramping up those levies.

[49:14] we just um added a little more in those last four years to really get us to that

[49:19] to get us to that target by the end of the 5-year plan.

[49:22] » Okay. >> So, the challenge would be in 27 where

[49:26] it's onetime spending. >> Okay.

[49:28] » Onetime spending. And then we'll look at that. We'll want to make sure we what

[49:32] we'd like to do is match that levy to our, you know, match our levy to our

[49:36] average expenditure so that we're generally keeping pace with the costs.

[49:41] And historically in this fund, we haven't we haven't really gotten there

[49:45] yet.

[49:50] Um the next fund is the infrastructure trust fund. Uh major projects really are

[49:54] quite simple here. Is really um the spending in this fund is really all

[49:58] going to street improvements of about $4 million planned for 2027.

[50:04] This fund overall um the capital the five-year capital plan increased about

[50:08] 36% in this fund or about nine and a half million dollars that really is

[50:14] subsequent or following the um infrastructure trust funding trust fund

[50:19] study and um the investment in um that five-year strategy to get our levy up to

[50:30] um up to what we need to to maintain our pavement conditions.

[50:34] Certainly, the levy was funded or the levy was informed by the study. 2027 did

[50:41] not change. That includes a 3% increase year-over-year in that fund. And then an

[50:46] average of 15% increases from 2027 through 2032.

[50:52] Um, municipal state aid is also received in this project as there are some MSA

[50:56] funded projects um that run through the ITF. We do have

[51:01] an al we've maintained that allocation assumption at a level amount of $2.8

[51:06] million a year. That's our 20 that matches our 2026 allocation. Um

[51:13] MSA though is not received or recognized until we have projects um that are MSA

[51:19] eligible.

[51:22] We also received a we also receive a a small amount of transportation and

[51:27] advancement aid. We expect about 109,000 in 2027.

[51:33] Uh that program started in 2024. We received 23,000.

[51:38] I think 72,000 and about 90,000 is expected this year. We don't have any

[51:44] plans for additional debt in this fund. And this capital planning um here and

[51:50] the projects are informed by the pavement management plan, our traffic

[51:53] signal study, and our horizontal infrastructure study.

[51:59] Um key assumptions here that 2027 through 2031 capital improvement plan

[52:04] includes an annual average increase of $2 million in project expenditures and

[52:10] that really aligns with the ITF study recommendations and funding strategy.

[52:16] So with those assumptions um we do have we do have this finance plan. You can

[52:22] see we are a little bit below what our target fund balance is. the um ITF study

[52:27] did recommend um an increase in that kind of targeted fund balance or that

[52:33] reserve in that fund. Um this this reserve is set at a certain percentage

[52:38] of annual expenditures. So right now um we're we're um

[52:45] recommending about $2.5 million in um in a target fund balance in this

[52:50] fund. And with this plan, we're a little bit below it, but you can see in 2031,

[52:54] we do get to the target. Um, we did do an additional uh bit of

[53:01] work here on a on a on an option that does include um land sale proceeds. Um

[53:08] current recently the city um closed on a couple of land sales surplus land sales

[53:14] and there is um 2.1 million available in surplus land sale revenue in 2026. Um

[53:22] staff is recommending um depositing that in the infrastructure

[53:28] trust fund that would help alleviate the increase in the property tax levy over

[53:34] the five years of this plan. So 3% remains the same in 2027 with 12%

[53:41] increases in actually that should say 28 through 31 instead of 15% increases. So

[53:46] it does reduce the property tax burden a little bit over the 5-year window about

[53:52] 0.25% on the total levy.

[53:56] It also would ensure reserves stay above the targeted fund balance. So, um

[54:01] certainly would um like the council's um feedback

[54:06] on that and direction. Um but with that, this is what the difference in the um

[54:13] two levies look like. It is a little bit different amount in each year, but

[54:17] again, that's about 0.25% on the total levy across the five years of the plan.

[54:25] and that that finance plan would look a little bit different with that um ending

[54:30] fund balance being a little bit higher and then revenues are a little bit

[54:35] lower. Um it just we don't have to raise revenues quite as quickly over that

[54:39] 5-year window. So that is an option and um wanted to show it both ways so you

[54:44] had that had that perspective.

[54:50] » Madame Mayor. >> Yeah. I just when we reviewed that shift

[54:54] of land sale funds, I thought that was also driven by a need for increasing the

[55:00] miles of road to be repaired. So, it was going to get spent, which would still

[55:05] leave the fund back down, per se, unless we were layering it on top of the

[55:11] existing spend. I like the plan. I'm just wondering is it is it about getting

[55:16] the balance up or is it about funding it greater so we can get more roads

[55:21] repaired? >> Well, the way it's um structured right

[55:25] now and it could be structured differently. You could do it on top of

[55:28] if you wanted to do if we wanted to do more roads sooner. It really was to ease

[55:33] that property tax burden of that kind of having to really amp up that that levy.

[55:40] So, was the plan with the levy pre that decision

[55:44] » uh accommodating more road repairs? >> They're accommodating the same amount

[55:50] scaling up or >> same amount between amount, right?

[55:53] That's what I thought. But then I, you know, when when we looked at that

[55:55] pavement index and the road condition and all that, it seemed like it needed a

[55:59] shot in the arm to to actually net increase how many call it miles of road

[56:05] each year we were repairing. >> Yeah. Yeah, council member Keely, it

[56:10] really is the two options are the same amount of roads. It really is just

[56:15] helping to get those reserves up earlier and

[56:18] » easing that easing that levy increase a little bit.

[56:22] » Yeah. >> In that four four to five year plan

[56:25] » and and it directly um benefits our taxpayers.

[56:30] » It does, which I I mean there's there's a lot of great benefit there. was just

[56:34] trying to get back, you know, to the source, you know, how much Mark needs to

[56:40] keep up with the deterioration of the roads, which means there would indicate

[56:45] a net increase in roads miles repaired or feet, however you measure it, each

[56:50] year, right? To start to catch up with >> correct

[56:53] » the level of erosion of our roads conditions, right? Road conditions. the

[56:57] first version of the plan um was based on direction after the May ITF study. So

[57:04] it did give them that recommended bump up.

[57:08] » And then in this version, it just allows us to do the same thing but just not

[57:12] » Okay. So there is a net bump built into it, right?

[57:15] » Yeah. Yep. >> Correct. So,

[57:17] » madame mayor, members of the council, really the the staff recommendation here

[57:21] uh is reflective of this of the council's May 2026 direction, council

[57:27] member Keely that you were referencing uh which is which is all about investing

[57:32] further resources into uh maintaining our streets, right? Maintaining that

[57:38] core critical infrastructure. Uh so the study itself found that uh we current we

[57:43] currently or at the time had invested around $3.1 million um um annually um

[57:50] compared to an estimated $6 million need. So that the May direction um uh

[57:56] helped to fill that gap. Then uh that otherwise without without increased

[58:03] investment that happened in May would have resulted in about 11 additional

[58:07] miles if memory serves >> um uh today would have gone to 40 miles

[58:15] in >> Yeah.

[58:16] » 10 years. >> Yeah.

[58:17] » Yeah. I think that was >> in that neighborhood.

[58:20] » That's what I remember. So, so that May direction does address more streets. The

[58:24] options more street reconstruction and caring for more street miles and

[58:29] maintaining that pavement condition index that that we identified through

[58:33] the pavement management plan. >> The options in front of you today, both

[58:37] the first and the second option, uh that second option really really does two

[58:41] things. It reduces the cost to taxpayers >> uh by about an average annual average

[58:49] impact of a quarter of a percent on the levy on the total levy a year

[58:54] » um uh and repositions the fund balance to meet the policy that the council

[59:00] adopted in May >> without levying additional to get there

[59:05] » and the same amount of streets in each. So it is it's it has that bump of

[59:11] increase that we made decision. This just helps helps buffer the cost of it.

[59:16] » It just buffers that impact in those initial years

[59:19] » and based on Travis's presentation at our previous meeting, maybe there's some

[59:22] opportunity to buffer it even further if we can

[59:25] » identify some properties. >> Yeah, DG

[59:27] » more properties. Um, [clears throat] I I do like this plan, but I'm struck by the

[59:33] fact this is spread out over five years at a 2.52%

[59:38] decrease in the levy, which is does save our taxpayers some money. But just going

[59:43] through this presentation tonight and listening to our equipment fund or

[59:48] possibly some things in the parks or our our um technology that we have to do

[59:53] which is a big one-time spend for us next year which would give us an

[59:58] immediate impact of the overall I mean I there I think every one of them has a

[1:00:04] need and I and I'm trying to weigh out what's going to get us the best impact

[1:00:09] for it and over a fiveyear period of time I'm not sure we save the taxpayers

[1:00:12] that much money per year as we would if we were to take something

[1:00:18] like this and go into our technology and suddenly we got 2.1 million to go into

[1:00:22] there to make some of that stuff happen. So we're not levying for that whole

[1:00:25] thing in one year as opposed over a 5year period of time. And I and I look

[1:00:29] at the same thing with our equipment fund as well is we're doing it in one

[1:00:34] year instead of over a fiveyear period of time again. And so we get an

[1:00:37] immediate impact for and I'm trying to keep my mind in one time spending mode

[1:00:41] versus what's going to impact us most for a one-time spend

[1:00:45] » as opposed to just peacemealing over a 5year period of time.

[1:00:49] Um, Council Member Guffson, as we look at this, um, we were thinking about it

[1:00:55] kind of in with that one-time funding lens and really, um, trying to figure

[1:01:01] out what makes sense, what where could it make a difference? And part of the

[1:01:06] doing it, part of the spreading it over five years is to really avoid any large

[1:01:11] um dips and large increases, right? So we could certainly use it all in one

[1:01:16] year but that also has an impact of then the the increase in the levy has to be

[1:01:21] larger in the next year. So really trying to smooth it out over year over a

[1:01:26] number of years and as we looked at parks and equipment and vehicle that was

[1:01:30] also why instead of maybe taking one big increase um since we have some time and

[1:01:36] a little bit of runway in terms of you know when when we're going to have more

[1:01:42] challenges with our funding. wanted to start that now and maybe build it

[1:01:47] » rather than having um just kind of rise and fall, rise and

[1:01:53] fall. Right. >> Okay. So, that's kind of what we kept in

[1:01:56] mind. >> Just so you know, I'm good I'm good with

[1:01:58] every one of you, including the infrastructure, but I just want to make

[1:02:00] sure that when we make this decision to spend this kind of money, we're what's

[1:02:04] going to get us our best impact immediately. And you know, and I and

[1:02:09] quite frankly, I have very very much big concerns about what's happening at the

[1:02:14] county right now. Uh because I don't know how that's going to impact us uh

[1:02:19] from everything I've been reading and hearing about things may get rolled down

[1:02:23] to us where we're going to start paying picking up a lot more of the tab for

[1:02:26] things that happen in this city that the county has been part of for us for the

[1:02:29] time. And we got to be prepared for that. Yeah.

[1:02:32] » And and I understand what you're what you're concerned about, but one of the

[1:02:37] things that I have great confidence in is how we do capital improvement

[1:02:43] planning and the things that our staff have done and and the information that

[1:02:49] we have because ultimately

[1:02:53] it I what we're doing here is following through with the things that we said

[1:02:59] that we would do and how the capital improvement plan and the financial

[1:03:03] management plan has guided us to get us to where we are. So, I have

[1:03:10] great confidence and trust in the work that we're doing.

[1:03:15] » You know, but it's good for us to understand what's happening at the

[1:03:19] county, but we have no control over it. >> We don't, but we can at least prepare

[1:03:23] ourselves for if the worst case happens. >> And I think we

[1:03:27] » and that's >> we understand that and it will get

[1:03:30] there. But I I want to make sure that we stay on track with the plans that we

[1:03:36] have done and directed staff to do and um I have great confidence in the work

[1:03:42] that has been done. >> I have confidence in our staff.

[1:03:45] » Yeah. Yeah. Good. >> Y and um the next budget work session

[1:03:52] we'll talk more about those overall >> Yeah.

[1:03:54] » levy impacts, right? So we'll kind of roll everything together and you'll

[1:03:58] » I think I'd like to hear more on that. >> Yep. So, we'll talk um all of these

[1:04:01] changes will be rolled up and then as well as operating funds and we'll see

[1:04:05] that total impact to the levy. But um this also allows us to have some some

[1:04:11] fund balance to respond if there are streets or changes that um need to be

[1:04:17] made. So, this also keeps a little bit more of a reserve in this ITF fund over

[1:04:21] the five years. [snorts] >> Okay.

[1:04:25] » Okay. Um the next fund is improvement

[1:04:29] construction. This fund is related to the ITF fund but really this is our

[1:04:32] centralized street construction fund. It really is a zero balance fund. All those

[1:04:37] street improvement projects run through there and then are funded through um

[1:04:42] either the ITF or um various utility funds. So there is

[1:04:46] a generally a zero balance in this fund. Um what does stay in here or the

[1:04:51] activity that does kind of live in this fund are the special assessment

[1:04:55] components of the revenue and expenditures as well as any state and

[1:04:58] federal grants for street projects. Currently we do not have grants planned

[1:05:03] or um built into the CIP but if there are any identified those will be added

[1:05:09] to future CIPs if that happens. So this is a little bit this isn't very

[1:05:16] exciting but basically [laughter] revenue in equals uh revenue in equals

[1:05:20] expenditures out. So in this fund um the street maintenance fund this uh

[1:05:27] fund is really for kind of routine maintenance preventative roadway

[1:05:30] maintenance um and so the m and pavement markings and rightway maintenance. So

[1:05:35] expenditures in this fund are about $900,000 or actually 700 $7800,000

[1:05:42] annually. Um key assumptions here the funding for

[1:05:48] this work is um accomplished through transfers from the general fund as well

[1:05:54] as transfers uh from the water and sewer storm water funds for to help fund that

[1:06:00] street and their components of the street.

[1:06:04] This fund is generally in a pretty stable situation. Revenues and

[1:06:08] expenditures are generally balanced in this fund. Um certainly we do have about

[1:06:13] $1.4 million um in fund balance. It is well over the

[1:06:17] required reserve but um generally we are budgeting this in a way that is um

[1:06:24] generally not building up a large fund balance over time but just maintaining

[1:06:28] what we have. [snorts]

[1:06:32] the facilities fund. Um so in this fund we have major facility projects ongoing.

[1:06:37] Police city hall is one of those. Um the May 25th May 2025 groundbreaking

[1:06:44] um happened with plan completion in 2028. Uh the bidday cost budget of that

[1:06:50] uh this facility is $98 million. Capital improvement bonds of 68.6 million were

[1:06:56] issued in May of 2025. We anticipate the second trunch of bonds being issued

[1:07:02] before the end of the year. So, um remaining bonds we could issue up to

[1:07:07] $31.4 million, but we're working with our financial advisor um on kind of

[1:07:12] narrowing down what that issue amount might be as well as um kind of what the

[1:07:17] status of the project is.

[1:07:22] Fire station 2 that is also a large project that is included in the budget

[1:07:26] in this fund. Um, architect and engineering design service contracts

[1:07:31] were approved in July. Those total about $ 1.5 million. The CIP estimate of $35

[1:07:37] million was included for 2028.

[1:07:43] Schematic design estimates are expected by early 2027. So, we'll have some

[1:07:47] updated cost numbers. At that time, we'll come back to the council to

[1:07:51] discuss any additional financing and franchise fee implications.

[1:07:56] um and those will be planned early probably um early next year.

[1:08:05] In addition to large facility projects, we have repair and maintenance across

[1:08:08] all facilities included in this fund. A little over $3 million was proposed for

[1:08:13] 2027. Um those investments are largely

[1:08:17] informed by the municipal facilities inventory.

[1:08:21] Uh, one project that isn't included yet, um, but we're working on, we do have a

[1:08:25] public safety memorial project that hasn't yet been included in the pro post

[1:08:30] CIP. We don't really have, um, good cost numbers, but once schematic design is in

[1:08:36] is completed, we'll incorporate that into the CIP as well. And that would be

[1:08:42] something um on this site kind of in conjunction with the facilities uh, the

[1:08:47] police and city hall project. Madame Mayor, members of the council,

[1:08:50] you you'll recall that uh throughout um uh responding to and um throughout

[1:09:00] responding to the tragedy of February 18th, uh we've prioritized

[1:09:06] uh taking care of our fallen families, taking care of our police and fire

[1:09:09] departments. Um uh this is uh a project that very much is is reflective of that

[1:09:15] commitment. Um uh so we're making some progress on a permanent public me

[1:09:20] memorial and we also recognize that it's very important to take our time to get

[1:09:24] it right. Uh so rather than uh suggest in this fund a placeholder for the

[1:09:31] project, we didn't find that to be appropriate. Rather, we'll come back to

[1:09:34] you um and discuss the cost of the project. We do expect this to be a 2027

[1:09:40] project. Uh and uh we also do expect there to be some efficiencies and some

[1:09:47] effectiveness found in constructing it as part of the police city hall project

[1:09:52] uh with the sighting decision. So more to come this year.

[1:09:55] » Okay. Now and and that's this is separate from the bridge correct

[1:09:59] memorial >> and we don't have those numbers. Madame

[1:10:04] Mayor, members of the council, there is included in in the CIP uh planned

[1:10:09] numbers for a a bridge lighting project. Uh the Burnsville Parkway bridge over um

[1:10:15] uh 35W um was recognized by the state as is the heroes memorial bridge for Paul

[1:10:22] Matt and Adam. >> Uh this is a separate project from that.

[1:10:26] Uh there is a a city-f funded lighting project that we plan to bring back to

[1:10:31] you uh even as early as the next couple of weeks uh to to talk more about um uh

[1:10:38] the anticipated cost and funding strategy for that project. But there is

[1:10:43] currently capital funds that are planned uh for for that project.

[1:10:48] » Okay. >> I just want people to understand these

[1:10:51] are two different projects. There's the memorial bridge

[1:10:55] » uh and then the heroes bridge and then this is one that's going to be here on

[1:10:59] campus. >> Correct. We're this item is a permanent

[1:11:03] public safety memorial uh that will be on this site or planned tenatively to be

[1:11:09] on this site uh that we would bring back to you both from a from a funding a

[1:11:14] project perspective sometime later this year.

[1:11:17] » Okay. But we'll see the bridge lighting project with what that's going to look

[1:11:23] like coming [snorts] in about what two months you say.

[1:11:26] » Uh madame mayor, members of the council, I have a meeting with our team tomorrow

[1:11:30] morning to talk more about the bridge lighting project and I'll have more

[1:11:33] information then and we'll share uh more with you. Uh again, uh we we absolutely

[1:11:39] are taking our time on these projects. Uh we want to make sure that we get it

[1:11:42] right. uh we want to make sure that we're caring for our fallen families and

[1:11:45] and putting those commitments and priorities first. So, uh that's been the

[1:11:49] that's been the approach. But yes, I I expect that to come back or expect,

[1:11:53] excuse me, the uh Heroes Memorial Bridge lighting project to come back uh for

[1:11:59] city council discussion and direction likely before uh we talk about the

[1:12:06] permanent public safety memorial project that that Jenny has on slide here.

[1:12:10] » Okay.

[1:12:14] major 2027 projects. Um outside of those major facility projects, um we do have

[1:12:20] Ames Center theater seating scheduled. Um Ames Center upper and lower lower

[1:12:24] lobby ceilings, so about a million $1.4 million for those

[1:12:30] projects. HOC ramp traffic membrane, so that's about $475,000

[1:12:37] as well as ice center main electrical switchboard and transformer. So, some

[1:12:40] some pretty large projects in across a number of facilities.

[1:12:45] Some key assumptions here. Utility franchise fees um fund the majority of

[1:12:51] of the expenditures in this fund in 2027. We estimate those at about 11.3

[1:12:56] million. Included [snorts] in the activity in

[1:13:00] this fund are also annual facilities debt service, which is currently about

[1:13:03] $7.5 million of that 11 um 11.3 million. And again, this does address facility

[1:13:11] needs across the city, really throughout all all city facilities. Um the only

[1:13:16] exceptions to that would be the utility um sites and those are funded through

[1:13:21] the respective utility funds. Um here is the the plan for the

[1:13:27] facilities fund. um that we do have that that hund00 million project really does

[1:13:32] impact um the perspective of this, but we are maintaining uh a fund balance

[1:13:38] that's above our targeted reserve um out into the future. We're not and and and

[1:13:44] accumulating some fund balance. So, um this fund is right now functioning as

[1:13:48] intended and we're in a in a good place here.

[1:13:55] Um the water and sewer utility fund. So we are scheduled or we are planning to

[1:14:02] actually separate these two funds. Um currently right now they are reported

[1:14:06] together or co-mingled as one fund and we are in the process of making that um

[1:14:11] separation. That'll really help ease um and help make um future rate studies and

[1:14:16] other things much more simpler with these two funds. But um right now

[1:14:20] they're currently together, but we do we did start with budgeting them

[1:14:24] separately. So um the major 2027 water projects are um about a million8 in

[1:14:31] street improvements that did increase and that increase was really due to the

[1:14:35] funding strategy in the ITF fund. Um kind of we talked about there will be

[1:14:41] some additional shifts >> voting is still going

[1:14:43] » into the water and sewer fund.

[1:14:48] Um there's a a $3 million Highway 13 frontage roads um water and water water

[1:14:54] portion. Um that's about $3 million. That really is the work on Highway 13 um

[1:15:00] from Savage to um I think it's Vincent Avenue. Uh well rehab of $890,000

[1:15:08] as well as um of the roof for the Nicola reservoir.

[1:15:14] Major sanitary sewer projects include um lift station rehab for Washburn Washurn

[1:15:19] lift station at a million five. Um the san the sewer component of those

[1:15:24] frontage road improvements along um highway 13 as well as lining of the

[1:15:29] vitrified clay pipe that we have in the system at $870,000.

[1:15:36] um key assumptions here really addressing those high criticality items

[1:15:40] um that were in the five-year capital plan

[1:15:44] um informed by the studies that we've done. The CIP is informed um for water

[1:15:50] and sewer is informed by a number of studies including um the water treatment

[1:15:53] plan assessment, hor horizontal infrastructure study as well as a fleet

[1:15:58] study um and the ITF study even and pavement management plan. Um again this

[1:16:04] year we've engaged elers to update the utility rate study. Last year's study

[1:16:09] indicated um water rates would increase about 7% annually in the future or in

[1:16:16] the 5-year plan and sewer increases would in sewer would increase 9.5% in

[1:16:22] 2027 and 4% annually thereafter. So that's kind of where we were last year

[1:16:27] at this time. Um we do expect some in additional rate increases for imp

[1:16:33] implementation of that utility fund integrated utility funding strategy for

[1:16:37] street improvement. So we did you know allocate additional street improvement

[1:16:43] cost related to the utility funds to the utility funds. So we do expect those

[1:16:48] increases to be higher this year as we go through that study. But we'll we'll

[1:16:53] talk about that in September and we'll present financial information for the

[1:16:57] fund at that September fee meeting.

[1:17:02] Storm water utility fund um major projects there again street improvements

[1:17:07] and some um ravine restoration and slope stabilization at $550,000.

[1:17:13] Um replacement projects of of uh storm sewer main as well as pond cleanout and

[1:17:20] outfall improvement program. So um some routine projects, typical projects. Um

[1:17:25] we've also engaged Ellers to update the study, utility rate study here. Um the

[1:17:31] 2026 study indicated rate increases of about four and a quarter% going forward.

[1:17:37] Um we do anticipate an increase here as well based on the ITF study and

[1:17:44] implementing the integrated utility funding strategy for street improvement.

[1:17:48] So really um putting some of those storm water related

[1:17:53] expenditures in the storm water fund. Again we'll come back with financial

[1:17:57] information at the September fee meeting as well as present the utility rate

[1:18:00] study at that time. Um AIM center fund this fund also has

[1:18:06] individual um capital purchases. 560,000 is proposed in this fund for theatrical

[1:18:13] lighting um with an LED LED conversion. Um financial information for this fund

[1:18:20] will also be presented at the September fee meeting. Usually all the enterprise

[1:18:24] funds are presented at that time. And with that um this is just a little

[1:18:30] reminder of um the budget calendar and the meetings ahead. Um our next we'll

[1:18:35] have department budget presentations next with um the proposed budget and tax

[1:18:41] study discussion on September 8th, the remaining department presentations as

[1:18:46] well. And then on September 15th, we'll um discuss the proposed fees as well as

[1:18:51] the rate study and the remainder of the funds.

[1:18:56] September 22nd, um the proposed city and EDA property tax levy is scheduled to be

[1:19:01] adopted. We do have a discussion on the proposed budget um scheduled for

[1:19:07] November 24th if needed and final uh city and EDA property tax levy and

[1:19:13] budget adoption on December 8th. And with that, I'm done. I I'm complete.

[1:19:19] That was a long presentation, I know, tonight, but um if there are any

[1:19:23] questions, I'm here for any questions. >> You ran me out of questions. [laughter]

[1:19:28] » Any questions? Thank you, Jenny. It's always good

[1:19:33] to see what we're looking forward to, especially with what we remember from 26

[1:19:39] and what we did back then. So, >> yeah. So, thank you very much.

[1:19:46] » Great. >> Okay. With that, we'll go to department

[1:19:50] budgets. >> I'll hand it over um to Chief Smith and

[1:19:53] he can talk about the police department. >> Police first.

[1:19:57] » Madame Mayor, members of the council. Yeah, they got the new guy going first.

[1:20:00] So, we'll [laughter] see how this goes. >> Big department budget presentation.

[1:20:04] » Uh, we'll just start with our department overview here. The Burnsville Police

[1:20:08] Department is dedicated to strengthening our culture and delivering the highest

[1:20:11] level of public safety service grounded in our mission and core values to ensure

[1:20:16] procedural justice and protect the dignity dignity and sanctity of human

[1:20:21] life.

[1:20:24] So our investment kind of our impacts that

[1:20:28] we're looking at really is to procure adequate resources to maintain the high

[1:20:32] level of service that we have for the community. Uh leverage new technology

[1:20:36] and strategies regarding violent crime reduction and ensure adequate staffing

[1:20:41] to meet the community's needs. So these are kind of the three bullet points that

[1:20:44] drive a big part of what our budget proposal is.

[1:20:49] Uh achievements. I should hit the button for this one. Uh achievements and

[1:20:54] challenges. We had about 49,000 just shy of 50,000 calls for service in 2025. Uh

[1:21:00] we collaborated with the Bureau of Criminal Criminal Apprehensions Violent

[1:21:04] Crime Reduction Unit. Uh that investigator actually just started on

[1:21:08] Monday and is really excited >> to be there. So, thank you for your

[1:21:12] investment in that. We've acquired specialized equipment for officer and

[1:21:16] community safety. That includes two [clears throat] armored rescue vehicles,

[1:21:21] one of which we received a few months ago and the other one we're actually

[1:21:25] going to inspect next week and we hope to be here with by the end of the month.

[1:21:29] So that's really exciting as well as some other uh just protective equipment.

[1:21:34] » And your command vehicle comes when >> that will be about two years that just

[1:21:39] got ordered I think. >> Yeah, [clears throat] because we just

[1:21:42] approved that. >> Correct. And that the nice thing about

[1:21:46] that there was no match. >> I would I would defer to Chief Jungman

[1:21:51] on that but yes correct. Okay. >> Yeah there was no match.

[1:21:55] » Excellent. >> No the uh upfitting of that was all

[1:21:59] included. >> Madam Mayor, members of the council,

[1:22:02] good question. Uh yes. similar to what you saw in the fleet portion of the

[1:22:07] capital presentation tonight. That is a >> uh the cost the council has seen and is

[1:22:12] planned in the cap is the total cost of the

[1:22:13] » vehicle. Good. Because I wasn't quite sure when we got that grant whether that

[1:22:20] also included the upfetting. >> Okay.

[1:22:23] » Yeah. I think the whole thing was budgeted for and then the grant was just

[1:22:25] going to >> when we when we applied for the grant.

[1:22:28] » Correct. >> Okay.

[1:22:30] Uh moving on to this page, you know, other achievements and kind of

[1:22:34] challenges at the same time is adapting to the rapidly evolving technology to

[1:22:38] assist in maintaining public safety. I think we're just seeing that a lot of

[1:22:41] these technology costs are increasing quickly. Uh some of the achievements in

[1:22:48] that area, we we have our paragon contract and we were able to purchase

[1:22:52] two camera trailers this year that we've had out.

[1:22:56] Um, a challenge that I know Chief Schwarz brought up, I believe during

[1:22:59] this presentation last year, is in some of our staffing and specifically the the

[1:23:04] span of control at the command level. Um, we have we have some captains, one

[1:23:10] captain in particular, supervising more than what would be recommended. So,

[1:23:13] you'll see as we move through the slides here, one [cough] of our requests for

[1:23:17] 2027 is is an additional captain position.

[1:23:21] » Okay? And then uh again looking for innovative ways to address violent

[1:23:26] crime. That BCA violent crime unit was was one that we've been able to start

[1:23:31] and we continue to to look for ways to utilize technology and other strategies

[1:23:35] to get after the violent crime. I kind of mentioned it just a minute

[1:23:41] ago, but um one of the cost drivers is just the the cost of the technology.

[1:23:46] More technology. We are more technologydriven and that's an area

[1:23:50] where costs are just ever increasing. Um we need to ensure that our critical

[1:23:55] equipment is replaced on schedule according to the expected life cycle. Um

[1:24:01] we have some changes you'll see as we move in here. They were items that had

[1:24:05] been in the IT budget that we've moved from the IT budget to the PD budget. So

[1:24:09] there's an increase in the PD budget, but citywide it's it's a wash. And then

[1:24:15] again, I believe it's on the next slide, we'll talk about the additional staffing

[1:24:19] requests that we are requesting in the 2027 budget. [cough]

[1:24:25] Council member Gustoson is back just in time for uh this first one.

[1:24:30] » We have had county social workers uh a social worker working out of here.

[1:24:35] » Yeah. >> Paid for by the county. The county did

[1:24:38] recently ask us if we would want to do a 5050 split for 2027.

[1:24:44] Um it's our feeling that that we would get more out of having this social work

[1:24:50] be funded 100% by the city. >> One thing we found is that that she and

[1:24:57] and she would apply for the job, but the count the county social worker we have

[1:25:01] right now is pulled in a lot of different directions

[1:25:04] » because they're a county employee and they're working out of here. So, we just

[1:25:08] feel like if we could staff that full-time and pay for it with the city,

[1:25:12] we would get get more out of that. >> Yeah.

[1:25:15] » Uh the second one, this was identified in the organizational analysis from

[1:25:20] several years ago, would be a patrol officer position. And then again, um the

[1:25:25] captain position, which I think we've talked about over the last several

[1:25:28] years, trying to even out a little bit of that. We we are very thankful for the

[1:25:33] support this council and the mayor have given us with adding staff and we just

[1:25:37] need to kind of rightsize what administration looks like to oversee

[1:25:41] that staff that we've added. >> Question chief.

[1:25:44] » Yes. >> How many captains do we have today?

[1:25:47] » We have three captains today >> and you're requesting going to four.

[1:25:50] » Yeah, >> go to four. Uh I know our neighboring

[1:25:54] agencies Egan is up to five. uh they are lieutenants there but they're equivalent

[1:25:58] in the there's five and Lakeville has recently gotten to five also.

[1:26:03] » Have they also increased their >> boots on the ground patrol and sworn

[1:26:07] officers as well? >> I don't know that answer. I just know

[1:26:11] that they did add the the fifth position recently.

[1:26:14] » Thank you. >> We've been we've been running very lean

[1:26:17] and we need to make sure and Chief Schwarz had talked to us about this

[1:26:23] two years ago. and they didn't pull the switch on it,

[1:26:29] but now we need to do it. >> Chief, can you explain the leadership

[1:26:34] structure of the three current captains and the deputy chief and what this does

[1:26:39] more specifically or what the excuse me, what the addition of another patrol

[1:26:44] captain would do to alleviate some of this the stress and well-being concerns

[1:26:49] that we have? >> Good question. Um, Madame Mayor, members

[1:26:52] of the council, currently our structure, we have the chief and of course the

[1:26:58] deputy chief who assists with the day-to-day operations.

[1:27:02] Our captains, we have one captain, and this has been this way for a while, for

[1:27:06] several years, that oversees professional standards. So, that's all

[1:27:09] the policy, um, hiring, sort of the personnel side

[1:27:14] of things. We have another captain that oversees behavioral health

[1:27:19] investigations, community engagement, and so that position, I think, has four

[1:27:25] or five sergeants reporting to them, and typically five is about the recommended

[1:27:30] amount of people that would report to you. The third captain has patrol

[1:27:34] » and investig. >> We currently have nine patrol cap uh

[1:27:37] sergeants. That person is also supervising the administrative sergeant

[1:27:41] because there's such a nexus with patrol. So, we have one captain

[1:27:45] overseeing 10 patrol sergeants, which in and of itself

[1:27:50] is just too many. And I think when you add in the 24hour coverage, it just

[1:27:56] becomes very hard to get touch points with those sergeants that that work all

[1:28:01] these different shifts. Um and so when you talk about trying to make sure that

[1:28:06] the sergeants get the support so that they can give proper support to the

[1:28:10] officers so the officers can serve the community that is a a point where we

[1:28:15] think having having another captain would allow those 10 sergeants to be

[1:28:19] split between the two of them and they would get much better support. Uh and

[1:28:23] where does investigation fall under? >> That is under the with behavioral health

[1:28:27] and community engagement. >> No, that boy that

[1:28:33] captain then has a full load also. >> He does. Yeah,

[1:28:39] » it it at least numbers wise it's a little more appropriate how the span of

[1:28:44] control [clears throat] lands there.

[1:28:49] » Yeah. But the number of cases you guys work on

[1:28:54] both now in behavioral health and also in investigation, it's a lot. And on

[1:28:59] behavioral health, it gets more and more because of the mental health issues that

[1:29:05] you guys are attending to. >> Madame Mayor, uh members of the council,

[1:29:09] you are correct. There's a lot. I do think sometimes when we add to, you

[1:29:14] know, say a patrol captain here, that that doesn't mean they're only helping

[1:29:18] with patrol. sometimes they're going to help that's going to help

[1:29:24] just inadvertently what else is going on in the department and vice versa. So I

[1:29:27] think as a team effort it would allow uh the ability to spread the span of

[1:29:33] control more evenly. >> Okay,

[1:29:40] this next slide uh our capital improvements for 2027. We really don't

[1:29:44] have a long list of them. We have our regularly scheduled vehicle

[1:29:48] replacements. We are coming due to have our handguns replaced. It's been 10

[1:29:53] years since we did that. So that would include the handguns, new sights, and

[1:29:58] they would need to have new holsters because of they're a different

[1:30:01] generation of of handguns and and sights. And then we put up here drone

[1:30:07] program enhancement. We're looking to add one more drone to the fleet.

[1:30:14] Was there a time that we also could uh apply for grants to cover some of our

[1:30:22] handguns and long guns? >> I don't recall, Madame Mayor. I don't

[1:30:28] recall applying for grants for handguns. We can certainly look into something

[1:30:32] like that. I was just wondering at burn jag if we

[1:30:36] did that uh with the burn jag grants but then you know it's been a

[1:30:42] while since I thought about that.

[1:30:45] » Madam mayor, members of the council certainly we we look at grant funding

[1:30:50] opportunities and alternative sources of revenue for for this and many other uh

[1:30:54] operational needs. Um, uh, the police department does a, uh, an excellent job

[1:31:00] at maximizing, uh, state and federal grant

[1:31:04] opportunities. So certainly something we'll keep our eye on into the future.

[1:31:07] I'm not off the top of my head, I I don't recall those the specifics of

[1:31:12] previous grant funding. >> Yeah. and I haven't seen any in a long

[1:31:15] time. So, I was just wondering since we're looking at replacement and I saw

[1:31:20] in Jenny's report, she had a zero in grant funding, federal grant that we

[1:31:26] were going out for. >> Oh, that madame mayor, that was for um

[1:31:30] trans >> for streets.

[1:31:31] » Streets. Yep. >> Yeah, that was for streets.

[1:31:36] » Madame Mayor, I I also don't recall if um Yeah, I just looked it up. the the

[1:31:40] burn jag grant that we got that we most recently got was was for $20,000ish and

[1:31:48] I think that's what we shared with Apple Valley. So

[1:31:51] » and we and we have used that. We've earmarked that for some uses.

[1:31:54] » Okay. But not much. >> Uh here are our major changes on the

[1:32:01] operations side. Axiom is a forensics. It's a computer forensics program. the

[1:32:07] Axel group. We've we've entered into our budget to refresh the the staffing study

[1:32:13] that we did about four years ago. Now, a lot has changed in those four years. A

[1:32:17] lot um some really great >> look at this

[1:32:21] » time off benefits, but that is also, you know, having an effect on our schedule.

[1:32:25] So, we just want to refresh what what our staffing looks like.

[1:32:31] » Uh ballistic shields we have up there. There's the burn jag.

[1:32:34] » Yeah. funding we were talking about. That's just a placeholder for the things

[1:32:37] that we've identified. We're going to purchase the captain. We just mentioned

[1:32:42] CEN partner fees which are now combined with the old records management system

[1:32:46] that those went up a little bit.

[1:32:51] DCC operating budget, you can see that went up about $76,000.

[1:32:56] LES is a it's a collaborative incident response that that allows negotiators to

[1:33:02] work with members of the SWAT team and others on on scenes of critical

[1:33:05] incidents. We have some night vision goggles. The officer we talked about our

[1:33:11] our radios. We pay a fee per radio per month to have access to the to the

[1:33:16] actual radio system. That fee went up and so you see that there in the 2027

[1:33:22] amount. And then the social worker that we discussed from the county,

[1:33:30] our revenues, uh, actually you see it went up about $37,000. A big portion of

[1:33:36] that is from adding in the reimbursement from the state for the BCA's violent

[1:33:41] crime officer that we put there. And then there was a little bit of a change

[1:33:45] in the insurance premium tax from the state.

[1:33:51] And my final slide, this is just broken down by division, the the changes. Um,

[1:33:57] I'll point out one thing. You'll see patrol went down minus 2%. That was

[1:34:02] really uh because of some workers compensation numbers that mitigated the

[1:34:07] increase. So, we ended up with about what is that $347,000

[1:34:12] decrease.

[1:34:20] Madame Mayor and members of the council, you have any questions?

[1:34:24] » Any Yeah, DK, >> thank you, Chief. Appreciate that level

[1:34:27] of detail, too. >> Question on the the cost of the captain.

[1:34:31] Is that a captain's salary or is that the net effect of promoting a sergeant

[1:34:35] and then promoting a patrolman to sergeant and then bringing on another

[1:34:39] patrolman to kind of replace? Right. Council member Keley, that was a

[1:34:43] captain's salary. So, it would be an additional full-time uh position.

[1:34:47] » So, we the net ad though is promoting from within from a sergeant to go up and

[1:34:52] then a patrol officer to a sergeant and then a new patrol officer. The does that

[1:34:57] essentially equate to the same thing? The cost of a new patrol officer and

[1:35:00] then those two incremental increases in existing salaries ends up being about

[1:35:04] the same as >> what that captain's total salary is.

[1:35:09] » Yeah. Uh, council member Keely, I think there's different ways to look at it,

[1:35:13] but essentially the FTE we would be adding would be the

[1:35:17] » Yeah, >> the captains, but yes, you'd be shifting

[1:35:20] » right >> as they moved up.

[1:35:22] » And then in addition, one more patrol officer, and that was

[1:35:26] » just strictly boots on the ground, another patrol officer on top of what we

[1:35:30] had added, >> correct?

[1:35:31] » Over the last four years, I guess, or whatever it was.

[1:35:33] » Yes. >> Okay. And madame mayor, members of the

[1:35:36] council, just for uh clarity sake, the organizational analysis for 2027 called

[1:35:41] for both that patrol officer position and the police captain position. You

[1:35:46] also might recall and for the community's benefit for for those who

[1:35:49] are watching um we've taken a new approach now with the 2027 budget and

[1:35:55] organizational analysis getting through kind of that that uh the the four-year

[1:36:00] plan of the original organizational analysis where we're dealing with

[1:36:04] staffing requests based on the studies and operational plans that we do

[1:36:07] internally. um uh and then using the budget process to determine whether or

[1:36:12] not those identified needs would be funded uh in the in the coming operating

[1:36:16] budgets. Kind of taking that year of a year-over-year evaluation approach over

[1:36:21] time. So, both of those positions were identified as staffing needs in the 2027

[1:36:27] organizational analysis. the one in the police department that wasn't is the the

[1:36:31] question on the bringing the social worker position right into the organ.

[1:36:37] » Can we dig into that a little deeper? What is the hourly demand based on the

[1:36:43] history of that social worker >> like the weekly average, monthly

[1:36:49] average, um you know based on the [clears throat]

[1:36:54] cases that they are involved in or the circumstances that they're involved in.

[1:36:58] Council member Keely, that's a good question. I don't have the breakdown

[1:37:03] here. What I'm told is that we're probably getting less than a quarter of

[1:37:08] an FTE actually going out taking calls because of the requirements at the

[1:37:14] county level that that she's being pulled into and and asked to do and

[1:37:19] various administrative tasks that come from the county.

[1:37:21] » Sure. Which that was part of the thing up front, right? It was a partnership.

[1:37:25] We're going to give you this person. Yeah.

[1:37:27] » They weren't giving us a full-time person. They were sharing a person with

[1:37:30] us. and >> only when they when she's available.

[1:37:34] » Yeah. So, it makes I agree with your suggestion that we bring the person in

[1:37:40] house, but I'm trying to get at what's the hourly demand for that person that's

[1:37:45] driving that decision. >> You will uh council member Keely, we

[1:37:50] will look into some of that. I do believe they gave me some items. I just

[1:37:54] don't have it right in front of me. Can

[1:37:58] » Can I ask a followup on what you're asking, Dan?

[1:38:00] » Yeah. I I I guess I'm more interested in what

[1:38:04] how often do we lose that person's services because the county pulled them

[1:38:07] away and we actually could have used that person is probably more important

[1:38:10] in my mind. >> Council member Gusto and I think that's

[1:38:13] where and don't quote me on the number but what I was told was about 25% of the

[1:38:17] time we have her here >> and so about 75% of the time she's out

[1:38:21] doing other other tasks not >> for the county somewhere else.

[1:38:25] » Right. Okay. >> Well, she has a case load at the county.

[1:38:28] No, and I I get that, but I'm just saying we're losing those services for

[1:38:31] that period of time and that we could use that person.

[1:38:34] » Yeah, that's that's really the genesis of why I'm asking is that 75% jump

[1:38:39] » is the whole 75% >> uh driven by demand or is it uh twice

[1:38:47] what we have her which is that would put make it a halftime person, right? And

[1:38:52] what does she what would we have her do in the other half of that time if the

[1:38:56] call volume were the same going forward? >> Yeah.

[1:38:58] » Yeah. Matt, >> Madame Mayor, members of the council, I

[1:39:01] I think there would be work sadly there would be work for her for the full time.

[1:39:08] Um I I mean anecdotally listening to the radio, there's no shortage of mental

[1:39:12] health calls and >> go ahead

[1:39:16] » madame members of the council. I think that's the probably the most important

[1:39:19] the important point of trying to quantify this is we we believe that to

[1:39:24] to the chief's point it's about 25% of the individual's time uh that is that is

[1:39:30] being spent on Burnsville specific case work uh addressing mental health needs

[1:39:36] uh and supporting the department from a uh from a crisis and uh and community

[1:39:40] well-being uh perspective and really when you just do the simple math from

[1:39:44] our perspective uh Although we very much appreciate the partnership of the

[1:39:49] county, the county has funded this program for years. Uh that's been a an

[1:39:52] important collaborative effort with the county's request uh for the city to fund

[1:39:58] 50% of that position. Uh you start getting to very small numbers in terms

[1:40:02] of the outcome or result that the city's getting for that investment. And if

[1:40:06] we're going to invest 50%, we believe that that really that the full

[1:40:11] investment in bringing that in-house, much like the council and staff talked

[1:40:16] in our most recent off-site uh annual retreat, uh has a exponentially more

[1:40:23] significant benefit to the mental health needs of the community and of the

[1:40:27] department moving forward. As a matter of fact, we probably could quantify

[1:40:32] additional need beyond that when it comes to uh um our

[1:40:38] mental health, well-being, behavioral health unit needs. [snorts]

[1:40:43] » Can I follow up? I just >> So,

[1:40:47] we're getting into uh just high level at this point, but sort of usage and

[1:40:52] demand. >> Um

[1:40:55] I uh agree 100%. no reason not to agree

[1:40:59] that there are mental health calls coming in all the time. How would this

[1:41:04] person cover those calls seven days a week as a full-time employee? Maybe

[1:41:10] that's to Greg's point. There's really need for more than one, but um you know,

[1:41:15] mental health calls aren't 9 to5, right? They're evenings, sometimes overnight,

[1:41:19] early mornings, weekends. >> Would this person have that sort of

[1:41:23] flexibility in that schedule as if they were brought on as a full-time employee?

[1:41:28] Council member Keely, that's a good question. And with our behavioral health

[1:41:31] unit, even amongst them, they work some some more flexible hours, but you're

[1:41:34] absolutely right. We we can't cover with what we have 24 hours a day. Uh it does

[1:41:41] allow her to be here for follow-ups, which is is helpful. Uh as luck would

[1:41:45] have it, the very last document I looked had the information you're asking for.

[1:41:49] Great. >> So, um this was from May. Uh but last

[1:41:53] year she the current social worker was responsible for 468 of our 826 cases

[1:42:00] assigned for followup. Yeah. >> So those would be cases the next day

[1:42:03] that she could help with uh in 2026. As of that date, May 20th this year, it was

[1:42:09] 173 out of 357 calls to date. And then it was uh as I thought they they're

[1:42:16] saying that we receive about 25% of the social workers overall work time due to

[1:42:20] countywide obligations and staffing shortages

[1:42:23] » and they're able to cover about half the case load it sounds like which

[1:42:27] » from a quarter of the time. So >> well I you know I I certainly am in

[1:42:32] support of [snorts] of of the concept. I think there's a lot to be discussed as

[1:42:36] far as coverage. Uh so that when a call comes in, they're available because

[1:42:43] that's why we would want to have the full-time is is to always be there when

[1:42:48] that type of serious call comes in and we would rely on her s her or his at

[1:42:53] some point maybe services uh to help the PD.

[1:42:56] » Yes. And I think it's important to note, madame mayor, members of the council

[1:42:59] that we still have access to the county's crisis line. We still utilize

[1:43:05] dispatch takes in calls and triages them and there's a lot of calls that that do

[1:43:09] get sent just off to Dakota's social services. So there are still

[1:43:14] » Oh, there's like additional depth of >> resour

[1:43:22] air to the Dakota County. I mean, I when we came up with this some years ago,

[1:43:27] it's really nice for them to step up and say because they have those specialty

[1:43:31] resources in their staff where we don't. Um, and it's been really a great

[1:43:36] partnership to have that. It's what got it off the ground. It's what got us to

[1:43:39] where we are today. It's probably time for us to take it in house.

[1:43:42] » Yeah. >> Madam Oh, go ahead. I like the fact that

[1:43:45] we're going to be well-rounded because we have um uh a paramedic embedded as

[1:43:53] well. So, that helps with the medication uh aspect of when we get those calls.

[1:44:00] And now we have a backup with a social worker that can follow up on those kinds

[1:44:06] of calls as well because psychologically it's not when you address the issue when

[1:44:13] it happens you're going to have followup.

[1:44:17] » Correct. Madame Mayor, members of the council and and council member Keeler,

[1:44:20] I'm glad you you mentioned that this is, you know, this is a

[1:44:24] » simply an opportunity that has presented itself for us to to bring a person a a

[1:44:29] position in house. Uh it is we are very thankful for the county's partnership

[1:44:33] and this is in no way sort of u a negative thing. It's just an

[1:44:38] opportunity that's presented itself. >> It's basically like a federal grant gets

[1:44:42] us three years with an officer or firefighter and then we're on our own.

[1:44:46] um they gave us that that grant to get us the program going.

[1:44:50] » Yeah. So, I think we've grown big enough that we can take it from here and

[1:44:54] appreciate their help >> because I know in the behavioral health

[1:44:56] unit, they're always following up on these

[1:45:01] cases until they can hand it off to a

[1:45:06] psychologist or a psychiatrist for

[1:45:13] meds and and followup counseling. Yeah.

[1:45:20] that >> because I know they're always busy.

[1:45:25] » Yeah. So, I think it's the in the right direction.

[1:45:30] Makes us wellrounded. >> Madame Mayor, members of the council,

[1:45:35] thank you. Yeah, >> Madame Mayor, members of the council, uh

[1:45:40] just for for clarity sake, um from a policy direction, is the city council

[1:45:45] supportive or comfortable of moving forward with the concept of including

[1:45:49] » embedded social work funding in the city's budget? Uh or would you like

[1:45:53] additional information or additional conversation?

[1:45:55] » Are you imperative that we have that? Agreed. Okay.

[1:45:59] » 100%. >> Unanimous.

[1:46:02] » Yeah. >> Thank you.

[1:46:03] » Okay. >> Yes. Madame Mayor, members of the

[1:46:05] council, thank you. >> Okay.

[1:46:08] » All right. I'm gonna hand it over. Are you now as we'll see?

[1:46:13] » Okay. It's Garrett. >> Yeah, it's Garrett's turn.

[1:46:18] » That's true. >> As we make the transition, mayor and

[1:46:21] council again, the city obviously grateful for the county's partnership

[1:46:25] and support and uh the social work program. And I'll make sure the county

[1:46:29] manager knows our direction and um uh we'll keep working through the budget

[1:46:33] process. You'll hear more about this in the operating budget presentation

[1:46:36] that'll happen in September as well.

[1:46:41] » Okay, Garrett, floor is yours. >> Good evening, madame mayor, members of

[1:46:45] the council. Um, so the parks, recreation, and facilities department

[1:46:51] includes recreation uh facilities management, which is a combination of

[1:46:56] both our caring for our infrastructure, but it also includes the daily cleaning

[1:47:00] and the room setups and different things like that. uh the Burns Ice Center,

[1:47:05] Burnwood Golf Course, and our team exists to provide great spaces, places,

[1:47:10] and activities for the community. So, some of the things going on uh in

[1:47:17] 2027, uh we have some staff reallocation,

[1:47:20] which I'll talk about later on, uh and an overall budget reduction in the

[1:47:24] recreation budget. Um, we, you know, in addition to the in-house work that our

[1:47:31] team does, uh, we're constantly looking to collaborate with outside groups to

[1:47:36] help offer programming out into the community. Um, and have a lot of, um,

[1:47:41] engagement both with our own activities and also, you know, if there's different

[1:47:46] projects or programs going on in our department or other departments helping

[1:47:50] with that process as well. Um we are very close to wrapping up our recreation

[1:47:56] services review uh and we'll be looking to implement the results of that in

[1:48:00] 2027. Um and then uh just a normal part of our

[1:48:04] process uh we use the community feedback to help inform our programs and facility

[1:48:11] improvements that we're doing.

[1:48:15] As we look at Burnhamwood, um continue to see sustained growth uh in rounds and

[1:48:21] youth participation. Um the only thing that seems to be uh looking to challenge

[1:48:27] that would be weather. Um but we've just had some really great years of of

[1:48:32] weather uh during the summer. And so our rounds in increasing continue to show

[1:48:36] that as well as um it's really become a the high schools and and different youth

[1:48:42] groups uh look to Burnhamwood to to help um run their programs and things like

[1:48:47] that. Um we continue to transition to electric and autonomous equipment uh

[1:48:52] which has been a great help for uh the different types of mowing and things

[1:48:56] like that going on out at the course whether it's the uh the rough or the

[1:49:01] fairways. uh we're now able to use that equipment uh which helps to reduce the

[1:49:05] the staff time needs for that. Um and then uh the Burnhamwood is part of our

[1:49:11] facility assessment study that we completed in 2024. So just uh continuing

[1:49:17] to work on the on the course uh to implement those recommendations.

[1:49:24] over at the ice center. Uh we a couple months ago brought on uh TJ Wheeland and

[1:49:30] uh he is our new ice center manager. Um one of the things that uh we just

[1:49:36] started doing uh this is the second year of doing it is the state of the ice

[1:49:40] center where we bring in all of our legacy groups and uh talk to them about

[1:49:44] the changes coming up at the ice center uh both within the facility but also in

[1:49:49] the rental uses and whatnot. So really gives us a chance to understand what

[1:49:53] their needs are early on. Uh that which helps us to understand uh what the

[1:49:58] openings are in ice time uh so that we can uh work with uh other groups that

[1:50:04] are not part of the legacy groups to help fill those hours as quickly as and

[1:50:08] efficiently as possible. Um, and then one of the things TJ uh has been asked

[1:50:13] to do in his position um is obviously come in, learn Bernzo, understand um

[1:50:20] what we're doing and what we're doing well, but also uh start to look at

[1:50:23] potential non ice uh and just events in on civic center property and whatnot

[1:50:29] that can help um attract additional people to the facility and to the area.

[1:50:37] As we look at facilities, um, uh, the police city hall phase one care, uh, we

[1:50:44] are still on time, uh, to open this facility, uh, towards the end of

[1:50:49] September. Uh, and we are actually, uh, going to be having someone start on

[1:50:56] August 17th that'll be working during the day for the first time to help

[1:51:00] clean, uh, the facility and do room setups and things like that. So that is

[1:51:05] a a new addition um starting here later this month uh which will be extremely

[1:51:11] important as we open up that new facility and and take care of it on a

[1:51:15] daily basis. Uh obviously the the phase two um phasing and planning uh is a

[1:51:23] major part of this team as we look to uh transition our police department out of

[1:51:28] their existing space into uh new temporary spaces as we start to renovate

[1:51:35] the the police area during phase two of the construction project. Uh our team is

[1:51:40] also now meeting about two to three times a month uh to do the fire station

[1:51:45] 2 planning. Um there is just the general facility care of the 58 different

[1:51:52] facilities that we have throughout the city. Um both from an infrastructure and

[1:51:57] a a daily maintenance need. Um, and then we have [clears throat] a city hall

[1:52:02] events manager and a facility superintendent uh that we will be uh

[1:52:07] looking to add in 2027, which I'll talk about when we get to the staffing spot.

[1:52:13] So, from an achievements and challenges

[1:52:16] standpoint, um, achievement recreation services uh is almost wrapped up. The

[1:52:22] parks wayfinding was delivered uh late last month and uh we are on schedule and

[1:52:29] moving along well for getting the arts commission kicked off uh for a January

[1:52:35] 1st meeting for them of 2027. Uh cons continue to see a strong

[1:52:40] facility demand at the golf course and ice center. Um, [snorts] we have a phase

[1:52:45] one uh all the all the work that went into relocating uh city hall staff

[1:52:51] during phase one and to deal with just the construction on the property uh to

[1:52:57] make sure that our services to the community weren't impacted um was a a

[1:53:02] major accomplishment for the facilities team to help pull that off. Um we are

[1:53:08] preparing for the phase one opening and uh all the phase 2 staff relocations for

[1:53:14] police that we talked about uh coming up. Um challenges and achievements as

[1:53:21] the pickle ball project as we now have a a a place for that. Uh and we'll be

[1:53:27] doing the engagement for that. Uh I want to say what is the later this week on

[1:53:32] the 14th at Cliff End. Um and then the onboarding of an events manager and a

[1:53:39] facility superintendent. So um will be uh something that we will need to look

[1:53:45] at that process in 2027.

[1:53:49] Trends and cost drivers. Uh so no different than what you'll hear for most

[1:53:54] departments is the cost of goods and services and and inflation um obviously

[1:53:59] is a pressure each year as we're going through the the budget. Uh over at the

[1:54:03] Ice Center, uh for the last two years, we've benefited quite nicely from the

[1:54:08] fact that a couple of our neighbors to the north have had major renovations to

[1:54:12] their IC center facilities, and those are both complete now. So, um we will

[1:54:18] most likely see a drop in revenue uh just like we saw an increase when they

[1:54:23] were going through the process and as they return back, uh we will most likely

[1:54:28] lose them as as our customer. And then uh the elevated uh care

[1:54:34] standards and service needs related to police city hall. Um whether it's just

[1:54:40] elevator contracts or uh our staff work um on the things that they'll need to do

[1:54:46] on a daily basis, the equipment, the materials. Um what you think about the

[1:54:51] windows and and the need to have uh contracts related to cleaning those

[1:54:56] windows most likely a couple times a year and things like that.

[1:55:03] So, uh, this takes us to the staffing. Um,

[1:55:08] as I mentioned, uh, earlier, uh, we had a recreation administrative assistant,

[1:55:14] uh, who recently retired. Um, and I'm 100% uh convinced that the most

[1:55:19] important thing that we could have done with that position in our department was

[1:55:23] create another facility technician position who will pretty much be

[1:55:28] responsible about 4 hours a day during the day to help clean the facility and

[1:55:32] go through it. Um, which you'll you see at other facilities that you go into.

[1:55:37] Um, and then they'll also be able to help with infrastructure needs when

[1:55:40] they're not doing that process. Um, I also know that um the initial recreation

[1:55:47] administrative assistant helped out our rec staff quite a bit and uh they are uh

[1:55:53] without that position anymore. Obviously, they're under more pressure

[1:55:55] than ever to do their programming and do the things that they do, but uh

[1:55:59] nonetheless uh absolutely the right decision to reclassify that. um the

[1:56:06] events coordinator position in 2027. Uh what that is is we are going to be

[1:56:11] opening up uh a new community space in February of 2028. Uh we anticipate we'll

[1:56:19] have corporate meetings in there, weddings, uh a variety of different

[1:56:23] activities and uh this position would help to basically manage all of those

[1:56:29] types of rentals and preparing for that uh those types of events in the city

[1:56:35] hall spaces. And then the uh third

[1:56:39] » because our city hall is going to be functioning a little closer to a

[1:56:42] community center than a city hall. I I anticipate the we will have a very wide

[1:56:50] variety of activities for people looking to rent out those three spaces uh either

[1:56:56] separately or when they can be opened up um and hosting, you know, over 300

[1:57:01] people in them. So, um it's it's going to be quite different than the type of

[1:57:05] » services and activities we have here right now.

[1:57:08] » And we're going to need somebody who can dedicate their

[1:57:11] » uh time and expertise to that type of activity. It's going to be very

[1:57:14] different from any other city hall because of our engagement with the

[1:57:18] people. >> Correct.

[1:57:20] » Is their house. >> Mayor, mayor and council.

[1:57:23] » Oh, >> I would

[1:57:26] uh add to council member Schultz's comment and the mayors that when we uh

[1:57:32] when I'm in Egan, for instance, at an event at their city hall, it's really a

[1:57:37] community center. Um, and I'm I'm glad that we finally have a city hall

[1:57:42] facility that meets the community's needs the way other cities around us do.

[1:57:46] Um, and you know, I feel like we're catching up in a way because we sort of

[1:57:49] stayed in this building a little longer than maybe we should have, but you know,

[1:57:52] without doing an update. >> Well, Egan, when you're at their city

[1:57:55] hall, it's a city city hall because they have a community center.

[1:57:59] » Yes. Kind of right there. Right. It's it's where a lot of their functions

[1:58:03] happen and it's a city facility. It's not a privately owned deal. Right.

[1:58:06] Actually, they have two. >> That's Yes, they have two.

[1:58:09] » I just want to say to the police, [clears throat]

[1:58:12] » apology for the second time in 10 years displacing your entire department for a

[1:58:18] remodel. [snorts] >> That was rough the last time. Was it 10

[1:58:23] years ago? Nine years ago, >> 2016.

[1:58:25] » Yeah. And and now you got to do it all over again. And I'm sure there's some

[1:58:29] like, well, we got practice. We did it before. We can do it again.

[1:58:32] » It'll it'll be all right. Yeah.

[1:58:36] » Okay. Garrett. >> Then the third position up there is a

[1:58:39] facility superintendent. That would be a new position. Um I would liken that to

[1:58:44] we have 76 parks and we have a a park superintendent. We have all of our

[1:58:49] recreation programs. We have a recreation superintendent. This

[1:58:52] particular position would really be responsible for helping with the

[1:58:56] infrastructure management of uh our 58 facilities that we have. um leading

[1:59:03] projects, writing backgrounds, doing all those things to help manage it and

[1:59:07] obviously work collaborative collaboratively with the different

[1:59:11] departments that are in those facilities, but really helping to

[1:59:14] coordinate all of that, manage the CIP, all those kinds of things. So,

[1:59:18] » two different um roles from the park superintendent to the facilities

[1:59:24] superintendent because we have a lot of facilities

[1:59:28] » in our portfolio. >> Yeah. So, this person is going to be uh

[1:59:33] overseeing all of the facilities, >> correct? Yep.

[1:59:38] » And reporting to you, >> correct?

[1:59:40] » Yeah. >> From a capital improvement standpoint,

[1:59:45] um you know, similar to the parks inventory and assessment, we did a

[1:59:49] facilities inventory and assessment. um that has been uh a great help and a

[1:59:54] guide for us as we uh now understand what our condition one and two items

[1:59:59] are. Uh we've assigned values to those and as we work through the CIP each year

[2:00:04] uh we kind of label the different items uh that we're considering uh into these

[2:00:10] four different categories. So, if it's a condition one and two, um we're still

[2:00:15] going to if it's a if it's a life safety issue, that is the single most important

[2:00:20] thing we need to make sure that's taken care of. Um just slightly below that is

[2:00:24] the critical infrastructure piece. Um you know, that would be things like your

[2:00:30] generators, um your transfer switches where if they were to fail on you, um

[2:00:35] you could lose uh service to the facility, which would not be good for

[2:00:39] anyone. Um, so, uh, then we start to move down to a three, which would be the

[2:00:44] damage prevention infrastructure. So, that's your building envelope protection

[2:00:48] type things where if you're not taking care of them, um, that may lead to

[2:00:54] additional damage and cost to a facility. So, uh, still pretty

[2:00:58] important. And then uh a four and things that we tend to bump at times and

[2:01:01] evaluate, hey, can we get another year or two out of this would be things like

[2:01:05] operational efficiency and uh just that it's indicated that it is at the end of

[2:01:11] life, but um it's still in good working order and we could get another uh

[2:01:16] additional amount of time out of it.

[2:01:21] So So those were hidden, right? Is that it? So

[2:01:28] that wraps up my presentation. I will stand for any questions or comments.

[2:01:34] » I asked mine earlier. >> Thank you. Next one is Mark. Mark,

[2:01:40] you're on deck.

[2:01:43] » Actually, no, that one got snuck. >> Oh, you you forgot to give us your

[2:01:47] » So, there are a couple more fun ones here. So,

[2:01:50] » all right. Um >> Yeah, you forgot your budget.

[2:01:54] » Yeah. >> Well, that's hard. Hey, I [laughter]

[2:01:55] want to get it over to Mark. No. Um, talked a little bit about uh the

[2:02:00] recreation uh revenues and whatnot. So, as you look on this, not a lot of change

[2:02:07] um in AC across [clears throat] the board. Um the ice center number that you

[2:02:12] see there is really a just a conservative reflection of the fact that

[2:02:15] we anticipate uh we may be losing some of the ice rentals that from the fact

[2:02:22] that our neighbors to the north are they're back up and running completely.

[2:02:26] So uh that is what that number is for there. Uh we do have we're projecting

[2:02:32] increases in our recreation fund and continue at the golf course just based

[2:02:37] on trends that those continue to go higher.

[2:02:42] Uh from an operating expense standpoint again most of the numbers are pretty

[2:02:47] low. Uh there are two big numbers that you'll see in there. Uh one is a

[2:02:52] negative $179,914

[2:02:56] from recreation. uh that is a result of uh in 2026 we had the arts commission

[2:03:02] study. So there is uh that is not part of the budget anymore because that is

[2:03:07] complete and then it is also the uh wreck admin position is moving out of

[2:03:13] recreation uh into facilities. So that takes us to the large number in the

[2:03:20] facilities ma maintenance position which is moving that wreck admin position into

[2:03:25] facility maintenance. And then it is also the addition of the facility

[2:03:30] superintendent.

[2:03:38] And our next slide just takes a look at um

[2:03:43] general fund and the a 4% increase in operating expenses. Again, a lot of that

[2:03:50] is just related to uh the the different things um you know the different cost

[2:03:57] increases uh going on across the board uh for those different facilities. So

[2:04:02] pretty nominal at 4%.

[2:04:06] And now >> now

[2:04:10] » question. >> Yes.

[2:04:12] » Um Garrett, city manager Lindberg, what's the

[2:04:19] tenative plans looking out beyond the remodel of uh police and city hall for

[2:04:24] the old youth garage space or prior youth youth garage space? Do we have

[2:04:30] conversations with anybody looking out I guess 28 forward possibly?

[2:04:36] » Uh I guess I have a couple thoughts. Um uh the first is uh thank you for

[2:04:41] everyone's patience. That particular facility has been instrumental in

[2:04:45] helping us manage the transition of the phases as we u you know police is going

[2:04:50] to be taking over a large portion of that as we go into phase two. Um but um

[2:04:56] our our one of the next things we'll be doing in a few years is uh Mark is going

[2:05:01] to be helping us to better understand what uh the maintenance facility needs

[2:05:06] and uh are with the programming there um and the potential

[2:05:12] uh how we manage all the different buildings that we're in and whatnot. So

[2:05:15] that may have an influence on it. Um, as far as programming and whatnot, uh, we

[2:05:21] are are ready and open to, uh, considering different groups coming in

[2:05:26] there, uh, once we feel comfortable that we've done all the study that we need to

[2:05:30] do. And it wouldn't, um, it would be okay to bring them in and then, uh, have

[2:05:35] them be able to be in there for a period of time without saying, "Oh, guess what?

[2:05:39] Sorry. Um, this isn't going to work right now." So,

[2:05:43] » um, >> so, one last question. Uh, since the

[2:05:47] police department's going to move in there, uh, have you put together the

[2:05:51] police department band to play on stage [laughter] up here,

[2:05:55] » council member Keely, I believe it's the vehicles are moving over there.

[2:05:59] [laughter] >> And they pulled the sound system out.

[2:06:01] » Yeah, right. >> I heard their name was the blazing

[2:06:05] sirens.

[2:06:11] [cough and clears throat]

[2:06:14] » Okay. >> All right. My wife peakedked out

[2:06:15] clearly. All right. Good evening, mayor, council members.

[2:06:19] » Here we go. The most fun budget that you will see tonight.

[2:06:23] » Our team. Uh, so this is really what I consider your stage crew, right? This is

[2:06:26] the crew that works behind the scenes every day to make sure normal happens

[2:06:29] here in the city of Burnsville. Whether it be the transportation system, safe

[2:06:32] and reliable drinking water, conveyance of waste water, natural resources,

[2:06:37] parks, and the engineering. One of the things that Chief Smith

[2:06:41] brought up I think is really important to just be aware of is when you look

[2:06:44] down our fleet sewer and um park superintendent um they oversee 13. So

[2:06:51] our park main superintendent in our streets actually have 13 direct reports

[2:06:55] which I think is just an interesting as you look at this structure doesn't quite

[2:06:58] do justice to um just how impressive uh the job is and and trying to coordinate

[2:07:03] the chaos that is dayto-day here. As I said, uh fundamentally we operate

[2:07:09] and maintain infrastructure. We're looking at doing sustainable development

[2:07:12] enhancements. And when I say sustainable development, that's not just like

[2:07:15] environmentally, that's financially sustainable. And are we building with

[2:07:18] maintenance in mind? Are we thinking about long-term cost implications of

[2:07:21] everything that we're doing? And then really again continuing to emphasize

[2:07:25] just enhancing the culture within the public works department. Um because at

[2:07:30] the end of the day, our people are who take care of the community. So what are

[2:07:32] we doing for them to best serve the community?

[2:07:38] As we look at the the group again, we're making normal happen here in the city.

[2:07:42] As in putting together this budget, we prioritized really those current

[2:07:46] services and maintenance of what we have. You're going to see a lot of

[2:07:48] investments in technology and infrastructure. And the important thing

[2:07:51] is especially as we talk about the water treatment plant is those um projects

[2:07:56] have to be sequenced in order to be done. And so just a ton of thought went

[2:08:00] into what is the order to be smart in how we're making the investments to not

[2:08:04] undo anything that was previously in the way but also deliver the critical

[2:08:09] services that we have to do that. Uh that said our approach will continue to

[2:08:13] mature as we continue to leverage data. So a lot of the capital studies you've

[2:08:16] seen we've operationalized that data. We're using that to gather more data.

[2:08:21] And so as staff gets better at at leveraging the information we're

[2:08:24] gathering, that'll just continue to inform uh future actions.

[2:08:30] As we talk about our achievement and challenges, um we have completed a lot

[2:08:35] of capital studies which have been timeconuming. We are leveraging

[2:08:39] technology to gather more useful information as I touched on. We are

[2:08:42] expanding the use of electronic processes both internal and customerf

[2:08:46] facing for external. Our team, I think, is definitely starting to hit their

[2:08:50] momentum. Um, going through the different budget softwares over the last

[2:08:54] few years. Jeff next to me is the deputy is basically our budget guru and who

[2:08:59] knows this pretty much forwards, backwards, and inside out. Um, we made

[2:09:04] significant gains with just improving the services to the public, but we also

[2:09:08] acknowledge the fact the public wants more and there's a cost for that and

[2:09:12] trying to strike that balance um will be a never- ending challenge. Then

[2:09:16] obviously as you well know when it comes to infrastructure the cheapest thing we

[2:09:19] can do is talk about it. When we actually start doing it it's expensive

[2:09:22] and those costs are rising. So again I touched on we have inflation uh tariffs

[2:09:27] have hit us on some of some of the products we use. Obviously just the

[2:09:31] normal costs are increasing separate from inflation of just more stuff's

[2:09:35] breaking as it gets older. Uh that's our team is definitely engaged and they have

[2:09:40] some really good ideas and some of those ideas do come with a cost.

[2:09:43] So, as we look at that team as a whole, we have 76 full-time staff authorized.

[2:09:48] We currently have 74 slots filled. I want to do note we have three trainee

[2:09:52] positions that are year round. Those are full. And then also of interest, we

[2:09:56] actually at our peak have 65 seasonal staff that work for us at the peak of

[2:10:01] the summer, >> which is basically an 82% increase in

[2:10:04] the staffing during that peak time in the in the middle of summer. And so, um,

[2:10:10] just again, kind of out of sight, out of mind, but we have a lot of people out

[2:10:13] there every day serving the community. >> Yeah, I see them.

[2:10:17] » Yeah, that's good. Uh, here's just a summary

[2:10:20] of all the capital plans and studies that have been completed uh over the

[2:10:24] last two two and a half years. So, now we're going to jump into the

[2:10:29] budget numbers. Um, budget guru Jeff will definitely answer any detailed

[2:10:35] questions you have. I don't know how much you may go through this line by

[2:10:38] line or field any questions. I can kind of just go through it quick and if you

[2:10:43] have more questions, let me know. So, increase to contracted landscaping. We

[2:10:46] have a number of areas that are maintained in the city. Those costs are

[2:10:49] going up. So, this is informed by literally quotes we've gotten from our

[2:10:52] vendors. Salt material costs are going up because they have to get shipped in.

[2:10:57] Um, irrigation systems, rebuilds and replacement, basically they have a shelf

[2:11:02] life. They're breaking. uh the temporary and seasonal wages that

[2:11:06] increase is to match our pay structure. So it's not a proposed increase in pay.

[2:11:12] It's just making sure the alignment of budget and the expenses.

[2:11:17] The contracted services actually just a range of things in support of normal

[2:11:20] park operations. The additional three traffic signal painting is following

[2:11:24] onto the traffic signal study. Um just trying to get caught up on some of the

[2:11:30] uh signals that are looking a little painful out there. And then the bottom

[2:11:33] one's a pavement management service. Basically, this is a a pavement software

[2:11:36] that would help us dynamically plan and budget for road construction. So, right

[2:11:42] now it's it's a time consuming process. This would very much streamline the way

[2:11:47] we gather data, process data, and run different modeling scenarios. It also

[2:11:52] includes actually rating of the pavement on a regular basis. So, it would there

[2:11:55] would be an offset in costs. Mark, you know, I see a lot of seasonal

[2:12:01] workers and you said there's 65. >> That's correct.

[2:12:05] » And you only have 40,000

[2:12:09] budgeted for them. >> Um, so, mayor, this question, this line

[2:12:14] is just to address the delta between the cost that we have and making sure it's

[2:12:18] in alignment with what we've budgeted for expense.

[2:12:20] » Okay. It's not your >> it's not the full thing. It's just we've

[2:12:22] looked at the historical trends. We just want to make sure that they okay

[2:12:25] reflecting actions >> because I was thinking

[2:12:29] 65 >> employees 40,000

[2:12:34] » didn't make the math work just the increase mayor. Yeah, because I can look

[2:12:38] at uh at Mike and say, "How much do we pay our seasonal workers?" And he'll

[2:12:43] say, "X." But >> think I got

[2:12:48] » any questions on this one, >> DK?

[2:12:51] » Um, [snorts] do we have a budget for replacing street signs where the sun has

[2:12:56] faded them out where they're hard to read? No,

[2:12:59] » that would just be covered under the general street budget line item

[2:13:02] » for just the one-offs. >> Gotcha.

[2:13:04] » Mark, can you actually It's a great story. we have a a member of the public

[2:13:09] works team who is uniquely signed assigned to street signs. Uh maybe talk

[2:13:14] a little bit about that and and if there are specific requests from the community

[2:13:18] u certainly we're all ears to take those and address those issues if we miss

[2:13:22] something. >> Sometimes I you just drive around you

[2:13:25] see there's like I remember there's one that's it's almost unreadable now it's

[2:13:29] bleached out so bad and I just thought I wonder how long that sign's been facing

[2:13:33] south like maybe 30 years or 40 years. Yeah, councelor McKil. It very much

[2:13:37] depends on the direction, right? North facing signs will last longer. Uh we do

[2:13:41] have a staff member who generally is assigned to to sign maintenance work. So

[2:13:44] I would say just let us know where it is. Uh caveat on that is we only

[2:13:48] responsible for signs in the city right away. So if it's a stop sign facing

[2:13:52] public property, that would be that property owner's responsibility to

[2:13:55] maintain. >> So

[2:13:57] » the street not the street sign like >> name

[2:14:01] grocery store. >> Yeah. Yeah, under state statute, if

[2:14:04] you're entering a road from a driveway, you have to yield the rightway. So, the

[2:14:08] stop sign's additional. So, it' be the private business's responsibility.

[2:14:11] » Yeah, I think there's some of those outside of Cup Foods.

[2:14:16] [clears throat] >> Any other questions on this slide? It's

[2:14:18] going to be hard to go back. So, okay. Um, actually Jeff, you're the resident

[2:14:24] expert with this whole tab. So, uh, water supply plan implementation.

[2:14:31] that's a onetime expense uh to get that into the comprehensive

[2:14:38] plan um being included in the comprehensive plan.

[2:14:43] And then we have a

[2:14:49] water treatment plant condition assessment. We're going to change change

[2:14:53] out our water meters. Um we're going to go from mechanical water meters to

[2:14:58] digital water meters. Uh that has a small uh cost increase for us. Um

[2:15:06] quarry sampling on the to one one time expense. Um it's used for water quality

[2:15:11] in the quarry. Um water treatment chemicals are going up significantly.

[2:15:18] um as we're looking to hopefully

[2:15:24] uh being able to feed another water treatment chemical for radium reduction

[2:15:28] in the next year. Um and then uh

[2:15:36] yeah just uh technology for the water treatment plant. Um,

[2:15:42] there's still some

[2:15:46] manual processes in there where they go and do rounds, take notes, and then go

[2:15:52] back and enter the notes. Um, this would be a technology solution to to uh get

[2:15:59] rid of that process. Another great example of an idea coming from staff of

[2:16:02] hey instead of writing these number down on post-it notes and giving it to this

[2:16:05] other person to go enter it in. Can we just take a tablet enter the number the

[2:16:09] first time then it's in the system and we don't need the multiple chances. I

[2:16:12] think went back to the meter change. Another important thing too and Jeff

[2:16:15] when I say this wrong feel free to correct me is right now it's a

[2:16:17] mechanical read that'll wear out that wears out and so the new meters are a

[2:16:21] little bit different than that with how they measure the flow. So we're hoping

[2:16:24] to get not only quieter but also a longer life.

[2:16:29] And Mark that's city meters >> uh in every property. Yes. City owned

[2:16:35] meter in each property.

[2:16:39] » Uh for the Corey sampling on that is how that information is used to inform how

[2:16:44] we treat the water coming from the surface intake. So that's kind of the

[2:16:48] link there to to the water people see in the homes.

[2:16:53] Any question on the water stuff? Otherwise we have the sewer. All right.

[2:16:57] So sewer. This is just more televising. Right back to you.

[2:17:00] » Yep. Just uh this is just a really it's actually a shift from we break up the

[2:17:06] city into nine sections. So we get televising on

[2:17:13] all the city once every nine years. Um um so that's just a shift to put that in

[2:17:19] place. Um and then Washborne Avenue Railroad

[2:17:24] crossing. we're the railroad showed up this year and said, "Hey, this railroad

[2:17:29] is not doing good. We need you to replace the crossing. Here's your cost."

[2:17:32] And I said, "Well, that's not quite how that's going to work. We're going to

[2:17:35] need to budget it in the future." And so, we were able to convince them to

[2:17:38] push it off a year. So, basically, the city has to pay everything related to

[2:17:42] the road crossing of the railroad track. How is it that they can come to us and

[2:17:47] say, "Hey, this is what it costs." When we try to get them to make changes

[2:17:52] » because they have a sign in their office that says, "First there was God and then

[2:17:55] there was the railroad." [laughter]

[2:17:59] » I've heard that's true. I don't know if it actually is, but

[2:18:00] » I think that is true. >> That's the way to think about it. So,

[2:18:03] » I tell [clears throat] you, we have tried for years and they just ignore us

[2:18:09] and they don't care. But then they want they they say the

[2:18:14] their railroad crossing isn't >> working and it needs repair and they're

[2:18:19] saying we're going to pay $325,000.

[2:18:24] » Their argument is we're the ones that need the road, not them.

[2:18:27] » Yeah. They passed the law in the 1800s and it's been that way ever since.

[2:18:33] » I know. I get frustrated with it, but >> you are.

[2:18:36] » It is what it is. >> Among friends, mayor. Um, any other

[2:18:39] questions on this slide? >> No.

[2:18:40] » Okay. Uh from a revenue standpoint, I'm going to lead off with some really good

[2:18:45] news. Uh while we were sitting here crunching numbers, we realized we missed

[2:18:50] some revenue in the engineering line. So that number will not be negative

[2:18:53] anymore. >> Yay.

[2:18:55] » It'll [laughter] be positive. Adam's already made that change.

[2:18:59] » Oh, yay. Adam sitting there doing that work.

[2:19:03] » Other than that, you can see I mean it's pretty consistent with where things are

[2:19:08] at um through there. the infrastructure

[2:19:11] total that's a direct connection on what we do for um state state aid eligible

[2:19:16] projects links back to what the revenue is we get from the state. So if we do

[2:19:21] fewer state aid projects then there's a less draw from our state aid account. So

[2:19:26] [snorts]

[2:19:29] » okay >> operating expenses uh I'm just going to

[2:19:32] draw your attention to the bottom which is a 2% increase. Um,

[2:19:38] like I said, we focus on maintaining what we have and really trying not to to

[2:19:43] change services. So, that's really what you see reflected here in the overall

[2:19:46] account. >> There's that street maintenance account.

[2:19:50] » Uh, that's actually back here >> different from ITF.

[2:19:54] » Correct. So, that's this one with a 4% increase.

[2:20:01] [clears throat] >> Oh, nope. That was revenues.

[2:20:05] All right.

[2:20:09] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[2:20:11] » Yeah. >> Nice work, Mark.

[2:20:13] » And um >> is the sewer talibizing channel on

[2:20:17] Comcast or is that something that we can >> Is that like the Eagle

[2:20:22] » Cam license for the the dirty >> sanitary sewer cam?

[2:20:26] » No, but actually in all seriousness, >> I don't know. Speaking of um [laughter]

[2:20:33] speaking of um >> heard of sanator televising, but

[2:20:38] [laughter] who are we televising it to?

[2:20:41] » We have partnered with this program called sewer AI where we upload all of

[2:20:45] our data in all of our video into the system and that helps do the condition

[2:20:49] rating of it. It also allows our access later. So if we have a question about a

[2:20:53] location on a pipe, we can go into the program, go back and actually pull the

[2:20:56] video of that location. Um whether it be a question about a connection or an

[2:21:01] issue. If there's a sewer backup, for example, we can go back and look at the

[2:21:05] history of that section of the >> It's a recording, right? Finish that.

[2:21:09] » Yep. >> Okay.

[2:21:13] » You need to finish on a humorous note, don't you?

[2:21:17] » Okay. >> And um Jeff is not here for

[2:21:22] » for community development. And so is there anything else? Um, city manager

[2:21:30] member, >> I don't believe so, madame mayor. We

[2:21:32] will uh have the community development department present in September with the

[2:21:36] rest of the departments. >> Okay. If there's nothing else to come

[2:21:40] before the body this evening, we stand adjourned. Yay. Fortnite.

Budget Work Session - 10 Aug 2026

Transcript