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7:00, we’ll call the Savage City Council meeting to order. Roll call. Mayor Kelly here. Council members Alford here. Coughlin here. Crakes here. Johnson here. Let’s stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands.

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One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. We’ll move on to public comments. The mayor and the City Council believe public comments are a necessary component to elected governance with this principle in mind.

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We welcome individuals to come to the podium to inform us on an issue or provide feedback or concerns about matters in Savage. Please come to the podium, provide your name and address. We ask that you limit your comments to three minutes. Is there anyone in the audience who wants to make a public comment? Seeing none, we’ll move on. Um. Additions, modifications and approval of the agenda. Anything from council staff? None from staff.

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Mayor. Um. I will entertain a motion. Make a motion to approve the agenda. Second motion by Johnson, seconded by Crakes. All in favor, say aye. Aye., aye. Opposed. Motion carried. Proclamations. We have one proclamation this evening. The National Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation. I know I have Gail here. Thank you for being here.

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Whereas across the country, communities will celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th through October 15th, 2026. And whereas the city of Savage is home to people of all backgrounds, including a vibrant Hispanic and Latino community that enriches our city through culture, tradition and community involvement.

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And whereas, National Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15th to coincide with the independence anniversaries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, followed by Mexico’s independence on September 16th, Chili’s on September 18th and Belize’s on September 21st. And whereas our community depends on making sure that all feel welcome here.

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Hispanic and Latino residents are a vital part of our community, bringing fresh perspectives, perspectives and new ideas, starting businesses and contributing to the vibrant diversity that we all value. And whereas regardless of our heritage, we are residents united in our efforts to build a stronger community by recognizing the contributions that Hispanic and Latino individuals make to create a vibrant culture and a growing

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economy. We make our community more prosperous and more inclusive to all who call it home. And now, therefore, I, Christine El Kelly, mayor of the City of Savage, hereby proclaim September 15th through October 15th, 2026 as National Hispanic Heritage Month in the City of Savage and encourage the business community, civic groups, other units of

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government and community institutions to celebrate the rich history, culture and contributions of the Hispanic and Latino community. You have to take the picture. All right. Next we have a presentation on the torch. Run. Chief Jewell. Good evening. Mayor, Council members, staff and attendees in the audience.

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First, I would like everyone to note that we have some very special guests in our audience tonight. Members of the Special Olympics organization and the athletes themselves. Thank you all. I greatly appreciate you being here tonight.

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At this time, I would like to invite Sergeant Dallas Static to the podium while he is making his way up here. I would like to ask you to direct your attention to your video monitors to see a video. Our wonderful communications team put together to commemorate Sergeant Statics. Activities and accomplishments. While participating in the Special Olympics torch Run final leg tour. My name is Dallas. , isn’t it? Dallas, talk to us.

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I was nominated to represent Minnesota in the Law Enforcement torch run for Special Olympics. We started out our journey in Chicago, where we lit the torch from the eternal flame of hope at Soldier Field. From there, we went to Los Angeles, a Sacramento, Seattle, Wichita, Dallas, Atlanta, Nashville, and finally ended up in Minnesota.

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That very same flame from Chicago three weeks ago is here today and is gonna end up at the stadium at the USA games. Welcome to the 2026 Special Olympics USA games. All in all, with the torch runs, all our running and walking through the airports to and from the ceremonies.

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I logged 180 miles on my feet and 381,000 steps. And. There was a lot. The person that I connected with most was just in taped. Justin Tate is a Arkansas Special Olympics athlete, and I had the privilege of being his roommate for two and a half weeks while we traveled around the United States.

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I have been involved with Special Olympics and leading in powerlifting, track and field, softball, basketball, floorball, and swimming. Throughout this journey, I have had many doors open for me that I would have never dreamed of. And I have made many, many lifelong friends..

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I get to know him on a one on one basis by the end of it. I was his big brother. We have a group chat set up and we’re still even yesterday, sending messages back and forth. It’s already invited me and my girlfriend down to Arkansas.

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So he’s going to show me the state because I’ve never been down there before. So it’s somebody that I’ll be in contact with and keep in touch with for the rest of my life. Every stop along the way, just into somebody that is just naturally an amazing person, and people are just drawn to him.

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During our very first stop, we went down to the beach and talked with some of the lifeguards down there, and they made a video of him running out, like in Baywatch. And every stop he really likes to take pictures and do the same poses as the statutes.. And on our way to Nashville.

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All of us pulled in to upgrade him first class because he’s never had a first class seat before, and we got off the plane and there were people on the plane that had heard that he was a Special Olympics athlete. That was here for the torch run.

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People were coming up to him asking for autographs and pictures and stuff like that. It was a super cool experience, but it just shows like what an incredible person he is. You know, the law Enforcement Torch run is the charity of choice for law enforcement.

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It’s what we as an organization have decided that we are going to support and do, even in this role, on a daily basis. We interact with a lot of people with intellectual disabilities, and getting to meet these athletes and get to know them better makes us better at our job. Getting to see them as people who have incredible abilities, instead of just looking at their disabilities is huge.

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Getting to do this or you are with somebody for days and weeks on end and get to know them intimately on a one on one basis. There’s nothing like it, and it’s one of the most rewarding experiences of not only my career, but my life as well. You need to do this so. Torch run. You just hope. Talk.

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It is said that a picture. Is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. But this video is truly worth a million. I would like to thank our communications team. Anthony Miller, Anna Brown, and director Katie Bankston for their work on this incredible presentation.

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Sergeant static to you. I would simply like to say thank you. The level of commitment and dedication you have shown to this incredible organization is unprecedented. During my entire time as chief and quite frankly, during my time in law enforcement. You dedicated yourself to this incredible organization.

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For three weeks, utilizing your own vacation time and personal finances to make it happen. You moved almost every day to a different location across America, including both coasts and locations in the north and in the south. You spent every night in a different hotel and ate every meal in a different location.

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You made incredible friendships and built an incredible number of connections within our Special Olympics community. More importantly, you literally changed lives through your contributions for all of this. On behalf of the Savage Police Department in the City of Savage, I would like to present you with this certificate of appreciation for your unprecedented level of community engagement and community cause. Now, about.

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I would like to make note that due to his contributions, the Special Olympics bestowed upon Sergeant Static with an actual torch run, torch reel, movie quality torch that he will have forever. And it’s quite an honor. So we appreciate that.

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Now, mayor, Council members, I’d like to invite you in front, along with our athletes and our members of the special Olympic organizations for a photo to commemorate this event. Come on up here. The steep slope over here, jerking. We already had to do that. We did that one. So it was a few years ago. All right. Thank you.

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Perfect. We are out of the torch in the middle here. Let’s go. Hand on the side. I’ll stand in here with you. Oh, my. And if we come to the. I’ll stand up. All right. Right. You see it? Okay. Okay. Three smiles. All right. Awesome. Thank you everyone. Oh! Yeah. Goodbye. Thank you.

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All right. One of the cool things I get to do being mayor is I end up sitting in an office on Tuesday doing paperwork, that kind of stuff. And I still remember when Officer Static had to come into my office and introduce me to a new officer.

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But he was so excited to share with me that he was going to be doing the torchlight run, and we got a chance to talk about it a little bit, and how he was using his personal time to do this, but he was so excited all the different places he’d be going and that kind of stuff.

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And I just think I am so excited to be a part of a community that this is something that we want to recognize, that this is something that we want to make sure our officer can take that time off and do something like this, because it’s really important.

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It’s important for this community and it’s important for the staff here. And it’s just important for the state. So thank. You. All right. We’ll move on to the less exciting stuff. The minutes approve the minutes of the regular city Council meeting of September 8th, 2026. Any additions or corrections? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion. Motion to approve the minutes.

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Second, you can say motion by Coughlin, seconded by Alford. All in favor. Say aye. I oppose motion carried. All right. We’ll move on to the approve the minutes of the City Council work session meeting of September 14th, 2026. Any additions or corrections? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion. A motion to approve the minutes.

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Second motion by Alford, seconded by Coughlin. All in favor, say aye. Aye aye. Opposed. Motion carried. Public hearings. There are none this evening. The consent agenda. These are routine items of business that are collectively presented for approval through a single motion.

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A council member may request that an item be pulled from the consent agenda for separate discussion and action under personnel, adopt a resolution approving personnel actions for the City of Savage to adopt a resolution accepting the city administrator’s performance. Review under Engineering and Utilities.

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Adopt a resolution receiving plans and specifications, and authorize advertisement for advertisement bids for the maintenance of City Pond 21, Dash five, and 21-6. Located east of Vernon Avenue between West Hidden Valley Drive and 140th Street West City.

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Project number 2053, under police and fire, adopt a resolution approving the renewal of the grant agreement for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety for a DWI Traffic Safety Officer, and to adopt a resolution approving a charitable gambling premises Permit application submitted by Ducks Unlimited. Frozen North chapter 271 to conduct gambling at Whiskey Inferno under finance. Adopt a resolution to approve claims totaling $1,921,912.94 under general adopt a resolution approving the change in Operating Manager for the Dan Patch Bar and Restaurant located at 12375 Princeton Avenue in Savage.

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Is there anything anybody wants to pull for separate discussion and or action? Seeing nothing, I will entertain a motion for approval. I’ll make a motion to approve the consent agenda as read. Second motion by Johnson, seconded by Crakes. All in favor, say aye. Aye aye. Motion carried. General business.

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Consider adopting a resolution to approve the preliminary 2026 tax levy. General fund budget and establish the truth and taxation. Public hearing date. Matt. I’m. Looking for you on the audience over here. All right, Matt, I’m going to turn it over to you. Good evening, Mayor and Council.

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So tonight we’re going to go through the 2027 preliminary Max general Fund budget and property tax levy. So looking at the agenda for tonight, we’ll quick have an overview of the budget process timeline, the increased guidelines that were given to departments, the drivers for the 2027 general fund budget, some background information and the fiscal impacts will review the preliminary 2027 property

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tax levy. Go through what the next steps are, and at that point I’ll open it up to all of you. If there are any questions. And then after that, I’ll turn it back to you for action.

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So looking at the budget process timeline, the budget season for staff starts in mid to late April every single year, and it runs all the way through to 31st. City Council gets its first sneak peek at the 20 or the next year’s budget in July, when the city administrator and I present to you all of the department requests for the general fund in July and August.

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What we’re working on is developing what this preliminary tax levy and budget is going to look like, coming up with what those impacts are going to be, while also receiving more information from Scott County and other partners on some of the impacts that may come in, such as fiscal disparities.

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We’re still waiting on what the police and fire state Aids aid amounts are going to be for the next calendar year, so on and so forth. So really what we’re doing here tonight is just exactly as it says, setting the preliminary maximum levy. After tonight, we can decrease the levy. We can’t increase it.

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I’m fairly confident we’ll be able to decrease it after tonight with information that’s still outstanding. Looking at the budget increase guidelines, as we have done since I have started with the City of Savage, uh, staff has been instructed to keep their budgets at current year levels.

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So in this case, 2026 levels for 2027, anything that needs to be increased needs to be documented and needs to be put into one of the three priorities. Priority one is going to be those that are unavoidable in nature. So software contract increases where we’re in multi-year agreements, um, utilities, insurance, so on and so forth.

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Priority level two are those that are directly supporting city Council directives or strategic plan action items. We do have a couple of those tonight, one being the different medians. Um, and then priority three are those that are enhancements to service levels or things that create efficiencies within departments.

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Key drivers for the 2027 budget, not necessarily in a particular order. Uh, first up, we have wage increases, as you’ve heard me say time and time again, wages make up over two thirds of our budget. We are a service provider. We are not a manufacturing company. We don’t really sell anything outside of water. Uh, and booze. Um.

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But for the most part, we are here as a service provider. We’re providing public safety. We’re providing the roads you drive on. We’re making sure those roads are clear. We’re ensuring that when you turn on your tap, water flows out. And when you flush your toilet, the sewer goes out.

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Um, so given that wages make up the overwhelming majority of our budget, second on the list, we have our health insurance premiums. Health partners has informed us that they will be increasing our premiums by 11.5 to 12% for 2027, which is honestly a lot more reasonable than what we had preliminarily been told.

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So we are quite happy with that number. Third on the list are the priority one increases. So you see a total of just over $500,000 there between the recurring and the one time expenses.

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The one time expenses are automatically removed in the next calendar year after they have been used, so that they do not get baked in and buried into future year budgets. We make sure that we are running as lean and transparent as possible. Full list of every request that was made is included in the packet under attachment four. There’s ten pages. The first five pages are the items that are included in the preliminary budget.

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The last five pages are those that were requested and not included in the budget. After that, we have the phased axon levy. So or sorry, the dedicated levies. These levies are being put forward in an effort to reduce and manage the city’s need for bonding for various equipment, and IT infrastructure equipment items that have a year shorter

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than five or have a useful life shorter than five years, really are not items that we should ever be bonding for. We should not be paying unnecessary interest on those items. IT equipment.

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With the ever evolving world of IT, and the shorter and shorter lifespans as the technology develops, it’s getting to a point where we can no longer bond for those items either. So we need to start building up reserves and just permanent funding streams that go into replacing this infrastructure that goes behind it. Um, after that, we have our phased axon levy.

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This is the continued implementation of the total cost for the police camera, body cam, squad cams, uh, building security cameras. The system camera system and video storage system. We’ve been phasing this in.

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It’s a four year plan, essentially, where we’re using public safety aid that we received in 2023, slowly tapering off that as we’ve expanded it and increasing the levy so that we aren’t seeing a full $250,000 hit at one time for one specific system. Then we have our add to staff request. So this year, in the preliminary maximum budget, we have four total positions. One is an engineering services or engineering services manager.

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This position is, uh, included in an effort to provide greater support and redundancy for our city engineer. And then the other three are three full time firefighters. This is a continued implementation and investment into the city’s transition to a full time fire model that started in 2020.

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Looking at the expenditure comparisons by category again, wages and benefits make up the overwhelming majority of our budget. Therefore, you are going to see that those are the items that are having some of the more substantial increases. Also, what you’re seeing on this chart is the transfers out line item that has admittedly gone up $1 million or is proposed to go up $1 million for 2027.

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We’re going to get to what that full list is. This is not Matt hiding money and burying money somewhere. It all has a designated purpose. It’s just the legal authority to levy the funds is in the general fund. And in order to support these, the expenditures are in another fund.

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So the money needs to move around something before I move on, actually, to mention two is the wages and benefits in these slides do include those for new positions.

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And we also have included in the personnel budget as it currently sits a few positions that are in what I refer to as vacant and funded status, meaning we have either received resignations or retirement notices from staff that may or may or may not be here. Um, but we are actively trying to fill those roles.

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As those roles are filled, we will refine them so that they reflect the actual insurance elections that the employee elects, not the maximum that is in here right now. Same information, just in a different chart. Um, looking at it by major functions. So again, you’re going to see public safety under police is increasing by more than everything else other than transfers out. This is largely due to again police is one of our largest if not the largest department.

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And this organization being a service provider, those wages are going to have a massive impact under fire. Again, we have three new positions being proposed in this budget that’s making up the overwhelming increase in here. Um, as we look at our expenditure percentage by major function, public safety is making up 50%.

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Note public safety is one of the primary services that we are here to provide to the community, followed by streets. So nothing outside of the ordinary for a city our size that you’re seeing 51, 50% in public safety. As promised, here’s the full documented list of what that 1.

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1 million $219,000 of transfers out is going to support. So, for example, we have our opioid fund support, dedicated equipment levy for the full amount that we’ve included and built up over the three years. Our IT levy that Dufferin Medians item that we talked about.

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That’s that priority to um, we have a couple capital items that were not included in our original capital vehicle and equipment replacement schedule. These are extra things that have been added for 2027 as per request, and discussions with City council. And then we have some deferred maintenance items that are there for the depot and city hall and the police department. Lastly on that list, the $435,000.

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What this amount is again, is not Matt just shuffling money around for the fun of it. What we were able to do with the, uh, declining debt service levy needs that we have for 2027? What we’re doing is reallocating that and repurposing it to use it temporarily. And keyword is temporarily for deferred maintenance needs as the need for debt service goes up again.

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And we need to have more money funding it, this money will go first to that. The goal is to make it so that when we have an increasing debt service levy demand, we don’t have to increase the overall property tax levy to support that, while also achieving some of the short term needs that we have.

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This is a chart that is just showing us where our projected debt service is as we currently sit. So what this chart includes is through 2031, the current CIP, as we have scheduled 2032 through the rest of the chart, is taking very conservative estimates based on the projects and programs that

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we’re currently engaged in. So our street replacements and our equipment replacements, what is not in here and is something that we’re going to continue to discuss over the next year, is parks and facilities, the deferred maintenance items that go along with that and what can and cannot be bonded for what’s

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smart to bond for and what’s maybe not the best or not in the best interest of the state of bond for. So that will be coming. It’s not baked into the levy as we currently sit, but just for reference as to what our debt service levy is currently proposed or projected to be doing in the coming

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years. As we’re seeing some of that, where we can be capturing it in the short term. Next, we have our levy composition. So big Scary Workbook that we’re going to try and make easier. Ultimately, the goal of this worksheet is to try to show in as transparent of a format, everything that’s happening.

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So in order to read this worksheet, which is included in the attachments, to make it so you can blow it up bigger, um, on the left hand side you have your current year tax levy. So this is our 2026, our base that we’re starting with.

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As we move over, we have what our new efforts are or kind of the adds to the budgets or adjustments to the budgets underneath each one of those. Then we have the individual impact and cumulative impact of all of those items to show you where is the 7.

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24 levy increase coming from? Um, and if we were to take out one slice or one item, say it’s the, uh, staff request, what would happen if we took out the $541,000? As a result, you can take out 2.03% from that 7.24 that we have listed on the screen.

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That’s how this is designed to work, to show how it can be a little bit more dynamic based on the decisions we make as we continue our conversations throughout the year. Looking at our tax impact by estimated market value.

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So if what this chart is showing here is if somebody is living in a home between 250,000 and $800,000, you can expect to see the annual increase in your property taxes go up by 45 to $175, for the total year, or $3.77 to $14.60 for the month. This is only the city tax side.

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This is not taking into account the county, the school districts, or any other special taxing districts that we do not have a say or any control over. Something else to note market values and market value changes are not something that the city has any say or play in. These are determined by the Scott County Assessor’s Office, not in House of the City of Savage. We do not have our own assessing department here.

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What we can control are the city tax rates and the estimated city taxes. Based on the decisions that we make year over year. Looking at how these numbers impact homes and how many homes they’re going to impact.

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This is data from Scott County to, say, the number of homes that fall in each one of these different value bands, as I refer to them. So if you take a look just at the number of houses that fall within 400 to $499,000, there’s going to be 2834 homes that will see an estimated annual increase between 78 to $100 for the year, or $6.50 to $8.33 for the year.

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Again, this does not take into account if somebody’s property value moves between value bands. We can’t control that. It’s not something where I can necessarily calculate the metric for every. We got 10,300 homes. I can’t calculate out 10,000 scenarios. I can, but it’s not the best use of my time. Um, so this is the best we’re able to do at this point.

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But those are other factors that will play into it. It’s not only what we do and what the other taxing districts do, but it’s also what happened to the value of your home. If your home value goes up, your property taxes are going to go up again.

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Outside of city control, looking at our historical levy and city tax amounts. So yes, we are seeing our city tax amount increase and our levy increase. Keep in mind the services that are being given and provided to the community today are pretty different from what we had in 2015, namely, the full time fire model that we now have.

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We have added a substantial number of full time staff. With that comes substantial cost and investment into the overall organization. Looking at our historical median home value and our city tax rate right now, our city median home is sitting at about $426,100, and the city projected city tax rate for 2027. With the current budget design is 44.

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56%, so this is a 2% increase over what we had in 2026. Admittedly, Minnesota property taxes are horrendously complicated, far over complicated than what they need to be. However, there are resources beyond just listening to me.

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Um, the League of Minnesota Cities, the Minnesota Department of Revenue have great resources to explain how all these different functions work. They are trusted sites that people can go to to get factual information, not just necessarily what all the talking heads on everybody’s TV say. These have guaranteed facts. Next steps that we’re looking at. So tonight the City Council will adopt the preliminary maximum levy. I shouldn’t say you will.

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You have the option to adopt the preliminary maximum levy again after this. The levy can only be decreased not increased, going forward through the remaining fall months. The budget work sessions will consist of us bringing forward all the budgets for every other piece of our organization.

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So our enterprise funds for utilities, our liquor fund, our sports center, and so on and so forth, we’ll continue to refine and reduce the tax levy impact. And the general fund in general operating levy as we can, and we will provide city council with updates as we go through the formal public hearing will be held on Monday, December 7th.

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And that’s another thing that we’re establishing with this action tonight at that meeting is when public comments are welcome. It’s an open public hearing that people can come and discuss and speak their minds. Then on Monday, December 21st, will be our final meeting of the year.

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And at that meeting, City Council will adopt the final 2027 budget and tax levy. With that, that was 20 minutes to go through. A lot of information. Are there any questions that the City Council may have? Well, I’m going to start, um, just from a practical standpoint, right. We talk about setting this levy amount and then we can’t go under it. What we set this levy amount.

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And then the county will issue the tax statements. And then everybody knows what the proposed levy is going to be for all of these taxing jurisdictions. And then we have the public hearing that people can come in and comment on that if they so choose.

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And then we set the actual levy and the fact that we can’t set a levy higher than what we’re doing tonight is because we’re not playing games, right? I mean, it’s not you’re not going to be able to come in and make comments. And then the city council goes, oh, nope, there’s another $10 million that we forgot to levy for.

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And, you know, ha ha. Um, you know, so this that’s why it’s tonight is the maximum amount you will know what the maximum amount is for your, um, city taxes, um, when you get that statement. And then if you want, you are absolutely invited on December 7th to come in for public comment and comment on.

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And again, we can only impact the city Levy. Um, but. Okay. Um. And then we’ll take that input. Input at that time. But Matt, you made a comment about a couple of things, and I just want to talk about one of them. And this is a practical matter to the assessments.

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Everybody would have gotten their assessments, their value statements from the county in the spring. That’s the opportunity to challenge your assessment value. We have, as you said, the city has no control over what those amounts are. And that’s something that you do with the county.

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And again, we’ll talk about it on December 7th if people are here, but it’s a it’s a weird, complicated process where the value of your home is set at a different time versus what the levy amount is. Um, and the, the challenging of those amounts is done at different hearings in different ways and different jurisdictions and all that kind of stuff.

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But getting back to some of the, um, specific items, we talked about the axon Levy, that’s, that’s a, an expense that’s going to be continuing into the future. Correct. What we’re doing is we’re just adding that smaller amount or trying to incorporate that whole amount over a smaller or a longer period of time.

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So it’s generally being incorporated into the budget. But this is not an expense that’s going away. Correct. Um. At anytime soon. Right. Chief. You guys can make it go away. We can do all. Kinds of things. That makes your job a little more challenging. But. Council, this is the last year.

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2027 is the last year of the axon. And chief and his staff are actually getting ready to issue the RFP later in 2027 for 2028 to renew it. Minor correction it’s the last year of our current services agreement that we have. It’s not the last year of increasing the levy funding for it. Yes. All right.

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Um, and you would also made a comment about that. This levy includes the full wages and benefits for these positions that we think maybe are open at the moment or that we might be filling. Um, but if we fill those positions come January, we’re already going to have set that levy.

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Um, including that higher amount. And what’s going to happen, assuming no other expenses, nothing unexpected coming in. That extra money would actually just then go into our general fund levy that sits there. That helps to make sure that we pay our bills and that we have that balance. Yep.

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Essentially any surplus that we have, should we have it will go into our general fund fund balance and help our overall reserves. Something to note, we do not budget contingency in the city of Savage.

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We have not since I have been here where that may come into play in the future is as our expenditures rise and our cash balance stays flat, our fund balance ratio is going to naturally decline, not because we’re spending our fund balance, but because we are not increasing our cash reserves. That’s, again, further discussions for us to have at future times, not something that’s proposed to change for 2027, but discussions to have in 28 and forward.

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In math, if we budget high just to be conservative. But if we’re able to fill these positions between now and December 21st in the person takes a lower benefit package, will reflect that in the budget, and that will help us reduce that. Is correct. Where will I be? Yep.

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For the new positions, though, we would not be hiring until January at the. Earliest. Correct? All right, that’s my list. Any questions from the City Council? As you mentioned, we first got a peek at this in July, and we have absolutely had lots of conversations between the five of us and staff.

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But any questions? All right. So then I think, um. I. I’m going to entertain a motion. I think it’s where. We’re at. I’ll make a motion to adopt the resolution approving the preliminary 2027 tax levy. General fund budget as presented, and establish the truth and taxation public hearing date to be on Monday, December 7th.

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It’s wrong in the memo. It’s correct in the resolution. Sorry. What? What’s the December seventh. Or seven? December 7th? Okay. Um, I think it says December 7th. In the memo. It does? Yeah. Oh 7 p.m. in a savage City hall Council chambers. I’ll second that motion. Motion by Craig, seconded by Coughlin. All in favor, say aye.

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Aye aye. Opposed. Motion carried. I assume we don’t need to do. a a roll call, right. I don’t believe. All right. All right. Whoops. There we go. Um, next, provide an update on the highway 13. River Rail and Roads initiative prior to the municipal consent public hearing to be held on October 5th, 2026, saying.

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Good evening. Mayor. Members of the council. Um, thank you for having us tonight. Uh, I do have MnDOT as folks and project management folks is here as well for the project. Uh, a couple of things to note, though. We are giving council an update tonight.

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I know you’re probably thinking it’s going to be the same presentation as a public hearing. Generally it will be, uh, but we wanted to get this information in front of you first. Before that, uh, the overall public meeting. So with that, staff did send out the notice as well. Um, uh, mayor and council member, you should have received a copy as well.

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This was sent out on Friday. Uh, so thank you to communications staff for getting that out, uh, for us. So a lot of heavy lifting there. But we got that out. Should be landing in mailboxes here today or tomorrow for the most part.

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So, um, with that, I’ll introduce Kyle Johnson here with these, with bold and mink. Uh, and then Lisa Daniels with MnDOT, and then Brian, please, as well, uh, both with MnDOT. So I’ll hand this over to them. Uh, I could I’ll be here as well to answer any questions you have, but I’m going to let them present the material tonight. Welcome back. Yeah. Thank you.

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Thanks for having us back. Would you like to see it? Oh. Thank you. Yeah. All right. Today we’re going to provide a project updates ahead of the October 5th. Municipal consent public hearing and answer questions you have about the project. Uh, some recent milestones since the last time we met.

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Uh, we have had the layout approved by MnDOT and the environmental assessment reevaluation has been approved, which is a major milestone for FHWa. Uh, the traffic noise analysis has also been completed, which included a noise wall solicitation, uh, where benefited receptors.

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People who live by their got to vote uh, the walls were voted down in the city of Savage. Uh, we have a visual quality manual that has been completed, uh, that was established over six, uh, Visual quality advisory Committee meetings between June of 2025 and February of 2026.

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And we are currently coordinating with the city on what will be implemented during construction, which is more of a final design item that will be doing over the next several months. There’s also a project animation, draft video completed. Uh, we’re really excited for that to get finalized.

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It shows a fly through of the proposed improvements, which I think will be very beneficial for the public to see kind of what the whole corridor is going to look like in the future. That will be posted on MnDOT website once it’s finalized and shared with city staff. Um, just for a project background, location, standpoint, for those that are watching online are here.

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Uh, trunk highway 13 is separated into three segments. The first segment, segment one, is in the city of Savage, uh, which starts on trunk 13, where the railroad bridge crossing is and extends all the way to the city limits of Savage.

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Uh, that includes access control changes to Quentin and Lynn Avenue, which will go over here in this presentation. Segment two is in the city of Burnsville. Uh, it goes from the city of Burnsville, Western limit to County Road five includes access changes to Chowan Avenue and Washburn Avenue. Segment one and two are being bid together as one project combined. And then segment three is on the other side of 35 W at Nicollet Avenue.

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That’s going to be bid separately as a design build project in November. Uh, this is just a snapshot of the final layout in the city of Savage Limits. I will go through each of these intersections one by one as a project update. Uh, the first intersection is Quentin Avenue.

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Uh, we are converting the at grade signalized intersection to a grade separated interchange. This includes trunk highway 13 going over Quentin Avenue with Quentin Avenue traffic going under access to and from 13. And Quinton will handle be handled by standard interchange ramps.

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Uh, access at 123 and Quentin Avenue is going to convert from, uh, just a standard intersection with stop conditions on two sides to a roundabout, uh, to help move traffic. Uh, this is a visualization underneath the bridge to kind of give you a glimpse at what it would look like, uh, where Quentin goes underneath. Uh, trunk highway 13.

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Uh, as I mentioned, there are visual quality concepts as part of the visual quality manual. Uh, these have been developed and will be kind of vetted out in the future. And we will we’re in further discussions of whether, uh, what parts of this get implemented under our final design contract and what items would be potentially built at a different day under separate contracts.

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This is a visualization of Lynn Avenue. Lynn Avenue will no longer be directly connected to Trunk Highway 13. The access points for that will be shifted to Quentin Avenue, Huntington Avenue, and Chowan Avenue. So we’re just redistributing the access points at Lynn Avenue, uh, to those other intersections.

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Uh, access to and from the ports of Savage, uh, on the north side of Lynn will be from a north frontage road that will be extending and building, uh, for that access. Huntington Avenue will be a new crossing. Uh, that doesn’t exist to date.

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And what that will do, uh, that will provide a connection from the north frontage road to the south frontage road. This will be the road that helps provide the access to the ports of Savage. Uh, it also acts as a westbound, uh, 13 exit ramp to get to the local roadway system.

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And it acts as a way for the local roadway system to get onto westbound 13, as well. And then this is another visualization of that same intersection, uh, from the south, looking north.

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Uh, similar to Quentin Avenue, we do have visual quality concepts built out for these, which again, will just will be working to determine what items get included in our contract and what items are likely bid under a separate contract. For schedule, our municipal consent hearing will be on October 5th. Uh, project lighting is scheduled for February 2nd, 2028, with construction starting in the spring of 2028.

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From a traffic management standpoint, uh, we’ve been advancing our traffic management plans through various committees, and we will maintain at least one traffic lane in each direction on Trunk Highway 13 throughout construction. Uh, one thing to note on that is there will need to be periodic weekend and nighttime closures of 13. Uh, for specific construction activities that can only occur safely under a closure.

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There will be local and regional detours. Uh, will be posted and coordinated with other construction projects in the area. And, uh, construction duration is expected to be three years. Uh, estimated project costs. Uh, we’ve been very successful in gaining, uh, project funding for this project, but there still is a funding gap that we’re looking to close.

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Uh, right now we are estimating that to be approximately $20 million for construction and $25 million for the total project cost. We do have an outstanding funding request for an infra grant for 34.8 million, which would help close that funding gap if we were successful. We’ve had several recent funding wins.

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Uh, one of note is Scott County’s got a 2026 bond funds for $3 million. Uh, if the funding gap is not closed, we will need to evaluate cost saving opportunities. Uh, which we will evaluate as we get closer to that letting date. For the cost, uh, estimation that we’re going to provide here.

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Uh, just want to explain what things are included and what things are not included in that. Uh, what is included in the city cost is city utility relocations that are not eligible for the funding sources that we have. What is included in those project costs is lighting per adopted city standards, uh, colored concrete, ornamental fence abutment aesthetics and wall aesthetics.

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Uh, items not included in the project costs at this time are landscaping, city monument sign, directional signage, irrigation, and any aesthetics costs that are above the cost. Participation allowances. Uh, cost participation is set by MnDOT policy. This policy was recently updated in February of 2026.

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Uh, items that could increase the cost or change the cost presented to date would be if there were additional costs or requests to modify the frontage roads and the north or south side of 13, and municipal utility work that is ineligible. Uh, that’s added to the project, uh, from when we made our last cost estimate.

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Any items considered enhancements above the original construction scope, and then any bridge or wall aesthetics that are above the cost, participation allowances. Uh, in the estimate that we’ve put together, the total estimated city of salvage cost is $24,500. And that is your update. Any questions.

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I have, I have a few, um, you had talked about the design contracts or items under a separate contract. What does that mean? Yeah. Good question. So landscaping for example, landscaping is typically done as a separate contract from roadway construction projects because there’s a long warranty period for the plant establishments. So that is often something that is done separately.

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So um, that would be an example. The monument sign, uh, like street scaping and uh, items like the monument sign, uh, could be done as a separate contract as well. So that’s what I mean by, uh, separate contracts. So is that something that would end up falling on the city to cover that funding gap.

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or there’s not a gap there that that’s still included in the funding that we have for the project. It would just be bid separate out. I just am trying to figure. This out. Yeah. No, that’s a good question.

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So our our current cost estimates that we are reflecting for the base roadway construction project do not include those uh, whether how they are funded and whether they are future funding is still under discussion. Um, so there aren’t, to best of my knowledge, not any planned projects at MnDOT for a landscaping plan. Uh, to supplement this project. Those are items that, warrant further discussion in the future. So is that included in the 20 million funding gap or.

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That’s over and above that. That would be over and above the $20 million funding gap. And something that might fall on the city or county. Um, I would say, yeah, I think it could potentially fall under the city or county. Is that something that typically falls on the local jurisdiction in these projects? They are typically they.

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Are given that this is State Highway 13, right? I mean, this is not we’re not talking about local road improvements. This is State Highway 13. So I just want to make sure that I understand that. Landscaping plans are are kind of an optional enhancement above and beyond.

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Sometimes, uh, MnDOT will do those as part of the project or do it as a separate project and fund it. Sometimes, uh, if they don’t have the funding available, they will not. The city monument sign, I think, typically is not, uh, included.

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So those those would be items if we got it, if we were fully funded and we were to be successful on that grant. And if that became eligible for funding under that, that would be something we’d be in discussions about potentially adding to our contract. But right now, with the funding shortage, uh, we can’t guarantee that that will be funded. Okay.

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With the gap, with the funding shortage, if that grant doesn’t come through, what then? Yeah. So that’s a really good question. So right now MnDOT is looking at multiple avenues. So as Scott County, uh, Savage has been searching for additional funding.

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We don’t really have a full, fully defined contingency plan because we’re running under the positive assumption that we’re going to continue to try to fill that gap. So we haven’t gone through and done if then, you know, analysis of it.

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So I don’t have a really good answer for you other than we have a year and a half before we have our letting, uh, we’re have a lot of people actively working to close that funding gap. And then as we get closer to that, if the gap still remains, then we’ll get into some detailed discussions of what that could look like. The lawyer and me always, you know, goes to worst case scenario. So I think we get trained that way.

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Um, so worst case scenario, right. We, we don’t know how to close this funding or there’s still this funding gap. We’ve exhausted all of our possible funding sources. Um, and the project has to change.

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We’ve given municipal consent, assuming that goes, you know, passes on October 5th, then you must have to come back to us if the project changes. Right? I mean, how does that work? No municipal consents. The purpose of municipal consent is to get approval. It’s. The costs are a snapshot in time. So this is the best estimate that we have at this point in time.

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Those are estimates have been trending downward which has been very positive. Um and luckily as they’re trending downwards the funding has been trending upwards. So there has been some positive momentum there. But municipal consent is really to get approval from local municipalities about the access changes.

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So you, you what we’re looking for consent on is the agreement that what we’re proposing at Quinton, we’re proposing at Lynn, what we’re proposing at Huntington for access, that you agree that we can move forward with that so that when we come back, uh, we still need approval from the city, uh, for a cooperative agreement, which is where the real dollars will be committed, that that would happen in the

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future. Uh, under a separate council meeting. So by voting for this, for municipal consent, um, you’re disagreeing that you are on board with the proposed improvements, but the financial side of things, we would have to come back for. Okay.

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Um, currently, highway 13 is a challenge over by 35 W with the Nicollet Avenue project and such. Is that all going to be done before this project starts? It will. I know I’m kind of jumping the gun, but. I. You know, project. The current project will be done because that project is an improvement to 13 and the 35 W.

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That project will be done. The Nicollet Avenue project that’s letting in November. Well, will start after that. So there will be there will be construction, uh, at Nicollet Avenue in 2027 and 2028. So there will be an overlap where work is happening on trunk highway 13. Um, in the Savage Burnsville area.

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Uh, while Nicollet Avenue has work going on. But the 35 that’s the that’s what’s going on right now is the 35 W. Yeah. 35 W should be in 13. That bridge the work on 35 uh will be done prior to this project starting. Okay. Um. Um. You had mentioned cost saving opportunities. What is that? Uh, that’s just.

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That again, that’s one of those things where if we have a funding gap, uh, we don’t really fully scenario play it out because, you know, as funding, as costs have been trending down for our construction estimates and funding has been increasing.

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Uh, we just mentioned it that if there is a funding gap, we’ll look at all opportunities to bridge that gap. You know, some of the opportunities could be additional funds from MnDOT. Some of it could be looking at some of the enhancements that we decided to do. Maybe we’ll scale some of those back. Right now.

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I can’t tell you what those would be, because until we actually have to make those decisions and talk through that, uh, I don’t have a I don’t have a good answer for you. And you said costs are trending down, but costs for everything are going up. So how are costs trending down For this project. Yeah. No, that’s.

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A good question, too. So, uh, how we do our cost estimating? Um, it our cost estimates are reflective of the level of confidence we have in the quantities we can produce.

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So when we have a 30% plan or when we do a layout, we have a ton of, like, we can’t give you exact quantities of everything we’re doing because we’re the design is not progressed far enough for us to have really detailed quantities. We also, when we did our 30% plans, we didn’t know if there was going to be noise walls. Now the noise walls. We don’t have noise walls, so that cost has gone down.

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The detailed design of the bridges are more refined, so we have more understanding of what those costs are. So we have quite a bit of contingency built in.

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Um, early on as we get further along in our design, we can refine our quantities and we can be more confident in the estimates that that we had. So, so far, they have been trending down some of the major risk items that we had dollar amounts to have slowly gone away, like the noise walls. Um, so those are reflected in a reduced cost estimate.

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And my last question, I think, um, directional signage you’ve said is not included in the project. And what is directional signage? Yeah. Good question. So directional signage, uh, we will we would install the base level of signage that is required for highway design.

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Um, so there’s standards out there, directional signage would be like more wayfinding signage, like for example, like specific signs to get you to Downtown Savage. That kind of signage would be stuff that isn’t a requirement under, uh, standard design practices. So we don’t have that currently in it. Um, if we got full funding, we’d look at opportunities to provide that under the project.

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But right now, with the funding gap, uh, those items are not included in our cost estimate. I don’t know where our finance director went. He’s sitting out there. But if Wayfarer wayfinding signage is not going to be included in this highway 13 project, somebody has to pay for this. I mean, we’re closing access as to downtown, you know, Savage.

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So we absolutely have to make sure that there’s signage here that’s being covered so that our businesses downtown don’t go belly up because nobody knows how to get there. So I don’t know who makes that note somewhere. But that to me is a crucial part of this project. I mean, we’re closing access, which is challenging enough for them.

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And I get it. Um, and I’ve been a supporter of this project, but I, I think you understand my point. So I got a nod back there. We just have to make sure we do this right for our folks downtown. All right. That’s all of mine right now.

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Does anybody else have any questions that they want to ask? Bob? I was just going to follow up on the signage thing. Yeah. When there’s a sign, uh, side of the road that says food or gas, is that standard or is that the extra signage you’re talking about? Like ice cream? Culver’s. Yeah. No, that’s a good question.

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Those those signs are actually paid for by the individuals that have, uh, the blue signs. Right? Yeah. Are you talking about the blue signs that have. Okay. Yeah. Those are actually paid for by the people that benefit from them. Those are not standard, uh, roadway signs. So you have green signs, blue signs, yellow signs, purple signs.

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What kind of signs? Yeah, it’s a private company that does those. They they permit on MnDOT property to install them, and they collect the fee from the people that benefit from them. Thank you. Matt, did you have. A question? Yeah. Go back to those roundabouts that you had up there. It’s this landscaping kind of conversation.

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I’m just trying to clarify. So where we see. trees. Yep. And grass and something in the middle of that roundabout, you’re saying that is landscaping. That is not by MnDOT. Correct. Yeah. So the visual quality concepts are developed so that there’s a standard basis of what could be installed.

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Again, if if the project is fully funded and there’s money that we’re able to spend on a landscaping, uh, separate land scaping contract, um, that would be something that we would have discussions about doing. But we established the visual quality, the the actual trees themselves would not be built in or installed under our contract. The grass would be grass. We’ll get you.

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We’ll get you grass. Okay. Uh, the center, the center of the roundabouts. Uh, you know, there’s going to be some standard of care, things we need to install there as, like a minimum for from a safety perspective.

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Um, but what that what gets installed under the base contract versus what gets installed under a landscaping contract would be different. And that’s 29 is we need to deal with that. What’s the time frame? Um, well, we’re I mean, a lot of times landscaping projects happen after the construction or like towards the end of it.

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So yeah, that would be closer to like 29 or 30 that those would be bid out.. Great. Thank you. Um, to follow up quick on that one for the signage. Like for the roundabouts that’s gonna fall under MnDOT or would that come to the city? Oh that would yeah, that would fall.

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Any signage that’s required, safety signage for people to travel a roadway safely, including local streets, would be installed under our project. Okay, good. Because we don’t know how to do that. Sometimes just. In Stacy. Um, I appreciate our mayor’s questions already.

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I, I’m curious what happens if the bids go out and they come back higher? Like, let’s say you secure all the money that you think you need, and then the bids go out and they actually do come back higher at that point. What is there to try and make sure that we have enough money to get the project moving forward? Yeah, Lisa, I might call it call you on that. You’re more the finance person for Mindat.

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Good evening. Um, so in terms of the bids, I think the project team has done a great job at, like Kyle said, um, reducing the cost as we’re getting more into the the project development and, and the design of the project.

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So we have a level of confidence when we’re going into those bids. Um, just in general, um, office talk and talking to our estimating folks, there’s certain things that are coming down in price in the industry, too, like concrete. Um, so that helps us feel a little better about those costs. I think in terms of construction projects, some of those are coming down.

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They’re not coming in higher than we anticipate. So, um, I think we just have to get to that bidding environment. But we’ll have those conversations, um, as we get closer and then look at what that what that looks like and how we’re going to fund that difference. All right. And then or. Yeah. No.

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Go ahead. I was just going to say with that grant that you called out, when is the anticipated timeline on when you might know the results for that? So the infra grant as opposed to some of the others where they have specific dates? Um, this one we’re told about

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January, but I don’t think there’s an actual date that they have to identify. Um, so that’s the best guess we have right now. All right. So then in that case, if if it was not selected for that grant, there’s still an opportunity to go back to the legislature and ask for some additional funding to keep this moving.

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Correct. Yeah. And actually, um, I think it was just one of those slides talking about the bid opening for this project that we moved it from August of 27 to February of 2028. Um, and the construction start will stay the same.

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But part of that is to give us a little more time to look for funding opportunities if needed. Great. Thank you. Oh, I’m sorry. One more quick question. In terms of the maintenance of the long term, those retention ponds, you see, I’m assuming that city maintained pond. Or is that part of Minot’s infrastructure.

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And you have to look at where the water is coming from and what’s going in there, and then it gets divided up by a percentage. Um, we just did that with Nicollet. And so, like if there’s a 90, ten split, something like that, then we look at, okay, would it make more sense for one agency than the other to just take it over? Got it.

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Um, so we do that in the cooperative agreement part that Kyle referenced. That’ll be closer to bid opening. Yeah. Brad.. Mayor, council, uh, Councilwoman Crakes had a question about the bids. If they if they come in to high, would MnDOT reject the bids? Have they ever done that? Is that a possibility for this? Um, it sounds like there is a.

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Possibility. And then potentially, like, come in with, uh, alternatives to the bid package. Potentially. Okay. We’d like to make sure that it gets out.

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But yeah, depending on I mean, so once the bids get open they look to make sure that the bids are balanced and look at those costs, things like that. And then, um, yeah, it if it’s in too high, then we may have to look at that. Hopefully not. Then I have one last question. Given the fact that the Nicollet project in this project will be going on at the same time.

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Um, if they are bid out and being constructed by two different companies, um, who’s going to coordinate the work and the whatever is happening? Um. Oh, that’s a great question. So we have two different construction offices. Uh, Mendota is out of doing the Nicollet one, and then our Eden Prairie office is doing this one, the West segment.

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Um, and so they will be coordinating, but there’s also provisions for in each of the contracts for the contractor to coordinate with, with the other one. For the contractors to coordinate with each other. But you’re saying even MnDOT has two different offices that are going to be overseeing these two different projects? Right. So they have, um, project engineers that will be talking to each.

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Deposited on my city engineer’s shoulders. He’s already got enough stuff that he’s managing that. Saying will be involved in terms of he’s getting getting to know what we’re doing. Um, but that’s also goes into the staging concepts that we’re working through that’s taken into consideration on our project.

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Um, what Nicollet Nicollet has, um, when they’re under construction as well. Okay. Any more questions from council? All right. Seeing none. Um, I don’t think we need to take any action tonight, so I think this is an update. And just a reminder for those out in the audience, we will be having the, um, public hearing.

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The municipal consent public hearing will be held on October 5th. That’s actually our next regular city council meeting on that Monday. Um, and anyone who wants to have some input on that can come to that meeting. So thank you. Thank you mayor. Thank you. City Council. All right. We will move on to city council reports.

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Does anybody have, um did anybody have any meetings in the last two weeks? Bob. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh, two scale meetings. Uh, we had our general. Uh. Assembly meeting on September 11th, on Friday, and we had, uh, reminders at school time again.

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So, uh, we had a meeting about finance and budgeting in the school districts, and it was a it was a very enlightening, uh, uh, explanation of how the, uh, the formula that is per pupil is, like, older than old and out of date and doesn’t keep up with inflation. And how, uh, how every year we’re losing, uh, support from, uh, for our school systems.

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And we talked about some opportunities for how is that going to be remedied. And, um, and, uh, looking at the legislature and I think there’s some things in, in, in process now that, uh, we’re all hoping for, but, uh, we’re not sure how they’re all going to figure that out.

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So there’s a, there’s a call for a change in, in a per pupil funding. And, uh, it was kind of, uh, disheartening to see it, hoping that, uh, that there’s going to be a change. But, uh, one of the things that was discussed was, um, a constitutional amendment.

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Uh, there is a fund called the, um, permanent school fund that was actually, if I remember right, uh, when Minnesota became a state, it became part of our constitution that lands were set aside, uh, to create a, uh, a trust fund that, uh, in perpetuity would then monies from that trust fund, uh, based on the land and the values would come back to our students.

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And, uh, there’s in order for us to draw more money out of that fund, which is now growing faster than it’s needed, um, there has to actually be a constitutional amendment to change it.

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So on your ballot, there is a constitutional, constitutional amendment to modernize the permanent school fund, but it doesn’t take any extra money. It’s not a tax. It’s no extra money out of your taxes. It’s just giving permission to use the fund to. Encourage everybody to vote for your school’s, uh, vote to help. I want to be careful that we’re not taking a position on it.

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Um, I may be going to suggest people do the research. Um, that that we’re not going to tell people how to vote here, but, um, the points, um, do the research, folks there there is no increase to your taxes for this. This is a funding source that’s already been established.

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All they’re talking about is, um, being able to tap the funds a little bit more that are already there. Um, please, please do the research for this constitutional amendment. As Council, Coughlin mentioned that a no vote is a no vote and a non vote is a no vote.

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And this needs yeses and a majority to pass this constitutional amendment change. So I just I just want to be real careful about what we’re doing up here. Um. As. Far as as a blank vote to no vote. So, um. And then we had a scale, uh, executive committee meeting the following last Friday. And, uh, a couple of the, things. Uh, was we.

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Went out for bids for a lobbyist to see if we were going to keep the one we have or go for a new one. And we’ve, uh, the scale, uh, executive Group has decided to go with a new lobbyist.

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Uh, so we’ll be bringing them on board, uh, this fall, uh, to help us with our, uh, lobbying efforts. And I impressed upon, uh, our executive committee that, uh, scale needs to get back to its roots and not just be a lobbying effort, but, uh, actually do some, uh, collaboration and coordination, and everybody, um, we kind of

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said, yeah, let’s we’re going to do that. And part of doing that was talking about our, um, upcoming, uh, gym membership meetings, and it was actually kind of a lively debate about what are we going to talk about in the future to, to motivate and bring us all together at scale.

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So that was a that was a good meeting there. Um, that’s all I have. Thank you man. Thank you. Stacy. My meetings next week do not have an update. So we’ll have an update on October 5th. Again. No meetings for. Me and. Man. none for me.

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Um, I just had a Regional Council of Mayors meeting that was, uh, fascinating. And I already mentioned some of it that, uh, Secretary Simon, uh, spoke to us about the elections. And speaking of that, I, we talked about it a little bit at the work session. Um, on whether or not we need to budget for a special election come next year. Um, well, more more to come.

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We’ll see about that one. But speaking of that, um, in person, early voting has started. Um, and. Mail-In voting started. Huh? Yeah. Um. Go ahead. Correct me. Um, you can vote in person. But it’s still absentee. It’s still the envelope process. at Scott County Public Works.

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And you could also drop off your ballot if you’ve got an absentee ballot in the mail, you can drop off your ballot here, correct, at City Hall. So if you got an absentee ballot, you can drop it off here at City Hall. Um, September 22nd through November 2nd, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m..

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Or you can go to the Scott County Public Works Building, which is 600 County Trail, East Jordan. Um, and there’s more hours and stuff there. And I’m not going to read through all of those if you want what the hours are, please go on to the website and we list all of this stuff, however or in addition to not.

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However, in addition to in-person early voting will start October 16th here at Savage City Hall. Correct. Which is your next option if you want to take that ballot and put it into the machine yourself, you can come October 16th or beyond and do your voting then. Or you can vote on the day of voting on Election Day.

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Um, and that would be at all of your polling places, wherever you’re, um, expected to vote. Thank you. All right. Um, I think that’s all of my, um. Oh, the other thing I attended was the, uh, MVC Energy Forum, which was at the Mystic Lake. Uh, center, and it was a really, um, interesting conversation about, uh, Minnesota Valley Electric and, um, providing electricity.

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And, um, there was lots of conversation about, um, what they’re doing, how they get their energy and, um, innovating and, um, yeah, it was just a really interesting conversation that started with a panel of three of our local legislators, uh, talking about the current climate at the state legislature. So it was a. Written communication, general information.

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And follow up.. Mayor, council members. Uh, there was a public comment two weeks ago at our September meeting, and it had to do with public parking on Dakota Avenue in relation to the Murph, the new apartments that were built there, uh, staff looked into this. Jared I’ll handle it.

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And if there’s questions, maybe you come up and, uh, discuss. So staff has looked into it. Uh, there are folks parking on Dakota Avenue. We do feel like it’s overflow from the Murph staff has talked to the manager of the Murph.

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And what we are understanding is that, uh, they have two different parking scenarios or situations that they offer their residents. One is the underground parking, which is pretty much full. And then there’s surface parking. Surface parking? There is some available. Uh, but people are overflowing. When they came in for approval, we did have them.

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Uh, what I would call ghost plat, but do proof of, uh, parking concepts. If they needed additional. They do have room for additional. So an option is to ask them to build the additional parking. Or we could put up no parking signs on Dakota Avenue.

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I think there’s a couple things we need to talk through at it’s staff that I want to have conversations with staff about, and then we can bring back some options to City Council at a future date. Okay. All right. Thank you. Anything from council for written communication, general information to follow. Up. Seeing none, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Second motion by Craig, seconded by Johnson.

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All in favor, say aye. Aye aye aye. Opposed. Motion carried. Thank