We'll call the Washington County Board of Commissioners' Meeting to order for October 1,
2024. Stephanie, roll call, please. Commissioner Miran.
Here. Commissioner Karwaski.
Here. Commissioner Creasel.
Here. Commissioner Bigham.
Here. Commissioner Claussen.
Here. Roll call taken, all present.
Please join the Board for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Allegiance to the flag of the United States from America and to the very Pledge of
That next item is item two is comments from the public.
If there's anyone in the audience that would
like to speak on an item, not on the agenda.
With none, we'll move on to item three, consent items.
I think it's A through H.
Here, I'll move the consent from A to H.
Second.
Consent calendar moved all items A through H
by Commissioner Klosson, second by Commissioner Bigham. Any questions? With none, roll call,
Stephanie.
Commissioner Miran.
Aye.
Commissioner Creasel.
Aye.
Commissioner Bigham.
Aye.
Commissioner Klosson.
Aye.
Commissioner Karwaski.
Aye.
Consent calendar passes 5-0.
Thank you. Item 4 on the agenda is Information Technology. Phil Dreher, IT Manager. Welcome.
Welcome.
Mr. Chair and Commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to present to you today.
I'm Phil Dreyer.
I'm the Information Technology Security Manager in the Information Technology Department.
I'm here in support of the resolution to declare October 24th as Cybersecurity Awareness
Month.
I'd like to provide you a brief overview of what Cybersecurity Month is all about
and highlight the ways that information technology protects the county for cybersecurity.
In
October 2024 marks the 21st Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
In 2024, the President of the United States and Congress declared the month of October
to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a dedicated month to raise awareness about the importance
of cybersecurity to protect against malicious attacks.
While it started as a government initiative, it is to raise awareness of cybersecurity.
security, it has grown over the years in a collaborative effort between government and
industry to enhance cybersecurity awareness, encourage actions by the public to reduce
online risk and generate discussion on cyber threats on a national and global scale.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency describes how we can all increase
our online safety through four simple actions, whether at home, work, or school, to build
the safer digital world. First, recognize phishing. Understand the kinds of emails that
we all get and to report them and delete them to save ourselves from being attacked by criminals
from across the globe. Second, use strong passwords. We all recognize the idea that
using your password as password is not secure. So in many cases for banks and other
areas we should have stronger passwords with random characters, phrases, special symbols
across our keyboards.
Third, turn on MFA.
Banks use multi-factor authentication or two-factor authentication to secure our money and our
contents in our banks.
Many more organizations and shopping areas are now using these types of technologies
to secure our accounts and prevent malicious attacks to subvert our accounts and use it for subversive activities.
Last, update our software. Protecting ourselves from vulnerabilities is key to prevent different kinds of antivirus attacks that we all protect ourselves from.
information technology cyber security. Among the many things that IT does is we
deliver county-wide training on cyber security in areas such as passwords,
social media, internet use, protecting ourselves in the cloud. Second, support
phishing tools and respond to immediate issues. Our IT staff monitors the button
that people use to report phishing attacks and follow up with investigations
to ensure that they are indeed who people think they are.
Third, provide system patching and vulnerability remediation.
Our staff monitors our different assets and computing computers
to make sure that the vulnerabilities are remediated
and we keep updated on our patching of all of our operating systems.
Last, IT reviews new application requests
from various departments to discover any potential weaknesses
and vulnerabilities and improve the safety of those applications before they are implemented
at the county.
In front of you today is the Proclamation for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and I am happy
to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you, Phil.
Any questions, Phil?
We certainly appreciate everything that the county employees do and the investments
commitments we make, and even our citizens as responsible citizens in everyday life, whatever
precautions they can do.
There's no questions, maybe if you wouldn't mind reading the resolution?
Certainly.
Unfortunately, if I'm going to read that, it requires a little bit more of an assistance
on my part.
Resolution of support of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024.
Whereas Washington County recognizes that it has a role in identifying and protecting
its citizens from and responding to cyber threats that may have a significant impact
to our individual and collective security and privacy.
And whereas Washington County recognized that local governments are increasingly targeted
by cyber criminals to gain illegal access to sensitive information in which Washington
County employees protect and safeguard daily. And whereas businesses and governments are
increasingly reliant on information systems and technologies to support financial services,
elections, telecommunications, transportation, utilities, healthcare, and emergency response
systems and whereas in Washington, in 2024, Washington County continues to building cyber
security awareness programs for all employees by requiring the completion of security awareness
training courses designed to address the most common risks.
And whereas the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency has implemented awareness
programs through a coalition of private companies, non-profit and government organizations
as well as academic institutions working together
to increase the understanding of cyber threats
and empowering the American public to be safer
and more secure online.
And whereas the National Institute of Standards
and Technology's cybersecurity framework has been developed
as a free resource to help organizations
improve their cybersecurity practices
through a practical approach
to addressing evolving threats and challenges.
And whereas maintaining the security of cyberspace
space is a shared responsibility in which each of us has a critical role to play.
And awareness of computer security essentials will improve the security of Washington County's
information, infrastructure, and economy.
And whereas the federal government of the United States of America, the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security, the multi-state information sharing and analysis center, the National
Association of State Chief Information Officers, and the National Cybersecurity Alliance
all recognize October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month and all citizens
are encouraged to visit these websites and the Cyber Security Awareness Month
website to learn about cybersecurity to put that knowledge into practice in
their homes, schools, workplaces and businesses. Now therefore be it resolved
that Washington County Board of Commissioners does hereby proclaim the
month of October 24 as Cyber Security Awareness Month and recognizes that
maintaining the security of cyberspace is a shared responsibility, which each of us has
a critical role.
Thank you, Phil.
I'd look for a motion to support this.
I'll move the motion to adopt the resolution to recognize October 2024 as Cybersecurity
Awareness Month.
Second.
Thank you.
Motion by Commissioner Kloss and second by Commissioner Crease, Commissioner Kloss.
Any comments?
Yeah, I just wanted to comment, Phil, thank you so much for bringing this forward.
It's very important that we keep secure our information and the AI cyber attacks are just
getting more and more complicated and targeted.
And it is scary to see these stories that come out about somebody who has been targeted
by a cyber attack.
So thank you so much for bringing this forward.
I appreciate the information.
Thank you.
Make sure Crystal.
Thank you.
So, yeah, I just want to say how pleased I have been recognizing the tsunami of cyber
attacks that RIT department deals with on a probably a minute-by-minute basis, I mean,
and they're sophisticated.
And the good news is, RIT is more sophisticated, and I just have very proud of Adam and his
whole team of professionals doing a great job.
And I'm also pleased with our county board's support to provide any resources that are
necessary to continue to protect us, but I couldn't be more happy than with the
job of RIT department is doing. Thank you, Phil, for that.
Well said, Commissioner. If there's no further comment, we have a motion in second. We'll
go to roll call, Stephanie. Commissioner Miran.
Aye. Commissioner Carrizo.
Aye. Commissioner Bigham.
Aye. Commissioner Claeson.
Aye. Commissioner Karwaski.
Aye. The solution passes 5-0.
Thank you again, Phil. Thank you.
Next on the agenda is Item 5, Public Health and the Environment, Caleb Johnson, Community
Environment Health Program Manager, Senior Manager.
Welcome.
Good morning, Chair and Commissioners.
Well, it was an exciting day here bringing the Solid Waste Management Plan to you, and
shout out to IT.
They are fantastic for us in public health.
We love them, so it's very excited.
Today we're bringing to you the final draft for your consideration for adoption of the
Washington County Solid Waste Management Plan.
We public health and the Board have had a good conversation throughout the year about this,
but today I'll provide a little additional background so the public who we don't expect
is necessarily tuned into every meeting gets some insight into how this is unfolded
here.
So we'll go through the management plan itself and the overview of that.
that we'll talk a little bit about the board workshops
that we've held throughout the summer.
We'll talk about the management plan elements itself
so the public can get a sense of the chapters
that are in there and how we're achieving the goals
to reduce solid waste and increase recycling
and waste reduction.
And we'll bring to you our official request
and talk about those next steps.
So as a reminder,
the solid waste management plan
is a statute-driven process.
So state statute requires that the seven metro county area adopt individual
Dual county management plans that are based on a state policy plan.
So the Pollution Control Agency is responsible for kicking off the process by releasing a plan
shown here, the 2022-2024 plan in blue.
It's a six-year cycle that planning goes through.
So every six years, we refresh the plan and we reset that 20-year horizon to look into
the future and then guide our actions as the county around solid waste management.
So, Statute 473.803 is what requires all of this.
This is a fantastic opportunity for the county to continually reset its vision,
being the county of landfill number one, Lake Jane landfill,
and the public health issues that we know are related to that landfill,
and the damage done to the environment.
We today are bringing to you this draft plan before all other seven counties.
So we're very excited about that. We would have done it on the same day as Ramsey County
We don't have a board meeting next week. That was when they're going. So all things equal we we wanted to go first here
So we're very excited and proud of what this creates for an opportunity
in high-level numbers we have the
Actual objectives where we hope to move the waste in the waste hierarchy meaning where it's going to go besides a landfill
I'm very happy to say if we look at these numbers, these are statewide numbers and in
Washington County virtually none of our municipal solid waste goes to the landfill at all.
So this goal of 17.6% in 2025, we've met that goal already.
We're near zero.
Waste to energy, that's one of our critical tools to manage waste and we do that through
the recycling and energy center co-shared with Ramsey County.
County, and you can see this continues on into the future. The state sees that into 2042
this will be a fifth of the trash still managed by waste to energy. So this is a critical
tool that we know needs to continue in the future. And moving up the hierarchy, we're
going to be collecting organics recycling throughout the county. We're already doing
that at drop sites. I have some exciting news to share a little bit later in the presentation
about that. We're already meeting this traditional recycling rates, and then new to this year's
state-driven plan is this top-line waste reduction that actually shows the reduction
of waste, so making less of it all together. And that's been a hard thing to quantify in
public health. It's really a challenge for us sometimes to quantify what we've prevented.
We know good work is happening, but you can't count it when it doesn't happen.
So this is something we're going to get more sophisticated in documenting how we've reduced
the waste stream as well, but going up to 15 percent of the waste stream reduced in 2042.
We're coming off of our hottest, driest September on record in Minnesota, so the importance of
minding our environmental footprint as a county is of the utmost importance. It's more relevant
than ever, and this plan does that through connections to several other county-level plans.
the comprehensive plan, the groundwater plan, our mitigation plans including emergency management
and debris management, community health improvement plans, county strategic direction,
and other key initiatives at the department level. We also connect with neighbors at Ramsey
County and at the recycling and energy center that we share with Ramsey County. And this plan
was adopted with deliberate focus to align it through recycling and energy so we can leverage
our shared neighbor resources between Washington and Ramsey County together and then just a
shout out that this really does align with the new county vision of a vibrant county embracing
the diversity of its communities, advancing equitable access to resources and opportunities
and prioritizing the sustainability of its natural environment.
You all were here for these
workshops but a reminder to the public that we did have a few touch points throughout the
with the board, including all the way back to August 23
when we introduced what was all gonna happen
throughout 2024 in this planning process.
Engagement was a critical component of this plan.
It's reflected in the resolution we're bringing for you,
bringing forward before you at the end of this presentation.
And these were the groups that were critical partners
to influence what made it into the plan
and how we've prioritized our activities.
just
one really proud moment where we did reach out through the public
schools here locally in the county and we saw that reflected back in a survey
response where the youth voice that was reflected in that survey the age
demographic shift was just amazing and it was just exciting to see the the
county's future weighing in on the county's future decision-making through
this plan.
So the plan itself is outlined with a background and an introduction, the overarching policies,
the governing partnerships, and several chapters covering many different sectors of waste and
waste management.
Some of the new chapters that you're going to see in this plan that are a reflection
of state lessons learned throughout the last planning cycle and through engagement
with our public include the product stewardship and extended producer
responsibility chapter, bulky waste management, yard waste and wood waste,
and construction and demolition waste and deconstruction. We also have a marquee
call-out of food scrap pickup program and the work we're doing around
organics management and the enhanced communication and outreach strategies
that we're focusing on into the future because we know the public
doesn't know enough about this plan and they need to.
So this is the exciting news. Here
we are bringing this to you for adoption today. This is also the day that 82% of our county
residents become within reach of the new food scrap pickup program being offered by recycling
and energy. So that's 27,670 new households able to sign up for this today. We do have
trial kits for this moment down on the fourth floor at the public health
offices for anybody who's located in the dark green areas on the map here or in
the light green areas that want to sign up we have trial kits available today
that people can come and pick up. Commissioner Muran I apologize of the
light gray area here but you do have a new environmental center that's going
to be opening a couple months here so district one is getting something out
of this new plan as well.
So the next steps are that we're bringing to
a request to adopt this resolution that adopts the 2024-2042 Washington County Solid Waste
Management Plan and give public health and environment the authorization to submit the
final plan to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for their review and approval. And
we have been collaborating with them as we've been drafting the plan.
And then lastly, we're just so excited to implement this revised planning, get
going on improving the health and the environment
for our residents.
And with that, I'll stand for questions.
Thank you, Caleb.
Questions of Caleb?
Chair, I'll move the resolution to get it before us.
I would move to adopt the resolution approving the 2024
to 2042 Washington County Solid Waste Management Plan
and authorize the Department of Public Health
and Environment to submit the plan
to the Commissioner of Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
for review and approval.
second well should my commissioner Miran second by commissioner class and
commissioner Miran Caleb no need to apologize for the gray area there you
know there's good rationale for the way the program has been rolling out
obviously you know that managing the the food scrap pickup program and and the
Delivery directly to our facility in Newport was kind of a key factor and
Enrolling the program out and it's been expanded. There's significant areas in Ramsey County that aren't being served yet either
Simply because they're not doing a direct haul and we need to incorporate the technology
at the sites that the
Solid waste is being hauled to so there's there's good rationale in that and the important thing is
you know, it's being utilized, the program is meeting our expectations in the communities
that it's been rolled out to and, you know, we certainly appreciate the support from the
state in, you know, some of the helping with the funding of some of the technology that
was necessary to implement that program. I believe, you know, we're not only the
first in submitting this solid waste management plan,
but we're the first in many areas when it comes to
solid waste management here in Washington and Ramsey County.
And I think this board is very proud of the work
that we've been doing for quite a number of years.
I remember when I came on to the board in 2013,
attending the meetings in 2012,
this was probably one of the more controversial areas
of discussion at that time and whether or not we were going to invest in this
facility and Commissioner Creasel was somewhat of a stalwart there but I
think you know that that thought process evolved and we developed a really good
agreement and a really good program because of some of the consternation on
the part of, you know, commissioners in this area. But, you know, I look at the every six
years it seems almost a little overkill on the program and yet I see how much change has
occurred in the last six years. And it truly is important that, you know, we stay abreast
with the technology, the changes in the work that we're doing, and so I'm really pleased
with the amount of effort you had a slide there with all of the meetings and that type
of thing, the volunteers that we had, the people with various expertise in this area
that contributed immensely to helping pull our solid waste management plan together along
with yourself and public health and environment.
I think it truly was a team effort and just a good program.
I would encourage our residents to make connections with our recycling and energy center.
We're happy to host groups there and do tours so that people can actually see and understand
their waste production and where their waste is going and how it's being managed.
And I think, you know, people become familiar with that and they see that the zero-waste
goal, and I know it's not zero-waste on your chart there, I think is more attainable.
I think people will recognize the impact of their waste and the trash and the effort.
But I think we're doing a good job in this plan, certainly, brings us forward.
Thank you so much for the presentation and bringing this forward.
I had made a comment that the entire plan is in the packet and I was scrolling and scrolling.
I think the packet was like 340 pages.
So thank you for putting it into the packet and letting people really see what this plan
is about.
you know, the legislature in 1971 required that we have some type of solid waste plan that the
MPCA requires this of us. So this is something that we have to do. But we do it. We're doing it
so well. And I agree with Commissioner Miran's comments about, you know, we're the first
of many for the, you know, not only solid waste plan, but also conserving land and clean water
protections. And we continue to do that and try and be, you know, good environmental stewards.
And I think the county and you, as well as Dave Rummel and Stephanie's shooter and suitor
and the additional staff, you guys are experts
in what you're doing and it's people are becoming,
like we're becoming the ones that people look to
to see what are we gonna be doing next.
And I really appreciate you taking the time
to consider comments from the commissioners,
asking to make sure that our solid waste plan,
matches or at least
compatible to Ramsey County because we do work with them so much on the recycling
and energy and I think that that is something that we also added to the
solid waste plan so that it's more of a picture and more of a it tells a story
our plan does than it then it has in the past so I'm actually really pleased
and proud of the results in front of us today you know I also think that you know
the legislature in 2014 required all agencies and the counties to achieve
recycling rates of 75% and higher by 2030 and we're already there and as you
just mentioned none of our garbage in those areas that we talked about are
going to the landfill.
And that's a big accomplishment that many around the state wish they could say as well.
And when I went to Kowalski's at the grocery store and I put away my, and I was throwing
away my garbage and it said waste to landfill, I was confident that that was what was happening.
and I
And I'm happy that that is something that people can take away from this because there's
a lot of work that goes into it. And you guys are doing an amazing job at reducing the waste
stream and helping people, you know, reduce their carbon footprint. And I think that's
what we're, this is intended to do. So kudos, double star, gold star, double checks. I really
applause. Thank you.
for sure big um yeah thank you it's a it's a great plan and I've always enjoyed
this process I think that the feedback that the commissioners provided I was
very well accepted and the one thing that I like about this plan is it
demonstrates that Washington County is not stagnant when it comes to this area
and I appreciate the additions that you did add I think one of the areas
is that really had a lot of change to it was PFAS
because of what the federal government, the EPA,
set the limits for human exposure for the first time
and the timeline, I think is important.
I think it's important because we have
our local municipalities who we work in concert with
and they're gonna struggle meeting these limits,
whether it's Woodbury, whether it's Stillwater,
cottage grove, they all are going to struggle with how to mitigate those concerns with the
water levels. And so I just think it was important for public transparency to have
the timelines in there and the levels in there in that. So I think it was a very good
addition that you put in there. And again, I just want to highlight that
But just the document shows that we are just constantly moving along and progressing in
this area and our leaders in this.
And I think that that's important to demonstrate.
So thank you.
Commissioner Bigum, I wanted to point out that the Newport facility, which you represent
Newport, is such a critical, the recycling energy building there, so critical, the effort
of the Solid Waste Management Plan and your leadership on the facilities and finance,
cheering that is instrumental in your communication with the city of Newport and having a good partner
with Newport and there's been a lot of things done to mitigate
order order I was searching was there anything done with sound but maybe not
but the order and a lot of investment there so thank you for your leadership there
and Commissioner Maron you're chairing the energy and recycling energy board is
critical also can we share a crease over do you like that anything yeah I'd
I'd like to recognize Commissioner Begum
for having that facility in her district.
They do just a great job
and respond to any concerns that Newport has in such
and they've really improved that
from older containment and things like that.
So I appreciate that.
Also appreciate the great relationship
we have with Ramsey County. I know that goes back to when they had the solid
waste management coordinating board back at Dick Stafford days and and the
Green Guardian and things like that. It was a it was a great committee and that
evolved into the R&E board and I'd just like to say Ramsey County provided
a tremendous leadership with Commissioner Reinhardt, Victoria Reinhardt. She's going to be
stepping down this year and I'm confident that Ramsey County, it's going to be hard to replace her
because she's just been so great to work with. I know Commissioner Maron, you and
Commissioner Reinhardt have a great relationship and that's very meaningful. I just want to
Command Caleb in the public health environment. This is a great plan. I know there's a lot
of effort goes into this and things like that. And I think you did a superb job looking
forward to the yard waste, free waste in the central district. I know I appreciate
the work you're doing. I do know the lower Valley communities appreciate what you're
doing and keeping them informed and hopefully that will become a reality.
But other than that, the other thing, the R&E facility is self-sustaining.
There's no direct support from levy support or no use of CEC funding.
Is that right, Commissioner Maron?
Right.
I just want to point that out to the public.
So it's a great plan, supported, thanks Caleb.
Any other comments from the board?
Maybe in closing, Caleb, thank you for your leadership.
And there's a lot of staff members.
I know we've got some in the audience,
so it takes a good team effort.
I think I totally agree also with the commissioner's comments
they made this morning on the board.
very good comments and if it's okay with the board we'll not read the
resolution on this one and we'll if there's no further comment we will move
to a vote on adopting the resolution the motion was made by Commissioner Miran
second by Commissioner Klosson. Stephanie roll call please. Commissioner Miran?
Aye. Commissioner Creasel? Aye. Commissioner Bigham? Aye. Commissioner Klosson?
Hi.
Commissioner Karwaski.
Hi.
Resolution passes 5-0.
Thank you again, Kale.
Thank you, commissioners.
We'll move to public works.
Joe Gustafson, traffic engineer, item A. Good morning and welcome.
I must say, our state recognized national recognized traffic engineer.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and commissioners.
I'm here this morning to ask for a resolution of support
to convert the intersection of County Road 12
at Brick Street to always stop control.
In my presentation this morning,
we'll do a quick review of the intersection location
and characteristics, talk about what we've heard
from residents in the city,
review our findings and the staff recommendation,
discuss the proposed timeline if the Board were
to approve these improvements or these changes
and finally end with a request for a resolution to approve an all-way stop on
County State 8 Highway 12 at Brick Street in the city of Stillwater. The
location highlighted on the map here again is on County State 8 Highway 12
which is known at this location as Myrtle Street. If you go just a little
bit to the west it becomes 75th Street as it heads over towards Modemidae. It
is a four-legged intersection that currently operates as a two-way stop
with stop control for the northbound and southbound approaches is within a 30
mile per hour zone but it is very near to a 50 mile per hour zone just to the
west and it's also located at a transition area from the urban the old
grid portion of Stillwater to a less dense area as you head to the west. There
are sidewalks on both sides of County 12 in this area and on the west side of
Brick Street. There is also a residential street to the north which is
Birchwood Drive, which has no sidewalks at this time.
We were approached by residents that expressed concerns about the lack of controlled crossings
in this area and their desire to reach trails that are in the area of Lake McCusick, which
is just to the north of this area that does have a number of trails around it.
They were concerned with traffic speeds that routinely exceed 30 miles per hour.
We do have a radar sign out there that does help and advises people of their speed
as they come into town. But even though it's effective, it's not 100 percent effective
by any means. There are concerns about sight lines in both directions. This area is located
within a curve. And the volumes are fairly high. So some are concerned about lack of
gaps even if their sight lines and ability to judge those is good.
We were originally approached essentially with a blank request that seemed to suggest
that they were looking for some crosswalk signage or markings. So we did evaluate
evaluate that as a possibility. They also mentioned the possibility of some button-activated
flashing signs. We evaluated possible geometric changes such as a center island and finally
changes to intersection control that could have included an always stop or a roundabout
or a traffic signal. So we looked at all of these. We did some data collection by
visiting the site to look at the site conditions. We reviewed the pedestrian network in this
area where the different places that connect up to the north where these pedestrians
and they're saying they would like to go.
And also the corridor, what are the other features
within this corridor that people might want to cross to
and what types of volumes might we see at those locations?
So for example, we have the JC ball fields,
which is just two blocks to the west of here.
We have Ramsey Grove Park,
which is one block to the east of here.
So there's crossing desires throughout this corridor.
And we wanted to figure out how does this rate
relative to other places within the corridor.
door. We collected intersection counts and created a traffic model, which you see a screenshot
of here. And our findings were that the intersection does not meet official warrants for always
stops or a signal. So that's an important consideration for us. But we also determined
that crosswalk signs or flashers would likely be unsatisfactory in performance. We know
that crosswalk markings themselves are not a safety device. And blinking yellow lights
do not actually reassign right of way. So we expected that even if we were to pursue
those, these residents would be coming back asking for more. Our past experience says
that these types of devices in the long run are not meeting expectations. And always stop
at Brick Street could operate without excessive queues or delays. So even though it wasn't
quite meeting those criteria, it seemed like it will operate well based on the model.
And another benefit of that is there's an existing right turn lane for traffic
that's coming from the west to turn south on Brick Street, which based on the model is not needed with an always stop.
So that would offer us an opportunity to possibly narrow up that crossing narrower than what it is today.
In February 22 of this year, county staff shared a preliminary recommendation with these residents
and with some city staff that we were leaning towards always stop control.
That was well received and on July 14th this year.
The Stillwater City Council approved a resolution to install
Always Stop Control at this intersection.
So just a quick review of the timeline.
A lot of the genesis of this was the addition of a sidewalk to Brick Street,
which did not previously have sidewalks.
So that's bringing more people to this intersection.
So they approached us in 2023.
And again, in those discussions earlier this year,
expressing those concerns and looking for some changes to the intersection. We
completed our analysis and provided that recommendation. One thing I want to make
sure to mention that's not on here is early this year in April, we hired our
new assistant traffic engineer, Zach Raven, who helped me put this
presentation together and help keep the ball rolling on this despite our
busy schedules. And the City Council approved a resolution supporting the
to install this within this month, October 2024, along with a temporary closure of that
existing right turn lane. We believe that this will help draw driver attention to the
change in traffic control and also provide a proof of concept for how the intersection
would operate if we were to explore permanently removing that right turn lane in the future.
That's something that would require more road construction. That's not explicitly programmed
right now, but this offers us an opportunity to see just how well that works. The model
suggests it works well, but it's always good to try things in real life when you can.
And so then before winter, though, before the snow plows are out there, we want to
make sure to get those drums and barrels off the road. So that would be a relatively
short experiment.
Allway stops are not a cure-all. They do have downsides. They're
a useful method to control the right-of-way assignment at intersections, and they can
be effective in reducing certain crash types. We weren't seeing an actual crash problem
at this intersection. It was more difficulty finding gaps to cross and for people making
that left turn because this serves as kind of an unofficial connection between County
Road 5 and County Road 12 for people that are coming northbound. Always stops can
increase delays and traffic noise and they can potentially increase other crash types
such as rear-end crashes. So these are not appropriate for every intersection but
that's why we took a strategic look at this corridor to figure out which of these locations
would make the most sense. And what we found here was this one had on average the best
connectivity and also the highest volume. The amount of volume passing back and forth
on the county road is actually quite comparable to the amount of traffic that is coming
north on Brick Street. So it's not exactly 50-50, but it was surprisingly close.
So, the requested Board action this morning is to adopt a resolution authorizing the installation
of appropriate signs to establish an all-way stop condition at the intersection of County
State Aid 12, known as Myrtle Street at this location, at its intersection with Brick Street,
South, and Birchwood Drive in the city of Stillwater.
And with that, I will stand for questions.
Thank you, Joe.
Mr. Kreisel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would move that resolution.
Second.
Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Creasel, second by Commissioner Bigum, Commissioner
Creasel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Joe, for the good presentation.
I agree if we didn't take action with it, certainly be here at the residence.
This has a lot to do about pedestrian safety.
They have that.
I don't know.
If name escapes me right now or that apartment complex, but we met with them a few months ago
and City of Stillwater staff was there and everybody is pretty much in agreement that
this would be a great safety improvement. As you know, Brick Street gets quite busy.
people coming off of five trying to access 12 to go to the west during rush
hour and other times it's a it's kind of a main main connector Brook Street is so
this is I think it's gonna be pretty good for pedestrian safety there's a lot
of walkers they want to be across north and south so I strongly support this and
I appreciate the work of our public works bringing this forward.
Thank you, Commissioner.
Thank you.
Commissioner Begum.
Thank you.
Thank you, Joe, for your work on this.
Folks have not seen Joe in action when he is evaluating one of these intersections.
It's something to watch just so you know I've seen it personally, so thank you for
doing this.
I can understand why you're a national board winning engineer.
So I just want to compliment Commissioner Creasel's leadership on this.
he's like a dog on a bone with this,
making sure that this got done for the residents there
in this area for safety and just for pedestrian crossing
and really just to make sure that the flow
is going good there for traffic,
because it is a busy area.
And I know it was a big concern,
so I appreciate your leadership there with the city as well.
Thank you, Commissioner, anyone else?
Joe, good overview, good background.
I was wondering, and maybe Commissioner Creasville and Joe, would you know this, will this impede
any traffic getting to Nelson's ice cream, is it like somewhere in the area?
That's always a concern of mine.
I don't think so, Joe.
It will take a little longer if you're coming from the West, but fortunately they don't
serve you the ice cream.
Okay.
It won't melt.
You don't want to eat or drive.
You don't want to be nice cream and driving. Good point. Good point. Well, we
appreciate that commissure Creasel's leadership, you know, still water well, so um
If there's no further comment, we this is a resolution we'll move to
Stephanie roll call, please
Mr. Miran. Hi to Mr. Creasel. Hi, Mr. Bigam. Hi, Mr. Clawson. Hi, Commissioner Karwaski. Hi
Resolution passes five zero. Thank you, John.
We'll move to item seven on the agenda of property records and taxpayer services
Amy Stentenagel. Did I get that right? You did commissioner. Yes. Thank you
Good morning, Mr. Chair commissioners. My name is Amy Stentenagel and I am the director of property records and taxpayer services
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today
I am here to honor the employees and the property records and taxpayer services department and ask that we declare October 7
through 11th, 2024 as customer service week here in Washington County.
Since 1992 in the U.S., the first full week in October was proclaimed National Customer
Service Week by Congress to recognize the work of customer service professionals throughout
the year and the importance of that work in a wide range of businesses including government.
The employees in the property records and taxpayer services department serve county
customers and residents on a daily basis, face-to-face at a number of locations throughout
the county.
We are here today to recognize the high-quality service they provide and to share our appreciation.
And we have a resolution before you today requesting that you proclaim this week Customer
Service Week in Washington County, and if it's okay with you, Mr. Chair, I'll go ahead
and read the resolution.
Yes, please.
All right.
Resolution honoring County staff and employees of the Department of Property Records and
Taxpayer Services during Customer Service Week October 7th through 11th, 2024, whereas
the purpose of the work of Washington County employees is to serve the resident
of Washington County and whereas the mission of Washington County is that we strive to provide
exceptional services that enhance quality of life and promote a safe, healthy and welcoming community
for all and whereas the employees at Washington County live this mission every day providing a
wide variety of quality external and internal services and whereas the people who make up the
staff of the county's property records and taxpayer services department have extensive
of technical knowledge and serve county residents on a daily basis at a number of locations
throughout the county.
And whereas prompt, friendly and accurate customer service is a requirement of that staff doing
its job well and serving county residents with its utmost ability and whereas it is
fitting to recognize the supreme customer service that staff provides while fulfilling
its role of providing service to the residents of Washington County.
Now therefore be it resolved that the Washington County Board of Commissioners wishes to
extend its heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all employees of Washington County for the
quality services they provide and be it further resolved that the Washington County Board of
Commissioners wishes to specifically acknowledge property records and taxpayer services staff
for its matchless customer service to all residents of Washington County and be it
further resolved that in the light of that appreciation the Washington County Board of
Commissioners proclaims October 7th through 11th 2024 customer service week in Washington
County to publicly state that appreciation. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll stand for any comments or
questions. Thank you, Amy. I'd look for a motion. Board, I will, Chair, I will move to adopt the
resolution honoring staff in the property records and taxpayer services department and declare an
October 7th through the 11th 2024 customer service week in Washington County. Second.
Okay.
Motion by Commissioner Klassen, second by Commissioner Begum.
Commissioner Klassen.
Thank you so much for the presentation.
Your department has Supreme customer service.
You're right.
It's Supreme.
What other heartfelt thanks, I mean that is really what it is.
It's quality services and they continue to exceed the expectations.
They're doing amazing work and I'm so excited for them to have the new central service
Center which everyone always enjoys a new location and also the amount of pride
that I have in the election staff. I just saw two this morning and we talked
about what you know all the things that they're they're doing and they got all
of the primary election voter information updated before the 10,000
applications that were completed. So kudos to your team. Every day I see them
They have a smile on their face.
If it's not in the, you know, getting my license renewed or, you know, talking to elections,
they are excited to perform the services.
And that's really what we do in county is we have to provide those quality services
to our constituents.
So thank you.
Thank you.
This is a fantastic resolution and it is just wonderful that we're able to recognize
and I'm going to pass this resolution because I have to say, and I think I've said this
numerous times, but your staff is probably the front line, front phase, the number one
interactors of residents that they will more than likely have interaction with any of our
staff, maybe besides libraries, would be your staff.
And so the incredible work and effort and service that they provide is just amazing.
and as you said it is superb so and they are earning their keep with the
elections and all the legislation that changes that I don't think the folks up
in St. Paul think about your staff when they make the changes and how it impacts
them. So just appreciate their dedication and their hard work and thank you for
bringing this forward. Thank you Commissioner Mann. Just a very well
written resolution. It almost has the taste of a former library director involved in writing
resolution. But, you know, certainly customer service is key to our success in serving the
public here in Washington County. And, you know, as a board member, I just so much appreciate
the dedication there is. And it's not always an easy job. I know, you know, sometimes
times, hours of service are an issue as well and we've made adjustments to that over time.
I think, you know, we just got such good people serving the public here in Washington County
and appreciate all of the work that they do.
Thank you.
Can we share?
Grisel?
Thank you.
I agree with the comments that the commissioners have made.
the employees here staff continue to impress. They're very committed. They're very serious
in what they do, and they put in a lot of effort. They're the face of the county in
many cases, and I believe they just do an outstanding job. Thank you for your leadership.
Any other comments?
Amy, good leadership.
We appreciate your employees.
I wanted to point out this specific resolution is recognizing the property records and taxpayer
services department of your director position.
I agree with the commissioner's comments.
There has been a motion by Commissioner Clausson,
second by Commissioner Bigum to adopt the resolution
honoring staff in the property records
and taxpayer services department
and declaring October 7th through 11th, 2024,
customer service week in Washington County.
There's no further comments.
We'll move to roll call, Stephanie, please.
Commissioner Miran.
Aye.
Commissioner Creasel.
Aye.
Commissioner Bigum.
Aye.
Commissioner Klossin.
Hi.
Commissioner Kowalski.
Hi.
Resolution passes 5-0.
Thank you, Amy.
And now we'll move to Item 8 on the agenda, General Administration.
Kevin Corbett.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and commissioners.
Item 8 will be presented by Emily Jorgensen.
Welcome, Emily.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Emily Jorgensen, Planning Manager with Administration.
I'm here today to talk to you about Imagine 2050, the Regional Development Guide, and
any comment letter prepared by staff on behalf of the board.
And we did have a workshop on this item last week
so we're mostly updating you on the changes that we made.
So go over very highly what is Imagine 2050.
We'll give you a review of those policy plan area comments
a little bit about the overall Imagine 2050 timeline
and then we'll get into the approval of the letter.
Well, I'll give a summary of those comments
from our workshop last week.
I do wanna note that while I'm up here today
this was a very kind of a collaborative process
as leveraging a lot of the technical expertise
of the planners throughout the organization.
So a lot of kudos to all of our departments who are involved.
What is Imagine 2050?
So this is a plan that's developed
by the Metropolitan Council
as they are our Metropolitan Planning Organization
and the Local Planning Authority
for the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.
Under State Law, Met Council is responsible
for producing what's usually a 30 year plan
and also known as the Regional Development Guide
for the Twin Cities area.
If you've been around long enough,
remember the last one was called Thrive 2040. That was adopted in May 2014. Imagine 2050
again is our regional development guide. It is in draft form so that's why they're asking
for comments. For us what this means is this is the beginning of the 2050 comprehensive
plan process. So imagine 2050 contains policy plans on land use, transportation, regional
parks, housing and water.
So we'll get into the first policy plan area which is
land use.
So the land use policy plan guides land use planning for the entire region. As
the board recalls, we have very limited land use control as Washington County. Our comment
themes really support the interconnected nature of all the systems covered in Imagine
2050, highlighting the need to protect habitat and water resources, and reflecting our role
in land use and the Land and Water Legacy Program. We also provided some comments
on staging development apologize for the typo in there of stagging we meant staging development
to protect their remaining aggregate resources reflecting what we heard from the county board
last week during workshop.
Moving right along to our transportation policy plan. The transportation
policy plan covers highway transit freight and bicycle pedestrian. Our comments are centered
on the regional solicitation which is a federal grant process encouraging that council to ensure
that process meets our regional goals, asking that geographic equity should be considered
when making transportation investments, particularly when considering the vital role that suburban
rural areas play in transportation. We ask that safety improvements and initiatives
continue to be emphasized. And then added from last week, we added some comment centered
on ensuring that the communities that participate in the transit taxing districts
do see something for their participation. And then asking also for further collaboration
on microtransit services and other transit service types
beyond kind of that classic commuter model.
Moving into our regional parks policy and trails plan,
this covers a policy for regional parks
for the entire region.
It includes changes to current policies
like long range plan requirements,
funding caps, recreational uses, natural systems, and more.
Our comment centered on asking for policies
that acknowledge the variability
in the park and trail system
them. And then the variety of needs from implementation agencies, as we call Conor Schaefer last week
noted that Cuomo Regional Park and Big Marine Regional Park are under the same system, but
they have very different needs. So asking the Met Council to kind of create policy
that reflects that variety. We provided comments that support streamlined processes
and increased coordination on new initiatives. You reflected in the plan while also encouraging
the Met Council to continue to provide only a high level guidance. We are seeking
support for increased demands and funding challenges that regional parks are facing,
including a more sustainable funding formula.
And we also add comment seeking regional support for coordination on tourism efforts, invasive
species management, accessibility and mobility, and coordination on land protection, similar
to the role that the county's land and water legacy program currently plays.
Moving along to our water policy plan, this covers water resource planning for the entire
metro, includes the council's role in managing the wastewater treatment system, surface water
monitoring and planning, and water supply planning.
Our county groundwater plan is currently being drafted and updated and works to coordinate
with partners for protection.
Council staff participated in the county's process.
County staff participated in the council's process.
A lot of strong collaboration there.
In our comments here, kind of note the importance of water resources in Washington
County, our groundwater plan efforts, and the impact that PFAS are having on both
wastewater and drinking water management.
We also ask for clarification around the agency's roles, as identified in Imagine 2050.
Support for increased funding for well and septic replacement.
Support for safe water use and encourage more coordination from the Met Council with local
governments and the NPCA on decentralized wastewater treatment system planning, use
and subsurface sewage treatment systems.
And the last policy plan is our housing policy plan.
This was truly under more of the purview of the Community Development Authority or agency.
So we did have Melissa Tapphorn participate, and there was a letter submitted by the CDA
to the Met Council already.
You will see an updated letter in your packets that did reflect some of the comments that
Melissa heard last week.
Overall, the policy plan leverages a lot of the work that the Met Council did 10
years ago, which was the first housing plan in 30 years as part of Thrive 2040.
this time they're focusing really on proximity, choice,
dignity, decency, connection, and well-being.
All of that is split into those three policy areas
of provide, plan, and partner.
The county's comments for this section
do just affirm that CDA letter of what we found there,
where they encourage fair housing and geographic choice,
options to own and rent, stability, equity,
and future affordable housing needs by local jurisdiction.
This is just a brief timeline
of where the Met Council is at in their process.
So while this process did start two years ago
with the research and paper authoring and community engagement, and they are now in
the kind of went through the drafting of the policy and actions are now asking for public
comment.
Comments are due next Monday, which is why we're here before you today.
And then after that time, we would hear back from them on some of the comments, and then
they'd move into that adoption implementation.
That's when we would really kick off our process for our 2050 comprehensive plan.
So the requested action I have for you today is approval of Washington County's
comment letter to Metropolitan Council regarding the draft Imagine 2050 policy
plan. Mr. Chair, I can now stand for questions. Thank you, Emily. Commissioner
Bigham. Mr. Chair, I'll move approval of the Washington County's comment letter to
the Met Council regarding the draft Imagine 2050 policy plan. Second. We have a
motion and second. Commissioner Bigham. Thank you. Again, thank you for putting
this together. I know it was a big effort. That's a big plan to go through
and just appreciate staff's efforts in doing this.
I'm not going to go through every section,
but really appreciate the detail that has gone into this.
I will say, again, really appreciate the PFAS highlights.
I think whether it's letting the state know in our plans,
whether the Met Council known the plans,
the struggle that our communities have
with the contamination and PFAS,
and the difficulty it's going to be
in the collaboration we need to have with them and amongst each other is important.
So really appreciate highlighting that in this.
And then I just want to say the transportation policy plan
and the highlighting of geographic equity is very important.
We're going into next year where there will be an update
to the regional solicitation plan.
And I just want to give a shout out to Commissioner Karwaski who serves
on tabs and halls for quite a while and his leadership has been fantastic on that and
really advocating for geographic equity in the regional solicitation and federal dollars
and has really delivered for Washington County on federal dollars.
So just appreciate his leadership on that role and that his comments and stuff were reflected
in this as well.
So appreciate that.
Thank you, Commissioner.
Commissioner Moran.
Well, Metropolitan Council is an important partner with Washington County, and the comment
letter, I think, takes into consideration certainly the good discussion we had in the
workshop setting, and I appreciate Emily, the staff, working with us to address some
of the other concerns that weren't necessarily addressed as well as what the board thought.
But public doesn't always see the work behind the scenes and the effort in our workshops
to provide good solid input into some of these planning documents.
This is certainly an important document that's going to provide guidance for some time here
and appreciate your work on that and the rest of the staff.
So thank you.
Commissioner Klossam.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I appreciate and I agree with the comments made by the board.
One thing that wasn't mentioned that I think is important is to talk about the housing stability
and the comments that were taken into the board's comments that were taken into and put down on the letter.
I really liked the fact that we are spotlighting that we are at a disadvantage in Washington County
because of the allocation of housing choice vouchers.
and I am glad that we put that information out there.
The Met Council has an opportunity to help us more with funding,
and I think it's a really important paragraph.
It's also important that we talk about and encourage more project-based vouchers
within our Washington County.
I think that East Metro, and Washington County, we lag behind.
And this is what we need in order to meet the demands of our constituents in the future.
So I'm happy with the changes that were made and the feedback that was taken in and the
changes that we see before us today.
I really appreciate staff's effort into, again, letting the board have our comments
and talk about it in the way that we do.
and, like Commissioner Miran said, much of this is not in work sessions and in other conversations.
And so we see ourselves as a really strong supporter and stakeholder to the Met Council
and continue to have these kind of conversations with them in the future.
Any other?
Commissioner Crizzle?
Thanks.
Pretty much the same comments.
And I appreciate the fact, as Commissioner Klassen mentioned, the feedback from the County
Board was incorporated in the final draft and just want to give a shout out to Emily.
Emily, I think you're doing a great job and appreciate your leadership.
Any other comments?
Yeah, I'll conclude.
Emily, you appreciate your leadership.
I know there's a lot of planners involved in this and staff.
It was really a good document that you've worked on using what you think the will of
the county board is, the knowledge of our staff.
You know, I think as pointed out, I really think ours were kind of not changes, but
additions that just made it a stronger comment later on the plan.
I do think that Med Council's Commissioner Miron pointed out there's a good partner,
an essential partner for the regional planning and this our input and the work
that staff has done on our letter and the CDA's work only make the regional
planning better and actually makes Med Council's partnership with Washington
County even stronger as far as knowing the will of Washington County and how we can be a better
county. So it's kind of a two-way information street. I definitely can agree with the other
commissioner's comments and if there's no further comments we will move to a vote. We have a
commissioner Bigham made the motion and commissioner Amaran seconded it and that was to approve
the Washington County's comment letter to the Metropolitan Council regarding the draft
Imagine 2050 policy plan. With that said, all in favor signify by aye.
Aye.
Opposed, same sign. Motion carries. Ayes have it. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you again.
Anything else, Kevin?
No, Mr. Chair.
It will move to number nine, a commissioner reports,
commissioner classes.
Thank you.
It's been a busy week.
Tuesday was an open house for my district
on Beley Road and Settlers Ridge.
The open house was Lake Middle.
It was a decent turnout.
A lot of people in support of the project
did get more complaints about noise
and that's been an ongoing issue that I'm hearing more and more about is the
noise from the high-speed roads. And so I'm just going to mention what I know
people are saying to me so that they hear that I'm listening and I'm telling
people that I'm hearing constituents. On Thursday we had the R&E board
which Commissioner Miran and Bigham I'm sure will talk about. On 927 which
Friday, we had the open Hover Door Dash event that Washington County was invited to as well.
Washington County back in 2020 during the COVID pandemic began to do food deliveries.
The food delivery emphasizes on nutritional and healthy food options. So these boxes are given
into homes that are in need and unable to get
to the food shelf.
The food shelf in the beginning was a collaboration
with the White Bear Lake Food Shelf and Valley Outreach.
We continue to lead this program as from fundings
from the American Rescue Plan,
as well as the SHIP grant.
So in just 2024,
There's already 3,000 deliveries made into 13 zip codes in the local East Metro area.
And we are supporting that and continue to do that.
DoorDash is a supporter of the program and nationally does this as well and helps to
this program is called Program Dash and they do this everywhere and help to get out these
healthy food options to those in need of food. So very honored to be able to be
there for Chair Kowalski and Tujong, Senator Tujong was there as well as
Representative Leon Lilly East, the Executive Director of OpenCover as well
as the OpenCover board and volunteers and staff. So it was a big event and I
I was very excited to be there.
This program is beloved, beloved in the community.
And so just happy that the board made this decision in 2020
and that we get to continue to honor and support it.
And then on Saturday was the East Metro Suicide Prevention
Coalition 5K.
The East Metro has a variety of Woodbury mental health
professionals that are involved in the 5K. Back in 2012, I believe, is when there were
four students that had taken their lives. And so this suicide prevention 5K is basically
about that experience. And as they continue to support nonprofits that collaborate with
partners to just establish these integrated suicide prevention programs in the East Metro
to give more awareness to mental health resources. So a very amazing, cool event. I saw lots
of our community partners there, amazing amount of businesses that had sponsored this that
are local. So very excited to be able to be a part of that. And then that Saturday
Today there was also the community service department
and the public health had a community wellness event
at Brookview School that focused on mental health
and wellness as well.
So kind of a theme throughout the weekend for me.
And then tonight, also there was various staff meetings
that I attended throughout the week.
And then tonight is the Open House Valley Creek Road
corridor study at the City Hall from 430 to 630.
And excited to hear more comments and questions
questions about these important projects. Thanks.
Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Miao. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
You and I attended a personnel committee meeting. Most of those
issues were on our consent today.
We continued work on some areas
there that were presented to the personnel committee. The
Metropolitan Mosquito Control Executive Committee met.
that we failed to have a quorum. So all of the items, there was some brief discussion,
but obviously no action by them, by that executive committee because of the lack of a quorum.
But all of those items will be moving forward to the executive or to the full committee.
And there'll also be the performance review of the Executive Director at the next meeting.
we were scheduled to do that in the executive committee, but we will do that in a closed
session with the full committee.
As was mentioned, the recycling and energy board met. I think the main issues there were
the bylaws and the joint powers agreement that will be coming forward hopefully for a vote
and approval in November. The bylaws address the leadership structure, the board composition,
the potential formulas for financial contribution.
Legal representation, I'll note John Ristead,
who is one of the attorneys,
represents Washington County for the recycling
and energy is also sitting up front
representing the county board today.
So John, we just so much appreciate your legal counsel
and the work that you do here
and for the recycling and energy board as well.
So all of those issues will be addressed in the bylaws
and the joint powers agreement.
And I know that will be coming before.
And those two documents really mirror one another.
And this board will be reviewing the joint powers agreement.
We did have an opportunity to recognize Jody Tharp
who's retiring from recycling and energy board.
just a fabulous contributor to the work that we've been doing there and great organizer
and just so good to work with, as pleased, and to recognize her and congratulate her on
her retirement.
We also talked about a new position, a strategic partnership manager's position for the recycling
and energy board.
I think our executive director hit the ground running and is looking at those structural
changes and the need for you know creating the positions that will
complement the work that we're doing and then we also approved a letter of
support for Commissioner Reinhardt to serve on the advisory board for the
packaging response work that is is going to be done and I would just
to appreciate her stepping up to the plate, even amidst her retirement as a Ramsey County
Commissioner. So it's nice that she's going to remain involved. And then the partnership
on Waste to Energy met, we talked about our legislative initiatives, our lobbying services.
There too we approved a letter of support for Commissioner Reinhart's appointment
And then we had discussion on our budget and the continued work that we're doing.
That's all I have, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Commissioner Begum.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to start off with a little bit of sad news.
Louisa Malich, who served for over 20 years on our Water Conservation District,
passed away this last week.
in her and her husband, Jean, really are stalwarts of Cottage Grove and during Louise's tenure,
Jay Riggs sent me the article where Louise was honored and recognized, but in 2007 at
the Minnesota Association of State Water Conservation Districts, she was awarded in 2007 the Outstanding
Supervisor Award. And then Washington County Conservation District was honored as the 2009
Conservation District of the Year. And he credited her leadership throughout the years as those.
So just reflects her leadership and outstanding concern for soil and water resources. But
also her and she and Jean practiced what they preach on their farm. You know, it's
It's really grass waterways, rotational grazing, conservation tillage, how you like them, where
it's their farmer friend.
And really being, you know, practicing what she preaches.
And so she's going to be missing.
I'm hoping we can have a moment of silence to honor.
After 20 years.
Thanks.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Yeah, good.
Commissioner Miran, one of the weigh-in on the floor.
Yeah, if I could, you know, I've had a chance over the years to work with Louise on a number
of initiatives.
I considered her a good friend.
She was a leader in agriculture, in conservation, and in politics here in Minnesota, and I would
suggest that, you know, that leadership even extended into the national arena.
just a quality individual and she and, you know, Jean complimented one another so well
and she will be deeply missed, you know, in those arenas especially and certainly by her
family and her friends.
Absolutely, and thank you.
I also attended the Red Rock Corridor meeting yesterday, which was very exciting.
More transit came in and presented on their network now routes where they went over the,
essentially, two new routes.
One will be from Woodbury to Cottage Grove.
The other one will be from Woodbury, stopping Newport going west out to the airport,
which the commission during East Metro Strong, which Will Schroer really got a shout out
in all of his work for the redesign, appreciated that, gets a lot of credit for that and just
advocacy of the commission and this board for getting those new routes. And Sue Vento
from our Met Council rep was there and appreciated that. After the R&E meeting I attended, I don't
need to add on to what Commissioner Miran said. I did attend the PUC meeting with Commissioner
Sanjim from Olmsted County. And they did make a unanimous decision that if it can
be proven from the clean energy bill that passed last year, if it can be proven that
biomass and garbage can reduce greenhouse gases compared to the other disposals.
So in other words, just letting it be in the forest or else through landfills, which
we know there's data that shows that our process of how we process our trash has
has fewer greenhouse gases, that that will meet the standard.
So that was a big benefit to our way of doing and reducing and diverting trash from landfills.
So there'll be more to that, but that was an interesting meeting and it was packed.
Act, attended the Melsa meeting and also had a Keats Avenue, otherwise known as County
Road 19, and the 80th Street Open House in Cottage Grove.
I just really want to thank Erin Clarkowski, one of my favorites.
She's just fantastic, and Joe Gustafson and Kevin Peterson, that were there.
So this is really by the Tanks Farm, and the number one concern was the Tanks Corn
and the mayor was there too and we're committed to making sure that the tanks
corn stand continues. We're gonna make sure that that's accessible. And then
wanted to also say that we do lead in a lot of practices here in Washington
County and there are now going to be goats in a city park right by my house.
I'm very excited about that, Commissioner Creasel, eating buckthorn and invasive species.
The neighbors were very excited this morning when they saw the trailer go up the street.
And so it just shows that Washington County is a leader in a lot of these practices.
So just wanted to say that.
Awesome.
Invitation is the best form of flattery, isn't it?
Right.
Here we go.
That's it, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Commissioner.
Commissioner Creasel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Last week, had the Board of Appeals approved annual permit for
Brian Rock. This morning, I spoke at the Sunrise Rotary in Stowwater along with
Public Works Director Wayne Sandberg and I got to say Wayne
did just a
They were just very impressed with the direction the county is going in.
So, what else?
Oh, just, boy, it was hard to watch the news and see the devastation of the hurricane.
What is it, Haleen?
That hit Asheville, North Carolina.
And I mean, many of us have probably been through that area of Asheville,
a beautiful area, and it just reveled.
and it shows how fortunate we are up in Minnesota that we just get some of the
rain and stuff like that from a hurricane, but boy there was a utter
devastation down there. Just to end on a positive note I'd like to remind my
friends from across the river that the amount of motorbikes are four and zero.
That's all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Commissioner. Highlights for me the past week is Commissioner
Maron pointed out the personal meeting that both was served on and several of those items
were on the consent calendar. Today was also mentioned about the Ramsey Washington Recycling
board meeting that many of us are on. I did, it was interesting, the bylaw and the structure
changes were definitely a highlight. I had a constituent meeting, you know, in person,
sometimes we do that. I had a NACO, National Association of County Membership Standing Committee
I serve on a virtual meeting.
Commissioner Kloss and I attended prior to this board meeting, a staff meeting on the gold line.
And Commissioner Kloss and I appreciate you attending that open house for open cupboard described it well.
And then as Commissioner Kloss pointed out, tonight is the Valley Creek
visioning open house and some of that from interlocking to the east of Manning and I represent
interlocking in the 19th so I'll also be there but I encourage residents to show up and that's
all I have for the past highlights for the past week.
we'll move on to board correspondence which we have none that's item 10 on the
agenda and then now we're going to move into executive closed session and this
is the next meeting listed on the on the agenda is the executive closed
session to review an appraisal for the potential purchase of property for
for inclusion in Big Marine Park Reserve.
Pursuant to Minnesota Statute Section 13D.05,
subdivision 3C, this meeting may be closed to the public.
At this time, I would entertain a motion
to go into closed session and discuss this agenda item.
So moved.
Second.
Motion by Commissioner Beggin,
second by Commissioner Merron to move into closed session all those in favor
signify by aye aye opposed same sign motion curious we're moving in closed
session and we'll be back to adjourn three minutes