It must be time. >> Um, first up is is childc care update. Morning commissioners. I wanted to introduce our source partners. You might remember a few years ago we had um quite the discussions around child care, child care licenses and our social partners
have done a great job in helping us not only build a more effective model um but also um help us keep our child care slots in the county. I wanted to also mention that we are seen of course as a leader in this um realm with the
licensing and DHS DCYF has been looking to us um for input and for models across uh across the state. So I'll turn it over to our source partners. >> Thank you Carara. Good morning everybody. I'm Michelle Tess, director of licensing services at Sourcewell and
I've been with Sourcewell for nine years and then I'll let Michelle introduce herself. Yes, Michelle Mahoney and I am the regional licensing specialist and I do Crowing County, Cass and Hubard. So I am the one going in the childcare homes in Crowing County right now. >> And how long have you been?
>> I have been here for almost two years now. >> And Michelle, you are with who? Are you with Croac County or Sourcewell also? >> Sourcewell. >> Yep. Yep. So we're all from Source. Uh so Sorwell has partnered with Crow County since January 1st of 2018. You
guys were actually one of the first counties entering into the partnership with Sorell with this licensing model. You and Wadina County were the first of the two of the 11 right now. Um >> you turn the microphone a little bit closer to you. >> Yes, I'll try. There we go. Michelle,
maybe I'll have you hold it there. Uh so like I said, you guys were one of the first counties that established this partnership. We were NJPA at the time and I was actually the very first hire nine years ago. So you've been with Sourceful with this licensing model for eight years already. Time has flown by.
And so again this whole idea was stem from the region 5 social services directors that came to Sorcal with this idea and this approach of um modifying and streamlining our licensing process and partnering with us to carry this um
licensing duties at Source. Since then, we've expanded our services. So, like I mentioned, we partner with 11 counties. So, we partner with all region five counties and then also we're in region four, Becker, Douglas, and Stevens counties. And then when region one and
two, Hubard, Manomomen, and Norman counties. And so with that, we have three full-time regional licensing specialists. Like Michelle mentioned, she is the Crowing County Regional Licensing Specialist as of two years ago. Previous to that, I was actually your regional licensing specialist for
Crowing. Um, so again, one thing that we do hone in on is that we tried to recruit local and so we really try to Thank you, Debbie. We tried. John helped us there. Oh,
>> she has the magic touch. Um, so we really try to hire local and so Michelle does live in Crowing County and that's one thing that we really strive for is with any county that we partner with, if we have to hire, we really tried to find
someone within one of the counties that they licensed. So like she said, she also licensed Cass and Crowing in Hover counties. So with that with this whole licensing model, we have really helped to leverage and streamline all the processes and procedures across the 11 counties. So
when we do onboard new services, especially when we did crowing, we really helped streamline um all of our process and our paperwork and our onboarding process and just really streamline across the counties that we partner with, which really helps benefit
the providers so that it's easier to navigate and to have the resources available for them um across the 11 counties. One thing um I just want to mention that um we do have an annual cost um that we
do charge Croing County for our time for our service for family childare. We also partner with Croing County for adult foster care, but I'm not talking about that service today. But those are the two licensing services that Crowing partners with us or partners with Sourcewell with. And so with this, we do
subsidize our cost to region five counties and we do um charge a uh more to outside of our region five um partnering counties for our service. Being that um Croing County is within our service area, we were able to
subsidize the cost. And so with that um again this is something we also inkind is that my time as the director and then Michelle's direct supervisor that is all um paid for by source. So the county is not paying for um any supervisor costs
or any of that and then we do have an admin that supports our team that source absorbs those costs as well. >> I do have a question on that. So, is there a fee to the a fee to the provider? And if there is, how much is the fee? Is it is it a scale on
depending on how many children they have? And then does that fee go to you and then you subsidize the rest? Is that what >> Great question. So, there is a annual license fee of $50. That is something that the county establishes through your
fee schedule. And so there is an every December the provider is charged for the $50 to renew. Essentially it's a continuous license. So it's just an annual cost. That fee is actually mailed to Sourceville but um deposited at Crowing County. So we are just handling
the check but giving the money to Crowing County and that is something that the county decides if they want to have a fee for family childare that can be waved if the um the county would decide to do that. But currently all of our counties that we partner with have a
$50 annual annual fee. >> But it's costing more than the $50. I mean, if you had a hundred and you collected 50, it's it's we're paying more than to Sourcewell than that. But you're subsidizing. >> That is the max fee that the county can charge.
>> And we are paying Sourcewell to provide this service. Prior to coming on board with Sourcewell, we had a person um who was retiring. And so that gave us the opportunity to look at what made the most sense. So we are paying source well a fee, but we're not paying for um the
associated costs like unemployment insurance and health care and all of those things. So it's it's more um fiscally reasonable for us to do it this way and the services and the process and procedures have definitely improved from the way in which we were providing it. >> No, I'm I'm hap I'm very happy with it.
I'm just kind of curiosity question. So then how Yeah. I I'm happy with it. So, how much time do you think it takes to process proing county as far as the licenses are concerned?
>> I mean, it's like a is it one full-time person working on this all the time or how how does it work? >> That's a great question. Um, so currently our regional licensing specialist with our model, this is not similar to other counties. This is something that we've established, we
have looked at multiple times, realigned, but our case load size for max case load is around 160, which Michelle's kind of hovering around the 145. And so for Croing County, there I believe 72 license programs, >> 70 just lost.
>> 70. And so with that, um, we have to do annual visits with all the providers. We have to do all the new, um, inspections as we get new providers on board. that takes a lot of time and then we have to do all the investigations along with your child protection team. So, we do um
work closely with your child protection team. But, I'll let Michelle kind of speak to about um that's a really hard question. It really depends. It varies because of we just don't know when those complaints will come through and then um we have to do those annual inspections
as well. >> But one person would handle approximately a book of like maybe 140 is what you're saying. And so in in essence, this kind of like a would be a halftime person depending on if there's a whole bunch of stuff. >> Yeah, I would say with your guys' case
load, I would say it's between a 0.5. Yeah, around.5 around there. >> Just a curiosity. >> Again, with our model that is typically at the county, they have much lower case loads. >> Okay. >> I'm going to be honest with that. Yeah,
>> maybe you want to take on some more work then if you guys >> or we can hand off some more stuff to you. >> Yeah. Well, adult foster care, we do partner with you with that service as well and that since I think July 1st of 2019 with that.
>> Okay, we'll talk later, Paul. >> All right, thank you. >> Those are great questions. Keep them coming, >> Mr. Source. Well, >> all right. So, um, our role or Michelle's role as your regional licensing specialist, again, we are
responsible for partnering with 11 counties to oversee the licensing duties and rules and statutes for family childcare licensing, which I'm sure you're all well aware, they're constantly changing. There's a lot happening um with all the legislative changes around family child care. So again, we're trying to keep tabs on all
of that, informing all your providers, informing all of our um partners at the county level so that we're all aligned with um all the communication that is coming from DCYF. Also, we're ensuring compliance with all applicable federal and state regulations, whether it's fire code and
um local jurisdiction. We work closely with your local um planning and zoning and at the county level and at the city level with your new um providers entering into family childcare licensing. And then we serve as your advocate for the families for your
providers and supported through this licensing service and then establish um and maintain strong collaborative relationships. So again, we're out if we're hearing that there is a need in a certain area in one of your cities and we hear that there's committees forming
to um establish and build capacity around family child care, Michelle is the person um that is helping um addressing anything that if there is any barriers or challenging with licensing and she's working closely with your community partners to help with that and
helping them navigate that. And then also we work very very closely closely with DCYF like Cara mentioned. Um myself and the team we sit on multiple uh committees at the state level really helping to be innovative um
with anything's coming down the pike with licensing and so we work very very closely with them and have helped um implement a few programs that are statewide along with that partnership. Michelle, whichever whichever one you
have, you have 72 in Crowing County that you're receiving their license on. Correct. >> How many slots are how much of a need is there still yet in childare in Crowing County? Do we still you still have people saying, "Gee, I wish I could get more
child care." Are you still having that? Do you address that or you're only addressing the license of the ones that we have? >> Oh, we're helping with all of it. Um, I'm going to let Michelle talk about that, but I know like when we're out doing visits, we're asking the providers, are they at the full capacity? Some providers don't want to
be at the full capacity, whether they can have 10 or 12. They can only have 14 if they have two caregivers working in the program, but some providers only operate with eight children, and that's okay. We just want them to be operating at full capacity. Um we do know there's
a nationwide shortage of shortage of child care, but the shortage is infant care really. Um and then now we're seeing um issues with preschool with universal prek. Um there's been a struggle for providers to fill their preschool slots because of the universal prek, but I know there's some work
around that where that might help support providers to get um preschoolers enrolled into the program with some legislative changes that might be coming down the pike, which hopefully that will help. In your best estimate, what do you think we are short in Crowing County as far as needs?
>> Shall I answer that direct question? >> Um, it's hard to say. We Crowing does have quite a few centers um that help with that child care slot as well, not just family child care. Um, but there are some providers that have weight
lists and there are others that are looking for kids. I think it really depends on the quality of care and >> hours of operation and what they have to offer and >> some are open only Monday through
Thursday because that's they want, you know, a day to go do appointments or things like that. So, and that works for some families if they have a grandparent that wants to watch them one day a week or things like that. So, it really depends. Um, First Children's Finance does a survey every year that really
lays out and maps out um the capacity needs in each county. And so we can send that data over to you guys if you want to see the exact number of what they see the slots needed for
Crowing County is. Um, I have that and I can get that to you guys if that would be helpful. two years ago they said it was just really tough and I know up in my area there was a couple of people that were providers and just said you know what we're done with that now we're going to go on to something else our kids are all in school we don't need to
be doing >> yeah so something unique about Crowing is we are staying very steady so we're not seeing a decrease in licensing we're not seeing um a huge increase but we're
staying very steady with our slots. And so, um, I think a lot of that has to go with some of the statewide initiatives that have been launched. Um, a program called Wayfinder that Michelle's going to talk about in a little while, um, really
supports programs that are starting and getting them running in a effective manner that keeps their business running. Because sometimes a provider gets in this business and they don't realize all of the the
business aspect of it. They are just thinking, I'm going to care for kids, but then they're they get into it and they're like, well, I'm not making any money. And so trying to balance the business side and caring for kids can be difficult. So I think having someone
that they can talk to besides a licenser because sometimes we can be intimidating or they don't want to talk to us about certain things um wayfinder was established to kind of be that talking point and that has really helped um in region 5 specifically. So we are seeing
green numbers and other places in the state are seeing very negative numbers. So >> yeah, I think there was um there was a data release of from I think it was July of 2022 to July of 2025 and they compared it across regions. Region five
was the only region that had net increase of building capacity for family child care. So um again we really try and as we hear if you guys are hearing child care concerns in your district, please reach out to us. We're happy to see if we can do a little recruitment
efforts or whatever it might be. Um but we are you know definitely actively working with our wayfinders to build recruitment um in the counties that we partner with for sure. >> So I think Michelle is next. >> So some other things we're seeing like I
said it's staying steady. So in 2025 um we had seven new programs but we had seven closures. So we stayed consistent. Um so far in 2026 we have lost two providers. We've gained one, but I do
have three applicants and some I have quite a few in the inquiry phase. So, in that process, they're doing our orientation and thinking about applying. Um, so we have quite a few in the queue. Hopefully, we'll get some applications and get them through the process here.
Um, so we can keep steady and even grow. Um, and then some we do uh child exit survey. So anytime a child pro childcare provider leaves the field, we send them um a survey and we ask them to fill out
so we can figure out, you know, why are they leaving the field? Um and some of the trends that we saw um moving family reasons, moving out of state or um we had one
that transferred to just child foster care. Um so very different reasons. And that is your Crowing County data responses from your providers that have left the field. So that's pulled from Crowing. >> And then we use that data to help us
develop targeted resources and supports um and then address childcare access needs within the community. Perfect. All right. So for recruit and retain um so with our orientation for any new provider entering into um
becoming a family childcare licensed program there is a um we have a self-paced onboarding process. Previously nine years ago um the state requires that is only offered six times a year. And so one thing we were able to um create internally at Sourcewell was
our self-paced online orientation. So they have access to it within hours of submitting an inquiry survey to source well. So that has really helped increase the time to become licensed and made it more efficient, saved on saved on staff time and so that and they have the
information to see if this is something they even want to pursue right away. Um so that has really helped made um the time of them becoming licensed much quicker and more robust and that they're getting the consistent information when they're onboarded. Also, we offer a six-month op optional visit. Again,
that's that mentorship support for those new providers. This is an optional visit where they're there to support them, to help them through paperwork, if they have questions about licensing, whatever it might be. And this is something that Michelle offers to all of the new um providers in that six-month period. And
then also with this, we have created an internal process. So, this is unique to Sourcewell. So, like Michelle mentioned before, we have the Wayfinder Navigators. This was established in 2021 through legislative funds through the ARPA funds and that they created this wavefinder navigator statewide program
to help mentor and support new providers and existing providers for retention. And so we really leveraged that across the 11 counties that we partner with and created an internal process where when they are submitting the inquiry to become licensed, we are getting permission from that new potential
applicant to then send a referral on their behalf to the wayfinder navigators to empower to educate to go through the training and then first children finance to support them through that business because like Michelle said, the business is probably the most scary part is that some of them don't even know they're
running a business at that point. um they're just going in there to care for kiddos. And so this is really setting them up for success and giving them the resources right at the beginning um stage with that process appreciation. We do provider of the year. So this is
something that we're kind of in the midst. July 1st is our area where we our timeline where we um are pulling all the nominations from the previous year and then um get to deliver the award and um present it at our annual conference. um
that we host at Sourceful Inner Studio which is um a virtual conference on a Saturday and we announce the provider of the year. So um we'll be announcing that in September which is always our favorite thing to do is deliver those awards. Um and the county actually gets
to choose um the winner for that. So we redact the information of the provider information and then they just pick up based on our criteria um and then uh we release the name once they select their winner. resources. Um we have really established
throughout the nine years um that um we've had this model is building resources. So we have our website that um providers uh utilize and lean on to get any paperwork that's required. We've created lots of templates, checklists, anything that we see as a missing gap
for providers through our surveys. Um we are creating those resources. We have a manual that providers receive. Um we have our annual conference at low cost. We just have it's a $10 fee for them to get six hours um of their required 16
hours of training that they have to have annually. And um just again and then the just they have that one contact they know who to go to as a regional licencing specialist. That is something that providers truly do value is just having that one person they know they can get a
hold of within a day. Uh we've definitely seen a lot of value in that. And then we have our annual survey that we partner with the county that is sent to all of your providers and getting feedback about our service evaluating us. How are we doing? Um and so that is
something that we have done um year after year that it comes from the county and then we get that feedback and then we're going to talk about all the fun legislative updates. >> Yes. So, there's a lot of change
happening statewide um in child care right now. Um the childcare regulation modernization project launched in 2021 um through legislative action and federal funding to update the outdated
licensing requirements. Um they want them more clear, consistent, and aligned with today's childare environment. And so there's been there's three core components of this modernization project which was the revised licensing
standards which just passed through legislation in May. So um in July 1st of 2027 we'll have a whole new list of child care rules. um
some really really great things were passed um that providers are very excited about um and some anxiety around some others. So the state is doing a really great job on trying to
communicate with providers to relieve some of that anxiety um and some of our anxiety with some of it. Um, and so they have created a newsletter that's going out monthly addressing some of the concerns they're
getting and to just put them their minds at ease. >> Yeah, >> like Michelle said, there was a we're completely getting brand new rules or statutes. Rules is no longer existing as of July 1st of 2027. So, they're really modernized it. But one thing is there
was multiple focus groups, opportunities for providers, parents, guardians, county, anybody that would want to speak to on these rules and statutes that um were recently passed had the opportunity to do so. So they did listen. DCF really truly listened and got really good um
feedback from all constituents on um the proposed uh standards that went through. And so with that, um, there's always going to be areas where not everybody is going to agree upon I, but I would say the majority of what was passed, it was
in favor of the providers with they went from 16 hours annually for professional development to 10 hours. And um, the capacity we always had to do variance requests. So the county approves variance requests. That's going to um, decrease dramatically for the fact that
DCF listened to the providers. they need to increase infants and toddler slots. Um, and they changed that capacity so that they can operate with more infants and toddlers because that's where the true need it is and that's where we saw a lot of the variance requests coming through for the counties to have to approve. So, we'll see less variance
requests with that. So, they really listened as much as they can, but again, there's rules and statutes there in place for a reason. Um, but I think overall they were good changes. just one that of the concerns you have that would affect our Crowing County and the and
the providers in Crowing County, one that kind of stands out to you. >> Yeah, the one I probably have gotten the most questions on is outdoor play equipment. So, there's a rule that talks about continuous railing on elevated surfaces or play structures. And so a
lot of providers thought that meant where a slide goes or a rock climbing wall climbs up that that opening would need to be covered to prevent falling, but that is not actually what the rule was stating. Um, so it caused some confusion. And so the state actually put
out a newsletter that answered that question and said, "No, that's not what that's meaning. It's more about like if you have maybe a homemade playground, which you absolutely can have in a in a family child care that they can't have
just an open elevated surface with nothing to prevent the fall. And so they clarified and openings on play structures can absolutely do not need a continuous railing. And so I think that relieved a lot of
>> the stress um for that specific one. That's probably the most I've gotten. They're like, can I do I have to take apart my playground? And um but that is not what the rule stated. So, and then the gap in between the rails, too. So,
but most of them are I don't see I can't think of a single playground that we have in Crowing County that would have to be redone because of this rule. And so then um they kind of were waiting to see if they passed these new
standards to do the other two um core components of the regulariz the modernization project um the riskbased tiered violation system. So, this would help um prioritize violations based on the level of risk.
>> Our time out or >> no, you're good. >> Over time, >> um rather than treating all violations the same. And so we're seeing a lot of issues with liability insurance companies. Um and so we're hoping this alleviates some of that. Whereas like
you get a speeding ticket, your insurance increases. insurance companies if they get a violation in a child care or something very little, their insurance is increasing astronomically that they can't even stay in business. And so this hopefully will
relieve some of that and create some clarity around what violations would maybe have a little higher risk than not completing a training or something like that analogy. >> Yeah. And then um abbreviated
inspection. So those programs that have been business for 20 plus years with no violations, they would get shorter inspections from me. So instead of having the long list of an annual inspection, I would come in with a lot shorter of a list and only have to check a certain amount of things. So giving
grace to those providers that are doing a good job every day um in the one of the hardest professions out there, >> relieving some of that stress. And so, yeah, we talked about a lot of the other points I have already. Um,
with those big changes coming with legislation, um, we're all still learning and waiting to hear more information from DCF directly about how these rules are going to be implemented, waiting for implementation plans and how it affects
our roles and then what it looks like for providers in the future as well. And then the provider hub is another thing that has been talked about for a very long time which is moving all of the paperwork to online. So the
application things like statewide system online. We've been getting pushed back and back and back and we still have no launch date for the provider hub for family child care. Um but we have been chosen our sourceful counties to be the pilot.
So when it does launch, we will be the first counties >> to yeah to go into the system. So um we're excited that we were chosen, but more to come in the future about the provider
hub. >> Yes. Um and again, I just want to I think that concludes kind of our presentation and I just want to just do a shout out to your Crowing County staff. We couldn't do this um licensing service without their partnership and support. They've been amazing for the
past eight years. And we just truly appreciate your guys' support and partnering with Sourcewell with this service and trusting us um with carrying this service out to all of your family childcare providers. And that concludes our presentation
today. Anybody have any further questions for us? >> Sorry about that. I do um when this licensing, you know, you might people might be listening or watching and they and they think, "Oh, well, they just came they just come in and they get
a license." It isn't it isn't just that. So once you go out, I would assume you go out and look the facility over and then I the really the question is is do you go out are you required to go out
every year or do you review go out every year and walk through the facility and make sure it's clean and meets the standards and you do that and then does a report get sent back to the state of Minnesota? >> Yep. So, we use an online um checklist
called and so it it gives us what we're looking for when we go into homes. So, every year I have to conduct one unannounced annual inspection. >> Ah, okay. >> And so, we do give our providers a three-month window. So, they'll get a
letter usually a couple months prior and say, "Hey, your annual inspection is coming up. I will be coming in April, May, and June. Can you please let me know that your closed dates? So, I'm not going out
and they're not open. It helps us manage our case loads a little better by doing it that way. So, we do give them a little bit of a heads up that they're having an annual inspection, but um still they don't know what day we're coming and things like that. Um and we
check their water temperature, their fridge temp, we make sure it's clean. We're counting the kids that they have and making sure they're within the capacity that they um are required to abide by. Um we're making sure their pets are vaccinated correctly. A lot of
the health and safety we're always going to be checking. Um we're looking in their fridges and in their cupboards that there's not sharp objects readily accessible to them. Um making sure they're training and the people that are in their home are safe to be there. um
have the background studies needed. Um there's a whole there's like >> 276 items I look for in an annual inspection. >> Sure. >> Um >> so just a few things that I uh look for when I'm there. And I was kind of smiling when you were talking about the
playground equipment because it brought me back to Garfield where I went to grade school and the playground equipment way back then was not I don't I don't think they thought about safety too much back then
metal monkey bars and and and it brought me back to I don't know if anybody remember Shirley Warner she was the playground monitor and I she like literally pick you right up in the air. It was it was a different different
world and now everybody's like so anyway. All right. Good job. >> Yeah. And to answer your question about the report, so after every annual visit that's conducted, an annual report through Eli is then sent to DCF through their state statewide system and then is
posted on license lookup so that any licensing actions after those visits or investigations are posted on the public website for a certain time frame for any parent or guardian to review as they're selecting their program. >> Awesome. >> Bring their child to
>> and we have to use a Lisa. It's a statewide program. >> Okay. >> If someone is interested in getting into child care, do they still contact community services first or they go directly to you? >> So, if there's any um one looking into
becoming a family childare? We they go to our website and complete our inquiry questionnaire and that actually comes directly to me and that's the official step. If they want to talk about it, they can talk to anybody on the licensing team to inquire about it. So, we're really trying to um not direct
them to the county. We want them to come directly to source. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> And we have a link on the Crowing County directing them to our web page. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Yep. >> You Well, thank you so much for this opportunity and I hope you guys enjoy
the rest of your Tuesday. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Next thing is Blade Car again, community services. Um, Brainer Lakes Area Drug Education is a coalition of community partners. We began in 2019 uh when we noticed that um
trying to arrest our way out of the drug problem was not working on any level. So, a coalition got together and we formed Blade to help with um getting into the schools for prevention education as well as educating the community on a number of different
topics. Um today, uh we have one of our grantees here to present to you in terms of their uh program that they're working on within the schools. Minnesota Prevention and Recovery Alliance MinRaa um is here today to talk about the
dollars that they received and the work that they are doing. You might remember a little over a year ago or so, we um we being you approved the opioid dollars to go out to our um community partners to help fund different programs in the community. So, I will turn it over to
them. >> Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Uh my name is Josh Nelson um with MNP and Know the Truth Project. I do um I'm also a certified youth peer support specialist in the schools. Um so my typical day looks like um I'm allowed
three hours in each school three days a week. We work in um regularly Lincoln Education Center, the Brainer Learning Center, and then I am the Briner High School as well. Um and before I get started, I want to say this is my first year doing this. Um it's been a great opportunity. uh amazing. I built some
awesome relationships with the principles, their staff. Um and they look forward to having us come in each and each and every it's Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. So, um the students really react well to what we have going on. um I can relate to them um in a
sense that I was in a same in the same position a lot of them were um when they get referred to me and how my referrals work is I am referred to students who have been caught with contraband um that have been having trouble in schools um so I will talk to either Amy um Jessica
or any other teacher that has the referral uh form filled out and they will send them my way and that is that's gone really well. Um I want to talk about some of the successes but I we have some numbers and stuff up here on our slide. Um so the
first slide actually is how well our program has worked our know the truth prevention program. Um so 28% of the students reported experimenting with prescription pills in the school year of 20 24 to 25. 84% of those students increased knowledge about the
prescription pill risks after these know the truth presentations. Um, and what our know the truth presentations look like is myself and I usually have two volunteers from Minnesota and adult and teen challenge. Um, peers with lived experience with substance abuse, how it's impacted us, how it's impacted our
famil family's lives. Um, and we go in and give our personal lived experience stories with this and the students um, react pretty well to it. We get some good feedback um, and it, you know, it opens their eyes. It paints a picture of what addiction can actually do. Um, and
how it not only affects ourselves but the ones that we love. Um, yes sir. >> Quick question. Initially you talked about being primarily in the district 181. Yes, sir. >> Do these figures that you have up here represent the entire county. So all the three public school districts, maybe
even some of the >> um ones and that. So it's everything >> that reflects everything numbers. >> That's correct. Yes, sir commissioner. >> Thank you. >> You're very welcome. Um, and then we thought this was great right here. This 91% 91% they would reduce or discontinue
as a direct result of this programming. Um, with the fentanyl epidemic, um, we really stress on that situation when we're in schools talking about that. Um, and I can tell you a few success stories that I have after that involving that same sort of situation. Um, our next
slide, I know that we have some numbers and some data as well. So these are the the services that we offer. The individual one peer support monitoring um focused group recovery sessions and what that looks like is small group settings. Um I
work with about 10 to 15 kids over well in BLC and LEC. They come in um we just sit down, we talk uh it's about an hour session. We you know if they have anything that they need if they need resources from me that I can provide to them. We've collaborated with uh Lakes
Area Restorative Justice Brian over there um and Paul Johnson at Timber Bay um for some after school activities for the kids um because I know that friend groups has a lot to do with peer pressure and what can happen before and after school and even during school. So um if we're getting them on the right
path to that, I believe that's a that's a foot in the door. That's a step in the right direction. Um and then our know the truth presentations. These are preventionbased presentations. um prescription pills, the risks, the opioid dangers, THC and alcohol. We're seeing a lot of vaping going on in
schools, so I'm getting a lot of referrals from the nicotine vapes. Um monthly, about monthly, we go around and do a vape roundup um in the schools, local schools, Crowing County schools, and we collect on the upper of about 150 vapes that have been confiscated by
teachers, uh school staff, principles. We dispose of those safely. Um so that's a win. That's a huge win. um trying to get those out of the schools as much as we can and you know providing the students with the knowledge that they need to know about these things how they haven't been studied long enough. There's no long-term
uh evidence-based studies on what these things can actually do to our health and it's unfortunately it's our students that are at the mercy of being the guinea pigs for these things. They are marketing to them, targeting to them. Um so that's something we just want to stop. um peer-led experience live stories like
I was saying two volunteers and myself go into the schools um we're usually allowed about four or five classes in the health and science classes typically 9th grade um this year we were able to reach out to Mike O'Neal and Peekquat Lakes he allowed us to do seventh grade
um him and I had a discussion that is we would like to be that more the target age at 9th grade we know that it's already kind of you know they've probably experimented with it and that's what we found in our data and what we've we've looked in in the surveys that we take. So, I think seventh grade is a great that was that's been a great
opportunity, a start to get into that school and then hopefully working forward, excuse me, we can make something happen with that. Um, yes, we'll do the next slide. Um, so these are the three main schools that I do youth peer support in. Um, and I have, like I said, tremendous support in
these schools. Um, I receive letters, um, thank you letters about every month. Couple couple every month, I would say. Um, just saying that how fortunate the kids are to have something like this. Like I said, when I went to school, I never had an opportunity like this. Um,
and if I can help a student that's in trouble, you know, find their way out of that and get on the right path, that's if if even if it's one, um, I'm happy with that. But this year I've been lucky to have quite a few quite a few more than that one. So, um yeah, those are
the schools we're presenting in and working youth peer support in. Um and then we have some numbers of how many students we've actually reached in the uh Brainer Lakes area in our community. I I believe it's like 980 I think that students we've presented this program
to. So, it's a pretty broad number across the board. Um and that ranges from seventh, eighth grade to that is ninth grade. Um and you can see the numbers here. Of course, the schools with a little bit lower enrollment have a little less attendance, but the schools with higher enrollment um we're
reaching more students in that aspect. So, um that is great. Um would you like to say anything, T? >> Okay, sounds good. And this is my awesome supervisor, Talia. >> Good morning, everyone. Thanks for having us. Talia Broadhead. I am the community engagement manager for
Minnesota Prevention and Recovery Alliance and I also serve as the program coordinator to the Blade Coalition. And when I came um on board after we received the drug-free community grant, we were able to implement the know the
truth uh prevention curriculum to all the Crowing County schools and uh and I kind of paved the way and built the relationships with each school. And then since the opiate grant uh
a awards to know the truth, we were able to hire the uh an youth advocate to just uh dedicate his time regularly weekly to the youth peer support to um
Brainard schools. the we focus on Lincoln Education Center, the Brainer Learning Center, and the Brainer High School. And uh we know the truth is in 300 over 300 schools throughout Minnesota. Um mostly
in the metro area. Uh since we have been growing in Crowing County, uh we also have provided Little Falls and Pillager and Peers. And so supporting our neighboring um communities is uh been a
joy. And then something else is we were contacted by a sheriff in Kennington County, I believe, Kitson County. And so, uh, we've been able to support them, uh, up there with some education as well. And, uh, some other fun things
that we've done outside of just educating with the youth peer support in our regular, uh, classroom education was the substance use awareness um, dying to make a difference. It was kind of like a tie-dye day where we were in during the
lunch period at the Briner High School. And so just raising awareness, handing out some tie-dye blade bandanas and educational material and we partnered with um other local organizations like Northern Pines and things like that. And so just kind of uh trying to um address
the stigma with the high school kids and that uh if you are struggling with substance use disorder uh or even just experimenting that there's people out there that understand, that have been through it, that you know that you can reach out and talk to. Uh
I see what else. Oh yeah. Uh recently we were in Pekquat Lakes and we were invited to do the staff education training. Uh we have done also with Amy Jordan regularly and yearly doing staff education uh
trainings and just that is helpful coming from people with lived experience. Um, it seems like especially with a lot of uh Q&A with them, they love and enjoy hearing from uh people
that have uh been there. And um what else? >> Some of the success success stories, excuse me. >> I'll come over. Sounds good. >> Sounds good. Um, so the one I find most relevant um to the topic at hand is I
was working with a individual, seventh grade individual at the Lincoln Education Center. Um, due to circumstances at home, she was placed um in her parents' home um from I'm not really sure. We didn't really get down to that, but uh her grandparents had
opioids, prescription opioids that she had access to, and that's kind of the reason she was referred to me. Um she was having some trouble at school with some opioid use. that teachers were noticing what was going on. Um and her we got to sit down one-on-one for many of weeks. This took quite some time, but
we created smart goals, um specific, measurable attainable realistic um time bound goals. Um and over that amount of time, I was able to work with this individual. um she was actually able to and I can um testify because the
teachers were there to to confirm this as well that she had no longer any problems in school with this opioid use. She was before she would fall asleep during class. She just wasn't engaging. Um by the time her and I had got finished working together um and then a few other students we kind of get into a
small group setting. She was actually doing quite a bit better in school showing up daily. Um just so many things that were happening. the teachers were getting good reports from grandparents at home um because I understand in their situation it's it's probably tough um when it's something that they need to
use and something that this individual had access to. Um so we the teachers were able to speak with them at home. They were able to get put away in a safe place and that's probably one of my biggest success stories. There's been quite a few about vapes. Um
we do the same thing. We set goals. Um we offer incentives as well. I know that works really well with the students. There are things that we work towards. Um so each week they're happy to come in and say, "Hey, I I completed this. Um can we get one more step closer to the goal that we're trying to do?" So that's
an awesome feeling and that's that's the best part about my work. Um for sure. Sometimes it can be a little bit emotional, challenging hearing what's going on at home, but when when you do get a win like that, that makes every second worth what I'm doing doing.
We do we do know that positive reinforcement is uh works and so we award them with um some gift cards and such. Uh so Josh works with them um in that regard. Some barriers that we face
would be of course uh you know it's legal uh my parents do it, my grandma does it and so uh I would say that that's a barrier. I think um getting into schools was challenging.
Um it's been with new with new leadership roles. It's been a little challenging over at the Brainard High School and the Forest Middle School, but we've been in contact with Tammy Stelmach. Um so moving forward to next year, we're hoping to get in there a little bit more um and expand our services a little bit more. That's the
goal. Um, and like I said when when Talia said Kitson County, that was a great opportunity. Uh, that's a between Hock and a few other towns, Lancaster that we were up there. That's it's kind of a smaller community, but the sheriff had reached out to us because there was a a present problem um with it was
either THC, vapes, or um prescription drug use. So, we were able to get up there and present. And we the support we had up there was amazing from each and every school. Um, they haven't had any programs like that up there ever. and they said that they would love to have us come back. There's actually a a
couple private schools that they would like us to come up there to and we'll kind of work on that when that next year when we cross that bridge. So, >> so what do you think has been the challenge? Like you said it was hard to you mentioned Talia harder to get trying to get into the school get your foot in
the school and I think that's been is it because there's a stigma of you guys coming in and the school admitting that there is a problem even though there is a problem. Uh the first year when I started, I remember Amy Jordan stating that they didn't have a problem with vapes.
And I also remember the next year her saying, "Oh, wow. We do have a problem." So, and then of course it's just gotten worse. And that is something else that we've established um is the safe vape disposal box program. And so that's
something that um uh you know Josh and I both work on. We you know purchased some ammo boxes and provided any you know organization that collects vapes from confiscating um vapes and so they don't
go to the landfill or you know anywhere they're not supposed to. So they're disposed properly and then he regularly uh goes and picks them up. And so, uh, I'm so sorry I got off track. What was your question? >> Well, just the, you know, the stigma. >> Oh, yeah. The stigma of admitting that
there's a challenge and Josh goes in there and and can can do it by lived experience >> which which speaks so well to to the people that are living through it because you've been there. >> Absolutely. >> And I think the capacity like they're just the schools in general are
overwhelmed. You know, they have a large job. there's this they're limited in staff and so maybe they think it's going to be more work on them, but really we're we just want to come alongside them and and take some of that off of
their plate. You know, uh we definitely we're not probation. Uh we're, you know, we're not a counselor. We're not their parent. Um we are mandator mandatory reporters. You know, we are certified peer support
specialists. we had to take uh you know tests with the MC yeah with the MC board or MCB and uh so I think the understanding of what we were providing was was I mean we're new
so I think that that was also a huge barrier >> talks about you know you know until we what did Cara say we can't we can't uh >> arrest >> arrest ourselves out of it, you know, and this is this is at the early signs of it. This is when people are are
testing it or, you know, playing with it or whatever before it becomes an addiction. >> And and I think it's it's >> you're not going to prevent them all, but you're going to get a bunch of them that you would be dealing with later on in life if you don't take care of it.
nip it in the butt, I guess, is the old way of putting it, but I hate to use the word bud today, but you know, >> come up with I have to come up with a new term now. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. Um, and I'm glad Cara mentioned that because like you guys said, they
that level of trust with the students when they know that that this is between what we talk about and what they want to mention. you know, we're not nobody else finds out, you know, if if they're vaping, um, if they're using THC, if they're using prescription pills, they usually can
come to me comfortably and talk about that and then that's when we can start working on the problem because we don't know what the problem is until they can present it to us. And that's the biggest challenge is getting that one barrier broken down. And once that's broken down, then we can start doing work. >> Yeah. And it's not always about
substance use when when he's providing that youth peer support with the students. It's, you know, what does a healthy friend look like? uh you know, coping skills, hobbies, uh you know, what what does next week look like? You know, just and and also not
just not using, right? That can seem really overwhelming. Like, but just let's try not getting high before school. And if you can do that for a week, like that's a huge that's a huge win. And so, uh, and that that's
happening with a a huge population, um, in our high schools and and even our middle school. >> And like I said earlier, um, ninth grade, most of these students have experienced it, have experience with it, these substances, have used it. So, like
I said, when we worked with Mike O'Neal up at Peekquat Lakes Middle School, I think seventh grade, you know, they're not so familiar with what we're talking about right away. And that's a good sign for me because I know that they have an experience with it at that point. And that target audience I believe that would be awesome to start working with
seventh and eighth grade students before they reach that high school stage. Ninth grade moving on. You know how that is. You're you're at the top of the ladder. Then you go into high school, you're right back down at the bottom. A lot of things are going on. It's a big time in students lives. Um a lot of changes happening. So if they're aware of these
dangers um and how potentially dangerous they can become um not only to themselves but their families to how much addiction actually impacts that's that's the goal for sure
>> and we kind of like I think even in the uh educational classroom presentations uh they're hearing how easy you know this sometimes you hear addicts, you know, they're in jail, they're causing all this trouble and they're just it's
just chaos. But then when you kind of break it down to it started when I was your age. I was sitting in a classroom. I exper I was experimenting with marijuana and nicotine. And you know, it just was a slow and
steady. And when you break it down to just those simple beginning steps to relating to exactly where they are in their life and what they're experiencing right now today. Uh then they can kind of maybe
see a little glimpse of oh wow maybe you know this is how it got out of control. I mean, addicts don't usually just start smoking meth or shooting heroin. So, I think that that is a good place to
start. I mean, it it mostly starts with nicotine and and THC. That's what we usually hear. >> So, if you have any other questions, they are available to answer. Talia is our blade coordinator and so she's happy to touch base anytime. You're also, as
we've talked about, welcome to the to attend the blade meetings um as well. So, thank you. >> Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. >> Thank you. >> Okay, next on the agenda is uh
tax forfeit lands. >> That's you, Cody. never happens. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, good morning. Uh, my name is Cody Dirks. I'm a senior field representative with Great River Energy, and I am
leading the real estate and rightway for the Northland Reliability Project. Um, I want to come in this morning to provide some updates on the project itself, uh, phase two, which we are prepping for construction later on this year, and to look over some of the Crowing County
lands that we'll be pursuing easements, um, which is included in the the packet that I gave you there, um, a breakdown of the the Crowing County lands along the Northland Reliability Project route. Uh so a couple things I want to run through is of course the the Northland
project is three phases. Um phase 2 overview and schedule for where we're at in 2026. Um county lands along the NRP route. Um I do want to schedule time later on with uh um Tom Stra who I've been working with to look at forest
roads and construction access just to make sure that um that all it works everybody can work together on that and any questions that uh we might have through here. >> Perfect. Um phase one we are in construction >> all pretty much going through the quarter that's already there
>> basically. Yes. Yeah. Uh phase one construction uh we started last fall. Uh it continues on uh there in the green at the bottom of the map. Uh phase two which we are prepping for construction there in the middle. Uh the gold color um in phase three. Uh I do
want to highlight uh there is uh Crowing County Lands in phase two of course but also in phase three. Um I would anticipate about a year from now I I would come back and present some of the design we have for those uh parcels uh for Crowing County
in phase three. Uh so where we're at today is we are working to wrap up our engineering and design um and to get to IFC or issue for construction. um here within the next month or so. Um we are we have started
to exercise options for easements. Uh so what that means is we're memorializing the easements that we acquired options on over the last couple of years and we're continuing to work our way north um with the Crowing County Lands. We had an appraisal done uh across all the
parcels. They're included in your packet and um we'll have the the easements with the uh surveyed exhibits ready for presenting to uh the county attorney and the county itself here uh this week. I just wanted
to kind of prep that or set the table with um what we're looking at today. So the crowing county lands along the route I have in boxes up here. Um, I've broken down into different areas such as
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H. And this is the overview or the data data table of all of the parcels. Um the partial ID numbers and then the track numbers that are assigned to the project with the total acres of easements on
those tracks and the appraised values with a total there at the bottom right. Um that would be on uh the first couple pages of your your packet there with uh the data table. This further breaks it down just a little bit easier to if you if you're looking for the particular lands um
section, township and range and which township the lands lie in. Um first portion section A uh this is at the very north end of phase 2. So what this track um actually does is it comes into Crowing County on the first couple
of parcels and then it ends there for phase two. Phase three would pick back up there again on uh basically that same tract and cross more Crowing County lands. Uh that's why that that route ends right there. Here's
um some more tracks of land um broken up into section B um going across and there's some values there in the center. Section C up by Bear Lake. Um this is where the the two lines kind of split before coming back together on the north
end again with values there in the center. And from the map overview, this would be sections D through H. Uh, which would be basically from about the middle of section two down to the very south end of Crowing County Lands.
Here we are at Spruce Lake again with the two lines coming in. Um, different views up there and then values in the center. Uh here we are going over Highway 210 um and across the Crowing County landfill lands.
Uh section F uh two partial area with value in the center and G a longer stretch of line uh where it has a a split or a break in the middle before moving just a little bit east and up over onto uh some DNR lands
to the north of there. And our final section, section H with values through there. This is my contact information, uh my email address, um my cell phone and office phone. Um kept it pretty high level. Um I'm
continuing to work with uh um Mr. Mr. Stra uh to present those easements with the surveyed exhibits. Um, and I wanted to leave plenty of time too for any questions um, that we might have. >> You know, on your report you show valuations and stuff like that listed. I don't see that on any of the stuff that
we've got. >> I can get that to you. I thought it was included in that packet, but basically it's that >> it's that see it >> that data table from >> Yeah, there it is. You're that that sheet there. >> That's the the totals there with the
totals at the bottom. Um, I did email over the the presentation to to Amber this morning. I was a little late. Um, I'm sure she can get that. We'll get copies for you all. >> Yeah, just get copies of that the ones that aren't in this packet. Appreciate that. >> And then we've got the appraisal with uh
with Tom as well. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, absolutely. Have a good day. Thank you. Hey airport. Morning. Uh, will you flip slides for me or would
you like me to grab the >> I can grab it. You can do it. Okay. If >> you want to, Jennifer, whatever. Uh, >> this is fine. I need to stand a little bit. Get stiff from sitting. All right. So, um, let's see. I made a quick appearance. I think it was back in
early April. So, uh, thanks again for inviting me out to talk about our great, uh, Brainer Lakes Regional Airport. I sure appreciate any opportunity I get to uh speak with our community members, county commissioners, whoever it may be, uh Briner City Council and so forth. So,
thank you so much. Uh Jennifer Roach is my name. I've been at the airport only since February, the end of February. Uh and it's been a great uh great start, I think, great fit for me and uh really enjoying what we've got going on out there. So, if you want to go ahead, Amber. All right. So, just digging right
in our airport really I kind of boil it down to three things. We've got our commercial aviation side of the house. We've got our general aviation side of the house. And then we've got all the the tenants that make up our airfield uh airport businesses and non-eronautical businesses. And that's really what I
want to cover this morning uh in what in uh in talking about the airport. So the two you see listed on the bottom there, North Point Aviation and Brainard Helicopter Services. Um North Point is our fixed-based operator. They provide our refuel services, ramp service. They do aircraft maintenance and they also
provide aircraft sales uh through their North Point business. Brainer helicopter services is a forire air uh helicopter. Uh they also do maintenance and they provide uh flight lessons for those interested in learning how to fly helicopters all supporting our business
our airport. But that's why it's so important for us to keep our service and our infrastructure up and running so that we get those businesses on the airport wanting to uh wanting to use our services. Uh next I'll talk about our commercial
aviation services. Right. This is key to our central Minnesota region here. Our Delta Connection uh operated by Sky West. That's who flies our daily service to Minneapolis. So 12 times a week an aircraft arrives, 12 times a week an
aircraft departs. We've had really um a few misses on time departures or cancellations alto together since I've been at the airport. Uh which is really great. Uh in the center you see are two, you know, big supporters of that operation is Unifi, that's the uh
contracted company through Sky West to provide the ground services. They're actually the the hiring company for the folks you come in and check in with that are although they're wearing a Delta shirt. Um it's UniFi is their company. So they they uh do the check-in services. They provide the baggage
handling uh the refuel of the aircraft deicing operations in the wintertime. And then of course our transportation security uh administration folks will do all the security screening and help maintain our safe airport operations. And then on the right, Sunount, uh once
a month from September to April, we get about 185 folks uh generally are filling that flight uh to go out to Laughlin for a weekend and uh spend uh spend some rest and relaxation or whatever they choose to do in the Laughlin area over that weekend. Again, bringing in revenue
to our airport. Um and if you don't realize, if you've ever looked at your ticket, there's a thing called the PFC at the bottom of all the where the fees are broken out. So the the passenger facility fee is a whopping $4.50 per person and the airport uh gets use of
$4.39. So part of that share actually goes back to the airline. And what we do with that money that is that is not an automatic back to the airport. That is a credit. So when we uh complete grant projects, we're actually able to pay ourselves
back the local fee. So, if we have a two two and a half% or a 30% or 40% local share, we can go back to this uh airport the passenger facility fee and do a credit application to put that money back into our account. So, that's that's
how um that's how that part of it works. >> Jennifer, what do you estimate that being u per year do we we generate? Now, I I heard that we're up in in flights or up in seats, I guess you would call it. No, >> we we are so we are uh since we've started the morning flight, the 6:40
a.m. 6:45 a.m. departure. Uh April, March was still the beginning of it. So if you look back April and May, we're up about 35% uh both those months. So we had,99 folks uh in April, closer to 1450 in
May. Um but that's only half our capacity. That's that's filling about half the half the seats that we've got. So we we have the great news is we have room to grow and we've got to work on uh filling those seats. But when you look at it on a year basis, sir, it's uh
we've got about 34,000 seats we could fill. So if you do the math at $4.39 cents a a seat, it's not a huge it's not it's not our main income, right? Our main our main um our main revenue comes from our hanger rental with with over
about 50 50 to 55% of our our income at the airport. Does that answer your question? Okay. >> Yes. Thank you. >> All right. Next slide. Moving over to our general and business aviation. Um key highlights here. Really,
it's an opportunity for our local businesses to grow. And I'll just give you an example. As I ran across a a airplane came in from California in May, I got an opportunity to talk to the pilots. They were from a large winery down in California, looking to do business with a local company that does
packaging, right? So, coming all the way from California to do business with a with a small company here in in Brainer. It'll be great if they can get, you know, get the business. Maybe it's going to cause them to increase their line. Maybe they're going to have to make some changes and grow their business. So, our small airport, I think that's a prime
example of what it can do to not only regionally but bring in businesses uh from afar to do business in our in our local community here. We also, if you're not familiar, we have Bamiji Aviation Services and that runs UPS uh next day
uh deliveries. So, they land at our airport every evening, drop off packages and UPS brings the truck up and is able to run those deliveries out. And the way we benefit there is there is a landing fee and uh potential fuel sales with uh
that Bamiji air services uh coming in our local flight training and uh just brings aviation careers uh opportunities to local uh folks here whether it's somebody wanting to start out just as a recreational pilot or somebody really with the the dreams and goals to become
an airline pilot or maybe a military pilot or wherever wherever the air takes them. Uh, and we do have an active EAA chapter. So, they meet out at the airport monthly. Um, and that's a a recreational flying club for folks to to belong to, to learn and continue um
their profession. My last bullet up there, our high demand for hanger space. We're currently sitting with only two vacancies in our smaller uh tea hangers. So, that's really good news. We've got just over 80 hangers available for rent at the airport. And I'll tell you, we
have about 15 folks uh on the waiting list for larger tea box hangers. So folks are able to afford bigger airplanes. They want bigger spaces. And that's something right now we don't have the ability to provide to the community.
So, as we as I work with the the airport commission on what does our long range strategic plan looks like, maybe it includes an opportunity to um uh put more hangers, the large box hangers on the airfield so we can bring that um bring those folks in, too.
>> So, does does the airport own the hangers or do they or do they just lease the land, the hangers? >> Sure. So, we've got a mix. Um quite a few of them are airport owned. Uh but we so then it becomes a a building lease, but then we do have a few private folks
that have uh chose to build their own hanger. They lease the land for us and that's set up on a number of years. So they technically own that hanger for a c set amount of years, 40 years, 50 years, and then it actually comes back to the airport once that lease is up. Uh that
does become an airport building. None of that has occurred recently in the past. We're still, you know, waiting out and working off those uh land leases. All right. Looking at our capital projects and and improvements. So, of course, we work closely with the FAA for
our um airport improvement program grants. We've got um Minnesota Department of Aeronautics that helps us with state grants. And I already discussed our passenger facility charge. So, that's a way that we get um funding for projects. And of
course, they all come with their specific rules and regulations, um payment terms, if you will. We've we've seen through the co years an opportunity to to build our our great new uh fireh hall and snow equipment removal building, and that was at zero cost to
the airport. That was a zero zero local requirement, fully funded FAA grant. Um, beyond that, we're seeing two and a half to 5% to 10% and then some of the state grants run at a 30 to 40% local share uh that we've got going. Um, this fall
we're looking at for pavement and airfield maintenance. We've got a large uh project uh around the the dollar figure of about 800,000 where we will replace some taxi lanes and our helella port will become a helellipad. So, we're doing some improvements around that
structure. lighting and navigational aid uh upgrades. Uh some are stateowned, some are federal owned. Uh we work with those entities to to keep those uh up to date and operational. And then we're also just going through and updating our lighting going into LED uh signs and
lights as much as we can across the airport. Our security compliance enhancements. So recently completed phase one and two of a four-phase fencing project. Uh increasing the skirting that goes down under the ground to keep uh animals. It's really a wildlife problem we have as far as uh
security if you will. And then uh increasing the fence height, adding um the the opportunity to keep more animals out and off the airfield for safety. And then future hanger development. We do have um $3.5 million awarded to the airport and an FAA grant. Uh, and we're
working with um, uh, uh, potentially the FBO if we're going to build a larger hanger maintenance hanger for them to increase their opportunity for aircraft maintenance, condense some of the they've got quite a few different hanger spaces, so they really want to be able to consolidate consolidate and run their
business more efficiently. And, uh, a recent award, we received $250,000 for HVAC upgrades. Some of our stuff in the terminal is getting pretty old. boiler systems uh and so forth. So, we'll be able to replace those later
this fall once, uh all the paperwork is finalized and we can get moving on that project. Any other questions there? >> Um just one uh two things. What do you see as the biggest benefit of having that airport here in Crowing County? And what is your biggest challenge? I know you're only been on the job for a little
while, but I'm sure you've already if you're looking future and talking strategic plan, you already have that in your brain. >> Sure. Um, I think the the biggest benefit is the opportunity it provides to general aviation. I'm a I'm a rotary wing pilot myself. I flew fixed wing
prior to that in college. Uh, so I have a love of aviation. So any opportunity we can provide, you know, we've got the small tea hangers that are affordable for the small time. We've got the large uh jets that come into our our airport. I think it just brings you know that in
my slide ahead I'll tell you in 2019 MDOT did a economical um uh survey $30 million is what they were suggesting that Brainer Lakes Regional Airport brings into the economy. So I think it
is a huge economic boost. So the love of aviation and the opportunity it brings for dollars into the community here I think is probably the biggest um advantage to having the airport. Um, we haven't dug deeply into our strategic strategy sessions yet and and what the
airport's going to bring. Uh, but I think, you know, we we have to have a plan to maintain our infrastructure and that has got to be a huge priority in our um in our strategic plan, right? We need to plan when are our tea hangers
going to need refurbishment because some of them are looking a little rusty on top, some of them still have dirt floors. making those improvements so that we keep the community coming back and we keep even the the the long range folks that want to hanger their aircraft here because of what it brings as an
opportunity for our airport. >> Thank you. >> I might add, sorry to interrupt. >> Yes. >> But we're on the cusp of doing a strategic plan for the airport. So that was just discussed the other last week at our special meeting that we had. So
it's definitely on our radar. We got a couple things we want to do just prior to that, but in short order, we'll be sitting down and and developing that strategic plan for the airport. >> Certainly. >> All right, moving on. Uh then our non-eronical services we have uh really
enhance the the customer experience. We've got our Wings Cafe. It seems to always be buzzing right outside my office, which is great great to hear. Great to see happy smiley faces in the in the cafe. A new business that just started is the Executive Express right there in the center. That's a black car
pre-arranged uh service in the Brainer Lakes uh air uh in the Brainer Lakes region offering um uh private car service. Uh they've got a midsized uh bus and then a large bus that could take up to 24 passengers um in the area. And then of course our rental car service
that's at the airport. And like all those rental car service and stuff, do they pay a fee to be have a >> they do out there? >> Yep. They rent counter space from us and an office space. >> Okay. >> And they've got a garage with a car wash in it on the on the property as well that is also rental income for the
airport. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And next. All right. Economic impact. I already discussed, you know, we're looking at 30 million and I know we're beyond that. For instance, our lifelink helicopter uh company has recently brought in um their
heavy maintenance is how they describe it. So helicopters go through every, you know, 100 hour maintenance and those are done by the general mechanics, but when you get to the 500 hour overhauls, that's some pretty major maintenance. Really, it tears apart the aircraft and puts it back together. So they've with
all the different locations they've got, they chose Brainer Lakes and the hanger space they have here as an opportunity to bring in their aircraft from far away, do that tear down maintenance, put them back together. So uh that's that's jobs, that's a couple more mechanics they've got on staff, that's uh
resources, parts being shipped into the area, uh and fuel services for our airport. Um, and yeah, so really beyond that, we're I think we are critical to business and travel investment here, bringing in folks, making it easy for them, making
it a pleasant experience that they can land at our airfield, uh, taxi into the ramp, bring their car out and take them out to the business meetings and then depart uh, you know, same day if they if they complete what they've got here. Uh, community and regional benefits. Um,
I think one of the the big community things is bringing back the airport tours. I heard that they were kind of um on hold for a while. So, this spring we've had quite a few school groups come in. We're kind of a destination for field trips and we'll entertain them. Kids of all ages. We've had uh first graders, kindergarteners come in, and
then we also have career exploration groups come in, 15, 16 year old freshman, sophomores in high school. uh being able to see and talk to folks. Everything from, you know, the our our med companies on the airfield support that, our maintenance, aircraft maintenance folks support that. Uh so
they really get to see a variety of what the opportunities are. Our firefighters will bring the truck out and let the kids spray water from the fire hose. Um so that's been huge. And then we've also had uh the the city uh Brainard City, a couple councilmen and some staff folks.
We hosted a group of 10 come out for an airport uh uh airport tour last week, which was a great opportunity for them to see, you know, what's going on firsthand. And I certainly extend that uh invite to to uh all of all of you as well as any um county folks that want to
come out. Uh we are we are open to that. Next slide. All right, moving over to our public safety and emergency support that resides on our airfield. I already talked about Lifelink, but then we also have North Memorial Health. Uh they
average one to two flights a day each company does uh for either air transport um or you know to a site sort of crash. In one of the tours we did the other day, I believe it was Lifelink said their their primary pickup is actually stroke patients. Um so we all know how
critical medical services is uh when somebody gets into a stroke situation. So, I think it's huge for our community to be able to have that resource readily available for them. Uh, moving down to our Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. So, our our our wildlife fire tanker base that sits on the far east
side of our airport. Uh, they're actually looking to do a a phased $16 million upgrade project, increasing their ramp, building a hanger, uh, building an operations building. Uh, they so far they've got 2 million bonded from the state of Minnesota. So we're
starting uh it it is it is their project but we are facilitating that through our our uh aviation engineering company meet and hunt. Uh and then um working with really what that means to us it's a land lease. They lease uh a large amount of
square footage from from the uh airport to be able to put their buildings up on and run their services from. Uh we have two law enforcement agencies that uh have hanger space from us. both the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minnesota DNR reinforcement. Our Civil Air Patrol
is quite active. They meet Monday nights at 6:30. You'll see kids outside doing their drills. They offer um um an opportunity for kids to be able to kind of get a glimpse of maybe what Air Force life would be uh through flying and um their drills. And then lastly, we see
quite a few Minnesota Army National Guard uh helicopters come through for training flights. A lot of low approaches. them land and come into the cafe uh if they've got time for a lunch break and always warms my heart to see those guys come in. Uh but the biggest key and that I'll end
with really is the partnership with both the city and the council uh city and the u and the county. Um continuing to do opportunities like this to to let you know where we're at. Working with Steve and the other uh county appointees on
the board uh has really been a great experience. um and bringing the information back and forth. And then also I did I did have to include how much we work with the FAA and the Minnesota Department of Transportation aeronautical offices. Um
they're they're a huge support to our airport too and really believe in what it does and what our mission is here. So with that, um any additional questions? >> I don't know that I have a question, but I just a comment just thanks for the job you're doing. It sounds like we're going
in the right direction. Uh I before Commissioner Barrows was on the airport commission, I was on there and and um I'm just really happy we're going in a good direction. And it sounds like I watched the Brainer City Council meeting
that our or Commissioner Barrows and and um council person >> Jagger >> Joerger, >> it sounds like the proposal that you laid out to us is moving forward. The city council seemed like they were very excited about it. They they made a
comment that they said Commissioner Barrows has got a heavy lift over there at the county. I don't think it's going to be a heavy lift, Commissioner Barrows. So, yeah. And thank you. >> Yeah. You're welcome. Thanks. Uh, one
thing is when, uh, the interimm director Neil was there. I went out there one time and he took me for a tour with around that airport. You know, for all the years I've lived in Crowing County and driven by that place, I've never knew what all went on there. I was just totally amazed. I mean, it just and how
the FAA is such a big part of it. we think of where does all this dollars come from? A ton of it a ton of it comes from the FAA, you know, and uh and it is a it is a gem. >> It absolutely is. And that was my goal here was to kind of provide you a windshield tour, if you will, while you
sit in your seats and so you recognize and know the different businesses that that operate out there. We it this wasn't to focus on what I do and the six folks that work with me as airport employees and the snow removal and their day-to-day operations. It's it's so much more than that.
Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Jennifer. Well, good morning. >> I think this is broken. I saw that earlier. >> Yeah, you touch it, it breaks. >> Just right. That's what Wing put a sign up there that says, "Don't touch the
mic. It's going to pick you up no matter what." That was a problem with facilities about uh five years ago. >> Welcome, Reed. >> Yeah, I noticed I'm the last item of the agenda, so that must by default make me be your favorite, I assume, for the day. But um what we're going to talk about
just briefly this morning is just go through the land use ordinance updates. Uh just wanted to give you a quick timeline where we're at. We started this project back in March. we uh at the committee the whole where we uh gave you a brief presentation on some proposals and where um you know where we thought
the ordinance needed to go and uh and then we went to uh a public comment period until from that date until April 17th. Uh been working with the planning commission on this a couple different times. They had a public hearing last month. They made a recommendation to you which I'll go over here in a moment. Uh
then we're here today to give you an update on what the planning commission discussed and their and their feedback on the ordinance and then the goal is by next Tuesday to come back to you with a with a decision on whether to approve or deny or modify the ordinance as it's been submitted. So um just a couple
things we wanted to talk about um during the uh during the comment period um received a comment from Eden Renewables. Um they had some questions about um the ordinance itself supporting it in general. There were some questions about um how we're going to be regulating
battery energy storage systems, which is really something that you use with the solar side. Um and so um I do think I think that Tom Cosby with Eden is on uh online virtually this morning uh to listen in on what we're discussing here.
Um and uh and then uh I I know that uh there's a couple letters that came that are in your packet as well that came from um Tom as well as a letter that came from the Briner public utilities that was part of the packet. Uh and so the planning commission they did make a
recommendation at their meeting on May 21st to adopt the ordinance as submitted. They did make one minor change recommendation. Um there's a provision in article 42.12 uh letter C that has a twomile setback to uh a city limit for the location of
these battery energy storage systems. And uh there was a provision in the ordinance that allowed the county board to modify that if deemed appropriate, but the planning commission felt that it's really not uh something for the county board to review since it would be a conditional use permit. And so that would be something that the planning
commission will be the final decision maker, excuse me, an interuse permit, not a conditional use permit. So, um, that was they they did make a recommendation to that. Uh, we did have to make a couple of amendments to the ordinance. Um, and that's laid out in the in the memo that I presented as part
of your packet dated May 27th. Um, we had to, um, generally clarify some um, wording to increase the clarity related to the battery energy storage systems. um we had to have some we did make some modifications based on some feedback we got during the comment period on
setbacks. Um and so those were a couple changes that were made. Um I do also want to point out that during the process we did receive notification from the DNR on May 4th that uh there were three issues with article 21 of the county flood plane ordinance. So when we
updated that um uh last year, one of the we basically get a um uh like a a draft ordinance that from the state that they said that we have to implement and it comes really comes through FEMA as well. And so they realize that they gave us some uh information that was incorrect
in that. So, uh, when you're looking at, um, flood plane mapping, there's these maps that are called firms, and there's a list of, so we, so we referenced the firms that were, and they said we had to actually reference the actual firm has a number. It's an individual map. The countyy's broken up into these different
maps for that. And so, they said we had to reference and list each individual firm panel number within the ordinance. And so, that change has been made. And then we also had to make a change in article 21.4 um, related to the floodway. So the floodway is the actual like if you're
talking about floodway and flood fringe, the floodway is a part of the river where the actual river body is. The flood fringe is where the water actually would would uh might go in cases of a flood event. And so there was an an error from the DNR where they allowed us that our orders current allows a 1.5
foot stage increase in a floodway for an event. So, if somebody were to try to do a permit um where they wanted to maybe do some intensive dirt moving uh that which so then there's a required study to show that there wouldn't cause an increase in the floodway and our ordinance would allow right now this is
a 1.5 increase in the floodway and that's not allowed. It's supposed to be a zero. It just was a a technicality that the when the DNR sent us that ordinance they had the they just had a typo in there for that. And we also need to then update our date of start of construction. the FEMA has a big
ordinance uh definition requirement for start of construction and so we needed to update that as well. We had received the wrong definition from the state on that. So, so those are the um additional changes that um are being required by the the DNR for article 21 of the county
flood plane ordinance. So overall, it's been a pretty a good process. Had had some good feedback from the public um on where we're heading with this and uh unless there's any questions or if you have any any additional thoughts, the plan will be to bring this back to the
board next Tuesday um for review. >> Just a question on the the planning commission making that change. That's because by statute that's under their purview then I would assume >> not not by statute by the by the county board decision. You've delegated
decision-making authority for conditional and intermuse permits to the to the to the planning commission board of adjustments. So they felt that if they're the ones making the decision on the intermuse permit, they should also be the one that's making a determination if the right setback is being met for these different for that different for
that battery energy storage system. So >> why why why what's the setback thing? Why why are we worried about this? So right now the so right now the way we have it set in the or the proposed ordinance says that a battery energy storage system needs to be 2 miles away from the city limits of
an incorporated city uh within uh within Crowing County because there's just a concern with those units that there could be an pretty if they start on fire they can release a lot of pretty toxic fumes and can be pretty pretty uh um a concern for public health. And so we
decided to be conservative and say we want to keep these away from high population centers. But the ordinance does allow the planning well as proposed allow the county board to be able to say we don't think two miles is the right number. We think it'd be a mile is okay or 3/4 of a mile will be okay. All that
this is saying is that instead of having to come to the county board for that question, the planning commission would be able to have that authority to make that decision when they're reviewing their interim use permit for the for any one of those different applications. Are we good? >> Okay. >> I don't know. Thank you very much. I'll
see you in a week. One more thing, Reed. I see you're here. Any issues or No. All good. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. >> All right. Thanks, Chris. >> Amy, the chair stepped out, so it's up
to you to adjourn. I think I got you back on schedule, too. >> I think you did. >> Thanks, God.