[Music] It's written down. Oh, Wi-Fi password. Yeah. Uh, it's city hall capital 2015. 2005 2015. Okay. So, we have J I mean, honestly, you guys, the
PowerPoint, it's what's in the proposal. I mean, the questions you guys are probably most important. Okay. I mean, if you want to try to work on it for a second, but I we're just going to waste time. Is it those microphones? No, now they
say it's working. Oh, yeah. I can Yeah. All right, why don't you guys go ahead and give us a brief introduction. Sounds good. Yeah, I'm Jason Mico with Bolton. Um, here with Brian Gardner. Why don't you introduce yourself? Yeah. Um, I'm Brian
Hillgarder. I've been with the firm for 26 years, so I'm very familiar with the area. Started down in uh Northfield as an inspector with Balden Mink and, you know, have been pretty much in the southern metro throughout my career. So, um, as you will see in the proposal, um,
I am going to serve as kind of a principal in charge role, advisory role. Jason and I have worked together on multiple projects together. Very familiar with each other. Um, you will not be charged for any of my time and that includes, I mean, if it is, you know, very detailed. If we have
something going on, my time will be will not be charged. Um, that's kind of the role that I play with the the firm right now. Um, serving that mentorship role. something I really um really enjoy and I help bringing people like Jason along and others um that are truly phenomenal
technical engineers. So I was not the most technical engineer in my career but I do like to talk. So and I did get my degree so there you go. All right. Yeah. With that we'll we put together a proposal or sorry a
presentation that covers some of the the highlights of our proposal. Um so we'll just kind of run through it but again unfortunately I don't have that in front of you right now. And if if there is, sorry Jason, if there is questions that you guys specifically have prepared. Again, we don't have to go through this. It kind of hits our highlights of what
are in the proposal and we can hit that at the end. If you have, you know, specific questions that you're asking as a part of the interview. If you'd like to go that route to start, totally fine. Yeah, sure. We can do that. Yeah. Um, I started with Scott last time. Jamie, I'll start with you if you want to kick
off the first question. Why do you want to be the civilian engineer? Why? Yeah. Um I just enjoy helping communities um complete their infrastructure projects. Um personally, I grew up in Northfield
and have family here in Lndale. Um so working in communities like this that I have personal ties to, I just find enjoyment in in bettering the community and again completing those infrastructure uh projects, helping the residents. Um and just general users of of that
infrastructure. Um, we kind of have a saying at Bolton Mink that's we live, work, and play where our clients also do the same. Um, and that's true for Lndale with with myself and there's others on our project team too. Um, or on our proposal team that also live in Lndale.
Um, so just it's close to home. We're we're very very uh big about culture and being involved in the community. So, we're not we we are a large firm, which I think is a benefit to the city of Lndale because we can pretty much provide any service out there, but we
don't act like that. We act like a smaller, more intimate firm. We we're we're the type that if there's a council meeting, we're going to stop down midday that day. We're going to hang out down here. We can do our work here. But then if there's questions with staff, we're available. Our Burnsville office is
right up 35. I mean, we are we are here. We're present. So that, you know, you know, back to Jason's point, we just love serving communities, especially communities, um, in the Twin Cities, you don't get the opportunity to be the city engineer in a lot of communities except in the ring. And I know for Jason and
myself, that's a passion we have. I'm I'm the city uh, engineer in Empire. I have been for 25 years. Um, they haven't kicked me out yet, so I think they'd probably be a good reference. But, um, we it's just you get a lot of enjoyment out of it. There's there's rewards out of being your city engineer.
Thank you. What are some unforeseen obstacles you have encountered on previous projects and how did you overcome them? Um, yeah, every project's different. They all kind of have their their curve balls that they throw at you, whether it's something you find in the ground
that you didn't expect to be there or um an external agency that you have to work through. Um, so specifically, I've had a few projects where we have um environmental permitting or things like that where you get thrown some curve balls and you just really have to kind of take a second, take some deep
breaths, get your head wrapped around what the issue might be. Um, communication is really important with everyone involved and other stakeholders for the project. Um, and just being open and honest. You know, there's no point in in trying to brush something under the rug. Um, be transparent and and work
through the issue. We've had You know, I think one of the biggest issues a lot of people run into is is during construction change orders, contract amendments, things like that. And and to Jason's point, I mean, it's all about communication. Number one, if
you communicate upfront properly, you're not going to have nearly as many issues there. It's inev inevitable though. You're going to run into things. And communication's key. You work through it as a team. You don't try to point fingers. Um, we are an extension of city
staff. So, if we're if we're Londale City Engineers, we're going to be representing Lonsdale, not Bolton and M. We're going to be representing Lansdale in those in those conversations. And if it's a a situation where um we did something that the city uh wasn't
pleased with, we're going to own up to it, deal with it, and correct it. I mean, we hope it doesn't ever get to that point, but um we're never going to try to point a finger or we we're all about team. It's we're in this together. Thank you.
What innovative technologies or approaches does your firm bring to projects? Excuse me. We have um various work groups within our company. Um we have a dedicated GIS work group. Um they're really good at asset management. Um putting together GIS systems for
communities and and cataloging their infrastructure. Um we've got a reality capture group. um they specialize in drones for project imagery. Um we're also kind of starting to mesh those uh that work group with our survey work
group for data collection for topography. Um it's a lot more cost efficient if you got a type of project where you don't need a certain level of accuracy when it comes to survey. Um we can fly it in a fraction of the time with a drone and import that and use
that in our AutoCAD designs. Um, our communications group is is a huge one. Um, you know, people just don't realize how effective communication can really help a project move along. Transparency. You hear so
many times in a project about um residents not being informed or they didn't know this tree was coming down. And that's the last thing a city council wants to have is somebody in a meeting, you know, talking about that. So, we um absolutely thrive on extra communication, being very transparent,
trying to bring people along, letting them know that, hey, we can't always do exactly what you want, but we will at least listen. We're not going to come in and say, "Here's the design. How do you like it?" You know, we're going to we're going to, you know, uh through neighborhood meetings and things like that. I think the other big um benefit
or another group that can really help is our fun. We we've secured over $3 million of funding recently uh through multiple areas. We have a a group completely dedicated to funding. Um Lansdale is one of those communities again that um average annual income
probably puts you at a level where you can't get a lot of grant dollars, but there's a lot of opportunities for low interest loans, things like that. So the the the you know, back to Jason's point too on um the size of Lndale is not I would call a midsize smaller city in
the on the edge of the Twin Cities here, but it's it's at a size where you can really be smart about building some of your mapping assets, um some of the data that you might want, you know, whether it be um water modeling, things like that. It's easy when you're smaller to
get a good system set up and in place to be able to use throughout and then build upon because then when you're just adding to it, it doesn't it doesn't cost nearly as much. But to get that system in place, if you're this, you know, if you're 40,000, you know, population and you haven't done this and you have, you know, 10 miles of water, it's going to
take time and money to to invest in something like that. But, um, uh, with the size that Lansdale is, I think there's some great advantages out there that we could work in slowly over time. Thank you. Go ahead, Brian. All right. Um, so kind of piggybacking off of what
you you were talking about with the funding side, um, can you describe your experience in requesting funding to be included in the state bonding bills, um, what what has worked, what didn't work, what's your success rate, um, you know, working with other cities on projects,
getting them in or not getting them in? Yeah. Um, city of if if you know, somewhat in proximity here. um we didn't think there was a chance that there was going to be able to be a project or or a bonding bill uh awarded for that one. We kept applying, we kept
working with with senators, with lobbyists. Um we have a team, our funding team has a lot of connections with lobbyists and things like that. We never try to take that step um without the city being on board. Um that's one of those things that if we're going to go after something that large, we like
to team up with the city and um you know have a representative from the city. I've been very active. Um Ron Rosenthal from Redwing was their city manager. He's recently retired. We worked together a lot to get I don't know what the total amount of bonding bills for Main Street and some of the other
projects down there, but we've been super successful in Redwing. Again, as a team approach, work with the city um sat in meetings or sat at at at the uh capital with them um presenting but helping them have all the information there. Again, I think it's I think it
the approach that we've taken having the city be with us and not doing it for the city, I think is really instrumental and I think that's why we've been very successful. Um uh local road improvement uh bonding dollars would I think two years ago I
think we had 70% of the bonding dollars went to both of my clients. So again, we're very very familiar with it. I I would challenge any funding department out there against ours. I don't think they can touch it. So, thank you.
Um, Joe Dornfeld, I'm going to give you this one. Uh, consistent construction observation is very important to us. Is there a project volume or threshold time period that would result in diff in a different construction observer? Uh, for example, would we have the same construction
observer on a street utility recon project uh versus a melon overlay or water main loop? Sure. Um, so Josh Robbie is on our proposal um team and he is a construction uh manager on our
staff. And so a lot of times what we like to do is get someone like that plugged into a specific um community and have them be if they are not specifically the one who's out there uh 24 not actually 24 hours a day but during the construction hours of the day
um he's at least keeping tabs on the project doing checkins. um making sure everything's going according to plan and to the city's um requirements. Um there is a possibility that there would be different staff based on what the level of project is. As you mentioned, if it's
something like um new development or a mill overlay, we might take that as an opportunity to use um an EIT or even an intern. Um if it's something like a more involved recon project, we'll use someone who's a little more senior. But again, no matter what the case would be,
um if it is one of those more inexperienced people, we would have someone like like Josh Robbie um oversight with an oversight role over those people, as well as myself or whoever else it might be that would be in a project management role overseeing the project as well. Every um every
community is different. Again, if if if the desire of Lonsdale is to have as much consistency as possible, then that's what we create. You know, we try to develop uh a younger staff. Again, you want to take advantage of rates where you can. If you have pass through projects, developments doesn't matter as
much, but we want to develop that right team. I guess the short answer is we like to keep consistency when we can find it. We'd like to keep the same people on projects as much as possible because it just creates that consistency. Again, when we talk about culture and getting to know the city,
that's the whole purpose is getting those people to know the details, construction standards, all the the different things that might be unique to Lndale. But again, to take advant a million overlay, there's not a lot going on in Millan overlay, you know, to to have it. Again, Josh Robbie, the the
model that we use is he'll he'll be, you know, in four or five different communities as kind of that senior person that can roam around and, you know, he might sit on a large recon um type of project. But otherwise, we try to, you know, utilize some of that younger staff with oversight, especially
on milling overlays. Again, you have a big recon going on. We we want to have somebody that is experienced, knows what they're doing. I think if we work together, a lot of times our challenge becomes in scheduling, just with staffing. So, we know there's a project coming up well in advance and we know that you're going to need full-time
inspection for that summer. We're going to get that right person that is involved with Lonsdale on that project well ahead of time. The the times that we run into issues occasionally is that a community will call up last minute and say, "Shoot, this development came in. We didn't know it was coming in. Can you
guys get an inspector?" And it's like, "Well, we can get one, but I don't know." You know what I mean? You just run into that. But I would say for any projects in London, we're going to enough in advance. We'll put staff members on that are going to stay consistent throughout just like we will.
Perfect. Thank you guys. Yeah, Joel. Um I guess I'll keep my question consistent with the uh the last interview. So your rates are the 105 for the first 20 and then 120 or 125 after the initial. What's the hourly rate
going to be for like a street project or development? Do we have that fee table listed proposal? I believe it's included in the proposal. Yes, correct. I think that table likely gives a range, but then there should be specific
numbers listed for Brian and myself, which my rate is going to be. Correct. It should it should be listed in the proposal. I believe it's like 170. We can certainly get that to you. I mean, again, I think um um we're always willing to negotiate and
talk about rates. I mean, we try to we you know, with city engineering services, you always try to I think it helps to try to create that um hourly value. You know, when you know that you're going to be doing a certain amount of time, it just makes sense so that you can do proper planning, financial planning. you know that okay
we're going to have at least 20 hours of this and whatever else time um project work again mostly pass through. If you do have say there is a recon and we're going to be billing part of that at the normal billing rate um for Jason then again that stuff's all going to be
included in a feasibility report or a proposal. Just because we're your city engineer doesn't mean that as as bigger projects come along we always like to put a fee schedule together. So, a fee estimate. So, that again, it's all for finances. You need to be able to budget your project. So, we'll put together
that full estimate on a on an individual project so the city knows what they're getting into. Thank you, Scott. Um, so that would be uh how would your firm handle the transfer of data from our current data link system with
WSB and could we expect a similar product um to what we have now? Yeah. Um to my knowledge, we use very similar, if not the same, um software that WSB uses. So, it should be a very
seamless transition. Um as far as the the data sharing, um it would just be a coordination between them and ourselves. Um and coupled with that, um transition services from from one consultant to another I know are kind of a big
undertaking. Um so, to that puzzle would be that we we do not charge for transition services. So any coordination that's required to facilitate that data transfer and any handoffs of any um currently ongoing projects or things like that there be no charge for those services.
Um water depending on what they have I mean again there could be different models. They might have a base GIS mapping um system that they use. They might have a different watercad model for a water system. regardless our they're all transferable. Um we we've
taken over communities WSB was in. They've taken over communities unfortunately that we were in. Um and it it it is always a seamless transition. It's it's pretty easy to get that data. Again, it I'm a big big proponent of of having as much good data as as you can
afford as a community because that lives and breathes, just like comprehensive plans, just like sewer and water plans, that stuff is the guiding documents for the future. So, if a council changes, if the mayor changes, if your engineers change, those are the documents guiding
the city. So, the whole purpose with that with that even with the with you know, the technological data, the GIS, whatnot. Same same concept. We want that to all all be as effective as possible. So, I there will it'll be an easy transition.
Thank you, James. What is the most interesting or memorable project that you have worked on? Um, personally, it would be uh a project in Northfield. with that being my hometown. Um it was Jefferson Parkway
main thoroughfare through town. Um I had numerous parents of high school classmates and and family members of my own that all lived kind of adjacent to the project. And um every time I was back in town, they were asking me questions about it. So that one just sticks out as being really memorable. Um
it also was kind of a fun project because it involved uh multimodal aspects. There was the Miltown State if you guys are familiar with that, that passes through Northfield. Um, a roundabout, kind of some different aspects that aren't in your everyday recon. Uh, that was fun to
see. I have two of them. I'll be quick. One, same thing, same concept. That hometown, I grew up in Hastings and I was a part of the I was the project manager on the Hastings Riverfront Renaissance project. So, uh, if anybody's been to Hastings, that entire riverfront downtown with the pavilion,
all the streets down there, all the crosswalks, uh, it was a nightmare at times. I'm not going to lie. The downtown people are are they they've been through a lot. There was water mane improvements down there. There was water mane breaks all previous to to to that project starting, but they were done
with construction. Like, what are we doing right now? And so, um, it was really challenging, but when it was all said and done, kind of like like Jason said it was really rewarding to go back and then you know seeing people on Facebook commenting on it and commenting on how I was the project manager. It was
pretty cool. The other the other one was earlier in my career about 15 years ago uh city of Immer Heights we had sewer that was 70t deep and nobody on our team nobody on on Irro's team had ever done like what are we going to do with 70 ft
deep sewer? How are we going to how are we going to do this? And we got really innovative with some guided augur boring. I mean, there's a lift station that I don't even know how many gallons goes through it, but it's it's a it's giant. And we've got multiple manholes
over 50 ft deep. And we've still continue to monitor them. There's been zero settlement. Um there was a lot of crossing fingers. I'm not going to lie, but we use we use very innovative uh technology that was out there. And I, you know, that kind of brings back another point I like to talk about.
Value engineering goes a long way. We we have very good relationships with a lot of the contractors out there because we're not, we always know that being a team is the best approach. They need to make money. They want a good project. We want a good project. We want them to make money. We we want everything in the end. It's a it's a win-win for
everybody. And value engineering goes a long way. That project, we literally sat down with five different contractors and said, "How would you do this? what's your best approach? And had we not done that, I don't know if we would have gotten to the final answer that we did. We might add 10 more lift stations and kept the sewer at 20 ft deep, but we
didn't. And it's all working 15 years later. So, that's great. Thank you. Uh why don't you summarize why we should select your firm? So, what would have been our last slide? You guys can look at it later. It's
really good stuff. It's titled why Bolton Mink. And so there's kind of four points here that we believe are are differentiators between us and other firms. Um the first is cost effective and honest services. So we we ensure that solutions and projects are
delivered in a cost-effective manner. Um that's that's a a point that we stress internally at Bolden Bank. Um we're not afraid to be honest and transparent with our clients. Again, like we kind of discussed before, whether it's issues arising or just things that need to be worked through. Um, if anything's not a
good fit for for you guys or for us, we'll be open and honest with that and we would expect the same from you in return. Um, if anything we're doing is is not meeting your needs like you expected. Um, we were open to that feedback and we'll we'll adjust accordingly. Um, the next one is
dedication and availability. We want to be the most trusted engineering firm that you guys have worked with. Um, we have a team of technical experts. I I would be your main contact, but behind me are the resources of our firm of technical experts to assist with uh anything that might be needed to make
sure that we can uh deliver the highest quality of service possible. Um, our public engagement and involvement, again, we kindly t kind of touched on that. Um, we engage with the communities that we serve. Uh, we believe that the public input is
important. It's important for for residents, especially on recons and things like that, to to feel that their voices are heard and that their input is taken into account. Um, so our public engagement group has a plethora of um different techniques for gathering that
public input. They've done uh yard signs that they'll stick up next to the sidewalk that has a QR code on it. So, people who are actually using that road and walking on the sidewalk can just scan the QR code as they're passing by and type in their comment of what they'd like to see done on that project or
input to something that they've seen in a a neighborhood meeting or things like that. Um they've done popup meetings at the the local youth baseball association if there's a park improvement type project. um and and countless others. Um and then finally, the funding expertise.
So again, we have a a dedicated funding work group um that to date has secured over $2 billion in total for our clients um that we believe that that the folks in that work group are our second. And I'll just comment on a word
that was brought up there. It's about trust. I mean, our our whole purpose here is to is to get a relationship. I if we get hired as a city engineer, we want to be here for the next 25 years. Maybe not me quite, but you know, we want to be here long term. We want you
to be able to call us up and know that you can trust we're getting the best answer. I can confidently say you're not going to find a firm with more resources that acts like a small firm. I mean, we we have such a depth of of resources and things out there that we can do that are
not overpriced. I mean, other other consultants are going to have to use those services, yet they're going to have to subconult to another firm. We pretty much offer almost everything in-house while still maintaining that very individual relationshipbased client
type of relationship. That's that's how we've been successful. If you look at greater Minnesota, we're, you know, we'll probably have, you know, 75% of the communities from here south are our Boldman clients, long-term clients because of that relationship building
and trust that we build. Um, you're just not going to be able to find a team that offers that at reasonable rates. Um, wanting to have that long-term relationship. Again, we hope if we're hired that we're not that you don't have to do this other as a checkin every five
years or whatever. That's the goal for us. Thank you, Brian. Jason, I gotta I would like for you guys to take an opportunity and touch on your uh waste water treatment, water treatment, and what you guys can provide to our community with
that as well. Yeah. So, our we have a an environmental group that is is very familiar with any kind of mechanical plant, any kind of ponds. I mean, we we it's a day-to-day business that we do. That's where our funding department really hits, too. There's a lot of funding available with water and
wastewater systems. Again, very water modeling, wells, water towers, booster stations. I mean, us two aren't going to be doing that work. And we can talk, you know, smartly enough about it. We have a um just in the Twin Cities alone, I
think we have 15 people in our Burnsville office that are just dedicated to environmental engineering. Um, we have multiple. I think all of them, if I'm not mistaken or not, most of them have master's degrees. They're very in tune. Obviously, it's a very specific and detailed design. Um, and
they're problem solvers. I mean, if you're having issues, this is where I go back to the data collection. I just had a meeting today with somebody where once you can get, you know, enough monitoring on hydrants and things like that and figure out what we have going on, you can build upon that system to where we were able to recognize just on
a project the other day watching some of the individual pressure drops. We knew that there was a water main break and we were basically able to isolate right where it was just based off of our model. Uh city called us said they're having issues. We pulled it up. We found that there was a water main break. we knew there was because the pressure
drops in the drafts and so um it was it was it's things like that. I mean if there's specifics that you'd like to know about we can certainly get back to you if there's issues with wastewater whatnot but we we again a plethora of people with master's degrees that a hell of a lot smarter than him and I are
that'll they'll definitely figure things out for you. All right. Thank you. Um Joe, do you have anything that you'd like to ask? Um, I think I'm good right now. Okay, Joel, did you get your question asked?
You have anything else? All right, council, do you have any more questions, Scott? Just only on on the proposal. It says uh we're available to respond to the city council or staff inquiries uh 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We'll try. I mean, I I here so I I'll tell you the truth. when I'm in when I go on vacation to Mexico for a week, I do an hour of emails every day. So, somebody emailed me. I mean, it's a statement that's yeah, probably not entirely true. I guess what we're trying to say there is we're available. And
that's kind of back to that being present. You know, if you guys are okay with it, we might spend, you know, two hours a week with office hours down here. We might be working on another client over here if you need something. You know, if if there's questions coming up and you'd like us just to be present.
Again, it's how do you build a relationship? You don't you don't you go on a date with a woman and and before you get married, right? I mean, it's you know, so so we want to be present. We'd like to be 24 hours, 7 days a week. I'm just I'm if I'm fishing on the You're
not getting a hold of if we had if we had an emergency, I'm sure it's one thing, but we're we're generally not going to be reaching out to Yeah. you know, consulting engineer for uh if you ever Yeah, I was gonna say if you ever needed an emergency contact
all the time, like during projects, we definitely have, you know, Josh Robbiey's phone or whoever's phone would be on during a project for sure because that there is risk for water mane breaks or somebody falling in a trench or something like that. So, all right, that
was just an observation. We got to note that one. Get that out of the way. Most most times 23 vacation fishing not 20 237. All right, Jamie. I'm good. Gary, I'm
good. Brian, do you guys have any questions for us? You know, I guess I would like to know like are you look like obviously you're looking you you've changed engineers. I think we proposed down here a few years back. Um, so I I again, we're really
hoping to find consistency for you. I I I mean, if there's anything that you've had any concerns with, and it's not to pick on on on WSB at all. In fact, Nick Gilliam, who so I knew used to serve you, is one of my really good friends. Um, I do a lot of stuff with him and and
quite frankly, I even utilize talking to him to say, "What what did they like about you, Nick?" And and a lot of that was being present. Um, so is there anything out there that you are lacking that we can help provide? I guess I I would like to to know because we want to
be able to help you improve that. Or what are they doing? You know, what are people doing good? What what do you guys desire from your city and here? I guess that would be nice to know. Like for me, a big thing is um those grants and not just us having to dig in
and research it and come to you and say, "Hey, could you help us?" like you guys taking the initiative and finding something or you come across something and then bringing it back to us so that we can, you know, work together on that. You'll be flooded. What we what we like
to do actually is do um sometimes it's it's just annual, but we like to do an annual funding meeting with our clients. So, we'll sit down, we'll actually have Chelsea Alger come in here, talk to the group, she'll identify a bunch of possible projects, and then she'll come to to the either a council meeting do a
presentation, say, "You have this project coming up. It's links to this county road. We think there's some county financing available." Um, I think that's the best way to do it. You will not have to do anything if you don't want to. We will be all and and just
because you're not doing anything doesn't mean we're not going to be doing anything. We're going to be coming to you with the funding programs. And in many cases, if it's an application, we might do those um on our own, you know, on our own dime. and then if it's successful obviously you know do the
project work but um it it depends on the magnitude of it but I would say in half of the grant applications we do it's usually for free so I guess one of the things that um you know I'd like to see is is the is the
job done right the first time not going back or you know putting more work on public works not saying WSB does that I'm just saying I I would like it to be done right the first time. Yeah. Especially being stewards of the taxpayers's money, you know. Yeah. No,
and that's that's our goal every time. I you know, like Jason said with transparency. I mean, if we're not meeting your needs, I want to know. Especially I want to know because it will get fixed. And I don't mean that many. I mean, I he's this you
have one of the emerging leaders in the Twin Cities that will be your city engineer. I I mean that. I mean, there's two or three guys that I've really taken a passion in mentoring, and he's one of them. And you're not going to have mistakes. And if you do, he'll get it corrected. If he doesn't, then I'll get
it corrected and then I might be your city engineer. Not for free. I can't say that we've had any issues, but I know that just when you we've been with somebody for so long that I don't I don't want to use the word complacency, but we don't know what
else what the landscape looks like. outside of outside of that, right? Um so that that was part of this was was explore and see what the uh what the lay of the land was. Yeah. And I can tell you right now um WSB is I would say they're probably our number one
competitor. They're very similar to us, you know, because they do offer a lot of services. I think where we are that differentiator is I've heard and again I'm not here to rip on WS. I'm literally friends with several people at WSB. I I I've been trying to change the industry a little bit at some of the conferences
and things. Football players, they get off they get together off the field, right? When we're on the field, we're going to compete, but when we're off the field, let's get to know each other. You know, that that's that's something I really believe in. And I just think that that, you know, we offer a different
level. We have all the technical all these firms. Smaller firms obviously they're not going to have the technical capabilities and all the resources we have. I think that's a huge advantage. WSB is the same way. they they they probably offer about the same type of stuff. Where we are differentiators is that culture. I mean, we're in the
community. Um it's about trust, it's about relationships, it's about, you know, you know, getting a Christmas card and it actually means something. So, that's that's where you're not going to find anything different than us. It's just not going to be like that.
I think the one thing that I I want to see is the the innovation piece. you know, I mean, I I work in innovation management software. That's what I do. So I see innovation across all sorts of different uh industries,
but we need to look at not just okay, we need to fix our roads or we need to rebuild a road or we need to add a new road, but how are you going to say this road is going to be better than the road that somebody
else is going to build for you because of X Y and Z? the innovation, the the technology that we're going to, you know, how are we going to cut the edge to make sure that it's lasting longer, it's less maintenance down the road, you know, I mean, how are you going to help us design those systems
that we get on a maintenance plan where our cost savings long term are are are realized? That's that's what I I want to see from from an engineer. Yeah. Pavement management plans. I can't stress enough. I I brought it up before. comprehensive plan, pavement management
plan, wastewater water system plan. Those are your guiding documents. As far as innovation goes, I mean, again, because of the size of our firm, we have people at conferences all the time. We're we're we're learning the latest and greatest, you know, 3D scanning. You
could bring a a drone into this room and it would literally have a 3D model in four hours built by CAD. I mean, it it we have on one end of our clients, we we call them the innovators. On the other end, about the lanyards and like we love the innovators, you know, because we get
to use all the new technology and help those communities be better. But specifically to roads again, we keep up on the different batuminous mixes with mind and what oils are better and all. They think that I mean there there's a major issue in the east metro with scaling of all the milling overlays that
were done horrible and it was all because of bad oil and that's been remedied and changed now. But a lot of, you know, people are going to different, a lot of people aren't seal coating traditionally anymore. Um, we're always on the on the edge of of those type of technologies. But to start pavement management plan so critical because then
you can really figure out what do you need to do, when do you need to do it, how do you and again it comes down to financing. How do you um city of Hampton, tiny little city, you know, over on 52, we've done four $2 million reconstructs there in the past 15 years. People would say, "What?" But it's
because we got a pavement management plan done and we staged bonds out so that okay the first two bonds that hit they were going to hurt but they got used to it but then when the next project came the other one fell off and now going forward they do a project bond or fall off project bond and fall off.
That's how you do it. You plan things out but the innovation we we'll we'll definitely be on the top of that. No doubt. Thank you. And you you also mentioned um you know building roads that might last longer and whatnot, but um a lot of that is also on the
contractor and their construction construction practices. Um so again, just making sure the things that we can control on our end once construction starts. Um is having an adequate staff, competent staff in place to make sure the contractor is doing what they should be doing. Back filling correctly around
pipes and structures. Um test rolling the the road before paving to make sure we don't have any that are soft that we're just going to crack within the next year. Um, and I'm not just just roads either. Just that was just easy one. No, no, you you can be you can be
assured that we are on top of all innovation. We send people to conferences constantly. We we're going to be leaving tomorrow morning for Minnesota public works conference up north. There's always sessions on different things. So, we we certainly are on top of that. Awesome. Thank you.
And if you're looking for a job, might be a conflict. It's a soft I work in software. It's it's a it's a tool for innovators to manage projects. It's not I don't come up with new [Laughter]
ideas. I mean, not in that space anyway. All right. Does anybody have any other questions that they'd like to ask? No. Is there anything else that you guys would like to go through or No, I mean again our our PowerPoint, you know, we
can send you again. It's it just summarizes what we wear. A lot of times I I'm old school. I would have brought the damn white flipboard here and these guys yell at me. They can't do that. So to me, this is actually the way I would have preferred it anyway. I mean, again, we're getting to know you guys a little
better one instead of looking at a slide and and whatnot. I mean, I think you know, uh, why we're here and and again, I just can't stress enough that getting to know the community is really what we're about. And, you know, Amalica certainly is going to know the community. Other members on our team know the community. Um, we're here to
stay. We'd like to be your engineer for a long time. I think the the last point that I'd like to stress is just that, you know, we've talked a lot about our funding work group, our water and wastewater work groups. Um, even though we have all these resources, the way that our
company's modeled is we have a client service manager, um, which would be me as your your acting city engineer who would be your main point of contact again to build that consistency, to build the relationship. So, we've got those resources there, but there's there's going to be a familiar face. Um,
someone you guys can go to, uh, and and as Brian's mentioned many times, trust in. Well, I I appreciate that. I appreciate you guys' time and um yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.
Appreciate it. Thanks guys. Hopefully we get to see you more. Yes. Sure. You want to talk about lale scaling deep sewers? Hey, you're just hitting all of our I I'm kind I nerd out when I can, right? You know, it took me seven years to get through college
because I was messing around too much. No, now I like to nerd out. Go Wolves. Sorry. No, for real though. Go Wolves. For real. Late start. Another game time where you you have to
stay up until midnight. This one's at home. Yeah. Well, at least we got home court. But yeah, I mean, I was really rooting for Houston. Like, get in our time zone. Yeah. Appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yeah. Nice meeting you. Likewise. Nice meeting you.
Nice to meet you. Good to see you. Nice meeting you. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Are you related to Josie? Uh I think by she's by Mary. She's a mo by
right now. I know that my my dad's Melvin and they had siblings that lived here in Ndale. Okay. Josie sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Yeah, she's I worked with her for several years. Sure. One of those Christmas events where there's this thousand
people. We used to come out here for uh the family reunion every summer. And you can go to the cemetery and have all these molecules. Yeah. Yeah. You don't know which these aren't related to these. Is that my dad? No. I get asked it all the time. I know they're somewhere along the Highway 19 belt. But
I'm a wor so I get the same thing in Jordan and Chakra. So I'm a Hill gardener and I literally looked up and there's like six of them in the United States. Yeah, I'm in I'm in the same boat. I'm in the same boat. Well, thank you. Appreciate you guys. Have a great evening.
Just can't get rid of the tickle. The itch. Yeah, it just nonstop and everything's fine. It just comes and goes. Could be allergies, too. They're nasty. I was doing leadership training on
Saturday. So lot of speaking very hello afterward. I saw a couple pictures. Where was it at? Hi.
[Music] We're doing some construction work. several team. This is early for a tournament, too. Usually they don't start this early. This one apparently they do it because they used to knock two of them. They would do one later.
There are a lot of rich Well, good evening. Hi. Is this on? Yes. Okay. Okay. Are you guys ready? Welcome. Welcome. And uh why don't you give a brief introduction even though we
kind of know who we are. So it's okay. Yeah. If it's okay. Um we've got a brief presentation, right? So we'll maybe kind of go through a couple things and then go into the Q&A. Is that okay? That's absolutely absolutely fine. Excellent. Thank you so much. And then I think we might want to reserve a little bit of
time at the end if we have it, you know, following Q&A. just to introduce myself. I mean, really appreciate the council's opportunity for us to present why WSB, why we feel WSB is the right choice to continue in the role as city engineer for all of you.
Um, by self introduction, my name is Morgan Dolly. I'm the senior director of municipal services at WSB. I'm kind of behind the scenes. I've been the client liaison for Lansdale for nine years. So supporting um not only Shiobani but other past city engineers. Um I serve in
a non-billable role. Right. So that's you're not going to see me um uh necessarily for projects, but I'm there as a resource uh for Joel, for city staff, for the city council as well too. Um my role is to check in on client satisfaction, how things are going. Um
but also to be a resource um with my experience. I've got 25 years at WSB and the majority of that has been providing municipal services and city engineering services. So um with all of my experience with projects um you know adapting to different problems uh trying
to find funding for projects uh again non- billillable but I'm a resource there for folks like Shiobani and other people at WSB too as they kind of come across different projects and problems and things they're trying to solve. Um and uh I just want to Before we get into
it, highlight uh the fact something that we uh feel is very important that we're very proud of is that Lansdale is a key client for WSB. We've been providing services, project services going back to 2000. So that's almost at the very
beginning of WSB as a firm. We've been your city engineer with one slight hiatus since 2004, so over 20 years. Um and that experience and partnership and and uh you know working for that uh length of time really uh can't be
overstated and it provides some value I think with what we have done in the past and what we hope to continue to do into the future with all of you. Um your long history of growth as a community and also you know excellent stewardship from an infrastructure standpoint which is
what all of us try to help you with. Um it really parallels WSB's growth as a company. So we started as a professional services firm in 1995 so not too long before we started working with you all and we've grown over time into a premier provider of of municipal services,
engineering services for cities all around Minnesota. Um, our history together with u, you know, from WSB's past and growth as a firm, together with you and your evolution and growth as as a city, it's that established relationship and trust that we feel
provides a lot of benefit um that we would like to continue to to build on with all of you. Um, it's that consistency, that reliability, that familiarity, the ability to adapt to changes and understand preferences and hopefully proactively be able to come up
with solutions even before staff thinks of them. Um, we think that's going to be our strength has in the past and will be moving forward. Uh, and that's over several years and it's something that we we're really proud of. Um, that proven track record of delivering quality
services consistently. It's a strategic partnership really um in Londale's long-term success that we think that no other consultant can bring. Um so u with that I'll let the folks that you're more familiar with other than me, Shiobani
and Nate um talk a little bit more about what they're passionate about, what they bring to the table from a city engineering standpoint, but really appreciative of the opportunity to present to all of you and u hopefully extend our relationship. So go ahead. Thanks, Morgan. Well, as you know, I'm
Siobhani Vison. We've had some interactions um at council meetings, but I wanted to just tell you a little bit more about myself. So, I've been with WSB for 25 years, only working with our Minnesota communities. Um I have um been
a city engineer for about 15 years in four different communities. Two of those I was officed out of city. Oops. Office out of um city hall full-time for three and six year stints. So, I understand how cities work. I
enjoy um working with new communities and um working through all your infrastructure needs and capital planning. Um I've, you know, been through street projects, utility projects, trail projects. Um also a lot of development. I worked with a city
that um was a growing community like you know, working with developers on plan review, development agreements. Um, you heard at the last council meeting from a developer who was asking for flexibility and, you know, I understand market um conditions have changed. Um,
but it's important that, you know, the the city standards and design guidelines that have been established are consistent. You know, you can have some flexibility with that, but at the end of the day, the city's going to and maintain the infrastructure for the long
term. So that's where our partnership with city staff understanding the um you know expectations with construction and um utility construction and maintenance is um important. Um and then really my
you know I started as a design engineer project management overseeing projects in the role of city engineer and really my passion is helping you and guiding you through having those projects implemented because ultimately that just
improves quality of life. So the stika skate park is a great example. We're really honored to be have a small part in that. Um you know that's where the city listened to the residents needs and found a really coste effective way to
get that project done. And so, um, Lndale is a great community. I can see why people stay here. I've been involved, um, in Lndale since January of 2023 when one of our other engineers um, left for another city. And I want to say
it was a really seamless, easy transition because staff is great to work with. We've got your GIS system, your infrastructure. We we had a really um seamless uh process to transition that. Um and and I hope that over time
you um you and staff feel that you know we do have a trusted relationship um just based on our experience with the city and what we brought forward um recently. And again, I know some of you have only known me a couple months, but
I feel like in our work sessions, you're you're very thoughtful and really making some headway in making some really important decisions. Um, so I mean, my style is to be proactive and transparent and give you those technical or
engineering um, options and recommendations. And I know you've got a tough job because you know your decisions aren't always technical. You you got to rely on other priorities and funding and resident concerns and just other other concerns
with the growing community. So um you know I understand that but you know we have a team of people that are here to guide you through that process. Um and you know street projects are a big part of cities. You've got a
lot of needs. And really at the end of the day, residents want a nice looking street. They want the curb appeal. They want green grass. They want clean and safe drinking water. And so that's what our team does. And um we hope that you
feel that we're a trusted resource to continue that. Um, and so it's not just me like like I'm uh talking about myself, but you know, my my experience helping cities guide you through this process is what I really enjoy. So, next
I'm going to um turn it over to Nate. He is a very important part of this team. He has proposed to handle more of the day-to-day work and he's um for the last couple years really designed and managed some of your milling overlays or trail
projects. And then you've seen him um cover for me at a couple council meetings or just come to the meetings to shadow me so that he can understand your um expectations and meet with you. Thanks Bonnie. I really enjoyed working on that
ste escape park project with you. So a little background about me. I'm Nate Cook. I'm a registered engineer with six years of municipal engineering background. Um working with clients such as Hastings, Woodberry and Dundis to name a few. So throughout my career, I've worked on various types of projects
including full street utility reconstructions, mill and overlays, trail improvement projects, park projects, trunk utility extension projects, just to name a few. So I'm at a point in my career where I'm kind of transitioning out of the field and more into a project management role. Um, but
with that, I found that the being in the field gave me very valuable experience and a fresh set of eyes by being able to see some of the issues in the field firstand kind of for those during the design phase of a project. So, it's been really valuable for me being able to do
that down here in the city of Lonsdale for the last couple years, which I'll kind of allude to here in a little bit. Um, but I have been able to do that down here. Um, I look forward to continuing to provide services to the city of Londale and by and enhancing the infrastructure here. So, as I kind of
hinted at, over the last three years, I've been involved in most projects that have occurred in the city. Um, and through that I've developed a very strong relationship with public works director Joe Lornfeld. We've worked close hand in hand um quite a bit on on all these projects. And through that
relationship I've gained some institutional knowledge of the city helping projects go more smoothly from the preliminary design stages through the construction um of the project. Um I've enjoyed working with all the city staff here. You know, Joe, Joel, and some of the public works guys that I've
had interactions with. It's been great working down here. Um each project that I work on down here in Londale brings new challenges only in return which in return makes me a better engineer for that. Um so the on the board and also I think on this map there's a couple of
you know there's highlighted areas of projects we've done over the years but I thought I'd just touch on a couple of those that I've been involved with. The first one was the 2024 trail project which if you do not recall it was on Ash Street over by Mac and there was a big
area and then on eighth over here extending from Casaw to Heritage Street. Um that project was great project went well but I'm always going to remember that project personally because it was the first plan set that I was able to sign as an engineer be the engineer of
record. So, it's going to hold a Lndale is going to hold a special place in my heart forever being as it was the first plan I ever signed as an engineer. So, um another project was the Mil Street water man project which was also last year just right across the street here. We extended water man down fourth and
then down the gravel road. Um looping the water man. It was used to be a dead end. We were able to loop that giving better water quality and water pressure to some of the residents on that dead end. Um that project went great. it was on time and on budget with very minimal disruptions to the community. Um the
third one is the this year's melon overlay, the 2025 melon overlay. Again, I did get to sign those plans. So that was the second plan that I was able to sign. Um and with that, we're able to effectively use the city's dollars due to the great bids and extend some of the
scope of the work. I was able to work alongside Joe and we came up with a plan to add an additional block and a half on Fourth Avenue and an additional on Birch Street just due to the great bid prices, you know, getting the city more bang for their buck on that project. Um, similar
to Shiobani, I was also involved in the STEK escape park. So, on that project, I was the lead inspector on that project. It was a great project to be involved with. But I think the thing that stands out the most for me is I was able to attend that ribbon cutting ceremony and it was awesome to just see the amount of
people there, children and adults alike, utilizing the features and the amenities that the city was able to pro to provide them. It really just gave me that sense of community that you guys have down here in Londale. So, it was really awesome to be a part of that. Um, I'm looking forward to expanding my role as
the assistant city engineer and collaborating with city staff to deliver on time and on budget projects. With that, I'm gonna pass it back over to Shiobani. Thank you, Nate. Um, and so, as you can see, Nate's a great guy, great to work with. Um, we're a team for
you and and really that's just going to help distribute the work so that you know, everything's cost effective. It's a it's a good balance. Um, where, you know, like I mentioned, Nate would manage the projects and then and also construction as well. and then I can
help guide you through kind of those budgets and capital improvement planning as well. But we work well well as a team again to make things cost effective for you. So u Nate referenced the map um as we've discussed in a couple work sessions. You've already started
planning and we've been involved with some of your major initiatives. You know number one for public works is pavement management. you've got about 40% or 10 10 miles of your roadways that were built in the early 2000s and they're they're coming up for improvements
whether it's a mill overlay or or something else. And so those are big dollars and so to take it to the next step and develop a payment management program and capital improvement plan and then talk about funding whether it's
debt service, special assessments, uh franchise fees is another way that we've helped communities um you know use those types of funds but that like I said is number one priority for public works and we are um happy to
continue um helping them with that. Um I've done that in Monaceel and Circle Pines and a lot of other communities I work with as well as has our team. Um and then you know I think the other thing we've talked about is the water
tower the water storage study. So, we completed your comprehensive plan two years ago. Um, and that identified kind of this next step that hey, as Ondale, as you're growing, there's going to be a point where you're going to need more
storage because basically the um the the user demands right now are nearing the capacity you have in your water tower and it's recommended to have more capacity than what your water usage is. So, that I know is very um important to
public works and we've talked about talking to your legislators to try and get state bonding and we're here to help you tell that story. You know, what why why is this important? Um what what funding sources are available. You know,
we've talked about the PFA and getting on the PPL list to have low and pierce loans and things like that, but um you know that there's that is a big priority for you as well. And so with our team, we want to help uh guide you with that.
And you know, we talked about I think grants and funding. There's trail grants out there. City staff has done a great job getting the small cities grant, which you can use for some infrastructure projects um as well. So that is something that, you know, we've already started on that and we'd like to
continue. The other big thing we've talked about and I didn't look at the state demographers report today but you know that you're going to approach 5,000 in population and so that makes you eligible to be a municipal state aid city. I have helped cities with that and
you really have to be strategic in terms of what streets you designate so that you get the most amount of um funding allocated to do those street improvements on those roads. Um, and so, you know, if if someone's not experienced with that, you could leave
some money on the table and, you know, maximize the amount of funds that you do need for that. Um, one other thing I want to mention is just kind of your water wastewater needs. Um, we've got John Le Point in our office along with other staff that have helped um, Joe
with the booster station project and just some other questions with the wastewater treatment plant. I know um Joe brought up to you the um sledge removal options with you know um not maybe having security with farmers to
land apply and so John from our office said hey I'm going to call up Joe and meet with him and I've got a partner I work with who's an expert in these different options so they met and you know that was free of charge that's just the value we provide knowing that hey
this is a concern we know that other might have this and and let's set up a meeting to talk about it because it does take time and planning and uh different steps to to accomplish that. And um so anyway, with my experience, Nate,
Oregon, our team, we're here to just guide you through that. And I just want to let you know that Londale is my number one priority. I I'm not a city engineer for other cities. I work with cities, but not a designated city engineer. So, I mean, that's the the
commitment we uh will provide as well. So, with that, um I don't know if you want to go to Q&A and if we could just have a couple closing comments after. Yeah. Thank you, Nate and Shabbani and Morgan. Um Kari,
I'm going to have you start out this one with the first question. All right. Why do you want to continue to be our city engineer? Well, we're we're really proud to serve you. We think we've been successful over the past 20 years and, you know, we know
what it takes to continue that. Um, you know, we we understand your specbook, your design standards. It's we know staff um you've got some big initiatives and important decisions coming up and so we're we're ready to go and I think we
do have a shared vision. um the the cover page of this handout, we were looking at Lawndale's vision, you know, building for tomorrow today. It's similar to our vision to um plan for the needs for tomorrow today. And so
um we feel that we have, you know, we resonate with you on that as well. And then turn it over to Yeah, just to add, so although I'm not proposed to be a city engineer now, I hope to be someday. And you know, for me, It's to continue building that relationship with Joe Joe
and enhancing the city's infrastructure for me. You know, building on those existing relationships, making them stronger. Thank you, Ryan. Um, so what are some unforeseen obstacles you have encountered on previous projects and how did you
overcome them? That's a great question. I have a very interesting project, but I I guess in general um I I want to just say that it's really important for your projects to have a tight defined scope and have
contract documents that spell out as many scenarios that could happen so that you're dealing with these potential unforeseen issues. So I had a a project in Monaceel. It was a road reconstruction project. We were widening the road and it was adjacent to a
cemetery from the 1800s. And so we had heard that okay back and maybe some of the remains weren't buried right in the border of the cemetery or where the headstones are. So, we did some cool just investigative work with infrared
technologies to see, okay, are there any obstructions underground and um talked with the state archaeologists because there's a state statute that if you do uncover remains, there's a procedure and a pro process to address it respectfully. So, um when construction
started, we did the contractor did encounter that on a Saturday and so we were on call to work with them to minimize the impacts and shore up the area and just get it taken care of quickly and worked with city
staff and the mayor to let them know. Um, so that was that was a project we talked about for a while in the office, but um, you know, that's something that maybe we we knew could happen, but had a plan in place to um, address it. And so
really just having the the documentation, the information, the plans to deal with these things that might happen is really important when you're building projects. Great answer. And for me in the field we
encounter unknowns all the time but in general when we're doing this work I find that the best way to overcome these issues is communic open communication between all parties city staff contractor if it's a resident complaint just being open in our communication
with what's the issue and how can we solve that. So that's kind of how I tackle everything is headon try to answer the phone right away. Let's deal with this problem instantly. get it taken care of so that it's not lingering over days essentially. But I found the best way is just open communication with
everybody that's involved in the project. Thank you, Joe. Um, what innovative technologies or approaches do your firms bring to the projects? So, at WSB, like Morgan described, we've
really evolved over the years and we've had to change because of technology, AI, what have you. I think a really cool thing we're doing is um we're kind of getting away from the paper construction plans and really using a digital delivery method. So, we did this with
the city of Elk River on a highway project. Um, and it it was a really good way like Nate mentioned to communicate with private utilities, with the contractor, with other stakeholders to really deliver that project in a quick and cost-effective way. And we've
presented on this project at professional organizations and and other um conferences and things like that. Um, the other thing that I think is really cool is just 3D visualization. You know, renderings are three-dimensional. um drawings or ways
to communicate to people, okay, this is what this project is going to look like. This is what your roundabout's going to look like and this is how you're going to drive it or you know here here's what a new sidewalk would look like along the boulevard adjacent to your yard or your trees. So that's a really neat um
technology as well that I think is effective in communicating with residents and your stakeholders and things like that. You know, Morgan's got some examples. Yeah, and I might just add on to what Shabbani was speaking about with that um it's three it's like a it's like Minecraft but in civil
engineering right it's three dimensional in the in the virtual world um working on the design documents without putting them on paper and in coordination with the contractor with the uh private utility owners as Shiobani said it wound up saving the project um over a million
dollars because they were able to collaborate in the design process with the contractor at the table and see uh issues and conflicts in real time and be able to move them around and figure out what was the most cost-effective way to address it. And WSB was the first firm
in Minnesota and one of the first in the nation through a strategic partnership with one of our software vendors, Bentley. Um they make kind of the CAD software uh for a lot of highway work. And so we were able to leverage that into one of the first projects. And it's not going to be right for every city
project, right? But that's kind of the beginnings of that technology and we certainly don't want to be last at the table. We want to be first. Um, a couple other examples that are maybe uh smaller in scale but certainly these things are affecting not just civil engineers but
all of our lives. Um, for pavement management uh starting last year we started doing this as the standard. Um, when you do street ratings for a for a street network for a city in the past it's been by human beings and you're
basically uh visually counting cracks or you're trying to evaluate how many cracks or distresses you have per mile or per thousand feet or whatever. It's very subjective. It's very time consuming. It's very labor intensive, right? Um and so we started using a
software vendor called Civil.ai. I think it's like cybl.ai. And basically it's a algorithmic driven video processing software where we put mount a camera like a 360 degree camera on a car, drive
all the streets. So, it's kind of like Google Street View, but what the AI software and the algorithm is able to do with that video is um rate the streets. Okay? And they do that in a very consistent, nonsubjective, nonhuman way, right? So, it's going to be consistent.
Like if somebody if two people rated your streets, you might have a little bit of, you know, a little bit of um you know, give on one side of ratings versus the other. This is going to be very consistent. And as an added bonus, um, which I really like, the the AI is able
to see like a street light or a power pole or more importantly, uh, assets that public works owns and maintains like street signs or stop signs or whatever within the rightway. and it's able to catalog that using GPS so that as you're building out your asset
management system as you rate your streets, you can bring in all of your signage like speed limit signs or stop signs or or if you have street lights or if you have trees or anything that you're trying to like catalog that the software can pick up. Um that is an an additional thing that can be a part of
the process. And so we've just leaned right into that technology. That's the way we do it. We're not going to use people to count cracks anymore. and it's actually saves a lot of time. Uh there is a charge for that AI software, but um we're able to do it much more
competitively than we have been able to in the past and it's more consistent and we can cover more mileage in a shorter amount of time. So that's a a huge benefit. And then finally just on the everything that we do daytoday um we are rolling out uh Microsoft co-pilot which
is the M365. So that's like uh with Word or Excel or the things that we use on a day-to-day basis that are not just engineering but could be parts of writing reports or um uh I don't know creating presentations, right? We're
trying to leverage that. So in our timesensitive business of trying to be productive and uh perform at the highest possible level uh in the shortest amount of time to give you the most value for our time. We're leveraging that Microsoft co-pilot AI in our day-to-day
work starting right now. And I never thought I'd have to do this like even five or 10 years ago, but I had to sign like an AI HR policy like so that I know what's the right way to use this and I know that, you know, I need to double check the work. We're not using this irresponsibly, but it's something again
that we're adopting companywide and I think we're probably one of the first out there in terms of the consultants that are doing day-to-day work. Thank you. Joel. Um, so as far as um your rates, you're proposing a monthly retainer of of
$2,300 and then um hourly rates um for for Nate and Shabbani. Are those rates will those rates be consistent um you know if it if it's above the retainer amount and then you know be consistent with a street project or or a
milling overlay. Yeah. So, we're proposing the retainer to cover kind of general engineering and meetings, just so you know what those those costs are, you know, as opposed to tracking hours or things like that. I mean, our rates do change every year.
Um, and so, um, you know, that's something that we provide the city and you know, we're we're very flexible. if you want to look at a different retainer or rate schedule, you know, we just want to make sure we're meeting your needs and
obviously your budgets. Um, so I don't that answers your question. So, you're going to have your retainer, but you're not going to have an hourly rate for this type of project, an hourly rate for for this, correct? They are separate. As Siobhan mentioned, the retainer is meant to kind of cover, you know, just general services, right? And so, project work
would be separate. we would uh prepare a budget and a proposal like we would normally do for you, you know, based off of those rates. Um there may or may not be, you know, discount opportunities within that, but I mean that would be on a project by project basis. And our goal would be to work within uh the budgetary
kind of guidelines that you guys have set up for any given project. We don't want to be um the least expensive or the most expensive. We want to be in the pocket so that you guys get the value that you need um at the at the lowest possible, right? I will point out too
that, you know, on when given the opportunity to propose on general engineering services, um we found that the retainer model is something that we want to like at least point out as an option. Um we're open to, you know, if selected to continue as your city
engineer, we are open to any model, right? If you wanted to look and be at the table with us to talk about continuing with the old model, some version of that, that's fine. We're open to that. Um some different version that might be more hourly. Uh that's fine. We
think that the retainer is special. I think it might be unique in terms of all the consultants that proposed to you because it's really going to be the only model at least for city engineering services, the day-to-day things. um and on a regular calendar, you know, January
to December, it's going to be the only model that gives you the ability as the city council and staff to understand what is your year in year out cost for general engineering going to be. It's a set amount each month that we looked at historically to try to figure out, you
know, it's discounted. You know, we we may have some months that maybe we do a little bit less hourly than our average, and there's going to be other months where we're really busy where we're probably not going to be making that much money, but we know in the end as a continued relationship as your city
engineer that hopefully that all works out and it's beneficial for both parties. Um, and I would point out that with a retainer at $2,300 a month, right, there's no incentive for a consultant to try to graduate to that next level of billing to get to a higher
number that might be more profitable, right? There's going to be there's actually the incentive is on WSB to be more efficient with our time, right? you pay the same amount and as long as we're delivering the services that you need on a monthly basis, whether that's attendance of meetings, whether that's
giving you advice or processing different things as your city engineer on a monthly basis. Um it's okay if we wind up having to do a little bit more on a couple few months, right? We our hope is that we can continue to work with you on the projects. Um and that
would be, you know, where we would really kind of hopefully lean in on more full services, right? but still want to be competitive with their pricing. So hopefully that provides a little bit of context. Again, highlighting the fact that the um the the the um retainer is
not the only way to go. We're open to anything if you want to continue talking about other options. Thank you. With the retainer, do we currently get a monthly statement to show what Yes. Okay. All
right. All right. Thank you, Scott. Um, picking up um, pardon me. Uh, describe your experience in requesting funding to be included in state bonding bills. Um, like what was
worked, what would did not, and what was your success rate? And this does not include PFA. Yeah, that's a great question. Um, so we really serve as a support role, like I mentioned, to help you tell the story of
what the improvement is, why you need the funds. Um, I I we've got a team of resources that can design cool graphics and help you tell that story. I helped two communities with the Border Street uh Champlain in Brooklyn Park. Um, it
was a road reconstruction project widening and it was driven by development. And so we um created some materials and hand handouts to give to the local legislators to get um they got $10 million worth of funding. And um and
I'll tell you, persistence pays off because sometimes you got to just keep trying year after year and and tell the story and enhance it. And um we're just here to support you with that. I mean, we we're not lobbyists, but you know,
we're here to help you kind of navigate through that. I think we've we've had pretty good success, you know, in terms of telling that story. There's obviously political factors and and funding priorities and things like that, but um
we um understand that and um we have I think a lot of experience with environmental projects or road projects or highway projects or trail projects and things like that. Yeah, I would just add on to that. I mean, my personal experience, I I don't
know what my success rate is, but um persistence is key and relationships is key are key. And I think that um that's part of where maybe that institutional knowledge comes in and that partnership with your consultant because telling the story and finding those elected
officials at the state or federal level is so key. Um right now I'm working on three different projects that were uh appropriated had funds appropriated either at the state level with the legislature out uh even in a session without a bonding bill which was
actually kind of amazing. But that was again a relationship between the mayor of that city and the state representative or some state representatives that made that happen. But we were again providing that support role with estimates project descriptions
um to be able to allow the folks at that level to be able to interact and talk about what was needed uh and why it was needed at the city level. Um, another one was a federally appropriated uh water treatment plant million dollars. Um, and that was as simple as just
trying to stay in tune with the website for that elected official. And as soon as they opened up the opportunity to submit projects or needs within the community for potential federal appropriations, I got right in there and I wrote a compelling description and we
were selected. I mean, so it is competitive. You're not going to win every time. But it goes to what Shabbani was talking about just being uh very persistent and if you don't get it one time you build upon that the next legislative session or maybe you find a better way to tell the story or you
provide some additional information or you're able to include something that maybe you didn't include the last time and eventually you will I don't know how many years it took for that Champlain Brooklyn Park project. It was many many sessions but they did get it funded eventually. So, I don't know that that's
a secret or anything, but I think that is really what it takes is long-term working together and being persistent and finding those relationships with the elected officials uh between you guys and also the folks at the next levels
above too because sometimes those can um they can really pay off from a project cost standpoint. Thank you, Jamie. Consistent construction observation is very important to us. Is there a project volume threshold time
period that would result in different construction observer? For example, would the same observer be on a street utility construction project as well as a week-long mill and overlay or water main loop project? Good question. We've kind of dealt with
that the last couple years. Um, you know, our goal is to provide consistent inspectors. Um, have Ross Inglein Engle King who's worked with the city for 14 years and helped write this backbook. He's um inspected your six street
reconstruction projects. Um and so we are committed to pro, you know, having him serve the city when you have a summerlong or cons, you know, entire construction season project. Um you know, where in the last couple years
you've had just a mill overlays and trail projects that last a couple days to, you know, a week or two. Um, we will our our goal we would love to have Ross, but he's committed to those seasonl long
projects based on um, you know, the needs that are out there, but we've got a lot of good inspectors and it's usually someone in our office who's doing design that also um, has done construction inspection that can get
pulled for a couple days or a week or two um to then serve that role as an inspector. And um you know it's Ross is always going to be here as a guide. I'm here and then Nate as well since he's
taking more of the design and project management role is a great resource as well. Yeah. So just to add a little bit to Shiobani, I'll be involved in all project. I would be involved in all projects moving forward in the city as you know the project manager and oversight of you know construction and
everything. And also on top of that we always have access to Ross. He's just a phone call away if I ever have questions or in an inspector in Lonzo ever have questions. He's just a phone call away and he knows the city spec inside and out as Joe as Joe knows. Um so he's just
hallway. He's answered plenty of my questions before and he's always willing to, you know, help city staff or inspectors out there. Well, I'll skip this next question. Yeah. Yeah. Does not apply. Um, what is
the most interesting or uh memorable project that you have worked on? And let's do just Ldale. Sorry about it. Just just loun. Well, I mentioned Stika skate park. Yeah. Um I
think um with our trail project in 2023, there were some additional funds that the city was able to then utilize for the public works cold storage building. And that
was I think a pretty quick turnaround. And so um you know that that was memorable because It's not too often you can just have this these excess funds and be able to turn around and and and
build a pretty cool long-term project for public works. So besides Tika Skate Park, I would say that is a memorable project for me. I mean it's obviously Stika, but if we got to go another route, I guess it's just generally all of your trail improvement projects.
We've done quite I've done quite a few of them and it's great to just see the use. I mean, I'm out here sometimes midday and see the use of those trails that there's always people walking on them thanking us. So, it's just great to see the use and whatnot. So, thank you,
Krie. All right, so summarize why we should continue on with WSB. Well, we like you. We know you. Why not? Um, I just think, you know, we've we've had a history, but we've also evolved
with you over time and we've got some some fresh eyes and I think we've had success and just want to continue that. Um, you know, we've got dedicated staff. Um, and we just feel like, you know, based on our experience, we've hopefully
provided you value provided you with value over the years. And I think um it's not going to be a new learning curve for for staff or council, but you know, we're flexible and open to really just meeting your needs and we enjoy
working with Ldale. Yeah, I would just add to kind of build on my opening remarks that um you know, just like Lndale has changed over the last 20 years, um so has WSB, right? But although it's been 20 years, it's not
the same old same U WSB's breadth and depth of you know being able to provide expertise in a variety of different ways is extremely expanded compared to when we started working with you 20 years
ago. So um we're really proud of who we've become. We're very proud of what we've accomplished with all with all of you in your community. Um, we think that that all of that depth is really going to lead to a greater ability for us to respond to any upcoming needs as you
grow and expand. As Siobhan talked about, becoming a state aid city, expanding your water system, um, you know, looking at a pavement management plan. I mean, those are all things that we do every day for communities just like Londale, bigger and smaller. Um,
and so it's just something that, you know, we're really looking forward to. I mean, what hasn't changed WSV and the relationship with Lndale is that um proven track record of consistency and reliability um and that trust. Hopefully
you see that trust that has been built over time. Um and through the years in growth we still we have that legacy together. Shani mentioned it before and um you know we do put a little bit of thought into these silly graphics that we bring to these things. But on the left side that building tomorrow today
that's straight off of your website and on the right side that's of our company's kind of guiding vision statements, right? And we we think that those two things align really well. That's a good reflection of the past and we think that's a great indicator and
search light for the future for us to work together. Um, our values are connected. And finally, I mean, like Shabbani and Nate have said here, we we've got it's not just about the two of them, but we've got a lot of people, Ross included, that really know you. They like you. They like working with
you. and they're looking forward to continue working with you. Um, and we're hoping that, you know, as we kind of bring this team forward for you guys, that that will help advise and guide you as you kind of steer from a leadership
standpoint future of your community. So, um, our hope is that you'll put your trust in WSB and consider us for continuation in that role and let us be a part of that next step as a part of the long team together with you guys. And finally, you know, thank you very
much for the opportunity. We know that it's important to check in on these consultant relationships on a regular basis. We've gone through this before. We're grateful for having been resected before and again looking forward to it in the future. So, thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council.
Thank you. Um, does anybody have any questions they'd like to ask? Joel? Joel? Scott? Jamie? No. Curry, Brian, do you guys have any questions for us?
Yeah, I mean just, you know, is do you have any concerns or, you know, what are the next steps um that you're thinking as a group to make a decision or timeline? That's a good question. Yeah,
I know Joel is waiting for some data to come back from from the others, so we'll probably have to look Oh yeah, the additional rates. Yeah. Yeah. ISG. Yeah. So, but we're going to have to turn this around quick. I mean, we've got funds budgeted for capital
improvement plan, payment management p plan, all that stuff was was budgeted for for this year and we haven't started any of it. So, if we want to get those done, we need to couple weeks. We're only interested, right? I mean, we'll we'll you guys take
the time that you need, right? And so we'll just be looking forward to hearing from you. So I would I would guess probably won't be this week, but the next council meeting I would assume would be on the agenda, right? Yeah. I said if we we want to get some of this stuff uh accomplished this year,
we've got to get going on it now. So better. And no concerns from me anyway. make sure I answer all your questions. Well, thank you guys. Thank you. We went a little long, so I appreciate the extra time. So, thank
you. But you started late, too, so it's okay. Yeah, because we needed a little break and a little intermission, but thank you for Yeah, working late tonight. We haven't met before. Nice to meet you. I'm Joe. Thanks so much for allowing us
to come. Thank you so much. Yes. Thank you. Great questions you guys. Really appreciate you guys. Thanks so much for having us. It's a nice
temperature on. It's not in my house. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Where's your backpack at? It's in my truck. I figured Thanks again. Thank you. Can't listen in the cafe on the way home now.
Mike don't have earbuds. Oh, that's right. You're on the bike. I forgot. That's okay. Surprise. You don't have it in your helmet yet or No. See, the point is disconnected.
They were all We were all You could put these up. Thank you. Have a good night. You guys all right. Well, that leads us to the next item on new business is uh consider
approval of special meetings to discuss the city's 2026 budget and property tax levy. Joel Ericson, whenever you're ready. Uh so this was discussed at the last council meeting. Um since not everyone was
present, it was pushed off until uh postponed until this meeting. So basically you just need to come up with a schedule that works for the council and and staff. I did watch the uh watch the meeting
from home. I didn't see any issues for me. I don't recall anybody else. There's there's only one that um I brought and Joel I think you and I talked about this. Uh June 18th would be the only one. Um that's library board meeting.
Uh, I did connect with Margarit on it and we just didn't feel through the conversation we didn't feel we had enough time to connect with the other board members prior to this meeting to say can we push it up because it's
usually at 6:30 but you know I proposed can we maybe push it up to six and I guess we just didn't feel we had enough time so if possible could we just move that to Tuesday the 17th just a day ahead, just an action in flight.
But um yeah, I mean that works for me. That would work better for me. I I would like to make it work that night, but uh on the 18th, the 17th was a better night for me. Okay. And it doesn't conflict with any of the other board meetings as far as I know. The only one that I was questioning was the
July 10th. That's our regular city council meeting. Two for one. That'd be nice. We did do a couple of those last time, didn't we? Yeah. Yeah. I just But you know, I not that far on the calendar yet. Usually the ones that we did were like
later where it's like, "All right, we've gotten through everything." Seven. Yeah. We were doing budgets at six and regular console at seven. Yeah. I don't know if July or like right in the middle. That's one of the beginning ones. I don't know if that would work, right? How the knife
work. Yeah. I mean, yeah, you can make it work. ETH would be better. Wednesdays are really hard for me. Yeah, Wednesdays are not the best for me. That's Tuesday's fine, too. Tuesday the eth is better for me.
Okay. So, do that really. Are we open to any daytime meetings during the summer instead of evening? Not during the week. I would Okay. I can't get away from that. All right. I know. Yes. Yes, please.
Um, the only one that I had an issue with was the kickoff meeting, but uh I mean what I said was going to happen that day might come sooner. So, So, I might make it. Um, are you are you
like betting on dates or do you have something planned? I No, nothing goes to plan. Well, some people plan specific, you know, procedures is what I'm saying. Yeah, but uh yeah, we could take that
offline, but um the only other one for me is September 8th. I'm going to be out of town. I know I'm going to be out of town, but I don't think you need to reschedule it for me because there was one last year where I was out of town. So, and at that point, we may we may have it dialed in enough. I think that's
often times the one that we end up. Yeah. The September 8th, I might not be able to be at either for an ambassador's meeting. Usually, it's the first Monday um because the first Monday is actually Labor Day, so we would push it off to the next week, but
Well, if that's the case, do we want to I mean, you would be gone and you potentially would be gone. Should we move that one to the 9th, the Tuesday? I'm out of the country. Oh, yeah. So, Oh, I won't be back till like the 15th or the 16th. So, don't plan around me
for that one. And we can always look at it when we're in July, too. See what works better for that September 8th date. By the time we get towards the end, like like we've said, you know, we're we're through most of the big presentations.
They tend to get a little shorter towards the end. Um I now that I just jinx it probably, right? Thanks. Yeah, you're moving more towards a finalized budget by that point. My my only fear is, you know, as everyone's schedule fills up, then it becomes
tighter and tighter and then we come down to it. You know, we can't make anything work. That's why I say have it. It's that's why I say on that one, don't plan around me. I'll just be absent. I think we better we'd be better off to have them carved in stone right now. It's easier to cancel it than it is to
schedule it. I think the beginning ones are the most important where the council's going to have to lay out the vision and provide staff um direction. Yeah. On you know what what you guys are looking to see. No new taxes. That was the one on the
eth that that was the issue. So you said the ninth would work for you because you're Don't don't don't play. You're playing hookie for a month. Not a month. Just just just about three weeks. days. I'm just kidding. It's not like it's not three weeks like
cruise. It's not three weeks like last year. All right. Yeah, the nth is better for me that September 9th Tuesday mostly I think if everybody else is okay with it. Yeah.
So, I guess I can make the motion to accept those dates as amended. Um, okay. The only other thing was the 18th of August is a regularly scheduled um parks meeting and planning and zoning,
right? Because it's the third Monday. Uh, that is correct. So, should we try the 19th for that one then instead? Just switch them all to Tuesday. I know. That works for me. August 19th. Okay. Sorry. I'm just like No, you're okay.
It's better to figure that out now. Yeah, I agree. Okay. So, now I have no idea where we're at with dates. I I got it written down. I think those May
22nd, uh, June 17th, July 8th, July 28th, August 19th, September 9th, and September 22nd. All right. Yeah. That 22nd going to be
on a planning and zoning meeting. Um, no, it's the fourth. That's the fourth one. The fourth Monday. That's a five Monday week or month. Yeah. Okay. Everybody okay with that?
[Laughter] So September just double check here. Sorry. It's okay. Let's just get it done right. Okay. No, that won't be a problem. I
just liquor store is on hiatus until September. I just wanted to make sure that wasn't the first Tuesday in September. Cool. Which it's not. So, we're okay. Yeah, we are good. All right. So, we're good. All right. So, do we make a motion for the revised
dates? Okay. I'll make the motion. Second. All right. Motion by Miller, second by Worm Excursion. Any further discussion? All in favor? All opposed? Motion carries. Um, with that I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn if there's
no further discussion. Yes. Motion. All right. Motion by Miller, second by Wormcursion. Any further discussion? All in favor? I. All opposed. All right. that we are now ajourned.