--------- We're ready. Call the meeting to order, please. The workshop. Roll call, please. Council member Nordby, here. Council member Woods, here. Council member McKenzie, here. Council member Schwear, here. Mayor Mongi, here. Thank you.
Okay. Motion to adopt the agenda, please. So moved. So moved. Council member Schwar. Second. Second. Council member Woods. All those in favor say I. I. Thank you. Topics. Thank you, mayor. Uh, first topic up is want to bring uh Ken Roberts here. He is our new
community development director. Been here a whole week now. He's got seniority behind him. And uh I'd like to just give you the floor and have you introduce yourself and tell you a little tell council a little bit about yourself, please. Thank you, Brian. Members of the city council mayor,
thanks for having me. Yes, I'm on day seven, but who's counting? Uh, I'm sorry. You can come and sit down. But yes, I'm the new community development, community services director. Uh, what would you like to know? Let's see.
My career started as a planner in the city of Maplewood for many years. So, somewhat familiar with the area. Then I worked up in Mountains View. Then I had a stint up in city of North Branch in Chicago
County. Uh then I was a plane director at Lake Elmo for about two and three/4ers years in was it 2028 or yeah 2018 to 21. Uh most recently I was city planner
city forest lake before joining you all. Uh here at the city of North St. Paul as the director. My educational background is two degrees from the University of Minnesota. So, I'm a golfer through and
through. And uh staff again so far introductory wise and getting to know the city's been great. Nothing but good things to say about all of them. So, it's been super. And uh very happy to be here. I live in Woodbury, so it's much closer drive than
driving to Forest Lake. That's a nice little side bonus. not the reason the job, but certainly was a nice factor. So, happy to answer questions and uh drinking a little bit through the fire hose right now,
but things are starting to click. So, it's looking very good. Well, welcome. Thank you. It's a pleasure to have you. We're excited that the position's filled and we're excited to start working with you. Ryan's very happy to have the position.
Um, I mean really the floor is yours. What do you have for us? What would you like to know about us? Um, what would you what would you like to see change? What are you excited to hit the ground running with? Well, first of all, I'm not proposing any changes
yet. I myself give give it some time and just see what the plan commission is interested in, what the council's interested in. Uh I from Jason and I were at the plan commission meeting last week and had some good discussion there about topics to work on. Uh the downtown
design manual is on their list. It's not been updated since 20 2005. Still has references to the historical commission in it among other things. So I think we'll be taking a look at that. Uh my understanding is the subdivision
ordinance is somewhat outdated. Brian relayed that information to me from the city attorney Jack or the other attorney. Thank you. I'm sure we'll be looking at that zoning code updates if there's any particular sections of the
zoning code that aren't working or need attention. I'm not aware of any yet, but I'm sure as a more I learn about it, the more I'll find opportunities for making it better. Uh, even just day-to-day things
on process improvement around the office. We'll if we find something, we'll make changes to try to make it more streamlined and more efficient. And if you all have particular questions, concerns, either let me know now or send me an email and we'll put it in the work
hopper. Excellent. We have a great uh planning commission. That's before I was mayor, I was on the planning commission. So, I really enjoyed that. I uh we have a lot of architects, a lot of lot of good uh a lot of good heads on that committee. And you know, Jason does a great job of running that as far as liaison. So,
good. I'm excited to have you on board. Thank you. Yeah, we're happy to have you. I appreciate you coming. Thank you very much. All right, next topic up is uh Central College design student presentation from 916, student buildhouse selections. The
floor is yours. Welcome. Welcome. How goes? Oh, thank you very much for having us again. Oh, yeah. I always look forward to it. I get some new ideas, some new colors, and Well, I'm back again. my group from this year and another good group. And
normally we would have Tom here talking about the status of the house, but he's at his own retirement party tonight. Oh, tonight's retirement. So, um yeah, we're going to really miss him and I don't know do next year, but anyway, for this year, we're real happy with um what we came up with and what the house is all
about and have a relatively um large group this year. Have a little bit different floor plan to work on. So, I'm just going to um and we've got you guys have the the um PowerPoint. So, we'll just show you what we've got.
All right. So, yeah, we're the design build class. Why don't you come up to the microphone so everybody Yeah, we like to There's a lot of people watching. We're we're popular. A lot of people watch on one one. Yeah. We're the design build class of 2025. And I just kind of want to introduce each of us.
So, I'm Josie. I'm Miss Bara. I'm Gabby. I'm Ella. I'm Taylor. I'm Jessica. Welcome. Nice to meet you. Yes. Welcome. I guess who is the coordinator with the presentation? Okay. So, just this is kind of like our project scope, a little
bit about the area. And as Catherine was saying, it is on a corner lot and the floor plan is a little bit different than the past few years. And it was just um a little background on it was we got the proposed floor plan to us and
there's a few changes which you'll see in the upcoming slides. But and then as far as our design concept, we kind of looked at it as a fresh take on a transitional contemporary living designed without a specific client. And
it's yet intentionally crafted crafted with character, balance, and versatility in mind. And this new construction home blends clean lines with subtle warmth, creating a space that feels both modern and lived in. While neutral enough to welcome a
future family's unique style, the home maintains a personality through layered textures, timeless finishes, and thoughtful spatial flow. The layout prioritizes functionality and connection with the kitchen, living, and laundry spaces seamlessly integrated for
everyday ease. A welcoming front porch sets the tone for hospitality, while the owner suite with a private bath and a fully furnished lower level with additional bath and two bedrooms ensure long-term livability for a growing family.
And then, sorry about that. And then this is kind of like the front exterior, the back and the right. And then, as you can see, we have our boards that we can show you a little bit of the samples and whatnot. I drove past and it fits so nicely in that spot. I mean, it's really it really
the house really fits good there. Yeah. And the in the shape of it. They did a really nice job of making it look good there. Yeah. Okay. So, who's who's doing the exterior? I guess I can talk a little bit about the floor plan. So, this is like use the
microphone. Yeah. So, I'll I'll point. So, this is like the first floor plan that our builder Tom had gave us. And as you can see, there's that island there. This it's like a twoatic. Yeah, the twoft by 8 foot. We kind of
saw that as a design team and we were like, I don't think that will be useful. So, then next slide, please. Um, next slide. Downstairs. So, some of the changes that we made in the main level were to just completely eliminate
that island and instead do a peninsula. And then Yeah. And then with that, we also had that wall by the stairs was a half wall, but to kind of optimize the storage and just kind of gain more space
for items and stuff in the kitchen and whatnot, we decided to make that into a full wall and actually have a fridge. And then just cabinet space on both sides of that. And yeah, that's pretty much most of the chang.
Oh yeah. And then we also in the first floor plan, the garage entry door into the house was outside of the mud room. So then we just decided to put it inside and make it into like a mud room, laundry room space. So then
there was a place to like take your shoes off and sit and whatnot. Oh yeah. And then if you could go back. Thank you. Those are good changes. Yeah. You want the exterior next? Okay. We go
back to the exterior. All right. So, for the exterior of the house, um, as you can see, there's two types of siding. So, for majority of the house, it's this lighter color. And then for this entryway, we chose a slightly
darker color to really emphasize like the front entryway. And then we also chose this green color for the front door to really like draw your eye to the front. And it also ties in with some of the colors we used inside the house. And then we also used um these lights on
either side of the garage door to really like illuminate the front driveway. And then this one for the back patio. And then for the foyer when you first enter the house, we have this um luxury vinyl flooring in a light wood grain and that
is used throughout most of the house. And then we also have this semi flush mount light to just emphasize the foyer area. Then for the living room, we chose a warmer color with this white trim.
Yeah, I can leave that for Yeah, those are those two. And then for the laundry room, we have this blue color to tie in with the rest of the house. And oh yeah, that's the next. Thank you. And then
it's the same trim. Then we chose a stackable washer and dryer for space efficiency. For the countertop, we picked a more simple one that just adds a little visual texture. And then we have a silver faucet.
Very nice. Can't basement. So, for the kitchen, it's kind of funny that the wall color is showing up very green on that screen, but as you can see, it is this blue color. So, in the kitchen, we'll be continuing that same color from the laundry room for the
walls. And we thought it would be a nice backdrop to two-toned shaker style cabinetry. On the top, we will have this white color. And then the lower cabinets will have a stained quarteron white oak that's really pretty. And then we're
going to have this statement vuvius granite for the countertops. And we are continuing the same light flooring color. And then we'll have this matte, really pretty matte ceramic tile in a vertical lay as
the backsplash. And we chose these beautiful stainless steel that combines well by the gold finishes, by the lighting and hardware. And then we chose the stainless steel box that ties well with the design and
making the design making the kitchen look cohesive and elegant. Excellent. Looks like we're done with the gray stage, huh? Everything was gray before. Okay, so for the main bathroom, we decided to go with this hazy blue. And
it's going to be all the way up on the 9 foot tall walls. And then up on the ceiling, we went with this gold orb light fixture. And that will just help illuminate the whole bathroom. And then we went with some black um plumbing fixtures in there.
um with the whiteish cream colored vanities just so it's not um clashing with the blue of the walls cuz we really wanted to make those blue walls stand out. And then next and then for the
owner's bathroom, we went with a blue vanity instead. So we did a navy blue vanity cool with white walls so that it's kind of inverse of the the main bathroom. And then we went with all chrome fixtures in there. It's the only
one that has chrome fixtures just because it's the owner's suite. It's a little bit different from the rest of the house. And then we went with these vertical um tendant lights that will be on both sides of the mirror just to really get that great um illumination on the face
when you're looking in the mirror. And that also pairs well with the vertical holes on those cabinets on the hardware as well. And then in both of those bathrooms, we did quartz countertops. They're slightly different, but they are
different enough to be ordinary, like different from each other, but still make sense in the house. And it's very universal. Okay. So this is our lower level. It includes a large family area and a bathroom. So
since it's a lower level, we decided to go for about a moodier tone, as you can see it with the darker greens and um just dark countertops that we have in our bathroom. So let's start with off the carpet. We have the carpet laid out um from the stairs all the way to the
down level so it can be a good transitional look. And then we have this lighter um evergreen fog color for the walls for the living area. The living room is a really big open spacious
um place where they have um L LED dimmable lighting. So they can use it for different occasions as like they could use it for like a movie night, family room, pool table, whatever they are interested in it. And then as we go into the bathroom, we
change a bit of our tone. So, we we have this really dark black um counter top, granite countertop that complements really nicely with our vanity color, which is this darker green. And then our walls are this really beige color white.
And then we have our flooring, which is this right here, just to complement the um walls and the floor all together. And then it all gets connected with our matte black um plumbing fixtures. And we rounded it up with our vanity light obtaining from
the from the mirror from the wall. Very nice. Thank you. Okay, that's that's pretty much what we have. Um I just want to thank you guys again for letting us come. Wow, this is a big part of the class is getting ready
for this presentation and they all come scared to death and um I thought they did a super good job and thank you so much for listening to us and um hearing our vision for this new house. Mayor, mayor, I had a couple questions if you want. Oh, please. Yeah. I don't want to
put you on the spot, but I'm going to. So, were the design decisions made as a group or separate teams doing separate rooms and floors? as a group, we all had a say in every single decision. So, was there any arm wrestling or
on some of the things we were a little bit iffy, but we ended up coming to an agreement on everything? Okay. And then were there budget constraints on materials? Good question. Yes, absolutely. Did you have to dial back your
expectations of them? Yes. Okay. One of the really lucky things about this project is um we've got a number of vendors that we work with and because both Tom and I have been in the field before, we have vendors that we know from past. So like the countertops, the
granite countertops are mostly donated and the ones that they can't afford to donate, they give us at a very reduced price. As with the lighting from Muska, they do a really nice job on giving us really wellpriced things. So they know it's a it's all about education and it's
all about the students and it's all about this whole class. So we've been lucky over the years to get some really nice high quality stuff for very low price. I thought we do have a budget that's almost zero. I thought of one more if I may. Mayor, I've heard now
that you can find black toilets. Is that really a thing? You didn't Is there one in this house? I heard black fixtures. There was black fix be like black cars impossible to keep clean
water spots toilet would be crazy. Yeah. Well, while you're here though, I do have one question. Um, just cuz with Tom retiring, I know there's some questions coming up. If you're willing, would you speak to the value of this program? Are you happy with this program? Do you think it's worthwhile?
Um, if you could come up and just say a few words about that. What do you guys think of the program? We love it from a city. But but do you find value? That and this question is not based on your grade. Yes, it is. Okay. Personally for me, I think that
this was a really fun class and just to like also be able to go out and although we had a budget and we were working with like pretty limited vendors, it was really nice to get to know the vendors that were able to make this happen and
work with them and like almost form connections in this class because that's a huge thing in this industry is connecting and when if you want to start a business, that's what you're going to have to too. So, I think that was a really good like learning opportunity
and also just being with like a group of people and it's almost essentially like a team based environment. So, getting to be on a team and get the sense of that, it's really helpful for the future, especially cuz you're going to have to work with other people. You're going to
have to like Gabby was saying like come to an agreement and stuff like that. So, I think that that was really cool to just be a part of that. And yeah, and also having Catherine as a teacher is always really good. So you going to be there for the open house
then? Yeah. You guys there for the open house when you do the open house? Um I guess we don't really know the date exactly when it is yet. Okay. Cuz I just Yeah. It's so much fun watching everybody that's worked on it and, you know, showing their parents, you know, I
built this closet and I did this. It's very rewarding on your guys' end, especially with doing the design. I mean, the kids that are helping build, it's beautiful. But when you walk in the house and you guys see what you designed, it's amazing.
So, this is your first year doing it. I love this program. Every group is different. Yep. This is new group. This program is great. I love it. I love teaching it. It's a little intense because we have to do a lot, make a lot of decisions pretty fast. And especially when you have a larger group
like this, which I love. It takes a little while for everybody to come, but they get to actually work on a project that gets done and they can see it. No other thing that we do in school is that. Yep. And I don't know any other design program that has a program like this. So, I'm very proud of it and
always proud of how how we end up with it. And um I sure hope with uh with Tom res re uh retiring that we figure out a way to keep it going because I'll sure be there. Um, but yeah, I think it's very valuable for our students from the v the vantage point of our students in
our program. We're just proud as heck of it and we love it. Any updates on if they're found anybody yet or Well, I haven't heard I I know there was they were looking at a couple people. Um, but I'm not in the in crowd to know what's going on. I hope they just tell me in time. So, well, I tell you, it's been a blessing to our our our community, our
neighborhood at the houses that they put in over the years. It was fun watching, you know, at the open house, all the different homes from, you know, 2008 or even before that to be able to see all the ones that been Yeah, that was a good v video to You're right. The open house is great watching all the kids um tell their mom and dad what they did, what
they worked on, and whatever. It's just it's just a super opportunity for those kids for and the the the whole uh kind of communication between two three different colleges because St. Paul College builds the cabinets. So, um and the city of North St. Well, I mean, all
of that is not to be discounted either. And um this whole presentation is, like I say, scary for them, but good for them and they made they lived. Y and um so yeah. No, I tell you, I'm the envy of all the mayors around us because they all say, "Oh, I wish we had that program." Yeah. It's a great I hear that
quite a bit. Well, good. Good. So, as long as Oh, that's ours. Yeah. As long as we know North St. Paul wants to still do it, I'll I'll be there. We just need to find a new Tom. Great. Yeah. So, in reality though, that stuff that you get for that house really isn't free. I want
a light that's discounted from those guys, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Right. It's discounting. Yeah. That's awesome. Get a few donations, but we have to stick to a budget and a lot of stuff isn't like the siding and the, you know, all of that. We we go there's a little you know the students are used to working on whatever
they want because they do projects for school and they want them bigger and and so when we have to say no no we get to pick out of these three hardares it's like uh them it's more real life you know my wife exactly my wife's a realtor and these new homes everybody starts clicking it's so easy to click and put
it in the in your basket and at the end you it's 100 thousand more than you thought then you start uncclicking down the basket for sure. For sure. So, yeah, it's and then these these students are um you know, we get them we only get them for two years, so we get to know them just a little bit. It's a two-year
program. Yeah. But, um you know, young people today, they're kind of amazing. They get bashed a lot, but they're they're great and they're interested in social justice and they're interested in saving our planet and they're interested in doing good work and so they're a good bunch. I I really enjoy it. Thank you
for your help. Will they all be back next year then or some of them go moving on graduating? This is their last class they take. This is has to be one. Congratulations. I hope you do well. Couple weeks from now they're going to be walking across that stage. Awesome. Awesome. So are you do you do they get
invited to the open house then? So you'll have an invite and everything. So they you know sometimes they're off you know by the time we have the open house they're off to wherever they're going to be next or working on a job or moving to a different uh state or whatever. So, as many as can come, I'm sure, because they
like to see how it turns out, too. I don't even know. Is it is it pretty much on schedule the house right now? He was a little bit behind. I know there are some issues with the painter and I don't know if what they've got for a garage door yet, but I think they're pretty close to being on time. So, hopefully we
can have a um open house in, you know, June or early July like we like. Sure. We didn't have it till way late in August. By that time, they've all disappeared to Okay. So yet again, thank you so much for having us and um we really enjoy your you're letting us come
here and do this presentation. We enjoy it too. Absolutely. Well, good. Learn a lot from you. All the all your designs there. Like I said, even I figured out, hey, we're not we're past the gray stage. That was very good. Yes. Everything was always gray and white. So nice to see a little color. I'll give you an A, too. Thank you. Tell my wife
that. Thank you very very much. Thank you. Appreciate you. Yeah, whenever I leave those student bills, I always wanted number that. Oh, hello. Why don't you guys come? Let's take a picture before you guys go for
our newsletter. Want to go up there with them, guys? Yeah. Yeah, sure. Sorry. change their mind every 10 times and we're in pretty bad shape. St. Here's like a bigger group. Tell us where you want us. Great.
Okay. See everybody? Do I look great? Thank you. Thanks again. Can we get a copy? Okay. So, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Um, elected officials are there
important ones. All right. All right. Next up is um communications update. We have Ava here for it and she's been here almost a year now. So, uh, she's made a lot of good improvements and just wanted her to let everybody know what they are, all the
good things she's done. Well, that's coming through. Okay. Okay. Oh, there it is. Here we go. Okay. Um, so hello council. Hello. Good to be back. It's good to see you. Um, so as communications and community uh
outreach, um, I manage the website, the newsletter, and the social media, as well as all city events. So, I'm here to give you an update on some insight onto how the city's doing um, and in the community, as well as my goals um, as city communications and what to look
forward to coming this summer. So um so uh as communications uh my primary goal is to increase residents awareness um and understanding of city information programs and opportunities. This means um expanding our reach and
ensuring more residents receive our messages and encouraging deeper engagement um with the content we provide. So that basically looks like success is um growth in social media. Um, so that's increased interaction with our posts that we put out, more
newsletter subscribers with higher email open rates, and greater attendance and enjoyment in city events. So, by strengthening our communication, we help residents stay informed, connected, and actively involved in our community. So, I'm going to jump right into the kind of
numbers of it. So, um, we recently did our website redesign. I don't know if you guys have had a chance to see it, um, but I just wanted to go over kind of what, um, that was. So, the project was put into motion before I was brought on, and it's a
scheduled and routine redesign. It's not a full kind of upheaval of the website. It's a new coat of paint. Um, and so we worked to improve the design, have clearer navigation, and an updated look. Um, and so we're also working on getting
ADA compliant. It's um a regulation that's going to be coming into place in 2026. And so we're talking about um how to make us check that box. Um and so I also worked on with the uh different department heads to update content. Um
it is an ongoing process and you know pictures and everything continued to come in. So um yeah just a continuous process of making our website even better. So, we went from uh oh, we went from this, which you guys are all very very
familiar with, um to to this. Um so, I'll go over some of the things. So, we have a search bar that stays there. Um we have a news section that switches through newsletter
signup. Um we have just the upcoming dates with the full calendar there. and then the um header or the footer section. Um so yeah, we're really excited about this. Um worked worked pretty hard on it. So if you guys have a
chance to go through um the internal pages as well, the side navigation is a bit easier to see. We had some um resident feedback that the little arrows that were there before were not um user friendly. So uh this uh hopefully
mitigates that a bit. Um, so I'm going to go through the website numbers. So this is um data that I pulled from January to April. Um, so our, uh, website in views increased by 35% from
January to April. Um, our active users doubled uh, nearly doubled and March and April showed the highest user activity. Um, but we think that's probably due to, you know, more events coming up and more city communication pushing people more
to the website. Um, hopefully it's due to the new website, but we're going to see. So, um, also some of our highest traffic pages are obviously our homepage, the utility billing, search, park rentals, and our jobs consistently have high attent high attention. And
then in April, we saw civic alerts, citywide cleanup day, and the calendar section um was higher uh activity as well as the news flash. So people are looking for information. Um and yeah, it's uh it's good to know that you know people are coming onto our website and
finding what they need to. So for social media, so um this is also January to April um information. So we had increased followers and engagement across Facebook and Instagram. Um it's a continuous improvement. Um we have since uh I
started we've done more reels which is just those short kind of short form content videos. Um we've added this year in January the um business highlight videos and then some fun light-hearted content. Um and so we're going to jump into the analytics of that. Um the posts
like the scam alert text alert that went out in February or the citywide cleanup reminder that went out in April um show that you know people want that sort of information even if it's less fun. So it's a good reminder for me as well. So
by the numbers so March had the highest performance. I'm just going to run you through these numbers. So views mean um number of people um who um yeah it was displayed to. So that's the
240,000 across Facebook. And then our reach is individual users who saw our content. Um content interactions means likes, comments, shares, that sort of thing. Um new followers, 179 is a great number. Um so that means 179 people
followed our page um uh overall from January to March. So we are growing um our Facebook is our biggest um community platform um which fits with you know the people in our city. So we're going to
continue you know promote p pouring into Facebook um but we also are still trying to build up our Instagram presence. it is a, you know, less used um by our residents, but it's still it's still really good. And then just um yeah, the highest performing content that we've
done has been the business highlights, which is great for our businesses and great for us. Um it drives, you know, more people are interested and hear about us. Um but also what our city has to offer. So um in terms of EDA, it's a really good push for that. Um and then
we'll go on from there. You can ask questions at the end of this presentation if I'm going too fast. Sorry. Okay. Um so yes um our newsletter updates. So uh since I came on I did um
a bit of a update on how it looks um and kind of streamlined the content a bit. So we have kind of our you know general city news and then we have city events and then community updates which can be anything from the community that reaches out to me. and then our upcoming
meetings and then any jobs that are being posted. So, um we're gonna jump into the analytics of that. So, out of 42 campaigns analyzed, so that's July to now, um we've had steady growth in our open rates. Basically, the number of
times that people, you know, got the email into their inbox and then clicked on it. Um so, um we're consistently improving. Um so our initial emails were sent to 605 people and we've increased to 646. And so um a really good number as
well is that open rates nearly uh near or above 50% are well above industry average for city uh for cities. So typically around 35% but as you can see um in that last box we're sitting at 49. So we are well above average for the
number of people that are receiving our emails. Um, we recently have uh put in a little slip. Hopefully you'll all get it. Um, in with the next utility bill. It has kind of a a promotion for our city events coming up as well as for the
um uh newsletter. So, I'm hoping that that will drive more people as well as the um updated website with that kind of you know, a lot of people don't know about our website and so we're hoping that this mailer is going to really jump that number. Um so on to city
events. So we had 13 cityrun large events last um from when I came in which was uh June of last year. Um and then that's not including you know our ribbon cutings that we did um our public sprinklers with the fire department, our
guard guided art nights that are run by um the arts and culture commission as well as the fire and PD events, the kind of more specific ones. Um, so I just wanted to highlight some of the ones that went really really well um and as well as that were some that were new. So we have our um music in the park uh
which uh happened last year happening again this year as well as um our pickle ball uh courts got opened and we had that pickle ball party um that was new. We had a um national night out. Um, we brought back the movie night in the
park, which we'll be doing again this year. And then, um, we had our autumn arts festival, which was, um, hopefully just big and getting bigger. We, last year, um, at the end, like right at the end of when, um, vendors could sign up. I think we were at like 25 vendors and
we're currently at 40. So, we're just growing this festival and trying to make it even better. Um, and then we had our first ever holly jolly night that went really well and the community really enjoyed that as well as our fire and ice um in February. And then just this past
weekend we had our garage sale. Um, last year we had 25 garage sale locations signed up and this year we had 45. We had to re frantically reprint signs because we had so many people wanting to join. So, um, we've had some really good feedback from the community. It seems like it was a really good weekend. So,
just gearing up for um what's coming up, which I will tell you in just a sec. So, um looking ahead, we have music in the park and then our first ever popup outdoor exercise classes. And those are we have three different types of exercise. They're going to be at HY Park
in June, July, and August. And it's going to be for an hour. Anyone can join any skill level. Um because of the park, you can bring your kids. Um, so really excited for to try this out and see how our community likes it. Um, we have our big truck night on June 13th. So that's
mark your calendars. It's going to come up fast. And then National Night Out, movie nights later in August. And then, um, our autumn arts festival is just around the corner as always. Um, guided art nights have already started going really well. We, um, have already sold
out of our next um, uh, art night, so that's really good. Usually we kind of have to push but this one already was already full. Um and then December Holly jolly night and so much more. So stay tuned and keep an eye on the newsletter as well as social
media. And then as city communications, this is just kind of my you know next steps things that I'm working on. Um so I'm continuously trying to find time to do our communications and social media strategy which will include formal policies in terms of engagement. it's
something that our city is lacking. Um so going to continuously kind of push to write that as well as highlighting and supporting local businesses. Um it's been a really great thing for um our city and so um every month we're doing a
different um local business. This month is Blue Nile. Um and so we're going to go over there and do some video for them. Um, and then we're going to do some always improving our crisis communication as I work with fire and PD and um, as well as strengthening our
online presence. And that basically means, you know, I'm working to really push our events um, through Explore Minnesota as well as um, Eventbrite. And then always trying to expand video content. Video content, as you can see through the numbers, that's
the best um, way to push out information. people uh like that better than just still photos. So, just continuously trying to find, you know, good ideas as well as the time to make those happen. And then ongoing website improvements and just continuously
making um our city newsletter better. So, those are the things that kind of the big picture ideas of what I'm working on. Um so, if you guys have any questions um or ideas, I'm always open to hear what you have to say. I really appreciate your support and the ways
that you guys kind of champion um the city and I just enjoy spreading the word. So, thank you guys. I think dancing snowmen work. Yeah, of course. Question regarding your um exercise in the park because I can see
that being a largely attended event in the case that there is rain. Would you be rescheduling those evenings? Yeah. So, one of our vendors um we we'll try and reschedule um and
one of them could potentially be inside or underneath that kind of like patio um pavilion there. Um yeah, just kind of working with the vendor to see what they're willing to do. Sure. Yeah.
Great job, Ken. Thank you enough for all that you do. It truly wonderful. M um I would challenge you and Brian to think and have a conversation to see if there's an appetite and it would fit to put an intern underneath of you. Um if
that would be good for the city and good for you. Yeah. I if there's an appetite from local schools, I think that might have value both to the intern and to the city. Yeah. Talk to Waldron about that or too thought about.
Yeah, I'd be very interested in in teaching someone my rope the ropes. So, yeah, that sounds good. So, you almost have a year under your belt. Do you Everything good? You you enjoying it? You seem like it. You do a great job at it and some of the you
activities and you think outside the box and it's been really enjoyable for everybody. Thank you. Yeah, I really appreciate it. I really enjoy it here. Um definitely have fallen in love with the city for sure and um yeah just looking forward to kind of seeing all these plans that we've made, you know,
pan out and see what works and what doesn't and what we can learn from. So yeah, just excited for this year. Really excited about the updates to the to the website. I mean that looks really good. I mean that's the way we have to communicate. I mean that's the we don't have the the paper anymore. Everybody does digital online for everything. So
it's good that we're we're we're doing that. We got the videos in there, too. So there's extra things just to not just read it. and the newsletter. I get my little ding every Wednesday, so I look forward on my on my I get a text and able to read it and keep up with things. I think it's does do a great job and it
really keeps us informed. Amazing. Thank you. So, one question I had is you talked earlier about the demographic of North St. Paul being more Facebook oriented versus Instagram oriented. Yes. Um, do you see that demographic changing and what kind of changes do you see?
Would we would how would we accommodate changes in the demographic of North St. Paul with the social media? Yeah. That we put out for sure. So, um, coming into this role, Instagram, um, was not being
utilized very much. So, it's kind of trying to pick up something that was, um, already kind of low. Um, so yeah, trying to figure out, you know, we have this great community on Facebook and especially with North St. Paul friends, a lot of that chatter happens in
Facebook. Um, so yeah, I mean, you're supposed to go where the people are. So, we are staying, you know, very committed to Facebook, but continuously trying to promote Instagram. And with the reels, reels um don't just get shown to your
followers, they get shown to oops um people around you. Um so yeah, posting that short form content will hopefully draw more people in. Yeah, that's what I was thinking is Instagram has a has the opportunity to be more broad. Yes. Just
this community. So yeah, and I don't see us ever going the Tik Tok route. Uh yes, I would need an intern for that. Mhm. How can we support you? Oh, good question. Um, if you have
ideas, ways that you think that you can help with city communication, telling your neighbors about the newsletter, um, that'd be really helpful. You know, um, we put a lot of effort into making sure that we have the newsletter every week. And so, yeah, the people that have it
are really excited and happy about it, and those that don't have no idea that it's there. So, um, I think that that's one of our big strengths, but also a weakness. She's done a good job getting that information out there, even besides the newsletter. Mean, taking some of them
down to the library so people can grab one when they're there. And so, yeah, I consistently drop off four to the library every week and they're always gone when I get there the next week. I know that was brought up when us three were at the coffee, you know, for some
of the people to be able to grab a hard copy as well. Doesn't make sense for everybody, but there's certain people that, you know, we can try to help out if we can. Totally. Wonderful. Well, thank you, council. You know where to find me. So, thank you so much for having me and we'll see you at uh some
of the events coming up. Absolutely. Amazing. Welcome. Anything else there? Um, no other business. Um, maybe we got a little time on our hand. Yeah. Um, I don't know if it's appropriate or not, but running the bond fee idea by
you guys. Um so the issue that we had with them um how it reads in the policy is if we prevent a vendor from getting being able to pull permits. You guys are the the decision makers that on how do you want to move
forward. Um we have dealt with talked with them. Um they wrote us a letter. They expressed how uh you know that they had just purchased another business that they brought on board and they said it was a communication thing.
Um they did have a couple of instances that they needed a permit that they didn't have one. Um so I guess I'd like your guys' feedback on where you'd like to go from here. Um they have tried uh to strong more
business but I don't think uh put just put a halt to it at this point. I think they got the idea that we're serious about it as well. But uh your feedback would be appreciated. I think we should get some other businesses the opportunity to come into the city and uh
do the correct work and have the the business owners come in and then sit in front of the council and say when there's a process. In fact, I just had my main drain sculpt the other
day. It was done by KCO. They did a very nice job. The guy's a very top-notch plumber. He's part of the Vandis plumbing group. And what we're going to do now is to with the
cast that we have from the house partway out to the street, we're going to go back to our lower level toilet and we're going to have it all relined all the way out to there. He says that if you don't check your main drain and you want
to sell your home, you could be liable up to a certain amount of time for a person that purchased your home that you could be liable for part of their cost of the digging up of the next session.
So, I just had mine done. And with this lining that they're putting in of the cast that go meets up with the city put in in 2000 for my street, our street, it's going to cost five grand instead of 20 grand.
Do you install a cleanout on that then as well? What's that? Do you install a cleanout on that as well? They would they would do everything if there's any issues. He he ran the snake uh the pike or the camera on Monday morning just two
days ago or yesterday and he went all the way out to the street and I had a clean line. So what he noticed when I was pulling it back all the cracklings in the cast. So what they're going to do and I have a lower level toilet. They're
going to pull my toilet off and they're going to snake it from there to double check everything to the main drain and then they're going to put a liner all the way out to the end of the uh cast. So if they if they have to if if you
don't have it checked and the and if the city comes in there now up especially on Bule and all that if they find that they've got debris on the city property side of the homeowner they are going to be responsible for that past the past the
city line. So being that they ran mine drain, so I'm good now and I'm just suggesting that homeowners some should consider having this done in the
future. Connecticut is really very honest about it. He's got a there's a great guy that we can deal with. I've talked with uh Jeff Dohy, the owner of Connectico, and he'd be willing to come and sit with our our group here and uh
make a uh maybe we can make some kind of arrangement that we could uh have a a fair fee done for the main drain looks and then the process beyond
what they find after that. Well, this is more on an individual basis. individual basis. Right. Exactly. So I my understanding is it's really up to the individual homeowner of what they want they want to go with just happens to be who some people have gone with and
they've not followed our policies. My understanding also is that this isn't the first instance of them doing that. Correct. Correct. which I guess in my mind, you know, you know, it kind of goes back to that old adage, fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you, or however that
works. Um, so I I think we're in a position where we have to enforce the policy that says you're not allowed to do work. Okay. I guess that's my opinion. Does this come up as far as a letter or
something? Well, so the policy reads that they um need to respond to council, which they sent that letter to you guys. You guys, it's been in front of you now. So, the next step comes from council making their decision on how they want to move forward. Yeah.
And I think not just one company should come in and talk. I think we should have a couple of the more well-known like Hero or some of those other ones to come in and see if they can provide a good service and this is
more about each individual. No, this is more about Bon Fee kind of raising their case about whether they should be able to do business in the city. We're not looking for bids from other companies. No, I realize that, but we So, we don't need other companies to come in. We just need Bonfrey to come in here and tell us
why they had this problem and should they be able to do business in North St. Paul. We don't need anybody else. Right. Right. So, yep. From my viewpoint, from what I've heard, this is not the first city they've had
this issue with. Um, so I don't consider it to be the one-off that they claim to be in their email. So, so I I I agree with Council Member Woods where um we stick to the policy and I I I don't really have an
interest in giving them special treatment or leeway from what our written policy is. Okay, I agree with that as well. we can make it indefinite and if they want to come back next year, have a
conversation, we can go from there. I guess at that point then I would be interested in seeing what changes they've made within their company to make sure that this doesn't happen again and you know things like that. So, but at this point I would
say you've told them you know no sorry good feedback. Thank you. Okay, good. Good. Anything else? Or if not to call it's 10 after six. We'll call for adjournment.
So moved. So moved. Council member Norby. Second. Second. Council member Woods. All those in favor say I. I. All right. Thanks. And next uh workshop is May 20th and we will start up here in 20 minutes for the council meeting. Thanks
everybody. Thank you. Part: 2
Call the council meeting in order to stand for pledge of allegiance. Please to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you very much. Roll call, please. Council member Nordby here. Council member Woods here. Council member McKenzie here. Council member Schwear here. Mayor Mongi here. Thank you. Motion adopt agenda, please. So moved. So moved. Council member Schwar. Second.
Second. Council member McKenzie. All those in favor say I. I. I. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Uh consent agenda. Item A, April 15th, 2025 workshop and regular meeting minutes. Item B, general claims of $1,227,555.50. 50. Uh, item C, H claims of
$9,759.83. Item D, special event permit for Wilderness Inquiry. Item E, special event permit for Newman's Vintage Speak Easy, Inc. Item F, special event permit for Max Diner. And item G, approve proclamation policy and procedures.
Thank you very much. Anybody like to pull anything at this time? If not, can I get a motion? So moved. So move. Council member Norby. Second. Second. Council member Woods. All those in favor say I. I. I. Sorry.
All right. Meeting open to the public. Get any. Didn't get any. Nobody here. Bob. Bob. Hi Bob. Sure. John's not here. That's right. Say
where is he? Yeah. All right. Two week two two two meetings now in a row. Yeah. All right. So, we'll move on to reports of city manager and departments. So, um the EDA has uh implemented the facade improvement program. Um it's probably
been out there pushing two months now. We've got uh two applicants that have turned in for it already. So, uh and we have another that's interested. So, glad to see that. Um we've gotten through the final um bid
for the security locks for the building. Um they were pretty thorough and came in with the lower price, the last one that we just received. So um just going to go over the final bids with fine tooth comb and u move forward with that. That'll be really good to have. We're part of that
too is we're going to be getting fiber out to housy so we can get some program uh one of the locks out there and get some cameras out there as well. So, that'll be good. Um, and then the cleanup day. Um, we did, we were kind of concerned for
it. They didn't know if we're going to have police available for that, but, uh, there are going to be two available for that, which is good. Um, they're going to try a couple of new things. Like I said, they're going to put two lanes down second just to try to streamline things a little bit better. and it
seemed like the road crossings were the issues, but uh a lot of people out there watching them and um hopefully keep everything under control. Um electric has been having they had the their bore company out for up there on Gerald and Bua. They have uh
finished that up. So now they're out. Exile Gas is uh finishing up up there. They probably got another week left approximately and then it'll be into June we'll be contractors will be coming in and start digging things up. So it's coming
fast. Uh we had two staff members from electric go down to uh Marshall for the MMUA training for underground electric and we are currently working on a program for uh time of use for people with EV chargers.
uh back in my day in the electric that we we probably had I count on one hand how many requests we had of that but uh as time goes by um you know some of the bigger members in our power agency Shakabe Elk River Chaza places like that they're getting these programs up and
going so we've had a couple requests on them for people with EVs so which gives them a cheaper rate when they are charging their vehicle from you know 10 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Um, so that is on the horizon and coming. So we have, uh, like
I said, two officers going to be at the cleanup day. Um, HR, I don't know if you want to jump in on this, but uh, we had an RFP out for payroll and HR software, which would be really nice to have. would make your job much easier. That
spends a lot of her time dealing with the turnover employees and making sure everybody's got the forms that they need and have. And this way it kind of puts it back into their lap that they can pull it up and look at it anytime they want to. So, weren't we looking at that a while ago? We were. What happened to it? Yeah, we uh we had a vendor kind of
narrowed down. Um it it just it didn't work out. They weren't easy to work with the time. It sounds like they were doing dealing with some changeover with the business at the time too. And uh we kind of went down that path. We ended up having to undo
some of the work that they had done because they wanted to at least try the program out. So it it got to be a pretty frustrating process and uh I think it was just bad timing on probably both sides a little bit. Um, so I think we're a little more prepared for this now. Um,
and can really follow through with looking at uh the bids that came in and try to find one for it. I know you've got some with her clerk uh um meetings that you have and you got colleagues that uh use some of these softwares. So,
it's good to have that kind of feedback and um we'll see how it goes. It's got to work with uh the payroll part of it too. So, working with finance on that part of it. Well, as you know, the student built house is getting really close. Um, cabinets are in, siding is about done.
They are kind of targeting for June 6th hopefully, but uh I did talk to Tom and they said they are about a week or so behind with some of their stuff. So, it'll be a a push. Um, and like I said, the pre-construction meeting and the road
projects, uh, looks like that'll be starting up here in June. Um so actually so May 12th uh they're going to start the work that wasn't accomplished at the end of the year last year in front of article 7. Um some
damage to the concrete out front there where they had some of the bigger equipment in the cranes. Um try to finish up loose ends over there. Um they're out uh well they've already got two summer help on now. They'll have
a couple more coming in here mid May and in June and they'll get out to uh doing some pothole patching on the roads uh a little more. Um they are waiting on updated estimates for getting all the uh tree stuff that
you see out there in my field ground up and hauled out of there. Um, fire kind of shared at a staff meeting today. Pretty interesting training that they went to again about EVs and the batteries and the overheating of them and the issues that
they can have with them because made the comparison. So, if you got a fire inside your microwave and they're spraying water on the roof of your house, it doesn't really do any good. Well, you spray water on the car and there's in a compartment underneath the vehicle. I mean, they actually had some places that would tip a vehicle over just so they
could uh get to that. And um they've been finding too that they put them out and then they're back there later that night and it pops right back up again. And they have some companies uh for removing the vehicles. They aren't even taking them if they're in bad shape. They don't want them on their vehicle
and then start on fire as they're trying to haul it away. So, different places are dealing with different things there. Some of them are putting down uh at the public works building out in the area where it's just open space on on concrete or something like that. So, I was wondering
like an apartment building like article, you know, do they allow, you know, EVs when there's such they're so hard to get fires out when something happens? Our new article 7 building has six of them in there. So, and that that is a concern, you know, that when they see I mean the trainings they always see the
worst case scenario, but uh you got to be aware of it. Sure. um uh finance. They got the bond funds for the street project to arrive May 15th. So be ready for that undergoing and uh
today they we had uh dealt with the end of the cold weather rule. So dealing with all that for the end of the year and getting back on to summer issues with people of non-payment. So everything went good. Uh they got the list whittleled down to oneif of what it
was two weeks ago. So uh they're doing good. That's all I have for you. Thank you very much. Oh, the concrete that needs to be repaired in front of the the article 7. Is it quite a bit? Is it going to is it you know is there is it
going to be done before the the car show? I mean how much they have to do? Yeah, it not a not a real lot. So yeah, that's the intent and that was brought up right away that good got to be done before the car show. All right. Thank you very much.
Now see if anybody has any reports from commissions or committees. Parks and rack have parks cleanup on uh May 17th. And that's what I got for you. Thank
you. Yeah. Our EDA will meet on June 10th to further our discussions on the fascia for our city. Thank you very much. Our next arts and culture commission meeting will be here tomorrow in council chambers tomorrow night at
6:30. All right. Thank you. The planning commission met on Thursday, May 1st. Um we are still and it will be an ongoing topic of the rework of the downtown design manual. Um, and I got to work with Ken for the first time and I
must say um, super pleased um, and super impressed by him so far. Awesome. Thank you very much. Any general business from anybody? I would say that with cleanup days coming up, come early and get in line
because it's going to be a long time. I ask the community to be patient with uh, each other and um, be prepared. Thank you. Anybody else? Only other thing I would say is uh the weekend following
that is the park cleanup. So, make sure you get out and help beautify our city. Thank you. Very nice. So, is that just showing up at the park that you want to participate in? You can you can participate in any of the parks. Um and you do Yep. You just show up at that
park. There will be gloves and there will be bags available for use. I see a pretty good crowd when I go by, too. Yeah. Pretty good. It's well promoted this year. So awesome. Yeah, hope to see a bunch of people there. Parks clean. Anything else? If not, I'm going to ask
Council Member McKenzie for a motion to dismiss. I'll make a motion to dismiss our meeting tonight. Thank you very much. Do I have a second? I'll second that motion. Council member Schwar. All those in favor say I. I. I. Thank you very much. May 20th is our
next meeting.