No one opposed. The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted. Item 34 is Resolution Public Hearing twenty five-thirty nine, approving the application of Minnesota Run Series Podium Sports Marketing for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound on May 31 at 226 Spring Street, Upper Landing Park. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to testify on this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Jost to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed? Six in favor, no and opposed. The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted.
Item 35 is resolution public hearing 20 five-forty one, amending the financing and spending plans in the Police Department in the amount of $150,951 for the current Minnesota Crime Prevention grants. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to testify on this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Buie to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Six in favor, no one opposed. The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted. Item 36 is Resolution Public Hearing twenty five-forty three, accepting grant funds,
authorizing execution of two grant agreements, and amending the operating budget for the city's sponsorship of a Department of Employment and Economic Development contamination cleanup grant and a Metropolitan Council Tax Based Revitalization Account contamination cleanup grant for Farwell on Water District Connections And Venue at 42 Water Street West. We have our our winner. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to testify on this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Chair Johnson to close the public hearing and approve.
All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Six in favor, no and opposed. The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted. Item 37 is Resolution Public Hearing 20 five-fifty, authorizing the city to enter into an agreement with the state of Minnesota to accept up to $30,000 from the state funded IIJ IIJ-eight technical assistance program. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to testify on this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Yang to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed? Six in favor, no one opposed. The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted.
Item 38 is Resolution Public Hearing 20 five-fifty one amending the financing and spending plans in Department of Parks and Recreation in the amount of $72,000 to reflect funds received for rooftop solar installations at the North End Community Center. And that's it. I pressed that. What was that? Thanks, Ms. Moore. Vice President Kim, do you want to intro this before the public hearing? We have a very brief staff report. Very brief staff report. Very brief staff report. Yes. And yeah. Oh, awesome. Okay. Hi, director. Welcome, director.
Council president, council members, good to see you. Exciting day for us, as we advance North End Community Center. Obviously, have a resolution of for, solar power in front of you, but also just wanna note with this new new community center also have geothermal within the mix as well to, you know, really sustainable processes for our, new modern building. But excited to announce today that we will soft open North End Community Center starting next week on Monday. Woo hoo. Yeah. Let's clean those up. And then convert to regular business hours March 31 and look for an official grand opening in April.
Also just wanna recognize the staff team here from North End Community Center, the leadership on-site. So we have, Yur Chang, community rec coordinator. I'm gonna make you come up, so I'm gonna embarrass you all. Yes. Please do. Alyssa Lazar, community recreation specialist, but great leadership for this space and then Gina Stokes as well, our recreation program supervisor for the area. But, very solid team that has opened new rec centers in the past and just an abundance of experience. So we're super excited, for what this means for the North End and excited to get you all through there and serve families and young people,
for the immediate future. Awesome. You wanna say something? Yeah. I do. Everyone is welcome. Thank you. Please do. I'm Yure Chay, the community recreation coordinator at the North End. I'm Melissa LaSauer, community rec specialist at the North End Community Center. Hi, everyone. Gina Stokes, sheher pronouns, recreation program supervisor for the Northwest Area. So North End, Frogtown. Yes. Awesome. So I would just say, to get get familiar with these spaces. You'll see them there every day. And, you know, for the facility that I've had a chance to tour, it's really an amazing space. I would encourage you all to get out there and check it out.
Happy to do some tours and, kind of build some inspiration for the next rec center that we will build here in the city. So we're super excited about it. Thank you so much, director. Yep. Really excited for the soft opening, the hard opening, and everything to come after that. All the openings. All the openings. Let's see if I can open it. Did you wanna say anything about the day day in the sun? I do. I actually asked, for a very brief staff report as you see. It feels a little more ceremonious than anything, and it's because, you know, when we started, down this track with, former council former council president Amy Brenmohan,
like, it took her twelve years to get something like this done. We toured it with my current aide, Abdi Hamid, and I looked them right in the eye and I said, we will never do anything like this. Like, I hope to, but it's just an incredible accomplishment for the neighborhood. And I hope you can all see the beaming faces of the staff. They know what incredible space this is. And for us to have both geothermal and solar, I'm looking at the table when we look at city infrastructure and the next one that's coming in on the East Side. Ask for ask for it all because your neighborhood deserves it and we ask for
it all. And I hope when you all walk through that space, you see and feel, both just the amount of investment, but the love that the space is gonna give for our neighborhood. We don't have a lot of anchor institutions. You're looking at the anchor leaders of my community right here through our parks and rec program. And so I really wanted to give the solar panel, resolution a moment in the sun. I should have bragged about it to the Sunrise kids, but I forgot about it. Not kids. Sunrise leaders. But it really is, you know, the next iteration of the infrastructure that we wanna be building for the future that we wanna have.
And not only that, but the space that and the community now more than ever. Togetherness is my theme for this year, and boy, are we gonna get together at the North End Community Center. So super proud. Please come by. Yeah. And do familiarize your faces because this we call them the Rice Street a team. This is it. You're looking at it. So, yeah, thank you for this, opportunity. I really appreciate it. Thanks, vice president. Thank you. This is wonderful to shine some light on the solar panels, on the community center. The funds could keep flowing, but we'll stop. Yes. Miss Yang. Thanks, council president. I wanted to make some comments too and share that it is really excited to
see, that there's gonna be rooftop solar installations. And I think that well, I know that this is going to set such a great and important standard for our future community centers and just public facilities that we're gonna be build building in the future here. And so just one other thing I wanted to share too is that I think it's it was so special hearing you share about the stopped opening, Director Rodriguez. So thank you for letting us know about that. And, I think it's really, amazing to see that even though there's been so much transitions on the council within staff to even our director position for St.
Paul Parks and Rec that this was a project that was so deeply committed to. Like, no matter who came into, these positions, this was what we knew we wanted to do. And, for you, council vice president, for you to be able to work on it in your role previously as a legislative aide and then now as a council member and council vice council vice president, I think it's just I I feel like there are no words to describe, like, you know, how special that is. And so just, like, overall, the commitment, the collective commitment of making this come together. Like, I I wanna say a big thank you to everybody and also thank you to
all of the staff who really are are the ones who are gonna do the everyday work of bringing, building a home in that community center. And it really is going to be a home. And so I'm excited for all of the families, the youth, the kids who are going to be building such, important memories in that space. So thank you all and really looking forward to all of the successes to come. Thank you. I would just say to, Monday around 01:50 is when, RecTrac participants will see that building inside for the first time. So we're super excited about welcoming them. That's awesome. No more than four of us should be there now.
But everyone should come down at that time, please. What happens, happens. Yes. Any other discussion? Great. Thank you all so much. It is wonderful to see the A team here. We can't wait to see you at North End. And with that, I think I'll take a motion. Well, first, we should have a public hearing. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to testify on this item? Sure. Even after all that? Do you want to testify on this item? Alright. We're going to get you up here in a second. Don't worry. I'll take a motion from Ms. Kim to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed? Six in favor. No one opposed. The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted.
Brings us to the end of our Sorry. Brings us to the end of our agenda. Before we do good news from around the wards, we do have a policy in these chambers that if you're wearing a red lanyard, you're required to come up and stand between the gold columns at the end of the meeting and tell us what program you're with, school you're from, institution you wanna talk about, and just tell us a little bit about your program. So come on up. But, actually, you all should come down on Monday at one. Like, if you have time all throughout with her on schedule,
like, you your mind is gonna be blocked. We've got five cameras. They'll all catch you if you stand in between the two gold pillars. Thank you, council president. Thank you, council, for having us here. Brief way of introduction. This is a group from Civic Bridgers. We are a nonprofit organization based out of Saint Paul and working across the state. These are a group of college students and recent college grads who are exploring civic engagement across our state, how we can foster a deeper understanding of each other and our interdependence, across the state of Minnesota. We've had the good fortune of visiting,
nearby places in Washington County and spent the day here in Ramsey County up at the capitol earlier today and now are so pleased to be here at the Saint Paul City Council. I will let our, wonderful group introduce themselves. Awesome. Hello. Thank you so much for your time today. My name is Andrew Park. I'm a student from New Jersey. It's a wonderful state you guys have here, a wonderful city too. We've had a couple of walk minutes walking here. It's wonderful. I'm a student at the University of Pennsylvania studying business international studies through the Hudson program. Great. Yeah. Thanks so much for having us here. So my name is Jackie, and I'm also a student at UPenn.
I'm from New York City originally. And so kind of coming here through a program for, like, suburban and, like, rural immersion, it's been, like, a really unique experience, kind of, like, seeing, like, more of, like, the suburban side, and also going, like, Stillwater and, like, etcetera. Speaking with, like, some of the senators. Right? So I think I've learned a lot so far, especially, like, geographically of, like, the Midwest. And, like, just being from, like, urban city, I've not known anything like this. And so I really enjoyed my time kind of seeing how clean the streets are and just how everything runs. So thank you again for having us. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Hello, everyone.
I'm Kate, and I'm originally from Tokyo, Japan, but I go to school here in Rochester, Minnesota. So I'm a student at the University of Minnesota, Rochester, and I'm studying health sciences in the pre med track, so I wanna be both a doctor and a physician in the future. So far, this program has taught me a lot, and, I know I've lived there for almost two years now, but there's always something more to learn about Minnesota, and I find it very interesting. So thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Hi. My name is Alexander. I go to school in New York City from New York City, on an emphasis of, like, urban studies and urban planning.
It's quite amazing just understanding that you guys are all female, which is something I think is really impressive, and just glad to be here today. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Jackson Berry. I come from Prior Lake, Minnesota, and I attend the University of Minnesota out in Minneapolis. I study public health and neuroscience. And I'm really grateful that I'm a part of this program here during my spring break because of the opportunity that we have for everyday citizens from different backgrounds to engage in these public achievement opportunities throughout the state of Minnesota. Thank you again. Thank you. Hello. My name is Connor McCarty.
I'm studying at the University of Minnesota Morris in the Twin Cities in, business STEM, and I'm definitely interested in how you all run the meeting. I was getting lost a couple times. I was told to refer to an agenda, which which definitely helped, but, it it's a little hard to track. I'm not gonna lie. I mean, you know, you're going through, the public motions and the private motions. And and even that last one, when you're talking about the amending bit, like, does that mean that you all were giving the $72 to the peep the people wanting the solar project to be done or you know,
and and all those sorts of things? Yeah. You're not alone. It's a hard agenda to track. And I know some of us will be talking a little bit after this, but happy to fill in the blanks. But the short answer to your question is yes. That 72,000 went to our parks and recreation department for the solar installation. Okay. And you might not have been here, but I had a kerfuffle earlier too. So I had a whole question about what made it on the agenda today. So you are good. Hi. My name is Isaiah Bryant Hopkins. I graduated at Saint Cloud State with a bachelor's degree in community health. This has been a beautiful experience.
I've learned a lot, and this is something that has got me pondering my career now. And I think it's beautiful to see, a whole bunch of women here and a diverse group of, people of color, and I I'm thankful. Thank you. Thank you. Hi. My name is Max Santana. I'm a current student at Normandale College, and I'm studying gender studies with a certification in creative writing. And I just recently moved to Minnesota, so, this trip has just, like, gotten me to just love my new home.
So thank you, guys. Cool. Awesome. Hello. My nurse, Angela Castillo. I also go to the University of Minnesota Rochester. I'm premed, hopefully a future doctor. And it's really nice to see so many women and women of color in power. So go you. Hello. I'm Angelina Retta from Winona State University, and I've always had a great passion in civic and civic education. So this is, again, very beautiful to see as reinforced by my other colleagues. So great to be here. Thank you. Hello. My name is Sharon. I'm from Short View, Minnesota, and I'm currently studying the bachelor of science in health sciences degree at the University
of Minnesota Rochester. And because of that, I also am on the pre med path, and it's really inspiring to see a woman of color in this in strong field. So thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Good afternoon, distinguished members of Saint Paul City Council. My name is Danny Seabree. I go to the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and I am a majoring in political science. It is wonderful to be up here talking to you absolutely wonderful council members creating creating monumental change, especially a board with a bunch of women representing this great city.
It's amazing. And I hope to see what other monumental changes you guys make. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much. Hi. Council president and council members, we're so honored to be here. My name is Jill Carey. I'm the vice president of of programs for Civic Bridgers and I noticed my colleague Katie snuck away thinking she was gonna get out of this, but this program was very much made possible by her logistics, her genius, and her flexibility in, bringing us all here today. So this is Katie. I just wanna make sure she got credit. Hello, everybody. I'm very happy to be here. I'm actually from South Carolina,
so I am vastly enjoying your state. It's fabulous. But, yes, these guys, we're learning so much, and today has just been great. And I've I loved the Green New Deal. I'm so excited for these kind of things. I'm an environmental major, so I'm looking forward to new things. Thank you guys so much. Thank you so much. It is an absolute delight to get to meet all of you. We're so thrilled that you chose to come to our chambers to experience local government. We haven't had so many people get up and say such nice things to us in a long time, and this, Patty, doesn't happen every week.
So thank you. And, yeah, we hope that your journey, is it we know it's just beginning. So this really gives us a lot of hope just to get to meet you and hear from you. So thank you. And with that, we will do good news from around the wards. Any good news? No. No. Miss Williams. Quick news. Right after this, 05:30, if you, have the energy, there is a community dinner that's gonna be hosted at the Hallie Q. Brown, hosted by a school board member, but a community advocate, Chantelle Allen, Love First. She's going I'm gonna be part of a panel joining with other elected officials,
talking about civic engagement and civic leadership. So it's from 05:30 to eight. Great. I will share the Skyway blood drive is looking for donors. Apparently, the Red Cross, we are particularly low right now in Minnesota. So on March 20 at Union Depot All Day long, folks can come down and donate, really needed. Other good news. Where are they located? Is it They're in Skyway? In the Union Depot. Oh, yeah. It's called the Skyway Blood Drive because it started during the pandemic, and it was, like, in Skyway connected buildings, but it's Got it. Yeah. In the Union Depot. Alright. Seeing nothing else has to come before us.
Thank you all so much for a great meeting as always. We are adjourned.