##VIDEO ID:https://stpaul.granicus.com/player/clip/5060?view_id=37&redirect=true## And to order, good morning, everyone. Sorry that we have mood lighting in the chamber say we have some staff working to sort that out. But we're really excited to talk to our partners first at the Port Authority and then at the River Center and visit Saint Paul. We have members sit each of these boards and as we consider our budget in the final weeks here, we want to make sure that we can understand poposed budgets for these important partner organizations and partners in code governing. So with that, I want to welcome up. First, we have our PRESIDENT O the Port Authority, Todd Hurley to kick us off with the port section today. We typically go until 11, 30 so for presenters today. Also, I'm going to work on so that everyone has time for everything. So if we're moving along it simply to make sure we can hear from everyone and we know where to find you if we have more questions. So with that, welcome, MR. Hurley, go ahead. Great. Thank you. Council PRESIDENT Ali members of the City Council. My name is Todd Gurley the PRESIDENT, ceo of the Saint Paul Port Authority. We're very pleased and for the invite to come here and talk about the Saint Paul Port Authority this morning. There's a lot of information to share. I'm really here kind of to kick off the just an overview of the port authority and bringing my other partners at the Port Authority. So just the agenda and I think is it in the on the screen in front. the part we're seeing well on our agenda and overview that that all do. And then I'll Catherine Starkey our chief development officer come up, talk about our our projects on the river terminals, our projects throughout the city of Saint Paul. In our business centers and also give give the council a brief update on how the Heights project is going again, te largest redevelopment in our history at the same port authority in Saint Paul. Hawley. Houston will come up. She is our vice PRESIDENT Of financial talk about our loan programs in a conduit program and then we'll wrap it up with our new cfo Mike Solomon, who will give overview of our proposed 2025 budget and also the Levy request that is included in the mayor's budget for the City That being here's just a real real quick look at our mission. Mission of the Saint Paul Port Authority is to expand the tax base in the city of Saint Paul and serve as a conduit to quality jobs, job opportunities with a lens of advancing sustainability and equity will also be in a fierce advocate for river commerce. And you'll hear a little bit about that each of following presentations up at the port. Again, really quick summary overview, again, economic development with concentration on tax base and looking create quality jobs and Saint Paul and also to make up flexible loan programs with our businesses in Saint Paul again, we talk a lot about sustainable and equitable development and you hear about that, especially with our Heights project today and again, to be of advocate for the river. Our connection to the city, just as a reminder that city Council, we're very pleased and proud that we are one of the city of Saint Paul's economic develop development partners in the city. We were created 3 state statute in 1929. And all our borders consists of 7 people that are mayor selected City Council approved. And and 2 of those seats are held by city council members that are actually I'm looking one of them least here today. But both are ad show the board real quick. And then the last bullet point I'll make is that again, part of you'll see in our budget is our operations are partially supported by the tax levy in the city of Saint Paul. Our Board of Commissioners, our current board chairs match We also that have done well in from Saint Paul. Building Trades John Marshall, Xcel Energy, Councilmember Yang from Ward 6 Councilmember Johnson from Ward 7 newest part to its new board members. Courtney Henry from those McDonald's Corporation and then former council pesident Amy Brenneman on now without any Brendan Strategies. Again, just a very quick look at our staff were of small. We would like to see a small but mighty staff. We if you look at our our preliminary budget, we have 22 Ft, Eason, that in the entire Port authority across 3 functional teams, 20 full-time employees and for talk part-time employees. And then just very quickly, our development team led by Katherine started you. Mentioned our legal team represented by Emily Lawrence and our finance and operations team led by Mike Solomon. And with that, if there's questions on the overview would like to move the presentation over to Catherine Serna key to start talking about economic development starting with a river terminals. Good morning. Thank you. PRESIDENT Rally in council members ad Catherine Serna key. As Ted said, I'm our chief development officer for the Saint Paul Port Authority. And I just wanted to highlight a few things about our working River. Saint Paul does have the unique distinction of being the northernmost terminal on the Mississippi River since the lock and dam above us was closed in 2015. We have 4 working terminals here in Saint Paul. One tiny little red one that's underneath the Lafayette Bridge and 3 larger terminals. Now where there's a lot of river shipping activity going on there. Our main imports. Tease me coming to the fertilizer, lots of different kinds of fertilizer. I didn't know there were so many different types of ammonia, nitrogen and phosphate. A lot of rock aggregate, cement and salt. So all the products used to make her road to buildings and sidewalks. Lot of that's coming up, a river keeping that wear and tear off our roads and being very sustainable on the wy. And our top exports, corn, soy bees, screens. We bring in pot ash from Canada and put it on the river here in Saint Paul and said that south. So we have fertilizers going both directions and lots of scrap metal going to destinations to be melted down and recycled and used. This is just a picture of the lock and dam system. Just a reminder, there are 26 locks and dams to get from here and basically to St. Louis. And then the river is free-flowing. It's good and it's bad. A lot of maintenance and infrastructure to maintain. But it also allows us to operate and keep Parisian pool level. You MAY have heard a couple years ago the low water levels. We're hurting the lower Mississippi, but we were still able to operate quite well up here. Overall highlights from the river. We ship about 5 to 8 million tons annually through report. We have 21 businesses that operate in our terminals. They generate about 2.3 million dollars in tax revenue and create over 700 jobs out of those terminals. Wanted to focus a little bit on the Port Authority's, late development work in the 1960's. The state expanded our powers into economic development. And we have been very successful at utilizing federal state, local resources to help clean up brownfields. It redevelops sites and get them back to businesses. We've transformed 17 brownfields into business centers are 18th is the height. And that's plus or for every terminals brings us up to 22 business. Senators. This map shows 24 because there's a couple areas we were in there, but we didn't actually do remediation but really wanted to highlight. We're working across the city of Saint Paul really working bing in jobs, good paying jobs with low barriers to entry, the pay living wages with benefits. Just overall summary impact for those 22 to 24 business centers that over 500 businesses in them over 1000 acres of land has been redeveloped supporting over 22,000 jobs and annually generates 38 million dollars in tax revenue to help offset some of the costs. The city. So I will jump into a quick overview of the heights. It's been a very busy year. The heist for 2024. We started this project with a big vision for 1000 units of housing 1000 living wage jobs. Really significant sustainability goals and access to green space and amenities for folks. The reason we chose those goals was on the Greater East Side. There are roughly 30,000 residents but only 3,000 jobs. And we heard from the community if they wanted jobs in their neighborhood, it would pay living wage so that they could walk to work be part of the community that was really important. Another priority we heard was around housing housing shortage on the greater Isaias through the city in the nation. So w have created 24 acres of new housing split between ownership and rental. To create over 1000 new units of housing. It will be high quality and very sustainable. But with the real big focus on - affordability and making sure there's even deeply affordable units included in the development. As you MAY have heard, the housing partnership is still seeking funds to make that housing dream in 1000 units. A reality Sherman Associates, jail companies and twin cities, habitat have formed a really strong partnership. They have asked the Saint Paul Port Authority and the city of Saint Paul in our support as they go to the state to request. 44.6 million dollars. So you'll see that request coming through as they start their ramping up efforts for legislating at the Capitol. Exciting thing is there is construction going on at the Heights. It's more than just moving dirt. Although we've done a lot of that Habitat for humanity is putting units up. They have 30 units of single family to try and quiet town homes that they are working on. They had a great kick off the first week in OCTOBER with the Carter Works Project, their international event, bringing a lot of attention and excitement to the city of Saint Paul to the housing crisis and to the Heights development. One thing I want to highlight that I'm really proud of is the amount of community engagement we did in this process right through the master plan and beyond. We created a lot of work group support groups listening. Sessions, lots of ways for people to be heard. Continue to train, be responsive to concerns during construction and things throughout the neighborhood. Our plan was to really take that community and site and build a community for this community. I that they told us what they wanted. We are able to arrange the habitat home. So they all are accessible via alleys versus having driveways on the streets and things like that that that the community had asked for. And we've heard really great feedback that well. You did change the plan based on her comments. So Really proud that we have that work done up front to work with the community. This is the plan. The light purple is new would light industrial. Parcells. I'm the Excel Energy site. I will highlight in just a moment. The U.S. Southern to this. Turns out the southern to habitat blocks are the ones under construction. And the orange are the ones that are pending some funding at the state. There has been a lot of work today at the Sabal Anderson. A lot of grading work, wetland creation designing Earth contracting is working on installing all the utilities on the Heights. We had heights community, energy groundbreaking for the distribution system. Of our ats Geothermal System. Habitats got their units under construction and excels new service center and they have started their own greeting and foundation's work on the safe here in 2024. Budget wise. We have secured over 16 million in grants for the project and being are reimbursed. I can update that now to 7.8 million dollars. We get a check in yesterday. As you MAY know, projects to increase in cost. And we've had additional design cost additional construction costs. So we're monitoring the budget. We are looking for additional funding sources. One of our next big packages that were excited about is amenities, the landscape art, the trees for the site. And tat's one of the things we're still actively searching for funding to help. To help pay for. Some of these numbers. Just show the work that's been done over 740,000 yards of cubic soils been excavated lots for 1000 linear feet. A sanitary sewer, 7,000 feet, water, utilities and over 2000 feet of storm sewer. Again, since I put these numbers in those numbers have oly grown. I wanted to give you a sense of as I talk about our funding and some of our funding shortages. This is the funding sources that we've been using. Many of are remediation funds, but a couple of big infrastructure funding sources that we're using is a 11 million dollar bonding allocation from the state of Minnesota and the Port Authority is using 7 million dollars of it excess. Tift job built toward the infrastructure at the Heights as well. Here's just a overview of what the site looks like. If you haven't seen our construction videos, the drone videos are fun to watch him to look 6 months back it and today you can see big changes going on out there. Very exciting. Our schedule. Amazingly, we are still on tight tmeline for the Heights that we created a couple years ago. We did get our first groundbreaking on the industrial building in 2024, I guess it was q 3 net. You too, for itself. And we did break ground on the first habitat 2, 3, of 2024. As well. So we hope to complete the infrastructure. They sewer utilities work in 2025. Depending on our that amenity work MAY roll into 2026 and how how we get funding but really hope the whole site will be mostly developed by 2030, be a thriving community for folks to live work and play. I know I mentioned it briefly, but just want to celebrate one key partnership that really came from the leadership of Council community. Everyone working together to get a district, geothermal energy system. It was big news here and ws big news across the country and I continue to get phone calls of people asking how are you doing this? How did you do this? People interested in the Green Bank Vinci for long. The tax credit. And that really allowed us to be a leader in sustainability and how we're doing things out at the Heights. So with if there's not any questions, I will turn it over to Ali Houston to tell you about our loan programs. Morning comes members. Good to see you. Thanks for the opportunity to be here today. So has had mentioned in the beginning that just a portion of the Saint Paul port authorities, budget is supported by Levy, one of the other key funding source is is our loan programs and our administrative fiscal services. So that's really long programs and conduit revenue. So I'm gonna talk briefly about those programs. And this just gives you. Overview of what we got cookin at the same part of 30 and that I've been working on so my portfolio here includes men, pace program. So that is property assessed, clean energy loans for across the state of Minnesota. We have completed over 443 loans. And that comprises over 312 million dollars of energy savings and investment across the state. That's an annual savings of 83 Million. So that allows business owners to put that money into other things in their business instead of wasting it energy bills. Then we also have our trillion. So within the men pace program, just to give you a little more details there. We are the program, administrators for the sate of Minnesota. So we work with the county's to place the assessment. We collect the funds and send them back to the lender so the lender can be external. They could be credit unions, national banks or we have a trillion pt you loan fund that we also can be lenders. So that gets into the next category. A vrtual up to you program. We've completed 99 loans that are not paid through the pace that's just monthly payment for energy improvements. And that has been 33 million investments and saved a 0.8 million annually. Just to give some perspective on the trillion be to you loan fund. That funding originally came from the American Recovery Act and from the Department of Commerce in 2010 and it's a 15 million dollar fund. So if you look at our pace loans and are trillion, btu loans, pace loans, meaning they're funded by billion trillion beach. Know, it's a little confusing, but we've completed 63 million dollars of lending. That means we're all that fun over 4 times. So that's something really excellent and to be proud of. We also have business development fund supporting business growth in Saint Paul in these Metro that has completed 29 loans for 3.3 million. And then that Energy Savings Partnership program. That's really a partnership with the U.S. Bank. So they're the lender there. But that's something a of We have a relationship with and have a reserve fund so that. The and so that U.S. Bank can offer these loans at a lower interest rate for municipal governments for government finance. Lease scene for Crete. Clean energy lending improvements. Any questions? So I see a question from Kent Wimmer, Johnson Johnson. It's not necessarily a question. More. A question, but it's not for me. It's for folks that are also watching through. I know with men pace, we have a pretty wide reach because you just you didn't mention the county part which I enjoy. Like how pesent we are and what to what level like of counties we actually have presents Council PRESIDENT Jolly Councilmember Johnson, we have over. We have believe a it's almost 70 joint powers agreement. So we there's 87 counties in the state of Minnesota and we have 60 a joint powers agreement. So we work all across and have a broad reach. There is a collaborative in the world southwest of Minnesota region of Minnesota. And so we also partner with them so think they have agreements with those counties. And their lone program doesn't work with the property owner. We have the ability to also work in those counties to and partner with them. And that brings me to some of the highlights and successes. And so that men pays program has surpassed 2 or 3 million dollars green energy loans. So last year we ended the year just shy 300 Million. So I'm proud of that. And we are really ranks 6th in the nation for our pace program in the state. Ad we are often sought after ai. That's something that people ask. How have you done it? And I had answer is really that trillion btu Vaughn program and our partnerships with local banks and credit unions and the ability to Kate or an offer loans to smaller properties to the local businesses that don't improvement or can't finance a million dollar improvement. So we can come in and do $150,000. Solar project and really help out those businesses where other states they don't have that funding available. I'm been active in my leadership without with pace Nation and see Pace Alliance. They're listed here on the board, but also I'm really partnering, as I said, with local credit unions with banks. The Department of Commerce, the Excel Energy Partnership program and even working with the city's pd department just to make sure that they're aware of pace and the different services and availability. So as we get developers, they can be making new buildings that are cleaner and energy efficient right from the beginning. This year, we've revamped our own management system, too fully be able to service these loans and then I am working on revitalizing our business development Fund and Iran are judged partnership program just getting the word out. So I want make sure people know about it. And and get get the out to help job growth and sustainable energy improvements. And then so as I mentioned, it's really this next year is just about future growth and increased marketing. Just switching gears, another key part of the revenue portfolio, the same pop art. Authorities are revenue kind bond issuance. So as you know, this is a financing mechanism for private companies, nonprofits and public entities to fund projects through. The issuance of tax exempt Minnesota municipal bonds. There's no risk at the port for this issuance. And this really spurs. It's a way for people to gain capital that they can afford to spur private development within the same public supports our mission again of jobs, tax base and sustainability. We are very mission-driven and everything we do at the port is is around that. And finally, organizations. And as you know, also, organizations can seek out who they used as a kind short. And we have te desire to keep funding in Saint Paul. So we've really partnered with the city in cases either one of us could be the issuer and we split those fees. So that issuance of the district Everett District energy kind of it bans we partnered with the city on that. And so we split those fees. So you get a portion and we get a portion and then just to build on that, we have learned that we have the ability to issue affordable housing kind revenue. And so again, instead of going maple wood or Oakdale are mounds Let's keep it here. We are ramping up for our first affordable housing kind issuance. Thank you. Miss Houston. Just a time check. You all have about 15 minutes left in your presentation, including member questions. So not rushing. You just want to let you know, or at least not yet. Thank you. Council PRESIDENT. That's I'm wrapped So you can just see our impact on the bottom. But covered that. Wonderful. Thank you. As Houston. Great. Thank you. Council present all the council members, Mike Solomon, cfo here at the Saint Paul Port Authority. So a you heard from the team, they're a loan program and other revenues that the port leverages. But it does rely on a few sources of property taxes to fund operations and finance project opportunities. So there are 3 levee shown on this slide. And the first one is the general obligation bond Levy, which funds the repayment of our geo Debt. And these are issued to finance capital projects and land acquisition. This tax levy is authorized at the time of bond issuance. The second and 3rd items of the mandatory and discretionary levees and the support operations and also repay some other debts you can see on the far right and the change column, the $125,000 increase from 2024. Included in both the city imports 2025 proposed budget. This is our debt service budget. So it's the main use of property taxes from the general obligation and mandatory levy, which total 6.3 million dollars for 2025. We partner with the city on specific projects for to use this Authority and so bonds. And so you can see our outstanding debt here, finance business centers, such as the Beacon Bluff and Riverbend Business Centers. The Hillcrest Heights Project as well as the emerald ash borer project. We did in partnership with the city. I mean, these are all really focused, focused tool to help create jobs and tax base. And we always issue these bonds in partnership with the life asked a lot of shot out, treasurer Sarah Brown and the work her department doesn't know a fast. As you can see that second item, the geo Debt service line is right around 5.5 million dollars. We try to keep that kind of targeted him out. So as old bonds are paying off, we're looking for our next opportunity to issue bonds keep another project to move in. The next slide shows are mandatory levy history because, of course, once we sell these bonds and start a project, we need the operational capacity to execute on it. So property tax dollars from the mandatory levy support the staff and overhead costs. The graph shows a 15 year history of the actual levee in gray and the maximum Levy authorized in state law in blue. It shows that there is capacity to increase this levee of policymakers desired and this capacity really has grown a bit over time. So including the $125,000 Levy increase proposed for 2025, which is about 4.5%. You can see the actual Levy lite in Gray is at about 43% of the maximum out, which is a decrease from the 55%. We utilized in 211 and I will just highlight the last bullet point here that we really feel the port does have a strong track record. I'm returning return on this investment as measured by growth in our industrial tax base here in Saint Paul as well as other projects Pacific successes. So one reason that our allies so strong is that we do leverage other revenues and our budget. And so you can see here in 2025 only 30% of our operating budget for 20 for the proposed budget is funded by property taxes just over 5 million dollars or 70% is coming from other port authority revenues. And just to show the 2025 budget in more detail pretty straight forward. But again, a point to that top line increase of $125,000 in the property tax Levy bringing our total revenues to just over 7.1 million dollars and on the expense side, you can see just under $125,000 of growth and bringing our total expenses to just over 7.1 million dollars as well. So what is that? $125,000 property tax Levy pay Well, as those of you on our board know, we are quite busy at the Port Authority. The $125,000 will fund an additional fte on our development team. Really with the goal of supporting our existing work, but also building capacity for our next opportunity. As we look past kind of the successful outcomes at the Heights. We're looking at this levy to help our effort to further our mission and support the city's economic development goals. So we have a question slide in here as well as all contact info. Want to thank you all for the support. Heard a lot about the structure of the Port Authority. The good stuff going on at the Heights and on the river, specifically on the height, some of the early winds with the grants we've gotten, maybe some of the potential cost pressures how they covered an overview of our growing loan programs. And I just gave a preview of our operating budget that has just that limited levy support. So really want to end with the message that more levy dollars will support our work and that results in more positive economic development outcomes in the city of Saint Paul. I think we're all happy to take questions. If you have any. All right. So I seen a sneaker and ms buoys start the line that a MISS. Billy, I think for himself or site will go to bully and then maker and then they want Thank you. That's PRESIDENT. Thank you for the You zoom through. Quickly has had a question particularly around the operating budget sources. For a revenue, I'm saying that 30% is coming property taxes. Can you explain you breakdown the revenue? For the other 70%, I see the other sly talks about if you can describe what is the ccp grant to Port authority and then development fees and then fiscal administrative fees. Great. Thank you. Council PRESIDENT Jolly Councilmember boy. Yes. So the ccp grant is Capital City's properties. This is the Port Authority's nonprofit subsidiary that we use to enter into joint ventures. And again, further, the economic development mission of the port. So the ccp has historically granted Pfizer, the Port authority to reduce the need for levy dollars. But just looking at some of the realities on the ccp budget, you can see that that was reduced for 2025. Given some of the financial performance there. I'm a development fee side. That's really a project reimbursement for labor and expenses related to for example, are business centers in the Heights and fund some of the work on the development team to keep those projects moving. And the last major categories, the fiscal administrative that comprises of the loan servicing fees, administrative fees as well as interest income on our loan programs. In addition to the issuance fees that we get on the conduit revenue bonds, that how the Houston mentioned. Just a quick follow-up for So when you talk about the fees, are these fees from the from like the loan holders like people getting loans and there's fees on top of that because there's other and Linus as interest on loans. Just wondering how do you? You know, issue the great Holly, please come bail me out if i misspeak. So I'm the men pay cyber, the lone administrator. So we get a annual fee for administering those loans for those external lenders. So that's a major portion you heard about the trillion btu program. Actually fund the loans ourself from Port Authority funds. So there were some loan fees as well as the interest that's going down those loans. And then on conduit Bonds. We are in both in issuance fees as well as an ongoing annual fee. And in some cases, we split that fee with the city of Saint Paul. All right. In a sneaker thanks, council PRESIDENT, MR. Salmond, thanks so much for the presentation. Thanks to the entire team. I've had the pleasure being on again off again. Board member of the Port Authority. And I really value Emily, the economic development work that you do in growing our tax base, which is so critical. But also I think you are a shining example of how we don't have to choose between sustainability goals and driving wages for workers and and economic development. You combine all 3 of those and all the work you do. So I grateful for that. And 2 questions. One's more micro want a little more macro in terms of also back to the Councilmember Billy was asking about the detail, the operating budget. I notice $50,000 increase for city attorney. And I'm curious what that And then at the macro level, I know that many of our tonnage and freight that we're moving on. The river is domestic. But I assume that that also might be impacted by. International policies related to tariffs and things like that. And I'm just wondering to extent that anyone can know anything about that right now are we forecasting any sort of change in that business in the years ahead? Yeah. How present Jolly Council-run acre. Thank you for the question. I'll take the first one to saw Kathryn's. Are you getting ready to take the second? So the Port Authority by statute requires the advice of the city attorney's office. And so we pay for a half an fte in the city attorney's office and due to collective bargaining and other inflationary increases. The amount of that cost has gone up pretty significantly as you saw there. But something we build into our operating budget and can deal with. Just quick follow-up to that. It went up by almost it almost doubled and that typical for the city attorney's so counts present Chica 7 acre some miners. That is that's not typical at that is an increase that was related to a one-time a contract With us, the city attorneys and their salary fringe benefits. starts. There was a Yeah, we'll do the second question. The missing is next. So let's go to the park to thank you. Sure. Thank you. Council PRESIDENT JULY and has been for acre for your question. At a flow the last time President Trump was in office, there were some serious tariffs that were put in place and it did change shipping, especially for greens, soybeans and corn leaving the U.S. A lot of that export does go to Asia instead of buying from the U.S. They were buying mostly from Brazil, it in other countries. So it does have an impact. It does have a local impact something we're being very mindful of and tracking. All right. Go ahead. MISS Yang. Thanks, council PRESIDENT First Want to say thank you all for the presentation and I feel it's really thorough and I'm Kelly, really appreciate just hearing like that insight to that. You just shared earlier. If there are like moving forward, if there are more - insights that you all think would be important for us to know about continue sharing that. I just have a couple of things astray really loved the layout that you have here the vigil on the sly 20 where it explicitly shows like here are a lot at the Heights. And here's chart. Here are the ones that are available. I definitely show you that out to my residence. I did have a question about additional fte position. I was wondering if you very supportive of Do you see the need for us to have more development numbers? I was wondering if you could share a bit about what sort of projects are worth the you see this team member carrying. I thank you Council PRESIDENT JULY Councilmember Yang for the question. one of the things that I didn't get into on the river is that we actually own a lot of river infrastructure at those 4 river shipping terminals. We have 2 big projects that will be about 30 million dollars worth of investment again using federal funding and state funding and support a $30 as well as private investment to make investments on the river. Infrastructure happen but managing the river in the harbor takes time and energy. And We don't have enough staff to do it properly. I would say right now we also are looking for our next opportunity, be on the heights. So we we managing things well with the height, but we know that we want there to be something after the Heights as well and have staff available to do that as well as partner with other folks when they come in to help with remediation grants like we've done for the soccer stadium or other developments Saint Paul. Alright, checking on time. We're doing okay and looking to see if we have any other questions right now. All right. I'm not seeing any. I appreciate the chance to understand your 2025, budget and work we've all seen at this table right in different forms throughout the last few years. Really proud to continue partnered with you for the city that we're building together. Thank you. Thank All right. So we're going to turn now to the 2nd half of our presentation this morning with River Center and Visitors Authority and visit Saint Paul. Want to welcome up. Let's see who wants to be starting off is like Hendrix in our PRESIDENT Ceo and then her partners who helped lead visit Saint Paul. Welcome. And good morning. Thank you, here. All rght. Good Morning Council PRESIDENT Jalali and council members. Thank you so much for the opportunity to present today. Great follow the Port Authority. And we're really proud to be a piece of the economic development puzzle in the city. Along with them, my name is Jamie Lucky Hendrickson and I'm PRESIDENT And ceo of Visit Saint Here with me is Kate said Lee, vice PRESIDENT And general manager of Saipov River Center. Susan Hubbard, director booking administration for steep hover center. Though he's been bck or senior director of planning and public affairs. And I know we have several other of our team members should be walking through the door any moment you'll see them coming in as Also, our finance committee chair and Treasurer Mike Sullivan is here. I'm not sure of any other board members. Beyond very fortunate to have. Council PRESIDENT Jalali Council member in a career in Councilmember Billy as part of board as well. We're going to start out by giving an overview of our work here today. So Saint Paul River Center. Convention and Visitors Authority has a contract with the city and it is to cover to specific services. Number one is to market and promote Saint Paul as a convention and tourism destination that generates hotel room restaurant, entertainment and retail business and accompanying revenues that benefit the city. Residents and businesses in Saint Paul and number to equip, maintain manage and operate the River center. To do this. Our work has centered around getting people to Saint Paul because we know they're going to love it and operating and event venue that is ready to rally attendees as the perfect place to spark creativity, captivate audiences in call Tate profound connections. Collectively, the work we do is to drive vitality and economic impact. The city so attracting visitors, creating jobs and driving economic growth. And the reason we do this is to benefit the community. To trust tansparency, inclusiveness, an incredible partners like the city of Saint Paul. The same poll Rivercenter other venues are hotels and all the things that makes a Paula Grey place to be because labrae to create a positive experience for visitors in welcoming them into the city. Yeah. As a team give a little wave come to colleague joining us. Thanks for being here. Visit Saint Paul's efforts are often fcused outside of our community. So bringing in meeting planners, events, attendees and visitors that don't live here. And we're charged delivering our story to those outside of Saint Paul. It ultimately all that work is for the people that are here in our community. The reason for promoting our city as an attractive destination and enhancing its public image is a great place to live work and play is because if we didn't see Paula be left behind, every community needs to compete with every other. And I we don't lose our share of disability attention, respect visitors, consumers, talent, businesses, capital investments, so marketing and selling Saint Paul is the way that we can compete to be sure that people are aware of our city have a positive impression in want to visit. In addition to serving as the city's official convention, visitors Bureau visiting Paul is also charged with overseeing river center, Wilkins Auditorium and the River Center parking ramp. The city owns these facilities and that's where Saint Paul Arena company comes in. They hope the contract to manage the daily operation facilities and they're experts at it. That means that we have ultimate confidence that when events come to Saint Paul and are held at the River center, planners and attendees are going to have a great experience. A common theme we hear from event organizers is that they know that when they're at these facilities for their event, they're going to be treated well. One of recently even told me that they feel like family, the team at Saint Florian, a company are pros and they provide a top level of service. Moving on to your budget in the packet, you'll find the signed resolution for the adopted budget for the Rcd, a Ford as well as the budget memo in financials. So we want to walk through and summarize the budget and give you some context. Before I turn it over to Susan Hubbard, which River center, we'd like to show you video to give you a taste of River Center is all about. It can be easy to see it just as a building. But there is so much more that happens there. Thank you, Jamie comes presidential ally in council members. We appreciate the time to share our story with you. Saint Paul River Center is a dynamic hub. Brady is collide. And connections thrive. It's a catalyst for economic growth, directing businesses, conventions, events and visitors spending excuse me from every corner of the map. This benefits the broader local community b boosting hotel occupancy, increasing visitor spending and driving sales tax revenue. Unlike many of the other convention centers around the nation that dry and event planners with comprehensive financial incentive Rivercenter takes a distinct approach by focusing on a unique value proposition. Well, we MAY not have the budget to cover event expenses as others might. We differentiate ourselves by delivering exceptional service experience. You didn't high-quality customer care and top notch facilities. The commitment to quality, including an elevated food and beverage experience and an overall sense of genuine hospitality ceates a compelling choice for planners - who might otherwise find a better deal somewhere else. Given the ages of Saint Paul River Center and Roy Wilkins Auditorium maintaining premium standard is crucial for the strategy. Rivercenter also benefits from any fish, an operational model due to its close proximity to the Xcel Energy Center and shared Management by Saint Paul Arena company enabling streamline labor and asked that use across all of the venues. A strong commitment to sustainability further enhances river centers. Appeal. As the first facility globally to simultaneously hopefully bring gloves and event. Industry council certifications. We prioritize environmentally responsible operations. A director event planners who value sustainable practices in there. Excuse sustainable practices in their operations, an event choices. Our dedication to sustainability. Efficiency and premium service Positions. River Center has a unique and desirable venue for a variety of events. Building the RiverCenter budget is a unique process because we're back based. Our oerating budget is focused. It focused on river center, Wilkins Auditorium and the Rivercenter rant. The budget is built around what we anticipate to book and how we expect. Each event to perform. We consider factors such as rental Revenue Service income, which includes labor and equipment rental parking revenue and food and beverage revenue. On the expense and of things. We must look at both events side of the business as well as the expenses associated with operating a large facility. Our expenses include labor costs of goods, utilities, maintenance, and repair administrative costs and parking expenses. For the 2025 budget. We're proposing a 12.6, 12.6 million in revenues and 12.5 million in expenses with a net profit of over $123,000. As you can see on the chart, our largest revenue Leiden is the River Center parking ramp at over 5 million dollars servicing come as nearly 4 million and run is at almost 2 million dollars. Rivercenter endeavors to cover its operating expenses each year. And this is done primarily with net revenues from the River Center parking ramp. When you think of the expenses for the facility, many of them correlate with the level of business in the building. As we increase the number of events, we incur more event and operations, labor. We require more overhead supplies such as hand soap paper towels and cleaning supplies. We have increased labor and maintenance in the parking rant and our consumption of electricity, water, heating and cooling is higher. On the non operating side of our budget. You'll see that we depend on foot outsider, daily operation to offset debt capital improvements and any operating losses that we MAY incur in a particular year. For 2025. Will be applying 3.8 million dollars of sales tax and tip funds from the city to our non operating budget as well as a onetime use of 2.5 million dollars of Rivercenter read reserved dollars to apply to some critical infrastructure needs. Now I'd like to turn it over to ksat. Lee. Thank you, Susan comes to presidential Ally Council members. Has been an interesting few years. The event industry. But we are finally emerging and back to some strides of normalcy. I am so proud to stand here before you today and present a positive operating budget. We have finally recovered. The 2025 budget cycle was an interesting one in 2024 many event. Organizers were contracting for events. So they were back. But they didn't look quite the same. As in previous years. They were perhaps shorter amount of days, a little bit less space. But as the year with the demand rebounded, impressively. And our phones started ringing and people were saying, can we add more space? Can we get another day which ws really exciting to see some really just transformed over our over the course of the year. So the story today really is one of stabilization. And as we prepared for the 2025 budget. Of course, used our 2024 forecast. All the things that we learned in this past year. But what was really fun was being able to go back to Pre-pandemic Times 2019 and compare data and what we saw was booking trends that were just meeting right up with 2019. And so that stabilization story rang true again. And need are 2025 budget cycle that much easier to move forward with a bit more predictability. It is more evident than ever the importance of events on downtown's and when an event is here in Saint Paul, our city thrives. We understand the critical roles that these venues playing in the success of Saint Paul. River Center and right Wilkins Auditorium. Post 243 events each year attract nearly $500,000 and collectively with Xcel Energy Center campus hs an annual spending impact of 383 million dollars. I'd b remiss if I didn't mention the talented people. That work so hard to make. These menus operate efficiently and successfully. They truly are the heartbeat of our organization. So with the stabilization of events because comes the ever important job, stabilization and housing to follow. These venues are not just spaces for events but vital contributors to keeping our city moving forward. And it's inspiring to be part of something that is so central to the success admission of Saint Paul. So as we review this budget, I want to share some context that our team comes together each year as we start building the budget and talk about, hey, what challenges and how are we going to approach them? So the first one is has to do with having a finite amount of space in dates. How do we optimize revenue? The great news is that our calendars are filling up aain. But the real key is to book events in a manner that allows us to fill all dates, maximize the events that can be coming in and not just the most attractive traits. It pushes us to innovate and seek ways to also ensure that the events that are booked. That we are color we able to get those events to over perform when they are with us. But do this all while staying focused on delivering that premium experience because we know and we see. That Lynn events, organizers perceive a high value. They're much more likely to choose us as their venue. Another key challenge that we face is meeting the rising expectations of event. Organizers expectations are rising all over the place and we have a whole new set of event organizers that have come into the market since covid. Now, is not afraid of high expectations. And I think anyone in the event industry actually kind of thrives on up. But they do challenge us to make sure that we are understanding today's event organizers and what is important to them. And so industry research highlights that today's organizers are prioritizing the news with up to the technology modern and welcoming space, reliable food beverage in a safe and secure environment. So keeping up with these evolving expectations can be demanding. But the perspectives are invaluable. And of course, got her focus as we move forward to the budget. Of course, it MAY not surprise you. That employee attraction and retention is always a challenge, particularly post covid. Our success, as I mentioned, relies heavily on on our people, both part-time and full-time. So as career expectation shifts our approach centers on one key element and that is culture. We're constantly finding new ways to engage in investing in employees. We want them to find a place that they experiencing job satisfaction. And we also know that it is farmer this fr more cost-effective to hold on to our existing employees and trying to find new ones as well. Of course, we continue to face the reality of aging facilities and increasing the experiencing ed of life issues with certain key pieces of equipment. This year. The story was escalators and elevators. When these go down, it greatly impacts the guest experience as well as compliance with ada and safety standards and increases our overhead expenses to to these costly repairs. So to address urgent needs, we are planning to utilize reserve funds that we typically rely on for emergency repairs. This is not a sustainable long-term approach to regular maintenance means. And then last but least when we build our budget, we focus and maintaining our sustainability standards. Our facility is legal and we are so proud of that, especially considering Ray Wilkins Auditorium was built in 1932. We've tasted leed Platinum and we want it back. And such even this requires substantial investments in capital projects and alongside dedicated time and labor to make progress. So with that, it brings me to our capital spending out of our non operating budget. The capital needs for our facility are significant and we work diligently to prioritize the projects that are going to drive our success. Meet future demands and help these values soar. The funding we received from the city is essential not only to keep operational but competitive. So we thank you for that. Our approach is to use these funds wisely, focusing on the specific areas. First, the debt applications for the tunnel capital improvements and the maintenance of the River Center for treatment. So as you review this list, I'd like to highlight just a few key items. First, of course, the River Center parking ramp. It is the largest line item in our capital spending plan and we prioritize investing it, investing in it for a couple of reasons. One is the largest revenue source in our operating budget and 2 without it, we simply could not attract events. Second elevators, escalators indoors. These are all line items that are none and nearing end of life. These items MAY not sound glamorous, but they are critical to our operation. And when they aren't functioning at significantly impacts ability to for that premium experience for our guests. And finally, I'd like to highlight the facility lighting upgrades that are proposed as part of our sustainability efforts. We've already replaced over 12,000 lights on our campus with energy efficient, led yet there is still more work to be done. For context when we converted 300 lights in our exhibition halls to led, we achieved an impressive 81% reduction in energy use. So this capital investment not only supports our sustainability goals, but also leads to substantial energy savings. Making a smart choice for our future. So with that, I'd like to turn it back over to Jamie Lucky Hendricks. Thanks. States council PRESIDENT Presidential and council members. No, I'm going to share more about our tourism marketing budget. So the majority of visit Saint Paul's budget comes from a portion of the hotel lodging tax, which is collected by the city and designated by statute for Tourism marketing, other funding sources include partnership revenue grant opportunities to explore Minnesota tourism and interest income. So based on lodging, tax performance projections, the organization's 2025 budget is just over 3.5 million dollars. Revenue and expenses are balanced with the transfer of $300,000 from reserves to be used for the convention from oceanfront. Our budget from sales and marketing efforts to attract people and events to Saint Paul. Visit. Saint Paul is made up a passionate and spirited group of advocates ways marketers and promoters of the city of Saint Paul. And I'm so proud of this team, their creators of economic growth to connect travelers to resources and fun businesses to audiences meeting and event planner. So the perfect venue in our members to one another. We currently have 11 full-time employees and will be hiring full time positions. This team is dedicated to telling Saint Paul story and interest Dusing the world to its culture and diversity, beauty and history, energy, openness and opportunities. So before getting into some of the key sales and marketing efforts that this team will be moving forward as part of the budget. I'd like to share with you work we've been doing on a 3 year strategic plan, but you have copies of the first ones to see it. We're excited about that. It's been a transformative year for organization with new leadership in all of our departments as a team. One of the first things we did was to collectively defined guiding principles and core values to align our daily work and bring our mission The next step in partnership with the board of directors was to launch a strategic planning process for the first time in over a decade, task force was formed together insights from a wide range of voices, including our board clients, staff and community partners. Thank you. Council PRESIDENT Jalali in councilmember belief or being part of this task force. Through this process of examining our strengths and opportunities and analyzing data ad trends. We've crafted a plan that reflects the collective spirit of our city and identified 5 strategic goals that are bold and dynamic and we're committed to being a collaborative force in marketing the city to attract visitors and top tier events showcase our people in places and celebrate the offerings that MAY Saint Paul special. So our goals for the next 3 years included all the sharing Saint Paul story. So by amplifying our tourism brand showcase our city's asset through multiple channels through targeted Cecil campaigns in enhancing our pr and media outreach. Driving tourism and events to Saint Paul, so attracting conventions, innovate events to the river center, including dry new types of events that align with our venues in assets as well as serving as a resource to visitors. In event producers to ensure maximum impact positive experience and repeat visits. Connecting the industry to deliver on our brand promise. This is our work and engaging with businesses and organizations, Sarah Partnership program to help them aligned with and promote the city's brand promise. Strength strengthening visit Saint Paul. To maximize the positive impacts for the city. So focused on keeping visit Saint Paul, a thriving, competitive, sustainable organization so that we can deliver the best value to the community and doing work to improve awareness of our role structure, an impact. And then finally collaborating with key support organizations. To build a stronger Paul. So in partnership with Saint Paul Arena company, collaborate with entities such as the city County Chamber, Port Authority, Downtown Alliance and others to a liner missions in leadership roles and support collective efforts. As we advocate for local and regional regional investments and destination development. So inspired by the strategic goals. Going to share some of the key sales and marketing efforts that are part of a 2025 budget. First, our sales team sales. Is targeting 14 trade shows incline events across the country where they will be selling Saint Paul to bring new events. The city recognizing the big events are the draw to bring people downtown in, especially following the success of Minnesota Yacht Club Music Festival in 2025. We're adding a new trade show to tap into a new market. One that will connect us with event promoters in an effort to draw events like these to the city. We'll also be continuing to sales incentive programs. The convention promotional fund, which dedicates money towards bringing events to the city and the sales incentive program which is targeted - toward smaller meetings and events and has a great way to support our hotels and other defendants. And additionally for newly generation will be launching a digital marketing effort targeted to meeting and event planners. Some of the big events you'll be seeing in Saint Paul in 2025. Include the Nchc Frozen Faceoff, which is in MARCH. And 2 new citywide events. The American Association of Wood Turner's will be here in JUNE and the American Society of acknowledge us, which is a branch of the zoo. Algae devoted to the study of fish will be here in JULY. DECEMBER. We cannot wait for the I I h f World Junior championship and this is a big one. Hopefully you've already about this. But if the 10 nation tournament featuring the best men's ice hockey players in the world under 20 years of age, they'll be 29 games taking place over 10 days we're thrilled to be working with Minnesota sports and events in the lead up to this event. Already, there are 7 committees at work putting plans into place and you'll be hearing a lot more about this. The same poll insider's guide is one of our favorite projects each year and work has already begun on a new issue for 2025, hopefully you've seen it. And if not, we have copies here today to leave with you, but is a key storytelling piece to inspire visitation to Saint Paul. It's what we get to those who request more information about the city and we mail on average 600 per month to national and international addresses. Of people who have requested a copy of the guy. We've aso increased our funds to continue digital marketing our 2024 campaign introduced Saint Paul has the fun side to create a category of one brand. So among all Minnesota destinations like to Saint Paul for your fun. And it's exciting aspect of this year's effort was that for the first time we targeted new markets, which means reaching people in Chicago, Milwaukee in Des Moines, among others. And directing digital ads to new audiences, most likely to pick Saint Paul for a visit. This included billboards and paid placements on social media in this campaign over 17 million ad impressions over 53,000 visitors to visit Saint Paul and 3,000 new email signup. So people we can continue to be in touch with. Also new with this campaign. We are able to track something fall campaign attributed visits. This means people that saw our ads and then were tracked in the city. So in Saint Paul and there are over 5,498, he. 5,498 campaign atributed from these these apps. We also got the fun side to the Minnesota State Fair with the blood during mpr Day and we gave up 1500 fans and 500 visitor guides. We have promoted rv head of time on social media and these 2 lower pictures are just selection of some of the first guests that came to the Bush saying they'd seen this social media and had to come get their Saint Paul fan and this guy on the right. He even wore his visit, Saint Paul, local overshirt to the fair and just to come to we told him we'd send another Another key focus for 2025. Will be investments and increased pr efforts. Impactful example of earned media in 2024. Was with chef reactions. If you haven't heard about he's an influencer with an incredible following across TikTok acts in year 2. So he had sent out a message asking his followers which state fair he should attend and you probably won't be surprised that the overwhelming response was Minnesota. Then reached out to the Minnesota Twins asking to throw the first pitch and they didn't respond. But the Saint Paul Saints did. And at that point, our marketing team marketing team. Contacted him to welcome him t say, Paula, to assist with his visit. They lined up a stay for him at the same hotel and suggested some spots you should be sure to see during his visit as a result, his twin Cities video is full of love for Saint Paul. And you can see on this list, the places that he highlighted, that video already has 140,000 views on it. And we're really excited about the impact that increased investment in a coordinated public relations and influencer strategy. Well, having caring Saint Paul's good news and this will be a focus in 2025. To be a keithley. Next know, just believe was just making influencer list. I was oh, We said we'll connect Honestly, though, like if you are taking influencer suggestions, we will pass that. It is like that. This is maybe like comment along the way. But I also I love I love the other markets like the nearby markets data here and it makes me think about how also this year we saw that the regional rail that was put in has been wildly successful and the borealis strain has brought in so. I think also opportunity to market around like new transit and rail and access to our community and those investments that we've also supported and really packaging the experience to markets. Like, you know, take take a trip here. Spend some time. All that. So just thinking of what I'm just sharing status and made me think about of like other successful things and how we can connect those assets and advocate for advocate for regional rail and all that good stuff. So and it's fun to see this campaign of all her member. The earlier days of it and visuals really go a long way. Love the art. Love people centered storytelling. All of that is exciting to see. So thank you. Really appreciate that. PRESIDENT, thank you. Also this year was the second year of our investments in festival marketing support. So through this program, we've allocated funds to support community festivals and events through marketing assets. We all know that sustaining these beloved events is expensive for organizers I 2023 be evaluated. How visit Saint Paul could best support their success? We've been receiving increase request to sponsor events, in considerably about how our resources could best elevate the work of festival. Organizers. This Saint Paul strength is in telling the story of getting the word out. And so we created a program to sponsor events through marketing efforts. We identified festivals and events on the city's calendar and allocated marketing and promotional assets to raise awareness about the celebrations. And you can see a list here of in 2024. Some of those key assets. This is an example of some of the digital billboards that focused on larger in multi-day event in the new this year. We were able to add on mobile ing. So that. This kind of crazy. But people that drove by these billboards, also some mobile redirecting to to this information as well. We aso contracted photographers to capture photos on event days in. These photos are not only for visit Saint Paul to promote the city, but we also provide them to each of the organizers. They have new photography assets for their events. These are just a few from events across the city. With this pro. We love doing this program it's been really exciting to hear the appreciation from event. Organizers in the first year. We did this program, one of one of them when shared, we have a billboard. We have these ads and things and she said, well, I'm going to have to do my event again next year, which is our hope that these events keep going and going. And so we're excited to be able to continue the program aain within our 2025 budget. And then finally in support of small businesses we partnered with a new program called Destination Uplift. It allows organizations like ours to empower our local partners by providing them with ongoing digital marketing education. The teams behind small businesses were so many hats and keeping up with marketing trends and tactics. Let alone having the time to invest in deploying them. Can often feel impossible through this program. We are enabling them to bring more traffic through their doors and realize their full potential as leaders in bringing visitors to Saint Paul. The program we've invested in now available to all small businesses in the city to access. 24 7, it's a series of webinars and we strongly consider this, you know, small business owners to the of the interest in time. 2. Spend on webinars. And I'll tell we're really interested in this because they're led by Brian. That's enough to 6 digital. And if you haven't watched one of them yet, he's energetic, delivers engaging presentations. And you know that when you participate in one, you're gonna walk away with tips that can be put into action immediately as we look forward to getting this tool into more businesses hands in 2025. And with that wraps up our presentation. So thank you again for this opportunity to share the 2025 budget and what we're looking ahead to for visiting policy Po River Center. We're enthusiastic about collaboration and ways to deliver the highest value with the finances that we are stewards of We're going to wrap up with short video that we created to showcase the city. And then we welcome any comments or questions you have about our presentation. Thank you so much. Better thank you so much for that. And for all of your work and just love for our city, it really comes through in the public facing. And internal facing thought and work that you've been putting in. So we appreciate you and the whole team. Are there any questions from council members based on our presentation today? I see again, sneaker and then this week ahead, thanks PRESIDENT. Ms Henderson, thank you so much for your presentation and thinks your whole team for being here. It's that it's the one budget presentation where I feel like the the budget presentation could take about 30 seconds. We give sales tax lodging tax to that and the Saint Paul. And I'm so glad that we have the rest of the presentation because that really is so important, tells the story and given all the challenges we have especially in downtown right now. The fact that you're doing such good work just just means so much. So thank especially. I know that last year's command covid have been rough and your team has just persevered with such grace and determination. So it's really really wonderful to see that on the other side of that. I'm curious about vision for the The new convention center, the wilds. Rally exciting plans and I'm wondering how visit and Paul and how the arena all of that will come together in terms of supporting those plans or advocating for those of the Legislature. We haven't talked a lot about those here at this table. But I really excited about them interested to know what kind of roll thing possible have. Yeah, absolutely. We are really excited too. And with the River Center and why well, guns at a Tory and being part of this overall entertainment complex incurred by the Exxon center. It is exciting to hear about the interest and ideas for updates to those facilities. I think, you know, we're excited about looking at it as entertainment complex as a whole and some work we've already started is working with some consulting groups to really evaluate the convention center. Andrew Wilkins, as it is now ad what opportunities there could be to potentially expand the exhibit hall or look at other entertainment options. And so in addition to looking at, you know, space pies and what could happen. We're also looking at what is the current market and types of events activities. Will the most? a draw or potential for Saint Paul. And so that we look at those spaces in the right way. So those studies are in the works. I believe late DECEMBER. We should have more definitive results fom that. And and then with that are huge advocates. 4. The continued investments in this facility and the potential that those updates will have in really just transforming downtown in the city as a whole. Misbah legal hat. Thank you. Present to Thank you so much, Amy, for your presentation. I really enjoy music being played at him, realize how we don't have that in our view. So it was really great. And also how you host our meetings. You really shine through the mission and the goals of in same pot to make sure that, you everyone is welcome in Saint Paul on even the leaders within. Saint Paul trying to grow this plan feels welcomed and taking care of. I have a question particularly around like ownership of assets because we talked about just the budget and operating expenses right? And I kow this authority was brought in place to have ownership of existing on a ship of river center and in the parking lot. Is there vsions, big, bold visions, particularly around like for during that ownership? Because I know we've talked about challenges not having like a 4 star 5 star hotels, right? And right now in this new era of people like those luxury hotels and manatees and some of the services you mentioned that you lent event. Organizers are billboards and examining possibly owning property that can featured billboards in generating that revenue. So can speak to, you not to have like the big vsion idea, but where business a pause at in terms of, you know, for the ring are advancing opportunities with ownership. Great Thank you. Counselor becomes PRESIDENT Jalali. Those are great questions. And in terms of, you the ownership remains with the city and we ae here be stewards of that and manage those. I think, you know, key this year has been in development of the strategic plan and with in one of those key gulls is really looking at how we are funded sustainability and opportunities for growing that. So I appreciate your question. And I can we take coffee with you and talk more about these ideas as we look to that strategic plan and really focus on, you know what our growth And yes, in terms of, you know, looking at what the potential is in Saint Paul and what are our current assets and where would some updates those assets or new hotel facilities really just kind of explode. The types of things that we could bring it into the city. Think Looking around to see Missy and go the PRESIDENT. Thank you for your presentation. Brave year you have the most exciting, vibrant and lively presentations on health front of the council's say really speaks volumes about how great your marketing So kudos to all of you and to your entire team over visit Saint Paul. I was wondering if you could share but more fall. The Rivercenter capital projects ve like very important projects just so that you continue likely forward continue having a very sustainable system where Brett Knese coming in. You continue having more in your account. Then when take away all the expenses and so can you talk a bit about Lake where which projects maybe are near completion or maybe which ones are new on the list here I do remember in the past like there there were, you know, items in the list here. So I don't know which ones have been completed. And then I was also just wondering if you could share. But more of Ali, how how do you find funding to basically pay for the capital projects to see a slide here. Like with about like the non operating budget by wasn't sure if that's basically like money, you know, you're generating to pay back pay back like the loans MAY be. Whatever the case for the Thanks. Council PRESIDENT Raleigh, Councilmember Yang, thank you for that. Yeah. We spend a lot of time talking about capital projects, especially as our facility ages. It regards to the funding of that our operating budget is completely separate from capital. So we endeavor to cover all of our own operating expenses. We reserve the dollars that are allocated through sales tax, a tiff to fund are not operating budget. And so. You know, we use that those dollars first to make sure that we're covering off on tunnel that and then that really the remainder goes to all of the capital projects. So your question about which ones we just here about which ones? Completed. So this list that's before us today is all proposals for 2025. So we will not start moving on those Intel. We're finished with the budget process. However, you are cracked. You've seen some of these before because a lot of them are things that we just have to be investing in your for your, you know, the parking ramp is one of them and, you know, our team is taking a very methodical process at that parking ramp going level by level to make unsure that it is safe and operable. Until continue to see that as as the top line item there. Another want point out that you saw last year that still is on here is at U.S. Air and we're in phase 2 of that to last year was phase one. And that is right in line with sustainability and efficiency. One of the things that I think that there's 2 things I'm most passionate about in the operating our facility. And that is the ability to operate sustainably and service. And those 2 things, I think just when done well, except impact on the facility and efficiency. But they also make an impact on working together. And the guest experience. So for Atlas Air what we learned during covid, we all sighed. Everything was touch right at the beginning. If we learned anything, we know that the air we breathe is incredibly important. So bringing thousands of people into a space not just during the time of the pandemic, but for ever we'd like to hve really clean air in our facility. It's creates a health, healthier communities and experience. And so we were able to install this technology really to create more of a hospital grade air. So it's it's healthier, but also it allows us to not tax or hvac system so much. And so it creates more efficient operations. So it's just that hand in hand, right? It sustainable? But it's a fission. So that is still on So that is in process, right? But it's continuing we needed to break that up and stay just just to make, you know, as I've said, we have we have a ton of projects, but we just need to prioritize the ones that are most important. Ad so we split that into a couple couple of them. And then you you do see other things each year you'll see on there that have to do with a v equipment, food and beverage equipment, general event, equipment. These are just all things that are the basics to make sure to keep ourselves running. And then we try to sprinkle in other things that we think can really help us or great. Yeah, thank you. That's really helpful. So thanks for clarifying that. I know your country every year be helpful, like I would say in the next presentation just to see like what's the status of the projects here were the ones that are not being worked on now that you're hoping will be completed in the great. Absolutely. Thanks for that. Thanks, Councilmember and thanks to our partners visit Saint Paul, any other questions or comments for for presenters today? I think Just a few minutes out from time. So I'm not seeing any I am however, just feeling the love and appreciation for all of you and really telling the story of our city and our work together. Thank you. Also for just on a personal note, the ability for our city leadership through a board members to really engage with you on the strategic plan. I'm encouraged by those conversations. I think that, you know, having been a decade and then being able to revisit that really helped create what feels now like that generational shift in how visit Saint Paul is kind of looking at the next 10 years and that strategic plan that fundamentally involves working with us. And so just excited to keep doing that work with you even more thoughtfully. And with even more partnership. So thanks for your time today and for being here and to the whole team who came out. Appreciate you and all the roles you play in having safe, amazing events at the River Center and citywide Thank you. Thank you so much. All righty. So that brings us to the end of our notice business for today with Pre Council at 11, 30. We're getting towards the and of budget presentations just one more week next week and also working to wrap up the budget so much ahead and much work ahead of us. But numbers being along for the journey and until we convene again, we are