All right. Good evening everyone. Let's open the meeting with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> All right, welcome to the city of St. Paul Park regular council meeting for May the 4th of 2026. Uh, this is an open meeting
recorded by True Lens Community Media. You can view city meetings live and replayed on cable channel 799. Meetings are also streamed live and archived on the city of St. Paul Park's YouTube channel. Um, first thing we're going to do this evening is I am going to swear
in a new commission member. So, Alicia, if you could join me over here, that would be great. here. >> Yeah, right here. >> Um, I'll read this. You repeat after me and we'll go from there.
>> Okay. I >> I Alicia Mason >> do solemnly swear >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of Minnesota >> and the Constitution of the State of
Minnesota >> and faithfully discharge the duties >> and faithfully discharge the duties >> of a parks and Rex commission member for the city of St. Paul Park >> of the Parks and Rex commission member for the city of St. Park >> in the county of Washington
>> in the county of Washington >> in the state of Minnesota >> in the state of Minnesota >> to the best of my judgment and ability. So help me God. >> to the best of my judgment and abilities. So help me God. >> And that's it. >> And that's it. >> All done. Thank you. Thank you so much.
All right, another new commission member. >> Come on down to city hall and get involved. That's all we ask. All right, on to the agenda this evening. First item on the agenda is approval of the minutes. We have approval of the minutes for the We'll
just take A, B, and C as a slate. >> Um, approve the minutes for the March 4th, 2026 city council workshop. um approve the minutes for the March 16th regular council meeting and approve the minutes for the April 20th, 2026 regular
city council meeting and wave wave the reading of the same for all three. >> Mayor Frankie, if I may. >> Council member Swinson, >> I move you didn't move that mot or you didn't motion that correctly. >> No, I was just explaining the agenda. Yes. >> All right. I move that we approve the
minutes for March 4th, the workshop, March 16th, regular council meeting, and Mar April 20th, regular council meeting. >> I second >> and wave reading of the same. >> I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. >> I.
>> Motion carries 5. All right. Item number two, we have a presentation from True Lens Media on their annual report. Come on up, kids. and good to see you. >> Good evening, mayor and council. It's a pleasure to be here tonight. I'm Anne
Schweiscuth. I'm the executive director for True Lens Community Media. >> And I'm Lonnie Garland. I'm the technical manager for True Lens Community Media. >> And we're here to give you an update about what's been happening over at True Lens quite a bit actually. And of course, we brought it in video format because we love videos.
>> That's what you do. >> That's what we do. So, we're going to play this video and then we we're happy to answer any questions you might have. 2025 was truly an exciting year for True Lens Community Media. First, we launched our new name. Our team engaged with
residents throughout the year to raise awareness of our new brand, attending city festivals, community expos, and special events. We also began construction on a new facility inside Woodbury Central Park. The decision to move from a retail space into a community space has been
discussed for years. Central Park is a community facility operated by the city of Woodbury. The space acts as a community gathering spot and also houses the Washington County Library, School District 833, and the YMCA. Our new 3,684
ft space located on the second level allowed us to create a larger studio, new podcasting room, additional office space, plus includes more collaborative workspaces, and all this for less rent and utility cost. We occupied the new space on March
2nd, 2026. This milestone was made possible thanks to the continued support of our member cities and commission directors. 2025 also marked a major development in broadband franchising as we saw several companies looking to complete major
broadband deployments in our communities. Our board of directors, which is still named the South Washington County Telecommunications Commission, negotiated an agreement on behalf of the city of Woodbury for the first broadband franchise in the state of Minnesota. This agreement with
Intrepid Fiber Networks established buildout requirements, reimbursement for city engineer expense, customer service expectations, plus compensation for the use of the public rightaway. Several other cities across the metro are now also requiring broadbandonly companies
to apply for a franchise, including the city of Newport. Even with all of that going on, our talented technical staff and content creators stayed focused on continuing to offer excellent service. In 2025, we produced 192 videos, aired 147 city
meetings live and on demand. Across our YouTube channels, we had over 214,000 views, and earned national and local recognition from NATO, Northern Lights, and the Alliance for Community Media. Our summer intern program provided an
opportunity for a college student to get hands-on experience in the world of video production. Their work played an important role in helping capture footage and create content. After careful research, the concept of launching a new radio station evolved
into expanding our podcasting efforts. We introduced the True Lens podcast highlighting local people and stories and the city of Cottage Grove launched the Grovecast featuring city staff and community voices. In 2025, we also completed and supported several
audiovisisual projects across our communities. This included installing AV throughout Woodbury Central Park, work on our first video wall installation in the training room at Cottage Grove City Hall, completed audio upgrades to the Newport Council Chambers, improved
messaging and conferencing systems in St. Paul Park, and enhanced recording capabilities at Greycloud Town Hall. Looking ahead, we will continue settling into our new space while exploring new opportunities for collaboration and outside revenue.
Continue to work on broadband franchising on behalf of our member cities, expand recognition of the True Lens community media name, prepare for coverage of the 2026 election, and begin the process for strategic planning in 2027.
We extend our sincere thanks to our board of directors. We also thank our member cities, their dedicated staff, and our hardworking True Lens community media team. So, it's been a busy year and a busy year coming up, too. We want to
acknowledge uh Patrick DS, who is your representative on the board and also the current treasurer. So, we thank him for his input and we are happy to answer any questions you might have. I'm enjoying the videos though that you guys just put out on the city. That was
awesome. >> Yeah, the department heads was really fun to see. >> Yes, >> I've got that guy right there scheduled for a podcast. So, >> Hugo's coming in soon. >> All right. Uh technical financial question. >> I know you and I had talked before a
couple of times on the franchise agreements. Mhm. >> Um would that be something if it hasn't already happened that Hugo and you could discuss? >> Are you talking about broadband? >> Broadband? >> Yes. We've actually had discussions about that and we're planning to come to
the council soon and have more discussion with you about that. >> Okay. >> So, that is definitely in the works. >> Question asked, question answered. >> Mhm. >> All right. Then we have nothing but to say thank you. You're doing a great job as you always have. um wonderful partnership and we really appreciate the
work that all of you do over there at True Lens. Um it's it's a great community community amenity I would say being able to inform people um about the happenings not only in ours but our neighbors. So thank you. >> Well, thank you very much. We love our jobs. So thank you.
>> Have a good meeting. >> All right. On item number three, items from the public. We do not have anyone signed up. Alicia was on there, but we took care of that. Um, consent agenda this evening. Item number four, we will be acknowledging the
receipt of the commission minutes from parks and wreck for February 11th, approving to pay the bills. Uh, special event permit for Heritage Day's food truck fight. I guess at this point, do we call it the annual food truck fight? I think that would work. That's kind of
our intent. >> I think so. Um, and that's it for the consent agenda this evening. That is the shortest consent agenda in >> Yeah. Well, Mayor Frankie, then may >> Swson, >> may I motion that we approve tonight's consent agenda?
>> Second. I have a motion in a second. Any further discussion? >> Mr. Mayor? >> Yes. >> I should say Council Member Conrad, is this a uh fundraising event that's we're doing every year? Yes, it's it helps to fund the event for Heritage Days. Correct. >> And help me out. Where's it held?
>> It's on uh >> I'm giving you a plug now. >> It's at the crossroads of Fourth and Broadway. >> Last year it was some vehicles on both sides of the road and I don't know the exact number of participants, but I would assume it would be similar to
that. >> And what time would that be running from? >> That would be something that I'm not fully aware of. >> Aware of. Okay. having just landed having just landed back in the state. >> 11 to 6. >> Thank you, Mayor. >> 11 to6.
>> 11 to6. 11 to six. Thank you. >> Thank you. Or we could say kind of like a lot of the playoff games this recently. TBD. >> Why do you got to bring >> to be determined? Yeah. >> Why do you got to >> Anyways, all right. Any more discussion?
All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Motion carries 5-0. All right. At this time, we are going to um close the regular council meeting and open a public hearing. Going to close the meeting. Open a public hearing. Um
this public hearing is the purpose of considering the proposed issuance by the city of bonds to be issued in one or more series and amount not to exceed $52 million. The proceeds of the sale of these bonds will be issued to make a loan to the
PHS. Um, yes, I was Park High School when I see just for everybody's information, >> but it's Presbyterian Home Services, >> correct? >> Um, but that's my Park High diploma kicking in.
>> Um, Cottage Grove, Inc., uh member nonprof a Minnesota nonprofit corporation and college grove care center LLC uh Minnesota nonprofit limited liability company or affiliates thereof and used to
refund and or refund all or portion of the city's series 2017 bonds series 2017 A note and 2017 B note um fund any required reserves and pay certain costs for the issuance of the bonds the
Proceeds of the 2017 obligations were used to finance and refinance the acquisition, construction, and equipping of a senior housing facility, which includes independent living units, assisted living units, enhanced assisted living units, memory
care units, a skilled nursing facility, commonplace and underground parking at all locations at 8200 Hadley Avenue South Cottage Grove, Minnesota, and commonly known as Norris Square. Um, the bond will be limited obligations of the
city, payable solely by the payments to be made by the borrower to the city under a loan agreement related to the bonds between the borrower and the city. The bonds will not constitute a general or moral obligation of the city and will not be secured by the taxing power of
the city or any assets or property of the city. Following the hearing, the city council will consider approval of the issuance of these bonds and related documents at our regularly scheduled meeting on May 18th. We do have Justin here from Coutac Rock um to answer any
questions we may have. Um so this is a conduit bond. Um we did one back in 2017 and this will pay off the rest of those bonds. we just help this nonprofit by allowing them to use us as an entity to pass through these funds. Um, and it's
nice to work with organizations like this that um provide services especially in elder care and um elderly housing um much needed necessity these days. So um there's no risk to us necessarily as a
city. So, did the council or does anyone have any questions or comment at this time? >> I don't I think we've done one since 2017, haven't we? But, um, our payoff is that we're having two two of our debt issues. >> Yep.
>> Completed. >> Yep. >> And this is basically a paper transaction. My only question is is that it this will affect our borrowing power this year at some point. >> Mayor and councel, uh, correct. Um uh we we do not anticipate needing to bond for
anything in calendar year 2026. This would potentially impact that. Um uh however, there are some potential workarounds for that should an emergency erupt. Um but we also have reasonably liquid assets that we could use instead. So we think the risk is relatively low.
>> Okay. >> All right. Thanks. Any other questions or concerns? >> If I may. >> Yep. Council man, >> I'm um kind of unaware of what all this is, although I think I might have a situation to equate it to, but this is um an amount of money that was just
passed through us because we have the ability to to accommodate those needs. Is that what we did? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, so we we weren't or aren't financially at at risk of anything. It was just a like you said earlier, paper
trail. I think since I've been we've done like four of these and it's >> been, you know, >> every it hasn't been recent, but it's >> it's something we get something out of it. >> Yes. >> Without having taking out anything other than like like Hugo just stated that we
can't borrow for a year. It'd be difficult to bond for a year. >> Okay. >> And there is a little bit of administrative spliff. >> Yes. >> For the city on the back side. So, it benefits the city and the ability to use the money to make our city better. So,
>> and when is the next interval we'd be able to bond then? >> Uh, mayor and council, the starting calendar year 2027. >> Okay. All right. So, this the year. Okay. >> And we're almost halfway there. >> Mhm.
>> Mayor, there is not we're not building a resolution or anything on this tonight. Correct. >> No, not tonight. We will take this up for approval. This is just the public hearing section and we'll take it up for approval at the next meeting. >> Okay. >> Um, anybody from the public have any questions or comments? All right. Seeing
none, we're going to close the public hearing and reopen the council meeting. And item number six, Morgan, Third Street Reconstruction Project update. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the
council. Um there's a memo in your packet, but basically in background, um the uh Third Street project, as you're familiar with, is being reconstructed from Broadway, um down to 14th Avenue. Uh construction started last year,
continues through this year, is anticipated to last the majority of the construction season. Um originally and as previously presented to the council and considered uh the width of the roadway as can be seen in phase one
which is from Broadway Avenue to 9th Avenue which was completed uh mostly completed last year in the 2025 um season was uh done at a width that was intended to provide passive traffic
calming um impacts because uh an overwhelming number of uh residents in terms of the public engagement, neighborhood open houses that we had were telling us about um truck truck traffic um speeds uh speeds exceeding
the speed limit and um so that is the background in terms of the originally constructed width there. Uh since that time, certainly this year in 2026, there's been some feedback from the public on that section which is done.
And so staff was asked to look for uh some costneutral options that may potentially provide some compromise alternatives and widening for the section that is yet to be constructed here in 2026. Um happy to pro uh present to the council that there there is an
option. Um, as outlined in the memo in your packet, we have the ability to put uh 2 ft back into the section um which brings it within uh one foot I guess on each side from a lane width to what it was previously before the reconstruction
project even started. Um there still would be only parking on one side. So that's still consistent as it was before. Um and the cost neutrality is in uh is upheld through a narrowing of the pathway which is on the east side. So uh
it's 10 ft wide now from 9th to Broadway which actually does um uh support uh being in a commercial district coming into downtown. But there is from a state funding standpoint the opportunity to narrow that down to 8 ft and still be
within standards. So there is a cost savings by taking 2 feet. So changing that trail from 10 feet to 8 feet uh from for the entire length south. So from 9th Avenue South to its termination at Pullman Avenue. So uh the it's a
$22,000 approximately widening cost. So there is some cost to the construction project to put that additional width into the roadway. But the savings there from the trail narrowing, if you will, is also just about $20,000.
Um, so a delta of about $2,400, essentially a wash, right? So that's uh the alternative that we identified for you. Um, there's no out-ofpocket expense. I mean, other than that, $2,400 is really something that would probably
be funded by state aid dollars. Um, and so considering the scope of the project, I mean, it's practically a net zero, right? 2,400 compared to an overall project cost of, I don't know, uh, over $8 million. So, that is something that the council certainly can consider and
direct staff. Um, the contractor is on board. Uh, staff is prepped. If that's the direction the council wants to go, um, I send a text tonight and they start working on that tomorrow morning, basically. Um so and there are um you
know certainly uh utility impacts and other things. For example, the hydrants have to be not too far away from the curb line. So anytime you start considering uh start considering changes to the roadway width, there are also potentially underground things that might come into play. And what's being
presented to you here does take all that into account. So it's not like there's hidden costs or hidden impacts, but other versions of this certainly might not be costneutral, right? just so the council is aware of that. Um, so that is what I have to present. It's certainly
we don't need a formal council action. You certainly can do that and do it by vote. Um, staff, myself, I would just need a general consensus from the council if that's the direction you want to go. And again, I can put that into to play immediately. And so that's what we will go with uh if the council so
wishes. With that, I'll stand for any questions that the council might have before making that decision. Um, and as this item is Third Street project update, I've got some other information. So, we'll handle this and and then I'll pose some other information to the council after this. >> Thank you, Morgan. Um, yeah, this is
something that Hugo and I and Morgan have been working on a little bit with Nate. Um, what can we do? what are our options that are cost neutral which also stay within the parameters of the state funding you know and like Morgan had said coming out of Broadway the
commercial accessibility whatever the 10 foot that's why the 10 foot I guess came in to play for the sidewalk but we do have the ability beyond now to shrink that widen the road a little more this is something that could have probably been handled administratively but we all
felt that this probably should come to council for discussion So everybody's on the same page. Um so um we're just asking that we give as a council the one voice the pretty much approval of let's go
ahead. It is a change. Go ahead council member. >> I just want to understand so are you saying you take 2T out of the sidewalk making it from 10 to 8 and then a foot more width on each side? So in essence,
you would be increasing the roadway four feet, >> two feet, >> two feet, >> two feet total on the roadway, >> not two feet on both sides, two feet, >> right? One foot on each side. So the So before the project, the existing lane width was 13 feet each direction, not
including parking lanes. Um what was put in in phase one was 11 ft and so what's proposed here is 12 feet. So I guess it's kind of a compromise in between. So that's just the traffic lane, >> correct? >> So it's still
two feet um overall. So you have the 12 >> for roadway widening 2 feet overall. Yeah. And I don't know, maybe I'm getting into the weeds too much here, but we held the west side curb line as it always has been. And so all of the
narrowing, if you will, to this date, including widening, if we add two feet, it's always going to be on the east side. Right. So if you imagine all the adjustments came with taking the parking out of the east out side northbound parking lane and so even though we would
move the curb 2 feet on the east side based on the striping you wind up with uh a foot in each direction. So a lane each way. So overall the road widens by 2 ft but lanewise northbound and southbound you get 12 in each direction instead of 11 compared to the original
pre- project was 13 in either direction. >> So Morgan, you're putting it in into the lanes and not into the parking. >> Correct. The parking on the west side stays the same. That's a standard 8 foot um parking lane if you want to call it a
lane width. Uh, and that width on the west side is the same as it was before. There's eight eight foot parking lanes before. That's pretty standard. Um, and again, no parking on the east side. >> So there there is there an option then
of moving the lines a little bit, moving so that uh the whole two feet are represented on the parking side instead of expanding the driving lanes from 11 to 12. Um, are you saying that making the parking
lane wider than 8 feet? Yes. So, like making it, for example, 10 feet, >> you certainly could. Um I think that what that would do um you would have a fog line on the parking lane side right where that would um visually kind of
still have that traffic calming impact of the 11t lanes but you would have a little more just physical space which would only benefit though southbound traffic on the west side because you really wouldn't see any change on the east side if that makes sense. That's how I would interpret what you were
saying. Okay. >> So that it's it we can do a lot with the striping uh even after like what I'm requesting from council's direction from a hard construction standpoint. They're working on utilities and where they put the hydrants as I mentioned or where
they put the catch basins on the edge of the road does get affected on where the curb line is. So even though we won't be doing striping until the very end of the project, the making a decision on the where the curb line goes is certainly important now and we might have some flexibility to do some different things
with the striping whether it's a 10-ft parking lane or 8 ft and and something different between the two. But having some additional width, I think is what we heard from the public that is important. And that's that's the opportunity or the option that we have in front of us right now. And like I said, we could look at some different
things from a striping standpoint. Um, >> at this point, yes, if I may cut in a little bit, we need an answer or they need direction. Are we okay with just moving forward? We have the ability to widen the road a little bit more, reduce the size of the sidewalk, but and the
rest about where the lines go. Are we going to put a foot here, a foot here, a foot here? We're going to get two more feet. >> Okay? >> And but we need to know because they need to know because for utility purposes, this project's moving forward. And if and if we don't give any answer, well then it's moving forward as
planned. >> So >> yeah, and I agree to Yeah. >> Are we looking for consensus? >> Yeah, just a consensus. >> Yeah, I agree. The only comment I was going to bring up was just the skewedness >> uh between those two sections because I don't know Pullman and Marshall, there's
a skewed >> Yeah, there that's a good question. So there will always if if you want to. So what I use as a driver myself but also an engineer you can use the the like the double yellow or whatever the center line is. You can use that as a reference
point. Um typically at intersections a standard intersection I don't know that this is written on a tablet of stone but a good rule of thumb is that you can have up to a three-foot offset and it's really not significantly impactful. A lot some drivers don't even notice that,
right? Um, and less than that, less noticeable. I probably wouldn't go more than a a three-foot offset, but in this scenario here, I think the offset would only be a foot if I'm tracking on the math correctly. So, it should it there will be an offset, but it should be negligible and probably not noticeable
by most people. >> Okay. I'll notice it, but yeah, >> you because you know it's there. Yeah, exactly. Yes. I just um what seemed to be common to me to the people that had concerns about what was going on there was um >> the east curb that if you if you're
driving something down and you only have >> I don't know what it what that allowance is. If it's 18 in, I don't know that it's 2 feet. But >> if you had to deviate for any purpose, whether there was a FedEx truck parked there and there's already somebody that swerved out this way and there's no room
for this person to swerve out of this person's way. I would feel better. That's just this is just me speaking if that would if there was a 4 foot >> change to the situation. I think that would give some allowance for parking. I don't know that it needs to be two
additional feet to go from 8 to 10, but at least another foot for so somebody can get in and have some forgiveness to open their door. >> Yep. Yeah. And so kind of what council member Swinson was mentioning with the striping. So, one thing we could do if that would be the preferred approach,
let's just say that we considered this council directed the two-foot widening for the actual hard curb line. But what we could do is put the from a striping standpoint, we could put that 2 feet on the east side to provide a little bit more buffer. I was just assuming we'd split it. That's how I wrote the memo.
But we certainly could do that so that um I wouldn't go any narrower than 8 feet on the parking lane on the west side, but we could go 11 and 13. and the 13 gives you another two feet northbound for buffer from that curb line which could be impactful in terms of if that's
what you're hearing like the concern was you know whether it's a garbage truck or FedEx or whatever school bus um we always knew that you know you're not going to have a parking lane to pull into but having that extra two feet I think could potentially make an impactful difference in terms of people
either being able to see around or navigate around or even just wait and just make sure they understand what's going on with oncoming traffic if they wanted to go around. Right? So, um that is definitely how a way that we can uh implement the roadway the final roadway
striping on the final asphalt paving that might have the from what you guys are hearing that might have the most impact on the northbound on the northbound east side. >> And I will say that Morgan and I briefly discussed this with Willie Tennis. Um, I
know one of the persons that because of their business and the scope of it on how they drive that road >> Mhm. >> and this option and he said if you even get me a foot on that side, I'll be more than happy. So, >> yeah. So, we could put two feet on that side. >> Yeah. However we decide to do that,
that's, you know, we can mess with the striping. We have an opportunity right now. I just want consensus to let Morgan go back because they need to know basically by tomorrow. we've held this off to make sure that everybody on the council was informed. Um,
so yeah, agreed. >> I I appreciate the two feet, but I would feel a lot better if it was for myself. >> I don't know how to sway that or convince that or the cost. >> So that I mean, you know, the alternatives are endless, right? So the if the council wanted to direct
something wider than 2 feet, then there just becomes u an additional cost implication there for the it's no longer possible to make it uh costneutral like there are no other things I can cut out of the project to make up for that. Uh the additional four feet just going off of memory which isn't in your memo but
we did look at that uh I think it's uh about $45,000. So you know that's uh more of a a 22 to $25,000 delta. So, you know, instead of a wash, it becomes a little bit more expensive. >> 45 would be the total, but the gain from
shortening the sidewalk. We'd we'd have to come up with a solution for the other half of that. Is that what you're saying? Cor >> Yeah. I mean, it we'd probably still have to use state aid funds, but then that would just take away from state aid funds for future projects. So, it's not an out-of- pocket expense, meaning it's
not coming out of like your general levy, but it is still a cost to the city in terms of future state aid projects. I just wanted to get that out there as a statement. Just >> sure. >> So, move forward. Correct.
>> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Five yeses. >> Okay. Thank you. Appreciate that, Mr. May members of the council. So, the next item for you is that um in my experience, uh it's pretty rare that a
contractor offers to throw more resources at a project to complete it more quickly for whatever reason, right? Usually, you're asking the contractor, can you speed things up? Um on this project, we've been approached by the
contractor who's been doing a good job thus far. like we have a we have a good standing relationship with them and um they have said that they would like to bring in an additional crew uh if the city would consider allowing them to
start working on the utilities in phase three which is the southern most portion of the project from um Pullman to 14th Avenue and that's in the rural area there south of Pullman. That's uh a tricky area for them to work
in. they have to build a temporary road surface because there's just no detour for example from points south like the gravel pitf >> um and so they've submitted a traffic control plan it we did set it up in the contract that they have to essentially
finish one phase before they move on to the other you know as your engineer and certainly that's this is an opportunity to have the co council discuss this as well too um we can go outside of that it's not uh written in stone we can provide written direction to the
contractor um that as long as things are going well, they're staying on top of safety, the quality of the road, um tra uh traffic and the public are able to get through these sections okay with uh you know a reasonable amount of disruption. It is obviously going to be under construction. They may need to
have flaggers at certain points when they're working in intersections. Um, but the tradeoff when a contractor is making this proposal to go outside of the confines of the spec, which we write the spec when we don't know who the contractor is, we don't know how they're going to be, how fast they're going to
go, what resources they have, but when they pointed this out and they didn't quantify it, but I do believe that the benefit to the city and the benefit to the public, it's not necessarily monetary. there might be some moderate amount of savings in terms of um
wrapping the project up earlier because a longer timeline requires longer inspection and time is money. And so if we wrap the project up sooner, there's some cost savings there. And the cost savings there for the grant, the $7 million grant that the city received
from the state, um part of that pays for the construction observer out there. And if that construction observer is needed like a month less or six weeks less, then we can put those dollars into the construction project and impact the city's state aid funds less for that uh
difference, if you will. So, it's not necessarily a monetary benefit to the city, but I do think there's going to be some potential schedule savings. Could be they could wrap up a month earlier, could be six weeks. I don't know. And they haven't really given us a schedule.
However, uh it just stands to reason if they're doing the current work right now with two utility crews and they want to get a third crew in there to work on the southernmost portion of the project, it's going to be done that, you know, maybe 30% faster, at least for the utility work before they move on to
building the road. So, I thought and my staff thought it was a reasonable thing to consider. Again, they're they're showing all the things that we want them to with respect to traffic control. Their uh plan of attack in that southern section, southerntherly section, is going to be to work on the utilities,
meaning the sanitary sewer and the water man on one side of the road and build a temporary road to have traffic off to one side, all within the right of way. And then when they finish on that side, then they'll move the temporary road to the other side of uh the right of way, and they'll finish the utility work on
the other side. So having them start that work um a little bit earlier than anticipated but will get them finished faster and sometimes not just the monetary and not just the time schedule advantage but just disruption to the
public and getting the maybe getting the road done sooner like before the gravel pit is really fired up on their operations. I think that that's an advantage. Right. So, um, I'm not here to recommend that we have to do that, but I think it's a reasonable request by
the contractor to make if they have those resources. I thought it was important to lay it out for you. Um, staff will certain be certainly be on top of them with respect to safety, working with the residents that live right there on the edge of the road, making sure they can get in and out of
their driveways, etc., etc. Um but if if you guys don't have any questions or things that might fly in the face of that, um staff is prepared to kind of give them that uh give them that leeway with the expectation they're just going
to get everything done faster, right? And so that's uh that would be our goal. And it's worth bringing up here just for if you have any questions or if you want to discuss that similar consensus like we did with the other item would be fine. uh if you know or if you're
neutral on that. Um I I I would say again I I think this might be something to try just to wrap it up more quickly for the benefit of the public and the folks that live along there. >> So Morgan, I have a quick question. >> Yeah. >> Uh the accelerated time table, uh would
it put residents at a disadvantage? Uh is would it change the time schedule for them or any sort of inconveniences caused by this? um for the traveling public like driving through the area, there would just be more of the road under construction at any given one
time. So, you know, instead of just I can't remember if it's should be three blocks, I think, right? U so instead of like the three blocks or whatever it is, it'll be phase 2 plus phase three. So, you know, you're essentially doubling the amount that's under construction at
any given uh time. Um that's for people that are traveling through. We do have posted detours at Pullman um and at 9inth A if there's people that need to get over to Hastings or truck traffic or whatever. But for the people that live right there,
I would say we're starting earlier but we'll finish earlier. So the amount of time for example that they are going to see people working in front of their home or in front of their driveway is not going to be any different. Um, so what you see out your, you know, picture window in
front of your house for the construction project time timewise should be about the same. Um, and in fact, maybe maybe there's it's even shorter because the contractor will have the ability to mobilize different types of work the same for both of these phases. This is
maybe a bad example, but the sod guys come in and they saw both phase two and phase three at the same time rather than coming out two different times, right? So, um, there would be a a greater impact just because you're trying to navigate a little bit longer section of
road or twice the section of road, uh, phase 2 plus phase three at the same time. But for the people that live there, I it should not, uh, add time to the schedule for what they see right in front of their property. >> Okay. Thank you. Question similar along
those lines. Then, the people impacted by the detouring, >> um, because we're hearing a lot about that. Would this potential decision shorten? Do you think >> the the requirement for the detour and the traffic control? Yeah, absolutely.
So, the the the detours and the um and any traffic control, I guess, if you will, that is trying to control traffic under construction will be pulled when it's no longer needed, right? And so an earlier completion time will mean we'll have uh more of this construction season
before the snow flies without all that detour stuff, right? If it if it can be done. So yes, I think it would shorten the need for how long the detours need to be out there. >> Will our fire trucks and stuff be able to get down Third Street? They should be
able to um code on the on the temporary road that's being built from uh south of Pullman, so Pullman to 14th Avenue. It's wide enough for um traffic in two directions. Okay. >> Um and uh certainly wide enough for, you
know, for a firet truck to go, you know, to serve something down uh you know, south of the city, for example, um or the southern part of the city, sorry. Or if they have a call in the township, whatever. Right. So yeah, they'll be able to get through and it's going to be on the contractor to maintain that,
right? So that's something that given this opportunity for the contractor to go outside of the bounds of our original specs, um we're going to be on them to like if it rains sometimes those temporary roads might need to be rerolled or regraded or fill in some
rough spots and that's something they're going to have to be doing on a daily basis, right? So um it's not just build the temp road and then work on the utilities and ignore that the whole time. They're gonna have to be on top of that temp road the whole time. >> Thank you.
>> Any other questions on this aspect for Morgan? >> Do we feel okay with allowing them to move that forward? >> I do. >> Council member. >> Yes. Yes. >> Five again. >> All right. Thank you so much. Appreciate it, Mr. Mayor, members of the council.
>> Thank you. >> All right. All right. Okay, on to item number seven, reports from the council. Council member Hagerty, public works commission. >> Yeah, public works commission uh has not met since uh our last city council meeting. Uh but our uh next meeting is
June 2nd here at city hall uh room next door. Uh and it's going to be at 6:00 p.m., right? And 6 p.m. And we still do need one more member at least. Uh so please come down and uh volunteer for public works. >> Thank you, Council Member Higerty.
Council member Swson, public safety. Uh, public safety is going to start their fun a whole month from today. So, it'll be June 4th at 6 o'clock here at the same room that council member Hagerty just stated. >> Um, nothing new to report since our last
meeting. >> Thank you, Council Member Swinson. Council member Conrad, planning. >> Our last meeting was cancelled due to lack of agenda and our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 11th at 7 p.m. here in council chambers. >> Do you need any members? I believe
they're still full. >> All right. Still full. Good. >> Nice. >> All right. Parks and Recck, Council Member Whip, Brad Hemingson. >> Um, our park and recck commission did meet last week. Um, our garden event is this Saturday from 11 to 2. Again, we'll
have the bouncy house, crafts for the kids, plants to sell. Um, the Masons will be there with hot dogs, popcorn. Super moms will be donating cookies. We have 12 plus vendors which include crafts, plants. Um we'll have someone
from Washington County come to talk about plants, the native the native plants. Um we rent we all our all 18 beds have been rented and all our new beds are going to be filled by public works tomorrow and a big thanks to
public works for helping us out because that I we can never do that ourselves. >> So a good shout out to those guys. They'll be working hard tomorrow to be ready for Saturday. And our next count or our next commission meeting is May 14th at 6:00 in the famous room next
door. >> All right. Thank you, council member Whit Hemson. I am just going to skip to number eight. Council comments and requests. Anybody have anything else this evening? >> No.
All right. Well, um I just want to thank everybody. I would also like to add that um we now have Whiskey Creek Barbecue at the Legion. >> Yes. Welcome. >> Welcome to Whiskey Creek Barbecue being a part of the downtown community. Um 328
has moved on to Hastings. So go down to the Legion and enjoy yourself some Whiskey Creek barbecue. And that's it this evening. >> I will add one thing if possible. >> Yep. Go ahead, council member. >> The Cars in the Park car show. starts this Wednesday at uh 4:00. I ask if
people can not to come before 3:00 so we can make sure things are set up. It lasts till dusk. The Lions will have uh their usual affairs of offering and um we'll have one or two random uh food
trucks and uh I did speak with Whiskey Creek if they had any interest in coming up with a car show special and Matt said he'd look into that. Mhm. >> I think it's going to take him a little while to adjust to >> Yeah. >> running an actual operation, but we wish him all the best.
>> All right, sounds good. Nothing further before this council. This meeting is adjourned.