Good afternoon.

My name is Robin Wansley and I am the chair of the climate and infrastructure committee.

I'm going to call to order our regular scheduled meeting for today, Thursday, June 18, 2026.

But before we begin the meeting, I want to offer a friendly remind reminder to all committee members, staff, and the public that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation.

These broadcasts include real-time captioning as a further method to increase the accessibility of our proceedings to the community.

Therefore, all speakers need to be mindful of the rate of their speech so that our captioners can fully transcribe and capture all comments for the broadcast.

We ask that all speakers moderate the speed and clarity of their comments.

So at this time, I will ask the clerk to call the road to verify that we do have a quorum for this meeting.

Councilmember Vita.

Present.

Warren?

Present.

Palmasano.

Present.

Vice Chair Stevenson.

Present.

Chair Wandsley.

Present.

We have seven present.

Let the record reflect that we do have a quorum.

And I'll remind my colleagues that we're gonna be using speaker management.

Uh so if you have any issues, please make sure uh to reach out to our lovely clerk staff over there, and they will make sure uh to get you signed up.

Uh, for the members of the public that are here from one of the public hearings.

If you do wish to address the committee, we ask that you register with the clerks to my rights.

Um, you can also provide any written comments or materials uh to include in the public record as well by reaching out to our clerk staff.

Uh public work staff will also be available after each presentation to connect if you have any specific questions.

Uh, with that, our agenda is in front of us, and we will begin with the consent agenda reflected as items four through 22 on the agenda.

So starting with number four, authorizing acquisition of temporary construction easements for the 35th Avenue North Flood Mitigation Project.

Five, authorizing cooperative agreement with Minne Haha Creek Watershed District and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for a stormwater best management practice.

Six is approving bicycle advisory committee appointments.

I do want to note on this one, staff has reached out uh to my office to share that one of the nominees uh will be moving outside of the city of Minneapolis and thus our boundaries, and that they do have another eligible applicant that they're going to bring forward.

So I'll be referring item 6.11 back to staff.

Seven is approving pedestrian advisory committee appointments.

Eight is authorizing a master utility agreement with Minnesota Department of Transportation for the University Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street Southeast Project.

Nine is authorizing the acquisition of permanent and temporary easements related to the 35th and 36th Street Reconstruction Project.

10 is setting a public hearing for August 6, 2026 for unpaid sidewalk repair and construction assessment charges.

11 is adopting resolutions for the project concept layout and acquisition of permanent and temporary easements related to First Avenue North Reconstruction Project.

12 is accepting the low bid for pump station six electrical room rehabilitation.

13 is accepting the low bid for the 35th Avenue North flood mitigation project.

14 is accepting a bid for small diameter sanitary pipe cleaning and televising 2026 project.

15 is authorizing contracts for 2026 through 2029 vehicle auction services.

16 is accepting a bid for the Friday water maintenance facility roof and masonry repair phase two.

17 is accepting a bid for pump station number three, wet well rehabilitation project.

18 is accepting a bid for the Logan Park Industrial Phase 1, Greenwater Stormwater Infrastructure and Landscape Plings.

19 is authorizing a contract with FOF Infrastructure and Environment LLC for Engineering and design Services of 22nd Avenue.

Okay, sorry, I'm just getting a note.

Uh for 22nd Avenue Northeast Storm and Sanitary Sewer Reconstruction Project.

20 is authorizing a permanent and temporary easement agreement with Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board for the Oliver Avenue South Flood Medigation Project.

21 is setting a public comment for July 9th, 2026 to receive public input on the 2026 through 2029 Climate and Infrastructure Committee Work Plan.

22 is setting a public comment for July 9th, 2026 to receive public input on the Lyndale Avenue Reconstruction Project.

With that, colleagues, is there any discussion or any items that anyone would like to pull for further discussion?

And I will note that we've been joined by Council Member Rainville, who would like to speak to item number 11.

So I will pass it to him first while committee members see if they would like to get in cue.

Thank you, madam chair.

I just want to speak briefly to item number 11, which is the planning for first avenue.

And I wanted to compliment the staff.

I'm looking around for Luke.

Is he here?

Oh, there you're hiding.

You were the lead.

You had a lot of other people helping you, but it was just fantastic.

Uh the response I've gotten from the community there.

They're very happy, which as we know is somewhat unusual.

And uh we're going forward.

It's still the construction's long ways away, but the hard work of this planning and outreach has uh has come and gone.

And thank you so much for that.

I want to recognize that.

Uh ironically, a little bit later we're gonna talk about the community outreach, but for a different project that the state is involved with.

And uh, I just hold you up as a shining example, you and your team as to how well you can do it.

So thank you very much.

Thank you, madam chair.

No problem.

Um, clerk staff, I will know I think there is a discrepancy between what's on my script and the item or um message you just shared.

So I am making the motion to move items or all consent items forward, including uh the referral of staff or back to staff on item 6.11.

And then what I'm trying to get clarity on is the revision for either up number five or eight, because I have two separate ones.

So if clerks could provide clarification.

My apologies, madam chair.

That is a uh that is a that is an error on my part.

The revision uh that staff have is related to the University Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street Southeast project, which is number eight on the agenda.

Okay.

Um that's that's an about my apologies uh in my note.

Okay, so with that, I'll move approval of the consent agenda, including the revision for item number eight and refer to staff um item 6.11.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those not in favor say nay.

The ayes have it, and that motion carries.

Uh, next we'll take up our public hearings reflected as items number one through three on the agenda.

Anybody who signed up for these items will be given two minutes each to testify.

I'll also add that we do have staff present who can meet in the room or in the hallway after they give their presentation to answer any questions um or concerns about the assessments that's being presented on today.

For everyone in attendance, and especially those who may participate in our hearings or comment period, let me offer this notice.

These hearings are being recorded and broadcast.

Both the recording and broadcast are classified as public data under the Minnesota Government Data Act is uh data practices act by attending and participating in these proceedings.

Your image and any testimony uh or information that you provide will be subject to disclosure under that law.

That includes but is not limited to your attendance, your name, and other personal details you provide, as well as any testimony or comments you provide, which includes any written submissions you make, all of these things will be included in the record of this meeting.

Our first public hearing is for the Van White Memorial Boulevard Resurfacing Project, and I will invite up Tracy Lindren, the principal professional engineer uh with transportation maintenance in the repair division to get us started.

Hello.

Good afternoon, committee chair and members of the climate and Infrastructure committee.

My name is Tracy Lindgren, and I am a principal professional engineer with Public Works.

I am here to present to you the public hearing for the Van White Memorial Boulevard Resurfacing Project and recommend passage of resolution adopting special assessments in the amount of $70,125.60 cents for the Van White Memorial Boulevard Resurfacing Project and passage of resolution requesting the Board of Estimate and Taxation authorize the city's issuance and sale of assessment bonds in the amount of $70,125.60 cents for the project.

Van White Memorial Boulevard is a municipal state aid route between Olson Memorial Highway and 12th Avenue North.

This area was reconstructed, reconstructed in 2002 and 2004 and has a pavement condition index of 52.

The scope of this resurfacing project is a mill and two-inch asphalt overlay.

36 pedestrian ramps were upgraded before the street resurfacing project.

Public Works held a virtual informational meeting on Thursday, June 11th at 6 p.m.

There were 63 invitations mailed, and zero attendees came to this meeting.

A mailing was sent out before the pedestrian ramp upgrades to the properties along the project, and a separate mailing was completed inviting them to the informational meeting and this public hearing.

An additional mailing will be completed before the mill and overlay, closer to the time of the work.

The funding breakdown for this project is as follows.

Special assessments are $70,125.60.

Levy funded debt totals are $51,220.

Municipal state aid funds total 283,094 with a total project cost of 404,440.

On February 5th, 2020 or 2026, the City Council designated the improvements proposed to the 2026 street resurfacing program.

The purpose of the asphalt pavement resurfacing program is to extend the life of some city streets, which are not scheduled for any preventative maintenance, renovation, or reconstruction in the foreseeable future.

This resurfacing program is addressing city streets that are at a point in their life cycle where a new street surface will extend the streets' life, improve ride quality and neighborhood livability, and help slow the overall deterioration of our city street system.

The proposed street resurfacing special assessments were determined by applying the 2026 uniform assessment rates to the land area of benefited parcels located within the street influence zone along the improved streets.

Information has been provided in the notices to as to how persons may prepay the special assessments in full without interest if they so choose.

City Council has passed resolutions whereby a deferment of special assessments may be obtained by showing hardship for any homestead property owned by a person 65 years of age or older, retired by virtue of permanent and total disability or military personnel ordered into active military service.

This concludes my presentation, and I am available for any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for that presentation.

Um I'm now going to proceed to open the public hearing regarding this assessment and seeing if anyone has signed up.

Madam Chair, there are no members of the public signed up at this point.

Okay, I will make a call out to the public here if anyone will like to testify on this particular project.

Go on once, twice, three times.

Nah, all right.

Um, I will then close this public hearing and see if there's anyone wishing to speak on the committee side.

And I do see council member Warren.

Thank you, madam chair.

I want to say thank you, Director Sexton and your team for all of the wonderful work that you have been doing on the Van White Um boulevard there in North Minneapolis in Ward 5.

Um, all of the great ADA improvements to the curvature and all of that.

It looks absolutely wonderful.

So I am excited and will be supporting this assessment today.

I just wanted to say thank you to you and your team.

All right, seeing if there's any other committee members that would like to get in queue.

No?

All right.

With that, I will move approval of this item.

Then all those in favor say aye.

Those opposed say nay.

All right, the ayes have it, and that motion carries.

With that, our second public hearing is for the West Fulton Neighborhood Improvements Phase 1 project approval and assessment work on Chowan Avenue South and Beard Avenue South from 51st Street Street West 252nd Street.

I'll now invite up Alison Bill, senior professional engineer, transportation engineering and design, to get us started.

Hello, Allison.

Good afternoon, Chair Wansley and committee members.

My name is Allison Bell.

I'm a senior professional engineer in the Transportation Engineering and Design Division of Public Works.

Today I'm here presenting for the public hearing for the first phase of the West Fulton Neighborhood Improvement Project.

City Project 2388, part of the PV 131 residential neighborhood reconstruction program.

The proposed project consists of resurfacing two blocks within the Fulton neighborhood, Chowan Avenue South and Beard Avenue South from 51st Street West to 52nd Street West.

There may also be some spot replacements to curb and gutter as needed.

These blocks were last reconstructed in 1969 and have a pavement condition index of 36.

The total anticipated project cost for the project is 502,690.

The total street resurfacing assessment is $65,108.

This is based on 2026 uniform assessment rates and the influence area method.

The rates are 80 cents per square foot for non-residential properties and 28 cents per square foot for residential properties.

These assessments are payable over a five-year period.

The rest of the funding is general funds.

Special assessments will cover approximately 13% of the total project cost.

A virtual pre-assessment meeting to provide an overview of the project, discuss planned improvements, and answer any questions related to the assessment method and process was held on June 9th.

City staff have conducted meaningful engagement during the planning and design process of this project.

There were three rounds of engagement that started in the spring of 2024 and concluded earlier this year.

The project team conducted multiple public meetings, neighborhood and business association outreach, hosted online surveys and comment Macs, attended pop-up events, held office hours for area residents, and shared information through e-news newsletters.

Today Public Works is asking City Council to pass resolutions ordering the work to proceed, adopting the special assessments, and also authorizing the sale of the assessment bonds.

That concludes my presentation.

I will stand nearby for questions.

Thank you so much for that presentation.

I'm going to proceed to open up the public hearing regarding the West Fulton neighborhood improvement phase project.

Seeing if anyone has signed up.

Madam Chair, there are no members at this time signed up.

Alright.

I'm going to make a pitch here.

Anyone would like to testify in response to this specific project.

Once, twice.

Alright, thrice.

Nope.

All right, great.

I am going to now close the public hearing and see if anyone would like to speak amongst the committee.

And I see Councilmember Palmasano.

Thank you.

I just wanted to thank Allison Bill and actually her whole team of engineers.

This is a project that predates me, serving on this body and in city council.

Said another way.

It's been a long time coming, and it's a very complex project.

In fact, the entirety of this project is the majority of that map that you saw in different ways, staged over several years.

This is for the two blocks that actually got changed from being full reconstruction to instead being this lighter or lesser amount of work.

After more soil testing.

It was seen that we could accommodate what we needed to do here with this full depth reclamation instead of a full reconstruction project.

So I just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for continuing to look at this project, continuing to refine it as things go forward.

And well, it surprises me a bit that we we start here in this map.

1969 was a long time away.

So thank you for your work.

Okay.

I'm not seeing anyone else in queue.

So I will uh motion approval of this item.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed say nay.

All right, the ayes have it in that motion carries.

Our last public hearing is to consider the mayor's nomination of Tim Sexton to the appointed position of public works department director to introduce this item.

We have been joined by Mayor Fry, whom I'll now invite to speak on behalf of the nomination.

Good afternoon, Chair Wandsley and Vice Chair Stevenson.

Thank you, Council members, for having me here today.

And I'm proud to put forward Tim Sexton's reappointment for the Director of Public Works.

When we emphasize doing the basics uh at local government, what comes to mind first at the forefront is making sure that our drinking water is safe, that we've the streets are plowed, that the potholes are filled, some of these basic and core services that people expect from our city.

And Director Sexton has delivered on those elements and many more.

During his time as public works director, the city of Minneapolis has been recognized as the number one drinking water city in the state of Minnesota.

We've completed major stormwater projects and secured critical infrastructure funding from the federal government without sacrificing core city goals.

Leading public works, Director Sexton has overseen projects like the Hennepin and First Avenue reconstruction projects that replaced aging infrastructure below the street and also created a calmer, greener street uh at the surface.

He's helped launch our city's traffic safety camera pilot program that is reducing speeding and dangerous driving on our streets, and we're already seeing the positive benefits from it.

Uh and uh under his leadership, we've managed to reduce and then eliminate the backlog on street lights that were out due to copper wire theft and beyond.

These are not easy projects to undertake.

Uh, oftentimes they're controversial, uh, but he's managed to navigate great difficulty, and he's managed to get this done for the people of our city.

Um, it's not just the people at the city who recognize Director Sexton's work.

He was recently elected to the board of directors for the National Association of City Transportation Officials, showing that the work we are doing in public works is setting a national standard.

I'm really happy to nominate Director Sexton for another four-year term because he's shown the proven dedication in transportation, uh in resiliency and sustainability and climate action and public health, all while getting the basics right.

So uh I think we're very lucky to have his service here at the city uh and his willingness to do this really important job, Director Sexton, thank you for your public service and council members appreciate your time and I ask for your support.

Thank you, Mayor Frye.

Um I'm going to proceed with opening up the public hearing at this time for the appointment.

And I do see the first person that has signed up is Senator Scott Dibble.

Uh thank you, Chair Wansley, uh Vice Chair Stevenson members mayor for the opportunity to come forward today.

I'll just start off by saying um my drinking water is delicious, my uh trash has picked up on time to level organic recycling, my street doesn't flood in front of my house, but of course um I focus mostly on transportation.

So I thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of the reappointment of Tim Sexton as director of public works.

I've had the privilege of working with Tim for many years, first during his distinguished career at MINDOT, now in his leadership role with the city of Minneapolis.

Quite frankly, uh he was one of the great ones that Mindot let get away.

And of course, Minneapolis's gain was the state's loss.

What I've always appreciated about Tim is that he understands transportation is not simply a matter of moving vehicles, but as a public investment that creates opportunity for people.

He understands that our transportation system must work for everyone, whether they drive, walk, bike, use transit, use mobility devices, or rely on a combination of these options.

He understands that transportation decisions shape economic opportunity, public health, quality of life, and our environmental future.

As chair of the transportation committee, I've engaged extensively with Tim and his staff on numerous policy initiatives at the Capitol.

And throughout those efforts, he has consistently been accessible, responsible, thoughtful, and solutions oriented.

Even when we have faced difficult questions or competing priorities, Tim has approached those conversations with professionalism, respect, and a genuine desire to move the ball forward.

I've also been impressed by his ability to build relationships and bring people together.

He helps move his peers across the region toward a shared vision.

He works constructively with county partners, the Metropolitan Council, state agencies, and other stakeholders, even when those relationships can be complicated and challenging.

That kind of collaborative leadership is not always easy to find, but it's essential to making progress.

Most importantly, Tim's leap Tim leads with values.

He understands.

Oh, is that my time?

So you get my point.

Great leader.

He's worthy of reappointment.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Senator Demo.

And also, again, everyone can feel free to submit your written comments to our clerk, and they can include that in the public record.

Next, we have Robin Hutchinson.

Good afternoon, Chair Wansley and Vice Chair Stevenson, members of the committee, Mayor Fry.

I'm Robin Hutchison.

I'm the chair of the Metropolitan Council.

I'm a former senior level appointee of the United States Department of Transportation.

And my favorite job, other than the one I have now, is as a former public works director for the city of Minneapolis.

I'm here to speak on behalf of the reappointment of Tim Sexton as the public works director.

I had a boss once say it's not the list of your achievements that people remember most, it's how you work.

And I want to speak a little bit to how Tim Sexton works and how I believe that is a tremendous advantage for the city of Minneapolis.

When Tim was the Director of Sustainability at MINDOT and I was the public works director here, we worked together on sustainability initiatives, initiatives that weren't always popular at MINDOT, but he knew that working together and putting us at key tables, that we would be able to advance our goals, which would then in turn help him advance his goals.

When I was at the U.S.

Department of Transportation, which can be a lonely place, Tim on his visits to Washington, D.C.

would sit with me, remind me about the perspectives of local government, and I know that he was an advisor, a very key advisor to the joint office of electrification.

Most importantly, in my role as the Metropolitan Council Chair, I am so appreciative of his collaborative approach.

You may not know this, but Director Sexton convenes public works directors around the region for monthly coffee and chat.

He is extremely engaged in the American Public Works Association Big Cities Conference so that he can bring best practices here to Minneapolis and share the good work.

He has a highly collaborative, very approachable style, which will serve you so well.

As the mayor mentioned, he has been uh appointed to the board of the National Association of City Transportation Officials that was hosted here in Minneapolis just a few weeks ago.

And it represented the city so well.

I am glad to see your consideration of the reappointment of Director Sexton, and I hope to see this move forward today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And then next we have Kevin Pramas.

Hi.

Thank you, Chair and Council Members Kevin Prance, on behalf of Layuna, Minnesota and North Dakota.

Our members, we represent hundreds of members who live and or work in the city, building our infrastructure and maintaining infrastructure, and that includes both members of local 363 who are public employees working for the city as well as local 563 who work for construction contractors on city projects.

Here to support the reappointment of Tim Sexton, who's been a great partner.

I just want to say, in terms of water removal of hazardous uh lead service lines has been a key priority for us statewide.

Minneapolis has done a great job of taking advantage of those state resources, and we need to get more of those to do the program the state envision, which is to do to replace lead service lines uh at scale, using responsible contractors and leveraging the workforce opportunity of registered apprenticeship, and that's something this city has prioritized so that all of the contractors that are doing lead line removal have to participate in registered apprenticeship programs.

We have the largest and most diverse apprenticeship program in the entire state.

These large bundled contracts are creating lots of opportunities for new people to come into the construction industry, and that's a huge benefit.

And it's a part of the partnership that we have with the city of Minneapolis.

I would also say that uh Tim has been great to work with and had an open door when we have any concerns, whether it's about construction programs or on the public sector side, uh, that you know, Tim's door is open and he's worked with his staff to try to fix those problems and make sure that we're moving forward together.

So thank you for your time.

Thank you.

I'm seeing if there's anyone else here wishing to testify.

Seeing we don't have any updated lists, all right.

Okay, going on twice.

All right, I'm going to close the public hearing now and then move to the discussion part of our agenda with our committee members.

I do see Council Member Vita first in queue.

Oh, Director Sexton's not gonna go.

Sorry, thank you.

Yes.

Um would like to just wrap this up.

Director Sexton, would you like to come up and address the committee as well?

Oh, I thought I thought I got away with all right.

Uh yeah, thank you.

Tim Sexton, uh, public works director for the city of Minneapolis.

Um, first of all, good afternoon, Chair Wansley, Vice Chair Stevenson, Mayor Fry, uh members of the committee.

Uh I want to start today though, first by thanking my colleagues who spoke on my behalf.

Um, really grateful to each of you in different ways for your guidance, your partnership, and really the friendship of all.

Um, and I appreciate taking the time.

It's not easy to come down to City Hall and do this, so just really, really please uh know that I'm grateful.

Um overall, I'm really humbled to stand before you today as the mayor's nominee for reappointment as director of public works for the city of Minneapolis.

It's been a privilege to serve in this role uh for the past two years.

It's truly been both the most challenging role uh and the most rewarding role of my 20 plus years of public service.

As you know, public works is the largest department in the city uh with 1300 people, an annual operating and capital budget over 700 million.

Our nine divisions are responsible for the city's transportation system, our drinking water, stormwater and sanitary sewers, solid waste in the city fleet.

We're visible on the streets, plowing snow, filling potholes, cleaning trash and graffiti, cleaning and lining water lines, and so many other things.

We also do a lot of really important and less visible work, like managing over 18,000 parking spots, installing electric vehicle chargers, reducing water pollution to our lakes and rivers, mitigating flooding, recycling concrete, and helping people reduce household waste.

Over my two-year tenure, uh we've delivered over 500 million dollars in capital construction projects.

It includes major projects as mentioned earlier.

Kind of at the tail end of that one.

I will take full credits.

Uh, Central City Stormwater Tunnel to prevent flooding downtown.

This year, we'll also finish replacing all the lead drinking water lines in the Northside Green Zone and complete phase one of construction at George Flight Square.

Public Works is quite literally the foundation upon which this city is built.

And we keep the city moving every day.

That usually means when we do our job, right, no one notices.

Since my original appointment, I've worked really hard to let our teams know that we notice them.

We notice their talent, we notice their hard work, we appreciate their dedication, and we respect their commitment to the city.

We've shown through new investments in recruitment, training and recognition programs, a town hall for our employee survey, acknowledgments like Faces of Public Works, where we post interviews and give professional headshots to frontline team members and post them online to share their stories.

Perhaps most importantly, we've added more safety staff and resources to help ensure team members go home safely at the end of each shift.

Over the past two years, we've also worked hard together to improve customer service to residents, businesses, and council members.

Examples include a new citywide map to help residents identify current and future planned construction and connect them, both the city projects and non-city projects that are happening in our city.

We've created new ways for council to interact with our department to ensure that we're accountable and help us manage not just the hundreds of council requests, but the thousands of requests we get each year from residents.

Well, a lot is going right in public works.

We also face real challenges ahead.

Aging infrastructure, rising costs, and shifting community expectations.

Moving forward, my focus remains clear.

Finally, I want to use this moment to express my gratitude to all the team members in Public Works, especially our deputy director and division directors, who go above and beyond every day to support their teams, including me.

Thank you again to the mayor for the nomination, and thank you to council for your consideration.

I look forward to keeping our city moving forward together in the years to come.

Thank you, Director Sexton.

Now we can move on to the committee starting with Council Member Vita.

Thank you, Chair Wansley.

Thank you, Director Sexton, and thank you to everyone that spoke on behalf of the director.

I think everyone knows this.

I really do appreciate you being the director of public works.

One of my goals when I got to City Hall was to develop and maintain a relationship with this department.

And that is because this is what matters the most to North Minneapolis.

These livability issues that you all tackle every single day is something I hear about all the time.

One of the ways I measure a leader is in their team, and you have built an amazing team.

A bunch of brilliant people who are so passionate about what they do.

I don't care if it's a road or a light, a train, whatever it is.

They are so passionate.

And what I've learned in the four years that I've been down here is that they're teachers and listeners.

That's not easy.

And who your leader is matter if you get a chance to be that?

And so I appreciate you empowering folks.

You're one of the leaders here who allows for your staff to just talk to me on the escalator, not allowed, but they feel free to just talk to me about issues on the escalator, the elevator, wherever we are in the neighborhood.

They show up in Ward Ford.

That means so much to me.

I got a text in the middle of the day one day saying, hey, we're setting something on fire in your ward.

Get over here so you can so you can see it.

And that meant a lot to me to be able to tell my residents what was happening and in real time.

Come and watch it too.

You know, the project around the railroad crossing, your team has just been right there with me along the way.

The trash dumping, I mean, the the map that you all have produced to just validate what I've been saying for years about the trash dumping.

It seems like a very small thing, but it means so much to the north side because it's something we've cared about for decades.

The alley cleanups, you know, you get these calls all times of the day saying it's the snow hasn't been removed properly.

The way you handle our partners who are responsible for cleaning up the alley and picking up the trash and folks go back to do an even better job.

That means a great deal to us.

These livability issues we face every day mean a great deal, and it has been so fun to watch you uh work with folks in the community and to lead your team into working with folks into community in the community.

Also, you know, it's also refreshing to hear your side of things.

You know, we come in the room with opinions and things that we want as council members and things that our constituents want, and it's been refreshing to have dialogue with you on what works and what doesn't work, what what the future of our city is also.

I think your vision for the future of the city means a lot to work for also.

And so I of course I'm supporting you.

I do have a couple questions, but I just I want to get that out first because if you answer the questions wrong, then my you know I might say something different.

But I really do appreciate um having you here at the city of Minneapolis, Director Sexton.

And I just wanted to ask uh a couple questions because you know, Northsiders raise concerns regularly about deteriorating streets, alleys, flooding, pedestrian safety.

Um, if confirmed, what would success look like for these issues over the next four years to you?

Yeah.

Through the chair, Councilmember Vita, um, first of all, thank you for the earlier comments.

Um, you know, I think where we are as a city, especially the budget situation, that's it's it really is focusing on doing those course or do city services, doing the basics right and doing them better every year.

Continuous improvement is really important.

Um, I think we continue to uh continue to find how we work with community and make sure that we're reflecting the community's interests and their needs in every project that we do.

Um, in terms of success, um, yeah, it's we have, I mean, we are tracking pavements, um, we're working closely on our stormwater compliance.

Um, and I think the reality is we we especially when we talk about pavements citywide, we are losing ground.

There's no way around that.

Our pavement condition is worsening.

And so absence additional revenues.

I think we are we've started this already, and I hope to move forward is continuing to streamline, continuing to make sure that we're doing things as cost-effectively as possible, um, and to stop that, to stop that loss of performance overall that we do track very closely, and so I've ideally I'd love to say that we can do better and we can continue to improve things like pavement condition.

Um, and while I hope that's the case, my primary goal at this point is to is to stop things from getting worse.

Um, and so again, we're we're focusing on that internally, looking how we we work on project scope, schedule, and budget.

How do we coordinate with community?

How do we coordinate with other projects?

So we're doing things like dig once so you don't see your streets there about multiple times.

Um it's those focusing on the basics I think is gonna be the priority just given where we are.

Thank you.

Um, my next question is about uh distribution of investment.

Like, how do you ensure that that things are um distributed equity equitably like North Side makes sure and can see what investments are being made?

Yeah, through the chair, Customer Vita.

Um I think the work that our water department has done is really exemplifies how we think about equity and how we use tools like our racial equity framework for transportation to prioritize those neighborhoods that were underinvestment has happened in the past.

Um what I'm really just thrilled that our water department this year is gonna be able to say that we've replaced all the lead service lines in the North Side Green Zone.

That's a real accomplishment, it's gonna make a real difference to the city.

And I think that's probably the clearest example of how how we focus those resources in areas that in the past we haven't.

And so that's a tool that we continue to use in all of our investment decision making, making sure that we're, I mean, we're investing more in those locations, we're investing first in those locations, and we're doing more engagement and spending more time on those projects.

Um, yeah, so that's how we think about equity in the department, and I'm really proud of the work that preceded me.

I want to recognize former director Robin Hutcheson for starting that racial equity framework.

And I think as we move forward, we have created also a strategic framework.

Implementation was a little bit delayed with things that happened over the winter with Operation Metro Surge.

But we we established three key pillars for the department, which are climate, equity, and safety.

And now we'll be working to make sure that they really are incorporated into everything we do.

Thank you.

And then my last question is what would you consider your biggest accomplishment in this term that you are currently serving?

And what initiatives and projects are you most excited to advance?

Yeah, through the chair, customer Vita.

I think given the changing situation at the federal level, it's maybe not the most exciting thing, but I'm so proud of the work that our team's been able to do to keep federal money coming into the city.

I think it's over 160 million dollars in the last two years.

It takes a lot of work and it's taken a ton of patience because of the challenges working with the federal government right now.

Um but they persevered and they continue to deliver.

So I'm thrilled and not just at the federal level, but being creative about looking for money from philanthropy, pursuing state grants for things like flood mitigation.

I mean, we are really just looking everywhere for new revenue revenue so we can continue to deliver for our residents.

Moving forward, again, I think I spoke about it before.

And I don't want to lose sight of some of the big and exciting work that we have before us, but I really think right now it's it is focusing on those core services and making sure that we we're coordinating even better between projects with community and that focus on sort of cost effective delivery of projects while still advancing our transportation action plan, which is a seminal document and it really guides the work in partnership with the racial equity framework for transportation.

Thank you, Director.

Thank you, Chair.

Next, we have Vice Sheriff Stevenson.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh thank you, Director Sexton, for being here.

Uh I get every single week people uh emailing me about speeding or dangerous driving on their streets.

Uh I'm told that other uh wards are not seeing that, but I think every single street in my ward has text has emailed me about uh traffic calming.

Um and I say that to say you've been extremely responsive to me about these issues.

Um I think I email you probably multiple times a week.

Uh at this point, uh I probably put enough work on on your plate for an entire staff member themselves.

Um I apologize, but I'm not gonna change.

Um so, anyways, I'm really I'm really happy about that.

I one time at a uh you joined us for a school streets event, and uh you said, yeah, I was biking over here and there was a school bus parked in the bike lane.

I gotta talk to them about that.

And I appreciate that you are someone who understands that school buses parked in the bike lane is a bad thing.

Um so I appreciate that about you.

Um, in passing, I told you about something I was working on with Metro Transit, and you uh you told me, Oh, you need to talk to this person at MINDOT.

I had that my meeting with that person at MINDAT yesterday, and it was extremely productive, and I think is gonna really benefit this city.

And that was just something that happened in passing that has really moved forward my work and the work of this city uh really positively.

So I appreciate you for that.

And I didn't actually know your your history at MINDOT and and other places, and so you you marshal your connections to benefit this city, and I really appreciate that.

Um, so keep up the good work, uh, and thank you for working so well with me, and I look forward to what you can accomplish in your next term.

Next, we have council member uh Pomassano.

Thank you.

Thank you, Director Sexton, for your service to Minneapolis.

Um I've got some kudos and a couple challenges that I think you face as we move forward.

Um, but first, my appreciation.

Director Sexton, you are one of the most directly accessible directors in this whole city, and I thank you for that.

Although I try not to contact you outside of regular working hours, when I've needed to, you've always been quick to respond and to activate your team to manage a situation.

And I thank you and your division directors for that.

It's not something that happens evenly across the city, but here are a few examples.

First, we had a water line break during a cold snap that was devastating this past winter at 50th and Penn.

Public Works crews were on site almost immediately, getting the water turned off, helping to salvage goods, including public works people carrying up flowers from a flower shop for their Valentine's delivery the next day, carrying out a literal ton of sand by hand in buckets, your team.

Our public works team pumped water out of the adjacent building before the emergency contractor for that property owner even showed up.

And when a corner of that building was deemed unstable, your crews installed a support beam to hold up the second story of this building.

And I appreciate your current action in a really bad situation.

When a more minor water line broke during a cold snap that flooded an E-line station the day before its opening, it was because you and your team jumped into action that prevented that from being encased in eight inches of solid ice.

The overnight water desk emergency line, that guy, it's like a relic in our city.

There's this number that people can call in weekends, night times, somebody answers, and they are like they act with urgency about whatever that needs.

Across the city at large, you know, public works was a key part of our operation metro surge response.

Yes, during the midst of a typical winter and all those winter operations, detours, emergency road closures, emergency road openings, several weeks of canceled vacation, constant overnight work efforts to make things right during what was our most chaotic and confusing time.

So thank you.

When I think through the different divisions of public works, I'm not sure there's another department outside of our public safety departments that is so customer-facing and has such a direct response to community in times of emergencies as public works.

That's a lot of pressure on you and your teams, and I see you handle that with grace and professionalism.

You're not typically seen as an emergency department, but you have great leadership in each of these divisions, and many of them are here in this room supporting you today.

I also appreciate how you and your staff have navigated some difficult conditions.

We already spoke about the funding, the federal funding for the Nicolette Avenue Bridge, which seems to be going well.

And I'm also impressed with your forethought and planning that it takes to sequence projects.

I see that in my ward with replacement of lead service lines and stormwater mitigation work.

It takes a lot of coordination between different divisions to identify underground work needs so that we don't disturb newly laid pavement.

But a couple challenges I see as things move forward.

I just said I was impressed with the sequencing of work, but I challenge you to do a better job with coordination of projects between yes, your divisions and also our interjurisdictional partners.

I've seen this get better.

I think it can get better still.

Um I also challenge your divisions to increase their communication with residents.

That's the one probably the number one complaint that I hear about from residents.

They just don't know what's going on.

I've got a stormwater mitigation project in my ward that the first project has taken twice as long as anticipated, and boy have I heard about it.

After a great deal of back and forth with project staff and an in-person meeting with impacted, frustrated residents, staff agreed to send out updates every two weeks, and they've been doing that, and this has helped out a lot.

So, those are my thoughts.

Thank you, and thank you for being clear-eyed about these future challenges.

I think you and your team have a strong handle on it.

Next is Council Member Chowjury.

Thank you, Chair Wandsley.

And I just first want to start off by um saying that you have a really great lineup of folks that came and testified for you today.

I think it speaks really strongly to just like the the partnership that you have across the board.

It's great to see Senator Dibble and former public works director, Robin Hutcheson.

Um I'll say that this was your favorite job.

You don't have to.

Thank you so much for your service to the city.

It does not feel like two years, it feels like a lot longer than two years, and I bet you feel the same.

Um I think about the work that you have done with my office.

I think a lot about the needs of my constituents.

I feel really clear every day when I walk in here and more every single week that passes by, and everything that our city's been through that my job is to represent people and represent their needs.

And of course, within my ward boundaries, but also with this perspective of thinking about what it means for the rest of the city.

And one of the first things that my office advocated to you on was all of the lights that were out on Hiawatha Avenue and how dangerous that was, and the issue of copper wire theft.

And I just appreciate that you worked with us month after month, even prior to the large investment that we made from contingency funding.

We were able to get the lighting done on Hiawatha Avenue, and that was really dangerous for pedestrians, the transit users by the light rail station, folks that were just driving or frequenting the businesses in the area, just a lot of compounding issues.

So that meant a lot.

We've seen it in the projects that we've done to improve active transportation.

Your team's amazing work at the TAB and at the legislature, the commitment to vision zero and traffic calming.

Another place that I feel like I heard from so many community members was crashes that were have happening and municipal state aid roads that had not been addressed for years and years and years, and there was one street in particular that was going into Lake Street where we just saw kind of just a really severe level of crashes in a residential neighborhood, and your team went out there and talked to the community members there, and we were able to make that improvement, and that changed a lot of lives, and it was a really big deal.

I also I think I evaluate how a director is doing by how their staff is showing up and how the work is going for them, and I can just tell that like just based off of how well the public works department works and the interactions that I really value that I've had with your team, that your team really appreciates your leadership and the empowerment of their leadership.

So thank you for doing that because I think it makes the work even better, and when it's not going that way, you can clearly notice it.

Um a few places of improvement that I think we can work on together is I think when we have large projects that oftentimes can be divided or divisive.

That's an opportunity for us to learn from the past and be able to say that we all have to lean in and communicate with each other better and try to find the path to win.

And I think we've had some examples of doing that uh this year, which is great, but I think that was a lesson that we've learned multiple times, and I think we want to grow from that.

And I've appreciated in our conversations your commitment to that.

Um, I also know that you have so many things coming before your desk.

And I want to be mindful of the time that I take up.

I think one thing that would be valuable is figuring out a way for us to share ward priorities with you and your department that we can work on maybe over a year or by a quarter, something that's manageable, but still is able to help us bring forward the top concerns of our ward to you.

Another thing is the text message updates for emergencies or like scheduled maintenance.

Not all my constituents are on that, especially seniors, especially renters.

And I think we need to do a better job of just educating the public if we're going to send out really pertinent information to them that's front-facing.

How do we actually ensure that residents get on that?

And then I'll just close with the thing that I've really appreciated in our relationship is that I know that when I have something tough to share with you, or there's a place of disagreement, we will have that conversation and we'll just have it, and you'll hear me and we'll work through it.

And that's what I just appreciate.

Just you making the time for that and us being able to do it.

And we've had a couple of pretty tough conversations over the years, but I've always come out of it being like I think we have a better understanding and a better relationship, and I look forward to the next time we get to work together.

So thank you, and I'm looking forward to supporting you today.

Next we have Councilmember Warren.

Thank you, madam chair.

Director Sexton.

Thank you so much for all of the great work that your team does.

Um I really felt like a shining star working with you all when I first came in into office here because there were some people who reached out to me, constituents in the ward, and they were like, this hasn't happened, and something's going on with this ice snowblock, and my husband's 80-something years old.

And I said, Let me make a phone call and see if we can get someone to come over there and help you.

Such a nice lady, and you came right out there, and she's like, well, maybe something happened by spring.

No one's ever done anything for me.

And lo and behold, she texted me not even before that next morning and was like, you are truly a lifesaver, and she wanted to invite me over to her house for coffee, you know, because your team shows up and it shows out, and it makes me feel like we're really getting to the basics of what I believed a lot of this work was about in serving people and making sure that um that area of public safety was intact and really listening to the needs of the constituents about you know the holes in the alleys or doing traffic calming and watching and studying and um I really appreciated too going on a tour of the ward with you the other day, and we was rolling around in the Tesla, that was pretty tight, you know, and so um and checking out checking out um a lot of the things and you know that we were talking about um that needed some some good attention in the ward, and um we were able to put together and plan and and converse about about the things that needed to be done.

So I'm I am appreciative, and I'm excited to work with you and your team.

Everybody has been awesome too, very communicative.

I respect that.

I look forward to more of that, and I'm excited to support you going forward.

Thank you.

Right, seeing no one else in queue, I'll take the liberty of concluding as the chair then with some comments.

Um, I just want to uplift and second what many of my colleagues have said.

It's been um a pleasure being able to work with you in a professional setting around addressing um the issues in my ward and also citywide priorities as well that are deeply connected to what I hear in my ward, for instance, uh working with your office around advancing our traffic calming efforts and reducing that significant backlog that was piling up.

Um, and it's been great to see the progress that we've been making.

And I know I hear from my residents, they're happy when they're seeing boulevards and traffic calming projects come to their communities to make you know passages in their neighborhoods much more safe.

So that's been a really key area.

Also the pedestrian lighting that I have to uplift in Dinky Town as part of our Dinky After Dark efforts.

That was a 10-year project in itself, but it was really uh great to be able to work with your office to in the University of Minnesota to really advance some concrete next steps that have now illuminated what was a very dark corridor and that made students, parents, visitors just feel uneasy walking around a very high trafficked area.

So I'm really thankful for your leadership again and always being responsive when we're naming their constituent issues, um, wanting to troubleshoot and problem solve.

Um I love to uplift uh council uh former member, Councilmember Koski's uh mantra of don't tell me no, tell me how.

And I think you're you often lean into the how, and we often don't get to experience that um with some of the directors.

So I'm really grateful for that experience.

Um, some of the things I want to uplift too is just most recently is your leadership as we navigated um 38th in Chicago's assessment.

I want to say that was tremendous leadership in navigating what is still a very traumatic um sensitive subject.

And I think that's actually at the core of public works, too, that often gets um overlooked.

Of course, we want to hone in on the core services and reduce public work to just putting in um, you know, new streets or or lighting, but we also have to acknowledge what places like 38th in Chicago and even I-94, which we're gonna have a role in in rethinking and reframing what that project looks like.

Um we recognize historically infrastructure projects have also been used as a tool to um widen racial and economic disparities.

And it's important that as community leaders or workers in this this field, we not only acknowledge that history, but also use the tools and our expertise to do everything that we can to undo that harm and also lead with new and better actions that actually bring our communities together that promotes uh restoration and um uh reparative justice.

And I think that is where I've seen openings in your office and the 38th in Chicago assessment project was really uh a concrete example of public works actually having an equity uh analysis and guide and comp North Star of how to actually uh move forward with um significant investments in our communities.

Um so I just want to name that, and we'll spend the next several months of working on our work plan and also making sure all the fun things that's in that climate, sorry, well, both climate equity plan, transportation action plan, racial equity framework, making sure all those fun things happen um on behalf of our communities.

And I know your office, your just extremely brilliant staff are ready and have been willing to lead that.

Um one area of excitement that I'm um really helpful about is working together on actually addressing zero waste.

And I know many years ago, Minneapolis was a leader in that conversation of how we actually are moving towards uh a progressive model waste disposal.

And I would love to see us, you know, strengthen the our our attention there.

And it's quite necessary when we're looking at the Herc incinerator in North Minneapolis when we're thinking about the green zones and making sure that communities of color, especially black and brown communities who have long beared again the harms of our infrastructure projects, but also pollution that comes from them.

This represents an opportunity for us to do visionary work while also again addressing that racial harm.

Um so I'm really excited about those efforts.

Also, for colleagues to make sure you submit your priorities on the work plan if you haven't, so that we can give another document to our public work staff to say, hey, more things to add on to your exhaustive list of to-dos.

Um, and with that, uh, oh, another thing that I want to uplift is by Cher Stevenson mentioned the example of how are we making sure that our bikeway or bike paths, our sidewalks are accessible to everyone, with the example of the school bus being in the bus lane.

I also want to make sure our own city employees know that they need to be in compliance with those same guidelines.

I don't want to see police cars parked in our bike lanes or on the sidewalks or any other uh city vehicle or employee.

So I'm very much also excited to look at how we can strengthen more understanding, enforcement of these multi-million dollar projects that we um have spent time on to make sure that our neighborhoods are connected and that our residents can access safely and freely.

So with that, I'm also very excited to support your nomination today.

So with that, I will actually move approval of it.

Um, just for fun.

Let's just take a roll call vote.

Councilmember Vita.

Aye.

Warren.

Aye.

Shakti.

Is absent.

Chadri.

Aye.

Paul Masano.

Aye.

Vice Chair Stevenson.

Aye.

Chair Wandsley.

Aye.

We have six eyes.

Right.

Congratulations.

At least in this committee.

Uh, thank you, Director.

Um, and that uh motion carries.

Uh, on to our discuss discussion agenda, and I'll give it a moment so folks can make their way out the chambers.

All right.

So moving to item 23, which is uh a passage of resolution expressing concern about the redesign of highway 280 and calling on the Minnesota Department of Transportation uh to uh increase their engagement on the proposal.

Um I will note that this is uh item that council member Brainville and I uh authored in terms of the resolution, and also uh Minneapolis Park Boards uh also brought forward a resolution several weeks ago that they passed also with some similar uh content and and raising some similar concerns.

Um publishing the resolution, we were contacted by public works leadership, uh highlighting or expressing that MINDOT uh actually want to come and address the committee uh to give their um insights about this project.

So we're very happy to have Mindot here to give that presentation.

Um I will see who from Mindot or public work staff will be coming forward to address the committee related to this item.

Hi, good afternoon.

Afternoon, Chair Wandsley and members of the committee.

Uh, my name is Peter Bennett.

I'm a transportation planner with public works, and I've been the liaison to this project and to the grand rounds missing link project.

Uh so we have guests to speak today from both MINDA and the MPRB staff members who've been working on the grand rounds.

Uh so I will pass it to Ryan Wilson from MINDA.

We also have Julie Aldridge from the park board.

And uh we will start with a few words and then happy to take questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Peter.

Uh Chair Wansley, uh members of the committee, nice to see you.

My name is Ryan Wilson.

I am currently the deputy district engineer for Metro District.

The last couple years I have been in the West area manager role, which oversees our partnership and our work in all of Hennepin County.

So that includes Minneapolis.

I will say a couple general words.

Uh very happy to stand for questions.

Uh, this effort on 280 has been dating back to 2020.

We were actually envisioning a project on 280 that involved uh maintaining the infrastructure, working on safety.

It was actually outreach done in the mid-city industrial area, outreach done with some of your staff at the city uh public works department that raised some concerns about some of the improvements we were suggesting at the time.

So we actually went back to the drawing board and what's in place as a product and part of that.

We have a two-part project.

You're all aware we have a project in place today that's working on the pavement and bridges along the 280 corridor.

We have a project planned in 2028.

Our part of that work is to propose a closure of northbound 280 to westbound Broadway.

Eastbound Broadway to 280 remains open, just to be clear.

And we have a multi-agency partnership, in fact, seven agencies, both counties, City of Lauderdale, Roseville, Minneapolis, and MPRB are all working together on improvements in the intersection of Lauderdale, Hennepin 280, as well as getting to industrial Hennepin and heading northbound, very generally, because we are proposing to close that northbound 280 to westbound Broadway movement.

We identified again back in 2020, 2021 that that intersection of Hennepin and industrial was a problem.

We had freight traffic who couldn't make that move fast forward a few years.

We start hearing about activity from MPRB and others about actually starting to complete the Grand Rounds connection that's been sought after after many years, and that kind of fast forwards a couple more years to where we are now, where we have this partnership across agencies.

We have a contract in place, we being MINDAT, where we are taking on work in that area.

So the work on 280, yes, but also the work along Hennepin, reducing that from a four to three lane in the area of industrial, dealing with the intersection of industrial and Broadway itself.

So MINDOT is taking on about half of that work in cost ourselves, and then working with our partners at Hennepin County, the city, MPRB to kind of do the rest of the work.

Squaring up that railroad crossing if you've biked through that area, that's kind of a mess.

And so gain a chance to make the connections for the new Grand Rounds cleaner and better, tying into the work that MPRB is doing with City Public Works on Industrial.

And yeah, just really partnering with everybody along that corridor.

I will just say, and this might be uh part of the spirit of the resolution proposed by Councilmember Rainville.

Uh, we acknowledge a lot of the outreach we have done in the past has been focused in the mid-city industrial area, focused with Lauderdale and Roseville.

Uh, one of the things that came up maybe in the last half a year, three quarters of a year is we did not do as much outreach as we probably should have in Northeast Minneapolis.

So we uh tweaked our engagement plan.

We actually have an engagement plan in process in motion starting in June, going through the summer of reaching out to some additional folks, the East Bake Neighborhood Partnership, um, additional uh neighborhood associations in Northeast, uh St.

Anthony, just your friends to the east, and just kind of having those conversations, getting some dialogue, and happy to talk about some of that in further detail if you are interested in that information.

With that, I will turn the mic briefly to my friends at the park board.

If you want to say anything, welcome.

Good afternoon, Chair Wansley and members of the committee.

I'm Julie Aldrich.

I'm a design project manager with the park board and project manager for the Grand Rounds Missing Link project for the park board.

Um, as Mr.

Wilson shared, the Grand Rounds Missing Link is a project that has been near and dear for the park board for many, many years.

Uh, and following a prior adopted plan in 2019, which was adopted both by Park Board and Met Council.

Park Board has undertaken revisiting this project uh as of 2023.

Um, as shared, uh, and I think we'll continue to talk about today.

The park board has been working in close partnership with City of Minneapolis, uh, Hennepin County, and MINDOT over the last few years, and we've all had a very, I feel very productive and collaborative partnership moving moving things forward.

Um, something that I would like to share today and emphasize is is that partnership and that without that partnership uh and that agency support, multi-agency support, um, the park board would not be able to undertake this project.

Of note, MINDOT has generously offered to take on improvements at the intersection of Broadway and Industrial, which otherwise would have become a parkboard project in excess of one million dollars.

Mindot is well positioned to navigate the coordination with the railroad and our agency partners at the city and the county to improve that intersection.

That's a huge benefit for the park board to be able to move this project forward.

I also would like to note for the committee that this segment of the Grand Rounds Missing Link is one that moves through a fully built urban fabric, whereas much of our ground rounds arose before the city was built up around it.

And so that's that's some of the complexity and why it's taken so long to implement this project.

It's just the complexities in moving through what we anticipate to be a multimodal corridor, but we do need to accommodate that.

This is a strong vehicular corridor.

This is a freight corridor.

We need to maintain access to the many industrial businesses here.

We want to support that, not negatively impact that, and also be able to implement a regional trail here that will connect and provide connectivity for the city's residents all across the city.

Um so that's a huge piece of this.

Um and and this entire segment of project for the park board lies within city and county right of way that the park board does not have jurisdiction over.

So that is a really important point for us that these partnerships are critical for all of us being able to move these projects forward together.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um I will see if Councilmember Rainville will also like to offer some comments as you were the lead author on the resolution.

Uh thank you.

So that's very good to hear all this great news and cooperation.

Uh, the intent of this resolution is to make sure that it happens, uh, to support the park board, especially the new commissioner Dan Egelhart, who represents all the east side.

He was the main author of the park board resolution.

This the intent is to match that and to um uh help you realize how important it is to be at the table with the community.

Uh good luck on your June outreach and uh thank you for listening to the intent of this resolution.

It's not to tell you how to do your business, but rather to show the cooperation between the city and the park board for this community engagement.

It's really important at the city level that we do this ongoing community uh engagement and looking at some of the part of some of our public work staff, and and they know that's just what we do here as we engage, engage, engage.

So thank you for going that extra mile.

I really appreciate that.

And colleagues, again, my intent is to uh support the park board on this, and Commissioner Egelhart.

So I would ask you to uh I would move to approve this.

Yes, I know I know Council Member Rainbow, super excited to move it for approval.

You're not the committee, but I will move it for approval as the uh co-author and chair, um, all those in favor.

Oh, wait, I don't think I need to add a half second.

I was apologizing.

Thank you.

Your mics not only.

I always try to look more.

Oh, okay.

Um that has moved forward.

Now we're on to our next item, which is the bicycle advisory committee 2025 annual report.

This is reflected as item number 24.

I'll now invite up our pedestrian and bicycle coordinator, transportation planning and programming.

That's a long title.

Uh Alex can you please pronounce her.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Please feel free to get us started.

Thank you.

Uh, Chair, thank you, Chair Wandsley and committee members.

Uh, my name is Alex Schiefrecker.

I am the pedestrian and bicycle coordinator within public works.

Uh, it's a pleasure to appear before you today to present or introduce, I should say, the 2025 annual report from the pedestrian and bicycle advisory committees.

And it's a tradition for the chairs of these committees to present directly to the council about themes that arose out of their committee's past year of work.

And so uh with us today here are uh Lisa Maywist Wisterman and uh Alyssa uh Shuffman, uh, the chairs of the PAC and the BAC.

Um, these are our names.

Uh just uh briefly before I pass the microphone to the chairs of the PAC and the BAC have spent the past year closely scrutinizing projects and policies within the city of Minneapolis that impact people walking, biking, rolling, scootering, and beyond.

Um, you have in your file today a report which summarizes the activities of both committees in 2025, as well as the membership of both committees on the new restructured format.

Uh, I want to briefly just uh honor publicly all the members of these committees who were serving as of the end of the past year and thank them for their service.

These are the members of the pedestrian advisory committee, and these are the members of the bicycle advisory committee.

Um, finally, uh, one more thing before I uh I want before we pass on, I want to spend a moment to specifically remember Blad Brad Fletcher, who represented Ward 3 on the bicycle advisory committee.

He was a passionate uh bicyclist who I had the pleasure of encountering occasionally on morning commutes.

He was a special advocate for roundabouts, and unfortunately he passed away uh early uh this year while traveling.

So if you'll join me in a brief moment of silence, thank you.

And with that, I'll pass it over to Lisa.

Thank you for joining us.

Chair Wansley and Committee, thank you for taking the time to listen to our committee.

We do appreciate this opportunity to share our thoughts and observations with you.

So just to make sure everybody is on the same page, pedestrian is not strictly people that are walking.

We are including people who are using mobility devices, whether it's wheelchair or a stroller for young children that are using our city sidewalks.

And one of the things that we have noticed in the pack is that sidewalk accessibility and condition has been all over the place throughout the city.

We have noticed a few specific things that sidewalk accessibility and condition can impact.

Construction work has caused sidewalks to be closed without visible detours or detours getting thwarted, which I will be addressing later.

We also know that mode shift has been a major priority with the council and public works, but one sidewalks are not able to be used.

Mode shift is significantly impaired for anybody that, whether they're new to alternate transportation or they've been doing it for years without the accessible sidewalk, they just can't move forward.

And so we are looking first at accessibility, all season clearance, big priority.

The PAC passed a resolution on winter sidewalk maintenance, noting that snow and ice removal has been especially problematic at curb ramps and sidewalks where people are waiting for transit is causing people to not be able to board buses.

I had to stand on about a half inch of solid ice at a bus stop back in February, I do believe.

That was really interesting getting on the bus.

But even outside of winter, you think about spring when the snow and ice is melting off, you are still going to be dealing with flooded sidewalks and the subsequent erosion that results from that.

So we want to make sure that the council's aware that while winter sidewalk maintenance is very much talked about in a city with extreme winters, with climate shifting, we are going to be seeing more extremities in all seasons, as we have noticed with the recent round of thunderstorms flooding our sidewalks in pretty much every ward.

Likewise, with the amount of construction that we are encountering, signage is blocking our sidewalks or our bikeways, and that can increase the amount of potential conflict between cyclists and pedestrians, while certainly not as lethal or even injurious as car crashes between other cars and other modes of transit, you can still run into potential injuries between pedestrians and cyclists whenever they are sharing the same paths.

And then we take a look at the conditions of sidewalks, especially on residential streets.

You'll find that I know that the city's policy is to use asphalt to temporarily level sidewalks, but what we have found is that when you use asphalt, it's wearing at a different rate than concrete.

And so any repairs that are made are very, very temporary.

And if you are going to be waiting a long time for whether it's a reconstruction or even just a utility project to finish paving over the sidewalk, then these can be in place for a very long time and can just cause long-term issues.

I've personally tripped over a couple of these.

Likewise, when we do have temporary fillings over the winter, we want to make sure that public works and city councils aware that these need to be very cleanly done.

Some of the patches that have been put in have not been very level, and it's hard for wheelchair users to be able to stay safe in rolling across that.

And then sometimes they just can't even use it.

We've come across where there are no fillings at all, and you have to stop and decide can I walk through this pit of sand or am I gonna have to go in the street to get around this?

So what can we do?

What's working and what can we look at for further improvement?

Sidewalk project resources.

One of the things that we're finding is that people, everyday people in the city, especially renters, are not aware of what they're able to push for.

Renters are especially in a weird position because they're not the ones that are going to be paying for repairs directly, it's going to be their property owners, and sometimes they're not able to speak directly with their property managers for any of any number of reasons.

So we want to make sure that the renters are being made aware of what resources they do have available and also whose responsibility it is, because then they can use that to go to property management.

I feel like a lot of sidewalk maintenance communication has been directed at property owners and not necessarily at the renting community, which is a significant portion of the city's population.

Likewise, it's worth remembering that traffic calming does actually help when it comes to sidewalks, accessibility and condition.

Sometimes pedestrians are going to have to cross the street to get to a portion of sidewalk they can actually use.

And traffic calming helps make that crossing street a safer and easier thing to do.

Likewise, if it's a small portion and they have to go out into the street when they have things like bump outs that are slowing down drivers.

Drivers are not just slowing down, but they are forced to see what is actually in the street, and that increases pedestrian visibility as they make their quick maneuvers to get around the inaccessible part of the sidewalk.

But as has been emphasized in the nomination of Director Tim Sexton, department cooperation and communication is absolutely essential.

We have seen where sidewalk accessibility has been hampered by departments not talking to each other.

One major example is with the construction at 26 in Hiawatha, we initially had a detour onto the 24th Street Pedestrian Bridge.

However, Mindot closed that bridge without telling us.

There are other routes of ways that they can communicate or find out more information.

So with that, any questions or comments?

Thank you so much for coming down the city hall and give us uh giving us a presentation of a look to see if we have anyone in queue for a question.

See Councilmember Pomasano.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for these reports.

Of the three dozen or so infrastructure projects that I've seen the bicycle advisory committee and the pedestrian advisory committee comment on, I see that the vast majority are supported or supported with recommendations.

There were four at various stages that were opposed, and I'm just curious what about these projects caused specific concern.

Maybe you've spoken to some of them and some of your previous slides, but are there standards for what warrants an objection to a project?

Is it just a vote of the body?

If you can just give us some insight into that.

One of the things that will cause us to not support a project, we actually will be having a meeting today to discuss one of those, and that is the reconstruction of Central Avenue between the river and 37th.

One of the biggest things that will cause the committee to not support a project is if there is great prioritization of private vehicle storage.

We want to make sure that there is more room given to pedestrians and transit users because there's a lot of overlap between these fields.

That's helpful.

So it's not about fighting vehicular storage, but the proper prioritization of different things in our right-of-way.

That's correct.

You'll generally see if the opinions and tactics that favor car users and not say buses, that is going to be something that's most likely going to cause objections.

I would also say that things that if there are issues with engagement, like if we find that there were certain groups that got more time to engage, and that there were some groups that may have been left out.

I know that with even on projects we support like one of the Cedar Avenue Reconstruction, I think is phase one that's currently ongoing.

There was a press to make sure that renters were communicated to.

Thank you.

Thanks.

I see next, Councilmember Warren.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for this great presentation.

Um I'm thankful that you guys have been doing the study and working to remedy a lot of these different different challenges.

It makes me sad and heavy in my heart and set with the um the disabilities committee.

And we were talking about a lot of the residents, especially on the north side.

I see people in the street, you know, instead of riding on the sidewalk, and it's not just about the curvature of them being able to get on and off the sidewalk.

It's the unevenness of a lot of the sidewalks that need some structural repair and support, and um looking at the temporary fill-ins that you you made here and on Emerson Avenue, and I've seen a lot of that work also being done too um in different areas throughout the ward.

Um, so I'm appreciative of that, you know, and and the more of it that we can do the better, you know, to make transportation easier for all of us as we're moving around through through the city.

So yeah.

Thank you.

Those are just my comments.

Oh, thank you very much for that.

And I do agree.

I would like to see more of the existing sidewalks being paid attention to, not just during reconstructions, but through everyday uh funding allocations and just looking more generally, even if it's something like flood mitigation like 35th Avenue North.

I know we're getting an opportunity to redo those curb ramps.

I know the sidewalk is not part of it, but it would be nice if going forward we could possibly start looking at creative ways to fund those sidewalks being included when we are doing those types of reconstructions.

Yeah, thank you.

I have my stuff in cue just um on today's agenda.

We included a public comment period for uh July 9th regarding the Lindale Avenue uh construction project or reconstruction project.

And I know this is one where there is opposition noted.

Um, and I know this report was for 2025, but when to get a sense as we're going into that meeting in the next few weeks, if uh the position still stands, if um there's anything you would like to highlight for this committee as we will be asked to give municipal consent.

Um we haven't heard anything recent, but I will let the committee know because as I mentioned, we'll be meeting in a couple of hours, if that.

So I can let them know July 9th is when there will be public comment, and that they are welcome to either comment individually or if they want to move something, bring something to the committee for our next meeting, which is July 9th.

So timing is a little bit interesting there, but I will let them know at today's meeting.

Awesome.

And seeing oh, yes.

Sorry, yeah, uh, the report covers 2025, but I believe both committees have passed resolutions on Lindale in 2026 as well.

Okay.

But I know that the committee loves to talk about Lindale, and so I will let them know there is another opportunity to do so.

Yes, there will.

Please share it widely.

Um we can do that.

Uh I'm not seeing anyone else in queue.

Thank you so much.

Well, thank you very much.

I will ask the clerks to receive and file that presentation.

Um, we'll move to our next item, which is our bicycle advisory committee's uh 2025 annual report.

Um, and I will invite our guests to come and start us off.

Okay.

Thank you, uh Chair Wandsley, committee members.

Uh my name is Alyssa Shuffman.

I use she and they pronouns.

Uh, I'm the Ward 9 representative and the committee chair.

It's nice to be back again this year.

Um, I will talk a little bit about who we are and what we do, and then uh use one of the uh the 35th Avenue North Flood Mitigation Project.

We're gonna talk about it a lot today as an example to talk a little bit about uh yeah, what we're doing well and what uh where we can make some improvements.

So uh this is the bicycle advisory committee on our annual ride.

Um I wanna start uh by saying that our streets are public places where our values are made manifest.

They're put forward, they're tested, they're contested.

Um, you know, to some degree the entire not just our streets, but the entire enterprise of public works uh is uh demonstration of how we want to be together as a community and what we want to do for each other.

And so the bicycle advisory committee advises public works as part of that.

We value and work toward a city where people of all backgrounds can easily and joyfully use a bike to get where they need to go.

And so the work that the BAC does each year with in partnership with public works is in service of ensuring that the changes to our public spaces uh really live out those values that we are making manifest.

Uh before I move on, Alex shared the list of members, but I did want to uh specifically honor and shout out Janice Gepner who concluded her long term of service in 2025.

She stepped off in the middle of the year, uh is when our terms end.

Uh, she was at various points the Ward 7 representative, served as a park board representative, was the secretary for a very, very long time.

She cared a lot about biking, about information transparency, and uh her insight and candor on the committee is missed.

I'm proud to share a little bit about what we did in 2025.

So the committee held 22 meetings last year.

We reviewed over 40 projects, policies, and concepts, and we provided comments on the vast majority of them, multiple things more than one time.

So there's lots to celebrate, but because it's often hard to celebrate the actual end result of the things that we look at until years later when the project is finished.

You know, we don't typically see a project after 30%, so it's it can be uh somewhere between months and many years until we actually get to like go look at the project and say, wow, we did it, we did a great job.

This is cool.

So I want to use, as I said, one project as a case study to highlight some things from a process perspective to kind of daylight where we're at at, where we're doing well, and where we're still falling short.

So we will talk yet again about the 35th Avenue flood mitigation project.

Um so first, I would say from a process perspective, this is a win that the this project came to the bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees at all, right?

For years, we've been saying when we touch streets for reasons that don't have to do with redesigning a street, let's take advantage of that.

That's an opportunity for us to save some time, save some money, as folks have have talked about today, to make improvements to the street to not have to touch it twice.

And so it's really huge to see from a process perspective this really happening for the first time at the committee level.

And it can be really transformative if we can scale it again from like a budget perspective, from a process and time perspective.

And so hoping to see much more of that in the future, especially with utility work.

Uh another win for this project, we're doing traffic calming on this street.

I heard more than half of you mentioned traffic calming before I got up here.

Uh people love traffic calming.

It's something that neighbors in the community almost always support because it has a really strong impact on people's day-to-day experience of living and traveling on a street.

So this project was no exception to that, and it will have again those really positive tangible impacts for people who are living and traveling through the corridor.

The proposed design that you see here that came to the BAC did have some gaps.

It proposed not removing any parking in this corridor because there were some comments in the public engagement that said parking was a priority, but this was a clear instance where the data showed that we should.

We had a parking study that showed there was a maximum of 35%, about a third parking usage at any given time in the corridor.

So tons and tons of room to take space that was allocated for car parking and use it for other things on the project, right?

Further our goals of flood mitigation, uh, be able to have wider sidewalks, be able to implement bike facilities.

So, you know, we said, hold on, what are we doing here?

The numbers don't justify keeping parking.

Our policy documents say when we have streets like this, we should we should be removing parking on one side.

Um the street design uh guide calls for removing parking on one side wherever we can on low volume streets.

We need more space for green stormwater infrastructure for the flood mitigation that this whole project is about.

Uh so let's get rid of some parking and do some of those other things.

So as a result, uh, you know, we shared our comments, and the final design that came to you all for approval with the BAC's resolution alongside removes parking on one side uh for 35th and 34th, which is a win again for the project for alignment with our policy goals and documentation, and more green spaces again a huge win for the folks living uh living and traveling through this corridor.

However, this corridor still won't have the improvements that it needs in order to be an effective part of the bike network, right?

So narrowed streets are not a bikeway.

Traffic calming is the end result of the infrastructure changes that we make.

It's not a bikeway.

Uh, there's not actually anything in uh this design that anyone who bikes would call a bikeway on this project.

And this uh corridor at 34th Avenue is part of the all ages and abilities network.

It's supposed to have a bikeway.

Um, so there's there were more opportunities here that we didn't take to take that traffic calming to the next level, narrowing the car space in order to add a bike lane.

You know, we decided we're gonna put in traffic circles, do the traffic calming, and then kind of call it a day.

And there's more room for improvement there.

Uh I did want to highlight from a process perspective the existence of this checklist, the fact that I can go online and see exactly how the city is thinking about implementing the complete streets policy on any given project is a huge transparency win.

This didn't exist 10 years ago.

There was no way for me to know without like finding the right person who's in charge of the project and like calling them and being like, what do you think?

And hoping that they would give me an answer.

So this is this is like a really great win from a process perspective, from a transparency perspective.

Important for us for you all to be able to see the justifications and logic for why we're deciding what we're deciding.

And I think this project is still a net win.

Traffic calming moves us in a direction where our neighborhoods aren't so centered around moving vehicle traffic, but instead designed for people, dedicated bikeways where people of all ages and abilities will actually feel welcome to bike, are also an important part of that, and we need to act like it.

So in summary, I wanna say this project design very likely would have been measurably less effective at advancing our climate and transportation goals, which go hand in hand with preventing climate breakdown induced challenges like flooding without input from the bicycle advisory committee.

And yet we're still in a place where we need to advance more projects more transformatively in order to be able to meet our goals around reducing driving, create communities that are welcoming and affordable, and undo decades-long legacies of classism and racism embedded in our built environment.

So the BAC looks forward to being a continued partner in that effort.

I wanted to close today with a reminder and an invitation.

We do this work, as I said at the top, to help people get where they need to go more easily and joyfully.

People who bike do it for many reasons that can change day to day.

Because they want to live out their values around climate action, because it's cheaper than driving, especially right now, uh, because they don't want to figure out how to park at Art of World, because they wanna get some exercise, because it's the fastest way to help a neighbor in need, because they want to spend quality time with their kids or their grandkids.

I do it because I love being outside no matter the time of year.

I love to move my body, and there is nothing I love more than running into my neighbors and friends while on a bike to be able to say hi.

So I wanna invite you to get on a bike for whatever reason moves you.

There's no better way to understand how far we've come and how far we have left to go.

Thank you.

I'll stand for questions.

Yeah, thank you so much for this presentation.

I see Councilmember Vita on Q.

Thank you, Chair Wandsley.

I just wanted to thank you and the members of the bicycle advisory commission for your work on the 35th Avenue project.

Um, you know, I know you didn't get everything you want, but there is a future in, you know, figuring things out.

This is a huge change for the neighborhood.

I think a really good change for the neighborhood.

And so I'm looking forward to you all continuing to work with my office and the neighborhood on the future of not only uh 35th, but many other corridors in North Minneapolis.

But I I really do appreciate the time the commission spent on giving feedback, looking through the project, coming out and visiting the exact project.

I think that meant a lot to the community.

So thank you.

Thank you for that.

Seeing if there's anyone else in queue.

These are like the most happiest presentations and not contentious things.

So this is like I think a win for the body.

Any happy comments?

No, all right.

Uh well, again, thank you both for coming down.

Um, and also for staff.

I know we um, as uh leadership of this committee really was excited to make sure we had the voices of our bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees be amplified here.

Um I think we often hear across all of our ABCs or advisory boards and commissions, um, the encouragement for council to do more proactive engagement in um with them as our policy, you know, advisory constituencies here at City Hall and the BAC and the PAC, I think is one of the best examples of when we have those committees like staffed properly with like our top experts and also bringing in the city's most brilliant just talents when it comes to how we make our C our streets more equitable.

Um, that's in alignment with our goals of you know, making sure that three out of every five trips is being done through multimodal means.

You all are literally amazing and could probably also go run transit and probably are already like transit um departments all across the city.

And I'm glad that you choose in your voluntary capacity to um serve us and helping make sure that we're doing um the best with our infrastructure designs and street designs.

So I just want to say thank you all for coming down.

Thank you to staff for making sure we had this presentation reflected um in our committee agenda.

Um, so with that, we'll ask our clerks to receive and file this presentation and now colleagues, the last thing um you will see item 26 uh which is the climate equity action plan.

Um we were set to receive and file a presentation tied to that plan but due to timing um I'm gonna be moving this item to our next CNI meeting where we will be joined by Deputy Commissioner Health Department uh Patrick Helen and the Director of Climate Equity Action Megan Hoy, um who will give that update on um that plan and reports on the impacts and outcomes of climate funds as year two dates.

So seeing if there's any questions from our committee members about that.

Great no need to take a motion that will be postponed for our next meeting and with that we've concluded everything I hope everyone enjoyed Juneteenth um try to not work for those of us who are of this color and yes I hope everyone have a good day.

Just us everyone yes but everyone have a good day.

All right bye