Call the meeting of the St.

Paul City Council to order.

Roll call, please.

Kim?

Here.

Yang.

Here.

Bowie.

Here.

Coleman.

Here.

Johnson.

Here.

Joast.

Here.

Council President Maker.

Here.

Seven present, no one absent.

Welcome everyone.

It is so exciting to see a packed house for our city council meeting.

It's like this every single week.

We invite you all to join us and stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States America.

And to our public, which is one individual.

Liberty is strong.

Consent agenda items three through 17 are before you for your consideration.

Is there anything to be taken for separate consideration?

Ms.

Johnson.

Yes, thank you, uh Council President.

I'd like to take item number 15, please.

15, Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you.

I'd like to take number 11.

11.

11 and 15.

Anything else?

Seeing that I'll take a motion from Ms.

Yang for the balance of the consent agenda.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The consent agenda is adopted as amended.

Item 11 is resolution 25-1677, approving the legislative hearing officers' recommendation with conditions for the application submitted by the University of St.

Thomas to add an entertainment B license and expand liquor service areas under the existing liquor on sale 291 or more seats license located at 2115 Summit Avenue.

Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you, Council President.

Um I would like to make a motion to approve the license application, and just wanted to open the discussion with a brief comment.

Um, when I first heard about this liquor license or liquor license application, I had not yet been elected to the city council.

Like many in the neighborhood, I or near the neighborhood, I was concerned that it was overly broad or that it might have negative consequences for the residents of the community.

In this quasi-judicial role, like my colleagues, I'm required to make a decision based solely upon the evidence in the record and without bias.

In this instance, and despite my earlier reservations, I'm confident that the record requires us to approve this license.

Despite some initial misconceptions, the record makes it clear that this license isn't about ensuring alcohol can be sold at the new arena, not willy-nilly across campus.

Perhaps most importantly, to my mind is the condition that the license and its conditions be reviewed on an annual basis.

If there are calls to UST security regarding patron behavior at campus events at which liquor is sold, those will be reviewed by the city each year and will be used to determine whether this license should remain in place.

Taken together, this information is sufficient to confirm that um to confirm that this liquor license should be approved.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Coleman.

Really appreciate your pulling that from consent to give some more context and appreciate your thoughtful approach as well as the reminder that this is a quasi-judicial issue, so we're required to evaluate it using different criteria than we might otherwise.

Um the motion was for approval.

Any discussion of the motion, further discussion?

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item 15 is resolution 25-1728, establishing the membership of the reparations harm study RFP review committee to review proposals received from the reparations harm study RFP.

Ms.

Johnson and then Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you so much.

Um, Council President and to our colleagues, and especially because we have a full house today, and I'm not sure fully uh you know whether or not folks are excited to come talk about this consent agenda item number 15.

Uh, but I will say that I had a chance to review all of the community organizations and all of the direct emails that came either to our office or to the council about this matter, and I just want to say thank you to your continued commitments for the city reparations work.

I want to start by acknowledging the deep love and investment that I have and that our community brings to this work, and to affirm that the city's commitment to a credible community-driven and justice-centered reparations process remains unwavering.

I also want to and feel compelled to have to address some of the confusion and misinformation that has been circulated in the recent days regarding item number 15.

This resolution was related to the comprehensive reparations harm report and establishing what would we what would be a review committee.

Since the beginning of this year, my office has worked closely with the St.

Paul Reparations Commission.

It's an 11-member body that has been appointed by the council, all of which whom I identify as as African American descendants of slavery, all um who have worked with city attorney's offices, procurement staff, or the city uh council operations to ensure that the harm report that community asked for is taking place and that the process was transparent, compliant with the city policies, and aligned with the commission's unanimously adopted framework in April of 2025.

This process once again began in April of 2025 when the commission adopted the framework, the scope of work, and identified what the review uh process would look like.

It has been in place since April of 2025 with the RFP published in August of 2025.

The RFP closed October 3rd.

It was reviewed last month by this by an evaluation group that consisted of how it was directed by the commission, with both council member council member Bowie and Councilmember in my office being represented, city staffs, and the selected appointed commission member from the commission.

Unfortunately, this version of the resolution that appears in today in today's agenda was introduced without my coordination.

In fact, our office was completely left out of the process, and we were not aware that it was even going to be on the agenda.

The reparations staff lead and the commission itself were not notified that this was going to be something that we would do, thus the reason why there has been so much confusion and questions around the matter.

It also does not reflect the legal and procedural guidance that we have received by our city attorneys or by the procurement process.

It is my understanding that the council was aware of that, because that guidance came directly from the city attorney's office and from procurement staff.

The city's director of operations has already documented the communications timeline to confirm that staff and commission members know where we are in the process, how they follow the procurement steps.

However, a contradictory resolution was introduced without that guidance, without that information, and honestly has created so much confusion for staff and for my community.

And it poses a real legal, financial and procedural risk that, if left uncorrected, could jeopardize this entire piece.

For those reasons, I'm actually going to be moving a motion to approve a version two of resolution 251728.

This version reaffirms the authority and leadership of the reparations commission in its guiding process.

It aligns with what the city attorneys and procurement staff have given us directly to protect the integrity of the process.

But most importantly, it ensures that the promise that we made to the commission that we have appointed, that we will hold true to the 2025 timeline and the funding commitments that they have asked us since April to do with the comprehensive report.

My intent here is not to slow this process, but to safeguard it to work with so many of the people that built this process and something that has actually been led entirely by ADOS and Identifying Commission members who supported an all ADOS identifying review team, ADS identifying staff, and for the first time in St.

Paul's history, two ADOS Identifying Council members to lead this work.

I want to take the time to say thank you to all of those that did write in about this.

This is not something that I genuinely appreciate doing.

Um, but was given no choice when I wasn't when I was excluded from a process that I've been involved in since I took office.

But my ultimate goal remains the same.

We appointed a count uh commission.

That commission has spoken.

The chair of that commission, the chair of the subcommittee on the harm report, has also shared that their desires are true to ensuring that this this harm report is not slowed, that the process that has been in place is put forward and moved forward by this body, and that they will be the end of that will be the body that will continue to advise us work moving forward.

And so that is why I'm bringing forward that motion.

And I move uh approval of version two of resolution 251728.

Thanks, Ms.

Johnson.

So the motion is for a version two that is already in Legislatar.

Yes, that is correct.

All right, discussion on the motion, Ms.

Bowie.

Council President, I respectfully will ask that we have a discussion on version one.

I do appreciate uh councilmember Johnson giving her um context around version two.

Um, but as the sponsor of this resolution, and this resolution was driven um uh by guided by our city attorney, um, our council attorney, and also by procurement.

This was not something that came left field.

It was very uh uh transparent, and I had shared with council member Johnson and also with other council members, particularly about this resolution being entered.

Um, this resolution has also been reviewed and in support of three um of the reparations commissioners um and their public comments is also on record.

Um this uh resolution has also been in conversations and engaged by the chair and also the the chair of the subcommittee for the RFP.

Um I think it will just do it justice and do this process justice if we uh have opportunity to truly examine version one.

I don't think we should circumvent a process that does not give the attention to the original version that was submitted.

So I will be going down on that for us to have a critical and honest and necessary conversation about this resolution that I have sponsored.

Okay.

Thanks, Ms.

Bowie.

Uh, there is a motion on the table for version two.

I'm gonna entertain further discussion of that motion.

Um, and Ms.

Bowie, I think this is also a good opportunity to discuss version one in response to version two.

That way, folks who want to vote for version one can vote down version two and then and then vote for version one.

So I'm looking to see if if you or others have additional comments.

Ms.

Bowie.

Um, I think procedurally, you know, we can talk about which versions we want to um vote on, uh, but I think procedurally, we have uh staff here that can also lend um to some um um um insight on this because I'm not sure that the council is well versed about the harm study.

Um the harm study has not even came to our to our to our desk to even be reviewed, and I think it's really important that as we have um our deputy director here, um and we also I see we have our chair here, and we have the chair of the subcommittee here that we give um adequate time to be able to ask them questions about this process.

Okay.

Further discussion.

Um, and to Miss Bowie's point, if there are questions for staff, we can entertain those as well.

Ms.

Johnson.

Thank you.

I and I um I respectfully just want to respond to some of the pieces that uh were shared.

The I know that staff has actually been able to brief uh extensively council member offices and multiple fronts, but I just wanted to um uh director Wilms, I would love for you to just share the communications uh if you have any staff communication that you'd like to clarify on the timelines of the of the harm report and how it's come so far, simply starting with uh both the approval process of the actual scope of work in April and then the RFP process open and closure dates for clarification.

Mr.

Welms.

Thank you, Council President and Council Member uh Council members.

Um the uh harm report RFP timeline began uh you know much before August 2024, but in August 2024, the reparations commission um had the first official action by recommending funding for a harm report study and an associated budget allocation of 500,000.

Uh later, several months later, the city council in December 2024 adopted uh uh and an appropriated budgets or a budget amount of 250,000 set aside for to advance the reparations uh work, including the harm report.

Uh, and then beginning in January through March, there was ongoing coordination with the reparations commission about the next steps for RFP development.

Uh, there's also coordination within the city.

Uh, in March, Deputy Director of Procurement briefed the reparations commission on the RFP process requirements uh and next steps in May of 2025.

I also briefed the reparations commission on the upcoming RFP publication.

Uh in June 2025, Veronica Burt, our legislative aid to the reparations commission provided an update uh to council, and the reparations commission began drafting uh a draft RFP document.

This was voted on in July 2025, and then uh Veronica updated the reparations commission again on the quiet period of the RFP.

And uh, and then in in early August, there was email correspondence from Veronica Burt to the full city council on the draft RP.

We separately solicited feedback on all parts of the RFP that was going to be published.

Um the RFP was then uh published in late August uh near the end of September due to low response rates, the RFP submission deadline was extended.

So in both cases, those deadlines were communicated and uh included correspondence to all council members and the reparations commission uh in October, early October 2025, the RFP officially closed on October 3rd.

Uh and then we moved into the next step of reviewing the uh submitted RFPs.

Thank you, Director Wells.

And um, just for clarification on them on the motion being made forward, Mr.

Stigley.

Um, can you also just for the record as well just share when a motion is being made for it?

That motion would have to be voted on as is.

Yeah, there's a motion before council.

I think that motion is uh you can call the vote if you'd like or continue discussion.

Okay, thank you.

And I'm gonna ask my colleagues just to let's keep our discussion short if we can.

We have a lot of folks here for a lot of other matters, so we'll thank you.

Um I just want to just make it very plain.

Um I do appreciate um uh city council director Jay Williams providing that context.

It's of my awareness that many of the council members here is the first time they're even hearing about that process.

It's of my awareness that um many of the commissioners who have wrote letters that they were not even aware of the process.

They were not aware of the timeline, they have never even seen an RFP, they did not even provide input into that RFP, and I think you know, I'm this is not to point fingers around the process.

I think the process could have been golden and solid, but the outcomes is what we're what I'm basing this off of.

My reaction and the reason why there is a resolution um this agenda is because how is it that we are having a harm study report that's based off of reparations, but yet the communities that's been most impacted are not even made aware or engaged in that process, and they have stated that very loud and clear.

Just a couple um meetings.

We just had a library board meeting where we heard about the strong partnership of Halley Q Brown being the life of the community and how they are a strong partner, particularly with providing library services, but yet they are not a partner with this reparations commission.

We also have heard from the African American Leadership Council, which is a body that's represented of the NAACP, St.

Paul NAACP, the most historic black legacy organization in this city, and they are not part of the process.

They were not even aware of the process, they were already even engaged.

How is it that we have also had the Aurora St.

Anthony Development Corporation that is like the heart of Rondo, making sure we're building and housing and affordable housing and economic development in Rondo, and they are not made aware about this process, they're not even made aware about the RFP.

This was dollars, a quarter million of public dollars of taxpayers' dollars that was supposed to be invested in driving a process that has outcomes that benefit the descendants of chattel slavery, but yet all organizations that represent that community and serve that community was not made aware of it.

Now, as a council member who represents Rondo, born and raised in Rondo, it is very important that even the council member who's part of this is not take it's not erased.

So we can move forward with a community driven process and have a better process where the very people who are driving this work and our subject matter expertise, part of this work, be part of that process, or we can continue perpetuating harm, and we are going to, in the name of a reparation study, by having a process that literally community is clearly have said they have not been engaged.

They are not driving this process.

And I want to make very very clear the reason why I wrote this reparations or excuse me, wrote this resolution.

I did not want this conversation to be in a public display.

I tried hard to work with councilmember Johnson.

I just even I have text messages, screenshots, texting council member Johnson saying, hey, I have concerns about the inadequate outreach.

Would you be interested in opening or reissuing this RFP?

She texts me back saying, Thank you, I agree.

But something got lost in the in the in the translation.

When I brought this to um uh excuse me, uh uh the director's attention and brought this also, um uh the coordinator, excuse me, the legislative aide, Veronica Burt had brought it to my attention that there was an RFP that went open and closed, and when I had asked what happened, what was the engagement?

I didn't get anything that was satisfactionary that I can actually go back to my community and say the quarter million dollars that we dedicated to drive the work of this reparations commission does not benefit you and does not include you.

I can't do that.

I can't do that.

Thanks, Ms.

Bowie.

I I see a couple of other hands, and then I think we're gonna call for a vote.

Um I saw Ms.

Yang and then Vice President Kim.

Thanks, Council President.

Well, first I want to say thank you, uh Councilmember Bowie and Councilmember Johnson for all of your comments and really your hard work on the reparations commission here.

This is a project that is um is highly valued by the council here, which is why there was unanimous unanimous support for it and also to put funding into this very important work too.

I um I will make very quick comments by sharing that I will be supporting version two.

I as I'm reflecting on it, I mean just thinking about the comments, the public comments that came through.

There was support for version two from um strong support for it from uh from commissioners who currently serve on the the um St.

Paul Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission.

And so I feel comfortable with that, but I do want to note that it is really unsettling just hearing the conversations that's being unfolded here, and I am concerned about the um what we are hearing.

I think that it's really important for um the council to revisit revisit this conversation with our staff directly and also just to really have more oversight around the commission overall.

Thanks, Ms.

Yang.

Um Vice President.

Um I just will echo uh a lot of the comments made by my colleagues on the side of the table, and I think um for me personally, this isn't actually the first time that I've been aware of the harm study.

I've been fraud along, I think, pretty well in terms of understanding when this vote was potentially coming to council, kind of what the impact could be, the scope of the work, um, and also who who was included in that decision.

So um I'm gonna call the question.

All right, there was a motion to call the question, which requires a vote.

Yes, you would need five people to vote in favor to call the question, which ends debate and takes the vote.

Yes.

Okay.

Motion to call the question.

Uh all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

No.

Six in favor, one opposed being council member Bowie.

The discussion is ended.

Okay.

So the motion is for the amendments in version two.

We'll take a vote on the amendments, and then we'll take a vote on the entire resolution as amended by version two if version two is adopted.

So the first motion is for version two.

Um all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

No.

Six in favor, one opposed being council member Bowie.

The amendment is approved.

And we understand.

Okay.

Right.

Version two needs not working for this democracy in motion, ladies and gentlemen.

It's all happening right here, live.

All right.

Uh, so we will now take a motion on the entire resolution as amended in version two.

I think so.

So move to take a motion to understand.

So the vote vote we just took was to move the amendment.

So we still have not even heard about version one.

We have not had discussion on version one.

We've adopted version two.

The amendments in version two.

Um, motion to adopt version two.

So moved.

Okay.

All in favor say aye.

Discussion point.

Um, discussion.

Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you.

Um, council president.

I also want to just share that uh there I want to uh actually move a version three uh because I think right now I have not heard from my colleagues at all.

I only heard of two other ones.

Um and I think everyone had a chance to actually review the public comment.

Um I would like to move a version three that gives the council members the um um uh uh basically to review the RFP because I think there is a really important um that we all know what we're voting and supporting of.

Um I think it's really important to know how we're going to be spending uh 250,000 to do a study that has clearly not been informed by the community that it's supposed to be uh actually serving.

Okay.

Thank you, Ms.

Bowie.

We we have a motion on the table for the amended resolution, which we need to adopt.

If there's a version, another resolution that needs to be coming later, we can do that.

But right now we don't have a version three in front of us, and we have a motion on the table that we need to move forward with.

Any further discussion of that motion?

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

No.

Six in favor, one opposed.

The resolution is adopted as amended.

Item 18 is resolution 25-1701 authorizing the city to enter into a memorandum of understanding with MINDAT regarding the reconstruction of Robert Street between an Apple Street and Calog Boulevard.

Uh so this is an item that I'm actually going to speak briefly about with the item that comes right after it.

Um, this is a really big moment for the West Side community.

Um, this is authorizing municipal consent for the Robert Street reconstruction, critical throughway, and part of our community on the west side, something that has needed this um reconstruction for many reasons pedestrian safety, trees, vibrancy, sidewalks, um, and the roadway condition itself for many years.

Um, my colleagues will probably remember that we had an in-depth conversation and public hearing about this um about a month ago, and heard a great deal as from the community, especially demands for a Robert Street accountability task force.

Um, primary among them.

So the first item here is uh authorizing us to enter into an MOU with MINDOT to uh among other things establish that task force, and that task force actually has already begun to meet.

Um so thank you in advance, or actually thank you for already doing it to uh our MINDAT partners who are here for being part of that.

Um, and thank you to Westside Community Organization.

Monica Bravo is here um and with her leadership and West Coast leadership.

We have created, I think, a really wonderful process and task force.

The rest of the MOU calls for um the design to accommodate future uses of sidewalk cafes and sidewalk seating, which is something that was really important to the community.

Um, to commit MINDOT and the city to having a construction staging workshop to make sure we work with small area businesses to talk about options for construction staging that are the least impactful to their to their business, and then finally for both the city and min dot to coordinate detours and schedules for large events to make sure that we're doing our best to keep this as low impact as a road reconstruction that hasn't happened in many many decades can possibly be.

Um so with that, I would move uh first the MOU and then after that granting municipal consent to MINDOT.

Um, and again, thank you so much to Mindot to uh Wesco and Monica and to our staff for all of their work on this.

Any discussion of the motion?

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Is that a no, Ms.

Bowie?

No.

Yeah.

Okay.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Six in favor, one opposed, being council member Bowie.

The resolution is adopted.

Item 19 is resolution 25-1702, granting municipal consent for min dot project to reconstruct Robert Street from an Annapolis Street to Kellogg Boulevard, including the reconstruction of the Viaduct south of Caesar Chavez Boulevard.

And I would again move approval.

Any discussion of the motion.

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Was that a no, Councilmember Fui?

That was a aye.

Okay.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item 20 is resolution 25-1679, honoring St.

Paul Veterans on Veteran Day, November 11th, 2025.

And I would love to welcome Tom Miller from our Veterans Employee Resource Network group.

Um, Tom's not here.

I was like, neither of you look like Tom.

If you don't mind, welcome up.

Um, I'd love to just give you a few moments just to introduce yourself for the record.

Um, let us know a little bit more about Vern, then we'll take action on the resolution, then I'll come up and read a little bit of it and give uh time for comments.

But please go ahead.

All right, good afternoon, Council President, members of the city council.

Uh, just real quick, my name is Mike Lovis.

I work for uh the the Department of Emergency Management.

I'm a major in the Army National Guard, been in for over 22 years.

Uh proud to serve in the city, for the city, with the city, uh with many other veterans of all the branches of service, including this fine retired senior chief petty officer over here.

Uh, and we do great work for the city, and uh we're very proud to be recognized as we come upon Veterans Day and what it all means for both us as veterans and uh our nation and frankly the world, as it was Armistice Day originally.

So thank you for this opportunity.

The the group, the Vern Network is a great group of veterans who come together to just support each other within the city as we work hard on behalf of all the the people uh in and around City of St.

Paul.

Thank you.

Go Navy beat Army.

That's Odell Brown, City Attorney's Office, just to be for the record.

Yes, Odale Brown, City Attorney's Office.

Thank you, City Council, President, Council members, for this opportunity.

We really appreciate the support, as well as the fellow vets in this room.

Thank you.

And thank you so much for everything that Vern does, and in addition to your full-time jobs, taking the time to make sure we're honoring and recognizing our veterans, not just on Veterans Day next Tuesday, but every day.

Um and there is a flag disposal box um in my office.

I'm the council liaison for Vern, um, and in many other locations um in the city and many other events that take place as a result of your efforts.

So thank you.

Um, I will move the resolution, and then I would love to see if there's any discussion, and then I will just go down and read a bit of it, and then we'll vote.

So, any discussion of the motion.

Ms.

Yang and then Ms.

Johnson.

Thank you, Council President.

Well, I want to say thank you for your service, and thank you for coming back every year to um honor Veterans Day.

I still remember when you all made a video and they had uh photos of all of our city staff who um who served and were veterans, and it's just so moving to see the work that you all have done for our country and how you continue to contribute in public service in our city as well.

You make our city a wonderful place and you strengthen us and our residents.

So thank you for your very hard work.

Thank you, Ms.

Yang.

Ms.

Johnson.

And my uh comments are very similar, so I'll keep that brief, but simply just say thank you for bringing this forward.

Thank you for allowing council to shed light on uh being able to thank our veterans while they're here and thank you for their service as well.

It's important to make sure that we're making that time to do so, so we appreciate any time to be able to do that.

I appreciated being able to sponsor and support it last year, and it's really important to bring it back this year.

So thank you for your service and thank you for your commitment.

Thank you.

I think I saw Miss Coleman.

Oh, no, I didn't.

Okay.

But feel free to echo my colleagues, and thank you both for your service.

Open invitation.

Uh okay, great.

Um, so if there's no further discussion of the motion, um we I will go down and read it for a second, and then we will take a vote on it.

Okay.

Uh as I do this, I just want to let folks know that there's nothing wrong with the two benches right here.

They are perfectly citable, honorable.

Uh, and if you're feeling like you don't want to stand anymore, feel free to come on over and sit.

We're all friends.

Uh that's a different pouch.

We got a bunch of flags today.

All right.

Whereas the St.

Paul City Council recognizes with deep respect the veterans and military personnel who exemplify a legacy of service, dedication, and commitment to protecting our shared rights and freedoms.

And whereas Veterans Day provides an opportunity to honor all who have served in the uniformed services, recognizing the diversity of their experiences and the dedication with which they've served our nation and communities.

Whereas the city of St.

Paul recognizes the ongoing work to ensure the inclusion and acceptance of our military personnel and veterans as part of an equitable city vision that also embodies the shared ideals of liberty and justice for all.

Skipping just a little bit.

Whereas the City of St.

Paul established the Veteran and Military Employee Resource Network, Vern, to recognize and support the incredible contributions of our veterans and military personnel.

Whereas we honor the courage, sacrifice, and dedication of all who have served, whose commitment has strengthened our nation, our communities, and the cause of peace around the world.

And whereas the city of St.

Paul appreciates the families, friends, agencies, and employers who support our veterans and military employees throughout this great city.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the St.

Paul City Council publicly honors all veterans and military personnel for their dedication, sacrifice, and service on Veterans Day, November 11th, 2025.

Thank you.

Let's take a vote just to make it official.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item 21, resolution 25-1717, honoring City Clerk Sherry Moore for nearly four decades of dedicated public service to the residents of St.

Paul.

So you know how sometimes they say this is the moment you've all been waiting for.

This is the moment we have hoped would never ever come.

Except maybe for Sherry.

Sherry Moore has been a rock.

And I'll say more once I read the resolution because I'll start crying if I keep looking at you.

But I know that I'm not speaking just for myself.

There are there are so many people in this room who are here for you, Sherry.

And who are uh it's just full of gratitude, full of love, and um full of the impossibility of imagining the city and this work without you.

Uh so I'm gonna read the resolution and then open it up for comments for my colleagues.

And this um uh this resolution says a lot, but it it barely scratches the surface.

Honoring Sherry Moore for her dedicated public service, where Sherry Moore has dedicated her entire career to public service at the city of St.

Paul, beginning in 1987 as a video production assistant in the council cable office, where she helped televise city council meetings and was recognized in June 1993 as council cable employee of the month.

I have to interrupt.

That was a joke by some friends of mine actually happened.

This is what happens when we don't let Sherry proofread the resolution.

I someone changed it back.

And whereas Sherry then moved to the city's information and complaint office, because she wanted more excitement, where she helped residents navigate government departments and processes to address their concerns while also serving as president of her union.

And whereas Sherry became the city's acting city clerk in 2005, and in addition to her many responsibilities, she served as the host clerk for the 2005 International Institute of Municipal Clerks annual meeting held in St.

Paul.

And whereas Sherry was appointed St.

Paul City Clerk in 2006, serving with distinction for 20 years with skill, integrity, and professionalism, ensuring the fair, accurate, and transparent administration of the city council's legislative process, administering countless oaths of office to elected and appointed officials.

Raise your hand if you were sworn in by Sherry Moore.

Just look around the room.

And fulfilling the many other essential duties of the clerk's office.

And whereas Sherry was instrumental in modernizing council operations, leading the transition from paper agendas and materials in 2024, just kidding, to a fully digital system through Legistar and streamlining the processes for preparing files for council consideration.

And whereas through her involvement in professional organizations, as former board member of the IIMC, current member of the IAMC Foundation Board, member of the League of Minnesota City's Human Resources and Data Practices Committee, Sherry introduced innovations like Granicus and its digital tools, enabling the city to be more responsive and transparent, particularly during the pandemic.

And whereas in her nearly four decades at the city of St.

Paul, Sherry worked with 49 council members.

And six mayoral administrations, holding fond memories of the many robust debates that unfolded in the council chambers over resolutions and ordinances shaping the city's future, occasionally accompanied by the unexpected distraction of an escaped gorilla, or a public testifier with a sugar glider inside her shirt.

We'll have to hear more about this.

And whereas Sherry's leadership, kindness, guidance, and steady presence have earned her the respect and admiration of colleagues across city government, and whereas her judgment, wisdom, and humor have left an enduring mark on the city council itself.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the St.

Paul City Council honors the career of City Clerk Sherry Moore, expresses gratitude for her decades of service, and extends warm wishes in her retirement.

And be it further resolved that the St.

Paul City Council hereby proclaims Wednesday, November 5th, 2025, as Sherry Moore Day in the City of St.

Paul.

Any discussion on the motion?

Everyone.

Ms.

Jost.

Thank you, Council President.

And now I'm going first.

So that's wonderful.

No question.

Sorry.

Um, I just have to say, Sherry, um, you know, as a new council member in this, you know, historic all women's city council, it was um just one of the biggest moments of my life where I didn't know what to expect, and um you stood there by us and helped guide us every step of the way onto that stage at the order with so many people watching us to be inaugurated, and I just remember putting my hand on my I guess it was a steel manual and looking and just said stare at Sherry the whole time, and she's gonna get me through this.

Um and I just want to thank you for that.

And from the moment that I started here, um you've really helped me step into this role and understand what what this role looks like, and I've learned learned so much from you.

Um I think that uh my predecessor Chris Tolbert, who is here would agree that the seat at the dais is the best seat in the house to get to sit next to you.

I know you get to too, but it's you're very busy there.

Um I I've just you know learned so much from you, like I said, that I probably haven't even realized yet.

And um, as a fellow Vikings fan, I just really appreciated you know sharing the fandom with you and uh you welcoming me uh into this role and into City Hall.

Uh I I also can't imagine what this will be like without you, but I am happy for you and I wish you the best in your retirement.

Thank you so much, Sherry.

Ms.

Johnson Longside pause for dramatic effect.

No blank.

I I personally think that one thing I will just share that I will always respect about you, Sherry, as the wealth of knowledge that you hold.

Um at times you were educating council members, you were educating the city attorneys who were basically sharing just the process as you've seen it play out for many, many years.

That historical context is not something that can be replicated.

Um it's learned through multiple administrations through multiple councils, um, but it's something that can be trusted each time we ask a question.

There are emails that I purposefully C C you are just because I think you will get me the right information.

Um you know your you know your stuff, but you also genuinely um operated in a way that I feel was felt was really genuine when we had four new council members joining um last year, in addition to new like the onboarding and just bringing people out to speed so make sure that we know what we're doing each day when there have been multiple times throughout the year that I watch uh council president turn to the left and then she'll turn to the right, and then she'll turn back to the left to confirm that um you know what has been shared, and I think that that's because truly, you know, there's nothing like uh a woman who knows her stuff.

That's right.

And Miss Moore, you are a woman who knows her stuff and has made her impact on the council, and it's been an honor to serve aside you.

Ms.

Yang.

And then vice president.

Thank you, Council President.

Well, Sherry, I'm really gonna miss working with you.

I believe you truly embody what we want a government and politics to be all about when when I think about all of my memories with you, I think about kindness.

Uh you are intelligent, you're so wise, and you always have a smile on your face, no matter if we are dealing with the most difficult stuff in front of us, or if it's um very joyful moments.

And uh, you know, to me, those that's that's what I you know, if I was somebody who was coming into City Hall here trying to, you know, um get help.

Like I would want to be um, I would want to meet somebody like you every step of the way.

And like you have done that for for all of the council members, all of the elected officials you have have supported.

And when I think about government and politics, I mean I think for for our mind directly goes to the people who we always see at the very front, you know, the ones who are loud or at the microphone and and being outspoken, but the ones who are are most important are the ones who are like you, who are the nuts and bolts to our work, who do the groundwork and really keep all of us together, and so I can't say enough how you have been that glue, not just for this council here, but for all of the people who have been at this table before.

And so I want to say thank you for your work because for decades and public service is you know, it is a very long time, but it also is um it showcases the commitment and love that you have for community, and I hope that when you think back to all of those years you've served here that um you know you received that you have received that love tenfold and that you are able to go into retirement doing all the all of the things that you have been wanting to do for a very long time now.

So thank you for all of your work.

Thank you, Vice President.

Um we'll see if I get to this.

Um so I many many years ago was uh sworn in on the planning commission, and it is one of the only times that Sherry Moore um got in her car that morning and made it halfway to work and was like, I'm actually really sick, turned around.

Um, but I would have had the distinct pleasure of being sworn in twice by Sherry Moore.

But luckily for me, and I was I say much more for me.

Um I get to work with you twice, once as the former um LA to the council president, and now as a council member.

And um you are, as my colleagues have described you, um, the steady hand, but you're also the heart of this office.

Like there's a part of you in sort of everything that we touch here at the table.

Like your your imprint on our community and on the city of St.

Paul is just very abundant and clear, and I hope that you walk away feeling just proud of those accomplishments and claud of proud of the legacy that you leave.

Um our millions of viewers at Holman in the Chambers, there's a part of our agenda that we get to where you can kind of feel we get into this good groove.

And the former council president would affectionately call it the Sherry Moore show.

Um, and I'm going to miss you a lot.

Um, thank you so much for your years of service, but most importantly for me, thank you for the many years of friendship.

You've provided incredibly sage advice for me, um, both as a very wily LA and now hopefully as a little more seasoned council member uh thanks to you.

So I'm looking forward to seeing you more socially than professionally, and congratulations on your retirement.

I'm gonna miss you a lot.

Thanks, BP.

Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you.

I will keep this short since I have only had the privilege of working with you for two months.

But I will say two things.

The first is that when you first announced your retirement, but I had not heard about it, somebody walked into my office looking more shell-shocked than anybody has walked into my office on the two months that I have done here, and they were like, Sherry's retiring.

And that sentiment has been echoed so many times by so many people in this building who are like, you don't even know what we're going to be missing when Sherry retires.

It's going to be devastating.

So while I hope and trust that you have laid a very strong foundation for us to continue on with the nuts and bolts of the work, I am it is just it is so universally acknowledged how important you are to the city and to this council and to the work that we are doing here.

And I feel very grateful to have been able to overlap.

And I hope you have just the absolute best retirement because it seems very clear that you have earned it.

Thanks, Ms.

Coleman.

Ms.

Bowie.

Council President Sherry, I just want to say I hope you feel so loved, and I hope you just remember and think about this day.

Um it's not too often that people get to build a career where they see so many bright um leaders.

Um, you have seen decades of the St.

Paul Council's history, and I just wanted to say I appreciate you bringing a human um aspect to the work that you do.

I appreciate your kindness, I appreciate your grace.

Um, and I also appreciate you know you you you uh um you working with me.

I I think um particularly I remember first coming in um to office and we were planning our swearing in, and um I remember I was like, no disrespect, Sherry, but the uh chief justice uh wants to swear me in.

Can I do that?

And had to learn really quick about the process and procedures and you know, staying um within those processes and procedures, but I do appreciate um how you're so informative and how you lend really truly your massive brain trust of uh to us.

And um, you know, when I think about good governance and how we ensure that people it's accessible um to everyone, I think you had a role to play with that, making sure we're modernizing our processes and making it more um um user-friendly, and I just appreciate um you know being part of that legacy and is having this opportunities for our our past to cross to be able to give you your flowers.

Thank you, Ms.

Bowie.

Um, it's really hard to follow all that, and I everything I think has been said.

I will I will just add, Sherry, that um the work that we do always feels a little bit fluid.

There's relationships, there's politics, there's discussion back and forth, especially on Wednesday.

Things feel very stressful and very messy, and often in this work I find that you just kind of want to know what is the rule, what is the law?

What is the bedrock that all of this is supposed to be based on?

Because ultimately that is grounding, and you are the law.

I don't mean that in a scary way, but you are the rule.

You you know what is what.

And every time I turn left and turn right and turn left and turn right, it's because like I need grounding.

And more than anything else, Sherry, you you love being a city clerk.

You love it.

And you love the city of St.

Paul.

And I can't imagine anything better, as my colleagues have said than getting to this point in your career, having worked so hard and done such an amazing job for something that you love so much.

Um, with that, um, we have more comments.

Oh, we have Jay.

I'm so tired.

It's okay.

Um Council President and Council members, it's a really tough act to follow, but um, thank you for indulging me.

I sherry, I wish you the best in retirement.

Um, you're a legend in these halls, and as has been noted, the longest city clerk the city's ever had.

Thank you, Greg, for doing that research to confirm it.

Um the the city owes you a debt of gratitude, and we all do too.

Um thank you for the support and the council and the wisdom.

Uh, and I'm gonna miss seeing your smiling face every morning as I walk in.

It's something I look forward to.

Um, and I'm also gonna miss hearing all the stories, the great stories that you've collected over the years.

Um, I do have one short story of my own to share.

Uh, before I stepped into the interim director role, I sat down with our former director, Bryn House, who uh wanted to be here but couldn't.

Um, and she sends her best.

But I sat down with her, and and during our conversation, Brynn gave me your thoughts about working in the role, working with the various staff members, and and yes, her opinion about the council members too.

Um and uh Brynn's comments to me uh about you were very quick and succinct and boiled down to oh Sherry's great, she's the best, she's ride or die.

And at first I didn't really know what it meant, but I I came to understand that meaning that once you once you earn her trust, she'll be with you until the end.

And um it's true, you know, you've earned uh everyone's trust, and uh you know, I hope I've earned that trust with you, and I hope to be ride or die for you until the end.

Although I I want to add that I certainly hope this isn't the end.

Um, and that you'll come by and visit, and you'll answer my calls when I have fear in my voice, and we don't know what to do around here.

But um, I just want to say from me and on behalf of the staff, past and present, thank you.

Thanks, James.

Before we take a vote, um, Ms.

Moore, any comments?

Oh boy.

Um this has been the right of my life.

Sorry.

I couldn't imagine my life going any other way.

This has been a privilege.

Um you said I love St.

Paul with all my heart, and I love being a city clerk, and I love all of you and everyone else I've worked with throughout the years, all of my colleagues and from other cities.

Um it just has been a perfect career, and there's too many people to name, so I just I just want to say thank you so much.

This means a lot to me.

Uh, I think we all want to lay this resolution over as long as possible.

But I think we do need to adopt it.

I will take a motion from Ms.

Coleman uh for adoption.

Um, and want to just again recognize all the many, many friends and fans who are here to celebrate Sherry, and I hope all of you will take the time to share your memories and celebrate her outside of these chambers and um and in many other occasions in the future.

And of course, feel free to stick around for the rest of our meeting.

Uh all in favor of the motion, say aye.

Hi.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The resolution is adapted.

All right.

Item 22 is final adoption of ordinance 25-61, amending chapter 74 of the legislative code by enacting a new section designating the Theater Ham Brewing Company Heritage Preservation District as a heritage preservation site.

And that is what is known around here as a hard pivot.

Uh Ms.

Johnson.

Thank you, Council President.

Uh, yes, I uh genuinely, it's hard to like okay, collect yourself.

All right, so I just want to say thank you for uh being able to go through this process with us.

It was uh wonderful to hear about this uh this item and also just to see it come forward from staff from community from all of the places you can see in the record and just having a chance to uh hear the public hearing, having a chance to review the record as it stands.

I um wanna just take thank you to the members that took the time to uh either come in person or submit letters.

Um our office read through them once again.

I think it's really important to review things that come through and have been following it.

Um as a proud e-sider and a member of the city council, I'm deeply honored and excited to support the historic designation of the theater Hams Brewery site.

Um, this landmark is more than a collection of old buildings.

It's a cornerstone of our city's identity, it's a symbol of resilience and a bridge between the industrial past and our creative future.

For generations, Hams Brewery was one of the St.

Paul's largest employers and a source of pride on the east side.

It's a story that reflected who we were as a community.

It was heartworking, it was innovative, and it was committed to reinventing ourselves in the face of change.

And even during the prohibition, when many brewers close, hands found a way to survive producing soft drinks and other goods.

That adaptability speaks volumes to how that site has constantly adapted to the times.

Um, what excites me the most about the site is that it continues to evolve.

The transformation of uh part of this campus into St.

Paul Brewering and the future of the economic and housing opportunities also shows that it's being uh that it's this preservation and progress continues to go hand in hand.

The future, even the excitement surrounding the potential of having affordable housing on this site, is true proof that we're honoring our history by continuing to fuel this future and also adding to it.

Um by designating the Hams Brewery as a historic landmark, we're not just protecting buildings, we're preserving the stories of the people who built it in the city.

We're working um to save old buildings that truly need a lot of tender love and care, honestly.

Um, and with that, it comes with expenses, it comes with ensuring that folks who are invested in our community are invested in our city, know that the legacy and that generation is important to do it.

I um with you know, I will be moving a motion to adopt the to for final to approve the final adoption, and part because I think we owe it to our community.

This is actually a housing and redevelopment authority project that for the last 20 years has touched four ward seven council members before, um, Councilmember Lantry, Councilmember Fenny, Councilmember uh Prince, and now our office as well.

And I think it's a sign that there is a future that deserves this designation that deserves this investment, and I am looking forward to being able to work on this project, continuing to bring this forward because as I shared before, the future of this site is housing.

And so um I think this is a proud symbol of that, and it's a sign that we are continuing the legacy of the ham site, and we're adapting to the times and the needs of now, and we're moving past uh St.

Paul's past.

We're moving into what could be the future.

Thank you, Ms.

Johnson.

Um, and I neglected to say during the transition, the hard pivot that um we are entering the ordinance section of our agenda.

All of our ordinances have three readings, um, and we sort of take them in reverse order.

So anything before us for final adoption, which this is, has already had at least two previous readings.

At the first reading, we get a staff report to understand what we're looking at.

The second reading, we typically, usually at the second reading, we have a public hearing.

Sometimes that's extended, um, where we hear from the public about the item, and then finally at the at the last reading or the or the final adoption, we are looking at taking a vote on the item.

So anything that is um what Ms.

Johnson was just talking about, this number 22 has already gone through that entire process, and you're gonna be seeing in a moment some other ordinances that are just starting or at different stages of that process.

Um, so thank you for your comments in your motion, Ms.

Johnson.

There's a motion for adoption.

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed, seven in favor, no one opposed.

The ordinance is adopted.

Item 23 is first reading of ordinance 25-66, creating chapter 420 of the legislative code, establishing regulations for the registration of cannabis in hemp businesses, creating chapter 428 of the legislative code, establishing a permit requirement and process for temporary cannabis events, and amending section 310.01 to add a definition for cannabis fees.

And because this is a first reading, we will have a staff report.

So welcome up, Mr.

Nanjalik.

Thank you.

Uh, before I begin, I must say, Sherry, thank you.

Always being there at the end of an email and a voicemail, especially the urgent and chaotic one.

So thank you so much.

We will miss you, but very much appreciate your service to the city of St.

Paul.

So thank you.

Council President, um, council members, um, good afternoon.

My name is Dan Eujelik, Deputy Director for the Department of Safety and Inspections.

I want to thank you for the opportunity for me to present today on a series of ordinance related to cannabis and lower potency hemp edible uh businesses in the city of St.

Paul.

Um for most of you, this is gonna be a refresher.

We talked about a couple months ago at a organizational study session.

Where there we learned that the Minnesota Statute 342 provides cities the ability to adopt and enforce ordinances related to cannabis and lower potency hemp edible businesses, but only specific aspects of it.

A lot of it is controlled by statute, but we do have some small niches that we will take advantage of in terms of making that sure it's tailored to the city of St.

Paul.

Accordingly, last year you adopted zoning code amendments where these uses are permitted.

Today, before your considerations are two things.

One is the registration of cannabis and lower potency hemp edible retail establishments, as well as basically events for temporary cannabis events.

So those are the two items for ordinance amendments before you.

This includes standards for acceptance and denial, required youth compliance checks, and required fees, all set by statute.

There are two aspects of significant city determination, which is the number of businesses allowed, as well as the hours of operation.

We are proposing no cap on the number of businesses.

And in terms of hours, we're recommending that they align with the hours of off-sale liquor, with the exception being for those with an on-sale liquor license, their hours would be what their liquor license hours would be.

So really trying to align for the customer for the business or the commonality that people sort of know what the hours are going to be.

Once again, a lot of this is established in state statute.

So once again, it's from a model ordinance.

But in re and some of the things that are in statute, just to sort of go over one is limiting entrance for those who are 21 years of age and over.

The event cannot be longer than four days.

On-site consumption during event must not be visible to an adjacent public space, and no consumption of alcohol at the event.

And so with that, I'll take any questions.

Thanks so much, Mr.

Nigelik.

And as Mr.

Nanjal mentioned, we did have a policy session on this topic.

So hopefully folks are somewhat familiar with what's being proposed, but any questions for staff.

All right, seeing none, thank you so much.

Thank you.

And the ordinance is laid over to November 12th for second reading public hearing.

Item 24 is first reading of ordinance 25-67, amending chapter 170.02 of the legislative code to allow the director of parks and recreation to adjust the hours of certain parks to accommodate for park use during the 2025 World Junior Hockey Championship.

And we will have a staff report.

Items 24 to 28 are all of a kind.

They're all about creating something of a green light district, allowing things to happen that normally wouldn't be allowed without much more extensive permitting to increase vibrancy in the city during the World Juniors uh hockey championship.

Um so I'm what first of all I want to thank uh director Angelizy and uh Deputy Mayor Jamie Tincher for her leadership in proposing these.

I'm hopeful that if all goes well, we can use this sort of green light district for other times as well to increase vibrancy.

But Director Weasy, welcome.

And if you wouldn't mind giving us a brief update on 242 28, thank you, Council President, and um I had a visual, but I don't know how to log into this computer.

So uh it's not necessary, but the yes, we have five separate ordinances.

These are considered temporary, you know, they're just during the world juniors uh duration.

But because of how our city charter is uh established, we actually have to make ordinance changes that just specify the duration that the uh change applies to.

So they are legitimate ordinance changes.

I think the one that you'll see um that is unique is the for liquor service.

We're actually also deleting one from um it actually says like the World Cup, which was not in St.

Paul, by the way.

It was uh misstated in how it was approved as an ordinance, but we're actually deleting that as part of this ordinance adoption because it no longer applies.

Uh so the five different ones are um sidewalk use, and by the way, I have uh been full support and cooperation, and I'm representing here our parks director Andy Rodriguez and our uh public works director um Sean Kershaw.

Also, as you mentioned, council president, full support of Mayor Carter and Deputy Mayor Tincher on what we're calling a permit holiday.

And the uh I think the mayor like almost danced when I suggested that we do this, and uh happy that our city attorney's office was able to do a quick turnaround on these so that we could get them in place and applicable by uh world juniors, which is a very tight timeline if you do your math on this.

So the first one is are you able to find it or is it just not existing?

I send it to Megan, but that's okay.

It's all right.

No big deal.

We'll try to pull it up while it was just a pretty picture.

Um but for sidewalk use um in the what is the downtown entertainment district, which is a defined area of downtown.

There'd be a blanket approval sidewalk usage as long as a minimum uh width of 48 inches is maintained.

For uh we also were interested in doing something with signage.

Unfortunately, for the timing of this, we weren't able to do that since that requires going to the planning commission first.

Um, but we uh we are still interested in working with our downtown businesses on signage and making sure that the corridors is vibrant.

Uh for sound, and again, in the just the downtown entertainment district, a blanket allowance for up to 90 decibels uh between the hours of 9 a.m.

and 10 p.m.

Uh for tents in the downtown entertainment district.

There'd be no fee for any tent permits under 1,500 square feet.

They still have to apply for one.

That way we know where they all are.

If there's a wind event or a snow event where we need to make sure that we get out and do some safety inspections, we know where they are.

Um some of the other things associated with the tents will still require permits such as temporary propane, which you might think makes sense to still make sure that we're we're looking at all of those.

Um parks hours will be uh available to be adjusted based on kind of the events that are happening in the area, and those would be posted at the park, and that's also citywide.

And then uh there's an interest in also you know having a lot of public art in the space, and that is uh doesn't need an ordinance change.

Just wanted to mention it here that it'll be handled administratively on some of those temporary art installations that we expect to come forward for world juniors.

Uh and last but not least is our liquor service, both the hours of operation and expansion.

So we they uh we do have to know where they are because we have certain requirements to make sure that we're in line with state law, but um our restaurants are able to expand to both Sunday hours and to 2 a.m.

Uh if somebody already has a 2 a.m.

license, nothing changes for them.

And then uh secondly, expand.

So folks who want to expand out to a temporary patio or a sidewalk or um during the during world juniors are allowed to do so under um this ordinance amendment.

I think that's my summary.

Thank you, Director.

We will make sure that we get the pretty picture email to all of us before final adoption in case it is a make or break for our decision on this issue.

Um really appreciate it.

I know people work hard on those things, so I want to make sure we all see it.

Um appreciate it, and I think the main high level it sounds like we're trying to make it possible to have a lot of fun in our wonderful downtown St.

Paul at a time when we're gonna have lots of visitors and we want it to be um at its best for our visitors or residents and employees alike without a lot of permitting.

So thank you.

Questions for Director We see not seeing any, and we're just gonna go through all of these and lay them over to next week one at a time.

So thank you so much, Director.

The ordinance is laid over to November 12th for second reading public hearing.

Item 25 is first reading of ordinance 25-68, amending section 106.01 of the legislative code to allow businesses in the downtown entertainment district to temporarily allow items in the right of way without a sidewalk use permit during the 2025 world hockey championship junior hockey championship.

Um this ordinance is laid over to November 12th for second reading public hearing.

Item 26 is first reading of ordinance 25-69, amending section 293.02D of the legislative code to remove the requirement for a sound level variance in the downtown entertainment district during the 2025 World Junior Hockey Championship.

The ordinance is laid over to November 12th for second reading public hearing.

Item 27 is first reading of ordinance 25-70, amending section 409.08 of the legislative code to allow holders of liquor licenses issued under section 409 to apply for extended service of alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m.

during the 2025 World Junior Hockey Championship.

The ordinance is laid over to November 12th for second reading public hearing.

Item 28 is first reading of ordinance 25-71, amending section 55.04A of a legislative code to simplify the requirement for a temporary structure permit during the 2025 World Junior Hockey Championship.

The ordinance is laid over to November 12th for second reading public hearing.

Item 29 is first reading of ordinance 25-76, creating chapter 297 of the legislative code prohibiting the use and placement of virtual currency kiosks within the city.

This is something that I am very excited to be introducing today.

It's something we've had a policy session on.

A lot of work has gone into it.

I want to especially recognize my legislative aide, Megan Jacket.

Um, and welcome up Tim Greenfield to give us the staff report.

But the goal here is to um really protect our residents in the city of St.

Paul from a predatory scam that is happening at these virtual currency kiosks, and I'll let Tim say more.

Welcome.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, my name is Tim Greenfield, Chief Policy Officer for the City Council.

Uh I'm here to provide a very brief overview of the ordinance that's before us on first reading that prohibits uh the placement and the operation of virtual currency kiosks in the city of St.

Paul.

Um, as council president noted, there was a policy committee hearing that covered more in depth uh the the extent of which these kiosks serve as a conduit for scam and criminal uh activity that directly harms and impacts uh citizens of St.

Paul and uh citizens across the United States.

And um the the ordinance is is relatively straightforward uh in terms of how it addresses a very complicated problem, uh, one in which the state has attempted to address but um has not addressed the major problem, which is that these kiosks serve as a very specific flash point for which criminal activity defrauds citizens and uh no amount of disclosure or tapping of a screen or a receipt can uh be as effective as simply removing them from operation or prohibiting their use.

So the council's interest in finding a way to protect the people in the city arose from increased reports of criminal activity surrounding virtual currency and these kiosks.

The FBI estimated that in 2024 there were nearly 150,000 complaints referencing cryptocurrency and 9.3 billion dollars in reported losses, but of these totals, 246 million dollars were reported losses connected to fraud or scam transactions, specifically tied to kiosks.

Um those kiosk totals, uh 1,852 victims identified themselves as being in Minnesota, and the losses identified by victims in Minnesota totaled over 91 million dollars.

And the reports from 2024 provided by the FBI are a 99% increase from 2024 to 2023.

Uh in the policy committee session and uh the extent of the materials that have been included in the public record in the staff memorandum prepared by uh Jeckett, there is um a detail about the cryptocurrency or virtual currency um criminal activity that is affected the citizens of St.

Paul.

Um there in 2024, as reported by the St.

Paul police in May of 2025, there were four cryptocurrency kiosk scams with a total of approximately sixteen thousand nine hundred dollars reported to have been lost with an overall uh scam uh count of 15 involving virtual currency.

In 2025, again, this was written in May of 2025.

There have been two cryptocurrency scams with a total of 11,000 reported to have been lost, with an overall of eight scams involving virtual currency this year, which only uh 1200 has been reported as recovered and returned to the victim.

So of that about 10 percent.

And if you review the materials that have been included more carefully, you'll see that percentage bearing itself out after the enactment of the state legislation.

So uh, you know, I don't want to get too much in depth given the uh the length of the agenda, but I just want to give a uh brief high-level review of what these kiosks are.

Um they are placed in high traffic areas, they much look much like an ATM.

Uh they are um operated by virtual currency kiosk operators, which makes a profit by charging people fees for conducting transactions using these kiosks.

Um kiosks are primarily used to purchase and or transfer virtual currency.

And um, and under state law, there are a variety of disclosures that must be made to uh a customer who engages in a transaction on the kiosk.

What I would say about state statute, though, is that the kiosk is specifically defined as an electronic agent of the the overall licensee.

So the kiosk itself is just a physical entity that facilitates the transaction.

It itself is not meant to be uh kind of more you know connected to broader to part a broader range of financial transactions, and in that way, um a vast majority of the cryptocurrency or virtual currency kiosks simply receive money and allow the purchase of um you know a digital token, which then can be used illicitly by by scammers and uh and other sources of fraudulent activity.

And again, the depth of the the nature and the extent by which um a person can be led down this path has been covered by this committee before, so uh I don't I don't want to attempt to rep replicate that testimony, but uh um May 14th, the the this council heard quite a considerable amount of the the emotional damage that it can wreck when a person has been essentially extorted by a scammer and they are directed towards this ATM as the way to convert their uh dollar currency into something that then can be simply untraceable or lost into the digital space.

So uh with that high-level context, and I'm happy to answer more specific questions.

I'll provide just a very brief overview of what the ordinance does.

Uh it prohibits any person from hosting or operating a kiosk in the city of St.

Paul or from allowing a any kiosk transition transaction to take place in the city.

Note this doesn't prohibit virtual currency transactions as a whole, simply transactions that occur within a kiosk.

Uh the ordinance does not ban business activity from conducting with virtual currency, only prohibits activity that involves kiosks and kiosk transactions.

And the penalty is the same as any violation of a legislative code, which is a criminal misdemeanor.

Um, of course, this ordinance was drafted after you know before the results of yesterday's uh uh uh referendum, but of course, um there the uh the alternative that was considered by this council and opted not to be the direction of the ordinance is a more licensing route for these kiosks.

Instead, the council is simply seeking to ban the operation and the use and the placement of these kiosks within the city.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Greenfield, for that overview.

Um any questions from Mr.

Greenfield, and then I have just one more comment.

No questions.

Okay, thank you so much.

Um I I want to uh recognize I think part of the reason for giving that extra information here is because part of this is we want to raise public awareness of the level of these scams that are targeting, especially seniors and especially low-income folks and folks in incarcerated and their family members in our community.

Um, and this has been on the news quite a bit since we had our first policy session on this topic, but we want to use every opportunity to raise awareness.

Um, I also want to recognize that shortly after we had a policy session on this topic in May, um, a city attorney um named Gabby Conklin, who is here today.

Gabby.

We can give her a round of applause, you'll see why.

Um Gabby was a customer at a gas station and actually noticed two elderly victims who appeared to be in distress trying to move 125,000 from their bank account to a fraudster on the telephone by using one of these virtual currency kiosks of the which there are roughly 32 in the city of St.

Paul.

Gabby called 911 and worked with staff at the store to convince the couple who are in their late 70s that they were being defrauded.

They believed that the man on the telephone was an agent from the Federal Trade Commission, and the fraudster convinced them that they would lose all of their money unless they transferred it to him.

The elderly couple were literally one press of the button away from losing their life savings, irretrievably, but through Gabby's quick work, that was averted.

Gabby, thank you so much.

And what we're trying to do today is get these chaos out of St.

Paul so that can't happen ever again.

Mr.

Greenfield.

And I'll note for the record that these statistics are very, very likely an undercount because of the shame and the stigma associated with losing your money being deceived, um, especially in communities where you know there may not be this might be a very high percentage of their savings to report that to law enforcement and to attempt to then track it down when they may not have the familiarity with the currency, or this may be their first point of contact with the with this virtual currency.

I think is you know reaffirmed by all the stories like Gabby's intervention that are shown that you know the first time that much of our population touches this virtual currency or these kiosks, it's at the point of fraud, of being defrauded, being extorted, uh of being a victim of criminal activity.

Thank you so much.

All right, with that ordinance is laid over to November 12th for second reading public hearing.

Item 30 is a public hearing of ordinance 25-59, amending chapters 60, 63, 65, 66, 67, and 69 of the legislative code as recommended in the traditional neighborhood T District zoning study.

All right, uh, this brings us to the public hearing section of our agenda.

So just some notes for those who are here for a public hearing and have maybe been waiting for some time for that public hearing.

Um when we call your item, we ask you if you're here to testify on that item, that you please uh line up on both sides, and when it's your turn, just come stand in between the two microphones at the front.

You don't need to adjust them, they should pick up your voice just fine.

Um you'll have two minutes to testify, which goes quite quickly.

Say your name and where you're coming from to start, and then you'll have two minutes.

And my job is to keep time, and it is not a fun job, and I apologize in advance.

I will need to cut people off, but the goal of that is to make sure that everybody gets the same amount of time and that we all have an attention span that is enough for the last person as it was for the first person.

Um and when you're done testifying, please sign in at either of the two sign-in sheets on either side of the microphones.

Um, before we have a public hearing on this item, we are going to have, I will take a motion from Vice President Kim to move a version two, which includes uh language about cannabis that needed to be in there that was not in there the first time.

Um so any discussion of the motion just for the amendment.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed, seven in favor, no one opposed.

The amendment is approved.

All right.

This is a public hearing.

If there's anyone here to speak on this item, please come on up.

Hi folks.

Welcome.

Uh my name's Jacob Hooper.

I'm a uh renter at uh A Wolmer Como over in the Como neighborhood.

Um excited to be here to talk about uh what I'm sure is the most bombastic uh wave making policy before you all today that I'm I know that this whole room is really excited about.

Uh traditional neighborhood zoning districts.

Um it's coming to the Twin Cities 12 years ago, uh I've lived in a lot of different neighborhoods, including um some of my favorites have been when I lived briefly like two blocks away from this little corner grocery, right?

And I think it's understated just how much that can have a positive impact on somebody's life being in walking distance from an amenity like that.

Um I ate healthier, I spent less money on grocery.

I to be able to like walk just a couple blocks over, grab what you need for the day, and then go home is like a huge has a huge impact on on my mental health, right?

Um right now I live, like I said, in the Como neighborhood, which um is an awesome neighborhood in a lot of ways, but sadly it it lacks a lot of those little things that that make a neighborhood really great.

Um coffee shops and corner marks and stuff, and that's largely it's because even though I'm right in the middle of a lot of like important transit areas, Dale, Como, Front, etc.

Um, pretty much the whole thing is zoned residential housing.

Um which makes it really hard to open a little business, which is part of the big reason why I moved here from the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin, right?

Um of the businesses is Avogados, right?

Uh, which is a great coffee shop.

Anybody who hasn't been to Abogados should absolutely go to Abogados.

Um they apparently had to uh spend like eight, nine months trying to get a conditional use permit just to be able to open that place.

That's way too onerous, it's way too difficult.

And um, if you know uh anything about Spanish, you'll know that abogados means lawyers.

Um they are they are uh business lawyers.

So thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

It does go by fast.

Come on up, and congratulations on bringing young people to get civically engaged.

That's right.

Yes, this is the A squad right here.

Uh so my name's Cody Fisher.

Uh, this is Jocelyn and this is Michaela.

Um, and we we live in ward one.

Uh and we're here to enthusiastically support the recommended changes to the the T District uh zoning.

And I I just I have to say, you know, I so I I am a small uh developer and I live in a neighborhood that's that's walkable and has a mixture of uses and housing densities, and um you know, I I love our neighborhood, and I love the fact that I live in a city where it feels like we have incredible city staff and a planning commission packed with people who get it and get what the city needs from uh uh you know in our for a more climate resilient future, and that means kind of streamlining things administratively so more small scale developers from our community who get financing in our community can build the the kinds of climate resilient, walkable, bikable, car light, feasible uh neighborhoods that we need.

And we're doing the work, and everybody's rowing the boat in the same direction uh to to make our our zoning um uh kind of embody and enable the future that we need as a city.

Um we need a thousand flowers to bloom if we want to have the tax base that we need to fund all of the things that we need in our more climate resilient future.

Um and and this uh proposed set of changes in a very nerdy way uh is a key step in that direction.

But I also want to urge you to also uh initiate a study that goes beyond this and looks at taking uh and it looks at um corridors and connector streets across the city, looks at our zoning holistically and and replaces and sunsets uh a lot of the kind of outdated anachronistic like business and and uh parking districts that we have and replaces them with T districts and expands T districts to those arterials in the corridors throughout the city so that we can we can get more of what we need.

Um so that that work is urgent, and I urge you to move it forward immediately.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for testimony.

Don't forget to sign in.

Thank you again for being here, you two.

And welcome up.

Hello, council members.

I'm Paul Fiesel, and I live at 1992 Jefferson Avenue.

I'm here expressing my strong support for this ordinance that will update our traditional zoning districts.

My family enjoys living in our neighborhood.

Uh we live in McAllister Groveland, and we have so many walkable businesses, such as Woodmere's Grocery, we have a hair salon, a dental office we go to, a dog groomers, multiple restaurants that we can all walk to, and this should be available in all of the city.

And so these zoning changes allows us to be easier to do.

Um, and I encourage the council to initiate a zoning study to implement these changes citywide, especially on our arterial streets.

So neighborhoods like Jacob Hooper's can have neighborhood businesses on Como Avenue and Dale Street.

Um right now our arterial streets are mishmash of zoning districts.

If you go up to my section of Grand Avenue near McAllister, you're gonna see RMHTBCOS and VP zone districts, so just a mishmash of these things all put together.

It's kind of confusing, and these can be much more simplified to allow flexibility for business owners and redevelopers who want to develop new businesses and buildings and and homes in our neighborhoods.

And this rigid zoning we have adds difficulty to reusing a property, and rezoning is costly, complicated, takes a long time, and we do see people go through that process to rezone a property, but we should make it so they don't have to do that.

And this more flexible zoning, the T districts reflects how our neighborhoods developed over time.

Um we see a mix of uses along these uh commercial corridors, and even within our neighborhoods, our residential neighborhoods, you'll see some old commercial buildings that are no longer allowed to be commercial, but that was back in the time when we had more flexibility in what we did with our businesses and our buildings.

Over time, this zoning became more and more permissive to where city only allows mixed use in business zoning and uh specific spots on our corridors.

So we should take a step forward, modernizing our zoning, going back to how things used to be.

And that is the end of the sentence.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Don't forget to sign in if you haven't already.

Welcome up to the council president, members of the council, my name is Rick Varco.

I live in ward three, uh, but I'm here on behalf of my union, SCIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa.

We represent healthcare workers.

Um I've submitted a letter, and I'll just uh reference that.

Um the short version is we strongly encourage a yes vote and echo the uh feelings of those who say we need to go further, and I would just add not only go further, but go faster.

Um the one message from the electorate is the uh urgency of the affordability crisis.

People are calling out for being able to afford their lives, and the number one uh cost for most people is the cost of housing, the number one cost driver for most businesses is the rent.

Um, and we need to uh the city is a major factor in both of those, and we need to start acting faster.

Um, and then I will just add uh one note.

Um, everybody agrees that the biggest challenge confronting St.

Paul in our budget is our tax base and the fact that we have so much nonprofit land in this city that we can't generate revenue from.

Um, but that is only a problem if you take the amount of land as a fixed quota.

Um we cannot expand the amount of land horizontally as much as we would like to take over Minneapolis.

Um, but um we can expand vertically.

Every time you allow the city to grow up further, you reduce the impact of the St.

Thomas's, the McAllisters, the county, the state government.

Um, and therefore, if we are going to address that critical problem, we need to start growing uh vertically.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, and make sure to sign in.

Anyone else here to testify on this item?

All right.

Seeing none, I will take a motion from Ms.

Jose to close the public hearing and lay the matter over to November 12th for final adoption.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed, and the ordinance is laid over to November 12th for final adoption.

Item 31 is a public hearing of ordinance 25-65, creating Chapter 225A of a legislative code titled Firearms Regulations to establish regulations for assault weapons, binary triggers, ghost guns, and signage.

All right.

Thank you all so much for being here to testify and for already lining up.

Um, and we will go right into our testimony.

Come on up.

As a reminder, two minutes, please start with your name and where you're coming from.

Hello, my name is Gretchen Damon.

I live in Ward 3.

St.

Paul Mom's Demand Action supports this ordinance.

If state lawmakers cannot move the needle on gun violence prevention, then local leaders need to get the job done.

Similar to the smoking ban in our city's past, it will take community clamor to get us to the other side, where not only can we breathe smoke-free air, but also inhabit bullet-free spaces.

This ordinance supports responsible gun ownership.

Some of us remember riding in the back of our parents' station wagon with no seat belts.

Today we don't think twice about strapping a child in a car.

We don't long for the good old days of no safety restraints.

Through new laws, we've protected our children from second-hand smoke and car accidents.

It is time to protect them from being shot.

Effective leadership is not just doing what your constituents demand, but advising them on evidence-based improvements.

Making sure rapid fire weapons disappear from our neighborhoods is a better way of doing things.

Kids playing basketball at the recenter are doing their homework at the library away from firearms is a brighter future.

Since the enunciation shooting, over 5,000 people have joined Minnesota Moms Demand Action.

Many now realize their local governments cannot regulate firearms because of preemption.

We are in a stranglehold between a 40-year-old statute and a group of intractable state lawmakers paralyzed by ideology.

A ridiculous place to be when firearms are the leading cause of death for America's children.

Finally, implementing life-saving policies once preemption is lifted is crucial.

For opponents who say this is government overreach, we stand with thousands of Minnesotans who have reached their limit, waiting for something to be done.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign up.

Welcome.

Council President Baker, my name is Dr.

Sheldon Berkowitz.

I live in Ward 1 and I'm a retired pediatrician and a past president of the Minnesota chapter, the American Academy of Pediatrics.

I'm here to speak in support of the proposed gun violence prevention ordinance 2565.

While I understand that there are legal hurdles to overcome before this proposed ordinance could be put in place, I believe it is very important for this council and this city to make a clear message that they will do everything they can to prevent further gun violence by banning public possession of assault weapons and large capacity magazines and binary triggers within the city.

As a pediatrician, I was shocked by the murder of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2013, and then at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when 17 people were killed in 2018.

And most recently, the murder of two children in Mooning and many more in the shooting at Annunciation Church and School, just one and a half miles from where I used to live in South Minneapolis.

When I was in practice at Children's Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis, I helped care for patients and families who were victims of gun violence, including the young adolescent who I cared for, who had been paralyzed when a stray bullet entered her house and severed her spine, leaving her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

For several years now, firearms have become the leading cause of death for children and young adults in the United States.

In states where laws have been passed banning assault style weapons and high capacity magazines, they've seen a decrease in mass shooting deaths.

Last month, Dr.

Tim Coomer, emergency doctor at HTMC, was one of the first doctors on the scene at the Annunciation shootings, testified to the following.

At annunciation, the shooter fired more than 100 rounds with a high-powered rifle.

That is why there was so many victims.

That is why the injuries were so severe.

At an enunciation, I cared for a 12-year-old girl who had what looked like a very small graze wound to the top of her head.

An abrasion, nothing else.

And that is but despite that bullet, never entering her brain, the energy from the rifle was so powerful it caused severe bleeding to her brain, and she had to have part of her skull removed.

Thank you.

I'm so sorry to have to stop you there, but we can also accept your testimony in writing.

If you want to send that around, we can make copies.

Thank you so much for your testimony.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Beth Burns.

I am here as a resident of Ward 4, having lived in the city of St.

Paul for 32 years, and also representing the people who refer to themselves as the Friends of the St.

Paul Public Library, more than 12,000 people.

We are in support of this ordinance.

We are in support of this ordinance because the library opens its doors every single day to be a safe sanctuary for children and families, people who are seeking so many different things, and for which the library is uniquely positioned to be a resource for them.

This ordinance represents one more element of an investment in public safety and a practical way in which to tell our citizens you matter.

When state law was originally passed and recognized the role of schools, I think we missed an opportunity legislatively to understand that park recreation spaces and libraries, similarly, need to be a home for children and families free of guns in any form.

The Friends of the St.

Paul Public Library is very, very strongly in support of this ordinance, and so am I as a resident of the city.

Thank you.

Make sure to sign in.

Good afternoon.

My name is Maddie Meuse.

I'm a mother, aunt, teacher, and St.

Paul resident in Ward 3.

I've taught in St.

Paul schools for nearly 20 years and have two children, ages 12 and 15.

I'm here in support of the proposed ordinance banning public possession of assault weapons, large capacity magazines, and binary triggers.

As a teacher, I cherish caring for children, the hum of a school building, the excitement of the first weeks, fresh haircuts, new supplies, friends reunited, joy-filled Annunciation Catholic school on its first day of mass with messages of hope and peace.

Minutes later, that joy was shattered when an individual armed with an AR-15 fired 120 rounds through stained glass windows.

Older students threw themselves over younger student children to shield them.

Fletcher, age eight, and Harper, age 10 were murdered.

30 others were injured, some severely.

Locked doors, drills, even friends throwing themselves in harm's way.

It's never enough.

I don't know.

But yeah, we've ra we've never practiced it in the um church though.

Only in school.

Students should not have to learn how to shield themselves from gunfire.

Schools are not war zones.

Children should not be casualties of our inaction.

Teachers and students do not feel safe.

We are not safe.

On behalf of every family living in fear, I plead with you, do something.

Inaction accepts this violence.

We are in crisis.

Please use your power to protect us from military grade weapons on our streets.

Thank you.

Please make sure to sign in if you haven't already.

Welcome.

Uh hello, my name is Eli Voss.

I'm 13 years old and I go to Capitol Hill Middle School here in St.

Paul.

I'm here in support of this ordinance.

I regularly visit rec centers all over St.

Paul, like Jimmy Lee, Linwood, and MLK Rec Center.

And I'm often at a rec center five to six days a week to play basketball and socialize with friends.

I'm here because I want to ensure that I never have to worry about my safety or anyone else's safe or anyone else's safety when I'm visiting these rec centers.

Rec centers mean so much to me.

Whenever I want to exercise or socialize with friends, I've I have the ability to walk to a variety of rec centers.

And for this I'm so grateful for.

And I completely recognize this privilege that comes with living in the city of St.

Paul.

The top of gun violence is also personal to me, personal to me.

As last year, when my school flag football team was practicing at a public park less than three blocks away from my school, me and my team were running laps around the park when we heard gunshots.

Less than 100 feet away, uh a man with a man with a pistol had fired multiple shots at another man with the intent to kill.

Me and my team immediately immediately grabbed our bags and sprinted with our coach the three blocks back to our school.

This event scared me and my teammates deeply, with some of my teammates telling me they had problems sleeping after that event.

I don't want any kid to have to experience the feelings that me and my teammates felt, for which I can only describe as being absolutely terrified.

If we can keep these public areas safe, they're truly a safe haven for the youth, helping us stay active and build build social skills.

Banning firearms from these public places would be a huge step forward, making sure our youth are safe and happy.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Hi.

My name's Mark Connor.

Um, I just moved from uh Ward 1 where I lived about the last 25 years to Ward 7.

I'm a lifelong, I grew up in Ward 7.

I'm a lifelong uh St.

Paul resident.

Um I don't know the protocol, but um after I've I'd like to leave a copy of uh for each uh member of the council of this book I published last year on pages uh uh 52 and page uh 8384.

I I mentioned the riots of 2020.

And I wanted to talk about that and right in relation to the two this ordinance.

Um I'm 100% against the ordinance.

Okay, aside from the fact that it's contrary to Minnesota law, I've looked at the the what's been referred to, and it's uh it's unconstitutional.

However, having said that, I want to share the experience that I worked for 13 and a half years at On Dai Young Center, our home.

Uh near Native American Indian Homeless Shelter for Kids on Portland, Lexington, St.

Paul.

Because I had that contact with the American Indian community the day after the police station was burnt down in Minneapolis, I was contacted and asked, will I please go help uh protect buildings?

It was American Indian Movement Operation.

One point one of the leaders actually showed me uh a uh a gun that he had was an AK-47 with drum uh drum uh uh magazine of that has 75 rounds.

Now the thing is Lake Street was completely destroyed, but from the border of St.

Paul to Kenwood, Franklin Avenue had not have a single window broken.

At certain times, we didn't have the police at the time.

Sometimes the police can't be there.

Sometimes we need to protect ourselves.

That's what the constitutional right, the second amendment.

We have a God-given right to protect ourselves, and the Constitution protects uh protects that.

The second amendment does.

That's my feeling on it, so thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

And feel free to leave those books for us to review.

Thank you.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, um, my name is Ed Lorenz.

Uh, we live on uh Lexington Parkway South.

Uh I am here today uh to speak as a member of Veterans for Peace.

I served as a medic uh during the Vietnam War, first in a psychiatric unit that treated soldiers suffering from PTSD.

After that, I served as a surgical ward where the wounded were prepared for evacuation.

After Vietnam, I studied war and violence and became a professor in a college teaching about issues of violence and conflict.

However, I not only had that firsthand experience from war and from uh teaching, but in 2012, one of my young cousins was a victim of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

She, as several others of the 26 student victims, was a special ed kid.

Uh, we often think of the unique horror that must have engulfed her and kids like her as they died of these horrible wounds.

I certainly understand law-abiding people who collect technically complex things, including modern weapons, but given the danger of modern firearms, I cannot fathom why any sane person would oppose regulations to protect us from any use of these weapons against their fellow humans.

The blood and gore brought to our world by modern weapons of war, especially in the US with our irresponsibly lax firearm regulations, requires all responsible uh persons who support regulations to protect people, especially our young children from the horror these weapons bring.

You deserve great credit for starting the process of getting this ordinance uh finalized.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Make sure to sign in.

Good afternoon, City Council members.

My name is Maggie Dickman, and I live in Ward 3.

For the past 12 years, I've had the privilege to live in St.

Paul.

As a patron of our local libraries and recreation centers, I'm in support of the ordinance to restrict firearms and sensitive public spaces such as parks, libraries, recreation centers, and city buildings.

These free local resources have been regular destinations for our family.

My children have grown up with our local parks, recreation centers, and libraries as a backdrop.

Now that they're 11 and 13 years old, gone are the days when mom and dad took them to the playground for a push on the swings or a climb on the slide.

But now Frogtown Rec Center and North Ender host volleyball practices.

Edgecombe, Linwood, Palace, and Highland are meetup places for our kids to play basketball with buddies at Open Gym.

The kids are on a first name basis with Rec Center staff.

The library locations each offer their own gems of endearment.

When days got hot and our window unit air conditioner was reluctant to keep up, we toddled over to Merriam Park Library for respite and the promise of a quiet, cool place to read.

The windows of Rondo Library gave us a front row seat to view trains passing by on the newly opened green line light rail.

These places are where community building happens and should be safe spaces to gather.

Safety is not guaranteed without rules, as we learned last year when our son, like Eli, was practicing flag football with his team at a city park, and they witnessed a shooting just a short distance away.

Young people should not have to be scared or traumatized when they are simply trying to play a sport they love.

The threat of gun violence is real.

We need to take these steps to keep our kids safe.

I am hopeful that the passage of this ordinance can be a step in the direction towards securing a safe future for all residents of St.

Paul.

It's start here and work its way outward to the rest of the state.

Thank you for your time and your continued efforts to help keep our community safe.

Thank you very much.

Welcome up.

Good afternoon.

My name is Kadar Greer, and I'm a youth activist and also a leader of the youth in St.

Paul, Minnesota.

I currently do stop the violence community events centering around basketball and entrepreneurship.

I train kids year-round in basketball, and I also mentor kids in my youth program called Journey of the Youth.

That's spelled J-O-U-R-N-E-E.

After my niece, we lost her father to gun violence two and a half years ago, which is very tough, so that makes me a survivor of it.

A special education program at Expo Elementary, and I also am a lifelong citizen of St.

Paul.

I see my legacy in my life as doing everything I can to uplift and ensure that the generation behind me is on the right path.

My annual spring event focuses on giving young kids opportunities and a sense of hope.

They need to know how important it is to come together and support each other's goals.

My focus is always on keeping my kids safe.

That should be all of our focus is to keep the kids safe.

My other goal is that kids have the proper education and their needs met to be successful.

Kids need to feel safe in order to be open.

They need to be open in order to learn.

Whether that's their ABCs, their one two threes, goal setting, or how to be a good friend.

And that is time if you want to close there and let us keep the paper with us for your testimony.

Thank you so much.

Hi, my name is Judy Parr.

I'm a lifelong resident of St.

Paul.

Currently live around the corner from Lynwood Rec Center.

I also spent uh over 40 years as a clinical social worker.

And the last 15 were in a program called functional family therapy, specifically designed to work with families with kids on probation.

And the first thing we had to accomplish in every family was to try to create a sense of safety for all the family members so that they could begin to see each other differently and learn new behaviors.

And there is robust research that shows that anyone in a very excited state of flight or fight is unable to really access learning, decision making, and good practice.

And the more we can send a message to the kids who are on the verge of trouble or whatever, that they have safe places to go, like the library and the rec center, and that there are adults in this community that care about their safety so that they can learn and grow and feel comfortable in doing so and become really good citizens in the future of this city, which I love.

Thank you very much.

Welcome up.

And at this point, I would just invite anyone else who plans to testify to please get in line just so we have sort of a sense of last call.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Ash Sharpleg and from the East Side.

I was born in St.

Paul, live here, work here, my family has ties going back in the Marine Corps veteran.

And am I here to speak against this ordinance?

One of the reasons I'm here to speak against the ordinance is that every day from my job I review state statute for the state to make sure that the contracts and things we're entering into are legal.

Upon reviewing this ordinance, and the ordinance itself does cite Minnesota Statute 471 633, and it recognizes that if this is passed, that is not an enforceable law or and it is void, and I don't think that we should be spending time passing laws that are going to be unenforceable at the time they're passed and rely on the state to pass another law, which may never again all it does is put an uh an ordinance out there that cause confusion for the police and the citizens who are not recognized by that.

The um the other reason is I do think that this will expend um the city's resources.

I think there will probably be immediate lawsuits given the nature of this.

I think the correct time that the city council should uh pass an ordinance like this would be when the state uh change its laws after the people of Minnesota have elected officials that uh respond to them and make change to this laws.

I think right now doing it is not the right time.

Uh lastly, as a Marine Corps veteran of my friends and I that live in St.

Paul.

If this were to pass, I would be considered a criminal, possibly for what I owned.

Um, I'd be considered criminal not for taking action against somebody, not for doing any unjust harm to somebody, uh, not for acting in an unsafe manner, but for simply owning an item of which I was am legally uh allowed in the United States to own, and that is of a major concern to me.

Um lastly, I'll add that uh laws like these, I don't think do anything.

I think what the focus should be on, which we've heard here are going to be community programs, so that St.

Paul uh continues to develop a culture of peaceful, nonviolent people that understand uh that doing unjust harm to people is not something we want.

Also, training and education programs so that our kids know, you know, please know what guns are and don't touch them.

So I appreciate your time.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Uh come on up.

Uh hi, good evening.

Uh, my name is Nate Castle.

I'm a Ward 6 resident.

Um, I live near the Maryland market on Maryland, where I have experienced and heard and witnessed uh awful gun violence uh since the time I've lived here.

Um but frankly, I I really kind of don't really want to be here tonight because I work at Jimmy Lee Rec Center.

It's 5:30 right now.

I've got a whole bunch of elementary school kids getting ready to end their program.

I probably got upwards of 75 teens uh recreating in a healthy space in our rec center.

Uh we've got open swim happening now, we've got a lively rec center, but I'm here for those people.

Um for those young people and for our community.

Um I worked at rec centers for about 10 years.

I've experienced neighbors shot dead, uh, kids scrambling from football fields and playgrounds to avoid gunfire.

Staff members nearly shot at work.

Um we had recently a staff member disarm someone in our rec centers with a semi-automatic assault weapon.

Um these tragedies didn't really make the news, but they happen all the time.

Uh our staff are front front front and center with these people.

We're making relationships with young people, we're preventing a lot of tragedies, but we shouldn't be.

There's not a day that goes by where I am afraid that the worst is gonna happen at my job, a rec center where we're supposed to be the most positive, the most playful, the most fun, the most positive place uh in the city.

Um we know about all the guns that are illegally in our centers.

Uh we've seen them, um, but we also know that the number of those guns is much higher because we don't see them.

Um this idea that these guns are in our centers rests in the back of every staff person's head who cares for our young people in our after school programs, our teen classes while teaching young people how to play sports and get along with each other.

The political action on gun control should match the will of the people.

Uh, we're sick of gun violence.

We don't want guns in our community spaces.

We're so sorry, I need you to sort of to wrap it there.

Thank you very much.

Please feel free to leave your comments with us.

And thank you for your work at Jamie Lee as well.

Welcome up.

Hello, uh, my name's Rob Doer.

I am general counsel for the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.

I work in St.

Paul uh very frequently down at the Capitol.

I've been doing that for 16 years.

I think it's really important for the public to understand that passing this ordinance doesn't actually change anything.

It's on ice until some potential future state action happens.

And I think that people need to understand that when we're looking at the downside of this.

I've heard a lot about well, it's not going to be enforced, but that's not what the law says.

It doesn't say you can pass an ordinance as long as you don't enforce it.

That doesn't comply with state law.

If you look at 471.633, it says you it's void.

The entire vo ordinance is void, including this on ice provision.

There will be a legal challenge if this ordinance passes.

And there's a lot of things that the city can do in order to try to mobilize action.

You guys can lobby your legislators, you can organize days at the hill.

You can bully use your bully pulpit to talk about the issues.

Well, the one thing you can't do is pass an ordinance that violates state law.

Every dollar spent uh defending an illegal ordinance in court is a dollar that's taken away from real public safety action, and I would implore you not to do that.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Last testify on this subject.

Come on up.

Hi, my name is Cornese Brown.

I actually wasn't even planning on speaking, but uh what propelled me to speak was I'm actually a transplant, so unfortunately, I can't talk about the history of St.

Paul.

I'm actually from St.

Louis.

So anybody can Google that and know St.

Louis has been one of the murder capitals for my life, and it still is.

Um, I'm a proud graduate of St.

Thomas Law School, so I'm actually gonna echo more side to the folks who have been opposed.

Is I actually challenge you all to use your um powers to connect with the state, because ultimately it is going to be the legal fight that's gonna matter whether or not this ordinance can do whatever it's gonna do.

It's gotta have be approved by Minnesota State Legs ultimately, because you're gonna have too many people who came to speak today who are gonna cling to their constitutional rights.

And so the great work you all are doing as council folks.

Um I'm assuming that you also have political currency and connections with people on the state legislature.

And I would say that we need you all to lean into your friendships, your relationships with them, um, your political party affiliations with those folks and say we need to be moving a little bit more fast.

Otherwise, we will be here again, again and again.

But it's gonna have to be on that level, as you will have heard from the people here locally.

They're already ready for the fight of it and saying what T have.

So if we can jump ahead and go ahead and use the state folks to bag you guys up, then we can probably get more things done.

And I also work for Parks and Rec, which is uh a backdrop to this.

But please use your pulpit, use your social media, use your personal connections to say state folks, we need you to back us because this is what our St.

Paul people are asking.

The fight is gonna be in the courts.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much.

Uh I'm gonna take a motion from um Ms.

Yang to close the public hearing.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed.

I want to thank everyone very much for coming out to testify tonight.

I also want to acknowledge that um several of those who testified tonight were sharing things that were particularly traumatic, and I want to thank you for having the courage to be here and sharing those very, very tough experiences with us.

Um, I appreciate everyone sticking to the time and sharing disagreement in a very civil manner.

Um, we will be considering everything that we've heard tonight.

It's always a bit anticlimactic but as I mentioned at the beginning we'll be coming back next week to review what we've heard and to finally adopt so this ordinance is laid over till more this is laid over to November 12th for final adoption.

Thank you all again.

Item 32 is resolution public hearing 25-208 ratifying the assessment for fourth Howard area mill and overlay constructed as part of the 2024 mill and overlay program.

This is a public hearing is there anyone here to speak on this item number 32 seeing none I'll take a motion from Ms.

Johnson to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye aye all opposed seven in favor no one opposed the public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted item 33 is resolution public hearing 25-209 ratifying the assessment for Crete and Bayard area phase two mill and overlay constructed as part of the 2024 mill in overlay program this is a public hearing is there anyone here to speak on this item seeing none I'll take a motion from Ms.

Jose to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye all opposed seven in favor no one opposed the public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted item 34 is resolution public hearing 25-210 ratifying the assessment for a hatch park area mill and overlay constructed as part of the 2025 mill in overlay program.

This is a public hearing is there anyone here to speak on this item seeing none I'll take a motion from Ms.

Kim to close the public hearing and approve all in favor say aye.

Aye all opposed seven if favored no one opposed the public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted item 35 is resolution public hearing 25-213 ratifying the assessment for Ruth Alliquin burns to still water mill and overlay construction at part of the 2023 mill and overlay program.

This is a public hearing is there anyone here to speak on this item seeing none I'll take a motion from Ms.

Johnson to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye aye all opposed seven in favor no one opposed the public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted item 36 is the resolution public hearing 25-217 approving the grand snelling parking lot operation and maintenance costs for 2026 this is a public hearing is there anyone here to speak on this item seeing none I'll take a motion from Ms.

Jose to close the public hearing and approve all in favor say aye.

Aye all opposed seven in seven in favor no one opposed the public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted item 37 is resolution public hearing 25-230 establishing the water charges for 2026.

And actually right before we have the public hearing for this item uh and we'll also do this for item 39 we will have a staff report from Ms.

Baskey welcome up I was going to call you Mr Kershaw that would have been awkward welcome good afternoon um thank you for having me um council president and council members and my board members um who have worked very hard alongside me over the last few months to prepare our budget um I do not have intent to share a presentation here today um but I do have copies of our budget letter available for you um I think that you have seen a review we are asking for a significant rate increase this year not one that we take lightly we have been prioritizing our affordability work over the last few years to ensure that we're monitoring that very closely I think the great news for us is that um our water rates vary affordably across all metrics within our country um and we're really working to fund our low income assistance program as we make the investments that we need to make to make sure that we're replacing much of our infrastructure which is at its useful life at this point.

Overall I just want to highlight that the overall impact for our customers the average impact will be four dollars and seventy three cents per month next year and I also want to highlight that part of that comes from our brand new treatment plant which hopefully everyone is aware is now fully in operation and meeting and exceeding all standards set for that new plant as well as the continuation of our lead free SPRWS program moving into the future.

I'll stop there for questions.

Thanks so much Ms.

Vasky any questions all right don't go too far we might have questions afterwards and I do want to applaud you and the water department for your excellent work you're right about the water um achieving such great metrics for smell taste color everything else I was in a home in a western suburb not Minneapolis and other western suburb recently um and they were talking about their hard water and their need for filters and I said we have nothing like that in St.

Paul so kudos to you and your team and thank you also for acknowledging um that you know any increase is a significant increase especially right now as we were hearing earlier about affordability so appreciate you being here to acknowledge that and walk us through why that's necessary.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

If so, come on up.

Welcome.

Council uh president and council members, John Purdy, uh West Side of St.

Paul and uh uh water customer.

Uh the uh general manager spoke just a minute ago, and I understand from some communications that during the October 27th uh Board of Water Commissioners meeting, the general manager indicated to the board that the right-of-way recovery fee continues to be under investigation as to any statutory authority that might exist for allowing this charge against water customers.

The search for this authority goes back to 2011, uh when Springstead, the city's consultants, stated in their report that the city attorney's office was in the process of determining any statutory authority to recover these costs, but it's still not of record with the water board.

So I respectfully ask the city council to proceed under chapter 15.03 of the city charter, which does provide the lawful right of the water board to use any city's right-of-way street free of charge, other than permit fees.

So long as the board restores, the water board restores the surface of the right-of-way.

And I have a photo here from yesterday showing them doing exactly that done on Wabishhaw when they replaced a fire hydrant.

Replace the street, everything's good.

So in closing, I just asked the city council to lay over the adoption of the right-of-way fee until the water board receives the authority from the city attorney's office, or amend this resolution by not approving the right-of-way recovery fee.

What this will do is we'll keep $2 million in the hands of the city's water customers.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Purdy.

Make sure to sign in.

Um Ms.

Baskey, first of all, anybody else here to speak on this item.

All right, seeing none, I will move to close the public hearing.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed.

Ms.

Basky, do you have any um initial comments or thoughts on Mr.

Purdy's testimony?

Anything we should know.

Sure.

Thank you, Council President, for the question.

Um I will provide just a very brief overview.

In 2011, the city of St.

Paul worked with a consultant Springstead to analyze right-of-way expenses that the city was incurring due to the fact that water and sewer infrastructure were in the right-of-way.

Um that study detailed a variety of different costs associated that the city then incurred additional expenses because of it, not necessarily associated with restoration, but other expenses the city incurs.

The city then began charging St.

Paul Regional Water Services for the fee that was determined as part of that study and part of that report in order to recoup that money.

Um, although I think he's uh discussing a broader um concern, which is something that we've been working closely with the city of St.

Paul attorney's office with the city of St.

Paul attorney's office believes that we have the right to make that charge and plans to make that case during that hearing.

Okay.

Thank you, Ms.

Basky.

And one more question.

Is there um any negative impact of laying this matter over for two weeks?

This one is again laid over to just oh, it's already getting laid over to December 3rd.

Never mind.

Okay.

Um thank you very much.

Is there any other comments?

Okay.

Um, Mr.

Purdy, I want to thank you for being here.

I will um admit to you that I have not had time to look at the public comments that you submitted in advance.

I want to make sure I have time to do that before we vote on this.

This is being laid over till December 3rd anyway, so we're not taking final action today.

I appreciate you being here, and I will take a close look at what you submitted.

And this item is laid over till and we need to vote on it.

Uh I motion to close the public hearing and lay the matter over to December 3rd from Council Vice President Kim.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Ms.

Johnson.

I I just wanted to um I just wanted to say that one of the things I noted in the public comment as well that would be helpful to get clarification on prior to the third would be the question around legal clearance that kind of was raised throughout, or like the authority of whether we have that.

So just want to be able to verify that.

Um unfortunately I wasn't able to be at the water board meeting on the on October, but I think being able to just get that clarity since it was asked for the record would be helpful.

Thanks, Chair.

Okay.

With that, all in favor say aye.

Aye, aye all opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The resolution is laid over to December 3rd.

Item 38 is resolution public hearing 25-231, establishing the water fees and charges for 2026.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Johnson to close the public hearing and lay the matter over to December 3rd.

All in favor say aye.

Aye, aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed, and the resolution is laid over to December 3rd.

Item 39 is resolution public hearing 25-239 setting the 2026 sanitary sewer and storm sewer rates.

And we will have a staff report on this item from Mr.

Kershaw.

Welcome up.

Council President and Councilmembers, I'm Sean Kershaw on the public works director.

Uh I'll echo what General Manor Vasque said.

I love talking about sewers.

We're coming in with a big rate increase, which we take really seriously in terms of justifying that.

Um I have a presentation for you, but most of those slides I covered earlier.

I'm happy to plug those in.

But um what we do, what we are proposing is a 14% increase for both storm and sanitary rates.

It is what we had proposed earlier in our budget conversation.

We went through a number of slides about that.

Um a lot of that's due to an increase in fees, uh, wastewater fees from uh MCES at the Metropolitan Council.

We're also losing a big contributor to the fund through Westrock, and we want to stay on top of the maintenance uh and our debt rating and all the things that we need to do to maintain our credit level for that.

What's happened since that time, um, and I'm happy to answer any questions is we brought in elders to do a rate study.

They looked over all the numbers that we had put together.

They looked forward several years for us, and they confirmed that um they believe and we agree with them that this rate increases what is appropriate for next year.

We'll continue to update that every year going forward.

Um, but that is what we're proposing uh for next year, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thanks, Mr.

Kirshaw.

Any questions?

Do you know offhand the impact on the average household?

The impact on the average household is um this on an average rate.

One thing that's actually working to our benefit is people are using less water per household, so that is bringing the cost.

Storm rates, uh sanitary rates are tied to water usage.

The average household increase for sanitary sewer will be $56, and the average annual in um household increase for storm sewer is $1844.

$18.44.

$18.44 for storm sewer and $56.12 for sanitary sewers.

Thank you, Mr.

Kirshaw.

Any other questions?

Ms.

Johnson.

Um, what is and uh thank you, Council President and Director Kirshaw, thank you for being here as well.

What is the typical like cadence for these rate changes?

We do often when is last time we thought it last.

Yeah, um, Council President, Councilmember Johnson.

We bring rate uh proposals forward every year.

What we normally do is propose them at our budget meeting in September when that happens.

Uh we have a separate public hearing like we're doing today about those rates specifically, and then they're adopted in December with the budget or whenever the budget is passed.

So it's a yearly process that we go through.

We went through a period where the increases were pretty modest, about three percent for a long time.

Part of what's happening is we need to maintain debt coverage ratios, cash on hand ratios for the bond rating.

We're significantly increasing our capital program, which in addition to maintaining what we've built in the past, we've got to build out new and these immediate increases that are coming from the uh 50 over 15 percent fee from uh uh MCES and the loss of revenue.

So they're done every year.

I think this year's was 10 percent.

Um, and uh we believe that they should begin to moderate over time, but it'll be important every year to look at those and match them with the maintenance needs, the capital needs, and the and the uh debt coverage and cash on hand needs.

Ms.

Johnson and I guess just as a follow-up, one of the things that I found really helpful about some of the water fee conversations, at least with the water board, is that they showed kind of their trajectory of when they expected that level off.

What year was there we what like what is the year trajectory?

How many years is that that you're seeing before we get to a leveling?

We are looking at probably a few years, and this is a you know, it's a it's a public conversation every year of increases of 10% or more.

Um we like to see those go down.

You know, we anticipate those going down after that time.

Every year we'll review that.

We know you know, more information, more current.

Um, one of the things we're also uh watching very closely as uh St.

Paul Regional Water does is affordability.

How do we stack up across the country and on an individual household in St.

Paul?

Um, we're lucky that our rates here are are really pretty moderate, but that increase we take really seriously.

Thanks for the questions, Ms.

Johnson.

Um, and this will also be laid over to December 3rd to align with our budget adoption as Mr.

Kershaw mentioned, so we do have time to get further information after this as well.

And council president, I'll leave my email out the presentation.

Um, you know, at this point in the night, I'm I'm sure you all want to keep going, uh, despite the fact that I like talking about sewers.

Everyone looked very disappointed when you said you didn't have a PowerPoint.

We have visuals in the presentation.

Thank you, Mr.

Kershaw, so much.

And thank you for your willingness to stay late with us.

Everyone who's here.

So sorry to Richard E.

Cabino, who's here and the great steward team that do all the work that I talk about.

Thank you.

Uh take a motion from Ms.

Coleman to close the public hearing.

Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't even have a public hearing.

We're gonna have a public hearing.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

It's getting to that time.

Welcome back, Mr.

Purdy.

Thank you, John Purdy.

Uh, I just want to comment brief, just quickly, uh, insofar as the common sense sales tax.

You have all the money coming in, 765 million to build new streets in the next 20 years.

What you haven't recognized is every time you build these streets, you give the opportunity to sewers and to water to replace their pipes, but they don't have one percent coming in.

They don't have anything, so they're asking you for these hefty increases on top of what they did say, uh, which is uh net council's costs.

So just so that you're aware, you've got these things that you created with the one percent, but you didn't take care of possibly, and it's even can it's even in the documentation from Mr.

Kershaw that they can't keep up.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr.

Purdy.

Um, is anyone else here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I will now take a motion from Ms.

Coleman to close the public hearing and lay the matter over till December 3rd.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed, and the resolution is laid over to December 3rd.

Item 40 is resolution public hearing 25-241, approving the application of Salvation Army Northern Division for sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for the annual tree of lights light program in Rice Park starting November 15th through January 6th at Rice Park 109 West Fourth Street.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Welcome.

Thanks for being here.

Council members, thanks for having me.

My name is Paul Deakin.

I'm the development director for the Salvation Army North.

And we just wanted to again say thank you for considering it.

We are excited to bring the Tree of Lights back to Rice Park again this year.

Um, we're asking for a five-hour sound variance for our program.

And then uh said, Thank you very much for being here to tell us a little bit more about it.

Appreciate it.

Ms.

We see if any questions any questions?

Thank you.

Make sure to sign in.

Okay, well, thank you.

Um else here to speak on this item.

All right, seeing none, thank you again for being here.

I'll take a motion motion from Ms.

Bowie to close the public hearing uh and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Six in favor and no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed, and the resolution is adopted.

Item 41 is a resolution public hearing 25-24, amending the home 2025 general ledger budget to reflect the program income amount in the 2025-26 HUD consolidated plan, annual action plan of 206,225.38 cents, and amending the home project's budget to reflect the 2025 home spending of 1,629,610 and 90 cents.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Jost to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed, and the resolution is adopted.

Item 42 is a resolution public hearing 25-245, approving the petition of via Yang property owner at 1656 Wilson Avenue to vacate the abutting North South Alley right of way from Wilson Avenue to Old Hudson Road.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Johnson to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted.

Item 43 is resolution public hearing 25-246 authorizing the fire department to enter into a joint powers agreement with the state of Minnesota through its state fire marshal division to receive funds for the Minnesota Air Rescue Team and amend the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of 500,000 to pay for training and equipment.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Council Vice President Kim to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted.

Item 44 is resolution public hearing 25-247, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of 4,500 from the Minneapolis Fire Department.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing that I'll take a motion from Ms.

Yang to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted.

Item 45 is resolution public hearing 25-248, amending the financing and spending plans for the fire department in the amount of $7,014 and 23 cents for a reimbursement from Rosenbauer Motors LLC.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Jose to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted.

Item 46 is resolution, public hearing 25-249, approving the 325 commercial street final plat.

By the way, if you were here earlier, this is what is referred to as the Sherry Moore Show.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Johnson to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed and the resolution is adopted.

Item 47 is RLH SAO 25-55.

Appeal of Mark Pupala the second to a summary abatement order and vehicle abatement order at 2016 Fremont Avenue.

Public hearing was closed on October 15th.

Welcome, Ms.

Marmond.

Council President, Council members, happy Sherry Moore Day in the City of St.

Paul.

Yes.

The council laid this matter over today for two things to happen.

One was that there be communication information provided to the property owner about establishing native plantings and what that would involve.

And the second thing was to get some photographs of the current conditions there.

So there was a measurable starting point, if you will.

Those photos are attached to the record.

They were taken today midday, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thanks, Ms.

Mormont.

Are there any questions?

Seeing none, I'll look to Ms.

Johnson for a motion.

Thank you.

And um thank you, Ms.

Mormon, as well.

I did have a chance to review the record and the latest photos from the visit.

I do appreciate the Department of Safety Inspections for going back out upon just being able to see the pictures and being able to review the record.

Um I do think this this is an example of where additional support and resources for this resident will be really helpful in future years ahead.

I don't see any reason though at this time to not move forward with recommendation of the hearing officer.

So that is my motion for today.

So the motion on the tables for the recommendation of the legislative hearing officer.

Any discussion of that motion.

Uh see none.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Legislative hearing consent agenda items 48 through 50 are before you for your consideration.

Is there anything for separate consideration, Ms.

Mormont?

Yes, uh, Council President.

Um I'm afraid I don't have the numbers.

499 South Snelling.

It's uh ordered to remove.

We're gonna have a very brief staff report on this item since it is somewhat substantive, and then we will go into our public hearing.

Ms.

Mormont.

I will try to be brief.

Um this is the uh CVS on the corner of University and North Snelling Avenue.

It has been um effect, it has been out of operation effectively since May June of 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd unrest, and actually became a registered vacant building in 2023 when the certificate of occupancy was revoked.

Uh there have been numerous and I dare say dozens upon dozens of code enforcement abatement orders for things, everything from graffiti, broken windows, uh garbage, trash, cleanup of needles, just everything uh from code enforcement.

There have been hundreds of police calls in the last five years to this site.

So the site, the building itself uh is missing its ventilation system.

The electrical systems are extremely compromised and not working.

Uh when you look at the pictures of the building on the interior, you can see that it is not a functional space within, but rather uh a rather large trash bin that is holding a lot of things from I think the previous break-ins that's experienced when there have been squatters getting in and so on.

I conducted a legislative hearing on September 30th.

That was the originally scheduled hearing date, at which point um I received testimony from a large number that are in your record of uh neighborhood people and neighborhood representatives, and uh also present was an attorney representing uh CVS, and that was uh Mr.

Andrew Dostal from Taft Law.

At that time, um I indicated to the people who attended the hearing that my inclination was to recommend that the building be ordered removed within 15 days with no option for its rehabilitation, as there was no performance deposit posted code compliance inspection report.

I didn't have evidence of any sort of rehabilitation plan financing to execute the rehabilitation or in this particular well, title issues would need to be dealt with as well because there's both um a landlord owner and a lessee.

And finally, um a nuisance abatement plan to handle the nuisances that are ongoing at that location and not uh a dissimilar way to the way Burger King was discussed on South Robert some some time ago.

Uh none of those things have happened.

Uh what we did is to continue the matter to um the end of October in the event that materials were received, they could be reviewed, a record created, and that be provided to you today if there have been any changes.

There have been no changes in the record since that time.

Uh as of last week, uh CVS, the uh the renter hired an attorney who is here today, also from Taft Law, uh, Mr.

Adam Niblik.

And uh today the owner uh SCP 2005 C21045 LLC has an attorney present as well.

And uh he was retained today.

So uh they would like to present their ideas and plans for moving forward uh in what they're looking for from the city council.

Uh and I believe that there are neighbors and neighborhood representatives here to speak as well.

Um, since it's such an exhaustive record that is in front of you on this one, I won't uh try to summarize it, but rather happy to field questions.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Mormont.

Are there any questions at this point for Ms.

Mormont?

Doesn't look like it.

Okay, don't go far.

Uh, we're gonna open up the public hearing and we're going to invite the uh legislative hearings are a little bit different from our other public hearings.

We first invite those who represent the appellants or the subject property in question to come up, and they have um five minutes total to speak.

So would invite you both to split your time accordingly.

Welcome up.

Your men will have uh public testimony for two minutes each welcome.

Council president, council members, uh my name is Adam Nibblick with the law firm of Taft Minneapolis, and I'm here uh presenting on behalf of CBS by way of additional background uh for Ms.

Mormon.

Um CBS is the tenant under a commercial lease, and that lease is set to expire January 31st of 2020.

I think everyone can agree that the property is not currently being used in its highest and best use.

There are, however, several individuals that are interested in acquiring the property for redevelopment purposes.

Although no terms have been finalized, CBS's knowledge, uh we are aware of at least two parties that have made offers to purchase the property.

Well, any proposed sale will be uh ultimately decided by the property owner who is CVS's landlord.

Uh CVS is actively working with this landlord uh as well as those interested parties to facilitate a transfer of the property and CVS is in a position to contribute to the overall transaction to facilitate um a sale and redevelopment of the property.

Um if the city orders the building raised, the likelihood of that sale and redevelopment dramatically decreases.

Both the CVS and its landlord have certain rights and owe each other certain obligations under their existing lease.

Um and if the building is raised by the city, those rights and obligations will make it increasingly difficult for either of the parties to finalize a sale and move on to redevelopment.

The unfortunate reality is that if the building is ordered raised, absent some sort of plan for a sale or redevelopment.

Um it may remain underutilized until the expiration of the current lease term, uh, so January 31st of 2031.

It's my honest belief that it would be in the city's best interest as well as the Hamlin Midway community's best interest to allow the present and active sale process to continue, uh, which would uh possibly lead to a redevelopment of site rather than just a raising of the building to have an undeveloped site.

Uh what CVS is asking for today is that the city pause any final decisions on an ultimate uh order to raise the property for 120 days.

120 days, we believe is a realistic period to allow CVS and its landlord to work with these potential purchasers to finalize their plans uh and uh bring about a redevelopment of the property.

Uh simply put, delaying the decision to order the building raised will allow CVS and its property owner to work uh on a long-term solution for the site uh rather than an immediate solution, um and the long-term solution will may very well disappear if the property is raised by the city.

If the pause is granted, it is possible uh that the city will indeed receive applications for demolition, uh, and the building may be raised without further action of this council altogether.

Since CVS has received notices from the city, it's taken a couple of actions.

Specifically, it has increased its attention to the property by way of increased property maintenance services and security monitoring.

They've increased the number of uh visits that are going out to the property and increased the number of services they are uh requesting to take care of those uh litter and vacancy problems.

Just to note, Mr.

Niblik, we have a minute and forty-six hours.

I'll be for both of you.

Round and round in home.

Um, uh CVS is uh willing to um in continue those increased services and will affirmatively commit to the four following items if a pause is granted.

First, it's willing to remove the existing dumpster corral, which I believe is a uh problem element of the property.

Uh it's willing to paint the building and structure uh a dark color with graffiti resistant paint and coating.

It's willing to replace certain railings in the back of the structure that I believe are causing some of the uh nuisance conditions that the city has reported.

Uh and it's willing to remove the plywood shutters that are on the property and replace them with metal shutters in direct response to some of the concerns the city has raised.

Um, all this will take place until the property is ultimately sold or otherwise raised.

I am very grateful for your uh, you know, your the opportunity to present today.

Uh I will stand for any questions if there are any.

Thanks, Mr.

Nablik.

Um, let's stop the clock.

Um questions for Mr.

Niblet.

Don't go far.

We might have them later.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

You have 55 seconds.

Council President, members of the council, my name is David Schenko, and I'm an attorney from Levander Gillen and Miller and Egan.

We represent the landowner SCP 2005 C21045 LLC.

And we concur with the comments made by the tenant, CVS, and we believe that our interests and the interests of the city and CVS are all aligned, and we believe that uh 120 days it would be sufficient time for us to continue negotiations with potential buyers of the property and allow for the redevelopment of the land.

You know, stand for any questions.

Thank you very much.

You took up almost part of the time with the name, so I was amazed that you made it.

That was very good.

Thank you.

Uh make sure to sign in.

Um questions before we hold the public hearing.

We may have more questions after the public hearing doesn't look like any now, or continue the public hearing.

All right.

Uh with that, we will now hear testimony from those who are not the subject property.

Again, we'll have two minutes per person.

Please line up so we get a sense of how many folks we have coming and uh start by saying your name and where you're coming from.

Welcome up, sir.

You can sign in after you're done testifying.

Yeah, thank you.

Oops.

Forgot my little screen.

My name is Jerry Rantliff.

I live in uh ward four.

I've been there 46 years, which is even longer than Cherry has worked here, it sounds like.

Um for several years I've seen no evidence that there's a plan for this property.

Years.

My suggestion will improve safety and improve the look of CVS.

I believe that CVS is uh has not been found to be structurally unstable, although it sounds like there's a lot of other things that are a mess.

My goal here with my suggestion is to improve not only safety, but the look of the intersection for my community.

One possible temporary solution so the building looks better, has more traffic, and crime is reduced as soon as possible is and I have like five parts to it, open another police substation in CVS, like we have had in the past in the Midway shopping center, and or offer this small space to the MTC for fare checkers as a break room, and or hire two or three full-time police officers to include CVS, the LRT platforms in the area around the Kimball Court area, as we are short 67 officers at the last I heard in December.

And or that we could put a trailer, cop camera during the remodeling process in the parking lot, and finally remove that ugly plywood and replace it with vacant storefront photos like we have in Harmar Mall, Rosedale Mall.

So the property looks nice with windows lit.

Funding, maybe use the money you get for fencing and boarding, or maybe some of the Kimball Court grant money that they just got.

Our neighborhood has expressed frustration over the we've had 300, 400 people asking the city to do something to have a plan.

We have over 20 vacant lots and businesses in our community, and crime is a big factor for the past seven years, not 46.

Um you will alienate our community.

So I'm gonna have to ask you to say your last sentence.

Okay, I have one sentence then.

I would strongly suggest you survey businesses and residents of Hamlin Midway neighborhood about bulldozing CVS without an immediate replacement in hand.

Thanks.

Thank you very much.

And feel free to submit your comments for the record if you want us to read the rest.

Also, I just want to note we have many, many, many comments on the record for our perusal, some of which my colleagues are looking at now on their computers.

So I just want folks to know that all of that public record is part of our review.

Uh and I know that it can't all be said in two minutes at the dais.

Come on up.

Council President, Council members.

Uh, my name is Carter Bell.

I am a Ward 4 and Hamlin Midway resident and a renter living just about a block south of this building.

Uh I've seen how bad a shape it's been in for the past three years.

It's pretty rough.

I go past it every day.

And I support this resolution uh because of how much it has degraded the neighborhood.

And you know, the property owners just came up uh talking about how they have had a plan.

I would like to echo the comments of of who came before me.

Um in the fact that they have not indicated anything for three years.

They've been doing nothing for our community for three years, and I don't trust them to do anything now, especially when they only came here, just because we this resolution is being considered.

Rather, I would I would support the resolution to abate the property, but I would support not just the resolution to abate the property, but something more than that, because this abatement would turn this property into an empty lot, still owned by the property owners who I do not trust to do anything for the Hamlin Midway community.

Um we've seen a lot of lots like this around Alliance Field, and frankly, they've been sitting vacant for years and they're doing nothing for the community.

And it seems to me, and I know many others that many property owners in owning property in the community have taken a holding off on selling these abandoned properties.

Um in terms of waiting for the stadium to further develop around there so that they can sell for a higher price.

And this makes the community suffer from lack of services.

Uh, notably the cub just closed um and is now abandoned, meaning there's less access to groceries.

Um these plots should be developed soon and not just into anything, but something that is affordable.

Um that means not unaffordable housing, not a hotel, not something that would further gentrify the community and push our rent up.

I would urge you to get these properties to look to local buyers who will contribute to the community by developing, say, a community clinic, a place to file boardable groceries, something to assist something to assist our Hun House neighbors.

Don't let developers price us out, especially when they're outside our community.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Perfectly timed.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Can you sign in?

Oh, yeah, make sure to sign in.

Don't all jump at once.

Uh hey, St.

Paul City Council.

My name is Pete McCauley.

I uh live in the Ham and Midway neighborhood, uh, Ward 4, and uh, I am also the vice president of the Midway Investment Cooperative, uh, which is uh associated with the Ham and Midway Coalition.

So I'm here to speak on behalf of the cooperative and our membership.

And as well, I'd like to at least propose that I could be speaking on behalf of our neighbors and members of the Hamlet Midway Coalition as well.

We as a cooperative, we have a membership of almost 100 people who are interested in investing their own personal money in improving uh properties in the Hamlin Midway neighborhood and uh especially towards the idea of uh promoting local ownership of property and and maintaining local ownership of property that exists.

So I would like to welcome the city, the city council, uh as well as potentially the uh owners of the property and their uh representation to approach the Midway Investment Cooperative and also the Hamlin Midway Coalition and our neighbors that are involved to talk about different ways that we could imagine that space and how it could be an improvement for the neighborhood.

Um and I think that we've got a lot of ideas.

We've got people who are ready to invest their own personal money in making this happen.

Um, and so I'm gonna throw that offer out there as uh again the the vice president of the board of the uh Midway Investment Cooperative, and um hopefully I can be a part of uh uh enabling some of the conversation around that around that change.

So thank you very much for for your time.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hey folks, Jacob Hooper again.

Uh, thanks for having me and uh thank you to the landlords for um showing up today.

I wish you guys would have come to the last one or been around for any of the previous years.

Um I had submitted my own personal public comment uh in which I admittedly uh described the the CVS as like a uh haronymous bosch painting of a hell mouth, but I'm gonna pull myself back a little bit, um, try to temper myself and read a little bit for sustained St.

Paul.

Um it is disappointing, though not entirely surprising that the situation of 499 Snelling has come to the point of demolition.

Demolition of buildings is not a desired outcome, obviously, for a city that is struggling with the burden of rising property taxes.

However, it feels unavoidable.

Current situation is unacceptable for any part of St.

Paul, much less one of the most critical intersections of the city.

CVS having pulled back and the owner of the property neglectful and indifferent.

The site seems to have spawned into a disrepair that the city does not have the necessary tools to address.

Graffiti, trash, build-up of unsightly nuisance and vandalism, discarded sharps and break-ins.

Site owner has not taken any steps to engage with the in good faith with the city with an absentee national chain tenant paying rent on a long-term lease, and unresponsive owners have no economic incentive to put the nuisance property to a higher and better use.

Um this is negatively impacting all of St.

Paul.

Situation of this parcel is egregious, though not necessarily unique.

We hope that in the future the city can implement policies that will avoid these circumstances recurring, for instance, well-implemented administrative citations.

Awesome that those have passed will should allow the city to address nuisance properties before they come to this point.

Um but in the bigger picture, St.

Paul needs to build a diverse and durable local economy, balancing a range of services that are more resilient to national economic trends.

Um this is gonna be an ongoing conversation, I think, and I I hope that uh this council sees this as not the end of this one conversation about the CVS, but the beginning of a larger conversation about what sustainable development in St.

Paul will look like.

And we look forward to having that conversation with you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in again.

Welcome up.

Hi, my name is Lisa Nelson.

I'm a ward for resident, and I live just a couple of blocks away from the CVS.

But right now I'm here representing Hamlin Midway Coalition.

We're in the I'm the interim executive director.

Um, and I just want to speak to really the harm and cost that has been occurred, incurred by the neighborhood by having this empty building for so long.

Um, I know just the neighborhood organizations have spent a lot of time and staff time and therefore money just dealing with all of the complaints and helping people figure out how to make complaints.

Um businesses in the area have lost tenants because of the unsightliness of the CVS building.

Um we've done a lot of community engagement and um received hundreds of um items of feedback from neighbors, um, which were almost unanimously in favor of demolishing the building.

Um and our neighborhood has dealt with also empty lots being not cared for, but even having lived with promises of potential redevelopment, and instead having empty lots full of trash, the neighbors are asking for an empty lot and then asking you to not let it fill with trash.

And I do hope that administrative citations and more work on dealing with vacant buildings and kind of promoting development rather than just kind of holding on to these parcels for speculation is something that the council can work on soon.

And it's a really important intersection in St.

Paul.

It's really important to Hamlin Midway to Union Park.

Really to everyone in St.

Paul, and it should be better.

And the empty CVS just isn't going to do anything.

It has it has only hurt the neighborhood.

And so we are Hamlin Midway is in favor of the building itself being demolished.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

And at this point, I would just say if anyone else is here to testify on this issue, please line up now just so we know you're here.

Uh council present excuse me, Council President, Council members, Ms.

Moore.

My name is uh Mike Hom.

Uh I am a resident of Ward 5.

And for the past two and a half years, I've been a project advisor to the United Village Project.

Um I'm here testifying in favor of the enforcement action and the removal of the building.

Um, for the past two and a half years, I've been working with community, including the um the Midway Chamber of Commerce, the local district councils to advance the development initiatives at this location.

It's been very challenging to leverage investment of any kind and partnership at this location.

Uh I would say one of the biggest complaints or challenges that I've answered in this room and in community is why is it taking so long to do your project?

In the two and a half years that I've been working on the project, this is what we've gotten done.

Um we've acquired fee title of the property.

We've worked to remediate the environmental issues on the property.

We've replatted the property.

We've um signed a development agreement with the HRA in the city of St.

Paul.

We've entered two POPs agreements with the St.

Paul Parks and Recreation Department and built two privately owned public spaces.

Um we've acquired financing to enact our development plans.

That is for a project that is moving too slow.

And yes, we've also removed two buildings from the site.

Um the uh property in question at the most traveled intersection in the city of St.

Paul has been a blight for two and a half years.

It's been too long, it needs to go.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

And you might want to stick around through the end of good news today.

Um, with that, is there anybody else here for uh public hearing?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Coleman to close the public hearing.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The public hearing is closed.

Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Ms.

Mormond.

I would like to make a motion to approve Ms.

Mormon's recommendation to order the raising and removal of the structure at 499 Snelling Avenue North within 15 days after today's meeting.

If the property owner fails to do it within that period of time, the city can and must.

The record leaves no doubt that this is a nuisance property.

The police log available in the record shows well over 600 visits to the site in the over five years since CVS effectively stopped operating, nearly 400 of which have occurred in the three years since the building's certificate of occupancy was revoked.

There are at minimum 10 summary abatement notices that have been issued for the property, along with at minimum 13 work orders.

The Hamlin Midway Coalition, thank you, Lisa, for being here today, in their letter, described the myriad ways in which the site is a threat to public health.

Quote, trash and debris constantly piling up, thousands of discarded sharps and foils, vandalism, broken windows, break-ins, graffiti, and stripped out infrastructure.

The Union Park District Council writes that quote this property represents a burden and tax on its neighbors by encouraging increased crime, general business malaise, lower customer traffic, and reduced property values.

Dozens of residents have taken the time to write, call or testify in person, even in some instances sitting through a three-hour city council meeting, to be here to share the toll that this property has taken on community pride, economic development, and the sense of safety that every member of our community deserves.

Now, at the 11th hour, CVS claims that they have inklings of a plan for this property.

This was not communicated to the city in the course of multiple legislative hearings, of which CVS had considerable notice.

There is even now no documentation of the possible buyers for the building and no dates, timelines, or business proposals being made for the city's review.

In short, there is no evidence that this is anything other than a final hail marry attempt to keep this building standing in our neighborhood.

For a party with CBS's financial resources and legal sophistication to treat our city processes with this level of disregard does nothing to suggest to me that they are a good faith actor working in earnest to address this nuisance property.

The damage this property has been allowed to cause to our community is considerable and it is unacceptable.

CVS has done nothing about it for years.

The clock has run out.

The record shows that our neighbors have big dreams for my what might come next at this location.

And I deeply appreciate the time that people have taken to write to express their hopes for our community.

However, I want to be clear that the action we are considering today does not immediately open the doors to those opportunities.

The city is not taking ownership of this property, and we will not have legal grounds to determine what comes next.

This action is about eliminating the active threat to our community that is posed by this nuisance property.

It is a necessary step to ensuring that our neighborhood is safe, vibrant, and welcoming, and I strongly support approving the legislative hearing officers' recommendation.

Thank you, Ms.

Coleman.

I will be supporting your motion, and I appreciate the eloquent, thoughtful way that you phrased it as well as your um passion for the community and for protecting it.

Thank you.

Um other comments.

Seeing none, the motion is to approve legislative hearing officers' recommendation for removal within 15 days.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Ms.

Mormon, is there anything else to come before us for separate consideration?

I don't believe anyone else is here to testify on a legislative hearing item.

Thank you.

We will hold a public hearing now on the remaining items, which are items 48 and 50.

If you're here to testify on items 48 or 50, now is your public hearing.

Please come up.

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Johnson to close the public hearings and adopt the items with the amendations of the legislative hearing officer.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no one opposed.

Public hearings are closed, and the consent agenda is adopted as amended.

That brings us to the end of our agenda.

I know it's been a long one.

We do have time for good news from around the table.

Is there any good news to share?

No good news.

Um there is some good news from OTC.

Which is strange.

Hi, I'm Sherry Moore.

I'm Deputy City Clerk for the City of St.

Paul, and I worked for the city for 15 years.

The Citizen Service Office consists of four divisions.

We have code enforcement, marketing and promotions, information and complaint, and city clerk records.

I'm the deputy city clerk, and so I'm in the city clerk division, and I have a wide range of duties that I perform.

The main thing is probably that we're the official record keeper for the city council.

We keep a lot of our records in our research library here in the office.

So I can go to old council proceeding books that go back to the 1800s.

We have other documents on microfilm.

And then we have books that were written in that we can go through and search for information.

When the city council approves a new ordinance, before it actually goes into effect, it has to come down to our office, and then we make sure that it gets published.

All of our publications that are required by state law to be published in a newspaper are also published on our website.

And you can go to that by going to our home page and clicking on the official publications icon.

A typical day for me can depend on what's happening around me and what's happening in the city.

For example, if the city council is dealing with a contentious item, such as the Idmill Road opening, that can affect my day as far as how many phone calls I get.

Um people wanting to have information, such as reporters wanting to know some numbers, um, citizens wanting to voice their concerns.

The hardest part about my job is probably dealing with citizens that are very upset.

And a lot of the time they get to me.

They've already talked to a few people who maybe couldn't help them, and so they're looking for that extra mile.

If citizens have a problem with a neighbor who is not keeping their property up, um, possibly has a dog that barks too much, um, other things that could be considered a nuisance.

They can call our office or they can send us an email through our website, and we will take care of notifying the proper departments so that the problem is taken care of.

If you have any questions about the city of St.

Paul and you don't know where to go, call 266-8989 and defend.

Chances are we either know it or we know where you can find the answers.

Okay.

All right, Sherry's giving me instructions now.

I Sherry Moore do solemnly swear.

I Sherry Moore do solemnly swear to support the constitutions of the United States, to support the Constitutions of the United States, and of the state of Minnesota, and of the state of Minnesota, and to discharge faithfully and to discharge faithfully, the duties default devolving upon me.

The duties devolving upon me.

As City Clerk of the City of St.

Paul.

As City Clerk of the City of St.

Paul.

See, you you funny, you calm, always got the answer.

You just seem like a top notch person, and you're a huge Viking fan.

Hey, and the cardboard cutoffs, that's not too shabby either.

I love to see you.

But honestly, congratulations to you, and I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful retirement.

All right, enjoy yourself.

You've earned it.

Peace.

Oh my god.

That's I think brings us to the end of our agenda.

Mike drop on Dante.

Thanks, everyone.

We are a church.

For sure.