[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Time to get started. [Applause] Are we ready? All right. I am beautiful. [Applause] It's on this one, Mike. Yep. Good evening everyone. Tonight is Monday, May 19th, 2025. This is a regular meeting of the Minnitankka City Council. I will call this meeting to order and I will ask you to stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And let's see. So, um, please call roll. Miss England, excuse me. Or Miss No, that's your old name. Excuse me. Miss Jansen, go ahead. No, I'm going to get this wrong again. Never mind. Let's just keep going. Please call roll. Shaq here. Wilbur here. Calbert here. Romeley here. Kley here. Foster Bolton here. We here. Next item is approval of the agenda. Um, Mr. Funk, any uh anything any news? Yeah, thank you uh Mayor Worman. Good evening, council. We do not have an agenda for you this evening. So, the agenda that has been printed and published is for your consideration. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Funk. Is there a motion? Council member Calbertt. Thank you, Mayor. I move approval of the agenda and a second. Council member Romey, I'll second. Okay, we've got a motion by Council Member Calbertt and a second by Council Member Romey. Please call roll. Shaq, yes. Wilburn, yes. Calbertt, yes. Romey, yes. Kley, yes. Foster Bolton, yes. Wearsome, yes. Motion carries. Um, next item is approval of minutes. We have none of those. So, that brings us to special matters, and we've got four of them. And the first one is the um um information technology manager, Patty Laam's retirement recognition. So, I will read this and then I will invite Patty to come up. and we have a small presentation to make to her and this is a bittersweet moment for for her and for all of us. But Patty Leam joined the city of Minnitonka in 2006 as the information technology manager and have s has served in this role ever since. Over the past 18 years, Patty has been an essential part of the organization, bringing a wealth of knowledge and steady leadership to the IT division. In her role, Patty has overseen budgets, managed vendor relationships, and coordinated projects, policies, and resources, ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of IT services behind the scenes. Her unwavering commitment to organizational excellence has helped keep systems running, teams supported, and city goals on track. Many of the division's key accomplishments are a direct result of her thoughtful planning, attention to detail, and exceptional coordination. Patty has consistently led with integrity, always placing Minnetonka's best interests at the forefront. Throughout her tenure, Patty has played a vital role in facility planning, streamlining processes, improving technology efficiencies, developing strategic plans and policies, and guiding budgetary processes. She began the city's initial optics committee connecting citywide services through fiber Oops, I got to go to the next page. Maybe here we are. um fiber optic installations and partnerships with county and school districts as well as collaboration with other city departments. She further led technology installations at major city facilities including the public public safety facility and Ridgale Park. Most recently, she has been instrumental in advancing the city's cyber security readiness through robust policies, employee training, and critical infrastructure enhancements. Patty's efforts efforts have not gone unnoticed. She has been recognized with numerous awards over the years, particularly in leadership and teamwork. She has also served as city Minnotonka's representative on the Southwest Commission cable and lois board. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Patty has served as a mentor, a trusted confidant, and a friend to many. She will be deeply missed, not only for her expertise in IT operations, but for her calm professionalism, positive attitude, and everpresent willingness to help. Patty is known for her creative icebreakers, thoughtful recognition ideas, and for organizing events that brought employees together. Perhaps most telling of her leadership, she takes the greatest pride in watching her team grow and thrive. We celebrate Patty and her remarkable career and he w we wish her all the best as she embarks on this exciting new chapter. So congratulations [Applause] Patty. So I'm gonna invite her up but um um well let's do that. Let's have you come up and give you the opportunity to say a few words and then I will come down and make this presentation and then I will give council opportunities to maybe say a few words as well. So Patty, thank you for your service. Well, thank you very much to all of you. Um, I was saying I didn't expect the entire IT team to be here and I just want to say a huge shout out and how much I appreciate that. And I will also say when you talk about creative icebreers, I'm not so sure that they would agree with that one. All good. I called them creative, but I don't know. I don't think they'll miss those. But I'd like to introduce some people who are really very special in my life who join me tonight. I've got going right down the line. I've got my grandson Theodore, my sister Sandy, Olive, another granddaughter, my son-in-law Tom, my daughter Megan Ford, the youngest of the three grandchildren, my son on the very end, and his Tyler, and his girlfriend Clancy. So, thank you for coming tonight. Welcome all. Yeah. All right. Now, I get to address all of you. And that's really why I wanted to come and talk to you tonight. So, mayor and council members, thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Your trust over the years has allowed us to make real progress improving systems, strengthening security, and preparing for the future. In my 18 years with the city of Minnitankka, serving as the city's IT manager, I've had opportunities to present before the council. But tonight, with just a few weeks left before I retire, I'm especially grateful for the chance to publicly thank the many individuals who have made this such a great place to work. I want to extend my deep appreciation for our city leadership for your support and vision. To our city manager and assistant city manager, thank you for your guidance and support. I'd also like to recognize the six outstanding IT team members. In IT, we have the unique opportunity to collaborate with every department because nearly everything we do these days relies on technology. The six of you have tackled major projects, kept critical systems running, and adapted to every challenge with resilience and creativity. It's been an honor to work alongside such a capable and forwardthinking team. I also want to thank our two audiovisisual specialists who ensure that our council and commission meetings are running smoothly, often behind the scenes like tonight, but always essential. A special shout out to Jeff Dulac, who will be stepping into the IT manager role. Jeff, congratulations. I have no doubt you'll bring fresh insight and strong leadership to the position. Thank you again for this recognition and for all the support over the years. It's been a true honor to serve and I leave with a great deal of pride, gratitude, and great memories. Thank you very much. Don't go away. Thank you, Brad. So, so I have the u the traditional gift and it's a beautiful picture of Minihaha Creek and uh made from a frame and it says this wood was reclaimed from a majestic American elm tree at Minnitanka Mills Park. So, I'm This is the stand. I'm going to hand that to you separately and and give you that. And uh I just hope that you will think of us all and this beautiful campus that we have. I will. And um and I want to congratulate you and and I just uh want to say a few personal words because you know this is a people business and and I I love being mayor of Minnetonka and one of the great piece parts of my job is getting to know all of you and one of the best memories I have is when we've been going through renovation. Um I had the opportunity um my office is right over here as you all know and um Patty's office was uh when we were when her space was being renovated was just across the hall and and Chief Borboom's office was was there too and I got to know people at a level that I didn't get to know them before and uh and that was really fun for me because we have such great people and and it's such a reflection on Patty that she has such a strong team. I love it when we promote from within, but she built a strong team and so she's going to be missed, but all the work's going to get done. And that's the other point that I I wanted to make is that, you know, we have we had special meeting today. We have meetings of all different times of the week, all times, different times, days of the week. Um, our IT staff knows that because they have to make it happen. And the behindthe-scenes work that gets done um really makes the city work. Um, not everybody gets to see it, but I think those of us who work closely with you do, and we really appreciate it. So, Patty, congratulations. Well done, and don't be a stranger. Thank you so much, Brett. Thank you. Really appreciate it. Thank you everybody. And if um if council members would like to add a few words, they're welcome to do that. Um I'm going to go with Rebecca first and then Deb. Thank you, Mayor. You know, the thing about it, Patty, I appreciate you so much and and I'm amazed at how much your team gets done for the size of the team. I mean, it's incredible. I My husband talks about it all the time and he's in awe. He works in it. And the thing about a good IT team is that if they're good, you don't notice them. And we never notice. And it's incredible. Um, the thing that jumps out at me was during CO the transition and how much work you and your team put in to make sure that operations just continued seamlessly and people could do their jobs from home and it's just so incredible to me and I'm in awe of it and we're going to miss you a lot but I know we're also in good hands. So, thank you so much. And then Deb or excuse me, Council Calbert, excuse me. Thank you, Mayor. We were more informal at our in our study session. So, I'm I'm still transitioning. Well, I agree with everything that both the mayor and uh council member Sha said, and I will say that I've had the honor of serving with Patty on the Southwest Suburban Cable Commission where she's actually recent past um chair and um one of the things that you know we often sort of stereotype it folks as you know maybe very analytical and I think one of the things that makes Patty and the entire team really special is um just so much sensitivity and just the incredible um sense of service and um just how kind and thoughtful um Patty was, you know, in the Southwest Suburban Cable Commission running an efficient meeting but being, you know, very respectful and um just a really soft touch and yet, you know, having so much really important knowledge and um and one of the things that I'll say uh working in another municipality for myself is that um good succession planning is so important and um you know what council member Shack said about all the work that you did during COVID and just making everything seamless and everybody's sort of behind the scenes. Um I just take my hats off to you cuz I am not in a panic. I mean, I'm really going to miss you, but I also know that um that things are laid out and um folks are ready to um move forward. So, I just want to wish you just a wonderful retirement to enjoy all of these wonderful people in your life and um to do all the things that you can't do because you're behind the scenes at all hours of the day. But thank you for everything you've done and we really will miss you. Anyone else? Um, Paty, council member Foster Bolton, excuse me. I mean, I haven't had much experience with you, but um, at my other job, every time I call it, I get like my heart goes faster and I get scared and I usually get, you know, sort of because, you know, they're probably questions that are, you know, stupid in some people's eyes. And so the same thing happened whenever I dealt with them or the first time I dealt with your team and it didn't happen like they were so nice and they were like no you know like oh this is a stupid question and it was a completely different experience and um it's it makes so much difference. So and I think that probably has to do with you. So thank you and thank you guys back there. All right, Kizzy or Council Member Klay, I'll get this down. Don't worry about it. Yes. So, I wanted to say something very similar to what Paty um was saying. I haven't had a lot of interaction with you with with you, but I've had a lot of interaction with Jeff and I can tell you and this like working with Jeff has been amazing because he he always answers and like help me when I need help. I get locked out quite a bit. And so like the IT team has been phenomenal. And so because the IT team is phenomenal, I know without a shadow of a doubt how phenomenal you was. And so I just want to tell you congratulations. And I like to see when people retire because they can spend more time with their family. And I know that's really important. So congratulation and love on your family. Council member Wilburn, I think I got it right. You did right. Yeah. I'll just to add to that that chorus that um I mean I don't know what they say when I leave the room because every time I have to reset my password, it doesn't work. So, so it hears from me, you know, every time it's time to reset the password. Um and they're always so kind and friendly and at least to my face, do not tell me how stupid I am. So, I appreciate that. Council member Romey, thank you. Um, thank you, Mayor. Again, I'm like U Council Member Foster Bolton. I haven't, you know, I'm a newer uh council member, so I haven't had as much experience. Um, appreciate the IT department's uh patience for the times that uh a a constituent spilled coffee on my iPad and and I needed to replace it. um you know there wasn't uh a lot of yelling or screaming about that which I was really grateful for. But the one thing I really remember is when I did my onboarding as a council member and coming in and speaking um you know with you and kind of having those one-on- ones and then kind of learning and and having it sink in just everything that the IT department does and I think you know most of us don't appreciate it and until you sit down and I know that you know in that one hour one and a half hour meeting we had probably hit a a a hundth of what actually happens but um just knowing uh the extent and how far the tentacles of it uh you know kind of reach into all of the city's departments everything you know that the whole city does much less you know of course council um it gave me even a greater appreciation of of the department and all that you have done and what you've built over the years so wish you very well and and happy retirement. Thank you very much. So, um, we'll wrap we'll wrap that up, but I I I was thinking as people were talking, um, you know, I don't know what the, um, what the mods or the themes of the IT department are, but, um, you know, one could be never let them see you sweat. Uh, because you get you get pulled into a lot of situations, um, and then you have council members say, "Well, I'm going to be traveling, so I want to I want to um dial into the meeting remotely and participate." And and that sounds like an easy request. And the answer is never know. But it's um I know it's a big deal uh for your team or or maybe another theme could be um well they're really stupid but they're the council. So but whatever you um I think that you know you've just you you're a joy to work with. your entire team is and um yeah and I know we're pretty good at forgetting passwords and things like that but but you know you've been very patient and great to work with and I think that's a reflection of your entire team but your leadership so thank you all. Thank you very much. All right, we'll move on to the next one. But but but thanks so much and you guys don't have to stick around all night but if you know it's really fascinating so if you if you want to stick around you can. So the uh the next item on the agenda um is um the geographic information systems GIS update. And so Mike, I'll Mr. Funk, I'll turn it over to you and then I believe u Matt Harding is going to follow you. So yes, thank you, Mayor. Uh good in good evening again, council. Just just a quick intro and then I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Manchester who will formally introduce Mr. Harding. Very good. Uh the reason I just wanted to spend just a minute uh as an introduction as you know council uh as staff we've been uh presenting to you usually in a year we bring some staff forward give you some updates on various activities around the city. You've recently in this last year heard from Andrew Wittenberg for example our communications uh manager. Uh we've had uh Leslie Yeka. Miss Yeka is our natural resources manager. He's talked about some of the natural resource activity. Uh and tonight you're going to hear from Mr. Harding, our GIS manager, and really excited about this because GIS is really all things about the city. We uh talked with Miss Laam and all the things about technology and and in the IT world. GIS is really instrumental in so much of what we do here at the city. It's one of those other behind thescenes activities that um we're excited to just showcase for you just some of the activities, some of the things that Mr. Harning and our staff are working on across all departments uh that really make our city better. So with that, I'd like to just turn over to Mr. Manchester for more of a formal introduction as Mr. Harding works in public works. So with that, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Funk and Mr. Manchester. Yes, thank you, Mayor C. I think Mr. Funk covered most of what I would add, but Matt just does so much behind the scenes. I'll introduce him. Matt Harding, our G GIS analyst. He'll come up. He's just going to give you kind of an overview of some of the different things we're doing. Um, it's not just public works, it's citywide. And so we cross a lot of departments in our organization. And so we'll just have him come up. I'll give you a quick just I mean this is a number of the things that Matt's working on and his team. He's got a number of interns this year as well as a couple other staff. And so just this list alone are just kind of the start of it. And so these are a lot of things he touches with him and his folks. So I'll just turn it over to him to kind of come up introduce himself and uh give you about 5 to 10 minutes. Mr. Harding, welcome. Thank you. Okay. I'm nervous. This is my first time speaking in front. Just relax. It's all good. But the audience got much smaller, so it's a little easier. Um, so mayor and council, thank you very much for inviting me or allowing me to come and speak with you. Um, much like um, it GIS is one of those very background kind of uh, tools and departments. We're not really even a department. We're um a collection of people within public works mostly who um are very passionate about what we do and providing tools and capabilities to the really the subject matter experts in our divisions and departments to help them do their jobs as best as they can. Um I think we have this. So yeah, um the city of Minnotonka has a very robust geographic information system. Um I'll refer to it as GIS from now on because it's a mouthful. Um and we do support a wide range of programs and uh divisions. Uh we primarily operate out of the public works department. Um and GIF GIS staff manage all of the servers and data that really um help us do our day-to-day work. It's been built on over time. It is a living breathing kind of thing that grows over time as our capabilities grow and as the technology changes. Um much like it things change overnight. We always have to keep up to date with the latest trends. Um the latest technology um there's a lot of reiteration and rebuilding to make sure that um the things we build maintain and last for our users. Um so myself I am the GIS analyst and I've been with the city almost three years. Prior to that I was with the city of Egan. Um very happy there in a very good GIS department. Uh the opportunity came up for me to move here and um I even though I was very happy there I felt like I could come and kind of spread the good word kind of of GIS and about how it can be used to its full potential. So the opportunity here I believe um wasn't just for myself but also for for Minanka as well because of the education and the people I worked with in the past. Uh we have very strong ties um with throughout the metro uh and the state uh with different user groups uh such as the Logist GIS user group of which I'm on the Logist GIS policy committee uh that helps inform how logists use GIS for the whole uh region. Uh we also do presentations at our state conference every year to share our technology and share our findings uh with our peers and we learn way more than we even get to present in those. Um but it's very useful. Um, GIS has the ability through the maps and web and mobile applications that we make to tell stories, uh, to give analysis and to really describe, uh, what's going on in the world, sometimes way more, um, impactfully than a chart or a spreadsheet, um, or text alone can sometimes. Um and the city is cons consistently using um using this technology and expanding its use uh day-to-day uh to really try and maximize our investment in this and um and get the most out of it and to um just create um more meaningful applications for people. Um since I started we've been tracking um different metrics some of which you may see through our strategic profiles and our usage of GIS over the last 3 years has increased exponentially year-over-year more than double um kind of um clicks and and encounters with our with our apps and maps and applications. Um let's see. So this week is uh national public works week and GIS as it is in most cities and uh municipal settings is uh kind of born in in public works. Uh we're not you know we're not it's not uncommon for GIS uh for public works to be the home of GIS. Um and um we do a lot from annual fire inspe inspections um um hydrant maintenance inspections, sewer televising, tree maintenance. GIS has the ability to impact everything cuz everything has a place on Earth that we can map. Um so I'm just going to go through a few examples of some very recent applications just to show you uh what we've been working on. This is a tiny fragment of the hundreds of applications and maps that we create. Um so hydrant inspections, we have um mobile field applications that are um our crew use in the field. They used to use binders and map books that they would have to page through and read through instructions on each hydrant exactly how to flush it and maintain it. That is now all digital. They don't have to do that anymore. Uh the utilities um supervisor can monitor progress and assign um zones on this dashboard um and then monitor progress of any issues that they might find. So if a let's say a h a fire hydrant is inspected and they find it to be out of service, that's a big deal. We want those fire hydrants working. It instantly shows up on this uh hydrant maintenance progress dashboard. and then the utility supervisor can determine the course of action to correct it and either send out a crew member or a contractor to get that back online as soon as possible. Um, so this is it's very fast. There's no data entry. We don't have to wait till someone gets back into the office to learn about an issue in the field. Uh, we get that constant instant feedback. um parks. Um this uh last May 2025, Minnotonka Memo uh launched our public parks a community finder. This is an application that lets our residents and visitors to the city filter by different amenities that are found in the parks and find just that perfect park that's going to fit, you know, their use for that day, you know. So maybe one member of the family wants to play basketball and someone else wants to have a picnic and they need a bathroom nearby. They can filter throughout these applications and it will narrow down a list of those parks that meet that criteria. Uh right-of-way permitting. This was a very big uh program that we started this year. Uh prior to uh this year there was a lot of emails and fillable PDF forms and and paperbased workflows. Uh this is now all digital. Our applicants can apply online for a right ofway permit and there is no double data entry or anything that has to happen. It instantly goes through to our permit manager. They can review and get that approved or hopefully not denied um in a very quick manner. Uh and it also opens up um digital communication between the applicant and the permit manager if there are any issues. So if they need to request extra site plans or or any other documentation, it can all happen through our apps and dashboards and it's very quick. uh the current projects uh application which is pretty visible on our website and you may be familiar with. Uh this is kept up to date um constantly uh to really highlight to the public um what projects are going on throughout the city and give them extra information. Uh in natural resources, uh we recently launched the tree and shrub sale for this year and using GIS analysis, we identified um a portion of the city, the orange part in the map, which has less tree canopy cover and warmer temperatures from Met Council data uh to really identify that as a potential spot for a tree and shrub pre-sale, which went live, I think, this week. Yes. Um and throughout the whole city um you know we've seen a lot of public works specific applications so far but the whole city um every department uses GIS in some way even if they don't know it uh just by interacting with some of our maps. Um we have a web application that was created recently uh for rental for landlords to register their rental properties to help comply with the rental property registration ordinance. Um and there's a lot of um really useful and important information about rental and affordable housing inventory which is available in these dashboards uh for the public to see to really see the housing opportunities um that are throughout the city. Um but yeah, these are just a few of our recent projects where GIS has played a role. Uh we have a very small kind of team. There's really three of us who are full-time GIS. um myself, Ira Rabber, our GIS specialist, who is fantastic, and uh Carly Jagger, who is our GIS technician. Um and through the three of us, um and a few uh interns that we get every year, we get through a lot of work and kind of touch everything. Um our we have four interns this summer, uh who all who all started today, so hopefully they come back tomorrow. Um but they all seem keen. Um they bring some of their own experiences through their education and you know their upbringing and we're really happy to have them with us. Um one student is uh is from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and is literally staying at an Airbnb so he can be a part of our internship. Um we receive upwards of 50 or 60 applications for our internships. It's very popular. Um, and there's a very strong pool of of uh new graduates coming through our our local universities as well. Okay. And that's all I have. All right. Well, thank you very much and council. Any questions for Mr. Harding? You know, I just I just want to thank you for coming forward and um I worked for a guy one time who said, "You are what you measure." and and I that really influenced me because I mean that's it if it's important we measure it and we know how we're per performing and clearly the work that you're doing um and and we see it in uh Mr. Funk's presentations of our performance against our um the action aspects of our strategic plan and yeah the work is is very valuable but I think if it's important and it's work that we care about we measure it and we know how we're doing and and your work is just uh um essential to that. So, thank you very much for being here. Thank you. I enjoy I actually enjoy all of the GIS stuff and I geek out on it. So, I thank you for what you do. That's great. I'll be back with more in the future. Good. Councor. Yeah. Just uh thank you and echoing everybody else. I also had a a meeting with community organization organization last Thursday. very much relied on the housing um storyboards and the GIS information there to kind of map and track and and kind of help tell that story. And um so I think the the GIS is really super helpful in us kind of conveying to residents, you know, it tells a story on its own, but it also helps us as kind of ambassadors and, you know, representatives when we're meeting with constituents and community groups to kind of bring that story to life. So um super important. Looking forward to more of it. I may have another graduate for you for next year. Perfect. All right. Great. Thanks. All right. Anyone else? Thanks very much for being here tonight. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, Ken. Take care. Have a good rest of the evening. Um, next item is um, still in special matters is a proclamation for Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And I've asked Council Member Romey to read that proclamation. Thank you, mayor. Um, this is the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month from May 31st to 31st, 2025. Um, the proclamation reads, "Whereas Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Week was first celebrated in 1978 and first designated a month-long celebration in 1992. And whereas Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month seeks to honor the contributions of residents of Asian Indian and Pacific Island descent. And whereas accomplishments from Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders have led to great advancements in culture, politics, economics, technology, and more. And whereas during Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we acknowledge Asian-American and Pacific Islanders who work in and live who live in and work in Minnetonka and acknowledge their contributions to the success of our community. And whereas the city of Minnotonka strategic profile specifically highlights the importance of community inclusiveness, creating a community that is engaged and compassionate about everyone. Now therefore, be it resolved that the city that the Minnotonka City Council does hereby declare the month of May as Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the city of Minnitonka. Thank you, Council Member Romey. And the next item is a proclamation for Jewish American Heritage Month. And I've asked Council Member Calbertt to read that proclamation. Council member, thank you, Mayor. Um, city of Minnitonka proclamation Jewish heritage American heritage month May 1st through 31st, 2025. Whereas Jewish Americans have been an essential part of the American story since the earliest days of our nation. And whereas Jewish Americans have contributed to the very fabric of our American experience through religious, cultural, political, economic, and intellectual advancements, working tirelessly toward achieving their piece of the American dream. And whereas 2025 marks the 45th annual celebration of achievements by Jewish Americans starting with Jewish American Heritage Week in 1980 and expanded to Jewish Heritage Month in 2006. And whereas Minnotonka residents and staff of Jewish descent have been crucial members of our community. And whereas the city of Minnotonka's strategic profile specifically highlights the importance of community inclusiveness, creating a community that is engaged and compassionate about everyone. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Minnotonka City Council does hereby declare the month of May as Jewish American Heritage Month in the city of Minnitonka. Thank you, Council Member Calbertt. Um, just a quick comment. Um, you know, we we highlighted our um each of the proclamations highlighted our strategic profile and the importance of community inclusiveness and we get a lot of proclamation requests. I I know it perhaps seems to the public or to the council, boy, we read a lot of proclamations and we do, but we turn down a lot more than we accept and we really are are particular about that because we want to make sure that the proclamations we do are of broad community interest and and I'm very supportive. I know Jace um our um senior uh diversity, equity, and inclusion um um coordinator, thank you for that. um you know works hard on these and and it's to me it's important to recognize the the different groups that different people who live in our community and make them feel welcome that they are a part of our community and it's a big deal. We they are welcome. So, we're going to continue to do these proclamations and I really think that the DEI work that recognizes um these relatively underrepresented portions of our population to let them know that they are important to our city and important to the fabric of what makes Minnetonka what it is. So, I just wanted to uh add that uh editorializing. So, um pardon me for that. So, next item is um item seven, which is reports from city manager and council members. And I will turn to Mr. Funk. Uh again, thank you, mayor. Good evening, council. Just a couple things for you this evening. Uh Mr. Harding alluded to two of these. One, it is public works week as he noted, which is May 18th through 24th. We did not do a proclamation, but want to acknowledge that that is an important uh week. Uh this year's theme for public works week is people, purpose, and presence, which highlights three cornerstone ideals that motivate public work professionals every day to serve in their communities. I also then want to mention the the second thing that Mr. Harding brought up is fire hydrants and the GIS mapping on fire hydrants. So our utility staff is currently performing annual maintenance and repairs on fire hydrants. So perhaps you or members of our public will see our crews out tending to fire hydrants. They do that as part of their annual maintenance and so you'll see that activity happening. Third is also then police officer memorial day which is several minitaka police officers stood guard on May 15th at the Minnesota Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in St. Paul. The department annually participates in this event and we pay tribute to officers killed in the line of duty May 11th through 17th. I know that just wrapped up was the National Police Officer Week and certainly want to make sure that you are aware of that. And then last spring planting. It's been gorgeous weather the last uh number of weeks and a really big credit to our park staff uh for all the planting of flowers around our campus and around all of the areas in Mitankka. They do such a wonderful job of making our city look beautiful. So really appreciate their efforts. With that, mayor and council, turn it back over to you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Funk. Uh council members, anything to report? Council member Calbertt. Yeah, I just wanted to mention that um the Minnotonka Family Collaborative had their last meeting of the year um uh on Thursday and uh Chief Borboom spoke and he commented to me before the meeting tonight what an amazing group that is. And for those of you who don't know, it is a group of nonprofits that is that um collaborates through uh Minnotonka public schools to support children and families um at risk that may be experiencing food insecurity or housing insecurity or um job challenges or academic uh challenges um grief uh emotional distress address um domestic violence. There is not a subject that that the people in that room do not make better. And it is literally the most inspirational group of people you can imagine. The people that came to speak on Thursday were so emotional about the work that they do because it's so important and um the work that they do is undervalued by our country and so the actual family collaborative is losing some funding. Um and every single organization in that room is in is really really hurting um because there are changes in you know federal grants and so on and so forth. And so I just want to say that there are you know angels in our community doing incredible work and they need us to support them. So, open up your pocketbooks, look for causes that you believe in, and contribute to the organizations in our community like Jewish Children and Family Service or ICA Food Shelf or Resource West or any of the um wonderful nonprofits that support people in our community um that just might need a hand up and then go on to do incredible things. So, um I just wanted to mention that. And I also wanted to shout out um for all of the things that um Mr. Funk mentioned uh the the peace officers memorial and um it being uh public works uh week and so on and so forth. Um, but I also want to give a shout out to um Jace uh Alexander, our um uh DEI uh senior DEI coordinator, because um the kinds of proclamations that we read are they're not insignificant and they mean something to people when we recognize people's existence and their importance to our community and can build our community. um you know, people that feel like they belong, put down roots and make our community stronger. So, I just want to say that. So, thank you, Jason, and thank you everybody. Thank you, Council Calbert. Anyone else? I'm I'm usually good for a couple little things. So, um, on Friday, uh, we had a retirement, um, and we had two significant retirements this month, and, uh, we recognize one, Patty Laam, tonight, but but Ralph Spanheim, who was associate city attorney for 33 years, uh, retired on Friday. Well, yeah, retired on Friday. And there was a a typical, um, uh, employee, um, coffee and farewell and thank you, and it was it was very nice. and I stuck my head in for a little bit. Um but um when uh somebody like Ralph retires from the city, he has the opportunity if he's so interested to come and be recognized by the city council and say a few words. But um Ralph is a pretty um quiet guy and he didn't want that attention focused on him. So I'm not letting him off the hook. I'm I'm telling I'm telling you what I would have said whether with him here or not. Um but he's really a pretty remarkable person and 33 years with the city is a long time and we're uh um you know he he was such a key part um of our um city attorney office and you know just um some of the things he talked about there was a nice piece and there is a nice piece on our website so thank you communications people um and I'm just going to borrow a few things from that but um you know he talked about how he he was attracted to Minnetonka from private practice um and he said, "You know, I went to I went to uh law school um and I was in private practice." And the problem with private practice is you have to go out and find customers. And he said, "I didn't go to law school to become a salesperson. I I went to law school to become a lawyer." And um at the city of Minnetonka, he had to uh he he had to be a lawyer and he got to be a lawyer for a long time. And and um staff has shared with me and Mr. Funk has shared with me some of the some of the nice comments with his retirement that have come from judges, from people that that Ralph appeared in front of um because he was such a professional. He represented the city so well. Um and then there's a piece in the um in the write up, you know, when officers are being trained, the legal department actually has a role in that. Um um R said, we we we do a court orientation. I don't know of any private firm that serves a city that does a court or orientation with police officers. And and that's a big deal because uh when our police officers do their work, they if they if they apprehend a criminal, they want that person to be to be prosecuted successfully. And uh by helping our officers know what to look for and what to do, we're going to have a higher success rate than we otherwise would. That's a big deal to police departments and to um and to the legal profession. And then, you know, I know people roll their eyes a little bit when I say public safety is job one in cities, but I firmly believe that, but I thought a little bit about it as I was uh reviewing Ralph's write up. And you know, public safety, we automatically think of our police department and our fire department, but public safety involves everyone. It involves public works. I mean, if if we have if we have holes in our roads and our roads are unsafe, our public is less safe. If we um you know, if our water is not clean, again, public safety, our public works um is responsible for our water. Well, if we have if we have unclean water, talk to the mayor of Flint. I mean, public safety is about keeping everyone keeping people free from disease, the the work that our public health department does. We're all in this together. So public safety is not just about our our enforcement of the law and uh and um that important role, but it's about what we all do as um as as people working for the city and working for the residents. And so I just want to thank all of our staff. And I want to recognize Ralph because it was he he was here 33 years. He he had the same job for 33 years. I think he loved it every day and he was so highly respected because he was committed to excellence and he served our city well. So if he happens to see this, he couldn't totally dodge the bullet. I wanted to make sure that he got recognized. And I actually went to unmapped where they had an after hours party and it just m it just warmed my heart to see police officers there, police officers there and their wives honoring him and his reach is wide because one of the reasons I was there because a friend of mine who lives in an NOA called me because she's worked with him and was going to that party. So, um, just really, I mean, he's just such a a modest guy, but boy oh boy, what are we But kind of a renaissance man, though. He's got a lot of He's got a lot of talents that he doesn't talk a lot about, but um, you know, and then I just have to relate one other thing to um, my wife works in the Hopkins and St. Louis Park schools and um, and she works in a transition program for people with disabilities. And there there was a student there that um was having some real personal problems and and my wife called me and said, "Well, could we need to go to that apartment because the teachers are concerned about this this student's well-being and you know, could could you ask if a police officer could accompany?" I said, "Well, anybody can ask that, but I'll I'll call and see what I can do." And and so um I shared with I talked to Chief Borbone and talked to Mike and and it turned out that the address was not in Minnetonka. Okay, it was a Minnetonka address, but it was in Hopkins. So, our police department coordinated with Hopkins and and there was a Hopkins police presence there when they went into this apartment. And the and the circumstances in the apartment were really really sad. And this young lady um ultimately um ended up through our homeless homelessness support systems in the city of Minnitonka um is now um moved into um out of this apartment with with in a in a bad set of circumstances is getting help through the organizations that we work with to help homeless people. And you know it just I mean this really was a circumstance where I've known about these programs and I've cared about these programs and I voted for these programs but it's the first time I was personally involved in seeing an individual who is uh you know just a wonderful young lady who has overcome enormous difficulty. She was born in a she lived in an orphanage in China until she was 10 years old. She came here was adopted. I believe her mother has some pretty significant mental health issues. She was living in a horrific situation and her teachers um at um at this program where my wife works really have rescued her and now she is in a better living situation. But you know you you think about well Minnetonka do we have homeless in homelessness in Minnetonka? Yeah we do. We do have people who have real needs. I mean, this was a very personal and I would say in some ways heartbreaking circumstance, but it made me feel so good about what we as a city do to help people. So, thank you to thank you to staff. It means a lot to me and and I think it's good for our residents to know the good work that we're doing to help people who are not as fortunate as we are. So, pardon me for uh for sharing that story, but it was it was a very significant um um circumstance for for me and for our family. So, I want to share that. So, with that, um we'll we'll start picking up the pace now here a little bit. And uh item eight is bids and excuse me, is citizens wishing to discuss matters not on the agenda. So, is there anyone here who would like to come forward, state your name and address, and tell us about something that you think the city council should know about? Is there anyone? And I'll ask one more time. And if I don't see anyone, I'll we'll move on. So, next item on the agenda is uh bids and purchases, and we have none. So, that takes us to the consent agenda. And consent agenda items are items that are typically routine. Um I will read the items into the agenda. If somebody would like to pull one, either a council member or somebody in the audience, please raise your hand and indicate that you would like that item pulled, we will we will pull that item. Then we will vote on the items that have not been pulled and then we'll circle back to that for any consideration, further consideration of that item, and then we'll vote on that item. So item 10, consent agenda items requiring majority vote. 10A is a second amended and restated West Metro Drug Task Force Agreement and dissolution of the Southwest Henipin Drug Task Force. And item 10B is the Minnetonka Family Collaborative Mini Grant. So, is there anyone would like to pull an item? Um, Council Member Kley, I'd like to pull the um consent item B, Nonka Family Clarative Min. All right. All right. We'll do that. So then, um, that leaves item 10A. Would somebody like to make a motion on 10A? Council member Wilburn. I move approval of consent agenda item 10A. Is there a second? Council member Romey, I'll second. All right. Uh, thank you. A motion by Council Member Wilburn and a second by Council Member Romey. Miss Larson. Okay, I think I got it right now. Anyway, this old age is hard on a person, trust me. Um uh please call roll. Shaq, yes. Wilbur, yes. Calbert, yes. Romeley, yes. Kley, yes. Foster Bolton, yes. We Yes. Motion carries. And then going back to item 10B, the Minnotonka Family Collaborative Mini Grant. Um Council Member Kley. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to say um congratulation on the grant and I just want to say I really like this idea of working with the 25 students to help them um learn about um policing and to build youth um leadership um as part of the academy. Um I think this is a really great program. Um and um I really appreciate um the partnership and just you know giving kids the opportunity to learn leadership skills and um and and also able to partner with the police department. I think that's really good. Um we need to see positivity and I think this is a way to bring positivity to youth and to our police police department. Um I talk about this a lot. A lot of folks don't know because I do I kind of have this both sides where you know I talk about policing but I also wanted to be a police officer when I was a younger person and so um I really um respect the idea of doing something like this. I think this is a great opportunity for our youth and so I just wanted to congratulate um our police department with this. So thank you. All right. Oh yes. And I'll make the motion to u adopt the res resolution approving the grant. Thank you so much. Is there a second? Council member Calbertt. Thank you, Mayor. I'll second. I just want to say here's the Minnetonka Family Collaborative in action doing great things in partnership. It's just such a great community partnership. So, happy to second. All right. Thank you. And and just to add on a little bit too, I think um some of the points made earlier about about the challenges being faced in our country, it calls upon us all to dig deep and be more generous than we may have been in the past just because resources are disappearing and um and the work doesn't disappear. So um our help is needed. So all right, we've got a motion and a second. Ms. Larson, please call roll. Shaq, yes. Wilburn, yes. Calbertt, yes. Rome, yes. Kley, yes. Foster Bolton, yes. We Yes. Motion carries. Item 12 is introduction of ordinances and 12A is an interim use permit ordinance amendment. And with that, I will turn to is that is that Miss Oh, Miss Thomas. Thank you. Uh, thank you, mayor and councel. Um, just a bit of background first on interim uses before I get into the the proposed changes uh to our ordinance. For each zoning district in our community, the zoning ordinance specifies permitted, accessory, conditional, and interim uses. And permitted and accessory uses are uses that staff can generally um review and approve administratively. Conditional uses and interim uses are uses that are allowed only if the proposed use meets a series of conditions that are outlined in the ordinance and then only if they are approved by the council um specific proposals. The main difference between a conditional use and an interim use is that a conditional use approval um runs with the property. That's what we planners say. And that means that once it's approved, that approval remains valid so long as the conditions of approval continue to be met and the use um doesn't cease operations for 12 months. So, for example, a drive-thru facility is a conditionally permitted use. If a bank has been approved for a driveup facility, um it doesn't matter if that bank was TCF when it was approved and it changes to Huntington Bank, the conditional use permit remains valid. In contrast, then an interim use is a use that's designed um for a temporary purpose or a temporary use of property. And that approval expires uh in a couple of situations. If there's a specified time um of of the approved use or if there's a change in ownership or whatever condition that the council wants to add to that interim use approval. So, an example of an interim use that you see from time to time is a garden center that's in the parking lot of of say a strip mall. And those interim uses we usually approve for 5 years so we can see how things go and then they have to come back. Recently then um staff planning staff specifically had a discussion with one of our school districts regarding the possibility of placing a temporary building on their property. And we went through the ordinance as we do and found that our current interim or temporary use ordinance is really specific and it's really restrictive and it doesn't provide a clear way to permit what we believe would be a reasonable temporary use. And that led us to consider then even further there are likely a lot of reasonable uses that may be suitable on properties for a temporary period of time that we simply haven't thought of yet that the current ordinance doesn't allow. So as it stands, if a proposed use does not meet the specific and restrictive standards set forth in our interim use ordinance, we really only have two options. completely deny what we might otherwise think is a reasonable use or potentially allow it as a conditional use, which means something that was temporary could become permanent. And so with that kind of lengthy presentation for a for an intro, um I'll get into what we're proposing to change. There's really three changes. Um the first is to grant the city planner the authority to determine whether a proposed use is similar to a use that we already list in our ordinance. Um since we can't anticipate every possible use proposed by a property owner with this authority staff can assess well this type of use is very similar to to that type of use. Many communities already have this type of authority in their ordinance. We we do not. Um it's important to note that the ordinance does say that anyone who's agrieved by the city planner's decision can appeal that um decision to the council. The second change then is to broaden the general uh interim use standards. And then the third change is to allow as interim uses things that we might otherwise allow as conditional uses or again other things that we determine are are similar to things that we already allow. I just want to note that aside from granting the city planner um the authority to determine whether an unanticipated use is similar to an existing use in the ordinance, there's no additional uh procedural changes that are proposed. So interim uses would still need to be reviewed and approved by the city council. So this evening, um, what we're asking is that you, um, make a motion to introduce this ordinance and refer it to the planning commission as well as provide any feedback as to things you want, um, the commission to specifically look at. Thank you, Miss Thomas. Um, council, questions for staff on this item? Anyone? Uh, Council Member Wilburn. Thank you. Um, so I there's a organization called Pallet that um provides long-term temporary housing. And one of their one of their uh uses is for in in cases of emergency, they can set up sort of temporary housing uh on site. Would that be something that this sort of permit would be required for? Miss Thomas. Yeah, Mayor and and Council Member Wilburn, that's certainly something we can explore as we go into the review further for the planning commission. I will say that we do have a provision of our ordinance right now that allows the um community development director. It's outside of the zoning ordinance, but a provision that allows a community de development director to approve in emergency situations um temporary housing um like a tiny house being moved in, whether it's for a family member that is just recovering from um some type of procedure or something like that. So, we do have that provision already. So um and then yes I think and council member Mley I just want to want to say one thing is that um we since we're this is being referred to the planning commission what types of things do we want the planning commission to consider those are the types of questions. So I think that was you know all good questions. So anyway council member go ahead. Yeah thank you mayor. I was just wondering if you could just provide a quick example or two of things like this. I'm trying to wrap my head around it and if you could, you know, kind of help me ground it a little bit, I appreciate it. Uh certainly, Chair, uh Council and uh Mayor Wor. Um well, one that recently came up is a temporary classroom structure on a a school property where the school um doesn't have um the plan yet to do the actual addition to the building. So, they're proposing a a temporary um building on their property. Um other uses that we've and our garden centers in in parking lots. Um uh commercial or uh commercial kennels maybe on a a a property owner wants to have three more than three dogs on their property. That's considered a commercial kennel even if they own all of those dogs. So perhaps that would be allowed while that owner owns the property. Um, those are a few that I can think of off the top of my head. Thank you. Oh, uh, I Thank you. Um, one one more to add. Uh, the city manager reminded me that we allow like fireworks, um, sales. That's another that we allow, uh, as an interim use permit of parking lots. Legal fireworks. Legal fireworks. Certainly. Very good. Um, other questions, council? Um the one that I have um I mean the the term interim does not mean permanent, it means temporary. And so I'm wondering if maybe um um would we want to consider identifying a time frame as part of our ordinance like 3 years or something like that where um if an interim use is approved um it's uh it it's you know in three years it needs to be reapproved or something like that because certainly times change and so is that again I'm not saying that's an something I recommend or a good idea. I'm saying that, you know, as the planning commission considers it, you know, considering a finite amount of time associated with um an interim use, um I'm wondering if that would be um a good idea and what the planning commission would think of that. And and mayor, certainly that's something we can look at. Um to add just a little um reference, our current ordinance does not specify a time frame. rather when the council approves the resolution associated with that particular use um we suggest when the use will expire. So that could be a time frame or I thought of another one. Um uh we have some situations where um a property owner may need to build a ramp in order to access their home. And so we would allow that and then if specifically if the ramp doesn't meet any of our setback requirements, we may say that that's an interim use and at the time the property is sold that um use expires. So, you do have the opportunity um unless the city attorney tells me otherwise right now um to uh to add very specific um what I call a sunset clause um to those resolutions that you're approving. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Nelson. Do you have anything to add? I do not. Okay. Thank you. Very good. Thank you. Um any other comments, council, or um this is an introduction. We'll see it again. Council member Calbertt, I it's just such a good example of the good work staff does. I it it's it's a needed I to me it makes all the sense in the world um to do this and it just seems timely because we are considering our code. So I just wanted to thank staff for this cuz I was like, "Yeah, this makes perfect sense." Good. Well, since it makes perfect sense, would you like to make a perfectly good motion? I absolutely would love to make the motion to introduce the ordinance and refer it to the planning commission. Council member Wilbert. Second. All right, we've got a motion by council member Calbert, a second by council member Wilburn. Miss Larson, please call roll. Shaq, yes. Wilurn, yes. Calbertt, yes. Rome, yes. Kley, yes. Foster Bolton, yes. Wearsome, yes. Motion carries. Next item 13 is public hearings, and we have one public hearing tonight. It is a temporary on sale liquor license for Unmapped Brewing LLC at 14625 Excelsier Boulevard. And normally um Miss Wishnack has this report, but she's not here. So is that Miss Thomas or is that Mr. Funk? Miss Thomas. Uh Mayor Woram uh Council Unmapped uh Brewing uh in uh Glen Lake has requested a temporary liquor license for its 8th anniversary party which will be held uh Saturday, June 8th. As was noted in your written staff report, the party will include an outdoor beer tent, uh, food trucks, games, and then tours of the brewery itself. To accommodate additional parking for the event, um, the owners have secured parking agreements with several other Glen Lake organizations and businesses. I would also note that, um, staff in preparation for this uh, with the police department did look to see if we've had any parking complaints recently in the area. We've had only four parking complaints in Glen Lake in u since the beginning of the year and one only one of those could be attributed potentially to unmapped. So um the parking situation seems to have shaken itself out at least for um the interim. Um as the council knows, Unmapped has successfully hosted multiple uh similar events like this over the last eight years. Uh we do recommend that the council hold the public hearing here this evening and then grant uh the license for this temporary event or temporary license for the event. Thank you, Miss Thomas. Um council, any questions for Miss Thomas? All right, this is a public hearing, so I will open the public hearing and ask if anyone would like to come forward and comment on this, including the applicant. If the applicants here and would like to say a few words, they're welcome to, but are not required to. Um, and um, so um, anyone want to comment on this one? Are we are we good? Come on forward and say your name and address and uh, let us know what you're thinking. Thank you, Mayor Worome. Council uh, staff. Um, yeah, Derek Almondinger uh, address 14625 Minnotonka Boulevard on Matt Brewing. Um, thank you for letting me come up here and and talk and um, in the past all of your support. Um, I've been involved with UNMAP since day one, but only as the guy that makes the beer. Um, just in the last 6 months, I've taken over ownership roles and I've worked with a number of people within the city and I've really appreciated the support that you guys have provided for us. Um, one of the best things about we started unmapped. Everyone asked what does unmapped mean? And basically it just means you know go somewhere you've never been before do something different try something new and we've really tried to embrace that and what it's turned into is you know a community gathering place and that's kind of what we're most proud of. Um Council Member Calbertt the the um thing that that you mentioned we love hosting that. We hosted uh Sergeant Ringate's um retirement at our place. We love doing stuff like that. Um, but we're also really proud of we are a community of inclusion. You guys talked about that earlier tonight. Um, we are all are welcome here and we really believe that. We really encourage that. Um, and that this party is an extension of that. We love the community that we've been that we've been in since day one. We want to continue to be in this community. Um, and again, I'm just going to say thank you for your support, but also if there's anything that we can do better for the city of Minnetonka, please don't be afraid to reach out to us. Um, we're here to listen. We're here to party, have fun. Um, thank you for the time letting me speak. Great. I can stay up here at the podium if anyone has questions. You don't need to, but if if there's any detail that you'd like to share about your event, uh, you're welcome to do that, too, because you don't you don't get a you don't get a microphone every day. So, I appreciate that, Mr. here. Uh June 14th, um basically because we have the coffee shop now, we're open at 8:00 a.m. and I think we can start serving beer at 8, but you don't have to start drinking. Um but 8 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. We're going to have live music. It's going to be bigger than it's ever been. We took over the You talked about the parking. Um we're actually taking over more parking to make the party bigger, more food trucks. Um again, four or five bands, going to be got some special beer releases. Um it's going to be a good time and uh encourage everyone to come down and check it out and say hi and please introduce yourselves again great in person. We'll do it. Uh before you leave, any questions? Um council the only Oh, council Kley. Yes, I I was just going to ask um how to how do we get in touch with you? Like if we just want to meet meet with you and have a meeting with you and just talk in person. Yeah, I I can give you my email address, phone number. Sure. I'll take your phone number right right now. Sure. Number you can write it down. You give it to me later or Yeah. I mean, I'm happy to get or just give it to city staff and I'll Yeah. No, that phone number, email, you guys are always welcome to reach out. Well, well, that's good. And then Thank you. Um, anything else, council members? Okay. The the only thing I would say is, you know, you um every every place needs an owner, but you know, the guy who makes the beer really is the most important guy. Just just so you know, you know, I mean, it's nice that you're an owner, but the person who makes the beer is really important. So, uh, thank you for thank you for the work that you do. Thank you. Y All right. Cheers. Cheers. Thank you. So, is there anyone else um who would like to comment on this item? Otherwise, I'm going to close a public hearing. Anyone? All right. All right, we'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the council. Council members, Council Member Kley, I'll make the motion to grant the license. Very good. Is there a second? Council member Shack, I'll second. All right, we have a motion by Council Member Kley and a second by Council Member Shack. Miss Larson, please call roll. Shaq, yes. Wilburn, yes. Calbert, yes. Rome, yes. Kley, yes. Foster Bolton, yes. Wears some. Yes. Motion carries. So that brings us to item 14, which is other business. And 14A is a cooperative agreement between Axon Enterprises Incorporated, Skyo Incorporated, and the Minnetonka Police Department to provide public safety solutions related to drones as first responders. And so, Deputy Chief, um, welcome and, uh, please make your report. We're trying some new technology for the presentation tonight. Oh, very good. It's kind of the theme here, it seems. Uh, mayor, councel, thank you for allowing us to come before you tonight with this uh idea and this vision that we have in the police department. Um, last week the chief spoke to you a little bit about the public safety master plan, kind of where we've been and where we're going. And this is going to just kind of recap a little bit of that. So the public safety master plan had several different goals, you know, to enhance services, to address kind of the different concerns we have and prevent future crimes, to maximize our return on investment, and to align with our best practices locally and nationally. So when we look, you know, we've we've done we've come a long way. We've implemented a lot of staffing. We've done a lot of both internal upgrades to our processes, to some of the our structure and our organizational alignment. And this is kind of where where do we go? where what's left and where do we go? So, um I'm sure as you know as was mentioned last week is that we're looking to add an additional community engagement officer next year. Um in the plan it does recommend adding two additional traffic officers. We are planning for that for 2027. What we've looked at though is updating that to just maintaining the one traffic officer that we've already added with DWI uh grant funding through the state of Minnesota. So, that's a grant funding opportunity that's available year after year. We're on our second cycle of that. Our officer has been a very high performer and uh we do anticipate uh being able to receive those funds uh again next year and beyond. Additionally, in the public safety master plan, it was recommended that we add two mental health officers and we were recommending doing that in 2028. As we've reviewed this plan, we've decided to transition that mental health response model to the Metitaka Fire Department while still maintaining our social worker that we have uh embedded in our police department. And that brings us kind of to the crux of this change in where we're at with drones as first responders. So, in the public safety master plan, it recommends adding two additional detectives up at the Ridgedale Mall. We have currently two detectives who are embedded up there working on retail crimes and we were looking at this to implement this next year in 2026 and we've been having a lot of discussions with Ridgdale management particularly around office space. So their current office space up there is a little less desirable than we would like it and it also is not enough space to house four detectives. There are not four physical desks that they could all actually sit there and perform their work on as it sits today uh at Ridgedale. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Can I I'm sorry to throw you off again. Can you have you raise the podium up? I'm having a hard time hearing you um through our live streaming. So, thank you. No, absolutely. Appreciate that. So, we better now I think so. Yes. Thank you. Okay. So, as I was mentioning, not enough office space to house these four detectives. Additionally, when we looked at the public safety master plan, one of the recommendations was to try and see if Ridgedale management would help pay for some of the work that those detectives are doing. In the discussions that we've been having with Ridgedale Management, that is not a feasible option. Um, it is they their corporate ownership is not willing to fund a detective position. and the office space is uh there's a a recommendation to get it re renovated in 2026, but that has not been approved yet. So, kind of left us in a spot where what do we do with these retail staff? How do we kind of look at what's happening in the Ridgedale area to make sure that our long-term plans are really sustainable and achieve a lot of those different goals. So, what we've come up with is um an updated recommendation for how we address that. So we are going to maintain those two detectives embedded up at Ridgedale Mall and then through some of the technology that you approved through the Axon project. We are going to be uh building out a real-time operations center. Um this is a a what this does is it enables us to monitor live feed cameras from some public private partnerships and provide real-time intelligence to those mall detectives and to patrol officers that are responding to calls for service. It really enhances that situational awareness and uh really makes it much more efficient for us to respond. We have more information up front through that. That's kind of a right now as it stands that operations center is working u mostly business hours 8 to 4:30. We know that crime extends well beyond that. So we are are looking to possibly add an additional operator to help us be able to extend that into the evening hours. And then we've talked a lot about the power shift. You've heard that before as part of the staffing that we was approved uh in 2024. So we're going to take that power shift and assign some of them to kind of focus on that retail area. Really have a part of that unit is going to be on that 394 corridor responding to calls for service, not just retail crime, but any any call for service that happens in that retail and being able to leverage that power shift to really be focused in that specific area. And then that's where comes this idea of drones as first responders. Um drones as first responders would um allow us to respond to calls for service using drones that are mounted on rooftops of some of our city buildings. We'll talk a little bit about how that works here. So why drones as first responders? Well, number one, it increases officer safety. Um they are the first to respond to calls. They provide officers with that information that we just don't know from the time someone calls 911 to the time we get there. There's a lot of things that happen in that time frame. Drones allow us to get to the scene very quickly, be able to see what's happening and relay that information to those officers, um, which really results in safer outcomes. So, you know, there's some case examples we'll talk about, but those officers are be able to make a much better decision and be able to deescalate those decisions a lot easier with more information. The more information we have, the more the the better we're able to make a quicker decision. So, a quick uh use case. We're not the first to do this. This has been uh something that's been spreading rapidly around the country. Uh, Trula Vista, California has been one of the pioneers of uh, DFR, drones as first responders, doing that since 2018. And they've uh, really kind of been the data set that a lot of agencies are using. And what you're seeing here is in the the blue lines are how fast drones or people get to call. So the blue is you're seeing the drones are beating patrol officers by almost 50% to calls for service. Additionally, with that, what the drones being able to respond so quickly is you're able to clear some certain calls by just using a drone. So, they're finding about 25% of the calls that the drones are responding to that officer doesn't need to go. Um, which is pretty impressive and that really increases our efficiencies, allow our officers to be prioritized on the things that actually really matter to us. Um, so this is what it would look like for us. So, we we did a call for service analysis based on our 2024 calls for service numbers, and we found that there were 7,500 plus calls that a drone could have responded to. Of those, 40% of 47% of them could have been handled in less than 120 seconds. So, our average response time now is is about double that on a on a good day. So, that's those are pretty impressive numbers. The map you see on the left is where these drones, first responders would be located. So they would again, like I said, be mounted on rooftops of city old buildings. So what you're looking at is kind of the dot in the middle where the orange section is, that is uh the police department. There would be a drone on top of our roof. Up in the northeast part of the city, you'll see in that kind of like lighter blue section, that is a fire station. Fire station number two. In the southeast purple area, that is another fire station, fire station number three. And then in the southwest is again fire station number four. So on each one of those is what's called it's called a hive. And in the hive, there's a number of different docks that contain the drones. So on each one of these hives, uh the ones on the east side of the city would have two docks with two drones and the others would be a single dock with a single drone in them for a total of six drones to be able to respond to calls for [Music] service. So obviously the big question when we talk about something like this, the elephant in the room is uh what about privacy? What about you know government overreach? Big brother type of scenarios. I think what I'd like to kind of refer you back to is that in uh late October last year, we were in front of you talking about our our current drone program and we talked pretty extensively about the state laws and the rules around when a drone can fly. Um we made some modifications to our own internal policies after some recommendations from council to really help address this privacy concern. Drones as first responder is no different. They follow the same state statutes. It's really an extension of our current drone programs. But some things I really want to highlight for that just as a refresher is that drones aren't used for general surveillance. Drones are not flying around proactively. This is based off of a call for service where someone has called the police and we are responding to those. Uh, another new feature that we we did not talk about in October is that flight data is going to be made publicly available on our website through a transparency portal. What you see on the right hand of the screen is just a snapshot of that of what it looks like. Uh, we actually have it live today. Um, not quite on the website, but anybody can go and click through this. They can search by date, by time, location, any of that, and find out exactly the flight path of our drone, where it was flying. Also, it will have on there reflective of why the reason that the drone was flying to be able for the public to if they see a drone flying AC across their neighborhood, they can click on this and find out what we were doing with that. Additionally, just as a reminder, there is annual auditing and reporting that needs to be done to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Applic Apprehension on all drone use. Um, it's also important to note that while these drones are in flight to a call for service, the camera that's mounted on the front of them will be pointed straight forward. It's not going to be pointed down looking at anything. It'll be pointed straight forward, used just to fly, um, be able to get where it needs to go. Once it's at the call for service where there's the problem, the camera can then will then turn down and can be manually maneuvered to do that. Also uh also just a reminder of the state statute that any noncriminal drone video is deleted after 7 days. So we do not hold on to that video for for any other purpose. It's deleted uh very quickly after use. Just touching a little bit on cost. We talked uh you know what you're looking at here is if we talked about all those different recommendations that were in the public safety master plan and kind of where we're making those changes. So, not adding staff positions and investing in some technology. What you're looking at here is the cost comparison of if we had just followed the plan as it's outlined versus uh switching to this model of using technology to accomplish a lot of those goals over this 10-year contract plan. Um, I'm not a mathematician, but if I've done my math right, has an opportunity to save us about $5.3 million of of personnel cost versus hardware and software costs, which is pretty substantial to us. Um, there's another agency in Redmond, Washington, which is just outside of Seattle. Uh, Chief Daryl Low out there has been a big proponent of drones as first responder and he does a much better job of explaining all of this than I do. So, there's about a about a twominute video that I want to show you because it really kind of see from someone who's actually using this how they're using it um not only just as a public safety tool but also as a city infrastructure tool. You know, they're using it for fire response. They're using it to help with different city departments as well, not just a police drone. So, I'm going to play that for you all. Welcome to the Redmond Police Department's flight control center. This is where we operate our DFR platform from. We have uh two flight control uh center setup. So, we can have both of our pilots flying missions simultaneously. That live video stream can be pushed out to any phone computer, pushed to my conference room. it can be pushed to an emergency operation center which then allows for situational awareness for a particular call or circumstance that a department or a city may be dealing with. The officers have really embraced DFR. They oftent times now will ask if air1 is available. We've seen about a 25% reduction in ground units having to actually respond to calls for service. We had a call come in where somebody thought an individual was breaking into a car. we're able to get the uh drone overhead uh in about 45 seconds, realize that the person was actually uh they had locked her keys in the car. So, the officer was able to slow things down, go and actually uh assist the citizen with getting uh in their car. So, it's that type of thing that uh DFR provides. It's that situational awareness in real time uh so the officer knows, you know, exactly what it is that they're uh you know, responding to or you know, driving into. So currently the way our program is structured is that we can fly on uh any call for service that is received by our dispatch center. We are not flying you know proactively and that helps with the uh privacy and the surveillance concerns that the community may have. Uh the dashboard that we have that will become public facing. They can then go in and see the actual flight path that the drone took. And in that case again it ties back to a specific call for service that can be uh clearly articulated to the community if they have those concerns. So, the DFR platform is not just for for law enforcement. Uh, in this case here, we responded to a call with our Redmond fire department. We're able to provide an aerial overview for the fire department. As the operation continues, we're able to switch to thermal uh and be able to provide them information as far as where hotspots are. It's not just a police asset, it's a citywide asset. Uh, this is where we've been flying uh exclusively for about the past 8 weeks or so. Been phenomenal for my pilots. The feedback has uh been wonderful. So my vision is for us to have multiple docks and multiple nests so that we will have the ability to leaprog and maintain constant aerial coverage. The ultimate goal is a minimum of eight docks and realistically 10 docks to cover the entirety of the city of Redmond. If you're thinking about uh starting a DFR program, uh do your homework, give me a call, come out and look at our program. I I'm happy to share with you our bumps and bruises and everything that we've learned along the way. [Music] did have an opportunity to talk to Chief Low recently, a few weeks ago at a summit we were at and um really in not just him but other agencies that were there as well. Really hearing from them how this has really completely changed the landscape of of policing and how they're responding to calls. So with that, Mayor Council, I'll turn it back to you. Have any questions for me? Thanks. Uh, abracadabra. There we go. Um, deputy chief uh Tate, thank you very much. Um, council questions on this uh kind of exciting technology. Um, council member Foster Bolton, this is just a curious. So the you said that there's a whole bunch of calls that you don't even have to go out. What like what what what is what would be an example of that? Um, I think that the prime example that I can think of that is, um, we get a lot of different calls of maybe suspicious vehicles or suspicious people in different neighborhoods. And that what we can do with this is, um, if the circumstances meet our criteria, a drone can fly to that location, look around, and maybe we get a report that a a red convertible is in a neighborhood. our drone can look go over that neighborhood, look around before officer gets there and say, "We're not seeing a red convertible. Um, it's no longer there." So then the officer can be like, "Well, the problem doesn't exist." We can call the person and say, "We were not able to locate the red convertible in the neighborhood and prevent an officer from having to drive all the way there, look all those streets, you know, drive the streets individually where a drone can see that whole neighborhood pretty quickly." So that's one example. [Music] Other question. Council member Wilburn. I just want to know if you're going to arrange the field trip for us to go to California. Okay. Mayor, Council Member Wilburn, I think we could probably make something happen. If nothing else, uh we will we will find a time for you to fly a drone for sure. Council member Romey, uh similarly, I was kind of curious when it's when you said you were use it for retail crime like in Riddale and such like that. I kind of had these visions of drones flying around. I'm assuming that's not going to be the case where I'm shopping and looking up like that. Are is it going to be used kind of like outside kind of to apprehend or how would the that you be used? Yeah, a great question. Uh mayor, council member Rome, yeah, they won't be in the building. So, it's uh it's an outdoor tool. They they're all externally drone fly outside. So, kind of what we're doing now in that area is we have some camera technology that's present that's able to help coordinate that response. Um, but it doesn't cover everywhere. And that's where a drone as first responder can be helpful is just to make sure that we can go really anywhere in the city and be able to have a camera. It's basically a camera that we can fly to a location then and use that and that coordinates that response, provides that information where the officers can slow things down and just really develop a good plan to resolve those calls. So that that's how we envision using it in that area. Great. Although it was kind of interesting the thought of seeing that in Richdale. Appreciate it. Phase two. Um Council Kley. Thank you, Mayor. I just had a question. Um, so I'm just kind of visualizing this and I don't know if this will happen or if this is possible, but like um where you use the drone for like speeding uh when folks are maybe speeding in the neighborhood and then you um kind of dispatch a drone toward the vehicle that's speeding. Um and then um so that's one part of the question. And then cuz I always think about the cameras in Iowa that you know kind of catches the cars that's speeding through. Will the cameras if you're able to do that will the cameras capture like face and all of that? Like I'm just kind of curious. Um will you use it in a situation like that? Uh Mayor, Council Member Klay, great question. Thank you for that. uh the way the state statute is laid out now, speeding would not qualify as for a drone flight. Um it doesn't have any technology in the camera head itself to be able to monitor any speeds or any sort of other attachments that can record speed like a radar does. Um, with the way that technology is advancing and more of the kind of embracing of technology, I I I could see that as being a real possibility in the future, but where we're at today with the laws and kind of the capabilities of the drone itself, I I unfortunately can't use it for that application. Other questions? Council Council Shaq. Thank you, Mayor. Do we have um one one question? And I think this probably clear answer, but do these work in the dark? And then the second, um, do we have any weather concerns? Is that I mean, have they been used in very cold weather climates? Mayor, council member Sha, good questions. Um, address the weather one first. So, they have there's they're in Alaska right now. There's drones for spawner in Alaska. um the actual dock that you see where the hood kind of goes up and down. There's heating and cooling in that to maintain the temperatures for proper battery charging during the summer and the winter. They're also capable of breaking about a/4 in of ice. So, the motors in it is strong enough to break about a/4 in of ice off of it to um be able to fly in inclement weather. They also can fly they can fly in the rain, they can fly in the snow. Uh winds up to 40 m an hour can sustain that. um they're putting a lot of effort into making sure that a drone can be in the air as as much as possible and and really advancing their technology to be able to make sure that it can land and take off in in all sorts of different weather. Um the second part about your question about seeing at night, yes, they are all equipped with infrared cameras that they can switch to different modes to be able to see um at nighttime. Council, other questions? Um, I've got a couple. Um, one is, um, would the drones operate strictly within Minnotonka or would we work would they operate in a broader rad a more regional radiuses? Um, would they have that opportunity or is there a limitation on I'm sure there's a limitation on how far they can go, but kind of dimensionalize that a little bit. Um, mayor, good question. So, what we're limited by now is FAA regulation. So we have to get waiverss from the Federal Aviation Administration to be able to fly in the airspace above Minnitaka. So that limits us from being able to go to a different city with the drone. Um a good example would be, you know, um there's some restrictions with Flying Cloud Airport to our south, right, where Eden Prairie has some restrictive airspace and I do not we would have to get an FAA authorization to go beyond Minnetonka. So that's where we're limited a little bit is some of the different waiverss that we need to do something like this from the FAA. And then um in terms of we do not um actively pursue criminals in our cars where you know we um and and I've I've come over to the department occasionally and and watched our um um some of the cameras we have around the city and so forth. In one circumstance, um there was shoplifting going on at the at Ridgedale and um we uh we tried to surround the uh the the vehicle and the vehicle got away and so we didn't pursue and so the bad guys got away. But with with the um with a drone, theoretically, you could observe that from the air, like having a helicopter in the air and then and then have a have a better response and and and apprehend those criminals before they got away. Is that the is that some of the usage we could we could have for a circumstance like that? Uh mayor, absolutely. Yeah, that's that's one of the advantages. You know, while while the drone stops at the border, the camera technology allows us to follow it even beyond our borders to be able to have better outcomes like that and be able to find out where these these vehicles or people maybe have gone to to or get more get more information about the vehicle, its license plates, occupants, all that stuff. So, and then and then maybe a bit of a future oriented um um question in terms of technology. I mean, clearly cameras are great. Okay. Infrared technology is great. Um um or or or or heat um sensitive technology. Um are there other technology you see? I mean, I think of a lost kid um in the woods and you have drone and um and having that heat sensing capability to maybe find that child in a way that you couldn't by um searching and so forth. But are there other technologies that you see being applied to the drones that we could add over time um as the technology makes itself available? Uh mayor, good question. So um they're always it seems like it changes so rapidly with what they can do with technology. Um they are working on a few different AI tools. So to be able to integrate AI into the cameras on the drones to be able to look for specific things. So if you're looking for, you know, a red vehicle in a neighborhood, it can detect the color and be able to say there's a red car right there. So there's some AI technology on that. We are also going to be one of the first users. There's going to be parachutes on our drones. So if there is a catastrophic failure that it has a parachute to bring it to the ground safely and not simply fall out of the sky. So there are there are different things like that that they're always looking on the different tools that they could put on the front end of these. Yeah, I think I think that technology is expanding. There's I I knew a guy who was really into technology and he was telling me about a um a capability that Monsanto back in the day used. I mean this is a number of years ago but Monsanto made Roundup ready soybeans and that is a biotech trait that they put in their soybeans so that when you sprayed Roundup on the soybeans it killed the weeds but it did not kill the soybeans. Um, but one of the problems they had was that some farmers would keep harvest their own soybeans and use the seed next year. And so they didn't pay the licensing for for the intellectual property to grow those soybeans. They they retained the seed, they planted it. Well, they had a technology where they would fly a drone or an airplane over the field that could sense whether that trait was in the uh field of soybeans and then they could check their records to determine if the farmer had an active license to grow those soybeans in that field and they could check on their technology compliance. Now, I bring that not up not because it's relevant to this, but it just shows the different utilization of technology um you know, in in solving crimes and so forth. I mean, there's probably stuff out there that we haven't even thought of that that potentially could be used to help um help you all do your job. So, it's just I mean, technology is pretty remarkable and being able to get it there quickly is a pretty interesting phenomenal idea. Yeah. Thanks, Mayor. And that is kind of where we view this really as a piece of infrastructure for the city. You know, we just flew a drone uh flight last week for public works along the trail project along Minnitanka Boulevard just to get a capture of the before and we'll do it again to get a capture of the after just to help capture some of that stuff too. So, there are so many applications beyond public safety that this particular um idea can help all different departments throughout the city with different applications. All right. Well, thank you, Deputy Chief. Um council, any other questions or thoughts that you'd like to because we um clearly we have a we have a rec recommended action here and if any does anyone need any more um any more information before we act. Council member Romey, I just want to thank the department for bringing this forward and pursuing this because I think, you know, not only will it be super helpful in in kind of dealing with cases more quickly and efficiently and safely. You know, the kind of budget saving is is something that, you know, I think we we all really appreciate right now in these times. And um you know that that was what was so surprising to me that you know this is going to be less than the cost of two FTEES um when you consider training and such as well on top of the you know kind of salary benefit all of that and you know this is going to be you know a really helpful in terms of implementing the public safety master plan. So I think it's a great idea. So yeah, we're other comments um from council members or or a motion. Um council member Wilburn, I move that we approve the quote Q-689648-4578BJ and the Sourcewell piggyback agreement. Sourcewell contract number 101223- AXN. Thank you. Is there a second? Council member Calbert, I I'll second. All right. Um, councelor, are there any other comments that that you all would like to make? I just I just want to reiterate what what council member Rome said. You know, we we recently had a study session kind of just starting our whole budget discussion and I was actually very moved. you know, it's not often that a department director um comes forward with, okay, well, maybe we don't need to hire two people, and you know, I'm sure you could still use uh two more FTEEs, but I just want to thank um the chief and the uh entire department for thinking creatively because um we have a lot of needs and this helps us meet our needs um in a more financially efficient way and our taxpayers will be forever grateful um for that. So uh so am I. Very good. Any other comments? Um you know I'll just add I mean I think the opportunity to use technology as a force magnification tool to extend the effectiveness of the manpower. We've already got the man and p the person power. I got to say that right. um is um you know the the effectiveness of our police department and our public safety personnel um to do that and having technology enhance that um without having to add um um is just a is very big deal for the budget and the the savings that are indicated are are significant and uh so I'm I'm excited about this. So let's see. So we've got a motion by council member Wilburn and a second by council member Calbertt. Miss Larson, please call roll. Shaq, yes. Wilburn, yes. Calbertt, yes. Maley, yes. Kley, yes. Foster Bolton, yes. Wears some, yes. Motion carries. So that brings us to item 15, appointments and reappointments. And I need to pull this up quickly, but it is the sustainability commission young adult um appointment. And I'll make this motion. Um but uh we had an opening for or we have an opening for a young adult on our sustainability commission and um we had two applicants and I contacted them and um chatted with Michael White and uh he um is a capable young man and is strongly interested and highly accomplished uh young man. So, I think that um his joining I recommend that he um be selected to join the sustainability commission. So, I'll make that motion. And if someone would like to make the second, Council Calbertt, happy to make second. All right, we've got a motion by the mayor and a second by Council Member Calbertt. Miss Larson, please call roll. Shaq, yes. Wilburn, yes. Calvert, yes. Raley, yes. Kley, yes. Foster Bolton, yes. Wearsome, yes. Motion carries. Item 15, um, excuse me, a 16 is adjournment and council member Wilburn. I move adjournment. Is there a second? Council member Calbertt, second. Okay, we've got a motion by Council Member Wilburn and a second by Council Member Calbert. All in favor say I. I. We are adjourned. Thank you all. Well done. [Music] [Music]