e e e e e e e e you give us a thumbs up all right call the workshop order at 5:15 roll please council member Cole here council member schwe here council member Wong here council member nordby here mayor mongi here thank thank you very much all right can I get a motion to adopt the agenda please so moved so moved council member swe second second council member Norby all those in favor say hi hi hi Nate thank you thank you thank you mayor uh topics tonight are all going to be on the community center uh first up is community center next steps and uh we have Finance director Mr winck that's going to speak to this mayor uh council members thank you very much uh for for uh allowing me to speak on the community center the next steps um we're going to continue where we were um in our last workshop and this next slide kind of shows you what we had talked about as some of our uh next steps as far as what we're going to gather present and discussed um the first one was the clarification and or the modifications of the gr terms and we had an individual here from deed um last Workshop so um we've kind of covered that topic tonight uh what is being highlighted is we're going to um talk about the services and importance of a library in North St Paul uh we're fortunate uh enough to have uh paying Yang here who's the deputy director of the Ramsey County um libraries here to give a presentation um I think you'll find it very informative um and then we'll move on to um interest in Partnerships at the community center um we have a draft of an RFI we want to get your comments your viewpoints before we end up advertising that and Publishing that out um on the street um to find out what interest there is in um uh any Partnerships opportunities for the community center um in the future we'll be talking U and looking at more closer of an exam on the current and the future lease options for the library um just as a reminder to the current uh lease that we have with the library and its current space um runs uh for 20 years from 2010 to 2030 um and so everybody's aware of that we'll we'll get into more depth uh on uh some possibilities as far as options for the library um then we'll we um will have to develop a RFP for uh Community Development Services or I mean uh Community engagement Services um that was an important component that the city council has expressed that they want to have uh a lot of community engagement um so uh we need to work on getting somebody uh to help us assist us in that process so we can hold some evening meetings um different nights different times um so we can get the public out and and hear their interest in the community center what services they feel that will be beneficial for them um and so uh allowing you city council to be able to make an uh a more informed decision um we've scratched off interest in selling the community center Center and um costs to vacate the community center that was the decision of the city council and then we will be talking eventually about the services that'll be provided a lot of that will come from our community engagement a lot of that will come from uh what we get back from the RFI as far as Partnerships and interest um in the community center and then uh once we've uh gotten to that level of information um then we can start to generate some cost to operate the community center uh now and into the future and then we can start running some Financial uh scenarios and po potential impacts to help you make your final decision uh with that we're going to move right on now to the presentation from pangy Yang um again she is a deputy director for the Ramsey County Libraries um Dan to be clear on that when he said to vacate or um to sell we said at at this time we wanted to look forward as far as I think that's what it was said correct as far as ruling you know we want to look forward to other options so did you say that uh was that off the table is that what you said the way you worded it yes that was my my understanding from last city council that there wasn't the interest in in doing that we had proposed that uh we're looking at pursuing the other options first exactly okay yeah that's what I heard I just didn't know to go part it thank you so with that uh pay I will stop sharing welcome hi everyone nice to meet you all I'm very happy and excited to be here um a little bit about me while I pull up my slide here my name is pangy I am Ramsey County Libraries deputy director and acting department head um I grew up in libraries I was that Library kid that walked to the library when I was 8 n 10 years old was raised there started volunteering there started working there and now I have um 20 years of experience working in libraries uh the last three years in Ramsey County library and prior to that I worked about 17 years for the St Paul Public Library System um managing the last position and role that I had was managing the Arlington Hills Library um which is also a conjoined uh facility with a Center and a library in there um happy to be here happy to engage with you all we wanted to make sure that I share a little bit of background on myself um today we are talking about Ramsey County Libraries so we know about St Paul public libraries Ramsey County Libraries has um seven libraries seven facilities that we have and they're each named after the city that they reside in we have three regional libraries two mediumsized libraries and two smaller libraries um the library our St Paul is one of our Tiny But Mighty libraries in our library system um and uh in addition to that we are also part of melsa melsa is a metrowide Consortium that allows us to borrow lend and send materials to other Library systems if we don't have it in our collection um we also use that as a sort of a strategic uh method for us to um contract with trainers or connect with um um you know a variety a variety of services for us and um I say Ramsey County library because we're separate from the St Paul library system and so if I could make that distinction we serve the Suburban Ramsey County and so the city of St Paul has her own um Public Library System um in 20122 we worked on developing our strategic priorities um and what you have in front of you displayed here is the Strategic priorities for 2023 through 2025 it includes extending our welcome growing our Partnerships and Community presence and building resources to create positive change this was um through a year of um intense community Community engagement with the public we engaged quite a bit of folks who came into our libraries we engaged our staff our team we engaged Our Community Partners and we also engaged with organizations um that had uh individuals who did not come into our libraries and so we were very intentional about making sure that those voices were also heard and known so that we can continue to expand our services and so that's sort of what grounds our our services that you see today and sort of provides us a direction for moving forward because essentially what we have seen is that we do our job as Library staff within our walls very well um we have a phenomenal team that provides an excellent collection that provides phenomenal service and in addition to that individuals have obstacles of accessing our resources and services um and so here I have um displayed is our social vulnerability index on the left side the social vulnerability index includes a 16 indexes that um and variables um that provides information on potential barriers that individuals may have to economic uh success um Health well-being um Etc and so are are are the folks here familiar with with that I could go through the laundry list um it includes uh components such as uh persons below 150% federal poverty level individuals unemployed households with housing cost burdens at or above 30% of their income no high school diploma individuals without insurance ages 65 and older ages 17 and younger persons with a disability single parent households and children under 18 persons who speak English less than well minority populations housing structures of 10 plus units mobile home housing units um units with more people than rooms um uh housing units without vehicles and then also group quarters and so um looking at this vulnerability index and looking at where nurse St Paul sits which is a bit in the middle of the screen you'll see that nurse St Paul is in a dark dark red that essentially means that 75% of the individuals um in this city um fall within the social vulnerability index and you know should one or two more um situations occur that that leads to you know a potentially tragic situation for the community here and so in addition to that um this is the left side is a bit more of an aggregate that comes from the social vulnerability index um and then on the right side I have information from um Minnesota Compass um and so you know I'm I'm sure that you are all familiar with uh the demographics of the city here um this is a predominantly white City with 60 60.8% of the community white and um 39.2% of the community as uh individuals of color um about 20% of the households here live under uh 150% of the federal poverty level um a good quarter of the population here is our individuals under 17 and about 133% are 65 and older the cost burden uh renter is at 58.2% the cost burden is essentially a household um that pays 30% of more of their income towards rent or housing um and so that's a quite a significant number at 58.2% and then the homeowner is at 15 .6% and so as we look at these demographics um this helps us guide sort of the types of service that we provide at the library why we provide them and how we continue to provide access and services to the community um so just just a sort of quick snapshot I'm sure that you all have access to Fantastic demographers that'll likely give you additional information a little bit more in depth than this so here to talk a little bit about nth St Paul Library itself um you if you've driven past that Community Center you've likely seen a bright blue box that jumped out um near uh the entrance there and that is our brand new book drop um and so now folks can drop off their books before and after the library is open that has been a huge request from the community members here and and we're happy to be working with you in Partnership to make sure that that is available for folks um the nurse St Paul library is open about 35 hours per week um so so not not a ton of hours but then we do provide Library Services 5 days a week with uh Staffing of about 2.6 FTE so that spans that up to eastbands across four individuals um that provide and make sure that services are running at that facility the facility itself is about 3,200 square ft um in terms of what the library occupies so city of North St Paul in 2023 we made 763 new library cards um so these are new library card registrants people who are coming into the nurse St Paul library for the first time to get their library card um we also had almost 53,000 visits 53 um th000 people who walked in through our doors uh last year um with about 990,000 plus items checked out so 53,000 people came in to check out over 990,000 and of that 990,000 about 40,000 of them were children's materials so about half of the materials um that were checked out were by for children um public computer use there were about over 7,000 sessions there were almost 8,000 sessions of um unque user IDs hopping in and uh you know accessing our public internet um leading to over 6,000 hours and then also 6,000 uh unique users that connected to our Wi-Fi there um during the time that we've been open in addition to sort of the nuts and bolts of Library um you know books and computers etc um we also um added fa services in 2023 and that has been very popular so January of 2023 we finally added fact services and we also in 2023 we also increased our public computers from um 6 in 2022 to 14 in 2023 and that has been really great and sort of relieving the amount of uh pressure there was for folks to get off of the computer um and so now now there are more Compu computers uh readily accessible um so with that we receive about 11,000 uh reference questions and reference questions essentially means looking for um a very like looking for a very specific resource um I'm looking I have a research question to ask you and it's not so much the hey where where is this thing or can you help me just log on a computer and so um very unique engagements with the 11,000 um that could be you know between 2 minutes of help to 30 minutes of help for each individual and each question youth programs are a heavy uh part of the service that we provide there we have story times among other programs and um we had over 2,000 participants um 2 200 participants come in just for our youth programming Alone um we also have really uh fantastic Partnerships with others um and so uh in in a future photo you'll see street sweeper that was really popular um the anything with the fire truck always extremely popular um we always get like you know between 60 to 100 people U plus we try to limit it um at at that point whenever we partner with others for any of our youth programming um but then our Partnerships and our Outreach also heavily occur over at the North St Paul Library you'll see quite a bit um uh we we have case workers who come in social workers who come in and engage with their clients um we have you know Workforce Solutions send out satellite services service centers um you know Sun Navigators um we we we connect and we work with the school district 622 we also um were the library for Metroflex um and so they brought their uh young people in weekly to use um the library in addition to that we were uh I think in 2021 a vaccination site um um by the community um and additionally we are still currently to this day a covid test distribution location and so if you do need covid tests feel free to hop on by um they usually run out in a flurry and we attempt to you know procure more covid tests to distribute um in addition to that uh we also um the North St Paul location was the only location that qualified um with the um to to distribute the state port passes um and so that's the one that's the one location in Suburban Ramsey County that distributes state park passes so feel free to hop on by check out a state park pass and uh go visit a state park all right so what do people appreciate um these are sort of anecdotal notes that we've heard um heavily throughout the years here their relationship with staff have been probably the number one one piece they feel like um it's a little bit less intimidating to go to the nurse St Paul Library compared to other libraries where they feel like it may be a little bit more institutional or like they have to have complete understanding of a subject before asking a question and so and so the the relationship with staff has been um likely the key um the library staff there they know the names of the regular individuals who hop on in um and that that's been very helpful for folks to really have a better understanding of like what services could we potentially provide in the future the Cozy atmosphere people know that they like the smaller Library compared to the bigger Library um walkability we have a lot of people who walk to the library who don't drive um and uh computer help uh that's likely Norse paal is likely a location where people are able to get that concentrated 30 minutes with an individual instead of the hey you know what got to help you here but I got to go back to the desk cuz there's a long line of folks we for services the printer copy fa machine that's probably the number one heavily used and requested um service that we provide um we could probably add about three more and it wouldn't be enough notary on site so we have a notary on site and that individual likely notorized documents pretty regularly it is a free service that we provide and also the children's area people note that they love that the children's area is a little bit more separated ated the kids can be a little bit more noisy they really like the space and what are people asking for people always ask for extended hours people are always uh hopping on into the library before and after the library is open um and uh asking for access to such things as the computer the printer and copy machines um people are looking for space to meet people are wanting to meet with their teachers mentors tutors they want to have their virtual interviews at the library they want to have their telea Health visits with their doctors and nurses at the library they are looking to have court hearings um people are always requesting for headphones so that they can have a little bit more of a private conversation though we are not able to provide them um that extremely private space um people uh are trying to engage with their case workers sometimes in person sometimes virtually study groups are always looking for a space to meet sometimes they'll just uh huddle around a table and try to keep it low um and then also Community groups Girl Scouts are you know they use the they use our community rooms quite a bit and I think um uh in addition to Girl Scouts there would be plenty other um you know organizations and small groups that would like to use spaces and then um one thing that we always get a note of when someone is looking for the library for the first time is like ease of finding the facility of like hey I didn't know where to go and I actually didn't expect to to turn around here but I found it so we always we always generally get a comment about that in terms of findability of the facility itself so that is the end of my presentation just wanting to talk very briefly about libraries and what we do and happy to answer any questions thank you very much any questions thank you very much I really appreciate your presentation um the the slide that you said there's 53,000 visits that was just for the one year and that was just for the North St Paul correct how how do you define a visit a visit is an individual who walks into the facility so we have a little door counter okay what I'm honestly surprised by that that's the quick Mass say we're averaging 30 people an hour that you're open that's amazing is that counter on going into the library or into the building into the library okay the library door thank you for your presentation um can you speak a little bit to um some of the youth programming that is offered sure we have a variety of Youth programming that we generally offer we always have a weekly story time um that folks know about we also have a couple passive programs that we generally provide as well and then during the summer we have our summer reading and learning program and so that's where we get quite a bit of people coming in um and at that um for the summer reading program the summer learning program we contract with like fancy folks right so like we have like jugglers come in and we have like people who bring in snakes and and animals and um and then that also that that just draws in a lot of people um I think the street sweeper was there the fire truck I believe that was at North St Paul maybe potentially a year ago or so that was very popular um but then engaging the young people has has always been um a priority um in noring Paul the noring Paul Library manager position also facilitates um are systemwide youth programs and so whatever is happening systemwide the manager also Mak sure that it happens over at nurse St Paul thank you how does our the 35 hours compared to the other libraries Pua be open sure um nursing Paul is open 35 hours as well as Mounds View Mountains View is the only other Library that's open with the Limited hours um I can't recall on the top of my head what the numbers are for some of the other libraries but I believe New Brighton and White Bear Lake those are open about five or six more hours and so one additional day um in the week and then um our regional libraries which are larger libraries they're open about I believe like 53 hours um and they're open 7 days a week can you speak a little bit to the park pass oh the state park pass so uh we partner with um state parks um and essentially they um provide us with a limited number of passes um and we're able to check it out you get a little receipt or you get the pass and then you're able to go to a state park for the next s days um and so it's it is I'm I'm simp Ying it and it is literally that easy to be able to access a state park so you you won't have to pay for admission for um the entrance um for your vehicle um while having that pass with you you said we're the only one that has that the North St Paul is the only library in Suburban Ramsey County that has it um I believe the St Paul Public Library System may have four three or four locations that have access to that and um sparingly also at other Library systems in NOA hanapin Etc so if you were to check out the library if you were to check out the state park P it has to come back to the nor St Paul Library um I will have to follow up it will it will have to come back to nurse St Paul so I think you might get a disposable one and then you won't have to worry about it like there's some I think we keep the pass itself you might get a receipt so then so then you don't have to worry about it but then if an individual who was residing in like let's say Shore View was to drive over they would have to drive over they wouldn't be able to request it or access it from the sh viw Library they would have to come to nursing Paul to get that thank you and uh we qualify for that because of the income level um so there's the income threshold um that the the um the state parks require us to to uh be under and the city of North St Paul is the only city that qualified for that are there any limitations um or opportunities in the near future that you feel would be a priority for the libraries you you know as we look at our strategic priorities I know that it's like very very general for strategic priorities but what we want to essentially do is help people seek prosperity and and we're really seeing people struggle the individuals who come into our libraries um with with the lack of Mobility not having vehicles being confined to this um you know a general area of their home um looking for work and so we have a lot of folks coming in applying and and looking for jobs and then we have significant digital literacy needs of individuals who don't have cell phones and also not being able to create an email account since a lot of email accounts now require you to have a phone to verify um you know Identity or you know just security access um those are going to be pretty intense uh work that we're going to do in addition to that one thing that we're always trying to do is get outside of our library and let folks know that we're here um we did a thing in Maplewood since we renovated the library um where we sent a postcard to every single household within a 1 mile um radius of the facility and we've gotten so many people who said I didn't even know a library was here I've lived here for 5 years we're going to likely do something very similar to that to just let folks know that we're here we're around we're just here to help um and and we're we're going to continue to partner with folks I know that the the food shelf is right down the road um and isn't too far away but what what are other things that we can do to continue to like lift that up for folks um and in addition to that computer access I believe we may have had a couple conversations of how do we continue to provide computer access before and after our libraries Clos New Brighton Library has a model where we have our computers in the hallway of the community center and that essentially just means a lot of people are using the computers in the hallway before and after the library is closed and open and so um you know like likely just trying to provide additional resources amplifying what we have um and then making sure that we're responsive to community needs as that continues to change um 3200 square feet you said the library is about it how does that fit for you is it too small too big too you know where does that look if you were looking at a space you know what size would because you mentioned all these meeting rooms and different things it doesn't sounds like 3200 ft it's a little tight for that right um you know in terms of the space and in terms of what would work really well for the library and what people are asking for is that meeting space that space to get together whether that be um publicly or whether that be in a private more private spaces um and at our library um in Maplewood we increased our study rooms from for one to two people from 3: to 9 and then we also added some medium-sized meeting rooms and some larger meeting rooms and so um in terms of like looking at the square footage of the facility itself we wouldn't really be looking at doubling it just because people love how cozy that library is in particular um potentially like 5,000 square ft that'll likely satisfy some of the needs though like I would say I'm saying this and I I would also need to you know work with my partner and my colleagues in Ramsey County to to have conversations about what's realistic and and what how how are we being responsive to community need but you know quite a bit of the the conversations and what the public is asking for is one of two um one of two person's meeting rooms and then also potentially like the 5 to six like how do we get some spaces like that in there well right now of course with the grant we have it's it's the remodeling so that's what you know if you wanted to partner and you know get more space that's something we need to you know discuss because if we're if it's going forward with the remodel then we just it's a good time to be able to understand the needs yeah I think we would have quite a bit more teens in the space if we had a larger teen teen area right now we have a teen Corner strong and mighty with a really cool looking chair there but um there's always an insatiable need for for spaces for the public together and and just exist um you know that that is um you know one thing that people always talk about is like how do I just I just want a space to sit down I just want a space to to just be here um the library is you know the social infrastructure for a lot of the people who come into the library sometimes that's like their one and only engagement with others um and so we're very cognizant that you know we provide people an excellent um service if if they're coming and their only engagement is with us um knowing how fragile that that could be especially coming out of the pandemic as far as um any issues when it comes to crowd control or security or anything like that from any of the libraries are they all pretty is there any is there any um security that that are in libraries or is it just is everything been good as far as the being able to control everything um right now we don't have any um significant concerns for the nurse St Paul Library um I think the only concern would be like there's no uh sight line for the restrooms um and so that's just a very SE it's just in a very separate area of the facility itself um but then otherwise um you know our our service desk sits right up to the entrance and so whenever anyone is walking in we're greeting them and they're aware that we see them and they're whereare that we see them and we're all we're all engaging with each other and folks that come in yeah no significant security concern right now well i' like to thank you for your presentation and the demographics uh were very eye opening to me so and to understand how many people walk through your door a day and it's pretty impressive and I do agree it is a it's a small facility it's not um the girls and my girls and I go in there not often but we do and it it's pretty small it's intimate anybody else yeah I just wanted to thank you for coming this was in the time and energy you put into the presentation I learned a lot more than books um you know you are part of the community so thank you thank you appreciate it thank you I I be before uh Pang uh departs from us I I would like for her to talk a little bit about um some of the other Partnerships interactions that they have she mentioned about uh there's times where social workers will come out to um the library she also mentioned that the the Workforce Solutions um Ramsey County has be you know um a lot of programs and staff um and the library is a vehicle um for them to be able to provide um their services um Ramsey County has done an extensive change in how their delivery of services are um and it's much more of a decentralized uh model than it has ever been in the past and so you can see this is where they really reach you know when I was in Ramsey County it was concentrated of poverty was one of the major focuses and you're hearing it it still is um so can you just touch base on that and the importance of the library and how it's playing that in that role sure um libraries are very unintimidating spaces to be in and exist um and we continue to see that in terms of like when case workers are recommending places for folks to visit do you want to go downtown with your three kids and uh big stroller um with your three children and try to figure out and navigate where to go or do you want to go to the Ning PA library or do you want to go to you know Maplewood Library or any other facility and books often pick the library um and it has become a very popular space for case workers for social workers for anyone who's working with their clients to engage with um the individuals that they're serving and so we see them quite a bit coming in and and we see this not only for the the Departments that I've listed there's so many more you know Public Health nurses come in and see folks you know that's a partnership that we're going to be starting pretty soon as well um but you know it's it's unintimidating it's we try to be as friendly as possible so it feels less like an institution and it is you know one of our last remaining third spaces in our community you know I I think when we did some Community engagement last year um someone said yeah this library is like my cat cabin I can't afford a cabin but you know I can come to the library and that continues to hold very strong in [Music] communities any other questions for for pay ping I thank you very much excellent job thank you for having me thank you thank you as I pull this up I'm very grateful that uh uh pangy Yang could be here tonight um and really talk about the importance of the the library here in the city of North St Paul of being a an ex Ramsey County employee for many many years I think we all know the history of the library um back in many years ago the Ramsey County through um budget cuts and budget decisions made uh the choice to uh close the city of North St Paul's Library um and um actually sold the facility in which they were in um I I think the decision from uh the city of North St Paul of the value MH um I was just going to say if we I we've been getting emails you know the North St Paul library was not North St Paul because I get why did you sell that and then build it out of there so it was a county building the county sold it nothing to do with us so just want get that out there I get a lot of emails on that y that's correct and then um you know I think nor North St Paul saw the value in the library and um you know and that's how it ended up being uh an addition to the current Community Center um where it's at um and even though they're in a 20-year lease and there's not an OP Uh current operational dollars that are given they did put a significant Dollar in into that facility when they first got into there and again now it's telling you that it's it's changed quite a bit in the the delivery of services with that on top of it Ramsey County um has changed their model and how they deliver Services instead of having to go to downtown they've picked up much more of a decentralized approach to it um you know Co had a lot of impact on that finally getting people to to realize you can you can provide services not just in one location but in multiple locations so I think pay paying bang really showed you the the uh the interest the need for a library in the city um and I think she did an excellent job so that was one thing that we had to to discuss um and we will talk more about uh uh you know future meetings the lease and and the options and and looking for looking into the future especially you heard that um that the library um may be interested in expanding from where they're currently at I think when they first built uh their facility I think it was like about 2700 Square ft they had there was an amendment for an additional 500 for some more um that's really um really outside their original um space um and now they're looking at the potential of of you know expanding to about 5,000 square ft to accomplish some of those other additional meeting rooms um in which a navigator a navigator is somebody who can provide additional Services um to the residents um so now we're going to to move on to reviewing um uh request for interest Dan my Interruption I apologize but before we do um I if you don't mind clarifying one point you made sure um you just said that we're going to be discussing the least of the library in a future meeting correct yes yeah because I mean part part of it is going to be the structure I mean the current lease runs from 2010 to 2030 um uh the city manager um Brian and myself had met with uh uh pangy Yang and then a representative uh from their property management department um and the sense and feeling that I had gotten from the conversation is that you know at the time that the lease was to expire um in 2030 that they believed or they felt the that there would be rent that would end up being charged um to them um so I think there's there's an appetite for that they also let us know um because they do um six-year Capital Improvement plans that um there there wasn't anything identified at this point in time on their Capital Improvement plan to to put in you know that one one time Capital dollars into that but but I think those are discussions that we need to talk about how would that um look moving into the future obviously part of this whole financial analysis at the end is going to be um based upon not just uh you know dollars and cents but they do play an important role as far as the impact that it'll have on the residents but you know on the services that are being provided also so we will have more of a discussion on it at that point in time and and get City council's feel of how that should be structured I I was also more curious about the current one as well um there's been some conversation in the past that there's been some not concrete information um about how we got to the ending at the uh 2030 so I I just wanted some information given to us so we all see concrete information that this goes to 2030 correct and we can have that discussion at that that t at that time yeah also the M I brought up a few times too is you know at 2010 well it was started in 20 2004 and then opened in 2005 what happened in that 5 six years that the lease didn't start then and I've asked that equation any many occasions just and again we'll have more uh conversations we also have uh you know uh an attorney's um opinion on the the least part to it but um the least yes you're you're correct I mean the lease started earlier and that would what appeared to be I mean it was approved by uh the buildout and and the investment from Ramsey County was approved by the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners back in 2004 um unfortunately nobody can find a fully executed lease um neither party neither party they just threw half million dollars addition on a building and nobody has paperwork yeah and then in 2010 somehow for some reason they were looking for that lease and no one had found no no one could come up with it neither neither party um and so then they routed another um document um around um and that's kind of been the the date that they've uh kind of went with um to solidify that is kind of unfortunate from the city of North St Paul's side is that I think there was the amendment and Brian correct me if I'm wrong I think it was 2018 um where they got they did an amendment to add additional space um what I had talked about was approximately an additional 500 square fet to to the lease um and it references again back to that 2010 date which kind of solidifies and signed by both parties so it kind of solidified and changed kind of in certain ways the original 20-year lease which you know one could argue should have began somewhere in about 2005 and should be expiring in 2025 versus 2010 and ending in 2030 but I think that's kind of where we're landed at right now um and I think Brian's even reached out to um the city's attorney and I think that's her opinion on to it too but we certainly can examine that a little bit a little bit more um so if we can in part of your part of the packet was a draft um of the uh uh request for interest and really seeking uh City council's input thoughts on this um and it's really to try to uh get it out there advertise it uh find out what type of interest from individuals um you can see in the letter of interest submission that you know we're requesting that they give the name and the primary contact of interested entity or organization description of the proposed program Services activity including a concise summary of how the proposal would respond to the project objectives um please um also describe how the proposal would produce positive social environmental and or cultural impacts um description of the spa and utilities uh needs for the proposal as well as typical hours of operation indicative uh Furniture fixtures and equipment would be provided by the user identify the length of the commitment to the facility and if the user would be able to provide rental payments if so what would be the price per square foot that the user would be willing to pay and indicate whether additional staff or other support from the city would be required for the proposal um if we scroll up a little bit higher up you can see where the project objectives are um and that the city is seeking Partners to transform the community center into a yearround community space able to serve all North St Paul residents the city's vision is a community center that could be a flexible Multicultural space able to provide for evolving needs of the community the community center could be a hub offering farmers and craft markets educational programs seasonal and cultural events and celebrations and social Gatherings a safe place for the Youth to Foster positive socialization and recreational space for sports and youth targeted activities a safe and comfortable place for veterans and seniors to socialize engage in crafts dance fitness and Recreation a demonstration Hub to showcase the city's commitment to Green Building practices renovation may include solar energy electric vehicle charging stations and other improvements to promote Environmental Health in the community so really this was something that city council wanted us to do to kind of be able to gauge what kind of interest there is um we've had a a couple of public meetings here on uh the community center next steps we've heard people come up I think there's the the theater group this is our way let's let's get them in in writing and and find out what they're really looking at uh what kind of the space needs are um what this does is is part part of a next step is going to be that we're going to have to um engage a a professional architectural engineering firm that's going to actually have to do some sort of like space planning um of the facility um to to Really update what the true costs are going to be and categorically um for um you know for the deed Grant um will'll need that information um and so this way we can see what the true cost for the facility are really going to be um and the interest um from from um any partners that information then will feed into all of the community engagements um to make sure that um these are the services um that will meet the needs for the residents so really looking at comments thoughts on this uh request for interest because we'd like to be able to get it out sooner than you know as soon as we possibly can um o overall I very much like it I I really appreciate the work you put into it um and the talks that we've had um I I believe if if we end up going forward with the community center the the grants that we've received we've talked about using the grants for um uh refurbishment of the building um and in your summary you talk about the grants could be used for program development is is program development use on the table for the grants and if not are we misleading in the summary for this RFI well I think as far as program development is really more of a spatial um component to it in other words um you know we just had the libraries here um they're in a confined 2700 square foot area the 500's outside of that that wall if they wanted 5,000 and you were going to make it cont contiguous space you would end up having to remove some sort of wall build up other walls outside of there to me that's the program a component that we would be assisting with with the grant dollars and that would be to me all indications of what I've seen in the grant that would be an eligible cost but we also want to find out outside of the grant component to is is for a a program to come into the facility would there be additional needs or um from you know City resources um that could be as far as Staffing it could be so many different other components to it we want to make make sure that we're we're asking the right questions to open this completely totally up so out so we can we can be able to give some sort of you know better information for city council to make that final decision agreed I just didn't want want to be misleading to the people we gave this out for thinking that okay they can put in for a million dollars of this grant for their own program so I I wanted other people's opinions on how they were reading this RFI because when I read it it was that part of this grant might possibly be open for the Partnerships program development not necessarily hard building Partners we we'll take um good point if you've interpreted it that way it certainly wasn't the intent we'll do a re-review um of that language to make sure that that it's clear that it's that's not the intent of it so we certainly can do that I do have to give credit where credit is due I didn't write this you know we have uh our community development director Brandy hell um is the one who wrote this so credit where credit is due other thoughts questions on this um I'd be interested to kind of see if we could ask for um if they have like a short report or some sort of um like annual report so kind of an annual report on their organization itself and see what they can okay yeah often times you see them and it's to for accountability for funders yeah for many nonprofits yeah absolutely and I would be interested to understand maybe a little bit more about the populations that they've worked with in the past okay I just appreciate the document we're laying everything out as far as what expectations and partnership and get the information out sooner thank you would city council like to see the final version with some of these things in Incorporated before it actually goes out [Music] or we'll make some adjustments to it and get it out thank you was there anything added regarding other facilities that they these some of these Community or some of these organizations have used in the past have have rent excuse me have rented from so for example the theater group had used Maplewood um say Maplewood decide they didn't want them anymore I'm just using this as an example so bear with me um in my past with facility rentals we have asked people not to come back so I think it would be of interest to find out some of these places that have utilized Community spaces um to get a background on if they've been say you know a they used a space at a university for 10 years um they decide that well we're gonna nor St Paul sounds nice well did the University not want them there is there is there any references that we could utilize and ask about uh maybe something on references on past space rentals that would be great that's good I'd be interested to also maybe know a little bit about um if they what kind of level of flexibility they may have too um in their programming and services and things like that and far as what they charge or what they offer what they offer yeah um I mean um sometimes you know maybe it's a different population that they all need to start serving if they come to North St Paul because we have a different demographic for example you know sure and that's what I was thinking too because when it comes to like um some of these perform places they do charge quite a bit can our population afford to take advantage of some of the services so really we're looking at something about their adaptability to changing demographics is in certain ways okay okay I have a list you got a list oh no um what vehicle do we use once we put this out what just something we do on our website is there uh an area out there that you know the RFI that these organizations would know where to look yeah um I hate to do this tour there's an advertisement plan yeah advertisement plan published in the city news we put a whole list together we kind of brainstormed on this it's there it's there yeah published in in City newsletter published on the city of uh nort St Paul website just kidding we got to put that t in there or H in there uh publish in Star Tribune published in the Minnesota Council of nonprofits website published on League of Minnesota City's website direct mail to Ramsey County Library direct mail to County direct mail to school district 622 uh direct mail to the theater group since they've been here at uh um you know workshops in the past uh next thank you next question is is the language that in this RFI standard and customary like to what a normal are I mean I mean as it as it sits now and then you've gained a lot of feedback from from Council um is this standard language I mean we're asking them what they would be willing to pay is is that standard for an RFI or are we just looking for interest I I think those well so we so um the individual who Brandy um found a template um out there that was utilized um and yeah we we may have added a few additional questions because at the end of the day we one one of the things that for pretty love loud and clear um is that what is the potential Revenue stream that um you know that anything's going to generate um and so we needed to try to incorporate that now I'm anticipating they're going to give you a a pretty pretty wide range there's really not going to be the greatest benefit in the world but at least what it does is it allows the start of a a discussion if there's truly that interest um and moving down the road to eventually um develop some sort of contract um agreement lease whatever you want to call it uh I'm also reading on here on site meetings if I understand it correctly the opportunity to tour the building uh existing interior space will be held on a specific date and time are we not going to be flexible oh we certainly can we're just throwing something out there and um you know again um you know we have limited resources within the the city itself um so we kind of like picked a date we can also put in there um or you know um you know you can schedule something if it works out for both parties I I would hope that we would be flexible um length of time in which this is going to be posted uh customary is usually at least three weeks thank you um so as I sat here I heard a lot of parameters that were looking to be uh potentially added on to this is that do we want to narrow a search now do we want to see what it is and bring them in the reason I'm asking is are are are we soliciting for interest or are we picking somebody I mean there's a lot of check marks that you know Council has has put out there that we'd like to see this we'd like to see that most of which are going to have 90% of what we asked for um or should have it ready because this isn't their first rodeo um but I just want to make sure that we're that we aren't disallowing someone because they may not have one or two of the things that we're looking for I I don't necessarily think that this is written in a way that disqualifies anybody from not hitting all of them I I think it's it's it's basically here's here's the overall object objectives um you know and and that you know that's important for them to be aware of that that is City council's objective um that's what's been put into the grant documents um and so it's how do they feel that they fit within that component to it we're not eliminating anybody we're going to bring all of the information that we that we get forth to city council to um have that discussion um right now we've heard from you know basically one one group um that's been here a couple times at the workshop um that's where I wanted to to make sure that we heard from the library because they've been in the community center for a number of years um and so it's kind of that opening dialogue so we're aware part of that is is that then with that information um and then you combine that with the community engagement you can find out what does fit what doesn't fit to inform city council um it's not to exclude anybody because what because what I was hearing that the additional parameters that were being sought after is your intent then to put all those parameters in this document or the document's going to go out with some minor modifications well I I you know to me the parameter there hasn't been a lot of parameter parameters it's more or less more information that's being requested from from an individual or or entity but do they need to provide that at the time they express their interest that's a question that really comes to to city council if you want to see it at that time or you want to see it at at a later date um there's nothing you know um holding you back from trying to get that information up front other than it could eliminate others who have who would have an interest that might not have that information available that that's always a possibility absolutely so as as I sat here I saw we took the top of the funnel and narrowed it dramatically before we've had a chance to get the document out there and that's why we tried to leave it as kind of you know the objectives have to be there we were asking you know the letter of interest sub submission just to kind of find out what's out there we weren't being as restrictive um but I I also see that there is a need for additional information I leave that up to city council for for the direction on that thank you I'm done I have a you came across something where I want to reiterate because I thought it was really a good point you know your time and date there date and you know time I think we also need to have in there that you know we need to they need to call and make sure they schedule because we don't want people walking in the library and saying hey we're here to look at space we see you got it there's so I think we have to be you know put something that there's tenant in place now you know we need to schedule this you can't stop by you know what I'm saying just because I don't want to I don't think it should be interrupted as far as people going in there to look at that without schedule an appointment right so we will have a specific date and time that individuals can come there and then there'll be another sentence that if for some reason this doesn't work out that if you contact us to schedule a time can't prevent somebody from going into a public space you can tell them that you know they're not going to help you so I just want to make sure that it doesn't uh you know I mean yeah we can we can add just a little bit you know when you do an open house you know somebody has a house for sale and there have renters there don't bother the renters with your questions type of thing well staff would have to be present at the time whether it's this date or a schedule date then so we should be able to alleviate that again I'm just saying dropin I guess that's what I was trying to get and if you just discourage them yeah okay yeah thank you if I can make a suggestion in regards to the advertisement plan I was wondering if we could also look at expanding the uh school districts I know that we have 622 but as pay mentioned there's North Metro Flex that um is in town and um probably a lot of other smaller schools or Charter Schools do you know some other ones outside of the Metroflex and if you do you can just send an email and we we'll definitely include those okay is that good Dan to piggy back on Lisa um the gentleman that spoke L pardon me I'm apologize the gentleman that spoke last he had a gray sweater on from Woodbury he was a Woodbury guy C CSI um I thought he was from Colorado or something they did this all over yeah I think I know I know he was a Woodbury resident he said thank you for letting me speak I live in Woodbury I I thought he provided staff his contact information too um did we receive any contact see you would like for us to reach out to that individual too yeah he he also expressed interest at the workshop oh okay okay other thoughts [Music] I'm good anybody else yeah no thank all right thank she's got her finger up so yeah just one more um I would maybe um think about um emailing or sharing this um with um different news outlets so like or there's a lot of like culturally specific magazines and things like that um in the communities different communities and there's also like um cultural associations as well thank you if you can if you can help out at all on yeah y perfect thank you and then um how our format if there's no further questions then how our format has been to to give uh and we don't we've got a very limited time so I would say for if there's any public that wants to make any comments on tonight's presentations um I would say we got four minutes so one minute per person if we got four individuals that would like to say something anybody come on up he this time I'm G to do it properly and introduce myself Elaine Barton 2021 Burke Avenue East um just a couple quick things are you timing me I'm yes start in about 30 seconds there you go first off could we get the presentation that was made by the deputy director um into the minutes because it wasn't in the packet and there was some good information in there that I think people who aren't here are don't watch the meeting might like to have um also just a comment um I've been looking at prior years of use uh for the library and just based upon what little I heard this evening um this or last year would effectively have doubled the number of visits and cards that are normally made in a year which is really quite striking and um much better than some of our neighboring larger libraries I think that gets to the point of a small facility is appealing to some people um SEC the other thing just information to get um is what has it costed to operate this Library currently at the status and the hours that it's opened I was kind of surprised not to hear that um tonight because I thought that's a valid question um regarding the request for interest I I guess my question is how's it going to be published in the Tribune is that going to be in the Public Notices and if so um is there a way to create a condensed version of that that could be published in the same Paul paper somewhere um or in the Suburban papers we still have Suburban papers so that gets us Beyond just the confines of what we know about North St Paul and I don't know if it could refer that them to the Tribune if it's going to be a public notice or if it could be referred to somebody at City Hall to just get them a copy of the letter or have the letter on the website and they can just go on the website and find it but I just think that could be ex expanded a little bit to get a larger audience that is also more local than the Minneapolis Tribune that was it how I do to go off your point I would like to answer one thing because you did bring something that I completely forgot about last year the Maple library was closed for quite a while for remodeling yeah so that could have had quite a factor on it if they weren't open no even from prior years generally those numbers don't double no exactly but I mean maybe a little bit of an inflex being closed so now you all go to the library and just go in and out of the door constantly it every time running tours thank you I'd like to know how they measure things as well what success yeah from their perspective thank you thank youe got two minutes anybody else minute and a half I didn't know about free pass to the parks or if you have to come in there with your 1040 and say I'm eligible or I'm not eligible interesting anyway you banti about in every one of your PR ings Veterans as a recently certified 100% disabled veteran I want to say what are you going to be offering just don't put that in there I today I called one of the service uh Representatives that we have here and we're very lucky we have both of them American Legion and BFW and what could you possibly was my question need or want the city to provide to veterans that you don't provide and the answer was we haven't got a clue but I noticed that one of your in your mailing list you have not included the two service Representatives that are in this city why haven't you sent that to the VFW also why isn't that an address and I think your answer is going to be we don't know good point thank you all right it's 6:30 can I let me go back up call for I don't think we have any business we have need to discuss besides that so can I call for um adjournment so moved so moved council member Cole second second council member Wong all those in favor say I I I thank you give us few minutes to uh prepare how about uh 6:35 5 minutes is that okay everybody thank you