This transcript has been formatted with the correct speaker names based on the context provided and the flow of the meeting. *Note: Names phonetically misspelled in the original transcript (e.g., "Elizabeth Counc," "Logan Velocity") have been corrected to match the official list.* *** **[00:00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Look like a cloudy, you know. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It is now 5:30 and I will call this regular meeting of the Burnsville City Council to order. **[00:00:15] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** It is our tradition to stand for a moment of silence followed by a pledge of allegiance and we invite you to join. *(Pledge of Allegiance)* **[00:00:45] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Good evening to all of our guests that are in the chambers. Members of the public are always welcome to attend in person and the public can also choose to watch us on watch this meeting at burnsvillemn.gov/meetings or on channel 16 or 859. The public can also participate through Zoom by joining us at zoom.us/join. More information is available on our meetings web page and in a council agenda packet. And this evening our first item is our announcements and we also have some presentations and proclamations. Regular council meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, May 5th at 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday, May 19th at 5:30 p.m. We have a work session that must end by 6:00 p.m. due to ISD 194 special election. So, it will be Tuesday, May 12th, and we're meeting at 4:00 p.m. and we must adjourn before 6:00 p.m. It's the law. Okay. **[00:01:45] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** And now we have two proclamations and I will present it from that side. Council members and staff, members of our community. Our first proclamation is for tourism awareness week. And we have the executive director for Experience Burnsville, Amy Barl, who is going to receive the proclamation. The proclamation reads, "Whereas the city of Burnsville, Minnesota recognizes the value and importance of the travel and tourism industry to our local economy, culture, and overall community well-being. And whereas travel and tourism continue to serve as a vital contributor to Burnsville economic growth and prosperity, generating employment, encouraging business development, and fostering meaningful cultural exchange. Whereas travel and tourism inspire deeper appreciation for Burnsville's diverse heritage, unique attraction, and natural beauty, enhancing quality of life, and strengthening our shared community pride. Whereas the city of Burnsville is committed to supporting and celebrating achievements and impact of travel and tourism on the vibrancy and vitality of our city. Whereas national travel and tourism week celebrated annually in May offers a dedicated opportunity for communities across this country to spotlight and uplift the importance of travel and tourism. Now therefore I, Elizabeth Kautz, mayor of the city of Burnsville on behalf of the city council do hereby proclaim the week of May 3rd through the 9th, 2026 to be national travel and tourism week in the city of Burnsville. And I encourage businesses and residents to join me in recognizing the people, places, and experiences that make Burnsville a welcoming and dynamic destination for both our visitors and for those of us who proudly call it home." Proclaimed this 21st day of April, 2026. And accepting is the executive director of Experience Burnsville, Amy Barl. Thank you so much for all of the work that you're doing for our community and for destination Burnsville. **[00:04:15] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Thank you so much. Yes, we appreciate all your support for our 39 years of being here. **[00:04:22] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** So, I think she's going to want to... Okay, we'll take one everybody. **[00:04:28] Council Member:** Yeah, you're on the board. You weren't even invited for the picture. **[00:04:35] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Our next proclamation is for Earth Day and Arbor Day. Whereas Burnsville has taken great pride in the quality of our natural environment, including the beautiful shade trees and native plants that provide many essential services to the community and enrich our lives in many ways. Whereas the city of Burnsville's sustainability plan lays out the foundation for city's continuing sustainability efforts to support environmental, human, and financial vitality for our community and future generations. Whereas as we need to practice safe environmental approaches in managing our forest, lakes, wetlands, open spaces, buildings, and infrastructure. And whereas Burnsville promotes development that maintains or enhances economic opportunity and community well-being while protecting and restoring the natural environment. Whereas the purpose of the Earth Day Arbor Day celebration is to emphasize the importance of preserving our natural environment through sustainable activities such as recycling, waste reduction, and resource conservation. Whereas Burnsville recognizes the need to protect and preserve the beauty of our community by promoting sustainability for our natural and built environment for future generations. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Elizabeth Kautz, mayor of the city of Burnsville, on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim April 24th, 2026 to be Earth Day and Arbor Day in the city of Burnsville. In celebration, the city hosts an annual community tree sale at the end of April. Learn more online at burnsville.gov. Find tips for sustainability and energy efficiency on our sustainability dashboard website. Proclaimed this 21st day of April, 2026. Thank you. **[00:06:45] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** The next item on our agenda is citizens comments. This is the opportunity for anyone to address the council on an item that is not on the printed agenda and not an application form that will be coming before us at a future date. Is there anyone who wishes to address the council? Anyone? Mrs. Henderson, anyone online? **[00:07:05] Mrs. Henderson (Staff):** No, there is not. **[00:07:07] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. Thank you. We will then move on. The next item is additions to the final agenda and that is for emergency items only. City Manager Lindberg, are there any emergency items to come before the body? **[00:07:20] Gregg Lindberg (City Manager):** Nothing from staff, Mayor. **[00:07:22] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you, and members of the council. Then we will move on. The next item is the consent agenda. The consent agenda is a group of items that's considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion. However, an item on a consent agenda can be removed for a separate discussion and vote. Is there anyone in the audience who wishes an item to be removed for a separate discussion and vote? Mrs. Henderson? **[00:07:45] Mrs. Henderson (Staff):** No, there is not. **[00:07:47] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. Um, City Manager Lindberg, does staff want an item to be pulled? **[00:07:51] Gregg Lindberg (City Manager):** Nothing from staff, Mayor. **[00:07:53] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Members of the council and staff, I am going to pull 4G, not because I object to it, but I want our community to know about how Burnsville continues to lead. And 4G is pulled for a separate discussion and vote. May I have a vote for the balance, please? **[00:08:12] Council Member Dan Gustafson:** Moved. **[00:08:13] Council Member Dan Kealey:** Second. **[00:08:14] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** There's a motion and a second. All in favor, please say aye. **[00:08:17] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:08:18] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Oppose say nay. And the motion carries. Members of the council, staff and members of our community. 4G is a resolution to authorize the use of opioid funds to collaborate with the University of Minnesota Physicians and that amends our 2026 budget. And this is a collaboration between police and fire. And this is also a collaboration where we will work with the University of Minnesota physicians in their psychiatric and psychological department to help with making sure that our citizens are well cared for through the work of our police department's behavioral health unit and partnership with our fire department's critical response resource team. And I would like our fire chief, B.J. Jungmann, to tell us a little bit about this. And this is a wonderful collaboration that Burnsville continues to lead, and Deputy Police Chief Matt Smith is also going to be here. But please tell our community how this is going to help because the goal is that our community members facing chronic mental health or substance use issues will be helped through this program. Chief? **[00:09:40] B.J. Jungmann (Fire Chief):** Good evening, Madame Mayor, members of the council. Thanks for the opportunity to speak about this. As you know, this year, using the opioid funds, we've been able to establish a full-time firefighter paramedic working with the long-established behavioral health unit in the police department to work to address many of the critical needs across the community. And the behavioral health and CR team came up with an idea to partner with university psychologists and psychiatric medicine folks to give us access for case consultations and patient assessments on our more complex cases. Sometimes they're more complex, whether that's medication-related or whether that's psychologically ill, and these folks don't have access to any of that care or assessment. Working with these professionals to give us some insight and some recommendations on how to best treat these folks and where to best bring them. So the university hasn't done this before. This would be a pilot to see how it works with our folks to get that initial case consultation done so that we can help navigate these folks to the appropriate level of care moving forward. So, it's a unique approach and that's what we've asked our CR and BHU team is to get creative and see what we can do to help get the community the resources they need and really help navigate them to the right place so that they can get the long-term care. And really what this is about is that initial assessment, that initial case consult so that we can find that right track or help navigate them to the right track knowing that we aren't their long-term solution, but we can help them in crisis. **[00:11:15] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** This is, members of the council and members of our community, when I read through this and understood what was happening here... when we say we care for our community members, we're caring for their well-being and their mental health through this pilot program. And I thank you all for your innovation, your partnership, your collaboration, and coming up with solutions that will help our residents because what you've been doing is transporting them to the emergency room, then they get released. This is going to help them get the long-term help that they need. So, thank you so much. This is going to help a great deal and we're using opioid money and it's not coming out of the general fund just so our residents know how this is being done. So, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the work that you guys do. And I'd like to let our community members know just as I said in the state of the city, we're so happy that you choose to lead and you save lives. Thank you both of you. Members of the council, I would like a motion to adopt this. **[00:12:15] Council Member Cara Schulz:** Gladly moved. **[00:12:16] Council Member Vince Workman:** Second. **[00:12:17] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** There's a motion and a second. All in favor, please say aye. **[00:12:20] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:12:21] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Oppose saying nay. And a motion carries. Thank you so much. **[00:12:25] B.J. Jungmann (Fire Chief):** Thank you, mayor and council. **[00:12:27] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you. Did you get the... there were several seconds. Okay. All right. And then we already adopted the consent agenda. And now we are at the regular agenda. And the first item on the regular agenda is the resolution for Highway 13 and Nicollet Avenue. And presenting this evening is our City Engineer Logan Vlasaty. Mr. Vlasaty, the floor is yours. **[00:12:55] Logan Vlasaty (City Engineer):** Madame Mayor and members of the council, good evening. Thank you. Tonight is an evolution on the Highway 13 and Nicollet Avenue interchange project. So that was last at city council on March 3rd for municipal consent of the final layout for the project. Since then, there have been two in-person public meetings for primarily regarding the noise walls on the project and one virtual meeting all in March. So there are four noise walls that have been proposed with the Highway 13 and Nicollet Avenue project. Essentially if any of these noise walls are evaluated and determined to be both cost effective and effective at reducing noise to the surrounding community, they are proposed with the project and then they move forward into a voting process. So these are the four that were considered cost effective and effective at reducing noise. So that is noise walls 7, 8, 9, and 10. We're going to talk more about 10 later. But I do have updates on the other three. So noise wall 7 was voted yes, so that will be constructed and I have a rendering of what that will look like on the next slide here. Noise wall 8 was voted no, so that one will not be constructed. And then noise walls nine and 10 have supportive votes from the surrounding community. So those will get constructed. Here is noise wall 7 looking from the south there just south of West Travelers Trail at Pillsbury Avenue. So you can see there is some aesthetic components to the noise wall itself. **[00:14:20] Logan Vlasaty (City Engineer):** Looking at noisewall 10 specifically, the city does have a vote on noisewall 10 because we are the beneficiary of the trail on the north side of Highway 13. So a little bit of a unique scenario there where the city is the trail authority. It's in MnDOT's right-of-way, but MnDOT is deferring their votes to the city. So we do have a small portion of the potential votes for Noise Wall 10. Of note, MVTA does not have a vote on noise wall 10. They are directly adjacent to it, but do not have facilities close enough to the proposed noise wall that would meet the noise benefit threshold. So, they do not have a vote. The only other party that does would be the Dakota Station Apartments just east of the MVTA transit center. **[00:15:05] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Does the child care center have a vote? **[00:15:08] Logan Vlasaty (City Engineer):** They do indirectly. They are part of one ownership. **[00:15:11] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Oh, that's right. So it's all one parcel. They represent a tenant of the parcel. **[00:15:16] Logan Vlasaty (City Engineer):** Yep. So here is the sort of two scenarios that are on the table for noise wall 10. One of them would be the full length noise wall and that is shown in yellow. It would extend adjacent to both the MVTA site and the Dakota station's apartments and daycare. The purpose of that wall would be to protect the trail from noise as well. So that trail will get reconfigured in some way with the project, but it will remain in place in its general corridor alignment. There is another scenario where we have a reduced length noise wall that would only protect the Dakota station apartments and the daycare center and that is shown in kind of the orange color and I will elaborate on the process to get to that. Acknowledging that MVTA did not have a direct vote on the noise wall but obviously there would be impacts and they were directly adjacent to it. City staff did consult with MVTA staff and discuss some considerations for the noise wall. Primarily being visibility, which the noise wall would block visibility to the transit center and then also safety concerns related to blocking sight lines if the full length noise wall was constructed. Looking ahead at the scenarios regarding the city's vote, the Dakota Station Apartments have already voted yes, which means that a noise wall will get constructed. And really, the city's vote is just going to determine the length of the noise wall. If the city votes yes, the full length noise wall will be constructed. If the city votes no, a shorter length wall will be constructed just to protect the Dakota Station Apartments property. So with that, it is staff's recommendation and requested action to adopt a resolution voting no for noise wall 10. **[00:16:55] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. Can you put up the short and along... that one? Okay. And voting for the reduced wall also allows MVTA to have the visibility that they need so the public knows where it is. **[00:17:10] Logan Vlasaty (City Engineer):** Correct. And at the same time, the reduced length will protect Dakota Station and the daycare center. **[00:17:15] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Madame Mayor, that is correct. **[00:17:17] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. Very good. Any questions? Any other questions for Mr. Vlasaty? Members of the council, any thoughts? The recommendation is for us to vote no. And so we get the shorter length, which gives MVTA the visibility that they want. Yes. **[00:17:35] Council Member Dan Kealey:** But protects Dakota Station and the daycare and there's really no need to put a wall up in front of a major transit center. **[00:17:42] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** That's right. I think... I can't even believe they even proposed this. I really don't get it. **[00:17:48] Council Member:** That's... hey, it's not us. It's MnDOT puts out things and we can all vote on it and it's a collaborative effort. **[00:17:55] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** So now if we vote no, may I have a motion? **[00:17:58] Council Member Dan Kealey:** Motion to vote no. **[00:17:59] Council Member Dan Gustafson:** Second. **[00:18:00] Council Member Vince Workman:** Third. **[00:18:01] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** And there's a second. All in favor, please say aye. **[00:18:04] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:18:05] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Oppose. Say nay. And the motion carries. Mr. Vlasaty, I think you have your answer to share with MnDOT. **[00:18:10] Logan Vlasaty (City Engineer):** Yes. Thank you very much. **[00:18:12] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you so much. The next item is Experience Burnsville is presenting this evening their budget and strategic plan and Amy Barl from Experience Burnsville, the executive director, is presenting. Good evening and welcome again. **[00:18:25] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Thank you. Good evening, Madame Mayor, members of the council. This evening, I'm going to cover a little bit about who we are as Experience Burnsville, the destination marketing organization for the community, highlights from 2025, including visitor insights, and where we're going in 2026, which is our 39th anniversary of being the destination marketing organization for the community. Experience Burnsville is a not-for-profit 501c6 corporation. We're governed by a board of directors and we have one full-time staff person. The mission of our organization is to enhance the city's appeal by promoting and marketing the community to potential visitors. And our vision is that Burnsville will be and is a vibrant destination for travelers to come, stay, and return year after year. Our board of directors adopted a five-year strategic plan in late 2024. And a few of our highlights from 2025 include driving measurable growth in hotel performance, increased interest in Burnsville as a destination, and elevated Burnsville's leadership in statewide tourism. A few of those items I wanted to highlight was regarding the hotel performance. Our marketing initiatives were more targeted and data driven based on data that we collect from Zardico on visitor insights. Our website sessions more than doubled in 2025 and our meta ads generated over four million impressions. As far as increasing interest in Burnsville as a destination, our hotels performed very well in 2025. Their occupancy, room demand, and revenue increased. And then as far as elevating our leadership in statewide tourism, we continue to be members of Destinations International as well as Minnesota Tourism Association, formerly known as Minnesota Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau, a much better name. I am a current board member of that organization as well as serve on the marketing committee and I was nominated last year by my peers to be the incoming chair of that organization in 2026. **[00:20:30] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Congratulations. **[00:20:32] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Thank you. It'll be my third time. I'm excited. **[00:20:35] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Some of our highlights as far as hotel performance. We collect this information through Co-Star Smith Travel Research. Our average daily rate maintained pretty flat in 2025 as compared to 2024, which is not surprising given the economy and some uncertainty. But what is very promising is that our hotel demand, occupancy, hotel revenue, and revenue per available room increased. Seven of our nine hotels submit their data into Smith Travel Research. So that is a pretty good percentage for our hotels. It's mostly for the branded flagship type hotels. And one thing that I really wanted to point out is that seven of our nine hotels generated close to $15 million in revenue in 2025. So that's very significant for our visitor economy. Some other data that we collect is through Zardico. Zardico collects visitor insights through cell phone data as well as credit card swipes. We've been partnering with Zardico for a little over two years. And a few things that I wanted to highlight regarding the percent of visitors that are patrons in our different hospitality businesses—which are hotels, restaurants, attractions and our arts, entertainment. 12% of patrons to our restaurants are visitors. So a visitor is someone that visits Burnsville, lives outside of 50 plus miles, and visited one or more point of interest. So again, a hospitality business that we've identified and while they're in destination, they either swipe their credit card or they open an app on their phone which has the geo location on so they can be tracked. 36% of patrons to our retail establishments are visitors and 10% of patrons to our arts, entertainment and attractions are visitors. Some of our top markets that I wanted to highlight by MSA that are visitors—so that 50 plus mile radius—are the MSP DMA which the top ones in that area are St. Cloud, Alexandria, Mankato, and Cambridge, followed by Chicago, Fargo, and Duluth. **[00:22:50] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. So, it's pretty... it's great information to have accessible. **[00:22:55] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** We also have a new part of Zardico that they launched late last year is a local visitor lens where we can dial into who are the locals that are visiting. And a local visitor is someone that does not live in Dakota County but visits Burnsville and again does the same action. They visit a point of interest, they swipe their credit card or they open an app on their phone with their geo-location turned on. **[00:23:20] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Miss Barl, our Ames Center with the dance competition bring in a lot of people that are outside of Burnsville. Are you able to track that? **[00:23:30] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** So the data that we collect through Zardico is not pinpointed to an exact geo-location, but we are able to see on this next slide here. It shows what visitors do by category. And so I will say that outdoor recreation last year performed very, very well. Those are our parks, our trails, our outdoor activities. I think because the traveler is more budget conscious than they have been in the few years leading up to that. So we do receive information though on the category of the arts and entertainment and the Ames Center falls under that category. **[00:24:05] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Because they drive a lot of traffic. I see how they are in all of our restaurants, our retailers. You can see that when they're in town, they're all over. **[00:24:12] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Yes, they definitely are. They're easy to spot. **[00:24:15] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yes. And you know when they're in intermission, they're all over the heart of the city even even in the winter time. **[00:24:20] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** They are. Yes. But that is... the Zardico data is more... it's visitor insight. It's not targeting the actual number of visitors. So it is a percentage of the people that are here and they need to do those certain activities with either their credit card or with their cell phone. **[00:24:35] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. **[00:24:37] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Our board of directors met for our planning retreat again in August of 2025 and at that time we started discussing the budget process. And the budget that we presented in your background material is a balanced budget. We have for the past couple of years decided to invest in additional marketing initiatives using some of our reserve funds and our savings. However, this year our board of directors decided that we are going to really live within our means. We're not going to add additional staff. We're not going to take any money from our reserve funds because that is a policy-based decision. Our reserve fund is nine months of our operating budget. Then our primary funding for the revenue side of things does come from the local option lodging tax, Minnesota state statute 469.190. And then we'll continue to take advantage of any opportunities through Explore Minnesota Tourism for grant dollars. Our goal for our strategic priorities is to generate demand for overnight stays in our hotel motel. Those four priorities are: market the destination, strengthen the organization, community engagement, and destination stewardship. **[00:25:50] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** So, a couple of highlights from each of those categories in regards to marketing is our website—that really is our bread and butter. That's where we tell the story of Burnsville hospitality businesses in the region. Continuing to invest in research and data, Zardico and Smith Travel, and then highlight the unique experiences that Burnsville has to offer. We're very fortunate to have some very unique businesses and attractions here in Burnsville. Strengthening the organization, our board of director continues to research different options for funding models over and above the local option lodging tax. We're really working on organizational stability; having one staff person, there's some things that we're no longer able to do. So, we're still readjusting following the pandemic. And we're really working on continuing to work on our board development and engagement. That's really important for us because a strong board means a strong organization. Our community engagement, we still continue with our various memberships. Our industry relations and engaging with our hospitality partners on a regular basis. And destination stewardship really comes down to our partnerships with the city, the school district, the chamber, information sharing between our organization and others, and just keeping people informed. **[00:27:10] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Marketing to travelers in 2026—it'll look very familiar, very similar to 2025. We're going to continue our storytelling through paid search, content activation, our social channels, email marketing, and continuing to build our visual assets through photography and videography. In early 2026, we completed a full audit of the blogs and articles on our website. We have 70 plus articles on our website that we've been building and adding to since the pandemic. And it was time to really take a look at all that content and determine what is working efficiently and streamline. Sort of our motto is "less is more." So instead of having five or six winter fun blogs, we want to have one or two and really dial in and send people to those specific landing pages. So that is something that I continue to work on and it will probably take some time, but we'll get there. We have a good road map. **[00:28:10] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** And here is a sample of our content calendar April through the end of the year. I will add that because of some of the unrest that we experienced in the Twin Cities and in Minnesota during Q1, we did pull back. We took the lead from Explore Minnesota and we paused all of our paid marketing initiatives. We didn't feel that it was a good time to be telling people to come visit and spend money. 2026 continues to be about renewing our focus and our creative with our branding. We launched our current brand that you see here in 2024. We're absolutely thrilled with it, but we're ready to take it to the next level. We want to elevate the creative. We want it to be cohesive. We want it to be recognizable not only in our community but to potential visitors. A couple of the programs or projects that we've worked on so far this year is the new redesign of our strategic plan, which you have in front of you, as well as your background and a sheet that we're going to use for elected officials and hospitality partners on why tourism matters to our community—all about the visitor economy. Going into 2026, we are very excited about where we were and the plan that we have laid out. We have great momentum. We have a very engaged board of directors, which I'm very thankful for. Two of our board members are here: Jenny Rhode, Deputy City Manager and CFO, and Council Member Dan Gustafson. So, thank you both for your leadership. Really appreciate that. And with that, I stand for questions. **[00:30:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Any questions for Miss Barl? Yes, council. **[00:30:04] Council Member Dan Gustafson:** I don't have a question. As you know, I've been on your board for quite a while and I've watched you through COVID, I've watched you as we rebuilt from that. I've watched through the experiences here recently and what's happened in the first quarter of the year. And I've watched the diminished funds coming into Experience Burnsville over all those years. And quite frankly, I'm very impressed with your leadership, how you've been able to change things and focus on what's important to us and continue to get the job done and live within your budget. So, kudos to you for doing that because I know it's not an easy job because we took a lot of hits over the last five or six years as far as income comes into Experience Burnsville. So, nice job. **[00:30:52] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Thank you very much, Council Member Gustafson. **[00:30:55] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. Any other comments for Miss Barl? I think each time you improve on the things that you're doing. So, you're continuously inventing and innovating and moving forward. So, congratulations. And your materials and your background is very well done. So, you have a lot of good partners then. **[00:31:18] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Yes. For a one-person organization, we're doing fabulous, I think. So, I love our brand and I'm really excited to take it to the next level. And we're working with an individual that I know through destination marketing. She started her own creative firm and we work really well together. So, she's helped out a lot. Um, so we have some more exciting things coming down the pipeline. **[00:31:45] Gregg Lindberg (City Manager):** Madame Mayor, members of the council, I would just encourage the community to do two things that I have found helpful. First is Experience Burnsville at burnsvillemn.com has just a quick link for the community or anyone who's interested to register for their newsletter updates. Incredibly helpful. Amy and her team do an awesome job at that. And I also like stopping by the news blog that Experience Burnsville does. Always great information there. So I would encourage the community to check it out. And thank you Amy for taking care of us in that way. **[00:32:18] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Thank you very much. **[00:32:20] Council Member Dan Kealey:** Just a question. Because you're in marketing and the creative tools provided by the evolution of AI are plentiful—have you looked at, dabbled in, or are you using some of those tools? It's a great tool for a one-person organization even though you may be using some outside resources; those resources may be also using some of those to just automate and allow you to create more new things without the old model of development time and production which took a long time and a lot of expense. **[00:32:55] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Yes, we are using AI. We started doing that a few years ago, dabbling in it, and it seems like every month we get a little more engaged and try new things. But yes, I do... we do use it internally and I believe Emily uses it as well. It is a great tool. It saves money for our organization. It saves expense. Um, so yes, we do use it. **[00:33:18] Council Member Dan Kealey:** Awesome. **[00:33:20] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Very good. If there are no other questions or comments, a motion to adopt and approve the budget and strategic plan for Experience Burnsville. **[00:33:28] Council Member Cara Schulz:** So moved. **[00:33:29] Council Member Vince Workman:** Second. **[00:33:30] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** There's a motion and a second. All in favor, please say aye. **[00:33:33] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:33:34] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Oppose say nay. And a motion carries. Congratulations and thank you. **[00:33:40] Amy Barl (Experience Burnsville):** Thank you. And thanks for the proclamation. **[00:33:42] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. Members of the council, there are no other items to come before the body this evening and a motion to adjourn is in order. **[00:33:50] Council Member Dan Gustafson:** So moved. **[00:33:51] Council Member Dan Kealey:** Second. **[00:33:52] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** There's a motion in a second. All in favor, please say aye. **[00:33:55] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:33:56] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Oppose say nay. And the motion carries. Good night and thank you for being with us.