Based on the context provided and the dialogue within the transcript, here is the formatted version with speaker identifications. **Note on Identifications:** * **Bill** is the Chair of the Economic Development Commission (EDC). * **Max Losi** is the newly introduced Community Development Specialist. * **Andy Gitzlaff** is the Community Development Director. * **Carrie** refers to **Kari Moore**, who serves as the Council Liaison to the EDC and works for CCF Bank. * **Noah Her** is a newly appointed City Council Member (who introduces himself during the meeting). * **Frank, Stacy, and Bob** are EDC Commissioners. *** [00:00] **Bill (EDC Chair):** I think I just moved you there [Music] oh the light's working okay well welcome everyone to the May 3rd 2023 Economic Development commission meeting um and let's see roll call here so we've got Dave's here yep Jeff's here yep Bob Carey Frank Stacy Gary Bob Aaron we doing well we're doing well we definitely have a quorum um who'd I miss Gary wasn't here right right I'm here it's Jeff Jeff's not here yeah it's in front of you yeah okay well let's start the meeting out with the Pledge of Allegiance Frank if you could lead us in that place. [00:23] **Frank (Commissioner):** I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America into the Republic for which it stands one nation under God and indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [00:35] **Bill (EDC Chair):** thank you Frank [Music] um has everyone had a chance to look at the minutes from the last meeting and is there any questions or concerns all right so up here I did have one correction on the um on the motion for to for approval the e-2023 EDC work plan it says it was moved by me that was correct seconded by commissioner Swedberg I don't know who seconded but it wasn't Commissioners went I don't know who it was but all right other now updates. [00:52] **Bob (Commissioner):** well I would have seconded if he didn't sure okay I'll take the Heat. [00:55] **Bill (EDC Chair):** anything else in regards to the minutes so all in favor please say aye aye aye opposed past um now Andy we have uh number five line is consent what what are we consenting to or is that an old version of what I have. [01:05] **Andy Gitzlaff:** yeah I have the old okay yep it's not even there yeah we're good yeah uh state of the art stuff yeah business retention's up next. [01:09] **Bill (EDC Chair):** okay business retention and Max were you going to take a little bit. [01:11] **Andy Gitzlaff:** for sure max if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself who you are where do you come from. [01:13] **Max Losi:** yeah of course my name is Max Losi I just started up here as the new Community Development specialist I'm working on finishing up my master of urban and Regional planning degree at the University of Minnesota I actually just finished my last class today so I just have a couple of things to wrap up in that regard and I'll be starting full time next week I've worked for the city of Fridley in environmental planning as well as economic development Sauk County in Wisconsin with the primary focus on planning and park planning as well as general natural resources and then I did my undergraduate in natural resources and urban studies so I'm excited to work with the city and so far things have been going well. [01:54] **Bill (EDC Chair):** great welcome welcome well would that take it over. [01:58] **Max Losi:** for sure yeah so since the February EDC meeting there's been a couple of visits so if we want to start with little Inspirations we can talk a little bit about that how that one went. [02:07] **Bill (EDC Chair):** well I was present at the little inspirations um Stacy was there we had a good time and it's a business that's uh that's growing and it's in a unique location over there yeah yeah um and they're really glad to have them in the city of Oakdale and they were very glad to have have the business here in Oakdale uh and where can you go wrong with watching little kids all day right Stace um anything else you'd want to add to that. [02:32] **Stacy (Commissioner):** um I think um they were grateful for the visit seemed like they were really receptive um hopefully we can get them a little more involved in the city yeah events and things um is it their 10-year Reunion. [02:46] **Bill (EDC Chair):** yeah it was their 10-year anniversary so I think they've been kind of a little isolated there maybe yeah so yeah Andy I don't know I don't remember it was their follow-up at all. [02:54] **Andy Gitzlaff:** yeah I've got I've got my the notes Here I can add maybe add a few please pieces to that so yeah yeah we met with uh the women-owned business Kelly Dunston and Jamie keys um again yeah 10 years 10 years in business they're in a different location in in Bergen than moved to that than the new location where the old or the old Cup Foods used to used to be they have 11 staff including the owners uh three of them are part-time they've had a lot of long uh term staff that that have been with them both owners have previously been in the daycare industry so they're able to recruit that way and that's kind of been how they've been able to to maintain staff they didn't mention a couple things about how you know the industry has changed and I think Stacy agree with this too the the focus on Early Childhood learning and not just the place to drop your kids off is definitely changed one of the things too that they have is incorporating technology they've gone away from like the little I remember when my kids are a little daycare sheets of how many times we went to the bathroom and who they bit that day and um now they do that all electronically and send that and send that information out um they seem pretty comfortable in the spacer and now they're about four thousand square feet they thought they wouldn't need all that but by the time they built out they actually they need that and and um they're partnering with some other uh businesses in Bergen Plaza um the the Swim School next door to do swim lessons as an add-on they also do soccer shots comes in and then they're looking at the high five sports place too for another for another potential um for another potential partnership um you know a couple other you know things things that note too is their they they kind of have like a commuter location almost like a lot of the parents that go there they don't may not live in Oakdale but they're going into St Paul or Minneapolis and it's like the perfect kind of half spot on the way home so that was something um really interested that interesting that um that I that I took away you know they didn't really have many you know complaints or anything they like their location they felt that that location was better from a safety perspective than their previous one which was kind of isolated there in the middle it there had been some like little nuisance things with graffiti and stuff but had commented that the police department was really good about responding to to any of those uh um to to any of those in incidents and yeah I think I'd Echo the thing that the big thing was like can we get more involved in City things that are going on so they've been here a while but um haven't really had time work is so busy to to get engaged and involved. [05:27] **Bill (EDC Chair):** well done um go ahead Max. [05:29] **Max Losi:** yeah next up we've got Victoria Nails if anyone who went on that one would like to speak to that. [05:33] **Bill (EDC Chair):** was not there for that. [05:35] **Andy Gitzlaff:** I think you get me again you know my first time ever in a nail salon really yeah that was that was that was interesting I learned. [05:42] **Bill (EDC Chair):** will it be your last. [05:43] **Andy Gitzlaff:** I learned a lot. [05:44] **Bill (EDC Chair):** did you get your cuticles done. [05:45] **Andy Gitzlaff:** I I did not oh I did not at this time but maybe maybe at some point so they um so we met with the sole owner uh Tylen uh she's been there since 2016. owns her own business um you know industry wise it it's it sounds like you know they keep growing as as an industry their their clientele is both men and both women that that sector has grown in the last um 10 years or so they leased their space um you know the space is like I I can't remember the name of the the the shopping center over there but you know that's kind of the the more of the class say so rents are are fairly high and probably her one takeaway was not necessarily the rents they pay but you know what they can charge for nails is based a lot on perception of value and they do get a little bit of because they're on the Oakdale side customers tend to think that they're not they pay less than what's in Woodbury so that might be a little bit of a branding opportunity going forward that you know um on the Oakdale side you know the higher rents the higher quality the better environment to be able to help them you know justify their their higher rent payments so I thought that was pretty interesting they did sign a 10-year lease though so they're going to be there they're going to be there a while they do do mostly just Nails uh some in cosmetology everything requires a license um so the owner doesn't really want to expand too far because she doesn't have expertise in those areas but just kind of focusing on what they do well they have nine employees uh quite a few of them have been been with been with them a while and then they also you know sometimes people come and go and and go for where they can make the most most money or if they work close to home because there's nail salons just they're everywhere um we asked about transportation and he said most people do drive but Transit could be could be an option especially with Gold Line there is some excitement there's some excitement around that going forward and the owner does uh actually she bikes bikes in on occasion to work too so um yeah that was a summary I I we asked about involvement in things and and she's just really really busy working and he said first day off and like uh six months and and uh so I I don't think we're gonna get her on the EDC but just a great Viewpoint to have and another woman-owned business to to meet with. [08:00] **Bill (EDC Chair):** great great. [08:02] **Max Losi:** next we can move on to high five Sports Zone. [08:04] **Bill (EDC Chair):** one Jeff Smith is the air phenomenal person all around phenomenal business model all around really with the with the business is is um kids come in and there's a lot of it's around it's Sports oriented so team sports coaching learning how to do Sports uh all of those good things there I love their facility High ceilings lots of gym area Minnesota representation on Sports um high five is very I would say minimal in the Minnesota Market um it originated in more in Illinois specifically Chicago area more for in kind of leveraging Michael Jordan really involved in that so it's huge in the Chicago area in Illinois and then in Minnesota there are two locations one in um Eden Prairie and one here and they're regionalized so if there's another location they'll come somewhere else that's in a different city so other than that they're again fabulous lots of Sports Camps lots of activities for children they have open gym you can also come and pay a fee to drop your child off you know for a few hours run out the energy so really really good business model and phenomenal business and phenomenal business owner anything to add Andy. [09:12] **Andy Gitzlaff:** um maybe a couple things just I their location there in Bergen Plaza if you think about malls and shopping centers and the traditional retail going now it's a perfect setup for uh set up for them those big spaces that they can do a lot of different things in so I'd expect to see just more types of uses like that go forward and I yeah and everything you said I would Echo they were just you know great great to meet with they really want to connect more with like the school district too so there was some direct connection like the mayor was able to make at that uh um at that meeting going forward and I think too they may not expand brick and mortar within that building but they do Camp sometimes that are like at parks or other places too not always in that facility um and I think their big thing is the summer camps is where they kind of make most of their their revenue but they have programming throughout the year too nice. [10:04] **Stacy (Commissioner):** sorry I missed it next time your gym shoes on and I never go without it yeah. [10:09] **Max Losi:** great well next up and last of those that have been completed we have CCF Bank which just occurred yesterday so I don't know if you want to say a few words on that bill. [10:19] **Bill (EDC Chair):** Well Kari was nice enough to be president during that whole thing why don't you give us your opinion on how well it went. [10:24] **Kari Moore (Council Member):** yeah it went very well so it was good we had several of us from the team on there and for us and what's gone on we've had some turnover and kind of a newer crew there so it's kind of nice that the manager was there and as well as our new lender that just started a month ago so that was good um we had done a big free model three years ago so there wasn't necessarily plans to expand um you know we're open to other things in the future and we'll see kind of what happens with expansion in the Twin Cities but it was it was overall very good very helpful um I think you know most the feedback was pretty good and positive um and some of it which is a little bit mentioned earlier was just kind of where are the best places to get information on what's happening in the city and I realize there's all kinds of different departments that are involved with that whether it's chamber City or other groups um but just you know if there are if there's even social media things or you know what's the best spot to just kind of know what's going on because there's certain things I know about all the time and then there's other things I'm like oh that happened I didn't realize so yeah it was great. [11:27] **Bill (EDC Chair):** I thought it was it's really nice to have a quality Bank like CCF there and to be able to meet everybody who's involved there of which I think I knew most of them yeah oh yeah and uh and just know the quality of people that are employed there and they really care about the city of Oakdale you know. [11:42] **Kari Moore (Council Member):** yeah and they're coming from the the small town Wisconsin kind of a theme I think yeah and they bring it into Oakdale it it does and um yeah so we've got commuter from River Falls and my boss is over in uh Champlin but like four of our employees are within five minutes of the branch so we've got a big core group that's very very close by and lives in Oakdale and you know as part of that we have a high school student that walks over from Tartan so it's uh nice to be you know have people so involved in the community right there. [12:12] **Bill (EDC Chair):** it's also a nice return over too. [12:14] **Bob (Commissioner):** Andy's that's a question go ahead what's the future for Brick and Mortar Banks you know I mean you know everybody's online and that's the big thing isn't it and brick and mortar how are they doing. [12:25] **Kari Moore (Council Member):** yes so so I mean I feel like what's been happening it's already been happening pre-covered happening more is Hotel spots so I don't think that necessarily um you might want to describe yes so basically thinking you get a Holiday Inn yes so what we have in our office like I'm in there every day I have a regular office a couple of us do and then we've got like four offices that have ports for laptops and anybody can come over so we're headquartered in Eau Claire where we sell plenty of people that visit the Twin Cities or have clients in the Twin Cities and will come in and use that use a hotel spot so that is becoming much more common for me I personally have a laptop I you know you can use it at home I can use it other places and when I come to work I just hook it up to my dual monitors and have it ready to go so that is happening more I know as far as us for expansion and I think for a lot of banks you won't see brand new ones built too often it'll more be Acquisitions or taking over an old place that close that works for a bank location you don't think you'll see a ton of brand new Bank locations opening in the future but um you know drive-throughs are huge I feel like that gets used more and more you know as time I've been in the industry for 15 years drive-throughs like now like 85 percent of transactions or something to that level sorry I keep on ignoring you guys over here um so yeah that's that's kind of where that is going um but it also works well for remote workers and having that like we are SBA specialist is I think it's he's in Oklahoma he can do everything remote and all of our SBA program if we won't so that's really cool when you're looking for a specific talent and they're not getting people you know it's hard to find somebody in Eau Claire that has you know there's maybe a couple people that have that experience in all of Eau Claire so it's good good for that for looking for specific Talent. [14:14] **Bill (EDC Chair):** Andy did you want to expand or anything on that. [14:16] **Andy Gitzlaff):** I think you you both hit it very well. [14:18] **Bill (EDC Chair):** okay Max anything else on that. [14:20] **Max Losi:** yeah on that note unless anyone has any other commentary I want to let you all know that we have three more visits scheduled and that will conclude the program as funded for this year with that Kim will help us prepare a report that identifies some of the common Trends throughout the businesses what they said what they want to see from Oakdale and we'll look at that and present it to the EDC as well as the city council and any other relevant bodies and take a look at what we can do to better support the business climate in Oakdale. [14:48] **Bill (EDC Chair):** great that's what we're looking for um shall we move on to new business or am I looking at the wrong schedule again oh you're good I'm good small area plan there we go glenbrook's small area planned presentation. [15:02] **Andy Gitzlaff:** yeah I wonder if we could get the screen pulled up this one yeah perfect so when we were going through the the work plan updates one of the suggestions from EDC members was you know making sure that their City studies coming through like the bike and Pad an opportunity to provide input and really kind of know what's going on and then we had mentioned that this Glenbrook small area plan has been you know I kicked it off late last fall and it's at the point now where um there's some actual draft options that are out there so I thought we'd take a few minutes here to walk through you know some background on the study and what those options are and get any feedback from from EDC members that that you may have and we could get that included in the the record as well for this study um a little bit of background the the study itself we actually got a grant from Washington County CDA to help us to to look into this area the broader study areas basically 120 western boundary 694 the northern and uh eastern boundary and Highway 36 the remainder of the eastern boundary but then if you look at the map that yellow area is the or the historic Glenbrook neighborhood and that's that's kind of the primary focus where there's some potential land use changes that could come out of out of the study and the reason it's being looked at in the first place is if you're familiar with the area there's just kind of a hodgepodge of of different uses there's heavy industrial there's multi-family and single-family residential commercial um and in a lot of aspects it works but there's also some issues with truck traffic and interactions and and noise and and just the road network doesn't quite connect and then another big driver for looking at this is is MnDOT along with the counties and Jason cities are looking at you know adding uh eventually and and uh an interchange there and they've already gotten some initial funding for it so it seems more likely than it was even a couple years ago I mean those projects still take five ten years before you design an environmental and construct and build and open but important instead of MnDOT coming up with this is the design and here here it is voted up or down we'd rather go through and talk to the neighborhood talk to the property owners and get a sense for what they'd like to see first and then go back with the results to MnDOT so that's um kind of the the reason why that this study was was undertaken it did start back in late November and every good study is sort of looking at all the background information we have out there doing some base mapping doing some stakeholder uh interviews we did an initial round of uh engagement there was an open house held at the fire station last last fall we started to identifying you know what are those what are those Coalition core issues and then we took that back to council and got their feedback and then from those core issues we we came up with some draft goals for the overall study and um from there did some uh preparation of what we call Alternatives or different concepts and that's kind of where we are right now is that those Concepts have been prepared and we've been going out and done some additional engagement which I have a little slide at the end on and ultimately the goal would be to come up with one preferred option that the city council could then endorse right now there's three of them so I'll walk through each of the three um and one of the things again here's a this is a good slide too this is the key issue so that big circle on the the lower left hand corner that's that propulsed interchange and depending on where those ramps pop out that could have an influence on this project the different colors represent different uses the reddish color that's more of your traditional commercial that that purple is more of that industrial mix and then the other variations of the tan tones are all the the residential in the areas you can kind of see how that mix comes through and then um there is quite uh some traffic on 51st street from semi trucks which is in a residential area although Hadley interchange is really where we want those trucks to be going out too we there there isn't like a weight except by closing roads to actually Force someone to take a specific route so looking at addressing that as part of this study also Silver Lake um right over to the other side in um um North St Paul is a big there's a walking path around that whole lake and a lot of people from this neighborhood they use that facility we also hear about Gateway Trail which is just south of um 36 about wanting better connections there and that was something pretty interesting from the neighborhood is there's a lot of people that walk in this neighborhood for a neighborhood that has no sidewalks and has semi trucks that that go through it so those are some of the you know the early kind of issues we we identified through the study so there's three there's three all alternatives um and I can walk through to them the first one isn't really showing too much change it's basically the road Network stays um stays the way it is that the properties highlighted in yellow are the ones that you know could potentially change in use whether that's from residential to you know more of that commercial light industrial type into the future there's also I think the Moss works here yeah there's a group of duplexes here behind this commercial that are really hard to access and feel kind of out of place in this area and a little bit tired so that's been in three of these Concepts one area potential land use change so that's one of them and the second area of potential land use change is this parcel here it's a vacant parcel it's on the market the owner really wants to just know what he can do with it and we've kind of been saying let's get the study done to figure out what the overall vision is to help you out um so in this concept you know I think it's really kind of stays the same as commercial so here's where we start to get to some variation that yellow and black line um is kind of this idea of continuing a frontage road um I think I lost my mouse but oh there it is I know I can change this thing too oh so this would be a new roadway connection this would have property impacts to that vacant parcel as well as Tice construction here um but one thing you know one thing to note too is that this would be likely done as part of the the MnDOT project and you know the city council has been pretty clear that the city wouldn't be you know take using like eminent domain to acquire property in this in this area so it'd have to be either working with willing sellers or part of that broader broader MnDOT project but this concept basically oops oh I skipped ahead this concept allows um some of that that truck traffic to then fall on a frontage road and pop out at 50th Street 17th Avenue and we're still working with MnDOT to see if with the new reconfigured intersection if that's going to be potential to be signalized because it's really busy it gets backed up with with traffic every every day there in this in this area and then there's also a residential parcel here looking at potentially you know if this is the case rezoning that and this could be all commercial in this area the third concept is instead of the frontage road is is adding a new roadway connection between this apartment building here and um the vacant parcel it's actually some old right-of-way that the city still has so this kind of you know it doesn't really solve the full truck traffic because car vehicles would still potentially go down 51st street but it does you know help that you know a little bit when we went through the workshop with Council the early preference has been for that middle concept that option b with the front of drill but our Direction was to go back and talk with MnDOT and the county a little bit further which you know there's a lot of layers there so it's taking a little bit of time to to get some more clearer Direction um but those are the three options um and I can after this slide I can pause and we can go back to any of them but the the latest run of Engagement is Planning Commission was April 6th there was some input from them um one of the directions we got two from Council was that apartment building you know sometimes when we do mailings and things it's hard to really reach individual units so there's a clear direction to go out and and see if you can partner with them to do some more engagement and our our city planner Luke McClanahan did just that and connected with the property manager and they actually agreed to host the open house and somehow picked the one nice day last week on the 26th to have it outside in their Courtyard at the apartment building and then we um sent out invites mailers but also had it basically open to anybody that wanted to come not just the apartment building and there's something like 20 residents there um we also had a virtual meeting option two that which was on Monday of this week where we got a few more people that you know chose that option that didn't you know not everybody has time to pop over to a meeting or that ability and then there's an online questionnaire available on the city website right now that uh I would encourage members of the EDC to you know that might be a great way too to get feedback is just submit that so and then lastly uh our city planner was out there today just talking to businesses um one-on-one doing a little door knocking so talk to I think seven businesses today about the project and keeping them and keeping them informed so the goal here is to again meet with the agencies and then around uh late May early June come back to city council with a recommendation um so that was that was kind of a lot I'm happy to answer any questions take any feedback on the on the options. [24:59] **Bob (Commissioner):** what's the main reason that just the way 36 is or what is there a I guess I don't it surprising yeah that so many trucks would use that route it doesn't seem very. [25:12] **Andy Gitzlaff:** yeah and it's it's about six to eight a day so it's not okay you know like to you know put that in the scale but if I'm thinking of that outside my house that's kind of a lot yeah um when they read it hardly and put the roundabouts in um I think most businesses are telling their trucks to take that route but like Google and algorithms and everybody plugs it in it's telling them to take you know 51st Street in and there are one or two businesses that are an exception where they can't get out that that's their only access how it is that way based on where they're located um so that's one of the things too with the industrial is I should probably point that out is there wasn't really most of those businesses are doing really well and thriving in there and making wholesale changes to that wasn't something that really rise to something that you know it's not broke don't fix it you know there is some outdoor storage there are some areas where pavement you know it's a little excessive or storm water treatment could be done or building you know and that could be done like through performance standards over time but there haven't been any wholesale changes proposed over in the in the industrial area. [26:22] **Bill (EDC Chair):** I'm looking at it in I mean live right now that intersection north of 36 so go north on Century all the way up to 50th is this red so I don't know how it would help to put moving traffic down to 50th would help I like the idea of the frontage road but to push everything on to 50th you'll you'll never have anybody get access to Century unless you're going right and going north. [26:44] **Andy Gitzlaff:** I think the concept would be a full access that'd be the only way with a signal and I think the question would be with a there'll be ramps and MnDOT is going to try to tuck those ramps as close to 36 as possible but that'll have a signal and then can you have two signals operate that closely and hopefully if you have an interchange you're not going to have you're not going to have the backup right you're not going to have that's going to resolve that self-bomb backup where you can't turn left so I would would not see this front and drill piece happening without The Interchange. [27:16] **Bob (Commissioner):** yeah it did make more sense to have like a roundabout there instead of a you know how they did up on Hadley were they had the ramps and then well so much of it's going to depend on what they do with that interchange how are they going to handle that yeah I mean it could be I mean um there's definitely not as much land as over at Hadley and um so it's got to be pretty tight but um MnDOT is looking at some concepts with roundabouts if not here other places on Century where it makes sense some places it does some places it doesn't. [27:49] **Bill (EDC Chair):** you're talking a roundabout on that corner 36 on the century. [27:52] **Bob (Commissioner):** No it'd be I think it would have to be like 36 and maybe 51st is what right up there yeah. [27:56] **Bill (EDC Chair):** yeah yeah is that what you're thinking. [27:58] **Bob (Commissioner):** yeah I just I'm thinking that you know that if they had a light at 50th and then with the new ramps and stuff that's still going to get all backed up it's so bad now. [28:06] **Andy Gitzlaff:** yeah that's good feedback. [28:07] **Stacy (Commissioner):** my only other thing I was curious I mean we're in such a housing crisis right now with the lack of Housing and I'm sure some of these properties are older housing so they're probably a little more affordable um that's an assumption um and if we're looking at this middle concept it's eliminating a lot of housing not just something to keep in mind. [28:23] **Andy Gitzlaff:** yeah and maybe a point of clarification I think those Parcels north of 51st street that are highlighted are more of like they'd still be impacted by truck traffic I don't necessarily think that's a a likely change but those four plexes changing the zoning there that's a potential the concept C2 the one with the one with the north south road that might lend itself to a residential prop project that could be high density on that on that um on that vacant parcel but yeah that's it kind of the thing is it does it want to be more commercial in that area or doesn't want to be more residential and that's something that I guess you know still collecting feedback on so that's you know very good very good feedback. [29:08] **Bill (EDC Chair):** I do have an appreciation for uh it's this isn't heavy-handed that like you know eminent domain the fact that you know you really going through all this effort to talk to the businesses and residents I think that's a that's a you know kudos for a really respectful process. [29:21] **Andy Gitzlaff:** thank you and you wonder what the city planners were thinking when they put together this let's throw a house over there let's throw two in. [29:29] **Bill (EDC Chair):** yeah but you got to remember that's a lot of years ago I mean there was a lot of land there was a lot of not much happening and you just put things where you thought they'd be nice you know I mean houses here and there you know there was no codes or anything. [29:41] **Andy Gitzlaff:** correct that is correct it used to actually be old uh railroad platted and here it goes back very long even before Frank. [29:52] **Kari Moore (Council Member):** ly yeah when when is MnDOT kind of making that decision I mean because I feel like that kind of impact depending on what they're going to do. [30:00] **Andy Gitzlaff:** sure so they're they're doing the study right now on 120. basically from 694 all the way down to 94. so they're they're kind of coming up with Concepts and one thing nice is we can kind of just push this input to them live so before they get too far down on it um my guess just from my former background in transportation um they've still got a number of pots of money to Kabul to put this together and I'd say it's three probably more like five years out before you could see like construction maybe three years out before you'd actually see a design um so in in essence we're kind of getting ahead of the curve not just sort of waiting for that to happen. [30:42] **Bill (EDC Chair):** I think that goes for the whole Century run which is most of Oakdale as far as what they're looking for input to uh what are we gonna do is Frank gonna lose a barber shop or how wide is that road gonna go. [30:54] **Andy Gitzlaff:** any other comments questions concerns on this well done thank you. [31:01] **Bill (EDC Chair):** at this time should we go to the commissioner's updates as I hear otherwise so anybody got some comments Bob will start with you. [31:10] **Bob (Commissioner):** not really I mean this thing is not easy very familiar I go to Shirelles and caribou and it's a tough one I'm thinking alternative C but I don't know that's just my opinion but uh I don't have anything else otherwise though thanks good and Bob I just noticed around telling the the emerald ash borer has taken its toll on the Boulevard trees and there Seas taken care of it taking him down and replacing you know trees yes that's great yeah let's keep moving. [31:42] **Stacy (Commissioner):** yep uh nothing new for me. [31:44] **Bill (EDC Chair):** uh nothing new. [31:46] **Kari Moore (Council Member):** I guess has there been any changes with Tanner's Lake since last update or not kind of in the same boat um well. [31:54] **Andy Gitzlaff:** I would say we we have we have a couple proposals in there's some sort of you know some background due diligence that's being done so we're not really going public with the names of who's who's out there quite yet but yeah we do have some interest and we have a little bit of a little bit of movement and hopefully my next meeting will have more news to share. [32:15] **Stacy (Commissioner):** cool. [32:16] **Bill (EDC Chair):** um nothing really new okay we'll go by me I just had quite house is a Central Bark is that the new business how's that doing does anybody. [32:27] **Stacy (Commissioner):** I take my dog there really and they're great. [32:30] **Bill (EDC Chair):** yeah one of the only places I can get you know grooming without two months out so um I don't know if they seem like they're growing pretty well I mean this is based on just me going there. [32:41] **Stacy (Commissioner):** everything right no I I drive by it all the time I don't have a dog it's like well I don't know like walk in there just to you know see the place. [32:51] **Bill (EDC Chair):** yeah they see they became pretty happy I know that they're at the Woodbury Expo and they uh seem to be doing pretty well from what I see and yeah good. [33:02] **Kari Moore (Council Member):** they they have competitive prices too I've taken my dog there for nail clipping and grooming. [33:07] **Bill (EDC Chair):** yeah yeah it's really nice place we went I went to the Grand Opening yeah so great people yeah I recommend it. [33:14] **Kari Moore (Council Member):** a couple groomings and she's gonna do Doggy Daycare in a couple weeks for the first time and start doing that so that's fun but I definitely as far as daycares go they have a lot more interaction and training than the average run without being really more expensive than average so good I'm I've been very happy with my personal experience. [33:38] **Bill (EDC Chair):** thanks I just have that question. [33:41] **Commissioner:** uh just some changes that are coming down the line that are going to impact small businesses the Paid Family Medical Leave Act is making its way through the Senate uh we saw that the marijuana bill passed in both uh the state uh the House of Representatives in the Senate so that is huge for employers uh specifically those employers that are D.O.T certified so there are lots of changes there lots of lots of Revenue that's going to have to be looked at um but maybe good changes for everyone in the larger retrospect from that okay. [34:11] **Bill (EDC Chair):** Frank I know you've got a few things. [34:13] **Frank (Commissioner):** I do Mr chair and I was just wondering I'd like to bring this up to the commission's attention it was on the uh Sunday March 19th uh Minneapolis or St Paul Dispatch paper and they had a story in there about um Ukrainian soldiers that come over here came over here and um it brought now I'll read some of this and I'll try and condense it as much as I can they're brought to the U.S by Prozac protes Foundation a non-profit organization helps Ukrainian children soldiers civilians with get free high quality Prosthetics in the U.S the soldiers were greeted with Fanfare when they arrived in Minneapolis St Paul International Airport within a few hours of Landing they were being fitted for Prosthetics by protest Foundation volunteers at a clinic in Oakdale two days later four of the five men were walking now these Prosthetics are are top of the Top Line top drawer things and it's given away free and I can find the part um okay the the foundation relies on hundreds of Volunteers in Minnesota to help with the effort the clinic is located in donated space in the former animation campus in Oakdale which is owned by Slumberland Furniture prosthetic companies provide material at a discount and much of the work is done by volunteer technicians and physical therapists um and the soldiers live in hoses uh donated by the community center in Minneapolis anyway again our people at Slumberland probably they're the most civically oriented people I mean they did the the veterans breakfast the prayer breakfast they paid for all the veterans all as veterans going to that for breakfast I mean them I can't imagine what that cost I think the problem was charging like 35 bucks up yeah and they came through and did it again they've done this for I don't know five six uh 10 years probably 15 years so anyway I just I what I'm saying is that the boy they are just a community organization you just can't you can't beat them with a stick I mean they're they're wonderful they're they're generous and they take care of people but doing this can you imagine what that costs I mean and I don't know anything about the uh the found the protest protest Foundation it's a non-profit that's all I know organization to help Ukrainian children soldiers Etc so anyway but Slumberland what a good neighbor there huh. [36:58] **Bill (EDC Chair):** they're also hosting at Forefront uh Saturday night uh big hoo-ha for the British Center in Africa I'm going to it to fundraise all free of charge as well so uh Ken Larson is a great guy I've known Kent for many many years his son Michael manages the place and great family for sure. [37:16] **Frank (Commissioner):** so you agree they are just doctor they really are there they are just great and I guess I'm just gonna throw this out there I mean is there any way that the city can recognize him for all their civic uh things that they've done a bad idea share that sentiment with um with city council yeah because I mean like you say the the veterans breakfast 35 bucks ahead oh my God I hope they're doing well financially. [37:44] **Bill (EDC Chair):** they are doing extremely well okay well the property I know they're property over in Oakdale the animation property they're doing yeah that's well we went to the tour there yeah and yeah they that was a big investment and a long time for return on the investment but I think it's paid off very handsomely for them. [38:05] **Frank (Commissioner):** so the Forefront technology is what you're talking about right over there yes. [38:09] **Bill (EDC Chair):** so it's a good segue to the fact that the chamber is having their uh monthly meeting over at the Forefront technology tomorrow at 11 30. um so that'll be a good time over there be able to see all that and I'm sure they'll have a put on a great great spread over there I really don't have much more I think we carried a lot today Max nice job any thanks welcome. [38:34] **Andy Gitzlaff:** yeah you're welcome. [38:36] **Bill (EDC Chair):** um we've now have a County Commission or county commissioner City Commissioner congratulations on the uh County. [38:43] **Noah Her (Council Member):** yeah thank you so much Tara and uh moving quickly Commissioners uh thank you for uh doing this uh duty of yours I know this is all volunteer and I think uh this uh work that you guys are putting forth is really helping the city um really stay in touch with the business Community here my name is Noah here the newly appointed city council member um four weeks into the job now and so I'm fairly green and just eager to get out there and just build a relationship so I look forward to connecting with you guys outside of this uh as well my background just gives you a little bit about who I am I'm uh born and raised in from Wausau Wisconsin um a child of refugees after the Vietnam War my parents of them immigrated or came over here to the you us landed in Park Falls Wisconsin and then gathered together in Wausau I have a wife and three kids I live right off of Hadley and 4th Street I have been there for the last five years I in my day job I helped support small businesses I work for a non-profit called next stage and we help with business advice Consulting I'm a junior lender as well and we'll typically do loans you know anywhere from 150 on down loans that Banks generally don't take on we also do a lot of participation lending and get financing as well but you know I think over the course of my career as a you know Community Development economic Specialists I think what I really uh have had the honor of doing was uh throughout covid uh I helped Washington County Ramsey County Anoka County dispersals coveted relief grants uh dispersing over 84 million dollars um to small businesses uh during that time of being shut down um and so I just am eager to see what I can do here to help this commission and help offer my assistance and the work that you guys are doing in this great city of ours and I'll you know help carry forward that recommendation Frank to the Council on seeing what we can do to recognize Slumberland and the Civic work that they've done here any questions that the Commissioners would have for me. [41:14] **Bill (EDC Chair):** welcome um thank you you're new on the job so what would say the top two things on your agenda would be for you for the city. [41:24] **Noah Her (Council Member):** you know as it relates to uh you know Economic Development I think uh it would be really you know to explore what opportunities we have what uh tools we have uh within our tool belt to be able to help businesses uh get established here uh to get involved it sounds like that a business retention uh program um it looks like it's coming to an end here soon I think activities like that is very meaningful and intentional and so I think it's hey what what kind of support programs can we continue to continue moving forward to have that level of Engagement and then also looking at you know how do we do a better job at marketing Oakdale to be a desirable location to change that stigma of being the lesser of of the East Side suburbs where we're not as you know affluent as what Woodbury are although we're all the best people are in this room right here right now what did you say and so I I I think it's you know just getting the message out and you know seeing what we can do to you know retell that story and and and tell about all the great things that uh Oakdale has to offer um and at the end of the day I think it's really the people in the and and the constituents that live here. [42:47] **Bill (EDC Chair):** great thank you thanks for serving. [42:50] **Noah Her (Council Member):** thank you. [42:51] **Bill (EDC Chair):** any other questions well done thank you so much thank you um anything else Andy. [42:57] **Andy Gitzlaff:** that's it nothing else to report. [42:59] **Bill (EDC Chair):** okay with that I'll make a motion to adjourn all in favor aye aye opposed all right let's make it happen