##VIDEO ID:6knrPxKzz4Y## process are we using for a signal that you wish to speak what have you worked out with Steph um is there a raised hand function or something so someone will signal to me I think Lisa can see me I'm pretty sure um but or I can just speak up and Inter there you are okay you'll use the raise hand function Lisa is not in the room but our other administrative support staff clouder and others are here so we we wish you well commissioner literally we wish you well so thank you and we'll we'll now proceed uh to our public hearings we have the first public hearing is on land use Amendment 02 024 001 land use plan amendment by Robert Bolter uh good morning Madam chair Commissioners I'm Alison Sosa with the planning department I'm here this morning to present both land use plan amendments before you if you can crack our code you can see that this is the first land use plan amendment of 2024 by Robert Bolter okay the request before you this morning is to reclassify 17 acres of land from resource protection to Suburban development um in your land use map so the land the countywide land use map is everybody can see what I'm looking at okay on the right uh before you and really it's relatively simple there are three General land uses on the county land use map you've got resource protection it's a little hard to see this here but it's that General yellow really light pale yellow color then you've got your suburban subdivision or your suburban development sections which is that orangey pink color and then gray you have your urban service area and thankfully we're not talking about urban service area today simply talking about resource protection and Suburban development so when you're talking about land use you're really looking um at the high kind of the high level generally what is the best use of this property and the question you're being asked today is the best use of this land the 17 acres is it best suited for residential uses or is it better suited for uh resource protection agricultural type uses um there's a little black circle um on the top in oronoko Township that's showing the general area of this land use plan Amendment we're only talking 17 Acres so that circle is clearly much larger but what you can see in that Circle if you look closely is there is some orange some of that pink orange and there is also some some yellow so a lot of times we're talking about land 's plan amendments right every time we're talking about land plan amendments we're talking about changing from one color uh to the next but as you can see there is um there's some orange and some yellow over there all right not moving is it still me okay all right our next slide when we're talking about land use plan amendments we're really talking about that first application type in the development process and I like to talk a little bit about about this pyramid of discretion this is a tool that we use in planning it kind of is twofold one it shows that there are lots of application types that go into the development process a lot of them are labeled here it's not comprehensive but a lot of them are located there and this chart also shows this triangle also shows where decision makers have the most discretion where they have the most Authority in making their decisions so right now at the land use plan Amendment we're at that base where you are creating policy so when you create your land use uh plan document your your glop your general land use plan which was last updated into 2022 or when you create your zoning ordinance you're creating policy and that's when you as elected officials have that the most discretion in in what you want to do and what you want that ordinance to say and it travels with the map amendments that we're looking at that we're looking at today you start moving up that pyramid at the very top you see when you're administering your your rules and that's usually delegated to to staff because you really have very little discretion to say no and at the top of that is your building permits so a good example of that is if somebody comes in and wants to talk to one of our inspectors or one of our plan reviewers and they've got a building permit that meets the setbacks it meets all the requirements of the building code our inspections team our plan reviewers they can't really say no they can't say no we want it to move 200 feet to the right because we think that view is better assuming they meet you know all those check marks we pretty much have to say yes so that's the Pyramid of discretion and it's important to note right that we're at the very bottom you've got a lot of discretion that'll come in handy here in the next couple of applications oops all right so what are we actually looking at today so the site I think is a little bit difficult to see and I do apologize for that but it's that red kind of outline the middle of the screen we're about 17 acres and we're located at the southeast corner of the intersection of 85th Street Northwest and 18th Avenue Northwest so we're in oronoko Township here I don't have the zoning map up on the slide but the site is currently zoned A3 which is one of our agricultural districts which would make sense because the land use map uh is resource protection so you can see it's that yellow color and you can also see that it is located right between two existing Suburban subdivisions two existing um areas of pink so I'll also note this is a this is a zoomed in version of that um land use map I showed in the first slide everybody see the site that I'm talking about okay about 17 Acres so relatively small and this is our zoning map so it gets a little bit more vibrant when we start looking at our zoning map um all that green is agricultural land the site again is in the middle it's in it's green but it's surrounded by that the Red Dot or excuse me that red line and what I think is really interesting about this map is it shows that even though the land use is Suburban development on this pink slide here right if I go back to our land use map when I at our zoning map there are various colors that are consistent with a Suburban development land use so you've got the bright yellow which is a standard R1 zoning District that typically says two acre lots you got a little bit of orange in that ra area which is large lot subdivision so you're really looking at um five acres and you even have some of that green on the bottom of the slide here that's special district so they kind of get to create their own rules but residential so three different residential zoning districts are consistent um at least in this map alone with the Suburban development land use the planning Department's recommendation today is to approve the land use plan Amendment as requested by the applicant um there's about a 10-page staff report in your packet um but really that staff rep staff report boils down to three to three elements that we're looking at it's the fact that the site is close to other Suburban subdivisions so the infrastructure is in place or it's close by so the roadway the electricity the water uh there's limit of prime agricultural soils maybe 10 to 15% on this site so you're not taking away Prime farmland for for this development and I mentioned it early but really this is a small request really minor impacts so 17 Acres not a whole lot of land when you're talking Suburban subdivision the Planning Commission voted to approve this land use plan Amendment 5 at their meeting in September this is the concept plan that was provided by the applicant really what this shows is their intent just to create one additional buildable lot on this on this uh on this overall site I want to be clear though that this is a concept plan only you're not voting you're not making any recommendation on uh what the actual land um what the future this land is going to be what you're looking at right now is whether the applicant should be able to move forward to start zoning the property maybe um adjusting the lot lines and um building building permits so we get a lot of concept plans we get land uh develop excuse me land lupas land use plan amendments um because it's showing that the owner is bringing this forward for a reason they're they're working through it but it's understanding that when you're at this Lupa stage at the very very high level you're you're talking Concepts only you're not approving the actual development so if something were to happen and this were to fall through after the zone change is approved the owner would be able to do anything that's Prov that's allowed under the existing zoning code these are the locational criteria that identified in your general land use plan um the staff report looks at each one of these in detail a paragraph or two but really again it boils down to that idea those three those three bullet points I mentioned in the beginning our recommendation for approval is based on the the fact that the site sandwiched between two other Suburban subdivisions it's small in size and not U not prime Farmland of course I've got a Clues model slide so Clues is our comprehensive land use evaluation system so it is a software program that we use and it really gives us a starting point on what the best land use would be for this site really in this case I can say it one of two ways but clu is kind of conclusive clue said it's both the site is both scores positively for both resource protection and for Suburban subdivision so we used it as a starting point our analysis was really not based off of this Clues model again I got my pyramid of discretion on the right hand side um and this shows just the number of applications that would be required after this land use plan Amendment if this is approved what the next steps are for the applicant um I tried to color code it um to match the Pyramid of discretion I will note that this is um not a whole lot of um applications because again this is a relatively small relatively small application so assuming this gets approved uh tonight you're at the lany's plan Amendment the owner would then work with oronoko Township on a zoning map Amendment which really help pick those rules how how big their lots have to be what their setbacks are Etc a possible lot line adjustment I've got a little question mark next to that one I'm not sure what the if they need to do a lot line adjustment they might need to do a little bit of work just to get the the two um properties ready to both be developed and then they're building permits so relatively straightforward when it comes to the development process and with that I've got a recommendation um of approval before you and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have before the public hearing members are there any questions from Miss Sosa commissioner uh thank you madam chair um to the uh Miss is uh is this in the urban service area just out of curiosity um no Rochester no this is not an urban we're not talking that that gray that gray color on the map thank you commissioner other questions do you have additional questions no I'm sorry thank you are there other questions members thank you missa so now we'll open the public hearing is there anyone who you wishes to testify and support our opposition to this land use plan Amendment welcome Mr Toyon please it uh identify yourself for the record right thank you madam chair members of the board I'm Bill toon with WC engineering I'm here speaking on behalf of Mr Bolter who's the applicant for the land use Amendment uh just is the way of background you noticed in the slides that presented by staff that this parcel really lies in an area of surrounding land use as being Suburban so it's kind of an infill project and the purpose of this is to provide for one new residential lot on the easterly half of the parcel which is very heavily with it it's not an egg production um it'll take access to 85th Street so there's no new access being created out to uh 18th Avenue which is a County Road uh staff has provided findings uh to support the land use Amendment uh Planning Commission unanimously approved this application or recommended approval of this application and we do have on file a letter from or noal Township supporting the Quest for the land use Amendment we respectfully request the county board's approval for this land use Amendment and if you have any questions now or before you close the hearing please let me know thank you Mr toon is there anyone else who wishes to testify it's a public hearing so I'll be asking it three times is there anyone else who wishes to testify third and final call is there anyone else who wishes to testify on on this land use Amendment I'll move to close the public hearing second it's been moved and second to close the public hearing I'll move in favor of this all those in favor of closing the public hearing signify this time we're just going to do it by saying I hi we have to do roll call hi thank you commissioner now we're going to do a roll call once we have a I'll move to favor of this resolution second I have a motion in a second to approve the land use Amendment 020241 I'm going to call uh call the roll I'm going to start with commissioner Wright I commissioner Mueller I commissioner sanum I commissioner Ty I commissioner brosman I and kiss Caden votes I 7 to zero the the proposed amendment passes so now six to Zer six to Zer I can't count I'm used to seven six to zero he can't count either what can we say all right we stand corrected six to zero the amendment passes all right um we're going to move now to the land use plan Amendment 020242 land use plan amendment by David Derby Miss Sosa all right good morning again so now we're looking at your second land use plan amendment of 2024 see that so again I've got your land use map on the right hand side we talked about that just a couple minutes ago your three your three main colors the the yellow the orange and the gray so this is a request to modify your land use map um to reclassify 93 acres of land from resource protection that is that really pale yellow on the majority of the county to Suburban development which is that orange color that you see um again I've got a little black circle there at the top that's showing the general area of this land use plan Amendment again the circle is much larger than 93 Acres but it's generally showing you where where we're talking about and the fact that there is um both some yellow and some of that orange in in that Circle the question right now is exactly the same as the last application what is this land best suited for for residential uses or for agricultural uses again my perid of discretion you'll probably be seeing that a lot from me if I do more presenting um you are at the base with the where you're creating your policy so you have lots of discretion um and that'll be important with this application because you do have a split recommendation between the planning department and the Planning Commission so in my last set of slides I had this at the end but this is more typical of what you would see um as part of the development process when you are starting at at the very top which is changing your land use map so the development review process you see seven steps again this is kind of conceptual based on the plan that has been um that was provided in in the packet but what you can see here is that there's a lot more work that needs to be done if this moves forward um this it might be the last time that the County Board is actually seeing these a lot of these applications are going to be approved or um maybe not approved um decided by oronoko Township so if this land use pen amendment is approved you know we are here at the top they'll move forward with a zoning map Amendment um at the township a general General development plan with the township which is kind of the master planning document where they start laying out the lots and the roadways and kind of a conceptual idea where you what areas are you protecting that kind of that kind of thing um you move into some sort of um environmental sensitive feature protection Shoreland flood plane permitting um that kind of can go anywhere in in that uh that group you'll move into your plating which actually starts creating the subdivision of the lots and creating Standalone lots and right of way and then finally your building permits which we'll look at where your house is going to be located and its size so again this is much more typical when we're looking at um a larger uh 93 plus acre U potential subdivision I think the elephant in the room is we do have a split recommendation the planning department is recommending approval that boils down to really three um bullet points um that if you read through our staff report um we talk about them at length but it's close to other Suburban subdivisions so again that infrastructure is is close by there's limited Prime agricultural soils on this site so while there's a little bit more at maybe 20 to 25% of the site is is prime agricultural soils above I think 55 on on our mapping um data it's a little bit more than the last one but still of a minority of of the site and that any concerns about um you know design or protecting the um the sensitive features the flood plane the Shoreland um I know we talk about some of the the oak that can be handled during the design stage of of the planning process again you're looking at that very high level are we best suited for residential purposes or for agricultural purposes and if the decision is res IAL purposes the applicant can then move forward with really creating that design that will protect those features and we're confident that oronoko Township has um the ability to to keep all of that um protected the Planning Commission did recommend denial of this application at their last Planning Commission meeting it was a 3-2 vote um they cited the existing moratorium on residential development added traffic both cars and boat traffic um to the community uh their desire to protect Farmland in the river Corridor you'll see maybe my next slide that this site is um is on uh the zumbro river and really there was some neighborhood opposition um to to this development and I believe we might have some people here to speak on that um after my presentation oh is that me okay um apologies okay so now we're actually looking at the site and the site is identified kind of in the the middle of the page in red it's a triangle um we're in oronoko Township again um we're looking at 93 Acres the site is located on the north side of White Bridge Road Northwest and directly east of the of the zumbro river which um unfortunately this layer that I have um on this map I wasn't able to really call out the water but the water kind of snakes through uh the middle of the the middle of the image there so again this is a zoomed in version of that land use map that I showed at the very beginning we're talking um you know pink or yellow on what is the best use of of this site and as you can see there is quite a bit of residential development on the north side of the site as well as some um on the south side across White Bridge Road and we get our vibrant zoning map um I tried to create a better image on what the site actually looks like with that white triangle like didn't okay job um at it but again I think this is really interesting to look at because one it shows the green which is the agriculturally zoned properties but then it really shows a lot of different vibr vibrant colors when it comes to the various uh zoning districts that could be appropriate on this site if the land use plan Amendment goes goes forward so that that bright blue at the top the yellow that orange um all of those are various zoning districts and the applicant provided a concept plan and again I want to be clear that you're not being asked to review this concept plan our team did not take a deep dive into this concept plan um this is provided simply to show what development on the site could look like as it starts going through the the design uh phase of development with with oronoko with oronoko Township so um you're looking at one access point um and probably somewhere between 20 and 30 um Lots is what you could get on this site so just you know it shows that the applicant has put some work into into this um and they're looking to move forward again if something were to fall through on this um property after the site is rezoned the owner would be able to do anything that's allowed under the existing zoning we're looking at our locational criteria again all on your staff report I won't go into those in detail um but really it just um looking at the idea that the planning team is recommending support again we're located between or in close proximity to other Suburban subdivisions uh we think the design phases of development can protect the environmental um the environmental resources um in the area um and we're not looking at a majority of prime agricultural land again we use the clues model as the starting point um again both uh the site scored positively for both both resource protection and Suburban subdivision so we really did that just as a starting point um we'll move forward um once we did the analysis our recommendation was approval again you got your split recommendation I think this is the third time you've heard me say it I just wanted to put those two um different recommendations um on the board before you so that you can um have an opportunity to read them and and to see them I will note that in your packet you have two resolutions one is to approve the SL plan amend and one is to deny the land use plan Amendment we're only asking you to clearly to sign to sign one of those to choose one and to sign one of those today and again I've got some draft motions um for after the public hearing one both to approve and one to not deny depending on uh the decision of the court and with that I'm happy to answer any questions members other questions for Miss Sosa Madam chair I have a question um Miss Sosa I have a question question regarding um the different uh opinions regarding traffic um I read the memo from our planning department that speaks to the highways in the area percentages number of vehicles Etc and they did not feel that this would be a negative impact on traffic Transportation but yet the Planning Commission sites added traffic does the Planning Commission have access to the same data and information that our planning department uses or how did they come to a conclusion saying added traffic and it's a negative as part of denying I'm just curious how that works yeah and I I do think the majority of some of the concerns and I don't want to speak for the township because I know um there might be some of them here um some of some of the neighbors but it was built boat traffic so it was an increase in traffic on um the lake um as well as uh added added traffic on the roadway which is pretty common um you know it's pretty common for neighbors or for the general public to to think that more development means means more traffic and that's automatically that's automatically bad but based on what our roock team said and our Public Works uh Department we don't see any concerns at this time that adding 20 to 30 additional Lots um in cars on the White Bridge Road would cause major impacts to the system thank you members are there other questions from Miss Sosa commissioner senum thank you madam chair Miss Sosa just uh I I don't see any note in here and it may or may not pertain relative to whether or not this is in the 100 or 5 500e flood plane whether or not during for instance the flood that took out the oroko dam this property was affected by water do we have any history of that you know unfortunately I apologize commissioner sanum I do not I do not know that at the top of my head I do think there's some elevation change on this so these these Lots will be um will be high will be high up um I could get that information for you but I I don't know the status of the flood plane um on on this site okay and Madam chair just another one uh it's probably getting ahead of the whole approval process but uh do we have any thoughts about this being able to support uh you know a septic system uh program individual septic sister program that'll start to be looked at during the design phase okay of it and the applicant I'm sure is here and he might have an answer to this most question I um could you bring up the um concept map which is I'm not sure where it is in your slide not sure who's driving there we go there I I perhaps misinterpreted I just wanted to ask to commissioner Sim's question it appears to me that the concept map seeks to preserve Shoreline without development you know it's it's possible it it is possible I I would imagine that would be that would be the the way to go here and again with those future applications specifically to flood plane and Shoreland we will make sure that all all the all Oma counties and all of oroko townships rules and regulations are are followed I think that's showing the Disturbed naturally vegetated areas that are going to be disturbed but the like I said the applicant um and their consultant will be able to to answer more questions on what at least their intent is um intent versus getting through the development process are two different are two different things um but I'm sure they'll be able to speak to that I think I would just also call out it was a little confusing to me if these are if if Lots numbered 8 9 10 14 are intended for development or if they were intended for Shoreline preservation perhaps they could answer that question um other questions members Madam chair just to tag along uh when I look at my onx it looks like we just it looks like there's a there there's a core that you really can't see from the road that that is being farmed is is that right there do appear to be some I I believe there is some TBO land in okay in there yes thank you thank you Mr T is boat traffic on a public Lake an appropriate reason to oppose a land use uh it is it is not one that the planning team would put into our recommendation thank you other questions thank you Miss SOS I appreciate it thank you oh I just U I'm assum I'm assuming commissioner right you have no questions you are correct I have no questions thank you thank you mam chair can I just tag on what if this is in the 100 or 500e flood plane I mean are are we going to make that residential I mean is is it not a fact we should know or have some idea about does anybody I I don't know the core of engineers have they looked at this at all probably not yet I can take a look at that U maybe during the public hearing to see where we're located I will say that um Christy gross who is also was the County's flood plane U manager up until uh last Friday did look at this and did not have any concerns with allowing this to move forward for residential purposes um assuming that you know during the development process and during the design process all of those areas will be protected could we bring that map back up again I think that I think to your question okay so let me see if I understand this with the concept map that's before us the lots that are join the shore are larger it isn't clear what elevation they have but it would appear then that the township could require setbacks for for flood protection is that an assumption that is an accurate one to make yes and also when you're talking Shoreland you're also talking about there are minimum impervious surface requirements there's minimum lot sizes so there are there are different rules when you are in the flood plan and in the Shoreland there I guess additional rules is what how I should say it thank you commissioner time I'm familiar with this parcel it's 100 high is it it's 100 something feet above the bridge I'm I'm remembering having to go down to the White Bridge mhm um that this is elevated and you're going this this so I'm I'm not may maybe these little lines in here are showing us the elevations because this see the see by Lots 11 12 13 15 there are are lines that often in a map will show you sure the elevations so I I have just been informed that it's it's Zone X so it's not it's not an area of concern flood zone X zone X on the the the beam of flood plane Maps Okay M know Z next oh I'm sorry yes no that's you're you're speaking planner language sorry I tried I was trying really hard not to um there's a lot of it there's a lot of acronyms uh Zone X is an area that is an area that's not studied is it an area that's studed in deter it's outside the 500 outside the 500 year flood outside of the 500 year flood plane is Zone X yes question thank you question's been thoroughly answered I think so um other questions in that case thank you Miss Sosha we'll open up the public hearing um is there anyone who wishes to testify please come forward and introduce yourself Madam chair Commissioners my name is Logan josam from witth representing Dave derby um thank you for having us here today looking for your support for the land use plan Amendment from the resource protection to Suburban development I don't have a formal presentation all the information was in the packet but I do just want to do some a quick summary if I could um proposing 23 lot residential subdivision on beautiful Lake zumbro as we all know it's recognized that there are some environmental sensitivities on the site we've been diligently working on this since 2021 and uh when it was potential Suburban back then before before the change um just to highlight in our request we supplied a preliminary concept plan that we were looking at before identifying the the natural Disturbed area so that area that was in yellow is the area that we anticipate people will want to place a house because of the topography uh which is only 14% of the entire site we're we're intending to leave the the Red Oak and the White Oak Forest that was identified in our endangered species study that we did um and was was also um supported I guess or or reviewed by the DNR um there was a jurisdictional determination by the department of the Army Corps of Engineers that uh was the local s swcd that would um enact the Wetland Conservation act and they have a notice of decision by Bowser and the local s swcd um on that report so just please be assured that we have taken every every environmental consideration into account on the impact of Lake zumbro the Shoreland overlay uh or noo Township uh with the proposed development and just real quick I want to just highlight a few things from the staff report also because I think these are important the property is currently being tilled but only 20 acres of the 93 Acres are considered Prime the DNR Heritage survey indicated moderate biodiversity significance for the Red Oak and the white oak which I mentioned before this is an area that will have minimal impact that again that's that area that's in yellow it's 13.17 Acres or 14% of the site that's all we're anticipating to disturb the density is uh one dwelling per four acres on this development with the proposed 23 Lots there is a controlled access lot on there if if you can I don't know if you can go back to that um it's the southwest corner by the bridge and the lake so what that is the larger Lots will have their own access to the lake the controlled access in the southwest corner there along the bridge is intended to have um docks for the interior Lots or the non-repair Lots so that everybody can have access to the to the lake but if you notice there's there's quite a few Lots on the interior of this so we can actually working with DNR we can actually only have seven moing uh slip so there's only going to be seven additional docks um on the controlled access lot but again it's for the people that aren't on the lake within a mile of the site there are over 75 Suburban style subdivision Lots um Mrs Sosa had that up on on the on the map that showed you know the the residential subdivisions for special district the R1 the ra and then also lastly uh the clues model which is always the most difficult thing um you know to show support for development uh the proposed amendment scored very positive for Suburban development um rather than resource protection and the County Planning team recommends approval of the request to Suburban development one last thing I guess I just want to mention the moratorium um we fully intend to work with the township it was under it was it was disclose to us that the moratorium does not apply to land use plan amendments or zone changes it would only apply to the plotting proc process or the subdivision of land that's why we're here in front of you today thank you um Mr and Mrs shanki are you here to testify did you would you like to come forward welcome I'm Janice schi and I we live on 8813 White Bridge Road my husband and I have are here to oppose the development of the subdivision my husband has lived here for there for almost 7 76 years of his life and I've been there for 47 years the farm has been in the family since 1912 it is still an active Farm we enjoy watching all the wildlife in the area the eagles flying overhead The Fawns and the older deers running around and playing in the yard the rabbits squirrels birds and even the bear there are red and white Oaks on our land and in the area that are over a hundred years old we do not want 23 new homes next to us and how is this going to imparta not only our well but the neighbors Wells and all the other wells in the area how is there sewage going to impact not only our home but that but of the lake will or noal fire department and ambulance be able to handle the extra service that will be needed for these homes the field driveway right now that is entrance to this land is kind of on a blind spot and the traffic on the on White Bridge Road is quite heavy with a lot of semi-trucks what about our taxes are they going to go up because of this We already pay high taxes and we don't need them going up anymore we have never had problems with any of our neighbors till he bought the land we had a friend come out to hunt squirrels and the neighbor called the DNR around him saying that he was using an AR-15 our friend called us and we went out and met with the DNR and our friend he had a 22 and he was scared to death the neighbor actually had a camera pointing on our land then about a month ago he came to us and wanted to rent our land for hunting we told him flat out no that's not what we do we do not rent our land to Hunters then said last season someone was shooting an AR-15 gun on our land we said we heard it too but it was not on our land it was on his land and it was after dusk when there is should be no hunting we are an active farm and are out early mornings and late at night working the land sorry planting harvesting and spreading fertilizer are we going to be told no you can't do that you're interrupting our family time you're keeping our kids up at night that's not the way a farm works we have sons and grandchildren that will take over the farm I'm sorry it's all right where the economy is right now we may even at one time we did have Hogs and cattle on the farm and we may end up going back to it we're not not sure we this is a farm and it will always be a farm thank you thank you there any questions for is there anyone else who wishes to testify they located please come forward no you're very welcome M ranky that woman next to you was also is n and she wanted to testify do you want to say something else pardon I can't I a I'm sorry you and I have hearing losses I have to speak louder there the lady to your left she wants Miss Collins wishes to speak oh did you want to speak you're very welcome and you're welcome to any concluding remarks you want to make Mrs shanky I was all thank you very much Mrs Collins thank you Commissioners my name is Paige Collins I'm with oroko Township Planning Commission and um I hadn't plan to speak so I have no prepared remarks um I just wanted to ask your support um we put this moratorium in place because we are working on our land use plan and um and making updates to that and I recall being on the County Planning Commission as well that we had put aside some requests at that time because the county was updating their land use plan and we'd like to have you afford US that same opportunity need to do ours before we have to address these I would have preferred that the Bolter thing didn't come in advance either however in his defense he had started that before our moratorium was put in place the first time that we've seen anything on the Bolter or on the Derby thing was when he came to the Township Board asking for a letter of support um the Township Board did not support it at that time due to our moratorium um which is why the letter from them just acknowledges it doesn't support it um I know that there's a number of things regarding this that all I've been doing this long enough to know that most things can be handled through the general development plan um conditionally use process and I understand that and um know it well however we do have in fact we have a meeting tomorrow with a planner to help us we currently have a river Corridor um in place and we're looking to expand that to help figure out ways to protect the lake um there's been a number of things recently the dam being the one that was brought up earlier the dredging that was done has pretty much all filled back in already um because that dam is gone and with the public access now out of Fisherman's in there is a lot more boat traffic on the Lake and so we're looking at how to control things because we don't have like the dam and stuff um we're looking at different ways to um save the lake if we don't there's not going to be Lake in the county anymore and so because of that we're trying to get this right the first time and would prefer not to have to have pressure during from now till July to get that done um which is when our moratorium ends so I just wanted to ask you to please give us that time to get this in place and make sure we do it right to protect the lake or none of us will have a lake um I know it was mentioned that this would increase the tax base for the next time the lake is dredged there will be more people to help pay for it there won't be a next time we have residents that put 10 years on their property tax taxes to pay for the last time and so um if we want to keep a lake in our County we need to protect it and that's why we'd prefer to wait on this until we can get our our zoning District in place thank you why don't you see if why don't you wait Miss Collins see if there's questions are there questions from Members I how does how does not heaven development protect the lake well um in this particular instance the way they have it designed it's going to force runoff into a gully that already is putting a lot of um stuff into the water and so um we're looking at different ways to figure out how to minimize additional accesses what native plants should be planted on the shorelines um what to do with make sure that protecting the tops of the Bluffs and not shaving them off and causing more runoff I mean there's there's a variety of things when we have people taking ski boats down the river and the river is not even 150 ft wide and they're not supposed to be there so it's all that kind of stuff that we're looking at right now I I understand looking at I'm I'm just trying to understand the correlation between taking 22 Acres on of egg and putting it into Suburban deop the development threatens the lake at the St this isn't 22 Acres it's 90 some Acres 90 Acres 22 Acres that are farmed right so it's taking 22 Acres out of egg and putting it into Suburban I'm trying to understand the argument that that well and and we've had and this is why we're working with the planner to figure out how to protect the the tops of the Bluffs because that's where a lot of this is coming down and as you know you live out there that's all Limestone and it's not if you drive down County 12 you can see the water coming out every time it rains and and people argue that having manicured yards helps um hold the the dirt and and it does but when you start cutting off the tops of the Bluffs and redirecting that water into places that you don't expect then it can cause problems and so that's why we want to have some time to really dig into this and look at it any other questions commissioner R question Miss Collins can you speak a little bit more to your moratorium and the thoughts behind putting that in place and what the goal was in having that in place and how it affects this current parcel we um um I won't take a lot of your time we started or NOA Township started their own Planning and Zoning commission back in 2002 we put in a land use plan said you know these are our desired areas of focus we instituted a river Corridor which is a th000 feet from the high water mark to help at that time to help protect and now we're looking to kind of redefine that and we've been doing um updates on our Landes plan and our zoning ordinances our two prior priority focuses are the river Corridor and the agriculture egg line that we have left in our in our Township we started this work about the same time that the county started updating their land use plan as you know covid delayed everybody um and we started this and we kept having applications coming forward and we're like we can't focus and work on this when we have to keep dealing with this so we put a moratorium in place we got a bunch of worked on last year on the on the EG land and so we extended the moratorium the additional 12 months that we're allowed to to now focus on the river Corridor does that answer your question okay y members are there other questions m c I actually have a restatement of commissioner rosman's question I'm sorry I have a restatement of commissioner rosman's qu I'm still not understanding why why you feel this affects your moratorium because if we approve this land use change you still have all of the Authority for making the decisions about the actual layout of the plats any setbacks any other special requirements it is really then up to the your your Planning Commission to decide what this development would look like the size of it and so on you we'd get proposals so I'm that that that is true um but what happens in January when you have another one come forward or another one after that um or a couple more in January then all of a sudden are we going from 92 to 300 acres now um because we do have others that are are in the works and and so that's why we're trying desperately to get this in place before before those come well I can understand that I mean it's very clear with the growth within mad County and the the growth in oronoko and orono's capacity now to handle more population that there's probably helps increase demand but I'm not still not understanding why this failure to P why this particular parcel affects your moratorium decisions or your decision- making you're just sort of saying Help Us push this off to the Future you're asking us to do a moratorium I would that's basically yes give us some chance because like I said there are a couple others that are going to be coming forward for the same request and we'd like to have our River District in place to know if it even is feasible to do to approve a land use plan for it and we don't know where that's going to land yet that's why and did you state that you're not allowed to extend your moratorium no we can only extend it we put in place for 12 months um we have the ability to extend it for an additional 12 months which is what we just did and it it um ends in July of 2025 thank you okay are there other questions members commissioner R you have any questions thank you for asking now I've been following the conversation you have good questions I do have any of my own thank you commissioner all right thank you is there anyone else who wishes to testify please come forward and identify for the record hello hello I'm Dave Derby uh the developer and the property owner thank you guys for having us today um and boy a lot of stuff to talk about so um a couple things first uh the the schwanky they're the neighbors uh I really that was you know hard to hear that's you know pretty heartfelt from her um I just want you guys to know I come from a farming background um we're still farming um and so I understand that uh struggle between you know development and and farm Farmland um we deal with it as well so um I feel like I should just touch on a few notes there even though it's not really the intent uh of this meeting but uh I feel like I should talk about it so we did have trespassers on our property um they were given permission to hunt their property crossed on to ours Mr Mr Mr Derby I'm going to ask you to focus your comments on the decision that's before us today understanding yep I just want to let you guys know that the DNR spoke with them we chose not to prosecute okay um okay um as far as trying to remember all the comments that were said um one thing about like uh um I think as Paige had mentioned that you know taking off the top of the bluff um that we are in what's called a bluff land setback so there are setbacks that are already put in place uh for that that have been calculated um on our map that you guys saw there was a some dotted lines and some some uh Orange area on that map those are the areas that we could potentially build in uh close to the setback um that does not mean we're going to disturb all that that area um the acreage that you guys are talking about it's actually going to be a very very small portion of that so I think when they were speaking maybe 18 Acres or something there it's going to be much much less than that um people that plan on building in the woods want to be in the woods you know and uh those of you that know how we develop in the areas that we've developed we try our best to keep keep nature intact um some of the other things to do with runoff out there um I think uh Logan would probably back me up on this but every development that we've done the runoff scenario are actually less than before we get there um with Retention Ponds um mitigation uh uh for the houses things like rain Gardens can be installed to catch those things that that are not being caught now um so that is just a it's a falsity it's not going to be a reality that there's more runoff coming from this development um Wells septics all those things um those are all governed uh processes we we have to have those designed um obviously to be safe under the county standards State Standards um some other things I heard mentioned were uh road traffic um we've met with Chad Schuman at the county quite some time back and talked about where they would like an entrance located they've done their studies on that and that's been uh I don't know if it's technically approved but it's kind of have the nod from where they would they would want that to go um well I'm just kind of thinking what else we had to talk about there um you know the boat traffic uh you know I I don't know how that is technically an issue um we have several clients already that are actually have reservation agreements in wait for these lots to be available um almost all of them are already people that are on that Lake um that are already using that that Lake that's why they want to be there you know it's it's the only Lake in the county and you know we're one of those people uh we're going to keep a lot out there and hopefully build if if this all works out um yeah we just hope that you guys kind of see that um through the process um some of the scores how they what's the score the clues model or the development that that you guys just approved scored lower than we score um in in many aspects this is a better property for development the farmland and the tillable that is there is very Rocky I know I'm farming it now um it's uh it's very little land really in the Grand scope of things so we you know hope hopefully you guys can give us an approval at this time and we'll go from there thank you for your comments thank you is there anyone else who wishes to testify on this public hearing is there anyone online who's asking to testify third final call is there anyone else who wishes to testify on this land use pass land use plan Amendment I'll move to close the public hearing second I have a motion in a second to close the public hearing all those in favor signify by saying I I those oppose post same sign motion prevails I'm willing to entertain a motion I I support this I'll move this to move this forward approve this land change second I have a motion in a second to approve the land use Amendment uh requested by David Derby we'll do a roll roll call vote commissioner Wright I commissioner Mueller I commissioner senum I commissioner Ty I commissioner Rosman I commissioner cascaden votes I we have a vote of 60 the motion prevails sorry thank you all right we will move on now to our consent agenda on our consent agenda is approving the olad County Board minutes from September 17th approving the State Transportation fund agreement 10577 N4 sale of a former forfeit forfeiture property to the adjacent property owner number 74364 2. 07889 approve a gambling permit for the viola gopher count Inc and accept the children's mental health child welfare Juvenile Justice steering grant for calendar year 2025 I would move to accept the consent agenda as presented second I have a motion and a second to to approve the consent agenda all those in favor I will call on in roll call vote commissioner Wright I commissioner Mueller hi commissioner sanum commissioner Ty hi commissioner Rosman I cascaden votes I 60 motion prevails now we have some information items and I'd like to uh welcome Elizabeth Howard uh who has been waiting patiently and who I didn't recognize in the hallway but should have welcome Miss Howard City administrator from City of Pine Island your neighbors were here today yes they were Madam chair Commissioners thank you for having me I think um I was on the past few agendas and I apologize that I had to reschedule unfortunately your meetings are the same time as our City Council meetings and good Hue County board meetings so I have a little bit of juggling going on um again I'm Elizabeth Howard I've been with the city of Pine Island for about five years now so um I've had the pleasure of working with most of you in some way shape or form um we are still having me one second yeah oh there we go perfect thank you I'll try not to take up too much of your time um here I just have a general overview of Pine Island and so um our total population estimated is about just under 4,000 people so we saw um a pretty big increase with the last census um our average median age is 33.9 years of age which that's a pretty young Community um when you look we're in the middle of our comp plan right now so I have a lot of awesome numbers if you ever want to talk further about Pine Island data I have lots of it but um we are definitely growing we're a family of uh younger families and that's really shown when you look at um we're a pyramid um when it looks at our age so with that younger population comes housing um a wonderful topic I've talked to a lot of you about a housing topic um we are growing significantly in housing I'll get to that on a future slide but so total housing units we have uh about 1651 um our homeowner vacancy rate this data is 2021 so it's probably a little bit higher right now on the housing market slowed down a little bit but there was a time period when houses and Pine Island were um on the market for less than a day uh so also I'd like to point out um so our medium house median household income so we're one of the highest in good Hue County we're a little bit lower when we're compared to Olstead County with that median um that actually provides a lot of struggles which you might hear about as well because a lot of Grants funding um is based off of median incomes and so because we're at that higher income we do miss out on a lot of Grant dollars and things like that um for infrastructure projects so housing uh we've had about 90 that's actually probably closer to 95 now um of single family permits in Pine Island just since 2020 we saw a little bit of a dip last year but now that's right back up this year in 2024 uh our biggest request right now is for multif family housing so Town Homes and Apartments we really don't have a lot of apartment buildings in Pine Island uh Town Homes we've increased those subdivisions significantly and what we're finding is a lot of um retirees would like to downsize into a town home so we're trying to support that endeavor uh we've been working with a lot of developers about Town Home Development so then we can open up those single family homes as well so try to get creative with the uh housing housing shortage and then um like I said our growth rate so it's about just above 4% um since the 2020 census so um we're estimating uh about a 4.7% uh population growth as we continue on um so it's estimated by about 20 30 that we'll see uh just under 4,400 people so uh our biggest driver is probably the school district uh so it is a top rated School District in southeast Minnesota we have a lot of people who um are looking for housing just so that they can be in the pinland school district even though it is open enrollment uh the current facilities are nearing capacity and so we have a really strong relationship between the city and the school and so we're working on that um to make sure that we can continue to strengthen that and continue to support that on both sides um so I'm sure you have heard but the school district uh purchased two years ago now uh I believe about 70 Acres um in County on the South Side just for that future growth so we've had those preliminary conversations about okay when is it time to um go out for a referendum for a school um again we try to coordinate that between the school and the city at the same time so that we're cognizant on our taxpayers Parks and Recreation uh this is a hot topic for everyone uh when people move to Pine Island they want amenities um that's any small town uh large cities as well and so we're really working on expanding our trail system um we're working on trying to create a loop um that kind of connects with the D Douglas Trail as well just to utilize that asset that we have in our community and know we have new pickle ball courts that's the Hot Topic right now and um we continually get asked when you going to build more so we're constantly looking at that uh for Pine Island we're lucky in the fact that we have a lot of Park land however most of that Park land is in the flood plane and so now we're trying to um look for ways how can we expand our Park system out of the outside the flood plane um just because those are getting harder and harder as they flood more frequently to upkeep uh commercial and Industrial business growth uh we have um our industrial park in town is full it's been full for quite a while uh so about three years ago we started working on a plan how do we expand that Industrial and Commercial growth and so there is Industrial Park um on the Southeast portion of town the bio science um just off of the alaron area that most people are familiar with and so that uh does have about 20 acres that that's available for development and then the city recently purchased about 22 Acres on the north side of town that we're looking for um to develop for businesses and Commercial and then um we're also looking now um start working on a new Industrial Park Pine Island is unique in the fact that we have an Excel substation and um anybody who knows power knows that businesses are looking for large amounts of power and so because we have this substation in town um we have an advantage that most other small towns don't and so we're trying to figure out how we can utilize that and bring in more of those businesses to our area so um we've been working closely with be on Deed on that expansion and then um near the brewery the South by Southeast Brewery um there's that large chunk of Farmland uh access has just um not been the greatest there uh minda is doing a resurfacing project in 28 and we just found out last week that uh there is funding for a double a two-way Frontage Road there that will come off of County Road 11 um and will come down to the brewery and so that will open up a whole um array of development opportunities on that parcel and then um the north zose sanary Sewer District I could talk about this all day I won't um I'll try to truncate it as much as possible uh so essentially do I go back now oh there we go so essentially what this is is it's four cities plus the Prairie Island Indian Community um you can see on the map here uh we started talking in 2020 and we all had uh sanitary sewer facilities that needed replacement um Pine Island was actually in negotiations with a land owner we were about to sign a purchase agreement when these other communi said hold on like let's talk about um collaborating first and so we put pump the brakes on that and we started talking with communities um and as we got further along we decided you know we need to actually see if this is um feasible and so we started looking at the pros and cons um obviously we have issues because all of our plants are outdated and I think the oldest plant between the four communities um is was built in 1939 um I think the newest plant was built in the 1950s so it's old infrastructure um we have four discharge points right now where if we consolidate we would only have one discharge Point um really it came down to the dollars though and so we did a feasibility study each Community paid for their own feasibility study to see um is is does this actually makes sense and so overall the construction costs are the same whether we built four new plants um versus one large Plant just because we have all of the pumping and the lift stations along the way however um the real cost C in operational costs and so we would save about $500,000 per year of operation um just because of the um effectiveness of less staff less testing chemicals things like that so then uh all for communities did decide that that this makes sense for our communities to save $500,000 per year um so that entered into a whole new realm um is where I had many conversations with commissioner senum on um up at the capital and so we started uh lobbying for funding uh essentially we can't do this without the assistance from the state so we've been lobbying for this since 2022 in 2023 we were awarded $10 million uh that was unique in the fact that it was unmatched um because the cities didn't want to match any dollars if we didn't know this project was going to come to fruition and so we were awarded that $10 million for predesign work and um to uh get the site for the site acquisition and so to date we have joined um we've created The Joint Powers we um the pre-design is well underway we have a purchase agreement hopefully will be closing in the next month on the property um is just outside of zro close to their current plant um and then the three other communities would be pumping to um zumro uh this also um brings in Prairie Island Indian Community this is probably the number one question I get whenever I speak at any function is what's going on with elron and so just to refresh your memory back in 2019 the Prairie Island Indian Community purchased about um 1200 Acres just Southeast the majority of that property is within city limits of Pine Island some of it is inad County and some of is in good Hue County so we're working with a lot of different um governments to come together on this last year Prairie island did um submit uh application to the Department of the Interior um which they had the City support on that that was for just a 160 acre portion um for development on that um the city doesn't really know a whole lot more we have a good communication with them we talk with them frequently but I think they're focused on getting the application moved through the department of the Interior before we start working out um some of the planning and then on the city's budget and Levy so this year the city of Pine Island is looking at a 5.57% um prary Levy increase um which in retrospect looking at inflation things like that a growing Community isn't that bad um also as you know for a growing Community um I always compare you know our Levy to a grocery bill when you have two people your grocery bill is smaller when you have four people your grocery bill is going to be larger um I like to explain that to taxpayers that just because our Levy and our budget is going up it's not a bad thing we're a growing Community we have more streets roads to take care of um so realistically our taxes don't look to be going up um quite so much I try to play that line of keeping the levy in line with our growth um some different things we're looking at is um we did a wage study this year um St keeping staff and retaining staff is expensive insurance premiums um Public Safety I wanted to highlight on this point because um I'm sure you've heard the city had preliminary discussions with olad County Sheriff's Office um we were notified this last summer from the good Hugh County Sheriff's Office that they were going to increase their rates by about 51% um that just wasn't doable in our budget uh we would have been looking at a preliminary Levy increase of about 11 or 12% with that and so um we were looking at all of our options uh what can we do to provide the best service to our residents while maintaining um a fiscally responsible budget and so we've had lots of discussions we had lots of discussions with good Hue County Commissioners and um essentially they're now going to phase in that pricing um so it's good right now I'm not sure where we'll be at in three years once that phasing takes um is right back where we're at this year but um so we had we did have those preliminary discussions but we have entered now into a three-year contract with good Hue County um and then you know the challenges and potential Partnerships um I think all of you who have worked with me know I'm open to communication conversations how can we get something done um uh you know connectivity we're talk constantly talking about Trails how do we connect our uh cities through trail system transportation how do we get our residents from one area to another uh Pine Island is an age friendly community and so we work withad County's agef friendly community and how how can we connect our um residents who maybe don't have the transportation um housing obviously um I know we've had some preliminary conversations um with omad County about let's get some developments going let's get some of this affordable housing we're ready we have land we have the um capacity to expand uh child care and then obviously School access that's going to be a big one um we've had some discussions about County Road five how do how are we what is that access going to look like so far um the majority of our growth is taking place along County Road 5 so I would like to have those conversations now so we aren't um you know in three four five years trying to figure out what that's going to look like in the future so and then um it just comes down to what can pyland do for hestad County um I think we're we're all in this together and we're all supporting each other and um we're all growing so I tried to truncate that as much as I could in a very short period of time so I'm more than happy to answer any questions at any point though I think you provided a lot of great information what questions do members have for Miss Howard how how are relationships with New Haven Township I know at times they were difficult um they better now or yes I would say we have a very positive um relationships um again I I'm a person that I want to sit down and have a conversation so I ensure that we're talking to the townships especially as we're talking about growing I know we need um the cooperation from the townships as we I think just in the last three years we've had about five annexations and um so we're having those those conversations so I would say very positive so with the growth along County Road five how is that going to connect to main Pine Island is it going to go along that Township Road or is that going to eventually become a city road how's it so uh about 18 months ago Pine Island did take over New Haven Road and so that is a city road now it is yeah only about a third of it the city paved about the first third of it coming from the south um we've had some preliminary discussions about are we going to use that road are we going to connect um the newer development the pine Prairie development up to the gulf course um so we we've had those the problem is there's a lot of spotty annexations right now and so um while we're reviewing our comp plan we are looking at how can we connect this as a whole as um I'm assuming more land becomes annexed by the city right where's that new School site that 78 um it's just west of the current elementary school site okay so right next to the trail then um it's a little more West than that okay so um probably probably about a half mile okay or so so um and I think they purchased that two years ago on a 5-e contract for deed I don't want to speak on behalf of the school but okay other questions members Mr is it uh is it the plan of the city or actually the group of cities to proceed with an additional request this coming legislative yep that's correct commissioner so we did try last year um to to receive so essentially we're looking for 50% of the remaining cost um due to inflation that cost goes up every year I believe last year we're looking for about 47 million which would been half of the um cost to build so without a bonding Bill we did not receive any funding last year um that really doesn't put us behind our timeline because of the initial $10 million that we received and so we will be going back this year um and probably every year thereafter trying to seek um funding for that so just um to give you a peak of why the city's can't afford this so as we're looking at this and going through all of the data um without state funding we're looking at quadrupling um sewer bills and so even with the funding we're still looking at doubling sewer bills so when we're talking um the average sewer bill is about $60 for a family of four when we're talking about quadrupling that's just the sewer portion that's not even the water or the storm sewer abortion so um we really do need the um State funding to be able to progress this project was it included in last year bonding bill um that died on the last day there depends which version so um I I think last year was um bit catastrophic and so I've heard a lot of different versions of a lot of different um events what happen I do know that anyone we talk to they've heard of our project um I know a a lot of like good Hue County Commissioners they'll go to a Statewide event and oh you're from Goodhue County your um communities are the Sewer District communities and so we we've talked with enough people I think after being up at the capital the last three years that people are aware of the project we've never heard a negative thing about the project everyone is for the collaboration um I think it's it's the price tag attached to it so but your own delegation was supportive yes thank you other uh other questions Ju Just a tag on it's state of Minnesota canot I mean your project from day one I mean it was so attractive because we're we're finally bringing cities together on this common problem and uh City the state of Minnesota just cannot city after city across the state needs new Su driv we just can't afford to uh to build every city a new one and the collaborative nature here was so attractive and and we we'll continue to push get I think that will get you that will get you a long way down the bonding process I think just because you're we're finally thinking regionally MH thank you commissioner I appreciate that commiss t with your strong growth rate rate how long you expect that sewer plant to last I mean when yeah good question and so um we are calculating that um we kind of have two calculations we have the population growth calculation of how big does this plant need to be and then there's the industrial side of it as well so Pine Island has land of lakes and then zro has the Dairy Farmers of America and so that um plays a key part in it as well I'm not going to try to pretend to be an engineer um because I'll screw something up but um we've been um we overestimate essentially the growth but the plant is going to be built in such a way that it can be added on as well so the plant will be built to be a 40-year plant but it will be built at any point in time we can expand so the site that the Sanitary District is acquiring um we we ensured that we got about three times the amount of space that we needed so that we can expand at any point um that was one of pine Island's main concerns concerns is we didn't want this to inhibit any of our growth because we are growing so quickly right let just a curiosity one is is the growth tending would you project the growth I I would believe it would be I was I call it South of Highway 52 it's probably West I don't know but as opposed to north of 52 as I currently the majority of our open lots are um it would be like South West of 52 but yes the Alstead County area um so most of our subdivisions right now and our open lots are on the Alstead County side we have a few subdivisions on the good Hue County side um but yeah we're definitely probably growing more south and I think we just appeal we give that small town atmosphere but yet people can be in Rochester in less than 10 minutes so great City well thank you very much for your thank you thank you for having me I really appr done and good good to good to have a chance to really talk with you yeah and if you ever have any questions feel free to reach out thank you very much Miss Howard really appreciate it thank you um now we have an administrative Showcase from our County attorney welcome Mr OST good afternoon Commissioners I'd like to just offer up do you want to continue this to another meeting I know you've got a meeting at one o'clock I'm going to talk for about 15 minutes or so I just I know you guys have have been here for a while I'm Plug and Play I'm here whenever you want it's up to you guys I just want to throw that out there before I we'll just do a little tally here how many would like to just um how many people are hungry that's a different question yeah uh proceed no or you don't care proceed no or you don't care know eat you're not you're not offending me because I'm plugging play it appears that if you want an attentive audience you well well that's what I was worried about is I thought maybe um just in the interest of time I know you guys have had a long meeting and have dealt with some uh some significant issues and it might be better if I just come back another time when you're not quite hungry and not pressed for time and Mr T Mr gr you no problem with rescheduling okay uh commissioner I need a break I would all right come back all right thank you commissioner that's the decision that's been made so we have just two really quick reports then from um on destination Medical Center from commissioner Ty a committee report sure well I'll I'll start with that then um we had a meeting last week and for the first time in DMC we declined to support a housing project um that had reached the board usually usually if it looks like it's headed towards Troubled Water they kind of SL slow it down and correct it before it reaches the board but uh I think the board supported the project but the ask was approximately $110,000 per unit for Workforce housing and that's we we can't take that money and then not have any money at the end for for things that we really need to do down the road so we declined it we'll see whether she goes back and sharpens her penil comes out with a different uh proposal that's all I got for DMC I happen to find I think it was in the mayor's office a reprint of an article from the Twin Cities business magazine about Rochester Rising is that it it really featured the DMC and it also our Housing Coalition have you Haven seen that no I'll try and get copies for everyone I thought I I read it this weekend and was really was really well wonderful coverage so I'll look for that for us um so then we'll move to commissioner sendin about Workforce Development Inc uh I don't remember the date that we have met within the month uh as a on a board retreat uh out at the educational center uh uh south of town here uh Jenny Ritman who is the executive director I think most northworthy is that we live in this place where where Mayo so deres the economy but she has been visiting businesses across southeast Minnesota this year uh a lot of them are like on a on a zero hiring trend and that's that's a little bit worrisome from standpoint of just the the economy it again Mayo so heavily drives us but uh a lot of the smaller business are are really cautious about uh moving forward right now and perhaps it's the election perhaps it's just the times I don't know but so there is there is concern there U and uh I'll just add another thing as part of the uh uh the work force development board and there's a number of us uh there's an ambassador program and we're we're being asked to go out and spread the Good Tidings and so on and so forth about what the board does in terms of not only uh standpoint of trying to promote jobs but certainly as we have layoffs and things like that what that board does to relocate people retrain people and things like that so I would say all is well it's uh functioning very nicely Jenny Jenny by the way just does an outstanding job in my view so uh a pleasure to sit on it all right well commissioner Wright we are hoping that uh your healing process speeds up and we literally are as I said earlier wishing you well and looking forward to having you back with us in person um I'm going to close with a with a quote as I like to do this one is from Walter Jud who was a member of Congress for for many years um in the times we're in you know we're going to have a vice presidential debate tonight we're what 30 some days away from the election um and I think many of us have on mind uh you know that this is a crucial decision that our electorate will be making about local offices we've got now some controversy going on about local office uh election campaigns we've got the national campaigns going but I thought this comment from alter Jud was was really uh relevant for for today people often say that in a democracy decisions are made by the majority of the people of course that is not true decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote a very different thing I like the fact that it's both make themselves heard and vote um so everyone thank you very much we are going to consider this meeting adjourned and move on to our next committees e e e e e e e e e e e e e e