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Council Meeting Minutes for May 15, 2023 <br />Page 6 of 7 <br />Resident Kayte Barton – Transportation for People with Disabilities and Seniors <br />Resident Kayte Barton had contacted City staff requesting to speak to Council regarding <br />equitable transportation services in Hugo. She explained she was high function autistic and <br />wanted to help create transportation for people with disabilities and seniors like she did in <br />Woodbury. She talked about having issues being a part of a Special Olympics team and getting <br />to church because of the lack of transportation. She provided reasons transportation was <br />important to people with disabilities and seniors and statistics on the population with disabilities. <br />She talked about Transit Link, which doesn’t have a schedule, and Metro Mobility that would <br />involve a transit tax. New Trax picks her up on Wednesdays. This is a free service that runs off <br />grants from the state. <br />Council discussed those options with each having their limitations. City Administrator Bryan <br />Bear explained that New Trax is funded through state resources as well as cities and senior <br />facilities. They had a route in Forest Lake and White Bear Lake, and do a circular with senior <br />citizens in those towns. The City of Hugo does not have enough of those types of facilities to <br />make a route feasible. The City has had good conversations with them, and they have made <br />special accommodations for Kayte. Transit Link is a service that links to other transit services. <br />Metro Mobility has service areas set by the legislature, and he believed all cities in that area were <br />part of the Metro Transit Taxing District. That taxing district tax could create approximately <br />$300,000 City wide, and there was a lot that could be done with that money. It was also possible <br />to be in the taxing district and not have Metro Mobility in the area. He pointed out that many of <br />the Metro Transit Park and Rides were underutilized. <br />Council thanked Katye for bringing this forward. They talked about the need to start looking at <br />options as the City grows saying it would be a good time for staff to talk to the new Met Council <br />representative regarding transportation. It was generally agreed that joining the taxing district <br />would not be beneficial. <br />Bear reminded Council of the Highway 61 visioning plan that Kayte has been participating in. A <br />portion of that vision was transit. <br />Weidt made motion, Miron seconded, to direct staff to continue to work with the City’s <br />Metropolitan Council representative to look at transportation options to come up with solutions <br />for transportation issues. <br />All Ayes. Motion carried. <br />Approve Change in June Council Meetings to One Meeting on Monday, June 12, 2023 <br />Approve Change in City Administrator’s Performance Review to Monday, June 12, 2023 <br />Approve Closing City Hall on Monday, July 3, 2023 <br />Approve Change in July Council Meetings to Monday, July 10 and Monday, July 24, 2023 <br />City Administrator Bryan Bear explained the MN State Legislators declared June 19 as a State <br />holiday, Juneteenth. The seconded meeting of the Council in June fell on that date. In <br />anticipation of it being a state holiday beginning this June, he recommended Council reschedule <br />the meetings in June to one meeting on June 12.