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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12.18.23 Council Minutes City of Farmington Regular Council Meeting Minutes Monday, December 18, 2023 The City Council met in regular session on Monday, December 18, 2023, at Farmington City Hall, 430 3rd Street, Farmington, Minnesota. 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hoyt called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Hoyt led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Mayor Joshua Hoyt Councilmembers Holly Bernatz, Nick Lien, Katie Porter, and Steve Wilson Members Absent: None Staff Present: Lynn Gorski, City Administrator Julie Flaten, Asst City Administrator/HR Director Leah Koch, City Attorney Deanna Kuennen, Community & Economic Development Director Kim Sommerland, Finance Director Kellee Omlid, Parks & Recreation Director Jim Constantineau, Deputy Chief of Police John Powell, Public Works Director Shirley Buecksler, City Clerk 4. APPROVE AGENDA Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Lien to approve the agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMENDATIONS None. 6. CITIZENS COMMENTS / RESPONSES TO COMMENTS Lindsey Dorris, 19163 Crystal Terrace, addressed the Council regarding idling trains by the North Creek neighborhood. 7. CONSENT AGENDA 7.1 Minutes of the November 20, 2023 Regular City Council meeting Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of December 18,2023 Page 1 of 7 7.2 Minutes of the December 4, 2023 Regular City Council meeting 7.3 2024 Business license renewals including: Consumption and Display: Muddy Waters Studio, 511 Elm Street 3.2 Beer Off-Sale: Speedway #4534, 18520 Pilot Knob Road Tobacco: Speedway#4534, 18520 Pilot Knob Road 7.4 Retainer Agreement with Lockridge Grindal Nauen regarding PFAS settlements 7.5 Contract between the City of Farmington and 5 Star Inspections Inc. for electrical inspections services 7.6 Denmark Housing Addition first amendment to Development Contract 7.7 Resolution R79-23 Allowing for a Second Extension for the Recording of the Final Plat Denmark Housing Addition 7.8 Liability Coverage Waiver 7.9 Payment of claims in the amount of$1,735,005.29 for the period November 29 — December 11, 2023 7.10 Financial review for the quarter ending September 30, 2023 7.11 Professional Services Agreement with Ehlers to provide long-term financial planning services 7.12 2024 Non-bargaining compensation increases and approval of Memorandums of Understanding with unions for market adjustments to wages 7.13 Employee Recognition Policy update 7.14 Paid-on-Call Firefighter wages and Fire Officer stipends 7.15 Personnel Policy update 7.16 Staff changes and recommendations including: • Appointment of Sean Majewski as Building Inspector • Promotion of Andrew Van Dorn to Police Sergeant 7.17 Resolution R80-23 Accepting a Donation of$569.90 from Happy Harry's Furniture to the Rambling River Center 7.18 Resolution R77-23 Accepting a Donation of $3,099.00 from Dakota County Heroes 7.19 Resolution R78-23 Accepting a Grant Award from the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Foundation for a Bicycle Helmet Safety Campaign 7.20 South Metro SWAT Joint Powers Agreement 7.21 Final acceptance of Public Streets and Utilities and Release of Securities — Sapphire Lake 3rd Addition 7.22 Tree City USA Recertification 7.23 Purchase of playground equipment for Rambling River Park from Webber Recreational Design, Inc. for$403,592 7.24 Minutes of the November 28, 2023 Special Work Session 7.25 Minutes of the December 4, 2023 Council Work Session Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of December 18,2023 Page 2 of 7 7.26 First amendment to the Residential Solid Waste/Recycling Services Agreement between the City of Farmington and Dick's Sanitation Motion was made by Councilmember Wilson and seconded by Councilmember Porter to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS None 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT None 10.PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS None 11.UNFINISHED BUSINESS None 12.NEW BUSINESS None 13.CITY COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE City Attorney Koch: Governor Walz appointed the Honorable Krista Marks to be chambered in Hastings. Welcome to Judge Marks in Dakota County. Councilmember Lien: Thank you to everyone who came out for Toys for Town. It does just as much for me as it does for those receiving the gifts, to see how the community comes together. This was the first time I got to do one of the family deliveries and see a family and their faces light up. My kids were there and saw the process. It was wonderful to help someone out. Thank you to Chief Rutherford, Deputy Chief Constantineau, and everyone who was there. It was a great day, and I appreciate everyone's help. I'm really excited for one of the items that was on the Consent Agenda, which is the all-inclusive playground for the Rambling River — this is a big step forward for this town. I really appreciate all the work that went into planning for it, securing funding, and seeing it come through. Councilmember Bernatz: Toys for Town is one of those opportunities we have as community members to come together and support others in the community. We talk about the 'special sauce' that is Farmington and what makes Farmington different from our Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of December 18,2023 Page 3 of 7 neighboring communities. With no disrespect to our neighboring communities, would be hard pressed to find a bigger heart than the one that our residents have and the way we come together for those in need. If you haven't ever been a part of it or if it wasn't something you knew about until now, mark your calendars for 2024 because it's an event you don't want to miss. Also on the Consent Agenda are two great things coming out of our Police Department—a bicycle helmet grant and a vest for K-9 Smoke. Great opportunities to again have the community come around things that we need. Merry Christmas, everybody. Councilmember Porter: A lot of Consent Agenda items have already been touched on, including: • The new playground, the grant award for the Bicycle Helmet Safety Campaign. Thank you to the Officers who worked to advocate for that. I know that deeply touched the community that was affected by the loss we experienced. Very much appreciate that. • There were community donations to the Rambling River Center and a few other things to check out. • Congratulations to Officer Van Dorn who will be promoted to Sergeant in early 2024, we are excited for him. • An amendment to the solid waste agreement that citizens are encouraged to look at, which reflects slight fee increases. I would like that breakdown to be looked at by those that are concerned. • Increased wages and stipends for our Firefighters. Sometimes people aren't necessarily looking at the Consent Agenda but may be watching us, so I wanted to make sure to note some of the things we approved tonight. Merry Christmas to everybody, and thank you, Lindsey, for coming to speak on behalf of your community, we appreciate it. Mayor Wilson: For a lot of families, wrapping for Toys for Town is part of their Christmas season traditions and they come out with their families. In the week leading up to it, the Chiefs may have been cautiously nervous with the big goal set, but the Dew Days Committee and Daisy & Finch are just a couple who made massive donations, along with many others who donated. Our business community, individuals, whether it is a $50 or $100 contribution, or they went shopping, there are so many different ways to contribute. Looking at the table here, every Staff leader participated in some way, from folding boxes, to wrapping, to just being there. A lot of times we associate it with the Police Department, but we also had a huge contingent of our Fire Department there. Lakeville Mayor Luke Hellier was also here to see what happens. This event is such a great opportunity. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of December 18,2023 Page 4 of 7 About the playground equipment, this is where a lot of good ideas come from our commissions, advocates, members of Council, and those that are passionate about it, with ideas for accessible playgrounds without some of the barriers that traditional playgrounds may have. It's really nice to be able to do that, and I am proud of a city that is able to identify ways to look for gaps and try to allow every citizen to participate in all of the things we have going on in the community. Merry Christmas, everyone, and have a good start to your new year. City Administrator Gorski: City Offices will be closed December 25th and 26th in observance of Christmas. And wish everyone Happy Holidays. Clerk Buecksler: Thank you to Great Oaks Academy Choir for coming out today to sing Christmas carols for Staff. The kids were great, and it was a lot of fun to have them here. Merry Christmas. Director Flaten: The appointment of Sean Majewski was approved tonight as one our Building Inspectors, so he will be joining us on the first of the year, coming from the City of Faribault. Director Powell: We are wrapping up the 2023 projects and working hard on the 2024 already, particularly the 2024 street improvements, 6th Street and Maple Street, wrapping up the feasibility and, in early January, you will see a professional services agreement for final design and bidding on that project. Director Omlid: Tomorrow is the Open Door Food Pantry pop-up event at the Rambling River Center from 3 —4:30 p.m., so we would like to see people there. Parks and Recreation has new registration and reservation software called RecTrac. It is on the homepage at farmingtommn.gov and you can register for recreation programs and also reserve facilities, including park shelters, starting January 2na Deputy Chief Constantineau: The Bike Helmet Safety Program was a community grant we received from the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Foundation, and Officer Chu who wrote the grant application. We are proud that we got the funding and are looking forward to getting more helmets on kids' heads because it was a pretty memorable tragedy, and let's try to prevent that in the future. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of December 18,2023 Page 5 of 7 I would like to echo my congratulations to Andrew Van Dorn, who will be promoted to Police Sergeant in January. It is well deserved, and he will continue to be a great asset in the supervisory role. We got the grant for a bullet proof vest for Smoke from Dakota County Heroes. Unfortunately, I see on a regular basis around the country, a K-9 Officer being shot or stabbed and giving their life for their handler. So, the Officer survives but the dog doesn't. The bond between the handler and the dog is something you cannot compare. Hopefully if they are in this situation, the vest will keep both of them good and both go home that night. Toys for Town—this was the 36th year and my 20th. It was the biggest we ever had. Last year, we broke the record with 117 families, and this year we had 146, with 450 or more kids. The number of people to show up to wrap gifts made it all the way out to the parking lot at the high school, and they stood in the rain. I was afraid we would have to turn away people for wrapping because I didn't think we had enough families for them to wrap for but, you're right, there is a family that has been coming here for 21 years. They plan their Christmas around Toys for Town. This community steps up like one I've never seen before. I talked to people about this program and their mind is blown by the amount of toys and donations, from $10 to $10,000. So, we are very fortunate and very proud of the program, and we are the facilitators. Without the community, there would be no program; we just make it happen. I would like to give a shout-out to Dani Olson from Community Development, our GIS Specialist. We thought we were high tech doing everything on a spreadsheet for the last ten years. She actually created an online sign-up where we could look at a dashboard to see how many kids and what age groups we had at any given moment. She saved me probably eight hours of work, minimum, on getting this going. We are very appreciative of the work she did, along with just about everyone else in this room, in one way or another, who did something to help with the program. Thank you, and Merry Christmas. Mayor Hoyt: We sometimes forget it's December because it's in the 40s and nice, and there are more people out either riding their bikes or walking. It gets dark about 4:45 p.m. and doesn't get light until 7 a.m. In a community that has so many paths and trails, we have to remember that, with this warmer weather, you tend to see more people out on the trails and the sidewalks, they're more active, and it's happening in hours of darkness. Just a gentle reminder for those that are out walking or biking, please wear some form of reflective clothing or a brighter color. For those that have paths that run across their driveway, take an extra second to look around,just be mindful, because if there's a foot of snow on the ground, there's not as much traffic. But with the warmer temps, you do see more people. So be more vigilant of your fellow residents. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of December 18,2023 Page 6 of 7 Special thanks to Officer Chu, who is in attendance tonight, for the grant. A great cause that came out of an unfortunate situation, but a great cause more in memory than anything. Toys for Town — I have no reservation saying that I was a 13 year old back in 1993 who was a recipient of the program. And I remember it like it was yesterday. To see the program full circle, to be involved with it to the capacity that I've been able to the last five years now, and to see how important it is to this community. Whether you donate monetarily, donate toys, donate your time, help pack food, help wrap gifts, help deliver, or whatever it is, Toys for Town exemplifies who we are as a community. It really embodies everything that we are. The numbers behind it sometimes are staggering, and I don't think the average person realizes it that, in a very short window, you deliver for 140 families, 450 kids. There are thousands of pounds of food, there are tens of thousands, if not a hundred thousand dollars' worth of gifts, and there had to have been a thousand people at the high school on Saturday. It is incredible, the magnitude of the program and the reach that it has. It's growing outside the community from contributions, and to watch it happen so seamlessly in two and a half to three hours, it's incredible to see the calm before the storm and the calm after the storm. Just know that it really does make a difference in the lives of these families and these kids every year. A huge thank you to everybody. Our residents, our businesses, anyone who was a part of the process, our team, the Student Council, the boy's junior hockey team, the girl's varsity basketball team, there are so many who are a part of this. The program is not possible without every hand that's involved, so a huge thank you, especially to our Police Department and everybody who's involved each year, but more so to the community for everything that we do for Toys for Town. Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas. 14.ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Councilmember Porter and seconded by Councilmember Bernatz to adjourn the meeting at 7:21 p.m. Motion carried: 5 ayes /0 nays. Respectfully submitted, i rley Ycksler City Clerk Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of December 18,2023 Page 7 of 7