HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.30.25 Special Work Session Minutes City of Farmington
City Council Special Work Session Minutes
Thursday, January 30, 2025
The City Council met in a special work session with the Castle Rock Township
Board on Thursday, January 30, 2025, at Farmington City Hall, 430 Third Street,
Farmington, Minnesota.
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Hoyt called the meeting to order for the Farmington City Council,
and Chair Schaffer called the meeting to start for Castle Rock Township at
4 pm.
Members Present: Mayor Joshua Hoyt
Councilmembers Holly Bernatz, Jake Cordes,
Nick Lien, and Steve Wilson
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Lynn Gorski, City Administrator
Amy Schmidt, City Attorney
Justin Templin, Attorney
Gary Rutherford, Police Chief
Shirley Buecksler, City Clerk
Present for Castle Rock Township:
Pete Schaffer, Chairman
BJ Elvestad, Supervisor
Jerry Larson, Supervisor
David Nicolai, Supervisor
Heather Mavencamp, Supervisor
Kelly Elvestad, Deputy Clerk
Andrew Tiede, Attorney
2. APPROVE AGENDA
Motion was made by Councilmember Wilson and seconded by
Councilmember Bernatz to approve the agenda as presented.
3. DISCUSSION ITEMS
3.1 Orderly Annexation Agreement
Mayor Hoyt stated that the City agreed to meet with the Township as
required by paragraph 10.1 (a) of the Orderly Annexation Agreement, in
which it was prepared to try to resolve the dispute through negotiations.
Special Work Session Minutes of January 30, 2025 Page 1 of 3
However, on January 20, 2025, after this meeting had been scheduled
but before it could occur, the Township sued the City, making legal
claims under the Orderly Annexation Agreement. The City denies those
claims, and, on the advice of its Counsel, the City cannot now risk
compromising its legal position in the Township's lawsuit by discussing the
substance of this matter in a public meeting. If the Township has a
proposal or a statement to resolve the dispute, the City will take it under
advisement.
Attorney Tiede: We are here to ask for a proposal in order to settle this
suit. Moving forward on this claim, the central issues have been outlined
and we sent correspondence detailing the main concerns here, which
cover, again, the aesthetic impacts, the inconsistent use with the
surrounding neighborhood, the noise, the water usage, among others.
And, as such, we are here to talk about if there will be any kind of
proposal the City would be willing to advance in order to settle this
dispute. We don't have an initial claim or an initial request here.
Candidly, there is some disagreement as to whether there even is a term
in which the Board would be willing to accept. As such, I am hoping that
we can open the floor to a discussion between the two municipal
bodies and work out acceptable terms. But we don't have a hard and
fast position that would be acceptable to the Town Board at this time.
Mayor Hoyt: Is there anything else that the Supervisors or the
representation would like to add?
Supervisor Nicolai: In October, we told you we were going to do this, or
were seriously considering it, and said we wanted to meet. It's gotten
nowhere for us. Three of us are self-employed, and one of us reminds us
at every meeting they're retired. We weren't asked to bring an
agreement and expect you all to sign it, but we've gotten nowhere. I
don't know if you're aware of this, but our attorney tries to contact or
communicate with your attorney, but he gets absolutely nowhere.
Meanwhile, our public are all reasonable people but because we don't
have any answers for them, Josh, they became unreasonable. And I
know you guys get rooms of 500 people. We have a room full of 100.
Percentage-based, a lot more people were in our building super upset.
And the fact is we've had to gather with them on our own. So, I don't
know what we can accomplish from here. I don't know if you've heard,
but I'm not rerunning. The next meeting is my last meeting. I think it's a
tough road for all from here.
Mayor Hoyt: Is there anything else to add? No.
Special Work Session Minutes of January 30, 2025 Page 2 of 3
Mayor Hoyt: Is there anything from our legal? No.
Mayor Hoyt called for a motion to adjourn the meeting.
4. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by Councilmember Lien and seconded by
Councilmember Cordes to adjourn the meeting at 4:04 pm.
Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays
Respectfully submitted,
Shame R B JMe Or
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City Clerk
Special Work Session Minutes of January 30,2025 Page 3 of 3