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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.21.25 Council MinutesCity of Farmington Regular Council Meeting Minutes Monday, April 21, 2025 The City Council met in regular session on Monday, April 21, 2025, at Farmington City Hall, 430 Third Street, Farmington, Minnesota. 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hoyt called the meeting to order at 7 pm. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Hoyt led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Mayor Joshua Hoyt Councilmembers Holly Bernatz, Jake Cordes, Nick Lien, and Steve Wilson Members Absent:None Staff Present:Lynn Gorski, City Administrator David Chanski, HR Director/Assistant City Administrator Amy Schmidt, City Attorney Deanna Kuennen, Economic & Community Development Director Josh Lawrenz, Building Official Tony Wippler, Planning Manager Jared Johnson, Planning Coordinator Kim Sommerland, Finance Director Matt Price, Fire Chief Kellee Omlid, Parks & Recreation Director Gary Rutherford, Police Chief Nate Siem, Deputy Police Chief John Powell, Public Works Director Shirley Buecksler, City Clerk Also Present:John Anderson, Distinctive Land Development Steve Bona, Capstone Homes Chris Brandl, Brandal Homes Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2025 Page 1 of 9 4.APPROVE AGENDA Motion was made by Councilmember Wilson and seconded by Councilmember Cordes to approve the agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 5 ayes/ 0 nays 5.ANNOUNCEMENTS/ COMMENDATIONS 5.1 Arbor Day Proclamation Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Lien to proclaim April 25, 2025 as Arbor Day and the month of May 2025 as Arbor Month in Farmington. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays 5.2 Fair Housing Month Proclamation Motion was made by Councilmember Wilson and seconded by Councilmember Cordes to proclaim that the City of Farmington is an inclusive community committed to fair housing and promoting appropriate activities by private and public entities to provide and advocate for equal housing opportunities for all. Motion carried: 5 ayes/ 0 nays 6.CITIZENS COMMENTS / RESPONSES TO COMMENTS The following citizen(s) addressed the Council: •Jeff Schottler, 22420 Calico Ct, Farmington •Nate Ryan, 22390 Cambrian Way, Farmington 7.CONSENT AGENDA 7.1 Application for Gambling Event Permit for Farmington Area Education Foundation May 9 2025 7.2 First Quarter 2025 New Construction Report 7.3 2022 Street & Utility Improvement Final Payment and Change Order 7.4 Minutes of April 7, 2025 City Council Work Session 7.5 Minutes of April 7, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting 7.6 Payment of Claims 7.7 Receive Bids and Award a Contract for the 2025 Street Improvements 7.8 Staff Recommendations and Approvals, including the appointment(s) of: •Kelly Huntington as ICPOET Cadet; •Drew Conrad, Carson Spelman, Nathan Bartell, and Carter Hoff as Seasonal Park Maintenance employees; Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of April 21. 2025 Page 2 of 9 Conner Lavigne as Seasonal Arena Supervisor; Sadie Spolarich as Seasonal Recreation Program Assistant; Ava Raiter and Grave Simon as Skate Instructors; and The transfer of Laura Fleming from Warming House Supervisor to Recreation Program Supervisor 7.9 Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave Request for Proposal 7.10 Change Orders for the Rambling River Center Project 7.11 Professional Services Agreement with Alliant Engineering, Inc. for the 2025 Street Improvement Construction Services 7.12 Professional Services Agreement with WSB LLC for the 2026 MSA Improvements Preliminary Design 7.13 Professional Services Agreement with Wold Architects and Engineers for Topographic Survey Services- Farmington Police Security Fence Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Lien to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10.PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS 10.1 Adopt Resolution 2025-029 Approving the Preliminary Plat and Preliminary Planned Unit Development- Dakota Meadows Planning Manager Wippler presented. John Anderson of Distinctive Land Development, Steve Bona of Capstone Homes, and Chris Brandl of Brandl Homes were also available to answer questions for the Council. Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Cordes to adopt Resolution 2025-029 Approving Preliminary Plat and Preliminary Planned Unit Development Dakota Meadows. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2025 Page 3 of 9 10.2 Amendment to a Planned Unit Development for Meadowview Preserve - Lot Coverage Planning Coordinator Johnson presented. John Anderson of Distinctive Land Development, Steve Bona of Capstone Homes, and Chris Brandl of Brandl Homes were also available to answer questions for the Council. Motion was made by Councilmember Wilson and seconded by Councilmember Cordes to approve and adopt Resolution 2025-028 for an Amendment to the Meadowview Preserve PUD Agreement as it Pertains to Lot Coverage. Motion carried: 3 ayes / 2 nays - Mayor Hoyt and Councilmember Lien voted against 11.UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12.NEW BUSINESS 12.1 Repeal of Title 7, Chapter 3, of the Farmington City Code Titled Design, Installation and Maintenance of Onsite Individual Sewage Treatment Systems Building Official Lawrenz presented the ordinance amendment and answered questions for the Council. Motion was made by Councilmember Lien and seconded by Councilmember Bernatz to pass Ordinance 2025-01 Amending Title 7 of the Farmington City Code as it Relates to Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays 13.CITY COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE City Attorney Schmidt: Before we're back here again for your next meeting, we will be passing my favorite holiday, which is the first Saturday in May- Kentucky Derby Day. So Happy Kentucky Derby Day to all who celebrate. Councilmember Lien: It's warm out, so children are out in neighborhoods and on their bikes, so please be mindful and be safe. Enjoy the weather. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2025 Page 4 of 9 Councilmember Bernatz: Guys and Dolls" opens Thursday night. The free senior preview is tomorrow at 4 pm. So, if you are a senior in Farmington or one in the surrounding communities, you can experience live theater at no cost. Don't worry, we will not card. Hopefully, for those interested in exploring the arts or engaging their families with it, it's a good time to go out and see some local talent. Councilmember Cordes: To echo Holly's comments, go see the musical. There are quite a few tickets left and available. Personally, I've never been to Broadway, so take this comment with a grain of salt. But last year's performance of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" was better than Broadway. So, I'm sure "Guys and Dolls" will be better than Broadway this year. Councilmember Bernatz added that there are seven showings, plus the senior preview: This week: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 pm Sunday matinee at 3 pm Next week: Thursday and Friday at 7 pm Saturday matinee at 3 pm Councilmember Wilson: I, too, and going to the show and may go more than one time. Director Chanski: First, in addition to the various appointments you made tonight, we are actively in the hiring process for numerous seasonal and full-time positions. One of those is the front desk that I mentioned before. I did have the opportunity to make a contingent offer to a highly qualified individual today. What I really want to point out is we had 109 applications for that position, which I think is just a further testament to the City as a highly desirable organization and community. The second thing is, at your last meeting, you approved an RFP (Request for Proposals) for health insurance broker services. Those responses are due this Friday. But tonight, you also approved Staff signing off on an RFP for private carriers for Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) plans. That's something I wanted to get on your radar that we will be discussing later this summer, especially as we go into budget. This is legislation originally passed in 2023 and goes into effect January 1, 2026. That mandate is going to have a Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2025 Page 5 of 9 financial impact on the City and our employees, so we want to make sure we are fully informed of all the different options and making the best decision, again for the City and our employees. Director Kuennen: Tonight, at the EDA meeting, we had one of our partner organizations come and present to the EDA. The partner organization was Open to Business, which is a service that we are part of a contract with Dakota County and other Dakota County communities to be able to provide free of charge to our businesses - business counseling service, and services for businesses anywhere along the spectrum, from startup, ideation, all the way through businesses that have been in operation for years and just have some level of need. We are happy to bring these partners in because economic development cannot happen in a vacuum, and we leverage these relationships that we have.The reason we do that is to better our community and to make sure that we have a variety of services available for all of our businesses, as well as businesses that want to be part of this community. So, I was super excited to be able to continue to bring our partners to our EDA meetings. We will continue to do that this year and have the opportunity for the EDA to engage with these partners, to learn a little bit more about what it is that they offer, to understand that relationship that we have as your Staff that's carrying out these various different initiatives and ideas, and to really have an opportunity to have that dialogue. So, tonight, it was Open to Business. Natalie is our Business Consultant, and I think she does a fabulous job for us. And we will continue to highlight those partners because they really are instrumental in us continuing to help our businesses grow. So, I just wanted to highlight that and thank everybody for the dialogue and conversation that you had. Director Powell: A reminder to residents that we are doing our spring hydrant flushing. We expect to finish by Wednesday, with the exception of the area near the high school. We defer that until school is out on June 9th. If you notice discolored water or a different smell, we have information on the City website with recommendations on what to do if you encounter that. It's not unusual when we're doing hydrant flushing to have discoloration in the water. Director Omlid: Just a reminder that Saturday, May 3rd, is the Rambling River Center's Arts & Crafts Fair at Schmitz-Maki Arena from 9 am to 3 pm, so please come out and support the Rambling River Center. Progress on the Center continues. They're painting, windows are going to be installed starting tomorrow, they're tiling, they're flooring, so we're Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2025 Page 6 of 9 starting to see the finish line. I promise, Matt, we're going to get there soon, and we'll be back in the Center. It's really exciting, I know the seniors are ready to move back home. The estimated completion date is May 15t". Also, Saturday, May 3rd, is Pond and Park Cleanup Day. I know some groups have already cleaned and one was cleaning tonight. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the individuals, families, businesses, and organizations who have adopted our City parks. Every single one of our City parks is currently adopted, and we have a couple people who are on a waitlist to get a park, so without you, we couldn't keep our parks looking as good as they do. Thank you very much to those individuals, groups, families, etc. Chief Price: Next Monday and Tuesday, we will be interviewing for our Paid-on-Call's. I just went over the list, and we have 24. Chief Rutherford: This past Tuesday morning, we had a pretty ugly attempted homicide here in Farmington, and it's not something we see a lot of here. Obviously, it's a very safe community. It arose out of a domestic incident, and I bring it up just to point out the fantastic work by your Police and Fire personnel in quickly getting to the scene, getting the suspect in custody, securing the scene, locating the victim, and getting Fire in to start providing lifesaving aid. It was something that just brings me the most pride to know that I work with some of the greatest men and women on the face of the planet. Mayor Hoyt: I appreciate you bringing that up, Chief. I was having a conversation with someone the other day. I use the phrase, "Everything is good until it's not and everything works until it doesn't." We sometimes take for granted that the community is as safe as it is, we don't have a lot of violent crime, we don't have a lot of transient crime, we don't have a lot of the things. But there is still a certain level of readiness that must always be maintained because that call comes in and our men and women have to respond immediately. It's a stark reminder of how short life is. People have neighbors and everything seems fine and then one day there's the thing that happens and everyone is just shocked from it. That one happened 600-700 feet from my house, and I wouldn't even know it. We all too often forget the luxury we have living in a first world country and having public safety and running water and all of the things at our disposal. And when all of a sudden something changes, something bad happens, we have to flash back for a second and just remember the world that we actually live in. And that world is protected by men and women with guns, and those fires are put out with Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2025 Page 7 of 9 men and women with a lot of specialty equipment. Which is a little bit of a segway here. My State of the City was postponed. I've elected to push it back to Friday, May 23rd. We pushed it back about 30 days. Part of that is because we've been working on a pleather of stuff-we have two lawsuits that are currently in place, we have Met Council looking over some comprehensive plan amendments, we have a significant retirement and a successor that needs to be placed, and I feel there needs to be a little bit more clarity on a few of these things before I present my State of the City. But, on that note,there's a lot of financial commitments that the City has to make. We often hear, our taxes are so high, our taxes are so high." Well, at the same time, what we're really saying is we don't have enough revenue. We don't have enough of the right revenue coming from the right places to ensure that we have healthy balanced coffers to look over the decades to come. You either change that by increasing your rates and increasing your taxes, or you do it by expanding and taking on new tax capacity and new growth. And that's not always the most comfortable thing. We have been banging that drum and beating that sentiment pretty heavily since I've been in office about the need to make sure our equipment is upgraded, and our roads are maintained and replaced in proper industry standard intervals. And that hasn't happened. We've been digging ourselves out of too big of a hole. We need to make some changes. Some pretty significant changes. And part of that comes off the heels of growth. And yes, this Council, all five of us, provided clear direction to our Team to go out and execute on that mission. That is, move the needle. By any and every means possible. Bring them to us, let us talk about it, let us decide what's ultimately a good fit for this community, and then make a decision on how we're going to move forward. We got elected to take this role and make those decisions on behalf of the community as a whole. There's things that we've been silent about that we haven't commented on, and that is one hundred percent intentional. Because it doesn't matter what someone says, it will be twisted and turned and flipped around into a narrative that sounds really good inside of a small group or an echo chamber. And we've heard that yet again tonight. We have to continue to push forward. We have to make really hard decisions, because the alternative doesn't work. We are not going to talk about cutting services such as public safety, cutting our teams to the point where they can no longer deliver a minimal acceptable level of standard for performance. There are hard conversations that we've already started and more that will continue, up to and including taking some services off line. It's just part of the math equation that currently doesn't work, absent the growth that this community has begged for. And, frankly, there's not a long list of people that are standing there advocating on behalf of things like data centers. Because they've seen, and we've heard, Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2025 Page 8 of 9 the behavior on how we've been treated publicly, but we signed up for this. Every one of us raised our hand and swore an oath to defend and do the things that this community needs.And that's not always pleasant. But I don't blame anybody for not coming in here, and sending the email, calling us and telling us what they really want. We need growth. Bad. Desperately. We need growth. Because without it, there is no future. It is very bleak. So, in about 30 days, we will go through and talk a lot more about it, and there's going to be a moment of reality that hits a lot of people, and I hope they're paying attention. Because this thing has been brewing for quite some time and we finally hit that crossroads. 14.ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Councilmember Cordes and seconded by Councilmember Bernatz to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 pm. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays spectfully submitted, S 'r y R ksler City Clerk Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2025 Page 9 of 9