HomeMy WebLinkAbout06.02.25 Council Minutes City of Farmington
Regular Council Meeting Minutes
Monday, June 2, 2025
The City Council met in regular session on Monday, June 2, 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, and Nick Lien
Members Absent: Councilmember Steve Wilson
Staff Present: Lynn Gorski, City Administrator
David Chanski, HR Director/Assistant City Administrator
Amy Schmidt, City Attorney
Kim Sommerland, Finance Director
Matt Price, Fire Chief
Kellee Omlid, Parks & Recreation Director
Nate Siem, Police Chief
John Powell, Public Works Director
Caryn Hojnicki, Communications Specialist
Shirley Buecksler, City Clerk
Also Present: Gary Rutherford, Police Chief-Retired
4. APPROVE AGENDA
Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by
Councilmember Cordes to approve the agenda, as presented.
Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays
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5. ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMENDATIONS
5.1 Oath of Office for Nathanael Siem as Police Chief
Mayor Hoyt administered the Oath of Office for Police Chief Nathanael
Siem.
5.2 Dakota County Farmington Library Branch Manager Barb Svoboda will
Provide an Update Regarding the Farmington Library
Barb Svoboda of the Farmington branch of the Dakota County Library
provided an update on activities at the library for the City Council.
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 2026 Apple Valley/Lakeville/Farmington (ALF) Ambulance Budget
7.2 Application for Temporary On-Sale Liquor License for Farmington Lions
Club September 4, 2025
7.3 Application for Temporary On-Sale Liquor License for Farmington
Municipal Liquors
7.4 Appoint Assistant City Administrator David Chanski as Interim City
7.5 Cost Share Agreement Between the City of Farmington and Dakota
County for Election Hardware, Software, and Related Services
7.6 Minutes of the May 19, 2025 Special Work Session
7.7 Minutes of the May 19, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting
7.8 Payment of Claims
7.9 Staff Recommendations and Approvals, Including the appointment(s) of:
• Tyler Aase, Seasonal Recreation Program Assistant
• Bobby Cammack, Seasonal Recreation Program Assistant
• Josiah Kuennen, Seasonal Recreation Program Assistant
• Sonja Platt, Seasonal Recreation Program Assistant
• Jillian Van Dorn, Seasonal Recreation Program Assistant
7.10 Donation from Happy Harry's Furniture to the Rambling River Center
7.11 Donation from Marlene Swantek to the Rambling River Center
7.12 Donation to the Tater Trot
7.13 Donations from the Farmington VFW and Veteran's Steak Fry Committee
to the Rambling River Center
7.14 Contract for the 2025 Pavement Rejuvenation
7.15 Receive Quotes and Award a Contract for the Salt Storage Building Soil
Correction
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7.16 Request for No Parking on 51" Street
Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by
Councilmember Cordes to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented.
Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays
8. PUBLIC HEARINGS
9. AWARD OF CONTRACT
10.PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
11.UNFINISHED BUSINESS
12.NEW BUSINESS
13.CITY COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE
Councilmember Lien: If, over the weekend, you heard a lot of whistles going at
the High School and Dodge Middle School, that was the Farmington Youth
Lacrosse Association. It's called the Viking Goat Tournament with four age
brackets, 81J through 141J, boys and girls on both sides, so ten total tournament
brackets. Farmington won five of them. Best turnout in years for the Farmington
team, so congratulations to all those teams.
Councilmember Bernatz: School gets out this week, which means lots of
additional humans all over the place again. Many of them are going to be
gallivanting through trails, and across parks, and doing all that crazy stuff. So, if
you are out and about and in a vehicle or other modes of transportation, just
be mindful of the little ones, and the bigger ones, that are enjoying their summer
so we can stay incident free through the summer and keep everybody safe.
Councilmember Cordes: Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary, and I know my
wife is watching at home. So, happy anniversary, Bridget.
Director Chanski: If Chief Siem were still here, I would say congratulations to
Nate. It's been good to work with him as Deputy Chief for the last three months,
and I'm looking forward to working with him for many years as Chief.
To the Council, I do want to say thank you for putting your confidence in me to
serve as your Interim City Administrator following Lynn's departure on July 1 st_
Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do even without Lynn, but I know I have
a great Team here. I know, together, we are going to keep the needle moving
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here in Farmington, and I look forward to seeing what decisions you make on
a permanent Administrator.
Director Powell: I, also, look forward to working with Chief Siem. We were
blessed to have Chief Rutherford here, and I think this is a continuation. They
won't be the same, but I think we're getting another fantastic Chief.
We had our pre-construction neighborhood meeting for the 2025 Street
Improvements about a week or week and a half ago. We had 23 residents
attend. Fantastic questions. At those pre-construction meetings, we have the
contractor, their foreman, and the inspector there so residents can meet them
before things start happening on site. The trees have been taken out, but they
start construction in earnest- June 23rd is their expected start date with that.
Union Pacific has finalized their schedule for doing work at the crossings on Ash
Street and Elm Street. They project that they will be working on Ash Street
starting this Thursday with some pavement removal and those crossings will be
closed during the weekend. So, Ash Street this coming weekend and then Elm
Street the following weekend. This has been a moving target from a schedule
standpoint but if I get new information, I will be sure to pass that along and get
it on the website.
Director Omlid: We've talked over the years that we live in a very, very
generous and giving community. On the consent agenda this evening, you
approved four donation resolutions -three of the, alone, to the Rambling River
Center. One from Happy Harry's, Farmington VFW, the Veteran's Steak Fry, and
Marlene Swantek. Thank you to all those people for their generous donations to
our Senior Center. And the TC Running Company out of Burnsville for their gift
cards to the Toter Trot.
Speaking of the Toter Trot, you too, can get this t-shirt designed by our own
Recreation Supervisor, Emilee Shearer. All you have to do is register for the Trot.
It is Saturday, June 28th, right here at City Hall. We will be taking race day
registration.
Since Barb did a shameless plug for Miss Amy, I will do a shameless plug for our
Fire Chief Price. He is also a contestant in Kiss the Pig, and I have definitely heard
that he wants to kiss the pig. So, I don't know, Barb. It might be one or the other,
but we'll find out who kisses the pig at 4 pm on Saturday, June 28th, under the
main stage.
This Saturday- Helmet Heroes, a collaboration between the Police Department
and Parks & Recreation, from 9- 11 am at Farmington Lutheran Church parking
lot. As of this afternoon, we have 54 kids registered. So, 54 kids in our community
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of June 2, 2025 Page 4 of 5
will be fitted and receive new bike helmets. There is a shelf life on bike helmets,
so we're happy to put helmets on their heads. If anybody wants to do a short
ride afterwards, I'd be happy to have someone trail behind me.
Rambling River Center - we are having a meeting on Wednesday. We're
hoping for a punch list on Friday. We are getting very, very close to completion
of that project, which we're definitely looking forward to.
I also want to congratulate Chief Siem. Looking forward to continuing to work
with him - he's going to do awesome.
Chief Price: I got nothing, except I really don't want to kiss the pig. Mayor: You
don't want to kiss the pig, but you'll do whatever you have to do to make sure
that the fundraising is successful, right? Chief Price agreed, and Mayor Hoyt
said you just issued the challenge to everyone else, and it sounds like Chief Price
wants to kiss the pig.
Mayor Hoyt: Thank you to everyone that attended on Friday to the State of the
City. A lot of information was shared there.
Friday is graduation and a huge event. If I recall correctly, this is the largest class
of the next eight or nine because of declining birth rates and whatever.
Weather is kind of on the edge right now as to whether it's going to be inside
or out, but early congratulations to all this year's graduates at Farmington Area
High School. Summer is almost here - it's right around the corner. School is going
to be out, people are going to be active moving amongst the community, so
be attentive, pay special attention to the crosswalks, and those that are out on
their bikes and utilizing the trails through the park.
14.ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by
Councilmember Lien to adjourn the meeting at 7:51 pm.
Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays
ispectfully submitted,
S ey R u cksler ft
City Clerk
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