HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.07.25 Council Minutes City of Farmington
Regular Council Meeting Minutes
Monday, July 7, 2025
The City Council met in regular session on Monday, July 7, 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: David Chanski, Interim City Administrator/HR Director
Amy Schmidt, City Attorney
Deanna Kuennen, Community & Economic Development
Director
Kim Sommerland, Finance Director
Kellee Omlid, Parks & Recreation Director
Nate Siem, Police Chief
John Powell, Public Works Director
Shirley Buecksler, City Clerk
Also Present: Bill Lauer, CPA- LB Carlson
Gary Rutherford, Police Chief- Retired
4. APPROVE AGENDA
Motion was made by Councilmember Wilson and seconded by
Councilmember Bernatz to approve the agenda, as presented.
Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7,2025 Page 1 of 16
5. ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMENDATIONS
5.1 Parks and Recreation Month Proclamation
A proclamation was read by the City Council to proclaim July 2025 as Parks
and Recreation Month in Farmington.
6. CITIZENS COMMENTS / RESPONSES TO COMMENTS
City Attorney Schmidt took this opportunity to say a couple of things about
some of the legal issues that continue to come up so we can be clear and
have everybody on the same page, with the same understanding. There are
two broad categories.
First, people have commented that they feel the City Council is not listening
to them about their concerns regarding the Tract development (technology
center). The commenters have said that they want City Councilmembers to
meet with them and, most of all, they have said that they want the City
Council to do something to take some action to revise the approved
project, particularly as it relates to the planned 250-foot setback. For a few
reasons, the City Council is not in a legal position to take any such action.
First, even though I wasn't working with Farmington on a regular basis before
December of 2024, from my review of the record of all the proceedings, this
application process has been open and transparent. City Staff and City
Councilmembers met many times with residents of the City of Farmington
and of Castle Rock Township. There were many Planning Commission
meetings, City Council workshop and regular meetings, formal and informal
meetings with Staff and/or elected officials, and probably other meetings
that I'm not aware of just because I wasn't here at the time. Plus, all the
individual conversations that Councilmembers might have had with
residents and constituents. The meetings and emails between City Staff and
the representatives of the developer that I've reviewed appear to me to be
consistent with meetings and emails that would happen with any other
development in Farmington, or pretty much any other City in Minnesota that
I've worked with over the past 20 plus years.
Second, the City is not in a legal position to do anything right now, especially
about the 250-foot setback. There is no application pending in front of the
City Council right now. The project at issue for the technology park and the
Tract development-the application is complete. The rezoning and the PUD
overlay, the preliminary and final plat, the AUAR, and the Met Council
approval of the comprehensive plan amendment - all these processes are
complete. So, at this point, the City Council does not have the legal
authority to reconsider any of these decisions or to rescind or revise any of
the approvals that are complete. To do so could expose the City to further
legal claims.
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7,2025 Page 2 of 16
And on that note, third, the City Council shouldn't do anything that could
jeopardize the City's position in the two pending lawsuits against the City.
Additional meetings with residents about the application that is complete
and approved - when there is no pending action before the Council, that
would be inappropriate while litigation is pending. There have also been
some comments about the definition of Industrial and Mixed Use
Commercial Industrial (MUCI) zoning. This zoning classification is clearly
defined in the City Code at Section 10-5-15. This information is available
through the City's website, is available from the City Clerk, and ha been
discussed at many public meetings. This Code section outlines the purpose
of the MUCI zoning district as providing "for the development of larger mixed
business areas along major roadways, including services, offices, research
laboratories, and light manufacturing uses without any exterior activities, as
well as compatible commercial uses. This district is intended to be flexible to
accommodate a mix of non-residential uses and development formats."
The Code then goes on to list a variety of different uses that are permitted
by right, as well as conditional uses, accessory uses, and interim uses in this
zoning district. And a data center use is listed here as a permitted use - not
conditional, not accessory, not interim - as a permitted use, and it was
added to the CityCode as such in 2015. So 10 ears ago, this has been in
Y g
the City Code. In this legal construct, if the City receives an application for
a development for a use that is permitted, just because it's listed there as a
permitted use, and the proposed development meets those standards
within the applicable zoning, then the City Council has very little discretion
to deny that application. The definitions and lists of permitted, conditional,
accessory, and interim uses in the MUCI district in the Farmington City Code
are largely consistent with other City Codes in Minnesota. There's nothing
really unique or out of left field in your City Code.
Last, there seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding that, by allowing an
industrial use in the MUCI district, rather than putting it in an Industrial district,
that the City is somehow violating the City Code. That's just not the case.
Industrial is allowed in this zoning district, and a data center is allowed as a
permitted use under the City Code.
One other thing I'll mention is that all the information about all the processes
that the City went through, all the way back to 2022, is all available on the
City's website. There's a single page where everything is there - you don't
have to piece it all together and connect the dots. It's all right there. All you
have to do is type in the words 'data center' in the search box on the City's
home page and it will come up as the first item on the list. There are links to
agenda packets, recordings of the meetings, and all the supporting
materials.
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7,2025 Page 3 of 16
Mayor Hoyt said this brings everything full circle. We may not all get
the same message, we may get different messages from different
people, or the same person, and part of the response in making sure
there is a consistent message is making sure that we're stating things
factually and correctly as a matter of formal record. I appreciate you
taking the time to do this, and this is for the residents. Citizen
Comments are for citizen comments. You can come up here and say
anything you want - you can be vulgar; you can call me (expletive),
it doesn't matter. You have that constitutionally protected right to
come up here and say that. What we're going to do better is make
sure that, rather than the responses hitting an email a week or two
after the fact, we will have our legal counsel address items as much
as reasonably possible in real time. Whether or not that's received,
and whether or not that's believed or taken in and given credibility, is
to the recipient. But we will continue to do this as needed. Thank you.
Councilmember Bernatz stated that there is something she would like to say.
It's interesting because it's a relatively empty room this evening, but it's okay
because I truly, at this point, am speaking for myself. I'm not speaking for my
peers on Council. I'm not speaking for Staff. And I'm not speaking to any
one particular group. I'm actually more interested in speaking directly to the
residents of Farmington that have kind of been watching this unfold and
wondering what in the world is going on. Since January of 2023, 1 have had
the honor of serving this community as a City Councilmember. For the past
15 months, we have been actively working through probably one of the
most contentious issues we've faced to this point. It is what's widely known
as the Farmington Technology Park project or the data center. And,
honestly, throughout the process, I've chosen mostly to listen. I've attended
meetings, I've conducted site visits, I've engaged with other municipalities,
developers, and neighbors of existing large-scale projects. I've also been in
local meetings to hear concerns and quietly gather information that I've
needed to make the best possible decisions that I can make. And I've
stayed quiet largely not because of a lack of conviction but because the
environment was no longer productive. It had actually become
unproductive. The space for honest or respectful conversation had fully
eroded. And I'm done with that tonight. So, we're going to start with a few
things that I want to address. First is the reoccurring claim that this is a project
that's been developed in secret. It is not true that that has happened, and
I want to be crystal clear about this. I have never been asked to sign, nor
have I ever signed, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) related to this or any
other project in my role as an elected official.That's a claim that's circulated
widely - it's false. Do NDA's exist in economic development? Yes, they do.
City Staff will sometimes sign them to begin conversations with developers.
That's a standard practice in both private and public sectors but, regardless
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7, 2025 Page 4 of 16
of that fact, I was never bound to silence, nor have I withheld any
information that I was legally or ethically allowed to share. Everything that I
know I have spoken about openly and, to my knowledge, no one at the City
has ever withheld any public information, either, because of an NDA. Even
today, I am talking openly within the constraints of current litigation, but I'm
speaking openly. Another false narrative is a claim that Councilmembers are
conspiring behind closed doors, that we're somehow making decisions long
before the public is aware and that, too, is incorrect. Very often, I learn
about proposed projects in real time. I learn about them during public work
sessions, like the one that was just held for the last two hours, or when
information is brought before the Economic Development Authority, or our
boards and commissions. And while we use work sessions to explore and
understand complex proposals, there aren't secret handshakes or back
room deals that are being made. To suggest otherwise is not just inaccurate,
it's offensive to the integrity of the process and to the people that are behind
it. Most of our meetings, frankly, are held in nearly empty rooms. The
decisions being made are public, the materials are accessible, but many
residents are simply too busy living their own lives to engage deeply in the
process. And that's okay, there's no fault in that. What's not okay is the shift
in tone we're seeing now, where civil disagreement is replaced by personal
attacks. Personal attacks on Staff, on your neighbors, on your friends and,
yes, even us as Councilmembers. Somewhere that crossed the line from
civic engagement into straight harassment. Sound bites and half-truths fill
public comment, social media, and community platforms. And while I don't
have time to address all of them, I am going to highlight a few.
There are some individuals that have claimed that our City is somehow
spying on its residents. And unless I am completely misinformed, we're going
to back up to a library meeting that occurred last fall. Because community
members invited us as Councilmembers to be there. I went to that meeting.
And, at the meeting, organizers there asked everyone in attendance,
including me, to write down our email addresses to be included on the
group's distribution list. To my surprise, we fast forward a few months, and
now we're hearing concerns that, as a Councilmember, I may have
received emails from Staff that originated from that list - the one that I was
specifically asked to include myself on. Again, let me be clear. There is no
member of City Staff that has forwarded those emails to me. But I do find it
very odd to suggest that there is somehow wrongdoing by our Staff when,
just a few months ago, I was directly asked to join the same list. During the
discovery time of our process, the first several months I showed up in
driveways, I showed up in backyards, parking lots, the library, and at public
forums. Last fall, I stood in the atrium for nearly two hours listening, answering
questions, offering insight. I spoke with residents. I toured other cities. I talked
with developers and worked for meaningful improvements to the plan.
Increased buffers, expanded setbacks, better access routes. Every concern
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7, 2025 Page 5 of 16
that I could reasonably advocate for, I did. A few residents have stood right
here in Chambers and said that I am a puppet or that I'm being controlled,
that I'm blindsided by money, or even that I'm afraid of our Mayor. Some
say that it's part of some secret deal. As an elected official, I take the time
to be informed, to gather information, to talk to experts, to talk to residents,
and to make judgements and decisions based on that, even if they're
unpopular with a small but vocal group. I understand that this project has
unknowns at this time, but that's the nature of development. In many
projects, including retail, commercial, industrial, and even housing, final
tenants aren't known at the time of approval for certain steps along a
project line. This is not new. It's not deception. It's a phase of development.
Right now, the project is paused due to litigation and, until that's resolved,
we are unable to engage further. That's not negligence. It's the legal reality
that we have to work within. Repeatedly, we are asked what the benefits of
the project are. The answer, short and simple: property tax revenue. I've
never presumed that this was a project that was going to create hundreds
of long-term jobs beyond construction. But I have discussed with other
municipalities the ripple effects of how large-scale development, when
done with intention and sustainability, can spark additional commercial
interest. I'm not short-sighted to those opportunities.This parcel of land, once
developed, is expected to contribute upwards of $3 million to our local tax
base annually. To put that into perspective for people who are just listening
for the first time, we would have to add 30 additional top tier taxpayers on
par with Valmont, The Legacy Partners, or Dakota Electric,just to match that
same level of impact. That's not 30 small businesses; that's 30 of our largest
contributors. And as our city grows, our residents want and deserve the same
level of public safety and public infrastructure services that we've all
enjoyed. Making sure our tax base supports this is essential to the long-term
health of our community. A financially healthy City typically generates
about 15% of its revenue from commercial and industrial taxes. We're far
below that; we're in the single digits. Our largest commercial taxpayer
contributes under $1 .7 million annually, to roughly a $16 to $17 million dollar
budget. That doesn't sound too bad until you realize our second largest
commercial contributor pays less than $200,000 annually toward that same
budget. It's not enough to support the services you expect or the services
you deserve without putting the majority of the weight of those needs back
on our residents. Meanwhile, residential development costs more than it
contributes. You can't residentially develop your way into a healthy tax
base. The numbers aren't going to lie. On top of our operating budget, we
have roughly $67 million in capital improvements needed over the next five
years. These are not pet projects, as has been suggested. They are core
needs, and they exist on top of the operating budget. If we do nothing, we
are faced with two bad options. We either increase our taxes to
unsustainable levels, or we cut our services to unacceptable levels. Neither
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7, 2025 Page 6 of 16
option works for me. We can't rely on residents and small businesses, alone,
to resolve a deficit of this size. I wish that we could, but we need an infusion
of capital and that means larger scale development. That is what this
technology park offers. It's not a perfect solution, but it's a reasonable
solution. I've listened week after week, as correlations are presented as
cause. I've sat quietly while people talk about electricity and water
consumption, as if homes or other commercial developments don't use
water. For context, the average four-person household in Minnesota, on a
quarter acre lot with a seasonal sprinkler system, will use roughly 234,000
gallons of water every year. If that same parcel of land that we're talking
about with the data center held 150 homes, that's over 35 million gallons
annually in water consumption, just by residential users. That's not really my
point though. My point is that, when a project like this is framed as "build it,
just not here," the impact on our resources doesn't disappear. It just means
that our community receives none of the benefit. Developers have been
accused of targeting small communities because we're weak. Let's think
about it logically. Our climate is desirable in Minnesota. Our state's tax
incentives which, by the way, don't directly affect us, are desirable. Our
access to open land and existing infrastructure is desirable. No one is
coming after us. They're making sound business decisions based on a highly
desirable and heavily consumed service. The service that we all use - the
service called data. I've also been criticized for stating that I wouldn't want
this in my backyard, as if I said that to justify it being in someone else's. And
I'll repeat what I said then, tonight. "No, I would not be thrilled. And that is
not how I get to make my decisions. My responsibility is not to myself, it's not
to 100 people, it's not to 500 people, it's not even to 5,000 people. It is to all
24,000 residents of Farmington. I have to look at the big picture, and that big
picture includes urgent and real needs." I've also heard from many residents
who support the project, but they're afraid to say so publicly because of the
toxic tone of the conversation. That is not who we are as a community, and
I fully believe that we can do better. We are a Council of five individuals
and, yet, our Mayor has taken the brunt of the character assassination
aimed at our direction. I'm not going to rehash the name calling or the
insults, but I do want to revisit one key phrase that's resurfaced again and
again for a year. "If you don't like it, then move." I would encourage anyone
who has heard those words, especially in a sound bite, to go back and
watch the full meeting. It's available on our website. It's a joint session held
with the School District held on August 21, 2024. The tone of that meeting
was grounded in the reality of our current situation, our opportunities, and
our obstacles. The Mayor was offering historical context on how we got to
where we are today. Something he has consistently and openly spoken
about with regard to the City's trajectory and the weight of the decisions
that are made over time. He wasn't blaming prior Councils, and neither am
I. No one runs for office with the intention of screwing up a City. But we can
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7, 2025 Page 7 of 16
look back with clarity and see how we got here. The statement, "If you don't
like it, then move" has been misrepresented. It had nothing to do with this
specific project or any particular belief. It came from frustration that, while
the line to criticize and gossip is often very long, the line to help, to
encourage, or to get involved is often short or non-existent. Could the
phrasing have been better? Sure. But the point stands. Our decisions today
carry more weight because we're running out of time to correct course. We
need a shared vision and the willingness to make difficult choices, especially
when doing nothing is not an option. We're saving, cutting, and creatively
seeking funding for our community's needs, but we also recognize our own
potential. And we need to stop the constant negativity. That negativity
doesn't begin or end with Council decisions. It saturates our social media
feeds and our community forums. And, yes, developers see it, potential
businesses see it, and when they do, I guarantee you, it affects the decisions
they make. Just last week, someone asked about the Fourth of July events
in Farmington and the response online was, "It's Farmington, so...nope."
Now that might seem trivial in the context of the rest of what I'm saying, but
to the volunteers who just poured their hearts into planning a multi-day
community festival, that ended not even five days earlier, it's a direct slap
in the face. And it happens time...and time...and time again. Residents,
some of you are very brave behind a keyboard. But my interpretation of the
Mayor's point is that if you really think that this community is terrible, and if
you hate it that badly, and you have no intention of getting involved or
helping to improve it, then yeah, you're free to leave. No one is going to
force you to stay here. No one's going to force you to love something you
don't love. But for those of you who want to see our city thrive, it's time to
show up. I've reviewed all the documents. I've read every link and report on
the coalition site and countless others. I've attended in-person meetings.
I've had countless phone and in-person conversations. I have a good sense
of this project. We've followed public process and yet, for some, every step
I've taken to mitigate or strengthen it has been met with character attacks,
innuendo, accusations, or part of some sort of crazy conspiracy. To those
who disagree with me, I see you, I'm listening, I hear what you're saying, and
I respect your right to your opinion. But I'm also not going to continue to
allow unfounded accusations to go unchallenged. And I'm not going to be
bullied into silence or into decisions that are not in the long-term interest of
our community. This project, like every major decision, is not the end of a
conversation - it's the beginning. There are more details to work out, there
are more safeguards to implement, there are more voices to listen to, and I
remain committed to all of that when we have the ability to take the next
step. Sadly, that time is not right now. We are in a holding pattern until we
know the outcome of the current lawsuits being defended by the City. And,
ironically, the group of individuals demanding immediate action are the
some ones whose legal action actually prevents most of what we're able to
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7,2025 Page 8 of 16
do. Filing a lawsuit is well within anyone's right, but it also halts the very
progress that they now claim to want. I support this project, I support
Farmington's future, and when decisions on the project come up again, I'm
going to continue to show up. I'm going to continue to advocate for the
best possible outcomes, I'm going to serve our community with honesty and
empathy and long-range vision, and the full weight of responsibility that this
position demands, regardless of criticism. And I'm going to do it because it's
who I am and it's what I was elected to do. Thank you.
Mayor Hoyt: well said, and very much appreciated.
No citizens addressed the Council for Citizen Comments.
7. CONSENT AGENDA
7.1 Minutes of the June 16, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting
7.2 Development Contract - Dakota Meadows Preserve 1 st Addition
7.3 Development Contract - Vita Attiva at South Creek Fourth Addition
7.4 Development Contract - Vita Attiva at South Creek Fifth Addition
7.5 Payment of Claims
7.6 Police Captain Job Description
7.7 Professional Services Agreement with Abdo for Human Resources Support
7.8 Staff Recommendations and Approvals, Including the appointment(s) of:
• Indigo Brenner, Paid-on-Call Firefighter
• Ryan Gareis, Paid-on-Call Firefighter
• Brandon Tice, Paid-on-Call Firefighter
7.9 Declaring Items as Surplus and Authorizing Disposal (Parks and Recreation)
7.10 Donation of Treadmill for the Rambling River Center from David McKnight
7.11 Joint Powers Agreement with Town of Eureka for Shared Road
Maintenance Agreement
7.12 Professional Services Agreement with WSB LLC for the 2026 Street
Improvements Preliminary Design
7.13 Receive Quotes and Award a Contract for the 2025 Shade Tree Bond
Grant Planting
7.14 Receive Quotes and Award a Contract for the 2025 Summer Ash Tree and
Stump Removal
Motion was made by Councilmember Lien and seconded by Councilmember
Wilson to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented.
Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays
8. PUBLIC HEARINGS
9. AWARD OF CONTRACT
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7,2025 Page 9 of 16
10.PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
11.UNFINISHED BUSINESS
12.NEW BUSINESS
12.1 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and Related Audit Reports
Director Sommerland introduced Bill Lauer, CPA of LB Carlson, who
provided a financial overview of the City's 2024 results and responded to
questions of the City Council.
Motion was made by Councilmember Cordes and seconded by
Councilmember Bernatz to accept the audited financial statements and
independent auditor's reports for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2024.
Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays
13.CITY COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE
Councilmember Lien: I hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July.
Holly, I know that took a lot, so I appreciate you being honest and willing to
speak up. Josh, I'll say this. One of your biggest strengths is that I have never felt
afraid to speak my mind to you, even if that is contrary to your opinion. People
can say what they want about that, but you are a great person at creating a
level playing field for everyone to have their opinions heard. Even if I don't
agree with you all the time. Thank you.
Mayor Hoyt: I appreciate that very much.
Councilmember Bernatz: We haven't been here since Top the Tater Days. I
know we're going to hear more about that, hopefully, at the next meeting. But
it was a fantastic event. Kudos, kudos, kudos to the entire team of organizers
and executers and volunteers that showed up to make it absolutely
spectacular for as many individuals as wanted to come out and enjoy it. And,
somehow, the weather cooperated this year, which is just an added bonus.
Also, one of my favorite reports to get is Josh Solinger's report when he does our
municipal liquor report every month. The reason I'm bringing it up is because I
think sometimes there's this narrative around the idea that shopping locally for
municipal liquor is going to cost you more money. It's going to be this; it's going
to be that. Ultimately, at the end of the day, your investment, or your
enjoyment, in some of these things help to do a lot for our community that
couldn't otherwise be done. So, that's step one. But step two is that we're not
just sitting on that. In his most recent update, he was talking about negotiations
that he's done to reduce the price of product here locally. I love that this was
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7,2025 Page 10 of 16
part of our report, because there is intentionality still in around making it the
best possible product, the best possible investment, at the lowest possible price
point, while still doing good for your community. Kudos to Mr. Solinger and his
entire Team for, at the very least, entertaining us, and far more than that, being
dedicated to and loving their jobs every day.
Councilmember Cordes: I also want to thank the organizing committee for a
successful first annual Top the Toter Days. On Friday night, I was working at the
Rotary bar, and I had the opportunity to talk with people I met from Superior all
the way down to Albert Lea, east to west across the state, and from other
states. It was remarkable the number of people that came to Farmington. At
one point, someone made the remark that they hadn't seen this many people
downtown for Dew Days or Top the Toter Days in a decade. I had to take a
time out to go see this and walked out on the street, and it was packed with
wall-to-wall people. So, it was an incredible weekend to showcase what we've
got in Farmington, and a huge thank you to those individuals who helped
organize it, who volunteered throughout the weekend, and our community for
coming out and supporting our festival.
And, Holly, thank you for sharing those words tonight. That was courageous,
from the heart, and I know it took a lot to say that.
Councilmember Wilson: On our consent agenda, we approved a very nice
donation from David McKnight for a treadmill for the fitness facility. David is very
generous to the City and, of course, served as our City Administrator and
Councilmember. So, I just want to extend our thank you to him.
I do want to publicly congratulate Brad Mariska, our beloved Band Director, on
winning the chip and dip eating contest. It was Jeff Kerr, Brad and me. Brad
won because he was the only one that didn't break the chip. Congratulations
to Brad - I'll have to learn from him next year.
Lastly, Holly, I want to thank you for your integrity, your honesty, and truly your
commitment to serving the residents. I knew you would be an amazing
Councilmember when I first met you and the dedication that you poured into
Rambling River Days a couple years ago. And even this year with all the
amazing and incredible work that all the volunteers and camps did, there's still
people that you heard say, "I just want it to be Dew Days." And that's fine, they
can have that opinion. Top the Tater Days is such a great name but, again,
going back to you - I knew you've endured a lot over the past year, probably
more than anyone would have to just for serving. And as all of us up here know,
we serve, our Fire and Police Departments serve, and the men and women who
serve. There's a family member and kids at home and other activities that
you're taken away from to serve the community. It's not a glamorous role, and
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7,2025 Page 1 1 of 16
we don't make a lot of money doing it. But I want to thank you for having the
courage to lead with conviction. As a colleague of yours on the Council, I
appreciate you, and I value everything that you bring to the Council and to
the City. Thank you.
Interim Administrator Chanski: First, I want to thank you again for yet another
productive work session. We look forward to bringing the items we discussed for
further action here in the near future.
Chief Price isn't here with us this evening, but we have five Firefighter
candidates that began their onboarding this evening. You approved three
more as part of the consent agenda, and we're looking forward to having
hopefully three more for approval on July 21 St. Then, we will have all 1 1
beginning the Fire Academy in September, which will be the largest class that
Farmington has had in many, many years.
Also, a couple months ago, Communications Specialist Caryn Hojnicki
submitted the City for two Northern Lights Awards through the Minnesota
Association of Government Communicators, and we were informed last week
that both of those will be awarded. One is for the City's website redesign and
the other is for Josh Solinger's monthly liquor specials videos. We don't know if
there will be a bronze award, silver award, or a Northern Lights award, but we
will find out at the awards ceremony on July 30th
Director Kuennen: On August 13t" from 2-4 pm at the Farmington Library, in
conjunction with Dakota County Technical College (DCTC), we will be
providing, for free to our businesses of all sizes, a class called Al for Business. As
you recall, we have been bringing our partner organizations to the EDA to have
a discussion and really explore how we partner today, but then also look at how
we can be partnering and additional value ad that we can be providing our
business community, as well as our community at large. This is one of the first
results from one of those conversations, and we have been working with DCTC.
They will be providing the instructor and the content. We are just helping with
the location, and we will be working to notify all our businesses. I'm really
excited about this opportunity to showcase a resource that's in our backyard
and how that can help and be even more of a resource to our existing
businesses. If people or businesses are interested, please contact City Hall and
we'll make sure that they get the information to register.
Director Powell: Thank you for your action earlier this evening on the preliminary
design for the 2026 Street Improvements from Ash Street to Spruce Street. That,
together with our Willow Street project, our 2026 Reconstruction Project
planning is well underway. Additionally, if you've noticed the large excavation
near the Central Maintenance Facility, that is for footings for the salt storage.
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Greystone was on site starting footing construction today, so we're very excited
to see that moving forward.
And for the public, they may notice a large, what looks like an above ground
pool on steroids, located south of County Road 50 west of Denmark Avenue,
that is part of the Northern Natural Gas project. It stores water. They use water
to pressure test the gas main before they put it in service, and then they capture
all the water that they use and, before they discharge that water anywhere at
the end of the project, it's all tested to make sure there are no contaminants.
So, that's what that facility is for.
Director Omlid: I'd like to take this opportunity to also thank David McKnight for
the donation of the treadmill. When we moved the fitness center to City Hall
during the renovations of the senior center, we did lose one of our treadmills. It
was from 2005. It no longer works, but we definitely got our money's worth on
that. So, purchasing that treadmill was well needed, and he has such a soft
spot for the seniors. So, thank you, David, for everything you do for the Rambling
River Center and the members there.
The Rambling River Center is open. We are open for tours and programs, so stop
by. Memberships start at 50 and plus, but if you just want to stop by for a tour,
we'd be happy to show you around the new facility. It's gorgeous. We also do
rentals, so we are open for other things besides the senior center.
And the big news we found out less than two weeks ago - the City was
awarded a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources grant. We believe we
are going to get the full amount of $350,000 for the skate park. We are very
excited about that. Holly brought up the liquor store and the match. We do
have to match the same amount of $350,000 and it will come from the liquor
store community project funding. Once we get the grant executed, we will
work on getting an architect, a skateboard company, to start doing designs
and plans, and that's when we will start with the input. So, skaters,we're coming
for you, and we'll have open houses on what you want to see happen there.
We're very excited and will put it out on social media and the City's website
with the next steps.
Director Sommerland: I appreciate all the accolades about the job well done
and the City's audit, but it was a team effort. Every Staff member here directly
helped with that effort, and without their support and responsiveness, it
wouldn't have been as successful a process as it was. I appreciate everyone
here, their teams, and the Finance team.
Chief Siem: An update on our security fence project, it is currently up for bid.
The bid period closes on the 17'h. We'll review those and hope to have a
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7, 2025 Page 13 of 16
contract before you by your next meeting. Our other grant process right now is
our ICPOET cadet positions. That's a $150,000 grant for three separate positions.
We just had our first round of interviews for that third position to be filled. That
cohort starts September 8th, and we have our second round of interviews this
Friday. Our first candidate that was approved for hire graduated from
Hennepin Tech last Thursday. He is taking his POST test tomorrow and hopefully
starting with us after the next meeting.
Mayor Hoyt: Top the Tater Days - what a phenomenal event. What an
incredible week, off what I thought was an extremely successful prior year. Just
to watch the committee continue put in, and put in, and put in. The volunteers,
the businesses, all the different programming, everything. It's phenomenal to
see what that event has become. Even more so, to feature a long-time local
business as a primary sponsor naming right, and then to watch the
collaboration of some of their business partners in the space. To watch Old
Dutch and others come I and be a part of that. When you look at an event like
Dew Days and you look at it from 1979 to today and you see what it's done
size-wise and in event offerings and everything, it's hard to not look at it and
see this big event and it keeps growing. But I truly believe that the people who
sit on that committee, the businesses that have long participated, whether its
sponsorship or activity based, are looking at it like it's here and we know it go
here (higher). I think that's what's most exciting -you see the pictures of all the
people downtown and all the events they're doing...and we're just getting
started. Pan-O-Prog wasn't the event that it is today 30 years ago. Top the Tater
Days is not going to be in 25, 26, or 27 and years beyond what it is today. It's
going to continue to grow. And that's more people coming into our
community, experiencing what it is that Farmington has to offer, and deciding
if that's some place they want to live, work, or play. And every year, something
big comes out of it. I'm excited for all the progress that committee has made
and the impact to our community. We got to feature a brand new remodeled
amazing Rambling River Center at the same time. A lot of talk about it and just
continue to reinvest.
And, Holly, regarding your comments. One, I sincerely appreciate them.
Contrary to what people might believe that I somehow told you to write that
and make sure you say your things about me and us. I think that's what struck
me the most - is as elected officials, I often say the term and use the phrase,
"We know what we signed up for." You just don't know the circumstances
under which that's going to be applied. Nobody saw COVID happening.
Nobody saw civil unrest in George Floyd. When we sat as the Economic
Development Authority and we said to our Team, "go, go go; push, push, push;
put the pedal down," we didn't know what the project was going to be, but
we said, "go get it." And it was brought forward. And to Amy's point and the
legal points that have been brought up over and over again, we have to follow
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a process. We don't get to arbitrarily choose whether or not we're just going to
say, "oh, DNR, I know that's what you said we need to do, but we're going to
ignore that." We don't get to do that. The MPCA has regulations. We don't get
to just arbitrarily work outside of them. We have to follow rules, and there's a lot
of them. Projects of this size and scale take years to develop. Cast your stones,
grab your things -if you want to be upset at us, be upset at us. But we're trying
to do the best for the community as a whole. There are going to be people
who feel as if they're losers, that they are more impacted than someone else,
just like the issue before it and the one that's going to come up in six months.
We don't get to make those decisions. We don't get to stand here and say,
"well, because it's this, we're going to apply this standard, or because it's this,
we're going to do something completely different." We have to follow guard
rails, and the longer you sit in these positions in this role, your circle gets smaller,
and the people that are around you gets smaller, and they speak with you less
and less frequently because there's blowback, there's guilt by association,
there's all of those things that happen. I won't speak for my peers, but I think I
can confidently say this. I don't show up for the pay. I sure as hell don't show
up for the perceived legacy. I don't show up for the notoriety. I show up
because this is a community that I graduated from, where I grew up that gave
a poor white trailer trash kid an opportunity, that had a bunch of our local
educators that put into me when my parents couldn't, through after school
activities, through sports, through all the things they put into me. And I'll never
forget Herbie Nivala calling me out in 2018 when I was so upset at what Dew
Days had become. It's on Facebook - you can see it because all my stuff's
public. He said, "I know a group of people that's looking for volunteers," and I
raised my hand. That's how I started getting involved because I was called to
the carpet, and I wasn't going to be a bystander and just cast the stones and
tell people what they weren't doing. I wanted to be part of it, and I have been
very fortunate to sit here in one capacity or another for last six and a half, almost
seven, years now and serve this community. There are no FedEx envelopes
showing up that are packed full of cash. There are no secret agreements that
have been made. Do all the foyer requests, do all the things. At the end of the
day, the net result will be the same. You can't find what doesn't exist. This
Council, our Team, those that continue to work on bettering our community, do
so because we know it's the right thing to do, day in and day out. And we will
continue to do it. I point at that guy often (pointed to the Farmington symbol
on the wall), proud past, promising future, but we couldn't define what the
promising future was. And now I think we have a really good idea of what it
looks like, because it has started to take shape over the last four years. And we
will continue to push harder and harder and harder because we know what
the next decade of financial obligations looks like to this City. There are going
to be some losers from time to time, there are going to be some people that
feel slighted, that they weren't listened to, they weren't heard, we didn't do as
they say...it could be 75 and sunny and someone is going to argue that there's
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7, 2025 Page 15 of 16
not enough sunscreen available for sale in town. Just how it works. But I
appreciate everything that you said, and we have to provide a voice for as
many residents as possible in our community. Whether they choose to come in
here or not, whether they choose to speak up publicly or privately on social
media platforms, whether we see them at local events, we have to advocate
for everyone, even the quiet ones. And I believe that we continue to do that.
So, thank you to each of you. Thank you to our entire Team, to those that are
not present and, most importantly, to our residents and our businesses that
continue to show up and believe that Farmington is an amazing community
and will continue to be.
14.ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by Councilmember Cordes and seconded by
Councilmember Bernatz to adjourn the meeting at 8:16 pm.
Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays
Respectfully submitted,
1rl4
ey oc ler
City Clerk
Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 7,2025 Page 16 of 16