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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.21.25 Council MinutesCity of Farmington Regular Council Meeting Minutes Monday, July 21, 2025 The City Council met in regular session on Monday, July 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, Nick Lien, and Steve Wilson Members Absent: Councilmember Jake Cordes Staff Present: Also Present: 4.APPROVE AGENDA David Chanski, Interim City Administrator/HR Director Amy Schmidt, City Attorney Deanna Kuennen, Community & Economic Development Director Josh Lawrenz, Building Official Kim Sommerland, Finance Director Matt Price, Fire Chief Kellee Omlid, Parks & Recreation Director Bob Sauter, Patrol Sergeant John Powell, Public Works Director Shirley Buecksler, City Clerk Pastors Jeff & Kristie Kerr, Homestead Community Church The 2025 Farmington Ambassadors Jake Wollensak, Associate, Wold Architects and Engineers Jon Althoff, President and Chief Mission Officer, Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce Gary Rutherford, Police Chief -Retired Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Wilson to approve the agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 21. 2025 Pagel of 7 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMENDATIONS 5.1 Top the Toter Days Recap and Introduction to 2025 Farmington Ambassadors Pastors Kristie and Jeff Kerr of Homestead Community Church shared a recap of Top the Toter Days and introduced the 2025 Farmington Ambassadors. 6. CITIZENS COMMENTS / RESPONSES TO COMMENTS No citizens addressed the Council for Citizen Comments. 7. CONSENT AGENDA 7.1 Minutes of the July 7, 2025 City Council Work Session 7.2 Minutes of the July 7, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting 7.3 Resolution Declaring Surplus Property-Community Development 7.4 Second Quarter 2025 New Construction Report 7.5 Council Chambers Audio-Visual System Upgrade 7.6 Municipal Advisory Service Agreement with Northland Securities 7.7 Payment of Claims 7.8 2026-2027 Labor Agreement with AFSCME Local 3815: Clerical, Technical, and Professional Unit 7.9 2026-2027 Labor Agreement with AFSCME Local 3815: Maintenance Unit 7.10 Non-Union Paid Time Off and 2026-2027 Salary Plan and Insurance Benefits 7.11 Staff Recommendations and Approvals, including the appointments, promotions, or transfers of: Cole Roberts, Mechanic Levi Delbono, Paid-on-Call Firefighter Paul Gault, Paid-on-Call Firefighter Chandler Wilson, Paid-on-Call Firefighter Bret Bersuch, Part-Time Liquor Store Clerk Donna Parsons, Part-Time Liquor Store Clerk Alexander Goodreau, from ICPOET Cadet to Police Officer Anthony Berra, from Arena/Parks Maintenance Worker to Parks Maintenance Worker 7.12 Agreement to Construct Concrete Playground Border for Westview Acres Park 7.13 Donation from Happy Harry's Furniture to the Rambling River Center 7.14 Plans and Specifications and Authorize Advertisement for Bids for the Fire Station #1 Reroof Project 7.15 Space Utilization Agreement with Weight Watchers North American Holdings, LLC 7.16 Resolution Declaring Surplus Property-Police Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 21,2025 Page 2 of 7 Motion was made by Councilmember Lien and seconded by Councilmember Wilson to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 8.1 Public Hearing - Resolution 2025-051 Approving the Adoption of the City's Five-Year Street Reconstruction Plan and Authorizing the Issuance of Street Reconstruction Bonds Director Powell introduced Resolution 2025-051 to approve the adoption of the City's Five-Year Street Reconstruction Plan and authorize the issuance of street reconstruction bonds and answered questions for the City Council. Mayor Hoyt opened the public hearing at 7:13 pm. Seeing no one wishing to speak, Mayor Hoyt closed the public hearing at 7:14 pm. Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Wilson to adopt Resolution 2025-051 Approving the Adoption of the City's Five-Year Street Reconstruction Plan and Authorizing the Issuance of Street Reconstruction Bonds. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 9.1 Receive Bids and Award a Contract for the Police Department Security Fence Project Sgt. Sauter presented information on the bids received for the Police Department Security Fence Project, the construction schedule, and funding sources. a) Motion was made by Councilmember Wilson and seconded by Councilmember Bernatz to receive the bids for the Police Department Security Fence Project. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays b) Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Lien to award the contract to Rochon Corporation in the amount of $658,000. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 21, 2025 Page 3 of 7 c) Motion was made by Councilmember Lien and seconded by Councilmember Wilson to authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the construction contract. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays 10.PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS 11.UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12.NEW BUSINESS 12.1 Ordinance 2025-004 Establishing Cannabis and Hemp Business Regulations and Amending the 2025 Fee Schedule for Retail Registration Administrator Chanski presented an ordinance to establish cannabis and hemp business regulations and amend the 2025 fee schedule for retail registration and answered questions for the City Council. Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Lien to pass Ordinance 2025-004 Establishing Cannabis and Hemp Business Regulations and Amending the 2025 Fee Schedule for Retail Registration. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays 12.2 Repeal of Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 4-1-2, of the Farmington City Code Building Official Lawrenz presented an ordinance to repeal Chapter 1306 from the Farmington City Code and answered questions for the City Council. Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Lien to pass Ordinance 2025-005 Repealing the Adoption of Optional Provisions of the MN Building Code, Namely, Chapter 1306 (Special Fire Protection Systems) new Buildings (MN Rule 1306.0020 Subpart 3). Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays 13.CITY COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Attorney Schmidt: There was an article in the Sun Newspaper this week that included a summary of the comments that I made at the public comments section of your agenda two weeks ago. Unrelated to the comments that I made here in the meeting, there is one statement in the article that I think really Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 21,2025 Page 4 of 7 does need to be pulled out and corrected for the record. Again, not related to any of the comments that I made last time. It says, "the court approved an injunction to stop any future action regarding to the data center until the lawsuits are resolved." I want to make clear for the record that that statement is 100% inaccurate. There are no injunctions that have been issued in either of the lawsuits that the City is currently defending. I went back today when I became aware of this article, thanks to your Community Development Director, that the judge in neither of the cases has issued an order that prohibits any action related to the data center. I don't know where the confusion came in, but I believe that it could be from when the Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development filed their initial summons and complaint last November, as is standard practice, they included a proposed order for injunction. It very clearly said in the heading that it was proposed, the word proposed is in brackets. It was a proposed order, and the judge never approved nor issued that order. In the other lawsuit that was brought by the Castle Rock Township, they, too, filed a motion for injunctive relief and, in June of this year, the court actually denied that motion by the Township. So, just for the record to make clear, regardless of what the news article says, there are no injunctions that prevent the City from taking, or the parties, or the owner or owners of the parcels, or the developer. There's nothing that prohibits any action from going forward at this point. I just want to make that clear for the record. Councilmember Lien: On the consent agenda, there are a handful of Staff approvals and recommendations. I just wanted to say congratulations to our new Mechanic, our new Firefighters, our new Liquor Store Clerks, our new Police Officer, and our new/transferred Parks Maintenance Worker. Congratulations everybody and welcome. Clerk Buecksler: Coming up in just a couple of weeks, myself and other Clerks in Dakota County, along with Dakota County Elections Staff, will have the opportunity to attend several demonstrations for election tabulators to be purchased for the 2026 elections. So, the County will take feedback from Clerks for that decision. More information to come. Director Kuennen: Tonight, we had our Economic Development Authority meeting. What we have been doing over the last few months is inviting our partners in to really share their mission and talk about how we align. And tonight, we had Jon Althoff attend and give a really thorough presentation about what the Dakota County Regional Chamber, our DCR, does throughout the region but also what they do for us. This is a very wonderful partnership we have, and we're thankful for Jon's participation. And we're thankful for his support in Farmington, for Farmington, and for our businesses. So, that was a great conversation. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of duly 21,2025 Page 5 of 7 Director Powell: The City of Farmington and Dakota County are in partnership completing a corridor study of County Road 31 and County Road 74. Ash Street from Denmark over to Honeysuckle, and Denmark from Ash Street up to County Road 50. There is an Open House tomorrow evening between 4:30 and 6:30 pm in the atrium here at Farmington City Hall, where Dakota County Staff, myself, and others will be available to answer questions on the study process so far, what options are being considered, and what's been completed. I would encourage anyone interested to attend. Director Omlid: It's hard to believe, but Wednesday is already our third out of four Music in the Park concert series. This Wednesday at 7 pm, Rambling River Park, it's "Fred the Bear." Country music, Americano music, and alternative rock. Hope to see you there. If it does storm, or if weather is a question, it will be inside the Rambling River Center at 7 pm. The Rambling River Center Grand Reopening and ribbon cutting celebration will be Wednesday, August 13t", at 10 am. We hope to see everybody there. The public is invited to attend. We will be giving tours and having cake and coffee, so please stop out and attend the ribbon cutting ceremony and see the newly renovated space. Chief Price: Touching on what Councilmember Lien said, tonight you approved on the consent agenda the remainder of our Paid-on-Call. Next Monday will be the first time that all 11 will be in the same room going through the onboarding process. This is the second largest class that we've had. In 2017, we had 12, and this time we will have 11 , which is a really good thing to have. We did lose one out of the 12, an individual who is going to be moving out of the city. Therefore, we would have tied with the highest; now we're down to 11. Sgt. Sauter: One thing I forgot to add - Chief Siem put a lot of work into procuring this grant, and it's a sizable grant. I just wanted to give him credit for the work he's done on that. Mayor Hoyt: The summers are usually full of a lot of events. Before we know it, the County Fair is going to be knocking on our door. The weather's kind of all over the place. The corn's growing. It just feels like a good old-fashioned midwestern summer. So, that's always good. Jon, thank you very much for attending our EDA meeting. Again, thank you for you and your team's continued advocacy, not only across the county but also here in Farmington. I just love every time you show up and your team shows up. You definitely are out there working on behalf of our businesses, non-profits, and organizations. And don't ever question as to whether or not your team's work is impactful, because it is, and we sincerely appreciate it. Thank you. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 21, 2025 Page 6 of 7 14.ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Councilmember Bernatz and seconded by Councilmember Lien to adjourn the meeting at 7:56 pm. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 0 nays iir pectfully submitted, ley cksler City Clerk Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 21, 2025 Page 7 of 7