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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.17.25 Council Minutes City of Farmington Regular Council Meeting Minutes Monday, November 17, 2025 The City Council met in regular session on Monday, November 17, 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, Asst. City Administrator/HR Director Amy Schmidt, City Attorney Deanna Kuennen, Economic & Community Dev. Director Tony Wippler, Planning Manager Matt Price, Fire Chief Kellee Omlid, Parks & Recreation Director Nate Siem, Police Chief John Powell, Public Works Director Shirley Buecksler, City Clerk Also Present: Gary Rutherford, Police Chief-Retired 4. APPROVE AGENDA Motion was made by Councilmember Cordes and seconded by Councilmember Bernatz to approve the agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMENDATIONS 6. CITIZENS COMMENTS / RESPONSES TO COMMENTS • Nancy Aarestad, 22165 Beaumont Ave, Castle Rock Township Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of November 17, 2025 Page 1 of 6 • Jeff Schottler, 22420 Calico Ct, Farmington • Nate Ryan, 22390 Cambrian Way, Farmington • Bob Richardson, 35 Elm St, Farmington 7. CONSENT AGENDA 7.1 Minutes of the October 20, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting 7.2 Minutes of the November 3, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting 7.3 Resolution Designating Precincts and Polling Locations for 2026 7.4 Temporary On-Sale Liquor License for Faribault Commandery No. 8, Knights Templar, for December 12, 2025 7.5 Payment of Claims 7.6 Staff Approvals and Recommendations: • Bobby Cammack as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Mason Eby as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Ava Goodrich as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Dylan Kaiser as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Lauren Lansing as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Debra Lyons as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Grace Simon as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Josilyn Tooley as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Maya Tracey as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Jillian Van Dorn as Seasonal Warming House Attendant • Lauren Flemming as Seasonal Warming House Supervisor 7.7 Donation from Michelle Bade to the Rambling River Center 7.8 Donation from Nancy Bohn to the Rambling River Center Motion was made by Councilmember Lien and seconded by Councilmember Bernatz to approve the Consent Agenda, as presented. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 8.1 Resolution 2025-078 Vacating a Drainage and Utility Easement Within the Parkview Ponds Plat Mayor Hoyt opened the public hearing at 7:29 pm. Planning Manager Wippler presented a request for the vacation of a drainage and utility easement from an Outlot within the Parkview Ponds development. Seeing no one wishing to speak, Mayor Hoyt closed the public hearing at 7:31 pm. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of November 17, 2025 Page 2 of 6 Motion was made by Councilmember Lien and seconded by Councilmember Cordes to adopt Resolution 2025-078 Vacating a Drainage and Utility Easement Within the Parkview Ponds Plat. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 1 nay - Councilmember Wilson voted against. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10.PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS 10.1 Resolution 2025-081 Approving and Authorizing the Signing of Final Plat Parkview Ponds Second Addition Planning Manager Wippler presented the Parkview Ponds Second Addition Final Plat for approval. Motion was made by Councilmember Cordes and seconded by Councilmember Bernatz to adopt Resolution 2025-081 Approving and Authorizing the Signing of Final Plat Parkview Ponds Second Addition, contingent upon the vacation of the vacation of the blanket drainage and utility easement on the property legally described as Outlot H, Parkview Ponds. Motion carried: 4 ayes / 1 nay - Councilmember Wilson voted against. 11.UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12.NEW BUSINESS 13.CITY COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE City Attorney Schmidt responded to some of the public comments made earlier for clarification. Permitted uses and conditional uses in the MUCI district, it's an overstatement to say that, by including all of those different uses, the Council who adopted the ordinance was saying that those are comparable uses. A daycare is not the same as a data center and is not the same as a restaurant. It is simply a list of all of the things that could go there. When the Code was adopted and data center was added, it was simply the choice of the Council at that time and that was an appropriate choice to make. Regarding comments on spot zoning, this is an issue that was already addressed by my colleague who worked with Farmington when all of this process was going through. If the Council wants more information about why this is not spot zoning, and all of that legal analysis, I am happy to provide that again to the Council. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of November 17,2025 Page 3 of 6 There was also a point made about legal fees, having to issue bonds, and increasing taxes. The City has insurance through the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust. After the City's deductible, it covers the legal costs as part of the insurance policy the City pays for. I have no expectation that there would be any reason why bonds issued would be issued to pay for legal fees. There were a couple of comments about "don't blight on us." This does not meet the legal definition of blight. I am happy to provide more information about that if the Council is interested in knowing the legal definition of blight in terms of how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines it and other different uses of that phrase, or of that word or concept. Councilmember Bernatz extended her heartfelt congratulations to the Farmington High School Concert Choir for a magnificent performance at the 2025 ACDA-Minnesota State Conference. The Farmington choir program, under the direction of Jaclyn Schmeichel and Megan Dimich, was selected last year to perform this year. We had fantastic representation from the Fire Department and the Police Department. To acknowledge what this means to those students and, whether or not you can tell on the faces of 17 and 18-year- olds how excited they were, they were crazy excited. They had a magnificent performance probably, in my opinion, one of the best choral experiences that I've actually ever been witness to - put on by kids from our district. So, congratulations to them. Also, Peter and the Starcatcher opens this weekend, November 21 St, 22nd, and 23rd. It is a great family experience for those that are interested in exposing their kids to the arts. It's at Boeckman Middle School Auditorium, also put on by Farmington High School Theater, and a fantastic way to support your students in the arts in Farmington. Councilmember Cordes wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hopes everyone enjoys their time with their family over the next couple weeks. Councilmember Wilson thanked the Fire Department for an awesome Turkey Bingo. For the first time ever, I won a turkey, which I'm going to make on Thanksgiving. On our Consent Agenda, we have 10 returning high school age warming house attendants. We hope the weather gets cold quickly and stays cold, so we have a lot of good quality ice time. It's awesome to see those who have been rehired. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of November 17,2025 Page 4 of 6 Councilmember Wilson also congratulated the Farmington High School Girls Cross Country Team for making it to State for many years in a row now. Congratulations, also, to the young men who also made it to State. City Administrator Gorski said the City has been very busy on some big projects. One of these projects is the continued work on the 2026 budget. We will have the public hearing at the December 1 st City Council Meeting. Also, we are transitioning to a new finance and payroll system. And City Hall will be closed on November 27th and 281h in observance of Thanksgiving. City Clerk Buecksler said she is happy to be back. Director Kuennen said the EDA met tonight and had special guests in attendance to talk about Expo 2031 . Thank you to everyone for participating in that conversation. I'm excited to see where the next conversation will lead us. More to come. Director Powell said that hydrant flushing is complete, so we're trying to get some more sweeping done before the weather really turns cold. And thanks to your support of our construction specification update in the right-of-way management section of the City Code, we are implementing winter season requirements at the end of this week. For safety reasons, no more work in the right-of-way once winter season goes into effect, aside from emergency work. Director Omlid said today is the last day to register your house for the Lighted Holiday Tour. Register at www.FarmingtonMN.gov. And as you're aware, the City received a grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for the construction of a skate park. Our first Design Workshop is Monday, December 8th, 6 - 8 pm at the Rambling River Center. Information is on the home page of the City's website, which also includes a design survey. Please take the survey, come to the open house, and spread the word. We're looking for skateboarders, people who ride bikes, rollerbladers, and scooters. Come visit with Spohn Ranch with your ideas for the Farmington Skate Park. Fire Chief Price said we held our 74th Annual Turkey Bingo on November 8th. It was packed for quite a while and a great evening. Thanks for coming out and supporting the Department. Police Chief Siem said I wasn't at the Council meeting two weeks ago but heard that there were a lot of nice comments about Officer Pete Zajac after his death by suicide, and I want to thank you all for those kind words and also recognize how impactful all of your support has been for us over the last three weeks, three weeks today. It is a terrible thing that we are all going through. But the support from everyone in this room has made it just the tiniest bit easier for Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of November 17, 2025 Page 5 of 6 us. I also want to mention the incredible support that we received from this entire community. The people that came out and showed their love for Pete and shared stories about his impact on them personally, from contacts in the community, or at the school, are things that our Officers and Staff are going to carry with them for the rest of their lives, and I couldn't thank you enough for that. Chief Siem also mentioned that Toys for Town is well underway. We have our donation sites equipped with bags and ask that everybody give as much as they can. It's a big need again this year, so please visit those sites. Also, patronize those stores and make sure you're spending money where you're donating the toys, as well, because we appreciate those businesses that are hosting these sites for us. On a personnel front, Chief Siem said we have three Officers in field training right now. Two of them are expected to graduate next week and will be on solo patrol, so that's exciting for us to have two new Officers on the road. Councilmember Lien mentioned that I will be having surgery this Friday to work on my airway. In the unlikely event that I get a butcher for a surgeon, I just wanted my last words up here to say that I appreciate all of you. 14.ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Councilmember Lien and seconded by Councilmember Bernatz to adjourn the meeting at 7:57 pm. Motion carried: 5 ayes / 0 nays R spectfully submitted, SJ y"Rksler City Clerk Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of November 17,2025 Page 6 of 6