[0:00] Speaker Unknown: e [0:55] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to call this meeting to order. I'm Michelle Volk, I'm just the acting mayor right now. Our mayor is on his way in, so he'll be taking over, but in the meantime, we'll get going with the meeting. It is 6:00 on February 18th, and so I would like to call this meeting to order and ask you if you could please join us in a moment of silence and a Pledge of Allegiance, please. [1:47] Audience: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [2:07] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Thank you. And now we'll have a roll call, please. [2:07] Councilmember John Bermel: Here. [2:07] Councilmember Dan Wolter: Here. [2:07] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Here. [2:07] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Here. The next item on our agenda is citizen comments, and usually, this is typically comments that are for things that are not on our agenda. I can see from our crowd here that a lot of you probably are here for the North Creek item on our agenda, and when we get to that, we'll be grateful to take your comments at that point. But if any of you can't stay for probably about 20–25 minutes until we get to the North Creek item— [2:53] Councilmember Michelle Volk: You're welcome to offer your comments now, and we would limit them to 3 minutes and ask you if you could please give your name and address for the record. If there's anybody here that would like to comment on something that's not on the agenda, now would be the time to do so. [3:17] Councilmember Michelle Volk: All right. Do we have anybody online? Okay. And do we have any additional agenda information? [3:17] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: No, Acting Mayor, thank you. [3:17] Councilmember Michelle Volk: All right, then we will start with our first presentation: the Minnesota Energy and the Friends of the Lakeville Arts Center. Our Parks & Recreation Director, Joe Masiarchin, will start us off. Thank you and welcome. [4:11] Parks & Recreation Director Joe Masiarchin: Thank you, Acting Mayor, Council. Excited to be here this evening. We'll actually be doing a check presentation this evening, and I'll be welcoming up here the board president for the Friends of the Lakeville Area Arts Center. So, we'll welcome up Mr. Bob Erickson. [4:11] Bob Erickson: Good evening, members of the City Council and the City Administrator. It's my pleasure to be here tonight, and I appreciate the opportunity to recognize the Lakeville Arts Center, the success of the center, and this evening, recognizing a process that we've been pursuing for several years in establishing a gas kiln at the new Fine Arts Building. The gas kiln would be the first of its kind in Dakota County of any public art center, and we're looking forward to that. We have a presentation of the check this evening from Minnesota Energy Resources, and to lead that off will be the Vice President of the Friends, Jeff Larson. [5:11] Jeff Larson: Thank you, Bob. Good evening, everybody. It's quite an honor to present the presenter of the check. She's Nicole McCarthy from Minnesota Energy Resources. She's agreed, through their Foundation, to contribute $10,000 to the cost of the kiln. It's a pretty good thing for us; it's something that our large community of potters that's at the Art Center has been requesting for a long time. It turns out that because of this generous donation, we're going to have the only gas kiln in Dakota County, so we're really appreciative of this. Nicole, would you like to come up and say a few words? [6:02] Nicole McCarthy: Hi, Jeff. You did a really good job at introducing me and Minnesota Energy. I'm Nicole McCarthy, External Relations for Minnesota Energy Resources, and we are really, really proud to be a part of the Lakeville Area Arts Center and to provide this donation. We're looking forward to seeing great things come from the potters. So, thanks for the opportunity. [6:02] Jeff Larson: Thank you. Um, how are you going to present the check? You're going to do it right here? I don't know, did you want to do a picture with it? Sure, we can do that, but you could show them right now for the cameras that we have here. [6:48] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Nice. Thank you. Minnesota Energy Resources has been very—made a lot of contributions to the City of Lakeville, so this is longstanding. Thank you very much. [7:12] Councilmember Michelle Volk: So, and next we'll go on to Michelle—oh, Bob, I apologize, I didn't realize we weren't done. I am sorry. [7:24] Bob Erickson: We just like to take this opportunity first and foremost to express our grateful appreciation to members of the City Council. A year ago, an opportunity presented itself for the city to acquire and make an investment in the Arts community in purchasing the former Lakeville Education Center; prior to that, it served as the Saints school. Your acquisition and your investment has made this possible, and I'd like if you would be so kind to let our new Arts Center Manager, Nicole Pretzel, step up and just share some of the success that's followed your investment, your acquisition of that building. Thank you. [8:09] Nicole Pretzel: Thank you, Bob. It's good to hear from you. Yeah, the Art Center has, because of this investment, really experienced some unprecedented growth over the last couple of years. The additional space has allowed us to offer more performing arts classes, more visual arts classes, provide more rehearsal space for our in-house theater company as well as rental companies that come in or partner companies that come in, and just allowed us more space for other rental opportunities as well. [8:56] Nicole Pretzel: In 2022, summer youth art programs provided 666 spaces in classes, and this summer we just put out a brochure with 1,699 spaces—so about a 155% increase. So, that is giving a lot of youth opportunity to come into our building and participate in the Arts. Total class registration income increased 120% between 2022 and 2024, so that has a great deal to do with that building, as that's where a majority of our visual arts classes are being held. We've also been able to strengthen our partnerships with some arts organizations who have in the past done their performances in our theater but are now able to hold their auditions as well as their rehearsals in our space. So, that's a little bit of income for us but also just strengthens those partnerships. [9:44] Nicole Pretzel: And one other thing I just wanted to share is that what a week at the Art Center might look like now with this additional space. So this week, you could join us for a classical oil painting class, an observational drawing class, five beginner, five intermediate, and two advanced pottery classes. Kids could make a sloth plate and mug, they could participate in a drawing club, or take a parent-child pottery class. Teenagers could join us for a wheel-throwing class. [10:31] Nicole Pretzel: And for theater fans, you could join us for one of four performances of Expressions Theater Company's "A Murder is Announced." We also have eight rehearsals, seven spaces rented for non-arts activities, and one set strike planned this week. So the Art Center is just teeming with creative energy, and the future is looking even bigger and brighter. So thank you so much for that commitment to the Arts. [11:02] Bob Erickson: Thank you, Nicole. Thank you so much. I'd like to also take this final opportunity to recognize Joe Masiarchin, who served as the Art Center Manager for a decade. You'll see the plaque that is in front of the new Arts Fine Arts building which reads: "The Friends of the Lakeville Arts Center want to thank Joe Masiarchin for his decade of service as a champion of the Arts in the City of Lakeville. His dedication and contribution served as a catalyst for creativity and culminated with the opening of the Fine Arts Building." [11:48] Bob Erickson: Joe, if you'd step forward, I just want to say thank you in person for your contributions prior to your recent appointment by Administrator Miller to the position of Parks and Recreation Director. Alongside of the plaque, you'll notice the—we call it the sphere. Each year as part of the Art Festival, we have a community art project, and this was the project that we selected this year. It adorns the front, the first of its kind to adorn the New Fine Arts building, with the adjoining plaque that we felt was very appropriate and well-deserved by Joe Masiarchin. [12:35] Bob Erickson: Joe, we're the Friends, which is a nonprofit organization which many of you know. We've raised over a million dollars in the last 20 years for the Art Center, and Joe was a big part of the past decade in making so many new opportunities come alive for the Arts community in Lakeville, including just two upcoming events—couldn't pass the opportunity—the youth Art Exhibit; March 25th is the opening reception, which involves all of our K through 12 students in public, private, and parochial schools in Lakeville. That's always a significant event, especially for grandparents coming to see their grandkids' artwork. [13:22] Bob Erickson: And finally, we have the newly created Downtown Art Crawl, which will take place on Saturday, May 10th. That's just two of the upcoming events. Joe, I just want to say thank you for your contributions on behalf of the Friends of the Lakeville Arts Center. Thank you. [Applause] [14:08] Bob Erickson: And again, I want to—Mayor, I just previously, and again, I want to thank the City Council for their investment in the Arts. You've learned tonight the significant demand that we have because of your investment. Not only is it an investment in the Arts Center, but it's an investment as you're well aware—and you are great supporters—of our historic downtown. So thank you for that as well. Thank you for this opportunity. [Applause] [14:08] Mayor Luke Hellier: Councilmember Volk, my apologies. I could either run up the front of a plane or show up 15 minutes late. Sorry about that. Moving on to Item B, the Minnesota School Bus Driver Appreciation Day Proclamation, and I'll turn over to Councilmember Wolter if you'll read it, please. [14:54] Councilmember Dan Wolter: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. City of Lakeville Proclamation: Minnesota School Bus Driver Appreciation Day. Whereas, in darkness and daylight, on dirt roads and multi-lane highways, from the frigid winter to the warm spring, Minnesota school bus drivers safely transport more than 682,000 students to and from school and activities each year. [14:54] Councilmember Dan Wolter: Whereas, the City of Lakeville school bus drivers are responsible for the safety of children across our city, often navigating challenging weather and schedules to ensure students arrive to their destinations. And whereas, school bus drivers ensure students have access to education that will open doors for them for the rest of their lives, playing a crucial role in our local school system and serving as important figures in the lives of children. [14:54] Councilmember Dan Wolter: And whereas, they also play a critical, reliable support role for Lakeville families, saving parents and guardians time and expense by transporting their students. And whereas, school buses are the safest mode of transportation for children, as students are eight times safer riding in a bus to school than a car, thanks to rigorous safety standards for vehicles and drivers. [15:41] Councilmember Dan Wolter: And whereas, the school bus driving industry is the largest form of mass transit in Minnesota and has reduced its environmental impact by using alternative fuels, retrofit diesel engines, and electric buses. And whereas, Lakeville appreciates the dedication and invaluable contributions of school bus drivers, today we recognize these worthy professionals. Now, therefore, the Lakeville City Council does hereby proclaim Wednesday, February 19th, 2025, shall be observed as School Bus Driver Appreciation Day in the City of Lakeville. Proclaimed this 18th day of February 2025. [16:32] Mayor Luke Hellier: Very good. And they get one extra day off this week from driving, so well-deserved appreciation. Okay, moving on to item C: our fire department annual report, and I'll turn it over to our Fire Chief, Meyer. [16:32] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Good evening, Mayor, Councilmembers. I'd like to present the 2024 annual report of the Fire Department. I'll start with our mission statement: the Lakeville Fire Department is dedicated to serving the community through the protection of lives and property by providing public safety education and professional emergency response. [16:32] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: I'll just give you a quick recap of annual activities that we do: obviously the emergency response, but also we're involved in fire prevention, which includes inspections, trainings in schools and businesses, department training, recruitment, and then a wide array of community and public events. [17:18] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: And just to kind of give you a quick snapshot of Department updates—I'm not going to go through every one of them—but just the top one there: obviously this day a year ago we lost three First Responders in Burnsville. With that, Dakota County as a whole and neighboring departments beyond that helped Burnsville cover them during their time of need. For Lakeville, we did approximately 500 hours of coverage. [17:18] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: The SAFER Grant, you're aware of, as far as that we submitted and were awarded for 15 full-time firefighters, so that is well in motion. And then we're transitioning from strictly a paid-on-call to a hybrid department with full-time and paid-on-call firefighters. [18:03] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: And again, just some snapshots of long-term planning that we're doing as a department—the top one you're well aware of. The other ones that I'm going to highlight real quick are just the advancement of our skills to better serve our community, and that includes working in general as a firefighter. The duty crew model is three to four people, so working in small crews versus a truck with six firefighters showing up. And then some of the other areas where we're really working hard at is our EMS skills, as far as advancing the current skills we have and then the equipment that we're carrying to better serve our community from an emergency response standpoint. [18:50] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: In 2024, we had 3,646 calls. As you can see, kind of a breakdown of those calls. I'll just highlight a couple of those: obviously EMS, car accidents, and stuff are the majority of those at 68%. Fires are 3% at 94 calls, and that includes, out of the 94, 29 were building fires, and then the rest of those are made up of vehicle, cooking fires, dryer, trash, and grass fires. [18:50] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Our drone team has been very busy as far as response requests. We respond to any water rescue, structure, or brush fires. We do a lot more search as far as helping if somebody comes up missing. The team is 14 people as far as trained pilots, and then obviously we're out in community public events. You can just see some of the pictures there on the slide of what we're doing. The bottom two left pictures are at our open house; we had the drone team for that and then also a table for them to explain to the public what our drone team does. [19:35] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: The two right pictures I'll highlight are us out helping search for a missing person. We took one of our fire investigation trailers that we have and expanded its role, so we actually have monitors in there so the drones can either transmit their location or we can actually watch the video feed from the drones to see when they're looking at a field. [20:22] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Looking at call comparison, just from our population, if you look from '22 to '24, roughly it's about a 5% increase. From '20 to '21, we saw that significant increase of about 39% call volume increase, and now we've leveled off to what we've normally seen in our past. [20:22] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Incident breakdown by stations: I'll just look at the green column at the top of all four columns. You can see the previous 2022 and 2023 were fairly steady, but if you look at 2024, those are decreasing. That's from us adding that full-time truck. The station call-outs or page-outs are becoming less with a full-time staffed truck. They're still needed, but it's just reducing that number of times that we're calling out our paid-on-call staff. [21:08] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Simultaneous incidents: out of the calls last year, we had 531 simultaneous calls happening back-to-back, so to speak. The majority of those are two incidents, and then you can see the increase there, roughly about 60-plus calls that were three, four, or five incidents occurring at one time. That still justifies or looks at the need of why we still need paid-on-call to back up the full-time crews. [21:08] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Duty Crew: as I mentioned, we started with our full-time staff; they actually started April 15th for 24-hour coverage, and that is a mix of full-time and paid-on-call. Our paid-on-call firefighters are required to do 12 hours per month. During their shifts, they are looking to do pre-plans, truck checks, temporary heat, and other task training assignments, and then obviously they're out in the community doing events and station tours. You can see a breakdown, similar to the overall department calls, of what they responded to from a response time standpoint. [21:53] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: So, these are looking at the 90th percentile and emergent-only, so lights-and-sirens calls. The blue line represents a station response and a gold line represents the duty crew response, looking at the top line of both all incidents or EMS only. That's kind of the benchmark we look at: from the time that dispatch picks up the phone call until our first unit arrives on scene. Our staffed truck or our duty crew truck is there roughly in about 10 minutes. A station response is closer to that 13 to 14 minutes. [22:41] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: The second item that I look at is that alarm handling: how long does dispatch take to handle the call from the time of phone call until we're alerted for that call? You can see all incidents is a little bit faster, it's around that minute-30 to a minute-50 seconds. An EMS call is a little bit over 2 minutes, and that's just the process for them to go through the questionnaire to determine the type of medical call we're responding to. [22:41] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Fire Prevention: Inspections. One thing I always like to note in inspections is when we're out in a business, our first job is to educate the business owner or the occupant of why there's a violation and how to correct that. With that, we did 1,002 commercial inspections. We issued 24 burn permits and 48 temporary heats, and mobile food trucks was 125. You can see some of the pictures there of our finds when we're out in the businesses. [23:27] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Mobile food trucks: just to recap that, we updated the ordinance in 2021 which requires all food trucks that are going to operate in the City of Lakeville to be licensed and inspected. You can kind of see our process there as far as how the food trucks or mobile food units go through the process for an inspection. [23:27] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Fire prevention: that is a long list of what our fire prevention team is out doing. The one I'm going to highlight is the mobile home safety day. We partnered with Red Cross and we installed 50 smoke alarms in that community to help out homes that did not have them or did not have working ones. That was a great avenue to be out there in a partnership with Red Cross to get that done. And then the last one is a state poster contest. We've been doing that since the 1970s, but you can see in the bottom left our citywide poster winner there with our Fire Inspector, Jay. [24:13] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Department Training: as a department, we did just over 8,200 hours in training. Every firefighter is required to attend one training per month, and you can kind of see the list of arrows—those are all the mandatory trainings that we do throughout the year. We also have required online assignments that they do; that's meeting our OSHA minimums or requirements that we have to do. [24:59] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: The one training I would like to highlight is at Air Lake Airport. MAC invited us out to go through their facility, tour the airport, and then I think we had two aircraft that we went through as far as just proper procedure if we have to enter the aircraft to safety features of the plane. From a medical training certification, currently, we have 39 EMRs, 43 EMTs, and three paramedics on the department. [24:59] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: And just for a note for 2025, we're working through ALERRT training—it's a new method for hostile event active shooter training. This is going to be a joint thing that's going to happen this summer with all Dakota Police and Fire agencies and EMS agencies. [25:45] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Wellness: from a mental and physical wellness standpoint, some of the things that we're doing as a department—obviously we've been partnered with Abijah for a number of years. Not only is that a service that our firefighters can go visit them, but they also come to our training so they have a known face so that the firefighters can visit with them. [25:45] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: From a fitness side, all of our firefighters get a physical every other year. They have an on-site fitness center. We also do an ability test every year with them, and then as a department, we have some organized fitness events that we do. You can see kind of at the bottom why that's important to us as a department: we want our firefighters mentally and physically well at the start of their career and as well at the end of their career when they decide it's time to retire. [26:31] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Recruitment: in 2024, we hired seven firefighters. You can kind of see the timeline—started in April and then they started the Academy in September. Like I said, we hired seven; we lost one early on that had to move to Texas for a job, which happens. So the six remaining are: Tanner and Joe at Station 1, Vince and Mason at Station 2, and Skyler and Drake at Station 3. In the next two weeks, they will finish up all of their training and be fully certified. They're actually at training tonight and have their written and practical skill a week from Saturday for HazMat Ops. [27:17] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Full-time firefighters: as you know, we hired our first six full-time about a year ago this time. They started their shift work on April 15th. Since that time, just to highlight what they've done: they responded to just over 2,000 calls, about 56% of our total call volume. We also have three of them that are certified for infant child seat installs, and all of them are fire inspector certified also, so they help out with our fire inspections, and that's why we're seeing those inspection numbers starting to climb. [27:17] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Along with that, we completed on the left side is a remodel of Station 4—so that was completed early on in the start of 2024—and we are just finishing up on the right side the remodel of Station 1. [28:03] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Recruitment retention: just to kind of give you a snapshot of what it looks like for the previous 10 years. Obviously, the numbers represent retired, resigned, and hired firefighters. Just to note that in the past 10 years, we've hired 82 paid-on-call firefighters, and at the same time, 86 of those have either retired or resigned from the department. The bottom right graph is just kind of a year-to-date as far as years of service. The nice thing is that it's a decent balance across our department; we're not too heavy on the young side, so to speak, or the inexperienced side. So we have a good blend of years of experience across the board. [28:03] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Recognitions: in January, we held our 2024 annual banquet. We recognized Firefighter and Rookie of the Year, and their pictures are right there: Joe Tomes as Firefighter of the Year and Corey Blanchard as Rookie of the Year. And just a couple photos from a cardiac arrest save—this was from the FedEx cardiac arrest that was held here in the council chambers in the early spring. We did have two retirements in 2024: Walter Browns with 30 years and Chris Mogan with 23 years of service. In December of 2024, we held our badging ceremony for the class of 2022. There's six names there; two of them were not able to make that night, so we did actually do a badging ceremony in the station two weeks ago for them. [29:36] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Community events: again, I'm not going to go through all of these. Some of the fun ones that we get to do is the community-wide blood drive that we're a part of, which is a pretty big event. Shop with a Hero, obviously, is a very big event. And just some pictures from there, you can see on the right side of the screen a great partnership with Lifetime Fitness that allows us to do a 9/11 stair climb; we always have a number of firefighters showing up to do that. [29:36] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Obviously in July, Pan-O-Prog events. This is the third year that firefighters are doing everything from making the batter to cooking the waffles and serving them. We were just above 2023 numbers with just over 2,000 waffles served. And then we also provide extra crews during downtown events in the evenings also; our drone team is out assisting with that. [30:22] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Public Safety Foundation: which is an awesome partnership that we have in this community. Obviously you can see their list of events: Firehouse Bingo, which is held in May—and I'll do my shameless plug that that is coming up again this year, it'll be May 18th at Station 1—along with their other events. [30:22] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Some of the things that through all those events we do with the Public Safety Foundation, some of the things that they helped us fund: cookies for open house, they helped purchase an EMS training mannequin. Public Safety Turkey Trot was the second annual that we did this year, but was a partnership with not only the Public Safety Foundation but police and firefighters and families. They also helped purchase mass casualty medical bags. [31:09] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: And then finally, last year on April 4th, we were part of the Twins opener that helped honor the Burnsville First Responders. This was a great event and I was part of the planning process; it took a lot of legwork to get everybody there and get them lined up to line the field, but it was awesome that the Twins allowed us to be a part of that day. And that concludes my annual report for 2024. I want to thank you for your support of the fire department, and I stand for any questions. [31:09] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. Thank you, Chief. Council, questions, comments? Thank you, you've certainly managed a ton of change last year and we have a lot of change in '25. So thank you for your leadership on that. [31:46] Fire Chief Mike Meyer: Certainly. Good evening. Thank you. [31:46] Mayor Luke Hellier: Well deserved. Okay, moving on to item six, our consent agenda. Any items you'd like to highlight, Mr. Miller? [31:46] City Administrator Justin Miller: Thank you, Mayor and Council. Item 6K is a resolution amending the Lakeville Fire Relief Association bylaws. You might remember you did this at your last meeting; there was a small clarification that we needed to make to adhere to state statute, so that's being done tonight. And then item 6N is a resolution approving charitable gambling for the Eastview Hockey Association at Crystal Lake Golf Club. It's the first time we've had this particular club do a place here in Lakeville, and they do comply with our city code about having the appropriate number of Lakeville residents in their program. [32:32] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay, very good. Council, any items you'd like to discuss or pull? Otherwise, I'll take a motion to approve. [32:32] Councilmember John Bermel: I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. [32:32] Mayor Luke Hellier: Is there a second? [32:32] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Second. [32:32] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay, any further discussion? If not, all those in favor say "aye." [32:32] Councilmembers: Aye. [32:32] Mayor Luke Hellier: Opposed? Okay, consent agenda passes. Moving on to item 7A: consider a preliminary plat for Air Lake DEA. I don't know if we have—Jeff Shener and Sean Regan are here to give us the background. Welcome. Good to see you both. [33:04] Jeff Shener: Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of City Council. My name is Jeff Shener and I'm representing Dakota Electric Association. Dakota Electric Association has interest in purchasing this property, the Outlot to the south, plans to future develop a headquarters site. We're currently in Farmington right now, so this would be moving it into Lakeville. [33:04] Sean Regan: Sean Regan with Hatrick Investments, affiliated with Air Lake development. We're thrilled to be joined here with DEA. I think to our fine City, we've been working on developing for many, many years, and thanks to staff and everybody involved helping us get to this place. We've got a few more steps and look forward to getting to the end of the road to see dirt fly. [33:04] Mayor Luke Hellier: Very good. Turn over to Miss Goodroad for the staff report. [33:52] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: Evening, Mayor, members of the Council. As I mentioned, Dakota Electric and Hatrick Investments have submitted a preliminary plat, the first step in a few steps for this process. The property is located north of 225th Street, east of Cedar Avenue. It's the one outlined in red. [33:52] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: This property was formerly known as the Adelman property; it was annexed into the city back in 2021, so some people will remember it by that name. The property is zoned I-2, General Industrial District, and it's guided in our comprehensive plan for industrial. [34:39] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: This first action tonight is a preliminary plat to create two outlots, and the reason for the creation of the outlots is it prepares the property for sale. The north portion, or Outlot A, will be retained by Hatrick Investments, and it's intended that Outlot B would be developed for the Dakota Electric facility. So, they'll be moving their facility from Farmington to this site. [34:39] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: The plat meets all of the requirements. They're including right-of-way design, dedication for the extension of 222nd Street into the future—that's not something that needs to be built or will be built now. You will see the preliminary plat for Outlot B and that development plan early March. We're actually bringing that to Planning Commission this Thursday. So this first action is a preliminary plat to create the two outlots. You'll see a final plat and then the second phase of the final plat for Outlot B in the near future. And I stand for any questions. [36:12] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. Council, questions, comments? Okay, if not, I'll take a motion. [36:12] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Move to approve a resolution for the preliminary plat of Air Lake DEA. [36:12] Mayor Luke Hellier: Is there a second? [36:12] Councilmember Dan Wolter: Second. [36:12] Mayor Luke Hellier: Any further discussion? I'll just say I'm very excited about the economic opportunity that this will bring to our city. So, Dakota Electric, thank you. I've expressed that to your leadership. And Hatrick and Regan, thank you for putting this together. This will be an excellent addition to Air Lake. And with that, roll call, please. [36:12] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: Michelle Volk? [36:12] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Aye. [36:12] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: Luke Hellier? [36:12] Mayor Luke Hellier: Aye. [36:12] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: John Bermel? [36:12] Councilmember John Bermel: Aye. [36:12] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: Dan Wolter? [36:12] Councilmember Dan Wolter: Aye. [36:12] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: Joshua Lee? [36:12] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Aye. [36:58] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. Moving on to Item B: North Creek Manufactured Home Park conditional use permit. I believe we have an applicant here and then we'll have a staff report. Good evening. [36:58] Jay Van Tassel: Good evening. Thank you so much. My name is Jay Van Tassel. I am representing the ownership group that owns the North Creek Estates manufactured home community here in Lakeville. I want to thank you for the opportunity to present this project to you. I want to thank your staff that's been very helpful throughout this whole process, starting with Frank Demsky who's since retired, and now Tina Goodroad, who's been excellent. [36:58] Jay Van Tassel: We purchased the North Creek Estates mobile home park in December of 2021 with the intent to expand what was known as phase three, which was previously approved back in 1989. We began this process in Q1 of 2023 and, as I mentioned, have had excellent interactions with the staff. We held a neighborhood meeting in October of 2023 and received a lot of feedback on the project, and we adjusted where we could to make this a good development for everybody involved. [37:45] Jay Van Tassel: We also held the public hearing two weeks ago and heard additional feedback. One of those concerns is the investment—or perceived lack of investment—in the existing community. We hear their concerns on that and have made it a condition of the conditional use permit to invest heavily in the existing community as well. We're open to having that be a condition of the certificate of occupancy. So we look forward to working with you guys and providing affordable housing to this great city. [38:31] Mayor Luke Hellier: I have a quick question for him. Yeah, go ahead, Councilwoman Volk. [38:31] Councilmember Michelle Volk: I have a quick question for you because you talked about the investment. In one of the memos that I read, it talked about the fact that you've already invested $500,000 into this park but that it's "unseen." What is the $500,000 unseen? [39:17] Jay Van Tassel: Yeah, so I would say most of it is unseen. There have been some improvements: we've improved—spent about $75,000—the community clubhouse. We spent about $100,000 on the roads, done about $75,000 worth of tree work. And then a lot of infrastructure water improvements. It's got some aged infrastructure there, so we put some in there as well. [39:17] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Thank you. [39:51] Jay Van Tassel: Yep. [39:51] Mayor Luke Hellier: Any other questions? Okay. [39:51] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: Mayor, members of the Council. I did want to make a comment: there is an interpreter helping out this evening, so I just want to make sure that they're hearing me okay. If I talk too fast, slow me down. Thank you. [40:36] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: All right. Dirt Boys Incorporated, on behalf of North Creek of Lakeville LLC, is requesting a conditional use permit to expand the existing North Creek manufactured home community. This new edition is highlighted in yellow. It's immediately south of the existing North Creek neighborhood and immediately north of the existing Country View manufactured neighborhood, and just west of Pilot Knob. The property is zoned RSMH, which is Single Family Residential Manufactured Home Park District. The properties to the north and south that are similar are under the same zoning. [40:36] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: The expansion for the park will include 130 new home sites, and then there are a couple other lots for some of the other buildings. It includes the one parcel at 26.52 acres. Again, the property is owned by North Creek of Lakeville LLC, who owns the existing manufactured home park. This property has been zoned for a manufactured home park since the 1970s. [41:22] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: You can see the phasing plan: the first portion of the development of 105 homes took place in 1984, the second phase of 60 home sites in 1986, and then the phase three plans that we were able to find in the files accounted for 141 home sites. This was submitted in 1989 and again in 1997. We can't find records as to why it wasn't developed at those times. But again, all of this property has been zoned for a manufactured home park for some time. [41:22] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: This is a layout of the existing conditions. This is a layout of the roadway network: across the site, the road pattern is very similar to the original pattern. Main access will be to the north, accessing the existing neighborhood, with an emergency access only to Country View, and then the alignment of the streets that accommodates the different home sites. [42:08] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: I'm going to back up one slide. The property does fall within the Shoreland Overlay District of North Creek, so we have to then apply the Shoreland rules. All of that has been evaluated by our natural resources team and has been found to meet all of the requirements of the Shoreland District ordinance. [42:54] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: And so here is the layout. Some of these maps, I apologize, are a little fuzzy from how we're able to cut and paste them on the slides, but you can see the creek. There is an infiltration basin on the north, a detention pond on the south. You can see the street alignment and then the 130 home sites that are distributed across the site. There is a play area basketball court that has been planned; there was conversation about this at the Planning Commission meeting, but that's what that corner property is. [42:54] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: And then this area as well as over here to the south, there are spaces for guest parking. There is a storm shelter that will accommodate the neighborhood in this location, and that will be further reviewed and undergo building permit review as well. And then there is a playground in this location. So again, you can see the main access point through North Creek and then there will be an emergency access point in this location. [43:40] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: The lots range in size from 4,770 square feet to 13,905 square feet, with an average between 4,770 and 4,950 square feet. Each of the home sites will accommodate two cars, plus there is the guest parking distributed across the development. One of the things that the applicant is providing—you can see here and then I'll show on the landscape plan—is a row of trees, overstory evergreens, along the west property line, and there's also a 6-foot-high solid vinyl fence planned along the west property line. [44:27] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: That fence extends and wraps around the corner to about this point and then turns into a chain-link fence which will serve as the gate, and it'll be an emergency access gate only. Then that chain-link fence will extend along the south property line and then wrap around the pond, so the pond is completely enclosed with a chain-link fence. [44:27] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: One of the things that was brought up at the Planning Commission was a request that that gate be a minimum of 6 feet in height, and that has been made a condition and the applicant has confirmed that. And then the fence along the south property line, that originally was planned to be 4 feet in height, has been changed to 6 feet in height. So that's been confirmed by the applicant but also added as a condition. [45:14] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: And then here you can see the landscape plan. Almost every lot has a minimum of one tree in the front; many of the lots have additional trees in the rear, plus additional landscaping that's been provided along the west property line, some additional trees along the north and along the south property line as well. And then there is the detention pond that separates the homes on the Country View side from homes that are within North Creek, and again that will be enclosed with a fence. [46:01] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: Here are the final conditions. The Planning Commission did hold a public hearing. There were several folks that spoke—many may want to speak again this evening to you. Again, some of those conditions were changed regarding the fence height as well as a limit: no construction traffic for the development of this site can occur through the Country View development; it can only go through the North Creek. So that was another additional condition that was added. That's all I have for my presentation. The applicant, their engineer, and local team are here to address any questions that you may have. [46:01] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay, so I have a question for the applicant. You know, since the conversation about this project has started many weeks or months ago, I got significant feedback from residents of the North Creek—I don't know if you want to call it Phase One or whatever the official title is—of lack of investment by ownership over the years. Now I know you have only owned it for three years now or whatever. [46:49] Mayor Luke Hellier: And so I want to address that because in the Planning Commission meeting, somebody from your team had mentioned, "Well, now that we have some capital to invest, we'll do that," which I appreciate. But now I'm thinking 20 years from now: what kind of assurance can we have as a Council, because these are private roads? We're not going to be going in there assessing things. What assurance do we have that your entity, your enterprise, will maintain the infrastructure there in the new neighborhood and in the existing one? [46:49] Jay Van Tassel: No, it's a great question. And that's our goal: to have well-run, well-managed communities. I mean, you can see we've spent $500,000 so far in the time that we've owned the community. We have projects that are conditionally approved outside of this development, and the projects that we've mentioned that we could do in conjunction with this project that we will continue to operate and invest in this community. That's how we operate as a company as a whole: to invest in our communities. [47:36] Mayor Luke Hellier: Are there other communities in places that you have bonds or letters of credit with the city—like a backup to say that— [47:36] Jay Van Tassel: Not that I'm aware of, no. [47:36] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. [48:23] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Can I ask another question? [48:23] Mayor Luke Hellier: Yeah, go ahead, Council. [48:23] Councilmember Michelle Volk: In the Planning Commission meeting, when the question was brought up about the improvements, I believe your comment was that you weren't sure why they were deferred. What did you find out between the Planning Commission meeting and now as to why there was deferment on some of the things that you had promised the residents in October of '23? [48:23] Jay Van Tassel: Are we talking about the projects that we've talked about doing in conjunction with the expansion? Namely, we talked about, in conjunction with the expansion: resurfacing roads, new playgrounds, new mailboxes, and new signage. [49:09] Councilmember Michelle Volk: You kind of had promised these residents some of this stuff at their very first meeting with you. [49:09] Jay Van Tassel: Yeah. And so when it was brought up at Planning Commission, I believe you said you weren't sure why they were deferred. I think there may be some confusion on that because when we sent out the letter announcing the neighborhood meeting in '23—this is October 2023, correct—we put in that letter that, in addition to doing the expansion, we also will have the access to capital and the economies of scale to do these other projects in addition to that. [49:55] Jay Van Tassel: And so the plan going into October 2023 was we're going to do all this together because we've got the contractors there; we don't have to pay for the pavement company to come out twice and all the expenses that that comes with. And so this was always kind of bundled. Not that we weren't going to do it, but this gave us an opportunity to just do it all in one swing. And so that's the message—and it may have gotten a little convoluted, I apologize if that was unclear—but that was the message that we provided: that it was always in conjunction. [50:40] Jay Van Tassel: As far as why has it not been done yet: we honestly didn't understand that it would take this long to go from October 2023 to where we are today to get that. Obviously, there would be some changes that we had to make to the plans, which we've done, but it was always kind of a "we're just going to do all this together" with the expansion. [50:40] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Did you do anything this past summer to kind of help build some community support? [51:26] Jay Van Tassel: Yeah, I would have to—we've done a number, like I said, a number of projects, capital improvements to the community. A lot of it has been water infrastructure improvement—taking out old lines, improving those. We've done, as I mentioned, trees—that wasn't this summer, that was in the fall of 2023 if I remember right. Now I understand that there's more to be done on trees; there's a lot of trees out there and we're, like I said, that's conditionally approved to get some more done this year. So those have been some of the projects that we've done. [51:26] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. Any other questions? Joshua, Councilmember Lee. [52:11] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Thank you for answering all the questions. I think what's before us today is a CUP that, you know, there are legally binding criteria that we're going to need to really focus on when it comes to this decision that aren't related to the current neighborhood. Suffice it to say, I think it's disappointing at the state of what that current neighborhood is, having driven through it yesterday. Even having the front sign look like it's missing letters—it's the small things that really, I think, have an impact on the overall quality of life in any neighborhood. [52:11] Councilmember Joshua Lee: So, I know you're representing the client here, and so I appreciate you standing here and taking the feedback. What's not in the CUP is a condition for these improvements, and so I guess my question—and maybe it's not necessarily to you, but—is how are these documented to be certain that those improvements to the current neighborhood are followed through on since it's not a condition of the CUP? [52:57] Jay Van Tassel: Absolutely. And to show good faith and that we're committed to this and have been from the beginning, we'd be happy to have that be a condition of the certificate of occupancy or whatever kind of finalization documents you guys or permit that you guys give. We're happy to have that documented to ensure that that happens prior to finalization of that community and us being able to bring in new homes to that phase. [52:57] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Appreciate it. One technical question: the gate that's for emergency vehicles only—is that an Opticon-activated gate or is that a code? What kind of gate is that? [53:44] Jay Van Tassel: Call the smart guy up here. Joe Mailander, engineer on the project. [53:44] Joe Mailander: That is simply a 30-foot-wide sliding steel gate, 6 feet high. We went with a vertical kind of bar so it's difficult to climb, but it's not—it's a manually sliding gate. [53:44] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Manual sliding gate? So it's accessible—it's not locked, is what you're saying? [54:30] Joe Mailander: Well, we certainly want to work with the fire department; if they are open to us putting a fire department-only lock on it, we would do that. [54:30] Mayor Luke Hellier: Yeah, we have that in other places in the city, so we'll have you do that. [54:30] Joe Mailander: We want you to work on that for sure. Yep, yep. First, appreciate it. Thank you. [54:30] Mayor Luke Hellier: Um, okay, I have a couple questions for the City Attorney. One, how would we word in the CUP about the stipulations related to occupancy? You know, do something like "the city won't issue this occupancy permit until other conditions are outlined," or how would we do that? [55:15] City Attorney: You would need to have specifics regarding what had to be required, and it couldn't be vague; you need to have specifics. So I don't know if you're prepared to do that at this time. [55:15] Mayor Luke Hellier: Well, yeah, at one point there was an email. I just don't have it right in front of me what the specifics were. I don't know, Tina, if you still have that. So maybe we'll work through that. And then my other question—actually, I'm going to save that. Um, you can sit down. [55:15] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay, this is not a public hearing, but it's tradition that we do offer opportunity for the public to address the Council about issues. My encouragement is for you to keep it to two to three minutes and try to avoid repeating the people who've gone before you, just out of everybody's respect of time. When you do come up, just state your name and address for the record and give our Clerk enough time to write that down. So, I will now open this up to anybody that would like to address the Council about this project. Come on up. We got somebody coming behind you. [56:01] Jelene Christensen: I'm Jelene Christensen, I live at 17357 North Creek Drive. I thank you for asking some of those questions and putting it in the stipulation that our park will get attention now if it's a condition, so I feel good about that. [56:01] Jelene Christensen: Some concerns that we do have is that where they have the basketball court, it's really close to the creek and the only road coming in and out. So, the basketball court, we're worried about the traffic, children playing right there. So maybe if that could get moved, or I don't know what to do, but we just feel it's too close to the only one road in and out of the expansion. [56:46] Jelene Christensen: Also, the storm shelter: according to the square footage, it's 1,975 square feet. Divide that by four square feet per person—it's 493.75 residents that should be able to fit in there. With 132 homes times by four people, that equals 528. So there's not enough room for residents according to their square footage. Also, the existing storm shelter square footage is 1,456 square feet; divide by four, 364 residents should fit in there. We have 158 occupied homes times four, which makes it 632—that one's not big enough for all of us. The middle section, they don't even have a storm shelter, so where do they go? [58:17] Jelene Christensen: Like our signs are—like, they're hand-painted, but you guys addressed all that already. Another concern is with this new expansion, all these houses are going to look so pretty. Are they going to be able to come at us that have older trailers and make us redo our homes to look like the new expansion? Like peak roofs, vinyl siding, shingles—I mean, are they going to be able to do that and make us change our homes to look prettier? Which I don't think is fair. But I think that's all. [58:17] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay, thank you. So, a couple of those questions, once everybody kind of—we'll get opportunity to go through that. [59:05] Ly Omen: Name's Ly Omen, 17252 North Creek Drive. The thing is, this guy just said flat-out lies. First of all, it's a one-lane bridge— [Applause] [59:05] Mayor Luke Hellier: You just keep your comments to us, please. Okay. [59:05] Ly Omen: He mentioned $500,000 worth of repairs. What has he done? We got trees falling on our houses, we got drains that don't work. He can't even seem to plow 2 inches of snow, can't clear the streets. I don't know any development that he's did other than buy a couple brand-new vehicles and put a new office in. Ain't helping anybody. [59:51] Ly Omen: So there's a lot of things here. And when you add up all them houses they're going to go in there, if they get across that one-lane bridge that floods out every year—did you mention that? And then if you add all the cars, at least two cars per house. We can't get out of our road right now on Pilot Knob. What are you going to do? How many houses? I can't do the math that quick, but we—right, it's not going to happen. This guy's nuts or something. We just don't like it. We've been asking for things to get accomplished and accomplished and accomplished. Simple thing is cutting down trees that are falling on our houses, and can't seem to get that accomplished. I'm just—I don't know anything else, guys. Yeah. [1:00:39] Mayor Luke Hellier: I'm—my name's Clifton—just one second. Hey, yeah, we're going to be here all night if we can't be efficient with how we're—thank you. Go ahead. [1:00:39] Clifton Collie: My name's Clifton Collie, I live on 5890 West 176th Street. We're on the back of the Country View Park. And well, in the first place, in the back where they're going to build it is the wetlands from the creek. Every spring there's an overflow of water, especially up by Pilot Knob, there's a big reservoir. [1:01:26] Clifton Collie: Anyway, back about 20 years ago on 160th and Pilot Knob, they built some houses, and a couple years later all the basements were leaking from the runoff. So they better have the DNR or whoever associated, who's going to do the landfill. Anyway, in my backyard they're going to put up this fence, and I'm going to have to tear down this eve of my shed because they're going to come right across there. So maybe if they could back off a few feet, that'd be fine. But put up 6-foot fences and then have 130 single-wides that are rentals? Wow. [1:02:12] Clifton Collie: Then the noise pollution and the bugs because there's three or two ponds back there and one of them is all dried up now after 30 years, but at first there was a refrigerator thrown out there and a bunch of garbage. Anyway, that's dried up now, but it's still a mess. So that's part of the landfill project. Then we have a field where a lot of bikers, kids go out there and mess around. Then there's Country View north of the creek—nice name, North Creek. [1:03:46] Clifton Collie: Anyway, this project, the diagram is south of the creek, right next to Country View, and it's so close to Country View that the noise pollution, we'll call it, is unbearable. So thank you. You could—my wife Sandy. [1:03:46] Sandy Collie: Sandy Collie. Is it barbed wire? Not barbed wire, but chain link? Or is it vinyl? Like on the other side, they said chain link— [1:03:46] Mayor Luke Hellier: I'll add it to my list of questions. They're not in chain link. Okay. All right. [1:04:14] Sandy Collie: Yeah. And another thing: we live right by the dead end on the Country View Trail, and that's going to be their emergency exit. So how are they going to get in off a Pilot Knob onto their property? They'd have to go through North Creek, which is north of the creek, and that's a lot because they'd have to go through that and then get to their park. It seems like they're going to be using Country View Trail a lot. Okay. [1:05:01] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay, thank you. [1:05:01] Sha Khan: Hi, my name is Sha Khan and my address is P.O. Box 17370, St. Paul, 55117. My residence is on 176th Street. Backyard backs up to a pond that goes into the field that then goes over into Vermillion River, into North Creek. Mr. Gustafson has done a wonderful job at keeping riff-raff out of Country View trailer park. We have a lot of rules and regulations that we have to follow. We have extremely strict background checks. If you don't pass those background checks, you're not allowed. When I bought my first trailer there, I was $20 short a month to be able to rent, but the manager at the time kind of let us through because my family had lived there—this is when I became an adult, right? [1:06:34] Sha Khan: North Creek don't have that. North Creek has a lot of riff-raff. North Creek has a lot of police activity that Country View doesn't have. I'm not saying it's all of North Creek, I'm just saying that there's more there than in Country View. To be able to keep that out of Country View, what the chain-link fence going to do? I can climb a chain-link fence. My grandchildren five years old can climb a chain-link fence. What's going to keep them out? They're going to use our playgrounds, they're going to use our pool, they're going to use our storm shelter. Why do we have to deal with that stuff? [1:06:34] Sha Khan: I've also noticed since the housing has gone up on 179th, police activity has also increased over there. I no longer feel like I live in the country; when I first moved up here in '87, I now feel like I lived back when I lived in South Minneapolis. How are they going to be able to control that? Are they going to change their rules and regulations to keep riff-raff out, especially if they're rentals? If they're rentals, how are you going to do that? And I didn't think we could rent out trailers in Dakota County, so that's a big concern. That and the wildlife—that's huge concern because now there's going to be more dead animals and crashed cars on Pilot Knob because where are they going to go? I have seen a six-point buck in my backyard before. Where's that going to go? That's kind of what we're worried about. Okay, thank you. [1:07:22] Mayor Luke Hellier: Thanks. I'm just going to encourage everybody to keep comments respectful amongst our neighbors here. So, just moving forward, let's just remember that. Yep, thank you. [1:08:11] Deb Watson: Deb Watson, and my address is 1759 Eureka. I live in Country View. I've lived there for almost 30 years. At first, it was all we could afford, which—affordable housing—I don't think it is anymore for these fine people. Now I choose to live there because I could choose to live in Charleswood or Nelson Hills, but there's such a great community of people there. My kids always had a saying growing up that if you mess with one trailer park kid, you mess with all of them. It is—I feel safe there. I would walk the dog in the middle of the night, no one would bother me. [1:08:57] Deb Watson: So I'm not worried about the safety of what's coming in as opposed to what they're doing to that community feeling. I know—I work for the City of Bloomington, so I kind of know how this whole thing operates. But you're for the people, right? Just remember that when you make these decisions, that we all have this love of this—I mean, unfortunately, it's their land, I get that, but it's been near and dear to all of us. Our kids have ridden their bikes back there, we all walk our dogs. It's like a community place that we meet up and we feel at home, and it's just going to be sad to lose that. It hurts my feelings to know that what you've done to these people. [1:09:51] Dyce Mallerie: Hello. Hi, my name is Dyce Mallerie, address is 5640 Eveleth Court. I sit right on the corner of Eveleth and Europa. When you look out my front door that faces Europa, I see the field. I've been there for 38 years, so I'm a very long-term resident. I have seen deer, I have seen flocks of eagles—we have many, many eagles in that area—geese, ducks, and an occasional coyote. That's their home. Their home is going to get disturbed. [1:10:36] Dyce Mallerie: Residents along the Country View fence line, where they're saying that the fence has to go in, are going to be required to move property such as sheds at the owner's expense. Why? Those buildings were there first. That fence, I feel, should not be encroaching on that. They can move the fence instead of the people who have the sheds be required at their expense to move it. [1:11:23] Dyce Mallerie: 125-plus new homes going in, times two vehicles—that's 250 more cars on top of what's already coming and going. I don't know, I'm sure you're all very familiar, Country View has one entrance, one exit. North Creek has two. Many times, to make a left-hand turn out of Country View, you're putting your life in your own hands because it is so dangerous. At one point, when the stoplight was installed on 179th, they were monitored so that light down by 170th by the school was in conjunction so it was easier for residents of Country View and North Creek to get out of their homes. [1:12:10] Dyce Mallerie: Sure, they say make a right-hand turn, go to the next thing and do a U-turn; again, we're putting our life in our own hands trying to go north on Pilot Knob. My question is: control that intersection for North Creek and for Country View before—how many more people are going to have to die because of car crashes? Also, increase in school buses along with the 250 vehicles. [1:12:56] Dyce Mallerie: Now, where I sit, I look out off my deck, I see the mailbox shack, and this gate that's going to go up that will have emergency access for fire, rescue, and police will be kitty-corner from me. In order for them to get that gate up there, they're going to have to have construction vehicles—guess what—come right past my house. All that noise, all that traffic, what's it going to do to our property taxes and the safety in our community? Dean Gustafson has been amazing as a park owner. Like I said, I've been there 38 years; he has done an outstanding job. Again, very, very strict applications. If you've got a felony, you're not getting in. Sorry. [1:13:43] Dyce Mallerie: We have a fair amount of safety, nature, and everything else in our area. People aren't going to be able to go out in that field and walk their dogs, take their kids out. So, I'm hoping that you guys take it to your heart—both men and women take it to heart—and deny this permit. Thank you for your time. [1:14:09] Mayor Luke Hellier: Thank you. Again, just a reminder to try to keep it to three minutes. Yep, couple things. [1:14:09] Kurt Mikas: Good evening, my name is Kurt Mikas, I'm one of the "bad people" from North Creek. I live at 17265 North Creek Lane. I was here at the Planning Commission, and there's been discussions about the traffic, all the other stuff. We don't even know who owns the bridge, what's going to be done to the bridge. We have a rule in our rules and regulations that we signed when we came into North Creek: it says no semis are allowed in the park. How are they going to follow the rules and allow low-boys in to do the construction back there? [1:15:41] Kurt Mikas: I have only one more thing I'm concerned about, and I've already talked to our association president about it. I'm concerned about safety for the children going down North Creek Drive, and I think that's a big thing. There's a bike path that comes right out next to the creek. My concern is for the children on their bicycles because there's a fence there that the city put up because the landowner requested the city because of all the swearing that was going on the bridge and the drugs. Well, that fence there is going to stop any visibility of kids coming down, and if you're going to have that road right there where the bridge is—if you look at the map—they're going to get killed because oncoming traffic won't see them in time, or the kids won't see the traffic. My concern is safety, and I thank you for your time. Please don't vote this in. Thank you. [1:16:26] Michelle Granus: I'm Michelle Granus. I live in Country View at 5840 West 176th Street, which will be up against the retaining area for the water. What are the rules and regulations for how close that water can come to our homes? They're going to have a fence. What's the restriction time where—I mean, for the physical place for that water, how far away from the homes are they supposed to be? You don't see them on top of regular-build homes, so how close is it going to be for our mobile homes? [1:17:13] Michelle Granus: I've been in the park since '92. I've seen all the housing built up around us and we've lost all our space to be able to breathe. That would have been a gorgeous place for a walking area or a bike path or just natural animals—your eagles, your foxes, your deer—and we're losing it all because people are greedy for money. Another thing I'm noticing is: why would anyone buy a house that all look the same, that's going to be rentals? That's not going to be property for them. No one will buy a house that looks just like the neighbor's. It's not going to happen. And if they do, they're going to be people that are looking for a place that maybe can cause trouble. I really hope you guys take your time and look at that area. Drive the area, see what it really looks like, instead of taking the word of someone that all they want to do is build for money. [1:18:10] Amber Kipley: Evening. I'm Amber Kipley. I live at 17265 North Creek Drive. I actually came here just to listen today with zero intention to come up here and talk until I heard the gentleman with his plans for fixing our part of the park. I have a letter from 2023 about the tree removal; it got moved six months, it got moved six months, it got moved six months. I was also told that they're not going to do all of them at once. They are dead. [1:18:55] Amber Kipley: When I asked the office manager what would happen when all the snow falls on the trees and they land on a house, his answer was, "We will deal with it when that happens." A tree fell between my daughter's house and the neighbor's house; we got it out of there. The other half of the tree is still leaning over the neighbor's house. They were made aware of it and the answer was, "Let it fall on your house, then you can go after her insurance." I don't believe that they're going to make the improvements on the driveways or the trees. I don't believe any of it. So if you're going to make this a condition of all of that, I ask that you be very, very specific. Those trees are dangerous. The playgrounds are dangerous. That's all. Thank you. [Applause] [1:18:55] Jorge Rodriguez: My name is Jorge Rodriguez, I'm at 5870 176th Street West. I have been living in Country View for a long time—very peaceful and beautiful neighborhood. From what I'm seeing and what I'm hearing, the infrastructure is not there, the money is not there. I've heard complaints from a long time that have not been taken care of. [1:19:42] Jorge Rodriguez: It seems that the plans have been there since the late '80s, which is crazy for me to think that a lot of changes would happen now. It seems like they're just cluttering this place and they're going to affect a lot of good people that have been living there for a long time. As weather and things are getting crazier, I think that the infrastructure is just not going to be good enough to keep everyone safe. As the plans reflect where the shelter and the playgrounds are, they're not very well thought out from what I see. [1:20:30] Jorge Rodriguez: It sucks to hear that now Wall Street and a lot of people who have the money are grabbing all these lands and just trying to stuff them with rentals. Where are just one single home rentals? We have double-wide, single-wide homes everywhere, but this one section is just going to be clustered. The ponds, the mosquitoes—there is so much to think about. It would be crazy for you guys to let them do this to a lot of people. Thank you for your time. [Applause] [1:21:05] John Aguilar: John Aguilar, 17570 Europa. I'm part of the Country View mobile home park. I moved in there with my wife three years ago; we downsized from a house to a mobile home. With this development—that other mobile home park with those 125 or 130 single-wide mobile homes—at Country View you have to pass a background check, be good people, basically be upstanding people, you know, don't get into trouble, go to work like we all did. [1:21:52] John Aguilar: Concern would be all those mobile homes in that back lot, the traffic that comes through Country View Trail to access what they're looking to do back there. More traffic, the streets are going to get pounded with more traffic and such. When I downsized, when we started looking at mobile home places, Country View—they're very strict, which is fine, that's good. It keeps the riff-raff out or some sketchy things that go on. [1:22:41] John Aguilar: Our park is quiet, it's well kept up. The owner listens to what we all have to say in the newsletters and their little questionnaires that they send out: what could they do better for us? Is this new proposed development going to be all rentals? Are we going to have a string of U-Haul trucks in there every month—bring them in, move them out, bring them in, move them out? So I'm just looking out for the peace and quietness of Country View. That's all I have to say, and thanks for your time. [Applause] [1:23:43] Dan Gustafson: My name is Dan Gustafson, for better or worse, I'm the owner of Country View. I grew up five miles from Country View. I'm a registered landscape architect, so I understand land development. I constructed Country View back in 1972. From my own experience when I was in college living in a 10x45 foot "trailer," as they were called back then—it was tight, but I developed an appreciation for the affordability and the legitimacy of manufactured housing. For that reason, I have considered Country View, which is the only manufactured home park we own, as a community that we have felt very strongly about. [1:25:18] Dan Gustafson: I sent a letter to the Mayor and the Council this week expressing my concern, really not so much representing my own financial interests but representing the concerns I have for our residents and the children. We have a lot of events for our residents: the Open Door has monthly visits to our property; some of you have attended our National Night Out—police and fire have been there. [1:25:18] Dan Gustafson: And so I'm speaking not only for myself this evening but also for the safety of our residents. In that letter I sent, I pointed out some concerns that I have. One has to do with the fence. I give credit to the proposed developers here because they have paid attention to some of our concerns. The first of which was a 4-foot-high gate and the original intent, which was just to connect the two communities. They responded to that. Regarding the gate, we would prefer that to be under the jurisdiction of police and fire; that management of North Creek should have no access to that gate. We're pleased that the gate is now 6 feet high. [1:26:51] Dan Gustafson: I'm not pleased with the type of fence that is on our south line right now. While it may be opaque, it's already falling apart; those boards are not—it's a vinyl fence. I have concern about it. I don't like chain-link fences, but they're probably going to be more durable. I did make a request for a 7-foot fence. Someone said, "What's the difference between a 7-foot and 6-foot?" Well, if I was selecting a basketball team, there's a big difference between 7 feet and 6 feet. So that's a request of ours. [1:27:38] Dan Gustafson: The main reason we feel the fence is so important is that we have our community backing up against the pond, and the sedimentation pond is a very important part of their development, but it's also an attractive nuisance for kids playing in their own backyard. For that reason, we would also request that the fence and the barrier be constructed completely before any construction begins in North Creek for the safety of our community. [1:28:25] Dan Gustafson: Finally, without the intention of—they have a business, we have a business, but we are committed to affordability and the quality of life for the people in Country View. For that reason, I would ask for serious consideration for our requests. I can't resist the opportunity to say, in terms of affordability: the rent at North Creek, if you moved in there today, is 40% higher than it is at Country View—over 40% higher. We are committed to affordability. Country View offers a lot for the community, but we are still the most affordable community in Dakota County. [1:30:00] Dan Gustafson: One final thing: I've heard it represented at the October meeting a year and a half ago that all these houses were going to be rentals. We do not allow rentals because we've had some bad experiences with rentals. You can't qualify for a mortgage, you rent. I have no problem with rentals, but I have some concern because at the public hearing I had a private conversation with the developer and they assured me that the houses were all going to be for sale—every single unit. And I'm paraphrasing. So I know that the Council may not have any authority or jurisdiction over that, whether they're for sale or for rent, but I can tell you from my 50 years of experience, there tends to be a difference. [1:30:45] Dan Gustafson: For that reason, we don't allow rentals. We make them as affordable as possible. We have less expensive and much more expensive houses, but we are—and we are not particularly concerned about who you are, but we were the first community in the state of Minnesota that subscribed and was accepted to the Minnesota Multi-Housing Crime-Free program. As some of you may know, we work directly with police and we have an individual assigned to our community. We do not allow convicted felons to live in our community. For that reason, for several years we've had the lowest percentage per capita of police calls in the community. Thank you very much. [1:31:50] Mayor Luke Hellier: Thank you. Are you going to be the last one, or will you wrap it up for us? [1:31:50] Bonnie Olsen: Hi, my name is Bonnie Olsen and I live at 17252 North Creek Drive. I bought my home 19 years ago as a single mom because of affordability, and since Havenpark has taken over, my rent has doubled. As a senior wanting to retire—there's a lot of seniors in our park—and when you pay $800 for lot rent, and when I have looked at selling my home because I have done numerous things to it in the past, I couldn't even sell it because people couldn't—for what it's worth, people wouldn't be able to pay the $1,000 plus a mortgage. Why would they do that? They'd go into a home instead. [1:32:37] Bonnie Olsen: And having them go down my road, go around the curve and into that field across that bridge—they'd be going a hundred—how many cars every day going past my home? My grandchildren, we live in the very back, they play out there, they play in the front yard; that's not going to be something that will be safe to do. Thank you. [1:33:25] Dylan Khan: Hi, Dylan Khan, 5820 176th Street West. I was at the first meeting. I have just a couple concerns. My first one was the animals; I brought that up at the first meeting. They made it very clear it's profits over wildlife, that's really all that matters. [1:34:12] Dylan Khan: Second one is, if you just do a quick Google search of Havenpark and all the reviews that they get: it's not just North Creek that sees these unmaintained—it's in Iowa, it's in Utah, it's in Rochester, it's all over. It's not just North Creek that they're not maintaining. They're increasing the rent with the promise of increasing services, but they actually decrease the service while still increasing rent. That doesn't make no sense to me. But you guys are supposed to be the ones that make decisions based on the people, but we're the people and you heard our voice. So thank you, guys. [Applause] [1:34:12] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. I appreciate you guys sharing your concerns. I have a whole list of questions. Some of these things, I know they've been addressed in Planning Commission and others, but I just want to bring them up. So if you want me to fire through them for you? Okay. The first question was related to basketball court safety. At one point, I think you mentioned talking about a speed bump on North Creek, so if you want to talk about the safety about the playground, that would be helpful. [1:34:57] Joe Mailander: Yeah, I mean, we tried to locate—there's an open space on the northeast corner and a pond in the southeast. We have a play set down in the southwest corner and then we put the court up in the northwest. We tried to basically put those recreation areas at all corners of the property, and then we located the storm shelter right in the middle of the property. As far as traffic around the basketball court, I mean, wherever we locate it, there's going to be a road adjacent to it. I'm not sure what the option is there. [1:35:42] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. Um, there were questions about the storm shelter and state requirements. Can you talk a little bit about meeting the square footage requirements and etc.? [1:35:42] Joe Mailander: Yeah. So, I think the letter that you received had four square feet per occupant. This one's actually sized at 4.5 square feet per occupant. Where we differ with theirs is we're sized for 2.5 residents per home; they were using four residents per home for their number. It's actually oversized for what we calculated—it's calculated at 3.3 residents per home. We're working with a licensed architect that has done these and is familiar with state code and FEMA requirements. [1:36:28] Mayor Luke Hellier: I was going to say our census number is 2.9 as average for Lakeville. Yeah, go ahead. [1:36:28] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Well, I was going to ask you if you've done a census on what the occupancy is on the current residents that are in the 150 trailers that currently exist. What is your average occupancy? [1:36:28] Jay Van Tassel: I don't have that number now, but it's available. I didn't pull it for this meeting. [1:37:13] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. There was a question about requiring aesthetic changes in the—I'll call it the old part of the park. Did you want to address that? There was a comment about requiring changes to the outside of their current homes. [1:37:13] Jay Van Tassel: I see. Yeah, no, that's not the intent. Obviously, there are rules and regulations; we want to have a good curb appeal and making sure that the skirting is intact and everything like that, so that's going to stay. And I think that everybody agreed that that should stay, from the city to neighbors; everybody wants a good-looking community. As far as making them get a pitch on their roof or vinyl siding on their home—that's not the case. We're not expecting that. I believe that homes of all ages can look good, and even though we're going to have brand-new homes in this area, doesn't mean that we're going to be removing homes and putting in new ones. That's not the intent. [1:37:59] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. There was a question about the bridge, and I think this was addressed in planning, but something about flooding and some wetland stuff? I think you're upsizing it or something. [1:37:59] Joe Mailander: Yeah. So, we worked with Collins Engineering, a local engineering firm. They did an evaluation of the bridge. They recommended improvements we need to make to the bridge to accommodate all allowed and emergency traffic, Minnesota Department of Transportation traffic. So those are incorporated in the plan. The width is—it's 31 feet, so it is a two-lane road. [1:38:44] Joe Mailander: Wetland delineation process: we've been through the wetland delineation process. We're currently in the final stages of that with a "No Loss" certificate to Army Corps of Engineers; they've already concurred with our initial report to them, so we don't believe there's any wetland issues. Stormwater: we've gone through the city's review on that. The south pond is per city code; it's greater than 4 feet, that's to ensure that you eliminate mosquito issues as much as possible. The north basin is an infiltration basin, so that'll be dry; there is no standing water anticipated in that one. And then just to back up on the storm shelter, that will go through a City commercial building code review, so you're not approving that with this conditional use—that is another step. [1:39:31] Mayor Luke Hellier: Got it. There was a dozen mentions of these were to be rentals, but I think— [1:39:31] Jay Van Tassel: Yeah, the intent is to sell all of the homes. [1:39:31] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. There were questions about a dead end at Pilot Knob and the access there. I'm sorry, I wasn't really clear on what the question was, but does that make sense? Something about access off of Pilot Knob? [1:39:31] Joe Mailander: Uh, I guess I'm not familiar—there's two—out of North Creek Estates, there's two access points onto Pilot Knob. We did—we worked with a third-party engineer, as requested by the city. They did a traffic report for us and, with this project, there's no improvements warranted on Pilot Knob. [1:40:18] Mayor Luke Hellier: Okay. And then there's been a lot of questions about crime-free addendums, background checks, and those things. Do you have a response to that? [1:40:18] Jay Van Tassel: Yeah, we also run background checks on anybody who comes into the community—rigorous background checks that we'll look at. We also don't allow any convicted felons, anything like that. And so to be transparent, the first time I heard about the crime-free drug-free addendum was at the Planning and Zoning. I reached out to our legal team and they were already implementing that into all of our Minnesota leases, and as of this week, that's already being put into our leases. So anybody coming into North Creek moving forward will have the crime-free drug-free addendum put into it. [1:41:05] Councilmember John Bermel: Yeah, I'd like to ask a question about that. I noticed in the meeting when I watched the Planning Commission meeting that that was news to you. It's been in existence for quite some time. So what about people that are currently leasing there? Is the drug-free, crime-free addendum—are they going to be required to sign that as well? [1:41:05] Jay Van Tassel: I'm not sure on what the legalities are of that, so I don't have a great answer for you on that one. I'd have to look into it. I don't know about how we would be able to do that to make sure that it's all legal. [1:41:52] Councilmember John Bermel: And then also related to that, that addendum is a powerful tool as long as there's a relationship with the people that enforce the laws in this community. So, can you just describe what your relationship is with the Lakeville Police Department with crime-free multi-housing—how you share information, how you talk back and forth? [1:41:52] Jay Van Tassel: Yeah, unfortunately, I'm not the best one to speak to that. As you know, I'm not directly into the operations of this community; I'm under CapEx and development. I don't know if you're prepared, Laura, to speak to that at all? [1:42:40] Laura: Hi, my name is Laura and I'm the RVP. At this time, I can't speak to exactly the relationship that Jim has with the city, but I do know that he is in contact with them anytime we have any issues. But I can't speak exactly to his relationship, that's that. Thank you. [1:42:40] Mayor Luke Hellier: I did do a recent search—again, it was on LexusNexus, where you can look in a GIS system—and I did do some research on the crime in the area. To both Country View and North Creek's credit, it seemed rather low for the time period that I was looking at. I was looking at roughly the last 12 months, and both North Creek and Country View were what I would consider relatively low. [1:43:26] Mayor Luke Hellier: Miss Goodroad, do you have an update for us on the occupancy CUP items? [1:43:26] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: Thank you, Mayor. Members of the Council, in talking to our City Attorney and reviewing the email that you had received from Mr. Van Tassel, it appears we are able to add some conditions. It's a little bit different approach to a CUP. [1:44:11] City Attorney: If I can interrupt—I would say that there's a question about adding this. Although they've agreed to this requirement, they will be required to sign it, but I just want to make sure that you're aware that there will be maybe a question about the enforceability. [1:44:11] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: That being said, we've got the conditions that are in your CUP document this evening. So what I would recommend is making some revisions to this and, as City Attorney Palmer has explained, we would add their signature line on this. So once the Mayor signs, the applicant will be required to sign as well. [1:44:57] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: A couple of things that are already in the conditions: the fence—we have stated the condition that the fence be installed on the west and south property lines prior to any issuance of home permits. So, there's going to be a building permit issued for each individual home site. All of that fencing needs to be installed prior to that. Number three requires that that chain-link fence be at 6 feet. Council will need to discuss the request of Country View for that to be raised to 7 feet or not. [1:45:44] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: The gate is stipulated at 6 feet. Ownership of the gate is not stipulated at this time, and that was a comment that was raised by the owner of Country View. What was included in Mr. Van Tassel's email was several things that we could add as stipulations to be completed prior to home sites within the new portion. Those would include: resurfacing of all existing driveways, so all home sites, all the driveways; install new community signage, and I am told that includes the monument signage, any community signage that is throughout the development—directional signage, stop signs, etc.; upgrading all mailboxes throughout the community; and then enhancing the playground, replacing that playground, and then working with a tree professional for removal of dead and dying trees. [1:46:31] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: So those are the stipulations that Mr. Van Tassel has agreed to add to this conditional use permit request. Again, these would be added, required prior to issuance of new homes within the new development. Does that make sense? But not prior to construction. It doesn't mean prior to construction of the roads; it means prior to placing a home within the new portion. Because I do agree there is benefit of—when they are building out the roads, you've got that equipment here to then resurface the driveways and so forth. So there is some logic to that progression. But all of this work would have to be done before they got a home permit. So our inspections department would have to check with planning staff before any homes permits are issued and we would ensure all of these improvements are completed. It's a little bit different approach, but he's in agreement. [1:47:17] Councilmember John Bermel: One quick question about the gate. There was talk earlier about how that would open—access locking. Is that something that we can include? [1:48:05] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: Yeah, and I will rely on these two gentlemen, Fire and Police Chiefs. I don't know how—if they could help me with some wording on that, but sounds like we have some examples. I would just need a little bit of wording. I'm assuming a lockbox—I think we wrote something for the Lakeville Christian Church in the last 24 months and that was built and it's a pretty—so I'm sure we have standard. Chief, did you—? Okay. So we'll work out some sort of arrangement with that. Yep. [1:48:51] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Council, other comments or questions? Yeah, Michelle, Councilmember Volk. I have a question for the management, I guess, of North Creek. Do you have on-site managers and on-site maintenance people? [1:48:51] Jay Van Tassel: Yeah, we do. [1:48:51] Councilmember Michelle Volk: And where are they housed out of? How—where's their office? [1:48:51] Jay Van Tassel: So there's a community office right on North Creek Drive. [1:48:51] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Are they full-time? [1:48:51] Jay Van Tassel: They are full-time. [1:48:51] Councilmember Michelle Volk: So the residents—they're available for the residents during a regular workday, etc., for them to access? [1:48:51] Jay Van Tassel: Correct. [1:48:51] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Okay. All right. Well, it—wow. I hope that—are they hired by your firm? [1:48:51] Jay Van Tassel: They are, yeah. [1:48:51] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Okay. Okay. [1:49:36] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Councilmember Lee. A question about the construction plan. Having driven through there, there are narrow areas to get through. I'm not concerned about a typical car coming through, but when it comes to construction vehicles—at that point, what's the plan for access there and phasing that in so it doesn't become an issue? [1:49:36] Jay Van Tassel: Yeah, I mean, we'll have to coordinate. Obviously, we'll have to coordinate with residents, we'll have to coordinate with construction companies to just make sure that as heavy equipment is coming through, it's as little disruption as possible. And so yeah, that will have to be what we'll need to do. [1:50:22] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Can I clarify that there is only one option, right, in terms of access to the site? And that'll be through North Creek Drive? [1:50:22] Jay Van Tassel: That will be through North Creek, yeah. That's the only option we've got. [1:50:22] Councilmember Joshua Lee: And can you talk a little bit more about what construction looks like? Are we excavating? Is it—I'm guessing pouring pads? What other things go into that process? [1:50:22] Jay Van Tassel: Yeah, maybe defer to Joe here a little bit on the technical details of that. [1:50:22] Joe Mailander: Yeah, it's similar to what you'd see for any standard subdivision development. There'll be a mass grading, excavation of the pond, followed by underground utilities. There's water already stubbed to the property; there's sanitary sewer lines that run along sides of the property, so we'll be tying into those existing utilities. Come back with paving and then finish grading, and the final thing will be the infiltration basin in the northeast corner because that stays untouched until you're done with the site. [1:51:10] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Where is the water and utilities stubbed from? [1:51:10] Joe Mailander: There's—is it Faraday Road? The road to the west, I believe, or Fairfax Avenue—the road directly west of the site. There's water that's stubbed out to the west side property, so that's where we connect, and then there's sanitary sewer that runs along the east boundary and the west boundary of the property currently. [1:51:55] Mayor Luke Hellier: Sure. Thank you. Other questions or comments? Council— [1:51:55] Councilmember Michelle Volk: I have a comment. Councilwoman Volk. So, first of all, when my husband and I first got married—because you just need to know this information—we bought a trailer and we lived in the Country View park for many years. It was a very pleasant experience, and that was our first little starter home. We were able to, because that park—Country View—is well-managed, we were able to turn around and sell that home to move into our current home that we live in. [1:52:42] Councilmember Michelle Volk: So I have very fond memories of living there. And even back then—this was a long time ago, in 1981—it was still difficult to get out on Pilot Knob Road even back then. So I truly get trying to get out and take your life in your hands. Now obviously everything's grown—Farmington, Lakeville, Rosemount—and the traffic there is unbelievable. [1:52:42] Councilmember Michelle Volk: I guess what I'm trying to say is: I know what it's like to live in a manufactured home community, and I know what it's like to be close to your neighbors and also want that feeling of safety, and that's important. I think the tough part about all of this is that when we go through this process of approving, disapproving, or whatever of this CUP, it's not that we didn't listen to you, but legally, our hands are tied in the fact that there has to be a really super good reason why we would ever say no that would hold up legally in a court of law. I know that's not very helpful. [1:54:15] Councilmember Michelle Volk: The only thing that I guess I can say is that we will do our best to—I think with the additions that we're going to be adding to this document—hopefully it will be the beginning of helping your North Creek community out and that it will actually get enhanced and make it desirable for everybody to live there. Because in order for them to sell those 130 homes, whatever it is, it has to be a lot better than what it looks like now. Otherwise, they're not going to sell them. [1:55:03] Councilmember Michelle Volk: And that's to no fault of you folks; that's to the—I'm sorry, I'm just going to be blunt—in my mind, it's the fault of previous management, and now you've got the new owners trying to play catch-up. It takes a lot of money to play that catch-up. So I'm hoping that when we get done as a Council of trying to determine what requirements that we legally can ask of the owners, this will be something that will actually be beneficial to your community. All I can do is say that you folks need to really keep the pressure on them to make sure that they are servicing you. You are their customers, you're paying the rent. I know that it's expensive; apartment living is expensive, and owning your own single-wide or double-wide home is more preferable than living in a little box apartment. So I'm hoping that we can do the best that we can for these citizens. [1:56:37] Mayor Luke Hellier: Ma'am, we're just—we're out of that phase. I'll happy to talk to you after the meeting's over. I'm happy to do that. We had plenty of time for public comments. We're just not at that phase of this conversation. So, anybody else on the Council? Councilmember Lee. [1:56:48] Councilmember Joshua Lee: I want to clarify for myself why the vinyl fence doesn't go along the southern boundary all the way. I don't remember what the rationale was for that. [1:56:48] Jay Van Tassel: That was at the request of Mr. Gustafson of Country View. As he mentioned, I believe it's his southern fence—he says it's just wearing out, tearing down, so he wants something just a lot stronger. So we've agreed to doing the chain-link fence along that southern boundary. [1:57:34] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Because I thought I heard the opposite; I thought there was a desire for a vinyl fence for the— [1:57:34] Jay Van Tassel: On the west boundary, that's vinyl, it's a vinyl privacy. And then when it transitions at the gate, then it will transition to the chain-link. That was at the desire. [1:57:34] Councilmember Joshua Lee: In addition to landscaping? [1:57:34] Jay Van Tassel: Correct. [1:58:20] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Got it. I'd like to know before I vote—I need to get a clearer idea of what this document is going to contain, what conditions. [1:58:20] Mayor Luke Hellier: So yeah, I'll let Miss Goodroad repeat that again just so we know for when we—what was in his letter, or she's got it listed. [1:58:20] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: Yep. So what I would recommend is, in addition to the fence being installed prior to home installation: that the applicant has to complete resurfacing of all existing driveways within the existing North Creek; installing all new community signage in the existing North Creek—again, that would include monument community signs, directional signs, stop signs, any signage that's viewable in the community; upgrade all mailboxes within the existing neighborhood; and replace the park playground within the existing neighborhood; and then work with a professional tree company for removal of dead/dying trees within the existing community. Those items would be added to this list. And then finally, the gate, once it's installed, must include a key box for Emergency Services. [1:59:56] Mayor Luke Hellier: So maybe to be clear, the first set of those would be condition 10, and then condition 11 would be the fire key access for the gate. Okay, so there'd be 11 conditions as opposed to the nine. [1:59:56] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Would the best next move be to take a recess moment to get that drafted, or how are we proposing this? [2:00:42] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: I think we would make a motion on the 11 stipulations as discussed, and then when I go through and sign the final document—if I could clarify one thing, Councilmember Lee—what I would recommend is prepare it, send it to the owner, have the owner sign it like we do a development contract, get that signed document back, and then have the Mayor sign. [2:00:42] Councilmember Joshua Lee: It wouldn't be tabling this until a future meeting? [2:00:42] Community Development Director Tina Goodroad: No, it would be—you would be approving the 11 conditions tonight, and then it would be prepared and signed by the applicant and the Mayor. [2:00:42] Councilmember Joshua Lee: I see. Okay, thank you for the clarification. [2:00:42] Mayor Luke Hellier: Other questions or comments? Otherwise, I'll take a motion. [2:01:01] Councilmember Joshua Lee: I move to approve the North Creek MHP conditional use permit and adoption of the findings of fact including the additional item 10 and item 11 as previously discussed. [2:01:01] Mayor Luke Hellier: Is there a second? [2:01:01] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Second. [2:01:01] Mayor Luke Hellier: Any further discussion? I want to thank you, Councilmember Volk, because you said a lot of things that I wanted to. I think growth is hard; it really is. And these are—we get projects like this in front of us in every meeting where we have to deal with that growth. At the end of the day, we have to balance existing residents and the property rights of those who own property and have the ability to legally do the investments that they are allowed to do. [2:01:47] Mayor Luke Hellier: I hope that you all felt like you were heard today. I can tell you're frustrated, I can. My hope really is—I think—I mean, I want to just say, I think you guys got a good deal there. We could have legally approved it and they could have done nothing. And so I want you—I know you're not happy, I'm just trying to convey to you that I felt that we listened to a lot of the Planning Commission, and the new owners listened to a lot of what was said. [2:02:34] Mayor Luke Hellier: The owner of Country View had said there were a lot of things that he had asked for that they ended up doing. There's always a give and take. So I know you're frustrated, I totally get that. I want to feel it. But at the same time, we have to balance our decision-making. Ma'am, we're in a new phase. I'll be happy to talk to you after the meeting, but we have to get through our voting and our meeting. [2:02:34] Mayor Luke Hellier: Again, I totally understand where you're all coming from and the frustration. As Councilmember Volk said, you know, I would really encourage you to—you're the customers—hold them to account. And we will on those investments because they will not be putting a home down without the investments into the previous neighborhood. And so with that, unless there's any other comment? [2:03:23] Councilmember John Bermel: No comment, but we've heard a lot today. We've added some stipulations. I would benefit if the City Attorney could just give a quick recap: when we're considering a conditional use permit, what are we approving and how are we looking at that on the zoning? [2:03:23] City Attorney: When the city considers a conditional use permit, I usually recommend that they consider it as a permitted use that you are authorized to put conditions on, reasonably related to the specific application, as long as it does meet the requirements of the zoning ordinance. So the city has much less discretion in considering a conditional use permit than in other action items that may come before it. So you're very much limited. [2:04:10] Mayor Luke Hellier: Roll call, please. [2:04:10] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: John Bermel? [2:04:10] Councilmember John Bermel: Aye. [2:04:10] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: Dan Wolter? [2:04:10] Councilmember Dan Wolter: Aye. [2:04:10] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: Joshua Lee? [2:04:10] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Aye. [2:04:10] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: Michelle Volk? [2:04:10] Councilmember Michelle Volk: Aye. [2:04:10] City Clerk Ann Orlofsky: Luke Hellier? [2:04:10] Mayor Luke Hellier: Aye. [2:04:10] Mayor Luke Hellier: Thank you again. I appreciate you coming to all these meetings, and I'm happy to stay and chat after. I know you're frustrated. Okay, we'll move on to items 8 and 9: Unfinished and New Business. Okay, with that, announcements: our next work session is Monday, February 24th, and our next City Council meeting is Monday, March 3rd. And with that, I'll take a motion to adjourn. [2:04:55] Councilmember Dan Wolter: Motion. [2:04:55] Mayor Luke Hellier: Is there a second? [2:04:55] Councilmember Joshua Lee: Second. [2:04:55] Mayor Luke Hellier: All those in favor say "aye." [2:04:55] Councilmembers: Aye. [2:04:55] Mayor Luke Hellier: Opposed? We adjourn. [2:05:22] [Music]