[0:03] Speaker 1: It'll be okay. It's okay. I'm not. [0:19] Acting Mayor Bernance: We will call the city council regular meeting for Monday, August 18th, 2025 to order. Will everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance? I aliance 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. David, will you call the role, please? [0:50] Clerk David: Council member Lean, [0:52] Council Member Lean: here. [0:53] Clerk David: Council member Cortis, [0:55] Council Member Cortis: here. [0:56] Clerk David: Council member Wilson [0:58] Council Member Wilson: here [0:59] Clerk David: and council member Bernance [1:01] Acting Mayor Bernance: here. All right. Uh any changes to the agenda? [1:04] Council Member: None. None. None. [1:05] Acting Mayor Bernance: Uh seeing none, I would ask uh for a motion to approve the agenda. [1:09] Council Member Wilson: So moved. [1:10] Council Member Cortis: Second. [1:11] Acting Mayor Bernance: Uh motion by Jake, second by Steve. All in favor say I. [1:12] Council: I. [1:14] Acting Mayor Bernance: All right. Uh item 5-1, recognition of firefighter Caitlyn Scholes, military service and flag of honor. Chief Price. [1:33] Chief Price: Good evening, acting mayor, council. Uh, this evening, I'm excited to recognize Caitlyn Schaw, one of our firefighters, for her service as community, the state, and nation. Caitlyn enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard in August of 2020. She shipped out to basic in her advanced individual training, also known as AIT, July of 2021, graduating as a 68 Whiskey, which is a combat medic. Returning home to Minnesota and drilling with her unit 204 Medical Company Area Support, part of the 34th Infantry Division, or also also known as the Red Bulls. Caitlyn joined the fire department in July of 2022 and graduated from the academy and her year-long probation on July of 2023. Caitlyn was a member that could be counted on for trainings and calls. Her advanced medical training assisted the members during calls and at our training. Early 2024, Caitlyn's unit was notified that they would be deploying to the Middle East in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Caitlyn was uh proactive in making sure chain of command, myself and HR was always notified of trainings that she would be gone to or for her military duties. During the train uh during the train up, Caitlyn continued to come to her trainings and calls for service for the department. Even though she was very busy with her full-time job with M Health as a paramedic and training with her unit, Caitlyn always made it a priority to be present for her community. August of 2024, Caitlyn mobilized and deploy deployed with her unit to Al-Assad uh air base in Iraq. Caitlyn kept in touch with the department while she was deployed. And in February of this year, Caitlyn reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in her being able to fly a flag in honor of the fire the fire department. I was both honored and excited about this. Uh as a prior veteran, I understand what the flag of honor that you're able to fly truly means. Uh one thing about flying a flag is you can pick a date uh which means something to the soldier or for who they're or for who they are flying it for. So I sent two dates and we decided on April 7th. Uh that was selected that the flag would be flown. And you ask why April 7th? Well the reason is for this date is we have to go back to 1885 in which on this date the people of Farmington voted to purchase a hand pump fire apparatus and equipment. We ask, why is this important? Well, we need to go back another five years to 1880. Uh when these seem when these same items were up for a vote and they were voted down, the fire department did not want to be impaired trying to do their job. So, the Farmington Eagle Hooket ladder company number one formally disbanded. The village of Farmington would not have another fire company until April 7th of 1885. During the five years with no fire department, the village lost its largest flower mill, a grain elevator, a grain mill, a hay press, several businesses and homes, and in 1884 lost its most valuable institution was the high school. So on April 7th of 2025, Caitlyn uh Caitlyn's unit flew this flag in honor of the fire department for us. on April 7th of 1885 reestablished the Eagle Hook and Ladder Company for the village of Farmington. Again, Kaylee returned home uh from her year-long deployment and had a meeting I had a meeting with her to begin to come back to the department to continue to serve her community. Caitlyn handed me the flag and certificate which reads flag of honor. The accompanied flag of the United States of America was proudly flown under Operation Inheric Resolve in honor of the Farmington Fire Department. flown in the face of the enemy over the 204th medical company area support role second echo clinic at Alisad Air Base, Iraq on the 7th April of 2025, illuminating the dark by the light of justice and bearing witness to the sacrifice and courage of those men and women defending the freedom of the United States of America. On behalf of Specialist Caitlyn Scho, sign first sergeant Brent Emery and Major Jacob reading commanding. So this evening, I ask that you join me in the department in recognizing and honoring Caitlyn Schaw for her service to her community, her state, and her country. And for all of her service and accomplishments with the Farb Fire Department, the Minnesota Army National Guard and for that I'll stand with any questions. I'll ask Caitlyn to come up here. [6:06] Caitlyn Scholes: I would just like to say thank you to everyone who is here tonight from the fire department and thank you to Chief for that speech. Um I want to thank all of you for supporting me through this because that was a huge change for me and I wasn't expecting it and I really appreciate the welcome that I've had coming back. It's been wonderful to see all your faces again and I'm very excited to start responding to calls with all of you and I look forward to continuing to serve this community. Thank you very much. [6:29] Acting Mayor Bernance: They're gonna say some stuff. Nick, stay here. Anything to add? [6:52] Council Member Lean: You guys never cease to amaze me with like the cool stories and how well you guys all know your history. It's It's incredible. Um, I might be up towards the top of all the coolest stories I think I've heard from you guys, but uh, it's really cool to see how much the concept of service, I guess, just kind of permeates through everything that you do that you'd be willing to serve the fire department here, serve your country, serve everything basically. It it's just a testament to your character, just like all of your your peers out there. It means a lot. Um, there's obviously nothing that I can say or any of my peers can really say that outshines what you just did for the last year and the statement you just made. So, thank you, [7:32] Council Member Wilson: Jake. Caitlyn, thank you for everything you've done. You've done our community, our state, and our nation proud. Thank you for your service and your continued service. And we all owe you a lot more than just a round of applause. So, thank you, [7:53] Council Member Cortis: Steve. Yeah, Kayn, thank you so much. And you know, looks like we have mom and dad out there, too. And thank you to both of you for uh for your commitment and your your way, too. And thank you to the entire fire department for being here to to recognize Caitlyn and to support her. And um and to Chief Price or Caitlyn, do either one of you have a picture or is that not permitted to show a picture or see the flag or is that not [8:19] Caitlyn Scholes: Nope, I have it. Um, it's actually in a case that we will be hanging up, but I'll have it displayed for a while. [8:22] Council Member Cortis: Okay. Thank you. [8:24] Acting Mayor Bernance: Love that. I don't really have a whole lot more to say beyond what has already been said. Um, obviously I actually I it's crazy. I was watching a TV show and they said, "You can tell a lot about people by their kids." Meaning that if you look at the child that was produced, you know a lot about the parents. And what I see before me is a young woman who obviously understands sacrifice and service and giving of self um at the highest levels. And whether or not people realize that they are directly affected by or impacted by the choices that you've made and the service um that you've done, it it can't go unrecognized. And um we're grateful. So, thank you. [Applause] All right, moving on. Uh, citizen comments. Item six. This is a time reserved for citizen comments regarding non-aggenda items. No official action can be taken on these items. Speakers are limited to five minutes to address the city council during citizen comment time. Uh, as you approach, please state your name and address for the record, and we ask that you limit your comments to 5 minutes. [9:44] Jeff Schatler: My name is Jeff Shhatler. I live at 22420 Calico Court, Farmington. Um, here to talk about the Farmington Technology Park a little bit. And just being a resident in Farmington. I live here. Lived here my whole life. I've always had a Farmington address unless I was in a different state. Always lived in Farmington. I know a lot of people here. I've run my own business out of Farmington for 15 years. No, I run a different business. I know a lot of people. Um I understand you all do too. And you hear from good job from a lot of people. I don't hear that from a lot of people on one topic. I understand Holly, you had a lot to say a month ago, month and a half ago about it's not the time that we have stopped you as a group with this lawsuit. That's not true. You've been advised not to talk. You've been advised not to try to change anything or do anything. It's not the truth that you can't do anything. It's what we've all been asking for is for something to change. Even the wording that hey, when the timing is right, we are going to go to bat for you guys, too. Those things haven't been said. It hasn't to any of us. We waited and waited. We were super clear at the beginning of this whole process that this something needs to change. If it doesn't change, there's going to be a lawsuit. That's exactly what happened. It was very truthful. If it continues and what is presented to us happens and is built, there will be more lawsuits. You have to understand that we have the backing between the 12 of us to fight the first lawsuit as long as we need. There's hundreds of other people that are waiting to get in on a class action lawsuit that happens from Impact. If you guys think there's not going to be residential impact in further lawsuits, I mean, maybe you don't care. Maybe that's fine. Um, but what you're doing is invigorating people and you're motivating people and maybe some of the wrong people. You're going to find yourself sitting up there on council with people that maybe don't have all the same goals as you. They have one goal in mind to stop one project. Um, there has to be give and take between the city and a developer and residents. There has to be somewhere. Um, you know, the attorney said that yes, it fits in MUCI. It sure does fit in MUCI in the definition of what's allowed, but that should never been MUCI. If that is allowed in MUCI, it should not be allowed that close to homes. That's pretty unanimous across the country. And there's a 100 examples. So, I hope what you said, there's more details and there's more safeguards and things to work out. I hope you meant it. Um, there's more lawsuits to come. You feel like you're being harassed or bullied. Boy, I sure feel that way, too. Um, being that nothing. And no matter how it comes out, I'm being a jerk. I'm picking on you. I'm not. The full windows end of the day, if this can be quiet and great, those will be nice, too. It'll look better. Um, 40ft buffers to 80 ft. That's something. But it's none of the things that we're really looking for. We need room. This needs to be farther from homes. There needs to be a guarantee with the impact and there's ways to do it by utilizing the same space but nobody's addressed that and you haven't even come to the residents to talk about it and all you're doing is pissing off people by not making something public that we are going to work on this with you. You have motivated so many people to sign a piece of paper saying that they will join these class action lawsuits. Um don't make any sense. It doesn't need to be embarrassing. You don't need to be picked on. I don't need to be ignored. Um, I saw almost every one of you at the county fair. Was I rude to any of you? Did you guys even notice you saw me or that I saw you? Steve, I had conversation with you. We didn't talk about this. I talked to Josh. I shook his hand. I said, "It's really good to see you here. Nothing about this came up." It doesn't need to be negative, rude, mean. Just needs to be done together. Um, and to drive us all to future lawsuits. I'm putting in 1,500 bucks a month now to fight this. What the heck? Y'all had an opportunity to work with people to get half of the people suing you to not be suing you. Um would have been a big difference. Little bit of compassion towards us. Um something should be said somewhere. I don't know. I don't get it. I don't get the lack of lack of wanting to work with your people. The same people that voted you here. You're gonna have a bunch of us sitting next to you and with you eventually here. So, it's all I got needed to be said. Thank you for your time. [14:25] Andy Clott: Hi. Uh, my name is Andy Clott. I live at 4345 220th Street West. Um, I was here two weeks ago. Um, but I I wanted to talk about a little more. Um, yeah, I don't think anybody's getting anything from any of you. Uh I was uh walking home from a a fire, you know, bonfire with my neighbor's house and I witnessed a girl being beaten and uh this by this guy named Stuart Ras and he lives in I don't shakipe or something. Uh this same guy threatened to kill my child a week before as he was walking home from the park. He's my son was 11 years old at the time. And uh when I saw him beating this girl, I I said, "Please, you know, you can't do that." And he walked right up to me and punched me right in the temple and got me on the ground and beat me so so badly. I had an orbital fracture. And I couldn't see out of my left eye for over a month. And uh I I got a a friend, a mutual friend to help me in the house. And uh I was left there. and I couldn't find any ice or anything. So, I'm stumbling around barely conscious cuz I was really unconscious. Um anyway he uh I started hearing cuz she was out there. He was punching this girl is what he's doing. He was punching her. He could hear the thuds, you know, a thud thud. And she was trying to get him to go inside. And when I got inside, it was 2:00 in the morning. It was very dead quiet. You hear I heard that same dead thud. And I could hear him through the wall. And then he was saying, "I'm going to go kill those effing clotters or kill he's going to kill me." And then he said, "I'm going to go kill both those effing cluders. That little kid, too. I'm going to kill him, too." And uh I said, "What the hell?" You know, what am I going to do? I'm I'm literally unconscious. I'm stumbling around. Don't know what to do. So uh anyways I'll go into that part later, but the police show up because something I did. I mean, I I I didn't know what to do. I mean, I couldn't find my phone. It's a flip phone. I didn't know what to do. I grabbed my pistol out of my gun safe and I was looking for my phone. I couldn't find my phone. I'm half unconscious. I don't know what's going on. So I decided to fire my gun in the air right over a town home and in the cemetery where my brother is dead right there you buried there. So I knew behind there it's just empty fields. I I knew no one would get hurt but at least it would bring the police and I wouldn't have to worry about going unconscious this guy coming in and killing my family. Anyways, I thought I'd get my chance with the police, you know, to explain myself whatever my day in court instead. What I got is the police handcuffed me, threw me in the back of a squad car, and left me there for an hour. For an hour unconscious, no medical attention, nobody's trying to help me. I wake up an hour later. All of a sudden, I feel very cold, you know, cuz I just I had my shorts on. I was going to bed. And uh that coldness brought me back to consciousness. And that was a police officer dragging me out of the squad car at the police station. And I didn't know what was going on cuz I thought I should be going to the hospital. But uh you know, this guy's lifting up my arms like this, you know, giving me some of this um you know, kind of working me over a little bit, punching me in the ribs, kneeing me in the ribs when he got down on the ground. And then he sat on me and asked the rest of the guys, Officer Bells, Officer Toula, Officer Sunball, and Gary Rutherford. And he asked Gary for and the other guys for help. And uh they said, "Sure, what do you need to do?" And so they stood around me and decided what they can do with me. Gary said Rutherford said, "We can't be uh doing anything to this guy that'll leave too many marks on him." So he's like, "Well, the one guy that started working me over that pulled me out of squad car." I don't know who he is because you won't give me the tape, of course. I mean, because you always protect yourself. And uh anyways, they decided, "Yeah, no problem." He had it all worked out. He talked to my ex-wife at [18:57] Acting Mayor Bernance: Your time's almost up, so if we can move along, we've got five minutes. [19:04] Andy Clott: Okay. So that's almost five minutes. Well, that gets me out of out of the car. So, in two weeks, I'll come back and I'll try to be a little quicker then. That sound that's what you want. 5 minutes is up. [19:14] Acting Mayor Bernance: 5 minutes. Usually our our citizen comments are limited to five minutes. So, all right. I'll be back in two weeks. Anyone else looking to speak? Okay, seeing none, we will move on to the consent agenda. I would like to seek a motion to approve the consent agenda. [19:33] Council Member Cortis: Motion [19:35] Council Member Wilson: second. [19:36] Acting Mayor Bernance: Motion by Steve, second by Jake. All in favor say I. [19:41] Council: I. I. I. [19:44] Acting Mayor Bernance: All right. New business. Item 12 121. Ordinance 2025- Z006 amending titles six and 10 of the Farmington City Code as it relates to the keeping of honeybees and the abatement of nuisances and amending title 8 chapter 12 fees and charges schedule. Jared. [20:01] Jared: Yes. Thank you, acting mayor, uh, city council members. I'm pleased here to be here tonight uh to present um a potential beekeeping ordinance uh for the city of Farmington. So, a little background on how we got here. Uh so last year or August of 2024 uh the planning comm planning commission conducted initial discussion um if they would entertain a potential beekeeping ordinance um on single family residential lots smaller than 2 and 1/2 acres. Uh currently the way our city code is written uh bees fall under the definition of a farm animal and farm animals are only permitted on lots over 2 and 1/2 acres. So residential lots under two and a two 2 and 1/2 acres are currently prohibited um from keeping bees. Uh this discussion was initiated by a resident uh who is here with us uh tonight who was also integral in this pro in this process um who has beekeeping experience but currently with our the way our code is written um they can't keep bees because of their lot size is smaller than two and a half acres. Um and this is on the heels too of you know we received staff has um occasional inquiries in the past um from residents with similar interests to keep bees on their property. Um and also this kind of plays in this growing interest that um in or in at home food production um particularly particularly in urban um settings um on residential lots um such as keeping chickens and bees and so cities have started to move towards passing these ordinances like we have with chickens um several years ago. So the planning commission did express interest in an ordinance um but they wanted more information on what some of the surrounding uh communities were doing. So, at the April uh meeting this year, staff presented um a comparison of ordinances from Egan, Lakeville, and Rosemont um and including a model ordinance from the Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association. So, the planning commission discussed um various requirements that were similar um throughout these ordinances, including what type of permit it is, um application requirements, beekeeper education requirements, number and placement of hives, setbacks, equipment, um construction materials, uh barriers, inspections, and then termination uh procedures. So, ultimately, the planning commission um liked Egan's ordinance. Um, Egan has a comprehensive ordinance um that has more stricter requirements. Um, so the commission agreed that this new ordinance um should be stricter to start and then as we move along um the option to amend it or relax provisions in the future um if necessary. So staff drafted ordinance language modeled after Egan's ordinance um as well as our urban chicken ordinance that we currently have um and brought it forward at the April planning commission meeting. And then this language was finalized at the June uh planning commission meeting. So an ordinance overview of what we're proposing tonight. Uh so like I like I mentioned, this ordinance was modeled after our urban chicken uh ordinance that we have. Um it's the process is kind of the same. So there's a definition section. Um and this permit would be an administrative permit. Um that must be applied for and approved by staff. Um, this approved permit would be valid for one year and must be renewed annually. Uh, the initial permit fee will be $100 with annual renewal fee being $40. Um, all adjacent property owners would be notified um if their neighbor does get an approved permit. Um, with this application, you'll need to submit a detailed site plan um showing setbacks, any barriers, etc. with the application. Uh the applicants must also submit proof of a completion of a beekeeping basics course or three or more years of beekeeping experience. Uh the location of the hives are only allowed in the rear yard. And then the number of colonies um is determined by lot size. So lots less than 0.5 acres can have up to two colonies. Lots between 0.5 to 2.5 acres can have four colonies. And then with the way our code is written right now, any lots over two and a half acres, there's no restriction. So setbacks um are proposed 20 feet from the lot line uh 30 feet from adjacent decks, patios, swimming pools or other outdoor living space. Um if an adjacent property is a stormwater pond or a wetland, you know, where there's no residential homes or any of these outdoor living spaces, uh that setback shall be reduced to 5T. Um, a flyway barrier is required if hives are kept within 25 ft of a lot line or 35 ft from any adjacent decks, patios, swimming pools, or other outdoor living space. Uh, this barrier either must run parallel to the lot line for at least 10 ft in both directions in front of the hive entrance, or a flyaway barrier may be placed to surround the hive on three sides. And this flyway barrier is just ultimately for when the bees exit the hive, they have to go up and over rather than through potentially closer to a lot line where they just go through straight into a neighboring property. Um, inspections will be required upon issuance of the permit and each time a renewal permit is received. Um, the hive shall be kept in good condition and colony shall be continuously managed to prevent swarming. And then when it comes to termination, uh, permits will be terminated if expired and no new permit was received. There's a violation of the ordinance or the permit is occurring, a failure to allow an inspection, a transfer of ownership of the property, or a public nuisance is occurring. So, hives that aren't removed after a permanent is terminated uh will be deemed a public nuisance and may be abated by the city. Uh these hives will need to be removed within 5 days of notice or an alternate time frame may be approved if necessary uh by the planning department. So, the planning commission did hold a public hearing for this ordinance uh last week um on August 12th. Uh staff received no public comment on it and then no public comment was received at this um hearing as well. And then the commission recommended um city council approve the ordinance on a vote of five to zero. So the action requested before council tonight is a motion to approve and pass ordinance 2025006. [26:10] Council Member Cortis: All right, Steve questions. Yeah, thanks for bringing this to us and I I really just like how this whole thing went from beginning to end. Um, and I know the resident who brought it to us. I hope you feel like it's a good good outcome and a good proposal that we're looking at here tonight. But I think the the reason I'm excited about it is yet a resident with a very real, you know, need to see if the city council could do an amendment. Staff took took it back, did some comparisons with other cities, see what they did, came out with best practices, established some good guidelines. And now I think we have a win-win. So I guess the observation I would make um is that you know if you are looking at a business or you're looking at doing something where maybe the city code doesn't say explicitly yes you can do this bring it to our planning team um because I'm really happy that we were able to um go through a good process and have this approval. So thank you [27:10] Council Member Wilson: J. Yeah. No, I agree with Steve. I think this is a local government ought to work. Um, so Jared, to you and the planning commission, thank you for all your hard work and thank you for bringing this uh to our attention and I'm glad we were able to make this all work and and we'll be able to see more bees and and locally made honey in Farmington in the near future. [27:34] Council Member Lean: I will try to keep my comments under 45 minutes because my god, I love bees. Um, don't want to let me go down that rabbit hole. Um the um I'm guessing this ordinance was written largely just for point of fact like this was probably written largely before the giant collapse of the honeybee population, right? It's probably a pretty old ordinance there. um with respect to like the the exception when you the back of your property is adjacent to a marsh or anything. Is there anything in our language about proximity to walking paths and trails that go through those? Like my backyard is the example of that. My backyard is on a marsh, but there's a trail that runs back there. And it would be pretty cool to just have bees sitting right on my backyard, right? Because they go out the marsh and pollinated. But I don't think the walkers going by would like getting swarmed every time. I think that's probably my biggest question, I guess. Do we, Speaking of the Marsh thing, is there anything in the ordinance today that blocks a potential beekeeper from keeping bees inside of any of our wetlands or marsh lands or anything like that? Like I said, way too excited about bees. So that's not a topic I would be horribly opposed to, right? I mean that is literally what where all your flowers and fruits and and things come from. So like we talk about wetland restoration and stuff like that all factors into it. So um but no this has been great. I really like I said I'm very excited for you. I hope it goes well. Um hope to see you at the state fair with some honey competition someday. So good luck. [29:51] Acting Mayor Bernance: Uh I'm also excited about this. I think farm-to-table is probably highly underrated and uh should be considered more even if we are talking about suburban lots and the opportunity to either grow or otherwise maintain a a direct link to your food source. Um I do have one question and it actually has to do with the swarming statement or the nuisance component of this. M um I realize that that's potentially up to interpretation. If you have a neighbor who has a bee sting allergy or something like that, it becomes a a much more defined concern. But is there information or is there wording around what constitutes that as compared to it's my perception that this is happening? [30:00] Jared: Sure. Uh not necessarily. It's definitely up for interpretation. And that's something that, you know, if we came across that instance, we'd work with the city attorney on verifying that, you know, we're in good standing on determining that this has a public nuisance. Um, but I do want to mention that Lakeville, they have they passed their ordinance in 2017 and theirs is done through an interimm use permit. Um, and so far they have one active permit. And when this went through city council, a concern was brought up by a neighboring resident whose uh daughter um is vulnerable for beastings and needs an EpiPen. Um and the city of Lakeville determined that, you know, since bees are a naturally occurring already in the environment is that it's impossible to make that direct correlation. Um, so it w it would be hard to determine that, but um we'd work with the city attorney to make sure that um any nuisance is validated. [31:36] Acting Mayor Bernance: Okay. Any other thoughts before we go? All right. Then I would seek a motion to approve ordinance 2025- Z006 amending title 6 and 10 of the Farmington City Code as it relates to the keeping of honeybees and the abatement of nuisances and amending title 8 chapter 12 fees and charges schedule. [31:49] Council Member Lean: Motion to approve. [31:51] Council Member Wilson: Second. [31:53] Acting Mayor Bernance: Motion by Nick, second by Jake. Call, please. [31:58] Clerk David: Council member Wilson, [32:00] Council Member Wilson: yes. [32:01] Clerk David: Council member Lean, [32:02] Council Member Lean: yes. [32:03] Clerk David: Council member Cortis, [32:04] Council Member Cortis: yes. [32:05] Clerk David: Acting Mayor Bernance. [32:06] Acting Mayor Bernance: Yes. Thank you. Good luck with your bees. And yes, I will also take some honey if it happens to be just hanging around somewhere. Uh, all right. Uh, resolution or sorry, uh, item 12-2, resolution accepting grant award from Centerpoint Energy Community Safety Grant Program. Chief Price twice. [32:30] Chief Price: I know. Again, good evening, acting mayor and council. Uh this evening, I'm going to ask uh for you to adopt resolution uh 2025-058 to accept a grant that we were awarded by Centerpoint Energies, a community safety grant program. A few months ago, Carrie and I found this online. We applied for it. We were approved for a $2,500 grant. Uh within the grant, it was kind of specified of what you were going to use the money for. Um, as you all know, uh, and many of the public understands that safety, life safety equipment that we have in the fire service does unfortunately have an expiration date. Uh, most of the time within the NFPA standard, it's within 10 years of that. So, we're always looking to try to offset our budget by getting grants uh, to facilitate the replacement of of our life-saving equipment. Uh so we identified that um our PFDs or our personal flotation devices are coming due. Uh that's what we use for ice water rescue and water rescues um to addition with training. Um so bas basically 20 uh two since 2003 the uh the community safety grant program has awarded approximately $3.5 million uh in funding to over 1,700 safety related projects across Centerpoint energy service area. Again, Centerpoint was very thrilled uh to be able to invest in the Farmington Fire Department uh with our vital safety project. Uh again, to enhance the quality of life for our community to help us facilitate ice and water rescue. Uh again, the community safety program offers an additional opportunity for Centerpoint Energy to invest in the community that they serve. And again, across Minnesota service area, Centerpoint has awarded more than 85,000 to 35 communities uh to support safety projects in 2025. Um so on Friday of August 8th uh they came to the fire department uh presented me with a check a certificate uh had a little interview and then did uh some pictures which we posted on our social media platform uh thanking Centerpoint Energy. Uh this grant program is an every other year program. Uh so we do anticipate us applying every other year uh to facilitate the replacement of of life safety equipment again. So this evening, uh, the action that's requested is for you to adopt resolution 2025-0.58, acceptance of a grant awarded from Centerpoint Energy Community Safety Grant to support the purchase of personal flotation devices, also known as PFDs, uh, to the Farmington Fire Department in the amount of $2,500. For that, I will stand for any questions. [35:13] Council Member Wilson: No questions. Just, uh, thank you, Chief Price and Carrie, for pursuing this grant, and thank you, Centerpoint, for approving it. Absolutely, [35:25] Council Member Cortis: No comments, [35:28] Council Member Lean: Not really a contentious topic. Thank you for the work. [35:31] Chief Price: Absolutely. [35:33] Acting Mayor Bernance: Uh yeah, I agree. I think uh it's one of these situations again where sometimes you look at the staff that we have and you ask yourself, why do we need a part-time grant writer? And this is exactly the reason that we need a part-time grant writer. Um, and it's opportunities like this to get creative in our funding for things that need to happen to keep the people that are serving our community safe. It's it to me it's a no-brainer. Easy, easy, easy. So with that, I would seek a motion to adopt resolution 2025-058 accepting a grant award from Centerpoint Energy Community Safety Grant to support the purchase of personal flotation devices, PDFs, to the Farmington Fire Department in the amount of $2,500. [36:06] Council Member Wilson: So [36:08] Council Member Cortis: second [36:10] Acting Mayor Bernance: motion by Jake, second by Steve. Call the role, please. [36:20] Clerk David: Council member Cordis, [36:22] Council Member Cortis: yes. [36:23] Clerk David: Council member Lean, [36:24] Council Member Lean: yes. [36:25] Clerk David: Council member Wilson, [36:26] Council Member Wilson: yes. Yes. [36:27] Clerk David: Acting Mayor Bernance. [36:28] Acting Mayor Bernance: Yes. Thank you. Thank you. All right. City Council round table. Amy, [36:32] City Attorney Amy: thank you. Acting mayor. Um after the the last meeting, uh the mayor asked me to follow up on some of the comments that Mr. Clott, who was here again tonight, u made at the meeting two weeks ago. So, I think it's timely for me to um to give that feedback. Um, I worked with acting city administrator Chansky and I think he was in touch with the police chief to gather some information and um, the information that we were able to find, you know, this is this was an incident that occurred in 2010. So, it's been literally 15 years, August 13th of 2010. So, it's been a very, very long time since this event occurred. Um, Mr. Clott, you know, in 2016 filed a complaint with the police department. It was investigated. Um, and the the facts that were found at that time don't substantiate the claims that he's made last week. Um the information that I was able to receive um from the police department didn't touch on the incident that that he described tonight before the police arrived at the at his residence, but it does break down a timeline of of him being given medical care. There was video uh at the time. Um, the allegations that he's made against the the police officers that he's named, including our now retired police chief, um, are simply not substantiated by the evidence that was available from the day that this occurred. Um, if he's going to come back next week, I can repeat this information again. Um but you know given that the the age of this alleged incident um there's not and maybe the the acting administrator can speak to it more or um the police it's not the chief over there but you know um the police department representative could could actually say you know I don't I as as I understand it the you know the the evidence doesn't exist anymore given the the um the length of time that has taken place since this incident. occurred. Other than that, I have no report. [38:43] Council Member Lean: I can't believe it. There's only about two weeks left of summer. Not to be depressing about it, but I hope everyone gets out and makes the most of it before the kids head back to school. [39:00] Council Member Wilson: uh, I'm just want to express my thanks to the Farmington Police Department for coordinating National Night Out and allowing some of us to ride along and, uh, crash some of those parties. Sounds good, Steve. [39:16] Council Member Cortis: Um, Nick, I'm going to make you feel a little bit better. I mean, it might be back to school end of summer, but technically summer doesn't end for about a month. So, we're you got a whole month. So, even right into the start of the football season, it's still summer. It's a beautiful thing. Um, I want to uh thank and and honor Caitlyn again and mom and dad for being here tonight. So, thank you for sharing that, you know, that story and that memory with us. Um, huge, huge boy. It was so exciting last week. And thank you, Kelly Missy, the Rambling River board. Um, what an awesome official opening to our Rambling River Center. Um, Kelly, your comments were just outstanding and they just really hit the right notes. So, thank you so much. and just want to thank everybody that was able to be there to celebrate. The weather was beautiful. So, the building's actually kind of been open for a month or two since the city celebration, but uh you know, it's a great building to uh consider joining the senior center. I'm a member myself and uh you know, it's just a great community and would encourage everybody to check it out. So, thank you again, David. [40:37] Diana: Thank you, acting mayor and councel. I just wanted to note that last Wednesday we hosted the EDA collaborated with DCTC technical college to provide an AI for business training and we had approximately 20 businesses represented at the training and it was very wellreceived. So, thank you to the businesses that accepted the invitation to um spend a couple hours with us. brushing off their knowledge and adding to their knowledge about AI. Our intention is to continue to offer workshops and other tools for our business community. So stay tuned. Thank you, [41:21] John: Thank you, acting mayor and city council members. In 2021, the EPA uh put forth rules, new uh lead and copper rule, made revisions to those rules. Uh this required that water suppliers uh provide an inventory of their service material types uh with an initial inventory being provided to the Minnesota Department of Health by October of last year. The city was successful in doing that after extensive research and mailings with the property owners. During that process, uh Eric Whitmer, our public works superintendent, found that there were some grants available to help us continue this research. Uh it was a very straightforward grant. So he applied for it. We recently found out that we received a $75,000 grant to help us continue researching materials and it's a wonderful grant because we don't even handle the money. The Minnesota Department of Health contracts with the firm. They do the work. Their bills go directly to the Department of Health and they track everything. So we don't have any bookkeeping to do with that. So, we're very thankful to the Minnesota Department of Health providing that support so we can continue our research and uh records inventory and and reaching out to property owners and helping them identify what they have. [42:37] Kelly: Good evening, acting mayor and city council members. Uh, tomorrow is open door popup food pantry at the Rambling River Center, 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Uh, next Wednesday, August 27th, uh, sorry, Nick, the last Music in the Park concert for the season. Uh, at Round River Park, it's the Riverside Rockets, uh, 1950s Rock and Roll. I believe all the other ones have been indoors this summer. So, we're hoping for a good night next Wednesday. And just want to thank everybody for coming out to the grand reopening and ribbon cutting. was a a really fun event and great to have uh everyone show up for that. So, thank you, [43:18] Acting Mayor Bernance: Kim. [43:20] Kim: I don't have any comments tonight, [43:22] Chief Price: Tired of me talking, but again, Caitlyn, it's an honor to have you in our ranks. Um, keep up the great work. And we have our open house September 17th. Uh, the new location this year is going to be a fire station one. Uh, we're going to incorporate some of our training. um the live burn trailer, the our SCBA training trailer, um kind of get that set up. So, we want to start incorporating that into our open house. So, again, follow us on the social media as all the times, everything that's going to happen. And I believe we're going to have some food trucks this year. So, again, September 17th. Thank you. [44:02] Acting Mayor Bernance: All right. Not Nate [44:04] Police Representative: Nate. I've got just two things. Uh 70 pounds of food was donated on National Night Out that was uh moved on to the food shelf and then also the fence project started at the police department today. [44:14] Acting Mayor Bernance: Fantastic. All right. Thank you all for uh muddling through with me. I think we did okay, huh? Just fine. Yeah, we're squeezing every last drop out of summer. National Night Out was a ton of fun. Uh, I got to ride along with uh, Officer Redmond and uh, my dog came with and I have bruises to prove that she does not like um, squad cars. So, we won't necessarily be doing that again anytime soon, but I think the kids really enjoyed it. Um, and we are unlikely to see you all necessarily again before the school buses start running. So, just a general reminder that um stop means stop, red lights means stop, little kids moving around and darting in between and out of homes is going to be our reality in a very short period of time. So, keep your eyes open to the movement that happens um once school comes back. And I think besides another congratulations and a thank you uh to Caitlyn and to the family and also to the fire department for being here to support. We can seek a motion to adjurnn. [45:19] Council Member Cortis: Motion. [45:21] Council Member Wilson: Second. [45:23] Acting Mayor Bernance: Motion by Steve, second by Jake. We are adjourned at 7:40. Oh, do I? You don't have to vote. I don't have to vote. Okay. All in favor of adjourning. [45:34] Council: I I [45:37] Acting Mayor Bernance: right. Uh, we are adjourned at 7:45.