This transcript features the Faribault City Council. Based on the context provided and the phonetic matches in the text, I have identified the speakers (including correcting the phonetic transcriptions of names like "Dumbuya" for **Adama Youhn Doumbouya** and "Ponsky" for **Rochelle Anderholm-Parsch**). *Note: While the provided list identifies Thomas J. Spooner as Mayor, the transcript audio and roll call identify him as a Council Member responding to the Mayor (identified in the text as Mayor Kevin Voracek). I have labeled the presiding officer as **Mayor** to maintain clarity.* *** [0:13] **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Doumbouya? **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Here. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Ross? **Royal Ross:** Here. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** van Sluis? **Peter van Sluis:** Here. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Spooner? **Thomas J. Spooner:** Here. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Thiele? **Chuck Thiele:** Here. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Mayor? **Mayor:** Here. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. **All:** 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. [0:45] **Mayor:** All right, I need a motion and a second to approve tonight's agenda if there's no corrections needed. **Peter van Sluis:** So moved. **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Second. [0:52] **Mayor:** Motion by Council Member van Sluis, second by Council Member Doumbouya. All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye. **Mayor:** Opposed? That passes. We have a presentation tonight for the Night to Unite. [1:00] [Music] [1:13] **Mayor:** And you'll have to face this way. Office of the Mayor, City of Faribault Proclamation. Whereas the Minnesota Crime Prevention Association, along with AAA of Minnesota/Iowa and local law enforcement agencies, are sponsoring a statewide program called Night to Unite on August 6th; whereas Night to Unite is designed to get to know one another in your neighborhood, build neighborhood involvement by bringing police together to bring awareness to crime prevention and local law enforcement; whereas Night to Unite supports the idea that crime prevention is an effective tool; [1:58] whereas Night to Unite has opportunities to celebrate the ongoing work of law enforcement and neighborhoods in Faribault by working together to fight crime and victimization; whereas the citizens of Faribault play an important role in assisting the Faribault Police Department through joint crime, drug, and violence prevention. Now, therefore, I, Mayor Kevin Voracek, do hereby call upon all citizens in Faribault to participate in Night to Unite on August 6th, 2024. Further let it be resolved that I, Mayor Kevin Voracek, do hereby proclaim Tuesday, August 6th, 2024, Night to Unite in Faribault, Minnesota. Got some good news for us and [2:43] places where they can go if their neighborhood doesn't have one, right? Um, elaborate a little bit. [3:02] **John Sherwin (Police Chief):** We have events planned. We'll start at the library from five to seven. If you don't have one in your neighborhood, there are a lot of community events. [4:45] **Mayor:** All right, back to the agenda. I need a motion to approve the minutes of the July 9th, 2024, City Council meeting and the July 16th, 2024, special City Council meeting. **Royal Ross:** Moved. **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Second. [4:57] **Mayor:** Motion by Council Member Ross, second by Council Member Doumbouya. All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye. **Mayor:** Opposed? We have no request to be heard tonight, so we'll move on to Consent Agenda items 6a through 6q. Anybody have anything they want pulled for discussion? Seeing nothing, I would just like to thank the anonymous donor for the donation to the Fire Department and the Police Department that's in there. So thank you for those; they always help. All right, I'll take a motion and a second to approve those. **Thomas J. Spooner:** Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve a through q. **Royal Ross:** Second. [5:32] **Mayor:** Motion by Council Member Spooner, seconded by Council Member Ross. All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye. **Mayor:** Opposed? That passes. All right, we'll move on to items for discussion. Because we have no public hearings tonight, items for discussion: Ordinance 2024-14, amending Chapter 18 of the City Code of Ordinances, first reading. Over to Director Anderholm-Parsch. **Rochelle Anderholm-Parsch (Parks and Recreation Director):** Mayor and members of the Council, this ordinance regards alcohol in the city parks and it was last updated in 1980. A discussion was held with the City Council at your committee meetings on May 21st, 2024. Currently, at all parks, alcohol is not permitted unless you have a special permit [6:20] with the exception of North Alexander. North Alexander is the only one that would allow canned beer to be in that park. We know that picnics in the parks have a lot of people that have different types of beverages, and there are a lot of different types of beverages than there were back in the '80s when this was originally put together, this ordinance. So as a department, we decided it was time to take a look at all that and allow more alcohol to be allowed in the park so that when somebody's having a picnic, they'll be able to have a couple of drinks and stuff if they so desire. This does not replace keg beer, and it does still require all alcohol to be in cans or bottles within the park system. The City Attorney has reviewed this [7:07] particular ordinance change that we're looking at. It's very minor changes that we're making, just allowing alcohol to be in the different parks. There will be a second reading on August 14th also with this, so I can answer any questions for this particular ordinance change. **Mayor:** Thank you, Director Anderholm-Parsch. Any questions? **Royal Ross:** Um, did the Parks Committee weigh in on this? **Rochelle Anderholm-Parsch (Parks and Recreation Director):** Park and Rec Board did take a look at this; it was discussed at their meeting. I don't believe we took a vote on it, but it was discussed that we were looking at it and they were in favor of it as well. **Royal Ross:** Okay, thank you. That's all. [7:53] **Mayor:** Okay, anything else? At one point, wasn't there a license to get a keg permit? **Rochelle Anderholm-Parsch (Parks and Recreation Director):** There still is a permit that you would need for a keg. So if you are going to get a keg, you still need to get a special permit. We still want to know if that's occurring because we assume that's going to be a larger gathering if they do something like that. **Mayor:** Sure. Okay, just wanted to clarify that was still there. **Rochelle Anderholm-Parsch (Parks and Recreation Director):** Yes. **Mayor:** Perfect. With that, there's no other questions, I would take a motion and a second to approve Ordinance 2024-14 on the first reading. **Peter van Sluis:** Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-14. **Royal Ross:** Second. [8:39] **Mayor:** Okay, I got a motion by Council Member van Sluis, seconded by Council Member Ross, and it is a roll call, being an ordinance. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Barnes? **Mandy Barnes:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Doumbouya? **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Ross? **Royal Ross:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** van Sluis? **Peter van Sluis:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Spooner? **Thomas J. Spooner:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Thiele? **Chuck Thiele:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Mayor? **Mayor:** Aye. It passes first reading. We'll move on to Ordinance 2024-15, amending Chapter 24 of the Faribault City Code of Ordinances, first reading. Again over to Director Anderholm-Parsch. [8:55] **Rochelle Anderholm-Parsch (Parks and Recreation Director):** Mayor and members of the Council, the tree ordinance is even older than our alcohol ordinance was; this one was last updated in 1971 when we were dealing with Dutch Elm disease. The changes in this particular ordinance are bringing it more current and being a little bit more generic to allow for the current Emerald Ash Borer that we're dealing with, as well as whatever disease may come next as far as maintaining and treating trees. This particular ordinance change has been reviewed by the Park and Recreation Board as well as the Tree Board. The City Attorney's office has also gone through and reviewed this particular ordinance for us. There is the one addition that we talked about that is added into the ordinance that was not in the previous ordinance, and that just specifies that all trees on boulevards are the responsibility of the landowner; that applies to tree removal as well as general maintenance. So with that, I can answer any questions. **Mayor:** Thank you, Director Anderholm-Parsch. Any questions or statements? I did like to see that you raised it to 8 feet on sidewalks because I know I've taken a bird scooter once in a while and some of those branches are awful low, and even walking they're pretty low. **Rochelle Anderholm-Parsch (Parks and Recreation Director):** I believe that was a change the Park Board pushed [10:12] because they had kids that were riding bikes and they were hitting branches. **Mayor:** So it's nice to see that. All right, there's no other questions, I would take a motion and a second to approve this. **Chuck Thiele:** Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-15. **Mandy Barnes:** Second. [10:17] **Mayor:** Motion by Council Member Thiele, second by Council Member Barnes. And it is another roll call. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Barnes? **Mandy Barnes:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Doumbouya? **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Ross? **Royal Ross:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** van Sluis? **Peter van Sluis:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Spooner? **Thomas J. Spooner:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Thiele? **Chuck Thiele:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Mayor? **Mayor:** Aye. That passes first reading. Right, we'll continue on. Ordinance 2024-11, amend Chapter 17 of the Faribault City Code of Ordinances to regulate city code violations within the city. This is second reading. Over to Administrator Kinser. [11:00] **Jessica Kinser (City Administrator):** Yes, this is an addition to Chapter 17, which is titled "Offenses," and provides the language that the city would need to start an administrative citation process as part of our enforcement. And so, there are still additional steps that we'll need to take, including a discussion with you at some point at a work session as to whether or not you would like to be the hearing body for any appeals. So more to come on this; this is definitely not the last time that we've talked about it, but this is a great first step for providing another tool in our toolbox when it comes to enforcement of a variety of offenses that are listed in our Code of Ordinances. **Mayor:** Perfect. Any questions on second reading for Administrator Kinser on this? Seeing none, I would take a motion [11:46] and a second. **Thomas J. Spooner:** Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-11. **Peter van Sluis:** Second. **Mayor:** Got a motion by Council Member Spooner, second by Council Member van Sluis, and this is a roll call. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Barnes? **Mandy Barnes:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Doumbouya? **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Ross? **Royal Ross:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** van Sluis? **Peter van Sluis:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Spooner? **Thomas J. Spooner:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Thiele? **Chuck Thiele:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Mayor? **Mayor:** Aye. That passes. All right, I need a motion and a second to approve a summary publication of Ordinance 2024-11. **Royal Ross:** So moved. **Peter van Sluis:** Second. **Mayor:** Motion by Council Member Ross, second by Council Member van Sluis. All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye. **Mayor:** Opposed? That passes. All right, we'll move on to Ordinance 2024-12, amend Chapter 16 to update notification and other requirements, and back over to [12:31] Administrator Kinser. **Jessica Kinser (City Administrator):** Yes, this is related to the administrative citation. There's some processes that are set forth in terms of notifications that were not in our nuisance chapter, and so we're really updating the notification requirements in the nuisance chapter to be more in line with what we were actually doing, and then changing some other language—some pronouns and things. **Mayor:** Okay, any questions for Administrator Kinser on this item? This is second reading on this. I would take a motion and a second to approve Ordinance 2024-12. **Mandy Barnes:** So moved. **Chuck Thiele:** Second. [13:21] **Mayor:** Motion by Council Member Barnes, seconded by Council Member Thiele, and it is a roll call. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Barnes? **Mandy Barnes:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Doumbouya? **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Ross? **Royal Ross:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** van Sluis? **Peter van Sluis:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Spooner? **Thomas J. Spooner:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Thiele? **Chuck Thiele:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Mayor? **Mayor:** Aye. All right, I need a motion and a second to approve the summary publication of Ordinance 2024-12. **Peter van Sluis:** So moved. **Chuck Thiele:** Second. **Mayor:** I got Council Member van Sluis with a motion and I got Council Member Thiele with a second. All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye. **Mayor:** Opposed? That passes. We'll move on to Ordinance 2024-13, vacating a drainage and utility easement at 1708 13th Street Northwest, second reading. Over to Director Wanberg. [13:30] **David Wanberg (Community & Economic Development Director):** Thank you, Mayor and Council. This is the second reading as you mentioned; it's an unnecessary drainage and utility easement. We have made no changes to the ordinance since the first reading and recommend that you approve the second reading of this, and then with a separate motion, approve the summary publication. **Mayor:** Perfect. Thank you, Director Wanberg. Any questions [14:06] for Director Wanberg on the second reading of vacation? I'd take a motion and a second to approve. **Royal Ross:** Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-13. **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Second. **Mayor:** We got a motion by Council Member Ross, second by Council Member Doumbouya, and it is another roll call. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Barnes? **Mandy Barnes:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Doumbouya? **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Ross? **Royal Ross:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** van Sluis? **Peter van Sluis:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Spooner? **Thomas J. Spooner:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Thiele? **Chuck Thiele:** Aye. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Mayor? **Mayor:** Aye. That passes. Need a motion and a second to approve the summary publication of Ordinance 2024-13. **Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** So moved. **Chuck Thiele:** Second. **Mayor:** I got Council Member Doumbouya with a motion and I got Council Member Thiele with a second. All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye. **Mayor:** Opposed? That passes. We have no bids tonight. Any board commission reports, announcements, or project [14:52] updates? How was the Fair, Council Member van Sluis? **Peter van Sluis:** I was out of town, but we think the Fair was very good. We don't have the final financial report yet, but if anyone of you attended, it was safe, it was clean, the weather was perfect. It was a good attendance; it was just a fun environment. **Mayor:** Yeah, that sounds wonderful. You didn't get the normal thunderstorms, tornadoes, and heatstrokes. **Peter van Sluis:** We had a little bit of rain on Sunday. It was just slightly underneath what we needed for a rain insurance payout, but we had to postpone the demolition derby by one hour, but it was all good. [15:38] And this year we had the remote control demolition derby prior to the derby and it was actually a lot of people; we had people coming from South Dakota and North Dakota to base their cars. **Mayor:** Awesome, that's awesome. All right, and that means Blue Collar is the next festival and that's only two weekends away. So hopefully the weather holds. Along those lines, meetings were hit or miss for meetings—Riverbend Ramble is in August. Right around the corner, check the Riverbend website for all the details. And primaries are on August 13th. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** I do have one more thing to ask though on that. We will be getting our abstract back hopefully on the 14th or 15th after the election, and since this is our first primary in a really long time, [16:24] we're going to have to ratify those results and approve that resolution on those results. I'm wondering if you guys can meet like either at 7:00 or 7:30 on Friday, August 16th, just to pass that resolution. Once we have that abstract, it's a Friday; I believe we only have about three days for that to happen. **Mayor:** Okay, hold on. A very quick turnaround on that primary. Did we meet earlier? Your proposed time was what? **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Like 7:00 in the morning, like it would be a morning. **Mayor:** We could do morning, yeah. 7:00, not on a Friday evening. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** No, I would not expect that. 7:30 a.m., 7:00 or 7:30 a.m. **Peter van Sluis:** Do you just need a [17:10] majority of the Council? Because I'll be out of town. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** I do need a majority of the Council to be there for that. I believe that Rice County is also canvassing that at 8:30, so I thought it would be a quick, easy... **Royal Ross:** Yep, I'll be around in the morning. I can be there. **Peter van Sluis:** Okay, 8:30 sounds a lot better than 7:30 a.m. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** It's Friday the 16th. Does 8:00 a.m. work better? I was thinking before people went to work. Hey Mandy, can you make it? **Mandy Barnes:** Yeah, that's early for me too. **Thomas J. Spooner:** Well, I'll be there if you need me. **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Absolutely we need you. All right, let's try to do 8:00 then. How about 8:00 on Friday the 16th? And can you send us all a meeting invite so it lands in our account? **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** Yes, yeah. If something happens and I don't have the abstract, I'll let you all know. Thanks. **Mayor:** Perfect. Do you still need more election judges? **Heather Slechta (City Clerk):** No, I think we're good for this election, but I will definitely need election judges for the general election in November. [18:14] So you're still taking applications. **Mayor:** All right, talk about that for the radio show tomorrow. Okay, anything else of noteworthy? Oh no. Okay, I will take a motion and a second to adjourn. **Royal Ross:** So moved. **Peter van Sluis:** Second. **Mayor:** Motion by Councilman Ross, second by Councilman van Sluis. All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye. **Mayor:** Good night and good luck. We're going to move to the public meeting room for a special...