This transcript is from the **September 5, 2023**, Farmington City Council meeting. Please note that while your provided context lists Nick Lien as Mayor, during this 2023 session, **Joshua Hoyt** was serving as Mayor and **Nick Lien** was serving as a Councilmember. [0:01] foreign [Music] [Music] [0:48] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. We'll call the City Council regular meeting to order for Tuesday, September 5th, 2023. Would everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? [1:12] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** ...indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Call the roll, please. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Here. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Here. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Here. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Here. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. Uh, if there's not any changes to the agenda, a motion—excuse me. **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** I'd like to pull item 7-3 from the consent agenda, the Amendment One to the construction service scope and budget for the Aiken Road Improvement. I'd like to pull this item for staff to take a little bit more time looking into some additional options that we may have. [1:49] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. Thank you, ma'am. Any other changes or adjustments to the agenda? Then we look for a motion to approve the agenda with the reduction of item 7-3 from the consent agenda. [1:59] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion. **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Second. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Nick. All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. We'll move on to our citizen comments, and there's no one here, so we'll move right on to the consent agenda. Uh, I'm going to add what would be 7 Tac 12. I'm going to add: at our last council meeting, Mr. Pritzlaw was here and had a four-page statement that he wanted to read, and so I'd like to have that added as a part of the um, either added as 7-12, or would we just amend the official minutes to 7-1 to include his page? [2:45] **City Attorney:** Could we do the consent as posted and then address this as like in maybe uh 12, New Business, that the Council will like receive his comments? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Okay. Does that sound good? **City Attorney:** Absolutely. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Okay, whatever the attorney says we do. I'll make a motion to approve—yep, the consent agenda, excepting 7.3. **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion. **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Second. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Nick. All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye. [3:12] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. We'll move on to our public hearings. The next item on the agenda is 8 Tac 1. Now, this is a public hearing, so I'd like to open the public hearing at this time for the consideration of Resolution Number R58-23 certifying the 2024 property tax levy recommendation by the Farmington Economic Development Authority. Deanna? [3:38] **Deanna Kuennen (Community and Economic Development Director):** Thank you, Mayor and Council. Tonight, I thought I would provide a little bit of background on what an EDA Levy is and how we have the authority to request such a levy. Minnesota statutes allow cities, at the request of an EDA, to levy a tax to support specific economic development activities. The cities can levy up to 0.01813 of the city's taxable market value, and based on the 2023 taxable market value, that would be over five hundred thousand dollars that we are allowed by statutes to levy. The City of Farmington has not had an EDA Levy, and this levy that's being requested would provide a dedicated funding source for specific economic development programming. The Farmington Economic Development Authority has met and talked about this at multiple meetings, and they're requesting a hundred and fifty thousand dollar levy as part of the 2024 budget, which is significantly less than what is allowed per statute. Again, this proposed levy would support economic development efforts and the city's priority of quality business growth and retention. Some of the things that have been identified in that Economic Development Authority's work plan for 2024 that this funding would support would be strategic memberships for generating business leads and marketing, targeted business recruitment efforts, specific program developments such as a revolving loan fund, and then other efforts and initiatives that advance the city's vision. The process to establish a levy as identified in the statutes is: the EDA must pass a resolution recommending a specific amount to be included for EDA purposes—and again, there's a maximum that that could be, and the request from the Farmington EDA is much less than what the maximum would be. The City Council is asked then to notice for a public hearing, and that was done a few meetings ago. Then the City Council must conduct a required public hearing after proper notice and then take action either to adopt or not adopt a resolution authorizing the proposed levy. Those are the steps where we're at tonight, and then if authorized, the City Council adopts and certifies a proposed and final levy, and then we have to publish this in the newspaper. So that is the process; that's why we're here tonight, and I'm happy to answer any questions. I've worked very closely with the City Attorney who's also here tonight to answer questions about the process. [6:20] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, ma'am. Uh, any questions? Steve? [6:25] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yeah, Deanna, I really appreciate all the work that you put into this. One question just to kind of remind Council and actually inform the public: so if we adopt this, the process is actually a little bit different in subsequent years, correct? [6:36] **Deanna Kuennen:** Correct. And you know, maybe the process that we're going through tonight is to establish the levy, which is why we have to have a special public hearing. Since the Farmington City Council has never had an EDA Levy, going forward there's still resolutions that have to be adopted by the EDA and those brought forward and incorporated as part of the future budget cycles, but there's no additional separate public hearing associated with the EDA Levy. [7:08] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** All right. I think that's our understanding at this point. Great job, Deanna. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Didn't mean to leave you hanging. **Deanna Kuennen:** I'm good. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nick? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** No questions for me. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? [7:23] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Um, the only question that I have actually just has a little bit more to do with um, like information sharing. And obviously you had the opportunity—you could have come forward with a request for up to 500,000 plus dollars. Your decision, um, to instead um, move forward with a hundred and fifty thousand dollars—explain that a little bit. Explain, um, you know, ultimately where did that number come from and how is that a solid number for an EDA Levy? [8:00] **Deanna Kuennen:** Sure, thank you for that. Um, we have put a lot of time and energy into identifying specific things that we can't accomplish with the resources that we have, and then building upon the momentum that we've had going this year. And so we've looked at people resources and identified things that we can accomplish in-house, and then we've looked at some timing factors and then really spent um, just analyzing that time—analyzing what makes sense, what can we pursue, what are we ready to pursue, and how can this EDA Levy start building some additional funding for us moving forward? And so 150,000 is um, definitely way less than what we are allowed to levy up to or request. However, we couldn't come up with enough things that we felt like we could responsibly accomplish by coming forward in year one asking for the full levy. So this moves us forward significantly in a responsible way where we'll feel very confident that we can accomplish what we've identified in the proposed work plan and report back to both the EDA and the City Council with our accomplishments. Every year the EDA will be—well, you know, if this moves forward—every year the EDA will be looking at a levy, and they will analyze that request based on the accomplishments of the previous year and what we feel again that we can responsibly do moving forward. So we put a lot of effort into identifying a number that made sense and that we felt confident in that we could make a significant impact, but being, you know, mindful that this is part of a bigger, you know, ask of a budget that the Council has to consider. [9:36] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Okay, thank you. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** I don't have any questions respective of the presentation. I appreciate it. Because this is a public hearing, this would be the time where any residents or anyone in attendance could come up and speak. Seeing none, I will close the public hearing at this time. And at this point, Council would deliberate, and we can converse about or make any comments before I'd ask for a motion to either approve or deny the tax levy. Nick, would you like to start if you have anything? [10:18] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Why is that? I mean, we've discussed this at length. We've all been present for those things, so I have no disagreement with where we ended up on it. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** I would agree. I'm feeling all of the information shared is consistent. I think it's a responsible ask. I'm good. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Steve? [10:30] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** I'm good. The only thing that I'm going to add, just a little formality for or clarification for our residents: because at our last council meeting, we had some comments about it. I think there's a natural assumption within economic development that staff already has the capacity to do things, there's already enough money there and all the things, and yet the appointed representatives from different bodies that have comprised the EDA over the years have not exercised this option. And this is not only a council priority, but it is also a pain point of our residents and our businesses, right? Alleviating the tax burden. And so how do you alleviate a tax burden by adding more taxes, right? You have to increase capacity, and that's what this levy is going to do. The Economic Development Authority, which is the City Council at this time, has spent several meetings in extensive dialogue regarding what those actions are going to be, what the metrics are, and how we're going to measure our success. And we—we asked your team: what are you going to do? How are you going to do it? Do you want more? Where do you need? And uh, you and your team were—to Holly's question or comment—you're being stewards of the tax dollars. You very specifically said, even if you gave us more, absent buying land or doing something else, we only have a certain capacity. And so next year, 2024, subject to an approval here, this is a year of turning the page for economic development. This is an opportunity for our residents to invest in our economic development and our future. And that's what we're ultimately going to decide on this evening is um, making that next step forward and doing that. So I appreciate all the time you put into it and the dialogue and the very analytical approach that you have to the proposal that you brought forward. So thank you. [12:35] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** With that, I would seek a motion to adopt Resolution R58-23 certifying the 2024 property tax levy recommendation by the Farmington Economic Development Authority. **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Motion. **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Second. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Holly, second by Steve. Call the roll, please. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. [13:16] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. We'll move on to item 10-1, which is the ordinance amending Section 10-6-29, chickens on urban residential lots. Tony? All wanted to talk about this evening, right? [13:33] **Tony Wippler (Planning/Zoning):** Thank you, Mayor, Councilmembers. Uh, this evening I do have an ordinance amendment before you, as Mayor Hoyt had mentioned, it's to Section 10-6-29 of the zoning ordinance as it relates to chickens on urban residential lots. Uh, the original ordinance was approved back in 2013. The proposal that we have before you this evening is an attempt to make the process of obtaining such a permit a little less cumbersome for the residents. Uh, the substantive changes that are being proposed uh, include the following: making the initial permit administrative; removing the requirement of a public hearing for that initial permit. The proposed code does though, however, provide that adjacent property owners at least be notified that the city did receive an application. Removing the requirement that the property be located within an R-1 zoning district—this allows for a permit on any property developed for a single-family dwelling within a residential zoning district. Identifying the exterior finishing materials for the coop and run along with proposed construction methods. Adding verbiage under Section A, adding in number four, basically stating that any other information that the Zoning Administrator deems necessary to evaluate the application for compliance with the requirements of this section and this code. Changing the time period for approval of administrative renewal permit from yearly to every two years from the date of that initial approval. Adding verbiage within the code that eggs from chickens are for personal use and consumption by the owners of the chickens and may not be offered for sale or sold. And then the last bigger change is increasing the number of hen chickens allowed from three to four. The Planning Commission did uh, review this ordinance and held the public hearing at its uh, August 8th regular meeting. They did recommend approval of this ordinance and the attached summary ordinance with a vote of 5-0. The action as requested this evening is to approve and pass Ordinance Number 023-774 and the summary ordinance thereof amending Title 10, Chapter 6, Section 29 of the Farmington City Code as it relates to chickens on residential lots. Any questions? [16:03] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, sir. Steve, any questions? [16:05] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yeah, Tony, I have one. Um, paragraph F was added for what reason? In other words, was there a problem that came up to add the "not to be sold"? [16:11] **Tony Wippler:** That was a request of the Planning Commission. Um, we have a total of nine active permits in the community. We have not had a single issue with any of those nine permits. We've approved a total of 15 from 2013 when it was approved to last year. You know, the handful that are no longer active are because they either moved or they just decided to stop having the chickens. But no, we have not had a specific issue. That was specifically from the Chair of the Planning Commission; he wanted to have that verbiage placed in there as that was never the intent of that code. [17:03] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Okay, thank you. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** No questions. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nick? [17:15] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** I suppose I have a similar question. This is—it'll probably get me a little weird off-topic—but if someone wanted to open like an egg sale place, I mean, would that have to go in like a commercial district then, and then we run into the conflict with...? [17:28] **Tony Wippler:** It would likely have to go into a commercial district. But the ordinance specifically says "residential agricultural district" where it has to be agricultural at that point, right? Which doesn't really exist aside from pre-existing land. **Councilmember Nick Lien:** We'll let that concerned—that's probably my only question I guess. Oh good, it's a strange topic. I could talk about chickens for a long time but um, no, that's all I got for now I guess. [18:09] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** So part of the um—I'm reading here that the renewal permit from yearly to every two years from the date of initial approval. Um, in terms of code compliance, this is not something that we are going out in—we're proactively looking at and intersecting. And you know, chickens—you want a dog, have chickens, have a dog, have a certain number, right? Nick, on your point: about once you start transacting with food, you fall into a whole slew of requirements with the Health Department and everything else. Someone wants to sell them here, you've been warned, right? You've been warned. Um, I don't have any other comments or questions for you. I would look for a motion to approve the ordinance amendment. [18:55] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** I want to make sure I read this right—the ordinance number 023-774? [19:00] **Tony Wippler:** Yes. **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** The action request is to approve and pass Ordinance Number 023-774 and the summary ordinance thereof amending Title 10, Chapter 6, Section 29 of the Farmington City Code as it relates to chickens on residential lots. Motion to approve. [19:09] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Holly. Call the roll, please. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you very much. **Tony Wippler:** Thank you, sir. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, chickens and EDA tax levy, we're all good. We'll move on to our Roundtable—New Business. [19:43] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Oh yeah, New Business. Yeah, you brought up um, wanting to include Mr. Pritzlaw's comments in the packet for tonight. Is that fair to say? Correct. Yeah, I was curious on if the Clerk had an opinion on how exactly that should be included or not included, or if Lynn has anything to add. Mr. Pritzlaw had submitted—he had a four-page pack that he wanted to read. He didn't get to be able to read through it, so I gave a copy to Shirley to make sure that she has it. Can that just be added as an addendum to the minutes? [20:23] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** I think adding it to the minutes is going to be easier to find in the future. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Okay. Okay, so your motion would be to add and then describe it to the minutes. So I would seek a motion to approve the addition of David Pritzlaw's four-page resident comments from the prior city council meeting to the official minutes of our council meeting dated August 21st, 2023. [20:51] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Can I ask a question? Absolutely. Okay, so I'm okay with this approach, but is the Council taking a slippery slope whereby a resident could theoretically say, "I wasn't able to make the meeting, but I've got this packet of information that I want to give to you. Can you include that in the minutes also?" I mean, I—I just want to be careful because I think it's worthy to put Mr. Pritzlaw's comments in the minutes, but I also worry that we're going to be traveling down a hill that we may want to—we just got to be a little careful, I think. [21:40] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** So I would seek legal guidance here. **City Attorney Leah Koch:** Yeah, certainly I can understand the concern, right? Once you start doing something, it's hard to like turn that bus around, especially if you have consistency bias, right? But you can make a choice today to include it and then another day to not have that motion pass, and there wouldn't be an issue with that. But I appreciate Councilmember Wilson's concerns about kind of the integrity of the minutes being an important thing that we shouldn't get used to changing. [22:24] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Can we adjust the motion slightly? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** There's no—I had—I was seeking a motion, so one had not been made if one would want to make a motion. So no motion is on the floor. **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Can we seek a motion to include Mr. Pritzlaw's comments because he was unable to speak them at a meeting that he attended, and therefore we would like to include the four-page document in the minutes in lieu of his ability to actually vocalize what it was that he wanted? Correct. [22:42] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** So in this—in this situation, Mr. Pritzlaw has been at a few prior Council meetings. He has spoken during citizen comments regarding the Aiken Road Project. Um, he was granted time outside of the typical five minutes, and due to other agenda items, we wanted to be respectful of all parties that were here and the agenda as it sat. And he is out of the area and was not going to be in attendance. Um, but he wanted to have them added to the official minutes because he was unable to complete his comments. [23:25] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** My—yeah, the only difference for me is that he was in attendance. Recognizing that he was in attendance, actually, would it be with the most accurate motion: the inclusion because the five-minute rule limited his full reading of his comments? I mean, because that's really why we're doing it, because they weren't allowed to be read in completion. Correct. [24:04] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Correct. The motion that I'm seeking is just the addition to the minutes. The basis by which is for us to discuss if we want to, and any future situations would be subject to us to discuss as well. **Councilmember Nick Lien:** I'll second Holly's motion. I don't know if you made one. **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Oh, you didn't? I thought I did make one. Oh okay, but maybe not. [24:34] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** I am going to—it's getting late. I'm looking for a motion to have David Pritzlaw's comments from the August 21st regular city council meeting citizens comments portion to be added to the official minutes. **Councilmember Nick Lien:** So moved. **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Nick, second by Holly. All in favor? **Council:** Aye. [25:01] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. Roundtable. Nick, you're up. **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Thank you. I'll follow up that um—I'll probably take everyone's thunder here, but please drive safe. School's back in session. The Chief put out a nice message about rules for the—or actually, the Chief and Marshal put out nice rules about obeying bus laws. Um, don't be one of those people that's breaking those rules. Probably about it. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? [25:29] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Um, yes, that, and um, I had seen that Ken Lewis retired after 22 years of service to the city, so a happy retirement to him. Well deserved. Thank you. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Steve? [25:42] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yeah, I wanted to acknowledge that piece as well, so thanks Holly for bringing that up. Yeah, Ken is—I asked Ken if he recalled how big the population of the city was when he started, and he thought it was about—I think somebody threw out 16,000, and I said, "No, it had to be more like nine or ten thousand." Is that what we thought, Tony? Somewhere about that, between nine to ten thousand. But one question I asked him which might be of interest to Council: I said, "You know how close..." because one thing Ken did for the city is he would estimate the population based on single-family or multi-family construction. And I said, "You know how close were your numbers to the Met Council?" And he said they were almost always spot on, which I think is cool because he's providing estimates based on the number. Um, I want to give a huge kudos to Kelly. Um, that bus tour last week was awesome, and how you lined up a brand-new bus and an awesome driver. I mean, huge bonus there, and we survived the hot weather. Um, Kelly, I also want to thank you and whomever else was involved in the facility study report that we saw. It was just a really good report. Um, you know, just—there was obviously a lot of collaboration there, so nice job. Thank you. [27:07] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Leah? **City Attorney Leah Koch:** Yes, uh, Governor Walz's Commission on Judicial Selection recommended a few people for uh, two empty seats in Dakota County for the bench. So, something you can look into in Google; they have little bios about the people who have been selected, and then Governor Walz will be making an appointment for the bench. So you can learn more about a great branch of government. Thanks. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. Lynn? [27:33] **City Administrator/Staff (Lynn):** Well, I'd like to send a special thank you to Dakota County Regional Chamber for being our partner, and they helped the City of Farmington host Amy Klobuchar at an event at Aerospace Fabrication. It was a good event, and we had some good conversations, so thanks to them. And I'd also like to thank John Moore for his bus chauffeur services that he provided for our parks tour. So, thank you. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. Shirley? **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Nothing for me tonight. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Julie? [28:10] **Julie (Human Resources):** Consent agenda tonight you approved the hiring of three new full-time employees: two police officers and Ken's replacement as the Building Official. So, all three will start in the next two weeks. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. Deanna? [28:25] **Deanna Kuennen:** I just wanted to mention this—you'll all receive invitations as well—but on September 19th at one o'clock, there'll be the groundbreaking for The Emory. The Emory is the apartments—the Ebert Construction apartments. And construction—you've probably noticed that there's fences up and some traffic control signs, but that is starting. So it will be called The Emory to honor the history here in Farmington. And again, on the 19th at one o'clock, there'll be a groundbreaking. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. John? [28:58] **John Powell (Public Works Director):** Thank you, Mayor and Councilmembers. A few notes on road activities. Um, as mentioned, work at the apartment building has started, so the parking spots on the west side will be blocked off for a while. Excuse me, while they disconnect the utilities over in that area. In the future, there will be a short-term closure of Third Street to actually connect the new utilities—sanitary sewer and water in the roadway—but that'll be a short-term closure. Um, Flagstaff and County Road 50: the County is waiting for Frontier to relocate their facilities. They don't have a set schedule for when that's going to happen, so that turn modification keeps getting pushed back. On Spruce Street: that is not the uh, the City doing construction out there; that is FAA doing construction on their storm sewer outfall. Just to clarify that; we tried to coordinate that with our schedule and it just didn't work out. Also on Pilot Knob, another County project: they appear to have all the paving done for the turn lane at 206th Street, so that's moving forward. And on a very sad note, we extend our condolences to the family of Tom Kaldonski. Tom was former Public Works Director and City Engineer for the City of Farmington. He recently retired from the City of Inver Grove Heights as their City Engineer. I knew Tom for decades being in the business, uh, but he passed away last week. [30:22] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, sir. Kelly? [30:27] **Kelly (Parks & Recreation):** It's hard to believe it's time, but Friday is the second annual fall food truck event at Empire hosted by Farmington Parks and Recreation Commission and the Empire Parks and Recreation Commission. We have seven food trucks. They will be there Friday night at Stezall Ballfields from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. Looks like it's going to be a good night, so I hope to see everybody there. And then on Saturday, we have our last Movie in the Park for the season at Distad Park. 5:30 PM kids' dance, followed by the movie *Hocus Pocus* at dusk, which we're assuming—or thinking—about 7:30 PM. So grab your blanket and some popcorn and come out and watch the movie with us. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. Chris? [31:19] **Chris (Finance Dept):** This Council may be aware, um, the City will be going through uh, um a financial accounting and payroll um utility billing conversion in 2024. We received news last week that our scheduled go-live date of September 1 of 2024 has been pushed back three months. They've run into some issues with the initial conversion um; they need to work those issues out before they start spreading that out to the other cities and things like that. So just pass that on. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. Chief? [31:46] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** Yeah, I would like to uh, reiterate one more time on the whole school bus stop arm violation issue. Uh, stopping for the flashing red lights and the stop arms is not just a suggestion or a best practice; it is actually required by law. The cameras that have been installed on all of the school bus stop arms at Marschall Line have shown us over the last year how pervasive the problem actually is. So I would just plead with the motoring public to give the—give the school buses and the students a little bit of room and stop for those stop arms. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Did we have any incidents today? **Police Chief Nate Siem:** Not aware of any today, but it's one day. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** It's one day. **Police Chief Nate Siem:** We will have violations. We typically have two or three on day one. It just—it's inevitable. I didn't hear that we had any, but that doesn't mean that some didn't come in late in the afternoon. Sometimes it takes them, you know, a couple hours to get the reports to us. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, sir. Tony? **Tony Wippler:** Nothing, just the chickens. [32:45] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, fair enough. I—I won't beat the school bus safety thing anymore. We have all made that point very clear, and it is a constant reminder. Um, I also—I noticed over the weekend driving around that the corn seems to be a lot more ready to be pulled from the fields early September than it does in years past. So as our meetings come up every couple of weeks, Mother Nature keeps changing. And in addition to our school buses and our kiddos and the safety, keep in mind when it's 75 degrees out and the sun is setting a little bit later: look out for your motorcycles, look out for the kiddos and the bikes. Be mindful of our farmers who are out harvesting because that season feels like it's going to come earlier this year than it has in past years. So just things change very quickly when you come out out of Labor Day. Uh, we had talked about The Emory and the Ebert Construction building. That is slated for Thursday. It sounds like Thursday would be like the first kind of demo day um, or preliminary. So somewhere in there, somewhere this week, the plan is to start pulling that building down. Uh, there is a certain level of uncomfortability with demo, and rest assured the contractor will do what they can to mitigate as many of those things as possible, but don't lose sight of the opportunity that this project brings to our community. Um, you know, we've—we've deliberated it over and over and over again through the TIF process, but you know, one of our priorities is um, community engagement, and it's continuing to share that information in whatever means we can um, as much as we can and trying to reach as many residents as we can. And we understand that sometimes it doesn't always reach everyone, and sometimes it doesn't reach those that come into our community from outside of our borders. But this is a great project for our community. This is a great project for our future. Not only is it in alignment with our downtown redevelopment plan, but it also is adding density. It's bringing a several-million-dollar valuation project to an area that needed a little bit of a bump in some value, needed—needed some help with some of the buildings being improved, and we've seen that with the Exchange Bank building and a few others. But let's not lose sight of what this—this project also means for future development. It puts a giant flag in the air and signals to other developers that we are a community that is ready for something that looks a little different, something that adds more density, helps drive our populace and create opportunities for Economic Development. Um, this project is not just another housing piece; it is an economic development piece. This is a business. This is a large investment by a company that—it had options and chose Farmington. And let's not—let's not lose sight of that. Additionally, this supports uh, prospective employers. It offers another piece to our housing mix that is supportive of our existing employers and prospective employers looking to either grow their business, enhance their business, and or bring their business to Farmington. You need housing for your—your workforce, and this is a project that also supports that. So while there might be some line-of-sight issues, there might be some—it's different, it's uncomfortable. Uncomfortable is okay. Change is constant, and it is all good. It is how we are working towards that promising future on the seal behind me. And last, I'm going to hit on a personal note. We—we don't talk often about mental health. And this is something that is deeply personal and passionate to me. I had one of my Marine brothers whose 24-year-old son committed suicide last week. And it is a very harsh reminder that mental health is very real. It is in front of us, every one of us, coming out of COVID and all of the dynamics in our life that are different in this new reality that is post-COVID—how we work, how we interact with others, teleconferencing, virtual—it has displaced the personal interaction. And so my ask is this: reach out to your network. Talk to your family, talk to your neighbors, talk to someone who you haven't talked to in a while and just check in on them. See how they're doing because they may not be in a dire situation, but everybody needs a little pick-me-up and could use more hugs and smiles and um, suicide is not good and—and that is something we want to never have to talk about. But it's a reality of the world that we live in. So just check in on every—everyone that you can and make sure everyone's doing good. It's my ask. With that, I would look for a motion to adjourn. **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion. **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All in favor say aye. **Council:** Aye.