This transcript features the **Hastings City Council Meeting**. Based on the context provided, here is the transcript with speaker names added. [0:00] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. 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. [0:21] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Welcome. And let the record reflect, we do have a quorum and full council tonight. Tonight we have some new employee introductions and we have several um that are joining our um team. And the first will be introduced by our city administrator, Kelly Merch. Kelly, I just got promoted there, didn't I? Oh, assistant. Do you guys see that? [0:50] **Assistant City Administrator Kelly Murtaugh:** Assistant city administrator. Wait, sorry, Dan. I didn't know I needed to introduce myself. Nobody knows. Good way to start out the meeting. Thank you, mayor, council members. Uh I'm here to introduce Natalie Sorenson, uh who it doesn't appear that she's with us, uh but she is our new communications intern. Uh born and raised in Hastings, Minnesota. Natalie is currently completing her Bachelor of Science degree in graphic design and marketing communications at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the outdoors by hiking at local parks, city parks even, uh, camping and gardening. Natalie is proud to join the City of Hastings team as a communications intern to give back [1:37] to the city she loves and calls home. And we're great to have her on board. She's just been on board with us for a week and we're super thrilled that she is here. [1:55] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, Kelly. Doing the others. John and our community development director, John Hinzman. [2:03] **Community Development Director John Hinzman:** Thank you, mayor, city council members. I present to you Amelia Tibo, our community development intern. Ameilia, come to us all the way from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, uh where she makes her home. She currently attends the University of Minnesota and their M's program at the Humphrey Institute in her first year there. And so she's learning everything about planning and economic development, including going on chicken inspections today, helping out with our Makers Mark music and makers market coming up here and our economic development and planning projects coming forward. So Amelia is learning all about the Twin Cities and looking forward to looking at uh various places to travel around there. She got her bachelor's degree from Syracuse in history and uh geography. And I guess the one question I didn't ask you is Wawa or Sheets. [2:50] Okay, there you go. So, well, we welcome Amelia. Thank you. [2:54] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Okay, welcome Amelia and our public works director, Ryan Stempski. [3:00] **Public Works Director Ryan Stempski:** Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. Um yeah, rounding off our internships in public works, we do have a new intern in the engineering department and we are super excited to welcome Charlie Teagel. Charlie brings nearly 10 years of experience um in the construction industry in his internship. [3:25] That's that's very rare, very re very unique. Um but his experience is already proving very valuable to our team. He's currently attending Dakota County Technical College and pursuing a degree in civil engineering technology with plans to graduate in the spring of 2026. Charlie is transitioning from building projects in the field to influence them influencing them through engineering, a shift his former construction colleagues might call joining the dark side. I don't agree with that joke, but um anyway, outside of work, Charlie enjoys cooking and tackling home projects at his house in Northfield. If you catch him at the end of the day, you're likely to hear him ask, "What's for dinner?" Not to judge your taste, but because he's always looking for a new recipe. And I do hear [4:11] this my outside my office at the end of the day, I heard a lot of what's for dinner. Oh, how do you make that? So, um very very good explanation of Charlie and we're pleased to have him. [4:13] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Great. Welcome Charlie. [4:15] **Public Works Director Ryan Stempski:** I'll keep it going with um a couple promotions in the public works department we would like to recognize. Um the first one is Alex Kefir. The position of lead operator with an emphasis on streets and public works since joining the city and public works Al—which is what we call him—has shown exceptional skill, dedication and leadership in maintaining and improving our city's roads and public infrastructure. His hard work and commitment have been instrumental in ensuring safe and efficient street operations for all of our residents in town. Al's experience in running a commercial paving crew has been instrumental in setting up and running our skimp patch program in the city, which we're excited to start in about a month here. Again, in his role as lead operator, Al will oversee daily street maintenance activities, coordinate team efforts, and help implement improvements [5:17] to our public works projects. This promotion reflects his proven ability to lead by example and deliver outstanding results. Um again, please join me in welcoming Alex Kefir in his new well-owned advancement. Um he's going to play a key role in our street sides of leadership in the department. Thanks to Al. [5:38] **Public Works Director Ryan Stempski:** And last but not least, uh we have another promotion uh for lead operator with an emphasis on utilities and that is Josh Cernick. Um, since joining public works, Josh has consistently demonstrate demonstrated expertise, reliability, and a strong commitment to ensuring our city's utility systems are operating smoothly and safely. He has hands-on experience and problem solving skills that have greatly contributed to maintaining high quality water services for our residents. Um, in his leadership role, Josh will take on increased responsibilities, including overseeing daily operations, uh, mentoring team members and supporting improvements to our utility infrastructure and service [6:23] delivery points. Uh, we congratulate Josh on his well-deserved promotion and look forward to his continued leadership in protecting and enhancing one of our community's most vital resources in our water system. Um, and that's what we have for promotions. [6:39] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Great. Thank you. Thank you. We council would we have a photo please with Amelia. [7:07] [Music] [7:15] **Photographer/Staff:** How's everybody doing today? Here we go. Three, two, one. [7:26] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** What? [7:40] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Good. [7:47] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Answer. [7:55] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Always excited when we have new employees and promotions. All right, council. In front of us, we do have a proclamation for LGBTQIA+ pride month. And council member Haus, would you please start? [8:16] **Councilmember Angie Haus:** Thank you, honor. Whereas we reaffirm common beliefs, aspirations, and commitments to ensure that Hastings is a safe and caring community for all persons. And whereas the city of Hastings is committed to fostering acceptance of all its residents and preventing discrimination, social stigma, and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity. And whereas the city council has adopted a set of strategic priorities that includes ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion in city [8:41] processes and operations and helping to make Hastings a welcoming community for all. And whereas the city of Hastings recognizes the importance of building protective factors for LGBTQIA plus youth in our community. And whereas the city of Hastings appreciates the work done by Idea Hastings to advocate for diversity and equity during this month and throughout the year. And whereas we recognize there is still more work to be done to ensure our LGBTQIA plus family members, friends, and neighbors are treated equitably and with dignity. And now therefore, be it resolved that I, Mayor Mary Fasbender, and the Hastings City Council, hereby [9:28] declares the month of June 2025 as LGBTQIA plus Pride Month in the city of Hastings. [9:34] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, council. Council any corrections to the minutes from May 19th? Okay. Comments from the audience—anyone wish to speak to the council at this time? Anyone on Zoom? No one on Zoom. Okay. Uh consent agenda. [10:04] Council, I would accept a—Oh, any items to be considered, council? Sorry. Okay. Now we'll move to the consent agenda. It's first uh by council member Leifeld, second by council member Haus. Any discussion? Council. All those in favor of the motion state by saying I. I. [10:25] Opposed to that motion state by saying nay. And under awarding contracts, we will have a resolution for issuance of the sale of go charter bonds series 2025A. And for this item, we have with us finance manager Chris Eitemiller and Jessica Green from Northland Securities. [11:00] **Jessica Green (Northland Securities):** I thought I was going to get a promotion too to finance manager. Madame Mayor, council, good evening. Mayor, as you just mentioned, we do have a resolution for your consideration tonight related to the sale of the 2025A series of bonds. Uh this will be uh the proceeds here will be used to finance your annual street and utility improvement projects. [11:16] So, we did hold a sale this morning. Um and based on those results, we did put together a bond sale summary for you that I believe staff has shared. Um so, I'll just plan to go through that pretty quickly. um and then stand for any questions that you may have. So again, proceeds here being used to finance the 2025 street and utility improvement projects. And then we've also sized the bonds to include the cost of issuance. Both the improvement portion and the utility portions have been structured with a 10-year term relatively level principal and interest on both um sides of that. So both the improvement and the utility portions. Uh one note here that the utility portions will uh begin payment on principal beginning February 1 of 2026 and then the improvement portion will start February 1 of 2027. [12:00] That simply allows the council time to get that first levy in place for collection. In terms of security, we do have ad valorem taxes being that these are general obligation bonds. We also have the special assessments that will be levied against the benefiting property owners. And then we'll have the net revenues of the city's sanitary sewer, water, and storm sewer utility funds. The method of sale here uh today was competitive and the city received seven bids. Um so when we checked on Friday, we had four bidders signed up. [12:28] This morning it was five and we came away with seven. So that's really nice to see, especially since this week is probably one of the busiest weeks that we've seen in about four years since um well when rates were very very low during COVID. Um so a lot of municipal bonds being issued this week. Um so nice to see a good result today. We did seek a rating on the issuance for the bonds and as council may have heard um the double A+ rating for the city was affirmed. So congratulations to the council. Um if you've seen that report or if you're interested in reviewing that a lot of the same comments that we've seen in the last couple of years. Um but just a couple of notes here. They did comment on the stable financial profile of the city also the robust reserve position and then commented also on the continued growth in the city both on the commercial side and um residential [13:15] housing. So some good comments there. Final maturity on the bonds February 1 of 2036 and you do have an optional call feature beginning February 1 of 2033 and at that point the city can call the bonds in either in whole or in part if there is an opportunity to refinance the bonds for interest rate savings or you can restructure the bonds at that point and then finally on the bottom here we've got just a little bit of a comparison between the finance plan which was provided um in early May versus what we came away with today so we sat we started with a size of four and a half million where we're at today is 4,140,000. That is because we received premium on the bonds from the low bidder. Um, and that's been pretty common in the last five or six years. [13:57] So, if you're used to me kind of talking about premium, what that means is that investors are looking for a higher interest rate on the bonds and they're willing to give you cash up front to do that. So, we downsize the amount of principal that's being issued. You have a little bit more interest that you're paying. So, it all kind of balances out from a total debt service perspective and it just gets the investors what they need and it gets the city what you need to complete your project. Uh, in terms of true interest cost, we went from 4.02 which was planned in the finance plan um down to 3.43 um so a difference there of about 59 basis points. What that means for the city is that we're down in a total uh debt service position um about $142,000. So nice savings there based on [14:44] the results. We did have about 25 basis points built in to the finance plan just because market was pretty volatile even going back to early May and we've seen some nice corrections there. So um again some nice results today. The next page of that sales summary has your bid tab. [15:00] So it does provide um the various um list of the bidders that came through this morning um with again FHN financial markets out of New York being that low bidder and then from there we do have some information related to the sources and uses and we break that out for different um portions of the bonds. So the improvement portion versus the utilities and then we provide also a pricing summary and that's where you get to see kind of the comparison of the yield versus the coupon on the bonds. So it gives you that calculation of because you receive that additional cash contribution that you're able to look at it on a yield basis rather than just looking at it on a coupon basis. And then we have the combined debt service schedule. We do provide all of the individual schedules to staff for accounting purposes so that we'll have [15:45] that broken out. We also have your levy schedule that includes the assumption of those assessment revenues coming in. And then finally, a couple graphs at the very end to give you a snapshot of kind of what's been going on in the market the last five years and then also over the last 25. And with that, I will pause for any questions. [16:20] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, Jessica. I I do have a question. So, Friday, you said you had four bidders. Yep. And today that upped it. What's the appetite for the bidder to come forward on the today? [16:30] **Jessica Green:** It all depends. So underwriters typically on Thursdays and Fridays are looking at what's coming early the next week and kind of deciding where they're willing to sort of risk their capital. Even if you've got a list of four bidders on Friday, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to submit a bid, but it [16:31] does provide us with a good indication of which underwriters are kind of paying attention. Um so seeing an additional one this morning, five is obviously very good number. Um usually if we're if we get three or four, that's nice. Um, but to see an additional two that came in that didn't sign up, it just means that um the city's bonds got more attention than um than maybe some other areas of the market. We did see another um sale this morning uh that Northland um worked on and southern part of the state—one notch below the city's rating—but overall the spread on interest between uh the city's bonds—Hastings bonds—and that city, even though it was only, you know, one notch difference and that should be about five or 10 basis points, they were about 35 basis points higher than Hastings. So um [17:17] FHN really wanted your bonds. [17:19] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Interesting. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? Council. Council member Leifeld. [17:25] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Your honor, I'd like to make a motion to adopt the resolution approving the issuance and sale of the general obligation bonds to the finance of 2025 neighborhood projects. [17:34] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, Council Member Leifeld. And a second by Council Member Lawrence. Discussion, Council. All those in favor of the motion state by saying I. Opposed to that motion, state by saying nay. And that motion prevails. Thank you, Jess. [17:49] Thank you very much. Okay. Hey, tonight under reports from city staff council, we under public works, we will approve plans and authorize advertisement for bids for the central water treatment plant raw water main project. And with us, we have our public works director, Ryan Stempski. Welcome again, Ryan. [18:12] **Public Works Director Ryan Stempski:** Thank you, mayor. Um, can we switch to the other PC? Yes, we can here. I'll show you. Okay, it's on the podium. There you go. Just to come up there. Awesome. I can't. [18:45] All right. Okay. So, uh, mayor, members of the council, this is our central water treatment plant raw water main project. So, not the treatment plant, they're two separate bid packages. So, the first uh big package here tonight is for the water lines project. Um, so like the mayor had stated that there's a resolution in your packets tonight for approval of plans and specs and authorizing those advertisement for bids. Not in the financial world. This is in the construction world now. Um, but here is that raw water main project. [19:25] Um, you can see up on the map on the screen. Hopefully the screens are... Yeah. um from Well 7 off of trunk highway 55 and near Forest Street or 9th Street there. Um pickle ball courts, everybody knows where where those are, right? So well 7 sits just north of the pickle ball courts. So we'll be running down Ninth Street up Forest uh Westerly down 7th Street to North Frontage Road and then uh right next door to our existing nitrate treatment plant in the ground storage reservoir is the central water treatment plant location. So this is a 12-inch raw water line. It will um it would connect well 7 and well 7 [20:11] only and the PFAS in well 7 directly to the treatment plant. So there's minimal hydrants on this line. This is just to feed the treatment plant so that we can um distribute back to the ground storage reservoir next door and and send that out into the system both the low zone and the high zone. So um this goes all across the city for well 7 as do all of our wells, right? They they both they both um um have a a complex matrix of when we call for water in the different wells. So this is the well 7 line only. Um a little bit more on this. Um, we we did look at running this down trunk highway 55 and bypassing the neighborhoods, but as you can tell, [20:56] there's multiple properties that front uh trunk highway 55. And with fences and sheds um and lack of right-of-way space, we would had a lot of right-of-way acquisition or easement acquisition, we would have had a lot of relocated fences and sheds. [21:13] Um there's also a major duct bank line that carries a lot of our um fiber and utilities and things of that nature that is on the north side of 55 that really there was no space other than to move a very very expensive duct um bank. Um also it's best practice to put your water main city water mains in city right-of-way rather than have it in a county or a state right-of-way. Uh difficult access permitting requirements and and we would prefer to have direct access to to a key asset like a raw water mainline. Kind of it's the story of two different construction projects. The first project uh I like to call it from well 7 up to north frontage road. So [21:58] this includes uh the the project along forest and seventh we we're doing an open trench method. So that means just because there's so many other utilities in this street corridor, services to each one of the homes you see on here, um we can't just drill a line through at a certain depth and and skip all of those key connection points to our our residents and homes. So um we need to pothole or investigate to find out all where where these conflict points are. And we actually with a backhoe dig in this water main about a foot below um the existing water line out there serving our residents today. So we get beneath that that location and we don't sever those lines so we can keep residents for the most part um serviced [22:44] with water and sewer. Here is a detail or a typical section on on what this looks like. And keying in on this construction. Like what we what we talk about is we're only reconstructing one half of the road. We only need to put one water line. So, we're not replacing all the utilities. [23:03] It's not a street project. It's for the raw water main. And so, at that depth, we're able to about under the curb line um remove half the street at the crown or the center point of the road, one uh curb line, and uh dig down to those depths. And as soon as our water main gets installed, we start backfilling. [23:23] And that's all we need to do. We don't have to come back and do the sewer. We don't have to come back and do services. We backfill as we go. So, it'll be a lot quicker project once we get going in this area than than what we've seen on our neighborhood projects with multiple service connections and multiple utilities. Another key point is there's no special assessments to the residents on this project. So, very different than our other construction projects. [23:46] Um, and then like I said, just that that that service, no service installation really speeds up our time. We did talk with the public back in March. So, we had a neighborhood meeting. I think we had about 13 businesses and residents uh show up, members show up along the corridor. Um, just a lot of general basic questions on schedule and impacts and things of that that nature. Um we we intend to allow parking where we can because half of the road will be uh gravel um backfilled and the other half will be undisturbed. So it'll be a different project. There will be periods of time when the contractor is coming through at the water main. That residents will have to be out of um their direct immediate residence and parking a block [24:32] down or so in designated areas. Uh part of that is kind of like on our neighborhood projects, we need the concrete to cure. Um and we don't want people driving over that for five to seven days depending on the concrete type. So um we will be in constant con—uh communication with residents and and just like we do on the neighborhood projects and keeping them informed along the way. Then the project kind of switches over once we get to North Frontage Road um at State Street Westerly over to the central treatment plant site. Uh this becomes a completely different project. [25:09] We're not digging up the road there at all. Um, what we're doing is something called horizontal directional drilling. So, now we switched to a plastic 12-inch pipe that we can actually, you can see it in a photo here, we can actually um drill that underground at the depths it needs to achieve. And we can do this up to about 1500 feet in length. So, we can get long stretches installed with minimal impact. um it'll look like a a 20 foot wide pit off on the side of the road. That's what you'll see during construction. So, there will be um temporary or partial shoulder closures and things when they're working in that area that people will have to go around and we'll have to cone it um safely, but um for the most part, businesses will have access during this construction [25:56] because of the construction method. Uh and we won't have curb-to-curb disturbances and those types of things. So uh we were—we have a lot of—we were able to do this because of the minimal services and and um along that corridor. [26:11] So with the businesses we don't have that residential type situation with multiple services over a set distance. Okay. Schedule for this project. Um tonight we're at June 2nd for the approval of the plans and specs then going over ad for bids. We would open those bids from our contractor on June 25th. So, end of the month here would meet our public bidding laws. We would analyze those bids and bring an award back for a construction contract to city council on July 7th would be the timing for that. This would put us after contracts and getting resident notices out and those s—sorts of things, we'd be ready early August um right out of the [26:57] gates in August to start construction with a substantial completion date by November of 2025. So that'll include things like the full water main install, the the concrete here, the bituminous in those types of things. So it'll it'll look like a serviceable street again. [27:15] Boulevards will get their first round of seed and and we will shoot for establishment. Um that'll be dormant seeding. So our final completion date is pushed till May of next year. We want to make sure that dormancy took well and if it doesn't we'll have the contractor right there in early May to get get that those residents front yard boulevards restored. So it's kind of a timing of year strategy. This is a lot of work to get done um from August to November. So we didn't want to rush the contractor too much. We think we'll get good competitive bids with this schedule. Okay. So, next steps. Like I said, back in March, we did go out to the public. We've been in communication with some of the residents along the corridor along the way. We have started our communication survey and and comment [28:01] form. So, on the QR code, this is on the website. Residents can tell us how they want us to communicate with them. Um, we will have weekly updates. they will talk about what happened that week and what's happening in the future week or the upcoming week. So, we'll we'll continue to gather all the resident feedback. Do they want us to text them? Do they want us to email them? Um we'll pick a spot on site and have flyers available. So, again, we will we'll still we'll still do that sort of um detailed uh attention to communication. We will be sending out future mailings and social media media posts once we get the contractor on board and we have a a real contract and we'll inform um the residents of who that is and who their inspector contact is um after after council award of said [28:47] project. Um, and like I said, I get a lot of PFAS calls, but this is kind of we wanted to highlight this as kind of the first project that we're putting into play with uh advertisement for bids. So, we're trying to get bids in hand and get this piece going um and and move on from there. So, wanted to highlight that for you tonight and that's why we're here for any questions that you might have pertaining to this project or the process moving forward. [29:17] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Great job, Ryan. And so it begins. Correct. Council, council member Leifeld. [29:34] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Thanks, honor. Ryan, I have a couple of small questions. When was the last time that stretch of specifically say Seventh Street—when did we do those roads? So, how old is the pavement and the infrastructure underneath it? [29:49] **Public Works Director Ryan Stempski:** Correct. Um the the short answer—it varies, you know, by block by block. Um we do have some segments that are newer within the last 10 years. Absolutely. Um and then we do have some older stretches along there that were gearing up for their first mill and overlay. So um this is just accelerating all of that. And again with the no assessments. Wonderful. Um you know we're we're just going in and and milling overlaying the whole um corridor. [30:11] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Thank you. I appreciate that. And then when—so when we do the street improvements it's the entire—all of it's ripped up. Is that going to be the same thing? I know you're only doing half of the road but will it be that entire stretch is under construction from August to November or is that something that goes in a path? [30:26] **Public Works Director Ryan Stempski:** Right. Um no they they'll do it—they will do it—it depends. Um they will do it in succession. So, we won't let them just open up the road. Um, they'll have to backfill as they go and achieve certain benchmarks of gravel fill. And, um, it depends. We we give the contractor a little bit of flexibility to say, you know, we want to do three blocks and prep that for curb [30:56] or four blocks or whatever. We'll we'll work out a detailed schedule with the contractor, but usually they like to come in and get maximum concrete pours and and those sorts of things. And then we want one paving operation when it's all said and done. I did want to highlight that. I don't think I said it in the in the typical section, but we will do a full width mill and overlay. So, we will build up to the base course on the side we're reconstructing um to get that water main depth that we need to achieve. But at the end, we we know the other side, even though it's not disturbed, it's going to get chipped up and and um excessively parked on and um big equipment turning on there. So, we're going to mill off that that 2 inches and put one contiguous layer of of [31:43] blacktop across from the curb to curb. So, it'll look like we weren't there on both sides of the street. So, we don't have a tale of two sides, right? So, thank you. I just wanted to—I—that's a—thank you for the question. So, I can clarify that. [31:54] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** You did—you did bring up my last question: concrete. What—what's that used for? I mean, normally when we do street improvements, right, because asphalt goes on top, what are we doing? [31:58] **Public Works Director Ryan Stempski:** The the curb and gutter. So Since since the raw water main will sit about directly below the curb and gutter—it really depends on what utilities—we have a lot of storm. We try to keep out of residents' front yards. We're trying to avoid mature trees. So it's a balancing act. But for the most part on this project, we're under the curb line, give or take a few feet either way. Um, so we we'll be—we can't we can't hold that [32:29] curb in place during that type of dig. [32:31] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Maybe some curb and gutter in. [32:34] **Public Works Director Ryan Stempski:** Yep. So all the curb and gutter on one side of the road will be ripped up. The other will leave be left in place and and then we will have to pour new curb and gutter on one side as well as the—what do they call that—entrance into the driveway? The apron? The concrete. Yep. Yep. So we'll—they'll—everybody will get a new on that side and and and it does switch about three times total on what side of the road we're going on it and it—and that has to do with—we come into some 60-inch storm sewer, right? So we're not going to put the cost and the time and the impact of going right down and and and dealing with that conflict. So, we simply move the water main to the opposite side of the road to avoid um and and make sure we get through this project with the lowest amount of impacts, the fastest amount of time um with with leaving as much infrastructure in place as we can. [33:15] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Every time you talk, I tell you this—every time I leave knowing more than when I got here about things I never thought I'd have to know about. So, Ryan, thank you so much for obviously your diligence in this and it is exciting. Um this has been a long time coming. This project's really, you know, got a lot of staff time and hours and it's nice to see that it's getting started. So, anyone has any questions, let us know. And with that, I'll go ahead and make a motion to consider adopting the enclosed resolution approving the plans and specifications to authorize advertisement for bids. This is for the raw water main project only. [34:10] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, council member Leifeld. Council member Pemble [seconds]. Okay. Any other discussion council? All those in favor of the motion state by saying I. I. I. Oppose of that. Motion state by saying nay. [34:17] And that motion prevails. Thank you Ryan. [34:25] **Public Works Director Ryan Stempski:** Thank you. [34:29] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Tonight under administration as always we have a PFAS update from our city administrator Dan Wietecha. Dan. [34:39] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Thank you mayor. Uh this is informational. Um certainly hope that there's room for questions, but uh it is a non-action. Um just looking back over the past month, uh really busy in the back. A lot of it related to winding up finances for our upcoming project. Uh this month we submitted uh to the uh East Metro 3M settlement. We submitted the application for the uh portion of [35:03] the central water treatment plant that is that is attributable to well number five. Uh and that is about $14 million uh plus the uh funding that we had earlier this year um uh for the purchase of the property. Um the agreement uh we're expecting will be brought to council in two weeks on June 16th. So that's in process. Um the uh uh low-interest loan through the public facilities authority. We submitted that application for a little over $8 million for the city's portion of the uh central treatment plant. Um in order to finance our our portion that's not covered by the settlement or uh previously uh um [35:51] approved grants. Um, we submitted uh uh updates uh to our intended use plan IUP applications for the eastern and western treatment plants in order to match construction schedules. Uh, and that also includes an application for an emerging contaminants grant for the western treatment plants. So even though those might be a year or two out, uh still looking at lining up uh making sure that those have got uh finances and grants as best that we can position them. Um with that note that we continue seeking financial assistance. Uh uh as it stands, uh the state bonding bill is still in consideration. Uh the state has not made a decision yay or nay. We are [36:37] certainly hopeful for that. um uh which would be towards the eastern treatment plant uh next year's project. Um as noted, we updated our IUP applications uh and paperwork for the the three treatment plants uh including the application for the emerging contaminants grant for the Western plant. Um note—obvious with Ryan's uh presentation a few minutes ago—the central treatment plant is on schedule to bid in mid June with construction beginning in uh end of July, early August um uh for the uh the the water main portion which you guys approved uh just now and the um uh assuming that the [37:27] um—grant—not the grant, the the East Metro 3M settlement fund agreement comes through in two weeks. Uh we would also have the plans and specs so we could uh put the central treatment plant out to bid here in in June and uh begin this summer. Um uh other piece to note is uh a little bit of a surprise and certainly outside of our um uh immediate purview, but uh a couple of weeks ago the uh federal—the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA—announced that it intends to extend the compliance deadline by two years. [38:05] And uh really it's too early to tell quite what that's going to mean for us, if anything. Um, uh, if you read the fine print, it says that they are going to propose the formal rule this fall, which would be finalized next spring. [38:21] So, details to to see. Uh, don't just look at the headline. Uh, but even though there might be a two-year extension, uh, there's a few pieces to note with that. One, uh we know that we've got contaminated water now and I believe you would all agree uh that there's a responsibility to addressing that as quick as we can and uh we are on a fairly aggressive construction schedule. Uh basically we keep saying building a plant a year for three years. There's a lot of overlap in there and the years are really more closer to a year and a half. Um, but it's a large and complex project and at present we're expecting substantial completion of the the the the Western plant, the final plant, uh around October, November of 2028. So about four to six months of cushion before the uh original uh deadline of of spring 2029. [39:23] That's not a lot of time for any sort of uh issue that comes up with bidding, with contractors, with supply chain, with weather. Um so it's very possible that that extension just gives us a little bit of ability to uh better manage a large project. Um also concerns that with the large project um inflation uh is certainly going to uh matter and uh saying hey we've got two more years means two more years of inflation. So at present we're planning to continue on our schedule uh but we'll also keep uh an eye to it. So, if there's uh construction related reasons to extend [40:10] or if it might be a matter of looking at um uh additional opportunities to apply for and try for funding uh which we're certainly uh actively working towards on a constant basis here. Uh maybe there are reasons to to look at a a partial extension. We just—it's not in front of us yet. uh it really sort of gives us um some options uh when we come to it. [40:36] That's a quick overview of the uh um work over the past month. Uh and I can certainly stand for any questions. Thank you. [41:10] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, Dan. Council, any questions? Okay. Well, we all appreciate the continuation that Ryan, Public Works, you and all the other staff does to keeping us uh updated and it's going to be here before we know it. Correct. So, uh with that, Dan, you may continue to uh as an introduction, we are getting for the 2026 state bonding request. [41:35] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Yeah, certainly try for funding. Um this one is an action item. Uh and um it really [41:43] it's about keeping our options open. Um the uh state is taking local applications for next year, next uh legislative session 2026 uh bonding bill uh for a couple of weeks here. Mid-June's the the deadline. [41:59] Um we we—we've had some practice and fully uh expect and intend to apply. Uh the question is what project? Uh if you recall last year, we certainly uh heard repeatedly from every uh legislator we talked to, you can't ask for $68.9 million all at once. You need to bring it in phases. Um so the question here is what phase do we apply for? uh if we apply for the um—I'm going to back up—instead of saying if we apply, um our current year—the the application we have up there at the state right now—is for the eastern plant. Uh if it gets funded, great. We—it's taken care of. But if it [42:28] doesn't get funded in a special session here in the next few days or the next couple of weeks, it'll put us in a position of saying, do we come back next year or uh do do we move forward with the the next plant? Uh so really what this is is trying to keep our options open and uh request—to recommend—that the council approve resolutions saying let's submit applications for both the eastern plant and the western plant so that as things unfold uh here in the next couple of weeks or over the the next year—next uh over the next year—uh we we can choose which one we're actually advancing and we can certainly pull back one if it's no longer viable. Uh just [43:15] because it's the order of construction, do recommend that the eastern plant uh be the preferred project. They want to know uh the order that you're submitting them. Um but again, this is about keeping our our options open, requesting $18.3 million for the Eastern plant and a separate application for $20.6 million for the Western treatment plant. With that, I would certainly answer any questions. Thank you. [43:55] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Great. Thank you, Dan. Council member Leifeld. [44:01] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Um Dan, so what does it mean when it says that the Eastern Water Plant is ranked number two on the state's current project priority list? What's that mean to us? [44:11] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** We last year uh submitted our uh project uh to the State Department of Health saying here's a water project that we would likely um have an interest at financing through the state's drinking water revolving fund program. And backing up earlier, I had indicated we had submitted the application during my update. We had submitted the application to the public facilities authority. It's a low interest loan that uh over the uh 20-year term of the the loan would save us over a million dollars versus if we had uh done a bond issue and and financed it on our own. Um anyways, that [44:47] that uh that loan program uh has a lot of bureaucratic red tape and paperwork with it. And part of that is you have to apply to get ranked based on have there been um uh health advisories or issues in the past and what are the contaminations and um uh just a number of factors that they look at and they rank hundreds of projects that submit across the state and we are—the the Eastern plant—is number two on that list in the state uh for for for drinking water projects. Um the central plant uh is tied at number 13 across the state. [45:32] What that means for us is um for example, both of those have been termed fundable. We're still completing the paperwork, but fundable for the emerging contaminants grants roughly $3 million each because we ranked high enough. If we were somewhere lower on the list, state ran out of money and doesn't have funding for something lower on the list. So that's what that number two means. Uh there is a project—I forget who it is—I know it's not PFAS related, but there is a water project ahead of us. It might be a treatment plant. It might just be water mains uh or whatever that that community is looking at as a project and potentially needing some assistance from the state or a low interest loan from the state. [46:21] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** With that, I'll make a motion to approve the resolutions applying for state bonding requests for the eastern and western water treatment plants for PFAS, excuse me, and nitrate removal. [46:37] **Councilmember Angie Haus:** Second. [46:38] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, Council Member Leifeld, and a second by council member Haus. New discussion council. Okay. All those in favor of the motion state by saying I. I. I oppose that motion, state by saying nay. And that motion prevails. [46:51] Thank you. Council members. Any announcements? Okay. I do have a few. On Tuesday, tomorrow, June 3rd, is our summer kickoff to our 2025 Levee Park events. Live reggae music, food trucks, inflatables, foam party, crazy hair, caricature artists, airbrush tattoos, henna artists, face painting, and more. [47:18] All ages are welcome, and this is a free event. Please keep in mind though that the weather could possibly postpone this or cancel it. So watch for social media or our city website. Summer rec programs at Levee Park. Thursday, June 5th: Music and Market with Abba Saluty Fabulous, which is a tribute to ABBA supported by Ruth and George Doffing Charitable Fund. Thursday, June 12th: Music and Market with Coyote Wild Country and Rock, supported by Ruth and George Doffing Charitable Fund. Friday the 13th: Movies in the Park with Moana, [48:04] sponsored by Ardent Mills. Please bring a non-perishable food donation. Wednesday, June 18th: Story Time in the Park. The theme is garden, a partnership with Pleasant Hill Library. Saturday, June 21st is Make Music Day with a variety of live music, food trucks, music trivia, and gift card giveaways. The city's park and recreation and police department are partnering with the Hastings Prescott Art Council to serve up fun for the youth. [48:38] The Art, Rec, and Police program will offer free activities, treats, and giveaways this summer. The first event is Wednesday, June 11th from 1 to 2 at Levee Park with intro to break dancing and crazy hair portraits supported by SC Toys, Country Financial, Hastings Lion Club, Hastings Family Service, and Community Ed. Music and Market will be in part of the music in the park every Thursday starting June 5th. Support area makers and artisans within one historic downtown and riverfront park by shopping [49:24] at the markets. Meetings: June 9th 7 p.m. administrative committee meeting. Uh also on Monday, June 9th, 7 p.m. Planning Commission meeting, Wednesday, June 11th, 7:00 p.m. Arts and Culture Commission. Thursday, June 12th, 6 PM, HEDRA. Monday, June 16th, city council, we have our regular meeting. With that, I would ask for a motion to adjourn. [49:53] **Councilmember Angie Haus:** Council member—Mayor, may I make an announcement as well? [49:56] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Oh, yes, you may. Council member, sorry, I didn't get you at the first time. [50:00] **Councilmember Angie Haus:** Uh, I do want to announce that Hastings Pride Fest will be happening on June 14th from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. uh 20 Ramsey Street. Uh there'll be live acts, uh vendors, face painting, bounce houses, a lot of time for our community to enjoy together. [50:18] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Great. Thank you, Council Member Haus. And with that, you wanted to make a second to the motion to adjourn? [50:23] **Councilmember Angie Haus:** Correct. [50:25] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you. No discussion. All those in favor of the motion state by saying I. I. I oppose to that motion state— [Transcript ends]