This transcript is from a Farmington City Council meeting. Based on the context of the names mentioned in the roll call, the topics discussed, and the titles used during the meeting, I have identified the speakers. **Main Council Members:** * **Mayor Joshua Hoy** (The Presiding Officer) * **Council Member Nick Lean** * **Council Member Steve Wilson** * **Council Member Jake Gordes** * **Council Member Holly Bernett** **Staff/Guest Speakers:** * **Amy Fedder** (City Administrator) * **Mike Slavic** (Dakota County Commissioner) * **McKenna Anderson** (Water Resources Specialist) * **Jamie Price** (Police Chief) * **Steven Andress** (Citizen/Former Fire Lieutenant) * **Kathy Johnson** (Citizen) * **David McKnight** (Assistant City Administrator) * **Diana** (Staff Member) * **John Prior** (Public Works Director) * **Kelly Asche** (Parks and Recreation Director) * **Justin Elvestad** (Fire Chief) *** [0:03] [music] [0:12] [music] [music] [music] [0:53] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** We'll call the city council regular meeting to order for Monday, January 5th, 2026. Would everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance? [1:06] **Council Members/Audience:** To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [1:22] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Call the role, please. [1:22] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Wilson. [1:22] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** Here. [1:22] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Gordes. [1:22] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** Here. [1:22] **Amy Fedder:** Mayor Hoy. [1:22] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Here. [1:22] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Bernett. [1:22] **Council Member Holly Bernett:** Here. [1:22] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Lean. [1:22] **Council Member Nick Lean:** Here. [1:22] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** All right. Any changes to the agenda? Nick or Holly. Amy. All right. Seeing no changes to the agenda, I would seek a motion to approve. [1:40] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** Motion to approve. [1:40] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** Second. [1:40] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Motion by Jake, second by Steve. All in favor say I. [1:40] **Council Members:** I. [1:40] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** All right. Moving on. Item 51 under our announcements and commendations is Dakota County update from County Commissioner Mike Slavic. Welcome sir. [1:56] **Commissioner Mike Slavic:** Thank you. Uh good evening, mayor, council members, city staff, those in the audience, and those watching online. Uh as was said, my name is Mike Slavic, uh District 1 County Commissioner representing Hastings, Farmington, all of the townships and uh small cities in the southern half of Dakota County. So, 21 cities and townships. Uh the largest being the city of Farmington. Uh thank you very much for having me here to give a county update as I do a couple times a year. Uh it's certainly my pleasure and honor to represent all of you and to be here to give a little update of what's been happening in Dakota County... [Extended update on budget, mandates, mental health facilities, and recycling centers]. [12:07] **Commissioner Mike Slavic:** ...The other thing that I'll make note of that point is it's fully rented. We're going to have an official ribbon cutting this spring when it gets warm, but it it did we did get everybody in by late fall. Um, and the other thing is that Farmington had struggled a little bit because, you know, not everybody necessarily knew about where Farmington was. It's a wait list of almost six years to get into this type of housing, but it was very virtually no wait list at all in the city of Farmington and some other communities. uh we did a pilot where we actually created a Farmington um uh list of and we have 900 families in just that that want to go and and live in in the developments within Farmington. This allows you to get there to be able to save and then eventually bring not only have your kids in the school district but able to eventually buy a house in in Farmington. [15:41] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Thank you, sir. Steve, any comments or questions for the commissioner? [15:41] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** Yeah, Mike. uh you know your partnership with the city and you know you talked about being here a couple times a year but you're at different community events... I really would like to see a county and Dakota County City partnership um on a legislative front and maybe that's our a coalition of us going to the capital to meet with our Dakota County legislators because there are too many representatives that you know get really excited about all the exciting things that they can implement but then it gets passed down to cities and counties... [17:09] **Commissioner Mike Slavic:** And mayor, if I could quickly say on that, you know, so Dakota County is we're 8% of the population and roughly 8 plus% of the uh um of the re of the tax revenue that's generated for all of the state of Minnesota comes from Dakota County... I think actually rather than making our delegate legislators come to us, I think we actually have to go to them. [18:11] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** I like that idea. Thank you. [18:13] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Okay. Um no questions from me tonight. Just thank you again, Mike, for coming tonight. [18:13] **Council Member Holly Bernett:** No questions from me tonight. Just thank you again, Mike, for coming tonight and always being a present uh partner in in local government. [18:21] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** No questions for me. Just thanks for being here. [18:29] **Council Member Nick Lean:** In case anyone ever wondered how much Mike is actually dedicated to Farmington, he even substitute teaches in our schools with an eight of 10 review from my son. [18:29] **Commissioner Mike Slavic:** Eight out of 10. Yes. [18:29] **Council Member Nick Lean:** That was because I told him that he had to follow the rules, right? [18:29] **Commissioner Mike Slavic:** That's probably true. [18:50] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** I really appreciate how much we see you around here. It's it's not hard to know that you're here and have our best interest in mind. [18:50] **Commissioner Mike Slavic:** But not every day is always uh easy... how we can go and work together and be positive is is a very important thing to do. [19:13] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** I just echo what my peers have said. Um, you know, the six, seven years I've sat up here and you've continued to deliver um, day in and day out... you just stay there for a while. All right. [21:09] **Commissioner Mike Slavic:** I appreciate that. It it I didn't I don't always come here I don't come here for the accolades but it is I really do appreciate the kind words. So thank you. [21:24] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** All right, our next item on the agenda is 52, which is our municipal separate storm sewer system, the MS4 annual review. [21:40] **McKenna Anderson:** All right. Uh, good evening, council members, uh, and mayor Hoy. My name is McKenna Anderson. I am the city's water resources specialist. I will be presenting tonight a year in review of our Farmington's MS4... [Detailed presentation on storm water management, pond maintenance, and restorations]. [45:52] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** You did very well. Seasoned professional. Thank you. Steve. [45:52] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** Yeah. Uh, McKenna, I just want to thank you for the It was actually very informative. I don't think a lot of residents really understand how much work goes into storm water management... I don't know if you know this or if Kelly knows this, but how many tons of waste are generally picked up every year at the park and pond cleanup? [46:30] **McKenna Anderson:** That's a good question. Yeah, I don't I don't know that we have any numbers. [46:30] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** A lot. [46:52] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** No questions for me, but thank you, McKenna, for your presentation tonight. [47:11] **Council Member Nick Lean:** Thanks for being here. You did a great job. I the only question that I have actually relates to um citizen involvement... how can they get involved if they want to be involved in any one of these programs? [47:19] **McKenna Anderson:** Yeah, all of our opportunities are also listed on our website um under our natural resources page... residents can come pick up stencil kits at city hall. [48:26] **Council Member Nick Lean:** I guess one of the most exciting changes that I think has come over this org since I started here four years ago is how much horsepower we've kind of put into our natural resources... I love the efficiency that Ben has put to it with the cover crop and all that stuff. [49:28] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Like Jake said, you wouldn't know that you don't practice public speaking. Um, your presentation was phenomenal. Um, I especially appreciate to Nick's point how much work has been put in over the last, you know, 12 or 18 months... thank you very much for your presentation. [51:32] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** All right, 53 is our next item. Uh, presentation of police department citizen letter of appreciation. Chief. [51:32] **Chief Jamie Price:** thank you, mayor and councel. I'm fortunate today to be able to present a couple of awards... [Tells the story of Dispatcher Tiffany Gleason and resident Jodi Whipple performing life-saving CPR on Jodi's husband]. Staff recommends that the city council join the Farmington Police Department in recognizing Dakota 91 dispatcher Tiffany Gleason... and citizen Jod Whipple for her courage, composure, and decisive actions. Both the individuals were presented with citizen letters of appreciation. [55:43] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Thank you, sir. And you said Jod's not here. Right. When this was brought up at the banquet, right, uh, dispatcher Gleon was there with her husband, right? [55:43] **Chief Jamie Price:** Correct. [55:43] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** The one thing that I noticed the most was the look on the face of our officers in the room... life is the reward and it should be recognized as such and I just think it's it's beyond commendable. [58:33] **Council Member Holly Bernett:** I don't know that there's a whole lot to say after that to be honest... it is a special kind of person that takes on the role of 911 dispatcher to be able to get uh a loved one to the point of being able to do the thing that they need to do until first responders can arrive. [1:00:23] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** I have nothing to add on to those two stems. That's about as much as you could possibly say. [1:00:26] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** I have nothing to add. [1:00:30] **Council Member Nick Lean:** Nothing to add other than I echo what you say about hopefully that they watch this video tonight or tomorrow or next week and realize how truly appreciated their action under pressure is. [1:01:15] **Chief Jamie Price:** Thank you. And, uh thank you for your comments... I will make sure and get uh the message to both of them to watch this video and see uh your words firsthand. Thank you. [1:01:30] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** All right. Our next item on the agenda is citizen comments... anyone wishing to come up, please come up and do so at this time. [1:02:19] **Steven Andress:** Uh I'm Steven. I'm a medically retired lieutenant of the Farmington Fire Department. My address is 1804 180th Court West, Farmington, Minnesota. Uh before I begin, I want to express my deepest sympathy to Pete Zjax's family... Tonight, I want to share some of my experiences with the city of Farmington and the impact it has had. Some of what I say may be difficult to hear... [Speech regarding struggles with PTSD, lack of perceived support from city leadership, and the circumstances of his retirement]. [1:08:55] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Stephen, your time is expired. [1:09:05] **Steven Andress:** I'll finish reading. It's 5 minutes... In closing, meaningful change is desperately needed. The treatment of first responders who come forward about mental health struggles is appalling and the consequences can be tragic... Supporting an employee who is struggling with mental health issues should be prioritized over concerns about liability. [1:13:21] **Kathy Johnson:** Good evening. I'm Kathy Johnson. I the chair of the coalition for responsible data center development... Data centers have risk which will affect Dakota County citizens far beyond the borders of Farmington... I asked the citizens to ask themselves who is bearing the risk. The developers of data centers are the residents left with known environmental degradation and the risk to the power grid, their water supply, to health, quality of life. [1:18:48] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Anyone else wishing to speak? Moving on, we'll seek a motion to approve the consent agenda. [1:18:48] **Council Member Nick Lean:** Motion to approve. [1:18:48] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** Second. [1:18:48] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Motion by Nick, second by Jake. All in favor say I. [1:18:48] **Council Members:** I. [1:19:08] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** We'll move on to item 121, which is the designation of acting mayor for 2026. [1:19:08] **Amy Fedder:** Thank you, mayor and councel. Um, tonight I bring to you the appointment of council member Nick Lean as acting mayor for 2026... I ask the mayor and council to approve the appointment of council member Nick Lean as appointing mayor for 2026. [1:19:52] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** I'd seek a motion to approve the appointment of council member Nick Lean as acting mayor for 2026. [1:19:52] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** Motion. [1:19:52] **Council Member Holly Bernett:** Second. [1:19:52] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Motion by Steve. Second by Holly. Call the role, please. [1:19:52] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Cortez [Gordes]. [1:19:52] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** Yes. [1:19:52] **Amy Fedder:** Mayor Hoy. [1:19:52] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Yes. [1:19:52] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Bernett. [1:19:52] **Council Member Holly Bernett:** Yes. [1:19:52] **Amy Fedder:** And council member Wilson. [1:19:52] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** Yes. [1:19:52] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Lean. [1:19:52] **Council Member Nick Lean:** Yes. [1:20:24] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Next item on the agenda is 122, the resolution approving council committee appointments for 2026. [1:20:24] **Amy Fedder:** All right. Thank Thank you, mayor and councel... Every year at our previous work session, the first of the year, we discuss all the appointments... [Reads off committee lists for Air Lake Airport, Elf Ambulance, Dakota 911, and others]. Tonight again, I ask for the adoption of the 2026-003 appointments to the council committees for 2026. [1:22:15] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** We conversed about it in work session. Any comments, conversation now? No. All right. Seeing none, then I would seek a motion to adopt resolution 2026 TAC 003. [1:22:32] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** So moved. [1:22:32] **Council Member Holly Bernett:** Second. [1:22:32] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Motion by Jake, second by Holly. Call the role, please. [1:22:32] **Amy Fedder:** Council member [Bernett]. [1:22:32] **Council Member Holly Bernett:** Yes. [1:22:32] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Lean. [1:22:32] **Council Member Nick Lean:** Yes. [1:22:32] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Wilson. [1:22:32] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** Yes. [1:22:32] **Amy Fedder:** Council member Gordes. [1:22:32] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** Yes. [1:22:32] **Amy Fedder:** Mayor Hoy. [1:22:32] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Yes. Thank you. Round table. Amy. [1:22:48] **Amy Fedder:** Good evening, mayor and members of the council. Um, I don't have a report tonight other than to wish everyone a happy new year. [1:22:58] **Council Member Nick Lean:** Uh, similar. I hope everyone had a good and safe holiday and I and uh excited for one more year of this. [1:23:06] **Council Member Holly Bernett:** I have good news tonight... There is a cul-de-sac in the light tour called the 12 homes of Christmas... This year however our donation totals came in... We collected $5,554 and four truckloads of toys to be donated to Toys for Town for 2025. The donations that came in for the Farmington Food Shelf totaled 13,985... you all are amazing. Like absolutely amazing. [1:27:01] **Council Member Nick Lean:** I have a question on that... Did you guys ask how far people came away from? [1:27:01] **Council Member Holly Bernett:** So, I wasn't out there every night... I do know that we had people that traveled from neighboring states. So, we had people that came from Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota. [1:28:36] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** I got nothing. I can't top that. [1:28:52] **Council Member Steve Wilson:** I wanted to comment that we every single council meeting we always see donations to the Rambling River Center... I want to thank David McKnight for essentially buying a brand new treadmill for the for the center. [1:29:48] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Um my comment tonight is that uh in observant of Martin Luther King Day, our next scheduled meeting is on January 19th and it will be moved to the 20th. [1:30:15] **David McKnight:** Uh today was an exciting day as we added seven new members to team Farmington, including Samantha Hazelrig, who assumed the newly created human resources manager position. [1:30:28] **Diana:** Thank you, Mayor and Council. I actually was going to pass tonight... but I just want to encourage all of us to find that good and to share those stories. [1:31:06] **John Prior:** Thank you for awarding the contract for the industrial park ditch cleaning. It's been a long time coming to study the area... now we really need to hope for cooperative weather. [1:31:33] **Kelly Asche:** Uh, good evening mayor and council. I did want to highlight the the donations at the Rambling River Center... S'mores and More is this Sunday at Rambling River Park Warming House from 1 to 3 PM. [1:33:08] **Chief Justin Elvestad:** Uh so this morning kicked off our first day of our academy uh for our six full-time um firefighters... This first week is kind of the um paperwork process of everything through HR. [1:33:43] **Chief Jamie Price:** Chief, uh first want to congratulate the fire department on their six new firefighters... Finally, I wanted to um inform everyone of our first movie night with a cop uh that's going to be happening on the 21st of this month. [1:35:14] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Cool. Thank you sir. I don't have anything to add. So with that I would seek a motion to adjourn. [1:35:14] **Council Member Jake Gordes:** Motion. [1:35:14] **Council Member Nick Lean:** Second. [1:35:14] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** Motion by Jake. Second by Nick. All in favor say I. [1:35:14] **Council Members:** I. [1:35:14] **Mayor Joshua Hoy:** We're adjourned at 8:34. [1:35:49] [music]