[4:23] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Time being 7 o'clock, I call the Hastings City Council meeting 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. Thank you and welcome for being here tonight. Let the record reflect that all council members are here and a quorum has been established. Tonight, we are celebrating Black History Month and we will start with a proclamation. Councilmember Pemble? [5:09] Councilmember Dave Pemble: Whereas, Black History Month is celebrated to raise awareness of African American accomplishments and contributions to our society; and whereas, African Americans are part of Minnesota's story from before it was a territory to the present; and whereas, the first Minnesota territorial census in 1857 recorded four African American men living in Hastings, including Robert Burns, a barber, who with Andrew Jackson Overall and J.H. Brooks worked as a community to draft a petition to further their rights to vote which was presented to the legislature of Minnesota in 1865; [5:55] Councilmember Dave Pemble: And whereas, both houses of the legislature passed a bill that proposed an amendment to strike "white" from the suffrage provision, the amendment was adopted in 1868 by a majority of more than 9,000 votes, becoming law in Minnesota two years before the 15th Amendment passed nationwide; and whereas, George Daniels was an enslaved African American man who freed himself during the Civil War by crossing battle lines to join Union troops, in the process he and William George Le Duc became acquainted and built a strong, trusting relationship. Daniels moved to Hastings [6:42] Councilmember Dave Pemble: Where he lived and worked alongside Le Duc, married Chloe Hudson, and started a family; and whereas, the story of George and Chloe Daniels is not unique and represents other African American families that found their way to the Hastings area following the Civil War; and whereas, in the early 1890s the Kern and Wallace families organized other African American community members to establish Brown's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which served as the center of religious and social activities for African Americans until it was destroyed by arson in 1907, resulting in the eventual exodus [7:33] Councilmember Dave Pemble: —oh here we go, excuse me—of African Americans from Hastings; and whereas, recent census data show that the number of African American residents in Hastings has increased in the past decade, Hastings continues to strive for racial equity to provide a healthy community for all and the City Council has made diversity, equity, and inclusion an important part of its work; and whereas, the importance of observing Black History Month in the city of Hastings is to acknowledge, recognize, and welcome people of African descent and their contributions to the city of Hastings while simultaneously recognizing the injustices they have endured; and now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Mary Fasbender, Mayor of [8:21] Councilmember Dave Pemble: The City of Hastings, Minnesota, and the Hastings City Council hereby proclaim February 2024 as Black History Month in Hastings, Minnesota. [8:21] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Thank you, Council. Tonight we have a visitor, Violet Penman, and she will be giving us a recycling update. Welcome, Violet. [8:21] Violet Penman: Hi everyone. Excuse me, I'm still recovering from a cold a little bit so apologies if I start coughing. My name is Violet Penman, I'm the Solid Waste and Recycling Coordinator for the city. I also work in a shared position with the cities of Rosemount and Farmington, so you may see my name associated with those two cities as well. [9:08] Violet Penman: Tonight I'm just going to provide a brief overview of waste and recycling in the City of Hastings throughout the year of 2023 and what plans we have for 2024. So why is it important? Why do we have recycling and solid waste programs in the City of Hastings? How does it impact you as a resident? It's really important; it provides easy and low-cost disposal options for problem materials such as paint, mattresses, light bulbs, batteries—things that you can't get rid of in your typical trash and things that we don't want in our beautiful river, right? Ultimately this helps keep the city clean, helps keep things out of ditches, helps keep the river clean, and makes it safer for your kids, yourself, and [9:56] Violet Penman: Our businesses and the environment. It also helps us meet state and county waste reduction goals and it helps keep valuable materials out of the landfill, which helps produce jobs here in Dakota County and throughout the state of Minnesota. So what were we able to achieve in 2023? As you can see, it's a lot here. I won't go over all of these in detail, but we did have two free shredding events in 2023. We had a couple mattress collection coupons in partnership with Dakota County throughout 2023 to offer a reduced rate for residents to make it a little bit more affordable to get rid of those. Overall, we diverted a grand [10:43] Violet Penman: Total of 12.8 tons from the landfill. So great job Hastings and Hastings residents! That's a lot of stuff that we kept out of the landfill. We were also able to educate about 543 people about the importance of waste and recycling and how to get rid of certain things. That doesn't include the many phone calls and emails that I get and social media comments that I answer. I'm always happy to answer those questions and help you find a good way to get rid of what you need to get rid of. We also have a lot of other programs that aren't mentioned here, either in partnership with Dakota County or, for example, our battery and bulb collection bin for residents in [11:28] Violet Penman: City Hall, which I know people like to utilize. This is a great opportunity since Hastings is the farthest city from the recycling zone. One thing I will note: I put 300 lbs for string lights that were collected—I would probably say that's closer to 700 lbs now. We got a kind of a last push at the end of 2023, so great job you guys getting those recycled. So what do we have planned for 2024? A lot of it will stay the same. I'm excited to do crash courses, which Councilmember Pemble attended last fall, which was great. If you have any questions about "how do I get rid of this" [12:14] Violet Penman: Or "where does my recycling go" or "how do I compost in my backyard," that would be a great place to get those sort of things answered. Probably the most exciting for residents is that we will be taking mattresses and box springs at our spring and fall events. We used to just take paper, but now we will also be taking mattresses at a cost of $30 per item. That's a lot more affordable than getting rid of that through other methods. Another exciting thing is that we'll be offering back-of-house organics collections—not open to the public, but for vendors at RiverTown Days. If they have extra lettuce or stuff, that won't be going to the landfill anymore; it [12:59] Violet Penman: Will be going to a compost site. Another exciting thing is we'll be having a swap event in 2024. We had a swap event last year; it was very popular. This year we'll be doing outdoor winter clothing, which is our most popular swap. It's a great way to get rid of stuff that is still good but you maybe don't want anymore—winter boots, hats, mittens—and maybe find something new to you. Of course, we'll be having our pumpkin collection and holiday light collection; those are very, very popular. If you're wondering about any of these events, feel free to go to the city website and just type in "recycling events" and you can find more details there. All right, I'll keep it short for [13:47] Violet Penman: Everyone's time today here. My info is up on the screen. Always feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I'm always happy to help, that's my job. Any questions before I leave here? [13:47] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Well, Councilmember Folch? [13:47] Councilmember Tina Folch: Thank you. Thank you, Violet. Say, I was wondering if there were any follow-up plans that are underway for utilizing the information that was collected during the business recycling inventory that was conducted? I know that there was a report [14:33] Councilmember Tina Folch: But it didn't necessarily say any next steps or how the information was being used. [14:33] Violet Penman: Yeah, so we did do a waste sort this past August, I believe it was, with businesses in the City of Hastings. The city is closely bound with Dakota County and Dakota County regulations, including Ordinance 110. We would certainly love to work with Dakota County to educate businesses a little bit more. I think that's kind of what the report came out with. I was hoping for a little bit more concrete details beyond just educating businesses, but I think that's probably how we'll be working with Dakota County going forward. Everything has to go through Dakota County first before coming through the city. It takes a village to get that [15:21] Violet Penman: Done. [15:21] Councilmember Tina Folch: What do you mean by that, that it has to go through the county? [15:21] Violet Penman: Yeah, so I'm funded through Dakota County; all of my funding comes from there. All of the landfills around here pay taxes and that goes to waste reduction services such as this. All of the labels per Dakota County Ordinance 110 have to reach certain labeling standards—the correct colors, the correct images—so that they look the same throughout the county. So for those specified labels, they'll need to be specified, go through Dakota County, and then come back to the city. It's a process. [16:07] Councilmember Tina Folch: Well, I would just advocate for the sharing of the information with our local Chamber of Commerce. They do have avenues to disperse information to their membership, and I would encourage you to reach out to Kristi Bar, who is our Executive Director of that organization, and to see what it is you could provide as services to our chamber businesses to help with education. Because there were some interesting pieces of information that were gathered in there, and I think that if you could highlight those—honestly, I championed the grant that came to our city so [16:52] Councilmember Tina Folch: That we could help fund your position. It was always my hope that we would have the ability to have more strategic, coordinated messaging going into our residents and also our businesses. I appreciate the things that you've been doing and that you've been getting your legs under you, but it would be really great to see if there were action steps for the short term and the long term regarding how more education is going to be done with those audiences within our city so that we can start making a greater difference. Just something for you to think of; I'm not trying to put you on the spot [17:38] Councilmember Tina Folch: Or anything like that, but I just think that there's a lot of opportunity for education. Tennis has been a great local partner with our city; I've been super pleased with everything that they've done, and so whatever we can do to help with better outreach would be just fantastic. [17:38] Violet Penman: Yes, it's always great to have suggestions. Sometimes chambers aren't as effective as the one in Hastings, so that's a great suggestion. I would love to send that out to the chamber. Thank you for that. [18:25] Mayor Mary Fasbender: All right, thank you, Violet. Councilmember Fox? [18:25] Councilmember Jen Fox: Thank you, Mayor Mary. Something that we're going to talk about a little later in the economic development update is "Open to Business," and I'm curious through your role, being designated by the county, how you do or do not yet work with that program. I know just being a small business owner, I worked with Open to Business and it was incredibly helpful. They actually pointed us in the direction of a Dakota County grant about recycling, and that was a really helpful way for us to start our spent grain waste disposal. We have really had great success working with the county on recycling materials out of a manufacturing facility. So can you speak, Violet, a little bit to how you do or do not work with Open to Business? [19:13] Violet Penman: So usually the business aspect of waste and recycling falls to Dakota County. I'm usually more of the resident liaison between the city and the county. But like you mentioned, there are definitely grants available that we should make available to the Chamber of Commerce or at least notify them through Dakota County. I don't know if that's where you heard about the grant through, but it's always good to get the word out there. They are great grants. But more or less, I don't really get the ability to work with businesses that much. [19:13] Councilmember Jen Fox: Great, that just maybe could be the last link there, that connection. Thank you so much for your information. [19:58] Violet Penman: Yeah, of course. Thank you guys for having me. [19:58] Mayor Mary Fasbender: We appreciate it. Council members, are there any corrections to the January 16th meeting? Okay. At this time we will have comments from the audience. We have a Zoom option, or we have people in the audience. If you'd like to speak to the Council at this time, you may step forward. Please state your name and your address. Anyone wish to speak at this time? [20:39] Joe Balsanek: Well, thank you, Your Honor. My name is Joe Balsanek, address is 340 Crestview Drive, Hastings. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the Council. A couple of personal notes if I may: Councilmember Folch, I'm very sorry to see you leave the City Council. You have done some very, very nice things and I enjoyed working with you while I was on the Council too. I thought we were a pretty good team sitting over here on this side of the dais. But I wish you well; it looks [21:25] Joe Balsanek: Like good things are happening and I'm sure the city is going to give you good recognition for everything that you've done. Thank you very, very much. And Councilmember Leifeld, thank you for helping get the money for my cabin last summer. There was a snafu in paperwork going back and forth and your bank really did help us out a tremendous amount, and I do appreciate all of that. As far as that's concerned, I'm not sure if all of you are aware but I am on the Charter Commission [22:12] Joe Balsanek: For the city and always happy to put my oar in the water and help out with some things. I think we have a meeting coming up at some point and I look forward to doing whatever I can for the city in any capacity. I do want to thank Dan Wietecha as our City Administrator. I just think that you've done a very, very nice job. I'm glad to say that I was one of the people that hired you back a few years ago and it was well received. You continue to amaze me, at least [22:59] Joe Balsanek: As well as the rest of the city, for all of the good things that you do. I'm not sure if you're all aware, but we did move out of our historic house and into a townhome where it would be safer. And so what did I do a year and a half after I was in the townhome? I fell and broke my wrist. So bowling season did suffer because I wasn't there. At any rate, we're really liking it. We like the fact—there was some mention about [23:44] Joe Balsanek: Pumpkins—our pumpkin, which was out on the front sidewalk, got chewed up by a whole bunch of deer. We seem to be having a lot of deer coming through the neighborhood. When I was on the Council, as a matter of fact, I got a phone call one day from a resident who lived behind Tilden, and the resident was complaining because there were deer coming in and eating their hostas. I thought, for heaven's sakes, of all the things to have to worry about as a council member, that was probably one of the more unusual things. I wanted to mention a few things here [24:30] Joe Balsanek: Tonight—unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, as some people say. I'm going to bring up a couple of things that were done while I was on the Council. These are just a few of the many, many things that we did, but Thrive was the result of a great deal of work in terms of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Councilmember Leifeld, you worked an awful lot on that, and Councilmember Folch, I know you did as well. That involved a great deal of public input before a resolution was finally [25:20] Joe Balsanek: Passed. I recall a couple of meetings at the high school where we had well over 150 people attending those meetings and breaking out into different groups. As a result, we had Thrive which was kind of followed up on by our city public relations person, Lee Stoffel. Thrive involved an awful lot of work on the part of the Council. One of the things that I worked very hard on [26:08] Joe Balsanek: And I think it was probably the thing I'm most satisfied with for the things I did on the City Council, and it took place outside of the city limits, and that was the left turn lane on 55 in Pine Bend by the Crosley intersection right there. There were some very bad accidents there, there were some people killed, and I worked very closely with Margaret Kelliher, who at that time was the Highway Commissioner for the State of Minnesota. Dan and I attended a meeting of different cities that she [26:54] Joe Balsanek: Attended where we kind of talked about the things that we wanted to see happen. She kept in touch with me on that and the result is we have a much safer intersection. Another thing that I had worked long and hard on without much success, but I'm seeing the result of it now, is the speed monitors which are up and around the city—Fourth Street, 15th Street, you name it. We've got some good representation there in terms of people who are maybe not following the speed limits, and that's something that the [27:40] Joe Balsanek: Council worked on an awful lot before we were able to get that all taken care of. Blessed Dan's heart, he found some money left over from COVID and I think that's where we ended up putting those things in. I'm mentioning all of this because there was a resolution that the Council passed at your last meeting, and I think you kind of missed the mark on it. I think your heart was certainly in the right place to get that resolution out there for the public [28:26] Joe Balsanek: But I think the examples that I just used would have been better utilized in order to get this resolution moving forward. It was presented without any public input. Granted, there were some people at the meeting who supported it, but there have been a lot of people who have commented to me that maybe we could have done it differently rather than the way that we did. So I would encourage you to take advantage of the committee system that is part of the way the City Council [29:12] Joe Balsanek: Operates. A resolution like that probably would have been best to go to a committee. Granted, it would have taken a couple of weeks, maybe a month, to sort some things out, but I think it would have had a lot more impact had you used the committee structure. When I was on the Council, we had tremendous use of the committee structure and things were vetted—negative, positive, you name it—but by the time it got to the Council, everybody knew what we wanted. So [29:58] Joe Balsanek: I think those are good examples that you could probably utilize in the future. I'm not sure if you've gotten negative or positive feedback; I'm not here to count noses. Was it really a resolution that is supported by the entire community? I don't know, and maybe it would be known if it had gone through a better vetting system. I think, again, it would have been a much more positive result. Yes, there have been other resolutions from other city councils, but those have been councils [30:46] Joe Balsanek: That have political affiliations, and we are purposely a nonpartisan City Council. We do that because we need to work on both sides of the aisle to get the things that we want—the bridge, the riverfront renaissance, Highway 316. Things of that nature were things that we dealt with in terms of politicians from both sides of the aisle. The nonpartisan end of a Council is to me extremely important. The job of a nonpartisan Council is to concentrate on civic activity, not [31:33] Joe Balsanek: Perhaps weighted to politics. I don't think any of you would admit to being experts on foreign policy; I'm not either. I watch the news, I get both of the newspapers, but who knows what's going on out there except the one thing that I do know is that there are experts who know a lot more about what is going on than we do. Before we weigh into a political forum, I think it's very important that we look at things in a very careful way. I want to thank you for the opportunity to come here and speak to you. Again, Your Honor, great Council—you're all doing such a nice job. The downtown has never been livelier, taxes are within a good range for a city of our size, and keep up the good work. [33:05] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Okay, thank you very much. Appreciate your comments. Anyone else wish to speak to the Council at this time? Anyone on Zoom? No one on Zoom. Okay, moving forward, Council, I would accept a motion for the consent agenda. [33:05] Councilmember Tina Folch: So moved. [33:05] Councilmember Angie Haus: Second. [33:05] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Discussion? All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. (Council responds: Aye). Opposed? That motion is prevailed. Tonight we have an authorization for a signature for a space needs study with CNH Architects; this is for the Fire Department. We welcome Chief Townsend with us. Welcome, Chief. [33:52] Chief John Townsend: Hello, Mayor. Hello, Council. In front of you is authorization for a signature for a space needs study for the Fire Department. One of the things identified in our study that we did in 2022 was some incremental increases in staffing. Our current fire station does not have enough space for dorms and space for that staffing to be. We currently in the '25 budget are doing some temporary dorm rooms that will be up in our fitness room, so this study will be looking at what types of needs we have coming into the future, what our needs are today, and what those needs could look like in the [34:37] Chief John Townsend: Future, and hope to guide us on whether we can remodel and make what we currently have fit and suit our needs versus an addition versus a different building. That agreement is for $16,500 and that is a budgeted item for 2024. Are there any questions? [35:23] Councilmember Tina Folch: Thank you, Your Honor. Chief, I'm really excited to see that you're bringing forward this needs assessment for your department. I think it's past due and I'm looking forward to—well, I won't be on the Council when it gets back—but I'm looking forward to hearing more and knowing that your needs are going to be met in the upcoming years and that we can actually budget and be more proactive. So thank you. [35:23] Chief John Townsend: Thank you. [36:10] Councilmember Jen Fox: Thank you, Your Honor. Chief, we have had a lot of conversations over the past couple years about increasing staffing at the firehouse and it has come to fruition. Along with that conversation, we did have conversation about space needs, so thank you for bringing this to us. We knew it was coming because we discussed it a few years ago. We need to retrofit and make sure that we have the space that our incredible fire department needs. I would like to move the approval of the agreement. [36:10] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: Second. [36:58] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: Thanks, Your Honor. Chief, I just want to add onto this—when we've had these conversations, some of the things that people don't realize is when we talked about the shower situation alone. There's a regulation for the amount of time a firefighter has to shower after attending a fire event? [36:58] Chief John Townsend: Yep, one of the big things with doing the activities that we do at a fire is there's a lot of carcinogens. One of the things that is killing firefighters later in their careers or after their careers are over is cancer; it's a three times greater rate than the general population. So the standard is to shower within the hour. Currently, we have a number of staff but we have one shower in the men's locker room and one shower for the women's locker room, and both of those groups are growing. [37:43] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: Thanks for giving those numbers because I just wanted people to hear that. Nice fancy new things would be great, but the fact that you're trying to work with the city and the community to make the location work while understanding the importance of the safety behind your firefighters is something I found to be very interesting during our committee meetings. We definitely support this, and there is a piece to it too: we want to attract firefighters. We want people to come to Hastings. We want to be able to provide them with all of the comforts that make them want to stay. Thanks, Chief, for your great work. [38:29] Mayor Mary Fasbender: There is a motion and a second. Discussion? None. All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. (Council responds: Aye). Opposed? That motion prevails. Good luck, Chief. We also have an authorization for a signature for an agreement with Hideaway Shooting Range LLC and we have an update from our Chief of Police, Kyle Linscheid. Welcome. [38:29] Chief Kyle Linscheid: Mayor, City Council members, thank you for this opportunity. We're seeking approval to go into a contract with Hideaway Gun Range. In the Police Department, we have mandated training that we have to attend every year—that's at the shooting range, it's less-lethal weapons, defensive tactics, taser, things like that. We used to have a contract with Hideaway, but we realized there was a gap because we [39:15] Chief Kyle Linscheid: Couldn't fulfill all those training obligations. We started going to the Hero Center in Cottage Grove—beautiful facility, but it's really not financially available for us to go there multiple times a year. So we go there twice a year and we satisfy all our POST-required training. But there is a need to have additional days at the range and that's why we are asking that we enter a contract with Hideaway Gun Range. The contract would be $2,535 a year and that is unlimited use of that range as long as it's available. It's an outdoor range and it's a minimal cost to get more training time in. When we hire [40:01] Chief Kyle Linscheid: New officers, oftentimes we have to kind of beg, borrow, and steal with another police department that might have a range so we can qualify that officer. This would negate that. I will thank you. [40:01] Councilmember Angie Haus: Thank you, Your Honor. I would just like to say thank you so much for working so hard on being budget-friendly with this too. I think it's great to see that we're utilizing both spaces as well, because I love still giving up to local businesses. Congrats. [40:48] Councilmember Tina Folch: Thank you, Your Honor. I just wanted to ask about the location of this. This is on the south end of town, correct? [41:34] Chief Kyle Linscheid: It's near Afton. North. [41:34] Councilmember Tina Folch: Oh, it's up in Afton. Okay, I was wondering where it was. I'm sorry to hear that the Hero Center is cost-prohibitive for our Police Department, because that was largely paid for by state bonding funding, if I remember correctly, that was given to the City of Cottage Grove. They don't offer better pricing for other police departments? [41:34] Chief Kyle Linscheid: My understanding is the Hero Center offered for law enforcement agencies to go in on the original cost and then you would have priority and reduced rates. We didn't take advantage of that at the time; the funding wasn't there. So we have to pay the regular rate, and for a full day at the Hero Center it's $2,500 a day. We budget for two days a year and that satisfies our training requirements, but officers need more than one day at the range per year. [42:21] Councilmember Tina Folch: I see. [42:21] Chief Kyle Linscheid: And so this gives them the ability to go out there on a more regular basis. We would include between three and four additional shoots throughout the year and utilize vehicles because it's an outdoor range. [43:07] Councilmember Tina Folch: That's great. Mayor Mary, you need to go talk to that Mayor of Cottage Grove! Get right on that. All right, thank you. [43:07] Councilmember Jen Fox: Thank you, Your Honor. I too clarified—so the POST-required training will still happen at the Hero Center, correct? And then anything outside of that will happen at Hideaway? And would we be able to have shooting range availability for our officers—like if they're off for a day, could they go and practice their marksmanship then? [43:07] Chief Kyle Linscheid: They can always do that at a public range. They wouldn't be able to go to Hideaway individually because we have to have a range instructor and a safety officer there. So we would have to set that up in advance, and we would offer three to five training dates where they can come in either on-duty or off-duty to hone their skills. [43:53] Councilmember Jen Fox: Thank you. I move to approve. [43:53] Councilmember Tim Lawrence: Second. [43:53] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Discussion? None. All those in favor state by saying aye. (Council responds: Aye). Opposed? That motion prevails. Thank you, Chief. We also have an acceptance of a proposal for the Industrial Park water tower reconditioning, and Dan Wietecha will give us an update. [44:41] Dan Wietecha: Thank you. This one is about planning ahead. In our 2025 Capital Improvement Plan, next year is reconditioning of the water tower out in the industrial park. As you remember, a year ago we did reconditioning on the water tower over by the high school off of Fourth Street. Similar work, although the Industrial Park tower is larger. Our budget figure for 2025 is $1.6 million. In our discussions with KLM, the engineering group that we worked with on the Fourth Street water tower, it's really advisable to get moving on this now. If we get the design work done this spring/summer and go out to bid in late '24, we could have a contractor lined up [45:26] Dan Wietecha: To start right away in the spring of 2025. The point is good pricing and getting the project done early in the year. That's the reason that we want to get an early start on the design now, even though it was not planned as part of the '24 budget. KLM is the same company we worked with last year. The design and bidding, which is the immediate piece for 2024, would require a $16,000 budget adjustment. The contract would also encompass about [46:11] Dan Wietecha: $106,000 of construction observation and investigation in '25 and even into '27. But the immediate piece is that $16,000 for design and bid here in 2024. With that, I can take any questions. [46:58] Councilmember Tina Folch: I was going to make a motion to accept the proposal and authorize the work for the Industrial Park water tower. [46:58] Councilmember Dave Pemble: Second. [46:58] Mayor Mary Fasbender: All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. (Council responds: Aye). Opposed? Motion prevails. Thanks, Dan. We are also looking to accept a proposal for the Mississippi riverbank erosion, and Dan has some updates along with slides. [47:43] Dan Wietecha: Thank you. Chatting with Chief Townsend before, he advised I'm supposed to open with a joke, but he didn't, so I'm not going to either. This is an overview map showing the location—it's that little red dot in River Flats Park along the [47:43] Dan Wietecha: Mississippi River across from Lake Rebecca. We've had significant erosion here and it's going to undermine the trail that's immediately adjacent to it. It's about 100 feet linear along the riverbank. As you can see here, it is significantly eroded. With the flooding that we had this past spring, we've got up some temporary fencing, but that obviously doesn't fix the problem. We have investigated state and federal grants [48:29] Dan Wietecha: Which either were flat-out not eligible or we were advised it's a lot of work for something you're very unlikely to get. So at this point, we're looking at not having grant funding. I do know that our Parks Director, Chris Jenkins, is encouraging Dakota County to have some sort of cost-share since the trail is part of their trail system. The proposal is for permitting and design work by Barr Engineering. The amount is $27,300, which would require a budget amendment. Estimates of the work would be [49:15] Dan Wietecha: 500 tons of riprap as well as 200 tons of filter materials. It would comply with Army Corps of Engineers standard permitting requirements. Construction and engineering is estimated at about $140,000. Before you tonight is just the engineering piece. Subsequently, I expect we will be back asking for another budget amendment to do the work. I can take any questions. [50:02] Councilmember Jen Fox: Thank you, Your Honor. Dan, I share the frustration that we weren't able to work through the State of Minnesota to fix some of this. It's just not come to—we were hoping, but it really didn't meet the criteria. I think it is our prerogative to work with Dakota County as much as possible. My question—the memo says [50:50] Councilmember Jen Fox: That it will occur after spring flooding, the construction, if we do move forward. Do you know what the bid package delivery for May 3rd means? Does that mean it will conclude by May 3rd of 2024? [51:37] Dan Wietecha: My understanding was that the moving on this now, the work could be completed ahead of any flooding that we might see this spring. I'm puzzled by the reference to May 3rd; I'm not sure what that reference is. [51:37] Councilmember Jen Fox: No problem. I'm encouraged to see that it could happen within the spring of 2024. [52:25] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: Thank you, Dan. Are we doing this erosion project only because of the trail? Seeing the sloughing off in proximity to the trail... and how close do barges get at that particular spot? Is any of this the result of that traffic? [53:12] Dan Wietecha: I cannot answer that. This is upstream of the "hard left" that barges take. [53:57] Councilmember Angie Haus: Thank you, Your Honor. I would just like to encourage us to continue speaking with Dakota County on this. One quick question I did have: if the trail ends up being damaged due to this, would that cost go onto the city or Dakota County? [54:43] Dan Wietecha: I believe under the joint powers agreement we have with the county, they have responsibility for maintaining their infrastructure. [54:43] Mayor Mary Fasbender: I would look for a motion then to approve the proposal from Barr Engineering. [54:43] Councilmember Tina Folch: So moved. [54:43] Councilmember Jen Fox: Second. [54:43] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Discussion? None. All those in favor state by saying aye. (Council responds: Aye). Opposed? Motion prevails. Tonight we have an assessment of water service repair at 619 West 5th Street. Dan Wietecha? [55:30] Dan Wietecha: This is in one sense something that we do fairly often and in another sense it's extremely unique. We probably have two or three water service lines that we repair every year. Typically, because it can have a significant bill—$5,000 to $10,000—we'll have the residents ask if that could be assessed and paid over several years. What's unique here is the [57:04] Dan Wietecha: Resident owning this property recently deceased, so we don't have anybody that can sign off on that waiver. In speaking with their estate, they asked that we go through the assessment process. The recommendation from legal counsel was to go through all the formalities of the process. We're giving a public hearing tonight for this property. [57:49] Mayor Mary Fasbender: First we'll have the public hearing. At this time I will open the public hearing for the assessment on 619 West Fifth Street. Anyone wish to speak? Anyone on Zoom? At this time I will close the public hearing. [58:37] Councilmember Tina Folch: Thank you, Your Honor. So Dan, just for clarification, the $8,500 worth of costs will then be assessed against the property, so upon sale of the property, the assessment will be paid? [59:22] Dan Wietecha: Correct. [59:22] Mayor Mary Fasbender: First I would look for a motion to certify for collections of the assessment of $8,500 for the water service repair. [59:22] Councilmember Dave Pemble: So moved. [59:22] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: Second. [1:00:09] Mayor Mary Fasbender: All those in favor state by saying aye. (Council responds: Aye). Opposed? Motion prevails. Under Community Development tonight we have a resolution for the Walden at Hastings and the EAW negative declaration on the need for an EIS. John Hinzman, welcome. [1:00:56] John Hinzman: Thank you, Mayor. Tonight what we're looking at is an environmental assessment worksheet (EAW). Your actions tonight are to review the findings of this EAW, acknowledge the public comments received, and adopt a resolution recording a negative declaration on the need to prepare an EIS. That means the environmental review is concluded. What we're looking at tonight is the Walden Addition on Highway 316 and Michael Avenue. The property consists of an upland [1:01:42] John Hinzman: Portion proposed for development and a lower portion, Sand Coulee, proposed to not be developed. The developer is looking to sell that lower property to the DNR for protection. The proposal is for development of about 511 units—clarified through a preliminary plan to be around 450 units—from single-family and townhomes to apartments. [1:02:27] John Hinzman: The EAW determines if an EIS is necessary. This does not approve or deny the project itself. This is an assessment of environmental effects. Upon action by the Council tonight, there would later be an application for land use actions, rezoning, and a preliminary plat. That is a separate process with a public hearing before the Planning Commission. [1:04:46] John Hinzman: We established a one-month comment period and had comments received by 13 parties. Within the comments, a few themes came forward: the location of a refuse dump that Dakota County has shown on the property—the developer would have to take care of that; storm water infiltration concerns; and a Natural Heritage letter from the DNR. Also, consultations with Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. [1:08:37] John Hinzman: Staff recommendation is to move forward with a negative declaration. Joining us via Zoom is the developer's engineer, Carrie Franklin. [1:09:22] Councilmember Jen Fox: Thank you, Your Honor. John, thank you for clarifying that no development decisions are being made based on the EAW. We wanted to make sure the soil was safe to build on. We are still looking for input from our community. I move to approve the resolution. [1:10:11] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: Second. [1:10:11] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Discussion? All those in favor state by saying aye. (Council responds: Aye). Opposed? Motion prevails. Tonight we have a resolution to convey property to HEDRA at the southwest corner of Pleasant Drive and South Frontage Road. John Hinzman? [1:10:57] John Hinzman: Thank you, Mayor. This is about a 4-acre property located at the southwest corner of South Frontage Road and Pleasant Drive. This property is owned by the city and was conveyed back in 1968 to be held forever. Under state law, there is a 30-year limit upon that, so the ability for us to sell the land began in 1998. The Planning Committee conclusion was that this property [1:12:29] John Hinzman: Was not really a determination of public use. We're asking tonight to convey the property to HEDRA because HEDRA is the proper body to look at private property sales. There is a potential party who would seek to purchase and develop the property for a national retailer. It's a challenging site with storm water drainage. Action we're asking for tonight is to convey the property to HEDRA. [1:16:22] Councilmember Tina Folch: Thank you, Your Honor. During our Planning Committee meeting, I shared that I'm concerned about 12th Street West close to McAuliffe. If this parcel is provided to HEDRA, I want it noted that we shouldn't allow any exiting onto 12th Street to keep that safe for families and school traffic. I support the resolution and I'll make a first motion. [1:17:54] Councilmember Angie Haus: Second. [1:17:54] Mayor Mary Fasbender: All those in favor state by saying aye. (Council responds: Aye). Opposed? Motion prevails. Now John Hinzman will give us the Community Development Annual Report. [1:18:41] John Hinzman: Thank you, Mayor. Last year we had 207 new residential homes totaling nearly $30 million in valuation. Commercial development had 78 permits with $38 million in valuation. Lake Isabel Flats on Third Street—89 apartment units—is under construction. Vermillion Acres Senior project—75 units—is going forward. KFC is coming to Vermillion Street. [1:23:18] John Hinzman: Regarding HEDRA, the biggest thing I'm most proud of is the Confluence finally coming to fruition after 14 years. It was a testament to the commitment of HEDRA and this body. Lake Isabel Flats is the largest apartment building to date in downtown Hastings. We're also working on Block 28—the area on the west side of 61 between 4th and 5th Street. We have acquired almost half the properties on the block. [1:27:10] John Hinzman: Finally, "Open to Business" met with 15 businesses last year and provided $130,000 in gap financing. Our Heritage Preservation Commission reviewed permits for 15 different buildings. I can stand for any questions. [1:28:43] Mayor Mary Fasbender: Thanks, John. Great update. Now we have a second reading and adoption for ordinance amendments for lawful gambling. Kelly Murtaugh, Assistant City Administrator. [1:29:31] Kelly Murtaugh: Thank you, Mayor. In April of 2023, several amendments were proposed, including increasing trade area spending to 75%. There was significant feedback from charitable gambling organizations against that. Fast forward to January 16th—an updated first reading came before you which retained only the annual renewal process and reporting requirements. We have two options: Option A is the original first reading with a date edit based on feedback. Option B includes allowing state and federal taxes to be recognized as trade area spending. [1:36:32] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: Kelly, clarification on that 3% tax idea? 3% of what? [1:37:22] Dan Wietecha: If we implemented the tax, it is required to be specific to overhead at the city implementing oversight. If there's any overpayment, the city would have to reimburse that. It's not a money maker. [1:38:07] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: I would like to make a motion to go forward with Option A. It implements a $150 annual fee and data submission to the city. [1:40:23] Councilmember Jen Fox: Second. We've done a lot of due diligence on this topic and I appreciate the willingness to adapt the timeline based on concerns. [1:41:37] Councilmember Angie Haus: I want to echo as well that this will not change the 50% trade-in area. It is staying 50%. [1:42:25] Mayor Mary Fasbender: All those in favor state by saying aye. (Council responds: Aye). Opposed? Motion prevails. Now, the Strategic Plan quarterly report. Dan Wietecha? [1:43:12] Dan Wietecha: This is our first quarterly report since adopting the new strategic plan in September. Notable progress includes looking at alternate revenue sources and significant steps towards staff training. It is a learning process regarding the software platform. We are planning a City Council workshop in April. [1:47:48] Councilmember Tina Folch: Thank you, Honor. I agree that there seems to be a lack of information; it's very brief. I've suggested that periodically, perhaps quarterly, we have more detailed desired outcomes and indicators. [1:49:04] Councilmember Jen Fox: I also believe the workshop would keep the details flowing. Thank you for keeping our priorities a priority. [1:49:50] Councilmember Lisa Leifeld: When we met for the Administration Committee, the important piece was: if we're going to ask these questions of the community, what are we doing with it? We want to make sure residents know their feedback has an impact. [1:51:22] Dan Wietecha: Just for clarification, the community survey kicking off in mid-March is a bit different than the Strategic Plan reported here, though they complement each other. [1:52:08] Councilmember Jen Fox: I wanted to make sure the community knew about the Frozen Mulligan event February 17th. [1:52:56] Mayor Mary Fasbender: The Chamber will host the State of the Community this Wednesday, February 7th. The Rivertown Lions Club is hosting a breakfast on Sunday, February 25th. Happy birthday to Councilmember Leifeld on the 18th. City offices closed Monday, February 19th for President's Day. Motion to adjourn? [1:55:05] Councilmember Tim Lawrence: So moved. [1:55:05] Councilmember Dave Pemble: Second. [1:55:47] Mayor Mary Fasbender: All in favor say aye. (Council responds: Aye). We are adjourned.