Based on the context provided, here is the transcribed townhall meeting with speaker names identified. [0:00] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All right, we going on with Verizon or we go on with the city website? I got six—is everybody ready? Heather, you ready? Jessica, staff ready? *Faribault Daily News*? We will call the February 11th, 2025, meeting to order. First item is [roll call]: Council Member Barnes? [0:15] **Council Member Mandy Barnes:** Here. [0:16] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Doumbouya? [0:17] **Council Member Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Here. [0:18] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Ross? [0:19] **Council Member Royal Ross:** Here. [0:20] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Rowan? [0:21] **Council Member John Rowan:** Here. [0:22] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Van Sluis? [0:23] **Council Member Peter van Sluis:** Here. [0:41] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Spooner—here. All present. [1:03] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Moving on, item number two: approval of the agenda. [1:13] **Council Member Royal Ross:** Motion. [1:14] **Council Member Chuck Thiele:** Second. [1:15] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All those in favor, aye. Motion passes. Presentation introductions—we have none. Item four: approval of the minutes of January 28, 2025, city council meeting and the February 4th, 2025, special city council meeting. [1:42] **Council Member John Rowan:** Motion. [1:51] **Council Member Peter van Sluis:** Second. [1:52] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All in favor, aye. Motion passes. We have no requests to be heard. Item number six: consent agenda. [2:12] **Council Member Royal Ross:** Motion. [2:13] **Council Member Chuck Thiele:** Second. [2:14] **Council Member Chuck Thiele:** Yeah, I'm just going to make one comment on 6n, the social media policy. I'm going to vote in favor of it. I think this is something that's definitely going to come back sooner than later. Lot of things. [2:25] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye. (Chorus of Ayes). All opposed? Motion carries. Public hearings: Resolution 2025-21 to support the Minnesota investment fund application in connection with KGP Telecommunications. [2:57] **Mark DuChene (City Engineer):** KGP Telecommunications LLC is currently located at 3305 on Highway 60 West. They're in search of a new headquarters location and, if they're able to acquire enough financial assistance, would prefer to remain in the community and grow in the community. So the resolution before you today is in support of an application to the Minnesota Investment Fund through DEED, as KGP is seeking a $100,000 forgivable loan through the state to go toward a future project. You have previously approved a similar resolution, but they were working on a different site. [3:42] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** And the application material record—this is correct? [4:02] **Mark DuChene (City Engineer):** Correct. I would also add, I requested that KGP send a representative; they weren't able to get anybody here tonight. But Matthew Drevo, the General Counsel and Vice President, did send a written statement. I placed it in front of you shortly before the meeting. [4:36] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All right. This is a public hearing. Open the public hearing. [4:48] **Council Member Chuck Thiele:** Motion to open the hearing. [4:49] **Council Member Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Second. [4:50] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All in favor, aye. We are now in public hearing. (Pause). Hearing none, motion to close the public hearing. [5:30] **Council Member Peter van Sluis:** Motion to close the public hearing. [5:32] **Council Member Royal Ross:** Second. [5:33] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All in favor, aye. We are out of public hearing. Peter? [5:57] **Council Member Peter van Sluis:** Resolution 2025-23: Declare of the assistance of slum and blight conditions in the general Central Business District area of the city related to small cities development program. [6:05] **Mark DuChene (City Engineer):** At a previous meeting, the council did amend the spend plan for the Small City Development Program income—this is income that we've made off of loans made through that original program. We did send that formal spend plan amendment to DEED; we have not received back a response to formally approve it, but I suspect that it will go forward as planned. There's a number of startup items that are necessary to be able to spend those dollars towards the streetscape improvements. We need to designate the target area as "slum and blight" to meet the federal HUD designation for spending objectives. This resolution has also been passed previously back in 2018, and the extents of the downtown area remain the same as that once again. [7:23] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Motion? [7:34] **Council Member John Rowan:** Motion. [7:35] **Council Member Chuck Thiele:** Second. [7:36] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All those in favor, aye. We are in public hearing. Anyone? (Pause). All right, last one. Motion to close. [8:04] **Council Member Chuck Thiele:** Motion. [8:05] **Council Member Peter van Sluis:** Second. [8:22] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All in favor, aye. Close. [8:40] **David Wanberg (Community & Economic Development Director):** Item C: Approval associated with the Redevelopment of Grant application on 924 First Street North. Think Biz LLC, which is an entity operated by Rebound Real Estate Group, has approached the city asking for assistance applying for a redevelopment grant through DEED. They approached us fairly last minute with the application deadline being February 3rd. We were able to pull something together and request an extension from the state. We are able to turn in materials through February 12th—so, tomorrow morning. There are three resolutions before you. The first resolution establishes the property at 924 1st Street Northeast as substandard and says that we meet the state statute for designating that property as blighted and substandard. It also specifies that the property meets the requirements to be in a future Redevelopment Tiff District. These resolutions do not approve any TIF funds or open the district; that would have to be done with a separate application. But it states that if they move forward with demolishing the building, we have a time limit of 5 years to establish a Redevelopment Tiff District. The last two resolutions are the support for the application and a commitment of a local match. [10:14] **David Wanberg (Community & Economic Development Director):** The city is the applicant on this grant, and it requires a 50% local match. The developer has committed to providing that 50% project equity attached to the resolution. So there'll be no City funds outside of staff time put towards the project. [10:52] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** I'll take a motion. [11:08] **Council Member Peter van Sluis:** Motion. [11:09] **Council Member John Rowan:** Second. [11:43] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Motion on the next resolution item? [12:02] **Council Member Chuck Thiele:** Motion. [12:03] **Council Member Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** Second. [12:17] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All in favor, aye. On to the match grant application. Motion? [12:35] **Council Member Mandy Barnes:** Motion. [12:36] **Council Member Royal Ross:** Second. [12:37] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All in favor, aye. Item number eight: items for discussion. Boards, commissions, and reports. I just have a few things... [14:26] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** Next week on board commission reports... anything else? Today we had discussion last week about an upcoming library educational program. I'm just going to turn this over to the Director. [14:50] **Library Director:** Thank you, Mayor Spooner and City Council. On February 20th at 6:00 p.m., Buckham Memorial Library will be hosting a Library Legacy program through SELCO, our regional library system: "Minnesota's Hooded History: Clan in the 1920s Minnesota." The program has been touring the SELCO region since 2023 and will be presented by Nancy Valen Court, a local historian and librarian. Valen Court has spent years researching the presence of the Ku Klux Klan in Southeastern Minnesota. Like most of our offerings, this event is an educational program exploring the history of the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Minnesota. In no way does offering this program indicate that SELCO, Buckham Memorial Library, or the presenter support or condone the activities, beliefs, or ideology. On the contrary, the program is intended to shed light on the Clan's presence in our region—a presence which has long been covered up—in order to foster a deeper understanding of the history of prejudice and discrimination in Southeastern Minnesota. [16:18] **Library Director:** By confronting this history, the library hopes that the realities of prejudice and discrimination are not ignored or erased but rather acknowledged as a part of the ongoing work toward a more just and inclusive society. The library strives to serve the public with wide-ranging educational topics and interests. We know and we accept that we play a role in furthering the cohesiveness of our community. We also know we won't always be able to provide programming or content that is interesting or suitable for everyone. That's okay, because we all have different beliefs, understandings, and opinions. We hope that by offering a variety of programs to share our stories, we can help bridge divides. [17:04] **Library Director:** Usually this program is held at the same time as a gallery exhibit called "Testify: Americana From Slavery to Today" from the collection of Alan and Diane Page. When we booked these two programs last fall, we were unable to schedule them at the same time. I’d like to share details about the Testify exhibit. The library will be hosting "Testify: Americana From Slavery to Today," a photo gallery exhibit, from Monday, March 31st to Wednesday, April 3rd. The exhibit is free and open to the public during normal hours of operation of the library. Former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and NFL Hall of Famer Justice Alan Page and his family are again presenting this impactful exhibit of African American artifacts. Objects in this exhibit juxtapose artifacts from an often painful shared history with inspiring imagery and works of art to help us rise above it. Diane Sims Page said of the collection that she started: "We hope that by coming to grips with our past, we come together in the future." Buckham Memorial Library hopes that you will all join us for these important programs. Council, are there any questions? [18:50] **Council Member Adama Youhn Doumbouya:** I think thank you for coming to clarify, because we were very concerned about why the program was in February, which is federally organized Black History Month. A couple of people told me that at the time. I never had much information on it, so I reached out to the City Administrator and, where necessary, the Library Director to ask what's going on with that. So, I just want to take this time to say thanks for coming to clarify this. I was just thinking whether this program could be rescheduled when the Americana From Slavery exhibit is hosted? But since it's in February, I think it is a suitable month for that since that is more about the history. So, thanks for clarifying. [20:11] **Library Director:** Thank you, Adama. This is very much an educational program. [20:45] **Mayor Thomas J. Spooner:** All right. We are adjourned. Goodbye. (Applause).