[0:00] **[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]** [0:47] **Jeff Weisensel:** All right, here we go. I'd like to call the regular city council meeting for Tuesday, June 4th, 2024, to order. Please rise and join me in 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. All right, welcome everyone. Are there any additions or corrections to the agenda? [1:28] **Logan Martin:** No, sir. [1:30] **Jeff Weisensel:** Seeing none, I'll move the agenda. Is there a second? [1:36] **Paul Essler:** Second. [1:38] **Jeff Weisensel:** All in favor signify by saying "Aye." **Council Members:** Aye. [1:42] **Jeff Weisensel:** Opposed? We have an agenda. First item up is item 3A, the police officer oath of office. Turn it over to Chief. [1:52] **Carson Thomas:** Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council. Exciting night for our Police Department as we swear in—not our newest member, but we changed philosophy over COVID to swear people and do the oath of office once they're passed probation. And I'd be remiss if I didn't apologize to him a little bit because we're not completely timely on this, as you'll find out from when he was hired, but we're getting it done nonetheless and he's earned a lot to talk about here. So we're going to cover some of this for Officer Steve Hotelling. In October of 2022, the police department was fortunate to hire Officer Steve Hotelling, badge number 3568. Officer Hotelling came to our department as a lateral hire from Elko New Market Police Department where he served there for three years. While at Elko New Market, Officer Hotelling earned experience as a specialized Taser instructor, the Toward Zero Death coordinator (which is a statewide grant for traffic safety), and a Field Training Officer. Steve was born and raised in St. Paul Park, Minnesota, and he became interested in law enforcement in junior high. He graduated from Park High School in 2001. Following high school, he earned an AA in law enforcement from Minneapolis Community College and then he went to skills training. Prior to joining our department, Steve worked a variety of private security jobs and also volunteered as a reserve police officer with the Cottage Grove Police Department for nine years. In 2015, Steve was hired by the Minnesota State Patrol for a non-sworn security position at the State Capitol and he worked there for several years. Currently at the Rosemount Police Department, Officer Hotelling is serving as a Field Training Officer, he's the liaison for our Reserve program, and he's also a member of our recruitment team. Officer Hotelling reports that this department and the city were very welcoming when he started and he appreciates working for a department that is growing and one that allows him opportunities to train in areas of special interest. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, going to the cabin, playing fantasy football, and taking vacations on a cruise ship. It should be noted that when Steve applied, he talked about his passion for traffic safety, and his passion for law enforcement started after he had a friend that was killed by a motorist in junior high. And so that's when he knew that this is something that he wanted to serve in as a professional as he got older. And he put his money where his mouth is. You know, sometimes people say things in interviews and then they don't actually follow through with them when they get on the job, but he's done that. So to give you an example, I pulled out a couple things that have been written about Steve in our digital employee management system. I think it's pretty impressive that just after one year on the job, in 2023, he received several nominations to be our Officer of the Year. Those came in from supervisors that work with him, and I want to read one of them tonight: "I'd like to nominate Officer Steve Hotelling for the 2023 Officer of the Year. Since Steve joined, he's always had an extremely positive attitude and is willing to help out. He has been a great example to all officers and his maturity is appreciated. In 2023, Officer Hotelling stopped at least 538 vehicles and issued approximately 200 citations. In addition, he completed 171 incident reports. This puts Officer Hotelling near the top of the department for both traffic stops and calls for service handled as well as citations. He's taken on the reserve liaison position in his first year and he's been very helpful in getting newly hired reserves equipped and ready to be on solo patrol trips. He's also serving as a Field Training Officer and he can be counted on and reliable in all of his shifts. He frequently works contractual overtime details to make sure his partners who are off don't have to also come in." So I think that's one nomination. The other thing that stood out to me as I was going through Steve's file was the handwritten notes that he's received. In the age where everything is digital and emails and texts, having community members that actually take time to write a special note about how he engaged with their family—I want to cover a couple of those here. One of them involved Officer Hotelling and Officer Medig responding to an elderly woman who had passed away in her home. Her sister was remotely viewing the officer's response via live surveillance video and communicated with the officers through the video system. Three months later, we received a thank-you card from her expressing her appreciation for the officers' professionalism and compassionate handling of a difficult situation. While these calls can be routine in our line of work, the people who we interact with will never forget the impression that we leave on them. Officers Medig and Hotelling certainly made a positive and lasting impact on their entire family. Talk about acting as if the whole world's watching—you don't always know that you're on live surveillance camera, and I think that speaks for itself. Another one we got here is another handwritten note. It went on to say, "We want to thank the officers who responded to our 911 call on Saturday, November 4th, when Ron fell and fractured his hip. You were so kind, patient, and helpful. We appreciate your help." And Steve was again on that call. There's countless others for taking initiative handling mental health crisis calls, the high school—the list goes on and on, but I just think that it shows that Steve is an individual that's going to serve the mission of the Rosemount Police Department. We are so appreciative to have him. So, thank you, Steve. The next thing we're going to do here is we are going to do the oath of office, and I believe our City Clerk is going to administer that oath. Before we do that, do you want to come on up, Steve, and introduce who's with you today? [7:45] **Steve Hotelling:** Sure. There's a lot of people; that means I'm popular. John and—raise your hand here—Josh, where'd you go? Right there, from Cottage Grove. He was a Community Service Officer when I was a reserve there, he's now a Sergeant with Cottage Grove. Obviously, all my partners in the reserves. [8:13] **Carson Thomas:** Very good. Who's pinning on your badge tonight? [8:16] **Steve Hotelling:** My daughter and my wife. [8:19] **Carson Thomas:** Very good. All right. [8:21] **Steve Hotelling:** And my parents are here as well. [8:23] **Carson Thomas:** We joked with him; one of our officers may have forgot to mention that his wife was at his Officer of the Year ceremony. [8:30] **Steve Hotelling:** And Kevin! Yes, don't forget about Kevin. [8:33] **Carson Thomas:** So I'm glad you remembered your parents, but yeah. Good call. [8:46] **Erin Fasbender:** Please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear to support the Constitution of the United States, the state of Minnesota, and faithfully discharge the duties of an officer of the police department for the city of Rosemount, in the county of Dakota and the state of Minnesota, to the best of my judgment and ability? [9:11] **Steve Hotelling:** I do. [9:13] **Erin Fasbender:** Congratulations. [9:15] **Steve Hotelling:** Thank you. [9:21] **[Applause]** [10:01] **Carson Thomas:** Thank you again. We're going to head over to the Steeple Center for anyone that's invited; we've got refreshments and some cake to celebrate. So we'll get out of here. [10:13] **Jeff Weisensel:** All right, thank you, Chief. Congratulations! Welcome—I know you've been here forever. All right, with that, as the contingent is leaving the chambers here, that completes 3A. We'll move on to 3B, the Youth Commission report. Ms. Fasbender? [10:48] **Erin Fasbender:** Thank you, Mayor and Councilmembers. Before you this evening, we have our recent Youth Commission Chairperson, Julia Alex. I'd like to formally state as well, being new to the Youth Commission this year, hearing her conduct and run a meeting, I am by far impressed. So I am very excited to hear what she has to highlight here for you tonight on everything the Youth Commission accomplished in this last year. Welcome, Julia. [11:13] **Julia Alex:** Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and City Council Members. Thank you for giving me your time and attention today to allow me to speak to you. My name is Julia Alex and I'm now the former Chairperson of the Rosemount City Youth Commission. I just finished my third term on the commission, but this was my first term as Chairperson. My fellow Commissioners this year have been Kira Favors as First Vice Chair, Molly Pittson as the Second Vice Chair, Kerana Adigi, Sanan Adigi, Nadia Burman, Cara Castle, Nan Hawk, Norah Hawk, Cindy Harvey, Ethan Johnson, Kylie Knutson, May Laonis, Charlie Loven, Harper Loven, Max Rondo, and Dylan State. Last June, former Chairperson Thatcher Buck presented the Youth Commission report of 2022 to 2023, and today I stand here to present the 2023 to 2024 Youth Commission report. This year, the events the commission was present at were the Splash Pad opening (which is my personal favorite), Leprechaun Days, Night to Unite, the Halloween Haunted Trail, the tree lighting ceremony, and lastly, our Legacy Tree planting at Winds Park. The commission was also given the new opportunity to be election judges, which many took advantage of. On top of the events that Youth Commission members volunteered at, the commission continued its tradition in touring and meeting with numerous City officials to expand our understanding and learn the roles of different officials and departments in our city. This year, the commission toured Fire Station Number One on Shannon Parkway and the Public Works and Police campus. Additionally, we met with Parks and Recreation Director Schultz where Youth Commission members were able to see the in-depth detail and pictures of Rosemount's future projects such as Flint Hills Park, Central Park pickleball courts, community parks, and the Rosemount Community Center renovation. Furthermore, Commissioners met with Rosemount Police Officer Katie Rusnack to hear about the updates in the police department, and members heard from City Administrator Logan Martin about updates in the Administration Services department. Lastly, during each meeting, Mayor Weisensel guided us through our monthly leadership lessons while educating us on the important aspects of becoming an excellent leader. In the 2023-2024 Youth Commission, goals were to increase the support for youth-related activities, facilities, and amenities; to increase Youth Commission community presence and connecting partners; and lastly to increase youth events and activities. Under the first goal of increasing youth-related amenities, this year the Council pursued the creation of a mini-golf course due to the initial idea and supervision of Kylie Knutson; she researched and presented the idea to the Mayor and Parks and Recreational Director, resulting in the upcoming putting green placed in one of the parks. In regards to the second goal of connecting partners, the Youth Commission helped support and promote the Rosemount Student Council's newly revived "Powder Puff" event, which is a girls' flag football tournament, through social media promotion on the city's Instagram page. Finally, the last goal of increasing youth activities, the commission worked on creating new methods of recruitment. New strategies implemented were utilizing "Irish Update," which is RHS's news broadcast, and through informational sessions at the school by having tables during lunch. This resulted in 13 new members to the next commission. This concludes the updates of the Rosemount City Youth Commission for the 2023-2024 session. I want to thank you and City Council for creating this opportunity for the Rosemount youth and for putting in the resources and time for this commission. Thank you, Mayor, and our former Assistant City Administrator Emmy Foster, former Deputy City Clerk Jesse Polay, City Clerk Erin Fasbender, and Deputy City Clerk Sarah Ostovics for facilitating each monthly meeting throughout this year's commission. Without each of you, the Youth Commission would not have been where it's at, nor would the meetings run so smoothly. I've personally taken away numerous lessons, but more importantly, I've become much more involved with the city and its events while creating lasting connections. And I got to use a gavel! Thank you again for everything, and I'm open to any questions. [15:10] **Jeff Weisensel:** Any questions for Miss Alex? I've got one. What are you planning on doing here this next year? [15:33] **Julia Alex:** I'm going to the University of Pennsylvania for my college. I'm going to major in finance and environmental social and governance factors of business—long name, but that's two concentrations. [15:44] **Jeff Weisensel:** There you go. Good luck! Awesome. Thank you very much. We’ll consider that receiving the Youth Commission report. This completes 3B. We will continue on with response to public comment number four. I understand we do not have anything to present this evening, correct? Public comment number five: anyone wishing to come before Council may do so at this time for items not on the agenda. Please state your name and address. The floor is open... going once, twice. Seeing no one moving to the podium, we'll consider public comment closed and move on to Consent Agendas. We have items including bill listings, minutes of our May 21st regular meeting, the Rich Valley East AUAR approval agreement, liquor license renewals for Kwik Trip and Top 10, medical leave absence request from the Fire Department, the PD/PW building antenna system change order, the Brockhill subdivision agreement, and a request for a minor amendment to the Joint Police Department signage. Does anyone wish to pull any item for further consideration? [18:00] **Tami Klimpel:** Item 6C. [18:02] **Jeff Weisensel:** All right, we will pull 6C. Would anyone like to move the Consent Agenda with item 6C removed? [18:10] **Paul Theisen:** So moved. [18:11] **Tami Klimpel:** Second. [18:13] **Jeff Weisensel:** We have a motion and second by Theisen and Klimpel to approve items 6A through I with 6C removed. Roll please. [18:22] **Erin Fasbender:** Essler? **Paul Essler:** Aye. **Erin Fasbender:** Klimpel? **Tami Klimpel:** Aye. **Erin Fasbender:** Weisensel? **Jeff Weisensel:** Aye. **Erin Fasbender:** Theisen? **Paul Theisen:** Aye. **Erin Fasbender:** Freske? **Heidi Freske:** Aye. [18:31] **Jeff Weisensel:** That approves the Consent Agenda. Item 6C for further discussion—hold up, Mr. Kienberger. [18:41] **Adam Kienberger:** Thank you, Mayor, members of the Council. I'll use this opportunity to provide some additional information on the Rich Valley East AUAR adoption and walk through what an AUAR is and what we're talking about here. An AUAR stands for Alternative Urban Areawide Review. It's an environmental process which is a hybrid of the EAW (Environmental Assessment Worksheet) and the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement). It's often used when you have a large area being prepared for development. Once an AUAR process is completed, future projects within this boundary do not require individual EAW or EIS worksheets. The Rich Valley East AUAR was ordered on January 2nd, 2024. Two development scenarios were proposed. Scenario one includes Project Mercury's proposed development of upwards of 2.3 million square feet of data center use. Scenario two follows the city's Comprehensive Plan, which identifies roughly one quarter of the site for light industrial, half for business park, and the remainder for community commercial. These are hypothetical scenarios requested by the landowner or a prospective landowner to study mitigation effects. The final AUAR was submitted on May 7th. It's important to note that before any construction occurs, developments must go through all required approvals including site plan and plat approval. If development follows Scenario One (the data center), an amendment to the city's Comprehensive Plan must also be approved. The request before Council this evening is a motion to adopt a resolution authorizing the adoption of the Rich Valley East AUAR update. [25:54] **Heidi Freske:** Just for clarification for our residents—just because this AUAR is here tonight, we do not have a development proposal ahead of us at this time? [26:06] **Adam Kienberger:** Correct. This is simply a necessary preparation step. [26:11] **Heidi Freske:** Thank you so much. [26:14] **Jeff Weisensel:** Any other questions? Otherwise, I'll accept a motion to adopt the resolution. [26:19] **Tami Klimpel:** I'll move to adopt a resolution authorizing the adoption of the Rich Valley East Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) update. [26:38] **Heidi Freske:** I'll second. [26:40] **Jeff Weisensel:** Motion by Klimpel, second by Freske. Roll please. [26:45] **Erin Fasbender:** Klimpel? (Aye), Weisensel? (Aye), Theisen? (Aye), Freske? (Aye), Essler? (Aye). [27:01] **Jeff Weisensel:** Motion passes 5-0. We'll move on to item 7A, Public Hearings: Rosemount Zoning Code update. [27:12] **Adam Kienberger:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the culmination of nearly two years of work regarding our zoning code. I will introduce Beth from HKGI, who has been our consultant through the entire process to help streamline and make the code more user-friendly. [27:49] **Beth (Consultant):** Hi Council, good to see you again. I'm here to present the final drafts of the zoning and subdivision codes as well as the zoning map. Our goals were user-friendliness, aligning zoning districts with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan (specifically the mixed-use nodes along Highway 42), and cleaning up standards to reflect market trends. We reduced the zoning code from 13 chapters down to 10. Key changes: We eliminated the RL and R1A residential districts, consolidating R1A into R1. We decreased lot area minimums for R1 and R2 to match the Comprehensive Plan's density requirements. For commercial, we created the MX1 (downtown) and MX2 (Highway 42 mixed-use) districts. In MX2, we’ve added provisions to preserve commercial focus, such as prohibiting residential along frontages within 500 feet of main intersections and capping residential at 25% of the buildable area. We also reduced the minimum PUD area from 10 acres to 2 acres to allow flexibility for infill projects. [44:21] **Heidi Freske:** I just want to clarify—the naming conventions are changing, but the intent of what can be done on those parcels is primarily not changing? [44:54] **Adam Kienberger:** Correct. This isn't changing the development patterns of the city; it brings it into further conformance with our Comprehensive Plan. [45:34] **Paul Theisen:** The intent is to clean up our zoning to follow the Comprehensive Plan and be more proactive when we do have development. [46:17] **Heidi Freske:** Will there be a version of the map that spells out the definitions like R1/B1 so I don't have to cross-reference a legend? [46:33] **Adam Kienberger:** Yes, we will work with staff to get the full titles on the map. [46:46] **Jeff Weisensel:** One of the goals was to reduce the number of PUDs. By lowering the requirement to 2 acres, does that feel counterintuitive? [51:58] **Adam Kienberger:** It allows flexibility where it makes sense, but because we’ve updated the "permitted with standards" language in the general code, many projects that used to require a PUD will now be able to go through the standard process. [54:02] **Jeff Weisensel:** Is 500 feet enough to keep residential away from the commercial zones at 42? [55:10] **Beth:** We used the visioning document to arrive at that number. Retail developers want to be on that node; as you get further out, it becomes less desirable for retail but better for residential. [58:04] **Jeff Weisensel:** What is "B2 Employment"? [58:14] **Beth:** Employment districts are places like hotels, commercial recreation, and off-site service businesses—places where people come to work, but not necessarily manufacturing. [1:00:36] **Jeff Weisensel:** What changed on landscaping? [1:01:21] **Beth:** We clarified requirements. For example, for mixed-use, it’s now one overstory tree per 3,000 square feet of land area. It’s about making it easier to administer rather than just adding more trees. [1:04:30] **Jeff Weisensel:** I really appreciate the effort HKGI and the Planning Commission put in. With that, I’ll open the public hearing. **[No one approaches the podium]** [1:06:40] **Jeff Weisensel:** Seeing no one, I'll move to close the public hearing. [1:06:44] **Tami Klimpel:** Second. [1:06:45] **Jeff Weisensel:** All in favor? (Aye). Hearing is closed. [1:06:50] **Tami Klimpel:** I'll move to adopt an ordinance to repeal and replace Title 11 zoning regulations and Title 12 subdivision regulations including the zoning map. [1:07:08] **Paul Essler:** Second. [1:07:11] **Jeff Weisensel:** Roll please. (Roll call: Weisensel-Aye, Theisen-Aye, Freske-Aye, Essler-Aye, Klimpel-Aye). Motion passes 5-0. [1:07:22] **Heidi Freske:** I'll move to adopt a resolution approving summary publication of the adopted ordinance. [1:07:27] **Paul Theisen:** Second. [1:07:30] **Jeff Weisensel:** Roll please. (Roll call: Theisen-Aye, Freske-Aye, Essler-Aye, Klimpel-Aye, Weisensel-Aye). Motion passes 5-0. We move to Item 10, City Staff updates. [1:08:02] **Logan Martin:** Thank you, Mayor. Summer is here; the Splash Pad is open. Beyond that, I don't have a whole lot to report tonight. [1:08:24] **Jeff Weisensel:** Upcoming calendar: Environmental Sustainability Commission on June 11th. Port Authority and City Council on June 18th. City Hall will be closed June 19th for Juneteenth. Public Safety in the Park is June 20th at Central Park from 5 to 8 PM. Please bear with me as I go through cataract surgery; my eyes are a little blurry this month. Motion to adjourn? [1:10:04] **Paul Essler:** So moved. [1:10:06] **Tami Klimpel:** Second. [1:10:08] **Jeff Weisensel:** All in favor? (Aye). We are adjourned. **[Music]**