As an expert transcriptionist, I have reviewed the context and the dialogue to identify the speakers. Please note that **Councilmember Goodwin** and a staff member named **Joe** (likely Finance staff) were not on your provided list but are clearly identified by name in the audio and context. Here is the formatted transcript: [0:01] [Music] [0:47] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** What that guy right there... Marvin right there look at him this kid. All right good evening, we'll call this meeting to order for the May 9th, 2024 Apple Valley City Council meeting. I'd like to welcome everyone to the meeting. As your items are called, please come forward and address the Council at the podium. The first item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. I would ask everyone to rise and join us in the pledge. [Pledge of Allegiance] [1:44] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** All right, the next item this evening is to approve our agenda and Tom, do we have any changes? **Tom Lawell (City Administrator):** Mr. Mayor, members of the council, good evening. Yes, we do have one additional item we would like to add to tonight's agenda. This item was pre-distributed on your consent agenda. It's a resolution setting a public hearing for June 13th at 7:00 p.m. and this involves a vacation of easements at 4629 144th Street; that is in the Diamond Path area. So this is just setting the hearing for that night. Other than that, no action is required. [2:32] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** All right, so if we don't have any other changes, we would take a motion to approve the agenda adding item 4W. **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** So moved. **Councilmember John Bergman:** Second. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Grendahl, second from Councilmember Bergman. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Group: Aye). Opposed? That item carries. The next is our audience participation portion of the meeting. This is for items not on the agenda. Pam's telling me we didn't have anybody pre-sign up. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak to this portion of the meeting? All right, seeing none, we will move right on to the consent agenda. These items are considered routine and will be enacted with a single motion unless a council member or assistant requests to pull an item. Council members, are there any items you'd like to pull? Audience, any items to pull? Seeing none, we would take a motion to approve the consent agenda. [3:19] **Councilmember Tom Melander:** I'll move it. **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** Second. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Have a motion from Councilmember Melander, a second from Councilmember Grendahl. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Group: Aye). Opposed? Consent items are approved. We'll move on to our regular agenda with item 5A, which is to proclaim May 15th, 2024 as Peace Officers Memorial Day. And Deputy Chief Dalstrom has this item. **Deputy Chief Dalstrom:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor, council members. We appreciate a few minutes of your time on a really busy, crowded night, but we thought it was very appropriate to come to you today and ask for you to proclaim next week as Police Week and next Wednesday as Peace Officers Memorial Day. For us, it's very meaningful in our profession, that week and that day, and in our department in particular. It's a time for us to focus in and lean in on and remember the sacrifices that other officers have made in the line of duty. [4:07] **Deputy Chief Dalstrom:** And we not only remember the officers but their community, their family, their partners. And so it's important for us to remember that each year. In fact, a number of our officers have stood vigil at our memorial up at the Capital. They've traveled to Washington D.C. and participated in the National Police Week festivities—festivity is probably the wrong word, but the very reverent services: the candlelight vigil, the national memorial service. And it's just humbling to see tens of thousands of supporters of law enforcement, uniform, friends, family, and just members of that community out in Washington D.C. And so for us, we find ourselves especially somber due to the events of the last couple months. And so we thought it was fitting to bring this forward to you for the first time and we really appreciate the consideration and your willingness to recognize next week and the importance that it has for our officers and our community as well. So we appreciate it, thank you. [5:22] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** I will read this proclamation if that's okay. Whereas President John F. Kennedy declared the first Peace Officers Memorial Day on May 15th, 1962 to honor the service and sacrifice of fallen officers; and whereas the Apple Valley Police Department has provided professional and compassionate service to this community since 1964; and whereas peace officers work under difficult and dangerous conditions regularly; and whereas peace officers are assaulted and killed in the line of duty at an unacceptable rate across Minnesota and the nation; and whereas the community of Apple Valley continues to grieve the loss of Burnsville officers Paul Elmstrand, Matthew Ruge, and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth. Now, therefore, the City Council of the City of Apple Valley, Dakota County, Minnesota, hereby proclaims May 15, 2024 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and May 13th through the 17th, 2024 as Police Week in Apple Valley and we invite the residents of our community to honor the fallen police officers and recognize the service given by our men and women who night and day stand guard and in our midst to protect us. Proclaimed this 9th day of May 2024. Do I have a motion to approve? [6:08] **Councilmember Goodwin:** Motion. **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** Second. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Together, we'll... we have to call one of these, but we will know everybody had support. We just lost four officers last week down south someplace, four in one night. Unbelievable. Happens all too often. We have a motion from Councilmember Goodwin and a second from Councilmember Grendahl. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Group: Aye). I think that passes. I'm going to walk this out and hand it to you as well. [7:08] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Thank you for all you guys do, we appreciate it. Thank you. [Applause] All right, we are on to 5B which is the introduction and oath of office—excuse me, an oath of office for Police Sergeant Sean Marvin and Officers Jacob Kirchner and Nick Swanson. Chief Francis. [7:23] **Nick Francis (Police Chief):** So I gave Greg the tough one, I get the fun one now. But I think it was great we put that on the agenda for tonight specifically because we know we got a room full of folks that are here to support their law enforcement family members and friends, and to see how our community supports them and how you as a council support us all is very important. So thank you. And I will start with the fun festivities now. And I will welcome Sean Marvin up. Sean, if you want to come up. [8:10] **Nick Francis (Police Chief):** Sean is a new Sergeant. He grew up in Apple Valley, he graduated from Eastview High School. He is the second-generation AVPD member with his father retiring as a Captain from our department after 23, is it 24? 23 years of service. And interestingly, you know, we've talked before about our patch and our badge and how it's kind of part of our identity and your badge number is really important part of your identity. But what's really cool tonight is Sean gets his dad's badge number that his dad wore. And no pressure or anything, but that's always something great for us to pass along. He started with APD as a community service officer, spent a couple years here, and then was promoted to police officer in 2017. While at Apple Valley PD, he served as a patrol officer, field training officer, a very brief time in our CIU unit, and a member of the South Metro SWAT team. And I'll let Sean introduce anybody that's with him tonight. [8:56] **Sergeant Sean Marvin:** Yeah, so here tonight, my wife Nicole, my daughter's right there through the door. Nicole's mom, Joyce. There's my mom. There's Robin, who's my brother-in-law's mom. My sister, my dad, and Dave right there, that's my brother Matt's dad as well. Then Randy and Sandy, her parents. **Nick Francis (Police Chief):** Perfect. I think we have an oath that we're going to do first. [9:42] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** [Administering Oath] I, Sean Marvin, swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Minnesota, and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Police Sergeant of the City of Apple Valley in the County of Dakota, State of Minnesota, to the best of my judgment and ability. **Sergeant Sean Marvin:** [Repeats Oath] [10:01] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Congratulations. [Applause] [Laughter] Now we'll have you invite up whoever's pinning your badge on for you. Hopefully, he knows how to do this, maybe time or done. [10:49] **Dave Marvin (Retired Captain):** Couple... don't screw this up now. I try not to. You know, this is bringing back a lot of memories. I spent a lot of Thursday nights in this... **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Yes you did. Did you learn anything? **Dave Marvin:** Well I realize now it's kind of like flying economy basic. You don't have a whole lot of room in these, get used to that. Is your tie on? Yeah, your tie is good. [Applause] [12:05] **Dave Marvin:** Take up a moment of the city council's time. Nick isn't even aware of this but I was part of the team that designed the badge. And when we designed a badge, I have the original design and I'm going to pass it on to Sean. It means a lot to me and I just want you to have it. And if you notice, it was because I was on a design team, it says Sergeant and it says Badge 6. So this is kind of a little historical... **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Oh that's nice, very cool. [Applause] [12:52] **Nick Francis (Police Chief):** Next we'll invite Officer Jake Kirchner and Officer Nick Swanson up. I'll introduce him first here. So, Officer Jake Kirchner first. He grew up in Maplewood, graduated from Tartan High School. He attended Minnesota State University of Mankato, which is also my alma mater, with a degree in law enforcement. And he worked—he had some great experience prior to coming here. He worked as a Dakota County Sheriff's deputy for six years prior to coming here. So we've infused a lot of experience here with both of these. While at the Sheriff's Office, Jake was a K9 handler and also a member of the South Metro SWAT team. Outside of law enforcement, he likes to play hockey, so we're building up our ranks for a hockey team—we got two lines at least right now. He plays softball, he also enjoys spending time outdoors with his dogs. And I'll let him introduce anyone with you. [13:39] **Officer Jacob Kirchner:** My father's there in the back, my mother's there with my wife, grandfather-in-law, my father and mother-in-law. **Nick Francis (Police Chief):** Excellent. And now Nick Swanson. He grew up in Duluth, moved to Rosemount in about middle school and is a graduate of Rosemount High School. He attended, again, Minnesota State University Mankato—common theme here. And he's got a degree in law enforcement. And you two went to college together? What's interesting is when I was looking at the background, actually it was Jake's background, I'm like "Man, that address looks familiar." While we lived in the exact same house in Mankato on 326 and 1/2 East Walnut Street. [Laughter] Nick spent eight and a half years with Rosemount Police Department as a community service officer and police officer. While at Rosemount, he was also a member of the South Metro SWAT team. So all three of these folks that were up here tonight have spent some really difficult training experiences and good bonding experiences as members of our small South Metro SWAT team. Outside of work, Nick spends most of his time with family and friends going outside to hunt and fish and also playing hockey. So we got another hockey player. And Nick, who's with you tonight? [14:26] **Officer Nick Swanson:** I got my parents front row here with my girlfriend, friends, family, ex-coworkers. **Nick Francis (Police Chief):** Oh yeah, you got a... we always do appreciate when we do what we call "steal folks" from other agencies, and we love to have their friends and acquaintances come to support these folks as they take on an oath at a new department. So, I will invite you guys over to take your oath. [15:13] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** [Administering Oath] I, Jacob Kirchner / I, Nick Swanson, swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Minnesota, and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Police Officer of the City of Apple Valley, State of Minnesota, to the best of my judgment and ability. **Jacob Kirchner & Nick Swanson:** [Repeat Oath] [15:32] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Congratulations. [Applause] If you want to invite up the folks that are going to pin your badges on. If anyone else wants to move up and take pictures, feel free to. [Applause] [16:49] **Nick Francis (Police Chief):** Thanks for the time tonight to introduce these folks. As you probably know, there's no perfect department in the state of Minnesota; there's no terrible department, but there's the right department for everybody. And so we really appreciate these guys trusting in our department, giving us an opportunity to be their right department. And so for their families, I know it's a jump to go to another department; it's not necessarily a career change but it is a big jump. And so we appreciate their family support and everybody else as we welcome them into our community here in Apple Valley. And if you would allow us after we're done here, a little break to go and take some pictures. [17:35] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** I'm sure it'll be a mass exodus. We'll give everybody a little time to do that. Chief, thanks for the introductions. Officers, welcome. Sean, congrats on the promotion. Glad to see you continuing with Apple Valley and you've got some pretty big shoes to fill, probably both figuratively and literally in this case. So just everyone in the room, thanks for being here tonight supporting the officers and the families. We're super proud of this department and the things they continue to do in big and small ways every day. So you guys stay safe and welcome. We'll give everybody a minute to exit and find their way out and enjoy some fellowship outside. [18:27] [Background noise and music during break] [19:24] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** All right, we will move on as the evening gets much less exciting from here. No offense, Joe. But we have some special assessment roles for items 5C and D and Joe's going to walk us through these. **Joe [Staff Member]:** All right, hello Mr. Mayor and members of the council. In terms of revisions the assessment roll before you tonight, it has been deemed appropriate to exclude property ID 01 03400 76020 associated with Paul's Market located at 6885 160th Street West in the amount of $5,625.63 from the current assessment roll. Removing this property from tonight's roll will provide staff with more time to review storm water charges related to this property. Any delinquencies connected with this property after the review will be brought forth to a future assessment roll. [20:10] **Joe [Staff Member]:** The City of Apple Valley undergoes certification of delinquent accounts twice per year in Spring and Fall. The process for the Spring certification started with the mailing of letters to water sewer account holders with delinquent balances. A total of 692 letters were mailed on February 27th, a slight decrease from the 710 letters sent during the previous assessment period. The letters informed recipients that the accounts not settled by March 21st would be certified for collection along with a certification fee. Following the March 21st deadline, a certification list was compiled and presented to the Council on April 11th. At that time, the council set a public hearing for tonight. Additionally, a notice was mailed on April 16th notifying account holders of the public hearing date and payment deadlines. [20:56] **Joe [Staff Member]:** To date, one written objection has been received regarding property ID 01 321 51171 situated at 15743 Fremont Way in the amount of $55.24. The Affidavit of Publication has been received and is on file. Following the public hearing this evening, and if the council adopts the assessment roll, the account holders will have an additional 30 days to make the full payment before any unpaid amounts are certified to the county on June 14th. Any amounts certified to property taxes will become payable alongside the subsequent year's property taxes. The final list, less prepayments, will be submitted to the county auditor's office by June 30th as stipulated by Minnesota state statutes. [21:43] **Joe [Staff Member]:** The initial certification presented at the April 11th meeting indicated a balance of $116,680 across 379 accounts. Following the exclusion of Paul's Market, the revised figure now stands at 378 accounts with a total certification amount of $111,055. Since then, prepayments totaling $21,117 have been received for 74 accounts, leaving the remaining balance across 304 accounts. We anticipate another 25 to 50 accounts will prepay prior to certification with the county next month. The City Council is asked to conduct the public hearing for special assessment roll number 693 and consider the adoption of the resolution certifying for collection delinquent utility charges in the revised amount of $111,055. Thank you. [22:28] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Thank you, Joe. Anyone have questions for Joe on item 5C? If not, we will go ahead and open a public hearing for the 2024 special assessment roll number 693. Would anyone like to speak to this item? Anyone like to speak to the item? One final opportunity for 2024 special assessment roll 693. All right, we'll close the public hearing and we'll take a motion to adopt the resolution levying the assessments. [23:15] **Councilmember Goodwin:** So move. **Councilmember Tom Melander:** Second. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Goodwin and a second from Councilmember Melander. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Group: Aye). And opposed? That item carries. And we'll have Joe come back up and talk about 5D which is the 2024 special assessment roll 694. **Joe [Staff Member]:** Hello Mr. Mayor and members of the council. These charges are diseased trees at one property in June of 2022. Resolution total is $371.38, reflects the unpaid charges on the one parcel and no prepayments have been received. Notifications for Roll 694 were sent out along with the letters for special assessment roll number 693. The Affidavit of Publication has been received and is on file, and no written objections have been received to date. The City Council is asked to conduct the public hearing for special assessment roll number 694. Following the public hearing, consider the adoption of the resolution certifying for collection delinquent hazardous tree removal charges in the amount of $371.38. [24:01] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Perfect. We'll go and open the public hearing for 2024 special assessment roll number 694. Would anyone like to speak to this item? Would anyone like to speak to this item? One final opportunity for special assessment roll number 694. All right, seeing no one, we'll close the public hearing and we'll take a motion to adopt the resolution levying the assessments. [24:47] **Councilmember John Bergman:** So moved. **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** Second. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Bergman and a second from Councilmember Grendahl. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Group: Aye). Opposed? That item carries as well. Thank you. All right, next up we have Alex Sharp with 5E, which is the Applewood Point of Apple Valley Second Edition. [25:14] **Alex Sharp (Senior Planner):** Good evening Mayor, Council. As stated, this is an item for Applewood Point Second Edition. They are seeking three actions. The first is to amend Planned Development 1080 to correct some typographical errors as well as add some clarifying language that I'll go into a little bit later. And then subdivision by preliminary plat into seven single-family lots and a site plan building permit authorization for the seven single-family lots. As I say, this is part of a multi-family development site located in the northeast corner of McAndrews and Pilot Knob Road. [26:02] **Alex Sharp:** As you can see the overall site, Applewood Point is a 98-unit Co-op. You'll see some better photos of that in a little bit, but that is 7.5 acres. And then Outlot A, which is the area that is highlighted with the site, is 1.14 acres. The site is zoned PD 1080. It has two subzones within it. The ordinance does affect the entire site, which is why it was all selected on the screen here, but the actual subdivision will only be of Outlot A, which is that smaller section. We happen to have some really great photos of Applewood Point because we had our State of the City yesterday, so I chose to include those within the presentation. It is fully leased and people are fully—I shouldn't say leased, fully owned, fully purchased. It's a Co-op and I believe most of the residents are in at this point. Dave Young with United Properties would be able to elaborate on that further, he is present this evening. [26:47] **Alex Sharp:** The area that is looking to be subdivided currently is kind of in that hill section you're seeing just south of Drayton Trail, which is the private drive bifurcating the site. This was the site plan that was approved on October 8th of 2020. The reason why I want to bring this up and linger on it for a moment is just to highlight that these seven single-family homes were anticipated at that time. They did not receive their approvals at that time, but from original submission all the way through our final approvals, including our building permit materials, we did note that there were going to be these villa-style homes. [27:34] **Alex Sharp:** This is the preliminary plat and because of the details, I actually have one that zoomed in after this. As you can see, the smallest lot is 5,920 square feet. They are planning on having these association managed, so there will be an association that will do trash, snow removal, yard waste. They will have their own irrigation systems individually for each home, but they will be managed by the association. Rather than going into every detail on here, I'm going to try to go through them relatively quickly in a summary format, but if Council does have questions I can go through them in greater detail. [28:19] **Alex Sharp:** So one of the big things that needed to be changed about the ordinance was the permitted uses stated that townhomes were permitted. Our code defines townhomes as having an attached wall with another single-family unit. Because these were detached in a villa style, we did the amendment to be more consistent with the rest of our zoning which has the one-family detached dwellings. Additionally, one of the only other items that I wanted to highlight was staff had proposed a change and the applicant was open to changing the front setback. Originally, the front setback was from a sidewalk; traditionally we have that from a fixed point like a property line. So we changed that and we changed it from 20 to 25 feet to allow for a full vehicle parking on a driveway since parking will be limited on the site. [29:06] **Alex Sharp:** There are some parking stalls accounted for along Drayton Trail, but we really wanted to be cognizant of having family over, visitors etc., and being able to fit them in a driveway. The second piece that was kind of highlighted at the Planning Commission is the impervious surface coverage. These were set by essentially looking at the stormwater because this is a private stormwater system on the site. And so in cases like this, similarly with Cobblestone, we can actually exceed what is standard throughout the rest of the city. We've set that at 55%. That does allow for expansions, patios etc. for some of these homes. [29:51] **Alex Sharp:** The utility plan has not changed from what was approved, so not going to spend too long here, and the grading plan was only minorly affected by pushing that front setback back a little bit. We'll have final grading plans with the building permits. There are actually four different landscape plans with this. I'm going to only linger on one, but there's a varied species list. We are asking for some diversified species between them, particularly perhaps stepping back on some of the maple species just because we want to make sure that we won't run into a situation like we have with the Emerald Ash Borer. [30:36] **Alex Sharp:** There are four home types as well as the four landscape plans. This is the Hamilton. You can see that each one of these does try to—and the applicant highlighted this in their narrative as well—tries to stick with similar features and peaks as the Applewood Point project. So you will see similar dormers and architectural elements that are trying to keep a cohesive development. This will be LP Smartside or other type of material. Robert Thomas Holmes has said that it was going to be the LP Smartboard, but we have placed conditions that it must be at that slightly higher material because this is the multi-family. If you want me to linger on any of these as I go through them I can, but I'm going to move through them relatively quickly. [31:39] **Alex Sharp:** There were a couple of comments at the public hearing. The principal one was to do with traffic. Traffic was extensively studied when Applewood Point first came forward. And in fact, all of the comments at the public hearing were from residents of Applewood Point and were in favor of the project, but did want to express some traffic concerns or suggestions and those were addressed largely at the public hearing by the City Engineer. The PC did close that public hearing at that initial meeting and then unanimously recommended approval on May 1st. With that, I can stand for questions. There are three actions this evening and we are recommending waiving the second reading of the ordinance. They were only minor corrections. [32:25] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** All right, council members are there questions for Alex? **Councilmember Goodwin:** I just have a point to make. That stretch at McAndrews right now is 55 miles an hour. It's ridiculous. Coming up Pilot Knob Road from the east, the speed limit's about 45, and many, many years ago that was set at 55 just to the east of Pilot Knob going up the hill. And I've talked to our County Commissioner about this a couple times and I've talked to our staff about this. Hopefully, there's going to be a study on this road because with all these homes here now and a golf course and in the subdivision south of it, to have that stretch of highway be 55 miles an hour is just ridiculous. Do you have any idea where we are in that right now? [33:13] **Tom Lawell (City Administrator):** Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Goodwin, we have had recent conversation with the county and as you'll recall, speed limit studies need to be done by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The county has petitioned MnDOT to do that study and they have that many in the queue, if you will, that they have not gotten around to this one yet. Still planning to do it, it just hasn't risen to the top of the list yet. **Councilmember Goodwin:** So you don't have any idea when it's going to be done? A lot of people coming and going from that big building up there and now we're going to have seven townhomes and it's 55 miles an hour. Just ridiculous. [33:58] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** All right, we're going to move on with the action items here. I don't think the speed limit is going to stop us from approving these items. **Councilmember Goodwin:** No, they're totally separate. [34:44] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Maybe if we approve them, the speed limit will change. The first item is to pass an ordinance amending Chapter 155 Appendix F Article 39 of the City Code regulating Planned Development designation number 1080 and we recommend waiving the second reading. Do we have a motion? **Councilmember Goodwin:** So move. **Councilmember Tom Melander:** Second. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Goodwin, a second from Councilmember Melander. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Group: Aye). Opposed? That item carries. We'll move on to number two which is to adopt a resolution approving subdivision by preliminary plat of Applewood Point of Apple Valley Second Edition subject to conditions. **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** So moved. **Councilmember John Bergman:** Second. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Grendahl, a second from Councilmember Bergman. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Group: Aye). Opposed? And item three is to adopt a resolution approving site plan building permit authorization for seven single-family residential units on Lots 1 through 7, Block 1, Applewood Point of Apple Valley Second Edition subject to conditions. [35:30] **Councilmember John Bergman:** Motion. **Councilmember Tom Melander:** Second. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Bergman, second from Councilmember Melander. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Group: Aye). And opposed? That item is approved. Thank you, Alex. All right, we will move on to Staff and Council Communications. Tom, I know we had a couple items we talked about, would you like to start us off? **Tom Lawell (City Administrator):** We do, Mr. Mayor. A couple of items for tonight's staff updates. So on your consent agenda tonight, which was item 4L, we had a proclamation designating May 5th through 11th as Professional Municipal Clerk's Week. Didn't want that opportunity to go past. You know, we are blessed that we have Pam as our City Clerk and we also have two Deputy City Clerks, Stephanie Marshall and Jana Marsh. But I also wanted to highlight that Deputy City Clerk Stephanie Marshall just earned her Certified Municipal Clerk certification. And you get that through the International Institute of Municipal Clerks. [36:15] **Tom Lawell:** It's a pretty extensive program that really seeks to improve job performance. It's a well-respected group; they have to do a lot of educational programs to prove that they have the knowledge that they need to earn the certification. Currently, there are over 4,500 Certified Municipal Clerks worldwide and only 72 in all of Minnesota, and we have two: one being Pam and one now being Stephanie. So just wanted to highlight that and congratulate Stephanie on her designation. [Applause] [37:02] **Tom Lawell:** The next item I have—we had earlier those that are just starting out their career in the Police Department—I also want to say some words about Nick Francis, our Police Chief, who had quite an honor bestowed on him here this past weekend. So Concordia College, where Nick has been serving as a faculty for some 15 years I believe at this point, has really done a lot to develop the police profession to encourage students along their way. And Concordia decided to honor Nick by giving or bestowing on him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree is what they call it. That ceremony just took place here this past weekend. [37:48] **Tom Lawell:** He really has done so much to generate excellence in the area of Public Service, has done so much in exercising his leadership skills helping to bring along that next cohort of students. So with the Council's permission, we actually have a video of Nick's presentation. It takes about four minutes. Hopefully, the technology will work here, but let's see if we can pull that up. **Concordia President [Video]:** As the youngest of 11 children—lots of names in that family—in that loving environment, Nick was influenced to serve his community from a very young age. From volunteering at Trinity Mission in St. Paul to leading his high school service program, serving others was at the core of his existence. After high school, Nick attended Mankato State University, obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Law Enforcement with a minor in Natural Resource Management. Nick went to work for the Apple Valley Police Department as a patrol officer in 2000. He focused much of his influence on his department in training. Outside of his patrol work, Nick worked with the Police Explorer program, preparing students for a career of service. [39:21] **Concordia President [Video]:** He also instructed fellow officers on a number of police skills such as radar and laser operation, firearms and Taser use, field sobriety testing, and drug recognition evaluation. After being promoted to Sergeant in 2006, Nick wanted to improve as a leader and mentor. He decided to pursue a Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice Leadership from Concordia University St. Paul and graduated in 2008. His service mindset combined with an advanced degree has elevated Nick through the Apple Valley Police Department to his current role as Chief of Police. [40:08] **Concordia President [Video]:** Teaching has been a dual passion of Nick's since beginning his career, and he has been involved with CSP students since 2010. During that time, Nick has assisted students as a residency mentor, Capstone reader, course developer, and adjunct instructor in both the Bachelor's and Master's criminal justice programs. Nick connects with students as lifelong learners prepared for a career in selfless service to their own communities. Nick and his wife Kristen have two sons, Braden and Nico. As a volunteer youth hockey coach in Apple Valley, Nick has enjoyed teaching his boys and their friends not just hockey skills but life lessons on how to be a good friend, an honest person, and influential leader. The faculty of Concordia University St. Paul is honored to present Chief Nicholas Francis with the degree of Doctor of Laws. Nick, will you please step forward? [40:54] **Concordia President [Video]:** The diploma reads: "Concordia University St. Paul, by the authority of the Board of Regents and upon recommendation of the faculty, has conferred upon Nicholas Francis the degree of Doctor of Laws, with all the rights, honors and privileges as well as the obligations and responsibilities that everywhere appertaining to that degree." In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names, caused to be affixed the corporate seal of Concordia University St. Paul on this day, Saturday, May 4th, 2024. [Applause] [41:40] **Tom Lawell:** Mr. Mayor, we have an amazing police chief. Wanted to share that with you, he does so much for our department as well as for our community. So congratulations, Nick. [Applause] [42:28] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** His reach seems to extend beyond our community, I think. **Councilmember John Bergman:** Mayor, I have a question. Do we call him "Doctor Chief"? Which one is it? **Nick Francis (Police Chief):** "Nick" is fine. [Laughter] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Well, Nick, some of us kind of hope the people that come behind us are ready to step in the roles as we all move on. I think you're making sure that the people who come behind you do, and that's pretty honorable. So happy to see this and happy to see the recognition. One another item I just want to note here—on our agenda consent, we have a lot of things to celebrate it appears in May for those people who just make our city run. We have Police Week, we recognize our City Clerks, May 19th through the 25th is also Public Works Week. [43:14] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** And I didn't want to let the evening end without also recognizing all of our folks in Public Works. I will just read a quick excerpt from this proclamation which we approved earlier: "Whereas the infrastructure facilities and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of Public Works professionals who are engineers, managers, employees from local governments and the private sector who are responsible for rebuilding, improving and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment, public buildings and other structures and facilities essential for citizens." And that pretty well wraps up I think what our Public Works folks do for us and make sure all of the things we need everyday run. So thank you to all of them as well. Anything else? [44:00] **Tom Lawell (City Administrator):** Yes Mr. Mayor, I don't think we should leave tonight without also acknowledging the State of the City that just was held this week. Our Mayor did an amazing job with the State of the City. I also want to thank the staff members that helped to put that together. Our communications team did great work getting some of that video footage and photos from aerial shots. Charles Grawe was of course instrumental in working on the corporate report that we did, and then certainly all of the department heads that contributed video segments to the State of the City. It was very well done, was captured on video, and actually may be viewed now on the city's YouTube channel. So if you go to the city's website, you can access the State of the City. It runs about 45 minutes or so and we would encourage our citizens to take a look. It's a good story to tell, tells the accomplishments of 2023 and things to look forward to here in '24 and beyond. [44:46] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Tom, thanks for recognizing that. Thanks for recognizing everybody who made that come together. We were very literally making edits at 4:00 p.m. the night before to keep pulling new things in. Thanks everyone for their effort in putting that together. Then the other news you announced yesterday was Nordstrom Rack is coming. **Tom Lawell (City Administrator):** Yes, that was even news after it was put together. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** That very much was news. We don't always know everything, right? And every tenant that looks to Apple Valley and finds Apple Valley valuable. But I picked up my email version of The Biz Journal that morning and read that Nordstrom Rack was taking the old Bed Bath & Beyond space. And so we're happy to see them, we'll look forward to welcoming them as well. [45:32] **Councilmember Goodwin:** Well, I just want to comment, follow up on Mr. Lawell's comments. The State of the City presentation yesterday was excellent, Mayor. And all the staff people that added to it, I've just never seen one like that. It was just really nice. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Thank you. Council members, anything else? All right, our next City Council regular meeting is Thursday, May 23rd at 7:00 p.m. Do we have a motion to approve the calendar of upcoming events? **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** Move. **Councilmember Tom Melander:** Second. [46:19] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Grendahl, a second from Councilmember Melander. And we were looking for a motion to adjourn. **Councilmember John Bergman:** So moved. **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** Second. **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Bergman and a second from Councilmember Grendahl. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. (Group: Aye). Thank you, have a great night. [Music]