This transcript is for the **December 18, 2023**, Farmington City Council meeting. Please note that while your context list reflects a 2026 timeframe (with Nick Lien as Mayor), at the time of this recording, **Joshua Hoyt** was the Mayor and **Nick Lien** was a Councilmember. [0:00] [Music] [0:46] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** We'll call this city council regular meeting to order for Monday, December 18th, 2023. Would everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? **All:** 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. [1:05] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Call the roll, please. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Here. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Here. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Here. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Porter? **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Here. **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Here. [1:20] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. Unless there's any changes to the agenda, we'd look for a motion to approve. **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Motion. **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Second. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Holly, second by Nick. All in favor say aye. **Councilmembers:** Aye. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. Moving on to item six, there are citizen comments. Does anyone in attendance would like to speak? Yep, just go and come up to the podium if you could, please. State your name and address, keep your comments to five minutes, and you're good to go. [1:45] **Lindsay Doris:** Okay. Lindsay Doris. My address is 19163 Crystal Terrace in Farmington. Some of you might remember me; I was here almost exactly a year ago for the same reason I'm here tonight—to address the idling trains behind the North Creek neighborhood. We've had a lot of partnership and support from the city and we've made some progress, but we are noticing a resurgence in the same issues we experienced last year. Any quick Google search that some of you might have done will show you stories from around the country in cities like Farmington with neighborhoods like mine, with citizens whose lives have been turned upside down because they build dream homes that are quickly ruined because they can't sleep in them, they can't breathe in them. Their kids miss school because they have headaches because they can't sleep the night before. They can't have people over; they can't sit on their patios; they can't have their windows open. I could go on and on and on about the ways this affects our lives. Now, unfortunately, what you also won't find on Google are many solutions or happy endings, but I feel lucky to say that there is an easy solution here. There is an embankment with over 600 feet of siding that blocks most of the noise when it's used, but the problem is that it's not being used. We have made a simple request—you all have made a simple request to Union Pacific—that they park on the north side, they idle their trains on the north side of the 195th overpass so that the embankment blocks the noise and the fumes. And this is continuously disregarded. They've shown they can do it sometimes; they do do it, but over and over again they don't, and we don't know why. We're not seeing engineers get off anymore; they just sit there and wait for another train to pass, so there's no reason that can't be done on the other side. We don't know where the disconnect is here. We don't know how to make it permanent, how to find a long-term solution so that our daily peace, our well-being, and our property values aren't impacted. So we're open to a number of ideas, many of which we've brought attention to, and we don't know how feasible all of them are. But as I addressed last year, there's no noise ordinance on the books in Farmington, and other cities have used other types of ordinances to prevent this type of idling, and that seems to be a cheap, easy recourse. I know that money talks, I know that funding is concerned, budgets are tight everywhere, but it doesn't take a lot of billable hours to put some type of ordinance in place. I'm not an attorney; I don't know all the steps for that, but that was what was suggested by an attorney that we retained as neighbors. We've also asked for signage. Some type of signage to remind the engineers that they shouldn't be idling in that spot. I know it won't always be adhered to, I know it's not enforceable, but the current state is that there's nothing, so something to us is better than nothing. And street signs again probably aren't a huge cost—I know they're not free, but it's already part of the budget. And we know we've also asked for some type of physical barrier. That's expensive, that's hard to do, but trees are cheap. I will install them myself. I'm either asking for help to put them in, help to acquire the trees, or permission to plant the trees on the city land that runs adjacent to that rail line so that we have some type of physical barrier for both the visual, for the noise, for some of the fumes—for anything that will help this situation. So those are a couple of the things we're coming back to ask for. We're asking for more support because as citizens here, as taxpayers, we need that. You know, the city knew that those lines were there when they approved the development of our neighborhood, and we knew they were there when we built the houses. We don't expect the trains to go anywhere; we don't expect them to disappear. We know that they're there for a reason and we appreciate the commerce they bring here, but we can't continue to live our lives like this. It's been a year; we've had four incidences in the last two weeks again and it's just really... I just don't know where else to go. We feel very hopeless at this point because there don't seem to be any feasible solutions. So we are back to ask for help in any way that can be provided. And that's all. Thank you. [6:05] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. And we'll follow up with you. **Lindsay Doris:** Okay, thank you. Can I stay for the rest? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Good to go, you can hang out. It'll be six minutes at most here. Next item on the agenda is the Consent Agenda. We'd look for a motion to approve. **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion. **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Second. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Katie. All in favor say aye. **Councilmembers:** Aye. [6:45] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. Round table. Nick, we'll just start all the way to the left. [6:54] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Okay, great. Just an update: Governor Walz appointed the Honorable Krista Marks to be chambered in Hastings. That's a very recent development, so welcome to the new judge in Dakota County, Judge Marks. Thank you. I guess I'll be the first one to talk about Toys for Town. Thank you to everyone that came out. I think I said this last year, but I almost need it more than some of the people—well, that's probably ingenuous to say it that way, but it does as much for me as some of the people that I think are receiving the gifts, just to see how the community comes together. This was the first time I got to do one of the family deliveries, and so to see the family that you handed to, just the way their face kind of lights up. We sat in their living room and talked with them for about 30 minutes. My kids were there and they got to see the whole process and feel what it's like to help someone out. So thank you, Chief, and other Chief that’s not here—I saw you there too. It was just a great day, so I appreciate everyone’s help. And then I’m really excited one of the items on the consent agenda was the all-inclusive playground for Rambling River. That’s a big step forward for this town too, so I really appreciate that one and all the work that went into planning for that and securing funding for that and seeing it come through. Thank you. [8:26] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** All right. I'm sure we're going to hear a lot about Toys for Town, but it is one of those opportunities that we have as community members to come together and support community members. We talk a lot about the "Special Sauce" of Farmington, right? What makes Farmington different from our neighboring communities? And I—with no disrespect to the neighboring communities—I would be hard-pressed to find a bigger heart than the one that our residents have and the way that we come together for those in need. So if you haven't ever been a part of it, or if it wasn't something that you knew about until now and it's over, I will tell you right now: mark your calendars for 2024 because it's an event that you don't want to miss. Also on the consent agenda are two great things coming out of our Police Department—and I don't know if the Deputy Chief is going to be talking about these—but in there is a bicycle helmet grant and also a vest for Smoke. Great opportunities to just again have the community come around things that we need. And yeah, they're neat. Merry Christmas everybody. [9:45] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Thank you. So a lot of the consent agenda items have already been touched on, such as the new playground and the grant reward for the new bike helmet safety campaign. Thank you to the officers that worked to advocate for that; I know that deeply touched the community that was affected by the loss we experienced, so very much appreciated. There were other community donations both to Rambling River Center and a few other things to check out. Congratulations to Officer Van Dorne, who will be promoted to Sergeant here in early 2024; we're excited for him. And then there is an amendment to the Solid Waste agreement that citizens are encouraged to look at that reflect slight fee increases, but I would like that breakdown to be looked at by those that are concerned. We also increased wages and stipends for our firefighters. I know sometimes people are not necessarily looking at the consent agenda, but they might be watching us, and so I wanted to make sure we noted some of the things we approved tonight. Merry Christmas to everybody, and thank you, Lindsay, for coming to speak on behalf of your community. We appreciate it. [10:48] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Thank you. I too also wanted to comment about the Toys for Town. The wrapping is for a lot of families a tradition that is part of the Christmas season that they come out with their families and do that. But boy, there was—and I'm sure the week leading up to it, Gary was probably cautiously nervous and Jim might have been because, you know, there's a big goal set and I think many people thought it's going to be achieved, no big deal, but I think it probably came down a little bit to the wire. But I mean, you had the Dew Days committee with a big donation; you had Daisy and Finch—I mean, those are just a couple with massive donations. And so our business community, individuals, whether it's a $50 contribution or a $100 contribution, they went shopping. I mean, there's so many different ways. To Holly's point, maybe somebody wasn't able to make it to wrapping. I look at the table here—every staff member up here, our leaders in the city, were participating in some way, from folding boxes to wrapping to just being there. You know, a lot of times we associate it with the Police Department, but we had a huge contingent of our Fire Department there. Long story short, it's just such a great opportunity. Mayor, I know you're probably going to add some comments too, but we had the Lakeville Mayor there to kind of see what happens there too. Katie already made mention of some of the good comments about what's in the consent agenda. I will also add a little bit about the playground equipment. This is where a lot of really good ideas come from our commissions. So you've got advocates and those that are passionate that brought it to Kelly. I think I talked to Kelly and I think others from the council did too about, "Can we make an accessible playground that would not have some of the barriers that a traditional playground might?" So it's really nice to be able to do that. I'm just really proud of a city that's able to identify ways to look for gaps to try to help every citizen participate in all the different things that we have going on in the community. So with that, Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope everyone has a good start to your new year. [13:09] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. City offices will be closed December 25th and 26th in observance of Christmas, and we wish everybody happy holidays. Thank you. Shirley? [13:30] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** I just want to thank Great Oaks Academy choir for coming out today to sing Christmas carols for staff. The kids were great and it was a lot of fun to have them here. And Merry Christmas. [13:42] **Staff Member (Julie Fox):** Thank you. One more item from the consent agenda: we approved the appointment of Shawn as one of our new building inspectors, so he's joining us the first of the year coming from the city of Faribault. [13:51] **Community & Economic Development Director Deanna Kuennen:** I don't have anything to add this month or this week. [13:54] **Public Works Director John Powell:** Thank you, Mayor and Councilmembers. So we're wrapping up the 2023 projects and working hard on the 2024 already, particularly the 2024 Street improvements (Sixth Street and Maple Street). We are wrapping up the feasibility, and in early January, you'll see a professional services agreement for final design and bidding on that project. [14:18] **Parks & Recreation Director Kelly Griebel:** Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tomorrow is the Open Door food pantry pop-up event at the Rambling River Center from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., so we hope to see people there. And then Parks and Recreation has new registration and reservation software called RecTrac. It is on the home page at FarmingtonMN.gov. You can register for rec programs there and also reserve facilities including park shelters starting January 2nd. I know it's kind of early to be thinking about that—it's a little cold—but January 2nd we'll start taking reservations for park shelters. [14:42] **Finance Director Kim Sommerland:** I don't have anything to add tonight. [14:43] **Deputy Police Chief Jim Prokop:** Good evening. Yeah, we have a couple things on the agenda here today regarding the bike helmet safety program. It was a grant that we received—a community grant from the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Foundation—and Officer Chu actually wrote the grant application. We're proud that we got the funding and we're looking forward to getting more helmets on kids' heads because it was a pretty memorable tragedy, and let's try to prevent that in the future. I will echo the congratulations to Andrew Van Dorne, who will be promoted to Sergeant in January. It's well-deserved and he will be a great asset—already is a great asset—be a great asset in the supervisory role. We did get a grant for a bulletproof vest for Smoke from Dakota County Heroes. I see unfortunately on a regular basis from around the country of a K9 officer being shot or stabbed and giving their life for their handler so their handler survives, but the dog doesn't. That bond between a handler and a dog is something that you just can't compare. Hopefully, if Officer Heifort and Smoke are in that situation, this vest will keep both of them good to go home that night. And then there's Toys for Town. This was the 36th year of it. I think it was my 20th Toys for Town, and it was the biggest we've ever had. Last year we broke a record with 117 families; this year we had 146, I believe. 450 or so kids. I'll be honest, with the number of people that showed up to wrap, it made it all the way out to the parking lot at the high school and they stood in the rain. I was afraid we were going to have to turn a bunch of people away because I didn't think we were going to have as many families as we had; I didn't think we were going to have enough families for people to wrap. But you're right, there's a family that's been coming here 21 years and they plan their Christmas around when Toys for Town is. So this community steps up like one I've never seen before and one I've never heard from. I talk to people about this program and their mind is blown—the amount of toys and the amount of donations from $10 to $10,000. So we're very fortunate, we're very proud of the program. We are the facilitators; without the community, there would be no program. We just make it happen. And then finally, I would like to give a shout-out to Danny Olson from Community Development, our GIS specialist. We thought we were high-tech and we've been doing everything on a spreadsheet that was about this wide for the last 10 years, and it was high-tech in 2001. She actually created an online sign-up that we were able to look at a dashboard and see how many kids in what age groups we had at any given moment, and she saved me probably eight hours of work minimum on getting this going. So we're very appreciative of the work that she did. Along with everybody—just about everybody else in this room has in one way or another did something to help with the program. So thank you and Merry Christmas. [18:37] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, sir. Just a few things. First, I know we sometimes forget it's December because Mother Nature is doing her thing right now and it's in the 40s. It's nice, and there are more people out either riding their bikes or walking. You know, it gets dark at 4:30 or 4:45 and doesn't get light till after 7:00. In a community that has so many miles of paths and trails, we have to remember that. So with this warmer weather, you tend to see more people out on the trails and on the sidewalks; they're more active, and it's happening in hours of darkness. So just as a gentle reminder for those that are out walking and/or biking, please wear some form of reflective clothing or a brighter color. For those that have paths that maybe run across their driveway, take an extra second to look around. Just be mindful, because if there's a foot of snow on the ground this time of year, you're probably not going to see a lot of traffic outside, but with the warmer temps, you do see more people. So just ask to be a little bit more vigilant for your fellow resident. You guys hit all the items on the consent agenda; a lot of great wins in there. Special thanks to Officer Chu—you're in attendance—for the grant. A great cause that came out of an unfortunate situation, but a great cause in memory more than anything, right? And I'd be remiss if I didn't talk a little bit about Toys for Town. I have no reservation ever saying this: I was one of those 13-year-olds back in '93 that was a recipient of the program, and I remember it like it was yesterday. To see the program full circle, to be involved with it to the capacity that I've been able to the last five years now, and just to see how important it is to this community... Whether you donate monetarily, you donate toys, you donate your time, you help pack the food, you help wrap gifts, you help deliver—whatever it is, Toys for Town just exemplifies who we are as a community. It really embodies everything that we are. The numbers behind it sometimes are staggering, and I don't think the average person realizes it—that in a very short window, you deliver to 140 families, 450 kids. There's thousands of pounds of food, there are tens of thousands if not $100,000 worth of gifts. There had to have been a thousand people at the high school on Saturday. I mean, it just is incredible—the magnitude of the program, the reach that it has. It's growing outside the community from contributions. And to watch it just happen so seamlessly in two and a half, three hours... It's incredible to see the calm before the storm and the calm after the storm. And just know that it really does make a difference in the lives of these families and these kids every year. So a huge thank you to everybody—our residents, our businesses, anybody that was a part of the process, our team, the student council, the boys' junior gold hockey team, the girls' varsity basketball team. There's so many of them; it's everybody that's a part of this. The program is not possible without every single hand that's involved. So a huge thank you especially to our Police Department and those that are involved each year, but more so to the community for everything that we do for Toys for Town. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and we look for a motion to adjourn. [22:25] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** So moved. **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Holly. All in favor say aye. **Councilmembers:** Aye. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** We're adjourned at 7:21. [22:31] [Music]