This transcript is from the **Farmington City Council** meeting on **April 15, 2024**. **Note on Speaker Identification:** While your provided context list (dated 2026) identifies Nick Lien as Mayor, the transcript from 2024 confirms that at the time of this recording, **Joshua Hoyt** was the Mayor and **Nick Lien** was a Councilmember. Additionally, **Katie Porter** was serving on the council at this time. The "Tony" presenting the planning items is **Tony Winger** (Planning Manager). *** [0:02] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [0:48] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** We’ll call the City Council meeting to order for Monday, April 15, 2024. Would everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? [0:58] **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. [1:08] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Call the roll, please. [1:09] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? [1:10] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Here. [1:11] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? [1:12] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Here. [1:13] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? [1:14] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Here. [1:15] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Porter? [1:16] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Here. [1:17] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? [1:18] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Here. [1:19] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. Any changes to the agenda? Laura or Nick, Holly, Katie, Steve? [1:27] **City Administrator Laura Gorski:** None, Mayor. [1:28] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** All right. [1:29] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** I'm going to make a change. I'm actually going to remove item 12.1 to be considered at a future date, so I would look for the motion—or I would look for a motion to approve the agenda, removing item 12.1. [1:44] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion to approve the agenda removing 12.1. [1:47] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Second. [1:48] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Katie. All in favor say aye. [1:51] **Council:** Aye. [1:53] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. Moving on, we have no announcements. We'll go to citizen comments. If there's anyone in attendance wishing to speak at this time, please come up to the podium. All right, seeing none, we'll move on to our consent agenda. We look for a motion to approve the consent agenda. [2:14] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Motion. [2:15] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Second. [2:16] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Katie, second by Nick. All in favor say aye. [2:19] **Council:** Aye. [2:20] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, and we'll move right on into our item 8.1, which is a public hearing. Item 8.1 is the public hearing for the vacation of drainage and utility easement within the St. Michael's Addition plat. I'm going to open the public hearing at this time. Tony? [2:31] **Planning Manager Tony Winger:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Councilmembers. Before you this evening is a request from the Church of St. Michael’s requesting the vacation of a certain drainage and utility easement that's located on their property at 22120 Denmark Avenue. The subject easement to be vacated is a blanket drainage and utility easement that covers the entirety of what is labeled Outlot D of St. Michael's Addition. The church would like to construct a new rectory on the area that's encumbered with the easement. New drainage and utility easements will be dedicated with the proposed replat at St. Michael's Third Edition, which we'll be reviewing here in just a little while. Per State Statute, the City Council must conduct a public hearing regarding the proposed vacation after public and posted notice of said vacation. I have the map up here; the red area is Outlot D showing the blanket drainage and utility easement. The action that's requested this evening is, after any public comment is taken, close the public hearing regarding the vacation of the drainage and utility easement and adopt Resolution 2024-29. [3:46] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, Tony. Any questions from Council? Nick? [3:50] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** No. [3:51] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? [3:52] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** No. [3:53] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Katie? [3:54] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** I have none. [3:55] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Steve? [3:56] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** None. [3:57] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Okay. Tony, I don't have any questions for you. Does anybody have any questions for the applicant? If the applicant wants to say anything, if not, you're not obligated. It's a public hearing, so you have the option. [4:13] **Applicant (St. Michael's Representative):** Questions? I'm happy to answer. [4:18] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. If there's no questions for the applicant... [4:21] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Mayor, I actually do have one question, Tony. No concerns at all, it's more of a... you know, when the church was chosen to be constructed there, was there a thought that one of the outlots might turn into this use at a future point in time? [4:48] **Tony Winger:** They had considered—they had looked at a couple different options for the use of the outlots. I know a portion of it was looked at specifically for building expansion. I believe this one, back in 1998 when it was originally platted, I think they were looking at potentially expanding the parking lot as part of that. [5:09] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Okay, got it. Okay, thank you. [5:12] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. And again, it is a public hearing, so if there's any residents that want to speak about the agenda item, feel free to do so at this time. All right, seeing none... [5:24] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Mayor, quick question. Do you open the public hearing? [5:26] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** I opened it at the very beginning with the reading of the agenda item. All right, so we'll close the public hearing at this time. Is there any additional discussion or deliberation by Council? Nick? [5:41] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** No. [5:42] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Steve? [5:43] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** None. [5:44] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, then we would look for a motion to approve the vacation of the drainage and utility easement and adopt Resolution 2024-29 vacating the existing drainage and utility easement in the St. Michael's Addition. [6:00] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Motion. [6:01] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. [6:02] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Katie, second by Holly. Call the roll, please. [6:06] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? [6:07] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. [6:08] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? [6:09] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. [6:10] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Porter? [6:11] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Yes. [6:12] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? [6:13] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. [6:14] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? [6:15] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. Thank you, sir. [6:17] **Tony Winger:** Thank you. [6:19] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Moving on, next item on our agenda is 10.1, which is the St. Michael's Third Edition Preliminary and Final Plat. Tony. [6:22] **Tony Winger:** Thank you. The Church of St. Michael is requesting review and approval of the preliminary and final plat for St. Michael's Third Edition. The current land use obviously is a Catholic church campus and vacant land. The area is bounded by industrial zoning to the east, that being Dakota Electric. Medium to high density residential zoning is to the north and south, and agricultural is adjacent to the west. The existing zoning is R-1 Low Density Residential, in which churches are a conditional use. They did get their approval of a conditional use for the rectory at the last—well, last week's Planning Commission meeting, so that part has been taken care of. As far as the preliminary and final plat itself, basically what happens is that it combines Outlot D of St. Michael's Addition, which was platted in 1998, with a larger parent parcel to be part of what is Lot 1, Block 1 of St. Michael's Third Edition. As I previously mentioned, the church wishes to build a rectory in the location of Outlot D, which is a grayed-out area shown on the preliminary plat. The plat is adjacent to County right-of-way, both CSAH 74, which is Ash Street, and County Road 31, Denmark Avenue. Therefore, it is subject to the County's contiguous plat ordinance. The County Plat Commission did meet on March 27th and recommended approval of the preliminary and final plats, being subject to dedicating of 20 feet of additional right-of-way for CSAH 74. This will be a condition of approval. As we just had the public hearing regarding the vacation of the existing easement, the new plat does provide new easements with the Third Edition, and those easements are acceptable to staff. Planning Commission did review the preliminary and final plat at its April 9th regular meeting and voted 5-0 to recommend approval. The action that's requested this evening is to adopt Resolution 2024-31 approving the St. Michael's Third Edition preliminary and final plat contingent upon the following: number one, additional 20 feet of right-of-way must be provided on the plats for CSAH 74; and number two, the instrument of dedication on the final plat must be revised to change the wording from "City of Hastings" to "City of Farmington." [8:58] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Very nice. Any questions? Thank you, sir. Steve, any questions? [9:02] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** None. [9:03] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Katie? [9:04] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** I have none, thanks Tony. [9:05] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? [9:06] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** No. [9:07] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nick? [9:08] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Nothing, thanks. [9:09] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** And I have no questions. We would look for a motion to approve the adopt resolution as presented. [9:15] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Motion. [9:16] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Second. [9:17] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Holly, second by Steve. Call the roll, please. [9:21] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? [9:22] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. [9:23] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Porter? [9:24] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Yes. [9:25] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? [9:26] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. [9:27] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? [9:28] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. [9:29] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? [9:30] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. [9:31] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, moving on. Item 10.2 is the Vermillion Commons Third Edition Final Plat. Tony. [9:37] **Tony Winger:** I will just stay right here. It's your night! [Laughter] Yes, Lennar is requesting the approval of Vermillion Commons Third Edition. This edition consists of 67 townhome lots. It is consistent with the approved preliminary plat, which includes 276 townhome units over just under 76 acres, which yields a density of 6.7 units per acre. Property is zoned R-3 Planned Unit Development. The setbacks that are proposed are 25 feet for the front yard, 15 for the side corner, 10 feet interior side, and 10 feet rear yard setback. In addition to the 67 townhome lots, there are 18 outlots with this plat. Outlot A is just under 2 acres and consists of a stormwater facility. Outlot B is 7.3 acres and contains four natural gas easements and open space. Outlot C is 2.8 and consists of a stormwater facility. Outlots A, B, and C will be deeded to the City as part of this plat. Outlot R is just over 11 acres, consisting of future development and natural gas line easements. Outlots E and I consist of private roads, and then all the remaining outlots consist of common area around the various townhome lots. This is a copy of the Third Edition plat, again, blown-up area showing the proposed townhome lots. Access to the Third Edition will come from the extension of Denton Avenue to the north along with the western extension of 218th Street West. Lilac Drive will extend north from 218th Street West on the west side of the development, and this then will provide future access to the adjacent property to the west. Denton Avenue, 218th Street, and Lilac Drive will all be 60-foot wide right-of-way with 32-foot wide roadways. The private streets that are labeled E and I are measured 27 feet, and that's measured from curb-to-curb, and there will be curb and gutter there as well. An 8-foot wide bituminous trail will be constructed along the northern boundary of the plat and continue through the central portion of the development. Trail is also provided on the north side of 218th Street West. A 5-foot wide sidewalk will be installed on the west side of Denton Avenue and extend around the traffic circle—I can't call it a cul-de-sac, it's a traffic circle. A sidewalk will also be installed on the south side of 218th Street West and on the east side of Lilac Drive. On the map there, the yellow shows the trail and the red is the sidewalk that is proposed within this Third Edition. There are 11 off-street parking spaces that will be provided within the Third Edition. Additionally, the proposed two-story townhomes consist of two-car garages and space for two parked cars in the driveway for each unit. We did a whole calculation when the preliminary plat went through on off-street parking, and they exceed what our code does require. The Planning Commission reviewed the final plat at its April 9th regular meeting and voted 5-0 to recommend approval. Action as requested this evening is: adopt Resolution 2024-32 approving and authorizing signing of the final plat for Vermillion Commons Third Edition contingent upon the following: number one, satisfaction of all engineering comments related to the construction plans for grading and utilities; and number two, a development contract between that applicant and City of Farmington shall be executed, and security fees and costs shall be paid. Submission of all other documents required under the development contract shall be required. [13:30] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, sir. Any questions? Katie, any questions? [13:34] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** I was just trying to review the—sorry—the west side exit because there were some new street names in there. Is the main exit out of the entire subdivision still Denmark? [13:54] **Tony Winger:** It will be, yes. [13:56] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Okay, so either to go north or south. Just because I know there were some traffic concerns specifically with... [14:02] **Tony Winger:** Yep, and then eventually Denton will extend south and extend out to 220th. And then Lilac will come around and—interestingly enough, we just got an application for property adjacent to the west—so Lilac will connect into that and then extend all the way through that to the south to 220th as well. [14:31] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** So any future north exit to, like, 50? [14:35] **Tony Winger:** There would be to the north, not with the river that's there. [14:39] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** That's what I assumed, right. Okay. [14:41] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** If you don't mind on that question, is the access on Denmark—if I recall correctly, that was going to be constructed so that you could go north out of there, but once Denton connected to 220th, then that was going to turn into a right-in/right-out, or is that staying? [15:00] **Tony Winger:** That's staying as a full access. [15:02] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Okay. All right. I know we had talked about that early, but I couldn't recall if it had... [15:06] **Tony Winger:** It’s a full access. [15:08] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Full access, okay. All right. Sorry, I was just thinking through infrastructure concerns, but obviously those are specific to time of day, right? So hopefully... but thank you for that. [15:20] **Tony Winger:** Yep, and we did do a Safe Routes to School plan with Boeckman Middle School as part of a grant that we received. I know the County is well aware of this development; they are actually looking at studying Denmark Avenue as a whole. So there's some opportunity to potentially do some improvements as far as that is concerned to try to alleviate any kind of pedestrian-type issues. Now, I believe the school, no matter the location, they're still planning to bus this development to the school, even though it's literally across the street, and that's because of the road itself. It's a fairly highly-traveled and high-speed road, but yeah, they still plan to bus. Doesn't mean that you're still not going to have kids that are going to try to cross, though. [16:24] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Remind me, with that first edition, is there a southbound... the townhome areas to try to accommodate that so you're not parking on 218th? [16:40] **Tony Winger:** Okay, yep. [16:42] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** And then along with the "crossing the river" question, is the next anticipated north-south crossing over the river going to be Pilot Knob? [16:51] **Tony Winger:** Then Eaton Avenue likely. [16:53] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Oh, okay. Yeah. That'd be my only question then, I guess. Thank you. [17:02] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** I don't have any questions. [17:03] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Sorry, Mayor, I do have one more question. Okay, so at 218th, I believe that's where the street crosses to that initial southernmost entrance for Boeckman, correct? Is there any potential for even a crosswalk there in the future, whether it's a blinking light crosswalk? [17:23] **Tony Winger:** I think that's all part of the discussion that we had as part of the Safe Routes to School, and the County, I think, is going to review that as part of their overall study of that corridor. [17:33] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** And how likely—I mean, what's the timeframe we're thinking on that? [17:35] **Tony Winger:** That I don't know. [17:36] **Public Works Director John Powell:** Mayor and Councilmembers, the Dakota County is in the process of issuing the RFP. It may be out within a couple of weeks to consulting firms, and then they'll receive proposals for the corridor study of the city. I will be on the review committee, if you will, for the consultant. With regard to a flashing signal, based on the speed of the roadway and the level of traffic, I think it'd be very unlikely in its current configuration. [18:22] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Well, I know that in their future transportation plan, they had marked Denmark from essentially 50 to—or we'll just say Elm to Ash—that they had designated that as future going back to the City, similar to what they did with Dodd. Is that—are they mentioning that in this conversation at all? [18:41] **John Powell:** Mayor and Councilmembers, there's been no recent discussions about that. I don't think that's a factor when it comes to the corridor study. The corridor study has really focused on the future configuration, the access—the full access locations—also the crossing of the greenway and the trail. The bridge needs work right now, so it could be a case where they're lengthening the bridge to accommodate a trail going underneath. All that is going to be studied as part of the corridor study. [19:14] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Okay. [19:15] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, sir. Any other questions or comments? None? Thank you. The only thing I was going to add for the builder is it seems like you're developing fast and the need is there, so it's a missing segment of our housing mix in the community and it seems very well received. So, all good. With that, we look for a motion to approve the adopt resolution as presented. [19:40] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion to approve—sorry about that. [19:42] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. [19:43] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Holly. Call the roll, please. [19:47] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Porter? [19:48] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Yes. [19:49] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? [19:50] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. [19:51] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? [19:52] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. [19:53] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? [19:54] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. [19:55] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? [19:56] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. [19:57] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, we got one more for you, right? Resolution 2024-30 approving annexation of certain property pursuant to the joint resolution for orderly annexation by and between the Township of Castle Rock and the City of Farmington. Tony. [20:15] **Tony Winger:** All right, there we go. Yes, the City—thank you, Mayor, Council—the City did receive a petition for annexation from ISD 192 on March 5th for the property formerly known as the Angus property, which is located at the southwest intersection of Biscayne Avenue and 225th Street West. The subject property is less than 200 acres in size and is located within the approved orderly annexation area that we currently have with Castle Rock Township. The current OAA—which I'll abbreviate it for that, but that's our Orderly Annexation Agreement—was put in place back in 2017. This agreement does establish an annexation area and provides the City with certain authority to annex lands that are located within that designated area. The OAA also establishes that the Township will not file any objection with the State of Minnesota concerning the annexation, provided that the annexation does comply with that approved OAA. Per section six of the agreement, if the City does intend to act on the petition to annex the property, the City will, within 14 days of receipt of the petition, provide the Township with two specific things: number one, the legal description and map of the property proposed to be annexed; and number two, a description of the proposed use of the said property. This notice was provided to the Township—was hand-delivered on March 6th. The Township was given its 30-day comment period per the agreement. That comment period ended on April 5th, and as of today, no comments were received from the Township regarding it. Upon approval, the resolution will be forwarded to the Office of Administrative Hearings within the State for processing. Therefore, the action as requested this evening is to approve Resolution 2024-30, approving the annexation of certain property pursuant to the joint resolution for orderly annexation by and between the Township of Castle Rock and the City of Farmington. [22:24] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, sir. That's why it's called orderly, right? Any questions? Katie? [22:29] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** I have none. [22:30] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Steve? [22:31] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** None. [22:32] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? [22:33] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** No. [22:34] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nick? [22:35] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** None. [22:36] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, I have none for you as well. Look for a motion to approve the attached resolution as presented. [22:42] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** I will make a motion to approve. [22:44] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Second. [22:45] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Nick. Call the roll, please. [22:49] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? [22:50] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. [22:51] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? [22:52] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. [22:53] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? [22:54] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. [22:55] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? [22:56] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. [22:57] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Porter? [22:58] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Yes. [22:59] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, you're all done, sir. All right, the next item on the agenda is the performance review of the City Administrator. We need a motion to go into a closed session to conduct the performance evaluation. [23:13] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Motion—real quick, Mayor, if you don't mind reading the exact language with the statute, that'd be great. Thanks. [23:19] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** I'll get you here. All right, so we need a motion to go into closed session to conduct the performance evaluation of City Administrator Laura Gorski pursuant to Minnesota Statute 13D.05. [23:35] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Motion. [23:36] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Second. [23:37] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Holly, second by Katie. All in favor say aye. [23:40] **Council:** Aye. [23:41] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, and we are out at 7:24. Thank you all for coming. [23:48] [Music] [Music] [Music]