This transcript is from the **January 2, 2024**, Farmington City Council meeting. Please note that while your context list identifies Nick Lien as Mayor, in this specific 2024 session, **Joshua Hoyt** is presiding as Mayor, and Nick Lien is serving as a Councilmember. [0:00] [Music] [0:31] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** We'll call the city council regular meeting to order for Tuesday January 2nd 2024. Would everyone please stand for 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. Call the roll please. [1:10] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Here. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Here. [1:19] **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Here. **Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Here. All right, any changes to the agenda? None. All right, seeing no changes look for a motion to approve the agenda. [1:33] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Motion. [1:35] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. [1:38] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Nick, second by Holly. All in favor say aye. **Councilmembers:** Aye. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, moving on to the—let's go citizen comments. Anyone in attendance? All right, seeing none we'll move to item seven which is the consent agenda. We look for a motion to approve. [1:55] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Motion. [1:57] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Second. [2:00] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Nick, second by Steve. All in favor say aye. **Councilmembers:** Aye. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Moving right along here, we are on to item number 101 which is the application to amend the comprehensive plan from high density residential to Commercial and rezone properties from R4 high density residential to B2 downtown business, 109 and 113 Elm Street. Tony? [2:08] **Planning Manager Tony Wippler:** Thank you. Good evening Mayor, Councilmembers. City staff is seeking to amend the 2040 comprehensive plan for the properties at 109 and 113 Elm Street as well as rezoning of those two parcels. Both of those parcels were identified in the 2016 downtown Redevelopment plan as areas of potential redevelopment specifically for multi-family or high density residential and were rezoned from B2 our downtown business district to R4 high density and were changed—and the land use guidance was changed from commercial to high density as part of the overall 2040 comprehensive plan that was approved back in 2019. The city is seeking to change that basically to revert it back, to go from a land use designation of high density to Commercial and rezoning from R4 to B2. So basically, like I said, just reverting back to what was prior to 2019. Staff does feel it's appropriate to make these changes for a couple reasons: the building's generally being newer and in good condition; it would take redevelopment in order for that to change to multi-family; neither building could easily be retrofitted into an apartment building; and then the location of the property and the building, it lends itself to a commercial use. So personally, I think me being staff at the time when we made that change, I think we overthought it to be honest. The Plan Commission did review both the comp plan amendment and rezoning at their December meeting. The commission did recommend approval of both with a 4-0 vote. The action that's requested this evening is to take the following actions: Number one, adopt resolution 2024-4 amending the 2040 comprehensive plan from high density residential to commercial for the properties located at 109 and 113 Elm Street. Number two, pass ordinance 2024-1 amending title 10 of the Farmington zoning ordinance rezoning the properties located at 109 and 113 Elm Street from R4 high density residential to B2 downtown business. Any questions? [4:40] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you sir. None? Holly? [4:44] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Just one I guess. I mean, has the current state of it being high density residential actively blocked any inquiries that you're aware of? [5:02] **Tony Wippler:** It has made it difficult in leasing a portion of where—basically where the former liquor store was located. It has created some consternation with that, and we have discussed this with the property owner and we decided as staff to bring it forward. [5:19] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** I thought that might be it, thank you. [5:22] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** All right, and Leah, we can take these in a single motion or if you do both separately that'd be— **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yeah, okay. I have no questions, thank you. We look for a motion to adopt resolution 2024-4 amending the 2040 comprehensive plan from high density residential to commercial for the properties located at 109 and 113 Elm Street. [5:39] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Motion. [5:41] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. [5:43] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Nick, second by Holly. Call the roll please. [5:48] **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. [5:59] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, and we look for a motion to pass the ordinance 2024-1 amending title 10 of the Farmington City code, the Farmington zoning ordinance, rezoning the properties located at 109 and 113 Elm Street from R4 high density residential to B2 downtown business. [6:15] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion to approve. [6:17] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Second. [6:19] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Nick. Call the roll please. [6:22] **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. [6:36] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, thank you sir. Thank you very much. Moving on to new business, item 121 is a designation of acting mayor for 2024. Shirley? [6:42] **Shirley Buecksler:** According to the council's bylaws for an even year, the acting mayor shall be selected as the member serving their fourth year of term who received the second most votes when elected. According to the 2020 general election results, Councilmember Katie Porter received the second most votes when elected and she's currently in the fourth year of her term. [7:00] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, thank you. Any questions? [7:02] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** I make a motion to approve. [7:04] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. [7:06] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Holly. Call the roll please. [7:08] **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. [7:20] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, thank you ma'am. Moving on to item 122 which is the resolution approving 2024 Council committee appointments. And you just want me to take this all from here? Sure, if you'd like. All right, so each year the city council goes through and discusses the committee appointments to include the primaries and the alternates. And we have discussed them. There were two commissions or appointments that were removed; just for those watching, the Dakota Broadband board was disbanded back in end of August, so that one is not on this year. And then also the seat for the Farmington Area Enhancement Group—that board has taken a little bit of a structure change and hence we don't have a formal appointment to that anymore; they are all members at large. But for the commissions that still remain: The Airlake Airport Advisory Commission, Councilmember Holly Bernatz would be the primary and Councilmember Katie Porter would be the alternate. For the ALF Ambulance, which is the Apple Valley, Lakeville and Farmington board, Councilmember Steve Wilson would be the primary and Councilmember Nick Lien would be the alternate. For the Dakota 911 Board of Directors (or the Dakota Communications Center as commonly referred to), Councilmember Nick Lien would be the primary, Councilmember Steve Wilson would be the alternate. For the FPAC committee (which is Empire Farmington Planning Advisory Committee), Councilmember Katie Porter would be the primary and Mayor Joshua Hoyt would be the alternate. For the Eureka Farmington Planning Advisory Committee, Councilmember Holly Bernatz would be the primary and Mayor Joshua Hoyt would be the alternate. For the Farmington Castle Rock Discussion Group, Mayor Joshua Hoyt would be the primary and Councilmember Steve Wilson would be the alternate. For the Farmington Fire Relief Board, Councilmember Steve Wilson and Councilmember Nick Lien would both serve. For the Farmington Liquor Operations Committee, Councilmember Katie Porter and Councilmember Holly Bernatz would be appointed. And for the MUSA Review Committee (or the Municipal Urban Service Area), Councilmember Holly Bernatz and Councilmember Nick Lien would be appointed. With that, I look for a motion to adopt the resolution 2024-5. [9:50] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Motion. [9:51] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Second. [9:53] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Holly, second by Steve. Call the roll please. [9:55] **Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. [10:04] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, swiftly we are moving along. John, next on the agenda is item 123, the Professional Services agreement with Kimley-Horn for the 2024 Street improvements final design and bidding. [10:19] **Public Works Director John Powell:** Thank you Mayor and City Council members. This is an opportune time to provide an update on where we're at with the 2024 Street improvements as we're moving into final design for the Sixth Street Maple project. So a bit of background: we reviewed the pavement management program starting on December 5th of last year—no, the year before last. We discussed the intent of the pavement Management program, that we have a portfolio of infrastructure including our bituminous pavement that we want to get as much life as we can out of that pavement and make cost-effective decisions. As a followup to that, in December of 2022 we approved a consultant to rate all of the pavements in the city. For 2023, we rated all the bituminous streets and all the bituminous trails. In July, we presented the PCI results for roadway to the City Council and proposed a 2024 reconstruction and Mill and Overlay project area. Those were approved in August, and in September we approved a Professional Services agreement for Kimley-Horn for preparation of studies and 30% designs. Just a reminder that there's two separate projects: one is the street improvements, which is the complete reconstruction of the roadway; and the mill and overlay is an edge mill or a surface mill across and just replacing the surface—so just the top layer of the surface. For 2024, we had $3 million for complete reconstruction and I believe a million dollars or 800,000 for Mill and overlays. The mill and overlay projects are much less design intensive; staff can handle that, so we're not asking for you to approve a PSA for final design of the mill and overlay projects. The project location for 2024 is 6th Street from Ash to Walnut—to 200 ft south of Walnut, so just past Locust—and Maple Street from 4th to 6th and the short segment of Maple Street East of Sixth Street. On this aerial photo, north is to the right. The clear area is 6th Street and Maple Street. Primarily Farmington Elementary School is to the southwest of the project area and then some ball fields and another educational facility north on 6th and on the west side. The project scope includes removing and reconstructing existing bituminous roadways. 6th Street has varying segment widths: from Ash Street to Maple 44 feet; from Maple to Locust 36; and then Locust to the northern project limit back to 44. We have a narrowing of the roadway just north of the Maple Street intersection. Maple Street from 4th to 5th is 40 feet; from 5th to 6th right in front of the elementary school is 56 ft wide; and the East extension is 38 ft wide. "FTF" is face-to-face curb. Scope includes reconstructing sidewalk at pedestrian ramp locations, installing storm sewer, spot sanitary repairs, and some new water main on Walnut from 5th to 6th. Primary design considerations: Farmington Elementary School on the southwest corner of 6th and Maple is key when considering roadway widths. 6th Street itself is extremely flat; to create adequate slope, we may need cross slopes. Typical roadway has a crown where the high point is in the middle; because of 6th Street being so flat, we may have to tip it all to the West side because the storm sewer is very shallow and literally one of the reasons why the asphalt is failing is because it's not draining properly. We have a lot of water sitting on the roadway and rotting the bituminous pavement via freeze-thaw cycles. Additionally, to comply with the city's MS4 permit, temporary underground runoff storage will be required. We have to retain a certain amount before it's discharged and treated. Based on preliminary design, 58 trees—including 22 ash trees—will need to be removed as part of the project. Staff will meet individually with the property owners to review all these tree impacts. Ed and I will be going out meeting with every property owner to talk about their trees. We are also recommending the 6th Street be reconstructed at a 38-foot width, which is the city's typical collector street section. This will provide a consistent section and won't have that choke point on the north side of Maple Street. This will reduce tree impact, storm water management costs, and future pavement maintenance costs. From a sidewalk standpoint, only a short segment of Maple Street near Fourth has public sidewalk. We're not proposing new public sidewalk in these areas because we would have even further impact on trees. Project cost identified is $3 million. The final design and bidding scope as proposed by Kimley-Horn includes project management, utility coordination, public engagement, and bidding assistance. We're considering using electronic bidding on this project; the city has not used that before. The schedule would have the plans being completed in March, a pre-construction meeting in early May, and the beginning of construction on June 3rd to coincide with when classes are out at the elementary school. Final completion in October. The requested action is to approve the Professional Services agreement with Kimley-Horn. [21:18] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Questions? With respect to the trees then, is that mostly some of the probably larger trees down there that the root system is starting to invade into the road or is it a canopy concern of branches falling down? [21:28] **John Powell:** Mayor and Councilmembers, it's really both. Some of the trees are running out of space in the boulevard. We're hoping that if we narrow the roadway that'll give us a little more room to work and a little less root disturbance. But some just aren't healthy; they don't have good structure based on our Forester's review. We tend to err on the conservative side—we don't want to disturb the roots and leave a tree that may be a hazard in the future where the anchor is gone on one side and it's more susceptible to overturning. [22:26] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** And these are boulevard trees for the most part or in between sidewalk and—? **John Powell:** Yes. **Councilmember Nick Lien:** So none of them would be set back inside behind the sidewalk at any of those streets, right? **John Powell:** We'll be talking to those property owners if it's infringing on the sidewalk already and there's tree health issues, we'd recommend we take those, but we'd talk to them. **Councilmember Nick Lien:** 60 trees in that small of a stretch, probably pretty noticeable, right? That's good, thank you. [22:58] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** No questions, just a comment. It's an area that I don't honestly drive very often, but in the times that I have driven it, I just appreciate the time and thoughtfulness that has gone into every aspect of this. I know it's going to be hard when you are seeing the landscape change, but I just want to focus too on how much better driving conditions are going to be once this project is done in that particular area. [23:47] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yeah, John, I would echo something that Holly just said. I think it's a really thoughtful component that we're considering the school district and how we collaborate with them. I do have a question though: can we go back to that schedule? I would see if we can consider sending out a letter to everyone even before April to let them know what's going on. I'd prefer not to wait a whole month until a proposed neighborhood meeting to say "in about two and a half weeks here is what's going to happen." I think the earlier we can do that the better. [25:15] **John Powell:** Mayor and Councilmembers, I should have clarified: we've had two open houses on the project already. Our intent based on your action tonight is to send a letter out, basically an update. We want to be as transparent as possible such that there's no surprises. And moving forward on these city projects, we want there to be a staff person—in this case Rich, who has been here 35 years—so they have a consistent point of contact. [26:28] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Right. Yeah, I especially appreciate that. One of the biggest wins from the last year is doing the pavement index because it's going to guide us in a way that's based in fact, data-driven decisions. To be good stewards of our taxpayers' dollars, making sure long-term investments are being made with data. It’s good to see; this is a very lofty take for next year, the biggest year for number of projects we've had in probably close to a decade outside of new development. [28:01] **John Powell:** Thank you Mayor. Our intent is that these projects become habit for the city and for staff. We'd like to back up the schedule even more as we get into the 2025 project area. Every year a third of the city will be rated so none of our data is more than three years old. We appreciate the Council's support. [28:58] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you sir. With that, we look for a motion to approve the Professional Services agreement with Kimley-Horn. [29:08] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion to approve. [29:10] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. [29:12] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve, second by Holly. Call the roll please. [29:14] **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz? **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien? **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson? **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. **Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt? **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. [29:21] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you sir. All right, we are on to Round Table. Who wants to start? Steve, you get to start. [29:26] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Happy New Year, that's all I have. [29:29] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Happy New Year. Don't make resolutions, make goals. [29:35] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** You know what, actually I'm going to do a little safety thing. I know that it has gotten colder out; it is still not cold enough out if you have littles that like to be around water. Lakes across Minnesota are not safe to be out on. Whether you are a big ice enthusiast or a little ice enthusiast, take advantage of the safe spaces that we do have for skating in the city. Right now in this moment, it is not safe on the open water. That's all I got, just be safe. [30:26] **City Attorney Leah Koch:** So, Governor Walz had a merit selection panel recommend Court of Appeals candidates. They recommended three candidates, so I'll be able to milk this for another round table when they announce. [30:44] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Any big legislation changes that started the first? [30:52] **Leah Koch:** Oh, everything yes. A lot. [30:58] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Another great Round Table topic for next meeting. Thank you Leah. Oh, I'm sorry, Lynn? [31:07] **City Administrator Lynn Gorski:** City offices will be closed on January 15th in observance of Martin Luther King day. So our next council meeting will be on Tuesday, January 16th. [31:30] **Shirley Buecksler:** On the consent agenda tonight Council approved the Dakota County Tribune as the city's official newspaper for 2024. Their staff is very responsive and I look forward to working with them again. [31:46] **HR Director Julie Jensen:** Legislative changes—I'll steal one from Leah for next time: Earned Safe and Sick Time (ESST). It doesn't affect us as much as far as our full-time employees, but it's a little challenging now that we will need to be offering paid time off to paid-on-call firefighters, seasonal folks, and temporary folks. [32:10] **Community and Economic Development Director Deanna Kuennen:** Thank you Mayor and Council. One of the things that I encourage the Council as well as the community to do is check out the Community Development project update page. Currently we have drone footage of the Emory project which we'll be updating on a regular basis. [32:51] **John Powell:** Thank you Mayor. Over the weekend, crews were in both Saturday and Sunday salting only because icy conditions did develop. We're in the process of trying to wrap up last year's projects and looking ahead to 2024. [33:23] **Parks and Recreation Director Kelly Meyer:** Good evening. As Councilmember Bernatz mentioned earlier regarding skating rinks—unfortunately the weather hasn't quite cooperated yet, but temperatures next week look good to start flooding. We hope to open outdoor ice rinks in the next week or so; check FarmingtonMN.gov. Also, staff has been working with County staff on preliminary design for the trail gap study on Pilot Knob Road. We are waiting for word on an open house here in January. [34:39] **Finance Director Kim Sommerland:** Mayor and Council, with 2023 coming to a close, the finance team will begin preparations for their annual Financial audit and we'll actually have auditors on site this month. [34:58] **Fire Chief Matthew Price:** Mayor and Council, normally at this meeting I'm reminding residents to shovel around their hydrants. Obviously that hasn't happened yet, but with the 10-day forecast, if we do get some snow, just help us out and keep those fire hydrants clear. [35:17] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yeah, 2023 was a huge year for the city. I don't think it can be stated with enough emphasis what we actually accomplished. It’s difficult sometimes to explain the things that you don't see. Our team collectively—Council, boards and commissions, senior leadership—we spent a lot of time analyzing, planning, and getting our guiding documents in place so that we're making the best decisions that we can. There’s so much that goes into being a highly effective organization and I feel like 2023 is easily the best year that we've had thus far. To watch your services continue to increase in quality and not have a disruption in service is a testament to the totality of the work. I will always defer credit where credit is due, and 2023 was an amazing year. I look forward to everything that we do this year—the Emory is in full swing, and road reconstruction projects are a huge portion of that. At the end of the day, it's people, and we have amazing people. I look forward to a year that's even better than '23 was. We look for a motion to adjourn. [38:55] **Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Motion. [38:56] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** Second. [38:58] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All in favor say aye. **Councilmembers:** Aye. **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** And we're adjourned at 7:38. [39:27] [Music]