As an expert transcriptionist, I have synchronized the provided context with the dialogue. Please note that while "Goodwin" was not in your initial list, he is explicitly named several times by the Mayor and appears to be the fifth councilmember. I have also corrected phonetic errors (e.g., "Mander" to Melander, "grindall" to Grendahl) to match your provided official list. [0:00] [Music] [1:25] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** All right, good evening. We'll call this meeting to order for the May 23rd, 2024, Apple Valley City Council meeting. For any members of the audience who have signed up to speak, when your name is called, please approach the podium to address the Council. The first item on our agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance, and I would ask everyone to rise and join me in the pledge. [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.] [2:00] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** All right, our next item is to approve the agenda. Tom, I know we had an updated calendar of events. Are there any other changes? [2:07] **Tom Lawell:** Good evening, Mr. Mayor. No, that is the only change; it's an updated version of the calendar of upcoming events. [2:14] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Perfect. Do we have a motion to approve the agenda? [2:17] **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** So moved. [2:19] **Councilmember Tom Melander:** Second. [2:20] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Grendahl, a second from Councilmember Melander. All those in favor indicate by saying "aye." [Council: Aye.] Opposed? Agenda is approved. Our next item is the audience participation portion of the meeting. This is for items not on the agenda. I did not see anyone on the signup sheet. Would anyone like to speak? Eric, good checking—we've got 10 minutes if we want to fill them. All right, then our next item is to approve the consent agenda. These items are considered routine and will be enacted with a single motion unless a councilmember or a citizen requests to pull an item. Councilmembers, any items to pull? [2:59] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Seeing none, citizens, any items to pull? Eric, any items to pull? You’re good, okay. All right, we have a motion to approve the consent agenda. [3:02] **Councilmember John Bergman:** Moved. [3:04] **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** Second. [3:06] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Bergman, a second from Councilmember Grendahl. All those in favor signify by saying "aye." [Council: Aye.] And opposed? Perfect. That brings us to 5A, which is to proclaim May 24th, 2024, as National Poppy Day and May 2024 as Poppy Month. Gina, come on up. [3:41] **Gina Deel:** Hi. [3:42] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Floor is yours. Go ahead. [3:44] **Gina Deel:** Okay, thank you. My name is Gina Deel and I'm the first Vice President of the American Legion Auxiliary in Apple Valley, Unit 1776. Tomorrow is National Poppy Day, so I'll be distributing poppies. All of the donations for the poppies go to support our veterans and their families. We're just so excited and happy to honor them for all that they've sacrificed for our freedom. I'll be at the Von Hanson’s outside or the Ace Hardware—some of us will be distributing poppies there—or you can go to the American Legion. Also after this meeting, you can make a donation if you'd like to. So thank you so much, and I am going to read the proclamation. [4:50] **Gina Deel:** Whereas America is the land of freedom, preserved and protected willingly and freely by its citizens and soldiers; and whereas millions who have answered the call to arms have died on the fields of battle; and whereas the nation and its citizens must be reminded of the price of war and the debt it owes to those who have died in war; and whereas the red poppy has been designated as a symbol of the sacrifice of lives in all wars; and whereas the American Legion Auxiliary has pledged to remind Americans annually of the debt owed through the distribution of the memorial flower; now, therefore, the City Council of the City of Apple Valley, Dakota County, Minnesota, hereby proclaims May as Poppy Month and the 24th of May, 2024, as National Poppy Day. Thank you. [5:29] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Thank you so much. Do we have a motion to approve the proclamation? [5:32] **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** So moved. [5:33] **Councilmember Bill Goodwin:** Second. [5:34] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** We have a motion from Councilmember Grendahl, a second from Councilmember Goodwin. All those in favor indicate by saying "aye." [Council: Aye.] All right, that carries. Thank you, and we've got a signed copy of that for you to take with you as well. We'll let you collect your donation, and before we move on, I—they look a little different this year, huh? [5:54] **Gina Deel:** Yes, some of them. These are the fabric ones. [5:58] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Okay, thank you. Thank you so much. [6:36] [Laughter] [6:38] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** I'll take a couple. Okay, here you are. Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you, I'll take two. Thank you so much. [7:02] **Gina Deel:** Who's the speaker? Are you the speaker? [7:06] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** This one, yeah. If you need any, I’ve got like 100 of them at home. You're the resupply just in case. Thank you, Gina. I'll give you a deal next year on them. [7:21] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** All right, we will move on to item 5B, which is to proclaim May 27th, 2024, as Memorial Day. Bernie, do you want to come up and do the honors for us? [7:27] **Councilmember Tom Melander:** Say, Mayor, do we have to stand at attention when the Commander walks up here? [7:34] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** I'll leave that to you if you want to. He’s got a smirk on his face for you. [7:41] **Councilmember Tom Melander:** I'm just wondering if he has any raffle tickets to sell. [Laughter] [7:46] **Bernie Balman:** Me? Yeah, well, you're lucky, pal. [7:52] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Wait, he's looking over at the cop and the firefighter. Thank you. We've not even started this yet and we've already lost control. I'm not sure what's going on here. This is supposed to be a serious deal too; so much for decorum. [8:03] **Bernie Balman:** Different characters. We can go bounce it all over. [8:05] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Bernie, get us out of this mess, will you? [8:08] **Bernie Balman:** Duty, honor, country—and they died for it. On this Memorial Day, we remember. Mr. Mayor, members of the City Council, my name is Bernie Balman. I am the Post Commander, proudly representing the men and women of the American Legion Apple Valley Post 1776. It is my pleasure to preview the City of Apple Valley's Memorial Day Proclamation for 2024 and ask that you remember and honor our nation's military heroes by supporting this declaration as you have in years past. [8:55] **Bernie Balman:** The proclamation reads as follows: Whereas Memorial Day has been observed in the United States since General Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic issued General Order Number 11 on May 5th, 1868, setting aside May 30th, 1868, for the purposes of strewing flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of soldiers of the Federal and Confederate troops who lost their lives in the Civil War that raged from 1861 to 1865; and whereas men and women who have been killed in action or lost their lives from other causes in wars and police actions in defense of the United States of America, from the American Revolution to the evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan; and whereas men and women who were injured in combat or by other means in time of war endured a constant reminder of their sacrifice for the freedom of the United States citizens and others around the world; now, therefore, the City Council of the City of Apple Valley, Dakota County, Minnesota, hereby acknowledges the federal proclamation of May 27th, 2024, as Memorial Day and asks that all citizens set aside May 27th, 2024, as a day of remembrance and invites all citizens to attend the memorial ceremony scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Apple Valley American Legion Memorial. Further, citizens are reminded that flag etiquette provides that all flags be flown at half-staff until 12:00 noon in a special salute to the sacrifice of the casualties and injured in the various wars and police actions. Proclaimed this 23rd day of May, 2024. Signed by Mayor Hooppaw and attested by Christina Scipioni, City Clerk. [11:15] **Bernie Balman:** Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness—and on this Memorial Day, we honor those who died defending these. Thank you. [11:18] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Thank you, Bernie. Thank you, Bernie. Do we have a motion to approve the proclamation? [11:27] **Councilmember Bill Goodwin:** So moved. [11:29] **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** Second. [11:32] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Goodwin and a second from Councilmember Grendahl. All those in favor? [Council: Aye.] Thank you. That will bring us on to Staff and Council Communications. Tom, do we have anything? [11:43] **Tom Lawell:** Mr. Mayor, we do actually have three for you tonight. We will start with our Police Chief, Nick Francis, to tell us about an upcoming event they have on their schedule. [12:01] **Police Chief Nick Francis:** Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, and anybody with furry friends that lives or visits our community. Our next community outreach opportunity is Tuesday, June 4th. We have our annual Watchdog Walkers event. I don't know exactly which annual this is, but it's been going for a number of years. We have it at Kelly Park every year and it's an opportunity for folks to come out with their pets and learn from the Police Department some crime prevention tips and get to visit and meet with pet-friendly vendors. New this year, we have Chick-fil-A coming to have food and treats available. But in essence, it's the old saying, "If you see something, say something." This is to reiterate it could be something as simple as when you're out walking your dog and you see something strange in the neighborhood. When folks are out walking their dogs, they know what looks normal and what doesn't. So this is just a reminder for folks to come out, visit with the Police Department, visit with other dog walkers and pet-friendly folks in our community, and help be a force multiplier for the Police Department keeping tabs in our neighborhood. So we invite everybody to come out from 6:00 to 7:30 on that Tuesday, June 4th. [13:25] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Great, thanks. [13:27] **Police Chief Nick Francis:** Thank you, Chief. [13:28] **Tom Lawell:** Mr. Mayor, two other ones. Periodically, the City does conduct an auction for items that the City no longer needs. This includes surplus City property as well as unclaimed personal property. I just wanted to let everyone know that that auction will actually start tomorrow, May 24th, and will run through June the 4th. This year it's all online, so if you go to the City's website, you can follow a link and see a long list of things that are being auctioned off. We would encourage residents to take advantage of that; it's a good opportunity. So, online City auction starting tomorrow. The last one is the Water Wise Challenge. This is a friendly competition amongst Dakota County cities. We're trying to see who can be the most water-wise. This entails citizens going onto our website, following the link, and understanding a little bit more about the importance of our water resources. This is an important sustainability initiative, and conserving our resources is certainly a very important thing. We are looking to raise the awareness of water conservation, and the Water Wise Challenge is one way to do that. So again, all the details are on the City's website. [14:19] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Right, thank you, Tom. Councilmembers, any items to discuss? Ruth? [14:26] **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** I think there's an update on the housing bill from the legislature that many of our citizens weighed in on. Maybe it will be better written next year, but can somebody provide an update? [14:48] **Tom Lawell:** It was a chaotic end to the session, to state it kindly. At the end, none of the housing provisions that the Council has discussed and that we've been concerned about have prevailed. In the last bill, the 1400-some-odd page bill, middle housing bill details are not in there, the parking minimum requirements being eliminated is not in there, and multi-family housing on commercial property is not in there. So none of the items that we talked about prevailed at this session. We understand that one of the reasons was many of the city groups agreed that over the course of the interim, there would be more discussions to determine how cities can be of assistance in trying to generate more housing production. I would anticipate those conversations will take place this summer, but there are no new rules that we've been able to find yet that would have impacted us out of this last legislative session. [15:51] **Councilmember Lisa Hiebert:** I think what's important is one shoe doesn't fit all. I mean, you can't just say that this is for everybody. We all have different circumstances in our cities and we've all done things to get us where we are. [16:03] **Councilmember Bill Goodwin:** Well, I think one of the reasons that failed this year is that Bernie Balman came here about six weeks ago and spoke against the middle housing bill. Very articulate that night—almost as articulate as he was tonight. He didn't screw anything up. [16:23] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** All right, any other items? Thanks for the update and thanks for the reminder, Ruth. Our next informal City Council meeting is Thursday, June 13th at 5:30, and our next regular City Council meeting is Thursday, June 13th at 7:00 p.m. Just a reminder that the City offices are closed on Monday, May 27th, in observance of Memorial Day. We hope to see everyone at the Legion at 11:00. Do we have a motion to approve the calendar? [16:44] **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** Moved. [16:46] **Councilmember John Bergman:** Second. [16:47] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Grendahl, a second from Councilmember Bergman. All those in favor indicate by saying "aye." [Council: Aye.] And opposed? And do we have a motion to adjourn? [16:51] **Councilmember Bill Goodwin:** Moved. [16:53] **Councilmember Ruth Grendahl:** Second. [16:54] **Mayor Clint Hooppaw:** Motion from Councilmember Goodwin and a second from Councilmember Grendahl. All those in favor? [Council: Aye.] All right, we're adjourned. Thank you. [17:05] [Music]