This transcript is from a Hastings City Council meeting (likely from December 2020 based on the "Truth and Taxation" topic and the mention of the 2021 budget). **Note on Speaker Names:** There is a discrepancy between your provided list of current officials and the names spoken in the transcript. The transcript features Councilmembers **Balsanek, Braucks, Folch, Lund, and Vaughan**, who served together during the 2020 term. I have used the names as identified in the audio context and official records for that specific meeting. *** [0:00] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Attendance of the meeting by any member of the city council, City staff, or public at the regular meeting location in the city council chambers is not feasible due to the COVID-19 pandemic and closure of City Hall to members of the public. As a result of the foregoing, the city council meeting will be conducted solely by telephone or other electronic means as provided in the Minnesota statute 13D.021, and no in-person meeting will be conducted in the city council chambers. I think it is important to recognize that using a video conference is different than in person, but it is necessary under the circumstances. We are doing the best we can to maintain transparency and due process. [0:47] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** I would appreciate everyone's patience and cooperation as we work through the meeting. 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. Great, thank you. Seeing that this meeting is being held remotely, when I call your name, please indicate your presence. Councilmember Balsanek? [1:34] **Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Here. [1:35] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Braucks? [1:36] **Councilmember Bill Braucks:** Here. [1:37] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Folch? [1:38] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** Here. [1:39] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Leifeld? [1:40] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Here. [1:41] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Councilmember Lund? [1:42] **Councilmember Trevor Lund:** Here. [1:43] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** and Councilmember Vaughan? [1:44] **Councilmember Mark Vaughan:** Here. [1:45] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Let the roll reflect that all city members are present and a quorum has been established. We will now have the approval of minutes. Councilmembers, are there any corrections to the minutes from the special meeting on November 13th and the workshop and the regular meeting of November 16th? Seeing none, they are approved. [2:22] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Comments from the audience. For public comments, we have options for comments to be mailed prior to the meeting as well as an interactive feature during the meeting. For the emailed comments, they have been forwarded to the City Council and their receipt is acknowledged. Please recognize that items not on this agenda will not be discussed this evening. We ask that the attendees use the raised hand feature and they will be invited to speak one at a time. I also want to remind everyone that the public comments period is not intended for an extended dialogue. Is there anyone who wishes to speak to the Council at this time? Okay, I see no one. Councilor, are there any items to be considered? [3:07] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** Your Honor, Councilmember Folch. I'd like to pull from the consent agenda item number eight on the furnace for the Fire Department. [3:20] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Okay, and we will place that under Administration. Okay, Council, with that taken out, could I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? [3:45] **Councilmember Bill Braucks:** So moved. [3:55] **Councilmember Mark Vaughan:** Second. [3:57] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Clerk Flaten, please call the roll. [3:59] **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Councilmember Vaughan? **Councilmember Mark Vaughan:** Yes. **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Councilmember Folch? **Councilmember Jen Folch:** Yes. **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Councilmember Balsanek? **Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Yes. **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Councilmember Leifeld? **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Yes. **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Councilmember Lund? **Councilmember Trevor Lund:** Yes. **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Councilmember Braucks? **Councilmember Bill Braucks:** Yes. **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Mayor Fasbender? **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Yes. [4:25] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** And that motion prevails. Tonight we have a public hearing. For this item, we will have an introduction by our City Administrator Dan Wietecha, followed by a public hearing. Any potential action will be at a future meeting. Dan, welcome. [4:42] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Thank you. Give me a second to share the presentation and you should see it there. Yes, this evening we have our Truth and Taxation meeting. The general purpose of it is to present the proposed 2021 budget to the public and absolutely to receive any comments from the public. I do want to note that it is not the purpose to address property market values; that's a process that occurs through the county during the spring. Also want to note that following the hearing, the Council's next step would be at the Council's regular meeting on December 21st, when you will be asked to adopt the final budgets, levies, and Capital Improvement/Capital Equipment plans. [5:41] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** The budget is a process. It started with a workshop with the City Council back in mid-May, followed through with one-on-one meetings with myself and department heads, group meetings with all of the senior staff, and an all-day meeting with the Finance Committee. We had a couple of other City Council workshops including one just a couple of weeks ago in mid-November and another Finance Committee meeting in September. The Council did adopt the preliminary budget and levy, which is still the overall basis for what you're going to see this evening. Based on the preliminary numbers, the county does send out estimated tax impact notices to residents. Tonight is our Truth and Taxation hearing, and as noted, in a couple of weeks, we would expect that the Council would adopt the final budget and levy. [7:12] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** I do want to point out that although these are things that we address every year, this year there was a bit of extra attention to some basic principles about making sure that we're providing our services, that we're realistic about anticipated revenues (particularly in a challenged economy), and that we're maintaining reserves for fiscal uncertainty which we're certainly experiencing in 2020 and 2021. We're also putting a great emphasis on maintaining our assets, whether they're buildings or street, sewer, water, and trail infrastructure. As with all things, we do emphasize our core values of communication, optimal service, respect for resources, and enthusiasm. [7:57] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** A quick thumbnail summary of what's in the budget: We're proposing to hold the tax levy rate the same as in 2020. With that, it means essentially holding operating expenditures the same as in 2020. We are projecting a 2.5% cost of living adjustment for employee wages; that's largely driven by negotiations with several unions and comparisons with neighboring cities. We have also gotten quotes for increased health insurance premiums. One of the pieces that is a priority this year is how we're prioritizing our capital projects—our Capital Improvement Plan and Capital Equipment Plan—and actually only moving forward with specific projects when we know that there's money available. The prioritization is certainly important so that we make sure we use the money for the best bang for the buck in most important areas. [9:31] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** We have a neighborhood infrastructure project included in the budget that will be bonded for. We have the first phase of upgrading police and fire radios in the budget, and that'll ensure interoperability with departments within the city as well as with other departments throughout Dakota County. We're also purchasing a new fire engine; that is through an internal loan and is replacing a 1986 engine. Other two projects that I want to point out that are in the budget are Highway 316 and the City Hall Dome. Both of those are being accomplished because of significant funding through the State of Minnesota's bonding bill. [10:17] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Couple of things that are not in the budget: no new personnel, no increased hours. As mentioning with the prioritization of our capital projects, we've set this up so we're not relying on Local Government Aid (LGA). That's based on the start of the process back in May when there was a lot of uncertainty about the economy and the state budget. So we set it up so that only if there is LGA, then we'll go back and look at that priority list for what projects might be afforded. Some very recent good news from last Monday: state budget forecasts are looking very favorable. We fully expect that we'll be getting about $400,000 in local government aid here in late December. It certainly looks like LGA is safer than it was just a couple of weeks ago. [11:48] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** These are the big numbers for our budget. As noted, in 2021 we are proposing to keep the tax rate at 57.391%, the same as in 2020. Because of growth in our tax base—whether that's new development or appreciation of property values—we are proposing a 3.54% increase in the levy itself. The question we always get is: what is 1%? It's about $153,000. [12:34] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** This slide really explains the way that the tax rate and the amount of the levy are correlated. The red line declining from left to right is the tax rate, and as you can see, over the last several years we've fairly steadily had that tax rate decrease. On the far right you'll see that we're holding it the same between 2020 and 2021. A big part of why we've been able to have that decrease in the rate is the tax capacity/tax base. As properties have been built or appreciated in value, they help us spread the amount of the taxes across more property value. [14:08] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Here is a slide on residential homestead properties throughout Dakota County. Lakeville and Hastings actually have a decrease in the average total tax for residential properties. The others are all increasing from 0.1% to a high of over 8% increase. This shows we've been holding the line, taking advantage of growth in property values and not using that as a means to increasing the taxes. Here's the same map on commercial properties. We don't have quite the same decrease because of changes in valuations, but we're still in a favorable spot at a 0.34% increase, where some others like South St. Paul are at over 5%. [16:28] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Regarding long-term capital planning: when I sat down with staff early on, they came up with over $17 million of proposed projects. Obviously, we can't do all of them. In the budget itself, we're proposing about $7.6 million worth of projects already. Still, there is close to $9.5 million that we'll be viewing throughout the year as money becomes available. I also wanted to highlight support through the state bonding bill for the City Hall Dome project. We are still waiting on the actual paperwork until we proceed with work with an architect. The other one is Highway 316. That project had a $1.5 million gap between state and local funding. The state was able to come through the bonding bill to fill that gap. We anticipate it being bid around March or April so it can be completed by late fall of 2021. [19:37] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Next steps: we'll open the Truth and Taxation hearing. In two weeks, we will have the final budget recommended for adoption, as well as approval of the property tax levies, utility rates, and fee schedules. With that, I could stand for any quick questions from the Council. [20:15] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, Dan. At this point, I will open the public hearing. If you wish to speak, use the raised hand emblem. I see no one in the audience with a raised hand. One more time, anyone wish to speak on the public hearing of the Truth and Taxation portion of this meeting? Okay, I see no raised hands. At this time, I will close the public hearing. Council, is there any discussion? [21:22] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** Thank you, Your Honor. I just wanted to give a quick update on two issues. When we had talked about Highway 316, Mayor Mary had said Commissioner Slavic indicated that the County is still interested in helping with the gap funding. Commissioner Slavic just briefed me right before our Council meeting that the County looks like they're going to approve up to $1.5 million of contingency funding to help with Highway 316. He said it was closer to about a $500,000 gap, but they wanted to make sure they had sufficient funds. Very pleased—thank you Commissioner Slavic for that. [22:55] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** The second issue was during the Committee on Utilities—which is myself, Councilmember Lund, and Councilmember Balsanek. We had been discussing approaching the County for consideration in helping because the city has been in compliance with the County’s Solid Waste Management plan. Commissioner Slavic provided an update that they are discussing providing up to $25 per ton, but that money would go to the waste haulers to help bring down costs to our residents. [23:42] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** And then the last thing: during the last few months within the Public Safety Committee, we appointed John Townsend to be our new Fire Chief. In those deliberations with Councilmember Braucks and Councilmember Leifeld, the Chief brought forward that his number one priority was making sure he had staff properly allocated. Something that had been in the budget for the last couple years was doing a personnel study. As Dan mentioned, through the prioritization process, all the studies had been given a "D" ranking. I would like to again advocate that we support the Fire Department in making that a higher priority so that we are helping to support our new Fire Chief. [25:50] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** Secondly, when it comes to facilities, I think that's also really important. Looking at the consent agenda for this evening, the item I pulled was that in this last fiscal year, two furnaces at the Fire Department died. They were at the end of their life expectancy of 30-31 years. That to me is a red flag if we're letting furnaces get to the point where they just keel over. Regarding the City Hall Dome, it wasn't even on the CIP list for 2020. I think we need greater emphasis on facilities planning. We can't sit on our hands and hope we get enough funding. Those are my comments on the budget. Thanks. [27:33] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Thanks. I just figured it's quicker to answer a couple of those pieces. I should have been more clear on a couple of changes between what we discussed on November 16th and this evening. At that meeting, there were three proposals by councilmembers that did not have much pushback. One: the explicit placement of the Dome project in the budget. Two: the Fire Department study—there is $20,000 in this budget proposal tonight already. The third was $5,000 for the Loop Bus to give them funding for six months so they have time to plan. [29:05] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** The other piece: adding information on Dakota County and Highway 316. The way the state bonding bill works is our $1.5 million basically needs to be fronted locally. It looks like Dakota County is likely to approve an agreement so that they would front that $1.5 million so that it takes that cash flow issue off of the City. Great assistance there from Dakota County. [30:37] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Great, thank you Dan. Any other Council discussion? No discussion? Okay, that was actually just for an update; no vote is required. So at this time, we will move on to Community Development. We have a resolution for the industrial park land credit and sale for Simply Secure Storage, 2030 Spiral Boulevard. We will have an introduction by Community Development Director John Hinzman. John, welcome. [31:23] **Community Development Director John Hinzman:** Thank you, Madame Mayor and City Council Members. I'm going to share my screen here. This is the potential sale of a lot within the Industrial Park at 2030 Spiral Boulevard. It's about a 2.5-acre lot and this would be to Simply Secure Storage (Chad Smava). Mr. Smava had another industrial park purchase directly to the south last year. He is now seeking to acquire another site for additional mini-storage. We're looking at two items: preliminary approval of a land credit and the sale. Based on the formula, it reduces the land price to about $52,000. [32:56] **Community Development Director John Hinzman:** The concept plan includes four storage buildings, about 40,000 square feet altogether. This will need to go through site plan approval. What we have before you tonight is to approve the resolution which is the preliminary land sale. This lays out the steps: payment of $52,000, remaining in business for at least five years, and obtaining land use approvals. In the audience, I do believe we have Mr. Smava if you have any questions. [34:24] **Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Your Honor, I'll move to approve. [34:36] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Second. And then I just have a quick question, Your Honor, for John. What is the percentage of the vacant land out in the Industrial Park now? [35:10] **Community Development Director John Hinzman:** Councilmember, as far as the total acreage, we probably have about 60 to maybe 70 acres left. We have a very large piece of about 55 acres that's available for subdivision and a handful of one-to-two acre lots. [35:36] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Okay, there's a motion. Any other discussion, Council? Okay, seeing no questions, Clerk Flaten, would you please call the roll. [35:45] **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Councilmember Vaughan? Yes. Councilmember Folch? Yes. Councilmember Balsanek? Yes. Councilmember Leifeld? Yes. Councilmember Lund? Yes. Councilmember Braucks? Yes. Mayor Fasbender? Yes. [35:58] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** And that motion prevails. Thanks, John. We will move into Administration, item number eight: the approval of the unbudgeted expense of the Fire Department furnace. Dan, could we have you speak to that please? [36:06] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Sure. Our purchasing policy requires that unbudgeted items over $5,000 be brought to the City Council. A couple of weeks ago, a furnace—$6,800 to replace—failed. It was 30 years old. It was not planned for, but these things happen. Fortunately, it appears it's something the Fire Department can absorb within its existing budget without needing additional funds, but it was not explicitly planned as a capital purchase. [37:34] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** Thank you, Mayor Fasbender. Yes, it does answer my question. I just again wanted to raise attention to the issue. Four years ago, Councilmember Leifeld and I were at a League of Minnesota Cities event where a vendor informed us that a facilities condition assessment had been done. That was new information to us. I'm just concerned about facilities planning and how that's getting incorporated into the budgetary process. I've noticed on the organizational chart that facilities is kind of off on its own. If it's not under a department head, how is it actively getting managed? I just really hope we can put some focus on this so we don't have things unexpectedly dying. To have two fail at the same time... I just hope a study is brought forward. [40:38] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you, Councilmember Folch. Any other discussion? I would look for a motion to accept this unbudgeted item. [40:48] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** Motion to approve. [40:53] **Councilmember Trevor Lund:** Second. [40:55] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Any other discussion? If not, Clerk Flaten, please call the roll. [41:00] **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Councilmember Vaughan? Yes. Councilmember Folch? Yes. Councilmember Balsanek? Yes. Councilmember Leifeld? Yes. Councilmember Lund? Yes. Councilmember Braucks? Yes. Mayor Fasbender? Yes. [41:15] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** And that motion prevails as well. Council, any announcements? [41:23] **Councilmember Mark Vaughan:** Well, so apparently the Mayor's turning 29! Happy birthday, Mayor! [41:30] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** That's a classic birthday, I like that! I didn't even get a birthday cake; my husband's out of town. So thank you all. I love being a year older—closer to retirement! Anyway, thank you very much. It's been a great day. [42:10] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** Mayor Fasbender, I had a Council concern before you go into your announcements, other than wishing you a happy birthday. Now that we're going deep into the second phase of COVID, I would like to see some Council discussion about contingency planning. I don't know if we want to have a full Council conversation or use our COVID economic task force, but I think it's important to talk about communication structure to our business community. As we went through the first phase, I heard from business owners who aren't members of the Chamber, so it was new news to them. I heard on MSNBC that January and February will be the worst public health crisis our country has ever faced. I think we just need to be prepared. [44:05] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** I completely agree. Are you thinking we need to have a committee together for that? [44:30] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** I know that we all care a lot about our community. We did have a working group which was a smaller task force—myself, Councilmember Lund, Mayor Fasbender, Christy Bar of the Chamber, Bruce Goblirsch, John Hinzman, and Dan. I just think it would be timely to make sure we're beginning these conversations. [45:15] **Councilmember Trevor Lund:** Thank you, Your Honor. I don't see a reason why we couldn't get that same group together. If you wanted to call a meeting, I imagine everybody would be fine with that. [46:15] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Does anyone else feel that this might be an excellent topic for one of our workshops? I'd like to participate. [46:27] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** I think it's appropriate to have a whole Council discussion. I was looking at our future calendar. It will have to be in the beginning of next year because we do have a December 21st workshop. Dan? [46:50] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha:** Two things. One: HEDRA is the city's economic development arm, and you've got an existing body that can address some concerns. The other quick question—I might look foolish here—but what workshop is on the 21st? My calendar is missing it. We might be able to do it in two weeks instead of waiting until January. [47:58] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** I had something about the budget, but possibly not. Conceivably we could do a Council workshop on the 21st if that works for everybody. [48:15] **Councilmember Trevor Lund:** Can we have... is that set in stone? I'm not entirely sure what the agenda would look like. To get together just for the sake of a conversation without specific content or people to bring in might be a waste of time. With the holidays, December 21st might be a tough time to get people in the room. I'd like to understand what the whole agenda would look like. [49:40] **Councilmember Joe Balsanek:** Thank you, Your Honor. I have to agree with Councilmember Lund. We have the State Department of Health with their briefings and the Governor's office exerting emergency powers; we can just take the lead from there. From a city standpoint, I see us trying to get the Fire Department/EMS and Police inoculated, but otherwise, we're looking into a crystal ball. I don't see any reason to get anything set up. I think it's kind of superfluous. [51:52] **Councilmember Jen Folch:** To answer his question, that's why I was suggesting the smaller task force to do that brainstorming about a communications plan. I know that the Downtown Business Association has recently reached out and asked for assistance. I was down there doing my Small Business Saturday shopping and talked to board members; they are bracing and they're really scared. I think it's super important our business community knows we're there to support them. The train is coming, boys and girls, and we need to be prepared for it. [53:50] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** I'll reach out to Christy and John and I can have a conversation on it as well for a date and time. Thank you. Okay, we have a holiday light recycling drop-off running through December 30th at the Joint Maintenance Facility. "Show Us How You Shine"—if you are decorating, please consider sharing a picture for the city website. This is not a contest, just a chance to have fun. [54:59] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Meetings coming up: tomorrow, December 8th, Parks and Rec Commission; Thursday, December 10th, HEDRA; Monday, December 14th, Planning Commission; Tuesday, December 15th, Heritage Preservation Commission; and Monday, December 21st, City Council regular meeting. With that, I would look for a motion to adjourn. [55:30] **Councilmember Bill Braucks:** Motion to adjourn. [55:35] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld:** Second. [55:40] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Clerk Flaten, please call the roll. [55:45] **City Clerk Kelly Flaten:** Councilmember Vaughan? Yes. Councilmember Folch? Yes. Councilmember Balsanek? Yes. Councilmember Leifeld? Yes. Councilmember Lund? Yes. Councilmember Braucks? Yes. Mayor Fasbender? Yes. [56:00] **Mayor Mary Fasbender:** Thank you all.