This transcript is from the City of Farmington City Council meeting held on **April 1, 2024**. Please note that while your provided context list reflects the city officials in **2026** (where Nick Lien is Mayor and there is a vacancy), the 2024 roster seen in this transcript includes **Joshua Hoyt** as Mayor, and **Nick Lien**, **Katie Porter**, and **Steve Wilson** as Councilmembers. [0:00] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** [Music] we'll call the city council regular [0:46] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** meeting to order for Monday April 1st 2024 would everyone please stand for the Pledge of [0:57] **All:** Allegiance I pledge alleg to of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all [1:13] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** call the rooll please [1:15] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** mayor Hoy [1:16] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** here [1:17] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** council member lean [1:18] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** here [1:18] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** council member Porter [1:19] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** here [1:20] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** council member Wilson [1:20] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** here [1:21] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** all right any changes to the agenda Nick Leah [1:25] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** I will oh y I will be abstaining from 7 on the consent agenda mayor [1:29] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** okay Steve [1:30] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** none [1:31] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Lynn anyone else any changes all right seeing no changes to the agenda we look for motion to approve [1:40] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** motion to approve [1:41] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** second [1:43] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** motion by Steve second by Katie all in favor say I [1:46] **Councilmembers:** I [1:47] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** all right we'll move on to item 51 which is our swearing in of police officers and Sergeant promotion Chief [1:55] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** yes Mr mayor members of the council thank you for allowing us a little bit of time this evening to uh swear in three of our new officers and our newest Sergeant uh officer Max thurl began his employment with with the city of Farmington in May of 2023 he's a graduate of Alexandria technical colleges law enforcement program and he's a lifelong Farmington resident after he takes his oath of office this evening his father Mike will be pinning on his badge officer Dalton vicory began his employment with our city in September of 2023 he's a graduate of Rasmus University and an honorably discharged six-year veteran of the Army National Guard after he takes his oath this evening uh his fiance Kirsten will be pitting on his badge an officer August kiwit began his employment with the city also in September of 2023 he's a graduate of of uh MSU Mano and he grew up in the Farmington area as well after he takes the oath his father Paul will be pinning on his badge uh to say I'm excited to have these three young men joining our team would be uh an understatement individually and collectively they've brought some much needed energy and enthusiasm to the department and it's been a pleasure to have them around uh they've all uh all have very Bright Futures and I look forward to see them develop to their full potential uh officers Max THL Dalton vickory and August kiwit please step forward to take your ALS of office [3:40] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** [Leading Oath] I swear [3:42] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** [Repeating] I swear [3:43] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America [3:46] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** I support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America [3:50] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** and the state of Minnesota [3:53] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** and the state of Minnesota [3:55] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** against all enemies foreign and domestic [3:58] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** against all enemies foreign and domestic [4:01] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** that I will bear true faith and aliance to the same [4:04] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** that I will bear true faith and aliance to the same [4:07] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** that I take this obligation freely [4:10] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** I take this obligation freely [4:12] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** without mental reservation or purpose of evasion [4:17] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** without mental reservation [4:19] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** that I will well and Faithfully discharge [4:21] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** I will well and Faithfully discharge [4:24] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** the duties as police officer [4:27] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** the duties as police officer [4:29] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** upon which I am about to enter [4:32] **Officers Thurl, Vickory, & Kiwit:** about to enter [4:33] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** so help me God. [4:44] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** gentlemen if you could hang tight there and your folks with your badges would uh maybe step forward here and pin your badges on again August dad's August's dad Paul and Max's dad Mike and Dalton's fiance Kirsten will be pinning their badges on for them all right [5:37] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** congratulations all right you guys want to step over here just in case any of our council members have any pointed questions for you I will I will turn it over and we'll turn it over to them [5:50] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** questions comment [5:52] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** I don't if I'm any a point I'm glad you guys started the mustache competition early off to a great start but welcome it's always exciting I love it [6:04] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** K name rank and social security number I mean I assume we already have all of that no thank you guys so much I mean gosh what a what a time what an honorable time to have a a badge pinned on you we're super proud to have you with Farmington now these new faces traveling around as I wave you can wave back to me I'm that weird lady that waves at everybody and I'm used to people waving back and I told Cassie I said I don't recognize these faces and I don't like it so I'm glad we're doing the pinning so I recognize these faces welcome to Farmington [6:45] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** um to August Max and Dalton um you know if you haven't found this out already um you've got a extremely supportive Council of our First Responders our Police Department uh the men and women who wear the badge and the whole Community I mean this is a very strong support the blue back the blue community so um you know I feel honored that you've chosen us to do your service in um you can tell by all the men and women in the back there that um they couldn't be happier that you've joined us um I do want to say to you Max because I have known you through coaching you that couldn't be prouder that you're with us Mike and Pam fine job with your son and wish all of you um a great Tour of Duty with uh city of Farmington so thank you and welcome [7:34] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** somebody told these guys they were going to have to make a speech and I don't know who that was it wasn't me uh if you'd like to say some words you're certainly welcome to no obligation [7:48] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** ad a boy all right [7:49] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** take an initiative already I love it [7:51] **Officer Max Thurl:** oh yeah this is happening [7:52] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** no he talks a lot so fast in your seat we're going to be here a while [7:53] **Officer Max Thurl:** we're used to that [7:54] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** yeah she was talking about Steve not me [7:55] **Officer Max Thurl:** gotcha gotcha okay no I just real quick wanted to say I just appreciate this opportunity you know like Steve said I you know lived here my whole life and just know everyone in the community or you know hopefully everyone soon and I just really appreciate you know to you know the opportunity to do this and hopefully to continue throughout my career thank you sir [8:32] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** thank you speak for all three of us I'll go ahead and have a seat uh our next o oath of office involves a promotion uh Andrew van dor began his employment here with Farmington in November of 2006 in the ensuing 17 plus years all he's done is excel at everything he's taken on he's served in many roles in that time he's been a use of force instructor a Firearms instructor field training officer a school resource officer a member of our crime scene team he's been a union Steward in his most challenging assignment he's been a member of South Metro SWAT in his time with sou Metro SWAT he's really blossomed into a leader he has advanced through the ranks of the team from team member to assistant team leader to team leader and now to assistant Commander In addition to his leadership role on the team he's taken on a leadership role with the state level SWAT Association as well all of these assignments have well prepared him for a formal leadership role within our organization I'm pleased to introduce Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne after he renews his oath of office his wife Dedra will pin on his new badge Sergeant Van Dorne step forward to take your oath of office [9:49] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** [Leading Oath] I swear [9:51] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** [Repeating] I Andrew vanor do Solly swear [9:55] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America [9:59] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America [10:04] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** in the state of Minnesota [10:06] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** in the state of Minnesota [10:08] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** against all enemies foreign and domestic [10:10] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** against all enemies foreign and domestic [10:13] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same [10:17] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same [10:20] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** I take this obligation freely [10:22] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** that I take this obligation freely [10:24] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** without mental reservation or purpose of evasion [10:27] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** without mental reservation or purpose of evasion [10:30] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** and that I will well and Faithfully discharge [10:32] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** and that I will well and Faithfully discharge [10:37] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** the duties as police Sergeant [10:39] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** the duties as police Sergeant [10:42] **Police Chief Nate Siem:** upon which I'm about to enter [10:44] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** upon which I'm about to enter so help me God. [10:58] **Sergeant Andrew Van Dorne:** those other three guys are new guys I let them off the hook I'm not letting him off the hook he's going to have to say say a few words thank you I just uh I wanted to use this opportunity to uh thank my family if you don't don't have close family members in law enforcement uh it's it's maybe hard to appreciate how much this job affects the family unit the family unit uh whether it's the stress that we bring home after uh a long day or long week dealing with danger or people's anger or uh people's grief which is by far the hardest to deal with uh the stressors of working shift work and working overnights and working holidays days and working every other weekend um SWAT call outs that make you miss trick-or-treating with your kids when they're forign six-year-old uh that stuff directly affects them and it uh it's a sacrifice that they didn't quite sign up for the way that we signed up for it and so I just wanted to make sure to thank my wife Dedra and our girls uh Jillian and Josie for uh their support and um and for allowing me to pursue a career that I'm so passionate about and so thank you uh the other thing that I wanted to say is just how proud I am to have worked for Farmington PD for the last 17 years um I've got to work with some great men and women uh afforded a lot of opportunities to do a lot of cool stuff that the chief rattled off a couple of the cool things I've been able to do and so I just wanted to acknowledge that it is not lost on me um the sacrifice and the investment that has been made by the city of Farmington and my agency and the leaders and my mentors my partners uh my friends uh the investment that's been made into my development and I'm really grateful for that um and finally I'm I'm excited about my opportunity and my new role as as sergeant to uh hopefully be an influence on these young officers so that they uh are able to experience as fulfilling of a career is as my mentors have allowed me to and so thank you [13:42] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** anything for sergeant VOR [13:44] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** well I'll I'll add in because I uh I I've had an opportunity over the last year through a couple um community events and some things that have happened to um get to know our newer officers a little bit more than what typically happens um in the process um and obviously this was scheduled for a little ways um before tonight but you know we're doing it uh at a time that's just um it is different here and that's something that we don't take lightly that is um that is a commitment that we as a council have made to our community it's residents it's business owners that um there's a lot of bad stuff that goes on in this world stuff's not going to happen here we're going to make sure that we fund and allocate resources and do all of the things for our First Responders so that you can just do your job right like our job is to get out of your way give you the resources make sure that you do all the trainings gain your experience learn from your peers have tenure our job is to get out of the way so we we know what what we're supposed to do um and we look forward to your long and distinguished careers um eventually sergeant pinnings and all the things right um we appreciate of all the opportunities that that youall have had to to choose Farmington that you continue to choose Farmington and we'll just we'll do everything that we can to continue to support you we can't thank you in any other way than to do that so thank you [15:19] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** Can I just quickly I'm going to quickly speak to the the families here because I think it is pertinent and so important to thank all of you as Van Dorne said um my husband's not a police officer but he is in the military and he is an armed security guard that works rotating twelves and we have five children I get it I get how hard it is my brother-in-laws an Egan police officer also on SWAT he was on that call you might have been as well these things are so so hard on these officers and their family members and community and you guys sitting here to support them and to show up every single day is so important every single day so just make sure that you're taking those phone calls you're saying the I love yous because we really appreciate you guys and and wave at your council member in the minivan make sure you do that because it makes my day because I really appreciate all of you guys very very much so we we do but I'll speak for myself and my family so thank you [16:38] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** good go enjoy your cake I was just going to say if you give me one second here to clear the gallery yeah uh we can all leave unless anybody wants to stay and listen to the we have a road presentation we have nine road projects next year that's a big deal thank you thank you yes all of it [17:06] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** bye thank you sir that was my first minan wave [17:09] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** yes I don't wave back I just kind of stand there confused with you you're you know you're on camera [17:14] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** that's fine okay I cross the red tape every time okay that's how you'll know me [17:21] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** you know what is for all those people watching is right all right our next item is citizen comments if there's anyone attendance wishing to speak feel no seeing none we'll move on to our consent agenda uh look for a motion to approve the consent agenda [17:42] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** I will make a motion to approve [17:44] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** second [17:45] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** motion by Steve second by Nick all in favor say I [17:49] **Councilmembers:** I [17:52] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** council member reporter are you abstaining sorry I am abstaining [17:55] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** that's okay can we uh redo the vote actually [18:03] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** I'm going to re amend my a motion was that 7.11 Katie it is 7.11 okay I am going to make a motion to approve item 7.1 through 7.10 on the consent agenda [18:09] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** second [18:10] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** motion by Steve second my Nick all in favor say I [18:14] **Councilmembers:** I [18:18] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** I will make a motion to approve 7.11 on the consent agenda [18:24] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** second [18:25] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** motion by Steve second by Nick all in favor say I [18:29] **Councilmembers:** I [18:32] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** abstain [18:34] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** and Katie is abstaining all right thank you Steve [18:38] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** you are welcome [18:39] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** next item is our new business 121 plans and specs and authorize advertisement for bids for the 2024 Street Improvement project John [19:06] **Public Works Director John Powell:** excuse me I need to log in again because it's been too long so no worries okay this is an update and a requested action for the 2024 Street Improvement project the project location uh is on 6th Street from Ash Street to about 200 feet south of Walnut on Maple Street from 4th to 6th and then there's a short segment east of Maple Street or east of 6th Street on Maple the area in question uh North is to the right in this aerial photo uh the Clear Vision is the project area uh you can see that we are on the east side and north side of Farmington Elementary School and we go all the way down to Ash Street there's one bit of work in Ash Street we're connecting to a storm sewer in Ash Street so we'll have a temporary traffic control for that but the remaining work is on the residential roadways so where we've been uh so far back in 2023 we did the Citywide PCI uh rating and presented those results uh this project was identified for 2024 we approved a PSA for 30% design and had a couple of open houses here at City Hall and then we approved a PSA for final design and bidding I wanted to note that uh we will get uh agreements for construction surveying and materials testing those will be presented at a future city council meeting so the project scope is uh 6th Street maple uh but I wanted to note that we are changing the width of 6th Street uh from 220th or Ash Street to Maple it's going from 44 to 38 from Maple to Locust there was a section that was 36 ft we're moving that to 38 ft so we have a consistent width through the corridor and then Locust to the north it was 44 we're also going to 38 ft there we did look at any modifications we could make to Maple Street uh but after discussing that with the elementary school and looking at the traffic movement out there we're not recommending any recommending any changes to the width of Maple Street all Dimensions shown here are from face of curb to face of curb so we're replacing uh from a sidewalk standpoint Maple Street near Fourth there's a public sidewalk that'll be replaced on Sixth Street there's walk on the west side from Ash to Maple on the east side from Maple to Locust and on both sides north of their uh so we we'll be replacing That Sidewalk uh to our minimum City uh sidewalk width after reviewing various re uh reference documents uh we recommended no new public sidewalk proposed because we already have connectivity amongst the sidewalks from one end of the project to the other and of course at any pedestrian curb ramp locations they'll be replaced with ada8 standard uh sidewalks and ramps from a utility standpoint uh we're replacing all the storm sewer and actually expanding it on Maple and 6th Street so we're actually removing about 1,500 ft of storm sewer for replacement but we're installing 3,000 ft uh a lot of that is on Sixth Street where uh we're extending the storm sewer further north uh to add additional catch Basin locations from a Sanitary Service standpoint we've got one segment from uh long six from Maple to Locust that we're replacing based on sewer televising records and recent televising we've done from a water main perspective we're replacing a 6 in with an 8 in on Walnut from fourth to 5ifth there was no existing water main from 5ifth to 6th on Walnut so we are installing an 8 in main there and the existing 6in main is remaining on 6th Street but we are replacing all hydrants and gate vves from a Turf and tree standpoint 59 trees including 22 Ash are expected to be removed tree pruning will also be completed uh so this is based on preliminary design and the city Forester actually going out and identifying those trees for removal uh if there is any room for uh leaving a tree if it was able to thrive after construction uh we would leave it we'll go to the additional step after our engineering technician marks all the trees given that we've narrowed the roadway we're going to have the Forester go out again and take a look at them to see if there are any we can that we can leave in place any non-ash trees to clarify um we'll do all the clearing grubbing as part of this contract but our tree planting will be part of a future city planting contract and all Disturbed areas uh yard areas will be restored with top so on side no seating on this project the project cost identified in the CIP was $3 million with the funding sources identified General obligation bonds for about half of it and then sewer storm water and water utility funds covering the balance based on the final bid documents our estimated project cost is just over 3 million with roadway accounting for the vast uh majority of that as I said we're adding a lot of storm sewer so storm water costs are up uh sanitary and water are water is close to expectations sanitary is actually a little less than we would expect to spend on a typical project uh in addition to the construction costs we have indirect costs for geotechnical borings surveying engineering and then once we get into construction we'll have materials testing construction surveying uh and that's estimated to be just over $3 million total so our schedule moving forward assuming the city council approves the plans and specifications this evening uh bid opening later in the month and the first meeting in May we'd bring the uh contract for award pre-construction meeting in May uh we have the pre-construction meeting before the neighborhood meeting so that the contractor can present their schedule and and we expect that contractor to be at the neighborhood meeting also and make that connection with the property owners and explain how they'll continue trash service how they'll get their mail and things like that uh We've looked at the uh School District calendar will be beginning construction after school is out and substantial completion is before it starts again in the fall as I've indicated to the school district um there may be things before school's out that could be completed but we'll talk to the school about that make sure it doesn't interfere with any of their activities um if the contractor wants to get started early in some portion of the work final completion end of September and August 2026 would be a two-year warranty inspection so the requested action is to approve the plans and specifications and authorize the advertisement for bids for the 2024 Street Improvement project and with that I'd be happy to answer any questions [27:14] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** questions thank you sir Katie [27:17] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** um no I don't have any specific questions I as always appreciate your thoroughness and detailed and just cover all your bases so thank you John [27:32] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Steve [27:34] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** yeah John I wanted to you know acknowledge a couple things both for you and for the public as well um you know the there was so much collaboration not only with this project but with kind of the bigger picture of the city of Farmington you know out 10 years what do we think we want to do for the you know 2024 25 um so for any residents that are watching they're thinking well how do we pick out this street it was really based on an entire city road analysis of what where's our streets at what's what's the condition of our roads what makes the most sense both financially now and long term and there was so much really good collaboration John that I'm just very appreciative very confident of what you're doing with this recommendation and you know there's some of the small stuff too that you know that we don't have to ask about you know the collaboration with the school district the collaboration with the residents kind of thinking through all those details so really really nice job and just really appreciate all the work that you and your team put into this [28:57] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nick [29:00] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** I hope I'm not confusing projects too much but at one time I think you had talked about storm water runoff or hold temporary holding because there was because of the sewer work is that this project [29:17] **Public Works Director John Powell:** that's I'm sorry uh mayor and council members that's this project uh but we we looked at options for actually storing some water in pipes to try and uh slow the runoff from the site uh but we could not come up with a design that would be self- cleaning not maintenance intensive where we could empty the pipe between storms so it' still be effective uh we were doing that to meet our uh Citywide ms4 permit requirement uh by narrowing the roadways uh we've done all practical measures what's feasible to meet those standards so we would we've adhered to the permit requirements but we haven't installed that temporary water storage [29:53] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** very good thank you [29:56] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** good question um no I think just to kind of echo what what my peers have said is um the way that our road reconstruction and our maintenance and Analysis is being approached um is very intentional it's using data it's making for well-informed decisions and uh ultimately um the best use of dollars towards the project um I especially appreciate the communication schedule I mean we knew that 24 was going to be busier with road project so we got out in front of it earlier I should say you and your team got out in front of it earlier um and and I don't think that can be understated um it it will make for a more transparent process um people will understand what's happening when it's happening um hopefully we'll get out in front of as many of the I don't understand why the road got smaller conversations but are narrower um but we'll continue to just you know push through all methods and hit all the homeowners as much as we can to to deliver that message so I just I appreciate the amount of thought that's gone into this [31:07] **Public Works Director John Powell:** Marin I would note that 38 ft wide is not a narrow roadway by any means uh that's our that's our commercial roadway width so and this is a residential area with a school on one side so we're uh we reducing the road width by 6 feet three on each side and it was it was brought in from both sides um we were very comfortable with that approach [31:26] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** I appreciate it thank you with that we look for motion to approve the plans and specifications and authorize the advertisements for bids for the 2024 Street Street Improvement project [31:28] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** motion [31:30] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** second [31:31] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** call the RO please council member lean [31:34] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** yes [31:35] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** council member Porter [31:36] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** yes [31:37] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** council member Wilson [31:38] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** yes [31:39] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** mayor Hoy [31:40] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** yes [31:41] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** thank you thank you again sir All Right Round Table Nick you get to start [31:44] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** excellent thank you mayor um another judicial announcement from me judge uh Shan moan is retiring uh he is chambered in Hastings Maybe some of you recognize the name but uh he's retiring which is too bad but a vacancy will be open and um the governor's office is accepting applications until April 17th so if you know anyone who's an attorney who you think would be a good judge in Dakota County um let them know thanks [32:17] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** thank you ma'am Nick [32:18] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** I have nothing tonight [32:19] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** all right Katie [32:21] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** um I don't have a whole lot other than the forecast looks great so we're all getting out there and we're going to start watching for kiddos crossing streets and everybody just watch for all the extra traffic because there will be foot traffic there will be pedestrians bikes all of it so um sports are underway looking forward to spring and summer so thank you that's all I got [32:48] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Steve [32:50] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** all right I'm not going to be a meteorologist but I do think we'll have another snowstorm and I do think we still have winter parking restrictions in effect until what April 15th maybe 15th 15th yeah two weeks just my my thought um so one thing that residents wouldn't necessarily be aware of and I just want to give a huge Kudos because he does this every month um uh Josh solinger who runs our liquor operations um is one of the more enthusiastic individuals I know but um just as a reminder when you shop at one of our two liquor stores there's always a benefit that is going back to the community and there's always a Roundup campaign and so this month um and this is actually really timely so for the month of April the Roundup campaign is going to be going to our K9 unit which is obviously going to benefit our police K9 unit and also to um the Rambling River Center I believe as well or Rambling River Park excuse me enhancements so when you shop local of course you have a lot of options out there I would say just shop local we've got great customer service great teams and of course you're supporting our community by doing so so that's what I have thank you [34:10] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nick [34:11] **Councilmember Nick Lien:** nothing tonight [34:12] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Shirley [34:13] **City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** she stole mine nothing tonight [34:17] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Julie [34:20] **City Staff Member:** are we going to start a trend here no I will say something um so the city has been working for months on and I know everybody wants to watch the game but um the city's been working for months on our new website so we intend that all goes well across our fingers it goes live a week from Thursday thank you [34:33] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** when you said the gamer you referring to Iowa and who they play LSU LSU right now right now okay di [34:36] **Community & Economic Development Director Deanna Kuennen:** I don't have anything tonight [34:39] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** you [34:40] **Public Works Superintendent Eric Whitmer:** I want to thank you mayor for approving our hiring of our second uh approved additional staff maintenance worker in public works uh Joe pluta he's got great experience he's going to be a fine addition to our team and I look forward to introducing them more fully to you in a future meeting thank you [35:01] **Public Works Director John Powell:** if you haven't been by Rambling River Park since last Friday uh the tennis court fence started coming down Friday afternoon uh this after or today they started taking up the asphalt for the tennis court in preparation for the new inclusive playground equipment uh we're still on track hopefully in by July 1st uh I think the equipment will actually be delivered on site here in the next couple weeks so very excited for the new playground at ring River Park thank you [35:28] **Fire Chief Matthew Price:** our tunders in its final build um so the truck committee and myself will be heading down to Florida April 20th to sign for it to be shipped to McQueen to get the remainder of the equipment stuff mounted onto it and hopefully in May we'll start training and then we'll have our truck in service ceremony no no surprises with the build as of right now nothing um everything's been been going again time it's hard to get stuff to to build it but they are on their final they've assured us we already have plane tickets to go down um and so we'll be signing for it and then they'll be shipping it to McQueen for final install of our equipment and then we'll we'll take about a week or two to train on it and then we'll have our end service ceremony awesome I appreciate that [36:12] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** okay I'll make mine quick for those that want to go watch the game uh in the consent agenda we approved a contract for 187 stumps to be ground uh that's 187 stumps that are from um Boulevard trees predominantly John correct me if that included a Parks but just Boulevard um so I know questions come up a lot about okay the trees are coming down when are the stumps coming out uh we pulled what 700 some trees last year there's 187 stumps coming out with uh this approval um we're working on the reforestation plan and um kind of the strategy behind um doing that effectively and um most beneficial for the community the other thing I wanted to add that um Steve had mentioned was with our liquor stores uh one of the things I think that gets spurned around quite a bit it is um a falsehood and that's that somehow by the city being in the liquor operations business that it's preventing people from coming here to transact and the reality is we don't have businesses telling us that we would be there if all you do is get out of the liquor operations so it's it's not a reality it's something that we tell ourselves that makes us feel comfortable with why things do or do not happen um in the community um but on the other side of that even if that was a scenario where there was this big monster company that wanted to come in and uh the conversation revolved around liquor um liquor operations help offset a significant portion of our tax lever year to the tune of a few hundred, annually so if and when a conversation ever were to be had there are other consequences than just shut the doors and go away so um again anytime that you see a lot of that stuff being thrown out there it's good to put facts behind it rather than emotions and falsehoods but um it's not a thing it hasn't been a thing at least in the last six years that I'm aware of or our team is aware of um so yeah it's it's a great added benefit to the community it helps offset our Levy uh puts dollars into funds that otherwise would come out of property taxes um so there's different ways to diversify our base and and that's one of them that we're using right now so I don't have anything else to add with that we look for motion to adjourn [38:31] **Councilmember Katie Porter:** motion [38:32] **Councilmember Steve Wilson:** second [38:32] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** all in favor say I [38:34] **Councilmembers:** I [38:34] **Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** we're adjourned at 7:37 [Music]