This transcript features Mayor Jeff Weisensel presiding over the Rosemount City Council meeting, with presentations from City Administrator Logan Martin and public comments regarding the Meta (Facebook) data center proposal. [0:01] [Music] [0:47] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** I'd like to call the regular city council meeting for Tuesday September 19th 2023 to order. Would you please rise and join me in 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. Thank you and welcome to everyone, both here and on TV. Is there any additions or corrections to the agenda? [1:23] **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** No sir. [1:24] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Seeing none, I'll move the agenda. Is there a second? [1:30] **Paul Essler (Councilmember):** Second. [1:31] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** All in favor signify by saying Aye. (Council: Aye). Opposed? The agenda is approved. First item up is presentations, proclamations and acknowledgements, which we have none this evening, so item three is completed. We'll move to public comment, item four. Anyone wishing to speak to the Council on any of subjects not part of our meeting agenda may do so. Please come forward to the podium, state your name and your address, and limit your comments to 3 minutes or less. The podium is open. Welcome. [2:19] **Rob Estrada:** Good evening, my name is Rob Estrada. My address is 8302 143rd Street West. Um, one of the comments I want to talk about is the proposal for the Meta facility... and there's a lot of questions I have and I'm sure a lot of the people from the area have as well. Um, part of that would be environmental impact that nobody seems to be discussing. Environmental impact—the land it sits on has been a dispute with Native American tribes for quite some time and and a lot of that is founded on the fact that the area sat on a ammunition manufacturing site. There's also issues of why the Meta went through the last few years under an assumed name instead of being transparent with local residents and community members, excuse me. Um, and so that brings up a lot of concerns for a lot of people in the area. One of the other things I want to point out is we have a huge population in Dakota County that is primarily ethnic. We have Somalis, Ethiopians, Pakistanis that with this new knowledge have decided to start moving people home, and a lot of it is bounded on what's going on with that area. There are a lot of concerns as to why there is such a focus right now from standing President Joe Biden to other officials who have never seen Rosemount as a focal point. Why suddenly now? What is the draw? What is the attention that brings everybody's attention to Rosemount, a place that has only been a blip on the map since the beginning of Minnesota? Suddenly it's a focal point and why? And again, one of the things we look at is why is this Meta proposal focused on this land in the area? There are other safe areas that don't pose environmental hazards like the Iron Range. Why not there? Why this area? And I guess that's one thing I'd like—I hope more people in the area would start asking some of these questions. Why this area? What is the focus? Why is there such attention being drawn onto this area? Is it the resources? Is it the resources that we have between Rochester and Rosemount because we know that's where Minnesota's financial resources are. Why is that facility proposed for that site? And again, the environmental impact—what's going to happen? It's been said that there's nothing nefarious going on but yet all the things were done in secret under an assumed name. Why? So, I mean as far as a community member, I just have so many questions and I'm guessing a lot of other people do. And I guess that's one of the things I want to point out is before it goes any further, I hope and pray everybody starts to ask a lot of these important questions because this affects not just the area, not just Rosemount, not just Dakota County, but the entire state of Minnesota. Thank you. [6:09] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Thank you. Uh, just for those in the audience currently, the council and staff is under a non-disclosure agreement, so the use of any company particular name is not known to us at this time. Yes, we have read the paper and we are aware of Meta and Facebook engaging in a private land transaction with the University of Minnesota. Other than that, I don't think we have anything further to speak to that. As true of any comments, we take comments this evening and if there is any responses, they'll be forthcoming at the next meeting. Anyone else like to come before the council? [6:51] **Michael Peer:** I'm Michael Peer, 13572 Delwood Way, Rosemount. Uh, one question I've got—well actually I got a couple questions on that particular parcel. First one is in our most recent City newsletter, there is talk about Water Resources in Rosemount being strained and watering restrictions. This Meta data center will use a tremendous amount of water resources and I see nowhere where that's been addressed. What's that going to do to our water, to what we've got, what citizens have to use? It seems more consideration is being given to a big business on that, on the water resources, than the citizens. We live here, we can't just relocate that easily. Meta is not in this area right now, they can relocate easy, they can find better property. The other part is the financing of that—is there going to be any tax increment financing that's going to cut into the property taxes? You know, that the U.S. property owners are going to have to pick that up for them? The other question is the UMore Park development. Seeing as that that was an ammunition plant and there's problems with water quality there—in Coats they had to put in new pipe, they had to close all the wells that people had there. So, how is that being addressed? What about contamination of the soil? I have not seen any mitigation for that at all at this point. So those are the questions I've got on this project. Thank you. [Applause] [8:55] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Thank you. Anyone else wishing to come before council? [8:59] **Kathy Pritchard:** I would like to say that... excuse me, name and address please? Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Kathy Pritchard and I live at 15703 Crystal Path. I recently purchased an electric vehicle and I just wanted to share my disappointment with the city of Rosemount with your charging stations. I've already discussed this with the city council and I know you have plans to get more charging stations in for electric vehicles, but even on my drive here, I mean I drove by a Tesla—I mean I do think that there's a need for that. I also find it kind of interesting that you proposed this Meta facility coming into Rosemount when it seems like they're pushing a very hard left when it comes to their Democratic agenda. And I just wanted to state for the record, I would consider myself an independent, but I do see what Meta has done and I've read their website and I just don't like how it seems like they're coming forward to go against the First Amendment when it comes to squashing what people have to say that are Republicans. I did a little investigation on some facts that I thought were pretty interesting when I started getting into it and I just want to give you some dates of timelines that have happened. Gymnast LLC was formed to purchase the land for Meta on November 18th, 2021. That was a brand new company that was just formed. Just a week and a half later on November 30th, 2021, President Biden visits Rosemount, Minnesota, on the exact land that Meta wants to buy. On May 1st, 2022, Biden meets with the University of Minnesota, which just happens to be the owners and the sellers of the land that Meta plans to buy. I actually reached out to Anthony—I don't know how to say his last name, it might be Nemcek—and I said I was a little concerned because I did not know that they were going to switch it from agriculture to business for Meta. I was following it pretty closely and I was pretty surprised that happened. I asked Anthony if he could please send me the publication for the notice for that; I couldn't find it anywhere. I searched and searched and searched. I want to tell you what Anthony said to me—I want to give you his exact email: "Good afternoon. I connected with the city clerk. She had been searching for the publication as well as I. I don't believe the newspaper has a very user-friendly system for accessing old notices because it seemed like you have concerns that no public notice was given for this project. I've attached the Affidavit of Publication from the newspaper." And he did give me the notification with Gymnast as the LLC, which I found was interesting. So then I searched Gymnast LLC on the website. Going back to my timeline again, I did find a published article on March 31st, 2023, with Gymnast; the notice was the proposed sale to Meta on that date, which is interesting to me that that date was listed. Just three short days after that date, guess what? President Biden comes to Minnesota a third time and he visits the Fridley, Minnesota, Cummins Power Generation facility. Who owns—who sells power generation equipment? I don't know why, I believe because maybe they want to sell it to Meta, I'm not really sure. But what concerns me is Biden seems like he really has his hand in this and I just don't feel like I would be proud to live in Rosemount anymore if this happens because I want freedoms to be available for everybody. I did a little more research to see because I felt like I was a little deceived. According to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, there is something called The Hatch Act, and according to the Hatch Act, it seems like some violations are already occurring or will occur in the future that would go against our First Amendment. Thank you. [Applause] [14:14] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to speak before Council? [14:24] **Karen Miller:** Hello, my name is Karen Miller and my address is 17985 Jaquard Path, Lakeville, Minnesota. I am a Dakota County resident. But what brought me here tonight—as I started looking into the UMore Park property, the extensive documentation about the plans for it and the vision for it, and I came across a statement of the vision for it that will impact not just Rosemount but also surrounding communities and the entire state. It says, "The planning and execution of the vision will change the face of Dakota County, the Greater Twin Cities region, and the state of Minnesota for generations." That statement was just astounding to me. Its scope is incredibly profound, it's incredibly deep. So the decisions you're making about this property and all of its development and use—it won't just impact Rosemount, it'll impact Lakeville and communities throughout the Twin Cities and the state. And I for one, as a resident of Dakota County, want to know more of what is this vision? How do they want to change the face of Dakota County? Because I think you have something very special here in Rosemount with the incredible natural resources and the land and the people. So I'd want to know more about that because it seems like a pretty bold statement. I read a little bit more about the UMore Park property and it said they state their goal is to create a quote "compact, complete and connected community with walkable neighborhoods where people could work and play in the same community in which they live." And to me, that sounds a lot like what we've been starting to hear about of this 15-minute city concept. And if you add to that a major data surveillance center, you really have the potential for a recipe for freedom-reducing monitoring and control. Add to that the fact that Meta or Facebook's acquiring of the land was done in large part in secrecy, hidden from the public eye. That's extremely concerning. You know, this is the public's, this is the people's land, the people's government, the people's tax money—all of this should be open and transparent to the people so that we can know about this, we can find out more about this and give more input. So I just encourage you to really dig deeply into—it sounds like there's multiple facets of the UMore Park property development as well as the Meta acquisition of the land. To dig deeply into the tribal land issue, to dig deeply into the toxic potential EPA issues, to dig deeply into its implication in housing and people group populations, and also to the resources of the area. And then to keep that research that you're finding open and accountable and transparent to the people so they have a chance to weigh in and give impact. So thank you very much for your consideration. [17:19] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Thank you. And just as a follow-up, Karen, if you could leave the sources of some of the information that you were speaking to. One of the things I am concerned is as you do some research, there are things that are on the web that are not current as it relates to UMore, and I just want to make sure that as we research and follow up on that, we would appreciate that. Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to come before Council? Going once, twice... All right, we'll consider public comment closed. Response to public comment, item five. We do not have anything from the previous meetings. We will look forward to our next meeting if there's anything here that we can specifically respond to. I would ask as residents simply watch the process as it goes through. There are many steps involved in any of these projects that go through and certainly bring your concerns as we have public hearings as it's brought forward. So with that, that completes item number five. We'll move on to the consent agenda, item six. On the consent agenda we have bills listing, minutes of September 5th regular and work session proceedings, the donation acceptance from Rosemount Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, acceptance from shoppers at Cub Foods, request by Maplewood development for approval of the Amber Fields 12th edition final plat, request for the 11th edition final plat, donation acceptances from the city of Mendota Heights, a request by Florence Amago for a minor subdivision, letter of support for a TEED grant with Dakota County, declaration of surplus property, Parks and Recreation Transportation Economic Development infrastructure grant, and an authorization letter to support for NLC board appointment. With that, are any of these items willing to be pulled by the council? [19:44] **Councilmembers:** No. [19:45] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Seeing none, can I receive a motion in the affirmative for the consent agenda? [19:50] **Tami Klimpel (Councilmember):** I'll move the consent agenda. [19:52] **Heidi Freske (Councilmember):** I'll second. [19:53] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Motion by Klimpel, second by Freske. Roll please. [19:56] **Erin Fasbender (City Clerk):** [Roll Call Vote] **Paul Essler:** Aye. **Tami Klimpel:** Aye. **Jeff Weisensel:** Aye. **Heidi Freske:** Aye. [20:10] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Consent agenda is approved 4-0. With that, we have public hearings of seven, which we have none this evening. Unfinished business, item 8, which we have none. Bringing up new business: the establishing of the preliminary 2024 budget and levy. Mr. Martin, please. [20:30] **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. Excited to be here tonight really on behalf of your entire city staff to take us to the next step. Sorry about my odd font there, I'm not sure what happened as it transferred over. But we're here tonight to establish the preliminary levy and budget for the city of Rosemount for 2024. This is a major step. What we're doing tonight is establishing the ceiling—the highest level at which the city's tax levy can be. Between now and December, residents are notified of their estimated city taxes for 2024, which gives them a chance to provide feedback at a truth-in-taxation meeting in December, and then at that meeting, the council establishes its final budget. [21:30] **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** [Continues budget presentation detailing $138 million in new construction value, the 7.92% operating levy increase, and the 4.5% debt levy increase for the new Public Works and Police campus. Martin details staffing requests: a Communications Specialist, a Building Inspector (full year impact), an Administrative Police Sergeant, a Crime Analyst, a Police Officer, a full-time Facilities and Fleet employee, and a Street Maintenance worker.] [50:35] **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** Last but not least, Parks and Recreation... That's my last slide beyond announcing the truth-in-taxation hearing date: December 5th, 2023. Happy to see if there are any questions. [51:22] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Thank you, Mr. Martin. You can take a breath now. A lot of information to digest. I'll open it up to council. Again, this is the preliminary levy, the maximum amount. [51:50] **Heidi Freske (Councilmember):** I've got two. One is just a question—we talk a lot about 70 plus percent of our budget being around employee benefits and salaries. How many employees do we have? [52:08] **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** About 102 full-time benefit-earning staff. If you add temporary and our 50 paid-on-call firefighters, the staff can crest in the low 200s. [52:43] **Heidi Freske (Councilmember):** And you mentioned we're in the negotiation period for four of our unions. Can you speak to what those annual increases have historically been? [52:53] **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** Historically, they've been anywhere from 1.5% up to 3.5% in bigger inflationary years. We look at about 25 comparable-sized cities to stay competitive, especially in policing where it’s a challenge to hire. [54:55] **Heidi Freske (Councilmember):** And how do our levy increases compare to neighboring communities? [55:13] **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** Our 7.9% operating levy is very average for the county. When you add the 4.5% debt levy for the campus project, it puts us on the higher end at around 12.5%, but that debt is for a specific four-year phase-in. [56:46] **Heidi Freske (Councilmember):** And on the technology investment—necessity for that Oracle upgrade? [57:05] **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** We’ve been using an old software package that hasn’t been updated in years. This will revolutionize accounting and HR, allowing us to digitize onboarding and provide department heads with real-time budget data. [59:07] **Paul Essler (Councilmember):** Mine is more of a comment and a compliment. We challenged and pushed staff to get lower and you guys continued to do that. Big thanks to you and the staff for managing the checkbook and the budget this year. [1:00:38] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Just a few thoughts... regarding Oracle, we've been trying to upgrade for years. We belong to a consortium with LOGIS that is finally moving forward. Regarding services, residents still want streets plowed within a day and high-quality public safety. We’re being thoughtful about the future, including transitioning the fire department to a day crew. [1:03:41] **Paul Essler (Councilmember):** I'll make a motion to adopt a resolution setting the preliminary 2024 general fund operating budget, the preliminary 2024 CIP budgets, the preliminary 2024 Insurance budget, the preliminary 2024 Port Authority operating levy, and the preliminary 2024 debt levy, and a budget hearing date of December 5th, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. [1:04:15] **Heidi Freske (Councilmember):** I'll second. [1:04:17] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Motion by Essler, second by Freske. Roll please. [1:04:19] **Erin Fasbender (City Clerk):** [Roll Call Vote] **Tami Klimpel:** Aye. **Jeff Weisensel:** Aye. **Heidi Freske:** Aye. **Paul Essler:** Aye. [1:04:26] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** That passes 4-0. Move on now to announcements. Administrator Martin, staff updates? [1:05:12] **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** I don't have a ton. I'm looking at Dan. Dan should stand up and receive his due for running a fantastic food truck fest. [1:05:27] **Dan Schultz (Parks and Recreation Director):** It was a great event. We had several food trucks sell out. Big Oven Pizza sold 519 pizzas and sold out by 8:30. We’re looking at doing another big festive community event in the spring. [1:07:29] **Dan Schultz (Parks and Recreation Director):** We also had a softball tournament at Erickson Park and football games at Flint Hills. It was a great weekend to be in Rosemount. [1:08:14] **Carson Thomas (Police Chief):** I wanted to mention that on Saturday we had several officers participate in the third annual Cory Slifko Memorial softball tournament in Farmington. Sergeant Jeremiah Simonson led that; they raised more than $50,000 this year, bringing the three-year total close to $150,000 for public safety mental health services. Also, Sergeant Simonson will be receiving a service award from Representative Craig's office in October. [1:09:45] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** Excellent. Upcoming community calendar: Utility Commission meeting Sept 25th, Parks and Rec meeting the same day. Farmers Market on Tuesday Sept 26th. Planning Commission that evening. Youth Commission on Sept 27th. Next council work session is October 3rd. Any other business? Seeing none, I'll move to adjourn. [1:11:08] **Paul Essler (Councilmember):** Second. [1:11:10] **Jeff Weisensel (Mayor):** All in favor signify by saying Aye. (Council: Aye). We are adjourned. Thank you. [1:11:17] [Music]