[0:00] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: All right, ready. Time being 7 o'clock, I call the Hastings City Council meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. [0:15] **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. [0:32] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Welcome and let the role reflect. A majority of council members are here and a quorum has been established. Tonight we have a proclamation for Black History Month and we will start our proclamation tonight with Council Member Pemble. [0:54] **Councilmember Dave Pemble**: Whereas Black History Month is celebrated to raise awareness of African American accomplishments and contributions to our society. And whereas African-Americans are part of Minnesota's story from before it was a territory to the present. And whereas the first Minnesota territorial census in 1857 recorded four African-American men living in Hastings, including Robert Burns, a barber, who with Andrew Jackson overall and JH Brooks worked as a committee to draft a petition to further their rights to vote, which was presented to the legislature of Minnesota in 1865. And whereas both houses of the legislature passed a bill that proposed an amendment to strike white from the suffrage provision, the [1:40] amendment was adopted in 1868 by a majority of more than 9,000 votes, becoming law in Minnesota 2 years before the 15th amendment passed nationwide. And whereas George Daniels was an enslaved African-American man who freed himself during the Civil War by crossing battle lines to join Union troops. In the process, he and Brevitt Brigadier General Leuk became acquainted and built a strong trusting relationship. Daniels moved to Hastings where he lived and worked alongside Leuk, married Khloe Hudson, and started a family. And whereas the story of George and Khloe Daniels is not unique and represents other African-American families that found their way to Hastings area following the Civil War. [2:24] And in the early 1890s, the Cury and Wallace families worked to organize other African-American community members to establish Brown's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which served as the center of religious and social activities for the African-Americans until it was destroyed by arson in 1907, [2:53] resulting in the eventual exodus of African-Americans from Hastings. And whereas recent census data show that the number of African-American residents in Hastings has increased in the past decade, Hastings continues to strive for racial equity to provide a healthy community for all. And the city council has made diversity, equity, and inclusion an important part of its work. [3:18] And whereas the importance of observing Black History Month in the city of Hastings is to acknowledge, recognize, and welcome people of African descent and their contributions to the city of Hastings while simultaneously recognizing the injustices they have endured. And now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Mary Fasbender, mayor of the city of Hastings, Minnesota, and the Hastings City Council, hereby proclaim February 2026 as Black History Month in Hastings Minnesota. [3:49] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, council. Council members, are there any corrections to the January 20th meeting? Okay, seeing none, comments from the audience? Anyone who wish to speak to the council at this time, please step forward, state your name and address, and we will listen to your comments. [4:12] Anyone on... No one on Zoom? All right. Comments to or items to be considered. Council, any items to be considered? Okay. Council, I would accept a motion to approve the consent agenda. [4:30] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Council member Pemble, Council Member Haus with a second. Any discussion? Council. All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. [4:38] **All Councilmembers**: Aye. [4:40] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Opposed to that motion state by saying nay. And that motion prevails. Tonight under public works we have a resolution to accept feasibility and assessment reports and order public hearing for project scope and for assessment 2026 neighborhood infrastructure improvements. And for this item we have an introduction by consulting engineer Cody Mathisen. Welcome Cody. [5:01] **City Engineer Cody Mathisen**: Thank you mayor. Good evening mayor and council. Tonight before you is a resolution with three components regarding the 2026 neighborhood project that includes to accept the feasibility and assessment report, order the public hearings, and also declare the amount to be assessed. [5:17] So this is essentially the kickoff to our council process here for this project. Right? So we'll be back in March for a public improvement hearing and then in April for the assessment hearing for this project. As you're aware and as the council packet shows, the project is predominantly a reconstruction: Pleasant Drive from Highway 55 to Fourth Street and then Fourth Street from Pleasant Drive over to River Street. [5:41] Engagement thus far has been lower on this project in general. The neighborhood open house was a bit reflective of that. We did have three council members in attendance. It was a very cold night and I think those brave enough to be outside were probably down at hockey day. But we did send an "in case you missed us" back out to everybody. Kept it open for another week and did get a few more responses to trickle in. So all the materials have been available online. I think a lot of people have been deferring to accessing the materials that way. We did also have HOA representation. So when you adjust for that, right, some of those presidents that were there were representing maybe 20 homeowners. So we do think that overall represented residents is actually very in line with previous years when you look at this report. [6:26] The comments that we did hear at the open house this year were in regards to Fourth Street as far as truck traffic cutting through as well as speeds. So just wanted to hit on those for the council in case you're hearing those comments as well. As far as the truck traffic goes, we did address that Fourth Street is a state aid collector street; it becomes very difficult for that roadway to have that designation and to keep trucks off of it. Naturally, Highway 55 is the preferred east-west route and will always be faster. However, it's just difficult to keep those straggler trucks off of Fourth Street. [7:03] So, that one becomes a little bit difficult administratively and enforcement wise. However, the speed concern—we did do some traffic counts out on Fourth Street this fall. The 85th percentile speed on Fourth Street that we recorded, which means 85% of vehicles are going this fast or slower, was only 33 miles per hour. So that's not as problematic as other spots in town. But it's worth noting that when you have such a high amount of driveways and such a high volume like Fourth Street does, that perception of that speeding problem sometimes prevails. That being said, we still want to look at opportunities to calm traffic there where we can. So, since that meeting, we've been looking at Ash Street, the intersection there. It's the midpoint between the [7:49] stop signs of Pleasant and River. That might be a good spot to narrow the road. If you're familiar with 15th Street, we did something similar at Prairie where the road sucks in, kind of signaling to drivers to slow down in that area. We're also looking at opportunities to bring power potentially for some driver feedback speed signs. [8:07] And that would be as opposed to the solar ones. So, this would be a more constant power source. Other than that, those are sort of the main concerns that we've added since any initial conversations regarding this project. So I'm available for any questions. Otherwise, defer to council for the action. [8:24] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Sure. Thank you, Cody. Any questions, council? Council member Vihrachoff. [8:35] **Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff**: Thank you, your honor. Cody, thank you for this. Thank you for answering questions at the open forum. I really appreciated that you sent the postcards out to follow up with folks, too. I know that these are standard rates that we see here in our packet when we're talking about those assessments, but could you just remind us as a body and to the three people that are watching at home right now—but hopefully hundreds more by morning—in terms of the rates and if there is potential financial assistance for those that might need it. Could you just talk us through that process a little bit? [9:06] **City Engineer Cody Mathisen**: Absolutely. Yep. So, the rates that you saw in the feasibility report reflect the the different primary property types that we have in the project. That's what you're talking about, right? Assessment rates per home. So, we've got single family residents at $6,300, twin homes at $4,725 and town homes at $4,500 as the predominant property types. We also have a handful of condominiums on the project that are at $3,150 per unit. So, those are all per-unit rates. Those are all determined in part with a third party appraiser that came in and assessed the special benefit that would result to those different property types based on what we're doing here with this project. Council Member Vihrachoff, appreciate you bringing up assessment assistance. So, we have assessment abatement that is—and I shouldn't say always, but commonly—underutilized. So, [9:54] for folks that fall into the low or moderate income categories, there is money available this year again. So really encourage folks to apply. That information will come out in July with an assessment packet. We're also going to be available then to answer all questions, help people apply. The Dakota County CDA is really great at making sure people get all the information they need to get that application in. [10:22] **Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff**: Thank you. **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, Council Member Vihrachoff. Any other discussion, council? Okay. If none, then I would accept a motion to approve a resolution receiving feasibility and assessment report, declaring the amount to be assessed and ordering public hearings for the 2026 neighborhood reconstruction project. [10:48] Council member Haus. Council member Beck has a second. Any discussion, council? All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. [10:59] **All Councilmembers**: Aye. [11:00] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Opposed to that motion state by saying nay. And that motion prevails. Thank you, Cody. Good to see you. [11:04] **City Engineer Cody Mathisen**: Likewise. Thank you. [11:07] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Under community development tonight, we have a resolution to amend a special use permit for a climate controlled storage for Anderson at 275 33rd Street West. And with this introduction by Community Development Director John Hinzman. [11:20] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: Thank you, mayor. City council members, tonight we have before you a resolution for an amended special use permit. You may recall a couple of years ago, we approved a permit to allow for climate controlled storage within the strip mall here. What we're looking at here is the Coborn's site right off of 33rd Street and Highway 316. So, we allowed for climate controlled storage within this building at that time. What they're proposing now is to build a second building which would generally be located in the red as a climate control facility about 15,000 square feet altogether. So that causes us to come forward with the amended special use [12:05] permit. Now with the climate control storage that is presently being activated here, there are no changes to that. It has been going on for the last four or five years. I'm not aware of any issues that have arisen from that. The conditions that we established as part of that would move forward as part of this special use permit. The other thing that's a little bit unusual about this site is what we're asking for tonight is the permission to allow for the climate controlled storage to occur and then come back at a later time with the site plan. So, we would allow for the use, but we would come back with the planning commission review and city council approval of the specific site plan. This would go over the architecture, the engineering, storm water, and those type of things. [12:50] We did have the planning commission review this on January 26th. They voted 7-0 to recommend approval with limited discussion. There was no one that spoke other than the applicant during the public hearing, and we've not heard from any of the neighbors since we sent the public hearing notice out. So, we have before you tonight the resolution. As a reminder, any action for special use permit does require six of seven council members in support and this provides a little better idea of what would be done here. One thing I will note with the parking on the property, the parking is subject to a joint parking agreement that runs across the entire parking lot here and the additional spaces that would be removed is within the bounds of spaces that are needed for the site. So you can take these parking spaces away and still have adequate parking for the site. So I could stand for any questions. Thank you. [13:46] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, John. Questions? Council. Council member Vihrachoff. [13:54] **Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff**: Thank you, your honor. John, help me. Map reading/cartography is not a particularly strong skill of mine. Where's Coborn's here? [14:02] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: Coborn's is over here. [14:04] **Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff**: Okay, this is the strip mall where the storage and Stacy Stars is. Okay. So, that's what I wanted to make sure is that there's still going to be ample parking for Stacy Stars, for Coborn's... So, this is closer to the—? [14:15] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: It is. Yeah. These are all the apartments and garages over here. So, there's about 90-some spaces within this parking lot. I barely see a car parked there. [14:23] **Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff**: Okay. Well, today there were many, many ICE vehicles parked there, so which has its own issues. Okay. Thank you for that. [14:35] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, Council Member Vihrachoff. Council member Pemble. [14:38] **Councilmember Dave Pemble**: I'd like to make a motion to move the resolution. [14:41] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, Council Member Pemble and a second by Council Member Leifeld. Discussion. Council. No discussion. All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. [14:54] **All Councilmembers**: Aye. [14:55] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Opposed to that motion state by saying nay. And that motion prevails. Thanks, John. [14:58] You can just stay right where you're at because you have a wonderful community development annual report that you're going to give us, and we're going to be so thankful for all the things that's happened. [15:08] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: Well, I'm thankful for having a great department that makes all these great things happen here. So, as you know, we've been doing this for a number of years here. It's great to be able to reflect upon the activities that we've all been involved in over the year. And some of these things you remember, some of these things you go back and go, "this was a great thing," and we should be able to trumpet that a little bit more and be able to celebrate that. So I think that's really the point of the report is to look at what's been done, what might be coming in the future, and how we can be even greater as we move forward. A little bit on the community development department: We are in charge of city planning, helping the planning [15:44] commission, economic development with HEDRA, building inspection, code enforcement, historic preservation with the HPC, as well as arts and culture with the Arts and Culture Commission, something we started this year. So, we're not a very large department, but we do a lot of different things and are involved in a lot of different areas of development within the city. Let's talk a little bit about some of the planning commission activities. Some of the big things that we did last year—and this is a big activity for the city as a whole—is the central water treatment plant. The acquisition of the Carboni's property, demolition, and then the approval to construct the first of three water treatment plants at that site took place; it's under construction right now. That involved a lot of different departments. We also [16:30] were involved in approval for Chase Bank to construct in the Cub parking lot on the west side of town. We have been having inklings from them the last month or so; it appears that that might be coming forward for construction this spring, as well as the growth plan along Highway 55 and Jacob Avenue. Being proactive in what we do in growth is always important. And to be able to look at areas—most of those undeveloped and outside of the city limits—to see how those could develop in the future is helpful to guide people seeking annexation and development. We're also involved in some permits. Pioneer Craft Boats is looking to go into 624 Spiral Boulevard, which will be great. We did a lot of work on cannabis, as you know. We had new permits that came forward for [17:16] regular potency and low potency and tweaks that we had to the code. So, they took up a lot of our time. But we think we're in good condition with those. And a big project that we started last year and we'll be doing more of this year is our zoning code. Within the last 30 years, we've done many amendments to the code, but we've never overhauled it. So, it was time to do that. We have hired a great consultant to help us through that. We're going to be working more with the planning commission and bringing this more to the public as 2026 commences. [17:45] Our building department was phenomenal this year as well. We had a lot of great projects that took place of reconstruction. Some of these, you know, being in a historic community, are things that are more challenging than others, some that are more time-consuming than others. I think the one that I'm most proud of here is 315 Pine Street. I did not think when the fire occurred there five, six, seven years ago now that that would ever have the chance of being reconstructed into a beautiful structure that it once was. And I think I'm being proved wrong, which is wonderful. Our building staff has been there, been monitoring that. They're over there monthly on inspections. You can see the work that's going on. So, that's wonderful to be able to preserve that history. Also, another apartment rehabilitation at 321 6th [18:32] Street. Something else that you might not be aware of that we approved a few years ago took a little time to get financed, but they're under construction right now, as well as all the residential construction that's occurring. The developments that we've been working on the last couple years with Heritage Ridge and Villas at Pleasant are filling up. The last stage of Heritage Ridge, another 40 lots, should be coming on this year as well. So, we've been having good single-family growth with that as well as other multi-family. As I put the picture up, this is Vermillion Acres. [19:05] And I will note that this is not last year's picture. There are a little bit of changes in there on the exterior of it. I did compare them both, but it is moving along. From a permit standpoint, this year we had 36 single-family permits, six manufactured homes, about 42. So, we did a decent amount. That's a little bit higher than what we've seen over the last 15 years for single family. Did not have any apartment construction or town home construction this year. We may have more of that coming forward in '26 and beyond. [19:37] From a commercial standpoint, we had 55 commercial permits that were either new or remodeling. That increased our valuation about $13 million. So that was down a little bit from the year before, but still very strong numbers. Building permits overall were down a little bit. We had about $37 million in valuation, 1,850 permits on that one. Our code enforcement action was strong this year. We were out there much more than we were last year. Most of those were cases in which we made contact and corrections were made, but there were also a few that required us to have citations as well. And the administrative citation program that we've had established over the last couple years seems to be working well. Now with HEDRA, our economic development authority, one of the big projects we've been working on is our Block 28 gateway project. So end of last year, we acquired one of the big properties there; we own 90% of the block. This year we've gone through some analysis from environmental, completed a Phase One environmental analysis as well [20:38] as a geotechnical analysis to determine where bedrock is and how friable the bedrock would be. We were aided by a $55,000 grant from Met Council to assist with that. We've continued to meet with HEDRA to determine what the next steps would be. Had a meeting on there at our last meeting and we're going to be moving forward in trying to secure a developer for that site as the year moves on. And what we're looking for is something similar to what we see in the right here, which would be mixed-use development—maybe four stories of residential above a ground floor commercial, and that's what we'd be seeking. Over the last year, we have met with about five or 10 different development firms to gain interest. [21:21] There's strong interest on the site. We hope that's going to continue on as we move forward. We also worked with Gold companies to market our shovel-ready site in the industrial park. So, we continue to work and hope to get something going on that. We also accepted a housing needs report. Luckily, with Dakota CDA, they put together a report. The report author had a special section for Hastings. What we learned from there is over the five years, we have a housing gap of almost 1,500 units—402 rental, about 1,100 for-sale units. So, it was great information that we've passed on to development entities to learn about the market potential in Hastings. We also administered our facade improvement grant program. This is a 2-to-1 grant match program that we've established. We [22:07] distributed about $24,000 to seven projects this year. The key point: that leveraged $103,000 in new investment. This is new investment that might not have occurred but for that program. One example here at the bottom at 2137 Vermillion showing the before and the after picture. We're looking forward to Two Seeds Popcorn opening up. They're coming close which is good. And we were involved with our Music and Market. [22:31] Paige was here a couple of weeks ago to share the great events that she facilitated. Our economic development folks teamed up with her to better integrate the music that happens on Thursday with the market. We doubled the amount of markets that we had this year. These are makers markets in which vendors would be there at the concert. [22:53] So we had 12 of those scheduled, nine of them held with weather events. We had 6,500 people attend. So this is 6,500 people coming down to the river. We want to make it known that on Thursday things are happening downtown in the riverfront so that when people come down they know that and there could be more activity that can be held throughout the downtown. We've also continued with our entrepreneur assistance program through Open to Business, which supplies free one-on-one assistance for new and expanding entrepreneurs. So, we want to be able to promote that project. And we've also reached out to businesses. In 2025, we had 85 business drop-ins. These are just unscripted, casual, "hey, how you doing? How is business going?" And then we had I think four formal [23:41] business retention expansion visits, which was a more formalized business visit in which we had invited some of our HEDRA members to attend that. Also, we're involved this year with arts and culture. Key things with that: we oversaw the design and installation of the civic arena mural, which is a great piece of art, created the art event grant program, giving out $1,000 grants for art programs, and continued a one-year lease of the D. Lewis sculptures, which everyone always enjoys. From the heritage preservation side, we had 28 applications for renovations and repair this year and teetered on with our preservation awards to six properties. [24:17] It's always a fun event that we have in the spring. So, as we look forward to this year, the prospects that we have are going to be strong. I mean, we're dealing right now with a potential annexation on the north side of town, which could bring in additional residential units. The development on the southeast side with Walden continues; hopefully, we'll see some more activity there. And as the fourth edition comes for Heritage Ridge, bringing another 40 lots. So, we see some strong growth over the next couple of years that'll be coming forward. Over the next few years, we'll be getting into our comprehensive plan as well to better guide that development. So happy to see what we've done over the last years. Proud of the staff that we have here and all that they contribute. [24:59] And I can stand for any questions. [25:05] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, John. Any questions or comments, council? Council member Haus. [25:12] **Councilmember Angie Haus**: Thank you, honor. John, you guys have been busy this year. And I'm so grateful for all the work that you and Alex do together on these projects. Specifically, one of my favorites is always the Music and Market. I've loved the collaboration with Paige this year as well. So, also, do we have any dates yet for Two Seeds Popcorn opening date? [25:25] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: Nope, not yet. [25:28] **Councilmember Angie Haus**: Okay, got to ask. [25:29] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: But Hu is very, very close. We got the final on that today. [25:33] **Councilmember Angie Haus**: Awesome. I love to hear that. Again, thank you so much. And also, a big shout out to our Arts and Culture Commission as well for all the work that you guys do on that. I love the murals that have been going up over the last few years. It's been so beautiful to see in our town. So, thank you again. [25:43] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, Council Member Haus. Council Member Vihrachoff. [25:46] **Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff**: Thank you, your honor. I echo Council Member Haus's comments here. This is one of my most favorite reports to hear and to sit through every year. I love hearing about all of the positive changes, especially downtown riverfront and especially Thursdays and Makers Market. And I really, really love the drop-ins that you do. As somebody that works downtown, I do see you walking around quite a bit, and I'm just proud of that. That's not something that a lot of communities have the ability or necessarily the know-how for staff to do. So, thank you for that. Can we go back to the slide that was right before HEDRA? I just want to make sure when we were talking about the housing gap... it was like 1,500. [26:27] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: [26:30] Yes. Housing gap of 1,483 units. [26:35] **Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff**: I think I know what that means, but you tell me what I should know. John help me out here. [26:42] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: Of course, we need to build about 1,500 units over the next 5 years to keep up with the demand that's been established. So, that would be 400 rental units, almost 1,100 for-sale units. So, what we've seen over the last 5 years is not that number. So, hopefully we'll be seeing more of that. There's the potential from new developments; there's the potential from redevelopment projects working on HEDRA that could get us there as well. [27:02] **Councilmember DawnMarie Vihrachoff**: Thank you. **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, Council Member Vihrachoff. Council member Leifeld. [27:14] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld**: Thanks, your honor. John may not have an answer similar to the popcorn shop. Vermillion Acres on County Road 47... I mean, now that people are done calling us about the Fourth Street, Fourth and Pine, what's going on here at Vermillion Acres? [27:32] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: It's going, council member. It's just going slower than I think anyone would like. [27:41] I talked to our building official. They're over there once a week or so. It's coming along. I don't have any information on the opening. I still do have a contact of the operator of it if people are interested. J-Bird Senior Living would be operating the facility. So I tell people to get in contact with them; I have a number that I can give them. So if there's a waiting list or other information that's brought forward that they can be apprised of that. [28:09] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld**: So for us laymen here—how does it work when somebody applies, they come before us, they get their permits—are there time frames to finish these sorts of projects? I mean, would this be happening if it were a house being built next door to me? What are the rules to this, I guess? [28:24] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: Generally you can't have a gap in construction longer than about 180 days—I think 90 days. And in this one there really hasn't been much of a gap, it's just there hasn't been much action. Generally, the market and construction loans are going to dictate the time frame of any development. There's going to be compelling need to get off the higher interest construction loan to transfer that into something else. [28:52] This has not been the case here for whatever reason. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the modular build construction; of this has complicated things to a certain extent. There's been some back and forth between the inspection that occurs at the state with the construction plant versus what is done on site. I think that's something new with modular builds that hopefully will be more easier and more straightforward as things go on. [29:16] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld**: Well, thanks for that answer. I just know a lot of people within the community are curious. Obviously, we're excited that this is happening, but always curious to know what's taking so long. Second question: Sweet Living on 33rd. I haven't heard that come up in a while until again today. So, where are we at with that particular project? [29:37] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: I believe they're going to be turning dirt this spring. So, that's 32 units down on 33rd Street and Highway 61, senior living facility. I think memory care and assisted living. They've been going through the permit process. It's going to be a state delegated project. So the state will be doing the inspection on it, but they're looking to dot the i's, cross the t's. They just converted from their temporary holding company to their construction company with the transfer of ownership on that. [30:05] And they have a sign up there, which is good. So hopefully all this is pointing to construction this spring. [30:11] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld**: And my final question, I promise. Annex—you mentioned the north side of town. Is that public, what area are you referring to? [30:22] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: Sure. It's public information, but I will preface that by saying there's been no official application. We did have a planning committee of city council meeting a week or two ago. [30:30] There's about 160 acres located north of Featherstone Road and General Sieben Drive up to County Road 42 that's owned by the Kimmes family in Nininger Township. Presently they're seeking a development of about 375 home sites, single family primarily with some town homes in there. [30:49] A number of different steps that would need to take place that the council would have say in. So we're waiting for those applications to come forward, but they have signed the purchase agreement and they're moving forward with that project. So there'll be more to come. [31:04] **Councilmember Lisa Leifeld**: Thank you, John. And as the other council members have said, always such a great time for us to see what's been happening. You do sort of forget as the time goes on. So, we really appreciate... I know I appreciate what you're doing and thanks for kind of helping tell the community what's going on with some of these things that appear like they're dragging their feet, but hey, things take time, I guess. [31:31] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: And John, just for clarification, back to Council Member Vihrachoff's point on the gap of housing, was that study part of the Dakota County study that they did as well? [31:39] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: It was. Yeah. That's the one where they came forward maybe a little over a year ago to present that. Yeah. [31:51] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: All right. Thank you. And as always, appreciate seeing what's been in the past and hearing about what's in the future. So, thank you. [31:54] **Community Development Director John Hinzman**: Thank you. [32:00] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: All right. Under administration, as always, the first meeting of the month, we will hear an update for PFAS, a word we haven't heard in a couple weeks. [32:09] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha**: [laughter] Some of us more recently. Yes. Um, couple of updates, but important to to keep tabs on this on a regular basis. Start with the disappointing news. Last Thursday we met with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency about the recent completion of a couple of different environmental studies and trying to get a better handle on some of the potential or likely sources of our contamination. And at this point those studies came back inconclusive. They did point at some data gaps for additional investigation which will be going forward. Some of that could be completed in the next two or three four months, but some of that study [33:01] will be longer and we hope to be completing it at the end of the year—so a year out. So where we had hoped that there could be a more definitive answer last week, we're not there. But those studies will continue. And that's one of the reasons we've been taking sort of a "belt and suspenders" and all-the-above approach at trying to move forward with looking at options for funding and not putting all of our thoughts in one avenue. [33:46] One of those is good news to share. A couple of weeks ago on the 23rd, a portion of the federal budget included congressionally directed spending and an earmark for Hastings. So we will be expecting—I haven't seen paperwork yet—but we'll be expecting $1,092,000 of funding towards the western treatment plant. So, I wish we were getting larger amounts, but we've been cobbling together every piece we can get and certainly appreciate a million dollars here. [34:32] The last piece just to note: construction on the central plant continues. It is underground excavation and pipe installation continuing, but it's also why you don't see a whole lot going on because it's underground. But it continues. I do know that our check-in with the contractors, Magney Construction, was last Wednesday. Looking forward the next four weeks, no red flags. Questions about supply chain or labor, things like that... they're continuing as scheduled and construction moving forward. Those are the highlights on what's changed over the last month and certainly I'll be updating again later, but if there are any questions, I can certainly take those now. Thank you. [35:10] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thanks, Dan. Questions, council? Council Member Haus. [35:14] **Councilmember Angie Haus**: I do have one actually. Thank you, your honor. Dan, can you kind of give me a little update or snippet on where we're at for funding now? Just because a million here, a million there... If you don't have that information available, that's okay, too. [35:27] **City Administrator Dan Wietecha**: Math off the top of my head... Prior to now, we have about $23.5 million from various funding sources. That does not include the million dollars that was approved in the federal budget just a week ago. It also does not include—we've been [clears throat] told that $5 million of emerging contaminants grant for the eastern plant is fundable. [36:01] Certainly haven't gotten any of the paperwork on that. We're starting our process with the Public Facilities Authority to nail down those dollars, but we've certainly had significant funding come in—over $23 million—and more is coming. That said, it's a big, expensive project. It's $70 million. [36:22] So, on the 23 million, I noted, "hey, here's another million coming in or another five that's fundable." Those aren't nailed down yet, but with what we have to date, we're still looking at a 159% increase in water rates between 2024 and 2028. So we've started that over the last couple of years. We want more funding coming in to take the burden off, but right now we're not done increasing water rates. Looking everywhere we can to try to ease that burden. We've got [37:10] two different requests in for state bonding bills this coming session. And I know that our conversations with Representative Pelowski as well as Senator Seeberger, there might be other state funding that could be advanced. There are just a couple of votes. So there are many other pieces moving at the legislature for something like that to happen, but we're seeking funding there. I mentioned the emerging contaminants grant that we were successful on for the central plant and at this point fundable on the eastern plant. [37:56] And some other places that there's been some advantages. On the central plant, you might recall, we pulled out the nitrates piece. It wasn't huge, but I think it was three or four million off the price tag in order to save money. We're building the shell so that that equipment can be added later if appropriate, but just trying to minimize the burden that we're putting on our residents and businesses. The other piece on the central plant itself—because it's a piece that we're already underway and have got numbers towards—but the $5 million that we're funding through a loan is a low-interest loan and that's saving us about $600,000 of interest over 20 years on that plant. So again, [38:43] we're looking at where can we economize by not overbuilding the project, doing cost-effective and low interest on the financing and certainly looking for outside funding where we can. [39:15] **Councilmember Angie Haus**: Thank you so much. I really appreciate that update. I know for a lot of our residents, seems like a lot of big numbers are coming our way and that sounds great, but it is a small dent and I know it's been a lot of work to get there already. So, I appreciate all that you guys are doing for this as well. Thank you. [39:27] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, Council Member Haus. Any other discussion? All right. Thank you, Dan. See you next month for another update. Council, any announcements? Council member Haus. [39:41] **Councilmember Angie Haus**: Thank you. I would like to speak directly to anyone in our community right now who is feeling scared or uneasy. You're not alone. You're our neighbors and you matter to me. Everyone here deserves to feel safe doing normal everyday things like going to work, taking their kids to school, grabbing groceries, or running errands without feeling like they have to constantly watch their back. I want to be real about where I stand. I don't support anything that puts fear into our community or tears families apart. As a council member, my job is to look out for people who call this place home and to speak up when something is harming that sense of safety and belonging. If you or someone you love is feeling unsafe, unsure of your rights, or even afraid to leave the house for basic needs, please reach out. I won't pretend to have all the answers, but I do care, and I'll do my best to connect you with trusted, confidential resources and [40:17] support. I also encourage folks to learn their rights and to keep that information handy. Something as simple as a small card or a pocket guide with your constitutional rights can help you feel a little bit more grounded in a stressful situation. And I want to say this very clearly: If you are in danger or are facing an emergency, please call 911. My understanding is that our local police and first responders are here to keep people safe and do not assist with federal immigration enforcement. You should never have to choose between your safety and being afraid to ask for help. [40:49] You matter. You belong. And this community is better because we are all in it. And I promise to keep showing up, listening, and speaking up for our community where people are treated with care, dignity, and humanity. Thank you. [41:09] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Thank you, Council Member Haus. Any other comments or announcements, council? I do have a couple. Thank you. Introduction to ice fishing at Lake Rebecca Park on Saturday, February 7th. No license is needed under the DNR waiver for this event, but registration is required. Thank you for your support from the Carpenter Nature Center, Dirt Bullies Landscaping, VFW Post 1210, Striker Hudson Fleet Farm, Hometown Ace Hardware, Get the Lead Out, and Volunteer Instructors. [41:38] City offices will be closed Monday, February 16th in observance of Presidents' Day, 2026. Community Investment Fund applications are now being accepted. First deadline is March 2nd. Happy birthday this past weekend to City Administrator Dan Wietecha. Yes, last day of January every year. [laughter] [41:59] Meetings: February 9th, the planning commission meeting has been cancelled. Monday, February 9th, public safety committee meeting at 7 pm. Wednesday, February 11th, Arts and Culture Commission at 6 PM. Thursday, February 12th, HEDRA, 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 17th, 5:30, City Council, we do have a workshop with our parks department, 7:00 p.m. regular council meeting, and 7:00 p.m. there is also a heritage preservation commission meeting. With that, I would accept a motion to adjourn. [42:45] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Council member Pemble and Council Member Lawrence. No discussion. All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. [42:47] **All Councilmembers**: Aye. [42:48] **Mayor Mary Fasbender**: Oppose that motion? State by saying nay. And we are adjourned.