[0:53] Mayor Josh Hoy: We'll call the city council regular meeting to order from Monday, November 3rd. 2025. Would everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Call the roll please. [1:24] City Clerk: Council member Wilson? [1:26] Council Member Jake Wilson: here. [1:27] City Clerk: Council member Cortis? [1:27] Council Member Steve Cortis: here. [1:28] Mayor Josh Hoy: here. [1:29] Council Member Holly Bernance: here. [1:30] Council Member Nick Lean: here. [1:32] Mayor Josh Hoy: All right. Unless there's any changes, I would seek a motion to approve the agenda. [1:37] Council Member Holly Bernance: Motion to approve. [1:38] Council Member Steve Cortis: Second. [1:39] Mayor Josh Hoy: Motion by Holly. Second by Steve. All in favor say I. [1:42] Council Members: I. [1:44] Mayor Josh Hoy: Uh. Next item would be our citizen comments. Does anyone wishing to speak? Please come up and do so at this time. Please state your name and address for the record. Um, limit your comments to five minutes. Citizen comments are time for items not on the agenda. Any item requiring a response will be responded to by the next regularly scheduled meeting. Go ahead. [2:14] Nate Ryan: Uh, good afternoon, good evening, mayor and um, council. My name is Nate Ryan. I live uh here in Farmington. And first and foremost, I just uh I just wanted to express condolences uh for Officer Pete and the tragic loss of life. I think it's um very unfortunate. We have a a daughter who's a junior in high school and they are all impacted. Um very very unfortunate and very sad day for the city of Farmington to lose a a wonderful officer. Um hopefully my citizen comments time can start now. But what I'd like to talk with you all about uh is and I kind of pre preface this. There's uh some really really smart people who work at NASA and back in the day they were given a task to um come up with something that could write in space, you know, so something that could write in space. Super super smart people. They started to develop that. And my the reason that I bring that up is because many of you are are very smart people. Many of your staff are very smart people. Um however, um at the end of the last council meeting, I had a conversation with Josh and Josh asked me point blank, excuse me, Mayor Hoy asked me point blank um if I thought that there was something nefarious going on between tracked and y'all. And I'm gonna summarize my response, but my response was no, I don't. And I and I hope that uh Mayor Hoy will, you know, confirm my what I'm about to say next. But I but I said that their people are smarter than you. Their attorneys are smarter than yours. Their planners are smarter than yours. They came and they seek and they saw an opportunity within your code to be able to bring their project here. And they didn't just read the first sentence, right? They just they didn't just say, "Oh, we have to get this thing reszoned." They read deep into it and I don't think that any of you did and I don't think that the staff did nearly to the extent that they did. Again, I don't think there's anything nefarious. I don't think think there's packages of cash exchanging. I I don't I don't believe that. What I do believe is that they were smarter than some of the smartest people that the city of Farmington can employ and elect. And I know this because they came and said, "How can we make this fit in mixeduse, commercial, industrial? How can we make this fit here?" So, we've you've I've heard you all walk back. Well, it doesn't all have to be it doesn't all have to be industrial. Doesn't all have to be commercial. But if you read what that says in there, that's what it's meant for. It's called mixed use. It's meant for both uses. It's meant to be mixed. Just like mixeduse residential and commercial in your downtown district has residential and commercial. It's meant to be mixed. It's not meant to be a sole use, not meant to be sole thing. That's why this project should be and that's why it should be zone industrial. Throughout our conversation, Mayor Hoy kept saying, "Well, I trust the people in charge. I trust these other government agencies to make sure that it's going to be right. I trust them. If they say that it's right, it's going to be right." And my response to him, which he didn't answer, was then why didn't you make this industrial? Why not? They didn't want you to. That's one of the main reasons. Because going that industrial route and being so close to residential pieces of property come with other expensive surveys, other expensive um lipness tests that have to be met in order for that project to continue to move forward. It comes with an EIS. It comes with an much more intense environmental uh review process. Yes. Ultimately, at the end of the day, you're the ones who have to make the decision whether or not that goes there. Just because you have an EIS, doesn't mean that the RGU, which is you, the the government unit, the responsible government unit, doesn't have to uh, you know, can can they basically just say, "Hey, here's all the stuff that's bad, and here's all the stuff that's good, too, but here's all the stuff that's Yeah, but at the end of the day, you still get to say yes or no, but at least you're at least you have all the information, which is a lot less information that was than what was done with an AUR. The other side of that that comes into play is when you start looking at some of the things that they're smarter about you. Then one of the biggest things there is water. And I'm not going to go into this whole, you know, whatever else what and uh underground storage and storage that the mixeduse commercial industrial, which frankly just doesn't allow. If you read that mixeduse commercial industrial, you're you're not supposed to have any exterior activities. None. It says it right in there. It says it right in your city code. No exterior activities. An underground storage tank is an exterior activity. An underground storage tank within a thousand feet of potable water is another problem. Where are those storage tanks going to be? Are they going to be closer to our side? They be closer to our neighborhood because they can't go within a thousand feet of those wells that are in the Castle Rock people's yards. They can't they can't be there. That's what I mean that they went deeper than you. They saw this thing through. They saw and read and understood way more than you did. A data center in 2015, how it was defined as way different than a data center is today. And they know that. and they saw that your definition of a data center said a building that houses electrical electronics to house data. Back in 2015, AI wasn't a thing. Today, it is. They took advantage of you. And I'm here telling you that every week time and time again, and it's just crickets. It's just like, well, we're going to do this project no matter what. We're going to keep going forward no matter what. Our attorney says it's good. Let's just keep going. and you just look keep looking for confirmation for people that just want to tell you yes. You don't look at the the the people who just don't who just who just have the interest of every single other Farmington resident at their core. It's not just about me and I've come up here more than once and said data centers great put them all over Farmington but they shouldn't go here. I know I'm coming up in my time, but what I will say um along with that too is that we with the underground storage and underground water, something that's in your consent agenda tonight is from the Met Council and it talks about protected streams. I would highly encourage you that you pull that, have a discussion, share with the people what's on there. Share with the people that Vermillion River and the South Branch of the Vermillion River is a protected stream. And how are you going to protect that stream from hot water? What happens you have an overflow? How are you going to protect that stream if you have diesel? How are you going to protect that stream if there's a gigantic fire and chemicals leech out to there? That's a protected waterway. You're agreeing by passing this tonight in your consent agenda. You're agreeing to their regional plan and to protect that stream. You're agreeing to that. Did you read it? Do you understand it? Because I don't think that you do. I don't think that you do at all. They do. Track does. They understand. They read it. I guarantee they read that document front to back. Did any of you back to NASA and their and their problem with being able to write in space. They at the end of the day they settled on a pencil. Spent billions of dollars developing something to write in space. And at the end of the day, they said, "The Russians have it figured out. Let's just continue to use pencils." At the end of the day, you have someone up here, me, who on paper is an idiot. I don't have a college degree. I barely graduated high school. But I'm up here sitting and talking about water. I'm up here sitting and talking about electricity. I'm doing the research that frankly all of you should done have done. and understanding what does all this mean. I also know and I'm also very confident the fact that you don't know what you're talking about when you when you said when you approve this project. One of the main reasons that they wanted this project is because the is the is the access to the electrical grid that's there. The other main reason that they wanted it is because all their waste water goes to Empire, which can handle 24 million gallons per day of wastewater, but the threshold in order to uh to have an EIS is less than 20 million gallons a day, a wastewater facility. They read that. They know that if an idiot like me, someone doesn't have a college degree, someone who's stupid on paper, if an idiot like me can figure out their intentions and understand what it means, why where are all of you? Steve, you're excluded. You voted no. Thank you. Where the heck are all of you? And the reason that I keep coming up here is because when we do get to our next phase of the lawsuit, I want all us on the record. I want the judge to say, "Citizen, did you actually try to influence the city council? Did you try to get to them before you came to a lawsuit?" I filed for an appeal. Lynn told me that I couldn't do that. She said that, "Nope, you cannot have an appeal because that the decision had not been made." One of your very first documents on your website about data centers talks about who that decision maker is and it was and is the planning commission that they made that decision. I had a right to file an appeal after the planning commission decided that. You've never heard an appeal because it stopped there. Again, I'm an idiot. On paper, I'm stupid. I'm dumb. But I'm not so stupid to not figure out they're the smarter people in the room, not your people. Think about what you're doing. You have an opportunity to put this project on hold. You have an opportunity to do a moratorum. You have an opportunity to truly do what's in your consent agenda and protect the south branch of the Vermillion River. You have that opportunity. You have all kinds of outs. And if she, the attorney here, is telling you that you don't or she's not providing you with those outs, question her. She works for you. You don't work for her. I have said that from the very beginning. Holly, when you and I met together and Lynn was in the room. I said it in front of Lynn and I'll say it anytime. They work for you. You're the elected. You're the person who they work for. You're the people who represent our interest. They represent solely focused rep represent the interest of the city which isn't me because if it was me and if it was the residents here they you wouldn't you wouldn't have moved forward with this project and the hasty fast quick process that you did and one last thing I'm just going to remind you you approved a project that the bare minimum that the height restrictions for mixeduse commercial industrial were 40 feet immediately You had to go above and beyond and you had to say yes, we're going to we're going to give you 50 ft. In some cases 80 ft. They knew and they stuck this carrot out in front of you called tax revenue and you bit hook line and sinker. You took it all. I would encourage you all to use pencils tonight. [13:55] Mayor Josh Hoy: Anyone else wishing to speak? Feel free to come up. [14:12] Deb Johnson: Hi, I'm Deb Johnson. I live at 2034 or 20349 Enright way. Um, before I start, I do want to also offer condolences to Officer Pete's family and friends, our community. My kids are in the middle school and high school and all have had really great interactions with him and definitely a loss for our community and our hearts are all with him. I'm here today to encourage residents of Farmington to vote yes for our school levy tomorrow. Um, strong schools are an integral part of our strong communities and tomorrow's results will have dramatic impacts on the opportunities of our schools will offer students for years to come. Over the past few years, we've already seen the district try their best to balance the budget with the funds they have through many cuts um at their current funding levels. As a result of these cuts, important programs have been eliminated from our district, such as Minats, gifted programs, and middle school electives, as well as administrative supports at all levels. One cut that will happen in the um future if the district does not pass this levy is literacy support. And I think we can all agree that reading is one of the most important skills a person can have to be a productive member of our community. When my daughter was young, she struggled to pick up early literacy skills. By second grade, she was far below grade level on standardized testing. Um, when her friends were enjoying the new skill of reading chapter books, she was in tears struggling with basic readers. As an avid reader, this broke my heart. And in second grade, she started working with an reading interventionist. Um, and she worked with her throughout elementary school. She was blessed with that. um and her skills began to grow and her confidence in reading and other areas started to grow as well. She's now an eighth grader and she excels in literacy and I don't believe she would have got there without that support in the um elementary school. She reads for fun now. This summer we're at the cabin and just reading a book and that spoke volumes to the support she got from our schools. And if we cut this, this will be um many students in the future won't get that opportunity. Um I'm also concerned about closing a school or switching to a 4-day school week. This reflects poorly on our schools and our community. Um it will also deter port um home buyers from investing in our community in the future. Um, as a part-time real estate agent, I talk to families about what are the needs when you walk into purchasing a home. And strong schools are always the top of the list, and we want to keep that here in Farmington if we want to have strong um strong property values. Um, there's also talk of removing behavioral supports from our schools. This is terrifying. Students need support to help them be successful and for everyone to be safe in our schools. Challenging behaviors in schools is at an all-time high. Reducing support to give students the tools they need would have detrimental effects on our school. I am in elementary schools on a regular basis and see firsthand the work pair of professionals in the special education team do to provide behavioral supports. They're working hard to support children who are disregulated in our schools, offering safe places to take a break. Um, ways to keep their bodies safe, sensory breaks, even sometimes it's just sitting with a student in the hallway until they can be safe enough to reenter the classroom. The compassionate care these professionals show students every day is astounding, and we are so lucky to have these tools in place. To have these behavior supports taken away would create chaos in our schools and even unsafe environments in some cases. This would not only be devastating for our students with behavioral challenges, but every student and adult who is in the school. This would not be a place in place students could learn, thrive, and grow. The federal government has showed funding from that level can no longer be replied relied upon. And the state government has mandated many programs yet failed to keep funding consistent with the demands. Our district has been cutting year after year, including $4 million cut um for this current school year. We are at the bare bones. I am extremely scared to see what cutting another5 to6 million dollars will look like for the 2627 school year. This yes vote will not only impact our students next year, but for generations to come. I'm proud my stu my children are Tigers and they've gotten a lot of really amazing opportunities here in our school district. And we want to see that continue for future generations of Tigers to come. So, please vote yes for our levy tomorrow. Thank you. [18:52] Mayor Josh Hoy: Anyone else wishing to speak? Seeing none, we'll move on to our consent agenda and seek a motion to approve the consent agenda. [19:08] Council Member Nick Lean: Motion to approve. [19:10] Council Member Jake Wilson: Second. [19:11] Mayor Josh Hoy: Motion by Nick, second by Jake. All in favor say I. [19:13] Council Members: I. [19:14] Mayor Josh Hoy: All right. Round table. [19:14] City Attorney: Um, good evening, mayor, members of the council. Um, thank you for having me here tonight. Um, even though there's not very much on the agenda. Um, I'd like others who have spoken during public comment, I'd like to offer my condolences to the police department, to the police department family, to all of Farmington staff, and all of you as elected officials. Um, but most importantly, I'd like to offer condolences to Officer Pete's wife and children, all the people who uh knew him and know him and love him and um I know that he made a big difference and um touched a lot of lives in very important ways. So, um, offer my condolences and and just know that that that my heart hurts for everybody who will feel his loss for some time to come. Thank you. [20:20] Mayor Josh Hoy: Nick. [20:21] Council Member Nick Lean: Okay, sorry. I'm going to try and hit the damn ball here. I'm just going to read it because I don't really want to try and shoot from the hip. So, um, I'm not going to pretend like I knew Pete very well. I don't think I talked to him as many as a lot of you have in this room. So, trying to tell stories and things like that doesn't feel very genuine. But what I saw on Saturday night and over the course of the last few days, I mean, it shows what he meant to those of you who did know him well. Uh, that the impact was tremendous. Um, when the Burnsville incident happened a few years ago, I didn't know what to say then either. So, like all times in my life, when I feel lost, I go find my pastor. And I said, "What do you say in situations like this?" Because clearly he talked in this kind of discomfort more than me to groups of people and tried to comfort groups. And I said, "Well, how do you help a whole group of people?" And he said, "Sometimes you don't. Um, some days are just dark and you let it be dark." And that stuck with me and that's why I seem to have repeated it then and I repeat it now. Um [sighs] to those of you who knew him well, it's okay to let the dark days be dark. There's no right amount of time to move out of the dark day. And [sighs and gasps] his legacy and impact continues through all of you who did know him well. And when the time comes for that next step, you are uniquely positioned to show people like me who didn't know him well what he brought into the world. And I've heard a lot of those stories in the last few days now. [sighs] And those of you who are like me and want to show that you do care and are sitting on the sideline like me, um, I'm an introvert. I can't say I'm the best at hugs and finding the right words or not making awkward and uncomfortable jokes in situations like this, but [gasps and sighs] two things I know. Um, when someone shows up to a vigil or a wake or a funeral, regardless of what they say, they don't do it with bad intent. Um, they do it because they care. and showing each other grace in these situations that if someone makes a faux paw or says something stupid, they had the right. Um, second one is similar is I like this quote is empathy doesn't have to look like what others do. People can feel your care even if you express it quietly or subtly or just by listening as long as it's genuine. So I will do my best to be genuine through all of this. Thank you. [23:03] Council Member Jake Wilson: Thanks Nick. Um, tonight's round table is going to go in two very different directions. Uh, so that I can speak first, I'm actually going to talk a little bit about uh the levy vote for tomorrow. Um, from the position that I'm in, it's it's not appropriate nor is my job to tell anyone how to vote. Um, what I do want to consider or what I want people to consider is that um, when they're voting on a local school levy, it is worth pausing for a second to realize who is actually impacted by the choice that you make. If your choice to vote no is because the district has shown that it mishandles funds or because you sincerely think that less funding is the right direction for future generations, it is your right and it's a reasonable reason to vote no. However, for residents that are voting no because you're frustrated by city council or because county taxes are too high, I would encourage you that this levy vote affects the school district, not those entities. They are separate. Voting no because you're not happy with the state legislature assumes that one district's vote will shift statewide policy. And in reality, it's unlikely to do that at two. Voting no because your collective tax impact is higher than you'd prefer directly affects students as funding for programs, staff, and services depends on local support. City leaders are held accountable at city elections. County leaders are held accountable at county elections and state legislators are held accountable at state elections. What you don't do, in my opinion, is punish one entity because you're displeased with another. on any given year in Minnesota, 40 to 60% of levies will either pass or fail. And it's my experience that the legislature typically responds only when there's a broad coordinated advocacy at a state level, not from a single district's result. At its heart, this is a vote about Farmington's kids. To support your children is to support our children. Whether that means voting yes or voting no is up to you and your conscience. But if you're displeased or upset or angry at a different level of elected official. I really, really want you to pause for a second and make sure that you understand how your choice affects them, our kids, and how that's separating your frustrations between the two different levels or the three different levels or the four different levels that exist. This is a vote for our kids. It's not a vote against city council. It's not a vote against county. It's not a vote against state. All of those things happen at different points. Um that's just my encouragement as you're making decisions coming into tomorrow. Like Nick, I um I knew Pete probably a little bit better than some and definitely not as well as others. Um, I was asked at the vigil if I had any great Pete dirty jokes. Uh, I didn't know Pete that well. Um, I didn't get his dirty jokes. Uh, I got a little bit of BSing around anytime I'd walk into the schools. Um, and when I heard the news of his passing, the first thing that popped into my head is for some reason his eyes. He had such kind eyes. And I have learned in the week that has passed that his kindness didn't start or stop with his eyes. It was in every interaction that he had at every level with any person that crossed his path. And so I am desperately sad for his family, for his friends, um for the people that were much closer to him than I was because I can real I can understand that if my loss feels this strong, theirs is even stronger. So my [snorts] condolences are extended. uh to all of the people that knew Pete so much better than I did. Um and I'm I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry for all of our loss. [28:02] Council Member Steve Cortis: Um like my colleagues, I want to talk about pizza tonight. Um, in the Jewish [clears throat] morning tradition, there's a saying, may his or her memory be a blessing, and it's a reminder that those who are gone will always live on in our memories. But it's also a call to action to strive to live in a way to honor those who have passed. Last week, Farmington High School aired a memorial segment on their Tiger News broadcast. It was a clip of an interview with Officer Zjac giving advice to students. In it, and I'm paraphrasing, he said, "Be good to people. Learn as much as you can. be open to change, listen, have an open mind, and ju and just be good to people. And I think the best way we can honor officers Ajax's memory is to live these out in our daily lives. To anyone in public safety, anybody listening at home, please ask for help if you need it. It's not a sign of weakness to ask for help, but a sign of strength. To Pete, I'm gonna miss seeing you at the coffee shop, seeing you at Farmington football games, talking about our kids, and reminding you that you were the only police officer to ever stop me for speeding and give me a ticket. [snorts] To Pete's family, his friends, his brothers and sisters wearing the badge, students he worked with, the staff he worked with, and anyone who had the privilege of knowing him, I hope his memory may be a blessing to you. [29:25] Council Member Holly Bernance: In the [clears throat] in the years I've worked as a or had the privilege of serving the city, I don't think I can ever think of a time period where we've needed the community more than we do right now. And it's um the community as a whole is hurting um from I think three tragedies over the past two weeks. The vigil on Saturday was really, I think, important for the community. And, you know, an observation that I took, not only an observation, but there was a group of about three or four high school students. Um, and one of our speakers kind of alluded a little bit to the closeness of some of the high school students, middle school kids. Um, they were crying and I said, you know, tell me about your memory of Pete, you know, because to be honest with you, I have a general sense of what our SRO does, but I don't really have a flavor of what they what their day-to-day looks like. And so I'm talking to these three to four girls and they were kind of sharing stories and one of them said, 'You know, I just I talked to Pete Tuesday morning and he helped me with something I was going through and he shared a laugh with me. Um, you know, he was a guy that gave me a fist bump every day I walked into school. And I'll tell you, it's the it's it's such a repeated type of comment, but oftentimes you learn the most about someone um through through others. Um, and I just I learned a lot about Pete during the candlelight vigil and you know talking with Kim from fees or from talking with others. But boy, those four girls really stood out to me because they really shared what it was like to have Pete right there when they walked into school and like he was kind of the rock, you know, there's Pete, you know, there for a laugh, there for a goofy look. And that's a memory that I will take with me. And you know, I just ask anyone listening to pray for our community. We're hurting. Um, as Jake said, it's absolutely okay to say you're not okay. I know I know it gets repeated. Um, it's okay to ask for a hug. weakness is definitely a strength and you know we will persevere but you know right now we've got a got a big hole in our heart. So I'm just praying for for sure his family our police family um our neighboring jurisdictions who without thinking twice you know came to serve us and help us. Um, we love all you guys and you know, just pray for all of us. [32:29] City Administrator Lynn Gorski: You know, I don't have the right words tonight. Um, but Pete touched so many lives. Um, it's just amazing to hear all the the great things that he did, the high school, the city. It wasn't just, you know, the school district he worked with. I mean, he came down to city hall all the time. Everybody knew him down here. I mean, he popped in all the time, joked around, got to learn about his family. I think we're just all in shock still. Like I said, I don't have the right words but um so with that, um just want to let people know that city hall will be closed um in honor of Pete and to allow staff to attend um the services. So, City Hall will be closed on Thursday, uh, starting at noon, and that's November 6th. And his visitation will be November 6, 3 to 8:00 p.m. at St. Elizabeth and Satan Church in Hastings. And the funeral service will be on Friday, November 7th at 10 a.m. And City Hall will be closed on Friday as well. Um, it'll be live streamed for people to to view online, but thank you. [34:19] Mayor Josh Hoy: I had um I had intended to try and keep it light. Um just personally uh as a as a suicide loss survivor um this hits especially close to home and taking nothing away from the other loss in the in our community um over the last couple weeks. This one hits extremely close. um the relationship that we have with our first responders, specifically our our police department, uh personal relationship with Pete, the work that we've done, um specifically through the school, through Toys for Town, um the occasional cigars in passing and and the mostly inappropriate jokes when we see each other. Um, I was 19 when I lost my dad. And one of the first things I thought about when I was notified of Pete's passing was the kids, his kids and our kids in the district and how it took me the better part of a decade to put myself back together and I was 19. I can't even imagine what all of our kiddos and specifically Pete and Lores are going to go through in the weeks and months and years to come. Yes, our hearts will be with them. Yes, we will be there. Yes, we will do all of the things necessary. Um, but I would be remiss if I also didn't say that it's unfortunate that it takes a loss for us to collectively grasp the impact of not only the job that our first responders do and the weight that they carry every single day, but also the importance of mental health, mental health awareness, suicide awareness across society. And in all of the opportunities I've had to speak with groups over the last two and a half decades from kids as young as 10 to teenagers to high schoolers to young adults to all ages. Um, I'm just com I'm completely miffed at how we continue to have a reluctance to have the real conversations and we do have to normalize mental health. We do have to have the hard conversations. We have to have them openly. We have to have them in public as necessary. and we have to have them without reservation. Um because I'm always going to get one of two phone calls. I'm either going to get the phone call that you're struggling or I'm going to get the phone call that happens after the fact. I'm always going to get a phone call. And I will always choose the first one in every scenario. And I am I beg of you everyone to what degree you're struggling to whether you have a big circle, you have a small circle, whether you're working with someone professionally or not. We all go through stuff and the stuff gets heavy and it gets deep and it gets dark. And those of us those in proximity to ones that are dealing with their struggles. Sometimes it's not the words. Sometimes it's not waiting for the phone call. Sometimes you just have to go. You just have to go to that person. When something is off, as insignificant as it may seem at the time, just go be a disruptor. when there's silence, when you haven't talked to someone, something doesn't seem right, just go because the alternative is is not what anybody wants. And I and I just I I can't say that loud enough and I can't say that often enough. Please, please help anyone and everyone you can when you see them struggle and in their times of need. Please just go. Um, please. I would seek a motion to adjurnn. [39:46] Council Member Jake Wilson: Motion to adjurnn. [39:47] Council Member Nick Lean: Second. [39:48] Mayor Josh Hoy: Motion by Jake, second by Nick. All in favor say I. [39:51] Council Members: I. [39:52] Mayor Josh Hoy: We'rejourned at 7:39.