This transcript appears to be a meeting of the **Farmington Planning Commission**. Based on the context provided and the dialogue, here is the identified transcript. **Note on Speakers:** While the Mayor and Council were listed in your context, this is a Planning Commission meeting. The primary speakers are **Chair Rody**, **Tony Whitler** (Planning Manager), **Jared** (City Staff), and Commissioners **Berg**, **Winshuttle**, **Teske**, and **Snowbeach**. *** [0:00] [Music] [0:45] **Chair Rody:** All right, we'll call the meeting to order. On behalf of the Planning Commission, I'd like to welcome our residents and viewers to this regular meeting of February 11th, 2025. Before we get into our agenda, I'd like to introduce our new commissioner, Mr. Andy Berg. Uh, Andy, congratulations on your appointment. [1:05] **Commissioner Andy Berg:** Thank you. Thank you for serving the community. Yeah, glad to be here. Thank you. [1:10] **Chair Rody:** All right. Um, as we get into the agenda, uh, each February is our organizational meeting. Um, this is where the commission elects their officers and goes through their committee assignments. Uh, for the first portion of the election of officers, I'll turn the meeting over to the planning manager, Tony Whitler. [1:26] **Tony Whitler:** Tony, thank you, Mr. Chair, commission members. Uh, yes, as Chair Rody had mentioned, uh, this meeting we need to elect a chair and vice chair from the commission. Um, so with that, we'll take it—uh, first for chair. I'll take a nomination. [1:36] **Unidentified Commissioner:** Nomination for Rody. [1:38] **Tony Whitler:** Do we have a second? [1:39] **Unidentified Commissioner:** I'll second. [1:40] **Tony Whitler:** Do you accept? [1:41] **Chair Rody:** I'd accept it. [1:42] **Tony Whitler:** All right. And then, uh, we will take a nomination for vice chair. [1:47] **Unidentified Commissioner:** I'll nominate Commissioner Teske. [1:51] **Tony Whitler:** Do we have a second? [1:52] **Unidentified Commissioner:** Second. [1:53] **Tony Whitler:** Uh, will you accept? [1:55] **Commissioner Teske:** Yes. [1:56] **Tony Whitler:** All right. [2:05] **Chair Rody:** All right. That's it, Tony? [2:07] **Tony Whitler:** That's it for that. [2:08] **Chair Rody:** All right. I'll thank everybody for your vote of confidence. We'll get into the committee assignments. Um, and I'll read through them and ask—and if you're willing to accept, just confirm it and we'll move on to the next one. We'll take a motion at the end. Uh, the first committee—and the commission is represented along with Council and um, some staff when we meet with uh, surrounding townships and the City of Empire. Um, so we look for commission members to serve on each one. The first one is the Empire-Farmington Planning Advisory Committee. Commissioner Winshuttle, will you accept this? [2:40] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** Yes. [2:41] **Chair Rody:** All right. The second one is a Castle Rock Discussion Group. Commissioner Teske, would you be willing to accept that? [2:48] **Commissioner Teske:** Yes. [2:51] **Chair Rody:** All right. Then we got the Eureka Planning Group. Commissioner Snowbeach, would you be willing to accept that? [2:57] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** Yes. [2:58] **Chair Rody:** The last committee is referred to as a MUSA Review Committee and to simplify it, it's the extension of sanitary sewer for future growth in our community. Um, it's a larger um, committee. There's individuals from the school board and the council and staff and all that. So, Commissioner Berg, would you be willing to serve with that—on that with me? [3:20] **Commissioner Andy Berg:** Yes. [3:21] **Chair Rody:** All right. With that, then, as committee assignments, can I have a motion to assign them as agreed to? Is there a motion? [3:26] **Unidentified Commissioner:** I'll motion to sign. [3:28] **Chair Rody:** Motion. Is there a second? [3:29] **Unidentified Commissioner:** I'll second. [3:30] **Chair Rody:** Motion and second. Roll please. Winshuttle? [3:31] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** Yes. [3:32] **Chair Rody:** Teske? [3:32] **Commissioner Teske:** Yes. [3:33] **Chair Rody:** Rody? Yes. Snowbeach? [3:34] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** Yes. [3:35] **Chair Rody:** Berg? [3:35] **Commissioner Andy Berg:** Yes. [3:36] **Chair Rody:** All right, now we'll get into our agenda. Um, on tonight's agenda we have two discussion items. Uh, before we get into the um, discussion items, we've got a housekeeping item, and that would be the minutes from a January 14th regular meeting. Are there any additions or corrections to those minutes? If not, is there a motion? [3:55] **Unidentified Commissioner:** Motion to approve. [3:56] **Chair Rody:** Motion for approval. Is there a second? [3:58] **Unidentified Commissioner:** I second. [3:59] **Chair Rody:** Motion and second. All in favor say aye. [4:02] **Commissioners (In Unison):** Aye. [4:03] **Chair Rody:** Minutes are approved. All right, we'll move into our discussion items. The first discussion item is the potential beekeeping ordinance. Jared, you're going to take this, correct? [4:15] **Jared (Staff):** Thank you, Chair, Planning Commission members. So, at the August 14th, 2024 Planning Commission meeting, um, a discussion was held regarding a potential beekeeping ordinance. Um, the goal of that discussion was just to get initial feedback from the commission on if there is any interest in pursuing such ordinance. Um, there was interest, but the commission would like to see some information on surrounding communities and their ordinances and um, comparing them. So staff has collected and compared existing ordinance information from Lakeville, Rosemount, Eagan, as well as the Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association model ordinance. So an ordinance comparison table, um, along with some common terms is attached. [4:55] Um, staff um, will kind of summarize how the ordinances were outlined as well as some of the common requirements that we found. Um, and so after going through that, uh, we are looking for the Planning Commission uh, to review and ask staff um, any questions that you guys may have. And then we also are looking for direction on if you guys would like to pursue a draft ordinance or um, and then what standards you guys would like to see. [5:24] So just a breakdown of kind of how the typical ordinance outline would look. For a beekeeping ordinance, you would have your definitions, permit requirements, performance standards, and then your permit inspection or termination. And then some of the requirements—uh, performance standards uh, throughout um, these ordinances was the permit process. Um, so two of them I found that they were annual permits reviewed by staff, with the exception of Lakeville. They um, did the interim use process for them. Uh, the zoning—they're typically allowed in agricultural and uh, single-family residential districts. [5:58] Uh, colony density—so the number of colonies allowed depends on the lot size. Um, lots less than 0.5 acres can have a maximum of two colonies. Um, a majority of single-family lots in Farmington um, would meet this threshold. Um, the location of the colonies—typically they're only allowed in the rear yard. Um, and then setbacks—they varied from 10 ft to 20 ft from any lot line. Uh, Rosemount allows a minimum of 10 ft and then Eagan has a minimum of 30 feet from an adjacent dwelling unit, deck, patio, swimming pool, or other outdoor living space. [6:34] Uh, when it comes to construction equipment, um, colonies need to be kept with removable frames and kept in good condition. Uh, material such as wax comb or other debris shall be promptly removed from the site to prevent robbing from other bees. Um, any unused equipment shall be secured or stored indoors. Um, in terms of barriers or screening, um, if a—if a hive is kept within 25 ft of a lot line, a flyway barrier is required in between the hive and the lot line of at least 6 ft in height, consisting of either a wall, fence, or dense vegetation. Uh, these barriers force bees to fly upwards out of the hive instead of directly into, let's say, the neighboring lot. [7:14] In terms of living conditions, um, each hive or colony shall be provided a convenient source of water. Um, hives shall be continuously managed to provide adequate and healthy living spaces to prevent swarming. Um, behavior—if a colony exhibits aggressive behavior, the beekeeper shall promptly determine the cause and correct it. Um, this includes re-queening if required. Um, a nucleus colony—so for each colony allowed there may—maybe one nucleus colony in a hive. A nucleus colony, um, from what I've read, is kind of—helps get the hive or the colony up and going. [7:57] Um, and then so for beekeeper education, the applicants must demonstrate they have a complete—full course on beekeeping. Um, as I've read, it's a pretty um—there's a lot of components that go into beekeeping, so having a requirement on beekeeper education would be um, would be necessary. And then some other requirements that I found was that fruit trees and other flowering trees um, may not be sprayed while in full—full bloom um, with substance harmful to bees. Then also if the beekeeper provides a service um, throughout the City by removing a swarm of bees from an undesirable location, um, they shall be allowed to temporarily house the swarm for no more than 30 days. [8:41] Um, in terms of inspection, um, the City may inspect the property at any—any reasonable time to determine compliance with the ordinance. And then termination—permits will terminate if expired, there's a transfer of ownership um, of the property, if a violation of the ordinance or permit requirements is occurring, or a public nuisance has been declared. So if the commission has any questions um, for staff on um, the ordinance comparisons, feel free to ask. Um, otherwise I'd look for feedback on potential requirements that the commission would like to see in an ordinance. [9:11] **Chair Rody:** All right, thank you, Jared. Nice job. Um, and the reason—just to give a little background—the commission asked for comparison is you—you want some—some—some kind of consistency. Um, and if you can look at neighbors um, what they're doing, especially if this is new to our community, um, you know, we don't have to be the first one to learn it. But, uh, so that's why what I thought we could do is first go through questions if you got something unique and then maybe to help staff um, go through it. We'll kind of walk through some of the—the different requirements that Jared laid out and try to come to some kind of consensus on what direction before we get into a public hearing with the, you know, with the residents and stuff and send it on to our city council. Um, and I'm alluding that—that more than likely we'll come with an—an ordinance, but that's still to be considered also. So I don't mean to take that advantage, but we'll start with Commissioner Teske. [10:04] **Commissioner Teske:** So, um, thank you for pulling together the comparisons of the other communities. It was really helpful and relevant in kind of making some of the decisions for me around what we should move forward with. Um, I—I was excited to see that properties of less than a half an acre actually can support two colonies. That was surprising to me. I didn't expect that, um, based on what I'm seeing in other communities. So, um, my only other question would be with regard to enforcement or inspection. Is that going to be then similar to chickens—complaint-based—or would there be a yearly inspection that happens or an annual inspection that happens with that? Do we know? [10:50] **Jared (Staff):** I would um, assume that it would be complaint basis. And there would be—since if it would be an annual permit, we would do an annual inspection as well. [11:00] **Commissioner Teske:** Good. And then would—would the City require any education on that or is—as—in my opinion, yes, there would need to be. Um, obviously more education on staff's side to perform the inspection, but you know, on the same side, the applicant's um—part to them being informed on, you know, their requirements that they have to keep up with as well. [11:16] **Jared (Staff):** Got it. Okay. [11:17] **Chair Rody:** That's it? And you'll have another opportunity later. Commissioner Winshuttle? [11:21] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** No, I just think uh, like Commissioner Teske said here, I think education—I think—is key. I think to this whole thing. Um, I certainly don't know a lot about it. I can't imagine a lot of residents do. And I think it could do more harm if, you know, the applicant doesn't know something about bees and tries to raise them. Um, I think, you know, just looking at the setbacks, um, you know, I—I like Eagan, uh, what they have—the 30 feet—just with decks, patios, pools, um, you know, because bees are going to be in the backyard. Um, so I think that, you know, doesn't have to be 30 ft. You know, that's something we could certainly discuss, but I like that—that the requirement or setback. [12:12] And as far as the inspection part—so if—if the City, you know, wants to inspect with any, you know, any reasonable amount of time to determine compliance, can they—what happens if they say no, you can't? You know, what are we going to do if they say no, you can't come check the compliance of my hives? Is it—is it then—does the permit just null and void and over with or...? [12:35] **Jared (Staff):** We would probably pursue additional enforcement routes if, you know, they were being difficult, if we couldn't go and inspect the site and enforce the permit requirements that they, yeah, um, signed off on. We'd probably pursue additional enforcement measures. [12:48] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** Or would there be like a, you know, the fine print at the bottom, you know, "failure to allow City to inspect terminates this"? [12:54] **Jared (Staff):** Right. That could be—that's typically how we would do that. [12:56] **Tony Whitler:** We—even with like our chicken—Urban Chicken permit—um, if they fail to comply, that permit can terminate. Okay. If we determine that they're, you know, being unreasonable or not—not doing what they need to do to keep up with the regulations, uh, those permits can be terminated. It's all in how you write the ordinance and um, essentially the application as well. Sure. Um, and being this is a completely new ordinance, the Planning Commission and Council have quite a bit of latitude as to how you as a group or as the City want to have this ordinance structured. Um, so as far as the inspection or the termination, that can all be laid out in the ordinance. [13:35] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** And I think that's probably a good thing just to save City and staff time. You know, if they don't want to comply with an inspection, then, you know, have that in the permit and well, then you're done. No, that's it for now for me. [13:49] **Chair Rody:** If the commission agrees, I—I kind of like Phil's [Winshuttle's] suggestion and so that we don't forget about it. Jared, I—I think that should be included if we do proceed with an—an ordinance. Okay. So if the commission agrees? [14:03] **Commissioners (In Unison):** Agreed. [14:04] **Chair Rody:** Commission Snowbeach? [14:06] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** Yeah, all good questions and thanks for your work. Um, couple things. You know, I look at—some of the surrounding cities have fees. Um, and I think if we're doing inspections, there should be maybe some sort of fee, right? Um, and then I think that um, solidifies that they're going to be, you know, they're invested in—in doing this. So, um, what's—what's your guys' recommendation on a fee for—if—if—if they are—do we do—I'd have to look for—for chickens. Is there a fee? [14:41] **Jared (Staff):** Um, for chickens we do have a fee for chickens, correct. [14:44] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** Would you foresee it to be very similar to that? [14:46] **Jared (Staff):** More than likely. Okay. Yeah. [14:48] **Tony Whitler:** And the Council would set the fees. [14:50] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** Council does set the fees, yes. Yeah, believe it's $1—$100 for... [14:55] **Tony Whitler:** Yeah, for the initial permit, correct. Yep. [14:58] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** Um, just one thought on the—on the whole looking at this matrix of surrounding cities. I do like um, the Eagan setup where it's pretty specific. Um, some of the other surrounding cities are less specific and—and you know, it's something we can always update throughout time if we find that—that we've been too specific, right? Um, I—I just liked when I looked at Eagan, I kind of felt like I understood what they were—um, the goals of it were um, because it was more specific. I don't know what the rest of the um, board um, thinks, but I—I did like that it was um, specific. [15:38] And the last thing is, you know, I just see—what if there's a grievance of a family that continues to have problems with bees? They have a pool, they have whatever, you know, playground for their children. What—what would a grievance look like? They would approach the City? Is there a process if there's a grievance of bees causing issues in their yard? [15:53] **Jared (Staff):** Correct. We would probably receive a complaint and then we would go out and inspect and then make a determinable cause um, at the staff level if there was—if it was either trying to make the connection between the hive itself to that issue or if it's naturally—you know, because bees, you know, occur naturally in the environment. Um, that's definitely the toughest part that we would have to distinguish—if, you know, if it's strictly coming from the hive itself or if it's just—just bees in general in the environment. Um, that would probably be a challenge for us to determine that if that came up, but it would be something that we'd have to at least monitor and go out and look at. [16:39] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** So, so what would it look like to terminate someone's permit? You know, if there's continued issues over a summer period—five—I don't know—five incidents or—like how does that—just trying to picture what this looks like if a hive is infringing on neighbors' properties. Do you guys know where I'm going with this? [17:03] **Tony Whitler:** Yeah, right. And I don't know that we have that exact answer for you this evening. That's something that we can work through with uh, legal counsel. As we—if—if this goes to a draft ordinance, we can certainly try to address that in the ordinance. Um, work with our legal counsel to see what, you know, what that process would look like. Um, and we would certainly want to include that kind as an outline within that ordinance as well. Um, so yeah, I don't know that I have a good answer for you on that specifically tonight. That's something we certainly will work towards um, achieving if this does go to the next stage of actually developing an ordinance. We'll want to include that in that ordinance and make sure that the commission is comfortable with whatever we initially put in that ordinance. [17:50] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** It'd be nice if a community member approached us and they were having issues—there's a defined process. And if—and—incidents occur, this might give us reason to inspect and possibly removal if things haven't changed. Like, maybe there's ways that beekeepers can install their walls. We'll make sure it's not flying towards the neighbors—all those things because I mean, we want good uh, citizens that have beehives to—to do a good job of protecting neighbors along with their own hive too. So... [18:24] **Tony Whitler:** Absolutely. [18:25] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** Yeah, I think, you know, I think the—the barriers to me seem interesting to force them to fly higher and not—not at a lot of bees. So as you guys look into that, will you figure out like what that looks like? [18:37] **Tony Whitler:** That's a good question and that no doubt will have to be addressed. I mean, it's—it's similar to if you—in other ordinances—I—I use again the chicken one. If—if they become a nuisance to the neighbors and—and what—what other response of the City and eventually to that property owner that has the permit? [18:56] **Chair Rody:** But go back to your question on ordinance and—and in the past, I think the commission and—and the Council um, without too much government reach on an ordinance—sometimes it's easier to include more upfront and take away rather than trying to add later on when there's a problem and you didn't think about it. So I—I think initially what we've done is we maybe included some things and then no doubt the future commissions, future councils will maybe say, "Okay, you know, it seemed like a good idea of it but it's not much—you know, necessary anymore to have this in there." So, you know, we'll try to do the best—best job we can and pass it on to our City Council and—and they're pretty detailed also, so they'll—they'll go through it also. But anything else, Mitch? [19:38] **Commissioner Snowbeach:** No, that's good. Thank you. [19:39] **Chair Rody:** Commissioner Berg? [19:40] **Commissioner Andy Berg:** Uh, just two questions, really. The first one is around the other requirements and other—the fruit trees and other flowering trees may not be sprayed. Are we referring specifically on that property or are we talking about within a certain distance of the hive? [19:57] **Jared (Staff):** That's a good question. I would consider that as on—on the—on the property itself. I don't think you could really regulate somebody else's property like that. [20:07] **Commissioner Andy Berg:** And—and that's why I asked. I was thinking about Commissioner Snowbeach's question around enforcement. If you have a neighbor who all of a sudden gets really mad at your hive and decides to start spraying their flowers, you know, in retribution for not wanting them there, um, it'd be interesting to have that outlined a little bit more in the ordinance on what that means. Sure. Um, secondly, just around the data. Did we get any information from any of the cities around how many of these permits they've seen uh, applied for and permitted so far? [20:39] **Jared (Staff):** Sure. So I did reach out. I only heard back from Lakeville as of today. Yeah. Um, they enacted their ordinance in 2017 um, from citizen request, but they actually did not get their first approved permit um, until May of last year. Um, they do have to—to go through the interim use permit process, so that requires a large public notification um, process. It's got to go to Planning Commission, then it got—has to get approved by City Council and it comes to like a $500 fee. So it's definitely more of a process, but they only have one active okay permit since approving an ordinance in 2017. And they've had no—no complaints yet from that um, from that hive. [21:21] **Commissioner Andy Berg:** Okay, great. That's all I've got. [21:24] **Chair Rody:** All right, thank you, Andy. Yeah, I got a few questions. Um, and maybe they start down the road of—of what the commission's thinking about. What was staff's thought process on the initial request and um, the process that you thought? I know with chickens we started doing it as the commission public hearing and you know, we reach out to neighbors and then the neighbors would at least be notified. What was your thought on how this process would start and go? Would it be the public hearing or would it just be—because we modified the chicken one, did—to now where it's more of a staff um, permit review? [22:04] **Jared (Staff):** I would be comfortable with modeling it after our current chicken ordinance where the adjacent property owners would get notified but keeping it not where they don't have to come to a public hearing. Um, but if that's something the commission would, you know... [22:18] **Chair Rody:** Well, I'm going to ask them next, but that—that'd be my recommendation to the commission—that we have a similar process as we do with chickens, and that would be staff-led. Most of us went through the chicken public hearings and yeah, maybe we'd get a neighbor, but usually it was just the—the applicant and maybe their—their children that would come because the children were the ones active. But is the commission comfortable with that? How—how does that work? So like, you notify the neighbors you know—unlike chickens right now—like just adjacent? Because what happens if two doors down they object to it? [23:02] **Jared (Staff):** So they could object to staff, but or—it's not necessarily giving them an opportunity to formally like object. It's more just an information saying—letting them know there is an approved permit at this property. If you have any questions about, you know, what the permit itself is like, please reach out to City staff and we can better inform you of the—the requirements on that permit. [23:32] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** And I think it's, you know, with part of that—notifying those, you know, residential neighbors—it couldn't hurt to have some sort of flyer in there or website like to direct people to to do their own research on it, saying you know—because again, most people think like you know, there's going to be bees flying everywhere and they're going to sting people and—and you know, because just the average citizen or resident again probably doesn't know, right? [24:00] **Chair Rody:** Well, as a requirement, this beekeeper education I think is extremely important. And anyone—the applicant—should have some sort of—they should go throughout the online course or whatever it is um, because then I would think that they could help speak to that or guide them to a location that they could do some research as well. [24:16] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** Yeah, just so the neighbors—you know, there's going to be people that object to it. It's just so they're aware. Like, to help them ease their mind on as far as bees, you know, and—and having the fencing and barrier I think is key. I think that's important because it, you know, if you do have the neighbor that objects, it certainly puts a—"out of sight, out of mind," you know? [24:34] **Chair Rody:** And I agree with both comments. And—and well, Christa [Teske] mentioned the education. What was staff's thought process—what were you going to require? For if somebody were to come in next week and say, "I want to do this now because I heard you're talking about it," what kind of requirements for education would staff say, "This is what I'm looking for"? [24:50] **Jared (Staff):** Correct. So I think um, I don't know if I would have an exact, you know, footprint of like exact documentation that they would have to provide, but I think um, that's something we can further narrow down okay at a future meeting on what sort of—you know, do we need to see a certificate of—you know, or what sources are you getting your education from? Um, that's something we can definitely narrow down. [25:06] **Chair Rody:** Okay. But I'm going to ask the commission for consensus. You—you feel there needs to be some education? Everybody? [25:11] **Commissioners (In Unison):** Yes. [25:12] **Commissioner Teske:** Yeah, in fact Eagan has it outlined really well. In fact, I would follow that one pretty closely, actually. [25:17] **Tony Whitler:** Yeah, and you know, this is a—the first blush on this. We'll certainly have a draft ordinance before you before we even get to a public hearing. Okay. Um, that way we can flesh out some of the specifics. Okay. Um, but yeah, we'll have—you'll have multiple shots at this ordinance. [25:31] **Chair Rody:** Single-family residential zoning districts—would you include all of them? Would you include all of them? Just... [25:40] **Jared (Staff):** I would include just the zoning districts that permit a single-family dwelling. [25:44] **Chair Rody:** Okay, so have to be a little—when you write it, be a little careful because you don't want to get—yep—caught too much with you know, other ones. But I agree with you, I don't think I would do multi or anything like that. Okay. Um, I agree with Phil's thing about, you know, the—a little—start out the setbacks a little deeper than maybe—rather than 10 ft, go a little longer than that. Sure. Commission agree? I mean, again, that's one of those things, Mitch, that we—you know, you can always whittle back if you find out it's becoming too big of an issue. Staff, I'm sure, will come in and say, "You know what, you know whatever—they have 25, 30 is too long, we need to go—you know, go to something else." But I think let's not sell ourselves short initially or else we're going to hear it. [26:35] Um, flyway barrier—I understand that now. Um, and I'll admit right now I'm not a bee expert, so I'm going more by what's—staff goes. But the education—I agree with Christa. Um, let's see if I got anything else. I—I did—I knew I had one on behavior. If the colony exhibits aggressive behavior, who's going to determine—is that going to be kind of a—the beekeeper itself or the neighbors or what? [27:10] **Jared (Staff):** More than likely that would come through the neighbors. Okay. That's I think where maybe Mitch was going with the complaint. [27:18] **Chair Rody:** Yeah, so... All right, let me cut that back. So I'm, you know, I'm pretty comfortable with what the commission's already asked and done—like that we can go through and if the commission's got any things. Um, we're fine with the—with the permit type. Uh, the process is what we talked about as staff. Um, zoning districts, you know—single-family only. The density—the location, you know—rear—rear yard, I think we're all in agreement with that. Staff is, too. Um, setbacks—we talked: longer the better, at least initially. Um, barrier screening—I think that's laid out. Were you going to go with all the types then, Jared? You're thinking? [28:10] **Jared (Staff):** Correct. So definitely I think, um, you know, there's definitely some just general um, termination that some of the communities have used where they're just requiring some sort of barrier. Whereas Eagan requires a barrier and then they require it to run parallel 10 feet in both directions. So, giving it more protection, per se, um, instead of just, you know, wherever the hive is—just one single barrier and that's it. Whereas they require a full length um, down that lot line. So if that's something that the commission would be more comfortable with too, I can add in extra language um, regarding that on the barrier. But yes—anything from some sort of wall, fence, um, dense vegetation—um, I would include that within the ordinance for the commission. [28:56] **Chair Rody:** 10 foot? To—at least start out with or not? [28:59] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** I'm comfortable with that. [29:00] **Commissioners (In Unison):** I think so, too. [29:01] **Chair Rody:** You know, let's start there. And 10 foot in length? [29:04] **Jared (Staff):** Yep. Yeah, six foot high. [29:06] **Chair Rody:** Yeah, I think, you know, let's start out again—it can always be shaved back, you know. Um, source of water—what—what does that mean? What is it—a sprinkler? Is it a pond? Is it a—what? I don't understand that. [29:18] **Jared (Staff):** So I think there's different ways you can do it. Um, I'm not a bee expert, but I know I think there's certain equipment that you can insert in the hive that allows running water to be accessible right to the hive. Or it's as simple as, you know, providing some sort of little pool of water right next to the hive that they can access. When I—when I read that, I would assume it is so they're not searching out to find water in other people's yards. Right. So that's why you have it close. Right. Yeah. [29:43] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** Are—are these year-round hives or do they close down in the winter? [29:48] **Commissioner Teske:** So my brother happens to be a beekeeper, so I—so they actually will hibernate for the winter, but they do have to go inside. Um, so he takes his from the outdoor space inside of his garage and they don't see them again until spring when it warms up again. Um, so they do hibernate in the winter. Okay. Yeah. [30:14] **Unidentified Commissioner:** Heated garage? [30:15] **Commissioner Teske:** No, it's—as long as it's protected from wind, they're fine. Um, if it gets extremely cold, he sometimes will put a—a heater out there, but as long as it's wind protected, they're—they're fine. [30:25] **Chair Rody:** Minnesota? [30:26] **Commissioner Teske:** Uh, Iowa. So close enough. Yeah, close enough. [30:29] **Chair Rody:** Interesting. All right, thank you. [30:31] **Commissioner Teske:** Yeah, you're welcome. [30:32] **Chair Rody:** Give us a field trip to visit. [30:34] **Commissioner Teske:** I'd love that. I should look into that. [30:36] **Chair Rody:** Love that. Um, behavior of education—we said need something. And Jared will decide what that might be. Um, in—I think there needs to be some kind of inspection, Jared. I don't know what the commission think, but you know what? I—again, the neighbors may be upset and just not calling you, but I think there needs to be some kind of inspection at some point just like we do with chickens. [31:01] **Jared (Staff):** Okay, yes. And we would want to ensure that, you know, they're meeting the setback requirements, they've got the barrier in place, um, and just that, yeah, they're meeting all the performance requirements as well. [31:12] **Commissioner Winshuttle:** Any—any idea on this education part—does this uh, Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association—do they have people that—that would go out and inspect hives? Like, you know, I wonder if—if this is like a volunteer organization or is it...? [31:30] **Jared (Staff):** Sure. I definitely think between them and I know the University of Minnesota has a big um, bee education program there too, where they have volunteers that you can have come out and, you know, provide education or ideas on and—I'm sure—inspected as well, too, on if there's any problems. And I just think for even this complaint-based system, you know, not that City—City staff can't learn it, but uh, you know, if you had one of those people out there saying, "You know, this is the fourth complaint we've received on this—can you come out and tell me what's exactly—if something is wrong here, or is it just natural bees flying around?" You know? [32:05] **Jared (Staff):** Right. No, that would be a great resource for sure. [32:09] **Commissioner Teske:** I do know also that USDA—if you're going to sell the honey—they also require inspections of the hive site, things like that, too. So that might be another resource that—that would be available. I think about... [32:20] **Chair Rody:** All right, the last one I had—the termination/suspension. I think several commissioners brought that up and we'll let staff noodle that before. But um, it'd be my impression that I—I think we should proceed with the draft ordinance. At least gives us something to look at and go from there. Agree? [32:38] **Commissioners (In Unison):** Yes. [32:41] **Chair Rody:** Jared, did you get enough information or did you get too much? [32:44] **Jared (Staff):** Just enough. Thank you. [32:45] **Chair Rody:** I don't know. All right, appreciate everybody's questions and comments. Um, move on from there. We'll go into our second discussion item, that's the Open Meeting Law. So, are you going to take this? [32:59] **Tony Whitler:** I will take this. Uh, thank you. Uh, as this commission is a publicly appointed uh, body, uh, the commission does have to uh, abide by the Open Meeting Law requirements. Um, so within your packet there is uh, a little additional packet, if you will, from the League of Minnesota Cities, um, kind of outlining uh, what Open Meeting Law is, what the requirements are, um, things that the commission can and can't do. [33:30] Um, basically Open Meeting Law serves three vital purposes. The first: it prohibits actions from being taken at a secret meeting where the interested public cannot be fully informed on decisions that the—this uh, commission would take. Uh, it ensures the public right to be informed, and it gives the public an opportunity to present its views on the subjects that are being discussed. [33:55] Um, there are a couple high points that I do want to point out that are in the—in your packet um, regarding um, Open Meeting Law. Basically, some things that you shouldn't do. Um, the first is: avoid gathering in a quorum outside of a regular meeting. A quorum for this particular commission is three or more uh, commission members. Uh, if a quorum is present at a social gathering, please do not discuss, decide, or receive information on City business. Uh, dealing with serial discussions—so that would be um, discussions of less than a quorum um, that are happening more regularly um, could be uh, considered a violation of the Open Meeting Law under certain circumstances. [34:40] So avoid phone calls, emails, texts, and social media to discuss City business uh, in order to avoid that social media or meeting tag. Um, try to have these discussions during regular meetings. Um, there are a few exceptions to the Open Meeting Law. Um, many of these deal with the City Council um, for things such as labor negotiations. Um, those—they—those they can have um, as a closed meeting, um, but they are few and far between. [35:15] Um, and then the last: any person who intentionally violates the Open Meeting Law is subject to civil penalty up to $300 for a single occurrence. Um, and should be noted that the public body does not pay for that penalty; that is on the person who does the infraction. So, um, those are the high points. Um, um, certainly read through the information. If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to me. I can certainly discuss that further with you. Um, it was just provided for your information this evening, though. So that's all I got. [35:50] **Chair Rody:** Any questions for staff on the Open Meeting Law? [35:54] **Commissioners (In Unison):** No. [35:55] **Chair Rody:** All right, was there anything else from staff? [35:57] **Tony Whitler:** I have nothing. [35:58] **Chair Rody:** Anything else from the commission? If not, I'll remind our residents and viewers: our next regular meeting will be March 11th. And with that, I look for a motion to adjourn. [36:09] **Unidentified Commissioner:** I'll make a motion. [36:11] **Chair Rody:** We have a motion. Is there a second? [36:12] **Unidentified Commissioner:** Second. [36:13] **Chair Rody:** Motion and second. All in favor of adjournment say aye. [36:15] **Commissioners (In Unison):** Aye. [36:16] **Chair Rody:** We're officially adjourned. Thank you. [36:20] [Music]