[11:29] Mayor: 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. [11:50] Mayor: I'd like to welcome everybody to the September 15th regular meeting of the City Council. It's our second regular meeting of the month of September. Uh, we have a fairly brief agenda tonight that we might have to call an audible on and move some items around. Um, and we'll figure that out as soon as we get the agenda adopted. [12:09] Mayor: Um, Miss Miller, any changes in tonight? No. Mr. Mayor. Council. Any changes? The agenda. Motion. I'm voting for motion. To adopt the agenda as presented. Second. It's moved and seconded. Any further discussion on the agenda? Seeing none. [12:24] Mayor: All in favor, say aye. Aye. And opposed? Nay. That motion carries. Uh, I'm going to skip over recognitions and presentations right now and go right to our consent agenda, and we'll come back and pick up that recognitions and presentation items. Uh, in hopefully just a few minutes. Um, but on the consent agenda, I want to check in and see if there are any members of the public who are here on an item that appears in the consent agenda. [12:46] Council Member: And one is that item pulled for separate action or had questions on it. Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the council. Council. Same question for a motion. Councilmember back move to approve the balance of the consent agenda. Second, that's moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion on the consent agenda? [13:01] Mayor: Seeing none. All in favor. Signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay. That motion carries and we've adopted the consent agenda. Um, I think that what we'll do then is we'll move right on and we'll have a really, really slow walk public hearing. Uh, we had just one public hearing tonight. [13:17] Mayor: Uh, item A under public hearings is a variance for Jay Ward and Esprit design and build. It's a variance to allow an addition into the side yard setback. Located at 1389 Grace drive. Um, I'll hand it right off to Miss Miller. [13:34] Miss Miller: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the council. Uh, the applicant is requesting a variance to allow a 1000 square foot addition behind their existing garage. That will extend five feet into the required ten foot side yard setback. A letter of support from the impacted neighbors has been have been received and are included in your report exhibits. [13:52] City Planner Schultz: So I will turn it over to City Planner Schultz for a location map and additional information. Thank you, Miss Miller. Uh, good evening, Mayor Council. Uh, so before you here, you can see the location of the property located at 1389 Grace drive, located just east of Pilot Knob Road and just north of Chapel Hill Baptist Church, which is the larger parcel, uh, just to the south. [14:14] Uh, subject property, um, is one of 15 lots on Grace drive, which is a cul de sac street that terminates to the east. To the west of the property is a two and a half acre single family lot that is. [14:31] As you can see, heavily vegetated. Uh, and to the north of the property is additional single family homes. And George Ullman Park located there. Uh, again to the north. Uh, so the existing 4000 square foot two story home was constructed in 2006 on a 24,000 square foot lot. [14:49] Um, the applicant is requesting a variance to allow a 1000 square foot addition on the back side of the garage located here. Uh, city code does require a ten foot setback as applied to the principal structure. [15:10] So this addition, which is, uh, basically consists of, uh, mostly an interior sport court, uh, would be considered as part of the principal structure. Uh, so principal structures normally would have a ten foot side yard setback, whereas only a five foot side yard setback, is required for accessory structures, whether those are attached to the principal structure or detached. [15:33] So the applicant is looking to add that addition that would be in line with basically that wall along that easterly wall of the existing garage and run parallel directly to the north of the property. [15:50] So the purpose of the various setbacks generally is to provide a minimum of 15ft of essentially light and air between two homes. It is noted that the property to the east, which they did provide a letter of support, is already set back at ten feet. [16:06] So in essence, there is an existing 15ft between the the building and what would be the addition and the existing home immediately to the east. Uh, and then here you can see, um, what's the better one here? [16:23] You can see the proposed addition with the Sport Court and I believe some remodeling of the garage and interior space within the house. So. So this would be the thousand square foot addition essentially shown here in the blue. [16:39] So, um, all other zoning standards, including lot coverage, um, are satisfied with this request. Um, I know the property owner and designer in the audience for any questions from council. Uh, thank you. [16:55] Mayor: Um, applicant want to add anything? Okay. Sounds good. Available for questions. Uh, council questions of staff or the applicant before I open up to a very full room to see if anybody has anything to say about it. Seeing none. [17:11] Mayor: Any members of the public want to comment on the proposed, um, variance for a to allow an addition to the side yard setback at 1389 Grace drive. Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the Council for additional conversations and or motions. For. [17:27] Council Member Fields: Motion. Councilmember fields to approve a variance to allow a five foot encroachment into the required ten foot side yard setback for the home addition at 1389 Grace drive, legally described as lot one, block one Marcella Woods, subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. [17:43] Mayor: Second. That's moved and seconded. Uh, any comments? I'll just say I appreciate you coming in tonight and thanks for being here. Uh, pretty straightforward variance really. So I appreciate the design on it. Uh, looks good to me. [17:59] Mayor: And, uh, uh, it abuts to, uh, a neighbor to your back, but it's a very back corner of their lot. So, uh, I think the only one person, uh, impacted was supportive of it. So I appreciate you coming in. Uh, any additional comments? Seeing none. [18:15] Mayor: All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay. That motion carries unanimously. Uh, and we are done with public hearings today. Again. Next Um, with that, I'm going to go back now to, uh, call up, uh, Chief Omari. [18:30] Mayor: Uh, and, uh, we're going to recognize a couple of, um, maybe not hometown heroes, but certainly, uh, life saving heroes. Uh, tonight, a trio of them, uh, including, uh, Trino and Oliver and Thomas. But, uh, I'm going to let, uh, Chief Omari, uh, get into the details. [18:46] Chief Omari: Mister mayor, members of council. Thank you very much for allowing us to stand before you today. Um, I would actually like to just go ahead and invite Oliver Thomas and Trino up to join me, please. [19:02] Mayor: Welcome to council, all of you. Thank you. [19:13] Chief Omari: Um, and, you know, before I, uh, talk about these three men and, um, uh, their actions on June 29th. Uh, I would also like to just recognize, uh, Miss Norma Chavez, who is here with us today. [19:29] Um, uh, and, uh, Miss Norma Chavez and her family have experienced something extremely, extremely hard. And as I'll share with you shortly, their family is continuing to go through some really hard times. [19:45] But tonight, we want to take an opportunity to talk about, uh, some actions that, um, really changed the course of things. Um, probably the first time you guys have seen each other in a while. Yeah. So first and foremost, again, thank you for being here. [20:04] Um, you know, as I was thinking about what I wanted to talk about tonight, um, I kept going back to this word courage. And, uh, there's a kind of courage that costs nothing. The kind that you talk about, the kind that you admire from a distance, the kind you tell yourself that you would have. [20:26] Most people wonder whether they'd actually have it if that moment ever came. And it's all right if the answer is no, because most people will never have to find out. But some people don't get that luxury. That moment finds them without warning and asks the question directly. [20:43] And on June 29th, just after midnight here in Eagan, three men got their answer. A car left the road and struck a pole near Lone Oak Road and 35 E. Within moments, it was fully engulfed, flames climbing 15ft into that sky. [21:05] The crash claimed the life of the driver and our hearts remain with her family as these three men ran toward that fire. They didn't know if anyone else was inside or if they'd get there in time. But yet they ran there anyway. [21:21] Oliver was driving his Easy Park shuttle bus down a road that he doesn't normally take. A different night, a different route. And he's not there. He doesn't see those flames. [21:37] He doesn't stop his bus. But that night he did. And when he saw the fire, he stopped and turned to his passenger, Trino, and said three words. Let's go help. At that same moment, Thomas was passing by in his car. [21:55] He saw the flames and independently made the same decision on his own. Three strangers converging on a burning car for a man none of them had ever met. Inside, they found him trapped and literally pleading for help. [22:12] Trino got the rear window open and tried to reach in, but the intense heat made it impossible. Undeterred, they moved to the front passenger window. They grabbed whatever they could find rocks, debris, pieces of wreckage and none of that worked. [22:29] Then they picked up a wheel assembly and used it as their last option. They told them to get back and they swung in that window. Shattered. Torino reached in one more time. Oliver and Thomas at his side, and together they pulled the man free and carried him clear of the flames before police arrived. [22:50] A moment later, and undoubtedly it would have been too late. Thomas suffered cuts and burns to his hands. Torino suffered cuts and second degree burns. The victim suffered severe burns and remains hospitalized, struggling for his life. [23:08] These three men put their own lives at risk for a stranger that they had never met. Their willingness to act without hesitation and at great personal danger made the difference between tragedy and a chance at survival. [23:25] Their actions exemplify the highest values of honor, courage, and excellence. Oliver Thomas. We may never know if we'd done what you did, but you know you found out on the side of that road. [23:45] For a complete stranger and at the cost of your own safety. That your answer would be yes. It is the policy of this police department to recognize conspicuous bravery action above and beyond what duty requires. [24:01] Oliver. Thomas. They had no duty here at all. No badge, no obligation. Nothing. Asking it of them except what was in front of them. And they gave themselves anyway. [24:17] Thank you. Thank you for being willing. Thank you for being brave. Thank you for putting yourself first in danger, for somebody else, for being selfless. And on behalf of the Eagan Police Department and the City of Eagan and every member of this community. [24:39] It is truly my honor to present to you the Eagan Police Department's Citizen Lifesaving Award. [25:11] Chief Omari: Mr. Mayor, members of council. Just in closing, um, you know, there's, uh, when people in this community ask me, is there anything I can do to support the police department? You know, I tell them, uh, if you see an officer, thank them. If you're prayerful, pray for them. [25:30] And, uh, I just want to end with, uh, tonight, ma'am. We remain praying for your family, for his recovery, and for continued stabilization for you. So. Yes. [25:50] Mayor: Chief. Thank you. Um, uh, Trino and Oliver and Thomas. Uh, I don't think the chief could have said it, uh, any better. Um. Uh, I'll just, uh, follow the chief's lead and say thank you. [26:06] Uh, thank you for your courage that night. Uh, thank you for serving other people. Uh, and really helping out a family who continues to be in need. And, um, I appreciate you coming in tonight, and, uh, I think you've done something that, uh, not only you can be proud of yourselves, but, um, other people and your family and friends who are in the room tonight are proud of you as well. [26:28] Mayor: So, uh, thanks so much for giving yourself that way and being a neighbor. Appreciate that. Uh, any additional comments? Thank you. All right. Uh, thanks much chief. Uh, now, I heard you earlier promise donuts somewhere. Um, so I'm going to make them hold you to that, but, um, with that, and, uh, we're just going to wrap up the meeting here without, with a bunch of informalities. [26:51] Mayor: So feel free to go in and out because we're going to go through really quickly here. Um, with the conclusion of our awards and presentations. Uh, we have no old business, no new business, no other business, no legislative and In governmental affairs. Update no economic development authority. [27:06] Mayor: I'll move right to our administrative agenda. Uh, Mr. City Attorney, anything? I have nothing, Mr. Mayor. Smart move. Um, any city council comments? No, sir. Um, miss City administrator. Nothing. Mr. mayor. Uh, Mr. Director of Public Works. I have nothing for you. [27:23] Mayor: The cover man of the year. Uh, and, uh, miss director of Community development. Nothing, Mr. Mayor. Uh, are there any visitors to be heard on items? Not on tonight's agenda. Seeing none. Um, the council is going into a closed session tonight. Is that right? [27:39] Mayor: That is. Correct. Okay. Uh, so we will leave the. We'll leave the meeting adjourned. Not. No. Mr. mayor, you do not want to adjourn the meeting, but you do need to announce it's the capital LLC litigation. Okay. We are adjourning for. We have a closed session on the capital LLC litigation. [27:55] Mayor: Correct. Uh, and then we will adjourn this meeting, uh, off camera, uh, following that closed session. So with that, thanks for joining us for the September 15th regular meeting of the Eagan City Council. Uh, we are now going to recess to that executive to that closed, uh, meeting as well, and then adjourn later on.