This transcript has been processed to identify speakers based on the municipal context provided and the internal roll call of the meeting. **Note on Mayor/Council Roles:** While your context list notes Nick Lien as Mayor, the transcript from December 2024 reflects the transition period where **Joshua Hoyt** was still serving as Mayor and **Nick Lien** was serving as a Councilmember (prior to his swearing-in as Mayor in 2025). *** **[00:00:00] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** City Council regular meeting to order for Monday, December 2nd, 2024. Would everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? **[00:00:10] 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. **[00:00:25] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Roll please. **[00:00:26] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt. **[00:00:27] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Here. **[00:00:28] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Council Member Bernatz. **[00:00:29] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Here. **[00:00:30] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Council Member Lien. **[00:00:31] Councilmember Nick Lien:** Here. **[00:00:32] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Council Member Wilson. **[00:00:33] Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Here. **[00:00:34] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Council Member Bernhjelm. **[00:00:35] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** Here. **[00:00:36] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, any changes to the agenda? **[00:00:38] City Staff:** No. **[00:00:39] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, seeing no changes, I'd seek a motion to approve the agenda. **[00:00:42] Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion to approve. **[00:00:43] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve. **[00:00:44] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. **[00:00:45] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Second by Holly. All in favor say aye. **[00:00:47] All:** Aye. **[00:00:48] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, moving on. Next item is our citizen comments. If there's anyone in attendance wishing to speak, please do so at this time. As a reminder, citizen comments are a time for anyone to address the City Council on matters not on the agenda. Those speaking should state their name and address and limit their comment to five minutes. The City Council will not engage in discussion on your topic, but those issues requiring response will be responded to by the next City Council meeting. **[00:01:10] Nate Ryan:** Nate Ryan, came here in Way, live here in Farmington. Mayor and Council, I have to speak on something on the agenda tonight. So you are about to approve a item for the Technology Park. And in that item, specifically, it talks about water usage. It's one of the very, I don't know, right before all the signature pages. And it states that the site is going to use two point, at the end of it, 2.93 million gallons per day. When TRACT here did their... little community meeting, during that meeting, Ms. Dean specifically said that the site would not use more than 65 million gallons of water a year, not a day, a year. So that is a direct specific quote out of that meeting. And on top of that, on their site today, it specifically says that they're gonna be using between 50 and 75 million gallons of water a year. but yet this development plan that they're putting before you at the height in 2032, nine short years away is roughly, I mean, that's over a billion gallons of water that they're gonna be using a year. So I feel like they being specifically, Ms. Dean has misstated, misquote, or potentially not saying for sure, but so far has lied about the actual water usage that this is going to do. Also, in the AUAR, if you look at the AUAR and the gross total of square footage that they've requested, it only states industrial as a use. But you have, again, approved this in a mixed-use commercial industrial area. So before you vote on this, I'm highly encouraging you that you table this, that you go back to the drawing board with them and you ask them to actually be honest with you and really tell you what you're approving or get it under wraps what you're approving. Again, I can prove that she specifically said 65 million gallons a year. I can 1000% prove that. So the other thing is that she referenced that the golf course is only using 50 million gallons a year. That's not accurate. The golf course, for sure didn't use 50 million gallons a year this year. It was very wet in the spring. And that's just, it's just not accurate. So I just want to make sure that this company, this billion dollar company is being truthful with you and making sure that you're understanding about what is said and the lies that they've told the community to help us get behind this project. And that is a direct lie. And again, I have zero doubt that I can 1000% prove that's exactly what she said in that meeting. 65 million gallons a year was going to be the water usage. And now in front of you, before you today, you're voting on close to a billion, over a billion gallons of water at the height, at the end of the project. Even at... 0.49 million gallons, and you can take out your phones and do the math, but I mean, that's still substantially more than, it's about 100, and my math isn't super good in my head, but it's about 109 million gallons of water. Yeah, yeah, it's like, it's about 109 million gallons of water, a year, even at the construction phase, which is significantly more than 65 million gallons of water. So I would really suggest that you table this item tonight, have them bring factual information to you, actually know what you're getting involved with. I don't understand why they're moving so quickly. They said that they didn't, that all they've said this entire time is they don't have an end user. And now they're wanting construction ended by the 2032 How do you do that without an end user? So I really feel like they've taken advantage of our city. They've taken advantage of you as a council because I don't think that they've been accurate in all their statements this entire time. And this is just one example, but I think it's a pretty big example of how specifically Ms. Dean lied to this community, complete lie to this community. So, It's kind of that, so it's one thing. I'll talk about my taxes and the tax implications of this project when that hearing is opened. Thank you for your time. **[00:05:00] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak? **[00:05:05] Drea Dauphin:** I am Drea Dauphin, I live on 225th Street West. Mayor and Council, and the citizens of Farmington, as of today, I have commenced a lawsuit on the city of Farmington on behalf of the concerned citizens of this city, which includes a motion for injunctive relief. The city was served by process server this morning at 10.30 a.m., for those of you that don't know, and received by Lynn Gorski. This afternoon, files stamped, courtesy copies were emailed to all city council members. Please proceed at your own discretion. Thank you. **[00:05:35] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak? Seeing none, we'll move on to our next item, which is the consent agenda. Seek a motion to approve the consent agenda. **[00:05:45] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** Motion to approve. **[00:05:46] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Katie, second by Steve. All in favor say aye. **[00:05:48] All:** Aye. **[00:05:50] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Next item on our agenda is a public hearing for the final 2025 general fund budget and tax levy. I'd like to go ahead and open the public hearing at this time. Kim. **[00:06:05] Kim Sommerland (Finance Director):** Good evening, Mayor and Council. This evening, the 2025 proposed general fund budget and tax levy is being presented for your review and requested adoption. The information being presented tonight is largely the same as what it was shared in September. There have been some minor offsetting adjustments within the revenue and expenditure budgets, but there has been no change to the proposed tax levy. This slide just shows our budget development that we go through. So the city's budget is developed over the course of several months. The budget process begins mid-year around May, and in September, the preliminary budget is adopted by council. When the preliminary tax levy is adopted, it sets the maximum levy. The final levy can be less, but not more than the preliminary levy set in September. In November, property owners received a proposed tax statement from the county. The information printed on that statement was based on the preliminary gross levy that was set. Tonight, the proposed final levy and budget are being presented for consideration by council. The general fund expenditures increased 4.9% from 2024 for a total approximately 19.8 million. The total budgeted general fund revenues for 2025 are nearly 4.5 million, which is a 4.4% decrease, I'm sorry, from 2024. In addition to the operating levy, we also have a $250,000 levy for the Economic Development Authority and a $1.7 million debt levy. The debt levy that was originally scheduled in 2025 was supposed to be higher, but thanks to the use of debt service funds, we have been able to reduce that. Operating levy, EDA levy, and the debt levy totaled the gross tax levy of $17,248,901. This is a proposed increase of 7.09%. The line following gross tax levy is fiscal disparities. Fiscal Disparities is a metro-wide program designed to balance the growth of commercial and industrial development. This funding will increase by 15% in 2025 compared to 2024. This additional revenue helps reduce the taxes our residents pay, which is a positive shift after the reduction we experienced in 2024. After accounting for the fiscal disparities adjustment, the net tax levy, which is the amount actually paid by taxpayers, is proposed to increase by 5.89% from 2024. The total, $14,883,351 is the same as the amount presented in September. This slide gives a general comparison of the adopted 2024 budget revenues versus the 2025 proposed. So in addition to the tax levy and fiscal disparities, there are a variety of other revenue sources supporting general operations. Revenues that are budgeted to increase include licenses and permits, intergovernmental revenue, charges for service, fines and forfeitures, and investment income. The other two categories, miscellaneous and transfers, have been budgeted to decrease in 2025. As shown in the previous slide, the overall non-property tax revenues are proposed to decrease by approximately 4% from 2024. This is another look at the revenue by source, and this one also includes the tax levy and fiscal disparities. So you can see that 77% from the property taxes makes it the largest majority of the revenue that we use to fund our operations. The next largest being transfers from other funds at 9%. and approximately 4% each for intergovernmental revenues, licenses and permits, and charges for service. There are remaining three categories that make up less than 1% of the total revenues. Moving on to the expenditure budgets, overall the general fund expenditures have been budgeted to increase by 4.88% from 2024 and totals 19.8 million. With the exception of administration, community development, and engineering, all departmental budgets are proposed to increase. The increases are primarily driven by personnel costs across various departments, including the addition of new positions and contractual services. Some departments also see increases due to equipment replacement and maintenance needs. Another look at the expenditures, but by program area, so we'll summarize them a little bit more. The largest portion of the general funded operations, 42%, is budgeted for public safety, which includes both police and fire departments. Public works, shown in green, includes engineering, street maintenance, and snow removal, and totals nearly 16% of the total budgeted expenditures. General government, which includes administration, city council, human resources, elections, communications, and finance makes up almost 15% of the budget. Parks and Rec and transfers to other funds, each total approximately 10%. And community development, which accounts for planning and zoning, building inspections activities is 7%. These are some highlights of what is included in the 2025 budget. Specifically, there are some staffing additions. The budget includes three new positions, a change in parks position, and increased hours for the RRC Rambling River Center program assistant. The proposed budget includes a number of transfers. A few to note include a transfer from the closed bond funds to the 2022 A bond to partially pay for the debt. principal and interest, which thereby reduces the debt levy. Also built in are transfers from the general fund to fund a variety of major maintenance projects, including 267,000 for trails and needed maintenance at station one, by your station one. In the coming year, major projects will include street reconstruction along with mill and overlay. The purchase of major equipment is also proposed for 2025. Some of those items includes the leasing of police vehicles, the replacement of various aging vehicles and equipment, and software upgrades. With the exception of the CSO vehicle, the brine equipment, and the brush cat attachment that are listed here, all identified items are replacements of current aging equipment, is not additions to our current inventory. Earlier this evening on the consent agenda, the council accepted the 2025-2029 capital improvement plan. I wanna specify and emphasize that this is a planning document only, it's not a budget in and of itself. It's prepared by staff and is fundamental to the budget process. The plan addresses both immediate and long-term needs, including items such as the replacement of major equipment, park development, building improvements, and street reconstruction. A number of the items that were identified on the previous two slides are included in the amounts presented here for 2025. While the capital improvement plan is an ever evolving document, at this point in time, staff have identified capital projects and equipment that total more than 67 million that will need to be funded over the next five years. Again, I wanna emphasize that's an ever evolving document, it's not set in stone and will likely change multiple times over the course of those five years. In preparing for this presentation, I reviewed information on the Minnesota Department of Revenue's website, which indicated that the preliminary gross levies reported by all cities from across Minnesota was an average of 8.8% increase from 2024. As mentioned in an earlier slide, Farmington is proposing a 7.09% increase in the gross levy. Fiscal disparities revenue is subtracted from the gross levy to arrive at the net levy, which is the amount of taxes that property owners ultimately pay. The resulting net levy is an increase of 5.89% from 2024. The gross tax capacity is used to determine the tax rate after subtracting out the tax increment finance captured tax capacity and the city's contribution to fiscal disparities. To calculate the city's tax rate, we divide the net levy, which is the 14.8 million shown on the slide by the net tax capacity of 30.9 million to arrive at the tax rate of 47.861%. As shown on the last slide, the proposed 2025 tax rate is 47.861%. Tax rate represents the proportion of taxes paid in comparison to taxable property value. This slide shows a history of the city's tax rate over the last 10 years, which was as high as 59% in 2016, as low as 43% in 2023. The percentage of city taxes being paid by property owners in comparison to their property values is less today than it was in 2016. Information obtained from Dakota County Assessor's Office indicates that the average taxable market value of the city's residential homestead properties in Farmington was 345,000 at the beginning of 2024. This is a decrease of about 2% from the prior year. And just a note here that this shows the assessment year, so 2024, the assessment value in 2024 is used to calculate the 2025 taxes. The proposed levy impact on the average residential homestead property, which would have been previously valued at 351,000 last year, now decreased to 345,000, Residents can expect a $69 increase in their annual city, and this is just the city portion, property taxes are about $5.75 per month due to the proposed levy. To explain how the tax amount is calculated, you first multiply the taxable market value, so 345,000 by 1%, and then take that amount and multiply that by the tax rate. So for this example, 345,000, By 1% equals $3,454 times the tax rate of 47.861% gives you the $1,600. This slide shows the tax impact of all the taxing districts. So comparing the five years of distribution of property taxes has remained fairly consistent. The largest share around 44% in 2025 goes to the school district. This is followed by the city at approximately 38%, with the remaining portion allocated to Dakota County and various special districts. Adding together all the tax levies, this graph indicates that the average homeowner will experience a slight deduction in their overall tax bill. And just a note that these are amounts for 2025 at least estimated, based on what the preliminary levy was adopted by each of these taxing jurisdictions. So if they lower that, which they could, then the decrease would be even more. In addition to the general fund, which was the primary focus of tonight's presentation, it's worth mentioning that the city maintains a number of other funds for which budgets are adopted. Those funds are listed here. Action that is being requested tonight is to one, accept public input, if any, from property owners and attendants. Two, also adopt the resolution, improving the budgets and setting the final levy to be collected in 2025. So I hope this information was useful and helpful. That wraps up the presentation, but if there are any questions, I would do my best to address them. Thank you. **[00:15:30] Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Steve, any questions? No, just a couple of comments. Kim, I really appreciate the months and months of hard work, the collaboration across all the departments, and just a really nice presentation to kind of explain what's going on this year, so just wanted to thank you. **[00:15:45] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Katie? **[00:15:46] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** I have no questions. **[00:15:47] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nick? **[00:15:48] Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yeah, same comment. I mean, it's nice to see kind of this year how we've stayed on the low end of the countywide averages. I know I got mine, I think, last week or when they sent out the first preliminary. Excuse me. So it's nice to see us on the lower end. It doesn't look like there's any significant big ticket items that have caused us to split hairs this year. So I just kind of appreciate the diligence and the teamwork from everybody. **[00:16:15] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? **[00:16:16] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** No questions. Thank you. **[00:16:18] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** I don't have any questions for you either at this time. Because this is a public hearing, if there's any residents that want to come up and speak, **[00:16:30] Nate Ryan:** Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'd just like to point out that throughout the process of working with not only one, but two large scale industrial projects known as data centers, our property values, what you said, all of you were like, hey, your property values are gonna go up. Not only that, they stated that as well. But here you heard from your staff member that property values are going down. In fact, my property being close to the golf course, AKA data center, went down $7,000. So I don't know if that value is because of the project that they're proposing, but that's definitely, you know, just market conditions as well. Maybe, but I do know that there's a home for sale in our neighborhood that hasn't sold. And one of the primary concerns about that is because of a data center. Interesting, Katie, that you can sit there and shake your head, but you actually have no idea why property values went down. and its demand is still very high. There's still a lot of good interest rates that are out there, but it's just a direct, it's a direct eat into our equity that we have as homeowners. Not only that, my property taxes are actually going up in the city portion. My property taxes are proposed and based off of what she just said, they're actually gonna be the city portion, $2,434. So not only are they going up, which is, you know, $100 or whatever, you know, she said $5 a month. So pretty much a little bit more than that, but close to, I don't know what that is, $10 a month, somewhere in there, a little bit less, $8, something like that. But, you know, property taxes are going up. And I'm just curious why, if we're bringing in so many large-scale industrial projects, why they aren't going down. Matter of fact, Ms. Dean referenced in her meeting trying to get people on board that in Loudoun County, property taxes actually went down. She went further on to say that data centers and these types have invested broadly, was her wording, invested broadly in their communities and offered, built parks and built these things. So that is not in the developer agreement either. So there's no parks that's in there. There's nothing that's going to directly benefit the individual city, especially in the residents. And so what I'm looking for from you all is a property tax abatement in some way. If we're the ones who have to bear the burden, shouldn't we be the ones who get some benefit out of having to bear a burden for the entire city, having to live next door? So as these things get built and as these things come up, why can't you put it? in a developer agreement. Why can't you put it in your tax code that the folks who live closest to there get some type of tax refuge from that or tax abatement from that? So again, we're the ones who are bearing the burden by having this heavy industrial use come to our neighborhood. So why, I mean, I think that there should be something there. And again, taxes are, property values are declining. We're seeing that. It's proof is in the pudding in my property tax statement. So, It's there, and I truly believe that is probably a pretty fair market value to what's happening with our homes in those neighborhoods as well. So I would like to see a property tax adjustment for every single person who lives in executive estates on the other side of the golf course. You don't have anything to do with that, so I can't ask for that because they're Castle Rock. But anyone who lives close to there, who lives close to this mega data center, this heavy industrial use, this monster 750 megawatts worth of power, heavy industrial. **[00:19:40] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nate, this is a public hearing for... the tax levy, not for the project that's there. So if you wanna turn it into a statement about the project that's proposed in a later agenda item, then that can be handled offline. But this is a public hearing for the general tax levy. **[00:19:55] Nate Ryan:** Yeah, I appreciate your understanding, Mr. Mayor. And what I am specifically saying, again, is that given this heavy industrial use, it would be nice to have some type of a property tax abatement that goes in there. So I think that's something that, again, if we're gonna have to bear the burden of this, we could have. So, um, **[00:20:15] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** Mr. Mayor, may I respond with a couple of clarifying things on some things that, so as a former city council member too, I wanted to clarify this cause I thought you would understand this as well, but your assessment was done earlier this year prior to any development being approved in town. So the assessment was based on current conditions when that occurred earlier this year, and that would be the same for everybody in the community. Those assessments are done by the County and all question, questions related to the assessment of your property and the property value could be directed to the county for those questions. Also to clarify then, none of the impact of the development would be seen until future tax years. And so that's why there would be no impact on it going into 2025 because none of that development has come into fruition yet into the city, into this budget for considerations. Earlier, what was discussed in terms of the tax rate going down was all encompassing of all of the different taxes in the community, including the school district, the county, the city, and other special assessments in the area. So that is the difference in some of those things I just wanted to point out. Thank you. **[00:21:20] Nate Ryan:** I appreciate that, Katie, and that makes sense because that's when the property was proposed back in April of this year. It was probably right about the same time that they were looking at property values. So, you know I don't know exactly when but you seem to know so do you know when they looked at our property values? **[00:21:35] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** That question could be directed to the county who does the assessments. **[00:21:40] Nate Ryan:** So you're not sure, you're not aware. **[00:21:42] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** They're done earlier in the year, which is why you get your statement before it even comes out in the fall. So those questions can be directed to them and they can have an assessor come out and give you more commentary on where the number comes from. **[00:21:55] Nate Ryan:** It says right here in my property tax statement that I'm supposed to come here to this meeting. So it says that on December 2nd at 7 p.m., this is where I'm supposed to come to voice concerns about taxes, city taxes. **[00:22:10] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** The city taxes, not the value of your home, though. **[00:22:13] Nate Ryan:** Right, so the value of the home is directly correlated to the city tax amount. In addition to that, what you had said is that there's no ramifications for anything happening in going this year, 2024, aka next year to 2025. If I read the developer agreement tonight correctly, you're gonna get a check for $580,000 this evening. That's what you're proposing. That's what you want. So to sit there and say that there's no direct tax implication, I think is disingenuous at minimum, but there is a tax, there is a tax reference to what's happening this evening. And again, if that's not taking place, that's fantastic. And I'm all for paying a little bit more in taxes if you're gonna table this item and not take their $500,000 tonight. But again, I just hope that in the future, and I would really hope that this council recognizes the burden that the citizens carry having this project come and the tax ramifications, the tax windfall that you could potentially give those who are burdened. So thank you for your time. **[00:23:15] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Again, this is a public hearing. If there's anyone else that would wish to speak, come up at this time. All right, seeing none at this time, I will close the public hearing then. Steve, any other questions or statements, comments for Kim? **[00:23:30] Councilmember Steve Wilson:** I don't wanna add controversy to the mix, but I did just quick up, pull out my property tax statement. My personal home value dropped by 8,400 this year. So, and I live a number of miles from the development. So my own, looking at it right here, pointing out to the meeting tonight, a drop from what it is to 8,400 lower than that. And I'm assuming that Dakota County assesses that at some point during the year. But beyond that, like I said before, really appreciate Kim's hard work. I know there's a lot of collaboration. There's probably a little bit of fist fighting in terms of which department's going to kind of do this. But I think in the end, it always becomes a really nice product. So thank you. **[00:24:10] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Katie? **[00:24:11] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** No further questions. **[00:24:12] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? **[00:24:13] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** No. **[00:24:14] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Again, just to reiterate a little bit what Steve said, thank you to Kim and the team and Lynn for the budget process, again, this year being very streamlined and getting us through some humps from the last few years with Emil Dashboard and having to secure some outside funding sources via grants to help continue with that work and not be on the burden of the taxpayers in town. But overall, I'm satisfied with where council ultimately fell. Any increase is not pleasant, but less than 6% is palatable. specifically because our tax rate stayed under 50% and it took so long to get it to that point. But we do, as you stated with the 25 to 29 capital improvement plan, we do have some hard discussions over the next few years and we can't have that continue to be on the backs of our taxpayers. So I appreciate all the work that everyone put in for this year. With that, I would seek a motion to approve Resolution 2024, TAC 110, adopting the 2025 budget and setting the final tax levy collectible in 2025. **[00:25:20] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Motion to approve. **[00:25:21] Councilmember Nick Lien:** Second. **[00:25:22] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Holly, second by Nick. Call the roll, please. **[00:25:25] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Council Member Bernatz. **[00:25:26] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. **[00:25:27] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Council Member Lien. **[00:25:28] Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. **[00:25:29] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Council Member Wilson. **[00:25:30] Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yes. **[00:25:31] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Council Member Bernhjelm. **[00:25:32] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** Yes. **[00:25:33] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt. **[00:25:34] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. Next item on our agenda is 12-1, the development contract for the Farmington Technology Park. **[00:25:40] Tony Wippler (Planning Manager):** Good evening mayor council members before you this evening is the development contract for the farmington technology park. As council is aware, the final plat for this development was approved on November 18th of this year. In the condition of that approval was that a development contract between the developer and the City of Farmington be executed and fees and securities be paid. within your packet there is a contract this contract spells out certain requirements for the development of the land this includes timelines for completing the planning process defining development charges and fees addressing construction of public infrastructure that is required to serve the development together with the securities that we would receive to ensure that those public infrastructure are put in place correctly and to our liking. The developer has reviewed the attached contract and they have found it acceptable. We will be collecting a cash in lieu for park dedication with this proposal. That's what we've said all along. And that amount will be $569,718.62. Other normal fees that we typically collect with our development contract will be collected as part of the future site plans and site improvement plan agreements that we will have with the future end user. We have We've done a lot of work with this development contract, have gone back and forth with the developer on a number of issues. We've worked with our city attorney on it, and we've come to this agreement that we feel comfortable with. So with that, the action that's requested this evening is to adopt resolution number 2024, TAC 111, approving the Farmington Technology Park development contract and authorizing its execution. Thank you. **[00:27:30] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Steve, any questions? **[00:27:31] Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Yeah, Tony. On the landscaping portion, I talked to Deanna a little bit about this earlier. Maybe more of a recommendation that doesn't maybe have as much to do with this particular project, but it's sort of related. It would be nice to see a little bit more of a detailed landscaping plan, maybe in our city code as it relates to tree preservation, tree identification. tree counting or whatever the case might be. **[00:27:50] Tony Wippler:** And we do have, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but we do have a woodland and tree preservation ordinance that they'll have to follow as part of the site plan. **[00:27:57] Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Okay. And I just want to make sure that we have, you know, if there needs to be any tightening up or reevaluation of that as it relates to numbers of certain types of trees per square foot, linear foot, et cetera. So that's all I have. **[00:28:10] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Katie? Any questions? **[00:28:12] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** No, I have no questions. **[00:28:13] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nick, any questions? **[00:28:14] Councilmember Nick Lien:** I just have, I guess, can you just, it's spelled out in here in various spots, but I just want to understand, or at least get clarifying and kind of plain English, in the scenario where this development contract is approved but then tracked as an entity goes out of business, I was like, no, it would, but should such a thing happen, do the development rights revert back to the city or do they, they follow the land, right? Not the developer. **[00:28:35] Tony Wippler:** The contract does get recorded against the land. **[00:28:37] Councilmember Nick Lien:** Okay. Perfect. Thank you. That's my question. **[00:28:40] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? **[00:28:41] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** I guess my question, either a clarifying point for you, Tony, or Kristen, if you wanted to speak on it. I know this was something that I had brought up in a conversation, and obviously it was brought up by a citizen and citizen comments having to do with the capacity requirements. My understanding for daily peak flow is that that's what the capacity needs to be, not what the daily flow actually is. Can you confirm that? Or John, even. **[00:29:10] Jake Steen (Larkin Hoffman):** Yeah. Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. Jake Steen with Larkin Hoffman. You're exactly correct. That is the peak capacity, as we've all kind of learned through this process. Data centers use water for cooling. It is anticipated that, realistically, that peak capacity is the one peak. day or two days a year. So it is not a, by no means is it a consistent flow. And we would be absolutely held to any appropriation permits, which would have a maximum over the year. **[00:29:40] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Thank you for clarifying. That was my only comment inside there, or actually question as it pertained to the It pertains to the infrastructure and the build out that it has to have a peak capacity with anticipated demand, but at the end of the day, the DNR is going to set the appropriations permit for annual usage and it's the developer or the end user can't circumvent that. **[00:30:00] Jake Steen:** Correct. There's regulations in place to ensure that that doesn't happen. **[00:30:05] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** The other thing that I put in there or that I noted was the and this is fairly standard because I know that we don't have a published noise ordinance or quiet hours, but seven to seven, Monday through Friday, eight to five on Saturday, and Sunday and holiday is not allowed. Is there ever a circumstance, be it timeline of the project, somebody gets behind, weather, whatever it may be, where a developer's gonna come to us and say, hey, we really need to get back on track. we need to work on that Sunday or that holiday. Is that something that ever comes up or is this a hard and fast? **[00:30:40] Tony Wippler:** We have had certain circumstances. It doesn't happen that often, but if we do get that request, we usually funnel it through engineering, community development, and determine whether or not that's something we can work with. Yes, we have had certain instances where that has come up and we have worked within reason with developers. **[00:31:00] Leah Koch (City Attorney):** If I can add, in that section you're reading, it does say any deviations from the above hours are subject to the approval of the city engineer. So that's provided for in the contract too. **[00:31:10] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** So as long as we make sure that with reasonable amount of certainty that if we see situations coming up where that could be possible that we're communicating effectively to the adjacent property owners and those affected. **[00:31:20] Tony Wippler:** Absolutely. **[00:31:22] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right. Outside of that, I don't have any questions. **[00:31:25] John Powell (Public Works Director / City Engineer):** Mr. Mayor? **[00:31:26] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Sir. **[00:31:27] John Powell:** I would just add that as Tony mentioned, many times it's related to weather and they're trying to complete a key infrastructure element in advantageous weather conditions or they're trying to make up time due to you know, rainy weather or something like that. And we have these same requirements on our city contracts as well as the development contracts. **[00:31:45] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** All right, thank you. Any other questions or comments? All right, seeing none, then I would seek a motion to adopt resolution 2024, TAC 111, approving the Farmington Technology Park development contract and authorize its execution. **[00:32:00] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** Motion to approve. **[00:32:01] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Katie. **[00:32:02] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Second. **[00:32:03] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Second by Holly. Call the roll please. **[00:32:05] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Lien. **[00:32:06] Councilmember Nick Lien:** Yes. **[00:32:07] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Wilson. **[00:32:08] Councilmember Steve Wilson:** No. **[00:32:09] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernhjelm. **[00:32:10] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** Yes. **[00:32:11] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Mayor Hoyt. **[00:32:12] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Yes. **[00:32:13] City Clerk Shirley Buecksler:** Councilmember Bernatz. **[00:32:14] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** Yes. **[00:32:15] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, Tony. **[00:32:16] Tony Wippler:** Thank you. **[00:32:17] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Roundtable, Leah. **[00:32:18] Leah Koch (City Attorney):** Yes, just briefly, judicial news, I guess. Jennifer Frisch was appointed as the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. at the end of November. So for those that don't know, the Court of Appeals is a statewide office situation. So that's just a little civics lesson for today. That's all. Thank you. **[00:32:35] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Nick? **[00:32:36] Councilmember Nick Lien:** It's obviously the Christmas season. I know you all have various different things you want to talk about, so I won't try and steal anybody's thunder, and I'll just give it to you. **[00:32:45] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Holly? **[00:32:46] Councilmember Holly Bernatz:** I actually kind of feel the same way. It's an exciting day coming up in a couple weeks, but I'm sure Chief will talk about that and... I'll just keep passing along. **[00:33:00] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Katie? **[00:33:01] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** Well, I'll give a shout out to Holly in the video she shared earlier, though, that I posted on the community pages. We did get some coverage on Twin Cities Live for some of our lights going on throughout the community and a shout out for Toys for Town. So make sure to check that out. **[00:33:20] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Steve? No comments tonight? I would like to congratulate Heath Walker on his fire marshal promotion. Heath is a paid on call firefighter and it's exciting when we can promote within. So congratulations to Heath. And then also this Friday or Saturday at 7 p.m. we have our first lighted holiday parade. So we have 25 entries in the parade. Starts at 7 p.m. and after the parade there's going to be some fire pits over in front of the bakery and between the bakery and homestead and some music for some celebration. So please join us. Thank you. Thank you. Kelly? **[00:34:00] Kelly Siltman (Parks & Recreation):** The holiday lights tour started today. We have 21 houses on the tour, plus a cul-de-sac, and that cul-de-sac was the one featured on Twin Cities Live today, so shout out to them. The list is posted on social media, will be posted on the city's website as well soon. Saturday, Secret Holiday Shop from 9 to noon, new location this year with the Rambling River Center under renovations. It will be here at City Hall, so Secret Holiday Shop is Saturday here at City Hall. Hope to see you there. **[00:34:30] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Kim? **[00:34:31] Kim Sommerland:** This may be a little bit out of order, but just regarding the comments made for the public hearing, I did look up to see when the assessments are made, and those are done as of January 2nd for the taxes payable the next year. So as of January 2nd, 2024, for taxes payable 2025. Other than that, I have no other comment. Thank you. **[00:34:55] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Chief? **[00:34:56] Fire Chief Matthew Price:** I'll also congratulate Heath Walker He was a phenomenal candidate. He's gonna be a tremendous asset to the fire department. He brings 17 years of experience here with Farmington. So he's kind of popping in and out of the office this week. His official start date will be next Monday, December 9th. Thank you. **[00:35:15] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Chief? **[00:35:16] Police Chief Nate Siem:** Fine, I'll talk about Toys for Town. We are in our last week of accepting registrations. Registrations for the program closes this Friday. We'll be out collecting from our donations, our toy donation sites next week, leading up to Saturday, the 14th, for wrapping day at the high school. Nine to noon, many hands make light work, so if you know anybody that really needs a moving experience, I would recommend coming out to the high school on the 14th at nine o'clock. It's a really cool event. recharge your batteries a little bit for sure. Thank you. **[00:35:50] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** John? **[00:35:51] John Powell:** Thank you Mayor and City Council members. One thing to mention is we've had a tremendous amount of fiber installation activity in the city this year. In addition to HPC, we've had other carriers come in with their contractors. HPC is done with their disruptive work, their boring and excavations, and so they'll They're pulling fiber and making connections and splices and things. And so they're close to wrapping up. And the other major carriers are coming down to the point where they're going to be seizing operations for the season because during snow and ice season, we don't want activities in the boulevard, materials stored, things like that. So I want to thank all the residents for their patience this year. It's very disruptive activity. People go to great lengths to take care of their yards and maintain their property and to have a contractor come in and disrupt it is very concerning sometimes, but particularly HBC to their credit and their contractors, they are very responsive to our residents and taking care of any issues that arise. The other thing I would mention, we're in the process of closing out 2024 projects and we do have quite a few reports we make to governmental agencies, the DNR, Met Council, Dakota County. So we're kind of in the process where we're working on these year end reports. And finally, Water Board voted to cancel their December meeting. So there will be no Water Board meeting this month. Thank you. **[00:37:10] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Thank you, sir. That was a good segue to what I wanted to follow up on because I won't be able to be there on Thursday. I wanted to thank everybody who served on our boards and commissions this past year. These are appointed positions by the council and those folks do a tremendous amount of work on behalf of residents, several meetings, reviewing a lot of things for us, giving recommendations, and sometimes their work goes unrecognized and they aren't as visible, but they do a great job. they could do a great job for us. So thanks to all of those who served in the last year and we will be doing interviews for those open seats coming up in a couple weeks. Thank you. The only thing to add on top of all of that is, I think it was last weekend I was driving down 195th and I noticed skim ice for the first time. And it's a reminder that I know our kiddos like to skate out on the stormwater ponds and the early ice fishing they wanna get out. The ice isn't thick. Just wait. It's gonna get cold soon enough and the ice will thicken up. But I know the kiddos are eager to get out there and start playing hockey on the ponds and it's not quite time yet. And Chief, your team will be out there doing some water rescue stuff typically. Once the ice gets on, they start their cold water rescue training. Normally January is when we start doing it. January. And we're always prepared. Yeah. So just keep the kiddos off the ice and the adults that want to fish, please. We don't need any unnecessary issues this early in the season. With that, I look for a motion to adjourn. **[00:38:40] Councilmember Steve Wilson:** Motion to adjourn. **[00:38:41] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Motion by Steve. **[00:38:42] Councilmember Katie Bernhjelm:** Second. **[00:38:43] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** Second by Katie. All in favor say aye. **[00:38:45] All:** Aye. **[00:38:47] Mayor Joshua Hoyt:** We're adjourned at 7:47.