This transcript features Mayor Jeff Weisensel presiding, with contributions from Councilmembers Essler, Klimpel, and Theisen. Note that Councilmember Freske appears to be absent as she is not called during the roll calls. Key staff speakers include Logan Martin (City Administrator), Jane Baron (Storm Water Specialist), Violet Penman (Solid Waste and Recycling Coordinator), and Dan Schultz (Parks and Recreation Director). [0:00] [Music] [1:09] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** weather I'm like no I'm going to go I'm getting out when I can I'm going to get out of here I'm Clos was really proud to see you down [Music] there good evening welcome to the regular city council meeting for Tuesday January 21st 1 2025 please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all good evening and welcome we'll start [1:54] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** out uh with the agenda or the any additions or Corrections no sir seeing none I'll move the agenda is there a second second all in favor signify by saying I I I opposed we have an agenda first item up uh presentations proclamations and acknowledgements we have none this evening response to public comment from previous public comments we have none this evening and the first item is our public comment anyone wishing to speak to the council uh or comment may do so at this time please come to the podium state your name and address and your question or [2:39] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** comment all right seeing no one at this time that will close the public comment portion of the meeting we'll move on to the consent agenda item six we have bills listing minutes for our January 7th regular and work session uh the award to Brockway Pond contract deed Redevelopment Grant resolution of support for the Falcon project the 2025 joint Powers agreement Solid Waste and Recycling coord coordinator uh that we have with uh besides Rosemont Hastings and Farmington renewal of the Schaefer Contracting small scale renewal of Dakota Aggregates large scale mineral renewal of Carl bolander and Sun small scale and I got another one in here [3:27] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** vestra and stone X LLC for renewal of its small scale mineral extraction permits we have approval for Council travel renewal of the semstone interim use permits for its primary and seasonal concrete facilities approval entry into jpa for biscan and CS uh while County Road 42 right of way purchase this is for the Middle School uh that will be coming in 2027 the amendment to the 2025 schedule of rates in fees this was due to the uh recent State search charges that were added to US city code amendments administrative citation fees for code enforcement donation acceptance from [4:12] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Kaiser manufacturing the amount of $1,860 for um uh clothing expenses related to patches for our Police Department pay Equity compliance report receiving that uh for Council are there anyone wishing any council member wishing to pull any of these items for further discussion or comment uh yep uh want to pull item q q okay P any other items all right so uh would someone like to move the consent agenda items a through q a well a through p q [4:58] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** being uh held for further discussion so moved is there a second **Councilmember Tami Klimpel:** second **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** I have a motion by Tyson second by cimple roll please **Staff:** esler **Councilmember Paul Essler:** I **Staff:** limle **Councilmember Tami Klimpel:** I **Staff:** wisen Cel **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** I **Staff:** Tyson **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** I **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** uh consent agenda items a through P are approved 5 40 and we'll move to pay Equity compliance report Q council member esler [5:44] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** yeah I just wanted to pay uh I wanted to pull this one the pay pay Equity compliance report uh there were four items we do there's a there's a compliance test on on four of them uh the fourth one um we didn't pass so wanted to get a little bit of understanding of what what what are the ramifications what are the consequences what what what does that mean **Logan Martin (City Administrator):** yeah thank you members of the council I can take a stab at that one and so just by way of background every three years the city is required to submit a a pay Equity report to the Minnesota Office of Management and budget um in its analysis to ensure that pay classes are staying um competitive and and Equitable across gender types and so um the long and short of it is um the the fourth test there looks at uh things like longevity pay ranges salary scales things of that nature and um we have had some long-term requirements or long-term retirements from um folks in high ranking positions that were of of of the female gender um that have put us in the challenging spot with that however we've done um is [6:31] **Logan Martin:** submitted a letter and a report or response back I should say to the Office of Management and budget to kind of talk about the reasons why we believe that we're we're we've made our correct effort there in compliance with the law we just don't have the ability to make the numbers eek out the way they're supposed to um and a lot of it is connected also to um the changes driven by our recent compensation studies so we broadened out the pay ranges we increased the amount of steps across the pay structure from 6 to 8 folks are reaching their TOP Step at a later time two extra years and so um to your question on ramifications there there's um there are some daily penalties that that could be um problematic if they were imposed we don't expect them to be imposed by the state of Minnesota and we certainly be be talking through that [7:17] **Logan Martin:** with them we believe that our um submission of our logic behind why we can't meet that test is is very sound and will be well well received by the state and it really becomes kind of a discussion and a negot iation conversation with the state to let them understand the Nuance of a Rosemount specific situation um so beyond a penalty um you could be um not eligible for some State funding of which we don't utilize really anyway um so uh very small um challenge there but uh something that we we want to come into compliance with or or at least explain the reason why we just physically can't change the way our city is structured and that's just the reality of how we're structured so nothing nefarious that we're doing but just the reality of of the boots on the ground situation in Rosemont so you submit the response and [8:04] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** they say thank you they check their box that we've responded and I think the response will open up a conversation to say you know okay most are submitted and it's kind of just you know pass through Ros Mon's going to take some conversation and some time and so then we'll engage in that conversation and then what actions they'll talk about next steps right **Logan Martin:** yeah the state will help uh guide us through next steps they've been in these situations before they can help us come to compliance and and uh and meet the number **Councilmember Paul Essler:** great all right thank you yeah would you like to move the action for the pay Equity compliance report uh somebody can go ahead **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** I I'll make a motion to approve the 2025 pay Equity compliance report for 2024 compliance is there a second [8:51] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** second **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** have a motion by Tyson second by esler rooll please **Staff:** clle **Councilmember Tami Klimpel:** I **Staff:** wisen Cel **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** I **Staff:** Tyson **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** I **Staff:** esler **Councilmember Paul Essler:** I **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** that uh completes six Q 40 approved and completes all of six item six we'll move on to item seven public hearings which we have none this evening we'll move to eight for unfinished business which is the report on the annual evaluation for the city administrator this is a share out of a closed door session that we had with Mr Martin would you like to provide your your evaluation [9:37] **Logan Martin:** I would love to provide my evaluation thank you mayor members of the council uh yeah as the mayor mentioned uh the the city council met in Clos session uh two weeks ago and and so Minnesota State Statute 13d requires that we would submit a um summary of the um the conclusions reached at that Clos session and so I will say that we had a great conversation uh about my 2024 performance here at the city um really uh substantial conversation a lot of kind of wide ranging topics were covered I appreciated the council's feedback so HR manager Jamie Isaac provided each Council M with an ability to submit a uh a digital survey of my performance review uh that was completed and as shown in the package here we've got seven areas of performance um that I was graded on on a scale of 1 to five and so good numbers there and we kind of compared those back um since my tenure here starting in 2017 and have seen [10:24] **Logan Martin:** growth um across uh pretty much all those categories and so like I said uh look forward to I look forward to the conversation every year appreciated the feedback from the council it's very valuable to me and and shared out with the team as well some really positive feedback the council provided of their pleasure with how this staff is performing and and the success that has been seen across the city and it's not it's not a me thing it's a it's a we thing and this is a great a great team and and and to that end we'll we'll talk about that again at the goal setting session in a couple weeks but um positive uh conversation positive result and and can uh talk about it further if you'd like **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** great any comments or follow-ups from the council [11:11] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** yeah I I I I think the scores the scores that are reflected here obviously reflect the the good Sol of work that you do uh the other um trending the trending is also pretty amazing like every year it uh ticks up I I I get it you're hedging you you don't want to show that because you may have a dip uh which you don't want to show that some year in the future that's right that's right um but no I in all seriousness I mean you've done a tremendous job you've you've uh recruited Ed you've trained you've retained uh top talent uh in in all the Departments uh you've got an incredible team working working along with you and we you make our job much easier thank you appreciate it yep [11:58] **Councilmember Tami Klimpel:** yeah and I'll just add um obviously as a resident in the city and a council member we all see how much is happening here in Rosemont and we know that it is an exceptional body of work um not only to make normal happen uh but to also be looking out for the future of the city and so really appreciative of the relationship that you and the staff have with us and and we know that the staff relationships come it come kind of comes from the top so thank you for a job well done Logan appreciate that thank you [12:44] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** yeah I mean once again we're just going to pile on here but you know one of the highest scores you had was professional and personal development and I think it goes back to I think you kind of alluded to it the culture that you've set not only with you and your staff but your directors and how that emulates all the way down to all the all the different staff that we have working for the city so it starts with you and and it just is it's so fun to see how well everybody works well together and then also you know as far as working with Council the collaboration is is is really positive so it is we appreci continue continue the the great work **Logan Martin:** thank you so much y both ways for sure [13:30] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** I just wanted to uh just confirm uh I think I saw this on uh uh LinkedIn but you are starting your eighth year now here at the city ninth year so you've completed eight years now in ninth and uh you're still under 30 right I'm not under 30 years old no no I'm not the great haers are coming in they're starting to come through and rightly so with some of the projects and stuff we have no I just I recall I recall being on the uh on council at the time that uh we made that selection and uh very pleased uh with the and you voted against him no I didn't actually hard to believe isn't it against his his better judgment my better judgment um thought you're going to fess up no we uh I think the council at that time um saw the potential and uh we're seeing it now uh play out as our uh our city and everything is growing as it is so right choice at the right time **Logan Martin:** appreciate that that means a lot thank you [14:19] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** and so with that uh we have no formal action to take other than uh discuss those results and and accept that so which we have done and so that'll complete item number eight we'll move on to new business the Rosemont sustainable purchasing framework forward **Jane Baron (Storm Water Specialist):** apologize um hello I'm Jane Baron I'm the storm water specialist here at the city and then this is violet Penman our Solid Waste and Recycling coordinator and um we're just going to have this quick presentation before our discussion I'm going to give a really quick overview of um kind of how we got to this uh policy and then um Violet's going to talk about the policy itself in further detail so um Rosemount has been a greenstep city since 2012 um green step cities is a challenge recognition and assistance um program that aims at [15:07] **Jane Baron:** helping cities meet their sustainability and quality of life goals participating communities uh Implement a series of best Practice Act activities um to move up a step um currently uh the city of Rosemount is at at step two of five and the council in the past had indicated that they would like to move up to step three at some point in the future that desire to move up a step had been um communicated to the environment and sustainability commission um they did a review and um one of the actions that the city is missing that is required for us to move up to step step three is um best practice action 15.1 adopt a sustainable purchasing policy so um commissioner Burman uh she put together the initial draft of the sustainable purchasing framework policy um then Violet uh she went on to tweak the draft and from there uh department heads took a review and we came up with the final draft that you're seeing before you [16:43] **Violet Penman (Solid Waste and Recycling Coordinator):** today all right thank you for that background Jean um diving into the actual contents of the policy it's kind of structured into four distinct purchasing areas to maximize impact and each of these has a supporting certification or a clear standard that makes purchasing a little bit easier for our staff here at Rosemount so the first standard that we're trying to reach is the recycled paper content guidelines um and technically this is a state statute um and these content guidelines include a 30% postc consumer recycled content for copy paper and a 10% postc consumer recycled content for office and printing paper um and printing paper would include publication paper for our newsletter Park and R br Etc um second is Energy savings through the purchase of energy STAR certified products um and we have all of our excuse me certification logos up here on the screen I'm sure we've all kind of seen these before at least one of these energy Stars probably our most common um and then third purchasing area is through water saving products through water sense certification um and examples of these would be lowf flow fixture fixtures and efficient irrigation systems um lastly is toxicity reduction through cleaning products that meet eco-friendly certifications such as green seal EPA saer Choice um etc etc when those products are available and effective um [18:15] **Violet Penman:** and especially with these cleaning products these standards are really beneficial to staff to make sure that they are reducing the amount of toxicity that staff may be exposed to in their job environment so beyond actual purchasing aspects those four sort of main areas here um we have a couple of other reduction strategies to help reduce waste at the source so the first one is decreasing paper use and requiring that all communication be electronic IE emails or as you see me and Jane are using our phones today for our notes um when that's possible um another is repairing products and supplies to extend the usability um that really applies to electronics fixing them where we're able too um lastly is choosing reusable recyclable and compostable products when we're able to at City sponsored meetings and functions um so a couple of other things to note about this policy here is that contractors are not subject to this so this wouldn't apply to any sort of road projects any sort of Building Construction nothing like that it's all internal for our use um excuse me and then products cannot be 10% more than and the cost of their non non-sustainable Alternatives so we can't be spending 50% more on something that's technically sustainable just because it's not cost effective for us so as far as implementation um implementation will consist of sending this to department [19:46] **Violet Penman:** heads for staff distribution and then we're kind of going to go from there um it's important to note that this policy is a basic starting point a Launchpad that allows us to evaluate opportunities and adapt through time as our goals change and as the sort of environment of sustainability changes as well so I'll turn it back over to Jean um just following your discussion uh we asked that you uh approve a motion or have a motion to approve the environment and sustainability framework policy um any questions **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** okay um just one quick one obviously you know when a policy goes in place then what's the plan for kind of monitoring quote unquote compliance or adoption of the new the new practice **Jane Baron:** with this being new to staff um I don't know that we've gotten that far yet right now we're more worried about implementation um and and getting the roll out for it um the as far as purchasing there's most of our products are purchased through one particular vendor and there actually is a really easy way to kind of look up to see if products qualify so that should be pretty easy and then the water sense and the the uh Energy Star Products I think we generally purchased those already anyway um so I think we're a good ways there already **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** okay thank you other questions comments [21:18] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** uh I would like to ask uh so this is a step towards I think that next the next step uh step three uh are there any other open items um Council should be aware of that might be coming or is this is this the thing that gets us to step three **Jane Baron:** no we have additional actions and activities that we have to implement I don't have a detailed accounting right now Community Development is the department that does the primary reporting on this the environment and sustainability commission though did a year or two ago um go through a thorough review of sort of what we need to do and so we do have that information um if we want to sort of pursue other activities this particular action was um easy for the commission to take on themselves um as as we indicated one of the Commissioners actually came up with the initial draft and so um that that kind of made it maybe a little bit easier and and gave staff a good start I think on this one [22:50] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** no I uh I think that's a good point I I appreciate uh I know we've we struggled a little bit with um I guess Focus maybe there was all kinds of ideas all kinds of things and trying to get somewhere and this is something concrete that uh uh certainly reinforces our our commitment to the the environment as well as um you know moving up I can think trying to be a a little better City Corporate partner in uh in the environment so with that any other questions all right would anyone like to move the uh recommended action **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** I'll move to approve the sustainable purchasing framework policy **Councilmember Tami Klimpel:** second **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** I have a motion by clle second by Tyson roll please **Staff:** wisell **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** I **Staff:** Tyson **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** i **Staff:** esler **Councilmember Paul Essler:** i **Staff:** clle **Councilmember Tami Klimpel:** i [23:39] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** and we now have a sustainable purchasing framework in place 4 Z thank you thank you nice job everyone recognizing Miss Burman also out there from the the committee commission we'll move on to announcements uh first first item up City staff updates **Logan Martin:** thank you members of council uh just a couple quick items tonight one I just wanted to let the public know uh Council will be meeting on Thursday January 30th with uh leadership team to uh work towards the next uh annual goal setting session so we adopted our five-year strategic plan last year so we're in year two of our strategic plan um but this is a chance to kind of hone in and tune up that that the uh initiatives for 2025 2026 confirm that we're all on the same page and then continue to March forward so always look forward to that every year it's kind of how we kick off the year each year and just wanted to make sure the public knew that that's a thing we do every year and continue to do uh yet again this year so and then also Parkson Rec director Schultz is here for an update as well [25:11] **Dan Schultz (Parks and Recreation Director):** yeah Mr Mayor and council members uh just as an update to the community and also to the uh council members and mayor we're going to be having an openhouse meeting on Tuesday January 28th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Ros Mount steeple Center and we're actually going to be discussing two Trail projects so the first one we're going to be discussing um even though these are going to happen at the same time in the same room we're going to kind of split the room in half it will be uh discussing the trail project along the Dunmore uh neighborhood on the east side along Highway 3 um there's a Greenway that runs through there um and so we want to have a neighborhood meeting just to talk about the project what what people can can expect um the city does have an easement that was given to the city for the trail construction but you know a lot of these residents are moving in um some of them have already lived there a lot of them we do know are familiar with the easement but we just want to have one more discussion with them show them you know 90% PL so they can kind of see what the impacts might be to the area where they live uh so that's the first project we're discussing the second one is the Bon a path tra uh project um so that would be the second project we're discussing during this meeting same thing there you know we have a long stretch um of the trail that will be in the park and then the second stretch of the trail actually backs up to a lot of people's homes again we're going to be in the right of way so we're not going to be impeding on any private properties we're not going to be uh impacting their landscaping and things like that it's just that we want to have that neighborhood open house to kind of share with them what the plans look like what the timing is and just see if they have any questions before we get uh any further with the plans that we're working on for this so that is the update thank you [26:44] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** any questions for staff uh anything from the council share out anything otherwise we'll move on to 10B up upcoming community calendar we have a youth commission meeting uh tomorrow tomorrow January 22nd at 3:45 to 4:45 at the steeple Center The Parks and Recreation Commission meeting January 27th which was just noted well that that's a separate that's the commission the 28th is for the uh Trails the next evening Planning Commission will be on January 28th here at City Halls from 6:30 to 7:30 uh as earlier mentioned the city council special meeting on January 30th from 3:00 to 7:00 for for goal setting updates and then the next city council work session uh is February 4th from 5: to 7:00 p.m. followed by the city council meeting from 7: to 8:00 p.m. here at City Hall and that other than I just have a quick note for Council as a reminder this Friday we have a municipal legislative commission uh breakfast uh up in Inver Grove uh Veteran Center so at 8:00 so with that if is there any other business to come before Council seeing none uh I move to adjourn is there a second second second all in favor signify by saying I I I we are adjourned thank you [28:17] [Music]