Based on the city official list provided and the context of the meeting, here is the transcribed townhall with speaker names added. [0:00] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** The time being 7:00, we call the Hastings City Council meeting to order. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. [Pledge of Allegiance]. Welcome, and let the role reflect that we have a full quorum at this time. Council and visitors, we would like to do a moment of silence for Councilmember Richard Bond, who was a councilmember back in the '80s and he has recently passed, so please allow a moment of silence. [0:45] (Moment of silence) [1:04] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Thank you. And Richard's sons are in the back row along with his wife, and we just want to give you our sympathies for your loss. [1:10] **Lisa Leifeld (Councilmember):** Mayor, can I say something? [1:11] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Sure, Councilmember Leifeld. [1:12] **Lisa Leifeld (Councilmember):** Thank you, your honor. I just want to point out that my very, very first political campaign came in the '80s when Mr. Bond, as we called him in the neighborhood, was running for City Council. I remember handing out literature door-to-door, and I remember the first campaign he ran, he didn't win. I remember his grace in that, and he ran again, and guess what? He won the next time. Steve is an old friend of mine; his wife, Mindy, and I spent many years on the phone and in conversation with Mr. Bond, and I just—he'll be greatly missed. He liked to say that I learned my winning campaign from his strategies. [1:51] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Thank you, Councilmember Leifeld. Tonight we have a special night—kind of a bittersweet evening. One of our longtime Public Works employees is leaving: Mark Schoeberl, after 38 years. Mark, we would like to honor you with a proclamation, starting with Councilmember Pemble. [2:15] **Dave Pemble (Councilmember):** Whereas Mark Schoeberl is retiring on July 31st, 2024, having served the City of Hastings for 38 years; and whereas Mark's institutional knowledge and expertise in all things mechanical, specifically fleet management, lighting systems, and snowplowing operations, has made him the go-to person in these areas of Public Works; and whereas Mark's depth of knowledge of all things Hastings is beyond compare, and it was substantiated by the numerous community events, such as Machinery Hill, he championed for Public Works; and whereas Mark's care factor and passion to his community set the standard and expectation of our operators; and whereas Mark's can-do demeanor was appreciated and brought success in times of emergency and critical consequence; and whereas Mark's leadership and, most importantly, mentorship has been contagious throughout the department over the years to inspire others to do the right thing in the Public Works profession; therefore be it resolved, the Hastings City Council hereby recognizes Mark Schoeberl for his dedication and commitment to the City of Hastings. [3:52] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Council, and with that, I'm going to have Ryan Stempski come up. Thanks, Mark. You can just take a seat—make him stand up there, come on! I think we should put him right in the middle, right in the center. [4:03] **Ryan Stempski (Public Works Director):** Uh, thank you Council for that Proclamation. It has been a joy being a Public Works Director with Mark Schoeberl at the helm. I'll tell you, and Nick, our predecessor, is here tonight as well, it just shows you how he made our jobs easier. The "all things mechanical" and fleet management—that’s such an important role that we could trust Mark's guidance and expertise in, and I can't thank Mark enough for just getting it done and taking care of all those critical things. So, I know I appreciated having Mark. Mark, the time's running out for me to win you back; I'm going to stop doing that. I see your wife's here, I'm not going to do that to you, but I'm just slipping that in one last time. I would like to invite Council—I'll be sending out an email to all staff—we're going to have a little send-off on July 31st, his last day, at Dugarel's. Did I say that right? Dugarel's. I grew up in Cottage Grove and I've been there since I was 21 and a half, so I should know it better, but "Doogie’s," I guess we call it as well, at 3:30. So, a little send-off if folks want to come and have a bite to eat and wish Mark well. But with that, I do want to turn it over to Joe Seipel. Joe's been his direct supervisor most recently, and we just wanted to share a few words with you, Mark. Mark, it's been a pleasure and I sincerely hope you come back around and keep seeing us. I love what you've done for this community, and specifically in your role as mechanic and heavy equipment operator. Thank you very much, Mark. [5:55] **Joe Seipel (Public Works Superintendent):** Thank you, Mayor and Council. I apologize, I'm going to read off of this. 38 years is a lot to remember. So, many of you know Mark since 1986 has been in the Public Works department, but he actually started with the city 5 years earlier with the Fire Department in 1981, where he served as an on-call firefighter for 20 years until his retirement in 2001. Mark's first role with the Public Works department was actually in the Water Department. Utilizing Mark's prior experience with excavating and utilities, this was a natural fit. Mark stayed in that role until transferring to the Street Department in 1990. Mark again tapped into his excavating background and he became one of our heavy equipment operators. In 1992, the city bought the new road grader which, to this day, is still his baby. As Mark recalls, in the late '90s—this is Mark's words—he was "voluntold" he was the Public Works mechanic. Not a strange fit considering Mark does have a degree in heavy equipment mechanics, not to mention all the time running the equipment as an operator. Mark has always taken a lot of pride in our fleet, and all of us appreciate his attention to detail that keeps the fleet ready. Mark is always vindicated when we trade in older equipment and the dealers are in disbelief at the condition it's in—some even taking photos of other equipment that's not even on the trade just because they can't believe it. Besides Mark's normal duties as an operator and a mechanic, Mark has led the Public Works portion of Rivertown Days and Gobble Gallop. Mark has also run in Gobble Gallop so many times—when I asked him this morning, he said, "I don't know how many; I would have to go home and count t-shirts." So, we're going to miss Mark not only for his mentorship, quality work ethic, and can-do attitude, but his overall contributions to the city as a whole. There's no way to fully capture what Mark has done for the city at work and away from work, other than to say he has probably been involved in your life in some capacity, whether that’s from his time on the Fire Department, Water Department, Street Department, Rivertown Days, or Gobble Gallop, just to mention a few. Mark truly has really had one of the most unique careers with the city. Thank you, Mark. Your retirement is well deserved. [8:14] **Mark Schoeberl (Honoree):** I just want to say thank you for everybody that I've worked with. It's been a great career and, um, I don't know what else to really say. There's a lot of good people in the city. Thanks. [8:23] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** We thank you, Mark. Council, please. [Applause] [8:44] (Laughter and chatter during photo session) [8:53] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Oh, you shooter! I even got Nick, recruited him. He's the best photo taker. His finger's in front? Yes, the other—the other finger. There we go. You go up there. [9:38] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Kelly, do you need another photo? Do you photographers need anything? [10:13] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** See, thanks Mark. [10:25] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Okay, approval of minutes. Council, are there any corrections or questions to the minutes from the July 17th meeting? Okay. Comments from the audience. At this time, we will hear comments from the audience or via Zoom. Anyone in the audience wish to speak to the Council at this time? Please step forward, state your name and your address. Anyone wishing to speak to the Council? And no one on Zoom. All right. Council, any items to be considered on the Council consent agenda? Number 12, the resolution to approve a new cannabis retail sales license for Coburn’s. We are going to pull that and put it under Administration for discussion later. With the removal of 12, Council, I would accept a motion to approve the consent agenda. [11:13] **Dave Pemble (Councilmember):** So moved. [11:15] **Jen Fox (Councilmember):** Second. [11:17] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Councilmember Pemble and a second from Councilmember Fox. Any discussion, Council? All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. [Ayes]. Opposed to that motion state by saying nay. [Silence]. And that motion has been approved. Tonight under Community Development, we have a resolution: Site plan for a trucking facility for Richard Bestul at 601 31st Street East. And here with us tonight we have Community Development Director John Hinzman to give us an introduction. Welcome, John. [11:58] **John Hinzman (Community Development Director):** Thank you, Mayor, City Councilmembers. Tonight we've got a resolution before you for the approval of a site plan for R-Grand Express by Richard and Karen Bestul, located on a property owned by HEDRA at 601 31st Street East. So, the property we're looking at here is within the Hastings Industrial Park. You can see 31st Street towards the South; it's about a 1-acre parcel altogether. HEDRA took action earlier this year to adopt a resolution and development agreement to sell the property to the Bestuls. One of the conditions upon that is the approval of the site plan tonight and the approval of the building plans which will come shortly after. So, what we're looking at is the construction of a trucking facility at the site. It would look something like this. The property would be supplementing their existing business at 12260 Margo Avenue in Denmark Township; they've been operating there the past 23 years. It features this building designated for light maintenance work on the semi-trucks, outdoor parking for semi-trailers, and an office to manage their operational tasks. As you can see, it's a very nice-looking building that they're going to be doing out there. The property is zoned industrial and meets the industrial provisions within the zoning code. From a site plan standpoint, everything is pretty straightforward; it’s a pretty good utilization of the lot from what we see. You can see the building's in the center; you've got truck parking along the edges with landscaping surrounding that. We did have the Planning Commission review this at their last meeting; they did recommend approval on a unanimous vote with limited discussions. I can stand for any questions that you may have tonight, and Richard and Karen are here if you have any questions for them. Thank you. [13:29] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Thank you, John. Council, any questions? Councilmember Fox. [13:33] **Jen Fox (Councilmember):** Thank you, your honor. Um, my only question, John, is the adjacent zoning. There’s South 31st Street and that's light residential—or residential and medium-density residential. Can you talk to us about some of the impact of having a semi-facility? To be clear, I am not concerned about the access or anything; I just think that might be, in honor of the people that live there, helpful. [14:02] **John Hinzman (Community Development Director):** Sure. The property across the street is zoned R-3 Medium Density Residential. There will be some landscaping in the front to help block some of the views. The truck action itself with the outdoor parking would be behind the building itself, and a lot of the parking would be within it. So, the use of the site should minimize the impact. [14:21] **Jen Fox (Councilmember):** Thank you. I appreciate that clarity and I know I've heard some of that discussion in the past. So, um, I would like to move to approve the site plan. [14:40] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Okay, thank you Councilmember Fox, with a second from Councilmember Haus. Discussion, Council? Councilmember Leifeld. [14:50] **Lisa Leifeld (Councilmember):** Yeah, I just want to welcome the Bestuls into the City of Hastings. That is awesome. I think it's a wonderful move and I think we're very fortunate to have you guys joining our industrial park. Very exciting. Thanks, guys. [15:02] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Okay, thank you. Councilmember Leifeld. First and a second. All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. [Ayes]. Opposed to that motion state by saying nay. [Silence]. And that motion prevails. Thank you, John. We also have a resolution for a special use permit for cannabis sales for Coburn's, 225 33rd Street West. And tonight we have Lindsay, our intern, is with us. Welcome, Lindsay. [15:35] **Lindsay (Community Development Intern):** Thank you. Um, so I'm Lindsay, I'm the Community Development intern this summer. Before you tonight is a consideration of a resolution to issue a special use permit for cannabis retail sales for Coburn's liquor store located at 225 33rd Street. For a little bit of background information on this topic: cannabis business regulations were adopted in late 2023, and within the zoning code, certain districts zoned as commercial like this one can obtain a special use permit for the cannabis retail sales. The license itself is regulated through the City Clerk's department and it's subject to a police check, a background check, and other rules incorporated into the special use permit. With this special use permit, we had the Planning Commission review it at their meeting on June 24th, and the commission voted 4 to 0 to recommend approval of this request once they obtained and approved a security plan signed by the police chief, which they have done so now. Property owners within 350 feet of the area were also notified and we did not receive any comments or concerns. We also held a public hearing and we did not have anyone show up in attendance to speak on that. We are offering this forward to you as a recommendation for approval. And on a little side note, this is a special use permit, and with a special use permit, you do need six out of seven council members to approve it. Thank you. [16:47] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Thank you, Lindsay. Great job. Council, any discussion? Okay. Council, I would accept a motion. [17:00] **Jen Fox (Councilmember):** So moved. [17:03] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Councilmember Fox and Councilmember Haus. Any discussion, Council? Okay, Councilmember Leifeld. [17:15] **Lisa Leifeld (Councilmember):** Thank you, your honor. Council, I just wanted to mention, since it's being brought up in this particular category, I thought it was a good time to mention it. Last month, a number of us went down to the League of Minnesota Cities Conference in Rochester, and I was able to sit in on a workshop presented by the League that included the Chief Regulatory Officer for the marijuana sales that's moving forward. I had a lot of questions, some of which got answered. So, just so people who are listening and even Council understands that as of right now, it's not legal to sell cannabis in the state of Minnesota; it is legal to possess it. As of right now, there are 4,000 registered retailers selling edible products in the state of Minnesota. They come to the city after they've already received state approval, and then, of course, as you've indicated, they have certain guidelines that they have to follow within the city. They're not allowed retail operations until the adoption of the rules. So, as of right now, my big concern was: we've got all of these different businesses selling edibles; my concern was that those businesses' expectation would be that they then will be able to sell cannabis when that is made legal. According to the documentation and all the information we received, that is not the case. For people who are familiar with dispensaries in other states that allow marijuana/cannabis to be sold, Minnesota is doing the same thing. Those businesses can apply to sell it, but they do have a whole different level of rules that they'll need to face. So, my concern overall—I've gone on the record as stating I'm all for legalizing marijuana—but I was concerned about how we were going to allow it to be sold in our community. I go to the liquor store, I want to buy a fine bottle of wine, I ask somebody who knows something about wine, right? I expect it to be the same thing with marijuana, and it will be. So, I just wanted people to know if they're listening and thinking, "Oh my gosh, another store selling pot," that's not the case. You know, there's a whole lot to this and right now, this is the legalization of edibles, which does not contain cannabis. Thank you, honor. I just wanted to point that out as I found it very helpful. [19:41] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Sure. We do have a first and a second. All those in favor of that motion state by saying aye. [Ayes]. Opposed to that motion state by saying nay. [Silence]. And that motion prevails. Thank you, Lindsay. Under Administration tonight, we are going to discuss the cannabis license for Coburn’s. With us, we have our Assistant City Administrator, Kelly Murtaugh. Welcome, Kelly. [20:20] **Kelly Murtaugh (Assistant City Administrator):** Thank you, Mayor and council members. I'm going to follow Lindsay's fine work. Now that all of the conditions have been met for the license for the city, I seek your approval in licensing Coburn's for the THC—the low potency. So, that would be cannabis products containing 0.3% or less of THC. As Councilmember Leifeld was explaining, they have met all of the requirements. The special use permit was the final piece to meet that, but they have met the background requirements, the application and fee requirements, as well as the security plan with the Police Department. And so, with that, I recommend approval of this license, but I will certainly accept any questions that you have at this time. [21:05] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Thank you, Kelly. Councilmember Haus. [21:10] **Angie Haus (Councilmember):** Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to approve a new cannabis product retail license for Coburn's. [21:14] **Lisa Leifeld (Councilmember):** I'll second that, your honor. [21:16] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Thank you, Councilmember Haus, and a second by Councilmember Leifeld. Any discussion, Council? All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. [Ayes]. Opposed to that motion state by saying nay. [Silence]. And that motion prevails as well. Thank you. Council, any items to be considered? Nothing? Okay. Any announcements? I have a couple. Thank you to the Chamber of Commerce for putting on Rivertown Days this weekend, and thank you to all sponsors and volunteers. This is such a fun event and it really shows off our community. Summer Rec programs at Levee Park: Wednesday, July 17th, Story in the Park with the theme of "Farm" in partnership with Pleasant Hill Library. Thursday, July 25th, Music in the Park with Rafe Carlson, a country band supported by the Ruth and George Doffing Charitable Fund. Tuesday, July 30th, Party in the Park to celebrate National Parks and Recreational Month with live music from Condor Manta, activity booths, caricature artists, inflatables, a balloon artist, face painting, henna, and airbrush tattoos. The event is free but food trucks do charge. Thursday, August 1st, is Music in the Park with Divas Gone Country, a tribute to women of country, supported by the Ruth and George Doffing Charitable Fund. There will be a Good Neighbor car seat checkup at the Fire Department on Tuesday, July 23rd, to ensure car seats are properly installed. Appointments are required. Rec Art in the Park is Wednesday, July 24th, at Roadside Park with nature wire sculptures and Olympic games, recommended for elementary and middle schoolers, supported by SC Toys, Country Financial, Hastings Lions Club, Hastings Family Service, Community Ed, and Hastings Prescott Arts Council. Maker's Way Alley Market will be at Levee Park on Thursday, July 25th; support area makers and artisans within our historic downtown and riverfront park by shopping at the markets. National Night Out is an annual community-building event; please join us on Tuesday, August 6th, at Lions Park or local neighborhood gatherings. Meetings coming forward: Tuesday, July 16th, Heritage Preservation Commission; Wednesday, July 17th, Parks and Rec Commission has been cancelled; Thursday, July 18th, Public Safety Advisory Commission at 6:30; Monday, July 22nd, 6:00 PM is a joint meeting with the Planning Committee and HEDRA, which is also posted as a special City meeting; and a 7:00 PM Planning Commission meeting. Monday, August 5th, is the 7:00 City Council meeting. With that, I would ask for a motion to adjourn. [24:14] **Dave Pemble (Councilmember):** Second. [24:16] **Mary Fasbender (Mayor):** Councilmember Pemble with a second from Councilmember Leifeld. All those in favor of the motion state by saying aye. [Ayes]. Opposed to that motion state by saying nay. [Silence]. And we are adjourned. Was that quick, Mayor? Good work.