This transcript has been processed to identify speakers based on the provided context of the Lake Elmo City Council and staff. [00:00:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: ...the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, Item B on the agenda for this evening is to approve the agenda. If there are no changes that are requested, I’ll entertain a motion for approval of the agenda. [00:00:15] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Motion to approve the agenda. [00:00:17] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Support. [00:00:18] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: We have a motion and a second. All those in favor of approving the agenda as presented, please signify by saying aye. [00:00:23] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:00:25] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Okay, agenda is hereby approved. Presentations: We have a retirement for Rick Gusterson. And so that's Mr. Tholen? [00:00:30] **Pete Tholen (Public Works Director)**: Mayor and Council, tonight the City of Lake Elmo would like to recognize Public Works operator Rick Gusterson for his 34 years and two months of dedicated service. Rick's knowledge, experience, skills, and demeanor will be tough to replace. Rick was a rock of strength on the street side of the Public Works; he is a skilled finish grader and is proficient as a snowplow operator and in the loader. Rick knew the streets, the residents, and their expectations. He was always reliable, willing to respond after hours to help out the department, his team, and the residents. His historical knowledge of the city and every street sign in it will be hard to replace. I have enjoyed working with Rick and wish him the best of luck in retirement. Again, we would like to acknowledge Rick's retirement, his value, dedication, and efforts he contributed within the Public Works department for over 34 years. He will be missed. Thank you. [00:01:25] **Council and Audience**: [Applause] [00:01:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: I certainly appreciate the guys in Public Works. I'm a member of the American Public Works Association through my day job, and so I know a lot of those things that those guys go through. Every day we use the infrastructure that those guys pay attention to, and we oftentimes don't see the work that they go through to make sure that we can get to where we need to be safely. So thanks again for your commitment to Lake Elmo, Mr. Gusterson. We don't have any public comments and queries at this time, but we do have Representative Wayne Johnson in the house that would like to say a few words. [00:02:00] **Rep. Wayne Johnson**: Thank you, Mayor, Council members. As mentioned, I'm Wayne Johnson. I'm the new House Representative for the area. I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself. Yes, it's crazy down there, but I think we will be able to get the work done when we all get together. My main thing is I just—I've done this, I was a County Commissioner and I decided I'm going to do this as a House member too—is just periodically stop by and say hi. I'm here, I'm reachable. If you ever have any questions or if you have a particular item that you need help with down at the House, I'm here. My office is over—well, we technically don't have offices, we have cubicles this year—but I have an LA that you can reach out to. If you ever want to set up a meeting, we have a lot of things going on. I don't know what you've heard; a lot of times the media is down there every day. Our goal is to get together soon, hoping that it's going to be soon so we can get the budget done. We do have a budget year this year. We're hoping to also be able to get some bonding in there in case Lake Elmo has some projects that you'd like to see—capital projects that you need some Capital bonding. Please reach out to me for that, preferably sooner rather than later. They're really putting priority on true infrastructure, road, water type projects and stuff like that. So if you have something like that, I'd definitely like to hear about it. But I just also just want to see if you had any questions on the top of your head? Otherwise, just to make sure you know I'm here for you and the citizens of Lake Elmo. [00:04:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Really appreciate you stopping by and introducing yourself, and good luck down there. [00:04:05] **Rep. Wayne Johnson**: Yeah, thank you. Thank you. [00:04:10] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All right, Item E on our agenda is approval of minutes from the January 21st, 2025 meeting that were provided in our packet. If everything seems to be okay in there, I'll entertain a motion. [00:04:20] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: So moved. [00:04:21] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: Second. [00:04:22] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All right, we have a motion and a second for the approval of the minutes, January 21st, 2025. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [00:04:28] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:04:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Minutes are hereby approved. On our consent agenda, we have: Approve payment of disbursements and payroll; Approve Pebble Park parking lot expansion; Approve Landscaping zoning text amendment Ordinance 2025-01 and Resolution 2025-11; Approve Housekeeping zoning text amendment Ordinance 2025-02 and Resolution 2025-12; and Approve professional services for 20 Upper 33rd Street. All those in favor of approving the consent agenda, please signify by saying aye. [00:04:55] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:04:57] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: The consent agenda is hereby approved. Moving into our regular agenda, we have the Bay West access agreement. [00:05:05] **Pete Tholen (Public Works Director)**: Mr. Mayor and Council, Bay West approached the city last year through the MPCA looking to perform some research on PFAS destruction and looking to see if there's a spot in Lake Elmo that they could conduct their research. Their interest in the city was to be close to the foam concentrate that was removed—the PFAS concentrate from the SAF unit at Tappen Park. And so we toured a couple sites, and the land behind Public Works was the desired site location. And so tonight Bay West is here to give a presentation, and on the agenda is an access agreement for you to consider approval to allow them to do the research. The research would be about four to five weeks and would commence approximately mid-April of this year. So we have Susan Roberts from Bay West and her team here to do a presentation for you. [00:06:00] **Susan Roberts (Bay West)**: Mayor and City Council Members, thank you for allowing us to come and give a little bit of overview about the research that we're proposing. The site access request is based on Lake Elmo's familiarity with PFAS and some of the issues that it causes. We're very excited about the research that we've already been documenting for the past year. The request really focuses on a field-scale demonstration of PFAS destruction using supercritical water oxidation. This is an approach that simply puts water at critical temperatures and pressures and destroys even stable bonds such as carbon and fluorine bonds that we've heard about as "forever chemicals." This is a request for temporary access at the Ideal Avenue site. What would be happening there is the destruction testing that we're talking about. One of the things I'd like to bring up—I'm sorry, could you move the mics a little closer? I'd be happy to. One of the things that I'd like to bring up in front is why the Tappen Park/Ideal Avenue site? It has to do with the familiarity of the group and the citizens with the PFAS problems in this area. Last year, through MPCA, we were able to acquire some of what they call SAF concentrate, and we successfully destroyed it in one of our first tests. We've done some other testing on Minnesota Fire Department firefighting foam and again had successful tests. We now need to go to a field demonstration. One of the questions we get asked right up front is: What is the cost to the city? There's no cost. This is federally funded research. Supercritical water oxidation does operate at high temperatures and pressures, and General Atomics, who is our teaming partner, has been working with this for over 30 years. On the safety side, we've been working with General Atomics and talking to the city about all the concerns. We feel that we can address those. One of the questions we get is about noise. We’ve mapped it here and show where the city code at the upper limits of 40 dB is right out on Ideal Avenue. Please keep in mind that 40 dB is about a refrigerator hum. During the daytime, this is much less than traffic noise. We show on the site drawings how this layout would be managed, including materials and secondary containment for any sort of leak or spill. After our research, we remove all equipment and leave only the gravel pad. I wanted to point out that we’re really excited about this unique opportunity. This is taking a PFAS problem all the way from defining it to destruction. This is not happening anywhere else around the country that we know of. We’d really like to partner with the city on this. Thank you very much, and I'd be happy to answer any questions. [00:09:45] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Thank you for that. So one question: when it comes to transporting it from the Tappen Park site to here, is that going to be a one-time transport of all materials, or is it going to be ongoing every two to three weeks when more material has been gathered? [00:10:05] **Susan Roberts (Bay West)**: A very good question. MPCA has made it clear that what they will release is probably one time. We would expect that to be a one-time shipment. Bay West are experts in transporting any types of materials, so that's part of our work under this contract. Once we accept it into our care, then we're the ones in charge and follow all rules. [00:10:35] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Gotcha. And then second question: as it is federally funded, are those dollars already on hand by your group and by Bay West? It's not a future incoming dollars on a rolling basis? [00:10:45] **Susan Roberts (Bay West)**: That is correct. We have already been doing research testing at the General Atomics facility in San Diego, and those funds are ongoing. We do have the period of performance through this year. [00:11:00] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Gotcha. So the funds to pay for this already exist. Thank you. [00:11:05] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: Maybe just to dig into a little bit as far as the risk goes—I mean, with any research, of course there's risk. From Bay West's standpoint, what does the risk look like for issues with contamination from the materials being tested? [00:11:20] **Susan Roberts (Bay West)**: Thank you for that question. First off, how we're planning and designing this: We’re dealing with materials that have already been tested in a controlled situation. The field scale is taking the same equipment and putting it in a field environment. I mentioned secondary containment rated for the material volume. If there's a leak beyond that, it's Bay West's responsibility to clean it up, not the city's. [00:11:55] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: What happens if there is a leak beyond that secondary system? [00:12:00] **Susan Roberts (Bay West)**: It's unusual, but basically, we define the depth of what has happened into the soil. This would be on the gravel pad installed by Bay West. Those materials would be dug out, tested, and taken to the appropriate location. [00:12:20] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: On that same vein—we aren't indemnifying Bay West, are we? It's in the agreement as their liability, from what I recall. [00:12:30] **City Attorney**: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, paragraph 10 of the agreement talks about how Bay West is assuming all liability for their actions in performing this work and they will indemnify, defend, and hold the city and its officials and employees harmless from any claims that might arise. [00:12:50] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Any further questions? If not, I'll entertain a motion. [00:12:55] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: So move. [00:12:56] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: I'll second. [00:12:57] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Motion to approve access agreement with Bay West to conduct PFAS destruction research at City-owned land located at 3445 Ideal Avenue. Any discussion? [00:13:05] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Just thank you for bringing this forward. I appreciate that you guys have the expertise and the dollars on hand to work on this, because if it potentially is a more efficient way to do the destruction process, it helps millions. [00:13:20] **Susan Roberts (Bay West)**: Yes sir. Thank you for that comment. [00:13:25] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: I'll call the question. All those in favor to approve the access agreement with Bay West, please signify by saying aye. [00:13:30] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:13:35] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Access agreement approved. Next on the agenda is the Old Village Garden Improvement. [00:13:40] **Pete Tholen (Public Works Director)**: Good evening, Mayor and Council. Brought to us in 2024 was the option of improving and beautifying the Old Village area. There’s five gardens along the businesses in the sidewalk, and a group of volunteers including Lake Elmo Connect had brought to us a plan to tear out and replace the plantings. We took that plan and had our Landscape Architect review it. Sarah can walk you through that slideshow. [00:14:10] **Sarah (Landscape Architect/City Staff)**: Thanks, Marty. Let's just pop this up. All right. I’m going to walk through the purpose of the project and species selection. As Marty mentioned, we know that Old Village Gardens is an important part of Lake Elmo downtown. We wanted to make sure we're focusing on hardy, resilient species. Planting design is subjective, but I like to make sure we have blooms from spring through fall and that the species are salt-tolerant. The plants selected include Sea Green Juniper, Side-Oats Grama grass, Russian Sage, Allium, and Autumn Joy Sedum. Now, absent from our recommendations are trees. Initially, there were trees proposed, but there’s just not a lot of soil volume provided in these 250-square-foot beds. Currently, what we quoted doesn't include trees. We got quotes from Pioneer Landscaping and Hoffman and McNamara. Pioneer Landscaping came in much more affordably. We also priced annual maintenance and watering, knowing City staff sometimes doesn't have the capacity for detailed weeding. [00:17:15] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Yeah, thank you for the presentation. Obviously, it's changed a little bit from originally what we saw at our last workshop. If we could talk about that—I feel like the consensus was the "English Garden" from the first set of options was the most liked, and that included trees. How come we deviated from there? [00:17:45] **Sarah (Landscape Architect/City Staff)**: The English Garden concept had poppies, which we pulled out because they're not a local plant and not salt-tolerant. The Russian Sage we’re proposing is very similar to the Catmint in the original plan but more drought-tolerant. Regarding the vertical structure of trees: to make them work, we’d probably want to take out some of the sidewalk and fill in with structural soils. It also comes with added maintenance and watering attention. [00:19:30] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: I think the additional trees would add to the beauty of the downtown. I’m a big tree person. I think there should be some species that we could make work even if it added to the cost or adding more soil volume. [00:20:00] **Sarah (Landscape Architect/City Staff)**: We’d want to get a detailed survey of the street so that we know where utilities are. If the majority decided to go in the direction of trees, we could put a plant list together with options and talk through it with the group. [00:21:00] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: In terms of the maintenance cost: Marty, how do you see that in terms of value? [00:21:10] **Pete Tholen (Public Works Director)**: We are obviously busy in the summertime. My staff, they don’t always know what they’re pulling; they have no background as Master Gardeners. I was thinking Councilor Hirn is right downtown, he could just take care of it on his coffee break. [00:21:30] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: I wouldn’t even trust him! [Laughter] Another question: What's the communication been like with the Lake Elmo Connect group? Have you guys had communication with them regarding these changes? [00:21:50] **Pete Tholen (Public Works Director)**: The engagement’s been somewhat minimal. We took their initial plan and your feedback and started working with our architect. We didn't engage much more than give them updates. [00:22:15] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: I’ll make a motion to table so this can be reconsidered for additional trees. [00:22:20] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Support. [00:22:25] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All in favor of tabling... I’m going to make a motion that the process would include some public engagement with the businesses downtown. I also prefer that Persian Blue Catmint to the purple Russian Sage personally. [00:23:00] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: I'll second that. I’d like to see them feel like their voices were heard in this situation as well. [00:23:20] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: I think the Council needs to take responsibility for not making that clear in our workshop. We do appreciate the time everybody's putting into this. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [00:24:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:24:05] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Thank you. We'll move on. Item 10: Sophia Johnson Chavez variances, Resolution 2025-13. [00:24:10] **Sophia (City Staff)**: Thank you, Mayor. The applicant for tonight is Joe and Joan Chavez. The property is currently an unassigned parcel mostly within Sunfish Lake. City staff has advised the applicant to work with the Northstar developer to revise the outlot shape to minimize the need for variances, but the applicant is proposing to proceed with the original shape. There are seven variance requests tonight, including setbacks from the lake and bluff. Staff finds that the first three criteria—Practical Difficulties, Unique Circumstances, and Character of Locality—are not met. Constructing a large single-family home is not a necessity in this sensitive area. The Planning Commission voted 4 to 0 to follow staff’s recommendation to deny the requests. [00:29:45] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Any questions for Sophia? Can you show on the map where this Outlot B is? [00:30:15] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: I'm looking at the elevations right now. Is there a part of the property that is outside the 150-foot mark? [00:30:30] **Sophia (City Staff)**: Yes, there is area in here, though a smaller home would be required to fit within it. [00:31:00] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Can we hear from the applicant? [00:31:05] **Joe Chavez (Applicant)**: Mr. Mayor, Council members, my name is Joe Chavez. My wife and I have lived here for 44 years. Our parcel was once part of the family farm since the 1960s. In 1980, it became a lot of record but has been landlocked. My goal today is to have the City Council make an informed decision that this is a reasonable variance request. I’m only talking about 30 feet. My main objective was to demonstrate that this is a buildable lot; this is not a building permit. The footprint of the house is smaller than existing homes that surround it. I have made multiple efforts to buy land or gain easements from neighbors and have been refused at every single turn. [00:36:20] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Do you believe if you are unable to get that 30 feet, this is no longer a buildable lot? [00:36:25] **Joe Chavez (Applicant)**: Exactly. Because I can't get a variance to build, it's not a buildable lot. [00:37:00] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: How do you respond to the concerns of the DNR who could challenge us if we granted such a variance? And when you say you're willing to work with the city, does a compromise include making the house smaller? [00:37:15] **Joe Chavez (Applicant)**: Yes, to make it fit, exactly. [00:38:15] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: I'm having a hard time. This sounds like it’s for financial reasons for resale purposes. How does that play into this? [00:38:40] **City Attorney**: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, economic considerations are not to be taken into account when considering a variance. You must weigh the other standards. [00:39:15] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: I’d like to hear from the developer. [00:39:20] **Craig Allen (Developer, GWSA)**: I guess a little background's needed. We were asked to provide an outlot for Mr. Chavez to get access. We provided a big access. He brought to us a design that worked, but then he decided to come in earlier because he wanted to get this to be marketable. There’s been no ask of purchasing property. We provided him access; we’re not charging him for the property. [00:41:40] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: I'll entertain a motion. [00:41:45] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: Move to approve resolution 2025-13 denying all of the seven Shoreland variance requests based on the findings listed in the staff report. [00:41:55] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Second. I do agree with staff; at least two of the criteria are not met. [00:42:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: I'm going to go with the motion on denial. I see five of the seven requests are for things absolutely not permitted. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [00:43:00] **Council Members**: Aye. [00:43:05] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: Motion passes. Next is Northstar Second Edition Final Plat. [00:43:10] **Sophia (City Staff)**: Thank you, Mayor. This addition is strictly residential lots, 61 units proposed. This is consistent with the preliminary plat layout. Staff is recommending approval with 13 conditions. [00:45:50] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: This is our largest development using storm water reuse. Have you encountered things thus far that weren't expected? [00:46:15] **Craig Allen (Developer, GWSA)**: Unfortunately, we're behind on everything. We had to get a Lumen line relocated and it just ate up a lot of time. First thing in the spring, we'll start putting the pipe in. [00:47:15] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Move to adopt Resolution 2025-14. [00:47:20] **Council Member Nick Kragness**: Second. [00:47:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All those in favor, signify by saying aye. (Aye). Motion passes. Item 12: Lake Elmo Elementary Final Plat. [00:47:45] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: We are at the final step, the final plat. The site is just over 40 acres. The final plat is one lot. The improvements mirror exactly what you reviewed at the preliminary stage. We did add a trail to allow for better pedestrian connectivity. Washington County DOT has approved the access points. Staff recommends approval with 23 conditions. [00:50:30] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: Nate, any thought about extending that trail further north to connect into the Royal Golf Club? [00:50:50] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: Certainly thought has been given to it. No requirements were placed on the school district for that, but safe routes to school grants could be a good funding source for that in the future. [00:51:30] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: I’ll move to adopt Resolution 2025-15. [00:51:35] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Second. [00:51:40] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All in favor, signify by saying aye. (Aye). Motion passes. Item 13: 3M Settlement Priority 2 RFP. [00:51:50] **Nicole Miller (City Administrator)**: This is a brand-new project regarding the ball fields. We are looking to enter into a letter of intent for funding to build ball fields—grass dirt fields, concession, etc. This is just a first step so we don't miss out on this $20 million pot of money. [00:54:00] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Motion to submit letter of intent. [00:54:05] **Council Member Matt Hirn**: Support. I fully agree that this fits with Goal 3 of the settlement. [00:54:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: All in favor, signify by saying aye. (Aye). Motion passed. Council Reports? [00:54:40] **Council Member Nick Dragisich**: I had a lot of questions about the variance request. I keep telling staff in my emails I'm the "nerd city council member," but I want to thank them for the thorough analysis. [00:55:00] **Council Member Jeff Holtz**: Last Friday, the Mahtomedi School District held its local leaders meeting. They are planning to go out for a bond this fall for core improvements. [00:55:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: No report. Staff reports? [00:55:35] **Nicole Miller (City Administrator)**: Today I attended the White Bear Lake Area comprehensive work group. [00:56:05] **Nate Stanley (City Engineer)**: Last week we wrapped up public neighborhood meetings for the 2025 Street Improvement areas. [00:56:20] **City Attorney**: I will be attending the City Attorney conference this week and speaking on development agreements. [00:56:30] **Mayor Charles Cadenhead**: With that, I’ll adjourn the meeting. Thank you everybody.