Here is the transcribed townhall with speaker names added based on the context provided. [0:00] [Music] [0:40] [Music] [0:49] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Good evening. I'd like to call the regular city council meeting for Tuesday, November 19th, 2024, to order. Please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 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. [1:38] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Do we have any additions or corrections to the agenda? No, sir. Seeing none, I'll move the agenda. All in favor signify by saying aye. (Council: Aye). Opposed? We have an agenda. First item up: presentations, proclamations, and acknowledgements. We have none this evening. We'll move on to response to public comment. I also understand there is none for that this evening, and we move on to item five: public comment. Anyone wishing to come before city council at this time may do so. Please state your name and address and your question or comment for Council. Podium is open. [2:23] **Paul Rogers:** Come up here? Sorry, I've never been to one of these before, so this is an experience. I do have a question, but it pertains to some of the— [2:34] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** State your name. [2:37] **Paul Rogers:** Paul Rogers, and your address—uh, 3310 144th Street. [2:42] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** And then your question or comment? [2:43] **Paul Rogers:** Uh, I'm curious to know if and when I can ask about adjustments to the uh, Street work in my neighborhood that is set to be discussed here. [2:52] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** So later this evening, item seven will be public hearings for that improvement project, and you can come up and speak during then. [3:00] **Paul Rogers:** Okay, thank you. [3:01] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Great, thank you. Anyone else? All right, we will close public comment. [3:09] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** We'll move on to item six: consent agenda. This evening we have Bill listings, minutes for the November 4th regular and work session meetings, the November 14th special meeting, comprehensive plan Amendment proposing changes to the Metropolitan urban service area boundaries, the zoning ordinance text amendments to Title 11 and zoning map Provisions, approvals for pre-application escort agreements for pre-engineering work related to potential projects by MNLC and also by North Wind Test LLC, approval of the encroachment agreement with MNI Homes, the monument sign in easement, joint Powers agreement embedded social worker, the donation acceptance for Heroes and Helpers, and the Dakota County CDA city of Rosemount collaboration. Anyone wish to pull any items? [4:14] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** None for me. [4:15] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** All right, seeing I would like to pull the donation and acceptance for Heroes and Helpers. So with 6K pulled, someone like to move the consent agenda items A through L with K removed for further comment? [4:30] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** So moved. [4:31] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** I'll second. [4:32] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Have a motion by Theisen, second by Freske. Roll please. [4:35] **City Staff:** Essler? (Essler: Aye). Weisensel? (Weisensel: Aye). Theisen? (Theisen: Aye). Freske? (Freske: Aye). And motion carries 4-0. [4:43] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** I pulled 6K. Pull that up here. Donation. Chief, Chief, mainly for recognition of the amounts and the people and organizations involved, could you speak to those please? [4:56] **Police Chief Carson Thomas:** Certainly, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. So it's going to be our ninth year doing Heroes and Helpers this year. It was formerly known as Shop with a Cop, and we were nice enough to bring the fire department on board, so it's now Heroes and Helpers. Had a name change a few years ago. So it's a good collaboration for Rosemount Public Safety. We have some Dakota County Sheriff's Office members that come with us as well, and the whole concept is utilizing leaders in our community to identify kids or families that might need a little bit of support over the holiday season and taking them out With Us shopping. [5:29] **Police Chief Carson Thomas:** It starts by raising some funds, so without really having to do much outreach on this every year, American Legion Rosemount Legion Post 65 comes forward, and they're pretty consistent with a $2,500 donation. So you see that reflected tonight in your packet, as well as another family came forward out of the blue, the Mack family of Inver Grove Heights, and they gave a $1,000 donation. So we're looking to accept those to help us start the process. Next Tuesday night, we are going to be at Cub Foods bagging groceries. There's about 15 of us that'll be over there for two hours Tuesday night, 3:30 to 5:30. You don't have to give donations, but we're going to be there to bag your groceries, and any donations we do receive go directly towards taking those kids shopping. [6:14] **Police Chief Carson Thomas:** Last year we brought out, I want to say it was 30 kids. I don't have a final number for this year, but you can imagine a variety of sometimes pretty troubling things that they've been through, and they've been identified by school leaders or church leaders or perhaps police officers that have been on calls. It's just—it's a great experience. You go in there, they each get an allotment, they're fed the evening, we transport them. Good conversation, mentorship, building relationships, and then they get to buy presents for themselves and their family. So it's another great event, great for our community. [7:00] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Absolutely. So with that, thank you, and I'll move to approve the acceptance and expenditure of $2,500 from American Legion Post 65 and $1,000 from Lyle and Cynthia Mack to be used for Heroes and Helpers program. [7:18] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** Second. [7:19] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Got a motion by Weisensel, second by Essler. Roll please. [7:21] **City Staff:** Weisensel? (Aye). Theisen? (Aye). Freske? (Aye). Essler? (Aye). And that completes item 6K, 4-0 approved. [7:34] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** That completes six. We'll move on to seven: public hearings. The first item up is public improvement hearing for the 2025 Street Improvement project, city project 2025-2. With that, Mr. Erickson. [7:46] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. As usual, and you've probably seen some of these once or twice, we'll have a quick presentation on our street project for next year. There's a couple of slides I'll go through very quickly. We will post the presentation to the website tomorrow so that way anybody who wasn't able to be here tonight who didn't see it on the cable channel or wants to just take another view of it, it will be available for everyone. [8:15] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** So just a quick overview. I'm going to go past a couple slides quickly, but I'll stop on some of the other more important ones. Project area is just really right across Highway 3 near the elementary school and the Middle School area, and then of course just south of the high school. So 144th, 143rd, and upper 143rd as well as Chile, Canada, and Cameo. And then I should—sorry, I'll jump back—we're looking at the pedestrian areas where Canada and Cameo come into 145th Street. I just wanted to call those out because we're going to redo the bump outs in those areas to make it a little easier for staff. [9:11] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** So again, improvement hearing: part of the process required by State Statute. An opportunity for the public to comment on the project scope and planned work. A separate assessment hearing will be held in the spring after the contract is awarded for construction, should we get to that point. And then ultimately, the goal for tonight is a council resolution ordering the project. I'm going to jump over this real quick because I go into a little more detail, but it's Street and surface work and utility work. [9:36] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** So we'll be doing roughly the same type of work that we did this year with Street Reclamation. That will be grinding up the existing asphalt, which is in poor condition, mixing that with the new road base; it'll be reshaped and then repaved. We'll repair any curb and gutter that's holding water, is broken, in poor condition—that kind of thing. We also look at those pedestrian ramps that don't meet the current ADA standards; those will be replaced as well. And let's see—then I did mention the sidewalk improvements on 145th Street. Right now, there's a little bit of a challenge with some of the snow plowing and just how those curbs are shaped in there, so we're going to improve that. We'll reinstall any of the existing pedestrian signage that's in place. And then I do want to call out that this is not going to be assessed as part of the project. So any of that work will be bid as part of the overall project, but we've kept it in a separate schedule so we can track those costs separately. [10:54] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** Can I—sorry, I have one question. Can you go back to that last slide? Sure, sorry. So those bump outs in those two on—off Canada Avenue and Cameo—those are not going away? [11:06] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** No, they'll just be reconstructed. Because of how the geometry is there, it gets to be a little challenging with the snow plows. [11:13] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** Yeah, that’s second—you know, they’re— [11:15] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** So we're going to increase the taper a little bit to make it a little bit easier for the flows. I know there's a couple locations that almost every year the crew is out there trying to repair the curb, and so they're getting tired of doing that; they have other better things to do. [11:32] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** As far as utility work, we'll be replacing some of the valves, the hydrants will be replaced. We're also going to install two additional hydrants: one will be on 143rd Street and then upper 143rd Street. Those blocks are rather long without a hydrant in the middle, so that'll be helpful in the event that there's a fire need there. Hopefully they are never used except for flushing. [12:12] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** And then the other thing that we're doing that's a little bit in addition to some of the work that we've done in the past: we are going to line the existing sanitary sewer. Those lines in Chile, 143rd, upper 143rd, and 144th are older lines. So what we can do is, without having to dig up the entire street, they'll pull a liner through there, and then eventually what happens is they come back through right after that and cut the openings for the services that go to each particular home. We're also looking at the potential for some perhaps some lining at least 3 or 4 feet, maybe 5 feet up some of those services, just depending on what condition they're in. [12:56] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** So again, pretty standard: what to expect. Large equipment, uneven surfaces, some weather delays. It's going to be like a gravel road for the most part for part of that time. The residents will be able to access their homes, so it doesn't stop them. There will be periods of time where they may not be able to get in or out of their driveway in particular, but generally, it's all done under traffic. [13:30] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** So you'll see here is the estimated cost and the funding sources. Generally, the largest cost is that street portion. There's some—like you see the water and then sanitary—is another large portion of that, which is the lining which we haven't done in the past here at this point, but I've used it in other cities I've worked in and it's a very good—it’s been around for quite a while, so it adds a lot of life to that sewer. And then of course, it's funded from the utility funds and then our street capital fund. [14:15] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** And then the last one: the proposed assessments. Again, that will be adjusted and will be based on what the contract award cost is. So right now we're using the engineer's estimate for that number, and it works out to 35% of the surface cost for the project, again excepting the crosswalks on 145th Street. And then like I mentioned earlier, we'll be doing a separate assessment hearing after that construction award. The estimated assessments for single family are about $4,500 per parcel. We do a per-parcel assessment there, and then there's a couple other ones—there's some commercial and industrial and then one multi-family property in that area. So like I said, doesn't include the bump outs, and the assessment rate is 10 years. But again, there'll be more detail available in the future with that. [15:10] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** And then finally, just the schedule. As you'll note, we're—I have the 19th of November highlighted here, just showing where we're at at this point. So the next step that we'll be going forward is early February where we would open bids. So the next time on our schedule that we would be back with anything on this project is planned to be with the second meeting in February. [15:37] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** And with that, there's contacts again: Larry Popper is the design engineer project manager on this from TKDA. And of course, I haven't received a substantial number of phone calls. We did have a public meeting in September with about 16 or 18 residents that showed up, and we had direct one-on-one conversations with those people. A lot of good questions, kind of gave them an overall view of the scope, so they were able to look at—we had a very preliminary draft plan set on that—and we just asked them any concerns in particular they might have. So we were able to—we’ll be able to address those. [16:20] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** And with that, just plugging last year or this year's project, I should say. So this is a view from the south looking towards the north. You can see the Cub Foods right at the top of the photo, but generally, it's about 2/3 or 3/4 of the entire project from this year. [16:47] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** This is cool and this is—this is nice just to see the completed. We always see what it looks like beforehand and why we're doing it, and then—but this is a cool aerial shot. Thanks. [16:58] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** Yeah, we have a drone pilot in the—you know, up in the dais here, so we're able to get those photos pretty cheap. [17:05] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Yeah, thanks, Nick. [17:07] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** Thank you. [17:08] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Nick, that turned out great. Good. With that, next steps from here, Mr. Mayor, would be to open the public—or the yeah, the public improvement hearing and hear from members of the public. First, I'll look to council. Any other questions or comments? [17:34] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** Very thorough. Yeah, one—one question is, I know with it happening next summer, the issue with Highway 3 and the roundabout going to the school, because it's coming from both directions? And I know I think you mentioned you're coordinating with the school district to plan that. How do you see that rolling out? So for those individuals that are—there's still activities at the high school—how are they going to be able to get there? [17:53] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** It—well, so the Highway 3 entrance will be closed the whole summer. And that's—thank you for mentioning that. I know you caught me a few moments ago and I meant to bring that up, but we'll have a coordination meeting on Monday with the school district, their architect engineer, their construction manager, and then our designer, our design engineer as well. And the plan is they would still be able to enter into the school for the public at least from Chile Avenue. So you'll—there will be a detour on Highway 3. You can come in through Chile. You know, we're going to—we will have that written as part of our scheduling for the contractor that, you know, how they can get in there. [18:39] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** The other piece of course is 143rd where that is by the middle school, so we'll have to coordinate that as well. So those are the two items that we need to get coordinated. They've got—they've proposed, and I should say the school district has proposed, an entrance for their contractor to come in off of near the Middle School, so they would go a little bit further up Highway 3 past 143rd Street and then be able to enter construction from that way. They likely will have to get some of their truck traffic up Chile, so you know, at this point we would look to have Chile—it may potentially start before school is over just to get ahead of some of that time frame. But I'm sure the school district is going to want to obviously have access to the high school. There still—activities don't stop. In the summer they're just as busy as during school. [19:28] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** Correct, school's on, but they also are bringing—isn't—don't they start construction on their new activities center too? So they're going to have some big trucks that are going to need to get in there? [19:39] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** Yes, and that's one of the things that we're trying to coordinate as well. And so school too, but yeah. So they—I think their contractor, their construction entrance will be from that parking lot just north of 143rd Street and kind of down across the ball fields as they come through there. [20:07] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** Okay, that's the initial planning look at that. [20:08] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** With this, there's going to be a lot of traffic. Yeah, yes, a lot of traffic in that area. Other questions or comments? All right, then we will move to a public hearing. Anyone in the audience wishing to speak to council regarding this 2025 Street Improvement project 2025-2 may do so at this time. Please come forward to the podium, state your name and address and your comment or question. Podium is open. [20:49] **Tom Steinley:** Name's Tom Steinley at 3195 145th Street West in Rosemount. I'm very familiar with the bump out because I live right on that corner. Many times I've called down and talked to public works or whatever about, you know, the plowing of that because I've lived there since 1988. Ever since they put that bump out in, I never had a problem clearing my mailbox because the snow plow comes right by there, you know, it pushes the snow right like everybody else's. [21:21] **Tom Steinley:** But with that bump out, like you were talking about, you got that little curve in there, you know, so the plow can't really hug that very well. So what does Tom get to do? I get to plow that extra snow that's out there in the street all the way from my mailbox. You know, so that's—it would be nice to see that kind of eliminated. Not eliminated, but I understand the need for the bump out. But what I found too, living there for all these years, is that a lot of the people don't come down to that little push button little thing there to cross in the middle of the bump out; a lot of people are still kind of right at the corner and cross over. So I don't know why the bump out just couldn't be a bump out to keep the traffic—you know, that's what it's for, to slow down the traffic so they can't pass anybody for the school kids. [22:04] **Tom Steinley:** So I could see just having the crosswalk at the corners rather than having them walk down. Like I say, I see a lot of kids just walking across. So I just—that's something for food for thought anyway. And plus it might straighten my little snow removal out a little bit. And that's—so that's not really going to affect the Leprechaun Days, is it? So much, the construction going on with 144th and 145th Street? [22:42] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** It could. Yeah, scheduling of that will be taken into consideration, I imagine. [22:47] **Tom Steinley:** Yes, but it's a good point to bring up. Sure. And then I noticed on the pricing, it's like $4,562 for a single family. So there's all—there's like three people—three of us that live on that street and we're, you know, I'm just retired, so we're three people that are retired now on that street. So I'm going to be charged like almost $4,600 assessment. Now, I don't mind paying taxes, you know, that's just part of the deal. [23:23] **Tom Steinley:** But with the school now that they've have their new little parking spot up there, you know, the new bus corral type thing, I have 120 buses that come past my house every day. They go up for the Middle School to drop off, they leave, and then they come back and pick up and come back again. You know, so—I took a picture today just to show you if you really wanted to see it, but from my stop sign all the way back to the middle school, you know, school buses. So I think that the school district could pick up my $4,500 bucks. I can see that's a lot of traffic on that road, you know, for us people that just live there and go up and get groceries once a week or maybe drive on that road, let's say, a couple times a day. But if you got 160 school buses going up and down that road every day, 180 days a year per school—well, I think they can kind of cover some of that assessment too. That’s just food for thought. [24:19] **Tom Steinley:** Okay, so I think that was about it for me. But as far as 145th goes, they're going to basically just going to be digging up that then and putting down a new tar on that then? [24:32] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** Canada? Sorry, on Canada—yes. Yep, they'll run up there, they'll reclaim the pavement and then it'll get repaved. Any curb or concrete work that needs to get completed will be done as part of that too. [24:44] **Tom Steinley:** And what would be the possibility of fudging a little money to put in new steps on Charlie's Park right there, right behind my property? That’s the first I’ve heard of that? Well, the thing is that has been—if you go look at it, the city—you know, the city council wants to take a look at it too—evidently the city doesn't have money to replace those steps. It's been that way for like 25 years. I brought it up a couple different times. They were going to have Boy Scouts do it, they were going to have this person do it; I said I could probably—they said I could even do it if I wanted to. But it's like they're—they're made out of wood, little timbers, and they're all pretty deteriorated and everything like that. [25:52] **Tom Steinley:** So it would be nice to kind of dress that up. I'm surprised that the city workers and other people haven't said anything about it. [26:01] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** Can you show on this the map what where exactly you're talking about? I'm not following where these steps are. [26:08] **Tom Steinley:** It'd be on 145th Street and they got little Charlie's Park in the backyard there, in my backyard, to the tennis courts right where the—it ain't where the tennis courts are, but steps you can use. Well, a lot of the kids do. Yeah, a lot of kids cut that corner, you know, by the park and go up across over. Yeah, I guess they wouldn't need it if it wasn't there; they'd walk the sidewalk around. But that steps has kind of been there since I've lived there. I don't know if you can see it at all or where you looking? [26:40] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** Let's see... the tennis courts... it'd be on the southwest corner of Charlie's Park? [26:46] **Tom Steinley:** This area, sir. Okay, right. It's right on the very corner. Okay, right in the very corner of my backyard. [26:54] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** Sure. Okay. [26:56] **Tom Steinley:** So that'd be nice if we could get that dressed up a little bit. You know, it's been that way for as long as I've lived there. I think at one time somebody told me they were thinking about doing some landscaping thing, pavings along the whole stretch there at one time, maybe. I don't know if that was just, you know, whatever. But um, yeah, so that should be it. I think—my concern is just that little bump out. I think it's needed, but it'd be nice to see if it's, you know, more in the corner for crossing and still have the safety factor. And then as far as the single family cost—like said, I don't mind paying my taxes, you know, but I can see, you know, the school district with all the traffic and the buses traveling on that every day for 180 days, that's a lot of traffic on that road. So I think we could kind of maybe see a little money getting put that way too, help us—help us our three residents on that street. Thank you. [27:47] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Thank you. Anyone else? [27:54] **Paul Rogers:** He beat you! Yeah, I like your idea about the shared cost there. That's good. All right, let's see—shared cost... you got two... yeah, put that in the suggestion bucket. All right, let's see if I get this right. Paul Rogers, 3310 144th Street. Am I missing anything? Those are the two things I'm supposed to—all right, we're good. [28:22] **Paul Rogers:** So I'm here mainly to kind of advocate for some more signage. Long story short, with the high school and the parents and everybody right there with the schools, there's a lot of traffic and—no joke—some of the high school kids are just ripping through that neighborhood trying to get to the front of the line at the—here, I'll use the arrow—right up here. This is kind of the choke point. So they'll come right around and go really fast. And frankly speaking, your parents as well are moving pretty quick, and—and buses at times are. [29:08] **Paul Rogers:** I have in the past brought it up as in called into the police station and just asked, you know, for maybe some patrols or whatever to be there to kind of pump the brakes—no pun intended—on some of that behavior. And I've also called into or emailed—and did get a written response, and I apologize I don't know the group—but I asked for some signage just to say slow down. Actually, what I suggested was just any kind of post that I can buy signs for that says, you know, "kids playing." That just gives a little bit more of an indication to slow down because the sign that says like "end school zone" or whatever is in front of the—the church. And it just—basically, I'm here just because cars are ripping down the street. Not all the time, every time, but enough for me to say, hey, if we can add some signs there or do something or put that in the thought process, I'd be super grateful for it. Especially with the roundabout, like, there's going to be, especially during construction, an extra presence there. I'd be grateful for that because I didn't want anything bad to happen. So appreciate— [30:20] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Main start of school, end of school time frames? [30:23] **Paul Rogers:** Exactly. If we can get a presence. Okay, thank you. And I don't know if it matters—I don't care—but a lot of the high school kids are starting to park up in the neighborhood. So for whatever that's worth. Again, I do not care—you're aware—but the only part that's annoying is when they park like right on the end of my driveway, but now I sound like a curmudgeon. All right, thank you. [30:48] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** You're good. Appreciate it. Anyone else wishing to come forward? [31:05] **David Sullivan:** My name is David Sullivan. I'm at 3380 upper 143rd Street. And this is my first time ever being at one of these. I just kind of came—first time I heard about it. First, I just come to find out what I'd be—what my part on the street project would be and how that works. Like, I don't know about assessment or is this something we pay over time or we got a one chunk out at a time or? [31:35] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** So there's—when the final assessment, which—what was the date on that? February? [31:43] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** The assessment hearing occurs—that's when the contract—we would—so we would call a meeting, so it’d be in March. [31:51] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Okay. So between now and then, what the action that council's taking tonight is to order up the construction drawings so that they can go out, design, and then get pricing back. The pricing comes back; that's presented to us in February, and then March the assessment. So they'll take those numbers and those will be the numbers that are, quote, "real," and then there will be options made available that you can pay in lump sum or I believe it's over a 10-year period if you wanted to do that. I don't know if there's any other options? [32:27] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** No, it's pretty much lump sum straight up or over a 10-year period that you would pay the city back. [32:34] **David Sullivan:** Okay. All right. And I agree with them about the traffic. Kind of crazy at times, but thank you. [32:41] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** We hear a lot about traffic. [32:44] **Paul Rogers:** I did—I got one more, sorry. One more thought, quick thought. Only because it happened to someone else that I know is that when you do the sewer lining stuff, what if any help or assistance is there if the pipes from the house to the main get damaged or cracked in any way? And the reason being is that—I mean, the houses are in, what, 1950s I think, or mine is at least, and the sewage pipes are clay. So I'd be curious to know any thoughts or feedback on, I don't know, assistance if something happens, you know, within a certain time period after the construction. Does that make sense what I'm asking? [33:30] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Do you want to talk about home warranty line again a little bit? I know you're also pretty versed in it, Mayor. [33:37] **City Administrator Logan Martin:** There is private insurance policies homeowners can purchase to protect against backups or service line failures. It's just a third-party policy. Not—I think some homeowners insurance companies also offer that kind of coverage, but there's one that we are aware of that kind of promotes information through the city... now I'm going to draw a blank on the name of it. [33:59] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Well, it's—it’s the National League of Cities, and because of the large—that they are able to do so, they have a large pool that they're able to—it's an insurance. And by doing that, we have residents that do utilize that policy, particularly in the older areas. Yep, and we've had already—they’ve experienced claims against it, so it's not just paying in, they've actually had claims. But—but is your question regarding if something would happen during the project? [34:36] **Paul Rogers:** Either during the project or some grace period, let's say, after the projects when things settle. Because if you're doing some kind of liner in the main line or up into a residential—like up into my line per se—and I don't know, winter comes, right, and there's—I don't know if settling is a right word, but I don't know, some kind of grace period like, "Hey, we just had this work done less than 6 months or a year, right, and now my line’s broken." That’s my train of thought. So that's good to know that I can buy insurance. Yeah. [35:05] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** But the city would not come onto your property to fix that. You're responsible from from the house basically out to the city's connection, out to the pipe. [35:16] **Paul Rogers:** Yeah. So but if you're—if you're doing something in the main line that adjusts or, you know, messes with my line, that's—that’s my concern or my thought process is, is there—is that part a lot harder to prove that if particularly if it was farther up the line or if you had settlement or something like that? [35:36] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Not that I have anything to do with the insurance, but some residents have found that to be an effective tool to mitigate that risk. [35:43] **Paul Rogers:** So if I'm hearing you correctly, and not in a bad way but for clarification, I can buy insurance but there's nothing part of this project or the planning or—or afterwards that would cover that type of thing? [35:55] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Yeah, that's correct. [35:56] **Paul Rogers:** Okay. And then has that—do you have—has that happened in other repavement things or? [36:01] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** That sort of thing would be extremely rare. What I just wanted to add would be that any type of damage that a homeowner might sustain to their property that's close in time to a project, it still turns into an insurance investigation type of process. There's no immediate determination that yes, the cause of it was the construction versus possible other underlying factors that may have been in place before the project began. [36:31] **Paul Rogers:** Understood. You know, something hanging by a thread and but for—you mean my 1950s pipe just—my—yeah, I got you. [36:37] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** It's—you're the sole user and beneficiary. The service line, that sort of thing all plays into it. But from time to time, we do have backups and things that have happened and our insurance entity always gets involved in mediating those to resolution. So it's—it’s hard for us to sit here and say, "Yeah, if your service line breaks, we're going to cover it." We’re likely not to be at fault over it. It's just much more complicated than that. [37:05] **Paul Rogers:** Okay. All right, thank you. Or did you want to say— [37:11] **David Sullivan:** He answered my question. [37:12] **Paul Rogers:** Okay. Thank you. [37:14] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Thank you. Did want—Police Chief, could you speak to the parking issue that's going on around that area? I think we took some action about parking permits and things, and how does that affect this area right now that we've got? [37:32] **Police Chief Carson Thomas:** Sure. Off the top of my head—and I hope I don't misspeak, so Public Works Director Egger, please help me out on this one—but we did send out letters to every resident as well as we signed 143rd, Canada, and upper 143rd. So those—that entire block section, I guess it would be the northern half, the northern block, is signed "no parking" without permits during school hours. And that is to try to alleviate some of the overflow parking that's come up from the high school being as big as it is and some of the stuff that's going on too. [38:15] **Police Chief Carson Thomas:** It's—it’s a tough balance because you have students that are attempting to drive to school and there's not enough parking, and there's a little bit of overflow. It tends to get worse in the spring when we get more licensed drivers; you get some—some of the sophomores that are starting to pick up driving. So we are trying to encourage ride share, carpooling. We're talking to the district and we're going to see what the spring brings. [38:40] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** So thank you. Very good. I think the only other question I heard—maybe Mr. Erickson, if you can speak to school district being assessed? Certainly the church there also is another property, and they are—they are part of the assessment roll. [39:03] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** Yeah, they have—sorry for the quick scroll through—you... there's three different types of properties on the—on the project. So you see the ones with the red outline, again, single family parcels. The yellow would be the school district, and I believe the park is shown in there. And then commercial as well. So those are the yellow ones. And then the blue is the multi-family, which is I believe the Rosemount on the corner there. [39:27] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** So and so they are paying? [39:29] **City Engineer Brian Erickson:** They—yes, they have a portion of the assessments as well. Yes. [39:34] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Okay. All right. Anyone else wishing to come before Council? Going once, twice... yes? [39:46] **Tom Steinley:** Could I put a toll on my street there for the buses, help my taxation? [39:52] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** I think you only get away with that if you had a lot of Illinois people driving through. And three. So I'll move to close the public hearing. Is there a second? [40:11] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** Second. [40:12] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** All in favor signify by saying aye. (Council: Aye). The hearing is closed. Any other questions or comments back to staff? Seeing none, anyone like to move the resolution? [40:27] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** I'll make a motion to adopt a resolution ordering the 2025 Street Improvement project, city project 2025-2, and authorizing final preparation of plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids. [40:43] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** I'll second. [40:44] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Motion by Essler, second by Freske. Roll please. [40:46] **City Staff:** Theisen? (Aye). Freske? (Aye). Essler? (Aye). Weisensel? (Aye). That completes the public hearing 4-0. With the comments taken back by staff, we'll see if they—how those will be addressed or they'll be added to the comments already received, and we'll be informed what comes of those. [41:05] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** All right. With that, we'll move on to item number eight: unfinished business, which we have none this evening. New business: request by Devco Preservation LLC for approval of a final plat and minor amendment to the Emerald Isle PUD agreement. Let's see what we got here. All right, Mr. Nemcek. [41:35] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. This is a second and final step in the approval process for a proposed project by Devco to produce—to construct 192 units in two multi-family buildings here in Rosemount. A little bit of a summary of the project: as I said, it's 192 units and two buildings. And the site itself is designated in the city's comprehensive plan for high-density residential. [42:10] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** The city's comprehensive plan was amended in 2020 with the Emerald Isle planned unit development approval. It was—the comp plan designation was amended and the site was rezoned for this proposed use. The site generally conforms with the requirements of the zoning ordinance except for one provision related to a required additional 10-foot setback from Connemara Trail due to that road's status as a collector. [42:41] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** Additional requirement for approval is the conversion of the existing outlot. The—the subject parcel was platted as an outlot as part of the Emerald Isle Second Edition back in 2020. The applicant is proposing a final plat that would convert that outlot into a buildable lot. The Planning Commission reviewed the site plan and approved it at its meeting on October 22nd, subject to—among other conditions—two conditions related to the 10-foot setback from Connemara Trail and the creation of a buildable parcel. Those two actions are before the council this evening. [43:24] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** The site is just under a half a mile east of Akon Avenue and it's about 10 acres in size. It's shown there with a star, just between County Road 42 and Connemara Trail, immediately east of Dakota County Technical College's property, which is also the site of the Old City Hall. [43:46] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** So here's the site plan showing the two buildings configured: one in the north and northwest, and then one on the east side. The site will make use of surface parking to meet the parking requirements of the zoning ordinance. Just note that there is a significant site constraint in the form of a gas line bisecting the site at an angle there. No building or structures or parking can be placed upon that. The applicant is making use of the area south of that gas line easement for additional overflow parking as well as some resident amenities. Storm water will also be managed in that area as well. [44:33] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** The building will be a mix of three—one, two, and three-bedroom units. The general layout is pretty consistent between the two buildings. The three-bedroom units are on the corners. This carries over to the other building as well, although I'm only showing this first floor of the—of the north building A. This building will also contain the community amenities such as a community room, fitness center, leasing offices. Those amenities will not be located in the other building. And as you go up, those spaces are replaced with units. [45:10] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** So here's some exterior elevations of those buildings. They differ slightly from the more recent multi-family projects that have come through, particularly with the hipped roof and gables. It's a little more complimentary to the existing residential neighborhood immediately to the north. The units will have balconies and the exterior is comprised of a board and batten and lap siding, which again is also complimentary and similar to the existing residential neighborhood immediately to the north. [45:48] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** The applicant's landscape plan I just want to touch on briefly. This is a preliminary plan; it has a lot of trees on it, those will be winnowed down a little bit while still meeting the requirements of the code. Just to show that while the applicant is requesting a deviation through the planned unit development process to eliminate the additional 10-foot setback requirement in the code, they are able to provide some additional landscaping in the area between the property boundary and the building. The code does require that that 10-foot area to allow for earthen berms, buffer yards, or planting strips. Staff finds that that intent of the ordinance is met without the additional 10-foot setback. The Planning Commission was supportive of this minor amendment to allow for that deviation of the code. [46:44] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** Here is the proposed plat. It was originally an outlot—Outlot B of Emerald Isle. It would be replatted into Lot 1, Block 1, Emerald Isle Fourth Edition. This plat has gone through the County's plat commission review. Any required easements and right of way have already been dedicated prior, so no changes to this are required by the county. [47:15] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** That is about it. There's three actions being recommended by staff, and that is—the first one: to adopt a resolution approving the final plat. And then the second and third are related: the first to a resolution approving the minor amendment to the PUD, and then also authorizing the Mayor and Clerk to execute that agreement. Happy to take any questions. I know the applicant is present who can speak to some of the operational aspects of the project as well. [47:53] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Open up to council questions. [48:00] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** I have a couple. Um, we have a lot of apartment buildings that are currently under construction. I think one of them just recently opened to renters. Can you speak a little bit about—to the need of apartments? Because I think many people are kind of like, "let's take a pause, let's fill them before we build more." And then my second question is: are these market-rate apartments or something different? [48:33] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** Sure. So, um, I can't speak to the specific need question other than the fact that when developers do come forward—and I would certainly defer to the applicant on how they decided that Rosemount is still a good place to build an apartment project given the number of apartments that have been built. There is a—a process that a lot of developers go through: market studies to see what the demand is, what the vacancy rate is in other areas, not just in Rosemount but—but nearby communities. So being a kind of market-driven community and—and the market is ultimately what decides what gets built where within the confines of the city's comprehensive plan and zoning code. [49:15] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** I would defer to the applicant to speak to that specifically. I would also let them answer your second question about if it's market rate or otherwise. [49:29] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** Okay, thank you. [49:32] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Okay. Before we call up the developer, any questions for staff? Nope? Good. All right, then the applicant can come forward. Welcome. [49:43] **Nick Storle:** Thank you, council members. My name is Nick Storle, 751 Second Street Northeast, Hopkins, Minnesota. So to answer your first question about the demand for the apartment community, we do order the third-party market studies. Anthony is completely correct in that, and they take into account the pipeline for the city. So the additional apartment communities that are around the community, they're already looking at, and there's ample demand for people wanting to move to Rosemount. And so that's how we came up with the unit counts and then the demand for one, two, and three bedrooms. [50:18] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** Okay, thank you. [50:19] **Nick Storle:** And then for your second question, uh, it was about the—are they market rate? Yeah, so this is an affordable housing community and it will be at varying income levels. We'll want some at 30% of the area median income, 50%, 60%, and 70% of the area median income. And then the rents will differ, and then also based off of family sizes as well, the rents can be different, but those rents are set by HUD. [50:49] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** Okay, thank you. [50:50] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Could you—could you give us an idea of like some of the various income levels for those—was it like 80%, 60%? Did you walk through a couple of those? [51:00] **Nick Storle:** Yep, definitely. Yeah, so the area median income for the Minneapolis-St. Paul area is 124,000, I believe, for 2024. So it’d be 60% of that or 50% depending on, you know, which level you qualify for. So 50%, that’d be 62,000 that you need to make, and then your rent adjusted to be at 30% of that income is what you'd be paying on a monthly basis. [51:24] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Any other questions? No. All righty. Thank you very much. [51:29] **Nick Storle:** Thank you. [51:30] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** If I may also, Mayor, just on that conversation about the need for apartments here: this is as of right now the last piece of land that is guided and zoned for this high-density residential development. While staff has been supportive of the number of rooftops being created by this type of development, it is important to note that we are also very interested in seeing commercial development. And the hope being that, you know, with more residential development and more people living nearby, that can drive that commercial development. But agreed that we need to also let that have a chance to bake as well. [52:21] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** Go ahead—just one more—one more comment. I guess that—that parcel has been advertised for a pretty extensive period of time, like two years at least. And it's been listed on— [52:33] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** Since 2020. [52:34] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** 2020. So it's been—I mean, there's been signs out. There's been signs out there, so anybody who's living immediately north of there shouldn't be surprised that there's an apartment development going in just on that parcel. I mean, is that fair—fair assessment? I mean, the sign's been there for four years advertising—yes, certainly development. [52:56] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** For—it never fails to surprise me what people can miss, but—but it's just a data—a data—not everyone will drive by where that sign exactly is. But yeah, it has been guided and zoned that since before the first house was built in Emerald Isle. Yep. [53:13] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** Yep. Okay. [53:14] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** All right. Any other any other questions for staff? [53:19] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** Sorry, so—so one more—one more comment. I—I think it's important to also point out that, you know, when you call it workforce housing, subsidized housing, whatever you want to call it, I think it's important for residents to understand that the reason—I think in addition to getting more people will help generate more—more demand for developers who are going to come in and—and plant commercial, you know, restaurants, retail—it's also important to point—point out that those all those restaurants and retail, they need workers. And those workers earn wages that generally couldn't normally be afforded in some of the—in some of the residents—some of the residential development we have in Rosemount currently. [53:57] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** So it's important to point that out, that not only is it going to bring more people to be patrons to those businesses, but we also need individuals to have a place to live who are going to work in those businesses. So I think that's—that’s an important data point for our residents to understand the reason why. Because transparently, this will be the third development in that corner that is—cons—you know, it's workforce housing. There's one on the south side of 42, there's one on the north side of Connemara, and now this will be the third. Correct? So I just think it's important for those—you know, for those residents who raise concerns that, "Hey, why are we doing all this workforce housing?" I think it's just important to remind them that we—they need a place to live in an affordable place to live. [54:40] **Senior Planner Anthony Nemcek:** Yeah, and it's—and it's not just those workers either. We've been—staff has heard this from other employers through from the community since I've been working here at the city. In our business park, the—the—the people that they're looking to hire need places to work. And you know, it's hard to get here from—yes, to live—it’s hard to get here from, you know, St. Paul and Minneapolis to work, you know, or Plymouth just with the distance. Yep. [55:18] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** All right, thank you. All right, anything else? All right, we like to move the recommended actions. There are three motions taken separately. [55:29] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** I can take the first one. Make a motion to adopt a resolution approving the Emerald Isle Fourth Edition final plat subject to conditions. [55:38] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** Second. [55:39] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Roll please. [55:40] **City Staff:** Freske? (Aye). Essler? (Aye). Weisensel? (Aye). Theisen? (Aye). [55:46] **Councilmember Paul Theisen:** Second motion: I'd like to make a motion to adopt a resolution approving a minor amendment to the Emerald Isle planned unit development agreement. [55:54] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** Second. [55:55] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Roll please. [55:56] **City Staff:** Essler? (Aye). Weisensel? (Aye). Theisen? (Aye). Freske? (Aye). [56:01] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** Third motion: I'll make a motion to authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the minor amendment to the Emerald Isles planned unit development agreement. [56:07] **Councilmember Heidi Freske:** Second. [56:08] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Roll please. [56:09] **City Staff:** Weisensel? (Aye). Theisen? (Aye). Freske? (Aye). Essler? (Aye). [56:15] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** All three motions approved 4-0 and that completes new business item number nine A. All right, that—we'll move on to 10: announcements, City staff updates. Mr. Martin. [56:29] **City Administrator Logan Martin:** Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. I think Chief Thomas sent me a note; he's got a cleanup he wanted to do quick, so I can throw it to him. [56:39] **Police Chief Carson Thomas:** My apologies, Mayor, members of the council. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this with the donation from the Mack family. So Lyle Mack actually passed away in June of this year, and this is part of a legacy gift that he wanted to pass along. So he—he joined the Navy in 1969, he became a Dakota County Deputy in 1976, I want to say, and retired there from 2002. So he had some complications with a brain tumor this year which led to him passing away. [57:12] **Police Chief Carson Thomas:** In lieu of flowers, they did a memorial and he donated a chunk of money to the Hastings toy drive and then also to the Heroes and Helpers here in Rosemount because some of those Dakota County deputies help. So I believe his wife Cindy is going to be helping us on the night of the event, but I just want to make sure that I added that. So my apologies earlier. [57:33] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Awesome. Thank you for sharing that. [57:35] **City Administrator Logan Martin:** And to add even deeper, Mayor, Lyle Mack served with my dad in the Dakota County Deputy service department, and so he would have seen me as like a little tyke around the Dakota County Sheriff's Department. So small—small world with the—and yeah, he—good—good guy. Um, so yeah, Heroes and Helpers: awesome event. It reminds us also that the Santa Tour is coming. We've heard that Santa is interested in coming back to Rosemount, so don't have a date to announce yet. We're—Santa's a busy man, we're trying to get on his—his calendar, but the Santa Tour will happen and so folks can get ready for that. Usually, it's—it'll be one of the first two weekends of—first two Saturdays of December. We're just not sure which exact Saturday it is quite yet. [58:24] **City Administrator Logan Martin:** And then the Mayor had caught me beforehand about a consent agenda item that he—he did not choose to pull but I can call out, as the embedded social worker JPA. I won't call the Chief up again; he's—he's had enough running back and forth. But just a cool program that we re-up here again tonight. A partnership that we have, got the embedded social worker in our Police Department. Been a wonderful relationship for us in Dakota County to have a social worker on hand to deal with, you know, instances that are maybe just a bit out of the day-to-day purview or what we would expect officers to need to do on a day-to-day basis. So mental health calls, crisis—crisis events, where folks can spend more time with victims and victims' families as they—as they work through the criminal justice system or avoid the criminal justice system as needed. So beyond that, Mayor, I think that's all that I had. [59:03] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** All right. Any comments or questions? Announcements from city council? Being none, we'll move on to our calendar. This weekend—Monday we have the Youth Commission meeting tomorrow from 3:45 to 4:45; they'll be touring the new police and Public Works facility led by Mr. Egger. The Utility Commission is November 25th from 5:30 to 6:30 here at City Hall. Parks and Rec will meet on November 25th from 7:00 to 8:00, also here at City Hall. The next Planning Commission will be November 26, 6:30 to 7:30 at City Hall. And on November 28th to celebrate Thanksgiving, City Hall will be closed Thursday and Friday the 29th. [59:44] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** We will be having the annual tree lighting event November 30th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., sponsored by RACC and helped with our youth commissioners. Tree lighting, live music, cookies, juice. Santa will be there, as I understand it. The next city council work session will be on December 3rd, 2024, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and followed by the city council meeting at 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. You have a Santa Tour date here—is this the real date? [1:00:15] **City Administrator Logan Martin:** I don't know if it's confirmed yet. Is it? I don't think so. Is this the Santa Parade? [1:00:23] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** Yeah, December 14th. Yes, that's the date I'm showing. [1:00:27] **City Administrator Logan Martin:** Yep, I can confirm that. [1:00:28] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** All right, so late-breaking news that even between the Chief and the Mayor here, we've got the date. All right, I'll stop talking. Have a great night. December 14th, 2024, starting at 10:00 and running through 2:00, winding its way through the city of Rosemount: Santa Tour. All righty, that—save that date. Santa Claus is coming to Rosemount, teaming up with the Rosemount Fire and Police for another tour around the city. So tell the kids to be good for goodness' sakes. We will have two timed routes so Santa will be able to see as many residents as possible. Watch for the time-stamp map coming soon to see when Santa will arrive in your neighborhood. That'll be on our website, correct? [1:01:17] **City Administrator Logan Martin:** Yeah, and that's December 14th, Mayor. [1:01:21] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** December 14th. Thank you. Yeah, I want to make sure you do the date. Yeah, thank you, following up on that. All right. So with that, is there any other business to come before the city? Seeing none, I will move to adjourn. [1:01:34] **Councilmember Paul Essler:** Second. [1:01:35] **Mayor Jeff Weisensel:** I have a motion and a second to adjourn the meeting. All in favor signify by saying aye. (Council: Aye). Opposed? We are adjourned. Thank you. Have a good evening. [Music]