[0:01] [Music] [0:46] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Good evening and welcome to the December 18th City Council meeting. You can join me for a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance. [0:58] [Music] [1:11] **All:** I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [1:25] **City Clerk Ann Orlofsky:** Roll call please. Michelle Volk? [1:28] **Councilmember Michelle Volk:** Michelle Volk, here. [1:29] **City Clerk Ann Orlofsky:** Luke Hellier? [1:30] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Here. [1:31] **City Clerk Ann Orlofsky:** John Bermel? Dan Wolter? Joshua Lee? [1:38] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Okay, we’ll move on to item number three: Citizens Comments. This is an opportunity for anybody to share thoughts or concerns about issues that are not on the agenda. If there's something on the agenda, we can take time for comment then. Typically, we try to keep that up to three minutes, so if you do have a comment, you can come up to the rostrum and say your name. [2:05] **John Ness:** Good evening. Good evening, happy holidays. My name is John Ness. Thank you for allowing me to speak this evening. I'll just be brief with comments here. I'm speaking to you about the potential residential development of the 14-acre parcel at Kenwood Trail Middle School. As I'm sure you're aware, the district did not engage stakeholders in this parcel sale before the agreement was approved. You may be aware Erin Adler, a Star Tribune reporter, is planning on writing an article about that, and we expect that to be published after the first of the year. As I'm sure you're also aware, the parcel at Kenwood is guided for quasi-public use by the city's 2040 Comprehensive Land Use Plan. As such, the school district must jointly apply for an amendment to the comprehensive plan use to change the land use to low-density residential for this proposed development to move forward. [2:56] **John Ness:** Jason has helped me distribute a flow diagram which I created with the help of Daryl Morey and Tina Goodroad depicting the amendment's approval process for all you, and I posted it on Facebook such that the citizens engaged in this topic can focus their energy in the proper area in the city decision-making process. Now, I understand the city has not received the preliminary sketch plan as of Friday or the amendment application from Lennar, but when it does, I encourage the city staff and city council members to push Lennar and the district to co-host a neighborhood meeting to gather feedback from stakeholders. We expect to have at least two petitions to present to Lennar and the district at that time. This meeting should occur as early as practical in the approval process and well before the complete plan and applications go to the Planning Commission. This would be our request. The stakeholders were not consulted during the initial negotiation between Lennar and the district, but please do not let that happen again with the city, and I trust it will not. Stakeholder input is important to build the public's trust in the process and to influence decision-makers earlier versus later. So, with that, I leave you with the process. The key idea here is that there's a recommended community meeting happening when the proposed sketch plan is received by the city. We need to encourage Lennar and the district to make that meeting happen, and I expect there to be robust feedback from the community on this topic. Thank you for your time. [4:34] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Thank you, Mr. Ness. I'm going to hang onto this for future development so that they know the process. So, thank you. [4:43] **John Ness:** Of course. If you want a PDF copy, I can send you one. [4:46] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Thank you. As I think we've said at our work session, we will continue to keep folks in line. Mr. Miller, I don't think anything's been submitted? [5:05] **City Administrator Justin Miller:** No, not yet. [5:07] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Okay, so just continue to stay in touch with us as this kind of goes through the process. Thank you. Other public comment? Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to item number four: Additional Agenda Information. Mr. Miller? [5:14] **City Administrator Justin Miller:** Nothing tonight, Mayor. [5:15] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Moving on to presentations and introductions. Item five: Recognition of Lakeville Arena staff. I think I'll turn it over to Brian. [5:17] **Brian Arnest:** Yeah, got a group of us here. My name is Brian Arnest, I'm the President of the Lakeville North Boys Hockey Club. You guys can join me. Anyways, thanks for having us. Mr. Miller was kind enough to get us on the agenda. Today's a good news story. If you guys want to come up... but we're here to recognize the Arena's team and these two gentlemen specifically for the work that they've done. There's a near-term thing that was accomplished, and I just think it's important to highlight that it's really a public and private partnership. As the booster club, you can imagine we're raising funds and trying to do more. Our focus is on building community, and in order to do that, we're trying to make hockey games more engaging and more fun for the youth and for all those that attend. So, we've made an investment in the Arenas. We've donated thousands of dollars to put on a light show and an experience. You'll get to see that in a video here shortly, and it's been wildly successful and people are excited about it. In order to achieve that, we could not have done it with the budget we have without the partnership of these two guys here. Number one, I just want to highlight Joe Bergquist, the manager of the arena, just for his openness to even partner and talk about how to accomplish this together and figure it out. There was a lot of heavy lifting, and Joe clearly is an electrician as well, trying to get things done, especially last-minute things. And then Nick Ames, the operations manager, also helped do a lot of the work. When it came to hands-on running all the wires, setting up the lights, an overnight shift literally to pull this off for a home opener—all of that came to be. So they deserve the recognition for that specifically, and you'll get to see it. [7:02] **Brian Arnest:** Since we're here, we thought we'd just highlight a couple of other things that have improved over the last couple of years with not just these two guys' help, but the Arena's team. A couple of things are the ice club membership; it has changed the way that the hockey players in the community leverage the rink. They figured out a way how to take essentially dead ice and make it available for many to benefit. I know my family and many others belong to that membership, and our kids enjoy stick and puck. A few years back, you couldn't even play stick and puck; it was just open ice. So it really has changed the way the hockey players use the city's facility that's being run by the Arenas. Good outcomes accordingly. We also have the arena upgrades—the new paint, all those things that came with the actual new rinks. It's a very welcoming place; we're proud of the rink—or rinks, I should say—and the way they run this place. It's really top-notch. The concessions—I mean, before, maybe they'd be open and had limited options. It's like a full-service deal now. The options are extensive and seemingly always open, which is very nice because early mornings, who doesn't need a cup of coffee when you're there watching your kids play? That includes the addition of skate sharpeners, the newer skate sharpeners, and the consistency and ease of use of all those. I'm just naming a few. They just should get recognized for all of their efforts, and they do it not expecting a thank you. So we're trying to go over the top here today. I'll let Jake Taylor, our head of our North program, speak a little bit as well. [8:55] **Jake Taylor:** Thank you for the time. Like Brian said, my name is Jake Taylor, I'm the head varsity coach at Lakeville North. Myself and Tim Comboy also oversee our high school program and then our youth program all the way down to the youngest kids that are just starting. I've been here now for 12 seasons—six years as an assistant and six years as a head coach. I've been around our facility when Joe and Nick weren't here and when they have been here, and just the things that Brian mentioned, I just can't thank them enough. For a hockey program where we're trying to build our program based off of our community—families that live here, kids that grow up here—to have a place like Ames Arena where they can come and they can see the history of our hockey program, they feel with the colors and everything that we've done inside, they can feel that sense of community. Being part of a Lakeville North hockey program is really special, and the partnership that we've been able to have with Joe and Nick has just been absolutely incredible. I feel very honored that we can do this tonight for them, and they deserve so much more than just a thank you. So, thanks for letting us be here today. [10:14] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Thank you all. [10:28] [Applause] [10:54] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** With our national anthem, you please... live cool! Hey, thank you very much, yeah, thank you. [Applause] [11:15] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Okay, moving on to the donation to the Yellow Ribbon program from our Lakeville Liquor customers. I think I'll turn it over to Tami Wahl and our folks from Beyond the Yellow Ribbon and it looks like Liquor staff too. [11:40] **Tami Wahl (Liquor Operations Manager):** Mayor and Councilmembers, thanks so much for having me tonight. As you're aware, the Liquor Department's commitment to community engagement has been a cornerstone in our values, and it is with great pleasure that we present the results of our latest endeavor. Throughout the year, we dedicate ourselves to making a positive impact, hosting three annual fundraisers, each directed towards specific causes within our community. In November, our focus was on the Yellow Ribbon program, a cause that resonates deeply with us as it extends support to local veterans and their families. I am thrilled to share that through the incredible generosity of our customers, we have surpassed all expectations and shattered our previous fundraising record. Tonight, we're delivering a check for an astounding $35,763 to the Yellow Ribbon program. Allow me to express my gratitude to the individuals standing beside me: my store managers and our marketing and events coordinator. Their dedication and tireless efforts have been instrumental in achieving this remarkable feat. Without their competitive spirit, creativity, and continuous motivation of our staff, this accomplishment would have not been possible. I have Scott Matthews from Heritage, Kelly Singer from Keokuk, Tom Murphy from Galaxy, Leah Pia (our Marketing Coordinator), and Jesse Rogers from Kenrick. I also have the board members from the Yellow Ribbon program: Dave Cass, Ellen Abel, Mary Prozeller, Mo Johnson, and Lindy Cass. Tonight is a celebration of community compassion and the impact we can make when we come together for a shared cause. Thank you to our customers, our team, and everyone who contributed to making this fundraiser an outstanding success. [13:10] **Dave Cass:** Yeah, first of all, I'd like to just say thank you to all of you. The competitive spirit that resulted in this—thank you to the people of Lakeville and all that they do to contribute to this. I just wanted to share with you and our City Council just two little quick things about what goes on at Lakeville Yellow Ribbon. There is a lot, and with funds like this, we continue to look for ways to be able to support the military community of the South Metro, but specifically within Lakeville. One of those things: tomorrow morning—and I would invite any of you if you're interested—to stop over at the Heritage Center in the back room where the Yellow Ribbon has an office. There will be about 20 to 25 Vietnam-era veterans gathering for coffee. We do that about 51 weeks out of the year. Some of those men that come there on Tuesday mornings, it's the only contact they have with us throughout the year. They don't do any of the other events; they just come in and join us for coffee. The BS gets thrown around quite a bit, but occasionally there's a time for somebody to just reach out and get some help. The other thing I want to just highlight is you heard the name Mary Prozeller. Mary's back here. She and her husband Wade, who's also a veteran, a while back took on the task or the opportunity really to capture some of the stories of the World War II and Korean era veterans before they passed. They've done about 35 of these memory books where they meet with the family, meet with the service member, capture the story, record what was going on, and they put it together combined with some of the news from the day around that time. I just want to tell you one of those instances. They met with a gentleman, a World War II veteran, with him and his wife. Wade interviewed him and got his story. What was unique about this was that the next day, his wife called Mary and explained to her that in the 60-plus years of marriage, it was the first time he had slept throughout the night without taking his sleeping pills. Wow. Those conversations are meaningful, and that's what some of the things that we do and some of the difference we make. We build relationships with our veterans in the hope that sometime we can be there when somebody needs something. Partnerships like this with the Lakeville liquor stores and the fundraising that they do allows us to continue that mission. So that's why we're here to say thank you tonight. [15:53] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Awesome, thank you. Very good. Any other comments? Thank you guys so much for your hard work helping make this happen, and thank you for your continued partnership with Beyond the Yellow Ribbon. [Applause] [16:13] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Awesome. Moving on to number six: our Consent Agenda. These are more routine items, but is there anything you'd like to highlight, Mr. Miller? [16:20] **City Administrator Justin Miller:** Thank you, Mayor and Council. Just a few. Item 6G is the first amendment to the naming rights agreement for Hasse Arena. For 20 years, Hasse Arena has been named Hasse Arena, and Glenn and Tim Hasse and their families have generously donated $250,000 to extend that for another 20 years, with 10-year extensions at their option after that. So we're very thankful for them. Item 6J is our legislative priorities for the next year. These were reviewed by the City Council at your last work session, and we made a few changes based on that discussion; those are attached for your approval tonight. And then items 6U and 6V are our two last labor agreements. One is with LELS, which is our patrol unit, and then Teamsters, which is our Public Works, Parks, Utilities, and Streets units. [17:09] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Very good. Any items that anybody on the Council wants? [17:11] **Councilmember Joshua Lee:** Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just need to note item 6J, Legislative Priorities. I will be voting for this, but I need the record to reflect that I'm abstaining on Item B under additional legislative priorities pertaining to beer and wine and grocery stores because of a potential conflict. [17:34] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** No, I don't think they should pull it; we should probably pull it both separately. Yeah, we'll do that. Any other? I'll take a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. [17:43] **Councilmember John Bermel:** I move to approve the Consent Agenda minus the item that Councilmember Lee described. [17:49] **Councilmember Dan Wolter:** Second. [17:53] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Any further discussion? All those in favor say Aye. [17:57] **Council:** Aye. [17:58] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Opposed, No. Okay, we'll now take up the Legislative Priorities and I'll make a motion to approve the City of Lakeville 2024 Legislative Priorities. [18:13] **Councilmember Dan Wolter:** Second. [18:14] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Any further discussion? Do I need to note my... [18:18] **Councilmember Joshua Lee:** I think again, just note that you're abstaining from this section on here. Item B under additional priorities. [18:25] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Okay. All those in favor say Aye. [18:28] **Council:** Aye. [18:30] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Opposed? Abstentions? Okay. Moving on to item seven: Action Items. Public hearing on The Moments of Lakeville, and we'll turn it over to Mr. Johnson, our City Engineer. [18:43] **City Engineer Zach Johnson:** Good evening, Mayor and Councilmembers. This evening we have an item for you—there's a couple action items in your packet. But we're here today to talk about a piece of property called The Moments. It is a senior living facility built over multiple phases, starting from the west to the east. As development progressed following those stages, the standard process was followed, storm water treatment was provided, but then again, as it progressed, there were some opportunities to incorporate the storm water design into the site. As we went along further in the plans, we identified that there wouldn't be the need for a public basin per se. So as everything evolved, Outlot A as you see here in your image—originally intended for public purposes—no longer serves that; it all just serves storm water private to that site. You'll see the facilities are underlined there—the storm water and the infiltration. In addition, the developer is requesting that the city vacate this piece in red here. It's excess from right-of-way that was previously purchased and acquired by the city. It no longer serves a public purpose. It was part of the County Road 46 reconstruction that was several years ago. As we worked through that with the developer, we identified that there was an opportunity for them to utilize that area for their private site. [20:19] **City Engineer Zach Johnson:** What you'll see here is an exhibit of the city property. This was the outlot previously dedicated to the city by the developer for public purposes. It is no longer needed; it serves only the private storm water generator on the site. In addition, you'll see here Parcel 1, this kind of triangle-shaped area—that's the excess right-of-way that again is no longer needed and is being requested by the developer. Part of the stipulations in that then is the first step would be to vacate the public right-of-way. The second then would be the conveyance of the property Outlot A and then also the right-of-way. Because it was acquired by the city, the developer is going to be purchasing it from the city, so a purchase agreement is accompanying this request as well. And then lastly, consistent with our state standards, we do need a maintenance agreement for the storm water because it is privately owned and maintained, and the developer has submitted that as well. Pretty straightforward, kind of the final stage of this development. But again, it's kind of a four-step process. This is a public hearing because we are vacating the right-of-way. We did receive one comment from Dakota Electric that they had existing facilities within that right-of-way; they agreed to leave them there with the granting of an easement, which the developer is providing. So that addressed that one public comment. Other than that, pretty straightforward, four steps, and I'll stand for any questions. [21:55] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Council, any questions? Okay, this is a public hearing so I'll open it up. Is there any public comment? Seeing none. [22:04] **Councilmember John Bermel:** I make a motion to close the public hearing. [22:07] **Councilmember Dan Wolter:** Second. [22:08] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** All in favor of closing the public hearing say Aye. [22:11] **Council:** Aye. [22:13] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** The public hearing has been closed and now I will take a motion on the proposal easement proposal. [22:21] **Councilmember Joshua Lee:** I move to approve the easement vacation and purchase agreement. [22:38] **Councilmember John Bermel:** Second. [22:40] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Any further discussion about the motion? Seeing none. Roll call please. [22:43] **City Clerk Ann Orlofsky:** Volk? [22:44] **Councilmember Michelle Volk:** Aye. [22:45] **City Clerk Ann Orlofsky:** Hellier? [22:46] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Aye. [22:47] **City Clerk Ann Orlofsky:** Bermel? [22:48] **Councilmember John Bermel:** Aye. [22:49] **City Clerk Ann Orlofsky:** Wolter? [22:50] **Councilmember Dan Wolter:** Aye. [22:51] **City Clerk Ann Orlofsky:** Lee? [22:52] **Councilmember Joshua Lee:** Aye. [22:54] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Okay, very good. Motion prevails. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. We’ll now move on to Item B: This is the 2023 Envision Lakeville report. I believe Assistant Administrator Allyn Kuennen is going to present to us. [23:18] **Assistant City Administrator Allyn Kuennen:** Good evening, Mayor and City Council Members. The City of Lakeville initiated the original Envision Lakeville update in 2013. An update then took place in 2018, and now this year, 2023, is the 10-year update of the Envision Lakeville process, which is the city's visioning process. Earlier this year, you all convened a task force. The task force was charged with evaluating several pieces of data and then also giving a recommendation to the City Council. After all of that, the city worked with Craig Rapp Consulting Group who led the initiative. Before you, you can see the timeline. The task force came together in May. They met several times over the summer and fall months, and that was where they evaluated the data. The task force met several times to discuss the data and to decide on any recommendations to bring forward to the City Council. Some of the pieces of data that they evaluated was a community survey that the city worked with Polco to initiate. The task force also evaluated City Council interviews, the EDC strategic plan, and a number of other pieces of data. [24:55] **Assistant City Administrator Allyn Kuennen:** Some of the key points that we heard from the task force and the other pieces of data: residents of Lakeville really appreciate the small-town feel while living within a suburban community. People are really appreciative of the parks and natural amenities in Lakeville as well as the quality of schools. Some of the biggest challenges that were highlighted: the coming end of Lakeville growth, maintaining what Lakeville has, affordable housing and adding housing options, and community engagement and inclusivity. The task force made a number of recommendations which I'll highlight here. The first is they have decided to recommend condensing the vision statement. This essentially takes everything that was in the vision statement and just condenses it into a shorter, easier-to-remember vision statement. There are five priorities in Envision Lakeville. The task force is recommending changing one of them from "cultivating a sense of community" to "cultivating a welcoming, inclusive community." There were discussions around more inclusive types of language, and that's why they wanted to propose a change to that. Additionally, they propose changing the language of the definition of "cultivate a welcoming, inclusive community." As you can see on the screen there, there are values that also make up Envision Lakeville. The task force recommends updating one of the definitions: the "sense of community and belonging" definition, which you can see on the screen. Finally, the task force reviewed all of the owners of the priorities. One change that they also recommend is including the greater Lakeville education community and not specific school districts. With that, the city staff and task force recommend approval of this Envision Lakeville update, and I stand for any questions. [27:09] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Council, any questions or comments? Joshua? [27:11] **Councilmember Joshua Lee:** I just have a comment. You flew through this, and we've had several conversations around this, so I know there are other opportunities for people to see and engage with the full document. But I just wanted to recognize you and the staff's time and energy and the task force's time and energy. I really felt that this was a very broad process that included a lot of voices and a lot of different ways to get that information. So I know it took quite a bit of time to pull this all together, but it was all in the timeline that you laid out. Well done and thank you for the final product here. [27:53] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Well said. Thank you to you and to Allyn and Justin for kind of taking the staff lead on this and putting this all together. So, thank you. I want to extend my gratitude to the 22 people that were willing to raise their hand and support us in this effort, and all those that contributed from boards and commissions too. I think we've got some really good feedback to think about over the next couple years on some of the things that we're going to focus on. So, thank you. Do we have to accept this? Okay, I will take a motion. [28:22] **Councilmember John Bermel:** Mayor, I move to accept the 2023 Envision Lakeville report. [28:27] **Councilmember Michelle Volk:** Second. [28:31] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Any further discussion about the report? Seeing none. All in favor say Aye. [28:40] **Council:** Aye. [28:41] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Opposed? Okay, thank you very much. Moving on to unfinished and new business. Nothing on unfinished business, but new business: report on City Administrator's performance evaluation. Joshua? [28:55] **Councilmember Joshua Lee:** Okay. Well, first of all, I do have a prepared statement to summarize the performance evaluation, but I do want to publicly recognize Tami for her work in preparing this whole process and in gathering the feedback for Administrator Miller's performance review. It's not just about surveys; it's also about comparative analysis of different cities and coming to the table well-prepared so that we can make a good decision going forward. So with that, the City Council completed an annual performance review for City Administrator Justin Miller on Monday, December 18th, at a special closed session meeting. Mr. Miller represents the city's interests on various boards such as Lakeville Arenas, Dakota 911, ALF, and the MLC. Mr. Miller is also the lead legislative advocate working with legislators at both state and federal levels. Mr. Miller holds ultimate responsibility for the organization's performance and end results, providing leadership and direction to department heads and staff. Mr. Miller's review focuses on his leadership presence in the community and communications with the Council, the public, and employees. We find Mr. Miller's performance continues to be at an exceptional level, consistently exceeding expectations and delivering outstanding results for the city. As per Mr. Miller's employment agreement and based on the outcome of this evaluation, we recommend that his annual pay increase to $228,900. [30:57] **Councilmember John Bermel:** I move to approve the report and the salary increase that Councilmember Lee described in his comments. [31:07] **Councilmember Dan Wolter:** Second. [31:09] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Any further discussion? All in favor say Aye. [31:13] **Council:** Aye. [31:15] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Opposed? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller, for your continued work for the city. We greatly appreciate it. [31:19] **City Administrator Justin Miller:** Mayor, if you don't mind real quick, I just appreciate those comments. I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize the teamwork that this encompassed with all the staff involved as well as the City Council, and I appreciate your thoughts. Thank you. [31:37] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Okay, moving on to announcements. Our next regular meeting is Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024, here in this room. Our next work session is January 22nd, 2024, at the water treatment building on Ipava. With that, I just want to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and have a safe and happy New Year. We'll take a motion to adjourn. [32:15] **Councilmember John Bermel:** I'll make a motion to adjourn. [32:17] **Councilmember Michelle Volk:** Second. [32:18] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** All in favor say Aye. [32:20] **Council:** Aye. [32:21] **Mayor Luke Hellier:** Opposed? We are adjourned. Well, another great year, guys. [32:26] [Music]