Based on the context provided in the transcript and the names introduced during the meeting, here is the formatted transcript with speaker identifications. **[0:04] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Council member Wolter is listening online. **[0:24] Mayor Luke Hellier:** He is with us in spirit and on screen. Item number two, citizens comments. Opportunity to address the council for any issue not on the agenda. Doesn't have any. We'll move on to item number 3A, youth advisor commission update. **[0:41] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Mr. Snider, I believe we've got some guests to talk about what they're working on as well. **[0:58] Zach Snider (Staff Liaison):** Yes. So today we have youth commission advisers. We have Olivia Schmidt, Fedumo Muhammad, and Addison Johnson. There she is. And they put together a couple slides to kind of recap the year that they've had so far. Um, their term is coming to an end at the end of August and then the applications will open then. So I'll let them take it away from here and they can give their presentation. **[1:28] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Very welcome, guys. Thank you for being here. **[1:32] Olivia Schmidt:** Well, I'm Olivia. **[1:34] Fedumo Muhammad:** I'm Fedumo. **[1:36] Addison Johnson:** I'm Addison. **[1:38] Olivia Schmidt:** We're part of the Lakeville Youth Commission. What went well? Meeting new people and being surrounded by other young individuals who have the same aspirations as we do. We all had our own personal growth, expanding perspectives and hearing viewpoints and engaging in discussions within our community. The practice of a government-like meeting, collaboration, skill development, positive feedback, and clear objectives and goals. **[2:08] Fedumo Muhammad:** Um, as far as our opportunities to grow, I feel like we could use more communication in the group. Um, because I feel like sometimes there isn't enough. And then we can also focus on smaller community actions rather than like a big major project. Um, I feel like we could learn more about the policy and understand that as well as gain a deeper understanding of how they're made as well as implemented. And then like Addison said, we have a lot of clear objectives and goals, but I feel like we don't really see as much of the impact and results. And then lastly, I feel like we should work on organization with our groups and try to stay focused on our tasks. **[2:54] Addison Johnson:** So for future projects and hope for the rest of us—for me who has been here for three years so far, or for Olivia and Addison who have three years remaining, I think—we hope to work on projects such as helping little kids or working with elementary age and focusing on what Lakeville is and how they can become the youth we are as we all grow. Like donations or volunteer work like we did at Cub Foods with bagging groceries. Um, I was wondering if we have any opportunities for future projects we can work on, like any tasks we could do with the commission or Lakeville Council in general. And as many of us unfortunately wrap up our third to fourth year, we do hope to remain in the Lakeville community as we go into college or whatever future that holds, whether jobs or volunteer work—anything that we could stay within the community and continue helping out. **[3:41] Addison Johnson:** Yeah, I think that's it. Any comments or feedback? Questions? **[3:57] Council Member Joshua Lee:** I have questions. So, what was your—I take it this last year you had a major project? **[4:10] Addison Johnson:** Yeah, our major project was going to be—our original plan was going around to the local elementary schools or middle schools in Lakeville and kind of giving them a talk or presentation about ways that they can get involved in the community. And then that didn't work out because of the school board and everything like that. So then we thought we would do a video, but then it was just the summer around so it was just hard to get everyone together. **[4:37] Addison Johnson:** Hopefully we can work on it this upcoming year. **[4:40] Council Member Joshua Lee:** Do you have ideas for some of the smaller projects you mentioned? **[4:45] Fedumo Muhammad:** Um, no. I feel like we'll come up with more eventually, especially once the school year comes around and everyone's together again. But volunteer work mostly—getting hands-on experience instead of just staying in the meeting room. **[5:06] Council Member Joshua Lee:** So, if you think about the conversations that you guys have had over the last several months, are there pieces of the puzzle that are missing from a city perspective that we should be focusing on for youth in general? Not specifically school, but is there something that as a council we should be thinking about? **[5:26] Fedumo Muhammad:** I wouldn't say anything is missing. I think it's been a great job, but maybe more involvement within the council, like sitting in on meetings or just seeing how that goes for more of a professional experience. **[5:45] Mayor Luke Hellier:** You do realize you're welcome to any meetings because they're all public. So you’re always welcome to attend any meeting. How many kids are going to either term out or graduate? **[6:05] Addison Johnson:** Me and Fasil, I think. **[6:08] Zach Snider:** Well, there's one that's graduating this year. **[6:15] Mayor Luke Hellier:** That's always been a challenge—finding students who are interested, and in particular making sure we have people from all the different schools represented. I think right now we have North, we have somebody from Rosemount... You're from Rosemount? Okay. So as long as the district is covered, that helps. Um, were we short one person last year not being able to recruit or did we fill all the spots? **[7:23] Zach Snider:** The bylaws say we could have up to 11. We had nine this year. Um, I would say—and they would agree—attendance was an issue. I think of 14 meetings, we had enough for a quorum for eight of them, which was frustrating and that's kind of why they hit those roadblocks with that big project. And then once summer came along, what they intended to do was a recruiting video, but it was hard to get coordination to get that done. So, we had two open spots. **[8:21] Council Member Joshua Lee:** Did the superintendent attend one of your meetings this last year? **[8:30] Addison Johnson:** Yeah. **[8:31] Council Member Joshua Lee:** Did you explain to him some of the obstacles that you've been running into as far as communicating within the schools? **[8:45] Fedumo Muhammad:** Um, we did, but I don't think he was very helpful with it. Like, he just dismissed it. We asked for help and he said there's nothing I can do. **[9:15] Council Member Joshua Lee:** I attended a meeting or so... um, but I thought it was a good conversation because as a youth, a lot of your world is focused on school, but this commission isn't necessarily school-focused. And so there is this tricky balance of how we come up with something impactful that's not necessarily school-based. I think your comments about the outcomes of leaving this position with a better understanding of city government, having some opportunities to be visible, and getting your voice heard on issues like the park on Cedar are great. Finding that niche is the hard part. **[10:12] Mayor Luke Hellier:** I do think there's a lot of value in having kids from different school districts communicate on a regular basis because each community is so different. I think one of the important things is when we do this next round of recruitment, we need to make clear the time expectation. I want to make sure they know it's one night a month, and that attendance is important so we can have quorums. **[10:55] Council Member Joshua Lee:** Well, do we have a time set before we go into those interviews? **[11:05] Zach Snider:** The bylaws say the time is set by the commission. We did that in our first meeting and they kept it the same: 6:30 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month. Um, and then one thing as we struggled with numbers is I tried to create a mid-month Zoom meeting just to keep them engaged, but as summer came along, attendance dropped a little bit. **[11:41] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Well, I'm just grateful for the three of you for being here to give us the update and I want to stay engaged with you, especially on a nice summer night. So, thanks for that. **[11:51] Fedumo Muhammad:** Yeah, of course. Thank you. **[11:54] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Nice job, guys. **[11:56] Council Member Michelle Volk:** No, I appreciate their dedication and the time that they've given. So, thank you. **[12:14] Zach Snider:** So, we will start working with the school districts on getting the notices out once August turns around. We usually run those through the first week of school, and then schedule interviews at the end of September. **[12:30] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Great. Thank you. All right, we'll move on to item B, rail storage update. **[12:44] Justin Miller (City Administrator):** Yeah. Mayor, council members, council member Wolter. We have some guests here today. I'm going to ask them to introduce themselves. I'm going to start with a presentation briefly and then pass it along to them. Andrea, if we would start with you just for an introduction please. **[12:56] Andrea (Progressive Rail):** Hi, my name is Andrea and I'm the CEO of Progressive Rail. **[13:04] Bruce (Engineering):** I'm Bruce, I'm with the engineering company. **[13:13] Dan Smithdale:** And I'm Dan Smithdale, Vice President of Compass Rail Services. **[13:20] Justin Miller:** All right, thank you everyone. I'll just briefly introduce the project and then we'll follow up with that. We're here tonight to talk about the freight rail car storage project. The issues we have are basically west of Dodd Boulevard, where existing tracks are used for storage. With that comes public safety concerns and access limitations. We also have driver delays when there's switching extending past County Road 60 due to the lack of rail car storage. We want to look at an opportunity to provide long-term economic growth. I'm going to ask Dan and you to come up and I'll work on getting the presentation up here. **[15:27] Dan Smithdale:** Well, I'm a new guy, so I got elected. Last in, first up. Really appreciate the opportunity to meet everybody and thank you, Mayor, and the council members, and especially the staff. They've been so supportive from day one. I want to thank Justin and Zach and Tina. Again, we're Compass Rail. We are a rail car services and repair company. What we do is safety inspections on rail cars when they're on short lines like Progressive Rail. We do 28-point safety inspections—brakes, wheels, welding, repairs right where the car sits. We're in 26 locations from Washington to Florida. We are partnered with Progressive Rail. **[18:03] Council Member:** So you only do the rail car, not the rails themselves? **[18:07] Dan Smithdale:** Right now, that's right. We have our eye on service work going forward, but right now we’re focused on the cars. We are getting certified by the American Association of Railroads to work on tank cars, which requires special training for spills. Eventually, we’d like to move that work back to Lakeville. Our portion—we came into the project last fall. Andrea introduced us to the idea that if we worked well together, would we be interested in investing to help find a solution? We acquired about 22 acres of land with the idea that it would be the site of the rail car storage facility. It would be a foothold for an extra phase with a shop where we could have covered space to work on cars. We could attract potentially up to 100 people working out of that location. **[20:32] Council Member:** So you would be doing it for a nationwide client then? **[20:36] Dan Smithdale:** Right. For example, we're a Koch Industries approved vendor. We'll be working at the Flint Hills refinery, and sometimes it might be such where we could have cars shipped to the Progressive Rail system and do the repairs here instead of on their property because they have space concerns. That’s one option. This initial phase is just really for storage. We're strictly doing field services right now with service trucks, but we would love a fixed location to work inside. **[22:52] Zach Johnson (Public Works Director):** Bruce’s firm helped us come up with some preliminary thoughts. The site we acquired is just south of the PGR offices on Highview, just under 22 acres. We feel we could fit approximately 225 rail cars there. We'll have to design a new switch off of the CPKC railroad onto the property. **[24:20] Justin Miller:** I wanted to give you an overview. Here's County Road 70 on the top of the screen. Right in the middle is Highview Avenue. To the east is the airport. The project would build a spur to the west crossing Highview Avenue. Properties adjacent are owned by the airport commission. As you recall, we've been looking in this area for quite a few years for a partner to accommodate storage. From a funding source standpoint, the city has been successful in acquiring $750,000 in federal funding for design, which requires a 20% local match. The state funding is from the 2023 legislature—$7 million for the construction of the rail tracks. **[27:16] Justin Miller:** Next steps include the property acquisition. Compass Rail has the yellow piece we saw. We're also working with the gas company to secure an easement. Once we have those, the next step is annexation into the city by ordinance, establishing land use with public hearings, and finalized agreements where the city would own the tracks and facility, but Progressive Rail would operate them. **[29:37] Council Member Joshua Lee:** Well, thank you to all people involved because this is clearly a very complex process. A new piece of this is the expansion of services for a repair shop. How many cars are currently on the rail in the center of Lakeville and how many stalls are in this new facility? **[30:23] Andrea (Progressive Rail):** This first build-out will be dedicated to storage first. There's about 300 cars that go through three towns. The map shows green tracks that hold 225. We would utilize those for storage. If we don't have storage cars, we would use them for operations for our Lakeville facility. Right now energy is down in Northfield; if we can get them this much closer, it’s easier for business. **[32:36] Mayor Luke Hellier:** How much closer are we? What's the timeline? Two years? **[32:48] Justin Miller:** The next step is annexation by ordinance. I anticipate a September public hearing on that. Once completed, land use applications in October. If everything goes smoothly, we start design by the end of this year. Design might take 3 to 6 months. I hope to have design done by the end of next year and potentially go out for bid. **[34:23] Justin Miller:** This is the closest we've come to a solution in 10 years. Just to be clear, this will be owned by the city as an asset, but we won't be responsible for maintenance. We’ll lease it back, and Progressive and Compass will handle expenses and operating. **[36:16] Andrea (Progressive Rail):** Our hope is next year for sure. Construction is very quick once they start. **[37:04] Mayor Luke Hellier:** I want to thank everyone for their patience—the neighbors and Progressive for sticking with us. Sticking with this for all these years and getting creative. Good job to everybody. **[37:50] Council Member John Bermel:** I want to echo thanking everyone. My question, Justin—once this gets built, will that keep the cars down there so they won’t be coming into the center anymore? **[38:15] Justin Miller:** Yeah, the tracks will still be used for operations, but storage will be limited there. **[38:22] Council Member John Bermel:** And is there an end date to that? **[38:25] Justin Miller:** 35 years is the federal requirement for the asset, but the use agreement between Progressive and the City will not have an expiration date. **[38:52] Council Member John Bermel:** Dan, question for you. Any timeframe on the goal for the repair work? 3 to 5 years? **[39:10] Dan Smithdale:** Oh, absolutely. We're already making a commitment for our mobile repair crews. Hopefully, while we're doing design and construction, we're generating more customers. Right now we have 12 people; with the mobile crew, we'll have another 12. A small shop could have 40 people, and a larger shop with a paint and blast shop could be 100 people. **[40:32] Council Member Michelle Volk:** I had a quick question. When you mentioned tank cars—would we have to have more emergency fire services? **[40:42] Dan Smithdale:** They have to be empty when we work on them, so no. **[41:10] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Thank you guys. All right, move on to item C, electric bike ordinance. Mr. Abbott is ready to give us the download. **[41:22] Justin Abbott (Parks & Rec Director):** Good evening. Ebikes are the hot topic. As our ordinances currently sit, we allow bicycles on trails, but we have restrictions regarding motorized vehicles with a gap in regards to ebikes. This is an effort to rectify that and put restrictions in place regarding speeds and unsafe aspects. Chief Olson, is there anything I missed? **[42:30] Chief Olson:** No, I'm sure there'll be some questions. Ebikes as defined by statute are problematic, as are scooters and polarized bikes. **[42:47] Council Member:** Does that cover golf carts? I started getting calls too. **[42:52] Chief Olson:** That's separate. By ordinance, we can approve permits for golf carts on bike paths with a medical diagnosis. I think we only have two in the city authorized for specific routes. **[43:20] Justin Abbott:** We do receive calls regarding motorized dirt bikes. Those are already prohibited. I think along with this there's going to need to be an education component regarding trail signage and what is allowed. **[44:00] Mayor Luke Hellier:** It would be great if the Q1 newsletter next year had this. Do ebikes have horns? **[44:13] Justin Abbott:** They’re not required in the same way a bell is. Classification 3 is just throttle control. **[44:28] Mayor Luke Hellier:** In Canada, they always used horns on trails so you knew someone was coming. Nothing stops your heart more than someone zipping past you in the grass. Are they allowed to use the grass? **[45:22] Justin Abbott:** No, they're not allowed to go off-trail to create their own passing zones. The other component is speed. Some ebikes go 28 miles per hour. The ordinance would restrict speeds on trails to 15 mph across the board for all users. **[46:59] Council Member:** Where is the 15 compared to other cities? **[47:04] Justin Abbott:** It’s consistent with the DNR and other communities. **[47:10] Council Member:** Would this have an impact on scooters? **[47:15] Chief Olson:** Motorized foot scooters are defined in statute. You have to be at least 12; if under 18, you need a helmet. Technically they aren't allowed on bike paths because they are "motorized vehicles," but from an enforcement standpoint, we’d rather have a 14-year-old on a path than on Dodd Boulevard. **[48:19] Council Member Michelle Volk:** Is there proactive encouragement for good behavior? Especially with helmets. I don't think parents know what their kids are riding. **[49:06] Chief Olson:** We've had tragic encounters with scooters. They are dangerous when going fast. If people see gas-powered mini bikes on trails, we encourage them to call 911. **[50:10] Council Member John Bermel:** Driver training is a long process, yet here is a bike that goes 28 mph. Is there any training on how to avoid getting killed? **[50:40] Justin Abbott:** Our recreation manager met with the new bike shop down the road to discuss bike use and repair. We are looking at things through the rec department. **[51:10] Council Member Joshua Lee:** Ebikes aren’t licensed. Is there an age requirement? **[51:18] Chief Olson:** That's managed by state statute. You have to be 15 to operate an ebike. **[51:52] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Signage on the trails with speed would be good. **[52:26] Chief Olson:** Enforcement is a challenge—it’s not like running radar on a squad car. But if you're doing 28 instead of 15, we can visibly see that. A lot of it is education. **[53:20] Council Member Michelle Volk:** Do we have community service officers that'll be riding their own ebikes to have a presence? **[54:00] Chief Olson:** We are looking at that for 2026, but we know our high-use areas where we can focus presence. **[54:30] Justin Abbott:** Signage is a component of the new Lake Mary Greenway trail design. Sometimes painted speed limits on the trail are more effective than posted signs. With 150 miles of trails, we have to hit the hot spots. **[56:20] Mayor Luke Hellier:** All right, item D, short-term rentals. **[56:32] Tonya (Planning Department):** I put a brief memo together. Lakeville allows short-term rentals (Airbnbs) with an administrative permit. We only have a couple that actually have a permit, so I assume this is happening without our knowledge. Current ordinance says you can rent rooms within an owner-occupied dwelling to no more than two unrelated individuals. It’s been interpreted that you can only rent a bedroom, not the whole home, and the owner must live there at the same time. **[59:54] Tonya:** Staff recommendations: create a clear definition of "short-term rental," create a separate ordinance section, clarify if renting the whole house is supported, and consider if we want to require a license or put a limit on the number of rentals. **[1:01:09] Council Member Joshua Lee:** If you rent your house, you need off-street parking, but we have no-parking rules from November to March. **[1:01:31] Tonya:** They would need a wider driveway or parking pad. Also, we should clarify that rental registration is for 30+ days, and short-term is 1 to 29 days. **[1:02:42] Mayor Luke Hellier:** I don't necessarily care if it's one room or a whole house, but the parking component is really important. I don't want to become a community where affordability for home ownership is impacted by too many short-term rentals. **[1:04:41] Council Member John Bermel:** I agree. I'm not opposed to responsible landlords, but I don't want a burden on neighbors or the police from people just looking for a place to party for a week. **[1:06:53] Council Member Joshua Lee:** The registration would have to have "teeth" for violations. I'm wondering if we should collect the lodging tax on them to keep them accountable. **[1:08:43] Mayor Luke Hellier:** It makes things more fair for hotel owners in town too. **[1:08:59] Tonya:** I'll bring back a draft ordinance. It’s hard for staff to track these unless someone is searching the sites daily. **[1:09:55] Council Member Joshua Lee:** I talked to Airbnb and they have a city portal that can give us stats and stats for everything within our borders. **[1:12:10] Council Member Michelle Volk:** The only way we're going to know is if someone complains. Is there a first-time warning? **[1:13:32] Tonya:** We would work with them to get them registered first. Most people just don't realize there's an ordinance. **[1:14:31] Council Member Joshua Lee:** Most people rent the whole home now. It’s kind of awkward just renting a bedroom from someone. **[1:15:32] Tonya:** We’ll develop a separate ordinance to fix the confusion. Currently, the wording about "two people" is very confusing. **[1:18:07] Mayor Luke Hellier:** All right, item E, financial update. **[1:18:18] Julie (Finance Director):** Thank you. General fund revenues are 1.1 million over budget, mainly interest income and development-related permits. Expenditures appear 175k over, but public safety had higher revenues to offset it. Overtime in police was up due to the Burnsville incident. Our fund balance is at 49% of 2025 expenditures. We held onto 1.85 million in public safety aid to use for the land purchase of fire station 5. Liquors profits are in line at 6.2 million. The auditors had no findings against us. **[1:26:13] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Thank you, Julie. Any items for future discussion? I received complaints about delivery drivers making U-turns and backing into driveways. I'm worried about kids in the neighborhoods. **[1:28:28] Council Member Joshua Lee:** I had the Air Lake Airport commission meeting. We talked about the progress out there. **[1:28:59] Council Member Michelle Volk:** We had a personnel committee meeting regarding alcohol and drug testing policies to match state statutes and parental leave changes. **[1:31:16] Justin Miller:** The fire relief pan-pancake breakfast was successful—about 2,300 plates sold. **[1:31:57] Mayor Luke Hellier:** I love the station, but how do we get the pancake line moving faster? **[1:32:26] Justin Miller:** We need more power in the new station for more griddles. It was noted at the meeting this morning! **[1:32:47] Mayor Luke Hellier:** Meeting adjourned.