Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
It is 5:30 and I will call this regular
meeting of the Burnsville City Council
to order.
It is our tradition to stand for a
moment of silence followed by the Pledge
of Allegiance and we invite you to join
us.
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.
The clerk will note that um all council
members are present. Council member
Schultz is joining us remotely. Good
evening, Council member Schultz.
And it's good to see the members of our
community in attendance in person.
Um members of our community can also
choose to watch the meeting at
burnsvillemn
.gov/meetings
or Comcast channel 16 or 859.
The public can also participate through
Zoom by joining us at zoom.us/join.
More information is available
on our meetings webpage and in the
council agenda packet.
The first item on our agenda is
announcements.
Our announcements have to do with all of
our upcoming meetings.
Regular council meetings are scheduled
for Monday,
February 2nd,
and it's moved to Monday, February 2nd
because
uh of caucus and um the law does not
allow us to hold a meeting when there
are caucuses happening.
And that'll be at 5:30 right here in the
council chambers.
Also, a council uh meeting is scheduled
for Tuesday, February 17th at 5:30.
We have an annual offsite
uh work session that's scheduled for
Friday, February 6th at 9:00 a.m. and
that's going to be at the Ames Center.
We have a work session that's also
scheduled for Tuesday, February 10th at
5:30 p.m.
Unless noted, all meetings of the City
Council are held here in the council
chambers.
The next item on the agenda
is citizens comments.
This is the opportunity for anyone
that would like to address the council
on an item that is not on the agenda
and not an application form that's
coming before us at a future date.
Does anyone want to address the council
on an item that is not on the agenda
and not an application form coming to us
at a future date?
Ms. Henderson, is there anyone online?
No, there is not.
Okay, very good.
Uh we will move on.
Um
the next item is additions to the final
agenda and that is for emergency items
only.
City Manager Lindberg, are there any
emergency items to come before the body?
Nothing from staff, Mayor. Members of
the council? Nothing.
Okay.
We are at the consent agenda.
The consent agenda is a group of items
that's um considered to be routine and
will be enacted by one motion.
However, an item on the consent agenda
can be pulled for a separate discussion
and vote.
Is there anyone in the audience who
wishes an item on the consent agenda to
be pulled for a separate discussion and
vote?
Yes, ma'am. Um if you'll come to the uh
podium,
give us your name and the city that
you live in. Thank you. My name's Jean
Forman. I live in Burnsville. Okay,
thank you. And what item would you like
to pull? Okay, well I've never done this
before, so I hope I'm not out of order.
So, forgive me if I'm incorrect. Item
4G, the ordinance amending in the title
one, chapter 13. Thank you. Have a seat.
That item is being pulled for a separate
discussion and vote.
Is there another item that anyone would
like to pull for a separate discussion
and vote?
Ms. Henderson, is there anyone online?
No, there is not. Okay. Um
Mr. Lindberg, does staff want to pull an
item? Nothing from staff, Mayor. Members
of the council?
Okay. Nothing.
All right.
So, may I have a motion to adopt the
consent agenda, please? So moved.
Second. There's a motion and a second.
All in favor, please say I.
>> Mayor, Mayor, we we need a roll call
» Mayor, Mayor, we we need a roll call
vote. Oh.
Oh, yes. I'm sorry.
I
Co-
Council member Schultz, I'm sorry. We
got to get used to this when you're when
you're
when you're joining remotely. So, we'll
do a roll call.
Council member Schultz?
Yes.
Council member Keely? Yes. Council
member Gustafson? Yes. Council member
Workman?
>> Aye.
» Aye.
Mayor Coutts? Yes. Okay. You have the uh
I do. Okay, very good.
So, now um
item 4G
is an ordinance amending title one,
chapter 13, stewardship of city
resources and resolution affirming
community values and stewardship of
community resources amidst immigration
operations.
Presenting this ordinance is our
attorney,
Mr. Shepherd.
Mayor, members of the council,
at its January 6th meeting, the City
Council voted for staff to bring back a
policy prohibiting staging on city
property at this meeting.
Uh in front of you, item 4G, is that
policy in ordinance form.
The the proposed ordinance amends title
one of the city code to clarify the
appropriate use of city resources,
including city property, by city staff
and city public officials.
It reaffirms that city resources must be
for public purpose under state law and
in a non and used in a
non-discriminatory manner that serves
the entire community.
It prohibits the use of city resources
for federal immigration enforcement,
including the use of city property,
buildings, and parks.
Um the enforcement of the ordinance is
an operational one subject to the
discretion of city staff based on
operational needs. Um like all code
enforcement or all city ordinances, um
allowing residents to peacefully
assemble remains a chief priority
uh during immigration activities. We can
assume that enforcement will operate
akin to nuisance or property enforcement
where the key focus is on compliance,
not punishment, and enforcement would be
on a continuing again subject to
resource allocation. Um the ordinance in
front of you is accompanied by a
resolution that explains the basis for
the ordinance and affirms Burnsville
community values in line with the
discussion in front of the council.
And a motion to approve would include
both the ordinance and the resolution.
Okay, thank you.
Members of our community,
there is only one thing hanging in these
chambers and that is our values.
And so I ask all of us
to practice mutual respect
and civility because that's who we are
here in Burnsville.
We care for one another
and we speak respectfully
and we listen politely
because everyone's voice is important.
And so we have
people who have signed up to speak
and we're happy to hear
what you have to say, but I also want us
to understand
that we have been aware of all of the
activities
that has been going on in our region.
And uh
we also understand of our limitations.
And well, I will speak to that when the
time comes for me to make my remarks.
And each of the council members will
also make remarks
after you speak.
We will listen
and I'm going to ask that everyone limit
their remarks to 3 minutes
so that we can move on and also do the
work of the public that is before us for
this evening.
So, I thank you
for your patience
and
your grace and understanding the things
that we have to do together because this
is about all of us together, working
together
for the good of our community.
And so, the first person who is on this
list is Yusef And Mr. if you
would come to the podium
and just give us your name and the city
you live in.
And we can all limit our remarks to 3
minutes. And
City Manager Lindberg, I don't know if
you or somebody can
time.
Thank you.
>> Madam Mayor, members of council, clerk's
» Madam Mayor, members of council, clerk's
office will take care of Yeah.
Okay, thank you. Mr. the floor is
yours. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, city
council and everyone else who has joined
us here today.
My name is Yusef and I live in
Burnsville. I'm a homeowner. I'm raising
my family here.
And I'm so happy to see everyone here
today. It's an important day.
I am here to share with you guys
with all of you of the collective
suffering of our Burnsville residents.
Uh it's more so our business owners. I
am a business owner myself.
Uh this issue this immigration this ICE
in our community has really impacted a
lot of business in our community. And it
has affected even individuals, even
families, even children. Children are
have having to come home and talk about
what ICE is doing in our community. And
so, for me uh I'm here cuz I know all of
you are you feel I'm you are human
beings and I'm not here to criticize
anyone. I'm not here to put anybody in a
in a bad spot, but you have to feel it
within you uh that you have to
understand what impact we're having as a
community and how we're being affected
by this.
Uh you know, I'll give you a story where
my neighbor
uh fearful
uh of the Latino community
uh haven't heard of him about 3 days
now. Went and knocked his door. He
opened the door and he the first thing
he said to me was no ICE my friend. You
know, so this is this is the fear we're
talking about. This is the conversation
we're having in our community. Uh you're
have having to go all over Burnsville
and getting to individual businesses,
they're all empty. You know, and people
are afraid to come to work.
Uh even the normal democratic process of
us expressing ourselves even when it
comes to voting, you have fear of
communities that usually come out uh
asking themselves twice. When we go out
and talk to them about how this process
is important to you. So, for us also,
we're building our city. Uh a beautiful
city. You guys I think have done a great
job in doing that. There's more that
needs to be done, but you know, I got
give you credit. Uh and so, we need to
be able to have be having serious
conversation about our community. Uh
including having a Mother Martin Luther
Martin Luther King Jr. Day educational
conversation on race.
1 minute. And also
I would love for you to consider
unmasking ICE agents in our community so
that we know who they are, how they look
cuz we don't know who's coming to our
community masked with guns. We are not
sure if they're law enforcement, we're
not sure if they're ICE agents. So,
that's another thing I wanted to bring
up and that is important to us. Thank
you so much. Thank you, Mr. The
next uh
Okay, I'm going to ask that you know, I
know that we appreciate everyone's
comments, but at each time you do that,
it's going I need to make sure that we
keep moving along and let's be
respectful. We all appreciate everyone's
voice. So, thank you uh for your
diligence with all of this. The next
speaker is Yan Chen.
And just uh give us your name and city.
Good evening, council.
Uh my name is Yan. I'm a resident of
Burnsville.
I've been involved in Minnesotan
grassroots immigrant rights groups for
over a year and I'm in favor of amending
the city policy to prohibit immigration
enforcement from using, staging,
gathering, and or deploying to and from
public city property. In fact, I'm in
favor of the city council going even
further to prohibit the use of any city
materials, resources, or personnel to
aid in the support of federal
immigration matters.
Part of your job, as I understand it
is to ensure that all of your residents
can wake up without the fear of being
abducted on the streets, that they can
go to work to beloved establishments
without the fear of being violently
tackled during a shift, and that they
can operate businesses without being
forced to shut down to keep their
employees and co-workers safe from
unidentified armed strangers.
While you consider your own amendment, I
insist that you consider an even more
stringent amendment. Luckily for you,
there's already a concrete model to
follow. That is the revised separation
ordinance that was unanimously adopted
by the Minneapolis City Council in
December and that I emailed to the city
clerk earlier today.
I've witnessed personally
how multiple 20 or more plus unmarked
vehicles in addition to lightly armored
assault vehicles commonly known as a
BearCat blockade multiple city blocks
as ICE perp walked a a sole individual
out of a house and I overheard on the
radio that this person was identified as
not the person that they were looking
for, but simply as a {quote} {unquote}
illegal. And after speaking to the
sobbing wife of the person who's and the
other people who are working at that
house, they reported that even though
the agents broke down the doors, they
never saw a warrant.
And similarly on January 6th, I spoke to
the manager of my favorite local taco
shop as he told me the ridiculous story
of how ICE entered his restaurant and
chased an employee. And then they
decided to close early
and remain closed for the rest of the
week. He additionally told me that their
other locations had to be shut down
because their employees who had been
working for more than 2 years with legal
work permits were abducted during their
shifts.
I've personally been pepper sprayed and
thrown onto hoods of vehicles and
threatened with arrest without charge.
These are not actions of a well-trained
and measured law enforcement. These are
actions of an unhinged paramilitary that
I do not want to see on my streets or in
my city ever again. Thank you. Thank
you.
Uh Mr. Doug Heuer.
And just name and name of the city you
live. Doug Heuer, Burnsville.
And I'll yield two of my 3 minutes to
someone else.
Uh my wife and I have lived in
Burnsville since 1988.
And we fully support the ordinance
amending title one
chapter 13 stewardship of city resources
and resolution number 26.
Burnsville needs to stand for the values
that make our community vibrant, strong,
and a welcoming place for everyone.
Thank you. Thank you.
Um
Ms. Alpha, I think it's
Gorman? Goswami. Yeah. Yeah.
You get your name and the city. And
I know who you are.
My name's Alpha Goswami. I'm from
Burnsville. And I'll also yield my extra
minutes to somebody because I'm not as
eloquent as some of these other speakers
are.
Um but I have seen how terrified
everyone is. I've seen the restaurants
close down.
Um
there's so much distrust in the
neighborhoods of seeing cars drive by
like always watching. Um
lack of workers coming in. There's a
very popular gym around here that sent
out an email today saying that their
custodians aren't coming in
across across the Twin Cities, not just
in Burnsville, but they are just asking
anyone to volunteer to be a custodian.
Um
And I feel like if we can um
I I support this bill too. Um
I think that's what called a
proposition. I'm using the wrong words.
Ordinance. Ordinance, thank you. Um so
that kids can
play safely and um
parents don't have to worry about their
kids even just driving to and from
school.
Thank you. Thank you.
Uh Jesse Carlson.
And just this your name and city.
Uh members of the council, my name is
Jesse Carlson. I live in Eagan. I'm an
Eagan resident. However, I grew up in
Apple Valley and uh I work in real
estate and sell a lot of real estate in
Burnsville, uh Minnesota.
Uh Burnsville is one of my favorite
places to sell. I grew up next to the
city.
Uh in in high school we would go we
would go to the TGI Fridays that was at
the Burnsville Mall. We're all still
watching that and I've been thoroughly
impressed over my entire life seeing how
Burnsville has come about and has
evolved and really risen itself up uh
with given some of the mall and some of
the economic turmoil that the city has
seen.
Uh I have found that many folks that I
represent see Burnsville as a great
place to move because of the
up-and-coming nature, what has been done
with the heart of the city, with with
what has been done with the new
businesses that come in uh that come in
here. What I'm very afraid of right now
for the citizens of Burnsville is with
all the businesses closing, with folks
not feeling brave enough to go outside
uh due to all of the all of the unrest
that's going on that ICE has brought to
to the community here uh that these
businesses may close their doors forever
and all of the gains that have been made
economically within Burnsville in order
to advance itself and to make itself the
city that we're all loving right now
that I I again I I represent for to get
people to move in here as best as
possible. I I second the motion to try
to amend this
this ordinance to go more more
stringently to ask for enforcement from
the Burnsville Police Department in
making sure that ICE does not use these
uh these elementary schools for staging
grounds. I I've seen ICE agents at Vista
View lining that up. This is a place for
children.
This is They've been lining up in in
those areas and and I I've even heard
reports of of Burnsville Police
uh
cooperating, shaking hands with ICE
agents here. Now, I am not here to
disparage the police officers. They They
put their They put their lives on the on
the line every single day. But, what I
ask is for help. This community needs
the help and protection because no
matter what happens with this
enforcement with this enforcement items
and the people they remove from our
community, these are going to be your
neighbors forever, right? Lining up with
with ICE with these enforcement folks,
they're only going to be here for a
short time. We have elections that that
could come up and that could change at
any point in time. Do we really want to
have a negative impacts on the leaders
with with within the community between
the police department and and its
citizens? Thank you. Thank you. Thank
you. Uh Jessica Benard
And so,
your name because I hope I
pronounced it correctly, but uh
in your city.
>> My name's Jessica Benard and I live in
» My name's Jessica Benard and I live in
Burnsville.
Um council members, Madam Mayor,
I listened to the discussion about ICE
enforcement in Burnsville from last
week's meeting and I have to say
residents don't need your sympathy or
reassurance. We need action.
Saying there is nothing we can do is not
leadership. Doing nothing is
unacceptable.
This is a reality whether you like it or
not.
Inaction is permission for an abuser to
escalate their behavior. This will only
get worse unless Burnsville acts now.
Doing nothing is a choice. You may not
control federal agencies, but you do
control how Burnsville uses its own
resources and what it stands for.
You are elected officials representing
all residents.
"You belong here" is our slogan, but it
rings hollow at the moment.
You say you're thinking about the
long-term effects of our community as
are others.
Understand this, fear and silence cause
long-term harm.
You cannot hide from it or self-care it
away.
Please lead.
You can start by voting yes on this
ordinance to ban the staging in public
property.
I also agree with the proposal to ban it
further with the unmasking of agents.
These should be safe spaces for
community members, not convenient
locations for abductions.
Community members being abducted at a
police station or municipal center reeks
of collaboration with federal agents and
both of these things happened this week
in our neighboring suburbs.
Do the right thing. Vote yes.
And I thank you for your hard work and
your time. Thank you.
Molly
uh
I'm not quite sure how to I scribbled
Molly Gerke. That's I am a 20-year
resident of Burnsville.
My family and I are heavily involved in
the community. My husband teaches at
BHS. I work for the YMCA, a local
clinic, and even right there at BCT V. I
was very pregnant last time I was here
though. It was quite quite a while ago.
We're in sports, community ed, Girl
Scouts. My daughter was up at the day of
last year talking about parks.
We love our community, our parks, and
our neighbors.
Since December, life in Burnsville has
changed for the worse. Our immigrant
neighbors, our black and brown
neighbors, and honestly everyone I've
spoken with are living with some kind of
fear for their safety. That is not the
Burnsville I know.
I began going to mosque on Fridays in
December to show support. Last week a
leader there told me attendance is way
down ever since these targeted attacks
began.
People are afraid to worship in
Burnsville.
I spoke with a teen at the mosque who
said Thursday she was hassled by ICE in
the parking lot of the Outlet Mall and
asked for her documentation.
A child.
I spoke with another teen that attends
BHS who said she recently watched ICE
bother somebody walking to school. She
now carries her passport with her all
the time. Again, this is a child.
I've joined a group of parents and
teachers who are staying vigilant during
school release time for William Byrne.
Two weeks ago, there was a confirmed ICE
vehicle idling at the entrance of the
apartments near the school at release
time.
That child didn't come
the rest of the week.
Parents and children of all immigration
statuses are afraid to leave their homes
due to potential and honestly likely
harassment and unlawful detainment by
ICE.
My husband's classroom is seeing a 25 to
50% absenteeism every single day in
every single class at the high school
since December.
Teachers are reaching out to students to
make sure they're safe. Parents are
transporting vulnerable children to and
from school activities.
Community members are dropping off food
and supplies. What's the city doing?
What are the police doing?
1 minute. ICE is making the city less
safe and definitely not a place where
everyone belongs.
Last week ICE caused a horrific car
accident on five and that wasn't even
the first of its kind. They've used that
technique in Shakopee a couple days
ahead. My 16-year-old who works for the
city as a warming house attendant over
at Northview, I'm not letting him drive
anymore. That was two blocks
from where he goes to work every Sunday.
After how bad it is the roads just
aren't safe anymore when they're doing
this behavior.
They're unlawfully setting up checks at
entrances to mobile homes and
apartments. They're unlawfully speeding
through Burnsville and even ramming
their vehicles into others.
They're unlawfully forcing entry into
businesses and daycares. Their
activities caused Burnsville stores and
restaurants to close for the safety of
their staff and patient patrons.
This is not the safe Burnsville it once
was. Teachers are helping. Parents are
helping. Tow companies are helping. Food
shelves are helping. Community is
helping. What is the city doing? That's
time.
Thank you.
Andre Winters
Good evening.
Yeah.
Name and just the city, please.
Andre Winters, Burnsville.
Um good evening,
City Council,
City Attorney,
Fire Chief,
Police Chief,
residents.
Um I was actually sent here to read
something that my wife asked me to read.
Um
And
if it seems like I'm going to give you a
constitutional less lesson, yeah, that's
my intent.
Um so, I will I will read and I'm also a
school teacher, so I have that bit. And
and uh Mr. Shepherd, I apologize if I
sound like an attorney cuz I am
definitely not an attorney.
Um
So, she writes, "Good evening, honorable
members of the City Council. My name is
Beatrice Winters and I reside in
Burnsville.
I've been a resident of Burnsville for
over 20 years. I am a mother, a wife,
grandmother, and human rights advocate.
As such, I am here before you or I am
here before you
to ask that the City Council of
Burnsville uphold the oath of office you
swore before you officially assume
the duties and exercise the powers of
your position.
You swore to uphold Minnesota law
and local city charter norms.
Under Minnesota law, you affirmed that
you would support the Constitution of
the United States
and the Constitution of the state the
great state of Minnesota.
So, I stand before you reminding you
that the Minnesota Constitution
Article 1, Section 7 addresses due
process and habeas corpus.
The Minnesota Constitution guarantees
fundamental legal protections before
someone can be held for a crime.
No person might be held to answer for a
criminal offense without due process of
law.
And no one can be deprived of life,
liberty, and property without due
process. Article 1, Section 10 addresses
unsearchable seat Excuse me, searches
and seizures. The Minnesota Constitution
also mimics the Fourth Amendment of the
US Constitution protected at the state
level.
People have the right
to be secure in their persons,
possessions against unreasonable
searches and seizures. In short, the
Minnesota Constitution firmly protects
liberty by requiring due process before
holding someone for a criminal offense
that requires judicial authorization
such as a warrant supported by probable
cause before people and property can be
lawfully seized or searched.
While
the Minnesota statute does not allow
arrest without a warrant in some
circumstances such as a crime committed
in an officer's presence or when there
is probable cause
for a felony.
This does not eliminate constitutional
rights.
Bottom line, Minnesota Constitution
prohibits the detention
without due process or deprivation of
liberty without constitutional
safeguards.
Thank you, Mr. Winters.
Uh Ada Winter.
Name and city, please. Hi.
I'm Ada Winter. I um have lived in
Burnsville my entire life
and I have never felt unsafe in this
city until now.
Um
I've seen multiple ICE raids in our
community and I've seen the Burnsville
police assist ICE in these raids. Um I
would like that to stop along with this
amendment and stop anything from this
city to benefit them whatsoever.
And that's all.
Thank you. Thank you.
Tasha
Weisenberger
Pomeroy.
Name and city.
My name is Tasha Weisenberger Pomeroy.
I live in Burnsville and have been a
resident for 7 and 1/2 years.
I moved to Burnsville from Minneapolis
for its diversity.
And that diversity is also what has um
has been the best part of being here. I
have children in the schools.
Um we've enjoyed the parks. We've
enjoyed all elements of living here and
that diversity is also what
is putting Burnsville under attack. And
so I'd like to uh support the uh
ordinance and ask actually that you go
one step further. In the last weeks,
I've been helping to support my
neighbors.
Um I've been observing.
I've been seeing what tactics ICE is
using on the road, completely dangerous.
I've seen pictures of the accidents that
they've caused. My children now know
when ICE is on the road and can point
them out by their dangerous driving
behaviors. My kids are 7 and 10.
Those aren't safe conditions for anyone.
And I'd like you to So I'd like you to
support this ordinance and consider
additional steps that the police force
can take to keep our citizens safe and
how people are using our roads and how
people are interacting with our
citizens.
Thank you.
Sarah Beckman.
Yeah. Hello. Name and just city. My name
is Sarah Beckman um and I am a resident
of Burnsville.
Um I am not prepared cuz I didn't think
I would make it in time, but
I chose this city to raise my children
in 11 years ago um because of its
diversity. Um The beautiful things that
happen in this community make it what it
is. Um
the fact that all we belong here, we all
belong here. Um I truly believe that. Um
but in the last 2 months, there are
things that are making me question.
Um my family's first interactions,
personal interactions were December 6th
when my children and I were driving out
of our street and turned the corner to
watch a raid by ICE with 10 plus
vehicles
where members of our community were
taken violently. My children watched
long arm long gun um armed officers in
my street less than a block from my
home. And I know you know these things
are happening, but my kids are 5, 7, and
10.
This is not what they should be seeing.
Um in the last 10 days, I've been
observing um with my community. Um the
very first day, I watched a young father
be violently detained.
Um I've seen multiple abductions since
then.
I have personally been threatened by ICE
twice now. Um once by using my name
coming up and telling me that I will be
arrested if I do not um stay out of
their way. I was in my car multiple um
aisles away from them in the Cub parking
lot.
The second time as I was watching them
and had a confirmed ICE vehicle um to
observe so that we can document and
watch what's happening to our community
so that no one goes missing, no one gets
lost. I had an officer drive across town
from 13 and 5 all the way to my home to
show me that he knew where I lived.
These are things that are not safe for
my my home, my community, my family. I
love Burnsville. I love Burnsville and I
want it to be safe.
So please adopt this ordinance. Again, I
don't know what I'm saying, but please
adopt this ordinance and
I would like for our police who I
deeply love. Um They work so closely
with our PTO at Gideon Pond and um
they're present and um
I want them to step up and to
um
pull police pull the ICE officers over
when they are being um aggressive, when
they are breaking the law, and um to not
threaten us. I don't want to feel unsafe
here because I am trying to witness and
keep our community safe.
Thank you.
Jean Foreman.
Hello again. Hello. Jean Foreman. I live
in Burnsville.
And I'm coming today. I'm wearing my
whistle. I don't leave the house anymore
without my whistle and I think there's
probably a lot of people here who do the
same.
Because every day I leave my house,
I don't know if I'm going to have to
stand up for a neighbor,
someone I don't know,
but I believe in our safety because if
my neighbors aren't safe, then
ultimately I'm not safe. And I'll just
echo what the previous
um
testifier said. I went out on an
observation uh actually was my first one
just um
a few weekends ago.
And later that afternoon, um there was
an ICE vehicle patrolling in our
neighborhood and there had not ever been
one there before.
So I think they are following and trying
to intimidate Burnsville residents who
are trying to stand up and do the right
thing for all of our neighbors.
But I do want to tell you that there is
no need to obviously assist federal
agents by allowing staging on any city
property. Uh Why would
our city resources, our city council,
and city leadership want to be
associated with the stories that you're
hearing to tonight?
They're clearly getting their work done.
Whatever it is, I'm not even sure.
But they're disrupting life in
Burnsville and we don't need to help
them. And I don't want you all to help
I want to help our neighbors.
Understanding that some of the more
serious events in other parts of our
state uh have been far worse doesn't
guarantee that it ultimately won't be a
story told right here in Burnsville.
It is time to recognize that the
decision made tonight
is a decision that our residents are
going to live with now
and into the future.
How do we all want to be remembered in
this moment?
I appreciate it. Thank you. I just want
to say that um
public service and I respect you all for
that means making difficult decisions,
truly difficult decisions.
But this should be the easiest vote you
should take
is to approve the ordinance amendment
and deny access to city property by
federal agents who are here to terrorize
us and terrorize our neighbors.
Thank you. Thank you.
And Monica, I can't read your last name,
but it starts with an N.
And
Hi. My name is Monica Nicole. I am
Nicole. Yes. Uh I'm first time, too, so
hello everybody. Um I do want to start
by saying
>> Burnsville?
» Burnsville?
>> And I'm from Burnsville, yes. Okay.
» And I'm from Burnsville, yes. Okay.
I just want to say thank you to the
community who's showing up.
And um
using your voice. Sorry. Um
But as a brown woman, um
it has been very
hard to leave the house
and making sure that I have my passport.
Um I also am in
I have witnessed from first hand family
members are in fear.
They're no longer contributing to our
society, to our communities, and our
society because they are afraid of being
abducted and treated inhumanely.
I ask that you also pass the amendment.
Um
I don't have my paper with me, but I ask
that you please um help and use your
power to help us, to help our community,
to
support us because this is what is
happening is not right in any in any
level. Um
I recently had to go help a family
member and a community member who are
legal here
escape out of a Burger King because they
have been surrounded all day long by
these ICE agents. And the fear that they
have
it just it's heartbreaking. Um this
should not be happening. So, I
I had so much more I wanted to say, but
I just ask for your help and ask you to
do the right thing and protect our
people and protect our community because
we are all contributing here. We all
came to find something better for to to
support to be
working hard-working members of our
community. So, I that's all. Thank you
so much. Thank you. Thank you, Monica.
Um
I think it's
Nadia
N I
D A Benson, I think. Oh, Nick. N I C K.
>> Oh, it's Nick.
» Oh, it's Nick.
>> That's okay. I'm sorry.
» That's okay. I'm sorry.
I've been called worse.
So, forgive me.
>> Yes, that's okay. I apologize for my
» Yes, that's okay. I apologize for my
sloppy handwriting. I appreciate your
reminder on civility and respect here
because what I have witnessed over the
last few weeks here has filled me with
so much rage and tension. And Nick,
you're from Burnsville, right?
>> I am from Burnsville, yes. 14 years here
» I am from Burnsville, yes. 14 years here
now.
>> tonight I'm not even asking for your
» tonight I'm not even asking for your
address. It's just that it we all know
that we're we're all one Burnsville.
>> Indeed, Burnsville, I promise. Uh
» Indeed, Burnsville, I promise. Uh
anyway,
uh I've been filled with rage and seen
what's going on in my city. I've been
doing observation work here as many
people have. Um I have seen ICE agents
sitting at Terrace Oaks Park next to the
skating rink where there should have
been kids skating. There were ICE agents
waiting to
uh harass and hassle someone else
without any probable cause. I've been
around when um
we've been doing observation work and
ICE calls in and says that
our fellow observers have been causing
traffic accidents and ramming into their
vehicles and sending the Burnsville
police after them to hassle them on
ICE's behalf, which is disgusting. Uh I
have also been on
the scene of other situations where ICE
has been doing enforcement action. And
again, uh Burnsville police are there uh
fist bumping and saying things like I'll
call you later and things like that. And
it fills me with such uh shame and rage
that people with uh wearing the badge
for the police in my town are helping
enable all of this. And I have to go and
drop my kids off at a school where
there's a Burnsville police car sitting
in front of school resource officer.
And what are we supposed to tell our
kids when I've seen Burnsville police
out helping ICE do this work?
How are we supposed to trust that
they're here to keep any of us safe when
they're also collaborating and doing
this work? Um I would ask that you pass
the separation ordinance and take it a
step further so that no other city
resources are devoted to uh enabling
what ICE is doing. One more minute.
They are everywhere. I was took a trip
to Menards the other day. I drove
through three apartment complexes uh
that I knew had vulnerable communities
in there and ICE was uh circling around
looking for people in two of them
already. Uh it's completely
unacceptable.
Uh the only words from any of our cops
to DHS or ICE or any of these other
alphabet soup of agencies involved in
uh any of these enforcement activities
should be get the hell out of
Burnsville. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay, Emma Gabbert.
Let me move that down here. Yeah, just
name your city. Uh Emma Gabbert and
Burnsville, lifelong resident.
Um greetings to everyone here. Uh my
name is Emma Gabbert um and I wanted to
share my experience of being an ICE
observer this past Saturday. Um I was
notified that ICE was stationed at the
QuickTrip on Highway 5 in Burnsville
Parkway.
Um I pulled in, I saw a large SUV with
out-of-state plates and looked in the
driver's and passenger seat and soon
enough saw that they were masked agents.
Um
There were other observers there, but um
horns were not being honked and
whistles were not being blown. And so, I
decided to go up and talk to them and
ask what they were doing there. Um which
was pretty crazy, but I just wanted to
see what they had to say for themselves.
And so, I asked them what they were
doing there. They said that they had
been stationed there.
Um and I said, "Okay, I'm going to honk
my horn and blow my whistle, you know,
as I'm dedicated to doing that." And um
the ICE agent in the passenger seat
said, "Oh, honk your horn. Blow your
whistle. You do whatever you got to do,
you know?" And I'm like,
"This is an interesting response to me
coming up and asking you like basically
to get out of here." Um so, I did just
that. I started blowing my whistle,
honking my horn, and soon, you know, my
other observers came by. Um and then at
that point is when I saw three more
vehicles surround us completely. Um
which means that they were probably
looking to justify bringing in more
reinforcements.
Um but we did not stop honking our
horns, blowing our whistles. Um and they
eventually left without um detaining
anyone that I saw.
So, I just wanted to share that
experience because I know a lot of
people have been threatened by ICE
agents, but in this instance, it seemed
like they were making a game of it. Um
so, I just wanted to let people know
that this is a response that you may
encounter
um with an ICE agent.
So, today I ask the city of Burnsville
to support the ordinance to limit the
use of stewardship of city property for
federal immigration enforcement staging
operations.
>> One more minute.
» One more minute.
Thank you.
Um and I want to say too, we were
talking about, you know, the importance
of public service. I am running for the
House of Representatives for District
55B. And I hope that my fellow public
servants can uphold the values that we
hold so dear to us here in Burnsville.
Thank you so much and
thank you for your work. Thanks.
>> Okay, Chris John.
Madam Mayor, City Council, sorry. I
sitting in the back, so my name is Chris
John. I live in Burnsville. And I just
wanted to talk a little bit about a
story and I spoke with uh a few people
to try to get some pictures uh in front
of you um this uh event that happened on
Saturday this past Saturday about 4:30
on 150th and County Road 5.
Uh it was a vehicle that was uh
rammed by ICE.
And I don't know if they can get this
picture in. They said if I point to the
camera Yeah.
And you can see that the damage. And the
person right in front of there is a
Burnsville police officer. Can you guys
see that okay? Yeah, it's It's coming
in. Yeah, and uh The control room has
it. And you might be looking at that
thinking, "Well, what happened to the
people inside?" Well, I'm happy to say
that they're fine.
I got another picture if they want to
show that as well.
And you can see them sitting in the
snow. They're being arrested. They were
pulled out of that vehicle after all the
damage. But don't worry, the kid in the
back was cleared by the Burnsville
paramedics.
Now, physically cleared. Mentally, who
knows.
These are the kind of processes that are
happening. I don't feel like
this is a policing action as much as
it's a military takeover of our city.
I think it's ridiculous. I really hope
that we can at least push back a little
bit by
by passing this ordinance. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
Uh Katerina Gomez.
Just the city, your name and the city.
Here we go. Hello everybody. Hello Mayor
Kautz and City Council members. My name
is Katerina Gomez, but you may call me
Kathy. Uh I am the proud grandchild of
Cliff and Shirley Jacobson, the original
settlers in Burnsville.
While I'm the second generation to be
born and raised in Burnsville on my
maternal side I'm also a first
generation Honduran American. My
father's from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Nearly all of my family on my paternal
side still lives there, including my
brother and my nephew.
Needless to say, before I could
articulate public policy, I felt the
impacts of federal immigration policy on
my family.
And an important lesson I learned early
on that there were some things that are
just beyond even my parents' control.
And my parents raised me well. Every
night before we went to bed, I prayed
for my cousins in Honduras just as hard
as I prayed for my cousins here in
Minnesota.
It was a childhood dream of mine to meet
my family, laugh, um and eat together
without any worries.
And I don't know about you, City Council
members, but I've made great progress in
making my childhood dreams come true in
the recent years.
The Honduran cousins I had only prayed
for and seen pictures of on social
media, I finally got into know. This
past month, my family hosted four of my
cousins from Honduras here in
Burnsville. And just this morning, they
hopped on a plane at MSP heading back to
Honduras.
They were so excited to visit Minnesota
for the first time. Um it's experience
snow, to visit the Mall of America, all
of the thing American things, eat sushi.
But needless to say, our plans were
drastically impacted by the recent surge
of violent immigration enforcement
actions in the visible presence of
federal agents from the Department of
Homeland Security.
My cousins are tourists who did
everything legally, yet were unable to
safely visit the land of the free.
Restaurants were closed, enforcement
actions were being staged in public
parks and parking lots.
And these violent videos were being
shared all over social media.
How we support and care for each other
is the only thing we have control of.
We must think of how families and
children are being impacted by the world
we are creating for them to grow up in.
One of my cousins that visited me from
Honduras, she's only 10 years old. She's
a beautiful reminder that children, just
like all of us, are experiencing life
for the first time.
While me and so many other Americans
have been losing sleep looking up
immigration policies, delivering
groceries to neighbors, bearing witness
to the experience of others, and
connecting families to our local much
overextended community programs and
organizations.
My little cousin shared with me that she
felt like her time in Minnesota was a
beautiful dream that she didn't want to
wake up in this month.
And that was before she went to
Build-A-Bear.
How we react and respond to social
disruption, tragedy, and violence will
be observed by those around us,
especially by the little ones in our
community.
Those who've studied immigration policy
and enforcement trends in the United
States can tell you that since DHS has
been created in 2002, both Democratic
and Republican administrations have
removed millions of people through
expedited processes.
The difference is these recent
immigration enforcement actions have
been especially disruptive and
intimidating and violent.
This month my family wasn't able to
explore the Twin Cities and we weren't
comfortable traveling around the state
even with all of our passport and our
identification. So my cousins didn't
quite have the Minnesota experience we
envisioned, but we spent hours outside
at our Burnsville parks, sledding and
building snow creatures.
But the entire time I was anxious and on
high alert because I know that even
though we live down the street and even
though I brought my passport sledding, I
was fearful of being questioned.
We need to preserve these spaces and
other city-owned properties as trusted
locations for families to continue
supporting the healthy growth and
development of children.
I know we can't bring immigration reform
through city ordinances. I wish it was
that easy.
But I do know that we can mitigate harm
to our most vulnerable community
members.
Thank you for checking in on your
neighbors and your co-workers. Thank you
for donating and delivering food for
your neighbors. Extra shout-out for food
donations, please.
And thank you for supporting this
ordinance.
Thank you.
Okay. Um
Joy Marber.
Okay.
Just name and city, please. Good
evening.
My name is Joy Marber and I'm from
Burnsville now.
All right.
Good evening, student city council
members. My name is Joy. I'm a 20-year
Army veteran, a former military police
officer, and a logistics NCO, and a
proud Minnesotan.
I'm here tonight not just to speak as a
veteran,
but as a neighbor, a homeowner,
and someone who has fought for peace
both abroad and here at home.
In 2020 I watched my community burn to
the ground, third precinct, Minneapolis,
on national television.
I wasn't even home to process it.
I was deployed to Camp Taji, Iraq,
where I we are under constant threat and
heavy attack. I suffered my second TBI.
I was serving my country watching my
neighborhood fall apart from thousands
of miles away.
When I returned, I couldn't shake the
hypervigilance.
The sounds, the tensions, the fear
did not stay overseas.
It followed me home.
The VA mental health provider told me
that if I wanted to manage my PTSD,
maybe I need to find more peaceful place
to live, be
a place where I can breathe.
So I sold my home.
I left my neighborhood, the only
neighborhood I'd known.
I came to Burnsville because it offered
something desperately needed, stillness.
And while I found it,
and for a while I I found it, but now
that stillness is gone.
I see masked men running around the
streets chasing and threatening people.
I hear the fear in my neighbors' voices.
I feel the tension in my own body. My
hypervigilance is back, worse than ever.
The VA had to increase my medication
again just so I can function.
I didn't come to Burnsville to escape.
I came here to heal. 1 minute.
I'm asking you, imploring you,
to help restore the peace and brought me
here in the first place.
I have done my part. I served. I'm
retired.
I sacrificed. I rebuilt.
Now I need my city to do its part.
To protect its residents and to preserve
its peace and to ensure that people like
me
don't have to keep running from trauma
that we didn't ask for.
I just want stillness. I just want
peace. Please help us find it again.
Thank you.
Kelsey Nordstrom.
My story sounds kind of similar. Um
I'm new to Burnsville. Um I'm
uh I spent the last 9 years in Texas and
I got out of an abusive marriage.
And I came here for peace.
And I chose
Burnsville to
be here with community and I live in an
apartment where everyone is an immigrant
and everyone is black or brown and
they're all scared.
I have a half-Mexican autistic nonverbal
child. We left trauma
in Texas and we came here
for peace. I wanted peace for so long.
I work in a restaurant in Burnsville.
My entire kitchen staff is terrified and
they are
I've brought mattresses there so they
can sleep in the restaurant. We're all
bringing them to and from work. Our
dishwasher is missing. His name is Galo
Mauricio Otierra Carguas Carguas Condo.
He's from Ecuador. I've called Menorca.
I can't find him. He is uh
a permanent resident and has a social
security number and I still can't find
him. Um
I'm scared for my community. I'm I'm
serving. I'm
diligent.
What I just lived through for the past 9
years has made me very prepared for this
and I'm going to tell you that violence
you cannot appease it.
We need to pass this ordinance and we
need to unmask these men.
There's a lot more that we need to do
that I'm not going to say.
Um
but it needs to start with community and
it needs to start here and if we truly
say that we welcome all here, then we
need to welcome all and this is fear.
And we can't be brought down by fear and
we can't be brought down by masked men
and a paramilitary force in our streets.
I stand with my community. I'm using my
white privilege to speak for the black
and brown community that cannot be here
right now.
I stand with them. I donate to them. I
love them.
I love my neighbors and
yeah.
Bye. Ordinance, yes, please. Thank you.
Yeah.
Okay. I think I think we can
we all appreciate all of the great words
that have been shared with us this
evening. Uh the next speaker is Hunter
Cantrell.
Hello. Uh good evening, Madam Mayor and
council. Hunter Cantrell, Savage. Uh I
hope I'm not overdressed for the
occasion. Uh you know, so
folks have said a lot of very compelling
narratives here
a lot of very compelling experiences
tonight.
Um and you know, I I want to start off
by saying our current time reminds me of
Psalm 82:3.
Defend the weak
and the fatherless.
Uphold the cause
of the poor and the oppressed.
I think it goes without saying that we
are living in a time of great fear
and great oppression.
A time that we never thought would
unfold in this country
where agents of the government,
specifically ICE agents,
have been deployed in our communities
to instill fear and intimidation
among the most vulnerable people
and community members
that we have.
People who have spent their entire lives
contributing to our economies and our
communities.
People who fled countries where masked
men would stop them on the streets
while holding guns on the street corners
saying, "Show me your papers." They fled
countries like that for the United
States.
And yet here we are now.
That is the reality that people in
Burnsville, Savage, all throughout the
Twin Cities and Twin Cities suburbs are
facing.
They're afraid that even though they
might be a US citizen
even though they might have
a
legal visa to be here and to work
that when they leave their apartments or
their homes in the morning or they show
up to their places of work
that they or their loved ones are going
to be disappeared to God only knows
where.
And to me I I think this
is so wrong
and it's blatantly unconstitutional what
is happening. Federal judges have
asserted as much
Thank you. Because of the magnitude of
evidence of the violation of our civil
rights, of our constitutional rights
that these agents are committing. Not in
the name of public safety
but in the name of political
retribution.
Now normally I deal with sickness that
affects organs. I deal with sickness
that might affect a broken bone,
sickness of
the mind even
in my day-to-day.
But right now we have a sickness of the
soul of this country.
I think passing this ordinance is a step
in the right direction to rectifying
that sickness. I encourage you to
support it. I encourage you to do what
you can and for all citizens to do what
they can peacefully
to make sure that our civil rights are
protected, our constitutional rights are
protected and that everybody regardless
of where they were born or their skin
color is able to thrive and succeed and
know that their basic humanity is going
to be protected in our state.
I thank you for your consideration.
Thank you.
And our last speaker is
Representative Jess Hanson.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
Madam Mayor, can I ask I was sent a
story from somebody who's too afraid to
be here tonight. Would you mind if I
took two separate sections so that this
family's story could be told tonight?
Okay. Okay, is that okay? I have my own
comments but I would like to also make
sure that everybody out there wants to
speak so I wanted to make sure that they
got their chance too.
Thank you, members of the council.
I'm here to My name is Representative
Jess Hanson. I live in Burnsville and I
will first share a story with you from
residents who were too afraid to speak.
She says, "My husband and I witnessed a
truck with doors wide open and a bunch
of
She is, yep.
My husband and I witnessed a truck with
doors wide open and a bunch of personal
belongings in the snow.
We asked a neighbor what happened and
the neighbor said ICE had chased the
truck there and then ransacked the car
leaving all the belongings on the
ground.
I'm a constitutional observer so I took
photos of what ICE had left behind
and I returned to my car and we left. We
didn't get far before a car pulled out
in front of us and another very closely
behind us.
We felt like the cars were driving very
erratically so we looked for a safe spot
to park to let the vehicle behind us
pass. There were other constitutional
observers peacefully observing the ICE
agents as we approached. We slowed down
for their safety. Agents got out of
their car and started telling me to open
my window on the passenger side. That
window does not open or work on my car
but the agent repeatedly hit my window
very hard demanding we open it even
though we told her it doesn't work many
times.
My husband had the driver's side window
open and another agent asked my husband
for his ID. They took it immediately and
said he was a criminal and that he had a
felony record and he does not. They
repeatedly said he was a felon and had
committed aggravated robbery.
They began telling to this to the other
observers, "Look over here. We have a
criminal in the streets."
My husband said, "That's not true.
That's not true." But they would not
listen to him.
We both called 911 from our phones
because we were very scared. We're
citizens but we are Hispanic and we are
very afraid because we know that they
have been taking citizens who have done
nothing wrong just like us.
The operator told me that she needed the
exact address of where I was but I
didn't know where I was. I didn't have
the exact address. I kept telling her
the name of the neighborhood and the
landmarks and she said she needed the
exact one. I asked her to ping my phone.
She said she was sending help. My
husband was also on the phone with 911
on his phone and the operator
that call did not go much different. The
operator told my husband there was
nothing they could do. When he asked for
a report number they would be no report
and that call would was the report.
He told the operator that he they we are
US citizens and asked why they wouldn't
come and help us. The operator simply
said there was nothing they could do.
An agent then demanded to see my ID but
I didn't want to hand it over. I held it
up and said they could take a picture
but I didn't want to lose it because I
knew I could need it and I was not
comfortable handing it over to them.
We were recording the interaction as is
our constitutional right to do so and
the agents mocked us and made fun of us
saying that we were just trying to get
our 5 minutes of fame and to go ahead
and post on social media so that
everyone can see. They were preparing to
arrest my husband but then they quickly
returned my husband's ID and said that
we were clear to go and then they said
they'll be paying a visit to my home
soon.
We have felt in fear of our lives ever
since. They were mean and threatening
and they have our address. We fear that
they will follow through on their threat
to come visit us at home. We have so
much fear and we are scared and if the
police won't help us if we are
threatened or harassed again or worse
who will? What are we to do?
Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. I will continue
with my own comments.
Um
Again, I'm Representative Jess Hanson. I
live in Burnsville and I represent
District 55A which is the entire city of
Savage in the northwest part of
Burnsville.
Members and council, Mayor, we did
yesterday we honored the legacy of Dr.
MLK and that includes the reminder to
not only remember history but to also
live in its lessons. And that we can
learn to live together as brothers or
perish together as fools and I don't
think any of us want to be those fools.
I'm asking that leaders in our city and
this state and country come together to
do what we can before things get any
worse.
Immigration enforcement certainly has
its place in society as a specific form
of law enforcement and how it's done is
extremely important because we all know
that officers tend to pay the price for
the sins and wrongs of others.
Some might say that we are only speaking
out because this is happening in our
community and others will make the
ridiculous leap to say that choosing to
say what is being said is just an act of
speaking against ICE and that's that
that somehow means we don't care about
apprehending criminals. I want to be
very clear that neither of those things
are true and I want to believe that no
one believes that civil rights aren't
important. We have to make sure that
everyone's civil rights are intact.
Law enforcement officers at all levels
are expected to know what the
Constitution says, to know right and
wrong and to know when people are being
targeted. And yet every single day
Minnesotans' constitutional rights are
being violated and are being Minnesotans
are being targeted based on the color of
their skin where they choose to worship,
their name or for observing federal
activities in our community.
Law enforcement leaders in other cities
and suburbs are calling for more
supervision over Operation Matrix Surge
agreeing that these types of civil
rights violations have to stop.
Even off-duty law enforcement officers
of color are facing similar targeting
and members of Minnesota law enforcement
agencies are calling on everyone to find
some common ground that respects
everyone's constitutional rights.
Everyone deserves to know that our
community is safe, safe enough for their
kids to go to school, safe enough for
their
to go to their place of worship, safe
enough to go to the grocery store
without being hunted and safe enough to
operate their business and thrive off
their own hard work. The time is always
right to do the right thing and now is
not the time for leaders to be quiet.
When we have concrete examples and
stories of people being profiled and
targeted, we need to do the right thing.
We cannot let people in our communities
think that our local law enforcement and
their leadership are okay with the
actions that we know are not only wrong
but are also illegal.
Now members, having said all of that, I
want to give credit where credit is due.
Nearly everything I've already said to
you here are not my words. What I have
said so far this evening in this portion
of my comments
are directly quoted from Minnesota law
enforcement officers and leaders who
spoke out this morning against the
atrocities of ICE happening across the
state. So given the way that my words
have been taken and my words have been
ignored in some spaces, not this one,
sometimes ridiculed and the ways that I
have been threatened for saying what I'm
saying and doing what I'm doing, I'm
asking you to not take my word for it
tonight. I'm asking you and Burnsville
to follow the lead of the law
enforcement officials who stood up today
to call for common ground, to call for a
return to constitutionality and common
sense, to call for a return to a nation
where civil rights are worth defending,
and to call for the promotion of
community where the trust between the
public and law enforcement is restored.
The reality is is that these agents are
poorly trained and we should be
humiliated by that. They are
ill-equipped and they are not fit to be
in the field. Their actions in our
community is an embarrassment on law
enforcement everywhere and it is no
wonder why people in this city do not
know if they can trust police because
there are rogue thugs wearing
cobbled-together gear that say police
across the front the front of their
outfits, but they're really just a bunch
of racist incels bringing their Call of
Duty skills out of their parents'
basements into the real world and are
calling real world prob- causing real
world problems and real world trauma
that children in our city will never
ever forget. This is not a game and this
is not a game for the people of this
city. And when police have been asked to
intervene, people don't haven't been
getting so much as even a courteous
conversation about what they can and
cannot do and I ask that we improve on
that.
The general public does not understand
why BPD cannot assist them when there
are goons pointing guns at the heads of
Burnsville residents, kidnapping
children, leaving children abandoned
without their parents or any known or
trusted adult. And um
the general public does not understand
why these thugs are harassing and
threatening them with not a single
consequence. The general public deserves
to know that your statement about not
coordinating with ICE and what our law
enforcement will do deserves to be
respected. So again, please do not take
my words for it. Please go back and
watch the recording of this, listen to
the first words and take the words of
law enforcement themselves who are
calling for common ground and a return
to decency here in Burnsville. Thank
you. Thank you.
Thank you, everyone. Thank you for your
testimony. Thank you for sharing your
stories.
I want you to know that we hear you
and we are Burnsville
and we are here together to make sure
that we
we create the community
that we want to live in.
That's what we have control over.
And uh before we get to any of our
remarks, I
don't know if uh there are others who
would like to speak from
uh staff?
>> We do have somebody online that would
» We do have somebody online that would
like to speak. Okay. Um if they can just
give their
um
Andrea. name and city,
please.
Mrs. Andrea Groszini from Burnsville.
It's nice to see you all. I'm sorry I
couldn't be there
in person.
Two weeks ago, I asked you, City
Council, to prohibit ICE
from city property.
I appreciate taking this up for a vote
and I absolutely
anticipate and hope that you will all
again unanimously vote yes on behalf of
all of our citizens.
I also asked a number of other items
and I'd like to hear back on those. I
haven't heard anything and I'm still
waiting for responses on them.
As you heard today,
many of the things that I said two weeks
ago were going on in this city have
gotten much worse.
The people that you heard come tonight,
by and large, are people that are doing
all they can
to make our community a caring
place to
and it's hard to do that without the
support and visible support of our city.
Certainly we appreciate the new
ordinance and we hope it passes.
When I spoke two weeks ago, I went
further and asked that our city staff
and police provide patience, comfort,
and extra special support for our
immigrant community.
I'm not sure that we can do that.
Between then and now, among several
instances,
too many for me to go over tonight,
there seem to be
less rather than more
of compassion
from our staff and police.
Some of the following
seem to indicate that.
One evening, I called our police about
5:00 in the evening.
There's a child that was abandoned when
his father was abducted and detained by
ICE.
I called the police because this was an
an abandoned child
and asked if they could help figure out
what to do with this child.
I was immediately That's 1 minute.
that it was too late to call the manager
and get to the place that the child was
at
and it was out of the question to go to
the site unless they had the exact
apartment number where the child was at.
I went back and forth with this officer
until 9:00 p.m.
and they never did respond to a child
who was abandoned.
This was an elementary school-age child.
Another case
what happened when a US citizen would
experience ICE
placing a gun to his head.
The responding officer said they
couldn't do anything because it was ICE.
The citizen who witnessed was only told
to come in to make a station at the
police station to make a report. Imagine
that.
You've just had a gun placed to your
head by a law enforcement
agent and another law enforcement agent
is telling you to go to law enforcement
office
to tell them all about it. Could that
report not have been taken then and
there?
There's more.
I'm going to if I can have 1
half a minute 10 seconds. I want to
quote Martin Luther King in the in the
in the spirit of his day yesterday.
This is Martin Luther King in his letter
to from a Birmingham jail. I must
confess that over the past few years
I've been gravely disappointed with the
white moderate.
I've almost reached the incredible
conclusion that the Negro's great
stumbling block in his stride toward
freedom isn't the white citizens'
council or the Ku Klux Klan, but the
white moderate who's more devoted to
order than to justice. Who prefers a
negative peace, which is the absence of
any tension, to a positive peace, which
is the presence of justice.
Come on, Burnsville. Come together.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.
And now that we have heard from all of
you,
I think it's time for you to hear from
us.
Council member Schultz, would you like
to go first?
Uh sure.
So I want people to be clear
when we're looking at this ordinance
what it means.
This ordinance will be an administrative
ordinance.
Um
so
the feds are going to do
whatever the feds are going to do.
And I want to be clear on that.
And that's not
something that is easy to say and it's
not something that anyone wants to hear.
But I do want to say
that
there's a lot of pressure
to make us at odds with one another,
to purposefully pit us against each
other,
to rip our community apart,
and destabilize us for years or decades
to come.
And to give you a quote from Heartbreak
Ridge,
don't give the bastard the satisfaction.
I want residents to stand together.
We are in this together.
And I do mean we are.
We all need to step up
and many of you in the audience are, but
many of you at home,
it is time to step up. Time to help your
neighbors.
If you aren't volunteering, get out
there and volunteer.
Make this community stronger
because sooner or later the feds are
going to leave.
And you and I are going to be what's
left.
So we can either build a stronger
community
or we can let them
force us us to rip it apart and I'm not
going to do that.
So I do encourage our residents to
continue with the Herculean effort
that I am already seeing you do
of caring for your neighbors and
volunteering and getting groceries and
walking kids to school.
Keep it up because we can do that
longer than they can do whatever they're
doing.
So stand strong.
Okay. Thank you.
Council member Keeler.
No comment. No comment.
Council member Gustafson.
I hear what everyone has to say. I will
tell you um
the last month and a half, I go out and
patrol myself.
I'm in apartments. I'm in businesses.
I've talked to our residents and there's
a great deal of fear in our community.
I I talk to when I go to restaurants, I
talk to staff in the restaurants and
they're in tears because two of their
cooks just got taken today.
They're in tears because they're about
to close. They have They have people
that won't come to work because they're
afraid, not because they're
undocumented. They're just afraid to
come into into our city right now and do
things. I've talked to people in parking
lots. There was a woman from I think
Puerto Rico that I talked to. She was
afraid. She's a US citizen. She's afraid
to just to be here. It's What's
happening is
unbelievable. It's
I I see ICE on our streets. I see them
box cars in
and I see them
let them go after 15 minutes. So, they
pull someone over, they box them in,
almost cause an accident, talk to them
for a few minutes and then they walk
away and just let them go. You know, how
can that happen? It does It does make no
sense in this country. That that kind of
thing should happen here.
I have not talked to anyone that has a
problem picking up actual violent
criminals and deporting them.
Let's find them and and go after them,
but the way they're doing it is just
wrong. It terrorizes our community. It's
It's uh closing our businesses and it's
not just the immigrant businesses that
are having problems. A lot of businesses
are having problems right now. I will
tell you now I I will be supporting this
if we could do more legally and I've
talked to our legal counsel about what
we can do. There's not a whole heck of a
lot unfortunately at our level,
but this we can do and I and
I think it's important to know that uh I
I know some people have some problems
with what they think our police may or
may not be doing, but I also know that
they're out to protect you guys when
you're out there. That's That's part of
their job is to make you safe when
you're out observing, when you're out
protesting. The ones that make you
unsafe are are the agents that I have
seen surround cars and go up and
threaten the observers and tell them
they're going to have them arrested or
they're going to follow them home and
I've seen them do it. So, I I hear what
you're saying. I I believe what you're
saying because I've seen it myself. So,
I will be supporting this.
Okay. Council Member Workman.
No comment. Okay.
Thank you.
Members of our community, we have been
through a lot these past weeks.
And um
you have shared your experiences and we
also have experiences.
I have met with people in our community
who have been impacted or businesses who
have impacted when I am notified.
And so,
I know that our community
is now in a lot of fear.
And I want to begin by acknowledging
the fear, the confusion,
and uncertainty
many of you are feeling when something
affects our neighbors,
our families,
our workplace,
and our
sense of safety,
it affects all of us.
And as your mayor,
it is my responsibility
to speak clearly,
to lead with compassion,
and to ensure that every person in
Burnsville knows that they are seen,
valued, and supported.
I want to address directly
what so many of you
have been asking about.
The recent federal immigration
enforcement actions taking place in our
region.
First,
it is important to understand that
federal immigration enforcement is not
new.
For decades,
across multiple administrations,
Republicans and Democratic alike,
the federal government has carried out
removals.
The authority to do so is long-standing
and the legal framework is rooted in our
Constitution.
Historically,
these processes happened largely
out of public view.
Most people never saw them.
They were carried out through
established legal channels
with court review,
due process,
and procedures that while not perfect,
were familiar and predictable.
What is new
is the way these actions are being
carried out today
that we are all experiencing.
Residents,
all of you,
are witnessing encounters in public
spaces.
Families are being questioned without
understanding why and you have spoken to
that this evening.
Workers with legal status are being
stopped or profiled.
Businesses are losing employees
because people are afraid
to leave their homes.
The fear we are seeing is not coming
from existence of federal law.
It is coming from the manner in which
these operations are unfolding.
And that is why our community is feeling
shaken.
So, let me be absolutely clear.
The city of Burnsville does not direct,
control, or participate
in federal immigration enforcement.
We do not receive advance notice of
federal operations.
We do not coordinate with them and we do
not have the authority to stop or alter
their actions.
But we do have the authority and the
responsibility
to care for our people.
So, let me talk about what we can
control and how we show up for one
another because that's one of the
biggest things about who we are in
Burnsville. It's who we are together.
Together, not separate.
And that's how we show up.
We control whether we allow fear to
divide us or whether we stand together
in compassion,
kindness, and care.
We control
whether our neighbors feel alone
or supported. We control
whether Burnsville remains a place where
every person, regardless of where they
were born,
feels safe to go to work, to school, to
the grocery store,
or to church.
Our local police department will
continue to focus on local public
safety.
They are conducting They are not
conducting immigration enforcement.
They are not checking immigration
status.
Their role is to protect the safety of
everyone who lives, works, and visits
Burnsville.
That does not change.
I also want to speak
to our immigrant families directly.
You are a part of the fabric of our
city.
You contribute to our schools,
our businesses,
our faith communities.
You pay taxes
and you contribute to our shared future.
You deserve dignity.
You deserve clarity.
And you deserve to feel safe
seeking help,
reporting a crime,
or simply living your daily life.
To our business owners,
I know many of you are struggling.
We have talked.
Losing staff,
losing customers, and trying to navigate
uncertainty.
We will continue working with you to
provide information,
resources, and support.
And to our entire community,
moments like this test who we are.
They test our values.
They test our resolve.
But Burnsville
has always been a city
that leads with heart.
A city that chooses unity
over division.
A city that believes in the worth and
dignity of every person.
We will get through this together.
We will stand together
by caring
for one another
and by refusing to let fear define us.
You see, together we are stronger.
And I thank you all for your strength,
for your compassion for your neighbor,
for each other,
and your commitment to each other.
We will continue to communicate openly
as we learn more
and as we continue to work through this
together.
We find ourselves in a time that we have
never experienced before and it is
testing us.
So I call upon all of us that
we work together
and that we stand together
because we are Burnsville strong and we
lead with compassion and kindness
in taking care of one another because
that's who we are and that's what we
will continue to do.
And so with that, I thank you
for your strength and for being out
there
and observing.
But be safe and do it within the law
because that's what I want for you. It
is your constitutional right
to observe
and to witness
and to record.
That is your constitutional right, but I
ask that you do it safely and within the
law so that
you stay safe out there.
I don't want anything to happen to you
and you're very brave to do what you
did, but something that you did
de-escalated something.
So let's remember and learn from some of
the stories
that we heard tonight.
Let's de-escalate
rather than escalate.
But record and stand witness
and be safe.
Be safe out there. But together we will
get through this.
And it is
us who defines our community
not anybody else.
Thank you for being here.
Uh
and our police chief will have
I would like to take time to speak.
Um
Chief Tanya Schwartz.
Madam Mayor, members of the council,
community, thank you. I appreciate the
conversation this evening.
I'm going to try to keep my comments
brief. I
really appreciate the opportunity to
share my perspective
as the chief. First, I want to thank our
police officers
at every level in our department
who serve with courage and integrity and
excellence every single day.
They often respond to unpredictable
high-stress situations.
They maintain law and order while
building trusted relationships.
They take that responsibility very
seriously.
While amazing at managing uncertain
circumstances, police officers are human
beings. They're daughters, mothers,
sons, fathers, friends, imperfect, but
doing their job as best as they possibly
can.
We have a shared trust with our
community built over decades because of
the very human connection and
relationships that we have with the
people who live here.
Mayor, city attorney, our council
members shared uh several challenges our
community did as well um talking about
this proposed ordinance as well.
There is some clarity I think that needs
to be shared about the limits of our
local authority and some of that was
talked about tonight and I appreciate
that.
I think we need to make it clear. I want
people to understand that our police
officers cannot interfere with law
enforcement agents carrying out their
duties to arrest individuals who are
here unlawfully or who pose public
safety risks to the point of council
member, I think we can all find common
ground that we want people who pose a
public safety risk in Burnsville
uh to not be in Burnsville anymore.
This does not mean that we don't care.
Doesn't mean that we're indifferent to
the community concerns. I just want us
to be very honest. I want us to always
have those hard and difficult honest
conversations and be clear about we what
we can do and what we cannot do so that
there are realistic expectations here.
Uh we will continue to respond to calls
to try to reduce tension, to tone down
rhetoric, to keep situations as safe as
we possibly can for everyone on scene.
Uh we are committed to that. We do that.
Every day our officers are doing that.
They're in a no-win situation here. So
they are doing the very best that they
can.
They care about this community very
much. I hear about the stories every
day.
We know that seeing federal immigration
activity and enforcement action is
distressing, especially for families
worried about how it may personally
affect them.
Our Burnsville police tactics, our
operations, how we carry our mission
how we do public safety, it looks very
different than federal law enforcement
operations.
We understand how that difference
creates stress across the community. I'm
familiar with the comments uh from the
Minnesota Chiefs uh or some of the
chiefs that spoke today uh at the
capital. All of us chiefs are trying to
again, how do we find common ground? How
do we open lines of communication? I
understand a lot of community doesn't
want us to have communication with
federal agents, but when we don't have
communication, then we have a lot of
chaos. So for us to understand uh what
is going on, try to again, share the
concerns that we have about some of the
tactics that we are seeing by some
agents. Uh if you look at that whole uh
press conference from earlier, I don't
want to take that out of context. So I
would just encourage everyone to watch
the full um conference so that you
understand what was being said.
And and I'm glad to stay and talk
afterwards with anyone to talk about uh
the work that we are doing at the
Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.
I sit on that board and again, what our
goals are is to how do we uh tone down
tension, how do we uh tone down
rhetoric, and how do we find
communication with local with uh with
federal agents, supervisors, people in
leadership who are in charge of the
operations that are going on so that we
can understand and share with them the
concerns that we have like was what was
shared today.
So we are all doing that work as well.
And I know all of this raises just
questions. People are concerned, what
can I do? What should I do? What should
I not do? And I appreciate that we get
those questions and some of the comments
came tonight as well as, you know, when
when you're exercising first amendment
rights, we want people to do that. We
want people to do that safely, to be
recording, but we want you to do that in
a way that you're not so close as to
prevent or to
to basically be a public safety hazard
to whatever law enforcement action is
going on there. So
do that, but just maintain a safe
distance in that regard.
Don't impede federal law enforcement
physically or otherwise and and don't
use your vehicles to impede. Don't set
off illegal fireworks. And I know none
of this is happening in our community,
but we see these things happening across
the state. And so as a police chief, I
am very concerned as as the amount of
rhetoric and the tension increases that
these things spill over across
communities and I don't want to see that
happen.
Boxing in agents, blocking them, I I
understand
everyone's tensions are high, but that
actually just
it's unlawful and it also is extremely
dangerous. It really increases the risk
of injury to you, to um
others around. It increases the chance
of being arrested. And and really when
we're doing that, it can diminish the
safety of everyone around us. So I just
I want to thank people for
being vigilant and not doing that. And I
can see that our community is not doing
that, but I just know as tensions
continue to rise, things can happen. I
want people to channel their energy into
actions that strengthen rather than than
divide like we've been talking about
here.
Think about reasonable communication,
avoiding misinformation, and being
inflammatory or assuming things. A lot
of things are taken out of context and
again, I'm not here to say that I agree
with all of the tactics that are being
used. I do not and
we are doing what we can to establish
communication to understand uh what is
going on with the federal leadership
here.
So just
I just wanted to share that because I
care very much about this community.
I've been here for over 30 years. We've
all been through a lot together. The
council and I have been through a lot
together and we're going to be here to
council member Schultz's uh response is
we're going to be here together when
this is done. And so we need to not
erode trust and I just want people to
understand that we're doing the very
best we can in a a really challenging
situation and our
local authority is limited. What we can
do with an ordinance like this is
limited for police. So I just I want
people to understand that, to manage the
expectations.
Um so
with that I would stand for any
questions from
council.
Um any questions for the chief?
Thank you, chief, and thank you for your
words because that you're absolutely
right. It's managing expectations. And
one thing that we all agree on and is
that when someone commits a serious
uh violent crime, they should be held
accountable.
That is true whether they are were born
here
or arrived here.
And we want our community to be safe
and we want dangerous individuals of any
background off our streets.
So,
that's something I think we all agree on
and we all agree that we want to be safe
in our community. So, what we have
control over is what we do together.
Councilmember Schultz, your hand is up.
Thank you.
I want to say that our police are
worried
for our residents.
Um I know that our chief is worried for
our our residents.
And many of you
have seen me out and about
um because I am most certainly
volunteering.
I and I think many of you know that um
I'm probably not the most moderate
person on this council.
But I will also say that our police
chief and our fire chief and our police
have my full
and utter support.
And not everything that
the city is doing
to help is visible.
So, thank you. I just wanted to be very
clear about that. Okay, very good.
Anything else?
All right, members of the council.
Before us is the adoption of the
ordinance amending title one
chapter 13 stewardship of the city
resources and resolution affirming
community values and stewardship of
community resources amidst immigration
operations.
May I have a motion, please?
Move to approve.
There's a motion to approve. Are you
seconding that? Councilmember Schultz,
is that
Yes, I am seconding. Okay, there's a
motion and a second. All in favor,
please say I. Oh, I
Pardon me? Do you want to do roll call?
I will go and do the roll call. Yes, I I
was just getting there. I was going to
go for it, but I remembered that uh
Councilmember Schultz is
uh
is uh
uh
on on online. Okay, Councilmember
Schultz.
Madam Mayor, Yeah.
>> let me do the roll call, please. Madam
» let me do the roll call, please. Madam
Mayor, You can do it. You can do the
roll call.
Councilmember Keely. I.
Councilmember Gustafson. I.
Councilmember Schultz.
Yes. Councilmember Workman. I. Mayor
Kauth. Yes.
Okay, and we have an adopted ordinance.
So, thank you so much, everyone, FOR
BEING HERE.
AND REMEMBER, together we are strong.
Take care of one another.
Make sure that we
check on your neighbors.
Find out if they're okay and if you need
to do any grocery shopping for them.
Because that's something that we can all
do together. So,
thank you so much.
And now we will move on to the regular
agenda.
The first item on the regular agenda is
a public hearing.
And this is uh a resolution approving
the drainage and utility easement
vacation
for 14001
Burnhaven Drive
and 911 140th Street West.
And presenting this evening
is our city engineer
Logan Blasity. Mr. Blasity, the floor is
yours. Madam Mayor and members of the
council, thank you very much for having
me.
Uh yes, as you said, tonight we have a
vacation of drainage and utility
easements and with that we are required
to hold a public hearing.
So, the
the two properties with the easements
being vacated are uh 14001 Burnhaven
Drive and 911 140th 140th Street West.
So, here is 911 140th Street West. It's
the the former site of fire station one.
Um I'd like to point out sort of the uh
unconventional property line there under
140th Street.
Yeah.
>> And then immediately adjacent to that is
» And then immediately adjacent to that is
the former pumpkin patch daycare site
at 14001
Burnhaven Drive. Uh what's unique about
this site is that it was actually the
parcel is a
creation from three different plats. So,
you will see uh we actually have to
vacate easements from three uh separate
plats with this one.
So, the first is being uh
the highlighted area of Burnhaven Mall
plat. Uh that easement shown currently
covers a city water main that is
proposed to be relocated with the
uh Costco gas station project.
Second section of drainage and utility
easements to be vacated is per High
Highridge Second Edition.
This is immediately adjacent to 140th
Street West and this will be replatted
as drainage and utility easement with
the proposed Costco Second Edition plat.
And then we have perimeter easements
around all of uh Burnhaven Fire Station
number one plat.
Um the
areas under or encumbering the proposed
right-of-way for 140th Street will be
replatted as
public right-of-way.
And then the necessary perimeter
easements
for the Costco Second Edition plat will
uh be replatted with drainage and
utility easements.
So,
uh with that, there's a lot of easements
shown there and easement vacations.
Simply put, the
areas where private utilities and city
utilities currently exist within
easement are either being dedicated as
right-of-way,
uh replatted as drainage and utility
easements, or the city utilities within
the easement are being relocated um to
a future easement, so.
With that, there was no public need for
the drainage and utility easements um
and then I'm showing here the
the Costco Second Edition final plat,
which shows the
uh 140th Street future right-of-way to
be dedicated.
Staff recommends approval of the
easement vacations with the condition
that
uh the easement vacations are granted
subject to approval of the Costco Second
Edition final plat.
And I will stand.
Okay, questions?
>> with all due respect to Logan,
» with all due respect to Logan,
I don't remember a time when we had
uh an item such as what we just
completed
and vacating
uh an easement.
The gap between those in many ways is
pretty big.
But you did a great job.
>> Thank you. I'm used to it. But you also
» Thank you. I'm used to it. But you also
know how to clear a room. Yeah.
Logan should have went first.
Okay, all kidding aside, this is a
public hearing.
I will now open the public hearing. Is
there anyone who wishes to speak to this
item?
Anyone who wishes to speak to this item?
Mrs. Henderson, anyone online? No, there
is not. Okay, um
we will now um
close the public hearing. Members of the
council,
your pleasure.
Wait, you move to approve. Second.
Second. There's a motion and a second
and the clerk can please take the roll
call.
Councilmember Keely. I. Councilmember
Gustafson. I. Councilmember Schultz.
Yes.
Councilmember Workman. Yes. Mayor Kauth.
Yes.
Okay.
And
you have your vacation. Thank you very
much, Madam Mayor and members of the
council for your vacation. Appreciate
it. Are you clearing the room now, too?
Uh the next item is also a public
hearing and this is to approve the
off-sale intoxicating liquor license for
Jai Krishna Radha
uh doing business uh as Perrier Wine and
Liquor at 13720 County Road 11.
Presenting is our deputy city clerk,
Erica Henderson.
Ms. Henderson, the floor is yours.
>> Great, thank you. So, the new owners,
» Great, thank you. So, the new owners,
Jai Krishna Radha LLC, um they had
recently purchased purchased the Perrier
Wines and Liquor located at 13720 County
Road 11 and they have submitted an
application for an off-sale liquor
license. They've also
successfully passed the background check
by the Burnsville Police Department, and
city code does require a public hearing
for all new liquor licenses. Okay.
Uh any questions for Ms. Henderson?
Uh with that, I will open the public
hearing. Is there anyone who wishes to
speak to this item?
Anyone who wishes to speak to this item?
Ms. Henderson, anyone online? No,
there's not. Okay. I will now close the
public hearing. Members of the council,
your pleasure.
Move to approve.
Second. There is a motion and a second.
And uh
Deputy uh City Clerk Henderson, will you
take the roll, please?
>> Sure.
» Sure.
Council Member Keely.
Aye.
Council Member Gustafson. Aye. Council
Member Schultz.
Yes. Council Member Workman. Aye. Mayor
Coutts. Yes.
Okay. And um
we now move on to uh the uh Economic
Development Authority meeting, and I
will recess the Burnsville City Council
meeting,
so the Economic Development um meeting
can proceed. President um
Gustafson, the floor is yours. Uh good
evening. I call the Economic Development
Authority meeting to order. The local
clerk clerk will note all commissioners
are present. Commissioner Schultz is
joining us remotely.
Item number one, are there any additions
to the final agenda?
Seeing none, I will move on. Item number
two is ex election of officers.
Do we have nominations for a slate of
officers this year?
Um
members of the um
authority,
I would just
resubmit the uh
the slate that we have presently.
I am comfortable with that as well. I
was going to nominate you for president.
Your turn, you should do it. Dan's doing
a great job. Thanks.
Keeping the meetings quick. Okay.
Okay. So, there is a a motion
>> Nomination to uh and a a second to
» Nomination to uh and a a second to
keep the slate. Okay.
>> May I have a motion motion to adopt the
» May I have a motion motion to adopt the
resolution with the slate of officers?
Did you make the motion? Yeah, I think
um
He seconded. Oh. Yeah. He made the
motion. Actually, we already have the
motion. So, we did have the vote.
Hey. You can call the roll.
Council Member Keely.
Yes. Council Member Gustafson. Aye.
Council Member Schultz.
Yes. Council Member Workman. Aye. Mayor
Coutts. Yes.
Okay, we move on to item number three,
the consent agenda, and it's the
approval of the minutes. Is there anyone
who wishes an item to be removed from
the consent agenda for a separate
discussion and vote?
Seeing none, may I have a motion to
adopt the consent agenda? Move to adopt.
Motion by Commissioner Workman.
Second. Second by Commissioner Keely.
All in favor? Aye. Aye. I need a I need
a roll call. No, no, roll call. Roll
call. Council Member Keely.
Aye. Council Member Gustafson. Aye.
Council Member Schultz.
Yes. Council Member Workman. Aye. Mayor
Coutts. Yes. And it passes.
We move on to item number four A is the
adoption of the 2025 annual report.
Travis Vistedt, do is that how that's
pronounced? Can you make it Vistedt.
Vistedt, okay. Vistedt.
>> Deputy Community Development Director is
» Deputy Community Development Director is
presenting.
We've got biz to do. We have biz to do.
I like that. Biz to do. Biz to do.
You're welcome. Uh good evening, Mr.
President. Uh commissioners, I'm Travis
Vistedt, Deputy Community Development
Director for the City of Burnsville, and
I'm here to present the uh 2025 Economic
Development Authority annual report.
Uh just as a quick refresher, the EDA's
mission focuses on business attraction,
job creation, both development and
redevelopment projects across the city.
Uh the EDA advises the City Council on
economic development policies, ensuring
our investments align with Burnsville's
long-term economic goals.
Uh quickly on to our accomplishments for
2025,
um
in September, we renewed our contract
with the Center for Energy and
Environment, and relaunched our
EDA-funded housing rehabilitation loan
program. Since then, uh we've had one
home improvement loan uh
approved, as well as two more under
review.
And in terms of our senior deferred
loans, we have uh approved two projects,
fully expending our 2025 budget, which
uh is a strong indicator of demand for
these uh programs and loans going
forward.
Uh
similarly, our initial local affordable
housing aid or LAHA programs also
launched in September and mirror our EDA
offerings, but target households at a
lower uh area median income, 80% AMI or
less, if you recall.
Uh so far, we have one home improvement
loan uh that's been approved, and three
are currently under review. And we have
one senior deferred loan uh currently
under review, as well.
Um while the loans themselves are funded
with uh LAHA dollars, the EDA EDA does
fund uh a minor origination fee for each
loan uh in alignment with state
guidelines.
Uh although not funded with EDA dollars,
uh the city's CDBG-funded homeowner uh
rehab loans
uh also continues to move forward. In
2025, there were three loans completed,
and there currently eight more uh
underway, as we speak.
On the economic development front, uh we
completed a housing and commercial needs
assessment, uh which uh we utilized that
needs assessment to help us shape an
economic development strategic
framework, which will serve to focus our
economic development efforts uh across
the city
uh for the next three to five years. So,
it's been a it's been a powerful tool
for us,
uh kind of framing up what our economic
development programs uh will look like.
And then, in other accomplishments, we
made amendments to the city-owned land
sale policy, providing improved guidance
on future strategic dis disposition and
redevelopment activities for city-owned
lands. Uh we continued to uh support our
business and retention expansion
program, partnering with the chamber and
meeting with local uh employers to
identify needs and connect them with uh
area resources.
Our partnership with uh Open to Business
continues, and we uh continue to support
offering one-on-one technical assistance
to entrepreneurs and small businesses uh
throughout the city.
And then, lastly, we continue to support
uh our legacy events, including the
Burnsville uh Festival and Fire Muster,
as well as the International Festival,
which helps showcase Burnsville and help
drive uh foot traffic to our local
establishments.
So, in summary, 2025 was uh
uh a good year of targeted investments
and strong partnerships, expanding our
housing support programs, clarifying
uh at least one policy, and
strengthening our economic development
uh road map.
And that's it. I'd be happy to take any
comments or questions.
>> Any questions? Oh, congratulations.
» Any questions? Oh, congratulations.
Great work. Yes. Nice job last year. You
as well. Thank you.
Okay, no questions. May I have a motion
to adopt the report?
>> So moved.
» So moved.
Second.
First and a second.
Got that? Yep. Roll call.
Council Member Keely.
Yes, aye.
Council Member Gustafson. Aye.
Council Member Schultz.
Yes. Council Member Workman. Aye. Mayor
Coutts. Aye.
Okay, there is no other business, so I
may have may I have a motion to adjourn?
>> So moved.
» So moved.
Second.
Roll call, please. Council Member Keely.
Aye. Council Member Gustafson. Aye.
Council Member Schultz.
Yes. Council Member Workman. Aye. Mayor
Coutts. Aye. Aye. We are now adjourned.
I turn it back to you, Madam Mayor.
Thank you. And I will now reconvene the
Burnsville City Council meeting, and
members uh of the council and uh of our
community, there are no other items to
come before us this evening, and a
motion to adjourn is in order.
>> Motion to adjourn. Second. There's a
» Motion to adjourn. Second. There's a
motion and a second. Roll call, please.
Council Member Keely.
You know, Council Member Schultz, you're
the one that caused all these roll
calls.
Aye.
Council Member Gustafson. Aye. Council
Member Schultz.
Yes.
Council Member Workman. Aye. Mayor
Coutts. Aye. She did do it, didn't she?
And we stand adjourned. Thank you for
being with us, and have a good night.