[0:02] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It

[0:04] is 5:30

[0:06] and I will call this regular meeting of

[0:08] the Burnsville City Council to order.

[0:11] It is our tradition to stand for a

[0:13] moment of silence followed by the pledge

[0:15] of allegiance and we invite you to join

[0:18] us.

[0:44] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[0:47] United States of America

[0:49] and to the Republic for which it stands,

[0:52] one nation under God, indivisible, with

[0:56] liberty and justice for all.

[1:06] » Welcome everyone.

[1:09] It's good to see our residents

[1:11] in the in chambers.

[1:14] We welcome everyone and also um

[1:19] members of our community can watch us on

[1:22] burnsvillemn.gov/meetings

[1:26] or Comcast channel 16 or 859. The public

[1:30] can also participate through Zoom

[1:34] by joining us at zoom.us/join.

[1:38] More information is available

[1:40] on our meetings webpage and in the

[1:43] council agenda packet.

[1:47] The first item on the agenda is

[1:48] announcements and a proclamation.

[1:51] Our announcements have to do with all of

[1:53] our upcoming meetings.

[1:55] Regular council meetings are scheduled

[1:57] for Tuesday, September 8th at 5:30 p.m.

[2:00] and Tuesday, September 22nd at 5:30 p.m.

[2:05] We have a work session that's scheduled

[2:07] for Tuesday, September 15th at 5:30 p.m.

[2:11] and we have a budget work session that's

[2:13] scheduled for Tuesday, September 8th at

[2:16] 6:00 p.m.

[2:17] » [snorts]

[2:17] >> and Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30 p.m.

[2:22] And we all

[2:24] And we have one uh proclamation, but all

[2:27] meetings of the city council are held

[2:29] here in the chambers unless I

[2:32] uh would announce a different location

[2:34] for a particular meeting.

[2:36] So, we have one proclamation this

[2:39] evening.

[2:53] Council members and members of the

[2:55] public and our staff, um today we have

[2:58] an overdose awareness week proclamation,

[3:02] August 25th through the 31st, 2026.

[3:06] Whereas, communities across the United

[3:09] States, including Burnsville, continue

[3:12] to suffer the devastating impact of

[3:15] overdose

[3:16] and fentanyl poisoning resulting in the

[3:19] tragic loss of life,

[3:21] trauma for families, and long-term

[3:24] community harm.

[3:26] And whereas, fentanyl, a powerful

[3:28] synthetic opioid, is involved in the

[3:31] majority of opioid overdose deaths and

[3:35] is often found in counterfeit pills and

[3:39] other substance without a person's

[3:41] knowledge.

[3:42] And whereas, Burnsville is committed to

[3:44] raising awareness, promoting prevention

[3:47] efforts,

[3:48] and supporting affected families and

[3:50] individuals with compassion and action.

[3:54] And whereas education, harm reduction,

[3:58] and accessible treatment are key to

[4:00] ending the opioid epidemic and saving

[4:04] lives in our communities.

[4:06] And whereas

[4:08] we resolve to play our part in reducing

[4:10] the toll of overdose in the community.

[4:14] Which claims the lives of more than 39

[4:16] Dakota County, Minnesota residents

[4:19] last year.

[4:22] Whereas we affirm that the people

[4:24] affected by overdose are our sons

[4:28] and daughters, our mothers and fathers,

[4:32] our brothers and sisters.

[4:35] And deserving of our love,

[4:38] compassion, and support.

[4:40] Now therefore, I Elizabeth Kautz, along

[4:43] with the City Council, do hereby

[4:45] proclaim August 25th through the 31st,

[4:49] 2026 as Overdose Awareness Week in

[4:53] Burnsville. And do hereby encourage all

[4:56] residents to learn, engage, and advocate

[5:00] for prevention, education, and support

[5:03] in honor of those we've lost

[5:06] and those still struggling.

[5:09] Proclaimed this 18th day of August,

[5:11] 2026.

[5:13] And um I understand that Mr. James

[5:17] Johnson Jr., the Opioid Prevention

[5:20] Coordinator for Dakota County Public

[5:22] Health uh

[5:24] is here to accept the uh proclamation.

[5:28] Mr. Johnson.

[5:31] Thank you for coming.

[5:33] >> Thank you, Mayor.

[5:34] >> Yeah.

[5:35] >> Turn around.

[5:45] » Okay.

[5:46] We'll take one with the council.

[6:00] » Absolutely.

[6:09] Quick change.

[6:10] >> How are you?

[6:12] >> Good to see you.

[6:12] >> Yeah. You've been working on this for a

[6:14] long time.

[6:15] >> We have. We have.

[6:16] >> Yeah. You had so many Thank you for all

[6:18] of the work that you put in today.

[6:19] >> Thank you for the support.

[6:20] >> Yeah.

[6:38] » [applause]

[6:44] [clears throat]

[6:47] » I just noticed that.

[7:04] » The city of Burnsville has been

[7:07] advocating

[7:09] and

[7:10] engaging and practicing

[7:14] civility, dignity,

[7:16] and respect.

[7:18] And so, we continue

[7:20] from now on

[7:22] to ensure that we remember

[7:24] that the Burnsville City Council is

[7:27] committed to respect in how we treat one

[7:30] another,

[7:31] treating people with compassion,

[7:33] kindness, and consideration, honoring

[7:36] human dignity in how we interact,

[7:39] recognize an inherent value of every

[7:42] person.

[7:44] Working together to serve the community,

[7:46] partnering to strengthen our community

[7:49] and advance the common good.

[7:51] And so,

[7:52] at the beginning of every citizen's

[7:54] comments,

[7:55] uh I will be reading this so that we can

[7:58] continue to focus on what is important

[8:00] to all of us here in our community.

[8:03] And so, the next item on the agenda is

[8:06] citizen's comments, and this is the

[8:08] opportunity for anyone

[8:11] um in the audience who wishes to address

[8:13] the council on an item that is not on

[8:15] the printed agenda and not an

[8:17] application form that's coming before us

[8:20] at a future date.

[8:21] And I have three people who have signed

[8:24] up to speak during citizen's comments,

[8:27] and uh the first one is Mr. Bruce Henry.

[8:30] Mr. Henry, the floor is yours.

[8:40] » Thank you, Mayor. Good to see you again

[8:42] and the council.

[8:44] Uh as you know, I was here in uh May to

[8:47] speak on a separate subject of city

[8:51] special assessment at Burnsville, the

[8:53] Real Life Cooperative. Well, in the in

[8:55] the process of doing that, I I walked the streets around where I

[9:01] live periodically, three, four times a

[9:03] week.

[9:04] As a I also walk around uh the property I live on, and I noticed

[9:11] one thing in May, or actually in

[9:15] February or March, it was on East

[9:18] Travelers Trail, by the apartment

[9:21] complex there, and I would like to pass

[9:23] this picture out to all the members of

[9:25] the city council to look at.

[9:31] » You could do that.

[9:53] » [snorts]

[10:04] » My foot traffic every might not be the

[10:06] best, but I think uh

[10:07] >> It's pretty good.

[10:08] >> quite fair what we have there.

[10:10] And the reason I addressed this, it

[10:13] looks like

[10:15] a problem waiting for

[10:17] something to happen with somebody. And I

[10:19] would not want the city and all its

[10:22] people here to have to pay for an

[10:24] accident or something. It just looks

[10:26] really bad.

[10:28] And I know when I was here and I talked

[10:29] about the special assessment that has to

[10:32] do with the maintenance of the streets

[10:33] and everything around there. Well, this

[10:35] is an example to me that's something

[10:37] that needs attention. And I I decided to

[10:41] think about this for a while and I came

[10:42] up with a solution. I don't know if it

[10:44] would

[10:45] be something you guys could implement or

[10:47] whatever is periodically maybe the

[10:50] council or the mayor or anyone else walk

[10:53] the streets. Cuz I just wonder when

[10:55] looking at this whether or not there's

[10:58] other conditions in the street that fall

[11:00] under this thing.

[11:02] problem. And I'm sure that is not the

[11:05] only isolated ones. I've lived in large

[11:07] cities. I lived in Southern California

[11:10] for a long time and I would walk the

[11:12] streets and look for things like that.

[11:14] Because uh

[11:15] especially in the wintertime and it's

[11:16] been there since February.

[11:19] And this is almost September.

[11:21] And I'm just kind of curious

[11:24] whether or not you have a group of people that go out and look

[11:28] for things like this and and try to

[11:30] repair them on the spot. Yeah, I know

[11:33] it's probably included in your

[11:35] yearly budget. So, and uh

[11:38] I'm really glad to see some of my fellow

[11:40] co-op members here. And the ladies that

[11:43] follow is going to speak to another

[11:44] thing, but I just would really like to

[11:47] see our streets maintained a little bit

[11:49] better so we don't have problems like

[11:52] this.

[11:53] Cuz I'm not When I walk, I'm not the

[11:55] steadiest person in the world. And it

[11:57] could have been me, it could have been

[11:58] anybody. And uh so, that's that's really

[12:02] all I want to say but I do want to give

[12:04] you guys kudos

[12:06] for finally mowing the lawn on the path

[12:09] that's in our property. We were

[12:11] wondering for a while whether

[12:13] who is going to mow the lawn first, us

[12:15] or you guys. And finally I saw Well,

[12:18] yeah, one day I woke up and there the

[12:20] lawn there I heard it cuz it's right

[12:22] outside where my unit is. And so, I

[12:24] heard it and I was glad to see that. So,

[12:26] that's all I got to say. Thank you.

[12:28] >> Thank you. Our

[12:30] public works director is in the room and

[12:33] he

[12:36] Okay, thank you.

[12:37] Uh the next one is Rose Sullivan

[12:40] uh from Real Life as well.

[12:44] This is Sullivan, welcome.

[12:52] » Oh, good afternoon.

[12:54] >> Good afternoon and we did receive your letter.

[12:59] >> Right, okay. So, you all have You all

[13:00] have a copy of this. So, I'm going to

[13:02] read this letter but hopefully with my

[13:04] inflections and and some of that. And if

[13:07] you have any questions at the end, I'll

[13:08] be happy to answer them if you if you

[13:10] have any.

[13:11] Um I've read this so many times. We'll

[13:13] see how many words I trip on this time.

[13:17] Anyway, um

[13:18] my name is Rose Sullivan.

[13:21] I represent the Real Life Cooperative of

[13:23] Burnsville as well as the the

[13:25] Cooperative of Burnsville,

[13:27] and perhaps many other multi-family

[13:29] buildings in Burnsville

[13:31] where electricity and or natural gas is

[13:34] provided by group meters rather than

[13:37] individually.

[13:39] I am currently a member of the Real Life

[13:41] Cooperative of Burnsville and a past

[13:44] president of its Board of Directors.

[13:46] As we believe we are paying more than an

[13:49] equitable share in franchise fees,

[13:52] we would appreciate it if you would take

[13:54] another look at the current structure of

[13:56] the franchise fees and consider adding a

[13:59] residential multi-family category to the

[14:02] franchise fee structure

[14:04] to make them more consistent. [laughter]

[14:09] I'll use the Real Life Cooperative and

[14:11] Parkway Cooperative as a basis of my

[14:14] information, but there are other

[14:15] buildings that are probably set up the

[14:17] same way we are that would have the same

[14:20] kind of issues.

[14:23] There are two other cooperatives and

[14:24] many other multi- uh multi-unit

[14:26] buildings in Burnsville housing a large

[14:29] number of Burnsville residents and

[14:30] voters.

[14:32] So, just to give you a little

[14:33] background, I don't know if you're

[14:34] familiar with with uh cooperatives, but

[14:38] I'm going to I'm going to talk about

[14:39] cooperatives a little bit.

[14:42] >> [clears throat]

[14:42] >> The Real Life Cooperative of Burnsville

[14:44] opened in early 1996. It's built in '95,

[14:48] opened in '96

[14:50] as a not-for-profit cooperative

[14:52] corporation.

[14:54] It consists of 165,736

[14:58] sq ft and has 119 units. Big building.

[15:03] The Parkway Cooperative is also a

[15:06] not-for-profit cooperative corporation

[15:09] and it consists of 150,337

[15:13] sq ft and has 102 units.

[15:17] in both buildings are open to

[15:19] seniors 62 and older. And on the bottom

[15:22] of those letters it says 55, but that's

[15:25] old news. I happen to notice that those

[15:27] are That's an outdated at the bottom.

[15:30] HUD made us change.

[15:35] So, under the cooperative model, each

[15:37] member owner buys a share of the

[15:39] corporation

[15:41] and then signs an occupancy agreement

[15:43] for the specific unit in which they

[15:45] actually live.

[15:48] In addition, each member pays a monthly

[15:50] homeowners association fee, which

[15:53] includes their share of the co-op

[15:54] financial burden, such as the mortgage,

[15:57] taxes, insurance, common area

[16:00] electricity, natural gas, maintenance

[16:02] reserves, and so forth.

[16:04] >> [cough]

[16:07] [snorts]

[16:08] >> Each co-op member has their own

[16:09] electricity account with Dakota Electric

[16:12] at Real Life and with Xcel at Parkway

[16:16] and pays their own electric bill, which

[16:18] includes the $8 monthly franchise fee.

[16:23] In addition, each member contributes

[16:25] their share of the common area electric

[16:28] bill franchise fee,

[16:31] which [clears throat] comes out to an

[16:32] average of 67 cents each month for the

[16:35] people at Real Life. It's a little bit

[16:36] more than that. It's 78 cents a month

[16:39] for the people at um

[16:41] at Parkway

[16:42] cuz you're dividing by a smaller number,

[16:44] but it's the same initial charge. So,

[16:46] that's that's why there's a difference.

[16:50] » [clears throat]

[16:52] » Now, natural gas is different story.

[16:55] So, natural gas for the two buildings is

[16:58] provided by CenterPoint Energy,

[17:01] but co-op members do not have their own

[17:03] individual meters.

[17:06] Natural gas is provided under four

[17:09] commercial industrial

[17:12] sub accounts for each building and

[17:15] tracked through four meters, which

[17:17] service each entire complex.

[17:20] Both buildings are charged a franchise

[17:22] fee on all four of the sub accounts.

[17:26] $468

[17:28] a month on each of the first three sub

[17:30] accounts, and $80 a month on the fourth.

[17:34] So, in total for gas, each building pays

[17:36] a franchise fee per month of $1,484,

[17:42] or an average of $12.47

[17:45] per Real Life member, and $14.55

[17:49] for the the Parkway folks.

[17:52] These costs are rolled into the HOA

[17:54] charge, where each member pays each

[17:56] month to cover the cost of running the

[17:58] cooperative.

[18:00] So, in summary, each Real Life co-op

[18:02] member pays $21.14

[18:05] per month

[18:07] in franchise fees, 867 for electricity,

[18:11] 1247 for gas. Parkway, little different.

[18:16] 2333

[18:18] per month in franchise fee, 878 for

[18:21] electricity, and 1455

[18:23] for the gas.

[18:25] These amounts are 32% and 45% more than

[18:29] what a Burnsville single-family home

[18:31] resident pays at $16 a month.

[18:36] And each co-op member would typically

[18:38] use less of the utility resources than a

[18:41] single family would.

[18:44] And of course, we all know these are

[18:46] scheduled to go up a couple more times,

[18:48] so

[18:50] I've been on your franchise fee page a

[18:52] lot.

[18:54] >> [clears throat]

[18:55] >> I suspect that you haven't received much

[18:57] feedback on the gas franchise fees from

[19:00] buildings such as ours, because the

[19:02] average person in this type of building

[19:04] would have no reason to see a gas bill.

[19:08] In most cases, only the person who pays

[19:10] the bill, and perhaps a reviewer, would

[19:12] see it. I just happened to have a

[19:14] conversation with my property manager

[19:16] one day and tripped on it.

[19:18] So, that's why I'm here.

[19:21] As stated on the city website, when the

[19:24] city instituted franchise fees back in

[19:26] 2016,

[19:28] one of the pluses to going this route

[19:31] was to spread out costs to each property

[19:33] as equally as possible,

[19:36] to include churches and nonprofits.

[19:39] As I've just demonstrated, this is not

[19:41] how it worked out.

[19:43] Under the current franchise fee

[19:45] structure, many senior cooperative

[19:47] owners and other multi-family complexes

[19:50] are being charged considerably more than

[19:52] our neighbors who own or rent a regular

[19:54] home.

[19:56] This is an inequitable sharing of costs,

[19:59] and financially penalizes those who live

[20:01] in multi-family buildings, and it ought

[20:02] to be the other way around.

[20:07] The current franchise fee structure is

[20:09] shown in the attachment to this letter.

[20:12] There at the bottom of the page, you'll

[20:13] see the actual categories. Uh I got that

[20:16] from Alyssa when I came to see her a

[20:18] month or so ago.

[20:21] » [clears throat]

[20:22] >> In the natural gas category, please note

[20:25] that the franchise fee jumps from $80 a

[20:27] month to $468

[20:30] a month with no graduated amounts in

[20:32] between.

[20:34] Also note there is no category that

[20:36] addresses residential multi-family

[20:38] buildings at all.

[20:41] Perhaps a residential multi-family

[20:43] category could be added and be

[20:45] structured to make franchise fees more

[20:47] equitable.

[20:49] Thank you for your consideration of this

[20:51] request.

[20:52] And again, if you have any questions,

[20:54] I'll be happy to try to answer them.

[20:56] >> Thank you, Mrs. Sullivan.

[20:58] >> Mayor Madam Mayor,

[20:59] >> Yes.

[21:00] >> I just felt this was really well thought

[21:01] out. Thank you for taking the time to do

[21:04] this, and it It

[21:05] >> You're welcome.

[21:06] >> It gives you food for thought. It really

[21:07] does.

[21:08] >> Okay. Thank you.

[21:09] >> doing that.

[21:09] >> Yep.

[21:12] And the next uh

[21:14] speaker is um

[21:16] Mr. Gary Schuler.

[21:18] And it's on franchise fees as well.

[21:24] » Thank you, Mayor and city. Um

[21:28] Yeah, we do have an issue with the

[21:30] franchise fees as well. Uh it is

[21:33] [snorts] just it's a little out of hand,

[21:35] I believe.

[21:36] >> [clears throat]

[21:37] >> We have 76

[21:40] individuals living in uh our building

[21:44] um at $8

[21:46] for gas and then another $8 for

[21:48] electric. We each have our own meters.

[21:52] We're getting charged that. Comes to

[21:54] $1,216.

[21:56] Our main building gas is $468.

[22:01] Um times two

[22:03] and then another $80 bill.

[22:08] Our main electric, we have two

[22:11] meters also at $80 apiece just for

[22:14] franchise fees.

[22:16] This doesn't include the electric or the

[22:17] gas.

[22:20] We are paying

[22:22] in total of

[22:23] every month $2,392.

[22:30] Now, it's not a company or anything that

[22:33] is buying this or paying for it. It's 76

[22:37] people

[22:38] that live there. We

[22:40] are a cooperative also and we have an

[22:43] issue with each of us paying $31.47

[22:47] a month

[22:49] for franchise fees.

[22:51] I think this is a little out of hand.

[22:54] And this is every month, not not once a

[22:57] year.

[22:57] >> Okay.

[22:58] >> It's It's just out of hand. It should be

[23:01] not per account number.

[23:03] It should be per address.

[23:08] So, in other words, why are we getting

[23:10] just because we have more meters? Do we

[23:12] combine our meters to one?

[23:15] You know, it's just

[23:17] I think we're paying more than our fair

[23:19] share for individuals.

[23:22] Compared to anybody else. I mean,

[23:23] everybody else pays $8

[23:26] for gas, $8 for ga- electric, and then

[23:29] probably eight for cable.

[23:32] We pay $31

[23:35] and 47 cents.

[23:36] >> [snorts]

[23:38] >> And it's and it's a big concern to us

[23:40] with the price of fuel and everything

[23:42] going on. I mean, this is just

[23:44] nickel and diming us.

[23:47] It's it's we got to look into it.

[23:49] There's got to be something done

[23:49] differently.

[23:51] You know,

[23:53] I I I know it sounds like Burnsville has

[23:57] um

[23:58] cheap taxes or whatever,

[24:01] but they're getting it from somewhere

[24:02] else, and that's that's the individuals

[24:04] again.

[24:06] I think I think we this is not right.

[24:10] You could say it should be an address,

[24:13] not an account number.

[24:16] That's my thoughts.

[24:17] >> Thank you so much for coming in.

[24:19] >> into it, and we got to come up with

[24:21] something. This is just crazy.

[24:22] >> think um

[24:24] Mrs. Mrs. Ryan is [clears throat] in the

[24:26] back, and she's

[24:27] will be happy to to talk further with

[24:30] you, and I know that Mrs. Sullivan

[24:31] you've talked with Mrs. Ryan, and so but

[24:34] thank you so much for coming in and

[24:36] sharing your concerns.

[24:37] >> Thank you for listening.

[24:38] >> Yeah, thank you.

[24:40] Okay.

[24:41] With that,

[24:43] um

[24:45] is

[24:45] City Clerk um Collins is there anyone

[24:48] online?

[24:50] >> Mayor, no one online has asked to speak.

[24:52] >> Okay, thank you. So, that's all I have

[24:56] uh of who signed up to speak. Thank you

[24:58] so much for coming in and sharing your

[25:00] thoughts.

[25:01] Um

[25:02] working together,

[25:04] um

[25:05] we have a community that cares for one another and um

[25:10] will work together to how we solve

[25:12] problems.

[25:13] Thank you so much for coming in.

[25:16] Okay.

[25:17] The next item on the agenda is additions

[25:21] to the final agenda and this is for

[25:22] emergency items only.

[25:25] City City Manager Lindburg, are there

[25:28] any emergency items to come before the

[25:30] body?

[25:30] >> Nothing from staff, ma'am.

[25:31] >> Okay, thank you. Members of the council?

[25:34] Okay, we'll move on. The next item is

[25:36] the consent agenda. The consent agenda

[25:38] is a group of items that's considered to

[25:40] be routine and will be enacted by one

[25:42] motion. However, an item on the consent

[25:44] agenda can be removed for a separate

[25:46] discussion and vote. Is there anyone who

[25:49] wishes an item on the consent agenda to

[25:51] be removed for a separate discussion and

[25:53] vote?

[25:58] City Clerk Holladay, are there any one

[26:00] online who wishes an item to be removed?

[26:02] >> Here, no one has requested an item to

[26:04] [clears throat] be removed.

[26:06] >> City Manager Lindburg, does staff want

[26:08] an item to be removed for a separate

[26:10] discussion and vote?

[26:11] >> Not from staff, ma'am.

[26:12] >> Members of the council?

[26:14] >> No.

[26:14] >> If not, I would um

[26:16] like a motion to adopt the consent

[26:18] agenda, please.

[26:19] >> So moved.

[26:20] >> There's a motion.

[26:22] And a second? Okay.

[26:24] Uh uh

[26:25] All in favor, please say I.

[26:27] >> I.

[26:27] Opposed, say nay and the motion

[26:29] carries. There are no items on the

[26:32] regular agenda and a motion to adjourn

[26:34] is in order.

[26:35] >> Moved.

[26:35] >> Second.

[26:36] >> There's a motion and a second. All in

[26:37] favor, please say I.

[26:38] >> I.

[26:39] Opposed, say nay and the motion

[26:41] carries. Good night and thank you for

[26:43] being with us.

Regular City Council - 18 Aug 2026

Transcript