[0:53] Call the city council meeting for

[0:54] Monday, August 17th, 2026 to order. Will

[0:57] everyone please rise for the pledge of

[0:58] allegiance.

[1:04] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[1:07] United States of America

[1:09] and to the republic for which it stands,

[1:12] one nation under God, indivisible, with

[1:15] liberty and justice for all.

[1:22] » Call the roll, please.

[1:23] >> Council member Wilson.

[1:25] >> Here.

[1:26] >> Council member Cordes.

[1:27] >> Here.

[1:28] >> Mayor Lean.

[1:29] >> Here.

[1:29] >> Council member Burnett.

[1:30] >> Here.

[1:31] >> Council member Windshield.

[1:32] >> Here.

[1:33] >> Any changes to the agenda?

[1:37] Seeing none, I'll look for a motion to

[1:38] approve the agenda.

[1:40] >> So moved.

[1:40] >> Second.

[1:42] >> Motion by Jake, second by Steve. All in

[1:45] favor say aye.

[1:46] >> Aye.

[1:48] >> No announcements tonight. Look for a

[1:50] motion to approve our consent agenda.

[1:52] >> Motion to approve.

[1:54] >> Second.

[1:54] >> Motion Moved second by Phil. All in

[1:56] favor say aye.

[1:57] >> Aye.

[1:59] >> We are all the way down to 11-1.

[2:01] Construction manager risk selection,

[2:02] police department expansion and remodel

[2:04] project.

[2:07] We have Chief Seem.

[2:27] » All right, thank you Mayor and Council.

[2:30] Uh tonight uh I'm here to update you on

[2:33] the progress of our expansion and

[2:34] remodel project

[2:36] um and then eventually to uh request the

[2:39] authorization of staff to negotiate

[2:41] construction manager at risk contract

[2:42] with Kraus Anderson.

[2:45] Um as you you know, back on May 4th,

[2:49] Council approved

[2:50] uh us to hire BKV as our architect. And

[2:54] since then we've been working on uh

[2:57] the schematic and uh design development

[2:59] phases of the project. Also, on June

[3:01] 15th, we were authorized to issue RFQ

[3:05] uh for the project uh to seek

[3:07] construction managers.

[3:09] Uh like I said, we've been working

[3:10] schematic design, design development,

[3:12] and

[3:13] I'm working towards our CMAR

[3:17] acquisition.

[3:19] Just to kind of lay out that decision

[3:22] the the construction manager decision

[3:24] for us was it was pretty complicated and

[3:27] um hard to

[3:29] you know,

[3:30] figure out which direction we wanted to

[3:32] go. Uh there is a construction manager

[3:33] advisor and a construction manager at

[3:35] risk. And I kind of laid out what those

[3:38] differences are.

[3:39] Um

[3:40] uh construction manager advisor

[3:42] represents and advises the owner, does

[3:43] not become the prime builder, owns owner

[3:46] holds contracts and delivery risk. Uh

[3:48] the construction manager at risk advises

[3:51] again.

[3:53] The uh construction manager holds all

[3:55] the contracts and controls the job site,

[3:57] assumes construction performance and

[3:59] safety duties, and then, importantly,

[4:01] commits to a guaranteed maximum price.

[4:03] And when we evaluated those, um

[4:07] the construction manager at risk was

[4:09] much more appealing to us for the

[4:11] situation that we are here we're at here

[4:13] in Farmington without, um

[4:16] someone that could be on site every day

[4:18] really advising where where the project

[4:20] is going. Uh this construction manager

[4:23] at risk can fill those roles for us, and

[4:25] then,

[4:26] uh providing the guaranteed maximum

[4:27] price is something we're very interested

[4:29] in as well.

[4:30] When the price is set, they are

[4:32] guaranteed not to go over that amount.

[4:36] With the construction manager at risk,

[4:37] though, we do have to go out for bid for

[4:40] that position. If we didn't do that, and

[4:42] we went advisor, we would not have to go

[4:43] out for bid.

[4:44] >> [snorts]

[4:45] >> Um when you authorized the bid, we uh

[4:47] issued uh the request for for uh

[4:50] qualifications on the 17th, 2 days after

[4:53] your authorization. Uh we eventually

[4:55] received responses from Roshan, Terra

[4:58] Construction, RJM, and Kraus-Anderson.

[5:02] From those responses, staff uh reviewed

[5:05] each firm's qualifications and made a

[5:07] consideration or decision to move

[5:10] forward finalists.

[5:12] Those two finalists were RJM

[5:13] Construction and Kraus-Anderson.

[5:16] Uh we requested uh detailed RFPs from

[5:19] both of those

[5:20] firms. Uh written proposals were scored,

[5:23] and both firms were interviewed, and

[5:25] those interviews were scored.

[5:28] Between the proposals being scored and

[5:31] the interviews being scored separately,

[5:33] Kraus-Anderson came out on top in both

[5:34] of those scenarios. Uh so we ultimately

[5:37] made a decision to go with

[5:38] Kraus-Anderson

[5:39] uh for construction manager.

[5:44] Uh going forward, BKV continues to lead

[5:46] the design. Kraus Anderson's addition is

[5:49] going to help us develop our cost

[5:53] estimates,

[5:54] schedule, and phasing, and bid package

[5:57] planning. Uh very important to get on

[5:59] board as soon as we can cuz

[6:02] to get an accurate estimate of how much

[6:04] the project is going to cost is

[6:06] critically important in moving forward

[6:07] with budgeting for next year. Uh so the

[6:10] sooner we get them going, the sooner we

[6:11] can get that process moving.

[6:15] So that's what brings us here tonight.

[6:16] Uh I'm requesting that you authorize

[6:18] staff to negotiate with Kraus Anderson

[6:19] for construction manager at risk

[6:21] services. Negotiations will cover scope,

[6:23] fees, responsibilities,

[6:25] uh that uh GMP and contract terms. The

[6:28] negotiated agreement will return to

[6:30] council for consideration.

[6:32] Authorization to negotiate is not final

[6:35] contract approval. So

[6:37] when we have a contract uh with that

[6:39] maximum fee, that's when we bring it

[6:41] back to council for approval.

[6:45] And then we have our um architect

[6:48] Michael Healey here with us today, as

[6:50] well as representatives from Kraus

[6:52] Anderson.

[6:54] If you have any questions.

[6:56] >> Great.

[6:58] Phil?

[6:59] >> Sorry.

[7:00] >> No. No, it looks good. I have none.

[7:01] We've looked it over earlier and

[7:03] appreciate all of everything you're

[7:05] doing.

[7:07] » Any questions?

[7:09] >> I don't have any questions. We've been

[7:10] working on this for a few months. We

[7:12] were working on it and looked at it a

[7:13] few years ago. Um I'm you know,

[7:16] personally excited that we're at a point

[7:18] now where we are making some forward

[7:20] movement on something that's been

[7:21] deferred for a long time.

[7:22] And uh excited to see where it goes.

[7:25] I've I've had the ability to uh

[7:28] get a a peek behind the curtain a little

[7:30] bit at at what some of the the details

[7:32] of the project look like as we all have

[7:35] um tonight and uh it's needed and

[7:38] warranted and I'm excited to go to the

[7:40] next step.

[7:42] >> Thank you, Jake.

[7:43] >> Uh no questions tonight, but like my

[7:45] colleagues excited to see this move

[7:47] forward and excited to work with

[7:49] Kraus-Anderson.

[7:51] >> Steve.

[7:53] >> Yeah, I really

[7:54] >> [clears throat]

[7:55] >> I really like this and you know,

[7:57] ironically I think Lynn and I

[7:59] happened to um talk about the value of a

[8:02] construction manager up at a League of

[8:04] Minnesota Cities conference a couple

[8:06] years ago.

[8:07] And for the benefit of the public, I

[8:09] just want to kind of just I mean and

[8:11] Nate you did a good job of highlighting

[8:12] this, but yes, this is an this is an

[8:15] additional cost that comes into the

[8:17] project, but ultimately based on

[8:21] essentially Kraus-Anderson being our

[8:23] advocates,

[8:25] um it's going to ultimately save the

[8:28] city [clears throat] and the taxpayers

[8:29] money, I believe in the long term. I

[8:31] think every study I've looked at shows

[8:34] savings um to the overall project, cost

[8:37] overruns, better management. Um I think

[8:40] maybe even have it having a dedicated

[8:42] person on site. And I don't think we've

[8:44] done this before as a city. So, I think

[8:47] this is a really big deal and I think

[8:48] it's a I think it's a great um component

[8:51] that we're doing for this project. So,

[8:53] 100% in favor.

[8:56] >> It's well said, Steve. I think I just

[8:58] wanted to comment for clarity like

[9:01] you put it in big capital letters, but

[9:02] this was not the final approval and the

[9:03] next step is generally going to be the

[9:05] open house that was advertised at

[9:06] National Night Out, right? As we kind of

[9:08] start to move through the communication

[9:09] path of what's coming and what's coming

[9:11] down the road, right? So, just

[9:13] proceeding with Kraus-Anderson as as the

[9:15] designer, right?

[9:16] >> Yes.

[9:16] >> Okay.

[9:18] With that, I don't have any other

[9:18] comments other than what the Steve had

[9:20] added here. So,

[9:22] any final questions?

[9:24] No. Sorry, one second. My screen turned

[9:26] off on me here.

[9:31] We would look for a motion to approve

[9:33] staff to begin contract negotiations

[9:35] with Kraus-Anderson for construction

[9:36] manager at risk services for the police

[9:38] department expansion and remodel

[9:40] project. Motion to approve.

[9:42] >> Second.

[9:43] >> Motion by Steve, second by Holly. Call

[9:45] the roll, please.

[9:46] >> Council member Wilson.

[9:47] >> Yes.

[9:48] >> Council member Cordes.

[9:49] >> Yes.

[9:49] >> Mayor Leino.

[9:50] >> Yes.

[9:50] >> Council member Brunette.

[9:52] >> Yes.

[9:52] >> Council member Winchell.

[9:53] >> Yes.

[9:54] >> Excellent. Thank you.

[9:58] Citizen comments tonight.

[10:02] Comments are a time for anyone to

[10:03] address the city council on matters not

[10:05] on the agenda. Comments from speakers

[10:06] must be informational in nature and may

[10:08] not exceed 5 minutes. The city council

[10:10] will not engage in discussion or debates

[10:12] in those 5 minutes, but will take the

[10:14] information and issue a response to

[10:15] those requiring one by the next council

[10:17] meeting.

[10:18] When you come up to the podium, state

[10:20] the city or township that you live in.

[10:22] As part of the protocol, it is

[10:23] unacceptable for any speaker to slander

[10:25] or engage in character assassination or

[10:28] discuss personnel complaints at a public

[10:29] council meeting.

[10:31] As such, speakers will not be allowed to

[10:32] identify city employees either by name

[10:34] or position or to identify any other

[10:37] person by name during the public comment

[10:38] period. If one does, their comments will

[10:41] be deemed done.

[10:42] Please address your comments to the

[10:43] council as a whole.

[10:45] If decorum cannot be maintained during a

[10:46] speaker's time, the council will recess

[10:48] to allow decorum to be restored. Upon

[10:50] return from recess, citizen comments

[10:52] will resume provided order can be

[10:53] maintained. If order cannot be restored,

[10:56] the meeting may be adjourned.

[10:57] Is there anyone who would like to speak

[10:58] tonight?

[11:01] Go ahead, Paul.

[11:06] » [clears throat]

[11:06] >> Hello, my name is Paul Putt. I am at

[11:09] 20150 Erickson Path in Farmington. Um

[11:12] you know, this is my first council

[11:13] meeting. I've stepped up to the mic many

[11:15] times at school board meetings.

[11:17] Um as an educator, I try to um put my

[11:22] teacher hat on, though I'm not a

[11:23] Farmington educator at the current

[11:25] juncture at any point, but I like to try

[11:27] to

[11:28] think about what I'm speaking on.

[11:31] Um today I just wanted to come here and

[11:33] I want to say thank you.

[11:35] I don't think you guys up here have

[11:37] heard that enough in the past 2 years.

[11:40] Thank you.

[11:42] guys have online at different points

[11:45] received the slings and arrows of

[11:46] outrageous fortune and take up arms

[11:48] against a sea of troubles and by

[11:49] opposing end them.

[11:51] To quote a little Shakespeare. Sorry, if

[11:52] my English teacher would like that.

[11:55] I'm very proud of the fact that I'm a

[11:57] Farmington resident where I feel like

[11:59] you guys are doing your jobs here today.

[12:01] We are standing here and you're

[12:03] listening to an expansion of the police

[12:04] department. We are forth

[12:06] We are forward looking at what could be

[12:08] potentially 40,000 people in the city.

[12:10] We have roughly, according to the state

[12:12] of the city, which I rewatched the other

[12:13] day, about $67 million worth of

[12:15] um

[12:16] how should I say? Investments and you're

[12:19] looking at the police department and

[12:20] you're saying, you know what, we're

[12:21] going to spend some money and we're

[12:22] going to save some money. You're making

[12:23] educated decisions to help Farmington.

[12:26] And you sit up here, a few of your

[12:28] candidates for our next mayor and I

[12:30] would say that we have some great

[12:32] candidates up here. Um, that's my own

[12:34] personal opinion, others will disagree.

[12:37] I think for the most part people who

[12:38] have seen my online forums knows my

[12:40] opinion on certain hot button topics,

[12:42] but the fact of the matter is you sit

[12:44] here, you would do the work of the

[12:46] council.

[12:47] You will be online trying to give

[12:50] fact-based statements and can't always

[12:52] say things back before the fact that you

[12:55] represent Farmington.

[12:56] And I'm here to say that there's

[12:58] probably

[12:59] an unsung majority of people that would

[13:02] say you're doing your job. They might

[13:04] not always agree with things, but you're

[13:06] trying your best and you deserve to hear

[13:08] more citizens that take the time to come

[13:10] up here and say thank you. And so that's

[13:12] why I wanted to come up here in today. I

[13:14] could go into different topics, things

[13:16] that are have disagreements like with

[13:17] people in this room and I don't need to.

[13:20] I want you to hear the words thank you

[13:22] because as a citizenry you have

[13:24] volunteered, you've you've at to and you

[13:26] need to hear it more. We need other

[13:27] citizens who may agree with me who don't

[13:30] want to go online and online forums and

[13:32] are willing to put their name out there

[13:34] to also hopefully be able to say thank

[13:36] you, because there's over 24,000, 25,000

[13:40] people in Farmington. 24,000, 25,000

[13:43] people.

[13:44] And they have differences of opinions.

[13:46] They don't always come up here, and they

[13:47] don't always say them.

[13:49] And they may, in fact, agree with many

[13:50] of you on some of the decisions, but

[13:52] they have families. I was late because

[13:54] I was helping my kids.

[13:56] They can't always get here.

[13:58] They don't always have the ability to

[13:59] say thank you. And just like, and I'm

[14:01] going to say this for as the son of a

[14:02] cop, the police officers don't always

[14:04] hear thank you. First of all, thank you

[14:06] very much.

[14:07] You have done a wonderful job. I look

[14:09] forward to the expansion of the

[14:10] Farmington Police Department. Um and I

[14:13] think we need to be a little bit more

[14:15] gracious

[14:17] even if there's disagreements.

[14:19] There's numerous issues on this docket

[14:21] that don't have to do with some people's

[14:23] topic number one.

[14:25] And you're doing that work. And so,

[14:27] that's the reason for my standing. I

[14:29] thank you very much. Again, disagreement

[14:32] is healthy. It does not mean that we

[14:34] have people who are quote-unquote on the

[14:36] take. It does not mean we have people

[14:38] who have agendas. It means that we have

[14:40] people who are stepping up and doing

[14:42] their job. So again, I say thank you.

[14:45] >> Thank you, Mr. Budd.

[14:47] Anybody else?

[14:54] » Nancy Arstead, I live in the sacrifice

[14:55] zone in a Castle Rock.

[14:58] Denzel Washington, I'm a huge fan. I

[15:01] love Denzel Washington.

[15:03] Man on Fire, Flight, Training Day. He

[15:06] was so good at being bad in Training

[15:08] Day.

[15:09] If he's in it, we're watching it. He is

[15:11] so cool.

[15:13] I saw an interview of his last week, and

[15:15] they asked him what his next film was

[15:17] about, and he said,

[15:18] "All money ain't good money."

[15:21] All money ain't good money.

[15:24] I was so excited. I thought it's kind of

[15:26] like he's standing right next to me here

[15:28] is talking to the Farmington City

[15:29] Council. All money ain't good money.

[15:32] It's something we teach our kids, right?

[15:34] That there are good ways and bad ways to

[15:36] make money. The basic test, if you are

[15:38] causing harm to other people to make

[15:40] that money, it's bad money.

[15:42] Harming others to make money is bad

[15:45] money.

[15:47] Booster clubs and sports teams, you've

[15:49] got to understand if you accept from

[15:51] this developer and slap their logo on

[15:53] your shirts, you are asking kids in and

[15:56] around the sacrifice zone

[15:58] to wear that thing and for parents to

[16:00] put up with it. What would that logo

[16:02] mean to you guys if you lived up in the

[16:05] sacrifice zone?

[16:07] The skills to determine good money from

[16:09] bad is clearly lacking in 4/5 of our

[16:12] city leaders.

[16:14] But sadly, that is not all that is

[16:15] lacking.

[16:17] You lack transparency, the NDAs, the

[16:19] rush rush pushing through approvals, not

[16:21] giving even basic information to the

[16:23] people.

[16:24] How about integrity? Do unto others as

[16:26] you'd have done unto you? For 4/5 of

[16:28] you, that basic human standard of how we

[16:31] should treat each other seems to be

[16:33] missing.

[16:34] You lack respect for all your residents.

[16:37] It doesn't exist. You decided on a

[16:39] sacrifice zone and four of you are

[16:41] perfectly fine with it. We've all been

[16:43] dismissed.

[16:45] You are currently ignoring a petition

[16:47] signed by 940 people right now, given to

[16:50] you 11 weeks ago. We hear nothing.

[16:53] We want to ask We want to know the

[16:56] cooling system going in next to our

[16:57] homes, and then we ask you to follow

[17:00] through with protections.

[17:02] How many signatures will make you care?

[17:05] We are almost at a thousand now. The

[17:08] petition is on Farmington Data Center

[17:10] Watch on Facebook if anyone wants to

[17:13] sign it.

[17:14] This city could be so much better.

[17:17] People out there, if you are happy with

[17:19] Farmington's direction, you think your

[17:20] taxes are awesome, you like running to

[17:23] other towns to buy basic staples, you

[17:26] enjoy lawsuits, you're fine having

[17:28] petitions be ignored, then you have two

[17:30] people up there running for office again

[17:32] in the fall who are more than willing to

[17:34] give you the same.

[17:36] However, I think most of you are sick of

[17:38] where Farmington is going, sick of the

[17:40] disrespect, sick of watching surrounding

[17:42] towns plan more carefully and be more

[17:44] productive.

[17:46] Sick of lawsuits, sick of your high

[17:47] taxes, sick of being the laughing stock

[17:49] of the state right now with the status

[17:51] center, and sick of being mentioned in

[17:53] news articles not for good reasons.

[17:56] Do you know a small group of us talked

[17:57] to Erin Brockovich just a couple weeks

[17:59] ago?

[18:00] Yes, the Erin Brockovich.

[18:03] We had She had all the time in the world

[18:04] for us. We had a nice long meeting with

[18:06] her. We are talking to people like Erin

[18:09] Brockovich.

[18:11] That means Farmington is not famous,

[18:13] it's become infamous. There's a big

[18:15] difference.

[18:17] This city needs to change. It clearly

[18:20] needs a new and better direction. There

[18:22] are two council seats open this fall. We

[18:25] need two people, Ben and Dave, Ben

[18:27] Blomgren and Dave Seaburg. They are the

[18:29] team that need those seats.

[18:31] Both brought bought their homes in

[18:32] Farmington and intend to retire here.

[18:34] They are here to stay and they want to

[18:36] make things better.

[18:38] They care deeply about your tax burden,

[18:41] the growth of this city, bringing in

[18:43] good business,

[18:44] making this city something to be proud

[18:46] of for a change, proper growth and

[18:49] planning.

[18:50] They will respect the people they serve,

[18:52] all of them,

[18:54] not just some of them.

[18:55] They will seriously address petitions

[18:58] signed by hundreds of people.

[19:01] They will always put the residents

[19:03] first.

[19:04] Ben and Dave are not in this for

[19:06] accolades or status. They come in with

[19:08] humility and a strong set of ethics.

[19:12] They know that all money ain't good

[19:13] money.

[19:15] They would bring honor and trust back to

[19:17] this town, both sorely missing.

[19:20] Two council seats open, Bennett Blomgren

[19:23] and Dave Sieberg. Ben and Dave, remember

[19:26] those names. Farmington, it is critical

[19:29] that you get this one right.

[19:32] » Nancy?

[19:41] » Uh good evening uh mayor and council. My

[19:43] name is Nate Ryan. I live here in

[19:45] Farmington.

[19:46] Um something that just keeps just I hear

[19:49] so many times is that because we come up

[19:51] here to oppose things or because we come

[19:53] up here to say something means that

[19:55] we're not on team Farmington. Means that

[19:57] we don't like Farmington, that we hate

[19:58] Farmington. That's just not true. We

[20:01] just want to see what's best for

[20:02] everyone in Farmington, not the minority

[20:05] of people who are in Farmington who may

[20:07] back some of you who sit up there. Um I

[20:10] It doesn't mean that I don't like living

[20:12] here, right? My daughter's going to be a

[20:14] senior this year. Uh we like living

[20:16] here. Our son plays football, right? One

[20:18] of his coaches is sitting over there

[20:20] with the police badge on. Uh last year's

[20:22] coach anyways, but you know, you

[20:24] we love Farmington. We love what it's

[20:26] about. Uh we have been property owners

[20:28] here uh since we were first married and

[20:31] we've owned property in Farmington for

[20:32] over 20 years. So, it it's it's not

[20:35] about whether or not I like Farmington

[20:37] or don't like Farmington. It's about

[20:39] stuff like this.

[20:43] Dirt.

[20:44] It's about you not understanding

[20:47] what this means.

[20:50] So, back when the data center was first

[20:52] talked about, when it was first brought

[20:54] up, you guys said, you trust the

[20:56] process. Trust the process. Trust the

[20:59] process. Everything will come out. Trust

[21:01] the process.

[21:04] It's all going to

[21:05] come out.

[21:07] Do you know when they found mercury

[21:09] in the dirt from the golf course?

[21:11] Do you have any idea?

[21:13] when they first dug

[21:15] their first holes?

[21:16] What happens if I were to open this up

[21:18] right now and we all took a big whiff of

[21:19] it?

[21:22] How would you feel about that?

[21:24] What about if we gave it to your

[21:25] children and had them take a big whiff

[21:27] of it?

[21:28] That

[21:30] is asking what you what you're asking

[21:33] our children to do.

[21:36] Dirt

[21:37] at the golf course site

[21:39] is laced with mercury.

[21:42] I would be very curious what Track tells

[21:43] you when they first found out.

[21:49] That's what you want us to do. You're up

[21:50] there talking about faux windows. You're

[21:52] up there talking about 80 ft. You're up

[21:55] there not even understanding one bit

[21:58] what the ramifications were from going

[22:00] and putting this site in a in a

[22:02] mixed-use commercial industrial zone.

[22:06] You weren't up there asking, "Hey, what

[22:08] is 70 years worth of chemicals do?

[22:11] What What if chemicals being on that

[22:13] golf course since 1970? What do they do?

[22:19] to the soil? How far

[22:20] does it go down? What about the

[22:21] wetlands? What about the What about the

[22:24] lake or the river that has beautiful

[22:26] trout that are in it? What about those

[22:27] things? No.

[22:29] We're going to ask about faux windows.

[22:32] We're going to get talking points from

[22:34] them.

[22:35] That's what we're going to do.

[22:37] Then we're going to go to the fair and

[22:38] antagonize people.

[22:42] I haven't seen you for a while.

[22:45] That's what we're going to do.

[22:47] We're not going to care

[22:49] about the dirt.

[22:52] We're not going to care about the

[22:52] mercury.

[22:54] We're not going to care about the

[22:55] residents. We're not going to care about

[22:56] the children. This stuff, when blown on

[22:58] an average windy day,

[23:02] can travel up to a mile, a mile and a

[23:04] half.

[23:09] But you want to You want to talk about

[23:10] four windows. You don't want to talk

[23:11] about 80-ft buildings. You don't want to

[23:13] talk about property rights of owners

[23:14] that have already been there. You don't

[23:16] want to talk about zoning that's already

[23:17] been in place for 20 plus years.

[23:20] You want to talk about four windows. You

[23:22] want to talk about your tax revenue that

[23:24] we're going to get.

[23:26] This is all about tax revenue.

[23:28] Same person who said that talked about

[23:30] four windows.

[23:31] It's all about tax revenue. We're going

[23:33] to tell you there's all kinds of great

[23:34] benefits, but when it comes down to it,

[23:36] it's about tax revenue.

[23:39] Well, what about all the other great

[23:40] benefits that you couldn't tell us one

[23:42] of? No, it's about tax revenue.

[23:45] You're willing

[23:48] to have mercury-laden soil

[23:52] going all over our community

[23:56] for a mile or more around. And that's

[23:58] just on a moderately windy day.

[24:01] But you don't you don't you don't want

[24:02] to talk about that.

[24:06] 2024 April 2024 is when they did their

[24:08] first borings.

[24:11] They knew.

[24:13] A few council meetings ago, I came up

[24:15] here and I said, "Hey, what about all

[24:16] the chemicals that are in there?"

[24:18] Now what are they doing? They're

[24:20] drilling hundreds of holes all over that

[24:21] golf course to figure out where it is.

[24:24] They have to. They know they have to.

[24:26] They know that they got caught.

[24:30] They know.

[24:32] So, I'm curious. Should we open this?

[24:35] Or should we not?

[24:37] What do you think? Should we pass it

[24:38] around and have you all give a big

[24:40] sniff? Maybe you want to bring it home

[24:41] and have your kids give it a big sniff?

[24:43] Is that what you're asking my kids to

[24:44] do?

[24:45] And it's wrong.

[24:46] By the way, this is still in my

[24:48] backyard.

[24:49] I hope it's harmless, but I don't know.

[24:54] » Thank you, Mr. Ryan. Anybody else?

[25:03] Round table.

[25:08] » No report for me tonight.

[25:11] >> Nothing for me. Thanks.

[25:13] >> I'm good.

[25:17] » I just want to wish families, students,

[25:19] teachers, and everybody best of luck as

[25:22] back to school starts to ramp up in the

[25:23] next few weeks.

[25:26] >> Steve.

[25:29] » Jeez, I wasn't prepared for that

[25:31] comment.

[25:33] I was going to say Nate, I may have an

[25:34] extra team Farmington shirt if you'd

[25:36] like to proudly wear it, but

[25:38] can let you know.

[25:39] Um

[25:41] I think we had a fairly incident-free

[25:43] Dakota County Fair as I understand it.

[25:45] Uh so, I appreciate our team um

[25:49] and then others in the community uh

[25:51] others other neighboring jurisdictions

[25:53] being there.

[25:55] And uh that's all I have.

[25:59] » Nothing tonight.

[26:01] >> Melissa.

[26:03] >> Last election thing for a little while.

[26:05] Uh so, the election on August 11th went

[26:07] great went great. Um thank you to all of

[26:10] the people, the staff, the election

[26:11] judges,

[26:13] um Church of St. Michael, Farmington

[26:15] Lutheran, and Bible Baptist for opening

[26:16] your doors for us.

[26:18] Um everything went well, so we look

[26:19] forward to the general in November.

[26:25] » [clears throat]

[26:25] >> On the topic of elections, I just want

[26:27] to boast on Melissa a little bit. Uh she

[26:29] did a fantastic job with with the going

[26:32] through of the primary.

[26:34] Um as I probably told people, I don't

[26:36] think people would realize that this was

[26:38] her first election as city clerk. Um and

[26:41] I just want to help people understand,

[26:43] you know, elections is beyond is is goes

[26:45] beyond um

[26:47] just election day. There's the 16 days

[26:51] of direct balloting prior to the

[26:53] election. There's the absentee period that goes 45 days before the

[26:58] election. And there's all the other

[27:00] prep, the hiring of election judges, the

[27:02] scheduling of over 60 election judges,

[27:05] the managing of six different precincts,

[27:07] and working with all those different

[27:09] property owners.

[27:11] Um

[27:12] Lois has been working on it since April.

[27:14] Um and been doing a fantastic job. So, I

[27:17] want to give kudos to her.

[27:19] Um all the election and all to all the

[27:22] election judges. We had a lot of new

[27:23] election judges this year who all did

[27:25] fantastic.

[27:27] Um

[27:28] and now get a little bit of a breather

[27:30] um before we start again in just just in

[27:32] a month in preparation for the general.

[27:36] Um and I believe absentee balloting for

[27:39] that, believe it or not, begins

[27:41] um almost a month from today on

[27:43] September 18th, I believe it is. So,

[27:46] that's all I have. Thank you. Very good.

[27:48] Diana.

[27:49] Thank you, Mayor and Council. Tonight we

[27:51] had our monthly Economic Development

[27:53] Authority meeting, and I just want to um

[27:55] thank you for the robust conversation

[27:57] that we had.

[27:58] That's it. Mr. Poll.

[28:01] Thank you, Mayor and Council.

[28:02] We do have a citywide speed limit study

[28:05] and policy development process underway.

[28:08] Uh if any resident wants to go to the

[28:10] city website in the upper right corner,

[28:13] do a search for speed limit. Top of the

[28:15] list is speed limit study. That'll take

[28:17] you to a page where there's a hot link.

[28:19] You can go to a map and drop your

[28:20] comments on there, and that should be

[28:23] open for at least the next uh month and

[28:25] a half or so.

[28:27] Thank you.

[28:28] Kelly. Good evening, Mayor and Council.

[28:30] It's hard to believe, but next week

[28:32] already the final music in the park.

[28:34] Wednesday, August 26th at 7:00 p.m. at

[28:36] Rambling River Park. Feeling Minnesota

[28:38] will be performing. They blend country,

[28:40] rock, and pop favorites with an acoustic

[28:42] twist. Want to thank the sponsors. Um

[28:45] without them, we couldn't uh do music in

[28:47] the park. Castle Rock Bank, Farmington

[28:49] Youth Hockey Association, Hobo, the

[28:51] Legacy of Farmington, for our VFW Post

[28:54] 7662, and Marshall Alliance um, for

[28:57] being out there doing face painting with

[28:59] the kids and and free popcorn. Hope to

[29:01] see everybody next week.

[29:02] >> Thank you.

[29:04] Jim.

[29:04] >> Mayor and Council, uh,

[29:06] all cities have the issue of dealing

[29:08] with delinquent utility bills. And so,

[29:11] the process like two processes that

[29:13] cities might take right to shut off

[29:15] people's water, um, or we can certify it

[29:19] to the taxes that which is allowed by

[29:20] Minnesota state law. And just want to

[29:22] remind everybody that if you do have a

[29:24] delinquent um, balance on your utility

[29:27] bill that to pay that off, otherwise

[29:30] it's potential that we will be

[29:31] certifying that to taxes. We'll be

[29:33] starting that process next month.

[29:35] >> Thank you.

[29:36] Chief.

[29:38] » Mayor and Council.

[29:40] Uh, first I wanted to uh, thank you for

[29:43] approving uh, Deputy John Meeden on the

[29:48] uh, consent agenda to be hired as a

[29:49] police officer and become

[29:51] Officer John Meeden. Uh, he's a Dakota

[29:54] County Deputy that works very closely

[29:56] with our patrol officers and is very

[29:58] well known by them. And you wouldn't

[30:00] believe the amount of correspondence I

[30:03] got from my officers telling me that we

[30:05] need to hire this gentleman. And uh,

[30:06] we're very excited to have him coming to

[30:08] Farmington Police Department.

[30:10] Uh, and then Christina Calderon, our

[30:13] CSO, recently departed Farmington PD.

[30:16] She Her last day was this past

[30:18] Wednesday, and I wanted to uh,

[30:20] congratulate her and wish her the best

[30:21] of luck with her new employer though,

[30:23] uh, Duluth Police Department. We'll be

[30:25] She'll be starting as a police officer

[30:26] next week.

[30:28] And finally, uh, with our expansion

[30:31] remodel project, um,

[30:34] we're trying to get as much information

[30:35] out to the public as we can on what the

[30:37] project actually is, what the needs

[30:39] actually are. And the best way to do

[30:41] that isn't for me to just tell everybody

[30:44] cuz um

[30:46] not everybody believes me, believe it or

[30:48] not. But

[30:50] I think the best thing to do is just

[30:51] come and see it for yourself. And uh so

[30:53] what we're doing is hosting a couple

[30:54] open houses uh September 19th and

[30:56] September 22nd. Uh they're not on social

[30:58] media yet, but they will be shortly. Uh

[31:00] come down and see the police department

[31:02] for yourself. Let us walk you through

[31:04] and show you what we're talking about

[31:05] when we say that we need more space for

[31:08] officers, for administrators, for

[31:10] supervisors, for record staff,

[31:12] for social workers, uh all the all those

[31:14] other ancillary things that we don't

[31:16] have now that we'd like to have. We'd

[31:17] love to show you the space that we have

[31:19] and uh what we hope to grow into. So,

[31:21] please join us for those.

[31:23] >> Thank you.

[31:26] I do have prepared comments to to read

[31:28] tonight, but

[31:29] I do just want to make one comment, I

[31:31] guess, is

[31:36] any contaminants that were found on the

[31:38] golf course seems to me that it

[31:39] suggested it was found as a part of a

[31:41] development process that is in place.

[31:44] And if you don't know that they're in

[31:46] your yard or not, it seems to suggest

[31:48] that those processes are being more

[31:49] rigorous than residential development.

[31:53] And when the counterargument is that

[31:54] you've been asking for houses instead of

[31:56] industrial, you would have gone on

[31:58] living not knowing that those chemicals

[32:00] were there.

[32:02] So,

[32:03] Okay.

[32:10] I'll read my prepared comments for

[32:11] tonight.

[32:14] It did come to my attention that my

[32:15] response to Council Member Wilson's

[32:17] comments during round table at the last

[32:18] council meeting may have been

[32:20] interpreted as having a change of heart,

[32:22] cracking, or being otherwise in favor of

[32:24] a moratorium.

[32:26] I would like to take a moment to clarify

[32:27] both that response and my current

[32:29] stance.

[32:31] I am not in favor of implementing a

[32:32] moratorium on data centers in Farmington

[32:34] for the specific reasons here.

[32:36] Number one,

[32:38] moratoriums only apply for a maximum of

[32:40] up to 1 year.

[32:42] If people are telling you that we should

[32:43] implement a 2 or 3 year moratorium, at

[32:45] best they are legally incorrect, and at

[32:47] worst they are lying to you.

[32:49] Number two,

[32:50] the current lawsuit involving the Tracks

[32:52] data center currently does not resolve

[32:54] until June of next year pending any

[32:55] early settlements.

[32:57] The next 10 months are functionally

[32:58] identical to a moratorium in that no

[33:00] development will occur on that land

[33:01] until the suit resolves,

[33:03] and we will be spending that time

[33:04] studying best practices and acted by

[33:06] other cities regardless of the outcome

[33:08] of that suit.

[33:09] There is no gate to us implementing

[33:11] these lessons learned even without a

[33:12] moratorium.

[33:14] Number three,

[33:16] the moratorium does not apply to the

[33:17] Tracks development. Once again, if

[33:19] people are telling you that it would,

[33:21] they are legally incorrect or lying.

[33:23] Grove Heights is living through the

[33:24] scenario of what would happen if the

[33:25] city did try to apply the moratorium to

[33:27] the Tracks project.

[33:29] They did try this exact thing and are

[33:30] now facing a $20 million lawsuit and are

[33:33] scrambling to exempt the current

[33:34] development from that moratorium.

[33:37] This brings me to the most important

[33:38] reason.

[33:40] Every time that Council Member Wilson

[33:41] has called for a moratorium, I hear

[33:42] claps

[33:44] from the residents who live near the

[33:45] Tracks project.

[33:47] To me, this means that a moratorium is

[33:48] giving those residents a sense of false

[33:50] hope that the city and council can

[33:51] suddenly change its mind and undo this

[33:53] specific project.

[33:55] Rip up the contract as I've heard it

[33:56] said.

[33:58] Since I fundamentally believe that any

[33:59] course of action to walk back the

[34:00] approval of the rezoning and PUD exposes

[34:03] the city to the same type of lawsuit

[34:04] that Inver Grove Heights is facing,

[34:06] this is not something that I could ever

[34:07] consciously be in favor of.

[34:10] And since the topic of data centers

[34:11] appears to be the single biggest agenda

[34:13] driver of our council and mayor

[34:15] candidates this year, it is extremely

[34:17] damaging to enable candidates to run on

[34:18] stopping the data center because it is

[34:20] taking advantage of the fact that the

[34:22] average resident does not pay close

[34:23] attention to the fine details of this

[34:24] project or how the process works,

[34:27] but instead is allowing the state and

[34:28] national trend of saying all data

[34:30] centers are bad to influence the the

[34:32] election.

[34:34] That is not an incrimination of our

[34:36] residents at all.

[34:37] In American government, the basic idea

[34:39] is to elect officials who we believe

[34:40] have our best interests in mind and

[34:42] accept that they may know more about the

[34:43] topics than we will.

[34:45] In a healthy government, the average

[34:46] person is allowed to be uninformed.

[34:49] In an unhealthy government, people use

[34:50] that ignorance as a weapon. And

[34:52] unfortunately, with this project, I have

[34:53] watched the unhealthy pattern play out

[34:55] for the last 2 years.

[34:56] We have mitigated every concern that

[34:58] gets stated in the national opinion

[34:59] about data centers, but people continue

[35:01] to play off the same risks that as if it

[35:03] still exists here.

[35:05] To me, it is clear that calling for a

[35:06] moratorium only further enables these

[35:08] unhealthy patterns.

[35:11] So, one commitment I make to you in

[35:12] these last 3 months as your mayor, I

[35:14] opened my office hours as a place for

[35:16] people to come and feel heard because

[35:17] the chief complaint was that the council

[35:18] was stonewalling residents.

[35:20] I had a handful of people come and I've

[35:22] enjoyed and appreciate those

[35:23] conversations.

[35:25] I've also heard complaints that

[35:26] residents feel they should be allowed to

[35:27] talk at council and work sessions and

[35:28] that the public comment period is too

[35:30] one-sided.

[35:31] Our council meetings and work sessions

[35:32] are not free for alls.

[35:34] We have agendas and critical business to

[35:36] get through.

[35:37] What is really being asked for with

[35:38] these comments is a town hall format

[35:40] where larger groups of residents can

[35:41] learn and have discussions with the

[35:43] staff and their council.

[35:45] To meet this ask, I have directed Lynn

[35:47] and the staff to help organize such an

[35:48] event or series in the near future.

[35:51] The goal here is to continue the cycle

[35:52] of learning and address any thoughts or

[35:53] concerns that might exist with the

[35:55] specific project in Farmington.

[35:57] We will communicate details as soon as

[35:59] we have them available.

[36:00] I highly encourage those residents who

[36:02] feel as they would like to know more

[36:03] about our specific project to attend.

[36:05] Regardless of how strongly you feel one

[36:07] way or another about the data center

[36:09] topic in Farmington.

[36:11] That is all I wanted to say tonight.

[36:13] Look for a motion to adjourn.

[36:15] at 7:35.

[36:17] >> Second.

[36:18] >> Motion by Jake, second by Hall. All in

[36:20] favor say aye.

[36:21] >> Aye.

[36:22] >> We are adjourned at 7:35.

[36:46] » [music]

[37:14] » Mhm.

Regular Council - Aug 17 2026

Transcript