[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.