##VIDEO ID:woWuk1LkNww## [Music] [Applause] [Music] start at the L we'll call the city council regular meeting to order for Monday October 21st 2024 would everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance i al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all call the rooll please mayor Hoy here council member buron here council member berat here council member lean here council member Wilson here all right any changes to the agenda n all right unless there's any changes to the agenda I'd seek a motion to approve the agenda motion motion by Steve second by Holly all in favor say I I I moving on there's no announcements uh item six is our citizen comments this is a Time reserved for citizen comments regarding non-agenda items there's anyone wishing to speak at this time please come up I'll read this real quick in advance uh citizen comments at our time for anyone to address the city council on matters not on the agenda those speaking should State their name and address and limit their comments to 5 minutes the city council will not engage in discussion on your topic but those issues requiring response will be responded to by the next city council meeting go ahead sir thank you uh appreciate the opportunity my name is Dave aen I'm fifth generation farming tonian uh my grandfather was a multi-term county commissioner in this area representing us uh my father was a three-term mayor from 19 77 till 1984 my comments will be quite brief Fair honest open government doesn't belong to any special cause or group Council actions must determine what is best for every citizen and Resident dedication and understanding of community needs coupled with the capacity to compromise on issues and ideas will keep us moving I ask you to separate the claims promises and rumors from the truth I need and ask for your support in this effort that was written for btim by my father those were not my words that was from 1984 almost 40 years ago exactly to this day thank you for your time thank you [Applause] sir good evening my name is Terry Pearson I live at 24 75 225th Street West today is my birthday at this stage of my life I've begun thinking about my legacy are you thinking about yours what will be your Legacy by changing the comprehensive plan to allow Industrial Development in the middle of Residential Properties you believe that huge amounts of money will flow into the city coffers you believe the promised not guaranteed money will will solve a whole host of problems in your city apart from Financial windfall you hope to see what else will the city of Farmington gain from this development a few not many jobs that local people may or may not fill new parks shinier schools another sheet of ice at the arena what are you building for the future citizens of Farmington if we have two or more more technical or technology parks in Farmington will people from other communities want to move here I urge you to vote no to altering the comprehensive plan and resoning the golf course in adjacent Farmland if these properties are reson to commercial industrial virtually anything could be built there not just data centers what other businesses of this type would be a good fit between our established neighborhoods I urge you to find a better place and a better fit for industrial projects which we are all in favor of to enhance the livability of all the residents in and near the city what do you want your legacy to be thank [Applause] you thank you I'm Kathy Johnson 22280 bearing Avenue Farmington tonight is the fourth time I've addressed the board at these public meetings and I feel most of what I've said has not really been taken very seriously you know noise issues a trip to De Moine to compare it to a data center when six the size of what's being proposed for this site I could go on but mostly the board has not acknowledged the spot zoning or incompatible zoning issue the mayor said anecdotally and after a meeting that there is an interested buyer an interested seller and by the way just very recently and also anecdotally but from a good personal source of mine and don't forget I live right next door to the golf course the Olen the sellers had no idea that the developer would be building 80ft tall buildings they thought they would be maybe one or two stories they had no idea that there would be the scope of what was involved just another little bit of secrecy from tract they were convinced one story or so but nothing like what tract is actually wanting to build the Willing buyer seller argument is about the land it is not about the comp plan farmington's 2024 comp plan is very clear regarding the use for the land and the order orderly annexation agreement between Farmington and Council Rock is also very clear the plan this is pretty much a quote the Planning Commission or the city council shall not sub dot dot dot sub subsequently modify change or alter in any way that comp plan designation without the consent of the Castle Rock Town board which cannot be withheld unreasonably Castle Rock has been offered nothing from the city and no request for consent farmington's proposed comp plan is very clear going from res residential and agricultural to muci actually the use that actually is being proposed is purely industrial that plan was developed just four years ago and that is what is not for sale our comp plan and the dedicated use to our land is not available or should not be available to just go out to the highest bidder if you say that then you're not representing your constituents vote for quality of life vote to preserve our resources vote for infrastructure but most of all be consistent with the existing residential zoning do not attempt to spot zone vote no to the proposed resoning thank [Applause] you mayor council my name is Nate Ryan I live on Cambrian way two things to I just like you to consider last time I spoke up here we talked about uh specifically talked about what should you be using to make your decision and something that we talked about was already in the city code your reasoning for choosing to make a decision based on the resoning is already there your criteria that you should use is already there I just like to highlight that nowhere in the city code and nowhere in it for for you does it say consider additional tax revenue it doesn't say that it says to watch out for the community members it says to does it does it make sense with the surrounding Zone that's there it doesn't say update your comp plan at the last second it doesn't say um have Deanna go in front of the school board and tell them how much money they're going to make and and tax revenue and all these wonderful things that it doesn't say that anywhere doesn't use the criteria that's in the city code that's there for you to make those decisions and again tax revenue is nowhere there in your decision making the second thing I'd just like to mention is um the mayor and I and the city manager the city administrator had an email exchange and in that email exchange the mayor we were talking about censure and the mayor said well I can't be censured because it doesn't exist in the city code and my rort to that my response to him was neither does technology park and it was crickets because the mayor understands that technology park does not exist in the city code but if you look at all the applications if you look at what's been applied for from track from Kimberly horn what a list there it says that they want to reone this for a technology park if the mayor shouldn't be censured because it doesn't exist in the city code how are all of you going to approve something that you don't have a definition for doesn't make any sense whatsoever lastly what I'd just like to say is understand that you're setting a presedent not just a president for this president for the city of Farmington but a president for anyone who is going against a potential rezone and by the way I am for 100% for data centers I want them great put them in Farmington absolutely but do it the right way this resoning process this is not the right way and if it was done the right way I can tell you as someone who is very in tune with personal property rights I would be for it but I'd like to remind you and just look at what's happened on Facebook Facebook the mayor voted in a poll he took back his vote I would hope that it was at the request of the uh the City attorney because I can see if any of you voted on that same poll that could definitely be considered a public open public meeting violation and it could be considered a Serial meeting but back to my original point is I'm for data centers I'm for doing it right and I definitely think that you all should look at the process has it been followed and and can tell you that it hasn't been look at what happened at the last Planning Commission meeting I had to go and approve a go back and approve something that should have been done before cart before the horse and that was the application to update the city code that should have been done previously and City staff knows that and matter of fact um chairperson Rody mentioned that he said when you bring this to the city council City staff make sure that you're bringing everything to them make sure that you're bringing it to them in the right order the staff painted the plan Commission in an extremely tight corner by bringing that decision to rezone to them after they had you had approved um after they had recommended to you that that they uh for the application to reone he brought the C code excuse me the um comprehensive use plan he brought that instead he brought that next it was out of order it should be City code comp plan and then resoning you're going out of order the staff has put you in a very tight legal position and I would highly encourage you I'm not telling you to vote Yes not telling you to vote no I'm in favor of data centers let's build them freaking everywhere sounds awesome but do it in the right way you're putting yourself in major major litigation and I just please please understand that and I'm this is a great City I live here I raise my family here I coach youi here our daughter goes to dance here she's on the varsity junior varsity dance team what this is my city just as much as it's your city thank you for your time thank you mayor councel I'm Jia doin I live on 225 fth Street West I live on the east side of the golf course a week from now you the city council will vote on resoning the Pud and the comp plan Amendment for the golf course and School District 192 properties on 225th Street West I'd like you to take this week and really think about the unknowns of resoning to mixed use commercial industrial the tax burdens to the tax payer years Financial hardships to the families that surround these properties the value of their homes will decrease with younger families their Equity are very little and it will be absorbed by the view of an industrial building resoning will cause the explosive growth of an industry that will bring massive costs and risks that will fall to the people and the environment of the state and region as a whole there are no government regulations on any of these industrial Industries and what cost will the homeowners absorb the infrastructure assessments for years to come for the needs of the biggest corporations of the world don't let monetary gains Cloud your decisions we need to stop and really think about this between now and next week please reach out to any of our environmental Coalition group people on Facebook or through Messenger um if you have any concerns or questions we also have a public meeting tomorrow night at the library at 7:30 and we've invited all of you thank you thank you [Applause] mayor ho Council I'm Jeff shler I live at 22420 Calico Court you've all been here a few times um you've heard what everybody has to say whether we think it's legal whether we think it's right over spot zoning or an orderly annexation agreement maybe we don't know maybe you do know better um it's about people though it's not necessarily about laws it's not about rules it's about people and what's right and wrong you're trying to improve the city you're trying to improve the quality of life for others let's not negatively impact the quality of life for a few people just to improve it for others this can be done um I'm not a popular vote right now with everybody it can be done so you're whatever the number is if you're getting $18 million a year for the proposed plan cut it in half that's 9 million bucks a year that you don't have um give all of us a sense that there's no way it affects us that we can definitely live here that my daughter can still stay here that my wife can love where we live my last house was within a mile where I live now in Farmington 13 years five years I don't want to move again if I do I want to move another mile to a better house in the same area give us a guarantee um if track can't provide some privacy and some we're accommodating them by letting them go bigger we're you guys are being accommodated by changing existing zoning and impacting residents accommodate the residents cut it in half cut a third of it off there give us some room that is undeniably okay we won't hear them we won't see them they won't affect us you've seen data centers we've seen data centers some of them are good some of them are bad we don't know what we're getting they didn't write down it's Microsoft if they can write down every building's Microsoft we know they're quiet they're good we don't know who it is give a buffer that guarantees it's okay for everybody you still win you take what the golf course's revenue is and what the school property is losing and it's still a win and if track says that's not enough for us you have to believe there's somebody else somebody else will come you've already proven that you're willing the power's there the water's there everything's there you've got an A that's probably looking pretty favorable somebody will buy it and I bet you at the same terms especially if you if you change your zoning that's nothing we can do about it we're here fighting every day we've said everything we can say to try to sway you to change this we're still here slow the roll you can't tell track what to do you can't tell the Olson what to do with their land I understand that you've said that you have no business in private land sales but you sure can say hey really makes me nervous with something like this happening this close to my residence they'll understand what that means you guys put out a pretty good plan my people will be comfortable with a little bit more that's not you telling them what to do it's you giving them suggestion they'll follow it they have money invested into it they want to come here I think it could happen I bet you if you cut it in half I bet you more than 70% of the people here don't show up again um I just think that we deserve some special consideration too I know you've given it to us and that's why you're here and you're hearing us out um appreciate all the time you guys are putting into it we we all still want to live here we want to live together we want to see you guys at the corners and wave and not give a frown um we're just trying to live a life here too so that's all I got thank [Applause] you I apologize I'm going to read off my phone I wasn't planning on talking tonight um my name is Lacy fruit I had some conversations with a few of you on Facebook over the weekend um this is my first time attending one of these meetings in my entire life um but also because any previous meetings my job has precluded me from being able to be here so thank you for allowing us to speak I'm a business owner I have a master's degree in social work I'm a mother friend and solid supporter of community my husband is a 15 plus year veteran and member of the US Army Reserves with three combat deployments under his belt his civilian job moved us to Minnesota and Farmington more specifically four years ago since then we have called Executive Estates home along with our two children who are seven and eight actually brought my daughter I think it's important for her to see these things play out they attend school at Farmington Elementary School and are active in gymnastics flag football and other after school clubs we pay our taxes register our vehicles and follow the laws of our state we too have felt the impact of high taxes in this area and are not unsympathetic to the stresses that those cause I tell you all this in attempt to humanize one small part of a large community which is the community at risk by the development of this complex basically or because sorry it should not come out as a surprise to any of you um that many of the US in this room and those we represent feel completely unheard unimportant and like we are not being and like we are being sacrificed for some gain that is not clear a key concern many have is the potential for adverse health effects and noise anecdotal EV evidence has sorry for some has shown increased sleep disturbances anxiety and depression as a result of 24/7 close proximity to these centers not to mention 12 of them many of those come from places where the people are living next to four five not 12 my husband deals with stress anxiety and it many times in his life suicidal ideation I'm concerned that the impacts of these data centers that they could have not only on him but also to many neurode Divergent children and people who reside in our community track will not and cannot guarantee these effects aren't real because they can't the noise study being required will not measure the type of noise that these centers provide to the people who live near them 24/7 365 day a year and is therefore not only unnecessary but quite frankly is all for show it's beneficial to track to agree to do the noise study because they're playing a game only they know the rules of I've personally seen two City Council Members mention on Facebook that while the location may not be great we really don't have many other options in Farmington personally I have an affinity for Halloween decor I deck out my front yard every year but if I wanted a new decoration one that would impact Health wellbeing and property values and the only place to put it was right next to my neighbor's window I simply wouldn't do it because it's the right thing to do that's a massive over oversimplification of the issue I'm well aware but it has the same sentiment that we are arguing if you're not willing to do it right it shouldn't be done to finish my comments I would like to ask you would you be having this discussion if the bedrooms of your children were next door to something so unknown if you wouldn't considering it considering putting it next to the bedroom of our children is simply put completely unethical if this is the Legacy you are willing to put in place for yourselves in this era of Farmington I hope you are prepared to be sitting in those same seats when the downfalls and harm of these data centers are realized so that you may be held accountable track just showed up and will not be here when that happens but presumably you will and to track I'd like to ask if they're so great for tax revenue and are so unobtrusive why are they building them in any state or community that is not their own please listen to the residents of your community stick up for us not the middle man company that doesn't give a damn about you us or our children thank you thank [Applause] you hi my name is Piper Nelson and I live at 5505 113 Street West lawdale Minnesota um I'm not originally from here but I do frequent the area um so yeah I'm also a little nervous so I really apologize if I have to take a break for a second I'm here today because I believe data center development planning requires more time than what is currently being allotted over the summer I worked in Virginia to learn about data center alley in Lowden County Virginia which is the county that holds the most amount of data centers in the entire world and I know because of that experience there that this project is moving extremely quickly it is understandable that as we move forward with AI and have a heavier Reliance on computers we need facilities to hold all this data but I'd like to ask you to reconsider the placement of this 2.53 million foot data center campus and the physical ecological and Community consequences sorry that may ensue I would also ask that you don't change the comprehensive plan to fit one project but to fit the needs and future of Farmington if you sorry I'm just really slow if you read the 2040 comprehensive plan you would see that a data center campus is wrong for its current proposed location um in the comprehensive plan farming res Farmington residents said the top three things that would make Farmington a great place to live today our friendly and welcoming Community the small town feel and the open space sln natural beauty of the area the top three changes residents would like to see to make the greatest Improvement to Farmington would be to expand retail options decrease taxes and fees and increase employment opportunities as you can see a data center campus does not align with residents current satisfaction with living in Farmington nor does it satisfy the desired changes to Farmington I have a couple points that I would like to mention and some thoughts that I would like like to in provoke so one a data center campus will permanently develop and degrade large open green spaces which goes against the interest of Farmington residents these Data Center buildings could reach 50 to 80 feet which is in their plan that they sent out uh and that roughly equates to like five or eight story buildings um and industrial buildings do not belong in the country uh number two data centers consume large amounts of water for cooling processes where does this data center plan to get its water did they mention that um will they be building a separate Water Tower and where will they be getting that water so like where will it be sourced from um data centers require an immense amount of energy as well will new Trans transmission infrastructure be required to accommodate the energy needs of the data center campus will this infrastructure consume more land space and will the infrastructure cost be subsidized by utility rate payers fingon residents want fewer living expenses not more data centers require backup diesel generators in case of power outages these diesel generators must be tested and run at least once a month and when you're running them they produce a lot of noise and pollution which will obviously affect the neighboring communities in these low and medium residential areas for the amount of space and City resources the data center campus will consume it will not create enough long-term jobs to make this project worthwhile for residents I did not realize that I had more than 2 minutes um which I originally thought so I will have to send a follow-up email with more information because there's a lot more than just what I've mentioned um and I'm just asking that you slow down the decision- making process for this data center campus data center campus because they're on 12 buildings um so that we can make the right decision for Farmington I know I'm not part of your community directly but um I do care so I'm here yeah thank you thank [Applause] you anyone else you're good good evening thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening two weeks from tonight the plan is for you to vote on the resoning of the golf course in school district properties if you vote Yes to resoning to Industrial you will be changing the quality of life and not for the better for hundreds of people living next door and nearby whether it becomes a data center or any other industrial business we all know the budget struggles the Farmington Community faces we live here we know during your joint work session in August with the school district discussing many Financial struggles the mayor said reassuringly we will figure it out I'm sure he was sincere when he said that Farmington has figured it out for decades and without data centers and will figure it out for decades to come council members have told me that you do not usually hear much from residents about issues at hand but for many months you have heard from many of us anything industrial including a DAT data Center does not belong in a place surrounded by homes homes that have been there for as long as 45 years and more 38 years ago my husband and I chose to live next to the golf course and for the peace and quiet and charm of the community people purchase their home trusting your comp plan that that neighborhood would be the best place to live and raise their families we would not have chosen to live next to a data center or anything else industrial we have given you many facts opinions experiences of other residential communities near data centers around the country and it is clear to us that near a data center would not be where we want to live track has painted a win-win picture of course they would after they start the project and sell the par partials to end users they would be long gone you would be left with whatever happens after that I would not want to live near any of the data centers I visited in Iowa there may be planned future homes around those centers but those people will choose to live there you have heard from us please hear us thank you thank you anyone anyone else wishing to speak I probably talk talk the app mobile stuff off proofs our parking and all talking with cards thanks will you do the that talk to me then while ask questions and stuff sounds good anyone else wishing to speak for the public comment section all right seeing none we'll move on to item seven which is our consent agenda and seek a motion to approve the consent agenda motion to approve motion by Holly second second by Katy all in favor say I I I I all right next item on the agenda is item 8.1 which is a public hearing uh this is a public hearing for the certification of delinquent Municipal services to the 2025 property taxes uh I'd like to go and open the public hearing at this time and Kim good evening mayor and council members tonight we're holding a public hearing for the annual certification process of delinquent utility bills miscellaneous city services and code enforcement violations the process is in line with Minnesota state laws 429 443 and 444 early in September we mailed notices to Property Owners with amounts that were build on or before July 31st of 2024 and which remained unpaid as of August 31st the notices informed property owners that if they paid their delinquent balances by October 17th last Thursday they could avoid having those charges along with additional related charges added to the property taxes the letter also informed property owners that the city council would review these charges during tonight's meeting so for those that didn't pay their balances by last Thursday the delinquent account balances of the identified properties are now being proposed for certification to property taxes at the time of the public notice was published in the newspaper on October oober 4th there were 609 accounts and a total of 303,000 in delinquent amounts when the meeting agenda was prepared last week we are down to 462 accounts totaling 244,000 Following last week's deadline we now have a remainder of 431 accounts with delinquent balances the total amount for these accounts is $227,300 51 which is the amount we are requesting approval for certification to the 2025 property taxes tonight after hearing from everyone who wishes to speak and closing the public hearing city council has requested to adopt resolution 2024-25 property taxes thank you ma'am uh any questions for Kim Steve I do um so Kim we we're looking at yeah and you confirmed it about 227,000 from a budgeting standpoint we know that even if we certify we're not going to get back 100% of this money correct I mean ultimately we will oh so ultimately we will get 100% back yes because it'll go with property taxes and as property sold right that'll be paid off okay but that could be over a period of time I mean essentially my question is do we have a mechanism to I mean do we kind of budget for the or plan for not receiving all the money at one time because I mean it does affect the budget so right so when we budget for any of the property taxes that we get right because this will be assessed to property taxes we're um only budgeting for the current property taxes so ultimately we we we receive current and delinquent so you hope that it kind of evens out okay thank you any questions the list looks similar the seven years that I've passed so not much has changed no question same comment there I don't have any questions for you Kim uh this is a public hearing so if there's anyone who would like to comment or object to their delinquent taxes this would be the time all right seeing none then uh I will close the public hearing at this time any other questions for Kim no all right then I'd seek a motion to adopt resolution 2024 tac9 two certifying delinquent Municipal service amounts to Dakota County treasur auditor as an addition to the 2025 real estate taxes for the appropriate properties motion to adopt the resolution motion by Steve second second to Second by Katie call the rooll please council member buram yes council member Bernat yes council member lean yes council member Wilson yes mayor Hoy yes thank you ma'am All Right Round Table time Leah thank you mayor uh two judges were appointed today um for Dakota County both are chambered in Hastings one is uh Christopher Bates and the other is Matthew Schmidt So eventually they'll have their investure ceremony and we'll have two new judges that's all thank you ma'am nick uh since it's the second in October I'll say please have a safe and uh Happy Thanksgiving watch out for kids and Thanksgiving or Halloween say Thanksgiving Halloween I'm sorry right slow down too excited for turkey all right Halloween yep one with the little kids running around thanks uh yeah there are uh several events that are being put on by various organizations in the community and outside of the community for Halloween so if you have little humans uh a couple that come to mind this is not an exclusive list but uh parks and W has the Halloween Havoc tour we did that uh on Friday night fantastic by the way great displays out there I love I love that citizens are are uh getting in the spirit If It Moves them to do that um also I think uh Farmington Lutheran and Dodge middle school both have uh Trunk or Treat uh opportunities for little humans and don't forget about Trinity Care Center on Halloween they are looking for um kids and people that are dressed up to um make their way through there and just brighten the residence day so there's a great opportunity to do that uh I personally my family does the um all Hollows uh Gala which is basically a fancy term for Halloween party uh supports military families um past and present uh and uh it's run actually by the uh same organization uh that does the um oh my gosh Kelly help me the veterans Farmington area veterans committee yes Farmington area veterans committee thank you you're welcome um and it's called the support our troops haunted house organization they used to run a haunted house that was actually at the fairgrounds for almost 20 years and and uh covid like many things um kind of Zapped that one but they uh do a haunted house uh party if you will and uh there's a costume component to it but uh your money that you uh spend to attend uh goes to a very good cause so if you want to come hang out with me and a whole bunch of other ghouls and goblins on uh Saturday the 26th that'll be in Northfield and the invitation is open so that's all I've got lots of Halloween stuff not Thanksgiving stuff yet not Thanksgiving stuff yet thank you Katie I'm probably gonna steal di Thunder or somebody's from sharing this but um on Thursday the Twin Cities Film Festival will be featuring our My Town episode um of Farmington and while I unfortunately can't attend I'm really excited to see the full episode of this when we have the ability to share it more broadly with the rest of the community because I think it's a really great way to highlight the things that we're doing here in town and uh excited to see this this full project come to light so cool um I want to thank uh Kelly and Missy and all the volunteers at the Rambling River Center who put on another great fundraiser um I haven't gotten over there Kelly so extend my apologies I did apparently win a couple of silent auction items so I need to pick that up and uh um that's all I've got thank you Lynn um I want to make the announcement again about December 7th at 700 p.m. the Farmington downtown will be hopefully full of particip participants of the first ever annual hopefully lighted holiday parade so Homestead church and brary and the city of Farmington have collaborated together to plan the event and it's a fun full day lots of activities downtown and we also have uh the Christmas Village and Dakota Village will also be happening prior to our um holiday grade so thank you thank you Shirley nothing for me tonight nothing danana thank you mayor and councel um just a couple things uh I want to thank everybody for coming out who was able to the Em's grand opening it's a beautiful beautiful facility and it was really fun to be able to walk through it see some of the units um and for me it was really fun to be able to walk through it with our building inspections team they're very proud of that project and it's neat to walk through something that they've have had to regulate and monitor and um inspect every step along the way and see the pride in their eyes and that's the kind of team that we have as part of Farmington and it was just really fun to be able to experience that with them um I also want to let everybody know that the Rye is underway which is the yellow tree Apartment project off of duchaine and we will be updating some Drone footage throughout that project as well to kind of watch it come to to life there's some Drone footage that already exists and it's fascinating to see how quickly things can change that will be 176 units of market rate apartments that we'll be welcoming into this community and finally thank you council person buram for bringing up the docu series my town this was a great project for us to be involved in we get to attend and see the episode for the first time on Thursday it's been um selected to be part of the Twin Cities Film Festival we also will be doing a public event in January the date yet to be um determined but we will have Corey HEPA who is the brains behind this project coming to our community doing a Q&A and having a celebration to share this with the community the episode will actually air the Sunday um before Thanksgiving um publicly but we do also want to have that celebration where we can invite the community to really um appreciate and and enjoy this project so more to come on that thank you thank you John thank you may and council members three items this evening uh Public Works has completed hydrant flushing so now we're starting street sweeping ideally the leaves would come down we'd sweep them up and then we' watch the hydrants but timing wise it didn't work out that way this year with our weather and whatnot so we will be out there sweeping one of the contracts awarded this evening was related to our $500,000 DNR shade tree Grant and we're very excited for that because not only did we get 300,000 to remove trees and the cost per tree in the bid came in under what we had assumed so we're in good shape but we also uh get to invest in tree replanting and so this winter we'll be looking at a planting plan for the area that's affected and that's very exciting that most of our effort has been focused on public safety and removal of trees now we get to put some of those trees uh start some new trees out there finally Dakota County has kicked off the Denmark Avenue Corridor study from County Road 50 down to Ash Street that study also includes Ash Street from Denmark Avenue over to the railroad tracks to the east uh this study will look at traffic operations pedestrians uh bikes vehicles what the future roadway section is that will address the bridge uh and the connectivity of the greenway across Denmark Avenue uh we'll look at intersections and where future intersections would be and and whether they meet warrants for traffic control so that's just kicking off now we expect the first uh public open house to be in early December so we'll be posting information that becomes available we'll have a link on our website for to the County's project website thank you sir thank you Kelly like council member Bern said um Friday night is the Halloween Walk uh from 5:30 to 700 p.m. behind Dodge middle school I think as of today we have 25 businesses signed up to participate and that's a joint uh venture between the parks recreation and Community Education uh the Halloween Havoc tour it is on the city's homepage if you're interested in the tour also on social media um as well today is the first day you can sign up your house for the holiday lighted tour um if you can believe that that's not too far off uh the road down either so if you want to sign up your house for that uh it is also on the Facebook page and on the homepage uh a week from Thursday is Halloween it is also our last day in the current uh Rambling River Center and then Friday November 1st we will transition to Fire Station 1 um we'll have programs out of the fire station the fitness center will actually move uh here to City Hall and conference room 169 so if on November 1st you're stopping by the Rambling River Center uh for a program or event or to visit or have coffee uh you'll find us uh at the fire station so just want to make sure everybody knows where we're at uh until construction is done thank you Kim I don't have anything this evening Chief we are 20 short days away for turkey Bango so I want to put that on everybody's radar so on the uh November 4th we'll have a lot more information uh to come on all that uh just to keep touching on the Halloween little data for you 40% of all structur fires that happen over the Halloween are because combustibles are too close to candles uh so the fire department ask everybody if you're going to be using candles make sure that it's on a sturdy base it's away from any sort of combustibles and other items and make sure that you're putting them out in the evening time or if you're going to leave the room and now they have those really cool candles that are that are lighted but look like candles little safer yeah we recommend anything other than an ash ual candle but if you're going to use a candle these are the actual things that we want to look for you know the sturdy base away from combustibles if you're going to leave the room make sure they're not lit or any of that kind of stuff I like it Chief uh if anybody's been following our social media channels at the police department over the last week or two you've probably seen some foreign language films about something to do with some pink Stanley I don't know what they say but I know that they sold their pink Stanley really fast um we have been sourcing them from all over the place we have a bunch more so if any body missed out on the first batch we have some more um I hear there may be another video dropping tonight or tomorrow probably going to be equally as funny if it's as funny as they described it to me um two other things real quick uh the Debbie Downer uh we're heading into winter parking season in like 10 short days 11 short days something like that uh so start making plans to to park your cars off the street uh but that day also happens to to coincide with the launch of toys for town which I can't believe is already here again but uh so starting November 1st we'll have our collection bins out at probably 45 50 different locations throughout the city and some of our neighboring towns and give early and give often it's like we just dropped off that truck and then here it is again right I'm not kidding you I I thought about it over the weekend I'm like oh my goodness it's here again how can that possibly be I think we did just put the bins away we did there is this is the time of year where there's a lot of events happening across the community um whether it's through Park and wreck through Community Ed um all the different nonprofits and organizations uh all of our churches and and religious groups there's a ton of events happening uh there's a lot of areas a lot of ways to find and become aware of those events um but they do they come on you quick and and next thing you know um we're going to be talking about 2025 uh harvest season not quite over yet even with the great conditions that we've had there's still combines and and trucks on the road uh remember even with the the shorter daytime hours um even with the the hazards and the flashers on please be slow take your time exercise patience uh they have an a living to earn and uh we need to keep everybody safe Halloween it's going to be fairly decent weatherwise than it has in some of the years past so keep keep that be mindful there's going to be more kiddos uh out on the streets especially after dark uh just go slow go slow be pay attention to all the crossings do all the things um please just be as safe as you can uh toys for towns on the corner it's coming up the the the pink Stanley pink Stanley go to benefit the pink patch project let you do that drop again real quick yes uh all the proceeds all profits from the sales of our pink patches we have two different patches two different sizes um we still have a few challenge coins left I think um and the pink Stanley all the profits uh from those sales go to the American Cancer Society thank you sir uh and last Deana you hit on it uh we went to the ribbon cutting and the grand opening for the Emery I mean this was incredible um much to the Nays saying that we've heard for the last year and a half about how big this is how much of a monstrosity is how it's unaffordable and and all the bad things it's a private $16 million plus investment it is an incredible enhancement to downtown it is absolutely going to drive people to downtown um you're talking about 75 plus new residents that are going to Patron our local businesses um I was I was floored I mean it looked amazing and I I held back to not try and go in there through the process um but it was incredible it is very well laid out it's very clean it's very fresh well done highlevel uh finishes um it it was incredible to sit in the model and you know noise abatement all the things that they have done I mean you you couldn't hear anything outside you couldn't hear the vehicles uh that were driving on Elm um but just another Testament to how this city has continued to support its businesses you know we listen to our our businesses and they tell us one of their pressing concerns is affordable housing for their Workforce and by diversifying the house mix by offering things that are at market rate this continues to support our employers for them to grow expand and I have no doubt that that building will have occupancy uh in a very quick period of time and it'll be just another um staple of downtown it it aesthetically it looks great the the way they match the brick um it far exceeded my expectations so that was that was great to see um I have nothing more to add so with that we look for a motion to adjourn motion to aurn Second motion by Holly second by Nick all in favor say I I hi re at 7:49 [Music] [Music] [Music]