Eagan City Council Meeting – June 17, 2025
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Eagan City Council Meeting – June 17, 2025
The Eagan City Council held its regular meeting on June 17, 2025, at 6:30 PM at the Eagan Municipal Center. The agenda included the swearing‑in of five new police officers, a consent agenda with routine approvals, the presentation of the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, a public hearing on a drainage and utility easement vacation and final plat, and an ordinance amendment on special hunting permits.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the agenda as presented.
- Item B (Personnel) was pulled from the consent agenda for separate action (see below).
- The remainder of the consent agenda was approved unanimously, including:
- Approval of check registers
- Approval of contracts
- Cancellation of the July 8 special council meeting
- Change Order No. 13 for the Eagan Art House
- Resolution adopting performance measures from the Council of Local Results and Innovation
- Premises permit for Eagan Hockey Association at Lago Tacos
- Plans and specifications for Pond AP‑8 expansion
- Change Order No. 2 for city‑wide sanitary sewer and storm system lining
- Plans and specifications for 2025 sanitary manhole lining
- Revised Joint Powers Agreement with Dakota County for Lexington Avenue Upgrade
- Final plat for The Meadows at Birch Pond
- Feasibility report for Eagandale Boulevard sanitary sewer repairs
- Axon AI software contract
- Final payments for five contracts related to the Eagan Art House
- A separate motion approved the retirement/resignation of Police Chief Roger New, effective fall 2025, and authorized his replacement (passed unanimously).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke on any agenda item.
Discussion Items
- Swearing‑in of Officers: Chief Roger New administered the oath of office to five new police officers: Wade Anderson, Quentin Hayes, Austin Riehm, Ethan Schafer, and Trevor Wellman. Family members pinned badges. Chief New also provided an update on the department’s involvement in a weekend standoff in Eagan and a multi‑agency pursuit of a suspect in southern Minnesota.
- Retirement Announcement: Chief New announced his retirement after 31 years of service. Council members thanked him and noted his leadership in recruiting new officers.
- 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report: Auditor Rebecca Peterson (Redpath & Company) presented the audit results. The city received a clean (“unmodified”) opinion, with no internal control findings, no instances of legal non‑compliance, and no federal program compliance issues. The general fund ended 2024 with a $4 million increase, bringing fund balance above the city’s policy target (40‑45% of expenditures). The city also maintained excellent bond ratings. Discussion included the possibility of adjusting the fund balance target upward and using surplus for one‑time capital needs.
- Public Hearing – Easement Vacation and Final Plat: The council vacated drainage and utility easements on three West Publishing Company parcels (totaling ~85 acres) and approved the final plat for West Publishing Company 9th Addition, consolidating them into one lot. No objections were received.
- Ordinance Amendment – Special Hunting Permits: The council approved an amendment to City Code Section 6.47 updating restrictions on special hunting permits, with a minor language change (using “the hunter” instead of “his/her”). The amendment aligns with practices in other Dakota County cities.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the consent agenda (minus Item B) unanimously.
- Accepted the retirement of Chief Roger New and authorized his replacement (unanimous).
- Received and Accepted the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (unanimous).
- Approved the vacation of drainage/utility easements (unanimous).
- Approved the final plat for West Publishing Company 9th Addition (unanimous).
- Adopted the ordinance amendment on special hunting permits, as amended (unanimous).
- Adjourned at the conclusion of the meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Well, welcome everybody to the June seventeenth regular meeting of the Egan City Council. It's our second meeting of the month of June. Uh, and our final meeting of the month of June, actually. Um, we have a uh fairly uh efficient agenda tonight, um, front loaded with uh the swearing in a five new police officers after uh quite the weekend uh in Minnesota and in Egan, so uh particularly pertinent. Uh and then um uh really I just jumped through a couple of housekeeping items, so we should be out of here fairly efficiently tonight. Uh Ms. Miller, any changes in the agenda tonight? No, Mr. Mayor. Council ain't changed the agenda. Motion. Take a motion on the agenda council. It's moved and seconded any further discussion on the agenda. Seeing none, all in favor I. And opposed, nay, that motion carries. And we have an agenda. I should mention that um uh council member uh Fields on French, unfortunately can't be here tonight. Um, but uh I think I'm sure it'll be just fine uh without her. Um we'll move to recognition and presentations tonight. Uh tonight we are uh administering the oath of office uh for five is that right? Five, uh Roger. Yes, sir. Five. Uh newly appointed officers uh to the Egan Police Department. Um I'll turn it over to uh uh to Chief New for um uh uh poetic event tonight. Well, we'll see if I make it poetic there, Mr. LC. So mayor council, uh, again, I would like to say uh thank you for giving us opportunity opportunity to introduce uh five of our newest police officers here at the City Vegan. Um tonight we'll be welcoming officers Wade Anderson, Quentin Hayes, Austin Reim, uh, Ethan Schaefer, and Trevor Wellman. Um before I do so, I would like to take a moment to welcome all their guests who are joining us this evening. I would uh like to take this opportunity to personally say thank you for uh being here uh this evening and more importantly for enduring uh the next the next few years or days and years ahead uh with all the chaos that comes along with all things policy. Um you're gonna say minutes there, right? Yes, I was not gonna say minutes there, boss. It's been a long weekend, so I'd say the least. Um, but one of the things some of the things you might endure over the next couple of years is long shift work. Um at times, maybe some public scrutiny. Um, and on occasion, um, some of our lovely attitudes when we get home from work. Um and on occasion, uh you might receive a little bit of uh feel some of the praise that we get uh in time. Uh but no matter what uh the future looks like, please know that one of the most important roles a police officer uh needs is simply the their family. And uh I want to thank all of you for being here to support uh these police officers are again sworn in here this evening. So now uh before we do the oath of office. Um I would like to um tell you a little bit about each of the candidates. And while I uh share some of the background of these candidates before doing the oath of office, I'm gonna invite their guest up to uh do the pinning of the badge. Um first we have Officer Wade Anderson, and I believe his parents, Richard and Mary Ann are gonna come up. Richard's hand was shaking a lot in the hallway, so a little worried about Wade, but we'll see how this goes. Go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah. So Wade comes to us by way of the St. Cloud area where he has been a member with the Sartel Fire Department.
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