Eagan City Council Special Meeting: ICE, Legislative Priorities, Data Centers – January 13, 2026
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Special City Council Meeting – January 13, 2026
The Eagan City Council held a special workshop on January 13, 2026, covering an ICE activity update from the police chief, a joint meeting with the city's state legislative delegation, an update from Wescott Library, and a discussion on land use and zoning for high-intensity technology uses (data centers and cryptocurrency mining). Several agenda items were informational, with policy direction given on technology uses.
Consent Calendar
- Agenda Amendment & Adoption – Mayor McGuire added an ICE update to the agenda after visitors to be heard. The Council voted unanimously (voice vote, all ayes) to adopt the amended agenda.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the visitors to be heard section.
ICE Activity Update
- Chief Omari presented an overview of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Eagan. He clarified that local police are not federal immigration enforcement agents and cannot ask about immigration status. The department tracks ICE-related calls for service, estimating about 35 calls since early December 2025, including traffic stops, abandoned vehicles, fights, and protests. Four protests occurred in Eagan, including a December 23rd protest at a hotel and a student walkout at Eagan High School. Chief Omari emphasized community trust, neutrality, and public safety coordination with other Dakota County police chiefs. He noted that while Eagan has not seen large-scale incidents like Minneapolis, the daily impacts on community members are significant. He advised the council to help educate constituents on the limits of local police powers and the legality of federal actions.
- Mayor McGuire asked about coordination with ICE officers; Chief Omari said they have requested collaboration but face challenges due to non-local directives.
- Councilmember Sabina asked about firearm practices during federal traffic stops; Chief Omari declined to comment on specific federal tactics but reiterated that they cannot enforce immigration law.
- The Council thanked Chief Omari and his staff for their work.
Eagan Legislative Delegation
- The Council met with state legislators: Senator Jim Carlson (retiring, undergoing cancer treatment), Representative John Hewitt (hard stop at 6:30 PM), Representative Liz Reyer (running for Senate), and Representative Bianca Virnig. Also present were representatives from the League of Minnesota Cities (Ann Finn, Owen Wirth), Metro Cities (Mike Lund), and the Municipal Legislative Commission (Tom Poe).
- Mayor McGuire clarified that he did not sign a recent mayors' letter on fiscal responsibility/policy, stating the tone was too partisan for a non-partisan mayor. He also noted that the city does not have a formal legislative priority on gun safety, but he personally signed on to a Moms Demand Action letter.
- Councilmember Bakken raised concerns about airborne lead exposure from Gopher Resources, requesting enhanced monitoring and a community health study. He asked legislators for state funding and agency support. Representative Virnig noted a meeting with MPCA and Department of Health scheduled for Friday, January 16. Senator Carlson expressed support for firearm safety legislation and ranked-choice voting.
- The associations presented their 2026 priorities: League of Minnesota Cities highlighted housing/land use, bonding, and cannabis aid; Metro Cities focused on housing, transit funding, and Metropolitan Council coordination; MLC emphasized housing, public safety (increasing penalties for impersonating officers), and local sales tax authority. No formal votes were taken.
Wescott Library Update
- Amanda Feist, Wescott Library branch manager, reported on the impacts of Dakota County budget cuts. While hours and staff have not been cut, some services were reduced: free Chromebook/hotspot lending and access to the Hoopla e-book platform ended. The library is relying on Libby and eBooks Minnesota. Usage has grown (over 800,000 physical checkouts and 1.6 million digital items in 2025), and the library added self-service hours, but cleaning and maintenance have increased. New programs include prayer rugs, Narcan access, and hygiene kits. The Wentworth Library remodeling has pushed more visitors to Eagan, and Burnsville library will close for remodeling on April 1, 2026, which may further increase demand. No official action was taken.
Land Use and Zoning for High-Intensity Technology Uses
- Jill Hootmacher, Community Development Director, presented an overview of data centers and cryptocurrency mining. Eagan currently has four data centers (up to 20 megawatts), reviewed under warehouse zoning. Hyperscale data centers (100+ megawatts) are emerging and pose greater impacts on noise, water, and energy. Cryptocurrency mining has similar impacts but offers less local benefit. Staff proposed three policy questions:
- Should the 2026 planning work plan be amended to include a data center ordinance amendment (including cryptocurrency mining)?
- Should a moratorium (interim ordinance) be approved?
- Should the business assistance policy be amended to remove data center/telco carrier hotel abatement priorities?
- Council discussion: Council members expressed interest in studying the issue but were split on a blanket moratorium. Councilmember Bakken preferred to exempt smaller/enterprise data centers; Councilmember Fields wanted to ensure cryptocurrency mining is included. The Council agreed to ask the city attorney whether a tailored moratorium (e.g., over a certain megawatt size) is legally possible. The general sentiment was to study the issue, but final decision on moratorium deferred until legal advice is received. On the third question, the Council agreed to remove the two data center priorities from the business assistance policy, keeping only redevelopment/reuse.
- Outcome: Council directed staff to add a data center ordinance amendment to the work plan (including both data centers and cryptocurrency mining) and to ask the city attorney the feasibility of a partial moratorium. The business assistance policy amendment was approved in principle.
Key Outcomes
- Agenda amended and adopted – unanimous voice vote.
- ICE update – accepted as informational; no formal vote.
- Legislative priorities – no formal votes; information shared and discussed.
- Wescott Library update – accepted as informational.
- Data center ordinance study – Council directed staff to amend the 2026 planning work plan to include a data center/cryptocurrency mining ordinance amendment. No moratorium was approved at this meeting; staff will return with legal advice on a possible scope-limited moratorium.
- Business assistance policy – Council agreed to amend the policy to remove the data center and telecommunications carrier hotel priorities, retaining only redevelopment/reuse. Formal ordinance amendment to follow.
- Next steps: The city attorney will report back on the legality of a partial moratorium; a February council meeting will address the moratorium decision. The business assistance policy amendment will be drafted for adoption.
- Adjournment – unanimous voice vote around 8:30 PM (estimated).
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Uh Egan City Council uh special city workshop. Um we have a uh fairly uh full and heady agenda tonight. Um uh I'm gonna um uh I'd like to uh with the council's approval add um a uh an update from um uh chief uh omari uh about ice activities uh in Egan uh and we'll uh he and I will both talk to that uh a little bit later in the agenda uh but maybe add that into the agenda uh council if you're so inclined uh after visitors to be heard and before the legislative delegation. Yes, sir. Um with that I'm open to a motion to uh adopt an amended agenda. We will move to adopt the agenda as amended. Second it's moved and seconded. Any further discussion of the agenda, seeing none all in favor say aye. Aye opposed no. Uh motion carries uh and we have our agenda. Uh let me just check and see. Um are there any uh members of the public who are here on an item not on tonight's agenda uh and wanted to uh address the council under the visitors to be heard section. Seeing none, great. Uh we'll move right on. Um I uh um I'll invite uh Chief Amari up to the table here if you can. Um I uh uh like many of you, I guess I'll just say it's been a rough week in Minnesota. Um and uh and it's followed by a fairly rough uh period um that I don't think is gonna come to an end um all too soon uh and certainly as soon as we'd like. Um over the weekend I had the experience of having uh friends and relatives uh across the country um uh see what was going on in uh our Twin Cities region and text me uh with best wishes for safety uh and for peace. Um I am sure I'm not alone in that. If you have friends and family around the country, um I think uh all of our attention has been uh directed there. Um we had a meeting tonight uh to meet with our legislative delegation uh scheduled for a couple of months. Uh and over the weekend, um uh uh council member uh um Hansen and I at least um had uh some communications with um constituents um and uh elected officials in the area um with uh questions um about uh that they were being asked uh from their constituents and and other acquaintances. Um and uh I thought that the opportunity to have our legislators in the room was a good opportunity as well for us to um to get a presentation and update on ice activities uh here in Egan from uh Chief Omari um and um do a little bit of um for lack of better terms level setting on uh on on how uh our circumstances and situations are similar uh to uh um uh minneapolis, St. Paul, and the rest of the metro area, um, and uh on some level how they might contrast as well. Um I think I told a few people over the weekend who asked me uh uh uh in social situations um what the level of ICE activity was uh in the city of Egan. Um and I suggested to them that I don't think we've had a whole lot of high profile events uh as we've seen in uh Minneapolis or St. Paul or other places. Um but that um uh it would probably surprise uh people to know um uh how many activities we have had um and the number of ice operations go um unnoticed. Um uh more go noticed, and I think uh Chief Amari has a pretty good handle on that for the last month. Um I'm gonna turn it over to him uh in a minute, um, but just some uh some uh setup comments. I think um uh Chief Omari has been uh thankfully uh with us for uh just about uh two months now and that might be generous. Um I talked with the chief yesterday and he said uh he said, you know, Mr. Mayor, um uh since I've come here, uh pretty much all I've done is uh ICE response. Um and uh and that that gets a uh a difficult entry to the job. Uh uh thankfully the janitorial staff reports that he has in fact found the waste basket at least. Um but uh he's also uh still adapting to uh the city of Egan. Um the council has been in communication with Chief Omari um for um that two months and more uh about prospective ice responses. When we did interviews for our chief of police uh situation, uh the anticipation of ice operations in the metro area was on the council's mind. Um and in our interviews uh for uh police chief, um it was a significant topic of conversation there. Um since he's been on the ground, I've had the opportunity to sit down with the chief uh and talk about that and other leasing issues. Uh I know Councilmember Sabina has as well. Um, and I think the rest of the council has the opportunity to do that. And I know that some of our legislators have had that opportunity. Uh, and if they haven't, uh I know that Chief Amari, as I now bid for his calendar, uh is more than willing to sit down and talk with uh anybody and anybody who would like to. Um so um uh I want to kind of level set here tonight. Um my uh desire is not to try to talk about the totality of um possible conversations we can have around this topic. Um I sat in a room for an hour with about 30 other mayors on Monday afternoon uh and we talked about uh these same issues and how they were being handled in each community. Uh what I do want to do is level set and have a benchmark conversation that um at least start uh informing the dialogue more broadly to the community uh and quite frankly for the benefit of our elected uh legislators at uh St. Paul.
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