This was the final City Council meeting of 2024, held on December 9, 2024, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Government Center Council Chamber. The council acted on a large consent agenda, conducted five public hearings, adopted 2025 legislative priorities and a bonding resolution, and approved a memorandum opposing a proposed Olmsted County land-use plan amendment. The meeting also included appreciations for outgoing council members and open comment from residents.
Please rise as you're able for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge it for the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible with liberty. Thank you. All right, welcome everyone to our last city council meeting of 2024. Great to have you all here with us this evening for December 9th. And we are going to start us off with open comment as we always do, but just a reminder before we begin that we take breaks every 90 to 120 minutes between items. So for open comment, this is an opportunity for anyone from the public who would like to speak on an item that we will not be taking public testimony on during a public hearing later in the agenda. Each person has up to two minutes to speak for a total of 20 minutes. I'll be keeping track of time through a variety of methods. This little stoplight here and the clock on the wall. Just know that if I interrupt you, it's only because we need to make sure everybody else has a chance to speak. But if you would like anyone from staff or council to respond, please make sure that Clerk Geisler has your information. Additionally, if you have any materials that you would like council to receive, please do give those to the clerk and she will make sure that we receive them. You'll be invited to uh speak in the order that you've signed up. I have a list here, and just general reminder that we encourage you to limit comments generally to topics that the city can has an ability to affect policy. All right, I will go ahead and get started with open comment and call Rachel LaForge up. Welcome. You have two minutes. Please introduce yourself. Thank you. I'm Rachel LaFord, it's resident of Rochester. Uh Council Presidents, Council members, and city staff. Thank you all for your service this past year. You have a really difficult job of balancing the competing needs of a lot of different stakeholders. This role is demanding of your time, your effort, and your energy, and I appreciate your work. I wish those of you who are leaving luck in your future endeavors, and for those of you whose terms can continue, hope for the years ahead. If one reviews years of council minutes, as I have done, you will read account after account of how much the local levies for county, city, and school district impact the finances of Rochester residents, and how little has changed as far as the local government aid formula. I have spoken to several of my state-level elected officials, and unfortunately, not all of them agree that a formula update is necessary. After all, you are the ones who answer most directly to your voters. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. LaForge. Adam Busby. Good evening. Um it's been two years now since I've been coming to City Council this month. And um, I've learned some things. I've learned that I would never want your jobs. It's something I'm not well suited for. Um I've learned that uh and I'm working on it to try to temper my deliverance of my message. Um I have never intentionally um been harsh. I am very passionate about my job. Um, I just wanted to let you all know that are leaving us farewell, and I've enjoyed getting to know you all, and I appreciate the work you've done, whether it's um helping us get bathroom access and those kind of things. I appreciate the work that you do. It's a very tough job. I couldn't imagine sitting up there and taking the arrow sometimes, sometimes deserved, maybe sometimes not. But I do appreciate you and thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Busby.