OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

City Council Meeting Summary for December 8, 2025

City Council — Monday, December 8, 2025
BodyRochester, Minnesota
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, December 8, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:41:41

Transcript — Verbatim
0:15

Please rise as you're able for the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:32

Liberty and Justice Raw.

0:38

Thank you.

0:42

Welcome everyone to our December 8th City Council meeting, the last City Council meeting of the year.

0:50

And we begin every city council meeting with our open comment period.

0:55

This is an opportunity for members of the public to speak on items that we will not be taking public testimony later this evening during a public hearing on.

1:06

Each person has up to two minutes to speak for a total of 20 minutes.

1:10

I will be keeping track of time through a couple methods.

1:14

One, the uh stoplight here and then uh the stopwatch at uh up there.

1:22

And uh I also please uh uh because of the limited time, we want to make sure that uh everyone has an opportunity to speak.

1:31

I'd also ask uh speakers to be concise to allow more people uh to speak during the designated time.

1:39

Participants are further encouraged to limit comments generally to topics that are within the scope of the council and our jurisdiction.

1:49

If you have any materials to share with the council, uh you may give them to the city clerk to my right here to distribute to us, and uh council members and staff do not respond directly to your comments during the public comment period, but instead we'll follow up on any specific requests you have separately.

2:11

When you get to the microphone, please state your name clearly, and we will start with Lindsay Williams.

2:26

Good evening.

2:27

My name is Lindsay Duos Williams.

2:29

I'm the artistic director of the Rochester Civic Theater and co-chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 5.

2:37

KC ACTF is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage, recognize, and celebrate the work of college theater students around our country.

2:47

Each year, the seven states of Region Five come together for our annual week-long festival with over 70 colleges and universities participating.

2:55

As co-chair, it was my job in 2023 to secure our next festival location.

2:59

I knew that Rochester had not only the theater infrastructure that the festival needs, but also a beautiful conference facility at the Mayo Civic Center, ample hotel rooms, easy parking, accessible skyways, excellent dining, and of course affordability for our schools and our students.

3:15

It was a joy to work with Experienced Rochester to secure Rochester as the new home of KCACTF Region 5 for the next three years.

3:24

Over 1,200 students, faculty and professional theater artists, will be arriving on January 18th, bringing their creativity, artistry, and energy to downtown Rochester.

3:35

This weeklong festival represents a significant economic opportunity for our community with these 1,200 visitors filling hotel rooms, dining at local restaurants, and patronizing downtown businesses during what's typically a slower winter season.

3:49

Earlier this year, I stepped into my new leadership role at the Civic Theater alongside Jaclyn June Johnson as managing director, and we are so proud of the Civic Theaters partnership with the City of Rochester, Experience Rochester, and the Mayo Civic Center, as well as with our thriving arts ecosystem, including that theater company, Absolute Theater, Hometown Opera, Rochester Dance Company, and many more.

4:11

While our current production of Frozen is completely sold out, we invite you all to experience the remarkable work that is happening at the Civic Theater sometime this spring.

4:21

Thank you so much for supporting the arts in Rochester.

4:25

Thank you.

4:26

Next up we have Molly Dennis.

4:41

So on this month's mayor's Rochester Voices, I listened to the Tri-Government Leaders who talked about resources for people experiencing homelessness.

4:53

So I would just like maybe a raise of hands on the dais on how many people have actually volunteered for the warming center.

5:00

I know I have, so you have awesome.

5:01

Two, three, fabulous.

5:03

Okay.

5:03

So we want to be where people are, and I hope everyone has experience to do so.

5:08

President Schubring, you mentioned you thought that we need more trust, respect, and uh building connections.

5:15

And I I went to the event on Thursday, which was the public forum for better public meetings.

5:23

I brought the agenda.

5:24

We advertise it the week of, and I saw a lot of elected officials, including um Councilmember Miller, Councilmember Keene, Councilmember Doring, and Mayor Norton and President Schubring there.

5:34

But I did not see very many people.

5:35

And I know Mayor has talked about the FTP, right?

5:39

The same 10 people showing up to everything.

5:42

Well, I find it kind of uh frustrating that the elected officials are not inviting and encouraging other people to come to this important meeting.

5:49

If you go to my public um Rochester Facebook community um page, uh advocate page, you will see photos of that event and who attended and who did not.

6:00

Um so those who attended, I I appreciate that because that was a very important meeting.

6:05

And I just I feel like it is tiresome that our city is not including people, that not reaching out, and it's a veneer of saying that we are doing uh this public engagement.

6:17

It's it's something that we as a community, I I feel it's essential to have voices at the table that aren't the same 10 people that the mayor says attends everything.

6:29

And that means that um to to foster uh you know participatory budgeting in people's taxes, uh public engagement, that we need to stop this window dressing of you know, trying to say that we're checking off the the and actually do follow up.

6:47

So I would like to see follow-up from this meeting.

6:49

Thank you from all the elect officials who attended.

6:51

Thank you so much.

6:52

Next up, we have John Flaga.

6:55

Thank you.

6:57

Hi.

6:58

Um my name is John Flagg.

7:00

I just wanted to uh introduce myself and um I I am a member of the community at large here, and I just wanted to say that we are president accounted for, and we're interested in how this city develops from here forward.

7:19

Thank you.

7:21

This is open comment period.

7:23

Anyone else wishing to be uh heard this evening uh during open comment period, please step forward.

7:32

Anyone else seeing no one?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation███████████████15%
Sportsplex Discussion███████████████15%
Community Engagement████████████12%
Youth Programs█████████9%
Energy Independence███████7%
Procedural██████6%
Affordable Housing██████6%
Zoning Regulations████4%
Marketing Strategy████4%
Summary of Proceedings

December 8, 2025 City Council Meeting Summary

The City of Rochester held its final City Council meeting of the year on December 8, 2025, marking the end of 2025 with a focus on economic development, housing growth, infrastructure projects, and community engagement. The agenda included public comments on homelessness and civic engagement, five public hearings on land use and easements, the approval of the Rochester Sports and Recreation Complex, the selection of its operator, funding for recreational programming, a new energy storage agreement, and board appointments. The meeting concluded with a brief discussion regarding a recent mayoral veto of a health clinic item.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved Agenda as presented.
  • Approved Consent Calendar Items F1, F3 through F15, excluding Item F2 (parking garage) which was pulled by Councilmember Palmer.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Lindsay D. Williams (Executive Director, Rochester Civic Theater): Expressed support for the arts community and announced that the KCACTF Region 5 festival, bringing over 1,200 students, faculty, and professionals, will be held in Rochester starting January 18th.
  • Molly Dennis: Expressed frustration and concern regarding the lack of diverse public attendance at recent public forums, criticizing the perception of "window dressing" in public engagement and urging elected officials to do more to invite voices beyond the usual attendees.
  • John Flagg: Expressed strong support for the city, stating, "we are president accounted for," and expressed interest in the future development of the city.

Public Hearings & Discussion Items

Conditional Use Permit for Parking Garage (CD 2025-008)

  • Proposal: The City of Rochester proposed a 31,496 square-foot parking garage providing 278 spaces on a 11.54-acre site at Elton Hills Drive and Broadway Avenue North. The project includes replacing 76 surface spaces and adding 202 new spaces, with 12 being ADA accessible.
  • Discussion: Councilmember Keene sought clarification on the site boundaries and notification radius. Councilmember Doring expressed support for the project's exceedance of ADA requirements regarding parking space quantity.
  • Position Summary: Staff recommended approval for alignment with the Comprehensive Plan and Transit-Oriented Development goals. Council member Doring expressed full support for the ADA compliance. The project was viewed as a positive investment in the downtown area.

Final Plat: Mercy Hill Third Subdivision (CD 2025-040)

  • Proposal: Farmland LLC proposed the final plat for the second phase of the Mercy Hill development, consisting of 50 lots on 13.8 acres. The site is largely graded from a previous phase, with construction scheduled to wrap up the following spring.
  • Position Summary: Staff recommended approval as consistent with the previously approved major subdivision. The motion passed unanimously.

Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Zone Change (Items G3 & G4)

  • Proposal: Enclave Development LLC requested a land use plan amendment from medium density residential to high density residential and a zoning change from R2X to R4 on a 2.04-acre site at Center Street and 6th Avenue Southeast. The proposal seeks to build a 4-to-7-story general occupancy apartment complex.
  • Discussion:
    • Kenna Wallace (Resident/Nearby Homeowner): Expressed strong opposition to replacing the historic Richards House (a low-income affordable housing site) with a luxury market-rate apartment building. She argued the project does not relieve housing pressure, questioned the transparency of the affordability incentive (citing the applicant stated "100% market rate"), and expressed concern over the loss of green space and blocked views of the Zimbro River.
    • Patrick Brahma (Enclave Development LLC): Expressed support for their long-term investment model and clarified the building will be 4-to-7 stories, stepping down to 4 stories to respect the adjacent overlay district.
    • Council Members: Councilmember Doring expressed support for density to aid downtown businesses despite the loss of affordable housing, arguing it serves the "greater good." Councilmember Miller and others questioned the lack of affordability requirements and the sensitivity of the financial model without full data on vacancy rates (Staff clarified rental vacancy is 7.9% market rate vs 3.1% blended).
  • Position Summary: Kenna Wallace expressed full opposition to the project based on the loss of affordable housing and historical preservation. Developer Patrick Brahma expressed full support for the project's goals. Council members were generally supportive of the density for downtown vitality, though Councilmember Fredericks noted the tension of replacing affordable housing, and Councilmember Miller expressed discomfort with the lack of sensitivity analysis in the pro forma.
  • Outcomes: Comprehensive Plan Amendment passed unanimously (7-0). Zone Change passed unanimously (7-0).

Utility Easement Vacation (CD 2025-009)

  • Proposal: Kramer Properties LLC requested the vacation of two utility easements to facilitate an office addition and outdoor improvements.
  • Position Summary: Staff and Council members, including Councilmember Palmer, expressed full support, praising Kramer Properties for their previous business improvements in the area.
  • Outcome: Motion passed unanimously.

Rochester Sports and Recreation Complex

  • Proposal: Staff requested approval for a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) amendment ($27,978,635), funding for non-taxable materials, value engineering authorization to add back alternates up to $65 million, and interim financing of $1,772,000 from the Economic Vitality Fund to support the construction of the complex in Southeast Rochester. The project includes 8 ball fields (4 with artificial turf infields/natural outfields) and a central building.
  • Discussion:
    • Mayor Norton: Expressed strong disappointment and opposition to the project's location and lack of an indoor facility. She stated she would have voted to table the motion until a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was secured with the Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC) regarding indoor space, arguing the community wants indoor facilities, not just outdoor ones.
    • Councilmember Doring: Expressed concern over the financial model's reliance on tournament play, the reduction from 8 to 4 full artificial turf fields, and the lack of detailed sensitivity analysis. She also expressed disappointment regarding the lack of indoor facilities and proposed tabling until an MOU with RCTC was reached.
    • Councilmember Miller: Expressed discomfort with the lack of analysis regarding the impact of funding alternates on the operating model and shared frustration regarding the lack of an indoor facility.
    • Councilmember Wall: Expressed full support, commending the bids and the potential for the project to be a regional differentiator.
    • Councilmember Fredericks: Expressed full support, citing the need to activate the Southeast area and the importance of avoiding construction cost inflation.
    • Councilmember Keene & Palmer: Expressed support, acknowledging the risks but believing the positive outcome outweighs them.
  • Outcomes: The motion to approve the contract award, budget, value engineering authorization, and interim financing passed 5-2 (Councilmembers Miller and Doring voted nay). The subsequent motion approving the Operator Agreement (Sports Academy) also passed 5-2.

Recreation Programming Access Funding Request

  • Request: Approval of up to $80,000 from the 2025 contingency fund to address financial barriers to recreation participation, specifically funding community engagement and marketing efforts in collaboration with the Community Education district.
  • Outcome: Motion passed unanimously.

Authorization of Battery and Energy Storage Agreements

  • Proposal: Authorization for the Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) to enter into a tolling agreement for a 20-megawatt battery energy storage system at two city-owned sites, with a 15-to-20-year term.
  • Discussion: Councilmember Palmer expressed caution, asking about fire safety protocols. Staff clarified that batteries are compartmentalized to prevent thermal runaway and that fire department training is underway. Councilmember Miller asked about the value of residential batteries; staff responded that utility-scale projects currently offer better economic value due to multiple value streams.
  • Outcome: Motion passed unanimously.

Appointments to Boards and Commissions

  • Discussion: Councilmember Palmer moved to table the item due to the late addition of a candidate for the RPU board, arguing for better transparency regarding packet timing. The Mayor explained the oversight and offered an amendment to remove the single late addition. Councilmember Keene moved to approve the nine appointments as presented to keep the council moving.
  • Outcome: Motion to approve the appointments passed unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • Housing & Planning: Approved the Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Zone Change for Enclave Development's high-density residential project (Item G3/G4), despite public opposition regarding the loss of low-income housing. Approved the Mercy Hill Third Final Plat and the parking garage Conditional Use Permit.
  • Sports Complex: Approved the contract award for the Rochester Sports and Recreation Complex, the selection of Sports Academy as the operator, and the funding for the project, including the use of Economic Vitality funds, despite significant opposition from the Mayor and two council members regarding the lack of an indoor facility and financial modeling.
  • Recreation Access: Approved $80,000 in contingency funding to support scholarships and programming access for residents.
  • Energy: Authorized a 20-megawatt battery storage system to assist with grid capacity and energy arbitrage.
  • Board Appointments: Approved 9 mayoral appointments to city boards and commissions (with one potential addition to be processed in January).
  • Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned with a note that the mayoral veto of the dental/health clinic item would be placed on the agenda for the January meeting.

Meeting Transcript

Please rise as you're able for the Pledge of Allegiance. Liberty and Justice Raw. Thank you. Welcome everyone to our December 8th City Council meeting, the last City Council meeting of the year. And we begin every city council meeting with our open comment period. This is an opportunity for members of the public to speak on items that we will not be taking public testimony later this evening during a public hearing on. Each person has up to two minutes to speak for a total of 20 minutes. I will be keeping track of time through a couple methods. One, the uh stoplight here and then uh the stopwatch at uh up there. And uh I also please uh uh because of the limited time, we want to make sure that uh everyone has an opportunity to speak. I'd also ask uh speakers to be concise to allow more people uh to speak during the designated time. Participants are further encouraged to limit comments generally to topics that are within the scope of the council and our jurisdiction. If you have any materials to share with the council, uh you may give them to the city clerk to my right here to distribute to us, and uh council members and staff do not respond directly to your comments during the public comment period, but instead we'll follow up on any specific requests you have separately. When you get to the microphone, please state your name clearly, and we will start with Lindsay Williams. Good evening. My name is Lindsay Duos Williams. I'm the artistic director of the Rochester Civic Theater and co-chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 5. KC ACTF is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage, recognize, and celebrate the work of college theater students around our country. Each year, the seven states of Region Five come together for our annual week-long festival with over 70 colleges and universities participating. As co-chair, it was my job in 2023 to secure our next festival location. I knew that Rochester had not only the theater infrastructure that the festival needs, but also a beautiful conference facility at the Mayo Civic Center, ample hotel rooms, easy parking, accessible skyways, excellent dining, and of course affordability for our schools and our students. It was a joy to work with Experienced Rochester to secure Rochester as the new home of KCACTF Region 5 for the next three years. Over 1,200 students, faculty and professional theater artists, will be arriving on January 18th, bringing their creativity, artistry, and energy to downtown Rochester. This weeklong festival represents a significant economic opportunity for our community with these 1,200 visitors filling hotel rooms, dining at local restaurants, and patronizing downtown businesses during what's typically a slower winter season. Earlier this year, I stepped into my new leadership role at the Civic Theater alongside Jaclyn June Johnson as managing director, and we are so proud of the Civic Theaters partnership with the City of Rochester, Experience Rochester, and the Mayo Civic Center, as well as with our thriving arts ecosystem, including that theater company, Absolute Theater, Hometown Opera, Rochester Dance Company, and many more. While our current production of Frozen is completely sold out, we invite you all to experience the remarkable work that is happening at the Civic Theater sometime this spring. Thank you so much for supporting the arts in Rochester. Thank you. Next up we have Molly Dennis. So on this month's mayor's Rochester Voices, I listened to the Tri-Government Leaders who talked about resources for people experiencing homelessness. So I would just like maybe a raise of hands on the dais on how many people have actually volunteered for the warming center. I know I have, so you have awesome. Two, three, fabulous. Okay. So we want to be where people are, and I hope everyone has experience to do so. President Schubring, you mentioned you thought that we need more trust, respect, and uh building connections. And I I went to the event on Thursday, which was the public forum for better public meetings. I brought the agenda. We advertise it the week of, and I saw a lot of elected officials, including um Councilmember Miller, Councilmember Keene, Councilmember Doring, and Mayor Norton and President Schubring there. But I did not see very many people. And I know Mayor has talked about the FTP, right? The same 10 people showing up to everything. Well, I find it kind of uh frustrating that the elected officials are not inviting and encouraging other people to come to this important meeting. If you go to my public um Rochester Facebook community um page, uh advocate page, you will see photos of that event and who attended and who did not. Um so those who attended, I I appreciate that because that was a very important meeting. And I just I feel like it is tiresome that our city is not including people, that not reaching out, and it's a veneer of saying that we are doing uh this public engagement. It's it's something that we as a community, I I feel it's essential to have voices at the table that aren't the same 10 people that the mayor says attends everything. And that means that um to to foster uh you know participatory budgeting in people's taxes, uh public engagement, that we need to stop this window dressing of you know, trying to say that we're checking off the the and actually do follow up. So I would like to see follow-up from this meeting. Thank you from all the elect officials who attended.

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