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Current Events
- Elections... If you or people in your area or HOA want to meet and discuss current/future topics related to the city, reach out to me to set up a time to visit. (email, phone call, or in person)
- The new water treatment facility is UP AND RUNNING! If you're on the north central water system you should no longer see discolored, sulfur smelling water. Though... for those of you not using a water softener, you'll still want to look into getting one.
- Many of you are familiar with the phrase "rural look and feel" or "rural character." Dayton residents have said this is important to them and I agree. It's even in our mission statement. We've had a couple work sessions on the topic and I believe it'll result in a list of ideas we will be prioritizing for the future. If you have ideas, please let me know.
Work Session (Budget)
This was an update on the current state of the 2027 budget. About the only thing in question is money to pay for the new organics mandates from Hennepin County. As we currently understand it, the county is mandating that every residence in Dayton must have an organics recycling pickup. It’s not at all clear to me what that really means other than we’re putting a $200k number aside to cover it, assuming the city will need to cover it. If the city doesn’t need to cover it, at least a couple members of the council want to put that $200k in our slush fund (which currently has $1.7M in it). I’m not a fan of that. We’ll see as time goes on.
Item E (Diamond Lake Association)
Over the past 7 or so years the city has donated money ($15k last year) to the Diamond Lake Association to help them pay for improvements to the lake. Much of this has been to control weeds but they’ve also started stocking fish. The association came in to give us an update on what they’ve been doing and to ask if the city can help a bit more. We’re in the middle of creating the budget next year so now would be the time to make any changes to that. Given it’s a significant resident resource I’m inclined to bump it up.
Item F (NW Water Tower)
This was to finalize the discussion we’ve been having about a water tower for the Old Village. There was a question regarding where it’s going. The only options are behind the stands at the ballpark or next to the well. Unfortunately, the city doesn’t own the property needed by the well and the current owner doesn’t want to sell it, so we’re stuck. This was to approve the location at the ballpark. It passed 4-0.
Item G (Park Facilities Study)
I do hate studies. Many of them result in $30k to tell you what you already know. In this case it’s park fund money and the Park Commission was adamant they needed this study, so we did approve it.
Item H (Commission Appointments)
There were openings on the Parks and Planning commissions. Parks had one opening and one applicant, so we approved him (Brad Cole). Planning had 2 openings and 3 applicants. After interviews with 2 of them (the 3rd couldn’t make it but submitted answers) we voted to approve Jeff Sargent and Darren Brown. Drew Motylinksi was the third and would also have been a good choice.
Item J (Fernbrook Lane Study)
This study was to look at the costs and the right of way needed on 3 roundabouts on Fernbrook; 117th, 114th, and Rush Creek... And it’s not good. Roughly $10M plus a good amount of land from the surrounding properties (which the city doesn’t own). We currently have $2M in funds for the project. This was to accept the study which we did 4-0. The next step is to see if we have willing sellers.
Item K (DCM Farms)
This was actually 2 items. The first was to allow changes to the higher density home area which keeps the same number of homes but rearranged the property lines so each home could have a patio on one side. The second item was to approve the final plat and the Developer’s Agreement (DA). The bulk of the discussion was around the details in the DA. Both were approved.
Item L (Ordinance Correction)
The city’s requirements on garage sizes for new homes are located in 2 spots, and as is expected when you do that, they eventually disagree. In this case the disagreement was with houses that don’t have basements. At some point the city decided if you didn’t have a basement, the city would mandate you have a bigger garage. Villas don’t have basements, but if anything, those people definitely don’t need a bigger garage. They’re there typically because they’ve simplified their lives which means they don’t have the boats, motorcycles, snowmobiles, lawnmowers, etc. That the rest of us have. I’m not sure it’s the city’s business to mandate that regardless. The item was to remove the area that mandated a bigger garage for homes without basements. It was passed 3-1. I voted to remove it.
Item M (SW Road plans and specs)
This was to approve plans and specifications for a new road that will be located SW of the Dayton Interchange. It will eventually provide access to properties on the south side of Dayton Parkway. It was approved 4-0.
Item N (Public Facilities Assessment)
This was to approve another study (yay) to determine what Dayton will need for facilities over the next 5-10 years. It was approved 4-0.
Item O (Rental Agreement)
Dayton currently owns a house on North Diamond which is a possible location for another water tower for the central water system. Hopefully we never need it, and if we stop developing on the north side it might not be needed. In the meantime the city rents it out and this was to approve the rental agreement. It was approved.
As always, feel free to contact me with your opinions or questions!