[Music] good evening and welcome to the May 20th city council meeting if you join me in a moment of silence in the Pledge of Allegiance plge ALG to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic stand naisi roll call please Michelle vul here Luke helier here John burmel here Dan Walter here Joshua Lee here great moving on to item number three citizens comments this is an opportunity for those who want to share for up to three minutes on any issue if you're here for an issue that's on the agenda uh we typically will have the public weigh on on that specific agenda item you have comment you can come up okay moving on to item number four additional agenda information Mr Miller nothing tonight mayor okay okay no presentation so we'll go into the consent agenda Mr Miller anything that you'd like to highlight on the consent agenda thank you mayor a couple items item 6C is in agreement with musco sports lighting LLC this is for lighting at Grand Prairie Park which we used to call Aben Lee Park just wanted to let the community know we're continuing to make progress on that Park which is funded through the park referendum and then item 6E is in agreement with Rees pyro and that's for the Fourth of July fireworks and uh we're also thankful to the Lakeville line like the lickers and college City Beverage for their partnership on that very good Council any item that you'd like to remove for further discussion okay if not I will take a motion to approve the consent agenda I move to approve the consent agenda is there a second second any further discussion about the consent agenda all those in favor say I I I opposed sent agenda passes we'll move on on to um 7A Superior sand and gravel interim use permit um this is an item that we had Ted from two weeks ago and I think we'll just turn over Mr Swift if you want to just come up and just talk about briefly the couple of the changes and then we'll go from there good evening thanks for having me here again Dan Swift Superior Sand and Gravel uh looking for permission iup to mine the gas burm running through the center of the property uh Aggregates existing in the burm uh good for the uh construction Market in the area construction projects uh Planning Commission approved on April 25th uh May 6th was it was tabled uh since then we've introduced some new uh language into the iup in order to uh come to a compromise uh with the council and public uh under this new proposed language we would have Mining and excavation until 2026 instead of 2029 and 2027 if the material imported into the site meets or exceeds the uh export material out of the site so that would uh hold us accountable to uh continue restoration while uh we are in their mining uh with that being said I'll turn it over to Frank if there's not any questions at this time or Mr Dempsey y I don't think Frank had anything to add um mayor and city council um as you know the city council had uh tabled action on this for additional information and an opportunity for the applicant to consider an alternate time frame uh and also to allow full uh compliment of uh city council members at the meeting and so as Mr Swift Swift had pointed out um the um they're requesting um mining until um 2020 end of 2026 with the attempt of importing a significant amount of material at least that M uh uh matches the or exceeds the amount of material that is being exported and the additional time frame until 2027 was included uh to allow a safety net for the applicants and and in the event of economic conditions that they are not able to control so it is in fact a reduction in the amount of time overall that was originally approved so um stipulation s uh includes this language uh in the airne use permit uh there's findings a fact and I'll stand for any questions okay Council any questions Joshua uh with this new language I'm I'm curious how how that is measured or who keeps track of the material coming in and out of the the site and how we know that it's it's being replaced one for one correct uh councilman Lee uh the applicant is required to apply for an annual mining permit once the inter amuse permit is approved and they provide us with the information on their anticipated quantity to export uh acreage to be mined and it's uncertain what the amount of import will be so at the end of the that year they before the next permit is approved excuse me uh they submit the tonnage records so we rely on their information the applicants information historically that has not been an issue uh that we can see uh with the mining on this side or other sites in the city but that's we do rely on the information that they provide thank you other questions y John I no questions just uh quick comment um so we had been down this road before uh and I was surprised to see it come back but I wasn't surprised when I saw that there's actually a resource in there that wasn't accessible before and now that resource is accessible so I I see the reasonableness of um of get mining that that valuable resource uh I would like to propose uh one additional stipulation that may be already something that should do and that would be that any loads leaving uh the uh the pit be either wetted or covered uh for Traffic Safety purposes and Road purposes I think we did that last time too didn't we um I do know that Mr Swift had answered that question for me an email do you want to talk about that briefly uh yeah the wetting down of the loads wouldn't do the dust comes from the Hall Roads the trucks traveling over the Hall Roads uh the material loaded into the trucks is already you know you come into a pile you take a bucket a lot of that materials inside that stockpile so it's already got moisture content to it uh as far as the tarping uh we do control dust in the pit with a water Tri truck and out of our uh storm water Pond uh as far as the tarps we can't really control that it is illegal or it is in illegal to not tarp your load leaving the site but generally goes un enforced uh I guess IID suggested I would be open to a stipulation to uh a sign at the exit of that property property saying all loads leaving the site must be tarped we can't really control the trucks that come in because we don't own or operate them by and large so it would be very hard to enforce that from our and or to hold us accountable for that so I would be open to a stipulation of that signage at the end saying all loads leaving the site must be tarped yeah I I think that's agreeable I years of law enforcement experience leaking loads are a real issue for people are just trying to get on the road and I understand that you can't control uh the behavior of the people that are doing the hauling but I do think that sign uh would be you know that's just one more tool if we end up doing some enforcement that hey you were warned and you were told this needs to be the condition so I think that's a good way to go um Mr Dempsey do we need to put that in as a stipulation or Mr Mayor yes I would recommend that uh that a motion be made to include that as part of the consideration of the approval of the interiew permit if that's the direction that Council goes okay any other comments or questions about the permit process I just have a comment um I'd like to thank the applicant for listening and um coming up with a solution so we didn't have to come up with it for you so thank you um yeah Joshua just another comment I mean i' I've been res reticent to uh be in favor of this proposal because of concerns previous concerns that residents have had um even with additional time to consider this I haven't received the concerns this time around as I I could thought I would um in fact there is more support for um keeping the M accountable for bringing in material so that we can grade it uh eventually and so um it I'll I'll be uh in favor of this proposal tonight because of that even though personally I I feel like I I've uh been trying to advocate for residents however those residents have also been supportive of getting this uh project graded and done so uh thank you for your continued support and collaboration in in making this agreeable for all parties appreciate that that I'll take a motion for an amended perment that would include language that the applicant will add signage related to covering trucks that leave the pro the premises John John go ahead uh I move to approve an interim use permit to Superior sanding gravel and adopt the finding of findings of facts and that that interim use permit include language uh as the uh petitioner described uh was signage advising people leaving the pit to have their loads covered is there a second second is that acceptable and from a legal standpoint okay any further discussion about the permit okay well I'll just add you know thanks again for your willingness to work with the city and coming up with something that I think benefits both and so I appreciate that with that Mr alovi would you take a roll call please vul hi helier hi burmel hi Walter hi Lee hi very good thank you both uh we'll move on to item number B home and interim use permit and do you want to start with applicant or Mr Dempsey or I guess we'll start um Miss Holan with you if you want to come and talk about your permit hi thank you for having me good evening my name is Deborah Holman I'm the applicant of the inter use perment for the beekeeping Colony um my plan is to start with one Colony obviously I just recap of the last meeting a bit and then adding a second one which I know as my maximum limit for the size lot that I have um the type of B is there a hybrid Italian carolan be which is a Minnesota genetic Queen and are a product of the University of Minnesota um they're bred with a focus on hygienic behavior and gentle temperament uh they have a high resistance to most known be diseases and then just to go over my management plan is planning on using the IPM which is integrated Pest Management including the powdered sugar dusting the screen bottom board green drone comb breaking the The Queen's brood cycle and then I will be testing for mites and treating if necessary also will be using swarm control method methods creating an artificial swarm en caging the queen um in the event the behavior of the be bees in the event The Colony becomes too defensive I would requeen um then also if if I may um address a couple concerns I know the neighbors had um first and foremost I have no intentions of harming the neighbors or their visitors um and I am not naive about persons allergic to bees I too have a mother and mother-in-law who become anaphylactic um I noticed there was a question that came up in one of the neighbors letters saying why do I already have the bees um I don't know if any of you here have ordered bees before um you have to order them in the winter and able to have them come by spring so I've been open and honest about that um I have nothing to hide and I would like to explain myself I've been watching I was watching a well-known beekeeper EAS certified Master beekeeper on YouTube who's been doing beekeeping for 30 years and I became excuse me quite intrigued with beekeeping um and so I went ahead and ordered my bees and then continued on binge watching his a majority of his 727 videos and doing his online beekeeping course basic beekeeping course um so in the in the meantime in one of his videos I was watching and he says be sure and check your city ordinances and I was like oh okay I didn't know that was a thing so I contacted the city and they sent me the info on the ordinance and that I applied for the permit immediately um so yeah I didn't realize a permit takes this long to get I when I got one for my shed I applied and I had it in eight days and it was only $30 500 is a bit extreme I will say um just for a box of bees um so here and I there um that is why I do already have them is because they ended up I ordered them in end of last year and they sh them April end of April so I had to install them otherwise it would have lost the whole package um so yeah one other thing I i' would like to ask is if you could shorten that time frame between getting a permit applying the application of the permit and actually receiving the permit it seems a bit absurd um then the other thing I would like to do is introduce Mr Larry and his wife Arlene answer any questions that any hard questions I do not um have anything else to say I don't think so I have a simple question yeah I appreciate that you're um taking the um the YouTube but um my question to is would you be willing to take a course um through the U ofm or through an agriculture Something In Minnesota where it's more a little more Hands-On um and then I don't know if they have certification maybe you can um acknowledge whether they do or not but um council members I would like to see in the future that we update this ordinance if that is a possibility that the um applicants actually have certification um I appreciate your honesty about um having to have ordered the bees and that you already have them um and I appreciate I did watch the Planning Commission meeting and um I appreciate your honesty in answering their questions and one of the things that unless I misheard that this has been something that you've just been looking at in the last year and so your experience is limited to the um wanting to I don't know if you call this a hobby or not but wanting to you know I look at my cross stitching as a hobby and I watch a gazillion YouTube videos on that too so um so I um so my question to you is are you willing to get some sort of official um certification showing that you have knowledge of beekeeping um to be honest I don't think that's quite necessary um I have the knowledge I just need to fulfill it and get the experience thank the moment I can yeah I got invited I just got your name and address so my name is Larry Hill um I live 22674 Ironwood Road lakevi address but I have new new marker Township I've been a beekeeper for 24 years and I started out with two colonies and anybody who wants to get in if Debbie would have called me and said I want bees I'd say hey take the class at the University of Minnesota which is now online it's not in person there is no certification so answer your question Michelle there's no certification to say okay I'm officially a beekeeper um so I've been doing this for 24 years anybody who raises bees whether um or wants to know more about bees they come out to my house or I or say travel with me to take care of my bees um I have roughly 200 colonies um 12 million bees my own backyard between mine and my neighbor's yard I keep up 1.2 million bees my neighbors are 30 feet on this side 60 feet on this side so then in 20 some years nobody's ever been stung my wife arene she she gets stung she goes to the hospital she carries epipens with her she went to the hospital twice last year but not honey bees it was yellow jackets and hornets she's never been stung by honeybee even though they're in our yard honey bees are a little different because when they sting you they die and they don't want to die so if if Debbie goes into her Hive or I go to Hive and I'm not careful they'll want to sting me because I'm attacking their hive but basically that I'm the one who's in trouble nobody else 10 yards away but you know and I take about I tour people people Scout Troops from Lakeville um homeschools and about 7,000 people over the last 20 years have been through my backyard and we stand as close as we're stand a day and no one's ever been stung doing the tours they just fly right by you bump into you say excuse me and fly away so but there is no certification to answer your question but I do encourage every take the class at the extension at the University Minnesota I think that's that's what I did that's it's great information but it's also they'll tell you the right away that it's it's a what they recommend but not everybody follows it so do they give you hand down experience with when you take that class at the U ofm um I actually raised bees for a year before I took the class which was which was I did okay I just made mistakes so my I didn't get the honey production I wanted to I didn't do anything different on my bees I I I was mentored also by other beekeepers and you know Debbie's invited to come to my house learn more travel with me I visit my hives my daughter's right now is going to take over our business from us and she just finished it that's why I know it's online only at the University of Minnesota's extension class and then now she has her own yard of 12 BS where one of my yards she's just going to manage her each week and learn so but I could I train anybody who wants um you know people help me so I help everybody else that's why I'm here tonight so Joshua well it seems like the the biggest concern from Neighbors has been about stings as I've researched on my own about honeybees uh I've educated myself a little bit more about their flight patterns and where the risks are and what you've said seems to be consistent to what I've read kind of across the the internet and whatnot and even at the U ofm about um the the lack of risk except for when there are inspections or harvesting of of honey that's usually when they're they're most agitated and can can you talk about how that process takes place and what the risks are to neighbors during that part particularly in close proximity because this this Pro this property is fairly close to other neighbors I drove by the home the other day um and there's 45 ft between the hives whatever and you know and I also read I'm not sure what it together the Planning Commission for city of Lakeville for your expectations for bees and it was written together very well um and I also read if Debbie moves there trees go down and she got to put a fence up because the bees will take that flight pattern they'll go up and they'll fly they're I don't say they're lazy because they produce about 24,000 PBS of honey for me every year but they'll stay at this height till get back to the highve go over that fence and go down so the fence was a good part to put in your your Planning Commission um to answer your question the first one you just do inspections that's usually not a problem um and you learn that as a beekeeper you you go on a day like today where it's 80° sunny and the bees are just you I when I took the University of Minnesota exens course girls were in short skirts and t-shirts just a veil and work in bees not and you know once you use a smoker for example the smoker calms them down it just basically what it does it tells the bees there's a fire coming and they go in the hive and they suck up all the honey they can CU they have to move because the fire's coming and so it's not really anything else other than they think the fire's coming in nature so soon as you get you get your work as a beekeeper as soon as you walk away the smoke dissipates and B says hey everything's fine they go back to work um when I harvest honey um my phone's going off I'm sorry um when I harvest honey it's not just necessary Harvest from August mid mid- August to mid-september there's no nectar anymore the main nectar Lo this area is over with all the you know lilacs are done apples are done there dandes are all done so they'll be flying around looking for something but again there you'll see more bees at your home I see more July 4th you'd sit at my house you'd never see a bee um but September October 4th you'll see bees flying around bird feeders is probably the number one to get into dust off that but again a bee will land on you and fly away won't say you they don't want to die if that answers your question um when I harvest it again you smoke them first calm them down if you do it right you put a a a fume board on top they don't like to smell it pushes them down they so they know you took the honey away take the honey put it in your vehicle she can take it right into her shed it's right next door I saw the picture of it and then put the cover back on the be just go back up and like hey where did our honey go so it's not you I don't get stung the worst time to get stung I'll tell you this it won't bother won't bother Neighbors when you go to work on the highs when it's 40 degrees and rainy this like us they're pissy when it's that kind of weather in the summer time so uh that's the worst day and you know all I do is bees now I retired my full-time job 5 years ago so I don't work bees when it's 45 50° and raining mhm so okay thank you you have other questions for them otherwise I have Mr Dempsey can of give us staff report you guys can sit down thank you cursing a bit of a cold so just in case so the request this evening is uh and I I would ask uh Corey to uh put the PowerPoint up um the request is for uh keep two beehives at 1 185 jard path um 11353 of the zoning ordinance allows beekeeping in residential districts and uh this particular property is zoned rs2 single family residential districts these Lots here are approximately half acre in size rather large uh this property to the north is owned by the city of Lakeville the Dakota HS Heights water tower approximately 10 acres in size um and so uh properties of this size are allowed to have uh up to two hives uh which Miss Holman is proposing the this is the first interim use permit that has been uh requested from an applicant since the city adopted uh the code in 2017 the Planning Commission um had spent a good number of time uh work sessions uh public hearing uh to establish these regulations and they we looked at other cities uh city of Egan and city of Dina both of which had and continue to have uh uh regulations for keeping of bees um the I I did speak with uh someone with city of Adina city of Egan didn't respond at them at the time I made the request uh but they since 2017 they've had no complaints that related to the bees other than someone had in installed the the the Beehive too close to the property line but no issues with the the bees themselves was the information I received so the Planning Commission held a public hearing on May 9th uh one person did comment a neighbor who had concerns about bees being near the the large quantity of bees being near the property uh is that they have visitors that are allergic to bee stings um the Planning Commission did recommend approval of the interim use permit subject to six stipulations and the Planning Commission minutes are attached uh after the public hearing two letters were received from other neighbors in the vicinity um those are included in in the memo uh to the city council and they also raise concerns uh because they have family members that are allergic to to Beast things um I did inspect the property after the Planning Commission meeting um and uh explained to miss Holman the process moving forward and if it was to be inter permit was to be approved uh that we would come out to inspect the property after the the the be the both of the hives are settled in and also one year after the interim use permit if it's approved uh you can see the uh the property this outline here is an existing shed that's on the property uh the proposed Hive is right in this location the hive is actually there uh and the setback to the property line minimum is is 20 ft um this is an aerial uh view there's a a large stand of trees on this part of the property uh the homeowners here have installed trees along this line um and so the request would be to have two hives in that location uh this is the The Hive and the shed and the stand of trees that are behind it um of course there's findings the fact for the city council to consider with the uh stipulations recommended by the Planning Commission so I'll stand for any questions okay Council any other questions or comments on the permit John um yeah I just want to acknowledge the emails and the conversations uh from Neighbors and you know I understand and I hear most of the concerns were like council member Lee said uh household members that are allergic to beas thingss uh so I recognize the seriousness of that um the thing with this is is is we're evaluating this permit application based on the ordinance as it exists now and I'm just not seeing anything that that doesn't comply a couple thoughts one thing that I would like uh to see perhaps is when we do the inspections engaging uh somebody with some you know B expertise um to assist uh the city staff if that's possible uh just so we you know we know that we're just seeing everything because I think there's some potential this has been fascinating uh watching everything that's going on and uh uh going through this process and doing research and I think we're just in this mode where we're learning so I would like to see that if it's possible and then I agree with council member vul that it would be good to just review this ordinance I've heard a couple things just from the petitioner uh that I think would be good to consider for that but all in all in terms of from my seat in terms of evaluating this against the ordinance that we have now I I'm seeing compliance other comments or questions okay um you know I I will Echo what my colleague said you know there's nothing in the application other than you know you had the bees before you had the permit but I understand the timing of that um that would preclude me from not supporting this I do agree with you both that I think we should think about potentially adding in in the future course work or some sort of CER ification or whatever so maybe the Planning Commission can look at some options on what would be good when we review that um and then I also feel comfortable with the staff review a year from now to see how things are going so I also encourage neighbors that if there are situations to make sure to let the city know right away if there are situations with the bees so um Joshua the only other thing I wanted to add is that for Miss Holman is that you know it some of the comments you made makes it uh maybe feel like this is an arduous process for uh apiary um but at the same time you know this is and can be a touchy subject and I do appreciate you going through the process uh and informing all your neighbors about this because now it makes everyone more aware um it makes us aware of what's what's happening in the city and um I hope this hasn't been a wedge for you and your neighbors hopefully it is creating at least opportunities to be more understanding of what's going on and understand what what honey bees are um I feel like there are some um misconceptions about uh honey bees which is is uh valid because I think most of us think of hornets and you know things that sting us as as being uh dangerous and and these can be too but is not the the natural nature of honeybees and so this I think has been a positive educational process for everyone involved even if it has longer than you wanted it to be uh so so thank you for that I have one more com yes Michelle so in watching the Planning Commission meeting it became apparent that um there was some concerns by the Planning Commission members but however they were limited to approving the um permit in you interim use permit based on what our current ordinance was but I think they also agree that they would really like to take a look at that ordinance a little bit more in depth and make sure that um because I know that the city council had in 2017 remove some of the fencing requirements or something based on the student input um and I appreciate that you know that it was students that brought this forward for the council to to take a look at but I also think in the seven years8 years that it's been now um that the Planning Commission kind of agreed that they would really like to take a little bit more in depth look at it and I guess for the public that's um you know sent us the emails Etc in in some ways my hands are almost tied like the Planning Commission members um you know I follow within the guidelines of the ordinance but I would like to see us um update that ordinance in the future and that you know there is a reason for this process to take as long as it does this is something that you're introducing into your community um and um whereas you know a shed Etc is um that's something that's going to Hur it's not something that's going to affect the neighbors like bees will affect neighbors or the perceived notion of what the bees will affect the neighbors so um I personally would not like to see this slowed down I think that the whole process has been a good one but it's also been good for us to probably take a look at this um more in depth so because of that I need I have to support it but otherwise I probably I wouldn't I would want the certification or class shown that you've attended a class Dan um I just want to thank the applicant and and Mr Hill I feel like I've learned quite a bit uh on this as as part of this process um and I just want to Echo what everybody else has said I do think it's clear I I I I'm appreciate I think it was Mr ostergard um who in his comments mentioned the discussion from the council back in 2017 17 um and that the attempt was to review this uh regularly well if there's no um no applicants it's there's really not anything to to um uh review so thank you for being the uh the test run here I guess um so again I want to just Echo what everybody else has said about um the uh the neighbors who have expressed concerns those are very legitimate uh concerns and I would just encourage them to stay in touch with the city um as this progresses so Mr Hill is there one thing you want to add um thank you Dan for that um the $500 fee you have is absorbant and that's your call that's fine but I can tell you I've helped two other beekeepers in the city of Lakeville smaller Lots than Miss homan's and people are saying beg forgiveness ask permission later so maybe consider lower than that so they get their permits and you can actually control it and I'll give the clerk my contact if you want to get a someone to help you with bees I only live 10 minutes away from here I can go visit people's hives and let you know how they're doing so I'll certainly give you my thank you Joshua like to move to approve the Deborah hullman interim use and and adopt the findings of fact is there a second second okay any further discussion roll call please vermal i i lee I bulk I I okay congratulations um with that we'll move on to unfinish a new business anything okay with that announcements uh the next uh meeting is Tuesday May 28th next Monday's Memorial Day and that's a work session here in the conference room next city council meeting is June 3 backyard City Hall and with that I'll take a motion to adjourn no moved there second all in favor say I I oppos we adjourned