City Council Meetings

Watertown City Council T Regular Meeting Mayor Michael Walters Deborah Everson F Jim Kasheimer Fred McGuire Kay Thul A 8/12/2025 - Minutes 1. Call To Order And Roll Call R Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the regular meeting of the Watertown City Council was called to order in the Council Chambers of City Hall at 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday, August 2, 2025, by Mayor Mike Walters. Councilmembers present: Mike Walters. Jim Kasheimer, Kay Thul and Fred McGuire D Councilmember(s) absent: Deborah Everson City staff present: City Administrator Dan Toslma, Public Services Director Michael Sommerfeld, City Planner Mark Kaltsas, Fire Chief Tom Hanson and Public Services Lead Mike Loehrs Others present: Deb Koehnen and Curt Christensen 2. Adopt Agenda COUNCILMEMBER JIM KASHEIMER MOVED TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED. COUNCILMEMBER FRED MCGUIRE SECONDED. MOTION CARRED 4-0 3. Consent Agenda Discussion And Approval COUNCILMEMBER MCGUIRE MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. COUMCILMEMBER KAY THUL SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0 3.A. 3.A. - July 22, 2025 Council Regular Meeting Minutes 3.B. 3.B. - Water Tower Pay Application No. 9 3.C. 3.C. - Temporary Signage Request For Watertown-Mayer Home Football Games 3.D. 3.D. - Temporary Signage Request For Crow River Liquors - Labor Day Weekend  3.B. 3.B. - Water Tower Pay Application No. 9 3.C. 3.C. - Temporary Signage Request For Watertown-Mayer Home Football Games 3.D. 3.D. - Temporary Signage Request For Crow River Liquors - Labor Day Weekend 3.E. 3.E. - Acceptance Of Firefighter Resignations 3.F. 3.F. - Resolution 2025-34 Approving Lions Club Liquor Events 3.G. 3.G. - Resolution 2025-35 Accepting Donations T 3.H. 3.H. - Resolution 2025-36 Approving Strong Beer Wine License 4. Open Forum Curt Christensen of 729 Newton Avenue addressed the council to talk about the condition of City Center F Park. He said he was there over Rails to Trails and found it to be appalling and that it needs attention and would appreciate if the city would take care of it. Carver County Corporal Buckentin gave an update. I would say with summer coming to a close and Rails to Trails and National Night Out, I would say it was very successful. A 5. New/Old Business 5.A. 5.A. - Policing Update And Contract Discussion R Mayor Walters provided some background information of establishing a Public Safety Committee. The committee is made up of our previous town cop, Corporal RJ Cripps, retired Major Darryl Huggett, Fire Chief Tom Hanson, and two council members Kay Thul and myself, as well as our staff members sitting in. What we've been doing is every month, we get the full call report breakdown of everything that's going on, what the calls were, how long it took to get to them, and very thorough, deep dive by very professional people that know how to read call reports. D Watertown Fire Chief Tom Hanson gave a presentation of a mid-year policing update. As the Mayor mentioned, we did form a public safety committee at the beginning of the year to address the policing product that we're receiving and review data day to day month to month over the last year from the sheriff's office and kind of just get a better sense of the product that we are receiving and making sure that that product meets the needs of our communities. Chief Hanson continued that we most recently had three full-time employees from the Sheriff's Office dedicated to policing in our community. We have a hybrid now with four employees dedicated to policing, but we are sharing those with Mayer and New Germany. The town cop structure is having that dedicated officer in town or in the area, and what it does is it builds a lot of rapport with the business owners, city staff, law enforcement, and with the school district. These individuals do become part of our city staff team, just because they're so integrated in the day-to-day operations of the community. So that's kind of how the model has worked in the past. 5.B. 5.B. - Cannabis Registration Ordinance No. 447 City Planner Mark Kaltsas presented on Ordinance No. 447. The state finally has now moved forward with the registration of cannabis businesses, and we feel we just need to get this put in place. So we have it available. So this ordinance that we'd be adopting is pretty basic language. It just provides definitions of the certain types of cannabis businesses, including cannabis retail and lower potency hemp edible businesses. It talks about prohibited acts and that businesses in the city of Watertown would have to operate with light or be licensed by the state and also registered with the city. It says that cannabis can't be sold to persons under 21, must be done in compliance with all applicable laws. It talks about the registration. We're limiting the number of registrations by this ordinance for cannabis business retail to one, which is the lowest we can go for cities that are 12,500 or less, and three, lower potency hemp edible. The fee is established by the state.  hemp edible businesses. It talks about prohibited acts and that businesses in the city of Watertown would have to operate with light or be licensed by the state and also registered with the city. It says that cannabis can't be sold to persons under 21, must be done in compliance with all applicable laws. It talks about the registration. We're limiting the number of registrations by this ordinance for cannabis business retail to one, which is the lowest we can go for cities that are 12,500 or less, and three, lower potency hemp edible. The fee is established by the state. COUNCILMEMBER MCGUIRE MOVED TO APPROVE ORDINANCE NO. 447 REGARDING REGULATIONS GOVERNING REGITRATION FOR CANNABIS BUSINESS. COUNCILEMEMBER THUL SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0 5.C. 5.C. - Resolution 2025-37 - 700 Lewis Ave N CUP Amendment T City Planner Kaltsas presented on 700 Lewis Ave N, cellular antenna, conditional use permit amendment. New singular wireless PLC applicant on behalf of AT&T has asked the city to consider a conditional use permit amendment for the wireless communications tower located on the city's property at 700 Lewis Avenue. F They are adding some antennas and some radio equipment. They're doing this just to upgrade their technology to be consistent with the most current technology. The plans that are shown would be adopted as a part of the proposed conditionally used permit amendment. In the resolution, we didn't see anything that stood out or needed to really be of any concern. It's really kind of routine, but they are increasing what we counted for the number of antennas in the ground equipment. The Planning A Commission recommended approval. COUNCILMEMBER MCGUIRE MOVED TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 2025-37 TO AMEND TH CONDITIOAL USE PERMIT FOR CELLULAR ANTENNA AT 700 LEWIS AVENUE N. COUNCILMEMBER KASHEIMER SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0 R 5.D. 5.D. - Resolution 2025-38 - 701-709 Jefferson Ave Subzone Adjustment City Planner Kaltsas also presented on Resolution 2025-38. D This item also went before the planning commission at their last meeting. Parker Smith and Jefferson Avenue LLC, the applicant and the owners are requesting that the city consider a subzone amendment for the property located 701 to 709 Jefferson Avenue Southwest. The applicant approached the city about the possibility of amending the subzone for a portion of the existing warehouse building that they have located on that property. The applicant came forward and said they'd like to re-guide a portion of their building to subzone C from subzone B, which would open up some light industrial uses that aren't currently allowed. COUNCILMEMBER KASHEIMER MOVED TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 2025-38 FOR AMENDSUBZONE DESIGNATION IN THE MU-BRLI DISTRICT. COUNCILMEMBER MCGUIRE SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0 5.E. 5.E. - Resolution 2025-39 - 2910 Highway 25 Site Plan Amendment City Planner Kaltsas presented on Resolution 2025-39. This item is coming before you after being considered at the Planning Commission back in April. We were waiting on the applicant to finish getting a survey of the property and finalizing that site plan. We received that in June and now is coming before you. It is a request by QT Environmental Inc., which is the applicant and owner of the property located at 2910 Highway 25, for a Site Plan Review Amendment to allow an automobile repair and restoration business to operate within one of the existing accessory buildings located on the subject property. The planning commission did have a meeting, they did discuss it. They did not find any adverse issues related to the change in the site plan approval to include the automobile repair and restoration business with the conditions that were also recommended. COUNCILMEMBER THUL MOVED TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 2025-39 AMEND THE SITE PLAN  to allow an automobile repair and restoration business to operate within one of the existing accessory buildings located on the subject property. The planning commission did have a meeting, they did discuss it. They did not find any adverse issues related to the change in the site plan approval to include the automobile repair and restoration business with the conditions that were also recommended. COUNCILMEMBER THUL MOVED TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 2025-39 AMEND THE SITE PLAN FOR 2910 HIGHWAY 25. COUNCILMEMBER KASHEIMER SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0 5.F. 5.F. - Approve Hiring Of Wyatt Tesch For Utilities Operator Public Services Director Michael Sommerfeld presented background on the hiring process for the T Utilities I Operator position. We offered the position to Wyatt Tesch at the Step 3 rate and are asking approval from council. COUNCILMEMBER WALTERS MOVED TO APPROVE THE HIRING OF WYATT TESCH AS UTILITY OPERATOR 1. F COUNCILMEMBER THUL SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0 5.G. 5.G. - Establishment Of Personnel Committee A Mayor Walters provided some background on the establishment of a personnel committee. Any information that is shared with the personnel committee needs to be shared with the council. Dan Tolsma continued that he thinks this is a step int he right direction of getting a collective group to stay on top of stuff and kind of address things as they come up instead of letting things get out of hand R and agree with the Mayor that this is just to have a better structure in place with that end goal of retention of all of our good employees to keep on board and make sure of that longevity. COUNCILMEMBER WALTERS MOVED TO APPROVE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PERSONNEL COMMITTEE COMPRISED OF HTE MAYOR, COUNCILMEMBER KAY THUL, COUNCILMEMBER DEBORAH EVERSON (ALTERNATE), THE CITY ADMINITRATOR, AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE D SERVICES DIRECTOR. THE TASKS OF THE COMMITTEE WILL BE CONSISTEN WITH THOSE ACTIVITIES LISTED ON THE ATTACHEED DOCUMENT. COUNCILMEMBER KASHEIMER SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0 6. Other Reports Michael Sommerfeld reported that staff and all department heads met with City Engineer Phil Schrupp for the CIP update discussion. Michael also reported that they are moving on getting the preliminary budge together. City Planner Kaltsas reported that The Cove second edition was submitted for the Planning Commission this Thursday. Dan Tolsma gave a quick update on the water tower. They are sandblasting out there right now getting ready to start painting it. Tolsma also gave a quick update on the Mill & Overlay project for our parking lots. Its looking like the middle of September for them to start on that and they are estimating a two-week window from start to finish. Councilmember Kasheimer reported on the Planning Commission meeting and that they talked about the compost camera. Councilmember Thul reported on the informal impromptu festival meeting that Roxanne from the EDA and Councilmember Everson put together. We had about 15 people from the community showed up with all  finish. Councilmember Kasheimer reported on the Planning Commission meeting and that they talked about the compost camera. Councilmember Thul reported on the informal impromptu festival meeting that Roxanne from the EDA and Councilmember Everson put together. We had about 15 people from the community showed up with all kinds of ideas on ways we could improve current events that we have and ideas for other things. I think the one that they're going to focus on right now is called Shop, Pig, and Watertown, which will be that first Saturday after Thanksgiving. The next meeting is Wednesday, September 3rd at 8:30 in Room A if anyone wants to be a part of that. 7. Claims T COUNCILEMEMBER THUL MOVED TO APPROVE THE CLAMS ROSTER AS PRESENTED. COUNCILMEMBER KASHEIMER SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0 F 7.A. 7.A. - August 8, 2025 Claims 8. Adjournment COUNCILMEMBER WALTERS MOVED TO ADJOURN AT 8:52 P.M. A COUNCILMEMBER KASHEIMER SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED 4-0 309 Lewis Avenue South; P.O. Box 279, Watertown, MN 55388 R _________________________________________________ Michael Walters, Mayor ATTEST: ________________________________________________ D Dan Tolsma, City Administrator