Faribault Environmental Commission Appointments to be Made

The Faribault City Council General Affairs Committee meets Tuesday night.  One of the items on their agenda is to review applications for the new Environmental Commission and make recommendations to the City Council for action.

There were nine applications for the 7 voting members.  The Commission purpose as outlined in the ordinance, "is to advise the City Council on environmental issues and opportunities affecting the city while respecting the city's economic and social environments."

A minimum five of the Commission members are required to be residents of the city of Faribault, a maximum of two members may be residents of bordering townships.

The initial appointments are for staggered terms.  Subsequent appointments will all be for 3 year terms.  This first year there will be two 1 year terms, two 2 year terms and three 3 year terms.

The City Council received excellent applicants.  They include:

• Chuck Ackman
• Dan Behrens
• Cynthia Diesser
• Richard Huston
• Emily Nesvold
• Richard Olson
• Tom Boevers
• Roger Steinkamp
• George Wickstrom Junior

The General Affairs Committee will meet following the special closed City Council meeting to discuss property negotiations.  The Joint Council Committee also meets Tuesday night.

The closed session begins at 6:00 p.m. with the other committee meetings to follow.  These meetings will be held via the internet.

The Joint Council will discuss having prorated license fees due to COVID-19 closure of local businesses.

Restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffeehouses, other places offering food or beverages for on-premises consumption.  Bars, taverns, brew pubs, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, clubs, and other places of public accommodation offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption were ordered closed to the public by a March 16, order issued by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

The closures were extended through May 1, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. by another order from Walz.

The City of Faribault offers a number of different liquor licenses including, club, on-sale, wine, and theater wine licenses.  Fees range from $300 to $3,896 a year.

The City also licenses massage therapists ($55 a year) and establishments selling tobacco and tobacco related products ($200 a year) which have also been affected by the Governor's orders.

City staff is recommending the Council consider charging prorated license fees for those businesses required to cease operations under the Governor's orders.

If the Council agrees, once businesses are allowed to resume operations, City staff would calculate and refund (or deduct from subsequent license payments) the prorated amount of the license fees.