The next drop has officially hit the PFAS funding bucket, with the city to receive $1.092 million in congressionally directed spending, often referred to as earmarks, from the 2026 fiscal year budget signed by President Trump on January 23, 2026.
The funds are slated for the western water treatment plant and came from the office of Senator Amy Klobuchar, in coordination with Senator Tina Smith and Congresswoman Angie Craig, according to Hastings’ February PFAS Update.
“It’s a small dent,” said City Councilor Angie Haus.
The total project is expected to cost just under $70 million, with some $23 million currently funded.
Without any additional outside funding, water rates are expected to increase 159% from 2024 levels, according to City Administrator Dan Wietecha.
“We’re not done increasing water rates,” said Wietecha.
Other PFAS news from the February PFAS update is that the ongoing environmental studies from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and 3M have come back inconclusive as to the origin of Hastings’ water contamination.
The studies examined contamination both from underground water movement and air deposits from various 3M sites in Washington County.
Wietecha characterized these studies as “incomplete” rather that inconclusive in that they represent a baseline upon which other studies will be built.
For example, one study examined air deposition from the now-decommissioned smoke stack at the 3M Cottage Grove facility and if the city’s pollution could have come from that source.
“Apparently, the study basically just looked at their site, at Cottage Grove, and didn’t look beyond the property bounds. Now that we’ve seen there is air deposition, let’s take the study a bit farther,” said Wietecha.
Another example given by Wietecha included building models of how pollutants move through ground water. That movement might change based on the water tables of the area. During a drought, how pollutants move might be different than in normal periods, which future environmental studies will examine.
“Essentially sort of a baseline measure,” said Wietecha about the findings of the current study.
2026 Neighborhood Project
The city council unanimously accepted a feasibility report on the upcoming 2026 neighborhood infrastructure improvement project.
The $4.8 million project will include reclamation and reconstruction of Pleasant Drive and 4th St West. Of that $4.8 million price tag, $679,500 is expected to be paid via special assessment to property owners.
During the city’s open house on the project, residents’ main concerns were speeding along the route and trucks with the residential neighborhood.
According to Cody Mathisen, Engineering Consultant and former Hastings City Engineer spoke to these concerns.
According to Mathisen, 85% of all traffic along the route was traveling at or below 33 miles per hour, which is within the posted speed limit. Mathisen said that residents might feel traffic is moving more quickly through the area due to the number of residential driveways, however.
Black History Month
The city council issued a proclamation declaring February 2026 to be Black History Month in the City of Hastings.
“The importance of observing Black History Month in the City of Hastings is to acknowledge, recognize and welcome people of African descent and their contributions to the City of Hastings, while simultaneously recognizing the injustices they have endured,” according to the proclamation.
The proclamation notes that even before Minnesota was a state, the first territorial census in 1857 recorded four African American men living in Hastings at that time. Hastings had a relatively large African American population until 1907 when Brown’s Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church was destroyed by arson, resulting in many families leaving the city. In the last decade, more African American residents have made Hastings their home, according to the proclamation.
2025 Community Development Annual Report
John Hinzman, Hastings Economic Development Director spoke to the accomplishments of Community Development last year as well as to a number of future projects including the annexation of land currently in Ninger Township for a planned 375-home development.
Among the top accomplishments Hinzman noted the ongoing construction of the central water treatment plant, the Chase Bank which is set to begin construction this spring, the Highway 55 and Jacob Area Plan, and a number of cannabis permitting, which has “taken up a lot of our time,” admitted Hizman.
In 2025, the city received 36 single family residential permits and 6 manufactured home residential permits. That number is largely similar to 2024, but has fallen from the averages from 2018-2023, many of which included the construction of 10+ unit new housing permits.
According to a 2025 housing study from Dakota County on the City of Hastings, the city lacks nearly 1500 units across both rental and for-sale properties.
Hinzman also noted a number of future projects including the Pleasant Valley Farm, a development of 375 home sites located between Featherstone Rd and County Rd 42. Hinzman expected that the land would be annexed before 2027 if the project were to move forward.
Another project on the horizon is the Gateway or block 28 project. The proposed project would redevelop block 28, located on the west side of Vermillion St. between 4th and 5th Streets, into a mixed-use “gateway” into the city for traffic coming over the Mississippi.
This year, the city is expected to seek a private developer to take up the project and execute a purchase and development agreement.