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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 01/07/2020 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020 CITY CENTER 5:00 – 6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS 6:30 – 7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Brad Aho, Kathy Nelson, Mark Freiberg, and PG Narayanan CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Police Chief Greg Weber, Fire Chief Scott Gerber, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Administrative Services/HR Director Alecia Rose, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Maggie Neuville, and Recorder Katie O’Connor GUESTS: Senator Cwodzinski, Senator Franzen, Representative Kotyza-Witthuhn, and Representative Elkins Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and II (5:30) I. EDEN PRAIRIE STATE DELEGATION WITH SENATOR CWODZINSKI, SENATOR FRANZEN, REPRESENTATIVE KOTYZA-WITTHUHN, REPRESENTATIVE ELKINS Mayor Case introduced the elected State Representatives. City Manager Getschow introduced the 2020 Municipal Legislative Commission (MLC) priorities. Getschow stated MLC determines the most relevant topics. Of those topics, those impacting Eden Prairie most are affordable housing, transportation, and building permit fees. The Council created a Housing Task Force to discuss this topic. It is a critical issue due to funding, availability, and the needs of residents. There may be some flexibility with tax increment financing (TIF) rules, funding, and inclusionary housing. Transportation funding has been vital for suburban communities. Additionally, there have been some reports on City building permit fees and claims of cities over collecting. There is a lot of misinformation about the amount and types of fees collected. Almost all MLC cities utilize fees for planning, inspections, and engineering departments. Tom Poul, attorney with Messerli and Kramer, provides government relations for MLC. He announced the MLC regional breakfast meeting where more in-depth information will be provided. Poul stated development will likely be a big issue this year. Trade groups are creating public relations campaigns about building permit fees to show increased fees from cities to building homes. MLC will be doing work to educate policy-makers on fees. Case stated the City is ranked as one of the top five cities in the State for tax base and jobs. In regards to the salary cap, it is difficult to keep talent in Minnesota with salary limitations. Additionally, another priority would be to make sure light rail transit (LRT) is completed by 2023. City Council Workshop Minutes January 7, 2020 Page 2 Elkins, Vice Chair of the Local Government Committee, stated both cities and builders have legitimate grievances. The issue larger than fees is zoning restrictions. A bill would allow cities to charge impact fees to cover the cost of new development and road construction. Reasonable impact fees that are cost-based are necessary. Cities will need to consider zoning reform to allow developers to build less one-off planned unit development (PUD) builds. Franzen, on the Transportation Committee, stated a commuter rail organization hosted a meeting about proposed plans for funding and MnDOT preliminary funding for passenger rail lines. These specific areas would be beneficial because of T.H. 169. She inquired how the City aligns with the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) seeking street improvement district authority. Additionally, it is a bonding year, a policy session, and an election year so some priorities may not happen. She is also working on identification laws for United States territory residents from Puerto Rico regarding purchasing alcohol. Cwodzinski, on Environment, Education, and Veterans Committees, stated Eden Prairie is 600 jobs shy of the population total, and with LRT the City has an opportunity to increase jobs. A law was passed for early voting grants. Getschow noted the City has applied for these helpful grants, but it does not cover full time employees working more on elections. Cwodzinski stated additional topics of interest are gas tax, affordable housing, red flag laws, and recreational marijuana. Also a topic he considers an issue is less interest and market value in large homes by younger populations. Kotyza-Witthuhn is Vice Chair of Early Childhood, on Commerce and Education Finance Committees. She stated early childhood did not get funded to its full potential to assist with scholarships, affordable childcare, and affordable housing. She agrees owners of large houses may face issues with resale. Eden Prairie has a lot to offer, especially to young families, so these impacts may be less noticeable here. She is also excited about the potential of Tobacco 21 statewide. Additionally, reverse mortgage legislation is being considered to continue to educate those nearing retirement age. Case inquired of Franzen what is anticipated with the bonding bill. Franzen stated there will be a bonding bill but she is unsure what size. In an election year, typically transportation projects are specified in the bonding bill. She has been advocating for the projects in her district. The training facilities, south metro and Hennepin County, will potentially be competing for funding. Council Member Aho stated, in regards to Cwodzinski’s earlier statement, the underlying issue behind gas tax is how to fund transportation and infrastructure. A gas tax will be a declining revenue stream with the future of electric vehicles. The state should consider a sustainable model distributed fairly statewide such as a user fee. One community in Oregon has begun this process. The user fee could be a flat fee based on the type of vehicle or a device that tracks miles of vehicles. Kotyza-Witthuhn noted some of the arguments against the tax per miles driven are those who live in greater Minnesota with a longer commute. Aho added they are using more roadway miles. Aho stated there have been some funding changes from the Metropolitan Council for opt- outs such as SouthWest Transit. 96.4 percent of the funds go to Metropolitan Transit Commission and the remaining goes to the opt-outs. Prime MD is an important service for City Council Workshop Minutes January 7, 2020 Page 3 those without access to transportation for medical appointments. Healthcare systems will see the value in the service when appointment attendance increases. He serves on the I-494 Policy Advisory Committee. There will be an additional managed lane added to I-494 each way. There are funding gaps for project water runoff. Additionally, Transit Management Organizations (TMOs) need a sustainable funding model. Elkins stated they are optimistic the 494 Corridor Commission will be funded. He is in agreement, gas tax should be considered a user fee and a public utility. 55 percent of gas taxes are raised in the metro area, and 65 percent of gas taxes are spent in greater Minnesota. MnDOT and the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies are actively participating in nationwide studies related to mileage-based user fees. The big objection has been data privacy. The State data practices act will be amended to discourage cities from keeping data from companies with exact addresses. Council Member Nelson stated in greater Minnesota there is less access to internet, so miles traveled tends to be greater with less availability for remote access jobs. Additionally, a franchise fee could be an option for collecting funds to improve roadways. Council Member Narayanan stated there is interest in assisting cities to transition to electric vehicles. Other topics to consider for assistance to cities are cyber security for government entities and affordable housing. Cwodzinski inquired how to assist with affordable housing. Case stated it will require some kind of government money and assistance to incentivize private developers. Aho stated a private company in Austin, Texas is developing affordable housing through private donors. Kotyza-Witthuhn added United Health Group has implemented something similar in Wisconsin. Case noted they are pilot endeavors, but everyone needs to be making efforts. Higher paying jobs decreases the need for as much affordable housing. Aho stated there is specifically a need for skilled labor. Elkins stated most affordable housing is being built with federal low income tax credits. Companies buying these tax credits are assisting. Franzen noted this is the first bonding session for the Governor, and he is excited about affordable housing. Franzen noted the cyber security topic is important and Microsoft could be an asset. Elkins added the governor has a blue ribbon subcommittee on cyber security. Nelson stated, in regards to housing, there specifically is a need for housing for young families and seniors. Aho noted a study he read about cost of building in Minnesota being greater than nearby states. Case noted he would be interested to read those statistics. Cwodzinski noted Eden Prairie may be less impacted by the lack of interest in larger homes. Getschow noted the City has begun discussing the possibility of this issue. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) II. OPEN PODIUM A. SCOT ADAMS – ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS Rod Fischer, 16820 South Shore Lane, stated he is a recent owner of a plug-in hybrid, and it has made him aware of businesses supporting electric vehicles, an important City Council Workshop Minutes January 7, 2020 Page 4 goal for future sustainability initiatives. He appreciates the City’s push towards electric, but he would like to see electric vehicle charging stations be a part of City code for developments. Electric vehicle owners have range anxiety and dealerships have difficulty selling electric vehicles for this reason. Scot Adams, 7169 Arbor Glen Drive, stated the City could move more quickly with adding charging stations. City of St. Louis Park created an ordinance requiring all new and existing developments to install electric charging stations unless there are less than 14 parking spaces. Council Member Freiberg inquired if the required charging stations are to be free. Adams replied the electricity costs are minor but the ordinance does not specify cost. Case would recommend the Planning and Conservation Commission review this topic. In theory, gas stations will no longer be necessary in the future and could potentially be an electric charge station. Adams noted the mall would be an ideal locations due to the amount of time people spend in the facility. III. ADJOURNMENT