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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 02/18/2020APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Council Chamber 8080 Mitchell Road CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Brad Aho, Mark Freiberg, P G Narayanan, and Kathy Nelson CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, City Attorney Maggie Neuville, and Council Recorder Jan Curielli I. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Case called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. All Council Members were present. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. OPEN PODIUM INVITATION IV. PROCLAMATIONS / PRESENTATIONS A. ACCEPT DONATION OF $200 FROM OSR PHYSICAL THERAPY FOR ALMOST SPRING LUNCH (Resolution No. 2020-30) Lotthammer reported we received a donation of $200 from OSR Physical Therapy for the Senior Center Almost Spring Lunch. MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Nelson, to adopt Resolution No. 2020-30 accepting the donation of $200 from OSR Physical Therapy for the Senior Center special event of Almost Spring Lunch. Motion carried 5-0. Narayanan was amazed by how many donations we receive. So far this year we have received $2600. Donations are a great deal for the City. B. ACCEPT DONATION OF $300 FROM EDEN PRAIRIE LIONS CLUB FOR STARING LAKE OUTDOOR CENTER PROGRAMS (Resolution No. 2020-31) Lotthammer said the Lions Club is donating $300 for programs at Staring Lake Outdoor Center. He noted this is their second donation this year. They also help with fund raisers and other City events. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES February 18, 2020 Page 2 MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Narayanan, to adopt Resolution No. 2020-31 accepting the donation of $300 from Eden Prairie Lions Club for the Staring Lake Outdoor Center programs. Motion carried 5-0. C. XCEL ENERGY’S FLEX PRICING PILOT PROGRAM Getschow stated the topic of tonight’s meeting is sustainability, and Michelle Swanson from Xcel Energy is here to give a presentation about their flex pricing pilot program. Michelle Swanson, Community Relations Manager for Xcel Energy, gave a PowerPoint presentation about their flex pricing pilot program which will begin in April 2020 in parts of Eden Prairie and South Minneapolis. She reviewed Xcel Energy’s three strategic priorities: to lead the clean energy transition; to enhance the customer experience; and to keep energy bills low. Nikki Caicedo, Xcel Energy Program Manager, continued the PowerPoint presentation and explained the objectives of the flex pricing pilot program. Objectives included providing rates that accurately reflect the costs of energy, reducing peak demand related costs, indemnify low-income customers, give customers adequate tools to access and understand their usage data, identify and explore effective customer engagement strategies, and shift customer energy use to overnight period when wind generation is highest. She reported there will be 17,500 participants in the pilot program with homes powered by advanced meters that will allow the participants to see details of their energy data. The program goes live on April 1, 2020, and runs for two years. She reviewed the rate structure and noted the hours from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. have the lowest rates while 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm have the highest rates. Their community engagement plan will strive to elevate awareness of the pilot program implementation and provide education about the benefits of flex pricing. They will identify key community leaders in Eden Prairie to help distribute information about the program. Freiberg asked for a comparison of the flex pricing and regular pricing. Ms Caicedo replied the standard rate is 11¢ per kilowatt hour, and changing the time of usage for appliances such as air conditioning and the dishwasher should produce quite a savings. Nelson asked if program participants are located all over the City because she did not receive a notice about the program. Ms Caicedo responded it is spread over portions of Eden Prairie and includes approximately 5,000 households in the City. Narayanan asked if the time schedule for the various rates is the same time on weekends and weekdays. Ms Caicedo replied the weekend does not have a peak period so there is no rate savings on weekends or on holidays. Aho asked if that is because businesses use more power during the week. Ms Caicedo agreed, but further explained the program was approached on a residential basis. Narayanan asked which device in the household uses the most energy. Ms Caicedo explained by and large it is the air conditioner, and managing use of air conditioning CITY COUNCIL MINUTES February 18, 2020 Page 3 will produce the most savings. Case noted Xcel is one of the leaders in the U.S. with their carbon neutral goal of 2050 and their plans to mothball their coal-powered plants by 2028. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS MOTION: Aho moved, seconded by Freiberg, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 5-0. VI. MINUTES A. COUNCIL WORKSHOP HELD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020 B. CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020 MOTION: Narayanan moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve the minutes of the Council Workshop held Tuesday, February 4, 2020, and the City Council meeting held Tuesday, February 4, 2020, as published. Motion carried 5-0. VII. REPORTS OF ADVISORY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS VIII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. CLERK’S LICENSE LIST B. ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 2020-32 APPROVING FINAL PLAT OF SPRING HEIGHTS 2ND ADDITION C. APPROVE AGREEMENT WITH HTPO FOR CONCEPT LAYOUT DESIGN SERVICES FOR MARTIN DRIVE TRAIL PROJECT D. AWARD CONTRACT FOR TWIN LAKE CROSSING TRAIL REHABILITATION PROJECT TO ODESA II INC. E. APPROVE AGREEMENT WITH HENNEPIN HEALTHCARE FOR EMS EDUCATION SERVICES F. APPROVE SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT NO. 15 WITH HENNEPIN COUNTY FOR ADDITIONAL SOIL CORRECTION ASSOCIATED WITH CSAH 61 (FLYING CLOUD DRIVE) UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS G. AWARD CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR SERVICE AND UPGRADE TO MUNICIPAL WELL NO. 3 TO KEYS WELL DRILLING CITY COUNCIL MINUTES February 18, 2020 Page 4 H. AWARD CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR SERVICE AND UPGRADE TO MUNICIPAL WELL NO. 6 TO KEYS WELL DRILLING I. AWARD CONTRACT FOR 2020 STREET SWEEPING TO PEARSON BROTHERS, INC. J. AWARD CONTRACT FOR 2020 CURB & GUTTER REPLACEMENT PROJECT TO BKJ LAND CO II, INC. K. AWARD CONTRACT FOR ASPHALT PATCH TRUCK RECONDITIONING AND UPDATES TO ABM EQUIPMENT & SUPPLY LLC MOTION: Narayanan moved, seconded by Nelson, to approve Items A-K on the Consent Calendar. Motion carried 5-0. IX. PUBLIC HEARINGS / MEETINGS X. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS MOTION: Nelson moved, seconded by Aho, to approve the payment of claims as submitted. Motion was approved on a roll call vote, with Aho, Freiberg, Narayanan, Nelson and Case voting “aye.” XI. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS XII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS, AND COMMUNICATIONS XIII. APPOINTMENTS XIV. REPORTS A. REPORTS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS B. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER C. REPORT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR D. REPORT OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR E. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR 1. Climate Action Plan Presentation Ellis introduced Becky Alexander, LHB Consulting. He reported we have the final draft of the Eden Prairie Climate Action Plan, and he and Ms Alexander will give a PowerPoint presentation describing the plan. He reviewed the CITY COUNCIL MINUTES February 18, 2020 Page 5 milestones for the plan which began in June 2019 with input from the Conservation Commission and the City Council. He explained the baseline emissions data, the forecast for business-as-usual, and the strategic emissions reduction plan. Emissions reductions are planned for building energy use, the energy grid, vehicle travel and waste. Ms Alexander reviewed the baseline data for the City emissions. She reported the City has reduced emissions 19% since 2007, in large part because of efficiencies in the electric grid. Aho asked if the use of electricity has also gone down, partly because of the way electricity is generated, so the majority of the reduction in carbon emissions is due to Xcel’s efficiencies. Ms Alexander agreed that Xcel does produce cleaner electricity now. Ms Alexander explained for both near and long term goals the planned emissions reductions in commercial/industrial energy involves buildings going through energy efficiency retrofits as well as some near term actions. She reviewed the energy actions planned for commercial/industrial buildings. Case was concerned that our efforts in the City might not be as meaningful as we thought if 10% of the reduction occurred because of Xcel. Ms Alexander explained the math is somewhat tricky, but there was a 40% reduction in electricity emissions and, of that, a 10% drop in electricity consumption and a 33% drop in grid emissions. Aho noted the City had a significant growth in population during the last ten years, so a 10% reduction is quite good. Case wanted to make sure the initiatives are going to work. There will be a significant drop in emissions by 2050 even if no initiatives are undertaken by the City. He wanted to know what reductions we will be able to realize with the initiatives. Ellis responded Xcel is just one piece of the energy picture. Natural gas is another part of the picture, and there are no plans at this time for CenterPoint to become carbon neutral. We know Xcel is moving in the right direction. He believed the challenge will be to get the last 3-5% of the efficiency goal. Narayanan suggested we may have more control over the electric vehicle aspect of energy efficiencies. Aho noted energy efficiency will improve as more electric vehicles come on line and Xcel improves their efficiency. Ms Alexander agreed that will reduce the overall load. Ms Alexander reviewed the long term goals for actions planned in the areas of residential energy and the electric grid mix. Case asked if the use of such things as solar energy help the percentage numbers. Ms Alexander responded there are different models of how on-site CITY COUNCIL MINUTES February 18, 2020 Page 6 renewables affect the efficiencies; however, such measures are not counted if they are not tied into the grid. Aho noted those measures reduce the need for building new plants. Ms Alexander explained the renewable energy actions planned which included 10% reduction by on-site renewables through such measures as new construction being solar ready. Freiberg asked about requiring new construction to be solar ready. Ms Alexander replied being solar ready is a combination of things including making sure the building is sited properly and materials used for the roof structure and the slope of the roof are adequate for solar. Freiberg asked if that would be a substantial part of the investment for being solar ready. Ms Alexander responded those actions would add somewhat to the initial costs, but would not be nearly as expensive as the costs for a retrofit. Ms Alexander reviewed other points in the plan including fuel-switching actions to decarbonize from natural gas to electricity, travel strategies to reduce vehicles miles driven and the use of electric vehicles, waste strategies for reduction and diversion to 100% by 2050. Case asked how it would be possible to generate zero emissions. Ms Alexander replied through reducing waste generated as much as possible by composting and recycling. Narayanan asked if any cities are mandating that new construction have solar. Ms Alexander responded she did not know of any cities mandating solar for new houses, although she has seen some regulation of rebuilding. She has seen more regulation of commercial construction for net zero energy. She noted it is beneficial to have options and to have a state building code. Case asked if other cities on the same path have similar plans as Eden Prairie’s plan. Ms Alexander replied the effort has started world-wide with larger cities, and there are a lot of cities of all sizes committing to these types of goals. There is a lot of talk about carbon neutrality. Ellis said the Council will be asked to adopt the Climate Action Plan at the next Council meeting. There will be two-year updates of the plan to remodel actual and predicted emissions and to reevaluate actions as we go. Some of the initial projects will include electric-hybrid plug-in heavy-duty trucks, electric police patrol cars and installing charging stations. Case commented this is an exciting plan. The plan will help to accomplish one of his objectives for this year--energy efficiency. Nelson liked the general plan and the fact there are pieces we are starting now CITY COUNCIL MINUTES February 18, 2020 Page 7 and pieces to work towards. A lot of the plan is common sense. The plan encourages a lot of resilience in homes and businesses in the community to keep them vibrant in the future. Freiberg liked that the plan will be reviewed every two years. He suggested there should be options for charging stations to be free or not free. He believed that would provide flexibility. Narayanan commented developments come to us, and we ask about solar- ready construction and charging stations. He believed we have to start doing things to encourage those, not just ask about them. Aho commended staff on the plan. Because it is based on past data, it is measurable. We will be able to determine if the efforts are really having an effect. Case asked when the City Council will give approval to the plan. Getschow said it will be at the March 17th Council meeting. F. REPORT OF POLICE CHIEF G. REPORT OF FIRE CHIEF H. REPORT OF CITY ATTORNEY XV. OTHER BUSINESS XVI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Narayanan moved, seconded by Freiberg, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Case adjourned the meeting at 8:07 p.m.