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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 01/05/2021 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2021 CITY CENTER 5:00 – 6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS 6:30 – 7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Kathy Nelson, Mark Freiberg, PG Narayanan, and Lisa Toomey 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 Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and II (5:30) I. CHARITABLE GAMING DISCUSSION WITH EP HOCKEY ASSOCIATION (5:30- 6:00) Getschow stated at least five years ago there was a discussion with the Eden Prairie Hockey Association about undertaking charitable gaming and pull tabs. In order to allow it to occur, the City Ordinance would need to be updated to allow an organization to lease a location to conduct charitable gaming. Currently the Ordinance requires the organization to own the building charitable gaming is conducted in. This Ordinance dates back to when the Eden Prairie Legion owned their own building. Andrew Pieper stated he represents the Eden Prairie Hockey Board as the Facilities and Equipment Director, Linda Elmquist is President of Eden Prairie Hockey Association, and Chris Lobsinger stated he is the Treasurer of the Hockey Association. Pieper stated Eden Prairie Hockey boys’ team has been to State tournament nine times and has won two titles. The girl’s hockey team has been to the State tournament nine times as well and has won three titles. Eden Prairie hockey has turned out some national hockey league (NHL) players. Many players have also gone on to play college level hockey, and many others have had the experience of being on a team. The board members strive towards building a good youth program. This year Eden Prairie youth hockey has about 40 teams and about 500 kids in the program. Annual revenues are approximately $1 million, and about 65 percent is gained from the registration fees. About 50 percent of their expenses are for ice time. Hockey is expensive, and the cost creates a barrier for access. Hockey traveling league registration costs are 1,750 dollars. Mites traveling league registration is 500 dollars per person. Lobsinger noted there are additional costs with traveling, equipment, and other fees. For comparison, Eden Prairie football is about 350 dollars, baseball is about 400 dollars, and soccer is about 50 to 60 dollars. Charitable gaming is being considered to help lower these costs for families and to reduce or remove barriers for participation. City Council Workshop Minutes January 5, 2021 Page 2 Pieper stated empty nesters are staying in their houses longer, and they are not seeing the same amount of turnover with incoming kids. The average hockey team size in Eden Prairie is smaller in recent years, and there are less kids to spread the cost of the sport. The board has had some success with supplemental funding in the past. They secured a 12,000 dollar grant to start a girl’s equipment program. They were able to grow their numbers by 20 percent for that specific level. The Minnesota Hockey Association also has a drive for more diversity in the support. Supplemental funding streams help work towards this initiative. Pieper stated the board has done their research about what it would mean to do charitable gaming. They have educated themselves by talking to other organizations who have had successful programs, gambling managers, gambling game distributors, and restaurants. Three of the board members took the Minnesota Gambling Control Board seminar. Multiple steps need to be taken in order to implement charitable gaming such as structural changes to the board, creating a subcommittee, hiring a charitable gaming manager, obtaining official licensure, and partnering with a restaurant. There is interest from restaurants. The board is aware of the work it will take, but they are ready to undertake these efforts. Lobsinger stated this would require a code change as the Eden Prairie Hockey Association is made up of volunteers and does not want to be in the business of owning a building. Charitable gaming would be a revenue share of the net proceeds. There are a few options the City has to collect: an annual charge, net receipts up to three percent, or a City fund up to ten percent. Additionally, the City could potentially benefit from more ice time purchased. Freiberg inquired how many locations the y have interest in of the six available spots. Pieper stated they would like to start out with one location to make sure they are doing everything right, but they have interest in multiple locations. Freiberg inquired if they are looking for the City to be exclusive with their association. Pieper replied they are not looking to be the only association but would be interested in at least three of the six possible locations. Lobsinger added it may be beneficial to be exclusive and help other associations. The average startup cost is initially $5,000, and a manager would need to be hired. The manager could only manage for one organization. Elmquist noted the manager who is hired would either have to come from another association or be mentored by the Minnesota Gambling Control Board. Case inquired which surrounding communities have pull tabs and if any negative consequences such as fraud have come from those. Getschow noted almost every city bordering Eden Prairie has gaming. Case inquired if Staff can gather feedback from neighboring city staff. Case inquired if there is any feedback from a police perspective. Weber stated there have been some issues with theft, but the examples are few. Lobsinger noted the Gambling Control Board has created more processes to prevent crime. Narayanan inquired what the down side is. Lobsinger stated if the Hockey Association is successful, other associations may begin to have interest. Case stated he would like feedback from cities. Nelson inquired about their timing as restaurants are currently not operating at full capacity. Lobsinger stated the association would need to apply for their license with the State of Minnesota, the gambling control manager license, and get their premise license. It takes at least three to six months to get approval from the Gambling Control Board. They would also have to hire someone who has been a voting member of their organization for at least 90 days. If they began by March 1, July 1 is the earliest they could start. Case inquired if it would be possible to bring the Ordinance change to Council in January or February. City Council Workshop Minutes January 5, 2021 Page 3 Getschow noted readings for the Ordinance could be accomplished in January and February. Nelson inquired which six restaurants would be considered. Case stated the total of six restaurants came from the previous Ordinance. The idea was there would be a minimum of four locations and one per 10,000 population above 39,000. Case directed Staff to bring a sample Ordinance with updated wording. It could possibly be a first and second reading of an Ordinance by public hearing at the next meeting this month. II. COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS AND 2021 CALENDAR (6:00-6:30) Case stated he wanted to take a moment to state a few of the Somali community leaders had reached out to him over the weekend. He went with Asad Aliweyd and Mohamed Nur to offer condolences and share compassion to the Idd family. A few of the churches have plans to reach out as well with their condolences on Thursday. Case stated each year the Council makes annual appointments. The Council will appoint someone who stands in as Acting Mayor if he were to be absent. Historically it has been the most senior Council Member, in this instance Council Member Nelson. Typically the Mayor is the delegate to the National League of Cities (NLC) and Municipal Legislative Commission (MLC). Nelson would continue on the Fire Relief Association. Freiberg would continue as an alternate to the Suburban Rate Authority. There are openings on both the I- 494 Corridor Commission and SouthWest Transit Commission. He believes the Council would appoint Freiberg to I-494 Corridor Commission and Toomey to the SouthWest Transit Commission. Narayanan would continue on the SouthWest Transit Commission. Nelson would be appointed to the Southwest Light Rail Transit (LRT) Community Works Steering Committee. Freiberg would continue on the Eden Prairie Foundation. Getschow noted Narayanan would need to be appointed for a two year term on the SouthWest Transit Commission. Aho’s two year term on the SouthWest Transit Commission still has a year remaining. Case clarified Narayanan would be appointed to the two year term and Toomey to the one year term. Nelson suggested Toomey serve as alternate for the Southwest LRT Community Works Steering Committee. Toomey responded she is interested. Getschow stated he has outlined workshop topics for the 2021 calendar. Similar to last year, the Commission Work Plans would be the two workshops. The community survey results will happen in April. Council goals would be discussed in February. Typically Council meets with the School Board every other year. There will be discussions on the race and equity initiative. There are also annual topics such as meeting with the Historical Society and providing a historic property update, the next two year budget discussion, the audit and financial statements, and a sustainability update. If other topics come up, those can be scheduled as well. Narayanan inquired about an affordable housing update. Getschow responded this could be a workshop topic if ideas need to be vetted. The Council will begin taking action on implementing policies in the near future. Case stated in previous years there has been a Council retreat where they discuss goals and action items for the next year. This would likely take place at a workshop in February. He would like to take a moment during a televised Council meeting in February or March to make some statements on goals. Case noted the goals also give an opportunity to direct Staff in their work. Narayanan inquired if a follow up will be necessary for the Metropolitan Airport Commission (MAC) field’s lease. Case replied it depends on their negotiations. Narayanan City Council Workshop Minutes January 5, 2021 Page 4 stated another idea is a workshop with the Metropolitan Council representatives. Getschow stated Christopher Ferguson is our current representative. The Council could ask him to speak at a workshop or provide an update to the community and the Council during a televised meeting. Narayanan added SouthWest Transit is very involved with Metropolitan Council, and it may be helpful to speak directly with them. Case noted he would like to have a five minute update during their televised meeting. Getschow stated SouthWest Transit is another possibility for a workshop or a televised update. Narayanan inquired about a light rail transit (LRT) update. Getschow stated the last update was prior to COVID-19 at a regular Council meeting. Case noted this may be beneficial to have a five minute update every six months at a regular Council meeting. Nelson added it would be beneficial to provide a televised update as many residents are curious about their progress. Toomey inquired about LRT updates and communication on the website. Getschow noted there is a full website page devoted to LRT, but if there are specific updates an email to the listserv would be beneficial to direct them to the LRT page. Getschow noted there are three dates outside of the normal meetings: Council goal setting, Commission interviews, and the Board and Commission Banquet. The Commission interviews could either be a hybrid model or all virtual. The Banquet is unlikely to be able to take place as an indoor event in May. One idea is to potentially postpone until the summer. Narayanan inquired about hosting the banquet outside in the summer. Case noted there would need to be an outdoor tent. Nelson inquired about the Staring Lake Park building. Lotthammer responded based on numbers, he does not believe it would be large enough. Case stated if the banquet was tentatively in June, we should hopefully know more by April. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) III. OPEN PODIUM IV. ADJOURNMENT