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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 03/04/2025 - WorkshopApproved Minutes Eden Prairie City Council Workshop 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mar. 4, 2025 City Center Heritage Rooms, Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 ATTENDEES City Council Members: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Kathy Nelson, Mark Freiberg, PG Narayanan, and Lisa Toomey City Staff: City Manager Rick Getschow, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Julie Klima, Parks and Recreation Director Amy Markle, Police Chief Matt Sackett, Fire Chief Scott Gerber, Administrative Services/HR Director Alecia Rose, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Maggie Neuville, and Recorder Sara Potter MEETING AGENDA Heritage Rooms I. Mountain Biking Update Markle explained mountain biking is an emerging wellness need to provide connection to the outdoors and the community. The City is exploring constructing a mountain biking trail. Markle summarized the characteristics of a mountain biking trail including an unpaved surface 12 to 30 inches wide, a trail radius of six to eight feet, a grade of ten percent or less, and features for a variety of skill levels. There is opportunity to construct a 4-foot wide inclusive trail with a gentler slope for adaptive bikes. Mountain biking is an affordable non-team sport that attracts eight to 15 year olds, a difficult age group to engage. It is often a sport with no try-outs and no members cut from the team. Each member starts and finishes the course. The Minnesota Cycling Association has 2,700 riders. Peer cities including Edina, Shakopee, Lakeville, and Bloomington have installed mountain bike trails. Markle stated the goals of bringing mountain biking to the City including providing local access to trails that are integrated within the larger trail system, offering an inclusive trail, adding a bike skills park, and increasing resource management and restoration. In the winter, the trail could be utilized with a fat tire bike or snowshoes. A mountain bike park would also focus mountain bike CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA March 04, 2025 Page 2 use to specific areas. Individuals are currently biking in parks and conservation areas not designed for mountain bikes, causing erosion and trail damage. Markle summarized amenities of Cedar Hills Park, the proposed site for the mountain bike park. The park has 22 parking spots and its accessible via the trail system. There is space for a 3 mile mountain bike trail loop and a bike skills park. Surrounding metro cities have constructed bike skills park for riders to try features, practice skills, and spend time with the mountain biking community. Additionally, a short trail loop for small children to practice is popular. The City has a permanent lease agreement with Flying Cloud Airport for the proposed site. The airport has indicated they are open to modifying the lease agreement. Additionally, there is a potential to lease additional acreage from the airport for a more advanced trail. Markle explained multiple parties are willing to lend their expertise for this project including the Three Rivers Park District, Bike Alliance MN, Minnesota Off Road Cyclists, and peer cities. Residents have expressed interest in bringing mountain biking to the City. The high school has a mountain bike team. Additionally, there are program partners such as Little Bellas, an organization connecting girls with mountain biking. Markle detailed the project timeline. The City and the airport would formalize an agreement by summer. A committee of residents and enthusiasts would provide input. Design work would be prepared in the winter. Construction could begin in 2026 and be completed by late summer/early fall. Markle discussed preliminary budget. The City has $20 thousand budgeted for park design this year. In 2026 there is $440 thousand budgeted in the Capital Improvement Plan for park construction. Markle stated there are a few items of consideration prior to beginning construction. One item is completing a natural heritage review in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to identify species native to the area. This park currently has many invasive species which would need to be removed prior to construction, increasing the natural resource value. This project is in alignment with the EP Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan. Narayanan asked how many people utilize the mountain bike trail. Markle answered she could CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA March 04, 2025 Page 3 ask peer cities for their usage numbers. Anecdotally surrounding city’s mountain bike trails are very popular on the weekends. Narayanan asked if mountain bikes are electric and if there is a speed limit. Markle confirmed there are electric mountain bikes, and there is no speed limit per State statute. The City could set a speed limit. Narayanan asked if the trail is one way. Markle answered typically trails are all one way. Occasionally there is a trail junction, where signage can be posted alerting the user. Narayanan asked if pedestrians can use the trail. Markle stated the only shared use would be in the winter for snowshoers and fat tire bikes. Narayanan asked if children can use the trail. Markle confirmed children would be able to use the trail, any mountain bike features such as rocks or jumps would have a detour trail around the feature. Narayanan asked if the City would be liable in case of injury. Neuville stated Cities have statutory recreational use immunity. Narayanan asked how much yearly maintenance would cost. Markle confirmed the annual maintenance contract with the preferred vendor would be $2 thousand annually. There would be some additional staff time to mitigate safety hazards such as tree branches. Case noted other amenities such as hockey rinks have much higher ongoing maintenance costs. Case asked how the City will protect parks and conservation areas not designed for mountain bikes from being damaged. Markle noted the City will continue its approach of education and enforcement. The addition of a mountain bike park would help redirect individuals from biking in improper locations. Toomey asked how large the proposed mountain bike park is compared to peer city parks. Markle noted many cities have less than five miles of trail. If the City could successfully lease additional acreage from the airport it’d be a significant park comparatively. Narayanan asked how the project would be funded. Getschow confirmed most of the funding would come from park dedication fees. The Council noted their approval of the proposed project. II. City-wide Fiber Installation Update Ellis explained two vendors are currently installing residential fiber internet city-wide. Residential areas will be fully installed with fiber internet by 2026. Fiber vendors are in a race to be the first fiber installer. Vendors are using different approaches. Some vendors are installing the backbone fiber only, allowing them to cross the City as quickly as possible and reach Cities that do not yet CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA March 04, 2025 Page 4 have fiber. Ellis displayed a map of areas of the City and timeline of when fiber was or will be installed. Narayanan asked if legally two installers are allowed to install fiber in the same location. Ellis confirmed multiple installers are legally allowed to install duplicate fiber. Main backbone lines will likely cross, but generally neighborhoods would not have two vendors install fiber. Multiple vendors won’t make money once the market is saturated. Toomey asked how far down fiber is installed. Ellis confirmed fiber is installed two to three feet underground. This is the same depth as electric, internet, and gas lines. These utilities are usually located within a 5-foot easement area behind the right of way (ROW) as the ROW is ideally reserved for City-owned water and wastewater infrastructure. Ellis outlined the process when installers lay fiber. Two to three weeks before installation, a community notice is provided to residents summarizing what to expect and providing contact information. Vendors are generally at each house for one to three days installing fiber and replacing sod. Toomey asked if the City has received complaints from residents. Ellis noted the few complaints are mainly from individuals unaware of the distinction between private property and the ROW/easement area. Vendors in the City have generally done fast, efficient, and restorative work. Case asked if the ROW is 11 feet off the curb. Ellis confirmed that is generally correct. The exact measurement depends on when the neighborhood was platted. Some neighborhoods were platted with 15 feet of easement, others have the minimum five foot easement. Ideally, private utilities are installed in the easement to save the ROW for City-owned infrastructure. Ellis noted vendors have not targeted providing fiber for commercial/industrial properties, which would likely come. Narayanan asked if vendors choosing which neighborhoods to provide and not provide fiber to would propose an equity issue. Ellis noted fiber internet is entirely driven by the free market, they can choose where to install. Anecdotally, once the backbone components are installed, it is fairly cheap to install fiber into another neighborhood. Case asked if apartments are included in the residential installation wave. Ellis confirmed apartment buildings are included. CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA March 04, 2025 Page 5 Council Chambers III. Open Podium IV. Adjournment