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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 10/07/2025 - WorkshopApproved Minutes Eden Prairie City Council Workshop 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, 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 Eden Prairie School Board Members: Chair Aaron Casper, Vice Chair Steve Bartz, Clerk Abby Libsack, Treasurer Ann Bradsher, Board Members Debjyoti "DD" Dwivedy, Kim Ross, and Jody Ward-Rannow Eden Prairie School Staff: Superintendent Josh Swanson, Executive Director of Community Education Shawn Hoffman-Bram, Executive Director of Marketing & Communications Dirk Tedmon, Executive Director of Business Services Andrew Adams, and Executive Assistants Nikki Schandle and Brenda Haynes MEETING AGENDA Heritage Rooms I. Welcome and Introduction 5:30 to 5:35 p.m. Case welcomed the Eden Prairie School District (EPSD) Staff Leadership and School Board Members. It’s extremely unique to have a City and school district share almost identical borders and constituents. The City and EPSD partner on many projects including entrepreneurship programs. The EPSD is one of the only school districts in the State where enrollment is growing. II. City Quality of Life Community Survey Results 5:35 to 5:45 p.m. Getschow shared a video detailing the 2024 Quality of Life survey results. The City continues to WORKSHOP MINUTES October 07, 2025 Page 2 be a highly desirable place to live and residents praise the quality and value of City services. The City’s natural environment, location, and safety rank very highly. Residents rate overall quality of City services, governance, safety, and natural environment as over 90% good or excellent. Areas such as affordable housing, sense of community, and taxes rank lowest, but are still high relative to peers. The full survey results are available on the City website. III. School District Survey Results 5:45 to 6 p.m. Swanson explained the EPSD survey was administered in July 2025. The survey administer described Eden Prairie as a large community that operates like a small town. The EPSD has continued to sustain exceptional survey results. 97 percent of families would recommend Eden Prairie Schools to a friend. 99 percent of families believe the community receives a good value from its investment in Eden Prairie Schools. 92 percent of families say the EPSD does a good job of communicating. 97 percent of families trust the school district to do what is right. 98 percent of families rate the education as good or excellent. 99 percent of parents say their students are prepared for life after graduation. Other school districts are seeing opposite results. These results cement Eden Prairie as the top school district in the metro area. Swanson lauded EPSD staff for the excellent work completed every day. 92 percent of parents feel engaged in the decision making process. These results are exceptional in a media landscape often centered on disagreement. The EPSD engaged thousands of community members when planning Flight Plan 2035. The design team worked to get community feedback on its ten year academic vision. Community input was received in a variety of ways including World Cafes, Eagle Voice, and Speaker Series. The six main academic areas of importance identified in Flight Plan 2035 are whole person development, adaptive and individualized learning, seamless life and learning connections, purposeful and mindful technology, integrated outside time, and innovative indoor and outdoor facilities. Survey results indicate community members believe in the importance of these academic areas. Swanson described the recent Eagle Excellence Showcase celebrating school achievements. This event was held in partnership with the Foundation for EP Schools. 20 past graduates were WORKSHOP MINUTES October 07, 2025 Page 3 inducted into the hall of fame. The EPSD is launching a Citizens in the Schools program for residents to learn about school district operations. The EPSD will conduct a facilities study to determine necessary modifications over the next decade. The EPSD currently has the highest enrollment in 15 years, a huge accomplishment. Narayanan asked why enrollment is at an all- time high. Swanson stated it’s likely due to a multitude of factors including families moving to Eden Prairie specifically for the school system, return of previously homeschooled students, return of private school students, and Eden Prairie Online and open enrollment. The EPSD is one of the only districts not currently undergoing budget cuts. Narayanan asked for information on makeup of minority students and information on graduation rates. Swanson noted Eden Prairie continues to diversify as a community and a school system. The makeup of minority students has consistently been around 50 percent. 98 percent of students either graduate or are enrolled in special education directed programming. Ross added the EPSD has closed the achievement gap in the last ten years. Nelson asked if allowing out of state (and out of country) students to enroll in EPOnline has helped enrollment. Swanson noted online enrollment is helping. 800 full time and 2,000 part time students are enrolled online. Case asked if Eden Prairie has more students coming or leaving through open enrollment. Swanson confirmed the EPSD has a net positive for open enrollment. IV. City-wide Demographic Trends 6 to 6:10 p.m. Klima noted the City is required to update its comprehensive plan every ten years. Every five years the Metropolitan Council provides updated population projections. There are moderate population and household projection increases from 2040 to 2050. Hoffman-Bram asked what constitutes a household. Klima confirmed both single family homes and apartment units count as a household. The City will use these projections, along with community and school district input, as inputs for the next comprehensive plan update. Swanson asked if the forecasted population is broken down by age groups. Klima confirmed the census does provide detail on age, however that information is not currently available with the government shutdown. Narayanan asked if a housing unit increase directly results in a school enrollment increase. WORKSHOP MINUTES October 07, 2025 Page 4 Swanson answered a single family home will yield an enrollment of approximately 1.7 students, while an apartment will yield approximately 0.2 students. Case noted residents are more commonly aging in place and becoming empty nesters. At the end of the day population projections are an estimate. Swanson confirmed the EPSD will receive more accurate data from the State in March. V. City Housing Development Trends 6:10 to 6:30 p.m. Klima summarized recently approved apartment buildings. The Ellie has 239 units, of which 60 units are affordable. The north building of the Fox and the Grouse is complete with 237 units, of which 61 units are affordable. The north building was at 95 percent occupancy in a few months. The south building is under construction and will have 188 units of which 47 units are affordable. The Kinsley Townhomes were recently approved, comprising of 42 owner occupied units at the intersection of Pioneer Trail and Dell Road. Klima summarized recent infill development sites including Lotus Villas, Three Oaks Estates, Kiwatchi addition, and Enclave at Manor Road, which in total comprise of 45 additional single family homes. Klima next detailed upcoming development projects. The Bluffs at Marshall Gardens will include 15 single family detached homes and 100 condo units. Chestnut Townhomes is an upcoming project with 53 rental townhome units anticipated to move forward in 2026. A proposal is underway to demolish an existing office building at 6436 City West Parkway and construct an apartment building with 195 units. The City recently reguided the old Danfoss property for mixed use. The Eden Prairie Center is another potential redevelopment site. A concept plan was shown to the City 18 months ago, but has since been determined as economically unfeasible. Redevelopment would likely include a residential component. Bartz noted most new development in the City has been multifamily apartment buildings and asked what the driving force is. Klima confirmed the City is more than 95 percent developed, there is almost no large acreage remaining. Bartz asked if public safety data is available on multifamily unit buildings versus single family homes. Sackett confirmed calls for service are not out of the ordinary for multifamily buildings. Nelson noted many multifamily residents could be WORKSHOP MINUTES October 07, 2025 Page 5 single parents or those saving for a home. Bartz asked why many renters are choosing Eden Prairie. Narayanan theorized renters choose Eden Prairie for the highly ranked schools, parks, City services, and low crime. Ward-Rannow asked if the City is encouraging apartment units with more bedrooms. Families are often living in rentals longer than previous generations as the age of a first-time home buyer has increased. Klima answered the City works with developers to advocate for more 3 bedroom units. Casper asked why developers choose to offer multifamily units as apartments and not condos. Case stated the Marshall Gardens condos are offered at a beginning price point of $900 thousand. There will likely never be another affordable single family home built without massive government subsidy. The City has encouraged condos where practical, but apartments are often the only housing style that can be offered affordably. Klima added the City’s housing stock is younger, so there are very few homes torn down and rebuilt as other communities are experiencing. Ward-Rannow asked if the City can accommodate the extra traffic from large apartment buildings. Klima confirmed the City completes a traffic study for every development project. Case added City infrastructure is prepared for a population of 85 thousand. Case thanked members of the school board and school staff for attending the City Council workshop meeting. Casper noted his appreciation for the collaborative relationship between the City and School District. Council Chambers VI. Open Podium VII. Adjournment