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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 01/06/2026 - WorkshopApproved Eden Prairie City Council Workshop Minutes 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 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 Guest Speakers: Senator Steve Cwodzinski, Representative Alex Falconer, Representative Carlie Kotyza- Witthuhn WORKSHOP AGENDA Heritage Rooms 1. State Legislative Delegation Discussion with Senator Cwodzinski, Representative Falconer, and Representative Kotyza-Witthuhn Representative Falconer arrived at 5:40 p.m. Case welcomed Senator Cwodzinski and Representative Kotyza-Witthuhn and explained the value in meeting prior to the State legislative session to discuss goals. Getschow explained the City’s priority items for the upcoming legislative session. The highest priority item is the regionally beneficial public safety garage. Getschow thanked the legislators for their time and efforts authoring the bill and participating in tours related to the bonding request. Another priority is opposing the missing middle zoning bill, which usurps City zoning control. Case pointed out the City’s success with building affordable housing. The City could help author the bill to not preempt City zoning needs. Getschow added the City supports many items included in the bill such as accessory dwelling units and multifamily residential in commercial zoned areas. Each City is pursuing affordable housing differently with different levels of success, and removing every City’s zoning authority is not a just solution. Getschow explained other priorities for the City, including the following: • Supporting legislation strengthening penalties for impersonating a public safety official; • Supporting legislation addressing e-bike issues; • Supporting revisions to the clean slate act relating to public data; • Exploring a local option sales tax; • Supporting direct property tax relief in lieu of Local Government Aid (LGA). Case explained a recent letter circulating signed by 98 Minnesota mayors regarding the recent fraud at the State level. Case noted the partisan nature of the letter. For the most part all Cities who signed receive LGA, and worry their income will be effected if the State’s revenue suffers. Eden Prairie does not receive LGA and will not be directly impacted. Kotyza-Witthuhn thanked the City for hosting this annual meeting and noted her biggest hope for the upcoming year is less gun violence. The legislature will miss colleague Melissa Hortman. The bonding bill for the regionally beneficial public safety garage is also a priority. Kotyza-Witthuhn noted she serves as co-chair of the Children and Families Committee for the second year, which has been involved with the fraud allegations related to childcare assistance. The committee will review revisions put in place since the feeding our future fraud was exposed to find any remaining gaps. The childcare assistance fraud came to light from a partisan video which makes many false allegations, but is being seriously reviewed. Safeguards can always be strengthened. The Children and Families Committee is also focusing on child protection, foster care, and modernizing the child care licensing system. Falconer thanked the City for hosting. He explained he has been in his role for a little over a year and is focused on learning from the experts in the room. His committee assignments include the Commerce Finance and Policy Committee and the Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committees. There is a substantial rethinking regarding the missing middle housing bill, which may include giving cities credit for past progress. If every city was making the same progress as Eden Prairie there would be a housing surplus. Falconer also noted his strong support of advocating for clean water and a clean environment. Getschow stated the City’s support for revisions to the missing middle bill including receiving credit for prior work. The progress is appreciated, but much of the bill is still confusing. Cwodzinski thanked Eden Prairie staff for hosting the legislators. He noted one of his top priorities is ensuring the revisions to the School Resource Officer legislation have solved the issues at hand. Affordable housing is always top of mind. Cwodzinski thanked Police and other first responders for their work responding to the June 14 shooting of Melissa Hortman and her husband. An assault weapons ban is always a high priority. Feedback from Police officers as an assault weapons ban bill is drafted is invaluable. Self-inflicted gun wounds are the top cause of death in youth. Cwodzinski discussed the difficulties balancing local control and uniformity when considering the missing middle bill, and noted his appreciation of input from mayors. The largest recipient of State bonding money will be clean water, but public safety will be second. Cwodzinski stated he, Case, and Falconer recently spoke at a Somali event recently. Speakers there received egregious threats. Cwodzinski thanked everyone for their public service in a difficult time and noted this year is the 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence. Case thanked Kotyza-Witthuhn, Falconer, and Cwodzinski for sharing their priorities. If the City were to receive State bonding for the public safety response garage, it has the potential to impact hundreds of thousands of Minnesota residents. Toomey asked what events the mobile command center responds to. Deputy Chief Chris Wood confirmed the mobile command center is used for City hometown celebrations as a command post, and for significant events such as a plane crash or tornado. Case discussed shortcomings of the missing middle housing bill. Cities plan in-ground infrastructure for items such as water usage, sewage, and the number of toilets. If the number of residents suddenly doubles or quadruples, it would be significantly more expensive to rectify unprepared infrastructure. Usurping the zoning plan and forcing cities to accommodate automatic density increases in an unprepared area is ignorant. Eden Prairie has done a exemplary job of planning the City and for affordable housing. If the missing middle bill were to have passed, the City’s zoning authority, planning, and ability to hold a public hearing would be removed. Case requested the legislators to contact Cities if similar bills are surfacing. Kotyza-Witthuhn asked if Eden Prairie has seen purchases of homes to be torn down and rebuilt, and if this is addressed in any zoning ordinances. Klima confirmed only a handful of single family homes have been demolished in the past decades, mainly due to house fires. Teardown/rebuilds are not expected in the near future due to the value in existing housing inventory. If it does become an issue, zoning ordinances can be revisited. Case discussed the City purchase of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) for the land to remain City owned, but sell the house as affordable. An affordable single family home will never be built in Eden Prairie again without tremendous government subsidies. Toomey asked if rehabbing vacant buildings in downtown Minneapolis is being considered. Kotyza-Witthuhn noted it has been discussed, but the appetite is unclear. Case added commercial buildings have central plumbing, which is extremely costly to convert. Kotyza-Witthuhn asked for an update on multifamily residential concerns over maintenance issues and lack of responsiveness from property management companies. Gerber explained the rental licensing program and the role of fire inspectors. Some property owners are more responsive than others, but the fire inspectors engage with all multi- and single-family rentals. Nelson commented that every new multi-family residential building must offer a percentage of affordable units. Toomey asked how many affordable units have been created since the program’s inception. Klima estimated close to one thousand units. Narayanan asked what percentage of units are offered at affordable rates. Getschow stated close to 25 percent. Case noted many apartments are affordable through this program, but owning a house and land helps build generational wealth. Cwodzinski asked what percentage of Eden Prairie residents belong to a Homeowners Association (HOA). Getschow noted there are many types of non-traditional HOAs in Eden Prairie. There are single-family neighborhoods that have self-formed HOAs. It’s possible over half of Eden Prairie is in an HOA. If there is HOA legislation proposed, the definition of HOA should be carefully reviewed. Kotyza-Witthuhn asked if developers decide to operate an HOA. Klima noted developers will often choose an HOA based on target market needs. The City would never require establishing an HOA. Case noted HOA problems do need to be fixed, but the whole HOA concept shouldn’t be thrown out. HOAs also bring good to Eden Prairie by preserving beauty and ensuring trees are maintained in older neighborhoods. If trees on private property were not controlled by HOAs, many property owners would not replace dead or dying trees. Kotyza-Witthuhn asked if the City could replace trees that weren’t replaced by HOAs. Getschow answered the City could not replace trees on private property. Nelson thanked the legislators for requiring HOAs to allow solar panels. Case noted the City would appreciate seeing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) expanded. Getschow stated all TIF districts created in the last 20 years have been related to affordable housing. Case discussed the Eden Prairie Mall’s potentially needing TIF for rehabbing. Case thanked the legislators for attending tonight’s update, and also for their work and fostering strong relationships in Eden Prairie. Senator Cwodzinski will be deeply missed but everyone is appreciative of having one more year with him. Council Chambers 2. Open Podium 3. Adjournment