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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 03/05/2019 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019 CITY CENTER 5:00—6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS 6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Brad Aho, Kathy Nelson, Mark Freiberg, and PG Narayanan CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Police Chief Greg Weber, Interim Fire Chief Kevin Schmieg, 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 Ric Rosow, and Recorder Katie O'Connor Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and H(5:30) I. 2018 QUALITY OF LIFE SURVEY RESULTS City Manager Getschow introduced the presenter Morgan Adams, survey associate with the National Research Center(NRC). This is the third City survey conducted by NRC biennially, and the seventh iteration in total. NRC provides benchmark comparisons to cities in Minnesota, the Midwest, and nationally. Adams provided an overview of the survey methodology which included a scientifically random survey mailer to 2,000 residents. 494 mailed surveys were completed, and an additional 1,500 opt-in online surveys were completed. These two samples could be combined while maintaining statistic validity and a two percent margin of error. The results were weighted to the census norms. When comparing to the benchmarks of the three groups, there was not a single measure that was lower than the compared benchmarks. Many measures were either higher or much higher. A smaller number of measures were similar to the benchmark. In order to be considered higher or lower than the benchmarks, the results would need to be plus or minus ten points. In order to be considered much higher or much lower than the benchmarks, the results would need to be plus or minus 20 points. Adams stated of the city services compared to national benchmarks, only three were considered similar to benchmarks rather than higher or much higher: fire services, emergency medical services (EMS) response time, and traffic signal timing. Aho added it may not be understood how good the City fire services are. Adams responded safety services tend to be rated highly nationally, so it is less feasible to be higher than the national benchmarks. Getschow stated the City will do a press release, and the final report will be posted on the City website. Case inquired if the City is proactive with releasing the information to media sources. Communications Manager Lorenz stated a story has typically been done by the media whenever the results have been released. Council Member Narayanan stated this information would be not only be beneficial for Eden Prairie residents but for people who are City Council Workshop Minutes March 5, 2019 Page 2 considering moving to Eden Prairie or starting a business in Eden Prairie. Getschow added the Quality of Life survey results are typically presented at the realtor's forum as well. Council Member Nelson inquired if there are comparisons of how the survey results compare to 2014 and 2016. Adams stated further in the presentation there will be more specifics on year to year comparisons, but there wasn't a single downward trend. Council Member Narayanan inquired about City rankings compared to neighboring cities. Adams responded individual community survey results are confidential, but many cities are willing to connect over similar issues. Additionally, many cities do publish their results on their website. Aho inquired if the questions are the same for all comparison cities. Adams responded the items being compared are the same but do not have the exact same wording. Some questions are worded more broadly in order to keep the comparison. Adams stated when comparing government and city services, Eden Prairie is ranked number one in 13 categories nationally among 200-400 communities. Narayanan inquired if the report highlights those numbers. Case stated it may not benefit the City to be specific with rankings since there are also areas the City does not rank first. Nelson stated the survey results summarize the City should continue its course. Narayanan added there are three areas the City should consider highlighting to the press: the City ranks highly on a national scale, the business survey results were very positive, and taxes remain lower and stable in comparison to neighboring cities. Adams stated one of the key findings from the survey is Eden Prairie is considered a desirable place to live and raise a family. 95 percent of residents think Eden Prairie has an excellent or good quality of life, which is higher than the benchmarks. Three positive features that enhance the quality of life are overall image, sense of community, and the City as a place to retire. Aho stated the Council has been working to create a greater sense of community. Getschow added sense of community rated at 63 percent in 2014, 70 percent in 2016, and now 68 percent in 2018. Freiberg inquired about the scoring of 69 percent as a place to retire. He stated at one point the City was ranked as the number one place to retire in a magazine. Adams replied magazines use different standards and methods for their results, so it is difficult to pinpoint how they derived those numbers. Adams stated raising a family ranked higher than benchmarks at 95 percent. An open-ended survey question about the best thing about Eden Prairie yielded results of open space,parks and trails at 35 percent, convenient location at 17 percent, schools at nine percent, and feeling safe at nine percent. Case inquired about the low percentage associated with the school system. Getschow stated the qualitative data percentage has stayed consistent for schools. Adams stated the next key finding from the survey was high ratings for safety services contribute to the quality of life but residents have concerns about youth crime and drugs. Police Chief Weber added the City has worked to educate the community about the opioid epidemic. The more awareness there is, the more it may create perceptions of concern with youth crime and drugs. City Council Workshop Minutes March 5, 2019 Page 3 Adams stated safety services remain stable. Both police services and crime prevention rank higher than benchmarks, ranking tenth nationally out of more than 360 communities. Emergency preparedness ranked third nationally. 9 in 10 people responded they have an overall feeling of safety. There are perceived problems of traffic speeding, youth crimes, vandalism and property crime, drugs, identity theft, and stop sign violations. These perceived issues have remained stable throughout the years; however, there was a statistically significant increase in perceptions of youth crime and drugs. Quality of contact with the Police Department was rated 92 percent excellent or good. Council Member Nelson inquired if youth crime statistics have increased with the Police Department. Weber replied youth crime statistics have remained stable but have not increased. The one statistic that has gone up is arrests for tobacco possession with youth. Animal control services were ranked first in the nation. Adams stated another key finding was community parks, recreation and natural environment are considered highlights of the community, with 95 percent rating the overall natural environment as excellent or good. Overall appearance was rated 95 percent excellent or good with many aspects ranking within the top ten nationally. There has been continued familiarity with City events, and PeopleFest! had familiarity by four in ten people in its first year. Amenities continued to be praised, with a statistically significant increase in usage of the Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area. The Art Center, Staring Lake Observatory, and Senior Center ranked lower than other amenities. Case inquired why Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area was specifically singled out. Getschow responded it has remained in the survey and continues to be a legacy question. The option could be removed in future surveys. Case noted it can remain to monitor the trend. Adams stated a new question was included about the Sustainable Eden Prairie program. This showed 35 percent were familiar with the program, with eight percent participating and nine percent not willing to participate. 64 percent are not familiar,but 45 percent of those would consider participating. Those willing to participate are most interested in solid waste and energy reduction, water conservation, and native landscaping. Adams stated 94 percent of residents think the overall quality of services was excellent or good. The value of services for taxes paid has remained stable. Of the City services, traffic signal timing ranked lowest,but that is consistent with many other communities. Narayanan noted this may not be a good question to ask since it continues to rate lowly with most communities. Nelson noted the majority of the complaints she receives are around traffic signal timing issues on Hennepin County roads. Of the 24 City services with comparable benchmarks, 18 of the services ranked within the top ten nationally. Contact with the City was rated at 70 percent, and overall customer services was rated at 93 percent. Adams stated the final key finding shows the economy is booming,but affordability could be an issue in the future. A number of the ratings for the economy were higher than national benchmarks. As a place to work, the City ranks third in the nation, and this was a much higher than national benchmarks. 92 percent of residents would recommend conducting business in the City or visiting the City. Residents were asked an open ended question of what they like least about Eden Prairie. With about 1,500 responses and many categories, City Council Workshop Minutes March 5, 2019 Page 4 about eight percent stated the taxes and cost of living were least liked. Nelson noted taxes and cost of living are not necessarily the same. Adams stated they can be separated if they do not make sense in the same category. Case stated he would like to see the categories separate. Adams stated in regards to affordability, 75 percent rated the variety of housing options as excellent or good and 51 percent rated the availability of affordable housing as excellent or good. Case inquired how the survey question is worded. Adams responded please rate the characteristics of your community, and availability of affordable quality housing was listed. Case stated the question could be interpreted either as the City needs more affordable housing or the City has enough affordable housing. Getschow added the question is not specifically targeting affordability. Adams noted the questions are asked broadly so there are comparisons,but this could be reconsidered for the next iteration. Adams stated perceptions of airport noise as a major or extreme problem have increased from five percent to ten percent. Aho stated airport operations have not changed. Case inquired what area of the City respondents live. Adams stated there were distinct differences depending on their location within the City. Getschow added the closest quadrant to the airport rated 23 percent, and the second closest rated 18 percent. The other quadrants rated at six and eight percent. Adams stated due to random sampling, quadrants that are more densely populated proportionally receive more surveys. Results are weighted based on the population in their geographic area as well. Adams stated in regards to City website use, two thirds accessed the City website which ranks higher than benchmark comparisons. Seven in ten residents tend to be pleased with the aspects of the City website. Residents continue to rate word of mouth as the most frequent source of information. Getschow noted sources include word of mouth, City website,parks and recreation program guide, Life in the Prairie, Eden Prairie News, radio and television, City news emails, Sun Current, Star Tribune, Facebook, Nextdoor, watching meetings, and Twitter. Adams added there was an increase in Life in the Prairie and City news email ratings. Adams stated the support for municipal liquor stores have remained stable over time. Residents rated aspects they liked least which included traffic issues; a need for more activities, shopping, and dining; taxes; cost of living; layout; and a lack of a downtown area. Narayanan inquired if the survey states how many of the respondents live in houses versus apartments. Adams responded the information is included in the data set but not analyzed for qualitative data. Demographics are stated for quantitative data. Narayanan inquired if there is a survey question that asks about community non-profits. Getschow replied the City has not historically asked about non-profits. Adams noted some communities ask about services the City does not provide, specifically schools. Getschow added the City could consider including a question about non-profit services. Case inquired if there are any ongoing issues that are missing in question format on the survey. Nelson inquired if there is a question asking about adequate social services. Adams noted the survey asks about health care and food, but nothing more specific. Narayanan inquired if the survey is asking enough future-minded questions. Adams stated some communities do alternating surveys every year. One year focusing on policy and the other City Council Workshop Minutes March 5, 2019 Page 5 focusing on overall quality of life. NRC has also conducted a needs assessment survey for communities. Getschow noted the City has utilized City Connect as a resource for one-off issues. The new software, Pollcode, will now have analytics tied to the posed question. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) II. OPEN PODIUM III. ADJOURNMENT