Loading...
City Council - 01/04/2022 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2022 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 Matthew Sackett, Fire Chief Scott Gerber, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Julie Klima, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Administrative Services/HR Director Alecia Rose, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, and Recorder Nicole Tingley Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and II (5:30) I. EDEN PRAIRIE STATE DELEGATION WITH SENATOR CWODZINSKI, REPRESENTATIVE KOTYZA-WITTHUHN, AND REPRESENTATIVE PRYOR Freiberg was absent. All other Council Members were present. Case started the workshop and thanked the legislators for coming. He stated that Getschow would provide an overview of the 2022 Municipal Legislative Commission Platform and then there would be time for questions and discussion. Getschow explained that the City is a member of the Municipal Legislative Commission (MLC) which is an association of other Twin Cities suburbs with similar characteristics. He stated that their legislative event is the last Thursday in February. Getschow started by summarizing the platform topic “Housing and Home Ownership.” He stated that the construction industry and builders’ associations are advocating for lowering park dedication fees and building inspection fees to solve the issue of affordable housing. They also want to take away the City’s ability to create Planned Unit Development Authority which allows flexibility in development projects. Getschow explained that reducing City fees is not the solution as fees are only 3-4% of the cost. For example, the average new single-family home in Eden Prairie costs $415,000 of which $15,000 is City fees. Therefore, the way to affordability is not reducing city fees. Fees are actual costs. The City and the MLC strive for more affordable housing and preserving existing affordable homes, but is accomplished through other ways and programs. City Council Workshop Minutes January 4, 2022 Page 2 Kotyza-Witthuhn stated that Eden Prairie’s parks and recreation are outstanding and contribute to why residents want to live in the City. In regard to the next platform topic “Infrastructure and Transportation Investments,” Getschow stated that there are a lot of needs. The City is working on a plan with Highway 5 to solve traffic congestion problems. Highway 5 improvements are seen as a regional benefit. Ellis shared that they have hired consultants and will look at options in the next 5-6 months and that it will be costly. He added that high school students have been studying signal timing. For the platform topic of “Workforce Support and Economic Expansion,” Getschow stated that the state funding for businesses has been helpful. Continuing, for the last platform topic “Tax Policy and Local Control,” Getschow shared the impact of fiscal disparities on Eden Prairie. He stated that the City is the third largest contributor and that it raises property taxes by 7%. Furthermore, Getschow highlighted the supported policies of repealing the local government salary cap and simplifying the process of sales tax exemption on construction materials. Getschow mentioned two other items that are not on the MLC platform, but important for Eden Prairie specifically. First the City has completed a lot of sustainability projects and wants to continue. One potential project is reutilizing the closed land fill as a major solar array. The property is still managed by the Minnesota Pollution Control agency leading to many strings attached. He stated they may need help from the legislators to navigate those. Second, there are lots of pieces of the state building code that do not allow the City to be progressive with green building code. More details could be provided. Case stated that Eden Prairie is one of the only cities that have 2050 as a carbon neutral goal year. The goal is not possible unless the City has ways to incentivize commercial buildings with flat roofs to have solar and money is needed to incentive. Efforts toward residential would come next. Case asked each of the legislators to share their top issues and priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Kotyza-Witthuhn stated that housing is going to be a big issue for this session. They will continue what additional support can be provided with the surplus. Furthermore, she will be working on a dependent care tax credit building off what the federal government has done. A big concern for her is the difficulty families have paying for and finding childcare. Education is also a top priority. City Council Workshop Minutes January 4, 2022 Page 3 Pryor shared that the City telling the representatives how they can support the City is important and extended an open invitation to continue discussion. She stated that she believes in City fees for housing as well as local control and she can help with defending them. She noted that she has also heard from builders that stronger building codes add to the costs, but she believes they are needed In regard to housing, she added that affordable housing and preserving the existing stock is an important issue. Grants and support need to be provided to those that most need it. She would like to hear about programs that have worked. She concluded by stating that the government needs to keep supporting young families. Cwodzinski stated that City is poised for great things. He noted that the airport and regional shopping center are doing well and believes the LRT will be done right. The one thing he would change is that the three legislators present are the only three without a parade in their district. Getschow and Case stated one is coming. Cwodzinski asked if there is an example of a building association in which government fees and regulations were reduced and the savings went to the home buyers. Getschow replied that the building associations say that the fees are lower they will build affordable housing, but the question is can they and will they. The cost of land, cost of lumber, and cost of supplies are obstacles. Government is the low hanging fruit. He does not know if housing prices would go down by the percentage of fees to total costs (3-4%) if they were eliminated. Case added even if they did, the new homes in Eden Prairie would still not be affordable. Getschow also mentioned a study completed by Housing First Minnesota (Building Industry Association) that concluded that housing is less expensive in Chicago and Wisconsin. What is important to know is that they picked a far western suburb and called it “Chicago” and more rural places in Wisconsin where land is less expensive. Cwodzinski then informed the attendees that the 7.7-billion-dollar surplus does not count inflation, but it is still over 6 billion. Concerning the solar panel field, he told the City to let him and the other representatives know what they can do. He noted safe and secure elections for 2022, that he introduced a salary cap bill last session, but it did not go anywhere, and schools particularly drug abuse, suicide, and moral. Furthermore, he stated he introduced a bill to help local breweries but ended up taking his name off because the liquor stores were not happy. Liquor legislation is getting lumped into one bill and he would like to separate it out so they can support breweries and liquor stores. Finally, public safety is the issue of our time. Case asked if the legislators had any questions for the City Council and Staff. Kotyza-Witthuhn asked if the City has received feedback on more homeless in Eden Prairie. It seems like there are more noting individuals at intersections. Toomey stated that from the perspective of PROP, they have had noticed more requests for help from homeless, but they City Council Workshop Minutes January 4, 2022 Page 4 can’t help. Case noted a difference between current panhandlers and homeless. Panhandlers are coming from other areas. Panhandlers are adding to the perception of more homelessness. Toomey asked if the City can do anything for the homeless. Getschow explained that the County has social services. The City connects people to resources, but we do not have any funding sources for it. Case stated the City has homeless right now in cars. He noted that people are afraid of the LRT bringing in homeless and stated that they have not had that occur with Southwest Transit. The benefits of LRT surpass fears. He does not anticipate issues, but the City will be prepared. Nelson shared that the City passed an ordinance that requires all new non-single family homes to include a certain percentage of affordable units in it. This includes both owned and rented and is not a temporary ordinance. The City has not received negative feedback. She stated that the state building code may need to add more regulations to ensure housing that lasts multiple generations. Case shared three initiatives that the City has accomplished recently that he is particularly proud of. These included the Climate Action Sustainability plan, Inclusionary Housing ordinance, and the Race Equity plan (on the agenda for January 4). He also noted that the City is a part of leading conversations regarding carjacking upticks by hosting a large gathering of Mayors. It can be both safety and systemic racism. Case concluded by stated he appreciated all of the legislators attending and that the City would continue to reach out. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) II. OPEN PODIUM A. STEVE WAGNER – CREEKWOOD PARK TREE REMOVAL AND BASKETBALL COURT CAPACITY Steve Wagner, 9325 Wilderness Cove, stated that he was there on behalf of himself and his adjoining neighbors: the Karas family and the Fernandes family. The City Council is needed to help mitigate issues resulting from improvements made at Creekwood Park. First, four to five large trees as well as underbrush were removed when the tennis courts were improved in 2018. They were replaced with very small trees. The trees provided noise blockage and site protection and there was not any notification of the removal. When he asked why the trees were removed, he was told to ensure no limbs would fall on the new fence and for mowing. He stated that the Parks Department was allowed to remove these trees, but if it was a developer, the City would not allow it. The area has not been mowed. City Council Workshop Minutes January 4, 2022 Page 5 Wagner continued by noting that the neighborhood park has progressed into a hangout. There are often 15-30 young men at the park who are loud and scream profanity. Trash is left behind. Cars are parked far along the street. Wagner stated that he discussed with Getschow about Police saturation and that has not worked. Furthermore, the portable toilets were not put in until May and activity started in April leading to urination in the park. The portable toilets were also taken out in September and activity went much later. Wagner stated he was told that trees do not provide noise reduction, but they do. He worked in HVAC for many years designing air handling and duct systems. The noise is occurring almost every night and calling the police as advised is not working. He shared an instance where the police came and left and there was still noise at 10:40 pm. He called Lotthammer regarding this and was told he would check the logbook, but he has never heard back. He is looking for the City Council to come up with suggestions. He noted possible solutions including privacy screening, permitting groups over 20, and parking restrictions. Those at the park are not from Eden Prairie and are coming from other communities. Case stated that Lotthammer would respond back regarding his concerns and the conversation can continue. III. ADJOURNMENT