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City Council - 05/16/2023 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2023 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 Matt 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, City Attorney Maggie Neuville, and Recorder Kelsey Engelen Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and II (5:30) A. 2022 QUALITY OF LIFE SURVEY RESULTS City Manager Rick Getschow noted the City does a biennial, statistically significant survey of our residents. The results of the survey are an important factor in building the annual City Work Plans. Kim Daane, a Survey Research Associate with Polco/National Research Center (NRC), stated Polco/NRC has the largest benchmark database of its kind in the country with more than 500 comparison communities across the nation; and utilizes state, regional, and national benchmark comparisons in addition to comparisons to the City’s own past survey results. Daane stated this is the ninth iteration of the Eden Prairie Quality of Life Survey. She presented the survey methods for the 2023 iteration, explaining Polco/NRC employed a hybrid mailing approach, sending 2,000 randomly selected households in Eden Prairie with multi-part mailings. They received 452 responses through the mail. An open participation online survey received 716 responses. A total of 1,168 responses were received. After weighting the mail in and open participation responses separately, both method data sets were similar enough that they could be combined. All mailings contained instructions in English, Spanish, and Somali languages. The results are statistically weighted to reflect Eden Prairie demographics, presenting a 95 percent confidence interval with a plus/minus three percent margin of error. Councilmembers Narayan and Nelson inquired about ratio of mailings to single- and multi-family dwellings and if data measures analyzed home prices. Daane responded that the report does include breakdowns based on single- and multi- family homes, and that there are breakdowns based on household income and numerous other household demographics, but not home price. It was also pointed out that Polco oversamples multi-family homes due to the expectation of higher response rates from single-family homes. Daane began by comparing Eden Prairie’s results to those from communities around the country with populations over 15,000. Of the items available for national benchmarking against the nationwide sample, 47 items received higher ratings in Eden Prairie; 19 received similar ratings; City Council Workshop Minutes May 16, 2023 Page 2 and zero received lower ratings. Several items received much higher ratings in Eden Prairie, at least 20 points over the average/benchmark which included overall ease of getting where you are going, ease of public parking, availability of paths and walking trails, City planning services, and preservation of natural areas. Getschow added that for the preservation of natural areas, Eden Prairie ranks first in Minnesota and third out of 274 cities nationally. Compared to benchmarks in North Central Region communities with populations over 15,000, Eden Prairie received 31 ratings higher than the benchmarks; 32 similar ratings; and zero lower ratings. Compared to Minnesota community benchmarks, 25 received higher ratings; 38 received similar ratings; and zero received lower ratings. Senior programs and services in Eden Prairie were rated much higher than the Minnesota community benchmark. Getschow prefaced some results from the 2023 survey, stating that Eden Prairie did drop in many areas compared to itself in 2020, but did not drop compared to other cities. It was questioned if this was a trend across the country, to which Daane replied that this is absolutely a trend everywhere else as well. Getschow used City planning services as an example; compared to itself in 2020, Eden Prairie’s rating of this service dropped slightly but went up to number one in the nation. Getschow recommended council consider our ranking compared to benchmarks, which have increased, rather than dwell on small decreases compared to 2020 which are on par with national trends. Compared to the previous survey year in Eden Prairie, 12 areas had higher ratings; 139 received similar ratings; and 34 received lower ratings. Daane pointed out the unique situation Covid-19 created in 2020 and the nationwide trend of ratings peaking during the pandemic when trust in local government was very high. Daane stated Eden Prairie continues to be a highly desirable and safe place to live. 92 percent of residents think the quality of life in Eden Prairie is excellent or good. This rating is higher than national and regional benchmarks. Nine in ten residents positively rated the City as a place to live, raise children, and their neighborhood as a place to live. The City as a place to live and raise children was rated higher than national and regional benchmarks. Eden Prairie 86 percent positively rated Eden Prairie as a place to work, which is higher than national, regional, and Minnesota benchmarks. Residents continued to rate safety-related aspects characteristics high, with few crime-related concerns. 92 percent of residents rated the overall feeling of safety in Eden Prairie as excellent or good. Over eight in ten gave excellent or good ratings to safety in their neighborhoods; parks and open spaces; paths or walking trails; retail parking lots; and the Eden Prairie Center mall. In response to what residents considered problems in the community, one third indicated traffic speeding was a moderate, major, or extreme problem. 24 percent said vandalism and property crimes; 21 percent said youth crimes; and 20 percent stated drugs and sign violations as a problem. Daane stated the next key finding that City services continue to be highly ranked among peers. Nine in ten rated overall quality of City services excellent or good. Two thirds of residents said the value of City services, considering the property taxes they pay, are excellent or good. At least nine in ten positively rated Police services, Fire services, park maintenance, Hennepin Healthcare EMS response time, Fire Department response time, water and sewer services, and overall customer service by City employees. The lowest rated services, traffic signal timing and neighborhood sidewalks, were still rated excellent or good by two thirds of residents. As in previous years, the vast majority of Eden Prairie services are ranked higher or much higher than all benchmark City Council Workshop Minutes May 16, 2023 Page 3 comparison groups, and no city services were lower than the benchmarks. Nine in ten residents rated overall quality of police services as excellent or good, which is higher than the national and regional benchmarks. One quarter of residents said they had contact with the Police Department in the year prior to the survey, with the most popular situations for Police interaction occurring during Eden Prairie Night to Unite and other Community programs adding up to 44 percent of interactions; and 17% said they had contact with the Police while reporting a crime. 90 percent rated the quality of contact with the Police Department as excellent or good. Daane detailed the various City services which received lower ratings than the previous EP survey. Again, it was pointed out that while numbers may have seen a statistically significant decline, the numbers are still frequently higher than national, regional, and Minnesota benchmarks. These services which declined include trail maintenance, recreation centers or facilities, recreation services, preservation of natural areas, emergency management, building inspections, streets in your neighborhood, City engineering services, utility billing, asphalt trails in your neighborhood, assessing services, housing and community services, and sidewalks in your neighborhood. It was also pointed out that this iteration of the survey was administered deep into the winter season, whereas typically the survey has taken place before the winter months; this could potentially have also contributed to these datasets. These numbers are compared to 2020, which Daane noted could potentially be marked with an asterisk in the future due to the extenuating circumstances and the trend of uniquely high ratings of local government trust. Discussion ensued related to circumstances that drive data, from actual difference in services to attitudes during the winter and during the pandemic. Daane pointed out several amenities which received significant decreases in ratings nationwide which were availability of affordable quality food, healthcare, mental healthcare, and preventative health services. 84 percent of residents strongly or somewhat support the City continuing to operate municipal liquor stores, and about half of residents have visited an Eden Prairie liquor store in the last twelve months. Various aspects of municipal liquor stores in Eden Prairie continue to trend upward, including a 96% rating for courtesy and friendliness of staff. Daane then discussed resident contact with City departments, stating 24 percent of contact occurred with the Eden Prairie Community Center. The Police Department was the next most contacted department with 23 percent of resident contact. Other most frequently contacted, in order, were utilities and water, recreation, general information, building inspections, and utility billing. Most residents are pleased with their contact with City employees, with overall customer service rating higher than national and regional benchmarks at 92 percent. Knowledge, courtesy, and responsiveness were also rated over 90 percent. Eden Prairie’s natural environment, parks, and recreation opportunities are valued by residents in a big way. When asked in an open-ended question to state their favorite thing about Eden Prairie, one third of residents mentioned parks, trails, and recreation centers. Additionally, in the same question, 12 percent made comments about open space, nature and wildlife. 92 percent rate the overall natural environment as excellent or good. Residents also rated very highly the air quality, availability of paths and walking trails, cleanliness, overall appearance, and fitness opportunities. Almost all categories were higher than state, regional, and national benchmarks. City Council Workshop Minutes May 16, 2023 Page 4 Daane stated residents are familiar with and see the value of sustainability. A new question in this iteration of the survey, residents were asked about their familiarity with various sustainability strategies. Strategies such as composting, reduction of energy use, electric vehicles, home energy audits, solar electricity, renewable energy utility programs, electrification of homes switching from natural gas. Daane then discussed respondents’ likelihood of implementing sustainable strategies. all areas ranked between approximately 41 and 54 percent; and installation of on-site solar rated lowest at 34 percent of respondents already completed or very likely to complete. Getschow noted the reason these questions were added to the survey are based on tracking the traction of the City’s very intentional push to deliver information and familiarity of sustainable topics and methods. To summarize the key findings of the 2023 Eden Prairie Quality of Life survey, Daane stated that Eden Prairie is a highly desirable and safe place to live; City services continue to be highly ranked among peers; Eden Prairie’s natural environment, parks, and recreation opportunities are valued by residents; and residents are familiar with and see the value of sustainability. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) I. OPEN PODIUM III. ADJOURNMENT