City Council - 11/19/2002 - Workshop APPROVED NIINTUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOWFORUiii
TUESDAY,NONEMBER 19,2002 CITY CENTER
5:00-6:25 PM,HERITAGE ROOM H
6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER
CITY COUNCIL:
Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Councilmembers Sherry Butcher,Ron Case,David Luse and
Jan Mosman
CITY STAFF:
City Manager Scott Neal,Police Chief Dan Carlson,Public Works Director Eugene Dietz,
Director of Parks and Recreation Bob Lambert, Management and Budget Director Don Uram, City
Attorney Ric Rosow, and Recorder Lorene McWaters
Heritage Room H
I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
III. CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU DISCUSSION
Pat MulQueeny, President of the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce, and the General
Manager of the Eden Prairie Hampton Inn,Patrick Laniel, appeared before the Council to
introduce the idea of forming a Convention and Visitors Bureau(CVB)in Eden Prairie.
The CVB would promote Eden Prairie as a tourist and hotel destination and would be
funded through a 3 percent tax on gross receipts from hotels and motels. The City would
received 5 percent of the total tax collected to cover administrative costs. According to
State Statute, the City would have to adopt an ordinance to impose the tax.
According to the Chamber, there are about 1,200 hotel rooms in Eden Prairie. With an
estimated 60 percent occupancy rate at an average of$75 per room rate,potential revenue
would be approximately$600,000 per year. The City would receive about$30,000 in
administrative fees. MulQueeny said the most important step before considering passing
such an Ordinance is to make sure all of the hotels in Eden Prairie favor the idea.
Laniel said he is the former executive director of the North Metro CVB,which consisted
of several suburban communities. Councilmember Butcher asked Laniel if CVBs are
generally events driven. Laniel said that sporting, church and other events are important
to the success of a CVB. When he directed a CVB, Laniel said he produced promotional
videos to present at travel and group tour shows throughout the region.
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Councilmember Case asked what reasons a hotel might have for not supporting a CVB.
Laniel said some of the more inexperienced hotel and motel managers worry that the 3
percent tax will hurt their competitiveness with nearby communities. However, Laniel
said that in his experience,people focus more on the basic hotel room rate, and not on
what taxes may apply. Also,with a 3 percent CVB tax, Eden Prairie would hotel rooms
would have a 9.5%total tax, compared to Bloomington and Minneapolis' 12%.
MulQueeny said he is confident the Chamber can convince all of the hotels of the
desirability of a CVB.
Mayor Tyra-Lukens asked if there are rules about how CVB revenues are spent.
Economic Development Manager David Lindahl said there is a state statute that regulates
spending,but that the wording is very general. CVB revenues could be used to help
support City events such as the Fourth of July celebration.
Councilmember Case said a CVB sounds like a great idea, as long as all the hotels are on
board with the idea. Lindahl said the Chamber has also discussed whether to create an
Eden Prairie CVB or a regional CVB that might include Chanhassen or Minnetonka.
Case pointed out that Eden Prairie already has an established relationship with
Chanhassen and Chaska through Southwest Metro Transit, so a CVB including these
three communities might make sense.
Mayor Tyra-Lukens said it sounded as if all of the Councilmembers agree that a CVB for
Eden Prairie is a good idea,but there isn't consensus about partnering with other
communities yet. MulQueeny said partnering issues can be addressed later.
IV. OTHER TOPICS
Council Chamber
V. OPEN FORUM (Scheduled participants, 6:30-6:50 p.m.)
A. MURSHAD BARAT
Mr. Barat said he had waited for nearly a year to make his presentation to Council
because he wanted the new City Manager, Scott Neal, to be in place. Barat said
he had met with Neal three times regarding his desire to be of assistance to Eden
Prairie's immigrant community,particularly the relatively large Somali
population. Barat listed the many ways in which immigrants enrich the
community, and said he feels the immigrant community should not go
unrepresented. He said he would like the City to create a position of immigrant
community liaison to coordinate city, school and public safety issues for all of the
different ethnicities in the city. He said the Council's approval of this position
would be a way of saying they appreciate the immigrants being here in the
community.
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Barat said he held a position with Eden Prairie Schools during the 1999/2000
school year,but that it was eliminated due to lack of funding. He said
Minneapolis has had great success in hiring a number of Somali teachers,and he
recommended that Eden Prairie consider doing the same.
Councilmember Case asked Neal if the City has staff working on immigrant
issues. Neal said that Molly Koivumaki,Manager of Community Resources, and
Mary Keating, HOPE program coordinator,both work extensively with the full
range of human services, including immigrant issues. Case asked if Koivumaki
and Keating have indicated there are immigrant issues they cannot adequately
address. Neal said they had not. Case suggested having Koivumaki and Keating
attend a Council Workshop to provide an update on immigrant issues in the
community and discuss how the City is meeting their needs. Case said he is not
ready to say whether or not the City needs to hire a liaison. Councilmember
Mosman said she serves on FamiLink, and that two Somalis recently applied for
the Board. Both were interviewed and one was appointed to serve on the Board.
Barat said he wasn't convinced that Koivumaki and Keating, as non-immigrants,
were the best individuals to address immigrant issues at a Workshop. Mayor
Tyra-Lukens asked Barat to present his proposal, including a list of needs he feels
are not being met, to the Council in written format. Barat said he would be happy
to do so.
VI. OPEN PODIUM (Unscheduled participants, 6:50-7:00 p.m.)
A. Basil Wissner said that in February,when the Council appointed David Luse to
fill the vacancy created when Nancy Tyra-Lukens was appointed Mayor,the
Council indicated they would develop a specific process for filling Council
vacancies. Wissner said he has not seen anything on this, and asked if the
Council still planned to develop a process. City Attorney Rosow said state
statutes govern special elections and appointments, and the Council had followed
the same process last two times a Council appointment was made. Case said he
feels the process the Council used to appoint Luse worked well. He pointed out
that the State Legislature has approved this process and he sees no reason to
change it. Tyra-Lukens said at the time of Luse's appointment she looked into
how other communities handle Council appointments, and each does theirs a little
differently.
VII. ADJOURNMENT