City Council - 02/18/2003 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM
TUESDAY,FEBRUARY 18,2003 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, and Jan Mosman, and
Philip Young
CITY STAFF:
City Manager Scott Neal,Police Chief Dan Carlson, Fire Chief George Esbensen,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. DISCUSSION TOPICS
• Clean Air Task Force
Neal said this topic was being revisited from late 2002 at the request of the Council.
He referred to two memorandums (dated October 11 and November 5, 2002)he
prepared for the Council as part of their discussion of a proposed clean air task force.
He said the proposed taskforce structure is based on a taskforce he participated in
when he was City Administrator in Northfield. Neal also referred to several Star
Tribune articles from late 2002 regarding passage of new air quality rules by the State
of Minnesota. Those rules, which become effective in September 2003, apply to
workplace smoking,with the exception of bars and restaurants.
Councilmember Mosman said she called the Department of Health to get an update
on the new rules. She said it sounds as if the rules will not have as much impact as
they would have a couple of years ago. Lots of companies have already made
changes in ventilation, etc. Mosman said she feels the City can do something to work
along with these new regulations. Case said he thinks the Council owes it to the
residents to go the next step. He is committed to not dropping the ball, and thinks we
need to investigate further. Case said he particularly likes the education portion of
the taskforce design Neal provided. He would like to get all of the restaurants
together to see what voluntary agreement they can come to, i.e., smoke-free lunches.
Butcher said she also likes Neal's taskforce outline,but feels the taskforce should be
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February 18,2003
Page 2
allowed to do the research and make their own recommendations. They can come up
with their own objectives. Tyra-Lukens agreed. Young said he feels the Council
needs to be clearer about their objective from the outset, or the City will suffer from
huge PR problems again. He said if residents and business owners think the Council
is considering legislating smoking,potential land buyers will be scared away. He
said there must be clear expectations and boundaries, and legislative and enforcement
decisions should not be delegated to a taskforce. Tyra-Lukens said it is her
impression that Neal's proposal is asking more for consideration and discussion of the
issues. Case said he agreed with Young's point about not wanting to lose control of a
taskforce. Case said he recalled a recommendation to have two Councilmembers
serve as members of the taskforce. This would ensure the taskforce would not get off
track. He said they would need enough freedom to be creative,but it would be
important to remind them they are not a policy-making body. Young said that
although he believes there is a role for cities to play in this issue, the legislative piece
is problematic. The Council agreed that Councilmembers should serve on the
taskforce. City Attorney Rosow pointed out that the City Code currently does not
allow Councilmembers to serve as voting members of taskforces,but that they are
allowed to serve as ex-officio members. It was agreed that Neal and Mayor Tyra-
Lukens will draft a taskforce charter to be presented to Council at the March 18,
2003,meeting for consideration.
Council Expansion
Mayor Tyra-Lukens said the possibility of expanding the Council to seven members
was first brought up by Mayor Harris a couple of years ago and was raised again
during the last election. She said the Council needs to decide if they want to take any
action on the issue at this time. She stressed that she has consistently heard people
saying they do not want to go to a ward system.
Mosman said it is first necessary to determine if there is a problem with lack of
representation on the Council, and if so, would raising the number of
Councilmembers address the problem. She said they also need to look into practical
issues, such as costs associated with expanding the Council. Butcher said some
residents have mentioned the fact that the school board has seven members, so
perhaps the Council should too. Young said he has also had people inquire about a
seven-member council, but he agrees with Mosman that any decision to make the
change would ultimately be subjective. Rosow pointed out that the City would have
to hold a referendum to expand the Council. Neal said that most comparable cities he
knows of have a Mayor and 4-member Council, similar to Eden Prairie's. Case said
he feels that making the Council larger and more cumbersome is probably not
necessary. Neal said the Council needs to determine if pursuing this issue is a
priority. Tyra-Lukens and Butcher both stated they feel it is not a priority at this time.
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February 18,2003
Page 3
Board of Adiustments and Appeals
Neal referred to a letter from Board of Adjustments and Appeals Chair Cliff Dunham
indicating the Board has discussed the possibility of folding their duties in with those
of the Planning Board. Dunham said the Board members have no objection to this
idea,particularly since the number of issues they have had to address over the past
several years is decreasing. Case asked if folding the Board of Adjustments and
Appeals in with Planning would result in much longer meetings for the Planning
Board. Neal said they could meet a half-hour earlier when there are Adjustments and
Appeals issues to be addressed. Uram said the majority of issues that the Board of
Adjustments and Appeals addresses take only about 10 minutes. Butcher asked if
Board of Adjustment and Appeal members might be offered membership on the
Planning Board. Case agreed that the Council does not want the Board of Adjustment
and Appeals members to feel disenfranchised if their Board is disbanded. Tyra-
Lukens suggested contacting the members right away to let them know they have the
option of applying for a spot on the Planning Board.
Council Compensation
Neal distributed information about Council compensation in Eden Prairie and nearby
communities with similar demographics. He said the Council is not being asked to
make a decision about this issue tonight. Young said he is still struggling to
completely understand how Council compensation works, since per diems and other
stipends aren't listed in the salary figure. Neal said he will research the topic further
if the Council wishes. Mosman said that although it is only symbolic, she is
concerned about what it means for Eden Prairie Councilmembers to be paid less than
in other communities. Young said the Mayor's salary in particular seems low. Tyra-
Lukens said she would want to have the salary stay toward the lower end of the scale.
She likes that Eden Prairie Councilmembers receive additional per diems for the
additional committee work they take on. Tyra-Lukens said she feels the Council does
owe it to future candidates to discuss compensation, since their last raise was in 1992.
Case said he agrees but, considering the current state budget crunch,now is probably
not the time to make a decision. The Council agreed to discuss this next year.
IV. OTHER TOPICS
Council Chamber
V. OPEN FORUM (Scheduled participants, 6:30-6:50 p.m.)
A. EDEN PRAIRIE COMMON GROUND—Drake Talbert
Talbert said he was representing Eden Prairie Common Ground, a consortium of
six Eden Prairie Churches that was formed in 1995. Common Ground provides
financial support for the Hope Project,PROP,Bridging,Eden Prairie ABC, and
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February 18,2003
Page 4
SHAPE. They are also actively involved in Habitat for Humanity work. So far
they have worked on seven homes,including the Habitat house on Oxbow Lane.
In 2002, Common Ground also helped star up a Native American Community
Health Clinic in the Philips neighborhood of Minneapolis.
Talbert said Common Ground was asking the Council to help them address the
need for affordable housing in Eden Prairie. They are asking the City to consider
helping them locate affordable properties and to provide a staff contact to the
organization. Case and Tyra-Lukens said they think the Habitat work Common
Ground is doing is incredible. Case said they are filling a need that is not being
adequately met, and he feels the City should provide as much support as they can.
Neal said Economic Development Manager David Lindahl might be an
appropriate staff contact. Neal said the City would have to do more research into
whether or not donating land is legislatively allowed. Butcher agreed that the
Councilmembers are definite champions of this cause and urged Neal to appoint a
staff contact.
VI. OPEN PODIUM(Unscheduled participants, 6:50-7:00 p.m.)
VII. ADJOURNMENT