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City Council - 01/23/1996 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 1996 6:00 p.m. CITY CENTER COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP Heritage IV, 8080 Mitchell Road COUNCI AIEMBERS: Mayor Jean Harris, Councilmembers Ron Case, Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Patricia Pidcock, and Ross Thorfinnson, Jr. CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl Jullie, Assistant City Manager Chris Enger, Director of Human Resources and Community Services Natalie Swaggert, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities Bob Lambert, Police Chief Jim Clark, Director of Public Works Gene Dietz, Director of Assessing and MIS Steve Sinell, Director of Finance John Frane, Director of Inspections Kevin Schmeig, and Barbara. Anderson, City Recorder I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting began at 6:00 p.m. II. SCHEDULE FOR COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOPS FOR 1996 Jullie noted the Council had established the fourth Tuesday of each month as a workshop session, and he proposed that the Council set the topics for the next few workshop meetings. The Council discussed the phases of the Boards and Commission workshop and the implementation of those phases in the new appointment process. Discussion ensued regarding whether the Council should meet with the Boards and Commissions on an unscheduled basis and have a councilmember assigned to each board or commission who would attend these meetings once or twice a year and could be contacted when issues arose which required input from the Council. Thorfinnson reviewed the proposal which included a liaison from the City Council, a spot on the agenda in which members from Boards and Commissions could come before the entire Council for direction regarding specific issues which might arise, and one formal meeting once a year. Discussion arose regarding whether meetings with Boards and Commissions in the past have been productive, and the consensus was a joint meeting may be a way to move toward implementation of this three-way process. The possibility of having a meeting to determine what direction would be given each Board and Commission was discussed. Jullie commented the strategic planning meeting could be held in March. Discussion ensued regarding the issues which needed to be discussed prior to meeting with Boards and Commissions. Mayor Harris requested that staff bring back a recommendation as to how these meetings would be scheduled and the goals accomplished. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP January 23, 1996 Page 2 Tyra-Lukens requested staff to schedule the budget planning sessions earlier in the year so that the questions could be answered regarding service costs and the impacts if the services were to be cut. H. DECISION RESOURCES, LTD. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PRESENTATION Bill Morris, Decision Resources, Ltd. presented the preliminary results of the survey of Eden Prairie residents which was conducted throughout the community between August 7-18, 1995. He reviewed the residential demographics which were included in the preliminary results, and noted that overall, every service was determined to be significant and well-delivered by those surveyed. Most residents believed the quality of life in Eden Prairie was excellent, the levels of service were exceptionally high and were well provided. The thing residents liked least about Eden Prairie were the high taxes, and the subsequent concerns were the level of growth and the traffic on major roadways. Morris observed that crime was a lower level concern among residents, unlike many other suburbs in the metropolitan area. Regarding taxes, most surveyed disliked the federal income tax and the City property tax the most, but believed they received the most value from the City property tax. Discussion ensued regarding the taxes and the perception of the portion of the total tax bill which was the City property tax. Morris reviewed the responses to the questions on satisfaction with and importance of City services and most people surveyed reported a high satisfaction with services and the value of those services was high and they were all important. When questioned about tax increases to maintain the high levels of services currently provided, 41% favored minor tax increases, but 46% were opposed to the tax increase. When asked if they would support a reduction in levels of service to decrease taxes, 38% said yes, but 45% said no. The average resident would accept an increase in taxes of about $10.55 per year to maintain city services. They determined that households with residents over 55 were the most resistant to any tax increases. In Eden Prairie there is also a large group of residents that fall into the 45-54 year age group, and they will do a reading including age group and home valuation to see if there is any correlation between the two for the final report. Morris noted that more people pay attention to City government, and to have a disapproval rating below 10% is noteworthy. Morris discussed the fiscal disparity issues for core cities, and suburban relations. It was believed the City should not take an active role and no tax increases to pay for these were supported. A good response to questions on development issueswas received, with only 16% of those surveyed believing that the City was not well planned. The City also received high ratings on their efforts to protect the environment. Many surveyed believed there was too great an emphasis on upper income housing, and there were too few quality CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP January 23, 1996 Page 3 eating establishments throughout the City. About 46% believed they would be at least "somewhat likely" to use the services of a Center for the Arts, and 74% thought the Center should be a private operation and not subsidized by the City. Morris noted that regarding the Parks and Recreation issues, there was a drop of approximately 5% from previous the survey in the categories of being informed about the facilities available and the programs that were sponsored by the City. Overall the parks facilities were rated very highly by those surveyed. Regarding the question about an outdoor water park, 42% of those surveyed were strongly opposed. Responses to City sponsored recreation programs was up to 45%. Public Safety did not appear to be a significant concern among those surveyed. The greatest problem was believed to be juvenile crime and vandalism and only 12% reported feeling unsafe at the Eden Prairie Shopping Center and on City parks and trails. Eden Prairie received the highest ratings for no serious crime across the metro area. The City-owned and operated liquor stores were used fairly regularly by approximately 32% of those surveyed, and 29% indicated they never shopped there. Upon further questioning, it appeared that the non-use of the liquor store was a lifestyle choice, and not a reflection on the store itself. When asked about the sources of City government news, 67% indicated that the "Eden Prairie News" was the major source and 41% saw the "Eden Prairie Sun-Current" in much the same manner. The "Community News" was also received and at least partially read by a majority of those surveyed. Cable television was not highly rated as a source of community news, as only 2% reported Channel 34 as a source of information. Morris noted that interest in community cable television shows has been waning throughout the metro area as a source of information about municipal government. About 20% occasionally watched televised meetings, and 22% consulted the bulletin board listings. Morris noted that these percentages were significantly higher than in other communities, where the average is usually about 12%. Overall it appeared that the quality of life in Eden Prairie was top notch and ties to the community as a whole were increasing. The perception of the excellence of City services was very high and most people considered all of them very important. A sizeable segment of the community appeared to be fed up with taxes and would support service cuts to bring taxes down. The ratings of City staff and the City Council were good and should serve the City well in the future. Discussion ensued regarding the areas perceived as having low satisfaction and how to bring the service level and taxes into alignment. Morris commented that there were more people in Eden Prairie that fell into the category of wanting high levels of service but not being willing to pay for them, and those percentages appear to be between 30-40%. This CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP January 23, 1996 Page 4 percentage is much higher in other suburbs if you look at people who do not want their taxes to go up for any reason whatsoever. Eden Prairie is atypical demographically, in that there are higher percentages of affluent residents, most are highly educated, and many have dual incomes. Further discussion ensued regarding the issues the Council would need to consider regarding maintaining the current level on taxes and providing the current level of services, or decreasing some services to maintain the tax rate. Morris commented that there will always be a percentage of the population that would not be satisfied whatever the Council decided. M. ADJOURNNUNT The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.