City Council - 02/01/2005 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2005 CITY CENTER
5:00—6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOM II
6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER
CITY COUNCIL:
Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Councilmembers Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher, Ron Case, and Philip Young
CITY STAFF:
City Manager Scott Neal, Police Chief Dan Carlson, Fire Chief George Esbensen, Public Works
Director Eugene Dietz, Parks and Recreation Director Bob Lambert, Community Development Director
Janet Jeremiah, Communications Manager Pat Brink, Assistant to the City Manager Michael Barone,
City Attorney Ric Rosow, and Recorder Lorene McWaters
Heritage Room H
I. DISCUSSION/PRESENTATIONS
A. Public Hearing Protocol
City Manager Scott Neal said this topic was discussed at a Workshop last summer, at
which time Council directed staff to research practices of other communities and report
back to them. Neal noted that Council held 52 public hearings in 2004, and members of
the public spoke at only 15 of them.
Assistant to the City Manager Michael Barone provided on overview of research he
conducted on nearby communities as well as metro communities known for having to
deal with contentious issues. Barone also studied guidelines of some communities
outside of Minnesota. He said the ways in which Councils approach public hearings runs
the gamut, from having no guidelines at all to applying very strict time limits that cut
speakers off in mid-sentence.
The Mayor asked for clarification on which items actually require public hearings. City
Attorney Ric Rosow said a majority of public hearings the Council holds are related to
development issues. These require public hearings, but they could be held at Planning
Commission level only instead of at Planning and Council. He said a few other issues
such as housing bond transactions and CDBG bonds require public hearings.
Mayor Tyra-Lukens asked Rosow to comment on the use of"mayor's discretion" in
conducting public hearings. Rosow said the Mayor has the authority to control the course
of a meeting, including determining how many people speak and for how long. In his
experience it works well to conduct hearings based on the issue at hand. He noted that
Council has chosen to move some public hearings of a controversial nature to other
venues, issued special guidelines, and used an administrative judge.
Council Workshop—February 1,2005
Page 2
Tyra-Lukens said her concern is how people might react if rules that aren't normally in
place are imposed for a public hearing on a contentious issue. Will people see this as
unfair and arbitrary? Case said he doesn't think this is a concern, and that people
generally understand that if dozens of people want to speak, there have to be rules in
place to make sure the meeting runs efficiently.
Butcher said she likes having development items come before council for public hearing
even though it isn't required. It provides the public with an important means of
communication. She does not feel there are too many public hearings, and people
generally respect Council's request to not repeat what has already been said. Case agreed
he does not have a concern with the number or length of public hearings. He thinks
people will respect whatever ground rules the mayor sets up to efficiently run the
meeting.
Tyra-Lukens said there appears to be consensus that the public meeting process is
acceptable as is and current procedures do not need to be changed.
B. Municipal Wireless Broadband Service
City Manager Scott Neal said this discussion is not about whether or not the City could
provide Wi-Fi (high speed wireless internet service), but whether or not we should. He
said there are different sides to this issue. Some municipalities treat Wi-Fi as just another
utility, others believe it is a service that is and should be provided through private
entities.
Barone said he researched other communities that provide Wi-Fi and looked into other
developing internet technologies. One article asserts that a municipality is justified in
providing Wi-Fi if it is meeting a need that will not otherwise be met in the near future.
Barone said the City of Chaska was able to begin providing Wi-Fi to residents and
businesses in late 2004 mainly by being in the right place at the right time. Chaska
received technology grant money in the late 90s and began laying fiber from their
building to downtown businesses. Because Chaska owns their own electrical utility, it
did not cost them anything to install the 200 units on the utility poles to provide Wi-Fi
citywide. Chaska's goal was to keep the cost for service very low, comparable to a
traditional dial up service. Some technology companies Barone contacted were very
surprised Chaska was able to provide the service for such a low cost. Tyra-Lukens asked
if Chaska has released any financials on the service. Barone said their business model
calls for 1,400 subscriptions per year over a three-year period, and when Chaska began
providing service in November they already had more than 2,000 subscribers. Barone
noted there have been some issues with people having trouble logging onto the service
and being unhappy with the speed.
Eden Prairie resident Darren Wercinski asked if the business community in Chaska is
benefiting from the service. Barone said Chaska expressed confidence that the business
community is happy with the service, and that was one of the motivating factors for
developing it in the first place.
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Aho asked what percent of Eden Prairie locations have access to high speed internet
through private providers. Neal said that almost all, if not all, of Eden Prairie has access
to high speed internet. Lack of private service has been a huge factor in some rural
communities developing their own service. Barone noted that Pennsylvania recently
passed legislation preventing municipalities from getting into the internet business, and
similar legislation is pending in several other states. Barone also said it is his opinion
that Wi-Fi has hit its peak. Many communities are waiting for the next big technology
wave, which appears to be Wi-Max, which can transfer data at rates around 70Mbps with
a range of close to 30miles from a single base station.
Councilmember Aho said we are on the cusp of a new technology right now. He said as
Wi-Max becomes more readily available, we will see private providers jumping into the
market, making it unnecessary for cities to get into that business. Councilmember Case
said it is important to take a step back and ask whether or not we want to get into areas
that can be served by the private sector. He feels it would be wisest to sit this one out.
Wercinski said he does not consider this a Wi-Fi issue so much as an issue of
infrastructure into the home. He said the question is how, over time, can the City provide
information to its residents and businesses. He believes the City would benefit by
figuring out how to release the choke hold companies like Verizon and Qwest currently
have on households. Habitat for Technology Board Member Joe Stoebner said he would
like to see Eden Prairie continue to be a community that nurtures high tech businesses.
He said there obviously is obviously the political question of whether or not government
should provide a service that the private sector can provide;however, it is also an
economic issue. He said just one T1 line at his business costs $800 a month, a cost many
small businesses cannot afford. Cable companies are reluctant to run cable into
commercial areas because there is no market for their movie channels. He said Wi-Fi or
Wi-Max would be able to offer connections to a wide array of businesses and residences.
Aho said based on his experiences he would not advise a business to depend on a wireless
connection. A T 1 connection is supplied and monitored by a provider and offers a much
higher level of service than would be available with a public utility type Wi-Fi.
Neal said his advise to Council would be similar to Mr. Aho's. He believes the City has a
role in making sure that vital services are available to our citizen's, but internet service is
now widely available in Eden Prairie. Neal also said the City will need to monitor this
issue to ensure that the high quality data transmission structure and services continue to
be available. Internet service is not an issue that comes up with either residents or
businesses on a regular basis at this time. Neal would not advise that Eden Prairie to
become a direct provider of this service unless it becomes a competitive disadvantage for
the City. He believes this is not likely to happen because of the type of community Eden
Prairie is.
Council Chamber
II. OPEN FORUM
III. OPEN PODIUM
IV. ADJOURNMENT