City Council - 11/15/2011 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2011 CITY CENTER
5:00—6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS
6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER
CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Council Members Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher
Wickstrom, Kathy Nelson, and Ron Case
CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Police Chief Rob Reynolds, Fire Chief George
Esbensen, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Janet Jeremiah,
Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City
Attorney Ric Rosow, and Recorder Lorene McWaters
Workshop - Heritage Room 77
I. JOINT MEETING WITH CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Laura Jester, Conservation Commission Chair, reviewed the commission's 2011
activities, which included finalizing a commercial recycling ordinance, collaborating on
development of an ordinance allowing pervious pavers, staffing educational events and
holding a joint meeting with the Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Commission.
Jester also gave an update on the City's participation in the GreenStep Cities program.
Commission member Sue Brown made a presentation on disposable bag fees. Brown
presented research data on paper and plastic bag usage in the United States. It is
estimated that more than 100,000,000 plastic bags are used each year, and that it takes
more than a thousand of years for each of those bags to degrade in a landfill.
10,000,000,000 paper bags are used each year, requiring the cutting down of 14,000,000
trees. Although paper bags degrade faster than plastic, it still takes centuries for them to
biodegrade.
Brown said the commission has researched ways in which the use of disposable bags can
be reduced. She said many cities in California have banned plastic bags since 2007.
Other cities are considering bans or imposing taxes or fees. She said the Conservation
Commission favors the model adopted by Washington, DC, in 2009. A 5-cent fee is
imposed on all disposable bags at food stores. She said that within one year, the
Washington reduced the number of plastic bags distributed from 270 million per year to
less than 52 million. She noted that the funds collected were used to clean up a river, and
retailers also saved significant money because they no longer needed to purchase millions
of bags.
Brown said there is local support for a bag fee, including a letter written by SuperValu
Vice President Mike Erlandson in 2010 supporting a statewide measure to tax plastic
bags.
Council Member Nelson said she would like the City to get input from local retailers and
the Chamber of Commerce before proceeding with a bag fee. Aho asked how the
City Council Workshop Minutes
November 15, 2011
Page 2
program would be administered. Brown said the bags consumers purchase are a
receipted item,but that they are not taxed. Butcher said such a program would be a
complete culture change for the City, and she would like to see some sort of a lead up to
it rather than instituting it cold turkey. She noted that one of the City Council's adopted
strategies is incrementalism rather than quantum change.
Council Member Case said he likes the idea, but suggested the Conservation Commission
investigate ways to implement it in steps. He said education would have to be part of any
program. He also suggested bringing the Chamber of Commerce into the discussion.
Aho said he is not in favor of government dictating things like this. He said stores can
implement bag fees on their own, and the City could encourage that,but a government
requirement feels onerous to him.
Commission Member Greg Olson briefly outlined another program the Commission has
been studying, called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE). He said the program
involves state legislation that allows local governments to assist property owners with
financing clean energy solutions for generating electricity, heating and cooling, through
the property tax system. He said that due to the intricacies of the residential mortgage
system, the Commission suggests that, if the City is interested in pursuing such program,
they focus on commercial and industrial properties.
For their final topic, Jester said the Commission is again strongly encouraging the City to
begin providing recycling in City parks.
II. BUSINESS SURVEY RESULTS
Consultant John Schamber presented results of the 2011 business survey. He noted that
the Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored the survey this year and it included questions
specific to their organization. Previous business surveys were conducted in 2002, 2005
and 2008. Several core questions have been asked on all of the surveys for tracking
purposes.
350 telephone interviews were conducted from June 22 through July 20. Respondents
were drawn at random from a list of businesses provided by the Chamber of Commerce,
and the average interview length was 18 minutes.
The survey found that two-thirds of businesses have been located in Eden Prairie for 10
years or more. Three in 10 businesses are home-based. Two-thirds of companies have
less than 10 employees. One company reported having 1,800 employees in Eden Prairie.
The service sector is the largest business sector, followed by sales/marketing. The top
reason for operating a business in Eden Prairie is it"a great place to live and work," at
93%. Highway access, low crime rate and high speed internet access were the other top
reasons for operating a business in Eden Prairie. More than three-fourths of respondents
rated the Eden Prairie business climate as above average or excellent. Businesses
continue to say they want the City's Economic Development Division to focus on
retaining businesses, bringing new businesses into the community and giving priority to
transportation infrastructure.
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November 15, 2011
Page 3
Less than half of businesses say they are satisfied with the amount of access they have to
the City's decision-making process;however, a majority think property taxes are a good
value for the services they receive. More than 8 in 10 businesses are satisfied with
telecommunications infrastructure and power supply services. Just over half of
businesses think it is important to buy local. Six in 10 businesses are in favor of light rail
coming to Eden Prairie.
Open Podium - Council Chamber
III. GARY JOHNSON—UTILITY RATES
Mr. Johnson, Alise Place, said his most recent water bill was startlingly high. He
recently learned of the City's tiered water billing system, and he is opposed to it. He said
it is necessary to irrigate his lawn to maintain his and his neighbors' property values. He
said he practices conservation to the best of his ability, and should not be punished for
not letting his grass go brown. He also said he is opposed to a wage increase for City
employees.
IV. KEN WENCEL—INVITATION TO RILEY-PURGATORY-BLUFF CREEK
WATERSHED DISTRICT EVENT
Mr. Wencel said he is a member of the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District
Board. He invited the City Council to the Board's annual event on December 6. Council
Member Nelson noted that is the same night as the City Council's next meeting.
She regrets she will not be able to attend the watershed district event and asked if they
could schedule it on a different night in the future.
V. ADJOURNMENT