City Council - 01/02/2018 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM
TUESDAY,JANUARY 2, 2018 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 James DeMann, 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 Cynthia Harder
GUESTS: Senator Cwodzinski, Senator Franzen, Representative Loon, and Representative Pryor
Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and H(5:30)
I. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE WITH SENATOR CWODZINSKI, SENATOR FRANZEN,
REPRESENTATIVE LOON,AND REPRESENTATIVE PRYOR
Mayor Tyra-Lukens called the workshop to order at 5:40 p.m. Getschow stated every year a
workshop is dedicated to a dialogue between state elected representatives and City elected
officials prior to the state legislative session.
Getschow said Eden Prairie is active in all three organizations (League of Minnesota Cities,
Metro Cities, and Municipal Legislative Commission)but MLC most closely fits where the
City is as a suburb. He said the 2018 MLC program that has been shared with Eden Prairie's
state and City-elected officials is brief and straightforward. He suggested using the program
as a starting point for discussion topics during the workshop. He noted within the program,
MLC has identified three issues areas as priorities for the 2018 Legislative Session:
promoting accountability in the state/local fiscal relationship, increasing long-term
transportation funding, and supporting local control.
Getschow commented Eden Prairie does not receive local government aid and is the second
highest contributor to Minnesota's Fiscal Disparities program. He said survey feedback from
residents are generally very positive but transportation is a concern. He said local control is
the catchall where concerns can be found related to reverse referendums, unfunded mandates,
small cell legislation, and franchise fees. Given this,he said the City agrees with the
priorities listed in MLC's program for the upcoming session.
Tyra-Lukens said it would be helpful for the City Council Members if representatives
pointed out issues they agree and/or disagree with in the MLC program. Rep. Pryor said she
represents Minnetonka and Eden Prairie, so she sees transportation and gridlock as priority
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January 2, 2018
Page 2
issues in her district. She did not know how much can be done to improve transportation or
increase transportation funding in the upcoming session.
Rep. Loon said she agrees with the priorities in MLC's program. Regarding fiscal disparities,
she has found high levels of retail are costly for cities because of security and other issues so
efforts to reform the formula have not been successful because there are more recipient cities
than donor cities. She said her new approach has been working with nonpartisan staff to see
if it would be possible to take some money from the pool to improve a common concern, the
most common concern being transportation. If this were to happen, she said other changes
may occur such as increasing the overall amount donated. She has also been exploring how
to change the percentages cities donate. She believed the fiscal disparities formula needs
reform and transportation is the lynchpin to make updates. Rep. Loon said bills will be
proposed at the beginning of the year and she will keep the City Council apprised.
Senator Franzen said she has worked on many committees and is currently on the jurisdiction
of taxes and transportation. She noted a forecasted $188 million deficit projected for the next
two years, so that's not good news when trying to find new money for infrastructure. She
said she isn't opposed to spending money on transportation as long as it's sustainable. She
said partnership is needed and taxpayers must be willing to pay more to improve
transportation. Unfortunately, people do not want to pay more for roads until a major
disruption occurs like a bridge collapse. She said she supports funding for roads and bridges
as much as transit since roads get more expensive when they aren't cared for. Senator
Franzen said she is open to different ideas, having supported an unpopular gas tax, but
thought there are limits as to what can be asked of taxpayers to pay.
Senator Cwodzinski thought a gas tax would help for transportation. He noted when he was
campaigning, the most common thing he heard from residents was wanting Southwest
lightrail. He asked for the City Council's opinion on the issue and on Sunday liquor sales.
Getschow said Sunday sales continue to be the slowest day of the year but it was offered
more for convenience to residents. Butcher-Wickstrom believed it would be hard to stop
Sunday sales now that it has been offered. Aho said once people are more used to liquor
stores being open on Sundays, sales may go up.
Tyra-Lukens appreciated Representative Loon's study on possible options for fiscal
disparities. Rep. Loon said MnDOT has refined its Corridors of Commerce program and she
is looking into a Corridors of Commerce program for the metro area, focusing on the most
congested traffic areas.
Rep. Pryor said a gas tax increase won't help if consumers buy more electric cars. She said
she's in favor of a dedicated tax for transportation. Aho agreed a gas tax wouldn't help long-
term.
Nelson noted she does not want to see an increase in the City's contribution to fiscal
disparities unless it would go toward a solution to ease transportation congestion. Rep. Loon
said she would not want to see fiscal disparities increased either and she will work to
decrease them.
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January 2, 2018
Page 3
Rep. Pryor said she has been getting letters about salt on the roads and it getting into the
water sources. Ellis said Eden Prairie was one of the first cites to install equipment on trucks
to monitor how much salt is being dropped. He said the department works with a
meteorologist to determine how much to put down and each winter. All plow operators are
certified and street sweeping is done in the spring. He said they also put down a salt brine
made up of 20% salt and 80% water prior to expected snowfall so that when salt is put down
following snow, less pure salt is needed.
Senator Franzen asked about police body cameras. Chief DeMann said they're researching
body cameras and have found the equipment itself is relatively inexpensive,but the data
storage could be expensive. He said their concerns include how long data from body cameras
would need to be retained and how to handle increased data requests. He noted if there's a
major uptick is data requests, more staff could be needed.
Rep. Pryor brought up how California legalized recreational marijuana use and Canada is
legalizing it. As a result, she said this is something we need to discuss since legislation could
soon come to Minnesota. Chief DeMann said it would bring up public safety concerns and if
legislation is brought about in Minnesota,he would suggest dialogue with other states that
have gone through it to get their feedback on implementation (i.e. what to do and what to
avoid).
Tyra-Lukens thanked everyone for their attendance and said they will stay connected
throughout the coming year.
Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30)
II. OPEN PODIUM
III. ADJOURNMENT