Here we go. Well, good evening, everybody, and welcome to the Edina City Council meeting on this uh St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, 2026. Uh no parade in St. Paul, unfortunately for our city manager, who is always prepared to march in the parade. So, that's a difficult thing. Um but hope you're all enjoying the uh the holiday. So, uh I think Director Beneke mentioned that we're doing these meetings in a hybrid fashion. Uh there will be folks listening in uh online and watching online. And they'll be able to call in uh tonight uh Well, let me put it this way. Sometimes there's two opportunities to call in. One during public comment, uh if you want to comment on an issue that's not on the agenda this evening or on a uh schedule for a future public hearing, uh or if we have any public hearings. And we don't have any uh public hearing matters tonight. So, the one opportunity for folks that are here in chambers or uh that want to call in uh that one opportunity will be during community comment. And as I mentioned, um if it involves something on the agenda this evening, you wouldn't be able to comment on that. Uh or if it's scheduled for a known future public hearing, you wouldn't be able to comment on that uh either. Otherwise, we welcome the comments. And our city manager will respond to the ones that were made a couple of weeks ago uh that were concerns of residents that uh we address in a timely manner. So, uh having provided that information, I'm going to call the meeting to order and ask our clerk here, Ann Ellison, to call the roll. Incidentally, you notice we've got a We've got a majority crew here tonight, but not a full crew. Uh two of our council members, our colleagues, are at the National League of Cities meeting in Washington, D.C., along with our assistant city manager. So, uh we're working with this uh core group of three tonight, uh Councilmember Agnew and Councilmember Pearson and myself. And uh so, then I'm going to turn now to Sharon Ellison to call the roll. Councilmember Agnew? Here. Councilmember Pearson? Here. >> Mayor Hovland? >> Here. Next is the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thanks, everybody. Uh Councilmembers, we've got a form of meeting agenda in front of us. Is there anyone on the council or from a staff standpoint that wishes to modify the agenda any form or fashion? All right. Is there a motion to approve the meeting meeting agenda as published? So moved. I second. Councilmember Pearson moves, Councilmember Agnew seconds the adoption of the meeting agenda as published. Uh any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the meeting agenda as published, say I. I. Opposed? Carried. The meeting agenda is uh adopted and we have a agenda to work from. And now we are at community comment, and I'm going to have our uh staff put up the phone numbers and uh for people that might want to call in during community comment. Uh and when we have that up on the screen, I'm going to ask if there's anyone in the audience who wishes to address the council on a matter of concern to them. Yes, sir. Welcome. Are you the only young guy in town that's not on spring break somewhere warm this week or No, I'm not. The kids are too young for that. Two [laughter] years, I'll be gone. All right. Is this on? Yeah. And all you need to do is give us your name, not your address. So, >> Sounds good. I'm Taylor Bresnahan. I live in the Chowen Park neighborhood. I'm here to talk about the e-bike ordinance that's coming back for revision. So, I want to say thank you for bringing that back, and I'm urging you to pass it when it does come back. I want to share my perspective because I think it's one you might not have considered to this point. So, this is me with my two girls, a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old, and we get around town Oh. Yeah. It's good. Your placement's good. Uh we get around town on an e-cargo bike. Um we do it for a variety of reasons. There's a financial component. We were able to replace our second car with this, and it's around $10,000 a year cheaper to own and maintain this than an average car. There's a sustainability aspect that goes hand in hand with that. But for the most part, we just do it because we like it. Um I like it, the girls love it. It's an experience that I I want them to grow up with and have. When we take the bike out, we're part of our community. We can stop and talk to neighbors and friends and get to know the streets, and I can talk with them about what they're seeing. They can tell me about the trees and what their favorite dog is and whatever else a 3-year-old wants to talk about. So, that's why we do it. Um When we're When we're out, like I said, we we replaced the second car with it. So, what that means we rely on it for our daily and weekly destinations. And we don't want to be on the sidewalk when we're doing that. We take back streets and side streets as much as we can. But to get anywhere, you're inevitably pushed onto the higher-speed, higher-traffic roads, where the sidewalks are the only safe spot. So, I want to show you a couple of those and what it feels like for us. So, we go to Pamela Park a lot. To get to Pamela Park, you have to be on 58th Street. Uh the design speed of that road is over 30 mph, so cars actually drive The lanes are 10 ft wide. There's no bike facilities. It's not safe to be in the road there. The sidewalk's the only safe place to be. We go to the library every week. To get to the library, we take West Frontage Road. There, the cars are going over 36 mph. Again, no bike facilities. It's not safe to be in the road. The only safe spot is the sidewalk. We go to 50th and France all the time. They have amazing stuff for kids. They have music in the plaza. They have story time for kids. Our grocery store is there. We're there like five times a week. But to get there, we have to be on France for at least a few blocks. And I'm sure you're all very familiar with France, and I don't think any of you would think it's safe for me and my 1-year-old and my 3-year-old to be in that street. And the last one here, this is the worst one. To get to the aquatic center, our amazing pool, you have to navigate this on Valley View Road. There are six lanes, 16,000 cars a day going 40 mph. And you're merging with highway traffic coming off Highway 62. That's There's nothing remotely safe about any of this. The only safe spot is the sidewalk. So, this happens when you want to go anywhere in Edina. Um you're inevitably pushed onto these high-speed, high-traffic spots for at least a portion of it. So, what this current law does is it makes it illegal for me to safely take my kids to the park and the pool and the library and the grocery store. I know that wasn't the intent of the law at all, but that was the reality of what happened to us. So, to me, this law says, "Buy another car, take your kids out of the community, and put them back in car seats." So, thank you again for bringing it back. Thank you. Thank you, member Erlandson, if you're watching. And I I urge you to pass it when it comes. Yes, thank you for that perspective. It's one we hadn't thought about before, so I really appreciate you being here this evening. I think we all do. Thank you. Anyone else in the audience wish to address the council on a matter of concern to them? Yep, good evening. Good evening, Council. Um I appreciate what you put on the front door. I'm not sure when it was put on there about the Army Reserve sergeant who was killed earlier than this month. He's from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. My concern is why I'm here. The governor of Minnesota, Walz, put out an email on March 4th late in the afternoon to lower flags at all state buildings, which all municipalities follow. Friday, the flags at City Hall went down. The flags at the Veterans Park and Utley Park did not go down till Monday. My concern is why does it take so long when we have people in this building working 24 hours, 7 days a week? My phone has a flag of a United States military officer. That flag is on every military officer's uniform. That flag is on my son's uniform. I'm not questioning everyone's patriot patriotism here. What I'm questioning is why you cannot follow directives from the governor of Minnesota in a timely fashion. I would not consider almost 4 days to lower a flag. I would volunteer to do it if I was given permission to do it on the day these letters come up from the governor. I just would would appreciate the flag being lowered to half staff when the governor asks for it in a timely fashion. 4 days is not timely. Thank you. >> Yes, thanks, Mr. Fregau. Anyone else? Okay, let's see if we have anybody online that wants to visit with us. I don't have anyone online tonight, sir. Do you want to Do you want to hold for a moment and see if somebody does come up? We've We've had more than a minute of community comment time, so it's really up to you. Okay. Well, while we're waiting to see if somebody comes online, let's have Manager Neil address some of those comments that were made at the last meeting. We We didn't have any questions from the last meeting to address. Okay. Very good. Anybody online? Okay. Thanks. Uh let's move on then from community comment to um the consent agenda. Before we go to the consent agenda though, just a reminder that uh Manager Neil will address these two issues uh at the next meeting and then there'll be responses to these concerns addressed uh online at uh I guess one's a one's an opinion and and one is a question, but we'll have something addressed online by Friday of this week. And then let's turn to the consent agenda. Does anyone on the council wish us to remove an item from the consent agenda? All right. Hearing nothing, is there a motion to adopt the items on the consent agenda in a single motion? So moved. I second. Member Pierce moves, Member Agna seconds. Is there a motion of uh the motion to adopt the items on the consent agenda in a single motion? Any further discussion? All those in favor of adopting the items on the consent agenda in a single motion, say I. I. I. Opposed? Carried. Uh those items are approved on the consent agenda. And now we are at uh we got we got some great things going on tonight from a special recognition and presentation standpoint. We had uh a recognition event for our public safety personnel, fire and police, um several weeks ago and it was a terrific evening. And uh everybody really enjoyed themselves. The entire council was there. Uh I wish we had our whole council here this evening for the uh presentations that are going to be made and the awards that are going to be given. Uh we're going to recognize the officer of the year, firefighter of the year, and public safety employee of the year together uh but first, before we get there, we're going to talk about the uh a citizen award presentation and Chief Milner is going to take Milner is going to take care of this, not Milner. Chief Milner, we gave you a new job. I think maybe some of the some of your staff may feel that way that you're Chief Milner over there at the public works facility, but Chief Milburn, thank you. Um we we've got a citizen award coming to a couple of our residents uh for their heroic efforts and those efforts are going to be explained either by Chief Milburn or or Chief Slamer, one of the two or both. It's going to be a combo package. Thanks for having us, Mayor and council members. Chief Milburn with the police department. Uh we're going to recognize two outstanding citizens here momentarily, but I'm going to first turn over to Chief Slamer to give some introductory statements. Yeah, Mayor and council members, I just want to point out the importance you're going to hear about this event and Chief Milburn is going to go through all the details. Um but none of these life-saving efforts would be made possible without the early detection and CPR performed by the individuals here tonight. That's that truly saved a life. I want to impress on the importance for our general public to learn CPR. Um we have a lot of amazing tools. We have the greatest staff who can who can come with a lot of technology and treatment, but it does nothing if we can't keep the heart pumping while uh a person suffers cardiac arrest. So, I want to point that out, recognize that, recognize the efforts and and Chief Milburn is going to go over all the details of the event. Thank you. So, with that, it's my honor to recognize two individuals whose swift and decisive actions exemplify the highest standard of public service, James Parker and Brian Myers, both employees of Southdale YMCA. On January 22nd, 2026, an unconscious swimmer was discovered face down in the pool at Southdale YMCA. Lifeguard James Parker immediately entered the water and brought the individual to safety. Brian Myers quickly responded to assist. Together, they assessed the situation and determined that the individual was in cardiac arrest. And without hesitation, they initiated CPR, applied an AED, and provided rescue breaths prior to the arrival of police officers and paramedics. When officers and paramedics arrived, the patient had no pulse and was not breathing. Following a shock given by AED, a pulse was restored, the patient began breathing independently, and ultimately regained consciousness. He was transferred to the hospital alive and talking. Due to the calm, coordinated, and courageous actions of James and Brian, a life was saved. On behalf of the city of Edina, we extend our sincere gratitude and commendation for your exceptional service and commitment to the safety of others. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Mr. Parker, Mr. Myers, we're going to come down and take a photo with you, but I'd sure welcome any comment either or both of you have uh for both the council, people in the audience here tonight, and then also for people that are watching the meeting. So, if you want to use one of those side podiums, that that'll work the best. You know, then make sure you introduce yourself, too, please. Uh my name is is James Parker. I'm an employee of the YMCA. Um in the in the moment, it's all training and focus. Afterward is when the shock shows up, and it just gives me a huge appreciation, number one, for the opportunity to have a job where that's expected of me. I can imagine what it's like to be a firefighter and or a police officer in the service of this city. Uh that that privilege. And and um I'm what I'm left with is gratitude. Thank you. Yes, thank you, Mr. Parker. And Mr. Myers, I would like to thank the fire department and the police for their timely response to us in our time of need to help one of our members. >> [snorts] >> I've had times when there has been delayed with less minor calls, but with this emergency, everyone was there right away when we needed them. Well, thank you for your own your own personal heroics and your training that allowed you to save the life of this person. So, we're going to come down and take a photo with you now. And uh Okay, thanks so much. In the next part of the uh special recognitions and presentations portion of the agenda, we're going to recognize the officer of the year, the firefighter of the year, and the public safety employee of the year. And I'm going to start out with Chief Milburn again. Uh and then we're going to go through all three awards and have uh the awardees make some comments and then we'll come down and take a group photo together and and Manager Neil is going to join us as well. So, Chief, go ahead. Mayor and council, thank you. Chief Milburn back again. And as you referenced earlier, uh we were fortunate to have our public safety banquet on February 28th, just over 2 weeks ago. It was well attended. We had a great time. We were had a great opportunity to recognize some really talented staff across both our fire and police organizations. As part of that, we uh were able to recognize our employee of the year, officer of the year, and firefighter of the year. And so, what we're doing tonight is carrying that over to uh this body so that everyone can um kind of re-energize themselves and and understand and hear the great things that our our staff have done in the last year and also get this in front of our community. So, with that, first up, uh we have our employee of the year, uh Donna Nelson. The public safety employee of the year will be presented annually to a non-sworn employee of either the police department or fire department who has exemplified organizational values, ideals, and dedication to serving the citizens of Edina. The 2025 public safety employee of the year award is Donna Nelson. Donna joined the Edina Police Department in August of 2020 as an embedded social worker. Donna's path to the Edina Police Department was backed by decades of extraordinary public service. She has worked with Hennepin County since August of 1990, holding a wide variety of impactful roles. Over the years, she has served individuals with developmental disabilities, supported families whose children were not attending school, worked with runaways, assisted children facing mental health challenges, and helped unhoused teens find stability and hope. That range of experience is remarkable, but even more remarkable is how she continues to bring fresh energy and enthusiasm to her work as if she was just beginning her career. Donna's work is not accurately measured in statistics or quick resolutions. It's measured in hours, hours spent sitting with someone in crisis, hours spent on the phone listening, reassuring, and guiding. Those who nominated Donna have personally witnessed her dedicate entire afternoons and evenings to a single individual who needed someone to care enough to stay. They have seen her remain long after the work day has ended and to ensure client that that client was safe. They have seen her run errands for individuals who were too overwhelmed to leave their homes and personally deliver what they needed. These are not tasks that were listed in her job description, but acts of compassion. In 2025, one of Don- Donna's clients required daily attention, initially reaching out repeatedly through dispatch and patrol. Rather than allowing the situation to continue straining emergency resources, Donna stepped in. She built trust, established direct communication, and she answered phone calls, sometimes for hours each day, listening and offering steady guidance. She made home visits. She drove clients to appointments. She helped these individuals take the small, difficult steps necessary to regain control of their life. After months of Donna's persistent care and commitment, that client no longer calls dispatch and now has the tools he needed to live independently and safely. That transition is the result of dedication, patience, and refusal to give up on someone who needed help. Donna exemplifies what it means to be a public servant. She is kind, compassionate, and deeply dedicated not only to the Edina Police Department, but the entire community of Edina. She has a remarkable gift for noticing who needs help, a helping hand, and quietly stepping in to provide that. Time and time again, she sets aside her own workload to ensure that no one else feels overlooked or forgotten. Whether supporting supporting her peers within the department or extending her care outward into the community, Donna demonstrates empathy, integrity, and dependent dependent if I could say it, dependability in everything she does. Donna brings decades of experience and unwavering passion to our department. Her presence strengthens our response to the community. Donna's commitment to going the extra mile has touched countless lives and she reminds us that public safety is not only about enforcement, it's about service, compassion and humanity. For Donna's tireless dedication, her selfless service, and the profound profound difference she makes on every single day, >> [snorts] >> please congratulate Donna Nelson for being our 2025 Public Safety Employee of the Year. We will do that. >> [applause] >> Donna, a few words, please. I know that night of the awards you were kind of dumbstruck by the whole thing. Kind of shocked. I think you were one table over from me. We had just a brief conversation and uh and and you were so well all the awardees are were so humble uh about you receiving this award, but uh interested in your comments. Well, that was the first thing I was going to say. It's it was a shock. And um you don't expect to get a reward an award for doing your job. And but it's also an honor and a privilege to get it. It means a lot. I want to say thank you. Sorry. To the entire um police department in Edina um first for at least a allowing me to come in here. I was the first embedded social worker here. Trusted me enough to come in, figure out how we're going to do this job, what this job was going to be. Um I appreciated being trusted to be able to serve your community um and that you trusted what I was doing was helping. Um and over the years now working more alongside with the officers and teaming and and doing more that we can together. Um It's it's just really an honor. I feel like I'm part of the team. I feel like I belong here. And I think it's all because of the officers and the people in the community. So, thank you. Yeah. Well, thanks again. Thanks, Todd. Congratulations. [applause] >> [applause] >> Good evening, Mayor and members of the council. Um I'm Andrew Slama, fire chief. Here to present the Firefighter of the Year award, award that is presented annually to a firefighter who has modeled exemplary service, leadership, and dedication to serving the citizens of Edina. This year's recipient of the Firefighter of the Year award is Todd Porthan, also an Edina resident. Todd is the most senior firefighter in the Edina Fire Department, joining in 1997. Todd's value to the fire department goes far beyond his years of service. He's more than an experienced firefighter paramedic. He is a standard and an example. He is a steady presence that defines what professionalism, commitment, and pride in the job truly look like. When we talk about work ethic, we often speak in general terms. With Todd, it's something you can see every single day. He is consistently the hardest worker in the room, starting [snorts] earlier than most, and keeps pushing longer when others begin winding down. Whether it's vacuuming floors, mopping bays, organizing equipment, or clearing clutter, no task is beneath him and no detail is too small. He treats his station as if it were his own home because in many ways it is. Todd doesn't just talk about standards, he lives them. His commitment to physical fitness and personal health sets a powerful example for every firefighter and paramedic around him. In a profession where readiness can mean the difference between life and death, Todd ensures he is always prepared. And by doing so, he quietly challenges the rest of us to rise to the same level. But what truly sets Todd apart is what he does when no one is watching. His dedication doesn't end when the shift does. Todd is the only mem- the only shift member actively participating in the standby officer program, responding to emergencies from home on his days off. On high volume storm nights, when calls stack up and crews are stretched thin, Todd voluntarily comes in to help clear pending calls, easing the burden, and reducing the risk to fellow firefighters. This kind of selflessness cannot be assigned. It comes from the heart. Todd is also a subject matter expert on our trucks and our equipment. Something needs fixing, replacing, or troubleshooting, he's the first call. His years of experience have made him an invaluable resource, but what makes the knowledge even more impactful is his willingness to share it. He invests in others by mentoring, teaching, and encouraging curiosity and growth. This helps build a culture where improvement is constant and excellence is accepted. Through it all, he brings a positive, steady demeanor to every shift. His attitude fosters a productive, cohesive, and even light-hearted environment, one where crews can perform at their very best knowing they're supported. Todd Porthan represents the absolute best of the Edina Fire Department with his consistency, humility, and leading by example. His selfless commitment to serving both the department and his community, even [snorts] above the above and beyond the call of duty, make him the ideal choice for Firefighter of the Year award. Please join me in congratulating Todd on the 2025 Firefighter of the Year award. >> [applause] [applause] >> Floor is yours. Todd, please. Yes. That was a good way to put it, Chief. The floor is yours. We'd love to hear from you. Uh thank you. I'll keep this pretty brief. Um I really honestly, humbly cannot accept this individual award. It's um it's I'm grateful to work with an incredible team. Uh many of them are back here, all of them in uniform cuz when I fall, I know they'll be there to pick me up. Um And uh the team exceeds well beyond the people in uniform um throughout the entire city. I can honestly say I have great friends relationships within every department within the city, which I think is pretty unique to Edina. Um from city shops to the chaplains that respond on scene, police officers, um parks, you name it, every department, you know, impacts my job somehow or another uh very positively. Um and I want to thank the council cuz without your support, Mayor, we would not be able to exceed, you know, the standards and or exceed the expectations of the community without your support. So, thank you. Yeah, thanks. I just hang on just a second here. I want to >> [applause] >> Todd, come on back up here, would you? I just was thinking about it as you were talking. I think I was on the still on the city council. That was September September 11th on the um and in New York, 2001. And then you and your wife both went, I think, to help uh after September 11th. And then um Yeah, I was doing some legal work in Queens for victims, but you were actually I mean, the work you were doing was so um spectacular, really, and and um such you know, to get that leave to go from our PD our fire department to go out there to help was really extraordinary an extraordinary piece of volunteerism on your part, I would say. And then the other couple of other things I always remember was when you're on that special team. I don't know if you're still on there or not, but we had that painter that got all twisted up uh on the um water tower, Southdale. >> Yeah, on the water tower in Southdale. And in the was working on by himself on a Saturday, if I remember right, in the wind. And so, uh he got all twisted up up there and couldn't get down. And then they sent you up to go over the top in the wind and go down repelled down and get him. And then get him out of there and get yourself out of there, too. So, Yeah, we have younger guys that can do it now. >> [laughter] >> Well, that sticks in my mind as something that was really heroic and really brave. So, thanks thanks for being who you are. And it's fun to talk to you about your family and uh your daughter is playing hockey out east. It's really you you've raised a wonderful family. You got a wonderful wife. And thanks for all you do for the city of Edina. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah. So, okay. We got one more and then we're going to do some photos. While Gabby gets set up here, I just want to note that there's a reference to the the crime fund and public safety fund. The crime fund was more exclusive to police work, but recently with the great work in combination with the fire department, we transitioned and retitled the nonprofit organization to the public safety fund. So, that's the change in the reference. And I just would like to thank that group publicly, the people that donate their time because it's invaluable for us and they do a lot of great things in the community to make these moments happen for us. So, I just want to publicly thank them for their work. So, the public safety fund has presented an award, the Mike Satory Officer of the Year Award annually since 2011 to recognize exceptional officers deserving of special recognition. The award is named after Mike Satory, who served as police chief from 1999 to 2009 during his 31-year tenure with the Edina Police Department. The award is presented annually recognizing officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty on the job. The 16th recipient of the Officer of the Year Award is Gabby Doyle. Gabby joined the Edina Police Department in September of 2018 as a community service officer and moved to a sworn officer position in September of 2020. During that time at the Edina Police Department, Officer Doyle has shown unwavering commitment to the department's operational needs, frequently stepping up to cover overtime shifts, often on short notice. Her dedication also extends beyond patrol duties. She is an active member of the crisis negotiating team, a passionate contributor to the D.A.R.E. program, and a certified use of force instructor, helping to ensure our officers are trained to the highest standards of safety and accountability. Gabby has been an informal leader in all these positions and embodies the highest standards of Edina of an Edina police officer. In any position Gabby is placed, her positive attitude is infectious and inspiring. Gabby goes above and beyond to foster comradery comradery, I can never say that word, and so among her peers by coordinating shift meals, that's important to in creating a strong sense of team unity. Her responsiveness to change, updates, new forms and procedures, and supervisory requests is unmatched, making her a reliable and adaptable team member in an every evolving environment. As a D.A.R.E. program coordinator, Gabby has has a unique opportunity to serve as a positive role model to young individuals and teach students how to make safe and responsible decisions. Her relationships formed through D.A.R.E. create lasting impressions, fostering respect for law enforcement, encouraging open communication, and helping young people develop confidence to choose a healthy path forward. In 2025, Officer Doyle was appointed as a field training officer, a role she embraced wholeheartedly. She trained five new officers over the course of 86 field training shifts, which is over 100 hours and an impressive 45% of her total shifts for that year. At times, she transitioned directly from one trainee to the next, maintaining a high standard of mentorship and professionalism throughout. She also coordinates team table X top exercises and scenario-based discussions, helping new officers build confidence and critical thinking skills. Her commitment to community engagement is equally commendable. Officer Doyle regularly participates in outreach events and serves as a mentor to cadets, often taking them on ride-alongs to provide real-world exposure to the profession. Officer Doyle's work product is consistently outstanding. She produces detailed, thorough police reports and excellent follow-up, reflecting her high output and efficiency. Her attention to detail and investigative instincts have earned her the 2026 rotational investigator position. Currently serving in her rotational investigator role with the Edina Police Department, Gabby has seamlessly transitioned from patrol into completing complex investigative work. Drawing on her sharp attention to detail, strong report writing, and natural investigative instincts, she quickly establishes herself as a capable and dependable investigator. She approaches each case with thoroughness, determination, and conducts comprehensive follow-up, and demonstrates sound judgment in managing caseloads and collaborating with partner agencies, just as she has in every prior assignment. Gabby embraced the challenges of this role with professionalism and initiative, further proving that her work ethic and leadership translates successfully into any position she undertakes. Gabby's impact on the Edina Police Department cannot be measured solely by statistics, assignments, or titles. It is reflected in the officers she has mentored, the community members she has served, and the culture of teamwork and professionalism she helps strengthen every day. She leads by example, serves with humil- humility, and approaches every challenge with dedication and integrity. For her unwavering commitment, exceptional performance, and positive influence she has had on this department, it is my honor to recognize Officer Gabby Doyle as the 2025 Mike Satory Officer of the Year. Congratulations. Gabby. >> [applause] [applause] >> Mayor, council, thank you. I'd like to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to my family, the members of the Edina Police Department, and those who put their lives on the line each day to keep our community safe. I'm honored and I'm humbled to stand before you as a recipient of the 2025 Officer of the Year Award. As a 2015 graduate of the Edina High School, I would never have imagined the opportunity to stand here today and receive this distinction. This award reflects the high standards of our profession, integrity, patience, sound judgment under pressure, and empathy on every call for service. I am fortunate to work alongside dedicated men and women who consistently demonstrate these qualities and who place the safety of others above their own. I'm proud to serve a community where support for their public safety is strong. This trust in us is something I do not take lightly. To my partners, this recognition is shared with you. Your professionalism, your resilience, and your respect for all those we encounter set the standard we strive to uphold. This award serves as a reminder that our work is ongoing and that we must continue our commitment to safety and justice in everything we do. I accept this honor as a reflection of the outstanding people I have the privilege to serve with. Thank you. Thank you, Gabby. Let's give all of our awardees a standing Let's recognize all of our awardees one more time. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Want to thank all of our firefighters and police officers that could be here this evening as well and and parents and friends, relatives, thanks for being here. Really wonderful to have you with us in chambers. All right, that concludes the special recognitions and presentations portion of the agenda this evening. And now we're going to move on to the reports and recommendations portion of the agenda. We've got two matters there this evening, both real interesting matters. First one is something we've been working on for a while. We've been I think uh our economic development manager, Bill Neuendorf, is going to walk us through the history. Waiting for the some mystery to closing the door. There it goes. Getting set up for the next presentation here by our economic development manager, Bill Neuendorf. He's going to talk a little bit about the history of uh our work at 5146 Eden Avenue, which is the old public works site, uh the former public works site, uh that 3.3 acre piece over there that we've uh been holding for use since I think uh 2004 or 2005, somewhere in there. And we finally found uh somebody that we wanted to work with and Mr. Neuendorf is going to talk about the sale of that property, which we've been we've been having conversations about for several months now. So, welcome. Good evening and thank you. Thanks for doing the quick intro while we're getting a little technical glitch resolved. So, yes, the item on your agenda tonight is a proposal to enter into a contract to sell the the vacant parcel at 5146 Egan or Egan Eden Avenue. In summary, over the past year we've reviewed 11 different proposals that were submitted for the site. The HRA reviewed them over the last several months and recommended that we select a team led by Hempel real estate and Monarch development partners to purchase and redevelop that site. Over the last gosh, 6 months or so I've been working with our city attorney to prepare a sales contract and purchase agreement and we have that finished and ready for your for your final consideration tonight. Um I'll walk through the presentation that was in your packet. So in that packet was a full report and then a summary presentation. So I'll I'll have the presentation here and and run through it. And of course we're happy to answer any questions. Um As as we go through this tonight. So the site is shown here in the aerial photo. It's about 3 acres in size just west of Highway 100 just west of City Hall. In March of 2025 the city released a request for proposal in RFP and that was distributed throughout the development real estate community here in the Twin Cities area and that identified the opportunity as well as prioritize some of the things the city wanted to see if we sold that property. Eventually we did receive 11 proposals from Crow CSM Gramercy the the team of Hempel Monarch and Jester lifestyle communities newer companies and Wellington management onward Ebenezer and leap Opus real estate equities rowers Sherman and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. We had quite a variety of interest and proposals to select from. And from those proposals they they suggested a number of different options and these were the types of projects that the developers were envisioning. They were all responsive in part at least to our RFP but the proposals ranged from a senior cooperative to townhomes and row homes condominiums senior apartments regular apartments family apartments professional office space commercial space and from the housing types we had everything from affordably priced to attainable to market rate to to luxury and every combination thereof. Those 11 proposals saw purchase prices that range from over a million dollars to just under 6 million. And the densities the residential densities in those proposals also had quite a range from 20 units an acre to 70 some units an acre all of which fall within our comp plan but it made the whole selection process more complicated cuz there was such a diversity of options to select from. When we evaluated the proposals in in front of us we used the city's budget pillars and budget values that's something that's been refined over the last several years to really focus on the long-term outcome. What could be achieved by the sale? It's more than just the dollar amount but there's also the the actual project that's getting that that would be constructed. And as it as those values and principles apply to this site we looked at the compatibility with the HRA's vision for the site. For years we've had the seven guiding principles that were adopted back in 2012. We haven't forgot about those. We still look at those. We have our comprehensive plan plus all the priorities that we expressed in the RFP. We did of course look at land value. We wanted to sell this for market rate and where where by the sales proceeds would go to the city to help the city budget for whatever purposes we wanted to use that for in the future. We looked at the the impact to the community of the final project. The the fiscal impact the overall feeling to the community and to that area. We asked ourselves a question whether or not we'd be proud to see the project on the site. Now they were all good proposals but some there seemed to be a greater sense of pride to actually see that built at this location. And then our fourth criteria that we that we discussed and talked about was getting it done actually closing the deal. We looked at at the veracity of the developers. We looked at the market. How likely can we translate a good idea to a contract to a sale and actually getting it built. So we used a factoring system and we identified the Grandview seven guiding principles. We preferred had a strong preference for home ownership rather than rentals. We looked at affordability and attainability how we can make some progress on the city's affordable goals. We looked at the commercial uses that added daytime activity there to the area. We looked at the walkability and connectedness of the site not just a site that you drive to but you could actually walk to it and once you're on the site you could walk through it to get to the neighboring properties. We considered the scale and the and the massing. We looked at the amount of outdoor green space that could be achieved. We asked whether the parking arrangement would be efficient. We also looked at the land value. Was it the highest reasonable land value? And could the developer close in a reasonable amount of time? Now those factors are they're ambitious. And then we talked about we can't achieve all of them in one project. So it was finding that right balance which ones could we achieve where where there some trade-offs and some compromises. So we the the council and the HRA met in closed session a couple times and we asked ourselves what are the city's highest priorities. Recognize we can't get it all but what what can we select from that are the highest priority to us? And then which development team can best deliver and and help us achieve those priorities. Last August we identified that the team made up of Hempel real estate and Monarch development partners was a team that we are most comfortable working with on the site to achieve that balance of the goals. Hempel and Monarch are are of course assisted by Jester concepts who is likely the the restaurant partner and Rocos advisors who's part of the whole team as well. In the audience this evening I do have Rick McElvey from Hempel and Carol Runk from from Monarch development. When I'm finished with my presentation of course I'll be happy to answer questions. They'll be happy happy to answer any questions as well. This illustration shows generally the type of concept they want to pursue on the site. This is the same one that was released last August. It shows a commercial restaurant on the southern portion of the property a series of townhomes in the middle portion of the property and then condominiums on the northern edge of the property. The whole site would be arranged in a walkable manner with sidewalks and green space public plaza at some location throughout the site. And there's a couple photos here of what some typical hypothetical townhomes could look like. This is not actually what they're going to build it was just to give a sense of scale and quality. So as we look at the benefits and the and the desirable outcomes of this of this proposal we prioritized ownership housing over rental. The market has delivered a lot of rental apartments in Edina over the last 10 years. That's part of the whole community. That's a good thing. But we had discussions that it's really rare to see ownership opportunities and that was a priority that was expressed and that's what one of the key reasons why we selected this team. We also looked at making progress on our affordable housing goals. And and this is challenging. We initially thought that it it would be relatively easy to include some units at an affordable price. And as we started getting into the negotiations and as the developer started penciling their concept and working out mortgages and financing rates we realized it was not nearly as easy as we as as we had first thought. So the the contract does identify two options to to satisfy our affordable housing policy. The first option is to include some of the units at an affordable price. The second option is to provide a fee in lieu of the units. That fee would be would be paid to the city in addition to the purchase price and those dollars would be deposited into our affordable housing trust fund to be invested in a different housing program at a different location. At this point in time that's the option that the developer thinks is most realistic. Um Um But as we stand here tonight I just want to remind us that we're on the starting line. We're just about to cross the starting line not the finish line. So the developer still has a long way to go seeking sketch plan review zoning reviews and discussions. So in that process over the next 6 to 9 months they'll confirm what is the most realistic way to achieve our affordable housing goals and that'll be part of the whole rezoning conversation. I want to ask a question here Mr. Newndorf. Does does the proposed form of purchase agreement deal with this type of flexibility that you're talking about here that we have um we have that option to make a decision downstream. It does. Yeah, the purchase agreement identifies these two options either including the units or doing the cash in lieu or the fee in lieu and we wanted to get that in the contract just so that there's no surprises. The developer doesn't want to surprise us. We don't want to surprise the developer. We're hoping to have a smooth smooth road to the to the closing of the real estate and then construction of the project. >> Thank you. And then a couple of the other priorities why we selected Hempel and Monarch Development Partners was the missing middle scale rather than you know maximizing the height and the bulk of these buildings. This development team was able and excited to do something that's more in the middle scale. They were also committed to providing commercial space which is an important consideration to the to the city. And then from a walkability and and access they were also very willing to make sure that the site was permeable with sidewalks, plazas, etc. So that it actually contributed to the surrounding neighborhood as opposed to just being an island in the middle of it. So there's those are the outcomes that we think are the highest priority of that list of eight or nine different priorities that we initially were aiming towards. From a fiscal perspective other things that we really found beneficial and desirable in in this proposal was a strong purchase price. I remember I I mentioned that the the proposals range from over a million to just under 6 million. Their purchase proposed price is 4 million dollars. They feel they're able to deliver that price, build the project and use traditional debt and equity to get there so there would not be any need to use tax increment or or any anything like that. The project upon completion will also make a significant contribution to our parks and rec department through the through park dedication fees. That's nothing unique to this project. It's one of the mandatory things in the city code and state law. They'll also make a significant contribution to the city's water and sewer funds. Um again not nothing special to this project but that's just one of the benefits we see from selling it and converting it to owner occupancy rather than apartments. From a tax base perspective after many many years this site would change from a tax exempt to actually paying property taxes. The city has owned this property since 1962. And since 1962 the site has not contributed a penny of tax base to the city, the school, the county or anyone else. Now we used it for city purposes. It was all a good thing but when we sell it to the developer it will automatically become taxable and go on our tax rolls which we like to see. And upon completion when all the commercial townhomes and condos are completed the contribution to the tax base city schools, etc. will be a significant dollar amount. So in the contract it's a pretty traditional real estate contract. Um much more complicated than what you probably signed when you bought a home. This one's about 90 some pages and has lots of terms and conditions. But the highlights of this contract are very similar to what to what you'd find when you purchase any piece of property whether it's land or whether it's a home or a condominium. This is an exclusive right to purchase. It's an exclusive agreement between the city and the development team. Um and for a limited time for about a year or so we will enter and engage only with this only with this developer. Um Um the contract identifies the purchase price. It identifies the earnest money that will be held by the city in case things don't go smoothly and it doesn't work out for the developer. There's terms and conditions where the city could keep that earnest money. In some cases if the city terminates the developer would get their money back. This initial due diligence period lasts for up to a year. So that's about about a 12 month period for the developer to inspect the site, refine the market. Um secure rezoning of the property, secure private financing, get pre-sales on the units and actually start the project going. And that's a big that's a big step, right? So our conversation tonight is really about just getting the contract signed. In the weeks and months ahead the developer will be back with visits to the planning commission and back to the city council looking at the site plan, really refining it and they'll go through the city's traditional process. So they'll go through that sketch that initial sketch plan get that feedback, take it into consideration and then return with a full proposal a few months down the road. So this contract it gives them the right to to enter that process. It doesn't guarantee we're going to approve their first proposal. So the city still holds all the weight as far as rezoning, site plan consideration, engineering requirements, all of those land development rights and authorities the city still retains. So we're not giving anything up. Eventually as the developer works their way through the entitlement system and through the private financing they'll submit to us a phase construction plan. That's one of the key distinctions of rental versus ownership. They're not going to build all the ownership units and just let them sit there. They're going to build them in phases as they have pre-sales they'll build those that wing as they get more pre-sales they'll go on to the next phase and the next and the next. So as they better understand the market they'll they'll give us an outline of what that looks like. The deadline to close is about a year from now. Next February, next March. So this contract does not officially sell the property. It just indicates our intention to sell that property. The actual sale will happen in about 12 months. And then once we close we've also included a deadline to construct. In these multi-phase projects one of the concerns that I always have is that the developer gets started and then maybe the economy changes. We've seen the economy change a lot in the last 10 years. So we included a provision that if the developer doesn't finish the whole site within 5 years the city has the right to purchase the unfinished portions. So the contract identifies the buyback price and it also makes it clear that it's an option. Maybe we want to repurchase it, maybe we don't. But we always like to include flexibility for our council in these types of transactions. So with the with the contract tonight I mentioned this this gets us to the starting line. In the months ahead the developer has a lot of work in front of them. What I've called the next step. So tonight we're just on this first step to consider the sales agreement. In the months ahead the developer will be back looking at rezoning, site plan approvals, layout, engineering, etc. Um Then the developer will market the site and and secure those pre-sales on the units. They'll work through private financing both equity and debt to acquire the land and then and then get the construction going. Um And then eventually come up with a phase development plan and then implement that plan. So I'm glad that we could be at this point tonight after a year of evaluating proposals digging into some of the details and then negotiating a contract that that accurately represents a fair opportunity for the developer and the city to get this done. We certainly do recommend that this contract be approved. So with that Mr. Mayor turn it back to you. Happy to answer any questions. >> Yeah, thanks for that thorough presentation and I think it mirrors well and reflects well on the conversations we had recently about um proceeding further on this matter. So turn to my colleagues to see if they have any questions at this point in time. Council member Agnew. Thank you. Um so the first question that I have because I don't know if I've been through this process now as part of the city council but like how does this structure compare to other land sales that we have done as a city? Sure. Um Well the city doesn't sell land very often. So it's hard to compare that. I think the last time we sold real estate was a vacant single family lot about 12 years ago. So it's we don't do this that often but the contract we used was developed with our city attorney. It's a standard commercial type of type of contract. The distinction here is that we're not just selling the land speculatively. We're selling we don't want someone to buy it and then flip it for double and then we look like we don't know what we're doing. So it's not just selling it. It's selling it conditioned on the fact that they build something. If they fail to get entitlements, if they fail to get private financing, we're not going to close. Um now, we hope they can get all that done, but that that's the key distinction is that it's not just a speculative sale, it's we're selling it to get this property built. Okay. And so, the other thing that kind of just pops into my head that we have purview to are some of the projects that we're not necessarily a part of, but we have been a part of the approval process for, like the Macy's furniture site. Um would you kind of equate something like this that we're doing may and you weren't involved in all those negotiations, but to be similar in structure where they had an agreement to buy the land, but they went through the process of getting all of the approvals of the project before that purchase could then be completed? Uh it's similar in some ways. Again, the key distinction though it um for with that example, when Macy's corporate sold the land, they just wanted the money. They they didn't really care what happened to the land after they exited the ownership string. Um whereas we do care. We're not going to just sell it to sit vacant for another 10 years. We want to sell it to get something great going there. So, the um the structure is a little bit different, but the overall structure of the contract mirrors a traditional commercial contract. Okay, thank you. Um and so, I know that we're targeting approximately 12 months from now, and I'm sure that a lot can happen in between now and then. Um but, what are the specific requirements that we're looking for in order for this closure to happen? I understand that we need to go through and do site approvals and and kind of step through some specific phases, but can you walk me through those at a at a high level um just so that I understand like not exit ramps, but just like where are those different opportunities where if we're not getting what we want as a city, we can move away from this agreement. >> Sure. Um so, at a high level, it's section 3.4 of the contract that identifies what is expected of the developer over the next 6 to 9 months. Um and that is to submit a concept plan, run it through our sketch plan process, get that informal input from the planning commission and then through the city council. Um while we've seen this rough sketch, they'll submit something that's much more refined that actually has measurements and things like that. So far, it's just been pretty drawings. Um uh and then before they can actually close, they have to also follow through what we call the second due diligence period. That's where they need to secure um preliminary rezoning approval and preliminary site plan approval of the new project. So, that solely rests with you, the city council. Um as we've been negotiating with the developer, they have a really strong sense of what you are looking for on this site. It's up to them to deliver it. Uh the contract is very clear that we will be cooperative with the developer. We'll schedule their meetings, we'll hold all the public meetings. It doesn't mean we're going to say yes to everything they they they propose. Um if something goes uh off track, and they submit something that is, you know, far out from what our expectations were, um then we have the right to turn it down. You know, so we're not giving away any rights on this. Um and then once they secure our preliminary zoning, they have to go to final. Then they need private financing, then they've got to submit full construction plans, engineering plans. Um uh these are a level of detail that our building department normally sees, but as a city council, you don't. It's just regulatory. But again, before we sell the land, we want to know that they're building it. Um and sometimes a simple rezoning doesn't mean they're going to build it. They've got to go further than that. So, um the contract has um a whole checklist. I think it's in section seven that has about 14 things that have to be delivered to us before we actually are willing to close. So, there's it's spelled out in excruciating detail. I covered the high level for you. Thank you. Um and then help me understand what happens between I'll just say the like us closing on this agreement, so in approximately 12 months, and that 4-year kind of drop-dead date of like if there's vacancy, we get the option to buy that back. I'm assuming what would happen is changes in the market, difficulty selling units, things like that, but kind of walk me through what that story would look like. >> Sure. And I think this is maybe even where there's some flexibility still, but do you have any idea right now on how they would phase the build-out, or is this potentially something that we can continue to influence phase the build-out to understand, okay, if there is vacant land left, what portion of the lot would that be, etc. Like talk me through that. Right. So, um as we laid out the contract, we laid it out assuming the best case that plans work out as we envisioned. But, working with our city attorney, he he and she always remind me that we also want to identify what if things go off track? What if things don't go as we would expect? So, that's where the buyback clause came in. Um it's too early to give a full phasing um schedule at this point in time. It's really going to depend on the final site plan, and then what is successful in the marketplace. Uh and uh we might want to get into more detail with with uh Mr. McKelvey or Mr. Ronk, but as as I've been in conversation with them for many months, they remind me that the very first phase must completely reimagine and give a whole new impression of the site. If you're a prospective buyer driving past the site today, you see a vacant lot and a whole bunch of construction equipment. Who's going to spend a million dollars or whatever the price point is on a piece of on a on their new home? So, the very first phase needs to be highly visible. It'll most likely be on the southern end with where the restaurant is, and then most likely that next grouping of town homes. So, that when you turn the corner, or you come around the roundabout, or come under the railroad bridge over by by Grandview Square, the first thing that you see gives you the impression that this is a place to live. It's not a vacant lot, it's a neighborhood. So, that'll that'll be the first phase, and then the second phase second, third, fourth phases will proceed from that southern point to the northern point. Um what we don't know is the pace. Do they build four at a time? Do they build 12 at a time? That will really depend on market demand. Um you know, of course, it's easier to to build them all in sequence at once. Um but they sell town homes and condominiums as they have those contracts. So, they're not going to get over their skis and build a whole bunch of speculative things that that sit there. Um so, it's truly too early to get into the detail, but that's generally how the progression of phases would look. Okay, thank you. Um the last question that I have for now at least, um when we go through you went through the key terms of the contract 6.0, um E was developer to confirm how affordable housing goals will be achieved. Um and then I I think what I'm reading of the contract is that we have it written in there of the 40,000 per unit that's being built. So, based off of the off of the slides, I was led to believe like there's still some things that we need to flesh out, but tell me where we're at explicitly on like the affordable housing component, and what questions might still exist. Sure. Sure. Um so, in order to achieve our affordable housing goals, there's a couple of different options in our policy. The easiest is to the easiest we thought was to include the units in the in the project. Um as we got into the detail of the of the market, and we've heard from other condominium owners over in recent years, um the condominium fees are escalating at a pace that far exceeds the ability of an affordably priced homeowner. Um so, condominium fees can run in the range of a thousand dollars a month or more. That's on top of your mortgage. And so, in order to secure a mortgage, if if you're an affordable family, which has a um uh annual income of about 80% of the area income, you might qualify for for the initial mortgage, but you're going to be turned down from that mortgage cuz you won't be able to to afford the mortgage plus the condo fees, which is your insurance, your maintenance, your upkeep, all those things. And so, as we started looking into the the numbers in more detail, we realized that probably is not going to work out. Um now, things could change, right? Uh condominium fees started escalating with insurance a few years ago. I'm not too far back. They could change again, theoretically. Um it's unlikely. So, we negotiated a second option, and that is rather than providing the affordable units on the property. Instead, the developer would make a contribution contribution as they build the units. And it's priced at $40,000 per unit that they build. So, at the end of the day, if they choose that option, which at this point we do think is the most realistic choice, uh the city will end up with a couple million dollars in our affordable housing trust fund that we can use to invest somewhere else in the community for other affordable projects um or affordable units. Um We laid out both options as equal options in the contract, but as we stand here today, I think they're going to do the fee in lieu, and we'll And then the city can choose how to use those dollars in the future. But I I wanted to include both options because things change. I mean, we've seen interest rates change dramatically, insurance rates change dramatically, and I wanted to keep options in there. Okay, thank you. So, we're locking in the 40,000 per unit, the dollar value. Correct. The part that is still up to the developer is as things progress, do they continue with that option, or do they say, "Hey, you know what? We're going to throw some in." That's where we have the the decision is back to them to determine what they're going to do to still meet the uh outline of the contract. >> Sure. And And right now, we've laid it out as two options, either one or the other. I haven't anticipated, well, maybe option one for the first dozen units and maybe option two for the second dozen. Um That kind of blows my mind. So, I I think at this point we'll just leave it as two options. Um uh either do the fee in lieu of delivering the units, or deliver the units. Either would be acceptable for the contract. Through the zoning review process, you'll have another full conversation about that. Um But at this point, as we've discussed so far, uh it seems that the fee in lieu is an acceptable alternative, and so that's why we wanted to get it defined uh for the developer, also to protect our interest. Um You know, that they they wanted a path to have some certainty that there's a path to getting zoning approval. We wanted certainty that we're going to lock in on a number that we're very happy with. I mean, we can do a lot with $2 million. Or what it comes like 2.2. Um So, we wanted to lock that in, and uh they wanted us to get it locked in. Thank you. Council member Pierce. Uh thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um So, just I a couple of questions, and then just um a few comments. Uh maybe I'd start with the comments. Um No, I'll start with the question. Um from a flexibility standpoint, so the this site has been vacant for 13 years. Was it demolished in 2013, I think? Um and we've looked at several options. Um And so, at this stage, we're being asked to approve this resolution. And so, what you're saying, right, we're at the starting line. But there's so much that has to get approved between now and brown gray brown ground breaking. Brown breaking, that's what I >> [laughter] >> And so, can you it just strikes me, and you kind of get a sense of it going through member Agnew's questions, there's so much complexity in there to be at this point. And so, can you describe what's expected from a flexibility collaboration perspective to start at this point and then actually end up with a project that's completed? Cuz we've kind of done this before, and it's still vacant. Yeah. >> So. Yeah, so when we issued the RFP a year ago, we identified We we chose to back off from some of the detail that we used in in the past. We wanted to identify priorities, but we also were clear that we will never achieve every single one of our priorities. We're going to have to leave it to the market. Um uh And so, we still want to stick with that general strategy. The developer ultimately is going to be be responsible for purchasing the land, financing it, building it, selling it, and then having happy homeowners and businesses being there. So, at this point, the only um role that the city will have in the future um is just that regulatory role. Um to to consider the proposal that comes before us in a few months uh for the new project, the site plan and the zoning, the height, the mass, the density. Um That's within our normal regulatory role. Uh and of course, we'll they'll have a traffic study, they'll have engineering, all the other things. Um uh But when it comes to selecting the color of the brick, or the width of the steps, that's completely up to the developer. The city does not have a role in the specific design. We don't have a role in saying, you know, we really think there should be four townhomes per per building rather than three. That's really up to the developer. So, we want We intentionally wanted the city to take a step back and stay in our regulatory lane on this one, um thinking that that would be an a faster and easier path to completion. Uh so, that's how we have this contract laid out. So, how do you How do you keep us in the regulatory lane? Well, that's a great question. >> [laughter] >> Um Think, for example, any other site plan that you've approved over the last couple years. Um uh whether it's a big project like the Macy's furniture site, um uh you uh you know, we held the sketch plan, you provided ideas and concepts, then you came through the review process. Um uh you know, it's typical for any other just like it's the same process we always use. Um In In past projects, years ago on this site, we had long discussions about a community center. We actually did a full study of an an early study on what a community center look like could look like and how it could fit, and how it could shape the rest of the property that a private person might develop. And we found that we were just getting mired in the details, and that was really stymieing the private investment on the site. And so, at this point, we're going to step out and just stick in our lane. Um It's up to you how you uh fulfill that role, but we'll be scheduling public meetings, public hearings, just like we always do. And uh we'll expect you to um to to fulfill your role like you always do. This one um strikes me. It just strikes me that we need to be even more collaborative collaborative along the way. Um Cuz I I I don't want to see us get to a point where And this is hypothetical. I don't like the way this parking ramp is, or I don't like where that sidewalk goes, or I don't like that there are fewer uh or I don't like that we're not offering affordable housing, but we're doing the buyout. And so, because of any one of those, then we don't give approval as a council, and then the project dies. So, it's a little different to me where we are at this point. And so, I'm just encouraging a higher degree of collaboration as we go, because I feel like we'll need to problem solve along the way on this one to ensure that we end up with a good project. Is that fair? Uh that's Is that fair? Uh it's possible >> what I'm saying? Uh that's not what we not how we laid out the contract or the RFP. Um uh Mr. Runk is here, uh and I don't want to speak for him. He can He can put his own two cents in, but um our intention was to sell the land. Yep. Not to design it. Not to um pick where the parking entrance is, and where's the how wide is the stall, and is it surface or is it underground? Not to get into those details, but to leave that to the developer. So, in our regulatory role, we would either say yes, we approve it, or no, we don't. Now, along the way, I think there's uh obviously conversations that happen. Um But at this point, we've not written into the into the contract any mandated mandatory design meetings. I So, to be clear, I am saying we need to stay in our lane, because if we don't, this other stuff may happen. And so, that's what I'm asking. So, how do we do that? And then me saying be more collaborative was actually an offer to say, "Well, if we hit some challenge, I think we probably should talk about that." Cuz if we don't, then I you know, we may not end up with a good solution. So, that's I'm trying to figure out how are we going to actually honor staying in our lane with so much complexity in front of us. So, you you got Um so, I'll continue to manage this process this project in the site as we go through the contract. >> Yeah. Um and I know Carl wants to say something real badly. So, >> [laughter] >> I'll let him speak. Yeah. And we can certainly be collaborative. What I'm I guess where I my hesitation is the last time the city was truly collaborative was when we built Nolan Mains. We had 130 some different meetings. 130 some over a 2-year process. And then that we started construction and then we had more meetings. Um for this site, we don't intend to have anything of that scale. Why Nolan Mains is different is because the city has a stake. We own part of it. We maintain it. We program it. So, we want to be integrally involved. With this site, we want to pick a a good developer, have them come up with the best design, and they have the responsibility. So, not saying that there's a closed door, but I'm not planning on scheduling any mandatory meetings about design. Um So, maybe that project helps you understand why I'm kind of kind of hesitant here. Mr. Mayor, you go over to to to Carl. >> Yeah, yeah, he's got >> [laughter] >> He's eager to share some thoughts, I think. Mark Development Partners. Um I just wanted to add to these comments that my approach as a developer and most recently with being selected by the city of Excelsior to redevelop their city hall with them and their public parking lot into what's now 1 West Drive was a very collaborative process with the staff and council. And that was more of an extreme scenario where we had weekly meetings with them for an entire year. So, there was a lot of communication and collaboration along the way of balancing the city's desires and the market desires to actually finance and get underway, which included a public parking garage. Secondly, I was chosen by the city of Victoria to do a 12-acre expansion of their downtown, which was a similar not as often, but we met with on workshops a number of times before submitting our sketch plat application before then preliminary plat final plat. So, that was this that frequent communication with staff and the council led to better outcomes. And that's our approach here. Um thank you. Thank you. Um and then the only other comment I'll make um just reading through the contract, I I do like the way that we've defined phase one. Um and so, at the completion of phase one like all the roads are done, the utilities are done, the commercial building is done, and at least one townhome complex is there. Um one of the concerns I had, I like the idea of the phased approach. That's really smart to do it that way. But what I wanted to make sure we were doing though is you had a complete community, if you will, as a phase. Like so, you finish you can truly finish everything that's that's intended in phase one, and then the future phases you're adding a additional townhomes. You're kind of extending the scope versus doing a phase one with no commercial and leaving commercial to the end, those types of things. And so, I do like the way this was was laid out. >> We agree with that. That I think for this to be a desirable environment, which it's not today, it just isn't, starting from Eden Avenue going north is our our planned approach we'll present to you at sketch plan where starting with the restaurant anchor building in the corner to create some life on the corner and energy with patio seating, and then planning trees. There's just no trees here, and we want high-caliber large trees we can plant in the green space in the middle that the townhomes and condos are surrounding as phase one. So, we want to start there so it feels livable and and not like it does today. Eden and phase north would be our approach. So. Thank you. Uh Mayor Neundorf, want to come back up? Mr. Runk may have some thoughts on this, too, but I just these are a few questions that are structural in nature in terms of the contract itself. And so, I'm wondering why you guys chose to have two phases for due diligence and why you just didn't have a single 1-year period for due diligence. You got phase one due diligence initial due diligence period of 6 months. And then you've got a you've got a second due diligence period that the way it's drafted, it overlaps the first period, but it nearly gives them another 180 days beyond the initial 180 days to do the the second round of due diligence. What Why Why wouldn't we just have a single due diligence period of a year? >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's possible. The reason we broke it into two pieces was due to due to the uncertainty of whether or not the city council will approve the site plan. So, if they if we did one due diligence period, they would have to invest a lot more money at risk without knowing if they were ever going to even get a building permit. So, we split it into two segments where as a as they start the process if it's just not meeting our expectations, we can both exit the contract um as opposed to waiting even longer and finding out, "Oh, yeah, we really still don't like it." Um well, if there's a no, we'd find that out sooner. Um In the previous contract we had with United, um you know, in that one it was a different type of project. We had an excruciatingly excruciatingly long due diligence period. And we thought that was necessary to get things financed um and at the end of the day we still got nothing to show for it. So, in this contract, we wanted to keep it tight with about a 1-year window, but in case things are not going smoothly, we both wanted to exit early. And that's why we did the two-step. So, to that point, that's a decent logical look at it, I think. Uh but if you get to that second phase of a due diligence, there there's some things that have occurred in the first phase that cause people to want to go to the next phase to keep it going. Correct. But but there's no there's no earnest money tied to that. The only earnest money they're putting down is the $50,000 at the beginning. And if they decide they're going to back out or we decide it's not going forward in the first 6 months, they get their money back, which is consistent with I think the way you'd expect things to work. But what happens if we get into that second phase of due diligence and then we're not at the 360-day mark and the and the and the deal craters out, what happens to the $50,000 in earnest money then? Sure. So, so, if we approve the contract tonight, the developer has 5 days to deposit that initial $50,000 with us. Um that shows their good faith effort that they're going to work at light speed to get a proposal submitted and get it running through our process. Um if they come to the city council for that preliminary approval after going to the neighbors and the planning commission um if they get our city council approval then within 5 days of that, they'll have to give us $150,000 additional money to keep going. Okay. If they get to that preliminary zoning point and the city council chooses to say no, the site plan just isn't what we envisioned, it's not what we are expecting, it's not doesn't meet our standards or nor our expectations as a seller, then we exit and the $50,000 goes back to the developer. Um but after they after they get a preliminary zoning, at that point we'll have $200,000 earnest money. If they choose to back out, if the market tanks, if it's the market demand isn't there, if they exit after that point, then the city keeps the money. Okay. All right. So, that's that's good. Uh that because we're taking it off the market basically for that period of time and we get the preliminary approvals done, they decide not to go forward for some reason, there's a there's a penalty for that. There's compensation to us for having taken it off the market for that period of time. >> Correct. Correct. Project's stopping through no fault of ours. Correct. And and that's we decided to go with a little bit higher amount and a little bit shorter time frame because last summer we interviewed 500 developers. And we could have selected any one of them to build on this site. There's others we didn't even choose to interview. Um and so, you know, we feel that this development team is the best to to achieve this balance of goals. But you know, at this point we've we've chosen not to continue conversations with those other four. So, we're hoping this one works, and if it doesn't, then we will be reimbursed to some degree. >> Well, this helps me understand the structural part of it and what you were thinking about in terms of protecting us if this deal doesn't go through and we're in phase two of due diligence and we've got they've got approvals in place. And then they then the buyer decides not to go forward for some reason, any reason. Right. >> That 200,000 stays with the city. >> Right. Okay. The other things I thought were good about it were those definition of minimum improvements. I think that was important have in there. And then your section 3.5 on contingencies that you and our city attorney worked out with um with the applicant. With the buyer. Thought that was a good idea too and they had all those in there. Protecting >> Protecting both parties really. It's good to have an experienced city attorney that has several contracts available that have worked and have been successful in other places to apply here. So yeah, I think we've got a good team on this one. >> That that satisfies my questions for now. So because the city's selling land and then there's a regulatory process involved, it's a little bit unusual. I mean it's it's kind of like you're somewhere between a LOI, a letter of intent, and a true contract where somebody's buying something contingent. I'm sure that's I remember remember Agnew mentioned that. That um somebody's buying something like the Macy's Home Store site, but it's all contingent on whether or not they get the approvals from the city that are required. Right. And then they step up and close. Right. >> So we've got a little bit different situation here. Um So thanks everybody for working diligently on this uh hybrid type of purchase agreement. Um what you're looking for, Manager Neuendorf, is really a there's kind of three parts of it the way I break it down. There's a motion to uh number one adopt resolution 2026-16 approving the sale of the property at 5146 Eden Avenue uh as described in the purchase agreement. And then number two approve a contract for private development with uh Hempel Real Estate and Monarch Partners DBA Arcadia Avenue Partners LLC. And then three, authorize staff to carry out the terms and conditions of the of the purchase agreement. That's correct. >> That correct? Okay. Is there someone that cares to make that motion? So moved. I second. >> Uh yeah, Member Pierce moves and Member Agnew seconds the motion as stated to adopt resolution 2026-16 approving the sale of the property located at 5146 Eden Avenue, approve a contract for private development with Hempel Real Estate and Monarch Partners DBA Arcadia Avenue Partners LLC, and authorize staff to carry out the terms and conditions uh therein set forth therein. Any further discussion? Those in favor of adoption of the motion as stated say I. I. I. Opposed? Carried. The motion's adopted. And uh thank you, gentlemen, for being here this evening. And uh eager to get to work. Right. Yeah, I'm sure you are too. >> Yeah. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Now we're going to move on to the last uh action item of the evening and that is uh looking at the Braemar Park Master Plan and uh some things that we need to take care of from an enhanced parking standpoint and then also looking at some pickleball opportunities. And uh And we both both got Rachel DeReese and uh our park and rec director, Perry Vetter, with us this evening, but I think you're going to make the presentation. >> Yep. >> All right. I'll go ahead and take it away. Um thank you, Mayor and City Council Members, for having me today. I just wanted to do a brief update. We've talked a lot about Braemar Park in the past um about how it's got a lot of cogs moving um a lot of phases that were going to happen just because some things were shovel ready and other things took further investigation. Um tonight I just wanted to um provide an update on something that we have briefly touched on, but now has been refined, and that's the improvements at the Golf Dome and trailhead parking with pickleball. So again, just to go a little bit over the Braemar Park Master Plan, we've looked at a couple of these different components. They include a pedestrian trail system, which include hiking trails, additional shared use trails that will be with the Hillary Lane and Braemar Boulevard addition, um the great mountain biking trail system that has been added in 2024 that's the community is loves. Um the the ski trail system, which sadly is only come into play once since um we implemented this um just weather has not been cooperating. Um but we we're able to groom that one time this year. Um and then the natural resources work, which includes all of the restorations up in the hill lands with um oak savannas and woodland areas. And then kind of the last item of the master plan it was site improvements. So this is kind of the civil um infrastructure. So this included parking lot improvements, um the improvements to the Courtney fields, um and then also some of the uh road work as well. So specifically tonight we're just going to talk about um this phase that includes the Braemar Golf Dome site improvements. Um when looking at this project, we had quite a few goals. So our first one and foremost was to improve improve site safety. Um the next one was to again incorporate trail users so that new um trail network um able to get used for a trailhead facility, but also um an area with access to restrooms for them as well. Um also to in incorporate future road plans. So this is that Hillary Lane Braemar Boulevard. Um maximize our recreational potential, incorporate pickleball needs, and then minimize any barriers and impacts. So taking these goals and working on balancing them is why this project took a little bit of extra time. So the first thing I just want to touch on is the parking challenges. So this was that site safety goal. Um right now we have um kind of a parking issue. Uh we did do do a a temporary um ease of this a little bit. Um the uh golf staff worked with the engineering department to add shoulders for off um off-street parking. This added additional spaces, but even in our um recordings we found this still was not enough space. Um so we we observed between 30 and 46 cars outside of the parking lot, which is more than maximizing that road shoulder. Um to give you an idea, um 745 daily visitors happen to the Braemar Golf Dome um with 10% happening during these peak times. So that leaves over 20 cars every time um a peak happens. So with this we looked into again, how how can we do a parking expansion to accommodate this and make a permanent solution. Um so we looked again at at our existing conditions. We had 58 stalls to work with. We identified that we likely would need another 50 in order to accommodate the needs of the Golf Dome. Um the other thing that we're looking at is the existing um Golf Dome season. It's a very busy season of November through April. Um high use during that and then the parking lot doesn't get used in that off-season really. Um so we looked at um the two entry points, how we could alleviate some of this um parking issues, and then also work with some of the limitations of the sight lines. The other item that we really want to incorporate in this project was how do we bring in the master plan pickleball request. Um so we are in dire need of additional pickleball courts here in the City of Edina. Um so we really wanted to find a location that again would minimize um any of our barriers and and our impacts to the neighborhood. Um and so we identified this location for the pickleball um facility. One piece that we found too is that um we are in also in dire need of practice locations. Um Rosland is a great um court area, but is very busy and it's hard to schedule um either younger or lessons in these in that area. So an opportunity for us to um host more of our programming. So we identified the location that could allow for four additional um pickleball courts. So just to to kind of remind you of an evolution that I think I mentioned in one of our updates, but we're looking at how do we incorporate pickleball in this location. Um one of the options we looked at was the parking lot expansion plus pickleball courts. When we looked at this option, we were looking at 10,000 square feet of additional impervious surfaces added. Um and also 25,000 square feet of oak woodlands and over 50 oaks impacted. Um we thought that this was something we needed to further investigate. Um we really wanted to look at how can we reduce the amount of hard surface, especially when it's hard surface that's not getting um utilized. How can we reduce the number of tree impacts that we have? How can we really maximize the recreational potential of the space? Um with the pickleball practice facility and the trailhead, and then how um do we set ourselves up for EV ready infrastructure as well? So this is the design that we've landed on. Um it's uh a combination of items. Um today we're I'm here to ask you for approval for our pre-construction package. Um this is just our tree removal package um which was time sensitive needing an April completion due to sensitive, um, species of the long-eared bat habitat. Um, and then we'll come to you later with request for the actual parking lot expansion. Um, but I did want to just talk about the whole project so that you know the second ask while I'm giving the first ask, um, cuz they are tied together. So, this is a parking lot expansion. We're looking at the addition of 50 additional spots. Um, this layout would improve sight lines and flow. It would also have a very critical trailhead connection, um, which would connect both the hiking trails and the mountain biking trails. Um, the other item is we would have a dual-purpose area with a pickleball practice facility. So, kind of just to talk a little bit about what this would look like. Um, we will have a we'll have some permanent fences. We'll have some temporary netting. Um, and then the surfacing that will be used, actually I'm going to just going to run back to that pickleball slide. Um, it will be tournament-style play surfacing. So, this will be over the asphalt. So, we will seasonally put this out as soon as the golf dome closes and then take it back up before the golf dome opens again. So, this parking area will be used for pickleball for a little large season. I went the wrong way. Sorry. Um, and then doing a few storm water improvements, we do have an underground cistern, but in order to accommodate that the new hard surface, we did have to do a little bit of work to Hillary, um, Lane as well. So, there will be some Braemar Boulevard Hillary Lane closures, um, but it will be very very limited this summer. Um, and then some utilities will need to be relocated, but all of this will be done after the golf dome season is over. Um, so we're looking at starting this project in June for that portion of it. It's just this April, um, deadline for the the tree removals. Um, so we again, we while looking at this project, we did a lot of balancing. We did a lot of looking at what are our barriers, what are the impacts that we're going to have, how do we maximize the space. Um, that being said, you know, we did a good job of balancing as much as we could, but there will still be impacts. Um, so one thing I did want to just touch on is um, our forestry goals. So, I'm coming to you with a a tree removal and grubbing package. So, I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about what our goals are for Braemar Park as a whole. 500 acres, um, we've had really successful restoration work that's going on and we will um, continue with this. So, kind of our goals for forestry in Braemar Park are again to support the existing and restored ecotypes, establish again a healthy canopy coverage, but also work on succession planting. So, in addition, look at small seedlings with some of those larger canopy trees. Looking again at increasing the diversity. We have oak savanna in some areas. We will support that ecotype, but we'll look at introducing some new species, um, that are climate resilient. We also really understand that the Hillary Lane and Braemar Boulevard drive is an experience in itself. So, how do we support that experience as you, um, drive through that space, but also as you walk through those spaces. So, creating an experience, making sure that it's a sustainable landscape that we're able to maintain. Um, we've already started this investment. Um, in 2025, we had an amazing turnout for Arbor Day. Um, a group helped us to plant 200 trees, which is about 25,000 square feet of resilient woodland canopy that we added already. Um, we were able to work through some storm-damaged areas and add buffer plantings, um, and and we're also working through restoration plantings and invasive suppression, and then have um, planned some future planting events. Um, so again, some some work with staff and then also future Arbor Days planned for there as well. So, with that, I I can take any questions on, um, on the Braemar Park project, um, but the action item tonight is just, um, the approval of the purchase request for the, um, site grubbing, the tree removals and grubbing. So. Questions, council members? Council member Regno? Thank you. Um, so I'm going to start with the the tree removal part of it. Um, I know it's hard to do, but can we move any of the trees or are they all going to die? So, there are 13 oaks that have been identified that were 10 plus DBH. So, we're looking at about 196, um, DBH that would be all of them combined. With oaks, it gets very sensitive in their replacements. There also are woodland oaks versus specimen oaks. Um, so most of them have a fair condition already, um, just because of the the environment they they've been growing in. So, a transplant would be a very difficult for it. However, we have also tagged them to save all of those for wood in the wood, the program that Luther works with, um, where we save the oaks for for wood projects that we do. So, that's one of the ways that we found to to resell them. Okay. Thank you very much. Um, and then going to the parking / pickleball courts, uh, describe to me a little bit more about how this works. So, is it like sheets that get picked up and stored somewhere, um, or is it like we're just painting? No. So, what it it's going to be is it's actually, um, a tournament-style matting material. So, it's a lot of a lot of times you'll even see this in indoor courts. Um, it's a rubber matting material. Um, it's 4 by 4 squares that go down. So, we would um, put them down and take them up every season. Um, the reason for something like that versus painting is when you add on things like motor oil leakage or things like that, the play surface doesn't become, um, safe anymore. So, this is a good alternative to that and it's something that is replaceable as well if anything happens. And thank you for pulling up this picture again cuz part of my curiosity is, are there other examples of the underlying surface being used for other purposes? Because especially with like vehicles and I mean, we drive outside now and it's all potholes right now, which we're really great at filling back up. Um, but when I think about what deterioration might happen underneath the surface and what impact could that have to playing, speak to what I'm sure is extensive analysis that has already been completed, but just help me understand how that works. So, it'll have an asphalt playing surface underneath, which is something that's easy for us to maintain and repair if potholes happen or if we need to do patching, um, of that nature. The the nice thing about this again, this matting material is it will remove any of those trip hazards or things that like cracks would create. Um, this this ideal playing surface with this rubber matting makes it so it's one smooth playing area. So, um, then it's really just the underlayment repairs that we need to do seasonally. Okay. And are there examples? Like, what's this picture of? Is this like a So, this is a parking lot? Um, so this is they do a lot of tournaments. So, a lot of times they'll do large-scale tournaments. Um, the the vendor who creates this is called Pickle Roll, um, and they do it for both indoor and outdoor applications. I There are not any in the metro that have been used for this style. Um, a lot of people will use what's known as SportCourt, which is more like, um, a mesh system. Um, in discussions with people who play pickleball, that is not an ideal surface for them to play on, which which is where we we lean more towards this tournament-style, um, material. So. Thank you. Yeah. Council member Pierce? Um, I just thank you for the presentation. I really didn't have any additional questions. I just, um, thought that this was a creative, um, solution, um, to get full use of that space because you've got two sports that are kind of opposite, um, prime time from each other. Um, and so I I thought this was a really creative, um, way to do it. So, this, uh, potential project involves also taking 50 trees? Nope, that was the other one. That was only 13. 13 of them? >> So, we were able to reduce it to just 13. Okay. Yep. And then, uh, how does the tree policy affect us? For this, it doesn't affect us. So, we're we're going off of the Braemar Park forestry goals for it. Is that the You know, I I'm out there seems like, um, at least once a month on a Sunday in the wintertime and people are parking on both sides of the street where there's no parking signs and but there's plenty of room for people to drive through when they're on the shoulders. They just go through carefully. So, I'm wondering is this really worth it, you know, anyways and then I think about over at the golf course. We've got that We've got part of that one nine, the third nine that's not being used at all. Why couldn't we or maybe you did look at putting pickleball courts over there. You know, where the where the lot of them stage up in that little pad parking lot to go on the mountain biking trails. Mhm. Why we couldn't go into that hillside a little bit with some pickleball courts and put them in there on a permanent basis and So, I'm just I'm just not really convinced that this is a great idea and then you're getting rid of 13 oak savanna trees and I haven't been out there since this proposal came to us, but I want to go back out and look again. I do think it's a little bit scruffy to the north of the existing parking as I remember driving in there. And so there there there's some possibility there for something in the terms of expansion, but I I'm not really convinced there's as much of a safety risk in having people park at least on one side of Bremer Boulevard or both of them. I I don't think anybody's been hurt out there. Has been any accidents? We've been They've been park doing that for 3 years. So, I think I can speak to that one. This is a temporary condition. We're going to reconstruct Hillary Lane in roughly about 5 years where we want to add bike lanes and sidewalks and if we don't remove those cars from the side, we're going to be taking probably more trees off the sides to get all the bike ped facilities through there. We know it's a highly cycled corridor, highly walked. People are walking in the street. So, we got to keep in mind that future street which we've started doing the design with this to understand the storm water piece. So, I'll just add the the future goals for that street here coming up. Yeah, well, that's helpful to think that there's a future vision there that involves something other than parked cars. And it does. Yep. Mostly parked pickup trucks. Uh and SUVs. Um Director Vetter. Yeah, Mayor and members of the council, thank you. Uh we did look at um pickleball actually on the golf course uh near the clubhouse site as well. That was kind of an early indication. Uh some of those areas were adjacent to the 10 fairway. Um so, on the eastern edge um just to the north of the golf course. That really impacted um playability of number 10. Um putting that location there. It also put the players a little bit at risk of um those individuals that may not um they may be more entry level or have a bad day >> Yeah, I can see that. I can see that adjacent to the That would be problematic adjacent to the 10th hole. Yeah. I'm thinking of further over. Yeah, and then as far as the for that area of the old nine, um that's actually an area where our um golf staff is currently studying where that might be additional areas for future practice lesson teaching space. >> Right. Um for those individuals that know the capacity of the driving range, even though it's been expanded, is always tight and especially those practice areas. So, we really run tight in those areas for uh the lesson program, um teaching programs and additional practice space on that golf course location. So, that's what we selected here with what Mr. Milner said. Well, um I don't have any information on actual accidents. It is something that our patrons do raise a lot to us is the safety of that roadway getting clubs out of their vehicles and then crossing. I can see from this photo too that it reminds me that on the northern edge of the parking lot, it's mostly scruff brush first. Yeah. And then you have to go a little deeper to get to the trees. Yeah. And I think but if I remember years gone by, what people were mostly worried about was the oak savanna that exists between Bremer Ice Arena and the golf dome where it's really healthy and and robust and and thick. And it's thinner thinner to the north of the golf dome, I think. Yeah, there's actually like I mentioned that that when we looked at pushing it for further north and adding that pickleball, that's where most of those tree impacts. So, again, the difference between 13 and 50. Oh, sorry. Thank you. That So, again, when we if you pushed further north, is that is when you really hit that impact. So, we really only have 13, which is just kind of that edge that you can kind of see in that um aerial there, too. Any that prompts you from anybody? Okay. So, what you'd like um permission to do some uh bushwhacking, grubbing in there. Motion to approve the purchase request for reconstruction tree removal and grubbing at Bremer Park with Castle Rock Contracting and Tree Service for $39,420. Would anybody feel comfortable making that motion? So moved. I second. Motion by member Pierce, second by member Agnew. Both kind of concerned but supportive. I'd say. Yeah, I think you made some good points. Like I'm I'm always about should we not have more parking and should we save the trees? Um So, I don't know. I think you just got me thinking about that, but I don't I don't know. I thought I'm I'm you know, I guess from going from 50 taking being taken 50 to taking 13 is an improvement, but I do think um Member Pierce, yeah, please. So, I I think it I think it's a really um creative solution. Um and I am kind of six of one, half dozen of the other on the the tree issue. This one to me is different because what we're doing is adding a recreational um element for the community. And um the reduction from 50 to 13 um and so it it feels Yeah, we are taking out the 13 trees, but the resulting uh amenity for the community um I think I I think it it increases the value of what we're trying to do here as opposed to if we were clear cutting or something like that, that would feel different to me. And I think the way that this will nestle in there, I actually think it'll be fairly attractive the way it will nestle in there. Oh, it'll look It would look great. >> Yeah. Yeah. You You You put kind of a balancing test on it. Yeah. I decided that slightly favors public amenity or enhanced recreational facility >> Yeah. against the loss of 13 trees. It's a good explanation. Member Agnew, that cause you any further Have any further thoughts on it? No. All right. Um Yeah, I'm going to uh it's hard to I'm reluctantly say going to support it, too, but it's challenging, but I I get I like the way member Pierce approached it with that balancing test. Um and I'm sitting here looking at part of the golf course, too, and thinking about all the trees we took out there. And it's beautiful. Right. We create what we needed to create over there for a a public facility, a first-rate public facility. So, um any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the motion as stated, say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Carried. Got uh modest go ahead from the council. [laughter] All right. Well, we're at the end of the uh meeting um There was some commission correspondence, joint advisory communication on Wooddale Avenue bike lane project. Who was taking [clears throat] that up first, commenting on that? Was that Yeah, you're just accepting it this evening and then myself and Andrew Skippy only will be back after collecting community feedback to ask either for support or no support for a no parking resolution along Wooddale. And then we'll know whether the council supports removing parking, putting the bike lanes as this advisory speaks to or some of the comments you're hearing from the community that they want to keep the bike parking lane. So, we'll be back probably in May to have that discussion. It's part of our mill and overlay program on Wooddale this year. So, there's an opportunity to restripe the lanes, so we're having that conversation. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Uh manager's comments. Uh thank you, Your Honor. I have just one tonight and that's the 2026 student commissioner annual um update of the selection process that starts here in April, you know, second week of April. Um we have done this a few different ways over the years. Uh what we're looking for is just some council preference tonight about whether you'd like to have two council members kind of take this on, two community members take this on, or a community member and a council member take this on. There's kind of three basic models. We've done all three of them in the past at one time or another. You don't have to make this decision tonight. We have another council meeting before April 10th, and that's April 10th is just the opening of the applications. But are there any If anybody has strong feelings about it or preferences, we'll take them. Just let you know. Yeah. All right, very good. Council Member Pierce, anything? Thanks, Mr. Mayor. I just had one maybe brief update. So, Member Jackson and I, with our assistant city manager, did review the RFP for replacing Manager Neil, who has elected to retire. We went through that. We have We made some adjustments to it, and then we sent that back out to the rest of the council. And one of the things that we did talk about was ensuring that we have some representation from the community. And the suggestion that we made was to connect with MJ to get some sense from her how we might want to go about that. One of the things we talked about was utilizing the community associations. And this thought that well not every community has an association, so needing to think through the best way to do that. But we are off and running and doing what we can to ensure that we get the right person in here as a replacement early enough that we have ample time to do onboarding as well. So. Okay, good. Yeah, thanks for doing that work. Council Member Regina? I don't have anything tonight. Thank you. On that topic of our retiring city manager, I did a mayor's minute today. It'll be starting to be broadcast tomorrow that residents of our community should be thinking about the four questions that are existing for folks in the broader public to respond to involving qualities or characteristics of the person that you'd like to see hired as the city manager. And those comments, observations from the public are due in by the 31st of March. So, get on the city website and take a look at that and encourage you all to participate. Um And to the point that Member Pierce was making, we want to make sure that we have somebody on board. Manager Neil is retiring on January 8th of 2027. And we want to give that person that comes in a little bit of runway to get comfortable in their position. And then just one other quick observation. I saw somebody sent me some film footage from one of the Senate hearings on I think it was some gun legislation involving the schools. And Aditi Ja, who was here with us last month, the last meeting, I guess, who was one of the state debate champions, was over there testifying. And somebody sent me a clip of her testimony, and it was very compelling. And our own Senator Ron Latz was running that hearing, and he had a big grin on his face when he called on her, and then even bigger grin when she finished her testimony. So, she represented us well. Um And that's all I have this evening, too. So. Is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. I second. We got a motion and second to adjourn the meeting of the City Council for the City of Edina this Tuesday, March 17th, 2026 at 9:06 p.m. Any further discussion? All those in favor of of adjournment, say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Carried. City Council of the City of Edina stands adjourned.