and welcome to the Adina City Council meeting. It is March 3rd, 2026, 7:05 p.m. I apologize for the bit of a tardy start. We had a work session upstairs, but it took some time and effort on the different some different uh subjects. So, we'll call uh the meeting to order here in just a moment, but I just want to remind you of what director Benerroat uh uh had told you a few minutes ago, and that is we're doing these meetings in a hybrid sort of fashion, so people can be watching remotely and call in. Uh we don't have any public hearings this evening. They could normally call in for public hearings. We do have community comment. They can call in and talk to us if they wish to. And for folks calling in or folks here, if it's something on the agenda this evening or scheduled for a future public hearing, uh it's not something that you can address in community comment. Otherwise, uh any other topic, we're willing to hear about your concerns. Um and so having provided that information, uh I'm going to call the meeting to order and ask our clerk Sharon Allison to call the role. >> Council member Agne >> here. Council member Jackson >> here. >> Council member Pierce >> here. >> Council member Risser >> here. >> Mayor Hublin >> here. Let's pledge allegiance to the flag. 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 for that, folks. Um, we've got a meeting agenda that's been published to the public, and there's one specific item on there that, uh, staff has asked to remove. Um there was some miscommunication I think with some of the neighbors and so we're going to move this to a a later meeting. Uh we're not going to are we going to reset it for a future meeting at this point in time or >> I don't think we ready to target it yet but it's probably going to be one of the meetings in April. Okay. >> Let's just pull it so we can get through the process. Make sure we communicate. >> Okay. Good. Uh I know there's somebody here that at least one person that would like to speak to it tonight. So why don't we approve the agenda and with the deletion of item 6.14 from the agenda. Is there a motion to that effect? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Member Agnu moves the motion as stated to adopt the agenda with the exclusion of 6.14. U member Pierce seconds. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the uh amended agenda with the deletion of 6.14 say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Carried. We have an agenda to work from. Um, and let's go then to uh community comment. It's come right up on us here and we've got folks in the audience, I'm sure, that want to visit with the council about matters of concern to them. And we'll take people in the chambers first and then we'll go to people that might be online. And please give us your name and address. And just a reminder that you'll have three minutes and you'll get a yellow warning light when you got 30 seconds to go. And you know how to manage time well. We know that. >> Yeah. You let us know when you're ready to go. And then you've got a handheld microphone there. I think is that'll be helpful. Just give us your name and no address. >> Tap it, Mr. Zickert, and see if it's >> There you go. Mayor, council members, my name is Ralph Zickert. I'm here to revisit an issue. Previously, I've given manager Neil a failing grade, having led the council down the rosy path of a so-called 8% property tax levy. Why? Because managers manager Neil's first and most significant action was to add a $1 million search charge to our gas and electric bills. And his second action was to have Henipin County pick up half a million dollars of Adina's expenses only to add it to the county's tax bill. And third, the yet undocumented deferral to a future year of millions in projected capital spending. All of which resulted in a 2026 budget supported by optics, not substance. Those are the facts. But my question tonight was is was it more than just a bad process focused on optics? I revisit this issue because of information that just came to my attention this past month. Mr. Neil has been moonlining. The only question is to what extent. For my part, I was unaware that manager Neil had established a private consulting business two years ago and that for the last two years, manager Neil has been moonlighting. In January 2020 2020 2024, the same month manager Neil signed a three-year employment agreement. He co-founded Neil Family Consulting LLC, a private Wisconsin-based consulting business, a role not listed on the Adina website, not listed on Mr. Neil's LinkedIn page, and Mr. Neil is so proud of his role as Adina City Manager that he chose not to include it on his consulting website. Though he does list a number of other titles, titles only made possible by his role as a Dina city manager. One is left to guess why. Maybe Google search to his credit manager Neil did not report his side I'm sorry. To his credit, manager Neil did report his side hustle on the statemandated statement of economic interest 12 months after he registered his business. Personally, I find it concerning that the most recent statement was a signed after a public data request, b signed after the state mandated filing deadline, and c the last three years all appear to be filled out with the same green marker. not exactly a go-to color for an official state document. So, was it just optics? Or was Manager Neil comfortable with kicking Adina's fiscal problems down the road with a series of unsound and unsustainable budgetary actions just long enough to slip out the door, leaving behind a title wave of doubledigit tax levies, all to be laid at the feet of the next city manager. >> Mr. I need >> the only question is the oversight is the council exercising. >> All right. Thank you for wrapping up your comments. Anyone else in the audience wish to address the council on a matter of concern to them? And if you don't have an overhead, you want to stand at the side, I think, and just give us your name. That's all you need to do. >> Yeah. Um Allison Schumacher. Good evening, council. My name is Allison Schumacher, and I'm here this evening to voice my concerns and pointed frustration with the public works department. My item 6.14 was on the consent agenda for this evening. However, it was removed by staff at approximately 11:00 a.m. today, cited as a miscommunication. I'd like you all to know there wasn't a miscommunication, but rather a lack of following process as communicated and documented to me. I had been told my petition would be reviewed during the spring months once traffic patterns were more reasonable for the area. I was stunned to find my item was up for discussion tonight as I hadn't been notified again as I had been told. Over the weekend, I immediately began my work of reading the posted report, understanding the data, familiarizing myself with reference guidance, and engaging with my other concerned neighbors. Despite scratching my head and not recognizing any additional equipment placed in my intersection in the past two months, I persisted. This weekend, work even included an intersection visit by a council person. In conversation with the public works department, it was noted that one individual wasn't even aware of this part petition or intersection on the agenda this evening, and he'd have to do some digging when I called Friday, as he hasn't recently reviewed any of the data. Additionally, upon researching the guidance, I identified that the current MN MUTCD wasn't referenced and the basis of the decision-making was outdated and no longer included in the current version published in October of 2025. You all have received plenty of emails the past few days with various examples to bring further awareness of what we've experienced during our time on Brookview. I raised this for an awareness and questioning of how many other resident concerns are pushed aside in hopes that residents don't notice a simple approval of the consent agenda during Tuesday council meetings. I find it unacceptable to dismiss residents concerns and I would like to note that I now learned through this process via email that Edina refrains from reviewing repeat requests due to limited staff resources. I was prepared for this item to be discussed. I prepared materials that were sent to you all this evening for this discussion. And despite the denial of my petition, I was hopeful that like other similar requests of Edina neighborhoods, the council would dig deeper to understand and challenge this conclusion. Unfortunately, now no action is going to be taken this evening. Due to this unfortunate delay and lack of following the due process and lack of action, I'd like to request for con councel in recent in or soon meetings to approve a trial of a four-way stop sign at my intersection. This intersection has had repeated requests as we continue to experience firsthand accounts of dangerous situations with pedestrians, bicyclists, and trucks and cars. There are three to four bus stops in the vicinity with young children who are required to get across that street to their homes. We are the next generation that has moved in and have the same concerns as those who stood up for this issue in the past 15 years. We are not going to go away. Please take our action and protect the neighborhood, including our young children who should be allowed safer streets. I invite you to drive the intersection and not slow your speeds to make your own conclusions about what's appropriate for traffic controls. Thank you. >> Thank you, Muer. Good evening. >> Evening. Uh, sorry I did not fill out a card, but happy to. Uh, Stacy Shoeister Shfeld. I am one of Allison's neighbors. And I want to thank you for at least agreeing to delay. Uh, which we do appreciate even though, um, as Allison cited, there were a numerous issues um, as to why it was going to be, uh, on the the agenda tonight. But thank you for at least agreeing to hear us out at a later point. Uh just to echo Allison's point, there are 13 families with young children, and by young I mean families with children either in elementary school or younger that live within a oneb block radius of the intersection that she is referencing of those families. U the majority of us have at least two and sometimes three kids and it is a main thoroughfare on our kids' way to Ardan Park. Uh there have been numerous occasions where I myself have had to physically stand in the intersection and push kids either mine or our neighbors kids out of the way as cars zoom by without any consideration. Understandably they can't see uh you know my daughter's probably 2 and 1/2 ft tall. They can't see her and are not forced to stop. We are asking for the council to please review this. As Alison said, we invite you to come uh and see all of the kids playing in the neighborhood and whose lives frankly are at risk. and we hope that it does not take a tragedy uh in order to inspire action but rather to think proactively about how we can keep our kids in our neighborhood safe. Uh I am a lifelong resident of Edina. I was born here and after moving moving away for a number of years decided to locate my family here because of the safety and all the other amenities uh that we have to offer. and we're just really trying to maintain our kids and ours as well as uh drivers safety um and asking for the consideration of the stop sign. So, thank you in advance. We appreciate it. >> Yeah, thanks for being here. Thanks for that input. >> Good evening. >> Good evening. Thank you for having me. My name is Joy Vote. Um I'm a resident of Edina. I moved here in 2018. and you probably um have to live under a rock to not know what's going on in our city right now with regard to the ICE occupation. I would like to address that as part of my comments tonight. First and foremost, um we are tracking um informally nearly six ICE enforcements that have happened within the city limits um within city boundaries. Um, I can give you specific details on that if there's interest in understanding and looking into those specifically. I think as a a citizen who cares about the community and who believes that we are better um when we are rich with diversity and culture and ethnicity, um I think those the the question that I want to have um answered at some point um in a future agenda topic is what is our city doing in order to keep our residents safe? The second question or second comment that I want to bring up that I think needs to be addressed is um we need to do something about preventing evictions um as long as ICE is occupying our city. So there are families in our city who are afraid to leave their homes and go to work because of the fact that they are being targeted by this administration. And so the question that I would like to raise is is are there ways that we can work with those community members and and maybe the rental, you know, the the companies that offer rentals to ensure that they're not evicted because they are behind on payments for rent. So those are the two issues that I would like to raise um and maybe address at a future council meeting. So thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Note. Thanks for being here. Anyone else in the audience? >> Hello. Um, I'm Laura Lukans. I'm an eina resident and mom of three with children in EPS. I'm here to speak about the lawful gambling ordinance. I really appreciate that you've paused to study the topic more carefully and I'd like to raise some questions to consider. In the very first presentation you heard on this topic, lawful gambling was described as a win for all stakeholders. But it's hard to see how everyone wins if the revenue comes from gambling losses. I encourage you to ask, who will those losses come from? Will they come from country club members who play pull tabs at the Interlockan Pub and view gambling as an entertainment expense? I'm cool with that. or from senior citizens at the Hilltop who see gambling as a way to supplement their fixed income. That gives me pause. Or from low-wage workers whose families are supported by the nonprofits that these proceeds are meant to help. Perhaps you're thinking pull tabs are different than real gambling. They're not that addictive. I tend to agree, but my understanding is that this ordinance would legalize more than paper pull tabs, and I haven't heard that acknowledged yet. Just look down the street at Smack Shack on France. On busy nights, you'll find paper pull tabs and a large roulette style wheel. There's also electronic pull tabs, which aren't actually pull tabs. To play, grab a tablet loaded with slot machine type games. Tap the screen and watch the symbol spin. It's a fast, addictive way to win or lose a lot of money. Bloomington's lawful gambling ordinance allows this. Will ours? Lastly, I encourage you to spend more time considering which nonprofits will benefit. If eligibility isn't clearly defined, you may deviate from the potential that seem to get you most excited about lawful gambling in the first place, supporting EPS affiliated nonprofits, and you may create effects that haven't been fully considered. One category I haven't heard discussed is faith-based organizations. Houses of worship and faith affiliated schools are valued parts of our community. But is it the city's place to help religious entities with fundraising? That's a policy choice that deserves explicit discussion. So, as you continue your review, I encourage you to focus on these questions. Who will the gambling losses come from? And does that align with our community values? How will that revenue be generated? Through paper pull tabs only or through games that are more casinol-like. Lastly, which nonprofits will benefit? Are you comfortable with the possibility of EPS affiliated nonprofits being shut out? If you limit the benefits to EPS, have you done enough to engage families regarding this new gambling driven funding source for our schools? These are tough questions, ones that require thoughtful public engagement. I thank you for taking the time to pause and consider this issue from all angles because this one's more complex than meets the eye. Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Good evening. >> Hi. Good evening. My name is Alyssa Pancratz. Um I just wanted to do a quick circle back. when your council does have an opportunity to discuss the um stop sign request that was removed from the agenda tonight. I just wanted to um give you a little bit of background information. I also live on Brookiew. I've lived there for 20 years. I I led the the charge to get a stop sign at that intersection in 2010 when there were three accidents within one year at that intersection. And then we tried again in 2011 after a little girl was um hit on her scooter by a car at that intersection. And it's really a unique intersection. I'd just really um ask you to consider coming out and looking at it when you guys are discussing. It's not um it's just not as straightforward I think as every intersection in that neighborhood. And um I know it's I think it's come up a couple times since 2010 and 2011 with some requests. I'm sure you have paperwork to do research on it, but I just wanted to give you a little bit of background. Um, and thank you for considering it again. >> Yes. Thanks, Mr. Pretz. Anyone else in the audience wish to address the council on a matter of concern to them? Yep. Good evening. >> Hi. >> I also do have a postcard. My name is Molly Saurin. Um, I'm here to stand up and show that we are here in numbers. I also live on Brookview Avenue. um and have a lot of concern about the traffic controls at that intersection. Um it spans through generations. We walk around the neighborhood and get nearly 40 signatures on our petition that show, you know, there's people who have lived on the street for years and years and it's pretty remarkable to hear that almost everyone has a story of that intersection and a danger at it. Um, I have three small children and me, myself, and our neighbors are frequently standing in the intersection, frankly, risking our lives to slow down traffic to protect our children. Um, numbers of, you know, some of the data, I think, of looking at the cars and the speeds is not representative of [snorts] the problems. The Ardan Park has been wonderfully renovated and a lot of people are drawn into the neighborhood, walkers, bikers. Um, and so foot traffic has greatly increased. I think even since the beginning of the review of this intersection, um, I hope that when we do the review, it is on a day that we can, you know, look at several days and a day that is representative of the problematic days, which are beautiful spring days. um after school, before school, weekends when there is a lot of foot traffic on that road. Um coming out on the Tuesday when there's no school and it's freezing cold is not representative of that street and the life that we all love on that street. Um there's a lot of energy. So, uh we're going to continue. Um I hope during my generation we can see a change at that intersection. And um we've proposed a stop sign, but we're certainly, you know, if the traffic safety committee has other ideas, I think the yield signings are ineffective, but if they have other ideas to propose, um I think we'd be open to hearing those. I hope we can see a change in our generation. And as uh Alyssa Pankerat said, I hope you know it's not generations from now where, you know, I think if something isn't done, hopefully we're not here talking about another child getting hit or a tragedy. So, um, we will continue to work for this. Thank you. >> Yeah. Thanks, Morin. I think this for the folks in the audience on this 55th Brookview issue, we we the council takes seriously the local knowledge in addition to the data gathering that goes on from the staff level. So when we take this matter up, it'll be something for careful consideration. Anybody else in the audience wish to speak to the council? Okay, let's see if anybody is online that wishes to visit with us and uh The only thing I thought of it kind of addressing in real time was for Miss Lukans. I want to connect you with Kathy Rendleman from the Adina Ed fund who's been kind of spearheading all of this uh and leading the way for the educationbased organizations and it's really as we've come to find out as a council really quite complex and and expensive and timeconuming to to to get involved in it. So, if you if you know her and don't need me to help you coordinate a meeting with her, you know, go ahead and reach out to her. Otherwise, I can I can try to connect the two of you. And I think we've got your email address from just being appointed to a commission. So, all right. Thank you, uh, manager Neil. >> Uh, thank you, your honor. We had several questions from our February 17th meeting. First was uh a question about will you impose additional school hour parking and stopping restrictions during school hours near South View Middle School. Uh the city's traffic safety committee has made a recommendation based on the traffic safety uh request. The recommendation was modeled after similar changes made on 59th Street. The recommendation is now going through the transportation and city council approval process. Staff recommend implementing the recommendation and if though in review if those changes are enough. If they are not, the committee would review the petition information to determine if additional parking restrictions are needed. Second question was, will you allow city staff to protest uh without fear of retribution? And the response is that our city staff have first amendment rights to protest like anyone else, the same as all other community members. They are free to express their views and participate in peaceful demonstrations without fear of retribution. At the same time, it is important that such activity take place on their own time and in their personal capacity. Next question was, will you allow city staff to work more frequently from home during this period of immigration enforcement? Uh, city staff uh may ask for accommodations. We have let uh our our staff know that on kind of a mass communication basis. We will receive u individual requests and we'll judge them on a case-byase basis. Next question was, is the police department uh overlooking some traffic violations such as driving with tinted windows or expired tabs during this period of immigration enforcement? Adana police patrols have not changed during the Operation Metro Surge. Officers continue to patrol neighborhoods, enforce traffic laws, and respond to calls for service exactly as they did before. They are not reducing patrols, overlooking violations, or changing how they serve the community. Community members uh can follow police activity in Adina through the police department's online crime map which shows recent calls for service and reported incidents. The crime map can be viewed at edina.gov/crcime data. Um final no next question is how can how can the city protect residents freedom of speech? Uh freedom of speech is fundamental constitutional right and the city is committed to protecting residents ability to lawfully express their views. The city protects the the right in in the areas that it controls, including its uh policies, public spaces, and law enforcement practices. For example, the Adina Police Department works to protect the safety of lawful demonstrations while also safeguarding the constitutional rights of participants and the broader community. The city's role is to ensure that individuals can gather and speak lawfully without intimidation or unequal treatment. While cities do not have authority over federal uh enforcement actions or private actors, we are responsible for how they operate locally. That means modeling constitutional compliance, maintaining access to civic spaces, applying policies consistently, and ensuring residents are treated fairly when exercising their rights. Uh the final question from this February 17th meeting was how can city protect residents private data? Uh the city of Adina is committed to protecting its data and systems uses a multi-layered approach to cyber security. The city's IT security team is continuously improving administrative, technical, and physical controls to ensure the security of all system and data, including resident and customer personally identifiable information. The city has policies and procedures to govern data collection, storage, and transmission of personally identifiable information. Staff update these policies regularly as new threats are identified. All staff with access to the network complete annual security awareness training. Uh the city does not collect information it does not need and the city does not share data with outside organizations unless required by law. That's what we have. >> Very good. [clears throat] I'm wondering also if with regard to the the issue that Miss Note raised whether you'd want to comment at all about uh her concerns around rental assistance. I think is a concern that we've all had here as we've been thinking about the implications of uh people not being able to go to work, not not being able to pay rent, not be able to put groceries on the kitchen table and take care of their families. So, we this this is a little bit like CO in the sense that we had funds available then that were federal in nature, but since then we've gotten funds available made available to us through a local sales tax authorized by the legislature called LAA funds. >> Right. And I don't know if you'd want to comment on how we're using some of those funds. >> Right. We the council has pledged ahead uh a measure of funds that we receive from the state called LAA LHA. Uh these funds can be used in a a really a wide bit of discretion about how we use them to facilitate uh affordable housing in the community. All cities in the Twin Cities metro area get these get these dollars. It we don't all get the same amount of money, but it's formula driven. So, we have pledged uh that much that money somewhere between probably $600 and and $700,000 uh in full, but $300,000 to start uh to VEP uh for for u tenant benefit, right, for we can't really get ourselves in the middle of an eviction process, but we can provide assistance to renters to help pay their rent. >> Yeah. And we do that using uh our food shelf in based in Bloomington that serves Edina Richfield uh and Bloomington uh volunteers enlisted to assist people VEP and they've got qualifying criteria that they use and they run that rental assistance program for us and for other cities as well. So I hope that's helpful information for you to know that we we care about these issues too and are mindful of them. >> Mr. Mayor, >> yes. VEP also has an office offices out of our new fire station number two. There's some limited hours there. So if people need rental assistance and they don't want to go into Bloomington if they can't drive, um the fire station number two has hours where they can connect with VEP. >> Yeah, good observation. Okay. Um that prompt anything the city manager's comments? Any follow on from council members? Yes, member Russer. Um, more from community comment and I just want to say I am concerned about the process that this particular petition went through. Uh, we did talk about this petition at the December 16th meeting and my understanding was it was going to go to engineering and then traffic and then um it would take a few months and it would end up coming to us. But um you know just knowing that the review that I assumed would happen did not happen is concerning and I I just want to make sure maybe we need to go back and look at other petitions that were denied and make sure the process um did not somehow fall by the wayside. The other thing is the statement that has been included and I do believe it has appeared um when other petitions have been rejected. uh and this was from the Minnesota manual on uniform traffic control devices is that research suggests that at most locations increasing the level of intersection control will not improve safety and that was something that I had trouble with and um apparently that was in the 2011 volume. Um so just we really need to make sure that we're looking at um 2025 and also that the process is being followed every time somebody submits a petition or if it's not going to be followed um because it's a repeat request uh that people putting you know coming forward and asking about the petition should know that. But I think when it's repeat requests, we might not, you know, we need to figure out a way to address those because sometimes they're repeat requests because there's really a very legitimate reason um why they keep coming back. So, I just wanted to say that. Thank you. >> Yeah, thanks for that. Uh, as to the um process, I I don't remember many occasions during the years I've served on the council where we've had uh I'll call it a hiccup like this where neighbors weren't um engaged in process early on. And so I I tend to treat it as an anomaly, but nonetheless, we're going to be dealing with it uh probably in a few weeks, no more than a month. And u and eager for this to be discussed. We'll take a look and see if where we're at in the data collection and the process and make sure we give it the the right amount of time because we did. There was a staff short circuit between communications. And one person said something and another one did something and we're here tonight without following our typical traffic safety request process. So, we admit that. We apologize for that. >> Thank you. Um, we've got the uh consent agenda in front of us here. Is there anyone on the council wishes to remove an item from the consent agenda? Uh hearing nothing. Is there a motion to adopt the items on the consent agenda in a single motion? >> Still moved. >> Second. >> Jackson moves. Member Pierce seconds the adoption of 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 and a single motion say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Carried. Those items are adopted. Um and then let's turn now to here we are at uh you guys shouldn't leave. You guys are going to miss something with the high school debate team. We got uh we got two state champions here. You guys will want to see them. >> Congratulations. >> Yeah. Good evening. >> Good evening. Thank you, mayor, members of the council. Uh my name is Joe Schmidt. I am the head debate coach at Edina High School. Um and we are here to celebrate uh >> You are one heck of a coach, Joe. >> I'm sorry. You are one heck of a coach. >> Oh, thank you. Uh it's a team effort, mayor. Um Edana High School has over 100 um students participating in all four types of debate that are recognized by the Minnesota State High School League. Um public forum debate, policy debate, congressional debate, and Lincoln Douglas debate. Um over the last four years, Edina has won five state titles in three of the different types of debate, uh which is a record unmatched by any other high school in the state of Minnesota. Um we are here to recognize two state champions in Lincoln Douglas debate. Um I want to acknowledge the Lincoln Douglas coaches who are here with us today. Joseph Anneredi and Brianna Wulman are both here today who coached Lincoln Douglas debate. A third coach of the Lincoln Douglas portion of the Edina team, Mark Kamaki is sick and can't be with us here today. Um we are here to recognize the 2026 state champion Valerie Schmidt who is a senior this year and her teammate the 2025 state champion Dee Jaw who is a junior. Uh if you're doing your math, that means Adidi won the state tournament as a ninth grader. Uh which is um an accomplishment unprecedented, at least in my knowledge. Um over the last two years, uh Adidi and Valerie have not lost an elimination round at the state tournament to anyone other than each other. Uh in 2026, they had the misfortune to meet in the quarterfinals with Valerie advancing uh to win the state title. Uh in 2025 they met in the final round with Adidi prevailing over Valerie. So I guess they took turns and uh next year will be Adidi's turn again since she's returning uh to the state tournament. Um debate unlike many other activities has a true national tournament where all of the top debaters in the country get together. Um this year's national tournament is in Richmond, Virginia. Uh Valerie and Adidi will be present at that tournament competing for the national title along with four of their debate teammates Hannah Hine and Pernika Kumar who will be competing in congressional debate and Ellie Ship and Matthew Weebi who will be competing in policy debate. Last year, uh, Valerie was the, uh, national runnerup, uh, losing to a student from, uh, Bellereamine, which is a private high school in San Francisco. Um, she'll be back with her teammate Adidi, and, um, trying to go one round further. Uh, winning 15 rounds was not enough. We needed to win 16. So, let's see if we can do that this year. Thank you very much for the opportunity to have these students recognized before the council. >> Coach, thanks for that backgrounding and and the DD and Valerie, you want to come up? We want to congratulate you first of all [applause] [applause] and would we would appreciate not only the introduction of yourselves uh at a side podium there uh but also an explanation uh of the Lincoln Douglas debate uh elements. Yeah, there you go. Just like just like a real just like practice. You each go to your own podium. Who wants to go first? The senior. >> Yeah, sure. Uh my name is Valerie. Hi. Um I don't think you want me and Aditi to debate each other right now because that would not go well for anybody involved. Um Aditi, do you want to go? >> Sure. Hi, I'm Aditi. I'm a junior co- captain. >> What's involved in the in the Lincoln Douglas debates? What's the what's the basic premise? >> Um the basic premise is that unlike um formats like policy or PF, we are a single person format, meaning it's one person against one person. It's about 45 minutes long. Um and then you trade off on speeches and cross-examinations um through rebuttals. I don't know what else. >> They give you um a statement which is called the resolution >> um and you're assigned a side. So, usually you debate like half of the time you're saying yes, the statement is true, half the time you're saying no, the statement is false. Um, and that's what like the debate is. And you prepare like a lot of arguments and evidence for your cases. And um, Lincoln Douglas is also unique in so far as it's kind of focused on morality, like what does it mean if we should do something, that kind of stuff. Um, which is not as much the case in the other debate formats. How much advanced time do you have after they give you the statement to get ready for the actual performance or debate? >> So we have resolutions um every two months. Okay. >> So like September, October, November, December, so on so forth. Um and then you get the resolutions like a month in advance. >> Yeah. >> Then how do you typically go about practicing or preparing for the debates? Um for that month in advance, we assign people to research and come up with the cases um as well as reach and come up with blocks which are essentially just a set of responses to arguments that we think people will have. And then we have practice rounds between our debaters leading up to those um tournaments in order to make sure all of us are prepared. >> Yeah. Well, we've we've had so many state champions here and we're so pleased that the two of you are here tonight. It really is a extra special pleasure to have the debate champions here from 2025 and 2026. And so if if you wouldn't mind, we'll come down all the council like love to have a photograph with you and the coaches >> as well. >> And uh and if you want to have photos with your parents when we're done, we can do that, too. Okay. Cozy cozy. >> [laughter] >> Hey, Yeah. >> [applause] >> We have some gifts. >> Okay. We only had that one item on the special recognitions and presentations portion of the agenda tonight, but it was a it was a grand slam. It was a total home run having those folks here. Yeah. Um, we've got, uh, I misspoke. I guess we do have one public hearing this evening. Uh, I misspoke earlier. And, um, we've got a matter that we're going to take up just for purposes of continuence, I think, to April 7th, 2026. So, it's item 8.1. Is there a motion to continue that public hearing in that matter to April 7, 2026? That's uh a matter that deals with the potential conditional use permit issuance to Highlands Elementary School for some increased parking. Is there a motion to that effect? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Council member Jackson moves. Pier Council member Pierce seconds the uh uh motion to continue the matter that we just described to the uh public hearing on April 7, 2026. Any further discussion? All those in favor of continuing this matter involving a potential conditional use permit issuance to Highlands Elementary Grade School to April 7, 2026, say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Carried. Uh, and now we're on to reports and recommendations. And um, we've got a few matters there. Uh, first one was, see if I can find it here. Was the um resolution accepting donations. Bear with me here. There it is. uh every every time we have a prospective gift to the city of Vidana, we've got to um go through a formal process and the state law requires that there be a super majority of the council that approves a a gift. So, uh we have periodically resolutions that contain information on gifts, usually for uh memorial benches and trees and things of that nature uh that involve gifts to the city. this uh reporting time we have a resolution 2026-09 which uh has a couple of donations in it. Is there a motion to adopt resolution 202609? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Member Jackson moves member Pierce seconds the adoption of resolution 202609 which accepts donations on behalf of the city of Edina. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of that resolution 202609 say I. >> I opposed. Carried. The resolution is adopted. Uh and for this reporting period and these uh donor names we put on the city website. Uh a Dina Parks and Recreation Commission was a recipient of a couple of nice gifts. Carolyn Duffy $3,200 for memorial bench. Mark and Jackie Nolan $2,500 for trail maintenance at Bredesen Park. Thank you Nolan's. And then the Dina Fire Department got an inkind donation from five guys. uh fed him lunch and that had a value of $320. So, thanks to all the donors. Uh let's then move on to the next matter, which is um something that normally we would have Andrew Cypion, our transportation planner, taking up, but uh he's heading a family emergency this evening. So, the next two matters are going to be handled by our city engineer Chad. Thank you. >> Yep. I'll step in for Andrew and appreciate it. So yeah, the next two items are related to the work that the transportation commission is doing. So the first matter is a report on city policies, ordinances requiring walking and biking improvements. And to help present their findings is Chris Brown from the transportation commission. So he will do a few slides and then I'll wrap it up and we'll see what kind of feedback the city council has for us. >> All right. >> So with that, I'll hand it off to Chris. >> Thank you, Director Miller. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Brown. Welcome. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, council members. appreciate the opportunity to um discuss what we on the commission feel is a very important and timely issue, especially what continues to occur, such as the recent council vote uh taking sidewalks out of another city project. And so this is a demonstration of a work plan item that has been years in the making. Um frankly out of some frustration um from fellow commissioners including myself and others um consistently uh hearing uh community feedback seeing the quality of life survey um hearing from members in the community and even other commissioners such as the envir environment energy commission supporting um expanded walking and biking opportunities but continuing to see those not implemented as a part of city planning. And so I'll go through those details a bit more here in a second, but just wanted to kind of provide some background as to why we feel strongly about this work plan item and why it was um a key piece of presenting this to you today. So, we did some nationwide um research on other communities that have adopted policies um expanding walking and biking infrastructure, sidewalks, on street bikeways or separated bike paths um in an attempt to create a more efficient process for uh taking advantage of reconstruction or rehabilitation roadway projects and expanding this infrastructure um in lie of what is usually typical community push back and therefore broken system broken walking and biking systems and complete systems um and continued um you know frustrations on all sides. So we went through this process to highlight that other cities have taken this on across the country. We recommended um that the council consider directing staff to consider an ordinance. We obviously went to we thought was most conservative which was you know kind of a multifaceted approach here requiring inclusion of all infrastructure recommended by the council approved pedestrian bicycle master plan. um modifying the network as they see fit to improve bicycle facilities so all ages and abilities can enjoy them and also adding new connections such as what the example um in the uh recent reconstruction project um I'm forgetting the name of the neighborhood to the west >> Prospect Nles >> Prospect Nullles thank you where there was additional sidewalks recommended by staff um that were all uh taken out of the project by council vote several weeks ago for case by case basis so this is all recognizing that we tried to create an encompass all-encompassing and flexible uh recommendation for consideration um to include in a future ordinance by the city. And again, this all came out of um frankly broken systems and projects that have been taken out of uh reconstruction projects, once in a-lifetime investments um that have broken our system. So now we have incomplete walking infrastructure nearby schools. We have the inner loop that was supposed to be a very high quality connection to the Rosland Bridge and other uh surrounding parks and destinations. no longer having those connections and so the frustration bubbles up where we had these investments and opportunities um but they are not implemented as our guiding documents in the city suggest. We have learned from staff just today in a response to our recommendation that there is a recommendation to do further community engagement. We are never saying to not do community engagement, but we are highlighting that community engagement was done for this plan several years ago and there continues to be other surveys such as the quality life survey I'll touch on in a minute and our community comment that demonstrates there's a lot of interest in the community for expanded walking and biking opportunities beyond the smaller um smaller uh group of loud voices of property owners that are typically adjacent to these projects when the time comes. So this is just a reminder that there was robust engagement done for the walking and biking master plan several years ago. These are some some of the case studies as I mentioned just to dig into. So Cambridge, Massachusetts um implemented several years ago a requirement for the recon rehab projects to include the biking infrastructure as identified in their bike plan. Um I just checked their website today. Um, as of today, they had uh almost met their goal of expanding their network by 25 miles because of the requirement from that ordinance to create safe biking infrastructure. Los Angeles also just in the last year has adopted a similar policy to expand their healthy streets plan. Um and again it was it was several years in the making and really bubbled up from frustrations by community members due to lack of progress in implementing their walking and biking infrastructure because of continual um push back and lack of a lack of action from their elected officials. And so our strategic objectives were obviously guided by a variety of plans. Our comprehensive plan, our ped and bike master plan, living streets plan, climate action plan, all of which are um are focusing um aspects of those plans are focusing on walking and biking infrastructure. You know, encouraging alternative modes to meet our climate action goals um and creating streets that everybody can enjoy that are walking, biking, or driving or rolling. So, it's really trying to create those safe and welcoming spaces in our community. Um we also highlighted in our report that um 70% of residents as of the most recent quality of life survey do continue to support building sidewalks and bike lanes to reduce emissions. So this is a valued um and supported aspect of our community. And as commissioners, um, nearly every meeting we have someone usually in community comment bringing up concerns about traffic calming, speeds in their neighborhood, desiring safe pedestrian crossings, or walking and biking connections in their community. And this has been continuing to grow. Traffic calming and pedestrian safety are two of the traffic safety requests. Um, pedestrian safety, as you can see there, growing exponentially in requests in the last couple of years. So, we uh unanimously approved this work plan item as a part of our commission. I presented this to the Energy Environment Commission um a couple months ago, answered questions, received a lot of enthusiasm and feedback on our work plan item. And so, they unanimously approved um or unanimously approved an advisory communication on January 8th um you know, in support of this work plan item to progress the city's climate goals. So, I highlight this because demonstrating now two commissions, a group of volunteers, community members that that really value our community and want to see positive change um through walking and biking um aspects of projects. Um you know, submitting these communications and support to you all in hopes of seeing change um because we have not seen change over the last couple of years and it's bubbling up into pretty clear frustration. Um, and so through the advisory communications and the feedback and everything else and continuing to see these projects fail, that's where this work plan came and that's where my presentation comes tonight. So I appreciate your time. I can happy to answer any questions here. >> Yeah, thanks commissioner for that presentation. >> We got a few more slides if you want questions now for Chris or we can wait till the >> Yeah, if you have a couple more slides you want on this particular topic. >> Yep. Just a couple more follow-ups on this one. So when is really that implementation time and Chris touched on this. It's really those street reconstruction projects funded by the packs. Recent years like mentioned some of those facilities were not approved by council even though they were in the master plan. Prospect Nolles Concord and 58th Street shown on the previous maps. We also implement uh bike ped master plan projects during standalone CIP projects. So you see some of those standalone sidewalks or shared use pass projects. And we also have our third opportunities during the rehabilitation of our roads. When we do those overlays, we can reallocate the space for the roadway and add bicycle facilities. Now, to do so, we might have to take away parking or take away some other space that's in there, but that's another opportunity which will be bring our project to this council here on Wooddale Avenue later this spring. There has been instances where the plan was not or the recommendations were not implemented due to limited rightway. Sometimes we get there and it just doesn't fit. I think that's different than just not doing it because of some of the community push back. Um, typically when it doesn't fit, we come up with some alternatives and some of those we did with the Concord neighborhood as a good example of shifting one facility over a block. This current process that we do with the community and with you allows greater flexibility, an ordinance may be too rigid, but that's why we're trying to seek your feedback. Um, then there's also those instances where we recommend additional facilities. So new sidewalks like in Prospect that connect to the park presidents. We added additional ones for the really that park connection and we also did some in Morningside C in 2023. The commission's second recommendation addresses the fact that most bicycle facilities recommended in the plan are on street without physical protection. So we don't have buffered or we have buffered bike lanes. We don't have protected bike lanes with like ballards or anything of height vertically in the street. Those physical protection ones really offer the best protection and separation from traffic and it invites greater use of cycling within our city. We do, like I mentioned, implemented the buffer bike lanes at various locations. We have yet to implement the protected bike lanes because it gets trouble to snowplow and other those things when it's in the roadway. Um, and we're proposing bicycle facilities were developed with community feedback. So, we think that the ordinance might be a little rigid, but we would welcome that discussion with the with Chris and myself. We think the process provides sufficient flexibility. We continue to recommend those additional facilities case by case. We would recommend adding additional community engagement around the proposed bike and ped facilities with the comp plan in 2028. Let staff evaluate how the community's needs may have changed since 2018. collect that feedback and then upate update the the plan, the network and the facility types. So with that, we would stand for any questions. >> Yeah, thanks for that. Commissioner Brown, why don't you come back up here and we'll see if council members have questions for you and think yes, council member Jackson. >> So I have questions. Um I want to address a little bit about the projects that we didn't approve. Now, the one on 58th Street was before I was on council um in the conquered neighborhood. I was very disappointed that we didn't have that um wide sidewalk that would connect the inner loop. It was a change though. Um and so, you know, origin everybody had anticipated it going down Wooddale uh to straight to the bridge and when it changed, expectations change. Um I'm not excusing it because I think it should have happened anyways. But the one thing that happened in the prospect nullles that was really um important to me is and that was the ice. Um it would have been in a shaded area and really been a very icy path and with our freeze thaw cycle our sidewalks can be extremely icy. The sidewalks in some of in my neighborhood in places are extremely icy. Um, so when we are proposing sidewalks, I wanted would like that to be a factor because I think we're going to see more ice over time and not less. Um, and um, so frozen water ice. Um but uh it's um something that I want to take into account because uh the feedback I got from neighbors concerned that what was a safe thing now for kids to bike and walk would become dangerous because they wouldn't be able to go on the sidewalk because of the ice. The street would be narrower and more dangerous. Um so I I'd like you to consider ice. I see you've got LA for a separate reason. I researched West LA, which is the most walkable town in California. So, if they have a policy, I would um encourage you to look at it. Um, [snorts] and then the neighborhood meetings. When I participated in the um 2018 neighborhood stuff, I was the only person from my neighborhood that came down to the public works building. If there's a way to engage neighborhoods at the neighborhood level, um, I think that would be good. you may not get as many people, but it was very heavily concentrated with people who were seeing redevelopment in their neighborhoods. Um, where there isn't a lot of change and then change comes, it is more shocking. So, if there's a way to get that community engagement out into different neighborhoods, I think that um will be very useful for future approvals going forward. So, thank you very much for the work. This is really important. >> Thank you for that, Council Member Risser. >> Thank you. Could we go to the slide that showed the map? And I want to thank you so much for the work that you're doing. And I did serve on the Energy and Environment Commission. Uh, and I know not I do know how frustrating it is when you work on something and it doesn't go forward. Um, with the conquered sidewalk, it would have been one area where we had eight feet and then when you get across Valley View, you've got five. and the sidewalk that comes along um on 64th I think it's 64th Street uh that uh I do want to just give a shout out because we did work with neighbors we worked with staff to really promote putting that on the north side instead of on I mean on the south side instead of the north side. If it was on the north side it would have gone over all these conflict points and it would have been much more dangerous. And so we have tried to do things in a way that supports your mission and all of our mission to keep um kids safe. So there's that with Parkwood Nolles. The other thing is um I actually worked with a former transportation commissioner um Alice Halbert and she was not for the sidewalks there and the reason being um it is so hilly and slopy in those places and we would have been adding sidewalks in front of houses that are on these little hills and don't actually have stairs down to the sidewalk to shovel. and I experienced slipping down a resident's sidewalk to get down to the street and it really was a very problematic area. So, we you know I I just want to put that out there because that that was a factor uh in that. And I did ask that some slides be shown. I um wanted to show some images >> because you have presented a plan with three points. I think you need a fourth. >> Sure. >> Uh and that is um in the Wooddale Valley View area, we've really engaged in a kind of land use policy that allows for structures that are way over the legal buildable area. And that if you look at that red triangle, that's the legal buildable area. uh we have town two double dwelling units on a lot that is not large enough for one double dwelling unit and the result is that we have these very short um driveways that abut the sidewalk and so sometimes the sidewalk functions as a driveway extension. In fact, that happens very frequently and that makes the sidewalk particularly dangerous for, you know, people who are in wheelchairs and then you have to scoot around the truck and all of that. And then um so what I'm getting at is it would be really great if when projects come to us that have uh requests for variances on set setback variance requests that we have to evaluate the impact on the sidewalk. Uh and then we've in this area this is where the tree plantings went in and this was approved. It's for the developer. So, it kind of makes it look the property line is the dotted line. Um, so it's beyond the property line and it it is very beautiful. It's lovely, but it blocks um visibility and makes it hard to see who is going down Oaklan or any if someone's going down Oakland or if someone's going down Valley View. Then, if we could go to the next image, this um shows the decision making process. This is from the council packet um for the view 44 site. And so the language that I've highlighted um promoting the setback is the PCD zoning district however encourages buildings to be brought up to the street to create a pedestrian-friendly environment which is what the proposed project is attempting to do. And what we did that's PCD so that's the commercial zoning but it's a purely residential project. And so what we did is we conflated the standards of residential construction with the commercial zone. And I think, you know, it's a very creative way that gets projects built, but at the end of the day, I do think it does compromise our ability to have safe sidewalks. The other highlighted area is um about why sort of the justification for taking a small unusually sized lot and allowing it to have a larger uh building on it. The site is unique in the PCD1 zoning district given small size, limited depth, and odd shape. These conditions were not created by the applicant. the city encourages buildings to be brought up to the street rather than having large parking lots in front of the building from the adjacent streets. So in essence, the size and the shape of a lot is can be um sort of marginalized. It doesn't really have to be something that's factored into the size of the building going on it. And if we could have the final image. Um so this is what the sidewalk looks like and this is in front of um view 44 which is what that documentation was about. And so you'll see the railings come down in the stairs that is in the public right of way and an easement was granted to allow that. And so I wanted to bring this up because I really, it took a while, but the logic of allowing some ebikes, you know, not the real fast, speedy ones on sidewalks. I've really, this is what I'm wrestling with. I'm I have wrapped my head around the rationale for it. But I look at this street which is along a minor collector and I look at the sidewalk and uh just how it is accommodating so much the bigger building the spill out from that and then you've got pedestrians and then adding bikes and so that that is what I'm wrestling with right now. But I think it would be really good if we could, you know, take into account sidewalk viability as we're looking at some of these projects. So I'm thinking that could be a fourth point. But u that is all I've got. Thank you. >> Your presentation has caused me to think about uh kind of from once we from whence we came u the United Transportation Commission. I don't remember when it was formed, 2006 or seven maybe somewhere in there. And um recognizing that we had a need I think for um looking at transportation infrastructure in a broader sort of way and starting looking at starting to look at non-motorized transportation as a as an alternative way to get around uh both by pedestrians and by bicyclists. Uh you know we had the bike task force. We had the creation of the sidewalk policy. Uh we've got the PAX fund. We got the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail. Uh we got the creation of the Grand Rounds. And we've got some missing pieces in there from the master plan. But I think the council made decisions along the way that they thought were justified under the circumstances, particularly most recent one over in conquered. And we have a different opinion about that. I know. But, uh, what you've really caused me to think about is, uh, what's next. That's what that's what I think you're kind of getting at. You're trying to push us a little bit towards what's next. And we're not the only fully developed town in the world that has had to wrestle with this issue. You know, towns all over Europe that have hundreds and hundreds of years old that have wrestled with this issue of trying to figure out how to create safe travel for bicyclists with protected lanes. And so it it the motion seems to me to be kind of appropriate for the next round of heavy conversation by our residents about where do you want to go next with this? Do you want to just keep bikes on the street and and and keep building out our sidewalk system and let it go at that or or take it to the next step and see if we can't get more people moving in an alternative way? Commissioner Brown, go ahead. Yeah, I just appreciate I think that's kind of what we're we're that's where this kind of maybe pent up um both you know frustration as I mentioned but also you know hoping to to to push us is you know we have a this really robust 2018 plan we have upcoming planning opportunities and so trying to create a cohesive network is all we would like I mean having a three-year-old myself excited to get out and bike with him um I can tell you I'd love to have some safe biking infrastructure you know to to go with him on and I think that's I, you know, as a as a a resident and a commissioner, we really want to leverage our our plans that we have and create a cohesive network. And so hopefully a future plan can provide that opportunity, but also the hope of this work plan item was to take some of the emotion out of these singular issues to then hopefully create and execute this broader vision that we have instead of a case-by case basis that has run us into dja vu annually. It seems like >> yeah, Edina's Edina has led on so many things over the years in different categories, whether it's domestic partner registry or gay marriage or smoking in public buildings. I mean, it just the list goes on and on. And so maybe it's time to take a look at this non-motorized transportation system in a little bit different way, too. H how we go about protecting bicyclists in a in a system like that, I guess, is a question yet to be answered. But I think that as we go about that 2028 comp plan process, it seems to me like that's a perfect opportunity to start having this discussion about what do we what do we really want to be here? >> You know, just have our toe in the water or you want to get, you know, a little bit deeper. >> Council member Pierce. >> Uh thanks, Mr. Mayor. So, thanks for the the presentation. I I um but I think we have a a an even more complicated issue. Um because this isn't hard to do. It's not hard to figure out where to put sidewalks, what size to make them, and then how to connect, right? We even figured out a way to fund it, right? Um our I think our big issue is the resistance to it. And so I just I want you to you're gonna we're gonna have to face reality for what it is. And so um we could still we could approve having this go through the comp plan and then doing community engagement, come up with another plan. And if the um dissatisfaction times the vision uh times the first step is less than the resistance, then we're you're going to end up in the same spot. And so I don't know how to deal with that. [snorts] But historically, that is the issue that you end up with. And then at some point, one of those three factors, people get so dissatisfied with the status quo that now you've got a formula that uh that can overcompensate for that resistance and then you can get the change. But for this one, I that's where I kind of feel like we are. And it's not just this one. there are some other issues that we have as a city that I think we're we're still in that that spot. Um so I I support always support getting more feedback and engaging with the community, but I somehow we have to figure out how to solve that problem to help the community see why this is important and then have them embrace it. Kind of like hockey, right? we don't have to do that anymore when we needed to update Braar, right? PE 75% of the residents said, "Yeah, let's spend more money on that." [snorts] Um, that was in and of itself a change, but it met that change formula. And so people bought into it. Uh so some of these other things I think we have to have uh really sit down and think through as a council and as a commission how do we we solve those challenges. >> Thanks for that commission or council member I can see you thinking over there. I am thinking uh thank you because and I think this has been a really great conversation and I appreciate all the work that you've done and coming here and advocating for kind of just calling out like this. This is some of the problems with the the current system as it is today. Um and this isn't you're not the only commission that we've heard this from. I think is maybe kind of the challenge to the rest of the council is we've heard this from others for their respective areas of um potentially what I would classify as maybe a um miscalibration and expectations. And so I think that that's a challenge for us as as council members in partnership in collaboration with commissioners is um better setting expectations. I think um I also came from the planning commission. I know a lot of us you know were previous um commission members and you know in my experience I worked a lot on um parking minimums and so I know my like fellow council members now right like they roll their eyes when I talk about parking because like that was my thing as a commission member. Um, and at the end of the day, like there's always going to be a thing because when you're on a commission, your focus is that thing. And when you're sitting here on the council, like you also balance obviously the budget components. You hear from more residents. Um, and there are just so many other factors that are are present in our purview um, in a way that like it doesn't easily translate to for you to have all that exact same information. Um, and so that's where I think that there's this misalignment and expectations and I don't know the solution. I know we've had this conversation as a council and with um, commissioner chairs and stuff too. Um, but I I just want to continue to underscore it's an opportunity. Um, because even though I might not necessarily have voted against all of these sidewalks in particular, right? There are real reasons that we as a council made the decisions that we made and you weren't you didn't come looking for justification, right? Because you I'm sure tuned in to all of those decisions as they were happening. Um, but I think it's really just in in highlighting that tension that exists. Um, so I just I don't know the answer. Um, but I want to acknowledge and thank you for all of the service that you do for the community. Um, and just know that that you're not alone in feeling that. >> Appreciate that. Thank you. >> Uh, council member Risser. >> One of the things as I was looking at the Parkwood Nolles um project or Prospect Nolles, thank you. uh was and and working with um former commissioner Halbert was learning how when she was on the transportation commission and I hope I'm getting this right and they were laying out the master plan and she was part of that. The way the process was described to me is that people didn't actually go out into the community and see the variation in the landscape or it was done in a room and it was you know looking at it in a very removed way. So I think that might be one of the reasons why sometimes things come up that don't flow as you know smoothly as one would hope. And so I don't know if you know it would also it might also make sense when you know we're looking at what the next round of street repair is going to be to go out and you know walk the walk where it's going to be and really and maybe you already do that but um just getting that field perspective and seeing it and that would be something I know I was very wisely instructed not to reach out to commissioners and pester Um, but if someone from your commission wanted me to walk the walk and see where the sidewalks, I would be absolutely happy to do that. And I think that would really make sense. And I do go out there, you know, and try to get a sense of it, particularly if it is a project that is getting some push back uh, and try to make it better. And it it does work, you know, that's why the sidewalk is where it is on 64. So, you know, I just want to put that out there. >> Yep. Good. Thanks. So, um, the recommended motion is to direct staff to include com community engagement around proposed pedestrian and bicycle facilities as part of the 2028 comprehensive plan development process. Is there a council member that cares to make that motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. Member Pierce moves member Jackson seconds the motion as stated to direct staff to include community engagement around proposed pedestrian and bicycle facilities as part of the 28 2028 comprehensive plan development process. Any further discussion? >> All those in favor of the motion stated say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed? Carried. Motion passes. >> Um yeah, Mr. Brown Commissioner, thanks for being here. Maybe you're taking the next matter too. I don't know. >> No. >> Okay. All right. Nope. I'm going to take this entire one for this one, mayor. So, yeah. Item number 9.3, another transportation commission report regarding city code section 26-282 regarding electric assist bicycles. So, if we recall uh engineering, we presented a draft ordinance in March of last year in 2025 to address ebikes. So we updated definitions. We clarified permissible use on sidewalks, bikeways, shared use pass. And then we required those users under 18 to wear helmets and protective headgear. Council directed staff to revise the ordinance to ban ebikes on public sidewalks. That ordinance was adopted in April. And since then, engineering, police, and communications have done community education campaign. The transportation commission didn't agree with that and they asked for a mid-year modification to their work plan and that was added in May of 2025 to respond to the ordinance. Their final report on this matter was submitted to their commission in November 2025. And their recommendations are to amend that section of code to delete that sentence that says no person may operate a ebike as defined in this chapter on a sidewalk. Reaffirm and promote those safety provisions already contained in city code. Direct staff to update public materials to clearly communicate the safety requirements and expectations for responsible ebike use. And then consider implementing a one-year pilot period with safety and compliance evaluation presented to the council one year after that change. The strategic objectives uh their recommendation supports like Chris mentioned in the previous item the comprehensive plan the bike ped master plan living streets and climate action to encourage all the modes and increase the number of people using our uh transportation facilities. Police feedback. So to date they had 94 ebike complaints received in 2025. Majority of those resulted in a verbal warning. So really educating the users and their parents. Uh, three citations were issued and they support repealing the ban as long as we continue educating community on the existing regulations and those would be ride at a speed no greater than is reasonable and no never above 10 miles an hour. Walk or slow to a walking pace when pedestrians are present. Slow to a walking pace when you approach or cross driveways or intersections. Do not ride on a sidewalk where the entrance or exit of a building abuts the sidewalk. and don't ride on sidewalks where posted like at 50th and France district. So we feel like this restriction might unintentionally create a safety risk for forcing riders onto the streets when they really don't feel that they are comfortable being out there without that protection. So many areas of Edina lack that adequate bike facilities for protection. We might be discouraging ebike use. So, we again, like we stated a year ago, we recommend that the ordinance allows ebikes on public sidewalks and continue that education campaign. And we'd be happy to stand for any questions. >> Member RER, >> signage. Would there be any signage for the ebikes indicating 10 miles per hour or less? Has that been discussed? I don't know if it could be painted on the sidewalks or >> we did have some various uh we saw some graphics that were available but we have not talked about magnitude costs locations we we would not if council directs us to change it then and and you want us to look at that we can come back with a proposal to mark sidewalks or sign some of the things there's currently signs with no bikes on sidewalks at 50th in France in the business district areas. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. You remember when we decided that we weren't going to allow ebikes on city streets or city sidewalks >> when? >> Yeah. Was that May? >> April. The ordinance was in effect in April of 2025. So, we are >> just coming up on a year and there was 95 or 95 uh educational campaigns the police department did in the field. So, we know that and only three citations. And it's typically that younger class rider, the middle schoolers are the typical users that are need some education. >> Yeah. Well, I'm just I see 94 ebike complaints received in 2025. It made me wonder how many of those we had before we said ebikes can't be on sidewalks because I haven't had anybody write to me since we said ebikes can't be on sidewalks and complain that ebikes are on sidewalks and they're almost getting hit. >> Okay. So, I don't know what other people's experiences are, but uh that that's that's anecdotal obviously, but we were getting quite a few concerns expressed about especially seniors uh encountering speeding kids on ebikes on sidewalks and that's why we decided keep them in the street. >> Correct. So, I don't know if other people have thoughts on Yeah. Member Agno, >> I have a question about So, the 94 eBike complaints, is that for complaints of them riding on the sidewalk or just complaints about ebikes where there was an educational opportunity? >> I'll see if uh Lieutenant Schultz knows that answer. >> Uh that is 94, I believe, ebike complaints in general. So that could be someone without a helmet, could be riding recklessly down the road. It's not specific to sidewalks. We don't have a way to track just on the sidewalk. >> Yeah, cuz that was my kind of reaction to this as well. Um I haven't heard as much. Um, and I I think the what I did hear was like early in the summer last year when we are still just going through the communications of stuff. Um, but at the same time like I I think that the transportation commission has done the analysis and has kind of come come forward with these changes that they want to see. Um, and I'm okay with that, too. So, I don't that's where my mind is at is I would support um the what do we call it? Um the revision. >> Thank you, Council Member Jackson. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, in these recommendations, um what kind of data that's Edina specific do we have to show that this is we're not having electric assisted bicycle adoption? um because we don't allow them on the sidewalks. I think maybe the loss of the um credits from the state and the federal government, I think they were phased out would probably be more driving the reason people are buying or not buying electric bikes. But what kind of data do we have that says that we are discouraging the use of these um vehicles? >> We don't we say we we may be inadvertently discouraging that use because they're not comfortable in the street. We've heard that from people. They're not comfortable riding in the street. So, are they choosing to just drive the car instead? So, we don't have the data >> because it this seems to me the the exact same anecdotal data that we had in April of last year. I don't see that this has changed anything over time since we adopted the um banning them on the sidewalk. >> That is correct. It was etc came forward with a recommendation. We wanted to remind you of staff's recommendation and see if there's any uh opportunity if there was any willingness to change it or not. That's why we're presenting this today. >> My concern is that if somebody with one of the higher um speed bikes sees an ebike on the sidewalk, they think, "Well, I can ride my ebike on there." And we don't have an easy way of classifying the low uh horsepower vehicles versus the higher horsepower vehicles. And I just remember some of those on the bike trail near my house going really fast and it was very frightening. They may or may not say on your left and all of a sudden someone comes zooming by. So um although they they are allowed on the trail on a on a 5-ft sidewalk, I don't know what that would be like and whether we would actually encourage people to ride on the sidewalk who shouldn't be on there regardless of whether we allow the lower horsepower ones or not. So, I I'm still continue to be concerned about having um electric bikes on the sidewalks. >> Council member Russer, >> and to be clear, this is class one and two ebikes that would be allowed on the sidewalk. >> Correct. >> Okay. Um Minneapolis has done it. Others, what are some of the other cities that have allowed ebikes on sidewalks? >> I don't have that. >> Okay. I'm sorry. Yeah. Um >> we can find that out for you if you'd like more information. No, that's okay. Thank you. >> You have a follow on member at this point? >> Uh, no, I don't. But I I have shifted gears as it were on this issue. And I do I think part of the motivation is seeing uh kids who are on ebikes and in Valley View Road and kind of seeing them and thinking, why are you not on the sidewalk? Um, so I I am concerned about bikes and um, but I, you know, do want us to keep moving toward a more robust um, sidewalk infrastructure, particularly around our collectors and our arterials and doing everything that we can so that that can happen. >> Thank you. Uh, Council Member Pierce. >> Um, I think this makes a ton of sense. um and was for it the first time. Um the only thing that I'm not clear on um and so I I guess one question if we vote to make this change, do do we then review the ordinance again? >> We would bring back a draft ordinance to change >> draft an ordinance and bring it back. Yeah. Okay. >> So this is getting feedback if we should do that. >> Yeah. So I I think we should do that. Um the um the only thing and this is more for the ordinance uh feedback for that. I I don't want to encourage people to ride their ebikes on the sidewalk. So what I said back then was I I think they should be able to ride on the sidewalk. is for pedestrian traffic, whether it's foot traffic or these this class of ebike, but they should yield to pedestrians if they're on the sidewalk. And so you have that worded in your presentation, right? Um, but if they're in a location, but they don't feel safe and they're riding on the street, then take the sidewalk because you feel safer, but yield to the pedestrian. Um, and so I think that that that verbiage, what I would not want to do is all of a sudden after this um after this takes effect, this the ordinance gets approved that now we have people not riding on the street, but now we're directing all the ebike traffic to the sidewalk because that wasn't my intent, if that makes sense. I prefer you ride on the street, but if you don't feel safe or for whatever reason, you can use the sidewalk, but yield to the pedestrians. >> Yep. And we've been pretty clear with the bike facilities or sidewalks. People need to choose where they're comfortable. They're comfort pulling the street riding bike, they'll stay there. If they're not, >> at least now they can do it on a sidewalk. >> Yeah. >> So, we would just open up that opportunity and then people could have that choice. >> I think that makes sense. And I did also like the signs that we were using um on the sidewalks. Um those were the little they were orange and I think we were just testing [cough] them. >> Um and so there were a few neighborhoods where I saw those um on the sidewalks and so I I thought that was a good reminder um if you're riding your bike on the sidewalk to yield to pedestrians. So, okay. >> Do we have any data about the number of ebikes that have been involved in accidents on the city streets? >> Got 94 complaints about ebikes. Uh we had this educational year. >> I don't know if you document between ebikes versus a normal bike in any reports. >> Yeah, I believe we we have data on bike accidents, right? But the difference between the two, >> we find out how much how many of them involve ebikes. >> Uh, we may be able to. We'll look at >> I mean, it may or may not be a data point, but it might be interesting. >> We'll see if we have it. >> Yeah. I mean, for me personally, I'd rather I I don't want to be stubborn about it, but I'd rather have another year of data. Um, I just just sort of inherently think that it's much more dangerous for ebikes to be on the sidewalk with pedestrians and other little kids riding little trikes and other stuff and older people walking than it is to have them in the street. So, you know, the council's going to do what it wants to do, but I'm gonna I'm not going to support it. But maybe another year of data might help me change my mind. Looks like we got a majority of the council. I want you to direct direct a ordinance. So, somebody want to move it. The motion would be direct staff to draft an ordinance repealing the ban on electric assisted bicycles on public sidewalks >> or go ahead. >> Were you going to say something more? I was going to ask the mayor a question before >> we could get a motion in a second then have a >> discussion. Second. >> All right. Got a motion by member or sir, second by member Pierce to adopt a motion to direct staff to draft an ordinance repealing the ban on electric assisted bicycles on public sidewalks. And now we're in the discussion phase. Are >> are we able to bring back some of the data >> [snorts] >> um if we're going if we're going to go through the process of drafting an ordinance? Yeah, we can bring back data we have. We don't have adoption numbers, but we'll see if there's anything in any accident reports between the various types of bicycles. >> And what those complaints were about, you're thinking? >> Yeah. >> Yep. We can bring >> between first and second reading. >> Right. Between first and second reading. >> Yeah, we can bring that back. >> Yeah. And then the other thought reversary was um it is winter time and so I'm certain that in another four weeks there'll be kids popping wheelies on ebikes again going down burning. Um [snorts] and so it may make some sense to from a timing perspective to delay until we can at least get into a season where we can collect more meaningful data. >> That's a recommendation. So, >> yeah. Okay. Any further discussion? >> All those in favor of the motion to direct staff to draft an ordinance repealing the ban on electric assisted bicycles on public sidewalks, say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. >> Nay. >> Nay. >> Motion carries. 32 vote and we move forward. >> Thank you. Uh now we're going to I see our our senior municipal adviser from Ellers has arrived. All is good in the world here. Finance to give us guidance on finance uh issues. And this in this case it's fourth tier for residential water use. We're going to talk about that this evening. [snorts] And then we have um one other matter related to tree protection to deal with. So, >> Mr. Anart, welcome. Good to have you here. >> Thank you, mayor. Good to be here. >> So, last November, we talked about um when we presented to you the utility rate study, you had council had mentioned the fourth tier. And so, with us here tonight is Nick Anut from Ellers to provide you that information. Nick. >> Uh thank you members of the council. uh Nick Annette from Meers and Associates. Um you know, we discussed this over the course of the fall and the city did adopt uh utility rates to put in effect for 2026 and one of the requests was to uh provide a recommendation to institute a new residential tier on those rates. And I'll kind of go over some of the background. Um so Edina does charge for water use based on a tiered rate structure. So per thousand gallons of consumption, there is a rate that is charged to uh various accounts on a quarterly basis. Um and those rates escalate um once you exceed certain tiers of usage. Um the first tier being 12,000 gallons for every thousand gallons above that a higher price is charged. And that's called a conservation rate structure. It's intended to provide a signal to consumers to potentially give them an incentive to curb their use and not put so much demand on the utility system. Um, particularly during periods where there's high watering like the summer and fall periods here in Minnesota. Um, we conducted a utility right study on behalf of the city in 2025 and had discussions with the council uh several times for the revenue and rates that would need to be uh identified in order to provide uh funding for 10 years worth of operation and capital investment uh that are anticipated for not just the water utility but also the sanitary sewer and storm water systems that the the city operates. Um during that discussion uh review of consumption patterns suggests that there was a significant amount of residential uh use that was occurring uh in well of excess of the existing tier breaks and and perhaps um identifying that uh those those tiers and that pricing structure was somewhat ineffective um in curbing some of the higher use that was observed. And so the council did ask that uh we uh provide some additional analysis and come back before you to implement adding a a an additional fourth tier a higher uh charge for um that kind of use that that does occur periodically in the city. So that's what we're here to discuss. Um table on the right on the slide is the adopted rates that are in effect for 2026. So the council took action to adopt those in December. um as you go through your annual budgeting process and adopt your fee schedule every year along that time. This was implemented for 2026 um after the results of the utility rate study were provided. Uh as you can see uh the tier structure for residential use uh the first tier goes from 0 to 12,000 gallons. Then for every thousand gallons above 12,000 up to 24,000 there is a a higher price that is charged per thousand gallon and then the price increases again in excess of 24,000 gallons. This again is on a quarterly basis. Um the proposed uh tier 4 we're proposing to set at the 72,000galon mark. Um and this specifically represents about 10% of residential usage. So it would target the highest uh level of excessive use that does occur predominantly in the summer and fall high watering seasons. Um it the tier three rate would remain in effect unchanged, but we would add this fourth tier and a price associated with it and we're recommending that that price be set at a 24 or 25% premium to your existing tier three rate. So that would be the the price that would be paid for every uh,000 gallons in excess of 72,000 in a quarter would be priced at 800 $8.75 which is 25% higher than the uh tier the existing tier 3 rate um or $169 difference. Just for a little bit of context in terms of [snorts] typical consumption, uh Minnesota Department of Natural Resources does put out a report that does report average residential use throughout the state. And their estimate is that the average user uh consumes about 4,000 or 750 gallons per quarter. So on a quarterly basis for their indoor uh essential needs, this if we extrapolate that out to a typical Edina household of 2.3 uh persons would would be just under 11,000 gallons per quarter. And then just for reference, a fourperson household again just just applying that same average per person uh would be about 19,000 gallons. So you can see that that 72,000galon mark really does represent uh a high level of use uh within the community and the uh it does put uh demands on the system. So, with this action uh tonight and moving forward, if the council does want to implement that, it we uh are proposing that it would take effect as soon as May 1st, which was the intent to have it in effect for the summertime watering season when we do expect it to have some impact and provide a signal to consumers to hopefully uh reduce their consumption. Um, if we do just take the same analysis that we completed for the uh 25 rate study, the revenue need that we were anticipating that you set your rates for, uh, this would result in about $200,000 in additional revenue uh, for the utility fund. Now, that would be on a temporary basis and that is based on, you know, a whole host of average factors. So it would be dependent on seasonal influences and and how the weather pattern actually plays out this summer and whether folks are actually out watering as much as they they have in the past. Um but that that revenue would likely diminish over time hopefully. But if the pricing is effective enough and and starting to curb some of that use, uh we don't think that there needs to be any other adjustments to the rate structure at this point in time. Um that additional revenue will only help uh maintain the fund in its solvent uh condition and help reduce the amount of debt that is already anticipated um for the utility and the capital improvement plan that is envisioned over the course of the next 10 years which would then allow more efficient um uh solveny as well uh for the fund going forward in the future. So um and the the plan is to continue efforts and update our analysis and study, collect more years of data and pay attention to how those usage patterns continue to play out within the community and evaluate that and help uh inform the council when they next set their their rates um this coming budget cycle and the end of this coming year. We have some additional data that we did provide as part of the study to look at the what what um the typical usage patterns are within the residents uh in the community. Um this chart here on the slide is a is a histogram. So it it the bars represent the number of accounts that fall into different tiers of usage. The orange bars represent where those tier breaks are. So that's the the point in time when the price is increased based on uh exceeding that level of use. And so in a winter quarter, we typically expect that the majority of counts um are not going to be impacted by any of the tiering pricing. Most of their consumption is below that 12,000gallon mark for their essential indoor use and therefore is being priced at the lowest potential rate. There are there are some users that do exceed that amount, you know, larger families that should be expected or or different types of property. Um but again, the the majority of it all falls within the existing tier structure. We don't anticipate that this fourth tier would have any meaningful impact during this period. Again, the winter months, we don't see as much watering or consumption during this time. However, the situation changes in the summer and fall periods. So, this is on the same scale. You can see that how the the the the usage shifts into much larger um consumption patterns, even you know, much higher uh levels of use throughout the community. So, um there are still going to be many accounts that are unaffected. um they the majority of accounts still fall below this 72,000 mark. Um it would only really be the highest uh specific users again that top 10 percentage of volume that's used throughout the community would be impacted by this pricing change. So that's all I have for you as far as background. I'd be happy to address any questions of the council, but this is just a a again a continuation of of the rates that were adopted in December uh and our recommendations for this fourth tier. >> Council member Bragno, >> thank you and thank you so much for preparing this. This is really exciting to see it come together. Um and I think you drew the line exactly where I was where I was thinking about it or where we talked about it. Um [snorts] so just a couple of questions. to make sure I'm I'm following along. Um, with the presentation presentation that you just provided, um, this is for residential. Is this single family residential or if not, h how do we think about the multifamily residential when looking at this? >> So, it would apply to predominantly single family uh residential accounts. Um, there are there are a separate tier struct or a separate pricing mechanism the city uses for multifamily units. Um, multif family units don't have individual meters for every single unit within a building. So, you're not able to actually pinpoint specific units and how much they are using versus their neighbors within that same building. So, there is a a different mechanism that that is used, but this would apply to the rest of the residential customers throughout the community. >> Okay. Thank you. Um and then we also have other water rates as well. Um can you speak to whether we we would be considering a fourth tier for those as well? Commercial. >> Right. So the the city has uh different categories. So you have a a residential accounts, you have the multif family that we just mentioned. Um there's commercial accounts. So these are would be businesses um institutional entities other governments things like that. Um and then there are is also irrigation meters. So meters that are assigned specifically to outdoor uh watering. Um you have a separate pricing mechanism set up for them. You naturally you're charging at the higher level for that kind of extra use. uh commercial tiered uh there you do have a tiered structure again where there is a lower price for a lower level of consu uh consumption but it does not have the higher uh different bracketing among it. We typically don't see the change in pattern among those kind of institutional or commercial users. They are fairly consistent throughout the course of the year. Different types of businesses are going to more or less rely on water for their own um function. and aren't going to be necessarily as um uh seasonal in their use. Additionally, if they do have outdoor um watering systems, they're typically using that irrigation meter where we already have a special pricing mechanism assigned to it. So, taken as a whole, we don't recommend that you put a fourth tier in place for commercial accounts. Um, but it's certainly something that, you know, the council can noodle on and potentially do in the future if if we see that kind of egregious use. >> And I appreciate you you bringing that up because I know when we had previous uh discussions about this, one of the examples was the hospital um and really how that is calculated today like it wouldn't be feasible um to expect for them to be able to decrease necessarily in in the same way. Um okay, so two more questions. uh when we're looking at this rate structure is would it just be for the water usage that is over the 72,000 gallons? >> Correct. So the way that the tier works is uh everyone every residential user pays the lowest rate for their first 12,000 gallons of use. when they exceed that, their incremental use gets charged at a higher level and it goes on and on and on all the way till you get to that highest tier. So their first 72,000 gallons would be charged the exact way it's implemented today. It's only the additional amount above that threshold that would then be charged. So it's not like a retroactive penalty where you get you you know you exceed 72 and now all of a sudden your first gallon gets hit with a different rate. It's only the the use beyond that threshold. >> Okay. Thank you. And then finally, what impact do you expect this will have on water usage across residential properties? >> You know, we do expect to see some level of impact. Um, but it's not completely inelastic. You know, there's there's there are going to be some who will not react whatsoever. they want to use the water the the same way they've been doing it for years and um are per perhaps not going to change. However, we are going to provide them a you know a signal at least in terms of a of a price for a consideration to do that. Um it also helps allocate more of the cost of the system to the the people that are putting more demands on that system and and so it can be viewed in that light as well. you know, I would say that over time we will see gradually that these levels decrease. Um, but I I don't anticipate this is going to be a, you know, an immediate uh impact. We we do think that they're going to continue to consume. Um, and I will say as well, it is highly sensitive to a variety of different factors, right? So, if we have a very dry year where there's not a lot of rainfall, typically folks are going to, you know, see their their lawns and they're going to want to take care of it. Uh, in that regard, you've got other things that they might be using the water for um that aren't going to be seasonally impacted, pools and and things like that. You know, how likely is it to for them to change that behavior is is unknown, but perhaps, you know, they'll see their bill and and have a reason to think about it in the future. >> Other questions? Do we have the data on um I was looking at residential tier 2 tier three a big dramatic uh increase there. Do we know what that percentages from tier 2 to tier three >> in terms of the amount of users >> you go from oh you go from 706 per thousand to four from 427 to 706 per thousand. What percentage of increase is that >> on the spot man? I was just going to do that when you stopped when when you stopped talking and I had to >> jump in. Um, I will say that maybe in light of your question, you know, one of the one of the things that we did bring up in our previous analysis and and one of the things we would like to do in the future is now that a fourth tier is assuming it does get adopted is to maybe um go through a a repricing to try to figure out a more um equitable um blocks for how these prices are are reached. you know, the prices that you see here were designed specifically for a three- tier system. Um, now we're just adding a fourth on top of it. If we would have designed four tiers from the get-go, we probably would have had a lower um incremental change between two and three. But, um, I think this will serve for now and u will put us in a place where we can update that analysis uh the next go around for your u 27 rate adoption. Um, yeah, I guess I'm I'm just sort of inherently sensitive to the notion that we've already uh you you mean you've basically gone up from tier two to tier three on residential $2.89 per thousand gallons, which, you know, looks to be over over a 50% increase. roughly a 50% increase and now we're talking about going to another tier where it's 25 24% above that. >> Correct. >> I I just think that even though we're trying to develop some strategies around getting people to be more conservation conscious, it almost starts to feel punitive to me the percentage of increases that we're that we're talking about here. I mean, was already having a tough tough tough enough time with that big increase between tier two and tier three, which isn't as dramatic for commercial as it is for residential. Now, you're suggesting that for tier 4, we jump at it another 24% for a small portion of the population. You know, unfortunately, this kind of a structure is that's kind of the point. Um, to have a meaningful price signal. Um now, but I would fully recognize that I don't think based on the original analysis, the intent was to adopt a tier three rate that would provide not only the revenue associated with the use um but would also provide this kind of conservation pricing mechanism. Now, with a tier four on top of that, I again I fully acknowledge that I think redesigning that um the differences between each one would be appropriate and something that we'd want to talk about from a policy perspective for the next goound. Um but uh it is common that you would want at least a 25% increase between these price points so that there is some differentiation. if if the price is too close together, you're not going to see any kind of meaningful change in the bill or the conservation practices. So, um typical guidance is to have at least a 25% difference between the different price points and um you certainly could buffer that 50% in the future to kind of lower that and even it out among the different tiers. you what you want to be able to do is explain it to people because we're we're we're not going to get people calling us saying that they want to conserve more water. They're going to call us and say, "What the heck is going on? My water bill went up to $600 a month from $300 a month." >> Well, I think some context as well. And and so if we if we can tell them, yeah, we're running a water business here and it takes a lot of money to maintain the system and keep the pumps in good shape, you know, and you can justify it based upon a capital investment sort of basis. But if you're just doing it to make money off of them, that's that's, you know, we got to have a better answer than that. Well, there is I just >> I'm not explaining myself very well, but even with the conservation factor, I mean, I hear you even hedging on the conservation thing, you know, I mean, you you don't have any definitive data from any town that says the more you charge, the less they're going to use. >> I think we have data across the board from a national perspective that the higher the price is, the lower the consumption is going to be. I just don't have a definitive edina specific that this what level of impact this is going to have on your specific consumption. But we do know that in comparison to state guidance there is a very high level of use within the community well above the guidance thresholds. And so this is one policy objective of that the council has echoed that we'd like to implement and you have had a cons conservation structure in place for as far as as I know decades within your water. You haven't had a fourth tier but you have had three different tiers and different price points for those different tiers. Um, when I spoke about the impact that this would have, it's going to be additive from a revenue standpoint, but it's not going to fully recover all of the cost that the city puts in to paying for the infrastructure and operating and service the infrastructure. The city still relies on debt to to some degree to be able to fund those programs. So, this revenue is going to offset some of those debt needs. It's going to make your financially more efficient within the fund. Um, but it's not going to completely offset. This is not a profit tiering measure by any means. >> Well, when you when you set when you trotted out that number of $200,000, it didn't seem like a significant amount of money >> in terms of in terms of operating the system and paying for the system. >> Correct. I I agree with you on that. >> Percentages are are daunting. Anyway, council member Jackson. >> Yeah. So, I think of it in three basic things. First of all, the cost of running the system is the cost of running the system. And the rates are set to cover as much of that cost as we can. So whether it's tiered, whether it's not tiered, we're going to charge pretty much in total the same amount of money. So we're not in the profitm business. when I was on council when we first looked at this. So Mr. Annut says that we've always had a tiered system, but the way the tiers were set that actually the lowing households were sub were um subsidizing the highusing households that the um bulk of the the tier was set so that the bulk of the users were at the low level were paying a higher percentage um for their use than the high users were. And then the third thing I think about is the people who use over 72,000 gallons a year or in in the per quarter. We have to have a bigger system to accommodate them. So they are putting a bigger stress on our infrastructure on our water providing infrastructure than the small users. So proportionately in order to accommodate their needs we have to have a bigger system which costs capital. Um, so it should be allocated to them just in order to provide the amount of water they need. So it's to me it seems very equitable um that the low users um should not be carrying the burden for people who require greater infrastructure to to provide this massive amount of water in the summertime. >> Those are all good arguments. Yeah, I think that was what I was trying to get at in a inarticulate sort of way was to be able to explain to people why we were doing what we were doing. I think council member Jackson explained it well. All right, any other questions? Okay. Uh we asked this work be done by staff and um they have now created uh with the assistance of Ellers a fourth tier for potential fourth tier for residential water use. Is there a motion to approve ordinance 202606 amending city code chapter 2 section 2-2724 schedule A establishing a fourth tier for residential water use and granted on a first reading basis and potentially wave second reading or wave second readings as well. >> So moved a second. Jackson moves. Member Agnu seconds the adoption of the motion to approve ordinance 2026 amending city code chapter 2 section 2-724 schedule A setting forth tier for residential water use granting first reading and waving second reading. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the motion say I. >> I opposed. Carried. Motion's adopted. Thank you for being here Mr. and Hut. >> We have a second motion, Mr. Mayor to approve the summary publication. >> Say that again, please. >> We have a second motion to approve the summary publication. >> Oh, yeah. Here it is. Is there a motion to approve summary publication of ordinance 2026? I was thinking we had that on the next one, but not this one. Uh, is there a motion to approve a summary publication of ordinance 2026? >> So move. >> Second. >> Member Jackson moves. Member Pier seconds the motion to approve summary publication of ordinance 2026. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of uh motion to approve the summary publication of ordinance 2026 say I. >> I. >> I opposed. Carried. >> And now we are on to the ordinance amending tree protection. And we've had uh a discussion on that on a first reading basis. And Perry Veter, our park and rec director is with us and our city attorney has worked on this matter as well. I'm turn now to director Veter. >> Uh thank you mayor, members of the council. This evening, we are um um requesting adoption of the amendments to the tree protection ordinance. This is your second reading on the ordinance. Uh before I do begin though, I would like to um give you a quick update. Um so, Council Member Jackson probably doesn't have to ask on how the residential tree sale is going. I would imagine that would be one of your questions later. Uh the residential tree sale did open on Monday. We did list our spring tree sale for 250 trees. Um, as of later this afternoon, already 138 have been sold. There are only 112 left. So, um, they are going quick. So, >> and how do people go about buying a tree? >> Um, they can go to, uh, the city's website and review that. And actually, Tree Trust, who is our tree sale partner, um, is actually hosting the site itself. So, you can find information on how to get there from our city website and also through Tree Trust. >> Okay, good. Uh so this evening we are asking uh second reading and staff is recommending adoption of the uh ordinance uh 2026-04 which is in regard to tree protection. Um as stated um at the February 17th meeting this uh ordinance does reflect technical legal and operational changes to the existing ordinance. Uh the first thing it does is it repeals it from chapter 10 and moves it into chapter 30 under vegetation. It is effective for all zoning districts in Edina. The technical changes there are a lot of uh definitions for common understanding for both the city usage and the permit holder including measurement techniques definitions uh certified professional designations. It does change the replanting requirements as well. Uh allowing up to 20% of replacement be made up of different tree types. Uh what is important to this change as well is it does provide some exemptions for replanting requirements on unbuilt and built lots including situations where existing trees can pose damage to existing foundation sidewalks and driveways. And it also allows uh the creation of a venue for off-site planting and mitigation. um if the permit holder cannot accommodate on their lot. Some of the follow-up questions that the council did ask staff, we did highlight a few of those. Uh the first was about applying this to all tree removals in the community and not just those that require a permit. Uh we did look at that. Uh the first piece is a lot of the protected and heritage trees right now in Edina are being removed as it relates to um some of the building permit activity that does occur. So primarily through grading, demolition and building permits um for for those that are applications. Uh the other section of tree loss that does occur is around uh disease tree, hazard tree, um severe weather impacts to trees. So as of the current situation right now, we are not necessarily seeing um a loss of trees outside either the uh disease tree and hazard tree removal um or the building permit process. Um one of the other pieces was the education and awareness section of that. Um, as you heard this evening, when it comes to education awareness and off-site planting notification, uh, we are in this interim period where we are a little bit concerned about accessibility documents and things that we do post online. Um, so in the interim until we can kind of figure out how to create and increase public knowledge around those, we did want to create an annual report on the tree protection ordinance that we can deliver on that. Um as it comes to off-site planting notifications, that would be the same thing would be to uh provide um as staff has called it internally kind of a canopy connect program and how we can connect those that are interested to developers in a um feasible fashion and also um a lot of that education notification can be handled through the annual aircats education that the city staff in a number of variety of departments uh do annual training to all developers and building applicants in Edina. The other piece was also the review process. Uh staff did look at a lot of the exemptions that we would have provided um for mitigation efforts um on lots that have come through and rather than create that type of review process, we do feel a vast number of the scenarios that we would um can be addressed through the changes that we are recommending this evening through that certified professional that can attest to some of those mitigation efforts. Um, a couple I did talk to one applicant this week um that was concerned about one of their projects. Um, that case came down to one tree in a backyard and that tree was currently posing uh risk to existing foundation. Um, with these changes, that person who is a certified professional as defined by this uh these changes could attest to that tree um providing damage to existing foundations. Therefore, that would not require mitigation. Um, another such scenario is if there is uh development activity, say in the backyard or sideyard of a project and an applicant has a tree in their front yard unrelated to development that may be impacting their driveway or a sidewalk, that certified professional can attest to that as well. Uh which then would not require mitigation because um within this ordinance, we have that one-year look back period. So, um, under a lot of those scenarios are where people are, uh, maybe they want to have economies of scale or that while they're making these changes, they want to make, um, those additional landscaping investments in their property and they want to, um, mitigate those concerns during the time of construction and not alternately. So, um, through this process, a lot of those changes would be ones that we would look to, um, have that review on. However, in the ordinance, we do feel that is covered. Um, a lot of those scenarios that we've been approached with are covered now on either an unbuilt lot um, exemption or the built lot where um, existing trees are posing damage to foundations, driveways, sidewalks. Um, or in areas where there is an easement or an active easement or a proposed easement on the property line. Um, so those were kind of the the follow-ups they had for you there uh, from the last meeting. Um we are hopeful that you do support changes to the existing ordinance that we have um within city code by making these changes which we hopefully um see as improvements on that legal, technical and operational changes to what we're currently using. question. >> Uh just sitting waiting for uh >> Yeah, you did. >> I was thinking about the Lincoln and >> you recall. Thankfully, I'm not debating those two students. So, >> were there any questions for Director Rder? No, nobody's Oh, see you just quieted the whole crowd and we're just ready to get to action here. Action steps. Uh we're going to get to that second reading here based on your providing that supplemental information. And is there a motion to approve the second reading and adopt ordinance 20264 regarding tree protection? >> So moved. >> Jackson moves. >> Second. >> Member Agnes seconds the motion to approve on a second reading basis uh the adoption of ordinance 20264 regarding tree protection. Any further discussion? >> Just a a comment. I um appreciate the the summary uh from the comments that were from the last um city council meeting. Um I appreciate the education and awareness uh piece in there. This is all hard stuff to do. Um, but I do believe for a lot of the things that we're we're trying to accomplish, for those to be sustainable, like we do have to lean into the hard work of figuring out what the anomalies are, addressing those. And I appreciate the the um the idea of an annual report um because I think we've had this for 10 plus years, something like that. Is that about right? An ordinance somewhere in there. >> Yeah, something like that. >> Yeah. The first version was 10 years ago and then it was revised two, three years ago. >> Yeah. >> The current revision I think was 2023. >> Yeah. And so my only point was we've been doing it for a decade. It's hard to do and I appreciate the fact that you would look at this annually, see if we're making progress, and then bring back an annual report to give us a chance to keep tweaking it um as we go. So I appreciate those ads. comment. Member Rouser, >> I appreciate the Canopy Connect program because I do really feel the um it there's such a burden that is placed on individual homeowners and that I remain concerned about that. However, I see supporting this as improving things and so there's a logic to that. But I still feel like the way that it is structured, there needs to be some kind of way of recognizing, you know, tree density per lot and not telling somebody that, you know, they they need to just keep adding more trees. And the other thing is that this really is sort of a time situation issue because it's we're trying to finesse an outcome where we don't there's no way to instantly grow the tree. You know, you can't do that. And so in essence, I feel like what we're trying to do is figure out a way to guarantee that we will have that massive tree in a in a way that leans into sort of an instant gratification approach and that complicates things. So I don't know if that makes sense, but I I did just want to get that out there. But I do with Canopy Connect, I think that would help make it easier for somebody, you know, who can't support the tree, but it doesn't get at the problem. So hopefully, you know, I echo member Pierce's um comment that coming back and continuing to try to improve this is really very much needed. So um thank you for beginning well working with that and continuing to work with that. Okay, we've got a motion in a second to >> I I have some comments. >> Yeah, go ahead, >> please. [gasps] >> Um, so first of all, I want to say thank you director Veter. Thank you to our forester Louther overhold who have put a lot of time and effort and patience into doing this because it's complicated. Um, and I want to thank the energy and environment commission who did the initial research on really beefing up our tree ordinance. Um, you know, trees provide shade. They absorb carbon and storm water, but they do so much more. They provide real value, real wealth to our community. Uh, studies show that regardless of neighborhood wealth, trees slow traffic, they correlate with better te school test scores, and they lower crime. So, it's kind of they're kind of a cure all. And the problem when we cut down a mature tree and plant a baby tree, you can't capture the time [clears throat] that has gone into that tree. And and memor touched on that, but there's a big difference between a hundred-year-old oak and a dwarf crab apple and their carbon redu in everything in shade, in carbon absorption, and in the feel of the neighborhood. Um, having an established neighborhood. So, we've got a two-prong, and thank you for mentioning the tree sale. Uh, we have a two-prong approach. Part of it is to encourage people to plant trees in their yard by having a tree sale twice a year, and we can do other things as well. And part of it is to protect our existing tree canopy. And we we can't do it with just the tree sale alone. So, I I'm really excited to support this. >> Thank you, Council Member Jackson. You're making me think now that maybe I better get on it on the tree sale because I bought four last fall. I wonder if any of them made it through the winter. Maybe I should have a little backup at plan here. Anyway, uh I have nothing further to add. We've got a motion to approve second on our second reading basis and adopt ordinance 20264 regarding tree protection. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the motion as stated say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Carried. The motion's uh adopted and the second reading in uh of ordinance 202604 is approved and the ordinance is adopted. We have one more matter [clears throat] regarding this and that is uh before our clerk tells me and reminds me that uh we got to get this thing published. Is there a motion to approve summary publication of ordinance 20264? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Member moves. Member Jackson seconds uh the motion to approve summary publication of ordinance 20264. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the motion is stated say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Carried. That motion is adopted. That'll be sent out for summary publication. And uh thank you for all this hard work. It was really >> Yeah. Thank you, Mayor C. Yeah, it's there is a lot of different factual twists and turns that take you down different pathways to try to >> do things that are logical and fair to people and you you've worked really hard at trying to make sure that happens. >> Thank you, Mayor and Council Member Jackson for your regards as well. This was really an interdep departmental team that worked on this from planning, administration, sustainability, um engineering, obviously forestry, the buildings department, the city attorney planning. There was a lot of teamwork that went into making these changes and hopefully for the better. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Well, we we're it's it's a constant improvement. No question about that. It's far better than it was and it will probably get better in the future, but it really is that's that was a dramatic change in what was what we had before based on the different factual situations that we faced that you guys tried to cope with and deal with and respond to. Thanks again. All right. Uh, manager comments. We got some interesting things going on tonight. >> We do. Thank you, your honor. Members of council, uh, couple of of updates. Uh, first is an update on a couple of of bills. Um, first is that the bill for including an Adina social district uh, at 50th in France has been jacketed. So, we'll have a bill number for you soon. Representative Green is carrying that bill. our sales tax bill is is kind of going through the process of getting uh approved and edited in Senator Rest's office and we should know how that's finally going to turn out uh here I think even yet this week. Um then they'll be moving those uh Senate bills um through the Senate process and Senator Latz uh will be carrying that bill on behalf of the city. Uh charitable gambling, we are set to take up that issue again on on April 7th. We got some good uh feedback here tonight on some of the things that I think we'll we'll make sure we report on to you. Then um we will have a briefing on we I think we told you uh tonight but at our next uh work session on March 17th we will have a briefing on kind of the current state of our liquor operations and uh we'll share that with you then. So, we'll do half half of that discussion will be on state of the utilities. The other half of it will be on state of the liquor operation. Um, Macy's uh, excuse me, Enclave announced or told us earlier this week that they did close on the purchase of the mate Macy's funeral store furniture store, excuse me, uh, last week. So, there's a couple pieces of paperwork here that that um Council Member Pierce and Mayor Hublin, you need to sign uh for that, but they have closed on that purchase. So, now we're waiting to see what comes next. But that was a big that was a big move. Finally, uh tonight is uh our city management fellow, Zoe Johnson's last council meeting because she's gonna be >> she's going to start her new job in Morris, Minnesota as their city manager. and uh I asked her if she would uh care to say a few words on her last last council meeting. >> Good evening, Zoe. >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. I just before I start rambling, um I just want to say thank you to everyone, council, staff, Scott and Ari mostly. Um it's just been such a quick experience. Feels like a year and a half and some change flew by in the blink of an eye. Um, so I just want to thank you all for this opportunity. Being the 10th fellow, I stand on the shoulders of all the fellows that came before me. The first one of course being our honorable Ari Lens. So I just I really appreciate this opportunity and I can't wait to spread my wings in Morris and see what I can do as their city manager. But I just I truly can't tell you how much I've appreciated this opportunity to, you know, try out life in the big city and, you know, now get to share that kind of educational wealth in greater Minnesota. >> Yeah, it's a lovely opportunity in a in a really great little town. Yeah. >> And uh we're excited to hear more about how things go for you. So, >> thank you. I appreciate >> Make sure you report back to Manager Neil Orari once in a while. So, >> Oh, of course. Yeah. Oh, I'll be helping Assad out with his transition as the new city management fellow as well. So, if he ever has any questions and if they ever do a fellow get together like we like to do sometimes to just check in on folks and make sure everybody's okay and, you know, not stressing out too much about what they're dealing with in their communities. I mean, it's what it's all about. So, >> yeah. Well, you know, we all wish you all the best. >> Thank you so much. >> It's been a pleasure having you here. >> Likewise. It's been a pleasure to get to have a council that as that is truly as thoughtful and as analytical as all of you are. You take your roles incredibly seriously and being able to witness the dynamic that you have with staff and Scott and Ari is just and the community is just such a such a gift. So I just thank you so much. It's been amazing and I look forward to taking um the trip to Washington DC with council members Risser and Jackson. That'll be a great sort of capstone project, I suppose. Um, so yeah. >> When do you start? >> I start um April 1st, but I will actually show up. I've been telling everybody that since it is April Fool's Day, there's [laughter] not going to be any hinky business or anything like that. Um, but yeah, my last day will be March 26th for the city of Adina. And then I'll have about five days to turn around and yeah, start a city manager. >> Have you found a place to live yet or? Uh Sam and I are still working on that. So we're um housing options aren't as robust as you can imagine out in Morris, Minnesota. So we're still trying to figure out exactly what that looks like. But we'll be much closer to our families. So his family's only an hour away in Melrose. So if we have to, you know, do that for a little bit and drive, that's just fine. But yeah, I'll I'll keep you posted on what I find. >> Good. Enjoy yourself with our >> with our colleagues at the National League of Cities meeting, too. Those >> those are really well attended and very very worthwhile. >> Yes, I agree. I will. Thank you. >> All right. Thanks, Zoe. >> That's all that I have tonight. >> Okay. Uh, member researcher, should we roll roll right down the line there? >> Thank you. And I want to um thank Clerk Allison for updating the February 4th minutes. And I think it really would be prudent if we could um take a look at our city code, that specific um legislation and bring it up to speed so that it is compliant or matching with state statute. And so, you know, I think there's a logic in doing that. Uh anyway, I just wanted to note that. I also wanted to um underscore how important I think it is to go to the conference particularly now as we have the federal legislation for um requirements digital requirements ADA digital requirements and I've already identified two sessions uh that pertain to that and I really want to go and I want to find out exactly how this is being rolled out and in other places I think we're doing a phenomenal job but my big concern concern is that there is material the public is not able to immediately access and um these are items that they'll be marked board portal and so you can't necessarily see that um or you can't see that you have to do a data request and so my big question is you know how are we going to balance things and I want to find out from as many people as I possibly can uh what they're doing what can be done is there any kind of technical assistance assistance that we can get that maybe we're not aware of that there may not be but I will really be reaching out to as many people there making as many contacts as I can and I do want to thank the taxpayers of Edina for um sending me to DC and I will be working very hard so thank you >> yeah thanks for that also member Jackson >> yes thank you so I also want to thanks the taxpayers for sending me to Washington I'm looking forward to learning um about all the various things I think we what I'd like to talk with legislators about is the THC law um difference between Minnesota and the federals. Um we're seeing in our liquor store and I think a lot of outside Edina liquor stores are seeing um a real threat to losing that revenue source and we want to um continue to uh have a robust liquor store department um in Edina. Um so member Risser mentioned um uh the minutes what she's talking about are we found at the church here on 50th that there is a driveway that comes right into a parking lot and the way our ordinance is written is that those driveways are not protected from people parking in front of them. And so state law does not indicate that the parking that the driveway has to go onto a street. Um, and that seems to um, when I talked with her, she said there's more than one example of of this type of driveway in our city is a fully buil built city with some quirks to it. And so by aligning our ordinances with the same language as the state law, it eliminates that um, very small but annoying for the people who live there problem. Um, so I would support um, amending that ordinance as well. Um last Wednesday we all were at a dinner intar put on by the Edina Somali Americans and it was an extraordinary um opportunity uh to learn and to share some fellowship and have some really good food and I want to say thank you for that and um yeah finally I hate to end on a negative note but people slow down we don't need to drive so fast the number of complaints we get about uh really high-speed traffic is is disheartening because this should be a great place for kids to be safe and um and no matter how many sidewalks we build, if the cars are zooming around, um it's it's going to continue to be dangerous. So, please slow down. >> Thank you for that. >> Council member, uh nothing. Go ahead. >> Nothing from me tonight. Thank you, >> Council Member Agnum. >> Thank you. Um, I just wanted to do a shout out um to an event from this last Saturday. >> Um, we had the public safety recognition banquet and it was a beautiful event and I I know we usually we will also celebrate um at least some of those award winners here um within council chambers. Um, but I just wanted to also thank um, Sergeant and Axeen for all of the work that she had done. Um, and she and I had interacted along with um, member Risser and member Jackson earlier in the week when we did our like pictures of women. Uh, I don't know what exactly that will be used for, but it was like a um, celebrating women for women's history month um, within the city of Edina. Um and so just want to thank her for all of the work that she had done on putting together an amazing event and I look forward to celebrating um those award winners as well uh in council events. So I think that's all that I had for this week. Thank you. >> Good call out on the police and fire recognition event on Saturday night. We're all there. Everybody was there. The entire council and so many staff members and Brian and I were talking about it. It was it was a beautiful venue, a fantastic meal, and just a wonderful time. So, thanks for bringing that up. Member, uh, Director Milner, um, there were when you were gone, there were a few, uh, snow plowing complaints that came in. I don't know if they ever got answered or not. Some people that, you know, their streets were missed or they I don't know if everything anything was ever resolved in some of those. One was down by Todd Park, as I recall. wondered if they were just forgotten and if some of that those issues have been resolved. >> Every snowfall is different. Um and I think that's the case in this regard. It was a it rain first and then it froze in ice. Our trucks were taking double the time to get through the streets. They literally were spinning out and couldn't do it. So, every snowfall is different. Nothing has changed in operations. Every street got hit. When we do get those com uh emails from you or other council members, we go and check it out and we take care of it. So, it might not have happened right away, but it was a unique snowfall with the ice underneath. >> That's all I need to know is if we send emails into you, you're checking it out. >> We're checking it out every time. >> Even if you don't correspond with us and tell us you're checking it out, you're checking it out. That's correct. That's comforting for all of us, I think, to know that. Uh the only other thing I had on my list tonight was um u one of our residents um and committee comment u I thought made some inappropriate comments about our city manager um we this Neil family consulting issue is not a new issue. We we've known about this. We put it in his contract when council member and I negotiated his contract. His council approved it. It was in there that he had a family consulting business that he was doing with his son on the side. When he when he does it, he if he does any business, it's off hours or he probably takes vacation time. I don't know. He could explain it, but uh I thought it was really inappropriate to criticize him in in that fashion or the inference that he was somehow doing something wrong. when this council approved his contract and the language is very clear in the contract that uh that he could do this and we knew about it and it was identified by name. So, um I feel like in a way uh I'm probably more fair game than anybody. I don't not I don't want anybody to be fair game, but I I you know I feel like I can deal with it, but other people that work for the city shouldn't have to deal with it. And it doesn't matter if you're the city manager or you're in the police department or you're the director of engineering or somebody working on a crew. People deserve respect. And I felt like it was really disrespectful the way that whole that that sequence of events went tonight with our resident criticizing our city manager. Um and I and I think we all stand up for him on this particular circumstance and any other circumstance because there is no more honest person uh working in city government or anywhere than Scott Neil. So um we talked at the end of the year about uh let's start 2026 with thinking about kindness and consideration and uh courtesy and civility and didn't feel like it took long for that to disappear. So maybe a reminder may be in order. And I wish now that I would have made these comments uh in time when we had a bigger audience here, but I'm making them now. And I want you to know that we're backing you up. We stand here with you. >> All right. Anybody else have anything? >> Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. I second. A motion by member Jackson, second by member Agna that we adjourn the meeting of the city council at 9:33 p.m. on this Wednesday, March 3rd, 2026. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adjournment say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. >> Carried.