Chaska City Council — Transcript
Monday, June 15, 2026
Agenda Amendment for Action Item Priority
Water Treatment Plant Bidding Process
City Hall Plaza Improvement Project Expediting
Votes (7)
Downtown Master Plan Task Force Appointments
Moved by Councilmember Hatfield [00:19:10] · Seconded by Councilmember Benish [00:19:15]
The council considered appointments for the Downtown Master Plan Task Force, which aims to refresh the 2012 plan by activating downtown infrastructure. Eight candidates were interviewed, and five citizen representatives were appointed, including two downtown residents and three at-large members. The task force is expected to complete its work by March next year.
Public Hearing, Assessments for 2026 Downtown Street Reconstruction Project
Moved by Councilmember Shevlin [00:25:20] · Seconded by Councilmember Hatfield [00:25:25]
This item addressed the assessment roll for the final section of downtown street reconstruction, covering Elm and Third Streets. The project, costing $2.733 million, includes street improvements, utility replacement, and a bridge replacement. Assessments for residential properties remained consistent with previous downtown projects. A public hearing was held, with no citizens coming forward to speak. Council noted active communication with affected neighbors, some of whom advocated for the project's commencement.
Letter of Intent with Community Asset Foundation for the Development of the Inn on Stoughton Avenue
Moved by Councilmember Gra [00:44:20] · Seconded by Councilmember Hatfield [00:44:25]
The council considered a Letter of Intent for 'The Inn,' a housing project for the Beyond New Beginnings program, which supports young mothers completing high school. The original Yellow Brick Road site was abandoned due to prohibitive soil costs. The new proposal is for a city-owned property on Stoughton Avenue, formerly United Crystal Sugar land, and would include a duplex and the 'Worm Household' moved from St. John's Church. The project will house three families and emphasize counseling and community support, potentially through shared facilities at the Walnut Street location. Funding will be partially from Local Housing Aid (LHA) dollars, and the property is intended for a land trust. The city highlighted the predictability of LHA dollars for such impactful projects.
Big Woods Business Park, Phase One (Scannell Properties): Preliminary Site Plan, Rezoning, and Comprehensive Plan Amendment
Moved by Councilmember Shevlin [01:37:35] · Seconded by Councilmember Hatfield [01:37:40]
The council reviewed the preliminary plans for Phase One of the Big Woods Business Park, a 44-acre distribution center proposed by Scannell Properties. This phase includes a 218,000 sqft facility, public road 'A' with roundabouts on Big Woods Boulevard, a private right-in/right-out access on County Road 11, and extensive landscaping in the greenbelt area. The project necessitates rezoning from Rural Residential to Planned Multi-use District 24 and a comprehensive plan amendment to allow cluster development, expand the MUSA, and guide land use in recently annexed parcels. Environmental assessments (AUAR) and annexation were completed earlier. Amazon, the identified end-user, presented on job creation (~300 direct, ~450 drivers), employee benefits, sustainability initiatives (low-carbon materials, electric vehicles, no-idling policy), and security measures. Discussions addressed traffic concerns, with clarification that semi-traffic is unlikely to route through neighborhoods due to efficiency and that future road improvements (Savannah Way, county roundabouts) will mitigate impacts. Amazon also noted the project will likely enhance local delivery services for residents.
Rezoning for Big Woods Business Park, Phase One
Moved by Councilmember Benish [01:38:25] · Seconded by Councilmember Hatfield [01:38:30]
As part of the Big Woods Business Park approval, the council adopted an ordinance to rezone the project area. This changed the classification from Rural Residential to Planned Multi-use District 24 (PMUD 24), aligning the zoning with the proposed industrial park development.
Comprehensive Plan Amendment for Big Woods Business Park, Phase One
Moved by Councilmember Graff [01:39:15] · Seconded by Councilmember Bennish [01:39:20]
The council adopted a resolution approving a comprehensive plan amendment for the Big Woods Business Park. This amendment enables conservation cluster development, provides land use guidance for parcels recently annexed from Dahlgren Township (designating them as open space and business park), and expands the metropolitan urban service area (MUSA) to encompass the new development. This approval is subject to formal review and acceptance by the Met Council.
Ratifying the Sale of the Chaska EDA Series 2026A Bonds
Moved by Councilmember Shevlin [01:54:20] · Seconded by Councilmember Hatfield [01:54:25]
The council ratified the sale of $57.7 million in Chaska EDA Series 2026A bonds. These 30-year, 10-year callable bonds will finance the construction of MSB 2 (Community Center), refinance its temporary site acquisition, and fund the City Hall Plaza rehab project. The sale was highly successful, achieving a True Interest Cost (TIC) of 4.399%, significantly lower than original projections (4.779%) and resulting in over $150,000 in annual savings. The market was competitive with six bidders, and the bonds, rated A- (lease revenue), performed very favorably compared to AAA-rated municipal bonds. The resolution also authorized necessary real estate transactions to facilitate the lease relationship between the city and EDA.
Notable Quotes (15)
now that we have the infrastructure in place, how do we start to take that next step and create a refresh of the downtown master plan to talk about what are those things that we're going to do over the next 10 years uh from a strategic perspective to really activate those areas and and infrastructure that we've created?
I have a sincere appreciation for folks that you know, take the time that they want to give up their free time to volunteer and and put forward their ideas and and they care about Chaska as much as we care about Chaska up here.
almost every street in downtown with the exception of I think like four now have been reconstructed and we've had the exact same assessment for each residential properties throughout the downtown. So we've just stayed consistent with that.
In fact, one step further, they probably pushed us more to to to do it, which is fair. It's the one It's It's other than the stuff around the city square west block, it's the only thing that we hadn't done yet. And so, I do think it was entirely, you know, fair that it is time to do this street.
Beyond New Beginnings has done is it's taken it sort of the next step in saying, 'Well, some of these people do not have housing.' And they uh need a place for them and their their children to to stay while they finish up uh schooling and then get the support to to help finish up that schooling.
there's just some confusion about it being like low income housing or is it programmed um and so I think that's helpful just to note that it is a part of Beyond New Beginnings and what programming would look like and that it's um not just low income housing like obviously there's an income component um but it is it's more than that it's a programmed situation.
that these single mothers don't feel like they're doing it alone. They have people just like them around them. They their kids have, you know, and I granted they're pretty young, but playmates. Like it's it's this idea of bringing a community back to somebody that's been maybe isolated or estranged from a community.
I actually think this in you know, they're worried about traffic... but actually the the including of the bike path actually enhances that safety because right now it is very tight because it's it's a county road it's a county road with no sides, right?
this uh project will create kind of two different um buckets of jobs. The first is what we would call under the roof jobs. That's about up to 300 uh new jobs um that are direct employees of us. ... The other bucket of jobs uh are um about 450 or so drivers...
Having a facility like this in your backyard generally expedites delivery at a much faster rate. So I'm not typically if you're a prime member you're getting 24 hours 2 days or less in that promise. When we open a delivery station in communities we typically start seeing deliveries in 24 hours or less. You'll likely see expanded same-day delivery services well as a result of this.
the comp plan amendment includes the expansion of Musa and also the land use change to account for the um the cluster development component within the green belt.
we couldn't do land use planning within Dahlgren Township um in the previous comp plan because we didn't have an orderly annexation with that. Um and so this establishes uh the land use planning for that area within what has now been annexed into the city.
we ended up doing very well in the market uh last week for our latest bond sale
Our interest rate at the 4.39 was about 12 basis points higher than a triple A. So, that's a very tight spread and considering that that's triple A, we're double A and these bonds were rated at A- because they're lease revenue, not GO, we were very competitive in the market.
compared to what we were sort of planning the building program around or at least I was, compared to what we got for interest rates, I mean, it's it's over $150,000 savings a year. I mean, it's significant when you're talking about this. So, uh the other part that Noel had mentioned, I was out in New York last Monday with MNPA because we uh had to do a rating call with because we're actually going out for selling debt and we haven't done it for 10 years.
Ordinances & Resolutions (11)
City's long-range plan for downtown development, last refreshed in 2012, undergoing a new refresh.
Adopting the assessment roll for the 2026 Downtown Street Reconstruction Project.
Agreement between the City/EDA and Community Asset Foundation for the Inn on Stoughton Avenue project.
City's long-range plan, requiring amendment for Big Woods Business Park development.
Approving the preliminary site and building plan and preliminary plat for Big Woods Business Park, Phase One.
Approving the rezoning of Big Woods Business Park land from Rural Residential to Planned Multi-use District 24.
Approving the comprehensive plan amendment for Big Woods Business Park, allowing cluster development, guiding former Dahlgren Township parcels, and expanding the metropolitan urban service area.
Paramount bond issue ($57.7 million) for MSB 2 construction, refinancing temporary MSB 2 site financing, and City Hall Plaza rehab.
Ratifying the sale of the Chaska EDA Series 2026A bonds.
Boundary for city utilities, to be expanded as part of the Big Woods Business Park comprehensive plan amendment.
New zoning designation for the Big Woods Business Park area.