--- title: - MINUTES - author: shelb date: D:20260511231700Z --- ## - MINUTES - ## CHASKA CITY COUNCIL ## MAY 4, 2026 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Hubbard at 7:00 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance ## 3. Roll Call Roll call was taken. Present: Mayor Hubbard and Councilmembers Sheveland, Grau, Benesh, and Hatfield. Also Present: Matt Podhradsky, City Administrator; Elise Durbin, Assistant City Administrator; ## Nate Kabat, Community Development Director; Krista Mark, Communications Coordinator; and Christophe Morschen, City Attorney. 4. Adopt the Agenda Motion by Councilmember Benesh, second by Councilmember Hatfield to adopt the agenda as presented. Motion carried. ## 5. Visitor Presentation ## 6. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes ## 6.A. Approve the April 20, 2026, City Council Meeting Minutes Motion by Councilmember Hatfield, second by Councilmember Benesh to approve the minutes of the April 20, 2026, City Council meeting. Motion carried. ## 7. Consent Agenda Motion by Councilmember Sheveland, second by Councilmember Grau to approve the Consent ## Agenda Items A through G: ## A. Approve Temporary Cannabis Event Permit – Higher Place LLC Motion to approve Temporary Cannabis Event Permit TCEP 26.01 for Higher Place LLC, which allows them to have their event at 103 W 2nd St, on June 13th & 14th, 2026. ## B. Low-Potency Hemp Retail Registration Motion to approve low-potency hemp edible retail registrations for Target, allowing them to sell low-potency hemp edible-related products. C. Adopt Resolution No. 2026-33 Awarding bid for 2026 314 Walnut St. N. Roof ## Replacement Motion to approve Resolution 2026-33 awarding the bid for the 2026 314 Walnut St N Roof Replacement to Hoffman Weber Construction in the low bid amount of $251,942.00. D. Adopt Resolution No. 2026-34 Scheduling Improvement Hearing for 2026 Street & Utility ## Reconstruction Project Motion to Approve Resolution No. 2026-34, Scheduling the Improvement Hearing to be held on ## MINUTES-CHASKA CITY COUNCIL May 4, 2026 PAGE 2 May 18th for the 2026 Street & Utility Reconstruction Project; directing the City Engineer to prepare the project plans and specification documents. E. Adopt Resolutions No. 2026-35 and No. 2026-36 Authorizing Issuance and Sale of Bonds for Series 2026A and Series 2026B ## E.i. Resolution No. 2026-35 for Series 2026A Motion to adopt Resolution No. 2026-35 requesting that the Chaska EDA issue Chaska EDA Lease Revenue Bonds, Series 2026A. ## E.ii. Resolution No. 2026-36 for Series 2026B Motion to adopt Resolution No. 2026-36 authorizing issuance of G.O. Water Utility Revenue Bonds, Series 2026B. F. Notice of Default on Memorandum of Understanding with Cain Development Group and RCS-RCA Oak Ridge, LLC for Temporary Certificate of Occupancy at 1 Oak Ridge Dr. Motion to authorize the City Administrator to sign the letter of notice of default on the memorandum of understanding with Cain Development Group and RCS-RCA Oak Ridge, LLC for temporary certificate of occupancy at 1 Oak Ridge Dr. ## G. Accept Public Improvements – Pioneer Vista Accept public improvements in Pioneer Vista as municipal facilities and release the letter of credit in its entirety. Councilmember Sheveland asked if City Staff had heard anything from Oak Ridge. City Administrator Podhradsky stated the Staff has heard another hotel is looking at the property, and has a letter of intent in place, but nothing is firm. Councilmember Sheveland asked if the previous group from Georgia that was supposed to start the parking lot at Oak Ridge in June is out. Mr. Kabat noted that he does not know what the current contractual status is between the group from Georgia and the current property at Oak Ridge. Councilmember Sheveland noted that there has been a heavy Police presence at Oak Ridge and asked if there is something going on there. City Administrator Podhradsky stated there has been a continuous issue with kids trespassing on the property from other communities, and the police have been at the property frequently. Mayor Hubbard asked what the status is on the owners of the building at Oak Ridge. City Administrator Podhradsky noted that the owner of the building has not responded to requests for a meeting. Mayor Hubbard stated this is an unfortunate situation, and thanked Staff for putting things in place since there has not been any progress happening at the property. ## 8. Action Items 8.A. Items Related to the Design for the Chaska Library City Administrator Podhradsky introduced Assistant City Administrator Elise Durbin to present this item to the Council. Ms. Durbin presented the item to the Council. Councilmember Hatfield pointed out that the City’s communications team needs to be in touch and involved with the Staff design group of the Library. City Administrator Podhradsky agreed and noted there would also be quite a bit of public engagement included in the design. ## MINUTES-CHASKA CITY COUNCIL May 4, 2026 PAGE 3 Councilmember Sheveland asked how the Council would approve a Request for Proposal (RFP) if they did not know what the design was going to be. City Administrator Podhradsky explained that the RFP is mainly for professional services to demonstrate to the City that the company has worked on public library projects before. Councilmember Sheveland asked when MSB opens. Ms. Durbin responded that MSB opens next year in the fall of 2027. Councilmember Sheveland asked if the library would break ground at the same time. Ms. Durbin noted that the library would break ground in the spring of 2028. City Administrator Podhradsky added that this plan is giving the City plenty of time to design the library. Mayor Hubbard asked how often the Library Task Force is going to meet. Ms. Durbin stated the Library Task Force would meet four times. Mayor Hubbard asked if the meetings would be in the evenings and last around two hours. Ms. Durbin confirmed that the meetings would be held and the general time frame. City Administrator Podhradsky stated the process for the Council and the library would be comparable to the City Hall Plaza process the Council went through previously. Mayor Hubbard asked who would be interested in serving on the Library Task Force. Councilmember Sheveland volunteered. Councilmember Hatfield noted she would serve as a backup member in the event Councilmember Sheveland ever has to miss a meeting for the Library Task Force. City Administrator Podhradsky noted this is going to be a fun project to be involved in. Mayor Hubbard asked if Ms. Durbin would lay out the meeting schedule at the beginning of this process. Ms. Durbin confirmed that this was correct, and once an architect is on board, a schedule will be set. Mayor Hubbard noted that once that schedule comes out, if there are any meetings Councilmember Sheveland cannot attend, she should tap Councilmember Hatield to stand in for her for representation. Motion by Councilmember Hatfield, second by Councilmember Benesh to approve issuing a Request for Proposals for Architectural and Engineering Services for a new Library Building, appoint Councilmember Sheveland to the Library Task Force, and authorize Staff to advertise for applications from community members to serve on the Library Task Force. Motion carried. ## MINUTES-CHASKA CITY COUNCIL May 4, 2026 PAGE 4 ## 8.B. Initiate Downtown Master Plan Update Process City Administrator Podhradsky introduced Community Development Director Nate Kabat to present this item to the Council. Mr. Kabat presented this item to the Council. Mayor Hubbard asked to clarify that this task force would require four meetings. Mr. Kabat confirmed that is correct, and the meetings would be a few hours long. Mayor Hubbard stated that Councilmember Hatfield should be on this task force because she is already the liaison to the Downtown Business Alliance. Councilmember Hatfield stated she would love to, and has lived in downtown Chaska her whole life. She added that she is very excited about HKGi working on this project, because they really understand downtown Chaska. Councilmember Sheveland noted that if it makes sense to have her on this task force as well, because the library is downtown, she would do it, but it may be more than she can handle with her young family. Mayor Hubbard noted she is willing, but does not know the role the Mayor would serve on a task force, and she does not want to take away an opportunity for somebody else. Councilmember Benesh stated he cannot serve as he is already spread too thin with his schedule. Councilmember Grau added that he coaches, but his schedule could accommodate meetings during the week, although he knows Mayor Hubbard is passionate about this project. Mayor Hubbard stated she could do it, but she would defer to Councilmember Grau if he could take it on. Councilmember Grau confirmed he could take on this task force, but if that changes, he would let Mayor Hubbard know. Councilmember Hatfield added that Mayor Hubbard could be Councilmember Grau’s backup for those meetings if he cannot make it. She noted that Councilmember Grau will be a good fit for this task force as he adds another perspective to the conversation. Motion by Sheveland, second by Councilmember Benesh to approve and authorize the City Administrator to sign the scope of work, appoint Councilmember Hatfield and Councilmember Grau to the Downtown Master Plan Task Force, and approve the task force membership list and authorize Staff to advertise for applications from community members to serve on the task force. Motion carried. Mayor Hubbard noted President Dan Keyport of the Downtown Business Alliance was present and asked if he wanted to say a few words. Mr. Keyport noted that he was involved in the 2009 to 2012 process, and thinks the Council is going through the right process for this project, with all the voices heard, it will make a better downtown. ## MINUTES-CHASKA CITY COUNCIL May 4, 2026 PAGE 5 9. Bills ## 9.A. Accounts Payable Claims Roster 05-04-2026 Motion by Councilmember Hatfield, second by Councilmember Sheveland to approve the bills as presented. Roll call was taken. Voting aye: Councilmembers Hatfield, Benesh, Sheveland, Grau, ## and Mayor Hubbard. Voting nay: None Motion carried. ## 12. Other Business ## Councilmember Hatfield: • Shared upcoming events: Taste of Chaska at Fireman's Park (Wednesday, May 13), Drinking Water Week is this week, Free Yard Cleanup is the whole month of May at Dakota Prairie Composting, Cop on a Rooftop from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (May 15). • Congratulated the Chaska Police Explorers on a second-place win in report writing. • Recapped Christmas in May on May 2. • Welcomed businesses Revitalizing Veterans Dreams and Faith Woven to downtown Chaska. • Thanked Linda Seller, who has officially moved out of her downtown space, and Rust and Luster will be moving into that space and opening on May 14. • Wished all the moms a Happy Mother's Day, and several businesses are doing Mother's Day Events. ## Councilmember Benesh: • Wished a Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. ## Councilmember Sheveland: • Wished a Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. • Wished Mayor Hubbard a belated Happy Birthday. ## Councilmember Grau: • Recapped his experience at Christmas in May on May 2. • Shared that he received an email from a resident with a few questions about garbage collection in the City. He noted that a survey was previously done that showed there was no support for community-owned trash services. • Shared that he received an email from a resident regarding large trucks cutting through Fourth Street to turn on Highway 41, instead of going to Chaska Boulevard, and is concerned about the wear and tear on the road. He added that whether it is perceived as a shortcut or not, people are going through there. • Wished a Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. ## Community Development Director Kabat: • Shared that both Fourth Street and Second Street are part of the Municipal State Aid system and are intended to carry higher levels of traffic. • Recapped Christmas in May on May 2. • Wished a Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. ## MINUTES-CHASKA CITY COUNCIL May 4, 2026 PAGE 6 ## City Administrator Podhradsky: • Shared that the City has asked the question about community-owned trash services in the past few surveys, and the data has not changed, in that there is no support for it, and most communities that have opted to do it get a lot of resistance from the community. • Shared that he has seen trucks frequently cut through when coming off of 61 down to Hickory and then to First Street, but could see how Fourth Street could be a cut-through. He added that more people are using Savannah Road and using it to go downtown as opposed to using Highway 61. • Recapped Christmas in May on May 2. • Shared that more work is being done on another house in Riverview Terrace for a family that has experienced some tragic hardships. • Reminded everyone to pay attention to the schedules in May and June, and the Monday after the Fourth of July will be off. ## Mayor Hubbard: • Welcomed new Officer Jeff Martin to the Chaska Police Department. • Attended the Southwest Metro Chambers luncheon for First Responders, and congratulated Chaska retired firefighters Stephanie Filreis on her award and Chaska Officer Ben Dallin on his award. • Shared that she, City Administrator Podhradsky, and Ms. Durbin testified at the Capitol for the TIFF extension in the House Tax Committee with Representative Rheem to get bonding dollars. • Shared that the Cup’s Home Opener is on Mother’s Day and she would be throwing out the opening pitch. • Shared that the Chaska Bike Rodeo is on May 11, hosted by the Cub Scouts at Veterans' Park from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. • Recapped her experience at Christmas in May on May 2. • Wished a Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. • Shared that the next Council meeting will be held on May 18. ## 12.A. City Administrator's Report 12.A.i. Bi-Weekly Report 05-04-2026 13. Adjourn Motion by Councilmember Grau, second by Councilmember Sheveland to adjourn the meeting at 8:06 p.m. Motion carried.