Edina City Council — Transcript
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Lawful Gambling Ordinance Approval
Human Resources Director Appointment
Braar Arena Naming and Sponsorship Rights Study
Earth Month Initiatives and Events
Votes (4)
Approval of Lawful Gambling Ordinance
Dissent: A separate proposal for a 10% net profit city fund was not approved, indicating a specific point of disagreement or lack of consensus.
The Edina City Council officially approved a new ordinance allowing lawful gambling, a significant change as Edina was previously one of the only major suburbs in the metro area without it. Initially, the ordinance proposed limits on the number of premises and permits per organization; however, these restrictions were removed after further research into community nonprofits. The approved ordinance requires organizations licensed for gambling in Edina to spend at least 70% of their expenditures within the city's trade area to directly benefit the local community. It also includes a 3% local gambling tax to help offset regulatory costs. A separate proposal to collect an additional 10% of net profits for a city-administered community fund was considered but ultimately not approved. Several local nonprofits, including the Edina Education Fund and Edina Hockey Association, have expressed interest in utilizing this new avenue for fundraising.
Appointment of Jessica Nickin as Human Resources Director
Edina has welcomed back Jessica Nickin as the new human resources director for the city. Jessica previously worked in Edina's HR department before gaining further experience elsewhere. Her extensive background includes 14 years in administration, 11 years in HR (including previous roles in Edina and Minnetonka), and 10 years in the private sector consulting with Minnesota cities and counties on employee benefits packages. The importance of the HR director's role in ensuring properly trained, safety-compliant, fairly compensated, and engaged employees is emphasized, given the city employs approximately 330 full-time and several hundred part-time employees across 11 departments.
Approval of Study for Braar Arena Naming and Sponsorship Rights
The Edina City Council has approved a study to explore naming and sponsorship rights as a potential funding source for additional improvements at Braar Arena, complementing its ongoing renovation and expansion project. While this approach is new for Edina, it is a common practice for municipal arenas and sports facilities throughout the region, with examples cited in Maple Grove, Elk River, and Bloomington. The city has hired The Superlative Group to conduct an initial valuation of these opportunities. This study aims to determine the potential worth of such sponsorships but does not commit the city to proceeding with them. The focus for potential sponsorships is on various spaces within the facility, distinct from the West Rink or the facility as a whole, to maximize value.
Earth Month Celebrations and Environmental Initiatives
The City of Edina is dedicating April to Earth Month, organizing a series of free community events and initiatives aimed at promoting environmental stewardship and advancing local climate action efforts. Key upcoming events include the annual community clothing swap (April 18th at the Edina Senior Center), an open house for the proposed Safe and Equitable Mobility Action Plan (April 22nd at Edina Fire Station 2), an Arbor Day tree planting (April 24th at Creek Valley School Park), and an Earth Day festival (April 26th at Weber Park). In addition to these events, the city's sustainability division has partnered with the Home Energy Squad to offer free home energy visits throughout April, providing expert evaluations and recommendations for improving residential energy efficiency.
Notable Quotes (7)
It opens up an additional avenue for nonprofits to uh raise funds in the city of Adina. It is um quite an undertaking for the nonprofit that would like to do this. Um they do need to be uh organized um and then they must also form a relationship with a liquor licensed establishment um in order to get a premise permit.
The cost of hockey keeps going up all the time. The cost of all extracurriculars really keeps going up and pull tabs might be a way to offset some of those costs and provide more opportunities for kids in our community to be able to participate.
The role of human resources director is perhaps underrated when it comes to impact on the city's well-being. We need to make sure that they're properly trained, that they're following safety protocol, that they're compensated appropriately, and that we're able to make sure that we have engaged employees because they ultimately end up doing better and working harder for our staff and our community.
I spent 14 years working through um starting in administration roles in smaller cities. Then I spent 11 years in HR which included the HR generalist role previously here at the city of Adina and then the HR manager role in Minnetonka. I transitioned to the private sector and there I spent 10 years uh consulting with Minnesota cities and counties helping them design their employee benefits packages. It's the kind of background that helps to be a better HR director for Edina.
Moving into the private sector gives me a completely different perspective of how private sector organizations, particularly very large ones, operate.
Here in Adina, we have some of the best employees in the entire state, and we want to make sure that we're able to give them the resources they need to do their jobs the best that they can. It's just really exciting to be a part of building all that's required to attract, retain, and engage those employees.
We're looking for opportunities to get funds to improve the facility beyond the base scope of the project. And one of the things that we're looking at is staying away from the West Rink and the facility as a whole, but looking at other spaces in the facility to see what value that bring for sponsorship.
Ordinances & Resolutions (3)
New municipal regulation permitting lawful gambling in Edina for the first time.
Required permit for organizations to conduct lawful gambling at a specific location.
Proposed city plan with an open house event scheduled during Earth Month.