[Music] Welcome to Agenda Edina, a program summarizing the actions taken at city hall that affect you most. I'm your host, Dorothia Marty. The city is exploring a new way to fund long overdue upgrades to the Edina Aquatic Cent's pump house, which has been in use since 1958. The original pool pump house needs to be replaced with a code compliance structure with a modern system. The deteriorating infrastructure poses operational risks, safety concerns, and compliance issues which could force facility closures if left unressed. 10 days before the scheduled opening of the Dina Aquatic Center in 2021, a mechanical failure occurred. Because the systems are obsolete, used parts were used as an interim solution, allowing the facility to reopen. In 2024, the aquatic center experienced ongoing electrical spikes causing operational issues. Over the past few years, the city's facilities division has developed plans to build a new filter room adjacent to the current pump house. Time is of the essence as delays in addressing these issues could lead to further deterioration, higher repair costs, and potential closure of the facility. Staff would like to begin construction this year so the new pump house would be complete before the 2026 season. We engaged an architect and engineer to look at not only the structure itself u from a safety standpoint, but all the equipment and uh pieces of that pool. We realized that new construction was required and without this new construction there's a possibility that the uh aquatic center in itself and the filtration system may fail at any point in time. The city sought state bonding for the project during the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions but was unsuccessful. Municipal bonds for recreation projects are limited. It would also not be possible to increase user fees to finance the project in the necessary timeline or without significant increases that would impact affordability. The finance department has proposed selling tax abatement bonds to pay for the estimated $9 million project. We could essentially wait and do a bond referendum in the next couple of years. What does that mean? that would mean that we risk um malfunctions at the aquatic center that would result in even bigger problems. So therefore if we want to take care of the problem now tax abatement is our only option and we do have that tax capacity within those surrounding identified parcels that says hey the city has enough within that calculation that proves that this is an option if we want to do something about it this year. The city council will decide at its meeting July 15th if tax abatement bonds should be used to fund the project. If it is approved, bonds will likely be sold later this year. Work has begun to expand sewer capacity in the greater Southtale area. The area's existing sewer is about 70 years old and has limited capacity to accommodate increased wastewater flow. The current project will upgrade the aging infrastructure and system to handle increased wastewater generated from new and future highdensity developments. Currently, sewer flows from York Avenue travel west at West 69th Street and rely on the trunk on France Avenue. The project will create a more direct route by sending flows straight south to be routed to the West 75th Street meter station. That will relieve pressure on the France sewer line, better serve the developments along York and support long-term growth in the Southdale area. We've got two different trends going on in Southeast. Uh one is aging infrastructure, the other is growth. So, as our infrastructure gets to be about 70 plus years old in the area, we know we have to renew it. But the area is also growing, so we know we have increased capacity. Construction began in early June and is expected to be completed in two phases by November. Starting in July, the city of Edina will begin charging a 3% convenience fee for payments made with a credit card. The first to roll out the new fee will be the fire department, which includes the public health division, South Metro Public Safety Training Facility, and building inspections division. Other departments will follow as their systems and processes are reconfigured. The fire department is one of the departments that has felt the significant impact of card processing fees. In 2023, the department had nearly 9,000 card transactions totaling nearly $5 million. The total amount of credit card fees paid by the department was more than $125,000 or over 2.5% of sales. Today's day and age, credit cards and debit cards are almost a primary form of payment. And so with that increased activity, it was really an evaluation of how can we be fiscally responsible for it. We understand the convenience factor of that. So, we want to make sure it was a convenience fee that's appropriate, fair, uh, and still represents an ability to do good service quickly and efficiently. After the fire department launches card processing fees in July, more departments will follow suit. With five different point of sales systems and 10 different merchant processors across the organization, each department has its own set of logistics to work through before the fee is in place citywide. There will be no convenience fees for customers paying with cash or check. The convenience fee will be outlined on all online payment systems and in person with signs. City staff will also mention the fee when helping customers in person or over the phone. Two City of Edina facilities are closed the first part of this month. Edina Liquor Grand View will be closed through July 13th when work on the Vernon Avenue and Highway 100 interchange project extends into the store's parking lot. Customers are encouraged to shop at one of Edina Liquor's other stores, 50th in France or Southdale, while the Grand View store is closed. Delivery is also available in Edina. The Edina Senior Center is closed through July 4th for deep cleaning and remodeling. The concrete pads at the front entrance, some flooring, and some countertops will be replaced. The city of Edina appreciates the public's patience during these projects and closures. Thank you for watching this episode of Agenda Edina. I'm your host Dorothia Marty. [Music]