hybrid fashion people are watching in remotely. Uh and they're able to participate in our meetings. Sometimes we have public hearings that they can participate in. There are none of those this evening. We do, however, have community comment and some folks may want to contact us uh remotely and uh we'll listen to their concerns that they have. And then we've also got time for folks in our community that come have come down to City Hall this evening to be able to uh voice their thoughts as well and concerns that they might have. So, uh having provided that information about how we're conducting the meetings, and I think Director Benavides indicated if you were going to speak during uh public uh comment this evening, uh remember that you can't speak as to anything that's on the agenda this evening or scheduled for a future public hearing. Uh otherwise, you'll have 3 minutes. The yellow light will go on. You'll have 30 seconds to get your comments uh finished up and and then we'd like to have you finish right around the 3-minute mark. We treat everybody the same that way. So, having provided that information, I'm going to ask our Clerk Sharon Ellison to call the roll. >> Council Member Agnew. >> Here. >> Council Member Jackson. >> Here. >> Council Member Pierce. >> Here. >> Council Member Risser. >> Here. >> Mayor Hublin. >> I'm here. Uh next is the Pledge of Allegiance. >> I 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. >> We have a form of agenda that's been published uh for the benefit of the council and members of our public so they can see what's going to be conducted from a business standpoint at the council meetings. Is there anyone on the council wishes to amend the agenda in any form or fashion or from a staff standpoint? All right. Uh hearing nothing, is there a motion to adopt the meeting agenda as published? >> So moved. >> Second. >> We got a motion from Member Agnew, second from Member Pierce to adopt the meeting agenda as published. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adopting adopting the meeting agenda as published, say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed? Carried. The meeting agenda is adopted. We have a document to work from this evening. Now, we are at community comment. We're going to get this phone number up on the uh screen, and then we're going to invite uh residents or anybody else that wishes to address the council on a matter of concern to them at this particular point in time. And uh one of our residents is already ready for uh Be a Hornet Day on May 8th. He's got his green shirt on. >> Good evening. >> Mayor, council members, my name is Ralph Zickert. First, a belated shout-out to member Agnew. She and I both asked Manager Neil to provide the details of how the 2026 general property tax levy, originally projected at 17%, was ultimately lowered to 7.94% in January of 2026. Member Agnew got an answer and shared it with me. The left-hand portion of this schedule represents what was prepared by staff and shared with member Agnew. It confirms the $5 million associated with the general levy reduction was not achieved via spending cuts. It confirms the deferral of $1.8 million of capital and equipment spending to future years, the transfer of $1 million to Edina utility bills, and the transfer of $586,000 to Hennepin County. None of which reduces the actual tax burden on the public. So, no, Mayor. No, member Pierce. No member Jackson. Spending cuts did not account for even half of what you claim. In fact, a generous estimate would be at most 1.3 million. The unfortunate truth is that you all knew this was the case over a year ago via handouts, emails, and community comment, but you chose not to listen and refused multiple offers to discuss the issue in person. Instead, the council continued to promote the general levy reductions as having been achieved through cuts. For all the above reasons, the 2026 budget was undeniably unsound and unsustainable. And therefore, the council deserves a grade not of F but of F minus. And to make matters worse, the council continues to contemplate spending 19 million of our tax dollars to fund a parking garage to serve a yet unbuilt private commercial property. And tonight, the council will vote to spend another $400,000 towards a $20 million pedestrian tunnel under France. So, tonight I ask, will the council acknowledge that spending cuts played a minor part in the 2026 budget? And if not, why not? I ask, will the schedule shared with member Agnew showing that to be the case be included with manager comments? And if not, why not? Thank you. >> Good evening. >> Hi. Taylor Brush wine. I live in the Channel Park neighborhood. I'm usually here to talk about a bike project or a pedestrian project. I'm aware that you see people [snorts] that get fixated on single issues and I'm conscious of becoming the weird bike guy. So, I wanted to come share my values and my motivations, so maybe you understand where I'm coming from next time I do come. So, first of all, I don't think bike lanes are the most important thing in the city. I don't think they're top five or 10 or 20 or probably 50. But, I do think the things that are most important have been proven to be either improved or enabled by a transportation system that allows people to choose how they get place to place and to do so safely. So, I wanted to talk about some of those things that I think are the most important. The first is safety and especially kids safety. If you ask parents what their biggest fear is for their kids safety, a lot of either going to say get shot or get hit by a car. And those aren't unfounded fears. The top two cause of death for kids under 14 are guns and cars. So, I really appreciate the work you did on guns last year. Unfortunately, that's not in your hands at the city level. But, cars, the the safety on our city streets, that's fully in our hands and I think there's a lot to improve there. The second is affordability and equity. We all live in a really expensive city and it's really hard for a lot of people that work in Edina to be able to live in Edina. Again, you've done great things with this with the Hero Fund and with the ADU law. I see this as another step. If a family doesn't have to depend on a car every time they leave their house, maybe they could go from three cars to two or from two to one. And on average, that's a $12,000 savings a year. That's a huge step towards affordability in our city. The third is land use. So, as we develop or redevelop areas, if we don't have to plan for every single person getting there in their individual car, the parking demand goes down. And now there's a lot more space for public amenities, for green spaces, for further development for local business owners or to increase our tax base. All really important things that are achievable. I want our new developments to look more like 50th and France and less like the parking lots around Southdale. And the final one is sustainability. So, last meeting you heard the the climate action plan update. And you heard that of the remaining reductions that we need, 60% of it needs to come from the transportation area. So, we can't afford to miss a single opportunity in this area. So, that's why I'm so excited about all this is it touches all these really, really important things. And the last thing I'll say is the fixes are easy and the problems have been solved. We don't have to innovate on this at all. We just have to implement it. So, I'll be back to passionately advocate for a bike project or pedestrian project, but it's not cuz I'm passionate about bikes. It's cuz I'm passionate about safety, affordability, equity, sustainability, and our land use. Thanks. >> Thank you for being here. >> Good evening. >> Good evening. My name is Mark Abel and uh I live in Edina and we moved 3 years ago. And the one of the biggest reasons we moved to Edina was so I could go to Edina High School. But we recently found out that I don't live in the district lines, so I have to go to Richfield High School. And that was like a really hard it was really hard for me to like accept it because uh a lot of my friends go to Edina or are going to Edina High School and I know a lot of people that go to Edina High School. And I just feel like I'm being excluded. And it's like uh and like it's like really hard for me to like it would it would be hard for for to make friends in high school because it's like I knew these kids all my life, so it's kind of hard to like leave. And uh and like also like I said it was one of the biggest reasons why me and my mom moved to Edina. Uh yes, there's like other high schools like Richfield is not a bad school, but like I feel like I could like I could go farther if I went to Edina High School. That's what I like to say. Thank you. >> Hey, Bakari, thank you for being here. Yeah, we've had other folks that had this situation too where they're in Edina, but they're in a different school district because we've got overlapping school districts. Richfield on the east and Hopkins covers part of northwest Edina and that's um it's sometimes it works out to you know what we'd then call open enrollment and sometimes it doesn't, but um I'd encourage you to keep talking to the and you you and your mom keep talking to the school district about how much you'd love to be in the Edina school district with your friends. >> Yeah, we keep >> I think it could happen. >> Yeah, we keep talking to the Edina district. They keep telling us that um the waitlist is full and like there's like there's not a real there's not a chance that we could I could make it to Edina High School this year. And like we've we've had multiple emails, we've set up meetings, but it's like still not working. >> Okay, well we'll let them know you were here and have a lot of passion on this idea and you and your mom and you came up to speak by yourself and that's very commendable and that really shows us how bad you want to be going to school in the town you live in. >> Yeah, thank you. >> Yeah. >> All right. >> Okay. Thanks for coming in tonight. Anyone else? >> I wasn't going to speak, but I changed my mind. So, sorry Jennifer, I didn't fill out a card. She's got me. Laurie Groats. I've come up here to speak about the city-owned property, the old public works site at Eden and Arcadia. I've asked the council this question twice before, haven't got the answer. So, I'm back for third time charm. The property sits in a TIF district. But, the developer that the city council chose is not requesting any TIF. The The approximate purchase price that the city has agreed upon is $4 million. dollars. The property was previously owned by the Edina HRA. But, council member Jackson, if I remember correctly, was the one that said, "Let's switch the ownership to the city so that the taxpayers get the benefit from the purchase price for the general fund. Thank you, member Jackson. What I'm here now to speak about the developer isn't requesting any TIF. However, since it sits in an existing TIF district, any incremental property taxes, which will be all property taxes since the starting tax base is zero since the city owns the property, all of those taxes will go to the HRA. I believe there's 16 years left in that TIF district. Mayor, I see you shaking your head, no. >> I think so, the HRA isn't a tax collecting entity. So, >> Yes, it is. The money will go into the HRA money or into the pot. >> Into the HRA pot? >> Yep. And so, the taxpayers aren't going to get a benefit from those taxes going into the general fund. However, you do have the option of curving carving out that piece of property from that TIF district. Now, Mayor, I originally spoke to you about this on the walk with the Mayor in August of 2025. And you said, "Well, maybe perhaps we can carve it out." Well, I've been to the council a couple of times since, and it sounds like they're getting ready to be starting project in not too far future. Are you going to let the taxpayers get the tax property taxes from that property, or is it going to the HRA? To their slu- I call it their slush fund. I mean, it's it's the money that they can use to play with, or like they built the bridge to nowhere with it, and so forth, like that. So, what are you going to do with that property? Are you going to let the taxes go to the general fund? We need the money. Edina isn't wealthy. >> It's a good It's a good question, and um >> And And I want the response from the council. I don't want the response from Manager Neil. >> Well, we'll get you the response. That's an accurate response, regardless of the source, so. >> I appreciate that, Mayor. Thank you. >> Yeah. We'll get it. And it's a good question. Something we haven't taken up yet, so. Manager Neil may have a few thoughts on it. Yes, ma'am. Come on up. >> Good evening. My name is Nadia, and I work in the city of Edina serving serving students in affordable housing and after school care programs to provide academic success and support in all aspects of important youth development. Recently an issue has arisen where I have a family I'm currently working with who lives in the city of Edina currently trying to transfer to Edina public schools for the fall 2026 and spring 2027 school year. The family is currently being told by Edina public schools that they are not able to take them into into a different school district due to redistricting policy redistricting policies that are implemented currently. Other districts are also not allowing them to enter because open enrollment isn't an option. So they're redirecting them to Edina public schools. My question to the council is if families are registered addresses are in Edina, why are they being denied the ability to go to the district where they reside in? Um everyone deserves an access to a fair education without restrictions being put into place. And my question for the council is uh asking you guys to reconsider your redistricting especially when where the location is is just off the cusp of where it was boundary off of. So I appreciate hearing from you guys and looking forward to connect. Thank you so much. >> Yeah, sure. I think we can provide an answer for you here >> Mhm. >> shortly when we when we finish up. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Anyone else in the audience wish to address the council on a matter of concern to them? Okay, anybody online? >> [snorts] >> No. No commenters online. >> Okay. Uh our practice is that with public comment that's been made at the prior meeting our city manager addresses those issues by Friday of that week and it's done online and then we also have him follow up with uh comments at the subsequent uh City Council meeting. So, uh Manager Neil, I think there were a few comments that required responses at the last City Council meeting. And I think one from one or two from Mr. Zikert, I believe. >> Three from Mr. Zikert, actually. Um all pertaining to me. So, we had five questions at our at our last Council meeting that we'll answer tonight that we've already previously answered. Um first question was who other than Council Member Pierce was aware that the city manager had established a consulting practice with his son. Um I informed the Council of this on in December of 2024 during my annual review. Uh next question was what reporting did the city manager share in real time with the entire City Council with respect to dates and hours worked as a consultant. Uh when I am doing something outside of of work as as uh in a consulting practice, I do that during personal leave, vacation leave. Uh this the employer, the city in this case, does not require require uh uh a description of what I'm doing on my vacation leave. We don't do that to employ any employee here. Um so, that's uh the answer to that. Number three was what resources, including staff time and documents, were used by the city manager to further a website and consulting practice? The answer is none, zero. Uh fourth question was will the city reconsider part of its plans for restoration of Lake Cornelia buffer? Uh city staff had uh initiated a tree replacement program after removing diseased ash trees throughout Edina. These plantings uh are occurring on city property throughout the city. The initial white flags that were placed around the Lake Cornelia buffer were placeholders only. Um we do those locations did not accurately reflect where all new tree locations would be. Uh city staff will further develop a tree planting plan that aligns with the approved restoration buffer plan for the enhanced woodland type adjacent to Lake Cornelia and staff will re- review that in the future. Final question was, "Will you consider installing a crosswalk on Interlachen Boulevard at Cooper's Avenue?" And the answer is yes. Uh we will consider that. A traffic safety request was submitted and is under review by the traffic safety committee. Uh after review by the committee, it will go to the Edina Transportation Commission and eventually uh the City Council for approval using our standard process. And that's all we had. Thank you. >> Okay, I think um Council member Jackson had a follow-on to one of your comments. [snorts] >> Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, the question has been raised by a couple different people regarding Manager Neill's consulting business. This is a peer-to-peer counseling business that he does in his own private time. He's not using city time. He's not using city resources, and there's no conflict of interest. And I wanted to talk about this cuz I thought about my own professional responsibility. I'm a licensed attorney. For an attorney in Minnesota to keep their license, they have to take hours of continuing legal education on ethics based on the code of professional responsibility. This includes conflict of interest. The rules on conflict of interest are detailed and time-tested. A more newly added requirement for attorney licensure is mental health awareness training. The mental health requirement was added because lawyers succumbing to stress reach a point where they are no longer able to ethically serve their clients. The Bar Association has created an entity called Lawyers Helping Lawyers to address the pervasive stress among lawyers. My point, this is peer-to-peer counseling. Lawyers helping lawyers does not violate the powerful and detailed rules against conflict of interest. And it meets legal requirements. City managers also face stress in their profession. Mr. Neill's to be commended for offering peer-to-peer consultations to strengthen his profession. This is a much-needed 21st century tool to help professionals better serve their clients and constituencies. >> Yeah, thanks, member Jackson. Um Manager Neil, I'm going through some of these comments that were made this evening. I'm thinking about um uh the comment that Mr. Zikert made about gives us an F minus on the budget work. I It's just a reminder for folks that um our city has a double triple A bond rating. One of probably three dozen cities in the United States our size that has that highest bond rating you can achieve. So, uh I've got some confidence in our in our in our budgeting work uh based on the economic strength of our city as as viewed by the rating agencies. Just wanted to get a verification from you that nothing's happened with respect to that rating. >> No, nothing has happened with our bond rating. It's triple A in both Standard & Poor's and Moody's. And these are experts who pay attention to municipal budgets all over the country. >> Um with respect to um both the concerns that Mekabol Ieli had and I think Nadia probably concerned about the same issue with the school district boundary. We went through an uh an effort like this a few years ago uh at the state legislature. Um not all cities have their school districts uh entirely contiguous with their towns because these school district boundaries were drawn in some cases over 100 years ago when there was just farmland in place. So, we've got a little sliver of Edina that uh is in the Richfield school district and there's a little piece of Northwest Edina that's in the Hopkins district. We tried a couple of years ago to get those boundaries squared away. Uh and we went to the state legislature and I think it was it was it called Is it called disengagement? Dis- >> Unite >> 270. >> Yeah, I don't recall. >> Yeah, I don't know what it was three years. >> Yeah. Anyway, this the school district that the kids are in even though they're in a different town so Richfield or Hopkins for example would have to agree to release that part of your town out of their school district to go into the district in which the you know, the people are living which would be in Edina in this case so but Hopkins refused to to um let us go or let that part of Edina go into the Edina school district. So we have kids that are open enrolling from Northwest Edina we got kids that are open enrolling from East Edina that are maybe in the Richfield school district and I think it's just a matter that people have to hang in there and keep trying to go to a great school and and those other school districts are good too. But of course we all have particular we have a particular high level of pride in the Edina school district but that's that's the um that's the situation manager Neely you may have any add on on that. >> You know, 20% of our community is in the Richfield school district, 10% of the community is in the Hopkins school district and the remaining 70% is in the Edina school district. And the city the city council doesn't have any role in setting those boundaries. Those boundaries are determined by the the schools themselves and also the Minnesota Department of Education and it's a very complicated process you have to change a line. We have a couple buildings and we have a couple apartment buildings in town where the east end of the building is in the Richfield district and the west end is in the Edina district. It's yeah. So it depends on what end of that building you work in you live in depends on which school will dictate which school district you go to. But that's that's what we have here. >> So same advice I think it's just to keep asking the school district about admission and um we'll mention that you were here. We are in We were just with them yesterday. Um it's part of that three-legged stool that makes Eagan a function so well, the business community, the school district, and the city itself working together to make our town a really great place to live and do business in. Um and then the question that Lori Grotz raised, which is a good one, uh did we we've been talking about or have we actually transferred the property ownership from the HRA to the city? >> We have. Right? >> No, not yet. >> Not yet. >> Okay. >> I think that question does take a little time to put together a a response. I think our staff will provide you kind of your legal options and then council will have to decide what happens from there. >> There's been There's been some discussion of I think at least preliminarily about us HRA which is the city council sitting with a different hat on, the HRA transferring that property to the city. And that'll be one of the things we'll have to be considering. It'll It'll solve the issue that way if we if it doesn't get solved some other way. Uh does that cause anybody else have any comments? Yes, Council member Agnew. >> Thank you. Uh going back to I think the question that we'd gotten last week about the late Cornelia planting. Um given that we had um I think a couple of emails about it and community comment, I would also love to see that plan. >> Sure. >> Um so once that is refined, I would love it if it could be brought back to council, please. >> We can do that. >> Thank you. >> And if they're going to plant 40 trees over there instead of 90, Council member Jackson and I spoke with some neighbors over in Londonderry Town Homes that uh they've got a good spot for more trees over there in case we need a place to plant trees. They'd like some more trees along the Is it along Londonderry Road there? Is it? >> Yes. Uh yes, I think that's No, it's it's Lincoln. >> It's Lincoln? >> Yeah. >> Okay. All right. Um Okay. Yes, so excuse Council Member Risser. >> Um and this is a little random, but part of the Braemar is in the Eden Prairie school district. >> Right. >> And then we also have a tiny bit in Bloomington. So we're really carved up. >> There are also there are four homes in the Morningside district that are in the St. Louis Park district. And as as Commissioner or excuse me, as Council Member Risser noted, a lot a big chunk of Braemar golf course and Braemar ice arena is actually in the Eden Prairie school district. >> All right. Um We've had community comment. Next is the consent agenda. Is there anyone that Council wishes to remove an item from the consent agenda? All right, hearing nothing, is there a motion to adopt the items on the consent agenda in a single motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Council Member Jackson moves, Council Member Peer seconds the motion to adopt all of the items on the consent agenda in a single motion. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the items on the consent agenda in a single motion, say aye. >> Aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed? Carried. Those items are adopted and there are several items on that portion of the agenda that are adopted with that single motion. And next um we've got some introductions to take care of here. I'm going to go back to Manager Neil in a moment when he's done talking to Director Bennerott, but we've got a new human resources director that he wants to introduce and we met her briefly yesterday at State of the City. And it was nice to get a sneak preview of of our our new human human resources director and Manager Neil. >> Thank you, Your Honor. I want to introduce Jessica Nikkanen. Jessica is our new human resources director. She started 2 weeks ago. Yeah, 3 weeks ago. She started with us 3 weeks ago, but we have some previous experience with her, too, that I think she'll tell you about here in Well, as she introduces herself. So, Jessica. >> Thanks, Scott. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. It's a pleasure to be here with you tonight. My name is Jessica Nikkinen, and I am honored to serve as the city's new Human Resources Director. A little bit about me, I'm born and raised in Minnesota. I grew up in Glencoe and then attended St. Olaf College where I got my degree in economics. I'm a data nerd. And I have my uh my master's in public administration from Hamline. The first 14 years of my career were in the public sector uh and included roles in administration, public works, and ultimately finding my passion in human resources. These 14 years were spent at a few cities around the metro area, including being the HR generalist for the city of Edina back in 2012 to 2015. I then made a transition, left-hand turn, into the private sector where I spent almost 10 years as an insurance broker consultant helping other Minnesota cities and counties design their benefits packages. I've always had a passion for local government, and I'm really excited to be back in the public sector. It's meaningful work powered by the people who show up every day committed to making a difference. I have a great HR team here, and we're dedicated to recruiting, supporting, developing, and empowering our employees so they can do their best work. Most of the work the HR team does is largely behind the scenes, but it's important because it translates directly into excellent service for our residents and business owners. A little bit about me personally, I'm a mom of two wonderful boys in eighth and 10th grade. They keep me busy in sports throughout the year. So, I'm a reluctant sporting parent. At this time of year, you'll likely catch me at a baseball field or two most nights of the week. I'm fortunate they both enjoy learning and are great students. I love to read and travel, which is good since my partner is a commercial pilot. He has one son and they live just over the Edina border in Minneapolis, so you'll often see us enjoying the wonderful parks and amenities in Edina. I live in Jordan, but hope to move to Edina after my boys graduate high school. I'm very appreciative to be back in the city. I look forward to partnering with city leadership and staff to continue building an organization we're all proud to be a part of. >> Yes, thanks Director Nicklin. It's really nice to have you here. Thank you. And thanks for coming back. Thanks for being interested in coming back. We must have made a good impression last time you were here. >> It It was a very good experience. I'm very lucky to be back. >> And and we're fortunate to have you here. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> All right, we've got a In this portion of the agenda, we've got a couple of proclamations and then we're going to get a update on the I-494 corridor activities. Our own James Pierce is a member of that corridor commission and we've got uh the people who run the corridor commission and the TMO operations uh the transportation management organization operations with us this evening to give a report on that in a few minutes. But first, we're going to talk about building safety month uh as May 2026 and the proclamation reads as follows. Whereas our city of Edina is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depends on the safety and essential role of our homes, buildings, and infrastructure play both in everyday life and in the time of natural disaster. And whereas our confidence in the structural integrity of these buildings that make up our community is achieved through the devotion of vigilant guardians such as building safety and fire prevention officials and others in the construction industry who work year round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. And whereas these guardians are dedicated members of the International Code Council who are experts in the built environment to create and implement the highest quality codes to protect us in the buildings where we live, learn, work, play. And whereas these modern building codes and standards include safeguards to protect the public from natural disasters such as hurricane, snowstorms, tornadoes, wild land fires, floods, and earthquakes. And whereas building safety month is sponsored by the ICC to remind the public about the critical role of our communities largely unknown protectors of public safety, our local code officials who assure us of safe, sustainable, and affordable buildings that are essential to our prosperity. And whereas built to last, the theme for building safety month 2026 encourages us all to raise awareness about building safety on a personal, local, and global scale. And whereas each year in observance of building safety month people all over the world are asked to consider the commitment to improve building safety and to acknowledge the essential service provided to all of us by a local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal building safety and fire prevention departments in protecting lives and property. Now, therefore, the city council of the city of Edina does hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as building safety month in the city of Edina. Accordingly, I encourage our citizens to join with their communities in participating in building safety month. Is there a motion to to approve the proclamation as read? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Member Jackson moves, member Pierce seconds the adoption of the proclamation on building safety month as read. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the proclamation on building safety month designating May 2026 as building safety month in the city of Edina say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed? Carried. The proclamation is adopted, and we've got Rick Chase with us, the our assistant building official here this evening, and we're going to go take a photo with him after a couple remarks, and we'll bring the the proclamation down to him when we go to take that photograph. Mr. Chase, You're >> [clears throat] >> Thank you. Very excited about building safety. So thank you for your support. Good evening honorable mayor and council. I am the assistant building official. And like I said, I would like to thank you for your support for building safety month. The building department includes 14 employees. Annually we make over 18,000 inspections. And we do those inspections in accordance with the state building code for life safety, health and public welfare. The department is also a member of the International Code Council. I would also like to thank the building department staff for their dedication in performing the day-to-day work. It's really the people certainly underneath the assistant building official that are out engaging our community providing safe alternate solutions for for our community and our residents. So hats off to them. I would also like to personally thank the fire department, fire prevention and our fire inspection team very important to our day-to-day [snorts] work. Again, thank you city council for your support. It is appreciated. >> All right, thanks Mr. Chase. We're going to walk down with you and get a photo taken. Council members, let's go. >> I mind you but they all had to get out of the way, I guess. >> You're welcome. >> Whoops, I gave you the wrong I gave him the wrong uh Can you get it? >> Yeah. >> Oh, I should trade him though. If you're helping me here then >> Yeah, here. >> Excuse me. >> Luther Luther's going to wonder why I'm talking about buildings. >> Building inspection guy that he comes up with. >> Thank you. This was a guy that had to be able to keep two proclamations in order, you know. Um so uh yeah, we've got uh Luther Overholt, our forester was with us this evening and um he has come up with some great ideas for tree planting and and preservation of uh existing tree stock in Eudora over the past several years. He's He works so hard at what he does. Uh and I know some folks are thinking well, we got to get out and get those dead trees picked up. He's got a different view of that in the parks and he can talk about that a little bit, but the first thing we're we're going to do today is talk about Arbor Day and that's April 24th, 2026. Just coming up a few days from now. And um every year I'm kind of surprised about this because uh Arbor Day started in Nebraska. So, I'm still waiting to see a lot of trees in Nebraska. But uh I think in northeast Nebraska there are quite a few. Um whereas in 1872 J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees. And whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed at the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska. And whereas forest soils prevent flooding and reduce storm water by capturing and storing rainwater and snowmelt, which is then slowly released to our lakes, streams, and groundwater. And whereas trees and forests improve our physical health by cleaning the air, reducing exposure to the sun's UV rays, and decreasing temperatures during the summertime. And whereas one tree provides $62,000 worth of pollution control over a period of 50 years. And whereas trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife. And whereas forests create high-quality drinking water by acting as a natural filter. And whereas Edina is proud of the beautiful shade trees which grace our homes and our public places. Now therefore be it resolved that the City Council of the City of Edina, Minnesota does hereby proclaim April 24th, 2026 as Arbor Day in the City of Edina, Minnesota and calls upon the spirited and foresighted citizens of Edina to plant trees now for our pleasure and that of future generations. Is there a motion to adopt the proclamation on Arbor Day? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. We got a motion and second to adopt the proclamation on Arbor Day as read. Uh any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the proclamation say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed? Carried. Luther, welcome. Uh good to good to see you. It's uh getting into a heavy part of the year for you, I'm sure. >> Yes, definitely. Mayor, Council, Uh thank you for your continued support of trees here in Edina. Uh like the Mayor said, this Friday is Arbor Day. So, first off, I'd like to invite all of you to Creek Valley School Park. We'll be planting 70 new trees there from 10:00 to 2:00 p.m. or until all the trees are planted. Uh I imagine they'll be getting planted quite quickly. I've been working with Dr. Amy next door at the school. So, all 26 classes will be attending. All 593 students will be coming and planting a tree on Friday. And so, it should be a lot of fun. Um we'll kind of go through quick 10-minute groups with all the classes. Um I have one tree reserved for each class. And then, we'll, you know, teach the all the students how to plant a tree correctly and then uh name it and that will be their tree. Um otherwise, too, we'll have another, you know, uh 50 or so trees to be planted by uh everyone else that comes out and joins. Um and so, yeah, definitely uh looking forward to that. Kind of like uh Christmas for me. So, something that I look forward to every year. >> All right. And you had a tree sale recently. Is there any >> Uh so, the yeah, the tree sale uh sold out. Um there a couple trees, you know, hanging in there till till the end, but um that was 250 trees uh over 15 different uh varietals of tree. Um those will be available for pick up um Mother's Day weekend at Friday, Saturday over at the golf dome. And so, everyone who's uh ordered their tree, uh they should have gotten uh uh email with the, you know, kind of reminder and then and then due the the week before, uh we'll send out another email just to remind everyone. Um and then, we'll be having another tree sale in the fall, another 250 trees in the fall available again um for our fall tree sale, as well. Um so, >> Can Can you I hate to put you on the spot, but can you remember the trees that are still available, the species? >> Uh the Kentucky coffee tree was the only one that was left in there, but they are they are all sold out now. Um but that was the one there there a couple in there. But yeah, you know, definitely getting lots of calls at the end and then too it's kind of confusing. People are like, "Where are all the trees?" I'm like, "There's only one, you know, just that one that's the only one left." And so they they did go. But you know, it's a great shade tree. We'll be planting some on Friday. So. >> Yeah, good. Well, let's go down and take a photo with Luther on Arbor Day for Arbor Day. Now manager Neilman I'll turn to you. We're going to have a 494 quarter commission update and uh member Pierce may have some comments as well. But let you introduce our guest and we'll get to see him. >> Thank you, Your Honor. We the city of Edina is part of the I-494 Corridor Commission. Periodically we we have folks from the commission come in and give us this report about what's happening here. Melissa Madison is prepared to do that for the council tonight. And Council member Pierce is on the board representing Edina for us as well. >> Good. Ms. Madison, welcome. >> Um Manager Neil. Um Melissa Madison from the 494 Quarter Commission. Thank you for allowing us to come in and give a presentation to you on the return on investment in your dollars into the Quarter Commission. I'd also like to introduce Kate Meredith and Michelle Leonard who are here as our outreach team. So the Quarter Commission actually started in 1986 to address concerns about increasing traffic congestion along the corridor and our member cities include Edina, Richfield, Bloomington, Eden Prairie, and Minnetonka. Each city pays 60 cents per resident to the Quarter Commission annually and Edina's membership dues are just under $33,000 and that represents 4% of our overall budget. So we're able to uh provide you a good return on your investment. Um the federal dollars that we're able to tap into uh would not be possible without our local cities' contributions. The Quarter Commission takes both a supply side and a demand side approach to slowing traffic congestion. And reduced trips are not as visible as new road. We like to point that out. 95% of the corridor commission's budget is spent on demand management and 5% is spent on supply side projects. In 2001, the corridor commission hired staff to work with employers to reach employees with resources to shift drive alone commuters into a sustainable mode and Edina receives commuter services as part of your membership in the corridor commission. There are over 340,000 jobs in our five cities along 494, which is actually more than both of the two downtowns combined. And most of the major interstates have a corridor coalition to look out for the interests of the communities along it. In fact, people from 85 out of 87 counties in Minnesota use this section of 494 on a daily basis. Commuter services was created to influence employers and commuters towards sustainable commute options to slow the growth of traffic congestion and reduce demand for roads. We hold over 100 on-site commuter fairs annually. And we have several strategies and resources for employers that include displays, preferential carpool parking, on-site commuter fairs, lunch and learns about various topics including how to bike in traffic and 494 construction project updates. And we do customized communications for any employer for their newsletters and intranet. We have a deep set of resources for telework and hybrid and we push out road construction updates. In fact, commuter Services created the Twin Cities Telework brand actually before COVID hit, and we've been able to help 504 employers with telework and hybrid resources since COVID took effect. And employers have requested from us guidance on how to create connection on a hybrid team, effective communication tips, ergonomic and home office safety recommendations, and help with lack of consistent company policies between departments. So, we've been able to meet each of these requests from employers. And this slide shows a representative list of employer business Edina businesses that we work with. And we have a quote from Joanne Mallon from Centennial Lakes Office Park. She says, "Commuter Services is a wonderful resource for our tenants. They make daily travel easier and more affordable while supporting a more sustainable community. Their guidance, tools, and programs help commuters find smart, stress-reducing commute options." We have another quote from an Edina business from Mary Ungren from Advent Talent Group. She says, "Commuter Services has been a go-to resource we share with employees, whether they're mapping a transit route, exploring carpool options, or taking advantage of the Guaranteed Ride Home program. The tools at commuter.org make commuting easier and less stressful." For commuters, we provide individualized assistance to help them find someone to carpool with or vanpool with. We do customized transit information and itineraries for people from where they live to where they're going and provide two free transit passes so they can give it a try. We have a deep set of bike commuting resources and we tell everyone um that we assist about the guaranteed ride home program. Um as mentioned, we have a deep library of telework and hybrid resources and our resources are available in multiple languages. In the last couple years, 884 Edina residents and commuters have requested sustainable commuting resources from us. After we assist people with customized commute resources, we do a survey to determine mode shift and 91% of the drive alone commuters uh report that they tried the mode that we helped them with. And in fact, uh we also ask, "How frequently do you use your new mode now?" And um you can see 37% indicate once per week all the way down to an impressive 19%, which is one in five people have converted from driving alone into an alternative sustainable mode. We have a quote from Michelle O'Kelly, who works in Edina. She says, "I've personally used Commuter Services to evaluate and plan viable transportation options, including public transit, biking, and carpooling. The assistance I received was individualized, practical, and not one-size-fits-all." And we have a quote also from Will Madry from BI Worldwide. He says, "I love incorporating biking into my commute. Having time outside and starting the day with exercise is amazing. I bike to lower my carbon emissions and cut pollution as much as I can. It makes me feel way more productive when I haven't had to navigate a snarl of traffic to get to Edina. And here's a list of community events that we have and are participating in in Edina including um this weekend at the Edina Earth Day event. We're working with your joint community police partnership with at 44 Flats and the sound on 76th as well as um Metro South Adult Basic Education and more are events are planned. We work with 28 Edina multi-unit residential properties and here is a list. Um we had to um snake the the lower um number around toward the bottom of the slide. We hosted a Metro E-Line webinar for Edina residents, employers, and commuters which was watched by 192 people. The webinar is available to watch anytime on our YouTube channel and there is um the YouTube channel URL. And in conclusion, in an annual year we are able to convert approximately 5,700 drive-alone commuters who switch to use a sustainable commute mode three or more days per week after receiving customized assistance from us. Which results in an estimated 56 million vehicle miles avoided annually as a direct result of commuter services outreach. And 56 million vehicle miles avoided is approximately 23,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions saved. >> [snorts] >> And it would take over a million mature trees to reduce the same amount of CO2 emissions. And we are helping the city of Edina reach your climate action goals. And so that is my presentation and I'll stand for questions. >> Yeah, thank you. That was a nice presentation. Um, I'm going to turn over to member Pierce to see uh, if he has any comment. >> Oh, thanks, Mr. Mayor. Uh, so my favorite slide is the CO2 slide. When you think about um, the number of trees um, that would be required to remove the same amount of emissions. Like that the first time I saw that, um, it was just mind-boggling to think about it. Um, but thank you for uh, being here to to walk through this. Um, I I do believe the commission is doing the hard work when we talk about um, con- helping residents understand how they need to change. There's a lot of awareness that goes into it. Um, just trying to help people think differently about how they commute. Um, and so it's like it's hard work to do that. Uh, but it's definitely um, necessary. Um, I've talked a lot about the change model. Um, and this is definitely one that's right in the middle of helping people understand the dissatisfaction. There's a a vision there. And then >> [clears throat] >> the first steps of how to make change. Um, and so I appreciate the work that is being done there. And thank you for uh, being here tonight. >> Thank you so much. >> With that, uh, questions or comments from colleagues, Council member Brecher. >> Um, I appreciate your work and I do want to give a shout out to the new E Line and I really like knowing that I can just go down 62nd, hop on a bus and go up to 50th and France, which is so nice, really very helpful. So, go Metro Transit. >> What, uh, how do you see the Quarter Commission and the work you're doing with commuter services interacting with the the completion of the work along 494? Is it going to be compatible? Are you going to be able to drive more businesses as a result of the the change in the freeway configuration? >> Well, I think Mayor Hovland, the work to try to reduce traffic congestion is is going to be, um, ever ongoing and, um, so we're we're actually, um, talking about trying to make improvements to Highway 62 as well because that is a reliever to 494. But I, um, I we've built relationships with over 1,200 employers along 494 and so we'll continue to work with them to establish and also expand their commuting programs and, um, we'll continue to work to try to reach all of the employees at those locations to give them options for their commute. >> During the years that I was on the Quarter Coalition Committee, um, I think we we we had data that showed that, um, 35W 494 was the busiest intersection in the state of Minnesota. Does that continue to be true? >> Yes, Mayor. >> Okay. All right. And, uh, there should be some relief coming with the way they reconfigured 494 in terms of traffic flow, but, um, uh, Uh, you may have some comment on that too. You've been involved with that. >> No, I I was just commenting that it is nice. >> [laughter] >> Um, but we definitely have talked a lot about that project. Um, and it is neat that there are multiple cities that are a part of it that all utilize these resources differently. And so it's beneficial to hear the different perspectives. >> Good. Well, I always appreciate your annual update. And um, and and that's your organization, the organization done some great work over the years. Anyone else have anything? Okay, good. Thanks for being here. >> Thank you, Council >> Yeah, I really appreciate you coming in every year. And and staff, Kate, thank you. Yep, and you as well. Uh, Michelle, thanks for thanks too. And we'll see you down the road somewhere, I'm sure at some event. You you talked about the clothing swap and I think we just saw some information from Twyla Singh on that from our city coordinator. I think it was over 5,000 lbs of clothes that got exchanged I mean 96% of them I think I saw was it were were swapped. You know, out of that 5,000 lbs of clothing. So, it was good. You have any No, okay. I thought maybe you had the real key data. >> Oh, no. >> I because I know that she had a whole array of data that uh, was interesting to read. Those are two things that just kind of stuck in my head. Um, all right, we're going to move on now to a reports and recommendations portion of the agenda. And the first thing in that portion of the agenda tonight is a resolution 2026-20 accepting donations on behalf of the city of Edina. Is there a motion to adopt resolution 2026-20? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Member Riegnew moves, member Pearce seconds the adoption of resolution 2026-20, which would accept donations on behalf of the city of Edina. Uh, any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of Resolution 2026-20 accepting donations on behalf of the city of Edina say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed? Carried. The the resolution is adopted. And the names of the donors will be posted on the website. The Edina Senior Center got a beautiful gift from the Friends of the Edina Library, $5,000 for general use. And Edina Park and Rec got a nice bench donation and a couple of other tree donations and the Edina PD for their Cops on the Court activity has got a several donations there and those as I say will all be posted up. Thank you to those organizations, this time primarily organizations that were the were the donors to these different departments in the city of Edina. Um next we're going to talk about the um bids that came in on the uh >> [clears throat] >> uh Rosland Park pedestrian bridge. And we've all been aware of the fact that it's been a bridge used by pedestrians for a long long time over the Crosstown just west of the hospital. And it's been hit a couple times in the last few years. It needs to get taller, it needs to be ADA compliant and we've been working with MnDOT to create a design for that and it's got several different variations on theme and our our engineering director Chad Milner is going to talk about the outcome of those that bidding process this evening. >> Thanks, Mayor. Yeah, we're going to talk about the Rosland Park pedestrian bridge, the bid results. We're here at the April 21st, 2026 City Council meeting. I'm Chad Milner, Public Works Director, City Engineer. So, the project team, the engagement that we did and the approvals thus far. So, we have Bolton & Menk, Snow Kreilich Architects and Anderson Bridges as part of our team. We have representatives from Bolton & Menk and Snow Kreilich with us this evening online. So, I know Snow Kreilich will want to say a few comments at the end of the presentation, so we'll get them to uh provide some comments. This is the 13th public meeting that we've discussed this project at. So, just giving you an idea, those meetings started in April of 2023 in the MnDOT Bridge Office, and all the MnDOT user groups have approved the project, approved the plans, and it did an ADA review. So, the plans were signed, sealed, and the bids were received. We [clears throat] knew the budgets from our previous reviews of the estimated cost, the engineer's estimate that there'd be some uh challenges with the budget, so we provided two construction completion dates. Schedule one was set for a completion date of December 1st, 2026. Schedule two was June 1st, 2027. We wanted to see if there was a difference in the bids received, and there was quite a large difference in the bid. $1.1 million less for extending that time frame 6 months. So, all the project costs that I'm going to share with you are based on that schedule two completion date of June 1st, 2027. I'm recommending that just with that huge difference in the cost. We also provided the the bidders with some cladding options or no cladding. So, there was three options. There was do the project with no architectural cladding, and I'll show you some renderings of those. Partial cladding, which would be just clad the bridge only and not the on and off ramps, the ADA ramps. And then the full cladding package was the bridge and the ramps with the cladding options. So, I'll show some renderings. This is a no cladding option of both the bridge and the ramps. You're looking to the northeast hovering over Roslyn Park. You can see the bridge and the ramps with no cladding. Your standard railings, you can still see the steel truss bridge expanding over Highway 62 and the frontage road, and there's a few people on the ramps and the bridge utilizing that facility. So, this is the no cladding option. The second rendering is a partial cladding, the bridge only. So, you can see those architectural slats that are attached to that same rendering, the same steel truss that now goes across the bridge, and when it leaves the actual bridge steel truss structure, it starts to fade into the railings on the ADA ramps that provide access to the bridge. And then the third rendering is the full cladding with both the bridge and the on-ramps with that architectural cladding on both the north and the south side. Again, it's hovering above the park looking to the northeast with the steel truss bridge over the highway, but full cladding on both the bridge and the ramps with some trees shown and some people using the facility. And I'll give you three more renderings shot from a different vantage point. So, this again is the no cladding option. You're standing on that south ADA ramp near the bridge interface of that ramp. You can see two people standing on that overlook overlooking Rawson Park. So, here you can see the um more of a standard railing, and then that standard steel truss bridge in the background going over the highway and the frontage road. And then notice very in the very back is the 20-ft tall noise wall. So, recall that MnDOT asked the residents in that area to vote on it. They did want it, and they are under design, and they plan to install that in 2028. So, that 20-ft noise wall will be uh installed along that corridor. We're working with their design team to make sure our project fits with theirs. Next rendering is the partial cladding, so only the bridge. So, you're standing at that same point between kind of that south ADA ramp coming up to the bridge. There's people at the overlook, and you can see that cladding start to transition from full cladding at the bridge to much wider cladding, and then eventually it's going into those railings down the ADA ramps on both sides. And then the third rendering you're again at that same vantage point where the ramps and the bridge interface, two people on the overlook. And here, it's full cladding. So, the bridge and the on and off ramps have cladding all the way down to the base of the ramps. So, the bid results and funding. So, I took the bid results and added all the indirect costs, the truss that we previously purchased with Anderson bridges, all the engineering, all the soils, all the uh the testing of the materials on the existing bridge that to make sure what we have to do with that bridge when we tear it down, and added it all together to the low bid from that 20 June 1st, 2027 schedule. So, the low bidder with all those costs, with no cladding on any of the structure, is at $7.6 million. If we clad only the bridge, so the partial cladding, we're at $8 million. If we do the full cladding, the bridge and the ramps, that would be an additional 400,000, with a total project cost of $8.4 million for the full cladding. Recall we secured $6.2 million from MnDOT and a couple of forms. So, there's a funding gap of $1.4 million with no cladding up to $2.2 million full cladding. So, that funding gap is our what I think is probably going to be our main discussion this evening. So, funding impacts. I'm recommending no cladding and that we delay a variety of projects. I don't think I could come to you as kind of the infrastructure person and say, "Let's do more." when I know we got a lot of infrastructure that needs maintenance. So, I'm recommending no cladding with that June 1st, 2027 date. In order to make up that $1.4 million funding gap, we would have to delay the Olinger sidewalk project. We would dedicate 300,000 from the Parkwood Knolls or the Prospect Knolls neighborhood project when the sidewalks were not approved at the public hearing. And we'd also have to delay some miscellaneous municipal state aid maintenance projects. There's a few retaining walls, uh some fences, some of that kind of miscellaneous stuff that we would have to delay. If the council wants to go up either the partial or the full cladding, I'm stating it's very impactful to the infrastructure due to the due for maintenance. We would have to delay the Wooddale Avenue bridge replacement by a year from 2029 to 2030. We have two bridge projects that need beam painting. We'd have to delay that from 2030 to 2031. Hillary Lane on the golf course has been in this discussion. When's that going to be reconstructed? That would have to be delayed a year from 2032 to 2033. Basically, anything that uses municipal state aid funds would be delayed into the future. Um if we went with the full cladding option. So, we're not asking for a contract award this evening. We're just asking to better understand what the council wants to move forward with tonight. We would bring that contract back when MnDOT completes their bid review and signs a cooperative agreement that lays out how we're going to receive money from them from that allocations that we have. So, I know Brad Smith is online from Snow Kreilich Architects, and he wanted to just say a few words on the on the design itself cuz they've spent a lot of time doing the cladding and stuff like that. So, if clad's if Brad's there. >> Thank you, Chad. Can you hear me? >> We can. Thanks, Brad. >> Great. Yeah, appreciate it. Hello, council. Um my name's Brad Smith. I'm an architect with Snow Kreilich, and I've been involved with the design of the pedestrian bridge since the um the 2024 design competition. We we appreciate the opportunity of working with the city of Edina, Chad's team, as well as Bolten Menk on this project. From the beginning, the city's goal was clear. The bridge should not just function, it should represent Edina. A bridge is infrastructure, but it's also an opportunity to create a lasting landmark for the community. That idea guided our design decisions. The form, the profile, and the cladding all work together to give the bridge its identity. In a previous council meeting, it was noted that the bridge, with its cladding, reads as public sculpture. We believe that quality is essential to what this design to what makes this design both meaningful and purposeful. Without that cohesion, the bridge risks losing what prompted the competition in the first place, becoming a community landmark beyond something purely utilitarian. At the same time, we recognize the city's budget responsibilities. That's why we studied the partial cladding option. It preserves the competition design intent while reducing over 1,000 ft of cladding on approach ramps and revisiting the slat material from wood to painted steel, a more durable, low-maintenance, and cost-effective material. The partial cladding option delivers delivers a memorable, safe, and elevated experience for people walking, biking, or driving through Edina. This bridge is a long-term investment in how the city is experienced by residents and visitors. We believe the partial cladding option strikes the right balance, helping with budget concerns while maintaining the community's original vision for the bridge. Thank you. >> Thank you, Brett. And our team will stand for any questions the council has. >> Yeah, first question I think is how much time do we have before we have to make a decision on which option we wanted? I >> You know, my Yep, sorry, Mayor. My hope is that I can bring a contract back May 5th. >> May 5th? >> May 5th, the next council meeting. That all hinges on MnDOT reviewing this cooperative agreement. We've already provided some comments. I'm meeting with them in tomorrow or the next day, and if we can get that turned around, so I want to hit a May meeting cuz Lund is a low bid, and they want to get started. We got to get a schedule from them. >> Yeah. All that makes sense, and we like the idea of the the schedule, I think. Uh but I think, you know, it's been a few years since we got the $6.2 million award from MnDOT. I'd like to go back to them. That's why I asked the question, how much time do we have to go back? I'd like to go over to the commissioner and ask her if we can't get at least a inflationary increase on the award from them. I know you may be getting a different opinion from people that you're talking to over there, but uh I'd like to at least go all the way up the food chain to see what we could do there. That's one option. I don't know if you have a comment on that. >> We've already done that. So, our original allocation was a $3 million earmark. That was set by the state legislature a couple years ago. MnDOT came to the table with a $3 million allocation. We went to them, and we took inflationary pressures, used inflationary numbers, and they gave us another 200,000. Um and that's what this agreement is I'm working on. So, they've already up the budget 200,000 based on inflationary pressures. >> Okay. >> So, I don't know if there's any other flexibility, but I know from my level and the people I would would talk to, I would don't think I would be able to secure any additional funding. >> Yeah, well, I think the dilemma we're in is this is my observation anyway that when we first when you first came with drawings, it was it was uh function only back in 2023, 2024. And then we thought, well, let's couple form with function. We had this design contest that Brad referred to in 2024. We had We had actually an architectural firm from the Netherlands that bid on it. And we picked Snow Kreilich. And we've I think all of us have been keen about this idea of of form and function occupying the space on a bridge we're going to have for 80 years. And and so it to me it's a matter of trying to figure out how we're going to at least do the partial cladding, which is what the architect thinks we can get away with. So today I asked manager Neil and Mr. Neuendorf to look at those funds that were in the Centennial Lakes TIF account. Uh and at least there is some possibility it seems to me that we could use some of those funds to do the partial cladding at at the $400,000 level now where we can how we can bridge the gap on the rest of it. We have to think about that just on the basic cost of the bridge, but at least those are my preliminary thoughts. >> Well, I can answer the the first I've already came up with a plan to cover the $1.4 million gap for the base. We've got to do the project. That's got to happen. Between PACs and state aid, we just have to do it. Uh Mr. Neuendorf did look at the the TIF balance in Centennial Lakes TIF and if we need to, he can come up. But there is a balance in there of 300,000. Well, first take take a step back. First, the council directed uh staff to allocate $1.5 million of those dollars to the interchange project. So that is basically taken that account down to to a pretty small number at this point, but there is $300,000 and potentially up to $400,000 available. So it'd be really close to covering the partial cladding option that you just mentioned. >> Yeah. Thanks for that. I didn't mean to monopolize the conversation, but I'm sure other people have thoughts as well. Uh also member Ruscher and then also member Jackson. >> Okay. Um thank you. And could you go to the image um that shows full cladding of the bridge and right yeah. Um I agree with staff on this one and think it would be best to proceed without the cladding for financial reasons, but also because I am concerned with the cladding. As you're going up and you're moving, there are spaces where just the alignment of the cladding makes it less transparent and it's harder to see. And here, as you're coming up the ramp, you know, it's like if you walk by a fence that has openings as you're moving toward it, at some point it will look solid even though it's not just because of the way it aligns. And I'm thinking of all of the different users, you know, from short little 4-year-olds. And so a visibility I have a safety visibility concern and I was wondering if that is anything that your department has considered. >> I think I'll ask Brad to answer that question. They've been looking at all those kind of things as this design has been morphing. So Brad, if you want to answer that one. >> Sure. Yeah, so I think there's a there's a balance between the visual transparency, safety concerns. And and we have we have looked into this and I think that one thing to note is we are looking at still imagery and so I think your experience on the bridge changes a lot when you're moving and you know, by the by the turn of a head, you could change from sort of a opaque to a transparency. Um I think we we've also looked at the the cladding or the slats themselves and and tried to reduce that. Um And so that profile is a lot Um, it's all there's a lot more transparency through it. >> We did a lot of work on the Yeah. >> Go ahead. >> Sorry, Brett. We did a lot of work on the spacing of the slats, but also the thickness of the slats to make sure that you could see through the cladding. >> Could we go back to that image [clears throat] again? Cuz I I have other concerns. Okay, it looks like the cladding angles out, and so there's a space between the fencing and the cladding. >> Correct. There's an angle that was part of the architectural renderings that were presented, and that's what the council approved. >> Okay, so I'm thinking you could end up with stuff getting caught between those spaces. >> We've had that same discussion. >> Okay. Um, the other concern that I have is about function. And I know um, this bridge is a meeting place. It is very much a community place. It is um, a place where people go up with their signs, and looking at the cladding, I don't see how this bridge can function that way as a bridge, you know, where people protest different things, and come together for that. >> That was never a goal that the council as a as a group submitted to me for consideration. >> Right. And this moved ahead. Um, we get an it's a very iterative process, and I think you know, um, just thinking about the function of the bridge, and it it really it does have that community aspect to it. And so I I do regret that that didn't come up. Um, but again, you know, just hearing members of the community do really enjoy Some of them do not like that aspect of the bridge. I do know that, and I have heard from them. Yes, there >> that differ. >> It's a split decision, but um, and I I have heard people say, "Oh, just go to the bridge um, along France." But that's a very different space. It's not a pedestrian bridge. It's a um, automobile bridge, and so you you can't really have that safety. So I I do want to just clearly state I am for the no cladding option. Thank you. >> Councilmember Jackson. >> So I'm also fine with the no cladding. I will just I want to say that with or without the cladding this is so much more beautiful than if we hadn't gone through this process. And I I want to even the bare bones of this bridge is beautiful. I know the neighborhood wants more privacy with the cladding, but I'm perfectly happy the way without the cladding. So. >> Councilmember Pierce. >> Thanks, Mr. Mayor. So a couple of things. Um You showed the the cladding, full cladding, cladding on the bridge. What about cladding on just the ramps? Was that looked at at all or >> We realized that the bridge was the focal point of the project. So it was bridge or not for the cladding. That was always the the takeaway. >> Okay. And so what I'm getting at is safety kind of versus the hearing from the residents. Like we had an email that said kind of the line of sights from the bridge you could see into properties. And so I haven't validated the sight lines, but the thought of if that was from the ramps, that's kind of the assumption I was getting that that wasn't from crossing the bridge, it was coming down the ramp. And what if you did cladding there, I understand that we do have the the the sound wall there. That should provide some privacy. And so that was more the question. Does what the clad if it's on the ramp side provide any additional privacy? >> So, there's two properties on the north side and this view is probably the best and I can go to show it. So, this is the no cladding option. >> bring it back up, it's we're looking at you. >> There we go. >> Thank you. >> Um so, there's two properties if I can get a cursor. So, right off this end we put stakes and property lines and we we met with the owner that lives right behind the wall there. And we actually did elevations and locations and said, "Okay, this is where it is before MnDOT builds the noise wall." And then we showed them what it is now add 20 ft to that. So, there'll be nobody >> So, this should be fine. >> Nobody will be able to see over that noise wall. It's like 13 ft above uh normal height person. >> Okay. >> So, when that noise wall gets built and I've actually asked MnDOT if they would let us put in just that little piece to block that one property because it's looking right in the window right at that location. So, MnDOT's still seeing if they could do that yet and they would pay for it. >> Okay. >> We could do it. It'd be easier for us to install at this point. The other location is right at the end of the bridge which is there today. People can look down on that one property next to the trail. There'll be a opening in the noise wall. You can't quite see it on this rendering, but there's going to be an opening there. I don't think the slats are going to change that at all. You'll be able to look through a foot and a half space and if you want to look out that spot, you're going to look right out that spot. The ramps themselves, the cladding isn't very tall. You're going to see right over it. It's standard railing height going up and down those ramps. >> Perfect. Thank you for that. Um I appreciated the slide where you covered the gap by adjusting some of the capital spin. And I appreciated that you had dates in there. And so the question I have on these, um, if we are doing the delays, um, are we is there risk is there like safety risk uh, for, you know, the Wood Dale Bridge replacement if we're pushing that a year? Um, those types of concerns or questions. >> for the full cladding option? >> Yeah. I just want to understand the thinking behind the the delay option. >> Yeah. >> For the full, yeah. >> So the Wood Dale Avenue Bridge, we inspect that because it's at a certain level now every year. So Ryan Evans is actually on the call, he does the inspections. If it we already have it limited for weight, uh, we do not think it's going to collapse tomorrow or cave in in this time frame. We still think it's going to be fairly safe, but if it ever gets to a point and we're not ready to build it, we're just going to close it. And then now we lose that access point. So we've already been looking at that historic bridge for about 5 years to get through all the historical things. So >> Yeah. >> Could we delay it a year? Yes. Do I want to? Not really. Those railings are starting to be worse and worse all the time. >> Yeah. Um, and so I just raise that, um, more for a broader point. I appreciate um, understanding what the trade-off is if we were to to to make that decision, um, as opposed to if we were coming in with the gap, making a decision on that, but not really understanding at this point what the risk is and where that how you're going to, um, close those gaps. And so I just appreciate the fact that you you did that work and you brought this in, um, and are able to have that conversation of what the risk is to the community if we were to delay. Um, so I appreciate that. And then the last one um, just for the cladding in general, you answered the concern on the visibility of the the residents. Um, this question is more I and I think we've answered this. I think the cladding um, from the beginning was more aesthetics and not functional. Um, and so I, you know, I I do think it is incumbent on us, maybe not with each and every decision we take, but man, it's not free money. And so really trying to make a sound decision on is it worth the extra dollars. If you would said to me, "No, James, the cladding is functional. It provides some functional uh, whether it's, I don't know, safety or what have you, uh, then I might feel slightly different about it. Um, but if it's aesthetics and then given where we are, I think this design actually without the cladding, I I think it's a beautiful bridge. Um, and then the way that we were able to address the ADA with the ramps, um, I I I felt like um, I'd be fine without the cladding as well. So, thank you. M. Bragnum. >> Thank you. Uh, as someone who uses the existing bridge uh, weekly, uh, I will say I have felt the absence of the trees. Um, it's very very stark difference. They cut them down a a couple of weeks ago now. Um, but I've I never noticed over the last couple of weeks the line of sight into the the homes over there. So, just like an interesting call out of um, Um, as someone who uses this, that isn't something that I experienced. Um, but I do recall when we were going through the RFP or the contest to bring forward proposals, um, we were paying attention a lot to the aesthetics of what would this mean, and we knew that this is one of those kind of main focal points, a gateway into the community. Um, and so for that reason, I I'm hesitant to go fully no cladding. I think that the partial cladding on the bridge is a a good middle ground compromise. Um, so that's that's where I would lean, but either way, I'm excited that we're moving forward on this and starting things pretty quickly. Um, so I I think that that's really important is that we're able to keep moving forward. Thank you. >> Remember, AG, let me just make a couple comments. The reason you're not experiencing looking into the home is cuz that ramp on the north side isn't uh, 50 yd to the east where you're going to be right at that one home right there. So that's one reason. And then the mayor had this idea of the Centennial Lakes TIF earlier today that, you know, I already had that 1.4 covered. The partial cladding could be covered with Centennial Lakes TIF. Where it won't impact these projects that I had listed. So that's still I want to make sure all the council members understand that. That won't impact those projects like I had listed. >> Yeah, it would it would or would not? >> Would not. >> Would not. >> Cuz we'd have a separate funding source. But then it would tap basically tap that fund out. >> And that's money that we have had available to us to use for a variety of qualifying purposes, and this appears to be one of those purposes. So, yeah, because the the the the funding gap was bothersome to all of us, I think. Um, um, but when we discovered today that there were some funds available in that that that TIF district left over, uh, and by the time we needed them, probably a year from now, we probably would have 3 or 400,000 there to be able to effectively cover the gap. Um When we started this process with the with the um design contest in 2024, uh I thought, "Great, we're going to have something that is a gateway to Edina. As it looks like a piece of sculpture." And we had this contest, uh Snow Kreilich won it. Uh now costs have escalated, and um it's a it's a it's a tough decision, but I I didn't think I'd like it at all without full cladding, but I'm actually in the same camp as because of member Agranoff, I I like it with the partial cladding, and I think it adds a really wonderful design element. When I think about that bridge being there for the next 80 years, whether you're leaving Edina and heading west or coming into Edina, it's just a real fabulous marker of of of community, and I just wanted to ask Brad a quick question. It It strikes me that with the partial cladding and the and the higher cladding in the in the middle of the bridge, it creates another element of safety to the issue that Councilmember Pierces raising. And uh that it's actually safer with the cladding in the middle of the bridge than it would otherwise be, the although it is still a safe bridge, obviously. >> It is It is safer. I would I would say mostly the the feeling that you have when you're going across a highway, you you feel safer and more contained. Um When it when you have the cladding on there. >> Yeah. Well, that's that's that's kind of the sense what I had because when you go over it now, you you feel that open ness when you're in the middle of and the cars are going by 50, 60, 70 mph. I could see where you'd feel safer going across with the with the cladding. Well, I you know, I I like the partial cladding idea. I think it's worth the investment. I think we've got a source of funds that when we would need them, we'd have them, and we wouldn't have to uh it would it would mean we wouldn't use them for something else, but they're they're sitting there and available uh and not disrupted to the taxpayers of Edina at all. So, I'm I'm in favor of the the partial clad- cladding mode, and I don't know I don't know where that puts us. We got two that are two that are comfortable with the way it looks with uh the basic model, two of us that like the partial cladding, and and uh Member Pierce is kind of got to make his mind uh just make his mind up, I guess. >> Mr. Mayor. >> Which way you want to leave it? >> I'm going to help Member Pierce out. I I love his comment about feeling more safe, cuz I have terrible vertigo. I don't like to go on those bridges. Um so, I I think if we have we use that Centennial Lakes funds, if it covers the gap, it doesn't impact any other street reconstruction projects, that I I'm fine with a partial cladding, then. >> Yeah, I I am, too. Um if we have the source of funds, and you said it would not impact the other projects. Um so, yeah. >> Okay. Appreciate that discussion. Thank you. We'll bring a contract back after we get those MnDOT signatures, and thanks for Brad and Mary and uh Ryan for online for joining us. >> Yeah, thanks for that. >> Thanks, everyone. >> Thank you, Council. >> All right. >> Uh we thought that conversation was interesting. The next one may be even more so. Um I'm just going to have Bill Neundorf come up, but I'm going to have him just kind of um hold in place for the time being here. I want to discuss something with the with the Council, an idea that that that germinated actually uh out of our meeting uh last week of our our Housing Redevelopment Authority. Uh and it's something I've been thinking about for a while uh because of the um cost of the tunnel. Uh, and you know, when we first started this process a couple of years ago, uh I think it was Bill Neuendorf, our economic development director, who's done a great job and he done a uh you know, he's came to us and said, "Well, there's two pieces of property they're going to redevelop across from each other on France Avenue and that's like a once in a decade, once in a couple decade possibility of getting people safely across France Avenue under under the road because we talked about going over the road at one point in time. Uh we had got we had a grant from the Met Council. We talked about this at the HRA. And we went back to the Met Council and we said, "Can we take that money and use it to improve some grade crossing at grade crossings on 66, 70th, and 76 instead of using what was I think a million or two million dollars to build a bridge over France Avenue down in that same general area where we're talking about doing the tunnel uh because we decided that people aren't going to walk four blocks to go across the bridge and then come back three blocks. Uh and it it just didn't seem like it made any sense. So, we made some improvements on those three intersections that are still difficult to get across. Uh and that led us to this conversation about if we can't we can't go over and and maybe we can go under and we talked about at grade crossings, but at that point in time the county, and you've pointed this out I think repeatedly and accurately so, that the county at a couple years ago was saying, "Well, we're not going to change the timing of the lights." Uh this is my recollection now and uh we're we're interested in throughput. We're interested in getting cars from I'll say Crosstown to 494 as fast as we can get them down there on three lanes of traffic and turn lanes. And and so, as this as we made this initial sort of inquiry about feasibility and and spent some money uh at it. It seemed really intriguing to many of us, I think most of us on the council, and then we started seeing what the cost could potentially be, and people started thinking about return on investment. And then and then I would I would back up a moment and say that not only did the county make few options available to us, but we also thought that there may be a good chance of federal funding that would come our way, and of course we know that's all evaporated. So the the landscape has shifted, and now we've got people at the county had I told people at the HRA that I was going to talk between our meeting at the HRA and the council meeting about whether or not we could come to the county with an alternative idea of potentially eliminating those two inside lanes next to the median in each direction, so you'd have two lanes plus a turn lane in each direction on France Avenue. You'd widen out that median to what would it be? 25 ft? >> it'd be >> 25 ft wide. And now people can safely get across. You landscape the heck out of it, and you've got a boulevard that lives up to the name France Avenue. It it could be gorgeous. It could be gorgeous, and you slowed people down, which isn't a bad thing. You know what I mean? So some people might be upset about that. I remember when we redid 70th Street. >> Yeah. >> People were mad that we had slowed them down on 70th Street because they wanted to get to the shopping center, you know, and they they didn't care really about what the fact that they were going through a neighborhood. But when we narrowed up 70th and slowed people down, that gave people the confidence to reinvest in their houses. And they fixed all those houses up on 70th, and they they look really good. And that's somewhat comparable to the situation, but it's an interesting part of slowing people down, the the effect it has on on behavior. So I had a conversation with our county commissioner with a conversation with the people in the engineering department, and they said just like we told you with your under the road idea. Come with your ideas for moving people safely across the street at grade. Uh if you want to shrink up the road, uh tell us what you'd like to do, show us what you'd like to do, and we'll look at it, and we'll talk to you about it. And so, what I'm thinking now is, you know, I after our HRA meeting, I happened to stop at Patisserie Margo on the way down to uh the office to get get something to eat, and uh I ran into uh Mark Bernardson, who was the old city manager in Bloomington. He was sitting in there having a cup of coffee. He likes to sit in there and work. He lives over in Edina now. And I was He said, "What was going on at the HRA this morning?" And so, I told him, and he said, "Well, I'll tell you what our engineers used to say in Bloomington, uh if you want to vary from grade, if you want to go over, it's four times the cost. If you want to go under, it's eight times the cost." And that's kind of what we've we've seen here is that the cost is pretty significant to move um what you're estimating at 300 people a day uh through a $20 million passageway, which looks gorgeous. So, my notion is, because of what we've gotten for feedback from the county, directly from our county commissioner, and indirectly from the engineering staff there, is that we ought to hit the we ought to hit the pause button here. And what we what we ought to do is follow up on this alternative idea that now has surfaced that wasn't available to us 2 years ago. And so, what I'd like to do is propose a motion to suspend all current and future city spending on studying the feasibility and design of the France Avenue proposed underpass project, and then further direct staff to engage with their technical colleagues at Hennepin County to study at-grade alternatives for safe pedestrian crossings at France Avenue between 66th and 77th Avenue South. And alternatively, I'm thinking I get to thinking about what we did on Interlachen Boulevard. That used to be a county road. We we took it back from the county if if that's the correct sort of expression, and I don't know if it makes any sense for us to own France Avenue from Crosstown to 494 or not, but yeah, you're yeah, well, you're shaking [laughter] your head. >> No. >> The cost might be such that we didn't want to mess with it. >> Vernon, and then we couldn't even justify that cost. Remember those state aid numbers I just showed you? >> Forget that alternative idea. [laughter] >> Forget that alternative idea, but I I I would, you know, to and I'm more than happy to have Bill make another presentation. My colleagues are going to decide how they feel about this because we we don't talk about these things amongst ourselves. We can't. Uh but I'll I'm going to make a motion. I'm going to restate it. I'm going to look for a second and see where the conversation goes, and then we'll go from there. So, the motion would be to suspend all current and future city spending on studying the feasibility and design of the France Avenue proposed underpass project, and further direct city staff to engage with technical colleagues at Hennepin County to study at grade alternatives for safe pedestrian crossings of France Avenue between 66th and 77th Avenue uh south on France Avenue, and report back to us by January or by June 30th of 2027. So, we'd give you a little over a year to kind of look at this issue unless you then don't think that's enough time. >> I think there's a lot of discussions to be had. How are we going to They're going to want a traffic study. They're going to want layouts. Who's going to put what together and pay for it? I think we need as much time as possible. So, we can come back with updates like how all the discussions are going, and >> I just thought we should have a date pinned to the to the project, and I'm okay to make it June 30th of 2028 if you want, but >> I think let's go 27. That'll just be for me to make sure I come back and keep you updated. It's kind of a placeholder to make sure we keep >> He won't and the council won't be able to restate the motion. Is there a second to the motion? >> I'll second. >> All right, and we're in discussion. Member Wisser. >> Um I think it's a good idea to suspend um investment on this particular project. I did request some images be available that I'd like to talk about and just if you could indulge me on this cuz come June 30th, 2027, I'm not going to be here. So, um I do have concerns. And at that HRA meeting I did reference this Hennepin County Toward Zero Death Action Plan, which was uh created in September 2025. And um one of the things that I think is so important is ensuring that we are working with Hennepin County in a way that really uses, and I know all of us really feel this way, uh uses our limited financial resources as best we can. And I did highlight this one bullet uh from their study, an understanding and acknowledgement of the communities most impacted by fatal and serious injury traffic crashes with a specific focus on vulnerable road users. Pedestrians and bikers are vulnerable, but if I could see the next slide, um and we'll be moving through this. One thing that concerns me is we have been working on this idea for a really long time. Uh and August 24th, 2023 in our HRA work session, we had LHB come and it's interesting to listen to that session because we go through so many possibilities, you know, and um ideas, you know, mentioning underground entities, a rail railway station, all of that, which really, you know, it's great and fun to kind of think about things, but But think uh being mindful of what is actually uh the reality is so important. And at that meeting and continuing um until this one, if we could go back to that one, we kept seeing a slide from 2007. Okay, and that was before we got funds from the federal government uh that we decided to use at the at-grade crossings in 2012. And so I think it's important to look at that. Um I highlighted another thing, this is also from that action plan. The Hennepin County HIN um and used 5 years of fatal and serious injury crash data from 2019 to 2023. And so as we are looking at projects, if we can kind of figure out how to analyze them with the most relevant data, I think that is so important. For 18 months of my career, I was a site miner for a solar energy company and we had people working on different aspects of land use. And all of us were tasked with trying to ensure that we were not proceeding down a pathway where we were entertaining a project that had a fatal flaw. And so I was on the comprehensive plan, I was on um city codes, um township codes, and also environmental issues. You know, and so it's possible you can get the owner to agree, you got a great purchase agreement, you're right in your um three phase, but you know, you're looking at land that's a peat bog. And so you just kind of have to identify those things. So I think it is a it's relevant um to look at the more recent data so that you can take into account the road safety investments that have been made uh and so you're getting a clearer picture. If I could have the next slide. This is also from that report. Um I did a line here, you look at um where Edina is, it's kind of hard, you have to go up to the chain of lakes in Minneapolis and then go down and you see that we do have some issues with road safety and I did point this is an arrow and that's the area where the tunnel is being suggested and you can see that it's clear. Um So, if we could go to the next one, um here there's numbers on the different high-end injury segments. Um and so we have two along France Avenue that were identified. Uh 32 is going from 70th Street North and then you have um 37 from Parklawn South. And so that tunnel is not in the area where there is um high high energy injury that has been documented recently and I think that's important to keep in mind. Um suspending is a good idea, but if we come back to this I I do want people to be aware of this. And then if we could go to the next slide, uh this I think is a really interesting one. Uh it's about social vulnerability and thinking about who uh is really needing to use sidewalks, bikers, uh poverty is something to take into account, race, ethnicity, uh vehicles, no vehicles in the household. Uh and so looking at all of these red lines in Hennepin County and if our funding source is TIF, that's pulling from Hennepin County, too. So, where is the best place to put those limited resources? Um I think I have one more slide. Uh in the process of going through and thinking about things, you know, we got to pull together all this information, uh but it's important to be accurate. The quality of life survey was included in tonight's packet and I did mention this at the HRA meeting and I want to again thank Communications Director Ben Ewald for reading the actual question. And the actual question that was in the the of life survey was very general and it talked about connecting neighborhoods west of France to Centennial Lakes in the Edina Promenade. There were several different ways that were mentioned, you know, crosswalk, tunnel, bridge, at-grade crossing, and underpass. And so this wasn't about this specific location, but the way some of the data has been summarized from that quality of life survey, I've heard concerns from residents because in this particular case it was used to say that this specific location between two buildings is something that 70% strongly support. There was also the use of this to say that 70% supported a tunnel and there was pushback. The Edina Civic, you know, yeah, the Edina Civic Observer did a posting on that. I don't know if anyone follows that, but there was that as well. So, um if we do come back to this, I think we need to be working with the county and asking them, you know, what they think our best use of dollars are. It's It's, you know, fun and interesting to think about, you know, sort of what could be the ultimate, but at the end of the day it's got to be something that will really serve the public in the most meaningful way. And safety is so important. Bringing down those numbers and I've worked with people from the county with the Toward Zero Deaths program. My nephew was killed through traffic violence. I work with one particular person every year at the state capitol when we do World Day of Remembrance. And so making sure those dollars are spent in the best possible way so we get the most safety is so important. I know people have been sending I did also see what we could do with crosswalks. And there's just so much it's it sounds very routine and it we don't have time to go into that, but I did want to make a plug for that. But since I'm not going to be here in 2027, not running for office again, just I do appreciate having this opportunity to on the record say what some of my concerns are. Thank you. >> Yeah, thanks member Russer. Member Jackson. >> Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I got a two I had two different conversations that the are relevant to this. And they said in different areas, one was at 50th and Wooddale and the other one was at Point of France, I'm strongly against this idea. I want one near me. And I said, are you you know, are you saying this in all seriousness? They said, yes, in all seriousness. Where I have to cross is very dangerous. So, thank you for the creativity in looking at this. I would appreciate first of all, elevating non-motorized transportation to be on par with cars as we look at this. Um And secondly, something that could be potentially duplicated in other areas. I I would we might get some test dollars if this is something that could be used elsewhere. And it would satisfy those two residents who I thought had really interesting to use member Russer's word, paradox, that they don't want a underpass, but they want one near them. >> Yeah, thanks for that. I think they're doing some work out on 101 right now that's involving at-grade crossings that we can maybe learn something from as well. Turn to member Ajayi, then member Pierce. >> Thank you. I do want to start with a question cuz I heard Mayor, you referenced the 300 people um calculation that was done. And I wasn't at the HRA meeting on Thursday, but can you just remind me where that that figure came from? >> Yep. Three Rivers Park District measured the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail right at Macy's uh for a week in September of 2024 and the average was 300 users per day. If you take out Saturday and Sunday cuz there was an event at that time, you still get 240 users a day. >> Okay. >> average >> Um I I wasn't alive, I guess I should say. I was going to say I wasn't on the council, but I also wasn't alive um when we first did um the build-out of Centennial Lakes Park. Um did we use data points on how many people use the gravel pit as an estimate for how many people would use the park? >> We typically don't with any pedestrian facilities cuz there's nowhere to go, so we build it for they will come. You build it for they will come. >> I think Thank you for that. Um >> [clears throat] >> I'm really viewing this in the the way that we've framed up so far as an amazing opportunity for us to continue Centennial Lakes. Um this could stitch together what we have today on the east side of France to the west side of France. Um and I think that suspending conversation on this whether it's till 2027 or 2028 is an overcorrection based on a a vocal contingency when I think that there's a very strong voice that is missing from the conversation right now and that's the hundreds if not over a thousand people who will be living in this direct vicinity within the next couple of years. Um you know, I I know that we often get a lot of emails, right? So we look over the last couple of of days on this topic and I know we've gotten well over 100 emails, right? Um some in support, probably the majority um concerned about rising costs across the city. Um and one stuck out to me um and now I'm actually forgetting if this was an email or if this was a comment that we had received from the um open house that we had done. Um but there was an owner from Cedars who was a voice that night for the 1,000 people um who live in Cedars properties. Um and so we have there, you know, kind of a a miss in scale of we saw it as one email or one comment card, um but there are today hundreds of people who are wanting this and yearning for this within the community. Um and I I really think that if we only look at the numbers that we have today or the use that we see if we see how many people cross today, I don't think that's how we build for our future. And it's these types of opportunities of connecting parts of our community that today face a barrier that is I think really how we start to stitch together this community and build for our future. So, that's how I feel. I would I'm not supportive of suspending conversations of this. I do think though that it's valuable for us to continue considering alternative options. So, maybe a an alternative that I would propose is rather than tabling this so far into the future that it kind of prevents us from capitalizing on the opportunity provided by the fact that both sides are under construction right now. We push this out for whether it be 2 months or 4 months or something that's still could leave this option open during the construction periods of those projects. We expedite conversations with the the county, re- revisit some of those options. At this point, like maybe it's even worth us dust- dusting off some of the the bridge concepts and um making sure that we have a good understanding of how the 4X cost might be more feasible, but I do know that there were real barriers in those paths as well. But I just I think that it's an over-correction for us to stop pursuing this at this time. Thank you. >> Thank you. Council member Pierce. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. So got a few comments. The um I don't when I view this, I think the question for me is framed in really understanding what the problem is. And so we kind of talked about it a little bit as as we were giving our comments. Um But I I would say that the problem that we're trying to solve is I think the quality of life survey got it right. Um 70-ish percent of people want to feel safe crossing France Avenue. And I don't I think that that is not in question. And that's what the open house feedback showed. Um open house feedback showed that there was a group that was in the middle, right? Not opposing, not supportive of the tunnel, but wanted to be able to travel safe walk safely across France Avenue. So to me, that's what the problem is. And so if that's the problem we're trying to solve, when I look at a $20 million price tag, I can't come up with an ROI for that as the solution to that problem. But the problem does exist. And so from a process perspective, I I want to give a shout out to um I want to say commissioner to >> [laughter] >> Council member Jackson. And I'll probably get this wrong, but I think two or three months ago, we talked about this. We had an opportunity to vote we to kill the project months ago. And member Jackson said, you know, voting to kill it at that point means we wouldn't have feedback from the community. And she wanted to make sure we had an opportunity to have that. Uh and so because we did that, we had the open house. We have received hundreds of emails from people. Um we've had a chance to look at some data. Um maybe that data is not comprehensive enough, but we have had a chance to look at some data. Um and so I'm grateful that we've had that opportunity because it it did two things for me. One, it clarified to me what the problem was, which is what I stated earlier. And two, I it did leave me with this sense that we could solve this problem. But we need to be creative in doing it. Um and so I support um taking the pause. Um but what I would say, I go so far as to say at the end of that pause, that we can't come back with well, the tunnel again. I agree with uh parts of what member Agnew um articulated. But what we come back with, I think should be functional, safe, it should solve the problem at hand. But I think it still should be iconic. I still think it has an opportunity to be a gathering space that connects Centennial Lakes um without costing $20 million. Um and so I I support this. Um the other thing I would say just from a process standpoint, like we don't talk about what we can't talk about these things as a council. We have to discuss them here. Um and so I know it in the community it like it feels like right we may have deaf ears and we're not paying attention and we don't listen. Um but we do. But we just aren't able to to have debates and discussions as a group up until these things come up on the agenda. Um and so I I support um this pause. But I would want, like I mentioned, whatever we come back with um I think it if it's at grade, I think that would be better for the community. But I still want us to lean into this um how can we make it um iconic um in in a way that still speaks to um Edina. Um and then the last thing I'll say, this one was kind of funny to me and I I don't remember which resident sent this, but um their email said um man, $20 million we could hire somebody to personally escort people across France. >> [laughter] >> And um I responded to that and I said, you know, you you made me laugh. Uh because we probably could do that. And it would last for about, I think I said, 30 plus years. Uh 30 years. But in the 31st year, we still have the same problem to solve. And so that to me underscores the importance of us trying to make the right call to I and I think pausing is it to then ensure that we're solving the right problem and that we can do it in a fiscally responsible way. >> I think everybody's been concerned about this key issue that you've articulated, many of you. How do we get people safely across France Avenue, you know? And that that's that word safe is embedded in the motion as as we have been discussing it. So I Yeah, I think we're probably heading in that direction, it looks like, and um you need some time to do your work, I take it. >> Yes, you already had a date in there, but I think we also need to tell the consultant who put in a proposal in November they're off the hook with that proposal. We can't hold it any longer. It's it's 5 months, so I'm going to take this motion as if we want to study this again with firms, we would go out and do another RFP process. >> That's correct. >> Okay. That was one clarification I'd like. >> And and yeah. >> Okay. >> Remember Jackson had a thought. >> Well, I just I want to honor what member Agnew said. This is not a to me it's a very very sad decision. Um this was an idea that could be a keystone to a green walkable corridor from the new Southdale Library through Centennial Lakes to the new Fred Richards Park. It could create an entire new uh green connected space to build around. Um so um is a beautiful idea, but um I'm going to mourn its loss. >> Okay. Um We've got a a motion um and a second. We've had discussion. I think people are ready to vote. So, um all those in favor of adoption of the motion as stated and I'll I'll restate it if it if necessary. All those in favor of adoption of the motion as stated say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed? >> Nay. >> Motion carries. Um the motion is to suspend all current and future city spending on studying the feasibility and design of the France Avenue proposed under past project and further direct city staff to engage with technical colleagues at Hennepin County to study at-grade alternatives for safe pedestrian crossings of France Avenue between 66th and 77th Avenue South. And uh to to report back to us on June 30, 2027. >> Yep, that's correct. >> All right. Very good. Thank you. Thanks for that discussion, folks. Um and thanks to our audience members and our city that have been had a keen interest in this project for being here as well. Um now we're going to move on to a sketch plan review. >> [snorts] >> The Planning Commission has done this sketch plan and uh review and uh it's our opportunity now to visit uh with the developer about the project proposed project at 7600 Parklawn, which is a senior housing project. And this will be a another interesting discussion this evening. >> Uh thank you, Mayor. I'll just do a quick introduction here to to tee this one up and then we'll bring the applicant up. So, this [clears throat] sketch plan is a proposed this the location of the site is in Pentagon Park. Uh the proposal's to tear down an existing office building and build two senior housing um apartments, upscale uh apartments. Each unit or each building would have about 125 to 150 units. Uh the proposal here is to utilize the existing zoning district, which is mixed development districts. So there's [snorts] basically two issues for the council to discuss when you get into your discussion. That's height and density. The current zoning would only allow about 125 units on the site. The comprehensive plan would allow much more than that. So there'll be some substantial variances there. Um also in regard to height, four stories is the limit on this site. And the proposal here that they'll show two options. One is a seven-story option, the other is a has a 12-story component. So a formal application would be a site plan review with those sizable variances. Um So with that, I will introduce Josh Branstead of Greco and I believe Mike Kretch will also assist in the presentation as well. >> Oh, good evening Mr. Branstead. Welcome. >> Good evening. >> And Mr. Kretch as well. Welcome. >> Welcome, Mike. >> Uh >> Yep. There it is. Perfect. Thank you. >> Um Mayor, Council, thank you for having me this evening. I'm Josh Branstead, president owner of Greco Properties, local real estate development and property management group here in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am joined also with Mike Kretch, the managing partner for the area for BKV Architects. Um you're probably familiar with some of Mike's work and his his colleagues at BKV as they designed uh the Fred at Fred Richards Park, which is a project that's adjacent to this site. So as we get into discussion um like Carrie >> Let's do that. >> Yeah, Eden City Hall. >> That is true and one Southdale Place. >> Um so, they do a lot of work here in the city of Edina as you as you're aware of. Um as we get into discussion tonight, um like Carrie mentioned, we've got two different concepts that we've been evaluating looking at. Um we're at step two of our sketch plan review this evening. Uh we had a really uh just a fantastic constructive conversation last week with a lot of great feedback that I will summarize here at the end of end of this evening's discussion from the uh planning commission last week. But, it was a it was a just a really thoughtful and um and um uh very constructive conversation. So, between the two concepts, we have uh a range of 250 to 300 units. What we are looking at today actually has 135 units planned in each building, so 270 units currently. Uh the reason we give that range is really due to variances and unit sizes, etc. So, as as a unit see it bigger, we have less units. As a unit gets smaller, we have more units. So, with that, um a little bit of a perspective map uh the red boxes on this map here uh are deemed the location of of the site of 7600 Parklawn uh directly adjacent to Fred Richards Park, which is going through the re-envisioning currently. Along along and adjacent to us in the orange boxes here are the residential uh uses and then in the purple boxes you see these are more commercial uses with Pentagon Park being directly south of us. If you went to the site today, this is what you would see for existing conditions. The site is about 90% impervious surface with a uh four-story office building in the middle primarily uh occupied by Klein Bank. There are also three other occupants within the building. Uh Hillcrest Development currently owns the site and they would would working through a relocation plan either within Pentagon Park or other locations they have here in the in the Edina market with these tenants. Um today from from a at grade perspective, this is what the building looks like if you were there today. Let me get my slides caught up here. So as we started the process of reviewing the site, really our primary primary priority is were area alignment related to the greater Southdale District plan primarily unique experiences, pattern and connectivity, scale and form, placemaking, and then I think one of the big pieces is the connectedness and the accessibility to the park and the surrounding areas. You know, as we look at the site and as a of itself, um you know, high-quality design is obviously a high priority for us, sustainability, and then park connectivity along with life cycle housing. Really providing an opportunity for people to age in community as we as we refer to it. As part of this design visioning, we're showing some precedent images here of what's influencing the design. I'll draw your attention to the image in the top left corner. That is actually a building that's under construction today in Minnetonka that we're developing called the Ensley. It's a 55-plus 121-unit active adult apartment building that will be opening here next Friday. So, you know, post this post this meeting tonight, we would, you know, absolutely welcome the opportunity to anybody through that project too just so you get a sense of of what the finished quality and end product type that would that would be delivered here at 7600 Parklawn. The middle image in the upper level two is a project that we just got finished entitling in Woodbury at the old Hartford Insurance Campus. So, that project will break ground this October. BKV is the architect on that project as well. But, I think what we're just trying to show, you know, in in simulate with some of these images is how we've had the ability to scale some of these projects with step backs, uh overhead, uh overhanging eyebrows. And then the remaining imagery in here is just is it's just really high quality architecture that we uh we see as being compliments to this area as well. So, as we discussed, um the the project is phased from west to east. So, directly west to the of the site is Fred Fletcher's Park. And and and one thing I would just say is that that the orientation of these buildings is very flexible at this point, right? Um we are really just really studying the site, what makes sense. We got a lot of really good feedback related to orientation, how the building could could step and connect to the park. Uh one of the really, I think, interesting pieces that was brought up is, "Hey, what if we could take the surface parking for these for the guests and the vendors? Could we get it within the buildings and create a more prominent boardwalk for for the public to come in through park lawn or if they're coming through the south, to come back and connect to the park?" So, that's something that we're we're investigating further, but I think it was really really um well thought out um feedback. Our next slide is a massing diagram just to give ourselves some perspectives of what the what the project would look like. So, the project this is the two building seven-story concept, so concept one. Uh at the end of the day, we think this is the one that wins on the on the aspect of feasibility, uh fitting within the scale of what is there or has been recently developed around Fred Fletcher's Park. And I think it's this concept that we got the most uh favorable feedback from the planning commission last week as well. This is the uh the main level of the buildings. This will be the same for the concept we're looking here in concept one and concept two. Just a couple pieces I think that are really interesting that we talked a lot about last week at Planning Commission. The little black boxes or gray hash boxes here you see around the perimeter. These are all walk-up units that actually surround our our parking that we will have on the first level of the building. Uh but they're really meant to have kind of a front yard concept to them. So, eyes on the street, the paths, um and then the ability for people to come in and out as if it was like a walk-up townhome. Here's just more of a level plan. So, you get the while being a seven-story building, it's really six and a half stories above grade due to the soil conditions and the water table. Um we're assuming our our site will be very similar to what they saw at and incurred at the Finch and the Fred. So, we don't have the ability necessarily to go two levels underground um like some sites do. And then we we took it upon ourselves also to do a sun study or a shadow study at this point in time. Um and what you'll see is really that December to March time frame are the are the times of the year, which is really no surprise to anybody here, that you see the the largest shadows casted. We are able to mitigate it uh as much as possible to our our neighbors to the north, but um kind of that late afternoon time you do get some overcast on them. Then in our second concept that uh that we had that we had concepted, this actually the pink box that you see here is a 12-story tower. Um we'd had we'd been in analyzing this as part of a for-sale project. We went down uh about a 2-month time frame where we were really investigating, hey, could this be a for-sale site uh in Edina? I think we got a lot of market feedback um during that time frame, and it just with other things that are occurring in uh in and around Edina, this is probably not an A+ site for for sale product. The price point is going to have to be very substantial to support today's construction cost. And then we evaluated it also as a rental product. Again, the rents in the 12-story building will have to be substantial to support that type of construction cost. So we do see this is being a really unique opportunity at this location and don't totally want to turn our way sales away from it, but we do know that it has a you know it has a much larger uphill climb on the the feasibility side of things. But what you will see that you get from a structure like this, you get a lot more open space. However, this is on the second floor. So it's an elevated open area. It's not necessarily on the ground level. Again, another massing study just so you get sign of kind of some perspective of what how it fits in with the surroundings. First level really no different than the first concept. And again, our cut sheets from the side. We did a shadow study on this too. You can see the the shadows do cast further. And again, it's this kind of at late afternoon time frame that we see the most during this this December to March time frame. So with that this evening, so what we have are the two different concepts here. You know, really the priorities are an aging in community 55 plus age restricted redevelopment in two different phases. So phase one would begin in time zero call it. Takes approximately 20 months to build that first phase. Lease that up be about another 8 to 12 months and then we'd anticipate proceeding with phase two. We've done a number of phased deliveries throughout the Twin Cities over the last 8 years and Um, when we have larger scale redevelopments like this, uh, it uh, it's worked very well. Uh Um, I think too, you know, in the end, this is a well over a hundred million dollars worth of development on a site that currently sits as about a six million dollar assessed value uh, at the site. So, pretty significant economic impact to the area. Um, from planning commission uh, last week, just some of the highlights that that I won't go through all the details as I'm sure you're you're very well aware of them, but I think the seven story concept was the most favored concept, the two seven story buildings. We did have two members that were not necessarily totally concerned about the height from this 12 story. Um, we've got a um, quite a bit of feedback on potentially replacing that exterior parking within the building and creating that larger promenade. We will need to still have some um, exterior parking for vendors, uh, pickup services, etc. like that, but we could reduce down to more of a parallel system and uh, create kind of that more promenade uh, boardwalk system. Um, thinking through our site through our orientation and then also just thinking about, you know, we had a really good question from one of the uh, commissioners of where's the front door of this building and does it want to engage more with the park? So, I think, you know, what we took away from that and and some of the early conversations we've been having is there needs to be a pretty extensive conversation with the parks department too of what they're what they're doing at the park, how we engage with that and how we bring this to to uh, life together. So, and then I think the last piece was the stepping of the project to the park and I think uh, those all resonated very well with us. Um, so this evening I am here along with Mike to answer any and all your questions. >> Yeah, thanks Mr. Bransford for that uh, helpful presentation uh, and then uh, letting us know what the planning commission was thinking as well from your perspective. Uh, I'm going to turn to uh, council member Pierce. He's going to lead us off and give us his thoughts about your ideas. >> Uh thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um uh so, thanks for the presentation. Um can you just start just talking about uh the economics? Um so, this is rental. >> Correct. >> And so, for seniors, so just talk about the financials, the cost per unit, what types of units. >> Yeah. So, our rents will range we will have predominantly two and three-bedroom apartments here. Uh that's what we've learned at our Ensley project up the road that is in the highest demand. Uh we will have some one-bedrooms in the project as well. But, one-bedrooms will start right around the $2,000 mark. And then, as you get into the biggest, nicest units with a variety of different upgrades, you can go up to the $6,000 mark. Uh the majority of our two- and three-bedrooms will fall between the three- to three- to $5,000 range, I'd call it. >> Okay. Okay. Um Thanks for going through the the two building heights, so seven and 12. Um I want to say I'm not excited about the 12, but um I am probably six of one, half dozen of the other. I I it may fit in the area, um you know, with the Fred there that's not 12 stories, but it's a pretty big building. >> Yeah, that's that's a seven-story. >> It feels like a big building. >> Yeah. >> Um and so, it may it may fit. Um what what I didn't what I don't think I like about it is the fact is um for sale. You're going to have it on the side with the best views as well, which is what I would do too if if I were to build that. Uh but, you know, that that doesn't feel great when I think about it from that perspective, uh but I think the the uh seven-story uh footprint, um I think I'd be okay with that. Um I like the fact that in this entire area, like it's really shaping up to be a a nice little area. Um you have a little bit of retail there. There's still some um development uh spaces over there. Um I'm in that area a fair amount. Um And so I think it's a nice little area, especially with the park there. And so the the one question would be you on your one slide, you had the walk-up units. Uh what are your thoughts behind kind of activating um Yeah, kind of activating with the um the park. Uh you're not quite situated perfectly for that, but what are your thoughts around that? >> Yeah, I think um I think what we need to do is take the next step and get the final design files from the park. But I think that there's a lot of different opportunities that could occur along these borders, you know, whether as we bring in this, you know, kind of this boardwalk concept, is there kind of a plaza concept? And I don't know this with you know, without knowing anything else of what's going on exactly in the park. We've seen a a variety of different renditions. Um we have a meeting with them uh here in early May to to learn more about that, but I think, you know, is there an opportunity, excuse me, are there are there unique opportunities at connection points that could occur at these corners here, or could it be a midline with how you know, how we could connect through and and interconnect our our our paths? It also allows us, you know, if we do do this boardwalk and we remove this um surface parking here, and maybe it goes to parallel. It allows us to move the entire site plan slightly south too to also again kind of create a little bit more separation from the border of the park so we don't feel like we're coming down on it and it you know it has an opportunity to create a really unique just pedestrian experience or bike experience. >> And so I this next comment, I don't know if this is a um a compliment or not, but but when I first looked at this I did kind of have a sense of the enclave. Right? Where that concept of you're able to walk through those buildings to get to the boardwalk. Um and so I given where the park is, if you were able to do a boulevard on the front of the the south side of the building um you know, being able to kind of walk through to the park. I think that would be um that would be fairly interesting um as well. So I think in general I liked the concept. Um It definitely is a significant upgrade to that space and I think it would your architecture I I like the renderings and I think it would fit uh nicely that kind of upgraded technology in that space. Um And so it's just thinking about is there a way to add a little bit more activation, more green space. I like the boulevard concept and then how we might um um add some activation towards the park. And I would I think I would I think the seven stories for me is probably the um um right mark. Um and then last question in terms of financing, and I didn't go through all of the documentation, what kind of financing are you looking for? Is this fully >> Um as far as >> TIF? >> Um I think we would open that up as part of the conversation, especially with the the ability to deliver affordable units here. >> Okay. >> We do know that that's a you know, it's a high demand our stuff in Minnetonka filled up immediately. So we do know that know that affordability is a an opportunity here. I think too is it we're learning more too of what this project can contribute to the park as well. Um so I think getting the whole cake baked so we understand the economics on it um >> Okay. You're just looking for some direction feel from us before you go to the the next phase. Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Good. Council member Jackson. >> Yes, thank you Mr. Mayor. So thank you for the presentation. I'll be honest when I looked at this I had a hard time navigating through the site. Um I I like the idea of redeveloping this piece of property. I think senior housing is very much needed. Um when I look at site plan though it is a lot about the moving movement of people through the site and the driveway looks like it goes in from the south, but again, where is the front door? I think that's the perfect uh question. Um would this be have a fence around the perimeter uh for people's front yards or is it open to the sidewalk and everything? What How is this How contained does it feel? >> No, I think we would we would concept it to be open and we'd use landscaping to kind of define the barriers. I'd say it'd be very similar like we've probably seen at One Southdale. We have a similar project in Champlin that sits up on the riverfront where we did this kind of front yard concept. So, they're they're an open yard. They're about I suppose they're 75 ft to 100 yd long and it walks at the and they go out to the the public sidewalk and that ties into the the MRT trail system. And so, it really feels more residential neighborhood >> Okay, terrific. Yeah. That's helpful. Um I will say the 12 stories I would not be in favor of that. I I worry about the impact of shade on both the park and on the neighbors. Um you know, we're going to be planting things and and it's a green space and I just am not comfortable with the shadow that would be cast um by that. But yeah, if you've got a plan for moving through the space on foot so that if I want to go visit a friend there, I can find them. That's that's the primary concern I have. Um you know, how would I worse the front door and how do I get in? Um but yeah, I'm thank you for coming forward with this um to the community. It's it like I said, there's a real need for senior housing. So, thanks. >> Commissioner? >> I watched the Planning Commission and really do appreciate Commissioner Bennett asking just point-blank what version you like the best and I believe you are still on the same page with the seven-story. >> Correct. >> Okay. I see the logic of that and I really have a hard time envisioning something 12 stories tall right next to the park. I think that would be a a mistake. Um in terms of green space and walking through it and all of that, I liked the suggestion of shifting the parking so that you could have more of a boulevard. Um I do like what you said about maybe pulling it back. Um I'm the commissioner who's more you know, we we hear a lot about how is the building going to interact with the public space? How is it going to connect to the park? How is it going to connect to the sidewalk? And I think sometimes we push that idea a little bit too far. And I know, you know, and my colleagues are probably tired of hearing about this, but um in one case having an easement along a public sidewalk and you've got the railings literally coming down into the public space. I I don't like that. I want to make sure that the public realm um remains firmly the public realm and we don't have railings going down into the public sidewalk. And so that that kind of thing is is on my mind. I um Honestly feel like what I'm seeing, I don't have any qualms about it. Just, you know, so that it's not people on balconies, you know, >> Right. >> right where you know, you're strolling by two feet away or something like that. So, and I don't think you're doing that >> No. >> based on this. Um is the idea that the uh you could drive through and then the one concern I had is that the parking at the park ends up being overflow parking, but that's not what you're The idea isn't to have >> [cough] >> a driveway that would flow into the park parking lot, right? >> No, it's not. >> Okay, good. I just had to ask that. >> Our our diagram here does not exactly line up with the final uh design over there. >> Okay. >> So, there there are some errors on this as it relates to that. >> Cuz I would not like to see that. I think that would be a huge mistake. What um I And you know, I think when we see an elevation, we'll know where the front door is. >> Um but I I don't have any blacking concerns. What's Well, in terms of square footage, what is the smallest unit that you're putting in? >> Average uh smallest unit will be between 900 to 1,000 sq ft. >> Okay. >> Average unit will be about 1,600 sq 1,500 to 1,600 sq ft in this concept. >> Okay. And yeah, so but I think it's a great idea. Thank you. >> Councilmember Agnew. >> Thank you. And I'm going to start off probably with questions for um Director Teague, if I may. Um as I'm looking through what I believe is the document that was probably gone over with the planning commission specifically. Um we see that today the site is zoned for mixed development. Um and from, you know, [snorts] land use perspective, this whole general area is marked as office residential. Um can you walk me through the Director Teague, like what is the overall vision for this site? And maybe even speak to some of the transformation that we've seen over the last handful of years. And I mean the whole kind of that corridor region. >> Yep. So, the the vision, I apologize for my voice. I don't know what I got going on, but I'll do the best I can. Um [clears throat] So, the vision for this area uh comes more from the comprehensive plan. That's where the densities uh were established at the 20 to 75 units an acre. >> [clears throat] >> The idea behind the comprehensive plan and implementing that over the last 5 10 years was to do PUD and use that gift to get to create a zoning ordinance basically for a specific site. We're moving away from that, and that's part of the whole uh zoning ordinance update. We want to get create zoning districts that are more in alignment with the comprehensive plan. So, I would say this project um is in alignment with with that vision for the Southdale area in the comprehensive plan. >> Thank you. Cuz I think my reaction to this is and I don't have an opinion at this point if it's good or bad, but what we're seeing is sites that had been more office and potentially I don't even know I wouldn't even say mixed use, but more office are now becoming pretty much strictly residential. Um, and so if that trend continues, right, kind of site by site by site um do we have any thoughts on this becoming like a a strictly nearly residential area along that entire corridor? >> Yeah, that is a concern. Though the whole area is guided office and residential use and in the comprehensive plan it talks about those uses being allowed as a primary use, but that is a concern if we lose office over time. The tool that we would have in the future to potentially say no to a project like this well, maybe not this district because this is all zoned MDD um, MDD 6, which allows both of those uses, but a lot of that area is zoned planned office or planned industrial district. So, the city could say no to those types of um residential uses through that rezoning. >> Okay, thank you. That's that's helpful. Um, and maybe kind of relates back to the comprehensive plan conversation we were having just earlier this evening. Um, okay. So, now thinking about this this uh sketch plan um, that was brought here directly um I don't know I'm kind of going back and forth. Can you speak to me a little bit about the the desire to have senior housing as opposed to just housing? >> General market, right? Yeah, I think a lot of Well, for this I would say this location in particular, um there's been a lot of market rate what we call general occupancy housing apartments that have been built in the area. So, I think just from a from a concept standpoint, market depth standpoint, I think we feel that this is probably an area that hasn't been built to as much. Um there's been a lot of units also delivered on the Southdale area as well. Um so, where we see the market opportunity is really in this this 55-plus um product type. Um it's a You know, it's really a product type, too, that we feel that we can build at a at a higher quality, too, than our general market rate apartment buildings just because the economics, you know, the the residents are paying more uh for their for their residences. And so, therefore, they demand more as well. And it it it brings a better quality of product along with services and whatnot. Um but, I think the you know, the main driving factor here, too, is the existing landowner I think would prefer not to have another standard market rate apartment building here at the Pentagon complex uh in the long term. But, does uh does think that the, you know, the senior concept does complement what has been delivered at this point and you know, what's coming in the park. >> Okay. And the reason that I ask is cuz I I didn't bring a version of it cuz now I don't even remember if it was specific to the affordable housing units or if there was one that was just general like units of housing that are being added to Edina. And I think it was like a overwhelming percentage of that was in the senior housing category. But, I'm going to look to city staff to correct me on that if I am stating that incorrectly. >> Yeah, I think there's some truth in that statement. Um it's been kind of a mixture of senior and and with market rate as well, but >> Okay. And yeah, I think it was specific to kind of what we had from like a Met Council of what we needed to as a city target for the affordable housing numbers. Um and I just remember like we were doing really well with the senior housing and then we're falling behind elsewhere. Um and so the reason that I I question that is um I know that there's a need for housing and I know that the way that we've been fulfilling that need more so lately is with this kind of senior housing se- segment maybe. Um And so I just I don't know that I'm as excited about a project that is specific for seniors on this site. Um and I also really like owner-occupied which I know you mentioned the numbers don't necessarily work out, but I'd be curious to know like what would that project need to look like in order for the numbers to work out for owner-occupied um I'll just say general housing on that site. Um you mentioned that the owner today isn't interested in um general apartment, um but do you think there could be an appetite if it were the owner occupied model? >> Yeah, I think absolutely. Actually, we we had an interest in doing that. Historically as a company we've done a lot of condos in our in our past years. Um where we got to, so we basically would need to in the in the brokers that we talked through in the community. This isn't an A+ site in Edina for for sale product um given the fact we're not on France Avenue and there's other for sale projects that are in discussion or in the works that would have a uh superior site location than us. So, that's one kind of knock against us. So, we're a B site versus an A+ site uh for for sale. Uh the other aspect was so given that we are the B site, we need to be able to price our units in the $7 to $850 a square foot range they thought for us to be competitive in the market. Well, as you probably all know, you get into the Southdale area, France Avenue, um it's not uncommon for units to go above thousands um dollars a square foot. So, we're we're really, you know, you kind of have this inflection point is that 7 to 800 dollars a square foot trying to build to that in today's world is um nearly impossible for what we're trying to do. Um the other piece, so then that's us on the cost aspect of it. The other piece for us to be able to feasibly take down this site, we need to be able to get between 125 to 150 units on each phase uh to justify the land cost. Um we need to have roughly 50 to 60% pre-sales on a condo building to get 60 pre-sales on a condo building we're told is kind of unheard of uh just the pure unit number. You know, from the rental side we'd say have 60 pre-leased units, that's not really that big of a deal, but on the for sale side it is a much uh steeper hill to climb. Um so, those are probably the the biggest thing. So, I think it's it's one it's bridging that economic gap between 7 to 800 dollars a square foot and a 1,000 dollars a square foot in pricing, and then it's probably the bigger task is is um is attracting investment here um and going out and trying to get 50 to 60% pre-sales on it. And the and the upfront investment that goes into do that is uh is pretty substantial. >> Thank you. Um okay, so the last the last part was around the the 12 stories um versus the seven. And I I go back and forth, I'm sure just like everyone else, because what I like about 12 stories is it opens up for a larger courtyard. And then it doesn't feel like we are just putting as much buildable space onto that site as possible cuz it when I view those renderings of the seven stories it it feels like it's taking up so much of that space. So that's what appeals to me in the 12-story. And at the same time then my primary concern is about the shadowing impact on the park and just kind of that massing when there's not massing like that anywhere near this area. Um so it feels like probably trying to put too much into the site regardless of if it you can figure out a way to make the 12-story work or or some lower story. The seven stories it just feels like an using so much of that site and just not leaving any any open space. Um so that's my those are my thoughts I again would really prefer owner-occupied um I'm nervous generally and this isn't your problem to solve necessarily but I'm nervous about um all of these sites potentially turning into housing only. So I think that that's something for us to think about as a council and and to take into our comprehensive plan discussions that we're having as well. Um I would like to see some type of vision and and yeah just articulation of what we want to see for this area because so much development is happening in here extremely quickly and if we don't come up with a vision going to be a chance to set a vision because everything will be redeveloped. Um so that's something that I just I want to call it but again it's not not feedback direct to you. Um so thank you thank you for your interest and for coming here tonight. >> Yeah thanks Mr. Brunsdon. I thought um member Agnew kind of characterized the the dilemma of 12 stories versus seven stories quite well. Um yeah you know when I look at the just you know, the blocked out site plan with the orange blocks on it, it looks like it's taking up a lot of the site. But when I scroll back to the drawing above it, you know, I see quite a bit of green space, a lot more green space than exists there right now. It's the one right before that, I think. Or at least it is on the in our packet. Oh, you may be don't even have it. Um Yeah, that one. Yeah. And and and I I also recognize that uh if you're going to make an investment like this of around $100 million, you're going to have to do it in a way where you know people are going to want to live there. And and you've got the park as your greatest amenity right there and and location. So I I I've got a a high-level of optimism that when you come back and you get the plans further along uh and you got that ace architect there uh to help you figure out how to create green space, how to make people feel comfortable that they're not in a too dense an environment, and then they've got great connectivity to the park. So I'm >> [snorts] >> I I'm not so worried about that at this point in time. I think you will know what you have to do based on your experience and the site to to be able to maximize your income potential, your rental potential. So that's uh something that isn't of concern to me. Also, I also just on the positive side like how you you've stacked the surface parking towards the street to you stay you know, away from the park except in terms of connectivity. Uh and I like we did at the Fred and the Finch, I'd like to make sure that we work with you to kind of make that transition kind of seamless and you can't really figure out where the where the borderline is because it's it's just a nice sort of transition back and forth to the property into the park. And I think that's that's beneficial for everybody that's either coming or going to the park. Um And that's about all I've got for now. I am I'm kind of intrigued with that 12-story idea, too, uh and ownership, but uh I I understand completely what you're talking about. I know the planning commission liked the five to seven stories, and it it's more compatible with everything else that's around it, so I would probably tend to lean that direction, too. And I think member Wisher has thought of something else she wanted to visit with you about. >> Um I I want to thank member Agnew for uh bringing up a couple issues that made me She may not have Anyway, I ended up thinking about TIF financing, and um I am concerned if this is TIF dependent, and just want to put out there that what that does delays when we will get benefit of the increment. And you're bringing in senior residents, that means basically we're giving you for as long as the TIF district lasts a coupon that says we will provide free fire, police, um all these services within the city that other residents will pick those up. So, it's going to be hard for me if this is a TIF dependent project, and I just wanted to get that out there. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Even if it's for affordable housing only? >> Uh depend You know, I if it's at the cost that we've done in the past where we've done 4.86 million, and we've gotten 15 units, and 13 of those are single bedrooms, and some of them might be in the 500, and they're this close to market rate. Yeah, I'm going to have a really hard time with that. >> Okay, good to know. Anybody else have anything else to say or thought supplementally they wanted to visit with Mr. Bransford about or Mr. Christian? Okay, thanks for being here. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. This almost a wrap on the evening. And I'm going to turn it over to the manager, Neil. >> Thank you, Your Honor. Just Just a couple of things. One, Commissioner or Council member Agnew and I have Southwest Cable Commission tomorrow. We meet The Cable Commission meets twice a year, typically in April and October. And so, tomorrow is our April meeting in in Eden Prairie. Uh second, I testified this morning at the Senate Tax Committee on behalf of the the city's local sales tax bill. And the the goal of of that testimony is to get additional spending authority from the state legislature to spend our our own locally generated sales tax dollars. And I think it cannot be overstated how important >> [snorts] >> this source of revenue could be to the city. We are looking at additional spending authority of between 53 and 56 million dollars from the sales tax. And if we had to if we had to put that out as a tax levy on taxpayers in the community, it would be oppressive. So, getting getting being able to being able to get that additional authority from the state even even maybe additional on top of what we've already asked for would be great. Because we have somewhere between 70 and 80 million dollars of capacity that we have left untouched in our sales tax generation. So, just want to let you know that. There's a house companion bill that will be taken up in hearing on Thursday and then we'll see what happens from there. That's what I got. Thank you. >> Thank you. Member Agnew, you want to lead us off and uh council comments? >> I do. Can I lead us off? Um maybe was it la- I think it was our last meeting already now when the topic of I'll just say charitable gambling was reviewed and approved and there were some questions I think on what was within our power as a city in term I had questions very specifically related to the electronic versions of this method of charitable gambling. Um and I think that we got a little bit more clarity on that. And so I'm wondering if we can ask Dave Kendall to just provide an update on like what we can do as a city and what is required in terms of whether you have electronic or whether you have just paper options. >> Sure. Um so if you have electronic pull tabs, you must also have paper pull tabs. Uh if you want to have paper bingo, you must also have one other form of legalized gambling. Aside from that, I don't believe there are a lot of uh limitations. Cities can't prohibit gambling entirely, lawful gambling entirely. Therefore, I think they can with the exceptions of the mentioned things I just mentioned, they can kind of pick and choose which types of gambling to authorize. So, if the question is whether you want to only authorize more analog or paper types of gambling and not electronic gambling, um I'd think that would be an option. >> Wonderful. Thank you for providing an update on that. Um, I I don't think that I in my member comments will open up a conversation now, but I do think that it it's something that I would like us as a council to consider is um, do we want to amend what we just put into place um, to restrict the um, electronic versions. Um, and maybe my ask before folks go out or have an opinion on that is go somewhere and try them out. Um, I think it'll be important for folks to really know what it is that we're we're talking about having as a part of our establishments. Um, outside of that really enjoyed uh, seeing a lot of folks um, at the Edina Giving Go Gala. Um, I I think that they raised a lot of money and that was a beautiful event. So, um, glad to see that this last Friday and I think that that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, Council member first. >> Thanks Mr. Mayor. Um, I had one question for Manager Neil. Um, we had uh, 911 service go out a couple times. Um, can you speak to uh, what the issue was and what steps were taken moving forward. >> I I can speak to it in general and maybe uh, Mr. Vani could speak to it in more specifics, but my understanding is that there was a fiber provider or a fiber partner kind of upstream from us that had an issue between two data centers and that's what caused not only uh, outages for us, but outages for uh, other other uh, piece apps or dispatch centers in Hennepin County as well. Maybe not to the same extent as ours, but um, but we were able to handle it through the resilience of the system uh, that allows us to roll our calls over to St. Louis Park or to to one of the other kind of singles or standing piece apps and we were able to not lose any calls during that time and hopefully not we haven't received any direct complaints about it. But it is a human system it's going to have human failings to it. So not only do we pursue pursue those partners to make sure they're repairing it and make sure those those repairs are going to stand but we need to make sure we're able to react to it if it does fail and I think that's where I think that's where a lot of training came in over that weekend. Thank you. >> Right. >> Yeah, that's my understanding is how how that came together >> [laughter] >> came together as well too and we are going to have a debrief and after action as well too. So we have some learning points that we will have at our fingertips too. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, and then the only other one I had member Agnew mentioned it the Edina Give and Go fundraiser. It's fun. You know, it's it's kind of weird when we go to these things cuz like we don't talk [snorts] to each other. >> [laughter] >> It's like you look the other way cuz cuz we're all there. But it's definitely a funny event and um, my understanding is that they did extremely well. So glad to be able to continue to support that organization. And that's it. >> Make sure that. >> Councilmember Jackson. >> Um, member Ruscher and I got to go down to the public works and get state of the infrastructure and it included the opportunity to go say hi to the guys down there the people down there and I really enjoyed that and I hope that we can have another meeting set of meetings down there cuz really loved saying hi. So, thanks. >> Remember, Alicia. >> That was a really um good experience and they did reference some of the old piping that they dig up. And I think it would be absolutely wonderful to have a display of, you know, some of the various forms of piping beneath the streets of Edina. It could be very educational and inspiring. And, you know, why do we have to replace our streets and why is it important to do that? I think um could be kind of fun for people to see. But, I might be I could be alone on that. I don't There might not be that big an issue on old rusty pipes and the variations of those, but I'm fascinated by that. I would like to see that. However, um what I was going to talk about was the Sunday, 26th, Earth Day. And we are having a celebration at Weber Park from 1:00 to 4:00. So, encourage people to go over there and enjoy themselves and learn about all sorts of different types of sustainability. So, um do check that out. 1:00 to 4:00, Weber Park this Sunday. Thank you. >> Good. Uh yeah, the Edina Give and Go event was terrific. And I just happened to run into uh Well, I guess it was yesterday when we had the State of the City, Stephanie, who runs the organization, said that they had um made over $100,000. So, it was uh quite a quite a good evening for them. Um And then we had a good turnout State of the City. Um Major Neil did nice job as the MC. Our Our new superintendent was terrific, I thought, and everything. We had a good report out uh to folks that were in the audience about what was going on in the City of Edina. And we left some things on undiscussed uh because we had so much going on, but it was still It was a It was a good day. Um I mentioned that uh we had the new library going up and uh I forgot to mention in context of the library in the in the Art Center that uh our own Council Member Jackson has had a nice role in in thinking about getting that going along with other folks, but she was certainly there thinking about what were what was possible at that new library. So, thanks for that. Yeah, appreciate that. I forgot to mention that yesterday. So, I think that's it for me. Mayor Neill, anything else? >> I just wanted to note that you made a couple of comments about public works. The public works open annual open house is May 21st this year. 4:00 4:00 to 8:00, Chad, something like that? 4:00 to 7:00. Okay. Thanks. >> Okay. I was just checking my calendar to see if there was anything else I should give people notice on. I'll be at that one at Weber Park with with you on Sunday. And let's see here real quick. That's That's it. That's good. Is there a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> I second. >> Member Pierce moves, Member Agnew seconds. We adjourn the City Council meeting of the City of Edina this Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 at 9:55 p.m. Any further discussion? All those in favor of adjournment say aye. Opposed? Carried. We stand adjourned. Julie