[music] Welcome to Agenda Edina, a program summarizing the actions taken at city hall that affect you most. I'm your host, Dorothia Marty. Plans to refresh, renovate, and expand Braar Arena took a major step forward as city staff unveiled the project's overall design concept. At the heart of the project is the transformation of Braar's outdoor backyard rink into a state-of-the-art fourth indoor ice rink. This change will allow yearround scheduling, eliminate weather related disruptions, and create more space for spectators to enjoy events at one of the region's busiest ice facilities. The existing floor of the outdoor rink will be reused for the new indoor rink, helping save costs and allowing funding to be directed toward other improvements. The city is also exploring opportunities to reuse other backyard rink components at a different location. The core project also includes new and updated lobby spaces, full ADA accessibility, and critical infrastructure upgrades to Brayar's existing rinks. >> Working on the Braar Arena project has found to be extremely complex. We are trying to interconnect uh ice arenas that have been built in the 1960s, the 1980s, the 1990s, and most recent additions in the 2010s. And what we're striving to do is deliver a high quality user experience and athletes first facility that will stay within the allotted budget that we've been tasked with and deliver exceptional results for the community. Getting around the arena will be easier and safer thanks to a new central corridor, a second lobby near the west rink, improved traffic flow with a dedicated dropoff lane, ADA accessible team rooms and restrooms, wheelchair viewing platforms, and added handrails in seating areas. Ice quality and comfort will also improve with new water filtration, refrigeration, and dehumidification systems designed to deliver better skating conditions, clearer ice, fewer cancellations, and a more comfortable environment for both athletes and spectators. Braar staff have already met with user groups to gather feedback, which has emphasized the importance of preserving the historic West Rink. The West Rink is significant. It was built in 1965. It's one of the older rinks in the metro and it's one of the first highcapacity spectator arenas in the Twin Cities. And that's why it's so important to maintain and be good stewards of the space so generations to come can enjoy it. >> Design services for the project are being provided by JLG Architects with construction led by Canudson Construction. The city plans to keep Braar open throughout construction to avoid disrupting the many programs and organizations that rely on the facility. >> I started skating at the Braar Arena in the early '7s as a figure skater. Then I was a parent of a skater at the Braar Arena. I would love the legacy of Braar to continue on. I think the renovation is really important so that we know we have a longlasting facility for 50 60 more years to come as we've had the last 60 years. Detailed design work will continue through the summer. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year and wrap up in fall 2027. In one of its final actions of the year, the Adina City Council approved the city's $63.6 million budget for 2026. The budget represents a 7.94% increase over 2025, slightly below the statewide average of 8%. For a home valued at $500,000, municipal taxes will total about $134 per month, an increase of $812 per month from 2025. The 2026 budget prioritizes public safety while making strategic investments and controlling costs. Key elements include new debt service for major projects including fire station 2, a new filter room at the Dina Aquatic Center and the Vernon Avenue and Highway 100 interchange reconstruction. The addition of six new paramedic firefighters. savings achieved by transitioning assessing services to Henipin County. Continued work on updates to the 2050 comprehensive plan. ongoing funding for public safety partnership programs with Henipin County, such as the joint community police partnership and the department's embedded social worker program, which were previously supported by federal ARPA funds. Strategic capital and equipment investments that result in nearly $1.5 million less in the capital levy compared to 2025. we're into the next phase of of the budget which is implementation. And that's in my view a pretty important part of this whole thing, right? If you you work hard to get people to make choices and to tell us what they support and what they don't support both in the public and at the city council and with city staff. So now that we have figured out what we're going to do, it's time to do it. >> Two eina businesses have been awarded spark grants to support expansion and reinvestment. The special projects and redevelopment capital fund known as spark was created by theina housing and redevelopment authority in 2021 using tax increment financing funds that had previously been collected. >> This program was created in order to attract and enable small business people to create new businesses in in a dinina. Um, we're specifically focusing on those small local businesses, not the big national chains, but small local businesses. And we've got about a million dollars left in this fund. Uh, the dollars expire at the end of 2026. So, we're looking to implement uh as many of the funds as available to allow more businesses to locate in Adina to provide new services and also to grow our tax base. Coders Clubhouse will use its Spark grant to remodel space at Rudaf France shopping center, allowing the business to offer coding classes and workshops for school-aged children. The funds will help pay for ADA compliant restrooms and a new HVAC system. >> We are incredibly grateful to receive the Spark grant. It's allowing us to bring our business, Quarters Clubhouse, to fruition. Um without it, it would have been difficult to be successful in our buildout. Um and now we're able to take this empty space and create it into this fun welcoming coding maker space center for the families of Edina. >> JJ's Pokey Minnesota will use its grant to expand into an adjacent tenant space on York Avenue, nearly doubling the size of the restaurant. The project had been on hold due to the high cost of constructing ADA restrooms, bringing new utilities into the building and paying sewer and water connection fees. Each business will receive up to $24,000 in spark funding after completion of the work. Construction is expected to begin this year and be completed by the third quarter. In addition, the Housing and Redevelopment Authority approved a $200,000 forgivable loan for a new restaurant coming to 50th in France. The owners of Americana plan to remodel and expand the former Bario restaurant at 5036 France Avenue to create a new dining destination in Adina. The loan helps close a financial gap in the $3.2 million redevelopment project. Work is underway and the new restaurant should open in fall 2026. City Hall and most city offices will be closed Monday, January 19th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day to honor Dr. King's legacy, not just in words, but through acts of kindness, service, and inclusion. Thank you for watching this episode of Agenda Edina. I'm your host, Dorothia Marty. >> [music]