[music] [music] [music] Good evening. T uh tonight is Monday, March 9th, 2026. We're here for a regular meeting of the Minnitonka City Council. Call this meeting to order. Those who are able, please join us in standing for 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. Before we get started, we are going to um swear in in a ceremonial swearing in our newest council member, Amanda Maxwell. So, council member Maxwell and um our city attorney, Eric Nilson, will do that right up here. >> Good evening. >> Okay. All right, please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Amanda Maxwell, >> I, Amanda Maxwell, >> do solemnly swear >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> the Constitution of the State of Minnesota. >> the Constitution of the State of Minnesota. and that I will faithfully and impartially >> and that I will faithfully and impartially >> discharge the duties of the office of council member Ward 2 >> discharge the duties of the office of council member Ward 2 >> of the city of Minnitonka >> of the city of Minnitonka >> in the county of Henipin >> in the county of Henipin >> to which I've been duly elected >> to which I have been duly elected >> to the best of my judgment and ability >> to the best of my judgment and ability >> so help me God >> so help me God >> congratulations >> thank Congratulations, [applause] Council Member Maxwell. We're very excited to have you join us and um offer you we officially swore you in last week just to stay within our statutory guidelines, but I'd like in this forum offer you an opportunity to make some comments. >> Uh, sure. Thank you. Um, I'd like to first thank the city council for the care that you put into the selection process to fill this opening. You had to balance the length of time the the role would be open, the voice of the residents, um, and the cost of the taxpayers. So, thank you for the care you put into that and I'm pleased to fulfill my civic duty serving the city of Minnetonka and the residents of Ward 2. Local government has a tremendous impact on our daily lives and it can move quite quickly. The council and the city policies impact our homes and our neighborhoods impact the neighborhoods businesses creates and maintains the roads and the trails that we ride every day. The utilities we use every day, the safety we feel every day. Um, I will work ethically to uphold community standards and will approach decisions with curiosity, objective data, forward thinking, respect, and fiscal responsibility. And I want to say um I did not get to run for election or campaign for this appointment. And I look forward to meeting more of my neighbors in Ward 2 and throughout the city during the remainder of my term. So, please, if you're in W 2 or in the city, reach out to me through my city email address or this uh phone number that's on the website. Please, please, please tell me what's important to you. I didn't get to meet you as part of the the campaign process. So, I'd like to hear from you. Uh, democracy requires participation. So, I'm looking forward to working respectfully and productively with community members of diverse backgrounds, different beliefs and interests from mine, knowing that what we all want is what's best for our city and our local community. Thank you, mayor. >> Excellent. Thank you. And Ward 2 and the city at large is very um lucky to have you. So, thank you so much. >> All right. Well, we will get started. [applause] >> Miss Larson, would you please call roll? >> Rome here. >> Kley >> here. Foster Bolton >> here. >> Maxwell here. Wilburn >> here. >> Calbert here. Jack >> is here. All right. Uh item number five on our agenda is approval of the agenda. Mr. Funk. Thank you, mayor. Good evening, council. Have one agenda for your consideration this evening, and that's related to item 11A, which is a resolution for the Excelsier Boulevard improvement project. Additional public comment was received after distribution of the packet. And so that correspondence is included in your agenda for your consideration. Uh with that uh that is the only agenda for this evening and staff would recommend approval of the agenda as amended. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Funk. Councel Council Member Romey. >> I move approval of the agenda as amended. >> Thank you. And council member Calvert second. We have a motion by council member Rome. A second by council member Calvert. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Romeley, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Faster Bolton, >> yes. >> Maxwell, >> yes. >> Wilurn, >> yes. Calbert. >> Yes. >> Shaq. >> Yes. Motion carries. Item number six is approval of the minutes. And we have three sets of minutes. The January [clears throat] 26, 2026 study session, February 9th, 2026 study session, and the February 23rd regular meeting minutes. Any comments or a motion? Council member Wilburn. I will make >> I will make the motion to approve the minutes from January 6, 2026 study session, February 9th, 2026 study session, and February 23rd, 2026 regular meeting. >> Council member Calvert, >> second. >> I have a motion by Council Member Wilburn and a second by Council Member Calvert. Uh, Miss Larson, please call role. >> Rome, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Maxwell, >> yes. >> Wilburn, >> yes. Yes. Calbert. >> Yes. Shaq. >> Yes. Motion carries. Item number seven is special matters and uh our first one 7A is recognition of the 2026 Minnotonka Academy graduates and participants. And we're excited. It looks like we have quite a few of you here. Uh first, Mr. Funk, do you have some comments? >> Uh thank you, Mayor Shaq. I I'll be brief and I think the mayor has some other comments, but just really want to say on behalf of staff, we really enjoy this every year. Uh years ago, we used to do it every other year and I think it was about 3 four years ago, we decided to do it every year and we've just had good participation. This might have been our biggest uh sign up in recent years. I think we had close to 37 uh signed up um which is up usually up from about 10 people from previous years. So, it's just really super exciting. I just want to say thank you to those that participated. They're always a great crowd. how they are engaging with staff. Staff is engaging in return. And it's just really nice that we have an opportunity as staff to uh communicate with our residents, connect with them in ways that we normally don't. And so we enjoy this and uh we're happy to announce those that participated. And I know Mayor Shaq, you're going to say a few words and recognize those that attended. But really want to say thank you and we look forward to doing this every year. >> Thank you, Mr. Funk. And yes, you know, we're excited to celebrate those who completed the citizens academy. Um it program really provides residents with valuable insight into city operations. It's a commitment six-week program that um allows the residents to engage with city staff and learn about public safety, parks, infrastructure planning, and that's a demonstration in and of itself to the commitment to the community. As council member Maxwell said, engaging with city leaders, um, residents take an important step to be active in involvement in Minnetonka's future. Their dedication strengthens the city, whether through volunteering, serving on boards and commissions, or even pursuing public office. I think we have people up here who have done the academy as well. Uh, Minnetonka's success relies on passionate and informed residents, and the curiosity and commitments are so appreciative. Your involvement ensures the city remains an excellent place to live and grow. So the what we're going to recognize the graduates who attended at least four sessions. So um let's congratulate the graduates participants. Why don't you come forward? Uh Sarissa will help you find your certificate and then we'll all gather for a photo. But thank you so much. [applause] You >> could have you just stand right in that opening behind you there. Just kind of fill in there. That'd be great. >> Coming. Thanks for coming. And you're like, I'm not going to scare you. >> That way. >> Yeah. Let's see. If you don't mind, I'm going to have you moved a little bit. Otherwise, I'll go in the way. Maybe too close. >> Sorry about that. We're good. >> I don't know. Nobody wants to be in the front row. >> Yeah, sure. >> Um, how about we just I hate to be so nitpicky, but Awesome. That's great. Thank you very much. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> Good. Thank you. [applause] >> Great job, mate. Really, everybody did a wonderful job. >> I did the blue head, so we did the last >> Well, wonderful. Thanks again and tell your friends and neighbors. recommend it for next year because I people the the feedback we get is people really appreciate and get a lot out of it. So, um, thanks again. All right, moving on to item 7B, which is women the women's history month proclamation. And I've asked council member Wilburn to read that. So, this is the city of Minnitonka proclamation for women's history month, March 1st through 31st, 2026. Whereas Women's History Month is observed annually in March to honor and celebrate the vital contributions of women in history, culture, and society. And whereas throughout history, women of all backgrounds have played an integral role in shaping our communities, breaking barriers, and making significant advancements in civil rights, science, education, business, government, the arts, as well as the unpaid labor of mothers, caretakers, and homemakers. And whereas despite the immense progress made, women continue to face challenges in achieving full equality and representation in various aspects of society, making it essential to recognize their achievements and continue striving for equity and justice. And whereas the right for all women to vote and lead an elected office had to be fought for by countless women across the excuse me, countless women across the country. some women running for office even before they themselves were allowed to vote. And whereas progress for the rights of women have often left out indigenous women and women of color, making it even more important for us to stay committed to racial equity and inclusion to create a more just and inclusive community for all. And whereas this month provides an opportunity to reflect on the extraordinary legacies of women who have paved the way for future generations while reaffirming our commitment to advancing gender equity and inclusion. Now therefore, be it resolved that the city of Minnitonka City Council hereby declare the month of March as women's history month in the city of Minnitonka. >> Thank you, Council Member Wilburn. And I must say, I think we might we should note this is our first regular city council meeting with an all female city council. So we are I think Thank you. We're all very grateful for those who blaze the trail before us to make this possible and um don't usually make editorial comments on this, but it seemed like the right time. So thank you, Council Member Wilbur. Um before we move on to item eight, I neglected to mention with all the all the stuff we had at the beginning of our agenda that um as we approach item number eight, um excuse me, item number nine, citizens wishing to discuss matters not on the agenda. For those of you who haven't been here recently, we did change our structure at the beginning of the year. And we ask that folks fill out one of these little cards that are in the lobby out front if they uh intend to speak. And we are limiting this year we've limited comments for that agenda item to three minutes. So keep that in mind as you prepare your remarks. All right, moving on to item number eight, reports from city manager and council members. Mr. Funk. Yeah, thank you again uh mayor and welcome uh council and to our residents this evening. Uh just a couple things for you this uh tonight. First, just want to talk on a hiring front. Uh we are advertising for election judges for the August 11th primary and the November 11, excuse me, November 3rd general election. So, I just want to restate that. So, it's the August 11th primary and November 3rd general election. As we all know, election judges play an important role in ensuring Minnetonka Minnotonka's elections run smoothly and with integrity. And so, if people have interest in serving as an election judge, uh, feel free to go to our website and look to apply. And then also this summer, the city will hire more than 200 seasonal employees to mow parks, run our recreational programs, inspect city trees, staff Shady Oak Beach, and much more. Uh, season employees also are in vital to helping the city operate during the busiest time of our year. So if you or you know someone that is interested in looking for certain summer employment, we have opportunities. Uh third, just want to mention then coming up on March 28th is Minnetonka's annual spring extravaganza that will be held at the community center from 10 to 11:30. I'll likely mention this also at the next council meeting before then. Events include uh scavenger egg hunt, photos with the Easter Bunny, live music, face paintings. this a great family event and appreciate our rec staff that hosts that each year. And then finally, I just want to end in memory to Shawn Johnson. It is and I have a statement that I I just want to read through and I think it's worth celebrating the accomplishments of one of our uh firefighters here at the city. It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Deputy Fire Marshal Shawn Johnson of the Minnotonka Fire Department who died after a courageous two-year battle with cancer. Shawn served the community of Minnitankka for 20 years. During his years as a paid on call member, Shawn also served as both a lieutenant and training captain. In 2016, Shawn was hired full-time as a fire inspector within the department's fire and life safety division, where his strong knowledge of the fire code and attention to detail became evident. His leadership and expertise led to his promotion of deputy fire marshal in 2023, a role which he served with distinction. In his role with the fire and life safety division, Shawn had the opportunity to build strong relationships with business owners and property managers throughout the community. He worked tirelessly to ensure that the places where people live and work were safe. Applying his deep knowledge of fire prevention and code enforcement with professional professionalism and genuine care for others, Shawn was passionate about training and developing firefighters across Minnesota. He taught and tested firefighters throughout the Minnesota Fire Service Certification Board, traveling statewide to support departments of all sizes. His ability to educate, mentor, and inspire made him a respected resource throughout the fire service. He is also a nationally certified fire inspector and was widely recognized for his skill, his thoroughess, and professionalism. He served on the board of directors as vice president of the Minnesota chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators and was honored as Minnesota Fire Investigator of the Year in 2020, reflecting his excellence in the field. From 2011 to 2014, Shawn served with the Henipin County Fire Investigation Team and in every role he served there, including investigator, team lead, leadership, and team supervisor. His expertise was technical, and he had a steady presence, was instrumental in strengthening the team in improving investigative capability throughout the region. We're not quite sure uh when the service arrangements will be council and community, but we'll certainly let you know once the family has made some decisions. Our fire department and Chief Fox are working closely with Shaun's family at the time to support them in every way possible. Uh, Deputy Fire Marshal Shawn Johnson's integrity, commitment, and service to the Minnitanka Fire community will not be forgotten. So, thank you for letting me read a little bit about Shawn. He will be deeply missed here at the city and amongst our department. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Funk. Council, Council Member Calbertt. Thank you, Mayor. Um just a few uh first of all, happy um uh [snorts] women's month and uh I just want to extend my deepest condolences to Deputy Fire Marshall Johnson's family. I'm the wife of a retired firefighter and um cancer is something that um disproportionately affects firefighters and there actually was an ad on TV yesterday with a bunch of firefighters one at a time from our metropolitan area saying who they were, what their role was in the fire department that they have cancer. So, one of the things I just wanted to mention is that over the last few years when we built our new um fire headquarters here, um we redesigned it so that um the items that um firefighters bring into the firehouse are left on the outside. Um, so all of the washing facilities and everything that they can wash their gear and not drag carcinogens through the firehouse um is something that I'm really proud of our staff um for thinking about and working on and accomplishing. So I just wanted to mention that. And I also wanted to um thank staff and um the mayor and everyone and uh specifically Sarissa uh Saraki for um a wonderful state of the city uh event. It was very well attended and it highlighted first of all our uh pizza restaurants which you can never get enough of and our wonderful Rotary provided um libations but um most importantly it provided a forum for um several of our uh key uh nonprofits to have a conversation with the mayor and highlight the important work that they're doing to support our community in this time of crisis. crisis and I just thought it was a just very timely and wonderful information and just a great opportunity for people to see the amazing work that's being done in our city. And um just a few days later, our um DEI coordinator Jace Alexander um had organized a community crisis conversation by Zoom with faith leaders, nonprofit leaders, school leaders, and several of us here on the Deis also attended by Zoom. And it also just um it was a wonderful opportunity for people that are doing the work and seeing what's going on in the community could share the state of affairs, their needs and what they're doing to address them. And there are going to be additional meetings. So, um it was very worthwhile and it also made me very proud of our staff for uh coordinating um a really important conversation like that. Thank you, Council Member Calbertt. Anybody else? All right. Not seeing any. I've just got a couple things. Um, yes. I I too want to um express my condolences to Deputy Fire Marshal Sean Johnson's family and his colleagues in the fire department. It's, you know, that's a tough job and made tougher by kind of the vulnerabilities that folks face when they serve the community in this way. So we um certainly show our extreme gratitude for his service. Uh the state of the city was really fantastic. I encourage folks to they don't have to watch the part about me. they can skip that. But online the um panel is available and you can watch and we had um people or we had individuals from his house from a relate counseling and sojourer and really dug fairly deep into the type of work they provide, how that work has changed in the past several years and in the past few months and I think is well worth watching if you have a moment. Um, finally, I want and I and thank Council Member Calvert for for discussing the community crisis collaboration that we did that I thought was really really well done and it was an opportunity for those who are serving the community on the front lines of what's been happening with Operation Metro Surge to really just get together and have some conversations. Um I was at the regional council of mayors meeting today and amongst many and we had a full agenda but one of the things one of the topics was um the state of Minnesota established a long range planning team last year and the idea is to look out many years to kind of make sure decisions that are being made at the statewide level are being made with the future in mind and across multiple agencies and levels of government. It was really interesting and they had set a a theme for the year which is leaning into hope and I think that's something that it resonated with me as we think about the future and really the idea that we can be very fatalistic and sometimes that's the inclination and I certainly find myself there sometimes or we can um and and one of the comments that was made during the presentation was we don't have to accept how the future unfolds unfolds, but we can participate in shaping it. And I found that to be um a good frame of mind from which to look at how we continue to serve the city as a council and how we all show up here and try to make good decisions despite some of the more challenging things that might be going on in our world. So, with that, um, I thought I would just share that little tidbit from today, council. Anything else? All right. Well, we will move along to item number nine, which is citizens wishing to discuss matters not on the agenda. And I have two cards here. So, um, we will have Angie Heightsman speak first and then followed by Jonathan Kent. And just a reminder that your three minute timer is right uh is right there. So Angie, please come forward. Hi everybody. Good to see you all again. I know that Sarah Mir wanted to talk to her card will still be in the box. So, >> okay. >> Okay. Um, thanks to all of you here for the opportunity. I'm Angie Heightsman, Ward One. I'm here today to talk about communication with city residents about city Minnotonka's efforts during Operation Metro Surge and at present and resources available to residents during this ongoing crisis that many residents continue to experience despite oppos or the supposed ending of the surge. Reports suggest that about 650 agents remain in Minnesota. We know they're still here because they continue to carry out operations and we see them in the community. In fact, yesterday I observed ICE agents in Minnotonka. Their methods are changing, but they're still here. Different vehicles, more Minnesota plates, many of these plates are expired. Uh they're using more trickery to entrap people, and the harassment's continuing. There are still families who are not leaving their homes and children not attending school. There are still community patrols ensuring children make it to and from school safely, delivering food, medications, and supplies, and donating large quantities of money for rent assistance, and more. Yet, there's nothing on the city's website right now that points residents toward community services available to them. There's not any mention of the available rental assistance from the city. The city's homepage doesn't mention anything. The cities I want to link does not uh offer anything. The services link does not either. There's nothing else on the uh our cities link, government link or business link. The only information can be found when digging around is in the news link which is seen at the top of the homepage in small letters and the small banner. When on the news page, uh the initial page you pull up will have 20 items that are archived news. Uh there's no mention of anything until the ninth item down which says the city coalition calls for emergency aid which is about municipal aid only. Uh then the next item is about small business aid and then there's a message from the a uh from the mayor which is the 19th item down. So none of these items talk about resources available to residents or reaching out to residents at all. Um the ideal time from my point of view to reach residence is the Minnotonka memo which is mailed to everybody and in this issue there was nothing. In last issue there was nothing. Um so I know that you guys talk about things going on but nobody knows what is being done. The residents aren't feeling supported. Other communities have obvious things on their websites. I scoured today and saw a lot. I welcome you to take a look. uh and see what possible things exist for our community. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Heightsman. Mr. Kent, >> uh good evening, council mayor. Uh thank you for this opportunity to uh speak. Um I would like to echo essentially everything the previous speaker brought up. Um it's I do think the city uh is hopefully doing its best to proactively communicate. I uh um I do see that effort happening on some baseline level and then I do think that it uh if this has not already been considered uh putting yourselves in the shoes of those who are at the margins the most uh who don't even feel probably safe enough to even come to this meeting. Um like think about that. um that's a luxury that a lot of us have either based on our last names, our skin color, uh where we were born, when we were born, all that stuff. So, in addition to that, um I'm here to speak about an item that is very much related in one regard and uh I would say is a a call to action, if you will. Um uh there's a another resident and myself who um we've been hard at work especially recently um in uh trying to uh take um uh in a timely manner ongoing discussions and debates that the council has had regarding um not only the metro surge, operation metro surge, but also the direct effect it's having on uh residents here and the local community. And specifically, this is in regards to the resolution that uh ultimately did not pass. Um, and I understand why uh that happened. I was in that uh uh observing that meeting in person. And this is really more of a follow on to that to try to offer up a um an addendum if you will or suggestion coming directly from myself as resident and again some other cons concerned community members. uh in summation essentially uh there was a portion of that discussion that was focused a lot more on the uh pre-eviction notice period and as everybody I think knows but just as a some context the state has a 14-day minimum and what we're calling for is for the city to establish uh a lengthier period um and it did seem like there is interest and appetite if you will on the council's part to at least consider this matter I I think having public discussion robustly and um hopefully in collaboration with whether it's staff or with one another uh with residents. I think there's a lot that could be done here. Uh I've uh along with many others who are a lot more informed on these matters. Um uh we put forward some uh suggestions to a couple of council members already and happy to um speak further to those, but essentially would call on the city to uh specifically establish a 60-day um uh ex extension, if you will, uh or expansion, and then that could be moved back down to a 30-day. So, there's more on that. I I think this is something that could do uh a world of good and it's it's very uh uh doable. Thank you for for your time and consideration. >> Thank you, Mr. Kent. All right, Sarah. Alman. Amen. I I'm going to get it right one of these weeks. >> Alain. Okay. The spot is starting to feel really familiar. Uh good evening everybody again. Um my name is Sarah Almine. I'm a Minnetonka resident in Ward 4. Uh I'm here once again tonight speaking on behalf of both my immediate neighbors and the larger Minnitankka community. Uh, in February, I stood here at two separate council meetings and asked all of you on the city council and the city staff to be loud and then to be louder in support of an advocacy for efforts to protect all of us, immigrant and otherwise, from unconstitutional and inhumane activities by ICE. Occurred to me, you might hear me better this way. U, this past week, I received my monthly copy of the Minnotonka memo. It's really pretty. I like it. And I mean that. I'm not being sarcastic. It looks great. Um, according to the memo, life in Minnetonka appears to be going along swimmingly. Uh, with the possible exception of tax notices arriving. And I'd like to go on record here as being not in opposition to taxes. They make all of our lives easier. So, I have no objection to that. What I noticed, though, is that there's no mention of ICE activity in our city. There's no mention of how the city might assist residents with rent. There's no mention of how our police department is or is not assisting ICE. Those issues are also not addressed on city social media pages. Those issues are also not addressed on the city website except in obscure corners. And if I were an immigrant who was afraid to come out of my house, digging down into the bells of the city website would not be my first choice of places to get help. So my question is, is it possible that those are not issues in our city? City communication suggests that this is the case. I don't agree that this is not an issue in our city. I spend many, many, many hours and many dollars of my own money each week patrolling, protesting, dispatching, and perhaps most significantly, providing mutual aid to my neighbors. All of my activities suggest that ICE issues do indeed exist in our city. So, why are you so quiet? Why is it so difficult to address the ICE issue and all of the resulting tragedies publicly and loudly? My kids carry a protest sign that say it's time to use our outside voices. We could use that here. Why is it so hard to reassure all of the residents of Minnetonka, documented or undocumented, citizen or noncitizen, white or black or brown, that you will stand up for them and defend them and support them. Borrow a page from Denver, Colorado, please. Thank you. All right, moving on. We will um move on to item 10 which is bids and purchases. We have none. Item 11 is a consent agenda. Consent agenda and this is typically items that are routine in nature. Um I would note I'm going to just take uh take the affirmative step right now. We've only got one item on the consent agenda, item 11A. And upon reflection with uh Mr. Funk earlier today and based on some conversations that the council had with him as well, we're going to pull that item. And what I will say is we talked the council talked at length about this project at a study session in February in which staff received quite a bit of guidance and direction from the council. But that said, upon further reflection, we agreed that we wanted an one more opportunity to have some discussion. I think we know generally we've talked quite a bit about this, so we don't want to get too too caught up in it, but we do want to give everybody an opportunity to say anything more that they feel they need to say. So, we will start with Mr. Funk. >> Thank you, Mayor uh Council. Uh, I'll just quickly in a second turn over to Mr. Manchester, our public works director. uh as the mayor uh mentioned that uh just reflecting back on that study session, we just want to make sure that uh staff has correctly and accurately kind of reflected the council direction and so the council talked at length about addressing the sidewalk on both sides of Excelsier Boulevard and provided comments to staff about what that could look like really trying to minimize impacts. And so staff has been working on design and Mr. Manchester will, I think, show you some some improvements that will minimize impacts throughout that section of the corridor that we heard from. So, with that, if it's all right, mayor and council, I turn over to Mr. Manchester at this time. Well, he'll do some reflection on some of those design features that I think will again ease some of those concerns that we've heard. So, with that, Mr. Manchester, >> thank you, Mr. Funk. Mr. Manchester. >> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Funk, uh, Mayor Shack and Council. Um, just to kind of run through quickly, I've got about eight slides. I'll just make it brief, but certainly open it up to questions after that. anything we might have missed. And Phil Olsson and Mitch Hatcher are here as well from engineering who are working on this project. You know, our motion tonight uh as you've seen in the past is, you know, to receive the feasibility report, approve the concept, order the improvements, and then authorize the prep of the plans and the specs as well as the easement acquisition. Um, as you've already mentioned, some uh on September 23rd, council did review this. Um, at that time, they just looked at an amendment to the CIP to kind of look at some preliminary design. Uh and then in December 8th at that city council meeting, we presented uh the action that's before you tonight. At that time, council chose to table the item uh as they were concerned about impacts for the sidewalk uh trail, excuse me, on both sides. Uh as mentioned, we did discuss it at length on the at the February 9th study session and then that's why we're back here tonight at that time. uh we did come back to this meeting uh with trail proposed on both sides and then we were directed to look to make sure to minimize impacts as much as as possible. Um just some of the highlights um we've done this on other projects um in the areas there's significant property impacts, retaining walls, easements, natural resources. We do look at design modifications and we did on this project as well and have and will continue to do so during final design. any residents or others that may be concerned about impacts. We work directly one-on-one or as groups or whatever is needed. Um we have done this on Plymouth Road, Excelsier, Minnetonka Boulevard and Hopkins Crossroad. All those projects included modifications uh to reduce impact in specific areas. Part of this um Henipin County, their active transportation committee does review the project and has reviewed it uh with trail on both sides. Uh, also council directed us to look at native plantings in a number of areas and so we've incorporated some of those things as well and we'll continue to do so. And then finally um the Havenwood area sidewalk at the study session we did discuss adding that which is a sidewalk extension adjacent to the project. It would be just west of 101 on Old Excelsier Boulevard. Um here's kind of an example. If I could just highlight this with the mouse if you can see on the left side of your screen. Um, here's an example near Scenic Heights where the trail is shown in pink. Um, this is our standard section of the six-foot boulevard with the 8-oot trail. Um, as we came through, this was our standard section since that time. And as discussed at uh the council study session, if you look on the right side, uh [snorts] we maintain the boulevards um near the pond area, but then immediately adjacent to the town homes, we move uh to the back of the curb in this area with just a two-foot um required Henipin County uh safety buffer. Uh in this section, we also move into the street. So the trail construction uh the curb is actually placed further in the existing roadway. So the actual impacts end up being, you know, approximately 6 to 8 ft behind the existing curb versus what could be potentially up to 15 in that area. So that's an example. Um here's just kind of a photo of the example. This is something we did on um excuse me, Minnotonka Boulevard in 2023. So on the right side or on the left side, excuse me, you can see the trees and shrubs in this area. If you look at the right side, you can also see those exact uh same trees and shrubs. And in this area, we pulled the the trail construction similar to what I just discussed in the other. We pull it into the roadway further to minimize those impacts. So, we do this in a number of areas uh wherever we can just to make sure we limit those impacts as much as possible. Um those are the primary examples I want to show you tonight, but this is our recommendation as mentioned before. I'll certainly turn it back to the council and mayor for any questions or anything else we can address. Thanks. >> Thank you, Mr. Manchester. Uh, let's council let's start for any excuse me any questions you may have for staff. Does anybody have any questions? Council member Kley. I guess I have a question. We had um received a letter from a resident um Cindy. Um I didn't catch her last name. Um, she had mentioned about maybe narrowing the trails a little bit more and I'm wondering is there any way that we could possibly narrow the trails more to lessen the impact on the resident's home in that area. >> Mr. Manchester, >> council Kley, mayor and council, the area that I actually showed you was in the area that she had uh that's where that property is. So, I wanted to use that as an example because we knew that council had received that. So, you know, we looked at potentially narrowing the actual trail, but we felt in this case maintaining the 8 ft, you know, in discussing with the county as well, you know, if we can move the trail into the road even further, we could minimize the impacts enough where we felt comfortable with what we were doing. And so, that's what we're proposing at this point. >> Okay, one more question. Go ahead. Um, I just want to just bring this up and maybe you can just answer the questions because um, Cindy has really been pushing um, you know, suggestions and she's I spoke with her on the phone. She sent all of us a email and I just want to make sure that we are addressing her concerns and some of the other residents concern and so there's a um, couple possibilities that she listed in this letter one, two, and three. I'm sure you have it and I'm wondering could you just go down and address each one of those questions so that we can make sure that you know she's clear about you know we have tried um our best to address her questions and that staff is really concerning her um bullet points. >> Mr. Manchester. >> Yes. Council member Kley mayor and council I'm just pulling up the email here. Apologies on the delay. um you know the first bullet one-sided pedestrian path and split the property take for each side. And so you know just following our discussion at the study session we're still proposing the two and so we feel like the impacts are you know as minimum as possible for both sides as we discussed last week. the second one modify the size of the boloulevard from 6 to 8, 6 to 4, excuse me. And you know, in this case, um, we actually modified it to two and so we reduced it even further in this area. And then the third one, consider putting in no mo or other native friendly plantings on the boulevard. Did not put turf grass. It becomes unsightly as has been demonstrated on the east side of Glen Lake. And so it's something we'll look at. You know, certainly we'll use it wherever possible. There are some areas we do like to mow for sightelines and other things, but it's something we we would certainly look at as we go through the design. >> Thank you, Mr. Manchester. All right, council. Any other questions? >> Council member Romey. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, could you just confirm for me? Went quickly. Um, what the reduction was then in terms of the curb line, you know, like the movement. Is it did you say six or eight feet in from the current curb? >> Sure. Council member Romey and mayor. Um in this area we looked at you know this area specifically it was around 4 to six. Some areas can be eight. It just depends on the area of the roadway. You know when the original road was paved. It just depends on the section. But in this case specifically um four to six ft roughly. >> Okay. That I'm sure that'll be good news. um because there's not very much if any room between the roadway and the driveway and then it's like 20 ft to the resident's front door and they don't not they do not have any uh backyard cuz the wetland literally goes up to their deck [laughter] line. So, I really appreciate the work that staff has done to kind of minimize impacts for that stretch of neighbors. All right, council. Anything else? All right. This isn't technically a public hearing, but we will take an opportunity. I have one comment card and so we will take um comments from the Mark. Rob, please come on up and you we we may or may not have the time already, but we've got three minutes allocated for you. >> I haven't prepared this. I didn't expect I'd be talking to everyone in this manner. Um, I do live on Excelsia Boulevard. I'm a few doors from Woodland Road and uh, I'm a retired professional driver. I drove for Metro Transit for 33 years. So, I've had ABHO opportunity to view traffic, vehicle movement, behavior of people and other equipment. My suggestion is that the if you eliminate the center lane, say between Woodland Road and Excelsior, uh I'm sorry, uh Scenic Heights Drive, the center turn lane is really important because the density of residences between those two streets on Excelsier is higher than most of the rest of the street. And as a result, it's if you have a two-lane road with what I would suppose that you would do to have a a solid double yellow lane in the middle, you're going to make traffic conditions on that street very different. So different that a lot of people aren't going to recognize it as the same street that they've been on as I have for 40 years. So, I would like to suggest that you seriously consider the possibility of retaining that center turn lane between Scenic Heights Road and Woodland Road. uh maybe with some dur duration before each of those so it tapers off comfortably for people who would be using it. Nonetheless, giving people the opportunity to be in that center lane when they need to turn in or come out of their driveways uh during rush hour or not rush hour when there's a lot of um fire engines, ambulances, uh UPS, um postal service that are accommodating and taking up these these roads in front of them. That's my major thing. I I also think that the use of um trail on the north side is is probably something that should be thought of more carefully because if you're reducing the width of the road overall from say what 42 44 feet at least on my part of the Excelsier Boulevard area to say 32 feet there's no fog lane on the right right sides or of of the actual curb. So there's no way for people, let's say a breakdown occurs to get out of the way of traffic. So this center lane further, you need that center lane. And if you put a trail on both sides, north and south, you're you're going to make that almost impossible. Anyway, thank you for listening. >> Thank you, Mr. Rob. All right, council. So, we've spent quite a bit of time analyzing this project, but I want to give everybody an opportunity if you have something that you want to share insights. Um, now's your chance. Council member Kley. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to make one more comment um in regards to the turnabouts. Um, I did talk to a resident this weekend on f Friday again who also didn't agree with the turnabout. I did talk to Mike as well today and informed him that um you know we were I guess using turnabouts for traffic control and um looking at speeding but we haven't really considered um the turnabouts for um traffic being backed up on Excelsier. Um I also live off of Excelsier and I know when I come out during the morning time at um school hours times um traffic is really backed up and it takes some time to come off of the side streets um to onto Excelsier. And so, um, even though, you know, this this may, you know, get approved, I just really want to state on record that I know that I don't think this would solve the problem of traffic being backed up, but maybe it will help with, you know, folks speeding. And furthermore, since I've been on the council, I don't hear a lot about speeding on Excelsier. I hear more about speeding on Woodland um street versus Excelsier. So, I don't see this would I don't see this as solving the problem of speeding on Excelsier. I see it more so of causing traffic being backed up versus um you know controlling traffic. So, that's just my comment I want to make. >> Council member Romey. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um just to the resident's points, I just was wondering if uh staff could maybe address either of those. I'm I'm not quite sure I'm visualizing where that center lane um supposedly is disappearing from and and what are the constraints and issues with traffic being able to pull over to the side and so forth. >> Sure. Uh council member mayor and councel you know uh we have spoken with the resident in the past. Um you know certainly we share the concern. I think some of the concern is primarily the roadway is narrowing in a lot of places and so you know there's less space at times. It's something we're still comfortable with in Henipin County. Um you know so there would be at times less space to pull off or you know somehow the configurations are slightly different. We don't have the you know we don't share the same concern necessarily. Um so we're comfortable with the design and in the areas that people could use the roadway. And if I could just follow up, I mean this kind of design has been used elsewhere in the cities and this type of design, have we had any issues, you know, to similar to the residents express concern? >> Uh we this design is similar for, you know, something Henipin County would do. You know, we certainly would look at what the resident is concerned about as we do that. You know, as we move into final design, we'll try to look at areas too and we certainly don't dismiss the concern at all. We'll try to make sure that we can do everything we can to make those spaces. >> Okay. All right. Great. Thank you. >> All right. Council and Council Member Calvert. Thank you, Mayor. Um I just wanted we got some communication. Um some of them have been addressed and it certainly um in even in the presentation but um and first of all this this came to us in a regular [clears throat] meeting and we did um delay the vote so that we could have more robust conversation which I thought was illuminating and really important and we got a lot more information and you know have discussed it several times now. So, I just wanted to reassure residents that we we have a lot more information to work with now than we did before. And we had a recent study session where we did um review this and some and really kind of dove into the problems of all of the things that we've been talking about up here that the residents have brought up and um also just the enormity of an undertaking like this both in logistics um disruption and and money. And so I don't think any of us, we're excited to do the right thing by the community and have safe ways of getting um east and west on both sides of the road for bikers and pedestrians. I live on Baker Road where a trail is going to be going in at the same time in my yard. So, we will be going through this together. And I I really encourage you, please reach out to staff. You know, uh some of the things that people have talked about is they're losing some of their native plantings. staff has um committed to uh putting in native plantings as much as possible. Tree replacement to the extent possible and trees are literally I was known as the tree lady when I was on the planning commission and I still am the tree lady. So, it's something that I've talked to staff about. I've talked to the consultants about and um I will fight for trees and I just want to thank staff for the work that they're doing for uh for working with the county to be more uh to be more flexible in their design to accommodate some of the challenges that our residents are facing. And um I know that staff has open lines of communication. We'll be reaching out to people as the um as the project moves forward and I know there will be a project page that will give you warnings about what's coming up and you know so that you can sort of prepare if there's going to be a big disruption. So, sign up for the project page. And um in terms of roundabouts, I specifically after door-knocking this uh summer uh four years after I door knockock the same area where there are huge traffic backups from an elementary school that's an immersion school. Um, I have talked to staff about working with I know that they have already had conversations with the school district to address the significant um backups and stacking issues and um traffic issues during um pickup and drop off. I do think that the roundabouts will be helpful because it's you don't have to stop and you just keep moving and it helps uh traffic flow. So, I actually think the roundabouts may be helpful and um but uh one of the reasons why, you know, people keep on asking if we could give up uh some of the trail on the north side and it would be a tremendous financial loss um if we had to revisit that issue in the future. This is the county. This is a county road and it's the county design standard to have it on both sides and we were uncomfortable with it. But because of the uh way that uh staff is working to minimize the impacts, we felt we really have to weigh the impact to individual neighbors against the benefit to the entire community. And um so while I still wrestle with that and I'm acutely aware of how it's going to impact some of the people in the room or the people that have contacted us, I'll be going through the same thing on Baker Road at the same time. So please feel free to reach out to me. And I just want to thank staff for putting in this extra work and explaining it to us and um having the neighborhood meeting open house and having those huge maps was really uh helpful. Council, anything else we need to talk about? Council member Kley, >> I do want to just thank staff because I know staff have put a lot of time into this project. I know that staff took extra time to go to the resident's house and um answer questions. I was there with them. And so I do want to, you know, thank staff for doing that work and just really putting in the time. And I know that residents are not all happy with this project, including myself on some with the roundabouts for me. But I do understand why um you know the city is doing making the decision that we're making because what um council member Cage just stated stated about you know saving money for residents. You know this this does help save our taxpayers. So um I know we talk about that a lot and so I just want to um um thank staff for what you all have done. So thank you. >> All right. Anybody else? I'll just make a couple brief comments. I'll reiterate, you know, staff has done a tremendous job on this, indulging us on kind of a second goround to understand it better. Really appreciate that and also the community for being engaged and I thank you, as as often happens, your input has made the project better and as we're happens with these projects that those conversations continue with each individual residents as easements are required, as details are worked out. out. I mean, it's really pretty co cool. You know, I work closely related to some work on 494 and you know, the resident on 49, you know, off 494 can't come to the person working on the project and ask them to make adjustments or or whatever, but there is that one-on-one dialogue and and the folks in the audience here know that. Um, and they do a great job. So, we're really appreciative. I also want to thank Henipin County for bearing with us. you know, they're great um partners to us and we're very lucky to get this project and get and get their um cost sharing on it. I we it's it's pretty incredible. So, this is a a good project. I will say, you know, I used to be if you my predecessor would talk about the roundabouts by South Dale and I think if those were the roundabouts, you knew you were real skeptical of roundabouts for a while. Then we added roundabouts on Ridgedell Drive and that's a that is a route I take almost daily home from work and I will say it has vastly improved it has done two things. It's vastly improved the traffic and um the the length of time it gets it takes to get along that stretch and slowed traffic down slowed speeds down. So that has that's kind of a two for one in my opinion. And so it's changed my tune quite a bit on roundabouts. Um so with that I think we have support for this project. So I will ask for a motion. Council member Foster Bolton. I move to adopt the attached resolution receiving the feasibility report, approving the concept layout, ordering the improvements, authorizing preparations of plans and specifications, and authorizing easement acquisition for the Excelsier Boulevard improvement project, project number 27305. >> Thank you. And council member Wilburn. >> And I will second. >> Great. I have a motion by council member Foster Bolton, a second by council member Wilburn. Uh, Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Rome, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Maxwell, >> yes. Wilurn, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. Motion carries. Thanks again um to everybody and you know our name our phone numbers our email addresses are on the website so if issues arise please don't hesitate to uh reach out to staff or to one of us and we can put you in touch with somebody to address those. Um so thanks again for coming tonight. All right, moving along. We have uh item number 12 which is the consent agenda items requiring five votes. We have none. Item 13, which is introductions of or introduction of ordinance. We have none. Item 14, public hearings. We have none. Item 15, we have other business. And we do have other business. So 15A, the 2026 assessment report. And does that go right to you, Miss Putts? >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor Shack and Council. I'm Melanie Puttz, the city assessor, and I'm here tonight to provide you a summary of the 2026 assessment report. So, before I begin, I'd like to recognize our assessing staff who worked on the 2026 assessment and assisted in the writing of this report. Our appraisal staff includes Aaron Castner, our commercial appraiser, Amy Weber, Amy Chilson, and Michelle Lee, our residential appraisers, and Lorie Goodman, our assessment specialist. So, before I dig into all of the data and the numbers of the report, I wanted to briefly go over how we get there. So first be after we conclude our local board meetings annually is really when we start working on the next year's assessment. And so that process starts with our revaluation or quintile reviews of 20% of the city's properties. We are required by law to view each property in the city at least once every 5 years. So during this time, staff is busy inspecting properties and we do send letters out to all the properties in every neighborhood before we go out and inspect properties. Then in the fall, we review all the permits that have occurred within the last year. Similarly, staff will send out letters to properties who have pulled significant permits that would affect their property value and look to communicate with those residents on the improvements made. um and discuss the work and possibly see the work at that time. Next, we do a sales study analysis um every fall. This is a big part of the mass appraisal process that we use to value properties. Miss Putts, I'm going to just interrupt you for a second. Folks, if you have want to have a discussion, please, there's plenty of room out um out there and you can feel free to have a discussion, but this is an important agenda item. Thank you. Go ahead, Miss Puts. >> Thank you. Um, our annual sales study runs October 1st through September 30th every year. And these sales for this assessment um, occurred from October 1st, 2024 through September 30th of 2025. Then we have January 2nd. That's our assessment date set by state statute. And then in mid January, we turn in our assessment to Henipin County um where they review it before it is sent to the Department of Revenue. Once the assessment is turned in, we get ready to send our value notices and work through a lot of appeal calls. Um we did just send our value notices and they may have hit your mailboxes today, in fact. Um, and then we do hold our local board of appeal and equalization meetings in April where our city council does act as our local board. And then lastly, in June, the county board of appeal and equalization is held for those that wish to continue their appeal. So here we look at the assessed market value of the city, the total value over the years. And this year we have the total estimated market value at $14.56 billion. Um this is about a $700 million increase from last year about 5.2%. Here we break down the overall value change by the most common property types. These are overall growth numbers that we refer to as gross percentage change percentage change and they include all the new construction. So single household residential market was up 6.6% while Lakeshore was up 10.2%. Condominiums were up 1.2% and town homes 2.1%. Our apartment market increased by 5.3% and commercial properties were up by 1.4%. 4% and industrial 1.1%. Here we'll look at the number of single household sales. Sales volume did trend upward for the 2025 sales study. This could be due to modest dips in mortgage rates, but there remained relatively low supply of homes on the market over the last year. Um, and this information we receive from all these sales is what we use to establish our market values annually. Okay, this chart illustrates the inventory of single household homes by sale price, referring to the 387 sales on the previous slide. We can see that less than 1% of sales were less than $300,000. about 20% fall between 300,000 and 450,000. Then the rest um of sale prices over 450,000 comprise the 79% of sales and 35% sold for more than 700,000. Here's a look at our median home value um which continues to grow with the 2026 median value increasing to 400 549,000 um from last year at 521,300. This shows um us positive signs that the residential market in Minnetonka remains strong. Here we compare us to our comparable cities that surround us. Um this year the Minnetonka residential market was leading the pack at 5.8% um and falling above the average as well. Now we'll move into some commercial industrial and apartment data. This graph shows the overall or gross historical value changes including new construction. Again, the commercial industrial properties are shown in a blue and the apartments are in the red. As we see here, the combined commercial industrial property shows an increase of 1.3% and the apartment market increase 5.3%. Here is a little breakdown of the um commercial and industrial market a little further. So that 1.3% we saw on the previous slide is made up of primarily office, industrial and retail. There are a few other small sectors. We see the office market increasing just under 1% this year. We are still seeing effects from the pandemic and many um companies working from home. So vacancy rates remain high on our office properties. Industrial market continues to steadily increase with moderate growth. Rents remain high there as well as low vacancies. And then the retail market was up almost 2.5% and that continues to be a strong sector of our commercial market. Here we look at the net change in commercial properties compared to the cities surrounding us. Our net change was um just almost flat.1% and it's just below the average of our comparable cities at 2%. This can vary from year to year as each city's impacted differently depending on their different types of commercial value that they hold. And now we'll look at our tax court work. Another important function of our staff is working on the tax court appeals. The most recent statistics available are for the 2024 values payable in 2025 which if you can see here are total number of cases increased from 67 to 83 and the total value of those cases was $2.13 billion increasing as well. Um, in the calendar year 2025, staff closed out 87 cases compared to 70 in the previous year. And the number of closed cases can fluctuate annually based on the tax court calendar and our proactive approach to working with attorneys and property owners to settle um future years. Here we'll take a look at tax capacity. Um this chart shows who bears the burden of the property taxes in Minnotonka. So on the left we have the market value, on the right the tax capacity or you could call it burden. Um looking at the two two charts we see that residential property types make up 73% of the total value of the city. However, their burden is only 64%. This is because they have a lower tax capacity rate compared to the commercial industrial properties. And similarly, although commercial industrial properties make up 14.5% of our city's value, their tax burden is 24% due to the higher tax capacity rate set by state legislature. The tax capacity and property class can change annually based on changes in growth of different property classes and also can be affected by state law changes. Here's a quick look of the tax capacity breakdown year-over-year. So looking at 25 compared to 2026, we can see a 1% shift from commercial industrial to residential. All right. Here we'll have a review of the appeals process. Um, which is important with value notices hitting the mail today. Um, you may already be familiar with this. Um, once property owners receive their value notice, the first step is to contact our assessing staff. Um the contact information is listed right on the value notice and the majority of property owners concerns can be resolved at this level. However, if the property owner is not satisfied with staff's decision, they do have the opportunity to formally appeal to the local board of appeal and equalization. As I stated before, our local board is made up of our city council. Um the local board typically consists of two meetings. The first meeting consists of reading into the record all of the taxpayers that wish to appeal their property value. And then at the second meeting or reconvene is when the local board makes its decision on those values being contested. Our local board looks to appointed real estate professionals to adi advise them in the decision-making process. If the property owner is not satisfied with the decision of the local board, they may appeal to the Henipin County Board of Appeal and Equalization. However, they must first appeal at the local level in order to be heard at the county. If the property owner still is not satisfied with the result of the county board, they do still have the right to appeal to the Minnesota Tax Court up until April 30th, the year taxes are due. So, the option to appeal the 2026 value through tax court ends April 30th of 2027. Here's a little snapshot of our um valuation notices that hit the mail today. Um, these are generated and sent by our office and they are their purpose is to inform property owners of their estimated market value and property classification as of January 2nd, 2026. This is the value that will be used to generate property tax bills due next year in 2027. And it also informs the property owner of the dates and methods of appeal I mentioned on the previous slide. And here's a quick look at the Henipin County property tax statement which is also been is being sent currently. You may or may not have already gotten this. Um these are to be mailed in March and they are sent by Henipin County. The taxes um calculated are based on the 2025 valuation and classification notices that we sent last March and the only appeal option in this case would be at the Minnesota tax court. Here's a quick um slide highlighting some important dates for our 2026 assessment. First, we had an article in the Minnotonka memo um that came out earlier this month informing residents of the upcoming value notices. On March 1st, the property tax information was updated on Henipin County website. So, if you are haven't received your tax notice yet, it is available online. Our value notices were sent to the post office on March 6th and hit mailboxes today. The deadline for applications to appear on the agenda agenda for the local board is April 3rd and any appeals received after that will be heard on a first come first serve basis. The local board of equalization will appeal an equalization will meet on April 13th and reconvene on the 27th and April 30th, 2026 is the last day to file tax court petition regarding last year's value. Lastly, the Henipin County Board of Appeal will convene on June 15th this year. Here's the contact information for our assessing staff. Um, residents and taxpayers are encouraged to reach out regarding their property valuation or assessment questions. All inquiries will be directed to the appropriate staff member for that particular area or market sector. And that is all I have for you. Thank you. And I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> Very well done. Thank you so much, Miss Putts Council. Any questions? Council member Calvert. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, I asked Mr. Funk, the city manager, this question um this morning, but in one of the charts in the um report um it was clear that the number of appeals decreased, but the amount increased. Was that and I think that's on page 19 of the report. And was that like just one or two like big dollar commercial properties or how did how was how it did that work? >> Yeah, thanks Council Member Calvert. I think this is the slide or the chart you're referring to. We do see sometimes like for example from 22 to 23 the appeal number of appeals stayed the same. However, the total value did increase a good amount. Um, that is due to some larger commercial properties appealing um like large office buildings that have seen some market um variation recently. So, it is due to some larger value properties. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Comments, Council Member Calbertt. Thank you uh mayor. Uh I just wanted to point out uh in one of the slides it showed that there was a 10% tax capacity decrease in commercial industrial just in the last 9 years from 34% to 24%. And um we get a lot of really good questions from concerned residents or people that [clears throat] are finding it increasingly difficult to pay taxes uh their their property taxes. And this is a huge reason why we're feeling the pinch in our single family or single household homes. And um I do think you know I work in in uh St. Paul for the city of St. Paul where downtown is um really experiencing some pretty radical uh devaluation of commercial properties and um it's putting a tremendous stress on residential taxpayers and um so we are not alone in this. It's kind of a national trend after co um you people just didn't return to work and office buildings just uh are not filled and uh it is sometimes hard and expensive to repurpose and for instance we have a seriously a beautiful property in the United Health Building in Opus in southeast Minnotonka and it is such a gorgeous building. it's got to be put to good use, but any kind of repurposing is extremely costly and challenging for a variety of design reasons. So, I just wanted to um share some of that out because I think commercial property, we've been very lucky that commercial property values pretty much um held their own in Minnetonka. That's not true in other cities. and um that will provide some amount of relief, but uh I do think it's going to be a challenge for us. And um I just really appreciate um the ethical and um diligent way that our assessing staff goes about doing their work. And um you know, I think it's an excellent um assessment report. So, I just wanted to help people understand a little bit about some of the things that you did talk about, but it's really hard to understand if you don't sit in council meetings [laughter] year after year. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Member Calbertt. Anybody else? All right. Well, again, veryformational. um a lot of very dense for us, but I think every year I look forward to reviewing it and understanding kind of where we're positioned financially. It informs really when we talk about the budget kickoff for next year, you know, it kind of informs where we sit. So, we appreciate that. Do we need to accept the report? Okay. So, council, I would take a motion. Council member Calbertt. Thank you, Mayor. I make the motion to accept the 2026 assessment report and council member Romey. >> I'll second. I have a motion by council member Calbertt, a second by council member Romey. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Romeley, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Maxwell, >> yes. >> Wilburn, >> yes. >> Calbertt, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. Motion carries. All right. Well, we'll see more of the assessing folks over the next month and a half or so here. So, we'll nice to have nice to see your faces. All right. Uh, moving on. Item 15B, resolution for Red Circle Drive sidewalk improvements project. Mr. Manchester. >> Uh, thank you, Mayor Shaq, Mayor and Councel. For tonight is the Red Circle Drive improvements project. Our recommended action is a motion to adopt the resolution transferring funds from the affordable housing trust. >> This is not [snorts] >> You're out of your depth with that one. >> We're sneaking. Time out. My apologies. I wouldn't know what to talk about with that. So >> Julie tricked you. [clears throat] I didn't do it. That was me. Sorry, >> I can keep talking. Actually, you know, if I kind of want to start running through. Our motion is to adopt the resolution accepting the plans and specs and then authorizing the ad for bid for the Red Circle Drive project number 23 uh 207. And so in line with our strategic profile, uh the improvement enhances infrastructure by adding a sidewalk connection. No problem. um adding the sidewalk connection between Shady Oak and the Green Line extension. So, this is in line with desired outcome 5.3 to enhance safety, walkability, and connectivity of our trail system. Um at 10900 Red Circle Drive, uh you can see on the right side in the map there's a green area. Uh this is the area that we're looking at tonight to make a connection from the sidewalk. There's an existing segment to the east um excuse me to the west and then another segment in in progress as part of a development to the um east. Uh this is part of a project that you've approved previously. Um at that time it was 2023 when council had reviewed it. Uh we were pending uh negotiations on an easement for the property that's in front of uh the green area. Miss Wishnack and uh Chris Long from our engineering department were able to obtain the easement which is why we delayed this. So the easement was donated for this piece. Um it does include uh the connection. It's about 750 ft and then some storm and road improvements. Um the budget um is from TIF money that's available. So this is the remainder of the budget um from the previous project that you approved in 2023. So that's what this amount is. We don't anticipate that will be the full cost of the project, but that's the budget that does remain. Um, in January of 30th of 2023 is when the first phase was approved, uh, we did wait on this this trail, excuse me, sidewalk extension because of that easement. Before you tonight is a consideration to authorize bids. The contract award we would come back to dependent on council's action tonight would be in April or May of this year, and then construction would begin this summer. Um, like all of our projects, we'll continue to do the communications, emails, newsletters, project updates, signs, construction updates, just to keep everyone informed on what's going on. And then on our website, continue to do updates for this project. Uh, I'll keep it short and the motion would turn it back to the mayor to adopt the resolution accepting the plans and specs and then authorize the ad for bid for Red Circle Drive sidewalk improvements number 23607. And I'll turn it back to the mayor. Thanks. >> Great. Thank you, Mr. Manchester. Well, this is an exciting closing of a gap. So, council, any questions. All right. Not seeing any. Uh, we can move right along. A motion. Anybody? Council member Maxwell. Yeah. Um, I move to adopt the resolution accepting plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bid for the Red Circle Drive sidewalk improvements project number 23607. Right. Council member Foster Bolton. >> I'll second. >> I have a motion by Council Member Maxwell, a second by Council Member Foster Bolton. Uh I keep I' I've the whole time I've been mayor, I've been wanting to call you by your maiden name. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Maxwell, >> yes. >> Wilburn, >> yes. >> Calbertt, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. Motion carries. All right, moving right along. Item 15 C, resolution for Shady Oak Road sidewalk improvements. Mr. Manchester, thank you, Mayor. Uh, mayor and councel. Sh. She This is very similar to the previous project, kind of in the same area. This is our resolution for the uh Shady Oak improvements. Motion to adopt similar to before to accept the plans and specs and then authorize the ad per bid for the Shady Oaks sidewalk project improvement number 26607 in line with the profile as well. Um it's 5.3 to enhance the walkability and connectivity of our trail system. Um this is very similar to the other project but this does fall along a county road. So the county does need to review this plan which is why these plans are separated and then the previous project was a continuation continuation of that project as well. So very similar. Uh this we would look at a sidewalk replacement. The gap is not there, but the sidewalk is in need of replacement. So we would look at widening. This does include um at the signal to the north some pedestrian signal modifications as well. So push buttons and other things as well as some timing operations. Um it would be some road improvements um just in the area where we're disturbing ADA upgrades. Um this does include the 2026 uh tiff budget. So separate from the other that was a continuation of that project. This is uh the tiff funds available. Um this those funds are also not the cost of this project. They would include future projects as well um in this area that have not fully been determined. Um tonight is a consideration to authorize the bids um award the contract um if council chooses to move forward in April or May and then construction this summer. Again uh we would do similar to all other projects. make sure the updates are going. Uh we put signs out, newsletters, project updates. Um our website, we make sure to do updates. Um if you get an email blast or other things just to keep people informed on what's going on. With that, I'll keep it short again. Uh we're looking for a motion council's consideration, a motion to adopt the resolution accepting the plans and specs and then authorizing the ad for bid for the Shady Oak sidewalk improvements project number 26607. Turn it back to the mayor for any questions. Thank you, Mr. Manchester. Council, any questions on this one? Uh, Council Member Romey. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh, just quick question uh about the road improvements. Um, is that a mill overlay or are there other um improvements going on there? And if there are, are we looking at bikeability as well? >> Sure. Uh, Council Member Romele, mayor and council. Um, if you can see on this map, uh, just kind of the hatched area in the red. It's a small area. It'd be essentially a Milan overlay with maybe some grade adjustments. Um, mostly ADA related just to make sure the grades work, but not a major area. >> Thank you. And council member Calbertt, >> I don't have a question, but I have a comment. >> Go for it. I just Thank you. I just uh looking at the numbers in um item 15 C uh B and C, you know, [clears throat] just on that little corner, that's a little chunk of change and I just it it just gives you pause because the I am in favor of this project. I I'm going to vote in favor. However, um people people um are ask us very often about um you know how we tax and what we spend our money on. And I just wanted to point out infrastructure. Even a sidewalk is extremely extremely expensive now. It is just part and parcel of of inflation. And this is a 450 foot section of sidewalk that's going to be half a million dollars. Uh and um so I it it kind of made my me uh take a pause when I was reading the packet for this and the previous agenda item. I also feel like um considering the density there and the amount of traffic on that corner at Shady Oak, it makes all the sense in the world because we have so many people that are need to that are going to need to get around safely with all of the new um construction apartment buildings. So, I'm in favor, but I just wanted to say to people that are listening that if you if you read the packet as well, it it did give me pause. And it's just very unfortunate that that's just what things cost now. >> And mayor, if I may, >> please. >> Um, you know, certainly as a followup to Council Member Calbert's comment, tonight's action is to authorize the bids. We'll publicly bid it, and I hope, you know, certainly this is our estimate. We hope we get a better number, but it's based on a lot of things that are occurring now, so very expensive. >> Thank you, Mr. Manchester. Council, any other comments? I have a very brief comment which is, you know, we want activation of the Opus area and this is one of kind of two spots where there is some um commercial customerf facing, you know, retail and those types of things and very much want that area to continue to succeed. and maybe that can set an example um as we try to draw other retail and and we've got wish lists for the Opus area. So certainly want to make this area as attractive to walk, bike, and run in as possible. So um I I support it as well. All right, we're looking for a motion. Council member Wilburn, >> I move that we accept the 2026 assessment report >> and a second. >> Oh, wait. No, we're on the wrong >> I'm on the wrong one. Sorry. >> Yep. Let's >> Shady Oak. >> Shady Oak. >> Can we get that up? There we go. >> Okay. I move that we adopt the resolution accepting plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bid for the Shady Oak Road sidewalk improvements project number 26607. Thank you. And a second. Council member Foster Bolton. I'll second. All right. I got a motion by Council Member Wilburn, second by Council Member Foster Bolton. Miss Laren, please call roll. >> Rome. Yes. >> Kley. >> Yes. >> Foster Bolton. >> Yes. >> Maxwell. >> Yes. >> Wilbur. >> Yes. >> Calbert. >> Yes. >> Shaq. >> Yes. Motion carries. All right. And 15D. Um regarding CE housing loan programs. Miss Wishnack. >> Uh thank you, mayor and council members. This is uh basically some housekeeping. And so we're doing something we do pretty often uh from time to time. We give you uh some resolutions to react to and and it has to do with the monies and HA uh fund as well as the affordable housing trust fund and then CE our partner in these programs. So if you aren't familiar uh we have had an agreement with the center for energy environment since 2018. They do service our loan programs and specifically the Minnotonka home enhancement and the welcome to Minnetonka the original one the down payment assistance program has been administered from them from 2018. And then in 2022 you had we'll call it the fifth amendment to your contract with them. Uh we've added the commercial code compliance program. If you remember that program, it's to help people who might be facing some kind of code issue and they need to uh make it safer or maybe there's accessibility issues, what have you. The city is uh providing loans to help with those issues. And then in 2023, we had a seventh amendment and that added your uh inaugural pathways to home ownership uh program and that was uh well um used as you know and so we have lots of activity in that fund. The funding sources though for all those loan programs have been coming from a variety of areas. So originally there was some money coming from um the recovery act and then there was development fund dollars and then HA dollars as well as affordable trust fund dollars. So depends on the year. If you ask me what year and what fund um I'd have to go back and look at each uh loan program, but generally you get the idea. One of the exhibits in the document shows uh some dollar figures and I want to make sure this is clear to you. uh it was the cumulative amount since the program began. So it isn't like uh today we issued 1.2 million. It's the cumulative uh for the pathways program that you've done over time. So uh those dollar figures keep track from the beginning of the loan programs to today. So, same thing with the home enhancement and the welcome to Minnetonka down payment and then also the code compliance um loan program. So, again, that's from 2018 to 2026. So, the moving into just the housing program. So, skip out on the the commercial side for a minute. So those loan programs that are administered by CE uh in the 2026 approved bud budget, you had dollars allocated for those loan programs and then the pathways program was set up through the affordable housing trust fund. So what happened is that council approved their EIP and this kind of tells us what the pro you know projections are on the HA levy and then you finally adopt it through the budget. I tried to do this visually for you so you could figure out where these monies are going, but basically that approves an HR levy and then the funding flows to um the affordable housing trust fund and then two other programs go to the through the HA fund or the the tax levy um fund. So hopefully that helps understand what these resolutions are doing and where those monies are from and where they're going to. Um but it's just to help us track uh where those monies um are traveling through. So then the final adoption uh that we're asking for tonight is the adoption of the resolution that transfer the funds from the affordable housing trust fund to uh the Minnetonka Pathways Program and the home ownership down payment assistance program. And that does require four votes. And with that, mayor, I'll turn it back to you. Thank you. All right, Council Annie. a little bit of some complicated information. So, any questions? Council member Foster Bolton. >> And this might be repetitive, but so when I went to the housing site on our website and I clicked on pathways to ownership and it says this fund is whatever empty or we're out of funds. So now, but it also seemed like the Minnitankka loan program does the does similar things like down payment on a home, your first home in Minnetonka. >> So um [clears throat] currently out of funding, that's what it says. So is this going to change all that? And then um and then why do we have those two >> different >> Sure. >> program, >> mayor, if I may. Uh, Council Member uh, Foster Bolton. So, every year you run out of money in the Pathways program. So, this is a pretty common issue. Um, this action will put new money into the fund and people will be able to continue using that. Uh, the other down payment assistance which is lower, so it's not quite as strong. This one is up to 75,000, right? That's the strongest program, but you have to meet some income guidelines. little less income guidelines for I mean not as uh stringent guidelines on the other program but less money for down payment assistance. So yeah, it does re replenish the the dollars and those funds and I think the complication is you you have different funding sources revenue that you're using for different programs. And so that does complicate things and we have to keep track of it to make sure that your previous actions on how you adopted the levy are actually actually executed through these actions. So it's kind of following the money with the different resolutions. So hopefully that helps. Thank you council. Any other questions? Council member Calvert. >> Thank you mayor. Um [clears throat] I talked to um Mr. funk earlier today and because recently we've had an issue with uh an agreement or resolution or something that was had a a a date that needed to be adjusted or some information on the first page of the agreement in the packet. It has an effective date of January 1st. And so I'm wondering if being that it is now March 9th if it is just retroactive and um there were some other dates just um uh oh and it talks about certain exhibits being um replaced by uh new exhibits. So, um, just wanting to make sure that the dates are okay, um, and that it is truly retroactive. >> Miss Wishack. >> Uh, thank you, Mayor Shack and Council Member Calbertt. I think, uh, it follows the general budget dates. So, when the budget goes into effect, January 1st is the date that it could could be used. Um, your action isn't until tonight, obviously, with it being March 9th. You could post it. it it doesn't matter in terms of the use of the funds because the use of the funds are going to be after the date of your resolution. So I wouldn't say it's retroactive because we don't have it's not like I'm trying to give you an example a pathways person has come in to apply for funds and those funds were issued already. That hasn't happened. That doesn't happen until you execute the agreement. So, I would say January 1st is just because it's the budget year of 2026. If that helps, >> it definitely helps. I just wanted just being this was out of an abundance of caution. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Council, any other questions, comments? All right. Otherwise, I would take a motion. Council member Kley, >> I'd like to make the motion to adopt the resolution transferring funds from affordable housing trust fund of the city of Minnitankka to the pathways to home ownership down payment assistant program. >> Council member Calbertt, I'll second. Thank you. I have a motion by Council Member Kley and a second by Council Member Calbertt. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Rome, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Master Bolton, >> yes. >> Maxwell, >> yes. >> Wilbert, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. Shaq. >> Yes. Motion carries. All right. Item uh number 16, appointments and reappointments. We have none. Item number 17, adjournment. Council member Wilburn. >> I move adjournment. >> And council member Calvert. >> Second. >> Have a motion by council member Wilburn. A second by council member Calvert. All in favor? >> I. I. >> Motion carries. All right. We are adjourned. We're going to take a one minute break here. Every anybody who doesn't have to get up, stay put cuz we'll wrap this up in just a second. [snorts] >> No pressure. All right. [laughter] >> Was that you? Put the timer up. Okay. >> All right. All right. Here we go. Uh, today is Monday, March 9th, 2026. This is a meeting of the city of Minnitonka Economic Development Authority. I call this meeting to order. Uh, Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Faster Bolton >> here. >> Maxwell >> here. Wilurn >> here. >> Calbertt >> here. >> Romey >> here. >> Kley >> here. >> Shack >> here. Uh, first item is approval of the agenda. Miss Wishnack. No changes. Commissioner, I'll take a I I'll take a motion to approve. Commissioner Calbertt. >> Thank you. Uh President, I make a motion to approve the February 23rd, 2020. >> We're on the agenda. >> Onto I move approval of the agenda as presented. >> Thank you. Sorry to catch you off guard. And a second. Uh Commissioner Romey. I'll second. Uh we got a motion by Commissioner Calvert, a second by Commissioner Romey. Miss Larson, please call roll. Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Maxwell, >> yes. >> Wilbur, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. >> Romeley, >> yes. >> Kley, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. Motion carries. Item number four, uh, approval of the minutes. We have one set of minutes, February 23rd, 2026 EDA minutes. Uh, Commissioner Calbertt. Thank you, President. Uh, I move approval of the Feb February 23rd, 2026 EDA minutes. and a second by Commissioner uh Foster Bolton. >> A second. >> I have a motion by Commissioner Calver. A second by Commissioner Foster Bolton. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Foster Bolton, >> yes. >> Maxwell, >> yes. >> Wilburn, >> yes. >> Calbert, >> yes. >> Rome, >> yes. >> Copley, >> yes. >> Shaq, >> yes. Motion carries. Item five, business items A, regarding CE housing loan programs. Miss Wishnack. Uh, president and commissioners, no more comments than what I made at the council meeting. So, with that, I'll turn it back to you. >> Thank you. Any additional questions or comments? Council seeing any take a motion. Commissioner Romey. Thank you, President. I will make the motion to adopt the resolutions approving the 11th amendment to the loan origination agreement with CE and accepting the transfer of funds from the affordable housing trust fund of the city of Minnitonka to the pathways to home ownership down payment assistance program and uh Commissioner Calvert. >> Thank you. I'll second. I have a motion by Commissioner Romey, a second by Commissioner Calvert. Miss Larson, please call roll. >> Foster Bolton? >> Yes. >> Maxwell? Yes. Wilbur. >> Yes. >> Calbert. >> Yes. >> Romey. >> Yes. >> Kley. >> Yes. >> Shaq. >> Yes. Motion carries. Item six is adjournment. Commissioner Wilburn. >> I move adjournment. >> And Commissioner Calbertt. >> I second. >> I have a motion by Commissioner Wilburn, a second by Commissioner Calvert. All in favor? I. Motion carries. We are adjourned. Thank you everybody. >> [music]