[music] [music] [music] >> All right. Go ahead and call the meeting to order. Good evening and welcome to the April 16th, 2026 meeting of the Minnetonka Planning Commission. The commission generally meets twice a month, always on a Thursday. The schedule and tentative meeting agendas can be obtained by calling the Planning Division or by checking the city website at minnetonkamn.gov. The commission holds public hearings on land use applications. For all land use applications, the city notifies property owners within at least 400 ft of the site and posts plans and information on minnetonkamn.gov. For some applications, the city also places signs on the properties and places notices in the Sun Sailor. From a specific process standpoint, the commission makes recommendations to the City Council on rezonings, subdivisions, conditional use permits, and amendments to the city's comprehensive guide plan, zoning ordinance, and subdivision regulations. We also make final decisions on site plans, signage requests, variance requests, and expansion permits unless these requests are part of an application that must be heard by the City Council. In that case, the commission makes a recommendation and the council makes a final decision. Anyone aggrieved by a final planning commission decision may appeal the decision to the City Council. If you wish to appeal, you must submit a written request to city staff within 10 days of this meeting. From a broader standpoint, the city's comprehensive guide guide plan, zoning ordinance, and subdivision regulations are the city's best efforts to codify a balance between individual rights and community responsibilities. Individual rights are easy to understand. Community responsibilities are more subtle, but the idea is that we, as members of the community, agree to limit our individual rights for the common good of the group. The Planning Division, the Planning Commission, and the City Council are charged with managing this sometimes difficult balancing act. We ask you to keep this broader perspective in mind as we review tonight's applications. To make meetings more efficient, in 2026, the city's boards and commissions have introduced a new process for public comments. If you wish to speak at tonight's meeting, please fill out a public comment card available at the near the staff right there. Um and please be sure to include your name and the topic you wish to address. These cards will be collected before the public hearing item. I will announce your name when it is your turn to speak, and I apologize in advance for any mispronunciations. Again, welcome. Staff, please call roll. Banks. Here. Brink. Here. Johnson. Here. Minion. Here. Sherr. Here. Chair Waterman. Here. There are seven of us tonight. All right, moving on to item number three, approval of the agenda. Staff, are there any changes to tonight's agenda? Uh, no changes this evening. Okay, thank you. Seeing no changes, may I have a motion to approve the agenda? I'll make the motion. Motion, Minion. Second, Johnson. >> I'll second. All right. Um, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All right, motion carries. Uh, moving on to item number four, approval of minutes from the March 26th, 2026 meeting. Um, commissioners, any changes? No? No, okay. May I have a motion to uh, approve the minutes? I'll make the motion. >> Motion, Bring. Second. Second, Share. Uh, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All right, motion carries. Uh, next up, item number five, report from staff. Uh, Chairwoman and commissioners, first I just want you, in case you did not see uh, the email from me uh, last week regarding some styling differences in your reports. Um, the city is required by the end of this month to comply with some federal accessibility requirements uh, for items that are posted online. And we've done a a great job, if you've been to all the city's website, of of making things there accessible, and now we're trying to make sure that our reports that are also posted online meet those requirements. So, planning staff, we are experimenting with the best way to present you all with the information that you need in order to make your decisions, while also ensuring that our reports uh, meet those federal accessibility guidelines. So, just know that we're going to continue to make um, some refinements to things as we move forward, and if you have any questions or concerns or even ideas, um, um, things that you really feel that you need to to to see in those reports, please reach out to me directly. Um next just to report on the council meetings. The council met uh once since your last meeting, and that was on Monday evening. They reviewed four items uh from the planning commission. First was the parking lot expansion at Minnetonka High School, and then two plats. So, I guess they removed reviewed five items. Uh two plats, which were really lot line adjustments, one on Lunar Road and one on Oakland Road. Um those were approved on the the consent agenda for the council per your recommendations. They also then reviewed the conditional use permit uh for English Rose. That is the unlicensed residential care facilities on Hopkins Crossroads. Um the city did receive one more comment uh from the public after your meeting. That uh comment was also in favor of the project. Um the council did approve that with uh no additional comments from um the public. And then lastly, they reviewed the conditional use permit for the accessory dwelling unit on Minnetonka Boulevard. Um there was a motion at that meeting to deny uh the request. That motion failed. And so, excuse me, there was then a motion to direct staff to prepare a resolution approving the project uh for their consideration at their next meeting. So, staff will um work on putting that together. So, that's all from the April 13th council meeting. Um just a reminder, next Wednesday evening uh April 22nd is the boards and commissions dinner. Um if you have not already RSVP'd and you really want to go, just reach out to me and we'll we'll be able to squeeze you in, I'm sure. Uh that's all I have, Chair. Great. Thanks, Ms. Thomas. Uh moving on to item number six, reporting report from planning commissioners. Commissioners, anything to report? Nothing. Okay. Moving on to item seven, the consent agenda. The consent agenda for the consent agenda, city staff places items that are considered routine on the consent agenda. No staff or applicant presentations will be made. The commission will hold one public hearing and approve all items on the consent agenda with one motion subject to the staff recommended conditions of approval. Before voting on the consent agenda, I will open the public hearing, announce each item, and ask if anyone wishes to have a separate discussion or vote on that item. If so, the commission will then remove that item from the consent agenda and hold a separate hearing on it after voting on the remaining consent agenda items. I may allow informational questions without removing an item from the consent agenda. So, I'll open the public hearing. And let's see, we have item 7A, a conditional use permit for an accessory dwelling unit at 13010 Woodbridge Trail. And this is a recommendation to the city that the city council adopt the resolution approving the request. First off, does any commissioner wish wish to remove this item and have a further discussion? No? Okay. Any member of the audience wish to remove this item and have a further discussion? Okay. As no one wishes to speak, I will close the public hearing. Commissioners, may have a motion to approve the items on the consent agenda. I'll make a motion to approve. All right. Motion Banks. I'll second. >> Second Johnson. Staff, please pull the commission. Banks. Yes. Brink. Yes. Johnson. Yes. Minion. Yes. Sure. Yes. Chairwoman. Yes. All right. Motion carries. And that again is a recommendation to the city council, which will be heard on April 27th. All right. Uh, good luck with your project. Next up, item number eight, non-consent agenda. Uh, before we begin consider consideration of the non-consent items, I'd like to review the steps in the process in the public hearing procedure that will be followed for each proposal. First, the item will be announced and staff will report on the subject. The commission will then ask questions. The next the applicant will be invited to make a presentation or offer comments. Commissioners may ask questions at this time. After the applicant is finished, the public hearing will be open to give everyone present the opportunity to comment on the proposal. As mentioned earlier, to make meetings more efficient, uh, if you wish to speak at tonight's meeting, fill out one of the public comment cards available over by staff. Be sure to include your name and the cards will be collected before the public hearing item, uh, when I will announce your name when it is your turn to speak. Uh, we ask if you do speak, please keep your comments brief and try not to repeat any points already made. Once everyone has spoken, we may allow additional speakers to return for, uh, additional comments. The first item on tonight's non-consent agenda is a item 8A, a conditional use permit and site and building plan review for building expansion, a new bus corral, and parking lot reconfiguration at Minnetonka Middle School East, 17000 Lake Street Extension. And Mr. Ingvalson, I think this is your item. Yes, thank you, Chair Waterman and commission. So, our item tonight, staff is recommending that the city council adopt the resolution approving a conditional use permit and site and building plan review for the building additions, bus corral, and parking lot reconfiguration at Minnetonka Middle School East. This requires four votes for recommendation for approval. So, looking at the location, we're located off of Lake Street Extension between County Road 101 and Tonkawood Road. So, you can see on your screen over on the right-hand side is a better view of that property. It's a pretty large, 32 acres in size. There's a 200 sq ft school building. >> [snorts] >> And then on that site, the building was originally built in 1963. So, one of our older buildings here. And it it does have parking lots all the way around the building in various locations. In total, there's 203 vehicle parking spaces. There's also 22 bus parking spaces in this loop area on the south side of the site. And then on the west side, you'll see there are various athletic fields. And then also a wet area over there in the very, very far northwest corner. Here's a look at the existing site on your screen. A lot of the the additions on the building, the larger ones, are on the west side of the building. And also going to be some a new bus corral there. So, that's sort of where this sloped area is located. Also, here's some zoomed-in looks at where the proposed additions would be. So, on the left-hand side, you'll see is where the proposed science addition would be located. And then on the right-hand side, it shows where the proposed gym auditorium addition would be located. And all this on the west side of the building. Looking at the site, there's a few features that are important to talk about. So, that slope area you can see here in these green lines that are showing contours of the site. You'll see there's sort of a steep area there and also on the east side of the drive aisle. Both those areas, while they do sort of appear steep, they don't meet the qualifications to be considered a steep slope by the city. It's not high enough. You have to be at least a 20 ft drop to be considered a steep slope. So, this area here is eligible for development if it's over 20% grade and over 20 ft high. There are restrictions on that. This one does not qualify for that. Also, flood plain you'll see in your on the map here is the big areas in blue. So, you'll see there's a very large flood plain area here. Um that area is about 200 over 200 ft away from where the additions are going on. So, easily meeting those setback requirements. Also, there's some wetlands on the property. However, they all are also over 200 ft away. So, definitely an element of the property, but not in the area where these additions are going are being proposed. Also, looking at trees, that the site's rather vegetated. There's 184 city regulated trees on the property. Um mostly around the outside of the area, but also a few in the development area. In total, staff saw that there's 16 trees that would be removed. Those 16 would be significantly but uh there's nine significant and seven high priority. Those removals would be significantly below the city's threshold. So, it would meet the tree protection requirements. Looking at the proposed uh the proposal here tonight, there's a few different elements. So, I'll walk through them. Uh the first one is that gymnasium addition. And then also that science lab. You can see them also on your screen on the side. Uh here is a new bus corral uh that's located again on that also the west side of the site. It'll have a retaining wall for the majority of that bus corral area. And then also there's two very small additions that I'll note. Uh they're new bathrooms that'd be in this courtyard area in the middle of the building. So, here's looking at the building architecture. Uh it's consistent with the existing building. It's going to blend in pretty well. Using brick on the bottom and then also a sandblasted concrete finish on the top parts of the of the uh additions. Also, there's some accents of metal panels and glass. But, it really's going to blend in again with what's currently out there. The top is showing that science addition and the bottom is showing that auditorium. Speaking of the gym and auditorium, uh I said in there it's a gym/auditorium. so it is a multi-use area. So, looking on the left-hand side, you can see how it'd be used for a gymnasium with these uh bleachers folded up. However, it could be changed by folding out those bleachers, and then it could be used for an auditorium, which you'd see on the right-hand side for arts performances. And that addition on that side would be about almost 14,000 sq ft. Here's some better views of those two different items that the applicants submitted to show you just give you a better idea of what that's going to look like. Then moving on to the science additions, science additions is going to be just under 10,000 sq ft. Uh, again, it's going to be for four new science classrooms and then another flex area that they could the the school could use um with a hallway. It's going to create another one of those sort of open uh areas in between the buildings. And then to the right-hand side are those two bathroom additions, which are 250 sq ft combined. So, pretty small bathrooms, not a large bathroom addition. Also talked about that bus corral. So, on the west side of the building, again, the buses would enter this area, a little different than what they currently have. And then there are 22 spaces along this area for buses, but it's also cross-striped for vehicles. So, during off times, during after-school activities, this will add additional parking for the school, uh up to 93 additional spaces uh for events, athletic events they have on the site or performances, things like that. So, um definitely using that space to the best of its ability for various times of the day. Uh, they also changed in that bus route area for still having a few bus corral areas, but also most but most of that being for uh typical vehicle parking. Looking at vehicle circulation, uh the city's had a lot of conversations with the school district about circulation over the last uh about year and a half. That's probably when we started conversations, just looking at ways that this could be improved. Uh, there'd been some complaints, there'd been some issues out there, so the school district and city have been talking quite a bit and there's been a lot of work done here and a lot of thought put into it. So, currently existing, when you enter, there's some uh issue points. So, when you enter the site, buses and people and uh guardians or parents picking up children enter the same place. So, right there is sort of a red flag. And then, buses go through and do their parking there. And then, as you're picking a student up, you continue along the site, which is going well, going well, but then you turn this area and there's two or three pickup lanes and a parking lot area. You then come through and then you drive through a parking lot again. So, there's areas for improvement on there and the school district put a lot of a lot of effort into this, a lot of thought, uh specifically like working with a traffic consultant to look at how this can be improved. And that's where this bus corral comes into place, moving and taking away that bus entrance from where vehicle where uh regular vehicles are coming in and moving that over to the west. So, separating those two different uses. And then, also creating a new circulation plan where you come in, you sort of follow that same path, and at the top of the of the north side of the site, you have a new cul-de-sac where you turn around, and you come down sort of again in its own lane, and then hugging the actual school building. So, this place you see these stars is where student pickup locations would be. So, that adds a much longer pickup area and also gets that out of the parking lot. And then again, you move past here and you'd come down and then exit the same area with again, without bus traffic there, sort of coming out of the same location. Uh this was reviewed by a um traffic at a separate third-party traffic consultant uh the city works with regularly, and they did note that this is expected to increase safety on the site and then also the operation of vehicles moving through there. As part of this also, there is stormwater there's stormwater chambers being proposed to capture the additional hard surface there. So, there'd be catch basins along the west side of the building that would connect to a pipe that would go to this uh storm water area and then would eventually drain over to that flood plain area that we saw that we showed earlier. So just because this has been quite a long process, I want to share with you the different the process gone through. So again, I don't show in here that year and a half, but prior to this there was multiple meetings with the city with the city and school district. But moving to when the application was submitted, the school district did host a neighborhood meeting. That was on March 10th. The school district mailed 290 notices and there were nine people that came to attend. A lot of those questions were regarding around this traffic circulation and how this would work with this new plan. That was the probably the majority of the conversation at that meeting. And then during that we had a public comment period. As soon as they submit the application and we create a Minnetonka Matters web page that's posted and also put on the postcards we sent out. We sent out another second round of 290 postcard notices. Those are received by people and we received one official comment regarding this project out of that round of notifications. Right now, we're obviously at the planning commission meeting where we'll make a recommendation on this project. And then on April 27th, there will be a city council meeting making a final decision. So to bring us all the way back, staff is recommending the city council adopt the resolution approving the conditional use permit and site and building plan review for the building additions, bus corral, and parking lot reconfiguration at Minnetonka Middle School East. And this proposal request is being recommended for approval due to three reasons. Number one, it would be compliant with the conditional use permit and site and building plan review standards outlined in city code. Number two, it does have appropriate vehicle and bus circulation. And three, would meet all of these steep slope tree protection ordinance requirements. With that, I hand it back over to the chair and commission for questions. All right. Thank you, Mr. Engelson. Commissioners, any questions for staff? Commissioner Banks. Thanks, Chair. Um cu- um two quick questions, I believe. Uh one, has the applicant indicated how long this project would take if if approved? So, this will be in phases. Um uh Commissioner Banks and uh and Chair Waterman, uh they will be in phases. So, my understanding we can have the applicant give that a little better description, but the first phase would be that bus corral, that's sort of the first part. And the building additions, uh if I remember right from their meeting, was proposed to be finished by the end of next year. So, it is to phase that out a bit, but we can also ask the applicant to give more detail on that. Okay. Okay. And potentially connect some as well. Um follow-up question to that is, how would the current parking driving situation be impacted during construction? >> Yes. Yep. So, um Commissioner Banks and Chair, um my assumption is a lot of this is going to happen during the typical school project season, which is off-season during the summer. So, hence why we're doing this sort of right now, but um we can have them up to probably talk and give a little bit more detail on how this would be impacted. I'd recommend go to them. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Other Commissioners? I actually have a question. Um I know there's a lot of pedestrian traffic on this site. Actually, just looking at this view, obviously it's a school, there's pedestrian traffic, but especially through the parking lot from the the northeast parking lot, north to south with between the tennis courts there, um between the uh pool entrance and the current drop-off entrance. So, getting to my question, I know there was a traffic study. Does that traffic study incorporate pedestrian flow to to whatever extent they they they measure that, or is it really just cars? Sure, Chair Waterman and Commission, uh they did look at pedestrians as part of this. I think a big part of this um change was also moving more so looking focusing on when school releases occur. So, moving those again to these other outlets. Right now, students go into the parking lot. Um the big change that they did look at, so they did look at pedestrians, but a big part of that was actually the not looking at the northeast side. Most of it was looking on the south side, changing where the uh crossing relocation is. So, right now it has it in this location um of where right where vehicles will be leaving. That was a pretty big concern for the traffic consultant, and they recommended moving it over. So, that is shown there for change. There wasn't uh recommendations for different pathways through the site, but that was sort of the big one is going across the site across Lake Street extension cuz this area was uh definitely flagged as a concerned area. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um seeing no other questions at this time, the applicant is invited to make a presentation or offer comments. Welcome. If you could just please give us your name and address for the record. Um Paul Besaw, I'm the executive director of finance and operations for Minnetonka Public Schools at um um 5621 County Road 101, Minnetonka. Uh and I'm here just to on behalf of Superintendent Law and uh Chair Kemery Foss and the board uh uh to uh relay their thanks for your consideration of this. And our thanks to the city staff for working with us through an extended period to try to make this the best possible plan that we can. And uh looking forward to continue working with them through the approval process and the construction process and and with the neighbors. The um uh this the the the dollars that are funding this are actually the result of the first building bond referendum we ran in almost 30 years since 1996. And um so these are some improvements that are going to be benefit the educational program. They're not being done for additional students, they're being done for the educational program. And um I guess with that I'd be available for other questions, but there's detailed questions about the plans I'd prefer to uh Dave Maloney from ATS and R Architects. Thank you. Thank you. Uh commissioners, any questions for the applicant? Commissioner Minion. I've got all kinds of them. First off, thank you to you and Mr. Engelson. You've answered that such great job of answering the questions you know I'm going to ask. So the plans were laid out very well and very well done to both of you. Thank you. Um First off, you guys mentioned a little bit about energy efficiency and and um basically being good stewards of uh greenhouse gases and stuff about your windows. Is there anything else you can kind of tell us about the build quality, the envelopes, things like that in regards to uh just the overall efficiency of the of the building? There wasn't a lot mentioned in there, but there were some details. If you kind of focused on windows a little bit it seemed like. Yeah, go ahead and then I'll I'll give you Exactly. Uh yeah, from the building construction standpoint, the uh the the gymnasium and the stage area is actually uh precast concrete with sandwich panel insulation. And it's of you know, the highest quality insulation that that we can put in there to get the highest R value. And what's nice about that is it's it's uh there really aren't any windows in that. And it's totally like the old '60s or '70s, you know, energy efficient boxes without windows, but this is a super insulated box. Parapets, the the the ceiling is um the roof is super insulated as far as the thickness of the insulation polyisocyanurate we use, so it's very high quality insulation. And um I I that the that that in itself is is just a very efficient component of the design. The rest of the building is more traditional construction with cavity wall, but it's 3 in of insulation polyiso in the walls, same 6 in in the in the roof. Uh continuous insulation everywhere. I mean, you know, the codes have really changed in the last several years with respect to that and uh we take that very seriously. So, it's very important. Okay. Um Yep. Point I don't mean to interrupt. I I just would like to add to that just a a related to kind of our district's overall approach to energy efficiency. Um actually back in 2013, our whole district, every school was individually recognized as Energy Star Rated. And uh the whole district was an Energy Star Leader at that time. We were one of 270 entities in the whole country that received that award for the whole district. We've uh replaced all of our windows with triple pane argon filled uh windows across, you know, as as we replace them on the envelopes. And we've done uh many uh many projects and we're still working on some of them, but but that's a continuous process. Every time we re-roof, we increase the insulation uh uh to uh to basically, you know, hold either heat or cooling inside uh better. And we also uh have all of our our schools have a exhaust stack recovery units to basically take energy that's going up the stack and turn it around and reuse it. And then finally, uh we are actually um anchor tenants in uh in six utility-size utility-scale community solar gardens. And this particular school is 100% solar sourced from the Nesbitt Garden, which is adjacent to the uh Watertown um um Township Hall on Highway 10. If you ever go out Highway 7 and turn uh right on Highway uh 10 north to um uh north to Watertown, uh if you look on the left-hand side as you get up to the the township road, uh, that's our solar garden. We're the 40% anchor tenant, and we're 40% anchor tenant actually in six. So, the whole district is basically about 95% sourced solar and wind. Uh, and we're still working on that last 5%, but, um, all in utility scale. So, it's not on our roads, so you can't see them you can't see them, but, um, I kind of use the the term of, you know, we don't have a pontoon boat-sized installation. We've got like aircraft-carrier-sized installations are just around the state. So, I just want you to know that we are so committed to energy efficiency and and the benefits that come with that for the for, you know, for conservation and planet and all that. Wonderful. Thank you. Dave, actually, before could I get your, uh, full name and address for the record? >> Sure. And turn it back to Commissioner Minion. Uh, David Maroney, president ATS and R. Um, I live in Eden Prairie, but I am a resident of the school district, so. Okay. [snorts] You should provide an office address, or So, I think we have like some requirement. Is there an office address or that you could just provide for the record? Oh, sure. Uh, yeah, 8501 Golden Valley Road. >> Okay. Thanks. Commissioner Minion, do you have more questions? And, Commissioner Banks had some questions that I'd like to address, too, so, if it's okay. Just real quick, uh, pedestrians, just so thrilled you went from two accidents in five years, and this I really really like this plan. Um, just kind of throwing this out there for a food for thought, but I saw the plantings that you're going to add on alongside the new bus corral. Um, and I know that, uh, I live right across from one of the middle schools. I know that crossing guard is such a big important person in the community, and the kids really listen to them well. Um, as we shift the flow of the foot traffic farther down to this new crossing, which is I just can't say how much I'm really impressed with this change. >> good. Is there any thought into putting any type of cattle guards or fencing along that way to kind of encourage people to cross at that new instead of going at there there's a couple of curb cuts for residential driveways and stuff. I realize that's more of a challenge, but is there any been any thought to that? And then the same idea with the plantings along that bus corral. I can see in time it might be hard to see a small child coming out from those heavier plantings as you back a bus up. Is there any thought to that at all? Just just kind of paint me a picture if you would. I think the first response is they're not backing the buses up because it's designed such that it's a flow through design and they're able to circle back through the upper cul-de-sac there and then exit safely. So, the buses are never backing up. So, that striping then So, that striping we're seeing that's dual striping is not for buses. That's not for class A or class C vehicles? >> That's for vehicle cars. The the angle the angle striping Yes, sir. is for the buses and of course so, they're lined up at about a 45° and and they're set up so that they load the students on the right hand side and then they can pull away from the curb forward. So, they they never back up. Excellent. That's great. Thank you. Yeah, we're very excited about the the crossing at the new location because it really aligns with any of the pickup natural pickup. When we when we rolled this out to the principal, he was actually talking about some of that type of fencing to to make sure people are channeled. We thought about it. We rolled it around a lot. We thought, you know, with the the the the actual supervision that does exist there that he really wants to just work it like this and and see how it works without creating more barriers that that students are actually sometimes tempted to go around those then. >> [laughter] >> So, we're going to start with this. Super excited about it. In fact, so excited to get back to your question. >> [laughter] >> Just segue back if that's okay. The construction sequence Principal Demmitt actually asked could we do this right away? Could we get this adjustment made right away? And we said, well, okay, let's see what we can do. So, this is actually out to bid right now and the plan is to to reconfigure this route this summer so that it's ready for new traffic patterns with some new parents and some old parents that are going to get used to it and it's going to be very highly recommended, encouraged, supported and I think it's going to be well received. So, everybody's really excited about so we're going to be implementing this right now. We have another phase that's happening this summer and that's on the west side of the building we're replacing Oh, about 500 ft of old sanitary line, original sanitary sewer, clay tile, broken up, it's been plugged, it's been maintenance issues. We're getting that replaced. So, you know, when we build the new bus loop on top of that it's going to be solid and it's going to be good for the next umpteen years, into the next century, we'll say. Um, the other phase, uh, Ron, um, what's the other phase? There's another phase here. Yeah, whatever. Oh, yeah, there's a pool condensing unit that we're that we need to relocate and that's out to bid right now also and we're going to be just relocating a an existing piece of equipment to a safe zone so it's out of the construction area so that we can maintain the pool operation through construction which is really going to be good. So, the building will be shut down this summer for period of time when the sanitary line's being replaced and that the pool will be shut down when that condenser is relocated but other than that it's going to open right back up again for in August August 1st is the goal for that. The lion's share of this work starts on the west side and in fact all of the really the additions are on the west side start middle of July of this summer and it's going to be extending all the way through, you know, this coming next school year and like was talked about already, Drew mentioned, it's going to be wrapping up in December of 2020 seven. January 2028 open. Want to get those dates right. So, it's going to be a mid-year open, but you know, the new performance uh venue is going to be uh you know, really exciting to for the students to move into. And like Paul mentioned, it's really not about adding space for students, new students, or anything like that. They're accommodated, but the new science labs are actually going to can uh be able to free up a couple of rooms in that building that are used for science right now that really shouldn't be, you know, used for science right now. So, it's putting them in appropriate science locations. The other question on the What's happening with the parking this summer besides the reconfiguration? I think the most exciting thing and I was a parent that dropped my student off at diving. Uh he was in the high school diving team. Uh It was nice when he was at MME, but when he was at the high school, we had to drop him off here, and we I ran that gauntlet a lot of times. And um to drop him off before he could get his license. But basically, we're reconfiguring the parking layout on the north lot. Maybe you may have may not have noticed that, but right now the lanes are north-south, and we're rotating at 90°, so it's east-west. Again, that's happening this summer, but what we're actually finding is that we're getting better efficiency out of that parking layout, and it's a much more natural way for people that park there for the pool use or the gym use to be able to access that main entry back there. And uh that's a significant change. And so, I think that's really something to look forward to as well. So, we're really taking some quick, you know, improvements here, and then we're on that bigger long haul for the for the rest of the project. Thanks. Commissioner Johnson. I Reading through the staff report, there seemed to be a lot of attention to the queuing of uh parents and grandparents dropping off their students uh particularly in the afternoon. Um And the improvement, if I read it correctly, is that you have increased areas for queuing. You have the three different drop-off areas. How many regular-size passenger vehicles can you get in a queue before it drips out before it goes onto the roadway? Oh my goodness. The Yeah, it's a significant increase. And when you look at that little diagram, that's kind of indicative of vehicles, but I think in each of the three zones, there's space for eight to 10 vehicles. And what's what's really unique about this layout is that the left lane, the the outboard lane, the the one not on the curb line, is actually a through lane. So anybody that's in that adjacent to the the the curb and the student is maybe slow to come out, they aren't really impeding anybody else because the one behind them can pull out and around and just keep on going. >> Excellent. >> it's going to be encouraged, kind of like a little version of the airport, much safer version of the airport. But if you're really if if the student is simply not coming, they can actually pull out also and circulate back and then there's a recirculation lane, and there's going to be a supervisor at the north end of the recirculation lane, where Drew's pointing right there, and then they'll allow them to get back into the queue. So again, it's it's um Yeah, when we were when we shared this with super our principal Demmitt, he he just went crazy. He thought this is this this is going to be so exciting. And I say we really wanted to implement it. So I think just the flu the flow is going to be so improved. And and also, like it's a single lane coming out right now. You know, and at the at the north side, you kind of achieve what you need to do, but then you're in that long wait to get off that site. That's not going to happen anymore because we got two clean lanes leaving. In fact, it's even going to be signed such that if you're in the right side, you're going right. You're going west. If you're in the left lane, you're going east. And that's the way it's going to be. And so I think the throughput, you know, just the movement coming off the site is going to be exponentially better. And better for the neighborhood, too? Oh, it's going to be so much more welcoming to to actually do this. You know, I think that's the other thing. And then there's also long-term, not this summer, but the but into the future, uh that old bus lane is going to turn into additional parking, also for staff, so they can move out of the main lot and you can actually get more people that if they want to come in and park there, they're more that's available. So, I think it's just win-win-win. Thank you. You're welcome. Commissioner Banks, follow up? Yeah, thanks, Chair. Yeah, thanks for answering that question. I'm glad I didn't have to repeat myself on that one. You remembered. Uh but I do want to ask, um >> [clears throat] >> so on the south east end, it looks like that's where you have currently where the buses and the cars go in. Uh the buses go in and then they they go uh west. That's going to be blocked and kind of turned into a cul-de-sac, if you will. Um and then we have the increased uh surface lot with the the new area for the buses. Um with that being blocked and the new area, um what would you do with the the uh for snow removal, with the excess snow? Where would that go? That's all been thought of, thought through. I mean, Paul's a master at at making sure we do that. So, basically, we've got uh snowable curbs and and when you go to the west, they're going to be pushing it through that southern area to the west. And then there's a slope that goes down to where the ball field is. So, that's a natural area where we don't have any retaining wall or any impedance to to snow pushing. Likewise, in the in the uh main bus loop, that'll be pushed north. And also that retaining wall starts just about right there, exactly. Thank you. And it's otherwise it's a surmountable curb, and we're able to we've got a gradual slope down for emergency vehicles, also, off of that. And uh we're going to be able to um push the snow off that way. Yep. Good question. That's that's a big deal. >> [laughter] >> All right, any other questions? Commissioner Brink. Yeah. Yeah, thank you, chair. Uh just uh excuse [clears throat] me, two or three comments, questions. Um with the new uh bus corral construction located, you know, along the west side of the building there, um are there any changes that need to be made to the ball field, like shifting it at all? I mean, when you go out there and look at it, you know, you in the steep slope there, you think, "Wow, how are they going to squeeze a bus lane in here?" But then when you look at it on paper, it looks, "Okay, it'll work." You're building the retaining wall on that. So, um do you have to make any kind of changes there to the ball field, or does that pretty much sit as is? Nope, we we are we're going to be sliding that ball field about 60 ft to the west. >> Okay. Uh still maintaining actually with the sewer line improvement, we're going to get a a storm sewer manhole that's actually out in that outfield out of there. So, we're improving that condition by replacing this pipe. So, we're actually going to be able to get, you know, I mean, 90-ft bases, and it's it's going to be all redone, and uh dugouts and everything will be either relocated or brand new, probably brand new, you know, the the chain link and all that. But uh again, regraded, make sure that it's it's good, and uh and full-size field, basically, out there. >> Okay. Now, the field in the at the end of the bus loop, uh right by the gym there, that was something that the fire department actually said, "You know, we could probably live without that." But we've been able to maintain that infield, too, uh with the slopes that we've got there, really to maintain as a T-ball field. Mhm. Okay, thank you. Um and then um this the staff report said there was currently 200 203 parking spots, I believe, and 22 for bus parking. It It appears those numbers are going to go up significantly. Total numbers of parking for both cars and buses. From existing, yes. >> From existing. And we're getting proper accommodation for the um special ed buses, too, separately from the main buses and and more importantly from the parent drop-off area. Sure, yeah. And so, uh when it's not bus time and we use that bus loop for parking, we're getting, if I remember my memory's correct, we're getting 46 spots in the old bus corral and then the new one is is 93, so it's what is that? 139 additional parking spots. So, it's about a 50% increase in the total site Okay, thank you. >> for events other than, you know, when the buses aren't there. Okay. And then just lastly, out of curiosity, we've been talking about pedestrians and uh um improving the safety there with the new ped crossing and everything. I'm just curious, uh do many students ride their bikes to school or were bikes ever part of the conversation or necessary, even? Well, I I I can't answer that. My my kids never did. >> [laughter] >> Uh early early September and then um probably starting, you know, late more late April, not quite yet, still a little cold, but once particularly once the trail dries out, Mhm. uh we have some pretty good participation and uh there's times where, you know, back by the trail access, that's where we we have them park the bikes and there's 75 to 100 bicyclists that that uh come on their bikes. So, it's the trail's a great access point and they use it when, you know, when the weather permits. >> Right. Okay. Thank you. Other questions? All right, I actually have two. Uh Drew, do you mind going back to the that view that we were just on the full map? So, uh two small ones just both on the both on the northeast parking lot. Just just to confirm that cul-de-sac there there would be enough room in there for a bus or large vehicles to make that turn, understanding that it's not meant for buses, but I'm just thinking about for you know, pool swim meets if if there's ever anything there. Just it looked a little narrow, but Yeah, see the thing is it's really it's in an open parking area. And it's really it shows as a teardrop here, but we've got the civil engineers to go ahead and make a regular circle. And it's really kind of a low-key circle. It's more like the one like at Clear Springs on that entrance to the Vantage Momentum building. It's just more of a Okay. just a defined area. So, they can drive right over that. My other question is so in that parking lot right now where where students currently exit and go into the building, um is that entrance still going to be there? It seems like it is. Just cuz cuz I noticed right now there is a fair amount um of pedestrian traffic from that entrance and exit over to the pool. And there's really it's a minimal sidewalk. So, you really have kids I mean not just through going through the traffic lines, which I really realize will be eliminated, but I mean they're they are traversing that area. Uh it sounds like that's going to continue. And then to your point they come from the the the access point to the north. So, they'll be going through there. Was there any any consideration to to instead of like having that restricted parking like adding more of a sidewalk or just making it having a designated area for students to traverse between that north exit and the pool? Yeah, the I've walked that path many times. And um the the answer yes, the the entry is not going to change. So, it's going to be maintained. And I think that's a you know, it's a fair question. You know, you get out into the parking drive lane. Of course, there's no pick up or drop off at that point. And it's just cars that are static mostly. The and you go right to the you know, I think it works out pretty well right now. But I guess one point that we didn't talk about is the handicap parking locations. And this is significant. With the reorientation of that parking lot, the north parking lot, we actually have wheelchair parking spaces now adjacent to the building, the gym building, adjacent to the entrances. You know how it is right now when you drive right by those doors. You know, and everybody's driving right by those doors. Well, now we've got a setback there. Cuz we've got a natural relief with the parking, the perpendicular parking right there. And we've got wheelchair accessible accessibility directly to that entry. And the owner is actually taking the next step. You know, once you get in that entry, anyone who's been in there, there's that wheelchair lift that's sitting there. And um we're going to be replacing that putting in a legitimate elevator. So, we're really taking it up to the next notch. So, there's going to be a legitimate wheelchair access in the what we're considering the primary entry to the gymnasium performance area. So, um but I think that cross connection, you know, we'll take a look at it. Absolutely. Yep. Can I just add something on that? So, that that north entry at coming up basically out of the cafeteria. Um that that really just going to be primarily access to that parking lot. But with a new circulation internal to the building, anybody in the building is going to be able to walk down the new long hallway and be able to access the pool or the gymnasiums by going down the new circulation that's kind of like on the northwest side of the building by the new gymnasium. >> So, your theory is there won't be as much utility for like right now kids are constantly going out that door over to the pool. There's the the truck entrance for food delivery. It always strikes me as like, "Wow, this Yes, but they'll be able to take the new, you know, if they're going to be inside, especially like in the winter or even whenever, they'll just stay inside and go take by taking a new access. Okay. Yeah, that's that's I great point, Paul. Thank you. Okay, seeing no Oh, one more. Commissioner Minion. Chair, kind of spinged a little little thought is this when you talked about that teardrop? Is that impervious or pervious surface? And what I'm getting at is you said you can drive over it. Basically, will a fire engine or a hook and ladder be able to make that turn, get accessibility to the building still okay? Yes. >> That's where I'm going with the question in general. >> Absolutely. Yes. Okay, thank you. Yep. Thank you. All right, I will now open the public hearing. Uh I don't know if there any public comment cards, anything submitted? No, okay. Um that being the case, just want to do uh open it up if anyone did want to make any comments, ask any questions. Okay. Seeing no one uh to speak, I will go ahead and close the public hearing. Uh no questions from that public hearing. So, next I will bring it back to the commission for questions or comments. Commissioners, what are our What are our thoughts? I'll start first. Commissioner Johnson. As a grandparent who um does do drop-off and pick-up at a different school, I strongly uh think this is an improvement. It is logical, it makes sense to me, and it will reduce, I think, the impacts to the neighborhood. So, I'm very much in favor of the new uh parking lot configuration as well as the bus corral. I think it will improve safety. Thank you. All right. Other commissioners? Commissioner Minion, looks like you're ready. I like so much about this. We didn't talk about storm water, but the plans are laid out very well and very well explained. Thank you, Drew, and and all the everybody involved. Really nice to see that that's was taken into consideration. Losing 16 trees is significant, but it's pretty seeing that you're going to put 46 more in is is great to see as well. I can't tell you how nice it is to see this improvement. To hear that 5 years there were two different accidents there. Doesn't sound like a lot, but that close to kids makes me very concerned. So, I really see the crosswalk changes as a big improvement as well. And the fact that the buses aren't backing up, there's so many good things about this. I appreciate the fact that you're putting some thought into being energy star rated. I think that's a great thing as well. I'm very supportive of the project and I think it was very well thought out and very well presented to us, too. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Banks. Yeah, thanks, yeah. Yeah, thanks for the presentation. >> [clears throat] >> This is going to be a significant improvement in the parking spaces, but I'm I'm really impressed as well with the the thought towards the students with the the new gym and the new classrooms and the you know, and people who are visiting the the improvements to the to the two bathrooms. Um, I mean, this could have just been just, you know, a parking project and and how you guys how I mean, it's it's a it's a nightmare over there. And so, just improving that is significant, but then also adding the additional space that the kids get to enjoy, especially, you know, a brand new gym. I'm sure that's going to be a hit for a while. So, I'm glad to see you guys doing that. I I like the timeline that you have for this project if it's approved. And yeah, I just wish you all the best of luck over there with these improvements. All right. Thank you. Commissioner Brink? Thank you, Chair. Yes, [clears throat] I'll just echo all my fellow commissioners' comments there. I think this is a great plan and I think from a public safety standpoint, it's it's awesome just for pedes- not just pedestrians, but for those who are coming to pick up pick up the students also. I like how this plan addresses both the uh you know, the the the drop-off the the morning the morning rush hour, if you want to call it that, the afternoon rush hour where you have these couple of really intense periods where you got all this traffic and but also it it addresses um you know, after hours too with the extra parking and weekends when there's events going on. It's just the way it's set up now with uh the parking being separated out now and more parking and especially by the ball fields there. So, um in all respects, this is a good plan that I think is going to address, you know, some significant needs out there. Thank you. I'll be Just to reiterate what my peers have said, it looks amazing. That the gym and stage area looks incredibly well thought out. I think everyone's going to be really excited when that opens up. So, hopefully I'll go in there and see something as well. Thank you. Thank you. And I I am supportive of this as well. I think the only thing the only other comment I would add, uh just echoing what the other commissioners have said, is I think this will also have a creative impact on the neighborhood. I know that um there are a lot of issues or complaints about parents uh or caregivers dropping off students nearby, not coming onto school grounds, um ostensibly because of the queuing and the um how difficult it can be to actually get out and having to go through the parking lot and then waiting for buses making the right or left turn. I think I think all of this is so so well thought out that hopefully it incentivizes folks along with the principles videos that I know he will do to demonstrate uh and they're amazing videos to to demonstrate how parents should uh and caregivers should utilize this um which is moving the moving that pedestrian crosswalk over. I This is just I'm always impressed by when people can can get creative with space cuz I I cannot. So, I'm supportive of this as well. All right. Well, it sounds like we are ready for a motion and um this would be a not a conditional use This would be for item 8A conditional use permit uh site and building plan review for building expansion, new bus corral, and parking lot reconfiguration at Minnetonka Middle School East, 17000 Lake Street extension, and it's a recommendation to the City Council to adopt the resolution approving the requests. Can I get a motion, please? I motion that we approve. Motion Banks. I'll second. Second Minion. All right. Staff, please poll the commission. Banks. >> Yes. Brink. Yes. Johnson. >> Yes. Minion. Yes. Scheer. Chairwoman. Yes. All right. Motion passes. Uh and that will be heard by the City Council at their meeting on April 27th. Good luck with the project. All right. Moving on to item number nine, other business. I don't believe we have any. So, moving on to item number 10, adjournment. May I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? Motion Brink. I'll make the motion to adjourn. I'll second. Second Minion. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Meeting's adjourned. Good night. >> [music] [music]