[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good evening and welcome tonight is Monday August 2 6 2024 this is a regular meeting of the minona city council I will call this meeting to order and ask you to stand and join me in 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 Miss England would you please call roll Calbert here R here kley here Foster Bolton here sha here Wilburn here weome here next item is approval of the agenda and it appears that we have an addendum Mr fun thank you mayor weome good evening Council two items for your consideration on tonight's agenda the first is related to item 14a items concerning Amira Villas at 901 Carlson Parkway saff received a letter from the developer after the publication of the staff report that went out last Thursday and so you have a copy of that as part of the agenda and then the second item is related to 14b which is a concept plan for Inland development partners for residential development of the existing property at 11800 y Zeta Boulevard the developer requested to remove this item from the agenda we received notice as staff after the publication of the packet so those are the two items mayor and councel for your consideration thank you thank you Mr Funk um need a motion for for approval of the agenda Council M Wilburn I move approval of the agenda as amended and a second council member Calbert thank you mayor I'll second we have a motion by council member Wilburn and a second by council member Calbert Miss England Please call Ro Calbert yes ra yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes Shaq yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries next next item is special matters excuse me um next item is approval of minutes and um we have two sets of minutes um one is the July 29th 2024 regular meeting minutes and the second is the August 5th 2024 regular meeting minutes I think we can do the two together um Council M Calbert thank you mayor I move approval of the July 29th 2024 and the August 5th 2024 regular meeting minutes is there a second council member r second all right we've got a motion by council member Calbert and a second by council member ra Miss England Please call roll Calbert yes R yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes sha yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries next item is special matters and we do not have any special matters tonight then is um item seven is reports from city manager and Council memb so I'll turn it over to Mr Funk again thank you mayor good evening Council a couple things for for your consideration this evening first some exciting news on the fire department personnel front uh this last week on August 21st the motanka fire department welcome five new firefighters and recognize several promotions at a badge pinning ceremony City Atty green heiney was there administering the oath of office and wish congratulations to our five newest promotional firefighters and then certainly special recognition to also the official announcement and pinning of our new assistant fire chief uh that evening um so then uh so that was a great event a short event here last Thursday there's about 70 members of family uh present uh for that event uh and then also want to mention that even though it's really warm outside I think someone mentioned the heat index being over a 100 that tomorrow is the final night of the music in the park and our season uh we're featuring The Band free and easy and their Pop playing band music from the 70s to today and again that evening is tomorrow also want to thank our staff for all their work this last uh season uh putting together our uh events and our bands and our performances in our music of the park then also want to mention that we have registration for the minetonka police academy is now open it's a really popular event it's a go behind the scenes look with our motanka Police Department this fall this is a nine-week course open to the minona community the academy covers a variety of topics including investigations crime analysis forensics canine or crime prevention uh traffic and emergency response um we are starting this on Wednesday September 25th through November 20th those events are start at 6:00 p.m. and anyone that's interested should go to our website to register uh in terms of Public Works we do have a couple announcements related to some work that's happening around the city the Northbound 494 ramp off the minaka boulevard will be closed starting 9:00 a.m. on Thursday August 29th it'll reopen that same day but certainly want to let folks know that that ramp will be difficult on August 29th and then also the Eastbound highway 12 ramp off Carlson Parkway will be closed on Tuesday August 27th from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and we are putting out uh notices through our social media channels so residents are aware of that and then last one to mention that our Natural Resources Division is collaborating with 9mile Creek Watershed District to manage invasive species which were recently found in Shady Oak leak Lake which is unfortunate uh there have been talking about a herbicide treatment that will take place this upcoming spring there'll be a lot of Outreach to Residents in and around Shady Oak Lake so they're aware of that uh procedure and certainly spot treatments and other evaluation will occur in future years so with that mayor and Council turn it back to you thank you thank you Mr Funk uh council members any reports that you would like to make council member Calbert thank you mayor um first of all I just want to uh congratulate uh the fire department on the five new recruits and the promotions that's very exciting and and I just wanted to mention that uh last week I attended the second of three League of Minnesota cities um improving Services delivery committee meetings and the topics were uh Emerald ashore which um I'm sure most of us have been noticing the the you know many many dead trees and um just talking about how the state we had a someone from the State come and talk about what the what the state is uh trying to do the kind of funding that they are providing and where that kind of funding is going um and then the other topic was Emergency Medical Service so uh the way uh the state law is right now um uh public the the service areas are uh pred decided and cities don't have any uh authority to change their service providers and there are uh some issues um you know that that have been cropping up in terms of um response times in the West Metro there have been issues about a transparency uh from some EMS um organizations and um so it was just good to have you know get some issues out on the table and um start addressing in a very real way the issues that are uh hampering EMS not just here but all over the country um there was some discussion about what um the state has done to fund EMS in rural Minnesota but I wanted to make sure that the suburbs and the metro area are also not forgotten so there will probably be continuing conversations with some of our legislators on that coming up and um it's just a very important topic because public safety especially when it comes to the health of our residents is of uh primary importance to us as elected officials so just want to get people up to speed on that thank you Council M calber um other uh reports from City man or from City Council Members council member sha thank you mayor um I have been participating in the league HR and data practices um group and we've had some couple good meetings talking about some of the implications and and making sure that everybody's covered as it relates to um sick and and safe leave and some of the changes in the legislature also H how that relates to um our our contract employees you know all all of the Nuance in that and then also talking about um some of the work that's been done to address issues with disabil ility claims for um Public Safety folks and so and how we make sure things are covered it's been very informative and a new committee for me and I've and um been appreciative of the time that I've been able to be there thank you counc sha anyone else all right seeing none we will move on um item eight the next item is Citizens wishing to discuss matters not on the agenda so this is an open mic opportunity for anyone who would like to speak to something that is not on the agenda and so if you have something please come forward state your name and address and let us know what you want to know uh or what you want us to know I will tell you that uh no action will be taken on this item tonight we will just take the information and then we will uh move on to next the next agenda items but if anyone would like to uh speak to us please come forward and do that and um please provide your name and your home address so is there anyone who would like to speak to us on an item not on the agenda please come forward state your name and address good evening mayor and City Council Members my name is Tim stender I office out of the St Paul Regional Council at 700 Olive Street in St Paul Minneapolis 55130 great thank you I work with the north central State's Regional Council of Carpenters the ncsrcc represents 27,000 construction workers and their families in the Upper midw Midwest the bulk live in Minnesota and many live within minetonka our organization is at the Forefront to deter labor exploitation misclassification human trafficking and other activities on construction sites we have tracked in detail those who work on construction sites in the Twin Cities metro area for the last decade I am here regard regarding the United properties proposal that passed through the Planning Commission a few weeks ago excuse but that is on the agenda tonight so um this is for items not on the agenda so there will be an opportunity to speak to that um would you like me to wait and Report yeah why why don't you do that okay thank you thank you is there is there anyone else who would like to um speak on items not on the agenda tonight is there is there anyone Mr V did I did I misdirect this individual because it's um um so I just want to make sure that I I cut them off but I want to make sure that um I'm being appropriate with this if if we're going to take um um public comment um on the agenda item then we didn't want to take it twice so what what's your recommendation yeah uh thank you uh mayor councel I think correct mayor in our Council rules of procedure uh it's clearly outlined that if there's an agenda item as you indicated that someone wants to speak to there's time later U for that to occur so I think you instructed uh the speaker correctly uh as you indicated items so anyone that has an item not on the agenda which I think you were clear about that this would be the opportunity for them to come forward very good thank you so is there anyone else who has an item that you'd like to make the council aware of tonight all right seeing no one we will move on um next item is um bids and purchases and we have none of those tonight and so item 10 is the consent agenda and the consent agenda um is made up of items that are typically routine and so um I will read them into the uh record and if anyone either in the audience or on the council would like to pull an item for further consideration please indicate that we'll pull that item then we will continue and vote on the items uh that are remaining and then um allow whoever pulled the uh the item to address that item so I will read these into the um agend or into the record so item 10A is a conditional use permit for a detached accessory dwelling unit at 4329 Wilson Street item 10B is a conditional use permit for a child care facility at 10297 yellow Circle Drive item 10 C is the final plat of el pre previously 1 acre Oaks at8 an8 lot subdivision at 2511 and 265 Plymouth Road and item 10d is a resolution for the water treatment plant number 16 variable frequency drive replacement project so would anyone like to pull anything C Calbert thank you excuse me thank you mayor I'd like to pull item 10 C just to make a comment all right very good is there anything anything else need to be pulled all right then is there a motion on the remaining items council member Wilburn I move approval of consent agenda items 10 a b and d is there a second council member kley I'll second all right we've got a motion by council member Wilburn and a second by council member kley Miss England Please call Ro Calbert yes R yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes sha yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries so that takes us back to item 10c council member Calbert thank you mayor I just want to um this is on the consent agenda which means that it's something that is generally a routine vote and um and this is a routine vote because the developer had uh proposed what we call a fully conforming um proposal and I just wanted to say that you know there are legal constraints to voting no on uh projects like this um neverthe end I felt compelled to vote Yes for that reason in previous vote on on this project but it is still um a project that makes me deeply unhappy um there is there are some things that I like about it but the the tree law uh some of just the um drastic changes to the Green Space there uh and uh the grading and so forth um I just don't know that this is the highest and best use and so I'm just registering a comment about it because I feel legally bound um to vote Yes um and this is an instance where I am deeply unhappy with a project that I will vote Yes on and um given your deep unhappiness are you willing to make a motion nonetheless I will make a motion to approve item 10 C is there a second Council M Shack I'll second all right we've got a motion by Council M Calver and a second by council member sha M England Please call Ro Calbert yes R yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes sha yes Wilburn yes weome yes MO motion carries item 11 is consent agenda items requiring six or five votes and we have none of those tonight so item 12 is Introduction of ordinances and we have one ordinance that will be introduced and that is an ordinance repealing section 925. 70 reg relating to license for veterinary hospitals and Captain Rachel mean will provide that report welcome thank you good evening mayor and council members I'm here here tonight to introduce an ordinance that seeks to amend the minetonka city code by repealing section 925. 70 and its Associated fees currently that section requires that veterinary hospitals obtain an annual license from the police department following an inspection and $125 fee when this ordinance was first enacted veterinary hospitals often served as boarding facilities similar to commercial kennels and were regulated accordingly however times have changed and today most Veterinary Hospital hospitals no longer provide boarding services in fact none of the veterinary hospitals in minona actively board dogs or cats their kennel areas are now used solely for temporarily housing the animals that are undergoing or awaiting treatment given this shift the inspections of these facilities have become largely redundant the majority of health and safety standards that we currently inspect are already regulated by OSHA the board of animal health and the board of veterinary medicine this makes our inspections unnecessary it is important to emphasize that this ordinance only applies to veterinary hospitals it will not impact our commercial kennel licenses or multiple animal permits which will still require annual inspections this is simply an introduction to the ordinance and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have if I don't have the answer this evening I'll research the question and follow up with you if the ordinance does get approved tonight it will forward it will be forwarded for adoption at the next council meeting on September 9th thank you for your time and consideration thank you Captain mean um are Council any questions for Captain mean I think your report was pretty clear so so thanks so much so um Council um this is an introduction so it will come back to us we'll have another bite at the Apple but um would somebody like to make a motion counc Calbert thank you mayor I'd like to make the motion to introduce the ordinance repealing section 925. 70 relating to license for veterinary hospitals is there a second Council M Wilburn I will second all right right we've got a motion by council member Calbert and a second by council member Wilburn um Miss England Please call roll Calbert yes R yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes sha yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries next item is public hearings and tonight we have none of those um item 14 is other business and um the um 14a is items concerning Amira Villas a residential Town Home Development at 901 Carlson Parkway and the staff report will be made by m wishnack oh Excuse Me Miss Thomas excuse me thank you thank you mayor and Council excuse me I'm sorry Mr funk you Council no I'm sorry May and Council I know we got some good steam going on our next agenda item I just want to mention that we are our staff is monitoring the weather we are a fear thunderstorm kind of watch and warning situation so we're minding the weather we do have shelter in case that we need to take shelter we would proceed downstairs to the community center so we'll continue to actively monitor it just want to give you that heads up in case we signal that we need to do something so sorry for the interruption mayor and Council um we'd like to Pro proceed with the agenda thank you Mr Funk um Miss Thomas's report is very important but I think your your your um safety um message was important to interject first so miss Thomas thank you uh Mr Mayor and and council members uh the 2.3 acre parcel before you this evening is really the last vacant site in the Carlson Center uh development in in the minona portion at least of the what is a a much larger 328 acre uh development that has taken place between the cities of of Plymouth and minona since the uh late 1980s the property itself was part of a two-phase master development plan that was submitted by United properties back in 2020 uh reviewed and approved by the council that same year phase one of that Master development plan uh was a 186 unit 55 and older apartment building and phase two was a 136 unit Hotel phase one as you know has been completed we now refer to that as Amira motanka Phase 2 has not been completed and that property uh remains vacant you'll recall that this spring uh United properties came forward with a concept plan to change the use of that vacant site from the approved hotel to a 28 unit uh rental Town Home Development kind of an a mirror uh two if you will generally uh commission Planning Commission and council members comments re regarding that conceptual residential use of the property were positive though some members expressed uh interest in seeing some higher densities and enhanced sustainability practices on the property United properties is now presenting their formal development uh plan for your consideration the formal development proposal includes a total of 30 town home units occupying eight buildings so this is a slight increase in the total number of units but a decrease in the number of buildings from the concept the buildings themselves would be situ situated around uh a Central Access drive and would have facades comprised of brick uh metal siding and uh cement fiber panels the quality and Design of these uh materials would really complement those used in sorry in a a mirror and and would reflect the investment and Architectural character of the area units within each building uh would range in size from just over, 1300 Square fet to just under uh 2,000 square fet would you like me to pause Mr Mayor well we're hearing Sirens I don't know Mr Funk do you do you we'll uh turn to you and see if you have any new information for us uh I would suggest mayor Let's uh maybe take a five minute recess we're going to just check with our Emergency Management coordinator right now all right let's do that thanks everybody I'm looking try this it turns on can you you got me now okay all right so um we will reconvene um This was um this um recess was a little unusual we haven't done this very often but um thank you for bearing with us and I'm glad that we kept everyone safe and so I believe M Thomas was start you can just start over if you want um and we are talking about Amira Villa's a residential town home development at 901 Carlson Parkway and Miss Thomas uh thank you mayor weome I'm not going to go back to the very beginning but maybe I'll start with the proposal that's before you this evening um if that's if that's all right with you that's that's just fine um United properties is uh presenting here tonight the formal proposal uh for your consideration it includes 30 uh town home units occupying eight buildings which is an increase from what you thought the concept plan of total units but a decrease in total buildings uh the buildings themselves would be situated around a Central Access Drive they would have facades comprised of uh brick metal siding and then cement met uh fiber panels these materials uh their quality uh their design would really complement uh those used at uh a Mira and would reflect the investment and Architectural character of the area units within the building would range in size from just over, 1300 Square ft to 2,000 square fet two bedroom units would have uh two dedicated parking stalls one interior stall and then one space in the driveway whereas the three-bedroom units would have um or the two-bedroom plus Den would have two interior garage spaces and then two spaces uh in driveways with existing visitor parking which is shown here in um this illustration on the right hand side of this illustration but which also actually already exists along the east uh side as visitor parking this proposal would uh certainly exceed the city's uh parking requirements as required under the city's uh affordable housing uh policy the applicant uh is proposing three affordable units they are not requesting any City assistance to achieve that affordability at this time the units themselves uh and their residents would have access to all of the Amir Villas excuse me the Amir Apartments uh outdoor amenities that are currently existing tree preservation on the overall site uh would be consistent with our tree preservation ordinance and storm water management would be provided via an underground chamber similar to what was provided uh to the north with the apartment building and that would meet uh certainly all of the city's storm water management rules this proposal is considered a high density residential development it would be uh units uh per acre as defined in our comprehensive guide plan low density is development up to four units per acre medium density is 4.1 to 12 units and then high density is anything between 12.1 all the way up to 100 units and you can see here some um different types of housing within those different density ranges that staff just pulled from minetonka um today the subject property is actually designated mixed use which means that from a a comp plan um designation any or all of these types of residential densities would be allowed on the property the applicants proposal requires uh approval of three things first a major Amendment to the existing Master development plan to go from that approved Hotel use um to to this high density residential use then it requires approval of the site and building plans with a floor area ratio variance from 75 to 83 we did have some questions about floor area ratio so I just wanted to talk about that for a just a minute um floor area ratio or sometimes what we call F is the total floor area or the total square footage on property divided by the total area of that property and as is shown in the illustration on the right hand side or what I was trying to show in the illustration on the right hand side is that F doesn't have anything to do with the configuration of the building it's just the square footage of a building so uh a multi-story building with a very small footprint could have the same f as a one-story building with a very um big footprint The Phase 2 Hotel uh included in the existing Master development plan had a 0.82 f so basically 0.1 less thanan what is being proposed here it would also need an F variance where it to come to site plan review um to eliminate the F variants an applicant would have to to either reduce the square footage of the buildings on the property or would have to increase the size of the property staff supports um this proposal and those three requests um in staff's opinion the use is appropriate since the adoption of the very first Carlson Center Master development plan way back in 1983 a variety of uses have been envisioned in the area this use would certainly complement that existing residential use to the north and it would also complement the um office uses that are already existing on the campus further uh basic planning principles would suggest that this higher density residential use is appropriate uh in proximity to Major roadways we think the site plan design is reasonable the town homes are appropriately dense but also appropriately SP B and set back um from the common spaces to the north there's sidewalks and trails proposed throughout the site to connect to existing sidewalks and trails on the Carlson campus in our opinion the building design is attractive and finally the F variance is reasonable it would be similar to what was already um shown at the hotel it would be less than um uh what is at the building to the north and and to be quite honest basic planning principles of today would suggest that the limit that we applied to F 40 years ago in the zoning code especially in proximity to Major roadways it it just isn't appropriate um it's one of many things we hope to see fixed as we look at our our zoning ordinance in the future so to include then um we think that this land this is a land use proposal that's before the the council this evening and from a land use perspective uh we as your planning staff think that the proposed amendment is reasonable the buildings again are attractive and um that the F variance itself is reasonable so in staff's opinion we think this would be an enhancement to the area and really kind of finalize if you will the Carlson Center so we do recommend approval with those findings and with the conditions that have been provided to you in the ordinance and resolution and I would turn it back to the mayor thank you Miss Thomas um Council any questions for staff um regarding the proposal that they just reported on anyone any questions otherwise I think it's appropriate for us to ask the applicant to come forward and U um make your comments well welcome provide your name and address good evening Mr Mayor members of the councel my name is Dave Young I'm with United properties I also have with me tonight Janelle mcle ESG uh director with United properties as well um she'll have a little portion of the presentation in just in just a few minutes um on behalf of our entire team I want to thank you for your uh consideration of our application this evening I also want to extend a thank you to the entire planning department for their support of the project their collaboration over the basically several months that we've been working on this project if I may take the controls here is that is that accurate thank you very much so as you see before you a nice clean rendering that we've updated since the last time you've seen uh seeing this project um I won't go into too much detail as a lot of this is is being repetitive from the not much has changed necessarily from the concept uh meeting Planning Commission meeting I do want to highlight a few a few items that you know the basic adjustments that we've made to this application um are a direct result of the of the feedback that we've received from Planning Commission and from the council um throughout uh throughout the opportunities that we've had um we do uh propose eight three-story buildings uh that is that's down from from nine buildings we have increased uh the number of units from 28 to 30 units um it's important to note that we have maximized the density that we can provide on this site um and that that uh that is largely driven from the design of the units with the tuck under garages the way that these are designed the two-car garages um that really uh puts uh limits on the amount of footprint that we can expand or even go up for that matter because the garages Drive the amount of living space the amount of units that we can have above it so as you can see on the revised site plan here we feel that we've done our best to maximize uh the the units while not while not red ucing the the unit sizes um we have that unique design as far as the garage goes which is really sought after in this market having private attached garages to your home uh in this type of environment is is really attractive um also want to note that as it relates to the density uh there is a private restrictive covenant that encumbers this site and we are providing 75% of the maximum deity allowed under that Covenant uh to begin with another item worth noting as far as density is we have avoided shadowing impacts to the building to the north right anything going vertical you start uh having encroachment from a shadow impact on the amenity space to the building to the north um as mentioned we have 20 guest stalls on the east side of the of the property uh sidewalk connectivity to Amira and to the larger trail system throughout the Carlson um you know property the the master um plan over there and then we've included what was originally just a little storm water pond on the southwest corner we've changed that to be a an amenity patio and move all the storm water underground I'll take a quick opportunity just to kind of highlight this amenity space because we think it's very important um it it does provide some green space around the area but more importantly it provides some of the high use amenities that we see at the Amir Villas um being barbecue grills just areas to congregate and seat um as a community fire table water feature these are things that we're proposing to be on that on that so very nice well landscaped very attractive uh spot for the community to gather jumping into the units um the the proposed units are are very similar to what you've seen before um relatively large units um the largest unit that we offer at air minaton the property to the north is uh just over 1400 square feet here we're starting at 1500 ft and going all the way up to to 2200 ft that is with the addition of the the ground floor flex room and mudro which is um a little bit larger than what was noted in the staff report but it is dedicated space for those for those residents one level living secured entry very important security is a big uh um Big level of importance for us uh each unit will have the elevator access and a stairwell um private uh garages mudrooms the flex room I mentioned on the lower level um oversiz decks upscale finishes very similar to what we have at Amir minetonka large windows and individual CL climate controls all these things are feedback that we've taken from um our many senior housing projects and we just try to keep making them better and better and better so we're we're very proud of that um we wanted to provide a couple of perspectives just to give you an idea of the scale the massing how these the rest of the uh the buildings and the surrounding properties um look just to maybe just to give you a little bit more of a an idea very very attractive heavily landscaped um really really a a desire desirable place to live we added a slide just to show a little bit of project Synergy here between architecture color schemes um architect you just all all the things they just look very well together obviously this building will be a little little um Less in the height um but we feel that they complement each other very nicely with that being said I'll introduce Janelle McLean hi everyone I'm Janelle McLean as Dave mentioned and I lead environmental social governance uh which is ESG and diversity equity and inclusion Dei for United properties I'm a dedicated resource and I I collaborate with our development teams to ensure we're thinking of the environment and sustainability El elements on the projects the community and thinking of how we're governing our projects as well United properties integrates ESG elements into every process as far as our development pieces our operations of our buildings and really focusing on each element in the E the S and the G I just wanted to give like a high level of ESG by the Numbers uh so for uh our senior living portfolio our buildings are in the top 1% nationally for their energy star scores the EPA has an energy star score of 0 to 100 rating that measures how well uh the commercial buildings perform in terms of energy consumption compared to other properties our average score for our senior living buildings is 99.92% and suppliers and then lastly I just wanted to highlight that in 2024 we have earned the green lease leader Gold Award for United properties this award really recognizes landlords who incorporate green lease language into their standard leasing practice and template for the Amir Villa minetonka project I just wanted to highlight the specific ESG elements so we are enrolled in the energy design assistance program and showcasing a 21% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to standard code we will have high energy HVAC systems all energy star appliances and LED lighting we'll have native and drought tolerant Landscaping with the water sense irrigation um we are prioritizing healthy and Sustainable Building Materials which will be assessed through our habitable tool called informed all of the garages will have EV and prioritizing construction waste reduce and recycling and we will also seek a Minnesota Green Path certification uh on the project itself from a social aspect uh one thing to note is that uh any residents that's going to be moving into the Amir Villas a senior can sell their single family home which makes way for the younger families to purchase those homes and just important to note that 109 of the Amir minetonka residences previously R resided in minaka so they're not leaving the area because of this project they can continue to stay um in the city uh we will prioritize uh inclusive procurement on this project and track our diverse spend and uh as the social piece is very important for the senior community from a a loneliness epidemic perspective we will have a dedicated res resident experience director which will program the events and activities for residents at both the Amir minetonka and then the Villas as well and then just lastly from a high level governance perspective I will be the dedicated ated resource uh for this project we will track all of our energy water and waste and emissions and we will have green lease language incorporated into every resident lease and the last thing I wanted to point out is just kind of looking at the overarching community impact that our senior living developments have had on the city of minetonka so since 2015 uh We've created uh 375 373 homes which of which uh 38 were affordable units uh this really showcases uh our thoughtful de design to uh serve a a diverse population we've also had Community growth uh these homes are res are occupied by 493 residents which enriches the local community with new neighbors and supports a vibrant inclusive City uh environment through job creation our developments have brought 109 permanent jobs to minetonka which contrib to the local economy and provides stable employment opportunities for the residents and then the economic benefit in add in addition to fostering community and employment uh our our developments have also generated tax revenue for the city and lastly and almost most importantly would be uh United properties have has provided life cycle housing options that allow minaka minetonka residents to remain in the city throughout all stages of their life contributing to a stable long-term community so the first would be going uh from the single family homes into the villas with a larger footprint then to the Amir minona apartment and then finally to the Amir Choice which is a senior living with services available as well and I'll just turn it back to Dave thank you Janelle thank you uh that being said I just want to leave you with just a couple takeaways um you know uh United properties opened up a miror minona in June of last year so just about about 14 months ago currently is 93% occupied which is just a testament to what we've been able to deliver for residents of minaka um the property the Villas will be managed by Great Lakes management that's important to note because the property to the north is also managed by Great Lakes management so there's some economy of scale when it comes to the shared services aspect of of the management um we have a 12 unit weight list for the largest units so we're excited uh to hopefully bring this to Market and and have a quick lease up um if if able to uh the Villas are meeting the demand for larger home and that's that's really what we're seeing we're seeing that throughout all of our communities um they our residents just want the larger homes um they're many of them are coming out of single family homes they're coming out of these large yards large garages um they're willing to give up some for convenience but maybe not all so we're hoping these Villas just fit that that uh that that hole that they're looking for just right um Villa residents will have access to all the programming and the amenities found at the uh Amira to the north their T fob will access all the building public area common area amenities sidewalks will connect to the larger trail system and and just uh commenting on the positive impacts that uh that Janelle mentioned to the community we're we're excited um we're excited to to offer this um it's our intent to Begin work on this project as soon as the decision is is rendered um you know we we live in Minnesota uh the winter season is is closely closing in on us so um we appreciate your consideration of the project tonight and hopefully look forward to adding another beneficial project to the city so thank you great well thank you for your report um before you sit down I'm going to ask council members if they have any questions of you um council member Calbert thank you mayor I'm not I I forgot that I did have a question that I talked to Mr Funk about this morning morning and I don't know if it's better for the applicant or staff but as regards utilities um on page 10 of our packet it talks about how um uh the sewer and water system would connect to proposed uh buildings and existing private water mains located on the south of the site and also the private sanitary sewer M um beneath lake so those are private that's private it's not just it's not just the line from the house it's actually the the sewer M and the water M are private that is correct if that something Miss wishnack thank you mayor and council member Calbert I think that um typically we don't see a lot of private infrastructure being built you have to remember when Carlson was built was in the mid 1980s sort of thing and and all of that area is private utility and so this would be strange to run a d duplicate service um basically for this area so it is remaining private um the HOA will be in charge of the uh system and it they would join the master uh agreement between all of the properties if that makes sense it does and so I mean the the reason I bring it up is because when you have these you know it you think about some private roadways for instance and when a Housing Association comes up against you know the the Aging infrastructure and then they need these very expensive uh you know maintenance or or replacement or repair um it I just wanted to make sure I understood sort of what we're what we're dealing with here because uh is this something that you know I'm just wondering if this is something that we need to sort of anticipate since it was built in the 80s and that's 40 years ago already miss wishnik mayor and council member Calbert I think that um this particular HOA operates quite effectively um we have never heard that in the years that I've been here um maybe the developer could respond specifically though to the concern of future issues because they're also the owners of the apartment buildings to the north so apartment building excuse me to the nor so maybe if you want to respond to that portion of it um yeah I guess I I um I can't necessarily speak to the design of the Master Association um but I can speak to the improvements that were installed as part of the 801 um and obviously we collaborate with uh with City staff City engineering department to ensure that all the services that we're installing meet the specifications of the city engineering department very good thank you other questions Council M Wilburn um could you go back on the slide which had listed the the um one more there because I'm not going to remember the wording other so when you say development costs will prioritize inclusive procurement and track divers spend I think I know what that means but could you be could you elaborate a little more on what that means yes so we track as far as diverse spend that would include six categories for us and we track both certified and noncertified certified businesses so it would be minority owned women owned women and minority owned lgbtqia uh veteran owned or small disabled veteran and when it when you say you track it so is there like is this internal tracking or is this like something that can be seen publicly um so we publish an aggregate report on our diverse spend across all of United properties and our annual ESG report report and then for the project itself we haven't published it publicly but it is uh something we work on with our construction manager our GC and myself to ensure that it's accurate other questions council members anyone all right it looks like we're going to let you off the hook we we reserve the right if anyone comes up with a question to ask you to rejoin but we won't go too far thank you for your consideration thank you very much so um let's see I think uh we um at this juncture we will take some public comment but I'm going to be quite restrictive on the public comment um if you recall um many of you attended the Planning Commission meeting and um I watched the Planning Commission I believe most of my council members did and the chair of the Planning Commission was very clear that you were to restrict your comments to land used issues and he requested that and then nobody did that I am not as nice as a Planning Commission um chair so if you are not talking about land us issues I will ask you to stop because this is this tonight we are talking about land use we're not talking about um labor practices or anything like that that's not relevant tonight and uh and so if you have land use comments I'm going to ask you to come forward if you don't then we will we've already had the Planning Commission meeting which was the official public hearing so that's been done and this is an extra opportunity to speak if you have land use issues if there are no land use issues we will skip the P this part of the meeting and go on to council discussion so does anyone have any comments regarding land use give my report again my name is Tim stender I work for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters at 700 Olive Street in St Paul uh the north central State's Regional Council of Carpenters represents 27,000 construction workers in their family families in the Upper Midwest the bulk of them live in Minnesota and many live in minetonka our organization is at the Forefront of deter labor exploitation misclassification human trafficking and other activities that happen on construction sites we have tracked in detail those who work on construction sites in the Twin Cities metro area for the last decade I am here regarding the United properties proposal on pass that passed through the Planning Commission a few weeks back at that meeting the ncsrcc and other groups raised concern over subcontractors hired by General Contractors on other properties developed by United properties for quite some time I'm going to point out that that is not a land use issue and um you know the uh I conferred with the city city attorney okay and uh we this decision tonight will be based on land use now I'm going to hear you out but I probably will not hear anyone else out if you're going to insist on talking about because we are concerned about the issues you're raising but they're not relevant to the meeting tonight and I don't want to waste everyone's time I don't want to give you a public platform on an issue that is not related to the business at hand so if you want to talk to us about employment issues then I suggest we all of our you go to the website you look at each each of our council members our phone numbers are available you can talk to us individually but we are not going to the waste the time of a public forum to talk about issues that are not relevant to our meeting tonight I want to be respectful but I will say that when I watched the Planning Commission um the same instruction was provided and everyone ignored it so tonight we're not going to do it um I will let you finish your report but then I'm not going to take any other non-land use issue I'm not going to take any um reports on non-land use issues because we are dealing on a land use issue not an employment issue um and so I just want to be very fair very straight if you want to talk to me personally my phone number is available on the website it's my cell phone feel free to give me a call I appreciate it for letting me finish Mr Mayor go ahead for quite sometime the NCS RCC and other groups have tried to meet with United properties to discuss issues of how workers have been treated on their projects and those requests for any communication have not occurred so it was a posit positive development to learn that United properties has a tentative agreement to meet with workers to discuss these issues we are hoping that United properties will take real steps to change the problems that workers have experienced working on United properties projects we need developers to hear workers experiences and commit to partnering with workers to implement solutions that workers have brought forth to ensure safety and dignity on those for those who are building these projects lastly we would like to address the letter sent to the Min minona Planning Commission by painting America Incorporated in response to a letter sent by seul in the response from painting America Incorporated it states that they take allegations of wage theft workers abuse seriously do not condone such conduct and investigate all such allegations immediately and deny any wrongdoing we welcome a public or private discussion regarding painting America's practice as dozens of workers have come forward to report problems that include being paid off the books not being paid overtime being misclassified uh inadequate safety training and not knowing whether premiums were being paid on under workman comp policies several of these workers are willing to come forward we would also like to offer to offer to share any public record related to painting America's 2017 consent order through the Department of Labor and Industry so that anyone compare for them can compare for themselves painting Americans version of events with the actual record we hope our hopes are that United Property is willing to address these issues with painting America and other subcontractors on their projects to ensure workers are treated with respect and dignity thank you for your time sir and and thank you and and I I want to add that um you know the reason I don't want take more public comment is because this is not within the purview of the banka city council um there are Avenues and uh we support you know the fair labor standards act um and there are and any issues that you have should be addressed through the US Department of Labor and the wage and our division um at the same time you know we I mean we want to be respectful but we also do not want our meeting to be um taken over um and a topic that's not really relevant to the issue at hand be considered so I'm I'm hoping that I've treated you respectfully and um and and again if you want to talk to me personally or any of us any of my fellow council members our phone numbers are available on the city website please feel free to contact us I will ask the um um City attorney if she has anything to add in terms of um the appropriateness of my comments to to the audience I have nothing to add all right I do have some supplemental documents if you'd like if you'd like to share those the the staff will make sure that we the council gets all of those so we are going to um end public comment on this issue right now and bring it back to the council for any comment or discussion comments Council Calbert thank you mayor yeah um you know for excuse me you would be out of order and I ask you to sit down please no it's not it's not relevant to this and if you'd like to if you'd like to contact me my phone number is 612 723 3907 feel free to give me a call 612 723 3907 that's my cell phone if you call it right now it'll ring right here3 723 3907 we also have uh please share it with staff and they'll make sure that we get it so one of the things that I just want want to make sure people understand there there are rules and there are statutes that govern what we vote on and the mayor's talked about it but really you know for instance that I I mentioned a proposal earlier tonight it did not violate the letter of the law but it violated the spirit of the law I had to vote Yes because denying a proposal that was fully conforming um can land the city in some legal hot water that tonight really the only thing we can consider is land use and it's not that worker workers rights or unethical practices are not important but we cannot consider it and and that's why we're we're asking you to please you know if you you have things to tell us please do con I'm happy to talk to you so I just wanted to to let you know that and also you know we don't really you know to my knowledge I we hear what you've said I've read I've read The Correspondents from both sides and you know we just like in a court case I'm going to decide it based on the facts and to me it you know it's it's you know that's for another day in another Arena so tonight in terms of adopting the ordinance approving a major Amendment to the existing Master development plan and adopting a resolution approving the final site and buildings plans with a variance for eight multi-household residential buildings I I think the use is appropriate I think uh the developers heard from um the Planning Commission and the council at previous meetings saying that um it feels like this site would be more would be appropriate for even more density um just because it is unlike um unlike another proposal on the other side of town it it it it's not butting up against um less dense housing or housing that was felt less dense previously and because it's literally right along the 394 Corridor I I kind of feel like it should have more density but I think this is a case in point for people watching that the city council does not nor does staff dictate the proposals that come to us they come to us and it's it's it's almost a passive process so this is what's coming to us I think it I think the buildings uh are attractive I like that there's a little peaked roof it's not just flat roof I love the natives I like the um energy conservation and so as far as I'm concerned I think it's well well planned well thought out and um I'm in favor thank you Council Calbert are there other comments by council members council member kley I have a comment mayor you know I I just want to say I do appreciate you all coming here tonight organizing I think organizing is really the way to go I do um respect what you're saying however there is rules and laws that we need to follow as a council but also I would encourage you all not just to organize here but to make sure you organize with the state of Minnesota to get the laws passed changed if you want to do something different and you want the council to do something different I'm for um the organizing but I'm also for making sure that um we're following the rules and that's set in place for this city but also know how important it is to make sure that wage theft um is not happening on sites um I recently um connected back with my son's father who's a black man who has spoken to me I've dropped him off at SES so I do understand how people are wage theft it I saw it for myself happen to him so I understand it clearly now I really for sure know like this is really happening I've been told many times I think our city should do more to do something to hear it out more and to support folks who's working in this feel even though we right now cannot do anything but I'm sure we'll be having a conversation in the future about it I believe it's in October that we'll be discussing this and I would love to sit down and have a talk so call me um email me um invite me for coffee or whatever to have this conversation because we do need to do something not just here at the city level but at the state level so I would encourage you all to really push at the state level as well if you want changes made because I seen it I know it's real I was I dropped them off I picked them up I know what it is so I really encourage you all to do more thank Council M kley are there other comments Council M Wilburn so just to sort of echo the the comments of council member Calbert and council member kley um again we are we are confined by what Al what we're allowed to consider when we vote on these but um it's it's an important issue to both to many of us um and I I I'm sure my city manager is tired of hearing me talk to him about wage theft and I'm the one who pushed to get it on our um on our study session to discuss uh what the city can do and and what we can't do and how we approach developers um so again yes I would I would say it's important and and hopefully we can do some work at the state level to get some laws changed to give the city more input on who we can work with that's it thank you Council M Wilburn U Council M Foster Bolton yeah I would reiterate all of my council members comments and that know that this effort of organizing has brought this to the Forefront of all of our minds and um that that's a p Bush and that's something um my years of organizing have taught me that I can't get what I want when I want it um and it's very slow but um know that this has brought us to us our attention but also I wanted to ask the developer um about the price of the units like like what how much are they going to be per month like the high-end and also the affordable unit like ballpark please come forward well mayor members of the council um we have not decided the actual uh starting rent rates so they're not for sale they're they're for rent um what we can say is they will be commensurate with the rents at um Amira in at tanka just to the north so obviously larger units will be a little bit more expensive than than what we have there we've not decided on that what I can speak to though is the um the the two units uh to correct the staff report um two units of 50% Ami will be included in in the project very good um you know a related question I'm just anticipating it for my fellow counil member what is the highest rent at um the um neighboring building because I think that would provide that would provide a context um so if you could give us a highest rent because we assume that none of these will be lower than the highest in that building yes mayor that is a fair uh assessment the high rent today that we're publishing for Amir manataka is $4,200 per month for the largest unit now that is an all-inclusive rate mirror model is different than other market rate rental or other rental products in general our our model is an all-inclusive includes the parking the phone the cable the internet um all those things the amenity spaces um it is truly um a different and unique model that that are that our residents appreciate very good thank you and I thank you um C member Foster Bolton mayor continue just before you go on yeah um the policy requires 10% so that's three units so I just want to clarify that for the record three units out of total okay thank you so what would be the low end um I guess based on it' be the income qualified okay okay at whatever that published rate is by Minnesota housing okay thanks very good all right thank you other questions for the developer all right thank you oh you do okay council member comments or or questions both okay well I'll I'll I'll let you continue to stand there yeah go ahead okay so um I noticed on page3 of the uh thank you thank you mayor um I noticed on page 139 it says uh right now you're currently enrolled in energy design assistance that program the XL Energy program does this mean that that could change or do you you know kind of commit are you you know definitely going to pursue that program with them yes yes we yes we have committed to pursue that program with them great and then uh in the Planning Commission uh chairs kind of uh at the end kind of tossed off a suggestion which I thought was quite good um to have permeable pvers in the recreation space at least and this was in response to concerns about you know Green Space and uh I thought that was a fantastic suggestion and it would help make up for uh the f um so I hope that you know I wanted to see if that would be something that you would consider um for there and elsewhere so that I guess is a question slash comment um and then lastly and you can answer that at the same time as this uh similar to the other dashboard question uh you I know internally have a dashboard and I looked at your ESG report for 2023 very impressive thank you for putting that online I appreciate that uh I was wondering if there's any opportunity for residents uh to have access to the sustainability features so that they can also track how their building is doing or is that something that's tracked across the entire portfolio I'll speak to that yeah um so through our green lease language and our residence leases they will be able to we will be uh transparent with the energy use and water use and waste use to our residents and to work together to uh lower the energy use or just keep aware of what's going on um and they can have access to any of our dashboards if they wish great thank you um I think that's it for questions right now all right and then I I mean if you have comments too you're welcome to absolutely yeah I I I like the design for the reasons that have already been stated by my colleagues uh I think it's actually smart density and walkability I actually appreciate not having a row of larger buildings I know that you know the hotel was envisioned but I think having the variegated um roof lines and things kind of give it a much more of a neighborhood feel than if we just had another five uh story building large uh massive building so I think that is a bonus a plus for me actually um I like that it opens up housing I was really uh pleasantly surprised to see that 190 of the 106 residents of Amir minona moved from within minona um so freeing up that space uh hopefully for younger families to move in to single family housing um and and so I'm looking forward to having the kind of same sort of ratio here I I definitely hope that that occurs uh I definitely commend and very much appreciate the plan to pursue green pass certification um especially your you know going above and beyond code require requirements um the water-wise native plantings and so on so uh with that I am prepared to support uh the plan thank you Council other comments council member sha thank you mayor um I'll talk about land use first I mean I think we've talked about this in the concept plan and and it's a good product um you know I I really appreciate kind of the information that provided about sustainability one of the things I mean being a leader in the community and I'll touch on this in a minute but on in regards to the other issue but you know love to see if you could push the envelope on this project or future Pro projects it helps us direct other developers to what kind of sustainability features we're seeing I mean it's a challenge so you know the EV charging stations are great but can we crank some of the this up a notch and and this is a unique project it's probably harder to get the to innovate in a project like this but um I think it's really important that we get kind of out of the comfort zone of of native plantings and I mean those are important and EV Chargers and try to get it to the next to the next level on sustainability um I don't have any problem with the density and I'm looking forward to kind of getting changing the F cons consideration for C in certain zoning because if you know we were all talking about we'd love to see a lot greater density of course that would have increased the variance required even more so um you know that we need to kind of think about what we're asking for and how does that does that align with our our code I do want to to the to the issue of being a leader you know I'm glad to hear that United properties is going to meet I think we've all got a role to play I am a business owner and an employer and I sure that I have faults in some of my business practices as unintentional as they may be and I do my best to make sure that that doesn't happen and I you know you're working with thousands of people and employees and you know it would be I think good for your image you don't want to sit through this as much as we don't want to to hear these allegations either so to be you know to try to be be part of the solution and rather than you know um continuing to have this be a massive problem so that I'm I am not an expert on any of this and I would not I'm I'm an attorney and I do um know that allegations are allegations and due process has to play out and on top of this not being within our purview but I just encourage you so that in you know whatever other City you're at next the this maybe can be a more collaborative conversation rather than such an adversarial one because it makes everybody feels crappy having to be um in this situation and I do appreciate hearing from folks who have concerns and I will say one of the things that's really important to me is if we have a worker anywhere in this community that feels like they're not being treated fairly and they don't know where to turn we can help Point them in that we're not going to be the solution probably but they can reach out to us or anyone on staff and we can help Point them in the right direction and that may help um inform us a little bit more about where if and where there are problems within the community so thank you for considering that and I don't mean I'll get off my soap box but it's really important to me I think my fellow council members I agree with pretty much everything that they said council member kley particularly so um I'm in favor of this but I'm also in favor of just doing better so so I think we all can we can all strive to do better Council other comments all right I'll make a few um you know the the two things the two land use things that we are being um requested to do the adopt the um um an amendment to the ma um a major Amendment to the existing Ming Master development plan and adopt the resolution approving the final sight and building plans with variance um I support those and I will vote Yes um on the you know this was a difficult meeting for me and I think for all of us I don't I I like to hear what uh uh residents and people have to say but I also think that we have to be mindful of what is the task at hand and I want to say that I am very sympathetic um to the concerns that have been expressed wage theft is wrong um uh human trafficking is wrong there are things that happen in our community good old motanka where we like to think it's almost perfect bad things happen here too and um and I want to acknowledge that and I want people to to have the opportunity to feel that we as a council are supporting their concerns we want workers we want people to be be fairly treated and as Council M Shack said um I'm serious that the number I shared with you tonight that's my cell phone call me um I'll pick it up if I don't pick it up I will call you back but it's important and and I am pleased that um the senior leadership of United properties is here I appreciate the letter that they wrote and indicated that they have reached out and will meet with um the various parties that have expressed concern um I think it's important for us as a city to demonstrate that we that we want to hold people accountable and um and that um but we also want to do it in the right way and saying no to this project tonight because of some very serious but not in our purview concerns would be inappropriate and the and the City attorney would tell us that but um but we want to do it the right way we want to be respectful and we do care about what people have to say and their concerns and we certainly never want to we we would like to say that there is no wage theft there is no human trafficking there are none of these problems in matka that's naive and um and we we want to uh we want to be um part of the solution not part of the problem so I believe we have the votes to pass this tonight but um I don't think with the passage of this um project that um this issue disappears it doesn't because it's a very important and relevant issue so I appreciate everyone coming forward and I and I thank you for indulging me on me kind of holding the line on what this meeting was was about and what it was not about so thank you for your participation awareness so with that I'm going to turn to my Council for a motion on this uh project and we'll move forward but thank you all for being here tonight thank you very much Council R thank you mayor I'll move to adopt the ordinance approving a major Amendment to the existing Master development plan and also adopting the resolution approving final site and building plans with a variance for the eight multi-story residential buildings and is there a second council member Foster Bolton I'll second all right we've got a motion by council member ra and a second by council member Foster Bolton Miss England Please call rooll calber yes R yes kley yes Foster Bolton yes Shaq yes Wilburn yes weome yes motion carries the next item is um well item um 14b as you know has been um removed from the agenda item 15 is appointments and reappointments we have none our final item is adjournment is there a motion to adjourn council member Wilburn is I move adjournment is there a second Council Calbert I second all um a motion by council member Wilburn and a second by council member Calbert all in favor say I I we are adjourned thank you [Music]