HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-07-16 City Council Work Session MinutesMINUTES
OF THE WORK SESSION OF THE
EDINA CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2019
5:30 P.M.
Mayor Hovland called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
ROLLCALL
Answering roll call were Members Brindle, Staunton, Fischer, Anderson and Mayor Hovland.
Staff in attendance: Scott Neal, City Manager; Lisa Schaefer, Assistant City Manager; Chad Millner, Engineering
Director; MJ Lamon, Community Engagement Coordinator; Heidi Lee, Race & Equity Coordinator; Jennifer
Garske, Executive Assistant; Casey Casella, City Management Fellow; Andrew Scipioni, Transportation Planner;
Katie Bisek, I.T. Specialist; and Sharon Allison, City Clerk.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY UPDATE
Ms. Lamon stated that the community engagement strategy was developed around the City's goal to foster an
inclusive and engaged community using the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) model. In
December, staff presented the Public Participation Proposal for the West 58th Street project that identified the
participation level and decisions to be made were related to plan elements. Additionally, five lessons from IAP2
for effective public participation were included. The lessons were make a plan, do what we say we're going to
do, do not change the rule, make a decision and tell residents why.
Ms. Lamon explained that the engagement website, BetterTogether Edina, was launched in conjunction with the
W. 58th Street pilot project and they had more than 3,000 site visits plus in-person input. She added that balancing
input does not include everyone getting what they want but instead documenting why input could not be used.
She said lessons learned included how questions were asked, residents not trusting the process and duplication
of input. Ms. Lamon said they were at the decision-making stage to be followed by the final stage of telling
residents the decision and why the decision was made.
During discussion, Council said they heard from residents who felt they were not heard, but that the residents
were complimentary that communication was timely. Council suggested a different approach and that was to
solicit residents' ideas, then design their ideas into a plan. Director Millner noted that Alternate A was drafted
from residents' feedback in stage one and other feedback did not meet municipal state aid requirements.
Another Council suggestion was to identify strategies for building trust.
NEXT STEPS FOR ETHICS POLICY
Assistant City Manager Schaefer offered suggestions for drafting the ethics policy which included reaffirming or
revising current practices or writing a new policy. Councilmember Staunton suggested working on the policy in
an upcoming work session.
JOINT MEETING WITH THE HUMAN RIGHTS & RELATIONS COMMISSION
Commissioners in attendance: Pat Arseneault, Cindy Edwards, Chair Jim Nelson, Mike Epstein, Ellen Kennedy,
Vice Chair Cathy Beringer, and Michelle Meek.
Chair Nelson reviewed the Human Rights & Relations Commission work plan and explained that most of their
work plan items were related to the Race & Equity work plan and involved working jointly with other
commissioners. He said it was difficult to schedule meetings because of everyone's time constraint but they were
making progress.
Other updates included the Annual Days of Remembrance in April that was attended by approximately 200; the
2019 14th annual Tom Oye Award will have two award categories with one reserved for students. Also, the
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon Allison, City Clerk
Minutes approved by the Edina City Council, August 7, 20
c....___
4 James Hovland, Mayor
Edina City Council Work Session/July 16, 2019
Values and Sharing Committee were planning their annual event which would include three topics, Missing
Murdered Indigenous Women, Combating Human Trafficking, and Human Rights Impact of Climate Crisis.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Hovland adjourned the meeting at 6:50 p.m.