HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-03-16 City Council Work Session MinutesMINUTES
OF THE EDINA CITY COUNCIL
WORK SESSION
VIRTUAL MEETING
TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2021
5:30 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Hovland called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Answering roll call were Members Anderson, Jackson, Pierce, Staunton, and Mayor Hovland.
Staff in attendance: Scott Neal, City Manager; Chad Millner, Engineering Director; Grace Hancock, Sustainability
Coordinator; Ross Bintner, Equipment Services Manager; Jessica Wilson, Water Resources Coordinator; Aaron
Ditzler, Assistant City Engineer; Don Uram, Finance Director; Ryan Browning, IT Director; Jennifer Bennerotte,
Communications Director; Perry Vetter, Parks & Recreation Director; Cary Teague, Community Development
Director; Tom Swenson, Assistant Director-Parks & Natural Resources; Risi Karim, City Management Fellow;
Jennifer Garske, Executive Assistant; and Sharon Allison, City Clerk.
SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS POLICY OVERVIEW
Sustainability Coordinator, Grace Hancock presented an overview of the City’s sustainable buildings policy.
Hancock stated that the top electricity users in Edina were commercial and industrial buildings with 20% using
90% of the total electricity. She said Edina cannot meet its sustainability goals without addressing commercial and
industrial buildings. Hancock recommended two pathways: first, to develop a policy for city-owned buildings
because this allows the City to institute changes faster and to lead by example; and second, a public engagement
phase for commercial buildings. Hancock noted that because the State of Minnesota sets building codes, the City’s
requirements cannot be more strict than existing codes. She shared staff’s recommendation for a policy structure,
who it applies to and policy triggers. She spoke about the third-party rating systems and applicable building types
that would allow the City to use best practices and familiar area processes for area developers plus, the second
policy structure, an overlay collection of requirements to be met regardless of which third-party rating systems
were followed. She reviewed the building types, policy applicability, and policy triggers. She shared that the
experiences from other cities with a sustainable buildings policy did not slowdown development, when developers
and builders were trained this helped to ensure a smooth policy rollout, that the cost of compliance ranged from
5-10% in overall development costs, and long-term cost-savings were realized. Hancock shared questions for
Council on the City policy and commercial policy as staff considers parameters, implementation, and public
engagement.
MORNINGSIDE FLOOD INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT – PRELIMINARY STAFF RECOMMENDATION
The City Council received a presentation from the Equipment Services Manager, Ross Bintner, on the
Morningside Flood Infrastructure Project and staff’s preliminary recommendation. Bintner presented background
and context from the 2018 Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan update, flood risk reduction
strategy, timeline for creation of the new infrastructure, and previewed the challenge of flooding and meeting the
challenges. Bintner explained the public engagement process and how public input was used to inform the concept
design and framework. He said how the design team created and reviewed three options that were “big,”
“bigger,” and “biggest,” and staff recommended the “bigger” option, which was $10 million. Bintner stated that
staff would return to Council in April with a refined plan for consideration.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Hovland adjourned the meeting at 6:38 p.m.
Edina City Council Closed and Work Session Meeting, January 20, 2021
Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________________
Sharon Allison, City Clerk
Minutes approved by the Edina City Council, April 6, 2021.
___________________________________________
James B. Hovland, Mayor