HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-07-18 City Council Work Session Meeting MinutesMINUTES
OF THE EDINA CITY COUNCIL
WORK SESSION
COMMUNITY ROOM, CITY HALL
TUESDAY, July 18, 2023
5:30 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Hovland called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Answering roll call were Members: Agnew, Jackson, Pierce, Risser and Mayor Hovland
Staff in attendance: Scott Neal, City Manager; Lisa Schaefer, Assistant City Manager; Gillian Straub, City
Management Fellow; Perry Vetter, Parks & Recreation Director; Grace Hancock, Sustainability Manager; Chad
Millner, Engineering Director; Jennifer Bennerotte, Communications Director; Twila Singh, Organics Recycling
Coordinator; Heidi Blum, GreenCorp member to Community Health; Nick Lovejoy, I.T. Security Analyst; and
Sharon Allison, City Clerk.
ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATION UPDATE
Assistant City Manager Lisa Schaefer updated the City Council on City administration of the Edina Public
Schools (EPS) Elections. Schaefer said the primary question was which staff should be responsible for running
the EPS elections that do not coincide with a city or state-wide general election, EPS or City staff. Schaefer
said the City has historically served as EPS’ election vendor; however, in 2021, City staff began the discussion
with EPS staff that there was a desire to not continue as its election vendor because elections were more time
consuming and challenging, required months of work by the City Clerk Division and other departments, and
took staff away from day-to-day City work and projects. Schaefer said there was an agreement in place to
administer the 2023 election and that EPS staff would shadow City staff to get an understanding of the
requirements and workload. Schaefer said the City and EPS are working to develop an agreement to better
share costs and workload for year 2025 and beyond and plan to bring a proposal to Council in August;
however, she recommended not approving the agreement until after the 2023 election is completed.
Council asked questions and provided feedback.
CARRYOUT BAG FEE DISCUSSION
Sustainability Manager Grace Hancock reviewed the recommendation from the Energy and Environment
Commission (EEC) which was for the City to require merchants to charge a $.05 fee for carryout bags and to
write an ordinance for this requirement. Hancock said after review, staff did not recommend implementing a
carryout bag fee ordinance for several reasons including the significant City resources that would be required
for effective implementation. Hancock recommended other measures that the City could take to meet Edina’s
waste reduction goals. Engineering Director Chad Millner said the EEC was very disappointed with staff’s
recommendations and asked Council how they would like staff to proceed.
Working group members and EEC commissioners in attendance all spoke in favor of implementing the fee.
Council asked questions and provided feedback. Council asked staff to come back with a draft ordinance.
Attendees: Energy and Environment Chair Hilda Martinez, Commissioner Ukasha Dakane and EEC working
work members Nicole Meehan and William Sierks.
ADJOURNMENT
Edina City Council Work Session Meeting, July 18, 2023
Mayor Hovland adjourned the meeting at 6:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________________
Sharon Allison, City Clerk
Minutes approved by the Edina City Council, August 2, 2023.
___________________________________________
James B. Hovland, Mayor