HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-11-15 City Council Work Session MinutesMINUTES
OF THE EDINA CITY COUNCIL
WORK SESSION
COMMUNITY ROOM, CITY HALL
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2022
5:30 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Hovland called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm
ROLL CALL
Answering roll call were Members Anderson, Jackson, Pierce, Mayor Hovland
Absent: Member Staunton
Staff in attendance: Scott Neal, City Manager; Lisa Schaefer, Assistant City Manager; MJ Lamon, Community
Engagement Manager; Grace Hancock, Sustainability Manager; Heidi Lee, Race & Equity Manager; Jeff Brown,
Community Health Administrator; Rachel Finberg, Facilities Project Manager; Noah Silver, Electrical
Supervisor; Chad Millner, Engineering Director; Perry Vetter, Parks & Recreation Director; Ryan Browning,
I.T. Director; and Sharon Allison, City Clerk.
INTRODUCTION TO VALUES VIEWFINDER
Community Engagement Manager Lamon and her team said the Values Viewfinder was developed as a way for
staff to incorporate budget values in decision-making processes. The tool was developed to help decision-
makers understand, assess, and communicate the impact, opportunities and trade-offs of a decision using the
lens of Community Engagement to foster an inclusive, informed and engaged community; Health in All Policies
as a collaborative approach to improving people’s health by including health considerations into decision-
making across policy areas; Race and Equity acknowledging and celebrating the diversity of the Edina
community members and proactively working together to eliminate systemic and institutional barriers to
ensure all people have the opportunity to thrive in the City; and Sustainability where those who live in Edina
can imagine and achieve a future where the earth and all who live on it thrive. Collectively, the disciplines
achieve community well-being. This process was first used with Fire Station #2 and is now being used on the
Strachauer Park Master Plan by the project team and for community feedback to inform pre-design and design
concept by gaining a better understanding of the decision and scope, asking tool questions and evaluation of
goals and strategies. Staff will prepare a final memo showing how the values were incorporated and what were
the trade-offs. Team members in addition to Community Engagement Manager Lamon were Grace Hancock,
Sustainability Manager; Heidi Lee, Race & Equity Manager; and Jeff Brown, Community Health Administrator.
Council asked questions and provided feedback.
2022 STATE AND FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE STREETLIGHTING SYSTEM
Director Millner discussed future options for managing streetlights because in 2018 Xcel Energy notified the City
of its plan to discontinue certain services on lights that had a 25-year lifespan, and a recommendation from the
Street Funding Task Force for the City to create a street light policy. Project Manager Finberg and Electrical
Supervisor Silver said the 2022 replacement value of public streetlights owned and maintained by the City and
Xcel were $37M and it was their goal to formulate a funding plan to manage aging infrastructure in areas that
are already experiencing issues like the Grandview District, Heritage M-Health Fairview area, and many resident
complaints in other areas of the City. Finberg and Silver presented four replacement options including a hybrid
approach where the City retained priority areas in the 50th & France and Grandview District areas, and remaining
lights converted to Xcel. Staff recommended the hybrid approach and discussed existing and future budget.
Millner said the Street Funding Task Force had recommended staff create a street light policy to establish
standard locations and quality of lighting paid for by the City, which will now be considered as part of this
Edina City Council Work Session Meeting, November 15, 2022
discussion. Millner said lights in parks were not a part of this analysis; however, Director Vetter and his team
were working on an analysis for future presentation. Staff recommended Council confirm the hybrid approach
so that staff could develop a budget for future recommendation.
City Council asked questions, provided feedback and recommended the hybrid approach.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Hovland adjourned the meeting at 6:34 pm.
Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________________
Sharon Allison, City Clerk
Minutes approved by the Edina City Council, December 6, 2022.
___________________________________________
James B. Hovland, Mayor