HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-12-03 Work Session Meeting MinutesMINUTES
OF THE EDINA CITY COUNCIL
WORK SESSION
COMMUNITY ROOM, CITY HALL
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2024
5:30 P.M.
1.0 CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Hovland called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
2.0 ROLL CALL
Answering rollcall were Members Agnew, Jackson, Pierce, Risser, and Mayor Hovland.
Staff in attendance: Scott Neal, City Manager (virtual); Ari Lenz, Assistant City Manager; Zoe Johnson, City
Management Fellow; Brian Olson, Public Works Director; Ryan Browning, I.T. Director; Perry Vetter, Parks
& Recreation Director; Police Chief Todd Milburn; Fire Chief Andrew Slama; Chad Milner, Engineering
Director; Derik Otten, Facility Manager; Cary Teague, Community Development Director; Bill Neuendorf,
Economic Development Manager; Stephanie Hawkinson, Affordable Housing Development Manager; Jennifer
Bennerotte, Communication Director; and Sharon Allison, City Clerk.
3.1 2025-2030 C1P and 2025 Budget
Manager Neal gave an overview of the process the City takes in approving a CIP and budget and encouraged
the Council to think of this as an investment for key facilities and staff.
Finance Director Thao presented information to the Council on the 2025 CIP, Budget, and Final Levy
including: the timeline; the requirement by the State to adopt and certify the final levy; comparison of Edina
to other jurisdictions; comparison between Edina and other area cities; General Fund sources including the
subtotals by department; budgeted full-time employee (FTE) counts; details within the 2025-2031 CIP by
category and by funding source; projection of the CIP in order to meet maintenance and project needs;
possibility for additional bonding as debt services fall off; projections of the City's Financial Management Plan
(FMP); breakdown of the proposed levy increase; reviewed possible reduction options that the Council
could consider their impacts; and other possible cost savings.
The Council asked questions of staff and discussed the possibility of including a slide in the presentation that
showed the percent increase for each of the area cities; the importance of discussing asset preservation as
part of the CIP discussion; whether residents should expect an average of a 9.5% to 10% increase in the
projects year on year and if so, the importance of having additional commentary on how the City comes up
with the projections; lack of understanding surrounding the zoning amendments and the costs that were
associated with it; concerns about using reserve funds for something other than one-time costs; rules around
use of reserve funds and how the funds would be able to be replenished; ways to communicate to the public
what happens when there is a budget surplus, for example, last year when there wasn't as much snow
plowing as usual; possibility of projects being pushed out and ending up costing more than the current
amounts due to inflation; importance of evaluating the cold storage site to ensure that continued use would
be safe if they delay this project; past discussions related to Lewis Park; age of the existing shelter; past park
shelter replacement projects and how they were paid for; possible grant opportunities for park building
replacements; staffing practices for ambulance and fire response in the City; whether 6 additional paramedic
firefighters were required to be able to address the internal shift mandates that forced staff to stay on duty
due to a sick call 23 times in 2024; expectations of residents regarding response times; recent difficulty in
filling overtime shifts; historic data regarding response times; increase in the levy over the last 10 years;
importance of discussion at the retreat to understand how the City can be run as efficiently as possible;
concerns about requiring staff to stay on duty when there is a sick call when they have already been on duty
for a full shift; starting next year's budget discussion with what each department 'wants'; past applications
for Safer Grants and explaining the selection process to the public; possibility of finding some costs savings
within construction fund and the equipment levy; recent increases in equipment costs; possibility of shifting
things back further than 2025 for equipment costs; the possibility of decreasing the proposed budget increase
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Minutes/Edina City Council Work Session/December 3. 2024
for the Edina Historical Society; what the financial project would be for using reserves to pay for the zoning
amendment and cold storage site, delaying Lewis Park, hiring the firefighters, and also adopting a 1% General
Fund service cut; need for the City to figure out what number they can hit for 2025 and set a target for 2026
so every department, beginning on January 1st can start looking at ways they can meet that target and find
efficient ways for the City to reduce their overall spending; importance of doing a deep dive on what the
City is providing on a department by department basis; periodic reports from the departments on what they
have found within their budgets that could be changed; concerns about cutting the budget now and what the
future implications may be to future budgets; and differences of opinions on the Council about the possibility
of delaying Lewis Park.
Finance Director Thao noted that the Council did not need to adopt the final 2025 budget until their
December 17, 2024 City Council meeting.
3.2 2025 Legislative Platforms — Review of Received Council Feedback
Time did allow for discussion of this agenda item.
Minutes approved by Edina City Council, Dec. I7, 2024.
„Aro" ..44 Ti‘ii Nhip
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\
on Allison, City Clerk i
ames Hovland, ayor
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Hovland adjourned the meeting at 6:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
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