City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome to Agenda Edina, a program summarizing the actions taken at city hall that affect you most. I'm your host, Dorothia Marty. The city is moving forward with the sale of a long vacant property. More than 15 years after the public works and park maintenance facility relocated to Metro Boulevard, the city council approved the sale of its former location at 5146 Eden Avenue in the Grand View District. The 3acre property has been vacant since 2013. Last year, the city's housing and redevelopment authority or HRA issued a request for proposal and reviewed 11 different proposals. Ultimately, the HA selected a team led by Hemple Real Estate and Monarch Development Partners. The partnership, formerly known as Arcadia Avenue Partners, plans a mixeduse redevelopment of the site that includes new commercial space and new owner occupied town houses and condominiums. The new buildings will be arranged to create an environment that is friendly to both drivers and pedestrians.

The project includes new ownership housing, condominiums, and town homes. We've seen so many rental buildings over the the last several years. This proposal presents a little bit something different and we think that's going to be a huge benefit to the community.

Under the approved sales contract, the development team will purchase the property for $4 million. In addition to mandatory park dedication and development fees, the sale is anticipated to occur in spring 2027. The developers will now engage architects and engineers to prepare concept plans for public review. These plans will be scrutinized using the city's standard review process, including sketch plan, resoning, and multiple public hearings. This process will provide the community opportunities to share input on the proposed project and site plan. Improvements are coming to the area around the Braar Gulf Dome. The city council has approved an expansion of the parking lot, adding muchneeded spaces during the busy winter season. In the summer months, the area will also serve as a trail head and include pickle ball practice courts. Those courts will feature a pickle roll tournament quality surface designed to provide a consistent lowmaintenance playing experience.

Site improvements were a large part of the Braar Park master plan. We looked at how can we dualpurpose some of these sites so that we can maximize the recreational potential and minimize our environmental impacts.

The project is funded through local option sales tax dollars. Tree removal and site preparation will be completed in April with construction expected to begin this summer after the Gulf Dome closes. Water meters throughout the city will be replaced over the next four years. It's a project aimed at improving efficiency, water conservation, and customer service. Edana TV shows us how new technology is making this possible and what residents and customers can expect when it's their turn for a new meter. Every home depends on it. A resource that takes energy and infrastructure to deliver, but the 14-year-old equipment used to measure water use is wearing out.

A typical lifespan of a water meter is 10 to 20 years old. They will start to be inefficient where they will start reading less water than is actually going through the meter. Starting this year, the process of upgrading over 14,000 water meters in the city begins. Uh before there's an install, you want to check your um main valves. So, there's going to be an incoming and outgoing valve. Uh make sure that they are working properly. They shut your water off completely. Sometimes they're just completely corroded. Sometimes they'll leak. Um you just want to make sure everything's working properly and we can shut the water off all the way. You got to remove the old meter and loosen up each side. Typically, you'll have water in here, but this one's been drained.

Letters will begin arriving in April, which will include scheduling information. Residents won't need to call the city. The company that we contracted with is Ferguson Waterworks. They are uh managing the project from their end, and they uh have their vendor partner, RMR Services, and they have a technician that will come out and replace that meter upon schedule. We get our gasket set with clear access to the old meter. The installation should take 30 to 45 minutes. For commercial businesses, it is a priority to schedule that outside your working business hours because your water will have to be shut off for a period of time until the meter is installed.

To read those old meters, city staff must drive within radio range of every home in business. A process that can take up to four or 5 days every month with the current system. Along with the new water meter, pull, pull, pull. A transmitter will be attached outside the home to broadcast a signal to a nearby receiver mounted on a water tower or other structure. After the upgrade, water usage can be measured instantly by city staff and build monthly.

Getting those meter readings every month allows us to possibly capture high usages due to toilet leaks or irrigation programming mishaps or even a leak in the winter months that uh the homeowner does not know about. and you won't get a bill for the new equipment. There is no direct cost to the resident. This project was incorporated in our capital improvement project budget for us to get this done within the next four years. Addresses with the oldest meters will receive letters first with about 5,000 customers set to receive new meters this year. I'm Dan Carpenter for Adina TV.

To learn more about the water replacement project, visit edina.gov/meterreplacement. GV/meterreplacement. If you're unsure if a letter, phone call, or visit is legitimate, you can contact the Edina Public Works Department's Utilities Division at 952-826375 to verify. We hope you're enjoying these early days of spring. Thank you for watching this episode of Agenda Edina. I'm your host, Dorothia Marty.