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CC VER 2020 05 11CHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MAY 11, 2020 Mayor Ryan called the work session to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was opened with the Pledge to the Flag. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Ryan, Councilwoman Tjornhom, Councilman McDonald, Councilman Campion, and Councilwoman Coleman STAFF PRESENT: Todd Gerhardt, Charlie Howley, Todd Hoffman, and Roger Knutson Mayor Ryan: Good evening again everyone. Thank you for joining us tonight. To all the mom’s out there. One in the council chambers as well as Councilwomen Coleman and Tjornhom, Happy Mothers Day. Hope you had a great day yesterday. I would like to again review the guidelines for this meeting. As we work through the agenda I will be asking each council member for verbal acknowledgement throughout the agenda item and then ask for a roll call vote if required before moving to the next agenda item. No council member will be holding chats or discussions on the side through the Zoom. All discussion will be made public. For the record we have all of our council members present tonight. I am here in the council chambers and our 4 council members are joining us via Zoom. Our first action is our agenda approval. Council members are there any modifications to the agenda as printed? As I call. Councilwoman Coleman: Mayor if I could add something. Sorry go ahead. Mayor Ryan: Alright let me do the roll call and when I get to you Councilwoman Coleman. Are there any modifications to the agenda, Councilman McDonald? Councilman McDonald: No. Mayor Ryan: Councilwoman Tjornhom? Councilwoman Tjornhom: No. Mayor Ryan: Councilwoman Coleman? Councilwoman Coleman: Yes my apologies, I forgot we were going in a specific order. I would like to add a proclamation that City Manager Gerhardt sent around earlier today to the agenda. Mayor Ryan: Okay we would under New Business. Number 2. Alright we’ll add that proclamation to New Business number 2 so H-2. Councilman Campion? Councilman Campion: No. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 2 Mayor Ryan: Do we have to vote on a changed agenda? Roger Knutson: No. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT: Mayor Ryan: Alright. Alright next on our agenda is our public announcements and we have one public announcement tonight and that is the National Public Works Week Proclamation is May 17th through 23rd of 2020. Whereas Public Works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and to the public health, high quality of life and well being of the people of the city of Chanhassen; and Whereas the infrastructure, facilities and services cannot be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are responsible for rebuilding, improving and protecting our nation’s transportation, drinking water supply, waste water collection, public buildings, parks, surface water, other structures and facilities essential for our citizens; and Whereas it is in the public interest for the citizens, civic leaders and children in the city of Chanhassen to gain knowledge of and to maintain an interest and understanding of the important of public works and public works programs in our community; and Whereas the year 2020 marks the 60th annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association, Be It Now Resolved, I, Mayor of the City of Chanhassen do hereby designate week May 17th through 23rd, 2020 as National Public Works Week. I urge all citizens to join the representatives of the American Public Works Association and government agencies in activities, events and ceremonies designated to pay tribute to our public works professionals and to recognize the substantial contributions they make to protecting our community’s health, safety, and quality of life. And therefore I make that proclamation. Thank you. And thank you Mr. Howley for tonight and all your team’s hard work throughout the city. CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Ryan: Nex t we have our consent agenda. Tonight we have consent agenda items number 1 through 5. All items listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be recorded as a single motion based on staff recommendation. There’ll be no separate discussion of these items. Are there any items that the council would like to consider separately? Councilman McDonald? Councilman McDonald: No. Mayor Ryan: Councilwoman Tjornhom? Councilwoman Tjornhom: No. Mayor Ryan: Councilwoman Coleman? Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 3 Councilwoman Coleman: Item number 4 please. Mayor Ryan: Alright we will move consent agenda number 4 to New Business number 3. And Councilman Campion? Councilman Campion: No. Mayor Ryan: Alright with that could I get a motion to approve consent agenda items number 1 through 3 and number 5. Councilman Campion moved, Councilwoman Coleman seconded to approve the following consent agenda items pursuant to the City Manager’s recommendations: 1. Approve City Council Minutest dated April 27, 2020 2. Receive Planning Commission Minutes dated February 18, 2020 3. Approval of Lease Agreement with the Chanhassen Historical Society for Old Village Hall 4. Moved to H-3. 5. Resolution #2020-31: Haak Property Transfer to RPBCWD for a Flood Mitigation and Wetland Restoration Project All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS. Mayor Ryan: Next we have visitor presentations. Visitor presentations are included with each of regularly scheduled council meetings. Recognizing that with the Stay at Home Order still in place you may not feel comfortable attending a meeting we have created an email to address your submitted questions or comments and the link is on our website. We did receive two of those this week which I will read momentarily. We also have a citizen action request form available online and so if your request includes a specific action item from staff or council we ask that you fill that out and we did receive one this week and I believe, or I know she is here in the chambers so I would ask that you come forward and state your name and address for the record and go ahead. Wesley Martin: Hi, my name is Wesley Martin, 6532 Grey Fox Curve. Mayor Ryan: Go ahead Wesley. Thank you for being here. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 4 Wesley Martin: I’m a runner and a fencer. I’m here today because I think there should be more painted crosswalks at intersections like by Lotus Park. Lotus Lake Park. Mayor Ryan: Wonderful. Thank you Wesley. I appreciate you being here tonight. I love your advocacy and your willingness to come forward with an issue and bring it to council. I wish all of council was here to see you but they can see you on the screen so thank you for coming forward. I’m going to ask Mr. Howley who is our City Engineer and Public Works Director to talk to you a little bit more about crosswalks. Wesley Martin: Okay. Mayor Ryan: Go ahead Mr. Howley. Charlie Howley: Thank you Mayor and council. Thank you for being here and thank you for your question. We get a lot of citizen inquiries into crosswalks because it is seen as a tremendous public safety issue. Whether it be on a local street or a collector street people want to feel safe when they’re crossing, as you’re bringing up but there are some legalities to marking ped crossings that we have to abide by. First of all any controlled intersection which is really where any road intersects another road vehicles have to give right-of-way to pedestrians crossing. That is whether it’s marked or unmarked that is what they have to do by State Statute. So therefore that’s why you don’t see a lot of painted crosswalks at all the local road intersections that you see around town because you don’t really need to because the vehicles need to stop anyways. Where it gets a little more tricky is the mid-block crossings like if you’re trying to cross the street not at another street intersection. And there, and we do have a number of those in town and in order to do that we have to make sure that it’s a destination that people are trying to go from and to like if we have a multi-use trail that comes out to a midblock crossing, that would be a great candidate to put in a marked crosswalk and the reason why you would then go through marking it with both paint and signage is to alert the drivers who normally aren’t anticipating a pedestrian to cross the street midblock and in order to do that you have to do a little study. You have to make sure that it meets warrants and you have to follow the guidelines for what that crossing needs to look like and then we can put one in. So we don’t put those in in every neighborhood if there’s not a reason to put them in but generally marking crosswalks we take very seriously. We annually maintain our paint striping to make sure it’s refreshed and visible. Your specific location I will look into to see if there’s a reason why there should be one or if there is supposed to be one and there’s not. We will look into it for sure. Do you have any questions? Wesley Martin: No. Charlie Howley: Okay. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 5 Mayor Ryan: Wesley I have one question for you. I know you said you lived by Lotus, North Lotus Lake Park. Do you know what street that you’re thinking of one that should be one or is there not one there or should it be painted, you know is the paint going away and it needs to be repainted? Wesley Martin: There actually is no paint at all. Mayor Ryan: There’s no paint at all. And do you know what street that is that you’re thinking of? Wesley Martin: Well I had pictures but I forgot them. Mayor Ryan: Does your mom know what street? Mrs. Martin: The park comes out to the trail on the north side of Pleasant View right there and there’s no crosswalk there so kids and parents coming in and out of the park there’s no crosswalk right there. Mayor Ryan: Okay. Mrs. Martin: And I agree the law’s quite clear but I think that…sometimes those white stripes do help folks remember. Mayor Ryan: Right, absolutely. And you know as Mr. Howley said Wesley it’s something that you know with you out running and you see the trails that should be marked or you’d like to see marked, you know we’ve had a lot of people on commissions and residents come forward to talk to us about trails and things that they like to see so it’s so great that you’re coming forward to share with us because now we’ll have people go out and look to see if that’s something that we can do or make that change. And even if it doesn’t warrant it like Mr. Howley said the fact that now that you’re making everybody aware of it is something really important to do but with not only this issue but other issues that you see you know when you’re out running always feel free to call Mr. Howley and you have our Parks Director right here so it’s pretty neat that you have two people that can actually help make changes so thank you for coming forward. We will follow up after Mr. Howley goes out and takes a look at your area. We will follow up with you and let you know what we’ve seen and what if anything can be done but really appreciate you coming in tonight. You did a great job. Wesley Martin: Thank you. Mayor Ryan: Thank you for coming. Thank you. You may sit down. Wesley Martin: Okay. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 6 Mayor Ryan: Thank you. As I mentioned we also received two emails as part of public comments asking to be read and I will just highlight the general idea behind the emails and then I will pass them off to Mr. Gerhardt to follow up on. One does require action. The other one is just for consideration on an item we have in front of us tonight for council. So the email that I received or that came through the public comments is from Bob and Cheryl Ayotte and they are at 6213 Cascade Pass in Chanhassen and they have a, had a number of questions that they were asking staff to follow up on. Talking about different operational expenses before the City’s, our FEMA solicitation. I had sent out an email last Friday that talked about our financial situation as well as what we were doing with FEMA related expenses and so he asked a couple questions, or they asked a couple questions about that. The economic development impact. Economy of scale of opportunities. Some infrastructure questions and then city staff and intellectual assets so there were a number of questions as it related to each topic and I know we forwarded this to you this morning Mr. Gerhardt so I know you’re already talking to staff and working on a response for Mr. and Mrs. Ayotte so we will be in touch with you on that. The next email came as part of our 4th of July consideration or topic of consideration for later this evening and this came from Mr. Clauson. I do not have an address to share but he wanted to talk about the 4th of July consideration and was curious how we can continue to have a safe celebration to celebrate this holiday which celebrates the freedoms of this country and he made some suggestions on different ways that we can still have some sort of a celebration as part of what is such an important holiday to our country but in particular with the City and our city event and so he put forward some ideas so I will share with you and if you could share that with Mr. Hoffman teams as well so thank you again for your comments. You can submit those at any time throughout the week and weekend and we will share them at, right now during visitor presentations and somebody from staff will follow up so always appreciate hearing from our residents. PUBLIC HEARING: APPROVE VACATION OF DRAINAGE AND UTILITY EASEMENTS AT 330 AND 350 PLEASANT VIEW ROAD. Mayor Ryan: Next up we have no old business so we have a public hearing this evening. Mr. Howley. Charlie Howley: Thank you Mayor, council. This should be pretty quick. I’ll wait for the power point to come up on the screen. There it is. Like you said this is a public hearing which we’re required to do any time we’re asked to vacate a public drainage and utility easement. This is for 330 and 350 Pleasant View Road. So we’re up in the I guess the northeast part of town here of 101 would be on your right hand side. It appears, so this is the Trappers Pass neighborhood and there’s 2 lots right about here, right across from North Lotus Lake Park. Mayor Ryan: Do you see any crosswalks in there? Charlie Howley: I don’t know, maybe this is right in the same area. I don’t know. Mayor Ryan: Let’s see right there. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 7 Todd Gerhardt: That’s the entrance right there. Charlie Howley: So these two properties highlighted in red and this line right here is what we’re referring to tonight. The original plat is Julius Addition from 1978 and the point of showing you this is this yellow line and blue line is the original outlot line if you call it and there was an existing 6 foot drainage and utility easement along that lot line. Here’s a recent survey and what happened, we had an administrative subdivision happen last year. It was Case number 2019-01 in which these two property owners got together and jointly agreed to change the yellow lot line to a purple line like that. What didn’t happen at the time was the existing drainage and utility easement that followed this meandering line remained in place so the only thing that got switched was the actual property line so this is really just cleaning up that old easement line. And we’re indicating that this vacation be contingent on recording new drainage and utility easements on either side of the purple line because that’s standard practice along common property lines is to provide easements. So the recommendation is the City Council adopt a resolution approving the vacation of public drainage and utility easements at 330 and 350 Pleasant View Road, Chanhassen subject to the recording of new 5 foot drainage and utility easements along each side of the adjusted property line. We did not get any phone calls or emails concerning this public hearing that I’m aware of and we do have a phone in number that was advertised that we can check to see if anybody has called in. The applicant was not planning on coming tonight so I don’t suspect we’ll have any public comment but we can check the phone if you’re ready. Mayor Ryan: Before I open the public hearing, council are there any questions of staff? Councilman McDonald? Any questions of staff? Councilman McDonald: Not at this time. Mayor Ryan: Alright, Councilwoman Tjornhom? Councilwoman Tjornhom: No. Mayor Ryan: Councilwoman Coleman? Councilwoman Coleman: None from me. Mayor Ryan: Councilman Campion? Any questions Councilman Campion? Councilman Campion: Not at this time. I couldn’t find the mute button. Mayor Ryan: That’s okay and I don’t have any either so I hereby open the public hearing. Please step forward and state your name and address for the record or are there any phone calls? Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 8 Charlie Howley: No calls. Mayor Ryan: No calls, okay. And with nobody in the council I will close the public hearing. I will turn it back to council for any further questions before I look for a motion. Councilman McDonald: No further questions from me. Mayor Ryan: Councilwoman Tjornhom? Councilwoman Tjornhom: No I’m good. Mayor Ryan: Councilwoman Coleman? Councilwoman Coleman: Not much has changed from the last few seconds, I’m good. Mayor Ryan: Alright and Councilman Campion? Councilman Campion: No more questions. Mayor Ryan: Alright would anyone like to make a motion? Councilwoman Tjornhom: I’ll make the motion. Mayor Ryan: Alright Councilwoman Tjornhom. Councilwoman Tjornhom: Is it on the screen or is it just from my, I’ll just use what I have. Here, thank you. I’ll make a motion that the City Council adopts the resolution approving the vacation of public drainage and utility easements at 330 and 350 Pleasant View Road, Chanhassen subject to the recording of new 5 foot drainage and utility easements along each side of the adjusted property line. Mayor Ryan: Alright we have a valid motion. Is there a second? Councilman McDonald: I’ll second. Mayor Ryan: Thank you Councilman McDonald. Resolution #2020-32: Councilwoman Tjornhom moved, Councilman McDonald seconded that the City Council adopts a resolution approving the vacation of public drainage and utility easements at 330 and 350 Pleasant View Road, Chanhassen subject to the recording of new 5 foot drainage and utility easements along each side of the adjusted property line. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 9 Mayor Ryan: That motion carried 5-0. AMEND COMPONENTS OF 2020 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION. Mayor Ryan: Alright next we have new business and that will go to Mr. Hoffman and talking about the 4th of July celebration. Mr. Hoffman? Todd Hoffman: Thank you Mayor Ryan and members of the City Council. We’ll go through the 2020 4th of July celebration and obviously a lot is changing in our community and in our society due to the Corona virus pandemic and it has impacted our proposed planning for the 4th of July. We have a recommendation for the council tonight and our timing is, we’ve had some conversations about it. Timing is kind of tight but if there are things that the council would like to recommend tonight that be modified and give staff direction to move forward we would have time to do that. Delaying these decisions any longer is really not viable for a lot of the big items. The City of Chanhassen’s annual 4th of July celebration is a community event. It will be celebrating it’s 37th year in 2020. 37th annual. Over the 3 days over 70,000 people traditionally enjoy this summer annual celebration and it’s grown to be really a tradition in our community that people obviously look forward to. Here’s the traditional list or the traditional schedule of events list starting on Thursday, July 2nd with family night at the carnival. That’s a great night for families to come down. There’s no alcohol that evening. No beer garden. Just really a nice evening to enjoy, actually Chief rides that night because they give good deals for little kids. Friday July 3rd is our big beer garden night with our street dance and all of the other things taking place in City Center Park and you know it’s not staff’s no stranger to the fact that it’s very special to be able to come together as a community in public spaces at a public event and celebrate in a community and the 4th of July so you know we don’t make this recommendation lightly but most of the events on Friday, July 3rd are recommended for cancellation just due to the fact that how they congregate people in one place in a large setting. And then Saturday, July 4th again about 30,000 people come together for a parade. We don’t think that’s viable to gather that many people of the public and that said, even what we might feel comfortable when you put something, that much effort in you want to make sure that the community feels comfortable to come out so that’s part of our recommendation is you know are people going to be comfortable on July 4th to invest this much time and effort and money in planning the event. Are they going to come out to attend and our conclusion based on what people are seeing in their world, in all of the cancellations is that likely would not be a real comfortable type of proposal for most people to participate. So these are the recommended cancellations. July 2nd, July 3rd and July 4th. Most events are recommended for cancellation at this time. These are recommended event that we think can continue and should continue to go forward so the historic plane flyover is very meaningful for our community. It’s coordinated by the Rotary Club of Chanhassen and so it would have to be with their cooperation and their coordination that that would continue as a sole event of the parade. People would obviously watch that from where they’re at at that point in time in their community. If they’re in their back yard enjoying family activity or taking a walk but the plane flyover would be meaningful for people it brings a lot of emotion and tears to our community as they fly over and it’s kind of a tradition of our parade to have that flyover. We Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 10 would actually like to try to increase it to have additional planes and so we would have to work with obviously the folks at the airport and the Rotary Club to see if that could happen but that’s one event that we think can still safely go on. Obviously and then people can watch it and enjoy as part of their 4th of July celebration. And then second the fireworks spectacular. Many families can view the fireworks from home in our community. We would alter the show and replace some of those smaller, lower level shells with larger shells that can be viewed from a greater distance. Presentation would include social distancing protocols for viewers so viewers that would come to Lake Ann Park would obviously be, they’d be handed a flyer and asked to stay in smaller gatherings. Spread out amongst the beach and the picnic areas. Those staying in their cars could stay in with some of the parking lots and then also we would coordinate communication with our public about where they could view from other places in the downtown area. In parking lots. We would work with the property owners of those parking lots. Receive their permission to have people park there for that event and then advertise those other viewing locations where people could leave their home if they can’t see the park from their home, leave the home and come out into the community to watch the fireworks displays. I know as a kid I never got out of the car, or not very far at least. You know we drove up and we parked along side of the road and probably sat on the hood or watched from inside the car and that was kind of our tradition and there was obviously cars all over at that particular time so. Planning coordination with the Carver County Sheriff’s Department would occur to make sure that we have a safe event in our community. So we want to let the council know that we are, we do have a very robust changed schedule of events that we can also roll out and so once we get the advertisement package, so if we have a plane flyover. We have fireworks then we would start adding in these other events in a modified fashion again to communicate to our community that the 4th of July people can anticipate what’s coming up but we do have to publish an advertisement. Produce that. Create that and put it out onto the street and if it’s in a modified fashion it’s going to take additional time so things like the Twins clinic could be virtual. There’s a Twins clinic, musical performances so you could put these things on websites. The business expo, our Chamber of Commerce has expressed an interest in a modified business expo. More of an online and so we just want to lock these things down in these modified fashions. Get them into an advertising calendar and so the community can gain access to that information on how they can be engaged in their activities. We could do a modified kiddie parade. The Taste of Chanhassen can be modified so that can be online with takeout and curbside. We can do some promotions with our business community. Again that is a Rotary sponsored event and so we would work with our Rotary Club of Chanhassen to make that happen. Chalk It Up can easily be done from home so you draw on your driveway or on your sidewalk in front of your home. You take some photos and send that in. That can be a lot of fun for our community. Sand sculpture the same way. You can do that at home. Send photos in. Some new activities, kind of the 4th of July virtual 5K but again staff is also, there’s a limit to the number of virtual things you can do. So virtual activities are kind of you know they’re all the rage right now but you can’t do all virtual things. You still want to keep it where you’re actually outside doing some activities around your house and your neighborhood. 4th of July photo scavenger hunt. So the recommendation tonight and again if council wants to modify this we’re certainly open to take your direction but staff’s recommendation is that the City Council authorize for the modification Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 11 of the 37th Annual 4th of July celebration in Chanhassen with the cancellation of all large gathering events and the retaining of the historic plane flyover at 2:30 p.m. that day and the 4th and the fireworks display over Lake Ann at 10:00 p.m. the same day July 4th and then park and recreation staff will work with event partners to retain other features of the celebration but in modified formats. Mayor Ryan: Alright thank you Mr. Hoffman. I know it’s a little challenging with the Zoom meeting that I have to go down a list for discussion versus all of us being here to discuss but we’ll continue to follow protocol and are there any comments or questions Councilman McDonald? Councilman McDonald: Well I think what I would like for the community to know is that we discussed this in our work session earlier and we have tried to do everything we can think of to save the 4th of July as much as possible and I think that there were some things that council, and I’ll let everybody speak for themselves but if we can wait we’ve kind of agreed to wait but as Mr. Hoffman has told us there are certain things that we just can’t wait on so it’s kind of with a heavy heart that I would vote to support what Mr. Hoffman has proposed but it is not without looking at all the other options to do what we could to try to save the 4th of July for the City. I think these are unusual times and because of that unusual things are going to be happening but I just want the community to know that we’re going to, you know we’re trying to put together the best presentation and show that we possibly can. It won’t live up to past 4th of July’s but it will definitely be a 4th of July to remember so I think based upon all of that I would support what staff has recommended and again it’s only after trying to go through and ask a lot of questions but that would be my position is to support staff. Mayor Ryan: Alright thank you Councilman McDonald. Councilwoman Tjornhom? Councilwoman Tjornhom: Yes. Can you hear me? Mayor Ryan: Yes we can hear you. Councilwoman Tjornhom: …I think Councilman McDonald kind of said everything that I was going I’m thinking in a nutshell. We did spend a good lot of time discussing the situation that we’re facing right now and what is the safest yet most resourceful way to have 4th of July and I think we all agree that we would like to just kind of keep everything on the back burner and wait and hope and pray that things get so much better and that by the 4th of July we are trying to be as normal as possible and I think we all want that so much but the problem is as Mr. Hoffman stated that contracts and planning and just the logistics of pulling off a lot of these events that are so spectacular, it’s just almost impossible to do. Say in 2 weeks we get a green light and say 4th of July is good to go. It’s just really hard to pull that off so I too you know with a heavy heart have to agree with the recommendations that are put in front of us with keeping my fingers crossed with anticipation that maybe there’ll be a Plan B that will come up in the next couple weeks if something does open up for us. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 12 Mayor Ryan: Great, thank you Councilwoman. Councilwoman Coleman? Councilwoman Coleman: Yeah I’m on the same page. My heart is absolutely broken because I know this event is the heart and soul of our community and in an ideal world we could keep waiting and keep waiting and remain hopeful that this will open up and we’ll be able to have gatherings of this size and I’m still holding out for that but as the other council members mentioned, and Mr. Hoffman mentioned there are contracts that need to get signed onto and so I do understand where staff is coming from with this and with that being said still humbly request that if possible as we get closer to the date and have a better picture of what is going on with public gatherings if there are any events that we can modify and change as the requirements are changing and adapting as well that we do have another conversation about this. My heart goes out to the community during this really hard time and please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. Mayor Ryan: Thank you Councilwoman. Councilman Campion? Councilman Campion: Yes I’ll say also with a heavy heart that I acknowledge the need to cancel the event with all the commitments to vendors and the preparation that would be necessary to prepare for an event with 70,000 people. At the same since our discussion at the work session another idea did occur to me at least as another activity to consider for Mr. Hoffman the parks and rec staff to consider which would be some type of a simulcast type celebration linking our neighborhood parks together. You know while obeying or honoring safe social distances, you know have neighbors gather at parks potentially with some type of screen, inflatable screen, projector, cameras, something like that where we could somehow link the city together to celebrate the 4th of July at some point during the normal festivity days. I don’t know if something like that is possible and potentially through loosening of social distancing laws that something like that might be possible so just an idea to consider but otherwise I recognize you know what’s being proposed to cancel some of these major activities as they were originally planned. Mayor Ryan: Perfect, thank you Councilman Campion and I’ll just add a couple thoughts as well. I agree with my council members. Councilman Campion I like your idea and appreciate you putting that forward. You know I have gotten a lot of calls and emails and the question is, is the 4th of July cancelled and let’s be clear. We are not cancelling the 4th of July. We are cancelling some of the events associated with our celebration but with this special day of course we encourage you to continue to be with your family members if able and to celebrate in the best way that you can and just from a logistical standpoint we understand, you know we hear a lot. Well can’t you just wait? Can’t you just wait and the problem with waiting is that you know it’s not just our, the logistics and us organizing but it’s with the different vendors and businesses that we coordinate with that expect and need that lead time and we just, we don’t have the lead time anymore as Mr. Hoffman pointed out in our work session. You know we started these conversations March and April and we really pushed it to this date you know so as far as we can Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 13 to hold on with hopes that something would change and we are just now in this situation that we have to move forward with these decisions with some of the events that we have to unfortunately cancel but you know we are making modifications with bigger fireworks and we still want to have the flyover because that’s such a special part of the beginning of our parade which everybody enjoys that we can’t have but we still want to have the flyover and you know we have a hard working parks department and staff that are still trying to come up with creative ways that we can connect the community and really celebrate as a community because it is such a special event and day so, you know I know it’s a challenging time for everybody. It’s hard to think of not having the 3 day celebration where 70,000 people come to Chanhassen and so we’re trying to find new ways to make fun and enjoyment in this new normal and we’ll be working with the Chamber as well to support our small businesses and local businesses to see what we can do over that course of you know the 3 days to make sure that they’re getting the business that they most enjoy over that busy timeframe so we appreciate Mr. Hoffman your as well your team’s hard work and I know it’s not easy for you because it’s an event that you all look forward to. As many of you know this is Mr. Hoffman, would have been his last 4th of July celebration and so it’s hard to not have, to go out with a real bang so we’re disappointed for that for you as well and for all of us so, but appreciate coming up with new ways and new ideas in this new normal to make sure that we have an opportunity to celebrate this special day so. With that I appreciate the conversation that we had earlier council and again if you have ideas, Councilwoman Tjornhom I know you said let’s try to get creative on ways that we can make the connections and celebrate and Councilman Campion you brought an idea forward so if you have those ideas you know please continue to forward them to Mr. Hoffman and as we progress through this time we will look at those and consider those as well so. With that I would stand for a motion for the 4th of July celebration. Councilman McDonald: Mayor I’ll do a motion. Mayor Ryan: Alright thank you Councilman McDonald. Councilman McDonald: I will propose that the City Council determines the schedule of events for the 2020 4th of July celebration, either amending, removing or adding specific event components as needed to remain consistent with current health and safety guidelines. Mayor Ryan: Thank you Councilman McDonald. We have a valid motion. Is there a second? Councilwoman Tjornhom: Second. Mayor Ryan: Thank you Councilwoman Tjornhom. And now I will take the vote. Councilman McDonald moved, Councilwoman Tjornhom seconded that the City Council determines the schedule of events for the 2020 4th of July celebration, either amending, removing or adding specific event components as needed to remain consistent with current Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 14 health and safety guidelines. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0. Mayor Ryan: That motion carries 5-0. PROCLAMATION ENCOURAGING THE RE-OPENING OF LOCAL BUSINESSES. Mayor Ryan: The next item on our agenda was added by Councilwoman Coleman and it’s a proclamation for re-opening of the State. Mr. Gerhardt if you want to do a quick introduction. Todd Gerhardt: Thank you Mayor, City Council members. I had some discussions with Councilmember Coleman. There are some cities out there that are passing proclamations in support of our local business economy and activities and based on the Governor’s Emergency to Stay at Home Order be eased during the COVID-19 pandemic and I think Councilmember Coleman’s initiative is to show support to our local businesses and to send a message that we understand that they’re frustrated and in dire need of getting their businesses back open and serving the public is important and she wanted to do that by a proclamation. I sent this out to council members via email this afternoon and, and that’s staff’s presentation. I’ll let Councilmember Coleman state some of her issues. Mayor Ryan: Councilwoman Coleman? Councilwoman Coleman: Thank you for letting me talk briefly about this. I really wanted to bring this to the forefront to discuss. I’ve seen this popping up in several cities as an attempt to let Governor Walz know our thoughts and requests as he approaches his upcoming decisions and public announcement on whether or not to or how to extend the order. We’ve all heard about the devastating impact this is having on our economy and personally I truly believe we can take this virus seriously and still care about our economy and our residents. You know families are struggling right now to put food on the table due to the shut down and record unemployment and I would like to direct staff to send this proclamation over to the Governor’s office in order to say we hear you and we believe that our salon owners, restaurants and business owners are capable of choosing whether they are comfortable and capable of safely re-opening while following safety recommendations, protecting themselves, their employees and their customers. So with that being said I urge my fellow council members to support our community, our business owners by directing staff to send a proclamation in order to let Governor Walz know our thoughts and our preferences as he comes up to his next decision on the orders. Mayor Ryan: Thank you Councilwoman Coleman. I will turn it over to council members if you have any thoughts or questions as it relates to this. Councilman McDonald I know I always go first to you so if you want to take a moment I can come back to you but we’ll just follow the same order. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 15 Councilman McDonald: Okay thank you Mayor. Yeah I got this this afternoon and I looked over it and I’ve given it quite a bit of thought. I hear what Councilmember Coleman is saying. I do agree with you. I also agree that you know what it comes down to is personal choice but I would look to the Governor to do and I look for the federal government to do is to tell us what can we do to further protect ourselves. What are the risks? Those types of things and then I think as individuals both as a business owner and as a consumer you can make your own choice as to whether you want to you know frequent one of our businesses or not. Just like a business an make the decision that they believe that they can open safely and not put their employees or customers at risk and I think that they should be allowed to do so. But again as I said I look at this and it has all the correct elements in it but it does come down to again looking at what does the, in this case the Department of Health recommend. I would look to them to provide the guidance as to how we again have a transition through this minefield that we’re all in on how can we get through it safely. I’ve got a number of clients that during this time my office has been open because I was concerned. Essential services and I’ve done quite a bit with estate plans and those types of things and I have quite a few clients that are very concerned about you know coming into my building. Coming into my office and we’ve made accommodations for those individuals. I think that’s what this more or less is and I think that’s the message that the Governor needs to hear is that we are perfectly capable I think as individuals of making decisions once we’re given information for the situation and that is the biggest thing I would ask of the Governor and federal government, everybody is that they share information with us, the citizens so that we can make these decisions. I would like to see something stronger in there about that. I’m not going to…I think this will send the right message so I’d be willing to support it. Mayor Ryan: Thank you Councilman McDonald. Councilwoman Tjornhom? Councilwoman Tjornhom: Yes thank you. Councilwoman Coleman can you tell me what local businesses have read these and agreed with it or are willing to sign it along with other businesses to send it to the Governor? Councilwoman Coleman: You know it’s, with what’s basically on our agenda I’m not sure who all has seen it so I can’t answer that for you. Councilwoman Tjornhom: And what other communities have also did this with their council? Councilwoman Coleman: Off the top of my head I know Hanover and I think Laketown has passed it as well as Watertown and Victoria are considering it this week as well as a couple of others I am blanking on the names of right now. Councilwoman Tjornhom: Okay, and so are you the author of this? Councilwoman Coleman: Can you clarify what you mean by author? Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 16 Councilwoman Tjornhom: Did you help write this proclamation or where did this proclamation come from? The words. Councilwoman Coleman: Sure yeah looking at a couple of the other cities that have worked on this, pulled bits and pieces from that and then sent it over to Mr. Gerhardt to put into our own wording. Councilwoman Tjornhom: Okay great, that’s all I have thank you. Mayor Ryan: Thank you Councilwoman Tjornhom. I’ll go to Councilman Campion if you have any thoughts. Councilman Campion: So I agree with the sentiment outlined. I would have appreciated more time to review it before it being presented today and voting on it. And I would have preferred to have done something like this you know potentially earlier as well. We’re just a week away from an update and you know at that point the reaction could have been more impactful but I do agree with the sentiment and I won’t vote against it from what I’ve read. Mayor Ryan: Alright thank you Councilman Campion. My thoughts. I didn’t like that it came in at the eleventh hour. I think when you make a proclamation and Councilwoman Tjornhom you ask about you know the author and I feel that you know and my name is on the bottom of it and I haven’t had a chance to really explore all of it. I think the sentiment that if you don’t support this then you’re not supporting local businesses. I think that is a falsehood. I personally have been in touch with a lot of the businesses around here and whether they’ve called me or I’ve reached out to them. I know our city staff is working hard to make accommodations for different businesses to accommodate what is to come and potentially to come and how it’s going to impact our businesses so I think that we are as a city already working with a lot of our businesses. I advocate on a weekly basis with our local legislators of the importance of getting back to some sort of normal and opening up the economy because people are hurting. It’s not only the small businesses but it’s families and people that have lost their jobs or are being furloughed. I think it’s just a really challenging time but if I’m being blunt, which I’m going to be, this just seems very partisan to me. We are potentially 3 to 4 days outside of getting some guidelines from the Governor on what’s next and while I think it’s wonderful to advocate on behalf of our local businesses, which I think we all do in our own ways. Whether it’s as council people who are representing our city or through our different associations. I know there are many lobbying groups, associations, lobbying groups that the city is a part of that have written letters and are writing letters on behalf of cities and businesses and individuals to you know to figure out a pathway forward because people really feel in the dark. While we get numbers we don’t know what those numbers mean. We keep putting up, you know the Governor you know people feel that it might be kicking the can down the road and nobody knows which direction to go and I just think that there’s still a lot of uncertainty right now in what this means and I just, while I obviously support our local businesses and I would like to see the economy open up you know getting this proclamation or declaration at 3:00 this afternoon, I don’t, I don’t Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 17 like that kind of business. Victoria is voting on it tonight. Chaska has not done anything with it. The City of Carver has not done anything with it nor has Eden Prairie or Minnetonka. I am part of a Mayor, Minnesota Mayors Association group and a lot of the commentary going on about you know coming forward with saying yea or nay or reaching out to Governor Walz is, it’s really a mixed bag because you know we as cities are yes, suppose to represent our residents and our businesses but we also have the responsibility to follow the orders of our Governor and to make sure that we understand what is being put forward so I think it’s a false narrative to say that if we don’t support this proclamation that we’re not supporting our local businesses. I think we all do it in our own way and the way that we were elected to do so. So if it’s something that council feels strongly to put forward the obviously I will sign it. I just, I feel that, I feel that this was proposed incorrectly so. At the eleventh hour when the Stay at Home Order was extended before our last meeting we could have done something at that time with more discussion so, anyway open to further conversation or discussion. Councilman McDonald: Mayor would you accept a motion to table this until our next meeting? Mayor Ryan: Yes I would accept that motion. Councilman Campion: Second. Mayor Ryan: Alright we have a valid motion and a second. Councilman McDonald moved, Councilman Campion seconded to table action on the proclamation encouraging the re-opening of local businesses. All voted in favor, except for Councilwoman Coleman who opposed, and the motion carried with a vote of 4 to 1. Mayor Ryan: And we will move the proclamation discuss onto our next meeting which is May 27th I believe. I want to make sure I have that date correct. 26th, I apologize. May 26th. CONSENT AGENDA: CANCELLATION AND CLOSURE OF CHANHASSEN PARK AND RECREATION EVENTS, YOUTH AND ADULT PROGRAMS, GROUP FACILITY RESERVATIONS INCLUDING USE OF ATHLETIC FIELDS, THE CHANHASSEN RECREATION CENTER AND THE CHANHASSEN SENIOR CENTER. Mayor Ryan: The next item that was added was the consent agenda number 4. Councilwoman Coleman had that pulled from the consent and this is about the cancellation and closure of park and rec events. Again this was a discussion that we had in our work session but Mr. Hoffman if you could provide a staff report please. Todd Hoffman: Thank you Mayor Ryan, members of the council. Appreciate the opportunity to comment. So the City’s parks, trails and beaches are open and have remained opened to the public during the Executive Order. Obviously people are finding activities, doing with members Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 18 of their family, individual families or small groups that they’re comfortable with. Most city operated recreation programs have been cancelled and again recreation programs, although they’re very popular it’s currently kind of the position of our world that we’re just not gathering on an organized fashion. We’re allowing people to make up their own judgment calls on how they would like to gather in their community and so most organized activities are currently cancelled. And concerning athletic fields, again during the Executive Order to Stay at Home athletic fields are not available to the athletic associations. Some have already made the decision to cancel for the season but if the Executive Order does allow movement throughout our communities then that’s going to be an individual decision amongst the athletic associations and ultimate with the City Council weighing in at a future date to re-open those facilities to group gatherings in our community. So in, if this is passed and approved tonight I want to read to the council so they would know what we would be communicating. The residents of our community are asking for clarification on what’s going on and so this is a press release that would go out or a statement that would go out. To Chanhassen residents and community, in light of the ongoing Corona Virus pandemic and recognizing that the health and wellbeing of our community is our first priority, all Chanhassen park and recreation events, youth and adult programs, group facility reservation including the use of athletic fields and the Chanhassen Recreation Center and the Chanhassen Senior Center are cancelled and closed until further notice and we will publish updates as they become available. So we are currently, all recreation activities are currently closed through May and this would extend that until further notice. Mayor Ryan: Alright thank you Mr. Hoffman. Councilwoman Coleman since you had it pulled off are there any comments or questions that you have specifically for Mr. Hoffman or council? Councilwoman Coleman: No questions. I just wanted clarification and an explanation for any members of the public who might be listening on what this entails so thank you Mr. Hoffman for that. Mayor Ryan: Alright thank you. Councilman McDonald any questions or comments? Councilman McDonald: Yes thank you Mayor. I do have one kind of question comment. Since we brought this back up and since we did discuss it at you know the work session one of the things that came out of there was the use of the parks. I think if we’re going to put this out for the public to look at here meeting tonight I would like to get clarification and make sure that what we’ve agreed to is that the signage at the parks will not state that the parks are necessarily closed as far as the equipment but it will state that the City is not disinfecting the equipment at the parks. I would just like to get clarification on that. Also so the public understands that we’re not saying that you can’t use the equipment but it’s just, you need to understand that there is a risk and you will do so at your own risk. Mayor Ryan: Thank you. Mr. Hoffman has that noted to have part of the communication correct? Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 19 Todd Hoffman: Correct. Mayor Ryan: Alright. Thank you Councilman McDonald. Councilwoman Tjornhom? Councilwoman Tjornhom: My only thought is maybe we should explain if the public has more questions or more information where on the website can they find it. Would it be under parks or rec or will it just be kind of right on the center stage of our web page or will it be so people can easily find what is and isn’t available for them. Because I’m hoping and assuming this order will be changing in stages as we talked about in our work session so how can we keep the public updated? Mayor Ryan: Alright great suggestion Councilwoman Tjornhom and Mr. Hoffman is acknowledging that. I know you can’t see all the moving screens but I’m looking at him and he is acknowledging that and will make sure that you know on social media that we’re very clear and where to find this information and you know because we have, I know the parks and rec section but we also have our COVID-19 section that talks about different facilities so we’ll make sure that it’s easily found. So good suggestion, thank you. Any further comments or questions Councilwoman Coleman? Councilwoman Coleman: No thank you. Mayor Ryan: Alright thank you. Councilman Campion? Councilman Campion: Not at this time. Mayor Ryan: Alright thank you and I don’t either but, well I guess I do because I’m going to make a comment. But I’d like to reiterate just the communication piece I think is important because I think we all get emails. I get plenty of emails just what is open. What’s the plan? What’s the timeline? And one of the things for residents to understand because a lot of the questions come because they read in the Star Tribune of what the Minneapolis Parks and Rec programming is or isn’t going to be. You know they’re curious what Chanhassen is going to do as it relates to what the decisions that they are making and while they have made some pretty sweeping decisions in terms of the rest of the year the one advantage that we have in Chanhassen is that we, you know because of our size we can be a little bit more flexible and agile when it comes to making some of these decisions so in terms of opening up parks and facilities you know our staff has already put, prepared plans for re-opening as it comes in stages and we will do so accordingly and communicate that as well so it’s nice to have that flexibility and a great team that is very well prepared to do that when the time comes which is hopefully sooner than later so again council I appreciate the good discussion during our work session and Mr. Hoffman I know your team has been very active putting forward you know as many virtual experiences as possible and being in touch with the residents and the seniors, just really appreciate all of their hard work because I know it’s changed daily and there’s been a lot of plans made and then cancelled and just really appreciate your team’s hard work so thank you for doing so. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 20 Todd Hoffman: Thank you. Mayor Ryan: With that I would entertain a motion. Councilwoman Coleman: Well since I pulled it off I will make a motion. Let me pull it up here or if someone has the slide for it. Mayor Ryan: Can we get the motion on the screen? Councilwoman Coleman: I found it. Mayor Ryan: You did okay. Councilwoman Coleman: Yes the City Council authorizes the cancellation and closure of all Chanhassen park and recreation events, youth and adult programs and group facility reservations including use of athletic fields, the Chanhassen Recreation Center and the Chanhassen Senior Center until further notice. All public parks, trails and limited facility including tennis and pickleball courts and the skate park remain open to individuals and groups of 10 or less for recreation and fitness. Mayor Ryan: Alright thank you Councilwoman Coleman. We have a motion. Is there a second? Councilman Campion: Second. Mayor Ryan: Thank you Councilman Campion. I will call for the vote. Councilwoman Coleman moved, Councilman Campion seconded that the City Council authorizes the cancellation and closure of all Chanhassen park and recreation events, youth and adult programs and group facility reservations including use of athletic fields, the Chanhassen Recreation Center and the Chanhassen Senior Center until further notice. All public parks, trails and limited facility including tennis and pickleball courts and the skate park remain open to individuals and groups of 10 or less for recreation and fitness. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0. Mayor Ryan: That motion carries 5-0. And that’s it for new business. COUNCIL PRESENTATIONS. None. ADMINISTRATIVE PRESENTATIONS. None. CORRESPONDENCE DISCUSSION. None. Chanhassen City Council – May 11, 2020 21 Councilman Campion moved, Councilwoman Tjornhom seconded to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0. The City Council meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Submitted by Todd Gerhardt City Manager Prepared by Nann Opheim