05.12.2025 CC MinutesCHANHASSEN CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
MINUTES
MAY 12, 2025
Mayor Ryan called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of
Allegiance.
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Ryan, Councilmember McDonald,
Councilmember Schubert, Councilmember von Oven, and Councilmember Kimber.
COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None.
STAFF PRESENT: Laurie Hokkanen, City Manager; Charlie Howley, Public Works
Director/City Engineer; George Bender, Assistant City Engineer; Andrew Heger, Fire Chief;
Andrea McDowell-Poehler, City Attorney; and Jenny Potter, City Clerk.
PUBLIC PRESENT:
Sara Thomas, 2555 Long Acres Drive
Linda Paulson
Michael Placko, 403 Del Rio Drive
Michael Ewasiuk
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Road Construction Update
Charlie Howley, Public Works Director/City Engineer, provided an update about the Galpin
Boulevard Road Construction Project. He stated there were unforeseen challenges, and they are
directing the developer to reopen the Fawn Hill intersection. He said that they heard from
MnDOT about solutions on Highway 41.
Mayor Ryan commented that there was a grass fire on Highway 41, so a part of it was recently
closed.
1. Presentation of 2025 Arbor Day Poster Contest Winners
Mayor Ryan congratulated the winners of the 2025 Arbor Day Poster Contest. She thanked the
participants for their work. She presented certificates to those who participated in the contest and
recognized the grand prize winner.
2. Recognizing Maud Duggan as the Chanhassen Rotary 2025 Distinguished Service
Award recipient
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Mayor Ryan recognized Maud Duggan for her various community service activities. She
congratulated her as the recipient of the Chanhassen Rotary 2025 Distinguished Service Award.
Maud Duggan thanked the Chanhassen Rotary Members for their teamwork and collaboration to
help with community service.
CONSENT AGENDA: Councilmember McDonald moved, Councilmember von Oven
seconded that the City Council approve the following consent agenda items 1 through 9
pursuant to the City Manager’s recommendations:
1. Receive Planning Commission Minutes dated April 8, 2025
2. Receive Planning Commission Minutes dated April 15, 2025
3. Approve Claims Paid dated May 12, 2025
4. Consider Preliminary Plat and Final Plat application for Chanhassen Bluffs
5. Award Design Contract for Rehabilitation of Wells 8 and 11
6. Sale of Wetland Banking Credits from Chanhassen’s Wetland Bank #127 to BWSR
7. Authorize Construction Services Contract for Rain Gardens associated with the 2024
Pavement Rehabilitation Project City Project 24-01
8. Approve Minor Planned Unit Development (PUD) Amendment to Chanhassen Retail Center
Planned Unit Development (Planning Case 2025-09)
9. Ordinance 744: Amending Chapter 1 and Chapter 20 Regulating Attached and Internal
Accessory Dwelling Units
All voted in favor, and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
VISITOR PRESENTATIONS.
Sara Thomas, 2555 Long Acres Drive, read an email she sent to Mayor Ryan and city staff in
May 2024 with several concerns about the Galpin Road project. She commented that it was
difficult to exit their neighborhood during peak traffic hours. She expressed fear of an accident.
She did not understand why they could not have traffic control and asked why a temporary stop
light would not be permitted by MnDOT. She stated that the Fawn Hill solution was great, but it
would be nice to have additional measures taken for Highway 41.
Mayor Ryan stated that she would follow up with Ms. Thomas after the meeting.
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Linda Paulson thanked them for the massive amount of work going into 2501. She requested
deer crossing signs near the conservancy. She provided two sets of photos of a deer and fawn and
a heron. She thanked Bolten & Menk for their great work on the open house. She discussed
ADUs. She stated that the citizens elected the City Council, and one city employee should not
make decisions. She commented that the City Council should make decisions so that there would
be representative government.
FIRE DEPARTMENT/LAW ENFORCEMENT UPDATES.
1. Quarterly Fire Department & 2024 Annual Report Overview
Fire Chief Andrew Heger updated the Council about the calls for service for Quarter One for the
Fire Department. He reviewed the different trainings that took place during the first quarter and
thanked the city staff and the developer for allowing them to utilize the hotel for training before
the demolition. He discussed the new initiative for the Home Fire Safety Inspection, which
would provide a detailed report of the best practices to reduce fire risks for residents. He said that
this initiative would be formally launched this summer. He discussed the violation types for
inspection to see which violations they see most often. He reviewed the CPR training and First
Aid classes, and the additional events they attended and reviewed staffing changes. He discussed
the different hours that the staff spent on fire calls and training during 2024. He highlighted the
technology implementation, which optimized and enhanced their efforts.
Mayor Ryan thanked the Fire Department for all the work that they do. She thanked Fire Chief
Andrew Heger for his service to the community.
PUBLIC HEARINGS.
1. Resolution 2025-36: Accept the Bids and Award the Contract for the 2025 City
Pavement Rehabilitation Project; and Resolution 2025-37: Adopt Final Assessment Roll
for the 2025 City Pavement Rehabilitation; and Resolution 2025-38: Approving the
Establishment and Execution of the Volunteer Rain Garden Program Associated with
the 2025 City Pavement Rehabilitation Project
George Bender, Assistant City Engineer, introduced Dave Martini from Bolten & Menk who was
representing the project. He reviewed the project schedule, noting that the contractor wanted to
begin on May 19th, with substantial completion for November 2025. He explained the proposed
project areas for the project, which included Conestoga Area, Frontier Trail, Highland Drive,
Kiowa Circle, Del Rio Drive, and Iroquois. He explained the scope of the scope of the project
and described the Rain Garden Partnership Opportunity and the Private 1/1 Rehabilitation and
Grant Opportunity. He summarized the public engagement for the project and noted that the list
of engagement opportunities continues to grow. He provided an overview of the bid results and
stated that Ryan Contracting Co. had the lowest bid amount and that the company previously
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performed satisfactory project work on similar projects with Bolten & Menk. He reviewed a
typical range provided for single-family average residential assessments for each rehabilitation
type and stated that the preliminary assessment amounts to the final assessment amounts were
improved, which created flat amounts for Frontier Trail Rehabilitation Area for the FDR and
Recon area. He stated that the assessment policy was changed on May 5, 2025, so the city would
assess forty percent unless the flat rate amount set by the fee schedule is used and the benefiting
properties based on the driveway access to the street network are selected to be assessed. He
noted that the private streets which meet City Code requirements were not assessed. He
summarized the project costs per budgetary fund and stated that the project was under budget
overall. He explained the initial construction schedule, which would start with tree-clearing work
on May 19th pending project approval, but he said that the main change would be coordinating
the project improvement near the school to take place during the school break. He summarized
the themes of the different public feedback, which included concerns with assessments, traffic,
construction sequencing and preliminary scheduling, residential access during construction, tree
removal, and replacement concerns, private I/I program, and the volunteer rain garden program.
He explained different traffic considerations, which included an evaluation for the installation of
a mini-roundabout at Frontier and W. 77th Street and an included bump out along Frontier north
of the intersection at 77th Street, installing two driver feedback signs, and the pruning of
overgrowth. He described that the different tree replacements and final landscaping restoration
would be determined during construction. He explained the rain garden program which provided
$2500 credit to property owners and a 50 percent reduction in the annual Surface Water Fee. He
described the new private property I/I grant program which was approved by the State
Legislature last session and allowed the city to partner with property owners to provide financial
assistance to repair the private side sewer lateral based on the need to reduce I/I.
Mayor Ryan asked how the final assessment rule worked when they were still discussing it with
the Homeowners Association. Andrea McDowell-Poehler, City Attorney, answered that if there
were changes, it would come forward with another public hearing process.
Mayor Ryan opened the public hearing.
Michael Placko, 403 Del Rio Drive, stated he did not understand all the assessment policy. He
wondered if he was being assessed fairly. He reviewed the previous assessment information from
his neighbors’ properties. He stated he walked Great Plains when there was no road, which made
it seem like it seemed like a full reconstruction project. Those properties were assessed $6200 for
their project, which was approximately $3000 less than his current project assessment. He stated
that the Great Plains project seemed similar to the current project, so he did not understand the
differences in the costs. He expressed concerns about the previous concerns with the Great Plains
project and said he only had one exit from their neighborhood, so he was worried that the project
would be similar. He stated that he needed to have access to his driveway to charge his vehicle.
He asked if the city compared the costs of the project with other cities for similar projects since
the assessment prices in Chanhassen seemed to be higher.
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Michael Ewasiuk noted that he was representing Frontier Trail Association. He stated that they
were objecting to the assessment since there was no benefit for the property owners. He noted
that they were in discussion with the city staff. He said he was objecting but had no specific
question.
Mayor Ryan closed the public hearing.
Mayor Ryan asked about the fairness of the assessment policy.
Mr. Bender said that Chanhassen was not the lowest assessment policy, but it was not the highest
policy. He stated that the questions were not uncommon, and they tried to answer them as well as
they could. He said the project areas can have different costs because of specific project costs.
He said that some areas have more or less density, which can impact assessment. He said that the
previous reconstruction project had more density, but this one has less density. He said that
reconstruction was the most intrusive and the most challenging rehabilitation technique, which
added up to the costs.
Mr. Howley said that comparing it to last year it got a little murky. He said that there was a
subsidy for both years to keep the costs lower. He stated that the projects stand-alone, but some
projects are different with the density and scope of the project. He commented that the city was
subsidizing a portion of the costs.
Mayor Ryan asked Councilmember McDonald to discuss fairness related to the assessment
policy based on historical data.
Councilmember McDonald discussed the 60-40 assessment policy, which went back at least
twenty years. He said that some cities do not assess streets, but it is paid for by other funding
mechanisms. He stated that Eden Prairie utilizes funding from liquor stores to help pay for roads.
He discussed the previous conversations with franchise fees to help cover assessment costs,
which was not feasible because there was an unfairness since previously completed projects
might want their money back. He stated that there was continual discussion with the city Council
about fairness, but there was not a good answer. He said that the best way to move forward was
to continue with the current policy to be equal. He stated that they did not want to increase
property taxes to pay for the projects. The City Council considered the flat fee because the price
of the road projects continued to increase, and it was getting out of hand. The staff looked at
other cities’ policies and determined that a flat rate was the best option. The city would have to
subsidize some costs. He commented that Frontier Trail had older roads, so they knew it would
be expensive, which is what brought about the conversation about the franchise fees. He stated
various factors determined the costs of the road. He stated that the City Council continued to
battle with the uniqueness of each project, which made it difficult to eliminate the costs to
residents. He encouraged the residents to send suggestions to the city staff if they think of other
options.
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Mayor Ryan said that the concern was real in terms of access.
Mr. Bender said that they asked residents if they had an electric vehicle. He said that there would
be times when they could not provide access to residents’ driveways, but the contractor must
provide access to the individual properties as much as was feasible. He stated that driveways
would most often not be available during the day. He discussed that the difficulty would be with
concrete since it needed time to cure, but the concrete work would be coordinated. He said that
there were inconveniences with construction projects. He discussed how Del Rio provided
additional challenges since it was a cul-de-sac, but there would be additional street parking and
communication with residents about the projects.
Mr. Placko said that there was no overnight parking on the streets in Chanhassen. He said he
expected to pay some costs for the project, but closer to $6000. Mr. Bender answered that
prohibited overnight parking was a winter regulation.
Mayor Ryan voiced appreciation to the city staff for being responsive to the residents.
Councilmember von Oven voiced appreciation for the continued outreach to residents for the
assessment policies.
Councilmember von Oven moved, Councilmember Schubert seconded that the Chanhassen
City Council adopt a resolution accepting the bids and awarding a contract, and also adopt
a resolution adopting the assessment roll for the 2025 City Pavement Rehabilitation Project
No. 25-01, and adopts a resolution approving the establishment and execution of the
Volunteer Rain Garden Program associated with the 2025 City Pavement Rehabilitation
Project. All voted in favor, and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 5 to 0.
GENERAL BUSINESS. None.
COUNCIL PRESENTATIONS. None.
ADMINISTRATIVE PRESENTATIONS.
1. Pioneer Ridge Tree Removal Update (Planning Case #25-01)
Laurie Hokkanen, City Manager, said that they were not moving forward with the tree removal
for the Pioneer Ridge project, since the federal regulations did not apply to the project. She stated
that they were doing the best they could to understand the federal regulations.
CORRESPONDENCE DISCUSSION.
1. 4th of July Parade Update
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2. First Quarter 2025 Economic Development Activity Report
Councilmember Kimber moved, Councilmember Schubert 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 8:30 p.m.
Submitted by Laurie Hokkanen
City Manager
Prepared by Jenny Potter
City Clerk