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04/02/1996 - City Council Special OO 91 • MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EAGAN CITY COUNCIL Eagan, Minnesota April 2, 1996 A special meeting of the Eagan City Council was held on Tuesday, April 2, 1996, at 5:00 p.m. at the Eagan Municipal Center. Present were City Councilmembers Awada, Hunter, and Wachter. (Mayor Egan and Councilmember Masin arrived at 5:15 pm)Also present were City Administrator Tom Hedges, Director of Parks and Recreation Ken Vraa, and Police Chief Geagan. Acting Mayor Hunter called the meeting to order. Administrator Hedges provided a brief background of the Youth Development program which serves the Wescott neighborhood and introduced Principal Pat Sullivan and Assistant Principal Jim DeLong from Dakota Hills Middle School who were present to answer any questions the Council had relative to the impact of this program in the school. Director Vraa stated the information provided to the Council was very inclusive with the exception of specific information relative to the apartment being used for programming. Staff would be available to respond to any of the Council's questions, Vraa concluded. Councilmember Awada commented that based on the background material provided by staff it appears that the program is working very well but wondered how the City could approach underlying issues in this, and other, neighborhoods within the City. Assistant Principal DeLong responded that there has been continued • improvement in communication with parents in the Wescott neighborhood which has sparked more positive behavior by the students in general. The continued efforts of the City, School District, County and other agencies seems to be a well balanced mix of services which have resulted in significant improvements in the schools, DeLong added. Principal Sullivan stated that there is no way to control the density in this area, so the • approach being taken is to address the clients and make these families feel welcome in the City. The schools are seeing greater participation both by students and parents. By providing positive experiences, Sullivan opined, families will be more inclined to stay in the area longer and provide more stability to the neighborhood. In response to a question, Administrator Hedges reviewed background history of the area as it relates to this area being developed with high density homes. It was felt that part of the problem is that there are multiple owners of the buildings therefore, consistency is lacking. Councilmember Awada reiterated her long term concerns for this specific high density area. Councilmember Hunter stated his concern for funding sources stating that it didn't matter which neighborhood children were in, they need to be kept busy and have positive experiences. Principal Sullivan agreed with comments from Director Vraa in that this cooperative relationship has played a large part in creating a sense of community in this neighborhood. He stated that what is being done in Wescott is being used as a model by many other communities. Assistant Principal DeLong added that he has found that the strong commitment shown by all entities in this cooperative effort seem to be why Eagan's Youth Development program is so successful and why other cities are trying to duplicate it. Stacy Brown, Joyce McGee, Shelly Vasquez, and Terry Masso addressed the City Council stating how they have seen this neighborhood begin to gel and feel like a community. Parents have been taking a more active role in their children's lives both in the neighborhood and at the school and are planning to stay in Wescott Commons longer, thus creating a more stable community. Councilmember Masin commented that all the information and statistics show this to be a very successful program. Councilmember Wachter agreed and expressed his support for this program to continue as much as is economically possible. Michael Vincent stated that he has worked at obtaining a grant to keep the Wescott Service Center open through 1996 and will continue to look for other opportunities to continue this program. After further discussion, it was the Council's direction to proceed with the hiring of a Youth • Development Coordinator and to continue programming at Wescott Commons as it currently exists. EaganCity Council Minutes/April 2,1 996 Special Meeting -(,, Page 2 Administrator Hedges stated that the issue of building a second sheet of ice through solicitation of a"Mighty Ducks"Grant has been discussed and the Council is being asked to review the possibility of the City pursuing such a grant. If the City is successful in acquiring a grant,the City's share of the facility is proposed to be financed through revenue bonds. Director Vraa explained that the Mighty Ducks Grant came out of the last legislation based on the impact of women in hockey. The final round for grant applications will be October, 1996 and staff is looking for direction from the Council as to whether or not to proceed. If the City is to proceed, background preparation work needs to be completed so that the grant application is completed in time. With the growth through EHA, boys and girls high school hockey,the growth of skating lessons the need for a second sheet of ice seems to be approaching more rapidly than what was originally anticipated. If the City were successful in obtaining funding from the Mighty Ducks Grant, Vraa continued, the City would have 18 months to respond to the grant. Councilmember Hunter asked what other new arenas were now on-line or projected to be on-line over the next few years. He also suggested that the City look at whether or not any of these arenas can help alleviate the need that is projected without building a second sheet of ice. Mary Pontrelli, President of EHA, opined that there would not be considerable impact and felt strongly that there is sufficient interest and commitment within the City of Eagan to support a second sheet of ice. She stated, for example, that EHA would commit to 1500 hours of additional ice time as well as sweat equity as they had with the first sheet of ice. Mayor Egan asked what the approximate cost for a second sheet of ice would be. Director Vraa stated that $2 million would be the maximum since there are some costs that do not have to be duplicated. Councilmembers also asked that an amortization be done showing the impact of the additional sheet of ice based on various estimates of costs for construction. Councilmember Hunter specifically requested that the grading and parking lot costs be incorporated in the construction estimates. Councilmember Masin asked if it would be necessary to duplicate the concession area. Director Vraa responded that there would not be an additional concession area. Additional staff may be needed to accommodate the increase in participants at the arena, however, most of the operational dollars are already incorporated into the first sheet. In response to a question, Mary Pontrelli clarified that EHA was projecting a financial contribution of approximately$120,000 in ice time and $40,000 in sweat equity. Mayor Egan cautioned that the numbers being used to determine the need for a second sheet of ice need to be conservative and take into consideration what the cash flow would be for a second sheet as well as the Mighty Ducks grant and EHA financial commitment. If the numbers can show that this can be done economically, than he would support the possibility of moving forward with a grant application. After further discussion,the Council directed staff to bring this issue back in July after completing some preliminary analysis and be able to show supply and demand for a second sheet of ice. The meeting was adjourned to the regular City Council Meeting at 6:30 p.m. CLM April 2, 1996 Date City If you need these minutes in an alternate form such as large print, Braille, audio tape, etc., please contact the City of Eagan, 3830 Pilot Knob Road, Eagan, MN 55122, (612)681-4600, (TDD phone:454-8535). The City of Eagan is committed to the policy that all persons have equal access to its programs, services activities, • facilities and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, disability, age, marital status or status with regard to public assistance.