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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, May 15, 2023 <br /> Page 3 <br /> for a house would look at Minnetonka as a comparable city for housing or St. Louis <br /> Park and if the person could afford Edina, they would look at that. He was not <br /> opposed to having an extra city included if people feel strongly about that. He <br /> sometimes thinks that more data is better. <br /> Mayor Roe asked if there was an objection to adding Minnetonka to the list. <br /> The Council was fine with adding Minnetonka to the list and keeping Coon Rapids. <br /> Mr. Trudgeon indicated from a staff perspective there is no objection. He indicated <br /> he was not sure if having eleven cities in the mix would make things more difficult <br /> or not. He asked Ms. Davis for her input. <br /> Ms.Davis explained there is no need to stick to a round number. If there is a general <br /> consensus of adding Minnetonka and going with eleven cities on the list made sense <br /> and everyone feels good about that list, then that is what Abdo will do. <br /> Mayor Roe did not think the Council would want to add any other cities to the list. <br /> Mr. Trudgeon stated the next step is to go out into the market and get comparisons, <br /> reviewing the job descriptions and finish getting the data. <br /> b. Accelerated Emerald Ash Borer Program Update <br /> Parks and Recreation Director Matthew Johnson briefly highlighted this item as <br /> detailed in the Request for Council Action and related attachments dated May 15, <br /> 2023. <br /> Mr. Johnson presented an update on the Emerald Ash Borer program. <br /> Councilmember Etten noted that one of the big changes now is that Stantec is no <br /> longer being paid to oversee and plan the City's natural resources efforts. He <br /> wanted to make sure that the City has something in place, noting it will be very <br /> important. He indicated there are a lot of volunteers to help with the different <br /> efforts, highly educated leaders that help lead events, staff that has gained <br /> tremendous knowledge and has excellent skills, and sometimes the City will need <br /> to pay professionals to come in and help. But they need to think through how to <br /> use all of the different resources, about all of those natural resource pieces <br /> holistically and long term, and what the City can affect. He thought sometimes <br /> there would be dollars needed to complete the work so he would like City staff to <br /> start to think about that and think ahead. <br /> Councilmember Groff explained when this first started he was getting many calls <br /> and since this program has been going, the calls have been tapering off and people <br /> are happy and are learning more about the program and how the City is doing. <br />