Shakopee City Council Regular Meeting - August 7, 2025
Shakopee City Council Regular Meeting - August 7, 2025
Note: The agenda and transcript identify the meeting as Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.; the supplied metadata date is August 7, 2025, 13:00 UTC. This summary uses the supplied metadata date.
The Shakopee City Council met to receive a state legislative update, approve consent and general business items, hold an Economic Development Authority session, and conduct workshops on the Capital Improvement Plan, dog boarding and daycare, short-term rentals, park security, and the Park and Recreation Advisory Board.
Consent Calendar
- Approved unanimously, by one motion, 20 routine items, including: final acceptance and payment for the Eagle Creek Boulevard and Vierling Drive Roundabout Project and the Colburn Drive Extension Project; a hearing date for the 2025 Full Depth Pavement Reconstruction Project; acceptance of WSB for Quarry Lake Erosion Restoration design and construction; surplus equipment; the Marystown Road Reconstruction contract; liquor, tobacco, and special event licenses for Express Liquors, Soi21 Asian Bistro and Bar, the City of Shakopee TAP 2025 event, and the Shakopee Chamber of Commerce; Traffic Safety Committee recommendations; two Minnesota Department of Public Safety grant applications; July 15, 2025 council minutes; the 2405 Jennifer Lane demolition contract; a Jackson Commons change order; a Texas Roadhouse hearing request; a MnDOT Local Road Improvement Program grant agreement; the Social District Management Plan; and Ordinance O2025-019 amending the 2025 fee schedule.
- Items 6.o and 6.u were removed from the consent agenda and considered separately.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the formal public comment period.
- During the dog boarding and daycare workshop, Lisa Jansen, owner of Minnesota Furbaby Pet Care at 1683 Parkway Avenue, described her residential pet-care operation: free-roam, fully supervised, insured, with typical occupancy around six dogs and an emergency max of 15. She expressed concern that a numeric cap or license requirement, while likely acceptable, could affect her business, and she noted that the city had notified only some operators of non-compliance.
Discussion Items
- State Representative Presentation: Rep. Ben Bakeberg presented legislative priorities, including fraud prevention, affordability, public safety, the bonding bill, and local control. He expressed support for reducing state spending, opposing tax increases, and giving cities authority over local decisions such as housing and zoning. Council members raised concerns about unfunded state mandates, Met Council structure, and predictable MVTA transit funding.
- Monthly Financial Review - June 2025: Finance Director Reinhardt reported general fund revenues exceeded expenses by $3.14 million as of June 30, compared with $1.78 million at the same point last year. Revenues were at 58% of budget targets; interest earnings through the second quarter were about $1.4 million, with a full-year estimate near $2.7 million. The city also reported an unrealized investment gain of about $1.1 million.
- Elliana Estates Rezoning and Plat: Staff presented a proposal to rezone about 14 acres from agricultural to urban residential R1B and approve a 31-lot single-family plat with two outlets. The density was 3.04 units per acre, just above the Met Council minimum of 3.0. The Planning Commission recommended unanimous approval. Council approved both the rezoning ordinance and the preliminary and final plat.
- Community Center 2026 Fee Increase: Parks and Recreation staff proposed a fee structure tying daily admissions to membership pricing, a 40% non-resident premium, and phased increases. Resident daily admission would rise from $8 to $11 and non-resident from $13 to $16; the adult monthly membership would remain $44. The increase was estimated to offset about $250,000 in levy need. The council approved the proposal.
- 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Plan (Workshop): The draft CIP totaled $146.6 million over five years, with $54 million programmed for 2026. Annual street overlay and reconstruction costs have nearly doubled from a $4.2 million five-year average to $7.7 million. Staff proposed a $300,000 increase in the capital improvement levy, from $1.2 million to $1.5 million. Council discussion covered road cost drivers, fire apparatus, police and public works expansion, electric vehicles, park development projects, and funding-dependent projects such as the downtown quiet zone. No formal action was taken.
- Dog Boarding and Daycare in Residential Zones (Workshop): Staff explained that pet daycare and boarding are conditional uses only in B1, I1, and I2 districts, while pet grooming is allowed as a home occupation. Residents have complained about barking, noise, and large numbers of dogs. Council members generally supported licensing compensated pet-care businesses in residences and avoiding overregulation of casual, uncompensated pet-sitting. Staff was directed to draft a regulation.
- Short-Term Rental Issues and Regulations (Workshop): Current code allows owner-occupied rentals of less than 30 days and no more than 60 days per year. Staff reported weekend party and noise complaints and anticipated more activity with the amphitheater. Council directed staff to bring forward a licensing and regulation proposal.
- Improper Park Use at Jackson Commons and Quarry Lake (Workshop): Staff proposed installing two high-definition, solar-powered AI cameras and a license plate reader at Jackson Commons for about $22,000 to $23,000 from the park development fund. Chief of police addressed data privacy and warrant requirements. Council supported the approach and favored seeking restitution through criminal proceedings for vandalism.
- Park and Recreation Advisory Board (Workshop): Staff recommended disbanding the board, which has not been functional since mid-2023 and has attracted no applicants. Council supported disbanding, while suggesting ad hoc citizen committees for future park projects.
Economic Development Authority Session
- The EDA discussed a purchase and sale agreement for 124 Somerville Street South for $150,000. Several members expressed concerns about environmental contamination, asbestos, demolition costs, and whether the price should be based on land value alone. Staff was directed to conduct further due diligence and return with more information; no purchase was approved.
Reports & Other Business
- Liaison reports included the Shakopee School Board referendum timeline, Night to Unite feedback, MVTA and MMPA updates, and multiple communications awards for city staff.
- The city bill list was presented with no questions.
- Announcements included SandVenture's final day of the season on August 22, modified hours beginning August 18, the final Rhythm on the Rails concert, and annual street project information available on the city's website.
- Councilmember Whiting requested a future workshop on right-of-way permits and utility contractor oversight, citing gas line work, lack of notice, and road closures.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the modified consent agenda with 20 items.
- Approved a contract with Houston Engineering for Schroeder House civil engineering work, not to exceed $35,000, after the previous firm became unresponsive.
- Approved the Social District Management Plan with clarified language: filled social district cups may not enter other alcohol-serving establishments, but may enter non-serving businesses that choose to allow them.
- Approved Ordinance O2025-018 rezoning Elliana Estates from AG to R1B and Resolution 2025-075 approving the preliminary and final plat.
- Approved the 2026 Community Center membership and daily admission fee increases.
- Directed staff to develop regulations for residential dog boarding/daycare businesses and short-term rental licensing.
- Directed staff to proceed with park security camera and license plate reader plans at Jackson Commons.
- Agreed to move forward with disbanding the Park and Recreation Advisory Board and to consider ad hoc citizen committees in the future.
- Adjourned to August 19, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Let's call the Shackey City Council meeting for August 6th, 2025 to order. If we could take please take the roll. Councilmember Delaney? Here. Councilmember Wayne? Here. Councilmember Contreras? Here. Councilmember Laura? Here. And Mayor Lehman? Here. Item number three. Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Legislature flags of the United States of America. Under God. Individual justice. Item number four is a special presentation by State Representative Mr. Ben Bakeberg. If Mr. Bakeberg, if you want to come on up to the podium here and have a seat, go ahead and pull that mic close to you. It's heavy, so it doesn't seem like it wants to move, but it does move. All right, how's that? Good, sir. I'll use my inside voice. So well, thank you for having me. I don't know how special this presentation is gonna be. Um so uh I'll try to try to live up to that. But um, my name's Ben Bakeberg. I have the the privilege to serve um a portion of Shackey and then the surrounding townships. I also represent communities of Prior Lake and Jordan and uh in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and I work on or I serve on two different committees the labor and workforce uh committee, uh formerly known as the jobs committee. And then um I'm the vice chair of the or co-vice chair of the education finance committee. So in my normal life, I'm a middle school principal, so that's a a natural connection there. And um, when we came into session, you know, we we did a lot of listening so that we could really try to address the needs that were were coming from our constituents uh across the district. So one of the or the the pretty consistent themes that we heard centered around fraud uh and stopping fraud. So that was one of the main pillars that uh that we worked for in the House to address uh um we're approaching a billion dollars in fraud uh in Minnesota. So addressing that making Minnesota affordable, uh making Minnesota safe, taxpayer dollars for Minnesotans, building for the future, that's the um the bonding bill. Uh those were all priorities for us, and within that bonding bill, our main focus um as a caucus was really around that critical infrastructure, so roads, bridges, water, uh, because many of our communities across the the state don't have the ability to address some of those needs, and their only avenues through the bonding bill. So uh we did that. Uh I'll say in advance if you're traveling south on 169 for the next couple years, we'll just apologize in advance. Uh 169 is torn apart. There's a lot of really good work happening there, but but that is the last stoplight between St. Peter uh and the Metro and as a major corridor of commerce. So it'll have a huge impact not only for the community of Jordan, but for for Shacopee, for Prior Lake, and all of Scott County. So that's a a major piece uh there. The the last pillar that we that we tried to focus on was raising standards and reducing mandates, and that that's really the education focus. And to be honest, that's where I spend a bulk of my time and energy just given my background. And um, I was recently at the Shakopee School Board meeting talking to them about some specific education pieces that we're working on. So I'm sure everyone tuned into that. So for that riveting conversation, and I think it really boils down to um, you know, there's a difference of opinion where we especially in an education area, we don't need a state-run school board.
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