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Council discusses Eden Prairie request for Minnetonka water and sewer to a bordering parcel; directs staff to continue talks
Summary
Eden Prairie requested Minnetonka provide water and sewer service to a 3.5-acre parcel near Yellow Circle Drive; staff said systems have capacity (sewershed ~50% remaining) and council asked staff to negotiate terms (cost-sharing, stormwater mitigation, duration and service payments) via a joint powers agreement; no formal action was taken.
Minnetonka staff briefed the council on a request from Eden Prairie to provide water and sewer service to an unaddressed Eden Prairie parcel generally south of Yellow Circle Drive and north of Highway 62. The concept plan presented by Eden Prairie anticipates about 200 rental units on roughly 3.5 acres.
Planning staff said Minnetonka currently has the physical utility infrastructure in place and estimated that a 200-unit building would reduce the sewershed’s remaining capacity by about 5 percentage points; "we're calculating that a 200 unit building would reduce the capacity in that sewershed by about 5%," Mr. Manchester said. Staff framed the matter as one for negotiation through a joint powers agreement, noting historical 1977 arrangements that set precedent for utility extensions across jurisdictional lines.
Council members raised multiple concerns and asked staff to negotiate protections and terms, including whether Eden Prairie would share costs for future capacity upgrades, stormwater and tree-loss mitigation, payment-in-lieu or other offsets for city services, limits on the duration of service commitments, and potential annexation or land-swap options. Several councilmembers emphasized protecting Minnetonka taxpayers and ensuring the agreement is fair to both cities.
Outcome: Council expressed general support for continuing discussions and instructed staff to carry forward negotiations with Eden Prairie addressing the issues raised. No joint powers agreement was executed at the meeting.
