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Residents press council on manager oversight, shoreline trees and crosswalk safety during public comment
Summary
At the Edina City Council meeting residents raised concerns about possible outside consulting activity by the city manager, objected to a plan to plant 91 large shoreline trees at Lake Cornelia, and urged a painted crosswalk at Cooper's Avenue on Interlochen Boulevard after a recent pedestrian crash.
Several residents used the community‑comment portion of the April 7 Edina City Council meeting to press the council on separate local concerns.
Ralph Sickert accused the council and the mayor of failing to disclose the extent of City Manager Neil’s outside work and said the manager had established a consulting practice with his son; Sickert asked which council members knew about the arrangement and whether city resources were used to support it. The transcript records the allegation during public comment but no detailed staff response or formal investigation was announced during the meeting.
Rick Vining urged the council to halt a proposal to plant 91 large trees along Lake Cornelia’s shoreline, saying the plantings would block views and could increase phosphorus runoff from falling leaves. Vining referenced a 2019 council resolution and asked for more community consultation or, alternatively, for the city to sell the parcel with stipulations that protect public access and maintenance of the buffer.
Marlene Allen, speaking for her grandson, described a crash on Interlochen Boulevard in which she and her dog were struck and sustained injuries; she asked the council to install a painted crosswalk at Cooper’s Avenue to reduce the risk of similar accidents and described frequent pedestrian and dog‑walking use of the route.
Peter Friedrich warned the council about a Minnesota legislative resolution (identified in his remarks as SF4115 / HF4098) that would ask state and local agencies to incorporate a definition of “Hinduphobia” into anti‑bias training; he urged caution, provided background on the authoring organization that he believes has ties to Hindu‑nationalist actors, and offered an information sheet to the clerk for the record.
The mayor and staff acknowledged the comments and recorded submitted materials where appropriate; no formal council action on these specific public‑comment items was taken at the meeting. Council members later continued to the business agenda, including proclamations and staff updates.
